Sugar and Noise

So.

2009-04-14T03:05:00.001Z

All of the Sugar and Noise team are writing one poem a day for all of April

Charlotte's are here

Richard's are here

And mine are here.

We love you. x

Hello

2008-02-01T17:31:00.000Z

So I kept telling myself that I'd do a first post here and I still haven't and it's been a month now and that's sort of shocking really. So hi - I'm Charlotte or Charly or whatever the fuck you want to call me and I spend an awful lot of my time listening to music. I wasn't sure what to make a post about in particular, so I'm just going to list some bands and songs that I think are awesome and you should check out, with reasons why you should check them out as well, obviously.

1. Final Fantasy - The Power of Love (Celine Dion cover)

O disbelievers, stop laughing and curse at the crowd that continue to laugh after Owen has started singing. His voice could make most things sound beautiful, I think, although here it doesn't sound like it's just his voice doing it; is it possible that Celine's had it right all along, has he just made it clearer? Maybe, but then again probably not. I confess this makes me no more likely to listen to the original, but that's okay, this cover is becoming definitive for me. Just hear the crowd realise that this is not a laughing matter and fall silent as the violin cuts through and makes even you, O disbelievers, listen to a song that you and I decided long ago wasn't worth a penny.

2. The Felt Tips - Boyfriend Devoted

Because nothing will ever be okay again.

3. Electrelane - To The East

I was late to the party and I still don't know this band very well, although I do know that they're on an 'indefinute hiatus'. But oh, this song. It never gets too loud or frantic, just keeps beating, keeps beating, keeps beating itself back home.

4. The Parselmouths - It's Not So Bad

I'm going to tell you a secret. Harry and the Potters were always a better idea than actual band; what could be more punk than American brothers singing songs about Harry Potter in libraries? Well, quite. Harry and the Potters are not the best wizard rock band, The Parselmouths are - bitchy teenage girls singing about Harry Potter and why being in Slytherin doesn't suck as much as people think is so much better, even if I did always sort of expect that I'd end up in Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff due to my lack of ambition and cunning and my ever-growing collection of books.

5. The Indelicates - Unity Mitford

I was working in a bookshop until the middle of last month, and at some point I discovered that one of the biggest selling books of the year that wasn't part of a promotion was one about the letters of the Mitford sisters... I sort of missed all of that, didn't really know anything about them (except someone once tried to make me read Love In A Cold Climate but I could never really get beyond the perfect title). This song is as glorious as it is beautifully, dreadfully, amazingly wrong. I prefer the acoustic version from The Last Siginificant Statement EP, but have a listen to the live one on their myspace - amped up and rocking their hearts out, listen to Simon whisper.

6. Emmy the Great - Easter Parade

Yeah so it's all a bit twee and you're probably expecting me to write a sort of sub-Amelie stream of consciousness ramble to live up to it. Fuck you. Sometimes I like feeling defeated. There is no Jerusalem here, no Arcadia, no ghosts.

7. Laura Marling - My Manic and I

Most of these links are just there so that you can hear the songs, but for this one you should watch the video, and then watch her doing 'New Romantic' on Later with Jools... Laura Marling is seventeen, younger than me (although not by much) and... she's awesome. She's not wearing makeup and she clearly hasn't been combing her hair, but that's cool, neither of those are priorities for me either. If I had to pick a face for the kind of teenage girl that I am from the current popscene then it'd be her, but she's not really a face for anyone other than herself. In the video of her performing New Romantic you get some wide shot of just her, tiny and bright in a massive blanket of darkness. She doesn't tend to look at the camera. But why should she? She's fantastic, just listen.

8. Lupe Fiasco - Little Weapon

I know pretty much nothing about hip hop, so I can't say much about this without revealing how true this is. But this is amazing, just listen to that intro, oh, and then when it starts properly with "I killed another man today" it just hits me. The production's really awesome, too.

9. Yeasayer - Sunrise

I like handclaps in songs. The opening of this is just awesome and I'm still not really sure about how I feel about the singer's voice... but I think I like it. At the moment I'm really all for layers and soundscapes, because I'm trying to write and sometimes I need to shut out words and just listen to noise and sounds and cymbals. This is the sort of stuff that helps.

10. Los Campesinos! - Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks

I'm not talking about the album yet. All that matters for these almost five minutes is this, this, Gareth telling us that sharks don't sleep and his cheeks are bruised and the chorus itself hits as hard as a blow to the head. This is my favourite song to walk home to.

The International Tweexcore Underground

2007-09-19T19:35:00.000Z

Will indeed, save us all. Los Campesinos, when you're ready...

Plese all go out and buy this on 22nd October and get it to Number 1 and make me very happy.

Live Review: Interpol and the Maccabees.

2007-08-21T14:49:00.000Z

So last night I went to the Birmingham Academy to see Interpol. I got there at 6.55 and there was already a rather long line from the door. After getting in and realizing I'd forgotten my camera (annoying considering we got past security without even a glance and they were confiscating cameras from other people) I got a place as close to the front as we could. Alas, tall people with big hair got even closer but ho hum.

The Maccabees were the very-out-of-place support, although the three Maccabees fans in the audience went crazy for them. Generic British Indie. There was some nice guitar lines and the rhythm section was very competant but the singer's voice just annoyed the bejesus out of me.

Still. They were over pretty quick and they we had to stand around for an hour in the ridiculous heat waiting.

Pioneer to the Falls opened the set and made that wait worthwhile. It's a great big lush epic of a song and I was pleased that there were people singing along. I was afraid it might be an ultra-serious crowd. They proved themselves to be anything but, and there was dancing apleanty to Slow Hands and the like.

Carlos D commanded the right side of the stage, dressed in his usual dandy/cowboy attire and working a bass guitar like only he can, whilst Daniel Kessler played some mighy fine guitar on the opposite side. There was a wonderful moment where Daniel hit a wrong note and Carlos and him shared a look. Interpol: They're human beings now, no longer robots! As if to prove that Paul talked to the audience a bit. Mostly just "Thank you" but also "That one's called Mammoth" and "This one's a love song". I'm not joking. There was a nice mix of material from all three albums and Say Hello to the Angels, NARC and Pace Is the Trick alike all sounded great.

