Prolapse

I don't know about you, but I would have certain expectations of a band with a name like Prolapse.  These expectations would not include CD liner notes that consist largely of "Jane's" style aircraft illustrations.

And yet this is exactly what I found many years ago when my weekly rummage through the racks of Ben's Collectors Records unearthed a copy of Ghosts Of Dead Aeroplanes.  I stared intently at it for a few minutes, before eventually deciding that £3 was a small price to pay to satisfy my curiosity.

And a good thing too, as it turned out to be a blinder.

The justaposition of brutal arsequake band name and obtuse indie illustrations is, to some extent, mirrored in the record itself.  There's no bowel-shattering sludge on display; but there is a bizarre clash of angular guitar clanging and dreamy shoegaze, and contrasting vocal styles with gentle girly warblings vying for supremacy with the coarse and deranged ramblings of a Scottish madman.  Somehow, it all works.

Personally, I reckon Ghosts Of Dead Aeroplanes is very much the standout record in the Prolapse discography.  Which is not say that the other records are bad particularly - The Italian Flag certainly has a few moments - but if I could only own one Prolapse record, it would definitely be Ghosts.  And if I could own another, it would probably be a spare copy of Ghosts, just in case.







Website: nope
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/prolapseuk
Facebook: nope
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prolapse_(band)

Joy Division

Lots of my other favourite bands have covered a variety of Joy Division songs at some point or another.  Come to think of it, it took a surprisingly long time for me to hear a Joy Division song that was actually performed by Joy Division.

I think their bleak miserabalist post punk indie racket has aged quite well.

Probably explains why I'm listening to so much of it right now.







Website: nope
Myspace: nope
Facebook: nope
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joy_Division

Beck

In an old episode of Futurama, Bender confesses to Beck "I always dreamed of being a musician-poet who transcends genres even as he reinvents them, just like you."

Bang on.  But that makes the musician-poet's inclusion here a wee bit tricksy.  Which Beck are we talking about?  The lo-fi grunge country fuck-up from Mellow Gold?  Maybe the channelling-the-spirit-of-Prince funk goblin from Midnite Vultures?  Or perhaps the trash-hop noise-pop freakazoid from Odelay?

Mostly, it's none of the above.  Despite the recent rediscovery of a SNES sending me back to a time of swearing at tiny TVs, not revising for GCSE exams and listening to Mellow Gold on a permanent loop, it's the more recent Sea Change that has burrowed into my brain.  Delicate, haunting isolation forms the backdrop for swelling strings, lilting country twangs and Beck's lonesome grumbling.

And Whiskeyclone, Hotel City 1997.  That song rules.







Website: http://www.beck.com/
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/beck
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Beck
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beck

Free Swim

You can generally tell who was last using the kitchen in my house by the station that the radio is set to.

The Pixie tends to go for Absolute 80's/90's, a dizzying array of forgotten hits that by and large smash all modern music into sequinned dust.

The Frenchie is more of a Jack FM kinda guy. Nice and safe and mostly harmless.

I like BBC Radio 6, a station with so few listeners that it has no target demographic and hence tries to please nobody. The neat thing about that is that they usually play stuff that you've never heard before; and even if it's a bit shit, it's still better than the mundanely familiar. Sort of.

And every so often, you'll hear something that you've never heard before that is really quite splendid - like Free Swim, for example. As far as I can tell, Free Swim are a London-based indie band consisting of at least one person. They have a number of EPs that can be downloaded for free from Bandcamp. Each seems to tell some kind of story; for example, Dennis is about "A budding bromance... inadvertantly derailed by an undeniably lovely girl girl called Sophie Buttercup", while Two Hands is OK is the tale of a man who decides to graft an extra pair of hands to his chest so that he can deal with paperwork more efficiently. Yolanda the Panda is about a panda.

It's all very smashing and whimsical, and utterly the sort of thing that I shouldn't like at all.

Website: http://freeswim.bandcamp.com/

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

Wikipedia: nope

Johnny Foreigner

The Pixie made the observation that this is exactly the kind of jangly guitar alt-pop that I hate.

She is of course quite correct. But my favourite band changes on a more-or-less weekly basis; I am nothing if not contrary.

My music periodical of choice has been championing these Brummie scamps for years; and when their latest record received a typically gushing review, and the song featured on the cover CD was typically outstanding and addictive and demanding of repeated spins, I found myself with no answer to the question "why haven't you bought any of this brilliant stuff yet, you miserable git?" And maybe it is simply a testament to the infectious quality of their too-much-sweets-and-sugary-drinks shambolic indie rock that even a cynical old wretch like me can't help smiling and joining in with all the doo-doo-doo-doo-dee-doo's.

