Sweated my arse off in Darmstadt’s Golden Krone to take a few shots of these guys playing at the ‘Nonstock’ warm-up.  Click on the small ones below to enlarge, or check out the full set on my Flickr account over here.

My good friend Greg and his cohorts, known collectively as ‘Married to the Sea‘, rolled into Darmstadt late yesterday to play an acoustic set at a locally (in)famous and unusual venue known as the Gute Stube.  It offered an ideal opportunity to bust out the camera and test out some low-light shooting of which I’ve done very little with the D700.  In short, I was blown away – not just by the music, but by the fact that I was snapping away quite happily at ISO 3,200 and coming out with fantastic results.

Anyway, yeah – the gig!  The band were fantastic, winning the crowd over not just with their music but also with their infectious charm and humour in this very intimate venue.  Even if the songs weren’t necessarily your cup of tea you couldn’t help but smile and just enjoy being a part of the event, it was great fun and hopefully I’ve managed to capture some of that.

Below is a few of my favourite shots from the night, and the full set is over on my Flickr here.

I dusted off the D700 last night to take some shots of Rox’s friend’s band, Immergrün, at the Schlosskeller here in Darmstadt.  It’s a pretty cool little venue but awkward to take photos, as while it’s fairly intimate there’s huge columns in the way (well, it is a cellar…) that kind of limit your options.  Anyway, I got a few decent shots – nothing groundbreaking, but it felt good to be at a gig and shooting some pictures.  Checkit:

It’s always kind of hard to take photos of a band whose music you aren’t familiar with, as you don’t know when they’re going to build up and kick off, those being the moments that you want to capture.  Still, these guys were pretty tight and didn’t seem to mind me making a nuisance of myself at the front.

]]> http://dischord.org/blog/2010/02/27/immergrun/feed/ 4 http://dischord.org/blog/2010/02/09/excellent-italian-greyhound/ http://dischord.org/blog/2010/02/09/excellent-italian-greyhound/#comments Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:17:54 +0000 nick http://dischord.org/blog/?p=941

Unless you’re a real dog lover (or you’re ultra bored), you’ll probably want to skip to about 2:50 for the appearance of the one and only Todd Trainer, Uffizi, and the rest of Shellac. :

Back around ’96 / ’97, myself and Ben used to update a little website that we named ‘Dirt’, with some reviews of BMX videos, music, and information on various ‘scenes’ around the UK.  The inspiration came mainly from Kieran Chapman‘s eWire e-zine, and while it was fun to do at the time we lost interest and it never received the number of updates it deserved.  Fast forward a few years and I notice that I seem to have lost all the versions I thought I had archived :(

Fortunately, I’ve found the last version published up on the Wayback Machine and with the help of Warrick retrieved it complete and intact and put it back online here.  It’s pretty cringeworthy in places, from the design (made with NetObjects‘ Fusion 2.x!) through to our writing.  The photos were mainly stolen scans from Dig Magazine – although Will did kindly give us blessing to do so – or Big Brother, hence Jamie Thomas over there.  Good shit!

2002 – 2010, thanks for the music!

After a couple of months without a camera (the D200 was sold to this chap!) I finally took the plunge and whacked a Nikon D700 + MB-D10 on my recently-cleared credit card.  That’s what it’s for after all, right?!  Anyway, it arrived yesterday just in time for me to rush out (literally) and shoot Young Widows at The Fly in Camden.

I was hoping that it’d be a decent test of the much-lauded low-light capabilities of the FX sensor, but Young Widow’s lighting arrangement would have been a stretch to say the least.  They provided their own illumination by way of just four lamps at the back, with the rest of the stage lighting turned off.  I pulled out the SB-800 and rattled off a few keepers:

The gig itself was fucking superb, with YW playing a blinding albeit short set.  Likewise the D700 although I haven’t really scratched the surface of what it can do yet.  More soon!

