The Bawley100 - New Years Eve 2008/2009

The Bawley crew have brushed distance, time difference, and conflicting opinions aside to bring you the 2008 Bawley 100.

With NYE listening parties happening simultaneously in an Aussie Pie Shop, under Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate and at the Sydney Harbour Fireworks, the 2008 Bawley 100 is a three pointed axis of Awesome!



The 2008 Bawley 100:

100 Flight Of The Conchords - Inner City Pressure

99 Dukes Of Windsor - It's A War

98 Kings Of Leon - Sex On Fire

97 Cut Copy - Strangers In The Wind

96 Stars - A Thread Cut With A Carving Knife

95 Ashes Divide - The Stone

94 Björk - Náttúra

93 Does It Offend You, Yeah? - Dawn Of The Dead

92 Lily Allen - Fear

91 The Kills - Cheap And Cheerful

90 Faker - Are You Magnetic

89 The Ting Tings - That's Not My Name

88 Lightspeed Champion - Everyone I Know Is Listening To Crunk

87 Gnarls Barkley - Run (I'm A Natural Disaster)

86 Sigur Rós - Gobbledigook

85 Goldfrapp - Caravan Girl

84 TZU - Computer Love

83 Neon Neon - I Told Her On Alderaan

82 Michael Cera & Ellen Page - Anyone Else But You

81 Futureheads - Broke Up The Time

80 Kanye West - Love Lockdown

79 Cut Off You Hands - Expectations

78 Birds Of Tokyo - Silhouettic

77 The Killers - Human

76 Alexis Taylor - Coming Up

75 Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds - We Call Upon The Author

74 Stereolab - Three Women

73 CSS - Rat Is Dead (Rage)

72 Lyrics Born - I Like It, I Love It

71 Santogold - L.E.S. Artists

70 Friendly Fires - Paris

69 The Gutter Twins - Idle Hands

68 Bloc Party - Talons

67 The Cure - The Only One

66 Yeasayer - Wait For The Summer

65 MGMT - Electric Feel

64 The Grates - Two Kinds Of Right

63 Portishead - Hunter

62 The Dodos - Ashley

61 Nine Inch Nails - Echoplex

60 Beck - Youthless

59 Elbow - Grounds For Divorce

58 Hot Chip - Wrestlers

57 Glasvegas - Daddy's Gone

56 Beck - Modern Guilt

55 British Sea Power - No Lucifer

54 The Cure - The Perfect Boy

53 Radiohead - The Rip

52 The National - Fake Empire

51 Vampire Weekend - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa

50 MGMT - The Youth

49 Wire - One Of Us

48 Gnarls Barkley - Who's Gonna Save My Soul

47 The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age Of The Understatement

46 Fleet Foxes - Your Protector

45 The National - About Today (Live)

44 Deerhunter - Microcastle

43 Empire Of The Sun - We Are The People

42 Bloc Party - Ares

41 Sparkadia - Kiss Of Death

40 MGMT - Kids

39 My Morning Jacket - Touch Me I'm Going To Scream Pt 2

38 Sparkadia - This Boy's In Love

37 Deerhunter - Nothing Ever Happened

36 Cut Copy - Lights & Music

35 TV On The Radio - Dancing Choose

34 Crystal Castles - Courtship Dating

33 Nine Inch Nails - 1,000,000

32 The Dirty Secrets - Five Feet Of Snow

31 Lambchop - National Talk Like A Pirate Day

30 Half Man Half Biscuit - National Shite Day

29 Architecture In Helsinki - That Beep

28 Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds - Lie Down Here (And Be My Girl)

27 Vampire Weekend - A Punk

26 Mercury Rev - Senses On Fire

25 Ladyhawke - My Delirium

24 Death Cab For Cutie - I Will Possess Your Heart

23 Beck - Chemtrails

22 The Dodos - Paint The Rust

21 The Presets - Talk Like That

20 Portishead - Machine Gun

19 TV On The Radio - Halfway Home

18 Bon Iver - Skinny Love

17 Crystal Castles - Crimewave

16 Empire Of The Sun - Walking On A Dream

15 Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal

14 PNAU (feat. Ladyhawke) - Embrace

13 The Rapture - No Sex For Ben

12 Lambchop - Slipped Dissolved And Loosed

11 The Cure - Underneath The Stars

10 Bloc Party - One Month Off

9 Hot Chip - One Pure Thought

8 British Sea Power - Waving Flags

7 Sparkadia - Jealousy

6 Ladyhawke - Paris Is Burning

5 Band Of Horses - No One's Gonna Love You

4 TV On The Radio - Golden Age

3 Elbow - One Day Like This

2 The Presets - This Boy's In Love

1 MGMT - Time To Pretend


That is our list, the CD is in the mail.

What did we miss, what have we overrated, your comments...

Bawley (Hearts) 2008: Bottom 5 album covers of the year

5. Santogold - Santogold

Santi White’s debut album may have blurred the lines between genres, unfortunately the cover art blurred the lines of good taste. Burp...

4. Razorlight – Slipway Fires

Who are the three guys hogging Johnny Borrell’s lime light

3. The Presets - Apocalypso

The album’s title came from the idea of the apocalypse and a calypso together. I think the art work came from a primary school diorama competition.

