If you only look at this site and not at the blog I write for Delirium Vault, you may have missed my review of last week's festival Rock Herk.
Here's the link.
It also links to videos of Future of the Left, mclusky, Cutting Pink With Knives, Phosphorescent, Battles, Bane, Roni Size & Reprazent and AmenRa.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Welcome to another special Radio Kurtodrome. Only two artists this time, but we can guarantee you'll be staying near your computer for a long time.
First up: Nine Inch Nails.
A new album is out and to thank the fans for their loyal support, Trent Raznor has decided the fans can download the album for free. The Slip contains 10 tracks and lasts just under 44 minutes. You can download the album as MP3, M4A, FLAC or 24/96 WAVE. Artwork is also included.
So go now and download it here.
And then it's time for the concert by CocoRosie and the Dutch Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (recorded in Rotterdam, April 29 2008). You can watch the entire concert online. Here's the setlist:
GYORGI LIGETI - Atmosphères
COCOROSIE - Rainbowarriors
COCOROSIE - Animals
COCOROSIE - Good Friday
CHARLES IVES - Putnam's Camp
GIAN CARLO MENOTTI - The Black Swan (from 'The Medium')
COCOROSIE - Promise
ARVO PÄRT - Fratres
COCOROSIE - The Trinity
COCOROSIE - Beautiful Boys
COCOROSIE - Bloody Twins
BÉLA BARTÓK - Music from 'The Miraculous Mandarin'
COCOROSIE - Japan
Watch it here.
That's it for now. Enjoy!
First up: Nine Inch Nails.
A new album is out and to thank the fans for their loyal support, Trent Raznor has decided the fans can download the album for free. The Slip contains 10 tracks and lasts just under 44 minutes. You can download the album as MP3, M4A, FLAC or 24/96 WAVE. Artwork is also included.
So go now and download it here.
And then it's time for the concert by CocoRosie and the Dutch Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (recorded in Rotterdam, April 29 2008). You can watch the entire concert online. Here's the setlist:
GYORGI LIGETI - Atmosphères
COCOROSIE - Rainbowarriors
COCOROSIE - Animals
COCOROSIE - Good Friday
CHARLES IVES - Putnam's Camp
GIAN CARLO MENOTTI - The Black Swan (from 'The Medium')
COCOROSIE - Promise
ARVO PÄRT - Fratres
COCOROSIE - The Trinity
COCOROSIE - Beautiful Boys
COCOROSIE - Bloody Twins
BÉLA BARTÓK - Music from 'The Miraculous Mandarin'
COCOROSIE - Japan
Watch it here.
That's it for now. Enjoy!
Friday, May 02, 2008
LES NUITS BOTANIQUE (May 2008, Botanique, Brussels)
LINE-UP
Tindersticks - The Flicker of a Little Girl
Tunng - Bullets
CaféNeon - Orange
This Is The Kit - One of These Socks
Apse - Up In The Eaves
Auryn & The Nightingales - Trust Me Just For Once
Xiu Xiu - I'll Do What I Want When I Want
Blood Red Shoes - Meet Me At 8
We Are Scientists - The Great Escape
Two Gallants - Despite What You've Been Told
Forward, Russia - Breaking Standing
Get Well Soon - It Must Have Been Love
Timesbold - Gin I Win
Time for an (honestly long overdue) update. And let's speed up things with a special. This time we're focussing on Les Nuits Botanique, the lengthy festival in Brussels (Belgium). We (old people with an overactive but excellent memory) still remember that Les Nuits Botanique used to be scheduled in September, but that it moved to May to escape the post-summer festival fatigue. Now, just a month after the equally worthy Domino festival (AB, Brussels), it's becoming a small tradition to see which Brussels festival venue managed to find the most impressive line-up. This year's clear winner: Les Nuits Botanique. Yes, it even manages to make our mouths water even more than the line-ups of the big summer festivals (you know, those venues where you combine getting a tan with listening to music whilst eating bad food), which in itself is quite an achievement.
The 2008 season of Les Nuits Botanique is scheduled May 7 to 18, which is why Tindersticks will open the doors... on May 2. Yes, we've given up on scheduling logic as far as the Botanique is involved. Just go with their flow and don't question things. A bit like following Doctor Who.
Tindersticks have a new album out, The Hungry Saw. Things didn't look too good for Tindersticks, but despite all the tension they managed to record an album. Five years after the previous album (we're not counting singer Stuart A. Staples' 2006 solo album).
To be honest, the first time we listened to the album we failed to be impressed. But maybe Tindersticks have given us an album that has to grow on us. So far the album is still a barren field, but don't let us discourage you from listening to a brand new Tindersticks track.
TINDERSTICKS - The Flicker of a Little Girl (Pitchfork Media)
The real start then (May 7). The Botanique has the peculiar habit of putting lots of bands in all of its concert halls. Your ticket gives you access to just one hall. That's why we'll try and focus on what we see as the best option for that day. May 7 is a bit of a no-brainer for us: the Orangerie features the excellent Tunng. We had the pleasure of seeing them in October (on our birthday no less) and their most recent cd (Good Arrows) contains a couple of excellent tracks: "Bullets" (our n°1 of 2007) and "Arms". Whether you call them "nu folk" or "acoustic folk", as long as you label them as excellent, we can deal with it.
Feel free to download the Bullets video here (Quicktime format).
Tunng will be backed by CaféNeon (who don't have a site, but do have a MySpace - so check for audio samples over there). With the location in mind, we suggest you listen to "Orange" (which has proof that this Brussels-based band has a member of Flexa Lyndo in their rangs and grew up on a fair dose of New Order). We also suggest you'd better skip "Yssandon", and conclude there's potential, but that the band might have to try a bit harder.
