Parlophone now UK's Most Viewed Youtube Channel!

Parlophone was the first record company that started giving me promos back in the day... and at least a couple times they were nice enough to give me the "jump" on everyone else which helped establish this blog a little quicker. I didn't start posting their stuff to climb the ladder though... I posted it because a large portion of my favourite bands are on it! See for yourself below and remember some of the high points in Parlophone's esteemed career :) Check out more here.

Peter Doherty- "Broken Love Song"


The Verve- "Bittersweet Symphony"


Blur- "The Universal"


Radiohead- "No Surprises"


Pet Shop Boys- "West End Girls"


Hot Chip- "Ready For The Floor"


Late Of The Pier- "The Bears Are Coming"


Supergrass- "Alight"


Big thanks to David Lennon. Be back soon!

Weekend Wrap Up: The Verve, Bloc Party, David Bowie, The Smiths

This is sort of a personal blog because I don't have much new to post or if I do I'm waiting to post it... so for you haters who think I'm too self involved, skip this one, you know and come back for just the music some other time :)

Well, it's the day of rest today... which means of course I'm getting upsetting calls from my family lol... but outside of that it's nice. The wife doing homework and getting ready for ballet... me watching Aqua Teen Hunger Force (which I just got the wife for her birthday), Boondocks, and now some music video DVDs I picked up.

At the moment I'm watching the Verve collected videos (including both UK and US versions) which is a great trip down memory lane.

I remember this time when I was at Interlochen Arts Academy living in the Hemmingway dorms, and feeling that music/culture was really turning the corner and a lot of that rested on the shoulder of Oasis, The Prodigy, and The Verve. One day after class I saw and ad for the premier of the "Lucky Man" video! A big deal as "Bittersweet Symphony" had recieved a lot of support from mainstream television and radio... along with this we also had plugs for both The Verve and Prodigy live at the "10 Spot".

It turned out that this change in culture, one which would hopefully help elevate America to that of it's English brothers... in terms of indie/dance music getting support from the general (enlightened) public... never happened (as much as I was counting on it happening). I really thought when we were getting this strange influx of British awesomeness we were going to allow space for it in our culture lol...

The "death" of Britpop was ushered in shortly thereafter, "The Great Electronica Hype Of 1996-1998" died on it's knees when albums like "Vegas" by The Crystal Method and "Decksdrumsandrockandroll" by Propellerheads didn't really take off (albums poised to hit the "rock" lovers) and The Prodigy (mostly) died out with them (in America that is).

There were a few surprise appearances (Oasis Unplugged) and reruns of these other live performances (as well as videos by Massive Attack, Manic Street Preachers, Blur, etc relegated to late night/early morning programming) but mostly from that point on... and it pains me to write these words... it was Kid Rock (who isn't a bad bloke but his music sucks), Britney Spears, countless boy bands, and the decline of American civilization that has lead us to where we are today.

Personally? As a 15 year old kid I thought the world was going to look like the Blur video for "The Universal"...

...everyone would be interested in culture like what was shown in the pages of The Face, and music would head towards America embracing electronic music for more than commercials.

Frankly it was quite the opposite. A few bands and DJs have done very well from England coming to the US but mostly not...

And then that amazing peaceful rave culture that came from us, only to be beefed up by Nicky Halloway, Paul Oakenfold, Danny Rampling et al, and then handed back to us stronger than ever... fell apart once some dumb kid took something (that probably wasn't actually ecstasy) and blew the whole thing onto the front pages of USA Today (it sort of ended up like the end of 24 Hour Party People). I still have all the papers and the magazines. Shit effected me greatly. No I'm serious. I thought the world was going to stay like this...

I hope one day to see a less xenophobic America that is willing to not dismiss British music as "gay", and not dismiss dance music as "gay" or "video game/commercial music" (Sample Conversation: "Oh, that's who this is? Midwest Product you say? It's the music for the Hummer commercial yeah? You said they were on that PacMan label you like so much... ghost something? I knew it has something to do with videogames. So that ghost place makes video game music? Why would you listen to that shit") and a country that is willing to let people convene in warehouses, sweat out the cares of the week, and not have the DEA come crashing in.
Here's that Midwest Product commercial... gotta make money somehow... but this is one of the best songs ever written...

I hope for more information about drugs and their effects as opposed to the standard "Drugs will kill you" line that makes young kids think heroin is as safe as weed because, well, weed didn't kill them (you think I'm kidding but I'm not). I hope for a lot of things, things I'll probably never see... but I'll do what I can to work toward them...

ANYWAY I DIGRESS... The Verve videos just brought back a happier time in life where I was dating a gorgeous girl, who inexplicably wanted me because I was fat with Sammy Hagar hair, setting the bar for every relationship I would have after that (no big surprise I married her 10 years later lol). And era before terror, an era where kids who listened to NIN were able to get down to a DJ set that had both Iggy Pop and Daft Punk in it. An era where the world seemed like it listened to the Verve and Pulp during the day and then got their rocks off to Goldie and the Chemical Brothers at night. A world that looked like the photos of Rut Blees Luxemburg.


