i moved!

Almost Tropical.

see you there!

xo
elizabeth.

With Hands in Pockets I Search For Rockets, That Might Light Up the Sky

It is a sad thing that I just haven't had time for my blog in the past couple of weeks. i had a pseudo day off work today sitting at home waiting for my fridge to be delivered (YES AFTER TWO LONG MONTHS I HAVE A FRIDGE NOW!!! COME TO MY HOUSE AND ENJOY REFRIDGERATED FOODSTUFFS!!!!) and seeing as im too poor to go and see Final Fantasy, i have some time this evening...

So, Berlin has had some lovely guests in the past weeks. Ed Harcourt, Grizzly Bear, Black Wire...OMG GREAT GIGS.

Ed Harcourt made me sad. Probably because I love his music so much. Sometimes, especially lately, i feel like a fickle music fashionista falling in love with every new band. It is nice to have a stack of albums from the same musician. Albums that i bought too. Its nice having the cd covers.

His gig was performed in front of a select few in Magnet. For one of the songs which he played on the piano, he had to sort of play standing up as he was leaning towards his old-fashionedy microphone for some parts of the song. I'm not sure why but this singing/leaning forward into an old-fashionedy mic...really affected me. Swoon, thud. (Yes, i was very aware of his beautiful, amazing violin playing wife standing several feet to the right playing her heart out.) He did alot of fun loop tricks, setting up beats and little guitar hooks before launching into the songs playing live on the piano. he even had this little...thing..which played a song as he rolled a piece of paper through it. That was looped too. After the show he explained slightly bitterly that his record company in Germany here weren't really looking after him very well (during the gig he wondered aloud if anyone from BMI Germany was there and then said he didn't really care..) They had not done any promotion for the tour or lined up any interviews or anything for him while he was here. I feel bad for not shouting about here and plagueing him for an interview. Although we had a very brief chat after the gig it would have been amazing to interview him properly. Though, i am sure bloggers isn't what he meant when he was talking about interviews..still, I felt bad. The next day he said he was going to be playing in Hamburg, and was very excited indeed about visiting a store that specialises in wierd old antiquey musical instruments that noone has heard of.

I have the set list rolled up at home (how much does a set list with the edward harcourt's notations and also chicken curry stuck to it go for on ebay?) but i cant remember exactly how it went. I was disappointed that I didnt hear some of my favourite songs..But he did play "Apple of My Eye", which i think is the first song of his i ever heard, and i remember falling in love with it instantly. He did play some brand new things off his new album out soon, soon.
The opening act was Sandy Dillon, who seemed as though she had been dragged up from the depths of the Mississippi to perform for us that evening. She took to the stage like a carnival performer, her eyes peering out at us impishly from under her blonde fringe, her smile crooked as she sang. Her slight frame and angelic features belies her deep, throaty voice. The songs and voice were so similar to Tom Waits (and guess who came on the soundsystem after the show?) though sometimes she sang softly and sweetly, it was mostly this gravelly harsh bellow..which just seemed such an unlikely voice from this waifish blonde who i couldnt tell if she was 30 or 50 years old..Before each song she would tell a little story, "My mother always says to have 50cents in your pocket. She calls it "mad money". This is a song about mad money." or "i had the worst dream ever last night that i lost all my teeth...Then I found out that everybody has this dream - it's a universal nightmare!" Her drummer looked strangely familiar. It was Harcourt, in disguise in a baseball cap and t-shirt.

Oh god. I just read this on his myspace page.

Berlin! I like Berlin. Walked about three miles with Gita and Fiona into the area where it used to be east Berlin and all the artists etc squatted and secretly created and live un-oppressed lives or something..Bought some military hats and a russian sailor's top! very turbonegro. Played drums for Sandy tonight which was a blast; the gig itself was wonderful - probably my favourite of the tour. I expect I made an extra effort as a result of the night before. Josh Pearson from Lift to Experience turned up and we all played songs after the show and left the venue at 6 in the morning. At this point I was in a pretty good mood and I think I got to bed by about 10.00am. Watching the sun come up indeed. Whilst listening to SLAYER. Hmmmm.

Did he really stay there til 10am? oh jesus. He was walking around a bit afterwards but I really didnt think anything else would happen. We left before 1am. Heart..break. Bleed A River Deep indeed..

This Could Be Love, Because.......

I've had the time of my life.

I had a life-changing experience last night. At the last minute I decided to go to a gig. The picture I saw which prompted me to head out depicts two members of Datarock in their red tracksuits doing front-wheel wheelies on their bicycles. The band from Norway is on tour, bringing along their hometown friends, Ungdomskulen, undertaking the Dirty Dancing Tour of Datarock, and last night they stopped off in Berlin to play the Lovelite and wow us with their hairy chests and energetic jogging on the spot.

This gig was..amazing. Both bands are from...Bergen! (But of course. Brilliant Bergen. What are they putting in the water?! Hometown of Erland Oye, Sondre Lerche, Annie...) First onstage was Ungdomskulen. They were like a cross between DFA 1979 and Hot Chip. This band had some seriously harcore fans in attendance. There were three boys, front row and centre giving it everything they got. They even managed to attempt possibly the smallest crowd surf of all time - two of them holding the other up. The lead singer tried his best to deliver a real rock n roll moment, and performed a rather ungraceful swing-my-guitar-around-my-head and just about made it, his guitar falling awkardly back in front just in time.




When I arrived, i couldn't help noticing the big mad tourbus that was parked outside the venue. Sure enough it got a mention at one point during the gig. "YOURE THE BEST AUDIENCE WE'VE EVER HAD!!!!", screeched the lead singer of Datarock. He looks like a '70s porn star, and sings with a rich, scratchy voice. Standing there with the zip of his glorious red tracksuit half open displaying a lovely hairy chest, fag in one hand, beer in the other, the whole ensemble was complemented nicely by his mullet. "Well, last night we played to twenty people." he said, a bit sadly. "See our bus? All that, and ten of us and our crew...for twenty people....Anyone seen Spinal Tap?" Then the wrong backing track was lined up on the drum machine. (For the first half of the show they had electro beats, and then they borrowed Ungdomskulen's drummer for the rest of the gig.)





For the last couple of songs Ungdomskulen joined Datarock onstage. They joined in on the drums, did some lovely backing vocals and danced funny in their red tracksuits. At one point the lead singer said, "everybody DANCE!" and then they played a song, "Molly", about their love for Molly Ringwald. The Lovelite pretty much turned into an '80s school disco then. Especially when they played their outro song. Yes it was, "I've Had The Time of My Life" from the Dirty Dancing soundtrack. The band came offstage and did '80s dancing along with everybody else.

Attack, Attack, Attack

It has been a pretty f-ing cool week behind the scenes here.

Tuesday, I went to Save the Cake and set up a dj spot for a future date there at West Germany. GogoRomance & Almost Tropical, May 9th, West Germany, Skalitzer Str. 133.

Thursday I found out I got an internship with the management of Chicks on Speed, working with their new artist, Planningtorock.

Friday i had a rendez-vous with Simple Kid.

Yesterday was my birthday.

Tonight, if I've recovered from it all I might make it to see the Organ.

Fucking hoorah.

Oceans Won't Freeze So Loosen Your Heart

I had STARS in my eyes on Friday night. They came from Montreal and brought their friends Most Serene Republic with them. I am very glad I bought the tickets beforehand because it totally SOLD OUT. Outside Magnet people were plaintively calling out to those going inside, asking to buy their tickets. Gigs don't often sell out in Berlin..

MSR were in the middle of their set when we arrived, it was quite obvious they were not German and were in fact marvellous Canadians. There were seven of them onstage, with a girl on lead guitar who was sharing vocals with the crazy red headed frontman. He was very nice and full of energy. While in Berlin he ate some Pizza. He was very impressed by the box his pizza arrived in, he brought it onstage to show us. Sometimes they reminded me of the Postal Service, in a musical way. Oh and he was beatboxing.

When STARS came onstage everyone was incredibly happy to see them and those up the front were lucky bastards, im tall enough but i was on the tips of my toes most of the time trying to see. There was a line from a song that was something about smoking too many spliffs. I never noticed this lyric before. Maybe it was a new song. It reminded me of a story one of my flatmates, Geeta Dayal had told me, back in September when I had just arrived in Berlin. Aw. In a previous existence, Geeta used to book bands, one of them being STARS. She told me a story about Torquille. It was one of his first gigs mabye and he was so nervous she had to take him by the hand and give him a joint to smoke so he could calm down before going onstage. He was rather gregarious on Friday night so I guess he's been working on his stagefright. "This is a song about fucking and death...You like that, right? C'mon it's Berlin." It was sad that they didn't play, "What the Snowman Learned About Love". Maybe they just dont play it live, they didn't at their gig here the last time either. Towards the end of the show when they played "Calendar Girl" it was as if Torquille was trying to look each person in the audience right in the eye. Every time he sang the words "I'm alive" he searched the crowd with his eyes, pointedly looking at each person. He practically scolded us for cheering for an encore. "An hour and half of music..I mean, c'mon!". My favourite song, "Elevator Loveletter" was introduced as written by Amy on a popsicle stick. It reminded me of how i discovered them, listening to the radio late one night, i heard that song and scribbled it down on a scrap piece of paper so I wouldn't forget.

