Time for a lick of guest-blogging, don’t you think? This despairing little despatch is from Nik Johnson, who writes angryfunny things on the reglear at his site Shouting at Cows, and every darn day on Twitter.

So, Nik – what do you think of Radio 1?

I somewhat frequently blog about how I receive regular, wearying reminders that I’m getting old. This particular reminder has snuck up on me gradually over the last few months: I’ve just noticed that when I turn the radio on, I automatically switch to Radio 2, and not Radio 1.

As a child you’re hardwired to listen to Radio 1, mostly because your parents don’t like it and they play popular music. And when you’re a kid, that’s a good thing.

Nowadays, a regular commute to work sharing lifts with a Radio 1 devotee is on the verge of causing me serious mental health problems. It seems to me that forty-five minutes a day of Chris Moyles, and another forty-five minutes of Scott Mills (or Greg James when either of them are on holiday), is too much for even the most mild-mannered person to cope with.
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Posted by Stuart Waterman on Friday June 26th, 2009 at 8:30 am

A new Passion Pit tune, “Moth’s Wings”, hit the internet the other day. If I was a delusional paranoid maniac I’d swear it exists purely to piss me off; my flat’s currently infested with moths eating my clothes, and my internet’s infested with Passion Pit eating my attention.

At the time of writing Passion Pit seem to appear in my RSS feeds more than any other act, and casting an eye over the “Top Artists” at music aggregator Elbo.ws you’ll see Passion Pit above Kanye West, Lady GaGa and Little Boots. How did this happen?

“Sleepyhead”, the first single to spring from the Chunk Of Change EP, was quite a lovely thing: a psychedelic collage of samples, sighs, synths and beats which sent music bloggers into paroxysms of ear lust.

That the EP from which it came was originally a mixtape for main guy Michael Angelakos’s college girlfriend added a youthfully romantic dimension to the release which lovelorn indie nerds were helpless to resist.
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Posted by Stuart Waterman on Tuesday April 28th, 2009 at 4:11 pm

Things other folk have said about Beach House’s new video for “Used To Be”:
– “The saturated desert hues and retro motel settings of this video (shot during a recent West Coast tour in the desert outside LA with director Matt Amato) are visually stunning.” – I Am Fuel, You Are Friends
– “beautifully cinematic” – Sketchytown
– “the video perfectly captures the longing and melancholy that runs through most Beach House songs” – Stark Online
Things *I* have said about Beach House’s new video for “Used To Be:

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Posted by Stuart Waterman on Thursday November 20th, 2008 at 1:05 pm

You know how there are some cultural artifacts – books, films, albums and whatnot – which you feel quite guilty about never having experienced? I actually have a long-standing dread about the fact that I will almost certainly die not having read all the books I want to. That’s nice, isn’t it?
Anyway, one of the albums I’ve always meant to listen to, but never really, truly wanted to, is Astral Weeks by Van Morrison. It’s one of those classics that always pops up in dull polls of serious rock critics.
Yesterday Sean O’Hagan in The Observer wrote an article about the album that just made me think: that’s IT. ENOUGH with the not listening to Astral Weeks, already. GET IT DONE.

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Posted by Stuart Waterman on Monday November 3rd, 2008 at 3:45 pm

I’ve never really understood the fuss made about The View. Singer Kyle Falconer has one of the least pleasant voices I think I’ve ever heard. Even when he’s in tune he sounds like he’s not, which in a weird way I suppose is actually quite a talent.
Heard their recent song “5 Rebecca’s” (errant apostrophe alert) accompanied by the video this morning, and heard/saw precisely nowt to alter my opinion. Anyway, it seems Kyle might be keen on hastening the end of the band judging by his shenanigans recently.
Having previously had his collar quite literally felt by the fuzz for carrying naughty powder, Kyle recently got himself so blasted on booze juice that he was unable to sing his ghastly songs.

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Posted by Stuart Waterman on Thursday October 30th, 2008 at 1:30 pm

Older types may recall Enya’s “Orinoco Flow”, from back in the mists of the 1980s. God, it was huge. Massive. It was all plinky-plonky but also ethereal and tackled big issues like, uh, rivers flowing. If you think you don’t know it, I can assure you you probably do. The video’s after the jump to ring your mindbells.
Anyway, Enya is releasing a new album in November called And Winter Came. This news is about as interesting to me as the fact that the light in my hallway still isn’t working. But reading about this forthcoming release led me to learn a rather stunning fact.
Enya has sold 70 MILLION albums.

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Posted by Stuart Waterman on Wednesday October 15th, 2008 at 11:41 am

News has been announced today that R&B/soul/funk/rock/alternative/whatever supergroup N*E*R*D are due to hit the motorway in August, with three dates in the UK announced so far. The question on my mind is – will Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo’s live show compensate for a disappointing album track record?
Look, I’m a big fan of N*E*R*D – or, more accurately, The Neptunes. And, if you took the best tracks from their albums, you would have one killer playlist – “Rock Star”, “Truth Or Dare”, “Lapdance”, “She Wants To Move” and “Everyone Nose” show the breadth of styles and moods these phenomenally talented musicians can work with.
But… it’s not really enough, is it?

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Posted by Stuart Waterman on Friday July 11th, 2008 at 12:29 pm

Sing yowly hosannahs! Sigur Ros’s new album will contain a song sung in English.
Big woop. For me, it’s too little too late. With the much-worshipped Icelandic squeakers having spent years gurgling away in their precious little made-up language, I lost interest a long time ago. Am I the only one who thinks “Snow Patrol fronted by Pingu”?
I know that their songs can be uplifting, touching, poignant. And using non-lyrics allows people to project whatever they like onto the songs meaning-wise. But is this not… well, cheating?
Not for the Ros any of that sweating over poetic verses, or making sure lines scan. Nah, just chuck in another “Aiau scrrreeeeeeeeeeeeee!” That’ll do.

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Posted by Stuart Waterman on Friday May 30th, 2008 at 10:13 am

Yeah. I geddit. Joy Division are really influential. I know. Stop going on about it. Just about every two-bit schmindie band around at the moment seems to be parping on about their love for Joy Division. No wonder. Joy Division are great. Hang on… isn’t this supposed to be ‘I Don’t Like Them As Much As I’m Supposed To’?

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Posted by mofgimmers on Wednesday April 30th, 2008 at 2:22 pm

Just about everyone loves the Arctic Monkeys don’t they? I don’t get it. I don’t know what it is but they just leave me cold. I like the fact that there’s a buncha kids running around this town making a proper racket and singing in their own accents as opposed to adopting an American, or worse still, a London accent. However, to me, every time I hear ’em, I can’t help but hear the ghost of Shed Seven.

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Posted by mofgimmers on Wednesday April 23rd, 2008 at 8:42 am