The Cold Cut

Twisted Wheel- She's A Weapon (Link 2)

Twisted Wheel. Wow. How have I not heard of you? I'm fairly sure its a combination of my aversion to the NME, and my brief hiatus from blogging. Either way, I'm sorry I missed you.

Raucous. Raw. To the point. These were the first words that sprung into my mind when listening to 'She's A Weapon'. It's unfortunate that often, we immediately associate these with poor lyrics and musicianship, but we do have reason. Twisted Wheel are an exciting exception.

The latest from Sony BMG, Twisted Wheel are definitely moving in the right direction; they have heaps of attitude and have been picked up by record label that will surely market them to hell and back. The band are currently on tour with The Rascals, another band making moves (largely due to 'The Large Shadow Puppet's popularity, it has to be said), and have a series of dates with Oasis lined up in October. My view is slightly tinted, though, in that the band immediately reminded me of a fusion of The Twang and The Courteeners. Memories of hype. A huge build up. And then, the album drops, flat as a pancake.

I do have a good feeling about this one, though, and those feelings are going to be put on hold... permanently. With both of the aforementioned bands, I just let the hype carry me along, and I wasn't particularly fussed when the resultant album's fell short. This time around, though, I'm going to indulge. Get involved.

Let us say, Twisted Wheel are to those bands what The Verve were to Oasis and The Stone Roses. A perfect combination. And I just hope they can emulate Mr. Ashcroft's success.

[Myspace] ['Lucy The Castle' out 10.11.o8]

Kings Of Leon- Crawl (Link 2) (Link 3) or download from the band (preferably).

Discuss: Kings Of Leon- Unstoppable?

Kings Of Leon will creep up on you. Just when did they get this big? "This" being "walk-in-the-park Glasto headlining" big and "trotting out brilliant albums every year" big. I get the simultaneously wonderful and terrifying impression that nothing can stop this band... Most optimistic fans weren't expecting to hear from the band until 2009, at the earliest. And yet, information trickled out of the KOL camp that a new album, 'Only By The Night' is to be released in the US on September 22.

Yesterday, NME broke the news that they would be doing an exclusive free download of a new album track 'Crawl' between the hours of 3-5 PM on Monday 28th July. And download I did. The album now feels within touching distance. You can head over to NME now (the download is still up).

So, the verdict? These boys can do no wrong. 'Crawl' is dirty, grimy and sounds like a direct progression of their 'Because Of The Times' sessions. They riff on pop culture, with the repeated chorus of 'Walk away, walk away', and there is even enough time at the end for a fitting guitar solo (an element largely left out of their music... until now). In short, this song is nigh-on perfect, and once again, they appear to be moving onwards and upwards. The question is, will the Kings ever hit a wall? On the basis of this and the three preceding albums, I wouldn't bet on it.

The album's first single is called 'Fri On Fire'. No news on the release yet, but a mid-August release woudl be the safe bet to allow the pre-album heat to build. The album can be pre-ordered via Amazon. The band are also embarking on a UK arena tour this Christmas:

Brighton Centre (December 1)
Nottingham Trent FM Arena (December 2)
Newcastle Metro Arena (December 4)
Sheffield Arena (December 5)
Glasgow SECC (December 7)
Liverpool Echo Arena (December 8)
Birmingham NIA (December 10)
London O2 Arena (December 11)
Bournemouth BIC (December 14)
Manchester Evening News Arena (December 16)
Cardiff International Arena (December 17)

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Update: So the list has been announced in a ceremony today, with some notable absences. Duffy, Coldplay and Lightspeed Champion were all left off the list, whilst Laura Marling and Burial both look like serious contenders for the prize. Official list as follows:

Adele - '19'
British Sea Power - 'Do You Like Rock Music?'
Burial - 'Untrue'
Elbow - 'The Seldom Seen Kid'
Estelle - 'Shine'
The Last Shadow Puppets - 'The Age Of The Understatement'
Laura Marling - 'Alas I Cannot Swim'
Neon Neon - 'Stainless Style'
Portico Quartet - 'Knee-Deep In The North Sea'
Robert Plant And Alison Krauss – 'Raising Sand'
Radiohead - 'In Rainbows'
Rachel Unthank And The Winterset – 'The Bairns'

Tomorrow morning, the shortlist for the 2008 Mercury Prize is announced. Who should be on the list? NME's potential shortlist was as follows- my selections of their expanded list are highlighted in red. I've included a track of each of my selected albums for you to sample. Download the whole mix below as a zip, take a long listen to my picks, add your own and submit your personal list in the comments.

