TOP 10 | Tracks to make you even more upset

IT SEEMS OUR roving reporter and resident compiler of lists Matt Sanchez is experiencing a tough break. Not content with extended misty-eyed Kid A listening sessions whilst hiding under the bed, here’s a list of tracks that will do absolutely nothing to help exorcise those inner demons…

10. Aphex Twin – Ventolin (1995)

An Aphex classic, a track so caustic, asthmatic and unpleasant to listen to that he had no choice but to release it as a single to promote his up and coming album ‘I Care Because You Do’!

I’m not quite sure why the US military chose Prodigy tracks to torture and obtain information; put the happiest person you know in a cell with this pumping out for 15 minutes and they’d be a quivering wreck beginning for their life by the end. Good for angry depressives.

Video

9. Roxette – It Must Have Been Love (1990, originally 1987 with Christmas lyrics)

I love Roxette. They’re one of my guilty pleasures and I used to have a massive crush on Marie when I was younger.

Though the lyrics refer to a lonely winter’s day after the break-up of a relationship, “It Must Have Been Love” became a summer sensation in 1990. This song is all about the realisation of exactly what you’ve lost once it’s all over. That coupled with a perfectly crafted, 80’s tinged pop song makes for some moments of sobbing… Awwww

Video

8. Blur – This is a Low

Lyrics about England and weather – always pretty depressing..  What sets me off in this track is Graham Coxon’s swirling and epic guitar solo that hits you in the chest with a wave of emotion.

Video

7. Gary Jules – Mad World (2003, original by Tears for Fears 1982)

Who couldn’t connect with a song about looking out at an insane world from the eyes of a young adult? And if that wasn’t enough to get suicidal thoughts running through your mind, composers Michael Andrews and Gary Jules somehow went ahead and made it even more dark and dreary than the Tears For Fears original.

I’m assuming the first time anyone heard this song at the end of Donnie Darko they ran to their local record store in a hurry for another fix. Listening to the sounds of a dreamy piano mixed with Jules’ adolescent-like vocal chops is a perfect way to help a dark moment last just a little bit longer.

Video

6. Radiohead – How To Disappear Completely (2000)

There are seriously so many depressing Radiohead tracks to choose, which I guess is why Radiohead is the favoured band of many suicide candidate (taking over from Waterloo Sunset by the Kinks, which has always been a popular suicide track).

This dirge could put a serious damper on any situation.

Video

5. Muse – Microcuts (2001)

In the same vain as the Aphex Twin track, this is for those angry moments. A constant build up with some insanely unhinged and worrying falsetto from Matt Bellamy – this song really makes me quite violent and unpleasant before I pop and break down in the middle of all the havoc I’ve created.

Video

4. Johnny Cash – Hurt (2002, original by Nine Inch Nails 1994)

I can absolutely guarantee there isn’t a person with a soul who is able to hold back the tears on this one. Even if you don’t really know Johnny’s music that well, you’ll still somehow find yourself emotionally attached to every note and word.

Even worse is to watch the video with the images of a visibly ailing Cash looking back on his legendary career. This makes for some serious drama that’s impossible to deny. Let the waterworks fly!

Video

3. Trivium – Throes of Perdition (2008)

More anger here from the Trivium lads! A track about the spasm and pains of losing your soul, which is a lot like the feelings you get when your heart is ripped to shreds. This tied with metalcore screaming and riffery plus a bottle of gin – you’re in for a depressing evening!

Video

2. Puff Daddy – I’ll be Missing you by  (1997)

As far as it’s a tribute to someone you miss, this track surprisingly touched me in a way that I never thought it could. Taking melodies from the Police track ‘Every Breath You Take’ and the American Spiritual ‘Ill Fly Away’ as well as Barber’s Adagio for Strings’ (in the full version) with Diddy’s heartfelt raps, the track brings up memories of those passed on and love lost. Surprisingly touching.

Video

1. P!nk – Just Like a Pill (2001)

This track alone is enough to make you want to top yourself, but the one outstandingly teeth grinding feature of this track happens in the chorus. I know about it because back in the day this track would bombard you in EVERY FUCKING SHOP IN STEVENAGE TOWN CENTRE.

