Member Since: 2/11/2005
Band Website: somethinginconstruction.com
Band Members:AKIRA THE DON, 69CORP, THE SILENT LEAGUE, EVERY MOVE A PICTURE, LAZARUS, CHRISTIANSILVA, DAMN ARMS, KID CASANOVA, OTHER PASSENGERS, LONEY DEARThus: http://thelineofbestfit.com/2008/04/04/building-with-strings /SOMETHING IN CONSTRUCTION & FRIENDSPresentBUILDING WITH STRINGS1. PLUSHGUN Just Impolitewww.myspace.com/plushgunA young man from NYC, an A&R hot potato in the US, with a song about trying to be like Johnny Cash. Sounds like Pet Shop Boys and Pulp and is nudging 500,000 plays on myspace. He just opened for Moby at SXSW. Still kinda secret, tho. Yours and mine.2. CHRISTIAN SILVA Great To Beginwww.myspace.com/christiansilvaThis young man has his debut album released on 14.04.08, is picking up play on Radio2 and Xfm, touring shortly with White Rabbits & soundtracking various US TV shows. This is his forthcoming single. Good, isn't it. "pop magnificence" The Guardian3. AKIRA THE DON I Am Not Dead (Yeah)www.akirathedon.comThe first fruits from his session for album2 with Stephen "Pet Shop Boys/New Order" Hague, Akira The Don is also currently making videos, producing Lethal Bizzle, remixing Gonzales, joining Neon Neon, and selling his mixtapes by the ton and running his massively popular blog. Bizzee, innee?4. A MILLION BILLION Wait....Animatehttp://www.amillionbillion.comA side project from The Silent League, and focussed on Mr Ryan Smith, who is very much a clever Brooklyn fella. This tune is an aberration, a freak. Reminds us of Prince's Parade, Japanese food, and kids TV.5. SAMBASSADEUR Final Saywww.sambassadeur.comIt took us about 20 seconds to fall in love with this. Swedes they are, somewhat unsurprisingly. Like Stereolab and New Order? Us too. On Creeping Bent here, on loan to us for this. Take a punt, the album is AMAZING.6. BOATS Scenic Gorgeswww.myspace.com/boatsthemusicbandAh yes, Canada. I think it was Stereogum that alerted me to this. We have played it every day for months now. It clears the cobwebs, buys you a cup of coffee, with a cheeky shot in it, when you are hungover and then drills deep into your skull,and not just in the way you are thinking. Kind of still surprises us too.7. THE GAY BLADES O Shotwww.myspace.com/gaybladesNow these two are rock stars. Serious. I believe this is rock music. It rocks. These men have not written a bad song yet, nor one that bears any relationship to another either. Just wait. I'd love to tell you what comes next but it would genuinely kill the element of surprise. Better it kills you. Viva Minneapolis.8. ALVIN BAND Tijuanawww.myspace.com/alvinbandAh yes. Well, what can we say here? Not really heard anything quite like this before. It is fun. It is unexpected. It sounds a tiny bit like the Beach Boys and Butthole Surfers. A bit like being high in China.9. TWIN THOUSANDS Like You A Lotwww.myspace.com/twinthousandsMr Ryan Smith again, in the company of sundry Cursives, Bright Eyes'. Twin Thousands rule. They are not Swedish but they sound it. This sounds a bit like ABBA doing The Smiths. Pop music. Pop. Music. Forever.10. EMMY THE GREAT Gabrielwww.myspace.com/emmythegreatEmmy is great. You k now that. In this song, Emmy imagines being a 19th Century daughter being married into money but being sore in love with someone else. We have all pondered how this must feel, of course. Sensibly, Emmy has turned it into a brilliant song. Heartbreak is timeless.11. THE LEISURE SOCIETY Come To Your Senseswww.myspace.com/theleisuresocietyThis is a side project of Mr Christian Silva, with Mr Nick Hemming. Is it folk music? Is it Simon and Garfunkely? Elliot Smithy? A bit, I spose. It's a great gently uplifting song.12. SONS OF NOEL AND ADRIAN This Wreck Is Not A Boatwww.myspace.com/sonsofnoelandadrianThere are tons of these guys. They are students of texture. It is everything. Well, it isn't. But it makes a sexy canvas for this song. English for sure but it nods at Bonnie Prince Billy and Nick Cave. Nice whistling too. Is it a ghost story from the point of view of the ghost? No idea. Sounds like it.13. LONEY, DEAR Take It Backwww.loneydear.comYou know these people. Something very special, aren't they? A beautiful song from the album, Sologne. Emil and co are about to release a brand new album for EMI. Uplifting. I think that is the word for this one too. Sad too. Defiant? Maybe.14. THE SILENT LEAGUE Let It Rollwww.thesilentleague.comMajestic. Almost every review of the album Of Stars & Other Somebodies used that word. Absolutely every review singled this song out. You want to know