[Last
Update: 02-January-2007]
>
> > RETURN TO MAIN CHINCHILLA PAGE! <<<
Welcome to information overload! If you can't find what you're looking for,
EMAIL
us if you fancy.
MP3s / videos
/ buying stuff / facts / photos / interviews / reviews / press / links
Full gig listings and more info available at www.myspace.com/chinchillatone
CHINCHILLAFEST
6 (May 16, 17, 18 - Leeds, 2008) information:
www.chinchillaweb.co.uk/chinchillafest6
______________________________________________________________________________
a.P.A.t.T.
WEB : http://www.apatt.com
WEB : http://www.myspace.com/apatt
WEB : http://www.myspace.com/itsapatt
WEB : http://www.myspace.com/freepfromapatt
WEB : http://www.myspace.com/apehatrecordings
MP3 : a.P.A.t.T. - Avajibber
MP3 : a.P.A.t.T.
- The Holy Toad
YOUTUBE : a.P.A.t.T.
- The Stars Spell Out Your Name
YOUTUBE : a.P.A.t.T.
- DVD Trailer
YOUTUBE : a.P.A.t.T.
- Documentary
YOUTUBE : a.P.A.t.T.
- The Blood
YOUTUBE : a.P.A.t.T.
- And She Looked At The Swan
RELEASE : eP (aPehAt, 2002)
RELEASE : Lp (aPehAt, 2004)
RELEASE : FREe.P (aPehAt, 2005) - FREE
DOWNLOAD
RELEASE : Ch(e.a)P (aPehAt, 2006)
RELEASE : Black And White Mass (Pickled Egg, 2008)
BUY RELEASES : http://www.loosemusic.org/classaaudio/2007/shop_files/shop_apehat.htm
Witness the all-encompassing brilliance of Liverpool's "every-wave"
obsessive compulsives, chewing up elements of every musical genre you ever
heard (and a few you haven't), carefully and carelessly churning them into
new, unrecognisable, magnificent shapes.
a.P.A.t.T.
are very busy at the moment, oh yes very busy indeed! Full length
12" vinyl and CD album on CHINCHILLA-TONE
out soon! Also available is a new full length CD release entitled 'Black And
White Mass' on PICKLED
EGG RECORDS (home to NEED
NEW BODY, BABLICON,
THE
GO TEAM, DANIEL
JOHNSTON, FULBORN
TEVERSHAM, etc). A 3 track 12" vinyl split with STIGNOISE
will be available on CLASS
A AUDIO soon!
a.P.A.t.T. have also nearly completed "a.P.A.t.T. The Movie",
set for release sometime in 2008 on DVD and in selected Cinemas maybe near
you.
"a.P.A.t.T.
are currently an enticing, bewildering and daunting prospect. They can sweep
through several genres in the space of an opening verse, rewriting musical
histories with a collectively raised eyebrow. If you so much as dip your toes
in to test the water, you find yourself dragged into a Wonka-esque tour of
expertly-executed skits that take in Zappa, classical music both ancient and
modern, punk, jazz, metal and a whole bundle of stuff that hasn't been invented
yet. Dexterous, monstrous and mind-wideningly wondrous." Hayley Avron
(PLAN B,
October 2007)
"Oh I dont know, there are no words for this. a.P.A.t.T.
