Most indie fans will have seminal bands, those with a big role in shaping their tastes in their formative days, and for me, like many others, Idlewild were one of those bands. Tonight a completely crammed Academy 2 sees them on their final tour before an indefinite hiatus. It’s a strange night, because it serves as a reminder of the brutal creative force Idlewild once were, and the lifeless shadow of their former selves they eventually became. However, dips into the last three records are thankfully infrequent in a set which is heavy on 100 Broken Windows. The likes of ‘Idea Track’, ‘ Little Discourage’ and ‘Roseability’ are glorious throwbacks, searing flashes of anger which are brilliant examples of the bracing energy of Idlewild at their best. Not that all their post-2000 work was dreadful, mind you. When ‘American English’ closes the main set, it is genuine lump-in-the-throat stuff. Really, the best way we can remember Idlewild, is illustrated by the mid-set one-two-three of Hope is Important songs. They are delivered with a particularly savage intensity, and go a long way to eliminating the limp radio rock of recent years. For these wonderfully visceral moments, we will remember Idlewild fondly.
Showing posts with label Idlewild. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Idlewild. Show all posts
Tuesday, 27 April 2010
Idlewild - O2 Academy 2 - 26/4/2010 (Gig)
Most indie fans will have seminal bands, those with a big role in shaping their tastes in their formative days, and for me, like many others, Idlewild were one of those bands. Tonight a completely crammed Academy 2 sees them on their final tour before an indefinite hiatus. It’s a strange night, because it serves as a reminder of the brutal creative force Idlewild once were, and the lifeless shadow of their former selves they eventually became. However, dips into the last three records are thankfully infrequent in a set which is heavy on 100 Broken Windows. The likes of ‘Idea Track’, ‘ Little Discourage’ and ‘Roseability’ are glorious throwbacks, searing flashes of anger which are brilliant examples of the bracing energy of Idlewild at their best. Not that all their post-2000 work was dreadful, mind you. When ‘American English’ closes the main set, it is genuine lump-in-the-throat stuff. Really, the best way we can remember Idlewild, is illustrated by the mid-set one-two-three of Hope is Important songs. They are delivered with a particularly savage intensity, and go a long way to eliminating the limp radio rock of recent years. For these wonderfully visceral moments, we will remember Idlewild fondly.
Wednesday, 19 August 2009
Idlewild - 100 Broken Windows (Album)
My contribution to a collective 'Best Albums of the Decade' feature which is due to appear on Muso's Guide:
As tricky a question as it is, I’d say the album which has meant the most to me this decade is 100 Broken Windows by Idlewild. The album was one of my first forays away from the Oasis, Travis, Stereophonics triumvirate which clogged the early-noughties hit parade, and opened up a gateway away from chart indie.
My love for this record isn’t just fuelled by nostalgia though. Even nine years later, no other British Indie band has matched it for energy, impact and sheer listenability.
It’s easy to understand why this is regarded by so many as a seminal album. . Roddy’s lyrics might straddle the line between intelligence and nonsense, (“…and Gertrude Stein said that’s enough!”) but that doesn’t matter at all, because 100 Broken Windows is powered along by incendiary (and bloody catchy) guitar riffs, and resonates with a glorious and barely contained rage.
100 Broken Windows marked Idlewild’s first steps from raggy-arsed punk slashers into something a little more refined. They might eventually have gone too far down the road to maturity, but at this stage Idlewild were still one of the most exciting bands in the world.
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