Kate Stables moved from Bristol to Paris and released an album as This Is The Kit. The album is called Krülle Bol ('krullenbol' is Dutch for "curly head") and John Parish was the producer (yes, now we have your full attention, don't we?). Krülle Bol is the first full album This Is The Kit released (after a couple of singles and EPs). Kate has already opened for the likes of Elysian Fields and José Gonzales and now it's Tunng's turn. Equally new folk, but with few edges.
Time for a sample, but because bands these days seem to think MP3s are a lethal virus and tend to stick to the constant buffering and non-streaming of their MySpace page, a MySpace link will have to do. Our recommendation: "One of these Socks".
May 8 will be a bit tougher for you to decide where you want to go: the Orangerie has Apse, aMute and Phosporescent, but the Rotonde and Chapiteau feature some good bands too. Let's kick off with Apse. Again, a band who seem to prefer a MySpace over a real site, but at least they offer the MySpace members to download a track. So not all hope is lost. So listen to a couple of Apse tracks here and download the older track "Shade of the Moor" if you're logged into MySpace. By the way, the American experimental rock combo have a new album out (it's called Eras) and you can listen (and buy) to more Apse on their Muxtape page for new tracks (i.e. "Up In The Eaves"), rarer tracks and some unreleased songs. The band promises to change that page often, so keep an eye on it.
Brooklyn based Phosphorescent are next up in our Nuits Botanique special. "Wolves" made it into our Best of 2007 list last year and another track from the band's 2007 album Pride is "A Picture of our Torn-up Praise" (you can download it below). "Experiment melodies ranging from pop to new wave" are promised by the Botanique, but the word that really sums it up neatly is "atmospheric".
Phosphorescent - A Picture of our Torn-up Praise (label Dead Oceans)
Scout Niblett is playing on May 8, but here our fatigue of trying to find MP3s got the better of us and we decided to give up rathing than posting some link to a MySpace or its likes. You can stream a couple of Scout Niblett songs on her site. We tried "Dinosaur Egg": it worked, but bands tend to forget that, whereas MP3s can stream in the background, people have generally better things to do than to keep an internet page open for four minutes.
And that goes for Marissa Nadler too: after trying to connect for 10 seconds we gave up on MySpace. And when we clicked the "Listening Booth" on Nadler's site, that just gave us a link to her MySpace again. Some bands just don't want you to hear their music, it seems...
The same goes for Auryn, who'll open for Niblett and Nadler that night, but since you'll have to wade through wellness centres with the same name to find the correct Auryn, we'll save you the trouble and post the correct link anyhow, even if it's to MySpace again. Auryn was discovered by Troy von Balthazar, the Botanique informs us. Time to listen to a demo of "Trust Me Just For Once" then...
The Chapiteau has Black Mountain, Archie Bronson Outfit, Why? and the slightly underrated Xiu Xiu. The experimental band has a new album out (Women As Lovers) and label Kill Rock Stars was kind enough to offer the excellent track "I'll Do What I Want When I Want" as a free download. See, that's how it should be, other labels!
Xiu Xiu - I'll Do What I Want When I Want
And then it's time for May 9, the day when the Botanique will charge a bit more, but you will get the chance to go to all the concerts in all their halls. And if that wasn't enough of a treat already, the line-up is amazing too: I'm From Barcelona, Of Montreal, Blood Red Shoes, We Are Scientists, Forward Russia, The Germans, Chrome Hoof, Two Gallants, Minus, Get Well Soon, V.O., Nestor! and Timesbold.
We don't think Blood Red Shoes need another introduction, so we'll just give you the MP3. Listen to how polite they are: just say "hi!" when the song starts and the band will great you back!
Blood Red Shoes - Meet Me At 8
Next up: some good news. New York's three handsomest bachelors also operate a fine rock outfit. Their name: We Are Scientists. The band were kind enough to put a stream of "The Great Escape" on their site, so let's stream that song.
We Are Scientists - The Great Escape
Two Gallants is yet another good band from the Saddle Creek label (you know, Bright Eyes et al.) The band's eponymous cd was a good reason to return once again to the Botanique, so let's hope they'll feel at home when they'll play...
Two Gallants - Despite What You've Been Told (label: Saddle Creek)
Life Processes couldn't impress us as much as Give Me A Wall, but we'd still like to point out that Forward Russia will also be present that night. No downloads again, but how about another MySpace link? Sigh. Anyway, feel free to stream "Breaking Standing" if the player works.
Influences of folk, electro, classical music, Nick Cave and Thom Yorke are promised by the Botanique when you look up more info on Get Well Soon, the brainchild of Konstantin Gropper. The band's first album got the wonderful title Rest Now, Weary Head and if you go to the band's site you can download an exclusive cover version of "It Must Have Been Love".
Which brings us to the final band of this special: Timesbold. Another band we've seen before and how glad we are there's a new album out (Ill Sung Ill Seen) and a lengthy European tour. Do check them out live one day, but for now: content yourself with a classic track, "Gin I Win".
Timesbold - Gin I Win
That's it for now.
