Northern Exposure and Southern Clubs

Another name adds itself to the Loudhailer roster this week in the shape of The Elwins. From Canada the band are gearing up to release their first single and album in the UK via Shellshock later in the year and are planning a visit to the UK to coincide with that first burst of activity around May time. More to follow here as plans firm up but a welcome addition to the gang given their penchant for perfect pop songs and wry humour that reminds me of some of my favourite mid 80s bands. For now you can get ahead of the pack by visiting their website.

The Elwins will be playing SxSW this year along with a few more of the roster. I haven't had the opportunity to go to Austin for a few years but I have fond memories of past visits; Elbow supporting The Black Crowes may not be the most obvious double bill but was one hell of a night at Stubbs, still my favourite Austin venue, The White Stripes in the back of a pool hall was a life changer and The Polyphonic Spree's rampage across the city demonstrated how to seize the agenda in five short days.

One of the Loudhailer mob already making massive waves in the USA are The Joy Formidable. Just released album 'Wolf's Law' has racked up the positives in reviews terms on both sides of the Atlantic and it is nice to see critics note the progression from the debut album. Ritzy, Rhydian and Matt represent many of the values I recognise in a truly great band; a desire to push their art to the limit on each recording, a willingness to try and engage with the wider world in their themes and lyrics, a healthy disdain for the shortcuts that sometimes deliver fame more quickly (if only fleetingly). With reports from friends in the UK regions suggesting that they have returned for their UK dates in even more imperial form than I remember it is somewhat annoying that current commitments don't allow me to make a jaunt to one of the shows in my native North. As with many I guess I will just have to wait for the Roundhouse show on 8th March to see the band in full flight but it seems a hell of a long way away at the moment. Their Cardiff show tonight is almost guaranteed to be a stormer. If you are going, much envy from this direction.

Presents continue to drop into my world. As I was writing this the latest version of the new Night Engine video for 'Seventeen' dropped into my inbox. I can't overstate how excited I remain about this lot. Back in the early days of last year I went to a rehearsal in Putney and ever since I have been imagining a world in which their music takes over. Being old enough to have seen that happen with bands more than once I figure I have as good an assessment of how that can take place as the next man. Of course it really isn't vital that they achieve the immediate uplift of the Strokes or Roses before them but they tick many of the same boxes; running counter to the prevailing wind, completely sure in themselves of what they are doing, already possessed of a band culture created from not just their music but an overall world view and, in each member, containing personalities and abilities that far outweigh many of 'minimum requirements' for a successful band. All that aside though, 'Seventeen' makes me want to dance and the unreleased as yet 'On And On' comes with a chorus that stirs my heart in a way akin to Blake's visions . If you haven't already I would suggest spending a few minutes listening to some of their music, which can be found here.

As ever there is much more going on here than the above. From last week's post if you haven't searched out Balthazar you really should, back in the UK on tour with Local Natives in February, all dates and more info here, Golden Fable, who are increasingly owning the blogosphere are on the road through February with details here and Dark Flowers turned up on The Quietus for a wonderful Q & A which gives a lot more insight into their 'Radioland' album which can be read here alongside picking up a lovely album review from Rob Fitzpatrick in this month's Q.

The week's question for me has revolved around how to regenerate the sense of excitement in music. The whispers of festival headliners led me to think about how we have now completely lost the sense of division in music and how that is making the progress of new bands far more difficult than it once was. To add to that The Rolling Stones popped up in the NME Awards list. I may be a big fan of the band (well, up to and including 'Goats Head Soup') but there is something that doesn't quite sit right for me in their inclusion.

We seem to have removed all the barriers that once allowed progression for artists from their beginnings to mass acceptance via a series of steps. Thinking back to The Beatles much of their initial appeal to kids was the very fact that the establishment, forever embodied in the person of the Decca A & R who rejected signing them, thought their music was faddish and destined to disappear as fast as it had appeared. Living in a world where any new artist, however controversial (see OFWKTA as the most extreme recent example) gains critical acceptance and scrutiny at the outset from the broadsheets alongside the more expected likes of NME and music sites has led to a new world in which the old dividers of 'grandads' not being welcome at shows had vanished. It sometimes feels like our generation won't let go of the zeitgeist and the cynic in me feels that we often repackage 'our' version of great music and sell it on to the new generation by controlling the media agenda, leading to a repetition of musical norms that have now become so cliched as to be almost meaningless. As a writer said to me last week 'is 'Band takes drugs' really that much of s atory anymore?'. It would seem it is if you scan the coverage of some of the new names for 2013.

Can music really be cutting edge when it is being discussed by a 40 something writer to a 40 something audience and is based on rock 'n' roll conventions that have been around since the late 60's? Would NWA have carried the same menace had The Times interviewed them rather than been appalled by them on the release of 'Straight Outta Compton'? I am not necessarily a subscriber to the whole 'teen dream' approach to popular music but I did feel my heart sink a little last year at a Savages show when I realised that I wasn't in the minority as a 40 something audience member. You could argue its a desire to retain an old way of being but I miss the sense of a youth driven and youth exclusive culture that pisses off older people in the main. And, yes, I realise I wouldn't be invited were it to happen.....

