Sunday 31 March 2013

How To Destroy Angels - Welcome Oblivion (Album Review 2013)


The musical collaboration of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross gained the duo a Golden Globe and an Oscar for The Social Network soundtrack in 2011, and a Grammy for score of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Reznor has come a long way from the angst-ridden establishment-bashing controversy of Nine Inch Nails: 1989's Pretty Hate Machine and 1994's The Downward Spiral. Now, a more settled and reasoned savvy industry animal and family man, alongside his wife Mariqueen Maandig, he is now one quarter of How To Destroy Angels. Rob Sheridan, who has worked with Reznor, and on the aforementioned soundtracks, completes the band as 'art director'.

Welcome Oblivion is the much awaited début album from How To Destroy Angels, taking the best of previous EP 'An Omen' and forming a full-length body of work (the vinyl version has two extra tracks: The Province of Fear and Unintended Consequences in a different running order - this review is of the CD/digital edition). Maandig is lead-vocalist with Reznor appearing occasionally, adding his trademark moody voice, but mainly he and Ross lay down the groundwork. Harsh grinding guitars and thrash drums have made way for stark electronica and smooth rhythms, and with Maandig's delicious tones, they are more than just Nine Inch Nails 2.0. She adds a new dimension, a calm presence within the fragmented industrial landscape.

The early highlight And The Sky Began To Scream sets the morose tone as a bleak electronic backdrop makes way for Maandig's world-weary start and Reznor's menacing finish. The song is beautifully constructed and arranged. Ice Age is a surprising break from formula - seven minutes of industrial folk with Maandig delivering an elegant crisp vocal, while How Long? attempts credible R&B with some success. And the album closes strongly with the wonderful The Loop Closes and Hallowed Ground. The former builds from Ghosts-like instrumental to a simple vocal duet, while the latter grows slowly from piano into strings, gradually filling with choral layers and buzzing production. Elsewhere results are mixed but everything stays neatly on course. Opener The Wake-Up is ominous until the startling riff arrives, piercing the atmosphere, the title track is a more controlled and accessible Crystal Castles, while Strings And Attractors fuses a prickly soundtrack with the softness of the vocals. The near-instrumental Recursive Self-Improvement adds a beguiling injection of pace.

How To Destroy Angels will no doubt draw comparisons with Nine Inch Nails - it is in Trent Reznor's blood, his soul. So this is not a distraction. Welcome Oblivion is more than the result of a side-project, or an experiment. Similar themes and thoughts have been crafted into a different creation. Sometimes it is necessary for a band not only to evolve and progress but to create an outlet, a creative diversion, an alter-ego. How To Destroy Angels is now as much an essential part of Trent Reznor as Nine Inch Nails, and with Ross and Maandig, he has the perfect companions.
-- CS

Music Chart - March 2013

A real mixed bag of 'old' and new for March. New albums this month for Stereophonics, Jimi Hendrix, Kate Nash, Palma Violets, Josh Ritter, Ed Harcourt, David Bowie, John Grant, How To Destroy Angels, Atoms For Peace, Daughter, Stornaway, Low, Billy Bragg, Suede, Sound City - Real To Real, Peace, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Depeche Mode.
  1. Opposites by Biffy Clyro 
  2. Push The Sky Away by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
  3. Waiting For Something To Happen by Veronica Falls
  4. The Beast In Its Tracks by Josh Ritter 
  5. Welcome Oblivion by How To Destroy Angels
  6. Les Revenants Soundtrack by Mogwai
  7. Let It All In by I Am Kloot
  8. Spectre At The Feast by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
  9. People, Hell & Angels by Jimi Hendrix
  10. Fade by Yo La Tengo
  11. Wolf's Law by The Joy Formidable
  12. Tales From Terra Firma by Stornoway
  13. Electric by Richard Thompson 
  14. AMOK by Atoms For Peace
  15. Wonderful, Glorious by Eels
  16. Heartthrob by Tegan And Sara
  17. A Long Way To Fall by Ulrich Schnauss 
  18. Pale Green Ghosts by John Grant
  19. All The Little Lights by Passenger
  20. Tooth & Nail by Billy Bragg
  21. Sound City - Real To Real by Sound City - Real To Real
  22. The Messenger by Johnny Marr
  23. If You Leave by Daughter
  24. Pollen by Wave Machines
  25. Back Into The Woods by Ed Harcourt
  26. Clash The Truth by Beach Fossils
  27. Country Sleep by Night Beds 
  28. The Next Day by David Bowie
  29. Rules By Passion, Destroyed By Lust by Asphodells
  30. Blood Oaths Of The New Blues by Wooden Wand
  31. Centralia by Mountains
  32. In Love by Peace
  33. Ores & Minerals by Mazes
  34. Pedestrian Verse by Frightened Rabbit 
  35. The Invisible Way By Low
  36. Lysandre by Christopher Owens
  37. California X by California X
  38. 180 by Palma Violets
  39. News From Nowhere by Darkstar
  40. Almanac by Widowspeak 
  41. Bloodsports by Suede
  42. Graffiti On The Train by Stereophonics
  43. Wash The Sins Not Only The Face by Esben And The Witch
  44. The Moths Are Real by Serafina Steer
  45. {Awayland} by Villagers
  46. Out Of Touch In The Wild by Dutch Uncles
  47. Lost Sirens by New Order
  48. Girl Talk by Kate Nash
  49. Beta Love by Ra Ra Riot
  50. Early Rocking by Paul Simon
  51. Collections by Delphic

Sunday 24 March 2013

The Gaslight Anthem/Japandroids - Bristol Academy (22 March 2013) gig report


So it was on a cold, rainy March day that we travelled halfway across the country to the O2 Bristol Academy to see The Gaslight Anthem supported by Japandroids. We endured First Great Western, Ibis and the vibrant, hectic, cosmopolitan streets to reach our venue, host for a second night to the New Jersey heartland rock band. Truth be told, I was more interested in the Vancouverite duo in support than the headliners. Having listened to the albums, American Slang more than others, and been taken in by their new release Handwritten, The Gaslight Anthem have remained 'take-it-or-leave-it' for me. But sometimes it takes a live gig to win you over.

