Monday, November 16, 2009

RIP Derek B.

The rapper (full name Derek Boland) was a pioneering figure on the UK hip hop scene in the 1980s... He died of a heart attack aged 44...


Sunday, November 15, 2009

Four your eyes only...

BBC Four hit yet another home run with their outstanding documentary 'Krautrock: The Rebirth of Germany'... It's 1968; students are rioting throughout Europe and in Germany they struggle to break away from their countries past - forging a new identity through music. Rejecting the rock music of America and the UK and the schlager (cheesy euro-pop) of their own charts, they create an electronic-heavy sound that the British press would inappropriately dub 'Krautrock'...

The documentary features footage from all the major Krautrock groups like Amon Düül, Cluster, Harmonia, Neu!, Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, Can and Faust. The section on Amon Düül was particularly interesting, not only their close alliances with aspiring German film-makers such as Wim Wenders, Fassbinder and Werner Herzog, but their inadvertent involvement with the terrorist Baader-Meinhof gang...

Amon Düül II:


Tuesday, November 10, 2009

The Cribs at The Roxy

Support act The Blood Arm were very Sunset Strip - a cheesy bar-band nine parts Meatloaf to one part The Magic Numbers. The singer certainly had the energy and look of Meat (all hair, waistcoat and perspiration) but lacked the charisma; I bet you're thinking two out of three ain't bad but it was. The music was lacking any sort of groove (no bass player) as the piano/organ and lone guitarist tried to keep time with some ramshackle drumming.

The Cribs were much as I remembered - punky northern lad-rock.. However, the inclusion of Johnny Marr has certainly sweetened the sound somewhat and they put on an exciting live show... It remains to be seen how long The Cribs will hold Marr's attention in the long run - they definitely lost my attention within 45 minutes...


Thursday, November 5, 2009

ExDetectives at Silverlake Lounge

Cue the Moon were excellent, taming the oft lousy Silverlake Lounge sound with a great set. They are derivitive of loads of bands; early Muse, Jeff Buckley, Radiohead, Grizzly Bear and even The Dears in some of the extended soloed outro's... Their saviour could be some neat keyboard effects but whether this is enough to differentiate them from just another group of talented copyists remains to be seen. Will definitely check them out again...

The poorly named Shotgun Showdown were a raw but fun all girl band who reminded me a little of a garage version of The Cranberries. I'm sure there are a load of girl bands playing three chord garage rock at the moment, just don't ask me to name any OK?

ExDetectives played a good set of which 'Won't stop' and 'Closing Bell' were the highlights, although a couple of the newer songs are catching up fast...


Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Warpaint at Spaceland

Support band Seaspin are average My Bloody Valentine copyists... Anyone looking for some LA synth-assisted goth-pop is better off with Great Northern...

Rough Trade bound Warpaint were on their usual fine form, starting with a loose, slinky instrumental before launching into 'Stars', and blistering versions of 'Elephants' and 'Beetles' - the latter three a triple whammy from their current EP 'Exquisite Corpse'. After the majestic 'Majesty' was a long closing number featuring some psychedelic cello and in a puff of ethereal magic they were gone...




















Tuesday, November 3, 2009

The Happy Hollows at Spaceland

The Happy Hollows kicked off their November Spaceland residency in chaotic style - mainly because anyone (like myself) showing up after 10pm was greeted with an ever increasing line around the block. The reason Spaceland was full was a surprise last minute appearance by Julian Casablancas and his band. Anyways, as half of LA's hipster community spilled out onto the pavement (either to smoke or return to their dirty bedsits) they started letting those in line get inside at around 11pm...

The Hollows sounded great and the highlight was a frantic version of 'Lieutenant' and a rare live runout for 'Death to Vivek Kemp'... Hopefully I'll make it down to see them again before the month is out...