Friday, March 31, 2006
Ape Rules Fools Day!
'The Greatest Ape' is out now on SVC Records
Grinning Ape - Richmond Avenal
Grinning Ape - A.P.E.
The thwarted attempt by a lonely, bitter man to save the very music he loves by destroying it.
"What does not destroy me, makes me stronger." Nietzsche
Well we are very happy to say that 'The Greatest Ape' more than survived and SVC are extremely proud to release an electronic album recalling the glory days of B12, FUSE and Polygon Window. With gentle melody, languid waves of synthetic string and a tattered beat 'The Greatest Ape' shows clear signs of the Grinning Ape's abstracted talent. Essential.
Who?
Ten years ago I (the Grinning Ape) decided to produce the greatest album ever, an album so shocking that it would put an end to all other music the day it was released. Why? I don't know. Ten years of false starts, cheap synths, indie bands, never quite learning the bass guitar, 4-track ambience, one student film soundtrack comission and a whole slew of failures comes the album "The Greatest Ape". This isn't the greatest album ever made. But it's one step closer to that day when, once and for all, we can say "That's it, all over, thanks everyone, you can stop now." I feel this album (such as it is) represents a culmination of all my years battering away at the very fringes of the outer limts of the far flung reaches of underground, unloved music. For that reason I half recollect here my magical path through the World of Music that has led me to this giddy height.
__________________________
Grinning Ape - 'The Greatest Ape'
01. A.P.E.
02. The Greatest Ape
03. The William IV (Ape Chew 1)
04. Sea World
05. Peach Shampoo
06. Richmond Avenal
07. The Royal Bell (Ape Chew 2)
08. Indie Night at Langtrys
09. Mr Pickles
10. The George (Ape Chew 3)
11. Camber Unwell
12. Selected Ambient Really Does Work
__________________________
Buy - Grinning Ape - The Greatest Ape at SVC Records
Visit - GrinningApe.com
Visit - Grinning Ape MySpace
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Commercial Broke...
Cable - Freeze The Atlantic
Cable - God Gave Me Gravity
Falling for bands based on tracks you've heard on television advertisements is a risky business. For every Jose Gonzalez, there's a Babylon Zoo. Imagine being one of the unfortunate few who coughed up twelve ninety-nine for the Babylon Zoo album because they liked the speeded up bit of the jeans selling anthem, 'Spaceman'.
I was somewhat luckier when I became obsessed with the band that provided the track for a Sprite advert back in 1997. I can't even remember the ad now; I think there were snowboarders in it or something, and at the time, thought nothing of the tune which sound tracked it. Fortunately for me, the melody from the chorus had crawled inside my ear and pitched a tent in the suggestible area of my brain, and for the next week, I couldn't shift it. It got so bad that I used to watch ITV continually, hoping to see the Sprite ad so I could hear the song again. In the end, I did what I should have done in the first place, and went out and bought the single. It was by Cable and called 'Freeze the Atlantic'. I played it repeatedly, breaking only to let rip the band's tremendous cover version of 'Ring of Fire' that was also included on the CD single.
If it is possible to be addicted to music, I had a Cable habit, which only got worse when I picked up the Derby four piece's debut album 'When Animals Attack'. The album is a lost classic; a scintillating collection of melodious hardcore punk pop, with an art rock twist in places. Their obvious influences were the likes of Shellac and Fugazi, but their pop sensibilities meant it wasn't a million miles away from 'In Utero' era Nirvana, and a defiant Englishness prevented them from being merely replicas of the aforementioned acts. 'Freeze the Atlantic' is definitely an anomaly in that it provides the only laidback moment on the album, the rest of which is more in the vein of 'God Gave Me Gravity', with singer Matt Bagguley's off-key vocal delivery providing a gripping focus for the solid backbone of tight snares, booming basslines and frenzied, buzzsaw riffs.
'Freeze the Atlantic' turned out to be Cable's curse. My understanding is that they decided to waive a payment for Sprite using the track, hoping to use it as a platform to gain wider exposure. When this failed (the single charted at 44), the band's management sued them for breach of contract. The band lost the case and, unable to afford to stay together, was forced to split in 1999, two days after the release of their excellent second album 'Sublingual'.