Website: http://johnnyforeignertheband.com/

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

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

Hymns

I saw these guys earlier in the year, playing alongside Shapes. I get the impression that I should have given more of a shit about seeing them, as frontman Sam used to be in another band called Blakfish. They bashed out some kind of alt-math-pop reminiscent of early Biffy Clyro, before evaporating in a puff of apathy a year or so ago.

But I'd never really given Blakfish the time before; and now that I have, I'm still not that fussed. Instead, I gave a shit about seeing Hymns because they had great songs, that they played really well. They have less of a garagey sound than the average guitar/drums two-piece outfit; it's still got a delightfully lo-fi feel to it, but they don't feel the need to turn up the fuzz and the feedback to try to flesh out the sound.

The recently released five track DVD "Revelations" is limited to just 150 copies, comes in some natty packaging and is highly recommended.

Website: http://prayforhymns.tumblr.com/

Myspace: nope

Wikipedia: nope

Kepone

I once read a review for these guys in some magazine, which said something along the lines of "Kepone's ascent to rock stardom is unlikely to be interrupted by bassist Michael Bishop winning Miss World."

Hardly a startling observation. But based on this entirely uninformative piece of music journalism, and the fact that two of my other favourite bands at the time had names beginning with the letter K (Kyuss and Karma To Burn, if you're wondering), I picked up a record.

I'm not too sure what I was expecting; probably something a bit sludgy or stoner, and almost certainly not the abrasive hick-punk that did spill out of my speakers. It was damn good though, and got even better when they meandered off into more improvised sounding jams.

They are now, of course, quite defunct. As far as I can tell, they were generally well regarded but not exactly commercially successful. Despite Michael Bishop never winning Miss World.

Website: nope

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/keponetribute (tribute page)

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

Pet Genius

Me: I bought a Pet Genius record today.

The Pixie: Who?

Me: Pet Genius. It's some sort of hokey side-project with one of the guys from Cave In. It all sounds like breezy summery twee indie folk pop, but with this really thundering fuzzy bass. It's cool.

The Pixie: Breezy summery twee indie folk pop?

Me: Yup.

The Pixie: The same kind of breezy summery twee indie folk pop that you hate?

Me: Exactly.

Website: nope

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

Wikipedia: nope

A Place To Bury Strangers

Some bunch of cool bastards that play wall-of-noise-rock that sounds a bit like Joy Division playing My Bloody Valentine covers.

In photos, they appear moody and arty in equal measure.

That's really all I know.

Website: http://www.aplacetoburystrangers.com/

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

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

Die! Die! Die!

From New Zealand, apparently.

I picked up the second of their three records a week or so ago; and whilst I haven't exactly been wearing it out with repeated spins, it has still been a fairly regular feature. There's something about their scuzzy lo-fi shoe-gazey Joy Division-esque indie punk racket that sticks to my brain like a boiled sweet to an ironic cardigan.

Website: http://diediedieband.com/

Myspace:

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

Interpol

I think I got into Interpol five or so years ago, when I decided to make a concerted effort to listen to something other than howling guitar fury and pounding pounding techno music. It wasn't a completely arbitrary choice; I'd heard one of the songs from their debut record at some point and quite liked it, and figured that there was a fair chance of the rest of the record being quite good too.

Which it was. And indeed, still is.

That said, I still find it hard to put my finger on exactly what it is about Interpol's bleak angular gloom punk indie that appeals to me so. Probably the bleak angular gloom punk indieness of it all. Despite the eminent brilliance of the three albums that preceded it, it took me the best part of a year to get around to checking out their latest eponymous effort; but I'm now making up for lost time and playing it to pieces. Nice.

Website: http://www.interpolnyc.com/

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

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

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

This year, the greatest bands in the world ever were...

A cursory glance at the side bar to the right reveals that, at the time of writing, there have been 47 posts this year. As anyone who is as keen a fan of basic mathematics and the Gregorian calender as I am will be aware, this means that I've missed out five greatest bands in the world ever this year. I have been neglectful.

But I will make amends.

Question is, how to make up the difference?

An obvious solution would be to turn the concept on its head and propose five of the shittest bands in the world ever; but that would be mean. I could try and go for the mammoth post of five greatest bands in the world ever, but that would be quite a lot to take in and in truth I think I'm just too damn lazy for that.

So, in classic everyone-else-is-doing-it-so-why-don't-I fashion, I think I'll take the opportunity to do one of those tediously predictable end-of-year reviews, thus allowing me to substitute any substantial amount of new writing new crap with hyperlinks to all my old crap. Smashing. So here, in no particular order, are the greatest bands in the world ever this year. And... go.

