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HOOD
Cycle of Days and Seasons (Domino)
Given
the term ‘British post-rock’, you would be forgiven for immediately
thinking of Mogwai. While it is true that Mogwai are the
most successful of the bunch, there are a number of other bands
ploughing a similar sonic furrow that are deserving of a mention.
One of these bands
is Hood. Signed to Domino, they buck the current post-rock
fashion of eschewing vocals. Instead, they employ a haunting male/female
vocal style that is reminiscent of Prolapse toned down to a whisper.
Half-heard lyrics referring to passing seasons, sun-less skies,
ghost towns and casual misanthropy contribute to the defiantly
ephemeral nature of the album’s imagery, right down to the scratchy
monochrome photo’s on the sleeve.
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What sets Hood aside from
their peers, however, is the music. Employing scratchy cello,
guitar looped backwards and metallic, inhuman samples (one seems to
be a broken down photocopier), the band achieve a sound that is both
removed, distant and ethereal and yet also hauntingly existential: every
note seems to prompt some long forgotten recognition in the listener.
In this, they are not unlike fellow space rockers Labradford.
Album closer "Cycle of Days
and Seasons" is comparable to the sample-led melancholia of Bristol’s
Portishead. Here, Hood prove themselves almost entirely original
in a genre that too often engages in sonic inbreeding.
A masterpiece of superlative
experimentation. 9.5
TE
Buy it from
CDNow
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Oval
Szenariodisk (Thrill
Jockey)
To
me, the best electronic music out there is the kind that spews
out new and amorphous sounds that cannot be described accurately
in words. You can’t listen to Autechre or Colongib (to use
the first examples that come to mind as I type this) and say,
“This is a guitar”, or “Those are organs”, etc. When describing
this kind of music, it is much easier to do one of two things:
1)delineate the process through which the music was created, or
2) use your imagination to describe what the music sounds like.
For this review, I will attempt to do both.
Oval are the brainchild
of German artist Markus Popp, who creates some of the quirkiest
and hypnotic music ever heard by sampling and looping the skipping
of defective compact discs. The effect is much more musical
than an unprepared listener would assume, however. The CD
lists eleven tracks, but only six of them are actual “songs”;
the other five are minute-long interludes that serves as bridges
from one song to another. But who cares about that?
Okay, I’m finished with the first task.
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Now, on to the second.
The opening track, “Episonik”, sounds like a seagull flapping its wings
hyperactively while trapped in the machinery of an enormous pipe organ.
“Motif” sounds like an orchestra slowly drowning in the Atlantic Ocean;
I warn you in advance, turn down the bass on your equalizer while listening
to this song or you will have to buy new speakers. “Kardio V”
sounds like a nebulous mass of phased vinyl static wandering around
a factory in which musicians play bottles of glass with violin bows,
as owls unobtrusively hoot in the background. That last sentence
freaks me out. This is the best Oval material I’ve heard since
their landmark Systemisch album, and a return to form after the
above-average but underdeveloped 1997 releases Dok. 8
SP
Thrill
Jockey, PO Box 476794, Chicago, IL 60647
Buy it from
CDNow
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Butterfly
Child Soft Explosives (HitIt!)
Actually released in 1998, with barely a warble, but I didn’t
even know of its existence till about a month ago, and I think
it deserves an awful lot more attention than it actually received.
Butterfly Child is basically the work of one Joe Cassidy, and
first appeared around the beginning of this decade alongside counterparts
Papa Sprain on AR Kane’s label, H Ark!, with a couple of mesmeric
12"s before releasing an album, Onomatopoeia, on
Rough Trade. The album garnered much praise, and rightly
so—it is a beautiful collection of carefully pieced together pop
collages, all hanging together by a thread, and sidling up nicely
alongside fellow experimenters Bark Psychosis and Moonshake in
sheer audacity. Then followed another great album, The
Honeymoon Suite, this time on Dedicated, which I was never
sure until recently actually saw the light of day. That
work was a more together album, using conventional song structures
and a more conventional band set up, while maintaining Joe’s lyrical
and melodic flights of fancy. Anyway, perhaps because of
the rather messy release schedule, it sank without a trace.
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So that’s the history—I’d
thought BC had disappeared off the face of the earth until I discovered
info about this record on the Internet and instantly snapped it up from
Yalplay. HitIt! Is an American
label, none of whose other bands mean anything to me. But this
is record is every bit as good as any of Joe’s previous work.
Continuing in that more conventional direction, this is an album of
out-and-out pop songs, the kind that ride peaks and troughs of emotion
with complete ease, that drip triumph and melancholy with every chord.
The lyrics are as oblique as ever, though compared to his first records
when words where sung entirely for the way they sound rather than what
they mean, these are pretty straightforward. There’s a starry-eyed
quality to his delivery, like he’s drunk on love, on worship.
And he has a truly beautiful voice, soaring over lush strings (real,
not keyboard), guitars, the full works.
There’s just one track that really grates, "Number One", because it
sounds just like an Oasis anthem. Admittedly it’s one they’d be
pretty proud of, like "Look Back in Anger" or something, but it just
seems to be taking BC’s conventionality a little too far. But
the rest of the album more than makes up for it—the cooing on "Holy
Hymn", the Noel Coward touches on "Mad Bird", the British summer garden
atmosphere of the far away vocals and piano of "When You Return", the
Moose-esque country of "Someone’s Sister" . . . I could go on and on.
