nickd

Ian Jarrold from Redjetson - quite a treat to see the expanded I Like Trains on this tour. He does indeed give an even bigger guitar edge to an already room shaking guitar attack.
They were superb at Oxford.

What a great album - like MBV playing the more muscular bits of The Cure in an industrial way. Glorious stuff.

Free ep ("Hoxton Square Sessions") with orders from Rough Trade as well. Great!!!!

I enjoyed them a lot at Reading Fest but I wasn't blown away as they seemed (relatively) quiet - I am furiously looking forward to them at ATP now, how good is the MBV event looking now?

Bleach is far far too ordinary and run of the mill for me.

If Nirvana had replicated this album they would never have climbed out of the Mudhoney league.

Zane Lowe has less critcial capacity than a new born baby, and fits in nicely with the new breed of fawning unthinking presenters.

How the legacy of John Peel has been covered up. I am still less than convniced about Huw Stephens' abilities for spotting new bands but I have to say that all my remaining R1 faith is pinned on him.

R1 may be targeting their audience (I am unconvinced that aiming for the lowest common denominator is the right thing for station) but this will ultimately lose them audience in the long run in my opinion.

6 Music is now by far and away the best station although Exposure on XFM is often worth a listen , and they do have the odd excellent session in a Peel.

Good luck to Steve Lemacq - he is championing a band called The Neat I think at the moment, a good Fall-esque troop, can you imagine Lowe, Murray or Wiley doing that in a million years?
http://www.myspace.com/uptheneat
...a good way to wave goodbye to R1 and echoes the great man Peel.

Let the unthinking masses get the station they deserve....

any from Paddington type travelling tips?

What's it like getting away after the headliners?

can't say that I agree in the slightest.

But there you are maybe this and its companion piece are trolling journalism and people shouldn't react.

If you want a folk tinged Mogwai meets Arcade Fire, with an edge this magnificent album is for you.

I commend it - it's a superb 40 minute rush. Just listen if you like either of those bands. Post rock folk - very positive indeed.

for these recommendations.

I hadn't heard of the last two and it prompted me to investigate the 63 Million Miles CD.

Very grateful - thanks for the shoegaze week, I have loved it.

I love the Pixies but not £300 worth for the things I already own.

You would have thought something rather better would have been chucked in here.
Updated versions of the old CDs may have tipped the balance for me but not this.

I have almost entirely overlooked Ulrich Schnauss - but everyone should hear his utterly magnificent cover of Chapterhouse's "Love Forever" which is on Never Lose That Feeling Vol 3 (Club AC30) compilation. The compilation as a whole is top quality and recommended...

It really makes me want to purchase everything he's ever touched.

cripes there's a loose definintion and there's nonsense!
Interesting list nonetheless....
And those that claim that shoegaze doesn't have a far reaching and long lasting effect on the indie scene should perhaps open their minds a little, although you can add the Cabaret Voltaire album to the ??? albums listed there. I would agree the listing of Air is tenuous.
I would say things like Mogwai are far more shoegaze than a lot of the list.

The more recent US stuff is missing almost in its entirity.

The very excellent Soundpool need to be there, Airial, Mahogany, Auburn Lull (just off the top of my head)...even the recently reissued Drop Nineteens album.

Other considerations - The Voices, The Joy Formidable, Amusement Parks on Fire, iliketrains, Hope Of The States, etc - tons of glorious music...

Cocteau Twins most shoegaze album is most certainly Head Over Heels (Tinderbox and Musette and Drums are starring in that role)and theres a few others that deserve mention there...

Altogether thanks for a shoegaze week - loads of interesting articles and interviews.
I have loved it all, I wish I could buy a nice magazine / book format of it all - the intenet is fine but I would prefer something hard copy - I suppose its down to me to print everything off!!!

but no The Joy Formidable - Jeez give me strength.

We all have different tastes I can see that but the fact that no JF tracks appear on this list disappoints me more than I can say.

Credibility – liberal amounts spread around the place
Alcohol – copious quantities to keep you going for two days
Moshing – limited supply but there if you look
Drowned In Sound – always in the mix (this is Camden CRAWL!)
Excitement – another fine element to be found
New bands – generally the tastiest element there.

Cool Venues – nice venues generously sprinkled
Really good performances in my experience
Alcohol – have another lot
Waiting in Queues – an unfortunate side effect
Lasting memories – after its finished the outcome should be positive

I was looking forward to hearing this one from the reviews and things I had read.
The arcade Fire comparisons drew me in and whilst some of the tracks here are very impressive - other leave me cold.