2. Empire of the sun – Walking On A Dream

Star Wars fans, much?

1. Lambchop – (Oh) Ohio

If a picture is worth a thousand words, I wish Lambchop had the decency to stop writing after the first paragraph.

Bawley (Hearts) 2008: Bawley crew concerts of the year: Nick

5. Malcolm Middleton, Hopetoun Hotel, Sydney, March

It was almost uncomfortable but utterly engrossing to watch Malcolm Middleton, with only an acoustic guitar for company, singing some incredibly bleak and personal songs in this tiny, intimate venue. Gigs don't get much more raw than this.

4. Goldfrapp, Opera House, Sydney, October

The opposite extreme: Goldfrapp, with full band and fourteen piece string section, making an awesome noise under the world's most famous roof. (FasterLouder Review)

3. The National, City Recital Hall, Sydney, January

It takes a very special band to mesmerise a crowd in a soulless, library-like venue like the City Recital Hall. The National are a very special band. 'About Today' was epic.

2. Sufjan Stevens, State Theatre, Sydney, January

Brass, woodwind, a pitch-perfect voice and an encore that included hula-hooping. Magnificent.

1. Bloc Party, Hordern Pavillion, Sydney, November

They came, they saw, they conquered. A perfect set, a super-tight performance and a spectacular light show helped Bloc Party tear the Hordern Pavilion to pieces.

Runners Up:

MGMT, Birmingham Academy, Eels, Enmore Theatre, Band Of Horses, Metro Theatre

Bawley (Hearts) 2008: Bawley crew albums of the year: Nick

5. MGMT 'Oracular Spectacular'

The latest in a long line of masterpieces bearing the signature of super-producer Dave Fridman (Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev, Delgados, Mogwai...). This album was everywhere in 2008: In every shop, every radio and TV station – but deserved to be.

4. British Sea Power 'Do You Like Rock Music?'

'Waving Flags' was the year's best pro-immigration song, 'No Lucifer' borrowed a slogan from notorious British wrestler Big Daddy and 'Canvey Island' drew a complex analogy between a bird flu virus and a devastating flood. Really, what more do you need from a rock record?

3. Lambchop '(OH) Ohio'

Approximately the 10^th (depending on how you count) album from The Best Band In The World That Nobody Has Heard Of. Not a radical departure, more an amalgamation of all the styles the band has toyed with over the last two decades. Wonderful, as ever.

2. TV On The Radio 'Dear Science'

Sharp, funny, angular, joyous, intense. Very, very nearly album of the year....

1. Elbow 'Seldom Seen Kid'

...But in the end it was the songs that won it for Elbow. Guy Garvey writes lyrics that you could write essays about, without a single word out of place, and they work brilliantly. Heartbreaking, life affirming, devastatingly beautiful and utterly essential.

Runners Up:

Bloc Party, 'Intimacy'; Delirious?, 'Kingdom Of Comfort'; Vampire Weekend, 'Vampire Weekend'; Dodos, 'Visiter'; My Morning Jacket, 'Evil Urges'; Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, 'Dig Lazarus Dig!!!', Half Man Half Biscuit; 'CSI Ambleside'

Bawley (Hearts) 2008: Top 5 Covers of the year

5. Jay-Z – Wonderwall (Oasis)

'For those that didn't get the memo, my name is Jay-Z and I'm pretty f***ing awesome.'

Well maybe, maybe not, either way there is no denying that the rappers response to the “No Hip-Hop at Glasto” press was right on the mark. (link)

4. Mobius Band – Digital Love (Daft Punk)

Taken from Mobius Band’s EP of Valentine’s Day themed covers, this largely acoustic version of the track could prove that Daft Punk are Human After All. (link)

3. Radiohead – The Rip (Portishead)

Who other than Radiohead could pull of covering this sweet but morbid Portishead track? (link)

2. Hot Chip and Peter Gabriel – Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa (Vampire Weekend)

The only thing that feels more un-natural than Peter Gabriel is Peter Gabriel singing “It feels so unnatural. Peter Gabriel, too” (link)

1. Sparkadia – This Boy’s In Love (The Presets)

We love Sparkadia’s lush take on The Presets smash. It seems you love it too, our post linking to the mp3 was Bawley’s most read article in 2008. (link)

Bawley (Hearts) 2008: Top 5 Concerts of the year: Hummer

I don’t quite have the ego to tell you what were the Top 5 concerts of 2008, but I can list the 5 gigs I enjoyed most.

5. MGMT, Carling Academy, Birmingham, 10/11/2008

MGMT successfully blend massive singles like Time To Pretend, Electric Feel, and Kids in to a set of spaced out psychedelic rock providing a mind altering experience you can sing along to. (review)

4. TV On The Radio, Academy 2, Birmingham, 7/12/2008

This show would make my Top 5 for the encore alone, Family Tree, A Method, Let The Devil In and Staring at the Sun: does it get any better? (review)

3. LCD Soundsystem, Enmore Theatre, Sydney, 26/01/2008

Touring on the back of the brilliant Sound of Silver, LCD Soundsystem (with an Arcade Fire cameo) deliver a brilliant set of intelligent dance and post punk music.