But I think you get the idea:
seek and buy this album and you will forever have a beautiful hour at
your fingertips. 9.5
JM
Buy
it from Yalplay
or Insound!
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Lenola
The Day the Laughter Smelled one-sided LP (Black
Bean & Placenta Tape Club)
Sean
Padilla (of Cocker Spaniels/Tangerine Tapes fame) for a while
now has been telling anyone who will listen what a great band
Lenola are, and this record represents my first opportunity to
test him out. I can see why Sean likes them so much—they
sound kind of like a four-piece version of Cocker Spaniels, with
less hiss. In other words, they display a fondness for the
tremelo signature of MBV. So it is, in places, a fairly
generic sound, reminding me of other American shoegazers like
Swirlies and Medicine.
Except that they’re
by no means a one-trick pony, with the instrumental "Pause &
Serve" displaying a nice acoustic/sound effects contrast, and
"Peat Gatherers Honeymoon" is simply a fine song with some guitar
feedback nicely complementing a single, finely plucked guitar
and some plaintive vocals. "I’m in Your Band" outsrips them
in all in terms of sonic experimentation, a neat combo of kind
of Sergio Leone-esque guitar dabbling, a reverbed drum machine,
and other squirts of sound. And the final track comes over
all Flying Saucer Attack-like with droning guitar and gentle harmonics.
All of this makes for a great record, and a big Respect to Sean
for the reccomendation: his shit is down. 8 JM
Black
Bean and Placenta Tape Club, 14847 Septo Street, Mission Hills,
CA 91345 ptc@ix.netcom.com
Lenola:
884 Greentree Sq. Rt. 73N, Marlton, NJ 08053, USA lenola@rsabbs.com
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The
Ecstasy of Saint Theresa Susurrate (Clairecords)
A re-release from 1992, The Ecstasy of Saint Theresa enjoyed a
brief 15 minutes courtesy of John Peel, coming over to record
a brilliant session that took the dispassion of Bleach and married
it to post-rock structures. This is the album that was barely
released at the time. and it’s fitting that it should come
from Clairecords, the label that brought us an MBV tribute album.
For this Czech band’s debt to the shoegazers is obvious from the
get-go. And I’d be lying if I didn’t say I wasn’t a little
disappointed not to a hear a recording of that Peel session track
that really has kept me enthralled since it was broadcast.
(As these things go, I managed to record it but didn’t get the
song’s title.) It’s a stretched out song, the guitar heavily
delayed, and this bell/timpani sample playing throughout.
It’s cool, and deserves to be released too.
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Anyway, back to this album.
I went through three phases with this record—first I loved it for the
nostalgia it evoked; then I found it disappointing for its lack of originality
and discernible tunes; then, finally, I fell fully in love with it.
You see, what at first sounds like an impenetrable mass of badly recorded
shoegazing noise, soon reveals itself to be a densely layered, parsely
mash of a sound. Repeated listens throw up simple melodies, sweet
songs, married to dissonance à la "Cigarette in My Bed"-era MBV.
The drums hit hard, the bass grinds, and chainsaw guitars shoot out
harmonics, swerving brake-sounds, and pure dirt. First listen
makes it hard to believe you could ever be humming these tunes, but
I am right now, and I haven’t even listened to this in a while.
The Czech Republic has always
been something of a creative surprise. My main musical association
with with the country is Velvet Underground, thanks to Vaclav Havel,
but I think The Ecstasy of Saint Theresa make equally fine ambassadors.
8.5
JM
Buy
it from Melody
Bar
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Death
In Vegas The Contino Sessions (Deconstruction)
NME’s latest
hype, and I fell for it. Really enjoyed DIV’s last album,
but this is so ho-hum it’s not true. Lots of "star" guests—Bobby
Gillespie (trying his best to sound like Bob Dylan), Dot Allison
(formerly of crappy One Dove), and Iggy Pop—don’t make for a star
album. And while a community choir might have worked for
Jason Pierce, it doesn’t do much for Richard Fearless. The
last one took a few listens to get into, so I’m not going to write
this off just yet. But that album was at least immediately
remarkable; The Contino Sessions, on the other hand, sounds like
just another dance record. What was formerly a pretty fierce,
complex collage, is now a bland and flat field.
Actually . . . just
had another listen—thought I’d better, seeing as the last was
such a grower—and I liked it much better this time. Dot
Allison is still tuneless, trying to sound ethereal but instead
producing a mediocre Lush record. Bobby Gillespie is still
pretentious, with a definite Mark E Smith thing going on, and
the backing is rather monotonous (basically two notes, a semi-tone
apart, played one after the other, with a simple drum beat).
Both tunes are pretty uninspiring and familiar. But Iggy
Pop’s "Aisha" is great, some of that former menace creeping back
in, combining with this rock groove thang. And Iggy’s monologue
sounds like it comes from a Godspeed You Black Emperor! record—gritty
and full of impending destruction. Equally thrilling is
"Lever St", with a big, mellow hammond organ creating an atmosphere
very bit as melancholic as Ry Cooder’s Paris, Texas.
