Drink, Drank Punks startle Peterborough – Anti Flag review @ The Cresset, February 23, 2008

The Peterborough music scene was left Red, White and Brainwashed when Anarcho-Punks, Anti Flag hit The Cresset venue.

Renowned for supporting anti-racism, anti-fascism, and anti-war movements, the band from Pittsburgh, United States dawned on the city to show fans how to really stick two fingers up to society.

Before they even had chance to flood the stage with their chaotic blend of hard guitar riffs and battering drum strokes, lucky fans across the area had their chance to get up close and personal with the band as they freely wandered back and forth through The Cresset.

Kicking off the show with a rather skatanic performance were local band, Brassphemy, who wowed the crowd with their uplifting style.

Saxophone, trumpet, synthesiser, guitar and drum sounds pulsated through the room and really got the crowd dancing. Their flair for music and passion for what they do shined throughout their performance. Without a doubt, the band is going to go on to achieve great things in the near future.

Brassphemy who are from Bourne, Lincolnshire will also be joining ska legends, Sonic Boom Six on tour in March.

Next up was All Idols Fall who, in comparison, to the opening act was rather different. Bringing a set of rock heavy sounds to the stage, their music sparked off a miniature mosh pit.

Although they had a lot of enthusiasm and were completely focused on getting the crowd moving, unfortunately their style deemed to be less popular with the audience.

Bringing life back to the stage, were the ever popular, The King Blues. Infusing ska, reggae and punk attitude to create a cocktail of beats, the London based 6-piece pray to “unsettle the rulers of this country” with their ‘rough and radical’ style.

Performing tracks from their album, Under the Fog, The King Blues delivered a fantastic presentation of heart-felt, show stopping tunes including crowd favourites, Mr Music Man and Come Fi De Youth.

The moment everybody was waiting for finally arrived, four of the finest examples of punk rock scattered on to the stage to deliver spirit thrusting movements before a wild and hefty crowd.

Spitting out heavy punk lyrics and politically angst messages, Justin Sane and the guys dragged the Peterborough audience through a whirlwind of chaos.

“Raise your fist in the air and tell George Bush, tell Tony Blair and tell everyone out there we say ‘no’ to war, ‘no’ to racism and ‘no’ to homophobia”

War Sucks, Lets Party! Fans dived to the stage to salute their Captain of Anarchy, front-man Mr Justin Sane who was unfortunately feeling too good during the night.

However, bassist Chris #2 kept the fire burning as they blasted out tracks such as Die for Your Government, 911 for Peace, 1 Trillion Dollars and new songs from their fully pledged album, The Bright Lights of America.

Reciting lyric for lyric and thumping fists in the air, the rioting crowd campaigned for peace and unity. Ending the night on a high note, the guys jumped off stage to ‘high five’ and shake the hands of their keen supporters.

A night of inner rage, passion and heart-felt messages – go and see Anti Flag action for yourselves.

By Nicola Fox

Why do they rock so hard? Reel Big Fish @ The Cresset, Saturday February 16, 2008

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Fun fuelled chaos dawned on Peterborough’s The Cresset last weekend when Reel Big Fish came out to play. It was the band’s third return to the city and it was by far the best show I have been to in a long long time.

Blending together a cocktail of reggae beats, funky punk vocals, hip hop and ska, Sonic Boom Six were first up to bombard the stage and they surely set the night off with a bang.

Laila K and the band knocked out some rather infectious tracks from their new album, Arcade Perfect including the energetic ‘Sound of a revolution.’ Minutes after appearing on stage, fans went absolutely crazy for them and began barging their way through the crowds, sparking off a wild mosh pit.

Next up were ska-punk sensations Streetlight Manifesto. The band is already vastly popular in the States and bearing in mind it was the band’s first appearance at the Peterborough venue, the night established that they are going to become a huge success in the UK.

The hype just did not die down at all - the kids kept on moshing! It was fantastic to see such dedication from Streetlight front man Thomas Kalnoky who proved to be a true entertainer.

