Who wants to see Metal Urbain with me tonight?

i'm going to see blonde redhead/secret machines tomorrow nite...wow, getting to see metal urbain would be great though. have they recently reuinited since the reissue? I didn't know they were playing shows...

For those of you who haven't heard the Rough Trade single of "No Fun" by Dr. Mix, you have not experianced what just may be the most raw, killer guitar sound ever recorded. No Fun would appear on the LP but not sound quite as awesome

NYC, you better fucking show up for this Friday's show. Metal Urbain got a really good turn out tonight.. and this is Seattle.. on a weeknight. (singer said Seattle was the best show on the tour so far). Dan will have you all exterminated if you don't. It's true.

Also, The Intelligence (now a four piece with members of Popular Shapes) opened up and rocked as well. Will describe them later on the A-Frames thread, but they are coming to NYC this Friday too! They will be playing four shows in NYC I think...(so you Metal Urbain fans are allowed to miss one of them, since the Intelligence are not playing with MU while they're in NYC). I highly recommend catching the Intelligence this weekend as well.

More later. Me tired. (and also addicted to Matos's just released Sign O' The Times book!)

Neither did John Cooper Clarke or Subway Sect for that matter; and the sound engineer somehow managed to make Heavy Metal Kids sound as if they were performing at the bottom of a lift shaft.

Those four between them represented at least half of the reason I wanted to go too!

Far preferable than them trying to sing in bad English I reckon.

I'm never sure whether the reason so many bands / musicians from non-English speaking countries so often seem to choose to write / sing / record in English is:
a) because English is such a universal language that it's simply the best way of communicating;
b) because English (rightly or wrongly) is seen as the "authentic" voice of popular / rock and rock-derived music;
b) because the English speaking races represent such a huge proportion of the market for popular / rock and rock-derived music and that market generally doesn't seem to be particularly receptive to people singing in other languages (perhaps because we're so arrogant that we believe (rightly or wrongly) that English is the "authentic" voice of popular / rock and rock-derived music?).

The lyrics were totally incomprehensible to me except for the very occasional English word of course - but the anger and resentment and frustration - as well as occasionally humour - in their songs could not have been expressed any more clearly.

Apparently having trouble from members of the far right at your gigs when you're playing in the former Checheslovakia tends not to involve shaven-headed morons sieg-heiling, kicking people's teeth in and smashing the room and your equipment up; so much as it does hails of machine gun bullets.

Nice!

Well, I think it's got something to do with the fact that, in "rock music", the "common language" being english, non-english speaking people are used to the way the words sound and their melody. So when "rock music" is sung in another language it seems weird/wrong. Add to that the fact that most of the time, french people think that french doesn't fit well the "rock" melodic format, plus some snobbery and I guess you kinda have an explanation !

and in general, concerning the use of english by non-english speaking bands, I'd say it's a bit of your 3 points together + the fact that most of "rock music" having been made in english, most of the people who want to do that kind of music but don't naturally speak englsih, have been so deeply influenced by the use english in the making of a song that it's only natural for them to create in english.... dunno if I made myself clear, though !

It was a blast all around. (the singer remarked that this was their best turnout on the tour so far.. which amazes me, given how sleepy Seattle can be on a weeknight.) The, from what I can tell, two original members of the band may not have been rock acrobats, but they certainly delivered and looked like they were having fun. The other younger two members were flailing all over the place, especially the synth/beatbox guy, who whiplashed around with the synth squeals. I was amazed how accurate the beatbox sounded as far as remaining true to the original recordings -- yet everything was also turned up and amplified and given more momentum (which is definitely not a slant on their original releases by any means, just an incentive for you guys to NOT MISS THEM WHEN THEY COME TO YOUR TOWN.) They pretty much went all around the catalog, I believe, but certainly did a bunch from "Anarchy in Paris!".

