dananananaykroyd and THE mae shi at captains rest in glasgow

This evening I went along to the Captain’s Rest in Glasgow’s West End to catch Dananananaykroyd and the Mae Shi (pronounced Ma-ee Shee) – performing as part of the Stag and Dagger festival; one of the plethora of such types which have emerged recently, where one ticket gives you access to a number of bands and venues across the city. The cynical amongst you may point out many flaws, including the idea that the whole concept might just be to allow promoters to charge more for bands that you want to see; with the premise that there’s more on offer. I think I’d rather just pay for a cheaper, single-gig ticket in order to see a band that I really like, instead of a few ones that I’m not too bothered about.

future of THE left and pulled apart by horses on 18/05/2009

Having seen Future of the Left on a number of occasions, I was pleasantly surprised to see that this time there were support acts that could stand up to the challenge of their position on the bill. Instead of local indie bands with no power or grit, we had Livingston’s “Super Adventure Club” and touring support “Pulled Apart by Horses”; the latter fresh from crossing the country with Rolo Tomassi and Grammatics. Watching the four-piece from Leeds crashing through tracks like “I punched a line in the throat”, and “E=MC Hammer”, and stage-presence that made you question how the band could keep it going at every gig, I began to wonder if maybe Future of the Left had finally found a support which might outplay their ferocious live show.

tokyo police club

Polly Rappaport was in London for the finale of Tokyo Police Club's European tour, but boy was she not impressed - read on for her furious damnation!

slow club + micachu

Artrocker.com heads down to the party bloc in East London to catch a double bill of experimental pop music, featuring the wild abandon of Slow Club, and the abstract indie-dance of Micachu...

lowlands 2008

More European festival action now, as Lewis Hingston reports from The Netherlands biggest field party. Expect reports on the Flaming Lips, Simian Mobile Disco, The National and more...

oya 2008 part two

The Norwegian festivities continue as Dave from iLiKETRAiNS reviews performances from Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine and Holy Fuck...

oya 2008 part one

Last week we sent Dave from iLiKETRAiNS over to Norway to review the Oya Festival. Well, that's not strictly true - we didn't buy his plane ticket or anything - but we did blag him a press pass. In return, he's presented us with this epic review...

green man festival 2008

Set in the mountainous Brecon Beacons in Wales, the Green Man Festival is notorious for three things: psychedelia, cool Welsh bands and gooey mud. Susie Wild braves the squelchy stuff to bring us this report on SFA, Los Campesinos! and more…

die! die! die! + ipso facto + o children

Emily Kendrick witnesses Die! Die! Die! unleashing fire through their nostrils over an audience in East London, before taking leave of the stage - and their senses...

peggy sue & THE pictures

Peggy Sue - formerly of the Pirates but now of The Pictures - deliver the dramatic sea shanty goods in central London, with the odd Talking Heads cover thrown in for good measure. Polly Rappaport reviews...

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Photos

  • In Pictures: Hatcham Social

    22h.s.jpg  Some recent shots of Hatcham Social by Charlie Ingham. Here also a piece about the band written by the photographer....
  • In Pictures: The Thermals

    08thermals.jpg The Thermals photos from Glasgow Stereo, 17/06/2009, Stephen McLeod....
  • Pulled Apart By Horses

    16thomas_PABH.jpg A gallery of photos from various gigs by artrocker.com favourites Pulled Apart by Horses. Photography by Tom Martin and Stephen McLeod...
  • In Pictures: Primavera Sound 09 at Joan Miro Park

    02SleepySun.jpg Primavera Sound festival part two. On the second day of the festival there was a special day-time concert in the rather lush Joan Miro park where we caught our faves...
  • In Pictures: Primavera Sound 09 at night

    deadmeadow_PICT9695.jpg Finally recovering from a great Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona and we have some pictures to share. We’ve eschewed the big names like Jarvis Cocker, Bloc Party, Neil Young, My...

Have You Read?

  • Popup Interview

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    Artrocker.com: Glasgow's a pretty hot city at the moment. I was up there just this weekend. What do you think is making Glasgow bands so hot right now?

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  • THE COVERGIRLS

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  • Slumdog Millionaire

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  • Australia and the London Dirthole Company

    PARSLEY’S COMMLOCK Film Review : Australia Went to see this ‘epic’ new film with my Mum. First thing to say is that despite bracing myself for its two-and-a-half hour length, at no point did it feel boring or overlong, unlike, for...
  • Zombies and Peter Serafinowicz

    PARSLEY'S COMMLOCK Concert Review : Colin Blunstone & Rod Argent, Millfield Theatre, 24/10/07 My friend Jorge (supremo of Spanish studios Circo Perrotti) was over to pick up a crazy early keyboard he bought on eBay, and after we got it...
  • Twists of Fate ("Korowód")

    PARSLEY'S COMMLOCK Film Review : Twists of Fate ("Korowód") Went to see this opening film in 'Kinoteka' (www.kinoteka.org.uk), the 6th Polish film festival held at the Riverside Studios, Hammersmith. As we Brits tend to only be aware of Polish handyman...
  • THE YOUNG KNIVES DEMO KITCHEN

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    UNSIGNED TRACK OF THE WEEK (AS VOTED BY THE YOUNG KNIVES)

    DEATH RAY TREBUCHEY / NUMBER 6

    OLIVER: I liked that! It was lively, and although they compare themselves to Gogol Bordello, they're much better than that - even...

