upping anchor & moving home

I've finally upgraded and bought my first domain. I've spent the last two evenings scratching my chin and making my hair bigger over scripts, codes and numbers (no, not painting by numbers at 5am in old trafford) and have sort of got things shifted over to a 'proper' site, server and domain. it's all pro-bono, so they say.

a few things aren't tweaked yet, the podcasts are temporarily out of action, but they shall be back!! it's still not looking as nice as i want it too yet, but am learning and it's quite fun. OH! and podcast #3 is done and dusted, am just waiting 'til i've got all the feeds and stuff done before i up it, which i guess will be monday night when i'm back in mancatraz.

¡Ya basta! update yer bookmarks and check back early next week for "soul spinners and motown winners" pt I and some reviews of love and doom.

wearecasualpilots.com

xx

mixtape #2: top 15 records of 2008

so this podcast/mixtape/radio show actually made it through to a second show. who would've thought it? it only took the best part of two months to do so. december was officially a write off, in the best possible way, but finding the time to sit down and deliberate over things that i like to spend eons on became a bit of a luxury, shall we say. being extremely busy is how i like to be though, so i'm not going to complain one bit.

mixtape #2, as you can guess by the title, is a collection of my top 15 records of 2008. i'm a real stickler for lists and things and when someone the other week asked me what my top records of '08 actually was, it made me realised that '08 really was an awesome year for music. i thought it would be nice to step into 2009 with a fond tip of the hat to the last 12 months for making me smile, dance and punch my fists in the air. i mean ha'way, i got to see slayer at a festival at 3am in bilbao and then also got to see squarepusher & LFO only but three weeks ago here in manchester.

Stream or download here

Subscribe in iTunes here

PLAYLIST:

1. Ronnie Foster - Mystic Brew
(Blue Note: Droppin' Science lp; Blue Note Records)

2. The Moments - Baby I Want You
(Baby I Want You / Pray For Me 7", Wax Poetics)

3. King Khan and BBQs - I Love You So
(King Khan and The BBQs s/t lp; In The Red Records)

4. Carbonas - Assvogel
(Carbonas s/t lp; Goner Records)

5. The Sceptres - Snake
(Primal Slobs Go Wild 7"; Dire Records)

6. Jay Reatard - See / Saw
(See / Saw b/w Screaming Hand 7"; Matador Records)

7. Vivian Girls - Wild Eyes
(Vivian Girls s/t lp; In The Red Records)

8 Shitty Limits - Minds Eye
(Here Are the Limits EP 7"; Keep Screaming Records)

9. Hail Brethren - Scabs
(Hail Brethren s/t; Records or it Didn't Happen/Stalemate Records)

10. Sleepwall - This World is Too Dark
(Come in From the Cold 7"; Toxic Pop Records)

11. The Drift - I Had a List and Lost It
(Memory Drawings; Temporary Residence Limited)

12. Onra - Take a Ride
(Chinoiseries; Favorite Records)

13. Flying Lotus - Breathe . Something/Stellar Star
(LA; Warp Records)

14. Byetone - Grand Style
(Death to a Typeographer; Raster Noton)

15. Ryoji Ikeda - Test Pattern #0100
(Test Patterns; Raster Noton)

...and as this mix was loaded, manchester has seen its first blanket of snow fall in 2009.

november mixtape #1

So here it begins. I've finally started to try get my head round some software and ultimately the aim is for an online radio show/podcast month by month filled with banter and good (and maybe not so good) tunes. Seeing as this is my first attempt it's completely devoid of banter I'm afraid (and all for the better, probably). I thought it's best to keep the first one simple, making it roughly an hour of music...

right click & save as to download/click to stream

Playlist:

Sly and the Family Stone - Everyday People
The Records - Starry Eyes
Jay Reatard - See/saw
The Observers - Us Against the World
The Scuds - Addicted
Lou Reed - Take a Walk on the Wild Side
Vivian Girls - Tell The World
The Delfonics - Ready or Not (here I come)
Mark Sultan - We're Sinking
Lootpack - On Point
Patti Smith - Free Money
Ethel Meserve - Pierman
The Wipers - Time Marches On
Lovesick - Invention
Mannfred Mann's Earth Band - Blinded by the Light
Modest Mouse - Dramamine
The Farewell Bend - Open Door Policy
Moss Icon - Gravity
Harvey Milk - The Anvil Will Fall

DISCLAIMER: I'll edit this after work so if you feel that way inclined, you'll be familiar with year of release, label etc.

