Tuesday, June 29, 2004
Well, the first six months of the year are almost out the way. It's been a good and positive time, although, not always as exciting as 2003. Anyway, it's worth mentioning ten of the albums that have left the biggest imprints on Stayfun so far this year.
Sons and Daughters - Love the Cup
This Beautiful Mess - Temper the Wind...
Fuck-Off Machete - My First Machete
Persil - Duotone
Daryll-Ann - Don't Stop
Deerpark - It Made Her Look Spidery
Blues Brother Castro - Money Maker Me
Envy the West - Folding Fangs
At The Close of Every Day - The Silja Symphony
Adem - Homesongs
Special mentions to TV on the Radio, Andrew Bird, Text-adventure, Foam, My Latest Novel, and Aberfeldy, for some of my favourite one-off MP3s too.
Summer is taking its toll on Stayfun and things are moving a little quieter. There is also going to be limited access to update the site over the next few weeks, but things will keep ticking away as always. The gig guide is also loaded up with the new Winston programme, as well as some other venues, so that will see it through until the bigger gigs are unveiled nearer the end of the festival season.
Overall it's been a very successful year so far and the reader stats seem to increase weekly so thanks for visiting.
:: Posted at 2:50 pm by Steven McCarron ::
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Metropolis is the best festival in the Netherlands and it's only days away. Be prepared! Study the programme, and see all that you can.
Not forgetting that the State-X / New Forms Festival is also taking place in Den Haag on July 2 & 3, so it's a great weekend for new music.
:: Posted at 2:36 pm by Steven McCarron ::
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Thursday, June 24, 2004
Broadcast Stayfun tonight is a journey into the dark side of Stayfun.
Listen Here
The link goes active at 8pm CET and the broadcast lasts two hours this evening.
:: Posted at 7:01 pm by Steven McCarron ::
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Sunday, June 20, 2004
Look out for August club gigs amidst the festival season from The Twilight Singers, Blonde Redhead, and My Morning Jacket.
:: Posted at 12:03 pm by Steven McCarron ::
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Music from the Czech Republic rarely gets a fair coverage in the English-language media, so I thought I would highlight a couple of the indie-rock acts native to the country via the Prague record label Minority Records.
Firstly there is Gnu, who I am very impressed by after hearing their track 'Minus Cy', with its sliding riff and rumbling bass notes. The song appears on the album Milimetry ticha.
Secondly there is OTK who create music that ranges from gentle, ambient electronic or melodic segments, to a massive chaos of sound. Check out 'Mam Svoji Zemi Rad' from the album Sona a kuva.
There are further mp3s from these artists, as well as a selection of Czech and other European artists on the Minority site, so it's worth a look.
:: Posted at 11:34 am by Steven McCarron ::
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Saturday, June 19, 2004
The TV on the Radio song listed in the Recommends section has been changed to Staring at the Sun. It's such a fabulous song that really grows on you, and there's a good chance they are going to steal the hearts of Metropolis on July 4.
:: Posted at 11:41 am by Steven McCarron ::
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Friday, June 18, 2004
The new Song of the Week comes from Adem. Yes I've been very slow to pick up on this one, but after their wonderful performance at The Music in My Head in Den Haag last week I have seen the light. So go on and download 'Statued', if you haven't already.
:: Posted at 5:37 pm by Steven McCarron ::
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Thursday, June 17, 2004
Tonight's schedule:
19.45-21.00 - Broadcast Stayfun
21.00-22.00 - Mad Mood Enhancing Hour
22.00-23.30 - Blues Show
A very upbeat Broadcast Stayfun tonight that features new stuff from Pixies, Ella Guru, Adem,
Under Byen, Dogs Die in Hot Cars, Jason Webley, and quite a lot more.
Click here to listen from 7.45pm CET.
:: Posted at 4:49 pm by Steven McCarron ::
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Wednesday, June 16, 2004
So the review of Friday night at The Music in My Head festival is finally online here. I was able to see 9 bands including PJ Harvey, Sun Kil Moon, Ane Brun, Gem, zZz, Ella Guru, Jim White, Adem, and The Stands, so have a look.