More info on Les Nuits Botanique: here
LINE-UP
Tindersticks - The Flicker of a Little Girl
Tunng - Bullets
CaféNeon - Orange
This Is The Kit - One of These Socks
Apse - Up In The Eaves
Auryn & The Nightingales - Trust Me Just For Once
Xiu Xiu - I'll Do What I Want When I Want
Blood Red Shoes - Meet Me At 8
We Are Scientists - The Great Escape
Two Gallants - Despite What You've Been Told
Forward, Russia - Breaking Standing
Get Well Soon - It Must Have Been Love
Timesbold - Gin I Win
Time for an (honestly long overdue) update. And let's speed up things with a special. This time we're focussing on Les Nuits Botanique, the lengthy festival in Brussels (Belgium). We (old people with an overactive but excellent memory) still remember that Les Nuits Botanique used to be scheduled in September, but that it moved to May to escape the post-summer festival fatigue. Now, just a month after the equally worthy Domino festival (AB, Brussels), it's becoming a small tradition to see which Brussels festival venue managed to find the most impressive line-up. This year's clear winner: Les Nuits Botanique. Yes, it even manages to make our mouths water even more than the line-ups of the big summer festivals (you know, those venues where you combine getting a tan with listening to music whilst eating bad food), which in itself is quite an achievement.
The 2008 season of Les Nuits Botanique is scheduled May 7 to 18, which is why Tindersticks will open the doors... on May 2. Yes, we've given up on scheduling logic as far as the Botanique is involved. Just go with their flow and don't question things. A bit like following Doctor Who.
Tindersticks have a new album out, The Hungry Saw. Things didn't look too good for Tindersticks, but despite all the tension they managed to record an album. Five years after the previous album (we're not counting singer Stuart A. Staples' 2006 solo album).
To be honest, the first time we listened to the album we failed to be impressed. But maybe Tindersticks have given us an album that has to grow on us. So far the album is still a barren field, but don't let us discourage you from listening to a brand new Tindersticks track.
TINDERSTICKS - The Flicker of a Little Girl (Pitchfork Media)
The real start then (May 7). The Botanique has the peculiar habit of putting lots of bands in all of its concert halls. Your ticket gives you access to just one hall. That's why we'll try and focus on what we see as the best option for that day. May 7 is a bit of a no-brainer for us: the Orangerie features the excellent Tunng. We had the pleasure of seeing them in October (on our birthday no less) and their most recent cd (Good Arrows) contains a couple of excellent tracks: "Bullets" (our n°1 of 2007) and "Arms". Whether you call them "nu folk" or "acoustic folk", as long as you label them as excellent, we can deal with it.
Feel free to download the Bullets video here (Quicktime format).
Tunng will be backed by CaféNeon (who don't have a site, but do have a MySpace - so check for audio samples over there). With the location in mind, we suggest you listen to "Orange" (which has proof that this Brussels-based band has a member of Flexa Lyndo in their rangs and grew up on a fair dose of New Order). We also suggest you'd better skip "Yssandon", and conclude there's potential, but that the band might have to try a bit harder.
Kate Stables moved from Bristol to Paris and released an album as This Is The Kit. The album is called Krülle Bol ('krullenbol' is Dutch for "curly head") and John Parish was the producer (yes, now we have your full attention, don't we?). Krülle Bol is the first full album This Is The Kit released (after a couple of singles and EPs). Kate has already opened for the likes of Elysian Fields and José Gonzales and now it's Tunng's turn. Equally new folk, but with few edges.
Time for a sample, but because bands these days seem to think MP3s are a lethal virus and tend to stick to the constant buffering and non-streaming of their MySpace page, a MySpace link will have to do. Our recommendation: "One of these Socks".
May 8 will be a bit tougher for you to decide where you want to go: the Orangerie has Apse, aMute and Phosporescent, but the Rotonde and Chapiteau feature some good bands too. Let's kick off with Apse. Again, a band who seem to prefer a MySpace over a real site, but at least they offer the MySpace members to download a track. So not all hope is lost. So listen to a couple of Apse tracks here and download the older track "Shade of the Moor" if you're logged into MySpace. By the way, the American experimental rock combo have a new album out (it's called Eras) and you can listen (and buy) to more Apse on their Muxtape page for new tracks (i.e. "Up In The Eaves"), rarer tracks and some unreleased songs. The band promises to change that page often, so keep an eye on it.
Brooklyn based Phosphorescent are next up in our Nuits Botanique special. "Wolves" made it into our Best of 2007 list last year and another track from the band's 2007 album Pride is "A Picture of our Torn-up Praise" (you can download it below). "Experiment melodies ranging from pop to new wave" are promised by the Botanique, but the word that really sums it up neatly is "atmospheric".
Phosphorescent - A Picture of our Torn-up Praise (label Dead Oceans)
Scout Niblett is playing on May 8, but here our fatigue of trying to find MP3s got the better of us and we decided to give up rathing than posting some link to a MySpace or its likes. You can stream a couple of Scout Niblett songs on her site. We tried "Dinosaur Egg": it worked, but bands tend to forget that, whereas MP3s can stream in the background, people have generally better things to do than to keep an internet page open for four minutes.
And that goes for Marissa Nadler too: after trying to connect for 10 seconds we gave up on MySpace. And when we clicked the "Listening Booth" on Nadler's site, that just gave us a link to her MySpace again. Some bands just don't want you to hear their music, it seems...
The same goes for Auryn, who'll open for Niblett and Nadler that night, but since you'll have to wade through wellness centres with the same name to find the correct Auryn, we'll save you the trouble and post the correct link anyhow, even if it's to MySpace again. Auryn was discovered by Troy von Balthazar, the Botanique informs us. Time to listen to a demo of "Trust Me Just For Once" then...
The Chapiteau has Black Mountain, Archie Bronson Outfit, Why? and the slightly underrated Xiu Xiu. The experimental band has a new album out (Women As Lovers) and label Kill Rock Stars was kind enough to offer the excellent track "I'll Do What I Want When I Want" as a free download. See, that's how it should be, other labels!