The main set ended with the epic Antics highlight Not Even Jail followed by PDA which arguably has one of the finest endings to a song ever.

We then had to work very hard for the encore. I think it may well have been a full five minutes of clapping and cheering and chanting. Once again the effort was worth it though, and we were rewarded with the midtempo brooding Leif Erikson and the storming full on post-punk attack of Obstacle 1

A good time was had by all. I believe Interpol's current tour is sold out, but do your damndest to catch them when they return in November. Our Love to Admire is out now and whilst perhaps not being as good as the first two albums, is still definitely worth purchasing. Failing that, the Mammoth single is out September 3rd.

Stay groovy. Next live review: Rilo Kiley.

Summer Sundae 2007 Review

2007-08-18T20:41:00.000Z

In which Miles reviews his lovely local music festival, Summer Sundae, which is held in and around De Montfort Hall, Leicester.

So I've been putting this off for a week due to laziness.

Let's begin with an overview: SSW07 was absolutely brilliant. It is my favourite music festival, by far.

What? What do you mean it's the only one I go to? I don't see how THAT is at all relevant.

I'll get the dross out the way first. The Pigeon Detectives were completely awful. In fact, Neil of eFestivals said that "they bored much of the crowd rigid, to the point where said Pigeons were slagging off the crowd between each song for ignoring them". Awful awful awful. No talent, no charisma, no good songs.

All three of those could also be applied to Kate Nash whom I obviously avoided seeing but could hear from the campsite. Her voice still hurts and her lyrics are still rubbish. I guess I do get to do my Nash bit again: If you think Kate Nash's lyrics are "so true", that doesn't mean she's a good songwriter. That means you've made some TERRIBLE life choices.

!!! turned out to be a bunch of rather good musicians fronted by an extremely irritating frontman who I would not mind shooting. He totally ruined them for me.

Right, The Good Stuff!

Spoon were always going to be a highlight for me. They played a great set (including my favourite Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga cut, Black Like Me which I wasn't expecting) and I met Rob afterwards and got him to sign their setlist and he was lovely. Other highlights: Don't Make Me a Target and The Beast and Dragon, Adored. Oh and of course The Way We Get By got a good audience reaction.

Jeremy Warmsley was a nice surprise. Prior to the festival I only knew Dirty Blue Jeans and was expecting either a one-man-and-his-laptop or an acoustic-singer-songwritery set. But no! Full band indie pop was the order of the day, and rather wonderful it was too. Dirty Blue Jeans was a real stormer and a somewaht epic piano ballad closed the set in great style.

Low are a band I've always meant to investigate and never got round to, but I was instantly converted by this live performance. Their vocal harmonies are just astounding, I think I could listen to them forever. Highlights: Canada (which I am now addicted to), (That's How You Sing) Amazing Grace and Dragonfly but really their whole set was one big highlight.

Oh and I high-fived Alan Sparhawk. It was awesome.

The Divine Comedy were thoroughly wonderful on Friday night, bringing sophisticated lush chamber pop, spot on critique of modern society and, um, smut to the main stage. Neil Hannon sounded amazing and probably had the best rapport with the audience of any act I saw this year. Highlights: Opener To die a virgin, unexpected Regeneration slow burner Mastermind, the romantic gallop of Tonight We Fly and dramatic mini-epic closer Sunrise.

Malcolm Middleton was wonderful on the main stage midway through Sunday afternoon. Break My Heart and We're All Going To Die may be gloomy, sad songs but they certainly made me happy.

Maps put on a great live show and packed out the indoor stage, sounding much more expansive than on record. I'm still not sure what to call them. Shoegazey-postrocky-electrotwee? To The Sky was a highlight for me because it's the only one I know.

Candie Payne was unexpectedly quite good. Bond-themes, circa the 1960s. Also this might be a big lie but I want to say it: surf-rock meets Northern Soul.

Gruff Rhys put on a great show on the indoor stage a little later, from behind his giant cardboard TV. In fact at the moment where, after playing and looping a whole variety of different instruments to build up a giant wall of sound, he sat back and put on a pair of 3D glasses - he was the coolest man on Earth. The full 19 minutes of Skylon! was great and the two girls who danced (and I mean properly danced) all the way through it are my heroes.

Ending the festival on Sunday was Spiritualized doing their Acoustic Mainlines show which, frankly dear reader, was nothing short of beautiful. Possibly the most amazing thing I've ever seen live. Highlights: Anything More, Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space (which inspired a mass sing-a-long) and a new song called Soul On Fire.

So, yeah, great weekend. Roll on next year. Or in my case, Monday. Weeeeee, Interpol!

An August Update

2007-08-08T15:53:00.000Z

Hello. My, it has been a while. Just a few quick things.

1. The Hard Fi album art thing. The "No Cover Art" thing. They've failed, it quite clearly has cover art. Deliberatley chosen colours, font, words. That's cover art. And so there is as little to be excited about on the outside of the album as there is on the inside.

Oh come on, it's Hard Fi. They're rubbish. FACT.

2. The new Rilo Kiley album. HMMMMMMM. On the one hand, I am sad that there is none of Blake's usual giant walls of guitar rock. On the other, they're making really really nice pop music. I think I'm gonna like it, but sort of wish they hadn't brought in the hip hop producers.

Go here and listen to Silver Lining from it. And admire the album art. Oh, Jenny. *swoons*

3. GIGS. I'm actually attending some for once. I know, natty. 1 - Summer Sundae this weekend. 2. Interpol at Birmingham Academy on August 20th. 3. Rilo Kiley at Birmingham Academy 2 on August 31st. Feel free to say hi, on the tiny tiny tiny off-chance that anyone reads this that doesn't know me already.