2. Hot Chip, Carling Academy, Birmingham, 29/10/2008

From Max Tundra’s bizzaro support slot, to the indie disco of Over and Over and the emotional sing-along closer, this show was the most fun I had inside all year. (review)

1. Glastonbury, Worthy Farm, Somerset, 26-29/06/2008

Glastonbury + Sunshine = My number one concert of the year. (review)

Rockin' research shows head-banging batters brains

After attending several heavy metal concerts of bands including Mötley Crüe, Ozzy Osbourne and Motörhead, Associate Professor Andrew McIntosh felt that headbanging might be causing concert-goers mild brain injury leading to headaches and dizziness.

“If you observe people after concerts they clearly look dazed, confused and incoherent, so something must be going on, and we wanted to look into it."

Full story - here.

Coming soon: Research suggests that heavy metal bands misuse umlauts.

5-Alive

Check in over the next few weeks as the Bawley crew post their Top 5s for 2008.

{albums, concerts, album art, predictions for 2009, covers, videos, rumours ...}

Ho Ho Ho - Yeah Yeah Yeah

What is on your Christmas want list this year? If you said a new Yeah Yeah Yeahs song you are in luck.

All I Want For Christmas is the Yeah Yeah Yeahs take on the sleigh bell filled Christmas single.

Go to the bands myspace to listen

Live Review: TV On The Radio, Academy 2, 07/12/2008

Back in September I declared TV on the Radio’s Dear Science my album of the year. After tonight’s show they may well be my live act of the year.

Tonight at Birmingham’s Academy, the bands are playing on the smaller Academy 2 stage. First up, London band Big Pink whose fuzzed out pop songs get a subdued but positive reaction from the crowd.

TVOTR’s decision to start their show with a few older tracks alienates some of the audience, but as soon as the drums of Wolf Like Me kick in everyone loses their shit and the band is instantly forgiven.

Golden Age and Dancing Choose keep everyone dancing, no one more than front man Tunde Adebimpe who has sweat pouring off his face.

On the Dear Science album DLZ is effortlessly cool, but tonight’s version is fierce: the lock step beat drags you in while guitars bring up a wall of noise and Adebimpe literally spits and sprays rage-filled lyrics.

The bearded Kyp Malone is everything Adebimpe is not. He barely moves, barely blinks, barely has a care in the world but on Province, when Malone’s falsetto vocal joins Ademipe’s midrange rhyme, you can’t imagine them ever being apart.

The five piece band and all their paraphernalia barely fit on the smaller Academy 2 stage meaning it is only when they leave the stage that the audience get a look at the mop-topped drummer Jaleel Bunton and bass player Gerard Smith.

Obviously the crowd want to see more, and the screams of encore are answered when the band return to play Family Tree. There is a short pause as the drum kit is dismantled, its parts distributed around the band’s five members who strike cymbals, crash drums and hit rhythm sticks right through A Method before going straight into Let The Devil In and closing out with the brilliant Staring At The Sun.


Family Tree:

"You'll never guess who I had in the back of my cab last week"

From an innovation in gig review journalism (and a rubbish venue)to an innovation in live music recordings (and a weird venue)....

The Black Cab Sessions is a great idea: take one interesting musician (or two) and film them performing a song accoustically in the back of a cab as it travels around London.

As they say: "The sessions are all about great music and the venue strips this to its essence."

There are 68 sessions so far and the number is growing quickly. Among them are Bawley faves My Morning Jacket, The National, Fleet Foxes, The Futureheads (actually visible), Johnny Flynn, Death Cab For Cutie (of course) and (drumroll...) Lambchop. Their song choices often veer from the obvious 'hits', too - The National tackle a B-Side, Lambchop take on Bob Dylan, and also well worth checking out is Amanda Palmer's take on Radiohead's 'Creep'.

Live Review: The Futureheads, D Bar, 9/12/2008

Spot the band:


And an easier side of stage shot:

I think I can see a head.

First correct answer wins a instant scratchies gift pack.

Blur: are back

I grew up with Blur. They are one of the bands that got me into music, and soundtracked my teenage years and beyond. It's one of my great musical regrets that I've never seen them live.

Great news then, that they're back. So far, just for a big gig in London's Hyde Park, but a headline slot at next year's Glastonbury is all but a certainty.

Surely, though, they'll be many more gigs to come.

Big Day Out organisers: You know what you have to do.

Are we Human or are we Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Blitzen...?

The Killers are obviously fans of the Christmas single having recorded A Great Big Sled in 2006 and Don’t Shoot Me Santa in 2007.

This festive season the band have teamed up with Elton John and Pet Shop Boys’ Neil Tennant for Joesph, Better You Than Me.

The Countdown to Christmas Continues.

LCD Soundstreet: New York I Love You But Your Turning Me Green

Look out for the James Murphy cameo, I bet you never saw that coming?

The Countdown To Christmas starts here....

Everybody loves a dodgy Christmas single, don't they? Eddie Argos from the marvellous Art Brut certainly does. Last year, he and his band teamed up with Black Box Recorder to form The Black Arts They released 'Christmas Number One' which, of course, failed to get anwhere near number one in last year's Christmas chart. Also failing in his attempt to reach number one last Christmas was renowned miserablist and former Arab Strab member Malcolm Middleton, whose brilliantly unfestive We're All Going To Die barely charted at all (despite it being ace).

