As the most important contest in sporting historygets underway once more, it seems necessary to give an honourary mention to The Duckworth-Lewis Method. Coined as a statistical means of calculating the target score for a team batting second in a 1-day cricket match, this term now lends its name to a cricket-themed Divine Comedy side-project . Whilst undoubtedly very novelty, their album of wry folk ditties provide the ideal accompaniment to a day of cricket and earl grey tea.
Hello Sports Fans. It's been a while hasn't it? So much to talk about, so little time....so here goes...
Goatwriter's Raucous Summer Releases:
1) Kiss Kiss, Brooklyn's stellar proggy emo-popstars, have released their new album 'And The Meek Shall Inherit What's Left'. See here for a Patton-esque deconstruction of Yellowcard by way of Cursive.
2) The Most Serene Republic's third album '...And The Ever Expanding Universe' has just been released on Arts&Crafts. This is going to be the lead off single...
3) Ex-Mclusky and Jarcrew party-poppers Future of the Left have released their second album Travels With Myself and Another.
Remember to check back with the Goatwriter on Spotify and for gods sake, lets get some SYNERGY going on this thing.
Storsveit Nix Noltes sit somewhere in the murky peripheries of that ill-defined genre ‘world music’, a brush with which lazy hacks tar those artists who exist outside of Camden. This is definitely true of Reykjavik’s finest purveyors of traditional Bulgarian folk music, whose latest album sees its UK release courtesy of venerable indie stalwarts Fat Cat. The 11-strong Storsveit (or ‘big-band’) feature some key alumni from Iceland’s indier-than-thou fraternity, not least Múm keyboardist Kristín Valtýsdóttir. Balkan-tinged indie has been en vogue for some time (see Zach Condon’s Beirut or Gogol Bordello’s gypsy-punk) however none could accuse the staunchly traditional Storsveit of jumping on any such bandwagon. Upon first listen Royal Family – Divorce explodes as an impenetrable torrent of mathematical orchestral noodling. However, as one’s lazy western ears adapt to the Slavic racket the tight, focused musicianship and intricate melodic interplay become evident. Storsveit weave effortlessly through complex, almost polyphonic, textures in their zealous pursuit of Balkan authenticity. The album plays out like the soundtrack to some raucous Romany barn dance, with the bombast at times becoming rather overbearing (see: chaotic opener Wedding Rachenitsa). Other moments allude more towards the post-rock heritage of the collective’s other ventures, as in the gloriously static ridden trumpet tirade of Cetvorno Horo. Indeed, the driving percussion and rickety orchestration of album highlight Elenska Rachenitsa is reminiscent of a more succinct A Silver Mt. Zion. It is in these moments of more cohesive composition that Storsveit touch on something special, a quality far removed from many of Royal Family – Divorce’s ramshackle folk ditties.
Once again, this glorious piece is published today in Bristol Universities Epigram.
Hello All. Sorry to lower the tone of this otherwise very reputable and muso-orientated blog to the sweaty realms of science fiction, but after watching the new Star Trek trailer I was left with little choice. Having recieving very positive reviews, and with a sequel in the pipeline already, I too am beginning to get very excited for the May 8th release..
Hello friends. Various pressing commitments have confounded my efforts to keep this blog updated, so by way of an apology here is something really quite special....
Sigur Ros performing 'Vid Spilum Endalaust' in a French restaurant for the brilliant Take Away Shows courtesy of La Blogoteque. Check out the lady on the phone, she doesn't know what's going on!!
Greetings friends. The rather excellent art-rock noiseniks Volcano! have just unleashed the video for their new single So Many Lemons (out today). The video features a 'nanopus' costume which volcano! hope to bring on stage during their impending short European tour.
The first batch of bands for this years Bristol/Nottingham based indie-fest Dot to Dot have been announced today. Quite a mixed bag... Friendly Fires Ladyhawke Annie Mac Patrick Wolf Cage The Elephant Little Boots AC Newman Tommy Reilly Crystal Stilts The Big Pink Shapeshifter The Pains Of Pure Of Heart Vivian Girls 65 Days Of Static (Nottingham only) Boys Noize (Nottingham only) Brodinski (Nottingham only)
As usual the thing is heftily biased towards Nottingham, with the only *real* big name 65DaysofStatic not being booked for a Bristol show. I mean come on CAGE THE ELEPHANT?! AGAIN? On top of this for your money you can dance the night away with a DJ set from Radio 1 no-hoper Annie Mac and lollop around to washed up Lord of Kook Patrick Wolf. Yawn. Got to Field Day instead. In fact, this line-up is so bad I can't even think of a suitable yootube video to end with. A dark day indeed.
As the most important contest in sporting history gets underway once more, it seems necessary to give an honourary mention to The Duckworth-Lewis Method. Coined as a statistical means of calculating the target score for a team batting second in a 1-day cricket match, this term now lends its name to a cricket-themed Divine Comedy side-project . Whilst undoubtedly very novelty, their album of wry folk ditties provide the ideal accompaniment to a day of cricket and earl grey tea.