On a worthy side note, the opening band The Intelligence opened and were also amazing in their new lineup. (Backing up a bit, The Intelligence is fronted by Lars Finberg, the drummer of the A-Frames, except he sings/nasally drones and plays guitar). They started off as a three piece (guitar-guitar-drums) a couple of years ago but now have recruited a couple of members of another great local rock band The Popular Shapes, and are now more of a force live (two guitars, more effects, bass, and drums). Their album Boredom and Terror sounds more like a 4-track bedroom excursion, which isn't to say it's not good, but makes for a POOR indicator of their live sound. They certainly have nailed down the loose Fall/Wire sound, or more that of a dancey slightly out-of-tune garage shuffle band whose songs always seem on the verge of falling apart but never do. They took a while to warm up, but a quarter way through, they were doing a great job of making the audience happy. Lars is the only guy I've seen live who can get away with vocalizing approximately close to Mark E. Smith without sounding or acting like a Mark E. wanna-be. (maybe because Lars doesn't add the "-uh" suffixes after every word). The darker garage overtones are the only thing this band has in common with the more goth/post-punk tighter sounding A-Frames, but A-Frames fans would certainly have an easy time getting into The Intelligence.

Anyway, The Intelligence are flying to NYC to play four shows in the area this weekend...(and also are playing a few other east coast dates, and Chicago as well, I can post the dates when I get em). Unfortunately, they are not playing with Metal Urbain for either of their two shows in NYC, but since you guys there have a chance to see both bands this weekend, I obviously recommend Metal Urbain, but also want to extend a plea for you guys to see the Intelligence if they're playing near your neighborhood too. You'll likely have fun seeing them as well.

hello friends!
here's the dates for our little tour that we're doing with our
friends the intelligence (from seattle). please come out! as you
might know, these will be our first shows in quite a long time. we'll
have some new t-shirts and a 5 song tour only EP with us (limited to
60 copies!)... all hand silkscreened at the unovis workshop.

4/3, sat.- brooklyn, ny @ narnack loft- 210 cook st., #301 **
4/4, sun.- new haven, ct @ BAR
4/5, mon.- nyc @ sin-e (intelligence only!)
4/6, tues.- detroit, mi @ the lager house
4/7, wed.- chicago, il @ subterranean
4/8, thurs.- baltimore, md @ the talking head
4/9, fri.- allentown, pa @ jeff the pigeon w/ bastard noise, dark
inside the sun (ex-deerhoof)
4/10, sat.- nyc, ny @ piano's

brasilia will also be playing the rock-n-rollerskate at office ops in
bushwick, brooklyn on april 24th with breaker!breaker! and one
other...

** directions to the narnack loft- 210 cook st. #301, brooklyn- take
L to morgan stop. make a left on bogart and right on cook st...

so- please come out and say hi. help us get a little gas money by
buying a shirt or cd. or both.
thanks. enjoy the spring!
- roy

brasilia
http://www.unovis.org

From: "omnibusrecords"
Date: Tue Mar 23, 2004 12:43 pm
Subject: The Intelligence (mem. of A-Frames) in NY next week

ADVERTISEMENT
The Intelligence have a handfull of shows in NY (and on the E.
Coast) starting next week, that's Lars from the A-Frames other
band, new album "Boredom And Terror" CD on Omnibus, LP on
Narnack. Dates and reviews posted below. Split 7" with the
Coachwhips / The Intelligence in the works (on Omnibus)...

THE INTELLIGENCE
4/2 - New York NY @ Bojangles w/Langhorn Slim (record
release)
4/3 - New York NY @ tba loft show w/ Brasilia (contact Narnack
for details)
4/4 - New Haven CT @ BAR w/ Brazilia
4/5 - New York NY @ Sin-E
4/6 - Detroit MI @ Lager House w/ Brasilia, The Trolls
4/7 - Chicago IL @ Subterranean w/ Brasilia,
4/8 - Baltimore MD @ Talking Head w/ Brasilia
4/9 - tba
4/10 - New York NY @ Piano's w/ Brasilia, Clemente (Australia)

