Rock – Page 2 – Rocknerd

Reviews: The Glass Eyes, Elektrostaub, Stolen Apple (2016, 2017).

16 December, 201718 December, 2017 Industrial, Pop, Record, Rock 0

Two indie rock, one industrial bleep.

Diplomatic escort for David Bowie and Iggy Pop, 1976.

8 October, 2017 Drugs, Punk, Rock 0

Letters to the Editor, Financial Times, 2 October 2017.

Links: Piracy doesn’t affect sales, DC hardcore, Bowie and Cale, early proto-blues.

2 October, 2017 Links, Punk, R'n'B, Rock, Your rights 0

Und Sisters gegen Nazis.

King Snake Roost: Things That Play Themselves (1988). Vale Charlie Tolnay.

19 September, 201720 September, 2017 Indie, Record, Rock 3

Charlie Tolnay died a few days ago. Here’s a career rundown and a long bit from a 1990 Party Fears about my very favourite record of his. The correct hideous racket from freaks.

Links: The failed hi-res audio of the 1990s, the risks of piracy, Simon Reynolds’ glam faves.

20 July, 20179 May, 2018 Audio, Links, mp3, Rock, Your rights 0

And the Blockchain Robot!

Links: Denuvo suck and are thieves, Andrew Hickey’s Beach Boys books, Jimmy Webb.

5 June, 20175 June, 2017 Games, Links, Pop, Rock, Your rights 1

DRM bad, classic rock vastly better.

Ringo Starr is a dick.

1 June, 2017 Pop, Rock, Writing 28

“But thanks julian lennon for stopping me from becoming a supervillain hellbent on destroying the entire nation of britain for good.”

Links: Frank Zappa 1967, audiobook recording, Jim Jarmusch’s Sqürl.

31 May, 201731 May, 2017 Links, Punk, Rock 0

Today is all about the listening, now that I can listen to things again.

Links: a critic turned artist, the soothing power of noise, Kim Dotcom outdone, Herman’s Hermits.

15 May, 201715 May, 2017 Links, Metal, mp3, Rock, Writing 0

A pretty chill selection on the joy of art. And some schadenfreude for Kim Dotcom.

Alixandrea Corvyn, Amongst Animals, Near Death Experience, Tangerinecat — Dublin Castle, Camden, Thu 4 May 2017.

5 May, 201710 May, 2017 Esoterica, Goth, Indie, Live, Rock 1

I automatically staked out my life-long spot at stage right, leaning on the PA. I grabbed this spot in 1985 and shall not relinquish it.

The Glass Eyes: Prime Record (2016); The Oceans Over There (2017).

28 April, 201728 April, 2017 Record, Rock 0

Folky songwriter guitar rock that’s excessively fond of Neil Young and knows it.

Links: Spotify to reduce convenience, the Velvets’ banana, Cosey Fanni Tutti goes establishment.

17 March, 201717 March, 2017 Industrial, Industry, Links, mp3, Punk, Rock 0

Never interrupt the music industry when it is making a mistake.

Followups: laser-burnt records, that Beatles live album, Depeche Mode vs the Nazis.

14 March, 201714 March, 2017 Audio, Links, Pop, Rock 0

Further on previous stories. Reach out and punch face.

Reviews: 5TimesZero, Post War Glamour Girls, Vassals (2017).

8 March, 201730 April, 2017 Indie, Industrial, Pop, Post-Punk, Punk, Record, Rock 0

Record reviews at last! Synthpop, shouty post-punk and grungy ’90s guitar pop. Some good stuff coming out over the next month.

Reviews: Artefact, Ritual Howls, La Orden (2016, 2017).

15 February, 201715 February, 2017 Goth, Post-Punk, Punk, Record, Rock 0

Guitar post-punk in black and grey.

John Cale: Music For A New Society/M:FANS (1982, 2016).

28 January, 201712 April, 2017 Record, Rock 0

Music For A New Society was written and recorded over a few weeks in 1982. Cale basically pulled out handfuls of his guts and shoved them into the piano and the vocal mic as hard as he could. It’s a perfectly captured moment, and one of the best things Cale ever did.

The 2016 rerecording is … completely different.

Reviews: Gnu Reunion, Treasureseason, Shijo X (2017).

19 January, 2017 Dance, Pop, R'n'B, Record, Rock 0

A cheering selection, from old and new bands.

The Celibate Rifles: Merry Xmas Blues (1983).

24 December, 201625 December, 2016 Indie, Record, Rock 0

Then give ’em all the turkey and tell ’em to get stuffed.

Links: Stoner metal, Stevie Wonder, Bill Drummond on punk.

21 December, 2016 Links, Punk, R'n'B, Rock, Writing 0

Essays on aesthetics.

Ganser: relentlessness by guitar.

5 December, 2016 Indie, Post-Punk, Record, Rock 0

Taut indie guitar rock, sparse but weighty; machine music by a guitar band with the proper relentlessness.

Reviews: Diversant:13, La Vogue vol. 1, Ambrasive, DrawnSword (2016).

20 November, 201621 November, 2016 Dance, Industrial, Record, Rock 0

’90s style industrial, early ’70s style songwriting, two dance non-reviews.

Links: High-resolution consumer audio, London for music sales, the worst Beach Boys album.

17 November, 201618 November, 2016 Audio, Links, Live, Record, Rock 0

Audio snake oil, London still the centre of the universe, Summer in Paradise.

Links: Burroughs on the presidency, American Pie, Blood on the Tracks.

9 November, 20163 May, 2017 Country, Links, Rock, Writing 0

A beautiful and apposite William S. Burroughs reading, and some classic rock faff.

Reviews: The Royal They, Unity One, Graveyard Love (2016).

24 October, 2016 Indie, Industrial, Punk, Record, Rock 0

Pre-grunge-style indie rock, EBM synthpop and disorienting synthesizer-guitar landscapes.

A note on A. C. Temple.

15 October, 201616 October, 2016 Indie, Post-Punk, Rock 0

Who else remembers late ’80s Blast First band A. C. Temple?

Theodor Adorno wrote all the Beatles’ songs as a Cultural Marxist assault on America. Possibly.

13 October, 20166 June, 2018 Esoterica, Opinion, Pop, Rock 14

One of the finest conspiracy theories in popular culture is the claim that Theodor Adorno, a main figure in the Frankfurt School of “cultural Marxism” fame, secretly wrote all the Beatles’ songs.

The overwhelming historical importance of the Beatles, and why Live At The Hollywood Bowl is revelatory.

25 September, 201612 October, 2016 Pop, Record, Rock 0

The trouble with the Beatles is not that they aren’t mindbogglingly important (they are) or indeed actually good (they are), it’s that you can’t get away from them even in 2016. They are actually so famous and so important that it’s almost impossible in the present day to understand how and why.