The Bulletin is Back

The Soft Bulletin is back up and running as of tonight, as I now have access to a computer again. Finally. Which is good. Lots has happened, and lots more is going to happen, so an exciting summer coming up.
Recently I have been listening to a couple of the fucking excellent Nigeria Special compilations, the Highlife one and the psychedelic one. They are brilliant. The Funkees, as featured on the compilation, are the cool bunch of motherfuckers that are in this post's opening photo. A full review will happen soon, alongside it a review of the equally excellent African Scream Contest, which covers a similar period (early 70's), only this time in Benin and Togo rather than Nigeria. I might do those tomorrow or Monday, but before Glastonbury I promise. I'll also review the Cloudland Canyon album that's a krautrock tribute type thing. It's really quite spacey and wonderful. Check it out if you haven't done already.
Also, look forward to reviews of Radiohead live at Victoria Park, and Glastonbury. I expect the mighty John Cale or the Brian Jonestown boys to be the highlight, but who knows. Plenty of great things going on in the less well known areas, such as the mighty Ethiopiques playing a set.
I also fancy doing a blog about the seminal Wire trilogy of 'Pink Flag', 'Chairs Missing' and '154' because it's so good. Most people already own it, but still worth talking about. I think 'Chairs Missing' pips it for me.

Anyway, Thanks for reading if you are!

Currently listening to Ifa by Tunji Oyelana and the Benders

Sonic Sam

Death of a Computer

My computer has totally died, which is why there have been no posts for a long time. Sorry about all these computer issues, seem to be having shit luck with it at the moment.
Anyway, on a lighter and brighter note, I have mostly been listening to Tangerine Dream. I can't get over how good 'Stratosphere' is, amongst many others. Magic. Also enjoying Jay-Z, in preparation for Glastonbury. He isn't groundbreaking, but it's good party hip-hop.
Apologies again for the lack of posts. I will be getting the computer fixed next month, and then over the summer I promise posts will be flying off the keyboard on to the world wide web.

Currently listening to Tangerine Dream

Sonic Sam

Krautrock Sampler

I have now finished all 4000 words of my hippy project, which is satisfying. I still have another politics essay to go, but let's forget about that for now. This post is going to be highlighting the best tracks from the 6 disc Krautrock compilation for my birthday. If you're into your Krautrock already, but are struggling where to look next, this compilation gives you tracks from all sorts of weird and wonderful bands allowing you to find out where to go next. It's also excellent for total newbies to the genre. I am not going to recommend Can, Faust, Cluster, Harmonia or Guru Guru, who all appear on here, because we all know they are fantastic anyway and should be purchased by anyone trying to get in Krautrock. Also, buy Neu! and Amon Duul II, two not included on this compilation, but I think that is a given already. Anyway then, here goes.

1. Birth Control - The Work is Done

This is a good repetitive tune. based around something resembling a bluesy bass line, weird guitar noises circulate for around 2 minutes, then a wonderfully strange organ led jazzy freak out kicks in, which is rather cool. Cocktail piano solo's and guitar noodling, but much better than that description sounds.

2. Os Mundi - Question of Decision

A nice long freak out, that doesn't change a great deal, but builds up and up based around a chord pattern. Really cool.

3. Lava - Tears are Going Home

The guitar sound at the start is fucking cool. Dirty sounds and solid heavy drums. Two chords. Brilliant. Hawkwind-esque is probably the best description I can give it, and that is a very high compliment indeed. It has the spacey electronics floating around it too, and is loose enough to sound perfectly at home on 'Space Ritual'.

4. Electric Sandwich - China

Drums lead this track round 8 minutes of swirl and noises. Excellent Krautrock.

5. Frumpy - How the Gipsy Was Born

Deep Purple esque track, rocks out this one. Not what you would expect from Krautrock bands, but good none the less.

6. Kin Ping Meh - Fairy-Tales

This is a cool tune, reminds me of bands like The Open Mind, that late 60's psychedelic heavy rock, but this time drawn out for near enough 10 minutes, rather than sitting constrained in a 3 minute pop song.

7. Klaus Shulze - Mental Door

Klaus Shulze is a krautrock legend, having played drums on the first Tangerine Dream album, as well as helping out the self-titled Ash Ra Tempel. This is from his solo career, and is synthesiser led, and is 22 minutes of experimentation. Cool. The photo at the start of this post is Shulze, how cool is that picture?