I'm voting for Lightspeed Champion and Laura Marling as the dark horses that will come and pull the rug out from underneath everyone else.

Who should be on the list?

Mercury Prize Shortlist Sampler.zip (Link 2)

Adele – '19'
Babyshambles – 'Shotter's Nation'
British Sea Power – 'Do You Like Rock Music?' ... Atom
Burial – 'Untrue' ... Archangel
Coldplay – 'Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends' ... Lovers In Japan (Acoustic)
Duffy – 'Rockferry'
Elbow – 'The Seldom Seen Kid' ... Bones Of You
The Enemy – 'We'll Live And Die In These Towns'
Estelle – 'Shine' ... You Are (ft. John Legend)
Foals – 'Antidotes' ... Hummer
Future Of The Left – 'Curses'
The Futureheads – 'This Is Not The World'
Hot Chip – 'Made In The Dark' ... Wrestlers
Jamie Lidell – 'Jim'
Johnny Flynn – 'A Larum'
Kate Nash – 'Made Of Bricks'
Kids In Glass Houses – 'Smart Casual'
The Kills – 'Midnight Boom' The Last Shadow Puppets – 'The Age Of The Understatement' ... Two Hearts In Two Weeks
Laura Marling – 'Alas I Cannot Swim' ... You're No God
Lightspeed Champion – 'Falling Off The Lavender Bridge' ... Dry Lips
Los Campesinos! – 'Hold On Now Youngster' ... You! Me! Dancing!
MIA – 'Kala' ... Paper Planes Mystery Jets – '21' ... Hideaway
Neon Neon – 'Stainless Style' ... I Told Her On Alderaan
The Pigeon Detectives – 'Emergency'
Portishead – 'Third' ... We Carry On
Radiohead – 'In Rainbows' ... House Of Cards
Spiritualized – 'Songs In A&E'
These New Puritans – 'Beat Pyramid'
The Ting Tings – 'We Started Nothing'
Tricky – 'Knowle West Boy'
Wiley – 'Grime Wave'
The Wombats – 'The Wombats Proudly Present... A Guide To Love, Loss And Desperation'

That's it. I've had it with this pretentious magazine, picking up a band in their conception and then dumping them when they don't produce the album of the decade.

Everyone needs to know about the harsh game that this magazine has been playing for many years now. Considering NME has one of the best up and coming band sections, good interviews and some other nice features, their only fault lies in their character, and vapid sarcasm. Without a doubt, NME is the most pretentious/facetious publication I have ever read; reading their '3 out of 10' reviews, I can just imagine the writers turning up their nose and sniggering like children. Its not funny, and its not mature. Given that myself, a 17 year old kid, probably has more honour and maturity than your whole magazine put together, now is about the time to clear up your act, before 'Morrissey' incidents become commonplace.

The album that has caused me to snap in such a way is Guillemots 'Red', coming out on 24th March. After praising 'Kriss Kross', the first single, NME gifted this stunning album a paltry 4 out of 10, stating 'If only Guillemots main man Fyfe Dangerfield hadn’t woken up one bright morning believing he could be indie’s Timbaland, this could have been a half-decent return.' Once again NME, you've completely missed the point. And you are alone in this endeavor... all the other reviews (see here and here) I've read state that 'Red' is the pop album of 2008. I will be able to put this matter to rest when I review the album... Oh, and on that point, an album review isn't about who can fit the largest amount of 'literally' advanced words into a paragraph, its about telling people what the album is actually about. Maybe you should take a note out of Q's book, who write content heavy reviews, giving you an actual feel for the album rather than a lyrically bloated and metaphorical look at the inner orchestrations of the album. Take this NME review of an Arctic Monkeys gig:

"By the time ‘This House Is A Circus’s manic skat-rap is bursting from Turner’s lips, there are bouncers peeling the Old Trafford crowd from the clouds. As the Monkeys rattle into ‘Teddy Picker’ they aren’t wrestling this gig from the brink, they’re stitching concrete wings to its back and sending it soaring to God to brag. ‘Mardy Bum’ and ‘Fake Tales Of San Fransisco’ are sung like the Lord’s Prayer by the hoards clamouring at St Peter’s gates."

