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Review Archive MNO Click on letter for required review section.A
B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z M Mad Chihuahuas, York, England. Track: Black Mariah. (MP3) Get Them Here About 20 years out of fashion, but then again,
who ever followed fashion? Punk, drunk and full of spunk. This one takes me back to my teenage years, whacked on snake bite and black, pogoing at the local alternative club. Full of energy, indignation, and fiery
thrashing guitars. No prizes for originality mind. (6/10) DL. Mank (Bangor) (Demo) Probably unfair to review this in the Demo section, as it was to be released by R-Bennig records
before they went tits up, but as its unreleased, the demo section will have to do! I must admit I am not a big listener of electronica, but over the 12 tracks here, I feel I should start listening more!
Strange tunes, minimal echoes and weird vocal samples. It is much of a cliche, but in Mank's case a very fair one; their sound is one of cinematic soundscapes. Slices of music which sound like they have been cut off a
larger block of sound, created with intelligence and care. Clinical at times, downright human at others. This music is completelly at odds with the sort of music I normally enjoy, but hits enough notes and sound nodes
in my head to make it very enjoyable. At times Faust and Coil comes to mind, at others its DJ Shadow, and then Eno pokes his noggins in... Strange, experimental and enticing, the sound bubbles and grows
like froth on the sea shore. Strange hidden depths and shallows fill with noises and then disappear. Head music for computer brains. Verdict: Not my normally cup a tea but none the less drinkable! (6/10) DL
Website Manray, Maidstone, England. Track: Haunting Field. (MP3) Get Them Here Ambiance you can chew on. Thick honey coated production
and more chorus and reverb than you can shake a stick at. Instrumental piece which sounds like an out-take from a David Lynch movie soundtrack. It doesn't go anywhere but imposes itself with an increasing density of
clean noise, and before you know it has gone back to the ether from whence it came. (5/10) DL.MC Mabon - 'People Are Stupid/Route' (CD Single) A. People Are Stupid AA. Route
Ankst New Single from Ankst Record, this double a side is from the new and upcoming emerging Welsh Talent MC Mabon and this is the first chance to hear tracks from their forth coming
English language concept album. The verdict? Stomping! The unusual first track owes as much to the Small Faces circa the Ogden's album, as it does to the obvious comparisons they will garner from mining
the same psychedelic vein as Gorky's. Forget the ballsy big rockers like the stereos and manics, If the Welsh should be pigeonholed as doing one music thing well, its this idiosyncratic and weird sub navel rock. Clipped
drums, chiming guitars, and some psychedelic keyboard mix nicely with the sing along chorus vocals, swirling its way to your head like Willy Hague toying with his sexuality. The AA track 'Route' brings to
mind some early Sugarcubes musings, and can be best categorised as (big drum roll as a new musical genre is born, you heard it here...) Quip Hop - quirky trip hop. More clipped drums, weird Celtic strings and some great
Welsh accent rappings and singings. My favourite of the two, and the definite hook to get me checking out the album when it is released at the end of July. (7/10) DL.
Mclusky - 'Who You Know / Love Song For A Mexican' (CD Single) Web Site
A double A side from The Boobytrap singles club. Following on from the amazing album and singles, its good to be hearing some new
Mclusky material. Quite simply the best live band playing around South Wales at the moment, none of the incendiary live fire is lost on record. 'Who You Know' comes on like a fuzz bucket thrown down a lift shaft, all
grind, sparky scraping guitars and falling voices. Poignant (for Mclusky) lyrics about getting older and some outrageously effects vamped voices, that at one point sound like Harry the Love Whale. 'Love
Song For A Mexican' mines the grunge assault of Mudhoney to similar pounding effect. Throw in some growling feedback and this boy is happier than a pig in shit on national diarrhoea day. Finally, as is a prerequisite
for any Mclusky single, the old hidden ending kicks in just when you haven't heard enough and want to hear more. Pixie chafage circa Surfer Rosa, chiming, climbing, metal guitar riff and screams of non singing which to
me sound like they are complaining about 'I smell like a women!' Hide your Starsailor record behind the garden shed, if you haven't already burnt your Oasis Weller Scene collection, get the petrol. This is alternative
music at its finest, if you can't hack it, then hang up your life. (9/10) DL. Mick OD, Ontario, Canada. Track: Despair. (MP3) Get Him Here If angels existed, then here is one of the fallen. Quite simply one of the best tracks I have heard in my life, and as such, it is completely impossible to put ones finger on
what makes it so great! Is it the angelic, pleading, honey soaked male vocals, or is it the crisp and pure drum sound? Could it be the evil grunge guitar that pounds in and out at will, or the structure which sounds
different and more beguiling every time you hear it? I dunno, but this has to be the musical equivalent of Peter Falk in 'Wings of Desire'. (10/10) DL.