"Gasoline" for instance - does this not sound like Razorlight?

Thankfully not many of the tracks have that sound.
I am hopeful the more creative side of them will win out - but more "Gasoline"s and I'm off.

She (they?) supported The Joy Formidable and It Hugs Back on Weds and was / were excellent.

Apparently an album is due out this year on Memphi Industries and she sounds very good to me!

Florence and the Machine's singles have both been decent, not sure what to think of the others up there yet...

The DiS people recognise the glory that is The Joy Formidable.
And their sound is more Pixies done by My Bloody Valentine than any of the above...

Their Gig at the Wilmington Arms of Weds 21st was another total stunner with lead singer Ritzy taking her guitar pedal overload into the audience!
Terrific stuff - I only hope this band garner the recognition they deserve. No filler anywhere yet (apart from some somewhat dodgy remixes lurking about) - and the new cd is going to be superb.

They are the business.

The two eps are storming and the tracks on myspace are even better.

As original act as it is possible to find in 2009, they are stunning. Jeez I see Passion Pit is the next in this series - I know which camp my vote will going to.

Anyone who likes challenging original and inspiring music should listen to Salem, I cannot see the attraction of retreds like Passion Pit and their ilk....

didn't read down low enough to spot Fucked Up.

Says it all really.
Great album deserving of a much higher placing - but I guess not everyone's cuppa java and they may prefer Fleet Foxes or Frightened Rabbit (jeeeeeeez)

Where art thou?

Album of the year by a good distanc for me.
Thrilling, ramshackle - lovely.

Can't say that I have any love at all for Fleet Foxes, Vampire Weekend (just cannot see anything other than third rate copying going on there) but there you are.

Vessels undoubtedly should be in there too - have to agree on that one.

Pete And The Pirates? Fucked Up?

Flashguns (their single out on Monday I think) who were just excellent at Reading Festival. An updated Maccabees meets Wedding Present.

We Were Promised Jetpacks too sound very good indeed to me, their myspace tracks are well worth checking out.

Salem are utterly astonishing - deeply original doom packed electronic darkness. I thoroughly recommend them, I only just stumbled across them last week on XFM.

The Joy Formidable are another band not mentioned and I just love them. Guitar overload plus perfect front woman, plus tunes by the bucketload. I cannot understand why they aren't more widely tipped.

I have to say all of the above are better than the worthy tips above in my view.

No way a 6 in my opinion.

Not life changing I have to admit, but there's some good devo-esque stuff on speed there - all very fine.

see what I did there?
Much better writing than the awful mess that is that review up there...even if I do say so myself!

If anyone wanted to know what the gig was like it was immensely enjoyable.

I wanted to go to ATP to see these two bands especially - so it was a right treat to be able to see them for a tenner in rather less cramped suroundings.

The Fuck Buttons seemed less than happy with their sound mix but were fine. They sound like an Electronic Mogwai and produce some lovely sounds and the distorted vocals are a delight.

They seemed loud but were like a needle drop compared to the beautiful squall produced by Autolux. The crafted feedback and massive bass noise made my feet vibrate and the MBV / Sonic Youth guitars were a total thrill.

I've only seen Autolux twice but both times I've been totally captivated and love the noise. Their CD is a cruelly underrated piece of genius.

How long did Fuck Buttons play at ATP?
They only did just over half an hour at ICA... :(

I wasn't diappointed in the least with this single - expecting an etched vinyl only release to be a bit substandard.

It wasn't and this isn't.

Very good single. Go listen!

Let's face the only person who plays music you like 100% of the time is going to be you!
(And it might not work even then!)

Lemacq is not infallible and plays some stuff that makes me think "why?" - but he is pretty much on the ball and sticks with some of the bands he is convinced will make it.

I am personally happier to listen to his programme than anyone elses!

Good luck to him - but Radio 2?????
Bizarre.

Beatles and the Stones?

More like Slade.

Clueless rubbish for the clueless.

I think there are some very fine calls there too!
Nice to see you sticking with teh Maccabees - excellent and still underrated band (can't believe they are playing the Fez in Reading again!)

Missed off Fury Of The Headteachers though - listen to their new single on the grace records myspace site.
Blasting!

Having been one of the highly tipped bands, the spotlight seems to have faded from The Maccabees a little.
They were one of the best bands at Reading Festival and recently played the Fez (to not as big a crowd as I expected) and were again playing beautifully crafted and clever pop.

