The Jesus and Mary Chain - Hate Rock 'n' Roll

Here's a gem of an album from one of my favourite bands, The Jesus and Mary Chain. The Mary Chain are one of the most underated British bands of all time and their influence can be heard today in artists like Glasvegas, A Place To Bury Strangers, The Dandy Warhols and The Horrors to name a few. Hate Rock 'n' Roll is compilation of B-sides and outtakes that was unleashed in 1995. It features a great alternative mix of 'Teenage Lust' complete with suggestive female moans. Enjoy.
Hate Rock 'n' Roll:
I Hate Rock n' Roll
Snakedriver
Something I Can't Have
Bleed Me
33 1/3
Lost Star
Penetration
New York City
Taking It Away
I'm in With the Out Crowd
Little Stars
Teenage Lust (Desdemoana Mix)
Perfect Crime

The Crystal Method

Ahh, so that's what happens when one seals a derelict flat in South London and leaves 90,000 litres of liquid cooper sulphate to crystalise in it for a year. This piece of neon wonderment entitled 'Seizure' by Roger Hiorns is one of the four nominations shortlisted for this year's Turner Prize. The other nominees are Enrico David, Lucy Skaer and Richard Wright.

The Turner Prize is a contemporary art award that was set up in 1984 to celebrate new developments in contemporary art.
The prize is awarded each year to a British artist under fifty for an outstanding exhibition or other presentation of their work in the twelve months preceding. Past winners include Tracy Emin and Damien Hirst and the award has been presented by Madonna, Denis Hopper and Nick Cave among others.
Have a look at this years nominations yourself on the Guardian's Meet the artists page

Swine Flu........My Bollocks

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Snoutbreak '09 - The Last 100 Days
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis First 100 Days

Does anyone else think this whole Swine Flu thing has been grotesquely over hyped? I mean it does echo the SARS and Avian Flu pandemics we were all suppose to die horrible deaths from. Obviously it has killed people in Mexico and the US ( A Mexican child who arrived in the US on 4th April) but the Mexican deaths have been hyped up by mainstream media outlets as a good old sense of panic does wonders for the ratings/readerships. In a country with the population of Mexico a few hundred people dying of even regular influenza is not uncommon especially since many people in Mexico cannot afford health care and it is not provided by the state. That's not to say these people are expendable and the situation they are forced to live in(even pre-swine flu) isn't wrong/unjust it is simply a fact.

Reading the Herald AM on the way to college on Monday I was informed that "SWINE FLU MAY KILL 160m PEOPLE" that is one article from one shitty paper, but most other publications went with the same doomsday approach in their coverage. It's really no suprise that the fine jounalists/broadcasters at the British equivalent of FOX, SKY news have been busy forecasting the apocalypse since the story broke.

And is it any wonder that as soon as stocks and share are worth fuck all,we are told(at an international level) we need to buy anti-viral drugs/vaccines from our friends at GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer and the likes?

A word of advice, don't panic just yet.

Nid and Sancy - Talk To The Machine

You could be forgiven for thinking that Belgian dance is all about commercial trance / house and 2manyDJ's, think again.I found this album in the bargain bin section of Tower Records in Dublin a few months ago, and having never heard tell of Nid and Sancy I was quite suprised. There're a two piece from Ghent, Belgium and they are fabulous.

The album Talk To The Machine is full of big beats working themselves continuously to an even bigger climax. A big thumbs up for Nid & Sancy.

Talk To The Machine

69 record machine
no fuck all
be yourself tonight
jambalaya
out of town
anorak nervosa
misunderstood
plug & slide
so where’s your acid, brothers
ender

Rockness 2009 !!!!!!!!!!!

Nessy better like MDMA, straight vodk and chain smoking because I booked my ticket for the Rockness Festival in Iverness. As the name suggests it's on the shores of Loch Ness in Scotland from the 12th-14th June. The venue looks really cool from the pics on the site. In my humble opinion this year's line-up is excellent - Placebo - Flaming Lips - Orbital - Super Furry Animals - The Wave Machines - The Prodigy - Basement Jaxx - Sneaky Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem (Special Disco Set) - DJ Medhi - Busy P - DJ Feadz - Zane Lowe (DJ Set) 

The festival area is spread across 4 stages, a Cinema, Silent disco, 24 Hour café and Fully licensed themed bars. As with most Boutique festivals there's a wide range of organic/vegan/vegetarian food outlets and luxury camping on offer. It looks like Scotland's answer to Bestival with a Sunday Best Arena featuring Rod da Bank and friends plus the Go North X-posure stage.

