An american, a welshman and a scot walk into a bar...

What is it about country music that just attracts bitchyness and depression? It seems like the minute you pick up a slide guitar, suddenly the world becomes full of dark storm clouds and killer sharks. One day I shall create a band that plays nothing but totally happy, non-ironic country music, and the world shall spontaneously explode with joy and awesomeness!

Anyway, rant done. The reason for this late-afternoon bitchery is a morning spent listening to Sparrow and the Workshop, a rather fantastic multi-national country band. I saw them supporting Idlewild, and I must say there were one of the most impressive opening bands I've seen in a very long while. A three piece based in Glasgow, but hailing from all over the place, they play the sort of highly-emotional alt-country that would make Neko Case sit up and take notice. The main lass definitely came across as a 'sparrow' - quiet almost to a fault and consistantly thanking us for listening to them and not throwing anything. But when the drums started up, I was amazed to find this tiny american had a voice that swapped easily between a delicate squeak to a full throated roar, was simply fantastic - easily making her presence felt despite a rather sub-standard PA setup. The rest of the band supported her fantastically - the bassist swapping between instruments to add to the texture, and the drummer backing her vocals was some beautifully placed harmonies. I have an immense respect for any drummers that manage to sing while they're playing - i've played just enough drums to recognise what an absolute bastard of a job this is! So he gets full marks not just for managing to balance both at once, but make it look so damn easy at the same time!

Musically, they are heavily based in the sort of powerful country championed by the best of the american alt-country crowd - the aformentioned Neko Case springs best to mind, but also The National and london-based crooners The Smoke Fairies (who, if you haven't listened to them already, track down - they're amazing!). 3/4 time signatures, minor harmonies and slide guitar is the order of the day, overlaid with her delicate vocals, and just a touch of southern-twang to make it more authentic (Glasgow not being the hub of Nashville country that some people take it for!) The lyrics are entrenched firmly in the staples of country music - lost loves, unhappiness, unfaithfulness, general bitchery, etc. The power of the music matches the dark nature of the lyrics, with songs frequently starting softly and rising to a storm as life falls apart for the protagonists.

They're a small band at the moment, but gaining momentum rapidly and fully worthy of a breakthrough when their full album is released in a few weeks. Keep your eyes on these ones, especially if you like Mumford & Sons, Neko Case or alt-country goodness in general. Have a few links to have a listen - they're fully worth it!

Into The Wild

Devil Song

I Will Break You

Happy listening!

Bitesize album reviews for the gentry!

So, I thought the best way of resurrecting this ol' musical endeavour was by rounding up and doing mini-reviews some of the best albums I've been listening to over the last few months. So without further ado, I'm going to look at 3 of my favourite for 2009 - 'Lungs' by Florence & the Machine, 'Conditions' by the Temper Trap, and Passion Pit's debut slice of disco-rock goodness, 'Manners'. All debuts, and all absolutely fantastic! Right, onward!


Florence + the Machine "Lungs"

What's really left to add that hasn't been said already? This one has been winning accolades left right and centre, and with very good reason! The songwriting is top-notch - an excellent mix of pop, soul and rock with just the smallest touch of disco. Powerful drumming, heavy on the toms, lend a pounding, darkly-manic bend to the fantastically gripping 'Drumming Song' and drive along the lead single of 'Dog Days are Over'. The guitar work is light and low in the mix, while the occasional string line adds an ethereal quality to several numbers, most noticeably 'blinding', where it builds to a beautiful crescendo over the course of the song.

All of this is great, of course, but the real clincher for the album is there in the title - Florence Welch. She is the driving force behind the album, and really turns it from simply a good album into one of the best of the year. Over the course of the running time her voice goes from a soft lullaby ('I'm not Calling You A Liar') to harsh, soaring blues ('Girl With One Eye'), to triumphant gospel (a fantastic cover of 'You've Got The Love') all with equal skill. No doubt about it, the titular 'lungs' of the album belong to her, and they are amazing! That girl can sing.