Okay, listening to the chorus, there’s an incessant high pitched bell that follows the beat – listen out for it and you’ll begin to feel the urge to kill cute animals.

Video

You can write to Sanchez at the following address – 101 Gutter Street, Whiskey Avenue, SO3 5AD

RUSSIAN ROULETTE #1 | Bryan Ferry – Sensation

IN WHICH we take the Rogue jukebox for a test drive by loading up nearly 50,000 tracks and spinning the wheel to reveal a song at random. It could be good, it could be bad. It could just be a bunch of crazed animal noises, though we’re pretty sure we deleted that album long ago…

Anyway, on with the show – let’s spin that wheel!

ARTIST: Bryan Ferry

TRACK: Sensation

ALBUM: Boys and Girls

YEAR: 1985

This opening track sets the mood for Ferry’s first post-Roxy Music solo album, though this is his sixth in all.

Whereas previous efforts largely comprised hammily ululated covers of classic pop and r’n'b songs, Boys and Girls picks up where Roxy left off, adding a louche nocturnal twist to Avalon‘s satin sumptuousness.

Similar in vibe, tempo and texture to the hits ‘Slave To Love’ and ‘Don’t Stop The Dance’ (also featured on Boys and Girls), ‘Sensation’ sees Bryan crooning vampishly over a mid-tempo new wave beat.

The backing track is pure Roxy, although that’s Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour creating those Eno-esque textures on guitar, while the bass prowls around like a panther that somehow found its way into the city night.

‘Sensation’ and the Boys And Girls album secrete an air thick with cologne, hairspray and cigarette smoke. Lashings of lipstick mark the rim of every spilt cocktail glass while residual tracks of various powders and sexual mucus are dashed liberally over fine art-deco furniture. And all one can do is sit and reflect eternally on exactly how it feels to have finally become so inhuman – so God-like – revelling in the aftermath of some new and terrible kind of hangover.

A master of deception, Bryan’s appeal from the beginning had always been his ambiguity. From the eerie, androgynous models bedecking Roxy’s various album covers, to the sinisterly glamorous mood of his music; exactly how this seedy artform could be borne out of the rough industrial wastes of 1970′s Sheffield is anyone’s guess.

words by Charlie Frame

ROGUE PRESENTS | The MasqueRave

The Rogue Collective will be working in association with London Victoria and Keech Cottage Children’s Hospice for their next instalment of eclectic entertainment at Club 85, Hitchin.

Billed as a charity fundraising event, the collective promise to deliver a neon-inspired Venetian ball, where personal identity (although possibly required at the door on entry) should very much remain hidden by way of mask until the stroke of midnight: when participants will be encouraged to unveil their true face during the ceremonial culmination of what might be Hitchin’s first ever Masquerave!

Don’t have a mask? Better face facts! The Rogue Collective are here to help you!

That’s right, you needn’t fret if your freckles are free from façade, for we will facilitate a mask-making workshop throughout the evening, where you can create your very own disguise, with all materials and masks provided. Of course, if you would like to bring along anything that could contribute to the decorating of masks then please do.

But this mask-ed madness is merely one slice of our evening-pie!

The Rogue Magician will also make his presence known amidst the day-glo frenzy with his tricks and mind bending antics! This episode even features an auction of promises. Meaning you could be set to win anything from guitar lessons, to a Swedish body massage!

And It wouldn’t be Rogue without our personally hand-picked and summer-ripe rabble of bands and DJ’s:

Uncle Debauchery
Mummy will be proud of her new favourite brother – that’s Uncle D to you children! Provided of course, she is at home with the blues-inspired dirge of bands like Kyuss, Orange Goblin and Clutch. Hailing from Brighton, this gruff group of stoner-metal mentalists promise a set fuelled by riffage guaranteed to evoke a womb-like state, fronted by the Waits-esque gravelly tones of Mike Fallon, who also happens to be a beloved member of Rogue’s extended family. Like an uncle, if you will, only debauched!

