Percolator

They’ve got My Bloody Valentine comparisons coming out of their ears. Paul Bond chats to the upcoming Waterford band.

“We are Ian, Jason and Eleanor. We’ve known each other for a good while.” So says Ian Chestnutt, guitarist and vocalist of Percolator. They’re based in Waterford which, as Ian admits, “is a pretty small place and most musicians here know each other or know of each other.” From their Waterford base they’re currently polishing their debut EP while notching up some live gigs. Not that they need the experience. Ian and Ellie Myler (who plays drums and also sings) know each other from being in Dae Kim, the band formed by former Ten Speed Racer drummer Terry Cullen. And to round them off Percolator’s final member Jason Grant, on bass, is on loan from another Waterford based group Dinosaur Petshop.

They sound nice and muddy. Rough, feedback laden, sometimes quite dissonant, but with some dream pop touches too. Remind you of anyone? Just to get it out of the way I put it to them that My Bloody Valentine comparisons will be inevitable. Ellie responds: “Yep it’s an expected comparison I suppose. Ian sure does like a jazzmaster or jaguar sound and a good an’ bendy tremolo arm. On top of that there’s the girl/boy vocals. We’re a bit more stripped down though.” Which is true, I’ll give them that, and as Ian says “we prefer for each instrument to be more defined, and for the songs to be straightforward.”

Apparently though they never made any conscious decisions about their sound. Ian says, “It’s just how we play. Ellie drums from a musician’s perspective, Jason uses overdrive on his bass and plays chords which can make it sound like another guitar. I use alternate tunings so the chord changes are strange and also make the guitar sound bigger.” Overall it’s a versatile sound that can go from stomping to serene at the flick of a switch, or as Ellie puts it “from song to song we can go from almost aggressively noisy to fuzzy and melodic and at other times eerie.” For Ian at least, Percolator is just about enjoying playing music and “playing our instruments, trying to make something that’s different to other Irish bands.”

Their first EP Lead Salad should be out in March, but don’t bank on a definite date, as Ellie points out “since this is our first release we’re sort of playing it by ear as far as the release date goes. All the recording is finished, we did that in Ilya K’s house in the Cork countryside. We’re mixing it with Spud from Ilya K, and John Haggis from Granny It’s Ok is doing a couple of mixes too.” It will be released on vinyl and CD, but more importantly they’ve got material to follow it up. “Right now we probably have enough songs for another EP” said Ian, “we could even have it recorded by the time Lead Salad comes out, then again we could hold off for an album. It all depends on how our first release is received, really.” I expect it’ll go down well.

From Break-ups to Make-ups

A little while ago This American Life did a show on break-ups and in particular break-up songs. I posted a little link to it here on Analogue at the time. Last week Ira Glass and Co. followed this up with an equally enthralling story of a make-up. Ok, so maybe that’s not technically the theme of the show; that would be “Going Big“. It’s the idea of really pushing the boat out, going to extremes to get results, or as they put it:

Stories about people who take grand, sweeping approaches to solving problems of all sorts.

Maybe you can see where this is going. This week they’ve told the story of a man who hired singer/songwriter David Berkeley to play a private concert for him and his girlfriend in his living room. The sole aim of this ‘big gesture’ was to get them back together, as their relationship was heading down the tubes. The scale of this guy’s determination is staggering but what really makes this tale so entertaining is that it’s told through Berkeley’s eyes as he’s subjected to the most awkward concert he’s ever played. Not to mention the fact that he might have to do it all over again…

It’s classic stuff. It’s in Act Two of the show, so around the 35 minute mark. Listen to it on their podcast.

Polar Bear - Polar Bear

Forget labels, definitions of niche genres and styles, just take Polar Bear’s self titled third album on face value. It starts with some chilled jazzy tunes rising gradually to a funky maelstrom, all topped up with a dash of electronics. Then it twists into a subdued freakout of sounds before the funk returns. Throughout the album oscillates between these extremes merging and separating as it weaves through these fifteen tracks. Pleasurable enough, but not spectacular.

This American Life

The award winning Chicago based radio show This American Life, presented by Ira Glass, has recently done a show on break-ups. It’s divided into four segments the first of which is about Starlee Kine, co-creator of the Post It Note Reading Series, who after a particularly tumultuous break-up decides she needs to write a break-up song to really exorcise her demons. The only problem with this is that she has no musical training or songwriting experience. Quite the pickle.

How does she overcome this? By turning to none other than Phil Collins for some advice. It’s a great listen and really entertaining, with reflections on break-ups and break-up songs from Glass, Kine and Collins himself. All capped off with a performance of Kine’s ‘torch’ song at the end. The episode is free to stream and enjoy online over on the This American Life page.