If things weren’t stirred up enough, Reel Big Fish piled on to the stage and the energy of the crowd rocketed to an all time high.

Luckily for me, I was stuck to the barrier for the remainder of the night, but behind me there was a whole different affair going on. As the electricity pulsated through the heart of the mosh pit fans went wild as the opening track, Sell Out began to emit from the stage.

“I tell you what is b****in, this whole show is b****in!” yelled Reel Big Fish front man, Aaron Barrett.

The Californian ska outfit surely know how to “party hard” and had the entire audience hooked, reeling out a mix of old and new tracks. From the legendary ‘Beer’, to the pristine ‘New Version of you’ the band was then joined on stage by SB6’s Laila K, for an exhilarating performance of ‘She has a girlfriend now.’

Aaron, Scotty and Little Johnny Christmas brought humour to the stage with their usual mischievous antics and tied up the night with crowd favourites ‘Everything Sucks’ and a cover of ‘Take On Me.’

Reciting lyric for lyric and dancing in true ska style, the Peterborough fans could simply have gone on partying forever. I had the time of my life and even though I came out a bit battered and bruised – I’d definitely recommend you head along to their next show!

10 out of 10

by Nicola Fox

The Greatest Guitar Riff of ALL TIME is....

Smoke on the Water, apparently. That was easy, wasn't it?

OK, more details. The folks over at Guitar-X (www.guitar-x.co.uk) held a survey of their Guitar learning students to find out what was the best. Whilst Smoke on the Water might have been a bit obvious, it's hard to disagree with the top 25, really:

1. Smoke On The Water – Deep Purple (1973)

2. Smells Like Teen Spirit – Nirvana (1991)

3. Walk This Way – Aerosmith (1975)

4. Purple Haze – Jimi Hendrix (1967)

5. Sweet Child O Mine – Guns N Roses (1987)

6. Paradise City – Guns N Roses (1987)

7. Ace Of Spades – Motorhead (1980)

8. Enter Sandman – Metallica (1991)

9. Under The Bridge – Red Hot Chilli Peppers (1992)

10. Welcome To The Jungle – Guns N Roses (1987)

11. Run To The Hills – Iron Maiden (1982)

12. Walk – Pantera (1992)

13. Johnny Be Goode – Chuck Berry (1958)

14. Back In Black – AC/DC (1980)

15. Immigrant Song – Led Zeppelin (1970)

16. Wake Up – Rage Against The Machine (1992)

17. Highway to Hell – AC/DC (1979)

18. My Generation – The Who (1965)

19. 7 Nation Army – The White Stripes (2003)

20. Born To Be Wild – Steppenwolf (1968)

21. Give It Away – Red Hot Chilli Peppers (1991)

22. Paranoid – Black Sabbath (1970)

23. Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) – Jimi Hendrix (1967)

24. Eye Of The Tiger – Survivor (1982)

25. Money For Nothing – Dire Straits (1984)

One thing that is a bit obvious the second you look through - even the newest song is 5 years old and the oldest is ten times older than that. John Wheatcroft, the Head of Instrument at Guitar-X attributed it to having "to wait until the 'dust settles' before we can truly consider a riff's eligibility for 'Classic' status" but it's got to be said there haven't been that many riff-driven tracks that have entered the public psyche in the last few years. Woman by Wolfmother perhaps? No-One Knows by Queens of the Stone Age for certain...but there aren't that many. Suggestions on a postcard (or even better, in the comments) welcome - I suddenly feel compelled to play Guitar Hero whilst muttering about the lack of a Rock Band release in the UK so far...

Mind you, if I was going to include one in the Top 25 that isn't already there, it'd probably be Day Tripper...

Dum, der dum dum dum dum der dum der dum dum.

Etc.

