Gabrielles Wish - Pirate Of Mens Pants (sampler) (2 tracks)

Streaming clips from the new Gabrielles Wish single.
New single out March 8, available here:
https://gabrielleswish.bandcamp.com/album/pirates-of-mens-pants
More details here:
http://www.gabrielleswish.net/2010/03/pirates-of-mens-pants.html

Posted via web from Mick's posterous

Section 25 - Be Brave with Nifty Natalie, a tribute to Larry Cassidy

This video has been assembled by a fan with a great early Section 25 song and clips from the Pollock and Pollock show, apparently a surreal broadcast which happened in the second half of the 80s on some TV station in Winnipeg, Canada, which featured this Nifty Natalie trying to dance in a funny expressive way. I think it looks like a really cool match somehow and can be a nice tribute to Larry Cassisdy (1953 - 2010) from this blog.

Section 25 leader dies

Very bad news, their last two albums were honestly excellent.
Here's Cerysmatic Factory's obituary (pic taken from this live review) :

Larry Cassidy (1953-2010) 
We report with great sadness the death of Larry Cassidy, singer and bassist with cult Factory Records post-punk group Section 25. Larry was found at his home in Blackpool on Saturday 27 February, and though the cause of death has not yet been confirmed there appear to be no suspicious circumstances.

Born in Blackpool in April 1953, Lawrence John Cassidy decided against joining his father’s family business (Casdon Toys) and opted instead to study art in London, gaining a first class degree in 1977. Inspired by psychedelia and Krautrock, and by exposure to punk at the Roxy club, Larry decided to form a band back home, recruiting younger brother Vin on drums, and guitarist Paul Wiggin. The name Section 25 referred to a clause in the Mental Health Act allowing for involuntary detention. Thanks to early mentors Joy Division the group joined Factory Records in 1979, recording their first single (Fac 18) with Ian Curtis and Rob Gretton producing.

Their debut album Always Now (1981) was recorded with producer Martin Hannett, and came packaged in a costly and elaborate pochette sleeve designed by Peter Saville. "I did get a fascinating brief from Larry," explains Saville on one of his finest works, "I seem to remember he wanted something quite European, but psychedelic - and with some Oriental influences. After that, I was on my own!"

Saville also designed the cover of From the Hip, their third album from 1984. Co-produced by Bernard Sumner of New Order, From the Hip saw a successful transition from abrasive post-punk to smooth electronics, best heard on the proto-techno club single Looking From a Hilltop. By now Larry’s glamorous young wife Jenny had joined the band, Tony Wilson having failed to interest a pre-Smiths Johnny Marr from taking over on guitar following the departure of Wiggin.

Both Wilson and Gretton found Section 25 frustrating at times, not least their lack of orthodox management. Indeed Gretton joked that the band were unmanageable, and that their sole gimmick was that they had no gimmick. A charismatic curmudgeon, and slightly older than most other musicians on the label, Larry sometimes found it hard to balance the aesthetic satisfaction of being a Factory band with the scant financial rewards. ‘You have to stand there out in the desert, holding on to your own little truth, waiting for the boat to come in.’

Section 25 effectively split in 1986, Larry afterwards running a light industrial unit, and retraining as a schoolteacher. Plans to reform the group were upset by the tragic loss of Jenny Cassidy to cancer in November 2004, naturally also a devastating personal event for Larry, but three years later Section 25 released a new album, Part-Primitiv, followed by Nature + Degree in 2009. The Guardian also listed From the Hip as one of ‘1000 albums to hear before you die’. As appreciation of Section 25 and Factory continued to increase, the group again found themselves in demand as a live attraction, visiting Germany, Italy and the United States in 2009, and joined by Larry and Jenny’s daughter Beth Cassidy on vocals and keyboards. Larry played what proved to be his last show with Section 25 at the historic Plan K venue in Brussels on 12 December 2009, along with fellow Factory pioneers A Certain Ratio, Biting Tongues, The Names and The Wake. At the time of his death a remix album, Retrofit, was almost complete.

Larry leaves a partner, Lesley, and two children, Nathaniel and Bethany.

Peter Hook, the Joy Division/New Order bassist who joined Section 25 for several shared dates in 2008, said: "I am so deeply shocked to hear about Larry, and very upset."

Says Vin Cassidy: "My brother Larry wasn’t always the easiest person to be in a band with, but he was the best."

