No Age

They were right.

So lets run down the checklist.

Guitar? Check.
Drums? Check.
Yep – That’s it. Just the two instruments.

No Age is a two-person noise pop group consisting of guitarist Randy Randall and drummer Dean Allen Spunt. The band is based in Los Angeles and currently signed to Sub Pop records. They take their name from the title of a 1987 SST Records instrumental compilation, which Spunt discovered while working at Aron’s, a record store in Los Angeles.

Their strong ties with the Los Angeles underground community centered around the Smell and their DIY ethic is a throwback to the 1980′s strong hardcore and punk underground, and, indeed, that inspiration shines through on much of their music.

They have released two full-length albums, toured extensively in support of them, and are strong advocates of the All-ages Movement Project, an organisation that connects youth to each other and the arts through independent music.

If the NO AGE stuff I have been listening to is indicative of what they do live, then this band are a sure bet to outgrow the Los Angeles underground scene and with their “take no prisoners attitude” get a wide spread and appreciative audience.

Highly Recommended

Manu Chao

Manu Chao is a great little find, he has been entertaining my head for a couple of months now.

He is a French Latin folk singer of French and Spanish (Basque/Galician) origin.  He moved to Paris as a very young child, when his parents decided to escape the dictatorship of Francisco Franco.

During the Eightie’s, Manu Chao experimented with a number of different genres of music, including punk and rockabilly, before starting his band Mano Negra with his brother Antoine and some friends. His “stage name” in Mano Negra was Oscar Tramor. Mano Negra played a combination of rock, punk, rockabilly, ska and Latin music, and became wildly popular in Europe and South America.

After the breakup of Mano Negra, Manu Chao began to perform as a solo artist. His music is even more experimental than that of Mano Negra, with an even heavier focus on Ska, Rai and Latin Music. He plays the guitar, and is usually accompanied by a band called Radio Bemba Sound System, which includes horns, keyboards and various world musical instruments.

Manu Chao’s lyrics touch on a variety of issues, from the mundane and even silly (“King of the Bongo”) to love, poverty and world politics. He sings in at least seven languages: French, Spanish, Portuguese, Galician, English, Arabic and Wolof, often in the same sound (you have to love compulsive over achievers).

Manu Chao is decidedly left-wing, politically, and is very critical of various governmental regimes around the world, including the Bush Administration.

From Youtube, Manu Chao – Welcome To Tijuana

Think Punk Afro Carribean with a really solid backing.

Recommended

Websites at www.manuchao.net/ and www.myspace.com/manuchao

Fall Out Boy are a Chicgao based pop punk act formed by Joseph Trohman and his friend Pete Wentz in 2001. Originally they were a heavy metal band, but soon moved on to a Green Day styled punk pop. Drummer Andrew Hurley of the metal-core band Racetraitor soon joined the band, and Patrick Stump joined after he introduced himself to Trohman at a Borders book store.

Huge Eighties sounding drums and even bigger guitars capture your attention in the first bar of “I Dont Care” and it doesn’t let up until the end. The anthemic chorus is a ripper, this is one of those audince participation songs that you can gaurantee everyone will know the words by the end of the second verse. Just like a good theme park ride you will get to the end of this song and immediately head back to the start and press play again (and again and again), it really is infectious.

The rest of the songs at their site are just samples, and they hint a something really good but the stone cold winner is “I Dont Care”

Recommended

Websites at www.falloutboyrock.com/ and www.myspace.com/falloutboy

This is about the Vivian Girls from New York NOT the Melbourne band (deceased around 2000? then resurrected as Flesh and Venom). It’s a bit weird really because both acts have a solid punk ethos at the core of their music.

Now let’s not kid around here, this isn’t “Idol” sanitised pop that they are playing, this band’s music veers towards discordant excess, no-nonsense songs full of noise but some really intriguing vocals and harmonies. So if you don’t like punk I would move along but if you feel that music is all getting a little tame checkout “Wild Eyes”, it has become a real favourite with it’s demented spaghetti-western feel.

The guitars and bass are great, but the drummer is just perfect, anchoring all this sound with a really solid feel. Have a listen to some live stuff I found at YouTube…

Though this band’s songs are short, there is a lot going on. They may play fast but they aren’t in a hurry.

Recommended for the more adventurous amongst you.

Website at www.myspace.com/viviangirlsnyc

I have to say Andy Moor is nothing less than eclectic. His tastes roam further out than mine. Yep you guessed it, it’s Hard Listening” time.

How hard I hear you ask? Well over at “Unsound Records” (great name by the by) there is a piece called “Ugandan Fly“. It’s basically a relentless guitar riff with some interesting washes and textures behind it. Needless to say I love it.

On his debut album “Marker”, Andy Moor wanders through a huge spectrum of unusual guitar styles and ends up with a pretty varied and challenging collection. We travel from melodic solo guitar pieces to atmospheric soundscapes, and chaotic flashes of raw sounds.