(omni043) THE INTELLIGENCE "Boredom And Terror" CD
- In order to sonically lay it down sideways for you, Lars Finberg,
the lo-fi dandy of West Seattle, locked his front door and pressed
the record button on his favorite eight-track machine and made
ten songs that could be either ecclesiastic alien probes, Hank
Williams going electro-slash, or John Lennon making friends
with a video game. Finberg, you'll probably want to know, is the
Battlestar Galactica-esque drummer of the A-Frames, and while
the programmed beats he's employed herein are reminiscent of
that band's post-punk heroics, their digital drag and slur render
them feathers of an entirely different bird. Lyrically, our post-pop
sarcastic Snoop Dog-substitute slays us best on the album's
standout track, "Telephone Wires," rhyming "telephone
wires/connecting the liars/directly to fires/that never get tired" and
on and on and on. And while it should be said that Finberg, in his
sequestered 8-track sanctuary, teems with true talent, it simply
has to be said that the band he has collected in the wake of
these recordings are veritable toolboxes of the stuff. Members of
A-Frames, Pyramids, Popular Shapes and Thee Flying
Dutchmen join Finberg in his live recitations of this stuff, and it
only gets way, way better.. So now that you've had some time to
floss your brain with the combo of our generation and
simultaneously spin this little Ritz of a cracker in your Discman,
we're sure you'll agree that terror is indeed boring and boredom
is indeed terrifying. And the Intelligence are your new People
magazine.

Bettawreckonize.com (Ohio)
Lars Finberg, a member of Northwest bands the Dipers and A
Frames went into his bedroom with an eight-track, a bass, a
guitar, a drum-machine, a delay pedal, and a children's drum kit
and emerged with the aural equivalent of a black and white,
Metropolis-meets-Johnny Five style, noisy, lo-fi rock robot
programmed to play your video games, smoke your secret
stash, be cynical, and, best of all, to rock the fuck out. Still not
sure about this? Well, I could probably describe Finberg's outing
as avant garde, but that isn't going to tell you anything, and I'm
not entirely certain that is the case here. Simply put, this venture
may, as the title suggests, be a series of atypical, and frankly,
bizarre outings crafted by someone who has a little time on their
hands and an appetite for dismantling rock and roll truisms only
to "Dr. Frankenstein" together his own misfit cuts. For example,
"Guys" juxtaposes the rhythmic elements of British mod rock with
jarring 70s punk guitar work. "Singing Contest" saunters through
a graveyard of late-70s new-wave synth sounds as Finberg
barks a tribute to Tim Taylor (Brainiac) and Johnny Lydon (P.I.L.,
The Sex Pistols). "Weekends In Jail" is a wholly different animal;
this one has the pipes of Transmissions From The Satellite
Heart-era Flaming Lips, a Monkees-style bowl cut, the guitar
playing fingers of Guided by Voices circa Bee Thousand, and the
scruffy, laissez faire dress of an early Pavement. But that's not
all, Intelligence still maintains a Velvet Underground-like
coolness throughout the track. Fans of the band will read this
and know that I haven't yet begun to scratch the surface, but
there in lies my affinity for the disc. I've listened to it multiple
times and still haven't taken it all in. Are you up to the challenge?
-Tim Anderl
http://www.bettawreckonize.com/album_reviews/main.html#intell
terror

