Song for the Day!

Twilight sound-track featuring aside (i know they're not the only guilty party), Grizzly Bear are pretty amazing.

Song for the Day!

That laconic west coast attitude, combined with powerful guitars and fine harmonies mean i just haven't stopped listening to Surfer Blood, so i thought i'd post some more of them.

B(latantly) P(ricks)

This blew up killing the entire crew thirty seconds after this picture was taken, for want of a $50 safety valve BP didn't want to pay for

I read an article about gigantic oil incompetents BP on Foreign Policy and it would be fair to say it was 'enlightening', not to mention enraging. Apparently BP have spent hundreds of millions of dollars re-branding themselves as the cleanest of petrol companies, even saying that BP no longer stood for British Petroleum but instead for 'Beyond Petrol'. Ignoring how simperingly sad that tagline is (was), it is also patently untrue. BP having been steadily reducing their input into renewable energy over the last few years, and have spent far more advertising being green than on actually being green. The mega spillage in the Gulf of Mexico seemed pretty inevitable, and when you read that a $500,000 dollar device (which is probably how much the BP chief exec spends on lunch each day) could have prevented it, a device which nations as dubious as Brazil make mandatory but the USA do not, it makes my temper go up like a gas flare.
Add to this that the company has apparently been fined $485,000,000 in the last five years in the US alone for failing to comply with safety regulations. The cost is more than environmental, 11 BP workers died in the Gulf of Mexico explosion and another 15 died in an incident on a BP Texas oil refinery. Putting the morals of the argument aside (as I am sure BP regularly do), it doesn't even make financial sense, the cost of increasing safety measures would be a fraction of the fines they've had to pay. It seems even in the 21st Century that the oil companies are still run by self motivated, cigar toting, early 20th century 'capitalists', for whom concern for their workers is non existent and even the long-term health of the company is unimportant in the face of saving a quick buck.

Song for the Day!

The Clientele make some of the most beautiful, dreamy music I've ever heard, it comes in waves of melodious magnificence, Beatles-esque harmonies soar with luxuries guitars and gentle percussion to wonderful effect. I thought i'd read they were wrapping it all up, but i'm not entirely sure that's the case as they recently released an MIA (interesting choice) cover, so maybe they're keeping it going. I really hope so as they're are a band i would dearly love to see live. Oh and they have the added advantage of actually being British!

Feisty

Feist makes beautiful and exhilerating music, The Reminder album is frankly a work of art, and Leslie Feist herself secretes charisma. But I was unaware of her impressive past, her high school band Placebo, apparently there were two bands with that name (shame the shit one became the more prominent) opened for the Ramones in 1991. It was with Placebo that she apparently almost destroyed her vocal chords, so badly that a doctor apparently told her she would never sing again!
Fortunately he turned out to be wrong (perhaps he was ex-NHS). It was during a period of recuperation that she began forming her first, acoustic based, solo music and released Monarch in 1999. She went on to be involved with Broken Social Scene (were she apparently became 'involved' with some of the members), By Divine Right and also worked and, more terrifyingly, lived with Peaches.
She can only be described as indie royalty, and her music backs that assertion up completely. Oh and apparently she was a dancer aged 12 in an olympic opening ceremony. Amazing. My very hip friend Matt actually has her first album release on a CD-R that he bought from a second hand shop in Montreal.

Song for the Day!

I'm fully engaged with Surfer Blood's album Astro Coast at the moment. The track above is probably the most cliched 'cali-surf band' track on the album, but it had the best (read amazingly aces) video for it and it does give a good idea of their sound even if there are better tracks on the album. It's summer music and, despite it being May, we appear to be in the midst of summer. Hopefully it doesn't mean it's going to rain continously from June through to August

Pic-chas

This motley collection have all been lifted from other, much more popular, blogs.

Song for the Day!

Cold Cave are mega-synthy and mega-deep

Song for the Day!

I'm having trouble listening to the Mountain Goats less than twice a day at present

& I

Finally watched Withnail & I from credits to credits, "my head feels like a pig shat in it". A real pair of role models.

Bloody Hell

The guy on the far right is a total knob


Blood, Sweat and Luxuries is about six vain British people, who love over-priced tacky fashion accesories, who then have to go and do stuff like work in African Sapphire mines and get really surprised that people in Africa don't actuall get paid very much and life over there is actually quite difficult. The most interesting side of it is simply getting to see the origins of all the expensive shite we buy over here, and the effects it has upon the locals lives. It's qutie sad that in order for it to be considered watchable we have to have spoiled British people whingeing about it, although it is amusing when they occasionally have a go at the bosses of the companies. I assume TV producers believe (probably rightly) that most people wouldn't watch it otherwise. Still it does give you a great sense of smuggness, "look at these wimps, i'd do so much better and work so much harder and be so much less surprised". And the guy Oscar is an unbelievable twat who continually upsets everyone else.