4. I may work up a full review but if not: Spoon's Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is fantastic. Buy it already.

Right, y'all stay groovy. I'll try and remember this thing exists more often.

Talk To Me About: The Mountain Goats

2007-06-04T21:22:00.000Z

In which one half of Sugar and Noise’s indie boy journalist duo interviews the other about his favourite band.

M: When did you first hear The Mountain Goats?

R: I was looking for something I don't even remember now on Limewire, probably bad pop-punk. I found you could see a list of files from the user you were downloading from, so on a whim I click it, and got tracks by the bands with the most interesting names. One was The Exploding Hearts, the other was The Mountain Goats. The song was No Children, it was beautiful and bitter and really, really funny, and you could sing along to it. It became one of those single tracks I listened to when I had no albums I wanted to hear. It was a good little song, but I had no idea who they were.

M: Wow. So in an alternate reality, your favourite band is The Exploding Hearts? (Whoever they are…)

R: They were a trashy, amps-up-to-11 punky pop-rock band, who you'd probably like. They released one album called Guitar Romantic, which was like The Undertones on speed. Then three of them died in a van crash.

M: Huh. Ok. No Children is probably my favourite of theirs, by the way. Now that you've been a serious fan for a while, has another song replaced it as THE Mountain Goats track for you?

R: Well, as the introduction it's always going to have a special place in my heart. I think you've heard the mp3 of the show where John's sick and plays it, barely able to whisper the chorus, and the ENTIRE CROWD sings every word for him. I can't think of anything better than being the guy who wrote that song at that moment.

M: Heck Yes.

R: But, it's the 'big single' really, so once I delved further into the vast discography I found a lot more, less often-aired stuff that was just as skull-shakingly amazing. Right now, I'm head over heels for Crows, You're In Maya and Grendel's Mother.

M: That John Darnielle sure likes his quirky titles, huh?

R: Half of them don't seem to have any particular relevance to the song, but they're great whatever the hell they mean. I think Maya is what the Hare Krishna call the earthly state of greedy materialism, and Grendel's Mother is a Beowulf reference. He did an English degree, so he's also big on the Latin.

M: Nice. Devil's Advocate: Whilst he writes mighty fine songs, the music is at best average and forgettable. Response?

R: John himself said something like 'I see the music as a way to slip the lyrics under people's doorsteps', and I totally agree. There's only so much one man with a rudimentary knowledge of the acoustic guitar can do, and the words practically obliterate it. I do prefer his faster strumming to the softer meanderings, cause they give more bite to the songs, but in general I think it's functionally irrelevant. It's just there, there has to be some backing otherwise they wouldn't be songs.

M: I on the other hand think that some of the softer moments are the best. Woke Up New, for example. Any comment on the shift in style and production over the last few albums?

R: The production thing doesn't bother me as much as some hardcore Goatists (I think they prefer Mountaineers, but let's be imaginative) - as I said in the last one, the lyrics are the key and being able to hear them clearly is a bonus. I love the lo-fi sound too, but sometimes the sense of the song is basically eaten by the tape-trash, and that's not what we want. So I'm happy for him to be in the studio - for one thing it shows he's succeeded enough to get to that stage. And Get Lonely isn't my favourite album, but it fulfils its own purpose, so I can live with that change in style. The next one should probably be back to a more varied palette.

M: Ok. Whilst I'm sure (and from experience in fact, I know) you could talk about them all day, let's wrap it up. Sell me (and the rest of the world) one Mountain Goats album in less than five sentences.

R: One album? OK, since the majority of the listening public might be slightly alienating by the ever-present whirr of a boombox, I'll pick one from the studio era: Tallahassee. I'd recommend Tallahassee to anyone who likes their songs to tell them a story, and even more so if the kind of stories they like involve copious amount of cheap alcohol. It's about John Darnielle's most prominent characters, the Alpha Couple, and the mess they're steadily making of their lives. From upbeat fucked-up love songs ('I am not gonna lose you/We are gonna stay married/In this house like a Louisana graveyard/Where nothing stays buried') to wistful, defiant elegies to something/someone that can't be saved ('I will walk down to the end with you') to rattling post-punk death-trip madness (the whole of 'See America Right') and finally that perfect, buoyantly destructive closer, 'Alpha Rats Nest', 'Tallahassee' has all you could ever want.

M: And finally, to fulfill the needs of the part of my psyche that wishes it was in a Nick Hornby book - A) Top 5 Mountain Goats Songs and B) The Mountain Goats explained in classic "[band] meets [band]" fashion.

R: Top 5? You’re killing me.

M: Do it man. Do it now. On the fly. Go.

R: I’ll just tell you the first good five I think of.

M: Oh, fine.

R: Old College Try, Grendel's Mother, Elijah, Commandante, Broom People – all up there.

M: All ones I've never heard. Which says it all really. Are you going to do a painful Pitchforky band-meets-band, or can I?

R: The Mountain Goats = Bob Dylan meets The Great American Novel [not a band] with punk spirit and added nasality

M: Craig Finn meets Bright Eyes after a weekend of drinking and reading Fitzgerald and they decide to write 5000 songs together.

R: That too.

M: Thanks Richard.

Lookee, Mountain Goats mp3s!
You're in Maya [Live]
Lion's Teeth

Richard's little update: They're more like Neutral Milk Hotel than any of the bands mentioned above, though he's a big fan of Craig Finn's work. Possibly not so much of Fitzgerald's, since when I asked him about 'The Beautiful and Damned' he hadn't actually read it. But he'd read a bunch of cool shit that I hadn't, as you can see here: 3:AM Interview.
We also highly recommend this article: yeah, that one, which sums up John's writing and discusses their sound and content a lot more intelligently than I could.

Miles Likes to Keep You Updated

2007-05-10T18:32:00.000Z

On things he is enjoying currently. SO.

1) Click right here to go to The Womabts' MySpace and listen to their upcoming single Kill the Director, which is a hell of a lot of fun. Whilst you are there, check out the brilliant Moving to New York. I believe the Kill the Director single is out June sometime and this time on a SERIOUS label so I might actually be able to find the thing.