are so easy to listen to when they really shouldn't be, it should just be
a mess - right now its some kind of minimal organic synth and delicate singing
of paradise and others coming to harm, or was it just a false alarm as it
all builds up so so deliciously once more. Hey look, track one is called The
Man Returns From Here After With A Future Flower - that really explains it
all, a future flower. My CD player says theres 66 tracks, the CD cover says
8, I heard at least 103 (or maybe it was just one long piece?). They're a
band, dont go thinking this is some wise-ass cut-up studio nerd gang of them
in masks and anti-radiation suits or something like that. Hey look, if you
want something challenging, something beautiful, something different, something
violent, something soothing, something like you never heard before then this
is where you need to go this week." Sean (ORGAN.com)
"a.P.A.t.T. are a motherfucking experience. Probably the only UK
band i can think of to come up with their vision of the dark, vicious and
fuck me, rather scary vision of the ACID PUNK dropped onto us from the visions
of Gibby from the Butthole Surfers. We love them. You need to hear this. It's
insane." Alan Mcgee (CREATION/POPTONES)

______________________________________________________________________________
CHOPS
WEB : http://www.chinchillaweb.co.uk/chops
WEB : http://www.myspace.com/mightychops
MP3 : CHOPS
- Chop Of The Pops (From Concentrate On The League Comp)
MP3 : CHOPS
- Mind Shards In The Morning (From Get Civilised Chinchilla Comp)
MP3 : CHOPS
- Earth Humans Know How To Party (From Free CDR)
RELEASE : Chop Of The Pops (Concentrate On The League, ROOM
237 & POOR
GIRL NOISE Compilation CD, 2007)
RELEASE : Mind Shards In The Morning (Get Civilised CHINCHILLA-TONE
Compilation CD, 2007)
RELEASE : CHOPS (approx 400 varying free CDRs in envelopes/lo-fi/non-existent
packages, Self Released, 2007)
RELEASE
: CHOPS (November 2007 Tour CDR, Self Released, November 2007)
Split 12" with HELHESTON out early 2008 on
UPSET! THE
RHYHTM.
Split DVD with TALIBAM!
out late 2008 on CHINCHILLA-TONE.
PRESS:
THE
GUARDIAN UNLIMITED
- The UK's new sonic pioneers (05-11-2007)
Freewheeling dysfunctional big beat drums! Cosmic keys! Mind controlling tone
generators! Lim shaking guitars! Shifted sax! Jazz lounge with uncomfortable
sofas! Broken R'n'B! Calypso played naked in the fridge-freezer! Euphoric
knees-up! Psychedelic forays into wonk pop music! Fresh faced fortune tellers!
Tear jerkers! Motivational speakers! One Love Revivalists! We have no taste,
but, ladies and gentlemen, we are your chefs tonight... "Ah, you
sweet little rogue, you! alas, poor ape, how thou sweatest! Come, let me wipe
thy face; come on, you whoreson chops: ah, rogue! i'faith, I love thee: thou
art as valorous as Hector of Troy, worth five of Agamemnon, and ten times
better than the Nine Worthies" (King Henry IV, part II:
II, iv Shakespeare).
CHOPS
has been invited into the bosom of UPSET!
THE RHYHTM, as part of their on-going vinyl split series of UK
bands. U!TR
is one of the few groups of people we feel right at home and comfortable with;
they are friendly faces, they have the right motivations and dedication, and
they have mastered the delicate balance of DIY ethics and actually getting
stuff done. CHOPS
totally respects fellow risk-takers, and although this isn't a mutual kiss-ass
exercise, we are naturally over the moon that they reciprocate the love. On
Tuesday 10th July and Friday 3rd August, we recorded at NO
RECORDING STUDIO with the very lovely John Hannon (who has previously
recorded the likes of CHROME
HOOF, TRENCHER,
BIRDS
OF DELAY, JAMES
BLACKSHAW, MAN
AUBERGINE, CLECKHUDDERSFAX,
WOMAN,
etc). Keep an eye out for details on who we will be sharing the vinyl with,
and when it might appear for your consumption. In the mean time, we recommend
that you take time to listen to other U!TR releases; BARR,
DEATH
SENTENCE: PANDA!, ESQUILAX,
GOWNS,
HANDS
ON HEADS, KIT,
LEOPARD
LEG, JOHN
MAUS, NO
AGE, NUMBERS,
THE
STICKS, T.I.T.S.,
TRENCHER,
YIKES.
Since conception in early 2007, CHOPS
have toured with TALIBAM!,
PUTTIN'
ON THE RITZ and COWTOWN,
and played gigs with bands such as CLARK
(Warp), MARNIE
STERN
(Kill
Rock Stars), DEATH
SENTENCE: PANDA!