Bullshit... a total waste of my time. Can anyone actually glean anything worthwhile from this passage?

I have nothing against this magazine as an institution, rather the writers who seem sucked into a vicious circle of helping bands to become massive and then pulling the rug out from under them. I firmly believe that this magazine is so far ahead of the curve that its almost unfair, yet I find myself pitying the bands who appear in their 'Radar' section, knowing deep down inside that in a mere ten months or so they will no doubt be taking a massive fall from grace. If any of you feel the same way, please leave a note. If would drive me insane if I knew I'm the only who feels like this.

Guillemots- Get Over It

NB- Not anywhere as good as Kriss Kross, but its a grower. Repeated listens have the desired effect!

On Sunday, my friend Mike (of Albion To Arcadia) will be celebrating his 18th birthday. A couple of days ago, to celebrate this event, we went to see Babyshambles, The Courteeners & Beggars at the Carling Brixton Academy in an NME Awards show. These were three completely different, varying acts, and for the purpose of this review I'm going to split them up. This was not an ordinary gig- first of all, it lasted an ache-inducing 5 hours. At 6 PM yesterday evening, a legion of indie kids outfitted in a combination of skinny jeans, leather jackets and day-glo t-shirts descended on Brixton, and 'normal' people like myself (outfitted in a nice, but plain, Esprit jumper and 'phat' jeans) felt a little bit out of place. And so the fun began...

Beggars


The doors opened at 6, and after an hour's wait, the first act, Beggars, came on. An interesting support act, they were really good, but not always interested. Its a little bit disconcerting that they seem to have it all worked out already, but they had the edginess and potential to get the crowd going. Their drummer was ace and the music worked as an openert- there were a couple of good songs, some great harmonies and a generally solid set. If you want to check out their Myspace, here it is...

The Courteeners
The boys from Manchester did some impressive work convincing me that their album might be pretty good after all. Let me just clear things up, though- they wont change music. Their first album will be solid, from the tracks we heard, and their live act will get better and better. The crowd were up for it, and there were a handful of moments where it all clicked, most obviously on the familiar songs such as 'Acrylic' and 'Cavorting', the former inexplicably left off the tracklisting for their new album, 'St. Jude', out April 7. I was surprised to see that Liam Fray had very little of his trademark swagger on show, repeatedly thanking the crowd for 'this amazing chance'. Your welcome... Check out their website to listen to a couple of tracks.

The Courteeners- Acrylic

Babyshambles
Babyshambles were the biggest surprise of the evening, for me at least. I have always been quick to belittle Pete Doherty for his part in the break up of The Libertines, his drug problems and the fact that he cant sing. Last year, I got really bored of seeing his name in the tabloids every day, but his popularity dipped for a few months and he has now returned, a seemingly different person. This isn't the Pete Doherty that embarrassed himself on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross- with the aid of a really solid backing band, Pete put on a great show, and his voice was great. The mosh-pit was ridiculously good fun- one of the best I've been in- with a nice atmosphere and a great venue- the sloped floor is a great idea, apart from everything rolls to the front, including beers, dropped phones and pretty much anything else going.

Their set was a good length, with a nice mix between the heavier songs and the slower tracks. They played 'Delivery about two tracks in, which suprised me, and although I didn't know any of the songs there was still that sense of familiarity. The band were really chilled out onstage, only pausing occasionally to make sure that no-one was getting crushed in the pit. Closing their three track encore with chaotic fan favourite 'Fuck Forever', the set was a great end to a brilliant gig. I've been won over by Babyshambles, and the support acts were great. All in all, well worth it.

Babyshambles- Delivery

If anyone reading this was at the gig, leave a comment. How did you find it? Good time, yeah? Check out this video of 'Fuck Forever'.

About two months ago a little sound snippet arrived on Radiohead's website: a whirlwind 2 minutes long, this casually released recording was actually short sections of the songs that would make up their seventh studio album. Since that time I have been anxiously awaiting the release of said album- provisionally titled "7", which should occur during the next couple of months.In fact, scratch that, I’ve been waiting for any sort of material whatsoever to make its way onto the airwaves from this hugely talented band. Lets face it: Radiohead are a pretty special group of people, possessing some of the most talented- and weird- individuals in modern music. Ever since I saw them live three years ago I’ve been quietly intrigued by the band, and their frontman Thom Yorke, in particular.

