There’s a halfway interesting interview with Guy Picciotto over here. Mainly goes on about his work on the recent Blood Brothers album, but there’s a couple of other amusing questions tucked in there as well:

“The term ‘emo’ certainly wasn’t in circulation when Rites of Spring was a band so I don’t know how the whole correlation came about. We just thought of ourselves as DC punk band. ‘Emo’ is something I started hearing long after we’d broken up, it was intended as a putdown and for as dumb as it sounds I am shocked at the legs the term has.”

And on Fugazi:

“As for the chances of Fugazi working again – my basic feeling is that it is very, very unlikely but you never know.”

:(

It took some effort compiling this list, simply because this year has been relatively shit music-wise at least for stuff that I’m into. Anyway:

1. Giddy Motors - “Do Easy”

By far and away the best thing I’ve heard this year. Shame this will be their last, the world needs more bands like these guys.

2. Hot Snakes - “Thunder Down Under”

Obvious. It would be number 1 but it’s not ‘new’ material.

3. Enablers - “Output Negative Space”

Why more people haven’t heard of these dudes from San Francisco I don’t know. One of the only original bands out there in my opinion. Maybe people are put off by the ’spoken word’ vocal aspect but one listen to a track like “Pauly’s Last Days In Cinema” should instantly change minds.

4. These Arms Are Snakes - “Easter”

They come across as a bunch of posers live, but I can’t argue with the quality of this album. Slightly less abrasive than their last release but just as aggressive.

5. End Of A Year - “Sincerely”

The name of this band should give a pretty big clue as to what they’re about. Remember the old DC sound of groups like Dag Nasty (before they turned shit), Ignition, Soulside and so on? That’s exactly what ‘End Of A Year’ are like.

6. McClusky - “McCluskyism”

Down here for the same reason that Hot Snakes isn’t any higher - this release is awesome but it’s not really anything new. McClusky were about the best thing in the UK for a while and now they’re sorely missed. Like Giddy Motors, we need more bands like this.

7. Isis - “In The Absence Of Truth”

A step back in terms of heavyness from previous releases but still good.

8. Rye Coalition - “Curses”

Dave Grohl’s utterly shit production effort basically castrated this entire album. Fuck that moron.

9. Trans Am - “Sex Change”

Technically this is a 2007 release, but never mind. It’s good, but it’s not ‘The Surveillance’ or ‘Futureworld’. They need to tour.

10. Channels - “Waiting For The Next End of The World”

Not J. Robbins’ best effort (or Zentek’s for that matter) but still a good listen. I couldn’t help but feel disappointed by this release even though the EP wasn’t really up to all that much.

While I think about what to do in terms of sorting a portfolio site for my photography - which might take a while considering I’ve still no broadband where I’m living - I’ve started uploading my newer photographs to Flickr. Additionally I’ve amended the bottom bar to display the latest pictures from my Flickr feed, so you’ll see the last 9 pictures down there which currently include some photos of These Arms Are Snakes and Trencher.

We’ve been talking about this for far too long now so it’s about time it was organised. Here’s what I’m thinking and what’s been discussed so far:

• A weekend around the end of January (2007). It’ll be Saturday night as some of us will have to travel back to Bolton for this.
• Venue TBC - obviously the Rawson isn’t possible any more :( Some ideas here would be great. Anyone friendly with any landlords that have a function room and would be up for a lock-in?
• Hardware restrictions. I’m thinking P5 (so nothing above Pentium MMX) with a Voodoo 2 (or two). DOSBox has been mentioned as an option, but I don’t think it’d be half as much fun.
• Games - Quake (1 and 2), Duke 3D, Moto Racer, Motorhead, Doom, Magic Carpet, and so on.

I’m pretty sure that between us we have enough spare old kit to help people out if they’re stuck. Let’s do this!