Blk Jks: Whelan’s August 20th

The Internet likes to call the South African outfit Blk Jks “afro avant noise rock“. This is pretty ridiculous labeling and it’s also very confusing. But I can see how it came about as Blk Jks’ sound has aspects of all these tags. This pretentiousness though completely fails to convey the pure revelry of the funky racket they notch up live. Last night I caught them peddling their groove at Whelan’s as part of their European tour.

In my shameful ignorance of African music I had no idea what to expect, but what I was greeted with was a complete surprise. It was incredibly dense music, constantly changing rhythm, tempo, language, mood and tone to create a whirlpool of sound. It defied all my preconceived notions of African music. It certainly sound like rock music, and there was also an obvious heavy western influence. Yet it also had a unmistakable otherness to it, an Africanness, something exciting, invigorating and alien.

It was a complete medley of genres. This was reflected even in their stage presence and stances. Linda Buthelezi, lead guitarist and vocalist, cut an angular figure, with violent punk poses and reckless thrashing, while to his left bassist Molefi Makananise seemed to be straight out of a seventies funk band. Contrastingly, rhythm guitarist Mpumi Mcata’s jumpy grooving completely suited his clipped reggae style, and at the back Tshepang Ramoba’s ecstatic drumming and solos put me in mind of a free jazz player. Yet although they all seemed to be from different bands and different genres, hell even different eras, they gelled, the music worked and it resulted in fantastic show.

Blk Jks’ Mystery EP is out now.

Muxtape Closed

Muxtape will be unavailable for a brief period while we sort out a problem with the RIAA.

The message above has appeared on the Muxtape website. It also appears if you try to go straight to a muxtape you know the address for. It seems that the Recording Industry Association of America, after going after anyone who has burnt, borrowed or stolen an album, is now cracking down on the free streaming site. Some might say this move by the RIAA was inevitable, either way lets just hope Muxtape lives to see see another day.

Update: This news was originally reblogged from Nialler9 with no attribution. Apologies.

8 Bit Music

Have you ever heard the Russian folk tune ‘Korobeiniki’? If you think the answer is no, you’re probably wrong, for one hundred and twenty eight years after it was written it became the theme-tune, ‘Music A’, to one of the greatest and most popular video games ever made: Tetris. It has since infiltrated popular culture to such an extent that it is instantly recognisable to millions worldwide and is probably the most famous video game theme music ever composed. Of course the version so many of us are familiar with isn’t played on fiddle and accordion, or accompanied by some jaunty Russian singing. We know the 8bit version. Just like so many other classic video game tunes, the 1989 Game Boy version of Tetris was composed using simple tone generation to simulate instruments for melodies and used a ‘noise channel’ for simulating percussion. These are the bleeps and beeps that have since become known as the 8bit sound, yet this particular style of music hasn’t been solely confined to the realm of gaming fans.

The first half of 2008 saw the rise and fall of the popularisation of the 8bit sound. Unlike the popular mainstream’s previous annexations of video game culture and music which was certainly tongue-in cheek, this time these 8bit tones infiltrated pop culture through music, and were accepted as a serious and viable, yet still eccentric, musical style. This operation was spearheaded by Crystal Castles, a Canadian two-some that tapped into popular culture’s love-hate affair with the retro video game, and capitalised on this infatuation by layering their intense, rumbling and glitchy songs with 8bit tones and samples. Although there has been a vibrant and growing community of professional acts and amateurs alike who have used the sounds and technology of old consoles to create original pieces for roughly two decades now, they have largely gone unnoticed. These communities have grown exponentially since the rise of the Internet with sites such as 8bitpeoples becoming music label, artist gallery and community hub all in one. Yet these communities have railed against Crystal Castles and a number of other bands who use similar 8bit sounds. Nonetheless, through Crystal Castles’ reputation for incendiary live shows and their punk image they suddenly made 8bit music extremely hip and cool, and hence took the indie and popular press by storm.

However the mainstream rise of the 8bit sound has since been marred by two controversies which have tainted Crystal Castles and their 8bit electro-rock genre. Firstly allegations were levelled against the band of using artwork created by the artist Trevor Brown for t-shirt designs, 7” covers and other commercial uses without his permission. Secondly and more importantly a controversy arose over Crystal Castles sampling of a number of 8bit acts such as Lo-Bat and Covox. Although the music these bands produced was made available under a Creative Commons license, Crystal Castles were accused of sampling their songs without providing due acknowledgement and of remixing the songs and profiting from the subsequent tracks. All actions which break the terms of the Creative Commons license.

