Archive for August, 2005

CD Review: Editors – The Back Room

The Editors (sorry, I mean Editors) have the misfortune of emerging amidst a crop of very ’80’s-sounding indie guitar bands such as We Are Scientists, The Departure and The Fever. Fortunately for them, however, as their debut CD, The Back Room, demonstrates, Editors are by far the standout act amongst their peers. [Read On…] »

Posted by JustHipper on 21st August 2005 at 4:10 pm | comments (1)
File under CD Reviews,Reviews.

Which Band Are You?

Two great music quizzezs at Quizilla:

Which Creation Records Band Are You? (I am the Jesus & Mary Chain).

Which Britpop Band Are You? (I am Suede)

If anyone has any others, do let us know!

Posted by JustHipper on 18th August 2005 at 11:33 am | comments (9)
File under Random comment.

Check Out the Hoff!

Amazon’s reviews of David Hasselhoff are one of the funniest things I’ve read in ages. It almost makes me want to buy his album. Well, no, it doesn’t, actually, but these reviews really are good for a laugh.

Posted by JustHipper on 6th August 2005 at 11:56 am | comments (2)
File under Random comment.

Gig Review: Interpol at Manchester Apollo, 8th July 2005

Interpol Pic 1Interpol Pic 2Interpol Pic 3Interpol Pic 4

After two excellent gigs at The Academy in 2003 and 2004 it was great to see Interpol step up a gear at the Apollo . Those previous gigs were notable for a lack of stage lighting which created the perfect mood for the dark material of their songs, as well as almost covering up the Paul Banks paunch. At the Apollo, however, a rather fetching light show coupled with a superb sound mix was exactly what was required to bring the band out of themselves and into the hearts and minds of a larger audience. They responded brilliantly with a powerful performance that served to highlight the strength in depth of their two albums as well as their growing authority as a live act.

Starting out with “Next Exit” and “Slow Hands” they went from strength to strength, hitting a peak with “Say Hello To The Angels”, “Public Pervert” and “Not Even Jail” and staying there. Carlos D, in his usual SS bondage get-up, prowled his side of the stage throwing more than the occasional Peter Hook pose. Kessler was as effortlessly cool as ever and Paul Banks, looking slimmer and more dapper than on previous occasions, was in fine voice throughout. Towards the end of the set “Take You On A Cruise” was a personal highlight and the encore, with “Untitled” and “Roland”, sent everyone away happy. That they didn’t play “NYC”, their best song in my opinion, went almost unnoticed such was the magnificence of their performance.

Earlier on Engineers could have done with such a light show and sound mix. At the Night & Day in March you couldn’t see the band for the harsh backlighting and their wall of guitar filled every corner of the small venue. At the Apollo the wall was more like a small fence as the muddy and one-dimensional sound failed to engage an indifferent audience. It’s a shame because their album is quite good, but for the second time this year they’ve come out second best by a long, long way.

Posted by The Ledge on 5th August 2005 at 10:41 am | comments (3)
File under Gig Reviews,Reviews.

More Gig Etiquette

It’s nice to know that I’m not the only one who is generally appalled by people’s behavior at gigs. I found a link to an article about rude people at gigs on the 6 Music website. And it is so true….

Posted by JustHipper on 4th August 2005 at 11:00 pm | comments (2)
File under Random comment.