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– All us zine writers have a bunch of unpublished interviews gathering dust somewhere.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!

– – ALBUMS – –

Stunners:

Flying Lotus – Los Angeles. Real headphone hip hop. Massive beats and dirty samples – it’s rare to call a rap album beautiful but this sets the yardstick. Yum Yum Flying Lotus.

Volcano – Paperwork. Read my review!

Flake Brown – Help the Overdog – ditto. Good old, peculiar folk.

Gang Gang Dance – Saint Dymphna. Wildy danceable – a dizzying 11 tracks. Grime track Princes surprised the hell out of me but is the album’s best.

Not Too Shabby:

Bjork – Volta. Good tunes but where the hell were Chris Corsano or Brian Chippendale ?

Jonquil – Lions

Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend

Gushpanka – Gushpanka

– – GIGS – –

Brudenell Social Club = my new home:

Acid Mothers Temple,

Oxes + Bilge Pump,

Daedalus,

Oxes,

Dalek + Zach Hill

Others

Charlottefield – Wheatsheaf, Oxford, 12^th Jan (last gig??)

Volcano! – The Library, Leeds

DJ Yoda’s Magic Cinema Show – Oxford Academy

– – 3 GOOD THINGS – –

Sweden

Mackerel

Flying Lotus

– – 3 BAD THINGS – –

Damon Che – Drums,

Gene Doyle – Guitar,

Jason Jouver – Bass

(WHAT are Don Cab doing???!?!)

Desert: Delia Smith’s How to Cook Book 1, singing Dream of Gerontious, Thame Choral Society and the Bernwode Singers, an England-free World Cup = great and unbiased viewing, Sweden, Czech Republic: teaching English + tasty Czech beer, Leeds Uni, interviewing Zach Hill, Leeds Festival Chorus, Oxfam Headingley, Room 237, Scandinavian Soc, North Hill Court, Samba and Reggaeton, Exodus at the West Indian Centre, Leeds University Union Music Library, Reggae Reggae Cookbook, Moscow Philharmonic + sardines at Leeds Town Hall, meeting Judith Bingham (blog here), Viva Cuba’s house band, BBC Manchester, Poulenc: Gloria

Some things of note:

1. Yes, sorry, that was the last of the Chris Summerlin columns. You can still read all his other blog posts here, or how about a nice interview we did with Chris about Reynolds.

2. So, who’s up next? Simon Minter, that’s who. Simon was actually the editor of our columns section and did such a good job he even persuaded himself to write two columns, one about music and one about films. I’ll start posting these up as of next week. He also did all the cute column banners, did you know?

3. Don’t forget you can still buy our 10 year anniversary zine which has content not available on the website and can be read on the bus without the use of a fancy iPhone or whatever. It’s just one pound, people! Buy it here.

4. There’s something of a zine resurgence going on, have you noticed? This of course is A Good Thing and I will write more later.

5. And finally, PROOF that the diskant 08/08/08 party did actually happen thanks to this lovely video by Alice. Be amazed by the indie tombola, Findo Gask’s video projections and Sunnyvale driving a very long distance. Luckily for you, Alice didn’t document the part where we all got woken up at 8am by an orange march outside my house + torrential rain. Rock and Roll.

a long way to Glasgow from Alice Peapods on Vimeo.

HEY, YOU! Today is your last chance to enter the giveaway for a Wil Forbis book and CD. All you need to do is post any old comment on this post and you could be the winner. It really is that easy.

Also, photos of the diskant party are starting to turn up online – see some by me, Stu and Emma. I’ll be updating the 08/08/08 page with any more photos or reviews I spot so keep a lookout there and let me know if I miss anything.

As the diskant party approaches, everything is starting to come together. I now have fifty copies of the diskant zine, a 32 page photocopied jaunt through the last ten years of diskant. It’s basically lots of short bits of writing that caught my eye as I trawled the archives but makes for a fantastically good read.

Here’s the content line-up:

– Summer 2008 Catch-up by the diskant team (June 2008)
– Bargain Bin Culture by Wil Forbis (April 2002)
– Honey Is Funny by Chris Summerlin (April 2003)
– Mild Head Injury by Simon Minter (July 2002)
– Some Kind of Monster by Dave Stockwell (September 2004)
– Instal 05 by Marceline Smith (October 2005)
– The Owls Are Not What They Seem by Alex McChesney (July 2006)
– Magik Markers, twice by Joe Luna (May 2006)
– Liquid Blue by Fraser Campbell (June 2005)
– Super Quick Primavera Roundup by Ollie Simpson (June 2007)
– “Ladies and Gentlemen, we got him” by Ross McGivern (December 2003)
– Slint by Chris Summerlin (April 2005)

The unlinked items are columns which we will be re-posting at some point in the future. However, you can read them NOW (or in a few days anyway) by purchasing a copy right here in my shop for a mere £1. You can also buy copies at the diskant 08/08/08 party of course.

