How can a train be lost? It's on rails.

The new Radioactive man LP is just around the corner: It's the first one in four years from Mr Tenniswood. Here's what the man himself had to say about the making & recording of 'Growl':

“My last album was in 2004, so this album is a collection of everything I’ve been working on the last four years. I’ve been so busy with Two Lone Swordsmen stuff and DJing, that I haven’t had the time to put it out, so this is a real culmination of a long period of time for me. I wanted it to be pretty dancefloor, but still the kind of album you can pop on at home and enjoy on headphones. Hopefully it’s just good quality, electronic dance music, really. I don’t want to think about it too much – everyone gets so wrapped up in the process, the technology, the equipment, and everything else...but what about the music? People talk more about the programs than they do the music itself. That’s all I hope it will be – no hype, just good music that is as poppy as it is deep. I’ve tried to make the emphasis on actual songs, rather than just banging tracks, I could make those any day of the week. I really hope it sounds a bit aged from my last album, more matured. A build-on from where I last left off and maybe proof that I have learnt something along the way. I hope that it’s still got a lot of soul and growth in it.”

'Growl' is released in May on Control Tower records. Here's the delightful mid-tempo album opener:

Radioactive Man- Basement Business (Z Share) (Link Removed by request)

The Dodos released their second album earlier this month on Frenchkiss records: 'Visiter' is an attempt to capture the passion & energy of their live shows. Inkeeping with today's post here's a little insight into their recording process:

"They decided to return to Type Foundry Studio where Beware of the Maniacs had been recorded. With producer/engineer John Askew back at the helm, they began expounding upon what they had learned since the previous record. The basic drum and guitar takes were recorded live simultaneously with very minimal post production. Type Foundry's warehouse-sized live room led to experimentation with mic placement, capturing a variety of ambient & natural sounds. At one point during tracking, the audible din of a thunderstorm inspired an impromptu horn session between Meric and guest trumpeter, Cory Gray. A small section of this can be heard between the songs "Fools" and "Joe's Waltz" on the record."

'Visiter' is a terrific Long-Player, go seek it out now.

The Dodos- Red & Purple (Z Share) (YSI)

Last up today is Slim Harpo's 'I'm a King Bee' as sampled by Add N to (X) on their 'King Wasp'. Not sure of the recording process on this one. Sorry.

Slim Harpo- I'm a King Bee (Z Share) (YSI)

Do The Downdime..

Time for another guest post: We're handing the reins over to Ste & Liz, one half of Downdime, the finest purveyors of psychedelic noise pop™ Yorkshire has to offer.

Hello! We have fond memories of our house share with JPP. The endless parties - such a hectic social whirl. He’s probably not so fond of the one when some blighter made off with his spanking noo Ipod, mind...
When we were invited to put together this bijou guest blogette, we thought this slab of pulsing minimalist electro would be a great choice. The fact that the band are on the (freaking fantastic) line-up for this year’s Primavera sealed the deal. Then we noticed that the Mystery Jets mentioned the album (20 Jazz Funk Greats) in their Q&A... Spooky. From way back in ’79 Ladies and Gentlemen, Gulls and Buoys, we give you Throbbing Gristle’s ‘Hot On The Heels Of Love’.

Throbbing Gristle- Hot on the Heels of Love (Z Share) (YSI)

Thought it’d be a good idea to highlight some of the best that Yorkshire currently has to offer in the way of new music. You’d have to go a hell of a long way to beat ‘Leeds-Bingley-Saltburn based semi-pro rock band’ Quack Quack. Driven, dancable Krautrock-tinged instrumental wondrousness which occasionally features the ol’ double drumkit trick (and some expert drumming to boot). Catch them live as soon as you can.

Track removed by request.

Next a couple of tunes from ‘555CD55’ , a compilation put out in 2003 by Boyracer Stewart Anderson’s 555 Recordings label. Each track is c. 55 seconds long.
First up is a quick and extremely scuzzy lesson in how it’s done from Pop Threat, the original Squirrel Records band - now defunct and much missed. Happily Darren and Caroline have a healthy new project on the go: The Manhattan Love Suicides (currently touring in the States). Big up the Squirrel massive...

Pop Threat- Hit it (Z Share) (YSI)

And now some perky acidic bleeping from Kid 606.

