One thing that is getting more irritating as I get older though is talking at gigs. I don’t mean shouting in-between songs or even saying something to your mates. I mean stood there chatting like you’re in the pub completely oblivious to the fact there is a hush over the crowd as a softly played song is performed. If your disinterested in the artist then fuck off to the bar.

Seriously, it’s not cheap to see a band live these days and that is one of the consequences of downloading music, legal or otherwise. In the twenty first century it is the touring which makes the artist the money and I accept that.

Eels tickets were I think £20 each plus booking fee(another rant for another day) so almost £50 for the two of us. That’s a lot of money. If you paid that to go to the theatre you wouldn’t stand some fucking moron behind you talking throughout. So why do we put up with it at gigs. Who are these people?

Maybe I’m noticing it more as I’m getting older and the bands I am going to see are quieter. In 1992 I saw napalm death, in 2010 I saw the low anthem, who it has to be said had an impeccably behaved crowd. You could hear a pin drop. There isn’t this problem at classical concerts. You have paid to hear someone perform, let them perform and listen to the music. I’m pretty sure Damien Rice stopped a gig once because people were talking. Now I’m not a big fan of his music but I can understand his frustration, he pays a lot of attention to detail and his songs are quite emotional. If all he can hear is some berk going on about the mpg of his new Beemer you’d get frustrated.

I recently got the new big star box set and on the last disc there is a live concert recorded from around 1974/5 in the background you can hear people talking. All the way through, completely disinterested in this legendary band performing. So it’s not a new thing, just something I don’t think we need to put up with.

Eels last Saturday night, I didn’t film this by the way.

My favourite album of the last decade was glaringly missing from all the ‘best albums of the decade’ yawn fests that I had scanned over toward the end of 2009. It is the Hour of the Bewilderbeast by Badly Drawn Boy (Damon Gough). Winner of the mercury music prize in 2000 (where he famously lost the cheque) and one of the most under rated albums of the last ten years. Featuring label mates Alfie and backed by Manchester band Doves on some tracks the album covers many genres with acoustic ballads reminiscent of Nick Drake(the shining), all out rockers(everybodies stalking and funky seventies disco rock (Disillusion). At first listen it is difficult ot pick up the flow as things drift along in a seemingly random order. After a few rewarding listens, everything clicks and makes sense.

He went on to soundtrack the film of Nick Hornby’s – About a boy with similar creative flourish and some of his biggest hits. This however will always remain my favourite and one that I don’t think he’ll ever match.

Listen on Spotify

1. “The Shining” – 5:18
2. “Everybody’s Stalking” – 3:39
3. “Bewilder” – 0:48
4. “Fall in a River” – 2:17
5. “Camping Next to Water” – 3:50
6. “Stone on the Water” – 3:58
7. “Another Pearl” – 4:27
8. “Body Rap” – 0:45
9. “Once Around the Block” – 3:44
10. “This Song” – 1:32
11. “Bewilderbeast” – 3:30
12. “Magic in the Air” – 3:43
13. “Cause a Rockslide” – 5:55
14. “Pissing in the Wind” – 4:19
15. “Blistered Heart” – 1:50
16. “Disillusion” – 5:19
17. “Say It Again” – 4:41
18. “Epitaph” – 3:50

Joe Sacco

The three Ep’s does exactly what it says on the tin. Released in 1998 it collection the the first 3 Ep’s by the Beta Band, these being Champion Versions, The Patty Patty Sound and Los Amigos del Beta Bandidos. Each EP has quite a distinctive sound but together delivers one of the best albums of the 1990′s. They never really had the success they deserved although they were name checked in John Cusacks High Fidelity film right before playing Dry the rain in his record shop, although he did call them the “Bay-ta Band” I often revisit this album, kick the arse out of it and then leave it for a while. Every time I return it’s like being greeted by an old friend.

Champion Versions

“Dry the Rain” – 6:05
“I Know” – 3:58
“B + A” – 6:35
“Dogs Got a Bone” – 5:58

The Patty Patty Sound

“Inner Meet Me” – 6:20
“The House Song” – 7:15
“Monolith” – 15:48
“She’s the One” – 8:21

Los Amigos del Beta Bandidos

“Push It Out” – 5:22
“It’s Over” – 3:50
“Dr. Baker” – 4:08
“Needles in My Eyes” – 4:32

Listen on Spotify

Rick Tomlinson’s previous incarnation Voice of the Seven Woods is regularly played in our house so when I found out about this new project release earlier in the year the expectation was pretty high. It doesn’t disappoint, the eastern influenced acoustic tones of seven woods are cranked up to 11 to create a wall of sound that just gets better and better with each listen. Supposedly recorded in a couple of days with no real rehearsals its an astounding piece of work. Reminiscent of 70′s psych rock with Pink Floyd and velvet underground influences, a very unique sound. You can listen to samples and buy straight from the Tchantinler website.

