Teepee_uk

"More hate mail through the door / didn't know that Sundays could be useful after all"

I like to think of negative reviews as a recruitment drive :D
Write a glowing review and everyone is your friend. Write a critical review, or say anything bad about a Beloved Artist, and people will sign up to DiS just to tell you how completely wrong you've got it, and what a cunt you are to boot.

Truth be told, the Stereophonics have been releasing sub par records for ten years now. If each album they put out has two or three good tracks, that's good enough for them. A bit more grist for an already full setlist. They're a career band now. But if you were to consider each album against their first, would these albums really cut it? Nah. And even the die hards would have trouble arguing that point.

Just thought I'd mention it.

Hell's Bells - AC/DC
They Live By Night - The Make Up
She Said - John Spencer Blues Explosion
George Romero - Sprites
There's a ghost in my house - The Fall
Climb up the walls - Radiohead
Scary Monsters and Super Creeps - David Bowie
A Forest (12 inch version) - The Cure
The Ghost - I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness
Killing Moon - Echo and the Bunnymen
I don't wanna go down to the basement - The Ramones
Psycho Killer - Talking Heads
Fear, Fear, Fear - John & Jehn
There are ghosts - Karate

I'll be amazed if I don't hear Wolf Like Me or Release the Bats on Saturday night.

because this is the best

http://thedumbingofamerica.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/ole-858-spiral-stairs.jpg

Are really, really good. Just wanted to mention it.

I've been waiting on this one.

They're playing Cafe Oto next Tuesday. Will have to nip in for that one.

Watch it sell out in seconds.

Please, make the images stop!

Also, what a terrible single!

why they'd held off from releasing this for so long.

I also like that their label is called Helium 3
It's fascinating stuff.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium-3

</nerd>

This whole thing seems to stem from Courtney a) not knowing what's going and b) being broke. She wants to sort that out.

Activision must be rubbing their hands at all this free press, eh?

agree with the review. 'Time to Die' just washes over you, nothing really as jarring as Fools or as good as Ashley. It did pick up a bit at the end though. Fair mark.

and yeah, it's gimmicky as fuck, but those will all be good shows. I'm not sure if many would be willing to drop £20 a ticket, but they'll all sell out.

is my favourite so far, with the Joy Formidable and Pink Mountaintops in the chasing pack.

Canterbury date. Nice.

at the Union Chapel with Cave Singers on December the 5th, a replay of the show after ATP. That's a super sweet show.

This is how I'm feeling about this week on DiS in general. There have been a couple of good pieces, but I'll be glad when solipsistic fun time is over.

although supposed max capacity is 3,300 according to the source of all internet gospel, wikipedia. I always thought it seemed closer to the higher figure.

Hardly an intimate venue, and a step up from Scala (1145) though not quite as big as Koko (3909).

Ah, supernostalgia. Butch and Lost... were both great albums. Carla Bozulich also did a terrific version of 'On the nickel' too.

part of why Daniel is a cracking track, I think.

Hit and miss live though. Will be interested to see how fast those Roundhouse dates sell after some Glastonbury coverage and plenty of radio.

Line up... superb... brain... failing...

It's already seen the light of day if they've streamed it. People'll have ripped it from the stream already, and if they can't release it properly, it'll get leaked (nice subtle hint with the CD-R!) and eventually force the labels hand, no?

It's becoming a catch all descriptive term for new bands that use a bit of reverb and delay at the same time. It's mainly used as a bit of window dressing to make boring bands sound a bit more interesting and 'out there'. I've noticed it cropping up much more often over the last few months, and it is getting a bit annoying.

Even with a sweep of massively positive reviews and positive press behind them, I don't know five people who'd pay for this. Nick it off the internet, yes. Pay for it... No.

You're not kidding. I've had this on loop for the last couple of weeks, and would have to say it's a mark or three up on a six. It's a great record, if you can handle a touch of schmaltz with your waltz.

Can't wait to see them on Friday, it'll be interesting to see how they get such a grandiose sounding record across live.

Ferment should be in any big shoegaze album list, just for 'Black Metallic' and 'I want to touch you'. They've been conspicuous in their absence this week, I thought.

Why not just issue a dvd/cd live set from Brixton?

Oh, I forgot. You can milk the fans with a box set or two, eh?

FFS, they've issued the demos, two hits sets, a b-sides collection, a sessions disc, bootlegged their own shows... colour me crazy, but isn't it about time they got back on the horse and put out a new album?

