Unused fanzine articles 2000-2004

[stuhuggett]

There's a whole load of gig and record reviews I wrote between these dates that I never got round to putting in any of the zines we produced, and from time to time I'll add a few to this thread. Current record reviews are obviously on the General Board; and live ones will most likely appear there or on our blogs. I can't guarantee that the opinions expressed below were accurate either then or now, but we'll see what turns up.

[stuhuggett]

Stereolab
- The First Of The Microbe Hunters (Duophonic UHF Disks 2x12", 2000)
Even though theie albums are usually lengthy doubles nowadays, supported by a four-track single, Stereolab's work rate still appears to leave plenty of additional tracks left-over to scatter amongst compilations, split singles and tour freebies. Folowing on from '99s The Free Design single and parent album, the daunting Cobra And Phases Group Play Voltage In The Milky Night, four brief and bright songs (The Super-It, Fried Monkey Eggs [Instrumental/Vocal] and Monkey Jelly) appeared on a tour 7" ep (our copy came from All Tomorrow's Parties 2000) possibly titled The Stereolab Underground Is Coming.
However, there was still enough surplus to warrant the release of The First Of The Microbe Hunters, a double 12" mini-album (though its seven tracks added up in time to the length of an ordinary lp). The lengthy instrumental opener Outer Bongolia (sigh) revisits the locked groove funk of Metronomic Underground with a definite live in studio jam feel to it. The remaining six tracks are more typically familiar Stereolab tunes, traits such as changing tempo and direction mid-song are now common and so should be less-suprising when they occur. Better treats of the unexpected are the juxtaposition of shifting instrumental patterns with the (always more complex than they first appear) wordless backing vocals of Laetitia Sadier and Mary Hansen, the tiny ear-tweaking sound effects, and the plunges into automatic motorized grooves (see especially Barock-Plastik for the sort of fluid propulsion unique to Stereolab). Hang on to the last second of closer Retrograde Music Form for a classic way to end the album too. This album may be slight by Stereolab standards, but as usual endlessly rewards with each play. As my social world was falling apart the year this album came out, the ability to lose oneself within the patterns and mazes of it (and its mid to late 90's predecessors) was a distinct help in avoiding otherwise dwelling on the unsolveable problems that were arising as the year drew on. Frequently non-specific (at least not straightforwardly) in their lyrics (Stereolab's bilinguality, and my lack of it, is additional to this) is a great advantage for those who don't wish the music they like to explain itself (and ultimately make itself redundant) too readily. Thus, my long planned for Stereolab fanzine never approaches completion.

- Sound Dust (Duophonic UHF Disks 2xlp, 2001)
Available this time in an attractive but impractical and perishable 'hardback' sleeve (Still...), a new Stereolab lp is always initially a slightly daunting prospect, the shiny surfaces slipping over and around each other so rapidly it can be tricky finding an aural hold on the thing. Opening instrumental Black Ants In Sound-Dust is a brief overture, followed by Space Moth which serves to introduce the sonic palette (much brass and flute this time - flutes aren't made of brass too are they?) to follow. It's from Captain Easychord (the single, which I never even saw a copy of) that the lp unfurls in a two-part starbound suite of lapsteel and Moog (as always, I guess instruments). Musically, Stereolab and their collaborators (much of the Thrill Jockey mafia present and correct) continue to bring new instruments and arrangements to the familiar concoctions of Laetitia Sadier and Mary Hansen's vocal intertwining, though the inclusion of electronic textures from the (Mouse On Mars collaborative) late '90's albums has abated. I suspect the knowledge gained from those former experiments in programming rhythms and sequencers have been absorbed back into the ever-more complex and detailed arrangements of the instrumental tracks themselves, though this is countered (on the vinyl version of the album) by direct analogue mastering for a change (it clearly makes a difference to the band's ears, if not the listeners'). There are also two notable lyrical departures this time. The Black Arts features a very direct declaration of loneliness and desire and succeeds in being unexpectedly emotionally resonant; less successfully, Nothing To Do With Me adapts dialogue from Chris Morris' notorious television comedy Jam, but is hampered by conciously wacky musical stabs in the punchline areas. Sound Dust ultimately contaims more interesting moments (the sound effects in Hallucinex, the underwater dub coda of Gus The Mynah Bird) than memorable tracks, a disappointing tip of the balance that Stereolab albums often struggle with.

