remittanceman

The poster on their Myspace says they are playing the Arnolfini on the 20th Dec too. Hope so. This + the Sunn O))) tour = me officially not bothered about ATP 10yrs any more.

And also the Wire review which described it as embarassingly predictable with a flat dynamic resulting from the over-compressed sound. However I also agree with the person who wrote in to said magazine this month to point out that they had neglected to mention that it is also a lot of fun.

I think FB (awful, awful Nathan Barley name for a group) work better as a dance act, albeit one who take their dynamic cues from bands like Mogwai. The first album was full of nice,albeit overused, ideas but felt amateurish in its execution. When I saw them at Green Man it felt at times like I was watching a Chemical Brothers show (nothing wrong with that) and the crowd were really hyped up for a release that never happened and so the audience gradually petered away. They seem to have sorted that out now. It's a bit too considered to be one of my albums of the year, I prefer the messy-ness of the new Vitalic, but it's still very, very good. And I'd never thought I'd say that about Fuck Buttons.

And no Don't Look Back bullshit either please.

I was actually impressed how good the sound was (stood by the mixing desk admittedly). Tweedy's guitar was too loud during some of the songs where he alternated between picking and strumming but I'd guess that's normally solved with a volume pedal or something? (genuine non-muso question).

Listen to the bit between the verses on the title track of his last album, When the Haar Rolls In. All the instruments seem to form a cohesive whole the sum of which is greater than its parts. It reminds me of what Spector did, or Brian Wilson on Smile and Pet Sounds but with clarinets and accordians and stuff. He pulls the trick on loads of his songs and it's why I love the Athletes so much.

Interestingly the Quietus review mentions Yorkston describing himself not as a folk artist but in the singer-songwriter tradition. That's what musicians do, I remember Richard Ashcroft declaring with total sincerity that he considered the Verve to be a punk band. Whether or not he thinks he is a folk artist is irrelevant if that's what people think he is and he is certainly more of a 'folk' artist than any of the Banharts and Newsoms that soundtrack the phone adverts mentioned above. The same review quite rightly mentions that folk is a difficult term to define.

On reflection my comments above do feel somewhat twattish and I'm certainly not suggesting I could write a better review but I wish we could get away from 'where does this fit into the market?'-type discussions.

Definitely worth an 8. Not quite as good as his last but the rougher-round the edges sound of this band suits the material better than the folky wall of sound that he achieves with the atheletes.

Didn't like the review though. It feels like a discussion of where Yorkston fits into 'the market'. 2 long paragraphs of this nonsense. Yorkston is a folk artist, it's hardly surprising that he's going to release a folk album at some point in his career. I can't imagine the music in mobile phone adverts even crossed his mind for a second. He might play at 'boutique festivals' but he also plays off the beaten track of the indie touring circuits too; read his article in Loops.

Yorkston exists outside of the indie bubble that the reviewer is looking out from, where people give a shit about whether their favourite music appears in an advert or Skins or whether they heard a tune, y'know, like aaaages ago (off their mum in this case). In other words the kind of stuff that peppers the DiS message boards. Get some perspective.

Still, not as bad as this review:
http://drownedinsound.com/releases/2982/reviews/4239-
Surely copied from the NME or something?

Pitchfork has it's share of smug, pointless reviews, although it is much much better than it used to be. DiS definitely needs some quality-control. I can't be the only person that only really uses this site for the boards now.

I'd be surprised if there were any Twang fans left to bother finding it via Google. I don't care if DiS wants to slate them (who isn't?). This review just flows so badly and is hard to read. The last couple of paragraphs are excruciating.

What with all the capitals and self-importance.

Fennesz on there seems a bit silly to me or is it all tents and stuff?

I'm very jealous of anyone going to this. For the first time ever it's the headliners that I actually want to see.

I drive past the site every day to work. The fence is up, people are beavering about, the entrances are all set up and I'm gutted I'm not going.

Apart from the choir, they are both albums that work as a coherent whole, rarely veering from the blueprint with satisfying results. So far Veckatimest isn't revealing itself to be a work of unparalleled genius in the same way as Vespertine but I'm prepared to give it more time. Yellow House took a good six months to really work for me. At the moment I'm not enjoying this new one quite so much.

Every review I've read of this album basically concludes with something to the effect of 'they are coasting but after so long they've earned the right'. No they haven't.

Having been easily my favourite band for nearly 20 years this is the first Sonic Youth album I won't be buying (not even with eMusic credits if it turns up). It feels unthinkable that I won't bother seeing them at ATP either unless there is nothing else on.

Throughout their career they've only used multiple vocals sparingly so I guess that's progression here but in every other respect Sonic Youth are finished. It's hard to believe that a band who constantly managed to experiment with their sound would get stuck in such a dull 3-album groove. In isolation Murray Street and Sonic Nurse would have been considered decent and surprisingly commercial late-career highlights but the fact that they've now recorded the same album 4 times really cheapens their legacy. Ok so there was a bit more variety on Murray Street's seven tracks but 'The Empty Page' has basically become the blueprint for every song they do now. How ironic.
It's surprising because so much of their extra-curricular stuff recently has been great. I can't believe that the same guitarist who records with Original Silence would come up with this middle-aged pub punk borefest.

Sorry for the rant. I haven't always liked the directions Sonic Youth have gone in over the years but at least they were still moving. Having loved the band, watched the shows and bought the records for so long I feel I've earned the right to be thoroughly pissed off by where they've ended up.

is classic. Is it something to do with Mighty Boosh?

I actually liked their first album and live shows. Haven't heard the second one but the atrocious name and cover are making me want to check this one out.

