November 29, 2011, Author: admin, Leave a comment

Stuff We Love – Redshift Rebels

Categories: Stuff We Love

This week sees the introduction of a new NIM regular feature – Stuff We Love. We’ll be bringing you news on the very best of everything from music, clothing, technology, books and films to keep you guys on top of what’s floating our boat. This week we take a look at the alternative apparel brand Redshift Rebels.  

Redshift Rebels are an independent clothing label that specialises in handmade trucker caps, designed and hand-stencilled by some of the UK’s most exciting artists. In the big bad world of alternative headgear, Redshift Rebels are ahead of the curve in every respect – each design and colour is limited to a one time only batch of twenty, meaning that you’re not just buying a product, you’re nabbing yourself one of the rarest pieces of kit on the market.

Fans of Scroobius Pip will have seen these caps before, whether they know it or not. The English hip-hop maestro has become the real face of the brand, showcasing his now trademark trucker cap at every gig he plays. What’s more, he’s been getting his hands dirty for the cause by getting behind the merch stall at his recent UK tour and flogging the caps to gig-goers the country over.

The guys at Redshift aren’t only making waves with their apparel range, however. The company is impressively committed to supporting new art and music, in whatever capacity it can. And I don’t mean that in the way a lot of companies “support new music”, i.e. handing over a measly cash sum to a record label in return for all-consuming advertising rights. Redshift have been making an impact at ground zero since day one, and have promoted events at both 93 Feet East, Brick Lane and Pure Groove Records, Farringdon, that helped kick-start the career of Scroobius Pip, Dan Le Sac, Polarbear, Yila, Peggy Sue and Kate Tempest. What’s more, Redshift have but recently launched the ‘Redshift Un.Scene‘ project, an innovative and forward thinking set-up that will be organising music events for the more “off the beaten path” fan. Step forward, first event “Hide and Speak” starring the aforementioned Scroobius Pip.

The premise is simple – 80 purpose-made and limited edition caps up for grabs, but (and here’s the good bit) for every cap bought, the buyer will also be getting their hands on a ticket to one of 4 intimate Pip performances at secret East London locations. The caps don’t even get delivered via post – buyers get given the goods on the door of the gig. What’s more, each gig has a strict limit of 20 people per set, meaning they’ll be a fantastic opportunity to meet and get to know like-minded music lovers during an intimate performance and chilled-out performance.  And with gig-goers even getting to choose their performances’ start and end times, it’s clear that Redshift Un.Scene are coming up with some pretty ground-breaking ideas.

Look these guys up – they deserve some serious kudos for what they’ve got going. “Hide and Speak” kicks off on the 1st of December so you’ll want to hit them up quickly if you’re gonna get involved. And besides the gig; check out the products they’ve got on their site -

http://www.redshiftrebels.bigcartel.com.

 

November 14, 2011, Author: admin, 1 Comment

John Peel – Hero or Hindrance?

Categories: Pop, Rock, Uncategorized

I must admit, I am a tad off the pace with this feature. The 7th Annual John Peel Day was held last month on the 13th of October – although I think can be forgiven this lapse, seeing as I – like most of my generation – only have a vague idea of who John Peel actually was. And before I’m swept away by the collective gasp of the over-40s legion, let’s be realistic – Peel began work at the BBC in 1967, 26 years before I was born. To my generation, John Peel is a bit like Prince – just famous enough for us to twig that we should definitely know who he is, and far too important for us to ever admit that we’re not quite sure.

Spend just 10 minutes on Google however, and you’ll see pretty quickly that John Peel was quite an extraordinary guy. Just a glance over the praise lauded upon him after his death in 2004 and you’ll start to get a feel for just how highly the Radio 1 DJ was thought of. He had such a major influence over the success of so many now house-hold bands that looking over the dedications paid to him is more like thumbing through a ‘Who’s Who’ of the music industry. Former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr has put the bands breakthrough into the mainstream down as “largely due to the John Peel show”, while Bernard Sumner, guitarist for Joy Division and New Order claimed that without John Peel, “there would be no Joy Division and no New Order.”  And if there’s any higher praise available within the world of alternative music than that, then I honestly don’t know what it is. Although, being labelled “the single most important broadcaster we have ever known” by ex-Undertones frontman Feargal Sharkey might just be it.

Being as revered as he was, it is not surprising that John Peel Day went off with quite a hullabaloo this year. Twitter, in particular, led the dedications with the hashtag “#keepingitpeel” trending the world over while the John Peel Facebook page hit over 10,000 members on the day itself. And while that in itself isn’t remarkable (the rubber duck fan page boasts more than twice that number) it’s still a good 5,000 more than Radio 1′s current new music golden boy Rob Da Bank. The guys even got a Glastonbury stage named after him for God’s sake, while BBC 6 Music just launched an annual John Peel Lecture, whatever that may be.