Two or three years back I was lucky enough to purchase some rare records off a certain Mr. Joe McRedmond, who some of you might know as one of the members of Hoover and The Crownhate Ruin.  We exchanged a few emails and he offered up some unreleased TCR tracks which I downloaded, listened to, and that was that.  He’s mighty nice, is Joe.

Fast forward a couple of years to late last year, when I uploaded these unreleased tracks for a friend of mine to my webserver for her to download.  Some time later a blog that I follow posted the final chapter in an excellent series regarding the genealogy of Hoover, where I mentioned these unreleased tracks and offered to make them available.  Anyway, I guess somehow word got around and Joe posted the link to these on his Facebook with the following comment:

Some unreleased not very good, poorly recorded The Crownhate Ruin songs with Alex joining us, and David Titus Batista on drums. I’ll be surprised if you enjoy it.

At this point I felt like a dick as obviously I hadn’t checked with him beforehand if it was cool before essentially making these publicly available.  But, as I’ve mentioned, he’s a mighty nice chap and he’s totally cool with these being online.

So anyway, enough waffle.  I’m posting this to make them ‘formally’ available as I’ve no intention of taking them down in light of Joe’s blessing.  Take a listen and – contrary to the above – enjoy ;)

Update: More info over at HFN here!

This year was pretty fucking great for music.  Here’s a quick list of my favourites, but don’t read too much into the order:

1. Transistor Transistor – Ruined Lives.  Everything these guys have ever put out is stellar.  They’re one of the few hardcore bands that I can take seriously – their sound is sincere, they can hold a melody, and they’re nothing short of bad-ass live.  The closing track on this album is killer and up there with the likes of Malady.  I can’t say enough good things about these guys so I’ll stop here.
2. Git Some – Cosmic Rock.  I found out about this over at C-zine where they described it as being “…like a really drunken, fat fucking Drive Like Jehu is staggering around, bumping into things and knocking shit over”.  Not far from the truth, although it reminds me an awful lot of Karp at times as well.  So yeah, I just mentioned two of my favourite bands in the same paragraph, not hard to see why I like this band so much.
3. The Night Marchers – See You In Magic.  It’s pretty close to call this one and ‘Ruined Lives‘ for my favourite release of 2008.  Ask me again tomorrow and I’ll have probably changed my mind.  This is classic John Reis, although if I’m honest out of all his projects without Rick Fork I still prefer the Sultans.
4. These Arms Are Snakes – Tail Swallower and Dove.  You can’t really fail to be sucked in by the opening song on this release.  And it’s all so polished.
5. Crystal Castles – Self Titled.  Yes, I’ve added this after the fact.  I downloadedpurchased this on a whim right at the end of the year and I’ve been listening to it pretty much non-stop ever since.  Fucking brilliant, don’t let the hype surrounding this put you off as it’s totally deserving.  If you’re a sucker for anything 8-bit / chiptune related then you’ll love it.
6. Fuck Buttons – Street Horrrsing.  ATP this year for me was a disappointment on many levels, but mainly because of the scheduling.  It seemed like the bands I really wanted to see, with the exception of Les Savy Fav, were billed for the Sunday night after we had to leave.  On the flipside, we saw the best weather of all of summer while we were there and on the Friday, whilst stood outside drinking beer and deciding who we should watch, we heard something pretty special coming from inside one of the buildings.  We wandered in to catch these guys playing the last half of their set and it pretty much made up for the bands I was going to miss on the Sunday.  I promptly purchased a CD and a t-shirt and that was that.
7. Mogwai – The Hawk is Howling.  I’m not a huge fan of Mogwai, I don’t go crazy for everything they do but I do like the odd song.  While I like most tracks on this album, it’s up here mainly because this was the soundtrack to alot of the driving I did whilst in Southern California this year.  I’ve got fond memories of watching the sunrise and listening to this on the drive back to Hollywood after dropping a couple of friends off of mine down at an airport near Anaheim.
8. No Age – Nouns.  Another new discovery for me.  In an amusing coincidence, a couple of months after getting into them I was in LA at a party just across the street from the cover of their ‘Weirdo Rippers‘ album.  I’d have never have known otherwise.
9. Dead Child – Attack.  It’s metal, it’s cheesy, but done in a masterful way.  Turn your brain down and the volume up.

