broonski_beat

..Let's slash the seats!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2004/mar/01/popandrock2

lady gaga??? are you stoned? These lists are pretty pointless, but this one could take the biscuit. Miss out the hazards of love at your peril.

If he's not bothered by it, why mention that there has been any criticism of their background at all? It's a review of the album isn't it? not the press reaction to it?

The Fleet Foxes thing is noticeable, however I think M&S (which as an acronym does nothing to help them) have a far more rollicking approach. I don't remember many hoe-downs on the FF record for example.

I think this will be an album that people actually like, reviewers will hate it because they don't want to run without the herd and ruin any chance they have of writing for the observer music monthly or whatever. Plus it's folk, which some find quite difficult to quantify, let alone listen to.

Having a vaguely upper-middle-class background will also make you filth to the media. Which I never understand, why does being poor, make you a more credible musician? Joe Strummer was the son of a diplomat wasn't he? Sonic Youth probably have a few bob now eh?

5/10 is a ridiculously low mark for what is a well put together and enjoyable affair. To compare them to Nickelback says it all really. If The XX gets a chuffing 9 then ....etc etc

But I have been thoroughly underwhelmed by this record. It's not without merit..but nor has it affected me in quite the way it seems to have affected others. To give it 9/10 seems to me incredibly generous.

List of other (less good) sites to follow?

and roux is something to do with sauces

Even without the numerous band references (hardly any of which I think apply) this is a pretty ordinary review of a very good record. For those of us not living up Arcade Fire's backside it makes little or no sense.

To say "it’s hard to pick out anything about it that sounds distinctively Maccabees." I think is somewhat wide of the mark.

I think they've taken their sound and tried to record a batch of songs that expands their repertoire beyond energetic indie-pop and into a wider world. Did you really expect 'Colour it in 2'? To that degree they've succeeded.

Too many references to other records in the review for my liking. I get what the author is trying to do, but the review is wasted if you haven't heard any of those records or bands.

There is a editorial balance to these things, but if I didn't know the band I would gain very little if anything about the subject of the piece from this review. As an old editor once told me..."this is utter flannel..go back and write me 500 words on what YOU thought of the record"

but all of the 'tones' albums have merit...

It's a stormer...have been blathering on about this for years!

In one of my quieter moments I've produced an excel spreadsheet with this year's band list. I've been through and visited all the myspace pages and made a shortlist of bands that me and Uncle Dave might want to go and see. It's colour-coded and everything. this on it's own nominates me for an honorary nerdship.

This will be our 4th crawl and I'm pretty sure the list will be redundant come 8pm on Friday. The Yay's and maybe's are below...

Yes

Alessi’s Ark
Blk Jks
Brakes
Cherbourg
Copy Haho
Datarock
Dinosaur Pile Up
Everything Everything
Fight Like Apes
Flashguns
Ipso Facto
Josh Weller
Kitty Daisy & Lewis
Little Comets
Little Death
Peggy Sue
Plugs
The Jim Jones Revue
The Joy Formidable
The Laurel Collective
The Maccabees
The Von Bondies
Threatmantics
VV Brown
Golden Silvers
Bleech
An Experiment On A Bird In The Air Pump

Maybe
Eugene Mcguiness
808 State
Circlesquare
Django Django
Gold Teeth
James Yuill
Little Boots
Man Like Me
Marina And The Diamonds
Newham Generals
Ou Est Le Swimming Pool
Pulled Apart By Horses
The Author
The Big Pink
The Chapman Family
The Cordelier Club
The Invisible
The Temper Trap
The View
The Virgins
The XX
V.E.G.A.S Whores
Wire
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Your Twenties
King Creosote

Would like to know what the author thinks of The Futureheads and what they are trying to do though.

to think I've been within a few kilometres (they use those out here) of Everett whilst on a month long trip down under. Whatever his thoughts on the festival (which I shall attend next year) I can certanly understand his frustrations on the Great Ocean Road (although I've still not managed to see a Koala) and Lorne is fairly ordinary

I have been genuinely surprised (and pleasantly so) to see how clued up the Aussies are on new music. Triple J is ad free and positively esoteric, Triple M isn't half bad and it is generally felt by most that X-factor et al are a waste of everybody's time. The snobbery that is knawing at the British music and culture doesn't seem to have prevailed here. On the other hand there are some bugs here that look like extras from Starship Troopers.

I'll be back in blighty next week and I'm very much not looking forward to it.

He was alright, the ep is good but he was quite, dare I say it, 'glum'.

Black river killer is the highlight for me.

Saw them at the camden crawl and although I wasn't blown away I bought the record anyway and have thoroughly enjoyed it since.

I found it quite dreary and uninspiring...especially somewhere in the middle, during which I nodded off twice.

it's worth 5.254 recurring ...

I have been mightily impressed so far.

...a 5 or 6 I think is a much fairer score. It's a passable effort with some pleasant enough moments. But these are limited and sandwiched between considerable chunks of filler material. take the tap dancing out of the equation and it really does become quite beige.

...

I don't like Robert Smith (at least recent output anyway) and I still think they are 'smashing'...go figure.

...the Shout Out Louds got a mention. They are quite brilliant!

...it's alright, but i wasn't blown away by it.

'Deeply meditative'...shoudl read 'glum'.