But (and there always is a ‘but’ isn’t there?) I can’t help but feel that all this adulation and reverence in undone by an underlying irony – namely, that it is swathed in the kind of wistful nostalgia that the man himself would never have been a part of. It seems hard to believe that, come the passing of a hero, Peel himself would have adopted this kind of pathetic longing for ‘the good old days’… Peel was the archetypal anti-sheep, the guy who didn’t want to hear about all the great stuff from the past because he was already looking for better stuff in the present. I’m not sure Peel would even have had a Twitter account, let alone have the time or patience for using it to reminisce about that DJ from Radio 1 that played some decent records.

Yes, from what we’ve heard from friends and family, Peel was a great guy. And yes, it’s obvious he was a fantastic DJ. You might never have realised it, but a hell of a lot of those 70′s and 80′s bands that NME journos still neurotically reference (relevant or not) at any available moment only ever made it because of John Peel. The Smiths, Joy Division, New Order, The Undertones, Bowie, The Fall, The White Stripes…the list really is endless. And before you hipster kids start turning up your nose at all this music made with actual instruments, can you remember who introduced your precious dubstep into mainstream radio back in 2003? That’s right, good ol’ Papa Peel.

So yes, well done Mr Peel, really, you had a fantastic knock. Many people lives were made immeasurably better because of your enthusiasm for new music. But I’ll be damned before I ruin your legacy by obsessively re-watching obscure old studio sessions dredged up from YouTube’s mustiest corners, while a HMV-branded Peel poster looms over my shoulder. Peel’s philosophy was about moving forward  – and I don’t mean in that horrifically clichéd way that clueless Eurozone leaders mean – I mean it in the John Peel way. Where ‘moving forward’ means grafting your way through record after record of obscure, minimally talented and poorly executed crap until you find that one track that might just be worth listening to. So, my readers… I implore you, if you want to pay your respects to Mr Peel in a way he would have appreciated, listen to some goddamn music. Make the headphones your sword and the iPod your lance, and set forth into the wilderness of new, uncharted music.

JE

INSTIGATE DEBATE…

 

November 10, 2011, Author: admin, Leave a comment

Korn: “People are going to be pissed about this record”.

Categories: Metal, Rock

Korn frontman Jonathan Davis says that the band are excited about the prospect of aggravating their own fans with new ‘dubstep’ album “The Path of Totality“.  

The album, due for release on December 5th features songs produced exclusively by dubstep artists, including 3 featuring Skrillex, Downlink appearing on four, Excision on 2 and 3 being produced by Noisia.

During an interview with Kerrang magazine, Davis said that the band were sick of their tag of the ‘godfathers of nu-metal’ and slammed their current fans for being “stuck in 1994“. When asked if he was worried about the effect this new direction would have on their existing fan base, Davis said not, and in fact claimed that “that’s made me even more excited about it. I don’t give a flying fuck what people think. We can’t win with Korn fans“. Davis also slammed people that want the band to keep on producing the same music over and over – he claimed that the band were now determined to make original music without hashing over old material. “Everybody calls us the godfathers of nu-metal and I’m fucking tired of that”, Davis continued, “…we don’t want to join the nostalgia circuit. Us, Limp Bizkit, Staind or some shit like that. Fuck that.”

Davis went on to claim that the band had created an entirely new genre of music with their album, which he described as ‘future metal’. On the inspiration for the band’s recent single “Get Up“, Davis said that it had stemmed from being sick of everybody complaining about the recession. He told Kerrang, “I wish everyone would shut the fuck up and have some fun. Every day I’ve got to hear about unemployment and people starving.” Well then, I guess the thousands of malnourished children who have been sucked under the poverty line better just lighten up then, right?

JE

INSTIGATE DEBATE…

 

 

 

November 7, 2011, Author: admin, Leave a comment

Bass Music – Autumn Update

Categories: Bass Music, Drum and Bass, Dubstep
Rustie Glass Swords

Angus takes a look at the very best of Bass Music from this Autumn. Leaders of the pack Rustie and The Joker get lion’s share of attention this month, with Zelda inspired “Glass Swords” and “The Vision” being the records to look out for.

Russell Whyte (or as he is more commonly known amongst those who follow the scene, Rustie) released his debut album “Glass Swords” in early October. In many senses this album is both genre defining and genre defying, an interesting trait and dichotomy that has allowed the Glaswegian to truly express the roots of dance music as that of an ever changing phenomena that truly is in perpetual motion, drawing influence and inspiration from often places that you wouldn’t have thought could be prevalent in modern underground music. Rustie himself has cited the classic Nintendo 64 game “The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time” as inspiration. This is a game that made up a large part of the childhood of both myself and countless others, and listening to tracks like “Death Mountain” (an obvious reference) is not only an aural delight but also a heady hit of pure nostalgia. After listening, awe-struck, through his album, it is clear that he has developed his tastes and style from what we had heard previously and that this album is a culmination of that development, an end product that many have been waiting for.

