As we are currently at Sound City you’ll find a couple of Friday freebies below. This isn’t  a full blog, we’ll leave that until the three days of musical madness that is Liverpool Sound City 2012 has ran its wonderful demented course.  After all, it’s pretty tricky to write coherently when you’re in the eye of the storm, and so as a stop gap we’ve popped up a couple of photos and tunes that represent our highlights from day one.

Rebecca – Slow Club.

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Wet Mouth – Definitely the discovery of the festival so far. Amazing!

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The Big Sleep

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Still Corners.

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 Stealing Sheep

And live

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Ghost Outfit.

And in case you missed it, here’s our Sound City Spotify Play List

With bitter irony, the day after BBC 6 music became the first  digital radio station to win UK station of the year at the Sony Radio Academy Awards, and Huey Morgan reminded us all just why copious quantities of booze and twitter are not a good mix, Amazing Radio announced it was no longer able to broadcast on the nations DAB network, following a contractual dispute with the owners of the transmission network, Digital One. It will still continue online, but have you ever tried streaming from the net in your car ? Make no mistake, keeping a station which boasts an array of passionate and knowledgeable presenters such Shell Zenner, Jim Gellatly, Bella Union boss and Cocteau Twin Simon Raymonde, Ruth Barnes and The Guardian’s new music guru, Paul Lester as a national digital station is important and here’s why :

Amazing Radio is or should we say was, the only national radio station, dedicated exclusively to playing new and emerging music. It  provided  a much needed platform for artists to showcase their work without any industry led play-list designed at pummelling the listener into submission with Jessie J’s foolish jibber-jabber on an eternal loop. There were no invasive adverts, and no DJ’s making “hilarious” farmyard noises to the delight of their wacky posse of inane hangers on, it really has been all about a genuine enthusiasm for  good music and has been described as “as a filter for 6Music.” Indeed the BBC and 6 music, where Amazing Radio founder Paul Campbell trained, has been the inspiration for much of what Amazing Radio have tried to achieve and he wrote “ In a funny way, we kind of feel part of the BBC. Its values have inspired Amazing from the start” he also described how they manage to operate as a commercial radio station, without commercials !  “It’s been a huge struggle but, finally, we broke even in January of this year. Not by covering Amazing Radio’s output in adverts  but by streaming some “Amazing” tunes direct to shops and business premises. It’s a real win/win: the shops save money, the bands get paid roughly 120 times Spotify’s streaming fees, we can run our entire business from what’s left.“

Amazing Radio has been very important in helping new talent find a wider audience and like us at the VPME, they too believe that there is as much musical talent out there as there has ever been.  It’s just  a case of getting it heard above the  caterwauling karaoke queens, the crass cruise ship crooners and the bombastic bawling balladeers much beloved by certain “ursine bonced ” business men. Should the musical status quo remain unchallenged  these personality vacuums, who care not a jot for music, will continue to promote and recycle the same old tsunami of arrant soulless shite on a perpetual but lucrative musical merry-go-round of mendacious mundanity. A generation will grown up knowing that pop music consists of 30 or 40 “Syco approved” power ballads, innovation will be stifled and the music of Chris De Burgh will held up as the embodiment of rebellious avant garde experimentation… and nobody wants that, right ?

People power saved 6music and there’s now a campaign under way to keep Amazing radio on DAB, the online petition which you can sign HERE states ” On 14th May 2012 the station pulled off air on DAB due to a contractual dispute with the platform provider. The station continues, as upbeat as ever, online and on apps. However, normal radios that you can just switch on in your kitchen or car are always preferable to online listening or apps with data limits.

We therefore call upon the parties involved to resolve this impasse and for Amazing Radio to resume transmission on the DAB network.”

So sign the petition, and follow 6Music’s Tom Robinson’s sage advice

#SaveAmazingDAB: 1) read bit.ly/Kk8qZs 2) follow @drumpaul @SaveAmazingDAB3) Sign petition bit.ly/JskkF8 Obv: #OwnViewNotBBC

— Tom Robinson (@freshnet) May 15, 2012

Not another band from Brighton ? Yup, there’s obviously something in the water down there as I think we’ve probably featured more bands from Brighton outside of London than any other city.

Glass Sines started out as the musical project of Tom Payne and Ian Upfold who initially started working together in 2005,  producing music via the medium of an  acoustic guitar and synthesiser. They then added a violinist and things really started motor off  in an interesting direction. Now a four piece, having  formalised their musical union  by naming themselves Glass Sines they’ve already uploaded three  outstanding songs to their soundcloud account.  Today’s track “Soaring Birds” is one that grabs you pretty much from the get go, a song that  makes your spirits soar whilst invoking a sense of freedom that makes you want to tell your boss to shove his job up his arse  as you channel  the spirit of Jimmy Stewart and roar ““I’m shaking the dust of this crummy little town off my feet and I’m gonna see the world!”