8. Sperrmuell - No Freak Out

The sound of a fantastic band jamming out a riff, with effects thrown all over the recording, on the guitars, the drums, everywhere. Sounds lively and has a belting repetitive bass and drum groove leading the way. It of course freaks out, regardless of the title.

9. Lucifer's Friend - Lucifer's Friend

Big noisy keyboards and guitars lead the band through 6 minutes of bluesy psychedelic rock. Guaranteed to get your hair flying. More straighter edged hard rock than a lot of the stuff on here, but still well worth a listen.

10. La Dusseldorf - Rheinita

A beautifully uplifting synth-led track to end my selections on, lovely. Sounds like Harmonia type stuff, but with slightly more live instruments. Aparrently, La Dusseldorf were a big influence for those krautrock revivalist kids Secret Machines, along with Can.



So there you go, then 10 best tracks that aren't by bands you should already know, or bands that you should buy lots of their stuff. There's also lots more good stuff on here, but I have kept it to one track per bands for eases sake. A pretty damn good compilation overall.

Currently listening to Rheinita by La Dusseldorf

Sonic Sam

Shenanigans

Sorry for the delays again. I am currently snowed under with Uni work so that is taking a bit of priority at the moment. However, I've been reading some awesome stuff for my hippy project, such as Mick Farren's 'Give the Anarchist a Cigarette' book, which is insightful, witty and really rather honest I think. Also I have re-read 'White Bicycles', Joe Boyd's book, mainly for the sections on the UFO nightclub, which is obviously featuring heavily in the London section of my project.
I do have some new music though, which will get reviewed and ranted about soon enough. Yeasayer, Amon Duul II and A Tribe Called Quest will all get talked about, and also some Guru Guru and probably a review of this evening's Sebadoh gig at Concorde2 in Brighton, if I get round to it.
A Tribe Called Quest are really rocking major deck time at the moment, particularly 'Low End Theory' but also 'Midnight Marauders'. I am also loving the song 'Monkey Puzzle' by the Brian Jonestown Massacre, off the 'Take It From the Man' album.

Currently Listening to the Pebbles compilations, volume 3

Sam

A Tentative List of Things to Do in Paradise

Today I found the most amazing book. So good I had to post about it on here, even though it's a book and not musical. It's from 1969, and is called 'Counter Culture' and is a series of essays edited by Joseph Berke. The reason it's so amazing is the lay out and stuff though, and all the weird things in it. Anarchic hippy revolutionary style stuff. Brilliant. I thought I would put something from it up on here, and have chosen 'A Tentative List of Things to Do in Paradise' by Tuli Kupferberg, including spelling mistakes.

1. Fuck
2. Don't Fuck
3. Sing
4. Do nothing
5. Read
6. Play with yourself
7. Feed the hungry
8. Play Frisbee
9. Meditate
10. Bake apple strudel (with Cinnamon, not too much sugar)
11. Have a baby
12. Play with children
13. Teach something someone wants to know
14. Learn to play guitar (or the Moog Synthesiser)
15. Discover a cure for cancer
16. Work for immortality
17. Travel
18. Stay at home
19. Write a poem
20. Write a book
21. Plant beans
22. Go live in the desert and meditate
23. Take drugs
24. Invent a new sexual position
25. Invent a new drug
26. Just play a record
27. Perform a play
28. Kiss someone
29. Touch someone else
30. Walk across England
31. Bicycle through Germany
32. Call up yr mother
33. Watch (good) TV
34. Invent a sensory stimulating device as important as TV
35. Go to a good movie
36. Make a good movie
37. Think up new things to do
38. Paint
39. Paint yr house
40. Paint yr body
41. Paint yr lover's body
42. Walk along the sea-shore
43. Sail a boat to Cape Cod
44. Learn to play the piano
45. Invent a machine to translate sounds into a book in ten minutes (with 10,302 choices of binding)
46. Stare at yr beautiful body
47. Pet a dog (or cat)
48. Go home
49. Visit a friend
50. Help someone who needs help
51. Look at the sky
52. Dance
53. Dance till you drop
54. Drink wine
55. Visit the moon
56. Desire me
57. Make suggestions to other people of things to do
58. Tell jokes
59. Sing in a chorus
60. Pet yourself (you feel good)
61. Tale off all yr clothes
62. Make beautiful new clothes
63. Make beautiful pottery: cups for beautiful wines
64. Climb a mountain (because y're there): don't hurt yrself!
65. Build a new musical instrument
66. Think about God
67. Think about the meaning of the universe - & then
68. Laugh
69. Sleep sometime
70. Dream if you like
71. Go away (& com back if you like)
72. Have an adventure (don't know where y're going)(get lost in a strange city)
73. Visit China at last
74. Eat dinner in the BBC cafeteria
75. Don't care what you do
76. Sit in the park under a tree
77. Sit in a tree
78. Confide in someone
79. Tell someone how beautiful they are
80. Play with fire
81. Play with ice
82. Touch your toes; that feels good
83. Touch her toes
84. Suck on a titty
85. Wrestle for fun (not to win)
86. Run
87. Jump up & down
88. Smile
89. Sit in the sun
90. Listen to the wind thru the leaves of the sycamore tree
91. Come walk with me
92. Play the fiddle while drink cider, others dance
93. Build a house with yr own hands
94. Take a bath
95. Knit a scarf in incredible wools
96. Design & manufacture radios
97. Talk to me
98. Talk to him
99. Talk to her
100. Talk to yourself
101. Make love...we are all lovers