This year, Eddie Argos has teamed up with Mikey Georgeson (David Devant) to form a glam rock band called Glam Chops. They've recorded a couple of Christmas songs, 'Countdown To Christmas' and 'Baby Jesus Was The First Glam Rocker'. Neither of them are that good, but they're available to download for free, and they might just put you in the Christmas mood.

Art Brut, incidentally, are working on their third album, the follow up to last year's very enjoyable 'It's A Bit Complicated', which is being produced by none other than Frank Black. Amongst the 20 songs being worked on are 'Alcoholics Unanimous', 'Summer Job', 'Art Brut Versus Satan', 'Rebellious' 'Henchman', and 'Moved To LA'. Should be good.

Fabchannel.com is Fab!

Fabchannel.com is a Dutch company that aims to give recognition to artists that are largely unrecognised by the mainstream media. Their main outlet is the Fabchannel website that streams live and on-demand of concerts for free.

Why should you care? Well, Bawley-approved artists such as Wire, MGMT, Midnight Juggernauts, Digitalism, A Place to Bury Strangers, CSS, Of Montreal, The Presets, Spank Rock, Iron and Wine, Xavier Rudd, Patrick Wolf, Bonde Do Role, Elbow, Bloc Party, The Arcade Fire, and Okkervil River all have full sets on the site.

An endless list of indie bands is all well and good, but the real treasure in the fabchannel.com closet is footage from the 2003 to 2005 Dutch air-guitar championship finals. Gems in three years of air-footage are the 2003 battle between The Scarecrow and Funky Jordie for the best air-version of Michael Jackson’s Beat It; Barbie Rock, a semi-hot blonde chick air-riffing on a metalled up version of the Grease Mega Mix in 2004; and the progression of The Devastator from middle-aged man with long hair, black jeans and black t-shirt in 2003, to slightly more middle-aged man with longer hair, black jeans and a sports bra air-rocking out to the Foo Fighters Low in 2005.

Each year’s air-guitar concert is closed by B.O.G. Holland’s best poodle rock tribute band: Van Halen (Jump), Bon Jovi (Livin On A Prayer), Europe (The Final Countdown), Guns n’ Roses (November Rain), ... they have it all.

It is no wonder the Dutch smoke so much.

Live Review: A Place To Bury Strangers, Barfly, 29/11/2008

On an arctic night we walk into the Birmingham Barfly and quickly find that checking our jackets in the cloak room was a mistake. The concrete and metal downstairs bar is only slightly warmer than outside - a cool environment for one of the coolest bands around?

Canadian support act Ten Kens work hard for very little reward, before A Place To Bury Strangers arrive on the stage and kick off with Gimme Acid, the small crowd now pushed up against the front of the stage calmly nodding along to the howling guitar and pounding drums.

Fix The Gash In Your Head is just as menacing live as it is on record and the audience responds with pockets of the crowd jumping and dancing around the room. Between songs, one brave punter cries out for the band to play louder, APTBS answer the request with a swirl of feedback, screech of guitars and Don’t Think Lover turned up to 11.

APTBS are obviously influenced by My Bloody Valentine and The Jesus Mary Chain, and like these bands they are more than just noise merchants. Underneath the wall of sound there are lush pop songs, as evident on I Know I’ll See You which has the crowd singing and dancing along with glee.

By now the room has filled with smoke, guitarist Oliver Ackermann is lying on the ground tearing at his effects pedals and the sound, combined with the constant strobe effect, is oppressive. The noise morphs into Ocean, again the vocals are delivered low in the mix as the guitars scream louder and louder. The song and set ends with the band throwing themselves and their instruments around the stage.

New York's loudest band brought a little bit of noise to the Midlands tonight - my ears hurt but I would love to hear a little more.

Lights In the Sky: HD

You may have already seen snippets of the Nine Inch Nails Lights In The Sky tour as captured in cheap mobile phone videos, in stunning still images and behind the scenes. Now we recommend you check out this high definition video promo clip for the tour - Awesome.

Forget Twilight or Chinese Geography or 808s and Constipates or whatever else you may be wasting your time on...

- Reads the latest post on nin.com

Seems the band’s official website is aiming to gather up and catalogue all the NIN content on the web into the ultimate fan generated database.

Can’t wait to see what Aussie fans add when the band tours in February.

Solo Chip

Rubbed Out, the debut solo album from the spectacled Hot Chip front man Alexis Taylor, is very much an album of two halves. The first contains a beautiful collection of tender ballads while the second seems to be an odds and sods of unfinished half ideas.

Fireworks, Rubbed Out’s looping static filled opener, is followed by Plastic Man where Taylor spills his heart out, singing delicately with only a synth organ masking his frailties. Paul McCartney cover Coming Up is equally delicate, though this time the organ is replaced with a sparsely strummed electric guitar. The overall effect is totally different, showing the singer’s strengths rather than human weaknesses.

Baby and Girl are more upbeat groove driven pleas to lovers current and future, while I Thought This Was Ours is another slow love lost ballad.

