Indietracks in seven minutes
Or if you can't be arsed, here's the same sort of thing in 1:40 minutes
I like doing these things, making wee nuggets for the internet. It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside, then when people watch it, and tell their friends, it makes me squeee.
Monday, 28 July 2008
MJ Hibbett and the Validators - Indietracks
Its a warm summer's night at Swanwick Junction, folk are sat on the grass and on cushions around a small marquee. There's barely a cloud in the sky, and already I've spotted friends and people I know at the Indietracks festival site.
When I arrived I caught strains of The Validators tuning up, small children frolicked on the common, sheep idly ate their grass in anticipation of the weekend's thrills.
We've been fans of MJ Hibbett for a long time at this website, heck, I've been a fan for years. MJ Hibbett has spent years living his exciting life in rock and so is doing a show at the Edinburgh Fringe called My Exciting Life in Rock. Its just a one man thing, anecdotes and songs on his guitar, or where necessary, his ukelele. But this evening, as an Indietracks special he has his band, The Validators, to play the songs with him.
For his song "Do The Indie Kid" they had small children on stage demonstrating the dance steps, I forsee a long career in the music industry for them.
Things that occur to me whilst watching his show:-
a) Who can I get to draw the Dinosaur Planet comic? Who could do it justice?
b) MJ Hibbett was worried that the drums would be too loud, but would be relieved that they're them for the occasion
c) For the anecdote about getting drunk in Glasgow in '04, where I was there then, my overriding memory is when the first band to play in the tea room had had trouble with the PA system, when MJ Hibbett took to the stage he overcame the problems by stepping closer to the audience and by singing louder, such practical problem-solving techniques influence me to this day.
d) For the anecdote about playing a gig to an audience of three peoplein '05, one of them has gone on to become a singer with The Just Joans and another is now bass player for NME faves Dananananaykroyd. So it was kind of like the Sex Pistol's Free Trade Hall show.
If you happen to be in Edinburgh between the 4th and 9th of August, make sure you check out MJ Hibbett's Exciting Life in Rock
You'll love it
Other reviews
MJ Hibbett
Other Photies
Penny Broadhurst
Trev Lost
Thursday, 24 July 2008
HDIF: Even As We Speak, Mexican Kids At Home, Hong Kong In The 60s - Jamm
I'm very sorry, I missed the first band on, The Give It Ups, they're one of my favourite cartoon bands too, listen to their songs on MySpace. It was turning twilight when I got to Brixton, handfuls of indie kids stood outside enjoying the evening, inside it was dark and warmer, a band on stage.
Hong Kong In The 60s
Mexican Kids At home
Even As We Speak
Hong Kong In The 60s
Mexican Kids At home
Even As We Speak
Pocketbooks, The Zebras, Airport Girl - Buffalo Bar
So I toddled along to the Buffalo bar, say hi to Andy and Dan from Pocketbooks, I used to has teh fear of saying hi to people in bands, cos seeing them play live six times isn't the same as actually knowing them, compare and contrast with Idlewild who I saw 16 times in 1998 and wouldn't.
Suddenly Pav from Twee A Fuck wanders out of the Buffalo and says hi. Aw man, I never got round to finishing that review of the Twee As Fuck alldayer.
So I descend into the depths of the Buffalo Bar, spot Camila from weePop, and lounge at the bar for a bit drinking Tyger. MJ Hibbett wanders over, he's jolly excited about his Exciting Life in Rock show, I'm quite excited too, it should be fun on the Friday at Indietracks, but will I make it to Edinburgh to see the proper show in its native Fringe environment?
Before long, the first band take to the stage.
Pocketbooks
I like Pocketbook, I've seen them lots of times, they're in my top ten bands I've seen most often in the past two years, and now I can say hi to them and make small talk without feeling the urge to run away, hide in the toilets sobbing to myself, this you already knew, but have you considered the effect this has on my ability to review them honestly? It could be awkward.
I liked the older songs they played, and the new songs, which were possibly having their first publis airing, they sounded alright, they'll be great after a few plays to get ingrained in ma heid.
Ian the guitarist has new effects pedals, one of them was a chorus pedal, not sure what the other was, but it sounded great.
They were playing to a crowd of very attentive folk who I've seen at gigs before. Not like the second band on, for whom the crowd swelled with lots and lots of people, some with curious accents.
The Zebras
One of the most American sounding Australian bands
Airport Girl
I saw this youtube video the other day, and now, it could just be confirmation bias, but I can spot Pachelbel's Canon in D a mile away, Airport Girl's first song, aye.
