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Straight from the 'Hang on, does anyone need to know this?' part of our brains to your screen.

  1. Ian Camfield On The Download 2012 Line-Up…What’s The Fuss?

    Posted Thursday, 19 January 2012 at 19:58 by Rock Sound

    If you're reading this blog there’s a fair chance you’ve tweeted, texted or argued about this year’s Download line-up. While the announcement of headline acts was largely met with approval, the second set of bands confirmed this week has provoked a more varied response. Some are unhappy You Me At Six top a second stage bill, there has been disapproval for Metallica and Biffy Clyro being booked again at another major UK festival and perhaps the most concern, or in some cases, total outrage, has been caused by the shocking revelation that the first day will feature a, whisper it, dance act!

    So what’s the problem with You Me At Six? Have they not paid their dues? Does having a top five album not warrant their position on the bill? Or are you pissed off cos they’re not as hard as Lamb Of God? I love both bands equally, but isn’t the point of Download’s scheduling that if you don’t, you can find plenty of other acts to watch as there are multiple stages, most of them operating at all times?

    Does it matter that last year’s Sonisphere headliners are playing Download this year? I don’t think so. Are you really over Metallica and Biffy Clyro? Twelve months ago Andy Copping conceded that another standard Metallica show at a UK festival would be boring. But having 'The Big Four,' or playing the Black album makes the event special. Metallica have done 'Master Of Puppets' in full already, so perhaps this latest move is predicable, but that doesn’t mean we won’t love it. It’s not like they’re performing 'Lulu' in its entirety. And as far as Biffy Clyro goes, why shouldn’t one of Britain’s current best bands appear at a UK rock and metal festival for two consecutive years? They’re amazing, we should celebrate them on a grand scale.

    Now, Chase & Status – didn’t see that one coming! But isn’t the debate regarding their right to tread the boards at Download the same as the divisive feelings in the 90s as to whether The Prodigy should be covered in publications like Rock Sound? I think we’re all on side with Keith Flint and co in 2012, so perhaps you should wait till you’ve seen Chase & Status at Donington before you make your decision regarding their inclusion on the bill.

    At least no one has a problem with Ugly Kid Joe...

    Ian Camfield presents the Xfm Rock Show every Saturday night from 22:00-02:00. Check it out on xfm.co.uk and follow him at @iancamfield

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  2. letlive. Covering Refused In Sweden? Yeah, We Were There For That

    Posted Wednesday, 18 January 2012 at 16:08 by Rock Sound

    When letlive. toured Europe with Enter Shikari and Your Demise last year they pulled out something VERY special for their three Swedish shows in Gothenburg, Stockholm and Malmo.

    Check the band's home-soil homage to Refused with their cover of 'The Deadly Rhythm' above.

    "Without that band, we wouldn't be a fucking band." Quite.

    For the full list of confirmed Refused reunion dates (so far) click here.

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  3. My Thoughts On The Refused Reformation, Daniel P Carter

    Posted Tuesday, 10 January 2012 at 15:46 by Rock Sound

    Yes Refused are no longer fucking dead and people are crying about it already. The backlash began as soon as the rumours were confirmed, but you know what, I think people should take a moment before jumping online and talking shit.

    With their last two albums [96's 'Songs to Fan the Flames of Discontent' and 98's 'The Shape of Punk to Come: A Chimerical Bombination in 12 Bursts'] Refused helped shape the current musical landscape that we hold so dear. Their influence has been vast but at the time VERY FEW people gave a shit about the band. I remember standing in the Red Eye venue at King's Cross as they played only three songs before their set was stopped after Dennis had his head split open. Some people were heckling them, complaining and asking for their £3.50 back as he was taken to A&E. [Read that last sentence back at least twice before moving on - Online Ed]

    Ink & Dagger supported Refused at that show and I was bummed out by the lack of people in attendance that night and at their prior reformation show. No-one gave a shit. They didn't even finish the tour. It was bleak.

    Fast forward at least a decade and Refused have been offered the chance to get back together and make some money. Wow, 'the anti-capitalist rhetoric now seems to ring a little hollow' shouts the internet.
    Sure, Refused 'appropriated' a lot of stuff from Nation Of Ulysses, Fireside and Swing Kids, but from that they created something truly exciting. I would rather watch a bunch of 30 year-old guys play some awesome songs they wrote than see a bunch of 20 year-old guys play bad rip-offs of those same songs. I'm not pointing fingers and trying to be all 'things were better back in the day', they obviously weren't in a lot of respects as you had bands making great art for a very cliquey crowd and never seeing any benefit from it. Refused is the perfect example of that.

    Refused once noted that everything needed to be said had been said already. Why would they try to relive the past was a question they asked their audience? But years later the offer of some good money comes sniffing around and brings with it the temptation to meet up again and discuss things, talk through some old problems. The band do that and remember that they were bros, that they were a gang once. They then get in a rehearsal room, play the songs that were life-affirming to them and rediscover that - at one point in time - Refused was everything to them. It was their life.

    Reformations always get shouted down by people and maybe sometimes they are right to do so. 'They will never be as good as they were back in the day' is the first accusation.

    I have seen a few reformations over recent years as the trend is definitely growing. Did anyone complain about the Hot Snakes shows? Were they shit? No. They ruled. Hoover played an awesome show in London a while back. It brought back the fond ones and I was stoked to hear songs I never thought I would see played live again. Swing Kids recent show was hideously under-attended and for the first three songs I kinda wished I hadn't gone until suddenly BAM there it was. Swing Kids again. Awesome. Turbonegro were fantastic at Supersonic. I have friends that recently saw American Nightmare in Boston and they said it was cool to hear those songs again. It felt like a celebration.

    I saw most of these bands the first time round but I'd still see all of them again because I loved their albums. Personally, I am still waiting for Quicksand to do the right thing. WIll people cry about that or will they simply go and enjoy it? You want Fugazi out of hiatus? YES PLEEEEEAAASE!

    The other accusation and perhaps the dirtiest one: The band are only doing it to make money!

    So what? You may work in a pizza parlour to make money, does that make you a scumbag? You might work in a bookstore to make money! Does that make you a sell out? You work with bands you may not even like to make money! Haha...oh.

    Musicians make money by making music. Hence the profession. Actually that's not true; musicians rarely get the chance to make decent money. So now, years down the line, when their influence has shaped so much of what we now love (or loathe) and they finally have the opportunity, let's not beat them up over it eh?


    Daniel P Carter hosts the Radio 1 Rock Show each Monday night from midnight til 2am. For more information click here.

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  4. The Daily Riot Episode 10 - Sheffield

    Posted Monday, 12 December 2011 at 9:02 by Rock Sound

    Seriously, what kept you away?

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  5. The Daily Riot Episode 9 - Leeds

    Posted Sunday, 11 December 2011 at 16:50 by Rock Sound

    Someone take a care package to any of the remaining shows:

    DECEMBER
    11 - CARDIFF University Great Hall 2
    12 - OXFORD O2 Academy 2

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