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Post by Fuggle on Feb 25, 2006 14:15:18 GMT -5
Arctic Monkeys on top
The Arctic Monkeys took home three major trophies, including best British band and best new band, at the NME Awards, firmly cementing the Sheffield quartet as the darlings of Britain's music scene.
The NME Awards, which were presented Thursday, are an edgier version of the Brit Awards, Britain's version of the Grammys.
The Monkeys, whose debut album, "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not," sold more than 360,000 copies in its first week of release, also won an award for best track for "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor." (Read a review.)
They became the first act to win best new band and best British band in the same year.
The Kaiser Chiefs, nominated in six categories, won just one award, for best album for "Employment." Kanye West took the trophy for best solo artist and The Strokes won best international artist.
Pete Doherty, the ex-boyfriend of supermodel Kate Moss, was named sexiest man, and Madonna was named sexiest woman.
Bob Geldof, who organized 1985's Live Aid concerts and last summer's Live 8 shows, was named hero of the year.
The former leader of Irish punk group the Boomtown Rats is among the nominees for the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize. Geldof was nominated for organizing last year's Live 8 benefit concerts.
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Post by Fuggle on Feb 25, 2006 14:18:33 GMT -5
The Arctic Monkeys live up to their hype
Friday, February 24, 2006
The Arctic Monkeys, "Whatever People Say I Am That's What I Am Not" (Domino) ***½
On their much-hyped debut, the Arctic Monkeys invite us to 1,001 nights of drinking binges and dingy clubs with the British working class.
That frontman Alex Turner sings of these dead-end hooligans at all is a minor miracle, considering that modern rock has all but abandoned the downtrodden. That this 20-year-old tells these stories with such wit while treating his characters with equal measures sympathy and disdain is a sign of greatness.
Take "Riot Van," which is probably the most tender song ever written about police hauling off a bunch of drunken teens. Turner's thick Yorkshire accent gives a sense of credibility when he sings, "They got a chase last night from men with truncheons dressed in hats/They didn't do that much wrong, still ran away though for the laugh."
The first single -- "I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor" -- is the anti-disco song. Turner does everything but glamorize. "Oh there int no love, no Montagues or Capulets/just banging tunes in DJ sets and dirty dance floors and dreams of naughtiness."
Turner is at odds with the cultural milieu in "When the Sun Goes Down," in that he actually criticizes a pimp instead of exalting him.
But it's the epic closer, "A Certain Romance," where Turner brings it all together, slamming everyone before admitting he's in too deep. "Well over there, there's friends of mine/What can I say, I've known them for a long, long time/And they might overstep the line/But you just cannot get angry in the same way."
The one drawback is that many of the up-tempo songs sound too much alike. But it is a startlingly good freshman album.
-- Scott Fallon, Staff Writer
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Post by Fuggle on Feb 25, 2006 14:21:55 GMT -5
Arctic Monkeys a British phenomenon? The Arctic Monkeys just became England's fastest-selling debut ever."I feel like I should just flip out and do something crazy," Alex Turner, the scrappy-voiced Arctic Monkeys front man said. "It's boring when people tell me I'm really well grounded. I feel a little bit sensible - I don't want to be that." Their album landing in U.S. stores this week. Turner and his mates Jamie Cook (guitar), Andy Nicholson (bass) and Matt Helders (drums) seem to have a grasp on what this newfound fame is bringing them. According to Kris Gillespie, label director for Domino Recording Company's U.S. division, more than 550,000 copies have sold to date in England, only 100,000 units have shipped to U.S. retailers. Nic Harcourt, music director of Los Angeles-based KCRW first heard the band in early 2005 and began playing their music on air. When he hosted his show from England this January, many people asked whether the band could break in the States or if they were just a British phenomenon. Harcourt said: "I think it's natural and organic and it's real. Do I think it will translate to America? Yes I do." The band is about to embark on a sold-out, 11-date North American tour, informs the Associated Press.
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Post by Fuggle on Feb 25, 2006 14:26:30 GMT -5
Warming up with the hot Arctic Monkeys
Friday, February 24, 2006
By KEVIN RIORDAN Courier-Post Staff
If you believe the hype, the very young British rockers Arctic Monkeys are the next big thing. Or at least the next Franz Ferdinand.
Don't believe it. But do pick up their debut American CD, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (Domino Records), released Tuesday.
This smart collection of 13 original tunes is fresh, ferocious and best of all, fun. The Monkeys are serious, but they don't sound like they take themselves as seriously as the critics do.