Kid 606- Hey Straw is the 7" Inch format dead yet? (Z Share) (YSI)

If you haven’t yet stumbled across SoftFocus with Ian Svenonius (on VBS.tv), get yourselves over there as fast as your bandwidth will allow and check it out. Frontman for Make-Up, Pussy Galore, and Weird War, Svenonius’ electrifying onstage energy is mesmerising. On SoftFocus however he comes over as a cross between Parky and an extra laconic Keef, happy to take a back seat as he sets up prominent musical visionaries like Billy Childish and Mark E Smith with searching questions. Far Out. In honour of his achievements in exposing the inner workings of music’s finest minds for our education and edification, how about a track from Make Up’s final studio album Save Yourself. Wanna be a big fish in a small pond? C’Mon, Let’s Spawn!

Make Up- C'mon, Let's Spawn (Z Share) (YSI)

Fabric

Top line-up at Fabric this Saturday: Chilean superstar Ricardo Villalobos returns to room 1 which also sees a Fabric debut for Akiko Kiyama. Room 3 features a Clone records showcase with the excellent I-F Headlining. All backed up by residents Craig Richards & Terry Francis. Should be reet good..

Could you make the Guitar sound a little more like tarmac please?

This song woke me up the other morning: Literally jumped out of bed. What a way to start the day...

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds- There she goes, My Beautiful World (Z Share) (YSI)

Dissident distribution are making all the right moves at the moment: Every couple of weeks or so they release a high quality 12", always limited to 200 copies. They do not have a website or a Myspace page at the moment, you can check out their releases here. Don't sleep on these babies. Here's a slow-mo Italo/Disco gem from Ali Renault.

Ali Renault- Zombie Raffle (Z Share) (YSI)

There was a nice interview with Spiritualized's Jason Pierce in last weeks Observer music magazine. He talks about his near death experience & how that affected the upcoming album 'Songs from A&E'. He also talks about the very successful Spiritualized acoustic mainlines tour from last year. Here's a track recorded from the Boston show. Just beautiful.

Spiritualized- Anything More/Ladies & Gentleman we are floating in Space (Z Share) (YSI)

Are you fond of that moustache?

It's Easter Bank holiday, which means most of the country will be basking in the ice cold for an extra couple of days. First up is the 13th Floor elevators: Their second album 'Easter Everywhere' came out in 1967 & opening track 'Slip inside this house' has gone on to become a stone cold psychedelic classic. Primal Scream later covered the track on their 'Screamadelica' LP. 8mins of lovely Fuzz.

13th Floor Elevators- Slip Inside This House (Z Share) (YSI)

Late of the Pier's new single is one of those quintessentially eccentric English records. On first listen it's quite odd: By the fifth listen your busy trying to work out a dance routine to it. Strong remixes come from Joakim, Emperor Machine & Beyond the Wizards sleeve ( The BTWS mix is particularly good, sounds like they've got Prince doing vocals. It's up on 20Jazzfunkgreats at the mo). The album will be out soon & a lot of hype will accompany it, with much justification on this evidence..

Late of the Pier- The Bears are Coming (Z Share) (YSI)

Four Tet is back with a new E.P- It's a much more Uptempo collection than were used too, although his last few remixes have been aimed at the dancefloor. Still loving his Battles rejig. The record is called 'Ringer' & is out in April on Domino records.

Four Tet- Swimmer (Z Share) (YSI)

Have a great weekend.

If you make me look bad, I will never ever talk to you again. Ever.

Buffalo 66- Simply awesome film. If you haven't seen it immediately stop what your doing & go and watch it. Vincent Gallo's first feature film sees him donning many hats (He wrote, directed and starred in it & also composed much of the soundtrack). He plays the brooding Billy Brown who has just been released from jail for a crime he didn't commit: Those first 24 hours are quite a ride..
The soundtrack is excellent: As mentioned, Gallo provides a lot of the musical accompaniment himself. The tune that augments the climatic final scene's comes from prog rockers Yes. 'Heart of the Sunrise' fits the bill perfectly:

Yes- Heart of the Sunrise (Z Share) (YSI)

Here's a couple of other tunes from it including the wonderful Vincent Gallo Sr version of 'Fools Rush In'

Vincent Gallo- Oh God (Z Share) (YSI)

Vincent Gallo Sr- Fools Rush In (Z Share) (YSI)

"We're taking pictures like were a couple. Like we like each other. Like we're husband & wife. We span time together. We span time together as a couple. 'Cause we're a loving couple, spanning time. These photos are us in Love, spanning time. No Bullshit faces.."

I Like the future, I'm in it..

Greetings from Sunny Manchester: New Zealand's The Ruby Suns released 2nd Long player 'Sea Lion' a month or so ago on the Sub Pop label. It's a very infectious, summery record that sounds a lot like Os Mutantes sharing an Ice Lolly with Arthur Lee. You can purchase the album here.

