Shuteye Unison - Shuteye Unison review

Originally posted at www.thesilentballet.com

Score: 6.5/10

Shuteye Unison rose out of the burnt embers of The Rum Diary. While this act remained relatively unknown, the tricking and somewhat soothing sounds of Shuteye Unison’s new record, a self titled affair which totals in at just over thirty minutes, will surely guarantee them at least a modicum of success. Bearing in mind these links, regular readers will soon note that this isn’t the first time we have covered these young fellows. The Rum Diary were succinctly described in our Tracking the Trends series as “one of California's more interesting bands” and having “a stunning work of art in its midst.” Kind words, but now it’s time to see whether Shuteye Unison can live up to the reputation of their previous incarnation.

Thankfully, they do not disappoint. Shuteye Unison offers similar genre swapping and splicing that was clearly favoured in The Rum Diary, but musically they have come on leaps and bounds. The compositions featured on this self-titled record are incandescent wonders. Flitting between spaced out and dreamy vocals that would make My Bloody Valentine proud, as well as darker pieces like “Fields Landing,” which features Bradford Cox vocal atmospherics over a dark American voiced sample and what can essentially be described as Texas Chainsaw Massacre noises, Shuteye Unison have clearly increased their musical repertoire.

For those who prefer their music wholly instrumental, Shuteye Unison is not for you. However, if you can stomach someone flexing their vocal chords, this record offers a real treat for your passive ears. Moving between tribal-come-dub murmurings much in the same vein as Pocahaunted as well as a pre-occupation with primordial mutterings such as the sun, shadows and water, you cannot deny that Shuteye Unison manage to compress an awful lot into this rather short offering. The only qualm I had with the lyricism is that it did border on dreaded trite territory, such as in the aforementioned “Fields Landing” where the singer’s interest with the “party tonight” sounds like the inane mutterings of the fellow on Weezer’s “Undone - The Sweater Song” as opposed to anything truly interesting or, dare I say it, “deep”.

While Shuteye Unison do move between any genre they sit fit, opener and the final composition, “CRF030608” and “Through Dunes” feature a bubbling ambient piece which, while it isn’t in fitting with the rest of the record, is a soothing addition that adds wonders to the overall effort. All in all, while it’s a relatively short affair, Shuteye Unison’s debut has a somewhat hypnotic affect on the listener and comes strongly recommended.

Olympus Mons - Nothing's Gonna Spoil My Day Today review

Originally posted at www.LoudandQuiet.com

Olympus Mons are evidently one very confused young band. Mistaking ‘energy’ with ‘talent’, these three young men, named Aaron, Norbert and Moran for those who are interested, thrash their guitars in an pseudo-angular manner and whack those skins like there is no tomorrow, but unfortunately for them (and the listener) the noises they create are not particularly interesting or noteworthy.

Opener, ‘Martial Law’ sounds like vocalist Aaron is having an argument with one of his many multiple personalities. First, he splutters on about standing and stopping, which sounds more like a description of a creaky old bus as opposed to the anecdotes of a sharp and witty indie raconteur, then, another dimension of Aaron enters into the piece and waxes lyrical about “spending money on tax and military” in a rather irritated manner. Sadly, these statements come across as more half-arsed “war is bad, yeah?” thoughts as opposed to having any real depth or substance.

Olympus Mons stumble on in this manner, discussing kitchen sink tales that are incredibly insular and almost impossible to relate to. The trio rattle through flat-sounding songs, with lyrics that barely go anywhere. On ‘Journey Chapter VII’ Aaron shrieks “learn to read between the lines”, the problem is that there are no lines to begin with. Olympus Mons rely on shouting unrelated words at the listener, which becomes terribly tedious after 16 songs, and while this could be considered a stab at projecting some sort of lyrical fluidity to match the frenetic instruments, Aaron’s rambles begin to sound more like a shopping list as opposed to insightful thoughts.

It isn’t until ‘Follow You Down’ that the listener really grasps the underlying ideas behind Aaron’s lyricism and in turn, Olympus Mons. Throughout this track, Aaron shrieks ‘let’s be A listers, we’re gonna have it all/ look at my face I’m in the News of the World/I’m in The Sun’. While ‘Follow you down’ seems to be referring to a certain character of rock and could even be viewed as an attack on the intricate relationship between British indie pin ups and the tabloids, Aaron seems to genuinely want to become an ‘A lister’. For all the snarling attitude of this piece, the listener cannot help but notice the fame (or should that be tabloid?) hungry nature of Olympus Mons.

Bearing this in mind, Olympus Mons’, or specifically, Aaron’s phrasing begins to make more sense. This is in no way an attack on the lead singer, it is just that his voice is phenomenally high in the mix when compared with the rest of the band, but his mimicking of the vocal tricks of Kele Okereke and Luke Pritchard weaken the album significantly. Bloc Party dominate the first half of the album, with the groups signature mirroring of Kele’s vocals constantly appearing as a cheap party trick on Olympus Mons’ debut, then on ‘Sell me to the Wind’ Aaron tries a different tactic and goes for Pritchard’s strange method of singing certain words; time becomes “toooime”, line becomes “loooine” and so on. Frankly, you would be forgiven for thinking that this disjointed album is some sort of Frankenstein creation made up of half ‘Silent Alarm’, half ‘Inside In/Inside Out’.

While it always disheartening to knock a relatively new and fresh band, Olympus Mons seriously need to note the difference between being influenced by a band and mimicking them. For now though, Olympus Mons will remain a mystified and needy young group and ‘Nothing’s Gonna Spoil My Day Today’ is, in turn, an energetic but somewhat disappointing record.

4/10

Bingo Times Smoking Loopholes Press Release

Originally posted on www.MarketWire.com. Consequently featured in Canada's National Post newspaper.

Bingo Site Finds Smoking Loopholes

LONDON, ENGLAND--(Marketwire - Sept. 12, 2008) - BingoTimes.com (www.BingoTimes.com) the independent online bingo comparison site, have entered into the smoking ban debate to help bingo halls losing business because of the ban.

Research carried out by BingoTimes.com found that if bingo halls doubled as prisons, hospices, parks or theatres, players would be free to smoke.

The research was prompted by a survey of its site visitors whereby a staggering 75% noted that their local halls were quieter since the ban. Holly Emblem, editor of BingoTimes.com, observed; "we were shocked by our survey results, so much so we researched the ban and sought out loopholes to help players and bingo halls." BingoTimes.com have outlined their ban loophole hit list, which players can use if they wish to 'dodge' the ban in their bingo halls. The hit list is as follows:

1. Residential Bingo

Players can smoke in their local bingo hall; provided it also acts as a prison or hospice. If halls squeezed in a prison cell, or even provided health care, then players could legally smoke.

2. Performance Bingo

The ban states that performers can smoke if it affects "artistic integrity" and is integral to the performance, so, players should convince their local bingo halls to put on all singing, all smoking productions of Oliver.

3. Green Bingo

While the UK hasn't seen much sun this year, the ban only applies to "premises which have a ceiling or a roof", why not play bingo in the park? BingoTimes.com reckon there is definitely a future for this eco-friendly game, so watch out for bingo in your local park.

4. Smoke Bingo

The ban states that tobacconists can by-pass the ban if customers are sampling their tobacco. If bingo halls started selling tobacco, then players could 'sample' their wares while they play.

5. Bingo Mad

Finally, BingoTimes.com recommend players should turn their bingo halls into mental health units, as if enough players were diagnosed as needing care then the hall would stay open and players could smoke! When asked how they're feeling, players should definitely reply; "bingo mad".

About BingoTimes.com

BingoTimes.com is a UK based independent online bingo comparison site featuring reviews of the UK's top online bingo sites, as well as bingo bonuses, free bingo and tips on how to get the most out of your online bingo experience.

