Biscuit Jointer

Rythm is dancer.

2010-01-10T10:45:00.000-08:00

I am slightly addicted to old school 90s classics at the moment. I guess its my nostalgic side that have taking its toll over me. Some of the songs only works when you're in a certain environment.90s fancy dressing parties when its quite obvious that you're just singing along with irony intended for example.(Not that I go to them very often, but you get the point.) Or whilst being drunk. Or I actually think most 90s songs are difficult to take completely seriously.
Anyways, typing in "90s hits" on Youtube make me chuckle. What a "broad" variety of psychedelic and odd videos there is out there: everything is so unedited, amusingly unpretentious, over the top, and a huge lack of tastefulness. Weird and excessive facial expressions and outfits, quirky dance moves and banal, simple lyrics.Good grief. This is entertainment on high level.

I remember there was this subtle wave of females singer/songwriters who represented the notions of strong and independent women(before the invasion of Destiny's child, Pink et al.later on) with rough attitudes and lyrics bathing in frustrations, covering the darker sides of life. Meredith Brooks,Sheryl Crow and Alanis Morrisette to mention a couple. Lyrics taking from Meredith Brooks song "I'm a bitch, I'm lover" below.

And who doesn't still have traumas caused by Shania Twain's monsterhit "That don't impress me much?." A sing-along song on most pre-drinks gatherings with the "girlies" globally at that time I think.

And who hasn't "grooved" along to the songs of La Bouche, Dr.Alban, Culture Beat, Snap etc.? The ultimate house/eurodance champions. Cheesy rap and feisty moves.
The definition of tackiness, but still, they functioned as catchy dance floor-fillers and party anthems back then. Imagining a sudden retro-wave of the 90s elements from these artists amongst musicians nowadays is however a bit unrealistic to picture.

Oh and then there was these unforgettable garage bands. Artful Dodger and Basement Jaxx.(who still are up and running). Along with the alternative controversial Britrock band "Skunk Anansie", who split up in 2001 and reformed again in 2009.

The legendary house track "Push the feeling on" by Nightcrawlers below. It has been remixed numerous times and still is a highly popular classic. One of my favorites.

The song makes me want go to a dark dodgy basement in a crowded warehouse somewhere, full of euphoric and energetic new-ravers partying till dawn with flashy glow sticks and heroin-chic clothing. No terror attack, no credit crunch, no environmental crisis hysteria. Mephedrone and Crystal meth were unknown phenomenens.
As I only were a naive kiddo paralyzed by Spice Girls at that time I wasn't the most dedicated clubber, but I can imagine that "aah these were the days". Pure sunshine bruv.

One of the best remixes/covers in 2009?

2010-01-08T05:07:00.000-08:00

The xx and Florence making a cover of an already great song can't hardly go wrong. The xx's fragile voices mixed with minimal dub step elements and hollow beats have lifted this song to a new level.

Yeasayer - Ambling Alp.

2009-12-28T19:40:00.000-08:00

“Stick up for yourself son, never mind what anybody else done”, sings lead singer Chris Keating on this delightful pseudo-ethnic avant pop track mixed with odd vocalizations (shifting from high-pitched Bee-Gees vocals to warmer harmonies). Still experimental, but less hippie-esque and far more playful and synthesized than previous songs I've heard from these Brooklyn based musicians.It might sound superfluous and over the top. But it's fun.And it works.But they're playing with fire though..Had it only been a tad more sweet and poppy could it easily reminded me of Mika.

FENECH-SOLER: The next hype?

2009-12-28T19:37:00.000-08:00

Electro-pop,synth-pop,techno pop,electro-rock,whatever genre you prefer to pigeonhole these sequins-dressed boys into - "Fenech-soler" are definitely worth keeping an eye on.They debuted with the single ‘Cult of the Romance’ in 2008, and has since then rapidly continued with creating love-infected lyrics and heavy club-centric synth-beats.Combining 80s inspired synth with catchy electro is not an unknown phenomenon these days,but they've managed to turn the 80s sound into something more contemporary.