Xiu Xiu - I'll Do What I Want When I Want
And then it's time for May 9, the day when the Botanique will charge a bit more, but you will get the chance to go to all the concerts in all their halls. And if that wasn't enough of a treat already, the line-up is amazing too: I'm From Barcelona, Of Montreal, Blood Red Shoes, We Are Scientists, Forward Russia, The Germans, Chrome Hoof, Two Gallants, Minus, Get Well Soon, V.O., Nestor! and Timesbold.
We don't think Blood Red Shoes need another introduction, so we'll just give you the MP3. Listen to how polite they are: just say "hi!" when the song starts and the band will great you back!
Blood Red Shoes - Meet Me At 8
Next up: some good news. New York's three handsomest bachelors also operate a fine rock outfit. Their name: We Are Scientists. The band were kind enough to put a stream of "The Great Escape" on their site, so let's stream that song.
We Are Scientists - The Great Escape
Two Gallants is yet another good band from the Saddle Creek label (you know, Bright Eyes et al.) The band's eponymous cd was a good reason to return once again to the Botanique, so let's hope they'll feel at home when they'll play...
Two Gallants - Despite What You've Been Told (label: Saddle Creek)
Life Processes couldn't impress us as much as Give Me A Wall, but we'd still like to point out that Forward Russia will also be present that night. No downloads again, but how about another MySpace link? Sigh. Anyway, feel free to stream "Breaking Standing" if the player works.
Influences of folk, electro, classical music, Nick Cave and Thom Yorke are promised by the Botanique when you look up more info on Get Well Soon, the brainchild of Konstantin Gropper. The band's first album got the wonderful title Rest Now, Weary Head and if you go to the band's site you can download an exclusive cover version of "It Must Have Been Love".
Which brings us to the final band of this special: Timesbold. Another band we've seen before and how glad we are there's a new album out (Ill Sung Ill Seen) and a lengthy European tour. Do check them out live one day, but for now: content yourself with a classic track, "Gin I Win".
Timesbold - Gin I Win
That's it for now.
More info on Les Nuits Botanique: here
Sunday, December 30, 2007
playlist:
VAMPIRE WEEKEND - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa
LISTEN WITH SARAH - Duelling DJs: Peel vs. Harris (Cuntry Music Peeled)
THE KILLS - U R A Fever
BATTLES - Atlas
ELEANOORA ROSENHOLM - Musta Ruusu
THE HAPPY HOLLOWS - Monster Room
ENON - Dr. Freeze
If you're wondering what we're doing these days, we're compiling our annual list of the superbestest records of 2007. Which doesn't mean we don't have time to discover new music. No, because those two sadly go hand in hand.
Take Vampire Weekend, whose "Oxford Comma" we were going to put in our list, but who were taken off the list when we discovered their album was due for release in January 2008.
There is a chance however, you might find Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa in the list because that was pre-released in August of this year. They even were nice enough to put an MP3 of the song on their site, so download away.
Vampire Weekend are from New York, but love using African genres (i.e. the Congolese Kwassa Kwassa). The result is a wonderful and pretty unique mix of African music and the hecticness of New York. (Feel free to visit their MySpace, stream "Oxford Comma" and lament it won't be in our 2007 list.)
Speaking of lists, every year the Kurtodrome site compiles such a list we cannot help but think of John Peel, whose Festive 50 was often an inspiration and occasionally the only other list that would feature similar tracks (speaking of which, we've browsed the net for similar lists, but found our nrs. 1 and 2 aren't very well represented in other lists - which only proves the need for us to compile a list). But John Peel is no more, which is why we were pleasantly surprised to find the Listen with Sarah track "Duelling DJs". Did we save it for this final update of 2007 because of that reason? Yes, we did. So why this track, Sarah? "This is a track I was creating when John died. I wanted to make him giggle like a schoolboy. He never got to hear it, so may you guffaw in his honour. It features the voices of John Peel and Bob Harris, with a touch of Derek & Clive. You'll hear John and Bob debate Country Music.
The result? Duelling DJs - Peel vs Harris (Cuntry Music Peeled)
The Kills will return in 2008 with a new album. The single "U R A Fever" (don't you just love abbreviations?) will be released in January in order to make you drool for a couple of months. The video is already finished and we managed to find it. Plus, since we're in a sharing mood...
Battles may end up in our list, but - oh, aren't we mischevous? - we're not going to select of the singles from the Mirrored album. "Atlas" is the name of the track and once again it's time for us to complain that the single and the album track do not match: the single is roughly two minutes shorter and takes longer to build up. Yes, those record companies... they don't care about people liking the single and ending up being bitterly disappointed when they've bought an album which contains a different version of the song. (Yeah, I'm talking about , Von Südenfed!) Anyway, here is the video for the "Atlas" single.
Next up, Eleanoora Rosenholm. Ladies and gentlemen, it's official: the 80s are more than back. More proof than needed comes from Finland, where Fonal Records released Vainajan Muotokuva, Eleanoora Rosenholm's record. The band is a project by Noora Tommila, Pasi Salmi and Mika Rättö. "They crafted a genius pop album with murderous lyrics inside the dark stonewalls that surround SS-Palace studio. Time came to get the show on the road and the band evolved into a full 8 piece. Mika Rättö is not a part of the band but is working as a background godfather and often watching the band as a part of the audience. With Noora's amazing vocal work and the genius backing band they create a disco any housewife serial killer would be proud to dance to." (Fonal Records)
Sadly no MP3 of "Musta Ruusu" to be found, but we did found these:
- If you follow this link, the first track you should hear is "Musta Ruusu".