Glasvegas - Glasvegas review

Originally posted at www.loudandquiet.com

A band that accompanies a 7” release with a cover of a Nirvana song can be accurately described with one of the following two words; ‘geniuses’ or, to be honest, ‘fools’. Admittedly, I’m not a particularly big grunge fan, but Glasvegas’ boldness (or some would argue cheek) to accompany their new single ‘Daddy’s Gone’ with a cover of ‘Come As You Are’ was a particularly brave move. Thankfully, their debut album, ‘Glasvegas’ follows in this bold and brash vein.

Glasvegas tend to wear their hearts and influences on their sleeves. When the listener isn’t treading on egg shells as front man James Allan recalls less than sunny memories of childhood, they are able to pick out meta-songs, that is, songs which reference other works by musicians. On ‘It’s My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry’ Allan growls “What’s the Story Morning Glory? I feel so low I’m Loveless”. Album titles hidden in that lyric have been duly capitalised, but Glasvegas certainly swing towards the My Bloody Valentine wall-of-noise side of things as opposed to the shouty anthems of Oasis. ‘Flowers & Football Tops’, which, despite the title sounding like Danny Dyer’s attempt at lyricism, is actually a sweltering proto-shoegaze-come-rock affair and never before has the childhood lullaby ‘You Are My Sunshine’ sounded so poignant and haunted.

Allan’s, and of course, his merry bunch of men and women that make up Glasvegas have a knack for twisting nostalgic, “sunshine” memories and turning them into something much darker. Flick through the album and you are treated to ‘Stabbed’, which can be aptly summarised as gang warfare versus a classical piano piece, versus Arab Strap.

Even ice cream is traumatic to Allan, as he recalls in ‘Ice Cream Van’ – “there’s a storm on the horizon/I can’t see the sun/I’ll keep waiting on the pavement/for the ice cream van t’ come”. However, Allan’s broken down murmurs do come with an explanation. In ‘Geraldine’ he reveals a protagonist tight-rope-walking between life and death, who is only saved by Geraldine, a social worker who howls “When you’re standing there/on the window ledge/I’ll talk you back from the edge”.

The polarity expressed throughout Glasvegas’ debut is perhaps one of their most interesting aspects and adds new dimensions to the record throughout subsequent listens. Switching between moments of bliss ambience like the aforementioned ‘Ice Cream Van’ and swirling, moon lit songs such as the Echo and the Bunnymen-influenced ‘Polmont on my Mind’, Glasvegas move between stark, contrasting emotions like musical shape shifters, which all add up to one key fact about Glasvegas’ debut…It is a revelatory listen.

9/10

Calexico - Carried to Dust review

Originally posted at www.loudandquiet.com

Ten years on from Calexico’s second (although you could argue, first “proper”) record, ‘The Black Light’, the multi-talented duo that is Joey Burns and John Convertino, alongside a rag-tag bunch of musicians whose names are only uncovered by those brave explorers of the CD sleeve, have returned to their roots with their sixth “proper” album ‘Carried to Dust’.

One aspect of Calexico you can never escape from is their fixation with travelling. Always in a state of flux, they’re constantly on the road, trekking to a destination, but leaving the listener never sure if they actually reached it. However, rather than settling down and playing I-Spy the group have sound-tracked their travels and brought us lucky listeners some very special albums over the last 12 years.

‘Carried to Dust’’s album art work presents a young woman, eyes fixed on the road, heading towards a highway that you can’t quite make out. The car is clear as day, but that ever stretching road just escapes us somehow. Fragmented and mystical, it’s not there. Bear this in mind when listening to album closer ‘Contention City’ and notice that dark feeling in your stomach enveloping you. That’s what Calexico must feel every time they hit the long road and press record, and they are inviting you to feel it too. However, let’s hold that record button for now and instead opt for rewind, so we can find out the inner-workings of ‘Carried to Dust’ and more about this infinite trip. Rather than starting the journey with the band, the listener is simply a hitch-hiker; picked up from one point on the map and dropped at another with the title track marking the entry into the hot, stuffy desert. While a geographical description may seem odd for music, this seems to be exactly what Calexico are aiming for - with all of their previous bodies of work we have been picked up and dropped off. Sure, we joined in with some of the conversations along the way and even felt emotionally linked, but we were always missing parts of the puzzle…We were never always in their car, heading towards the horizon, we simply travelled from point A to B and were then left to our own devices on the roadside as the band sped away into the ever-reaching distance.

So, if this album has one specific motif, it’s of dangerous journeys into the heart of the sandstorm. Vocalist, Joey Burns, has a very distinct whiff of Leonard Cohen about him and if it can be pin-pointed to a particular Cohen-moment, it’s ‘Waiting for a Miracle’, which as it turns out, is one of the first pieces of music we hear in Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers, which, in tern, focuses on never ending journeys. I’m not for a moment suggesting Joey and John are about to go Mickey and Mallory, but the desperate and emotional nature exhibited in Stone’s creations is played upon heavily in this record.

Just like the listener, various musicians hitch-hike their way into Calexico’s vehicle and guest here. Sam Beam makes an appearance on ‘House Of Valparaiso’, then presumably, is dropped off and left to continue his own journey with Iron & Wine. Perhaps the most prominent “hitch-hiker” is Amparo Sanchez whose track on the record, ‘Inspiración’, completely rejuvenates the album’s landscape and turns it from a desperate desert into swinging Spain. Sanchez soon bids Calexico farewell though, treading back onto the quiet roads, and the horizon shifts once again, with ‘Slowness’ marking Calexico’s return to the miles of highway.

And to finish, we reache a revelation: ‘Carried to Dust’ is all about the ride, never the destination, and as soon as ‘Contention City’ ends, we are presumably booted out of the car (for now), bags in our hands and the sun in our eyes as we watch Calexico continue towards the horizon. Sure, we might feel cheated for a moment, but the memories of our time on the trek are enough to keep us warm and, thankfully, there is always another record and another chance for us hitch-hike with Joey and John. So for now, we place our thumbs out and hope for the best in the warm desert sun…

8/10 in stores Sept 8

Ra Ra Riot - The Rhumb Line review

Originally posted at www.loudandquiet.com

Ra Ra Riot are, if the internet is to be believed (and obviously, it never lies) a six piece “amorphous blob” that have wormed their way into the collective-consciousness of indie fans everywhere. Perhaps “intelligent indie” fans should be the correct phrase, but let’s face it, IDM already occupies the top spot for “worst genre name ever” and I really don’t want to coin another equally terrible saying. Anyway, back to ‘The Rhumb Line’; this “amorphous blob” has only released one other record (aside from an initial demo EP), a self-titled EP that features a few early recordings of songs that are now neatly re-worked and fitted onto ‘The Rhumb Line’. As with any album that features reassessments of earlier recordings, there tends to be derision between newcomers to the band and hardened aficionados who cling to the fragmented recordings of their heroes and downright refuse to let the re-evaluations seep into their ears. Well, surprisingly, ‘The Rhumb Line’ far surpasses Ra Ra Riot’s earlier EP.

Ra Ra Riot have a recognisable air to them, but rather than relying on a tired formulae to create verses that will appeal to the masses, the group instead borrow carefully created sounds that tread the dangerous line between familiarity and uniqueness. Thankfully, Ra Ra Riot have made it over the border, they are new refugees in the land of “uniqueness” and it seems certain that they will have their visas granted and become permanent residents in this sparse, barely populated, but magical space.

The group employ the call and response vocals of Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan of Stars fame and lyrically, the waltzy and intimate relationship perspectives offered up by lead singer Wesley Miles, screams of ‘Heart’-era Stars. However, rather than following suit with this obvious knowing nod to those chirpy Canadian troopers and in turn sounding a lot like Morrissey, Miles instead prefers the breathy style of Andrew Bird. The results of this ‘melting pot’ are remarkable, and I haven’t even mentioned the frantic choir-esque chorus reminiscent of good-old Arcade Fire in songs like ‘Ghost Under Rocks’.

Whereas the EP preferred minimal instruments, this full-length debut comes complete with a sweeping, whooping orchestra of noise that simply won’t be soothed. Some may argue that Ra Ra Riot lost their “intensity” with this new album, but these new recordings are throbbing masterpieces. Crammed with charmed guitars, a pulsing violin that competes with vocals for attention and a desperate lead singer who manages to find leeway above everything else to tell us of his loves lost suggests a “blob” that hasn’t lost a smidgen of its original fire, in fact, it seems to be turning into quite the inferno.

