i’m sure this won’t come as news to any of you, but six by seven are shite. four years ago they were one of my favourite bands in the whole world, but after seeing them tonight i have finally given up all hope. basically, i have put it down to the loss of their two critical elements: the saxophone, and the drumstick/guitar action. since the departure of guitarist sam hempton a couple of years ago, things have been getting progressively worse, but i was determined to reserve judgement at first in case they were just going through a “bad patch” or some crap, but alas, as tonight showed me, it just ain’t happenin’. i struggled through the barrage of mediocre, lack-lustre new songs, ever optimistic that any minute they would tear into brilliantly cute, and my faith would be restored, but i was left dissapointed, wondering what went wrong. they played the same venue last november with the same line up, and while i knew then that they weren’t the same band they once were, there were still moments that captured my imagination, and kept that flicker of hope burning in my heart (sniff) but tonight there was not one single moment that really made me stop and think “wow”, which essentially is what they were all about. their gigs in 98, just before the release of their first album were something to cherish. they seemed so incredible, so…vital to my 16 year old ears, and the “wow” factor was quite considerably higher. they were crucially ever on the brink, and the thrill was watching them avoid it, holding onto every last chord like their lives depended on it. and now it seems they have gone over the brink, and are spiralling into the chasm of indie oblivion.

so, i’m just confirming to myself what i’ve known for some time, but maybe some of you will know what i’m talking about, if not with this band, then someone else that seemed so perfect when you were younger, who now have just become in your mind, the same as every other dull shmindie outfit dragging themselves round this nation’s less glamourous venues.

support came from british sea power, who should never be allowed to play to people again, ever. thankfully, local band the visit opened, who were quite charming with their brand of wonky pub rock (and at least three songs about cocks). they were the perfect band to play first at a gig like this, it’s just a shame six by seven didn’t feel like finishing the job.

still, atp next week, so it’s not all bad.

I saw The Redneck Manifesto last night for the second time in a fortnight and they were fucking ace again. They had been on tour round Europe for two weeks and well to be honest they were a bit smelly. But the tour was pretty eventful. They wrote off a car and had to buy a lovely sporty 10 year old VW estate in a dubious shade of brown to finish the tour in. The was in between playing to 4 people in hamburg (3 of whom were tramps) and 200 people at a festival in belgium. Still must have made for an intesting time. The gig last night though had 4 bands playing in a dark, gloomy rehearsal room in a part of Manchester you’d not end up in out of choice. Dunno who the fist band was so we’ll skip past them but the second band were ace. Called Green Acre and from Grimsby or somewhere they managed to be more math rock and disjointed than Geiger Counter while throwing in some shouty vocals. They were great. Then it was Bilge Pump of Gringo fame who did their slightly odd mumbled word thing while fighting against a variety of technical hitches. Richie Redneck actually managed to sleep through part of the set which considering the noise emanating from the stage was some considerable achievement. Then came the Rednecks. No soundcheck they just ambled onstage and launched into it. As I said even dead tired they still managed to pull off a great show.

Things I like at the moment:
Shouty shellac type rock stuff. Especially a 7″ by Candian band Blake.
Bowyers pork and beef sausages – they’re like the holy grail, can’t find em anywhere no more, which is a shame ‘cos I got a hankering
Natalie Imbruglia (she’s sooooooooooo lovely)

Things I don’t like at the moment:
Arrogant people.
my bank balance
choc chip cookies

Ollie why were Cursive cack? I love their recorded stuff…

I saw Hirameka Hi-Fi, Electro Group and Fighting Red Adair last night. I don’t remember much about it though. I remember driving back to my house with eleven people in an eight seat van and with a traffic cone still on the roof. I remember it being loud. I remember the sound being rubbish. I remember Fighting Red Adair being mental and ill. I remember being impressed with Electro Group and buying their album. I remember missing Ben FM from the Hirameka live experience. I remember people giving me free records. I remember standing on my balcony this morning in the spring sunshine.

Things I Like:
Unwound: discordant guitars, mmmm
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists: still one of my favourite books. Bunch of painters at the turn of the century paint houses and discuss socialism in their lunch break. Much ‘throw im out the bloody winder’, drinking of petrifying liquid and the sort of socialist idealism that makes you want to cry.
All Tomorrows Parties countdown: Two weeks today!
Sitting in the 13th Note on a sunny afternoon drinking Irn Bru: What could possibly be better?

Things I don’t like at all:
Flat hunting: blah
Job hunting: double blah

ok, so appleseed cast were pretty good, but not exactly sensational. one of them looked like jason lee, which was rather amusing. cursive, on the other hand, were cack. pavement meets dexys midnight runners? not today thankyou.

avid followers of this blog (you know who you are) will remember some time ago that i won a competition with three lobed recordings and i got the first part of my prize today. it was a subscription to the purposeful availment cdep series, and today i got cds by bardo pond and six organs of admittance. woohoo, free stuff!

also, has anyone else noticed that the new issue of fracture has a full colour glossy cover? they’ll be asking people what ringtones they have quicker than you can say “newmusicalexpress”.

it was pretty fun. not tremendously exciting or anything, but entertaining enough. today i’m very, very ill. food poisoning or something. i attempted to watch Akira on dvd but ended up falling asleep for about the 7th time today.