British Airways' new adverts

Okay, so although this isn't in tow with what I'd normally post, I thought I'd share as these as I find the following adverts aesthetically pleasing somewhat. Earlier I was flicking through The Creative Review's online escapades and came across the BA's latest "outdoor" ads. It's nice to see lush photography and a good use of negative space brought to our widestream attention; apparently i'm known to be a bit partial to the ol' negi-loving (not my words), so what can I do?! These ads warm me cockles. Nice idea, too, wouldn't you say?

Harvey Milk - My Love is Higher Than Your Assessment of What My Love Could Be

I won't deny that although this review started out as a one of a whole LP, it has unquestionably turned into an absolute gushing eulogy to one of the most beautifully heart rendering pieces of music that has been written. Harvey Milk, to the untrained ear, are a band who may not be too dissimilar to you; they've released countless oop genre-defining records. Although I think I first heard them around 2005 or 2006, I, for some unknown reason, haven't given them much of a look in 'til recently.

The song in question is The Anvil Will Fall. I managed to stumble across this track like a clumsy schoolchild searching for some dubious punk rock track, maybe.

The Anvil Will Fall absolutely shreds me to bits; it turns me into an emotional wreck, renders me useless, and then spits me back out waiting and wanting more. It's a song which pieces together all of those moments of extreme love, pain, loss and sorrow in your life. Together, its sheer beauty breaks my heart. I sit and pine for any given moment with those I've lost; everything else seems so completely meaningless. It's the anthem to anyone whose life was once filled with beauty and love but since been spun over with magnitudes of pain and devastation. You'll reflect on friendship, family, and love, you'll remember those safe places from your youth where you were once invincible, the faces, the smells, the sights, the familiarity, and you'll wonder how you ended up here. It's the soundtrack to anyone who has ever felt before. You'll feel exasperated as you watch all your memories shimmer in the light and then crumble underneath the sheer desolation that unfolds.

Harvey Milk website
Harvey Milk live set on the wonderful WFMU.org

Vivian Girls S/T LP

Hearing this LP for the first time made me stop in my tracks and actually stand still before I could work out what the hell was happening in my stereo. I don't know how exactly they've done it, but listening to Vivian Girls makes me feel like I've just rolled out of a 48 hour drug and booze fuelled session where they've kinda saved me and let me bask in the moment. You know, like you've been waiting for something to hit you and say "this is real, and this shit will actually destroy all", well finally you can say something does and it's like the wake-up call you've been longing for. This album does things that other won't. It makes me think of Jesus and The Mary Chain having sex with The Wipers. It's like pure garage punk having a thrash out with maybe even Kevin Shields, where both actually come out winning, high and proud. It's basically, without any 2D cliché unfolding, the ultimate shoe gazing, garage punk anthem. There's not one ounce of pretentiousness to be seen in the slightest; instead, it kicks ass.

This album is without a doubt one of the best things I've heard in a long, long time. In The Red records have been producing some of my favourite LPs of late; it's a label that's consistently been knocking out bands that actually get me excited -that feeling of when a record lands on my doorstep/on my turntable I genuinely get stoked to put the needle on the wax. The kind of shit that makes me feel like I'm sixteen again, hearing something truly breathtaking, its kinda akin to that feeling when I heard Daydream Nation for the first time. Holy Shit.

Vivian Girls
In The Red Records

#5