The sad news came out today that Nujabes has passed away.
The seminal Japanese hip hop producer reportedly died in a car crash, aged just 36. Our thoughts go out to his family and friends. The video below is to celebrate the music he made whilst he was still with us.
Suicidal Records
When retrospective eyes are cast back over early Eighties North American Hardcore, L.A.’s Suicidal Tendencies are usually given short thrift. Sure, as the years rolled by, and they forged a career out of it, their sound became increasingly focused on commercial success, and was a world apart from their humble Venice Beach beginnings. But what a beginning it was; Suicidal really were in there with the ‘name’ Hardcore pioneers, and their influence was huge. I remember first seeing a photo of them in a ‘zine (back in ’84) and being captivated – the flip top painter caps, bandannas, buttoned up plaid shirts, skate sneakers… it was a ‘look’ that took Europe by storm. I can think of at least one German band whose whole shtick was pretty much being ‘Suicidal’… yah!
So yeah, ST is a band who came with a big bad reputation – they were even banned from playing in the own city for a number years! I met a girl from L.A. in the mid Eighties whilst traveling who regaled me with tales of seeing ST and how insane it was, and I guess many us first got to see a glimpse of this on the Flipside # 3 Video Compilation, where they tore through “I Saw Your Mommy” and “Suicidal Failure” to a massive stage diving crowd.
Well, almost 20 years later, the atmosphere at the Olympic Auditorium, for the filming of this gig (shot in 2005) is nowhere near as raw and chaotic, but, with singer Mike Muir still firmly at the helm of a real tight band, there is no denying the power of the music, and the adoration and enthusiasm from a rabid audience who are most definitely Suicidal 4 Life!
As a message of intent they open with the epic “I Shot Reagan”, and, as the set develops, at least 50% of the material is from their first album – OG Heaven! I mean, c’mon – “Institutionalized” is easily one of the benchmark US Hardcore songs, Pepsi Cola and all! The Olympic was home to many, many big L.A. punk shows in the Eighties, but this ST set is the final gig there, as we learn it’s being taken over by a Korean-American religious group, which doesn’t escape Mike’s attention… and makes the reprise of “Send Me Your Money“, a rip at TV Evangelists, that much more poignant. And when didn’t “Possessed to Skate” make you wanna grab a stick, drain a pool, and fuck shit up… jeez, even next doors pond is looking tempting!!
Yes, enjoyed this DVD, and hopefully ST will return to these shores soon for some club show… in the meantime… “Let’s Skate”!!!
Pete Craven
Foxy Shazam have a brand new video online today and album about to be released soon. Watch ‘Oh Lord’ here and check these guys out live as they put on one hell of a show as you can read here from a recent London show.
Slam Dunk festival has expanded its territories once again, with new events in Bournemouth and Glasgow.
The new additions, Slam Dunk by the Sea and Slam Dunk Scotland, will take place in Bournemouth and Glasgow on the 28th and 31st May respectively.
Meanwhile the main Slamdunk festival takes place in both Leeds and London on the 19th and 30th may, featuring New Found Glory and Alkaline Trio, among others.
Hot Chip have released a new video from their recent album, One Life Stand.
The video, for album highlight I Feel Better, was directed by actor, comedian and voice of Darth Maul, Peter Serafenowicz.
The video features boy band dancing, screaming girls and an alien with a laser in his mouth. Nice.
The hugely anticipated fifth album from The National now has a title, release date, cover art and tracklist.
The record will be titled High Violet and shall be released on May 11th this year. The band recently previewed the album’s opening track, Terrible Love, on the American chat show, Late Night With Jimmy Fallon; check out that very performance, below
The cover art looks like this, and the tracklist reads;
1. Terrible Love
2. Sorrow
3. Anyone’s Ghost
4. Little Faith
5. Afraid of Everyone
6. Bloodbuzz Ohio
7. Lemonworld
8. Runaway
9. Conversation 16
10. England
11. Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks
Marty McFly: I’m sorry Doc; it’s all my fault you’re stuck back there. I never should have let Biff get to me!
Young Doc: Well, there are plenty worse places to be than the Old West. I could’ve ended up in the Dark Ages. They probably would have burned me at the stake as a heretic or something…
Best get yourselves strapped tight in the DeLorean DMC-12 people; we’re takin’ another blast back to the dawn of Hardcore with Sweden’s self styled barn av den svarta hål.
On their 3rd LP these Umeå dudes continue to lay down some of the most faithful old time North American Hardcore on the planet, packed with pissed, loud, snotty and sarcastic attitude of the type that came busting out of (notably) Southern California in the early Eighties. It’s an era that easily hits a Classic on the punk-o-meter, and Regulations go straight for the good shit…. (early) ‘Flag, Circle Jerks, Adolescents, Germs, and the title track has got a definite Flipper-ness to it… cool!
I’m really digging the dozen tracks on “To Be Me”, this is my idea of sharp melodic punk, with barely any of the songs breaking the 2minute mark, and when they even stretch to an incredible 3:18 on “Down the Street”… you can be sure this ain’t no feeble power ballad. Hard to pick favourites, but “Baghdad Beach Party” is a gnarly surf punk salvo, bang up to date with its blunt statement on the mess the West has caused in the Middle East, and I love the sentiments of “In The Shadow of a Mall”… U.C life is not the life for me!
I don’t think you will hear many better punk albums than “To Be Me” this year.
Pete Craven
This is too good to miss. Dave Grohl loves a coffee and we love Dave Grohl. Get your Vultures all Crooked from their studio right here.
Last time I checked, Copenhagen wasn’t slap bang in the middle of East London. Yet when you listen to Denmark’s Lucy Love you’d be forgiven for thinking the CD had been mislabelled with a Shystie record. This is absolutely no bad thing, with her hard hitting delivery piercing through the basslines of her tunes.
With a brilliant stage presence, as seen at her performance at London’s Tabernacle, the diminutive MC makes up for her lack of height with great delivery and the energetic way she runs through her tracks. The album features some nice dub-influenced tracks which allow her to ride the vibes, but it is the more upbeat tracks that stick in the memory as instant bangers.
Daddy Was A DJ and No VIP are the two tracks that do this perfectly, more electro than dub, with impossibly catchy melodies and sing-a-long choruses. Below is a video for a live performance of Daddy Was A DJ which tells you all you need to know about Lucy Love. It’s fun, it’s vibrant and it’s just plain good. Make sure you check out the two OK Formula remixes for some full on party bassline gubbins.
She could easily be a grime rapper from London, but the fact she’s Danish and can blast shit like this out is testament to her ability. Big!
Abjekt.
Canadian noise mongers Holy Fuck will release a new album, Latin, on May 10th.
The hotly anticipated follow up to their 2007 breakthrough, LP, will be released through Young Turks in the UK.
The band announced the information through Chat Roulette, where the song is still streaming among various other NSFW webcam streams. Holy Fuck indeed.
Meanwhile Holy Fuck will arrive in the UK in May to play the following shows;
May
18th – Manchester Deaf Institute
19th – Glasgow King Tut’s
20th – Liverpool Static Gallery
21st – Brighton Digital
22nd – O2 Academy 2 Oxford
23rd – Bristol Cooler
24th – London Heaven