Shrinebuilder – Shrinebuilder

Ever tried to squash four distinct meals in a big bowl?

Om – God Is Good

Everyone knows Weird Al’s Bob Rivers’s “God is good / God is great / What if God smoked Cannabis” cover of Joan Osborne’s stupid 90s-feelgood-hymn, but what if he really did? And what if he suddenly discovered mushrooms and wanted to live in Goa for a while and study some ancient texts? He’d probably sound like Om: neither enlightened nor enlightening, but definitely stoned. Why do I always have to write on drugs, it’s so stupid.

Warp20 Festival (Coronet, London)

Broadcast: Arty

Nice Nice: Skilled

Battles: Rather boring, sorry

Flying Lotus: Mental!

Planetary Assault Systems – Temporary Suspension

If 50 Cent parties like it’s your birthday, Luke Slater parties like it’s your instant dismissal and the breakup with your girlfriend on the same day, which makes you sniff a suitcase full of coke and dance for two nights until you die. Seriously, this is the best Techno I’ve heard this year.

Black to Comm – Alphabet 1968

When I went to the UK, my Mum wanted to say goodbye at the airport, but I told her not to. She was really disappointed, but I rather preferred to listen to Brian Eno’s “Music for Airports” all alone than to exchange redundant information. Of course I didn’t mention that.

This time it’s much easier, since there is no one who begs to bid farewell. I don’t listen to ambient music a lot, but when I listen to it, I want to make sure that it’s in a proper environment. I’m curious what this record will feel like, but it sounds promising.

Fuck Buttons – Tarot Sport

“You know, it’s so hard, like, uh, recording the second album… everybody has, like, high expectations, uh, when your first album was so good, and, and all you can do is, uh, try to copy it or to, uh, use some more of your influences and stuff… and that’s why we came up with this Samba de Janeiro thing in the last track… and we’re also big fans of The Animal Collective, and, uh, we wanted a more clean sound so it sounds better and, uh, (…).”

Wavves (Jericho Tavern, Oxford)

… and then this kid comes up with his two friends who look like The Melvins and you’re like: Okay, let’s see.  Turns out they kick everybody’s arses for 30 minutes (via Marshall and loads of distortion/reverb/echo).

Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca

Do you remember these moments in your life, when something really big and beautiful appeared out of nothing? You know, things you didn’t anticipate at all, which came up a bit too surprisingly and made you question your right to experience them at first, but then they turned out to be made exclusively for you, because you’re the only one who could ever fully understand and appreciate them? Like, when you..  no wait, that’s disgusting.

William Fitzsimmons – The Sparrow and the Crow

Making fun of a musician’s facial hair in order to avoid writing a profound review because you don’t want him to feel sad about the fact that you’re not touched by his music, just in case he stumbles upon your blog, is so 2007…

Kings of Convenience – Declaration of Dependence

It’s one of those records made for people who are constantly looking forward to say that they used to listen a lot to this record when they had a bad time after the breakup w/ whoever because their love was not strong enough (again). These people are called melancholics and the phenomenon is commonly referred to as the Death Cab for Cutie effect. But “Declaration of Dependence” also works for people like me: I feel great, and enjoying the album makes me feel even greater.

Neon Indian – Psychic Chasms

Thanks guys, you filled up the afternoon gap. Now there is a lo-fi synth electronic band for every hour of the day:

2pm – 7pm: Neon Indian

7pm – 12pm: Night Jewel

12pm – 5am: Chromatics

5am – 2pm: (sleep)

Pissed Jeans – King of Jeans

Listening to Pissed Jeans feels like downing half a bottle of vodka on a party, then starting a fight, smashing all the furniture, getting thrown out and waking up in your own puke, shivering. But in a funny way.

Nite Jewel (Cargo, London)

One year ago I attended Gerrit Starczewski’s Dancing Shoes exhibition in Cologne, which was a part of the c/o pop programme at this time. Since then, I find myself paying more and more attention to people’s footwear. Maybe it’s true that shoes tell a lot about people, at least I’d like to believe in it.

