Azwel

Having slaved at my computer all day today, I was after some melodic indie-pop to listen to this evening. My needs were met by the soft sounds of Azwel. This one man and his guitar act is New Yorker Jason Perrillo. Since 2003, Jason already has independantly produced 7 albums and has a load of b-sides under his belt too!

Make It Known - MP3 Download

The songs strongly reflect a number of brit-pop influences, to the extent that at times it feels like the notes got lost on their way to that 80's/90's era. I promised myself never to use the word 'nice' in a review, but Azwel is nice. Unfortunately for Azwel, nice is a word people use to describe things which they like, but aren't sufficiently interested in to merit thinking of more advanced adjectives.

Most of Aswell's music can be downloaded, completely free and legally from his official website.

Azwell Website
Azwell Myspace

Thou Shalt not read NME

Dan le sac VS scroobius pip - Thou Shalt always Kill



We like this. We like this a lot. Mr.DJ, please play this at your disco!

Thou shalt not steal if there is direct victim.
Thou shalt not worship pop idols or follow lost prophets.
Thou shalt not take the names of Johnny Cash, Joe Strummer, Johnny Hartman, Desmond Decker, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix or Syd Barret in vain.
Thou shalt not think that any male over the age of 30 that plays with a child that is not their own is a peadophile… Some people are just nice.
Thou shalt not read NME.
Thall shalt not stop liking a band just because they’ve become popular.
Thou shalt not question Stephen Fry.
Thou shalt not judge a book by it’s cover.
Thou shalt not judge Lethal Weapon by Danny Glover.
Thall shalt not buy Coca-Cola products. Thou shalt not buy Nestle products.
Thou shalt not go into the woods with your boyfriend’s best friend, take drugs and cheat on him.
Thou shalt not fall in love so easily.
Thou shalt not use poetry, art or music to get into girls’ pants. Use it to get into their heads.
Thou shalt not watch Hollyoakes.
Thou shalt not attend an open mic and leave as soon as you're done just because you’ve finished your shitty little poem or song you self-righteous prick.
Thou shalt not return to the same club or bar week in, week out just ’cause you once saw a girl there that you fancied but you’re never gonna fucking talk to.
Thou shalt not put musicians and recording artists on ridiculous pedestals no matter how great they are or were.
The Beatles - Were just a band.
Led Zepplin - Just a band.
The Beach Boys - Just a band.
The Sex Pistols - Just a band.
The Clash - Just a band.
Crass - Just a band.
Minor Threat - Just a band.
The Cure - Just a band.
The Smiths - Just a band.
Nirvana - Just a band.
The Pixies - Just a band.
Oasis - Just a band.
Radiohead - Just a band.
Bloc Party - Just a band.
The Arctic Monkeys - Just a band.
The next big thing - Just a band.
Thou shalt give equal worth to tragedies that occur in non-English speaking countries as to those that occur in English speaking countries.
Thou shalt remember that guns, bitches and bling were never part of the four elements and never will be.
Thou shalt not make repetitive generic music
Thou shalt not make repetitive generic music
Thou shalt not make repetitive generic music
Thou shalt not make repetitive generic music
Thou shalt not pimp my ride.
Thou shalt not scream if you wanna go faster.
Thou shalt not move to the sound of the wickedness.
Thou shalt not make some noise for Detroit.
When I say “Hey” thou shalt not say “Ho”.
When I say “Hip” thou shalt not say “Hop”.
When I say "he say, she say, we say, make some noise" - kill me.
Thou shalt not quote me happy.
Thou shalt not shake it like a polaroid picture.
Thou shalt not wish your girlfriend was a freak like me.
Thou shalt spell the word “Pheonix” P-H-E-O-N-I-X not P-H-O-E-N-I-X, regardless of what the Oxford English Dictionary tells you.
Thou shalt not express your shock at the fact that Sharon got off with Bradley at the club last night by saying “Is it”.
Thou shalt think for yourselves.
And thou shalt always kill.

