seibu

But I've got to say after prolonged exposure, I found the second half of this record very slightly tune allergic. I don't think it's got the legs of the first one, and there's an element of Emperor's New Clothes to the critical reaction so far. Not that it's bad by any means, though!

very embarrassing. You know, it's stuff like this why nobody takes this website seriously.

and thought it was rubbish.

like a bored foghorn. Some of the early music was good. But god that voice.

Not because I'm some kind of 'blinkered fan', or because he's spoiling my nostalgia. Hell, I don't even like Iggy Pop.

It's lame because he looks like a bloody idiot, with his top off trying to make car insurance sound 'intense', or something. It's got nothing to do with who he is or who he was, it's just a sad sight. And to anyone who says they'd do the same thing for the money: I think you're lame too.

:)

Now if they could get around to settling with the people who's music and samples they ripped off, and actually play half the gigs they book, we could all be friends again.

It's great that PD is prepared to write such a massively in depth account. I can't think of many other artists who are prepared to forensically deconstruct their work like this. More great revelations:

- Negative is about a mortgage application.

- Shotgun is the theme for an imaginary Hanna Barbera cartoon.

- Fall Out was Mansun's response to Bitter Sweet Symphony.

From the blog:

"You see there was a lot of irony in those first 2 Mansun albums, but rock n roll and irony just don't mix, people don't get it. (Except for Achtung Baby, of course.)"

Hmm. I thought about this. There are some candidates for album of the 80s:

Smiths - Any one you want, really.
Michael Jackson - Again, take your pick.
ABC - Lexicon of Love
Associates - Sulk
Bowie - Scary Monsters (just makes it in)
Human League - Dare

Great interview. They're always good value.

The worst you've *ever* seen? Crikey. I'm pretty sure some of the bands I've been in could change your mind.

Admittedly his last blog entry was more than a year ago, but it was surprisingly personal.

the expiration of whatever goodwill they may have had left.

The industry's gotta change. And good music will never stop being made. For one thing, it no longer costs fifty grand to record a decent sounding record.

One thing I hadn't noticed before: They started out sounding like a punk band and ended up sounding like the Stones.

Well spotted slur there.

Really like the content. But the site design doesn't fit on my monitor. Like, horizontally.

I have to use the horizontal scrollbar all the time. That's a bit of a web no-no, especially given that my monitor res is an-old-fashioned-but-by-no-means-unheard-of 1024x768 (48% of 'net users according to here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Display_resolution#Current_standards)

You can still be unlucky. Some friends of mine got in their car at 8am one year, and were still there at 8pm. It all depends what field you're parked in and which way the almost entirely uncoordinated stewards direct you.

in Cornwall in 2000? We ended up walking alongside our car, pouring water into the overheating radiator as fast as it evaporated, in a forty mile traffic queue. It was still really great, though.

Benicassim train station on Monday is always hilarious. A thousand sunstroked people try to get on about four trains.

After last year's EXIT, I still have nightmares about Tuborg. Urgh.

The first three records definitely have a 'swinger' vibe. Moloko went to pretty scary parties, I expect.

they split opinion. They did some pretty strange albums (See 'I Am Not A Doctor' and 'Things To Make And Do'), which were either a) inventive and charming or b) silly and annoying, depending on your point of view. Then they made 'Statues', which to be honest I'm surprised anybody could totally dislike. But there you go.

a matter of opinion (which I don't share) but in any case, they weren't at all coffee table, and sound nowt like Morcheeba.

Arch and accurate criticism. Or any Moloko album, really. Coffee table they weren't.

But I can't help thinking that although Calvin is 'right' so to speak, it would have been a lot cooler to keep quiet about this. Anyone who's heard his album could work out he did the beat.

but it sounds ace!

When he "appeared" on stage with the Zutons to exactly zero crowd reaction, and proceeded to play some chords on a guitar which nobody could hear, and I assume wasn't plugged in, until he shuffled off again, to exactly zero crowd reaction.

As in false grass roots. That's one term I've heard. There may be more appropriate ones. It's very common - although I doubt zoo8 could afford / be arsed to employ astroturfers. Especially since the organisers are probably dragging a suitcase full of money to the costa del sol as we type.

The more I seem to fall in love with bands and records like this. By your own admission it's got "pop hooks aplenty if you truly focus in". And manages to "mix 'Close To Me' with 'In Between Days'". And that's a *bad* thing?

But this review is one of the most depressing and joyless things I've ever read. In the very first paragraph you tell us you probably don't like it because you're old. But you're not even old! Five out of ten? You're insane. Really.

This isn't really true:

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5itjO64MOY5zSRXGQET71vAk5Cw1QD91G4PPO0

What a lame, irresponsible thing for her dad to say.

a bit harsh here. It's a pretty serious condition.

I'm glad this is a single - it really stood out for me on the record. Nice to see they've honoured the ancient tradition of adding a few pointless production tweaks to the single version, too.

is the sincerest form of flattery.

I think he's been pretty obviously coming out for a while now. Check out some of the lyrics on Ringleader. Does he have to spell it out?

Ace song this.

I just saw a couple of names I didn't like. And I'd missed my lunch. I like your stuff actually. And really, who cares what I think?

are horrific.

like the single, despite liking Clor. But hey - maybe it was released as the result of an administrative error?

Give it another listen. It was *way* ahead of its time.

an excellent review. Other DiS writers: This is how you do it! You know, actually try and engage with the record and then tell us some useful things about it.

That said, I love this album to death and completely disagree about the second half!

about Amandah Wilkinson's voice? I've not heard it cited by anyone else as some kind of major deal breaker.

Still, a girl fronted guitar band getting a decent review on DiS? Not likely.

He sings through his nose. And not only that, he sings things like "This is no existential crisis / Just turn your pain into piety" through his nose.

Gave Los Campesinos 9/10? Crikey. That's just indefensible. How could anyone who thinks DLSvsSP resemble a "student union poetry slam" also like a band who have a song called "Knee Deep at ATP"?

Why on earth get somebody who self confessedly hates DLSvsSP and everything they're about to review their album? The guy practically accuses them of being racists in the first paragraph.

A review that tells us a lot more about the reviewer than the record? Yeah, that'll work.

Video of no consequence. I sing to my goldfish and I don't even know what drugs are.

I've been listening to this for ages in rapture and wondering if it was just me. A Stone cold brilliant record.

The only three posts you've ever made are slagging Sons and Daughters, and suggesting they are going to get dropped and split up. Did one of them dump you or something?

they'll weirdly end up on the *next* album, like 'Mourning Air' and 'Over' somehow ended up on 'Portishead'?

Or. Um. They could just have different titles. Yes.