The Ruby Suns- Oh Mojave (Z Share) (YSI)

Apparently Scarlet Johannson is preparing her debut album, a record full of Tom Wait's covers. Whilst we wait with baited breath here is the real thing: From the 1980 LP of the same name here is 'Heartattack & Vine' which contains the immortal line 'Don't you know there ain't no Devil, there's just God when he's drunk'.

Tom Waits- Heartattack & Vine (Z Share) (YSI)

Last up today is Pete Rock & CL Smooth's 'They Reminisce over You'. Perfect for stomping round town on a Spring morning too. Or any other morning. The Days of wayback, so many bear witness the fitness. When Hip was Hop..

Pete Rock & CL Smooth- They reminisce Over you (Z Share) (YSI)

Buggar..

Still having web problems but here's a little something for the weekend: Mark Mothersbaugh does a sterling job soundtracking Wes Anderson's movies & here's a top slice of Jazz-electro from the excellent Life Aquatic soundtrack. It's also featuring on a Honda advert at the mo. Would love to hear this on a club Soundsystem..

Mark Mothersbaugh- Ping Island/Lightning Strike rescue Op (Z Share) (YSI)

The Glimmers have arguably been Belgium's finest Disc Jockey's for many years now- They've remixed everyone from the Chems through to Roxy Music and are all set to release their debut Long player 'Gee Gee Fazzi' which features collaborations with Optimo, Lindstrom & Prins Thomas amongst many others. The record will only be distributed through Glimmer shows & events. Check out their Myspace for details.

The Glimmers- Time 4 Action (Padded Cell Remix) (Z Share) (YSI)

Have a good weekend- Hopefully everything will be back to normal next week..

Normal Service will be resumed Shortly...

Sorry about the lack of posts, just switching over Internet providers at the moment. What ever did we do before the interweb? In the mean time here is a track off the excellent new Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds L.P 'Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!':

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds- Night of the Lotus Eaters (Z Share) (YSI)

Inabit.

Mystery Jets: Q&A

The Mystery Jets are to release new long player '21' on March 24th. It looks set to wriggle it's way into the national psyche & tunes such as 'Flakes' & 'Young Love' will be bellowed out at festivals the world over. We were lucky enough to have a quick chat with frontman Blaine Harrison & asked him a few questions. We didn't go down the normal 'How did you meet?' route..

What would you rather be attacked by- Shark or Bear?

Definitely a Bear. You can trip up a bear, you can't trip up a shark. Once I've got that bastard on the ground he might as well be dead meat. I'll blind him with my flash light and then feed him his own feet.

What is your favorite word?

Choad. Or maybe you spell it chode, i'm not really sure as it's not in the dictionary yet. Actually it's the whole bands favorite new word. It can be used in all different kinds of instances. For example:
'what do you mean my bus pass expired last month! go suck a choad!'
It's basically the name for someone who has genitals which are wider than they are long.

What was Mr Alkan like to work with?

Erol is probably the hardest working person in music. Seriously. Nick Cave talks about wearing a suit to work and doing 9 to 5 days, but Erol does 9 to 5pm then 9 to 5 am! And he just wears a bob dylan tshirt. No jacket required!
He has already made 3 full records in his first year as a record producer. That's a lot. He is obsessive about everything he gets involved with, in the best possible way.

Would you rather be deaf or blind?

That's a dumb question.

What is the fastest fish in the sea?

The sail fish. Apparently it can do 68mph. I mean thats pretty fast, but it's not THAT fast is it? I mean considering a falcon can do 200 mph. I want to know something though. If a fish swims right into a whale's open mouth by accident, without being chewed first, can it survive? Because surely the whales gut is just full of water anyway, so can it just hang out in there right?

Do you talk to yourself?

Yes. recently its been worrying me actually. I mean i dont often do it like properly out LOUD. But i realized the other day that i am constantly interviewing myself in my head. Almost as if i am trying to prepare myself for being asked any question by any person on the planet when the day finally comes. The big day.

What is your favorite time of day?

sex o' clock.

On a scale of 9-10, how good are crumpets?

Maybe 8. 9 and 10 are definitely reserved for pop tarts. Chocolate fudge sunday and strawberry icing flavours.

Do you salute magpies?

Yeah, there's this one who used to perch his little death claws onto the railings of the Eel Pie bridge, near where my dad lives. I used to call him mr Crow but guess he was a magpie really. He had a beak the size of a dinosaur claw. Really ugly little fucker. You'd never tell him that though. He'd flap himself over to you while you were eating your zinger burger and rip off your nose ring. Anything shiny, he's having it.

If someone can be gormless, what is a gorm?