7/10

The Field Interview

Originally posted at www.thesilentballet.com

How do you go about composing your music, do you get just an idea that you work with, or do you get it all at once and build from there?

It’s probably more a feeling, usually when I hear a particular song I rearrange it in my head. It can be any song, from Lionel Richie to Fleetwood Mac...but I don’t know if I should say that in case I get sued!

I’m sure Lionel Richie won’t be reading this! But it can be any track then?

Yes, every time it’s a track that I have some kind of special connection to, or means something to me.

Has there been anything recently that’s caught your attention?

No, not really, I’ve been really dried out. I’ve just been playing so much, I haven’t really had time. We’ve been touring since last summer, more or less every weekend, but I just play weekends then go back home. Especially when you’re playing in Europe it’s so easy to get home, so I’m always back home on Monday.

That must be hard though.

Yeah, it is, but I’ve had a couple of breaks now where I haven’t really played at all.

Do you have to plan out time then for when you want to compose new songs?

Yeah, I try to, but I think we’re still going to do the rest of summer, perhaps a bit in the autumn, then I’m going to take a break for a bit from playing live at all, and just try to focus on making new music.

So will you be touring just across Europe, or will you be moving across to America?

We’ll be going to the States hopefully, and we’re working on visas and stuff, but they are really, really strict. We’ve had some problems with them before, but it’s really urgent as the tour is supposed to be happening at the end of May, as we’re going to Mutek in Canada and that’s no problem. But then we’re supposed to go on an East Coast tour, but it’s just the embassy interviews left now.

A live set featuring you and !!! !!! !!! recently made an appearance on Pitchfork TV, how did this collaboration come about? Do you hope to collaborate again with any other artists?

Well, it’s like that now, I’m not playing by myself anymore, I now have a band, but with the Pitchfork thing we were talking about it on the bus and then they asked if we’d like to do it. I was really satisfied with it, I was kind of dreaming of playing with musicians again and not playing by myself, because it’s much more fun for me and the audience and everyone. So we started playing with live instrumentation and no computer, trying to be more like a band than a DJ.

Yes, it must be hard to keep the listener interested in you’re just running off a laptop.

Absolutely, especially when you’re playing in the States where they haven’t really had it taken to them; they still very much like watching, and to watch a guy with a laptop is really, really boring. Europe is so ahead of the U.S.A really, like they’re ten years afterwards, so here you’re used to a guy with a laptop...but they’re still like “why isn’t he sweating on stage? He should have that laptop between his legs” [Axel imitates air guitar, but with laptop].

So what instruments do you now use live?

Synthesisers and bass and acoustic and electronic drums. And it’s now a sampler instead of a laptop, there’s no computer in it. It’s really nice.

How did you translate it from a record to a live show? How did you know which parts to play?

The last record is somewhat in between both the living room and the dancefloor, and since I’ve been playing a lot by myself I’ve been figuring out which parts work on the dancefloor, so it was already taken care of in a way. We’re basically doing the same tracks I used to play, but rearranged them and added stuff.

Do you ever get a vibe off the audience, sort of like “we want to dance” or “we want to stand around”?

Yeah, but I don’t know, I think I just keep on playing, regardless of what expressions they may have in their face, it’s like take it or leave it. We’re really much more free now, I guess, before I was more like a slave under my laptop, now we can do whatever and we can just improvise and jam.

Do you think you’ll include a band in your next record?

I don’t know, I think it’s probably going to be me making the music, perhaps inviting the band to play on some tracks; we haven’t really recorded stuff. I think we could do something but I don’t know if it would be under The Field’s name or something else, we’ll see.

I’m interested in the Sound of Light EP you composed for The Nordic Light Hotel, can you tell me more about that and were you ever worried you would be making lift music?

It’s really strange, the hotel contacted me and asked if I could do music for the hotel environment, and you have these thoughts “is it going to be lift music”, but they had it in every room, you could stream it directly by just pressing a button. Then they had this...like, a postcard with a CD, that you could buy after a visit, but then they started selling it on Kompakt and other stores, so I don’t know what happened, but I don’t think it exists anymore.

It is odd though that a hotel would be like “oh, make some music for us”?

It’s really strange, I was there for two nights and on the first night I got sick, I had a fever and started puking, and that kind of set the standard for the thing, because I couldn’t really work with it and I didn’t know what to do. For me it was really chaotic and I don’t really like it, there’s only one track that I’m happy with. It was more like a job, you know, kind of a commercial thing, “this is what we ordered from you”. It’s not a follow-up, some people think it’s like a follow-up EP, but it’s not, it was just for the hotel and I don’t even know why it got out, but people tend to forget why I did it.
This is quite a cheeky question, but do you think of members of an audience use drugs they’re more open to your music?

Yes! There’s a total difference, you can see with what towns you’re playing in and there’s a lot of drugs, the audience is totally different.

So are you expecting that from Minehead?

No, I think everyone’s going to be drunk on beer, but that works as well, intoxicated either way. But there’s a big difference between Barcelona and Stockholm, or Berlin and Stockholm; Barcelona’s pretty liberal but Stockholm is quite conservative.

Where has been the place where you’ve thought “these people really get it” then?

I think Berlin is always Berlin, it’s a really nice place and the people are very friendly. Everyone in this kind of scene more or less moved there a few years ago from all over, from the states, Sweden, everywhere. Berlin gets to be the capital of techno. It’s so cheap to live there compared to other capitals.

Is there anyone you’ll be checking out at ATP?

I want to see Dinosaur Jr, Battles and we’ve just been watching A Hawk and a Hacksaw, De La Soul as well maybe, we saw Explosions in the Sky last night and Four Tet as well. Oh, and Stars of the Lid. I think Adam, the guy with Stars of the Lid, is living in Brussells.

Brainwash Compilation Review

Originally posted at www.thesilentballet.com

Score: 4/10

This first Brainwash compilation marks the beginning of an era, a move into territory that Brainwash have barely begun to tread, the emergence of a cultural peak in the land of Leeds, and so on, so why is it that I have given this compilation a measly 4? Well, a variety of reasons, the most subjective being “I didn’t like it” and the most objective statement coming in the form of, oh wait, I can’t be objective. Well, damn.

Joking aside, the criticism I am about to embark on is not intended as a blow to Brainwash as promoters, as I am assured they do a fantastic job bring a host of bands “up North” (it’s grim, don’t you know) as well as starting their own festival in October, which has attracted the likes of Ólafur Arnalds, Maybeshewill and Forward Russia. It seems Brainwash can’t really put a foot wrong, but well (and this is genuinely unwelcome news), their compilation is pretty poor.

All of the ingredients for it to be a success are there, it’s just that it has been so badly put together, that when playing it for the first time this compilation becomes a patchwork catastrophe, with split seams, dodgy craftsmanship and well, if it were a jacket, it would be a straight jacket.

Opening with a nice little “hello, welcome to the first Brainwash compilation, enjoy”, the listener is easily sucked into believing that their journey through this CD will be a smooth one and the use of Jonquil as compilation opener only adds more weight to this idea. For those who are not familiar with Jonquil (shame on you), they are a wonderful, Youthmovies-related outfit who have released one moderately successful album to date, entitled Lions. The title track of this record features on the Brainwash compilation and is an ever favourable sea shanty, about, erm, building houses in a certain way so lions can escape easier. Nonetheless, it’s a wonderful song and my only qualm with it is that it’s been condensed to a one minute edit, which seems rather pointless as the song only totals in at 1:57 on the album anyway. Looking back, this maltreatment of Jonquil should have rung alarm bells instantly, but on first listens I was far too naïve and well, hoping that this record might offer up something half-decent.

