She told me she was on her way to York for the day; she told me about the free buses in Leeds where I said I’d been at university many moons ago; she confessed she rode the trains a lot using her husband’s old pass, after he died 15 years ago.  “He worked on the tracks” she said, with fond, nostalgic pride.  I sensed he had been a good guy, and was much missed.

Eventually York station trundled into view.  This lady, whose name I never got, stood up.  “I’m standing up now,” she said.  I nodded, and gulped a little, unexpectedly choked.  “It was nice to meet you,” I mustered.  It really had been; a brief rise from my otherwise ugly reverie.  “Nice to meet you too,” she said, matter-of-factly, before striding off into her life, and out of mine.  I sat there, damp-eyed and suddenly, starkly aware of the fragility of things.  Then the train pulled out, and I gradually forgot, returning to my slumber.

That encounter stays with me, though, and informs my coming trip to Italy, which ought to have much bearing on the rest of my life.  It also shows me how things can grow, and how my own first impressions and gut reactions aren’t always great.  This beautiful, rousing song does a little of that, too…

Back in a week…

King Antics are a bit like England’s football team – they’re not the finished article, but there’s sure some individual talent lurking.  (I said a ‘bit’ like.)  The demos currently available on MySpace kick and splutter into fully-bellowed belters, supported by intense guitars with real grunt, some prickly keyboard noises and Jago’s sardonic baritone.  None is an instant slice of musical majesty, but there’s still plenty enough vitamins on display to suggest imminent glory for this unsigned London trio.

MySpace
MP3: King Antics – Liars (demo)

When you have a great hardcore night, it’s never one song that makes the evening.  It’s the entirety: the constant music, the fellow ravers, the chemicals rushing through your body, the lights, the heat, everything, all colluding into one intense whole.  The same’s true of London thrash band Bo Ningen: this Japanese quartet’s electro-punk-metal isn’t overwhelming at first – it can sound like a bad karaoke cover of Slipknot - but after wave upon wave of the stuff and its unwaveringly frenetic tempo, you enter a new state.  Life becomes a brutish landscape of shrieks, distortion pedals and guitars wound up like power drills.  And yet all feels, somehow, rather serene.

Interesting fact number 1: one of the quartet’s mum is Keiko Kobayashi - aka “Japan’s Joan Baez”.  Interesting fact number 2: Mojo recently labelled Bo Ningen “quite probably the most exciting young band in London right now”.

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3. Summer Camp / Male Bonding
The two London acts will have to need a third-place play-off.  Summer Camp’s smooth, chintzy grooves compelled the NME’s slightly errant reporter, while Male Bonding’s late night thrash enraptured the local rag, and Contact too.

2. Surfer Blood
Oh yeah, there were critical voices – not least the Camden Journal, labelling the band “less than revolutionary“.  But, on the whole, this drumcore indie revision act from the States, one of the hottest tickets beforehand, pulsated most.  Not least for their keyboard player with huge afro hair.

1. Yuck
Talking of huge hair, Yuck’s drummer Jonny is the world champion of white boy ‘fros.  The band’s closing spot earned the gushingest praise, with NME particularly turned on by their guitarist’s solo, and Contact pulling out the weekend’s best comparison, likening Yuck to Urusei Yatsura.  In fact, that’s the best comparison ever.

Also scoring good clubcard points were Treana Morris‘ soul-soothing acoustic singalong, heartfelt veteran punker Billy Childish, rollicking fiddle-folk from Australia’s Emily Barker, Left With Pictures‘ thrilling violin songs, Lonelady’s ethereal indie, the rain-defying rabble rock of Man Like Me and Kyte, a Leicester quartet offering shoegaze electronica. 

The Drums generally failed to impress, Plan B simply pissed everyone off and Stornoway suffered the first lashings of a mighty anti-folk wave slowly building.  Thing is, lovely pretty folk just doesn’t work at a big, beery venue like Koko.  Stooopid Stornoway.  Elsewhere, Best Coast and Chew Lips didn’t quite justify their hype, and Gaggle got a lot of column inches but more because people were impressed at their number (15 ladies), not numbers.  The Guardian didn’t really like anyone, but maybe sort of liked The Like.  Oh and Sugababes sucked, but you probably knew that in advance.  They’re just not the same without Keisha.  Fact.

Overall some loved it, but most found much to dislike.  I feel so smug I didn’t go that I almost want to punch myself in the face.