Well if someone is gormless it implies they don't have a clue about what's going on around them. Which implies a Gorm must once have been the name for someone with heightened awareness of himself and of others. Like some kind of Pharoe or Duke. Thats a good word too isn't it? Duke. Duke Duke Duke Duke Duke.

Describe your best dance moves.

Okay. My current favorite is the 'indie record store shuffle'. I invented it along with a guy called Ali, who i met in Glasgow.
Here's how it works:

STEP 1.Shuffle sideways in both directions implicating trying to get in to have a closer look at a Scritti politti record but some asshole with a mullet is stood in front of you.
STEP 2. Stretch your arms out forward and wriggle all your fingers, one after another, implying leafing through said obscure indie band's back catalogue.
STEP 3. Pull a record out and lift your hands up into the air as if you are trying to take a closer look at the serial numbers and label copy on the sleeve.
STEP 4. After having turned it around several times in the air and decided it is not infact the 1st edition copy of swell maps' "A trip to Marineville" or "20 Jazz funk greats " by Throbbing gristle, lower your arms as if returning it to the shelf with a half discusted/half upset expression on your face
STEP 5. Continue Wiggling of fingers and repeat sequence as required.

Note: there is also a special student version of this dance which involves a further 5th step, where you turn around to check no ones watching and then slip the LP down into your open record bag and hastily walk out of the shop. Because after all, beggars can't be choosers right?

What is your favorite snack?

Spray cheez on Riveta.

Kill all hippies?

No. Kill all Crusties. For the most part, Hippies eventually grow up and realise that feeding their babies on baked beans and oatmeal is hardly giving their kid the biggest of head starts in life and so move back to their wealthy parents house in the country and get real jobs and put their hair into receding ponytails.
Crusties however just have more and more crusty babies. And nobody's going to want to clean a Crusty babies bum. Especially not a Crusty.

Which actor/actress would play you in the film of your life?

Zoe Deschanel. After I marry her, she will know me more intimately than anyone else... And she'll probably insist on doing it too y'know.

Have you ever made a citizens arrest?

No. But the other day me and my friends were about to get into an unlicensed cab when suddenly a whole plain-clothed police squad pounced out from behind the bushed and dragged the cab driver to the floor screaming at us to step back. 'This man is a convicted rapist!' they were shouting 'Never use unlicencensed cabs!' They were screaming. Fuck!

Who is your best Sporting Hero?

Tom Penny, the Skateboarder. He became really famous at the age of 12 or 13 for doing loads of stuff people didn't even have names for yet. Nothing show off-ey just loads of fluid combinations done really quickly, which no one had ever thought of putting together before. It got to the point where people stared hero worshipping him and he lost it and moved to the French countryside and stopped skating and did loads of drugs. I lived in the same village as him in France and used to go round to his house and annoy his mum to give me free skate stickers and get splinters in my bum sliding up and down his half-pipe all day. He was fucking incredible.

Have you ever seen a ghost?

I used to see a guy walking up and down a cornfield with a dog and a metal detector when i lived in the countryside. I mean he could have just been old joe bob from the local farm out looking for truffles and scrap metal, but he did it at really odd times of the day. I'd see him on the way to school, at seven in the morning. or on the way home, at like 9 or 10 at night. And for some reason i only saw him on really misty days. I didn't think anything of it until my dad asked me If i'd ever seen the old man with the dog and the metal detector....

What have been your fave tracks/albums from the past year or so?

The vampire weekend album, The last Of montreal record. 'Person Pitch' by panda bear, The 2nd beirut record wasn't as good as the first i thought..Nor was the band of Horses one..
All these bands are american! The Klaxons record. 'Mans needs, women's needs, whatever' -The Cribs. These New Puritains' record is pretty good.

What is your favorite insult?

1. 'oh by the way, you're adopted' (only really works on siblings).
2. 'Nice mullet, asshole.'

xxxBlaine

The Mystery Jets- Flakes (Z Share) (YSI)

All questions put by Beef Weaver.

I Saved Latin. What did you ever do?

If your feeling a little tender then give this first track a swerve for the time being: Coki's 'Spongebob' is the aural equivalent of a quick scissor kick to the temple. It's available via DMZ recordings.

Coki- Spongebob (Z Share) (YSI)

The second in Gomma's galactic series has been out for a month of so now- This track from Oblio could easily soundtrack a spacewalk. Top disco stomp.

Oblio- Escape (Z Share) (YSI)

Following on from the success of the Juno soundtrack Adam Green is back with a new record 'Sixes & Sevens' on Rough Trade records. 'Leaky Flask' finds him on top lyrical form as he murmurs about 50 Head Virgins & Ninja Skunk. You can purchase the record here.

Adam Green- Leaky Flask (Z Share) (YSI)