(Originally posted December 2001)

Last month I was whining about the wait for new stuff by …And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead. Now, however, I have a shiny new copy of the Relative Ways/Homage EP [Interscope, US only] and I’ve stopped whining. Well, about this anyway. Relative Ways is very much on the catchy side of things, maybe even verging on a pop song. Conrad’s not singing about death destroy kill kill kill but instead about everything being alright and ok. and coming together in relative ways. But he’s also screaming himself hoarse with the emotion of it all and it works out like the next stage on from Mistakes and Regrets. You might get lulled into thinking, ‘well, it’s TOD but a properly recorded major label catchy TOD’ but look out! ‘cos Homage is about to smack you in the face in a hardcore punkrockriot. Always my favourite of the handful of new TOD songs heard live, it’s pretty much perfect on record with Jason’s Olympia garage punk past showing up loud and hard. Then to carry it on you get Blood Rites which is Conrad screaming over some Kill Rock Stars era Unwound guitars. If anyone says TOD have sold out then put this on and laugh in their face. Sadly the last track is an instrumental washout but hey, nothing’s perfect.

Mogwai had a couple of new records out recently which have been well worth money. The long-awaited live favourite My Father, My King on one track 12″ [Rock Action] may well be the record Mogwai are remembered for, the classic, essential get-this-one-first release. In 20 minutes it sums up Mogwai and everything that’s great about them, the statement and restatement of one simple motif, the build-up and the utter wonder of the noise. Steve Albini keeps it all clear and dangerously sharp so there’s no chance for Mogwai to meander too far and it all seems perfectly succint, 20 minutes being neither here nor there. No opportunity for John to try and break your hearing with waves of feedback either so definitely gets my vote. hah.

Continue reading »

So, you’re no doubt “hip” to the new thing that is Twitter – microblogging for the masses, social phenomenon etc. etc. Of course, us diskanteers have been on it for a while so I have added a handy list of links to our Twitter feeds over there on the left. We don’t have an official diskant Twitter because let’s face it, official Twitter feeds are hella boring, but instead you can keep up with us AS PEOPLE.

If you’re not on Twitter already then you’re missing out on knowing how Alex is getting on as a new resident of Texas, what Greg Kitten thought of the most recent episode of LOST and what technology I’ve broken today. Not to mention my real time updates of the daylight murder right outside my house. Awesome. It’s quality content like that which has made me the 14th most popular Twitterer in Glasgow.

Yeah, so come join us and you’ll get some extra free content throughout the day. I also heartily recommend the entertaining Twitterings of our blog friends Popjustice, Sweeping The Nation, I Like, and The Morning News.

Anyone else good we should be following? Leave a comment!

(Originally posted October 2001)

At the moment I’m feverishly awaiting the new stuff by …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead. Record label redtape looks like holding up the next album until January but let’s hope that’s not the case as it’s more than two years since TOD released a proper record in the UK. Either way there’s a single out next month which will feature my favourite of the new songs, Homage. They’ve been playing this one at their recent live dates and even let slip an MP3 demo copy to the fans. And it’s a stormer of a song – Jason’s trademark wailing sounding more urgent than ever as the guitars reach a frenetic pace trying to keep up to speed with the pounding drums. Which makes the little dips into downbeat thoughtfulness seem all the more unexpected.

If that’s not enough Jason Reece action to keep me happy [and, quite frankly, it isn’t] then there’s his gothic electronica side project A Roman Scandal. The single Lost in a Scandal [Paintcan Chandelierier] is enjoyable enough with it’s quietly muttered vocals and stuttering drums but for the real fun download the three MP3s from their website. Recorded live, they bubble and groove and you can just picture Jason drunkenly stumbling about like the crazy fool he is, ranting and whooping while the music whirls around him.

Continue reading »

Yes, yes, blah, blah, neglect, sorry etc. but there is new stuff coming right up.

First off, some interviews from the archives of Oxford’s excellent charity event Audioscope. These interviews have previously only been available in the event programmes but now everyone can read them. The first one up right now is with the very friendly FOUR TET, soon to be followed by Scout Niblett, Clinic, Piano Magic and Michael Rother. Bet you can’t wait!

Secondly, it seems apt that you all voted for my columns next as it’s my birthday next week. However, upon re-reading them, it seems more like a cruel punishment. Nevertheless, I have swallowed my pride and you can read all my ramblings in full over the next couple of months, starting Friday. In my defence, I wrote them eight years ago. They are also amusingly filled with predictions for the future, none of which have come to pass so far. Go me.