But outside of her vocal skills, there is a surprisingly mature, and dark, lyrical edge to the songs. Below the soaring melodies lie songs about detachment, loss, bitterness and a general obsession with less pleasant areas of human nature. Nowhere is this more obvious than the beautifully bitchy 'Girl With One Eye', where Florence tells of mutilating a lady because she seduced her man. Here the guitar work is used to wondrous effect - slightly off-kilter Spanish/blues melodies keep the listener off guard and a beautiful string scratch symbolising the knife going in makes me wince even now! And while we're at it, there is the rather excellent 'Kiss With A Fist', which sounds like Jack White if he got up on the wrong side of the bed!

T'be honest I don't really have much bad to say on this album. Some of the bonus tracks get a little bit shaky, and thank you iTunes, I don't need 3 different versions of 'Dog Days', but outside of that, 'tis pretty damn fantastic. Go listen!


The Temper Trap "Conditions"

Sometimes first impressions can be very misleading. I first saw, and heard of, The Temper Trap while tagging along with a friend to the free festivals iTunes were running over the summer. When I listened to them, I wasn't blown away. They were ok, yeah, but not exactly oral sex and cookies. Looking back, I think the blame lies alot on the sound system - the vocals were swampy and the guitar hardly cut through at all. Also they were playing with Mumford and Sons that night, which is a completely mismatched pair if I ever saw one! Anyway, sometime later they started getting some airplay, and I decided to give them a second try, so found myself a copy of 'Conditions' on Spotify and sat back to listen. Next day I bought the album.

Though it may sound weird, the first thing I thought of listening to this album is a song called 'Emotion Sickness' by fellow Aussie grungers Silverchair. If you haven't heard it, go search it out on Youtube - it's a fantastic little tune. It's a slow-burning, emotionally powerful number that takes time to get to the punch, but when it does, it's second to none. Temper Trap's album is similar to this - several of the songs take a long time to get going, but the pay off is worth it. Tunes like Resurrection almost sound like Tool songs, building up layers of drums and heavily reverbed guitars until it all comes crashing down, in the best way possible.

This isn't always a plus point though - several songs (Soldier On being the worst offender) are over-extended to the point of stagnation. But when it works, boy does it ever work well.

As I said, Temper Trap are one of these bands heavily reliant on effects and production. The sound is big - far bigger than the 4 of them sound like they could make, but it works very well given the nature of the songwriting. The lead singer frequently reaches dog-whistle levels of pitch, but it complements perfectly with the riff-based guitar work. The best example of this is probably the intro to lead single 'Sweet Disposition', where his vocals hit the stratosphere!

This album has it's share of faults - the lyrics are often seem as floaty and light and the melodies that contain them, but it is an album bursting with power. Also bonus points must be given to 'Fader', which is possibly one of my favourite songs released all year. Brilliant, simply brilliant.


Passion Pit "Manners"

Finally, we come to Passion Pit. This is a lot pushed onto me by my sister and is a tasty bit of indie electro-pop with a chewy disco centre (to torture a metaphor until it screams). Passion Pit are a bunch of American indie kids who seem to enjoy keyboard synths and distorted vocals far more than is probably legal in most states. 'Manners' is the first major label release for them, drawing together several EP tracks and some new stuff.

While I'd normally separate out the individual elements of the band's sound, that's kinda hard with Passion Pit - all of the instruments blend together into one homogeneous lump. This is very much noise rock - imagine Sigur Ros shot through the heart with adrenaline and E and stuffed through a moog synthesizer until they stopped being all sad and beautiful and started bouncing around like lunatics. They make heavy use of keyboards and all the flexibility that allows - just listen to the harpsichord-style intro to 'Moth's Wings' or the 60s game show syth of 'Little Secrets'. It gives the entire album a very eclectic style, and this is enhanced by the almost child-like vocals. I really can't decide whether I like the singer's voice or not - most times he sounds lovely, but there are times when he wanders into rather worrying territory. One of the worst offenders of this is 'Sleepyhead', where I honestly can't take silly falsetto dootings and distorted melodies seriously at all.

