boney

any existing universe?

is my favourite record of 2008, instantly timeless, works as an ambient piece or a song piece. Every time I listen it sucks me in straight away, even if I'm in the middle of town on a busy Saturday it makes me calm and detached. It's genius, as pretty much everything Liz Harris has put out has been.

But I guess stuff like this, Max Richter, Library Tapes et al isn't particularly grandstanding for honours, so it'll be consigned to the margins even on somewhere like DiS.

The Research sound quite CR-CR era Pavement in places on this. Lyrically it's an improvement on the first record. Plus they were awesome live on the last tour.

AS for those bemoaning the absence of the keys, well they still sound similar to me. I'd make the first record a 6.5, this one a 7.

Primavera and Indietracks this year are two of the best times I've ever had in my whole life.

I've not been to enough ATPs, but I don't think I could ever bother with Glastonbury or Reading again, even if the line-ups were worth it.

Glasto 1997 was a mare for me, I saw the Prodigy and Primal Scream instead of Radiohead and The Orb. Drugsrbadmkay.

This is SO good, one of the best things I've bought this year. Along with the Ron Geesin reissue, this stuff still sounds timeless.

I loved it last year, but this was 10 times better. So many special moments - The (1/5th of) Comet Gain doing 'You Can Hide Your Love Forever', Je Suis Animal being sensational, Hayman doing 'The Sad Witch' in the Tea Tent, Milky Wimpshake, The Retro Spankees making me dance like a mad bastard, and miss half the Bobby McGee's. Amazing, and I'm booked in for next year.

The Mai 68s were even more amazing considering at least one of them had been drinking for 6 hours by the time they went on at 2pm on Sunday.

Why?
Atlas Sound
Je Suis Animal
Autechre
Flying Lotus
El Guincho
Fuck Buttons
Grouper
Crystal Castles
Xiu Xiu
No Age
Magnetic Fields

at Nottingham Arena for £30ish a few years back, I swore never to go to an arena/stadium show ever, ever again. It's just not worth it.

Festivals I have no problem with.. at Primavera I got to see 90% of the bands I wanted from a pretty good vantage point, and the atmosphere compensates. But at arena/stadium shows, you're invariably surrounded by sociopathic cunts who don't often go to gigs and act like cunts.

are headlining a festival in a railway shed that's smaller than Rock City. A bit irrelevant in a stadium rock discussion..

made it in time for DTB. I got to bed at about 8am that morning, Hayman was never going to happen tbf.

Please get people who went to the gigs to review them. PLEASE.

Clipse were practically inaudible, very murky mix and were shit...so, so disappointing.. Animal Collective have been a trio live for fucking ages.

And the El Guincho + Holy Fuck double-header was the beating heart of Primavera.

Amazing festival, as near to perfect as I can comprehend. Atlas Sound really was a singularly brilliant thing too. As was David Thomas Broughton at Miro Park.

I just think MOTHERFUCKING COMET GAIN! WOOO!

Not fussed about Los Campesinos!, but it's good to have a broadly popular headliner I guess. Hope it's as LOVELY as last years was.

was amazing. Just perfect really. The church stage is amazingly lovely and there were so many great bands (Bearsuit, The Bobby McGees, The Parallelograms, Arthur & Martha, Wake The President, etc).

This year... Comet Gain. Fucking hell. I'm there. Literally. Ticket bought.

HARMONIA

holy cow!

Were fucking amazing, and yet barely a sentence here, nothing about the music, naturally.

Compare to the 2 paragraphs on the absolutely dire The Horrors (and yes, I did see them).

And I too thought the line up last year was astoundingly great. The Xmas lineups thus far have been better than the summer ones.

is the worst record I've heard all year.

what do you expect from a DiS review? Lovely Jefferson Airplane reference shoehorned in there for no reason.

and don't listen to shit music on the fucking radio.

It's not that difficult. I didn't hear Umbrella till it had been no.1 for a couple of months..it can be done!

Hush Arbors btw.

at the moment. Really stunned.

to do it isn't it? It's not a representative vote at all because a lot of people will only have 5 records they even like on that list, which they will vote for all of, receiving equal weight.

Peh.