I’m Not A Robber is a highlight and the closest Rubbed Out gets to the feeling of Taylor’s regular band.

Taylor has said that Rubbed Out was "tailored in places, planes, hotel rooms and at home". It is from Collector’s Item onwards that the disparity of recording environments is felt, nothing really stands out nor does it fit together.

On a whole Rubbed Out could have been released as a brilliant EP; rather, it is half a good album.

Placebo to make live comeback at 12th century temple

Placebo are scheduled to headline a historic concert at the Angkor Wat site in Cambodia, they hope the performance will raise awareness and increase prevention of Human Trafficking.

The MTV EXIT concert on December 7th will be the bands first show in over a year and their first with new drummer Steve Forrest.

Other acts on the bill include Duncan Sheik, Kate Miller-Heidke, and some of Cambodia’s biggest recording artists.

The MTV Exit campaign has been running for a number of years, notable artists to lend their support have been R.E.M. and Radiohead.

Radiohead’s In Rainbows tour: While there is life there is hope.

We all thought the chances of seeing Radiohead play In Rainbows in Australia had ended when the band played their last shows of the year in Tokyo.

But this week the band have started slow leaking dates for the In Rainbows 2009 tour while they are not particularly close to 'Our Land Girt By Sea', the South American dates do show that the band is still thinking of their worldwide fan base.

Cross your fingers, and watch this (dead air) space.

Folk Chip

Following their successful UK tour Hot Chip are teaming up with beardy folk legend Robert Wyatt for a new EP.

The release will consist of Wyatt’s reworking of three Hot Chip tracks: Made In The Dark, Whistle For Will and We're Looking For A Lot Of Love as well a new version of One Pure Thought as remixed by Geese.

The EP will be available on the band's website from December 15th and it will be free.

The Roots Love Your Family

If the rumours are to be believed US hip hop band The Roots are taking a break from touring to become the resident house band on US talk show Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

In other The Roots/television news, this week the group appeared on children’s program Yo Gabba Gabba! they performed Lovely, Love My Family wearing nothing but smiles, sunshine, and primary colours (plus a little black just to keep up the cool image).

Those unfamiliar with Yo Gabba Gabba! might be surprised to hear that previous guests have included Datarock, Rhys Darby, The Shins, The Ting Tings, Jimmy Eat World, Hot Hot Heat and Mates of State. (more videos on fan site gabbafriends)

Early next year Bawley favourites MGMT are due to appear on the show dressed as space Vikings performing a song called Art Is Everywhere we will have to wait and see if it makes it into their live set when they tour Australia.

PS: If nothing else the internet was made for this

Live Review: MGMT, Birmingham Academy, 10/11/2008

Finding a car park near the Birmingham Academy is about as easy as finding Nelson’s Column in the Bermuda Triangle. Tonight night largely by accident, we succeed.

The venue is full to the rafters and by the time Violens (Vi-lenz) finish their set of instantly forgettable feedback drenched rock the 3000 strong crowd (inc. two thirds of the Bawley crew) are more than ready to see what all the fuss is about.

MGMT kick off their set with a rocking version of Weekend Wars, quickly followed by Pieces of What. The band are in a relaxed mood tonight, engaging in chilled out between song jams that continue for just a little too long.

In contrast with the bands relaxed mood, the crowd is hyped! Crowd surfer after crowd surfer tumble into the photo pit as the band stroll though The Youth and Future Reflections.

No doubt the Skins/Gossip Girl plugged singles Time To Pretend and Electric Feel get the biggest cheers, but for me it is the album tracks Of Moons, Birds & Monsters and 4th Dimensional Transition that provide the highlights. The rumbling drum fills and falsetto vocals on 4th Dimensional Transition are particularly satisfying.

Rolling Stone described Metanioa as a "14-minute opus, which ranges from Donovan-ish acid ballads to interstellar synth-powered dirges to falsetto-laden theatre rock." Tonight, it comes across as an admission that the band, having played every track of their debut album, needs just a few more songs to fill out a headline slot.

Closing the main set with the thunderous The Handshake, the band leave the stage to rapturous applause before returning seconds later for a sing-a-long karaoke version of Kids - Do, do, do, do, do, di, da, da, doo, doo ...

The Bawley crew leave happy and yes, with Kids stuck in our heads.

Do, do, do, do, do, di, da, da, doo, doo ...

A little good comes from accident involving Deftones bassist

Earlier this month Chi Cheng was involved in a car accident leaving the Deftones bassist in a coma. As he recovers in hospital Cheng’s mother and band mates have been using the bands blog to encourage fans and well wishers to do one good deed each day and to wear a seat belt.

In April 2008 the band started recording Eros the follow up to 2006’s Saturday Night Wrist with producer Terry Date.

Live Review: Hot Chip, Birmingham Academy, 29/10/2008

After a short drive up the M5 we find ourselves doing laps of Birmingham looking for a carpark close to the Carling Academy. We park in possibly the darkest/dodgiest carpark in all of the Midlands, but no time to waste - we are here to see Hot Chip.

Inside the venue, most of the large crowd are standing around the bar swilling hideous lager while chatting. Everything changes the when Max Tundra, a balding middle aged man dressed in a neckerchief and sports coat over white flannel pyjamas, walks on to the stage.

