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.
Opposites by Biffy Clyro
Push The Sky Away by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Waiting For Something To Happen by Veronica Falls
Les Revenants Soundtrack by Mogwai
Let It All In by I Am Kloot
Fade by Yo La Tengo
Wolf's Law by The Joy Formidable
Electric by Richard Thompson
Wonderful, Glorious by Eels
Heartthrob by Tegan And Sara
A Long Way To Fall by Ulrich Schnauss
All The Little Lights by Passenger
The Messenger by Johnny Marr
Pollen by Wave Machines
Clash The Truth by Beach Fossils
Country Sleep by Night Beds
Rules By Passion, Destroyed By Lust by Asphodells
Blood Oaths Of The New Blues by Wooden Wand
Centralia by Mountains
Ores & Minerals by Mazes
Pedestrian Verse by Frightened Rabbit
Lysandre by Christopher Owens
California X by California X
News From Nowhere by Darkstar
Almanac by Widowspeak
Wash The Sins Not Only The Face by Esben And The Witch
In 2009, Mick Harvey left Nick Cave as the last remaining founding member of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. It ended a 25 year career. Their last album together: Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! was one of their more inconsistent, ending the band's run of form that started in 1994 with the introduction of Warren Ellis (then a guest member) on Let Love In followed by the glorious Murder Ballads. This marked a transition, not only physically but musically, from upstart punks 'Kicking Against The Pricks' to master song-crafters, troubadours and poets - with The Boatman's Call and Cave's tour-de-force No More Shall We Part, still his most beautiful and proficient song writing, they matured and evolved. And in 2004, the double album Abattoir Blues/The Lyre Of Orpheus yielded some of the best songs the band has produced. Push The Sky Away is Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds' first album in five years. Distracted by evil-twin side-project Grinderman, and the lure of soundtracks to expand their musical repertoire, Cave, Ellis and drummer Tom Wydler - now the stylistic core of the Bad Seeds - are back to their main, important, focus.
From the outset, Push The Sky Away is truly mesmerising. The combination of Cave's deep, resonating, evocative vocals and the oddly compelling, often hypnotic sounds of bass, drums, guitars, big strings, then tiny hushed rhythms, create an album of songs that absorb rather than enthral. It is dark, with edges of light and shade and, while not as minimalist as The Boatman's Call, certainly echoes its feel and mantra. This conception is augmented by some earth-shattering moments - all building to the mighty opus of Jubilee Street. From stark, lazy guitar-led narrative to mournful strings, through a subtle change of pace - Cave matching this startling effect with the line 'The problem was, she had a little black book; and my name was written on every page...' as the story unfolds, moving from third to first person as the music builds to a glorious guitar/violin crescendo. Leading to this moment, Wide Lovely Eyes and Water's Edge set the cold, desolate tone. The former, a listless, wavering love song - keyboards gliding over cut-glass percussion with Cave almost speaking the lyrics, while the latter unfolds like a horror movie, driven by Martyn Casey's bass and Cave's evocative delivery.
At times Push The Sky Away sounds like the songs are fragments of much bigger ideas, yet the unstructured, loose approach is incredibly effective - the listener is dipping in and out of a collective, wandering consciousness. An exception to this rule is structured opener We No Who U R - instantly recognisable with Cave's breathy vocals against the Ellis flute, and delicate backing vocals. This is haunting, creepy and sympathetic in equal measures. In contrast, one of the album's more serene moments, proving that Cave can still deftly amuse, confuse and delight at every turn, Mermaids is a joyous love song. 'I do driver alertness course, I do husband alertness course, I do mermaid alertness course...' is one of the most bizarre, yet perfect, lines he has written. After the magnificently understated We Real Cool and the stupefying Finishing Jubilee Street, Push The Sky Away ends with the near eight-minute Higgs Boson Blues; Cave becoming more bewildered and frenetic - part mad scientist, part sceptic - as the song progresses. Musically, the mood is matched by the rising guitars and lazy percussion. The title track brings the album to a close in majestic style - a late highlight of contrasting vocals, drifting music and thoughtful tone.
In 2013 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds have made an album which sounds unlike anything else. Push The Sky Away is unique in its mood and its execution. It is as if the band made a conventional record of complete structured pop songs, the vocal arrangements and guitar/piano marrying predictably, and then replaced the soundtrack with murmuring heartbeats and subtle, yet mesmerising loops - to create an oddly oppressive feel and texture. Push The Sky Away isn't an album that is pitched for commercial success, nor is it solely for fans and purists; it hits the middle ground perfectly as something different, yet familiar, compelling and relevant. At last it sounds like the chaotic and disjointed Grinderman project has proved to be the necessary catharsis for Cave and The Seeds to polish the jagged edges and make way for this uniquely beautiful, dark and captivating genius.
Sometimes the difficult second album really isn't that difficult. London's Veronica Falls seem to have followed their promising eponymous 2011 début with such effortless precision that Waiting For Something To Happen sounds like a classic mid-80s indie guitar album. Far from the smouldering wet ashes of punk and the impending pomp and arrogance of Britpop, this quartet of lead vocalist Roxanne Clifford, guitarist/vocalist James Hoare, bassist Marion Herbain and drummer/vocalist Patrick Doyle are reminding us of a world of shimmering guitar hooks, delicious three-part harmonies and sparkling, vibrant pop songs.
Waiting For Something To Happen kicks off in style with the wonderful Tell Me, the pure combination of velvety vocals and looping guitars, accelerating out of the first minute on a wave of pounding drums. The stark, awkward, Gothic rhythms of the band's début are gone, now replaced with a shining energy and clear confidence. Recent single Teenage is just as arresting, a tale of discovery and love, memories of 'driving home' and letting your better half 'listen to the music they like', followed by the excellent Broken Toy - the best pop song on the album and some of the best lines. 'If you don't care, you'll never care; if you don't care now, you'll never know how' leads to a punchy, yet downbeat, chorus and a quick guitar break before the next. This is slick, uncluttered song writing.
