NSC Easter Bunny CD 2015

[spring hall convert]

Just having my first listen through at the moment. There are many on this thread that like to have a guess at the creator so here's my tracklist;

Ideal World - Girlpool
Periscopes - Jilk & Haiku Salat
Swirl - Westkust
I'll Be Your Mirror - Velvet Underground
Skanking Dub (feat. Augustus Pablo) - King Tubby
Her Jazz - Huggy Bear
Blue Skied An' Clear - Slowdive
Velocity Girl - Primal Scream
Popcorn - The Upsetters
The Body Is a Clear Place - Virginia Wing
Throne of Blood - Prince Jammy
Drone - Chastity Belt
The Rainstick Fable - Clap! Clap!
Malukayi (feat Konono No. 1) - Mbongwana Star
Hot Licks - The Rendells
King Kut (feat. DJ Cheese) - Word of Mouth
Globe Town - Tigercats
Hazel Street (Live) - Deerhunter (how did you know?)
Outdoor Miner - Wire
You Never Should - My Bloody Valentine
Tuner - Mogwai

I reckon its someone pretty active on the music thread so I have a shortlist of 4. I'm plumping for Tiny Cowboy.

Review to follow obvs....

 

[tinycowboy]

Just having my first listen through at the moment. There are many on this thread that like to have a guess at the creator so here's my tracklist;

Ideal World - Girlpool
Periscopes - Jilk & Haiku Salat
Swirl - Westkust
I'll Be Your Mirror - Velvet Underground
Skanking Dub (feat. Augustus Pablo) - King Tubby
Her Jazz - Huggy Bear
Blue Skied An' Clear - Slowdive
Velocity Girl - Primal Scream
Popcorn - The Upsetters
The Body Is a Clear Place - Virginia Wing
Throne of Blood - Prince Jammy
Drone - Chastity Belt
The Rainstick Fable - Clap! Clap!
Malukayi (feat Konono No. 1) - Mbongwana Star
Hot Licks - The Rendells
King Kut (feat. DJ Cheese) - Word of Mouth
Globe Town - Tigercats
Hazel Street (Live) - Deerhunter (how did you know?)
Outdoor Miner - Wire
You Never Should - My Bloody Valentine
Tuner - Mogwai

I reckon its someone pretty active on the music thread so I have a shortlist of 4. I'm plumping for Tiny Cowboy.

Review to follow obvs....

I have a pretty good idea of who this is. King Kut is Old Skool genius. All hail DJ Cheese, the 1986 world scratching champion.

 

[Guinness Boy]

*drums fingers*

 

[Staly]

Right, I’m finally getting round to my review. This will be in sections as I’ve also got to write some data protection training for our HR Department , so this will provide light relief in the gaps.

This is a double cd set, with no artwork to post.
1. Pere Ubu – Ubu Dance Party. I’ve always had a soft spot for Pere Ubu, but always preferred The Modern Dance to Dub Housing. I’ve also rather gone off David Thomas recently as he seems to have turned into a bit of a nutjob with his “only Americans can make rock and roll” stuff. Still, nothing wrong with this.
2. Fela Kui –Igbe. I’ve got too many Fela Kuti lps. They’re always a safe bet when you’re in a record shop looking for something to balance out the stack of weedy indiepop nonsense that the cool dudes behind the counter will think that you should have grown out of by now. Fela’s always good when he gets going (usually about 12 minutes in). My wife doesn’t agree, and I don’t get to play him when she’s in the house.
3. Miles Davis- Black Satin. From On The Corner, Miles’ reach out to black power funk. Very revolutionary record in its time. Stands up today (obviously).
4. Inventions- Entity. Right, into the unknown for me. Google tells me that this is an Explosions In The Sky side project, and I have heard of them. This is a bit of light jazzy noodling with annoying handclaps and farty bass. I don’t like farty bass.
5. Dean Blunt and Inga Copeland – 10. This is more ambient soundscape stuff, but more to my taste than the last one. It’s a bit woozy, sounds a bit like a Sunday morning hangover. On a steamship.
6. Oneohtrix Point Never – Sleep Dealer. Another sound installation. More woozy malfunctioning robot stuff.

 

[Worthingite]

Mine arrived this morning - thanks to my neighbour who has been on holiday for a fortnight, and had 3 out of date appointment letters and my polling card also. Royal Mail are idiots.