The Courteeners @ The Met Lounge, Thursday January 31, 2008

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Tipped to be one of the hottest new acts for 2008, last month saw hundreds of people gather to see NME darlings, The Courteeners perform in front of a sell-out crowd at city club, The Met Lounge.

Although the temperature outside dipped to below freezing levels, things soon heated up when the first few acts began to emerge.

Main support came from super-slick rock and roll band, Vincent Vincent and The Villains, who's vibrant, hip-swinging tracks 'On my own' and 'Pretty Girl' left a lasting impression on the crowd.

After short break between sets and a couple of drinks later, fans began to hoard on towards the dancefloor where indie sensations, The Courteeners took to the stage.

With a notable resemblance to fellow Manchester rock hero, Liam Gallaghar, Courteeners front-man Liam Fray quickly glugged down his Jack Daniels, grabbed his guitar and bashed out the first track of the night, Acrylic.

Polished guitar riffs and captivating lyrics, it was suprising to see fans reciting lyrics word for word, bearing in mind that their debut album is yet to be released.

There is no doubt that songs such as If It Wasn't For Me and Kimberly will go on to become true indie anthems.

The Peterborough crowd were fuelled with passion when Liam solely went on to perform a string of acoustic tracks.

Fray, who is renowned for making controversial headlines revealed a softer side to him, commenting on Peterborough’s ‘beautiful’ landscape. He told local press that “Peterborough is the urban equivalent of heaven, it has a lovely cathedral.”

Tieing up the night with an ecstatic performance of their latest track, "What took you so long?", fans went on to meet and chat to Liam after the show.

by Nicola Fox

NOFX @ Brixton Academy Sunday November 4, 2007

Another great review by Nicola Fox, posted months later by the forgetful fool of an Editor...

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It was most certainly the time to ‘Pump up the Valium’ as hundreds of NOFX fans swarmed through the doors of Brixton Academy to see the ground-breaking punks perform after a distant 4 year gap from the UK.

Although transportation to the venue was halted after closures were made to the main tube line, the outcome didn’t seem affected – it just built up more anticipation.

First band on stage were British hopefuls TAT who wowed the crowds with their punk-rock based image and intriguing style.

The band are more than set to be a huge success with their catchy yet controversial melodies such as ‘Champagne, Cocaine and Strawberries’ and the rhythmic ‘Live for Rock and Roll’ With a special hardcore appearance from Tatiana’s 90-year-old grandmother who positioned herself by the stage, the band then introduced fellow rockers, The Loved Ones.

Unfortunately for The Loved Ones, their set was let down dramatically by the poor sound quality. Whilst the Philadelphian rockers appeared to be having delightful time on stage performing tracks such as ‘Jane’ and ‘100K’, masses of NOFX fans sat down for the duration, eagerly waiting for Fat Mike and crew to surface on stage.

Once ‘The Loved Ones’ departed the stage, NOFX fans went wild and as heaving crowds began to emerge up front, they barely realised the notorious Fat Mike had already took place on stage!

Dancing lesbians plus a minuscule banner, Fat Mike then began to choke out his usual stage banter, toilet humour and crowd humiliating antics. Mike then took a brief moment before pounding out crowd favourites, ‘Dinosaurs will die’, ‘Liza and Louise’ and ‘Linoleum’ in true punk rock style.

All the rage as fans were squashed, mosh pits began to circulate and taking a step back you would see that Brixton transformed into NOFX fuelled frenzy. The hype was almost over after a 20 minute or so performance of the unpopular, ‘The Decline’ and then Fat Mike returned to his infamous ranting.

‘Eat the meek’, ‘Dying degree’ and ‘Franco un American’ got the crowds energized and they were wowed by a cover of Rancid’s track ‘Radio’.

The show concluded with several repeats of ‘I wanna be an alcoholic’ and an invigorating encore consisting of ‘Fuck the Kids’ and ‘The Brews.’

I’d say that the best thing about NOFX live is the atmosphere and Fat Mike’s riotous stage presence. Their return to the UK was most certainly worth waiting for!