:: Posted at 2:03 pm by Steven McCarron ::
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Thursday, June 10, 2004
One of the things I've been working on a lot recently is writing regular contributions to the Amsterdam Weekly, a free cultural newspaper in Amsterdam. I'm not sure what the Dutch readers make of the paper yet. It's very new, and although it is written in English, it's not created solely for people on holiday or expats living in Amsterdam, but for anyone interested in reading alternative journalism. For me, it brings with it an opportunity to try and promote some nice bands, including many of the smaller Dutch ones, so when in Amsterdam I recommend picking up a copy. After all it's free so you've nothing to lose.
As for this week's issue, it includes my small article on Amsterdam's bastion of noise-rock, Gone Bald, who are currently marking the 10 year history of the band, which is a long time to exist under one banner. Their story is a fascinating one, though, and they're also one of the most determined bands I've ever interviewed. Anyway, they're going gig crazy right now so here are some of their upcoming dates.
June 11: Amsterdam, Zaal 100 (10 year anniversary)
June 17: Amsterdam, Winston (+ Jr Ewing, Oil)
June 18: Arnhem, Kultuurhuis Bos (+ Vehicle)
June 19: Leiden, Bar&Boos (+ Makazoruki)
June 27: Amsterdam, Pakhuis Afrika (benefit Radio Patapoe)
July 01: Amsterdam, Volta (+ Lushus, Bong'O Brains)
July 26: Amsterdam, The End
:: Posted at 12:17 pm by Steven McCarron ::
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Wednesday, June 09, 2004
Some of the bigger bands recently added to the gig database include Sonic Youth, Giant Sand, and Nick Cave.
The opposite of those big scale gigs are the two tiny events happening at Poortgebouw in Rotterdam this weekend. June 10 features Keith John Adams playing with Two Pin DIN. Then June 12 includes Miki Mikron and Der Tante Renate.
:: Posted at 12:42 pm by Steven McCarron ::
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Talk about a busy time for Gem. With their album showcase at the Paradiso tonight along with Blues Brother Castro, they also head to Scotland tomorrow to represent Dutch music at the Go North Festival. Then they're back to Den Haag on Friday for Music in my Head where they'll be playing alongside PJ Harvey, Sun Kil Moon, Ane Brun, etc. It's an impressive period for the band.
Of course the Scottish<->Dutch transfer doesn't end there, as Saturday at Music in my Head also brings Dogs Die in Hot Cars over to play. They were initially due here for the last London Calling (or Tombola) which fell through, but at the weekend they will make their Dutch debut.
:: Posted at 11:10 am by Steven McCarron ::
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Tuesday, June 08, 2004
Check out the Stayfun Shop for releases from Colin Kerr, Foam and Airbus. If you browse the shop section, each CD has additional MP3 info.
:: Posted at 10:25 pm by Steven McCarron ::
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Friday, June 04, 2004
This Radiohead medley featured on Broadcast Stayfun last night. It's created with such musical quality as well as humour that it's well worth checking out. Yes, I know it's already been blogged to death and emailed around the world, but still...
:: Posted at 11:21 pm by Steven McCarron ::
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Thursday, June 03, 2004
Broadcast Stayfun tonight hosts even more new music than normal. Well, new to me at least as there have been plenty of fun discoveries this week.
20-00-21.02 - Kung-Loo's world of Australian sounds
21.03-22.00 - Broadcast Stayfun - new indie, electronica, americana
22.00-23.00 - Broadcast Riot-Brrl - The feminine side of indie-rock
Listen here from 8pm (CET).
:: Posted at 5:52 pm by Steven McCarron ::
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Wednesday, June 02, 2004
I thought I would add a new song of the week today. This time it's not a new song that I just found, but instead one of my favourites from the past few months. My Latest Novel's 'Sister Sneaker, Sister Soul' is just so lovely, and so much fun at the same time. If you haven't heard it yet, please download it. Also available on their website is the very sweet 'Hope Edition'.
As for last week's song of the week by text-adventure, I have been downloading more of their songs and they sound wonderful. In fact, the entire Fantastic Disaster EP is available online here, and it contains five pretty songs of indie electronica.
:: Posted at 3:49 pm by Steven McCarron ::
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