The PopJunkie Xmas party - Last gig of the year at Metro with Sixty Second Silence

It’s not a good time for London music venues - the Astoria is to shut
down to make way for a new rail link (cheers, then), as is The Metro
Club, and if that’s not bad enough, someone decided to burn down
Nambucca in Holloway Road this week.

All of these venues have a special place in my heart; the Astoria was
where I have seen a string of classic gigs including Arcade Fire,
Divine Comedy, Gene’s final show, Fountains of Wayne and Suede.
The Metro Club was where I almost spilt a round of drinks when I
literally bumped into Morrissey at a gig by The Boyfriends, and
Nambucca is where I actually first saw the aforementioned band, who
are sadly no longer with us.

It’s a sad state of affairs - soon there won’t be any individual,
atmospheric London venues left, just horrible, new soulless places
that are sponsored by lager brands or mobile phone network providers.
Anyway, before it’s too late, get yourself down to Metro on December
23, to see one of our current favourite London bands play - indie
electro blues duo Sixty Second Silence.

With influences as diverse as Pixies, The Cure, Led Zep, The Small
Faces, Hot Chip and LCD Soundsystem, they make a hell of a racket for
a two-piece.

Just lately, they sound like The White Stripes and Second Coming-era
Stone Roses jamming with New Order. Yup - told you they were good.

Sequencer lines and tight as f*** drumming collides with dirty blues
guitar riffs, moody, retro keyboard sounds and ’80s overcoat misery.
Earlier in the year, PopJunkie described them as:”Indie meets electro
in a totally non-contrived way…just wicked little loops, rock ‘n’
roll guitars and banging drums”.

Pray silence, please.

60 Second Silence play Metro, Oxford St, London on December 23 - see you
there.

Great lost pop albums - Lennon reincarnated - The Orgone Box

John Lennon is alive and well, and before you ask, no, he doesn’t have a monobrow. These days he passes himself off as Rick Corcoran, whose Orgone Box album from 1996 does Beatles-era Revolver better than any of those oh-so-hip US bands you could care to mention. It’s a real contender for the best pop-psych album of the last decade.

Named after a device created by Wilhelm Reich to capture the energy of the universe, The Orgone Box is a moniker for one-man pop-psych genius Rick Corcoran. Actually, Corcoran’s sound is more akin to Across The Universe, as he takes his inspiration directly from Lennon and The Beatles. Just listen to the pleading Find The One – it sounds so like Lennon, it’s scary. Liam Gallagher would give his monobrow to have written it.

“I’ve got a psychedelic mind,” sings Corcoran on the brilliant Anaesthesia – and you’re inclined to believe him. In the mid-‘90s, Corcoran was part of Orange, who had a minor hit with the fantastic Judy Over The Rainbow. This album includes a version of that song as well as plenty of other modern pop-psyche nuggets.

Originally released in Japan in 1996, The Orgone Box’s self-titled debut lay undiscovered until our friends at Minus Zero Records decided to release it. Thank god they did, it’s easily one of the finest British pop albums of the last ten years. Drawing comparisons to Revolver/Sgt Pepper-era Beatles, Corcoran has an ear for an irresistible melody – the album is shot through with instantly memorable tunes.

From the Byrdsy jangle of Hello Central… Give Me Ganymede; to the dreamy Bubble and the sad-eyed Guilt Trip, this is classy stuff, Corcoran’s FX-laden Lennonesque vocals drifting in from another galaxy over a head-spinning mix of chiming guitars, hazy sounds and layered instrumentation. There’s also a temporary diversion into fuzzed-up power-pop (Noddyland) and the Dylan meets Robyn Hitchcock gem Ticket With No Return. If you like this, you’ll also love Cotton Mather’s Kontiki – more of the same Fab Four-friendly, psychedelic earcandy. It’s perfect for Mellotroning out to….

The Orgone Box (Minus Zero) 1996 (issued in UK 2001)

Stop the audio torture - or why no human should have to listen to Eminem for sixteen hours a day

At this time of year it seems impossible to avoid the constant assault on your eardrums. From the awful Christmas songs playing in the shops, to the on going competition for the number 1 Christmas single. It ’s beginning to feel a lot like torture.