On we move though, at a blistering rate may I add, to Red Stars Parade, who I originally thought were quite pants, but this was before hearing Pulled Apart by Horses. Returning to Red Stars Parade, they are basically an unassuming bunch, who you know, give songs super-cool names like “Jack O’ Knives” and sound a bit like 30 Seconds to Mars. It’s hardly anything to get excited over, but Kerrang gave it four of their Kicking-ass Kings in a recent review, so if you dig Kerrang, chances are you will like this too.

So, we have had one good band, one not so good, then on swing Jetplane Landing with one of the most ridiculous songs, EVER. At least that’s what they want you to think, because, you know, it references Les Savy Fav and they are totally hip, and it has a load of stuff going on in it, and, and, and… is what you would be saying if you were some sort of brainwashed (get it?) monkey. Jetplane Landing’s “Why do they never play Les Savy Fav on the radio?” is a real waste of effort. Yes, it’s kooky, if that’s what you’re into, but if it were asking the genuine question “why do they never play Les Savy Fav on the radio?” surely there would be some mention of the fact that major radio stations are far too scared of change and Les Savy Fav do have a reputation for being a bit weird. No, there is no mention of that here, instead, this is, what I feel, a rough translation of the thought processes of Jetplane Landing:

1) Sound totally American
2) Fill the song with crazy breakdowns to show we can take a joke
3) Make sure it sounds ironic!!!

Well, ironic songs = ironic eye rolling. Please don’t bother with Jetplane Landing, it’s like giving in to a child that’s purposely attention seeking; the parent looks weakened in the eyes of the child and the kid knows it can try it again and probably get away with it. Super Nanny would agree. Oh, and did I mention that certain “vocals” in the song sound like Thurston Moore’s piss-take attempt at rapping on The Whitey Album? Exactly. Stand well clear and block your ears.

Wintermute offer some of the usual At The Drive-In styled sounds that you can hear on most “band nights” at your local pub, so it’s up to These Monsters to pull me out of the aural dirge that is this compilation so far; thankfully they do, and offer up 10 minutes of relaxing jazzy post-rock keeping thoughts of “change the cd, change the cd, change the cd” at bay.

At this point, things look like they are picking up; I have just experienced the soothing sounds of These Monsters and the next few artists on this record are pretty decent too. Paul Marshall offers up a sweet folk ballad in the style of Simon & Garfunkel and Random Number’s “Crosets” is a nice slice of electronica that is easy on the ears. Vessels show up next, and as they simply can’t put a foot wrong, their track “Clear and Calm” easily transports us onto Youthmovies’ excellent “Shh! You’ll Wake It”.

Then it all goes a bit wrong again. Pulled Apart by Horses turn up, with teen angst baggage and all and offer up the song “I Punched a Lion in the Throat”. Now this is a bad song, some might even say a musical travesty. It contains the lyrics “ultimate power/maximum life” which sounds like the slogan for Homer Simpson’s “Power Sauce”. Just like this apple based energy bar, the listener soon discovers that this song doesn’t really have any energy behind it, and rather than being made out of apple cores and old newspapers (like in The Simpsons episode), “I Punched a Lion in the Throat” is formed out of tired riffs and an uninspired band.

In short, some more songs happen, and then the compilation closes on a seventeen minute effort from Human Fly which features spoken-word artist Rose Kemp. While this song isn’t at all disagreeable, in fact it’s rather good, slapping it on right at the end is the final nail in the coffin for this album.

I haven’t really explained my overall disliking for Brainwash’s first compilation yet, so please allow me to do so now, just to justify myself to both fans of the compilation and Brainwash themselves. The promoters have obviously decided to cram everything in at once and alternate between genres just to show how much they have to offer. Honestly, they do have a plenty of great bands under their belt, but splicing them together in this order just spells catastrophe. Compilations like this were necessary when not everyone had easy access to the internet, or music, but with the Myspace phenomena, now anyone can listen to any band they like and form an opinion of them through the 4 to 5 songs available on their music page.

Similarly, if someone was interested in what Brainwash has to offer, they would no doubt sift through their top friends (who are mainly made up of the bands that are on this comp), give each band a listen and if they like what they hear, maybe buy a record or two. Fitting every single artist Brainwash has been involved with onto one compilation no longer works because music listeners expect things to be catered to them. If you can download an entire album by one great band, why should you have to listen to a compilation that hasn’t bothered to tailor itself to you?

While listening to an entire compilation and making notes on the bands you enjoyed and the ones you didn’t used to be merriment to us all, a certain new-breed listeners seem to no longer have the patience for this. Instead of shoving everything under one “compilation”, the artists on this record should have been split up onto different EP’s. Perhaps one for bands like Red Stars Parade, Pulled Apart by Horses and even Deus Volt, another EP for folks like Jonquil, Paul Marshall, We vs. Death, and so on. Yes, this would have required a lot more effort and I am certain some will see flaws in my thinking, but frankly, I don’t see why anyone should be forced to listen to bands they don’t enjoy just so a promoter can say “we have a full-length album out with so much stuff on it, it’s insane.” I agree, if Brainwash had of released separate EPs with rough genre guides, it wouldn’t open up other bands to listeners and may even come across as a bit closed minded, but it’s a sign of the times if scatty compilations are being released and consequently ignored by music fans who simply don’t have the time to sift through garbage to find the gems.

Apologies if the previous paragraphs come across as half-baked nonsense from a rambling music reviewer who doesn’t know what they are talking about, but I simply had to discuss (in my own little way) the redundant “qualities” of compilations like this. Now, Brainwash, please accept my apology and continue to put on fine gigs on up North.

Casino loyalty schemes

For Casinoonline.co.uk

Many online casinos offer excellent loyalty programs as a way of rewarding their regular players. These can be incredibly enticing, and are certainly an important consideration when chosing a casino, especially if you think you will be playing their regularly. To help you decide which casino is best for you, and clear up any confusion over the differences between the various schemes, we have compiled a table comparing a number of programs on offer. If you wish to learn more about any of the casinos' reward programs, just click on the casino name in question...

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128-bit SSL security

For Casinoonline.co.uk

Practically all online casinos list that they have “128-Bit SSL security”, but you will very rarely see an explanation for what exactly this means. Is it safe to assume that because a number of companies use it that it automatically guarantees its authenticity and safety? Well, we have compiled all the information you need, meaning you can make an informed decision about your security options.

SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer, which is a protocol (a set list of procedures) that systematically encrypts sensitive data being sent over the internet from a client to a server; in this case, you (and your banking details) to the online casino housed in the server. You may wonder why it is only the server that’s protected by SSL security; after all, your details are just as important as the casinos right? Well, the casino server protects both your end and their’s through a section of keys...

Full article available here.

Payout Percentages

For Casinoonline.co.uk

Most, if not all, online casinos are regularly audited by independent organisations that check their payouts and also whether or not the casino can be considered as ‘fair’. When checking if a casino has been independently audited, you should always look out for the ‘eCogra’ symbol, as this non-profit company are the most popular when it comes to payout reports. However, there are other online casino auditors, including Gaming Associates, who consider themselves “industry leading experts”. If you keep an eye out for information on payout percentages, you will soon find that the majority of online casinos feature auditing reports by either of these two organisations.

It is important to note that these payout figures may not be what you receive when you put your money through these games. Instead, they should act as a rough guideline to what to expect from each casino; after all, these figures don’t take into account your own skill, the time played and your betting average. They are still an important factor in choosing a casino, however, and it makes sense to understand what they mean and how this will affect your gameplay.

In 2005, the UK Gambling commission proposed that games such as slots machines that feature a jackpot of £1,000 and above must have a payout percentage rate of 80%. Most online casinos offer almost 20% more than this, however, meaning that any that offer the gambling commission's minimum rate are far from competitive, and are perhaps not worth playing at...

Full article available here.

Ryoga - Meme

Originally posted at www.thesilentballet.com

Score: 7/10

Ryoga’s previous effort, in the form of their last EP release Ryoga, didn’t really do that much for me. While I’m sure that fellow TSB reviewer Zach Mills is a pretty astute fellow when it comes to cherry-picking the best releases of 2008, I wasn’t really feeling his selection of this odd, electro-post-rock four piece from Sunderland. Still, he awarded them 7/10 and like most who read that review, I gave the band a fair try, but still never really “got it,” much like that Captain Beefheart album that “like totally hits you with its layers on the seventy-fifth listen…" I’m sure it does by the way, I’ve just yet to make it to the seventy-five mark.

