Wednesday, March 30, 2005

New Gorillaz single and video here!

Y'know what? A year ago I was apprehensive about a second Gorillaz album, but Damon...sorry, the fab four (Murdoc, Noodle, 2-D and Russel) look like they've done it again with ace first single, 'Feel Good, Inc.' (out May 9) assisted by Dave from De La Soul. The album 'Dark Days' follows a fortnight afterwards, and features spots from the likes of ....gasp....MF Doom, Roots Manuva, Shaun Ryder, Martina Topley-Bird, and (my personal favourite) Dennis Hopper!. Check out the Miyazaki inspired clip for 'Feel Good, Inc.' here. Now where was I? Oh, yeah. Dennis Hopper! Damn!

Right, where were we?

Howdy kids. Major Leaguer is back up and running on a regular basis thanks to the kind peeps at Telewest Broadband (I spent half an hour watching Italian television after my cable had been set up. Superb!). My apologies to friends and family who didn't have a clue as to my whereabouts, and to various editors who were kind enough to entertain my pleas for extended deadlines. Scouts honour I'll make all deadlines from now on....*

Record of the week - The Kills - 'No Wow'

The Kills' debut Keep On Your Mean Side was a minor classic, but with No Wow the duo up the stakes, channelling the likes of PJ Harvey and The White Stripes to fuel 11 tracks of raw rock. It's a rough, dirty, and downright sexy album, and with Rodeo Town they've got a tearjerker for indie kids everywhere. Oh, thank fuck they dropped those silly monikers (Hotel? VV?) and concentrated purely on the music. Hotel?

*I was never in the scouts....suckers...

Thursday, March 17, 2005

The need for speed...processing speed that is...

Ah....broadband is just hours away. No more blogging once a fortnight, and e-mail boxes full of junk. Checked out The Real at Parker Place in Holborn last week. Label interest in this band is slowly simmering. Keep an eye on Subter.com next month as I talk to Kyle and Paul from the band and find out how they're going about making a name for themselves in such a competitive industry.

Record of the week - Brendan Benson 'The Alternative to Love'

Third album from the Detroit songster and it's an absolute gem. Produced by Tchad Blake (Neil Finn, Pearl Jam, Soul Coughing), this is a record packed full of sparkling pop songs, stellar hooks and heartfelt lyrics. Sure to be one of 2005's best.

Thursday, March 03, 2005

Sleep? Who needs sleep?

Hey hey people....have been away from the ol' interweb for a while, but it looks like normal Major Leaguer transmissions will start again shortly. Found a new flat which means no more dragging my suitcase and laptop around North London. Made a few new friends, said goodbye to a few for a while (Wish I was going to Spain!), saw a few choice gigs (Slint.....wowwwwwwww) and got as little sleep possible. Heck, I even made my debut on the wheels of steel on Monday night at The Pool in Shoreditch (ta muchly Lina, Laura and Marie). Oh, and the new issue of Subter.com has just been born. I may or may not have a new column there, and it may or may not be about Indie clubs in Londinium. Maybe.

Record of the week - Arcade Fire 'Funeral'

Beautiful music from the Montreal collective on every record store employee and music critics lips. Imagine The Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev and David Thomas getting jamming in a church and you're on the way to what these guys sound like. Stunning. 'Twas also Pitchfork's album of 2004, which is a good enough reason to check it out.