Most of the time during the gig I was standing there with tears in my eyes and my hand on my heart. It was just one of those great nights. I even got to dance and play pool with Robbie! I was at this gig with some friends who had never heard the band ever before, and they really fell in love with them. Its a testament to the kind of music that they make. It was so great to see STARS having a show all to themselves, compared to the last time when they were playing one night of Popkomm with four other bands. Amy looked like she was having lots of fun, she makes funny guitar faces. I am sad that i got distracted and didnt get to the merchandise desk in time to buy a pretty bag.

..Kept Us Awake With Wolves Teeth, Sharing Different Heartbeats in One Night..

Last night the Knife played an amazing show.
They were wierd and strange and everything they played in their short set comprised of totally different versions of the original, apart from a new song which I think they left alone. I recognised "Heartbeats" and "Pass It On" but i dont know what else they played - it was hard to tell because nothing was familiar! Except when Karin sang, because she did keep the vocals the same. The music was just completely not the same. I had been wondering before the gig what her voice would sound like - it's really great, especially when its not being manipulated electronically.

One of their Myspace pages claims they "refuse to play live" , and i heard that they really don't like touring, so this was a special gig. One of four i believe. it sold out, and people were being taken off the guestlist there were so many trying to get in. i had this feeling that i'd never ever get to see them play live, and i still feel like i haven't. It just wasn't a typical gig experience i guess. Maybe they play these different versions of their songs because it disrupts the expectations of the crowd completely. It was kind of a strange feeling: to be so familiar with these songs and expect to hear them at the live show..but it didnt work that way last night. i didn't feel cheated or anything, i still liked what they did, really liked it. If anything i admire them even more, i guess the way they manipulated all the songs in such a way - or rather just played them in a completely alternate fashion, it wasn't like remixes, these were completely different sounds - shows how great their music is, if they can change it around so much and still have it sound great, on the first listen, live.
It was more like some kind of performance art i feel like. The stage was set up with slim rectangular lights and macabre dummies with huge heads upon which monstrous faces and skeletons were projected. One of the dummies robotically winded a handle, as if a music box, the other one set between Olaf and Karin loomed over the stage with two heads. The visual effects were gorgeous - quirky animations and unsettling imagery. Olaf seemed to be banging an electronic drum thing. I guess the rest was laptops hooked up to booming speakers. Kind of like a really fucking cool dj set. A gauzy see-through black curtain was hanging in front of the stage, so it caught some of the projections - like dripping blood, stars and cool linear formations. Karin and Olaf's faces were painted in ultraviolet stuff that made them appear to have no features. Sometimes they looked like aliens, or monkeys. Then the lights would change and you would see Karin smile or Olaf take a swig of beer. They kept the songs short and did not come back for an encore.
Of course, we got stuck beside some boys who insisted on attempting to do raver-dancing despite the fact that the Maria was packed so tightly. They caused a bit of a ruckus, but it was kind of funny. They were wearing sunglasses and waving their arms about like sweaty '90s ravers.

My friend's friend was in town for a visit and came out with us to the gig. The last couple of times he's been to Berlin were to play with his band, eh, Maximo Park. This time though, he's not in Berlin to work, just on a little holiday while band mates do other stuff, visiting girlfriends etc. Maybe its kind of obvious, but he seems totally different when he's standing one foot away than when he's a hundred feet away onstage performing. He's just like, a person. Who likes to visit cool places and go to good gigs. Hanging about in Berlin for a few days, wandering around the city, meeting up with friends, worrying that the crowd would get crazy, taking pictures of himself in front of the Berlin wall, not staying out too late so as not to be too tired for more roaming the next day. Bless.

Some music related stuff that came up included mention of a recent side project he's involved with called, i think, Meet Eric Roberts. It doesn't seem to be too serious an endeavour, nevertheless Paul said an NME reporter turned up at one of their tiny gigs in his hometown, so maybe there'll be some more news about that soon. Upcoming MP dates include a very special acoustic set in a small turret which is part of the remains of the city walls in Newcastle. (hope i got that right). The space only holds about 50 people and is apparently quite internationlly known as a venue for poetry readings. If the shiny glint in Paul's eye is anything to go by it seems like the band is really looking forward to it. After the gig we went to Monster Ronson's for some rock n roll Karaoke. Guess who took over the microphone? Ah, rightly so. He does a very good Bowie impression.

Tomorrow night it's a toss up between the Paddingtons at Magnet supported by Five!Fast!Hits! or Dirty Pretty Things at Postbahnhof.

Noise Noise Rock and Roll and Something Else Too.

Last Friday I moved house. For some reason the hardest part was getting everything down the 5 flights of stairs at my old place. After all the packing and carrying, I was pretty damn happy to finally be in my new place..and those worries i had about going to see unknown bands were easily overcome by "WOOHOO I MOVED TODAY I WANT TO CELEBRATE!!!!112" excitement. So i totally went to see the The Noisettes and The Rifles at Kalkscheune. With my flyer it was only 6 euros in. I like that. It was my first time at a gig there, but it felt eerily similar. (Mirror balls, red velvet...Is it owned by the same people as Magnet?). A really big crowd turned out for this gig including a guy who was disco dancing in a wheelchair (not the same guy i mentioned sometime before. this dude was probably 50 and took over the floor before much people had turned up yet. he ran over my foot later on while waiting for the Rifles.)

The Rifles came onstage and incited absolute mayhem in the crowd, for some reason. Me, I was falling asleep. I escaped the mosh pit but had to keep going further and further back as it just kept growing. Once or nine times I was really tempted to just leave, I was dead on my feet probably after the mad day i'd had, but also probably cos the band was a bit boring. And there had been a long wait for the gig to actually get started. So, im not sure if it was my tired state or the fact that maybe the band just is a bit same old same old. The very last two songs they played in their encore were definitely the best of the night.

Oh, i came across this. it think it explains better than i can how i feel about the band's music:

Oooo this shimmers, glitters and gapes with the yawning hole of shiny mediocrity. What’s-a-happening, there’s a black hole in one of the biggest music cities on this planet and it’s sucking the point out of everything; or at least sucking everything to a point where the urgent need to do something all your own seems to have been lost. The Rifles must have been kicking back waiting their turn while Oasis ransacked the mod revival for ‘inspiration’; ‘cept they’ve skipped the initial crime-spree kicks and bad-drug adrenaline rush of 'Definitely Maybe and jumped straight to the jaded nonsense of that awful fourth album.

Found here.

They told the crowd we were better than Munich, and that this was only their second gig outside of London. They were really excited and happy that people were going mad. Im glad they couldn't see me...

The Noisettes were actually on first but i feel like they should have been the main band on this evening. I want to finish this post on a positive note so I decided to write about them last.

So, imagine if bambi was a young black woman wielding a bass guitar...that's Shingai, the frontwoman of The Noisettes. She's...??!! Hard to explain. She came onstage in a bolero jacket and black suspenders, knee length leather trousers, sparkly lederhosen, one silver eyebrow and one chandelier earring. One or two of her curls were dyed bright pink or teurquoise and her eyes sparkled with intense energy. Her performance is very theatrical and her face is so expressive and animated as she sings, its hard to take your eyes off her. Before they'd got through their second song she had kicked off her shoes, i wonder by the way she moves if she spent some years as a dancer. Even doing rock n roll stage antics she looked lithe and graceful. Dropping to her knees, kicking her leg in the air and leaving it there, or hanging it over the end of her guitar, jumping up on speakers...Her voice is amazing and beautiful and its a shame because her mic didn't seem to be loud enough. She looks at odds with the rest of the band, the two boys whom she introduced as Wednesday and Friday. I am sure they have a real names and i hope they know how lucky they are to have Shingai because she really makes the band. I have no idea how to describe their music. That's probably a good thing. I stole a poster. I really hope they come back!

Here is a good link to an article/interview on them.

The Knife are playing this Thursday. Deep Cuts broke my heart last year in uni and this year in Berlin and now I finally get to see them live, !!! It's going to be an amazing show. I just know it.

Tell Me Your Stories

So i got my craptop fixed today and one of the first corners of the INTERGLOBESPHEREOFLOVE to which i scurried was Tom from Black Wire's diary-not-blog-because-that-sounds-like-an-australian-toilet. He is funny.

i feel uninspired to write much about the Horror the Horror's gig last Saturday. its not a good feeling. i just did not enjoy this gig that much. Normally i feel this great transfer of energy when i go to a good gig, like i've recharged my batteries. Live music really affects me. Im always in a stupor after a really good gig. But this time...Maybe it was just me? In front of me was a row of headbangers having a grand old time, and sort of behind me were three transvestites jumping up and down to every single song and shouting the words...or maybe just shouting words, i think they were shouting in German... One of the headbangers looked so wasted i really thought he was going to keel forwards and just puke all over the lead singer's new-looking loafer shoe things.

