NEUN

Things are slipping my mind too quickly, therefore a brief report on last Wednesday's gig at the Gleis, probably one of the best clubs around (and that's not only Münster) when it comes to indie music.

On the menu: Swimming and The Megaphonic Thrift - I was lucky and won free tickets. Not much to say about swimming - I only listened to a few of their songs, nice enough, a bit of electronic sounds, atmospheric. Check out a couple of their songs on youtube, e.g. Island in the Sun

The Megaphonic Thrift put a lot of energy on stage, despite the small crowd at the venue. The Bergen-based Norwegians consist of 4 guys and a girl, with a female/male voice. Starting most of their songs quite slowly they eventually create a soundwall that kind of blows you away, especially at the volume they chose. :) They've got a phenomenal drummer (I think), a driving bass and a more noisy attitude to songwriting than most indie bands at the moment. Thus, their songs start slowly and sort of develop...interchanging harmonic and disharmonic tunes, a gradual increase of guitars and driving drums and all of a sudden, you feel teleported back to the 90s and some great moments in alternative music.
Undertow is a good example of that. Having been the greatest smashing pumpkin fan for most of my life, I found quite a few similarities.

A band calling one of their songs Acid Blues certainly does not lack self-esteem. That song has - once more - a driving energy, and if I'm not completely mistaken that was also the song the band decided to end their show with - including experimental feedback (is that the term you use when you place your guitar close to the amp?) which lasted for hours. My ears will definitely remember.

Since I never listened to that band before, I can't shake the feeling tho that a lot of their songs resemble each other strongly - maybe that changes when you're familiar with their songs?

ACHTE

We Are Augustines – but why?

Because the two masterminds are born in August, that simple. Billy McCarthy and Eric Sanderson first had a band called Pela, but due to problems with their record company and some familiar issues they decided to start a new project.

Here they are – coming from Brooklyn, New York – bringing us the finest Indie Rock on their debut album “Rise Ye Sunken Ships”.

"The old man turned and scratched his chin
He said "Son I wouldn't know where to begin, but your daddy's gone,
he's gone down south.. It was all he would talk about""

Juarez

It’s packed with intense, pure and electrifying songs, bringing out the roughness of songwriting. It was produced by Dave Newfield, best known for his work with Broken Social Scene.

"On a park bench sat a crimson beating heart
and behind him the girls played double dutch in the park
The sun began to burn his snow white skin
I guess your either headin' somewhere or endin up somewhere..."

Book Of James

This is their first single released in the UK.

They got recognized by a greater audience through the amazing snowboard movie “The Art Of Flight”. (I could write a story just about this outstanding piece of art, even as a non-snowboarder)


Art Of Flight Uno

Art Of Flight Dos

And this is the song from the soundtrack:

"Well there goes my girl
Into the chapel
Now she's walking down the aisle
And it feels just like a mile
And I shake shake shake like a leaf
And I'm lyin' lyin' lyin' through my teeth
I got a pocket full of handshakes
And it don't mean nothin'"

I want to see them live. Do you?

SIEBNEINHALB

As announced, something else: It's still not the Frank Turner feature which I haven't gotten round to just yet, but as usual, FT has written some lyrics that fit today's entry: I face the horizon everywhere that I go - I face the horizon, the horizon is my home (the road)

Being somewhat stuck here with my job, I don't get to travel as much as I'd like to, but I have just come across a beautiful homepage that soothes some of that longing.
veoelmundo means 'I see the world' in Spanish and shows fantastic travel photos, one picture a day, and I really like the idea of getting a glimpse of faraway places once a day. Also, the pictures are really good, as far as I can tell. Today, it'S Morocco, and the vibrant colours make me look forward to Istanbul in May. I admire people who have the guts to start something new, like the guy who started the website and apparently left his job as a lawyer in Australia to spend his time travelling and taking pictures. So...It's not all about music!

SIEBNE

„Ante Up“ – „Hang It Up“ (Listen and know.)

Shake your moneymaker, shake your booty and shake what your momma gave ya.

We are celebrating the second album of The Ting Tings.

Yeah exactly: the guys (Katie White and Jules de Martino) who brought us party anthems like “That’s not my name” or “Shut Up And Let Me Go” back in 2008.

That's Not My Name

Now they bring us their second album “Songs From Nowheresville”. It’s the ominous, difficult second album.

It took them four years. They first tried to record it in Berlin – but they trashed a nearly finished album because they didn’t like the songs.

And now?

We have “Hang It Up” – a nearly typical Ting Tings song.

Hang It Up

They try to experiment more with electro and even ska. I like that song “Soul Killing”.
Especially the “bed sports” sample. :-)

Soul Killing

On the deluxe version you can find “Hands” – they song that was in between the two albums.