Chaos as Amen hit the UK, The Park, Peterborough – October 28, 2007

Part 2 in our series of 'Reviews which the Editor managed to misplace' covers the chaos of hardcore punk band Amen, hitting the East Anglian suburb of Peterborough - which definitely makes it worth a belated airing:

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American hardcore punks, Amen recently joined forces with London unsigned metal favourites, The Inbreds and techno speed sensation DJ $peedranch on the fully anticipated 'No Barricades & No Bullshit 2007' tour.

Although the tour was struck by tragedy when it was announced that three of the band’s close friends and family had passed away, Amen continued the tour and thrashed out tracks in honour of their memory.

Indestructible front-man, Casey Chaos is famous for his wild antics on stage, aggressive appearance and anarchistic views but fans were privileged to be up close and personal with the band in such intimate venues across the country.

I caught up with the band at The Park, Peterborough (Sunday October 28, 2007) where the band was also joined by city horror punk favourites, The Ruined. Although the turn-out was mediocre, the reaction from the crowd was truly substantial.

City band, The Ruined opened the show blasting out hits from their ‘Hear Lies The Ruined’ album including the legendary ‘Poison Ivy’ and ‘Dead by Dawn’

The band were followed by Metal Hammer acclaimed ‘Britain’s newest stoner rock heroes’, The Inbreds who were out to party hard. As for the one-man laptop DJ - $peedranch left the crowd feeling in disarray.

With Halloween pending, Casey and the band took centre stage and drove fans wild opening the show with the ever famous ‘Coma America’.

After trashing the stage and horrifying the club owners, Chaos then gave fans the opportunity to choose what they wanted to hear. The words spat from the mouth of frontman as he belted out tracks such as ‘Piss Virus’, ‘California’s Bleeding’ and ‘Buy Amen’, raging fans from the city were relishing in Amen hype.

Amen closed the show with ‘The Price Of Reality’ and Chaos chatted to fans at the merch stall after the show.

by Nicola Fox

Rock City: Profane, Architects, Your Demise, Shikari, Lost Alone, Lovvers

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Editor's note: Apologies for regressing three months, but DM contributor Nicola Fox sent these reviews in a timely fashion. And then email disasters on the Editor's part saw them in a virtual abyss down the back on an internet filing cabinet. So expect a new review each day for the next few days!

All-night frenzy at Rock City – Saturday, December 22, 2007. 8pm-6am

Christmas celebrations went off with a bang as thousands of hungry rock fans swarmed through the doors of Nottingham’s Rock City for another fun fuelled distortion all-nighter party.

First up on stage were Profane who were feeling a bit under the weather as they had spent “two weeks suffering dirty, filthy Dublin flu” according to vocalist, Phil Bretnall. The band supported Shikari on their tour over in Ireland blasted out tracks from their outstanding album, ‘The day we scorched the sky’

Following Profane was Brighton’s metal gods, Architects who got everyone in the festive mood when they appeared on stage dressed as Santa dancing to Shakin Steven’s very best, ‘Merry Christmas Everyone.’

Wall of death and circle mosh pits, Architects got the crowd in a spin after a dose of ‘Buried at Sea’ and ‘The Darkest Tomb’.

Your Demise took stage in the basement just before fellow St Albans’ Shikari were to perform. Front man, George Noble sported a Bergkamp Arsenal t-shirt and strangely told fans that their songs were like a ‘reggae band at a trance.’

However, blood certainly didn’t run cold as hyped up fans jumped on stage to grab the mic belting out tunes such as ‘Diamonds are forever, your not’ and ‘No half measures.’

Crowds flocked into the main stage area for a bit of Shikari action and the famous glow sticks made a welcome return to Rock City.

Electric pulsations, eccentric fans and sirens filled the venue as Rou, Chris, Rob and Rory spilled on to the stage. Battering glow sticks the fans went into frenzy as the performed stonking hits from their 2007 album, ‘Take to the skies.’

