Indie_Jamie

I don't think Ditto has been blown out (excuse the wording) with the conscious aim of making her a new figurehead for rock n roll, the NME, the music industry and so on. Having listened to the album though I agree with everything you say. I have no idea why The Gossip pursued the dance route with a weapon like Ditto's voice. And especially all stripped down- it just sounds terrible.

Nice open-ended question there...

A) Grasshopper....

They better disappoint!

Woah, this won't be Foals at all....

Good move!

so-called feature interview with Obama was copied from Rolling Stone. Disgraceful.

When was the last time the BBC put their name behind such low-key (for now) acts? More encouraging than Myspace endorsed this or that I'll say.

this album was terrible.

that the zoo had to step in to pay Ash. Don't think it's an over-reaction to have a regulating authority step in on it as some laws were clearly broken on the health and safety, and contract between customer and promoter front.

For Emma, Forever Ago as an absolute standout so far!

Yeah, people seem to love them when they're 13/14 (saw them twice at that age) and then...well, nothing.

I haven't heard this album yet but will take a listen now, and the chronology hits the nail on the head with regard to how they have declined.

Pushing the Senses was an awful album and clearly Feeder are no longer a defining act - look at the price of their signed stuff on ebay. Good to hear they're somehow carving their own way.

Sounds like a nice guy

I've just had my first glimpse of Antidotes - started listening in the middle from 'Two Steps, Twice'. I enjoy the fact that the album has been crafted to sound very immediate, not like the 'Hummer' and 'Mathletics' singles, and certainly the keyboards and guitars have been given a new lease of life.

I would agree with Mike - the LYRICS may induce little emotion, but I think the vocals (i.e. excluding their meaning) do. They add to the fervour or desolation - or whatever.

I agree - not as entertaining as the first. Nice review too.

Really sorry that that was post was so long by the way. A 'meh' would probably have done...

Between Klaxons first appeareing as a sort of - phenomenon, and when they released their album, i think a heck of a lot has changed. Like when the demos came out for Atlantis to Interzone and Gravity's Rainbow, they spread like wildfire. And i don't think it was hype at that time, as similar to the Arctic Monkeys' arriving, it took the media to latch on to people's already burgeoning appetite for them. Which other band on the list generated that much excitement?It was only once Klaxons came about that everyone started wearing day glo paint and dressing 'funny' all over London, so maybe Mercury saw the band as representative of this year's atmosphere or culture (that could cerainly have been true of the Arctic Monkeys' album last year.) I think more recently acts like NYPC and Calvin Harris have made people more impartial to Klaxons. At the time they were quite unique to their backdrop, and so maybe the Mercury people considered the impact of the band more generally, and the not just the album.

Think i would have liked Young Knives or Jamie T to win. Definitely not a fan of Jamie Reynolds as a bloke...

I went to Eurockeennes in June, a mid-sized French festival after going to V last summer (admittedly a bad move; i bought tickets before any bands were announced such was my ignorance of Virgin's sterile choices) and my experience abroad was by far the best experience i've had.

Firstly it was cheap. £60 for three days' music plus camping, but primarily this was considering a really intelligent and diverse line up, with loads of dub outfits, a dedicated reggae & hip-hop stage and great African acts. It wasn't an excuse for the organisers to choose cheap acts either; Bassekou Kayoute, who had never played outside of Mali before, but put on an astounding show with 2 encores and i don't think anyone in the tent had heard of them. This was alongside Aracde Fire, Klaxons, Digitalism, QOTSA, Marilyn Manson, Deerhoof, Gogol Bordello and TV on the Radio among others.

Also the food was tasty and really good value; 2 euros for a nutella crepe means you can actaully eat at your festival. I'll no longer feel like paying £2.50 for a bottle of water is an unavoidable sacrifice for good music.

I'm now viably considering whether to go back or go to Glastonbury next year. (I think i may suffer for that comment...)

...the oh so tediously predictable pun. How many times has that been written by as you say, 'half-arsed' writers?Although i don't think the argument about why the single was released is that relevant to its score, as I'm sure it wasn't Amy's decision to release it, unless it was unwittingly through heroin expenses and...hair. Would be a shame to punish her for that now wouldn't it?

The Beatles never put their singles on the albums, but then of course that way you have to buy both!

Great interview - Yannis sounded like he was on the edge of his seat, or maybe it was just by how much he said, but not having 'Mathletics' or 'Hummer' on the album; that is such a bold step!

Good to hear they've recorded the album with Dave Sitek. I was worried it would have a very similar live and distorted feel that the Klaxons' 'Myths of the Near Future' has.

The fact that they named themselves New Young Pony Club because they thought it would look good on a t-shirt says bundles for their ethic; what are they doing in the nominations!?

I really didn't expect that, and the band were at the top of their game.

something to do with their music...

Since those demos were released, particularly the original version of 'If you Fail...', i think either the album production has tainted the sound people took to them for, or they just aren't very good.

Fopp could consume a burger at a greater pace, but would then be violently ill.

You have taken the bold move of going against the majority of the pre-release press and hailing this album. I think many people misunderstand The Bees, and categorise them along with mainstream indie. Their work has always been about what they wanted to do, and never conformed to the sound of the day.

'Thou shalt always kill' is going to be huge. Vastly big and excessively enormous.

Why are Fields so unnecessarily complicated?

Yeah, i have to say 'Ten New Messages' has had pretty bad reviews. Q and NME both gave it mediocre scores, although having 'We Danced Together' as a first single was a very wrong move. What about 'Little Superstitions'?

I'm such a fan of Sound Team's although i've never seen them live. I can understand how they may be boring though. The blurry plod of their music works on the record but may be a bit of a dull spectacle to watch : (

The Bees appeal to the lowest possible base and shallow rhythmic attractions. 'Chicken Payback' is not supposed to be a song that makes you think or understand. It's mindless and it makes you happy...like Blink. Anything wrong witht that?

according to their myspace.

takes some getting used to. At the Transgressive Roadshow he looked incredibly shy on stage, although he got the crowd going without even looking at them.

it's far far beter, considering all the great new bands around last year that weren't picked up but are showing themselves on this year's bill. Air Traffic? Foals? Hadouken!? iLiKETRAiNS?

Although it'll still be the obligatory waiting in the rain scenario and missing all the bands you came to see!

Boy George playing the festival.

Nice.

The logo is similar to The Monkees one. It really doesn't look like it's evolving like the music into something heavier.

this album, but i think the songs i like best are those that sound most like 'Funeral' tunes, like 'Keep the Car Running'.

diversity is what i love about them. Very unpredictable, but totally thrilling songs.

They are a huge label so their artists are going to reach a wider audience. Hence a place in the top 40 singles chart.

despise The Kooks, how could they not have won best breakthrough act? They fit all the criteria - coming from nowhere to sell an acclaimed multi-platinum album and they're really young. The Fratellis = a mindless, dense soundtrack for getting smashed.

if this record gets anything other than slated by critics, they will have done pretty well to live up to expectation.

Fountains of Wayne. The cornerstone of love's deep and tender presence in all of us.

classic

i wonder how the elderly audience would respond.

you think the thief was invited to the backstage party too???

is misleading compared to the rest of the album tracks, which are more rough around the edges.

the 'Walk This Way' single is appalling. How can opinion ever be divided? Use it to open international peace conferences on a spirit of unity!