Well…sorta. I have been huge Matthew Good fan for many years now, and it amazes me with such drivel in the UK music scene, how Canada’s most famous unknown is not well…um…known in the UK. And on this one issue, I have to say I am grateful to iTunes for providing Matthew Good exposure outside of North America.

Vancouver is Matthew’s fourth album after dissolution of the Matthew Good Band in 2002 and I would argue his strongest. His music, often deeply personal invariably offers a sometimes scathing commentary on the issues of the day. Both these concepts are in abundance in Vancouver.

The album is very accessible musically and lyrically, but provides additional depth to those fans who frequent his blog and are aware of the issues that lead him to describe himself as an ‘activist’. But that’s not to say the album is an inside joke for devotees. I would find it hard if someone could not see something special and human through the turmoil depicted in ‘Silent Army In The Trees’ or ‘Great Whales of the Sea’.Social commentary being the primary aim for the album, with ‘Vancouver National Anthem’ and the afor mentioned ‘Silent Army…’ highlighting thought provoking issues which are dealt with in a firm but not overbearing kind of way. The messages are clear but the songs stand up for themselves and it’s not a case of being preached at with the themes running riot over musicality.

The other thing you can count on MG delivering is at least one monumental angry rocker and ‘Fought To Fight’ is once such tune, and a stand out track. Sometimes sampled sound bites can be contrived but Good has the knack of keeping these reined in.

Album opener ‘Last Parade‘ is for me the album in a nutshell. A medium paced, atmospheric build up recalls songs from MGB’s ‘Audio of Being’ and quickly envelopes you in a tide of angst and sardonic social commentary set to a backing track which I can only describe as ‘optimistic melancholy’. It is one of those songs that hoists you on it’s shoulders for a wild rumpus through the woods at 80 miles per hour. By the time the five plus minute track is over you are already hitting the back button to start it all over again. Truly astonishing and one of Good’s most accomplished songs to date.

For more about Matthew, click here for his frequently updated blog.

* Note: I know this album has been out for a while…I forgot to finish this post off about 6 months ago!

Gun's new album 'Popkiller'.

I caught the newly reformed Gun at Swansea Sin City last night and my ears are still ringing. Felt bad for the boys that there was not a high turnout but that said, we really got into the swing of things. They played through a string of Gun’s finest aswell as three tracks from the new ‘Popkiller’ mini-album.

With the the likes of Skin reforming, it seems there is a real shift for the British rock bands of yesteryear, and if singer Toby Jepson is to believed, it’s all down to the internet. Following the gig, I managed to to speak with Toby and he was very insightful on the position of music in 2009, the effect of Spotify and iTunes, and what our music buying habits will be in 5 years time.

For Toby, Gun is a new chance to produce music in a climate where the artist makes the rules. The proliferation of Protools and easy access to the web means that anyone can be a musician and get their songs heard. Now combine that concept with a group of guys who have been doing it for 20 years, and you have  a level of experience that can take full advantage of these options.

And that neatly takes me onto ‘Popkiller’, Gun’s  new mini-album. Why a mini-album? Is this a test the water concept? Not according to Toby, who would rather put out a succession of mini-albums multiple times a year opposed to the big release concept that consumed the music industry of yesteryear. If fans come out to the gig having downloaded some Gun material, it suits the band just fine. Buy a ticket, and while your hear  pick up a beanie hat and that ever so tempting mini-album at only £6! And why not!

One thing’s for sure, they should shift them judging by the quality on Gun 2.0′s release. It only has six songs, but each one of them is an interesting mix of the Gun of days gone by (even with an 0141 pop sensibility) without straying too far from the distorted guitars and catchy riffs. And Toby’s wider vocal range lends the songs to produce a naturally wider range than Mark Rankin era Gun. That’s not to say there Little Angels-esque screaming vocals, but there’s definitely some new Scarborough tricks to this old Glaswegian Dog.