You break my heart, I’ll break your arms

Someone recently said to me “the only good band to come out of Loughborough is the Young Knives”. This isn’t true; the Young Knives are technically from Ashby-de-la-Zouch. However, the statement may soon be inaccurate on a second count. Penfold Gate (a misspelling of a street in the town) are getting plenty of local attention and are surely soon destined to break free from the overcrowded Loughborough music scene. The fact that they haven't been signed already is baffling.

'Here It Is' - Download

I challenge anyone to listen to ‘Here It Is’ and resist the temptation to tap their foot. The song opens with a snappy, danceable drum beat and bass line. The guitar builds charmingly, moving in to an anthemic chorus which longs for the listener to sing along. This infectious tune will one day be belted out at indie discos across the land. My personal favourite ‘Alive In Years’ shows both lyrical and musical maturity which you don’t expect from such a new band. The new songs show considerable promise too. As if this wasn't enough, as a live act Penfold Gate exhibit technical ability (provided they're sober) to match their chemistry and enthusiasm.

Penfold Gate Myspace

Kiss My Face reviews

Last night was Kiss My Face, in my home town of Gloucester, in the Shire. The night kicked off with a dose of hard rock, courtesy of Twisted Wings. This was followed up by the melodic indie stylings of JC's Revenge. Sadly I didn't get a chance to see much of their sets, but I managed to escape my duties on the door just in time to catch the second half of Glow Down's set (by which time Bradbury had already misplaced his shirt)!

Glow Down came with a reputation as crowd pleasers, and they certainly didn't disappoint. Shimmering drums and echoing guitar 'waa' create an eerie atmosphere in 'Apologies'. This band are masters of carefully crafted, slow building songs, which develop in to choruses which send the crowd reeling. Who knows what this band could achieve; but whatever they do, they are sure to have a load of fun along the way. If you live locally these lads are must see live act.

The headline act was The Syndicate. Damn these guys are good. The band played a varied set, showcasing their rock, metal and folk influences. The guitars seemed a little busy at times, but came in useful for powerful rock fueled choruses. 'Ghostdance' is a beautifully chilling, edgy song which is perfected by stunning vocals. It's also catchy enough to have been on constant repeat in my head for the last 24 hours. If you need any more convincing that these guys are cool, they have an accordion and they know how to use it!

Many thanks to all of the bands, staff at Crackers and everyone who came for making it a great night.

The Syndicate
Glow Down
JC's Revenge
Twisted Wings

Kiss My Face

IndiEmo DJs will be spinning records between the bands at this event.





Tickets are £4 on the door.

The bands are as follows:

The Syndicate
JC's Revenge
Glow Down
The Washingline Defence
Twisted Wings

Its pronounced Dana -nana -naykroyd...

Dananananaykroyd have two drummers. Two. This automatically makes them pretty damn exciting in my book. But there is much more to this band than just their number of members and unusual name. The music is (unsurprisingly) loud and fast and raw. It is aggressive but not angry, unpretentious but not bland. With shouty vocals, crushing guitar sounds and relentless beats, it is music to uninhibitedly jump around to. It demands to be played at maximum volume to a room crammed with sweaty people ready to go nuts from the very first note. And the Danannananaykroyd live show does not disappoint. This is a band that is explosive on stage and importantly, seem to enjoy every minute of it. Their energy and sense of fun is as infectious as their tunes. Because of this I was instantly converted into a fully fledged fan after seeing them perform, despite having no real prior knowledge of their music.



I finally managed to get my hands on their 'Japan only' release EP (cue much school girl like excitement) and 'Some Dresses' is the track that I keep playing over and over - check it out if you like shout-a-long intros and songs that seem to implode and then rebuild themselves in their duration. And did I mention they have TWO drummers? What's not to love?!

Website
Myspace

Content by Cerian.

There's nothing more entertaining than men in drag!