The Airportettes
More women on stage
Suddenly Pav from Twee A Fuck wanders out of the Buffalo and says hi. Aw man, I never got round to finishing that review of the Twee As Fuck alldayer.
So I descend into the depths of the Buffalo Bar, spot Camila from weePop, and lounge at the bar for a bit drinking Tyger. MJ Hibbett wanders over, he's jolly excited about his Exciting Life in Rock show, I'm quite excited too, it should be fun on the Friday at Indietracks, but will I make it to Edinburgh to see the proper show in its native Fringe environment?
Before long, the first band take to the stage.
Pocketbooks
I like Pocketbook, I've seen them lots of times, they're in my top ten bands I've seen most often in the past two years, and now I can say hi to them and make small talk without feeling the urge to run away, hide in the toilets sobbing to myself, this you already knew, but have you considered the effect this has on my ability to review them honestly? It could be awkward.
I liked the older songs they played, and the new songs, which were possibly having their first publis airing, they sounded alright, they'll be great after a few plays to get ingrained in ma heid.
Ian the guitarist has new effects pedals, one of them was a chorus pedal, not sure what the other was, but it sounded great.
They were playing to a crowd of very attentive folk who I've seen at gigs before. Not like the second band on, for whom the crowd swelled with lots and lots of people, some with curious accents.
The Zebras
One of the most American sounding Australian bands
Airport Girl
I saw this youtube video the other day, and now, it could just be confirmation bias, but I can spot Pachelbel's Canon in D a mile away, Airport Girl's first song, aye.
The Airportettes
More women on stage
Friday, 18 July 2008
Tuesday, 15 July 2008
Sunday, 13 July 2008
Twee as Fuck All-dayer
I arrived a wee bit early and at the door they give me a fanzine to read and a cupcake. A warm fuzzy feeling spreads out in my tummy. The cupcake has white gooey sugar icing on top and the word "twee" painstakingly written in blue flowing script.
The weather is fine outside, but before long the first band are onstage.
The Mai 68s
Guitar solos like a rusty stanley knife blade, like on the ground near the bins outside a factory, in the rain. Thunderous guitar and bass, with standy up drumer and slightly bewildered looking singing girl in a stripey top, wearing beret and drinking glasses of red wine.
Ithink I saw them play at The Betsy Trotwood a few months ago. They suit the raised stage that this venue offers and they seem to improved their game. The recorded version of Froth on the Daydream doesn't do justice to its sheer power when played live, it'll make you take a step and a half backwards and wish you'd got wine instead of a Jack Daniels and coke.
Even for the first band of the Twee As Fuck alldayer, the place is filling up and there's friendly banter between the stage and the folk at the front.
Neat set-closing song with members leaving the stage incrementally so all that's left is the guitar chap on his knees, tweaking the dials on his effects pedals to turn up the squelch on the thunder.
The Margarets, they're very young, no drummer, just a portable CD player, the ipod broke, I can empathise. The first number was an instrumental, from where I was stood it sounded a bit New Orderish, especially in the bass end of the scale.
The Margarets
There was a bit of the Swedish jangle pop about them.
CD player cocked up their last song so they had to abandon it halfway through which would have ended the set on a sour note if it wasn't for Camila (from Weepop and Your Heart Still Breaks) demanding they finish the song again without any backing. It caught them off guard a wee bit, but ended up sounding kind of sweet.
There's this art exhibition upstairs Pavla's Twee as Fuck Polaroids and Nicola Probert art exhibition. It pretty neat.
There's also a new smoking bit roof garden thing which overlooks the alley next to The MacBeth. A bit too crowded and cool for me though. I stay downstairs, leaning on the bar trying to stave off narcolepsy.
Mono Taxi
Mono Taxi are just a two piece, drums and guitar, with both folk doing vocals. For the early songs I was thinking they were cast in the White Stripes mould, you know, a little blues, a little garage. But it got more bombastic in the middle, stadium drum mincing.
Lots of healthy feedback and distorted guitar. yay
Little My
18 instruments / microphones
13 camera people
Its the mighty Little My collective again. The bass bunny still looks like Laura Palmer from Twin Peaks, I was discussing t with a chap off of the internet, who pointed out that Laura Palmer never had rabbit ears, and neither did her identical cousin Maddy.
They took forever to get set up and even then, for a seven piece with literally hundreds of instruments, there wasn't as much noise from the stage as you'd expect. Two glocks, stylophone, melodica, egg shakersand all the best of twee paraphernalia, but what you heard was mostly guitar.
Ah well.
It would be interesting to see them play on their home turf in Cardiff with however many extra members as they muster back there.
I saw Esiotrot practising in an alley round the corner during my inbetween band wandering and they sounded prety neat, trombone, ukelele, guitar. It was nice.