Buy - Cable - When Animals Attack
(And watch out, as there’s another band called Cable who look a bit shit – check the discography to make sure it’s by the Derby Cable if you plan to buy owt)
Visit - Cable
Visit - Cable @ Drowned in Sound
Visit - Robots And Electronic Brains for a brilliant interview with them, including the story of how they nearly caused Oasis to split up.
Visit - Commercial Breaks And Beats for help with identifying tracks from UK TV ads.
Joe.
Monday, March 27, 2006
Funky Stuff
Lil' Louis - Blackout (Revelation Edit)
Blackout
I really had a blackout
Blackout
I really had a blackout
Blackout
I really had a blackout
Blackout
I really had a blackout
Lil' Louis was born on May 13th (Stevie Wonder's birthday) and raised in the westside of Chicago. Before Technics 1200's, Disco, The Garage, The Music Box, The Warehouse, and The Power Plant nightclubs, there was Lil' Louis.
Louis' rich background in music and parties gained its foundation from his parents. His father (Bobby Sims, who recorded for Chess and appeared with the psychedelic-soul unit Rotary Connection) was a strong rhythm and blues guitarist and bandleader and his mother ran her own local youth center for many years.
In 1974, Louis made his DJ debut under some very, let's say, challenging conditions. Several gangs, including the Latin Kings, the Black Gangster Disciples, and the Vice Lords, claimed different sections of Chicago. In an effort to bring peace and unity to the community, Louis' mother threw a neighborhood party to which she invited members of all of the warring gangs. In a bizarre twist of fate, the DJ had an epileptic seizure and was rushed off to the hospital, leaving a hostile crowd with no music. Louis then found himself (at the tender age of twelve) behind the deck (as per his mother's request...no, make that command). With only one turntable and an increasingly violent crowd, Louis created a calm in all the madness by playing Kool & The Gang's "Funky Stuff." The power of music indeed...
By the age of fourteen, Louis was getting paid to DJ at clubs and lounges around Chicago. Even at such a young age, Louis had complete confidence behind the decks, playing music that he believed in regardless of its popularity, or lack of same.
Later that same year Louis received his first big break. A Chicago DJ by the name of Milton Green decided that Louis had major potential and brought him on to play at his club, Rivers Edge. Two more of Chicago's biggest DJ's, namely Frenchy and "Terrible" Teddy, then put Louis on at their clubs, Keyman's and MGM Grand. One evening during a raid by the police at Rivers Edge, a policeman was amazed that this young boy was in the DJ booth and referred to Louis as Lil' Louis, and the rest, as they say...
(Biog from DJ List)
Buy - From The Mind Of Lil' Louis from Amazon for £34!!
Buy - From The Mind Of Lil' Louis on Ebay
Visit - Lil' Louis at Discogs
Visit - Lil' Louis interview
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
A Bit Of Shameless Promotion....
Well.....
Everythings being signed etc....
And I am very proud to announce that SVC Records is now a fully fledged corporate whore....
All SVC Records releases are now available to purchase from iTunes (amongst many other places in the very near future).
Sample our wares....
Feedle - Song For Dogs
Track taken from the album 'Leave Now For Adventure'
Buy 'Leave Now For Adventure' from iTunes Music StoreVictor Scott - Gotta Go
Track taken from the album 'Happy Days'
Buy 'Happy Days' from iTunes Music StoreThe Harvey Girls - Mountain
Track taken from the album 'The Wild Farewell'
Buy 'The Wild Farewell From iTunes Music StoreThe Palace Lido - Neo-Maxi Zoom Dweebie
Track taken from the album 'There's Not Enough Kindness'
Buy 'There's Not Enough Kindness' from iTunes Music StoreMike Seed - Putting The Fountain To Sleep
Track taken from the album 'Songs For The Wintering Show Troupe'
Buy 'Songs For The Wintering Show Troupe' from iTunes Music StoreAnd I'm also glad to announce that Grinning Ape will be releasing a brilliantly twisted yet gorgeous electronic type album shortly on SVC Records.
Shameless promotion over....
As you were.
Visit - SVC Records
Visit - Feedle
Visit - Victor Scott
Visit - The Harvey Girls
Visit - The Palace Lido
Visit - Mike Seed
Simon
x
Real Carbine Friends
Swell Maps - Blenheim Shots/Raining In My Room
Hey Hey. Well, you can blame this one on Amazon. I was kicking around looking for This Heat cds when up popped Swell Maps in the “We thought you might like this seeing as through we obviously can‘t flog you Green Day, you weirdo” section.
