The end of TG

Sorry to hear today that Genesis P-Orridge has, once again, dissolved Throbbing Gristle. Sleazy, Cosey and Chris Carter are trucking on as X-TG, but it all sounds pretty much over for another 10 years or so.

I was lucky enough to see them last year in what was one of my favourite ever gigs. I reviewed it for Clash here, if you're interested.

http://www.clashmusic.com/live-review/throbbing-gristle-london-heaven

I will miss them. They may have frequently disappointed on record (oh come on, they did. Coil were a million times better) but live they were a fearsome proposition, and the music world is diminished without them.

New obsessions

Deliriously weird dream last night. I was in Mirfield, my mum's West Yorkshire home town (and that of Captain Picard himself, Patrick Stewart). I was staying in a B&B called The Overlook. And indeed it turned out that this was the place that inspired The Shining. I spoke to the landlord, and he told me that a few years previously, he'd been jailed for murdering someone with a rope (at this point he noosed it around my neck...) but that he had been set up. Now that he had got out, he was producing music which was, “closer to Boards of Canada than Orange Juice”.

Funny how these things work in, innit? Mirfield was there presumably because my mum's just been to visit. The Shining... not sure, but I do love the film. Boards of Canada I was thinking about yesterday, and I used to know a member of Orange Juice.



SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL HAUNTOLOGISTS

It's a fine time for admirers of Radiophonic weirdness. A couple of new net labels have sprung up over the past few weeks, no doubt inspired in part by Ghost Box, but offering music with a subtly different flavour.

First up is Café Kaput, run by Jon Brooks (Advisory Circle/King of Woolworths) with art direction by Ian Hodgson (Moon Wiring Club). As seems to be the way with this scene there's a healthy dose of humour at work. The first release is an unearthing of DD Denham's lost classroom-based electronic experiments. Except that's a load of old bobbins. DD Denham never existed and it's all Brooks own work in a bleepy, bloopy John Baker style. Ruddy lovely it is too; tricksy, playful and weird. You can stream and download it here:

http://dddenham.bandcamp.com/album/electronic-music-in-the-classroom




Then this weekend I stumbled across Pye Corner Audio. Wobbly synth and tape distortion is the order of the day, and the three tracks they've put online (from their album, Black Mill Tapes Vol. 1) have been on repeat ever since. 'We Have Visitors' builds for ages before opening up into something that reminds me of Ken Freeman's Tripods theme. 'Theme Number 4' meanwhile sounds not unlike early Boards of Canada. I was hoping to be the first to blog about these guys, but alas Mr Brooks has beaten me to it!

The full Black Mill Tapes Volume 1 will be available to download on October 31st for a fiver. In the meantime, check out the preview tracks here:

http://soundcloud.com/pye-corner-audio/sets/black-mill-tapes-volume-1

http://pyecorneraudio.wordpress.com/

In praise of The Jellies

You probably missed ‘Jive Baby On A Saturday Night’ the first time around. After all, it only sold 30 copies. The Cambridge post-punk band’s biggest moment was getting the single played by John Peel in 1981. And then that was it. They disappeared into obscurity like so many other bands. Most of the single’s original pressing apparently ended up as landfill.

The song developed a bit of a cult following over the following years, and last month Johnny Trunk - a definite hero in these parts - reissued it on a lovely vinyl EP. The record’s largely sold out now, but you can buy the MP3s or find it on Spotify, and you definitely should. It’s an amazing tune; nearly five-minutes of crisp, stark repetition. The most basic of beats and bass, and then the hand claps drop. Boom! Minimal disco heaven.

What really sells it for me though, is the odd, distinctly amateurish guitar that comes in roughly half-way through. It’s so at odds with the song’s upbeat tone that the whole thing takes on an weird, nightmarish quality. Anyone who’s heard Boards of Canada’s ‘Nlogax’ will find ‘Jive Baby’ uncannily familiar. If Twin Peaks had a nightclub, they’d play this on rotation.

The reissue EP comes with remixes by Georges Vert (aka Jon Brooks), Trunk and that bloke out of Lemon Jelly. But while they’re nice bonuses, there’s a sense of gilding the lily. The song itself is stripped back perfection. Adding a bit of reverb, or reversing the vocals almost detracts from its simplicity.

You can hear 'Jive Baby On A Saturday Night' here:


http://soundcloud.com/simm/the-jellies-jive-baby-on-a-saturday-night

You can also hear their other song, the almost identical Conversation, at WFMU here:

http://blogfiles.wfmu.org/VR/theconversation.mp3

A couple o' reviews

The Advisory Circle review...



http://www.clashmusic.com/reviews/the-advisory-circle-mind-how-you-go-revised-edition



Caribou...


http://www.clashmusic.com/reviews/caribou-swim

Politically charged pop lyric of your choice

Hope everyone in the UK is enjoying the current leadership debates. Hilarious to watch Cameron and Clegg trying their hardest to each appear as down to Earth and normal as possible, while Gordon stands on the sidelines cackling at them.

Here's an interview I did for Mojo with that bloke out of Kasabian a few years back. Eagle-eyed readers will notice that it's exactly the same questions as the ones with that guy from the Police. Set questions, innit.

SERGIO PIZZORNO
KASABIAN’S SOUNDTRACK LOVING SONGSMITH

What music are you currently grooving to?

I saw Ennio Morricone at the Hammersmith Apollo about a month ago. I always liked his music, but live it fucking blew me away. It was just unbelievable. The Pretty Things’ S F Sorrow as well. Baron Saturday is the most amazing song. It’s one of those songs you wish you’d written. It’s kind of a forgotten album and arguably the first concept album that was big.

What, if push comes to shove, is your all-time favourite album?

