UPCOMING SHOWS:

UPCOMING SHOWS:

Sat. April 30
KONONO N°1 FEAT. BATUDA
(Le Grand Mix, Tourcoing)

Sun. May 1
HELL
(The Pit's, Kortrijk)

Thu. May 5
Awesome Tapes From Africa dj set
(Treehou5e Open Air, Ghent)

Fri. May 6
Invisible Hands / Neil Michael Hagerty & The Howling Hex / DSR Lines
(Vooruit, Ghent)

Sat. May 7
CRITES
(De Ruimte, Ghent)

Tue. May 10
SEX CRIME + THE ARROGANTS
(De Pit's, Kortrijk)

Thu. May 12
QUANTIC
(DOK, Ghent)

Fri. May 13
ARCHIE & THE BUNKERS
(Het Bos, Antwerp)

Sun. May 15
THRONEFEST (Taake, Inquisition, Mgla, Batushka, Inferno, Dysangellium, Wiegedood & The Commitee)
(Kubox, Kuurne)

Thu. May 26
PAUL COLLINS BEAT
(Den Trap, Kortrijk)

Fri. May 27
BEAK>
(Trix, Antwerp)

Wed. June 1
TY SEGALL & THE MUGGERS
(Botanique, Brussels)

Wed. June 8
UNCANNY VALLEY: THE LOS ANGELES FREE MUSIC SOCIETY AND THEIR LEGACY (WOLF EYES, etc.)
(Vooruit, Ghent)

Wed. June 22
FÖLLAKZOID
(Het Bos, Antwerp)






Friday, September 25, 2009

Girls in the Garage !!!


Here are 3 female fronted punk rock gems from way back then that definitely did stand the test of time:

First is a song by THE CREAMERS whose debut album 'Love, Honor & Obey' was one of the first records on Sympathy For The Record Industry way back in 1989. Although I did buy the first couple of Sympathy albums at release date (Lazy Cowgirls! Jeff Dahl Group! Clawhammer!), for one reason or another I couldn’t get my hands on that Creamers record. Since the band consisted of 2 Lazy Cowgirls members, I was desperately in need for that record! In 1991, Flipside magazine issued a compilation cd called the Big One which featured a great Creamers song called “What Will The Neighbors Think”, a song originally released on the City of L.A.: Power compilation. In the same year, The Creamers released their second album 'Stick It In Your Ear' on Triple XXX Records. To promote the album, they did a European tour and played a great show at the Democrazy club in Ghent, Belgium. I still got a signed poster inside my copy and remember what a bunch of nice people The Creamers were in person. "Bob Kringle" is one of my all-time favorite Xmas tracks and can be found on an excellent compilation on Triple XXX Records that features their debut album as well as singles and compilation tracks.


Bob Kringle – THE CREAMERS mp3
(This Stuff’ll Kill Ya! – Triple XXX Records 1994)


The second song also comes from a very underrated SFTRI debut album by THE SHORT FUSES. Over here in Europe it did absolutely nothing, not in the least because the band didn’t embark on a European tour to promote it. It’s a shame, really - because it’s an excellent album mixing powerful buzz saw guitars, great hooks and splendid female vocals. "Corvette Summer" is the second track and as far as I’m concerned the pick of the album.


Corvette Summer – THE SHORT FUSES mp3
(Get The Hell Down – SFTRI CD 2000)


I never really understood why the only album by THE TEARS wasn’t released on vinyl because it’s the kind of punk rock & roll that is meant for vinyl. "Miss Queen" has some hysterical Courtney Love-like vocals but instead of boring grunge, we are treated on a superfast & exciting punk rock song. According to Grunnen Rocks, the band only released a 7”, two compilation tracks and a cd and some members are now in Catholic Boys (if they are still around that is), Bold Ones and Hue Blanc's Joyless Ones.


Miss Queen – THE TEARS mp3
(The Tears – Trick Knee Productions CD 2003)

Sunday, September 20, 2009

AT DEATH'S DOOR...


Last week, I went to see 2 death metal bands in my hometown: VOMITORY and MALEVOLENT CREATION. After a brilliant BRUTAL TRUTH show a couple of months ago, I thought it was a good idea to check out some other legendary metal bands. VOMITORY from Sweden have been playing death metal for over 20 years and infuse their sound with a fierce doses of brutal grind core. They played a great show, promoting Dante’s inferno like a new Disneyland park. The singer had a dark & really low guttural voice and most of the time, we only saw a curtain of hair instead of a singer’s face or grunter or how do you call those throat torturers? Power where you need it, definitely!


MALEVOLENT CREATION too has been raising hell for over two decades but the band didn’t show any signs of wear. Their sound was crystal clear but above all devastatingly heavy and brutal. This time, the singer looked like a proud club member of the Confederacy of Scum with his huge spike gauntlets and trucker moustache. Before me, a young girl was head-banging like crazy and I almost pitied her for being confronted with all this brutal mayhem at such a tender age. I hope the band won’t burden her with a mental trauma! Definitely the most ferocious and powerful gig I have seen in ages, both musically and lyric-wise.