I'm aware that I never quite got into this album (the sandcastle on the sleeve turned out to be more impenetrable than I expected), but this may be resentment carried-away from the Stereolab/Fugu gig we went to at Concorde 2 in Brighton to promote the lp (the tour single this time coupled two lyric-free tracks, Free Witch And No-Bra Queen/Speck-Voice). Despite and enjoyable set revealing Laetitia on trombone, my travelling companions (incuding a stray Tim Hoyte) had to leave early to get the train back to Hastings that night and missed (quite a lot of) the end of the set, ran as much of the route to Brighton Station as possible, but missed the last train anyway. After attempting to pool our funds for taxis that might take us part of the way (we were too poor) a phone call at half-midnight to my friend Abi living near the station suceeded in getting us all a floor to sleep on that night, followed by first train back to Bexhill the next morning and straight into work for Dave and I. Thanks to Abi, and also my friends for putting up with my inability to organise a night out, but I feel the need to get to a Stereolab gig next time they're around and staying right 'til the end in order to get my relationship with one of my favourite bands back on track. This is fan psychology then.

- ABC Music...Radio 1 Sessions (Strange Fruit 2xcd, 2002)
A double cd collection of eight complete sessions (five for John Peel, one for the Evening Session, and two live performances from Mark Radcliffe's excellent mid-'90's evening shows, ah that takes me back to nights in with three litres of cider and a lump of dope, sigh). A projected vinyl pressing seems to have been abandoned some time ago, which is easier for the price, though it would have been good to see the smart red and white radio-wave sleeve pattern blown up to a full 12" size. The opening three Peel sessions capture the full flight rush of the early flexible Stereolab line-up (various NME contributors assist the back0in-the-day players here). All bar, I think, one track (Anemie on the third session) here is available elsewhere in the vast Stereolab catalogue, but as with most Strange Fruit releases, the fan (which these releases are aimed at of course) gets to hear earlier (and in Stereolab's case, less polished) takes from the familiar studio versions. The live Mark Radcliffe performances are especially notable in this regard, as the constantly reinventing line-up (future Snowpony mainstay Katherine Gifford, and ex-Wolfhounds/Moonshake leader Dave Callaghan pass through) grapples with the ever more complex tunes given to them, bum notes, missed cues and all. The two studio sessions from '96 for Peel and the Evening Session are the highpoint of this compilation, featuring ultra-mooged up versions of Emporer Tomato Ketchup era material. With several extra keyboardists assisting (including, on the Evening Session material, Sonic Boom) it's like hearing the songs for the first time somewhere on the Forbidden Planet. The album concludes with the bands' first session in five years, for Peel, amd worthwhile takes on some of the less-immediate Sound Dust tracks. In the, likely permanent, absence of a thorough studio sampler from Stereolab, ABC Music (with takes of most of the early-mid '90's singles) fills the gap handsomely.

- Instance O In The Universe (Duophonic UHF Disks 3x7", 2003)
This 7" pack unveils the first music since the shift in operations forced upon Stereolab by the tragic death of co-vocalist Mary Hansen, whose vocal poise and control (those fractal patterns of wordless consonants and vowels) had become an integral part of the group's sound. There are no group credits on the sleeve, but I assume that, for the moment, Laetitia is layering all the vocals herself, so there's been no move away from arranging vocal lines to match the multi-layered instrumentation. These five tracks (not sure where the uncredited song on side six comes into it) are all sunny and up though, the sequences have reappeared on Microclimate, and Mass Riff fulfills the disco promise nodded at years ago in truly terrible titles such as Moogie Wonderland and Yes Sir I Can Moogie. Though each 7" comes in a white paper sleeve, within a black card sleeve, within the yellow and brown wallet, and therefore requires a lot of fiddling about to play through, the songs are distinctive enough for me to notice I was playing them in the wrong order whilst writing this review just now.

Stereolab/To Rococo Rot, Concorde 2, Brighton, 7th March 2004.
After cocking-up our night out on the Sound Dust tour, I'm determined to stay right to the end of this Sunday gig: to achieve this I organise staying with Paul and Carolyn overnight before we all go to the gig. To Rococo Rot are a lot more handsome and accessible than I expected, and have the good grace to play some of the handful of their tracks that have appeared on compilations etc to be considered well-known. Stereolab live now are Laetitia Sadier and half-a-dozen men of the familiar and unfamiliar. Though the set is almost entirely new material from Instant O In The Universe and Margerine Eclipse, there is the occasional concession to old favourites (though not enough for Petra's fine new friend Gini): an extended Lo Boob Oscillator for instance, with the much-missed Mary Hansen's vocal contributions performed by one of the newer members on French horn and trumpet (a mournful and intelligent tribute to her absence). This brass (and keyboard) player also doubles up on Sadier's progressing trombone playing, filling out the sound withough having to pile extra musicians on the stage. Similarly, bass player Simon Johns doubles up on drums with Andy Ramsey to add propelled rhythmic codas to some of the more hypnotic later songs of the set.
Reassuringly, when I get round to listening to Rose! My Rocket Brain, the 3", 3 song, tour cd the next day (after playing several other records I'd picked up before the gig at the Brighton Record Fair, which had led me to listen to old favourite Ping Pong before trying out the tour cd) the current thought I had in my head (that it was a slight shame Stereolab seemed to have moved away from political specifics to more philosophically based lyrics) was immediately dispelled by the opening track dealing with both questioning the invasion of Iraq by US/UK forces, whilst critiquing the stances taken by the anti-war movement. And my faith in this great band is as strong as ever.