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The other tracks are all
similarly pleasant—don’t get me wrong, I enjoy listening to this record,
and shall probably do so regularly—but it’s hardly "astonishing", as
the NME put it. Tuneful, yes, but groundbreaking, no. At times
it comes across like a dance band trying to make a rock record—there’s
very few mechanical beats here, but plenty of strummy guitar and clunky
drums. And bits that simply pass you by.
It’s clear that in the past
couple of years NME’s policy has changed from build ‘em up, knock
‘em down, to build them up, let them knock themselves down (not quite
as catchy but you get the idea). The mainstream music scene in
the UK is absolutely appalling—I can think of only one mainstream band
who has released a good record this year, and that’s Blur. There
really isn’t much else out there right now. But the press have
got to have someone to put on their front covers, so anything half decent
gets inflated into a masterpiece, and fools like me get suckered in.
7 JM
Buy it from
Audiostreet
or CDNow
 |
Madrigali
Magri Lische (no label)
An impressive album
of Italian post-rock, kind of like Slint on downers—stretched
out pieces, stripped of melody. Guitars are immaculately
plucked, guttural voices whisper, Caspar Brötzman style.
There’s lots of quiet here, but it’s not the peaceful kind—it’s
full of import, threat, mencace. The chords jar and the
drums clatter, and this voice keeps egging you on, making this
an uneasy listen. If this continued for the whole album,
I wouldn’t be too eager to come back—it does make for intriguing
listening, but I wouldn’t say it’s wholly pleasurable.
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But then, half way through,
I don’t know if it was the beer I was drinking last run through, but,
suddenly, hints of melody creep in, the guitars are allowed to creep
up the fretboard, treble is heard. And it’s like the gates of
Valhalla being thrown open (er, I imagine). It’s Spiderland
in Italian, and I’m left in heaven. You see suddenly there’s the
great goddess Melody shining over; the treble creeps in, and what was
actually always there, underneath the atones (if there is such a word),
flutters all over it.
Okay, so I’m getting a bit
carried away, but I think you probably get the idea . . . 8
JM
MM,
24, Strada San Pietro, 14049 Nizza Monferrato, AT - Italy
madrigalimagri@geocities.com
ISVN H.G.L.BZ.VX
CDR (BZ)
Not usually a one for this
kind of keyboard- and digital studio-based stuff. You know the
kind of thing—soul-less synthesizer muzak which dribbles along aimlessly,
not a human touch in sight. But this CDR by ISVN is better than
that, for it remembers things like plot, structure, atmosphere, feel.
Over five tracks tension is built, a brooding atmosphere is created,
befitting the austere black packaging.
It begins quietly, little
ticks and indefinable electronic squirts, with this kind of "astral"
keyboard sound rising to the fore. The you notice the little
noises are structured, a delicate, rhythmic motif which is vaguely
Pole- or Funkstörung-like. And the astral keyboards breeze
on for a few minutes until the sound is taken over by these electronic
cicada sounds (!?) before it goes a little more choppy and techno-y.
(Lord, this is a terrible thing to try and describe!) Then finally
the astral sounds creep back in, accompanied by creepy vocal samples.
The rest of the CD continues in a similar manner, gradually getting
spookier (in a good way).
Criticisms? Well,
it is occasionally in danger of slipping into New Age meandering—I’d
like this more if it were a little more techno—more Pole-like.
It could do with a little more rhythmic intensity, just to lift it
out of the studio and onto the dancefloor. Of course, this is
just how I’d like to see it develop—ISVN probably isn’t interested
in the dancefloor, or my crappy advice for that matter. Ho hum.
7 JM
BZ
Media, 20 Lakeside Gardens, Merthyr Tydfill, CF48 1EN
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Sebadoh
The Sebadoh (Domino)
First Sebadoh record I've bought for a little while actually.
I think the last one before this that I actlly possess is Bubble
and Scrape, which was pretty ace. But since then they've
become a little too rock for me, Lou keeps throwing rockstar
tantrums and his sonmgs have lost all their fragility and charm.
Sure, he can still write a neat hook, as "Flame" attests, but
that's all they are, hooks, destined to be played on the Evening
Session. ut then I saw that Yalplay was selling this off
nice and cheap so, feeling frivolous, I snapped it up.
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And
it's half good. Well, at least it has given me some pleasure.
But not nearly as much as III. I mean, this is hardly a
record to cherish—there's no intimacy, no soul. Just songs, ground out
because there's an album to recorded, a tour do be done, units to shift.
One bright spot is Jason's songs, which have been reined in slightly—they're
slightly less self-indulgent this time, and he puts in some pretty smart
guitar licks too.
But
one bright spot isn't enough to illuminate a whole album, and, given
Sebadoh's back catalogue, this record is really no more than a 6.
JM
Buy it from
Audiostreet
or CDNow
FARCES
WANNA MO Recording @ Home Plus Seven
Pardon my English
for a moment, but this some phenomenally weird shit!!! Farces
Wanna Mo are a loose conglomerate of musicians led by lyricist/producer
David W, whose voice over the course of this record can sound like
a sheep bleating tremulously, a Shakespearean actor having a mental
breakdown, or a white guy doing his best Ol’ Dirty Bastard imitation.
Just try sitting through this mercifully brief eight-song album without
busting a gut.
