65daysofstatic - We Were Exploding Anyway

Many bands switch musical direction well into their careers. Some are more extreme, like Theatre of Tragedy moving from doom metal to electronica. Others are more subtle, like Editors moving from guitar rock to a more grungy synth-rock sound. 65daysofstatic's latest creation, We Were Exploding anyway, is more an evolution of style.

Traditionally billed as a post-rock/math-rock group, previous albums have been referred to as the soundtrack to the end of the world. Epic instrumental rhythms with building layers, soaring riffs and sudden and sweeping changes in tempo that make listening to the music like looking out into a grim, broken future.

Much of this style remains, but in place of the ever changing rhythm structure of their post-rock roots come sampled dance beats, repeating bass lines and simpler, yet evocative melody. Many bands have tried this and come out all sounding alike. Anyone can put a sample into a loop and claim it to be art. 65dos take this to another level, overlaying their signature breaks, frantic drums and swooping, driving riffs to produce something else entirely. Is it dance? Is it rock? I honestly don't know any more.

From the rather sublime start in Mountainhead, building through the album via Dance Dance Dance, Come To Me and Go Complex, the album builds and builds. Unlike many front-loaded albums, this gets better and better, culminating in the epic Tiger Girl, a masterpiece of both dance and post-rock.

The Cure frontman Robert Smith provides vocal on Come To Me to great effect. It's unusual to have vocal at all on a 65dos track, but it's interwoven with the other instruments with a thick baseline to keep it interesting, to stand alongside even the best Bloc Party remix. A number of times through the album the band appear to be veering toward conventional rave/dance territory with repeating sampled loops, only to add a layer of their own, completely blowing it apart and bringing it straight back to being 100% 65dos.

A world apart from my favourite album, One Time For All Time, which painted a picture of a bleak future of desert towns, ghosts of civilisation, We Were Exploding instead paints images of a neon future, full of life, love and humanity. An altogether more upbeat and uplifting album that builds excitement in the listener, to peak on a monumental high as the album comes to a close.

Fans of 65dos will be split on this one. Those preferring the more dance-oriented direction the band has taken since The Destruction Of Small Ideas will be very happy, while those wanting a return to Fall Of Math may be disappointed. For those of us who want music to actually feel like something, this is a great album that will finish all too soon, leaving you wondering what just happened, and why there isn't more of it.

WhatsApp? Nothing, what's app with you?

Keeping in touch has never been easier. Modern smartphones have so many ways to communicate it's sometimes hard to know which one to use. SMS is great for keeping in touch with any mobile phone user, but costs per message unless you shell out for an "unlimited" plan. Instant messaging is great, as long as both parties can get online. And of course, managing different sets of contacts can be a pain.

Wouldn't it be cool if there were a way of sending a message to someone and, if they were offline, having it sent as an SMS message, but if they were online to appear as an instant message? I think so, and so do WhatsApp Inc., developers of WhatsApp, a messaging service for iPhone, Blackberry, and (soon) Android.

WhatsApp is a beautiful amalgamation of synchronise and asynchronous messaging options. The iPhone version presents a UI that bears and uncanny resemblance to the native SMS interface. It uses your existing iPhone contacts list instead of having a separate buddy list, and in its simplest form can be used as a drop-in replacement for SMS for those contacts that use it.

Of course, if that were the extent of it, then you may as well use normal SMS, right? But it's not. For a start, all messages are free and use the data connection rather than the GSM/UMTS connection for sending messages via a central server. If the recipient is offline (i.e. not using WhatsApp at that precise moment) they will receive a message via the iPhone notifications system, just like an SMS. They can then start up WhatsApp and continue the conversation in real time just like IM.

The central server concept works very well. It has been used to ensure that WhatsApp messages are even more reliable than SMS messages. Recipient has no data connection? They can still retrieve pending messages as soon as they do. There is even a handy UI hint for the sender. One little tick by a message indicates receipt by the WhatsApp server, and two little ticks indicate successful delivery to the recipient.

And that's not all! Sending of pictures, sound clips and movies (3GS required) is also supported and, like the text messages, free of charge. There is also an IM style "status" message that can be configured as the user wishes. A nice feature is the setting up of timed statuses. Create an "Out to lunch" status that falls back to "Available" after an hour, and it's saved for quick selection later.

A full set of options is presented to the user so they can configure it how they prefer. Hiding or showing a preview of the message, automatic saving of media to the film roll and even setting of background image is quick and easy. It also supports a landscape mode for us two-thumb typists.

One particularly nice addition is the ability to email chat logs from within the app so they can be archives off-device. Clearing the logs to keep the app tidy doesn't mean losing any history.

All good so far. What's the catch? Well, obviously your contacts have to be running some version of it to receive your messages, and it costs 59p to install. I think that's it. This is a well written, solid app that provides a great way of merging IM and SMS in one seamless interface.

Saviours and The Engines Of Armageddon @ Corp, 4th May 2010

There are weird gigs, then there was the Saviours/Sourvein gig at the Corp last Tuesday. Tanzeelat had noticed that thrash/power/doom/groove metal band The Engines Of Armageddon were playing support for Saviours and, having seen them supporting Northern Oak back in Feb, we thought it a good idea to go along.

After the obligatory warmup in the Dev Cat, we headed down the road. On the door was a sign saying that joint headliners Sourvein (which still looks like it's spelled wrong to me) had cancelled due to the Icelandic ash cloud. The doorman was incredulous, and we were amused. It was the start of a very odd evening.

On entering the Corp, we realised something was missing. People. There was the barman, and the guy and the sound desk, and ... us. The barman asked if we were their only two presales for the evening and seemed surprised that we weren't. Looked like at least two more might join us then?

After pottering around the deserted club for a bit, The Engines decided to get started. Just as memory served, they were bloody brilliant. They played a number of new tracks, including Obelisk and The Bank of England, among other tracks from the album. The political slant remains, along with the CAPITAL LETTERS FOR EMPHASIS, in their quest to bring true freedom to mankind through the medium of metal.

About halfway through the set, Bill Fisher, vocalist and drummer, asked how many had turned up. Saviours were stood with us watching the gig, and told him there were two. He dedicated the rest of the set to us. We were honoured, especially as they finished with their anti-RFID anthem Fuck The Chip. Tanzeelat was a little disappointed that they didn't play The Doom Engine, but not that much. It was still a great set.

A bit of milling about and saying hello to the band while beers were got, and Saviours decided to waste no time and crack on with the second set. I popped down through the ever decreasing doors and took position in the middle of the room with The Engines.

About this time a couple of other guys wandered in. They looked surprised and hung around the back of the room looking little lost. Meanwhile, Saviours were in full swing.

Neither of us had ever heard of Saviours, a stoner metal band from California, and weren't really expecting them to be "our thing". Tanzeelat had already made the mistake of telling someone we'd only come to see The Engines, only to realise it was Austin Barber, vocalist from Saviours.

Fortunately, they proved to also be bloody good. Completely different, but Tanzeelat was so impressed that he went and bought the CD after they'd finished. I also picked up an Engines Of Armageddon T-shirt.

We noticed that the mysterious other blokes had vanished as soon as the set ended, so we chatted to the bands for a bit and tried to convince them to come to the pub with us. Unfortunately they were driving to Nottingham straight after the gig so couldn't, but said to see them in Nottingham, their home turf, where they would gladly get plastered with us.

A couple of last drinks at the Dev Cat, one of which I managed to drop on myself, and we headed homeward. The Engines of Armageddon are playing Sheffield again in a couple of weeks. I wonder if more will turn up?