Jodis - Black Curtain (Hydrahead)

Only given it one listen through but I am definitely buying this come payday at the end of the week.

Jodis feature one Mr James Plotkin who was in OLD (aka Old Lady Drivers). They were one of the weirdest bands on Earache back in the 90s.

I remember riding my bike doing my paper round listening to stuff like Marzuraan by OLD and liking it, but not quite getting it.



Years later I finally heard their final album, Formula, which was more trippy and almost like the Cocteau Twins or something.



Then, of course, came Khanate with the Southern Lord/Sunn folk. They were great too. Anyway, Jodis was the band Plotkin formed after the demise of Khanate. Was another bloke from Khanate (i think) and Aaron Turner from Hydrahead/Isis. For some reason I only briefly checked out their first album they did a few years back. I remember it being pretty harsh. And that's harsh compared with Khanate!

This is kind of more trippy. The reason for all the OLD stuff I posted at the beginning was that it kind of reminded me of Formula era OLD. It doesn't sound anything much like it. More the fact that it's kind of nicer sounding and vaguely musical but also still odd.

Onto the second listen now and it's definitely sounding like it's a keeper.

Oh, if you haven't heard, Hydrahead is going to be calling it a day. Read all the reasons here - http://hydraheadlines.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/the-imminent-demise-of-hydra-head.html. Shame as they were a great label. Definitely make sure you support them by buying their releases. They've got a ton of releases up on Bandcamp as well so get on it - http://hydrahead.bandcamp.com/

Slomatics - A Hocht

Was checking this out a while back but at that point you couldn't do a paid download. Now you can, so I'm telling you now to get it. I'll be getting it at the end of the week when I get paid.

This lot are from Belfast and play some stellar doom/stoner rock stuff. The folk behind Roadburn Festival put this out so you know it's going to be be top notch stuff

They've been plugging away for years and are grand lads. Saw them years ago in Leeds with Like A Kind Of Matador and then a few years later in Belfast with Gruel. Banging both times.

Definitely the real deal.

Mean Jeans - On Mars

Most of the stuff I post about is either skulls/death/brutality hardcore or chin-stroking electronic stuff.

Mean Jeans are the total polar opposite. Beer, pizza and Ramones.

Dead simple pop punk is surprisingly hard to do. Or I guess sit must be as there's a billion shitty 7"s littering sale boxes in record shops and free boxes in distros. Mean Jeans seem to have that little bit extra that makes it work.

Protestant - Reclamation (Halo Of Flies)

I approve of the name Halo Of Flies. A great song and a great band that named themselves after the song.

Protestant are kind of modern metallic d-beat hardcore stuff. Tragedy and all that kind of thing. Or Lounge Crust as some people I know call it.

Truss - Ganymede 12" (Perc)

The splendid PERC have a new release on their label. Given it a quick listen and it's sounding good. PERC have very high standards. Here's the blurb:-

Support from Surgeon, Objekt, Chris Liebing, Tommy Four Seven, Dave Clarke, Oliver Ho, Drumcell, Adam X, Xhin, Shifted, Motor, Sawf, Derek Plaslaiko, Chymera, Speedy J, Bas Mooy, Truncate and a shitload more.

Perc Trax’s Welsh born, London based acid wizard Truss returns after the success of his recent releases on Sigha’s Our Circula Sound imprint and his remix (in collaboration with Sigha) of Perc’s own ‘You Saw Me’.

‘Ganymede is Truss’ first Perc Trax outing since ‘Osbasten’ back in summer 2010 and from the outset demonstrates how far his sound has progressed. Fusing the attitude of classic early R&S with modern techno, he layers razor sharp hoover stabs over a heavily swung, bass-laden groove.

Remixes come from fast-rising Semantica/Horizontal Ground producer Skirt and label boss Perc. The former deepens the track, adding more atmospherics over the original’s broken beat kick, whilst Perc sharpens up the hoover stabs even more and adds layer upon layer of his trademark crushing metallic percussion.

Rounding off the EP is ‘Hackney’, a 4/4 jackin’ acid stomper, with a sound that is at the forefront of the current UK renaissance in stripped down, in-yer-face techno.

Army Of Flying Robots - Discography

Essential.

Last Shop Standing

Last Shop Standing is a documentary film to be released on September 10th 2012.