Honorary mention:  Obits – One Cross Apiece / Put It In Writing 7″.  This is, hands down, the best thing I’ve heard all year.

Top Gear is, hands down, my favourite show on TV.  You can argue all you want about whether it’s really still a show about three blokes who love cars any more and if it’s “jumped the shark” (I hate that  term), but I still love it.

This season so far has been great, and I’ve nearly fallen out of my chair a few times thanks not only to the sound of that Lamborghini LP560-4 or the Zonda F Roadster but because of some of the background music.  It seems that whoever is picking tunes for the show now actually has some real taste.  So far I’ve heard:

• Trans Am
• Fuck Buttons (two songs on the same episode)
• Mogwai (two songs on different episodes)
• The Jesus Lizard (!!!)
• Beastie Boys

With the obvious exception of the Beasties, the likeliness of hearing any of these bands on any kind of mainstream medium is pretty slim (yeah I know The Jesus Lizard did actually record for TOTP once…), but to hear them set to some of the most stunning machinery known to man on one of the most popular TV shows on the planet is totally fucking unreal.

Good work BBC.

So while our beleaguered police force are being told not to bother prosecuting for certain crimes (such as knife related) because of prison overcrowding, they’re instead concentrating their efforts on populating the last few remaining places on catching the most heinous, nefarious, despicable and despised people society has had the arrogance to cough up:  people who share music.

Cleveland police have today confirmed that six people have been arrested for allegedly sharing music files via the defunct BitTorrent tracker OiNK.cd.

More over here.  Unreal.

And on the subject of sharing, here’s something worth listening to.

This year seems to have been pretty shit for new music. In fact, it’s becoming difficult to find anything new worthy of a listen, a situation which has become increasingly worse over the years with the demise of bands like Hot Snakes, Fugazi, and so on. A quick trawl through what’s popular on Indietorrents shows the majority of it to be bullshit folk-esque wank. As another example, let’s take a look at what’s on Pitchforkmedia’s “recommended new music” list going back for a few pages:

Daft Punk – Alive 2007

No.

Beirut – The Flying Club Cup
“Zach Condon’s horn and ukelele…”

Horn and ukelele? No ta.

James Blackshaw – The Cloud of Unknowing
“… acoustic guitar music…”

Acoustic guitar music. No.

Bowerbirds – Hymns for a Dark Horse
“… folk …”

Folk. Fuck no.

A Sunny Day in Glasgow – Scribble Mural Comic Journal
“Philadelphia tweegazers keep up ambient-pop’s ethereal flame…”

Tweegazers? C’mon. Fuck that.

And so it continues over tens of pages. Grim. Seriously, what’s happened to all the good stuff that used to come out of DC, Chicago, et al?

Here’s a worthwhile read while you’re avoiding work this morning. It’s a thread started by Steve Albini on a gambling site’s message board – he’s known for being a pretty hardcore poker player – covering all aspects of his music ‘career’, including working with Nirvana, Pixies, The Jesus Lizard, and so on.

I have traveled in the music scene as a musician and recording engineer for better than 25 years. I have worked on a couple thousand records, some of them with famous rockstars, though most of them you’re probably never heard of. I know a lot about making records, recording technology, touring, being in a rock band and the like. I own Electrical Audio, a 2-studio recording complex in Chicago, Illinois, where I make records every day.

It’s classic Albini – there’s some extremely insightful posts buried in there covering everything from what it’s like engineering records for various bands to commentary on downloading and how the distribution of music is changing, and of course the usual caustic responses to stupid questions such as ‘vinyl or digital’:

Neither. I go straight for the vagina. You find them on women.

There’s even a few posts on poker playing.

