Above is the cover of Scroobius Pip’s new collection of illustrated poems, entitled ‘Poetry In (e)motion’. It is released in a week or so by Titan books and you should most definitely all buy yourselves a copy.
It features work by yours truly.
Yes, I can finally announce that I was selected alongside several other artists to have my work represent the words of Mr Pip.
This is a massive honour and I am greatly excited about it all (I haven’t seen the finished product yet!). Many, many thanks to Scroob for deeming my doodles appropriate and worthy enough to include in this collection.
1: ‘Welcome To Lunar Indistries‘ : Clint Mansell ‘Moon’
2: ‘The Rainstorm‘ : Bernard Herrmann ‘Psycho’
3: ‘Summer Overture‘ : Clint Mansell ‘Requiem For A Dream’
4: ‘Alvin’s Theme‘ : Angelo Badalamenti ‘The Straight Story’
5: ‘Suspiria‘ : Goblin ‘Suspiria’
6: ‘Her Eyes Are A Blue Million Miles‘ Captain Beefheart ‘The Big Lebowski’
7: ‘I’ll Be Your Man‘ : The Black Keys ‘The Big Come Up / HBO’s Hung’
8: ‘Fast Shadow‘ : Wu Tang Clan ‘Ghost Dog: Way Of The Samurai’
9: ‘Jaan Pechechaan Ho‘ : Mohammed Rafi ‘Ghost World’
10: ‘Tony’s Got Hot Nuts‘ : Faye Richmonde ‘A Dirty Shame’
11: ‘Brand New Key‘ : Melanie ‘Boogie Nights’
12: ‘Only A Woman‘ : Trey Parker ‘Team America World Police’
13: ‘Bad Things‘ : Jace Everett ‘True Blood’
14: ‘Wave Of Mutilation‘ : Pixies ‘Pump Up The Volume’
15: ‘Vessel In Vain‘ : Smog ‘Dead Man’s Shoes’
16: ‘In Dreams‘ : Roy Orbison ‘Blue Velvet’
17: ‘Let It Be‘ : Nick Cave ‘I Am Sam’
18: ‘Chariots Rise‘ : Angelo Badalamenti and Lizzie West ‘Secretary’
I may have missed it by a few minutes by the time this uploads, but I have been running around waiting tables for sullen looking couples all day.
Zombiehamster Mixtape #14 is a special selection of songs that make me think of my Lady P, who this is for. However, there is a distinct possibility that they will appease some of you as well.
Ours is a tale that goes back almost a decade now, and I wouldn’t change a day of it for the world. I haven’t really seen her today and she is working the night shift tonight, so I won’t until about 8am tomorrow. Even so, this is for you Paula, Happy Corporate Love day. ^_^ You are still the only thing that keeps me sane.I love you.x
This has now used up my yearly quota for mentioning my ‘feelings’ in the public domain. Midgets and Boobie Movie reviews resume as normal forthwith.