The single from the album, a track called “Ultra Thizz/Dreamzz” is an instant anthem. I’ve heard the drop from “Ultra Thizz” being compared to angels combusting and I can only agree. I have read that the lack of bass in the track (even at .wav and vinyl quality) has led to some ill feeling but frankly I feel this only gives Rustie further boasting rights – being able to create such an intense track without the need to appeal to the predictable penchant for sub bass is impressive.

Dubstep giant Joker has also had an album release in recent months; that being “The Vision“. First known for his synth driven and almost glitchy tracks, it is clear that he has taken all his experience in his stride to create an album that showcases himself as a producer and epitomises his unique approach. This is something every artist in every genre should hope to achieve: a sound that is so characteristic that the authenticity is unquestionable. There are already some solid singles that he has released from the album, such as “Tron“, which boasts a strong supporting VIP. It’s a track that starts with a more melodic sequence and gradually returns to the original track’s foundations but after a healthy drop it becomes clear that the VIP could be classed as an entity of its own. The strongest release from the album so far has undoubtedly been the eponymous track “The Vision (Breathe In)” with Jessie Ware providing vocals. Ware’s contribution to “The Vision” has definitely brought a more commercial vibe to the song but this is something that Joker has turned (intentionally or not) to his advantage – it has unquestionably introduced a whole new crowd to the material due to the vocals alone. Hopefully through this and other tracks like “My Trance Girl“, Joker can start bringing his material to a whole new demographic. With luck, this means more will start to explore his darker Dubstep releases, particularly classics like “Digidesign” and grow to love the wide range of music UK Bass has to offer, and not dismiss the genre as an endless frat party.

Unfortunately I have only a few more words and so cannot truly illustrate the breadth of new content that is being opened up to me daily, but suffice to say I’m bringing you the best of what I’m discovering and top of the list is the new Mosca release – “The Wavey EP“. Mosca is already a producer whose work has spanned most electronic genres but here he has delved into the world of deep and tech house. This is a trend that is becoming increasingly popular, and it was  too evident last night (05-11-11) at the Rainbow Warehouse in Birmingham. The likes of Claude VonStroke and Heidi made sure the venue was packed and together set about delivering an incredible vibe, keeping the crowd hyped till the early hours. The EP’s standout track is by far the digital exclusive “Wray and Neph” which is both bouncy and grimy enough to make it a record that you know will keep the audience interested even on a full play through.

I can’t go into detail here, but other tracks you need to hear are the Bok Bok and Tom Trago EP “Night Voyage Toolkit, and if your into your Dubstep bangers the Robzords and Damo remix of Asking Alexandria’s “A Single Moment of Sincerity”. But for some Amy Winehouse nostalgia, Ifan Dafydd with “No Good” and the samples he uses will hopefully touch you with the same depth the original Winehouse did.

That’s all for now. Peace x

AP

INSTIGATE DEBATE…

October 25, 2011, Author: admin, 3 Comments

Kasabian – “Velociraptor!”

Categories: Rock

Whilst being the Biggest Rock Band in Britain undoubtedly has its plusses, you would have thought that assuming a throne once held by The Who, Pink Floyd, and Led Zeppelin would carry quite a bit of pressure with it. But when Kasabian came to talk about the naming of their new album several months back, it quickly became clear that this wasn’t really wasn’t an issue – “Velociraptors used to hunt in packs of four,” announced Serge Pizzorno; “They were the rock’n’roll band of the dinosaurs.”

It’s actually quite a relief that there are people out there still saying stuff like this – in an age where most bands are running scared from the scathing reviews of the music press mafia (and frantically naming albums outrageous twaddle like “Mylo Xyloto” in an attempt to appear ‘cutting edge’) a record named after an angry, bitey dinosaur comes across as rather refreshing. In terms of the tracks, “Velociraptor!” pretty much picks up from where Kasabian left off with “West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum”  - off its face and cruising through a drug-fuelled musical space odyssey. Don’t get me wrong though, this is a brilliant album – and if you’re looking for proof of this then pick out any song off the tracklist and look it up on YouTube -  I guarantee you’ll find half a dozen comments on each song proclaiming it ‘the best off the album’. There’s no dead weight on this record – each track is genuine gem.