(Upset The Rhythm),
OvO
(Load), INDIAN
JEWELRY
(Monitor,
Deleted Art, Skinny Wolves),
GAY
AGAINST YOU
(ADDADAT),
BILGE
PUMP (Gringo,
Run Of The Mill, etc), A.p.A.T.t.
(Pickled Egg, Chinchilla-Tone), and RANDOM
NUMBER (Rock
Action, Irritant, Catmobile).
Members
of CHOPS
also play in QUACK
QUACK, MASSIVE
HERON, TWO
MINUTE NOODLES, EYE
HAI, SENSE
OR THIS?, and INECTO
SCHOOL.

______________________________________________________________________________
CLECKHUDDERSFAX
WEB : http://wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.cleckhuddersfax.co.uk
WEB : http://www.myspace.com/cleckhuddersfax
WEB : http://www.last.fm/music/cleckhuddersfax
YOUTUBE : Cleckhuddersfax
- Live in Nottingham, 2006
YOUTUBE : Cleckhuddersfax
- Battlegoine, Live 2007
YOUTUBE : Cleckhuddersfax
- Kiss The Tide, Live 2007
YOUTUBE : Cleckhuddersfax
- Great Fire Of The Greasyman, Live 2007
CD album out November/December 2007 on CHINCHILLA-TONE.
Clechuddersfax have a lot of good consoles...... According to some they sound
like guitarless eighties prog (think Rush, Genesis & Queen), but with
non-harmonious voice contortions. They got some radbad basslines, insane vocal
sqawleage and a fine rack of rota-toms up top. Members can also be found spooking
souls in POLTERGROOM,
PLEASE,
ISAMBARD
KINGSTON BRUNEL and DESIGN
A WAVE.
"Saw some God loving band called CLECKHUDDERSFAX
at Harrods re-opening night. Both the opening and the band were shambolic
in every way, which I think the organisers actually encourage in a vain attempt
to appear anarchic and well, 'Knightsbridge'. Most of their set sounded like
Ottowan's take outs (look, Ottowan have one friend and weirdly, or perhaps
not so not weirdly, no cool beverages) and their singer was rude to my boss
and had the cheek to do it while wearing a stupid orange Prada vest thing.
BJDI Rating = SHIT" (some indie kid's blog)
"CLECKHUDDERSFAX
were as barmy as their name sounds. Their vocalist was dressed in an orange
leotard, with what looked like tights and possibly a posing pouch and a slightly
deranged look in his eyes. Their style is one I’m still valiantly trying
to work out. It was a bizarre mix of electronic noise, with danceable beats
and a slight ‘circus music meets prog-rock’ bounce. Yeah, crap
description I know, but I’ve never seen/heard anything quite like this
before. One of the most enthusiastic and entertaining bands of the day, plus:
great leotard". (Keep
It Fast)

______________________________________________________________________________
COWTOWN
WEB : http://www.chinchillaweb.co.uk/cowtown
WEB : http://www.myspace.com/cowtownsuperstars
MP3 : Pine
Cone Express at Last FM!