Here’s the official video for the single “Lies”, released on Moda Music on 2nd November.

One of those random reviews: Twilight Sad - “Seven years of letters”.

2009-12-22T19:34:00.000-08:00

The Scottish indie rockers are known for producing sophisticated and rough fragile folk-rock, taint fully wrapped in layers of noise and depressive lyrics. Their dirge like darkness is still intelligibly present at their second single, taken from their album “Forget the night ahead”, released through FatCat on the 19th October.

Heavy guitar swirls are submarined by the lead singer, James Graham’s Glaswegian rusty accent and curling voice and the song narrates a melancholic tale about hidden, pressured love: “It's a sorry affair. We're on a hiding to nowhere”.
The depth of the lyrical content is swaying between well-turned phrases which create a tense and emotional atmosphere, to lines which hamper the vividness of it. The intense dynamic sounds cape is not as present as on previous tracks, but Graham delivers the song so heart-piercing that he gets away with it.

“The Twilight Sad” sound a bit like a darker and unpolished version of Newcastle quintet Maximo Park on this one. Or perhaps it’s just that Northern dusky edge that has me confused?

Oh Bloc Party what you do to me.

2009-12-21T19:31:00.000-08:00

"We may take a year off, we may take three years off. We may never make a record again or we may head straight back in and do a record.", said lead singer Kele Okereke just after they confirmed that they're going on a hiatus a couple of months ago. So the future doesn't look too bright for the fertile foursome who recently finished a huge UK tour, which ended in Bournemouth.
Drummer Matt Tong has also announced that the band’s future is uncertain, and he don't know if he's going to return to music at all. It has, however been revealed that Okureke is set to work on a solo album which is good news for all us shattered Bloc Party fans out there.

Having produced danceable indie-anthems since 1999, they are one of the most popular indie bands in the UK. With dynamic and hauntingly beautiful lyrics including themes of frustration, anxiety, sex, drugs, love, depression,war,politics, they've managed to reach out to a wide audience of youngsters.

“I am trying to be heroic, in an age of modernity/But in my heart I am lukewarm, nothing really touches me.” "Song For Clay"(Disappear Here)’

"I was an ordinary man with ordinary desire/There must be accountability/Disparate and misinformed/Fear keeps us all in place." (Hunting for witches.)

Why can't you be more European/Bastard child of guilt and shame/Bury your head in the sand. (Helicopter.)

Experimenting with electronic sounds, layering vocals, drum beats, sharp guitars and post-punk, Bloc Party have never been a band that you could pigeon-hole into a specific category musically.

Late of the Pier - "Blueberry".

2009-12-21T19:29:00.000-08:00

The Nottinghamshire four-piece have been my biggest musical obsession since they released their debut album last year which was a fanfare of fiery explosive 80s/Gary Numan-inspired synth-beats, accompanied with heavy guitar riffs and quirky lyrics and music videos. A fresh breathe of air, and a highly original addition to the indie scene. Album of 2008, without shadow of doubt! A bit gutted that I only made it to one of their gigs last year though,being so drunk, I can only remember brief glimpses of it.

I was randomly stumbling upon their newest single the other day, taken from their upcoming album, and its quite different from their other songs. The dizzying post nu-raveness is replaced by a more retro daydreamy intergalactic odyssey and The Beatles reference is inevitable. The song is good, but I just hope that they will keep their distinguished "old" sound, and not go through a bloody reformation like so many other quality bands do when they release their second albums.

The Raveonettes – In And Out Of Control (Fierce Panda) 05/10/2009

2009-11-04T19:19:00.000-08:00

The Danish rock and roll duo, Sharin Foo and Sune Rose Wagner are back with their dreamy pop-infested tones and dark lyrical content in the shape of ”In and out of control”, their fourth album release in 8 years.

