Radiohead

It is a commonly understood fact that a man can never possess too much pretentious vinyl; and so it was that I forked out £30 for the "newspaper album" version of Radiohead's new record The King of Limbs with barely a second thought. This apparently comprises of two clear vinyl records in a purpose-built record sleeve, a compact disc, many large sheets of newspaper artwork, 625 tiny pieces of artwork and a full colour piece of oxo-degradable plastic to hold it all together.

As I said; pretentious.

More importantly though, it comes with a free download of the record - which is very nearly all that I've been listening to this week. Because it's terrific.

Anyone hoping for a return to the soaring guitar of Bends-era Radiohead is probably going to be a little disappointed. I love that record too, but for me Radiohead just keep getting better as they get weirder. Plus, Codex - the sixth track on the new record - is quite possibly one of the greatest songs not just by Radiohead, but by anyone, ever. To attempt to describe it using mere words would seem a rather clumsy disservice; so you'll just have to listen to it yourself.

Having never seen them play live, my favourite Radiohead experience is still the discovery of the scribbled booklet full of Thom Yorke's thoughts hidden beneath the CD tray in my copy of Kid A, after a year or so of owning the thing.

Crazy bastard.

Website: http://www.radiohead.com/deadairspace/

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

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

Mogwai

Kind of a no-brainer choice this week, as I went see these cheery Scottish fellows a few days ago.

Although saying that, the gig itself was mildly disappointing... It wasn't bad, by any stretch of the imagination, it just wasn't quite the all consuming and life-affirming wash of despairing euphoria that I expected. It didn't help that the venue was The 02 Academy, which somehow manages to combine the muddy sound and impersonal nature of a large venue with the claustrophobia and poor views of a small venue; and then tops it all off by charging £3.90 for a pint of medium strength domestic lager beer. Jerks. Every time I see a band at the Academy I swear that I'll never go back again...

...and then an amazing band like Mogwai will be playing there, and I am powerless to resist their majestic post-rock siren call.

Dammit.

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

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

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

Shapes

As much as I claim to rely on music journalism for the purposes of forming opinions about what I am supposed to like, I don't generally pay that much attention. Until you hit the (occasionally vitriolic) album review pages the tone of the writing tends towards foaming-at-the-mouth enthusiasm. Every band is the best band in the world ever, in spite of any a-symmetrical fringes/sleeveless denim jackets/corpse paint/Pete Wentz that may suggest otherwise.

So quite why I sat up and listened when Shapes were touted as one of Rock Sound's "100 ones to watch for 2011" is beyond me. Perhaps it was the suggestion that they might fill the These Arms Are Snakes shaped hole in my life...

Which they don't.

They are bloody good, though. To my ears, they sound like a slightly more shambolic and frantic We Are Knuckle Dragger, all choppy guitars and sudden timing changes, occasionally drifting off into swirling instrumental delirium (as on Retreat, Attack).

It's good shit, get it in you.

Probably also worth noting that you can listen to everything they've ever done at their website (link below). Enjoy.

Website: http://weareshapes.tumblr.com/

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

Wikipedia: nope

Mistress

I only got to see these filthy Brummie grind-mongers once, some years ago in Bath. The enduring memories of that gig are;

1. The lead singer of one of the support bands accusing everyone in the audience of being "space dockers"
2. My friend Metal Terry showing everyone how a real man beats down, and breaking some poor kid's nose in the process
3. Nothing else

Mistress called it quits a few years ago, after a long and glittering career playing venues that would shut down almost immediately afterwards and releasing records that almost no-one liked/bought.

The closest they came to commercial mainstream success was when they appeared on a Never Mind The Buzzcocks Christmas special, performing a variety of Christmas classics in a death metal style.

There were no survivors.

Website: nope

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/mistress666

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