the fratellis are an awesome band, even if they've been ruined for most of the world because of that damn itunes commercial. tearknee, mr. mammoth's roving scottish reporter, clued me into the fratellis' brilliance early in the year, long before said commercial and pitchfork's disappointing review, which effectively poisoned the fratellis' chance of indie success. looks like no one told their fans that. the fratellis played a show at roseland ballroom (one of nyc's largest venues) a couple months ago, and sold out back-to-back night at s.e.c.c. (scotland's largest venue) in a heartbeat. hailing from glasgow, that veritable spawning pool of talent, the fratellis play awesome pop rock with pronounced riffage and danceability. their debut, costello music, is fourteen tracks of nonstop smiles, and, if anything, the black session they played at maison de la radio in paris, is more energetic than the album itself. the recording isn't perfect - there are occasional scratches and pops, and the dj interjects in french between every song - but the songs are awesome. these guys have gotten a bum rap, as far as i'm concerned, and you owe yourself a listen, no matter what pitchfork says.
the fratellis - black session @ maison de la radio, 1/31/07
henriettaeverybody knows you cried last night
flathead
vince the lovable stoner
doginabag
creepin up the backstairs
ole black 'n' blue eyes
baby fratelli
whistle for the choir
chelsea dagger
got ma nuts from a hippy
download the whole broadcast
here.
i also wanted to give away a live radio mix by kid koala.
longtime mammoth readers will
remember my double dose of kid koala back in the spring, and my guarantee that he is one of the best dj's around. none of that has changed. he's still working on his new project, having returned from his european tour safe and sound, but there's no release date as of yet. this is a 23-minute mix that kid koala recorded live on bbc breezeblock in 1997. this is a frequently traded and torrented bootleg, so not the rarest thing around, but, unless you're a hardcore koala fan, you might not have heard it yet. it's FANTASTIC. it's one of koala's first live recordings available, coming just a year after the overwhelmingly underground
scratchcratchratchactch, the production of which was limited to 500 cassettes. already, however, the styles that make kid koala distinctive are present, and some of the samples he uses here are still in his set.
i need some input on what i should post tomorrow...too many shows, so little time. since cmj runs until saturday, live week will as well, but from this point on, it's up to you guys. here are some of the shows i have left:
radiohead - 7/7/01, headington, uk (only gig in uk on amnesiac tour)
radiohead - kid a bbc session
feist - black session
four tet - live 2006
cold war kids - live in paris
iron & wine - morning becomes eclectic
tortoise - live 2003
the polyphonic spree - morning becomes eclectic
leave your vote in the comments. if no one replies, then it's up to me.
yeah, i decided to ignore your requests, because i found this black session deep in the mammoth vault, and i know there's nothing those kids go crazy for like art brut. by the end of this year, the english quintet will have played (by my count) over six shows in nyc over the past year - an incredible statistic. though it's a bit complicated was met with rather less excitement than bang bang rock & roll, there's one thing about art brut that hasn't - their awesome live show. for their black session recorded back in june, right before it's a bit complicated came out, art brut pulled out all the stops. during "good weekend," art brut's classic set ender, there are three beeps in the recording, a sign that art brut had played over the hour accorded to them. they tore through an exciting number of old songs - more, in fact, than they had played earlier in the year! the show quality is good and art brut's energy is high, and who could ask for anything more?