Newer readers may be impressed to discover my loyalty to certain names and phrases – diskant was been my username for everything from my first steps on to the internet back in 1995 and Asking For Trouble was my column name back in 2001 and went on to be the name of my record label and now artistic endeavours. No wonder Google loves me.

Okay, carry on.

Surely it’s too early for Festival season to be getting started? Well, here’s some info we’ve been sent.

Instal sets up in Glasgow again this March with their usual awesome/incomprehensible line-up of ‘brave new music’. If you’re quick, you can snap up an early bird weekend pass for just £20! I’d tell you the line-up but grr stupid Flash site and no copyable text. Insert your own joke about obscure music festival not letting you tell people about the line-up and then click over to the website for all the info.

All Tomorrow’s Parties have a bunch of events lined up for 2009. The UK gets two in Minehead in May. First up The Fans Strike Back featuring Devo, Sleep & Jesus Lizard  plus newly added diskant faves ERRORS and PARTS AND LABOR. Following that it’s curated by The Breeders and features Shellac, Throwing Muses, Holy Fuck, X and lots more. Both are on sale now. If you’re on the other side of the planet then there’s ATP New York in September curated by The Flaming Lips. More info on all of these at the ATP website.

And finally, if you’re in the North West of England over the next few months, make sure to check out UK DIY, a series of events, exhibitions and projects exploring DIY crafts across the UK. Opening this weekend at the Turnpike Gallery is an exhibition of zines including some by yours truly. Should be fun!

Or rather, some of you have been voting in our ‘which columns next?’ poll. The current front runner is Stuart Fowkes, which had absolutely nothing to do with him pleading for votes on Twitter, ahem.

All six of Stu’s columns are now scheduled and will pop up over the next few weeks taking us into March. Stu was our resident demo reviewer – this is often a thankless task but at diskant it’s usually preferable to the bombardments of PR-approved crap. At least you sometimes get a nice personalised letter and some sweets.

I’m hoping you’ll all add some comments to the posts and let us know what the folks reviewed are up to these days. Some were successful, some went on to form other awesome bands and others were never heard of again. Oh, and I joined one of them!

Please continue to vote in the poll as I do intend to get everyone’s columns up eventually and you can help decide the order.

Stu is also writing over at The Spider Hill, should you be interested (you should be!).

So, that was the end of Dave Stockwell’s columns from the old diskant zine days. I’ve been trying to line up Ross McGivern’s awesome set of columns for months now but he is re-editing them so go shout at him. While we’re waiting, I thought we could do a poll to help me decide the order of schedule for the remaining columnists. VOTE NOW!

Plan B have just launched a digital version of their magazine, so if you can’t find Plan B round your way, have no room for piles of old magazines or just prefer reading stuff on the internets, then this is for you.

It costs £17.50 for unlimited access to a year’s worth of magazines, which you can read, print and download. There’s a free issue up just now to let you see how it works and it looks pretty cool to me, though my broadband provider aready hates me enough without adding to my bandwidth usage.

Have a look HERE.

It has certainly been a while, but I have finally gotten around to adding not one, but TWO new interviews for your reading pleasure.

– First up, our man about Leeds – Pascal – got hold of Zach Hill after a recent solo show and probed him about drumming techniques and what’s up with Hella. He even recorded a bit of the show on video for you. He’s nice like that. Go read >>

– All us zine writers have a bunch of unpublished interviews gathering dust somewhere. I have a very lengthy one with The Bluetones. Luckily for you, that’s not what we’re publishing, but instead an interview by JGRAM with Glasgow’s Dead or American who recently launched their new album with the help of our own Souvaris. diskant: it’s like LOST – we’re all connected in so many ways. Go read >>

Have you got any interviews languishing in your archives? Maybe we’d like to read them – get in touch!

From the lovely folks at UK DIY:

Zine makers from across the UK are invited to send a copy of their most recent zine to be included in a forthcoming exhibition at Turnpike Gallery in Greater Manchester. The exhibition, UK DIY, explores the emergence of alternative, subversive, political craft taking place across the UK as a new generation reclaim and re-define craft, adding a distinctive tongue-in-cheek edge, and features craft that crosses over with music, science, technology, activism and street culture. The exhibition runs from 14 February – 25 April 2009.

Zines should be posted to UK DIY, Turnpike Gallery, Civic Square, Leigh, Greater Manchester, WN7 1EB. Please include your name and the town/city where you live. Please note that we are unable to return zines at the end of the exhibition.

Deadline for submissions: Monday 9 February 2009.

For more information please contact Louise Clennell, Gallery Co-ordinator, 01942 404469, email l.clennell AT wlct.org or visit www.ukdiycraft.com