If you look through any decent music magazines (read Q, NME, Word) top 100 albums list, I’m sure you will find Radiohead albums occupy many of the available spaces. Last year, Thom Yorke’s debut solo album, The Eraser, would probably also have been in those magazines favourite albums of the year, and quite correctly. The only problem is, I can’t really understand why I like their/his music: place Kid A and OK Computer into your CD player or computer one after the other and you would struggle to believe they are by the same band if you weren’t so culturally inclined (flattery of the readership!). Whilst they flit between styles of music on each album, Radiohead always produce atmospheric, interesting music; you would be hard pressed to think of a mediocre Radiohead album.

From the heavily electronica and Krautrock influenced Kid A to the piece de resistance that is OK Computer, Radiohead have been producing quality music since their breakthrough debut, Pablo Honey. At this point, you really have to ask yourself: why then are they rarely cited as influences? Furthermore, I don’t think their music is anywhere near as revered as it should be given their consistency… and yet for all those who don`t know of the band there are the hugely devoted superfans: my whole family has loved the band since I can remember, and because i grew up with thesmI have many memories attached to songs such as Karma Police, 2+2=5 (The Lukewarm) and Paranoid Android, which on recollection is the first song I ever learnt the words to. However, don’t forget Thom Yorke’s solo offerings; The Eraser gave a clear idea of his new artistic direction, and became known in our household as Kid B, a phrase my Dad coined, due to it similarity to the previous Radiohead offering. The Eraser received many accolades (Mercury Priwe nominated) last year and has some really memorable songs on it (see bottom of this post for downloads).

After a long musical drought, the band broke the silence early this year to say that work was underway on their new album, the follow up to 2003’s Hail To The Thief. News broke early this month that the album was now completed, and a snippet was released on the bands website containing short parts of a selection of new songs: see hype machine if you are interested. It certainly built up the anticipation, and this has been achieved once again with the release of a new song by Modeselektor (Yorke's favourite band) featuring Thom Yorke titled White Flash. This song amps up the anticipation for the new album, and if any of the as yet untitled release is as good as this song I for one will be happy. It will be interesting to see which sound they have adopted for album number 7: have Yorkes solo albums been an indication of zhat is to come or will they surprise us? We shall see, but given their previous track record, this will be an album to remember...

Just a few of their most memorable songs: they can all be downloaded from this project, or by clicking the links individually. You can buy Radiohead's albums here...

Modeselektor feat. Thom Yorke- White Flash
Radiohead- 2+2=5 (The Lukewarm)
Radiohead- Creep
Radiohead- Paranoid Android
Radiohead- Karma Police
Radiohead- Knives Out
Radiohead- Idioteque
Thom Yorke- Analyse

Unfortunately, time constraints and a slow computer at work experience mean that I can't do a full length post today, but there's a lot of fresh, interesting music to cover so I thought I should at least write something short. My Quick Tip for today is an Australian 5-piece band called Operator Please, comprised entirely of members aging between 17 and 19, not something you generally see in popular bands nowadays. Lead singer/guitarist Amandah Wilkinson formed the band to compete in her high school's Battle Of The Bands competition: "I picked people at random who I knew played an instrument, and they just said yes." and so the band was formed. Their music is quite an eclectic mix, mostly because of the instruments their band members play: the current lineup has the usual suspects (guitar, bass, drums, voice) and two unique choices, keyboard and violin: check out the bit in the download below where you get a full-blown violin solo). Together, these 5 instruments and Amandah's powerful voice make an interesting sound when coupled with their songs, which are fun, if a little childish at times (you've got to forgive them for that: they're all under 20!).

The age aspect is pretty funny actually: 17 year old drummer Tim Commandeur looks so baby-faced that his presence is often questioned during their gigs, and he has even been mistaken for Amandah's son... but forget the age thing- this is a band who made it big purely by force of will, and at such a young age they have already been picked up by EMI and are set to play the Carling: Reading and Leeds festivals this summer, having received a lot of plays (on NME, XFM and Radio 1) of their hit single "Just A Song About Ping Pong". It's been a large shock to the band, just as you would expect: receiving a record deal with EMI whilst you're a teenager isn't something most people could brag about in their lifetime. Their debut album will be out sometime later this year, but whilst you're waiting I would recommend you take a look at some of their EP's and singles. A good place to start is over at the Hype Machine... You can also buy their EP's on their site