So, THTH have like, four really good songs. And then everything else kind of runs into eachother. Their good songs are really good though, thats what is kind of sad about them. One song in particular was introduced as "our best song!" and then, "it's the next single!" but it really wasn't their best song, which in my opinion they had played two songs before that one. i tried looking at the set list to get names and such but failed. I didn't like the lead singer. Whenever he talked it was insincere bullshit like, "you're so beautiful"...blah blah. It was not very convincing. Maybe he thought it was very rock and roll and ironic. One of the lead guitarists was interesting. He had a facial tic and was sharing the singing duties sometimes, though his voice wasn't that good...he made funny faces (not related to the tic) and moved in sync with what he was playing and i found myself watching him alot.

Towards the end the lights totally went out..Twice!! It was pitch black and the band kept playing. That was exciting. Maybe I wasnt the only one feeling a little disillusioned at this gig. There was clapping for the encore, but probably not too much. The first thing Lindstrom said when they came back onstage was "is that all you got?...we were going to play more anyway. so HA!"

Ok so he didnt say "so HA!". I'm sure he wanted to.

So this wasn't the best gig. I've been pretty lucky so far whenever i've taken a chance to go to a gig of a band that i didn't know much about. now im afraid! there are two dunno-really-who-they-are-but-i-want-to-go-see-gigs this week that i was planning to go to. now im not sure what i will do.

Take My Shoes Off, And I Will Throw Them In the Lake

This weekend I was spoiled rotten. the Futureheads and Bell Orchestre were in town. Luckily enough I bought my ticket for the 'heads last Monday because it totally sold out! It was my first time queueing for a gig at Magnet. There were alot of chancers waving their tickets around trying to get ahead in the line, which was quite cheeky. Some people just barged their way through and up to the front. Oh well. It was really crowded and we did have to forgo our lovely front row places when everyone starting going berserk once the band came onstage. Moving just a few rows back was alright though, there was space to dance and it's always good when there's less risk of getting trampled. Arriving in the middle of support band, Winson's set there were a couple of noticeable things to em, note: first of all, they were kind of good. Second of all, the drummer was non chalantly eating an apple and playing a set of mini drums. The lead singer at one point dived into the front row and crowd surfed, but unfortunately everyone moved at a crucial moment and he plunged straight to the floor. He looked slightly dazed when he clambered back onstage, but in the bar later on with a beer in his hand he looked in one piece.

The Futureheads' set started off with "Decent Days and Nights" and continued in a frenzy of songs from their first album: "A to B", "Robot", "Carnival Kids", "The City is Here For You To Use", "First Day", "Meantime"...it was kind of surreal hearing "Hounds of Love". I've achingly loved this song for so long, it was almost too perfect. I was afraid to hear their new material, I'm still not sure about "Area". But the unfamiliar tracks they played, I loved. One in particular reminded me muchly of the Cars. I think it might have been "Fallout". They finished the night with a bloody great performance of "Man Ray", which sounds so great live. There was no encore, though looked like it might happen when it seemed like the roadies had come onstage to tune up the guitars.

This was my first time seeing Futureheads play. I loved Barry Hyde's jerky movements. I loved his little brother Dave's intense robotic scary-face drumming, i loved the sincerity in Ross Millard's eyes as he sang and played and I loved Jaff's harmonising. This band got skillz.

They were very thankful, and apologised for not coming to Berlin sooner, this was the first time they'd ever played here. I bet they will play a Postbahnhof gig in the not too distant future.

On Sunday night at the Roter Salon, Bell Orchestre came to visit. This gig was just what I needed. Upright bass, French Horn, Trumpet, Violin, Xylophone, Typewriter, Keyboards, Drums. The five people in this band are just amazing. I already expected Richard Reed Perry and Sarah Neufeld to be amazing seeing as their "other band" is Arcade Fire ( he as a multi instrumentalist/producer; she as violinist). The chemistry between Sarah and Pietro (on French horn) was intrigueing. She charged at him as she played her violin and he layed his head on her shoulders in the final denouement of one of their pieces. "Throw It On a Fire" was amazing live. "Recording a Tape (Tyewriter Duet)" was beautiful and quirky. Drummer, Stefan Schneider, came forward and sat in the centre of the stage, tapping elegantly at yes, a typewriter. It was a shock to hear them say that they hadn't been able to hear themselves for the crowd talking during that show at their previous gig in Italy. Richard said, "it was interesting playing that song angrily, though." Last night in the Roter Salon it was pretty much absolute silence for the whole gig. For their encore they scampered back onstage and played an Aphex Twin cover. WOAHZ.

The star of the night for me was Stefan Schneider. He has an elfin face with high cheekbones and pouty lips. His almost pointed ears and choppy haircut, plus his white outfit, gave him the appearance of some enchanted little pixie from a fairy tale. It was kind of sad seeing him later on, in jeans and a t-shirt, looking more like a normal person. He had me totally goggle-eyed for the whole show: he's unbelievably fast on the drums and did this cool thing that I've never seen before, playing with two sticks in each hand. Sometimes, Richard told me, he even plays with four.

Last week or so, the band sent out a plea on Myspace for help with accomodation, so i volunteered and ended up having Richard as my guest. After the gig, I asked him a little about both of his bands, Bell O. has been a project of his since school and we won't see Arcade Fire for a long time. The new record is coming out next fall (or maybe they will just start working on it next fall..) and they won't tour again until it has been released. Arcade Fireonly ever played once in Ireland, at the Electric Picnic Festival last summer, which i missed. Richard said it was one of the greatest shows, his eyes lit up as he talked remembered the experience. It was one of those times when the band played really well together, and they found everyone so warm and welcoming and were amazed that so many people were so excited to be there to see them. "Though", he added, "that doesn't always make a good show". Bands often say that about playing in Ireland. Yay! I asked what his favourite song was to play, and he actually said he goes between really hating and really loving each of their songs. Right now, he is feeling tired of the current Bell Orchestre material, but they have written some new stuff, and there are only 5 more dates left of this European tour.It was kind of a surreal night. After the gig we headed to White Trash for some drinks and chats with himself, Pietro, Kaveh and some other people who had been at the gig too: Kaveh was astounded at a young girl who had travelled 6 hours from Munich to come see them..there was also a guy who had come from Prague. Richard flossed his teeth and admitted that Bach is his favourite composer before laying his weary head down on my old-fashioned-y couch.

Deadly gigs.

This Old Room Feels Like an Overcoat

Last week the Grand Festival came to Berlin for the first time. The aptly titled 3 night event took place in three different venues, starting on Thursday night in Magnet with 8 Ball and Channel One opening up for David Kitt. He has been a longtime favourite of mine. Ever since that one time I saw the video for "Song From Hope Street" on No Disco. Kittser came onstage by himself in a bright pink t-shirt and began the set with his ipod. He told us that it had been a while since himself and his bandmates that night had played together, so they joined him onstage one song at a time. By the end of the night they were five. Keyboards, drums, three guitars. IT WAS DEADLY. It was so great to see him live, i think it was one summer at Witnness that I saw him the first time, and about 2 years ago at Queens Uni. This gig in Berlin was probably the best of all. He played his Thin Lizzy cover of "Dancing in the Moonlight", "Long Long Stares", "All Night Long", "House With Trains", "Song From Hope Street", "Into the Breeze", and some new songs, the one in particular which stuck out for me was "Dont Fuck With Me". Kittser gave us one encore and finished off the night with "Headphones", which I had been waiting for all night long. This is one of my favourite songs and one of his oldest, it is deadly he still includes it in set lists. His onstage presence is warm and friendly, he clapped when we did and smiled and laughed alot and said "cool" after each song in that lovely Dub accent. By the end of the night with a full band behind him he was really rocking out. He was a sight to behold, stamping his feet and shaking his leg a la Elvis and throwing himself about with his guitar. I'm glad he had Ritche Egan playing with him because I wasn't able to make it to see Jape the next night at Intersoup. I heard that the band were doing their bestest to keep up the Irish nation's reputation as incredible boozers. It was an intimate crowd at this gig, and it seemed like everybody was Irish. The atmosphere was different to a usual gig there, there was more hollering and lepping about.

I made it to the last night of the festival then on Saturday for Twin Kranes and The Things at White Trash. This gig was bleedin' massive. Before it, I wasn't familiar with these bands at all, so I was really excited to check out some new bands from Dublin that I didn't know about; I wasn't let down. Neither was the rest of the crowd - at one point there were 5 fellas throwing themselves across the dancefloor like a game of pinball. Lead singer Neil strutted around onstage in full glam: short waistcoast, tight jeans, white face make-up, black lipstick and heavy eyeliner. Their songs were heavy with dirty guitars and sexy lyrics. Neil growled goodbye, saying "Get fucked, go home, roide yer boyfriend." An italian instrumental band called Mashrooms (from Italy) were the very first band. They had a violin player - is that why they were included in the line up? They had a powerful sound and gave us a pretty short but intense performance. Their drummer is cool.

Eh, this post is kind of crap. I'm still recovering from 24 hours on the go yesterday. ASLjuirjdasld.

I Even Fell For That Stupid Love Song

I should have known today would be great when i woke up this morning from a dream where i was having a bike race with frontman of Editors, Tom. I'm not exactly sure who won, but we went for a milkshake after.

So, I haven't been able to afford to buy a cd this year, yet. Any money I have is going on gigs. And apart from the odd song from the odd blog, i'm not much of a downloader either. On this great day, 02/03/06, I received a flipping deadly stash of albums, from the likes of :
Archie Bronson Outfit, Arctic Monkeys, The Television Personalities and the soundtrack of a german film - Knallhart - that i haven't seen yet, but has some real good music in it by the looks of tracklisting [the Kills, Go! Team, Sons and Daughters, ...Trail of Dead, Clearlake, Test Icicles]. Joy! I hope nobody wants to talk to me about anything during the next few days, i'm not taking my headphones off. Plus i've lost my voice anyway...

....Rock 'n roll karaoke is a pretty damn good way to finish off a day that started and continued like this one. Don't tell anyone but i sang "Papercut" and "Since U Been Gone". Also "Celebrity Skin", "Smells Like Teen Spirit", "Touch Me", "Hard to Explain", "Just What I Needed", "Unconditional", "Swallowed", "Goldigger" and "One Thing". Monster Ronson's Sing Inn is where it is at. Lubbener Str. 19, Kreuzberg. the Ca$h Money Party djs were in charge of the dancefloor. Private booths mean that you, yes YOU, and as many of your friends as you can fit in there are in charge of the mic.

Schneider TM is having a secret little gig at Magnet tonight. That means Friday.

Oh My God, March

3rd - Arctic Monkeys - Postbahnhof
4th - The Fight + Cigarette, Bastard (...poor man's no doubt + english girlie good charlotte respectively. maybe not for me. they have nice posters though.)
5th - Maximilian Hecker plays Bob Dylan in White Trash..what the f..?
7th - Two Gallants, White Trash
8th - Louis XVI, Magnet
9th - Irish Festival: David Kitt, 8 Ball, Channel One, Magnet.
10th- Liars, White Trash
18th- Futureheads, Magnet
19th- Bell Orchestre, Roter Salon
25th- The Horror The Horror, Mudd Club
29th- Delays, Magnet

Sunny, Sunny, Sunny

Jason Collett is kind of amazing.

He came to Berlin for a date in the Roter Salon last night to showcase his new album, [Idols of Exile - out March 10th]. The live performance was pared down to just him and his guitar, with occasional back up on percussion and horn. His beautifully crafted songs with witty, touching lyrics and thumping yet gentle acoustic guitar fall together perfectly. The fact that he's singing about being a wasted teenager perhaps - "puking out the door with your pants around your ankles" - is a nice contrast to the pretty tunes and sweet guitar. He is a gifted musician with close working relationships with alot of other fantastic musicians [Broken Social Scene, Feist, Calexico] but he's also a married man and father of three. You really feel the richness of his life coming through in his music, which holds much more sway than expected from the simple set-up of one man and his guitar.










There was an intimate crowd attending the event, it was easy to get up the front and there was just enough people to keep it cosy, and also quiet. The Roter Salon was a charming venue for this showcase. As Collett stood, tall and skinny underneath the large glass chandelier, the soft lighting and opulent red decor enveloped him in a warm glow. Collett is so charming onstage, telling stories and giving the crowd some banter. He had good material to work with though - as he got up onstage he had been handed a non-alcaholic beer with "Fun" written on the label, and although somebody's handy repeatedly interrupted the performance throughout the night with that signal interference, Collett just laughed it off as part of the performance, the "german techno" element. He reminds me not a little of Josh Ritter, the way he tells a story and has that instant connection with his audience. During the show he invited Feist up onstage for a beautifully charming duet of "Hangover Days". There was a real chemistry between the two, and was one of the most memorable songs of the night for some. Martin Wenk from Calexico joined in on several songs with "vibes" and trumpet. I never saw the Xylophone played with a violin bow before. It was wow.




Though it's hard to imagine summer right now - it still being so bloody cold. Below zero temperatures, bitter wind and snow are keeping even springtime at bay, let alone summer. But listening to Collett play last night i definitely got that summer feeling. "Sunny, sunny, sunny"..i can't wait. When he comes back it'll be to play in the Postbahnhof, I just wonder if his performance could get lost in such a big venue. We were lucky last night.

Collett's warm, familiar and often fragile vocals tackle stories set in basement apartments and high school dances, about drinking Southern Comfort behind the shopping mall and finding solace in a mix-tape. But the thing is, this isn't Collett's youth alone-we're all either carrying the scars or still making the wounds-and his personal self-reflection produced an album so precise and relatable as to almost make you miss drinking a mickey in the 7-11 parking lot and passing out, naked, on a neighbor's lawn. Almost.

So says his record company, City Slang. Stream the album here.

Don't Look Now But I Lost My Shoe

In case i forget:

-this Friday TONIGHT! Jason Collett has a showcase at the Roter Salon. It's invite only, but my lucky star came through and I get to go. I'll find out definitely on Tuesday but it's looking good.
-Two Gallants are playing White Trash next Tuesday, March 7th.
-Louis XIV shall be hosting a night of sexy rock at Magnet the following night.
-March 10th The Liars play White Trash
-i have drum practise tomorrow at 4 o'clock.

You're So Pretty I Could Talk to You All Night

Last night worked out really well. I was really excited about this gig which was sort of showcasing these up and coming bands. From what I'd heard I knew I was going to like them alot. First on was Field Music, who played some very lovely and very charming songs. This trio hails from Sunderland, and at one time or another the line-up has included Barry Futurehead and Tom English from Maximo Park. Well, last night it was brothers Peter (who used to be the Futureheads drummer...) and David Brewis who swapped around on drums and vocals, with Andrew Moore on keyboard. The last song of their set was the one that stole my heart. "Pretty". It's a really gorgeous song and is free to download at their site aswell as some others. "You Can Decide", highly recommended. I'm not sure, I'll take a guess that it's Peter, in the photo. he's so skinny, and his trousers are so high. You just want to take him by the hand and bring him home and give him a cup of tea. When he sings he stands on the tips of his toes.























Here's some interesting things that MaximoP singer Paul (who isn't too flattering on contemporary bands) had to say about them:

"It's like chamber pop. It is brilliant orchestration. There are string quartets on more of the album, but all the songs are in crazy time signatures. It's really sweet music, like Big Star and the Beach Boys. Some people wonder why Maximo Park brought this band on tour with them. They made one of the best British albums any band has done. When they play live it is quite different because they swap instruments. They have a younger drummer now since Tom left. They are quite genuine people. There is not much that in music I suppose.

Next up was My Latest Novel, who are just amazing. Their music is so powerful live. I nearly died when they played "The Hope Edition", that violin just kills me. This band has alot of absolutely fantastic songs and there's so much happening onstage, there's alot to take in. I found myself constantly hypnotised, whether by lead singer Chris Deveney as he gripped the microphone and stared piercingly into the crowd, or their guitarist who looked as though he was going to rip the strings right off his guitar he was playing so ferociously. Each member seems to work independently, and by doing so brings their own intensity. I felt like their personalities and characters really shone through as they played.





While they were playing, it struck me that My Latest Novel are the first band I've seen who manage to keep the depth and sincerity of their songs while adding a little bit of twee gloss and sparkle. That sounds funny. I dunno how to explain it better..the xylophone or mini keyboard blow-y thing didn't take away from the power that their songs have. You weren't thinking "aww" but "OWWWWWW THIS HURTS". I've never seen a xylophone so fiercely pounded before, either. They put so much into their songs, especially "The Reputation of Ross Francis"...and finishing up their set with "When We Were Wolves" was almost too much.

Er. I came across someone with a link to the whole of their new album, "Wolves". It's not the year of the dog, it's the year of the Wolf.





So then Tilly and the Wall came on and were really fun and I like them alot even though the tap dancing girl is kind of annoying. There i said it, i'm sorry but she kept reminding me of some little kid going "look at me everyone! look what i can do!" Maybe just cos im learning the drums, and the distinct absence of one (they totally disassembled the kit that the two previous bands had been using..) and blatant celebration of that fact may have pissed me off..on..some..level. But that would be really petty and small-minded of me. Okfinethen. She had a nice t-shirt and must be very fit. I kept trying not to get distracted by her and focus on the rest, especially the two main singers who were doing an amazing job of singing their gorgeous songs. One covered in tattoos with a bull-ring through her nose, the other looking like Chrissie Hynde's gorgeous younger sister. Then what looked like two absolute stoner boys on keyboards and acoustic guitar. Their songs were really pretty, they played alot of new material, one was practically a Spanish flamenco and I wonder if they have alot of country music influences going on in there too. My night had already been made though, I was under the spell of My Latest Novel and found it kind of hard to shake off. I really enjoyed their set anyway, I just think I was in the wrong mindset for it after the heartwrenching performance I had just seen. The whole tap-dancing thing is a pretty damn origional idea, and it did sound quite cool.

