SIKTH ARE DEAD - Sikth are to release their second album in the UK on June 26. It's called 'Death Of A Dead Day' and will be on the Bieler Bros label. The band also headline the following shows: Exeter Cavern July 5, Bristol croft 6, Bournemouth Opera House 7, Bridgend Recreation Centre 8, Yeovil Ski Lodge 9.
 

John on the phone......

ORGAN ON YOUR RADIO @ RESONANCE 104.4FM - NOW IT'S WEEKLY! Because writing about music is like dancing about architecture - Organ on the air.. Sean and Marina from Organ present underground music, goings-on from beyond and who knows what. Alternating with the on air duties and styles, one week Marina, the next week Sean. On air every Sunday night, invading your taxi cabs, your bath times and all of your airwaves. One hour every Sunday, kicking off at 10.30pm all over London on proper radio on 104.4FM and all over the world via the web at www.resonancefm.com  Marina brings you  “The Other Rock Show” – The Other Rock is the musical exploration of the avant perverse and complex rock, progressive adventures beyond the safety of 4/4. Sean will be bringing you whatever the hell he wants, who knows?

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DEMO OF THE WEEK
UMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmm

ALSO CHECK OUT
THE KIMBERLEY STEAKS – Five no messing foot-to-the-floor abrasive old-school punk pop slices of shouty wholesome goodness recorded in Glasgow so I guess they’re Scottish.. whoooo, I could have been a detective you know, no shit Shirlock, Three-piece no-messing punk-pop from Greig Steak, John Streak and Graeme Steak, I was going to be a smartass and say make no mistake but a proper detective should never be a smartass. www.kimberlysteaks.tk.

KING LIZARD – London based band, raw basic Aerosmith/early Guns N’Roses kind of thing should you want it, they appear to do it well enough – here’s the website address if you’re curious.. www.kinglizard.co.uk

Last week's demo of the week - CARTRIDGE

Previous demo's of the week - PERHAPS CONTRAPTION / THE PROCESS VOID

ALBUM OF THE WEEK

TELEVISE – Songs To Sing In A And E (Club AC30) - Now everywhere we turn people are trying to put some fire underneath some sort of shoegazing revival (we saw one press release that talked of nu-gazing!) and as preposterous as it all may seem, well, hey it wasn’t a bad scene back then was it. Maybe things are beginning to really ignite? You could, at a stretch, pull in Mew and Amusement Parks as evidence (and Sigor Ros?) as you re-evaluate the beauty of Chapterhouse, Moose and the rest from back them (hey, we always said good things back in those early 90’s editions of Organs didn’t we? We never turned against it, we just reflect what’s going on). And what about that latest Warlocks album? (And of course there’s the absolutely glorious Greenspace up there in Newcastle). Hey, maybe the sparks have genuinely ignited something? (Can we have more SnubTV now please?). 
Songs To Sing comes courteously of Club AC30’s offshoot label (a more than happy to call themselves shoegazing club here in London) and it is rather warm and glowing and easy on the ear in that lush creamy emotive way of old. Smile is where you’ll really get hooked right in and let them play with your emotions, they were playing from the start, Smile is where you really know this is something special - and then you explore and share the feelings and let it re-stock your happy glow and re-instate that sparkle you started out with. Let Televise trap you down under that water for hours and hours, this is their rather impressive debut album. Former Slowdive/Lowgold/Inner Sleeve Simon Scott and his rather talked about new band. There’s an excellent cover of Ultra Vivid Scene’s Mercy Seat as well as a gloriously blissful 14 minute layered heart and joy and delicate drone called Never Alone, there’s the rather breezy Underwater and then there’s Life On mars where you’re wondering if you took the right turn back there – everything here on this fine fine album is just so right. Hey look, I don’t know about revivals, most of these things are always there to be found if you bother to look properly - if the mainstream media are lighting the revival fire then here’s a great big flag to fly on top of it. Shoegazing in all it’s beautiful glory, as good as anything from back then without really being about reviving anything. A Highly recommended set of treats.  www.clubacd30.com