T_!
You’d be pressed to find any DJ in North Herts more synonymous with Dubstep than T_!. Well known for being ferociously active in the scene for many years now, we are honoured to have him at the club for a set full of the best tunes this genre has to offer. T_! can be found playing out regularly in Cambridge at the famous Stink Like Sock night, which boasts an amazing line-up of DJ’s and an incredibly bottom-heavy sound system to boot!

Hazel Turnock
We’ve been pining over this one for some time now! And to no surprise either, since Hazel has always blazed her own trail, the fruits of which beget a unique blend of retro acoustic rockabilly! We’re very pleased to have landed thumb-first on this Screaming Cockroach, having featured a recording of Get Over Here And Fall In Love With Me on our November podcast for Rogue’s Victorian Ball. Hazel will now be performing a solo set at this months Masquerave.

Alto wit…

Shirobon - Chip-and-Pin-Core from Norf Lan’daan. Preying on the nostalgia of the now 25-30 bracket’s penchant for reliving 8-16 bit coin-gobbling gaming in a dance-floor context! Ch-ching!

… With more DJ’s spinning the best in alternative disco ’til 1am, including DJ Antlion who’ll be playing out Dubstep and Drum and Bass.

- words by danloss.

ROGUE MUSIC, HITCHIN presents…

THE MASQUERAVE BALL

FRIDAY 25th JUNE

CLUB 85

74 Whinbush Road

Hitchin, Hertfordshire

- all proceeds to -

KEECH COTTAGE CHILDREN’S HOSPICE

- music from -

Shirobon

Hazel Turnock

Uncle Debauchery

DJ Antlion

DJ T_!

- plus -

Mask-craft Workshop

Magic

Auctions

Games

and more!

£5 on the door from 7.45pm til 1am!

EVENTS | Rogue Century Rocks Magazine

ROGUE CENTURY ROCKS took place on the 24th April at Club 85.

Our man with the cam, Barry Hobbs at LightFromSound has created this awesome online book feturing photos and questionnaires from the event:

http://www.wix.com/lightfromsound/ROGUEMAG

Nice one Bareth!

PHOTOGRAPHY | The Future Was Broken [contains flashing images]

BACK IN MARCH 2010…

When the future was broken…

Rogue presented THE FUTURE IS BROKEN – a dystopian gig at Club 85, featuring The Mavis Krank, Monster Monster, To The Moon and Tom Power.

Using a homemade experimental stereoscope I created these ‘3D’ images and a few confused looks.

Now presented here, in animated form for your enjoyment…

You’ll be pleased to know the future is fixed! Well at least long enough for us to put on another event this Saturday.

ROGUE CENTURY ROCKS! A Hollywood themed evening at Club 85, Hitchin.
Starring ONE DROP, THE DEFEKTERS, HAIL TO THE ESKIMO and STU O’CONNOR with the usual ROGUE madness.

Check out the event here…

Barry Hobbs – Light from Sound

ROGUE NIGHTS | Rogue Century Rocks!

JUST WHEN you thought it was save to go back into Club 85….

- roguemusic.co.uk presents -

R O G U E  C E N T U R Y  R O C K S !

Opens 24th April at 7:45pm til 1am

* Starring *

ONE DROP

THE DEFEKTERS

HAIL TO THE ESKIMO

STU O’CONNOR

Plus DJs til 1am playing all sorts of different music from punk and indie to dubstep and electro – Life, is indeed, like a box of chocolates.

FEELIN LUCKY PUNK? WELL DO YA?

Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, we walked into Club 85 and asked for another gig. And whaddya know? They gave us one!

Continuing with the Rogue tradition of brilliant bands, eclectic DJs, crazy costumes and optional liver abuse (frankly my dear, we don’t give a damn), Rogue returns with one of the best rosters we’ve seen yet – this time with a Hollywood theme.

See you there!

Admission: £4 on the door.
Rated 16 (bring ID).

Click here to add yourself to the Facebook event

ASTROLOGY | Spring-on Mars

Welcome to the Equinox!

Today is officially the first day of spring! When day and night are of equal length, which also marks the beginning of another astrological year with the sun slipping from dreamy Pisces into the more focused sign of Aries.