Delusions Of Adequacy
Are you interested in what The Intelligence's latest release,
Boredom and Terror, sounds like? Of course you are, otherwise
you wouldn't have read this far. Considering you're viewing this
via the glorious World Wide Web, why don't we all get with the
times, instead of reading my observational meanderings of the
release sounding like this band fronted by that singer or if this
band meets this band in a dark ally on ludes, and HEAR
first-hand what The Intelligence is cooking up. Go to that nifty
Dragnet Records site, click on "Songs," and check out the free
MP3 offering of "Boyfriends and Girlfriends." Go ahead. These
words aren't going anywhere. We'll meet back here when you're
done. Actually, before you return, listen to it twice. I'll explain later.
OK, did you hear what I heard? Super infectious, distorted bass,
distorted drums, and distorted guitar as well as vocals that make
The Strokes' Julian Casablancas sound crystal clear. And then
for good measure, the whole thing's been fed through a few
more distortion effects. From what you can make of it, the lyrics
sounded humorously tongue-in-check as well as a bit
provocative? Well, whatever you thought of "Boyfriends and
Girlfriends" is probably what you're going to think of Boredom
and Terror. After my first listen through of Boredom and Terror, I
thought that the songs were pretty good, but they all sounded like
demos someone was working out on their new Apple
GarageBand music-creating software. Kind of along the lines of
former-Polvoian, Ash Bowie's solo project Libraness. My second
listen was a totally different experience. Sure all the songs were
brief, but that was the perfect length they needed to be. And
musically there is so much to discover in each little gem. The
similarity and detail to groove of each track is probably attributed
to the fact that The Intelligence is a one-man show powered by
Lars Finberg, drummer for the A-Frames (who seems to have
really influenced his sound). Not sure if Lars is English, since
the bio says he hails from Seattle, but he definitely has vocal
qualities in the area of The Fall's Mark E. Smith or the Bauhaus
version of Peter Murphy. To bring it up to today's standards, think
of the Gorillaz "M1A1," that features Blur's Damon Albarn on vocal
duty, with the lo-fi production quality of the first Folk Implosion
album. Everything is short and sweet with Boredom and Terror:
the length of the songs, the packaging, the band's name, and
even this review. -Frank
http://adequacy.net/reviews/i/intelligence.shtml

Mesh Magazine SF
Don't be fooled by the cover of this cd, which looks like it should
belong on a really bad punk compilation, this album is a raucous
adventure through lo-fi bleeps and bloops and emits more
attitude than a hundred three chord songs. The belligerent
vocals of Intelligence frontman Lars Finburg create a bratty
overture throughout the album. With 13 tracks of nihilistic beauty
each clocking in at no more than two minutes and 21 seconds,
Boredom and Terror, offers a nice escape from, well, boredom
and terror.

The Stranger (Interview w/ Lars Finberg)
http://www.thestranger.com/2003-12-04/music3.html

Blank Generation
http://www.blankgeneration.com/columns/beatyourheartout/03-1
2-29.html

Seattle Weekly
http://www.seattleweekly.com/features/0352/031224_music_afra
mes.php

Seattle Weekly
http://www.seattleweekly.com/features/0353/031231_music_mix
tapes.php

Punk Information
http://www.punk-information.com/archives_2003.htm

:: info ::

omnibus records | www.omnibusrecords.com
narnack records | www.narnackrecords.com
dragnet records | www.dragnetrecords.com
s-s records | www.s-srecords.com

http://www.thehookmusic.com/main.html

for directions and other info. X27 and Aqui open. DJs between.

Everone in the band, and their tour manager/merch guy said the Seattle show was awesome.

Bien sur! Complete with the Femmes Sous Cellophane / Waldorf single and 3 of the 4 tracks on the Quatre Essais Philosophiques 12" EP as bonus tracks too.

So did Je Vais Shier Dans Ton Vomi (that's pretty close right?) ever come out or what?

Sorry, J'irai chier dans ton vomi, thanks to Wikipedia. I've never seen/heard of it anywhere. Does it exist?

I'd forgotten this was supposed to be coming out, but Amazon France has it. I assumed it was going to be on Seventeen Records, who do all the back catalogue, but this listing says it's on Exclaim. There are a couple of tracks up on their Myspace - sounds just a little too clean on first listen, but I'd still like to see 'em do it live.

I thought it was coming out on Alternative Tentacles, or was it just produced by Jello?

Produced by Jello, not sure what the story was with the release. AT don't eveb stock it. Came out back in 2006 - if I'd known about it. I'd have pre-ordered. France only?