Swaying between sugary melodic songs, clearly influenced by the nostalgic-pop of the ‘60s, and dazzling dark mellow tones, their record is far from anonymous. Pulling off a retro pop-rock record without ending up as another generic and pompous mash up is a tricky task, but ”The Raveonettes” have solved the ”pop-formula” conundrum in their own peculiar way, and the record serves quality and originality throughout.

The Scottish alternative ‘80s and ‘90s rock band “The Jesus and Mary Chain” is still prowling around the seams, along with references from “The Everly Brothers”. Most noticeably ’’In and Out of Control” is a bit rougher and dirtier than their previous records, but they haven’t gone through a drastic reformation or identity crisis since the last album. The duo are still comfortably genre-bending garage-rock, rockabilly and dogma rock, whilst flirting minimalistically with cloudy shoegaze. And it all makes perfect sense on their 11 tracks spread on scarcely 37 minutes.

Telling melancholic tales with dusky content including rape, drugs and suicide, combined with their innocent and velvety textured voices, the contrasts are endearing. Singing “Boys who rape should be destroyed. Those fucker’s stay in your head” and “drugs are dangerous”, with a bittersweet naivety and light choir harmonies they manage to portray something dark without sounding solely depressive.

Fluctuating between darkness, cushy atmospherics and hearty guitar whirlwinds creates a light-weighted rummage of a record. And I’m almost sensing that the dark lyrical content is a description of the chaotic sides of today’s society, and a subtle warning to neurotic youngsters growing up in a blurry diffusion.

A bit of 90s classics can never go wrong.

2009-11-03T19:22:00.000-08:00

My Tiger My Timing @ The Legion, London 15/10/2009

2009-11-02T19:25:00.000-08:00

Playing for a rather small, yet dedicated crowd, The New Cross based quintet bounced off with a “quick and cheerful” performance, which paraded their electronic pop songs at the Old Street venue. Trekking all the way from Brooklyn, New York, indie-alternative rock support-act “The Ambassadors” and “The Vanguard”, played their shoes off with a likeable attitude and “newbie” charm, impossible not to be smitten of.
“The Legion” itself isn’t big enough to attract a massive crowd, which makes the dark bar comfortably intimate. With a relaxed crowd seemingly consisting mainly of acquaintances and friends of the support bands, the atmosphere was unpretentious and chilled.

With an exception of some front row female fashionistas heavily myspace pouting and recording themselves with a handy video-camera, while shouting “Facebook!”, there were alarmingly few East End hipsters in reach that night.

“My Tiger My Timing” may be labelled as a pop band, but it offers so much more than pure and bright pop. Imagine a sparse mix of gloomy post-punk collision with light hearted euphoria-tinted ‘80s synth-pop elements. Other songs hide mellow and fragile pop melodies under a layer of electronica and rough cascades of Caribbean and Plena-like rhythms. The music is never too obvious, not too intricate or difficult either. Delivering rhythmic indie-pop without being too flamboyant and predictable, the reference to last year’s math-rock hypes “Foals” and to popsters Hot Chip is inevitable.

Firing off with the Ladyhawkish “Ask your heart”, then continuing with their Andy Spence(New Young Pony Club) produced first released si$ngle “This is not Fire”, they were unleashing their songs at a remarkably high tempo throughout. Instead of whipping the crowd into frenzy with their minimalistically wrapped, electro fuelled pop songs they rushed through it all way too quickly. A full on start, no “pauses”, and, not more than 15 min later, they were off stage, before I even had time to absorb the performance or finish my cider. Oozing confidence, the sound and vocals were good, but their performance would have been a lot more charismatic if they looked less routined and had a more fiery energy on stage.

Half-hearted performance or not, they are one of the most exciting and original newcomers on the indie-pop scene at the moment, and with a brand new EP “I am the sound”, released exclusively through Pure Groove Records earlier this week they’re definitely worth keeping an eye on in 2010.