Arctic Monkeys seem to know who they are -- four working-class lads from the North. They play postmodern rock that knows what it is and what it's not.
In other words, despite the witty lyrics, unpredictable trajectories and jolts of guitar that electrify their songs, the Monkeys don't reach for the stars. They aim for where rock has always lived: the gut.
Songs like "Dancing Shoes" and "From the Ritz to the Rubble" and other teenage tales about chicks, clubs, and cops are edgy, angular, and unadorned. Vocalist Alex Turner, guitarist Jamie Cook, bassist Andy Nicholson and drummer Matt Helders play like a bona fide band, and Jim Abbiss's no-fingerprints production expertly relays the boys' energy and personality.
Yes, Arctic Monkeys do sound like lots of other bands. The Jam inevitably comes to mind, as do the early Police (one Monkeys tune cleverly references "Roxanne"), Gang of Four, even a less baroque System of a Down. There's a bit of the Smiths, a dash of Franz Ferdinand (but not their tick-tocky rhythms, thankfully) and hints of power pop and hip hop on Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not.
Mostly, though, the Arctic Monkeys sound like themselves.
These kids are all right.
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Post by Fuggle on Feb 25, 2006 14:28:44 GMT -5
Hype Surrounds the Arctic Monkeys
Staff and agencies 23 February, 2006
By ARI BENDERSKY, For The Associated Press 53 minutes ago
When you‘re a 20-year-old rock star whose album just became England‘s fastest-selling debut ever, the last thing you want to hear is that you‘re grounded.
But chatting with Turner, you get the sense that he is, well, grounded. (The Arctic Monkeys have been referred to as the well-groomed Libertines, after all.) Despite being the hottest new act of the moment, with their album landing in U.S. stores this week, Turner and his mates Jamie Cook (guitar), Andy Nicholson (bass) and Matt Helders (drums) seem to have a grasp on what this newfound fame is bringing them.
"Hopefully the tabloid thing has peaked," Turner said from his home town of Sheffield. "It doesn‘t seem to be as big (to us) as what people might think it is. Maybe we are immune to all of it because of everything that‘s happened. Maybe in 10 years we‘ll realize what it is."
About a year after learning to play, Turner brought in songs he‘d written. In 2004, they hit the road, passing out free CDs of their music. Word spread, especially over the Internet, and that‘s when the madness started.
"I like Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, but I have no idea what it‘s like in Compton or Long Beach," Turner said. "You don‘t always have to be in the situation that you listen to in the song to like it or appreciate it."
"It‘ll never be the same as it is here," Turner said. "We‘d been playing shows all over and it‘s been building up really slowly. We didn‘t even know we were doing it when we were doing it. It can never be the same, but we can have a good crack at it. We‘ll play the shows and if people like (them), great. If not ..."
Harcourt first heard the band in early 2005 and began playing their music on air. When he hosted his show from England this January, many people asked whether the band could break in the States or if they were just a British phenomenon.
The band is about to embark on a sold-out, 11-date North American tour.
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Post by Fuggle on Feb 26, 2006 12:46:48 GMT -5
Arctic Monkeys take 3 NME Awards
The Arctic Monkeys took home three major trophies, including best British band and best new band, at the NME Awards, firmly cementing the Sheffield quartet as the darlings of Britain's music scene. The NME Awards, which were presented Thursday, are an edgier version of the Brit Awards, Britain's version of the Grammys. The Monkeys, whose debut album, "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not," sold more than 360,000 copies in its first week of release, also won an award for best track for "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor." They became the first act to win best new band and best British band in the same year. The Kaiser Chiefs, nominated in six categories, won just one award, for best album for "Employment." Kanye West took the trophy for best solo artist and the Strokes won best international artist.
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Post by Fuggle on Feb 26, 2006 12:56:58 GMT -5
Can the Arctic Monkeys make it in the U.S.?
February 24, 2006
— Arctic Monkeys, “Whatever People Say I Am That’s What I Am Not” (Domino) —
Hyped by the British press as the biggest musical export since Oasis, the Arctic Monkeys’ debut album finally hit U.S. shelves Tuesday after selling at an unparalleled pace in Europe.
The band garnered a loyal fan base before releasing a proper album by giving away a few songs over the Internet. The move resulted in the biggest selling debut in British history.
But will American ears care? Should they?
“Whatever People Say I Am That’s What I Am Not” falls short of groundbreaking but lands just above average.