Tickets cost £130 (3 day regular camping) or £160 (VIP camping) and day tickets are available too. For more info check out rockness.co.uk

Anti-Prohibition March May 9th

Come one, come all anti cannabis prohibition march May 9th in Dublin and Cork. Join in the deomonstration if you like a toke, even if you don't and think cannabis users should be afforded a little civil liberty, the more the merrier.  The fact of the matter is cannabis is not a dangerous drug when compared to those socially acceptable drugs that it seems humanity can't live without - tabacco,alcohol and lest we forget the biggest money maker of them all prescription drugs. The main problem with cannabis is that it is illegal - in that this has created a highly lucrative black market where a drive for profit has resulted in the quality of the product being on a downward spiral(laced with wallpaper paste,sand,glass and other such nicities) - Apart from this, Gardai rescources are being wasted policing cannabis use - it is a social issue not a criminal one - the government could make some well needed tax money instead of the proceeds going to some dealers house in Spain - the quality of cannabis could be regulated - people could be educated about cannabis use - and it's medicinal benefits could be utilised fully.

If you fancy blowing your spliff smoke straight into a garda's face and that of Mr.Cowen - see you there

ttp://cannabisireland.net/ 

An Accurate Representation Of The Irish!

This hilarious clip is courtesy of that tv show that was on years ago, Are You Afraid Of The Dark? In this episode The Tale of Jake & Leprechaun - the kid at the start who tells the story does us Paddies proud with an Irish accent never since rivaled, even by everbodies favourite scientologist maniac Tom Cruise(Far and Away).You can watch the whole episode on youtube, there's also a dwarf called Sean O' Shaney - A fine honest Irishman's name - 

Depeche Mode - (Re)mixtape Vol. 1

Looking through my Depeche Mode collection I realised that they have literally hundreds of remixes so I've made a compilation of some of my favourites - Depeche Mode - (Re)mixtape Volume 1

• Oh Well (Black Light Odyessey Dub Mix)
• It's No Good (Hardfloor Remix)
• Halo (Goldfrapp Remix)
• Enjoy The Silence (Timo Maas Extended Mix)
• Lie To Me (The Pleasure Of Her Private Shame Mix by LFO)
• It's No Good (Speedy J Drum n Bass Mix)
• Painkiller (Kill The Pain DJ Shadow Mix)
• Wrong (DIM vs Boize Noize Mix)
• Everything Counts (Absolut Mix)
• I Feel You (Throb Mix)
• People Are People (Adrian Sherwood Mix)
• Wrold In My Eyes (Oil Tank Mix)
• Personal Jesus (Pump Mix)
• Useless (Kruder and Dorfmeister Remix)
• Stripped (Tricky Perversion)
• Dream On (Pink Noise Club Mix)
• Barrel Of A Gun (3 Phase Mix)

The Sugarhill Gang

Long before the bastardisation of hip-hop a la 50c, Eminem and Jay-Z to name a few there was The Sugarhill Gang. The Gang were not concerned with larking on about misogynistic/homophobic mind numbing shit(50c's claim to fame), and tended to focus their attention on making some sweet sounding funk influenced hip-hop jams. Their single 'Rappers Delight' is arguably the first hip-hop single/record ever released. It just so happens that they are playing Electric Picnic this year - Sugarhill Gang - Greatest Hits

Magazine - Seondhand Daylight

The post-punk era was a high-water mark in music, and bands like Magazine, Pere Ubu, PiL and Monochrome Set remain even cooler for never having achieved the widespread popular recognition that has been poured onto important "movements" in music, before or since. With Magazine, there's still this joy of discovery to be had. And what makes them simply one of the greatest rock bands of all time is that Howard Devoto's psychosexual angst has a humour and poetry that transcends that of any other lyricist in rock's darker streams(Besides Alan Vega) - take a few lines from the the track Permafrost "I will drug you and fuck you on the permafrost" - fucking excellent.

