(Note: this is being posted rather late. It was originally posted on my blog on 06-September. Sorry about the delay)

Time for another of my monthly new(ish) track roundups. You know the drill by now, right?

Playlists: Spotify | Youtube

Track of the month:
†††
Op†ion
EP †
Just after last month’s list came this – Chino Moreno’s new side-project. And like the last Deftones album Diamond Eyes, this is a thing of wonder. Pretty much appearing out of nowhere, this is a much more electronic take on the more languid side of the Deftones, and the first…

(Note: this is being posted rather late. It was originally posted on my blog on 30-August. Sorry about the delay - another will be posted shortly after this)

When Daisy and I got together, we realised pretty quickly that we have some common ground in our music taste, but there are areas where we diverge in our tastes a great deal. Like, to the point that there are a number of bands that one or the other cannot stand whatsover. I was reminded of this most clearly at Nuis@nce the other week, when there was a twenty-to-thirty minute section of…

Blimey, that was a bit good. My take on Friday's show featuring Amanda Palmer, Bitter Ruin and The Jane Austen Argument (with added Tim Minchin and Tom Robinson, amongst others), can be found here:

http://www.amodelofcontrol.com/reviews/?pg=mpafpheaven

My usual run down of Infest Festival - here is my take on the 2011 edition. Best band? mind.in.a.box, by bloody miles.

The review covers all artists, so:

Absolute Body Control
Alien Vampires
Analog Angel
Code 64
Hocico
Sci-Fi Mafia
Maschinenkrieger KR52 Vs. Disraptor
Mind.In.A.Box
Shiv-R
Sonar
Tactical Sekt
Uturns
V2A
VNV Nation
xotox

Review: http://www.amodelofcontrol.com/reviews/?pg=ilinfest11
Photos (bands): http://www.flickr.com/photos/asw909/sets/72157627405408129/
Photos (people): http://www.flickr.com/photos/asw909/sets/72157627404034473/

It seems to surprise everyone that I have a not-so-secret love of hip-hop. I’ve only ever dabbled, really, and certainly was never part of the wider hip-hop culture. Some of the stuff that has been released from the hip-hop scene over the years, though, has been phenomenal. There has been stuff every bit as heavy as the metal of the time, every bit as influential, and every bit as political. And, yes, there have been some abominable throwaways. And there are all kinds of links between alternative music and hip-hop. Like rap metal (bands like Downset, Stuck Mojo,…

Another bit of a retrospective this week, as I finally get ’round to covering the fact that MTV turned 30 years old on 01-August. As the NME noted a few months ago, whatever happened to the MTV of old? For all its faults – not least seemingly moving away from what was the whole point in the first place towards reality shows (which it started with The Real World) – MTV did drive the use of the music video. It pushed artists to produce ever more outlandish, expensive and perhaps ridiculously conceited concepts, but crucially also gave some bands exposure…

(A late posting of the first Tuesday Ten of August: delay due to holidays and birthday)

The first TT for a few weeks, and it is already back to my tracks of the month.
This month, there are the usual Spotify and Youtube playlists, and also time for a little experiment again: but seeing as there appears to be no decent way to create playlists on Soundcloud so far (fail), my favourites page will have to do for now.

Track of the Month:

Draconian
A Drowning Age
A Rose For The Apocalypse
Three years on from the fucking wonderful Turning…

My review of this gig from Thursday night, featuring Modulate, Deviant UK, K-Nitrate and Kommand+Kontrol can be found here.

I got wind over the weekend that the bar that I ran tcf in for five years is closing – initially it sounded like it was for good, but instead it’s apparently for a refurb that will see The Nelson in Sheffield close for eight weeks (and now I'm hearing it has indeed gone for good). So it feels like an appropriate time to look at songs about going out on the lash. Lets call this a concept Tuesday Ten. A night in the life.

Playlists: Spotify | Youtube

The Afghan Whigs
Going To Town
Black Love
Well, you’ve got…

(A bit later than intended: this was meant to have been posted here last Tuesday but time contraints have meant that this appears here now)

Ok, so it’s my usual monthly roundup of ten songs you should hear. Or go back and listen to again if you have already.

Playlists: Spotify | Youtube

Track of the month:
God Module
Rituals
Rituals EP
GodMod are back, with another song about sex, death and darkness. So, business as usual, then. However the notable, good bit here is that they have picked up where they left off on The Magic In…