AH

On the off-chance that anyone reads this in the next hour or so, I have an extra ticket for tonight's label festival that i really need to sell! Tilly & the Wall,My Latest Novel and Field Music @ Postbahnhof, 9pm. Let me know if you're interested! It cost me 12.50. Tickets are usually 2euros more expensive on the night so you could save a couple if you haven't already got yours!

All I Really Can Tell is, I've Been Hit

I like We Are Scientists. That's why i went to see them last night. Even though all these stupid blah things happened like it was bitterly cold out, and my friend couldn't come, and the ticket was more expensive than advertised. Blah! i happened to arrive at Magnet in plenty of time; there was no support band, though, just a really bad mix cd playing while we were waiting for the band to come onstage. It was getting closer to an hour after the show was supposed to have started; each time another crap song came on, cries of outrage would erupt from the crowd. Finally a techie popped up onstage - i actually thought some fan had decided to get up there and start playing the drums to amuse us all, ha ha!

Everyone was cheering and clapping for them to come out and finally around 10pm the three dishevelled and hairy young men emerged from the side door to great whoops of delight. There was a big group of really excited (young) fans in the front rows and Chris Cain shook hands with each one and said hello, making sure to look them in the eye, from behind his googly glasses. He laid down the gauntlet and told us that the kids in Colon the night before were crazy and we'd have to work hard to live up to them. I think the crowd had no problem responding well to this challenge. People were fighting to get to the front and go crazy.



Their set was short and sweet. My favourites were definitely "It's a Hit" and "the Great Escape". They just make great music for jumping around to, even if the lyrics are a bit sad. They have such a big sound, like there's a secret guitar player and extra set of drums being played out the back or something. I was totally mesmerised by Chris Tapper's drumming all night. By the end of the show his sticks were totally splintered and his shirt was absolutely soaked through.














Too soon, Chris announced that the next song would be their last and apologised for We Are Scientists not having a vast repetoire. I wondered about old songs.. i was really hoping to hear "Selective Memory", but they didn't play anything old at all. I found out why from Michael Tapper - he appeared in the main bar after the show and I took the chance to give him a quick spanish inquisition. I was eager to talk because I was supposed to get an interview with them yesterday, but it didn't work out. Actually my first impulse was to thank him for a deadly show, I spent most of the time watching his fancy drumming.

This is going to be all "and then he said and then i said." sorry. ill try and come up with some good synonyms. i hope i remember everything. the gig finished right at 11, and since it was the Tuesday night rock bar, it was just in time to avail of free beer + tequila. Oh, i availed plenty.

Michael explained that their record company had arranged for them to spend the whole day doing interviews - i asked him how they stay sane, and he admitted to me that they don't. They just GO CRAZY! The most difficult part, he said, is being away from home. Especially for Chris, who is a dad. I asked if they were working on any new stuff at the moment, but there is no time for that with this crazy touring they are undertaking. What about other people's music? The Liars. They are his favourite band, listening to them alot.

We talked of course, about that night's show. The band felt bad that the crowd waited so expectantly for an encore and never got one. Once they had finished playing and were gone backstage, they could hear everyone clapping and hollering for more..The crowd didn't give up because the crap mix CD didn't kick in and the lights stayed down. The band was backstage feeling bad and wishing the soundsystem would come on so we'd realise there would be no encore. "You don't do encores?".."We just don't have that many songs." "What about Selective Memory?!!" "We only play new songs..i.e from the album or b-sides." Aha. Not only do they not really even like that song, it's the song which Michael himself dislikes the most. !!! Er, I've been totally addicted to it for the past age. (it's really good!)

So there we were, standing on the edge of the dancefloor. An Arctic Monkeys song came on as we were talking. Michael was all closing his eyes and singing along. Apparently they had an awesome time on the NME tour with them, the W.A.S boys are quite sad now that it's over. He related the awesome experience of witnessing the thousands of fans singing along to all the words of "I Bet That You Look Good on the Dancefloor" - Alex Turner just stopped to let them take over. Ok, i know everyone sings along at concerts, it sounded better when he explained it. On the W.A.S tour blog there's also a funny account of one of the boys going crowd surfing during the Monkeys show. I love hearing stuff like that. The band is now on their Continental Clampdown Tour, "during which we take a closer look at this 'Europe'." When they were in Berlin last, they played Rosi's. Michael was like, "i loved that place. i want to be there right now. are they partying there?" [Yes. 'was like' is totally a good synonym.] He informed me that they will be playing a gig in Dublin in April. They'll be somewhere else in this 'Europe', this gig is an extra stop-over, to play in Whelans. That will be special! I'd love to see them play there. I might try and make it.



What else? I asked about his drumming. At Michael's school they had a good "band" programme; basically each kid had to pick out an instrument. Because his surname was Tapper, he picked the drums. Ha. Any tips for an aspiring drummist? "Learn all the beats to our songs." The man is a demon on the batterie. [that is not red-eye from my camera, you know.] He is a man, too. "I'm older than I look." "28?" "Yep." He let me know that as they have a day off today, him and Chris planned to go to their record company's office and get someone to show them around. When i heard him say the office is in Kreuzberg, I was happy. That's my hood. I was even happier when he said, "I want to move to Kreuzberg. I'm gonna look for a place to live tomorrow. No just kidding. No but I really want to live there. It's the coolest place." Maybe he was just pulling my leg. Oh god. Flashback. I totally showed him the photographs I took. He was very polite and said, "awesome!..ah, it was smoky!" I was like, "yeh. and your techie dude was sitting right under the smoke machine for the whole show!...eh, why was he huddled in a corner onstage for the whole show?" Never seen that before, thought it was a bit mad. "Cos he's our only techie. we need him." I guess Magnet is just too small, there are no side wings. You can just about see him in one of my "awesome!" photographs. Poor chap.

Michael was very nice and charming and interesting and easy to talk to and though I was nervous i think it was a nice little exchange on the whole, helped along the way undoubtedly by my free beer + tequila sodden braincells. I hope i got everything right..another deadly gig. Woo!

Plans.

This week is going to be a bit ALOT fun. Indeed. Probably cos i can make it to see this cool exhibition before it finishes on Friday.



And also probably cos
We Are Scientists are playing Magnet on Tuesday night. And even more probably cos on Thursday there is a label festival at Postbahnhof. This looks to be a hoot.
Tilly & the Wall,My Latest Novel and Field Music are the three bands lined up for this event hosted or arranged or organised or whatever by Cooperative Music - Home of Independent Music (labels: Bella Union, Memphis Industries and Moshi Moshi). Ticket is only 10E. And the flyer is totally cute. I've been hearing various different pieces of information about tap dancing, the drummer from Maximo Park and various members of the Futureheads being involved. Who knows what the night shall bring! I'm excited.

What Happened To Our Heavy Metal?

This dude was so hard to catch.

Who - Will Get Me To A Party? Who - Do I Have Yet To Meet?

It was riot and mayhem at the Clap Your Hands Say Yeah gig tonight.

The support band came onstage and made everyone have a great time with their great music. Not only did i not miss them, I arrived 10 minutes early. I had time to leave in my jacket, get myself a beer AND get in the second row! Dr. Dog. Who the hell are they? I dunno, but they are the total opposite of their unimaginative crap name. i think i fell in love to "Wake Up" which is totally available for download at their website or their myspace. Though the live version is faster and noisier than that. This is not their website. This is. There's four songs for downloadin' there. Fetch! Sorry, ha ha! I have to say, those mp3s are nice but they aren't as energetic and noisy and full of harmonies and deadly guitar hooks as the live versions. This band sounds like Brian Wilson's neighbour's kids when they stayed over at Neil Young's house this one time and Beck came over. One of them was wearing the exact same sunglasses i had when i was 9, circa 1992. You know, with the neon pink...what's the word for part of the glasses that sit on your ears? I have to quote this. Just have to. "Seems sure to attract a rabid cult following." - New York Times. HAHAHA. Yes indeed, i totally agree.



We did not have to wait long for CYHSY to come onstage after the opening act. Well, the balloons had to be set up first. The stage was decked out in silver balloons. ("By The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth") "Let the Cool Goddess Rust Away" started off all the craziness. It is a great opening song. Instantly there was pushing and shoving and jumping and alot of clapping. That was me, i clapped alot. And tried not to fall over. Well, i did last about a half an hour in the mosh pit. But I was getting totally trampled, and it was hard to take photographs. They played a new song that I loved, but it got no introduction. I think it had a line that went, "I've been waiting for your call..I've got a blister on my forehead from leaning against the wall." Right after that Alec Ounsworth said, "that was new. this is new aswell. it's called Satan Said DANCE!.." and i was the only one that went "WOOOO!". But people caught on pretty quick. It was so great to hear this song again, I LOVE IT.