Here are some of my favorite metal tracks (although I married a former metal chick, it’s still a genre that I need to explore):

Unholy Blasphemies – MORBID ANGEL mp3
(from Blessed Are The Sick – Earache Records 1991)

Burden – ROTTEN SOUND mp3
(from Exit – Willowtip Records 2005)

Human, All Too Fucking Human – ANAAL NATHRAKH mp3
(from The Codex Necro – Earache Records 2005)

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

ORCHESTRE POLY-RYTHMO DE COTONOU



Miles Cleret selects 85 minutes of his favourite tracks from the legendary ORCHESTRE POLY RYTHMO whose debut European tour has just begun. I will be reviewing their upcoming Antwerp show here next week!

2666 - ROBERTO BOLAÑO



I have just finished reading Roberto Bolaño’s posthumous and colossal novel 2666 and I think it’s an awe-inspiring masterpiece. 2666 may be a first draft (the Chilean-turned-Catalan writer tragically died in 2003 without being able to revise the final draft) the wild chaos and stylistic richness held me from beginning to end. The 5 novellas that are masterfully interwoven were originally intended by Bolaño to be published separately as a way of guaranteeing income for his wife and children after his early death due to liver ailment at age 50. His family along with his Spanish editor however decided to publish the five parts as one volume which is a wise decision I think. There are no defining moments in 2666 and mysteries are never resolved but the sheer abundance of its narrative and its resistance to categorization make 2666 a heroic achievement. What a book!

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Stunt Clown - HEADLESS CHICKENS



I bought the HEADLESS CHICKENS’ debut album ‘Stunt Clown’ the year it was released by Flying Nun Records in 1988. Over the years, I came across this album multiple times in bargain bins and on second hand music fairs. A couple of months ago, I finally bought the CD version of the album for the ridiculous price of €1,00. Nobody else seemed interested, although the cover art stirs the imagination and Flying Nun Records has always been synonym for adventurious and genuine pop music. ‘Stunt Clown’ definitely is the kind of ambitious and unique album that never fails to enthrall and keeps on stirring the listener’s imagination. Here’s the fourth track from the album.

do the headless chicken - HEADLESS CHICKENS mp3

Sunday, September 06, 2009

I can't believe it's already been over 2 months since I wrote something on this blog of mine so I guess it's about time to revive the damn thing. Here are the other films I saw at the L'Age d'Or/Filmvondsten film festival in Brussels in the beginning of July.

KATALIN VARGA **
This first feature-length film by UK film director Peter Strickland was made entirely independently over four years, costing less than 30,000 Euros to make. The film was shot in the Hungarian-speaking part of Romanian Transylvania and follows Katalin Varga when she is banished from her village and sets out on a quest to find the biological father of her son in order to take revenge for what happened in the past. In the Q&A after the screening, Strickland told the audience that he got the idea for the film from a solo record by Nurse With Wound’s Stephen Stapleton who instantly agreed to make the film’s score. Unfortunately, the soundtrack is too explicit and robs the movie of its integrity. Although Béla Tarr collaborator Gyorgy Kovacs creates a vivid picture of the region and the story is well-developed, it often feels like Strickland is imitating his idols. Moreover, some scenes have an irritating horror movie feeling and the end isn’t very memorable. Katalin Varga would have benefited much more from a modest approach like in Kornel Mundruczo’s 2008 Cannes title “Delta”. Now, Katalin Varga is just a nice hommage to the grim and sinister Eastern-European cinema of Béla Tarr and Krzysztof Kieslowski.



POLITIST, ADJECTIV **1/2
An enthralling film that follows a young detective during a time-wasting case trailing weed smoking teenagers. There’s hardly any action, but this slow-paced movie makes the audience participate in an interesting reasoning about the complex question of morality & consciousness. A movie that replays in your mind, long after the credits are gone.


TURISTAS *
I wasn’t impressed by Alicia Scherson’s successful début PLAY and I am equally unimpressed with her second feature. An implausible storyline, uninteresting characters and silly humor.


NO PUEDO VIVIR SIN TI ***
A simple & powerful Taiwanese film about a down and out man and his little daughter who live in an illegal hovel until the authorities intervene and ruin their happy & peaceful life. A sensitive melodrama, shot in black-and-white images.


YUKI & NINA ***
A children’s drama made for adults, with a faint touch of magic-realism. Faced with having to move to Japan with her mother, young Yuki seems more distraught about leaving her best friend Nina than she is about leaving her French father. After failing to change her mom's mind, Yuki runs away with Nina. An original look at the impact of a divorce on children’s behavior.


LE ROI DE L’EVASION ***
A burlesque comedy about a middle aged homosexual man in a small French village becomes involved with a sixteen year old girl. A good laugh!!!


INDEPENDENCIA *
The American occupation of the Philippines after the Spanish-American War is the backdrop of 'Independencia’, a simplistic & boring tale, made in the style of silent films.


WILD FIELDS **
Wild Fields tells the story of a young doctor called Dmitri who is sent to a remote village in the Kazakh steppe. Brilliant cinematography captures the harsh beauty of the landscape, while a host of outstanding performances build a complex picture of the post-Soviet psyche.


KYNODONTAS *
Winner of the Prix Un Certain Regard at Cannes this year, this story about a father who is convinced that the best way for his children to remain uncontaminated by the world is to completely cut them off from it lacks persuasiveness. Most of the time, it looks like Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos mocks his own film. A disappointment.


HELP GONE MAD *1/2
A Russian comedy that would have benefited from tighter editing.