- Online for a couple of days/weeks, the full album in streaming flash goodness (with many thanks to the VPRO)
- Oh, and there's a MySpace. Of course, there's a MySpace!
- And, last but not least, a 50 second MP3 excerpt of another track: Maailmanloppu (we are much indebted to the wonderful people Hea Uus Heli from Estland).
These days you need to log into MySpace to be able to download music, which is a shame really. Still, people without MySpace can at least stream the tracks, which is still better than some similar sites where non-members are left to listen to silence only. So whether you'll stream or download "Monster Room" by The Happy Hollows does depend on your (un)willingness to join MySpace. But do listen to the song, a track the Californian band has offered for free to their fans as a prelude to the Happy Hollows album which will appear somewhere in 2008.
Why not call an album Grass Geysers...Carbon Clouds? Sure, it'll take the fans longer to memorize than, let's say, 12 New Super Duper Tracks, but let those fans make an effort. Enon were in Belgium recently to support the wonderful Fiery Furnaces (and will return in January 2008 with a concert in Brussels) and to play tracks from their new album.
Because Touch and Go prefer showing videos in a Quicktime setting that'll make our crash, we decided to see if the video for "Dr. Freeze" wasn't available on YouTube. And, lo and behold...
Well, that's it for this edition of Radio Kurtodrome. We'll inform you when our Democratische 99 (that's how our annual list is called) will be upped on the site. For now, enjoy the music and the final days of 2007.
Happy New Year!
VAMPIRE WEEKEND - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa
LISTEN WITH SARAH - Duelling DJs: Peel vs. Harris (Cuntry Music Peeled)
THE KILLS - U R A Fever
BATTLES - Atlas
ELEANOORA ROSENHOLM - Musta Ruusu
THE HAPPY HOLLOWS - Monster Room
ENON - Dr. Freeze
If you're wondering what we're doing these days, we're compiling our annual list of the superbestest records of 2007. Which doesn't mean we don't have time to discover new music. No, because those two sadly go hand in hand.
Take Vampire Weekend, whose "Oxford Comma" we were going to put in our list, but who were taken off the list when we discovered their album was due for release in January 2008.
There is a chance however, you might find Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa in the list because that was pre-released in August of this year. They even were nice enough to put an MP3 of the song on their site, so download away.
Vampire Weekend are from New York, but love using African genres (i.e. the Congolese Kwassa Kwassa). The result is a wonderful and pretty unique mix of African music and the hecticness of New York. (Feel free to visit their MySpace, stream "Oxford Comma" and lament it won't be in our 2007 list.)
Speaking of lists, every year the Kurtodrome site compiles such a list we cannot help but think of John Peel, whose Festive 50 was often an inspiration and occasionally the only other list that would feature similar tracks (speaking of which, we've browsed the net for similar lists, but found our nrs. 1 and 2 aren't very well represented in other lists - which only proves the need for us to compile a list). But John Peel is no more, which is why we were pleasantly surprised to find the Listen with Sarah track "Duelling DJs". Did we save it for this final update of 2007 because of that reason? Yes, we did. So why this track, Sarah? "This is a track I was creating when John died. I wanted to make him giggle like a schoolboy. He never got to hear it, so may you guffaw in his honour. It features the voices of John Peel and Bob Harris, with a touch of Derek & Clive. You'll hear John and Bob debate Country Music.
The result? Duelling DJs - Peel vs Harris (Cuntry Music Peeled)
The Kills will return in 2008 with a new album. The single "U R A Fever" (don't you just love abbreviations?) will be released in January in order to make you drool for a couple of months. The video is already finished and we managed to find it. Plus, since we're in a sharing mood...
Battles may end up in our list, but - oh, aren't we mischevous? - we're not going to select of the singles from the Mirrored album. "Atlas" is the name of the track and once again it's time for us to complain that the single and the album track do not match: the single is roughly two minutes shorter and takes longer to build up. Yes, those record companies... they don't care about people liking the single and ending up being bitterly disappointed when they've bought an album which contains a different version of the song. (Yeah, I'm talking about , Von Südenfed!) Anyway, here is the video for the "Atlas" single.
Next up, Eleanoora Rosenholm. Ladies and gentlemen, it's official: the 80s are more than back. More proof than needed comes from Finland, where Fonal Records released Vainajan Muotokuva, Eleanoora Rosenholm's record. The band is a project by Noora Tommila, Pasi Salmi and Mika Rättö. "They crafted a genius pop album with murderous lyrics inside the dark stonewalls that surround SS-Palace studio. Time came to get the show on the road and the band evolved into a full 8 piece. Mika Rättö is not a part of the band but is working as a background godfather and often watching the band as a part of the audience. With Noora's amazing vocal work and the genius backing band they create a disco any housewife serial killer would be proud to dance to." (Fonal Records)
Sadly no MP3 of "Musta Ruusu" to be found, but we did found these:
- If you follow this link, the first track you should hear is "Musta Ruusu".
- Online for a couple of days/weeks, the full album in streaming flash goodness (with many thanks to the VPRO)
- Oh, and there's a MySpace. Of course, there's a MySpace!
- And, last but not least, a 50 second MP3 excerpt of another track: Maailmanloppu (we are much indebted to the wonderful people Hea Uus Heli from Estland).
