The end of this road

Hey folks. This is the last ever post on thedailygrowl.blogspot.com

If you care anything about this blog, don't worry. All the action is continuing over on the all-new Daily Growl site, so point yer browsers at www.thedailygrowl.co.uk and have a look.

It's still a work in progress, because unlike Blogger, the Wordpress interface requires a bit of technical knowledge, particularly if you're self-hosting. But I'm assured by people more clever than I am that this is a good move, and as I require the necessary knowledge, the look of the site will no doubt improve. The main plus point for me at the moment is that it will provide some protection from the DMCA gangsters who kept raiding my Blogger pages and deleting posts without any warning. Let's see how it goes.

If you've got any links to this here site, could you take a minute to update them? This message (and blog) will be eventually replaced by a redirect message, so it would ease the linkage process a little.

So it's the end of an era of sorts, but not really. The Daily Growl continues, just in a different location. See you on the other site.

The evil empire strikes again

Yes, it's happened again. In the past week, I've had two more DMCA-related deletions from this blog. I wouldn't even mind if it was a fair cop, but the posts that were targeted make no sense at all. One of these was on Glasvegas from last year using demo mp3s that were freely available on the band's myspace at the time, and before they signed with Columbia. Given other bloggers' experience, this retrospective targeting was only to be expected. The other was a post featuring tracks from Esser and Calexico, BOTH of which were sent to me by PRs with the express purpose of posting.

I'm getting fed up of this, and before any posts that I really value get deleted, I'm going to suspend activity here until I work out how to migrate The Daily Growl to a self-hosted blog, which should give me some breathing space. I'm no technical whizz, but I've got to learn. So bear with me. Normal service should hopefully be restored before too long...

Lambchop @ The Union Chapel, 3 November 2008

I was having a chat with a friend recently about the value of consistency in music. Is consistency a good thing and when does it just get boring? How much are we comforted by a familiar sound and how much do we want our favourite artists to try something new? Answers in the comments if you may, but the aforementioned conversation was prompted by the new Lambchop album OH (Ohio), even though at that point I hadn’t heard it. However I sort of knew what to expect. It's now their third album since their 2002 masterwork Is a Woman, and Kurt Wagner and co. seem to have settled into their own gentle groove. The previous two albums haven’t moved me as much as their previous works – Aw C’mon / No You C’mon too sprawling to engage properly and Damaged slipping past rather anonymously. So I thought I knew what to expect from a new album. Consistency at least.

On stage at the Union Chapel tonight there’s more consistency. You know what you’re getting with Lambchop. Kurt Wagner as the genial, yet slightly retiring host, gracious, understated, with occasional bursts of passion. The band behind him making far less noise than you’d expect six people to make, but doing it very skilfully and beautifully. Then, just when you expect it, Kurt turns and says “Mr Tony Crow on piano” and the pianist launches into one of his terrible jokes. But he’s nothing if not self-aware. This is all part of a Lambchop show, and we get all of this tonight.

One thing that’s different is the set list. The new album is played in its entirety, in order, save an interlude towards the end, started by a storming cover of Once in a Lifetime, the only time in the whole set where Wagner rises from his chair, followed by a few songs cherry-picked from their back catalogue. They encore with I Believe in You, Ohio’s final track. This is not a night for the casual Lambchop observer, though as ever, the rendition of Up With People should keep most people happy. The new album does sound familiar and there is that aforementioned consistency. But it sounds warmer, more soulful, without employing the strings of the past, and the band are on top form. So tonight, consistency, familiarity and comfort are definitely good things, and in the beautiful sacred space that is the Union Chapel, with its flickering candles and reverent crowd, it even becomes quite magical.

mp3: Lambchop – All Flowers and Mariachi
mp3: Lambchop – Slipped Dissolved and Loosed

Lambchop myspace / website.

Buy OH (Ohio) from Rough Trade (with a bonus CD!) or download from emusic.

Fireworks Night - A Mirror, A Ghost

It's the 5th of November, the night when people all over Britain celebrate the gruesome death of some Catholics in 1605. Or just go and build a bonfire and watch some fireworks going off. It's also a good day to release a new album. Especially if your band's name is Fireworks Night.

Fireworks Night have been round these parts before, after they released their second long-player As Fools We Are last year. It was a fine album, but didn't get the attention it deserved, a fact which seems to have left main man James Lesslie a little downhearted. A slightly turbulent period in the band's history followed, but thankfully now things are back on track following the recruitment of some new members, including The Mules' Ed Seed, and the recording of six new songs to form the rather splendid A Mirror, A Ghost EP.

I say new, but two of the tracks are re-recordings of older FN songs. But these, combined with the four really new ones comprise what feels like their most substantial work to date. Sure, part of the appeal is in the record's brevity and trim-ness, and even though i prefer the older version of Echo's Swing with its explosive post rock wig-out ending, there's a general meatiness to the songs here, and you feel that there's something fresh to return to each time.

I've listened to the EP several times now and still don't feel that I've got a full grasp on the songs. I mean this in a good way, because each time I return, there's something different to enjoy. Sometimes it's a piece of haunting strings, other times I note someone's got a liking for noisy guitars. I heartily recommend these songs to you and hope you'll find their company as pleasing as I have. They'll warm you like a bonfire for sure. Sometimes they might even be exciting like the fireworks that have been popping away outside my window all evening. But what's guaranteed is that this EP will stick with you for much longer.

mp3: Fireworks Night - The Fire

Fireworks Night myspace / Organ Grinder page

Buy A Mirror, A Ghost from the Organ Grinder shop. Oh, and hurry. There were only 500 made, in a lovely hand-printed cardboard box sleeve (a painstaking process, as this testifes).

Byron Lee 1935 - 2008

It's been a bad year for reggae legends. By my counting, at least three have passed away. Joe Gibbs a few months back, Alton Ellis last month and now Byron Lee.