2) I am liking most of the new Manic Street Preachers album rather a lot. Also looking forward to seeing them live soon.

3)Your current Must See TV Show IS: Peep Show, Fridays, Channel 4, 10.30 (probably, best check the time yourself. I always forget for some reason)

4) Spider-Man 3 is Rubbish Brilliant. It's Stupid Fantastic. It's Terrible Awesome. You get the idea. Spider-Man 3 is everything Snakes on a Plane SHOULD have been and wasn't. It's massively entertaining, anyway.

Dear John/Architecture in Helsinki

2007-04-23T20:16:00.000Z

Guy/gals (now only guys, I believe) I liked Fingers Crossed. Owls Go is wonderful. And I love, Love, LOVE In Case We Die. It's a brilliant album. Symphonic twee pop brilliance. Bouncey, joyous Wishbone. Yearning, gentle Maybe You Can Owe Me. Gawd-damned sweet-as-hell What's in Store?.

But at some point you became convicned that Do The Whirlwind was the best thing you'd ever done. It was dancier, more electronica-poppy. It was fine. Not the best song on the album. Heck, maybe the worst. Certainly not the best song you've done.

And yet it is the only song that your new single, Heart it Races (hear it at http://myspace.com/aihmusic) bares any resemblance to you. Someone described this as "electro-calypso" and it is. It's also rubbish. What went wrong?

I don't mind you making dancey music. I'm all for electro-y keyboard and, you know, beats.

But for god's sake BRING BACK THE TWEE!

I'm going to pray the rest of the album doesn't sound too much like this. I really really hope. And if not, maybe you'll make one I like after this.

Don't get me wrong, I am all for bands/changing and growing. But this song is terrible. Don't make me stop calling you one of my favourite bands, AiH.

Lots of (Pending) Love, Miles

EDIT: IGNORE ALL THAT. I just listened to it a few more times and it is no way NEAR as bad as I thought. Hell, it's kinda good.

Repeated Listening. It should probably be enforced by law.

Possibly An Exlusive? - New Dntel Anyway

2007-03-06T21:21:00.000Z

So after a bit of Googlin' and Hype Machine-in' it seems that the rest of the internet is yet to notice that SubPop have posted the first track off the upcoming new Dntel record.

Dntel - Dumb Luck

The title track, indeed.

It's rather sodding nice in a very fuzzy way.

Enjoy! (Even if you have seen it somwhere else)

News and Views: If it rhymes, it works

2007-03-02T20:09:00.000Z

1. The NME awards were complete rubbish. I won't go through them one at a time but I think most, quite possibly all, of them were WRONG. SORRY NME, YOU'RE STILL IRRELEVANT.

2. Stars have announced that they're getting a number of their friends to "renovate" every song on their 2004 album Set Yourself on Fire on an album called "Do You Trust Your Friends?" Why should you care? Well, it was great to begin with. And Stars count Final Fantasy, The Most Serene Republic, Minotur Shock, The Dears and The Stills amongst their friends. I am espescially looking forward to Final Fantasy tackling the stunning opener Your Ex-Lover is Dead. I am Fuel, You Are Friends has the Most Serene Republic track.

3. That one new Arctic Monkey's song is more interesting than anything I heard off the first record. I still don't care, mind. But it's an improvement. Kinda Muse-y. Scatter O' Light has the track. Oh, and it's called BRIANStorm. Sometimes I hate puns.

4. The new Arcade Fire, the Grinderman album, the new Air (which is wonderful), the new Idlewild, the new Charlotte Hatherly (I swear that was out already? Not according to Amazon) are all out Monday. I need to rob a bank this weekend or something.

And yes, if you must, the Horrors have something out. I might be able to care less but it'd be tricky.

5. Everyone stay groovy, I'll be back next week.

SXSW 07 MP3 Dump: Creaming the Crop, So You Don't Have To

2007-02-21T22:08:00.000Z

So the SXSW lineup has been announced and they always get a huge number of sample mp3s for performing bands on their website. Here are the ones that are by artists I like and think you might want to hear (full mp3 list here, thaks Hear Ya)

Right click/save as to download

Band Name - Track Title (* = Highly Recommended. ** = DOWNLOAD THIS RIGHT NOW)

Air Traffic - Charlotte

The Apples in Stereo - Energy

Au Revoir Simone - Fallen Snow*

The Awkard Stage - Heaven is for Easy Girls

Field Music - Sit Tight

Get Cape Wear Cape Fly! - Chronicles of a Bohemian Teenager (Part 1) What a lot of words.

Headlights - TV**

Oh No! Oh My! - Walk in the Park

Oxford Collapse - Please Visit Your National Parks*

Saturday Looks Good To Me - The Girl's Distracted

Stars of Track and Field - Centuries

The Wombats - Moving to New York**

So there you go. Enjoy!

Who loves Ted Leo?

2007-01-16T22:20:00.000Z

We love Ted Leo.

(Happy 60th post to us. This is a track off the upcoming Ted Leo and the Pharmacists album, as posted by Pitchfork.)

Hot New Jams: Miles Reviews Singles

2007-01-16T19:10:00.000Z

Oh yes he does.

1) Kingdom of Doom by The Good, the Bad and The Queen
(Or, What Damon Did Next)

A little more direct than Herculean but still resolutely Not Blur - Acoustic strumming duels with a boop-boop-boop keyboard line whilst oveheard Damon's vocal drifts, as if he sung it on the other side of the room to the mic. And the room was an empty aircraft hanger.

The chorus (or I think it's a chorus) is nicely catchy. I haven't had time to really give the lyrics much thought but they seem passable.

