Bloc Party

[jonny_rat]

Except for me. I do like the music, but I'm defending the people that don't. Crazy eh?

Oh man, it's too confusing. Men wearing shoes on their hands! Hamburgers eating people!

[Nate Dogg III]

downloaded a bunch of stuff, i like roughly half of it.

not going to try and intellectualise it mind you. the 'phones disco' remix of 'banquet' is corking too.

[Andy_Tanner]

Oh, I prolly messed up there, I have a terrible memory.

Interested now, though: in the words of Reeves and Mortimer, "I am ignorant of The Fall." Where would you recommend I start? There's so much bleedin' material..

there's a best of - 50,000 Fall Fans Can't Be Wrong which comes on two discs and comprises about 40 tracks. i'd recommend Hex Enduction Hour to start with though, and you're in luck because it's been re-released only this week with some extra stuff on. any album that starts with the opening line "where are the obligitory niggers" and then follows it with, "hey fuck face, hey fuck face" has got to be just a bit special, wouldn't you agree ?

[Davros sock drawer]

I think the thing with NME is that it appears, and I stress the word appears, that they champion bands on criteria other than their music. They seem to almost say "You can be famous...you too, and you...not you, no, not you...." rather than reporting what's actually out there. It's entirely arbitrary.

The Libertines are the prime example. Would they even exist in the nation's consciousness without the NME?

[CrispinG]

I think the thing with NME is that it appears, and I stress the word appears, that they champion bands on criteria other than their music. They seem to almost say "You can be famous...you too, and you...not you, no, not you...." rather than reporting what's actually out there. It's entirely arbitrary.

The Libertines are the prime example. Would they even exist in the nation's consciousness without the NME?

I think you hit the nail on the head there, old boy.

[Andy_Tanner]

i don't have a problem with the NME, or who they hype and why. if someone discovers a band through them that's great but it shouldn't impair their critical faculties or vice versa. i love The Libertines regardless of the NME arse licking yet i think Bloc Party are rubbish.

[johnj]

i want to put money on them winning the mercury music prize now, would a bookies give me some pretty good odds on this being as the short list isnteven announced?

I decided after their "underground hype" and then seeing them on cduk. but then ff won last year and theyre an arty indie band so hm. not gonna miss a tenner tho.

[CrispinG]

The problem is that the NME has a pretty wide sphere of influence in the UK, Andy, and if a band isn't deemed hip (read: accessible) enough to bother reporting on, they can sink.

[Davros sock drawer]

i love The Libertines regardless of the NME arse licking yet i think Bloc Party are rubbish.

Yes, in the same way that you acknowledge the arse licking, I also acknowledge that it ultimately just comes down to what you like.

It does make me wonder about who they're over-looking though, and why.

[Nate Dogg III]

it's a sad fact of modern media that a mag of such stature simply has to pander to a majority to maintain sales. i hadn't bought an NME in probably eight years until just before christmas, and i doubt i'll be buying another to be honest.

most people get their music news, reviews etc off the internet anyway now which is why print mags are ever more desperate for readers. same thing with dance music mags.

[Eighthours]

I think the thing with NME is that it appears, and I stress the word appears, that they champion bands on criteria other than their music. They seem to almost say "You can be famous...you too, and you...not you, no, not you...." rather than reporting what's actually out there. It's entirely arbitrary.

The Libertines are the prime example. Would they even exist in the nation's consciousness without the NME?

Hmmmm.... an interesting question. I can see why people like the Libertines, but I personally don't "get" them.

NME have killed bands as well. I believe Paul Draper has referenced the NME's bile towards Mansun before, as one reason why they broke up.

Is there really any difference between the way the NME hypes things up, and the actions of certain videogame mags?

[Andy_Tanner]

The problem is that the NME has a pretty wide sphere of influence in the UK, Andy, and if a band isn't deemed hip (read: accessible) enough to bother reporting on, they can sink.

you're probably right. i stopped reading NME a few years ago because it just didn't appeal to me and didn't cover anywhere near as broad spectrum as my tastes had acquired over the years. it lacks any kind of intelligent slant on music too imo. it's almost as if they're afraid of being labelled 'pretentious'. to me NME became what Smash Hits was. or maybe i just grew up. at 30 something

[Davros sock drawer]

print mags are ever more desperate for readers.

The impression I get is that they're also trying hard to create a "scene". Why else would most of the music they cover be of roughly the same genre?

On a personal level, the NME didn't review our album. I doubt they even listened to it. Now, there could be many factors contributing to that, but does the fact that we're on a tiny label, with no advertising, and no real connections contribute, or is it just that we don't fit in with their preferred genre? Perhaps they just think we're shit, but I'd rather they slagged us than ignored us. We get one quote from them, we could be on the next rung of the ladder up...

[Andy_Tanner]

NME have killed bands as well. I believe Paul Draper has referenced the NME's bile towards Mansun before, as one reason why they broke up.

were the NME responsible for the utterly dreadful final Mansun album though ? and afaik, NME where one of the first sources to champion them in their early days. plus Paul Draper is a cunt.

[Eighthours]

were the NME responsible for the utterly dreadful final Mansun album though ? and afaik, NME where one of the first sources to champion them in their early days. plus Paul Draper is a cunt.