Yeah, it’s a song that’s so good it could get you sacked.

Liverpool Sound City kicks off this  Thursday, May 17th  and for three days the city will be playing host to some of the most exciting emerging bands as well as some old favourites from around the globe.

We’ll be there and below is a  28 track Spotify play-list of some of the artists we’ll be hoping to catch… Although we may need some sort of cloning machine/ “Time Turner“

Also keep your ears out for

PINS

And

JETHRO FOX

And

Below is a handy Festival  map which provides the locations of all the venues used across the city

Liverpool Sound City 2012 Map

And your daily gig guide

- Thursday gig listings
- Friday gig listings
- Saturday gig listings

The Sound City site also has provided a rather handy  A-Z  enabling  you to peruse all the artists at your  leisure.

/A/ /B/ /C/ /D/ /E/ /F/ /G/ /H/ /I/ /J/ /K/ /L/ /M/ /N/ /O/ /P/ /Q/ /R/ /S/ /T/ /U/ /V/ /W/ /X/ /Y/ /Z/

And here’s last years review

Friday Freebie

London electronic quintet Portasound fuse massive beats, driving guitars and off kilter synth riffs to create an outrageously danceable, genre traversing mash up of styles and influences.  ‘Messerchmitt’ is the aural equivalent of leaping into a vat of a certain blood hued bovine energy drink and is available as a free download.  Play this before hitting the town this evening and you’ll be dancing like Ian Curtis on roller skates caught in a strobe all night.

‘Messerchmitt’ is  taken from their début EP ‘The Second Renaissance EP’ which is out this coming Monday May 14^th through Pink Mist collective label Blood and Biscuits (Three Trapped Tigers, Tall Ships, Sleep Party People.)

Liverpool based Rash Records are acutely aware that “Britain’s Got Talent,” furthermore they also know that it is rarely discovered via prime time Saturday night TV. They appreciate that genuine talent is far  more likely to be unearthed in tiny venues or through the medium of bedroom recording studios across the land rather than by witnessing fame hungry variety club singers being encouraged by personality vacuums to believe that all they need  do to succeed is to “make that song your own.” Which is sage advice when you think about it,  I mean these cruise ship warblers could quite literally “own that song”,  by simply attempting to write their fucking own.

Rash Records started in 2007 as not-for-profit record label to act as a support umbrella for bands and artists in need of assistance with gigs, releases and the legalities of Faustian pacts with labels, management companies, promoters et all.  They also prove that there is such a thing as a free lunch and occasionally release compilation albums asking only in return that you lend them your ears and a little of your time.  Their business plan is quite straightforward,  they don’t have one! Their heart felt wish is  to provide a platform for aspiring artists who produce music for the sheer joy of it rather than seeking  riches beyond the dreams of avarice.  The third compilation from their “Home” series of albums is curated by our old chum and BBC 6 Music champion of new music, Tom Robinson,  and Johnno Casson who share the belief that these artists deserves a much wider audience.

Let’s face it, any album that features the wonderful Stealing Sheep is worth anybody’s time, and once you’ve downloaded the album you need simply transfer it to your portable music device and presto! You have your own mini music festival taking place in your pocket!   And that’s very much the feeling this album gives you, it really is rather like wandering around the smaller stages at a music festival, bored by the crowds and the dreary bombast of the bigger acts you soon begin to appreciate  the thrill of  discovering exciting new acts and ultimately it’s often the smaller stages that provide the real festival highlights.  “Home Volume 3,” manages to replicate that experience, minus the mud and toilets from Hades, whilst it also demonstrates the quality and variety of new music that Tom Robinson has promoted via  his BBC Introducing shows.

Our own highlights include the aforementioned Stealing Sheep’s quirky “The Mountain Dogs,”  which again demonstrates  why this band are perched on the cusp of a major breakthrough and also cements our view that it’s surely it’s only a matter of time before boogie-woogie’s own gurning Richard III, Jools Holland, lopes into view begging them to appear on “Later.”

It you fancy something a little more caustic then look no further than the acerbic wit of Glaswegian Piet Haag’s  wonderful “South By South Not” a cautionary tale regarding tragically hip UK bands spending large amounts of time, effort and often the Art Councils money to fly across the pond to a certain showcase in Texas only to confirm the fact that actually, nobody wants to give them a record/publishing or management deal. Or even listen to them. But they may be forced to “Sing like a Londoner”

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Our other faves include

Pandas and People - I Am The Floor

Shona Foster – Hard Work

The Flares - Pancake Waitress

Sarah Williams White - Hide The Cracks (who we recently tipped HERE in Music Week)

 The Big I Am – Hole

Of course in our consumerist society, where we tend to put a price on everything, there is a misplaced suspicion with regard to anything  that is free, normally from  people who “know the price of everything and the value of nothing“  so maybe well leave it to the guys at Rash Records to have the final say about the album -  “ Make no mistake, this is quality music – but not from the mainstream or from some hip suburb of Berlin or Brooklyn. It’s music made on a human scale in a community that is everywhere and nowhere – a community of the human heart. Listen and enjoy. Home really is where the heart is.”

