Worth The Wait

At last! 10th February sees The Crane Wife, the fourth full length from Portland, Oregons favourite literate indie-pop troupe get a UK release. God knows why its taken so long, it was released in October in the States! Rough Trade are putting it out over here. Pre-order it here.


The Decemberists - The Crane Wife
1. Crane Wife 3 [DOWNLOAD]
2. The Island
Come and See / The Landlord's Daughter / You'll Not Feel the Drowning
3. Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then) [DOWNLOAD]
4. O Valencia
5. The Perfect Crime 2
6. When The War Came
7. Shankhill Butchers
8. Summersong
9. Crane Wife 1 And 2
10. Sons And Daughters

WATCH >>>
The Decemberists - O Valencia [Live on The David Letterman Show]




Allmusic.com review
Colin Meloy and his brave Decemberists made the unlikely jump to a major label after 2005's excellent Picaresque, a move that surprised both longtime fans and detractors of the band. While it is difficult to imagine the suits at Capitol seeing dollar signs in the eyes of an accordion- and bouzouki-wielding, British folk-inspired collective from Portland, OR, that dresses in period Civil War outfits and has been known to cover Morrissey, it's hard to argue with what the Decemberists have wrought from their bounty. The Crane Wife is loosely based on a Japanese folk tale that concerns a crane, an arrow, a beautiful woman, and a whole lot of clandestine weaving. The record's spirited opener and namesake picks off almost exactly where Picaresque left off, building slowly off a simple folk melody before exploding into some serious Who power chords. This is the first indication that the band itself was ready to take the loosely ornate, reverb-heavy Decemberists sound to a new sonic level, or rather that producers Tucker Martine and Chris Walla were. On first listen, the tight, dry, and compressed production style sounds more like Queens of the Stone Age than Fairport Convention, but as The Crane Wife develops over its 60-plus minutes, a bigger picture appears. Meloy, who along with Destroyer's Dan Bejar has mastered the art of the North American English accent, has given himself over to early-'70s progressive rock with gleeful abandon, and while many of the tracks pale in comparison to those on Picaresque, the ones that succeed do so in the grandest of fashions. Fans of the group's Tain EP will find themselves drawn to "Island: Come and See/The Landlord's Daughter/You'll Not Feel the Drowning" and "The Crane Wife, Pts. 1 & 2," both of which are well over ten minutes long and feature some truly inspired moments that echo everyone from the Waterboys and R.E.M. to Deep Purple and Emerson, Lake & Palmer, while those who embrace the band's poppier side will flock around the winsome "Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then)," which relies heavily on the breathy delivery of Seattle singer/songwriter and part-time Decemberist Laura Veirs. Some cuts, like the English murder ballad "Shankill Butchers" and "Summersong" (the latter eerily reminiscent of Edie Brickell's "What I Am"), sound like outtakes from previous records, but by the time the listener arrives at the Donovan-esque (in a good way) closer, "Sons & Daughters," the less tasty bits of The Crane Wife seem a wee bit sweeter.

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Death Cab For Cutie - Bonnaroo Festival June 2006

I stumbled across this and thought i'd share the wealth. Its an audience recording but the quality is pretty damn good. If anyone reading this has a copy of the bands gig from Brixton Academy last year i'd love to hear it - just get in touch with me via myspace.

Death Cab For Cutie - Live Bonnaroo Festival 16/06/06
Tracklisting:
01. Passenger Seat
02. Different Names for the Same Thing
03. The New Year
04. We Laugh Indoors
05. Title And Registration
06. Soul Meets Body
07. Lowell, Ma
08. Crooked Teeth
09. Your Heart Is an Empty Room
10. A Movie Script Ending
11. Company Calls
12. What Sarah Said
13. I Will Follow You Into the Dark
14. We Looked Like Giants
15. The Sound of Settling
16. Transatlanticism

[DOWNLOAD]

Download The Good, The Bad & The Queen Live Track

Nature Springs (Live At The Tabernacle) - The Good, The Bad & The Queen [Download]

Watch a live set from Wilton's Music Hall in London.


www.myspace.com/thegoodthebadandthequeen
www.thegoodthebadandthequeen.com

Dylan Gets Deluxe Treatment

The classic Bob Dylan rockumentary, Don't Look Back, will be reissued on DVD with a bunch of extras in the 65 Tour Deluxe Edition.

