Features

An Omnibus of Misguided Hero Choices #1! (Garry Shandling)

George Booker — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 23:19:28 +0100

As far as cultishly adored reclusive celebrities go, Garry Shandling often comes off as a smarmy jerk. Having Ricky Gervais fellate him with great thoroughness doesn't seem to impress him. Most of the few characters he has played (one of the major ones coincidentally named "Garry Shandling") are capable of being cruel self-absorbed monsters. It would all be intolerable if it didn't sear with invention like art happening right up in my face.

A Question of Sound #3: Social Networking Redeems Itself

David Coleman — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 19:43:38 +0100

A lot has been written about the impact of social networking sites on emerging artists. In fact, the subject quickly became something of a cliché for bloggers and professional journalists, each clambering to tell their tale of how band x notched up y friends and translated this virtual hype into z sales. I recall a strange phase 12 to 18 months ago when publicists were actually quoting friend numbers. This, mercifully, has subsided and the whole thing seems to have become, well, kind of expected.

Music Writers Wanted (Hip Hop, Electronic)

No Ripcord Staff — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 23:12:18 +0100

Our recent recruitment drive has seen us add a few more talented music writers to the ranks, however we remain short in the following areas (bold denotes key genres we would like to expand):

- Hip hop
- Electronic
- Metal
- Pop
- Avant garde / out music

Used Adventures In Hi-Fi #3

Simon Briercliffe — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 13:05:35 +0100

Pearl Jam: Ten (Epping, Imperial Cancer Research, £1)

Obsessions and Lamentations #5 - Big Chill Edition

Alan Shulman — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 19:22:54 +0100

1) What Hath The Big Chill Wrought?

A Question of Sound #2

David Coleman — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 20:41:28 +0100

A sleepy, isolated town on the West Cumbrian coast, Whitehaven is probably one of the last places – in England, and possibly the world – where you’d expect to find a thriving indie-pop record label. There are no proper record shops (no, Smith’s and Woolies don’t count) and the only established music venue has, at the time of writing, precisely three gigs booked for 2008.

Obsessions and Lamentations #4

Alan Shulman — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 15:39:06 +0100

1) The Hills, Part II

A Question of Sound #1: The Ear-Splitting Return of My Bloody Valentine

David Coleman — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 18:13:59 +0100

Whether you like it or not, a lot of people get their music for free these days. Rare tracks, unreleased albums, even entire back catalogues – they’re all readily available at the click of a mouse. It just depends on your ethical standpoint, your level of computer expertise and, perhaps most significantly, the size of your hard drive. But if the perceived worth of recorded music has declined in the last decade, then the stock of live music has surely risen.

Vern Does Fantasmo

George Booker — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:35:34 +0100

In the information age, the canon has outgrown itself, and it is no longer possible to attain, even through the most dedicated life of study, a familiarity with all of the acknowledged masterpieces of art in civilization. This is mostly a positive thing, freeing our best analytical minds and our own personal artistic crusades from a skewed, Eurocentric syllabus that has served as a slap in the face to the diversity of cultural history that humankind has truly achieved over the years. We now hold a liberty to forge our own path through the world of art, sincerely seeking that whi

Obsessions and Lamentations #3

Alan Shulman — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 17:03:40 +0100

1) The Hills

Glastonbury 2008 - Plaster of Paris

Paul Roylance — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 16:15:07 +0100

some experiences - arguably, the best - are definitively transient, their longer-term sentimental residue operating as an inverse function of their brevity. it's a sad but well-documented fact that, by some perverse alchemy, that bottle of retsina you lugged home from your magical holiday in Crete will, once opened under the leaden summer skies of England, be transformed from the nectar you experienced at that harbourside restaurant overlooking Odysseus' wine-dark sea into something vaguely resembling cat's piss cut with a splash of disinfectant.

Dennis Wilson - More Than Just a Beach Boy

Brett Oronzio — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 22:37:07 +0100

Brian was the visionary composer, master producer, and fearless leader. Carl was the gifted singer with the angelic voice. Mike Love, well, he was the asshole. And Dennis, banished behind the drum set, was the rebellious middle child considered to be the Wilson brother possessing the least musical ability. That little stool in the background is traditionally reserved for the band member with the least talent and zero identity, or the one that needs to be hidden from view. But Dennis proved to be none of these things and rose above everyone’s expectations.

Used Adventures In Hi-Fi #2

Simon Briercliffe — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 10:01:51 +0100

The Wedding Present: Seamonsters (Cancer Research, Epping, £1.75)

Epping, but a small country town at the borders of Essex, is something of a hidden jewel in terms of its charity shops. These are not the slightly shambolic mom-and-pop outfits of most towns: here the operations are well-drilled, large-scale and impressive. I’ve seen charity shop tourists here, that most intriguing of cultural sub-genres; one might argue that I’m one myself.

Podcast #9

David Coleman — Thu, 29 May 2008 17:03:19 +0100

We had to temporarily shelve our podcast series in order to get the new website up and running but I'm pleased to announce that it's back and here to stay. This is the ninth No Ripcord podcast - our first since October 2007 - and it provides a showcase of some of the finest music of the last six months.

Obsessions and Lamentations #2

Alan Shulman — Wed, 28 May 2008 15:18:53 +0100

1) Madonna’s Candy Goes Down Hard