MP3 :
Cowtown
- Kitty Runs Away From Garlic (from
the 'Real Civilised' compilation)
YOUTUBE : Cowtown
- with Indica Ritual and Safetyword live in Liverpool
YOUTUBE : Cowtown
- Zurich, Switzerland
YOUTUBE : Cowtown
- Jumping Rabbit, Brudenell Social Club
YOUTUBE : Cowtown
- Ghostwave (Surf Time II) (Susumi, Derby, 7/8/07)
YOUTUBE : Cowtown
- Kitty Runs Away From Garlic (Susumi, Derby, 7/8/07)
YOUTUBE : Cowtown
- Slice of Ketchup (Susumi, Derby, 7/8/07)
YOUTUBE : Cowtown
- Power Ballad (Susumi, Derby, 7/8/07)
YOUTUBE : Cowtown
- I'm In Your House Part II (Susumi, Derby, 7/8/07)
YOUTUBE : Cowtown
- Dog Hat (Susumi, Derby, 7/8/07)
YOUTUBE : Cowtown
- Part Man, Part Machine (Susumi, Derby, 7/8/07)
RELEASE : COWTOWN/CORINTHIANS
split 7" (BLOODLOSS, 2005)
RELEASE : SLICE OF KETCHUP 7" (GOLDEN
LAB, 2005)
RELEASE : PINE-CONE EXPRESS (CHINCHILLA-TONE)
= CD, GOLDEN
LAB = 12", ON
THE BONE = DOWNLOADS, out November 2007)
INTERVIEW : SANDMAN MAGAZINE (January 2008) - details soon
INTERVIEW : CONTACT
MUSIC (October 2007)
The new COWTOWN
album is it out now! 12 tracks of total party fun, mostly instrumental stuff,
with a taster of the COWTOWN
to come, with Steevsie vocalising a song. CHINCHILLA
are releasing the CD, and teaming up with GOLDEN
LAB who are releasing the vinyl version of the album, and ON
THE BONE who are doing mp3 downloads (LAST
FM, I-tunes, Digital 7, E-music, etc). Artwork from DAVE
BAILEY: secret dogs with cocks, ostriches with ying yang eyes
- y'know, s'nice.
A track from PINE CONE EXPRESS, I'm In Your House (Part Two), was played on
HUW
STEPHENS' BBC RADIO ONE show on 21st November, because ON
THE BONE who have released the mp3 downloads of the ablum were
chosen as his DIY Label Of The Week. It'll be online and listenable too for
7 days after broadcast. Huw also played the new single by
our pals THAT
FUCKING TANK on the same show.
"Over
five years or so the COWTOWN
name has been occasionally posted and sometimes pasted on the walls and windows
of the Leeds DIY scene. The actual names of the actual members of the actual
COWTOWN
who grace this latest album (CD, vinyl and download - each managed by a different
label) are not easy to track down. But Jon Nash, Dave Shields and "Hils"
are definitely implicated. One or more of these might at one time have been
influenced by admirable musicians from Chicago, whose cattle market is probably
much larger than the one to be found in Otley.
The plan (it's as plain as a pikestaff) was to have as much of a party on
one CD as certified hedonologists could install. And as a result, for those
who crave reckless abandon with (or without) stimulants, strobe lights, fireworks
and dancing with independent limbs, "Pine-Cone Express" sounds the
very sort of thing to play when things are starting to look like they might
not get out of control. In such right hands as those possessed by COWTOWN,
a 1977 Korg Micro Preset, a 1986 Casio SK1, a drum kit and a guitar only need
a tangential voice or two and it's all done. Although Jon Nash (a virtuoso
bass player in former bands like THE
DRAGON RAPIDE)
is present there is, as far as I can tell, no bass as such. The band make
do with chunky parts from guitar and Casio to pummel the diaphragm and shake
the dangly parts. Drumming is on the nicely heavy side. There is a cunningly
Cubist representation of the wonderful sound of George Harrison's
opening chord from "A Hard Day's Night" on "Slice
of Ketchup". And while I do love both tune and title for "Kitty
Runs Away From Garlic" my favourite part is probably the guitar
part in "Science". Being the party bore, I would probably
want to sit and listen to that bit all night.
All in all, there are plenty of riffs, tunes, klangs and exclamations. More
than enough to titillate even the most jaded of post-mathrock snorecore buffs.
It's mostly instrumental, but when voice comes in the semantic balance still
doesn't move any closer to the rational side. If anything it's the opposite,
While an ancient Casio isn't normally called on to tell detailed stories of
extreme dancing, the presence of a lyric does tend to raise expectations of
meaningful words to pass on to the curious.