D.A. Pennebaker (Monterey Pop, Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars) directed the original film, which followed Dylan on a 1965 British tour, and it was critically acclaimed for its inside look at the young singer/songwriter when it hit theatres in 1967. The new version has been digitally transferred from the original film, which also features Joan Baez, The Animals' Alan Price, Marianne Faithfull, Donovan and Dylan's manager, Alan Grossman. Pennebaker and Dylan tour manager Bob Neuwirth provide audio commentary.

The two-DVD package also includes Bob Dylan 65 Revisited, an hour-long film featuring previously unseen archival material, with commentary from Pennebaker and Neuwirth. The original 168-page 1968 companion book to the film, the theatrical trailer, a Pennebaker filmography, a Dylan discography, and cast and crew member biographies are also included along with collectible packaging.

A "Subterranean Homesick Blues" flip book, which provides a frame-by-frame look at what many people consider to be the first music video, is included along with an alternate version of the song's infamous cue-card sequence.

Docurama will release both the deluxe two-DVD set and the single-disc remastered version of the film on Feb. 27.

Pitch your questions to The Duke Spirit

The Duke Spirit are going to be making a short film in the coming weeks and one of the elements they'll be incorporating is a Question & Answer scenario...so if there's anything you'd like to find out about The Duke Spirit then send your question to duke.spirit@gmail.com or enter it as a comment on this blog or here.

For other Duke Spirit gubbins click here

New Shins Streaming via Myspace

The Shins excellent and long overdue new album Wincing The Night Away is now streaming via the bands myspace page here. The album will be officially released through Sub Pop on 29th January and is expected to send the band into the mainstream once and for all. Its been getting mixed reviews on the internets since its leak a few months ago but ill stand by it and say its their finest album to date. Its certainly not as instant as Chutes Too Narrow or Oh, Inverted World but worth sticking with for sure.

Tracklisting:
1. Sleeping Lessons
2. Australia
3. Pam Barry
4. Phantom Limb
5. Sea Legs
6. Red Rabbits
7. Turn On Me
8. Black Wave
9. Split Needles
10. Girl Sailor
11. Comet Appears

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Heres the video for the leading single "Phantom Limb"



Heres the band performing "New Slang" on Saturday Night Live

Death Cab For Download

Released on March 1st is Endless Highway, a tribute album dedicated to the music of The Band. Normally these things are pretty poor, and there is some crap on there - the Jack Johnson track is as drab as can be, but hey whats new. There are definately a few decent tracks worth checking out though, especially Death Cab For Cutie's take on "Rocking Chair" and "It Makes No Difference" performed by My Morning Jacket.

The full tracklisting is:

1. Wheel's on Fire - Guster
2. King Harvest - Bruce Hornsby,
3. It Makes No Difference - My Morning Jacket
4. I Shall Be Released - Jack Johnson
5. Weight - Lee Ann Womack
6. Chest Fever - Widespread Panic
7. Up on Cripple Creek - Gomez
8. Night They Drove Old Dixie Down - The Allman Brothers Band
9. Stage Fright - Steve Reynolds
10. Rag Mama Rag - Blues Traveler
11. Whispering Pines - Jakob Dylan, Lizz Wright
12. Acadian Driftwood - The Roches
13. Unfaithful Servant - Rosanne Cash
14. When I Paint My Masterpiece - Josh Turner
15. Life Is a Carnival - Trevor Hall
16. Look out Cleveland - Jackie Greene
17. Rockin' Chair - Death Cab for Cutie

Download the Death Cab For Cutie track here

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Bob Dylan & The Band - Like A Rolling Stone (1966)

Covered In Love

I meant to post this before Christmas but never got round to it...