why? Because it is majestic, fool. If you don't love it, then we have nothing further to talk about, you and I. Rich like an Old Master.15. YOUNG HUSBAND French Grammarwww.myspace.com/younghusbandEuan is Young Husband, plays guitar for Emmy, makes songs like this on his own. I don't know what type of music this is. It is very pretty, hypnotic, narcotic, definitely more Syd than Sid. No idea what it is about. It sounds drunk and weightless and, well, unstoppable.16. THE DEPRECIATION GUILD A Room, A Canvaswww.inhergentlejaws.comThis I know. It is noise too. Controlled and lazy, perpetually falling. And with enough spare time on its hands to sigh out a casually simple, very classic pop song. As you turn it up louder and louder, you notice the swathes of noise less and less. Weird, right?17. OTHER PASSENGERS Creditswww.myspace.com/otherpassengersI love this band. Their album We Are All is a lost classic now, I suppose. Cruel. Spacemen 3, Bauhaus, Kid A, Sonic Youth, RZA. I mean, who wouldn't? This is epic. As I understand it. Collapses eventually, resigned. Beautifully. Not before taking your heart out.18. TSL vs 69CORP Catbird (Upsetter Dub)www.69corp.comThis is an old one. 69CORP took The Silent League's beautiful dream, The Catbird Seat, apart and made a Lee Perry style dub. Then scattered bits of the song back on top randomly. Not an obvious move. We like it though.19. DAMN ARMS Cormorant (Midnight Juggernauts remix)www.myspace.com/damnarmsAustralian crazy boys. Like the Blood Brothers trying to be Duran Duran. Nutcases and maniacs. Pretty damn rude too. This sees one of their efforts magicked into disco trousers. Big ones.HERE IS A CLIP FOR SICK SICK FROM OTHER PASSENGERS. IT IS AMAZING WE HOPE IT IS NOT WHAT YOU SEE WHEN YOU CLOSE YOUR EYES IN THE DARK.AND HERE IS A SNIPPET OF AKIRA THE DON'S IMMINENT AND COMPLETELY FUCKING AWESOME MIXTAPE, WHICH IS CALLED STUNNERS 130, SET TO MOVING PICTURESMIXTAPE GOES LIVE VERY SOONand a propos of nothing... here is a fillum of me playing pool in France
Influences:WELL LET'S SEE.........music, films, reading, wine/water, thinking, doing, dreams, tricks, friends, eedjuts, cleverclogs, whisssky, cigarettes, sunlight, the cover of darkness, david bowie's 70s albums, big big machines, pictionary and scrabble, castles, leonardo da vinci, alcohol, kurt vonnegut, isambard kingdom brunel, ambition, seeing dawn, oppenheimer, having great ideas, coen bros, fear, clothing, mitch hedberg, dorothy parker, nick fucking cave, oscar wilde, that feeling when the airplane reaches take off speed, that feeling when you lean back on your chair just a tad too far, explosions (esp helicopters) , dropping the punchline, man ray, that feeling that you get when you get there and you realise you have forgotten something absolutely vital that you WILL have to go all the way back for, antiques, massive skyscrapers, hitchcock, stephen hawking, hangovers, insomnia, crosswords, black, blasting games, jim gaffigan, film poster artwork, animation, sloth, the sea, mark e smith, iggy pop iggy pop, public image's debut single, terry gilliam, other pythons, crocodiles, elephants, totally unexpected bonuses, chomsky, john pilger, eddie izzard, other people's madness, weekend newspapers, sudden terror, stipe, diggin out the right answer from the brain swamp, tarantino, hitchcock, train rides abroad, special effects, the slow and merciless unravelling of the fabric of society that seems kinda inevitable now, hallucinating and relinquishing control, chinese food, japanese food, thai food, trying to write a screen play to sell for $2m, keeping my kids amused, sleeping, other. //////MOVIES........... millers crossing, dead man's shoes, transformers, the good shepherd, brazil, anchorman, grosse point blank, lake placid, trust, barfly, sin city, city of lost children, city of god, catch-22, alien 1, 2 & 4, I'm all right jack, 12 monkeys, prestige, departed, charlie and the chocolate factory, primer, fear and loathing, dr strangelove, v for vendetta, who framed roger rabbit, heat, naked, amateur, raising arizona, blade runner, last boy scout, grease, the misfits, la haine, nurse betty, se7en, last man standing, last action hero, the man who would be king, safe, outlaw josie wales, ipcress file, saw, lawrence of arabia, life of brian, black hawk down, vanishing point, mr smith goes to washington, blue murder at st trinians, big lebowski, solaris, slugs, short circuit, fight club, casino royale, the pink panther films, any given sunday, nixon, JFK, sympathy for mr vengeance, the prophecy 1, 2 and 3, amateur, lone