Now it sounds like I'm ripping on the album, but honestly Sleepyhead is the only bad apple in an otherwise very very good crop (bunch? barrel full of? whatever.) Whereas normally I feel the vocals and lyrics stand seperate from the rest of the song, here they are another melody line just as the guitar and keyboards are. I must have listened through this album a dozen times or more, but I couldn't tell you what half the lyrics were. And indeed, if you take the elements individually, they don't add up to much. But put them all together, and you get a syrupy, tasty mess of electro-awesomeness (3rd food metaphor this review. I must be hungry). Songs like the aformentioned 'Little Secrets' just make you want to smile and dance around like a mad thing. And despite the darker tones of many of the lyrics (that which you can make out anyway) the songs nearly all have a wonderfully happy beat to them. This is music made for dancing, and the band clearly has a fantastic time and a real love of performing - because of this, all the little problems of the album are rendered moot by the sheer joy of the 12 tracks that make it up

Rising zombie like from the grave...

Yeah I know, I know. It's been a long time. I'm not gonna try and make excuses - but I'm back now! My new years resolution is to get this thing back up and running! Lots to catch up on and lots to do! To start with, and to get me back used to writing again, I'm putting up 3 mini reviews of some of my favourite albums of 2009. And after that? We'll see what happens!

But for now, sit back and enjoy!

J

Let The Flames Begin...

Shh... do you hear that? That's the sound of any indie cred I had shrivelling up and dying, since I'm gonna talk tonight about "Riot!", Paramore's most recent album. Sure, it's a very different album, and a very different band, from everything else I've looked at so far, but 'tis still an excellent album, and well worth the effort. So unblock your ears and steel yourself all ye indie kids, for we're going on a daytrip to Emoland!

Let's get this out of the way first - Paramore are an emo band. They be young (God I felt old typing that!), loud and frequently overly-emotional/straight-up angsty. However, for the remainder of this review, suspend your general waryness and bigotry against Emo music - I know it is a beautifully easy target that won't fight back that much, but that is a discussion for another time. For the interests of this review, emo is rock is alternative is whatever - 'tis all music, and frequently good.

Right, down (finally) to the music! Riot is the 2nd album from the band, and even if you're never heard of the band, you've probably heard some of their stuff - be it (the rather stupidly titled) "Crushcrushcrush" from the Twilight OST, or "Misery Business", which seems to have been on every 360 game for the last 6 months. Myself, it took me about 2 months of being stalked by their songs before I took them seriously and gave them a proper listen, and was pleasantly surprised! Frontwoman Hayley Williams has a voice far surpassing her 21 years, and it is her vocal ability that is the driving force behind the band. Tracks such as "Hallelujah" show her to have a strong range, and the emotional kick to back that power up. The rest of the band have more than their fair share of skill and back up Hayley perfectly, but this is really her show, and she steals it well and truly.

I want to talk for a moment about the lyrics. Straying back into stereotypical emo territory for a moment, a large part of my troubles with emo music comes from the supremely depressing/self-pitying nature of the lyrics. Now, I'm all up for a bit of that every now and again, but most bands seem to be something of a one-trick pony - 'tis self-pity and angst, or nothing. Though I was expecting that from Paramore, I was surprised to find a real vein of strength and optimism running through the songs. Songs such as the aformentioned "Hallelujah", or "Miracle" concern themselves with trying to save relationships and being strong in the face of things going tits up, rather than running away. There is a temptation to label this strength as feminism just because it is sung by a woman, but I think this is misguided. I think it speaks more from a genuine positive view on life by the band, rather than an attempt by Williams to leverage her sex for the good of her songs. It would still be powerful whether it was sung by a man or woman. Nevertheless, other songs run the spectrum from stereotypical "we're young and don't like how you run the world" rantings of "Born for this" to obsession with "Stop this song". The lyrics can be blunt and lacking finesse much of the time, but it fits with the fast and powerful style of music paired with them.