While Magazine's music still seems timeless, chunky riffs built around scratchy guitars, swirling keyboards and a solid backbeat. Devoto, McGeoch, Formula, Adamson... their Secondhand Daylight is music that is extremely dark and yet strangely uplifting. 

and the good news is they reformed last year minus John McGeoch who died in 2004. At the moment it looks like a pretty small tour so far, dates in London's Forum, Benicassim and Electric Picnic have all been confirmed.

Secondhand Daylight

Love and The Rockets - Hot Trip To Heaven Album Sampler

This is a sampler of Love and The Rockets 1994 album Hot Trip To Heaven.I bought this in Road Records in Dublin last year for €2 so it didn't break the bank. It only has four tracks on it but i'd  say there's probably a torrent of the full album floating around somewhere on ye olde internet.

My favourite track is This Heaven - hypnotic and sexy with a four-to-the-floor dance beat, scratchy guitar rhythms and strange locomotive sounds

      Hot Trip To Heaven

• Trip & Glide
• Be The Revolution
• This Heaven
• Hot Trip To Heaven

Primavera Sound 2009

My first festival this year looks likely to be Primavera Sound in Barcelona it runs from 28th -30th May. The line-up is pretty impressive; My Bloody Valentine (not once but twice!) , Sonic Youth, Aphex Twin, Jarvis Cocker, Squarepusher, Spiritualized, The Bug, The Horrors, Neil Young and a DJ set by Tim Burgess (The Charlatans) to name but a few. Tickets are €160 including booking fee. CANT FUCKING WAIT.............

Patti Smith & Kevin Shields - The Coral Sea

If someone said that punk poet laureate, Patti Smith, would be pairing up with My Bloody Valentine mastermind, Kevin Shields, for a live performance, I would have told them to fuck off. But it just so happens that they did!
The two paired up to do a live performance a few years back and the live album, The Coral Sea, is the result. The Coral Sea is Patti Smith's posthumous homage to her friend and photographer Robert Mapplethorpe.The live disc includes excerpts from Smith's epic poem of the same title. It's a haunting,heartbreaking record and Shields guitar throughout her spoken word performance is sublime.
The performance is from London 2005
The Coral Sea

New Placebo Single: For What It's Worth

Placebo's new single "For What It's Worth" is getting its first UK play on Radio 1 tonight on Zane Lowe's show around 7pm according to placeboworld.co.uk . It has already been played on some French radio stations, Oui FM . & Le Mouv skip to 9.09 in the stream to hear it.
I really like it (although some might say I'm a bit biased) there's a part in the song that sounds like the music from tetris (really!). Here it is.

The quality isn't great but it's better than Ashtray Heart. Tomorrow the digital single is released on iTunes and the video via the official myspace page. I'm looking forward to hearing the B-side which is going to be a cover of the chessey 80's classic "Wouldn't It Be Good" by Nick Kershaw. I don't know if the artwork above is the official single cover it was posted on Placebo Whores .

If the auld web sheriff has any issues with the above rip; the links to the French stations that are hosting the replay shows (which the single is contained in) can be easily recorded by anyone & later tonight it will be on BBC iPlayer - Good luck in your endeavours to police the interweb mate,
Cheers.

HEARSTSREVOLUTION

This one's for my work colleague Ross. New York based electro-punk duo HEARTSREVOLUTION have been on the go since 2004. They have released an EP and few "12 singles, most notably a split single with Crystal Castles. Oh & they apparently they embarked on their 1st UK tour in an ice-cream van! They sound awesome I reckon as soon as an album is released they will be catapulted into the limelight - the fucking NME have already lined them up to be on the next wave of "bands that everyone should love because NME tells you to", but that fucking fad rag is well and truly beneath them!

So heres the Switchblade EP, the split single with crystal castles, the C.Y.O.A single and a remix I ripped from their myspace page: 

HEARSTSREVOLUTION

My Bloody Valentine New Album

According to the NME, Kevin Sheilds has said that the new MBV album has been inspired by folk-blues tapes that Bobby G (Prml Scrm) used to play after gigs. Still no release date for the new record the first since Loveless. If all goes to plan I'll be seeing them twice @ Primavera Sound in Barcelona @ the end of May. Can't fucking wait.