The background music mainly
sounds like bar-band guitar noodling with drum programming, and most
of the time it takes a back seat to David’s constant yelping about
nonsensical matters. David’s lyrics only become lucid when he’s
extolling the virtues of home recording, as on the title track and
“Excuses, Excuses”. Otherwise, he’s content to spew forth ruminations
such as “Why must you keep feeding him bird fertilizer?/I can’t
handle it/I’m full of shit”. “Be My Bio-Chem Baby” is what
Korn would sound like if they took a bunch of acid and watched a 24-hour
marathon of Monty Python’s Flying Circus episodes. The brilliant
“Toronto, Canada”, with its endearingly pretty melody, could have
been a pop song, but David chooses to subvert it with spoken-word
narration about crossing the Canadian border, as well as with his
standard schizophrenic “singing”. It’s my favorite song on the
record, because, unlike half of the material on the record, it sounds
like it has a structure, instead of three or four different ideas
thrown against a wall to see what sticks. The dissonant piano-based
song “Snake in Cat’s Pajamas” is also nice, and if David didn’t sound
stupid drunk when he sang it, “Litigate the Question” could possibly
be radio-friendly. The last song, the instrumental “Jacobsen’s
Organ”, fuses helicopter noises with what sounds like a cat mewling.
Music like this is hard to describe (which is a good thing), but also
hard to listen to (which is not necessarily a good thing). I
personally like this record, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to play
it around anyone else . . . 5
SP
farces@usa.net
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Catapault
Architecture of a Year (Black
Bean & Placenta Tape Club)
Alternately-tuned guitars strum delicate and beautiful melodies.
Songs mutate within seconds from quiet verses to loud choruses
to interminable one-chord jams. Synthesizers and tape manipulation
are weaved in and out of the mix in the subtlest manner.
British [I thought they were American? - Ed] guys singing
so quietly (as if they were afraid to place their lips on the
microphone) that you can barely make out the words. Catapault
seem poised on this album to become a more ambitious (and less
erratic) version of Hood. I love Hood, so you already know
I love Catapult. |
The
first song, “August 15th” starts off as an atonal, organ-based drone,
but ends up approximating what Mogwai would sound like if they had a
permanent vocalist: minor-key guitar noodling backed by muscular drumming,
climaxing in a deliciously loud crescendo. “Sound of Night” is a disarmingly
pretty ballad that manages to seamlessly integrate Caribbean rhythms.
“Next Door” is basically Isn’t Anything-era My Bloody Valentine without
all of the white noise. I would go out of my way to describe every
song on this record, because every song is consistently wonderful (even
if “Supersurreal” does lay the reverb and echo on a bit too thick).
However, I have an ever-growing pile of CDs to examine and dissect,
so I will conclude this review with these words: Architecture is one
of the best noise-pop records I’ve heard in a long time, and anyone
who has ears should buy it. Now. 9
SP
Black
Bean and Placenta Tape Club, 14847 Septo Street, Mission Hills, CA 91345
bbptc@ix.netcom.com
Squeaky Farina
Squeaky are, basically, what the Archers of Loaf would sound like
if they weren't so tired of being in a band. The distinctive
elements of the Archers' sound are all in place: martial 4/4 rhythms
pound away as crazy-tuned guitars wring limitless melodies out of
basic chord progressions, as two or three guys sing or holler hoarsely
above the din. However, the majority of Squeaky's output has a vitality
and enthusiasm that the Archers' last two records arguably lacked.
Squeaky have updated the Archers' signature skronk for the millennium
with better melodies and a goofier, more free-associative sense of
humor. "Twinbeams" features lightning-fast three-way guitar
interplay that evokes the intricacy of a spiderweb. "Sailor"
is probably the best non-Sunny Day Real Estate emo song I've
heard in the past year. The closing instrumental, "Leprechaun",
piles pretty fretboard harmonics on top of each other until the band
reaches a bone-crushing crescendo that fans of Dirty-era Sonic
Youth will wet their pants over. Sure, Squeaky aren't doing
anything new, but who cares when it sounds this good? 8
SP
PO
Box 12256, Gainesville FL 32604-0256 squeaky2@geocities.com
 |
Gorky's
Zygotic Mynci Spanish Dance Troupe (Mantra
Recordings)
I must confess that I have bought every single Gorky's have released
since Mark Radcliffe championed "The Patio Song" back when you
could listen to Radio 1 and hold your breakfast down. I
have never bought an album however and I have no idea why.
This single may however just change that. Despite being
dropped by their last label and losing their guitarist, Gorky's
have never sounded better - it there is any justice there will
be one account out of a job come the 4th October when the new
album is released. "Spanish Dance Troupe" is everything
you have loved about Gorky's and more. Pure shimmering pop,
though with Spanish guitars thrown in for good measure - in fact
very good measure. It is the perfect song to remind you
that summer isn't over until the fat lady sings (or at least until
your house is flooded). |
It sounds like Gorky's,
but a reinvigorated one, buzzing with energy and ideas - so many in
fact that the songs like a no-holds bar fist fight between four songs
- winner inconclusive. "(Do the) Chicken in the Jungle" sounds
like a fugitive from the eighties hanging out with a Kurt Weill cabaret
act. Makes little sense I know, but then neither does the track
unless you breathe it in. Soaring synths and strings and then all of
sudden things speed up, literally. Someone fast forwards the tape
and I think my CD player is about to blow up. Such is the world
they inhabit. "The Johnny Cash Lawsuit Song" is almost straight
blues and a straight song - a simple narrative though I am still not
sure what it is about. I don't want to either really as I love
the song too much to pry. Single of the month by a mile with a
good choice that the album could be taking it next month. 9
NH
Buy it from
Almaroad
 |
Gomez
Liquid Skin (Hut)
Liquid Skin kicks off with the sound of the band relaxing
with some friends: “You’ve been in a studio before, haven’t
you?” one of them remarks, provoking laughter from the rest.