Shame they forgot to get someone to play bass on that one (well some of the tracks.)

could've made a much better pun out of that if I'd really thought about it.

No flea for me!

This is 8/10 good IMO. It just seems that the buzz around the band has increased exponentially since their last album and whatever they put out was going to be met with massive Sunn O)))-esque slabs of hyperbole.

It's not really the massive departure for the band that it's claimed to be (with the exception of Alice and the bit with the ladies choir). Although I'm enjoying it I think I prefer the white albums and Altar.

but only just got into his music after getting him continually confused with Devotchka. Who are shit.

I love electropop-type stuff but her vocals are shockingly bad. She sounds like she's singing a couple of keys too high for her voice. Could that Skream mix get some chart recognition for dubstep? Is it even dubstep? I haven't heard it.

Easily one of the highlights of the weekend. While their tighter, more metal sound worked really well live, it feels a bit boring on record. It will undoubtedly appeal to a lot of Melvins-loving DiSsers but personally I prefer the other 2 albums I have of theirs: How To Raise An Ox and Igneo, which are looser and more like Zorn / Peter Brotzmann territory.

Coltrane - Interstellar Space and Olatunji.

Go on people, blow your minds.

When everyone started going on about it. I don't think it's life-changing stuff by any means and so far I've found more stuff that I wanted to hear to be missing than actually there - I'm too indie I guess.

I've enjoyed checking out albums from my youth that died with my tape player - Saturation by Urge Overkill, dust by Screaming Trees, Jar of Flies by Alice in Chains and a few classics that I've never got round to hearing like Murmur. Unless the ads become way more frequent then I'm happy.

If they add Warp and Domino, however, I'll gladly sell them my soul.

Felt a lot more low key without so many people milling around the main area but brilliant lineup and I had no trouble seeing the bands I wanted. Highlights:

Zu (amazing, much tighter than the 2 albums I have of theirs)
Kontakte (the quad sound was mesmerising - more of this at ATP please)
Dirtbombs (perfect to kick off my Saturday night)
Melvins
Taraf (second half)
Fennesz (what I saw of him)

Disappointments -
Neil Hamburger (I can't handle the coughing)
Manorexia (disrespectful crowd - unlike Kontakte - room lights still on, no atmosphere)

Brilliant ATP - hopefully they will continue to make it more eclectic.

Neé is feminine. Don't they teach you kids anything at school these days?

I love the 'pusher. Roll on ATP.

even the vocals. Shocking.

I've listened to it about 15 times now. All the best albums (including Cookie Mountain) take time to reveal their hidden depths. This one is accessible straight out of the box. If it doesn't do what Neon Bible did for Arcade Fire then there is something wrong with the world. They deserve any success they get from this but, really, Dear Science isn't that good.

Sounds great in the car though and I'm sure it'll be excellent live.

7.5/10.

This is totally like being at ATP.

If the single's anything to go by the guy's just run out of ideas.

non?

please

Lydia Lunch gave one of my all time favourite ATP performances. This is like some kind of No Wave wet dream.

One of my ATP crew is a major John Spencer fan too. Can't wait.

And to think the haters thought it would be nothing but metal and noise.

Radio Luxembourg deserve more recognition outside Wales.

was no Cath and Phil Tyler as they were having a baby apparently. You tend to get a few months notice of that so I hope all was ok and that they play next year.

Were School of Language, Howlin' Rain, Junior Boys, Richard Thompson and Archie Bronson but I guess you can't review all the bands.

4 of those played the main stage on the Saturday during the worst rain and I didn't care one bit. Definitely going back next year.

legally of course. When I heard the stream of it I was a bit disappointed but in full(ish) MP3 glory it sounds massive, I love it. The only criticism might be that they wear their influences too squarely on their sleeves for a band so renowned for their innovation.

Didn't really get into them until Atlas Sound came out. The first couple of tracks on Cryptograms were amazing but it didn't really make a coherent album IMO, more like a collection of all the different ideas they'd had up to that point. Having gone back to it post-AS, I enjoy it more. Need to investigate some of the stuff on his blog now...

This one seems a bit closer to Atlas Sound and really flows better. I like the doo-wap-esque chord progressions too. They are rapidly becoming one of my favourite bands and despite getting this off eMusic I will definitely buy the CD in October.

Y'know, not one to be picky but...

Damn you Green Man, damn you!

That Wildbirds/Nastasia/National clash on Sunday is a bastard.

Only 45 mins for the second stage headliners is a bit tight too but at least I can see Black Mountain and a bit of Spiritualized.

Not in the spirit of the event I know but I'm having trouble formulating meet-up plans having never been before.

Could do with a line between each stage on the running order? Sorry but that is really bugging me.

Can't wait though. My only definites to see are Cath & Phil Tyler, SFA, Pentangle and maybe the National (though I saw them at ATP so could be swayed). Who else should I see?

No Glasto that year, Phoenix was where it was at. Incredible weather, 4 days of great music headlined by Bowie, Neil Young, Bjork and the Sex Pistols (oh well). Then Mean Fiddler decided it was just cheaper to run the same festival twice.

The first Directors Cut ATP was one of the weakest ones I've been to (still good though).

Haven't read this review yet but they were the lead album review in Mojo this month. I didn't even know Peter Brewis had an album out yet but I love Field Music and School of Language.

Can't wait for this one. The Wire review made it sound really interesting. Margerine Eclipse was surprisingly good but I'm hoping this one will be even better.

Sterolab did their own version of One Note Samba, it's on Aluminum Tunes. I like it.

I thought it was confirmed now?