Speaking of The Jesus Lizard, I’m half-deaf (and tired as fuck) this morning after seeing David Yow’s new band ‘Qui’ last night. I shot a few photos, I’ll upload tonight if I manage to stay awake long enough.

* Update – here’s a couple of my favourite pics from that show:

I’ll keep this short – ATP was fucking ace. Butlin’s was a real surprise (in a good way) and the lineup was unreal. I’m up for going to the next one but I’ll be amazed if the bands playing are half as decent…

Highlights were definitely seeing Shellac play twice (three days if you count me seeing them on Thursday in London), Trans Am’s set which was extraodinary thanks to Phil Manley’s skills in the absence of any working keyboards, and the drinking binge that kicked Friday night off and then destroyed most of Saturday for some.

We also experienced by far and away the worst kebabs ever, got poisoned by Burger King (what do you expect at 2am in the morning), and Boothy made friends with some ducks. Speaking of the Booth, he also managed to fulfill his lifelong ambition of making out with a rock star.

Can’t wait for the next one.

The new Santa Rosa equipped Apple laptops can’t come quick enough for me really (click for big):

I’m hoping that it’s a one-off, but as that’s the first time I’ve seen that happen in the 18 months I’ve owned the laptop it’s probably a sign of impending doom. Time to take advantage of my Applecare warranty….

Pelican (and These Arms Are Snakes) last night were pretty good, although I missed the first half of TAAS’ set – thanks to walking miles in the wrong direction – but as I’ve seen them before I wasn’t too bothered. Pelican sounded awesome live, they played a good set which I enjoyed whilst throwing pints of Grolsch down my neck.

What wasn’t much fun was finding out that Bank was in fact shut just as we cruised through it on the tube. In my inebriated state I missed the next stop and so had to trek halfway across London via two other stations whilst busting for a piss. Fletch will probably say that’s my own fault though for living out in t’sticks…

10:08 <fletch> Acton!!!
10:08 <fletch> get that!
10:09 <fletch> Zone 78
10:09 <fletch> takes a week to get there by mule

Just in case you’re not on the mailing list, with some stuff trimmed:

Antelope Album and Tour
Antelope’s long waited full-length, “Reflector”, is now available from our website and will be available in stores on March 26. Antelope have also embarked on a massive tour, 40 shows on 42 days, in the USA. Check the tour page for dates and details.

Medications
Medications just wrapped up dates in The Netherlands, France, Belgium, Germany and Spain. They are currently writing new material and are looking to record a new album this spring and will be playing shows in Brazil in April.

The Evens in Brazil, Argentina & Chile
The Evens just wrapped up tour dates in Australia and New Zealand and are now headed to Brazil, with shows in Argentina and Chile as well. Tour dates and details are posted on our tour page.

Ian MacKaye on Soft Focus w/ Ian Svenonius
Ian MacKaye is featured on “Soft Focus with Ian Svenonius”, an interview show appearing on the new Vice Magazine webTV station, VBS. Over the years Ian has done hundreds of interviews and has more recently been booking speaking engagements, usually in the form of informal Q&As, but here — thanks to Ian Spiv’s hilarious personality and the long friendship the two of them enjoy, is a unique and sometimes hilarious conversation of politics, policies and nonsense.

Joe Lally European Tour Updates
Joe Lally has updated his March tour itinerary for Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Netherlands, Spain, Denmark and France. His destination following Europe will be Japan in June.

Lungfish interview/documentary and Daniel Higgs Tourdates
Publicradio.net has produced a fascinating radio documentary on Lungfish which includes music and a very rare interview with Daniel Higgs. Lungfish is not currently active though Daniel has been busy with solo projects including a recent album on Holy Mountain Records.

Daniel Higgs is currently playing solo tour dates in the UK which can be found on our tour page.

