Music Writings by CL

Electric Six - Birmingham Sanctuary, 2003. Full Review, Click Here.

Therapy? - Scopophobia, DVD Review 2003. Full Review, Click Here. Belfast's  Therapy?  Have been rocking the world's stages for over ten years. From their first EP  'Babyteeth'  through to this year's  'High Anxiety' , they have consistently delivered the goods, even if critical acclaim has been somewhat varied.  'Scpopophobia'  is their first DVD release, and it gathers up eleven promotional videos, spanning the band's career so far, as well as a homecoming gig from the  High Anxiety  tour earlier this year, and a not too intriguing Q and A session. The gig, like most Therapy? gigs, is superb. Therapy? play their hearts out, and they do it EVERY TIME. In this time of hyped-up cod rock bands (hello  Linkin Park ), who seem to be in it for the quick buck, this is what we REALLY need. The videos on the DVD are pretty standard stuff, mostly band performances mixed with dark imagery, The  'Troublegum'/'Infernal Love' ...

Basement Jaxx - Birmingham Academy, 2003. Full Review, Click Here.

Basement Jaxx - Kish Kash, Album Review 2003. Full Review, Click Here. Basement Jaxx  albums have always been eclectic affairs; a bit of ragga, a bit of pop, the energy of punk - combined elements that made the band so initially exciting. Sadly, the correct tense is 'made', because their latest offering  'Kish Kash' , whilst still suitably eclectic, struggles to offer the same level of excitement that previous Jaxx albums provided. It starts off well:  'Good Luck'  has all the elements of a classic track by the Brixton duo, containing lurching basslines and stabbing synths, with the newly added element of strings; an ingredient that usually screams ‘pretentiousness' but in the Jaxx's hands proves otherwise.  'Right Here's the Spot'  too, is stormingly typical of them, and is a song that could've sat easily on previous album ' Remedy '. Throw in single ' Lucky Star ', (the album's highlight) which is fi...

Chicks On Speed - 99 Cents, Album Review 2003. Full Review, Click Here. A few years back,  Chicks on Speed  found themselves on the German version of Top of the Pops thanks to their cover of  Malaria's  Kaltes Klarres Wasser. It's a feat that the band didn't manage to pull off over here in Britain, although they did release their debut album  Chicks on Speed Will Save Us All , a covers album that took in electronic noodling, ambient soundscapes and occasionally disco music. It showed potential, as did the soon-following Rarities album, but it just didn't flow well. It wasn't dull, but it did feel more like a compilation album than a debut proper. Three years later and the Chicks are back; they've cut down on the cover versions, written some songs of their own and made one big loud glam rock electro-pop explosion of an album. Opener  'Shooting from the Hip'  sets the scene for the next 50 minutes, cut-up guitars, rumbling bass and ne...

Full Article Here. Unglue your eyelids to take a look at this news! Home Taping is Killing Music  has managed to get Detroit husband and wife duo  Adult  to come on down to Nottingham to play a rare gig, next Wednesday August 27th. You will no doubt of heard their classic  'Hand to Phone'  at any good club who have their finger on the pulse of true underground music, but surely you can't pass up the opportunity to catch Adult live? Support on the night comes from NYC/Texas band  Calla , and the Home Taping DJs. Tickets are a bargain £6 from  www.alt-tickets.co.uk

Har Mar Superstar - Nottingham Rescue Rooms, 2003. Full Review, Click Here.

Full article here. Get your dayglo disco clobber and hair moose together and get ready to learn, honey... PEACHES IS BACK!! September sees the long-awaited return of  Peaches , as she releases a limited edition single  'Operate' / 'Shake Yer Dix'  on the first of the month, followed on September 15th, by her new album, the fantastically titled  'Fatherfucker' . It’s been three years since the release of her debut; a gap which has seen Peaches rise from the underground into the mainstream, whilst becoming a sex goddess en route! But there’s more than Peaches music coming your way in September. If you fancy seeing the sex goddess in the flesh, then get yourself down to Charing Cross’s  Heaven  club on September 18th, where she'll be playing a one-off gig that will no doubt feature dirty lyrics, much skin, strap on dildos, and of course, some damn fine dirty-electropop!

Full Article Here. Judas Priest are reforming for to celebrate their 30th anniversary next year. And dust off your studded leather, as they're back with their full line-up. Vocalist  Tim “Ripper” Owens  is leaving, making room for the return of the original leather fisted rock god,  Rob Halford . The reformed  Judas Priest  will also be hitting the studio in September to record some new slabs of metal, before spending 2004 riding their Harley Davidsons onto the stages of the world’s finest arenas of rock. Keep checking DiS for more law-breaking news on the return of a rock institution!!!

Tomahawk - Nottingham Rock City, 2003. Full Review, Click Here.

Gobsausage - The Bull Of St. John's, Angel London 2003. Full Review, Click Here. And so I find myself at Disastronaut’s birthday party. It’s Sunday and I’ve driven all the way to London to see Cobra Killer. Only, the Berlin duo have only gone and left their equipment on the kerb as they hailed a taxi on Brick Lane the previous night. Disaster. But what could turn the night from a disaster into a triumph? Easy. Gobsausage. They come storming from the back of The Bull at St. John’s pub, all seven of them. Five beautiful ladies and one cowboy man, dancing, gyrating, rubbing each other up to a bass-heavy sleazy electropop riot of a backing tape. But wait, there’s more. Yep, they’re also aided and abetted by a guy in a balaclava and shades. He shouts a lot and adds an air of menace to the surroundings. The sound gets cut off numerous times ads the band slams into their sound equipment. It is chaos, and it lasts for around twenty minutes. That’s all. But it’s a ...