UPDATE!! (God, I’ve always wanted to write ‘update’ like that.)  Platform has added to the mix with a wonderfully negative review of this sodomy of a festival, even throwing in the kind of mathematical prowess which my Casio long since ceased to proffer.  Look out for a particularly appropriate ChatRoulette analogy

London sextet Trim The Barber added me on MySpace.  There’s only one song to listen to there (although a previous EP is on last.fm), but never fear: Now The Joke’s On You is a captivating, energised injection of post-punk rock with a grim political overtone.  Guitars screech and the slalom through solos, drums thrash in all the right places and Matt Potter sings cute hooks like a baleful Sid Vicious after one too many ciders in the sun.  There’s even some vioin in the final instrumental section, and violins are always nice.

Apparently, forthcoming EP ‘Dead End Wall’ offers “a brand of post/psych/pop/gaze with powerful yet melodic harmonized vocals., wailing, reverb soaked guitars, big fuzzy breaks and off-kilter drumming”.  Bring it on!

MySpace
MP3: Trim The Barber – Now The Joke’s On You

Sorry for my relative quietness lately – my girlfriend’s been staying, and she’s very attractive.  I’m fully focused now though, so let’s consider MidiMidis, aka London duo Ant Struselis and Marcus Fairley.  Are they London’s answer to MGMT (two strange-os making fiercely intelligent, bedroom-based electro pop)?  No.  MidiMidis are a bit less grandiose than their famous fellow twosome.  But their songs are just as appealing: as sugary as candy-floss and as innocent-brackets-fucked-up as Alice in Wonderland.  Throw in Super Mario electronica sounds and a unexpected gravelly, punkish male voice and you’ve got a winning cocktail of confusion.  Much more in this interview with the excellent A New Band A Day site.

Click here to view the embedded video.

MidiMidis current single, There’s Just Too Much Going On Upstairs For Me To Feel Truly Comfortable With Myself, the enemy of word-counts up and down the land, comes with a viral-buzz video (above), wherein Struselis and Fairley get themselves Tangoed before bemusing rampaging around London with balloons and a children’s bike.  Well worth a watch.

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MP3: MidiMidis – Note To Self

Sometimes when I’m dreaming, half-asleep and half-not, I hear distant squeals and cries, voices that float agonisingly on the edge of my earshot.  They’re diluted and distorted, transmitted on a different frequency that I can only fleetingly tune into.  But they’re comforting and magical, and I wish I could hear them more often.  Now I can – via ethereal samples and bubbling two-step beats, the mellow garage songs of South London duo Disclosure evoke a similarly haunting soundscape.  Not bad for 18- and 15-year-old brothers, right?  (Thanks to Don’t Die Wondering for the tip-off)

The brothers are DJing at Proud Camden this Friday, 9 April.

MySpace
MP3: Disclosure – Offline Dexterity

Fighting Kites are an East London threepiece who produce instrumental music that fuses guitar, bass, drum loops and electronica.  Very much mood music, there’s a dash of post-rock about it all, and a likeable, intermittent air of Shuggie Otis-style improv.  In fact, such is Fighting Kites’ eclectica in general, I imagine them jamming in an extravagantly-decorated studio, and uttering super-cool sentences like “why don’t you use that velvet glockenspiel by the armadillo’s cage?” at regular intervals.  In reality, they probably record methodically in a Clapton bedsit, and talk about loop pedals.

Fighting Kites haven’t any gigs coming up, although they did recently play the Spatchcock warehouse party in Manor House.  A four track CD is available.  Incidentally, kite-fighting is an actual sport – I think it sounds way fun!

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MP3: Fighting Kites – Bowling Alone

Smorgasbord – it’s a good word for Allo Darlin’ and their variety of sounds.  Check out their many different songs…  The hearty Dreaming sees a duet of McGowan-MacColl levels of unlikeliness between singer Elizabeth Morris and coarse guest warbler Monster Bobby.  More of an alt-pop cabaret, Henry Rollins Don’t Dance namechecks Dirty Dancing and finishes with a couplet from Grease.  As for The Polaroid Song (video below), it’s the sort of soft-centred folk gem found on the soundtrack of a hundred cool indie flicks.  And then there’s I Wanna Be Sedated: a slow and darn pretty cover of the Ramones’ classic belter.  From this eclectic catalogue, one recurrent theme emerges: a charming, determined sense of fun.  And hooray to that.

If you fancy sharing the good times, Allo Darlin’ are playing Borderline on Thurs 15 April.  Together only since January 2009, they’re now signed to Fortuna Pop! and have had much acclaim.  A debut album will be released in May 2010.

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MP3: Allo Darlin’ – Dreaming