Tag: music
Two things I hold to be true: Dan Franklin is an enthusiastic, knowledgeable and insightful writer. And the dissertation format is not the best application of his talents. More…
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In other news, I really like the new track from black midi; more melodic without sacrificing their knack for jagged rhythms #video
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So I actually finished this one some time in mid to late 2021, having read it on and off, here and there, since… what Goodreads tells me was April 2018. Being an oral history, it’s the kind of book that lends itself to that kind of dipping in and out of the story. It’s a record of a very different time, but also a reminder that the more things change, the more they stay the same. More…
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Better 500 days late than never: it’s episode 31 of Enlarged Heart Radio, now streaming with another hour of interesting sounds for your ears. More…
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It’s about time: episode 30 of Enlarged Heart Radio is now streaming with a new hour (and a bit) of interesting sounds for your ears. More…
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Mutations is right, as Sam McPheeters’ collected essays shapeshift between wry criticism, wistful but not rose-tinted reminiscences, self-excoriations and determined opinions on any number of topics: consumer culture, scene politics, the worth of art. It concludes on a rueful note, with a vignette from the early Noughties on the closing of a longstanding record pressing plant that’s by happenstance a treasure trove of US independent punk history, one read some 17-odd years later with the keen understanding of a contemporary vinyl revival that has made little room for the small labels that kept the format breathing when there’s some bullshit classic rock reissue to put out or whatever. More…
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I went by the manufacturer’s guidance when I set up my turntable earlier this year, but this will probably come in handy in future. #link
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The National Concert Hall Gamelan Orchestra (I didn’t even know we had one, but there we are!) in a special performance for the socially distanced Hotter than July festival. (I’d prefer if it were strictly instrumental but that’s just me.) #video
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When I first learned what this story of Mark Lanegan’s early years in music would entail, I couldn’t help but think of Bob Mould’s own autobiography, See A Little Light, and all of its recriminations and petty swipes at his ex-bandmates in Hüsker Dü. But at least I can understand Mould’s bitterness, if not accept or agree with it, because it comes from a place of passion — a band that he and his former musical compadres wanted to be in, music they wanted to make, and then life and its complication sours the milk. More…
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Missed this earlier in the month: Container’s set on 7 April for The Quarantine Concerts. #video
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Basic stuff, here, but I’ve got a few dirty LPs in need of a scrub and it’s worth saving this for reference. #link
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Weird music for weird times: episode 29 of Enlarged Heart Radio is now streaming with a new hour of interesting sounds for your ears. More…
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Back to a monthly schedule for these, I think. More…
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Surveying the sizeable discography of the shape-shifting combo; my favourite is their second LP, History Is What’s Happening. #link
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So, a week fairly busy with content management, and a new edition of Enlarged Heart Radio, besides moaning online about missing parcels in the post. And as I sit here and contemplate the previous days, I mostly have thoughts about the arts. More…
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Delayed from the holidays by illness and life in general, Episode 28 of Enlarged Heart Radio is finally here with another hour of interesting sounds for your ears. I’m still getting the hang of mixing down so you may need to turn this one up. More…
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Feeling mostly ill and cold and tired: the last four weeks in a nutshell. More…
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Technically it’s four weeks since my last one of these, not quite a month, but there’s no shorthand for ‘four weeks’ so m/e it is. More…
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It’s only been a couple of weeks since the last one but Episode 27 of Enlarged Heart Radio is already here with another hour of interesting sounds for your ears. More…
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Enlarged Heart Radio is back! Episode 26 has another hour of interesting sounds for your ears. More…
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This sudden change of seasons hasn’t been great for my health the last couple of weeks. And it is most definitely a new season: winter in Ireland starts in November and don’t let anyone ever tell you different. More…
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Quite a busy, three-city week to start the fortnight just gone. More…
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Here’s a genuinely heartwarming tale of triumph against the odds (and the music is great, too). #link
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So I let a month go by. That’s why I went with ‘weaknotes’, after all. Bullet points required here, I think — just the highlights, the most remarkable that I didn’t already tweet or blog. Here we go. More…