These days you need to log into MySpace to be able to download music, which is a shame really. Still, people without MySpace can at least stream the tracks, which is still better than some similar sites where non-members are left to listen to silence only. So whether you'll stream or download "Monster Room" by The Happy Hollows does depend on your (un)willingness to join MySpace. But do listen to the song, a track the Californian band has offered for free to their fans as a prelude to the Happy Hollows album which will appear somewhere in 2008.
Why not call an album Grass Geysers...Carbon Clouds? Sure, it'll take the fans longer to memorize than, let's say, 12 New Super Duper Tracks, but let those fans make an effort. Enon were in Belgium recently to support the wonderful Fiery Furnaces (and will return in January 2008 with a concert in Brussels) and to play tracks from their new album.
Because Touch and Go prefer showing videos in a Quicktime setting that'll make our crash, we decided to see if the video for "Dr. Freeze" wasn't available on YouTube. And, lo and behold...
Well, that's it for this edition of Radio Kurtodrome. We'll inform you when our Democratische 99 (that's how our annual list is called) will be upped on the site. For now, enjoy the music and the final days of 2007.
Happy New Year!
Friday, October 12, 2007
This is Radio Kurtodrome. This edition contains some new(er) videos and some dirty language. You have been warned.
THE FIERY FURNACES - Promo Video
THE FIERY FURNACES - Ex Guru
TUNNG - Bullets
THE TEENAGERS - Homecoming
CAMERA OBSCURA - If Looks Could Kill
FAMILJEN - Det Snunnar I Min Skalle
Hello and welcome back. This time only a bunch of YouTube videos in this Radio Kurtodrome. But don't worry, we didn't mind looking after getting you some quality tunes.
First up... the brand new Fiery Furnaces album has been released. Widow City is the name of the record you should ask for at your local cd shop and we'll have a look at their new single, but first - sort of like a DVD extra - a promo video for the new album.
If only we could wake Eleanor up...
Okay, so now high time for "Ex Guru", the Widow City single that can only be described as "superb".
More from Thrill Jockey, one of the best tracks of 2007: "Bullets" can be found on Tunng's brand new album, Good Arrows. Listen to this again and again:
Youthful lack of innocence now. We would describe "Homecoming" as the 2007 answer to Nada Surf's "Popular". The name of the band is The Teenagers and the song features a boy and a girl talking about their sexual encounter. He: "I fucked my American cunt." She: "I fucked my English romance." And then they also have a monologue. Plus a video with girls jumping on a bed in their underpants. Teenage anxiety in three minutes.
It's been a while since we promoted Camera Obscura and "If Looks Could Kill" was the third single from their album Let's Get Out of This Country.
And we end this session with Familjen, which already promoted on our site, but deserved another mention. If only for the wonderful video they had made for their single "Det snurrar i min skalle". It manages to combine a religious rally with dance music. Excellent!
That is all for tonight.
See you soon & take care!
THE FIERY FURNACES - Promo Video
THE FIERY FURNACES - Ex Guru
TUNNG - Bullets
THE TEENAGERS - Homecoming
CAMERA OBSCURA - If Looks Could Kill
FAMILJEN - Det Snunnar I Min Skalle
Hello and welcome back. This time only a bunch of YouTube videos in this Radio Kurtodrome. But don't worry, we didn't mind looking after getting you some quality tunes.
First up... the brand new Fiery Furnaces album has been released. Widow City is the name of the record you should ask for at your local cd shop and we'll have a look at their new single, but first - sort of like a DVD extra - a promo video for the new album.
If only we could wake Eleanor up...
Okay, so now high time for "Ex Guru", the Widow City single that can only be described as "superb".
More from Thrill Jockey, one of the best tracks of 2007: "Bullets" can be found on Tunng's brand new album, Good Arrows. Listen to this again and again:
Youthful lack of innocence now. We would describe "Homecoming" as the 2007 answer to Nada Surf's "Popular". The name of the band is The Teenagers and the song features a boy and a girl talking about their sexual encounter. He: "I fucked my American cunt." She: "I fucked my English romance." And then they also have a monologue. Plus a video with girls jumping on a bed in their underpants. Teenage anxiety in three minutes.
It's been a while since we promoted Camera Obscura and "If Looks Could Kill" was the third single from their album Let's Get Out of This Country.
And we end this session with Familjen, which already promoted on our site, but deserved another mention. If only for the wonderful video they had made for their single "Det snurrar i min skalle". It manages to combine a religious rally with dance music. Excellent!
That is all for tonight.
See you soon & take care!
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Welcome to yet another Radio Kurtodrome. This time YouTube videos, MySpace links and even legal MP3s. Amazing... they still exist!
Let's kick off in the Netherlands. A Spinvis release is always good news, but Goochelaars en Geesten is not a new album: it compiles the extra tracks of the singles of his second album as well as tracks from "Nieuwegein aan Zee" (all the tracks that weren't live recordings from his first album tour). What we're trying to say is: if you're a fan, you may already have loads of tracks on this new album, so please take a good look at the album tracks before you buy it. Nevertheless, here's "Wespen op de appeltaart" (Wasps on the apple pie), a track about a patient at a mental institution. No audio available, but we tracked down this video:
Joyous tidings! The Raveonettes are back with a new album: Lust Lust Lust will be released in November, but the band's MySpace already allows you to pre-listen to a couple of tracks. We sincerely recommend "Lust".
Trolle Siebenhaar is a duo from Denmark. She is Ana Trolle, he is Martin Siebenhaar. I guess that explains the band's name then. Sweet Dogs is their first single and was released in Denmark earlier this year on the Danish iTunes. The song was downloaded so often it not only became the n°1 download, but even reached the status of gold. (I wonder what you get as a prize? A golden iPod?) In August Trolle Siebenhaar released the song in Germany. It may not be available in other countries yet, but there's always the video. Enjoy!