The mighty Duke Spirit are back. Well, sort of. Until the new album surfaces at some point this year we can make do with a four track EP of cover versions of recently departed good spirits. The band recorded the tracks in Somerset during October of last year. The tracks are: Desmond Dekker's '007 (Shanty Town)'; Jessie Mae Hemphill’s ‘I’m So Glad’ and two Tracks by Love 'A House Is Not A Motel' & 'A Message To A Pretty'.

Its available as an exclusive download on Rough Trades website priced at £2.99. You can stream the tracks via the bands myspace page www.myspace.com/thedukespirit

So far no details have been revealed about the new album, though back in September 2005 Leila told me the demos had a definite Stax feel to them. The bands website is currently under reconstruction so hopefully when its back up some news will also be posted. After checking the website of Loog records I notice that The Duke Spirit have been taken off their artists roster. I'm speculating here but I have a feeling that the new album may come out on Bella Union, the label run by the bands close friend and producer of the debut album, Simon Raymonde (ex-Cocteau Twins bass player ). Wishful thinking maybe but Bella Unions list of bands is amazing (Midlake, The Howling Bells, My Latest Novel, Fionn Regan, Explosions In The Sky to name just a few) and the Spirit would fit nicely in there dont you think?

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Download a live session from The Duke Spirit from Seattle radio station KEXP - Recorded last year whilst the group were in America.

The version of Win Your Love is stunning.

Songs played:
Love Is An Unfamiliar Name
Hello To The Floor
Interview
Win Your Game
Love Is An Unfamiliar Name

Right click and choose save-as. [DOWNLOAD]

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The Duke Spirit - Love Is An Unfamiliar Name

Loney, Dear - Loney, Noir

Sub Pop have struck gold in their recent signing. Loney, Dear or Emil Svanängen as he's known to his friends will release his fourth album Loney, Noir through the label on February 6th.

His music has been described as soulful indie folk with a powerful mini orchestra. Layer upon layer, adding instrumentation and vocals, these songs seem to bloom like time-lapse photography, depicting glimpsed scenes of modern disaffection and timeless yearning. Loney, Noir is at once effervescent and resigned, exhilarating and melancholy, joyous and confessional.

Preview tracks from the album below. Plus, as an extra treat watch a live performance of The City, The Airport from last years equally brilliant Sologne.

Loney, Dear - I Am John
Loney, Dear - Hard Days
Loney, Dear - I Will Call You Lover Again
Loney, Dear - I Am The Odd One

"The City, The Airport"
I'd just like to add that after watching the below video I now have a king size crush on the cute Backing Vocalist...

The Hold Steady - Boys And Girls In America

Currently on extreme heavy rotation on my ipod is The Hold Steady's third album Boys And Girls In America. It took a while to sink in (6 months to be precise) but my god it was worth it. Friend of Line Of Best Fit Richard Hughes reviewed it over here.

The band are jetting over to the UK for a brief tour in February.

Feb 13th Manchester Night & Day (Club Fandango)
Feb 14th Glasgow Cathouse
Feb 15th Hoxton Bar And Grill SOLD OUT
Feb 16th Club NME @ Camden Koko
Feb 17th London Borderline
Feb 18th London Borderline

These guys have a fabulous live reputation so seeing them in such an intimate venue as the Borderline should be a real treat.

Stream the album here.

Welcome Back

Hi and a happy 2007 to all of you. Admittedly a slight delay in getting this thing back up and running after christmas. This is mainly due to my Mac breaking down thus losing EVERYTHING, having a stomach bug, but mainly just enjoying being a Dad. Anyhoo, there are a couple of things worthy of a post so here goes.

First off, Wilco have finally given a release date for their new album. According to frontman Jeff Tweedy the title is "Sky Blue Sky" and will be released on May 15th. I'll post more news on this as I get it but so far track titles include; "On and On and On," " The Thanks I Get" "Walkin'," "Impossible Germany," "What Light," "Let's Fight," "Either Way" "Let's Not Get Carried Away," "You are my face," "Patient with Me", "Sky blue Sky," "Shake it Off," and "Side With the Seeds." The bands drummer, Glenn Kotche has said that some of the new songs were written on the spot in the studio by the band as a whole, as opposed to Tweedy fleshing out the song and bringing it to the rest of the band.