That’s a question you can never really answer. Two albums that changed my life are Definitely Maybe by Oasis and Endtroducing by DJ Shadow. I always wanted to be in Oasis, but Shadow’s record opened my eyes to a whole new world of music. In the same way that I got into The Kinks, The Who, The Small Faces and all these sixties bands because of Oasis, Endtroducing got me into electronica and hip hop. My dream is to one day take from both of them and make the perfect album. In my head anyway!

What was the first record you ever bought? And where did you buy it?

It was George Harrison’s Got My Mind Set On You. I got
it from this place called Ainsley’s Music in Leicester
that’s not there anymore. I can’t remember how old I
was, but I liked the beat. I didn’t know anything
about the Beatles at the time, but it made me want to
move my feet.

Which musician, other than yourself, have you ever
wanted to be?

Keith Richards bends my mind! He’s everything you want to be in a band. I think he’s fucking great. There’s some people like that who just carry on living like a lunatic forever and you just think, ‘how?’

What do you sing in the shower?

I listen to music in the shower and sing along to that. It sounds good in the bathroom. I like Dizzee Rascal’s Fix Up, Look Sharp. The beat sounds great reverberating on the tiles. And The Mexican by Babe Ruth.

What is your favourite Saturday night record?

Hound Dog by Elvis Presley. It’s two minutes long, and
within those two minutes you’re just ready. It makes
you feel like you’re in a motorcycle gang or something.

And your Sunday morning record?

Who Loves The Sun by the Velvet Underground. Just get on the sofa with a big bag of crisps, loads of Minstrels and that’s it.

That fella out of the Police. No, not Sting. The other one.

While avoiding work and listening to the great Moon Wiring Club ASDA mix that can be downloaded here...

http://www.thewire.co.uk/articles/3623/

...I stumbled across this short interview I did with Stewart Copeland out of the Police, many moons ago. It's one of those stock question and answer things, but I thought I'd dredge it out. They didn't run with my strap, sadly. Wonder why?

Stewart Copeland
He likes Squarepusher and urban hostility

What music are you currently grooving to?

I like a variety of stuff. DJ Spooky gave me a bunch of his records and I like them. He’s combined all kinds of urban hostility with beautiful, ethereal world elements. There’s a cool artist called Jesca Hoop who’s recording an album. Her producer’s a buddy and they’re probably gonna hussle me into recording a track with her.

What, if push comes to shove, is your all-time favourite album?

I would pick any of the first three Jimi Hendrix albums, but Electric Ladyland particularly. It had the best drums and the best guitar. I would sneak into the language lab in boarding school to listen to this record because I didn’t have a record player in my dorm.

What was the first record you bought? And where did you buy it?

Help! by The Beatles. I was in Beirut. A friend of mine was going back to the States for a couple of weeks and I gave him money to buy me something American. So he bought me an English album!

Which musician, other than yourself, have you ever wanted to be?

Sting. Bastard can sing! I envy John Adams. He writes orchestral pieces and his works are performed all over the world. He lives up north of San Francisco in a beautiful place. He probably doesn’t even have an agent and he needs no contact with the real world. I wouldn’t mind a livelihood that allows me to live out in the mountains with the wind in my hair.

What do you sing in the shower?

I don’t. I make political speeches. I sing to the girls in the car though. (Sings) “You’re a little bunny rabbit and I’m daddy, we’re all going out to play.” All the back seat’s squirming, “Dad! Shut up!” I try to lead them in song to keep them from fighting. It doesn’t work. I’m sure my kids will grow up scarred and demented.

What is your favourite Saturday night record?

For going out, probably Latin music. Before I got satellite radio I’d just listen to Mexican radio stations and whoever came on would be great.

And your Sunday morning record?

Either Blondie, B-52s or Jimi Hendrix. That trades with whatever my girls play me. The boys turned me onto Squarepusher and Leftfield, but they’re grown up now. The girls are into Japanese pop music. The lamer it is, the more they get a thrill.

The logic of chance

The full version of my review of the stunningly awful new Dan Le Sac/Scroobius Pip album...



Dan Le Sac Vs. Scroobius Pip – The Logic of Chance

Remember Legz Akimbo? They were a theatre troupe from The League of Gentlemen. All they wanted was to help The Kids by putting on plays about topical issues. Unfortunately, they were rubbish. See that, Dan Le Sac and Scroobius Pip? That’s you that is.

Sac and Pip, you may recall, are the duo behind ‘Thou Shalt Always Kill’, the late noughties semi-hit which poked fun at hipsters, gangster-wannabes, musos and just about everyone else. It was a novelty record, sure, but a witty and sonically interesting one.

And now here’s their second album. It’s not good. In fact, The Logic of Chance may be the most patronising, tedious and curiously reactionary record you hear this year. It’s like being hectored by someone who gets all their news from Comment Is Free, but in the form of really bad rap. Imagine Chumbawamba recording a hip-hop album and you’re close to how piss poor this really is.

So ‘Get Better’ is a lame attempt at euphoric disco. It imagines a song that provides helpful criticism for youngsters. But if such a song exists, it isn’t this. Despite it’s ear-wormy chant of “get better”, over and over again, the centrepiece is a rant about the shortness of girls skirts and predatory teenage boys.

‘Great Britain’ is worse, ending as it does with Sac - Enraged of Tunbridge Wells - reading out knife crime statistics. It’s fist-in-mouth embarrassing, even on headphones. Other subjects include political apathy and, er, being a music snob.

This is hip-hop for people who hate hip-hop. They’ve stripped away the violence and the bullshit, sure, but also all the passion, grit, sex and fun. There’s nothing wrong with mixing politics and music, but give us some decent tunes too please.

Rating: 2/10