For close to 45 minutes Max Tundra is unstoppable, seemingly playing two, three, four songs at once while dancing manically and switching between toy instruments quicker than you can say “My First Xylophone”. It is totally insane, information overload, unlistenable but impossible not to love. Set highlights were Will Get Fooled Again, a tale of internet love and myspace etiquette, and closing song So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersen, Goodbye - yes, from the sound of music – Max Tundra was brilliant. Need more evidence of his insanity? How about a 700 word essay on leggings.

Headliners Hot Chip attract a diverse crowd but nu-rave, indie, dance, rock, and pop fans rise as one when they hear the slinky riff of set opener One Pure Thought, and the cheering doesn’t let up for a second as the band rush though Made In The Dark album tracks: Out At the Pictures, Bendable Poseable, Shake A Fist and Touch Too Much.

Over and Over proves to be just as nuts live as it is every week at your favourite indie nightclub, while new track Alley Cats is a different kind of repetitive, drilling its way into your head as you sway along. If this is where the new Hot Chip album is going, I very much look forward to its 2009 release.

The band’s current single Wrestlers is a guilty pleasure, but the cheesy R’n’B beat, the call response rap and the lame sexual innuendo is even more adorable when you can see that it is being sung by the nerdiest band on earth.

Finally, they play Made in the Dark highlight Four To The Floor as giant white balloons start spilling from the ceiling. The balloons are a great touch and serve as the perfect distraction while waiting for the inevitable encore.

Returning to the stage, the band burst the last of the balloons before playing My Piano and No Fit State. The set finishes proper with a swaying live version of Nothing Compares 2 U/In the Privacy of Our Love. The nu-ravers, indie kids, pop lovers, rockers and dance fiends all filter out, unanimous in their praise for the band.

Before heading off to see if the car is still in once piece, I get chatting with bass synth player Joe Goddard. All really I want to ask is “how did Hot Chip come to book Max Tundra?” But I already know the answer: “how could they not?!”

Wonderfully Crunchy Camera Phone Footage (most of) Wrestlers:

Big Day Out Second Announcement: Prepare to be underwhelmed

Because Bawley loves talking about Big Day Out (and because every time we do, more people visit us), here's news of that much anticipated Second Announcement .

And let's hope you weren't holding your breath, because frankly, there's not much there. There's former SOAD frontman Serj Tankian, loveable electrogeeks Hot Chip, one-hit Cure wannabes Black Kids, and quite good rapper Lupe Fiasco.

And, give or take a Vines or a Holy Ghost, that's about it. Another weak announcement by a festival determined to play it safe.

Sydney Festival announcement comes tomorrow (and with it, the rest of the ATP lineup). Should be much better.

Bawley: Not as Corrupt as the US Presidential Election, But Still Willing to Take Bribes.

The Bawley 100 - 2008 is coming soon

Sparkadia: This Boy's In Love - MP3 - Take 2

Everyone loves Sparkadia’s cover of This Boys In Love, so much so that our last post, a link to the mp3 has been pulled down.

Fight the power!

You can download the full triple j like a version session here or if you prefer to see the band you can watch last week’s triple j tv vodcast here (wmv, mp4)

Enjoy.

The 007 Best Bond Songs

Bond is back and so is the Bond theme song; Alicia Keys and Jack White have teamed up for the Quantum of Solace theme Another Way To Die. The collaboration is certainly better than You Know My Name the Chris Cornell performed Casino Royal theme song, but is it good enough to make Bawley’s 007 Best Bond Songs?

007. Nobody Does It Better – Carly Simon (1977, The Spy Who Loved Me)
006. Diamonds are Forever – Shirley Bassey (1971, Diamonds are Forever)
005. A View To A Kill – Duran Duran (1985, A View to a Kill)
004. Live and Let Die – Paul McCartney and Wings (1973, Live and Let Die)
003. You Only Live Twice – Nancy Sinatra (1967, You Only Live Twice)
002. Goldfinger – Shirley Bassey (1964, Goldfinger)
001. The James Bond Theme – John Barry/Monty Norman (1962, Dr. No – )

What do you think? Pour yourself a drink, and post your rebuttals.

Sparkadia: This Boy's In Love

Early on Friday morning, two of Bawley’s favourite acts (1,2) came together when Sparkadia covered The Presets This Boy’s In Love for triple j’s Like A Version.

Sparkadia’s use of delicate guitars and pitch perfect harmonies reminded me that The Presets are more talented song writers than some of their cheesier dance floor filling tracks suggest.

You can watch and make up your own mind when the performance is replayed on triple j tv - 8pm Monday night, ABC2.

Sparkadia, who also played Postcards track Jealousy, are currently touring widely: see k-rad’s review of their Canberra show here.

Standing in a Record Store Staring at the Sea (4:13 Dream)

This morning I woke up feeling good and wasted no time on the way to the record store, my fist full of cash, my ears ready for 4:13 Dream the new album from The Cure.

Scanning the new releases shelf I couldn’t see the Parched Art cover anywhere, on asking the spotted teenage shop attendant I am told “It aint out 'til Monday” – Wrong!