In short, I like it and am looking forward to the album (which I believe has leaked if you're into THAT)

B-Sides: 1. Hallsands Waltz (Sketches of Devon) - A slightly Badly Drawn Boy-esque instrumental that just screams "TV SOUNDTRACK" at me. It's nice.
2. The Bunting Song (Live at The Tabernacle) - Pretty good (dig the squishy-yet-twinkly keyboard line and the neverending one note drone solo) but why is the live version of the vastly superior eponymous track available on 7" or download? I mean who uses THOSE? ¬_¬

2) Annie Let's Not Wait by Guillemots
At first I thought I massively preffered this new single mix to the album one (bouncier, more direct, more bass, new female backing harmonies) but now I'm not so sure. It's like choosing between two different but equally awesome flavours of ice cream.
Anyway, Guillemots, you know the deal by now: Barmy avant-pop fun. Indie wee gone polyphonic meets jazz-noise.
With adorable lyrics to boot! Buy it, hard. I (lacking in employment) had to pick up the 2 track version meaning all I got in the way of B-Sides was -
We're Here (Strings Only). The Strings from We're Here. Which actually makes for a nice little instrumental.

Now let's play Connect the Singles: Both very British, both.. uh... hmm.

British. Yes.

Possibly more of this in future if I feel inclined to purchase any more singles.

Oh and I might be seeing The Long Winters live next month. Which would be AWESOME.

Watch Good/Bad/Queen play Kingdom of Doom on ...Later here
Get some Guillemots mp3s here

Hello 2007

2007-01-01T13:33:00.000Z

Here, have the best song of 2006 that I managed to forget yesterday. Entirely perfect for that Monday morning hangover.

Monkey Swallows the Universe - Sheffield Shanty

And if that's not enough good music, I can seriously recommend the Sufjan Stevens, Josh Ritter and Guillemots songs in this GWFA post. They are more epic than the most epic thing you can imagine.

Yes, even more epic than Eragon.

2006: End of Year Last Minute Panic Best Of Extravaganza

2006-12-31T17:34:00.000Z

Hello dear reader.

Sam and Richard and I finally woke up from the Sugar and Noise Office/Bunker Christmas Party and we realised it was almost 07. We all have parties to be getting to so this will not be In Depth or particularly Extensive. Pull up a chair, open a bottle of your favourite non-alcoholic beverage, throw on that Pitchfork's Top 50 mix you downloaded and see which of your favourite releases of the year we've cruelly ignored. And be sure to Right Click and Save As on those mp3 links.

Miles' Top 5 Albums of the Year

Ok, I did not buy very many records that were actually released this year but here are the best five of those that I did. If that makes sense. Sorry everyone who's albums I did not buy!

5. Sufjan Stevens - The Avalanche
Oh yes I did. Yes it's "more of the same" and yes they are just out takes and alternate versions but who cares when they're this good? Also: Three versions of Chicago, one of my favourite songs ever? SOLD.

4. Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins - Rabbit Fur Coat
Divine god-bothering alt-country indie-pop (I love hyphens) from everyone's favourite indie songwriting godess. Harmonies tighter than your younger emo brother's jeans and lyrics sharper than his razor blade collection. New Rilo Kiley record in 07? Hell yes.

3. Belle and Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
Oh yes I did AGAIN. Look, bloggers/critics - I don't care that it doesn't sound like If You're Feeling Sinister. Are you still doing exactly the same thing as you were ten years ago? I hope not. It's fun, it's summery, it's floaty-light and Dress Up In You is some of Mr Murdoch's finest writing yet. If you've spent most of the year telling everyone how good The Drift is, cheer the hell up, throw this on and let the good times roll.

2. The Decemberists - The Crane Wife
"The Crane Wife at two? TWO?!" Yes, I hear you. Believe me it was an extremely close call between this and the first place. The Crane Wife is in places a masterpiece. A few of the songs on it are so good that it gets to be the second best album of the year whilst still having songs I don't really like that much on it. The Crane Wife Parts 1+2 and 3, O Valenica, Sons and Daughters, The Landlord's Daughter, Yankee Bayonet... Just absolutely fantastic. Epic, moving, warm, hyper-intelligent, unmissable.

1. The Long Winters - Putting the Days to Bed
Catchier than SARS and much, much more fun this is my favourite album of the year. Every song is a little bundle of melancholy power pop perfection. The horns on Teaspoon, the guitar riff of It's a Departure and the lyrics... The lyrics are brilliant throughout ("You should've been a Rich Wife") on what may be John Roderick's best record to date. I dare you to listen to this all the way through and not fall madly in love with it. To hook you in, here's the opening song "Pushover"

(Honourable Mention: Harvey Danger - Little by Little... whilst initially released last year it was reissued by Kill Rock Stars in 06 and were it that this were it's initial release, it'd be number 1. You can still get it free at www.harveydanger.com but go and buy the thing unless you hate Good Music in which case go die in a hole. And take your Justin Timberlake/Nelly Furtado/Sam's Town CDs with you)

Sam's Top 5 Films He Actually Saw This Year
1.The Departed
2.Brick (Miles nods vigorously)
3.Hidden
4.The Proposition
5.Miami Vice (Miles looks aghast)

Miles' Top 2 Live Music Experiences of the Year
1. Death Cab for Cutie at Leeds
2. Summer Sundae (Espescially: Belle and Sebastian, The Boy Least Likely To, Calexico)

Sam's Top 5 Films He Really Should Have Seen This Year
1. Pan's Labyrinth (Miles will be seeing this in the next few weeks)
2. Marie Antoinette
3. The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
4. The Death of Mr.Lazazrescu
5. A Cock and Bull Story (Miles says it's absolutely freaking brilliant)

Miles' Most Overrated Bands of the Year
The Killers - The Arctic Monkeys - Kasabian - The Kooks - The Fratellis

And now, over to Richard

1) The Long Blondes – Someone To Drive You Home

A giddy blast of pure glamour, akin being sprayed in the eyes with Chanel. Despite losing out on the NME’s cool list to superblimp Beth Ditto, Kate Jackson and the Long Blondes are one of the coolest bands to emerge for a long time. Marrying rich, varied vocals to some killer post-punk guitar lines and witty lyrics that cross gender boundaries, this debut brings Blondie into the 21^st century and sticks them at the back of a Sheffield dole queue. Responsible for more than just scarf trends, the Long Blondes are a truly great new band and in the slightly out-of-character words of [an S+N staff member]: "NME's Under the Radar award? I'd get under HER radar" What more needs to be said?
(Miles Note: Hell yes!)