Most of the tracks lean to heavily on Oasis’ brash rock anthems and Blur’s cheeky swagger.
Despite their youth — most members are just out of their teens — the Monkey’s display a knack for clever songwriting. Most tracks deliver biting details about an ordinary Brit’s daily grind.
A binge-drinking aroma permeates stellar tracks like “When The Sun Goes Down” and “From The Ritz To The Rubble.”
Perhaps the Arctic Monkeys will be the next Franz Ferdinand. Most likely, they’ll have to settle for being the next Libertines, loved by critics and snubbed by the American masses.
— Steven M. Benavides/The Brownsville Herald
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Post by Fuggle on Feb 26, 2006 18:59:51 GMT -5
Arctic Monkeys Big Winners At 2006 NME Awards
Saturday, February 25, 2006
England's latest "it" band, the Arctic Monkeys, walked away with 3 NME Awards, taking honors as Best British Band, Best New Band and Best Track for "I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor." In the other band categories, New York hipsters The Strokes won for Best International Band and Franz Ferdinand was awarded Best Live Band. Kanye West was honored as Best Solo Artist and the Kaiser Chiefs added the NME Award for Best Album (Employment) to its 3 recent BRIT awards.
While honoring the best, NME also acknowledged the worst, handing out the dubious awards for Worst Album to James Blunt (Back To Bedlam), Worst Band to Son of Dork and Villain of the Year to George W. Bush.
Scofflaw and parolee Pete Doherty was named Sexiest Man while Madonna snagged the award for Sexiest Female.
Next month, the Arctic Monkeys will venture to America for a month long tour that will hit San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and Seattle. The band will kick off the U.S. leg of its worldwide tour with a March 11 appearance as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live (Matt Dillon will host).
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Post by Fuggle on Feb 27, 2006 16:06:06 GMT -5
Arctic Monkeys: Singing For England? Joe Cole says he’d love the Sheffield outfit to record England’s World Cup anthem...Joe Cole has sung Arctic Monkeys’ praises and inadvertently kicked off a campaign to have them record England’s official World Cup anthem. Speaking in an interview with MTV.co.uk at the launch of UMBRO’s new England away kit in Manchester earlier today, the England and Chelsea ace raved about the Arctics and Richard Ashcroft, his two favourites. “I’m listening to Richard Ashcroft and Arctic Monkeys at the moment,” said Cole. “I think Arctic Monkeys are a fantastic new band. I’m playing in my car.” So they’re in your car Joe, but how’s about having the Arctics recording this summer’s England song for their World Cup campaign? “Wow,” said the attacking midfielder, “I don’t know, maybe! You never know. I’m sure whoever does it will do a great job.” Now while we recognise that this isn’t strictly a wholehearted plea by Joe Cole; it’s enough to get a campaign going. Come on Monkey boys - do it; do it!
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Post by Fuggle on Feb 28, 2006 17:00:44 GMT -5
Watch Arctic Monkeys Live On MTV2! It’s an NME Awards Tour special and you can catch it on MTV2 this week...Exclusive live footage of Arctic Monkeys, Maximo Park, We Are Scientists and Mystery Jets on the NME Tour can be seen on MTV2 this week. The four bands donned the stage at London’s Brixton Academy earlier this month, for the closing night of the NME Awards Tour - and it turned out to be a monster of a gig. You can watch the aforementioned monster gig in all its glory tomorrow night (March 1) at 9pm on MTV2, hosted by Zane Lowe. And if you miss that, you can also catch it on Friday (March 3) at 11pm, again on MTV2. Don’t miss it.