Mars, ruler of Aries, goes direct after months of retrograde motion too. Things should really start to get moving, since Mars is the planet of action and always holds a stake in the proceedings with a seasonal push for all that is new! On the shadow side, this return from retrogression could mean months of pent up frustration comes bubbling to the surface, to erupt in the weeks proceeding, as there is a lot of raw energy in the pot – so watch for out for that! Hopefully, for most of us it means picking up where we left off towards the end of 2009, in terms of projects and activities that we were driving but, for whatever reason, they had to take a back seat. Nevertheless, Mars’ new sense of direction is set to amplify the incipient spring; a time rife with new beginnings, moving forward and – finally – not looking back!

The Mars retrograde cycle is analogous to reversing your car down the drive to pick up some forgotten item which was crucial to your plans. Forging ahead becomes waylaid because, naturally, you need to look over your shoulder to account for that really annoying blind spot, lest you mount the turf and wallop your prize gnome! (No, you do not have a rear-view mirror either; it was broken off during some late night hanky-panky when Mars initially entered Leo in October).  It’s quite a long driveway too; covered in gravel and riddled with pot-holes from the recent season’s snow.

So you’ve recovered whatever tool it was you needed and you’re looking dead ahead. Revving your engine, you change gear from reverse, eyes firmly fixed on your target! ‘Better late than never‘ you say under your breath… And it’s here we find ourselves, as Mars returns to direct motion. Tracks have already been laid during our hitherto attempted exit-come-reversal but, what would we do differently if we could do it all again? Expect to be retracing martian themes until at least May 2010.

On a personal note, I often wait in the wings with pent curiosity, to see how exactly each planetary transit might manifest. I already knew that Mars was in my 7th house, ruling partnerships and one-to-one affairs. It just so happened that on the day of Mars’ Station (the point where a planet appears to hang in the sky before resuming direct motion) I had an appraisal booked in at my office where I had the chance to air all of my laundry with regards to work (the timing of which was at the choosing of my superiors; maybe they’re all astrologers too, conspiring to correspond with the sky’s alignments. Trust no-one!). The outcome of said appraisal was that, going forward (!), I would work to become more pro-active and assertive (Mars) in getting what I needed from my colleagues (7th house) at the request of The Management (Leo: the leader).

How all this might play out for you, generally speaking, is revealed in the following horoscopes – depending on my ability to correctly delineate, but the sky-no-lie. Detailed chart analysis is strongly advised! should you prefer to get down to the nitty-gritty and pinpoint some key dates when Mars’ forward motion might really come through for you, let me know your particulars and I’ll look into it.

Aries
Along came Venus! The goddess provides you with a nice warm blanket for the coming weeks whilst your ruling planet, Mars, gets back on his war-horse, finally. Things are starting to move forward and YOU RULE with the god of war in Leo; it’s time to conquer, neigh? Pick a target!

Taurus
A hush love affair, or clandestine financial endeavour is coming to an end; secrets are soon to be revealed when you’re ruler, Venus, comes out of hiding in your twelfth house. Mars’ direct motion suggests a few home improvements might be a way of channeling the raw energy coming your way too, or you might just charge like a steed at your spouse, only to get stuck in the wall!

Gemini
Mars adds nitrous to the winged-boots of the messenger, so i’d better make this reading a warning to everybody else in the zodiac: If there’s any kind of fuss or kerfuffle in your neighbourhood in the coming weeks, it’s probably a Gemini. You’ll be out of there before they know what hit ‘em though. Venus works magic in your wider world of friends and associates too!

Cancer
Your fiscal faculties finally start to get the recognition they deserve this season. Don’t let the nay-sayers of yore convince you otherwise. That’s all in the past and shouldn’t matter now with stars like these. Your insights are second to none, so much so that you might give the author of ‘How to sell snow to the Eskimos’ a run for his money with a rival best-seller. Quite literally! Skills, my crabby friend, you got ‘em!

Leo
A return to form is promised in terms of vitality, and your overall sense of well-being can finally improve. The only danger is, now that Mars has direction in your sign once again, you’re likely to push a little too hard after months of biding. May 2010 sees the clearest of skies, right in time for the chaos of the summer to follow.

