In these early days, on my own in the night, I find some strange things to put up for review. Here’s something new. Oh No! Oh My! hitting up the Daytrotter.com sessions.

So for those of you who don’t know Oh No! Oh My! are a trio of indie rockers from Austin, TX. who, for the past four years, have provided some good solid indie rock for the masses to enjoy, combining quirk with melody. Daytrotter on the other hand is a site that offers semi-live sessions of bands that pass on through their base in Illinois, for free, thrice a week.

This week, so far has seen Architecture in Helsinki on Monday, with a lovely semi-live version of Heart it Races being amongst the tracklisting, while today’s was Oh No! Oh My! which is obviously why I chose them over my favourite indie multi-piece.

 I’ll admit, from the outset, that I am no Oh No! Oh My! fan. It’s not that I don’t like them, it’s more along the lines of I’ve never had the time for them much; so I was highly surprised when I got my hands on their Daytrotter Session today. I’ll keep it short and sweet, because, like a good poem, it deserves to be listened to, not read about:

The choice of songs compliment each other perfectly.
The choice of instruments that the band actually uses is beauty in itself.
My only problem is that the songs lose all lyrical meaning because I can, personally, never focus on squeaky vocals; blame that on it being semi-live.

Overall, it’s alright. Check it out if you’ve never heard them before; after all, what’s the harm. While you’re there, browse the archive. Some of the bands they’ve had are frankly amazing.

I’d have to give them a 6 out of 10, though. Not too shabby.

To the unsuspecting reader, it would appear that Monday is British Sea Power day, but, it just so happens that when we started up, Waving Flags was just out, and today saw the release of their new album.

Do You Like Rock Music? suggests there’s going to be an obvious album theme: Rock music. Then again, this is British Sea Power, so it’s not going to be a straight forward album.

Opening track All In It will either draw you in, or push you away. It’s a polariser; you either think you want more from these guys or less. Strangely, I must say that Yan sounds a fair bit like Tom from Editors in this track. Enough about that though, because the true power of this album comes in for Lights Out for Darker Skies.

Do I like rock music? Well, if your idea of rock music is ‘Lights Out…’ then frankly, I bloody love the stuff! It’s like what every good rock and roll song should be like; none of the gristle and crap, and more of the passion and oomph.

Even No Lucifer is a brilliant piece of music, making me smirk, which songs never do. A song that can incorporate the Hitler Youth into them gets some kudos for being lyrically clever. Matisyahu once made me smile by using the line “They never gassed me”, and now these boys get credit for that wonder.

I can honestly say, if I did a song by song, I’d tell you I love this album. I am inherently biased towards British Sea Power mind you, but, even if I think of it on a totally impartial scale, the goods still outweigh the bad.

With songs about H5N1 (or Bird Flu), the Hitler Youth, being young, Atoms; it’s all here. Do You Like Rock Music? basically provides you with a question: Do You Like It? The answer should be obvious. You either do or you don’t. I went in liking it, I came out loving this. I don’t know if that was because I went in as a British Sea Power fan, or because in some places it became more Post-Rock than simple Rock.

So, I say, go in, listen to Do You Like Rock Music? and by the end, your answer might not be a wholehearted yes, but, you should be swaying towards it. What this album lacks in cover art, it makes up for in creativity.

I give this lovely twelve-tracker a decent 8 of 10.

In this first week, I’ve been near overwhelmed in finding new things, writing things up, and doing it all on my own, so, I’m cutting the Sonic Bible from a daily to a thrice weekly; at least until the situation improves.

We will, as of today, be running Monday, Wednesday, Friday.

My apologies, but it’s the most I can manage without burning out at an early stage.

In general, this has been a good week so far, but it’s quite hard to run a daily blog off your own back, when you’re a student. I did have a mate signed up to help out, but with his net connection on the fritz all the time, it’s a hit-or-miss situation as to whether he gets on here.

