So, after a hefty day at work and a quick break to remind myself how much I suck at Street Fighter IV, I guess it's time for another foray into bands which, due to the theory of hipster diminishing returns, are far less cooler now more people are interested in them. Up this go round is one probably most of you lot will have heard of, but I love them anyway, so here we go - Rilo Kiley.
Hailing from that big ol' mythical place over the ocean called the United States, Rilo Kiley are yet another indie rock band, though their sound would probably be closest called alt-country-indie-rock-pop-stuff. Their 2004 offering, 'More Adventurous' leant heavily the way of country, with one in particular ('I Never') almost sounding like something Dolly Parton would put out if she was feeling sorry for herself. But let that not put you off them, dear reader! The rest of the album shines with some truely wonderful tracks, ranging from quiet reflective tunes ('The Absence of God') to upbeat single-ready material ('Portions for Foxes'). Rilo Kiley are another of these bands that seem to swerve wildly around whatever song style happens to take thier fancy, but they are all linked by a wonderfully dark sense of humour in the songs. From a bitter take on the Bush administration (since this album came out during the period when it was cool to hate Bush) to a graveside rememberence of old loves to a random pondering of what would happen if your legs revolted against your brain.
This wonderful lyrical sense continued into their follow-up - 'Under The Blacklight', though they added another musical genre to their repertoire - disco. Again, please refrain from closing the browser now and hiding under the bed - it's not that bad! Many of the tracks have this wonderful laid-back groove to them - either that or they start sounding like a soundtrack for a porno - but a very relaxing porno! Add in some lovely gospel backing vocals, and you've got a good time!
right, i'm running out of words, so let's have some tunes. sadly, Rilo Kiley have been part of the great Youtube culling, so I've had to shop around for these ones - the quality isn't the best, so apologies...
Silver Lining
The Moneymaker (one of my favourite songs)
Portions for Foxes
One of the things you've probably noticed, especially of the last two, is the overtly sexual nature of the lyrics (and of lead singer Jenny Lewis). It's something a lot of commentators have picked up on, and even tried to turn into a bad thing. In my opinion, if you're going to go after anyone for overly sexual lyrics - go after glam rock bands! That particular herd could be thinned out one hell of a lot! Just stay away from Z.Z.Top, and I won't mind.
J
Sunday 29 March 2009
Friday 27 March 2009
The Best Party Ever (again)
So, I just got back from seeing The Boy Least Likely To at Cargo in London. In short, an absolutely stonking gig. Here's the long version...
I've never been to Cargo before, but it's one of those tiny backroom venues of which London seems to have hundreds. This one was especially small, but it suited the band's sound perfectly, and it allowed everyone to get close to the band and still bounce around like mad things. While the band was setting up a couple of the members came on stage with armfuls of balloons and started throwing them at the audience - starting off a massive balloon fight that went on well into the set!
When they finally took the stage, they played a healthy mix of stuff off the new album, favourites from the old and a couple of b-sides and a storming cover of faith - "written by some guy a few years ago, but made famous by us!" This one was especially good since the guitarist and drummer seemed in cahoots, and kept hijacking the song to play 'smoke on the water' at every possible opportunity. They seemed to have kicked all the songs up a notch, and even the quiet 'my tiger my heart' was sung faster and with a lot more bite than the album version - I think I prefered the slower version, but it worked really well with every other song on the setlist.
The band seemed to be having a whale of a time up on stage - main dude Jef was bouncing around like a Tigger and one of the lasses had even made cake that she was dolling out to people (and she'd brought a cheese sandwich for herself!) I've been to gigs where the bands don't really seem into thier music or the performance (Athlete during the Tourist tour comes to mind) but this was different - every member of the band seemed to be truely loving being up on stage, and it really came across in thier performance.
So yeah, a fantasic gig from a truely talented band. Loved 'em!
J
I've never been to Cargo before, but it's one of those tiny backroom venues of which London seems to have hundreds. This one was especially small, but it suited the band's sound perfectly, and it allowed everyone to get close to the band and still bounce around like mad things. While the band was setting up a couple of the members came on stage with armfuls of balloons and started throwing them at the audience - starting off a massive balloon fight that went on well into the set!