I begrudgingly walk down the high street and in to HMV, Kate Perry playing on the stereo and a staff comprised of kids who have had less birthdays than The Cure have number one albums, I walk out feeling ill (and empty handed).

Over to my friends at Amazon, with any luck next mail I will be listening to Robert Smith at his gloomy best. Of course when shopping at Amazon the more you buy the cheaper the postage, come back soon for a review of Deerhunter’s Microcastle.

PS: You can stream 4:13 Dream from The Cure’s myspace. It is pretty good :)

The Smiths to reform?

This morning’s UK papers are reporting that The Smiths are set to reform and headline next years Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

A source tells The Sun:

"It has looked impossible in the past but suddenly it all looks like it could happen. The buzz around the people who used to work for the band is they could play Coachella for a ludicrous amount of money.”

Remembering the band have previously turned down 2.8 million pounds to play the event, the money on offer this time must really be ludicrous.

Another explanation is this nothing more than talk to get you excited about Morrisey’s upcoming autobiography.

Gomez comeback

I realise that I'm increasingly in the minority with this viewpoint, but I still regard Gomez as one of the best British bands there is.  There's a lot to love across their five albums so far.

Good news, then, that they return with a new album at the beginning of next year.

This is how the band describe it on their blog:

Where the hell have we been? Answer: making the God dam best freakin' record you ever did hear....will hear. Jeeez! Leave it owt wud cha! Yours truly along with the other cats have been beavering away writing hit singles, epic anthems, toons to make you ass wiggle, it's all in there, on the hotly anticipated new album. The release date is yet to be confirmed but the first quarter of next year is looking good. The record is expected to pick up innumerable awards from around the Globe, an effortless standard the Five Englishmen have attained.

The record has been made with Brian Deck in Chicago, Virginia, with additional Horns recorded in Brooklyn and Amy Milan singing in LA. We finished the final session last week after being in and out of the studio over the course of the last year in a drunken mess (which was nice), followed by a frenzy of mixing this week. Finally some special news, Gomez's Christmas single "Are you going to the Pub" will be bringing delight to Children's ears before you know it.

The band have recently been playing their Mercury Award winning album, 'Bring It On' in Europe and the US, and travel to Australia in January for the Falls, Byron Bay and Southbound festivals, and a few sideshows with the Black Keys.

Bring Me The Head Of Paul McCartney

The best music related news story of last week....

It began on Monday when Sir Paul's wax head was left on a train;

and concluded yesterday when a homeless man was rewarded with 2000 pounds for finding the head in a bin.

Kele wants your sexy problems.

Mini Post As part of Bloc Party's takeover of UK newspaper The Guardian, Kele Okereke is turning agony aunt to help readers with their problems over the next few weeks.  And Kele has apparently specifically requested your "sexy questions".  

Also on the site: cooking with Matt Tong, and the band's musical map of London.

Classic Rock from LCD Soundsystem main man.

James Murphy the man primarily responsible for LCD Soundsystem’s 2007 master piece Sound of Silver has today revealed to 6Music that he has been working on a new album with a new band in a new style (well new for Murphy at least).

“It’s a rock record, a classic rock record”

The marvellous Sound of Silver was a dance record that succeeded because it had the feel of an old rock record. Will the new band deliver a classic rock record that has the feel of a modern dance album? I look forward to finding out.

The new band has yet to decide on a name, but you can expect to hear more from them in early 2009.

Radiohead: It's Up To You Sales Data Published

There has been a lot going on in Iceland of late: street press wars, environmental protest songs, something about a financial crisis, and this week the You Are In Control conference hit Reykjavik.

The conference focused on distribution and income models for artists in the age of social networking, free downloads and diminishing attention spans.

On day one of the conference, some statistics on sales of Radiohead’s In Rainbows were revealed, and it is pretty amazing.

• The album was a No. 1 in five major markets.
• The album went to No. 1 on US iTunes selling 30,000 downloads in the first week.
• The physical CD has sold in excess of 1.75 million copies.
• Including 100,000 copies of the premium box set.

All this after being available as a free (It’s up to you) download for a full two months prior to its proper release.

Is this evidence enough to encourage others to use similar release models, not sure? Does it prove that downloads don’t kill sales, I think so.

Kevin Mitchell is sick of singer songwriters/Bob Evans goes rock

Kevin Mitchell has just returned home from Nashville where he has recording a new Jebediah album as well as new tracks for Goodnight Bullcreek!, his third album under the Bob Evans moniker.

Speaking on triple j’s drive show Mitchell mentioned that he has had enough of whinny singer songwriters,

“every time I saw a guy with an acoustic guitar singing his heart out I just thought shit that's me!"

and on his new album we can expect a little more rock.

"I played a lot of electric guitar. Every time the tender guy came out I just stepped on the distortion and went shut up!"

I am sure a few of you will be anticipating Goodnight, Bullcreek!'s April/May 2009 release.

Keeping it Peel

It's four years since the death of John Peel. There's lots and lots all over the internet about why he was held in such high regard by so many, expressed much better than I could. But here's a couple of my personal experiences.