So, to take a ‘break’ as it were, away from the music news, reviews, and such, I’d like to introduce myself.

Obviously, I am working under the handle of CatatonicStupor, which is my handle for almost every site I am a member of. I like the way it flows; it’s very ‘Cellar Door’ in my eyes. For the purposes of this site, I am the ‘Co-Editor’; the Admin-in-Chief #1, and the guy who writes the majority, so far.

I figure, since it’s a music based blog, this intro should focus less on me and more on the music I like, so at least you know where my bias lies.

I grew up on the type of music that can be classed as ‘country rock’; not Lynyrd Skynyrd and the hillbilly-bumpkin stylings of Sweet Home Alabama, but bands like  The Eagles and a lot of country singers, what with my dad being a fan of people like Hank Marvin and Garth Brooks.

From a young age, I was surrounded by music, in all honesty. My parents had a phonograph on the top of the stereo, and a massive collection of vinyls from the 70s and 80s. My Grandparents had an even bigger collection, I later found out, but, my parents had just left them in the garage once they had been given to them, ending in the eventual warping of 99% of them. I used to make a habit of listening to stuff, anything, on the phonograph, and messing with the RPM on it, taking it from 45 to 75 and laughing as suddenly ABBA became Alvin and the Chipmunks.

Later on in life, around the age of, say, seven, I was given my first stereo, and a collection of CDs, which mainly comprised of Michael Jackson, Britney Spears, The Smurfs; typical late 90s kids music. It was nothing special, but it got me liking CDs. If and when I can afford it, I’ll choose a CD over a download; not only for the ‘hard copy’ but for the cover art, and the look and feel of it all.
It was also around this time that I started messing with mixtapes. I made my first mixtape, which until four years ago, was still in my possession, and dubbed it “Good Music”, filling it with things like Britney, the Smurfs, Rednex etc.

Then, I moved on to Secondary School (high school, if you prefer). In my first year, people talked a lot about Eminem and how brilliant rap was. I went in the opposite direction, and said I was a fan of Black Sabbath, Ozzy and Alice Cooper. I had never heard these bands before, just their names. So, I went home, and asked my parents for some CDs by them. Within a year, I’d gone from pop to classic rock. I wasn’t done yet though.

It must have been around the time of The Eyes of Alice Cooper coming out, when I discovered Satyricon. The cover for Rebel Extravaganza drew me in, and I snapped it up; that and Rob Zombie’s Hellbilly Deluxe. I was, if I do say so myself, the most extreme person in my yeargroup at that time. Everyone else had their Eminem, and 50 Cent, and here I was with Satyricon, Rob Zombie and Sepultura.

About a year later, the Unholy Alliance tour rolled into Cardiff, and a few of my mates snapped up tickets, along with me. We were fourteen and fifteen, and were stood with fans of Slayer and Hatebreed; thrash and metal fans for many years. It really was quite a definining moment. It led, not to a life that was encased in a shell of metal, but, more of one where I wanted to go to as many gigs as was economically possible.

For the next two years or so, I was still into my metal. I was the resident ‘goth’ in the school. I had my own Gothic Bible, I had the trench coat (of sorts), I had the blackened nails and the spikes and the traditional mall-goth stuff. [And this explains why I am so annoyed that being goth or 'emo' is suddenly socially acceptable, because I had to put up with a fair amount of crap].

Then, I stumbled over QuestionableContent.net and it all changed. There was a band name on the wall. Mercury Rev. I thought “Surely that can’t be a real band.” I checked into it, and it changed my life forever. I opened my horizons. I stopped listening so much to gloomy metal, and worked my way into indie rock and all things beyond.

That was two years ago. I went from indie rock, to indie pop; from there I combined with my love of Goth-rock, and got into Post-Punk. I got into Post-Rock, and from there Math Rock. From 65 Days of Static, I jumped into the bandwagon of Electronica. From there, Lo-Fi and Glitch; and all the while, running in the background was folk, folk rock, and folk punk. Then, recently, I picked up my liking of metal, and discovered Noise Rock, with groups like Lightning Bolt and Clara Clara.