Virgo
“You don’t throw your life away, going inside” or so the John Frusciante song goes. Mars may just let you off scot-free this time around, so long as you’ve no skeletons in your closet. Either way, through peaceful contemplation or the Smack, Bang, Wallop of a meteorite arriving in your front lawn, it’s time to take stock and prepare, ready for the next exciting phase!

Libra
Not bad stars for a Libran, I have to admit. Venus suggests smooth sailing (and even treats!) in your most important relationships, whilst Mars’ return from months of retrogression heats up your wider social sphere. You’re being encouraged to take charge in a group effort, whilst keeping a keen eye on the collective temperature. Piece of cake!

Scorpio
Pro-vocation: a wordplay of my own doing, thanks! Really though, with Mars resuming battle-status where your career is concerned, you can make leaps and bounds in the coming weeks that feel all too long overdue. Patience in this realm notwithstanding. Breathe!

Sagittarius
I think of a self-appointed Judge Dredd when considering Mars’ effect on you at the moment. But you are NOT the law. Then again “who am I to judge?” – there be your mantra for the coming season. The good news is you’ve an unmatched sense of adventure about you, which should be a delight for anyone in your vicinity to behold, so long as they agree wholeheartedly with every word that escapes your mouth!

Capricorn
The vacuum of space is fascinating. If you ever find yourself floating in the big black, be sure keep your helmet on wont you? It sucks so hard out there that the second the potential arrives for the vacuum to be filled, it will gobble up all it can, only to return to a state of emptiness, ready for the next victim. Something shared is most definitely coming to an end, creating a void to be filled once more.

Aquarius
The pressure signified from having all those planets in your sign until recently has lifted. Spring is a fresh start, full of new possibilities, and that goes doubly for you, having finally cleared the decks. Relationships come into focus now with Mars’ imminent return to forward motion, this being the major player in your life at the moment. Keep your cool where all things one-to-one are concerned!

Pisces
Jupiter is quite happy to be in your sign for the next year; a place where he sees endless liquid opportunity. You could be spoilt for choice though, so much that it leads you into indecisive paralysis. Don’t dwell for too long. This is your year, and both Mars and Venus are giving you the green light to get things moving at work again.

A taste of springs to come

I’m off the Avebury now to welcome the spring in style: meditating to a giant gong!

dan@roguemusic.co.uk

THE LOWDOWN | The Mavis Krank

“HEY GUYS,” WE hear you cry, “we’re really psyched about your upcoming dystopian-themed live event, The Future Is Broken, but what are the bands like?”

Well, we’ve got a top line-up in store, incorporating the superb To The Moon, arcade mayhem from Monster Monster and of course the talented troubadour Tom Power.

But one band we’re especially excited to have grace the stage at Club 85 are the awesome power-trio The Mavis Krank.

Some of you may remember Brad Benford, bassist with those steam-punk psychos Droome who kicked things off at Rogue’s Victorian Ball.

The Krank are an entirely different beast, dishing out an onslaught of instrumental post-rock and metal designed to sear the skin off your face.

This video mash-up by talented editor Mark Garvey speaks for itself. Enjoy…

If you wanna hear more Mavis Krank, go visit their MySpace. Go on, do it!

ROGUE NIGHTS | The Future Is Broken

We’ve got a new club night, and it’s called NO APPEAL!

SO WE’VE been really enjoying putting on the occasional Rogue nights for you over the years, with all the bands and costumes and stage props and drunken stage banter; but we started getting misty-eyed for the old days when we would get a bunch of mates together with a bunch of records or CDs or MP3s or what-have-you and just have a piss-up.

That’s why we’ve decided to host a monthly session every first Thursday of the month at the Remix nightclub and bar in Hitchin, featuring knock-out tunes and cheap-as-chips entry.

Simply put, it’s an assortment of music from heavy metal to drum’n'bass dubstep, to indie rock and everything in between, from 8pm. The first one’s on Thursday 4th March and will cost a measly £3 to get in.