And another thing (I am honestly not trying to bash the 'Tron, despite appearances to the contrary) - I know they're all about aloof, sophisticated gothic chic these days, but what happened to the playful sense of humour the displayed on early tracks like Paco! and Commodore Rock? I really enjoyed that. I mean, there's a thin line between aloof and po-faced.
Oh, and an ancillary question: what was the name of the genre that spawned trashy, cut n' sample tracks like Commodore Rock? I'm sure bands like Ladytron and Add N To (X) were lumped under the same monicker.
SR - fancy meeting up for a pre-gig drink tomorrow, or are you already all booked up? No worries if not - I'll only be in town from about 7:30 anyway and I quite fancy catching Datarock too. (I presume they're still the support act? Are there any others on the bill tomorrow, d'ya know?)
Anyhow, either PM or text me if you're up for it, old chap.
Mumpo - are you talking about 8-bit/'chipstyle', by any chance? If so, I can furnish you with a ton of that kind of stuff. If you're not, then I'm slightly confused! Is there another electropop subgenre that has passed me by?
SR - fancy meeting up for a pre-gig drink tomorrow, or are you already all booked up? No worries if not - I'll only be in town from about 7:30 anyway and I quite fancy catching Datarock too. (I presume they're still the support act? Are there any others on the bill tomorrow, d'ya know?)
Anyhow, either PM or text me if you're up for it, old chap.
Well, I was originally toying with the idea of joining tomorrow night's OTFathon (see World), but it's being held in some sort of German beer festival in Vauxhall, which is far out of my way (both culturally and geographically), so instead I think I'm just going to roll up shortly before 'Tron time with Mrs Rhino in tow. (Come and say hello if you see us. I'm sure you'll be able to spot me in the crowd...)
QUOTE: And another thing (I am honestly not trying to bash the 'Tron, despite appearances to the contrary) - I know they're all about aloof, sophisticated gothic chic these days, but what happened to the playful sense of humour the displayed on early tracks like Paco! and Commodore Rock? I really enjoyed that. I mean, there's a thin line between aloof and po-faced.
Oh, and an ancillary question: what was the name of the genre that spawned trashy, cut n' sample tracks like Commodore Rock? I'm sure bands like Ladytron and Add N To (X) were lumped under the same monicker.
You see, I actually think it's brilliant that they left the humour behind. It's almost as if Ladytron started out as a bit of a conceptual semi-joke ("Hey, wouldn't it be fun if we formed an 80s-style synthpop band!"), until they realised that the genre lent itself to writing truly magnificent, towering, sublime music. I can live without the rehashed sitcom themes if it means we get albums like Light And Magic.
QUOTE: Yeah, Clive, I was thinking that was it, but some foggy recess of my mind was telling me it went by another name in some quarters.
Well, if you'd like me to knock together a CD or two of such stuff for you, then I can. I'll just have to decide which CD copying/burning software to install/run on my new laptop first. (A pox on that accursed Windows Media Player - see threads passim.)
They (Datarock) are a band that I quite like, but have never really got into. I may be about to commit heresy here, but they have always seemed a bit like 'bandwagon-jumpers' to me - their take on electropop & new wave and their apparent flippancy both seem a bit too studied, to me. Perhaps they might have benefitted from the same shift in perceptions that SR posited as being beneficial to Ladytron? I dunno. Anyway, that's why I haven't bought any of their stuff - just made do with listening to it online.
They got 2/3 of the way through the set when a technical hitch meant they had to go offstage, initially just for an interval, but the curfew crept up and they never came back. Date to be rescheduled, refunds offered, all original tickets valid, blah blah.
It was a really good gig, too, while it lasted. The Velocifero material was sounding superb, and we got to hear "Seventeen" and "Blue Jeans" (as well as various oldie album tracks) before it all went tits-up.