In eighteen years, I feel like a different person.

They say that the music you listen to between the ages of 10 and 25 is the music that you will listen to for the rest of your life, so I think I am pretty happy with how I’ve turned out so far. Half way through that time period, and I’m pretty open to most things; I’m branching into hip-hop lately, and dance is now just another form of techno; reggae and ska pose no problems either, and I’ve always been a fan of classical. There’s not much there I refuse point-blank.

And, now I feel you know me a lot more, you should have some idea where my biases lie. That’ll give you some idea of how impartial this could be, or is.

And to close this up, so you go away with some music on your mind:

This album has been the best purchase I have ever had:
My Latest Novel – When We Were Wolves

They are a Scottish band, and I haven’t heard much of them since this album, but, it really is worth a listen. Think of them as the Scottish Arcade Fire; a Scottish Of Montreal, but without all the pomp and such.

Rarely will I step up onto my high horse to write an editorial or words to that effect, but this has stunned me so much over the last few months that it must be written.

In Britain, the New Musical Express, the NME, pretty much has monopolised the ‘indie music’ market, although having flicked through some issues I wonder where it becomes this magical ‘indie bible’ for the masses. Lately, like all other good musical publications should, it has been publishing its “People to Watch…” list for the coming year; an 11 band monster with a mix of bands who, if you’ve actually been listening to music over the last year, you will know along with some who seem to be very new to the British scene at least.

So, having seen MGMT in their list, and having struggled to find a copy of Oracula Spectacular on 7Digital, their directions to the found of all music scammery, Itunes had me there in a flash. I figured, I need to hear this band; I want to know what the fuss is all about. Although, I wonder will they be another Vampire Weekend in my mind. And here is what sparked the editorial:

 Itunes has this neat function where you can see what other people have bought, while having also bought your purchase. Amazon does it; most shopping sites do, so you can check out other stuff and have an impulse buy. The list shown by Itunes, however, on the MGMT page was basically the NME’s list for who to watch in 2008:

Foals, Glasvegas, The Wombats, The Whitest Boy Alive…

Need I go on?

I know I’d like the Sonic Bible to reach out to people, and maybe influence them a little in the ways of music I feel needs hearing; music that is ‘decent’, but I think I’d have to do like those mad black-metallers Emperor and quit my post if all of a sudden we hit NME fame; the end of the spectrum where all they say is good and pure and right. Frankly, I’d prefer people to criticise my views, and tell me ”No, Vampire Weekend are amazing for [x] [y] and [z] reasons…” or “No, British Sea Power sound nothing like that…” . Criticism, constructively, is better than all out cultism.

So, I’d just like a show of hands: How many people read the NME? How many people read the NME and think its word is law?

I’ll admit I read a few music publications: Pitchfork being my main drop-off, for the weekly Forkcast; and Stereogum, for its quirkyness. I’m not forming opinions on my own, or finding everything ahead of everyone, but, I’d like to think I’d never step so low as to follow blindly into their suggestions.

In a shorter, bloggier form, here’s what I mean:

Pros
1. The NME is a big, established publication; it must be right.
2. The NME hires journos to go and review. It also listens to the way the people are headed with musical opinion.

Cons
1. The NME is many months behind the average indie kid. Foals have been on people’s lips since April and before, so the only reason they will be “big” in 2008 is because people know them, not because of value.
2. Sheep. People become blind sheep, treating the NME with the same level of zealousness as, well, a religious zealot.

Basically, ‘think for thyself’.

Please direct all comments to sonic.bible@googlemail.com
or post them below, if they are short and sweet.

When you’re all on your own, and you’re writing a blog, that’s daily, and trying to keep on top of things, it’s quite hard. So, today I’m going to not look at ‘new’ things. I’m going to be retrospective.

