Kids today, eh? Dressing up in black, being all miserable, recording in dank studios underneath railway arches, wasn’t like that in my day. Oh hold on, yes it bloody was. Maybe that’s why, when I first heard The Xx, I got one of those weird chills. The fact that they were half my age and [...]
All posts for the month September, 2009
Review – The Xx
Posted by loftandlost on September 27, 2009
http://loftandlost.com/2009/09/27/review-the-xx/
It’s That Bad Lieutenant Again
So, last week I posted the new single by Barney Sumner’s new band, Bad Lieutenant. And thanks to the mysteries of the Interwebs, it didn’t show up on Hype Machine. So it goes, and thanks to those lovely people on the Elbows forum, I now know a whole load more about how this kind of [...]
Posted by loftandlost on September 23, 2009
http://loftandlost.com/2009/09/23/its-that-bad-lieutenant-again/
Happy New Year!
Yesterday was Rosh Hashanah – the Jewish New Year. Sitting in the Synagogue for the family service, and reading the story of Abraham, I was struck by the brutality of the tale. God tells some bloke to kill his son, and then lets him off at the last minute, just as Abraham is about to [...]
Posted by loftandlost on September 20, 2009
http://loftandlost.com/2009/09/20/happy-new-year/
It’ll Get You As The Party Ends
The human brain is a funny thing. You can be doing the washing up, walking the dog, pruning the roses, putting out the bins, or any of the other million and one little chores that make up your daily life, when suddenly a thought comes from nowhere and knocks you for six. I get that [...]
Posted by loftandlost on September 17, 2009
http://loftandlost.com/2009/09/17/itll-get-you-as-the-party-ends/
Bad Lieutenant! Naughty Lieutenant! In Your Bed!
Barney Sumner has been writing songs for more than thirty years. Isn’t that a scary thought? From the early days of Warsaw, through the glorious Joy Division and New Order years, to Electronic then back to New Order again (slightly less gloriously), and now to Bad Lieutenant. Teaming up with ex-Marion (remember them?) members Phil [...]
Posted by loftandlost on September 15, 2009
http://loftandlost.com/2009/09/15/bad-lieutenant-naughty-lieutenant-in-your-bed/
Power Pop Goodness With Brendan Benson
By jove, that Brendan Benson’s got a way with a tune. You get it with the first minute of the first song off his new album. Starts off a bit like something off a Raconteurs record, then it’s as though Brendan suddenly goes “Hold on, I don’t need to do dreary mid-tempo rock with that [...]
Posted by loftandlost on September 13, 2009
http://loftandlost.com/2009/09/13/power-pop-goodness-with-brendan-benson/
The Pitchfork 500 Missing List Part Two
For all the great songs on the Pitchfork 500 list, there are some right duffers. And there’s some great, well-known, hugely loved songs missing. Following on from Part One, this covers the years 1980 to 1982. These are, of course, my own personal choice. If you can think of a band that the Pitchfork writers [...]
Posted by loftandlost on September 12, 2009
http://loftandlost.com/2009/09/12/the-pitchfork-500-missing-list-part-two/
The Pitchfork 500 Goes Goth – Echo to the Banshees
Goths! Black. Patchouli oil. Hair crimpers. More black. Dry ice. Being miserable. Yet more black. Ah, it was fun being a goth. Echo and the Bunnymen – The Killing Moon The Cure – Close to Me Siouxsie and the Banshees – Cities in Dust I was a teenage goth, you know. Well, more like a [...]
Posted by loftandlost on September 6, 2009
http://loftandlost.com/2009/09/06/the-pitchfork-500-goes-goth-echo-to-the-banshees/
Holiday Songs, Part 3 – Iron and Wine
I went away with good intentions of playing all those Word CD’s I hadn’t got round to listening to yet, plus those Husker Du, Replacements and Minutemen CD’s I’d bought as a result of the Pitchfork 500 list. Instead, my brain went “You know, you really haven’t listened to Iron and Wine or Feist recently, [...]
Posted by loftandlost on September 5, 2009
http://loftandlost.com/2009/09/05/holiday-songs-part-3-iron-and-wine/
Holiday Songs, Part 2 – Ybor Rocks
So now I know what Craig Finn of The Hold Steady is on about when he sings about Ybor City. After a lovely day at the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, we headed on down to the original Columbia Restaurant in Tampa. It’s situated in the old Hispanic Quarter, now tarted up and brushed up, [...]
Posted by loftandlost on September 3, 2009
http://loftandlost.com/2009/09/03/holiday-songs-part-2-ybor-rocks/