Here is some background…

Born in London England 1962 Andy began his musical life in Edinburgh, Scotland playing guitar with the band Dog Faced Hermans, a multi faceted eclectic group that mixed energetic post punk energy with traditional tunes and improvisations…. In 1990 he moved to the Netherlands after an invitation to join Dutch band The Ex and continues to be a full time member of this band….the openess and versatility of the musicians in this group has brought them into contact with many musicians from different scenes and backgrounds..including Tom Cora(cello), Han Bennink(drums), Wolter Wierbos(trombone), Djibril Diabate (kora) John Butcher (sax) and Anne james Chaton (sound poet) In 95 he performed his first series of completely improvised concerts as a duet with Terrie Ex, and later released a video of the best performances. In 1996 he began another group with Tony Buck (Necks), Joe Williamson and Leonid Soybelman (Ne Zhdali) called Kletka Red…fusing traditional Klezmer, Greek and Russian songs with their own frantic styles of playing

Here is a YouTube piece of performance he gave in Paris early this year

OK. Granted, Andy wont be to many peoples taste but I really like some of the ideas. It’s good to be reminded now and then that music covers a lot of ground.

Recommended to the adventurous

Websites at www.myspace.com/andymoortheex and www.unsounds.com/

I would so love to see these guy’s live. The hammered piano chords, an intense beat, and wailing punk vocals and harmonica. This is just captures you and doesn’t let go.

From their site….

• Titus Andronicus formed in the spring of 2005.
• Titus Andronicus sometimes disagree on what is the right thing to do.
• Titus Andronicus like to scream and carry on at excessive volume.
• Titus Andronicus like songs which are fast more than songs which are slow.
• Titus Andronicus think slow songs are okay sometimes.
• Titus Andronicus never sing about love, only hate.
• Titus Andronicus have no hope for the future.
• Titus Andronicus believe only in nothingness.
• Everyone in Titus Andronicus was born to die.
• Titus Andronicus crave your approval but will settle for your utter disdain.

Recommended

Websites at www.myspace.com/titusandronicus and titusandronicustheband.blogspot.com/

Those of you who saw “Spinal Tap will remember the priceless scene where Nigel is showing of his guitar and amp collection and tells Riener that the amp goes to eleven which is one more than ten and so it has to be louder because it one more than ten (Love your logic Nigel).

Well Nigel, you’re wrong. Today’s band is called “Times New Viking” and they use eleven as the opening bid and just get louder from that point on. Now trust me on this one, if loud thrashy distorted guitars and vocals aren’t your idea of a good time then “Move along please… nothing to see here” BUT if you are even a tad intrigued by border condition possibilities than I may have a band for you. Another of my “Hard Listening” bands.

Times New Viking is a lo-fi indie rock band from of Columbus, Ohio. The line up consists of guitarist Jared Phillips, drummer Adam Elliott, and Beth Murphy on keyboards. Murphy and Elliott share vocal duties. They are currently signed to Matador Records and were formerly signed to Siltbreeze Records. They have released three records: 2005′s Dig Yourself, 2007′s Present the Paisley Reich, and 2008′s Rip It Off, which NME gave an 8/10. They are notable for their very loud, rough sound.

Boy is that understatement, I will be honest and say I couldn’t live with this on the MP3 player for any great length of time but I do like what they are doing. I like that it is grungy and sounds distorted and DIY lofi.

In an age where perfection is available at the touch of a button, where “pretty” songs save TV the problem of dealing with emotional bit (they obviously missed the “picture worth a thousand words memo) a band like Times New Viking has a lot to say about popular music and they are writing pop songs. Take away the fuzz and distortion and there are some nice ideas in there and a couple of really great guitar hooks. Are they a “noise” band? Maybe? But I know that they are having a great time making music and that comes through in the performance. And beside I always like a band that classes themselves as “Other”

Matador Records has a free MP3 at www.matadorrecords.com/mpeg/times_new_viking/times_new_viking_drop-out.mp3

Worth a listen (at least one… go on… you know you want to)

Website at www.myspace.com/timesnewviking

Jools is currently hard at work on another project so I get to do today’s piece. And we are going to talk about guitars and a guitarist by the name of Rhys Chatham and the recently re-released “Guitar Trio“.
It comes in at around eight minutes long, and helped to establish Chatham’s manifesto of bringing punk’s intensity to avant-minimalism (or possibly that was the other way round). What you do is layer guitars on guitars and creating a hypnotic one-chord symphony/cacophony with rock solid drums and bass to give the the music it’s base to work from.

Granted this another one form the “hard listening” list but I think that even a casual listener can get something form this work. Head over to the MySpace site at www.myspace.com/rhyschatham and have a listen. The basic idea (as I see it) is that reducing it to the sound’s basic essence, normally hidden nuances begin to appear and these build and and grow and create something unplanned and chaotic. Everytime the piece is played it will be different.

Here is a cilp from Youtube…

After a number of years as a concert producer, I got tired of producing other people’s music. I had heard an early concert of the Ramones and was inspired by it, so I picked up electric guitar and made a composition called GUITAR TRIO in 1976/77 which combined the minimalist tendencies within which I had been working with a rock instrumentation and musicians.After working with 3 electric guitars, I upped the number to 6, and finally in 1989 to 100 electric guitars with a piece called AN ANGEL MOVES TOO FAST TO SEE, which I have been touring around the world with ever since. It was composed in France, where I had moved to that year. So I have been touring with an orchestra of 100 electric guitars for over 17 years now.