The band seemed kind of sad and frosty at the beginning. Apart from the tall one with the shiny golden locks. With his floppy hair and tambourine and big smile. Gosh.

I think his name is Robbie Guertin.






They were getting such a great reaction though, they were ALL smiling by the end. Even AO, who even kept saying "thank you". The crowd was so into all the songs, not just "Over and Over Again (Lost and Found)". Their last gig here in December was in tiny Mudd Club. This time around the Postbahnhof was all filled up with mad, clapping, people. And they knew all the words. "In This Home on Ice" and "Is This Love" just brought down the house. I was beside two of the funniest dancing boys ever. They looked like they were having conniptions and if they didn't get to kiss Alec Ounsworth, they would just die. Clap Your Hands..finished off their main set with "Child Stars" and since the house had already been brought down, the sky fell in.

There were two encores. And then the lights came up and the background music started again. BUT THEY CAME BACK FOR ONE MORE SONG! And brought Dr. Dog with them! Omghootenanny.

What a deadly gig.


Clap your hands!
When I feel so lonely
Clap your hands!
When I won't do nothing
Clap your hands!
When I have no money
Clap your hands!
When it don't seem likely
Clap your hands!
Are you up to something?
Clap your hands!
Where's my milk and honey?
Clap your hands!
When I just look funny
Clap your hands!
I just wait, a while

You're My Favourite Waste of Time

An Arab Strap gig is kind of a fitting affair to attend on the eve of Valentine's day. They paid a visit to Berlin on Monday night; Magnet was totally packed out by around half past nine when I got there..yes i missed the support band. Everyone was quite happy that Arcade Fire was being played while we waited for the band to come onstage. It was hard to move..or avoid getting pressed up against the people around you in a rather familiar way. The crowd still tried to dance along despite the total squish, but most people ended up sort of hopping up and down on the spot.

Arab Strap have these intoxicating songs that you just get lost in. I loved when their songs kicked into the upbeat ending: the crowd, drawn into the realm of seedy affairs and jilted lovers that Aidan Moffat depicts so well in his gravelly voice, would be lulled out of their stupor and liven up. People seemed to enjoy just shouting "MALCOLM!" at random intervals. My favourite song was probably "New Birds". 1998. Most of the time each song was introduced not by name but by the year it was from. "19..what the fuck?...98? Ooh that was a lawng time agoo." I felt kind of disappointed when it was over. The ticket was quite expensive, i'd missed the support band, Arab Strap didnt give us much talk and I was waiting for "Love Detective" all night, but it never came. You can never count on anything when you go to a gig though, I know that..They did play two decent encores and finished with a cover that I can't remember. "Malcolm hates it." It was a lovely gig.

FUNNY:

AL: Why do you write these sort of lyrics?

Aidan: I just write to piss off my girlfriend.

AL: The lyrics seem like a diary.

Aidan: I never kept a diary. I like to think of the album as a diary. Just key events. Just what I'm mulling about at any given point. I like to mull. That's something I'm very good at.

Malcolm: Some journalist described it as picking scabs once.

AL: But from what part of the anatomy?

Aidan: The brain. A scabby brain. I don't care what anyone says. Doesn't matter.

Found that here.

You Are The Most, You're So Rad, You're So Fresh and I am Glad

February 14th. It's that time of year again. HAPPY BIRTHDAY WEEZER! The big one four.

Woohoo!

Everybody listen to Animal Parade! Kind of like Willy Mason.

Kind of like love.

Animal Parade, live in Berlin:
Hotel Bar, 28 February 2006.

The End Is Here In Noises

Went to a deadly gig last night. It was great, in a we-dont-really-know-our-lyrics-or-have-that-many-songs-to-play-
but-can-make-alot-of-noise-and-go-mental kind of way.

Test Icicles.

As part of their Boa V Python tour they played a show in Magnet last night. Woahz. Had i been in the form for it, there were some good opportunities to speak with the band last night - dudes were hanging about in the crowd when we walked in, talking to fans and looking belligerant at the merchandise desk. I sort of walked into Sam, who didn't seem to know where he was going, his hair was obstructing his view. He has alot of hair...I wasn't feeling very sparkly last night though, still kinda recovering from the late night on Tuesday. I should have saved myself for Test Icicles! This band demands energy. Literally.

They came onstage and didn't quite look like the band i'd heard about. Grey cardigan? Anorak? A t-shirt with a husky on it? ..At first the crowd seemed nonplussed. Devonté asked, "how are you? y'alight?" and "what do you kids do for fun?" and finally, "em, are you excited about the world cup?"...it was a painstaking effort to get some reaction. Sam was hurling insults at the crowd alot, Dev was telling him to say sorry alot.

The dynamic onstage is a wonder to behold. The boys swap the microphone around alot, everyone has a go - "oh, it's my turn to sing now then..?", they freestyle on the keyboard - "that sounds really fucking good, keep doing that!" (upon discovering a science fiction-y sound effect, which appeared on nearly every song thereafter.) I did see Sam play his guitar with his teeth. Or try to. There were alot of snapshot moments, like when Dev was jumping up the walls, or when Sam fell over and all you could see over the tops of people's heads was this sepulchral arm shooting up in the air (sort of like that scene at the end of Carrie when the arm reaches out from the grave...) Or when Rory was just being there on stage, he kind of looks like Johnny Rotten with that new haircut.

It took a few songs, but the crowd did start going mental, eventually. The best song of the night was "Circle, Square, Triangle" even if Sam forgot most of the lyrics. The crowd really went crazy. Though they had been jumping around alot already, this song really set it off. "That was the peak", Sam said. After spending a few minutes faffing about onstage wondering what to play, God was even called upon to intervene.."we would play longer but...we've no more songs", they ended up doing a cover of a song by the Go Go's. As it bounced around the room thanks to extra reverb on the mic, "Belinda Carlise -isle -isle -isle" was a name i hadn't imagined hearing a member of Test Icicles say at the gig.

It was bad form to just do nothing on stage for a while, which they did. People started shouting "boring!" and Dev warned against anyone coming up to them after the show to say "that was a shit gig"..My friend pointed out that this may have been in reaction to the crowd seeming ambivalent at first, though they did warm up to the Icicles eventually. The band finished up their set by making noise for ten minutes. Well, Rory and Sam scarpered, leaving Dev like a hunched scientist over the keyboard and his guitar. Sam ran through the bar making "magician fingers" in people's faces, then they left. My one regret from the night is that I have no photos. As they wandered through the bar on their way out my friend suggested shouting "hey motherfuckers!" and taking a photograph..I totally should have. I didn't particularly want to be in the picture myself - i went to my first gig when i was 11, since then, i've only ever asked for a picture twice. This one time at Oxegen, when I went over to say hello to Shaun Christensen as he was hanging out by himself, smoking a cigarette down beside the crowd after Stellastarr* had played. And this other time after seeing the Future Kings of Spain play a deadly gig. Myself and my friend ended up chatting with them for a while afterwards (nicest band, ever!)...a photo seemed inevitable. I dunno. I'm bad at stuff like that though, I hate asking for a picture.

the support band was deadly. The Taste.

After reading up a bit on Test Icicles i now know that Dev injured his foot quite badly on a shard of glass during a gig last year, "i just walk a bit different now"; Rory has joined a choir, "it's a 15 strong vocal crew. It's gonna happen." and Sam was born in Miami and grew up in Australia, his accent is funny.

I wonder if they will get a drummer, and if it will make things even more crazy on stage. I hope so!!

Motherfuckers! Indeed. I would very much like to see them again, they're a really fun band to see live, i was laughing alot. Plus, it does make a nice change from recorders and glockenspiels. We all agreed it was a not unsimilar experience to being at a band's practise. Which is kind of cool when you think about it. Test Icicles play like nobody's watching.

You Knocked On My Door And My Whole House Fell Apart

I got a heads up from a friend about a good party so I ended up in West Germany for the night: "5 euro or roll the dice and pay what it lands on. Plus free cake and a band." So, wondering about the cake, and the band, i got there by around midnight. I probably lost ten minutes trying to find the way in. i arrived at the right street address, but ended up wandering up some random stairs and parading around an abandoned courtyard wondering where the fun was. ("Beat It" by Michael Jackson was playing in my headphones, I really thought he was going to jump out from behind a wall and start moonwalking around me.) Looking around a corner I thought, this must be it when I saw that poster stuck on a door.

I rolled a five at the door, and when I got inside the band has just taken to the stage. They were like this 60's outfit. With a banjo, double bass, saxaphone, fancy drumming and rock and roll teurquoise guitar playing.

Snippets of lyrics that i caught:

"..like a love shanghai.."

"..my heart has rusty hinges.."