When they finally took the stage, they played a healthy mix of stuff off the new album, favourites from the old and a couple of b-sides and a storming cover of faith - "written by some guy a few years ago, but made famous by us!" This one was especially good since the guitarist and drummer seemed in cahoots, and kept hijacking the song to play 'smoke on the water' at every possible opportunity. They seemed to have kicked all the songs up a notch, and even the quiet 'my tiger my heart' was sung faster and with a lot more bite than the album version - I think I prefered the slower version, but it worked really well with every other song on the setlist.
The band seemed to be having a whale of a time up on stage - main dude Jef was bouncing around like a Tigger and one of the lasses had even made cake that she was dolling out to people (and she'd brought a cheese sandwich for herself!) I've been to gigs where the bands don't really seem into thier music or the performance (Athlete during the Tourist tour comes to mind) but this was different - every member of the band seemed to be truely loving being up on stage, and it really came across in thier performance.
So yeah, a fantasic gig from a truely talented band. Loved 'em!
J
Wednesday 25 March 2009
Songs for 5 year old bipolar drug addicts...
Ah, 'The Boy Least Likely To', how we love thee! I thought I'd talk about these today, since I've got tickets to see them tomorrow (*does happy James dance*) so I'd thought I'd introduce them, then try and do a review of the gig tomorrow. Sound good? Ok, on we go...
Hailing from the middle of Buckinghamshire, the two musos that make up the band are responsible for some of the most infectiously happy pop I've come across in a long long time. Acoustic guitars, xylophones, banjos and a touch of bleepy-boop electro drive the tunes along, and their songs run from quiet acoustic numbers (the heart-breaking 'my tiger my heart') to full blown dance-around-looking-like-a-pillock tunes ('when life gives me lemons, I make lemonade').
As good as the music itself it is, the most noticible thing of this lot is the lyrics. As wierd an image as it might be, this is music written by a 5-year old bipolar drug addict. One minute lead singer Jof Owen will be singing about sticking pencils up his nose, then in the next breath he is complaining about how he will never amount to anything, before wandering back onto the topic of drug-abuse and fluffy toy animals. Lyrics like 'I know i look shiny and bouncy, but i'm all empty inside' (talking about a bright red balloon!) or 'I'm happy 'cause I'm stupid' just drive home the image of the band as a group of manic-depressives barely controlled by happy pills. I'm sure they're actually a lovely bunch of people, but i'm a sucker for slef-depricating lyrics, so I really like their style.
Their debut - 'The best party ever' was released waaaaaaay back in 2002, and they took their sweet time getting the follow-up out, but it was finally released this month. Once again it is a fantastic piece of work, with an emphasis on some truely beautiful violin lines. Lemme point you towards some of thier stuff, so you can make your own mind up -
Be Gentle With Me
Every Goliath Has Its David
A Balloon On A Broken String
Truly stonking stuff! I'd heartily recommend it to anyone when they're having a bad day - a little listen to these tunes will perk you right up!
J
Hailing from the middle of Buckinghamshire, the two musos that make up the band are responsible for some of the most infectiously happy pop I've come across in a long long time. Acoustic guitars, xylophones, banjos and a touch of bleepy-boop electro drive the tunes along, and their songs run from quiet acoustic numbers (the heart-breaking 'my tiger my heart') to full blown dance-around-looking-like-a-pillock tunes ('when life gives me lemons, I make lemonade').
As good as the music itself it is, the most noticible thing of this lot is the lyrics. As wierd an image as it might be, this is music written by a 5-year old bipolar drug addict. One minute lead singer Jof Owen will be singing about sticking pencils up his nose, then in the next breath he is complaining about how he will never amount to anything, before wandering back onto the topic of drug-abuse and fluffy toy animals. Lyrics like 'I know i look shiny and bouncy, but i'm all empty inside' (talking about a bright red balloon!) or 'I'm happy 'cause I'm stupid' just drive home the image of the band as a group of manic-depressives barely controlled by happy pills. I'm sure they're actually a lovely bunch of people, but i'm a sucker for slef-depricating lyrics, so I really like their style.
Their debut - 'The best party ever' was released waaaaaaay back in 2002, and they took their sweet time getting the follow-up out, but it was finally released this month. Once again it is a fantastic piece of work, with an emphasis on some truely beautiful violin lines. Lemme point you towards some of thier stuff, so you can make your own mind up -
Be Gentle With Me
Every Goliath Has Its David
A Balloon On A Broken String
Truly stonking stuff! I'd heartily recommend it to anyone when they're having a bad day - a little listen to these tunes will perk you right up!