John Robb, writer, musician and fellow Blackpool native, writes in his blog: "Section 25 were leagues ahead of everyone else in Blackpool. They were organized and had invented their own sound – a deceptively doomy, powerful, stripped-down, bass driven, dissonant, postpunk that combined the nihilism of the times with Larry’s art school cool. Another great lost genius. Maybe Larry’s death will wake everyone up to how great his band was."

Sanremo 2010

L'anno scorso era stata l'edizione delle Nuove Proposte, da cui erano emerse voci così interessanti da impedirmi di notare subito Malika Ayane. Mea Culpa: Come Foglie meritava (soprattutto la voce), e infatti alla distanza è emersa, ed è anche maturata. Quest'anno porta Ricomincio Da Qui (tratto dall'album Grovigli, di cui vedete qui la copertina), un brano molto più sofisticato, meno immediato, ma più emozionante. I palati fini lo riconoscono, e per il premio della Critica, giustamente, non c'è storia.
Quest'anno la categoria si chiama Nuova Generazione, ed era impossibile che ci fosse un exploit come quello dell'anno scorso. Infatti il vincitore Tony Maiello andrà bene a chi apprezza i cantanti sentimentali napoletani, ma ben difficilmente ripeterà il successo di Sincerità di Arisa, che quest'anno è tornata con un brano un po' confuso: ritornello orecchiabile ma troppo veloce, e completamente staccato dalla strofa, un potenziale successo viene pasticciato e alla fine si può solo sorridere per le simpatiche coriste, le Sorelle Marinetti, un trio di travestiti... degna di nota l'esibizione con il jazzista Lino Patruno, che ha dato un po' più di coesione e significato alla canzone.


Dalla mediocrità degli appartenenti a questa categoria (con episodi davvero irritanti come quello dei teen idol Broken Heart College) possiamo salvare appena Romeus per quel pizzico di inventiva in più, La Fame Di Camilla, una band che almeno ci prova, a fare rock, e Nina Zilli che ha una canzone zeppa di stereotipi soul ma una voce molto valida che merita di essere riascoltata in una migliore occasione.
L'unica ad emergere davvero è una quindicenne, Jessica Brando, anche se forse pochi si accorgono di lei, se non per il fatto che la prima serata non può cantare perchè è troppo giovane per esibirsi dopo mezzanotte. Valeria Rossi, sì, quella del tormentone Sole-Cuore-Amore di quasi un decennio fa, le fa cantare Dove Non Ci Sono Ore, una canzone molto sofisticata (in particolare il ritornello è di una raffinatezza incredibile) e con un testo meraviglioso ma forse troppo complicato per lei, che però se la cava e la interpreta bene, anche grazie alla sua bellissima voce.
Come il vincitore della Nuova Generazione, anche il vincitore dei Big, Valerio Scanu, proviene da Amici. Anche il suo brano è del tutto insignificante, e mi pare che non abbia neppure una gran voce o qualità interpretative, ma evidentemente il personaggio televisivo è sufficiente a ribaltare, col televoto, l'eliminazione da parte della giuria demoscopica della prima serata. La sua vittoria è, incredibilmente, un sollievo, se si tiene conto che l'atroce trio Pupo, Emanuele Filiberto e Canonici è arrivato secondo (sempre ribaltando l'eliminazione della giuria, tra moti di sdegno e ribellione nel pubblico, in sala stampa e tra gli orchestrali).
Un altro personaggio televisivo arriva terzo, Marco Mengoni proviene da X Factor e non si capisce bene se può essere qualcosa di più di un alter ego più irritante di Giuliano Sangiorgi dei Negramaro... forse sì forse no, come canta lui stesso... dallo stesso talent show proviene Noemi che, come Karima l'anno scorso, dimostra che, sebbene raramente, da questi programmi inguardabili può anche emergere una voce interessante: Per Tutta La Vita ha strofa e ritornello che sono una cucitura di due canzoni già sentite, ma lei sembra un incrocio tra Nada e Loredana Bertè, perciò merita attenzione, e infatti al momento domina la classifica dei singoli di iTunes.
Toto Cutugno e Nino D'Angelo sono parodie di loro stessi, e meritano la conferma della loro eliminazione, i Sonohra sono più giovani ma sono ancora peggio, anche di chi ha portato sul palco una Nilla Pizzi novantunenne in evidente difficoltà, mancandole completamente di rispetto.
Povia sfrutta, come al solito, argomenti delicati e porta un brano su Eluana Englaro che un cardinale definisce "inno all'eutanasia". In realtà non si può far meno di ammettere che la melodia è piacevole e il testo emozionante ma rispettoso, alla fine nessuno ha niente da ridire...
Simone Cristicchi sembra Caparezza con la sua canzoncina divertente e polemica, Fabrizio Moro sembra un cantante reggae, due brani piacevoli, ma in quest'edizione di Sanremo tra alti e bassi c'è di meglio: Irene Grandi richiama Bianconi dei Baustelle che, dopo la mega hit Bruci La Città, le scrive un'altra canzone che funziona, La Cometa Di Halley, e poi c'è un Enrico Ruggeri sorprendente: di solito mi dice poco, ma La Notte Delle Fate è una canzone ambiziosa e molto emozionante.
Irene Fornaciari ha imparato un paio di trucchi dal padre (ovviamente Zucchero) e li utilizza con la sua splendida voce per un'interpretazione sbalorditiva di una bella canzone, accompagnata dai Nomadi.
Questo è Sanremo, un carrozzone di cui si vorrebbe fare a meno, ma ciò significherebbe rinunciare a quella manciata di belle canzoni che puntualmente emergono nel marasma trash, e che nell'esecuzione con l'orchestra sono sempre impreziosite rispetto alla versione in studio.
Per ogni Pupo che si porta dietro un Savoia per uno squallido inno populista c'è una Fornaciari che incanta, per ogni Scanu che vince immeritatamente c'è una Malika Ayane vincitrice morale.