Musically, Riot fits into the pigeonholes of power-pop/pop-rock/emo/whatever - heavy distortion is the order of the day, with fast guitar-work and a drummer who plays like he has made mortal enemies with the crash cymbal for all he beats the poor thing. There is only really one song where they slow it down - the rather pretty, if a wee bit cliche, "We Are Broken", which sonds more than a little like something Amy Lee would put out. I guess that is quite a good byline for this album - it is very safe. It breaks no new ground, but it never intends to - it won't tax the listener at all, but it is an awesome album to just kick back and enjoy. And I can imagine it would really come into it's own at a gig, since this sort of powerful, heavy distorted rock is always best listened to ear-breakingly loud, with about 200 other sweaty people having the time of their lives. So, if you get a chance, grab a copy of the album - and if you can, get the special edition, 'cause there are some good extra tracks stuck onto it. Before I go, here's some links to get you started:

CrushCrushCrush

Misery Business

That's What You Get

Peace,

J

Panda panda panda panda pan-panda!

I just got back from a rather excellent night watching Deerhoof down at the Scala. This was something of a new experience for me - though I know of the band, I honestly hadn't listened to much of their stuff - the little I'd listened to seemed cool, but I couldn't name more than a handful on songs. Anywho, I was searching for something to cheer myself up, and it seemed like a fun way to pass and evening - turns out I was totally correct! So, I'm gonna try and say some stuff about what I just heard - though it's gonna be a trifle light on details, given my general unfamiliarity with the band...

Fronted by the truly miniscule vocalist/bassist Satomi Matsuzaki, Deerhoof are rather an odd mashup of various different generes. Listening to them tonight, I heard pop, heavy rock, a touch of metal, free improv jazz, and even blues rock a la the Rolling Stones. So yeah, pretty much everything you can think of rolled into one. And you know what, it works! It admittedly took a little while to get into the swing of things - they have an extremely choppy style of playing, with very little structure to the songs - tunes can go from quiet and melodic one moment to completely over the top blasting rock the next with nary a warning. It makes listening to them highly disconcerting - you're never entirely sure where songs are going to go next - whether they are going to bring in some sort of chorus, or wander off into a bass-led jam for a few minutes.

But after a few songs I just switched the analytical bit of my brain off, and just went with the flow, and it was awesome! There is a real disarming charm about the whole band - though the lead singer seems rather sombre and serious, it's hard to take anyone seriously when they're singing about sunflowers or pandas, or pretending her bass (using a Hofner Violin "Beatle" bass - always a bonus!) is an aeroplane! The whole band had a rather fantastic stage presence - whether they were going mental with instruments, climbing the scaffolding or just raising guitar feedback to an artform!

It would be terribly remiss of me not to mention the drummer. Simply put, he is one of the most orgasmic drummers I've even seen play. Seriously - he has a love for the drums that's probably illegal in most US states! Dude spent the entire time laying into his kit with a massive half-crazed grin on his face, coordinating the time and key changes with dramatic flourishes that required one arse-load of a lot of skill. He was great fun to watch, and seemed to be the driving force behind the band - he did most of the talking between songs, and you got the feeling that even though Matsuzaki was up front, he was the real power behind the band.

If it seems like I've been hazy on the actual songs themselves, it's cause they seemed less seperate songs, and more segments for the band to jam through. Even the singing was not really distinct in any way - apart from the occasional moment of clarity, Matsuzaki uses her voice mainly as another instrument to the noise, making high-pitched beeps or single-phrase repetition to add texture to the rest of the band. Generally though, they were a fantasic band to see live, and one I'd recommend if you get the chance. Just turn your brain off, kick back and enjoy the noise!

J

p.s - if you were wondering where in the world the title comes from, it's taken from one of their songs - I'll throw a linkie-type thing up here...

