black_lights

and can you just stroll in or will it be a wristband jobby?

The album is much more consistent than the EPs, which I thought trailed off really quickly. And if anything I think the fun begins on the album when the singles are out of the way, I love it, it's a 7 at the very least to my mind. It's not lavish, it's fairly minimal in a Stripesy way, but they bend their imagination every which way. And I like his lyrics... they're not clichéd, they suit the songs, i never feel they need to be more developed studies. These are pop songs.

... so that was the decendents chap who played drums for him at shepherd's bush empire for the don't look back show last year? he was fucking awful. i felt really let down by the lumpen playing from the band that night - his solo bit was the highlight by far. however, the other night they were on fire, really tight (dando's guitar solos aside! bless him) and impressive. the new drummer really is an awesome machine.

We Float.

... if you're not enjoying a band, go and see another, or buy a piece of cake, or run around in the woods or just revell in the atmosphere. this is the most fucking miserable review of what most consider to be the most joyous organised celebration of life anywhere. this is just a review of a few bands and i don't think that would represent anyone's bestival. boooo.

At last! This must only be about the 2nd review out of tens i've read that 'reviews' the damn thing rather than subscribing to the perplexing hyperbole. I mean, have you READ the Q review. Dear dear. This is a rubbish rubbish cringeworthy album that betrays all the adrenaline and promise of their debut.

I like the ICA. the PA system is pretty much always excellent. It's a good size good space. Bar is expensive, but at least it's decent beer rather than over 3 quid for a lukewarm can of red stripe.

... i though it was magic. and i hadn't expected it to be at all. i don't agree that they didn't want to be there, they might not be oozing charisma and inter song banter may be awkward (and more importantly the atmosphere was a unfocussed), but i thought they gave a sturdy and heartfelt performance that showed just how much they believe in the sound they're making. and come on, liz fraser doing teardrop as it got dark!? fucking incredible.

... it has the biggest beats this side of the golden gate bridge falling over at aarmageddon. how can you not work out how to dance to it!? i have seen it danced to. it is quite possible.

... didn't mean to rip apart your views or anything, and of course you're right too. it's a complex subject, which was kind of my point. i just get a bee in my bonnet sometimes when these bold idealistic statements get made from stage or whereever, the audience blindly responds with a whoop or three, promptly forgets what was said and everyone moves on. the world isn't as simplistic as any of us want it to be - whether you've got a microphone to shout it from or not. she's definitely a product of her era, and should be commended for that (and for still having a fire inside her) but with information apparently more free-flowing these days statements made have to stand up to harsher scrutiny. and what do they actually acheive?

but then politics in pop and their effectivness is a whole other debate. for another day, perhaps.

but like i say, her intentions were good.

... is that things aren't ever really that simple. I would suggest that there are already plenty of pictures coming out of Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, North Korea, China, etc. etc. the problem is that they just aren't given the mass exposure, prominent space in the press, on the evening news, that they need to make a difference, to attract attention, to change things. Suggesting that the problem rests with the photographers is probably a little off the mark. And my understanding of the word 'paparazzi' is of someone who doggedly and unreasonably hunts down performers/'celebrities'/artists in their private lives with little respect for them as human beings. When they're actually doing what they are recognised for, i.e. performing, it's a different kettle of fish, is it not? The capturing and reporting of their art is surely a requirement of its existence on any kind of scale. She realises this or she would not have allowed photographers in the pit during her performance (it is my understanding that she has that right). And to suggest that because one picture has already been taken of her the rest are worthless is rather ignorant of photography as an art in itself, says I.

I get the point she was *trying* to make, I just don't think she chose a particularly good way to make it. Especially in this media savvy age. That's all.

...I found Patti Smith's comment about how the photographers should be in Lebanon to be rather misguided, ignorant and a little hypocritical. We all knew what she was getting at of course, nobody could argue with that or her intentions, but she was picking on music photographers (they were not paparrazzi). That is their job, that's how they get by, by taking pictures of musicians. In much the same way that she was up on stage singing songs, to make money, rather than being in Lebanon dressing the wounds of the injured or singing orphaned children to sleep. It was unfortunate, misguided righteousness in my opinion and made me feel a littl ebit uneasy, especially with all the whooping it encouraged.

That aside, her performance was captivating, stunning and touchingly natural. Couldn't hear a bleedin word she was saying in the poetry tent on sunday mind.

Ummm, what's wrong with that lyric exactly? I mean, to the extent that you single it out for a death sentence?

...where do you stand on the other F'lips albums? 'Free Radicals' is one of the tunes that makes the record for me. the opening pairing of that and The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song is about the most unpretentiously joyous song segue i can recall ever hearing. Perfect. It's pure saccharine funk pop brilliance or Prince rip-off depending on your perspective. But I don't see how either could be used against them. it's bloody brilliant, lad! brilliant, y'hear!

... is the clear album centre-piece for me. Christ, the drama! *CRRRRRAAASH* *BOOOM* *WHITHER*. Fabulous.

Now, I really am a massive fan of Redjetson, so please don't take this as any sort of insult, but i wouldn't class them as *adventurous* in the same way as I would The Open's new album. Redjetson have tamed post-rock, making its marriage with more classic songwriting structures perfectly epic, in a way that Hope Of The States didn't manage well enough on their debut. But The Open don't feel so constrained, at all. 80's songwriting foundations - cocteau twins, talk talk - along with freeform jazz, the patience to allow songs to grow at their own rate, a penchant for the epic and nods to more recent bands like Radiohead, Doves and yes, The Verve, sounds pretty adventurous to me. And that boy can bloody well sing. Statues is a really brave album, and its not like they've got company. Who else is out there making music like this at the moment? The closest I can think of is Martin Grech, and that's not quite right...

the people who moan about it are no more open minded than those who winge that radiohead don't finish their sets with creep anymore. the intricacy and scope of the album is mahooooosive. it is both graceful and intense in endless measure. it shows a band that have learnt something over their time together.

and i'd say they've still got bags of bloody passion live. last night it was positivly streaming from stuart, the big brute, but then he was always the focus of the passion. it's not like they've ever been the hives of post-rock.

... i explained, to a point, why i disliked the review, didn't i? i fail to see how the arctic flippin' monkeys or the bravery provide any shred of reference relevant to this band. which was one reason for taking exception to it. sheeesh!

...this is a discussion board, no?

...and doesn't really come close to explaining the band i know and love. and why do so many people deem it neccesary to define a band by how likely they are to get onto totp?? that's irrelevant. isn't it? as is mention of the arctic monkeys and the bravery. here's a band that weave a rich, melodramatic alt-country musicality beneath peerlessly imposing poetry. can you not deal with that on its own?

alligator - second best album of the year. no contest.