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Post by Fuggle on Feb 28, 2006 17:04:37 GMT -5
Arctic Monkeys set sights on North America Band takes on North America Their debut album broke U.K. recordFeb. 28, 2006. BEN RAYNER POP MUSIC CRITICArctic Monkeys is one of the hottest groups around.Whether their runaway success is traceable to indomitable rock `n' roll greatness or an astonishing herd mentality amongst critics and record shoppers, the Arctic Monkeys have arrived and there's nothing we can do about it. The youthful Sheffield phenoms — all aged 19 or 20 — already seem destined to have the biggest album of the year in Britain with Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, which in January became the fastest selling debut record in U.K. history after selling more than 360,000 copies in one week. In the month or so hence, it's gone on to nearly double that sales figure. Domino Records cautiously shipped only 100,000 units to North America when it unleashed the disc upon these shores a couple of weeks ago, but the Monkeys' ascension to a status in North America at least comparable to that of their labelmates Franz Ferdinand seems almost a foregone conclusion. They already sold out a tour of the continent last December before most people on this side of the Atlantic had heard them (they return to Toronto to open for Oasis at the Air Canada Centre on March 20 and play a solo show the next night at The Phoenix.) Saturation hype tends to reap its own rewards. "It's pretty amazing," concurs bassist Andy Nicholson from a tour stop in Amsterdam, albeit taking care to point out that the band's rise hasn't been quite the whirlwind the press has made it out to be. "It seems like it is, but it's not really to us. I think everyone else around us feels it a bit more than we do. "I'm sure it'd be strange to someone who's in a different position and it's not happened to them — like, if they'd done an album and it's not done as well as they'd hoped," he muses, "and then this had happened on the second album. But, for us, this is our first album and we don't know any better than what's already happened. This is normal for us. This is just how it works." A fine position to be in, for sure, for four school chums — Nicholson, front man/guitarist Alex Turner, guitarist Jamie Cook and drummer Matt Helders — who started playing just three years ago after a collective Christmas windfall of musical instruments. After practising diligently for a year, they started gigging further and further afield from home as their frantic punk-pop pub jams caught on around the country through word of mouth and early recordings given away free at shows and then widely disseminated on the Internet. By the time they signed to Domino last June, they were already selling out 1,000-seat venues without an actual record to sell. And when they finally had one, last fall's rambunctious singalong "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor," it tore a blazing swath to the top of the U.K. singles chart. "It seemed like every time we went somewhere there wasn't many people, but the next time we went back it was like everybody there had brought a friend so it just kinda doubled every time," shrugs Nicholson. "And then they started singing along and knowing all the words — more words than we knew — and it just started getting better from there, y'know. Now, it's a bit crazy. There's a lot of people coming now." The Arctic Monkeys are young enough to count such fellow young'uns as the Strokes and the Vines as major influences, but their giddy guitar-rock odes to beer, bouncers and bawdy nights on the town have succeeded by commendably ignoring the current U.K. fashion for angular New Wave revisionism, and picking up a more meat-and-potatoes Brit-rock continuum that extends from the Who through the Jam through the Libertines. Pronouncements that the band will change the face of rock as we know it seem a bit premature, but the Monkeys — and the dauntingly talented lyricist Turner, in particular — have arrived at a heightened enough state that they might prove a force to be reckoned with over the long haul. If they can hold it together through such a meteoric rise. "We control it and we've got good management and a good team around us," says Nicholson, already studied in the art of the Aloof British Pop Star. "If anything's happening and we don't want to do it at all, we'll just not do it. They've always supported us like that and that's the way we've always been from the beginning. "There's nothing worse than trying to do something with a smile on your face when you don't wanna do it at all. So why waste anyone's time? We just do what we wanna do. Like interviews and things like that, sometimes we need to do 'em but sometimes we don't need to do 'em so there's no point in doing eight hours of press every day. "We don't enjoy it and we just get bored, and then no one's getting anything out of it. We don't want to be there and they don't wanna be there. It's just a waste of time."
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Post by Fuggle on Mar 1, 2006 17:59:58 GMT -5
Arctic Monkeys Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (Domino)
By Michael Roberts Article Published Mar 2, 2006
U.K. music scribes have always been addicted to hype — but their ballyhooing of Arctic Monkeys is over-the-top even by their standards. The group couldn't live up to their praise if it featured Jesus on vocals and Mohammed on guitar. (We'd illustrate that, but we're fond of the building.) So it's hardly shocking that People falls short of absolute, metaphysical transcendence — yet the disc's pretty entertaining anyway.
The originality claims made on behalf of singer Alex Turner's lyrics falter the moment he tries to enhance the prostitute portrait "When the Sun Goes Down" by referencing the Police ("He told Roxanne to put on her red light"). Still, his words are typically sassy and sometimes ironic: The CD's first line is "Anticipation has the habit to set you up for disappointment." And if the music resembles the output of a dozen other Brit buzz bands, tracks such as "Dancing Shoes" are catchy and propulsive enough to overrule most objections.
Not that English critics have any. Jesus and Mohammed will just have to try harder next time.
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Post by Fuggle on Mar 1, 2006 18:00:36 GMT -5
Despite their massive sales numbers in the U.K., the Arctic Monkeys debuted here in the States at a respectable #24.