 

[Staly]

7. Andy Stott – Violence. Bit spooky this one, with lots of electronic growling noises and some droning. It’s sort of got a tune too though, which is always a positive.
8. Electric Wizard – Doom Mantia. Ooooh, goodie, doom metallers. This lot seem to have gone for all the clichés, as Wikipedia states that “Electric Wizard's brand of doom metal incorporates stoner and sludge traits, with lyrics focusing on the occult, witchcraft, H.P. Lovecraft, horror films and cannabis”. I don’t mind this sort of stuff in short bursts, but it’s basically 6th form music isn’t it? Is that a bad thing?
9. Sun Araw – Bump Up. This bloke’s worked with The Congos apparently, which is a fine recommendation. This is sort of electronic prog reggae, but a bit forgettable.
10. Balam Acab – See Birds (Moon). Pitchfork think this bloke’s scary, but I’m not so easily intimidated. Proper bass line, and spooky vocals. Liked this one.
11. Peaking Lights – Tiger Eyes (Laid Back). Again according to Wikipedia, these are friends of the Flaming Lips. Sort of makes sense, as this is a psychedelic little number which could pass as a song. It’s ok, bit boring.

 

[tinycowboy]

That is a pretty left-field mix you have there, Staly. Are there any top 40 hits to come?

 

[Staly]

That is a pretty left-field mix you have there, Staly. Are there any top 40 hits to come?

CD2 looks a bit more poppy...

 

[Staly]

Speaking of which:

Here we go with CD2.

1. Keel Her – Go. Lo Fi strummings from friends of R Stevie Moore. I think Pro Tools has a lot to answer for, as so many bands produce their own stuff now. This sounds a bit flat – I’m no advocate of big production, but stuff like this benefits from a bit of oomph. A lot of modern lps sound flat and uninteresting to my ears, I don’t think you get professional producers any more at the lower end of the music business, and I think that sometimes it shows.
2. The Intelligence – Reading And Writing About Partying. This has a bit more oomph sound wise, but conversely is a bit too polite.
3. Fumaca Preta – Vou Me Libertar. This is pleasingly unhinged. More like it. Organ led garage sounds.
4. Animal Collective – We Tigers. I’ve always had these down as a chin strokers’ band. I don’t think I was wrong on this evidence. Some people just need a good shake. Modern Frank Zappas.
5. Sleaford Mods – Tweet, Tweet, Tweet. I’ve been meaning to listen to these for a while, just to see what the fuss is about. There’s not enough angry music any more, but these seem a bit contrived somehow.
6. Ariel Pink – Not Enough Violence. Hold on, I thought Ariel Pink was supposed to be this cutting edge conceptual artist. How come this sounds like Specimen?

 

[spring hall convert]

6. Ariel Pink – Not Enough Violence. Hold on, I thought Ariel Pink was supposed to be this cutting edge conceptual artist. How come this sounds like Specimen?

 

[Guinness Boy]

Glad this is finally getting going. I have a reasonable idea of who made Staly's CD......

 

[tinycowboy]

Glad this is finally getting going. I have a reasonable idea of who made Staly's CD......

Me too. Unless someone is doing a fairly good impersonation...

 

[Staly]

Well, there are 12 more tracks to go, but you're going to have to hang on until tomorrow as I'm not going to have time to review them today.

 

[tinycowboy]

Well, there are 12 more tracks to go, but you're going to have to hang on until tomorrow as I'm not going to have time to review them today.

Data protection calls, eh Staly? Well done to the Shrews by the way - lovely times in Salop....

 

[Staly]

Data protection calls, eh Staly? Well done to the Shrews by the way - lovely times in Salop....

Yes, I decided to make them do some role playing

It was a good season. Got to stay up now though, unlike last time.

 

[Staly]