Download for free HERE on May 14th

Our top tip for 2012,  Two Wounded Birds unveil a new track from their forthcoming self titled début album which reveals a tender, emotionally vulnerable side they may not have previously displayed.  Margate’s leather clad rock n rollers prove there’s plenty more to them than surf pop and snappy melodies as “The Outer World” reveals itself to be a classic slice of British indie pop miserablism for star crossed lovers everywhere. At times there’s a hint of  Roy Orbison  meets Johnny Marr  and the whole track drips with an  aching sense of melancholy, no doubt informed by life, love and  inspired by the beautiful desolation and isolation of “the coastal town they forgot to close down”. The début album drops on June 4th  and we’ll have more on that very soon.

Not many albums are being made these days like the most recent release from Elvis Costello. Feel how you feel about the music itself, but the premise behind the album is not only unique but also wildly adds to its appeal.

Those who caught Costello and The Imposters on tour this past May during his most recent venture “The Revolver Tour” were also greeted with a view of a giant game show spinning wheel on stage. If you’ve ever seen the American game show Wheel of Fortune, it’s like that but with forty of Costello’s song titles to choose instead of money. Fans in the audience were then invited onstage to spin the wheel and pick the fortune of what song would be played next.

The concept is not an original one as the stage show was first introduced in November of 1986. The night involved a MC hosting the performance and featured several surprise artists during the height of its time such as Tom Petty and The Bangles. Hartlepool Museum of Showbusiness Mahcinery is now home to the original donated wheel while the new one was created based on the original blueprints.

Honestly, the album The Return of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook that came about as a result of the tour needs that much background information to be fully understood. In fact, the album came with a great deal of extra memorabilia for fans like vinyl and a hardcover book to make the purchase an entire music experience. But this experience is not a cheap one as Costello himself has been quoted on how unaffordable the collection was when it was first released and pushed to get the price reduced.

Spinning Songbook wouldn’t be what most would traditionally consider a concept album, but it certainly has a concept that shapes the listening experience. The entire sixteen songs are all recorded off a few nights of the tour in LA with oldies but goodies, just not necessarily the ones you’d expect to hear on a Costello tour. While most of the tracks are upbeat and heavy in bass like ‘Mystery Dance’ and ‘Man Out of Time’, the lovely ‘All Grown Up’ offers an intimate moment with only Costello and the piano.

Unfortunately, the sound quality on the album is a bit difficult to listen to at times which is the risk you run when recording live. Elvis Costello has been making music for decades and what has brought about his longevity is that the sounds he creates are always respectable. “Pump it Up” will always be one to put on and turn up. However, Spinning Songbook, at times needs to be turned down because the balance in the recording is difficult on the ear.

All together, Elvis Costello has done it again by creating another new album off the back of his most recent tour. He continues to prove that no matter what music he makes, it’s going to be an experience worth checking out.

By sad coincidence we’d decided to post this “track of the day” a few days back,  prior to the news that Maurice Sendak , author of the dark graphic children’s book ” Where The Wild Things Are” had passed away, aged 83.

His work is said to have inspired Southern, aka brother and sister duo of Thom Southern and Lucy Southern and let’s face it, even non rocket scientists would no doubt deduce that fact from this track, a fabulous slice of  tuneful melodious, edgy indie folk tinged pop .   Having already toured with artists as diverse as Peter Doherty, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Francois & the Atlas Mountain and Willy Mason, Southern sold out the 900 capacity Mandella Hall in their home town of Belfast for their 2011 EP launch. They’ll be touring throughout the summer and releasing new material.  “Where The Wild Are” is  released Monday 21st May as a free download via www.facebook.com/southernmusic

This is a pretty “rad” remix as I believe the kids say. It sounds like Paloma has just met Donna Summer whilst being backed by New Order at Manumission.  Yup,  it’s a  rather fab reworking of the lead single from her brand new album ‘Fall To Grace’  due out on May 20 which could even tempt us onto the dancefloor and release our hairbrush diva “inner camp.”  It also demonstrates a view we’ve long held, that although jazz and blues are undoubtedly her first love she can pretty much sing and nail any  genre (see also her collaboration with Graham Coxon and her very early burlesque cabaret garage rock n roll that was  Paloma and The Penetrators )

Some people are somewhat surprised we are Paloma fans, we in turn are equally astonished  as to why they are perplexed….(ok we’ll stop now) we are a broad church, she’s got an amazing voice, is incredible live and is a good laugh to boot, what more do you need?   And for the avoidance of  any further doubt, and at the risk of blowing our own trumpet ( well someone’s gotta )   try this ……”Who discovered Paloma Faith?” 

The “Google god” never lies surely ?

www.palomafaith.com