Anyway, on we move with Ryoga’s new effort, Meme, a five track EP totalling just over twenty minutes. While there is only a fifteen-or-so minute difference between the aforementioned Ryoga and this new EP, what really struck me about Meme was that on the first listen, this new record didn’t sound as, dare I say it, dense as their last release. Of course, there are other factors involved that made me prefer this release. For a start, it is part of the wonderful new Notes series, an internet based movement that promises a real life, clutch-a-copy music ‘zine in which bands can showcase their sounds on a 3” CD. Clearly, Ryoga’s involvement in this group pushes their cool points through the roof, although I’m sure Zach would argue they were already sky high.

Meme suggests a band that have already come leaps and bounds since their last release. The songs are smoother, the transitions between fading endings are seamless and the vocals fit that perfect, snug mix of not being too overbearing or overshadowed by the surrounding accompaniments. The quartet behind this wonderful release have clearly honed in on their skills for sampling. For me, Ryoga had moments where the sampling was perhaps too “chunky” - as in it didn’t feel like it belonged there and its role was simply to fill dead air. On Meme however, all the samples employed fit around each songs ethic. In “Naked for No One,” the soothing looped chatter compliments every single second of instrumentation; it’s a real testament to the band that there are no moments when clarity is compromised by lethargic electronics.

Of course, this review is all based around personal favorites, so anything I pick comes complete with a barrel load of subjectivity, but if I had to pick... I’d say that “Tango Down/Evac” is one of the most impressive songs I’ve heard this year, regardless of genre. Opening with a claustrophobic industrial drum that recalls Jacaszek, another standout of this year, and ending on a resonant high note with a melting pot of synth and scale sliding guitars, you can even forgive the fact that the first synth note in this song sounds like the opener to Sam’s Town by The Killers.

For those of you that suffer from attention disorders, you’ll be pleased to know that the EP doesn’t recreate the same ideas in each song; you’ll find no “cookie cutter” moments here! A song's theme stays just one idea in a plethora of different styles that seep through this EP. If you’re looking for a dark jangling guitar, you’ll find it in closing track “The Milk of Human Kindness”, but just as you begin to repeat this tune's hypnotic rhythm in your head, you’ll be thrown into a land where synth rules and the guitar is moved away to the distant sidelines… If you can keep up, Ryoga offer up one hell of an adventure and I certainly recommend it.

The Octopus Project Interview

The Octopus Project interview (originally posted at www.thesilentballet.com)

Firstly, as well as ATP you’re also playing Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits this year and in 2006, you played Coachella. With the latter, weren’t you nominated by a fan?

Toto Miranda: Yeah, completely without our knowledge we were nominated then voted into the Coachella festival, we knew nothing about it until we got the invitation from the festival.

I hope that wasn’t the day before or something!

Yvonne Lambert: No, no, it was six months before, but still we didn’t know if it was real or not, it was so shocking. It was something we had never even considered happening, so yeah, it was a big surprise!

So, have you played ATP before, or is this your first time? How does this one differ to other festivals you’ve played?

TM: No, this is our first one too.
YL: This is also a big surprise!
TM: We played a festival in Taiwan last year and it was kind of similar to this, it was in a resort and everyone had cabins and stuff, and all the bands and people stayed together. ATP is kind of like that, plus Coachella; totally awesome bands and a really cool resort thing, but everything being awesome.
Josh Lambert: Really like the best of both worlds.

But without the good weather! [It tipped it down on Friday]

TM: This isn’t bad, the weather was like this in Taiwan only it was really hot, deadly hot.
YL: It was grey and humid.
TM: We’ve been in England for a for a little over a week now, and it was beautiful up until a few days ago.

With your European tour, didn’t you lose a few dates along the way recently?

TM: Kind of, they were all sort of in flux, none were totally confirmed and then they ended up not happening.
YL: Some things got moved and some things got cancelled and things got added, but it’s all sorted now.

So you’re not going to be just wandering around Europe then?

TM: Yeah, saying “let us play please!”

I noticed that Josh [guitarist] kept running back and forth to that black box on stage all evening. Do you have to keep aware of what you’re doing at all times on stage, or can you relax a bit?

JL: Yeah, these guys picked up for it but I totally messed up one of the songs last night. I did some wrong things at the wrong time and they were just like “okay, I guess we’re doing that part now”. It gets confusing some times.
YL: I think in general we each know exactly what we have to do to make everything work together and like Josh said, if one of us just has a moment where we kind of go blank and mess something up, we can all pick up for each other.

The crowd didn’t notice though!

TM: Yeah, we’ve dropped the ball way harder than that, that was nothing! Sometimes a song will just grind to a halt, and that’s never pleasant.
YL: We did blow the power at our first show in London, twice. The power just went on all of the electronics, which is a big driving force for us.
TM: All the electronics and the amps went out, so all of a sudden it was just drums.
YL: That was awkward.

So, aside from that, how did your first London shows go?

JL: They went well, we played another one a few days later at the Vibe Bar in Shoreditch, that show was really awesome, it was really good,
YL: no power issues.
JL: Because all of our stuff is American power, so we have a converter that we got in Amsterdam, so it has European power, then we had to get U.K converters, so it’s like three settings of weirdness.

You’ve been known to use a Theremin, when did you first become accustomed to playing this instrument?

YL: I got the Theremin around 1999-2000, and started experimenting with it, using sound effects and pedals, just different cloaking devices to cover up the fact that I had no idea what I was doing! It took a good couple of years before I was comfortable playing intricate melodies, but its fun.

So how were you introduced to the instrument?

YL: We saw a documentary on the inventor who was a Russian physicist named Léon Theremin, and he was working for the KGB on motion sensors technology in 1920 when he accidentally discovered that the electricity in our body could amplify and detune these radio frequencies. He was also a musician so he made this instrument and toured the world, kind of showing everybody his new invention. It was the first electronic instrument ever invented.

I feel quite ignorant now for never having heard of it!

YL: It is pretty obscure; I think you wouldn’t really hear of it unless you sought it out.

How much do you use it on your albums and live sets then?

YL: We’re using it more, as I’ve learnt how to control it better we’ve been using it a lot more, so the newer album has more intricate melodies using it, and we do use it live. I’ve gotten to the point where I’ve trained one ear to pick out that specific sound so I can try to play it live, because there’s no way to mark off frets to see what you’re doing, you really have to hear it. You kind of get a feel for it though, like the tiny movements of the fingers you have to do to change the pitch and the notes. You just get a feel for it though, like with any instrument.

I wanted to ask you about your split with Black Moth Super Rainbow, how did that one come about?

TM: We were introduced to them through the internet. The guy that runs their label, Graveface, got hold of us and we started talking to him about things, so we found out about them through him. Then he was asking us about doing a release, and since we’re with Peek A Boo in the states we didn’t want to do a proper album of our own, but the idea came up of doing a split with them, as a separate venture for both of us. We ended up trading files - little unfinished bits of songs - over the internet, and made it that way. We didn’t actually meet Black Moth until after the record was finished. It was kind of weird when we first met, which was when we first played a show together and walked in thinking “I wonder which one’s them?”

We’ve spent the whole time walking around the festival going, “I’m sure that’s Explosions in the Sky”, the festival is basically made up of lots of men with beards.

JL [talking about Ryan Figg, guitarist in the band]: Yeah, he’s in Explosions in the Sky, he’ll start signing t-shirts.

With the last record, you used a studio and also kept it lo-fi, so with the next one do you plan on using the studio, or will you be going back to your lo-fi roots?