You will have to work a bit but it’s worth it… recommended

The band consists of Dave King: Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Bodhran, Dennis Casey: Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Vocals, Matthew Hensley: Accordion, Concertina, Piano, Vocals, Nathen Maxwell: Bass Guitar, Vocals, Bridget Regan: Violin, Tin Whistle, Classical Guitar, Uilleann Pipes, Vocals, Robert Schmidt: Mandolin, Mandola, Tenor Banjo, Five String Banjo, Vocals and George Schwindt: Drums, Percussion.

Founded in Los Angeles in 1997 by the expatriate King, Flogging Molly got its start and its name from a local bar called Molly Malone’s where the band played and grew and laid down the blueprint for its eventual success. As every member of Flogging Molly will emphatically explain, there were no predetermined expectations for the band’s sound. From night to night playing to a packed house at Molly Malone’s, the sound evolved organically. Traditional Celtic instruments like violin, mandolin and accordion blended seamlessly with grinding guitars and pounding drums. Without consciously attempting it, Flogging Molly merged the music of King’s childhood in Dublin with the music of his adulthood in L.A.

You can hear the influence of such musical stalwarts as the Pogues in their hard hitting vocals but unlike Shane, Irish born Dave King can sing and he belts out the tunes with great gusto. The seven piece band are all confident musicians who I think would be even better in the flesh. If they ever visit our sunny shores, I’ll be pogoing down the front.

Combining Irish folk rhythms with punk flavourings, you can’t go wrong with this lot. Great tunes, really good lyrics – the makings of the new folk tradition. With a fistful of albums under their collective arms, their newest “Float” is to be released in March. Meanwhile below is the video of “Drunken Lullubies” from the album by the same name.

On their MySpace site you can hear a number of tracks from a variety of their albums, my pick is “Requiem For A Dying Song”Artist: Flogging Molly
Website:www.floggingmolly.com
Track Name: Requiem For A Dying Song
Playback: flash
Download?: No

[UPDATE: May 2011] Flogging Molly at Sasquatch 2011

Have a listen to the bands’ awesome set recorded by NPR in May 2011. They really do get better & better

One of my favourite books is “The Difference Engine” by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling. The book is set in an era where steam power is still widely used, say, an alternate Victorian era England.  Steam won ,silicon never got a look in. (You really should read the book it’s a ripper).

Now if anyone ever makes a movie of this book have I found the band to do the sound track. Abney Park are a steampunk gothic industrial band from from Seattle, Washington.

Picture yourself walking down a Victorian London street, mist fills the ait, Holmes and Watson pursuing baddies across the road. You head down a steam filled alley and find a door to a private club filled with the flotsam and jetsam of the period and then the band fires up. The music drips steampunk flair and dark haunting sounds, eastern tones ring from steam powered guitars, the groove is entrancing and the voice of singer draws you into their collective conspiracy. Intrigued? Try Stigmata Martyr over at www.abneypark.com/ (or www.myspace.com/abneypark) and you will see what I mean.

I should add that the website is just gorgeous (I will have to try and convince Jools that we need another upgrade). Over at their website you can read about the backstory for the band. Yep a band with a backstory that includes zeppelins, the steam-powered guitars and some eastern influenced gypsy rock to round it off.

Here is the more prosaic stuff…

Abney Park was formed by Robert Brown in 1997. In 1998 they released their first full-length album Abney Park, and in 1999 they released Return to the Fire. Tracks from these two albums as well as a couple of new ones formed their third release, titled Cemetery Number 1. In the early years of Abney Park, the band featured a gothic musical and visual style.

In 2005, the band released Taxidermy, which is a collection of new versions of songs from past albums, three live tracks and two covers. In the same year, they started to change their visual style, from goth/industrial to a form of steampunk. In 2006 they released the album The Death of Tragedy. After the release, their line-up changed as well, with the departure of Traci Nemeth, Krysztof Nemeth and Rob Hazelton, replaced by Magdalene Veen, Jean-Paul Mayden and Nathaniel Johnstone. Shortly thereafter Jean-Paul departed the band to be replaced by Daniel C. As part of their transformation, Abney Park invented fictional identities of themselves, complete with a background story that describes the fictional history of the band as the crew of an airship named the Ophelia.

The Band

• Robert “Dread Captain Robert” Brown – Songs, Lead Vocals, Darbuka, Piloting
• Magdalene “Screaming” Veen – Songs, Couture, Vocals, Undulations, Infusionistics, Internauting, Protective Headgear
• Kristina “Angel” Erickson – Keyboards, Vocals, Navigation, Accounting, Skepticism
• Daniel “It Was Supposed To Explode” C – Bass, Gadgets, Gizmos, Flintlocks, and Fire Extinguishers
• Nathaniel “Two Sheds” Johnstone- Guitar, Violin, Stockroom, Doling Out the Shots (Drinkable and Otherwise)

This is a sample of what they do…