‘Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour’ got the fans circulating once again alongside ‘Return to Energiser’ and the outstanding ‘Sorry You’re Not A Winner’ after a rather legendary string of tracks, Rou took time out to get a Mexican wave going.

Returning to the stage with ‘Today won’t go down in history’ and ‘Jonny Sniper’, Rou placed himself up on the speakers reciting the famous lyrics, “and still we will be here, standing like statues” dedicating their whirlwind performance to the heroes that were, the security crew.

The show closed with a showdown of Slade’s, ‘Merry Christmas everybody’ and snow began to fall from the roof to dust the sweaty crowd with some festive joy.

But the night was most certainly not over as a drunken performance from Nottingham’s, Lovvers caused a stir in the basement. There was no sound from the mic and vocalist, Shaun refused to leave the stage as gig-goers began to ‘boo’ them off stage. Even the sound tech guy struggled to throw the band off stage and had to get his fists out to Shaun. It was most amusing to see.

Lost Alone cheered fans up with renditions of Deep Purple and classic rock songs. The dreadful Lovvers were long gone and fans began to get back into the festive spirit.

DJ Shark and Blitz provided the entertainment for the rest of the night. Although the party became a bit of a blur by 4am, Christmas festivities continued until the crack of dawn. Rock on, rock city!

by Nicola Fox

Stone Gods - Live at Norwich Waterfront - 30/01/08

Norwich gig venue The Waterfront has never been as packed before, and there's good reason. This is the hometown/last-night-of-the-tour show by the Stone Gods; the new band by the line-up of The Darkness (minus singer Justin Hawkins, the old bass player promoted to front man, and with a new bassist roped in. Got that? Good).

The extreme density of the crowd is no-doubt helped by a quarter of the audience being made up of friends and family of the band (guitarist Dan Hawkins' mum alone has 'plus sixteen' on the guest list!), but the performance delivered more than warrants it.

On the whole, Stone Gods are a much 'heavier' proposition than their previous incarnation, delivering a 12 song set that hints at every rock sub-genre they can possibly think of, from classic metal, a bit of punkier stuff, and even what one gig-goer dubbed 'theme tune from a crappy American teen drama'.

They may technically be a new band, but the stage-presence and musicianship of these guys is outstanding, with front man Richie Edwards clearly being born for the role.

Enjoy the pictures, and don't forget to check out our exclusive interview with the band in Issue Ten of Disposable Media, due out any day now!




digg story

Great new single revamps the old...

Music


You might have encountered Duffy on Jools Holland, or Radio 1, but don't let that put you off! It's a great retro sounding track, which, for me, is a perfect dance floor filler. If you don't mind filling the dance floor with a lot of people doing the Mashed Potato or Watusi, and dancing like their parents.

Sadly, as one of my parents used to be a classic soul DJ, he not only has better records than me, but used to be able to dance rather well - or so I'm informed. Luckily anytime we've shared the floor, I was either too young to take any notice, or old enough to drink too much to take any notice.

Anyway, enough of my meanderings...

Disposble Media's Top 10 LPs of 2007.

We've reviewed a few albums in the magazine this year. We've listened to even more. Here then are our top ten LPs of 2007. Alot of you will disagree no doubt, many will agree. Whatever your standpoint, get in contact by leaving us some comments-we'd especially like to have your suggestions for albums we missed out.


1. Radiohead, In Rainbows
This only just made it to number one by virtue of being (physically) released today. It is the best album of the year and now that it’s available to everyone as a physical CD, there is awkward discussion away from the album to prevent the songs being as immaculate as they are. For a much more detailed look at In Rainbows, keep an eye out for Disposable Media Issue 10, due early January 2008.