How about that?

Currently listening to 'Blue Afternoon' by Tim Buckley

Sam

Bjork live at Hammersmith Apollo 14/04/2008

Ladies holding brass instruments and flags attached to their heads, dressed top to toe in neon clothing, march on stage to the thumping drums of ‘Earth Intruders’ whilst 10 foot flames fire up behind them. This marks the start of one of the most spectacular audio and visual experiences any person can wish to observe. The tiny Bjork follows her marching brass band, dressed in the most ridiculous piece of headgear ever, consisting of lots of mini pompoms attached randomly together. Google it. She somehow pulls it off though, in the inimical way that only she can, in front off a crowd of devoted fans. As the opening number ends, and Bjork eases the tribal drums into the more spacious ‘Hunter’, the momentum is not lost. Bjork dances round the stage like a pixie, throwing her whole body left and right and shaking to the offbeat drums. Toumani Diabate joined Bjork for a spellbinding rendition of ‘Hope’ and Antony Hegarty (of the Johnsons fame) shared the stage for ‘Dull Flame of Desire’, which the crowd can’t quite believe. It’s her 1996 hit ‘Army of Me’ though, that really tears the roof down. Heavy drums, bass, synths and an overload of lasers turn the crowd into a pit of frenzied dancers. By the time Bjork ends the show with the simply superb ‘Hyperballad’, which sees the crowd singing the first verse louder than she can, so she just leaves it to them before promptly turning the last half of the song into a rave, and the equally relentless but just as beautiful ‘Pluto’, the crowd are in total awe of the tiny Icelandic lady. After a long break of constant cheering, Bjork returns with her Wonderbrass (honestly) and plays the beautiful ‘Anchor Song’ before closing the night with the frenetic ‘Declare Independence’, which she sings with just as much commitment as ever before, despite the huge amount of trouble the song has landed her in recently. Masses of golden confetti falls from the ceiling, making the Apollo seem more like a golden snow globe, which all adds to the spectacle. The man next to me sums up the whole evening perfectly as we turn to leave, just simply saying that that was “out of this world”. Bjork is an absolute must-see.

The computer still isn't working properly, so I am listening to the same three as before. Though just had some Drive Like Jehu on Last.fm which was fun.

Sam

Computer Crash

My computer external hardrive has died, so all my ripped music is not listenable at the moment. My CD's are all at home so I can't even listen to them. So I am just listening to my records at the moment, which is nice, but still doesn't make up for the loss of music! Anyway, for this reason there shan't be much going on here at the moment in terms of music reviews. I also can't do MP3 uploads at the moment either.

I am seing Bjork tomorrow night at Hammersmith Apollo which I will do a review for so that should be posted up here before Wednesday I would say, so look out for that.

Currently, all I seem to be putting on my deck is Talk Talk's 'Spirit Of Eden' (fucking incredible), Slint's 'Spiderland' (we all know how good that is) and Lou's 'Coney Island Baby', which is severely underrated. 'Kicks' is such a tune. I am also able to listen to stuff online, and have been jamming my ears with 'Rez' by Underworld which is a beautiful techno style track. They've also just been added to the Bestival line-up, which should be fun.

Thanks for sticking with it

Sam