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Post by Fuggle on Mar 2, 2006 18:53:57 GMT -5
Arctic Monkeys justify the U.K. hype - almost disc spins
Mar 02 2006
Arctic Monkeys Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not(Domino/Outside)
Some people (i.e., British music weekly NME) say that Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not - released just weeks ago in the U.K. - is the fifth best British album of all time. Well, just as the album title warns us, that's what it's not. But we shouldn't hold that against the Arctic Monkeys. Their first album does exactly what first albums should do: document bored kids singing about their boring lives in excitable tones. Like a more lucid Libertines, the Monkeys pledge dual allegiance to punk rock and pub rock, tempering stab-riff urgency with cheeky ska/funk breaks and, in the process, provide ample evidence of what they do well (the hole-in-me-shoe melancholy of "Mardy Bum" and "A Certain Romance") and what they do not (the contrived conga-line climax of "Perhaps Vampires is a Bit Strong But..."). Frontman Alex Turner ain't no Ray Davies yet - his much-vaunted observations sometimes confuse the mundane for the meaningful - but he is capable of packing palpable intrigue into a single economical line ("This town's a different town to what it was last night"). NME lists aside, we're hardly transcending Revolver or London Calling territory here, but the possibility of making such a leap, say, four albums down the road is slightly higher than that of monkeys flying out of my butt. HHHHH
The Cardigans Super Extra Gravity (Stockholm/Universal)[/size][/color]
'Tis one of life's most perplexing mysteries: why Nina Persson can't find a guy to treat her right. Her Cardigans songbook is essentially a never-ending parade of forced smiles that barely conceal the hurt lurking behind the gritted teeth, and even before we hit the first chorus on Super Extra Gravity's "Losing a Friend," she's already contemplating suicide over yet another bastard's betrayal. The Swedes' sixth album continues to lead the band down the Dusty-road country-soul trail that Persson's been strolling since A Camp, her 2001 collaboration with Sparklehorse's Mark Linkhous. Though Super Extra Gravity doesn't hold much in the way of revelations or resolutions - closer "And Then He Kissed Me II" climaxes with the adage "true love is cruel love" - there's enough reason here to be thankful that Persson has held off on the razor blades: "I Need Some Fine Wine and You, You Need to Be Nicer" eases the pain with some spirited cowbell-rockin', while "In the Round" is a skeletal blues that stirs up fond, suppressed memories of a Guyville-bound Liz Phair. HHHHH
-Stuart Berman
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Post by Fuggle on Mar 2, 2006 18:59:19 GMT -5
Arctic Monkeys Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (Domino)
By: Nick Sylvester March 2, 2006
Openly disregarding their "it"-ness, sort ofFranz Ferdinand, now available in "Normal Guy" and "Has-a-Gut Guy""Anticipation has a habit to set you up for disappointment," or so goes the smarting first line from Arctic Monkeys' debut LP. Before the Sheffield upstarts had been around long enough to get slagged as a second-rate Jam rip, the British music press had already placed a crown in their cradle, making them fresh bait for industry bats and baby eaters. Thing is, the Monkeys know it. In the wake of uberclever Franz- fertilized guitar pop, their Next Big Thing full-length arrives decidedly un-NBT: blunt and bratty, emotionally pubescent even. While his American peers scrounge for fake IDs and mustaches, lead Monkey Alex Turner is content being 19, green-eared, and maybe a bit stupid. "Love's not only blind but deaf," he snaps on the basement funk-rock groove "Fake Tales of San Francisco," something of a TV cop theme for kids who grew up packing Nerf guns. Turner's not resigned (the Strokes) or over-sexed (the Libertines), just sophomoric. He has "dreams of naughtiness" on the raspy single "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor," but never commits the naughties himself. "Get on your dancing shoes!" he commands instead. He wishes he had the guts to ask you to take your dancing shoes off, but this sheepishness carries weight too. That's not to say the Monkeys ignore their "it"-ness -- check the album title for proof. As if to preempt backlash, they strike out against the fickle file-sharers and magazine vampires who launched them, singing "You pretend to you'll stand by us / I know you're sure that we'll fail." Knee-jerk haters have it coming too, as do the patronizers who say the Monkeys are, y'know, "good for what they are": Street Fighter references, robot-dance jokes, and a possible Sublime homage (all of which say, loud and clear, "Bugger off"). Add to that the opening track's muddy guitar grumble, a blatant jab at Art Brut's "Formed a Band" -- famous for that "We're gonna be the band that writes the song that makes Israel and Palestine get along" line -- and we can be sure Turner and friends, at least for now, just want to rumpus.
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