The end of the Experiment.

Distressing news for fans of kickass punk-rock feminism (and lengthy band names): An Experiment On A Bird In The Air Pump have packed up their drums and unplugged their basses for the last time. This is what the Birds had to say:

C-Bird and X-Bird:

After two years, we have decided to call it a day with The Birds. We've experienced some great moments with this band but feel the time is right to concentrate on other passions. We want to thank everyone who has supported us these past two years and those of you who have taken the time to listen to our music, read our blog and meet us at our shows! We've met some great people along the way and have some fantastic memories! It's time to move forward positively into the future and launch ourselves head first into whatever is in store for us. The past two years have been an exhilarating whirlwind and we will continue to live our lives without regret and full of creative thought and positivity!!! A big thank you to all of your support!!!

D-Bird:
After almost 2 years together, we lay to rest one of the most exciting, exhilarating and exhausting projects I have ever been involved in. It all started off from an impromptu jam, an impromptu band formed and within such a short time, the impromptu band went full time, touring the world, recording with the likes of Steve Albini and meeting people I could only ever dream we'd meet.

Rather than dwelling on the reasons for ending I think it's important to look back and reflect on a proud achievement. We had FUN, I adored instrument swapping and more than anything, I loved being on stage. The time has now come to move on and focus on my new band Blue On Blue as well as my club Decasia Club, to thank those we've met along the way, enjoy new projects and take all that we have learned into a new direction. It has been one hell of a ride!! Thank you all for the support!

This Thursday: AN EVENT.

Londoners, listen: this Thursday (14th January 2010) Shoreditch's Old Blue Last reopens, refurbished & renewed. They're having a free party to christen the new decorations, and O Children are playing - good. There's also a secret headliner, three words (_h_s_ N_w _uri_an_), absolutely brilliant new album out next Monday - better. It would be a shame to miss out. Free alcohol for firstcomers, so get down early.

Top releases, 2009:

The countdown begins, the Two-Thousand-And decade is almost finished: here's the best (in our view) of its last year. A happy New Year to all. Thank you for your continued support and interest, and please enjoy your 2010.

1. The Big Pink - Velvet


2. Ulterior - Sister Speed / Aporia


3. Hatcham Social - Crocodile


4. Fever Ray - Fever Ray


5. Hatcham Social - You Dig The Tunnel, I'll Hide The Soil


6. An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump - Buy a Life
7. A Place to Bury Strangers - Exploding Head
8. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
9. The xx - xx
10. Lydia Lunch / Suicide - Frankie Teardrop
11. The Horrors - Primary Colours
10. HTRK - Marry Me Tonight
13. R O M A N C E - Another Place / The Art of Losing
14. The Spectrometers - Make Your Own Instrumented Glove
15. Disconcerts - A. Medic
16. Spider & the Flies - Something Clockwork This Way Comes
17. The Big Pink - A Brief History of Love
18. KASMs - Spayed
19. Electricity In Our Homes - Gymnastics / Motorbike
20. Neils Children - X.Enc.

Tonight we recommend. . .

Shoreditch's Old Blue Last plays host tonight to what promises to be a riotous punk show. Brighton's Bad for Lazarus (led by ex-Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster guitarist Rich Fownes) will be flailing around and making a brilliant racket, preceded by two of London's brightest hopes: blues-punk terrorists Stavin' Chains, and the dark, driving clank of The Murder Act. It's free. Go.

an experiment on a bird in the air pump : BUY A LIFE

AN EXPERIMENT ON A BIRD IN THE AIR PUMP
BUY A LIFE
(BUY A LIFE RECORDS)

You would never guess that this self-released three-track EP was produced by The Charlatans' Tim Burgess: he, by all accounts, is a fairly laid-back kind of guy, and this 7" buzzes with pure, venomous aggression from beginning to end. I can only conclude that the Birds themselves have got a lot of rage stored up, and that they've fortunately (for us) chosen the recording studio as the best place to get it out of their systems - you can hear it in the drumming alone, really. Each of the three sings on one track, the vocal highlight being some fantastic distorted soul shrieking from C-Bird's on 'Only in Death'; X-Bird smoulders in the dark on 'The Silent Hour', and D-Bird's more untrained voice lends opening track 'Smear' a vulnerable edge - not that she sounds any less angry, what with the snarling fuzz of two basses and a minimal tribal beat backing her up. It's certainly a step up from last year's 'These Sins', distilling bits of Hole, The Stooges, and Sonic Youth into a visceral seven-minute punch. Recommended.

Return of T N P S

Almost two years after they crashed their debut album Beat Pyramid into our ears and disappeared into the studio to play with brass instruments and prepared pianos, mystical sound engineers These New Puritans return on 18th January with their follow-up, entitled Hidden. The week before will see the release of the seven-minute single 'We Want War' on 10" vinyl; the 25th January is the date of TNPS's first London show in over a year, at Bush Hall. We're glad to see the return of the one of the most intriguing bands to hit the country in the last few years, and curious to hear the album, even based solely on the tracklisting:

'Time Xone'
'We Want War'
'Three Thousand'
'Hologram'
'Attack Music'
'Fire–Power'
'Orion'
'Canticle'
'Drum Courts–Where Corals Lie'
'White Chords'
'5'

More when it happens.

New Hatcham Social EP

From today, those in London have the chance to be one of only 100 people to own the new Hatcham Social EP, 'Sidewalk'. Each of the limited 10" vinyl copies has different hand-drawn artwork by a fan, a member of the band, or an associate (including members of Electricity In Our Homes and The Horrors); as well as the brooding, shoegazing title track, the EP also features a remix of 'Hypnotised Terrible Eyes', the terrific 'Wild Creatures', the band's lo-fi version of The Beach Boys' 'Surfin' Safari', and a demo of a song called 'King Kong'. (The downloadable version also features a remix of 'Sidewalk' by Tom Furse of The Horrors.) This will sell out quickly; move along to Rough Trade to grab one.