2) The Hold Steady – Boys And Girls In America.

Shouty Kerouac-rock about drugs and drinking, and occasionally fucking, but mainly just the drugs. His voice shouldn’t work but it does, and once you get hold of the lyrics there’s no going back. I took a while to warm to it, but one full concentrated listen/read of ‘Chillout Tent’ and there’s no going back. Long live ‘America’s best bar band’.

(Miles Note: Amen!)

3) My Chemical Romance – The Black Parade

I didn’t want to like this record. I don’t like the band and I don’t like their fans, so I thought I didn’t like their music. The Black Parade bitch-slapped my prejudice away. MCR have been carried by such a wave of eyeliner and hype, that it’s easy to miss just how much their songwriting has developed. The album abounds with an odd amalgam of speedy punk, brass instruments, Brian May-style guitar heroics, Britpoppish la-la-las, and silly concept lyrics about cancer. But I have to admit: it’s really good. Nearly all the songs have memorable hooks, and an appealing dark drama. And one more thing: it’s not emo. Listen to this compared with something like Hawthorn Heights, and you’ll see what I mean. A closer take would be Queen-punk, which is blatantly rubbish, but there’s nothing I can say about this record that it doesn’t say for itself. Fuck the haters, and fuck the identikit fans – much to my surprise, MCR have truly impressed me.

(Miles Note: No, it's not emo. It's mall punk. Which is far worse.)

4) Taking Back Sunday – Louder Now

A pretty accurate title, by all accounts. Lazzara and co returned with ‘What’s It Feel Like To Be A Ghost’, a taut riffathon imbued with powerful melody – which pretty much describes the whole album. Having been hyped enough by the major rock rags, you’ve probably already heard what I have to say about this: ‘muscular’, ‘confident’ etc. And to flog the dead donkey just a little more, it raises them above the scene and right onto the stages of the stadiums. ‘Nuff said.

5) The Mountain Goats – Get Lonely

In some ways I feel guilty about putting this in, having previously dissed it enough as ‘not their best’ and ‘a bad starting point’ etc. However, John Darnielle is still God, and even when he’s whispering over the gentlest of guitars, so softly that you don’t realise how good his writing still is, it eventually reveals its own particular treasure. Basically a concept album about lost love, it’s not fast and angry but that’s a conscious choice, not a design fault. And the Babylon Springs EP, to be mentioned later, shows that the Goats have still lost none of their fire.

6) Dirty Pretty Things – Waterloo To Anywhere

So two years after the end of The Libertines, what have we learned? Essentially that Pete is a better lyricist than Carl, but as a result of not spending most of 2006 on crack, Carl is musically a lot more consistent. This album contains sucker-punch after sucker-punch of martially-tight guitars and general indie-punk cool. It’s not The Libertines, but it has its own merits, and as the NME has probably said already, Carl’s done a good job of rescuing his own legacy from the mess of blood and drugs surrounding Pete. (Who is still fantastic, when sober…)

7) Larrikin Love – The Freedom Spark

Taking the Libs format and running with it, picking up influences from ska and Irish folk along the way, Larrikin Love are among the best of the post-Bracket bunch. This debut album focuses their sound and beefs it up, while retaining a good deal of their whimsically weird charm. Edward Larrikin’s gasping camp is still an obvious focal point, but the album has more to it than a strange pale man twatting around with a cowbell. Top tunes.

8) Morrissey – Ringleader Of The Tormentors.

Twenty years after ‘The Queen Is Dead’, the Pope of Mope is still cranking out flawlessly gloomy anthems of love, loss and despair. Morrissey is a singular performer, and while his backing band may not be the Smiths, it’s clear they understand him enough to make the music a perfect fit to his rampantly idiosyncratic lyrics. Featuring a riff or two from glam-rock, the usual jangly guitars, and just a smidgen of ‘minaret music’, the musical palate is diverse, but the voice is the same. I’m not going to analyse this record; suffice to say Moz has a certain job to do, and he’s still doing it well. Yo, Attenborough – go fuck a dolphin.

9) Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not

Though in constant danger of being devoured by their own hype, the Internet’s most famous creation haven’t made too bad a job of it. Like Pulp without the dancey bits, there’s a dismally funny working-class core to the Monkeys sound, and whether you think they’re gifted with lyrical madness or just a bunch of scruffy oiks with bad grammar who look like fat mechanics, you’re unlikely to be able to escape them any time soon. If I were Miles are this point, I might chip in ‘people say they’re good. Hey, the title works!’ But I’m not. So pretend that sentence never happened.

(Miles Note: They're alright, really. I like them as people (I was converted by a particularly entertaining Q interview) but musically they don't interest me)

10) The Killers – Sam’s Town

Another polarising record. Maybe I’m just blinded by the Vegas glitz, but I think The Killers have cemented their reputation as one of the best pop bands around today. Moving from thumping indie-dance to Springsteen impersonation, Brandon Flowers and crew tick all the cliché boxes: highways, hurricanes, Grandma Dixie. But although it’s pretty stupid, it’s enjoyable. There’s some lyrical deficiencies, but the music is big enough to flatten the odd note of dissent, and garrote it with the Stars and Stripes. This is the sound of The Killers reclaiming America, for better or worse. As the album is named after a casino, the most apt advice is to simply hang up your brain with your hat and coat at the door, and submit to the showmanship of Sam’s Town.

... MCR? Sam's Town? Richard, you're fired.

