The ATP 2008 at Minehead was barely started when Papier Tigre opened it at 5 PM. Not a lot of people came out, and 7 months later they only count 600 listeners at last.fm!? Such a shame. But maybe they’re in for it this time.
Two guitars and a drummer. A well-known formula, although I still hear people go BUT THEY DON’T HAVE A BASS! They don’t need one. Deal with it, this band can fill both your living room and the Pavillion Stage at Butlins.
Nothing much has changed since the debut. They still sound amazing, and having progressed vocally and in terms of songwriting this album has grown on me as much as the old one and is reaching further heights as I’m writing. Before it was the rhythms and the riffs keeping things afloat, but the songs are of such a high quality now, they could do acoustic sets… not that they should. I still find a few passages here and there going nowhere, but I can accredit that to the fact that there’s enough texture even in those few less exciting moments. Go listen, and pickup the debut while you’re at it.
Papier Tigre - The Beginning And the End of Now
Collectif Effervescence, November 2008
Let’s kick off our reviews section with a petit apéritif. After extensively touring Europe with their debut The Martial Arts you might have heard of them. And a brilliant debut one might add. The follow-up is exactly what you’d expect from a band that seems to know its own sound and capabilities both live and on record: Now they seek to go a bit further, adding another drumset and changing into a more instrumental outfit on 3 lovely new tracks.
On the opener Hero/Protagonist you’ll recognize their sound: A feel for the balance between atmosphere and harvesting math-points on skill and creativity. Adding lyrics on the second track Rivals, they seem to be stating the obvious: Are you disconnecting me? (…) It hurts. Nothing wrong with a bit of lyrics, as long as they don’t get in the way of the rich instrumentation. Closing the EP is the 6:38 long Kurosawa which takes them to their peak. Live and on Martial Arts I was especially fond of the over 10 minutes long combination of Take me to the hospial and Get out of here Hitler, and this is exactly what I find on the last track, swirving from burst to burst, pause to pause. Not bad, not bad at all.
You can tell good music from the audio playback it requires, and Rivals truly unfolds in your headphones. This is where the drumkits come alive and you really feel that stereo wasn’t invented for pure bling. If this was an experiment to see what happens with another drumkit, they had me fooled.. sounds absolutely natural. Damned to miss their double-drumkit tour.
Cinemechanica - Rivals [EP]
Hello Sir, October 2008
In this first part of the Shellac interview, Steve Albini about songwriting, squirrels, Johnny Cash, Metallica and more…
Camera: Dennis Hurkmans
Interview/editing: Ralph Lindsen
Mission of Burma playing the song 2wice, live @ Villette Sonique Paris.
Camera: Ralph Lindsen
Audio: Olivier Olry
A report of the carte blanche for Shellac night @ Villette Sonique 2008. Live footage and interviews about Melt Banana, Bottomless Pit, Mission of Burma and Shellac.
Featuring Steve Ablini and Mission of Burma.
At the Villette Sonique festival in Paris we interviewed one of the seminal bands of the underground of the 80’s. Mission of Burma influenced bands like Drive Like Jehu, Pixies, Fugazi, Nirvana, REM, Moby, Yo La Tengo, Sonic Youth, Sugar, Jawbox, Graham Coxon and much much more.
After breaking up in 1983, they reunited again in 2002 for two gigs. The result: they’ve been kicking ass in epic proportions for 6 years now, releasing two new great albums and inspiring a whole new generation of fans. Beat that Police and all pointless reunion bands!
This is the first part about the general history of Mission of Burma. There will be a second part about the rerelease of their 80’s catalog, Jimi Hendrix, and fishing when your eighty.
Mission of Burma live at Villette Sonique 2008 (Paris)
Camera: Ralph Lindsen
Audio: Olivier Olry
live @ Villette Sonique 2008 (paris)
Pinnacle Magazine interviewed the Dischord band Medications. At the time, the drummer was still with the band.
Blood Red Shoes is Rock n roll. The ‘gruesome twosome’ played a gig in Berlin. Slept for two hours, drove eight hours to the Netherlands, just to blow everyone away.
The crowd wasn’t the only group to be in awe. In the last minutes of the encore, crowd members invaded the stage. “Is it always like this?” Steven (the drummer) asked me. Yes, if a band like Blood Red Shoes plays, it is.
