Orbital

I grew up with musical tastes that were non-committal more than eclectic; between them mum and dad had records by everyone from Abba to ZZ Top, and on long journeys in the car we'd listen to mix tapes composed of whatever dad had recorded off the radio recently (remember the good 'ol days when home taping was killing music?). I liked some songs more than others, I quite liked some of the techno and hip hop that made the charts, but it was mostly just background noise.

And then I heard Nevermind, and my whole world changed. Suddenly music mattered, really mattered, and I picked a side; I became a grunge and metal kid. No more dreary grey chart pap for me; from this point on it was all guitars, all the time.

Naturally, this precluded me from all sorts of other guilty pleasures. Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Duran Duran, Public Enemy, MC Tunes (my first record) were all off the playlist; and of course, dance music was completely out of the question. Because I didn't like it anymore. Because I was a grunge and metal kid.

But then in the mid nineties, something weird started happening. Rock clubs were playing The Prodigy; Fear Factory and Nine Inch Nails each released startlingly good remix albums; and this game got released on the Playstation.

Wipeout 2097 was a game in which you piloted an anti-grav rocket sled at breakneck speeds around insanely twisting neon-lit tracks, all to the accompaniment of pounding pounding techno music. I was reliably assured by a friend of mine (who was wise about such things) that it was even better when you were pilling your tits off; but even to a clean living square like me it was bloody brilliant. And part of what made it was the soundtrack, littered as it was with such luminaries as The Prodigy, Underworld, Photek, The Chemical Brothers, Future Sound Of London, Fluke...

...and of course, the greatest band in the world ever (this week): Orbital.

It was a bit of a turning point for me. This track was intense, textured, and faintly sinister... and dammit, just plain cool. Maybe I did like bleepy stuff after all...

Truth be told, I've never gotten into dance and electronica in the same way as I did all that angsty and angry stuff. But I know what I like... and I like Orbital.

Website: http://www.loopz.co.uk/

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/orbitalofficial

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_(band)

...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead

There's been a lot of guitars around here of late, and I was quite in the mood for something a bit different. Something a bit bleepy, with drum loops and samples and cool shit like that.

But that'll have to wait until next week, because this week I've been all about these guys.

My good friend RoboJew turned me onto this noisy bunch of pretentious Texans, when he suggested that we go see them when they played here last year. He lent me a couple of records to listen to before the show, so I had some idea of what to expect; but it's hard to cram before a gig like that. All the songs kind of blur into one when you listen to them in a solid three-hour binge. So it still seems to me like my first experience of ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead was that live show.

No complaints there. They were awesome.

Website: http://www.trailofdead.com/

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/trailofdead

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...And_You_Will_Know_Us_by_the_Trail_of_Dead

Eyehategod

I caught these guys purely by chance, when they were touring with Crowbar and Soilent Green back in 2000. The music was a violent and shambolic collision of southern blues, punk and thrash that threatened to fall apart at any moment; and in between bouts of throat-shredding screams, singer Mike Williams spent roughly even amounts time throwing beer bottles at the crowd, hitting himself around the head with the mic stand, and asking if anyone had any heroin.

I was an instant fan.

Despite their many years of active service Eyehategod have never been the most prolific band, for a whole variety of reasons. These mostly involve crippling drug addiction, being homeless, being too poor to eat (let alone tour or record), and brief spells in jail. Oh, and the whole of their hometown being washed away by Hurricane Katrina. They will be making a brief tour of the UK in April, though; so if you're a fan of tinnitus and having stuff thrown at you, get along to see 'em.

Of course, Eyehategod are not to everyone's taste. But if you should ever find yourself feeling dirty and ashamed after accidentally listening to some Fall Out Boy, this shit will set you straight.

Website: nope

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/eyehategod

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyehategod

You Judas

These guys are pretty much just a bunch of nobodies from Derbyshire. They're currently working on their third release, which will no doubt be greeted with a fanfare of apathy by all but the few fortunate enough to have stumbled upon their glorious din.

At times it seems like they can't quite decide what sort of a band they want to be; crunching post hardcore riffs and bellowed screams give way to gloomy introspective wailings get drowned out by post rock walls of noise dissolve into shimmering shoegaze ambience...

It should all be a confused mess, but the end result is quite the opposite; the songs twist and turn, never being wilfully obtuse or over-complicated, but at the same time never predictable. A fine example of this can be found in It Started In The Mind Then Jumped From Body To Body, the standout track that brings first full-length Happiness to a close. I reckon this is You Judas at their pretentious shoegazing post-space-rock best.

They have other songs, too:

A seriously good band, check them out.

Website: nope

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/youjudas

Wikipedia: nope