In other Wilco related news, the side project of members John Stiratt and Pat Sansone"The Autumn Defense" released their third self titled album on January 9th. Its certainly more of the same laid back indie rock and could be accused of simply being background music but its well worth checking out. Its certainly their strongest set of songs to date with the stand out tracks being "Where You Are" and "We Would Never Die" which features a stunning guest guitar solo from Nels Cline.

The tragically underated Portland, Oregon band Richmond Fontaine return with their new album "Thirteen Cities" released on 5th February on Decor records. This could well be the album that betters the classic 2004 release "Post To Wire". Its a perfect blend of Pedal Steel driven country rock mixed with the stark acoustic led story telling of the bands previous effort "The Fitzgerald". This could be one of the front runners for album of 2007 for me. The band are set to tour the UK in February. The venues are all tiny, especially Leicesters The Musician which only holds around 150 people. If you're at a loose end you wont want to miss out on seeing these guys.

Click here for the tour dates in full.

Download Barely Losing from Post To Wire here.



Brand New - The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me
Sometimes the only excuse for listening to an album is because it has a great cover, the bonus with this was that it had a great title too. If loud guitars float your boat and you feel a little bit emo (and lets face it, we all have a bit of emo inside us) then this is for you. It was released in November of last year and completely past me by...
Heres what allmusic.com have to say about them:
"When Brand New released Deja Entendu in mid-2003, it caught a lot of their fans off guard. It found the band taking a stylistic leap forward from the clever pop-punk of their 2001 debut, exploring expanded sonic textures and indie rock overtones, their urgent choruses tempered by acoustic musings and softer introspections. It all seemed very deliberate, yet completely natural all the same, and the record was an underground smash. Something even more substantial was definitely brewing beneath the band's emo façade, and as a result, Brand New's follow-up was hotly anticipated for the three years it took the band to release it. The resulting The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me is the completion of their pop-punk molting process and one of the best surprises -- that isn't really a surprise at all -- to come out of 2006" - All Music Guide

You can preview tracks from the album over on the bands myspace page.

The band are currently on tour and hit the UK on the following dates:

2/5/07 - Guildhall, Southampton, UK
2/6/07 - Apollo, Manchester, UK
2/8/07 - Academy, Newcastle, UK
2/9/07 - Academy, Glasgow, UK
2/11/07 - Academy, Birmingham, UK
2/12/07 - Uni, Cardiff, UK
2/13/07 - Hammersmith, London, UK
2/15/07 - Tripod, Dublin, Ireland

In case you havent already noticed there are now RSS feed links on the right hand side of the site. Which basically means you can check out the latest headlines from NME.com and Pitchfork. Plus a whole load of reviews from the excellent CD Times.

Finally here are just a few albums released in the imminent future that are well worth checking out. Some ive heard the entire album, others just a select few tracks.

January
23/01/07 Broken West - I Can't Go On, I'll Go On
23/01/07 David Vandervelde - The Moonstation House Band
23/01/07 Earlies - The Enemy Chorus
23/01/07 Field Music - Tones of Town
23/01/07 The Shins - Wincing The Night Away
30/01/07 Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Some Loud Thunder

February
06/02/07 Bloc Party - A Weekend In The City
06/02/07 Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter - Like, Love, Lust, and the Open Halls of the Soul
06/02/07 Loney, Dear - Loney, Noir
20/02/07 Explosions In The Sky - All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone

March
06/03/07 Air - Pocket Symphony
06/03/07 Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
06/03/07 Bright Eyes - Four Winds EP
06/03/07 Gruff Rhys - Candylion
06/03/07 Jesse Malin - Glitter in the Gutter
20/03/07 LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
20/03/07 Willy Mason - If The Ocean Gets Rough

The Line Of Best Fit: 2006 Playlist

A Christmas present to you all. As this will be the last post of the year I thought i'd treat you all...

The Line Of Best Fit: 2006 Playlist is a 17 track compilation of my choice picks of the year. There is something for everyone here so feel free to grab it. I hope you enjoy! Merry Christmas!

