Friday 17 August 2012

When Jerry met the Walrus

It being a Friday and all, here is a terrific video of Jerry Levitan, a 14-year-old Beatle fan, who snuck into John Lennon's hotel room in Toronto in 1969 and convinced him to do an interview. A little animated film was made to go with it. And this was the fascinating result:



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Tuesday 14 August 2012

Parklive: Blur at Hyde Park

Blur marked their return on Sunday (12 August 2012) with a performance at Hyde Park. The same venue they played three years ago, before taking a little Blur holiday.

As widely reported, the band’s sound was a little on the lowside. The result somewhat resembled a scene from Sound Destruction Device’s formative years where SDD would be regularly ‘asked’ to turn ‘that noise down!’

Teenage angst aside, the sound issues didn’t appear to affect Blur at all, who were as passionate, electric - and excellent - as ever.

Under the Westway (image taken from: http://blur.co.uk/hydepark2012).
Performing under a stage set inspired by their latest single, ‘Under the Westway’, the band kicked off proceedings with ‘Girls and Boys’. Alex James’ opening bass line greeted with an emphatic cheer from the crowd.

Throughout the show, Graham Coxon, who was wearing the ‘The Abyss’ t-shirt he used to wear during Blur's heyday, laid into his guitar as if it was an untamed beast.  Somehow managing to keep it in-check - a bit like some kind of horse whisper… but for guitars.

The delightful ‘Young and Lovely’, a B-side from their ‘Modern Life is Rubbish’ era, has been given a new lease of life over the last couple of weeks, and raised its head once again. Here's a clip of a recent airing at Maida Vale:



An emotional Damon Albarn, fuelled by the adulation of the audience, threw himself around the stage before jumping into the crowd to hold aloft a Union Jack. He was chatty throughout the concert, stopping to praise Mo Farah's recent gold winning exploits and the BBC's ad-free coverage of the Games.

The visible emotion from Albarn and co served to strengthen rumours that this would be Blur’s last ever performance. Earlier, James had tweeted: “Cried during utw (‘Under the Westway’) in soundcheck #emotional #blur #westway#.”

Absolute Radio, who transmitted the show live, even went as far to say this was Blur’s final show. Did they know something we didn’t?

You couldn’t help wondering. And as the set continued, each song felt increasingly poignant, especially ‘This is a Low’ and ‘Sing’ and set closer‘The Universal’.

Albarn, tears in his eyes, saluted the crowd before departing the stage. As the audience drifted away, they could be heard singing‘Tender’ and ‘Country House’ at the top of their voices.

If this is the end then Blur bow out on a high and leave Hyde Park triumphant.

We got our hands on a Blur milk carton - as seen in the ‘Coffee and TV’ video. Note the 12 August best before date.

For everyone that couldn't be there or were there, but couldn't hear it, a DVD and CD recording will be released later this year. November we think.

Alternatively you can download an audio recording from iTunes now.

Monday 6 August 2012

Coming soon to a wall near you: the pizzazz of movie art

Movie posters. They’re great aren’t they? When Sound Destruction Device was young we used to love looking at the videos in Hollywood Video, SDD’s local video shop, and checking out the cover art.

We were fascinated by the covers for the video nasties (which were illegally available to rent, having been banned by the BBFC), dodgy buddy comedies, peculiar sci-fi movies and gritty thrillers. The fascination never went away, but sadly video shops did.

A video nasty. Art by Graham Humphreys.
Fear not. Thanks to the internet people are able communicate more freely, share ideas and develop online communities. It’s wondrous. And out of this has come a place where ‘enthusiasts’ can show off movie posters they have made themselves.

‘Fan art’ doesn't sound all that appealing, but there are lots of genuinely talented people out there who have produced some brilliant movie posters of their own - and they are often better than the originals.

Mondo must have realised this pretty early on - it's worked wonders to fill that video shop shaped void. Based in Texas, Mondo commissions artists to create limited edition screen prints for films old and new.

Big Trouble in Little China by Tyler Sout.
They regularly team-up with the Alamo Drafthouse to produce posters for their film showings. The list of films is long, but past screenings include The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Robocop, The Thing, Akira, Drive and lots more which should be mentioned here but... aren’t. Anyone who buys a ticket gets to take home a poster.

