I know, I know, I did say I was gonna write about everything and not just music and yes, I intend to! Even so, I remain an avid and somewhat obsessive listener of music and writing about and sharing the music I love is something I certainly didn’t do enough on previous blog efforts.
So, introducing, Heavy Repetition, a weekly feature in which I talk about music that has been wondering through the foothills of my brain for whatever reason. I have chosen not to limit myself to any particular kind of music or release date, this is purely whatever I have been listening to recently, though in this weeks case, the reasons have all been relevant to this week.
Just three short picks this week, but enjoy :
God Damn – Heavy Money
So some brilliant news this week has been somewhat local to me. Black Country powerhouse duo God Damn have signed a record deal with One Little Indian records! For music fans in and around Birmingham, this is massive news for a band who’ve had a couple years of extreme highs (releasing a full albums worth of material) to devastating lows (now part-time guitarist Dave Copson suffering life threatening injuries from a road accident). There couldn’t be a more deserving group in the Midlands, not only for their determination and hard graft, but for the top-notch grunge tinged stoner rock these guys produce. Taken from their EP of the same name, Heavy Money is a rollocking track of thundering drum fills of beast Ash Weaver, cavernous guitar riffs and howling vocals from beardy frontman Thom Edward that shall definitely remain a staple in their back catalogue for years to come. Playing at The Sunflower in Birmingham with Wytches on the 27th of this month, if you’re in town, be there.
Slowdive – Machine Gun
Yes yes yes, shoegazers across the globe celebrated this week as 90s dream pop legends Slowdive announced their long awaited reunion on Tuesday of this week. After the 19 year silence that followed their final album Pygmalion, the noise making quintet took to twitter to announce shows in Barcelona (Primavera 2014) and London this year, whilst hinting at the possibility of recording more material in the near future. As any fan of the band will tell you, the bands second album Souvlaki is considered a masterpiece of it’s genre with tracks like Alison, Souvlaki Space Station and Here She Comes becoming classics. Its the second track Machine Gun however that has always been a fond favourite of mine, with a mesmerisingly vast landscape of dreamy guitars, echoing drums, swirling noise and glorious harmonies from the formidable singing duo Rachel Goswell and Neil Halstead. Its one of those songs that could simultaneously soundtrack the most euphoric or quiet moments in life whether heavily intoxicated or silently sober. Welcome back Slowdive, its been too long.
David Bowie – Cat People (Putting Out Fire)
If theres two things my dad and I have in common, its a love for great films and David Bowie. Last weekend, we sat down to watch the Quetin Tarantino film Inglourious Basterds, a blood fuelled romp based in Nazi occupied France in the 1940s. One of my favourite films, I had been pestering my dad to watch it, especially since he had introduced me earlier in life to the Tarantino classics Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. Needless to say, he loved it and a welcoming surprise was the inclusion of David Bowie on the stellar soundtrack. Indeed as the poignant scene where revenge seeking Jewish girl Shosanna Dreyfus prepares to (SPOILER ALERT) burn down a cinema containing the Nazi high command, sees Bowie screaming the significant line “And I’ll be putting out fire, with gasoline”. The silent nod of approval my dad gave at this moment says it all, classic.
Shame Chamber 