"..you knocked on my door and my whole house fell apart"

" you wanna stay up late? i've got days and days of tapes.."

"repitition. repitition. repitition. repitition. repitition. repitition."



I tried to find out who they were and asked the drummer. They might have been The Jimmy EEojodadjisad Incarnation. They might have been anything at all. I don't know if I wasn't hearing properly because I'd been standing beside the speaker for most of the show or because they just have a really complicated name. Encores went on and on and on on. First just Jimmy, (Timmy? Tammy?) then Jimmy and the bassist/banjo player, then the bassist/banjo player took over the singing as Jimmy clambered behind the drums to rock out there for a bit. It had been jazzy drumming until he got his hands on the drumsticks. He played like, BANG BANG ROCK AND ROLL. Then the drummer came back and there was a 10 minute excursion called "Reincarnation" (see last lyrics snippet.)

Previously a doctor's office,West Germany is another "home-made" venue, like Mama's. Most of the ceiling tiles were gone, you can see a little in the photograph how parts of the wall were ripped out. Mattress pinned up against the window, etc etc. Thankfully the police didn't come and bust it up. Tonight was a Save the Cake affair. There was free cake, I had some of the last slice of strawberry cheesecake, ha ha! The place was decorated beautifully with "baking art". Huge cupcakes were hanging from the ceiling, and adorning the walls were a series of oil on canvas: blender, cupcake, spatula, mixing bowl..I signed up to get notice of future Save the Cake happenings, I want seconds!



After the band 2 djs took over and played some very fancy tunes. Like the Sonics, Rolling Stones, Temptations. I swear, i had just thought of the Slits' version of "Heard it Through the Grapevine" when that older version came on! I also dropped my beer by the coats while attempting to shimmy along to it. They will be back again in a few nights time, this Friday in Sherriff Teddy's. From what i saw they were mostly working with vinyl. I didn't get his name, but one of them told me that next time, if i pass him the cd inconspicuously, he might play Gloria Jones' "Tainted Love" for me.

SHOW YOUR BONES

This is probably the best thing i've read all week!

Yeah Yeah Yeahs New Album

We have a title for the new record... SHOW YOUR BONES. It's coming out on March 28!!! Show Your Bones is what happens when you put your finger in a light socket. Maybe there is some of that electric current flowing through the tracks of our album illuminating us from the inside out for you to laugh at and cry to or fry to. Or not.

[posted 1/26/2006 U.S.A.]

The album is getting a UK release on 27th March. One week before that the single "Gold Lion" is gonna come out. I'M EXCITED!

There is this one band, The Kooks. And there is another band, The Books. Kind of spelled the same, but pronounced different...unless you're from inner city Dublin. Or Manchester. I think. Well, they're both playing Berlin this month. The world has turned and left me with three bands to pick between for the night of the 18th. Calla, the Figurines and the Kooks shall all be taking to various different stages across the city - at Knaack, White Trash and Magnet respectively. I don't know how I'm going to pick between all three...Although, I have seen the Figurines before...and the Kooks is a very cheap door-charge, plus a free drink. But dammit, I hate choosing. Free drink, eh?.. ITS ALL ABOUT THE MUSIC YESYES.

The Books play the Volksbuhne am Rosa-Luxembourg Platz, 12th February.

Why Is The Bedroom So Cold?

I've said before, this is no mp3 blog. Cept, i was just chopping up vegetables in the kitchen, listening to Jose Gonzalez do a cover of Kylie Minogue's "Hand on Your Heart"...it may have been the onions making my eyes stream, but... He mentioned something about a Joy Division cover. "Love Will Tear Us Apart" no less. Yeh, yeh, Nouvelle Vague, U2+Arcade Fire. His version is haunting and powerful and it just made me stop. He said it could be found on some Swedish website, so I don't think he'll mind much if it can now also be found on this music blog.

So, here.

It's taken from a live show, it's a little scratchy, he speaks some Swedish and there's rapturous applause.

Jose Gonzalez seems to be the perfect anomaly. His parents fled Argentina and 2 years after their arrival in Sweden brought him into the world. He used to play bass in a shouty/jumpy-aroundy band. Um. Bands. That is, one punk/hardcore band Back Against the Wall and one indie rock affair, Only If You Call Me Johnathan. When the Knife released Deep Cuts nearly 3 years ago he picked up on "Heartbeats" immediately, including it in his set list at a show only three weeks later. Of the Kylie cover he says, "underneath the pop and happiness is a great song."

The picture is from last June, when he played in Whelans to a couple of hundred people as part of the Budweiser Rising Festival in Dublin, opening up for Buck 65. While he played, it was one of those gigs where nobody dared to move. Or talk. Or breathe. I'm not surprised that he says he prefers to play gigs in small spaces rather than large ones, though he still played support to the dalai lama in a football field this one time.

"Hearbeats" has been a huge "hit" for him in Ireland. People just totally fell for him. Swoon, Thud. Last night he played to a packed out 10,000 full crowd in Dublin, opening for Bell X1.

You've Cried Enough This Lifetime, My Beloved Polar Bear

This weeks Gigs-That-I-Missed: Hot Chip and Open Prison. I'm getting used to it now, almost.




February is going to be fun. Look!

08.02 Test Icicles Magnet
13.02. Arab Strap Magnet
16.02. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Postbahnhof
18.02. the Figurines White Trash
18.02 Calla Knaack
19.02. Diamond Nights Magnet

For the past few days I have been listening obsessively to the MSTRKRFT remix of Bloc Party's "Two More Years". I found it here, after being pointed in the right direction by mister fancypants . I can't get enough of this song. Just! So! Good! That was last Thursday - imagine my delight when I went out dancing that night and it came on! I was not really into the origional version much - when I heard it first it sounded to me like a lacklustre copycat attempt. Loving the remix so much has definitely encouraged me to rethink that first impression.

I'm at home in Ireland for a few days, I was missing ham sandwiches and tea. Plus, my dad built a dancefloor in our back garden so we could rip it up till all hours in celebration of my sister's 21st birthday. Karl who normally djs at the Funk Up spun alooottt of great records for us - one in particular - "Going Nowhere" by Cut Copy, which was actually the song that started off the night's dancing. I was in the middle of talking to someone and rudely abandoned them to run over to the decks and ask "WHO IS THIS?!?!?!" I was very happy when I found out - I've loved "Saturdays" for a long time and Bright Like Leon Love is on my list of "To-Get" albums, along with eleventy bajillion others...I'll have to bump it up a few places. Their website is all kinds of RAD.

I'm definitely turning on the radio tomorrow night between 7-10pm cos Tom Dunne is talking to Jenny Wilson. I saw her at Bastard supporting Architecture in Helsinki, SHE IS GREAT! I have a good excuse for sitting in hugging the radio, I'm dying of the evil killer death flu (well thats what it feels like) and alot of late nights out from the past week have finally caught up with me.

Another first impression I have since deviated from is that which I was holding against the Arctic Monkeys. I can't remember what song it was, it was quite a few months ago, but I remember thinking, "absolute claptrap!" Apart from "I Bet That You Look Good on the Dancefloor" being the best song ever, dancing to "When the Sun Goes Down" (not, "The Scummy Bastard Song"...) might be the best dancing ever.

i hope i actually get to go to a gig sometime soon.

Apparently Glamorous

HOT CHIP January 26th, the Water-gate, maybe 8pm.

There is a band called The Dirty Sweets. They're based in Galway, in the west of Ireland - oh, a rich musical territory! But, The Dirty Sweets don't sound Irish. They are doing their own thing. It's like how I feel about the Chalets: it's quite rare to have a band like this - never mind that the very Irishy words "pot" and "kettle" are in the title of one of their songs (which i can't stop listening to) - THEY'RE AN IRISH BAND THAT DOES NOT SOUND IRISH. That's deadly.

Download that song, Pot Calling the Kettle Black and more here.

This band makes music that seems to have an old-fashioned, haunting quality. Sort of Fleetwood Mac, Kate Bush, PJ Harvey...and someone else I can't quite place. I'm glad they list early '90s indie pop as an influence, cos when I listen to them, it's like that hazy summer back in 1995 again, when the cassette in my walkman was always playing some scratchy mix of songs i'd recorded off the radio from Menswear, Echobelly, Gene, Elastica or Suede. A bunch of well known (in Ireland..) music industry people - djs, musicians, record industry types - were asked for their tips for 2006 and The Dirty Sweets were tipped by Jenny Huston, one of the cool indie rock djs on the Irish national airwaves. This is quite an endorsement. Swit swoo!

I found out about them because their new synth player, Leon is from my hometown. I don't really know him, but..There's a well established dancing party that happens in Sligo, called the Funk Up. This one time last summer on the dancefloor, i had requested some Arcade Fire, but the dj was reluctant: "Only about 5 people will dance!" he said. "Yeh, but they'll be 5 great people" i replied. Anyway, Rebellion (Lies) came on, and the only people ripping it up were me and my friend and Leon and his friend..so, he must be alright.