But being judge and jury in convoluted copyright cases is not the aim here. Instead we should consider the ramifications of critics and popular opinion alike taking the 8bit sound to heart in the first place and how they accepted it as a serious musical style. It is in itself an infinitely more interesting and culturally resonant style than most modern fads. It has its roots in the second generation gaming consoles, in particular the innovative NES, which provides a lot of musicians who use this sound with the technology to create their work. For the majority of these 8bit acts inspiration comes from the games created in the late-eighties which spawned the major points of reference for video game music. It was at this time that classic theme tunes were written including; Koji Kondo’s Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda, Koichi Sugiyama’s Dragon Quest, Hirokazu Tanaka’s Metroid and Kid Icarus, Martin Galway’s Times of Lore and Nobuo Uematsu’s Final Fantasy, to mention only a few. Yet the legacy of these composers is also found in Crystal Castles. Although they do not define themselves as an 8bit or chiptune band, their sound is certainly routed in this style.

This is possibly the reason why they have become so popular, because they do not endorse video gaming culture wholeheartedly but merely use it as a means to an end for creating new, exciting music. For all popular culture’s embrace of geekdom, there is still a lingering tint of wariness when it comes to gaming. Just cast your thoughts back to the major moral controversies video games have produced, with titles such as Doom, the Manhunt series and of course Grand Theft Auto all adding fuel to the anti-gaming pyre. Yet mainstream culture also has a tradition of poking fun at gamers and the gaming community, just look at the legendary and hilarious South Park ‘World of Warcraft’ episode if any confirmation is needed. So maybe Crystal Castles’ 8bit style of music is only acceptable to a wide audience because it does not fetishise retro games and celebrate gaming culture, unlike other 8bit acts, but merely exploits it. Either way we should always remember what Shigeru Miyamoto, Mario creator and Nintendo guru, said “Video Games are bad for you? That’s what they said about Rock ‘N’ Roll.”

Menya - The Ol’ Reach-Around

Menya claim that last night NYC got drunk and woke up next to them. Well I’m not entirely suprised, their debut EP is lyrically, and musically, gloriously filthy. ‘DTF’, ‘Ripe’ and ‘We’re In the Suburbs’ are brilliant pieces of sexy, potty-mouthed, crunky electro-hop. In contrast the other three tracks that make up The Ol’ Reach-Around are wonderfully sweet sounding. On ‘Oh!’, ‘Lonely, Lonely’ and ‘Suicide Queen’ they suddenly seem to come over all indie-pop. That is, with a whole heap of catchy electro.

It’s a great EP and I can’t wait to hear more. You can download a little bit a filth and a little bit of sweetness from their website.

The Ol’ Reach-Around is available for download now from iTunes, Amazon and Rhapsody.

The Joy Gallery Launch

The Joy Gallery, part of the RedSpace facility, opened last Tuesday with a slew of bands, installations and free wine (always appreciated). I trudged out there in the biblical rain to get the low-down on Dublin’s latest creative space and check out the musical talent heading up its opening night.

Located in Rutland Place, right at the top of O’Connell Street opposite the Gate Theatre, The Joy Gallery provided a warm welcome. I’ll admit that I was a little late (due to the aformentioned miserable weather) so I missed the opening act The Good Time Maritimes. However I did get to see a short video of them performing later in the night. They’re a piano and guitar twosome who collaborated with dancer Jenny Murray. Due to lack of sound on the video I haven’t the foggiest what they sounded like. So moving on swiftly…

As I arrived Tap Tap Click Click were just starting up, an all female five-piece from Fairview. Experimental is the word. Muffled whispers rolled back and forth, mixed now and again with keening vocals. Keys and strings droned and groaned, all the while the drums tapped along dutifully. Actually Tap Tap Click Click left me a little cold and I was beginning to wonder what I’d got myself into.

Thankfully over in the Live Room, lit with gently pulsing fairylights to give it a carnivalesque feel, Rory Grubb and the Mammals were just warming up. Literally, it was sweltering in there. Yet folks still crowded in to hear Grubb and the Mammals play through a wonderful set of indie-folk songs. Grubb’s voice lies somewhere in between Mark Kozelek and David Kitt and while he stuck to guitar and keys the Mammals accompanied him with harp, accordian and double bass. There was some superfluous use of a bicycle wheel, tapped, drummed and cleverly looped. But it didn’t distract from the elegance of the music. ‘Floating’ in particular was a lovely track. After Grubb finished El Prehome Indefinit (one member of the Mammals) played some lovely Mallorcan Folk music.

Following on from that wonderful aside I made my way back into the Main Room to catch the performance piece by La Vie En Rose Lawless. I was dubious, but it was OK, after all it was cabaret! She was very funny and entertaining, with some great jokes, good songs and little sing-along bits too. She performed her entirely her own songs, ‘Philosophy Man’ was hilarious, yet still ended on the famous ‘Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien’ in fine cabaret style.

