Music Diary #10 – (Salford) Music Scene 10th January 2012

A pop orientated influx of music today from Mausi, Thom Cross, Soulmagic and the oddly named Rainy Boy Sleep – all fine stuff but unlikely to be played on my shows as they just don’t fit – however I have shared them with colleagues at the station and hopefully they will pick up on them. Some interesting rock music from America’s “BrokenRail” (sic) which again doesn’t quite get on my playlist but might get picked up by others.

Pleased to see another release from “Danny Short” in his DDS guise – this is the more experimental side of his music which is closer to ambient and free improvisation – anyway you can get it here free.

Taking the opportunity for this show to play some four of the five demo tracks “Kill Pretty” laid down earlier in the month in Stockport. They have further recordings planned in February and March with Craig Scanlon and Larry Gott guesting which should be interesting.  As I’ve said elsewhere on this blog I’m somewhat excited with what Ian Moss and his band of merry funsters are cooking up.  In terms of gigs you can catch them- Thursday January 26th , with Sandells/Factory Star at Kings Arms , Salford; Saturday February 25th , with Taser Puppets at the Railway Chorley. Dates to be confirmed but also March gigs at the Verge, Hyde with Subway Sect , and Ashton under Lyne’s Guzzlin Goose with Taser puppets.

In their usual perverse way the Day for Airstrikes chaps released a three track EP on bandcamp on Christmas Eve  (fascinating marketing concept chaps!) – comprising of music from three of their component parts ( Adam Skerritt (aka Little Idiot), John Simpson (aka Mi Amo Simmy) and Ian Breen (aka Claw The Thin Ice))  – regardless of the Christmassy association this music is required listening. Fascinating also that those components separately sound nothing like the whole.

Featuring also – as I will be for the next few weeks – music from the excellent “Long Hat Pins” – who continues to amaze with the variety of music he produces. Also another track from recently featured “Hunting Bears” – and the new single from Turrentine Jones which is a remarkably good move on from their previous work.

Also very pleased to be featuring the new single from John Herring – which is a precursor to his second album which will be out in due course. You can catch him at the Deaf Institute on March 17th he has a hell of a good band behind him now and this latest song is damn fine indeed. Looking forward to hearing the album.

In tonights fun packed radio spectacular therefore the playlist is : (listen in here)

1 Turrentine Jones – Candy Snake – Single
2 John Herring – It Starts Again- Single
3 Kill Pretty – Emperors New Clothes – Demo
4 Claw The Thin Ice Lonely Animal EP – A Christmas Miracle
5 Kin No Outline Demo
6 Kill Pretty Stupid Club Demo
7 Long Hat Pins Men Marching, Men Running Demo
8 Hunting Bears My Own Child Demo
9 Mi Amo Simmy Yes Is The Answer to Everything EP – A Christmas Miracle
10 Turrentine Jones Slam the Door Single
11 Kill Pretty Brown Eyes Demo
12 Little Idiot It Aint Easy being Svarte Piet EP – A Christmas Miracle
13 Kill Pretty Black Dog City Blues Demo
14 The Fall Get A Hotel – The Frenz Experiment

 

Music Diary – 1st January 2012

New Years Resolution – as the New Year starts – keep a daily diary of new music received so as to have some sort of record – not a bad idea given my memory…..so to kick of…and from the last week or so ….