Hands

So how is it? I like their experiments. Some songs grow with listening, some really ruin your nerves.

Check it out for yourself!!!

SIX

Heute mal auf Deutsch: Tanzen ist ein ganz gutes Stichwort für das am Samstag im Gleis in Münster stattgefundene Großereignis namens Bauchklang live.

So groß war das Großereignis dann gar nicht, da noch lange nicht ausverkauft - umso mehr Platz zum Tanzen also! Aber dazu sollte es erst spät kommen...Vorband waren Active Child aus den USA, ein Ein-Mann-Projekt bestehend aus Pat Grossi, der chorale Klänge mit Synthie-Sounds kombiniert - und noch Unterstützung von Drummer und Harfenspieler mitbrachte, um das Gleis in eine tranceartige Atmosphäre zu tauchen. Wunderschön, fließend, melancholisch - Hanging on ist hierfür ein schönes Beispiel. Gegen Ende kam dann auch noch etwas Bewegung in die Menge, die dann auch lautstark Zugabe forderte - leider vergeblich. Active Child wären definitiv was für's Haldern, nachts. Spät. In einem halbleeren Zelt. Eher Wunschdenken, leider.

Als Bauchklang die Bühne betraten, dauerte es auch einen Moment, bis die Diskrepanz zwischen der Atmosphäre der Vorband und dem nun einsetzenden Beatsspektakel überwunden war - aber dann war alles gut. Ich hab immer noch nicht ganz verwunden, dass das tatsächlich alles mundgemacht war - abgefahrener Scheiß, tatsächlich. Und das Konzert hat meine lange brachliegenden HipHopGene wieder geweckt - die Jungs haben eine unglaublich gute Stimmung gemacht, lokale Beatboxer auf die Bühne geholt und einfach gefeiert. So auch das Publikum - ich habe niemanden beobachtet, der nicht zumindest mit dem Kopf genickt hätte. Wirklich tanzbar... Und eine wirklich sympathische Band, obwohl sie Ösis sind :) - das haben sie gekonnt ausgespielt, indem sie sich in ihren Ansagen gleichwohl über uns Deutsche unbd sich selber lustig gemacht haben. Die Zugaben waren denn dann auch reichlich... Schön war's! Und noch ein Pluspunkt für Österreich! :)

FÜFE

Clap your hands and say :“Blaudzun“. Then start dancing and singing. And finally let your mind float into beautiful places.

Flame On My Head

This happened to me when I was listening to the new album of Johannes Sigmond aka Blaudzun. Heavy Flowers is a masterpiece of singer/songwriter art.

Coming from the Netherlands and being very well known there, he now starts to take over the rest of the world.

Heavy Flowers

Maybe you can check him out on some festivals this summer.
Haldern maybe??? Definitely Lowlands.

VIER

Feeling a bit under pressure! Haven’t come across anything new and good recently. As much as I dislike the fact that I have to work, I always enjoy the time it takes me to drive to school. The joys of commuting – I really love driving my car ( I haven't got an electronic donkey yet) and listening to music.

After reading about their gig at the Haldern Pop bar last weekend, I checked out You say France & I Whistle – nice enough and I imagine seeing them live is heaps of fun, but to me they sound too much like Los Campesinos. Which in itself is not bad if you feel like jumping around to shrill female (and male) vocals, staccato guitars, electronic noise and musical bling-bling in the background. Don’t let song titles like ‘When lovers die’ mislead you – a lot of feel good party potential there.

Speaking of song titles, I’m also not too happy about the lyrics. It’s a Swedish indie band, and maybe I am prejudiced in some way ever since Friska Viljor spilled out some horrible lyrics, but but lines like ‘ I always want to fuck ‘cause there’s nothing wrong with my potency’ (Prom Queens) really turn me off. Even though songs like OMG prove that most of it is probably meant ironically. I like listening to songs that tell a story, have a message, deeper meaning. That’s why I find it difficult to listen to something that makes me want to pull my hair out.

Now, You say France & I Whistle’s happy tunes certainly relieve a lot of tension, and some exceptions to the rule like ‘Second thoughts’ are quite enjoyable. I don’t know why they just don’t sound right to me. Must have something to do with the fact that their music doesn’t seem to stick. And that it's not that original in terms of genre, Los Campesinos did quite a good job there already. Maybe it's also related to the time of year, I'll doublecheck soon, once winter is over.

Until then I keep listening to the brilliant Frank Turner to cheer me up. And beware, I am planning on doing a huge feature of him some time soon!

PS: If you have a spare ticket to one of their shows, I wouldn't mind seeing them live, tho!