Yesterday we went to see the Rocky Horror Show; how much fun is that! The cast, audience and whole experience were fantastic, if a little surreal. I've dressed in drag a number of times in the past (don't ask!) On this occasion I decided it was about time I looked damn cool instead, so I went as Eddie (played by Meatloaf in the film version). This costume also offered the bonus of being able to aquire a free leather jacket.





Everyone who has seen this photo has said I look like Gerard Way. Hmm, maybe. The whole experience has re-opened a question which has troubled me for a number of years... can I get away with wearing 'guy-liner' on a more frequent basis!? Any comments on this deeply troubling issue are welcome!

Whilst we're on the subject of dancing in dodgy clothes, I can't help posting this music video. It's just like being in the 80's again. It's the Wombats - Backfire at the Disco.



In between trips to the theatre this week I've been trying to prepare for a DJ set I'm doing next Tuesday (more details to follow soon). I'm trying to avoid allowing myself to listen to any stupidly obscure music and been digging out songs which people are more likely to be able to sing along to. One song which has been playfully bashing at my eardrums over the last few days is Charlotte by Air Traffic. The forthcoming tour with The Pigeon Detectives should be pretty damn hot. I was pleased to see that they've created a music video which is worthy of acompanying the song.



Great news, there's more eye candy today! We have some new art work.



Many thanks to Cerian for this aesthetic beauty. Check out her website.

The Wombats Website
The Wombats Myspace
Air Traffic Website
Air Traffic Myspace

How do you manage a turtle?

I have no new bands to showcase today I'm afraid, so I thought I would do a post on general music issues. This is a class in band management.



New bands beware!

This link was brought to my attention in todays Lefsetz letter.

Subscribe to the Lefsetz Letter.

The Gig Party!

Lets face it, most of us have been to a house party where, at silly o'clock in the morning after most of the (cheap) beer has been drunk, some joker will whip out an acoustic guitar and start serenading the remaining conscious revellers with poor indie covers. (I grew up in the age of Brit Pop. Painful.) But these days, the humble party is floundering and giving rise to a new entertainment phenomenon - the 'GigParty'.

A GigParty is pretty much what you would expect it to be. Musician(s) turning up at your house, setting up in your living room and playing a show for you and your friends. Sure, it seems scary at first when imagining your house filling up with your (slightly bemused) acquaintances, glancing at the instruments arranged around the edges of the room. To be honest, I never thought it would be an entirely comfortable scenario for anyone - audience and performers alike. In practice however, a GigParty is an amazing experience. It takes the excitement and spectacle of live music and makes it intimate, personal and really rather special. It makes it yours for that brief moment and it creates memories that will survive long after those of your average gig. Because its live music, two foot away from you, in your house. Mental.



Unconventional gig locations are becoming more and more popular with established artists too. Arcade Fire (above) and Get Cape.Wear Cape.Fly are just two examples of bands who've recently performed impromptu sets outside venues before or after shows, and Badly Drawn Boy did a tour of chip shops to promote his new album! I'm all for this kind of performance too - no booking fees or ticket touts, just people that make music and people that enjoy it, having fun together! Whats not to love? Plus it makes great stories to tell your grandkids one day...

My own GigParty (one of the best parties ever if I do say so myself...) involved the ace musical stylings of Luke Leighfield and Sam Isaac who've spent the last few months making the GigParty their own up and down the country, leaving a dedicated following in their wake. How can you not be dedicated when you've had someone play in your house?! Check them out. They'll probably come play at your house if you asked nicely - a BBQ tour is planned for the summer. And they're not the only ones. Check myspace for up and coming bands and acoustic artists to invite to your house - try Dave Hughes for example.

Below: Sam Isaac - Compass Scattered Love



Come on all, be part of the party revolution. It's honestly as cool as it sounds.

Luke Leighfield Myspace

Sam Isaac Myspace

Dave Hughes Myspace

Content by Cerian Absolom