ARGH! another break in transmission

i'm afraid i won't be updating again for a few days, because i'm moving house and the flat i'm moving into might not have broadband connected for a week or so, thus annoyingly stopping me from doing anything constructive online. anyway when i'm back up expect some hefner and some leatherface, as well as maybe some dark star and some more ultrasound if i feel like it. until then, thanks for all the comments and thanks for reading, ttfn.

MP3: The Yo-Yo's / Time Of Your Life & Hanging Up

Okay tonight we have one of the countless Wildhearts spin-off groups who formed between the bands split (well one of their longer splits) in 1997 and their reformation a couple of years back. 'Hearts bassist Danny McCormack joined up with guitarists Tom Spencer and Neil Phillips, plus charmingly monickered drummer 'Bladz'. A bit more old-fashioned rock and roll than the Wildhearts, they seemed both visually and musically stuck back in the Nuggetsy Rock 'n' Roll era, mixing things up with some nice bits of Beach Boys style harmony.

The band formed in 1998, signed to Sub-Pop (pretty random for a British band, especially one that sound like the Yo-Yo's), and released a number of singles, including Time Of Your Life, Sunshine Girl, Rumble(d), You Got Me Out Of My Mind, as well as one full-length, Uppers and Downers, in 2000. They toured with Backyard Babies (there's another band I haven't heard from in ages) and Pitchshifter. I saw them on the Pitchshifter tour at Southampton Uni Student Union, and quite randomly (or not randomly if you know anything about the family) got asked by Chris McCormack of 3CR if I had any coke next to the tshirt stand. Bizarre. Especially as I was 16 and not exactly the cokehead type.

Anyway a bunch of gigs were cancelled the following year (due to recurring 'health' problems) and the band split soon after. On relistening to the album, I still kind of liked it, but like a lot of music I was listening to when I was 16, its a bit heavier on the unpretentious happy rock and roll vibe than the stuff I listen to now, not that that's always a bad thing of course. Apparently the band reformed this year with new members, but whether they'll get around to playing their scheduled dates (with a yet again reformed Pitchshifter, will they ever give up?) is anybody's guess. Anyway hope you enjoy the tunes.

If you want more info the best place to look is the excellent Five Miles High, followed by the brand spanking new official site. More stuff can be found here and here. Rock on.

Download: Time Of Your Life - MP3 2.95mb (rapidshare)
Download: Hanging Up - MP3 2.45mb (rapidshare)

Baaaaaaaaaack!

Hello! Fiiiiinally got back, unpacked, unjetlagged and ready to post again. Very busy round here at the moment (had my Uni graduation ceremony today and moving house in a few days), so i've only got the time at the second to do a quick hello and will have to try to actually post some mp3s tomorrow.

Anyway holiday was fantastic, flew out to L.A. with my girlfriend and her parents, stayed in a hotel right by Universal Studios and had a great time. Also whilst in L.A. I went to Amoeba Records, which I hadn't heard of until one of the Drowned In Sound messageboard folks told me about it. Well turns out its probably the greatest record store i've ever seen in my entire life. Words cannot really describe how much of a blackhole it is for both time and money. Anyway I only had an hour, but my haul came to:

Afghan Whigs - Congregation
Afghan Whigs - What Jail Is Like EP
Belle & Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister
Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
Broken Social Scene - You Forgot It In People
Daniel Johnston - Artistic Vice
REM - New Adventures In Hi-Fi
Sonic Youth - Confusion Is Sex/Kill Yr. Idols
Sonic Youth - Washing Machine
Sufjan Stevens - Greetings From Michigan
Ultrasound - Everything Picture (limited 2cd version)

All those were on CD, and the following were on vinyl:

Antony & The Johnsons - I Am A Bird Now
Iron & Wine - Our Endless Numbered Days
Low - The Great Destroyer
Sleater Kinney - The Woods
Patti Smith - Dream Of Life
Patrick Wolf - Wind In The Wires

So some great stuff there (though a lot of it i've had on mp3 and loved for ages and only now picked up). Anyway after L.A. we drove to San Diego and stayed in a rather posh holiday resort for a few days, though annoyingly when we actually had time to relax the sun decided not to come out. After that we flew to Dallas, which was also really nice. The photo above is one of me suspiciously stood behind the fence at the grassy knoll, which was taken on a trip to the JFK museum at The Texas School-Book Depository Building. Really interesting, but rather bizarre in that I know have a photo of myself stood on the exact spot in the road at which the first bullet hit Kennedy. Morbid, yes. After Dallas we flew to Washington DC, which was far more interesting than I thought it would be (especially the monuments), though nowadays you can't go within about a mile of the white house without about 2 years waiting and permission from your congressman. Not that I'd want to go anywhere near the stinking cesspit at the moment....

Aaaanyway it's nice to be back in England, though slightly bizarre since most of the bombing stuff has happened while we were in America and you don't really get much unbiased, quality news broadcasting over there. As I said I'll be sticking up some new mp3s tomorrow as long as everything goes to plan, but until then i'll leave you with a few links.