S+N's Songs of the Year
The following have all been in heavy rotation on the office stereo. Dig it:
The Long Blondes - Lust in the Movies
-M: MUCH better than Once and Never Again. EDIE SEDGEWICK! etc.
Guillemots - Trains to Brazil
Flaming Lips - The Yeah yeah Yeah Song
- M: I really liked At War with the Mystics and this is a gloriously silly highlight.
Regina Spektor - On the Radio
Pipettes - Your Kisses Are Wasted on Me
-M: Actually just that little bit better than "Pull Shapes"
Calexico - All Systems Red
-M: Epic, majestic, heartbreaking
Mates of State - Fraud in the 80s
The Divine Comedy - To Die a Virgin
Thom Yorke - Harrowdown Hill
The Starlight Mints - Inside of Me
Muse - Starlight
-M: You're humming the piano line right now. I can hear you.
Viva Voce - We Do Not F*** Around
The Polyphonic Spree - Lithium
-M: Best Nirvana Cover EVER.
Bound Stems- Andover
Ben Kweller - Penny on the Train Track
Cold War Kids - Hospital Beds
Chin Up Chin Up - This Harness Can Ride Anything
Beck - Cellphone's Dead
Hold Steady - Chips Ahoy
The Mountain Goats - Woke Up New
Jarvis - Black Magic
-M: Most of the Jarvis album really. But it's this one that I just can't stop playing.
Snow Patrol - Hands Open
Gnarls Barkley - Smiley Faces
-M: Actually quite a lot better than Crazy.
Bishop Allen - Flight 180
-M: Possibly the best song of 06, from their April EP. If you do not go to www.bishopallen.com and get every free mp3 they have going then you are Missing Out.
Sparks - (Baby Baby) Can I Invade Your Country?
The Divine Comedy - Lady of a Certain Age
Oxford Collapse - Please Visit Your National Parks
The Thermals - A Pillar of Salt
-M: Impassioned, witty indie-punk goodness.

So there you have it. That was 2006.

Next Year Miles is Looking Forward to: Radiohead, The Shins, Bloc Party, Ben Folds, Rufus Wainwright, Arcade Fire, Rilo Kiley, The Good The Bad and The Queen, Of Montreal, Modest Mouse, The Pixies, Air, Interpol, The Cure, Nick Cave's Grinderman and on the off chance: BLUR, THE POSTAL SERVICE. PLEASE?

Next Year Richard is Looking Forward to: Radiohead.

On The Wire Magazine and Wolf Eyes

2006-12-29T16:14:00.000Z

It's 1am, a few days after Christmas.
I'm listening to a SubPop sampler which has got passed all the good songs on to the "noise" tracks near the end. At the same time I am reading The Wire's review of the year. They love "noise and also "dubstep" and "improv". They don't so much dislike mainstream music as completely disavow any knowledge of it. They say that Scott Walker's The Drift is his finest release. I seem to recall most people giving it middling reviews.
Scanning the various writers and musicians little Year in Review pieces, I occasionally see an artist or band I know mentioned but by and large they are in the "Bad/Cons" sections. Oh except Joanna Newsom. And the one guy who praised the Jarvis Cocker record. God bless you sir.
Halfway through reading the "This Year in: Noise" page, Wolf Eyes begins playing. Nice instrumental stuf so far, creepy and weird and with cool drums. Apparently the noise community has seen Wolf Eyes putting out records on SubPop as "selling out".
Oh, The Wire. They think of "song" as a genre .
Wolf Eyes are now screaming at me and not in any kind of pleasant melodic way.

"Forget that" I think, and put on The Best of Blondie.

A Few Things

2006-12-21T21:53:00.000Z

1. I really want one of these despite my having no guitar ability whatsoever

2. I envy Pitchfork writers, I really do. If they paid me then I really could write nonsensical/pretentious concept reviews of albums nobody will ever hear as well!

On the other hand I could NOT join in with their current trend of liking Justin Timberlake. Just NO guys. No. But thanks for those Best of the Year mp3s.

3. I will try my damndest to get a Best of the Year done before the end of the year

4. I am sitting in bed typing this and there are two fresh new Nada Surf posters above my head. Barsuk didn't send one of the badges I ordered from them (along with a bunch of other stuff I'll be getting for Christmas) so I e-mailed them and they sent me the badge plus two posters and a big shiny Nada Surf sticker. Barsuk, we salute you.

5. Lists are fun!

Who loves Jarvis?

2006-12-21T15:13:00.000Z

We love Jarvis.

That's it. I've had enough, I'm mad as hell . . .

2006-12-11T21:23:00.000Z

AND I JUST CAN'T TAKE IT ANY MORE!

I HATE the Fratellis and the Kooks. I mean really, the Fratellis had not infringed on my life enough to casue irritation until my older sister put on "That One With The Moronic Football-Chant Esque Refrain" (Dunna-dunna-dunna) and good GOD is it terrible. "Well you must be a girl with shoes like that".

Yes. Girls wear girl's shoes.

THANK YOU, JON.

And it doesn't get any better, really.

I mean for goodness sake, you want catchy power pop? Listen to Fountains of Wayne or Nada Surf's earlier work or or The Long Blones if you want it British and current just forgoddssake NOT The Fratellis or The Kooks.

They have NOTHING interesting or amusing to say! They take irritating 7-year-old-friendly nursery rhyme melodies and plaster them over bland uninspired "bouncy" guitar lines! Catchy? Maybe, you know what else is catchy? SARS. AND BIRD FLU. AND THE PLAGUE.

THESE BANDS ARE NOT MEANT FOR THE EARS OF ANYONE WHO HAS HIT OR PASSED THROUGH PUBERTY.

My name is Miles
And I hate you and your music
But I'm a nice person REALLY
Just easily aggitated.
Thank you.

Really Good Christmas Songs III

2006-12-10T22:18:00.000Z

What does everyone do at Christmas?

Play in the snow? ...Nah. It never snows.

Rejoice in the coming of Christ? ...More of an acquired taste.

Get drunk and argue with your immediate family? ...Hell, yeah!