Tracklist:

01.Consolation Prizes - Phoenix
02.Black & Blue - Tim O'Reagan
03.Fire In The Sky - The Hazey Janes
04.Where Are You Go Go Going To? - Loney, Dear
05.7/4 (Shoreline) - Broken Social Scene
06.Be Good Or Be Gone - Fionn Regan
07.The Crane Wife 3 - The Decemberists
08.Low Happening - The Howling Bells
09.Eyes on the Prize - M. Ward
10.Waiting for the Time to Be Right - The Brother Kite
11.Black Swan - Thom Yorke
12.The Jeopardy of Contentment - What Made Milwaukee Famous
13.Let's Get Out Of This Country - Camera Obscura
14.There Goes My Outfit - The Dears
15.The Hope Edition - My Latest Novel
16. ABC - The Pipettes
17.Head Home - Midlake

Download it by clicking here.

A look towards next year

Theres lots to look forward to though - 2007 is already shaping upto being a great year for music with new releases from:

Air
Arcade Fire
Architecture In Helsinki
Art Brut
Andrew Bird
Bloc Party
Bright Eyes
British Sea Power
BRMC
Built To Spill
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Dntel
Doves
Explosions In The Sky
Feist
Field Music
The Go! Team
Jose Gonzalez
PJ Harvey
Interpol
Idlewild
Norah Jones
LCD Soundsystem
Ted Leo
Massive Attack
Maximo Park
Metric
Modest Mouse
New Pornographers
Of Montreal
Pinback
Polyphonic Spree
Portishead
The Postal Service
Radiohead
Gruff Rhys
Rilo Kiley
The Shins
Son Volt
Spiritualized
Spoon
Wilco
Lucinda Williams

I've heard a few of the above already and havent been dissapointed as of yet. Roll on 2007!

Yep. Its End Of Year List Time.

Its that time of year again when the best of lists come out. Bloggers and critics from around the globe spend far too much time contemplating what should go in the top spot. Does it really matter? Probably not. But I care and to start things off here is my top 25 of the year.

The Line Of Best Fit Top 25 from 2006

25. Loose Fur - Born Again In The USA
24. The Rapture - Pieces Of The People We Love
23. What Made Milwaukee Famous - Trying To Never Catch Up
22. Stars Of Track And Field - Centuries Before Love And War
21. Mystery Jets - Making Dens


20. The Dears - Gang Of Losers
19. My Morning Jacket - Okonokos
18. The Futureheads - News & Tributes
17. DFA - The DFA Remixes: Chapter Two
16. CSS - Cansei De Ser Sexy


15. Belle & Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
14. Fionn Regan - End Of History
13. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones
12. My Latest Novel - Wolves
11. Brakes - The Beatific Visions


10. Loney, Dear - Sologne
9. Howling Bells - Howling Bells
8. Bob Dylan - Modern Times
7. Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out Of This Country
6. M Ward - Post War


5. Band Of Horses - Everything All The Time
4. Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins - Rabbit Fur Coat
3. The Brother Kite - Waiting For The Time To Be Right
2. The Decemberists - The Crane Wife
1. Midlake - The Trials Of Van Occupanther

Other albums id like to give an honourable mention to are:
The Early Years - The Early Years
TV On The Radio - Return To Cookie Mountain
Josh Ritter - The Animal Years
I'm From Barcelona - Let Me Introduce My Friends
Tim O'Reagan - Tim O'Reagan
Ben Kweller - Ben Kweller
The Elected - Sun, Sun, Sun
Calexico - Garden Ruin
Sound Team - Movie Monster
Portastatic - Be Still Please
My Brightest Diamond - Bring Me The Workhorse
Tapes n' Tapes - The Loon
Dirty On Purpose - Hallelujah Sirens
The Pipettes - We Are The Pipettes
Centro-Matic - Fort Recovery
The Kooks - Inside In/Inside Out
Beck - The Information
Metric - Live it Out
Forward Russia - Give Me a Wall
Lilly Allen - Alright, Still
Amy Millan - Honey From The Tombs
Cat Power - The Greatest
The Spinto Band - Nice and Nicely Done
Jarvis Cocker - Jarvis
The Strokes - First Impressions Of Earth
Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
Drive By Truckers - A Blessing And A Curse
The Velvet Teen - Cum Laude
Amy Millan - Honey From The Tombs
Snow Patrol - Eyes Open
Be Your Own PET - Be Your Own PET
Fields - 7 From The Village
Golden Smog - Another Fine Day
Grizzly Bear - Yellow House
Secret Machines - Ten Silver Drops
Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan - Ballad Of The Broken Seas
Johnny Cash - American V
The Hazey Janes - Hotel Radio
Thom Yorke - The Eraser
Peter Bjorn And John - Writer's Block
The Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers
The Charlatans - Simpatico
Sufjan Stevens - The Avalanche
Voxtrot - Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives EP
Wolfmother - Wolfmother
Yo La Tengo - I Am Not Afraid Of You And Will Beat Your Ass
Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings The Flood
The Magic Numbers - Those The Brokes
The Album Leaf - Into The Blue Again