2. LCD Soundsystem, Sound of Silver
The first listen to Sound of Silver yielded one response; where are the singles? Subsequent listens illicit two responses; 1-who cares? And 2-wow.
This isn’t a dance album. It isn’t a rock album. It’s not indie, grindie, big-beat or hardcore nor is it especially different. What Sound of Silver is though, is an album for music fans, an album for grown ups and kids, an album so immaculately conceived and produced that at times it defies belief that in 2007 someone can produce an album that sounds both perfectly now and so ‘timeless’. It is practically perfect.

3. Justice, Cross
There are times when Cross is so loud that it barely makes sense. Made of what seems like a combination of drum beats and feedback for a large majority, it’s easy to dismiss Cross as an overly simplistic dance album with no real musicianship involved. However, here is an album where every single sound is full of purpose that when layered and structured together and woven with some very heavy drum beats it not only works but also thrusts itself into your body and consciousness. The Daft Punk comparisons are lazy, this is dance-metal and it is immense.

4. Battles, Mirrored
Why does the Battles LP work? At times it tries too hard, other times it seems as though it’s not trying at all. Beneath the obvious math-rock influences and initially unfriendly noodling, is an LP full of melody, pop sensibility and modern day understanding of how music can affect by effect. It sounds like nothing else this year but is a perfect partner for the understated LCD Soundsystem by trying to do the same sort of thing but with a more modern and noisy takes on dance rock. And by god how we love it.

5. Modest Mouse, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
It’s Modest Mouse. With Johnny Marr on guitar. And featuring The Shins on vocals on a couple of tracks. It’s utterly ace.

6. The Twilight Sad, Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters
If Explosions in the Sky came from Scotland they might sound like this. It wouldn’t be as majestic, as powerful or as Scottish as this, but at least you know have an idea of just how wonderful this album is.

7. Minus the Bear, Planet of Ice
Minus the Bear’s last album, Menos el oso was a summer album. The cover looked like summer, the album sounded like summer and some of the lyrics were about summer. Planet of Ice is a winter album. It still sounds like Minus the Bear, incredible finger tapping, ‘dance-prog’ structures and knowing lyrics/titles, but Planet of Ice is a slightly grown up affair, with much more emphasis on the prog. Listen at night in winter and be sucked in to the majesty.

8. Low, Drums and Guns
Criminally overlooked in end of year polls, Low’s latest Lp is once again a brooding affair, but now with added drum loops. Enchanting and bewitching, it’s the best Low LP since Things We Lost.

9. Besnard Lakes, The Besnard Lakes are the Dark Horse
Does this really sound like the Beach Boys having a guitar feedback fight with Spiritualized in space? Yes it does. In places. Comparisons aside, it’s a tremdous album full of both gentle and demanding guitar work, feathery vocal melodies and hugely deep production.

10. 65daysofstatic, The Destruction of Small Ideas
Vocals. There are vocals on the final track of this, 65’s 3rd LP. It’s a new departure for the band, but not a bad decision. Unlike the production. At times it threatens to undermine the thoroughly brilliant musicianship and perfectly structured songs on offer but with a few listens Destruction… allows itself to grow and truly reveal itself as the most subtle and most accomplished 65 LP to date.

A little break for Christmas...

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This time of year is more than a little busy, with presents to wrap and probably more presents to buy. Cards to write, decorations to hang and calculations to be conducted to work out how long to roast the turkey for (remember to place it on its breast shortly after you start cooking to ensure it is as tender as possible). And amongst all that, Disposable Media is rapidly approaching the deadline for its tenth issue with staff working more feverishly than any of Santa's elves.

But, here is a little favour for you at this busy time of year whether you're regular readers of the magazine, or part of the staff creating the magazine - stop. Just for a couple of minutes, sit back and remember that this isn't meant to be a stressful time of the year, it is meant to be fun. And to help you enjoy this tiny break, try this:

It's "Hilli (At The Top of The World)" by Amiina and features the late Lee Hazelwood and was released yesterday. And if it doesn't make you feel a bit more relaxed and a bit more comfortable there really is no hope for you.

