Music Writings by CL

Le Tigre - Nottingham Bodega, 2002.  Full Review, Click Here. LE TIGRE LIVE Nottingham Social Bar – 29/05/2002 When the news broke that Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna was in a new pop band, Le Tigre, people got worried.  Can how can you make pop music, happy sounding music, with political and vitriolic lyrics? It can’t be easy, but Le Tigre pull it off well. Taking to the stage at Nottingham Social, the screaming anger of Bikini Kill and Julie Ruin but a distant memory, we’re treated to a mixture of lo-fi electronic pop dance music, feminist ideology, short films, and synchronized dance action to songs like What’s your take on Cassavettes and LT tour theme, synchronized dance action that makes want in on the dance action. Even the harder tracks such as  Yr Critique, and My Art, ooze a creeping funkiness. These are songs that make you dance, but they make you think too.  When I say Le Tigre are pop, I don’t mean it in the S Club 7 sense,

Modey Lemon - Wolverhampton Little Civic, 2002. Full Review, Click Here. The Modey Lemon came to the UK as support band to The Von Bondies, a great great band, and one I intended to review, but the problem is, their support band were so great, that their set in comparison was quite average.  Stood alone and it would be a different matter, and all credit to them for bringing to the UK's attention such a brilliant band. The Modey Lemon are a two-piece from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, utilising one guitar, one drum, one vocal, and one Moog to devastating effect.  Imagine The White Stripes playing Motorhead via Iggy at his prime, and you're a third of the way there! The songs were packed with so much electricity that it was damn near impossible to just observe, you HAD to move, you were left with NO option, you just can't be bored when you're being blitzed with tracks like It's Hard, all glam rock stomp and fifties squeal action, You Bug me which blaze

Cornelius - Amsterdam Paradiso, 2002. Full Review, Click Here. Cornelius Live at Amsterdam Paradiso Cornelius doesn’t tour much, but when he does, it’s a big deal.  Cornelius likes to put on a show.  We’re not talking about your cheesy run of the mill support band that rock, followed by greatest hits and faux equipment trashing.  On the tour for the last LP Fantasma, the audience were issued with headphones so they could hear the gig with the most perfect sound quality, and miss none of the action whilst going to the toilets. But Fantasma was the past, Cornelius is now touring his latest epic Point, an album a lot less manic than it’s predecessor, yet equally as brilliant.  The same can be said of the gig at the Amsterdam Paradiso.  There were no headphones, but we got a fantastic opening intro which saw Cornelius in Silhouette behind a giant screen, pointing out lyrics and info on the giant screen, before it dropped to reveal a cinema screen that would featu