I, like so many other people who grew up in the UK from the 1960s onwards, have fond memories of staying up late to listen to Peel's Radio 1 show, during which he'd play some of the most obscure and brilliant music there ever was. An awful lot of unlistenable crap too, but that was part of the charm. And it was all tied together with anecdotes and ramblings that were warm and witty and passionate and frequently better than the songs he played. My friends and I used to listen religiously back in our school days, and I recall an occasion when myself and some of my friends attempted to organise a night out by no other means than getting John Peel to read our messages to each other on national radio. Emails were still something of a novelty to Peel, back in the mid 90's, and we noticed that if we chucked in a few references to obscure bands he liked, he'd read out pretty much anything that we sent him. We were actually successful in getting him to organise for the entire group of us to meet at particular pub at a particular time purely by reading out our stupid messages to his audience of millions on Radio One. He seemed genuinely pleased to be able to help us arrange our evening. There weren't many DJs who'd offer that kind of personal service.

I never met Peel, but I saw him in person once. I spotted him at the side of the stage during Spiritualized's headline performance in the New Bands Tent at Glastonbury in 2004. It was clearly Peel's natural habitat - a stage for up and coming bands, and bands that belonged well outside of the mainstream. As far as I could gather, he'd stayed at the side of that stage all day, watching as many bands as he could. I was struck by how enthusiastic he still was about live music, despite having surely seen thousands of bands in his time. Four months later, he was dead, but by the time Glastonbury rolled round again, the following year, the New Bands Tent wasn't called the New Bands Tent anymore. It was called The John Peel Stage. Fitting.

He's greatly missed.

Listen: Mitch Benn's John Peel tribute

Happy 100th Post

On day one we were asked who is Bawley?

“Bawley is a collection of music nerds, no talent, no experience, no education, no right to have as many opinions as they do."

On this Bawley’s 100th posts are we in a better position to answer such existential questions, looking at the Bawley tag cloud I yes, well Yes and No.

Yes, Bawley are clearly Radiohead fans with 18 posts referencing the band. We also have a love of Nine Inch Nails who come in as the second most popular act (12 posts), followed by The Cure (8), Crystal Castles (7) and Bloc Party (6) who complete Bawley's top five blogged about bands.

Yes, Bawley obviously loves a bargain with 9 posts on free downloads, and one each covering free shows, rip offs and artist greed.

Yes, Bawley has an inflated sense of self-importance referencing itself on 16 occasions including this post.

No, Bawley still can’t really decide who it is or what it wants to talk about covering 230 topics in 100 posts seems a little scatter brained and if anyone can explain how Blatant excuses to publish pictures of Richard Ayoade, Sailing boats, Iceland and not actually about music made it onto this music blog they are doing better than us.

Thanks for reading our first 100, we look forward to you joining us for 100 more.

- The Bawley Team

Get Funky With Reckoner - It Ripples

Getting a little funky with Reckoner. Let me know what you think. More (and better) Reckoner remixes can be found on radioheadremix post links to your favourites?

Björk and Yorke team up to save Iceland.

Björk and Thom Yorke are teaming up to save Iceland, no not from the current economic crisis but from the irreparable damage the Icelandic aluminium smelting industry is having on the country’s stunning environment.

On October 20th, One Little Indian will release the collaboration titled Nattura, the song it is claimed will highlight the growing movement to reclaim the country’s natural resources from big business and pollution.

You can find out more on why Björk is supporting the movement on the Nattura website.

Psychoville!

We at Bawley are all big fans of The League Of Gentlemen.

We're therefore delighted that two of The League's creators, Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton, are just about to begin filming a new comedy that they have created for BBC2, entitled Psychoville.

According to The Guardian, the cast will also feature Dawn French, Christopher Biggins, Dame Eileen Atkins and Nicholas Le Prevost, and we are promised that:

"The series will be populated with a cast of off-beat characters including a blind Beanie collector, a dwarf who is in love with his panto Snow White and a one-handed clown who makes balloon animals with his hook. Each of the characters in the series has been sent an anonymous, black-edged card saying: "I know what you did ...'"

Sounds awesome. The series is set to air in the UK next year, and, potentially, in Australia at some point in the future.

As this is supposed to be a music blog, I should also point out that Creme Brulee, who will be familiar to League Of Gentlemen fans, will be performing their hit, 'Voodoo Lady' live at the Soho Curzon Cinema on the 31st of this month. And the weirdest thing is I am not making this up.

Atlas Sound Play Trick or Treat

First a spooky new Atlas Sound track called Coffin Trick promptly followed by a 55 minute DJ set creatively titled October Micromix. Nothing more just a quick spurt of Halloween themed action on the Deerhunter/Atlas Sound front man Bradford Cox’s blog early this morning.

Coffin Trick is all distorted vocals and slinky guitar, while October Micromix is consistent with Cox’s previous DJ mixes - chilled out, diverse and full of his favourite tracks. This time the mix travels from The Beach Boys to Robert Wyatt via The Supremes, Suicide, and Nico.

If you like what you hear, you can find more micromixes along with demos and new tracks for download all over the deerhunter / atlas sound / lotus plaza blog. Plus the brilliant new Deerhunter album Microcastles will be in stores from October 28th. Can’t wait that long? It is available now for download from pretty much everywhere (both legally and leaked).

Download:

Coffin Trick / October Micromix