1. Open Lighted Doorway 0:15
2. Kommune 3:41
3. Out of the Smoke 2:16
4. Third Transition 0:28
5. The Burning Mountain 2:59
6. Dry Leaves 3:35
7. Dalälven 3:24
8. Cylinders 7:00
9. Set Fire to the Forest 8:35
10. Disappearances 3:01

Listen on Spotify

Ace records do a fantastic job of collecting the best of instrumental surf classics. If you know nothing of the genre then this is the place to start. My first brush with reverb soaked surf classics was when Quentin Tarantino laced his Pulp Fiction (arguably one of the best films ever made) with a number of surf classics. Some of Tarantino’s choices are on this collection The lively ones Surf Rider and the Tornadoes Bustin Surfboards. The real treats however are the ones you have never heard Eddie Duane and the rebels, Johnny and the hurricanes and other wonderfully named bands from the late fifties early sixties. Of course which surf album would be complete with out the Surfaris Wipeout and the king of surf guitar Dick Dale and the over used Misirlou.

Wet suits are of course optional.

1. Ramrod – Eddy, Duane & The Rebels
2. Crossfire – Johnny & The Hurricanes
3. Bulldog – Fireballs
4. Moon Dawg – Gamblers
5. Lullaby Of The Leaves – Ventures
6. Mr Moto – Bel-Airs
7. Jack The Ripper – Wray, Link & His Ray Men
8. Latin’ia – Sentinals
9. Bustin’ Surfboards – Tornadoes
10. El Toro – Surfmen
11. Miserlou – Dale, Dick & His Del-Tones
12. Pipeline – Chantays
13. Wipe Out – Surfaris
14. Surf Rider – Lively Ones
15. Latin Soul – Original Surfaris
16. Jezabel – Illusions
17. Baja – Astronauts
18. Earthquake – Aki Aleong & The Nobles
19. Beaver Patrol – Blazers
20. Squad Car – Eddie & The Showmen
21. Fibreglass Jungle – Crossfires
22. Gypsy Surfer – Avantis
23. Let There Be Surf – Chevells
24. El Gato – Chandelles
25. Penetration – Pyramids
26. Surf Creature – Hafner, Bob

There isn’t a preview of this buit you can get it through Amazon

There is a lot said about Neil Young’s 1982 experimental album Trans, some good, some bad. I can imagine his fans taking the record home one sunny day in 1982 putting it on and thinking “what the fuck is this?”. The electronic theme of the album is carried through with synthesizers and vocoder affected vocals in a majority of the tracks. Listening to it now it does sound rather dated but there is magic there that shines through. One of the things I admire the most about NY is his desire to try new things and experiment and this is one of his most famous experiments. The pretty standard opener Little thing called love lulls you into a soft rock sense of security before the synth heavy track computer age brings you up to date and the feminine sounding vocoder vocals take you straight back to the eighties. The vocoder heavy track transformer man and the classic sample and hold are fantastic. I read once on a classic rock blog about someones hatred for the electronic version of Mr Soul included on the album. I don’t know what he’s talking about for me it’s the definitive version.

Although the most eighties thing about Trans is probably the album cover.

“Little Thing Called Love” – 3:13
“Computer Age” – 5:24
“We R in Control” – 3:31
“Transformer Man” – 3:23
“Computer Cowboy (aka Syscrusher)” – 4:13
“Hold On to Your Love” – 3:28
“Sample and Hold” * –  8:03
“Mr. Soul” – 3:19
“Like an Inca” * –  9:46

Technically a mini album with eight tracks self released from their website through Pure Groove records the Joy Formidable are building up quite a following with their amazing live performances. A new album is due out this year but in the mean time get your hands on this independent classic before they are household names. A three piece from Wales fronted by Ritzy who is one of the best guitarists I’ve seen in Years. Spiky pop punk with big choruses great riffs. At the moment you can download three of the best tracks off this album Cradle, Whirring and Austere for free from their website.

1. “The Greatest Light Is the Greatest Shade”   5:20
2. “Cradle”   2:47
3. “Austere”   3:05
4. “While the Flies”   3:41
5. “Whirring”   3:34
6. “9669″   2:49
7. “The Last Drop”   3:25
8. “Ostrich”   4:37

On Itunes