Leftovers are sold on Mondo’s website. They usually sell out in seconds, so they can be quite tricky to get hold of. You can find some on eBay, but you do have to pay slightly over the odds… and a bit more.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World by Martin Ansin.
They are beautiful though and if SDD could cover every inch of wall with them it would. Even legendary movie poster artist, Drew Struzan agrees and he did Back to the Future, Harry Potter and Indiana Jones, to name just a few. He’s now working with Mondo on some brand new prints.

You can find out more about Mondo by visiting their website and following them on Twitter.

A fansite called The Alamo Drafthouse Posters includes images of past Mondo/Alamo Drafthouse posters, so you can look longingly at the ones you've missed out on.

And whilst we're at it, there's a nice interview with Justin Ishmael, the Creative Director of Mondo on io9.

Friday 3 August 2012

Death from Above 1979 have risen from the grave

Reunions are all the rage at the moment. And being slightly sentimental, Sound Destruction Device is all for them. But it can be a dangerous move. One that many bands have been weary of making - see Led Zeppelin and The Beatles.

Following the reformation of bands such as Kyuss (sort of), Soundgarden and The Pixies - all of which we were delighted about - there is one group which SDD was especially pleased to see back in action: Death from Above 1979.


With just one full album and a couple of EPs to their name, they had barely got going - as far as the record buying public was concerned anyway. But on 4 August 2006, bassist Jesse F. Keeler announced their split.

SDD was sad about this, but slightly smug because we had been cutting-edge enough to catch them when they played the Princess Charlotte in Leicester on 20 May 2005. Now they are back. Not that they will be playing the Charlotte anytime soon. It's now a Spar convenience store.

Last year they announced their reformation: “Jesse and I have decided that what we can do together should not be denied” proclaimed vocalist/screamer/drummer, Sebastian Grainger. We agree.

The future is looking rosey for the Canadians. And there are rumours of a new album after they performed, what appeared to be, a new song at Toronto’s Edgefest 2012 on 14 July.

To get you in the mood, here is a great video of DFA 1979 on Late Night with Conan O'Brien from 2005, performing Romantic Rights. If you haven’t seen it, we won’t spoil the ending for you, but take a look:



You can follow DFA 1979, Grainger and Keeler on Twitter.

Thursday 2 August 2012

Pussy Riot: true punks

On 21 February 2012, punk rock outfit Pussy Riot performed at Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Savior. In doing so, band members Maria Alekhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, and Ekaterina Samucevich hoped to highlight the relationship between the Russian president, Vladimir Putin and the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church.


A week later, a video of their performance was uploaded to YouTube. Alekhina, Tolokonnikova, and Samucevich were subsequently arrested and charged with hooliganism. And have been in pre-trial detention since 4 March 2012.

Pussy Riot's plight has received support from musicians such as Jarvis Cocker, Pete Townsend and Alex Kapronos, who all called for the three band members to be released.

Musically they sound a little like Minor Threat. Not being a Russian speaker Sound Destruction Device can’t comment on the lyrics, but watch a few videos on YouTube and you soon get a feel for what they are about.

It’s easy - and probably lazy - to draw parallels with bands like Bikini Girl from the Riot Grrrl movement of the mid-nineties, but they are cut from the same cloth. And that’s no bad thing.

Pussy Riot employ guerrilla-style tactics by performing in and around Russian landmarks at the drop of a hat. So the music is simple, ruthless and to the point. Just as it should be. There’s no waste and no time for solos. It’s smash and grab. Which is what real punk is all about.

Anyone can be in Pussy Riot - they wear balaclavas to cover their faces. And unlike the majority of people who apply to be on The X Factor, they haven’t sought fame or fortune. The band is all about the cause.

While popular western music can be frustrating and disheartening because of its seemingly increasing mediocrity and blandness, it’s refreshing to hear a band that cares and sticks to its principles, despite such strong adversity.

You can find out more about the campaign to release Pussy Riot on the Free Pussy Riot! website.