Echobelly

In part their place here is reflective of the hold that all girl-fronted-indie-bands-of-the-90's had on me for pretty much the entire month of August; but also because they were the most pleasant surprise of the lot, and the band that most had me kicking myself for not checking them out properly when they were a going concern. Like all good records, theirs just get better with each spin.

http://asifanyonegivesafuckwhatithink.blogspot.com/2010/09/echobelly.html

Deftones

These guys nearly made the list twice this year. Every time they release a new record, it's the best thing ever; I play it to death for a week, put it down for a while and eventually get back to it after a year or so. Except that I still haven't quite put Diamond Eyes down yet...

http://asifanyonegivesafuckwhatithink.blogspot.com/2010/03/deftones.html

Enablers

As far as I know, there isn't another band in the world that sounds like them; and seeing them play live earlier this year was just an awesome experience. Definitively my all time favourite doom-poet outfit.

http://asifanyonegivesafuckwhatithink.blogspot.com/2010/05/enablers.html

And So I Watch You From Afar

I'll be the first to admit that I listen to a lot of shit, and that as much as I love it, that shit's not for everyone. So I don't mind if none my friends like Sunn o))), for example. Not everyone enjoys the sub-bass droning sound of souls being crushed. With hammers.

But ASIWYFA... they're just too damn good. And the only reason for not liking them is because you don't like good things, and you are a force of evil, and you must be stopped. With hammers.

http://asifanyonegivesafuckwhatithink.blogspot.com/2010/04/and-so-i-watch-you-from-afar.html

These Arms Are Snakes

It's been almost a year, and frankly I'm still reeling from their decision to split. I was fortunate enough to see them play once a few years ago; sadly the most enduring memory of that gig is frontman Steve Snere taking his hand out of the front of his pants and wiping a finger down my face.

I struggle to adequately explain just how great they are/were; so I won't bother. You'll just have to take my word for it.

http://asifanyonegivesafuckwhatithink.blogspot.com/2010/01/these-arms-are-snakes.html

Echobelly

Those with functioning memories might recall that last week, I described Echobelly as being "offensively inoffensive". On the face of it, describing them as the greatest band in the world ever a mere six days later may seem like a U-turn of neck snapping magnitude. So consider the following.

• I did also describe them as quite brilliant.
• Their second album On (which is what I've been mostly listening to this week) is something of a grower; and has some astonishingly good songs on it.
• I've been in curiously good spirits lately, so inoffensive will do me just fine thank you.
• The greatest band in the world ever changes each week for a reason; I'm nothing if not fickle.
• I don't have to explain myself to the likes of you. Fuck you, internets.

I'm glad we've got that cleared up. I can now get back to ordering the rest of Echobelly's no doubt stellar back catalogue, secure in the knowledge that my integrity remains untarnished.

Website: http://www.echobelly.com/

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

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

Elastica

As has already been well documented, I've been on a bit of mid-nineties girl fronted indie kick of late; and have now reached the following conclusions.

• Sleeper have a bit of sass, but lack swagger.
• Echobelly, whilst actually quite brilliant, are at the same time almost offensively inoffensive.
• Lush were the most disappointing of all, all too frequently descending into navel-gazing angst.
• Kenickie... well actually, I forgot about Kenickie.

All of which confirms something that I had hitherto only suspected; that Elastica were fucking great, and their self-titled debut is one of the very best records of the last twenty years.

Website: http://www.elasticated.org/

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

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

The Beta Band

I like to put videos in these posts. It's more enticing; a mere bit of hyperlinked text may not be tempting enough, but who could resist the promise of audio and visual stimulation?

It's not that easy though. I will normally encounter one of two problems when attempting to seek out suitable video to embed. The first is that there is simply too much wonderment that I want to share with the world. I mean, this is the greatest band in the world ever; how can I sum up all of their greatest musical achievements in a mere two or three videos?

The second, and sadly more common problem (as has been evident in previous posts) is that there is simply not enough decent video out there. Either the songs I want haven't been uploaded, or they have but the video is nothing more than a still image of the album artwork. Or worse still, the result of some shonky A-level media studies project.

With The Beta Band, I've kind of had both problems. There are so many great songs that I don't know which ones I most want to share; but that's irrelevant, because I can't find any decent video for them anyway. But I tried my best, and after an intensive five minutes of internetting, here's what I managed to come up with.

But it's still not enough, so here's some of that tedious hyperlinked text that I mentioned. It will take you to more Beta Band! This is a good thing.

Dry The Rain

Out -Side

Quiet

Assessment

I suppose I should say something about them, too. The Beta Band are/were from Scotland, and made amazing music together up until 2004 when they broke up. I got into them a bit after that, and subsequently know very little about them. Click below for the truth according to Wiki/Myspace/The Beta Band.

Website: http://www.betaband.com/

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

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