Review
by Gareth Dobson
Primal Screams last album, 'Evil Heat' was a muddled and largely mediocre
mess of ideas. At least in whatever addled state they were in, they saw sense
in releasing this track as a single.
A laid back, eerie groove accompanies an understated syncopated drumbeat, which,
coupled with Bobby »
Review
by Gareth Dobson
The departure from their very own label, Chemikal Underground, the arrival
of a new producer, (the burgeoning legend that is) Dave Fridmann, a new outlook
and an old sound, developed, made new again.
It's very much a case of beginnings and ends for the Scottish quartet, and
this album is the documen»
Review
by Gareth Dobson
What other band would make your ticket to a gig a one-off commemorative T-shirt
that you have to wear to get into a gig? Who else would supply the identikit-clad
crowd a vast array of inflatable toys to wave and joust with? Its most definitely
a Lemon Jelly kinda event.
When they initially arrived on »
Review
by Gareth Dobson
When the oft-bought but rarely-read Aldous Huxley wrote his novel, 'The Doors
of Perception', he hardly thought that I'd be alluding to it in a short review
of two bands on the Camden circuit. But I am, albeit tenuously. You see, its all
about perception. How you perceive yourself, how other people perceive yo»
Review
by Gareth Dobson
Here placed before us, are three unassuming, polite young men from Kingston.
And that's where the problem ultimately lies.
Unless you have a forceful, crunching, way round a yoof anthem ala Hundred
Reasons, or a giant white-hot ball of fury pent up inside of you, forcing
its way out ala »
Review
by Gareth Dobson
Waiting for that new Strokes album? It's not going to be around for
a while, so uh, go look at someone else. Perhaps you could try a band that have
been accompanying them across the West Coast of the States recently; The
Realistics.
Set in the permanent sweatbox that is the »
Review
by Gareth Dobson
Perhaps you were worried that the Badly Drawn Boy had lost it a bit after his
Mercury Music Prize. The 'About A Boy' soundtrack contained the odd gem
such as the gorgeous Lennon-esque 'Silent Sigh', but overall it
embodied the term 'treading water'.
You can exhale your own silent»
News
by Gareth Dobson
Weezer, the chart-humping emo superstars, have released for a limited time only,
MP3s of their triumphant 12-song set at the Reading leg of the Carling Weekend
this year.
Of the performance, only 'Keep Fishin' is absent from the
website.
=W= Bootologists will have to hurry though,»
News
by Gareth Dobson
Gemma Hayes, Mercury Music Prize-nominated and DiS-championed Irish post-rock folkie type,
is off on tour at the end of this month and into the next, supporting them wrinkley old men,
Suede.
Having finished a 12 date headlining tour of her own just yesterday, Gemma
will be playing the big the»
Review
by Gareth Dobson
And you wonder why this band pisses so many people off? Or should the question
be; Are people in the music industry really that retarded?
Okay, you're the most fawned over antipodean item since Russell Crowe's
beard, and you've debuted two condensed nuclear explosions of singles to the
UK p»
News
by Gareth Dobson
Chemikal Underground founders, and current Mantra inhabitants,
the mighty Delgados have announced that they are to go out on tour with
the equally mighty Doves.
Billed as 'special guests', The Delgados will be joined by another band on the triple bill.
And of course T»
Review
by Gareth Dobson
Ah, the life of a Rock Star tm. So many clichés to trade in, so many
well-trodden paths to retrace.
So its hats off to the Weezer boys, one summer tour and more clichés
packed in then a Tuesday night Champions League match with Ron Atkinson.
Japanese tour. Check»
In Depth by Gareth Dobson
St Etienne Interviewed by Peter Headen and Mark Brown
We start in a room above a pub in Shoreditch, with Pete Wiggs and Bob
Stanley. Sarah's somewhere else, yet to arrive
. We're bricking it because
we've never interviewed anyone before, and now here we are with two thirds of
»
Review
by Gareth Dobson
"We the people fight for our existence
We don't claim to be perfect but we're free
We dream our dreams alone with no resistance
Fading like the stars we wish to be
Y'know I didn't mean What I just said
But my god woke up on the wrong side of his bed"
The progre»
Review
by Gareth Dobson
Have you ever listened to The Buzzcock's 'Going Steady' singles
compilation? It's absolutely, utterly fantastic. The same goes for the Pet
Shop Boy's 'Discography' and The Cure's 'Standing On A Beach'.