RIGHT RIGHT! Back to less personal stuff... The Verve DVD is good. So is their new album Forth... no songs that I see taking America by storm but I tell ya "Sit and Wonder", "Love Is Noise", and "Rather Be" are fucking amazing songs. Personally I dug the Richard Ashcroft solo albums but, you know, to each their own!

I also bought The Smiths video collection. I probably don't have to say anything about this because you know it's awesome lol... instead perhaps I should say how fond I am of the new Morrissey album! "One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell", "I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris", and "Something Is Squeezing My Skull" are great starter tracks... but the whole thing is as good as you expect it to be :) Here's a little documentary I found on YouTube...

Morrissey- "Munich Air Disaster 1958" off the English Blood Irish Heart EP available on iTunes.

I also chanced upon a used copy of David Bowie's Sound And Vision clear vinyl boxed set... for $50 USD... it's going for at least $250 on eBay so BIG UPS TO THE CORNER RECORD STORE ON WEST MAIN STREET! Y'all did me reallllll good. I also got Bloc Party "Silent Alarm Remixed" (an album Pitchfork claimed was better than the original, something rare for a remix album) cheap, and a strange artifact... a cassette single of 808 State & UB40 that I didn't know existed! What a weird pairing... I still haven't listened to it but I expect it will be... well... interesting at the least lol...


And here's a Bloc Party track just because I mentioned them...
Bloc Party- "Like Eating Glass (Blackstrobe Remix)"

And that's it! Ramble ramble ramble blah blah blah... Be back soon... hope you had a good weekend. Enjoy the Superbowl... I hope I win the office pool lol...

UPDATE: I won my money back which is what matters. Did you hear that in Arizona, right after the winning touchdown, some cable subscribers got to see some chick unzipping a dudes fly, and then THAT DUDE waving his wang all over the place? Bizarre! But it wasn't out of place with sweating dudes piling on top of each other and smacking each others asses lol. PLUS there was a woman involved which officially makes male full frontal nudity "not gay" lol...

THE VERVE RETURN!

Oasis. Blur. You probably like one or the other.

But it's doubtful that you even question for a second whether you like The Verve.

When we look back at the golden age of British rock they were in the front line, along with other bands that are still making awesome records (Supergrass, Portishead etc). The Verve have always stuck out as being different than their peers... and now they are back.

So now, they've done shows together. Nick McCabe played out with previous postees, and Mancunian up-and-comers, Lowline. NME posted a session of work they were doing. They've been busy getting their profile up. And now I present you with this little gem...

The Verve- "LOVE IS NOISE"

NEW SINGLE RELEASED 4TH AUGUST ON PARLOPHONE.

I wish I could provide you with more info, and perhaps will throw up an old b-side later... but I had to get this up with the quickness.

You know I like to tell dumb little stories. Here's my Verve story. I had tickets to see The Verve and Massive Attack but Massive Attack dropped off the bill at the last second, and it was going to be hard to get to the show so I said, "Oh I'll see The Verve some other time."

For years I've been kicking my ass. Hopefully now I won't have to :)

However, I doubt I'll ever get to interview them. I'm sure Richard Ashcroft has actually transended space and time and floats on stage now... that's way above what I can handle lol...

Lowline & Nick McCabe of The Verve

You guys know I like to be ahead of the curve... and sometimes I can't pass up good news... even if it doesn't have an MP3 that comes with it! I know you all shit your pants when you heard The Verve were getting back together, so this little nugget of info will surely ignite your interest as well...


14th January 2008


THE VERVE'S NICK MCCABE JOINS RISING MANCHESTER BAND LOWLINE IN GUERRILLA GIG

Verve guitarist Nick McCabe joined rising Manchester band Lowline in a secret guerrilla gig in a disused mill on the outskirts of Manchester on Saturday.

The band were at Brunswick Mill, Ancoats to record the video for their debut single ‘Monitors’. Once filming had finished, the 300-plus crowd were treated to a full warehouse gig with McCabe taking to guitar alongside the band. It’s one of those gigs which will go down in Manchester folklore in years to come, in the same ilk as the Stone Roses starting out all those years ago.

Already tipped by The Enemy’s Tom Clarke as “The Best New Band In The Country” and only 30 gigs into their career, Lowline are about to drag Manchester back to the top where it belongs.

‘Monitors’ recorded by Owen Morris (Oasis / The Verve/ New Order) and paid for out of his own pocket after being blown away by the band, will be released March 3rd on 1-2-3-4! Records.
www.myspace.com/thisislowlife
link.

I mean... come on... it's coming out on 1-2-3-4!... Owen Morris? Nick McCabe? The Enemy? If you don't go to their Myspace you've got crack rocks for brains. Check back in the future and I promise you will hear more about these guys and I will certainly get an MP3 next time... until then...

If you just have to listen to something new and British check the new Ringo Starr?
Ringo Starr, 'Liverpool 8'