Turning Japanese

I've just managed to get a copy of the Polysics LP - 'Now Is The Time' - described as 'punk rock with video game noises' - a pretty apt description, all I now is that they rock. They come from a long list of inovative Japanese Groups. Japan is a hotbed of groundbreaking acts - from the freeform psychedelic jams of the Acid Mothers Temple to the girlie garage stylings of the 5,6,7,8s. Julian Cope has written a great tome about the history of Japanese 'pop'; 'Japrocksampler - How The Post-War Japanese Blew Their Minds On Rock 'n'Roll'.
Here are a couple of Jap classics to whet your appetite! Enjoy!

Polysics - Coelakanth Is Android

The Boredoms - Super You

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April already

So time makes it's inexorable way forward and April is upon us. March was a great month for new music; new lps from Foals, The Whip, Los Campesinos, REM among others. April should prove to be no less exciting - Crystal Castles release their debut, as do The Courteeners. So to celebrate the new month, some CC and Courteeners (didn't see that one coming eh?)

Crystal Castles Vs. Health - Crimewave Remix

The Courteeners - Acrylic

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Butthole Surfers

Revisiting my youth again, digging out all my old Butthole Surfers stuff. For those who don't know them, they were (are?) a bunch of psychedelic punks from Texas who specialised in freaky, psyche, and sometimes downright offensive alt.rock. I saw them in London in 1986/87 where they had naked go-go dancers (nothing new there, the Stranglers were doing that in '77) but the stage was backdropped by a film of someone undergoing a sex-change - pretty freaky baring in mind the amount of narcotics consumed that night by tye punters. Anyhoo, here are a coupla tracks to whet your appetite: 'American Woman' from the 'Rembrandt Pussyhorse' LP and their brilliant Sabbath rip-off 'Sweatloaf' from 'Locust Abortion Technician'.

Butthole Surfers - American Woman

Butthole Surfers - Sweat Loaf

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Antidotes - Foals

So, after weeks of speculation the Foals LP has finally come to light ; and it doesn't disappoint!!! The pre-release buzz centred around the decision to omit the two singles 'Mathletics' and 'Hummer'; some said it was brave, others stupid but whatever, the album certainly doesn't suffer from the omission - it stays true to the Foals sound, vaguely afro, lots of hi-end guitar, lots of hi-hat and loads of class. The pick of the album must be 'Cassius' the new single. Production credits go to Dave Sitek from 'TV On The Radio' who kept the recording crisp and clear. Foals nearest competitors in the 'so good it hurts' league are Vampire Weekend. Surely this must be an early favourite for Album Of The Year!?

Foals - Cassius

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Another punk day

Having another one of those punk days where all I wanna do is listen to some very loud, very fast hardcore punk. Them were the days, pogoing 'til you were sick, and it wasn't a good gig unless you got a black eye, a nosebleed or some broken bones, sigh!!.
In about '80 or '81 I was lucky enough to see the Dead Kennedys in London, wot a gig that was! My only regret was never seeing Black Flag. So, in memory of those I saw and those I didn't.....

Dead Kennedys - California Über Alles

Black Flag - T.V. Party

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New REM LP

Just got a copy of the new REM lp 'Accelerate'. In my humble opinion the best material they have produced in many a year - better than the sometimes turgid mess of 'Around The Sun' and much more upbeat than the (albeit very good)more emotional 'Automatic for the People'. 'Accelerate' is a joyous journey of pacy guitar rock, sometimes fuzzy garage, other times high-quality indie rock. Whether this is the musical equivalent of a mid-life crisis remains to be seen!

REM - Living well is the best revenge

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Tours

Midnight Juggernauts are currently doing the rounds, with a short UK tour, kicking off in the capital tonight. They play vogueish indie, electro-synth music and have remixed the likes of The Presets and Damn Arms and have appeared on bills with MSTRKRFT. Good stuff

Thu 20/03/08 Scala, London,
Cancelled - Barfly,Birmingham
Thu 27/03/08 Night and Day,Manchester
Fri 28/03/08 Bodega Social, Nottingham,
Sat 29/03/08 Thekla, Bristol
Sat 05/04/08 Norwich Arts Centre

Also just announced their tour dates are Brighton based boy/girl combo Blood Red Shoes. They will be showcasing their own unique brand of Indie across the UK in support of their debut LP 'Box of Secrets', released on April 14th.

Stoke, Sugarmill (March 26)
Nottingham, Rescue Rooms (27)
Birmingham, Barfly (28)
Leeds, Cockpit (29)
Hull, Lamp (31)
Norwich, Waterfront (April 1)
Northampton, Soundhaus (2)
Oxford, Academy (3)
Tunbridge Wells, Forum (5)
Cambridge, Junction Theatre (6)
Brighton, Komedia (7)
Portsmouth, Wedgewood Rooms (8)
London, KCLSU (9)
Bristol, Thekla (12)
Liverpool, Barfly (13)
Manchester, Academy 3 (14)
Newcastle, Academy 2 (16)
Aberdeen, Kef (17)
Glasgow, ABC2 (18)

Midnight Juggernauts - Road To Recovery

Blood Red Shoes - You Bring Me Down

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