yppahpeek

The press release for DJ T’s Fabric mix informs me that “there are very few who can be fairly categorised as a true music lover more than ... DJ T.” and his CV is impressively filled with owning club nights, setting up labels with self confessed electronic music obsessives and creating and editing a seminal dance music magazine. The dark ambience and oppressive lyrics of the opening track provide a beautiful start to this obviously eclectic mix. The mix develops tantalisingly slowly, with more beeps, bass notes and drums being introduced in the next few tracks. Eventually, DJ T brings in a sunnier, more open ambience and at times I felt I had literally been transported to the Mediterranean via the use of tasty Mezze-style mixes of funk and Middle Eastern singing. Continuing into this record, the audaciously named “Jesus Was a B-Boy” introduces a hip hop element while still managing to keep the flow and ambience of a house mix. Unfortunately, like most fabric mixes, the vast eclecticism...

Of the two support bands, Canterbury were by far and away the best of the bunch. They provided a gig that was miles better than the “High School Battle of the Bands” performance given by their opener, Brigade. The poppy, synth laden sound of “Peace & Quiet” along with the beautifully harmonious vocals of the two singers made sure I couldn’t stop tapping my feet. As Canterbury energetically jumped around the stage for their last song, I thought that Twin Atlantic would have a hard time bettering their support’s performance. Before the headliners even made it onto the stage, an intense feedback rose, resembling a war-cry from William Wallace’s army. This noise grew and grew, creating an almost unbearably tense atmosphere. Suddenly the feedback was killed, and the opening riff of Twin Atlantic’s “You’re Turning Into John Wayne” drew whooping and cheers of satisfaction from a very excited crowd. Three songs in and “Human After All” ensured that the crowd filling the room jumped up and ...

I first heard “The Quiet Things That No One Knows” when I was a hormonal 16 year old, and boy did I love it! At that stage I had no idea how this album would change my life, I just thought the guitar in the chorus sounded really cool! “Okay, I Believe You, But My Tommy Gun Don’t” was the second song I heard from this album that day and I was blown away. I thought both songs were really cool, but back then I thought LOTS of songs were pretty cool and the plethora of bands I should listen to was so massive that to buy every single promising album would have cost me roughly a year’s worth of EMA payments (I worked it out). So it was luck that made me buy this album with the strange picture of an astronaut on the front cover. On first play, I didn’t know what to think. The first track, “Tautou”, was quiet and a little bit spacey and I initially thought the lyrics were repetitive and way too weird. So I was worried. I thought I had bought a dodgy album. And then I heard “Sic Transit Glori...