Bloc Party downloads for free? We7 reckon so...
Decent-enough record label V2 is the first major (though independent, natch) label to sign to the rather interesting free-download conundrum that is www.we7.com.»
Articles
GarethD has written the following articles:
Solo Stroke for two months; Alby Jr takes to the road
Alby heads around the UK. Does festivals too.»
Ryan Adams at London Koko, Thu 07 Jun
Tonight’s set is criminally short, performed in an overheated, oversold venue with less sightlines for the crowd than is surely morally acceptable, even for the most unscrupulous venue owner...»
Worker 'bees: Latchmere kids do big tour
Top young poplings from the outer edges of a county near capital city, England, The Maccabees, have announced a large-venue tour for this October.»
¡Forward, Russia! prepare new album
Skronky art-core heroes, ¡Forward, Russia!, are to launch a new online diary documenting the creation of their second album as they record it in Seattle with acclaimed hardcore producer, Matt Bayles...»
The Weekly DiScussion: is Glastonbury really the greatest show on Earth?
Best festival in the world? Life-changing experience? The epicentre of the British counter-culture? Gareth Dobson can't wait for Glastonbury to come around again this year, so much so, he's polled the office for their best (worst?) memories of the event. And asks in The Weekly DiScussion: why is this festival so brilliant?»
Two Gallants - The Scenery Of Farewell EP
Two Gallants played around 200 shows last year. That’s quite a lot, really. It would also explain why this new offering from the band is an acoustic EP: time is a bitch, and people get bored of electric guitars. Either that, or following a harrowing run-in with the law in Houston, Texas last year for playing too loudly, they’ve decided to strip things down to a decidedly politer level...»
The Icarus Line - Black Lives At The Golden Coast
With an eight-year career fuelled by drugs, increasingly improbable rock and roll antics already behind them, and a Spinal Tap-esque selection of former members, The Icarus Line are a publicist’s wet dream. They’re also – thank God – the antithesis to people prancing up and down West London thrashing away on battered acoustic guitars...»
Los Campesinos! - You! Me! Dancing!
The song that begat the Los Campesinos! love-in last year finally gets an official release. Probably by now sitting on more people’s hard drives and linked to more music blogs than is strictly necessary, it’s already become the anthem of a new indie world order ready to reject the folly and horror of the three years that have preceded it...»
DiS meets James Murphy; asks about Daft Punk; gets the brush off
DiS's Gareth Dobson meets LCD Soundsystem head-honcho James Murphy to discuss the genesis of DFA Records, The Rapture's ascent to fame, and Daft Punk... almost.
"I think I’m lucky – I understand what I’ve gotten myself into and I’m not stressed about it. I’m given a lot of freedom, and I don’t know that I have to worry a lot about what the rules are… because I’m not all that obsessed with what the results are"»
The Maccabees at York Fibbers, Mon 21 May
It’s easy to be entirely dismissive of every new band on the indie production belt. Without DiS wanting to sound like the old duffers of rock, who really can tell the difference between a Mumm-ra, a Good Shoe or a Pulled Tiger Tail? Let alone a Cajun Dance Party and God knows what else. Seems like everyone’s got a top 40 single in them these days...»
The Cribs - Men's Needs
The Cribs release new single from third album. Proceed to confuse us, but equally manage to thrill us. So it goes...»
Five stars: DiS's picks for The Great Escape
This weekend, those of you who aren’t heading down to ATP may well be considering or already planning a trip to another part of the coast: Brighton’s The Great Escape is in its second year and has expanded to encompass more new bands then there might actually be left in the world. DiS’s Gareth Dobson braves the ‘who?’s and the ‘why?’s to select five acts that you might not have checked out yet... but probably should...»
Q&A: Supersweet and Dudesweet
Thai-British cultural crossover entities Dudesweet and Supersweet have steadily grown in profile and status over the past couple of years. DiS chats to leading light Choltida of said publications about raves, backpacking and the defining impact of Britpop on Thai culture...»