Most famous for his group The Dragonaires, formed in 1950, Lee was a veteran of Jamaican music and one of its more tireless ambassadors. As well as being a ska pioneer, Byron was also a studio owner, producer (producing a lot of The Maytals' music) record distributor and carnival organiser, actively active in his island's music scene right up to his passing away yesterday. One of the greats. RIP.

mp3: Byron Lee - Hot Reggae
mp3: Byron Lee - Frankenstein

Buy Byron Lee albums from Sounds of the Universe.

Bugged Out

The Daily Growl has love for The Shortwave Set, particularly their ace debut album The Debt Collection. The love was a bit more muted for their second long-player Replica Sun Machine. However, the love remains strong for Glitches 'n' Bugs, one of the best tracks on the latest record. Here, some dodgy-sounding character called Marshmellow Mike adds woozy psychedelia, funky drumming, wobbly bass and barrelling rock 'n' roll piano to take the song to new foot-stomping heights.

mp3: The Shortwave Set - Glitches 'n' Bugs (Marshmellow Mike remix)

The Shortwave Set myspace.

The Glitches 'n' Bugs single is out on 8 December, including various remixes. The 7 inch has a version of Grace Jones' Slave to the Rhythm.

Tilly and the Wall @ ULU, 25 October 2008

Things have changed in the world of Tilly and the Wall. The last time I saw them was back at the first End of the Road festival in September 2006, and I look back to then and the previous months with some nostalgia. Fun times, watching the Omaha quintet all over the place at a time before the the Baby Growl arrived to change our lives forever. Perhaps it was fitting that this was the first time Mrs Growl and I have been at a gig together since our lives were changed.

Then again, things haven’t changed that much. There’s still the dayglo exuberance (surely in parallel universe, most of the band would be children’s TV presenters). There are still the highly infectious tunes. And of course there’s the tap-dancing. The things that have changed are exactly what caused the problems tonight. If had to review this gig in less than 10 words, they would be: GET RID OF THE BASS PLAYER.

There are two extra members in T&TW now – a bass player and a drummer. They’re touring their new album (is it really called ‘O’ just because there’s a circle on the cover?) which is another fine addition to the Tilly canon. But from the start of this gig there’s a problem. The new beefed-up bass sound swamps almost everything else. Now I know that there’s an issue of bad sound mixing, and it does get a bit better as the gig progresses, but generally, the sound of Tilly cranking it up is just not fitting. Their songs are shiny pop nuggets that don’t benefit from The Rock.

Then there’s the vocals. What seems so sweet and harmonious on record is often strained and tuneless as the various singers shout out their parts. Now, I’m not talking about guitarist Derek Pressnall here – he can’t sing for toffee and should never be allowed to do so – it’s the girls that I expect more from. Particularly on a shocking cover of Erasure’s A Little Respect, which could have been so much better. But ultimately, I guess I should just relax a little. I suppose you don’t go to see Tilly and the Wall for a highly competent, slick performance, you go for FUN. And Fun was had. New songs were played. Old songs are played to much cheer. And there are smiles on faces, particularly during The Freest Man, Reckless and cracking new single Beat Control. So all in, a bit of a mixed bag of an evening. Still, I can highly recommend the new album, which comes with all tonight's creases ironed out.

mp3: Tilly and the Wall - Tall Tall Grass
mp3: Tilly and the Wall - Sing Songs Along

Tilly and the Wall myspace / website

Buy O and other T&TW releases from Rough Trade or emusic.

Deerhunter - Microcastle / Weird Era Cont.

It’s been a prolific year from Bradford Cox. He’s released his solo debut album as Atlas Sound, and followed that up with a run of ‘virtual seven inches’ on his blog. And just to prove that he just can’t stop recording, with his ‘proper’ band Deerhunter he’s released not one, but two albums, hitting the streets this week as one big juicy package.

The fact that there are two albums is related to the aforementioned blog. As all fans will now know, over the summer, when posting one of his Atlas Sound virtual sevens, someone accessed a whole album’s worth of songs in an unsecured folder in Cox’s mediafire account. So given that this material was out there anyway, it’s been appended to the planned release of Microcastle. The good thing is that we now have two Deerhunter albums instead of one.

I say a good thing, but this doesn’t mean two amazing albums for the price of one. Somewhere in the collection of 25 songs, there is one great album. If Cox has a weakness, it’s self-editing. It’s fine enough to have tons of material available, but if you’re lazy like me, you’ll object to having to put some work in, weeding out the fine from the not-so-fine. Now, don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing bad on either Microcastle or Weird Era Cont. but some of it just drifts innocuously past, as if it can’t really be bothered to grab your attention.

Thankfully, there are plenty of songs which do make you sit up and take notice. Deerhunter are best when cranking up the warm, fuzzy guitars and Cox knows how to craft a good song, and also crucially how to rock out whilst keeping the tunes intact (see the particularly excellent Nothing Ever Happened). When these albums are good, they’re very good – particularly Microcastle – and if Cox is slightly more discerning he’ll write a classic album very soon.

mp3: Deerhunter – Nothing Ever Happened
mp3: Deerhunter – Twilight at Carbon Lake

Deerhunter myspace / blog

Corporate hacking and the war on bloggers

For me, it started back in September. Just after returning to blogging post-holiday, I noticed that something wasn't quite right. I was sure I had done a post about Richard Hawley side project The Feral Cats, but it wasn't there any more. Strange, especially given that the song still appeared on my Hype Machine listing. My first thought was that I had been hacked. But by who? An outraged Richard Hawley fan, furious that I had posted a track only available on a very limited edition 10 inch single? Surely not. Slightly worried though I was, I changed my login and password and left it.

The next one to disappear was much more noticeable. A day or so after I reviewed the new TV on the Radio album, the post also disappeared, with no warning. Now something was clearly going wrong. If it was a hacker, why so discriminating? If they wanted to harm my blog, they could just have deleted the whole thing.

Things got a bit clearer when I read this post on To Die By Your Side. It seems that Coxon (who writes TDBYS) had been targeted in a similar way and his posts on The Verve and Cold War Kids had been ghosted away. So it's clearly been coming from the record companies. But hold on... I was sent the TVOTR album by the blogger-friendly 4AD (though admittedly they never give explicit permission to post). But a quick look at their website shows that TVOTR are on DGC in the US, which is part of the evil empire that is Universal. That explained a lot. Then I found out that this was happening to a lot of bloggers and it's continuing daily, even in the time that it's taken me to write this long-winded post, more bad shit has happened.

In the past, any record company complaints were usually directed via file hosts - mine would either ask me to take the offending mp3s down or delete them themselves. Earlier this year I had my account closed by one host, but I guess that's just part of this borderline game we play. There's also Web Sheriff, which although strident in tone, was similar to a record company or PR simply asking you to take something down, which is the way I prefer it. But the tactics have now switched. By going straight to Blogger and deleting the offending item is a lot more direct and painful. Plus, if you're a blogger who values writing rather than just posting mp3s, you lose something that you may have spent good time putting together.

Over the last week or so, things have taken a decidedly nastier turn. In the past eight days, I've had a further two posts deleted. This time I received an email about these, otherwise I may never have noticed. That's because one of them was from over TWO YEARS AGO. That's October 2006. The deleted post was about a FREE CD I picked up in Rough Trade, featuring a load of young folky types, none of whom are very well known, even now. However, one of them was Johnny Flynn, now signed to Vertigo, a subsidiary of our old friends Universal. The notion that they're trying to clear the internets of Flynn mp3s was confirmed on Monday when another Johnny-featuring post, this time his appearance on Jeremy Warmsley's Welcome to our TV Show, was also deleted. This is all bad stuff, not to mention pretty stupid given that the mp3s had long since been taken down. But let's think about this further for a minute:

- The live track was recorded in Jeremy Warmsley's living room and sent to me by the man himself. I'm sure it is (was?) also freely available on last.fm.

- The song on the free CD was from when Johnny Flynn was just starting out playing solo stuff and long before anyone at Universal had ever heard of him.

The latter point is compounded by fellow-blogger Ed from 17 Seconds, who had an interview with Glasvegas from January deleted last week. This was before the band had signed with major label Columbia (part of Sony BMG) and the mp3s Ed posted were with full approval of the band.

So does this mean that even if us bloggers stick to the indie and unsigned artists, and post everything with full permission, that sometime in the future some bastard is coming to come crashing down on us because in the past we've had the temerity to write about and post songs from an artist that they have gone on to sign? Does that mean that nothing is safe? Surely one of the sources of information that major labels use to find out about new bands is blogs. That's just having your cake and eating it.

But anyway, I could go on in an indignant fashion, but that would be pointless. There are a lot of bloggers out there feeling a bit vulnerable, though some have suggested some fightback action. Matthew Song, By Toad is writing to a Columbia bigwig, which should be interesting. But ultimately there's probably not much we can do against heavy handed, idiotic people who have money and legal power on their side. Actually, there are a couple of things I can to to mitigate things a bit.

1. Avoid anything on a major label. This isn't going to be very difficult, given that I don't much anyway. However the fear of future action as noted above remains.

2. Move away from Blogger. I actually tried to do this earlier in the year and move to a self-hosted Wordpress blog, but found the process horrendously complicated. However, I'm determined to do this now, because though it won't provide complete security, I'll feel a wee bit safer. Those who have this set-up (like Matthew) seem to have survived so far.

Anyway, this post is way longer than it than it has any right to be, so I'll stop now. The next few weeks in blog-land should be interesting.

Before I go, here's a song which I've been given explicit permission to post. So it should be OK. I hope.

mp3: Rod Thomas - Same Old Lines (James Yuill Remix)

Alton Ellis 1938 - 2008

When Isaac Hayes died earlier this year, everyone knew about it immediately, and rightly so. However, 10 October saw another reggae legend pass away with seemingly little comment. I can almost understand Joe Gibbs' death being widely ignored several months back, because he was more of a backroom man (even though hugely influential), but I'd have thought that someone as well-known in the world of Jamaican music as Alton Ellis would have generated a bit more column inches.

Maybe it's just me not being more aware, but it was a week or so after his death that I first read about his passing in the relative backwater of the Guardian's 'click to download' column. First sadness on hearing this, then mild outrage about not hearing before.

Still, looking around the internet now, there are plenty of tributes to this great pioneer of rocksteady, and as I type this, he's number 3 in The Hype Machine 'most blogged artists' list, so there are plenty of music fans out there who aren't letting his departure go unheralded. And rightly so - he was a giant of the genre. Although he's best known for rocksteady, he's recorded a variety of music including a bit of funk, and given that London was his home from the mid-70s, it's perhaps no surprise that he dabbled in lover's rock. There's little that i can say more to the many words that have been uttered so far, so I won't. However, if you're unfamiliar with the great man, you can read the brief bio on Wikipedia, get this compilation, or just listen at Hype.

One of these tracks below - Let Him Try - is my favourite Ellis song, and probably one of my all-time favourite songs. Ever. Call me a big softie, but just listen and tell me it doesn't make you feel all gooey and tingly inside. RIP Alton.

mp3: Alton Ellis - African Descendants
mp3: Alton Ellis - Let Him Try

True Story

You know how sometimes an artist who has never really been properly on your radar (or has been out of mind for a long time) in short space of time keeps on cropping up, as if to say "hey, listen to me". Or something like that. Anyway, it's happened to me recently with Matthew Herbert. Firstly, a couple of weeks ago, I rediscovered his amazing 2001 album Bodily Functions in my CD collection. Shortly after that I when I found out about ace new band The Invisible, I saw that he is their producer. Then last week I got an email about his latest project.

He's getting his big band back together, which is perhaps not surprising given that it's been his most commercially successful venture to date (or at least the most high-profile). But this isn't really about cashing in. Matthew's a man with many serious points to make, so he's still managing to get messages into the swing-band jazz. Take this preview track The Story, which contains lyrics about Cambodian refugees, Indian farmers and paying the right price for coffee. And being a man who also likes a bit of performance art in his socially conscious dance music, there's more to the track than meets the eye.

Honestly though, this is what you need liner notes (or a press release, in this case) for. Listening to The Story, you'd never realise that it features the sampled sound of 70 copies of The Sun newspaper. 70 celebrity gossip magazines. one copy of the NME, one Madonna album and one copy of Wallpaper* magazine. But it does. There you go.

mp3: The Matthew Herbert Big Band - The Story (edit)

Matthew's new album There's me, and then there's you is out on 10 November. The Big Band play at the Royal Festival Hall on 21 November.

Oh, and one classic for old time's sake.

mp3: Herbert - Suddenly

Buy Matthew Herbert stuff from Amazon

Sugar baby

It's a a damp autumn afternoon. The Baby Growl is asleep and a measure of peace has been restored to the house. What better to do than spend some time making Nigella's amazing chocolate banana loaf? With added rum of course. And the soundtrack to a Sunday afternoon of domestic goddessness? Van Morrison's Astral Weeks of course.

mp3: Van Morrison - Sweet Thing

Further Education

A Classic Education are one of these perfectly-named bands. In the sense that theirs is classic indie rock, informed by three decades of classic indie rock. You don't have to listen too too hard to sense their influences - seemingly everything from Echo and the Bunnymen to Arcade Fire and everything decent in between.

I've been on about them here before, but today there's two good new things. One is that they're in town this weekend for a couple of gigs. So if you're in London, and are looking for some gig action, you could do far worse than to head down to either The Fly tonight or Dalston's premier former furniture store basement Barden's Boudoir tomorrow night to see Bologna's finest play. I can't make it unfortunately, so if you do go, say hello to Jonathan and the boys for me.

The other thing, is a new song. Freshly recorded this week. It's good of course.

mp3: A Classic Education - We Can Always Run to Hawaii

A Classic Education myspace / website

Bodies of Water @ Cargo, 14 October 2008

I don’t want to start a review feeling sorry for a band, but lastTuesday night at Cargo there was something lacking. It was nothing to do with the band’s performance, which was superb. It was the audience. Not even their enthusiasm for the band, just the number of people. Cargo’s not even a particularly big venue, but there were no more than 30 people in there, which dampened the atmosphere somewhat. I know it’s the first UK tour for Bodies of Water, and they’re relatively unknown here, but surely more could have been done on the promotion side. There wasn’t much info to be found anywhere other than Cargo’s own website, and I didn’t even know who the support band were until I asked the singer after their performance.


Speaking of which, the unknown support band turned out to be a Danish duo called the Choir of Young Believers, and they were very impressive. It’s not often these days that I’ll attend a gig where I see a support band that I’ve never heard, or even heard of beforehand. And it’s a pleasant surprise when they’re good.

Their set on Tuesday night was performed as a duo comprising COYB main man Jannis Noya Makrigiannis and cellist Cecilie Trier. The songs were slow and measured, with Jannis’s electric guitar and vocals beautifully complemented by Cecile’s haunting cello and gorgeous harmonies. They reminded me of a less dark Low, and their half-hour slot glided gracefully by. I bought their debut album This is for the White in Your Eyes off their manager afterwards, and it’s a fine piece of work, though I wasn’t quite expecting the much fuller, orchestrated sound present on record. It seems that COYB are a bigger outfit than I thought, and it’s likely that resources reduced their touring band to two. On hindsight, this was a very good thing because, although White in Your Eyes is a decent album, I much prefer the stripped-down torch songs from last Tuesday night.


This was Bodies of Water’s first London headline gig, and I was full of anticipation. Ever since succumbing to the wide-eyed euporhia of their debut Ears Will Pop and Eyes Will Blink last year, I’ve thought that they’d be an amazing live band. But it's been was almost a year till I've got to see them in the flesh.

With such high levels of anticipation, it would be easy to be disappointed, because anything less than mind-blowing just wouldn’t do. Which is why the small crowd was annoying – a packed arch at Cargo would no doubt have generated an electric atmosphere. The other little disappointment for me was the lack of material from Ears Will Pop. But that’s a minor gripe – BoW had their new album A Certain Feeling to plug, and boy did they do that well. I haven’t warmed as much to the new record as much as I’d hoped, until this gig. The songs from A Certain Feeling came alive in new ways, with the band’s enthusiastic everyone-sing-at-once style, and songs that seemed to contain three or four songs in one, shifting tempo efforstlessly and thrillingly.

Even though they were nearing the end of a long tour, the folks from LA still managed to muster smiles, humour and good spirits throughout, even broken guitar strings near the end couldn't stop them from coming back with a spine-tingling set closer of These are The Eyes. They seemed to have some sound problems on stage, but I didn’t notice. A brilliant gig, though I'll be hoping for more people next time. As we left, my friend said that if he could put together his ideal band, it would be Bodies of Water. For a moment at least, it was hard to disagree.

mp3: Bodies of Water - These are the Eyes
mp3: Bodies of Water - Even in a Cave

BoW myspace / website

mp3: Choir of Young Believers - Action/Reaction
mp3: Choir of Young Believers - Hollow Talk

COYB myspace

Buy Bodies of Water albums from Rough Trade or download from emusic. Buy COYB's This is for the Whites in Your Eyes from their myspace.

Alessi’s Ark

The Daily Growl is a modest blog, and I have no big ambitions for it. Apart from continuing to write about music that I like, which hopefully others will like too. I’m under no illusions about how influential or cutting-edge I am. Heck, this is just a hobby, although most music bloggers (myself sometimes included) take themselves too seriously to admit that.

That said, one of the greatest pleasures of this business is to get positive comments about what I’m doing. This is the sort of thing that makes my hurried lunchtime scribblings seem worthwhile. I got some compliments today from Alessi Laurent-Marke, a 18-year old from North London. While that may be unremarkable in itself, the email came with a nice surprise – a song to “fill your ears".

Alessi, who seems like a modest soul herself, has recorded under her first name, the more awkward Alessi (music) and now seems to have settled on Alessi’s Ark. But it’s still the same person, still playing her unfussy and lovely acoustic folk-pop tunes, some of which have stings, some of which have a little country tinge. Her voice may get some references to Joanna Newsom, but let’s stay away from that, eh? The song from the email –The Horse – is one of these lovely folk-pop songs. I've been enjoying it a lot. Hope you do too.

mp3: Alessi’s Ark – The Horse

Alessi's Ark myspace

You can buy Alessi’s Bedroom Bound EP from her myspace now. She’s on tour with the Pirates-less Peggy Sue and Derek Meins from 31 October. These are guaranteed to be fine gigs.

Friendly fired up

Here, Friendly Fires prove again what an awesome live band they are. And that having two drummers makes you sound amazing. Snow Patrol, who appeared on the same TV show last week, should take note.

mp3: Friendly Fires - Paris (Arto Mwambe Remix)

Friendly Fires myspace / website

XL releases Paris as a single on 10 November, on download and 12" with some remixes.

(PS. If you're thinking that this blog should rename itself The Daily Remix, fear not, normal service will be resumed soon. The proper job and real life are making me busy right now.)

Let the Spirit Move You

Let's round off a week of (lazily posted?) remixes, with another. I haven't got round to reviewing Roots Manuva's Slime and Reason album yet, mainly because I haven't given it enough listens, though what I've heard sounds pretty good. What I do know is that his new single Let the Spirit is totally ace. I can't imagine why there needs to be a radio edit of the Hot Chip remix, but whatever the reason, it still has the word FUN plastered all over its little truncated face.

mp3: Roots Manuva - Let the Spirit (Hot Chip remix radio edit)

Roots Manuva myspace / website

Down the Tiny Steps

Today we're going to Glasgow via Manchester and Fife. That's because Down The Tiny Steps are from Glagow, part of the feted Fence Collective, but have just had their latest release put out by Manchester's Red Deer Club records.

On their website, DTTS describe themselves as a "Glasgow-based electro-folk-pop trio." This gives you a rough idea of what they might sound like of course, but they're worried about how that may be understood. "That sounds cack" they add "but they are not". They protest too much. It doesn't take long listening to their er, electro-folk-pop (look, it's no better or worse than 'folktronica') to realise that they're onto something good.

The band consist of main man Jonnie Common, and his mates Craig Rankine and Graham Norris. They've yet to release a 'proper' album, but have put stuff out on various compilations and CDRs through the likes of the Fence folks. I guess the new album is the closest they've come to a full-length release. It's a download-only live recording of a gig they did for Red Deer Club at a church in Salford in May this year, and it's a nice little sample of what they do. Reminds me of a more lo-fi Beta Band. Nice. Here are a couple of tracks.

mp3: Down The Tiny Steps - Summer is for Going Places
mp3: Down The Tiny Steps - Handstand

Down The Tiny Steps myspace / website

Buy Live at Red Deer Club 2008 from the Red Deer Club site.

Want another remix? Here's James Yuill

Yesterday, I got a complaint about remixes. It went:

"I think it's pretty ridiculous to post 2 remixes and not a single original song from the artist. You've done this before, and it makes me think that you care more about your ranking on hype machine than about respect from your audience."

Now it's clear to anyone even half-acquainted with The Daily Growl that this isn't the place to come for either remixes or Hype Machine-hot bands. All you need to do is scroll down to discover that. But that said, I have posted a few remixes this week, and I've been known to slip the odd one up from time to time. I hope you don't mind folks. The sort of comment above deserves all the ridicule it can get (and thanks Neil for helping with that), but to keep things straight for now, there are at least three good reasons for posting remixes.

1. I get sent quite a lot of remixes. They're quite handy promotional devises for PRs and record labels, which suits them, and it suits me because they're entirely legit to post. In a climate where (major) record companies seem to be getting more and more paranoid and start targeting blogs in new insidious ways (more on that chestnut later), the more approved stuff I can post the better. Particularly if it's good.

2. Whilst I regularly post a couple of tracks from albums I review, I almost never post current singles. Simply because a couple of tracks from an album is a taster, and is more likely to encourage someone to buy it than not, whereas posting the main track from a single most likely means that you won't buy it unless you're a vinyl collector. This is not what I want. Remixes of singles can provide a decent taster, and encourage further exploration. Remember, although you can get free music from blogs, this is not what they're about. We (and I know I speak for all good bloggers here) want to encourage enthusiasm and promote artists we like. Comments about wanting 'original tracks' just make me think someone's on the scrounge for freebies.

3. I post remixes if I like them. I get sent a lot of these and only a few actually make it onto my posts. This is the radical concept of bloggers posting music that they like. Amazing.

And although it's clear that I don't crave big Hype Machine hits, the occasional top 50 track is very welcome, because hopefully people will stop by and check out the likes of James Yorkston, Gossamer Albatross and Sky Larkin (to name some recent less Hype friendly acts).

Anyway, enough of all that, because folks, we have another REMIX to post. Oh yes. This time it's from ace computer-folkster James Yuill. He's just had his debut album Turning Down Water for Air released by Moshi Moshi, which I haven't heard, but if it's as strong as his previous singles, it'll be a good listen. Given that James is know for mixing up electronics with acoustic guitar, this fine remix from space-disco king Prins Thomas isn't a radical departure from the norm, Just a bit longer, and very tasty.

mp3: James Yuill - This Sweet Love (Prins Thomas Sneaky Edit)

James Yuill myspace / website / blog

Buy This Sweet Love 7 inch and Turning Down Water for Air from the Moshi Moshi shop.

They want to break free

The Absentee love continues right here, courtesy of an amusing cover I acquired yesterday courtesy of the good people at Pure Groove. The first shock is the huge difference in expected vocal pitch, and the silliness continues from there. And yes it is that I Want to Break Free.

mp3: Absentee - I Want To Break Free

Absentee myspace / website.

Loads more free download goodness from Pure Groove.

The Music Alliance Pact

Here's something different today. A while back, I got a message from Jason who runs Scottish music blog The Pop Cop. His plan was to form a sort of worldwide alliance of blogs which each month would post songs from their country, and so, after a bit of prompting we have the Music Alliance Pact.

It's actually been quite a good way for me to listen to artists from other countries, which is something that I'm often quite rubbish at (apart from North American acts naturally). There's some good stuff here, and others that I don't like at all, but it's worth giving Jason's project a whirl to see how it goes.

There are 12 blogs from different countries at the moment (the UK has been split up, and I'm representing England, which is a funny position for a Scot to be in) but more may follow in time. The list of participating blogs, tracks and some blurbs follow right now...

USA – I Guess I'm Floating
Arizona - The Glowing Bird

The title track from their sophomore album which came out on October 14 on Echo Mountain.

ARGENTINA – Zonaindie
Brian Storming – France

France is the new single by Brian Storming, a psychedelic pop orchestra from Buenos Aires. This band was the support act for Coldplay and Björk when they performed in Argentina. The song is included on their new EP, Brian Storming Avec L´Enchanting Device.

AUSTRALIA – Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
Miami Horror – Don't Be On With Her
Miami Horror pretty much blew everyone's mind from the start, just by being called Miami Horror even though he's a producer from Melbourne (kinda like when everyone freaked about The Streets being just one guy). Then he cemented the name he had made for himself with unapologetically synth-heavy remixes - bootleg and official - of a crazy-wide array of artists from Perth's The Dirty Secrets to France's Stardust. And now here he is with the official release of his first single.

DENMARK – Pastries, Peppers And Canals
Diefenbach – On The Move
Diefenbach have been long-time stalwarts of the Danish indie scene, starting out as a post-rock band and gradually evolving into what they are today. Think Beach Boys meets Mogwai meets...well, Diefenbach, actually. The new album, Dark Spinner, is due in late October but the track we're presenting is from 2005's Set And Drift.

ENGLAND – Me
Absentee – Bitchstealer
Absentee’s debut album proper Schmotime was one of my favourites of 2006, and new record Victory Shorts is a direct continuation of what the East London band does best. Singer Dan Michaelson's ravaged drawl, the sweet boy-girl vocal play-offs with keyboardist Melinda Bronstein and hugely pleasing riffs from Babak Ganjei all call to mind a much less polished Teenage Fanclub or a poppier Pavement.

ICELAND – I Love Icelandic Music
Plúseinn – Shake
The man behind the band Plúseinn is Árni Rúnar Hlöðversson also known as Árni Plúseinn (a.k.a. Árni +1). He recently released an album called Lettuce And Tomato, made in his apartment in Brooklyn, New York under the name Hungry And The Burger. Árni Rúnar is and was involved in a lot of Icelandic bands and projects (e.g. Hairdoctor, Motion Boys) and is a founding member of the band FM Belfast.

IRELAND – Nialler9
Fight Like Apes – Digifucker
The band have just released their debut Fight Like Apes And The Mystery Of The Golden Medallion in Ireland and the UK. The album was produced by John Goodmanson in Seattle over the summer. They are currently touring the UK with The Ting Tings.

ITALY – Polaroid
Le Man Avec Les Lunettes – The Happy Birth Of You And Me
LMALL's new album Plaskaplaskabombelibom is free to download from their website.

PERU – SoTB
ERA – Opium
Taken from the band’s second album Ufocalipsis which was released last year.

SCOTLAND – The Pop Cop
Roddy Hart – Dead Of The Night
Roddy Hart made the folk-rock masterpiece Bookmarks, arguably one of the best albums to have come out of Scotland. Dead Of The Night is the first fruits from its follow-up due out in 2009. It’s a live favourite and easily the most immediate pop song the Glaswegian has ever written.

SPAIN – El Blog De La Nadadora
Blacanova – Los Remedios
Blacanova is a band from Seville and this song is from their second demo, Perro EP. They are influenced by Joy Division, Seefeel, The Cure, Spanish band Sr Chinarro, David Lynch and Tod Browning films, and the writer Alejandra Pizarnik. Their music is a cross between dark pop, IDM (intelligent dance music) and shoegaze.

SWEDEN – Swedesplease
Tvärvägen – September
Tvärvägen is an eclectic one-man orchestra from Gustavsburg, Sweden. Notice both the clattering instrumentation and hummable melody. It's that dichotomy that makes Tvärvägen so unforgettable. The band's debut record is out November 6 on the small label Knoppar.

You can download all the above mp3s in one zip file here.

Let me know what you think. If you want my quick opinion, the best ones are from Iceland, USA and Sweden. Iceland is particularly awesome.

Take me to the Promised Land

You know how being on an advert can be just the thing to send an artist from unknown to everywhere. That's not always the case though. Consider Findlay Brown whose song Coming Home featured on a cheesy Christmas ad for Mastercard a couple of years ago. But instead of getting that track playing from every commercial radio station in the land, he concentrated on releasing his debut album Separated by the Sea. It was a decent record, full of poppy folky nuggets, but alas no stratospheric sales. However, that may be about to change, with no help from credit card companies. They have their own troubles to seek at present.

Findlay's new single sees him getting some slick production, which is not as bad as that sounds. He's drafted in some brass and backing singers on All That I Have to give it a pop sheen which has HIT written all over it. We'll see. What I'm more interested in is his cover of Joe Smooth's Promised Land, where he turns the 1987 house classic into a 2-minute acoustic pop song. And then there's the Polooski edit where the French wizard takes the cover straight back onto the dancefloor. While we're talking remixes, the Lord Skywave mix of the single is quite tasty too.

mp3: Findlay Brown - Promised Land (Pilooski edit)
mp3: Findlay Brown - All That I Have (Lord Skywave remix)

Findlay Brown myspace

The Invisible

Dave Okumu, Tom Herbert and Leo Taylor have spent too long in other people's bands. Not that their contributions to the likes of Jade Fox, Polar Bear, Zongamin and Hot Chip are unwelcome or begrudged. It's just that now they're getting on with their own thing, and it's shaping up to be a very good thing. If you know that they've got their mate Matthew Herbert behind the production desk, you'll be expecting a guaranteed high quality of tunage, but who'd have thought that they'd end up being Britain's answer to TV on the Radio?

All this bodes well for their self-titled debut, out sometime soon. Before then, they've got an ace new single Monster's Waltz coming out on Accidental Records and they've given the song to hotly-tipped new disco popstrels Micachu and Kwes to rework. Here are the results.

mp3: The Invisible - Monster's Waltz (Micachu remix)
mp3: The Invisible - Monster's Waltz (Kwes rework)

The Invisible myspace

Jay Reatard - Matador singles

After all the tales of on-stage punch-ups and kickings, it would be easy approach the new Jay Reatard album with a certain prejudice. Does this guy need a lairy rep to cover over the obvious flaws in his music? And then there’s his name.

But put these things aside for a moment. You can return them to them later, but for now let’s have a look at Jay. He’s not a complicated guy. He likes living the rock dream. His needs are simple. Sex, drugs and rock and roll is all he asks for. And the music’s much the same. Uncomplicated, shouty three chord guitar action, greasy riffs and songs that last about two minutes in order to fit in as much energy as possible without blowing a fuse. And most importantly, in the frenzy he hasn’t forgotten the tunes.

The man from Memphis is nothing if not prolific and has a huge back catalogue, stretching back to 1998 and numbering about 15 albums through various bands and solo and side projects. But this new album, which is a collection of the a and b sides from the series of 7 inch singles released on new label Matador this year already, is surely as good a place to start as any. You always need some short shouty songs with good tunes in your collection, though I can imagine that live is really where Jay needs to be experienced. Just don't get too close to the stage.

mp3: Jay Reatard – Always Wanting More
mp3: Jay Reatard – Hiding in My Hole

Jay Reatard myspace / blog

Matador Singles 08 is out now. Buy from Rough Trade or download from emusic.

Gossamer Albatross

Just after I got back from my post End of the Road Festival holiday, catching up on my emails I read:

“I noticed that you're heading down to the festival this weekend and thought you might be interested in checking out Gossamer Albatross, i think you'll be pleasantly surprised.”

Ah. Too late. Mind you, I seem to recall that they played on the Friday afternoon, probably around the time when we were struggling with the rain falling down heavily outside our tent and The Baby Growl throwing her food about inside. So I might not have been able to make it even if I wanted to.

Still, Simon Sweeping the Nation seemed to enjoy their EOTR set, and listening to them now, I reckon I may well have been pleasantly surprised. There may seem to be an increasingly crowded room full of orchestral indie types these days, but there’s certainly room to squeeze in the members of Gossamer Albatross. Actually ‘orchestral’ might be slightly misleading given that there’s only four of them, but despite the relative lack of personnel the classically-trained Hereford youngsters manage to create a sound of remarkable depth and maturity. While their peers are no doubt jumping round shouting with guitars, these kids are tuning up their violins and cellos to fine effect.

The songs I’ve been sent show plenty of promise and any lack of weight that you might detect is likely due more to resources than a lack of ambition. I await further songs with anticipation, particularly since they’ve been working with Daily Growl fave Jeremy Warmsley in the producer’s chair. That should be well worth a listen.

mp3: Gossamer Albatross – Elizabeth, Queen of the Sea
mp3: Gossamer Albatross – The Ground Will Take Us Down

Gossamer Albatross Myspace/ blog

Buy the 7 inch single containing the two above tracks from their myspace or Pure Groove.

Sky Larkin

It’s been a while since Sky Larkin have been mentioned around these parts. In February last year I saw them supporting Los Campesinos! at the sadly missed Spitz, and was impressed by the noise that they made, along with the cute guitar poses and madcap drumming. More than a year and a half later the Leeds trio are on my radar again, courtesy of a couple of tracks leaked out by their new label Wichita. Seems like they’re still on fine form, busy channelling the spirit of classic American slacker indie such as Pavement and Guided By Voices and marrying it to Northern wit and charm. Promises well for future full-length recordings.

mp3: Sky Larkin - Molten
mp3: Sky Larkin - Antibodies (demo)

Sky Larkin's Wichita debut single Fossil, I comes out on 20 October. Pre-order at the Wichita shop.

For a bonus, here's their ace 7 inch single One of Two from last year.

mp3: Sky Larkin - One of Two

James Yorkston - When the Haar Rolls In

Back in 2002, the NME sought to assure its readers in the review of James Yorkston’s debut album Moving Up Country that here was folk music that it was OK to like. Fast forward six years and it’s hard to imagine them saying the same thing in the midst of a landscape where every elfin-featured young thing with an acoustic guitar is touted as ‘folk’. Maybe what they were thinking of back then was that Yorkston was OK because he was on Domino Records and wasn’t like that old-fashioned musty British folk, redolent of men with beards, Arran jumpers, weirdly named real ales and songs with 160 verses. In the middle of a New Rock Revolution, that was not what the kids wanted.

Cool people will surely then baulk at the prospect of Yorkston putting himself firmly back in the ale and beards camp with his recording of Lal Waterson’s Midnight Feast, on his new album When the Haar Rolls In, with backing vocals provided by the Brit-folk establishment that is the Waterson clan. Actually, the cool people aren’t even interested in the latest offering from Fife’s premier songsmith. Let’s be realistic, this album is unlikely to win Yorkston many new fans, but it is equally likely to confirm to his existing fans his songwriting genius.