• Five new demo tracks from Kill Pretty – which will form part of a twelve track album coming out in January – all rather marvellous. Recorded in Stockport. Some classic Ian Moss lyrics and great playing from the Duttons and Mr Leigh. The band to watch in 2012 I prophesy somewhat giddily.
• Got some new demos from The Coke Authority just before Christmas which are all rather good – and include a new version of the rather excellent Act A Fool. Another band to keep an eye out for.
• Three tracks from various members of Day For Airtrikes (all getting a bit Animal Collective this lads!!) viz Little Idiot, Mi Amo Simmy (as featured earlier in 2011) and Claw The Thin Ice (aka Ian Breen) – all great especially the Breen track. Perversely, released on the edge of Xmas, meaning calling it an Xmas release was a little odd, the music transcends any seasonal association. Catch the seperate Little Idiot release on Bandcamp,  an interesting ambient work-out, plus the EPs etc from the other two – all good stuff. Fascinating how the various elements of DFA sound totally different from the combined sound.
• New music from Toska Wilde received – now working with Luis Drayton. Three tunes which mix sci-fi melodrama, oriental melodies and electro-pop. The menacing blend of Drayton’s deeper voice and Wilde’s lighter tones with the ambient sounds are interesting indeed.
• New album received from Lisa of Magnetic Island – rather fine – will definitely get some serious airplay – able to mix dream pop with a harder New York sound with ease.
• Very impressed by Comet Sands who gave me a link to the their Bandcamp stuff – definately a band to watch out for in 2012. Their tune Andromeda has an immediacy and quirky likeability that demands hearing.
• The interestingly named Curry Quiche sent me some tunes……..they have an acceptably listenable blend of 60s garage sensibility and psychedelic weirdness that sets them apart from the rest.
• And at a local level the new single from John Herring has arrived (starts in the usual JH reflective fashion and then builds into a memorable piece of motorik melodicism) , also  have new tunes from Turrentine Jones and Hunting Bears. All great!
• Marcus Miller has “revisited” Miles Davis first Warners album “Tutu” – two CDs of live stuff wherein the original vignettes are extended to overlong funky jams – also includes music not on Tutu – e.g. Jean Pierre (wherein we get three or four minutes of slap bass before the theme kicks in) – quite impressed with the ambient reworkings of some of the source material – nice loose feel – and Christian Scott does a passable Miles impression, but generally I guess I wish it was one CD shorter and he had got a producer in who knows when less is more. Can’t fault the production which is as sharp as you can get.

You can hear most of these, if not all, on my shows week beginning January 4th and 9th.

Salford Music Scene – 20th September 2011

Previewing the Salford Music Festival again this week with music from (bands in bold are playing the festival):

• Kill for Company – Pink Fluffy Dynamite – a new track from the dynamic duo
• Claw the Thin Ice – Comfort Zone – interesting change of direction from Ian Breen on this recent release
• Trojan Horse – And the lights went down – from the album……which you can now get for free from their bandcamp page
• Early Mojo – Dirt – Walkden’s finest from the Beergasm Demo – leave them a message on Facebook if you want a copy
• Mr Heart – Mr Heart – from the excellent “The Hide” release from last year which coincidentally Tamsin gave a me a Sneaky preview copy of at the main stage event of last years festival
• Sandells – Cockroaches – a new track from the titanic trio which moves from free jazz improv into kraut-motorik with amazing ease…..
• Neuron No – Limonchik – another trio demonstrating excellent musical dexterity
• Hot Vestry – Turn On –  and yet another trio proving that the future of good music is secure….
• Positronik – The Bitch Knows Your Name – i’m incredibly biased about this lot as they are my chums, and I do their website for them, but I have to say this is very good indeed….another trio by the way…must be a trend
• AAAK – We Fall Alone  –  if you have not seen these live then do yourself a favour and catch them at the Salford Music Festival – they are duo mostly but sometimes a trio and rarely a quartet
• The Mang Mang Mangs – Side By Side – another track from a rather impressive duo – they are seeking live opportunities at the moment so if any promoters are interested please contact them…
• Girl Peculiar – Destiny – the last single and rather excellent it is too…..
• The Fall – No Bulbs – saw them do this at the International 2 in 1986 – typical of the Brix era with a focus on lead guitar lines and a punchy rhythm

To listen to the show click on the link below

Salford Music Scene – 20th September 2011 by Bobonscr on Mixcloud

Information about the bands playing at the festival can be found here 

Aural Delights Radio Show – 29th June 2011 – Electronica/Ambient Special

Well I’ve been promising this to various luminaries round these parts over the last six months so it’s about time I got off my bottom and put a show together of this nature. The genre specification is a tad obtuse here as some of the things on the show are outside of the broad boundaries of Electronica/Ambient but i’ve generally kept pretty close to the brief and in doing so I’ve managed to incorporate quite a bit of “local” stuff.

