Articles
fishplums has written the following articles:
Mates of State's entourage increases as album number five is readied
Fresh from producing another baby to add to the cutest family in existence, Kori and Jason are giving us a new Mates Of State record next month. Tell us about it, Mister Hammel!»
Pete and the Pirates - Mr. Understanding
It’s a testament to a band when one of their songs takes root in your grey matter for an afternoon of trouble-making, let alone half a year»
Glaswegian Dan Aykroyd fans to tour!
Apologies if Orange Juice are closet Aykroyd fans and I just caused you a seizure, as it's Dananananaykroyd who are soon to be fight-popping in a few select venues this Autumn.»
Early forecast: it'll be Swn-ny in Wales this November
Opening details have been released for Cardiff's own SXSW, taking place in pubs, clubs, cafés and art spaces across the city...»
Weezer: coughing out an update
Information is coming out in dribs and drabs about Rivers et al's next album. The latest update is a fan-boy's account of a recording session, penned by their weezer.com webmaster, Karl Koch.»
Korntastic: no, really.
Anyone keeping tabs on Sheryl Crow these days? A month or two ago, she proposed to the world that, following a toilet visit, you should use a maximum of one sheet of paper to clean up. Jonathan Davis just went one better.»
The Blow goes solo (YACHT sails away)
The Blow, the one-piece turned two-piece responsible for 2006's sweet, beat-laden Paper Television album, has lost a member...»
Be Prepared: Mixtapes from Cub Scouts
I Was A Cub Scout are touring for the next forever, which means lots of time spent in the mini-van squabbling over battered Neil Young albums and broken TDK tapes with funny titles and themes...»
Europe to be plunged into Darkness?
Squeaky-voiced mentalist Justin Hawkins is joining such luminaries as Daz Sampson and Katie Price in auditioning to be Britain's next Eurovision Song Contest entry...»
Rose Kemp, SJ Esau, Babel, Men Diamler at Bristol Seymours Family Club, Wed 20 Sep
There exists in Bristol a sub-community of music fans, the type I imagine/hope exists in every city, who regularly support their own, turn up at every gig by certain artists and enthusiastically engage with every performance. The latest of which takes place in the kitsch working men’s atmosphere of Seymour’s Family Club...»
Bernard Fanning - Wish You Well
Sheryl Crow, Alanis Morissette and Bernard Fanning. That’s what they’ll say. Pilot, co-pilot and air steward on the voyage to music hell. An acoustic guitar, some two-bit rhymes and a sense of forced optimism is evidently all you need to wreck somebody’s day...»
The Futureheads at Cardiff University, Sun 11 Jun
The Futureheads seem to have slipped into the ‘Friend Zone’ prematurely; an astonishing, jittering debut which did the groundwork in charming (come on, they are) little venues around the country followed by a brisk rebuff; not quite what we were expecting.»
Muse talk to DiS: new album, Western films and WIN! WIN! WIN!
In a world of safe, predictable, eagerly-devoured playlist fodder, you always need that other option. Love them or hate them, that Muse provoke such polarised opinions warrants respect alone. In fact, the very reason they're collosal rock stars now is because they shake things up so much; if you've heard the new single, you'll surely know that they're anything but predictable.
Ahead of the release of their fast-approaching fourth album Black Holes And Revelations, DiS grabbed five minutes with bassist Chris Wolstenholme»
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Dani California
Perhaps the worst thing about this song is that after a few listens is that you grow to like it. Actually, like is the wrong word.»
The New Pornographers get some Mates
Mates of State join The New Pornographers for a few shows before taking up the reigns themselves...»
If you're a fan, this isn't Evens funny
Bad news for anyone hoping to catch The Evens at one of tonight's duo of shows at Bristol Cube Cinema.»
The Automatic at Cardiff Clwb Ifor Bach, Thu 09 Mar
This show’s been teed up beautifully – support slots around the country with The Ordinary Boys and The Kooks have left these Cowbridge lads looking like brightest star to come out of (nearly) Cardiff since Mclusky trail-blazed their bastard rock to all and sundry...»
Two Gallants - What The Toll Tells
Whether they’ve taken too much meat from the Bright Eyes plate of ideas is irrelevant; Two Gallants serve up nourishing and enriching songs with a huge variety of subjects.»
Kieran Hebden and Steve Reid - The Exchange Session Vol.1
Keiran Hebden’s previous work with legendary jazz drummer Steve Reid left a somewhat strange taste in the mouth, his stabs of jarring noise sounding oddly out of place on last year’s Steve Reid Ensemble release ‘Spirit Walk', but what will become of this new collaboration?»
MC Lars - Download This Song
Stylistically it’s a nightmare: heavy drum machine beats and white-boy rapping over the top of sampled guitar lines from Iggy Pop’s The Passenger sounds nightmarishly bad on first listen, but often the mediums that grab us the most are the ones that need time to settle in.»
Silent Front, Tiger Force - Silent Front Vs. Tiger Force
This was a duel borne of friendship and rivalry in equal parts: the fresh math-rock contingent with furrowed brows and veins bursting forth anger with every guitar swipe versus the corner of the inventive noise clans, all screaming and lyrically incontinent. Silent Front packing three hulking lumps of testosterone in the red corner versus diminutive Team Tiger Force in the blue.»
Help She Can't Swim, Test Icicles, Damn Arms at Cardiff Barfly Club, Thu 26 Jan
Chants of "we want a refund" replace chants of "you're sh*t and you know you are" as the trio, more and more amused and impressed with themselves, lap it up 'til the end.»
The Strokes - First Impressions Of Earth
'Is This It' was a treasure trove of indie classics but their shroud of hype has been The Strokes' greatest ally and also their biggest foe. I invite you to sweep aside all previous opinions and Steve Albini essays and give this album the chance it deserves.»
Wolf Parade at Bristol Louisiana, Tue 29 Nov
Wolf Parade are pissed off. They've just detoured the length of Ireland, caught a ferry across a violent Irish Sea and driven several hours through the pouring rain and pitch black just so they could perform in front of 150 drunk Bristolians. We're stripping away the egos and the pre-conceived stage show and witnessing a group of musicians at their absolute prime in the face of diversity. Now we get to see the real band. »
Cats And Cats And Cats - Victorialand
The name might not be familiar, but the heritage certainly should be. Cats And Cats And Cats follow DiS old-timers Youthmovie Soundtrack Strategies and The Edmund Fitzgerald into this homegrown melting pot of math- and post-rock.»
Nada Surf, John Vanderslice at Bristol Fleece and Firkin, Sun 13 Nov
In times where scraggly guitar bands are two to a penny, it's essential to have a little something extra to set you apart from the rest. That's why tonight is about more than just guitars.»