star, hellboy, manchurian candidate, LA Confidential, old boy, battle of the bulge, pi, parallax view, zoolander, big sleep, NXNW, terminator 1, 2 and 3, lone star, dirty harry, bulworth, dick tracy, pirates of the caribean, predator, silver city, billion dollar brain, memento, bill& ted, swingers, brain dead, the kindred, donnie donnie darko, shining, the president's analyst, african queen, ipcress file, gladiator, exorcist 3, death race 2000, sleepy hollow, buffalo soldiers, batman begins, M.A.S.H, romy and michele, they live, bloodsimple, natural born killers, harvey, the entity, zero effect, out of sight, the man in the white suit, a bridge too far, the desert fox, it's a wonderful life, elf, spartacus, high plains drifter, simple men, bridge at remegen, network, daredevil, electra, 633 squadrun, the killing, get shorty, constantine, mars attacks, incredibles, the good the bad and the ugly, once upon a time in the west/america, midnight run, bond films, in like flint, french connection, apocalypse now, superman I & II, old school, kill bill 1 but not 2, harvey, revenge of the sith, goodfllas, king of new york, the funeral, ghostbusters, groundhog day or anything with bill murray or john cusack or brendan gleason would prolly be OK though.//////TELLY...... No thanks,we are trying to give up. Oh go on then: black books, green wing, blue planet, simpsons, newsnight, university challenge, countdown, west wing, bugs bunny, league of gentlemen, 24, yes minister, fawlty towers, blackadder, have I got news for you, docos about animals with mad camerawork (be the worm, see as the worm sees, turn as the worm turns), and tho we are not proud of it: docos about mentalists (an excellent phrase I have stolen from, um, Polly, I think it was )///////HEROES..... i was just thinking about this. no-one. mebbe leonard cohen. mebbe lenny bruce. leonardo da vinci. Butney? Tarzan? Heironymous Bosch? could be anyone but it sure ain't you////////BOOKS..... it's been a while, let's say kurt vonnegut. so it goes. chuck palahniuk, douglas adams, elmore leonard, HST, James Ellroy, Carl Hiassen, brett easton ellis, iain banks, ian mcewan
Sounds Like: radiohead, sfa, bowie, shins, dears, madness, buttholes, missy elliot, elliot smith, jimi, kraftwerk, sparks, cribs, supergrass, aretha, cure, REM, common, The Mighty Fall, lfo, clash, led zep, black box recorder, madonna, slayer, AKIRA THE DON, SILENT LEAGUE, 69CORP, LAZARUS, EVERY MOVE A PICTURE, CHRISTIANSILVA, DAMN ARMS, KID CASANOVA, OTHER PASSENGERS, LONEY DEAR, secret machines, Liars, Coldcut, good books, tapes'n'tapes, priestess, silversun pickupS, Wu, my bloody valentine, the cult, ulrich schnauss, telefon tel aviv, black mountain, morphine, nas, the brakes, donna summer, of Arrowe Hill, joy division, tilly and the wall, shangri las, icarus line, cribs, nick fucking cave, king tubby, tlc, test-icicles, icicle works, low, rainbow, magazine, mf doom, snow white, miles davies, buzzcocks, damian marley, bob marley, all night radio, the fall, elliott smith, constantines, jellyfish, jerry lee lewis, jon brion, the sword, death from above 1979, lee perry, shirelles, most serene republic, dalek, OMD, xtc, amerie, the damned, wilderness, elvis, wolf parade, klf, d'angelo, smiths, dm&jemini, supremes, bloc party, kyuss, kylie, telstar ponies, charles mingus, pixies, ac/dc, heptones, duran duran, en vogue, dr alimentado, flaming lips, roguewave, futureheads, sisters of mercy, snowpony, young heart attack, japan, ultrasound, scritti, dr dog, come, anti pop consortium, arcade fire, jumbo, tralala, doves, sinead, associates, sons & daughters, sugababes, cannibal ox, toots & the maytals, adam & the ants, duke spirit, MIA, espers, panthers, springsteen, metallica, ll cool j, new order, ELO, mercury rev, abba, stravinsky, john lee hooker, ike & tina, motown, def jam, factory, creation, nude, stax, 4AD, tv on the radio, clash, beta band, boo radleys, hot chip, james brown, husker du, fieldmice, bananarama, congos, primal scream, scissor sisters, big black, gorillaz, sparks, sinatra, johnny cash, white stripes, elastica, bauhaus, geneva, monkees, public enemy, the beat, prince, bunnymen, beck, girls aloud, ABC, talk talk, spiritualized, 80s Matchbox, NIN, T rex, Non Prophets, Jam, jane's, J&MC, leonard cohen, cramps, massive attack, willowz, cocteaux, suede, aesop rock, stooges, midnight juggernauts, pistols, roses, etc......................................................... .........................................................
Record Label: Yes, a record label
Type of Label: Indie