Fortunately, I can offer very little. I suspect that some of what is sung
or shouted would fall a little short of the good advice that might be offered
by The Department for Children, Schools and Families. What I can report is
that the tracks are inventive, a bit crazy, surprisingly melodic and really
very chirpy. The
outstanding DJ tracks would be "I'm In Your House 1 and 2", dropping
somewhere between QUACK
QUACK and BILGE
PUMP (for those who know their Leeds DIY) or maybe between DEERHOOF
and HELLA
for those who are not so sure of their LS6 bearings. In its opening version
the tune opens up in the riffland of (maybe) "Babylon in Burning".
It's that gleeful happiness in mixing heaviness with the twee bleating of
some of the Casio lines that gives the whole thing its characteristic (and
very enjoyable) sound. A very distant cover of "Beat It" closes
proceedings, as I suppose it should. (but I'm not sure if it appears in all
formats - it's a CD secret track at least). 8/10" (Sam Saunders,
WHISPERIN
& HOLLERIN).
"26 minutes of the most energetic sonic splurge squeezed into 12 songs,
fantastic! Continuing the theme of ridiculous band / album / song titles Leeds
based COWTOWN
will not only make you smile but they will riotously pace around your bedroom
at the same time. Combining down tuned chords with acres of gargantuan razor
sharp electronics their contagious spaz rock grips tight like a vice. Perfectly
at home with extroverted spiky instrumentals as they are with outrageous punk
vocals and Casio keyboards this four piece’s debut record is one to
add to your buy-me-next-fucking-week list. On Part Man, Part Machine,
All Cop - who could say no to a Robocop revival? - high end guitars strangle
a vocoder and child’s keyboard like it’s as regular an occurrence
as a traditional Sunday roast, and even though it doesn’t even breach
the 2 minute barrier you come out the other end feeling well fed. Kitty
Runs Away From Garlic has all the bravado and stomp of Mick Jagger in
his youth, but without the arrogance and plus a dirty great bundle of grit
and Power Ballad does exactly what you’d expect, but well.
Eighties synths are applied to anthemic riffery, but not with the expected
cheese ball outcome; somehow Cowtown manage to make this as tasty and poisonous
as the rest of the album. Pine Cone Express reminds me of the first Liars
album, They Threw Us All in a Trench and Stuck a Monument On Top
- dance-punk at it’s non-stop best. A real breath of fresh air being
pumped into the festering pit of rock, so inhale and hold it in; this doesn‘t
happen all too often. There’s real promise within this 26 minutes and
a few seconds, and apparently there is already another album on the tip of
their tongue - personally I can’t fucking wait." (SUBBA
CULTCHA)
"Deliciously catastrophic and shambolic, listening to 'Pine-cone Express'
is like walking through a TV theme tune with Urusei Yatsura jamming along
and Mark E Smith hurling abuse from the sidelines. If there was a competition
for The Band Who Sounds Like They're Having The Most Fun Without Uttering
A Word, COWTOWN
would reign supreme. Or more, likely, they'd come second and still be laughing.
Song-titles range from the 'hilarious' 'Curtis Tigers' (it's not
really funny but it thinks it is and it is, really.) to the dubious 'Mr
Pear Sandwich Man'. Regrettably the lyrics are all but incomprehensible.
If we could only make them out, we could well be one step closer to enlightenment.