Unfortunately for some people this feeling is not just in their imagination. In some prisons it has been realized that playing the same songs over and over again at full volume, is quite an effective method of torture. Unlike those musicians who are happy to harass the masses with their quest for number one, a growing group of musicians is joining up with the British law group Reprieve, to urge governments to stop the use of music in torture. This includes music heavy weights such as Massive Attack and Tom Morello, from Rage Against The Machine. Basically these artists aren’t too impressed that their music is being used to ‘break’ people.

Read more

EMI wants to be Last.fm (kind of)

Major label EMI has relaunched its website in a Web 2.0 stylee. The revamped EMI.com now offers all manner of audio-streaming video-playing music-discovering social-networking goodness, based mainly around its own artists, of course.

You could interpret it as EMI trying to take on independent sites like Last.fm, Imeem and even MySpace. The label says that’s not the case though: “EMI.com is designed to be a learning lab. It will help us gain even more knowledge about consumers’ preferences and choices,” says the label’s Alex Haar.

“Those insights will be invaluable to our artists, helping them respond to fans in a more relevant way. This is the beginning of a longer term experiment. In the coming months, we will continue to add content and features to the site.”

Those new features will include embeddable widgets and the ability to buy tracks, apparently. Would you go to a record label’s site to discover new music, or do you prefer existing sites like those mentioned above? Post a comment with your views!

200 of 2008’s hottest digital music startups

That’s right, 200. There were that many new streaming music services, download stores, recommendation tools, online mixtape creation sites, naughty P2P services, and gig ticketing search engine… things.

Music industry blog Music Ally has undertaken the mammoth task of cataloging 200 of these sites, sorting them into categories and giving pithy descriptions of what they do.

Some of our faves include Twitter-length reviews site Musebin, streaming services Spotify (pictured) and Cassette From My Ex, unsigned band discovery sites Thesixtyone and TheNextBigSound, and the Wu Tang Clan’s chess site Wuchess.

(We didn’t make that last one up).

The full list is well worth a read, and it gives you a sense of all the new ideas that are being tried in the online music space. Are any of them making any money out of it? Er…

Vote for the most under-rated album ever

Excellent digital music people We7 (you know the ones who stream music for free) have been putting together a list of the most under-rated albums of all time. For some unfathomable reason they asked Sean, who true to form, has suggested the second Gene album.

Vic has also weighed in with a surprise choice in The Divine Comedy’s Fin de Siecle, which IMO is the best of the ten.

Anyhow there’s a list of the ten albums here. So go and get voting.

Dylan, The Jam, Jeff Buckley - the 10 live albums I wished I’d been there for

Do you ever wish you were born in a different time or in a different place? I do, pretty regularly. And no, I’m not talking about the credit crunch or negative equity. I’m talking about music, obviously. And I’m not talking about being in the studio at Abbey Road when the Beatles recorded Sgt Peppers – because that’s wanting to be in a mere handful of people, and I’m not that egotistical. I’m talking about being at an event, a concert, a great era defining musical gathering!

Here’s ten I wish I’d been lucky enough to attend – there may have been better live albums, but there are the misses that hurt for me.

The Jam – Dig the New Breed
This is a personal highlight/lowlight for me. I was just too young to see The Jam’s last ever gigs, but I was old enough to see the first Style Council ones. This cruel twist of fate has haunted my musical journey, and while I can listen to this excellent live album with a degree of pleasure, for most of the 80s it mocked me like a spurned lover.

Bob Dylan – Live at the Royal Albert Hall 1966
Possibly the most famous live recording of all time; Dylan goes electric, and pisses off loads of folk fans. The gig is more than just a slice of musical history though, it’s one of the most incendiary live performances of all times. And I know what you are thinking, you think I want to be the chap that shouts out ‘Judas’, but I don’t. I’d love to have sat near him though, so I could have looked at him askew when he did it. Read more

10 bands who should support Blur at Hyde Park

Did you get tickets? Well, did you? Oh well, don’t worry if not - we hear they’re headlining Glasto. Yes, the reformed Blur are the hottest ticket for next summer by far, assuming the rumoured Smiths and Guns’n'Roses reunions don’t happen (sadly, yes, that’s two separate reunions, not a supergroup).