“Let’s Roll Just Like We Used To” is a solid, unassuming opener that lays the foundations of the album and gives us an idea of what we can expect from the rest. One of the weaker songs of the album though, so we’ll move straight on to “Days are Forgotten” -  this track is a track that confirms to us an inkling that  had been subverting the minds of fans for a while now… that Kasabian just really don’t care. Like I said, the mantle of the Biggest Rock Band in Britain is not one to be assumed lightly but when Kasabian come out with cheeky little pop songs like this then you can’t help but think they’re taking the piss a little bit. A Wonderfully bouncy, catchy and carefree song that is so nice it’s almost certainly going to get played on Radio 2. Yeah, I know right?  The album continues with the lovely “Goodbye Kiss” – a quite beautiful song with a sombre title that is instantly undone by its uplifting melody . This is one of those songs that makes the continuous assertion that Kasabian are just a loud, boozy, lad-rock band with a penchant for drink and decadence seem even more ridiculous and ignorant than it ever did. Kasabian are all of those things, of course, but they are also much more than that, and any attempt to pigeonhole them like this is just ridiculous. This is the kind of song that was born to be played while cruising across the sun-bathed French Riviera in a soft-top Triumph Herald, or maybe through the cobbled streets of some leafy village in rural Tuscany –  an uncannily Last of the Shadow Puppets-esque track that you can’t help but feel heartened by  as the tunes lackadaisical jaunty pace dozily dallies out towards its conclusion.   

 “La Fee Verte” sees the band hark back to their psychedelic “West Ryder…” sound. Kasabian, as a rule, don’t really do pretentious, but the cryptically titled “La Fee Verte” (“The Green Fairy”) sees them just beginning to skirt along its borders . They come out of it well though – it ends up as a lovely little Beatles‘ “Sergeant Pepper”-esque number. And if “La Fee Verte” is a tiny, venomous infection of pretentiousness seeping into your subconscious via your headphones, then “Velociraptor!” is the big ass syringe full antidote stabbed into your eyeball. It’s a little bit stupid, a little bit weird, but it’s great fun from start to finish. Fans should get learning these lyrics, because you’ll be singing them a lot come festival season. 

“Acid Turkish Bath (Shelter from the Storm)” – Sees Serge truly indulge his psychedelic tendencies as he leads the album off into a merry jaunt that spans an eclectic concoction of Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin influences, yet -as they so invariably do -still manage to remain distinctly Kasabian throughout. The album careers towards its conclusion with great sequence of tracks beginning with “Re-Wired”, an impossibly catchy barnstormer of a song with a chorus destined for massive speakers and stadium-sized crowds. As soon as that bass riff kicks in you are done for – the album has moved up a weight division, you’re hooked in and no amount of will-power will let you hit the skip button.  

Then comes “Switchblade Smiles”…  just as your thinking that the last couple of tracks were pretty good, Kasabian unleash a 4 minute, primal juggernaut of a song that storms into rock perfection with all the cocky swagger of a particularly smug peacock that just won the Nobel  Prize For Being Fucking Brilliant . An incessant, thundering drum beat underpins  a guitar riff so fantastically ballsy that it’ll probably grow up to be one of those blokes who throws shoes at Middle Eastern dictators. Former live show ace card “Shoot the Runner” has just been well and truly knocked off the throne. While “Switchblade Smiles” may not be the best track released this year, it’s definitely the coolest.

“Neon Noon” is great closer, offsetting the rather mental effects of the previous song with a  more placid, soothing ambience. Gentle guitars strum over Serge’s soothing vocals while a burbling synth wraps the whole track in a warming layer of fuzzy audio goodness . It’s probably Kasabian’s best ‘mellow’ song as of yet, and has the effect of leaving the listener in a really nice place by the end of the album.

To end then, “Velociraptor!” is yet another impressive cornerstone to the foundations of Kasabian’s legacy. Maybe not the seminal record that will define them as a band, but still a great album and one that provide the backbone to some phenomenal live sets next summer.  

8/10

 INSTIGATE DEBATE…

October 16, 2011, Author: admin, Leave a comment

Eyedea:1981 – 2010

Categories: Hip-Hop

R.I.P EYEDEA (MICHAEL LARSEN) 1981-2010

When I sat down to write this article, I really didn’t know how difficult it would turn out to be. it’s always the same when you talk about anything close to your heart, and I would guess that most of you would have felt something similar to this before. I think that whenever you try and tell people about something you’re passionate about, it can be all too easy to end up ramming down their throats and getting pretty frustrated when they don’t find it as brilliant as you do.  I’ve done this a hell of a lot in the past, most regularly I think with Fawlty Towers – some people just can’t appreciate good comedy. Not that I’m bitter or anything.

It can be done with pretty much anything I suspect; whether it be a film, a tv series, a book, or even types of food… I think anything that encourages subjectivity and opinion. For me though, it’s always been about music, and one guy in particular – Michael Larsen, aka the emcee half of Minnesota duo Eyedea and Abilities.

The first time I ever heard of Eyedea, was one year ago today, October 16th, 2010; the day of his death. One year later and I’m pretty gutted that I didn’t find him sooner than I did – the  only reason I ever heard of Eyedea is through his death, a fact which can’t help but leave a nasty taste in my mouth. I find it really galling to have gained so much pleasure as a result of someone’s death, and even though I shouldn’t it’s a state of affairs I find really unsettling.