I guess that can wait. One minute we are blasted with a lo-fi soundalike of
(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction, the next, the earlobes take a battering with
skronky keyboards. The real secret, though, is that underneath the matching
knitwear and fuck-fi recording techniques, these skronky keyboards contain
the catchiest, danceable-est 30-second anthems this side of Kraftwerk and
that side of the Crazy Frog." (Hayley Avron, CONTACT
MUSIC)
"COWTOWN
are the soundtrack to your downfall, a haunting descent into a psychotic trench
with four cretins rubbing salt on your wounds and breaking your already depleted
spirits. Slowly
though, this plight gains a comfort, cider to numb the pain of the weeping
sores and gallons of soft drink down your gullet to place you in a state of
sugar-soaked derangement. As this idle bliss takes hold Pine Cone Express
gains a compulsive quality as its frenetically spiralling waves of no-wave
lap at your decaying mind. The most obvious points of comparison for the Leeds-based
quartet’s debut record come from COWTOWN’s
similarly ludicrous peers; ‘I’m In Your House Part 1’
opens events with Munch Munch’s toddler-baiting stomp, the curtailing
sub-Deerhoof sprawl of Buttonhead as ‘Kitty Runs Away From Garlic’
runs rampant and the incessant diseased surf-punk of Agaskodo Teliverek on
‘Crab Pamphlet’. All unnecessary spiel - describing COWTOWN
accurately is about as feasible as herding cats. Though ‘Slice Of
Ketchup’ harps with Devo’s new-wave riot, occasionally it’s
all taken a little too far as ‘Power Ballad’ pushes COWTOWN
to sweep their hair back and make like Simon Le Bon. Half the point, but half
a headache; never far from sounding like inept musak as ‘Mr Pear
Sandwich Man’ runs round in circles as it tries to find a wall
to claw itself out the pit its dug. Released on three different formats on
three different labels, COWTOWN
will confuse. ‘I’m In Your House Part 2’ flouts
itself again, a contentedly numb-skulled close. You wouldn’t want them
in your house: they’d leave their slow-jawed crisp mastication with
crumbs in every corner, crayons on the floor and urinate on your sofa as they
slept. But from the comfortable distance of the stereo, away from their spreading
of germs, they’re a distant delight. Succinct: a relentlessly refreshing
sugar-soaked high. 7/10" (Samuel Strang, DROWNED
IN SOUND)
"What a debut! Super-fun synth-driven mayhem bringing to mind
a more shouty Plastics or a crazier Hot Chip. This is excellent and catchy
stuff. Recommended!" (JUMBO
RECORDS - you can also buy Pine Cone Express from the online
shop)
"The use of 80s Casio keyboards invariably guarantees a certain degree
of ‘kookiness’ but it’s pleasing that Leeds three-piece
COWTOWN
are considerably more than twee existentialists. You’ve heard countless
derivative bands denying that they fit, quite deservedly into the “shit
Oasis type band” or the “wank nu-metal” or even possibly
the “crap post-rock by numbers” category but COWTOWN
are genuinely on a plain of their own. Of course this is all academic if it
sounds like a tool shed during an earthquake but COWTOWN
are enviously cohesive. Sometimes grungy, frequently noodley, and sometimes,
as you’d imagine slightly kooky but always loud as hell they’re
a compelling blend. At present it seems that ‘LS6’ (that’s
a postcode) is producing one of the most important independent music scenes;
somewhere where new freethinking possibilities are embraced rather than feared.
COWTOWN
are one such fine example of this." (MUSIC
DASH)
Cowtown article in Flux Magazine Issue 57

______________________________________________________________________________
PIFCO
WEB : http://www.chinchillaweb.co.uk/pifco
WEB : http://www.myspace.com/pifco1
WEB : http://www.runofthemillrecords.co.uk/pifco.html
WEB : http://www.last.fm/music/Pifco
MP3
: Pifco - Jon German
MP3
: Pifco
- Who Is Walker?
RELEASE: Bilge Pump/Pifco Jonathan Richman covers
split 7" (RUN
OF THE MILL, 2006)
RELEASE: Tape album (CHINCHILLA-TONE,
2007)
Members
of COWTOWN
and D'ASTRO.
The slackest and most prolonged project of CHINCHILLA
to date! PIFCO
handed us two cassettes, containing no fewer than 47 songs, weighing in at
just under 180 minutes of music! Together we picked out the best bits, and
beat the odds after a year of delays! PIFCO
recorded newer songs which were added to the release. Your ears will be excited!
And so will your eyes, because Ste lovingly printed on 500 hand-made cardboard
boxes! Email us
or see us at gigs to buy one, £2.50 plus postage where necessary. Oh,
and you can spot a review of the tape in the August 2007 issue of PLAN
B. Thanks!
"Oozes with lo-fi, punk rock delight that its damned hard not
to fall for." (TASTY)
PIFCO review from the August 2007 Issue of PLAN B:
______________________________________________________________________________
TIGERS!