And that's exactly why 'Fairytale of New York' by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl is the best Christmas song ever.
Shane 'Black-tooth' MacGowan is Irish and proud, which means he gets to growl, slur his words and introduce fiddles into punk rock. Although this is a ballad, it's none of your sappy shit; his voice is still rough as hell, and he was almost certainly two-thirds gone in this recording judging by the sound of it.
The song starts in the form of a piano-led, lonely plod through snowy streets, or so it feels, before the immortally drunk line 'so Happy Christmas, I laaaaave ya boooooooybeeeeeeee' and those fiddles kick in, along with Kirsty.
From then on it's prime vocal sparring: 'you were handsome, [you were pretty, Queen of New York City]' leading to a chorus about 'the NYPD choir', which may or may not exist.
Perhaps the most memorable exchange in the song is the infamous
'You scumbag, you maggot,
You cheap lousy faggot,
Merry Christmas your arse
I pray God it's our last'.
But somehow despite this, by the end MacGowan has turned the disintegration of their relationship into something truly romantic, about shared dreams and bells ringing out, delivered in a fine whisky-sodden snarl. And here come the violins.
I can't offer you a direct link like Miles, but here's my MySpace, which features the track: CLICK IT
So joy to the world (you cheap lousy faggots) and welcome to Christmas, O'Brien style.

Irish Blood, English Heart

2006-12-10T21:44:00.000Z

Sir David Attenborough vs. Morrissey vs. Sir Paul McCartney. No, it’s not a WWE Triple Threat Match, although that would be a fine way to settle the score; it’s the top 3 finalists in a poll held by The Culture Show to determine the Greatest Living British Icon. After weeks of voting by the general public, the plethora of talents most beloved by the British public was whittled down to a final ten, and now only three remain. By the time this is published, the winner will have been announced, and maybe we’ll all laugh at this with the benefit of hindsight – but for the moment, let’s compare our choices. Two knights of the realm versus a man who once threatened to ‘drop [his] trousers to the Queen’. It’s quite a bizarre match, not least for the generational difference.

Personally, I’d imagine there were more devoted Smiths fans among the main audience of The Culture Show than Beatles obsessives or nature enthusiasts, but maybe that’s just judging on the viewers I know. I predict a Morrissey victory, and for what it’s worth he has my vote.

McCartney has always irritated me on some implacable level, most likely for outliving John Lennon – although Heather Mills is still an evil, money-grabbing witch. Least favourite Beatle or not, he’s still been around a lot longer than she has, and displayed a considerable amount more talent, hence earning the dinero that she’s now pursuing. But when it comes to song-writing, there are definitely far more Morrissey than McCartney compositions on my own playlist – I’d go so far as to say I consider The Smiths more influential than The Beatles. (Feel free to abuse me in the street).

Attenborough is an entirely different kettle of fish. The comparison is therefore completely different. In his own field, Sir David is clearly the master; there’s no one in broadcasting to rival his experience or pedigree. Some of his advocates on the show have even said that he is saving the world. This wild claim, like the one that Morrissey’s lyrics save people’s lives, should probably be put aside, but it’s a good selling point nonetheless. Attenborough is a hero to many, and deservedly a very respected man. But is he iconic? Is he the symbol of a whole culture, or even a generation? He can lay claim to many acheivements, but I feel he is more saint than icon – working good works for the good of planet Earth, but not embodying a mindset, a genuine uniqueness.

Whereas Attenborough is essentially a naturalist, albeit a very good one, to many people McCartney – but more specifically Morrissey – are most than just singers. The Smiths, as one review put it, carved out ‘a world not defined by standard rock iconography’; and there’s that word again. His lyrics are synonymous with unrequited love, teenage depression, and poetic nostalgia. The Beatles changed the world of pop, but Morrissey is thought by many to have challenged its foundations. He is seen as a prophet for those whose awkward, vivid feelings were never before so truly, eloquently expressed. For all these reasons and more, it seems to me that Morrissey has had a more direct effect on the minds of people across Britain than either of the other two contenders. Perhaps he has sold less records than McCartney, and is less popular than Attenborough, but as a lyricist and spokesman he is inspirational to millions; truly British, and truly iconic.

Really Good Christmas Songs II

2006-12-09T14:17:00.000Z

Donna and Blitzen by Badly Drawn Boy

Download here (probably not up for much longer so be fast. Scroll down a little then right click save as on the track. The rest of that Christmas mix is pretty ace too)

Ah, yes. This might be my single favourite Christmas song ever in fact. Certainly the only "happy" Christmas song that I truly love. It comes from Badly Drawn Boy's lovely soundtrack to the Hugh Grant starring film adaption of Nick Hornby's About a Boy. The film is nice and innofensive and mildly amusin. The soundtrack more than stands on it's own though as a light-and-fluffy but very endearing and sweet Badly Drawn Boy record. And it closes with this, the finest song on it.

It's all about the strings really. The lyrics are not explicitally Christmassy for the most part but it certainly SOUNDS like how Christmas should be. If you need to ward off any Grinches or Scrooges then play this loud, on repeat. It might even make it snow a little. Maybe.

Really Good Christmas Songs I

2006-12-03T18:53:00.000Z

Sometimes You Have to Work on Christmas (Sometimes) by Harvey Danger

Mid tempo seasonal indie rock in which Sean Nelson weaves a tale of working in a repertory movie house on Christmas day. Lonliness and the commercialisation of Christmas and a trippy reversed guitar solo and sleigh bells.

What more could you possibly want?

Video here

Download here

Both couresty of the brilliant Harvey Danger fansite Hardly Dangerous. More unrleased tracks and videos there

A Good Saturday Night

2006-11-11T23:02:00.000Z

You want to know my idea of a good saturday night?

1. Hot Chocolate/Instant Coffee. Combined. Oh yes I did.

2. Either the This American Life streaming archives or the Verge of the Fringe Podcast

Wonderful.

I mean, uh, SEXDRUGSALCOBOOZEPARTY WOO