Unbeknownst to me, Eyedea was pretty huge in the underground hip-hop scene and naturally his death sent shockwaves through music forums all over the internet. Reading through a few blogs I kept coming across dedications to this guy called Eyedea and eventually I stumbled on an extremely touching piece written by rapper Sage Francis. In it, Francis reminisces about his time spent touring and collaborating with this massively talented young guy in the US who was taking the freestyle battle scene by storm. In the three year period between 1997-2000 Eyedea won a host of top prizes, including Scribble Jam ’99, The Rock Steady Anniversary 2000 and Blaze Battle New York in the same year.

He wasn’t just picking up awards, either; Eyedea rapidly gathered a devoted following and it is hard to think of another artist more revered by his contemporaries. Francis is particularly generous in his tributes  - try this for high praise: “…Eyedea is one of the guys who pushed the bar so high that the entire game had to change in order to give other people a fair shot” .  If that’s not convincing enough then there’s plenty more; “Eyedea absolutely mastered a format that required an incredible amount of skill and nerve, setting the bar so high that only a select few emcees were able to reach it”. That blog is still online and remains an incredibly touching piece of writing, so if you’re looking for a more personal insight into the guys life then I suggest you look it up:

http://www.strangefamousrecords.com/blogs/sage-francis-blog/the-man-behind-the-eyedea/

Like I said, without wanting to go over the top and force this stuff upon people, Eyedea and Abilities ended up being one of the most biggest musical influences over my life in the past year. Their three albums, together with all of Eyedea’s collaborations and freestyle recordings, is a collection of music that I honestly couldn’t top with any other back catalogue. Abilities is a truly original DJ that has an incredible knack for writing beats and hooks while Eyedea had truly remarkable gift for hip-hop that could hold its own against anything you cared to put it up against. Tracks like “Now” and “One Twenty” demonstrate not just Eyedea’s awesome talent for vocal delivery, but also a mature and intelligent mind for manipulating the spoken word as a means to inspire emotion and incite reaction. His lyrics were both incisive and to the point and yet still amazingly evocative – he had the ability to make striking observations using very few words.  Eyedea had an incredible gift for writing lyrics that both sounded good wrapped around a beat while also remaining insightful and thought-provoking. There’s a great few lines on the track “Smile” that I think sum up what I’m getting at pretty well:

“A young saleswoman sets up shop when the sun sets /she’ll make your wildest dreams come true at a price you won’t forget/The sadly married set up alibis, no harm, no regret/hoping they meet an angel in bed that can wrestle the devil right out of their heads”

Read straight off the page, like you just have, I’m guessing that these lines are going to sound pretty wooden, and more than a little bit contrived. Hear them on the track itself though, and they sound effortless.

I’m gonna have to stop myself there, I’m afraid – I’ve ended up doing exactly what I set out to stop myself doing and waxed lyrical on an artist I love in a way that is never going to endear him to any of you. So I’ll try and get to the crux of the matter quickly, and explain why I think Eyedea is an artist that is worth remembering.

There’s always been quite a lot of debate on the relationship between poetry and hip-hop. The vast majority of people tell me that there’s no connection at all, that poetry is something higher, grander and more worthy, and in the vast majority of cases I’m inclined to agree. There’s way too much of  fixation on ‘guns, bitches and bling’ in modern hip-hop these days for it to be legitimately called ‘poetic’ as a whole… Kanye West, for example is still alive and active, a sad state of affairs that definitely needs to end for this debate ever to get taken seriously.  Other people say that hip-hop is just the natural progression of poetry; the oral narrative art form being taken and modernised  for the 21st century. There’s a good few hip-hop artists knocking about these days who started out as very much ‘spoken word artists’…not rappers. At the moment, I’m sitting on the fence. Only time and the hindsight it brings will settle this one. But as Edgar Allen Poe once wrote, “Poetry is the rhythmical creation of beauty in words.” And if we take that statement as given, then I honestly don’t know what we can call Eyedea if not a true poet of the 21st century.

INSTIGATE DEBATE…

Just a few words of praise from those that had worked with him or been influenced by him…

Greg Keltgen/DJ ABILITIES – “Mike was the closest friend I ever had. He was as caring as he was brilliant and was a true prodigy. I am honored to have been in his life and to have created with him and help spread his messages. He was a great human being and he will be missed.”

 

Sean Daley/SLUG - “My friend, my brother. I do not know who I would be without your influence in my life…You challenged me without tearing me down. You pushed and encouraged me to be a better person. You had my back even when I didn’t have my own back. Your words, thoughts, and ideas impacted me in ways that I probably haven’t fully realized yet. You made me laugh and cry. You made me look and question. Thank you for everything. I love you Mikey.”

David Meads/SCROOBIUS PIP -” I honestly think that, without getting obsessed with some of Eyedea’s flows, I wouldn’t have written the fast syllable runs at the start of “Beat That My Heart Skipped”, in the middle of “Back From Hell” and littered all over “Sick Tonight”… the excited look I tend to give, live, when Dan is cutting things up at the end of “The Beat” is lifted DIRECTLY from the look Eyedea would give each time DJ Abilities was cutting it up on the decks when I saw them at 93 Feet East back around 2003/4.”