JL: I think we’ll probably do it ourselves, with a little bit of help in Austin.
TM: It’s about kind of finding a balance between needing a lot of control over what we do, but then also needing some help so things are exactly where we want them. It’s back and forth but the more we do it the closer we get to the comfort zone, as far as things we can do and things we need help with.
YL: With the last record we initially wanted to try going into a studio, and seeing how everybody else does it and try to see how much better of a sound we could get working in a nice studio, with nice recording equipment. It was a really great experience, but I think in the end we still learnt that we needed to do our own thing and we needed more control over certain situations and certain sounds. We still took everything that we got from the studio home and manipulated it ourselves. I guess we’re control freaks in that way, but I think we learnt to trust ourselves more and to trust our own ideas.
TM: The studio was a combination of moments like “Wow, I never would have thought to do that, or that sounds way better” and then there were times when you wanted to reach over their shoulder and go “no, just do that!”

Was the studio recommended to you then?

JL: The guy who’s the engineer on it approached us, it was his studio in Seattle and he approached us at South By South West a couple of years ago. He had done records with The Gossip and Blonde Redhead and stuff like that. The studio was really amazing, so we were like “this sounds like a great deal, he’s made great records, the studio’s really awesome and a really nice guy.” When we got there we were there for like twenty days, we lived in the studio and just hung out there the whole time, and all of us just worked together. We mixed it at the very end of it, but then after we left on our way home we were listening to it and "thought these mixes aren’t exactly what we’re looking for," so we went home and spent the next couple of months mixing it ourselves and then with another guy in Austin.

So the one on the record is the one you mixed?

TM: Yeah, it ended up being a result of all those different processes in a row, it began with a few stages, but each stage definitely left its mark on what we were left with.

Will you be in the studio again for the next record?

YL: It’s possible that we’ll do some work in the studio and some on our own, we’re finding a good mix and trying to figure out the way we work best, what we need help with and what we need to do ourselves.

Do you know when the next record will be?

JL: We’ve just put out a single last month with two new songs and we haven’t written anything else since then, but hopefully when we get back we’ll start working on that.

With the Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead method of releasing music, how do you think music distribution is going to go? Can you see it going towards “free, donate money if you want” sort of thing, or do you think there’s still value placed on the physical copy of a record?

TM: It’s kind of splitting off and those two are becoming separate categories - there’s definitely going to be way less focus on the CD or it’ll be cheap and convenient on digital, or we’ll make a really beautiful vinyl album, so that you have the choice to do both. Tthis is all happening really fast, it wasn’t even a question on our minds when we put out the last record in October. Who knows what will happen between now and when we make our next record?

Do you think it’s a good thing, the way that it’s going?

TM: I think it’s in total flux right now, and I don’t know if it’s going to settle in one particular mode any time soon. I think it’s good to not have the content and the object to be necessarily linked, as you can start to think of those as two different ideas - not that one is more valuable than the other, but it’s just kind of multiplying.

Atlas Sound, a fellow act at ATP, has developed that Ryan Adams thing where he’s constantly releasing new songs online; do you think you’ll ever be like that?

TM: We’re not that prolific with the finished product, there’s tons and tons of stuff in progress but it’s like pulling teeth to get a song finished for us. We’re gonna do something special with it, whether it’s digital or vinyl or whatever; it’s going to be something special, not just releases on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

So we’re not going to be hearing any DJ Reggie (Ryan Adam’s rapping alter-ego) style rap songs then?

TM: We do have some joke songs,
YL: We make up kind of joke, rappy songs just for ourselves, but they never get released.
TM: I’m torn because I think they’re hilarious, but on principle I think novelty rap just needs to be put to sleep.

Finally, is there anyone we should be checking out in particular at ATP?

JL: Animal Collective and A Hawk and a Hacksaw, who we’ll see in a little bit. I saw Animal Collective play about three years ago, but I’m sure it’s completely different now - the clips I saw at Coachella was all electronics, no guitars or drums or anything.

Lichens Interview

Lichens interview (Originally posted at www.thesilentballet.com)

ATP Interview Series

I’ve read that your albums are all one-time improvisations…

With the exception of one tune on Omns, “M St r ng W tchcr ft L v ng n Sp r t” is actually the one time I’ve done overdubs on a track, and I just did a bunch of layering. It was all still improvised but I had an idea and I chose to move through the piece in three different movements and to accomplish that the way I sort of envisioned it in my head, it was a necessity to do over-dubbing, but that is the one time I’ve done that. Otherwise it is a one-time.

Is it literally all in one go then?

Yes, usually I’ll be able to go into a recording session with an idea… [Robert is met by someone carrying Battles’ drumsticks, which he will be passing onto the band]…The whole impetus for what I do and the concept came about because I wanted to try to be able to realise a piece of music spontaneously, as best I could. That being said, I do have ideas of how I want things to sound, but they don’t necessarily turn out the way that I want them to - or the way that I envision them - and that’s okay. The idea of “the mistake” entering into the equation is not something that really hinders me from what I’m doing. It’s a process that allows me as well as the listener outside to experience basically the birth and death of this one piece of music and have it able to live symbiotically in any given situation. That was the whole idea, because lichens grow anywhere and everywhere, it’s the oldest living organism on the planet, there’s one in the arctic that’s over a million years old and still growing underneath the glacier, so that’s sort of why. It’s all about the process and the evolution and realising, coming to a sort of understanding of things, and seeing that something can be created spontaneously and have an effect or not. It’s one of those things, it lives where it lives and that’s what it is.

A fellow writer at The Silent Ballet went to see you and Explosions in the sky at a venue called 'The Crazy Donkey,' do you remember that venue?

I do remember that, that was a weird show.

Apparently lots of people talked through it; how does it feel when people talk through your show? How does that affect the artist?

You know, I don’t let it affect me, because I’m there to do what I do, and it’s as much for me as it is for anyone else, so if they decide to be involved in what I’m doing and where I’m at, then that’s just fine. If they don’t and they happen to be there, the whole idea of this, the symbiosis, living in situations that are not necessarily supposed to happen - it’s not discouraging whatsoever. I tend to enjoy it more when I’ve made some sort of connection, but at the end of the day, if nobody else is getting it - or wants to - they don’t have to be there. It’s all just a matter of choice and circumstance, it’s not something that affects me greatly, but for the most part I’ve had great luck with live performances, being able to convey what I’m doing to an audience, and the audiences have been as narrow and broad as you can possibly imagine. I’ve played in front of thousands of people and it’s been totally silent, or I’ve played in front of two hundred people and it’s totally clattered and crazy. It is what it is and I can’t be bothered with someone that doesn’t get it. If they don’t get it that’s fine, I’m doing my thing and that’s what I’m there to do.

Do you ever want to tell people to “shush” though?

I think the idea of that is a little ridiculous, I think too many people put this precious idea on their art and what they do. Sure I want to be respected as an artist, I can’t say that I don’t - if I did I’d be lying - but what I do is not for everyone and I understand that. I’m not looking to change anyone’s perspective on anything. If they’re able to join me in it then that’s just fine and I appreciate that, but I can also understand the idea of someone not being there. It’s all circumstance; someone could have a bad day at work or get into a row on the train or whatever, so their day is ruined, regardless of what their plans were for the rest of the day. Sometimes you can’t make that connection and I understand that.

I’m glad you remembered that donkey venue though, I’ve seen a few pictures of it and they have a donkey mascot, was it a bit of a mistake in venue?

Yeah, it was like playing at Hooters. That was exactly what it was, very bizarre.

What can we expect from your live show - are you on your own or do you collaborate?

I do collaborate, after the show tonight I’m doing a series of shows in the UK collaborating with my friend Jeremy who plays in a tonal and textural duo called White Light. We did an album together called White/Lichens last year on the Holy Mountain label. He’s over here because he’s working for Iron & Wine doing their house sound, and we were able to coordinate it so we were able to travel together and do some performances together. I’m doing some solo and some as a duo, as White/Lichens, generally under the moniker Lichens but I have done collaborations with people - a viola player and the percussionist Michael Zerang, to name a couple. I’ve done stuff with Christina Files and a number of other people, off and on when the situation suits.

And are your collaborations improvised as well?