Esiotrot
However, on stage, they are atrocious.
They are out of tune, badly mixed, drifting in and out of lucidity. I don't know what to say. Maybe I just don't get them. What I do get is this must be one of their worse performances.
I'm scribbling this in the gallery upstairs and I can see the street outside, I can see Laura Palmer from Little My, she is very cute. A chap called Alexander wanders over and suggests I draw a picture of Esiotrot, and goes on to explain that he's in a band called To Arms Etc. I had a listen on MySpace when I was typing this up, they sound very good, they have a gig on the 31st of July.
Oh thank fuck, I think Esiotrot played a three song set.
The Bobby McGees
Skip Theatre
Hatcham Social
Theoretical Girl
Comet Gain
Acts
The Mai 68s
The Margarets
Mono Taxi
Little My
Esiotrot
Photies
Mine
Dansette's
CraigBoney's
The weather is fine outside, but before long the first band are onstage.
The Mai 68s
Guitar solos like a rusty stanley knife blade, like on the ground near the bins outside a factory, in the rain. Thunderous guitar and bass, with standy up drumer and slightly bewildered looking singing girl in a stripey top, wearing beret and drinking glasses of red wine.
Ithink I saw them play at The Betsy Trotwood a few months ago. They suit the raised stage that this venue offers and they seem to improved their game. The recorded version of Froth on the Daydream doesn't do justice to its sheer power when played live, it'll make you take a step and a half backwards and wish you'd got wine instead of a Jack Daniels and coke.
Even for the first band of the Twee As Fuck alldayer, the place is filling up and there's friendly banter between the stage and the folk at the front.
Neat set-closing song with members leaving the stage incrementally so all that's left is the guitar chap on his knees, tweaking the dials on his effects pedals to turn up the squelch on the thunder.
The Margarets, they're very young, no drummer, just a portable CD player, the ipod broke, I can empathise. The first number was an instrumental, from where I was stood it sounded a bit New Orderish, especially in the bass end of the scale.
The Margarets
There was a bit of the Swedish jangle pop about them.
CD player cocked up their last song so they had to abandon it halfway through which would have ended the set on a sour note if it wasn't for Camila (from Weepop and Your Heart Still Breaks) demanding they finish the song again without any backing. It caught them off guard a wee bit, but ended up sounding kind of sweet.
There's this art exhibition upstairs Pavla's Twee as Fuck Polaroids and Nicola Probert art exhibition. It pretty neat.
There's also a new smoking bit roof garden thing which overlooks the alley next to The MacBeth. A bit too crowded and cool for me though. I stay downstairs, leaning on the bar trying to stave off narcolepsy.
Mono Taxi
Mono Taxi are just a two piece, drums and guitar, with both folk doing vocals. For the early songs I was thinking they were cast in the White Stripes mould, you know, a little blues, a little garage. But it got more bombastic in the middle, stadium drum mincing.
Lots of healthy feedback and distorted guitar. yay
Little My
18 instruments / microphones
13 camera people
Its the mighty Little My collective again. The bass bunny still looks like Laura Palmer from Twin Peaks, I was discussing t with a chap off of the internet, who pointed out that Laura Palmer never had rabbit ears, and neither did her identical cousin Maddy.
They took forever to get set up and even then, for a seven piece with literally hundreds of instruments, there wasn't as much noise from the stage as you'd expect. Two glocks, stylophone, melodica, egg shakersand all the best of twee paraphernalia, but what you heard was mostly guitar.
Ah well.
It would be interesting to see them play on their home turf in Cardiff with however many extra members as they muster back there.
I saw Esiotrot practising in an alley round the corner during my inbetween band wandering and they sounded prety neat, trombone, ukelele, guitar. It was nice.
Esiotrot
However, on stage, they are atrocious.
They are out of tune, badly mixed, drifting in and out of lucidity. I don't know what to say. Maybe I just don't get them. What I do get is this must be one of their worse performances.
I'm scribbling this in the gallery upstairs and I can see the street outside, I can see Laura Palmer from Little My, she is very cute. A chap called Alexander wanders over and suggests I draw a picture of Esiotrot, and goes on to explain that he's in a band called To Arms Etc. I had a listen on MySpace when I was typing this up, they sound very good, they have a gig on the 31st of July.
Oh thank fuck, I think Esiotrot played a three song set.
The Bobby McGees
Skip Theatre
Hatcham Social
Theoretical Girl
Comet Gain
Acts
The Mai 68s
The Margarets
Mono Taxi
Little My
Esiotrot
Photies
Mine
Dansette's
CraigBoney's
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