Are you referring to Little Kix (which indeed was shit), or their fourth album which struggled onto limited shelves at the end of last year due to demand from their fansite (much better)?

Actually, you bring up another good point about NME. They are the classic case of "build 'em up to knock 'em down". They must have had Craig Nicholls and The Vines on their front cover 30 weeks out of the year between the first and second albums, and then the NME totally fucked them by giving the second album a terrible review. It wasn't THAT bad, particularly going by the criteria that they gave Highly Evolved a 9! The turncoats! I'm not saying anything about how good or bad the Vines are, I'm just saying that the NME's behaviour was outrageous. Turned on a dime, they did!

[Andy_Tanner]

Little Kix is the one, i had no idea they'd made another. i liked the first two but couldn't believe how shit the third was.

anyway, you could accuse NME of build em up knock em down but if they were shit to begin with and only became big because of the hype then it serves them right. in the case of The Vines i thought there were only a couple of tracks on their sophomore album to match six or seven corkers on the debut.

anyway, have NME reviewed Bloc Party's album, what did it get ?

[Eighthours]

Little Kix is the one, i had no idea they'd made another. i liked the first two but couldn't believe how shit the third was.

anyway, you could accuse NME of build em up knock em down but if they were shit to begin with and only became big because of the hype then it serves them right. in the case of The Vines i thought there were only a couple of tracks on their sophomore album to match six or seven corkers on the debut.

anyway, have NME reviewed Bloc Party's album, what did it get ?

They usually review albums the week before they come out, so I doubt it, but I confidently predict a 9!

[CrispinG]

I think they'll play it safe and give it an 8. They won't want to appear too eager so soon after the near-identical Franz Ferdinand, who will presumably never be mentioned again.

[Davros sock drawer]

the near-identical Franz Ferdinand

Eh? Bloc Party sound pretty different to Franz Ferdinand.

[Eighthours]

I think they'll play it safe and give it an 8. They won't want to appear too eager so soon after the near-identical Franz Ferdinand, who will presumably never be mentioned again.

I wouldn't bet your house on that!

[Eighthours]

Eh? Bloc Party sound pretty different to Franz Ferdinand.

You're right, but I can see how a cursory examination of their music would give that impression. If you want to start listing influences and who they sound like, there are many. I can even see strains of a heavily sped-up Interpol (and therefore Joy Division!) in some of the guitar lines!

[Andy_Tanner]

yeah i don't get the Franz Ferdinand comparison tbh. not a massive fan of them either, but they're a far more accomplished band imo.

[CrispinG]

Helicopter and Take Me Out sound basically the same to me. Granted, I've heard the former once, on Jools Holland, but I'm sure that was the impression I got.

[Andy_Tanner]

Franz sound like Sparks, Orange Juice, Magazine, Wire etc. they're very sharp when it comes to influences. Bloc Party haven't yet reached a mature enough stage to actually have any solid influences. unless 'generic late 80's early 90's indie' can be counted

i.e. Bloc Party may very well sound like other bands, but they've probably no idea whereas Franz know exactly what they're doing.

[CrispinG]

Yeah, well, the FF album is still one of those records I listen to and intrinsically know it's going to be forgotten in the heap of 'decent indie bands from the mid-00s' in a few years.

[Tom*]

wow people are very divided over this!

I think that although the NME tends to ruin these bands, people forget that these bands weren't necessarily discovered by NME alone, and NME actually don't mean shit to alot of people, regardless of their influence on the general public.

with BP, I never saw them before when they were called Union or whatever, but they've had their own fans for quite a while and it's a shame that NME seems to just be roaming around, looking for new victims to kill (unintentionally of course) by over-hyping them or whatever.

and about 'scenes' and stuff, like the 'new-cross scene', people might think this was created by the NME but it's likely it wasn't, it was it's own scene but NME wanted in because it was 'where it's at'.

so in conclusion, if you don't like NME, don't just slag off the bands in there because it's not their fault. everyone eventually folds to the mags for cash and fame.

if you don't like the music then fair enough, but it doesn't have anything to do with nme.

[Eighthours]

Yeah, well, the FF album is still one of those records I listen to and intrinsically know it's going to be forgotten in the heap of 'decent indie bands from the mid-00s' in a few years.

Hmmm..... not sure about that. I went to see FF on their tour last year, and they're looking more and more like the real deal. I guess it's their second album that'll establish whether they're here to stay or not, but the signs are good.

[CrispinG]

I hope they're not, because they seem like a bunch of cunts, and they were arrogant and bored when I saw them supporting Belle & Sebastian, a vastly superior band in every conceivable way.

[Nate Dogg III]

hmm. my initial reaction is that anyone who thinks bloc party resemble franz ferdinand has got their ears on inside out.

but that's probably only because i really, really, really dislike franz ferdinand.

[Andy_Tanner]

I hope they're not, because they seem like a bunch of cunts, and they were arrogant and bored when I saw them supporting Belle & Sebastian, a vastly superior band in every conceivable way.

a vastly different band in every way though. i can see why Franz have crossed over into mainstream land whereas B&S seem happy to do what they do.