But who will support Blur at Hyde Park? You have to assume the band will be hand-picking the other bands on the bill, but will they go for a Britpop nostalgia-fest, or something more quirky? Naturally, we’ve got views - check our ten suggestions below, and then let us know who you’d like to see on-stage on the big days…

MENSWEAR

Why they should: Because the public demand it! Well, some of the public. Okay, us. But Menswear’s debut album is a bona-fide Britpop classic, long overdue a critical revival. A tight support set could spark it.

Why they probably won’t: Reforming the band might be tricky - singer Johnny reportedly wasn’t keen when the idea was mooted last year, and the rest of the band are gainfully employed in various music biz jobs.

AFRICA EXPRESS

Why they should: Less a band, more a constantly-rotating gala of Western and African musicians collaborating live on-stage. And since Damon Albarn’s in charge and keen to open our minds to this stuff, Hyde Park would be the perfect opportunity.

Why they probably won’t: Actually, we can’t think of any reasons, unless Damon is too busy re-learning the lyrics to This Is A Low to have time to organise it.

MY BLOODY VALENTINE

Why they should: Kevin Shield’s sonic visionaries are back together and played some rapturously-received comeback gigs this year. The white-noise bit from Realise would sound ace through big stadium speakers. And it’d be a reunion of sorts from the Rollercoaster tour of 1992. Don’t worry, we’re not suggesting Dinosaur Jr should play too.

Why they probably won’t: If Health & Safety don’t rule it out, the expense of distributing earplugs to every gig-goer (as they did on their tour) probably will.

SLEEPER

Why they should: Another reunion - Sleeper supported Blur at Ally Pally in 1994. And like Menswear, they’re cruelly under-rated now - a greatest hits set would sort that. Plus any difficulties reforming the band would be offset by the fact that frankly Louise Wener could hire ANY three blokes as backup and nobody would be any the wiser.

Why they probably won’t: Louise is an author nowadays (although maybe she could do a spoken-word reading).

WIGWAM

Why they should: Four words: Alex James, Betty Boo. Every single member of the crowd gets to go doe-eyed with lust at one or both of them.

Why they probably won’t: Did anyone buy the Wigwam single? And possible jealousy within Blur if Alex gets two goes on-stage, although perhaps in mitigation every band member could get a support slot for their own project. Dave could do a talk about politics, obv.

STONE ROSES

Why they should: With rumours of a big-money reunion, Hyde Park would be the perfect venue for a dry-run - much as the Manic Street Preachers did supporting the Roses in their comeback gig after Richey’s disappearance.

Why they probably won’t: Possibly too linked to the Oasis camp. Plus it’s anyone’s guess if those monetary offers have even convinced Ian Brown and John Squire to be civil to one another, let alone share a stage. Oh, and the Roses could probably fill Hyde Park on their own next summer if they wanted to.

CHARLATANS

Why they should: They’d be cheaper and more gettable than the Stone Roses. And lest we forget, the Charlies’ Just When You’re Thinking Things Over was the best single released in the week when Country House and Roll With It went head-to-head…

Why they probably won’t: That Oasis connection again: the Charlatans supported the Mancs at Knebworth.

KAISER CHIEFS

Why they should: Proven rabble-rousers on a Hyde Park sized stage, and their first album positioned them as the spiritual heirs to Modern Life Is Rubbish / Parklife-era Blur. With a bit of arm-twisting, they might be persuaded to bring their blow-up dinosaur.

Why they probably won’t: Possibly a bit too similar if Blur are planning a greatest hits set. Also, the Chiefs were spotted this weekend playing as Girls Aloud’s backing band on telly, so they might not fancy the switch back to indie.

POWDER

Why they should: Cheaper and more gettable than Sleeper. Pearl Lowe would probably relish the chance to get back on-stage. And Afrodisiac is a killer tune, which still slays indie discos today. Well, it would do if any of the DJs would play it.

Why they probably won’t: All the other Powder tunes aren’t so killer, if we’re honest. And Pearl might prefer to stick with the fashion biz.

THE CARDIACS

Why they should: This grizzled band’s punk-goes-fairground racket was one of the supports at Blur’s Mile End gig in 1995, at the personal request of Blur themselves.