Throughout this tomfoolery an acoustic guitar strums cautiously
in the background while a Tom Waits-esque skiffle rhythm builds.
The laughter subsides and the band explode into “Hangover”.
Ben Ottewell's monstrous voice reminds us, that although this
is certainly no four-track recording, this is still the same playful
Gomez we left at the end of last year, clutching their Mercury
Music Award in one hand and their university degrees in the other.
“She waters down the rain when I get home” roars Ben. The
music subsides as an acoustic guitar drifts in; “It’s going to
rain when I get home” Ian Ball harmonises beautifully.
Great introduction,
then we’re straight into the folk-inflected elegy; “Revolutionary
Kind”. “I’m not worried about your state of mind cause
you’re not the revolutionary kind” offers Ben over a flamenco
sounding guitar, which is soon joined by wobbly synth sounds and,
as is Gomez’s way, just about everything you wouldn’t normally
expect to be there. “Bring It On” you’ll already know, and,
although a disappointing single, it sits perfectly within the
context of the album. Anyone who saw the band live last
year will recognise, “Blue Moon Rising”, yet it’s been given a
serious makeover since then. The song is now led by a jazzy
double bass riff and a vulnerable sounding vocal, that make Gomez
sound melancholic and, for once, almost introspective. A
rumbling distorted guitar battles for space with a picked acoustic
to great effect. Most of this shouldn’t work but it does.
“Las Vegas Dealer” is a blues-rock stomp, with vocals from Ben,
Tom, and Ian. “Good bye Laurie Lee” they scream,
with handclaps and all, not to mention a wonderfully incongruous
hammond organ mirroring the guitar part. Bizarrely it succeeds
in being reminiscent of both Led Zeppelin and Nick Cave simultaneously.
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“We Haven’t Turned Around”
is perhaps the most significant piece on the album. It provides
us with convincing testament to Gomez’s true talent as songwriters and
is possibly the most moving six minutes they’ve created yet. The
delicate melody transcends all other factors, thus shifting the focus
from the playful arrangements the band are known for, onto the sheer
emotional thrust of the song. Here lies conclusive evidence that
the band are more than post-modernist opportunists with a large record
collection and a talent for engineering. “Fill My Cup” rocks and
is perhaps the closest the album has to a filler, which isn’t bad as
it still grabs your attention with it’s sheer enthusiasm and energy.
“Rhythm And Blues Alibi” is the “Whippin’ Piccadilly” of Liquid Skin,
except it’s better, while, “Rosalita” is a gorgeous lullaby that, once
again makes me think of Led Zeppelin, circa “Going To California”.
Speaking of which, “California” is a demented ambient rock jam—great!
The album ends with the astounding “Devil Will Ride”. Featuring
backing vocals from Mojave 3, this is probably most representative of
Gomez’s eclectic manifesto. Featuring vocoder vocals that are
reminiscent of Air’s “Sexy Boy” and a big band sound at the end that
makes you think of the Beatles’ “Gotta Get You Into My Life” as well
as, the infallible Tony Bennett.
All in all a truly spectacular
follow up to last year’s Bring It On, that already hints at a
more penetrating and enduring talent than was apparent on their debut.
9 NL
Buy from
Audiostreet
 |
Ben &
Jason Emoticons (Go!Beat)
So, after the impressive taster from earlier this year, Hello,
here is the first official Ben & Jason album. The reference
points are obvious—Jeff Buckley, Radiohead, Nick Drake, etc.
Although obvious, there are far worse people to sound like, and
leaving aside the fact these two have written for a certain Martine
McCutchen, they manage to establish something of their own style
here. At first perhaps the reference points do seem a little
limited, and one goes away after one listen with a sense that
the album is somewhat repetitious and samey. The beautiful
“Smiling Shy” is clearly cut from the Radiohead cloth, complete
with the xylophone part from “No Surprises”, while “Cartoon
Heart” is prime Jeff Buckley. However, it doesn’t take long
for these songs to crawl under your skin. “Air Guitar” is
perhaps the most immediate, an upbeat Beatlesque stomp with a
chorus to kill for. A definite single. Then after
a couple of listens, what appeared limited to begin with is clearly
deceptive in its simplicity. There’s a lot more going on
here than is noticeable at first. There’s enough subtle
imagination and lovingly constructed arrangements here that on
each listen you notice something you hadn’t picked up on before.
From “What I Meant To Say” to “Halfway Up A Tree”, there are songs
here to melt the hardest of hearts and thankfully there are fewer
moments where the duo are in danger of tripping into cloy sentimentalism
and cliché than there were on I.