You Go Girl!

Joanna showing Gaga what eccentric headwear is really all about

This article from the Guardian is amazing. Basically it's Joanna Newsom slamming tons of commercial superstars, her Lady Gaga comments unsuprisingly attracted the most attention, "she is the new Madonna, but Madonna's a dumb-ass!" being the favourite quote for me. Joanna rawwks!!

Song for the Day!

Local Natives make really poppy music, like reeeallly poppy music. But if we don't have room for really poppy music in our lives then whaat are we doing? Besides it's not like 'modern' poppy, like lady GG or whoever, basically it's just really great. The above track is possibly the most poppy, hence it getting a music video and whatnot (although that's not actually the official one). They've got plenty of interesting facial hair which makes them feel like a proper pop band. From the Seventies.

Election Returns

So the conservatives won, well they got more votes than anybody else, but thankfully not an overall majority. Still the result was mightily depressing, despite three weeks of intensive media coverage and a much more competent (if less drunk and entertaining) leader the Libs lost three seats, the Conservatives gained virtually everywhere.
First up I think media predictions that the Lib Dems could actually equal, or even better, the votes of the other two parties were ridiculous anyway, as if the nation's opinion was going to change in three weeks after decades of an ingrained two-party system. Still I expected an improvement, maybe even as many as a hundred seats for the Libs, as it is it only feels like a step backwards. However the hung-parliament does offer a definite opportunity. Clegg, despite his feeble election returns, is still essentially King-maker, it's up to him who becomes prime minister, although it would mean a brave stand against public opinion to back up Gordon Brown (a leader who has never won an election), and could be harmful to Lib Dem prospects in the next election. If Nick Clegg can be involved in all the major movements in the house for the next four years, and make some good moves while he is in there, the coverage and involvement of the Lib Dems in national government would mean that come the next election both he and his party might be viewed much more seriously by the electorate.
So just another four years to wait.
As for the election itself, the results were a clear sign of immense voter apathy amongst younger age groups, where Lib Dem support is greatest. And with the present life-span of the British population, it could be thirty years before enough generations have matured to get them in power. That is assuming people don't convert to more conservative (in it's actual meaning, not political party sense) political thought as they get older, which is somewhat inevitable. I think the returns also represent a huge gulf between the young and old of this country, that their political opinions differ so hugely is disturbing. As part of the younger generation i can't help but feel disappointed in the older generations, who seem to be acting purely out of self-interest, with no real desire to see Britain progress.
It's my generation who will have to live with the consequences of succesively backwards thinking governments in the decades to come. The majority of the British electorate are cowards.

Excited

Voting reminds me of going to get my haircut; i'm nervous and excited, and the outcome could be potentially upsetting if my input is ignored

Electioneering

Radiohead's Electioneering because i like themes

So it's the General Election of Thursday! I'm actually pretty excited, partly because It's nice to feature in and be around during a recognisable part of history, which every General Election is no matter how dull, and also because the Lib Dems look likely to get their best return for a very long time. I voted for them last time when k-razy party boy alcoholic Charles Kennedy ran. I'd still prefer him over Tony Blair or Gordon Brown actually. I haven't got much else to say, everyone who can, should vote because it's probably the only way most of us ever get to effect the political system which dominates our lives. Just don't vote BNP or anything, even if you're doing it as a 'statement', you will eventually regret it.
I'll no doubt post my opinion about the result on Friday, with any luck it won't be a conservative victory otherwise my post will probably be depressing as hell!

RIP Mark Linkous

Back in March Sparklehorse frontman Mark Linkous shot himself in the heart and, suprisingly, died. Until then i'd only given Sparklehorse a precursory listen, so the the last couple of months have been a bit of a revelation as I've discovered his music to be superb; melodic, cool, simple and complex, emotionally touching. Essentially everything I could ask from a musician. Apparently this wasn't Linkous' first brush with death, he 'died' for two minutes after an overdose back in the 90's. Anyway, as per, I'm late to te party again, but that doesn't mean I wont enjoy it. RIP.

Song for the Day!

Bradford Cox's band are fantasticly atmospheric and have some killer hooks and rhytms. Cox is a beautifully indivualistic artist, both because of his physical appearance and, from some of the interviews I've read, his attitude towards making music.