Panda!

it's actually a pretty good example of their songs - disjointed segments, silly lyrics and awesome spazz-out drumming!

p.p.s - special props to the support act, a french band called 'Anabel's Poppy Day', who had some rather fun wierdo pop, which I had a blast with, despite the lead singer sounding like Betty Boop with a very bad headcold!

Soulmates never die, and neither do excellent albums...

Ah Placebo, how we love thee. Been listening to their new CD "Battle for the Sun" for a while now since its release, and thought I'd give it a quick review for anyone who hasn't picked it up. Or I guess, for anyone who has picked it up and gives a toss what I think about it. In fact, what the hell, this review is for everyone! Huzzah!

This is the first Placebo album with their new drummer, and it really shows throughout the songs. The new member (one Steve Forrest, or so Wiki tells me) adds far more attack to the album than has been seen before, and gives the songs far more energy - and they really are better for it! Generally I've always felt that Placebo albums fell down with the quieter numbers - songs like Centerfolds, Narcoleptic or Bionic were often the weak points to the stronger, more powerful songs. The band seems to have realised this, and 'Battle for the Sun' is noticeably sparse on softer songs, preferring to keep it faster and heavier.

Now, I'm not gonna give an exhaustive blow-by-blow account of the album - leave that to those that get paid for this sort of gig! But I will pick out what I think are the high-points of the album...

Far and away the best song on the album is the single 'For what it's worth' - with Brian Molko's trademark semi-cryptic lyrics ("You're a god-shaped hole tonight") being augmented by a rather nifty brass section, which is a different direction for the band, but one that totally works. Definitely a fantastic little number, and well worth listen. Other good tunes include the strangely life-affirming 'Bright Lights', with a wonderful rising synth line bringing a smile to my face whenever I listen to it. On the other end of the scale, 'Devil in the Details' is the sort of slow, powerful songwriting that Placebo does so well. Starting out quiet and unassuming, it quickly rises to a powerful creshendo that makes for awesome listening. There is also 'The Neverending Why', a fast powerful song that hearkens back to songs like '36 Degrees' or 'The Bitter End'. Probably the next single, this one.

Listening to this album, one thing that occurs to me rather randomly is that this album seems to be far less sex and drug-obsessed than previous offerings - Brian seems more interested in relationship issues and cryptic but beautiful sounding couplets and lyrics. Don't know what that means for the band, but 'tis an observation nonetheless.

Anywho, as a final note, here's some youtubes for a couple of songs from said new album - enjoy!

For What It's Worth

Battle For The Sun

Keep it Ninja,

J

p.s. - If Brian does happen to be reading this - please stop changing your hair all the time! You looked perfectly good with the medium-long hair - keep it like that! Much appreciated.

p.p.s - Random bit of trivia - the song 'Ashtray Heart' is actually named after Brian's first band, formed with the bassist Stefan before they formed Placebo. So there you go!

And tonight we'll start it all again...

Urgh, man, what happened? Last thing I remember there was this old dude, and he was offering me candy, and then it all kinda gets hazy for about... 3 months. Anyways, I am back once again, victorious in the face of essays and fit and ready once again to fight the good fight in the name of good music and bad jokes. So, without any further delay, let's get down to business!

J

a notice

as you've probably noticed, I haven't really been updating this blog in recent weeks. Blame lies in uni essays - I'm getting near the deadline for my MA essays, which has left me with very little free-time to work on this. So yeah, I doubt I'll get much done in the next month or so. If I get some free time, I'll try to put up some more entries, but most probably I'll be resurrecting it in June when the deadlines have come and gone.

Sorry,

J

A quick note...

Having just got back from seeing the Presidents of the USA, I have an announcement to make. Ok you ready?

If you're tall, please don't stand at the front of gigs.

Thank you for your attention on this grave matter. Full review of the Presidents gig coming soon as I've regained my hearing.

J

The following is not an attempt to get into Jenny Lewis' pants... honestly...

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