The Camden Crawl

I went on the Camden Crawl last night. I didn't managed to see all the bands I would have liked especially at the end of the night slot which saw The Wedding Present, The Subways and The Buzzcocks competeing against each other.

We started in Lock 17 where we saw Art Brut. I found them entertaining without liking them although they did close their set with the best two songs they have got, "We Formed A Band" and "I've Got A New Girlfriend".

Next off we tried to see the Mystery Jets but could not get in. We ended up at the Canaervan Castle to see The Kooks. They reminded me of The Stairs with their retro pop but without the class. At least their girlfriends enjoyed the set, bopping away at the front. We then proceeded to walk the length of Camden to get to the Koko. We popped in to the Ballroom to see the frankly awful Motley Crue wannabees The Towers Of London. I stomached two songs before we exited stage left.

At The Koko we caught the last four songs of Maximo Park's set. They were excellent. Do yourself as favour and pick up their "Apply Some Pressure" single which is out now. The next band on were The Magic Numbers. I have really had enough of these folky inspired bands. What makes me laugh is watching people, hooked by the hype, forcing themselves to like them. Yet if they heard The Mamas & Papas they would turn their noses up. People The Magic Numbers are the Mamas & Papas for gawds sake! That said the new single, the title of which escaped me, was pleasant enough but in general I, along with those I was with, were not impressed and we made our way back down Camden High Street.

The Canaervan castle was rammed so that ruled out The Subways so we headed back to Lock 17 to see a glorious set by The Wedding Present. Hopefully you all know, that with the exception of Gedge, this line up bears no resemblance to the classic line up of old and is in fact the last line-up of Cinerama. However don't let that detract from what was a mighty performance. As well as new material the band played "Kennedy", "My Favourite Dress" and more surprisngly "Once More" which was the bands debut from 20 years ago. I have to say though that the mosh pit consisted of the oldest moshers I have ever seen and I was lucky to dodge the zimmer frames. Absolutely fantastic and I will have to get some tickets for the current tour.

Overall a good night!

Active Restraint

In future I will be posting the tracks of the week I have featured previously on the main website in this blog. Active Restraint were the forerunners of the Mighty Lemon Drops. These tracks come from the bands unreleased second single which was due for release around 1982/83.

Active Restraint - Head First
Active Restraint - The Other Side
Active Restraint - Out Of Hand

These files are hosted on Rapidshare. This enables me to post more tracks and free up bandwidth on my hosting companies server. To download click on the link above. This will open a page in a new window. Scroll down to the comparison table between the free and premium services table. In the last row (download type) click on Free. This opens another page. Scroll down to the bottom and you will see Download Ticket Reserved and XX seconds. When the seconds countdown to 0 you will get a download link to click on. You can then save the file in the normal way depending on your browser.

The Lucksmiths - New EP

It's late and I am tired. Luckily I am listening to the new EP by Australian band, The Lucksmiths. Titled "The Chapter in Your Life Entitled San Francisco", it's calm & gentle sounds will put me in the land of nod very shortly. The press release goes as such:

Triumphant return of Australian trio The Lucksmiths with an exceptional new EP and the band's first release since 'A Little Distraction' in 2003. Lead track 'The Chapter In Your Life Entitled San Francisco' is taken from the forthcoming album 'Warmer Corners' scheduled for April release and is one of those summery Lucksmiths pop hits with clever lyrics, tambourines, organ and strings. The EP also features three non-album tracks exclusive to this release - 'Young And Dumb' is a lighthearted tune with a great chorus, 'The Winter Proper' a melancholy piano rich song that captures the season perfectly, and 'I Started A Joke' a brilliantly understated cover of the adored Bee Gees' classic. Limited to 1000 copies in custom minijacket sleeve. Watch for US dates in support of the single and album in April and May.

The Kills

The record comapnies are running scared of mp3 blogs. They have shut some down despite not getting the connection between being exposed to music you have not heard before (and not likely to either) via mp3 blogs and then helping the industry by purchasing said music if you like it. Well I do and I am sure many others do as well. Who wants an mp3 when you can have a CD or vinyl copy? Talk about ostriches with their head stuck firmly in the ground - Home Taping Is Killing Music - yeah too right it did - not! Why do I mention this? Well it seems some are embracing the blogs rather than trying to shut down the hands that feed them. Like this e-mail I received:

I just wanted to let you know about an unreleased Kills MP3 we've come across. Universal Records has hired Drillteam Media, Insound's sister company, to do the online marketing for the Kills' upcoming album 'No Wow.' I myself work primarily with Insound although I help out a bit with Drillteam's music projects. In any case, through this marketing project for The Kills we've gotten a hold of an unreleased Kills track, "Run Home Slow" (it'll eventually be a B-side on the Japanese version of 'No Wow').

I just thought this might interest you since the track isn't readily available. But just so you know I've sent the track to some blogs already so I'm not sure who or when it will be posted elsewhere. So feel free to post it, pass it along, or just check it out for yourself. Also attached is the album artwork for 'No Wow.'

So here it is then and thanks for and to, common sense.

The Kills - Run Home Slow

RIAA Sues Dead Grandmother

That's right. The moral guardians of audio, the RIAA, who have previously sued a 12 year old girl have now sued an 83 year old grandmother for being a music sharing pirate. The one snag is that the lady in question is deceased. The RIAA say file sharers are evil - well at least they are not lowlife who are beneath contempt as this story shows.

More Heads In The Sand

The excellent Chips & Cookies has been forced to close by the IFPI Belgium. Seems the music industry is stepping up it's attacks on mp3 blogs.

Chips and Cookies did not actually post any music. The blog creator posted links to music collections posted on servers. I am sure I remember a case in Sweden where the court ruled that it was not illegal to do this as the person being tried could not be held reponsible what others placed on the net.

It's a shame as I came across music I was unlikely to hear via Chips & Cookies and yes I did purchase the CD's of the ones I liked. As I have stated before I think there are conections between mp3 blogs and buying music but according to the labels and those who represent them there is not. Well considering sales of singles in the UK are at an all time high despite the digital revolution I would say this disproves their theory.

Any thoughts?

The Rumble Strips

The Rumble Strips are a London based band although their members are Devon born and bred.

Lost Music compares them to Dexy's Midnight Runners and I can see the link. They also remind me of Courdroy United, a band on the Swedish Labrador label. I downloaded a couple of their tracks with "Hate Me" being my favourite. It's good to see a band not constrained by a bass, guitar and drums as the trumpet/sax certainly breath life into the songs. The band certainly have a get up and go drive about them.

The Rumble Strips - Hate Me

Head over to their site to download four more excellent, high quality mp3 tracks.