8 NL
Buy
from Audiostreet
|
The Autumn
Leaves Treats and Treasures (Grimsey)
The Autumn Leaves sound as though they belong to another era.
An imaginary one at that, where folk has fused comfortably with country
and The Beatles were American. The soundtrack to such
an era, where the most contemporary music played on the radio would
be Teenage Fanclub, is here on Treats And Treasures, an album
which is something of a delight in all its naïve and uncynical
glory. The Byrds, Gram Parsons, The Beatles, and early REM are
all present within the Leaves’ polished pop aesthetic. A sound
that takes in a hint of psychedelia and at times sounds like the soundtrack
to a Russ Meyer film. This of course is no bad thing.
The highlights include “Phantom Girl Blues” and “Magic Red Raincoat”
and although at times it borders on being the aural equivalent of
over indulging in sugary tea, it ultimately makes for a refreshing
and even comforting listen. As the autumn draws near, here are
songs that should instil within you a nostalgic yearning for the summer.
7 NL
Buy it at Insound!
Ninian Hawick
Steep St EPs (Grimsey)
This EP is something of a showcase piece for Ninian Hawick.
The catchy if frivolous “Scottish Rite Temple Stomp” is a post-modern
hotchpotch of Charlatans-style indie dance beats with shouty Bis-like
vocals. It’s when the bagpipes come in and singer Heather McElhatton
can’t stop herself from laughing that frankly I can’t help thinking
“FUCK OFF”. Nonetheless, it retains a charm of sorts.
“Mon Recit” is a much more dignified attempt at an atmospheric piece
of rustic electronica. The spoken-word vocal in French sat alongside
some customary synth noodling, begs comparison with Stereolab, yet
if it weren’t for the obvious parallels, one wouldn’t think of it.
Ninian Hawick clearly manage to occupy some space of their own.
“Ballad of the Oread”, “Kentigern Inquiry”, and “The House at Dumbarton
Oaks” are little more than half-drawn studio sketches; mildly interesting
but of no real consequence, or real entertainment value. “Phasebook
Wands” is a charming spoken word voyage through an almost menacingly
repetitive soundscape, mirrored disturbingly by Patrick Durgin’s incessant
echo “Resist the temptation to avoid the temptation to resist”.
Some great moments are soured slightly by the feeling that Ninian
Hawick are ultimately less like a band and more like one-man’s (John
Crozier) art installation. A huge amount of contributors leaves
Ninian Hawick without a central focus and thus it feels like a once
daring vision has been watered down, darting as it does from ambient
mood pieces to cheesy pop and back again, via experimental soundscapes.
Nevertheless, Steep St EPs exhibits some serious promise.
6
NL
 |
Air Premier
Symptomes (Source)
So
where were AIR before we all climbed on board for the Moon
Safari? As indicated by this collection of early singles,
not in an altogether different place. “Modular Mix” gets
things under way, showing us that the quintessential AIR aesthetic
was well in place before they became England’s favourite French
band. “Casanova 70” oozes the kind of kitsch melody and
stylish beats that they cemented their name with on Moon Safari.
"Les Proffessionels” even finishes with a couple of bars of what
was to become “All I Need”. You can almost hear the boys’
amazement at the tune as they fade it out, thinking to themselves,
“No, you’ve heard enough of that one, it’s too good. I think
we’d better work on that and save it for our album.”
Although by no means
an essential purchase, Premier Symptomes has some gorgeous
moments. With a slight hint of a previously unrecognised
dub influence, and songs like “Le Soleil Est Pres De Moi”, it
stands up well as a pre-cursor to Moon Safari, and fans
of that album won’t be disappointed. 7
NL
Buy
from Audiostreet
or CDNow
|
Anjali Sheer
Witchery (Wiiija)
Re-invention is a strange game. As the founder of all female Asian
punk group the Voodoo Queens, Anjali Bhatia’s most recent incarnation
leaves no traces of her former musical persona. After two years cocooned
in a studio, Sheer Witchery is her tentative step out of hibernation.
It’s worth noting that Sheer Witchery is not being pushed
as an album proper, yet rather, as a collection of all of Anjali’s
music that has appeared over the past 18 months on a series of twelve-inch
only singles. This perhaps explains the slightly schizophrenic nature
of this package; Nine tracks, that seem to have little to connect
them musically. Sure, Anjali’s eclat is clearly in the dance domain
yet her style veers from a deeply disturbing atmospheric ambience
through to the grinning carnival of hip-hop and dub, often within
the same song.
Although at times seeming
a little out of focus, for the most part Sheer Witchery is
a sheer joy. Anjali’s sensual and sultry vocals glide over the proceedings
with a breathy sexual charisma that never falls into kitsch or cliché.
The two highlights neatly bookend the piece; “”Feline Woman” is a
storming blend of dub, tuneful flute samples and inspired scratching.
This is almost reminiscent of old-skool, daisy age hip-hop, except
that Anjali’s vocal dominates the song, steering it towards a more
harmonious plain. Sheer Witchery finishes with the startling,
“Kalphne”. Featuring little more than a guitar and vocal Anjali is
afforded the opportunity to truly show off her voice. The result is
a bewitching Cocteau Twins-like moment. Although unsure of where exactly
Anjali is trying to get to, Sheer Witchery is a promising starting
point. Like admiring someone across the room at a party, you may like
what you see but you need to be introduced properly before you can
venture an informed opinion. Proper introductions will take place
at the beginning of next year in the form of Anjali’s debut album.
