I’m really getting sick of the references and comparisons to My Bloody Valentine when reading about new bands. Most of these references are completely unfounded. I’ve thought about this before but it really struck me this morning as I was reading a press release about a new release on Half Machine records by a band called Psychedelic Horseshit from Columbus, Ohio. Now I know that the two following quotes don’t directly compare Psychedelic Horseshit to MBV but could the writers not have used a little more imagination when describing their sound…

They’ve been chased off stage in more states than seem possible in their short existence, but all the tour stories wouldn’t be worth an eighth of a sh*t if the music wasn’t the most heart-poundingly great racket since that My Bloody Valentine covers record Comets On Fire never made.

– Vice Magazine

White, discordant noise that makes My Bloody Valentine look as ear-friendly as Girls Aloud.

– The Fly

To me Psychedelic Horseshit sound more like deliberately out of tune Strokes guitar rock meets Lou Reed Velvet underground era vocals. I think it’s actually growing on me and I don’t find them to be half as much of a racket as Vice and The Fly make out. Although I’d like to see them live and see how my argument holds up. Above all, having listened to a few of their tracks nothing about them would lead me to draw any kind of My Bloody Valentine comparison or use any reference to them in an attempt to describe their sound.

Anyway so what I’m really wondering is when did My Bloody Valentine become the definitive referencing point for most music critics? I’m not trying to imply that MBV are bad, they’re one of my favourite bands. I just think that a lot of the comparisons between new bands and them are completely unfounded and lazy. And I haven’t been the only one to notice this in recent years.

Psychedelic horseshit release ‘New Wave Hippies’ as a 7″ in July on Half Machine Records.

Brilliant outsider singer song writer, and self mythologist, Daniel Johnston is playing a gig in Whelans on July 27th. He’ll be supported by a host of names, but its really a chance to see one of the most enchantingly difficult men in music. Tickets go on sale today from tickets.ie

Get me one will you?

It seems that giving away an album for free isn’t really viable going forward, as business types say. In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Thom ‘Winky’ Yorke says that:

“I think it was a one-off response to a particular situation… It was a one-off in terms of a story. It was one of those things where we were in the position of everyone asking us what we were going to do. I don’t think it would have the same significance now anyway, if we chose to give something away again. It was a moment in time.”

Which is, one would suppose, a more diplomatic way of saying that they were unhappy with their record company.

If and when more artists release media gratis, they’d do well to look to this media-savvy plot fan-based promotion.

I downloaded the excellent Tronika mini-album from Sketch Show there the other day, and was totally blown away by it. But, and here lies evidence of my total inability to work the googlemachine, I couldn’t find out anything about them in English. Gradually I looked closer and specifically to the excellently named NipPop, an internet resource on Japanese music.

It turns out that the two main guys are former members of Yellow Magic Orchestra, the giants of experimental electro, kind of a Japanese Kraftwerk. The music they do now is reminiscent of a more accessible Aphex Twin, from his ambient period, and the collaboration with Cornelius really tells through, with playful flashes layering unto the beautifully crafted aural textures and chanted lyrics, in both Japanese and English.

I am utterly enchanted by this little piece of brilliance and am now planning to buy the live dvd. The clip above is from it, the two guys in question are the bass player and drummer, called Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi respectively. They even look utterly brilliant. Love the hat.

Oh and if anyone has any of the other albums by these guys, or more infomation, please let me know or comment on this posting. Thanks.

Last Wednesday I had the very great pleasure of heading to see a band a couple of friends of mine have put together. ‘Oh Child’ fuse folk pop lyricism, calypso melodies and the instrumentation and complex drum lines of a jazz act. That’s my best effort at explaining their sound, which is fluid, fresh and warmly musical. The video, filmed on my camera turned out dark as shit, but the sound’s OK. Oh Child should be recording their debut single in the near future.

If I was a cooler person, I’d be at Hospital in Wax. But I’m not. Tonight I am babysitting. This evening, you can either watch Bjork’s Dancer in the Dark, or the less cerebral, but probably more entertaining AVP: Alien Vs Predator . They’re on at the same time - 9pm. It’s hardly Sophie’s Choice I know, but I am genuinely torn.

Heads up hipsters. Eyes out lovers of the distorted underground. Jandek is to Sonic Youth as Daniel Johnston is to the Beach Boys, and Jandek’s playing Dublin. The legendary rock recluse will be appearing at Trinity’s Douglas Hyde Gallery Gallery on the 13th of June. Tickets go on sale May 1st, priced €20. More info available from the gallery.

Jandeks music is mediative, tuned down, ‘difficult‘. But it generously rewards the dedicated listener. Expect this..

As the man with the best myspace background in history, Kavinsky has a lot to be smug about. But not that much. He’s tried to build up a tongue-in-cheek myth about himself, but his ramblings about zombies, Ferrari’s and the 1980’s make him sound like a delusional fool. But none of this is important.

What is, is how he sounds. He more often gigs with SebastiAn, who’s more muscular take on French dance seems to off set Kavinsky’s more cartoonish approach. As with many others from the ED Banger Records stable, Kavinsky sticks to the mould of sample repeat, add beat, repeat original sample louder, middle bit with only beat then first half of song looped. Make any sense? Basically he sticks rigidly to the model that has proved so successful for Daft Punk and Mr Ozio.

Live, and on his own, Kavinsky is fun, without any of the transience that better dj’s can provide. His sound is intentionally retro- often seeming like the intro to a bad 80’s film with one of the Sheen’s and a Douglas. This is both a good thing, in the short term, and a bad thing in the longer- it gets old fast.

Still if you’re horsing down drugs, I’m sure he’ll sound great.

Apparently, we’re meant to have some kind of integrity and our reviews legitimacy. Its not okay to review albums on the basis of a quick skip through the tracks and a look over the press release: WTF?

As the only album I’ve reviewed, for this publication, I listened to over and over again before I knew I was doing the review I can’t really comment directly, but I know damn rightly when I first get an album I can pretty much get it enough to report it fairly accurately. Yes there are grower albums, which are often the most rewarding eventually, but if you’re listening to an album professionally then you ought to be able to get it done soon. If it sounds like horror, then you write that down and skip on…

Or rather not. If you’re doing it, then its your job. We’re meant to be professional about it. Listen through it, a couple of times. I’m sure we’ll all get a good enough ear that we can hear the opening note, divine the rest of the song instantly and probably have the review written mentally before you’ve pealed the plastic off. But not yet. Well not me, anyway.

I can’t believe the Guardian thought there was a debate here.

Probably no point in ever listening to anything else. More news here: