Not Many Experts

Let’s face it, tinnitus is just another encouraging sign that you’ve really enjoyed your life (other positive signs are bad teeth and a negative bank balance) instead of having spent it swathed in bubble wrap and surrounded by health and safety officials. In fact, if I’m going to be honest, it seems that people these days are spending far too much time fussing over whether their earplugs are sitting at the right angle, and checking decibel levels at gigs, before adjusting themselves to a suitably quiet distance from the speakers.

Japandroids’ critically fawned over “Post Nothing” is the complete antithesis of this, which is partly why I placed them at #16 in my inevitable “Albums of 2009” list. Made their year, I heard. Thank the lords, then, that similarly adored Liverpool tastemakers Evol & Meshuggy have lured Japandroids over from their native Canada to recklessly abuse the cochleae* of Liverpool’s music lovers this Saturday.

You can buy tickets here, or, for those of you with little money, no conscience, or who simple enjoy free stuff, we are giving away a ticket for the gig at Korova. All you need to do to win is follow us on our brand new twitter and re-tweet the few words we put down about Japandroids. We’ll then pick a random winner and get in touch with you. *We should probably point out in the interests of the naive that going to this gig is not going to damage your ability to hear noises with your ears.

Japandroids fans will also be pleased to hear that the band are going to be hitting the studio in the short gaps on their current tour and releasing a slew of unreleased Japandroids songs on 7”. The first in this series is “Art Czars”, which you can hear above and buy here.

The xx’s eponymous debut is fast maturing into a serious contender for album of the year. Understated, simple, incredible lyrical arrangements and boundless originality for an album released in the MGMT and Lady Gaga “stick a synth on it” era; and yet I have only mentioned the young London band once before, in passing. So if you’ve never heard of the xx before, if you’ve been ignoring the incessant hype or if you just haven’t been effectively persuaded to pick up the album, introduce yourself to the album’s imaginatively (yet accurately) titled introduction, “Intro”. Any track that is named after its position on the album is not instantly promising, but “Intro” is two minutes of ambient bliss; a real aural masterpiece that stands out even in a record full of them.

Whilst you’re at it, if you live anywhere near Liverpool, clear your schedule for next Tuesday. Why? Liverpool’s best club night, Evol, is putting on the best band to visit the city in many many months, The xx, in the best venue Liverpool has to offer, Korova, for only a fiver! Buy your ticket quickly because the rest of their tour has sold out. Grab one here.