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A semi-DIY, part-cardboard drum machine that promises to be “super affordable”? I’m interested. Let’s see when the crowdfunding campaign launches. #link
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The man in the van with a bass in his hand goes deep on his relations to the world around him. #link
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This album came out today and it’s brilliant stuff. I don’t know what it’s doing on Relapse Records but that’s not a complaint. #link
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It’s bad enough that music is missing the richness of metadata to give listeners context and background for recordings (streaming services don’t even come with high-res original artwork, for crying out loud) but when it means the artists themselves aren’t even getting paid? Well, we shouldn’t be so surprised; the music industry hasn’t been about supporting its artists for many years, if it ever was. #link
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A 1989 compilation of live and rare tracks from the then Blast First roster: Sonic Youth, Big Black, Butthole Surfers and more noisy miscreants. #video
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There I was thinking to myself, I wonder if anyone’s done a round-up of Weasel Walter’s multi-faceted musical catalogue? Of course they have, and props to Brad Cohan for a great one. Now, should I pitch something along the lines of ‘Weasel Walter’s No Wave picks’? #link
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“The vault fire was not, as UMG suggested, a minor mishap, a matter of a few tapes stuck in a musty warehouse. It was the biggest disaster in the history of the music business.” #link
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Fascinating to me, more for the concept than the execution. Who would’ve thunk Moby of all people pioneered hyper-speed machine drums? #link
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Just the ticket to beat these persistent winter blues. #link
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Just a short clip of Jawbox in rehearsals for their upcoming reunion tour. Which I won't be seeing. Sad face. #video
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Palm are my current music obsession. There isn’t much live footage of them on YouTube but the above is a great example of what they do. #video
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Back after another extended break, and just in time for Xmas, with more interesting sounds for your ears in Enlarged Heart Radio 25. More…
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I felt like I wasn’t the only one tempted to google ‘Cosey Fanni Tutti transphobia’ after reading this memoir, but aside from this Jezebel interview which raises the question, it doesn’t seem to have provoked much discussion. Perhaps that’s because in this particular instance, the Genesis P-Orridge depicted here is an enormous arsehole who doesn’t deserve the respect of being appropriately gendered, though it still feels like some level of disrespect to the trans community. One would really have to ask trans people how they feel about that. More…
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A really nice profile of a label I was only vaguely aware of before now. #link
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Jes Skolnik’s talk from this year’s MoPOP Pop Conference. #link
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Beautiful. More…
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Here it is, the first Meat Puppets song from the original lineup in over 23 years. Sounds like it’s from that era, too, with a touch of Up on the Sun psych in the solos. By the way, here's a bonus live set from June. #video
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Another blur of a month couple of months goes by, this time mostly busy with work, which is a good thing. You’ll never see me complaining about getting paid! More…
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I got a mini MIDI keyboard last Xmas precisely to mess around with SunVox and I’ve only just done so (it works great, as it happens). I want to treat myself to a cheap electric guitar this Xmas, too, and maybe one day soon I’ll have a free afternoon to make a track. #link
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“…I make do with what little downtime I have, even if it’s just eight hours a week of time to work on recordings at home or going to my practice space. I make those hours really count.” That puts me to shame. (Her new album is very good, of course.) #link
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Wire, performing songs from their classic first three albums live on German TV’s Rockpalast in 1979. #video
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Those of us who know, know; beyond us, Devo remain criminally underrated. #link
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Today Is The Day, Áine O’Dwyer, Gun Outfit and more in Enlarged Heart Radio 24. More…
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“Writing makes you not like yourself very much, I’m afraid. I think anyone would feel the same if they’d looked that deeply into themselves for a couple of years. I’m having to rebuild that now, my acceptance and liking of myself, because I’ve so examined myself from so many angles in such an unflattering way.” #link
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If this is what the new Low album (Double Negative, out in September) actually sounds like, it might be the best thing they’ve ever done. #video
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Tom Ewing, who used to run ILX, is incisive on online forums as a whole: “Left to its own devices, any online community, whether small or huge, will reflect the society it’s built in. Making something better takes effort and intervention.” #link
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