Why they probably won’t: They didn’t go down too well at Mile End, if I’m honest. And sadly, singer Tim Smith had a heart attack earlier this year (that’s not a band-name based joke - he really did), so getting back on-stage probably isn’t high on their agenda at the mo.

How The X Factor killed Christmas

There are many reasons to hate The X Factor, many of which are well-known. Like Louis Walsh, the theme weeks, the made-up arguments between the judges to court press attention, the collusion of the press in the made-up arguments between the judges to court press attention, Louis Walsh, everyone banging on about it being “their dream”, the schmaltzy song selections, the baffling popularity of hobbits (see Ray Quinn, Eoghan Quigg), Louis Walsh, the absurdly portentous contestant intros…

*deep breath*

Like the way every single comment that comes out of Simon Cowell’s mouth is seemingly meant to make viewers vote (and thus pour money into his bank account), providing paid employment for Dannii Minogue, the insistence on cutting all songs down while also inserting a Westlife-style chord change moment, the relentless fucking crying, the way they cruelly dumped Poor Kate Thornton…

(Actually, that’s a plus point. But it’s the only one)

You get the picture. Oh, and did I mention Louis Walsh? But there are two reasons to especially loathe this series of The X Factor, and they’re both festive. Well, sort of.

The first is the choice of single for this year’s winner. They’re doing Hallelujah - essentially a cover of the Jeff Buckley version.

Now, I’m no indie zealot, but I sometimes wish the music industry could nick an idea from the NFL - the American Football people. Teams there retire certain squad numbers when a legendary player retires - they retire the jersey.

Songs should get the same treatment - they should be retired when someone’s recorded the definitive version, if only so Simon Cowell can’t slap a string section, gospel choir and chord change onto them ever. Hallelujah would be a stone-cold candidate for being retired after Buckley’s version - with some kind of bye for Leonard Cohen, obviously.

Jeff Buckley’s Hallelujah makes people cry. The X Factor winner’s version will make the same people cry more, I predict.

But the second reason to loathe The X Factor is the way it’s killed Christmas. By which I mean destroyed the traditional fun and frolics around which song will be Christmas Number One here in the UK.

It used to be a huge deal, no matter how little a shit you gave about the charts for the other 51 weeks of the year. Okay, so you might have pretended you were more excited about John Peel’s Festive 50, but that didn’t stop you being in front of the box on Christmas Day to see who’d taken top slot. Even when it was Cliff.

The X Factor has destroyed that. Killed it stone dead. Every year, the X Factor winner is the de facto Christmas Number One. The bookmakers come up with odds on other songs, but there’s really no contest. A magical moment in music has been thoroughly stomped under Simon Cowell’s jackboot. Or whatever he wears that goes with those trousers.

The X Factor has killed Christmas.

There’s a way it can make amends, of course. Next year, shift the final to Christmas Day, and have the winner’s single go on sale the next day. It’ll still sell a shitload of copies, but the Christmas Number One will be open to all again.

They won’t do it, though. They’ll probably have the winner cover Radiohead’s Street Spirit, just to rub it in. Then we’ll be really angry…

Anathallo - Canopy Glow

Last month I had the chance to check out a great performance of Chicago’s Anathallo, as they tour the release of their latest album, Canopy Glow.

Anathallo formed in 2000 by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Matt Joynt. Since performing at Coachella in 2007, they have been creating quite a buzz, with their unique sound being described as something between the Animal Collective and Sufjan Stevens.

This seven piece ensemble, similarly to bands like Broken Social Scene, is set up as a collective, a bit of a trend in the North American indie scene at the moment. Arguably this encourages a bit of a revolving door policy, with the line up perpetually changing, fuelling their creativity and energy.

Their sophomore release is a geeky combination of sensitive folk accompanied by an almost dizzying variety of instruments. Including everything from horns, guitars, piano, bells, to chains, stomp boxes, pipes, and velcro… yes you read that right. Canopy Glow, is full of energy with tight interlocking harmonics and distorted chords. Thematically the album is concerned with death, yet in a way this seems contradictory to the light upbeat tempo and cheery choruses of many of the songs. The interplay between the percussion and the boy-girl vocals on Italo demonstrates the great interplay between band members and the multitude of instruments they incorporate into their sound.

All in all this album is certainly worth checking out.

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