I’ve been listening to a lot of German music from the early to mid 70s lately – I’m trying not to get into the habit of calling it Krautrock (the word “Kraut” being of derogatory origin and “rock” being not nearly descriptive enough), but that’s what most people know it as. But anyway, Neu!, Faust, Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream (there’s plenty more, but I haven’t quite got there yet): it’s all good and you should totally get some ASAP.

But this post isn’t about those bands – instead it’s about a group that evidently been influenced quite significantly by that music scene, along with a lot of more recent jam/pop music such as Stereolab and LCD Soundsystem – groovy, but melodic. Danceable, but equally rewarding as a headphone album.

The band is Fujiya & Miyagi from the UK (no, not Japanese – despite their name!)and the album I’ve jumped onto the train with is called Transparent Things – it was released in 2006, but from what I can tell the album hasn’t really gone massive. That’s a shame, as the album is easily as good as its contemporaries, having a streamlined, catchy, occasionally funk-influenced sound with plenty of hooks while exploring some great sonic territory. It has an electro bent with enough organic matter to give it a wonderfully down-to-earth feel.

If you’ve listened to Neu! then you know all about the Motorik beat – that insistent, driving rhythm that propelled so much of that band’s music, and its characteristics were found in a lot of other German music of the time. Curiously, Transparent Things contains a lot of Motorik, and instead of sounding like it’s aping Neu!’s sound, it simply makes it more endearing for me.

To not draw things out too much, this is an excellent album and in my opinion it’s worthy of a larger audience than it seems to have received. Check it out.

Listen

• Multiple tracks
  (official web site)

This blog took an intentional hiatus from posting any Gotye related news owing to its reluctance to be confused with some kind of raving fan blog.

Anyway, I’ve been in contact with Lucky Number Music over in the UK about their plans for the release of Wally’s material in Europe. There have been many rumours about new tracklists, EPs and singles but no concrete data that I’ve seen yet, so here’s the deal.

Hearts a Mess (7″ / download)

Will be released 26th May 2008.

Some new remixes have been commissioned which will back up the release. Here’s the tracklist:

1. Hearts a Mess (radio edit)
2. Hearts a Mess (Lull edit) – download
3. Hearts a Mess (Ocelot remix) – download
   (released on digital download only)

Learnalilgivinanlovin (7″ / download)

This will be the second single in the UK and will see release on the 11th August 2008

Tracklist unknown

Like Drawing Blood (album)

Formats will include CD, vinyl and digital download

Release dates:

• UK: 19th August, 2008
• Japan: 23rd July, 2008
• Belgium: 23rd May, 2008
• Rest of Europe TBC

Interestingly, the tracklist is changed slightly (subject to change, etc)

1. Like Drawing Blood
2. The Only Way
3. Hearts a Mess
4. Coming Back
5. Thanks for Your Time
6. Learnalilgivinanlovin
7. Puzzle With a Piece Missing
8. The Only Thing I Know (new mix, track originally from Boardface)
9. Seven Hours With a Backseat Driver
10. Night Drive
11. Worn Out Blues

Yes, that’s right: A Distinctive Sound will not be on the album.

Everyone knows that the Internet is a wonderful network for finding music you’d never hear about anywhere else. 35007 definitely fall into the category of music I think I’d never have discovered if it wasn’t for pure right-time-right-place chance in the form of a mention on a music forum I frequent.

Hailing from the Netherlands, 35007 are a reclusive collective of musicians whose music has been described loosely as “stoner rock”, “space rock” and “instrumental progressive doom metal” by various parties. The band creates what I would describe as being a form of ambient music that is based on an unlikely genre choice – jam-oriented metal that recalls parts Sabbath and Floyd at their most freeform.

Liquid begins with a barely-audible synthesizer part that stays true to the album’s name. Gradually a repeated guitar motif is introduced, upon which we’re introduced to a steady build to 35007’s call sign: a slow, determinedly loping, doom-y metal roar, punctuated by moments of respite in the form of laid-back periods of jamming.