ALBUM OF THE WEEK 2
SONIC YOUTH – Rather Ripped (Geffen) - I’m not sure, where do we stand with Sonic Youth in 2006? Massively important band and extremely influential of course, no one can argue anything different. The alternative musical landscape would be a far less interesting place without their contributions and their direction pointing - them and those Buttholes and Black Flag and such - that and them coming to London and thrusting edgy cutting guitar music right back in to the face of those predicting/celebrating its death back in those early 80’s  (and bringing over Big Black and oh without them no Nirvana? And Goo breaking big and...) Um, well... but... um, you see, I’m not sure now. A lot of their back catalogue has been re-issued in recent times and every time one of those re-issues arrives here - yep, one of the many upsides of Organ life, the post arriving every morning with who knows what and who and from where  – every time one of those much loved back catalogue albums arrives here I go searching through tracks trying to work out what to play on our radio show, only to end up not playing anything and thinking it’s not quite so good now as I remember it being back then. And maybe Sonic Youth were a band that opened doors and showed the others the way back in those 80’s and 90’s and maybe whilst they were holding the door lots of others rushed through and time has left them a little um...well.... The last time I saw them live they were sounding as fine as ever and yes there’s been some pretty hard-boiled left-field stuff – Goodbye to the 20th Century and all the Jim O’Rourke stuff, flirting with Eye (of The Bordoms) is never going to be easy on your ear – some of it sounded like Sonic Youth disappearing up their NY arty asses (are we allowed to say that? Are there laws about daring to be critical of the Youth?). Yes indeed, I’ve gone through period s of loving Sonic Youth like they’re the best thing ever (and hey, how many bands on ORG ripped off huge lumps of their sound? Cay? I could have passed off some of that unreleased Cay album as Sonic Youth material down Camden market very very easily) and then there’s been times when well, um..... well... So cut to the chase, fingers through your hair, canisters of whipped cream, a lack of space and tunnel life, ready or not? Or? Sonic Youth in 2006? New album (out in June) shall I try and tell you about it? And why I like it so so much? Shall I try? 
     Been listening to it on and off for about two weeks now, Rather Ripped is very easy on the ear, very mellow, a beautifully quiet album. Almost in touching distance radio friendly pop (and does Do You Believe In Rapture sound like it’s going to be a Babybird cover?). This is very much Sonic Youth though, don’t worry, they haven’t cashed in their chips. The quiet restrained buts of Nurse, and soaringly melodic (and maybe Television flavoured) guitars that come close to psychedelic space rock (again), and crucially it’s all still there in the clever delicate sunny breezy detail – the dissonant noise is still there, the Sonic Youth finger print, the clever artrock, all of it is in there - it’s just that it’s quiet brittle dissonant noise and it’s like they challenged themselves to make a mellow easy relaxed beautiful pop album that’s still very very much proper Sonic Youth. Turquoise Boy is beautifully beautifully brittle. Oh look, they’ve done it, they’ve made the perfect album, they’ve done just what you needed Sonic Youth to do in 2006 and you’ll just need to take a little time to let it open you up. This is going to be one of the albums that we go back to lots this year, it’s just so enjoyably good. Sonic Youth will never let you down, two weeks since we first got oh hands on Rather Ripped and I think I like it as much as anything they’ve ever done. 

ALSO CHECK OUT
ZAMARRO  - The Beast Is On The Track (Supermodern) – Out of the ashes of Lunazone (you may remember then from one of those Organ Radio CD compilations back there), Switzerland’s Zamarro with some no messing low slung (Jack Endino produced) hard-edged, sweat sounding (non-retro) biker-ish rock ‘n roll that does exactly what it says on the tin.  www.zamarro.com

EXIT BY NAME – Adrift In Dark Waters (Hangman’s Joke) – I seem to recall a rather positive Organ demo review a few years ago. They went off and made a debut album, we didn’t hear it (as far as I can remember), so there’s a big history hole and time has past and cars have rusted and let me see. Exit By are doing that screaming metal thing – abrasive, relentless, skin peeling... yeah yeah, all the usual things we get to say at times like this. Thing is there are too many of these times, so many of these bands coming and going without ever really having a hint of that identity needed to make a serious impact. Where’s that desire to be just a little different? Exit By Name are good at doing the same old regulation metal thing, yeah, they do have a certain refined detail and they do fire it out with a drive and passion (good production as well). The North East crew are doing it well, if not better than, quite a few of the bigger names. It’s just that, as well as they do it, those bigger names have done it all already and I just need more to hang on to now. Nothing here I haven’t heard a million times already and they just don’t seem to want to have a fingerprint of their own. Still, here it is, if you want it then they do the same thing as all the others rather well. www.exitbyname.com

TIME REQUIEM – Optical Illusion (Regain) – Half decent bombardment of widdle-diddle Euro pomp metal. Non stop technical guitar wankery and those fast counterbalanced keyboard lines. If you like Dream Theater and modern Rush and the fake sound of squeaky clean digital Melotrons and cod classical metal bits (and the end of the universe and the eyes of the world falling off the tip of time on the ocean’s wings) then this is just about alright. www.regainrecords.com

STUART A STAPLES – Leaving Songs (Beggars Banquet) – Second solo album from the very familiar Tindersticks voice and a set of warm silky easy listening lounge lizardish songs that melt with their soulful mellowness. The smell of a bakery on the wind, the warmth of the road – feet up, drive slow, relax. Recorded in Nashville and sounding very much like it as well. Fine duets with Maria McKee and Lhasa De Sala. They do sound/feel like leaving songs, just feels good and right and warm and very very mellow and kind of like an old coat or a comfortable porch. Kind of what you’d expect from the fine voice of Tindersticks.