Apologies for the quality of what'll follow, but we didn't put it up on YouTube. My Brightest Diamond recently visited Belgium (Pukkelpop) and Holland (Lowlands). At Lowlands the VPRO asked My Brightest Diamond to perform an acoustic solo performance and it's too good to let you miss out on this one (even if sound and video aren't completely synchronous): "Golden Star".
Seattle's Minus The Bear may have been formed in 2001, 2007 may prove to be a big year for them. The band have released an album, Planet of Ice, on Suicide Squeeze Records and this may introduce them to more people than their previous two full-lengths could. Two tracks are available as downloads thanks to their record label, so take your pick: go for Dr. L'Ling if you'd like a longer post-rock track or Throwin' Shapes if you like 'em short and good.
You Say Party! We Say Die! is a Canadian 'punk/dance' quintet. In 2007 they released a new album, Lose All Time, and the band is promoting this by touring all over the world. Apart from the US, where the band is banned (due to visa trouble during their last tour). Here's one track from their new album, Monster (MP3 courtesy of label Paper Bag Records).
That is it for this edition. See you next time!
Let's kick off in the Netherlands. A Spinvis release is always good news, but Goochelaars en Geesten is not a new album: it compiles the extra tracks of the singles of his second album as well as tracks from "Nieuwegein aan Zee" (all the tracks that weren't live recordings from his first album tour). What we're trying to say is: if you're a fan, you may already have loads of tracks on this new album, so please take a good look at the album tracks before you buy it. Nevertheless, here's "Wespen op de appeltaart" (Wasps on the apple pie), a track about a patient at a mental institution. No audio available, but we tracked down this video:
Joyous tidings! The Raveonettes are back with a new album: Lust Lust Lust will be released in November, but the band's MySpace already allows you to pre-listen to a couple of tracks. We sincerely recommend "Lust".
Trolle Siebenhaar is a duo from Denmark. She is Ana Trolle, he is Martin Siebenhaar. I guess that explains the band's name then. Sweet Dogs is their first single and was released in Denmark earlier this year on the Danish iTunes. The song was downloaded so often it not only became the n°1 download, but even reached the status of gold. (I wonder what you get as a prize? A golden iPod?) In August Trolle Siebenhaar released the song in Germany. It may not be available in other countries yet, but there's always the video. Enjoy!
Apologies for the quality of what'll follow, but we didn't put it up on YouTube. My Brightest Diamond recently visited Belgium (Pukkelpop) and Holland (Lowlands). At Lowlands the VPRO asked My Brightest Diamond to perform an acoustic solo performance and it's too good to let you miss out on this one (even if sound and video aren't completely synchronous): "Golden Star".
Seattle's Minus The Bear may have been formed in 2001, 2007 may prove to be a big year for them. The band have released an album, Planet of Ice, on Suicide Squeeze Records and this may introduce them to more people than their previous two full-lengths could. Two tracks are available as downloads thanks to their record label, so take your pick: go for Dr. L'Ling if you'd like a longer post-rock track or Throwin' Shapes if you like 'em short and good.
You Say Party! We Say Die! is a Canadian 'punk/dance' quintet. In 2007 they released a new album, Lose All Time, and the band is promoting this by touring all over the world. Apart from the US, where the band is banned (due to visa trouble during their last tour). Here's one track from their new album, Monster (MP3 courtesy of label Paper Bag Records).
That is it for this edition. See you next time!
Sunday, August 12, 2007
RADIO KURTODROME'S PUKKELPOP PREVIEW PART 2
LONEY, DEAR - Saturday Nights
KATE NASH - Foundations
COCOROSIE - Rainbowarriors
BONDE DO ROLE - Solta O Frango
LCD SOUNDSYSTEM - North American Scum
M.I.A. - Jimmy
UNKLE - Morning Rage
DINOSAUR JR - Been There All The Time
Welcome back to part two of our prelude to Pukkelpop. Our first stop is Sweden, home of Emil Svanängen a.k.a. Loney, Dear. His album, Loney Noir is distributed by Sub Pop, notorious for releasing The Postal Service, a band Loney, Dear is often compared to. Which is a bit sad, as we don't think he can live up to such high expectations yet. Nevertheless, do check out Loney, Dear: you can listen to some snippets at his site or listen to four tracks on his MySpace. We recommend the track 'Saturday nights'.
A late addition to the Pukkelpop festival (Sat, 15.55, chateau) is Kate Nash, who skyrocketed from the UK via MySpace. Things are going evidently very for Kate, as her MySpace situates Lowlands in Germany (last time we checked it was in Holland) and has the Belgian festival spelled 'Pucklepop'. Which - one has to admit - looks charming.
Kate's MySpace has four songs on the player (two of which, "Dickhead" and "We Get On (Live)" are downloadable) and a YouTube link to "Foundations" - which sounds cheerful but isn't (sit back and enjoy the lyrics). Kinga Burza directed the video and here it is:
Back at the time when The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn was released, there was no video for 'Rainbowarriors'. Now that CocoRosie are coming to Belgium again (saturday, 18.30, marquee), it's a good opportunity to mention the track again (and our review of the Belgian concert in April). You can download the song at their MySpace or watch the video here:
Bonde do Role come from Brazil and there's a reason this band was put in the dance hall (Thu, 13.05). Honestly, we think this is the sort of band you'll enjoy more on a stage than on a record, but that won't stop us from showing you the video for 'Solta O Frango':
Most of us will remember 'Bucky Done Gun', just one of the impressive tracks on M.I.A.'s Arular. Two years later M.I.A. has released a second album, Kala. One of the first released tracks was the quite eclectic Bird Flu (we will refrain from using the pun 'catchy', thank you very much). 'Jimmy' is a song that, rather than using a Bollywood sample, is a clever mix of Bollywood sounds with London beats. Peculiar!