Dismemberment Plan Shows to Benefit Cal Robbins
The Washington Citypaper is sponsoring two shows featuring a re-nited Dismemberment Plan on Friday and Saturday April 27-28 at the Black Cat in Washington, DC to benefit Cal Robbins (there is no indication at this time that The Dismemberment Plan will play any dates beyond these two shows). Cal is the young son of J. Robbins and Janet Morgan of Channels. He was born with a genetic motor neuron disease called Type 1 SMA, or Spinal Muscular Atrophy. This is a serious disease that has no cure. For more information on Cal’s condition or to donate to his treatment fund you can go to: www.desotorecords.com/cal or www.jrobbins.net

Lovitt Records is releasing a full length from Glos entitled “Harmonium” at the end of March. Glos features Keeley Davis (former frontman of Engine Down and bass/synth player for Denali) and Cornbread Compton (former drummer of Engine Down, Biology, and currently Heavens) and Maura Davis (former frontwoman of Denali). For more info go to www.lovittrecords.com.

Lovitt recently released The Ben Davis & the Jetts / Des Ark split LP/ CD entitled “Battle Of The Beards”. Ben Davis & the Jetts and Des Ark might be wildly different but it is rare to find a collaboration that works this well; the album features 5 tracks from each band as well as two collaborations.

Des Ark plans on recording a new full-length for Lovitt Records in April with Jonathan Fuller in Richmond, Virginia.

Haram has been writing new material and is planning on recording a new full length in the near future. Jeff Kane recently left the band and was replaced by long-time friend Kevin Longendyke (City of Caterpillar). The band is also a five-piece now, with the addition of Ben Tankersley. Haram will be playing out live with the new line-up in April.

Fin Fang Foom and Ben Davis & the Jetts will be touring Europe together in June, look for tourdates at www.lovittrecords.com.

Bats & Mice who are back to their original line up of Ben Davis, David NeSmith and Jonathan Fuller, have begun recording their next full-length for Lovitt Records.

New Stuff from Magic Bullet
Magic Bullet has released a DVD about Skateboarding in Fredricksburg, VA called “City By The Battlefield”, and has released a new split CD featuring Massacre of the Umbilical Cord and Control, and has released the vinyl version of the This Will Destroy You release.

After missing them tour almost as many times as I saw Bluetip play, I finally managed to see Retisonic at the Barfly in Camden Town. They put on a good show and I managed to fire off a few photos from the front, but as it was pretty packed in there (the Barfly is fairly small) and I was bunched up against the right speaker, this meant two things: my left ear was ringing really fucking bad by the time their set finished, and I didn’t do too well on the photo front in terms of quantity. I did manage to catch this moment though.

Cursive headlined not long after that and I moved out of position in order to drink a few warm glasses of Grolsch somewhere near the back. They aren’t really the same band as they were when I saw them a few years back in Manchester (circa Domestica) so I wasn’t all that excited about hearing them play but I’m actually glad I did. They sounded good, put on a good show and played one or two tracks I like so I was happy. The beer helped as well though, I’m sure.

The tube journey back out of Camden was pretty much as interesting as the gig itself, with a championship greyhound gracing the presence of one tube station (or so the owner claimed – Scanman would have had to have been there to verify) and then some film school kid ‘entertaining’ the cabin of a tube I was on with a selection of slides he’d drawn for some project. If there’s one thing London isn’t, it’s dull….

A trip to the physio this morning meant that I was diagnosed with a damaged disc in my lower back. Apparently it should heal in ‘about four weeks’, so in the meantime I’m dosing myself up with Ibuprofen and Paracetamol to numb the pain a bit whilst at work. Sitting in cheapo office chairs is apparently one of the worst things that I could be doing though :(

Not much else doing at the minute, unfortunately. Some good gigs coming up soon mind (Dan Sartain, Retisonic, Joe Lally, Trans Am…), which should mean some action on the photography front. Still debating what to do about a portfolio so I’ll probably continue to use Flickr for the time being…

Some of these are absolutely priceless. Favourites have to be “Julie’s Sixteenth Birthday”, “The Handless Organist”, “Karatist Preacher”, and “Devastatin’ Dave”. Mint.

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.”

:(