Standout track for me is ‘Seraphina’, which is a quick paced rocker tinged in 80′s synth pop. You can certainly hear the boys have thrown in some influences from the recent 80′s revival, but that works well and should get them heard outside of the normal rock fraternity. The riffs and choruses are here in abundance and it is very easy to have the likes of ‘Let Your Hair Down’ sprint around your head for days with it’s ‘Cars’ inspired guitar riff.

‘Popkiller’ itself is just a disgustingly catchy song, reminding me very much of early ‘Feeder’ material. If I had to say what Gun sound like, I’d probably mark Feeder out as the band to compare with (if Feeder’s recent output was up to this standard though!).

Out of the five tracks, only ‘Ripping Up Letters’ returns to type, with a slower tale of forlorn love lost in friendship, and to me this is the low point of the album, as tracks either side of it are full of energy and fizz. It’s not a bad track though, but not up to the standard of  the other four.

Overall a good effort and certainly ‘Popkiller’ makes an impact. It is a must for fans of British rock music, so if you have bought Gun before, you’ll lap it up. And on evidence of this Jepson era Gun will go far, and might well grow some new fans along the way.

You can order ‘Popkiller’ from Towsend Records, and Toby Jepson is on the road in December supporting Skin.

I urge anyone with ears to go to their favourite legal download site, and buy the one track. It’ll cost only 49p if you get it from TuneTribe, or the usual 79p form iTunes. My choice, though, would be the DRM free 7Digital. Regardless…buy a download on Monday.

Technorati Tags: jeff buckley, music,

There’s something about today’s coverage on Radio 1 of “Metallica Night“

It’s great to hear more rock on the radio, but Radio 1 these day’s is more about the perception of cool and trendy, than actually driving it forward and the whole format sounds like a joke. The self proclaimed ”Greatest Radio Station In The World!” sounds so arrogant and pompous - especially the way that virtually all of the DJs talk down to anyone they don’t consider to be good enough. 

Moyles is the worst example as when he veers off his script the real Chris comes out, who generally doesn’t have a nice word to say about anyone. Chris Moyles is not a comedian – he has an element of comic timing but his whole act involves putting on stupid voices and shouting at people. I strongly suspect that he would die a death if he turned up at the Comedy Store, and I’d pay to see him get heckled – I know from personal experience that he chickens out when faced with a tough crowd and that’s the benefit of a predominantly one way medium such as radio. Scott Mills is no better – the way his “team” pulls apart something innocuous to desperately try and find a joke is pitiful. I mean, they still phone up people and play pranks on them - grow up! Just play some music and stop stroking your egos.

Wow. It was the first time I have seen Keith Caputo live, and I was very impressed. I am a fan of his Life of Agony work, but only have his latest album, A Fondness for Hometown Scars. Would we get an eclectic treat? Maybe some LOA numbers? Well, Keith put those requests to bed after 3 songs with someone from that back shouting “Heroin Dreams! C’mon Keith! Heroin Dreams!”. He was having none of it with the quip “I might have fronted that band for many years, but that doesn’t mean I am going to do it”. That kind of shut the rest of the crowd up (barring the two extremely inebriated women dancing/moshing in  the front.

In many ways, I am glad he stuck to his solo work, as the gig really displayed the range and power of his material. From that fragility of “Always” and “Selfish” right through to the power of “Crawling” and “Monkey”. This was topped off by a raucous rendition of “Troubles Down” from the latest CD (and hence the source of the rumors of Keith fronting Velvet Revolver – it’s a classic). 

Keith’s music is quite varied, and from listening to both “A Fondness…” and the previous CD “Hearts Blood on your Dawn” (which I picked up during the gig) there is something for everyone to love. The predominantly dark themes surrounding his music might put off some, there is an undeniable passion about his music as a songwriter, and how he expresses himself on stage.

The band were pretty tight, and you could tell there was a strong camaraderie between them. The one thing that surprised me was the lack of people at the gig though. Considering Keith’s background, I was expecting the Barfly to be rammed, but there was plenty of space. This gave a pretty laidback vibe, which suits a lot of Caputo’s music, and there was a nice atmosphere all round.