J
Tuesday 24 March 2009
Sexy music for Sexy people - it's the New Pornographers!
Based out of fairest Canadia ,the New Pornographers draw their influences out of many different types of music, including rock, pop, jazz, folk and country, but the end result is eminently listenable Indie Rock. Lyrically they can be difficult to approach - they seem to grab hold of every idea that comes their way and jam it into the songs, occasionally causing a schizophrenia on par with The Beatles 'Day in the Life'. But somehow it all works. Happy clappy pop rubs shoulders with the dense ochestration of all those indie bands that take themselves too seriously (*cough*arcadefire*cough*).
They've released 3 or 4 albums as it stands, with the last two - 'Twin Cinema' and 'Challengers' being the most accessible of the lot. If forced at angry badger-point to choose, I'd have to pick 'Twin Cinema' - it ranks as one of my favourite albums of all time, and is responsible for me killing my hearing by playing "Use It" far too loud!
That seems like a decent point to throw some links your way
The afformentioned Use It
Sing Me Spanish Techno
and Challengers - the title track off their latest album
...pretty good, eh?
It would be totally remiss of me not to mention Neko Case when talking about the Pornos. All the members of the band have bands/solo careers of their own, but Case is one of the most famous. She also stands out since her solo stuff is extremely country-based - a million miles away from the tunes she sings with the rest of the group. Still, she brings to them some fantastic harmonies and excellent song-writing skills. I would have no doubt in saying 'go see them, hypothetical undecided blog-reader!', but that goes double if you're lucky enough to catch them when Neko is playing, since she seems to have an on/off relationship with them.
Anyways, they be good, so go listen!
J
They've released 3 or 4 albums as it stands, with the last two - 'Twin Cinema' and 'Challengers' being the most accessible of the lot. If forced at angry badger-point to choose, I'd have to pick 'Twin Cinema' - it ranks as one of my favourite albums of all time, and is responsible for me killing my hearing by playing "Use It" far too loud!
That seems like a decent point to throw some links your way
The afformentioned Use It
Sing Me Spanish Techno
and Challengers - the title track off their latest album
...pretty good, eh?
It would be totally remiss of me not to mention Neko Case when talking about the Pornos. All the members of the band have bands/solo careers of their own, but Case is one of the most famous. She also stands out since her solo stuff is extremely country-based - a million miles away from the tunes she sings with the rest of the group. Still, she brings to them some fantastic harmonies and excellent song-writing skills. I would have no doubt in saying 'go see them, hypothetical undecided blog-reader!', but that goes double if you're lucky enough to catch them when Neko is playing, since she seems to have an on/off relationship with them.
Anyways, they be good, so go listen!
J
Monday 23 March 2009
John Darnielle will have his revenge on Seattle!
So, I thought I'd start with a group that are very dear to my heart - the Mountain Goats. You may have heard of these guys - they've been around the indie rock scene for donkey's years, and have managed to garner a pretty decent following, though still remain pretty much unknown over this side of the ocean (oh yeah - did I mention I'm based in the UK? No? Well now you know!)
As anyone who's taken a listen to them will tell you, the main hook with these guys is emotion. Lead singer/song-writer/head honcho for the band John Darnielle comes from a troubled childhood, and he takes all the crap he's gone through and uses it as ammunition for his tunes. Sometimes this can make it very hard music to listen to - anyone not happy with the idea of child abuse, drugs and broken families should probably stay away from them if you're feeling in a sensitive mood. That is not to throw them away as melodramatic - his troubles lend Darnielle a real power to his voice - here is someone who has been through hell, and has come out the otherside intact, and refuses to bow down to anything that tries to screw him up anymore.
Anyways, preaching aside, here's the lowdown on the music - the Goats are mostly about cut down acoustic work. Most tracks revolve around Darnielle's vocals and guitar work punctuated by sparce drum and bass by the other members of the band. In the last couple of albums they've been experimenting with a more electric sound, and a fuller band have brought them along since the earlier albums which sound like they were recorded in a garage while Darinelle played whatever happened to come into his head.
Hmm... this is starting to sound waaaay to Wikipedia-ish, isn't it? Tell you what - i'm just gonna go give you some tunes to have a listen to - go give them a shot will you? I'll wait...
This Year
Sax Rohmer #1
No Children
...back again? Did you like 'em?