1. Cabaret Voltaire – The Voice of America/Damage is Done – The Voice of America : the masters of electronic ambience with the opening track from their second album. Most of this was analogue which demonstrates the need to junk all this digital VST tomfoolery and get back to playing source instruments. They were never as good after Chris Watson left and the first three albums still hold up as classics. This music had a great affect on me post-punk and built on my love of industrial/electronic sounds.
2. Borland – Hot Orion – Supernova Lovers  : The aim was to ensure that local acts got a good look see on the show and who else would I include but the mighty Borland who I have been championing for nigh on 3 years now. A new set of tunes is promised when Breen and Gregg can drag themselves away from their other projects (see later in the show) so in anticipation of that a track from the trio of releases from last year which are still available for nowt on Bandcamp.
3. Borland (Vei Remix) – Clockmen – from the added twiddly bits that came out of the first release on Gulf we hear the Jonn Dean take on the Borland sound with his own unique stamp on the music. Edgy, thought provoking and utterly mesmerising.
4. The Black Paths – A sneaky preview of a remix of ‘Plan it’ by caro snatch! – thanks Anthony. From Salford tha’ knows. More please Anthony!
5. Archaeopteryx Eloigns Ichthyosaur – The Actual Cartographer – Sings Paeans To Euphoria And Destruction : I got this in the post from the other side of the world. Streaming on the link at the moment. A fascinating album. The creator of this artefact wishes to remain anonymous.
6. Toxic Idol – Spooks – Quarter Life : a product of the increasingly mysterious Captain Malibu from the nether regions of Blackrod. Watch this space for more illuminating aural delights in the near future.
7. Day for Airstrikes– How Do You Know Anything? – Adam, Wez, Ian , John, Danny, Rita, Sue, and Bob too : a marvellous album – available from Bandcamp. A one-off for the band but perhaps one of their greatest achievements. Discuss.
8. Claw the Thin Ice – Witches at Dusk – Sleep is not for us -Are you quoting Floyd here I wonder Mr Breen? As featured before a debut solo project for one half of Borland with another one following swiftly I am advised.
9. Hey Colossus – Teased From The Nest- RRR : the promo quite astutely says – “the seventh album for Hey Colossus, and the third for Riot Season. RRR is definitely more varied than previous Colossus records and it explores more subdued, quieter passages. Such moments of calm are not the only varied thing about the new record, Hey Colossus also explore the swooping filmic sounds akin to many a film score, think along the lines of Taxi Driver and Spaghetti Westerns. Some Krautrock-esque mantras also come into the fold, combined with a Nurse With Wound / DNA influence. Alongside this, ‘The Drang’ keeps up the one riff, one tune – like Sabbath done through NEU! That HC are heavily influenced by. There is a choice Berlusconi baiting Can inspired clangathon, ‘I Am Bunga Bunga’, with a rant that is buried but audible. The result of all of these amalgamating sounds is a Hey Colossus album unlike any other, out with the old and in with the new. RRR is the perfect soundtrack for the spring and summer months, assuming you like the idea of the Butthole Surfers manning the BBQ, Faust cleaning out the pool, and GG Allin manning the bar.”
10. Pikacyu*Makoto – Loid Mlinikata – OM Sweet Home : We Are Shining Stars from the Darkside – I can’t say more than this rather revealing promo –  “An alliance between two figureheads of underground Japanese psych/pop, the musically promiscuous Kawabata Makoto (most famous for his leadership of the legendary Acid Mothers Temple), andAfrirampo’s Pikacyu. No strangers to one another, the pair have not only gigged together with their respective bands but also recorded together, when these two outfits temporarily fused in 2005 to become Acid Mothers Afrirampo (releasing an album of the same name). Now they have distilled their collaboration, all other players being stripped away to leave the core of Pikacyu’s manic drums and vocals, and Makoto’s schizoid guitar conjurings. OM Sweet Home: We Are Shining Stars From Darkside is unlike anything either culprit has produced before, both structured and freeform, tuneless and beautiful. Pikacyu’s drums pummel, jitter, crash and stumble, but steadfastly refuse to groove. She layers her voice several times, competing with maniacally pitch-shifted versions of herself to bring you what is, in their words, “a story about the cosmic shaman Pikacyu vs the master of the darkness Makoto… including the full love from the universe!!”. Makoto attacks his guitar, cloaking himself in reverb to produce a wall-of-sound, alternating between melody and noise.”
11. Tangerine Dream –  Circulation of Events – Atem : from one of three early albums which are infinitely superior to the mid 70s stuff and beyond as heard played by Fluff Freeman on the Saturday back in the pre-punk days when the summers were hot and the music was cool.
12. Perplexa – Tribal – Gone Beyond : as introduced by the Outlier lot to our Tony and then passed onto me. Tony and I both reckon this is going to be one of the albums of the year. Marvellous laminal stuff.
13. The Church of Frozen Tears – Nightmares of a Damaged Brain – Primary Invocation – another Borland side project, or is it adjacent, or even parallel?  Rob Gregg with a chum (not sure who) doing interesting stuff….slight remix by me to allow radio play due to the heavy bass going on in parts.

To listen in click on the link below……

Aural Delights Radio Show – 29th June 2011 – Electronica/Ambient Special by Bobonscr on Mixcloud