To me they stand head and shoulders above bands like the Guilimots (sp?), Kooks, Fratellis etc etc.

This is a cracking single.

(By the way that Precious Time single was supposed to be a fan only release - call it Promo only if you like - but a few found their way into the odd shop or two. Released on CD and 7" - some were also signed by the band. Nice touch.)

where I was but our gang stood quite close to the stage on the right hand side.
It was good there although the sound in that tent was awful depending where you were standing.

Tapes N Tapes and Metric both suffered - Metric's drums sounded louder than everything else and made them sound very leaden.

There seemed to be far more people around in the tents (especially in early afternoon) this year (that's where those extra people went) so maybe the engineers got it wrong.

The HotS CDs have not

I wasn't really taking notes but I do remember they played Blood Meridian and Bonfires (off Left) at the very least in what wasn't a very long set.

I have to say that these two in particular I remembered because they were so good, Blood Meridian in particular being much better than the recorded version.

The Reading show seems to have polarised opinion.

Can't see how anyone could possibly have thought it was rubbish though...

I've seen them on about six or seven occasions I think a Barfly gig was the most awesome event. They were also handy the first time I saw them with Youth Movie SS in support (ICA)(what a show that was...)

well, I think so anyway...

Hope Of The States were tremendous I thought. Lovely version of Black Dollar Bills.
If they are lost - I will be soooooo upset.

They are one of the least influenced or scene bands around, it will be a crying shame if they are lost.

Metric? They badly need to lose their "rawk" influence I reckon.
Tapes N Tapes took a little while to get intio their strde which was a shame cos they ended really well.

Maccabees were brilliant and Sareena Maneesh devastating. TV on the Radio were sublime - not as good as ATP though I thought....The guitars there moved mountains, only medium sized peaks at Reading!!!

...or at least they were when I saw them at ATP a couple of years back.

Totally stunning way to start my ATP - Todd are a little wonder. Part Chimp I like but are rather less exciting in my book.
Still quality though, but my X goes against Todd....

I welcome the return of Seachange with open arms. I thought they were one of the most interesting bands around in 2004 time, what happened to them?

Anyway I see from their web site they have a tour ep as well - I'm up for them!

Whose label gave the Kaiser's their first break?

"Fickle" doesn't come into it.....

I have to agree with others on here that Plan B is a confusing and frustrating read. "Wanky" is harsh but I get what you mean and I suspect I would agree.

I really enjoy The Fly these days - although it has a bit of a Zane "No quality threshold here" Lowe approach, you can at least glean whether a band is any good or not from what they write. Good gig review section and a decent amount of coverage for new bands (that you can understand after you have read them!)

Rock Sound is almost as kiddie rock these days as Alternative Press.....

Artrocker may not be written quite as well as some, but I always look forward to getting that and devour that from cover to cover. The people writing that are generally clued up and have incisive taste. Great publication - I'd recommend that to anyone who doesn't already know it.

There are loads of new bands covered in Plan B but read the reviews and 9 times out of 10 and you would form no idea as to whether the band was any good or what on earth the band was like!

Surely you read the reviews to find out about the band not to marvel as the intricate misplaced dull and irrelevent views of the writer on some unrelated matter?

I remember when Everett's new band pieces for the NME used to be the most interesting and vital pieces in the NME. Has his radar gone down in Plan B?

I would much rather read this here site than Plan B any day of the week and I'm not sure that that is good news for Plan B if I am typical of the people they are trying to appeal to.

As you've been so nice to me.
The new Mission Of Burma is "Obliterati" released in the UK on Monday and almost as essential as my big smiley faces is the free DVD that comes with the CD.

Much niceness.

8.99 at HMV on line - tell em someone happy sent ya!

Rrrachel

Thanks for taking my barbed comments with such good grace!
Yes we both have a lot of common ground and good god I am not a The Atumatic fan as such I just think the Monster ditty is a fine song.

I completely and utterly agree that Maximo Park are a stellar orbit better than The Automatic.

I still think that the bands you mentioned were out of place but it's a free world
> you mention, I criticise, then we agree on something and the world still turns nicely on its axis :)

PS Hot Chip? not good! :)))

The Magic Numbers are indeed a complete load of overrated boring easy listening nonsense.

You don't have everything wrong ;) and you like Broadcast I see - so there's hope yet.

Mike - not that it will matter one jot to you - I like most of what you write, and respect most of what you commit to "press" but if you can't see that dropping Hot Chip and Deerhoof into a review about The Automatic is at best misguided then I am genuinely surprised.