Full Article Here. The best band you’ve probably never heard of are coming to London to play 3 dates in June. The Modey Lemon  first came to DiS’s attention when they supported the  Von Bondies  on their first ever UK tour, blowing the headliners away. Sounding like  Motorhead  as played by  The White Stripes  it’s taken The Modey Lemon a while to return to our shores, but those lucky enough to live near London can catch them over 3 dates; Artrocker  @ the Buffalo bar in Islington on Tuesday July 1st Camden Barfly  on July 2nd The Dirty Water Club  in Harpers bar @ the Boston on July 3rd. For those of you who are going to miss what promises to be a cataclysmic series of gigs, worry not……. they’re promising to do a proper UK tour soon!

Wow, the Manic Street Preachers met Fidel Castro, so fucking what. You can meet Fidel too.  In London.  Only this Fidel is more important, for where Fidel Castro is a hero to many students who go uninformed on the history of the Cuban leader and just 'like' him because he had the privilege of meeting the ever so dull Manic Street Preachers, you can meet Fidel Villeneuve, who has nothing to do with Cuban History, or Student Posing.  He merely makes LOUD NOISY RECORDS. With the debut 11 track  Kill Life firmly on the shelves of many a good 'music' lover, Fidel Villeneuve is bringing his live sounds for one night at the Kentish Bull and Gate, on Friday November 25th. Tickets are only four quid, so put away your Marks and Spencers slacks, take down your Che Guevara poster, and go and witness a proper 'event'.

Katastrophy Wife - Birmingham Jug Of Ale, 2003. Full Review, Click Here.

Puppetmastaz - Creature Funk, Album Review 2003. Full Review, Click Here. You may have heard of them, you may not have. You may think you know them, you probably won’t. Mr Maloke  is a mole, and he left his home of Crooklyn to move to Berlin to form the congress of puppetry. Why did  Mr Maloke  leave Crooklyn though? Did he mean to start a new musical career in Berlin? Maybe he did, maybe he retired and re-invented himself. Whilst in Berlin,  Mr Maloke  bumped into a couple of puppet frogs, a puppet rhino, and plenty of ideas. This meeting helped form the world's first puppet hip-hop collective,  Puppetmastaz . After two limited EPs, we have the puppet’s first album proper.  'Creature Funk' , is an electro-hip hop masterpiece. We live in a time where hip-hop is allegedly at its highest point, yet all you hear is watered down cliché ridden pop (step up  50 cent ). The  Puppetmastaz  are just the stars we need. For the 60...

V/Vm - It's Fandabidozi, Album Review 2003. Full Review, Click Here. Cast your mind back to early last year. It seemed that Stockport’s  V/Vm Test Records  were knocking out unmistakable platters of genius week after week after week. Then, silence. What was wrong? Had the evil MCPS  [Mechanical Copyright Protection Society, label fans. Best you don't ask - an editor]  caught up with these copyright terrorists? Had they been lynched performing one of their infamous greatest hits sets? Evidently not. V/Vm  have been travelling the world, and have put together a double album of some of their greatest worldwide aural finds.  'It’s Fan-Dabi-Dozi'  is the first release since  V/Vm’s   'Good Things Can Happen'  album, and how times have changed. The blatant mauling of pop’s best/worst contenders isn’t the main focus on this album. In its place we have some fine electronic music, courtesy of such luminaries as  Kevin Blech...

Therapy? - An Abundance Of Therapy? Interview, 2003. Full Interview, Click Here. Therapy?  are back. Again. Time has been kind to the band; it doesn't seem that long ago when they were the darlings of the music press, with their dark hybrid of punk, metal and pop. But times have changed, and Therapy? have changed with the times. Literally. The sound has veered off into rockier territories and members have come and gone. But that hasn’t deterred Therapy?, who are still going strong, and with rock music outselling every other form of music at the moment, they're as relevant as ever. I caught the band at Birmingham Academy, and had a brief chat with vocalist  Andy Cairns  about how their new album is going down live. How's Therapy? doing these days? It’s going really well. We’re all really into it again at the moment. Is this because you have a new drummer? Yeah, Neil Cooper. After Graham left we found out that Neil, who used to be in some bands we ...

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Meet The New Folk Implosion - Interview 2003. Full Interview, Click Here. For over ten years now  Lou Barlow  has been releasing music with  Sebadoh  and the  Folk Implosion . It's been a decade which has seen band members come and go, as well as a constantly evolving sound to his music. Now  Lou  is touring the UK with his new band,  The New Folk Implosion , stripping the music down from the drum machine-laden sound of the old Folk Implosion's later material. I caught up with  Lou  in Nottingham and Leeds to talk about The New Folk Implosion, linguistics, self-discipline, and being  Bob Mould . Since John Davis has left the Folk Implosion, you've got together The New Folk Implosion, what are the main differences between the two bands? Well, I didn't want to do a layered, sample driven record, I wanted to totally cut it down and play live again. When John left, was it an amicable departure? Yeah, he'd been driftin...