In Other News-

The Future Kings of Spain have told us the names of the songs on their new album! Yay. But like, dudes. Some musical accompaniment to the lovely titles would be wonderful. Anyways, here are the exciting NAMES! Oh wait. I've lost them. Another time then. No, wait here they are.

Chemical Burn
Disappear
Guess Again
Kick In The Teeth
Lost And Found
1981
One More Mistake
Syndicate Our Lives
This Is The End
This Song
You Dream In Solid Gold

Future Kings of Spain are similar to Biffy Clyro, I think, in that they can can make these really sweet, catchy songs with infectious melodies and jangly guitars but also loud, shouty songs with infectious melodies and dirty guitars. The new album is called Nervousystem and the first single to be released will be Disappear . I am excited. They are an amazing band to see play live, I wonder if they'll come to Berlin?

They are also AN IRISH BAND THAT DOESNT SOUND IRISH. Actually now that I think about it, Ash are in this strange little group too. So we have Ash, the Chalets, Future Kings of Spain, The Dirty Sweets.

The Chalets were on Morning Becomes Eclectic! Hooray.

Sad News: My Morning Jacket have had to cancel their gig here at the end of the month. Well, the whole tour has been cancelled. Jim James might have pneumonia.

A new Maximo Park song A19 is kind of boring. It's "not about a girl for once" said Paul. Maybe that's why. Maybe cos it was during a live-from-Spain-broadcast-on-the-internet thing that i heard it on. Regardless, definitely looking forward to hearing more new stuff.

I find it kind of wierd reading music blogs. I only started recently. I mean, I've never relied on them for finding out about new music...Anyway, at themodernage there is a fabulous account of the Editors rocking NY, with fabulous photographs aswell. I'm so jealous and also sad. they are not coming back to Berlin in February as Tom told me. There seems to be a ton of dates here there and everywhere. Except here.

i read a crazy thing the other day. the same producer worked on "Silent Alarm", "A Certain Trigger" "the Futureheads" and "Capture/Release".

Hrm.

It Took Me All Night To Get You But I Got You

Last weekend i went to see The Chalets. During the week beforehand, I found myself trying to explain to some people what they sound like, and ended up comparing them with bands that I have since found most other people have aswell - Le Tigre and The B 52's. Ne c'est pas? Like a Sunday morning in bed, Ireland has been such a warm and cosy nest for the sad and lonely, heartbroken, distraught, miserable singer-songwriter for a long, long time. But the Chalets are telling us, “You've got no time!”. There's no time for morose moping anymore! It's kind of nice to have a Irish band shaking things up for once. They're like, air the place out, shake off feeling down in the dumps and rip it up on the dancefloor, rih? The band has been described as “twee pop”, but I feel that that is only an element of what they do. As written in a message to the band on their Myspace page, “pop isn't always a bad word”. Indeed. But, their racy lyrics, killer guitar riffs and pounding danceable drumbeats make them deserving of a much broader description than that, which indicates to a much greater extent the rock and roll flair the band has.

The possibility of success in America seems more than likely for the band, especially since one of their deadly songs Sexy Mistake has appeared more than once in episodes of some hit show on the telly over there apparently. (i dunno, ich habe keine television..) It's probable that across the water people will be wondering what the band is going on about when they sing "So you can get your hole" or "get out of my kaks" but they can probably guess. And surely Theme From the Chalets relays a universal experience, everyone has been to a party and muttered these same words in their friend's ear, or under their breath or to the geeky boy in the corner:

boys: Let's fix some cocktails and make them so strong
girls: Let's not get too drunk but we'll play along
boys: Let's put on FM, sit back and relax
girls: You must be joking get out of my kaks
boys: Don't think it's working their coats are still on
girls: Just five more minutes and then we'll be gone

In the week running up to the gig, I heard the Chalets on German radio for the first time: No Style was getting airplay on Radio Eins – the lovely & amazing indie rock / alternative radio station here in Berlin. Some of the other music on rotation at the moment on the station is from Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, the Knife, Ryan Adams and Stars, which reflects the esteem in which The Chalets material is being received with. Recognition is coming from all sides - Steve Lamacq playing No Style as his single of the week upon its release last September, and with their upcoming tours playing alongside Art Brut, the Kaiser Chiefs and We Are Scientists on the agenda the band are soaring at a steady 500 hundred miles an hour towards achieving massive success in 2006. (haha, sorry! i could not resist that.) Vote The Chalets. No, reallyVOTE FOR THE CHALETS! They are up for awards and stuff. They are included in the category for Best Irish Band at the Meteor awards on February 2nd this year.

So, the gig. It took place in Magnet which is a small venue in Prenzlauerberg where I've seen some great/great/goodish shows recently from American Analog Set, The Go! Team and The National respectively.

The support band, which hadn't been advertised, was slightly nondescript until their last song when suddenly they came alive in a blaze of electro rock glory. This served to liven everybody up a bit in preparation for what was about to come. The crowd was a bit random. There were a lot of pot bellied lank-haired middle aged men wearing Hard Fi t-shirts and then gangs of young obsessive set-list grabbing girls wearing t-shirts of bands that haven't been invented yet. Plus a load of young ones from Oireland. Which I think was a surprise for the five young ones from Oireland who had come to play.

Around midnight The Chalets emerged from the crowd and sauntered onstage to hearty applause. There were lots of “Vielen danke!”'s to the crowd for the warm welcome, and then ripping straight into the music, got on with the show.

Theme from the Chalets, Sexy Mistake, Got No Style, Nightrocker, Red High Heels, Feel the Machine, Two Chord Song, Fight Your Kids, Kiss Chasing, Gay Holiday, Check In all made it onto the setlist. Occasionally I've noticed that German crowds can remain quite stoic and unresponsive at gigs. However, as the glockenspiel tinkled alongside the vocal harmonies between the boys and girls, shoulders jutted and hips swayed - the temperature rose quickly. “I feel like a roasting turkey”, said rosy-cheeked Peepee. The band wasn't afraid to joke around a lot onstage, in particular about casserole (“auflauf” in German). “It's on menus here everywhere!”, they exclaimed unbelievingly. Songs were introduced as “Where's the Auflauf” and “the Auflauf Story” - this steaming dish is obviously something that has influenced the band muchly during their previous tour stops in Hamburg and Dresden. Peepee and Pony were a pair of steaming dishes themselves. Their flawless complexions, expertly applied eyeliner and lusciously shiny hair teamed with some very stylish outfits no doubt was encouragement enough for a rowdy member of the crowd to shout, “GO ON YE GOOD THINGS!” at them. Their faces lit up - doubtfully at the “compliment”, but to discover some familiar folk in the audience. “THAT SOUNDED IRISH!” they squealed happily. The band seemed very relaxed, more so than the last time I saw them live - when they played alongside Art Brut and the Rakes as part of the Budweiser Rising Festival last June. Even just looking at what they had chosen to wear, it seemed to me that they weren't trying so hard to be kitsch (and ending up seeming too gimmicky.) They were still dressed up to the nines - not in costumes this time, but fancy outfits nonetheless. In German there is a word to describe girls who know how to dress, which definitely applies to the girl-Chalets: “stylies”. The boys were also very smartly dressed in tight t-shirts and skinny jeans, instead of the suits and leopard skin ties. With the glitzy guitar riffs and luscious bass licks from Enda and Chris teamed with Dylan's tight and fast drumming the crowd was really bopping from the word “auflauf!” Coming back onstage quickly for an encore they claimed to have nothing acceptable enough left to play, but left us wanting more with Michael Kelly.

This is kind of minging, but after the dancing and singing along during the gig, when it was all over and we were hanging about wondering what to do and where to go, I was really thirsty and didn't really mind swigging out of Peepee's bottle of water which had been left discarded by the microphone stand, mostly full and very irresistible to my parched throat. Some German fans pushed me out of the way to get at the setlists – it was lovely of course to see that an Irish crowd had come out to see the Chalets, but Irish fans are a given. They have loads. It was cool to see the Germans fighting over the souvenirs from the night and chatting excitedly about the gig (the Irish had scrambled back to the bar).

I hadn't expected to have a chat with Peepee and Pony, but as I was on the way out I saw that the girls themselves were manning the t-shirt stand, I went over to say hello and thanks for a great gig. They were excited to meet a fellow Dub - “THIS GIRL'S FROM FOXROCK!” - they probably didn't expect any Irish people to be there, well it being a Berlin gig. I realized my preconceived notion that they wouldn't be friendly people, because I found myself surprised at just how sound the two girls are. They wanted to know some good flea markets to check out the next day on their day off and myself and my friend tried to persuade them with the aid of dodgy map to come out for the night instead of sloping off back to their tour bus. Peepee asked how long we'd be hanging around at Magnet, and I regret now not staying behind a bit longer to make sure they found their way, I think I missed a shiny golden glinty mirrorball opportunity to go boozing with the Chalets in Berlin.

i have no photographs from the show that night, but Abstract Boy has!