I was lucky enough to see these guys live 1/2 a year ago, and I must say it was one of the most powerful gigs I've ever been to - two parts fantastic music, two parts John Darnielle's fantastically self-depricating sense of humour, and one part therapy session!
If you wanna listen to some more of them, have a hunt down of some of thier more recent albums - they're probably the most accessible of the lot. Specifically I'd recommend 'We Shall All Be Healed' and thier latest - 'Heretic Pride'. Check them out - you won't be dissapointed!
Keep it Ninja,
J
huh, well that went smoother than expected! Maybe this blogging lark won't be as difficult as I'd first thought... now I've just gotta tighten up my rambling so it's actually good. Oh well, no-one's actually reading at the moment, so I can continue to witter like this for a while longer... gotta stop talking like a secondary-school music teacher as well...
As anyone who's taken a listen to them will tell you, the main hook with these guys is emotion. Lead singer/song-writer/head honcho for the band John Darnielle comes from a troubled childhood, and he takes all the crap he's gone through and uses it as ammunition for his tunes. Sometimes this can make it very hard music to listen to - anyone not happy with the idea of child abuse, drugs and broken families should probably stay away from them if you're feeling in a sensitive mood. That is not to throw them away as melodramatic - his troubles lend Darnielle a real power to his voice - here is someone who has been through hell, and has come out the otherside intact, and refuses to bow down to anything that tries to screw him up anymore.
Anyways, preaching aside, here's the lowdown on the music - the Goats are mostly about cut down acoustic work. Most tracks revolve around Darnielle's vocals and guitar work punctuated by sparce drum and bass by the other members of the band. In the last couple of albums they've been experimenting with a more electric sound, and a fuller band have brought them along since the earlier albums which sound like they were recorded in a garage while Darinelle played whatever happened to come into his head.
Hmm... this is starting to sound waaaay to Wikipedia-ish, isn't it? Tell you what - i'm just gonna go give you some tunes to have a listen to - go give them a shot will you? I'll wait...
This Year
Sax Rohmer #1
No Children
...back again? Did you like 'em?
I was lucky enough to see these guys live 1/2 a year ago, and I must say it was one of the most powerful gigs I've ever been to - two parts fantastic music, two parts John Darnielle's fantastically self-depricating sense of humour, and one part therapy session!
If you wanna listen to some more of them, have a hunt down of some of thier more recent albums - they're probably the most accessible of the lot. Specifically I'd recommend 'We Shall All Be Healed' and thier latest - 'Heretic Pride'. Check them out - you won't be dissapointed!
Keep it Ninja,
J
huh, well that went smoother than expected! Maybe this blogging lark won't be as difficult as I'd first thought... now I've just gotta tighten up my rambling so it's actually good. Oh well, no-one's actually reading at the moment, so I can continue to witter like this for a while longer... gotta stop talking like a secondary-school music teacher as well...
Wednesday 18 March 2009
Hello, and Welcome
Well hello there peoples of the internet. Guess I should probably do some introducing. My name's James, and I'm a musician cunningly disguised as a post-grad student. Been interested in this whole blogging malarky for a while, and finally got persuaded a while ago by a friend of mine to start one up myself, so here we are.
I do my own music, yeah, but i'm gonna try and stay as far away from that as possible. I'm not here to promote my own music - there be other avenues for that. No, I'm gonna talk about the music that interests me - gig and album reviews, general musings and anything that pops into my brain. Part of the reason for me starting this was to try and introduce people to music they wouldn't otherwise listen to - the sorts that don't make XFM and kinda fall by the wayside ready to be discovered. But don't worry, I'm not gonna go all indie-elitest on you. But if I can get some people listening to some new bands, then job done!
So, hello and welcome! Hope you'll enjoy the ride!
J
I do my own music, yeah, but i'm gonna try and stay as far away from that as possible. I'm not here to promote my own music - there be other avenues for that. No, I'm gonna talk about the music that interests me - gig and album reviews, general musings and anything that pops into my brain. Part of the reason for me starting this was to try and introduce people to music they wouldn't otherwise listen to - the sorts that don't make XFM and kinda fall by the wayside ready to be discovered. But don't worry, I'm not gonna go all indie-elitest on you. But if I can get some people listening to some new bands, then job done!
So, hello and welcome! Hope you'll enjoy the ride!
J
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