We write letters...

I just toppled my laptop, from my lap and onto my nose. That was not paricularly pleasant. Before this I was outside. It's surprisingly light outside. It's 4:30 AM so that may go someway to explaining it. But from inside my room it now seems surprisingly dark. Maybe it's the artificial light resonating from the street-lights. When I was outside the birds were chirping. I am fully awake and yet gasping for sleep.



Marching Band

Letters
In a Little While

"We feel like good friends should be kept". Indeed. Tonight was a good night. Saul Williams was played. Obviously, it wasn't an Indie Disco. It was Funk, Soul, and Rock 'n' Roll. I only stayed for "a little while". Then the Bound For... the band there played modern loveable covers. It was simple. It was effective. It was enjoyable.

"I'm pretending you're looking outside, trying to decide; how to do it, how to get it right." I am a beating soul, a beating heart, a human body full of emotions, and the Marching Band are not so much marching as strolling towards conveying these feelings. They are the music you hear in the mornings when you're not tired enough to sleep, but too tired to dream; so instead you just think. You love the people you know. You hate the fact that you hurt them so often. Each and every regret has an accompanying moment of happiness.

I am fully awake and yet gasping for sleep... good night. [Find out more...]

x

That's reason enough to celebrate!

Reasons: It's Friday. I have some 'spare' whiskey. No point in having spare alcohol, eh? Friends don't waste wine when there's words to sell. This will be my first time being out of the house and out of the village, since Hell. Hell took place on Wednesday. Let's not talk about it. I have some 'spare' cigarettes. See above. Indie Disco is probably on. I'm going to dance. Music is great. I'm going to buy a hard drive soon.

Reasons not to celebrate: I have to buy a hard drive, soon. As in now. How soon is now? Too soon.



These songs are silly. They were always meant to be silly. Instead of aiming at touching your heart, they try to move your feet. Shake with enthusiasm at the thought of an alcoholic reprieve. Let's not glamorise alcohol, but sometimes it's pretty sweet. What's even better though? Friends and lots of 'em. What's even better still? Friends who dance and love music.



Friday's mini mix-tape

Professor Murder - Champion
Think About Life - Paul Cries
Smile For The Cameraman, Honey - Snips! 2
Radiohead - Idioteque
Snowden - Anti Anti
You Say Party! We Say Die! - The Gap (Between the Rich and the Poor)

* Champion makes me think of a messier Futureheads, less keen on trendy covers, and more keen on reckless abandon.
** Paul Cries is like a second-hand copy of a Unicorns disc. All fuzzy and muddled, conveying a bizarre energy that strives to make the party. A scratched record put on repeat that just loses itself. Ba-da bop ba-dada.
*** Snips! 12 sums up the Indie Disco in a very short space of time. super-disco, disco-making! This song is pretty much one for spazzin' out to - and of course dancing a lot as well. Imagine a kid with ADHD on ecstasy. Got it? Good.
**** Radiohead went from a straightforward rock band, releasing hit single Creep, to that weird art-rock political band that make crazy dance music infused with alot of rock and electronica. Is this a bad thing? No. Everything all the time.
***** Snowden start this song very much like it's a - and here's where it gets hard. Maybe like The Killers trying to be U2? Something like that, which sounds shite... but it's pretty great.
****** Imagine a soft-core female fronted Rage Against The Machine. This is what that song sounds like, and I love it. We're ending with this 'cause I have to get the bus and there's no better song to get me in the mood for dancing - except for maybe Snips! 12. I Say Party!

We came to party... street by street; block by block

Champion, knees up, SPLASH!!...

*Note: post originally written between 21:27 and 22:02. Blogger is shite. Thus it took a while for it to get posted. Post is for Thom. 'cause Thom's a good friend.

It's just bad news.

Sure, there's a few clouds in the sky but they all blend into one; it's a canvas sky - it's been painted by one brush and one colour and then it's been smudged. It's a quiet evening - nearly summer - the barbeque aromas aren't hanging around beside the hedges yet, but it's getting there. Before it gets there, you're thinking of all the things you've done since last summer. You've torn down the walls between you and something you've always wanted to do. You've smiled alot, laughed alot. You've broken down the walls guarding a friendship, and you've destroyed the friendship. You've lied alot, you've cried alot. Maybe this is the song to sum all of this up. "Don't try to call / you'll lose it all". Sometimes, you have to look the other way, just to get by.



Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin

House Fire

"We did all we could." Denial. Self-aggrandisement. But, the thing is, you know it's self-denial - so that makes it all the sadder. "It's just bad news". Investigate the band further. Find out who Boris Yeltsin is.

soft-spoken prayers under candlelight

Today was one of those days, that's like, really really bad, but you detach yourself from it so that everything is ok, the sun is shining, hey, it's only life. You ever had those days? They make you feel bad about the detachment, for a start. And then it's like putting off a problem. And yea, well, anyway, read more here.