Before I could think about it too much, Japandroids walked on stage, in front of a wall of amplifiers. How would the Canadian prog-punks deliver a set to get the crowd ready for the main event? Awesomely, that's how. In what seemed like a fifteen minute blur of guitars, drums and distorted vocals, just the two of them with no tour support or gimmicks, they blazed through most of Celebration Rock as if their lives depended on it. They made The Black Keys look and sound like The Carpenters. The small venue shook and shuddered as The Nights Of Wine And Roses, Evil's Sway and the magnificent Adrenaline Nightshift threatened to blow the roof off the place. The crowd quickly became a mix of delight and bemusement right up to the last dregs of For The Love Of Ivy.

The crowd swelled, the balconies and walkways filled and the band most people were here to see, arrived. The Gaslight Anthem walked on stage to the sound of Jump by Van Halen and immediately launched into High Lonesome followed by the brilliant Handwritten. The set comprised mostly the latest album and The '59 Sound, with the rest forming the best of American Slang. Such was the quality there was no room for the wonderful Mae, Meet Me By The River's Edge and Miles Davis & The Cool. And it wasn't as if lead singer and guitarist Brian Fallon stopped to talk to the crowd - he thanked everyone for coming, asked if anyone had been to the previous night's gig (a mighty roar suggested that most had), and told everyone that it was 'the same band, different set'. He also introduced the Dylan cover Changing Of The Guards and explained that it was from the new Amnesty International compilation. And that was about it. He is a man of few words. This fitted the workmanlike attitude of the band who simply got on with the music as the fans swayed, punched the air and in part pushed each other around in one of many impromptu moshes - it all seemed harmless, if spirited, enough. My favourite track from Handwritten, Too Much Blood, was a welcome surprise and the excellent "45" proved to be my highlight, and the encore closed with a mighty rendition of The Backseat. But above all, the band re-introduced me to the power and depth of their impressive catalogue.

I went to the gig wanting to be a fan and left feeling like one. I didn't get it before but now I do. I don't remember the last time I witnessed a band generate that much emotion and passion from a crowd and I was instantly taken by the energy they injected into the live performance.

A great night.

The Set list was (I think):
  • High Lonesome
  • Handwritten
  • We Came To Dance
  • The Diamond Church Street Choir
  • "45"
  • The Patient Ferris Wheel
  • Desire
  • Film Noir
  • Changing Of The Guards (Bob Dylan cover)
  • The Navesink Banks
  • Casanova, Baby!
  • Biloxi Parish
  • Mulholland Drive
  • Orphans
  • Too Much Blood
  • Great Expectations
  • Keepsake
Encore:
  • She Loves You
  • Here Comes My Man
  • Old Haunts
  • The Queen Of Lower Chelsea
  • The '59 Sound
  • The Backseat 
-- CS

Saturday 2 March 2013

Music Chart - February 2013

After a lacklustre start to the year, February has been a good month for new music and a busy time at Underwurld Towers. The best of the month is Biffy Clyro, Eels, Delphic, Veronica Falls, Night Beds, Richard Thompson, Frightened Rabbit, Ra Ra Riot, Tegan And Sara, Darkstar, The Asphodells, Passenger, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Wave Machines, Beach Fossils, Mazes, Ulrich Schnauss, Mogwai and Johnny Marr.

  1. Opposites by Biffy Clyro 
  2. Push The Sky Away by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
  3. Waiting For Something To Happen by Veronica Falls
  4. Les Revenants Soundtrack by Mogwai
  5. Let It All In by I Am Kloot
  6. Fade by Yo La Tengo
  7. Wolf's Law by The Joy Formidable
  8. Electric by Richard Thompson
  9. Wonderful, Glorious by Eels
  10. Heartthrob by Tegan And Sara
  11. A Long Way To Fall by Ulrich Schnauss
  12. All The Little Lights by Passenger
  13. The Messenger by Johnny Marr
  14. Pollen by Wave Machines
  15. Clash The Truth by Beach Fossils
  16. Country Sleep by Night Beds 
  17. Rules By Passion, Destroyed By Lust by Asphodells
  18. Blood Oaths Of The New Blues by Wooden Wand
  19. Centralia by Mountains
  20. Ores & Minerals by Mazes
  21. Pedestrian Verse by Frightened Rabbit
  22. Lysandre by Christopher Owens
  23. California X by California X
  24. News From Nowhere by Darkstar
  25. Almanac by Widowspeak
  26. Wash The Sins Not Only The Face by Esben And The Witch
  27. The Moths Are Real by Serafina Steer
  28. {Awayland} by Villagers
  29. Out Of Touch In The Wild by Dutch Uncles
  30. Lost Sirens by New Order
  31. Beta Love by Ra Ra Riot
  32. Early Rocking by Paul Simon
  33. Collections by Delphic