[stuhuggett]

All Tomorrow's Parties 04/05/06 Apr 2003.

Last year at ATP I managed to see every act playing, but the sheer volume of appearances this year, from 2 in the afternoon to 5 in the morning every day, means such a feat is beyond even my running up and downstairs abilities.
This year is curated by Autechre, who had appeared couple of year's previously as guests of Tortoise. Autechre are only scheduled to appear as part of Gescom, from 3am on the second stage, which this Friday and Saturday has become a zone under the control of Skam Records. Throughout the two days, Skam djs and acts blend into one another, short Skam films and animations are replayed on screens either side of the stage, and in the merchandise room everyone's buying Boards Of Canada's High Scores. During this time I catch some of Gescom djing also bits of ZK, Team Doyobi, NMB All Stars, Mortal and Chemist, Dr Derek F and Mr 76ix. When I'm in the right mood the beats, laptops and piles of analogue synths and drum machines thud into me just right, but when I'm restless (such as during Gescom's set) I just can't be bothered to get into it. I'm spurred to stock up on Team Doyobi 12"s though, plus others, and salute the effort Skam went to to fill this space.
Upstairs, the first live act of the weekend is Zoviet*France, and we quickly learn the best way to listen to the many laptop performances of the weekend is to close your eyes and let the sound waves pass through your body. Some of the frequencies used really work in parts of the ear that don't get used much in this context. Zoviet*France create very attractive waves of sound; of the other laptop acts I caught, Pita stood out for the volume of force of noise generated. Farmers Manual were a bit unsure and fragmented and failed to grip, whilst sets by Jim O'Rourke (also a bit of a Mego Records special this ATP) and OST, the former experimenting more in mood, the latter more in rhythm, left little impression. Russell Haswell mixed many recognisable tracks into his set by the likes of New Order, whilst Curtis Roads performed very short pieces to promote his enormous Microtones book, with live digital video accompaniment. Curtis Roads stood out also by addressing the audience (very formally) between each track, with a few exceptions there was little communication between stage and audience all weekend. In similar areas, Disjecta (ex-Seefeel man Mark Clifford) created a baffling array of sounds from his guitar triggering, and Yasunao Tone (only possibly the oldest man there) made ever-shifting rythm and noise from treated cds.

Supernoodles, cheesy baps, spaghetti on toast, malt loaf, cookies, digestives, tea, coffee, orange juice, Londis lagers, boxes of red wine, Guiness, Fosters, Kronenburg.

If you were happy to listen to djs, Autechre had assembled a phenomenal line-up, both in the late hours upstairs, and particularly all day Sunday downstairs. I manged to catch moments of Carl Craig, LFO, Mark Broom, Rhythm & Sound, Surgeon, DJ Stingray (Drexciya) and Venetian Snares, but this was only scratching the surface. Hats off to the pissed-up kids heckling Rhythm & Sound to play some fuckin' techno, thereby missing-out on the totally solid techno banging-out four hours downstairs, the clots.
Anyway, Friday afternoon, we saw Zoviet*France before settling into our chalet and starting to drink. I had flyers to number, and dinner to eat. We delayed going to see any more acts when The Hafler Trio appeared on the Autechre-programmed ATP tv channel. Possibly beamed in live from a nearby chalet, shots of cloth-draped furniture mixed gradually with prose readings from mystery figures and abstract soundscapes. Whatever was going on, this wasn't topped for laughter until the next day's Day Today/Bill Hicks/Airplane line-up. (This is a pattern at ATP, for us lot stuck with the few terrestrial channels at home - as I've said before, we don't get Channel Five, let alone satellite/cable - so beaming loads of Simpsons/Futurama/King Of The Hill into our chalet, before even getting to ATP's channels, encourages much drinking-in behaviour). But again, congratulations to The Hafler Trio for such a distinctive appearance, if only we'd been sober enough to understand what they were attempting to achieve.