Pleasing Waynes World pic, too.

on tape and it really was sensational.

Also, The Animalhouse... Pitchfork can be as snooty as they likes about it, but Ready to Receive is a really good album!

He's right there.

Thanks to the covers that bookend it (Wuthering Heights by China Drum and Last Christmas by Pullover).

Oh my God! Pullover made a mini-comeback last year!

P.s. You have (1) New Crush

looks like it's been knocked together in half an hour, and it isn't as good as the original single version.

That said, it's still better than the Lily Allen single.

Which proves a little bit of A&R goes a long, long way!

This is a good article, but nowhere does it state 'How to get your band tipped'. It should be 'How to watch other bands get tipped'!

specifically points 3* and 6.

1 and 2 seem to be stating the obvious.

On 3.
It is important to give emerging, effectively unknown bands some space, even if their album falls somewhere into the "somewhere in the middle" category. Because if DiS doesn't document these records, where will? NME? The channels are closing for new talent without PR, or without a well known label backing them. You can tell this by the heavy waft of consensus picks for the 'buzz bands of the year'. The DiS new bands list will be a bit more left field, I'm sure; but will DiS be reviewing *all* their records when they come out, and will they get coverage even if they're middling?

On 4.

I'm all for bringing in other technologies, but I'd err on the side of caution and ensure they were already well established, then implemented quickly and well. Having more technical problems with the site would be bad. /obvious> Making the site more compatible with mobile devices would be good. Then you could read DiS on the bus, like.

On 5.
Agreed. Guest columns and in depth analysis on music-related subjects makes for a more interesting read, and provides a contrast from the core writers' styles.

On 6.
Not everyone wants to have the best stuff filtered out for them. On a personal level, I don't because it would devalue the excitement of finding a diamond in the rough, a great track on a so-so album, let's say. And having someone filter out something they've given a few listens doesn't account for the fact that some records grow on you.

The phrasing of both 3 and 6 suggests that only the shiny pennies will get brought to the counter for public inspection. And I think that's potentially a bad idea, because the obscure works that are harder to get a definite handle on might well get pushed to the side for those that provide recognisable names and instant hooks; who have an interesting angle/gimmick ready-prepared for them perhaps.

I'd argue that DiS needs The Long Tail that reviewing potentially niche artists can offer because it is something that will keep music obsessives such as myself coming back for more, and give new readers something they can't get elsewhere. I'd also disagree with Lyle when he says the size of the site makes it impossible to treat and discuss these two types of artists together, though. Talking about both is important, not necessarily within the same breath, but within the same context. It won't show up positively in numbers and figures, which may make it appear a waste of energy. And I'm aware you fear weak bands slogging up and down the country touting a DiS review that had three good words to say about them in 2001, but it is important to the bands who deserve the press to be getting attention, even if it's just a mention in dispatches. That might mean upping the volume of writing on the site a little bit, but that's something I'd been meaning to suggest anyway.

*Not the bit about you, Rob.

The Auteurs were massively underrated, unlucky to have come along when Britpop was in full swing. The b-sides to Light Aircraft on Fire and the Back with the Killer e.p tracks were all excellent too.

You mean face

Don't you release some of this chap on your label?

is genuinely great pop with a killer chorus. You need to listen to it a million times before it clicks/you crack though.

Luckily, they had it on a loop tape at work over Christmas...

but Lust,Lust, Lust is mint. Can't wait to hear this.

1. Home Life - Shearwater
2. Underneath The Stars - The Cure
3. Graveyard Girl - M83 *Single of the year*
4. Harmonium - Rogue Wave
5. Slapped Actress - Hold Steady
6. Her Birthday - Popular Workshop
7. The Beautiful Light - Slow Down Tallaheasee
8. You Want The Candy - Raveonettes

This was harder than I thought it would be.
Which is the sign of a secretly bumper year, no?

Light brown card sleeve, album cover hidden behind the disc.

/collector scum>

Some people might not vote for things they know can't win.

Also, can you check on one time voters? People who just register and vote, then never reappear?

Also, vote Rook!

A disappointing reissue. There's no point in shelling out £15+ for the second disc. Jeanne and Wonderful Woman are both brilliant, but it just isn't worth the money. You think that Morrissey and Marr would have done the decent thing and plundered the vaults properly. Maybe they're saving that for a cash-raking box set release?

Good article, Alex.

http://www.ionaudio.com/ied07

Very choice. I'm going to bed.