Soon…

Thanks to all those who came to the show last night, a great success we feel. Uzi & Ari, Fists and Line all played stonking sets and much merriment was had.

It’s the new year, which means best of lists, so here’s mine. 5 of my favourite albums released in twenty hundred and eight.

Lil Wayne – Tha Carter III

Lil Weezy doesn’t so much play with words as shoot at their feet to make them dance for him. The opening four tracks on ‘Tha Carter III’ are as good as any three consecutive tracks you’ll ever hear on a hip-hop album, and the Kanye West remix of ‘Lollipop’, is my track of the year, not least because it contains the best lines on safe sex ever written (see below). The rest of the album varies, (too much r&b), but Lil Wayne has made his own style, like a more musically-aware Old Dirty Bastard, and his inventiveness makes the whole record big fun. This was the biggest selling album of the US in 2008; gangsta rap with something to brag about.

“I’m in your, neighborhood, area, CD thing, tape deck, iPod, your girlfriend, and she say I got great sex, safe sex is great sex, better wear a latex’ cause you don’t want that late text That “I think I’m late,” text.”

TV on the Radio – Dear Science

TVOTR strike that precarious balance between arty experimentalism and emotional accessibility. Dear Science sees them move on from the buzzing ruggedness of the amazing ‘Return to Cookie Mountain’ and embrace a more polished, but equally visionary and fully realised sound. This band have found their own creative space, where well-chosen words cascade evenly over a sound relentlessly modern but also fully poetic.

“What’s this dying for”? Asks the Stork that soars with the Owl, high above canyon’s mighty walls. Owl said “Death’s a door, that love walks through. In and out. In and out. Back and forth. Back and forth”.

Why? – Alopecia

The latest record from Why? sees Yoni Wolf delivering his lines on death and relationships in his characteristic rap/whine over arrangements of piano, xylophone, bass, guitar and drums. I can see why this mightn’t sound appealing. But the arrangements are perfect. The chord progressions, melodies, beats and rhymes all come together like they’ve been lovingly crafted by skilled artisans. Yoni’s words are the centrepiece, his clever rhymes are more than just wordplay. The imagery is vivid and stays with you. It shows Yoni’s soul in all its anxious loves and toil.

“Even though I haven’t seen you in years, yours’ is a funeral I’d fly to from anywhere.”

Subtle – ExitingArm

Set against Yoni Wolf’s sometimes uncomfortably raw personal monologues are (his old bandmate) Doseone’s abstract collage of characters and narrative. The sparkling production of pulsing synths, humming guitar and cracking beats give this epic tale a directness that nicely anchors the sprawling metaphysics of ‘HourHeroYes’. Doseone remains, for my money, the best rapper in the game. His game might be a little different to everyone else’s, but isn’t that the point? Subtle also win the prize for one of my favourite gigs of the year.

“When last we left HourHeroYes, he was one part endless, two parts death.”

The Field – The Sound of Light

When I heard The Field’s 2007 debut ‘From Here We Go Sublime’, I was, like everyone else, mesmerized, but also slightly annoyed that I hadn’t come up with the idea first. It is, after all, a simple premise. Tiny, single-note size samples of records chopped and repeated over the pulse of kick drum and hi-hat. ‘The Sound of Light’ takes this imprint and stretches it out into 4 15 minute cycles. This is minimal techno as if made by Steve Reich, and totally engrossing.

Hello you.

Exciting release news shortly. For now, a couple of gigs in Nottingham we’re helping to promote. Our very own EL Heath plays the second, with a little bit of help from me.

Clique Clack & recordsonribs.com present…
@ The Hand & Heart Gallery, Derby Road (just before Canning Circus if you’re coming from town), Monday 19th January. £4 (£3 NUS)

UZI & ARI
Like all great pop bands, Uzi&Ari marry instant and intuitive songwriting with the desire to experiment and push personal boundaries. Be it through texture, tone or structure, Uzi&Ari’s songs never miss the opportunity to explore their limits or pursue things to a natural or unnatural end. There is a great patience at play in the development of each song which is perhaps masked at first by its more immediate elements – great pop hooks, joyous melodies, boy/girl vocals. The instant gratification that is the essence of pop music is to be had in abundance; yet for the more careful listener, layers upon layers of sound and rhythm can be peeled away to your heart’s content. If a musical frame of reference is needed, think The Postal Service, To Rococo Rot, or a more urgent The Album Leaf.
Watch : www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJpCx6MIxks
Listen : www.myspace.com/benshepard
Read : www.clumsycongregation.com