HateSphere in China, Blog Part 2.
European metallers HateSphere continue to take us on their adventure through China..»
HateSphere in China, Blog Part 3.
Part three of Danish heavy metal heroes HateSphere on their Chinese adventure...»
DiS Focus: India
A huge nation with a burgeoning reputation for providing good rock bands, Gareth Dobson focuses on India's developing rock scene...»
HateSphere in China, Blog Part 1.
Hard metal band HateSphere, from Denmark, prepare themselves for their - and indeed Western metal's - inaugural tour of China. In this first part of a regular series of blogs, Jacob of the band tells us what he's expecting...»
Metronomy, Noisettes, These New Puritans + More set for London War Child show
War Child, the charity who actively highlight the plight of children in war-affected areas of the world, have announced a London late night show.»
Shitdisco on playing Thailand: "They asked us how long we wanted to go for... two months!"
Been asked to play to ten thousand people at Thailand’s biggest rock festival? Broken your wrist touring with Klaxons? Disaster awaits, surely? Not if you’re in Shitdisco and you've managed to cleverly program some drum beats. Gareth Dobson speaks to the Scottish dancemeisters about the joys of spreading their musical word to the East...»
Foals - Hummer / Astronauts And All
‘Hummer’ is more pop-math than previous recordings may have hinted. Sounding a bit like Animal Collective rifling through The Rapture’s audio files on electro night, it’s a furious, insistent track that demands dancefloor action from even the most conservative of staid, skinny jeans-wearing stand-arounds...»
The Weekly DiScussion: Covered in glory or retarded reinterpretations?
Cover versions, eh? Seems you can’t move for them at the moment. There's Mark Ronson and Patti Smith, Sugababes and Girls Aloud, that bloke from Little Britain...
Gareth Dobson wonders if we should ban this sick filth, but then remembers that he loves that ska version of 'The Final Countdown'...»
Label Focus #4: Dance To The Radio
One of the most prominent mainstays of Yorkshire music in the past few years has been independent recording label Dance To The Radio. DiS's Gareth Dobson speaks to founder Whiskas - he of ¡Forward, Russia! - about all the badness...»
The Weekly DiScussion: indie-rock ethnic cleansing, who's first against the wall?
The recent cancellation of last week’s London Easter treat – The Insomniacs Ball – was for unspecified reasons; an apology was issued (click here), but it wasn’t exactly clear. Many speculated that the all-nighter was cancelled due to the lack of ticket sales. A more specific, and interesting suggestion, was that it was down entirely to the presence of The Twang...»
Label Focus #3: Bella Union
As they approach their 10th Birthday, DiS speaks to Bella Union founder Simon Raymonde about all things Twickenham, Texan and why the Reel to Reel society's ambitions were slam dunked by Margaret Beckett...»
Kill Surf City: McGee launches new club night
Alan McGee, he who brought you the likes of Death Disco and the Queen is Dead club nights (and some sort of music label), has launched a new night...»
Bright Eyes - Four Winds
‘Four Winds’ is simply a beautiful, woozy ballad and a fine advertisement for the forthcoming Cassadaga LP...»
The Weekly DiScussion: How green is your festival?
Looking forward to festivals this year? Killers. No, not the ubiquitous straggly quartet from Las Vegas, you. You who, step-by-step, are destroying the environment and our beautiful planet with your discarded beer cups, burning up, well, everything, and probably hiring an 18-wheeler to transport you and your mates there...»
SXSW Field Report - Day 3
Today (Friday), Austin is hot. People are gently baking in the sun, parties are being thrown in sub-Summer weather and everyone is happy; even if our dogs are barking.»
SXSW Field Report - Day 2
Austin was full of get-up-and-go today (yesterday). Having broken the back of Dos Equis and Lone Star drinking, there was a brimful of bonhomie and a slew of day parties to attend.»