The Silent Type make beautiful music. I first discovered them through an immensely praising review on Drowned in Sound, which wrote about their music and its perfect suitability for the context in which is was released - the reviewer listened to it on the day of the London Bombings. The review was quite amazing, and obviously, I wanted to hear the band to see if they were worthy of such flattery. Well, I only ever downloaded Ink & Blood, but it was a fantastic song that has been on many of my mix-tapes, and then the other day I took a mood and decided to get more. Only got two others, but if you like male-female harmonies, folky indie music, and beauty, then you should enjoy it all. 'Oh John' reminds me so much of the band Anathallo, that it makes me wonder if The Silent Type are Christians as well. It just has that, sort of distinctive holy sound. Don't let that put you off though, since oftentimes that can be a beautiful sound.



The Silent Type

Ink & Blood
Oh John
Jus Primae Noctis

The lyrics for Ink & Blood are as follows:

Is it true if I wake up that this story I construct will eventually come undone and reveal its empty tongue, like all along, this ink and blood could just wear off? I'm a book wrote in reverse and with several pages torn. As you read, the plot gets worse, and the characters unlearn every virtue, all concern for the lovers that they've hurt, for all pain has been returned. So I'm keeping my eyes shut. No more pages will get cut. The few chapters not yet done will come. Don't rush these words along. The words will come.

You should invest time in listening to the music properly, and listening to the lyrics, since their poetry and beauty is a key feature of this music - although the music is beautiful enough on its own to survive without such words. I've no idea what the band's up to now - still taking a breather I guess - but their website is well broke, and thye've never been featured on Drowned in Sound since.

Notes on that summer / Notes on this music -

Listening to the songs now it is easy to see why the reviewer found so much meaning within the music. After a tragedy comes a search for meaning, a desperate attempt at finding the beautiful and patching up the mistakes. The Silent Type seem to reveal how, effortlessly. The secular sound is hopeful and beautiful. Listening to Nathan Altice's voice is like tip-toeing into a darkened room, lit up only ever-so-slightly, by the candles on the mantelpiece. You take a step in and you hear a soft voice. You look up and see your shadow flickering. You glance the other way and something catches your eye. It's Nathan, kneeling on the ground, praying. This is a prayer you want to listen to. It feels necessary to hear his soothing tones, his delicate way of speaking, his beautiful words. You want to have the meaning that you can hear in his voice. And so you stay. And then you put the songs on repeat, until you feel cleansed.

65daysofstatic get all retro Trainspotting style

There is nothing more distracting than finding great music, when only half-heartedly looking for it. If this song isn't the coolest thing you've heard all day, then you're pretty damn cool. I found this posted here. You should go there, mainly for this. I recommend the covers by: The Lucksmiths, Loquat, Nada Surf.

65daysofstatic

Born Apart [Love Will Tear Us Apart / Born Slippy]
Retreat! Retreat!

I threw Retreat! Retreat! in as a bonus, because well, it seems kind of mandatory, seeing as how this band are unstoppable. The Born Slippy song was of course made into the most memorable and depressing song ever due to its use in Trainspotting. It is retro, and I love it. So should you. Sorry for the excitement, but you know passion is a powerful thing.

Back to revision for me...

last orders are an order

Finally, I've got around to listening to Beerjacket enough, to start to like the music, alot. Borrowing from such well-worn strings as Elliott Smith, Jeff Buckley and Bright Eyes, Peter Kelly - the young face behind the voice and the guitar - is turning into a brilliant songwriter with brilliant potential. Using a stripped back acoustic offering of sound, he crafts well-written and well-sung melodies, to carry his songs.

No point in citing influences if you don't explain, so... Beerjacket, writes and plays guitar lines which are more complex than your average singer-songwriter fare - no doubt the influence of Elliott Smith - and with enough variety to keep you interested. In addition to this he's got the (seldom-used) falsetto, and the faltering voice of Jeff Buckley and his lyrics are often reminiscent of Bright Eyes in both their sardonic phrasings and their bitter delivery.

Offering up such sound-alikes as these would put an awful lot of pressure on a young singer-songwriter, but he's nearly good enough to get away with it. Maybe not quite there, but he will be soon, no doubt. I would recommend heading over to Archive.org in order to find a live show of his, since these illustrate that his talent is a natural one, and his charm is subtle but ever-present.

If you're a literary person, or just a drinker, then listen to the lyrics of 'Last Orders', since they're insightful, and the vocal delivery makes them seem even more profound. A song about alcoholism and an ode to resignation - it has to be done, it might be fun, you'll wake up hating yourself in the morning. I'm sure others have felt that.



Beerjacket

Barricade
These Planes Won't Fly
Bad Got Worse
Last Order (live)


This live concert is good. This one; here, silly. It's the one where he opens for Rilo Kiley, and gets nervous but never really falters.

You can download the rest of his second album, 'Great Unhappiness', here. I only offered up my favourites from it, which I believe highlight his potential the best.

Sorry for slow posting, I've been recovering from Friday and then just recovering, and then trying to revise. I'm going to try that some more now.