I think a number of the people I’ve performed with are improvisers and have worked with improvisers for a number of years, but I have worked with people that don’t really exist in that world. It’s always an interesting thing regardless of how it works, it’s always interesting and always a good time.

I’ve read that you’ve collaborated with TV on the Radio, but can’t find much more about it aside from short sentences online, is there any truth to this?

There’s a lot of misinformation that floats around…

Do you want to clear this up now then?

Sure, I did a few live shows with TV on the Radio a couple of years ago, just a few New York shows that happened over a period of time, but I’m not in the band and I was never a member of the band. I guess it’s not completely incorrect to say that I was a collaborator, but I don’t really ever say that. It’s gotten out there so far - I think the last record review I had in The Wire, the first line said my name then said I was a member of TV on the Radio, and this is years after the event. It’s just misinformation, it’s not what it is, and that writer obviously didn’t do any fact checking and didn’t do the proper research. It’s too bad, but it seems like that happens with most writers these days.

Well, I hope you don’t mean me!

I say most; there are a good few, but only a few.

You used to be in 90 Day Men, how would you explain the differences or similarities between the former, and the project you’re working on now?

I don’t know, but it’s always funny with the idea of a project - I never really use that term, because it’s not a project, it happens to be where I am at that point; it’s just how I see things. I know other people will view things differently, but I don’t like the idea of using that term because it negates the idea that you have the free will to do what you want, you know what I mean? It’s like “oh you know, it’s this little side thing that he’s doing”, and it’s not, it’s what I do, there are different phases in everyone’s life and everyone moves through at different paces, but it’s all your history, it’s all my history.

Well, I can assure you that that’s just a lexical choice slip-up there!

I know, but that’s why it’s just the way that I am.

Do you know when you’ll have another record out?

I’ll hopefully be able to record a new record after I'm done with touring, but once I’m home at the beginning of July I’m going to try and work on a new record. I have a vision of how I want to try and create the situations, so hopefully by the end of the year the record will be out. That’s my plan.

Where do you record your records then, at home or in a studio?

I’ve done home studio recording and recording in studios proper. I’ve worked with a few different engineers, people that really understand where I’m coming from, and that’s the most important thing, to be able to convey what I’m trying to be able to work with.

It must be hard if you have a specific vision though, do you ever worry it will be bypassed by the people you’re working with?

I don’t think it’s ever bypassed, I’m very hands on, even to the point of live situations, during a sound check I’ll actually go out into the house and stand at the soundboard and EQ my own sound. I do like to be hands on with that sort of thing, as there are certain things that I want to be able to be heard by people, and in a certain way. It’s never an issue of bypassing though, it’s never a production issue or a mixing issue, I’m able to convey it and if I’m not able to do it myself, I’m able to tell someone else how to do it.

A lot of the bands we’ve spoken to have said the same, perhaps Explosions in the Sky have picked really hands-on bands.

[laughs] I think for the most part they have, yeah.

Am I right in thinking that the Million Tongues festival was one of your first shows?

There were two shows that I did really close together, and one was the Million Tongues festival and one was when Battles had first started touring and I opened and set up a show for them at an art gallery in Chicago. So, I believe the Million Tongues Festival was my second show and the show with Battles was my first.

I guess you know Battles from way back when then?

Yeah, they’re friends of mine, I’ve known Ian [Williams, guitarist], Tyondai Braxton, [guitarist and vocal samples] and Dave [Konopka, bass] the longest, but I also know John [Stanier, drums] and they’re all good friends.

How did you all meet then?

I’ve probably known Ian the longest, I’ve known him since he was in Don Caballero and he and I knew each other, then he moved to Chicago and we got to know each other better. Dave was in this group from Boston called Lynx, and they all moved to Chicago around the same time, so I got to know him as well. Ty I met just through playing shows, him in Chicago and me in New York and we became pretty fast friends.

Anyway, back to Million Tongues, what was that like?

I don’t know if there will be more, but I think there have been four so far. This fellow who goes under the name Plastic Crimewave, who does this magazine called Galactic Zoo Dossier which is manufactured and distributed through Drag City - he’s a known entity in Chicago, and he decided to start putting these festivals together because he has a lot of friends that are artists that are playing right now. To put any sort of a qualifier on it (which I don’t generally like to do but, I think he does it himself), it is more of a psyche and improvised festival. A lot of groups from Japan like High Rise and LSD March, a lot of folks you might see playing Terrastock, like Spires that in the Sunset Rise, Simon Finn, Jack Rose, all sorts of people. It’s a good one, I quite like it.

Is this the first time you’ve been to ATP? Does it differ?

This is the first time I’ve been to ATP; I generally don’t go to festivals. Something like the Million Tongues, it’s an onsite, site-specific festival that happens over the course of a few days, and it’s fairly easy and comfortable. Everyone goes to the same place and it’s not open air, it’s housed in a venue. I think it only really differs from ATP in that way, and that it happens on a smaller scale. The experience that I’ve had here has been very positive, I’ve been able to see a lot of people that I haven’t had the chance to see in quite a while, just reconnecting with friends and then meeting some new people and it’s the same with Million Tongues, it’s very friendly and very family orientated.

Imagism

For: Cent Magazine

When enquiring in my local library for an Imagism anthology and any other related texts, I was met with the following query; “you would like a book on Scientology?” I then explained that I was not particularly interested in L. Ron Hubbard’s theories on life at that very moment in time and would much rather read about a certain poetic movement of the early 20^th century. After much deliberation I was finally met with a rather musty copy of the first Imagism anthology, 1914’s Des Imagistes. While I should note that the librarians confusion about whether I wanted information on Scientology or an Imagism anthology may well have been down to bad pronunciation on my behalf, it seems a tragedy that a poetic movement led by the legendary Ezra Pound and whose first anthology featured the works of Pound, H.D and even James Joyce (although in an article in the Egoist, Pound submitted, “there are poems by authors in this anthology, which I do not consider to be Imagiste” and went on to list Joyce) has been swept up under the wide umbrella of “Modernism” and left to gather dust in some shadowy corner.

There are a variety of factors regarding why Imagism is not mentioned particularly much when discussing early 20^th century poetry. For a start, it has to compete with the plethora of “isms” of that era; Vorticism, Futurism, and for Pound, even fascism. It must also be remembered that Imagism was a rather short-lived movement, as Pound lost interest around 1914 and the reigns of Imagism were handed to Amy Lowell, who went on to publish a few volumes of Imagist poetry, up until 1917. However, it could also be to do with the fact that Imagism’s style of stripping down to fundamental basics, or as Pound put it in his manifesto, using “no superfluous word, no adjective which does not reveal something”, does not bode well with a nation that apparently places Rudyard Kipling’s “If” as its favourite poem. Pound’s appreciation of elemental concepts does not mean that his works, or his fellow Imagist’s creations lack the style and grace of more, somewhat mainstream poets like Kipling. Take for example Pound’s “In a Station of the Metro”, which is comprised of the following lines:

The apparition of these faces in the crowd;

Petals on a wet, black bough

While the poem may look sparse, the mix between nature and urban, traditional and modern is simply spectacular. Originally totalling in at thirty lines, Pound suggested in his manifesto not “to be descriptive” as “the painter can describe a landscape much better than you can” and in this text it’s clear to note Pound’s talent for abstracting the “superfluous” parts of a poem and reducing it to its very core, without it ever seeming bleak or unattractive. However, with the recent re-evaluations of side-lined avant-garde writers and artists like Pound’s associate Wyndham Lewis, it is only a matter of time before Imagism is removed from the old cupboards of libraries nationwide and is finally given its chance in the spot light.

Eluvium Interview

Eluvium interview (Originally posted at www.thesilentballet.com)

ATP Interview Series

How does your live set differ to how you compose a piece for a record?

Well, somewhat dramatically I guess, depending on the album. The most obvious difference for me is when I do all my recording at home, I have all the time in the world to build up miniature pieces that end up just being a single melody line with tons and tons of layers, whereas in the live setting, you don’t really have all that time to do so, but I still do like to give the understanding of that in the live setting. So people can see how things start and how they grow into miniature pieces, but unfortunately, while just being one person has many advantages, that’s one of the disadvantages - when I’m on stage I have to do as many things as possible and as quickly as possible in order to get a proper sound. So it limits my ability to play through my entire catalogue, it narrows it down to a few bits and pieces from each album, but I think in the end that it works out okay.