Milkill, Rugby, England. Track: Wired Bradley. (MP3) Get Them HereOn first hearing the lurching, walking bass main riff, you
think wow, that's brave. Throw in some great amphetamine reptile style grungy singing, and the noisy building guitars and before you know it this outstanding track is jumping on your head in hobnails. The spaced out
ending just makes it all the more classy. Su-effin-purb. (9/10) DL.The Moonbabies, Malamo, Sweden. Track: We're Layabouts. (MP3) Get Them Here Gushing My Bloody Valentine guitars and duets make this track shine like dew in the full moon. A messed up Sonic Youth workout cuts in and speeds up the track to a dramatic and
discordant flailing finish. Good, but far from original. (5/10) DL.Mountain Men Anonymous (CD Single) Web Site 1-chamber music 2-unwanted affection 3-love is…….. 4-fear, isolationDark bleak and vitriolic. Three very appropriate words to describe Cardiff/Gloucester's most
promising talent! A fantastically raw mix of punk minus the usual shit vocals combined competently, with labyrinth of fusions reverberations and flares. 9/10 (AB)
My Astro Lover, Hastings, England. Track: Backseat Lover. (MP3) Get Them Here Starts off promising, with a fuzztastic drum blast which would get the Jesus and Mary Chain checking their stereo was working. It goes rapidly downhill from there though, forced
Cockney vocals, and plastic instrumentation that would make Gay Dad seem sincere. Catchy, but ultimately lacking substance. (5/10). DL. N
Naked Flames, The. Glasgow, Scotland. Track: Superhero (Stuck in a Secret Identity). (MP3). Get Them Here Mediocre, grinding, power pop. It fails to impress
from the start. Energetic with out any drive, lacking a strong hook, and far from original. Fans of Green Day might like this track, but anyone else with an ounce musical taste will avoid this one. Pub rock done in a
wine bar. (4/10) DL.Naked Noon, Hildesheim, Germany. Track: Be Inspired. (MP3) Get Them Here Slovenly and lolliping slice of Brit pop style
antics, with great European English vocals. Has some strong soaring moments and guitars to tickle the muse, but all said, it is a fairly (well produced) one idea sort of track with a ending obviously inspired by The
Verve. More of a Chinese takeaway than a Big Mac, but you'll be hungry for something else an hour later. (6/10) DL.Naked Sushi, Falmouth, England. Track: Carnivorous Girl. (MP3) Get Them Here Yawn. Space should have been shot at birth. Anyone aspiring to sound like
them need their testicles wrapped tightly around their throats (I think you can see where I'm going with this one). For f***s sake, they started out playing at Butlins. This cabaret band should shortly be seen wearing
hairy dice around their necks. (1/10)No Fly Zone (Italy) (Demo) 1. Fear of Pain 2. Where the Rail Leads To Undaunted by New Welsh Music's last demo review, the band
have gone away and worked up some new material, to show where they plan on going with their sound and music. The initial report is that the improvement is stonking! Fear of Pain is a gliding
thing of heartfelt beauty. The wall of guitars is a joy to behold, falling into the age old 'sonic cathedral' school of music. Marry the amazing soundscape with a searing chorus, and you have one of the best songs I've
heard in a good few listens. Had this been a one song review, it would have been a 10 out of 10. Unfortunately, Where the Rail Leads to doesn't live up to the first song. Much more subdued, it shares some
of the same sound nuances and good production as Fear of Pain, but never quite manages to soar like it. Dark and downbeat, it builds and fades well, but never grabs you by the danglers. Nods to Pink Floyd and other prog
rockers are there for all to see and at times The Afghan Whigs come to mind. Don't get me wrong, this is not a bad track, but its like drinking Jim Beam after a night on Jack Daniels. No Fly Zone have the
bit between their teeth, they are going the right way. The 80's sound has subsided some what, and the influences are getting more ethereal. If they can consolidate what they are doing on these two tracks, then people
would be foolish not to get a piece of the action. Verdict: New and Improved, dark and searing, keep up the good work lads! (9/10) DL E Mail:
no-flyzone@katamail.com
No Fly Zone (Italy) (Demo)1. Nothing is Nothing. 2. Tonight. 3. Welcome...Me. 4. Yellow. Holy eighties
revival! No Fly Zone are an Italy band that swing from dark gothic rock to punchy grunge to polished synthetic within the space of a few bars. Brooding intensity, classy sound and some fresh ideas playing hard against
the new wave influence of many new wave pop punksters like the Bunnymen, Cure, Chamealeons UK and the Cocteau Twins. Nothing is Nothing sounds like Chris Issacs meets The Cure and get into a fight over who owns the
fuzzbox whilst Pearl Jam watch on in disgust at the spectacle of the two be-quiffed wonders going toe to toe. Quiet, gloomy moments explode into life with some pounding riffs and space vocals. Scaled in the category of
mini epic, this one has just enough of something to make it quite special. Tonight sparks of with chiming guitars, and brings to mind a less polished and self righteous early U2 circa October. The strange
European accent of the singer is in full affect as he rolls effortlessy through the song. Welcome takes a more spaced out soundscape and melds it nicely in a vaguely rolling tune, horns and many layers add
some great textures in this lolloping track, builds up nicely with more reverb drenched bangs and whizzes. It's hard to put your finger on what sounds so eighties about it, but its there... The synths, the guitars the
phrasing, the singing, the sound. Yellow gives us more of the same, great choral work and a distinct nod to Tears for Fears. Ok No fly Zone, you have made your point. You can sing, you play your
instruments, and you have some fresh ideas! Production is superb, everything in its places and sounds crisp and honey drenched. The singing is maybe a bit too smooth for my liking (but that's just me!) and
despite the many eighties strains, they put enough of themselves into it and divert things nicely. Just when you think you have one song fixed, they throw in some different textures and branch away just to throw you. Verdict: Yes I loved the eighties, but with enough of their own vision, they can break that tag. If they could just attack things a bit more, they good be very good! (6/10)DL E Mail: no-flyzone@katamail.com O Click on letter for required review section.A
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