things i like:
ice cream: doesn’t everyone? i want some. but i’d never keep it down.
stephen king: why did i never read anything of his before? great stuff.
signed system of a down stuff: fanboy!

things i don’t like:
vomiting: five times in a day. right on.
days off work when you’re actually ill: i’m so bored it hurts. ouch.

yeah.

ok, so i’m drunk and in no state to blog, but marceline insisted. when the overlord calls, what can you do?

um was, as ever, a lyrical genius, and managed to get through his own set, despite there being a crowd of about seven people, quite superbly. this man deserves awards. give them to him. now.

sunnyvale, despite 15 minutes of technical problems,. managed to get their groove on quite severely. hats off to smint and stu.

and then crs*, while playing a very short set, managed to charm the pants off most of the audience, and they even got some bookings on the strength of their set. so, yeah, rock!

so, an all dayer. i managed about five hours before scuttling home, inebriated and exhausted. take heed kids. entering your 20s does bad things to a person.

this wednesday i went to system of a down‘s third and final night at brixton academy. support was provided by dillenger escape plan who were energetic as hell but didn’t go down very well with ‘the kids’. or me. i imagine they would have been a lot more impressive if i’d gone along armed with knowledge of their songs, but for the uninitiated, they didn’t leave a lasting impression. system, on the other hand, were fucking awesome. and i’m not talking awesome as in like, radical, dude, i mean i was in frickin awe. they played for well over an hour, putting everything they had into it. the atmosphere and the crowd were great, it was gosh darn mind bogglingly fantastic. i ain’t had that much fun in ages. i’m very sore, strapped for cash and feel like i’m getting ill, but it was so worth it. absolutely astounding. apple pie, mutherfuckers.

Me again I’m afraid. If you’ve got any spare opinions or anecdotes can you forward them to the rest of the diskant staff?

Well, I dragged myself out last night to see Les Savy Fav, The Mars Volta and The Apes despite being exhausted beyond belief. So actually I missed The Apes. I heard they sucked. My impeccable timing had me arriving just as The Mars Volta started their set and I prepared to give them an open mind since I had some respect for At The Drive-In without really being very interested in them. Turns out they ruled, I was well impressed. There was still some elements of At The Drive-In: the sharpness, the fluidity, the action, but there was also a much more relaxed mood with the heavy keyboards and drawn out grooves. I guess it’s very similar to the change between the Nation of Ulysses and the Make-Up, right down to the addition of a supercute girl bassist. Except that I’ve never been too keen on the Make-Up. I can’t forgive them for not being the Nation of Ulysses any more and I imagine there’ll be some ATD-I fans feeling the same way about The Mars Volta. I’ll be intrigued to hear some of their recorded material to see if it’s as good.

The highlight of their set though was when when a bearded guy rushed through the audience and started whooping and dancing with the enthusiasm of a child in a balloon shop. Cue half the audience looking bewildered and wondering who the crazy man was. Tim from Les Savy Fav of course. LSF are just infectiously great, a spectacle of hilarity. They demand your involvement but with such charm that you participate without question. People will dance, people will hug the crazy man, people will allow him to wear their coat, rummage in their handbag and spray breath freshener in your mouth. If you are the security man you will attempt to keep things safe and correct but eventually melt a little and let the fun continue. Les Savy Fav laugh in the face of sense and order and have a bunch of tunes to make anyone dance. They just rock the house well past the curfew and leave you still dancing the next day. You have to see them.

My sleep-addled brain slowly dismissed possible causes [poltergeist, death metal band playing gig outside my window, local death metal fan committing suicide with chainsaw] and settled on workmen cutting down trees and/or mowing grass while listening to death metal on car stereo. but at 8am? it all seems very unreal now and I’m almost convinced I imagined it.

Certainly wasn’t what I needed after my evening of eclectic avant jazz at the 13th Note anyway. I went mainly to see the rare public appearance of Empire-Builder but also because Late Night Foreign Radio have put a lot of effort into making their residency at the Note as interesting as possible [themed nights, videos, record swapping]. Empire-Builder were testing out a new direction: no live drums, less guitars and instead centred round computer beats and bass-driven melodies. It was a bit sketchy at times but there’s just something about loud electronic music in a live environment that makes my heart pound so I was very happy. I want them to do a remix album and call it ‘Empire Rebuilder’ or ‘Re: Empire-Builder’.

Before this we got George Burt and friend who were amusingly jolly and possibly teach physics in their spare time for fun. As the fingers flew up and down the frets and the bits of metal were applied to the strings I had a horrible flashback to Sonic Youth at ATP2000. Shudder. I guess Sonic Youth are the nearest I’ve got to this kind of improvisational art jazz. Mostly I was in two minds as to whether it was a lot of pretentious twaddle or whether it was enjoyably odd. I think likely it was both. They did have a nice line in detuned riffs that I could have listened to all night. The headliners, Late Night Foreign Radio themselves, did a kind of similar thing but with less art and more ROCK. It again trod a very fine line between ‘yes!’ and ‘nooooo!’ but came out mostly on the side of the former.

Overall, it was kind of like being trapped inside a copy of The Wire for the evening. Except that The Wire would never deign to attend such a low key gig that isn’t even at the top of Mount Fuji or in the middle of a desert. More fool them.