We never noticed the technical difficulties LCD Soundsystem had in 2005: we were in the chateau to enjoy Patrick Wolf. James Murphy can get his revenge now. Apparently the band is planning to be on all the Pukkelpop stages: after the dance hall (2004) and main stage (2005) the band will now perform at the marquee (Sat, 20.25). North American Roamers!
UNKLE is back with an album entitled War Stories. This is the third release from the project that started way back in 1994 by James Lavelle and Tim Goldsworthy. Tim moved on to DFA Records (think LCD Soundsystem) . UNKLE has included people like DJ Shadow, Josh Homme, Ian Brown and now Chris Goss. You can listen to five tracks on UNKLE's MySpace. We suggest track n°5, 'Morning Rage'.
Dinosaur Jr are still around, in fact they've been here all the time (we can't always avoid weak puns, you know). The band split in 1997, but reunited in 2005 and released new album Beyond in 2007 (their first release in 10 years). J Mascis! Lou Barlow! (And Murph, of course!) Pukkelpop! (Fri, 0.30, marquee!) Nuff said. "Been There All The Time"
And that is all for our second brief prelude to Pukkelpop. Did we fail to mention a couple of bands? Sure, but there are over 150 acts at the festival, so we just picked a handful that sounded good together and that we'd recommend to you (if you're going). Radio Kurtodrome will return soon after the Pukkelpop festival. For now, enjoy yourself and listen to some good music!
LONEY, DEAR - Saturday Nights
KATE NASH - Foundations
COCOROSIE - Rainbowarriors
BONDE DO ROLE - Solta O Frango
LCD SOUNDSYSTEM - North American Scum
M.I.A. - Jimmy
UNKLE - Morning Rage
DINOSAUR JR - Been There All The Time
Welcome back to part two of our prelude to Pukkelpop. Our first stop is Sweden, home of Emil Svanängen a.k.a. Loney, Dear. His album, Loney Noir is distributed by Sub Pop, notorious for releasing The Postal Service, a band Loney, Dear is often compared to. Which is a bit sad, as we don't think he can live up to such high expectations yet. Nevertheless, do check out Loney, Dear: you can listen to some snippets at his site or listen to four tracks on his MySpace. We recommend the track 'Saturday nights'.
A late addition to the Pukkelpop festival (Sat, 15.55, chateau) is Kate Nash, who skyrocketed from the UK via MySpace. Things are going evidently very for Kate, as her MySpace situates Lowlands in Germany (last time we checked it was in Holland) and has the Belgian festival spelled 'Pucklepop'. Which - one has to admit - looks charming.
Kate's MySpace has four songs on the player (two of which, "Dickhead" and "We Get On (Live)" are downloadable) and a YouTube link to "Foundations" - which sounds cheerful but isn't (sit back and enjoy the lyrics). Kinga Burza directed the video and here it is:
Back at the time when The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn was released, there was no video for 'Rainbowarriors'. Now that CocoRosie are coming to Belgium again (saturday, 18.30, marquee), it's a good opportunity to mention the track again (and our review of the Belgian concert in April). You can download the song at their MySpace or watch the video here:
Bonde do Role come from Brazil and there's a reason this band was put in the dance hall (Thu, 13.05). Honestly, we think this is the sort of band you'll enjoy more on a stage than on a record, but that won't stop us from showing you the video for 'Solta O Frango':
Most of us will remember 'Bucky Done Gun', just one of the impressive tracks on M.I.A.'s Arular. Two years later M.I.A. has released a second album, Kala. One of the first released tracks was the quite eclectic Bird Flu (we will refrain from using the pun 'catchy', thank you very much). 'Jimmy' is a song that, rather than using a Bollywood sample, is a clever mix of Bollywood sounds with London beats. Peculiar!
We never noticed the technical difficulties LCD Soundsystem had in 2005: we were in the chateau to enjoy Patrick Wolf. James Murphy can get his revenge now. Apparently the band is planning to be on all the Pukkelpop stages: after the dance hall (2004) and main stage (2005) the band will now perform at the marquee (Sat, 20.25). North American Roamers!
UNKLE is back with an album entitled War Stories. This is the third release from the project that started way back in 1994 by James Lavelle and Tim Goldsworthy. Tim moved on to DFA Records (think LCD Soundsystem) . UNKLE has included people like DJ Shadow, Josh Homme, Ian Brown and now Chris Goss. You can listen to five tracks on UNKLE's MySpace. We suggest track n°5, 'Morning Rage'.
Dinosaur Jr are still around, in fact they've been here all the time (we can't always avoid weak puns, you know). The band split in 1997, but reunited in 2005 and released new album Beyond in 2007 (their first release in 10 years). J Mascis! Lou Barlow! (And Murph, of course!) Pukkelpop! (Fri, 0.30, marquee!) Nuff said. "Been There All The Time"
And that is all for our second brief prelude to Pukkelpop. Did we fail to mention a couple of bands? Sure, but there are over 150 acts at the festival, so we just picked a handful that sounded good together and that we'd recommend to you (if you're going). Radio Kurtodrome will return soon after the Pukkelpop festival. For now, enjoy yourself and listen to some good music!
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