Phew!, what a year. Really any of the albums between 1 and 6 could have been my favourite. All six of them are very very special records that, if you havent already checked out you must do so and quickly!

Some other year end lists from around the globe.....
[I will edit this as more lists are released]

To start things off here is the link for Pitchforks top 25 music videos of 2006. Some pretty great ones are included such as Lilly Allen, CSS, Emily Haines and ofcourse the video that im sure will scoop lots of awards next year Ok, Go.

Watch them here

Some other year end lists worthy of posting:

Amazon.com top 100 of the year
NME top 50 albums
NME top 50 singles
More Cowbell Top 20
Bridgets' Blog Top 50
Richard Hughes of CD Times top albums of the year
Muzzle Of Bees Favourites of the year

Review: The Charlatans - Brixton Academy, London. 8th December 2006.

Its typical of The Charlatans to end the year on top of their game. Its what they've spent their entire career doing. Damning anyone and everyone who has ever stood in their way. They're survivors after all.
2006 has been a funny old year for the band. Appearing in the first half of the year with the poorly recieved 9th studio album Simpatico, its Reggae and Dub influences confused both fans and critics alike. But credit to them, they tried something new and with most experiments sometimes they work sometimes they don't. But they've always had spirit and when the new musical directions work they really work; take 2001's Wonderland for example - a pure slice of glorious Californian soul or the Dylanesque country of Us & Us Only for examples of their bloody mindedness and talent.

Who would have thought they would be ending this year in such a celebrated way? November saw the band release their second retrospective of their career, Forever contained a selection of the bands favourite and most successful singles to date and with this came a full UK tour. What a tour its been too - playing all their favourite haunts its clear the band have been enjoying it as much as their ever loyal fans. Just listen to the daily podcasts to hear Burgess and co gushing after every show. Brixton Academy has always been an important venue for the band, some legendary shows have taken place here, most recently from the 2004 show where the bands only live DVD was filmed.

As LCD Soundsystems' Disco Infiltrator booms from the PA and the curtain falls to reveal a huge Charlatans logo backdrop the atmosphere becomes purely electric and its not long until the band appear and kick in with career high Forever. Tim Burgess looking revitalised after kicking drink and drugs earlier this year, he skulks the stage in the way that only Tim Burgess can, its certainly clear he and the rest of the guys are on a mission, yet the audience didn't react in such the manic way that I was expecting and it wasn't until Cant Get Out Of Bed until the atmosphere clicked into place and the band shifted it up a notch. Love Is The Key blew the roof off, one of the many highlights of the evening Up At The Lake sounded fresher than ever and The Only One I Know, as it always does, sent the audience into a complete frenzy.

A Man Needs To Be Told calms things down slightly with Burgess introducing it as his "War Song" its plods along quite nicely but I cant help but feel they should have canned it for a more lesser heard live track. With no studio album to tour and a classic song cannon, surely this is the time to do it? But apart from the encore the set is all pretty safe, or maybe its just what the crowd want to hear. This is only a very minor complaint though, The Charlatans are still one of the only bands that can make me feel the way they do live. Everytime i've ever had the opportunity to see them there has always been a oneness between band and audience, a Charlatans army if you like. They are a band of the people, and not in a yobbish Kasabian way either. You can live your life through this band and you can tell from the audience that many people do. Every member of the crowd I look at are singing the words right back at TIm with such conviction you'd think they were the songs authors.

A sterling rendition of How High concludes and the band leave the stage. What follows is an encore that should blow the roof off Brixton once and for all but, never really takes off. Kicking off with NYC from Simpatico Tim announces that he's just figured out "We've got another half an hour left yet" they break into a classic rendition of debut single Indian Rope with Tony Rogers ressurecting the ghost of Rob Collins in a hammond solo that completely blows my mind. I cant help but think that the majority of the audience haven't even heard the song before though. Up next comes Then which is a late addition to the set and like Indian Rope just doesn't get the audience reaction i'd expect. A lackluster run through of Impossible follows and its not until classic set closer Sproston Green that the encore finally picks up pace. The crowd literally go mental as the self styled King of the Mods Martin Blunt kicks into the pulsating bass line and the rest of the band follow. Tim Burgess still skulking around zapping the audience with his imaginary gun. At this point i've nearly lost not only my glasses but my jeans and my right shoe. Tim leaves the stage and the guys wrap things up in their own time - Jon Brookes pounding the drums, as always as if his life depended on it. Mark Collins and Martin Blunt knowingly cool as fuck and Tony Rogers tearing his Hammond to pieces. A completely exhilarating 2 hour set is over, and as always the band won hands down. They always do.

The Charlatans - Sproston Green

Manchester Charity Event. Line-Up Revealed.

John Lennon ‘Imagine’ Charity Event at RNCM Manchester.
Friday 22nd December.

This event is to raise funds for the John Lennon ‘Imagine’ Trust which treats and cares for over 200,000 patients each year at The Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.

This is a one off event in which the celebrated singer songwriters of Manchester have come together to help raise funds and give the trust an amazing Christmas present. The artists who have kindly offered to perform at the event and support the charity are;

Badly Drawn Boy
Stephen Fretwell
Guy Garvey and Craig Potter (of Elbow)
Lazy Bones
Autopilot
Nomad Jones

All are here to participate in an incredible acknowledgement to the trust and play to support and publicise the charity. All the artists will be offering their services for free and all proceeds from the ticket sales will be donated to the charity.

For further information on the charity www.imagineappeal.com.

Tickets are £17.50 available at
RNCM Box office. 0161 907 5555
Piccadilly Box Office.0161 832 1111 (No booking fee applies).
or online at www.rncm.ac.uk / www.ticketline.co.uk

Signing In....

Wow - has been a month already since my last post? Time flies when youre having fun I guess. Lots of exciting stuff happening at the moment... Tomorrow sees The Charlatans play at Brixton Academy in London which I am very much looking forward to. The setlist is looking great with the band throwing in all sorts of old goodies - expect a full review at the start of next week. In the meantime though why not subscribe to the bands daily podcast - so far it been highly entertaining. Click here for more info...


Also on Friday check out the Album Chart show on Channel 4 as a band called Brinkman are making their TV debut. A few years ago under a different name - The Vessels - the band made a tiny splash with their excellent countrified debut. After losing their guitarist and bass player though, the band regrouped and changed their name, and their sound. Check out their myspace page here.

Much to many an artists frustration there have been a fair few leaks of 2007 releases in the past few weeks. Most notably LCD Soundsystems new album "Sound Of Silver" - now, im not posting any links on here but it is outthere and its bloody good. In fact, its raised the bar pretty high for new music next year - its a huge leap forward from the debut album. James Murphy isnt too pleased about it though, he spoke of the news on his forum "the leak makes me sad. I mean, I knew it was ineveitable to some degree, but I barely finished the record, and I just wanted to get through the new year without this. It sucks - I didn't leak it. It wasn't intentional. Please don't share it if you have it. please."
Now, as much as I can simpify with Mr LCD unfortuantely this is how things work nowadays - everything leaks at some point, but as ive come to realise, people will generally still buy the album anyway. Its normally the big fans who can't wait for the new material.