Here' the last two tracks they released. A Wire cover from the tribute album Whore:

Map Ref. 41°N 93°W 

& a Louis Armstrong cover from a James Bond charity compilation:

We Have All The Time In The World

The Revolutionary Corps Of Teenage Jesus

Another one from the vaults this is one of Alan Vega (Suicide) many projects. It's called The Revolutionary Corps Of Teenage Jesus, a collaboration with Stephen Lironi and the album is called Righteous Lite and was released in 1998

Tracklisting:

1 Righteous Lite  
2 Protection Rat  
3 Daddy Died  
4 Pay Tha Wreck Mr Music King  
5 Money Day  
6 Puzz Puzz  
7 American  
8 Motor Cross  
9 Who Cares Who Dies  
10 Sinister Minister 

Righteous Lite

Dream City Film Club - In The Cold Light Of Morning

This is In The Cold Light Of Morning by the brilliant Dream City Film Club. I first heard DCFC a number of years ago, sadly they wnet their seperate ways in 1999. They were a great band & this is one of their finest album, I've also thrown in a song they did with Brian Molko(Placebo) called 'Some' which is quite something, Enjoy.

Tracklisting:

1Killer Blow

2Nerveshot   
3 Billy Chic
4 Spitting And Stumbling
5 Sarah In Dreams
6 Fuck It Up 
7 The Curse
8 Stooge

9 Country Paranoia

10 God Will Punish The Pervert Preacher 
11 Steal Away

12 Some (With Brian Molko)

In The Cold Light Of Morning
 

Super Furry Film on Pitchfork TV from 17th April

From Superfurry.com:

From April 17th for one week, Pitchfork TV will exclusively premier an 'SFA Presents' film showing the full story behind the construction of Dark Days / Light Years, along with interviews and other unseen footage...you can check it out here.

Should be a good watch, I counting on them to be annouced for Electric Picnic but if not they're playing in Donegal @ the Sea Sessions festival with Kila, Andrew Weatherall & Zion Train it's only €53 for a 3 day ticket.

Acid House The Next Generation

What do you tell your children about your misspent youth when it's taken place against a backdrop of banging basslines, darkened clubs and illegal gatherings?
Veteran DJ and producer Chris Coco goes in search of the generation that refused to grow up, and discovers the people, places and stories which make up the last great youth culture movement - Acid House.

Smiley faces, crazy beats, nights that never seemed to end and top notch drugs sum up the halcyon days of Acid House in 1988. Twenty years later dance music is still hedonistic, but the early pioneers are now part of the establishment, with families of their own.

By talking to those who were there and those still out on the dancefloor, Chris Coco explores where those Acid House beats will lead next; whether things will be different this time around for emerging music scenes; and what he should be saying to his own teenage son.

Featuring contributions from Peter Hook, Annie Mac, Chemical Brothers, X-press 2, Pete Tong, Tom Finlay, Carl Cox, Judge Jules, Klaxons and ravers young and old.

Two episodes of approx. 30 mins each.

First broadcast in 2008 on BBC Radio 2

Thanks to Cheops for the excellent rip

Acid House: The Next Generation

Electric Picnic 2009

The Electric Picnic 2009 line-up was announced yesterday. In my opinion it's gotten off to a great start with:

Orbital - Flaming Lips - Basement Jaxx - Madness - MGMT - Fleet Foxes - Klaxons - BellX1 - Rodrigo Y Gabriela - Chic - Seasick Steve - 2 Many DJs - Explosions in the Sky - Lisa Hannigan - Alabama 3 - Zero 7 -The Sugarhill Gang - Erol Alkan - Roots Manuva - Billy Bragg - Bat for Lashes - Damien Dempsey -Lykke Li- Echo & The BunnymenABCMagazineESGModeratFour TetMagnetic Man (Skream & Benga)Simian Mobile DiscoHeartbreakHalfsetNozeChris Cunnigham - A 55 minute performance, combining original and remixed music and film.Okkervil RiverMagnolia Electric CompanyThe Low AnthemVillagersTunngJapeEfterklangMicachu and the ShapesThe Whitest Boy AliveThe WalkmenMichael Nyman - with a mini-orchestra,Dublin Gospel ChoirQuantic Soul OrchestraJazzanovaWavemachines.........all in all pretty inpressive.

I'm really looking forward to Orbital, Flaming Lips, Magazine, Bat For Lashes & Echo & The Bunnymen

And lest we forget THE FUCKING SUGARHILL GANG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rest assured there'll be plenty more acts announced in the coming weeks/months

Stradballey Here We Come.