In the meantime catch a glimpse now! 7.5
NL
 |
Billy
Bragg Reaching to the Converted (Cooking Vinyl)
“It’s a mighty long way down rock n’ roll, From Top of the Pops
to drawing the dole”. So sang the bard of Barking back
in 1988. Oh, Billy, so true. Now although Mr Bragg hasn’t
been seen parading his wares next to Steps or 5IVE recently at
Television House, the man is clearly still in regular employment.
Barely having time to catch our breath from the startlingly effective
tribute to Woody Guthrie, Mermaid Avenue, and we are presented
with this - a collection of bits and bobs that are no longer available.
|
As the title suggests, this
isn’t really for the uninitiated, who’d be better of buying “Victim
Of Geography” for the definitive Bragg classics. The album starts
off with Johnny Marr joining Billy for a rendition of “Greetings To
The New Brunette” (here referred to as “Shirley”). Although it
doesn’t top the original, Marr certainly brings a fresh and exciting
layered guitar sound to proceedings, clearly stamping his trademark
guitar and harmonica sounds all over it. Another Marr collaboration
is the co-written single “The Boy Done Good” from 1997. Underrated
at the time, it’s nice to see it finding a home at last and no longer
lurking in the land of deleted singles.
Another highlight is the
red star version of “Accident Waiting To Happen”, which takes away some
of the polemic punk manner of the original in favour of a melancholic
elegance. Many people still subscribe to the myth that Bill is less
of a songwriter and more of a political campaigner. To give him credit
he is still as political as he ever was. At a recent concert in
Sheffield he got the crowd to help sing the songs, as he was losing
his voice after spending the whole day campaigning with local students
to prevent the introduction of tuition fees. Nevertheless, his
political activism has at times distracted from his credentials as a
songwriter. Reaching To The Converted thankfully shows off Bragg’s
diversity. We have some of his most poignant and unsentimental love
songs in the forms of “Shirley”, “Wishing The Days Away” and the disturbingly
honest, spoken word “Walk Away Renee”, which features the immortal line,
“Then one day it happened, she cut her hair and I stopped loving her”.
Even more startlingly is Bragg singing in falsetto on “Ontario, Quebec
and Me”.
Over the space of seventeen
tracks, there are plenty of fillers and b-sides, but nevertheless for
the fans there are some real gems here. Everyone else should start
investing in his back catalogue now. 7
NL
Buy from
Audiostreet
 |
Rachel’s
Selenography (Quarterstick)
Over the last few years,
the bands headed under the criminally loose term "post-rock" have
strived to liberate the stiflingly traditional rock format of
verse-chorus-verse. Gradually, this experimentation has brought
with it the addition of instruments more usually associated with
Classical music, culminating in the orchestral avant-soundtrack
leanings of current post-rock luminaries such as Canada’s Godspeed
You Black Emperor!. |
While GSYBE advocate sonic
terrorism and punch-bag dynamics in their search for studied intensity,
American band Rachel’s craft an altogether subtler brew. And so
to their fourth album,their first in 3 years: Selenography.
Immediately, it is apparent the group are, essentially, a classical
ensemble nodding cautiously in the vague direction of rock. Instruments
used include violin, cello, acoustic guitar, drums, and even harpsichord.
While this sounds pretentious, it is never less than enchanting, a heady
and complex pastoral sound that is both pacifying and gently unsettling.
Rachel’s excel in using repetitious phrases of music that ultimately
transcend it’s original components, as on the beautiful, lilting, Morricone-tinged
opener "A French Gallease". But there are times when the individual
components overwhelm the whole, and the music disintegrates into rootless
soundscape. Of course, this isn’t always a bad thing, but the band are
most affecting when employing a modicum of restraint.
Largely, however, the album
is an unqualified success. From the shimmering, glacial beauty of "An
Evening Of Long Goodbyes" to the spoken word eerieness of closer "Hearts
and Drums", Rachel’s succeed in defining ultimately abstract feelings
in a way that skirts defiantly away from self-important indulgence and
exudes confidence. And unlike many of their post-rock peers, Rachel’s
do not shy away from making music that is, in a knowing, considered
way, up-beat, as on the warming ode to their home state "Kentucky Nocturne".
In conclusion, then, Selenography
is a must for the adventurous listener. Twilight mini-symphonies for
the soul. 9 TE
Buy it from
CDNow
Ana
D Satelite 99 (Grimsey)
It's a release by
a foreigner, has 99 in the title, but luckily has nothing to do with
Nena and her balloons. The press release hails Ana as the "Marianne
Faithful of Spain". I can't comment on her personal life, however
I am definitely not sure of the musical similarities. At the
end of the day Marianne Faithful is her voice and Ana's, as lovely
as it is, just doesn't come close—100 fags a day and she may be getting
there. However I don't want to do her down. Seductive,
sweet and entirely charming, this is one of the few CDs that I have
received recently that has stayed on my CD for more than a couple
of minutes. In hour of this fact I have decided to invent a
new genre, Dream Lounge. For all of you out there who are not
entirely au fait with the latest developments in the music world,
that is dream pop without the pop.