So after the experimental noises, indie-acoustic songwriters, Mallorcan folk and cabaret the Joy Gallery organisers obviously decided to mix it up just one bit more with You’re Only Massive & Queen Kong’s electro rap rounding off the night. It might have been the free wine, but it was probably the music, as they managed to get even the stuffiest of arty types dancing, with even a bit of crowd surfing thrown in. Overall it was a great end to the evening, which had begun to feel like a particularly hip house-party. But what really capped the night off was the fact that when I left, it had stopped raining.

Y.O.M. - “Not breaking up but growing up”

Over the past month there’s been a quite a lot of news over in the You’re Only Massive camp. Back at the start of July they announced the upcoming release of their debut, Dot-Dash a split 12″ with Queen Kong. Then last week they revealed that half of their duo, Megan Nolan, is leaving the band. She posted the following message on their myspace page:

“I am Megan. Maebh and I had a chat today while perusing some fashion magazines. We talked about the direction Y.O.M. is taking. We both agree that it has evolved past our lovably ramshackle beginnings, with my bandy decks and scratched records, not-practising in my bedroom. We are at a crossroads, just like the seminal Britney Spears movie Crossroads. I am more interested in trying to develop my writing and dedicate a chunk of my life to that, while Maebh is eager as a beaver to develop musically. I will continue to contribute to Y.O.M., beginning with a Y.O.M. zine, which will be out around the time Dot-Dash comes out.

We’re playing in Leitrim and Roscommon this Saturday, and at a DYT fundraiser in Crawdaddy on Sunday, Our final gig together will be in Trickster in Berlin on Saturday 26th; although I will be doing a DJ set on the 7th of August at Soundcheck at the Spy bar. After these gigs, Maebh will start working alone on a new set to promote Dot-Dash, the split LP with Queen Kong.

I of course wish Maebh all the best in her future endeavours, and will refrain from anonymously badmouthing her on the internet.
As Destiny’s Child so memorably sang,
“I’m not gon’ hate on you in the magazines
(I’m betta than that)
I’m not gon’ compromise my Christianity
(I’m betta than that)
You KNOW I’m not gon’ diss you on the internet-
CAUSE MY MAMA TAUGHT ME BETTA THAN THAT.”

Thanks to everyone who came to gigs and said nice things.
Lots of Massive love,
megan.”

Speaking to Analogue Maebh Cheasty, Y.O.M.’s surviving member, confirmed that “Megan has indeed left You’re Only Massive” but at the same time she wants everyone to know that “it is far from being the end, more like an evolution.” She went on to say that “basically when we started we were both just doing it for a laugh and for fun, but I became very committed to You’re Only Massive in a short space of time, writing and thinking about gigs all the time like a madwoman. Producing the album with Dave from Queen Kong made me feel like this music and performance thang is really what I want to do, I enjoy it so much. Megan just hasn’t started to feel the same way and wants to concentrate more on her writing and college of course. Saturday we played our last gig together, here in Berlin and it was very emotional, but it is the right decision and the best thing about this past year is that I have gained a best friend.”

Yet although You’re Only Massive will now be moving in a new direction under Cheasty’s lead, she was also keen to impress that “not that I’ve become all serious like, there is a big difference between being serious which is boring, and committed to something, which can still enable you to have tons of fun.” So hopefully, despite the changes, the early spirit of the band will remain. Considering the release of Dot-Dash next week, which has been described by Queen Kong as not a “split between the bands, but between moods and tempos. The first side is upbeat disco moderne, the flip side is all love songs and Slow Jams”, Cheasty had this to say about the future of the band: “Regarding playing the album tracks live: it was always going to be an issue because we have moved beyond the vinyl in the past months and I have been playing solo gigs in Germany over the winter. For now Dave is playing guitar live, with synth drums, but I am working on a new set up right…….NOW!”

Seeing how You’re Only Massive’s sections of Dot-Dash will translate to the stage then will be the real test for the band over the next while, for the vinyl backing tracks that Nolan used to spin have been dropped from the album (such as Justice’s ‘Phantom’ on ‘Here is Home’). As for what effect the addition of live guitar and synth drums will have on the band’s always fun and captivating shows, we will just have to wait and see.

If you can’t wait to find out catch the launch gig of Dot-Dash, at which You’re Only Massive and Queen Kong will be playing, at the Space Upstairs at the Project Arts Centre on Friday 15th August. It’s going to be seated, tickets are 12 euro and are available on the door. Plus the first 100 people there will receive a free copy of the album which will be released on 12″ silver vinyl and as a download.

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