Now I could bang on about how I wished I bought this in the early eighties or I could have even lied and said I’ve loved them since, oooh way back. But it ain’t so. I heard some things by them, liked them, but purchase I did not. Only just got there. Damn glad I did, though. Trouble is it makes me want to track down all that other spiky stuff: Family Fodder, Fire Engines, Glaxo Babies, Big Flame. Not to mention Jackdaw With Crowbar. Mind you, I just heard Erase Errata. They’re pretty much now. They’re fun.
I know what’s going on here. I can’t take a lot of the new stuff that draws on this era because, well, it‘s just too buttoned down. I understand why people love Franz Ferdinand and Kaiser Chiefs, but to me it’s as if all the decisions have been made, the edges smoothed off. No loose wires.
“Jane From Occupied Europe” is nothing but loose wires and that‘s why it‘s brilliant. The edges of punk are there, but it’s 1980 and its got to fight it out with all kinds of other things: Floyd a la Lucifer Sam thwack thwack, instrumentals that sound like Dick Dale on stage with Amon Duul II circa 1972, some unbelievable avant drone rock dynamics that shout “Oi! Thurston! Form a band called Sonic Youth!”, songs that sound like Eno is singing on them (he isn’t, I checked), and then amongst the extra tracks you get the utter greatness of “The Stairs Are Like An Avalanche” which has some of the best shardy guitar work this side of Steve Albini.
Look, I got it out of the packaging, slapped it on and played it five times in a row. That’s three times more than I’ve ever played the Gang of Four cd. I’m just being honest.
I’m going for the final two tracks of the album proper, “Blenheim Shots/Raining In My Room”. The first is the sound of the band you always wanted to be in. Tuning? Just. Let’s go. Circle that riff. The way it segues into the next track is fantastic and, for me, rather moving: it’s the start of a new decade, we’ve kicked a whole heap of things out but we’ll damned if we’re going to let beauty go. Here she is again, in all her finery….
…just buy the damn thing!!! Now!!
Buy - Swell Maps in "Jane From Occupied Europe"
Visit - Swell Maps MySpace
Visit - Nikki Sudden MySpace
Visit - A great article at Perfect Sound Forever
Visit - NikkiSudden.com
Mike.
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Europe.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Stop - Is this reality?
Trans-X - Living On Video
This one is for you. This is a true story.
I was sat on a coach recently in Europe waiting for it to begin. I was tired and feeling the effects of four full days drinking red wine and eating lamb. Around me there were comfortable clothes fit for any junket, pastel shades, sensible heels, loose collars. It wasn't going to be a long journey but it'd be a long wait at the other end.
My suitcase was on my knee as it was too big to go overhead so my legs were a little numb. The coach started to slowly fill up. In my pocket were the wrong tickets which I didn't need to get stamped. The different coach companies acronyms were similar but not that similar, I was tired. I was hoping that the seat opposite from me would remain empty so I could stick my case on it. A long history of conforming to polite social convention stopped me from just throwing it on there straight away although I wanted to. A clean looking couple sat down opposite. He had a badge that was like a cross between a Swiss flag and a Christmas bauble on the side of his lapel. I thought 'maple leaf', must be from Canada. They started to kiss a bit so I looked away and yawned.
With a hiss the doors to the hold closed and the coach snored into life. It was a little bit late but it would make no difference as I was typically early. Right then I thought only the long bridge to cross and we're away. Easing out of the depot the coach turned into a side-street and then went back on itself. Something to do with one-way traffic I suppose. The driver turned on the stereo. *Dee-der-der-da-da-der* "Huh?!"
"Travelling in a light beam." What is this? I know this? *Dee-der-der-da-da-der* "Stop!" Bloody Hell. Where is my mind? No that's the other one. What is this? This is brilliant! I wasn't the only one that thought so. Coming from the very contented driver was a little whistle, a little light-fingered steering-wheel bongo and a click of the fingers at the mention of "Stop!"
The sun was out, the road was clear, the bridge was long, the music played. What a perfect end to a perfect holiday.
Visit - Trans-X Discogs
Buy - Living on Video from Amazon. There is a track called 'Through the Eyes of the 90's'. This is a good thing.