I wonder if Gerrit would be interested in taking a few shots of a band which performs entirely on socks. Nite Jewel is such a band. So what does that tell us? Are Nite Jewel some funny hippies who plant their feet firmly on the ground because they feel drawn to mother earth and appreciate nature and engage in environmentalist activities and have some mushrooms now and then?

I have no idea. What I know is that despite the fact that the band was “sleepy and tired” it was a really beautiful concert, and if you’re free to pay as much as you want AND help Amnesty International at the same time, then so much the better. By the way: Listen to “Want You Back” and watch Arielle at the same time. Just do it.

The xx (Jericho Tavern, Oxford)

The best way to enter a new phase of your life in a foreign country is always to attend a concert as soon as you have arrived, especially if the show is sold out, you don’t have a ticket, received no answer from the label regarding the guest list, have to run to the opposite side of town and smell like a sports team.

The worst way however is to stand in the laser corner all evening, get annoyed by inconsiderate flash photographers all throughout the concert, being not allowed to smoke, having to pay £3,40 for a 0,33 Beck’s and to get up at 9am the next day.

But it was quite beautiful after all. The xx were lovely and Rachael from support act Esben & the Witch actually turned out to be the promising heiress of Beth Gibbons.

Nite Jewel – Good Evening

Leonie, bitte nimm ein Soloalbum auf, das so klingt wie “Good Evening”. Die Welt wäre um ein Juwel reicher. Ich programmier’ auch die Beats, versprochen!

WHY? – Eskimo Snow

Erinnert sich jemand an diese Ausstellung von schlechter Kunst? Da war eine Schwarzweißzeichnung von einem Fluss bei, der plakativ mit Industrieabfällen vollgesaut war. Autoreifen, Giftfässern und sowas. Darunter stand in Großbuchstaben “WHY?”. Nicht, dass das was mit dieser Musik zu tun hätte, aber ich wüsste trotzdem gerne, wie die Ausstellung hieß.

Zoot Woman – Things Are What They Used To Be

Selbst wenn Zoot Woman eine echte Frau wäre, würden die Junior Boys am Synthi-Pissoir immer noch den Kürzeren ziehen. (Nebenan würde Kylie Minogue mit Urinella auf einem Hocker stehen und neckisch lachen.)

HEALTH – Get Color

Ich weiß, Du hörst lieber richtigen Noise, aber die Idee ist doch: Wenn es solche Bands heute nicht gäbe, würde sich wahrscheinlich niemand mehr für den ganzen wirklich nervigen Kram und die Ideen dahinter interessieren. Ganze Szenen von Musikern würden von satten Maltstream-Kids für ihre Gefühlskälte ausgelacht werden, wie es sonst nur toten Zwölfton-Komponisten passiert. Aber es gibt eben HEALTH aus LA, und mit etwas Glück beweisen sie ein paar unsicheren Nachwuchshörern, dass gute Musik nicht melodisch sein muss.

Patrick Wolf – The Bachelor

“Bachelor” muss in der englischsprachigen Linguistik immer als traditionelles Beispiel für Mehrdeutigkeit herhalten. Patrick Wolf hat sich des wissenschaftlichen Erbes ja schon als würdig erwiesen, bevor er es überhaupt angetreten hat. Der alte Diederichsen jedenfalls hat bestimmt seine wahre Soziologenfreude an dem ungefähr interessantesten Popstar, den Großbritannien zur Zeit zu bieten hat. Stichwort Verwandlung und Gender und so. Stehen wir ja drauf, wir Kopfmenschen.

Moderat – Moderat

Thom Yorke finde ich gut, und alles, was Thom Yorke gut findet, finde ich auch gut. Moderat ist eine Ausnahme, die finde ich bis auf das großartige “A New Error” nur ganz okay. Dummerweise weiß ich nicht, was Thom Yorke sonst noch so gut findet.