EIDOLON – The Parallel Otherworld (Escapi) - Bombastic heavy-weight progressive epic pomp-metal and over the top drama of a most unsubtle nature from the band who’s members now make up a significant part of the current Megadeth line up. The sound of a million large sledgehammers being used to crack one small walnut. Clever time signatures here and there to stop you from giving up all hope. Another one of those Queenryche, Dream Theater, Transatlantic, Spocks Beard, Kings X  type bands. This time with a relentless powerhouse drummer (tedious show-off drummer - it’s clearly his band and he’ll take his bat and ball home if he can’t fill every second with his show off technique). An album for people who hang around guitar shops admiring the strange pink funny shaped ones while they talk about the weight of drum sticks and where to put their picks. Eidolon do their thing very very well and can I please take it out of the CD player and jump up and down on it now please? 
www.eidolon-nightmareworld.com

PHONIC RAPTURE – Dirty Dreams of The Filthy Ruch (Latent lemon) - Ambitious melodically polite stadium stomping hard rock that’s probably to be found in a half empty Friday night pub somewhere near you somewhere soon. They do their thing well enough, nothing revolutionary. The Cult, Gun, The Almighty. Investigate if you feel the need, can’t say we really do - www.phonic-rapture.co.uk

NONE MORE BLACK – This Is Satire (Fat Wreck) - Now then, could this be a slightly different take on the Fat Wreck thing? Fat Wreck do have a ‘thing’ - you expect a certain style and commitment, an attitude and yes, a sound, with all things Fat. This time there’s a slightly different edge, a certain shooting-from-the-hip cleverness and is that a healthy hint of Wildhearts flavour in the way those tunes flow in a slightly less obvious way? There certainly is, it’s right in there next to that touch of Snuff and the bite of American slanted Leatherface/Clash (well they are American so you’d expect an American slant). Is it satire? Is it dancing on the ruins of a broken stage? Is about more than the peanut butter being good? Is it all cheap talk? Shall we tell it on the internet? Fine second album, fine bold American guitar rock that’s strong enough to stand at the front. They’re kind of doing that American folk/music-for-the-people thing that Against All or Bad Religion do so well. Just up there doing it with a certain defined American blue collar clarity. Yes it is straight down the road (punk) rock, but those details, the edge, the view out of the back window, just little things that give it an edge. And “in an age of crisis, satire is a way of challenging accepted precepts...” Recommended.  www.fatwreck.de
 

Last week's album of the week - PSAPP / ENABLERS Previous album's of the week - SUNN O))) / CATNAP / THE DRESDEN DOLLS / PROUDFLESH / all the past has been deleted (for now)

ALSO CHECK OUT 

BIG BOSS MAN – Party 7 (Blow Up) – Less than 50 days to the world cup, we’re already sick of chancers sending us England songs and asking us to release them, you can stick yer.. you know the red words. Big Boss Man is dishing out that Samba Hammond Lesley overdrive sound of Brazil in full Mexico 1970 flow. My advice is never grow up, Eric is always right, if he says follow the trawler then don’t ask why. SixtySix was a good year for English football, Eric was born. Now we could be smart-arses and say we’ve been down with this Big Boss Man soul sacrifice green onion joga bonito since the day is came out back in 2000 and we didn’t hear the born again instrumental track for the first time in some sports clothing TV ad campaign tie in with the world cup for the first time last week., but that would be a lie... www.blowup.co.uk/records

EIGHT LEGS – Eight Legs (Blow Up) – Just under two minutes of infectiously busy throw back indieness that tastes of Brit Pop and Blur and Wedding Present and an order and a tone that should have those who like such things scuttling limb from limb from limb in search of sound suggestions and the face in question. Out as a very limited 7” and as a digital download. www.blowup.co.uk/records or www.eightlegs-online.co.uk
 

MY PASSION – Bitter Too – self released debut single get me, colour TV, desire drenched infectiously stylish clever eye-liner indie new wave new romantic Roxy bouncy lip-glossed spiky-sweet glam pop boys for after-dark manic street preachers who know they can dance – pure pop, switch this, lavender kiss – I think you get the picture, they do it with style. www.mypassion.co.uk

Last week's single of the week - THE OXFAM GLAMOUR MODELS
 

Previously - PSAPP / GREENSPACE
 

PAST ISSUES -

ORGAN 153 - 

ORGAN 152 - 

ORGAN 151 - Out in print now, 40 pages A5 APRIL Organ

ORGAN 150 - NEXT LIFE, CRETIN, HAWNAY TROOF, SYMMETRY, GREENSPACE, DRUGDEALER CHEERLEADER, LAST PARTY, ALEX WARD, BURNT, INTENTION , TRACTOR SEX FATALITY, THE DRESDEN DOLLS, PROUDFLESH, THE GHOSTS, SPEED THEORY, EL TOPO, THE CULT WITH NO NAME, THE PROCESS VOID. 

all the past has been deleted (for now)