New music- Feb 2013

When I say I rock it ol' school, I look and sound like an utter and complete dag, which is half the fun. I mean if you can't take the piss out of yourself, who can you take the piss out of? So, you know that when I say that I am both cool and a complete snob for buying new music on vinyl, it is said with tongue firmly planted in cheek....Anyway, I went two steps beyond my already cool, hip and groovy self and went 'underground' (man!) when I recently purchased a new album on cassette! Why underground? Well I mentioned it to a few people who quizzically asked what do you mean 'cassette'? yep, I may as well have said on wax cylinder... Others who faintly recalled them, had an air of derisiveness when asking 'does anyone have a cassette player nowadays?.. yep I do.. Three infact! But that still doesn't really account for the underground bit in full. Ok, while I am bucking the expectations of the mainstream, the act of buying on cassette was made more 'underground' because the album was the new one by noise pop group 'Deerhoof'. The main-streamers will say 'who?' and the indie darlings will say, 'they are far from underground'...and me in the middle with my cassette player will write a blog on the whole thing, from my cramped little home, with old newspaper sticky-taped to the windows to stop summers hot breeze from coming in through the gaps between the window frame and where the glass window used to be. I may as well be squatting, hence my feeling underground, while really and lets be honest here,  I am a bourgeois home owner tapping away on his lap top with wireless internet, sipping on Italian coffee after coming in from brunch with friends ... Hmm I guess it's all about perspective.

Anyway this is supposed to be about new music:

On Cassette:
Deerhoof: 'Breakup song".
From the LP Breakup song, comes the cute and noisy track 'The trouble with candyhands'.




On Vinyl:
The Smiths: Unreleased Demos and Instrumentals   (bootleg and a double album on blue vinyl!).

From the album is the rawer (and all the better for it) track 'Ask':



What I am loving on the radio and on youtube:

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. If you thought you knew Nick, then give this track a listen, yeah it sounds like him, but the music is so spacious and yet has a whiff of claustrophobia at the same time! From the new Lp 'Push the sky away'- 'we no who u r' (yes, please forgive Nick for his Gen Y text styled spelling):



Smith Street Band- 'Young drunk' . I am loving this band at the minute...(oh, and if you are not able to catch the name of the venue in this clip, it's the Tote!):



Billy Bragg!!!!  OMG is all I will say.. well ok, and this... I love the man, I would marry him in a flash and have pre-ordered his new album on vinyl!!!!!!! The clip to this track sees Billy looking his age and that beard doesn't help.... When we marry I'll definately shave that beard off... there is only room under my roof for one bearded man and that is obviously me!  Also, dear friends, please forgive Billy his grammatical craziness... between him and Nick Cave I don't know who is worser-er!

Billy Bragg- 'No One knows nothing anymore':