On this day, well, this date, ten years ago, Lou Reed’s Perfect Day, performed by ‘Various Artists’ including Mr Reed, David Bowie, Elton John, Bono, Boyzone, and Tom Jones, among others, hit Number 1 in the UK.

I’d like to think it was a good cover; I really would. I’d like to believe it was good. I am sorely mistaken.

It was damned excellent on the part of Children In Need. The fact that they had 20 or so artists, all doing the same song, in their own style, was something in itself, but to splice it exactly so that these people would compliment each other as the song went on is pure genius.

Bowie’s line of “You made me forget myself…” is perfect for him. There are spoken word parts, belting solos, operatic moments, down-tempo country-twanged moments. It’s the perfect song to be ‘timeless’, as far as covers go. I’m not a cover song fan, but this won me over back then, and it still wins me over now.

The original was good, no doubt there, but, strangely, this cover, in its own way, was much better. The complimenting sounds of low to high to low, in the vocals, as it goes along is fantastic, and what’s even better, people remember this song; at least the British do.

I’m not going to rate it, because you can rate what has already been reviewed possibly a thousand times over. That would be a ripple in the pond, rather than a splash.

Wow, we almost missed a day. That’s what happens when you have a co-writer whose internet connection is partially frazzled. I suppose I can’t blame him for technological mishaps, he tries.

So, as a last minute, totally unprepared piece of aural delight, I’m going to take that ‘Itunes Exclusive’ that’s now up by Vampire Weekend and plow through a quickie review.

Now, everyone is kicking up a big fuss about Vampire Weekend, and I don’t see what is so brilliant about them. In all honesty though, I’ve not heard much by them, so I shouldn’t judge so harshly based on this one single. In all frankness, I feel that I’m the one listening to it, so my opinions should be swayed by it, and they really struggle to fall on the side of good or bad.

The song, Mansard Roof, is a short piece of piffly indie pop that deserves no more mention than other short pieces of piffly indie pop. It’s like if you see a dog going for a walk, you don’t think “WOW!” everytime you see it; it’s routine. It’s not out of the ordinary. The song is, simply put, bland. It’s by no means terrible, but it sounds to me like a poor take off of bands like Beirut and, strangely, Panda Bear.

I say, as if my word is law on this one:

Get it if you must, but really, if this is Vampire Weekend, they are by no means special at all. I think all those bigwigs who said they’d be something big in 2008 should think again, and think about how many people would cope with this monotony for more than five consecutive plays.

I give it a mediocre 4 of 10.

First, apologies for being a day behind on this one, but what’s a day in the blog world? Oh, a lot? Really. Okay. It won’t happen again.

British Sea Power, one of the best alternative bands to come out of ‘the North’ (that is Northumbria, England, to be exact) in forever. It takes a lot of doing to make a band this listenable in the Alt-Rock genre, and still make them have a more ‘rock’ sound than the popular indie bands.
The boys of BSP released Waving Flags, the first single off their upcoming album Do You Like Rock Music?, yesterday and it is surprisingly good. I realise we are behind the times, what with the professionals like Zane Lowe and other music journos having their grubby little mits on it for the last god-knows-how-long, but, this is legality and all done on a shoestring budget.

The single itself, as has been stated by innumerable sources, is amazing. It’s been compared to the Arcade Fire, and the person who said that should be shot; it is nowhere near the farce that is the Arcade Fire. If they need seven people to make a decent song, then to make a song with four people, that is as good as one made by seven ‘talented musicians’, is really an achievement.

If you go and buy it, the CD format comes along with the ‘B-side’ extra of an 8 minute long track called Everybody Must Be Saved, and I suppose it falls into the same category as the 14 minute long monster-track Lately from The Decline of British Sea Power, in that it’s a good song, but it’s also good background music. This second track is almost more experimental, reminding me of Animal Collective, if they were more mature.