Last Shop Standing inspired by the book of the same name by Graham Jones takes you behind the counter to discover why nearly 2000 record shops have already disappeared across the UK. The film charts the rapid rise of record shops in the 1960's, 70's and 80's, the influence of the chart, the underhand deals, the demise of vinyl and rise of the CD as well as new technologies. Where did it all go wrong? Why were 3 shops a week closing? Will we be left with no record shops with the continuing rise of downloading? Hear from over 20 record shop owners and music industry leaders as well as musicians including Paul Weller, Johnny Marr, Norman Cook, Billy Bragg, Nerina Pallot, Richard Hawley and Clint Boon as they all tell us how the shops became and still are a part of their own musical education, a place to cherish and discover new bands and new music.

http://www.lastshopstanding.com/

Got the book for Christmas the other year and it's a great, if very depressing, read.

I love record shops. Scary to think just how much money I've spent in them. I've got shelves and shelves and boxes and boxes of records to show for it though.

And, as the trailer states, record shops are great for finding out about new stuff, getting recommendations, chatting and all the rest of it. It'd suck if you couldn't turn up in town you've never been to and check the record shop out.

I reckon it'd genuinely be disastrous if record shops died.

Which is why I can't understand why record shops don't sell downloads. Already touched on the idea in this post about Rough Trade but it's worth repeating.

A record shop is somewhere where you go and buy music. In ye olden days before records you'd have bought sheet music. Then it would have been 78s and then onwards to vinyl, 8 tracks, reel to reel, cassette tapes, CDs and whatever else you could stick music on.

So why is the thought of selling a piece of card with a download code printed on it so inconceivable?

New 7"s in shops are now between £4 and £7 which is quite a lot. Wouldn't it be great if you could get several singles for a tenner? Well you could with download cards. For a couple of quid people are more likely to take a punt on something they haven't heard before.

I can't think of one single idea why it would be a bad thing.

You only need to look at the itunes store wikipedia page to see the ridiculous amount of money they're making. Biggest music store in the world now, apparently.

Blows apart any argument about people not being willing to pay for digital stuff.

Could you imagine a music shop in the 60s and 70s that refused to sell vinyl or one in the 90s that refused to sell CDs?

Vilipend - Inamorata (A389)

First heard this because the folk over at Elementary Revolt compared them to Deadguy, Kiss It Goodbye and Botch. It's definitely in that ball park sonically. Obviously they're not quite as good as those bands. Honestly, if you managed to combine those bands and make even better music then you'd probably instantly become my favourite band of all time. It's unfair to judge any band by that standard.

Repeated listens have changed my opinion on them though. First listen I thought it was alright, not too bad. Slowly but surely repeated listens have made me think that actually this is some pretty killer stuff.

It's definitely more Botch than KIG/Deadguy. I could well imagine this having come out on Hydrahead.

I mean, these guys can really play their instruments. They don't wank off into a noodlefest but it's subtly there. Just occasional tasteful flourishes. More importantly, it's really well structured. It moves and shifts and does stuff.

The more I think about it the more I think of Botch. The tone of the guitars, the tempo shifts and the kind of discordant riffs used.

At this point their still students of Botch. But they're students that have got an A* in their exams. It's definitely something you should check out. The more I listen to it, the more I enjoy it. And definitely keep an eye out for them in the future. There's the seeds of a band may well truly smash their way into the level of the aforementioned trio of bands. Here's in hoping.

Pick Your Side - Let Me Show You How Democracy Works (A389)

When I first heard this my immediate thought was that it sounded a hell of a lot like Haymaker. Turns out it's ex-Haymaker. Also ex a bunch of those other Canadian bands like Left For Dead and Chokehold.

Like Haymaker, it's some weird mid-point between 80s hardcore stuff and moronic mosh metal but somehow turning out awesome.

It will make you want to kill people.

It won't show you how democracy works though. Like Haymaker before them the lyrics are pretty stupid and childish. But, y'know, it's a punk record. Who cares.

And yeah, the artwork is fucking shit.

The music, though. The music is good.

Mark Fell - Sentielle Objectif Actualite (Editions Mego)

Bought this from Boomkat this morning. Go get it here - http://boomkat.com/downloads/550998-mark-fell-sentielle-objectif-actualit

This is Mark Fell who is one half of SND who've put plenty of stuff out on Mille Plateux and Raster Noton. We're talking super chin scratchy abstract electronic stuff. With this project he's gone a bit more house.

According to Resident Advisor:- The package centres on remixes of the three 12-inch singles so far (3.333... should drop shortly) on Sensate Focus, the Editions Mego sub-label set-up at the start of 2012 to house off-kilter house explorations from the Snd member. While traditional genre tropes were fully utilized on the recordings, Fell tampered heavily with house's rhythmic structure to evoke "slightly unusual beats," sounded out by Roland drum machines and the like.

And yes, even by underground house standards this is "unusual".

It has a really nice effect though. You get the clinical, cerebral Raster Noton thing but with nice washes of sound and hints of an actual tune. Definitely something for repeated listens.