Issue 76

Like a band? Enjoy their music? Wish to listen to said band for a reasonable price at your local student union or other popular venue? Well you can’t. Live music is no longer in existence. The “gig” is no more...unless of course you’re willing to escape with several broken limbs, bodily fluids in your hair, a bruised face and ego and claustrophobia. Yes, I’m calling it: the “gig” is dead.

Time of death: the 21st century.

Place of death: Within the hearts of myself and other cynics.
Cause: You.

Invigorating and challenging stuff, and a real shame it’s all too short.

that kind of sax sound and squeaky background singer routine can stay where it belongs, on Swing Out Sister, or Sting or Brother Beyond records

Século do Progresso begins as a lament, albeit underpinned with some squeaks and blurps that could come from John Shuttleworth’s Yamaha effects button.

a batch of pretty good, cleverly presented tunes, tunes that - if written by some young Turks, or if presented as the work of some post-post -modern subversive guru - could stand a chance.

This is NOT the only experimental electronic LP to be inspired by Todmorden this year, curiously enough. What’s going on?

it’s predictable dad radio rock of the highest order, and I like it.

All in all, a pretty enjoyable splurge of white noise.

It’s all good, clean fun.

A very enjoyable listen indeed.

Lordy, barely a minute in to the opener Engines in The City and this girl’s talking about giving her clitoris one with an electric toothbrush.

The whole LP is an exercise in pushing a limited set of sounds through a number of hoops, and with that in mind, it maintains its vibe brilliantly.

...this band could if they so wished make something really powerful and interesting, no doubt

What makes this record much more enjoyable than listening to the slew of arty guitar-based records that seemingly come out on a conveyor belt from the States is that this one has wit and personality.

The band is so adept at hiding their light under a bushel or sounding hesitant at what you’d think is a vital part of a song’s architecture (the “middle bit”), that the inattentive listener could switch off. So make sure you turn the bloody volume up, otherwise you’ll miss lots.

Ah, Diskjokke what are to make of you? One minute its pan-European disco, the next you’ve turned into a mix of La Düsseldorf and Tangerine Dream.

You do feel you are walking the fog-laden streets, going to a meeting of The Golden Dawn or some such…

Possibly the best, most “human”, pop record of the year.

The problem in the music scene is that there’s too much conformity, everybody just copies everybody else in an effort to be cool, I would say being un-cool always trumps being cool as it lasts a lot longer.