1: Joe Tex ‘Hold On To What You’ve Got‘ 2: Lovage: ‘To Catch A Thief‘ 3: Radiohead: ‘I Might Be Wrong‘ 4: Elliott Smith : ‘A Fond Farewell‘ 5: Portishead: ‘Sour Times‘ 6: Julian Plenty: ‘Only If You Run‘ 7: Tool: ‘Schism‘ 8: Nine Inch Nails: ‘La Mer‘ 9: Lou Reed & Antony: ‘Fistful Of Love‘ 10: Rufus Wainwright: ‘Chealsea Hotel No2‘ 11: Tom Waits: ‘Come On Up To The House‘
1: ‘Jennifer’ : Pig Destroyer (Prowler in the Yard)
2: ‘Cheerleader Corpses’ : Pig Destroyer (Prowler in the Yard)
3: ‘Orange Ball-Peen Hammer’ : Mudhoney (My Brother The Cow)
4: ‘Roadbull’ : Melvins (Stoner Witch)
5: ‘Piss Virus’ : Amen (We Have Come For Your Parents)
6: ‘Waiting For The Turning Point’ : Superjoint Ritual (A Lethal Dose Of American Hatred)
7: ‘I Against I’ : Bad Brains (Banned In DC)
8: ‘L’angoisse du veilleur de nuit d’autoroute les soirs d’alarme à accident’ : Year Of No Light (Nord)
9: ‘Hexagram’ : Deftones (Deftones)
10: ‘Divinations’ : Mastodon (Crack The Skye)
11: ‘Rollin’ And Tumblin’ On Satan’s Rotisserie’ : The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza (Danza II: The Electric Boogalo)
12: ‘Scum’ : Napalm Death (Scum)
13: ‘Bury Your Dead’ : The Haunted
14: ‘Reap What You Sow’ : Converge (Axe To Fall)
15: ‘And You Will Live In Terror’ : Necrophagia (Black Blood Vomitorium)
16: ‘Cut Throat’ : Assjack (Assjack)
17: ‘Behold The Face Of Death’ : Arkangel (Dead Man Walking)
18: ‘Blood And Tears’ : Danzig (Danzig II: Lucifuge)
19: ‘Ghost Trail’ : Cult Of Luna (Eternal Kingdom)
20: ‘Last Caress’ : The Nutley Brass (Misfits Meet The Nutley Brass)
Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip released their new video today; it’s for ‘Get Better‘, which is really bloody good. It’s taken from their upcoming album ‘The Logic Of Chance‘ Lyrically, it is reminiscent of Pip’s early stuff from his ‘No Commercial Breaks’ era, socially aware and intriguing wordplay placed within clever vocal structures. Dan le Sac’s work on this is fabulous, it’s such a subtle little beat that really works its way inside your skull and repeatedly permeates without you realising it. I’m not going to start saying ‘It sound’s like…’ because that’s lazy. It sounds like Dan le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip, and we should be thankful that they are here to provide us with an alternative to the deluge of rubbish that’s currently out there.
DLSVSP are touring this spring, take the opportunity to go and see them if they are anywhere nearby, I know I will be.
As a little bonus here’s the boys doing a wicked Sugababes cover from their last sojourn to Ireland.
Wild Beasts‘ new album ‘Two Dancers‘ is getting a great deal of airtime around these parts, and deservedly so. It is one of the most exciting albums to be released this year. Hallucinatory and somewhat ethereal, howls and shrieks permeate intriguing lyrics. Their approach and execution is something brave and successful, removed briskly from the ‘quirky to be cool’ brigade for maintaining substance over style.
With the new album, developments have occurred since ‘Limbo, Panto’ (another personal favourite) allowing the band to experiment with a more completed sound, whilst maintaining all of the eccentricities that brought them to the initial attention of the astute listener.
Here is ‘All The Kings Men’ taken from the new album, the pagan imagery and occult references still running strong in their videos.
And for good measure, here is earlier track, ‘The Devil’s Crayon’ taken from the aforementioned first album.
Wild Beasts are touring in early 2010 and I strongly recommend that you take the opportunity to go and see them before they transform into an entity of Killers sized proportions.
Wow. That’s kind of something isn’t it? Tom Waits suits being an angry cloud. I wish that the angry cloud that follows me sounded like Tom Waits.
This is taken from the collaborative NASA (North America South America) album ‘Spirit of Apollo‘. What with the recent release of The Black Keys blues / garage rock / hip hop album ‘Blakrok‘, could this be a turning point in hip hop? Does this mean that there might actually be something worth shaking out of the old dying mare?
Who knows?
Who cares?
This is great though, let’s hope that the album holds up as well.
Among those of you reading this, I think it would be fair to estimate that a considerable proportion of you would have sat through the movie or read Richard Adam’s ‘Watership Down’ at some point. Either way, it is not a work that one remembers; it is a work that sears itself deeply into the mind. A heart wrenching assimilation of carnage and hope, of change and peril.
