Not Many Experts

You have probably noticed by now our tendency to introduce our favourite music by tenuously linking it to frustratingly dead end but thought provoking discussions about weighty topics such as the state of the music industry today / the culture of music blogs / how is it so possible for so many people to like Scouting For Girls. That’s all well and good, and we do enjoy pretending to know what’s going on, but sometimes, just sometimes, possibly at about 2 in the morning, we just feel the need to say: this, without a doubt, is a fucking amazing song. (and an equally encouraging album as well)

This is absolutely how I feel about Archie Bronson Outfit’s “Hoola” right now. (and the attached album, “Coconut”) There’s no way that, in this state, I can forge even a questionable link between it and the depressing state of music consumption today, or the future of the music industry. Quite simply, “Hoola” is one of those essential songs that you’ll look back on a years time and see how it defined a short period of your life. It’s a song that the repeat button was made for. It’s the sort of tune that you’ll look forward to all night as you grind it out (attempt to pass the time, not embarrassing hip gyration) at yet another average party.

Two fairly lengthy paragraphs down and I’ve not yet managed to even faintly describe what “Hoola”, or “Coconut” sounds like. But then, all of the above is just what the song means to me, and any ridiculous attempt to describe it would just again, be my interpretation. Ultimately, why would you bother reading clumsy words (it’s clear that words were almost definitely not invented to precisely describe music) when you can listen to it yourself and form your own opinions? In that sense, music journalism really is fucking useless. I’m not here to tell you what to think, just to recommend music that I genuinely love, but it’s up to your to establish your own position. Strangely, I seem to have gone from discussing how I’m not going to end up in a philosophical back alley this time, to ending up completely unintentionally in my pseudo-philosophical back alley. I just hope that you’re listening to “Hoola” by now – they’re 3 minutes of your life that you’re not going to want to get back from me.

PS: If you thought that was even slightly average, then you need to get “Coconut” in your life as well – it comes out on Monday on Domino, and we all know how everyone is swimming in money at the moment and all that, so crack out a wad of 10s. And oh yeah, it really is very very good. A proper description? Nah. Not only do I genuinely believe what I wrote above about forming your own opinions and trusting recommendations, but it has surpassed the 2 o’clock that I mentioned and I will not last much longer.

PPS: Lucky inhabitants of Liverpool can catch Archie Bronson Outfit in an incredible line up with Oh No Ono and White Hinterland on 19.05.10 and can get rid of more of that money stuff here. The whole thing is going to be occurring in The Kazimier as well, which is, in my opinion, one of the most original and therefore best venues in the country, and is probably worth the ticket price alone.

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.

I’m liking what this poster’s telling me a lot; Joker, Fake Blood, Caspa, Rusko, Aeroplane and Simian Mobile Disco all compressed into one immense night. I’ve already ploughed through a thesaurus of superlatives to try and articulate just how great this line up is in a previous post, but now Simian Mobile Disco have been announced as the headliners. That said, I saw SMD on Saturday at the Warehouse Project and was left, not for the first time by an SMD live set, a little disappointed. I think it’s necessary to emphasise the “live set” part of their sentence though; I really believe that, although they sound great on record, the music just doesn’t translate well to a live setting. On the other hand, Simian Mobile Disco DJ Set?!! Now that is something that is half tempting me to whack out my superlative thesaurus.

Simian Mobile Disco – I Believe

Simian Mobile Disco – Cruel Intentions ft. Beth Ditto (Joker Remix)

Freeland – Do You (Joker Remix)  < Highly Recommended!

For the downloadable mp3s, add us on le Book de Faces.