I was going to ask you how you choose what to play, as in your set last night there were bits of Accidental Memory there wasn’t there, as well as others?

Yeah, basically anything from Accidental Memory I don’t have any problem with at all, obviously, but then I’d say the first album I could do most of. Probably the hardest would be talk amongst the trees - just the first song on that album alone would probably take like five of me doing as much as possible at once just to get the opening line going. So yeah, I’m sure there are cheaper ways of doing it, but I just don’t really feel comfortable with that I guess. It really just comes down to trying to find the most representational track from each album and whether or not I can play it!

Would you ever be tempted to pre-record most of the sounds needed onto your laptop though and play those live?

Well, there is a bit of sampling on the laptop as well, and I don’t have a problem doing that as long as I feel I can bring something else to it, that creates something special for the live performance. But at the same time I wouldn’t like to have just an entire laptop set, so I try to integrate as much as I can. Also, I tend to have a fondness for broken, disregarded instruments and things like that, their lifespan doesn’t make it past the creation of the album. I’m sure you know one could go on ebay or craigslist or something like that and find a replacement for it, but I’d just be throwing away lots of money trying to buy a silly little Yamaha keyboard over and over again.

We spoke to The Field about laptops versus instruments, and he’s now got a band with him.

Yeah, I’ve heard this.

Because he doesn’t want people to watch a show that centres on a laptop, have you ever found that using your laptop too much in a set causes people to lose interest?

Sure, even now having the thing onstage at all is disconcerting for me, but that being said, I’m still going to put as much into the performance as I possibly can. I want to be taken to the same place as people in the audience taken to. Every once in a while you hear a comment like “oh he must be up there checking his e-mails or something”, strangely enough the aeroplane port card takes so much energy that I have to turn it off, so that’s not an option! The laptop can bring - aside from even sampling and things like that - so many effects and things like that, it is a really nice interface to work with, but I guess I’m still an old-fashioned, foot-pedal kind of guy. My friends in Portland are always trying to show me all this new software I could integrate into my set, it’s like “oh, I’d just rather buy the more expensive foot pedal”, just because it feels more hands-on.

So what software do you use for your shows?

I use Ableton live, and I have a Boss loop station, a reverb pedal...I used to have an Akai Headrush, but I’ve taken that out recently, just basically because I can’t fit it in all my luggage. So, there’s a lot of looping and effects, then I run it into the computer then back out into the pedals again, and then shoot it out into the crowd.

Has any of your software gone wrong before, like has your laptop crashed?

Luckily I haven’t run into that problem with this project, there’s another thing that I’ve been working on with a friend in Portland called Concert Silence - that involves a lot of wires and cables, and two, possibly sometimes three laptops. We decided to use all freeware for that project, so that’s definitely an issue. In fact, the record that we released for free, right in the middle of it, my laptop crashes, there’s this horns section that comes in and then it just drops out and then I just have to tell Charles “get in the kitchen”, so he just takes what’s running through the system and messes with it as fast as possible.

Well, I’ve heard that and didn’t notice it!

What’s wonderful about that as well is that somehow it still all works and it just brings something new to the music, it’s another surprise element that gives it something wonderful I guess, to us at least.

So is free-ware now the new lo-fi method of making music?

Maybe! That’s interesting about The Field though, because I saw him in Portland at Holocene and he just had a laptop and a mixing board and I thought it was fantastic. I mean, I wasn’t in there dancing or anything, I just sat back, but I thought he did a great job...but I am really excited to see him with a band.

Yes, he seemed worried about how American audiences perceive performances centred around laptops, whereas he could get away with it in Europe...

I’m sure he has reason to worry but you know, that’s a strange thing, like the audience versus the musician issue. We’re obviously not trying to cheapen the experience, there’s a reason why we play music in the first place, but I’ve heard some strange stories, I won’t mention names but there are certain artists that just walk up, hit spacebar and start rolling cigarettes. I think Axel’s probably right, that it is harder to pull off in the United States, it’s hard to have enough experience to say, but it certainly seems like there’s a harder patience in the U.S.A. It seems like people come to shows in the U.K and you want to actually watch the music, in the States, well, it’s unfair to say that through and through but it certainly seems as though, from my experience, that that’s not always the case.

Your set at Reds last night was packed and amongst quite a bit of talking there was, at one point, interpretive dance - did you spot that?

No, I genuinely don’t look up, it’s too daunting.

But what would be the best response you could get from a listener? Interpretive dance?

That’s pretty good! I don’t know, I think interpretive dance and someone just being silent, anything that anyone wants to do. I think just the best response is for the listener take it in the manner in which they want to, that probably the most important thing about that music is to let it be whatever it can be, for whoever wants it basically. Some clapping at the end is good too.

Do you find that certain places cultivate a quieter listener and so on?

I think that goes back to the States and Europe. Japan was by far the quietest shows I had ever seen; you could hear a pin drop. I noticed a lot of the time as well, there would be no applause until the end of a concert, like at a symphony or something like that. The wordless music shows in the U.S, they've been really quiet. I think it can really depend on the venue as well. In sit down theatres or something like that, you only have two people that can talk, so by default it’s going to be a little less noisy. But if people want to talk then that’s fine, I don’t think I can let it (bother me) - I have to admit I’m not quite sure what they’re doing in the room, but I’m up on stage and they’re out there and everyone gets to do what they want to do.

Including interpretive dance! It was quite amusing though, one woman started it, then a man who was quite clearly trying his luck started interpretive dancing towards her…

I can’t remember who, but somebody told me they saw like a little one-act play going on or something like that - perhaps that was the same thing. I wish I could have caught a little bit of it!

I take it you’re touring at the moment then?

I am, supporting Explosions all around Europe. We’re about two weeks or so in and we have another couple of weeks to go.

You mentioned earlier that you’re heading back out in Autumn though?

Yeah, I’ll be home for the summer and I’m still not really sure what’s planned, but I think some time in the fall, maybe in the winter depending on what happens, I’ll probably do some one-offs in the U.S and go back out and do the same thing in Europe again, just go a week or two around. Then there’s also a festival in August that I’m playing, it’s probably going to be the most wonderful thing I ever get to experience. It’s a festival celebrating water and sustainable living, it’s basically a expo for world leaders and scientists to come together and discuss these things, they build this sort of land of tomorrow somewhere, there’s theatre and music and all these things going on; I suppose to entertain the patrons. From what I understand it runs for three months, I believe it’s going on right now and I’ve seen a few Leaf artists that are on there as well, but I’ll be playing one night there, so that should be something else.

Does that mean you’re the music of tomorrow then?

Well, Colleen’s on there as well, and she certainly seems to play the music of a long time ago, so I don’t know. They must be doing everything, spanning through the ages.

Is there anyone you’ll be checking out at ATP?

Stars of the Lid I wanted to see, I just saw them in Portland but I loved it so much I wanted to see them again, so I was glad to catch as much as I could of that. The Field I really want to see, and Four Tet - it was good to see Kieran playing again. I’ve actually just been trying to catch up on some sleep as well, because being on the bus all the time it’s nice to be somewhere stationary, although the bus is like being in a little coffin…There’s something kind of comfortable about it.

Finally, have you got any celebrity neighbours near your chalet?

I’ve got Dinosaur Jr. a couple of doors down, that’s pretty stellar, and then just my friends all along here, that’s all that I’ve noticed, I keep my head down a lot I guess. I think D.C Berman (Silver Jews) is the one that’s keeping me star-struck, I shyly touched his shoulder and gave him a wave last night and that’s it.

What’s interesting about this festival is that there really is no backstage area, it is all mixed in.

Yeah, I think it’s nice, yesterday I kept on running into Mark from Explosions over and over again, and today it seems to be Chris, just when I left you guys I ran into him twice just going one way and back again.