If you’re one of the people involved in the above works of genius, email me for your free copy.

Even though I am up to my eyeballs in diskant party planning, I still find the time to give you new interviews to read. It’s amazing isn’t it?

First up is a long-overdue Talentspotter profile of the lovely SUNNYVALE NOISE SUB-ELEMENT who have just released an album of live tracks and remixes and will be bringing their own particular brand of genre-defying experimental electro-rock all the way from Oxford to our 10 year anniversary party (THIS FRIDAY!).

In the other corner is the mighty WIL FORBIS, Acid Logic founder, musician, diskant columnist and general good guy. No wait, bad guy. Oh, whatever. With his book just published and his Bargain Bin Culture columns dusted off and re-posted on diskant, I thought it was time to catch up with the man himself. It’s a pretty damn good read if I do say so myself.

Wil has also kindly offered up a copy of the book and his latest CD for a giveaway right here on diskant. Just leave a comment on this post and I’ll get Wil to pick someone as a WINNER in a week’s time. Flattery is probably the way to go. All joking aside, this really is a fantastic book so get on it, or buy your own copy by clicking on the image to your right.

This contest is now closed.

Bad news everyone!

– that was the last of the old columns from Wil Forbis. I hope you enjoyed them. If you want more, remember Wil’s book, Acid Logic: A Decade of Humorous Writing on Pop Culture, Trash Cinema and Rebel Music, is available now and is jolly good. He also writes regularly at Acid Logic, of course.

Good news everyone!

– Look out for an interview with Wil about his book, website and exciting life very soon. He might also be popping back here to blog now and again. Woo!

– We have a new set of old columns ready for you, this time by Chris Summerlin. I’ve been dipping into them and they get funnier and more enraged by the week so keep reading. There will be a new one every Tuesday and Friday for a couple of months. This ties in nicely with Chris gallivanting off to Australia later this month so you’ll hardly have time to miss him. First one up sometime today.

Poster time! Sadly we were too late for Summerlin poster action so flag-waving cupcakes is where it’s at. Who doesn’t like happy party cupcakes?

I have also made some diskant and pie-related badges which we’ll be giving away FREE until they run out so get there early. If you miss out, or can’t make it to Glasgow, you can buy a set right here for just £1.50.

Are you excited yet? More info here of course.

New things!

– An interview with everyone’s favourite pixie-voiced geometry-loving indiemetallers BATTLES which took place in their chalet at ATP while watching King of Kong. They were surprisingly good fun and the interview is well worth a read. Go go here >>

– Narrowly escaping the fate of being branded the new “Oedipus demo tape” in diskant’s useless slacker hall of fame, Glasgow’s FINDO GASK finally turn in some answers for a Talentspotter profile. They made The Guardian so giddy they both used the word “ecclesiastical” and compared them to Aled Jones. Read read here >>

– I can also announce that Findo Gask will be one of the exciting live bands at the diskant 080808 birthday extravaganza, along with diskant’s own electronic pioneers Sunnyvale Noise Sub-element. Everything you need to know is on the 080808 page of INFORMATION. Party party here >>

Okay, I need a lie down now. ENJOY.

I am back now and have some exciting news. diskant will soon be TEN YEARS OLD and thus we are having an extravaganza on the eighth of the eighth of the eighth. This is not the actual date of diskant’s anniversary as I didn’t think it an event worth noting at the time but it’s the right month and it does tie in nicely with the only other diskant event, our gig on 02/02/02. However, that was a complete coincidence as I only noticed what date it was the other week.

Anyway, it will involve bands, tunes from the glory days of diskant, secret surprise guests*, PIE, free badges, an INDIE TOMBOLA with AMAZING PRIZES** and some other awesome stuff. I will announce more details soon but get your diaries out and make sure you’re in Glasgow that weekend.

*No, The Oedipus will not be reforming. OR WILL THEY? (No)
**If you would like to donate an amazing prize, or just some tat, get in touch.