Right, after a dreadful night for those of us who aren't uber capitalist sell your own grandma small state scum, I'm looking for the next tracks on this cd to cheer me up. Are they up to the job? Let's find out together:
7. Slum of Legs - Razorblade the Tape. I like this track. So much so that I put it on my Christmas cd earlier on this thread. I do think that Slum of Legs could do with sacking their keyboard player though. She adds nowt but irritation.
8. Burning Spear – Give Me. Winston Rodney has one of the most distinctive voices in reggae. Always a banker.
9. The Soft Walls- Guided Through. There’s some pleasing clanging going on in this. I have a soft spot for songs which make guitars sound like what they really are, steel strings on planks of wood. Big Black were always very good at that. These sound like rusted steel strings on planks of wood.
10. Dirty Beaches – Sweet 17.Taiwanese one man band, now broken up (how exactly?). Surf song with a hungover Elvis impersonator singing over the top. Alternatively a Suicide tribute act using guitars rather than keyboards. Neither of those descriptions are in any way derogatory. Probably my favourite of the things with which I was previously unfamiliar so far (if that makes sense).
11. Tobacco (feat Beck) – Flesh Hex. Sounds a bit Beckish, which I suppose is little surprise. Fine.
12. Skull Defekts – No More Always. Garage with a sligt funky undertone. There’s a lot of this stuff around at the moment isn’t there? Are we still in a post Strokes world? The measure for this stuff is “is it as good as Pussy Galore?” The answer is invariably no. Not bad, just not necessary.

 

[Staly]

13. The Bug (feat Warrior Queen) – Poison Dart. We had a conversation about this earlier in the thread, which might be a clue to the author of this cd, or might be a red herring. [MENTION=14921]spring hall convert[/MENTION]? Plus he laughed at my Ariel Pink joke which may have been an attempt to throw me off the scent?
14. HEALTH – Die Slow. Bit of an industrial noisy thing. According to Wikipedia, people keep comparing these to Crystal Castles, but to my geriatric ears they sound like Curve. Anyone else remember Curve? (shut up granddad).
15. Women – Black Rice. I like women (boom boom). These apparently broke up after a fight on stage, which is a good way for a band to end. I have witnessed a few of these. Cherry Red recording artists Headtime split on stage at the Duchess of York in Leeds in the midst of their biggest ever gig (supporting The Sultans of Ping) when their drummer (and my housemate) David threw his drumsticks at the back of the singer’s head and stormed off stage. More famously the Lemonheads split up for the first time at the same venue after an on stage ruckus which I found quite enjoyable.
16. Thee Oh Sees – Peanut Butter Oven. This band release so much stuff. I blame Pro Tools again. Bands should release one album every year or two and put their 12 best songs on it. You shouldn’t release every piece of crap you record, how the hell are people supposed to know how good you are? Thee Oh Sees might be very good or a bit average. It’s impossible to tell without some quality control. Billy Childish is an exception to this rule.
17. The Ex and Brass Unbound. The Ex are one of my favourite bands in the world ever. A band who can be consistently relied on to produce stuff worth listening to even after 30 or so years. I salute the author of this cd as a fellow Ex fan- there are fewer of us than there ought to be.
18. Lutine – So It Goes. Bit of a change of pace. Described as experimental folk on Bandcamp. I can see that this could be very good, it’s a good song. I think the instrumental backing sounds a bit front room Yamaha keyboard though, if you know what I mean. I could also do with a little less warble in her voice. I know that’s how you’re supposed to sing these days but I think it detracts.
So, I’ve had a first guess above. I enjoyed listening to this cd. I note that there are a fair few Brighton bands on this, so if I have inadvertently slagged off the author or any of his friends whilst vainly trying to be funny I can only apologise. This cd fulfilled the primary purpose of this thread for me, which is to swap stuff which people may not have heard before, and make them listen to them enough to write a review, a process I enjoy. I quite like hearing things I hate, as it allows me to go off on one in print. Not too many things I hated on this though, so thanks.

 

[Staly]

Oh, my pick for the favourite tracks compilation will be The Ex and Brass Unbound, purely because it might force more people to listen to them.

 

[tinycowboy]

13. The Bug (feat Warrior Queen) – Poison Dart. We had a conversation about this earlier in the thread, which might be a clue to the author of this cd, or might be a red herring. [MENTION=14921]spring hall convert[/MENTION]? Plus he laughed at my Ariel Pink joke which may have been an attempt to throw me off the scent?
14. HEALTH – Die Slow. Bit of an industrial noisy thing. According to Wikipedia, people keep comparing these to Crystal Castles, but to my geriatric ears they sound like Curve. Anyone else remember Curve? (shut up granddad).

I think you guess right Staly. Red herrings are all part of the NSCD game. I remember Curve - sometimes astonishing, sometimes dull.

 

[Staly]

I think you guess right Staly. Red herrings are all part of the NSCD game. I remember Curve - sometimes astonishing, sometimes dull.

Ah, but do you remember Headtime? They were right up your street.