Udachi, brightest talent in ages

We were getting used to music not being able to spark an exciting scene anymore.
With notable exceptions like Mew, rock music has become more and more derivative and predictable, but even dance music has been suffering from an abuse of samples and has sounded just safe in the recent years.
But now, from New York, comes a new scene kicking the ass of dance music and waking up music in general.
It just sounds as innovative as acid house, and as exciting as punk. It's dance music you can pogo at, it's just that powerful and fresh. They call it Fidget house, but it's being called many other names, like "dirty house", or "electro house". I prefer Fidget because it's just a new term which doesn't just mix two other terms.
At first it sounds like the DJs have been inspired by Mr Oizo and his 90s ad hit Flat Beat, you know, that video with Flat Eric, the yellow puppet in the office, but of course it's just more than that. Drawing from the fringes of rave, gabba, techno, hip hop, breakbeat, electro and dubstep, Fidget house looks forward and creates a new world of heavy bass, fast rhythm, sharp sounds and simple but not stupid tunes.
Apparently the first true hit came from Italian duo Crookers, when they remixed Kid Cudi's Day N Nite.
But the best label right now pushing the best Fidget is based in Brooklyn and it's called Party Like Us, which is owned by AC Slater, one of the best DJs of the scene.
But there's an artist really standing out, miles above everyone else. It's an Ukranian immigrant called Greg Pesochin, best known as Udachi.
Be it his own music, or remixes for other artists and bands (which are always far better than the original versions), he always makes innovative, powerful, funny, inventive and emotional stuff, the biggest genius to emerge in this century by far.
The best track to start with is his club hit Smoke Rings (released with Jubilee), which is the video I've embedded, because it's really accessible and exciting, since featuring dubstep elements and female vocals.
I've discovered this music thanks to Faulty Kru's DJ sets in my town and just noticed the best stuff they're playing is all made by Udachi.
There are other talents around the world, like the mighty Jokers Of The Scene from Canada or Rico Tubbs from Finland, but let's get back to Brooklyn and let's learn more about Udachi's story reading this interview.
He also has another project called Boltan, which does even heavier stuff, like Braindead.
Udachi has a profile on SoundCloud where you can download loads of free MP3 files, I especially recommend his remix for Body Part(y) by Paragraph or for the nu gaze hit We Own The Sky by M83 (there are just no barriers for a Fidget DJ), or his whole DJ set at the Infatuation in San Francisco.
Other great tracks you must hear are Paypur (again released with Jubilee and more purely Fidget than Smoke Rings) or his storming remix of Hype, joint effort by Dre Skull and JuiceBoxx.
After releasing on labels like Trouble And Bass (Jellyroll) and Nightshifters (Smoke Rings), Udachi has just released a single on Party Like Us, my favourite version of P-Funk Skank is the remix by French DJ Costello, who returns the favour to Udachi for his excellent remix of Bitchy Skills (don't click on the 123music.net link on the page, it's spam).
Some of Udachi's music is available on iTunes, but you find more tracks on the specialized Beatport.
Definitely a scene to rave about!