I’ll go along with the general flow, because, aside from the Arcade Fire comment, the general feeling with this single is right: If enough people heard it, it would be the single of the year, or at least a close contender for those laurels. It should at least be better than the overplayed trash that was Kaiser Cheif’s Ruby, eh?

Since I’m fond of giving a rating to everything, I decree that Waving Flags, as one of the first singles of 2008 that has reached my impure ears, should recieve no less than a high 9 of 10.

Now, I recommend you all hit Itunes, and anywhere else you can get your hands on this, and download it, legally!

It’s barely the beginning of 2008, and already there are artists that should be bursting through the ‘ranks’ of music. So, to start off tSB’s walk through the effervescent fields of sound, I’ve decided to name the top 5 artists that I think will get somewhere in 2008.
In 2007, I stumbled over the Wombats, back in around March, and look at where they are now; a fair few people know them, and so the aim of this is not only to be in there with a say before the big cheeses get there, but to point you in the right direction.

1. Laura Marling
Laura is barely ending her teens, and as far as I care she’s better than the mockney stylings of Kate Nash and Lily Allen. I was actually pointed in her direction at a gig for a ’busker’ called Beans On Toast, and he was by no means wrong. All I will say, though, is that if she keeps writing lyrics like those in New Romantic, a lot of the musical references will be lost on the many. She mentions Ryan Adams. To me, that’s a fine reference, to a Radio One listener, maybe one in three, or 50% if you’re lucky, will know him; the rest will think she mispronounced Bryan Adams.

2. Los Campesinos!
It may seem, so far, that I’m basically naming all the bands that the NME has pointed out to people, but this was a nice discovery for June 2007. Their brand of bubblegum rock makes me feel all warm and fuzzy, and makes me wish I had actually gone to see them when I had the chance. It’s one of those bands where you listen, you like, and then you wonder later why you never gave them your full attention. If they can pull in the audiences, they’ll get far.

3. Jacob Golden
His favourite Daniel Johnston song was recorded on a tape-deck before you were born, apparently. This man makes me think of what Conor Oberst could have accomplished. I genuinely think that if Conor were to stop flittering between folk, country and electronica, as he did for the last few releases, and if he added more of a tune to his melancholy drone, he would be Jacob, although probably a little more upbeat. When I went to see this guy play, I was amazed, and that rarely happens. He needs a breakthrough, a tough kick at the industry, and he should be able to get the crowds, rather than being third on the bill.

4. Bon Iver
I won’t lie, I stumbled over this guy just before Christmas, so I’m probably behind the times. He reminds me of Iron&Wine but with a more upbeat vocal section. The music is stuff you could drive to, as calm as it is. It’s all good stuff, and I think that if people went and gave it a listen, they’d find it to be really simple stuff; what more can I say?

5. Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly.
All joking aside, I hate this guy. I loathe his music. I find it irritating, I find it to be, and I quote my own words from the first time I heard it, “Elevator Music For Depressed Teenagers”. There is no denying that it is just that. But, I would be a total fool if I turned around and said “No, he’ll never make it anywhere”. The way the ‘market’ is going now, with the influx of indie and  ‘emo’; the love of acoustic and solo artists, one would have to be a total fool to discredit someone who is just that. Really, I think little Sam could get out of the backwaters of music and into the limelight, even if only for fifteen minutes of fame. Not my cup of tea, but probably the El Dorado to your musical Cortez.

So, the five above are my ticket through 2008, and it seems as though I’m predicting solo and acoustic artists to take it that step further; 4 of the 5 being solo and/or acoustic. I think last year’s boom in Electronica through Nu-Rave has died down enough to bring it to a simmer with the Daft Punk-esque Justice taking a step towards the back, and Klaxons heading off into the wings with CSS in tow. The surge in the popularity of Kate Nash, meanwhile, coupled with Indie and ‘emo’ being the cream of the latest crop lately, will provide the perfect moves for these artists to step towards centre stage and gain some valuable air-time. It’s just up to them to capitalize on it now.