Kathy Acker Bilk:
We've been listening to Mira Calix and Andrea Parker djing upstairs. They are the only female acts we've seen all weekend, playing last on the last day (though at ATP this is a favoured slot). Mira Calix makes unique records, though she is married to one of Autechre. Instead of next year's Director's Cut festival (the return of previous curators Mogwai -spit, Tortoise and Shellac to celebrate ATP's fifth anniversary, though despite how much they discount, Belle & Sebastian's Bowlie Weekender of '99 was the first festival, as indiacted by the programme for Mogwai's 2000 festival, the first to be billed, in an aberrantly classic-rock fashion, All Tomorrow's Parties) Foundation really should get Le Tigre (or anyone else) to curate, to redress this year-on-year marginilisation of women musicians and djs. From upstairs, we went downstairs through Drexciyan DJ Stingray's pounding techno set (facemasks present) and step through the doors at the far end of the Queen Victoria pub, and on the dancefloor at the opposite end the kids are going absolutely wild to the dj (far more so than in either of the two rooms we've passed through). It's only when we're halfway down the length of the pub we can hear that the record that's moving so many is Huggy Bear's 'tacky theme tune' Her Jazz (the same occurs much later in the evening when the uninspired dj starts playing all the same records again in the same order following it with XTC's Making Plans For Nigel (he could've played Sgt Rock Is Going To Help Me and not appreciated the irony, as proved by the subsequent playing of The Vapours' objectifying Turning Japanese). But, despite the idiot dj, it's heartening seeing Her Jazz transformed in this way; a record that only a minority of people actually bought (despite it's end-of-year appearances in the weeklies' singles-of-the-year polls, we shouldn't forget the unhidden attempts by the press to bury Riot Grrrl, and Huggy Bear in particular) become a totem to identifying friends with the right ideas, and spread from a signifying dj tool (via it's recent reissues on the 25 Years Of Rough Trade Shops and Trash Companion compilations) into a common floor-filler. Heartening because Her Jazz can't be heard neutrally, it's message is yelled clear every time. Her Jazz has become one of those rare and special records that remains completely of it's time, whilst ultimately transcending it in the act of listening in the present. And dancing.

This year I've printed a catalogue of tapes and cdrs that can be available (I can work photocopiers; it's the lad in Bexhill's Friday Ad that prints a handful upside-down) from Dizzy Tiger. Lee has several copies of his Stendec cdr Patchy Cop to sell. He sells this stuff on a table outside the pub, missing OST and Req as a result. Req was supposed to play a Spirit Of Gravity festival in Brighton last year, but cancelled. Stendec did play this festival (there is a cdr available from Spirit Of Gravity featuring all these acts who were supposed to play). Two of the people on the same table know OST and are putting him on in Old Street a few weeks later. They take a Stendec cdr, and a week later offer lee the OST support slot. This is the magic of ATP. (Meanwhile, Req played populist loops and shifting tunes on his turntables, and I handed the rest of my flyers to anyone else running a stall outside the pub, except for the people from Vacuous Pop, who I at last manged to get the Cat On Form cd off, but only 'cos I forgot in the whirl. We even met Eva a week or so previously as friends of friends; in the idealised micro-society of the holiday village, all is linked).

The Fall are on form again tonight. The covers (Mr Pharmacist, F-Oldin' Money) get the biggest response, but there's older stuff (I Am Damo Suzuki, And Therein, Behind The Counter) and lost of newer stuff, much of which (I'd not noticed before) is on the one-beat, in the James Brown style. Smart move, and linking to the weekend's hip-hop, which ranged from the relatively uninspired (Thirsten Howl III who, bearing in mind the size of US cities, understandably thought they were in a suburb of London) and the off-form (Kool Keith sounding weak-lunged, but drawing on many personas right back to Ultramagnetic MCs, and therefore special nonetheless), to the great (EL-P and Murs' celebratory, participatory double act, that still found time for the grim - Stepfather Factory, and serious - intelligent anti-war tirades) to the phenomenal: step up Public Enemy, who ruled the weekend. Leagues ahead of when I last saw them (about 10 years back at Reading Festival) both the extended time-slot and expanded band (live guitar, bass and drums, with DJ Lord's scratching and beats) made themflexible, dozens of favourite tracks mixed together, compacted and drawn-out, impromptu covers (tribute to Edwin Starr with War) and a flaming anger over the current was in Iraq made them incendiary, ranting and spitting energy throughout their set. After one long set, Flavour Flav stayed on to do some of his contributions (and play drums for us), swapping the stage for Professor Griff and the band to play a few more tracks and covers (Sly Stone, Rage Against The Machine), before the full return of Public Enemy and yet more blasting hits. And at the end of it all, Flav invites the audience down to the pub to join him and the others for DJ Lord's set there. I never expected to dance in a pub to Public Enemy on the mics and turntables in the corner, so fucking hell we were grinning. Public Enemy still totally full-on and relevant, not selling out our teenage love, thank fuck.

