Posted by: minifigpootles on: 7 January, 2009
People have been speculating wildly since Apple’s announcement last year. Why is Steve Jobs not presenting the Macworld keynote? Why are Apple pulling out of Macworld, and trade shows in general?
Well, now we know. It’s because they had absolutely nothing exciting to announce at Macworld 2009. Let’s run through what the keynote had to offer [...]
Posted by: minifigpootles on: 23 December, 2008
Alongside Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes produced one of the best albums in 2008 and they too also did a grand job of, musically, looking both backwards and forwards. The album (and preceeding Sun Giant EP), with its floating melodies, enchanting harmonies and stripped-down production sounds like it could have been recorded in the 1960s and [...]
Posted by: minifigpootles on: 22 December, 2008
Yes, yes, strictly speaking this album is from 2007, but the year that it found its audience was 2008. The album was originally self-released in 2007, but its major label releases came in February and May of this year, so it’s fair to include it, I feel.
The album is helped greatly by its now oft-told [...]
Posted by: minifigpootles on: 13 August, 2008
On the weekend of 10/11 August, Victoria Park in Tower Hamlets hosted a couple of small festivals. The latter of these, The Underage festival is created exclusively for 14-18 year olds, and so didn’t seem like my cup of tea. Besides, I think it would violate my parole. Field Day boasted one of the best [...]
Posted by: minifigpootles on: 11 August, 2008
Somewhere near the beginning of time, or at least a bloody long time ago, Chris tagged me with the seven song meme thing. You might have thought that by now, I’d forgotten all about it, or at least would be too embarassed to do anything at this late a date. In fact, embarrassment is something [...]
Posted by: minifigpootles on: 24 July, 2008
They didn’t perform together, before you start wondering. They didn’t even perform particularly close to each other either temporally or geographically, but I didn’t review either of them when they happened, so I thought I’d do it now.
Firstly, The Futureheads played the Electric Ballroom all the way back on 29th May. They made me realise [...]
Posted by: minifigpootles on: 2 June, 2008
There are bands that, frankly, I just never expected to see live, and Public Enemy are pretty much mythical in my mind. Seeing Chuck D and Flavor Flav come onstage at Brixton Academy wasn’t just magical in the sense that it was an amazing thing to see, it felt magical insofar as it was totally [...]
Posted by: minifigpootles on: 22 May, 2008
(Actually, he was supporting Jens Lekman, who I have nothing against, but I didn’t stick around to see. After seeing Bon Iver, there didn’t seem to be any point.)
Sometimes gigs come at just the right moment. The ‘right moment’ is usually the point where I’ve been listening to an album for long enough that I [...]
Posted by: minifigpootles on: 20 May, 2008
I like drum and bass. Rather a lot in fact. I’m not too keen, however, on going to places where DJs are playing lots of it and sweaty people are prancing around. Which is why I can’t tell you about any of the people who were on before or after Pendulum, because I didn’t see [...]
Posted by: minifigpootles on: 18 May, 2008
When I bought the tickets to this gig, Vampire Weekend were of the so-hip-it-hurts camp. Since then, they’ve released an excellent debut (in a year full of excellent debuts, might I add) and despite this, the music press seem to have moved on.
Frankly though, I don’t know why. Their eponymous album is rather astonishing for [...]
Posted by: minifigpootles on: 28 April, 2008
I guess that Anton Corbijn’s control was never likely to be the cheeriest of films. Charting the brief rise and fall of Joy Division, and concentrating on the demise of their lead singer, Ian Curtis through suicide at 23 I guess that casting Adam Sandler and making it into a slapstick comedy probably wouldn’t have [...]
Posted by: minifigpootles on: 2 April, 2008
When bands go away for 10 years, they may as well not bother coming back. Apart from maybe a reunion gig where lots of now slightly-too-old people can gather round them and realise (probably falsely) that they didn’t miss out on much first time around.
Normally this is the case, anyway. Which is why it was [...]
Posted by: minifigpootles on: 27 March, 2008
Beirut are one of the best bands around. Fact. Zach Condon, who is bile-inducingly young, has the best voice in modern music. Fact. And, to add wonderful insult to beautiful injury they go and make the best videos too. If I was a professional musician I would shoot myself now.
Luckily for everyone, though, I’m not, [...]
Posted by: minifigpootles on: 20 March, 2008
Normally, when a band disappears for ten years, when they come back the result tends to be less like the Sistine Chapel and more like them breaking into your house and pooping on your bed. Twice. And yes, Stone Roses, we’re all looking at you.
Not Portishead though. Their new album, ingeniusly titled ‘Third’ is probably [...]
Posted by: minifigpootles on: 14 March, 2008
Before the music started, DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist came onto the stage and Shadow gave a little speech about the beginnings of the project. Apparently, someone had asked the two of them to get back together and perform 1999’s Brainfreeze. They thought differently and thought that they would push the boundaries of 45s DJ-ing [...]