Other leaks available are The Shins third album "Wincing The Night Away" which contrary to what most people are saying is fucking brilliant, Super Furries head boy Gruff Rhys's second solo outing entitled "Candylion" and notably the new Field Music album "Tones Of Town".
2007 is shaping up to be a great year already!

Speaking of great music in 2007 - Wilco have finished touring for the year to finish off their new as yet untitled album due for release on Nonesuch records sometime in May. The band have been roadtesting new material for some time now, whether or not all the tracks will appear on the new album or not is to be debated but song titles include; "Let's Not Get Carried Away", "Side With the Seeds", "What Light", "Shake It Off", "Impossible Germany", "Lullaby for Rafter and Beams", "Patient With Me", "Let's Fight", "Is That the Thanks I Get?", "Maybe the Sun Will Shine" "On and On and On" and "Walken". Whats more you lucky people can sample these new tracks by wandering over to Jesse Jarnow's Frank and Earthy blog where you can download a selection of currently available songs taped at recent shows. Know one knows how long these links will be up for so go and fill yer boots quickly. Major kudos for Wilco as they have always been really cool about having their shows taped and shared on the internet.

Review: The Karabal Nightlife - The Other Shore

Murder ballads, Pixies-esque quite / loud melodies, and Jazz-fusion - and thats just in the first two minutes, The Karabal Nightlife sure know how to kick start an album. What follows is an intense, but often enjoyable 45 minutes of thought provoking indie rock.

The nice thing about this band which sets them apart from their peers is that they obviously are strongly influenced by classic rock n roll but arent afraid of putting their own unique stamp on it - rather than doing the easy thing of conforming into todays current trends. Most of the songs here could be garage rock stompers, but the band choose to challenge the listener instead - and it pays off. Though, its not for the occasional music listener - apart from the straight-ahead rockers "I Know Too Much" & "Short Years" you really have to work at this record to get the most out of it. Its full of rich harmonies and musical tapestries that only reveal themself to the listener after repeated plays. Album highlights "I Need A Girl (Who's Light On Her Feet" is a tender love song that puts frontman Jesse Davis' cracked vulnerable vocal to use beautifully, while "Sea Of Sleep" explores the bands obsession with Beatle-esque harmonies perfectly.

All in all its a strong debut, but I do have one small critiscm, though not to do with the music, and arguably it shouldnt matter, but to me it does... Its the very amatuer front cover design - looking like it was knocked up in Microsoft Word inbetween song takes. Album artwork is very important, and can often put people off the music before they've even put the disc in the player. Luckily, the inlay makes up for it and suits the style of the band perfectly - acting like a postcard from another era.

I urge you to investigate these guys futher. Visit the bands official website here, where you can purchase a copy of the album. Or preview tracks on their myspace page here.

Tim Burgess: "My girlfriend buys me underwear, it makes me feel special"

He's been around the block, up the charts and over to California. But now, with the release of a singles collection, the Charlatans' Tim Burgess is kicking back and reflecting on those important matters: like pomegranates, Christmas and underpants.

Brought to you by the nice people @ Guardian Unlimited Music.

LCD Soundsystem new album & tour

As well as releasing a 45 minute workout song for Nike, James Murphy has been busy putting the finishing touches to his second, as yet untitled album. Due out in March 2007 he will also take his band on tour in the UK and Europe next year.

Dates as follows:

March 2007
07 Birmingham, England - Academy
08 Leeds, England - Metropolitan University
09 Glasgow, Scotland - Barrowlands
10 Manchester, England - Academy
11 Norwich, England - UEA
13 Bristol, England - Academy
14 London, England - Astoria
15 London, England - Astoria
16 Brussels, Belgium - Ancienne Belgique
17 Amsterdam, Holland - Melkweg MAX
19 Cologne, Germany - Stollwerck
20 Berlin, Germany - Postbahnhof
21 Munich, Germany - Kleine Elserhalle
22 Milan, Italy - Rolling Stone
24 Toulouse, France - Salle de Tourefeuille
26 Barcelona, Spain - Razzamatazz
27 Paris, France - Bataclan