  • Touch Of Frost and Reduced Sugar Frosties

    PARSLEY'S COMMLOCK TV Review : A Touch Of Frost (Sunday 12/10/08) Frost is back. In an age where only the young are supposed to succeed, it is good to see all the actors and characters enjoying a splendid longevity in...

chart

  • Three Trapped Tigers

    So you’re the keyboard player for Emmy the Great. Of course, this isn’t your full-time occupation, so how do you spend your time away from knocking out sweet folk-pop...
  • Lovvers mp3 - AXTXTXIXUXDE

    So, we had songs for lovvers lovers recently and now we have a taster of the real thing. AXTXTXIXUXDE is a sneak preview mp3 from the new Lovvers album and...
  • The Poison Arrows - An Unexploded Dream (New Crystal Aquarium Remix)

    Back in May, Chicago post-rock trio The Poison Arrows put out their debut LP, First Class, and Forever, through File-13 (buy it here), where you can find the original...
  • summer mix

    Here’s a summer mix, inspired mainly by this oppressive heat haze we’ve been experiencing in TX over the last week or so. Seriously, kids can’t even go to a...
  • White Light White Heat

    Sinkane Genre: Ambient / Psychedelia From: Khartoum/Shamal Kurdufan, Sudan Ahmed Gallab (Sinkane) is not just a drummer for the indie elite (Caribou, of Montreal, Born Ruffians) but he’s also...
  • DOWNLOAD: Flipper - Be Good, Child!

    By my count, San Francisco slow-punk titans Flipper have reformed twice, once in 1993 at the behest of uber-fan Rick Rubin and again in 2005 to support the dying...
  • harlem signs with matador

    We’ve been hearing the rumors for a minute, and it’s now official: GvsB faves Harlem have signed with Matador to a "worldwide, multi-record deal." Congrats, dudes. They’ll be recording...
  • The Daily Graboid

    As you may have noticed, along with the lack of posts going on around here, the Graboid has seemingly disappeared as well the past couple of weeks. To catch...
  • memory tapes :: "bicycle"

    The mysterious forces behind Weird Tapes + Memory Cassette — which may or may not have been the same person all along — have "merged" to form Memory Tapes,...
  • Pocketbooks :: “Footsteps”

    Completely missed out on the opportunity to be on the early giveaway of “Footsteps” the new single from London’s Pocketbooks earlier in the month.  The single has now been...

Blogs

  • New Favourite Band: New Johnny Foreigner vid

    Johnny Foreigner ‘Feels Like Summer’ from Best Before Records on Vimeo. We featured this tune a little while ago, but it’s worth mentioning again as there’s now a great video to go with it. Featuring a robot that drinks...
  • New Favourite Band: Lovvers mp3 - AXTXTXIXUXDE

    So, we had songs for lovvers lovers recently and now we have a taster of the real thing. AXTXTXIXUXDE is a sneak preview mp3 from the new Lovvers album and it’s very tasty indeed. The LP, "OCD Go Go Go Girls"...
  • New Favourite Band: Top 12 albums of the year so far

    Last week, I declared The Zookeepers record to be "the album of the year so far, hands down". I was then chatting to someone earlier this week about the merits of doing a ‘records of the first half of...
  • New Favourite Band: The Zookeepers - Ballin Outrageous

    I’m happy to report that The Zookeepers are back with a completely fucking brilliant new LP. You can stream it for a limited time, but if you have any ounce of sense you’ll want to purchase it for the...
  • New Favourite Band: The Dollymops

    Pic by Michael Nix Ric Birtill of The Dollymops sings in a high voice. A very high voice in fact. It’s kind of like vocal feedback and Dollymops records should come with a warning not to play if you have...
  • New Favourite Band: The Bacchae - great debut video

    Pic by Silas Dominey The Bacchae are an excellent garage rock band from Leeds. Their new video is most cool. Have a look at it here: Singer Harriet Hyde reminds me a bit of Ippy from The Hells. She’s got a...
  • New Favourite Band: Wentworth Kersey - a 'sci-fi folk experiment'

    This knocked me for six. Some stunning, beautiful country music from Joe Kersey Sampson (A Dog Paloma) and Jeffrey Wentworth Stevens (George&Caplin). Wentworth Kersey describe their sound as a ‘sci-fi folk experiment’ which gives a good impression of what...
  • New Favourite Band: The James Dean Syndrome - What's that sound?

    The James Dean Syndrome may just be the UK’s answer to White Denim. Not that White Denim are a question or a problem, far from it. I mean that they sound like them. Which I think it is a...
  • New Favourite Band: MIGHTY ROARS - Awesome new single, launch party this eve

    I love The Mighty Roars. If awesome punk pop is your bag, then you probably already love them too. So I’m very excited to report that they’ve finished a cracking new album, Zip and are biffing out the first single...
  • New Favourite Band: Excellent Tip Toe Records compilation - launch party on 25th May

    Tip Toe Records are releasing an excellent limited edition CD compilation, with only 200 copies being pressed. It’s got a fetching brown cardboard sleeve and is jam packed with indie goodness. If there aren’t at least 200 tasteful people...