And if I don't get to say it again before the day, Merry Christmas.

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Squarepusher - Hello Everything (a week on)

So some time ago this year I bought my first Squarepusher CD - Feed Me Weird Things - and loved it to pieces. Sure, there are some tracks that I didn't listen to as much as others, but generally it's a nice album and left me wanting more. Anyway, last week it was my birthday and, among other things, I got Hello Everything and am listening to it now. Initial impressions were mixed, as it seemed to be a tiny bit less accessible than FMWT, but it's definitely growing on me; Hello Meow is every bit as good an opener as Squarepusher Theme was, Planetarium is astounding and kind of reminds me of Theme from Ernest Borgnine, Rotate Electrolyte has similarly nice synth sounds and is kind of chilled whilst maintaining a pacey rhythm... and The Modern Bass Guitar is completely relentless and insane and feels kind of Venetian Snares-y at times. So it definitely has its standouts, and it makes for a compelling whole despite the more abstract offerings. Yays.

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SINGLE REVIEW: "Go Faster Stripes" by Kat Flint

Regular readers of the magazine, at least those with fantastic memories, will remember the very first Doormat in DM4 spent much of its word-count raving about Kat Flint's "Secret Boy's Club" EP. Since then, things have been officially quite quiet on her part, at least in terms of things people could actually go out and buy. Until now.

"Go Faster Stripes" is Kat's first single since finally being snapped up by a record company. With their press release sounding suitably surprised, Albino Recordings are now home to Kat as well as Revere, who previously featured on another doormat. Where "Secret Boy's Club" was filled almost completely with girl and guitar (KT Tunstall without the selling out), "Go Faster Stripes" features a menagerie of talented musicians providing body to the song.

Within the menagerie, the saloon bar piano that punctuates the song single-handedly makes the track sound different and memorable. Chirping up with increasing regularity throughout, it gives a sing-along quality. It probably could have been integrated a little more and been used to demand attention and provide a bawdier finale, but sadly it disappears leaving the song to slowly and politely fade away...

But it gets better with each listen, familiarity breeding everything but contempt in this case. It isn't a single of the year and it is hard to imagine it dominating even a small corner of the charts for long, but that isn't the aim of a first single. This is an introduction to Kat Flint for the audience of 6Music and other potential fans that have managed to avoid her before now. And more importantly than that it shows, finally, she is making proper progress again.

It can now only be a matter of time before that saloon piano is given a boogie-woogie flourish on Later with Jools Holland. A sure sign of recognition, if ever there was one.

"Go Faster Stripes" will be released on December 17th. The album "Dirty Birds" will follow in 2008.

Visit Kat Flint's myspace page at www.myspace.com/katflint

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Does anyone buy albums now?

Obviously some people do. Mainly older people. But how about anyone under the age of 30? Does anyone still invest in album tracks as MP3s? Or those Compact Disc things?

I speak as an owner of over 500 CD's and a fair quantity of vinyl. And yet when we started listing the best albums and songs since the launch of Disposable Media for our 10th Anniversary issue, I struggled to think of 10 whole albums I've bought which were released since 2005.

I've listened to Pandora, I've listend to Last.fm, I've listened to Myspace, and I've bought singles and albums by artists I never got round to collecting, or never new existed. But they all tend to be Greatest Hits. Does this mean I'm all about the best songs, and won't ever need to battle my way through a nondescript album filler?

Actually I have found an exception that may prove the rule. Disposable Media's Mr Pogo apparently only buys albums - to the extent he struggles to think of 10 individual singles since 2005. Then again, he is a little odd. Stonkingly good photographer though, so we put up with him.

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The other song for our summer

Revival by Soulsavers (featuring Mark Lanegan)

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The latest song to stick in our heads

Young Folks by Peter Bjorn and John

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I mentioned this song a couple of issues ago in DM (Memory fails me as to exactly which issue), but as the most perfect summer song I've heard in a long while, I thought it was worth mentioning again now that the flooding is subsiding and people have started to get suntans, rather than rusting in the British summer.