Hooks, Rats And Sinking. Plus something of the Night

A New Year brings a new start to the blog and a resolution to make sure it is actually updated every Friday afternoon, work permitting. It will happen ;-)

New Year's bring new things generally in our artificial music world. Bands that were signed in April of last year have been held in captivity in order to ensure their appearance in the Sound of 2013 list and so, as every year, we have a plethora of 'new' acts to enjoy. Co-incidentally Loudhailer has taken on a few new things of its own for this bizarre sounding year (2013 just doesn't look right to me on the page, possibly superstition coming from a family where hanging out the washing on New Year's Day was a no-no as you will 'wash someone out of the family before the year is over').

Two of these new contenders played London this week and a good time was undoubtedly had by all who saw them. They are as alike as an orange and an apple but there you go, I always did hate mono-rosters.

Wednesday was the first night out post New Year when Balthazar played a sold out Lexington. Their second album, 'Rats', which is, somewhat confusingly their debut UK release comes out on Feb 25th and they tour with Local Natives in February but it was a pleasure to see a full show from them in the company of Edith Bowman (a big fan) and Gary Lightbody amongst others. Channeling a Gainsbourg spirit but creating a modern groove based chanson the album has that Loudhailer defining quality of being a complete body of work rather than a few songs chucked together and was undoubtedly a big favourite on the Jamieson stereo over Christmas. The show was no departure, building an atmosphere of intensity that grew throughout to the final note. This is probably not something I should do with the album not being out but here's a link to 'Sinking Ship', my favourite track from the album and, hopefully, a post album single.



Last night was a return Northwards to see Velcro Hooks play Artrocker's New Blood Festival. I first saw them last year at a Howling Owl night that Towns played. They were a revelation. I won't easily forget walking in to a packed room at 830 and spending half an hour transfixed by this transmission of the spirit of Pixies channeling Television, Sex Pistols and who knows what else (but most of it noisy and off kilter). To have them on the roster is a big honour and I truly believe that, along with Towns, they will put not just Howling Owl but Bristol on the map. They also have the best 'how we formed' story I have ever heard which involves Guatemala, moustaches, Canadian fishing boats and more. But more of that soon. For now, enjoy the genius of 'Girlfren' from last year's sold out 'Gymnophoria' Ep and already something of a live legend.More soon on this, if you don't have the EP you really are missing out.



The third of the new generation actually got moving at the close of 2012. Night Engine's rise to prominence is suprising even me, which shouldn't really be the case I suppose. Or at least I shouldn't be saying that but there you go. We knew they had tunes and we knew they were clear what they wanted to do, what we didn't bank on was two pages in The Guardian as a tip for 2013, a sold out London debut show last year and reams and reams of online coverage marking them as ones to watch for this year. Not that we're complaining and not that we don't think its deserved. If you caught 'I'll Make It Worth Your While' last year on its journey around the web then you'll know why there's the fuss but the debut single drops 18th February and The Borderline headline follows on the 20th so very exciting times. If you missed it, here's a link to the Guardian piece

and here is 'I'll Make It Worth Your While' for your listening pleasure




Aside from Loudhailer stuff and noting that The Joy Formidable's 'Wolf's Law' album is getting the great reviews it deserves, Glasvegas plans for their album are shaping up nicely and Editors are back in the studio there has been much of interest already in 2013, not all of it happy.

When I first started buying records, HMV was my destination of choice. It felt more real than Our Price and Virgin, probably as a result of the heritage and the staff (at least in the Preston and Blackpool stores) knew about music. I still have a set of Bauhaus albums bought there with Christmas money in 1983 in their protective plastic sleeves. It's demise should be a source of sadness for me but I just can't get there. Watching my brother work for ten years at first the Cardiff store and then the Preston store and become increasingly disillusioned with the way it was being run didn't help. Managing Larrikin Love and being told that their local store had taken 6 copies of the debut single (which sold out in one hour and weren't restocked until the Monday following) definitely added to it. Walking into the Oxford St store last year and being overwhelmed by an immediate urge to go to Fopp or Rough Trade or anywhere nearly sealed the deal. Then being told I couldn't try a pair of noise cancelling headphones (£250) at the London Victoria store and would need to go to 'a bigger store' did it. Run down by bean counters, deprived of genuine music lovers within its staff, chopped and changed from a music store to an entertainment store to an entertainment conglomerate it shared many of its problems with the labels that serviced it; out of touch management living in the past assuming that because they had always been there they were untouchable. Now, like those labels, they are toast. That's capitalism. Here's hoping that the space created is filled by real music stores staffed by people who give a shit and know what they are talking about. In the meantime this excellent piece by Bob Stanley, a year old though it is, says it all. Thought - music once drove fashion, currently fashion drives music. That's what we have to change.


Christmas was an excellent (and rare) opportunity to read. CJ Sansom's Shardlake series now has me hooked. As does his other, non medieval novel, 'Winter In Madrid'. As a fan of Faulks and Carlos Ruiz Zafon he could have been made for me. One of the fascinating things about his Shardlake series, set in Tudor England, is the constant feeling that the nature of power and those who wield it has never changed, nor will it. If you like a decent 600 page cleverly written but readable novel then give it a go. And if you happen to work for a tv or film company surely this is made for an adaptation. Beats the living shit out of Mr Selfridge anyhow (which is possibly the biggest piece of dross I've sat through in some time).