Shorn of the inedifying fat of album tracks and 'extras', Singles coll»
Review
by Gareth Dobson
The Metro is absolutely packed to the rafters tonight, and it's a noticeable
split; while the majority are here to see alt-gonzo rock legend J Mascis,
there is a substantial amount of people (largely looking like extras from a Strokes
video) here to see London's latest media sensations, Th»
Review
by Gareth Dobson
Someone, somewhere warned you not to worship false idols (I think it was
Matt Damon in 'Dogma'), and man, are these guys setting themselves up for
a major witch-hunt.
Posing, attitude-laden, tune deriding, Verve deriving, funk-rock fakers
from Kippax. They may set themselves out to be t»
Review
by Gareth Dobson
When push comes to shove, Americans always seem to have that lo-fi troubadour
thing down better than anyone else; and be assured, the spirit of Dando
flows thick through this one.
Released on Shoeshine Records, a label formed by Francis Macdonald
of Teenage Fanclub an»
Review
by Gareth Dobson
Guitars (around 432 of them), glockenspiel, weird gloopy things and kitchen
sinks, all these instruments feature heavily in this glorious, progged-out
pop epic, an ode to his own, intrinsically fatalistic view of relationships;
"I give my all, keep nothing back, I was cynical in my own time, the»
Review
by Gareth Dobson
Artifice and Edifice. Two of the key aspects in the career of Rivers Cuomo.
Why does a man who can construct songs of such utter sublime brillance and
simplicity seem to be such a complex person? And why do I get the feeling that
he's never been really, truly honest with me?
I mean, is he really still»
Review
by Gareth Dobson
It wasn't looking good for The Shining, previously
dismissed by myself at least as shameless beer-and-fags rock relying
on past glories and leaden influences.
Therefore, it's a pleasant surprise that this, the third single»
Review
by Gareth Dobson
All this song does is whine whine whine
Look, I'm not going to mass generalise bands of this ilk, hell, I like most
of them. Well some of them, anyway.
But Saves The Day are guilty of two of the most tepid, whining songs
of the last few months. Previous single, '»
Review
by Gareth Dobson
Okay, okay, it's Sunday in Chelmsford, and to be honest, my head is completely
screwed. I went to see the Chemical Brothers last night, and it got a little out
of control.
After arguably the worst breakfast in the history of festival cu»
Review
by Gareth Dobson
Ahh, Chelmsford. famous for, well, not much really, except for one weekend
a year when the glitterati of the MTV-endorsed music world descend on a large
park in the local vicinity to rock politely. Darling.
Its time for V again, and this time, they've brought the sun with them. Plenty
of it too. As »
Review
by Gareth Dobson
Oh Ash, let me count the ways that I love thee... No, sorry, too many.
The band with the most under-rated second album in music history (and believe
me, there are many) return with the precursor to their 'Intergalatic Sonic
Sevens' singles collection. This of course provokes two reactions; firstly »
Review
by Gareth Dobson
Starting off with strings like a Scorsese epic, this tune's probably the
standout track from the Mercury Music Award-winning 'Original Pirate Material'.
And within seconds the lush piano loop rolls over and over with hypnotic effect
and we're away on the trip of our lives. Literally.
It's »
Review
by Gareth Dobson
Quite a phenomenon, Goldrush. Its like they've appeared out of the ether as
a fully formed proposition; their own label, festival, album (forthcoming in September)
and major label support (Virgin).
Not surprising really, when they release si»
In Depth by Gareth Dobson
Hmmm. V2002. it's a bit anodyne, safe, whatever.
Or is it?
Yes, it is.
However, scrape away the surface layer, and then the next few, and you will
get to some 10 to 12 ct gold bands. Okay, okay, I'm being cynical, but if you
take a look at the Reading/Leeds line-up, you reali»
News
by Gareth Dobson
John Squire, former Stone Rose and Seahorse, releases
his debut solo album, "Time Changes Everything", on September
16th 2002.
The album will debut his first recorded material in 6 years, the last time
he produced any material was from the 1996 Seahorses session»
Review
by Gareth Dobson
I Own Kings are goddamn cool. And that's a good start.
To be in the best band in the world, there are pretty much two pre-requisites;
firstly you've gotta look the bomb. That's a big 15-megaton bomb. Secondly,
you have to sound amazing. "Well, duh!" say thee
But
how »