The Principality Of Sealand

Ladies & Gentlemen and whoever else may be reading, I give you The Principality of Sealand. The first I heard of sea was last week and I have to say I'm completly facinated by the place. For anyone who doesn't know Sealand lies off the English coast in the North Sea and was used as a WW2 defence by the British Armed Forces. It was abandonned in 1956. Then in 1967 Major Paddy Roy Bates, a British subject and pirate radio broadcaster, who ejected a competing group of pirate broadcasters took over and declared Sealand a sovereign state (what a man!). It has it's own stamps, currency and passports as well as a few national sports teams.

Since it's foundation Sealand has endured an armed struggle, a fire which practically destroyed the whole place and pressure from the British government who claim it's part of the UK............I say finders keepers

Oh and there's even a government in exile, the story is fucking crazy, i'd love to visit it, but sadly I don't think they do package holidays there yet.

Long live Sealand!!

http://www.sealandgov.org/

Placebo MTV2: Under The Influence

I'm currently in the process of digitising my VHS collection and I came across this little beauty। It's a show that used to be on MTV2 UK a few years ago called Under The Influence। It was hosted by Zane Lowe (pre-gonzo, xfm, radio1), around the time when he hosted that Brand New thing on MTV UK ,methinks। Anyway it involves bands being interviewed by zane discussing their influences (music,books,films,directors)।
Guests I can remeber appearing were Garbage, The Charlatans, Marilyn Manson and this episode which is of course Placebo.
To my knowledge this is the only online version to date - even searching for info on Under The Influence doesn't yield many results. So check it out it's a really good insight into what inspires Placebo............and they spend nearly the whole interview chain-smoking & drinking!

The Web Sheriff: Mr.Molko's Attack Dog

............well not really.It seems Placebo's new record label PIAS has enlisted the

cyber police.In the form of pesky UK based copyright protection firm Web Sheriff. On hearing the news that Placebo were releasing another track(Ashtray Heart) from their forthcoming album Battle For The Sun I was pretty excited to hear it as I'm a huge fan of their's.The only problem is that it's only available to download in Japan!
So as I scowered the interweb looking for a Rip I kept coming across this notice posted on every blog and forum that the song was available on:

WEB SHERIFF
Protecting Your Rights on the Internet
Tel 44-(0)208-323 8013
Fax 44-(0)208 323 8080
websheriff@websheriff.com
www.websheriff.com

Hi Insert Name Here,

On behalf of PIAS, Astralwerks and Placebo, many thanks for plugging "Battle For The Sun " (album street date 8th June) ... .. thanks, also, on behalf of the labels and artist for not posting any pirate links to unreleased (studio) material and, if you / your readers want good quality, non-pirated, preview tracks, the title track is available for fans and bloggers to link to / post / host etc until the 13th April at www.placeboworld.co.uk... .. for further details of the new album, on-line promotions, videos and 2009 shows, check-out the band’s site plus www.myspace.com/placebo and www.youtube.com/officialplacebo

So here it is

I realise that the Web Sheriff will probably contact me and ask me to take it down soon, but there's no harm in trying,besides it's a fucking aweful recording - I'm pretty sure it was recorded from a phone then uploaded to Youtube. You're better off waiting for the worldwide release or till a HQ version is uploaded somewhere.

For web sheriff,

Hi, I know you are only doing what you're being paid to do, but you can't realistically take down every uploaded version of the song (you are doing a pretty good job though!!). If you have any contact with the band/label could you please ask them why in this age of global media convergence did they choose such a limited distribution path for a new track? Over the past 10 years I've spent thousands on Placebo and I have ordered my Battle For The Sun boxset(70 FUCKING POUNDS) off the website.......so you can be sure I'll be downloading every copyright infringed, pirated track that becomes available and they will.

So Mr.Sheriff, let the Battle(for the sun) commence. 

Michael Douglas's Mirror Sun Glasses

If Neon Neon's album Stainless Style left you wanting more fear not, here's all the non-album tracks.Live stuff,remixes and instrumentals.There's two different versions of their cracking Young Marble Giants/T2 cover Searching For Mr.Right/Heart Broken. The longer1 has the T2 bit at the end,was ripped by myself from the BBC site (thanks BBC!) and the shorter 1 is the official release off the Dream Cars single, dunno why they didn't release the full 1 officially??

Non Album Tracks