You might think that Liquid’s four tracks are variations of a similar theme, and in some senses that’s true, but amongst its 38 minutes of crescendo and decrescendo there lies a great deal of subtlety, like a pedal steel guitar part weaving its way through the textures or a tremolo guitar creating a lush sonic space unpinned by a hypnotic pattern laid by the drum and bass.

I’m sure this album has sound-tracked many a bong hit (I haven’t tried it), but for those laying off the dope it still serves as a great listen. It’s understated, and it’s not trying to do anything markedly new or groundbreaking, but it’s certainly enjoyable stuff. Check it out.

Listen

• Evaporate (MP3)
  Track 3 from Liquid

Yeasayer’s popularity continue to grow, with exposure arriving at every turn. Blogs continue to sing their praises, including the sprightly lads at Polaroids of Androids who just gave All Hour Cymbals a 9.0 rating in their recent review. No sooner than they had finished their tour with MGMT, they embarked on a North American trek with they mayhem specialist brothers-in-arms Man Man (side note: the new Rabbit Habits album is great)

Jools Holland caught wind of the excitement and invited them to appear:

Which prompted many a startled reaction, and caused Jonny to spake forth: “start the petition Joe… let’s get them out here…”

Well, sometimes I take people literally, and as I’m just as keen to see Yeasayer make it out here as you are, I’ve started a petition.

Yes, a petition begging Yeasayer to embark on a journey to our foreign lands and play mind-alteringly amazing shows.

Of course I’m crazy.

There are only two things left to do: sign your name, and spread the word!

Die! Die! Die! played the Oxford Art Factory last Saturday with Talons and Ripping Dylans. Given many other bloggers have posted their articulate and detailed thoughts, I thought I would enter into the fray with my perspective. (quick shout-out to Sean, Jonny, Maria and Angus who are all lovely guys – great to catch up with you all)

I’m still not quite sure what I’m going to write here, but first let me write two disclaimers:

• This was my first live exposure to these bands
• Except for Die! Die! Die! (of which I’d heard a little), I’d heard none of their recorded output

So! Having heard good things about all three bands, I headed on down to the hip little centre of indie-ness that is the Oxford Art Factory with a few friends in tow. Essentially, I came as a curious punter.

If I were to attempt to describe the evening in a word, I might use a word like overstimulation. With the kind of decibels and frenetic energy that was being exuded, I felt affected by more than just pure music and emotion: even with a relatively minimalistic light show, there was no escaping this three-punch spectacle. Once in its grip I began to slip into an almost catatonic trance, my eyes fixed on the fury that was being unleashed before me, my brain’s capacity for rhyme and reason being disabled by severe blasts of guitar feedback and squalls of frantic vocals.

Yes, I’ve just attempted to describe all three sets in one paragraph. Let me continue with a more details overview.

Ripping Dylans

A slightly dishevelled band take the stage, with slightly more dishevelled instruments. They proceed to abuse their instruments. Between the pickup squeal (seriously, what was with that?) I think I caught a blues-rock lurch-and-heave, a pure rock behemoth with a front-vocal that makes Nick Cave looks like a pansy.

Frankly, their live sound sucked, and I found their playing to be sloppy and uncompelling, with little sense of control. Sure, the 100% energy got my attention, but it made me lose it just as quickly. With no sense of dynamics (LOUD was the order of the day), it was difficult to concentrate on what was going on.

That may sound harsh and having said this, I’ve been listening to their MySpace and I’m actually really digging what they’re putting down to tape. In fact, I see a lot of great ability being highlighted and a number of the tunes I enjoy a lot, to the point where I’m interested in looking into their stuff further. It seems that their live show is purely all about impact, but unfortunately it was lost on me.

The band walked off stage to applause-less silence, which I will not attribute to a lack of interest but more a state of stunned stupour on the part of the patrons.

Talons

Talons are regularly championed by Polaroids of Androids; as a result I was eager to see what they had in store.

