Liars, Liars, pants on fire(s)

Liars have this week done the very honest deed of releasing an EP of demos of songs featured on their eponymous latest album.


Now, far be it from me to accuse them of jumping on the Radiohead bandwagon - in fairness, there's no option to pay silly amounts of money just for the sake of it - but I really don't think it'll be long before we see more of this sort of thing from 'big name' bands.

Not that that's a bad thing, of course. Millions of songs are downloaded for free every day - making it legal is surely the next logical step. As Radiohead have proved, fans will still buy the CD whether they can download the album for nothing or not, and it's about time record companies started realising that.

Frankly, it's essential...

Having been a fan of Frank Turner for a few years now (and having met him and seen him live numerous times), I was excited to hear that he was releasing a live/documentary DVD, entitled "All About the Destination." Now that it's been released, what better to do than tell everyone how bloody good it is?

The most important thing to note about this DVD is that Frank is not the kind of bloke who will be appeaing on Cribs any time soon (he was effectively homeless at the time of filming). He goes everywhere by train rather than tourbus, and he has to ask members of the audience for a place to stay the night rather than being put up in a fancy hotel. It's more than likely that "All About the Destination" won't make you want to become a rockstar - yet at the same time, it's a true portrait of life as a touring musician trying to make his way in life by doing what he loves, almost a tip of the hat to all the other hundreds and thousands of bands out there doing exactly the same thing.

Though it's interspersed with live footage shot while on-tour, the documentary is much more about the man rather than the music. During some brutally honest interviews we hear about Turner's difficult relationship with his father, about his degree in history (clearly they're not a guarantee of a successful, well-paid job) and about the loneliness that life on the road can bring. Too many people these days see musicians as uneducated, moronic dropouts - and all those people should be made to watch "All About The Destination" and see just how narrow-minded and arrogant a viewpoint that is.

Though the main feature is, undoubtedly, the documentary, "All About The Destination" also features a few other bits and pieces. During his last tour, Turner went against the increasing trend of banning cameras from gigs (see two posts down) and encouraged the filming of his live sets by fans. Footage from six of those gigs appears on the DVD, as well fan-made music videos for Turner's songs, which appear alongside their official counterparts. And as if the man hadn't done enough for the fans he holds so dear, there's also photos of the guitar music for every single song on the album "Sleep is for the Week."

In my humble opinion, based on my own experiences, Frank Turner is a very nice man. But that's no reason to by his releases. Millions of teenagers grow up dreaming of making music all their lives for a living before ending up working 9 - 5 in an office for 40 years - the fact that Turner has done just what they thought was unachievable means he deserves all the support he gets, and probably more. Which is why "All About The Destination" is, for me, the most essential musical purchase of the year.

Now go and buy it.

What's that coming over the hill? A new keyboard player...

After announcing that they were going on "indefinite hiatus" in August of this year, there now seems to be no way back for yourcodenameis:milo after it was revealed this week that frontman Paul Mullen has joined The Automatic as a replacement for recently-departed keyboardist and general shouty man Alex Pennie.

As saddening as it is to see what appears to be the final nail driven into Milo's coffin, it might not be all bad. Admittedly, The Automatic are nowhere near as good as Milo were, but this was largely due to Pennie constantly squawking in the background while jumping around a lot and trying to look hard. With Milo, Mullen has already proved his songwriting and, crucially, singing ability, and if he can transfer that to The Automatic then there could be exciting times ahead for the Welshmen.

The two bands have already proved that they can work together on Print Is Dead. Now that Milo are dead too, let's hope that the new-look Automatic can recover from losing Pennie and give us something to smile about.

The best things in life are free - and not allowed anymore

While watching Oceansize last week at the Islington Academy, vocalist/guitarist Mike Vennart (who isn't exactly the world's most talkative frontman) said something astounding. Halfway through the set, he delivered the message that: "Apparently no one's allowed to take any more photos or you'll all get fucked." I was staggered - nowhere either within the Academy or outside the venue (or even anywhere else in the N1 Shopping Centre, where the Academy is situated) were there any signs forbidding the use of cameras inside. No one was searched on entry. There weren't even any complaints from Vennart or any of his bandmates. The poor guy seemed genuinely surprised at what he was being asked to relay to the audience (who, after paying more than a tenner for tickets thanks to the dreaded, and pointless, booking fee, were then made to pay £3.25 for a pint of Carling - yes, that's right, Carling).

The point is, given the cost of actually getting to the gig in the first place, many people think that paying £15 for a souvenir T-shirt is just a tad unfair, and that taking a few snaps (whether on phones or the latest digital camera) is a much cheaper, more personal way of remembering the night. I don't condone bands who give clear notice that "The use of any camera or video capturing equipment is prohibited during the performance" (Tool, for one, are famously camera-shy, causing widespread blindness during their recent tours by ordering stewards to shine torches in the faces of anyone who raises their hand for fear it might contain a camera, phone or - Great Odin's raven! - a cigarette) for reasons already given, but at least when that happens the audience is fully aware of the consequences should they get caught trying to smuggle in a camera.

For Oceansize - still considered a "small" band despite regularly playing to audiences of 750+ on this tour - to be told, presumably by their management, to order their fans not to take any pictures so that they might spend ludicrous sums on a 10p-to-make T-shirt or hoody is disgusting, and a sign of just how much of a business the music industry is. Oceansize are a band with no songs under 5 minutes long, a band with no real chart prospects, a band that is firmly rooted in the underground scene. That is what their music dictates - and no amount of money-making, executive decisions is going to change that.