(by the way, rather sadly,Teenage Kicks 3000, probably the best of the John Peel show blogs, has had to shut down, so cheers to Dave the blogmiester for doing such a great job while it lasted)

One great blog i've been checking out is Straight No Chaser - A Jazz Show, which has a great mix of classic and not so classic Jazz. Check out the recent post on Jazz covers of Nirvana for some "banging tunes" as I believe "the kids" call them nowadays. Also worth checking out is this rather amazing archive of concert photos. In the words of Flava Flav, "YEAH BOYEEE". And finally, Google Earth is just about the most addictive and interesting thing on the net for ages. TTFN.

London & Holiday

First of all just wanted to say if any Londoners are out there reading that here's hoping you and your friends/family are all doing okay after what happened today.

Also just posting to say i'm off on holiday tomorrow to Los Angeles, San Diego, Dallas and Washington D.C., and as I haven't got one of those new-fangled laptops I won't be posting any more updates until then. Please don't run away forever and delete me from your favourites, regular service will resume ASAP! Take care folks.

MP3: My Life Story / It's A Girl Thing & If You Can't Live Without Me Then Why Aren't You Dead Yet

Now My Life Story were a band that I never really got into when I used to hear them on the Evening Session (I particular remember It's A Girl Thing getting a lot of airplay), but that I'm gonna try to hear some more of now i've listened to some mp3s.

The My Life Story lineup I remember was Jake Shillingford (vocals/guitar), Paul Siepel (bass), Danny Turner (synthesisers), Simon Wray(drums), but that lineup might have just been for the third album. As far as I know those guys were the core members of the band which formed in Essex around 1993. However for the first two albums they toured and recorded as a 12 piece with lots of fun orchestra style stuff going on. First single 'Girl A, Girl B, Girl C' came out in 1994, and the band went on to support Pulp, Blur and Oasis before and during that lovely time known as the Britpop era. Debut album 'Mornington Crescent' came out later that year, and was followed by 'The Golden Mile' (1997) and 'Joined Up Talking' (2000).

Singles included: Home Sweet Zoo, Funny Ha Ha, You Don't Sparkle (In My Eyes), The Mornington Crescent Companion EP, 12 Reasons Why, The King Of Kissingdom, Strumpet, Duchess, It's A Girl Thing (the first mp3 below), Empire Line and Walk/Don't Walk. The second mp3 below is 'If You Can't Live Without Me Then Why Aren't You Dead Yet', which like 'It's A Girl Thing' was taken from their third and final album. The band sadly split in December 2000.

For more info you can check out the official site or this unofficial fan site, but the top of the pops for MLS info is Checkmate, An Unofficial Fan Site. Enjoy.

Download: It's A Girl Thing - MP3 3.6mb (rapidshare)
Download: If You Can't Live Without Me Then Why Aren't You Dead Yet - MP3 3.5mb (rapidshare)

MP3: Straw / Sailing Off The Edge Of The World & Entire Second Album

Here's a band that I wasn't really that keen on, but that had a really memorable single hit that gets played ever day in the shop I work at, despite the fact that they never had any real success and disappeared really fast, so I thought I would stick it up here.

Straw were a late-Britpop era band from Bristol who were signed to one major label, then dropped, then signed to Warner for a few EP's and their debut album, Shoplifting, and were then dropped before their newly recorded second album Keepsakes could even be released. They were then signed by Columbia, released a single, and were then dropped AGAIN before the same album could be released. Not an amazing band in my opinion, but certainly a blast from the past. Singles included: 4 Songs by Straw EP, Weird Superman, The Aeroplane Song, Moving To California, Shoplifting, Soundtrack Of The Summer and the Homework EP.

Anyway for a contemporary interview see here, and for just about everything else you could ever want to know about Straw look here.

Download: Sailing Off The Edge Of The World - MP3 3.5mb (rapidshare)

Humble apologies (soundtrack: Editors / The Back Room)

Hello folks. Just wanted to post to say sorry for not doing any substantial updates recently. Been bogged down with tons of stuff including sorting out stuff for my new flat ready for the move at the end of the month. Anyway i'm off on holiday on friday to L.A., San Diego, Dallas, Washington DC and Philadelphia (yes you should be jealous), but will try to stick at least two other legendary forgotten bands up before then so that I don't lose all of my loyal viewers whilst i'm not posting for two weeks. Anyway while i'm typing, here are some thoughts:

The Editors album, The Back Room, is rather good. I might get bored of it quick but on first listen sounds great.

My holiday will involved visiting this record store. Mahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

Why didn't I listen to Afghan Whigs before?

No Rock & Roll Fun is a rather great blog. Check it out.

I'm off to Nine Inch Nails & Saul Williams at Brixton tomorrow night, so let's hope its not cancelled last minute due to a band member having a headache or a slight pain in the finger.

Why does Sufjan Stevens make all other 'Christian music' seem shite?

How good is the recentish Iron & Wine EP 'Woman King'? It's very good. Indeed.

Rumour is that Martha Wainwright is supporting Nick Cave at Alexandra Palace, which should be rather great, but then makes me think I might not bother going to see her at the Wedgewood Rooms if it's true. Ho hum.

Revelation time: Bob Dylan was the man that voiced Roland the Rat. I posted about this on Drowned In Sound forum and recieved a mighty zero replies. Soon I shall post proof. Just you wait.

Anyway that's enough for now. Night.