One band who have taken their appreciation of this novel to an unfathomable level, are Fall of Efrafa, who have recently completed their trilogy of albums which are said to ‘re-imagine the mythological and political overtones in the book “Watership Down“’
This is enough to grab the attention of any sane minded human, but when they elaborate on the fact that they do so by; ‘focusing our efforts in forwarding atheist/animal rights ideologies. We write very long epic, heavy, melancholic music, taking influence from post rock, post metal, ambient black metal, hardcore, punk etc.’ That’s the deal clincher right there.
Fall of Efrafa make their music available in two very distinct formats. All of their material is available for free download from their website, or alternately on limited edition vinyl (which can currently fetch prices well into the hundreds on eBay). This open policy towards sharing their music has certainly built them a loyal and determined assembly of followers. Once the albums are heard, standalone or in succession, it’s abundantly clear why.
In regards to the central motivation behind the work, the band has this to say:
‘As a band we encourage people to talk more openly about animal rights and strive for a future in which humanity ceases to be dependent on the exploitation and slaughter of non human animals. It is easy to label this as preaching or arrogance, but communication is how we learn. Debating such issues only helps us become more aware of our actions, be that for political and social change or an end to religious oppression.’
Musically, their amalgamation of styles serves to separate them from the majority of their peers, transcending through several genres often in the space of one track. Their socio political stance bleeds through each individual lyric with a sincere and guttural resonance. If I was a particularly pretentious writer, I would begin throwing words such as ‘soundscapes’ and ‘depth’, but I’m not so I’ll keep it simple. Fall of Efrafa are fast, heavy and commanding. The albums draw you down an unfamiliar street and then proceed to beat the crap out of you and leave you shaken and in a state of disbelief. Multiple listens only serve to accentuate the magnificence of this band’s achievement.
Sadly, they are soon to be no more, as the band play their farewell gig on Dec 5th at the Westhill Hall, Brighton. I have a strong feeling that just as their inspiration lingers and affects, their music will do something similar. It’s not always pretty, but something keeps sending you back.
‘Pity The Weak‘
For more information you can visit their website here: http://www.fallofefrafa.com where, as aforementioned, their albums are all available for legitimate free download. If you choose to acquaint yourself with this band, it will be a decision that will reward you in droves.
Even though it’s not the weekend yet, I thought I’d help tackle the mid-week bues with, erm, some blues (and other great stuff too!).
This Mix kind of just happened, but where else would you get to hear Jack Kerouac sing? (He may have had a wee drinkie or two before getting up out of the chair for this one)
Alongside Samuel L Jackson and Robert Crumb? You’ll only find those sort of ill advised and slightly neurotic song choices here! There’s an amazing song about Jaques Cousteau by ‘Young Jacques‘, some amazing blues from RL Burnside (featured on this week’s cover), Blind John Davis and Jimmy Witherspoon. Leadbelly is on there of course, did you know that it was William Burroughs who introduced the music of Leadbelly to Kurt Cobain? Well, now you do.
One of my favourite all time songs is on here as well, Eddie Harris’ ‘I Don’t Want Nobody’ Harris went from standard 60-’s Jazz to become one of the most pioneering artists of the 1970’s, in this cut he is singing into an electric saxophone, leaving us with a sound something akin to Sigur Ros, except 25 years previous, before breaking into some sublime bass / trumpet combos.
Sam Cooke is in there because he’s amazing, there’s a bit of Bluegrass and a few surprises.
It’s that time of year again. It’s that time of the week again, so I decided that it would be suitable to make this week’s Mixtape Halloween themed. Compiled here are some of the themes and songs from my favourite scary, gory, creepy and unsettling movies. There are some well renowned ones (Edward Scissorhands) and some slightly more obscure ones for you to enjoy (Such as the theme from Nekromantik! – For all you lovers out there, it’s not wrong, our time will come.). This mix can be used as a goth makeout album, a score to your Halloween party or just something to get you in the mood for a weekend of creepy, gore filled debauchery.
This is essentially what I listen to all year round, so the excuse to compile something horror based was a real treat. From the synth heavy sounds of the old Italian horrors of Fulci and Argento, to the jumping strings of Danny Elfman and the otherworldly soundscapes from the universe of David Lynch, I am certain that this will get your Halloween off to a simply wicked beginning…..have a good one folks.