 

October 4, 2011, Author: admin, Leave a comment

Scroobius Pip – Distraction Pieces

Categories: Hip-Hop, Rock

Scroobius Pip – Distraction Pieces – Review

As I expect any artist would testify, the weeks running up to the release of a new album can be pretty tense. All of the hard work put into the record is about to be thrown out of the safe and secure haven of the studio and delivered into the unforgiving hands of radio DJ’s and music journos for them to dissect, dismantle and decry. The CDs can no longer sit in their snug little rows in label warehouses surrounded by its mates, but now stand cold and alone on the racks at HMV, jammed in between strange records they’ve never met before. Unhappily for Scroobius Pip, this wait must have been even more unnerving than usual. In the weeks leading up to Pip’s record release it started to become abundantly clear that what was to emerge would be a lot different to anything his fan base might have expected. The talk coming from inside the studio was of a much heavier, grittier sound, influenced by artists ranging from rockers Glassjaw and At The Drive In all the way to punk heroes Rancid. If this list, or Pip’s chosen collaborators (Travis Barker, Danny Lohner, etc) are anything to go by, this album is going to be wildly different to anything we’ve heard from him before.

Music fans are not known to be the most forgiving when it comes to unexpected change – think back to Dylan‘s ‘Judas’ moment after going electric in ’65 or, more recently the fan-driven backlash directed at Panic At The Disco after they went all Beatles with “Pretty. Odd.” I think then with precedents like this, Pip can be forgiven for counting down the days to his album release a little more nervously than usual. 

The album kicks off with four cracking tunes that really announce Pip’s change of direction with a bang. Classy opener “Introdiction” is something we’ve already talked about at NIM so we’ll head right on to standout track “Let Em Come“. Pip’s lyrical talent is on show right from the off here, lines rolling of his tongue quicker than The Black Eyed Peas can release songs about ‘being in a club and enjoying it’. The lyrics are wonderfully incisive, something that is only made clearer when guest vocalists P.O.S. and Sage Francis make their cameo appearance midway through. Both collaborators sound hopelessly off the pace – their lines are clumsy and jarring in comparison, their contribution serving only to knock the rhythm out of a song that was gathering pace quite nicely. The track itself is backlit by a deep grinding synth overlaid by a banshee-wail guitar riff, and punctuated by a booming anthem of a chorus that is sure to make the track a firm favourite at live shows.

Next up is “Domestic Silence“, number 3 in Pip’s raucous opening salvo. The track itself is a commentary on loneliness and how to tackle isolation from society, but for all the touching moral content the track still manages to square right up to you with the deranged glower of some sort of unhinged Good Samaritan with a bone to pick concerning social inclusivity. Again, the chorus is a good ‘un, this one being about as good at getting stuck in your head as a shotgun round to the face.
The heavy synths and spiky guitar riffs carry right on through to “Try Dying“, a track on which Pip berates the nay-sayers and pessimists of the world in three minutes of shouty defiance. Pip puts them all down with a smarmy “the sky ain’t falling/nothing has changed, you still got work in the morning“. A properly rowdy whirlwind of a song, the track whips itself into a right frenzy and by the end  of the three minutes it’s turned into a raucous, chanting shout-fest that I can’t wait to see live.

The next two tracks, are unfortunately, pretty disappointing. They highlight the double-edged nature of Pip’s music – yes, please feel free to work in some direction with your music, anything that might help stem the tide of the vapid, music-by-numbers dross that so regularly assaults our eardrums, but, for goodness sake, don’t do so at the sake of the record as a whole… great music is about listening to great songs, not about listening to the back of a Lib Dem flyer being strong-armed into the “Soldier Boy Tell ‘Em” chorus. “Death of A Journalist” isn’t much better – this track sees Pip berate music journos for laziness and a lack of creativity – but in the end it all just comes across as a bit preachy, I’m afraid. Yes, I’m all for originality, and God help the poor soul who ever tries to rip off anything I write as their own, but it’s just not the blood-stirring stuff that it’s supposed to be.

Next track “The Struggle” is a highlight in a disappointing latter half – it’s a wonderfully weird and yet catchy track, a trick that Pip pulls off with aplomb time after time. Here we get a fictional monologue that imagines Johnny Depp as a serial killer to make an intriguing point about the importance of aspiration and the danger of the instant gratification culture of celebrity. Ultimately, though, the highlight is short-lived and “Broken Promise” provides a hefty kick in the balls that brings us right back down to earth. While Pip hits some pretty impressive heights on this record, he also plumbs some fairly tragic lows. This track is meant to be a poignant and touching monologue on regret, but ends up being on borderline painful as Pip mumbles along about a broken promise, an abuse of trust and many other gushingly soppy themes lifted straight out of a rejected Hollyoaks script.

