This is another of those reviews of a band with a large back catalogue and a hefty reputation, where I am somewhat out of my depth because I just haven’t really made the time to sit down and listen to their stuff before.

Hardcore fans might disagree with me of course, and I am in no position to argue, but this is a pretty good place to start if you’re going to investigate a band.  It’s bloody good anyway, whether or not it’s all that representative of their older stuff.

Musically, Sisterworld is a right mess; it’s a tight, impeccably controlled mess, but a mess nevertheless.  Awkward noises bristle along, only to be battered aside by an onslaught of dirty guitars and yelped vocals.  That rush of noise is hardly helter-skelter though, instead giving the impression of tethered aggression still barely on the leash.

Rumbling cellos snap in and out of this distorted swagger, giving it another thread of taut discipline, all brimming with threat and unease, and if it kept up like that all record this would be one of the best things I’d heard in fucking ages, but unfortunately it doesn’t.

Those breakouts into cacophony bring the threat of violence to the simmering glare of the earlier songs, as you know that at any point the glower might erupt into a racket of noise, but these moments are less and less vicious and rather less frequent as the album progresses.  This not only allows the momentum to dissipate a little, but rather emasculates the sense of threat in the quieter parts.  I suppose what it does is rob the emotional journey of the sudden twists in direction which had kept me on the edge of my seat for the first two thirds of the album or so.

Consequently, by the end I consistently find myself losing the sense of exhilaration which the first half of the record ignited, but I’d still say that this was bloody good and I am definitely going to get me some more Liars!

Liars – No Barrier Fun

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Liars – Scissor

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Website | More mp3s | Buy from Amazon

Welcome back to the Song, by Toad Fresh Air show, with the lovely Ruth.  This week we have Russell from Mammoeth live in session, although the poor bugger’s already done a brilliant session for us before Christmas which was unfortunately swallowed by the Fresh Air computers, which are a bit like a suspiciously special needs version of Hal most of the time.

Last week’s Session with The Last Battle can be found at the bottom of the page, in the form of downloadable session tracks, a podcast of the interview and session videos.  The sound is really nice considering there were six of them and we only have two microphones.

Live on Air 8pm-9.30pm – Listen live here.

I’ll fill in the playlist live below from 8pm onwards, so please come and say hello, shout mindless abuse or whatever else it is you internet people spend your time doing.

1. The Besnard Lakes – Chicago Train
2. Liars – Scarecrow On A Killer Slant
3. Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse – Revenge
4. Bjork – Generous Palmstroke (Live)
5. Mammoeth- Scrambled Eggs (Live in Session)
6. Dirty Projectors – Two Doves
7. Mammoeth – Trigonometry (Live in Session)
8. Berzilla Wallin – Conversation with Death (Oh Death)
9. Sparklehorse – Heart of Darkness
10. Mammoeth – I’m Glad That I Died Today (Live in Session)
11. Mammoeth – Lap Dog
12. Fleetwood Mac – Honey Hi
13. Mammoeth – Wendy House (Live in Session)
14. Blur – Out of Time
15. Joanna Newsom – ’81

Last week’s session can be found after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Well I am Ruthless and bandless to begin this term’s broadcasts, so you’ll have to wait until next week for the first Toadly Fresh Air Session I’m afraid.

Having said that, however, I have a shiteload of excellent and very shiny new material to play tonight, so people wanting the pop hits are likely to be rather disappointed as there are few old favourites and lots of new demos which I am very much hoping will end up on albums before the end of the year.

Ruth will be back with me as of next week, but she’s currently nursing Michael H. Foxx, who is in hospital with the nasties.  So best wishes to both of them, but we’ll be back in the normal swing of things from next Monday onwards.

Live on Air 8pm-9.30pm – Listen live here.

Incidentally, if you know anyone who you would recommend for a live session, just get in touch in the comments or by email (see the contact page above).

This evening’s tracklisting (updated live):

1. Django Django – Storm
2. Liars – No Barrier Fun
3. Gobble Gobble – Lawn Knives
4. Robin Grey – I Love Leonard Cohen
5. Leonard Cohen – Avalanche
6. REM – First We Take Manhattan (Leonard Cohen Cover)
7. The Burns Unit – Since We’ve Fallen Out
8. The Van Allen Belt – The Way You Look
9. Trips and Falls – That is a Big Door!
10. Sarah Lowes – Night Time
11. Findo Gask – Full Five (Demo)
12. Yusuf Azak – Eastern Sun (Demo)
13. Meursault – All Creatures Will Make Merry

Meursault – Fresh Air Session

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Meursault – Love or Limb (Live on Fresh Air)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Meursault – Untitled Triptych (Live on Fresh Air)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Meursault – What You Don’t Have (Live on Fresh Air)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Meursault – Heaven Waits (Live on FreshAir)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Oh deary me.  A somewhat slurred podcast this week.  I recorded this on Friday night after coming home from sharing about seven pints with my boss at Proper Job, who is a thoroughly decent chap and doesn’t get out for beers as often as he used to due to an unfortunate breeding accident in which his wife had a baby, thus confining him to the house.  The lesson – gentlemen, for the love of god, don’t let them breed!

So I came back to the house and wanted to play some loud music.  I popped a bottle of beer, bought some munchies and mumbled my way through a pile of loud, rambunctious songs that I played far too loud as I sorted out the playlist, and great fun it all was too. I asked about modern rowdy music this week, and Bart kindly recommended some bands, a couple of whom I assume I may have been a little quick to dismiss in the past, so I am going to have another go at them.

Looking through the playlist, I find one thing sticking out more than anything else: how the hell can you tell a Sex Pistols demo from a Sex Pistols recording?

Toadcast #42 – Noise Please

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

01. The Libertines – What a Waster (02.56)
02. The Von Bondies – Shallow Grave (08.59)
03. The Bellrays – Blues For Godzilla (12.05)
04. Ian Dury & the Blockheads – Ballad of the Sulphate Strangler (17.49)
05. The Damned – Thrill Kill (23.07)
06. Hoggboy – Left & Right (29.31)
07. Liars – Mr You’re on Fire Mr (35.33)
08. Monster Magnet – Kiss of the Scorpion (37.57)
09. The Sex Pistols – Anarchy in the UK (Demo) (43.24)
10. The Fall – Two Librans (49.47)
11. The Small Faces – All or Nothing (Live) (53.41)
12. The Detroit Cobras – Hey Sailor (59.44)