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

Sunn O)))

Listen.

When it comes to classical music, or opera, or crap like that, I can understand why it is brilliant; but the vast majority of it leaves me quite cold.

However.

With sunn 0))) it's all the other way round. I realise that there is next to no musicianship, talent or songwriting. I can understand that it's nothing more than a headache-inducing drone, and that any bunch of idiots with big amps, a powerful Moog and some sturdy distortion pedals could churn this shit out.

But.

I fucking love these guys. I love the pretentiousness of the grimm robes. I love the way they play in slow motion. I love the religious amp-worship aspect of their performance. I love the over-zealous application of dry ice. I love the fact that when I play their songs through my laptop, roughly half of the noise is below the frequency range that the speakers can cope with - which means that the first seven minutes of Báthory Erzsébet (the final track from 05's Black 1) are, for the large part, completely inaudible.

But mostly, I love how the persistent doomy drone voids my brain of all rational thought and memory.

Website: http://www.southernlord.com/band_SUN.php

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

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunn_O)))

These Arms Are Snakes

Or should that be These Arms Were Snakes?

No, it shouldn't. 'Cos that's not what they're called. But the fact remains that the Seattle outfit announced their dissolution this week, and I haven't felt the loss of a band so keenly since that guy shot himself in the head a few years back.

Generally pigeon-holed as post hardcore, TAAS play a jagged brand of rock infused with equal parts sex and violence epitomised by frontman Steve Snere's onstage hip-swaying/gyrating/thrusting/strangling self with belt or mic cord.

For me, it's one of the songs off of their first EP "This Is Meant To Hurt You" that best defines their sound; "Run It Out Through The Dog" opens up with a chaotic squall of screeching guitar and vocals, but then spirals off into a post-rockish, almost space rock kind of wall of noise... or something.

Ok, so it is mostly all shrieking and guitar noise; but dammit, it's good. I feel glad I got in on the ground floor with these guys, privileged that I got to see them play live in Southampton a couple of years ago, and gutted that they didn't come anywhere near here on what turned out to be their final UK tour.

They were awesome, and you can check out some of their finest moments by clicking below.

Crazy Woman Dirty Train

Gadget Arms

Subtle Body

Website: http://thesearmsaresnakes.blogspot.com/

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

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

Nirvana

I bought myself the Live At Reading DVD a week or so ago, and it's just reminded me how great these guys were.

They didn't write the best songs, they weren't the most talented musicians, their shows weren't the most explosive or legendary (apart from the explosive and legendary ones). But I've yet to find anything that sends the same shiver down my spine as the first time I listened to Nevermind.

And yes, I do realise how horribly clichéd that sounds.

Website: nope

Myspace: nope

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