Last track “Feel It” is a bit of a peculiar inclusion. It’s not that the Kate Bush cover is a bad song – collaborator Natasha Fox sings the part wonderfully well – it’s just that you can’t help wondering what on earth Pip adds to the song. He spends the duration awkwardly murmuring the lyrics back over to Fox, and the impression you get is just that Pip ran out of ideas at track 8 so threw this one in at the end in a very “I’ve got hidden depths, don’t you know” kind of way. Really, if Fox got Pip’s vocals cut out and released this as a solo cover it wouldn’t be a bad record, but as it stands it’s just a little confusing.

To wrap  it up then… This is a decent record. The first four tracks are really very good and at 13 minutes and 48 seconds through I really I was tentatively thinking about hip-hop record of the year(!), but ultimately, a disappointing second half really lets this record down. Not a bad first effort Pip, but sorry, close but no cigar.

7/10 (just)

JE

INSTIGATE DEBATE…

 

 

 

 

 

 

October 3, 2011, Author: admin, Leave a comment

‘Twilight – Break of Dawn’ OST announced

Categories: Quick Updates

Joy Formidable, Iron and Wine and Noisettes confirmed for Twilight soundtrack

The trio are also joined by Aqualung and Theophilus London on the list of bands and artists set to contribute to the score of the fourth film in the hit teen-movie franchise Twilight. The film, Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1, is due for UK release on November 18th, with the score available for download on  the November 8th.

The Joy Formidable‘s contribution includes a brand new track named “Endtapes”, while elsewhere on the score Muse are absent for the first time in the franchise’s four-film history.

The full tracklist for Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1 goes as follows:

  1. The Joy Formidable – ‘Endtapes’
  2. Angus & Julia Stone – ‘Love Will Take You’
  3. Bruno Mars – ‘It Will Rain’
  4. Sleeping At Last - ‘Turning Page’
  5. The Features – ‘From Now On’
  6. Christina Perri – ‘A Thousand Years’
  7. Theophilus London – ‘Neighbors’
  8. The Belle Brigade – ‘I Didn’t Mean It’
  9. Noisettes - ‘Sister Rosetta (2011 Version)’
  10. Cider Sky – ‘Northern Lights’
  11. Iron & Wine – ‘Flightless Bird, American Mouth (Wedding Version)’
  12. Imperial Mammoth - ‘Requiem on Water’
  13. Aqualung & Lucy Schwartz - ‘Cold’
  14. Mia Maestro – ‘Llovera’
  15. Carter Burwell - ‘Love Death Rebirth’

INSTIGATE DEBATE… Is this a smart career move for relatively small band such as The Joy Formidable and Noisettes? Or is this involvement in ‘the mainstream’ only going to alienate their original fanbase?

 

September 27, 2011, Author: admin, 1 Comment

Interviewing a Hip-Hop Genius

Categories: Hip-Hop, Interviews
scroobius-Pip-Distraction-Pieces

This week, NIM’s Jack Enright talks to hip-hop magician Scroobius Pip about his influences for his new album “Distraction Pieces”, his thoughts on the London riots and the tragic death of one of his greatest influences. 

Firstly, I’d like to say thank you very much for giving this interview! And more importanly, a big congratualtions on how your new album has been going.  

JE: This is your first record as an out and out solo artist for a long time – how much different was the artistic process as opposed to working with Dan Le Sac? I suppose it would have meant more control but did you find this enjoyable or a burden?

SP: I found it to be really enjoyable! And it kind of had to be the way for this one. I had a very specific sound in mind so working with loads of different producers and getting across the ideas I had was a lot of fun. It was also really interesting to work in different ways. With some of them it was shared time in a studio, with others it was emails.

the PIAS warehouse contained music from over 150 independent labels before it was burned to the ground.

JE: What kind of influences were driving the new album “Distraction Pieces”?  You have cited punk and rock as being major ingredients but are there any particular bands or artists you were drawing from?

SP: Yeah definitely. I sent over zip folders of a lot of source material to each producer to give them an idea of the vibe and energy I wanted to get across. They included Glassjaw, At the Drive In, Rancid and many others.

JE: You have got quite a reputation for being an artist that’s notoriously hard to nail down to a single genre. Has this ever been a conscious goal? In your opinion, does this make it easier or harder to write new material? Is the fact that you aren’t tied down to a particular genre liberating or inhibiting? 

SP: Well it was never something that Dan and I had thought about so it wasn’t something I thought about here. I guess, having worked in a record shop for years, there are a lot of different musical influences coming out and that seems to cause quite a mesh of genres. It has been both a help and a hindrance over the years to be honest. Seems to work though!

JE: On your new album, there’s a track called “Death of the Journalist” that’s pretty scathing about journalists and at times, music journalists in particular. Can you give us an insight into the source of this frustration? What was it that you found particularly agitating?