Hopefully, the musically inclined members of the blogosphere will agree with me when I say I'm pretty fed up of reading about Beth Ditto and her daily schedule; NME is one of the main culprits, and its hard to go one wee without seeing a double page spread about her featuring a nude photo shoot (of course! The one above is from NME) within those pages. Not to say I don't like The Gossip- Standing In The Way Of Control is one of my favourite songs, but I think Beth and the band needs to stay out of the limelight for a while and set about writing a second album. And therein lies the main issue I have with Beth Ditto- I think its really great that she doesn't care what people think, and I agree with many of the things she says, but she should make sure she has the tunes to back her up before making outlandish statements and sets up spats with the rest of the music world.

Despite all this she's obviously found a winning formula in terms of her character: the tabloids love anything to do with her: lets be honest, what's not to love about a 15 stone lesbian woman with a voice like that? Ditto has got her own column in The Guardian called 'What would Beth Ditto Do?' and was ranked #1 in the NME Cool List last year. So with all that in order, she's obviously a very popular and iconic lady... the only thing is that this busy schedule doesn't really allow her and the two remaining members of the The Gossip time to write new material.

If the band can produce an album chock-full of songs of equal quality, then they should be on a winner. The problem with their latest album was that they had one standout track, and the rest were fairly average or sub-standard. If you haven't heard any of the album, there are two songs below: the title track Standing In The Way Of Control and another good single called Listen Up! You can download both tracks from , or by clicking the individual links below.

The Gossip- Standing In The Way Of Control
The Gossip- Listen Up!

Well, I have been struggling to find a band worthy of writing about recently, after becoming completely immersed in the new Interpol album. But before I start talking about them (Again), I will talk about my latest favorite new band, The Whip. Their latest song, Divebomb, has been described by some as "the best song Daft Punk never made". Even amongst the intense competition created by other dance acts such as Simian Mobile Disco and Justice, The Whip are slowly carving out their own area of the dance music market. A four piece (3 blokes, one girl) from Manchester, there is a slow mounting buzz surrounding this band: they have received rave reviews from music outfits-NME and XFM to name a few- and their live performances are said to be "mesmerising". Well, I've been intently listening to a few tracks on a recommendation from my brother, and all six tracks I've heard have been great. There are three of the best tracks below, with Trash being the standout, and you can download them all here, or click on their respective links.

The Whip- Divebomb
The Whip- Trash
The Whip- Frustration

You can buy a 12" by the Whip here...

If you have been tuning into the radio or following music at all lately it would have been hard to not hear about the latest band, Battles, who many people are stating have revitalised modern music and are the "sound of the future". This is a pretty bold claim to make, and I was fairly sceptical at first: NME described the band as something along the lines of "puzzle-pop mentalists who masterfully drag music into the future" and named Battles' first single Atlas as their track of the week. Well, I've listened long and hard to their debut album Mirrored and I can honestly say that these bold statements are all completely false, and the people who made them must be seriously delusional. I can see a certain spark in many of the songs on Mirrored but its unfair to raise the band's hopes by naming them as 'the sound of the future'; the songs are on the whole great, with a huge amount going on in each track, and I can see the band having staying power. They will not, however, influence music in the way that some particular music journalists (if you can call them that) have stated.

The main reason for this is that this album can't really be compared to anything before it; in order to influence music in the way stated it has to be fresh but retain some sort of resemblance to the current idea of music. Mirrored features no discernable lyrics or structure, merely a thronging mass of instrumental backing and Tyondai Braxtons wierd vocals, and whilst being new, doesn't have any memorable licks or elements to each song.

So, there you have it- whilst being fun, Battles are a band that are so different to anything you've ever heard before. I have to hand it to the band; they've been pretty brave and in some people's eyes its obviously payed off. If only they could somehow manage to convert the sceptics like myself, the music world would be their oyster. Take a listen to their stuff, and see what you think? I'm sure there are loads of fans out there; if you are, try to convert me....

I was browsing NME.com when I was lucky enough to find a link to the excellent new video by The Strokes for You Only Live Once. Please take my recommendation and follow the link below to watch this great video for a great song. I have loved The Strokes since their genre defining debut, Is This It? , and if you are even slightly interested in popular or indie music you should listen to all 3 of their brilliant albums.

Click here to watch the brand new video for The Strokes- You Only Live Once