Saturday, January 03, 2009

A new home



After nearly 750 posts on blogger, 17 Seconds has a new web address! Please point your browsers to:

www.17seconds.co.uk

Album Review: Light Syndicate



Light Syndicate -'Last In Line' (Pushbike Recordings)

There are few phrases more likely to make bloggers or record shop staff moan (apart from questions about really awful acts, I suppose) than bands saying 'Our music is really hard to categorise.' It smacks of people wanting to make out that they are really different and is almost never the case. Turgid, blantant, unaoriginal ripoffs are what follow on hearing.

Light Syndicate don't make that claim - but they are one of the few bands that would genuinely have the right to do so. This album shows a fantastic meeting point where the math-rock of Shellac meets the modern progressive rock of bands like Oceansize and Mogwai, with a bit of post-rock and folk rock thrown in for good measure.

Last In Line showcases some genuinely exciting sounds without ever becoming a self-obssessed, navel gazing soundtrack. Right from the instrumental opener '10 seconds To Live' to the album's closer, the title track, the band have made a genuinley thrilling debut. Vocalist Chris Bryden has been compared to Chris Martin (!) but really he's leading a band ploughing their own furrough. Long may he continue to do so.

****

Light Syndicate's website/Light Syndicate's Myspace

Last In Line is released on January 12.

Light Syndicate -' Sorry.'

Album Review: Autons



The Autons -'Who do you think you are kidding?' (Jelly Maid Music)

Whoomph! It's only the first week of 2009 and this has arrived, packing a very mighty punch and ready to make you sit up and listen. The Autons' second album is the sound of a band ready to blow away all the cobwebs of insipid indie rock and show how beats and mighty guitar riffs can comebine together to produce something truly intoxicating.

I've been walking around with this on my headphones for the last week or so. It's something really special Hell, I want to have a party so I can play this record really loud as the soundtrack to it. This record will make you sit up, and make a new year's resolution to dicsover something very different in 2009.

Dismiss them as another electro-rock band at your peril; with each listen, this release becomes more and more necessary. Tracks like 'Amazing' actually...are. 'Election Singer' has already been a single; I'm sure there will be others to follow, and if there is any justice, hits.

****

Autons websiteAutons' myspace

Go on, see what the fuss is about!

The Autons -'Election Singer.'



Who Do You Think You Are Kidding? is released on January 26, 2009.

Friday, January 02, 2009

Some more Peel



I received an email yesterday asking if I could repost the Special AKA's version of Free Nelson Mandela, so I hope I picked the right one...

anyway, it gives me an opportunity to do one of my Peel posts.

First up, these were Pell sessions tracks that made the Festive Fifty in 1989, and went on to become chart hits the following year:

Inspiral Carpets -'This Is How It Feels (session).' mp3 (1989 Festive Fifty no.35)

Inspiral Carpets -'She Comes In The Fall (session).' mp3 (1989 Festive Fifty no.50)

This was a track that became remixed the follwoing year under the name 'Move Any Mountain' and gave the Shamen several years as a Smash Hits and Top Of the Pops freindly act.

Shamen -'Pro-Gen .' mp3(1990 Festive Fifty no.34)

I know little about the Flaming Stars, but they sound great still. The BBC site erroneously credits these tracks as being done by the Flaming Lips, who John Peel also championed, rightly, IMHO, but are a completely different band.

Flaming Stars -'Face On the Bar Room Floor.' mp3 (1996 Festive Fifty no.48)

Flaming Stars -'Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye.' mp3 (1995 Festive Fifty no.29)

This track took ages to find, not available on either eMusic or iTunes

Drop Nineteens -'Winona.' mp3 (1992 Festive Fifty no.28)

Another band I know little about...but they too sound great:

The Decoration -'Joy Adamson.' mp3 (2004 Festive Fifty no.39)

The Decoration -'I Tried It, I Liked It, I Loved It.' mp3 (2004 festive Fifty no.24)

As requested...from the last year that much 'pop' stuff entered the Festive Fifty:

Special AKA -'Free Nelson Mandela.' mp3 (1984 Festive Fifty no.41)

Finally, another track (this one supplied by JC over at The Vinyl Villain that seemed very hard to get hold of, but I repost here for your delight:

Robert Wyatt -'The Wind Of Change.' mp3 (1985 Festive Fifty no.47)

This track credits Wyatt with the SWAPO singers.

As always, PLEASE SUPPORT THE ARTISTS. EVEN IF THEY HAVE MADE IT BLOODY HARD TO GET HOLD OF THEIR MUSIC.

If you want to find more about John Peel, start here.

Absolutely essential Peel-related blogs include Sexy Loser, Teenage Kicks and Fades In Slowly.