SP: It’s a weird track because it was very much an investigation into the subject. I never REALLY came to a conclusion on whether a perceived “Death of journalism” would be a good or bad thing. Restrictive or liberating? Some of the personal stresses over the years just come from lazy writing in some areas of the music journalism spheres. Anyone that has released a record will have, at some point noticed a lot of similarities in the preview write ups (or indeed the full write ups). A quick glance at the press release sent out from their label will normally explain that (its very common for blogs and the like to just lift exact terms, descriptions and phrases from your press release. I would rather they just said… “Hi! Here is a press release we were sent…”).

JE: You are well known in music for your readiness to write songs that tackle issues you feel strongly about, and “Distraction Pieces” is no different. Was it always a goal to write music with a moral agenda?  Or does it just come naturally for you to write songs like this?

SP: It just seems to go that way really. I guess it’s down to the fact I don’t sing or have a “performing voice”. I pretty much sound how I sound so, when writing, it makes sense to try and make the words mean something! Otherwise it’s just me…talking… a bit more rhythmically than normal, which wouldn’t be very exciting (for me or the listener)!

JE: Do you feel a certain duty for writing music with such a moral agenda? After the shock of the recent riots in London, would you say that artists such as yourself should take advantage of their unique platform to send out positive messages to the general public?

SP: I don’t know really. I think music would be pretty dull if EVERYONE just banged on about issues and morals. There is room for much variation in subject matters and many different styles. It only annoys me when you see people bang on about such things in interviews and THEN write meaningless lyrics. If you feel strongly about something then put it into your lyrics. A small amount of your fan base will read that particular interview but all of them will hear your new single. If it means that much to you then write about it…

JE: You have previously tried to draw people’s attention to the damage the riots had to the UK indie music scene – namely the PIAS warehouse that was burnt down in north London that wiped stocks for scores of independent labels. A couple of months on, how would you say the industry is faring?

SP: It was hit hard! Harder than many people realise, a lot of small labels can’t afford to re-press a lot of their catalogue. Everyone will point to insurance but, when you have stock just sitting in a warehouse waiting to be bought then many companies won’t be able to justify getting it repressed. The vinyl copies of our two albums on Sunday Best, for example, were destroyed and that’s that now. They will no longer be available which is a great shame. It has also caused a back log of stuff to be manufactured so a lot of music is being pushed back months and months on the release schedules.

JE: A few months ago, the influential jazz and soul musician Gil Scott-Heron tragically passed away. Being as he was (a man acknowledged by some as the “Grandfather of Hip-Hop”) what kind of influence would you say Scott-Heron had on your own music? How much of a loss was Gil Scott-Heron to music in general?

SP: Gil was a huge loss but there was some beauty and positivity in the timing of it all. Obviously it was always going to be a tragedy when such an amazing artist passes but, 5 years or so a go he was in a very bad place. Battles with drugs and the law meant that it would have been a surprise to no one if; at that point, they heard of his passing. The beautiful thing is… he got through that and went on to release one of his greatest records to date (which was subsequently remixed by Jaimie XX and opened him up to a whole new audience). Having had tickets to see him several times in the first half of the 2000’s and having each show cancelled I feel very lucky to have finally managed to catch him live at Bestival 2010 before his light burnt out.

Thanks again mate – all the best.

 JE

INSTIGATE DEBATE…

 

 

 

September 27, 2011, Author: admin, Leave a comment

Dave Grohl’s secret split

Categories: Quick Updates, Rock
Dave_Grohl

New book reveals Dave Grohl ‘quit Nirvana’ in 1993

A new Dave Grohl biography has revealed that the drummer momentarily quit the band while on a flight from Seattle to Los Angeles after overhearing Kurt Cobain criticise his drumming.

The biography “This Is A Call: The Life and Times of Dave Grohl”, written by ex-Kerrang editor Paul Brannigan, claims that Grohl was already fed up by bitter tensions within the band. Brannigan writes that the band had effectiv


The situation was quickly made worse when Grohl overheard Cobain bad-mouthing his drumming ability – he also later heard through Novoselic that Cobain wanted him to play more like Mudhoney drummer Dan Peters, who played with the band briefly before Grohl.ely splintered into two factions, Dave Grohl and bassist Krist Novoselic on one side and Cobain and Courtney Love on the other.

Grohl became furious and called Nirvana’s tour manager Alex McCloud to tell him that he wanted out of the band, saying that “I just want to fucking play music. I don’t want to have to deal with any of this craziness.” However Macleod managed to calm the drummer down sufficiently to convince him to see out the rest of the tour before making any decisions.

The revelations are perhaps not particularly shocking – Grohl has previously claimed that he already felt like an outsider within the band. The special bond between Cobain and Novoselic is well documented and, as a late comer into the band, Grohl felt that he lacked the special connection the other two members shared.

Grohl recalled this band dynamic in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, saying “Krist and Kurt had a legendary lifetime connection. They fucking shared everything, and they were the kind of friends that didn’t have to talk to each other – they just knew”.

JE

INSTIGATE DEBATE…


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