Sunn O))) are a post-Earth heavy riff act (members of Earth have contributed before, but might the shared appearance here have anything to do with Earth's cancellation?). Still, shifted from first-on Friday afternoon to late Saturday night headlining (though none of the acts truly could be said to have headlined, such is the length and randomness of the festival) suits them well. Dressed as KLF acolytes and (thus suitably) with guest vocals (chants and groans) from an unrecognisable Julian Cope (yay!) [nb: apparently I got this wrong - Cope's on the album, but wasn't the vocalist that night] their relentless grind (with extra depths added by side-of-stage laptop operation) both bored and awed. My mind wandered, and would be refocussed by heavier sounds again.

To films of falling snow and swaying trees, Coil play their quiet set, music of naked beauty, emotions and mysticism. What devotion, a true cult following, few bands reward your faith like Coil.

My Captain Beefheart familiarity is little, but The Magic Band (a reformed line-up dedicated to playing his/their music again) are challenging but warm, and our Beefheart-devotee Seb loves it, which was the acid test here. Sadly, the end of the set is lost to a fire alarm evacuation of the entire building (people don't get pissed off, and once sorted the djs are back on as before to conclude the weekend).

Every time we go to ATP we creatively make impressions and alterations to the shape of the weekend, and every time the festival shapes our creative lives too. ATP is one of the most important influences in our lives ('our' meaning 'my friends and I'), no lie.

[stuhuggett]

Clearlake
- Lido (Dusty Company/Domino lp).
The sleeve's washed-out lido photos reflect (ha) the sound of the debut lp from Clearlake (more water): the tracks are mixed and segued in such ways that sometimes it sounds like you're floating on your back watching the sky as the music is piped into your surroundings (actually this is the aim of the opening title track, but it continues throughout), then often it sounds as if the actual master tapes have been soaking in water too, or at least left in a damp cupboard for a while. First song proper Sunday Evening sets the lyrical theme of the whole record: resigned to the drab present (These Things Are Sent To Try Us), half-heartedly hoping static lives will improve in the future (Something To Look Forward To). After the short Daybreaking instrumental early on side two more optimism (Jumble Sailing's celebration of the simple pleasures) and wonder (Winterlight) is let in, though the concern shown to others is still tempered by the narrator's own experiences (Life Can Be So Cruel). The album's jauntiest moment here, I Want To Live In A Dream, is full of forced, false jollity, a sickly grin ignoring the necessity of engaging with the struggles of everyday life. Here (and occasionally elsewhere) a music-hall influence is apparent, though this is indirectly filtered (as with Blur for instance) through the whimsy of The Beatles etc (the ending of final track Winterlight IS A Day In The Life). Unclear feelings, music filtered through water to the ear, the concept of Clearlake's Lido flows into a whole experience.

- Winterlight/Jumble Sailing. 7".
- Don't Let The Cold In/I Hang On Every Word You Say. 7".
- Something To Look Forward To. cds.
- Let Go. cds. (all Dusty Company/Domino).
Listening through these first four Clearlake singles yields diminishing returns, from the inspired debut single (that, in retrospect, signposted Clearlake's subsequent releases, even in just the opening lines of Winterlight), to the pointless run-through of Cinammon Girl on the Let's Go cd. The majority of these songs turned up (in longer, shorter and re-recorded versions) on the magnificent Lido lp, which is where you're attention should go to.

- Almost The Same. (Domino, cds).
And so Clearlake's Dusty Company exists in name only, absorbed fully into the DOmino empire. The Simon Raymonde -assisted comeback single is a heart-quickening zoom over the clifftops on a spring day wth the windows down. It's endearing pop music, retaining many of the key Clearlake characteristics of vulnerablility and swirling wonder.

[stuhuggett]

I can't be bothered to try and tidy up the bad grammar etc in these rough pieces, so take them as they are (were); as you can tell, there's lots of other reviews and passages I'll edit in over the next few weeks. There's pages of this writing (and I don't remember doing half of it), so nominate a band you think I might have written something about in the last few years if you want, and if there's anything in the notebook I'll post it up. Lots more half-relevant bits and pieces to follow eventually too.