It's Revival by Soul Savers, and features ex-Screaming Trees frontman Mark Lanegan, Hammond Organ, Gospel backing and makes me want to raise my arms and scream 'That's what rousing, anthemic music should sound like...Hallelujah!"

Lanegan features on 8 of the tracks on the album, which mixes rock, hip hop, country, soul and gospel, and is out on V2 records.

Check it out with three other tunes on their Myspace page...

Oh, and feel free to add DM while you're there...

GIG REVIEW

Graham Coxon, with Duels and One Reunion Sq.
Manchester Ritz, Monday 28th March 2006

It's always the quiet ones that surprise you in the end. Shy, retiring, NHS specs-wearing Graham Coxon, formerly second fiddle lead guitar in Blur, has only thrown his glasses to the floor (quite literally, twice) and become a punk rocker! Who'd have known that the dark edgy sounds the Britpop wonders delved into in their later albums was this man's influence? Well, anyone who's listened to his two solo albums since he quit, I'd imagine, but I have to confess I wasn't one of those people.

First of all, it has to be said, the Ritz is an amazing venue. Known best for its spring loaded dancefloor (perfect for disco dancing) the acoustics were crystal clear, you could actually see the sounds being made before your eyes, which sounds silly but doesn't happen very often in gigland. The balcony brought a touch of OC style Bait-shop casuality, and the chilled out, comfortable atmosphere suited nicely.

Graham's bass player opened on acoustic guitar, trading as One Reunion Square, and wasn't that bad. Some nice songs, good guitar-man-ship, but you know how it is with support bands, no one else was paying attention, and he didn't do much to grab mine.

Duels were on second, and were, quite frankly, excellent. Quite unsubtle hints of Pulp, epic pop almost like The Dears except less Britpop influenced than Britpop evolved. Nice sharp suits and a nice strong drummer (in many senses of the phrase). Armed with an album sampler on sale for a quid and a free badge if you signed up for the mailing list, I can now call myself a Duels fan. Would happily go see them headline. Watch out for the singles and the choruses though, not as good as the other songs or the verses respectively.

Mr Coxon himself, well... There were all the 'Bittersweet bundles of misery' that you'd expect from the author of Coffee & TV - nice, lovely, boppy, summer songs to go with his nice, lovely album all about love. However, it was the 1976 punk that got me listening - that dancefloor isn't all that bad for moshing on either as it turns out. The Clash-esque obscurist cd tracks inbetween bands were starting to make a little bit more sense as you began to wonder whether it was Graham's own record collection they chose from. The closing song, not Freakin' Out, or Standing on my Own Again, (fine pop songs though they are) but a visceral, pumping shout-out about how much life sucks and then you die, with squealing, choppy guitars and crowd-surfing goths. And to end it all, a cheeky smile, glasses back on and a shy nod goodbye.

brought to you by your roving rocking reporter, Rachel (who loves alliteration and shall be bringing more gig reviews, comics judgements and the occasional rant, forthwith)

MUSIC REVIEW
By BlinkyBear

MOGWAI, MR. BEAST (2006)
The last couple of Mogwai albums have well and truly established the band's sound. The arrival of a new album therefore brings with it a degree of understanding and not just regarding the quiet/loud dynamic that the band have perfected over the last 10 years. Mr. Beast therefore, is somewhat revelatory, not because it sounds different, but because structurally it is a marked difference. The LP is unusually short, just XX in length which for a Mogwai LP is brief. Very brief. This however, is not a bad thing. Mr. Beast is a refined piece of work, tight, concise and still with the emotional weight that Mogwai punch, Mr. Beast is terrifyingly focused, full of anger, stiring beauty and tight, punchy ideas. In many respects it is Mogwai’s most cohesive work, full of ideas and thoughts, cleverly realised and seemingly effortlessly brilliant.
5/5