And Bloc Party we both salute, so I'll stand with you on that. (BTW have you heard Mission Of Burma's new cd - luvverly!

Cyndi Lauper I could have handled.

edtaf? the only twats on here are the ones who stamp their feet when people care enough to write in about the music they like.

If you don't like reading the responses - don't bleedin' read them!

>give me strength!<

Not off to listen to Hot Chip or Deerhoof then?
That didn't last long!

Don't you worry pal, I will listen to this as its top, and I guess both views here will have their supporters but I again will see who comes out on top when the smoke dies down.

Glad you think ad infinitum now = 12, like the song review I doubt many will agree with that.

Wack wack ooops

This review is so far off the mark and up its own arse with its indie snobbery it's beyound belief.

Name drop Hot Chip why don't you - add a little Deerhoof for credibility?
Sad sad sad sad sad.

This is a corking little single with a chorus to die for and is a downright excellent "fun" pop tune. For it is fun and you are right that you have utterly missed the point! History will be the judge of you....

Having seen the Vid on MTV2 a few times now I think the chorus happens three times maybe four so "ad infinitum"? I think that shows how accurate the review is.

Go and listen to this song - it's a fine piece of music.

Hot Chip fun?
Riiiiiiiight.
Love Pop? You are deluded.
Congratulations for getting Mike to back you up but you both happen to be wrong!

by Razorlight and The Cure's 10:15 saturday night - also verrry similar.

weekend 1
Friday 12th May 2006 > MUDHONEY
Stage One:
Doors 3.30pm
COUNTRY TEASERS 4.00pm - 4.45pm
HOLLY GOLIGHLY 5.15pm - 6.00pm
THE DRONES 6.30pm - 7.30pm
THE SCIENTISTS 8.00pm - 9.15pm
BLACK MOUNTAIN 9.45pm - 11.00pm
MUDHONEY 11.30pm - 1.00am
Stage Two:
Doors 2.15pm
DAVID DONDERO 3.15pm - 4.00pm
MARK PICKEREL 4.30pm - 5.15pm
JON WAHL + AMADANS 5.45pm - 6.45pm
TOTAL SOUND 7.15pm - 8.15pm
COMETS ON FIRE 8.45pm - 9.45pm
FLESH EATERS 10.15pm - 11.30pm
D.J 1.00am – 3.00am
D.J 3.00am – 5.00am
Saturday 13th May 2006 > YEAH YEAH YEAHS
Stage One:
Doors 4.00pm
HUNDRED EYES 5.00pm - 6.00pm
CELEBRATION 6.30pm - 7.30pm
ONEIDA 8.00pm - 9.00pm
TV ON THE RADIO 9.30pm - 10.30pm (gonna be band of the weekend)
YEAH YEAH YEAHS 11.30pm - 1.00am
Stage Two:
Doors 2.30pm
IMAGINARY FOLK 3.00pm - 3.45pm
SERVICES 4.15pm - 5.15pm
EX MODELS 5.45pm - 6.45pm
MAGIK MARKERS 7.15pm - 8.15pm
BLOOD BROTHERS 8.45pm - 9.45pm
LIARS 10.15pm - 11.15pm
D.J 1.00am - 3.00am
D.J 3.00am - 5.00am
Sunday 14th May 2006 > DEVENDRA BANHART
Stage One:
Doors 3.15pm
TARANTULA A.D 3.45pm - 4.30pm
METALLIC FALCONS 5.00pm - 5.45pm
ESPERS 6.00pm - 6.45pm
VETIVER 7.15pm - 8.00pm
BERT JANSCH 8.30pm - 9.30pm
WATTS PROPHETS 10.00pm - 11.00pm
DEVENDRA BANHART 11.30pm - 1.00am
Stage Two:
Doors 2.30pm
DANIELLE STECH HOMSY 3.15pm - 4.00pm
BAT FOR LASHES 4.30pm - 5.15pm
JANA HUNTER 5.45pm - 6.30pm
JANDEK 7.15pm - 8.30pm
RAMBLIN JACK 9.00pm - 10.00pm
VASHTI BUNYAN 10.30pm - 11.30pm
D.J 1.00am - 3.00am
D.J 3.00am - 5.00am

Arctic Monkeys - I just love em (But ther are plenty of bands that I like more I must say!)

Some of you lot don't know how well off you are, having a decent track at number one!
Would you really have Will Young?

The Arctic Monkeys footage they showed on TOTP was actually from Jools Holland.
So althugh they were on TOTP they didn't actually perfeorm on the programme.