To cap it all, I managed to get Keith to pose for a picture, and sign my copy of “Hearts Blood…” which was kind of him. He seemed to be a real genuine bloke, and very approachable. I’d urge everyone to check out his latest CD. You can get it for free by joining eMusic (which is a bargain for sure), and support a guy who is out there doing it on his own, who has a damn sight more integrity than most bands you see around these days. Thanks Keith – it was a great night.

Check Keith out @ http://www.keithcaputo.com. Read on for my image gallery of the gig.

Keith Caputo @ the Cardiff Barfly, September 13th, 2008 Image Gallery

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  ]]> http://www.afflicted.me.uk/2008/09/keith-caputo-cardiff-barfly-130908/feed/ 0 http://www.afflicted.me.uk/2007/09/biffy-clyro-saviours-of-rock/ http://www.afflicted.me.uk/2007/09/biffy-clyro-saviours-of-rock/#comments Mon, 03 Sep 2007 14:52:08 +0000 John http://www.afflicted.me.uk/2007/09/biffy-clyro-saviours-of-rock/ For the first time in years I wasted a couple of quid on Kerrang! because of a free CD on the cover. I used to buy these all the time mainly because of some fantastic tracks that were given away (free-ish). Much buzz has been made of Scottish 3-piece Biffy Clyro, and so I was tempted by a free track. And a damn good track “Get F***ed Stud” is. Something naggs at me though…and I reckon the only reason that song was on the CD was because of the title.

Scanning through the rest of the CD was an experience though.The likes of Lostphrophets have never really stirred me ever since I crewed for them during an N.M.E. tour many moons ago. They just don’t strike me as having a great deal to offer…limited style over substance. But even their offering was a work of art compared to one track: Aiden’s “Moment”.

If this is what constitutes rock or metal then it’s a God Damned shame.The song is horribly composed, lyrics are a saccharine cliché that would sound out of place on an [[American Pie]] rip off soundtrack. Listening to it reminded me of the last time I went out to a rock club. When I was in University, back in the dark ages of 1998 it didn’t matter what the Hell you wore or looked like. I got into mosh pits wearing jeans, a [[Bryan Adams]] teeshirt (yes…Bryan Adams) and some dodgy Vans. It didn’t matter to the goth next to me that when I got knocked over by a drunk in Napalm Death garb, as he still grabbed my arm to stop me hitting the deck. It was all about the music, in whatever form it took.

Then a few years later I went out with the boys and saw a horrible sight. Rock was now cool with Nu-metal and neo-Goths in abundance. Coloured hair and piercings are the order of the day, and kids would eye you up and down if you didn’t look cool enough. I though “what a shame”. And over the last few years, I haven’t been able to get excited about many sounds to come out of the genre. Until [[Biffy Clyro]].

The thing that is startlingly obvious when comparing the like of Aiden with true talent of a band like Biffy, is that how dull mainstream rock has become. There are sparks of genuine originality in Biffy. That’s not to say that they are completely off centre either…they just dip their feet in pop for long enough to grab you by the bits, and then hit you over the head with a breakdown or middle eight that takes you on a rollercoaster for the remainder of the track. You have songs like “Saturday Superhouse” which are solid slabs of rock, and then beautiful ballads like current single “Machines”. The standout track for me (altouhgh arguably softest) is “Folding Stars”. It kicks [[Snow Patrol]] into touch.

With echoes of Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age, they merge traditional British rock with more contemporary sounds that are befitting of a band that should be heading for much bigger stages. Prog elements are in abundance (I spotted a few Rush moments). The hooks and melodies are inventive, and the lyrics are at the very least interesting, and at best truly startling. “This Conversation Is…” being a prime example.

It is fantastic to feel excited about going to see a band again (Biffy are on tour thie autumn), and great to look forward to cranking up some new music on the daily drive to work. The fact that they are British is a bonus. I would recoomend anyone with a spare £6 in their pockets to go into Tescos and relieve them of a copy. It would be £6 very well spent indeed. And would save you from potentially putting £6 in Lostprophets or Aiden’s stylish pockets. And I cannot recommend that you just download the tracks I have mentioned. The album’s is by far too good for that…