WEB : http://tigers.chinchillaweb.co.uk
WEB : http://www.myspace.com/tigers3000
MP3
: TIGERS!
- Sex Pest At The Sex Fest (from
the 'Real Civilised' compilation)
MP3 : TIGERS!
- 7" side A / TIGERS! - 7"
side B
MP3 : TIGERS! - Cock Penetrates Skull
(from 7")
MP3 : TIGERS! - Mutton Dressed As
Shit (from 7")
WMV : TIGERS!
Hash Und Thrash (Live at Ponce In The Park, Derby, 2005)
WMV
: TIGERS!
Chairman Mao (Live at Ponce In The Park, Derby, 2005)
MOV
: TIGERS! unity day 1 /
TIGERS! unity day 2 (Live at Unity Day, Leeds,
2004)
AVI : TIGERS!
live at Slade Hall (avi) (Manchester,
2004)
RELEASE : 7"
(CHINCHILLA-TONE,
2004)
RELEASE : SUPERBLACK 12" (HAIRY
HAIRY FIST, (cover
art by Liam Sparkes of TRENCHER,
pink & pee pee color vinyl, 2006)
"Wild guitar heroics like a cross between Fugazi, 80's British underground
bands like Bogshed, and the experimental hardcore of Gay For Johnny Depp or
Mukilteo Fairies. Uncompromising underground punk rock! Skewed!" (JUMBO
RECORDS)
"I
got TIGERS!
Superblack 12". TIGERS!
will castrate a gnat and impregnate your mother" (some dude on a
message board)
"TIGERS!
take the stage in wrestlers' outfits, masks and cowboy hats. Men melt microphones
with gutteral guitar-play and tiger-hide hot pants. A man in a gold-sequinned
dinner jacket hits a cowbell with the demeanour of a somebody
about to serve dinner. We get a glimpse inside the mind of an ADHD sufferer
and come out smiling" Hayley Avron (PLAN
B, April 2007).
______________________________________________________________________________
THE DRAGON RAPIDE (Split up in 2005)
WEB : http://www.chinchillaweb.co.uk/dragonrapide
MP3 : The Dragon
Rapide - Interlude (from II)
MP3 : The
Dragon Rapide - Kissing The Shuttle (from II)
MP3 : The
Dragon Rapide - Interlude (from Meetings With
Remarkable Machines)
MP3 : The
Dragon Rapide - Work For Apprentices (from
Meetings With Remarkable Machines)
MP3 : The
Dragon Rapide - The Splendour Of Light (from
Meetings With Remarkable Machines)
RELEASE : Meetings With Remarkable Machines (CD, 5 Nach
3 - now CORAILLE)
RELEASE : II (CHINCHILLA-TONE
= 12", CORAILLE/(CHINCHILLA-TONE
= CD, 2006)
"Leeds
post-math perfectionists THE
DRAGON RAPIDE have their
lushly packaged 2nd studio collection now up for grabs. This is joyous &
fizzy, uncompromising, optimistic, widdly, wobbly, kaleidoscopic & heart
warming stuff. A great leap forward from the debut CD, musically, stylistically
& in the production stakes too. There's elements of free jazz & world
music here & there but all in all no threat of Andy Kershaw coming round
your house to chew your ear off with that worthy accent. So think maybe a
friskier, dizzier Tortoise jamming with small slices of Sea & Cake, Him,
hints of Mice Parade & Five Style. Very intricate & clever stuff indeed.
The sleeve art was done by their friend from Liverpool & blew me away".
(NORMAN
RECORDS)
Members of bands such as The Lapse, Kito, Brown Owl, COWTOWN,
TIGERS!,
etc.
______________________________________________________________________________
CHINCHILLAFEST
5 PLAN
B APRIL 2007 REVIEW
______________________________________________________________________________
THE GUARDIAN UNLIMITED - The UK's new sonic pioneers (05-11-2007):
"When
it comes to the experimental and the avant garde, US bands are beating us
hands down. So where are our new sonic pioneers?