I don’t use the word ‘genius’ lightly either. James is a man who has now crafted four exquisite albums of melancholic and beautiful folk music, each one subtly different from the last, each one equally appealing. There’s certainly been a shift in style since the previous album Year of the Leopard and its stripped-down acoustic introspection. On Haar, Yorkston brings back his friends for a much fuller arrangements (the Athletes are still there, despite being dropped from the titles – mainly because continually playing with a full band isn’t financially viable) involving harpsichord, vibraphone, bouzuki and a host of more conventional instruments. The result is quietly spectacular. We're back in very similar territory to Moving Up Country and every track is excellent, from the long, story-song title track to the sparsely worded Would You Have Me Born With Wooden Eyes?, each song has a ton of loving care invested and there’s not a second wasted even when nine songs last 50 minutes.

It’s to the credit of Domino Records, that not only do they go on releasing James Yorkston albums despite lack of big sales, they even put together a lavish box-set edition of the album for the most committed fans. Me? Of course. I didn’t rush into it, because for £30 I wanted to be sure that I’d really like the album. Fortunately, it only took listening to the two songs posted by Toad to convince me that it was worth getting. Now, several weeks later, I know that it’s his best album to date. For those who have yet to discover the magic of Yorkston, it’s an ideal place to start.

mp3: James Yorkston – Would You Have Me Born With Wooden Eyes?
mp3: James Yorkston – Tortoise Regrets Hare (Down the Tiny Steps Remix)
mp3: Suzy Mangion – Are You Coming Home Tonight?

The first song is from When the Haar Rolls In. Buy from Rough Trade or Bleep. The second song is from the remixes CD, included in the box set and the cover of Are You Coming Home Tonight? by Suzy Mangion is from the CD of James Yorkston covers by the likes of David Thomas Broughton, Viking Moses and King Creosote, also in the box set. Buy the lovely box set from Domino Mart. It’s well worth it.

By the way, it you’re wondering what haar is, look here for the answer.

Twins Seven Seven

You didn't think that what you needed for a Friday afternoon was a 15-minute long piece of spacey psychedelic madness, where a former UNESCO artist for peace leads a chant for the duration while synth-fuelled percussive Afro mayhem bubbles around him. No, neither did I, but now I know better. You may too.

mp3: Twins Seven Seven - Shandoroko

End of the Road Festival 2008 - Sunday

Sunday’s musical treats started early for the Growl family. Well before the bands took to the various stages, we were thoroughly entertained by a guy in the cinema tent doing kids singing and other activities. The Baby Growl enjoyed it so much that she fell asleep immediately afterwards.

Main stage activity started for us with The Wave Pictures on the Garden Stage. They were excellent, with David Tatersall’s dry wit, both in lyrics and onstage chat shining as usual. I love the way that they so (deliberately?) fly in the face of musical fashion with Tatersall guitar-soloing away and even inviting a solo from drummer Jonny Helm. Again, what often seems so roughly-hewn on record sounds so expertly played and punchy live, and the east London boys certainly won over a host of new fans. Their box of CDs disappeared in super-quick time at the end. One of the new fans was The Baby Growl – she seemed impressed from the instant we walked into the Garden Stage area, dancing on my shoulders. She didn’t buy a CD though, mine will have to do for now.

More Baby Growl appreciation was shown later for Woodpigeon, as she ate her dinner to their main stage set. Coming onstage to a piece of classical music (Salut d'Amour by Elgar, it transpires) played by a couple of members of the band may seem pretentious to some, but it fitted in nicely with all that followed. Do we need another sprawling Canadian indie collective? From what I heard, I would say they’re certainly a welcome addition in a crowded market, but admittedly my full attention wasn’t the orchestral Americana sounds coming from the stage. Feeding the girl and chatting with Mr and Mrs Toad rendered Woodpigeon more of a pleasant backdrop, but still worth investigating further I think.


Mrs Growl and I were certainly looking forward to seeing Richard Hawley. Both of us (particularly her) are big fans, but haven’t seen him live since he appeared on the same stage two years ago. Since then he’s released his best album yet (Lady's Bridge), and hearing these newer songs played was retro rock(abilly) and roll treat. As anyone who has seen his shows will know, it’s not just about the songs, but also the onstage banter from a natural, rough-hewn entertainer. He’s still using some of the same jokes (“Let’s ballad”) but his normally expletive-laden chatter was oddly subdued. Maybe it was the presence of his family (the only festival he’s ever taken them to, he says) or maybe he was just in a mellow mood, but EOTR seems like a well-loved place to him. The Somerset Cider bus went down well the previous evening it seems. Although there were more child-related distractions for us, it was great to see Hawley again and no matter how many times I hear Oh My Love, it still sounds lump-in-the-throat wonderful.


For me, that was the end of my participation in this year’s festival. Save for a late-night dash to the Rough Trade stall for some last-minute purchases, it was only fair that having been out the previous two evenings, I stayed in the Baby Growl and let Mrs Growl have a musical wander. She flitted between The Mountain Goats, Charlotte Hatherley and The Smoke Fairies without finding much to her taste, before going to see Calexico’s headline gig “for old time’s sake”. If that sounds unenthusiastic, it’s because the last time we saw the Tuscon band they were a tad underwhelming, but that was when they were touring Garden Ruin, hardly their finest hour. This time was different. Mrs Growl came back enthusing about their performance, playing some fine new songs (from the just-released and much better Carried to Dust), Calexico classics and even ordering and passing around pints of cider from the bus. I actually managed to hear their usual set climax Crystal Frontier from the confines of our tent, so I can easily imagine how good it was. A fitting end to a superb festival.

Since I faced a long drive halfway to Scotland the next day, it was earlier-than-usual to bed, and I fell asleep with Zombie Zombie’s krautrock from the Big Top thudding gently through my earplugs. Roll on next year!

Download: The Wave Pictures – Just Like A Drummer
Download: Woodpigeon – Knock Knock
Download: Richard Hawley – Oh My Love
Download: Calexico – Minas de Cobre


Woodpigeon, Richard Hawley pictures (C) Rom Cemm
Calexico picture (C) Isabelle Adam
Wave Pictures picture by Song, By Toad