FISTS
Nottingham’s finest shambolic indie outfit, recalling early Pavement, Silver Jews, Cat Power, The Moldy Peaches, and a whole bunch of other music that fits in to the bracket of GOOD. Always unpredictable, always fun.
http://www.myspace.com/fistsmusic

LINE
Until recently, LINE was an electronic sideline to Neil Wells’ main musical interests, including the bands Seachange (Matador), Savoy Grand (Pickled Egg/Glitterhouse) and Escapologists. Then he realised that sounding like a depressed Kraftwer= awesome. Line’s debut LP, ‘Hearts’, spins strands of lo-fi electro, acid, indie rock and techno into heartrending love songs and is scheduled for a February 9th, 2009 release on Uncharted Audio.
http://www.myspace.com/mynameisline

And then….

Records on Ribs, Drowned In Sound & Highsoc present…
@ Lee Rosy’s Tea, Broad Street. £not much

GLISSANDO
Returning to Lee Rosy’s for the third time following supports for Stars of the Lid, this show will see Glissando accompanied by The Fleeting Glimpse Ensemble: Paul Elam (guitar/percussion), Sophie Green (violin) and Lauren Smith (cello). Haunting ambience combined with songwriting that displays a wondrous gift for melody. Fans of Low, Dead Can Dance, Bat for Lashes and Stars of the Lid will find much to enjoy.

“it plays like a majestic dream. And it’s one you’ll never want to wake up from.”- NME (album review)

“This record completely took me over for the whole 70 minutes. I was hanging on every chord waiting for their next move.”
Comfort Comes 9/10

“Low meets Mogwai, only with fragments of Regina Spektor at her most restrained. Exceptional.”
RockFood 5/5

“the more sedate moments culled from Set Fire to Flames back catalogue are an underlying influence as are both the measured and mercurial montages cast into the public eye by early career Sigur Ros and Godspeed You Black Emperor”.
Losing Today

THE AMBER SLEEP
Sumptuous chamber-folk from Graham Jones of The Exploits of Elaine/The Good Anna. Haunted memories linger in the manner of Antony & the Johnsons, Sufjan Stevens or a low key The National.

EL HEATH
EL Heath creates breathtakingly beautiful rural ambience inspired by Harmonia, Yann Tiersen, Stars of the Lid and the countryside around his Shropshire home. Heath will be playing his martenot and will be joined for this show by David Bell of The Exploits of Elaine.

Hello there,

Our good friends Souvaris have had rather a lot of expensive gear nicked from their practice space in Nottingham.

Please keep an eye out, and maybe buy an album or two of theirs to help in some tiny, tiny, tiny way. They’re a mighty fine band- sprightly post-rock that’s full of joie de vivre and feeling. Fans of Tarentel, Neu! and Mogwai should most certainly investigate. We’ve listened to a lot of post-rock here at RoR HQ and most of it’s shit, but this most certainly is not and we unreservedly recommend it.

Here’s their missive…

————————————

Hello there,

Souvaris’ practice space was broken in to last night or the night before, and we lost some of our most precious (and expensive) gear.
Missing are the following:

* 1 x 1978 Fender Musicmaster

Natural wood finish with a black scratchplate. In a soft case bag. Serial number to follow. Looks a lot like picture 1.

* 1 x Korg Triton LE Keyboard

Looks like Photo 2, although very “well-travelled”. Couple of the knobs missing, a big fat scratch above the pitch bend, a cigarette burn over on the right hand side.

* 1 x Clavia Nord Lead

As per photo 3. Doesn’t even work properly unless you know how to coax it, and thus of almost no value to anyone but me.

Also stolen was a crappy Behringer 4 track mixer, 2 x guitar pedals (a boss overdrive and some ancient delay pedal made by god knows who) and a Gator keyboard case worth about £80 in its own right.

If you hear anything about any of this stuff, please let me know. Anything at all… we desperately need to get this stuff back. I’ve had my entire set up stolen, and have no idea how I would even begin to afford to replace it.

You can get me at ichbinsimmo at gmail dot com, or on 07807 221082. Please pass info about the stolen stuff on to anyone you can think of (especially musicians in and around the Nottingham area), and feel free to repost this on message boards, etc.

Thanks – we’re really upset about this, and would do anything to get this gear back.

S.
xxx