I'm going to put my hand up here and just come out with it: when it comes
to music, these days, I'm a Yankophile. Yes, in terms of the "mainstream",
things that fit happily into the broad genres of rock, pop, metal and dance,
Britain is up there with the best of them and, post-Beatles,
always has been. However, when it comes to music that falls through the cracks
into the multifarious sub-genres (music that, for want of a better term, can
be deemed "underground"), these days the US is way ahead of us.
It wasn't always thus: up until about a decade ago, there was no disparity.
Through garage to punk, for every Sonics, Voidoids
and Ramones we matched them with the Pretty Things,
the Sex Pistols and the Clash. With alternative/indie
rock, they had the holy quartet of Sonic Youth, Dinosaur
Jr, Pixies and Pavement - but then
we had bands of their equal such as the Fall, My
Bloody Valentine, Jesus and Mary Chain and Stereolab.
And, in the arena of the avant garde and experimental, they may have had Beefheart,
Suicide and Pere Ubu, but from Henry
Cow to Eno to Nurse with Wound
- not to mention hugely influential musicians such as Derek Bailey
and Keith Rowe - we had artists and groups to be extremely
proud of.
Yes, you may argue the Fall and Stereolab
are still going, but they are 31 and 17 years old respectively. Similarly,
the still-going-strong Nurse with Wound were formed in 1978.
Even Broadcast and Mogwai are no spring
chickens, both having formed in 1995. And in the realm of electronica, the
same can be said of Aphex Twin, Autechre
and Boards of Canada.
In contrast, in the last 15 or so years, North America has continually produced
countless exciting, risk-taking, vital bands and artists, the cream of which
includes Tortoise, Blonde Redhead, Black
Dice, Animal Collective (and all the off-shoot solo
projects), Gang Gang Dance, Bardo Pond,
Jimmy Edgar, Excepter, Lightning
Bolt, Magik Markers ... but more than this, there
is a whole new batch of artists who have come through in only the last few
years and really are pushing the boundaries: Battles, Telepathé,
Grouper, Eats Tapes, Marnie Stern,
Dan Deacon, Effie Briest, Barr,
No Age, Xiu Xiu, Dirty Projectors
and Health to name just a few.
So what happened? Discussing the situation with friends in a pub the last
week, two hugely profound conclusions were reached:
1) Who knows?
2) Talking about such an incendiary subject when alcohol is involved is a
terrible idea, as it results in grown men embarrassingly reminiscing, teary-eyed,
about the life-changing experience of seeing Chapterhouse
in 1991.
While there may appear to be no adequate answers, then (and I'd like to hear
your theories if you have any), there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
Formed in 2003 by "a bunch of kids who were bored of the London music
scene", London-based promoters UPSET!
THE RHYTHM are one of the most important allies of underground
music in the UK. While the majority of the acts they put on are US-based,
for the reason I'm laying out here, they also are also fiercely supportive
of UK acts, and, as they put it, are committed to "showcasing and supporting
new, and often unheard of, local musicians". And UTR is certainly not
alone in fighting the underground's corner, as promoters such as the Leeds-based
CHINCHILLA
Collective attest to.
The knock-on effect of this is palpable evidence of the UK underground rousing
itself from a baffling hibernation, with bands such as LEOPARD
LEG, THE
POLLY SHANG KUAN BAND (who have released a seven-inch single
on Ecstatic Peace, and toured with Magik Markers),
QUACK
QUACK, CHOPS,
BIRDS
OF DELAY and HEX
OUT TAPES producing work of note.
It will be interesting to see how the scene develops over the next few years,
then, and who knows, perhaps in the near future at All Tomorrow's
Parties - that reliable barometer of who matters - we'll see just
as many UK acts on the bill as those from across the pond". (James
Wignall, GUARDIAN
UNLIMITED).
Chinchilla Tone Records, Leeds. |