Enough of this, what is
the record like. Well, according to one review, "her voice
is like an anaconda". Now I have seen the film and it definitely
bears no relation to a large, man-eating South American snake.
This impression make come from the unseen out takes where the anaconda
proves itself to be a right luvvie and very large girls blouse.
This is the type of music that you fall into, it envelops you and
recreates the world of a great female chanteuse. Lyrically it
has them though unfortuantely I am unable to comment as my knowledge
of Spanish is non-existent. However this doesn't distract from
the music—after all the Cocteau Twins managed to become popular while
singing nonsense. In terms of the soundscapes that are created,
they are beautiful to behold and long cherished.
However, I cannot leave
this review without commenting on one final thing from the press release.
Apparently Ana is "the Princess Leia of standard pop music, a galatic
mermaid". Bonkers, oh most definitely yes. However
this is a fantastic record and definitely not standard pop music.
If all your life you have been searching for the Spanish Isobell Campbell
then look no further [Though if you have you might want to consider
seeking psychiatric help - Ed]. 7.5
NH
Le Mans Aqui
Vivia Yo (Grimsey)
As an increasing
number of Spanish albums keep falling on my doormat and as I am the
most diligent of all the reviewers here I have decided to take a crash
course in Spanish. Consequently I am able to tell you that Aqui
vivia yo means Here is where I used to live. Odd
because when I bought my house I am pretty sure that there wasn't
a Spaniard living here. You however should be glad of my Spanish
course because while that was a poor joke, my Aqua joke was even worse.
To get down to what my job actually is, that being to review albums,
I have to say that this is a fantastic album. It's a real melting
pot of styles and ideas, though not in a Beta Band style. This
is mature, cool and well worth a listen—unlike Phil Collins in a fridge.
It's the revenge of prog-folk, the bastard off-spring of Nick Drake
and Pink Floyd. Fortunately it turns out to be a thing of beauty
as opposed to the horrible, misshapen monster that it could so easily
have been. The world it create is a fragile, romantic thing,
underpinned by a melancholia and world weariness that demands you
to listen to it. As it progresses it peels away its layers to
reveal its soul and its a journey well worth undertaking. Jane
Garbarain's voice is crystalline—sounding as if a crystal glass has
been struck by a knife. It rings true and clear and lingers
in your ears long after the song ends. All the arrangements
are by Iban Errazchin, who talent is great and whose influence on
others is clear from the Ana D album. Dreamy, beautiful and
nigh on essential. 8 NH
Buy it from
Insound!
 |
Kid Loco
Jesus Life for the Under 12 Inches (Yellow Productions)
Kid Loco is
French, however he has little in common with his fellow countrymen
who are currently storming the charts. His music is dance for
indie kids, those who can't give up guitars but want some club
cred. The collection of songs here pretty much bear testimony
to this - the Pastels, Pulp, Mogwai, Talvin Singh, High Llamas
and St Etienne. There are a few more obscure and foreign
names in here too, however you'd be hard pushed to tell them apart.
Kid Loco has his sound. a kind of reto-cool tone, managing
to out-fey St Etienne. It's all jangly guitars, laid back
beats and the occasional beep. However I do not set out
to damn this with faint praise, it's a good record. |
Anyone who has heard Illuminati
will know that he has a knack of transforming a song and letting it
fulfil its trues potential and to cap it all of he manages to give Mogwai
a tune, something they could well do with. Where my problems starts
is with his remix of Pulp's "A little soul. Not cotent with murdering
it, he proceeds to give the corpse a damn good kicking and ends up destroying
one of the best songs on This Is Hardcore. The question
that is raised is what is the value of this album. Sure its a
great collection of songs, but there isn't anything new here.
It is almost the Indie Kids Guide to Dinner Parties. This is background
music, it will offend no one and probably please many. However
I would like a little more. This is the kid brother to Air's Premier
Symptomes, a good listen but let down because it's not his own work.
6 NH
Buy from
Audiostreet
or CDNow
Various Everything
Is Nice (Matador)
Released to mark Matador's
10th anniversary and a very strange beast it is. I will confess
I bought on the grounds that it was £9 for 3 CDs and the first
track was Pavement's "Stereo". Unfortunately "Stereo" sounds
far better in my head than it did on the record, but that's hardly
this compilation's fault. It's an interesting selection of tracks
and is unlikely to please anyone. There appears to be no logic
to the track listing, either thematically or musically. In fact
the greatest criticism of the album is that some of the tracks jar
somewhat, acoustic tracks meld into hardcore and it doesn't sound
right. The other criticism I have is for an album that is meant
to be a retrospective it focuses entirely on the output of recent
years. Consequently nothing off Matador's early and most definitely
classic releases. Sadly missing are most of the tracks that
soundtracked my schooldays, but I will eventually get over it. However,
the tracks here do show why Matador has been consistently one of the
best and most reliable labels around. This record is going to
appeal to anyone who essentially wants an overview of the music scene
over the past few years and whose budget didn't stretch to buying
all those classic albums that NME always harks on about. In
terms of bands covered you get a number of tracks from Pavement, Mogwai,
Yo La Tengo, Cat Power, Wisdom of Harry to name but a few of the highlights.
Any record collection is going to be incomplete without it, so just
give in and buy it. 8 NH
Buy from
Audiostreet
or CDNow
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