No Age IS there.

My bad :-P

*votes*

and Gowns.

Low
No Age
Dan Deacon
Dragon Or Emperor
Stars Of The Lid
John Wiese
Scout Niblett
James Blackshaw

Hmm.

Two of the finest shows I've seen this year (Nottingham Social and Field Day)... amazing band, superb album.

Missing 'em already, wish I could get to one of the last UK shows :(

because people drink liquids.

Who goes to roughly a gig a week in Nottingham and lived for 28 years in a city that truly is shit for gigs (Leicester) I don't recognise the slaggings here.

The Arcade Fire were playing at Nottingham Arena, the type of venue where you're more likely to get casual music fans going along, more likely to act up and be dicks.

I've seen most of the best gigs of my life in Nottingham, in some amazing venues, with crowds going apeshit. There are some horrible venues but some great pub venues. There's crime here but hey, I didn't realise this was a political forum.

And after seeing The White Stripes at the Arena a few years back, I vowed never to go to an Arena show ever again...less enjoyable, more expensive. No point.

and I lived 28 years in Leicester. I love the place.

but saw him play the Crass covers set live , I thought it worked surprisingly well, especially on The Gasman Cometh.

I'm sure as far as Crass covers go, nothing will ever beat The Soft Pink Truth's version of 'Do They Owe Us A Living?'.

Spin Spin The Dogs were amazing....why no mention??? WP were standard, ok stuff, better than The Swarm were but not my cup of tea...but SSTD and Get Hustle were both insanely great.

amazing band. One of the gigs of the year for definite. I'd go to Cov to see them tomorrow if it weren't a 2 hour train ride with no way back.

http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-4399013116794271182

I have to make the Meneguar support, I miss Lovvers EVERY fucking Nottingham gig.

As AiH don't seem to have any kind of noisy/Nirvana-ey Deerhoof kind of influence apparent in what they do. Not to my ears anyways.

Bearsuit rule so hard, and were amazing live on this tour. I hope Party Bear's at the Railway, Annoying_Person...

Normally I'd defend 'bands like this' on the grounds of their infancy, but when, as has been mentioned, the freelance journo frontman has used the priviledge of writing for a national music weekly to self-promote... if you do that you're inviting all the brickbats you get, and boy do you deserve them.

is fucking hilarious. This joker's never getting any creedence for anything he writes again from me at least. He must've reviewed them through a door, probably whilst having a shit.

I did ya bugger!

But the newie rises way over and above that...starts off Sparksy and maintains the kind of intelligent amazing level of lyricism you'd expect from the Maels. Astonishing record really.

I should get a ticket shouldn't I.

I wasn't sure about this album on first listen. It does sound ramshackle, and initially that detracts. But it's grown hugely on me, and I have to say I think it's possibly my favourite of theirs already (and I loved 'Axes').

The first track is awesome, beautifully emotive and melodic, and it sets the feel for the rest of the record pretty well. It all reminds me of the Stereolab track 'The Black Arts' (off 'Sound-Dust') - a rare heartbreaking moment from what was essentially a 'head' band - but Electrelane manage to hold that feel throughout the whole record - of clumsy, awkward, elated love.

I can't wait to see them at the Social in Notts on Tuesday (or whenever it is).

He's a French guy, one man band drummer, like the other guy said...it makes perfect sense. But hey, don't mind that.

'Take Action' off the newie is a stunner too..

It fills me with joy that a band with Bearsuits in it can be described thus :)

why the fuck does what's in fashion matter two fucking hoots?

I might endure HSCS to see Lovvers again.

BOSTIN

are also supporting on these dates:

3 Sheffield The Grapes
4 Leeds The Packhorse

Possibly my favourite Paw Tracks release. Unbelievably gobsmackingly acecakes.

It's lazy journalism, and wasn't even funny. If you can't write about music properly then do something else. I'd slag it off in the Guardian, I'll slag it here too.

So, the Gossip...what first attracted you to the idea of supporting Scissor Sisters on a lucrative arena tour?

The world needs more hot Bearsuit action. I wonder if they'll dress up as spunks again.

some of it sounded like Smokie fronted by Richard Ashcroft.

AWFUL.