In a nutshell: think more indie rock, less blues, still with liberal amounts of punk applied. The live musicianship is more developed, with an abrasive riff-centric sound, frequently interrupted by intense bass runs and splayed tom fills.

Two songs left me notably impressed, one being a mid-set tune, the other being the closer (pretty sure one of them was Untitled, as seen on their Myspace). My memory is fuzzing out a little, but I recall they explored a little more space, while retaining an uptight energy and some excursions into rocking out full tilt. The rest faded into the wall of sound that my brain appears to have grouped together in order to save space.

The vocals. Man. Look, I know it’s punk, I know it’s meant to be abrasive and reaching out beyond the rim of sensibility, and I know they’re meant to sound like they’re just a bit crayyzeee, but one thing I couldn’t reconcile about both Talons and Die! Die! Die! were the vocals which seemed to all too frequently let go of any sense of control and all ended up sounding like their were hitting the same registers. They sounded inane and, well, a bit juvenile. Urgh, I hate that word but at this hour it’s the only one I can find that seems to fit. Words were indistinguishable, but I guess that’s not an issue.

In a nutshell: I’m curious, but the show didn’t quite see me become a die-hard fan. The tracks from the EP sound really good, and I would definitely catch another show down the track as their profile builds. Like, for sure. Have no fear Jonny.

Die! Die! Die!

Given this band are a. releasing an album and b. touring from across the sea (even if it’s New Zealand, it still requires effort and a following) I expected a some tighter musicianship and better developed work than the supports. Die! Die! Die! (hereafter abbriated to DDD!) delivered, for the most part. The insanity, however, was entirely unprecedented.

Punk is not dead. It lives on in DDD! (and others I’m sure, but allow me the rhetoric)

The show begins with a frenetically-picked note on a Fender Mustang which gets transformed into a high-pitched loop, and no sooner has the three-piece wall of sound reached it’s climax (it barely dies down for the remainder of the set) frontman Andrew Watson is amongst the crowd causing carnage (aliteration not deliberate). The crowd responded by transforming into a sea of madness for the remainder of the set. I feared for my life and remained at the rear of the room.

(An observation on the side: anyone can hit an infinite delay or a loop pedal, and anyone can jog the delay speed dial to unleash a series of screams and howls. As much as it can be a bit of a buzz, and add some unpredictable excitement, it gets a bit old after a while.)

The three piece works well together. The rhythm section is tight and bass and drums provided a substantial amount of the continued momentum. The guitars primarily provide screams, howls, and anthemic delay laden tremelo picking. At times they sound like The Edge on every form of drug known to cause hyperactivity, with his amps turned up to 11.

Frankly, I can’t comment on the songs. I couldn’t hear much of them. The vocals I found irritating (see above), despite most of my favourite vocalists being ones that technically “can’t sing” (according to people who, apparently, can)

But the energy, on the other hand. Dear heavens, the energy was like a furious pack of ravenous lions embarking on a murderous rampage. How’s that for a primary school level of attempted descriptive writing?

Back to why I’d use a word like overstimulated to describe this show. Observing the crowd down below me, I quickly realised that they were responding to more than just the music itself – it seems like they were whipped up into some kind of frenzy via the inescapable sensory overload that permeated the entire set (please forgive the inane array of words – it’s late and I’m attempting to describe the enormity of what was going on). As a result, I found myself wondering whether perhaps a gig of this nature is less about music in and of itself than about experiencing mayhem. I can’t speak for the punters, but that’s mostly what I saw.

Back to the band: they certainly bring the party, that can’t be denied. The energetic punters appeared to be more than happy with the return on investment they received.

For me, the DDD! show didn’t leave me wanting them to come back for one more song, nor did it convince me that I should run out and buy the band’s new album. It sometimes confused, and frequently intrigued, me. I certainly was left impressed by their ability to throw themselves into their music beyond a human’s typical concept of personal safety.

Now that I know what I’m in for, I might even dip my toe in for a second time.