The highlight of the album is the glorious trilogy of the title track - another perfect blend of guitars and vocals all brought together with the deft percussion, the darker feel of If You Still Want Me - with Clifford and Hoare providing their best vocal arrangement over the thundering guitars, and My Heart Beats - another excellent vocal and chorus. In the second half of Waiting For Something To Happen, Everybody's Changing and the brilliant Falling Out, with its verse-hook-chorus structure, dropping then rising, continue the charm. These quickly make way for the final duo of the beautiful Daniel, a three-vocal ballad set to a rippling guitar track, and closer Last Conversation, a slow-building epic (at nearly four minutes, the longest song on the album) of spellbinding vocals wound into another gorgeous arrangement.
It's not every day that a band make an album that captures the body and soul of a band as perfectly as Veronica Falls' Waiting For Something To Happen. Clifford and Hoare blend effortlessly with guitars and vocals to create new instruments and textures, while the production is light and adds a brightness to the songs. This is the sound of a band proving they are much bigger, and
better, than the sum of their parts; a proficient and skilful machine of
old souls and new minds.
Once the greatest Manchester band no one had heard of, I Am Kloot are now flirting with the mainstream thanks to previous album: the impressive, Mercury Prize nominated, Sky At Night. Ten years from their eponymous second album, Let It All In continues in the same style, blending pop and folk to create a truly unique mix to compliment lead-singer John Bramwell's characteristic, earthy vocals. Let It All In follows Sky At Night both in terms of musical creativity and songwriting. Bramwell is continuing to excel as a singer and a lyricist, while Peter Jobson and Andy Hargreaves are as prolific as ever in support.
From the slow-building mid-tempo waltz of opener Bullets, the music steadily building to a noisy disjointed guitar break, the line 'You treat your mind like a cheap hotel; somewhere you can stay but never stop..' stands out (later substituting 'mind' for 'body'). Let Them All In is a clever verse-chorus combination in which Bramwell, with his finger on the pulse of the nation, asks 'Is this a free-load trip or an ordinary situation?' in weary, charming style. The early stand-out moment arrives with the slow, dark brooding Hold Back The Night - a wonderful vocal from Bramwell as the song builds to a neat string section, and then a big, dramatic guitar finish. These moments owe much to the production skills of Guy Garvey and Craig Potter (Elbow), and their presence adds a polish to the raw, edgy I Am Kloot sound.
Another highlight is the gorgeous Shoeless (lifting the album after the lacklustre Mouth On Me), a reminiscing love song with another superb arrangement. Bramwell delivers 'Don't let the clouds clutter up your skies; let the TVs turn off their weary eyes'; another great line, but it is the mighty production of Even The Stars (first heard on the Moolah Rouge DVD) that steals the show with its beautiful arrangement, guitar work, and dramatic, sparingly-executed vocal. Masquerade borrows somewhat from Coming Around by Travis and adds a folky charm to the album - with echoes of John Lennon in the vocal, and Some Better Day brings a brass arrangement to the quirky charm. This may not be the best song but it delivers the best writing with: 'Through the gales of life and laughter, when you don't know what you're after; drag me to the kitchen sink, my whole day is on the brink; from here I can see the moon, I think I'll move there someday soon'.
Let It All In is consistent to the end with the album's best song: the delicate, yet mighty, These Days Are Mine - a wonderful arrangement, reminiscent of The Cedar Room (fellow Manchurians Doves), complete with a smooth choral finish. And closer Forgive Me These Reminders, an ambient reflective ballad, is perfectly judged to round off an impressive album.
I Am Kloot have moved on greatly from 2005's Gods And Monsters, which ended the band's first chapter. A shift from sparse spiky arrangements, bitter-sweet lyrics and edgy themes has positioned the band to a more accessible position, and the music is better for it. Now reunited with Garvey and Potter, a more commercial sound has been reinvented, while ensuring that the personality is retained to keep centre-stage. With Sky At Night and now Let It All In, it feels like the next life
for a band who always had the voice but no room in which to use it.
In 2005, Mark Everett (E) put his life story into song, once and for all, and created the masterpiece Blinking Lights and Other Revelations. We all knew this wasn't to be the end of the E saga. A trilogy of 'concept' albums has followed, all slightly different and themed (loss, desire and redemption), but all delivering more of the same - his trademark thoughts and dreams, tributes of the long departed, and hopes of the future. So what next in the troubled life of Mark Everett? Wonderful, Glorious has been pitched as a new direction - a more upbeat album, pop-tinged with garage blues and a more robust feel than the delicate arrangements of Tomorrow Morning and End Times.
Wonderful, Glorious feels like the direct successor to 2001's Souljacker. From the opener Bombs Away - possibly an ironic nod to the media's perception of the aforementioned prelude, E announces that he is back, in dark, menacing style - this is immediately self-referential, with harsh rasping distorted vocals set to a horror movie soundtrack. Over the five-minute running time, E goes from 'whispering fool' to howling maniac. Kinda Fuzzy is the hangover, a Beck-like exploration into an addled mind, gliding through different styles and textures. It is clear that Wonderful, Glorious is an album of contrasts as Accident Prone is a minimalist ballad and a sedate controlled tale of serendipity. The big drums and buzzing guitars of Peach Blossom bring us back - E reels off repetitive lyrics until the guitars take over in the second half for a cool arrangement.
The best of Wonderful, Glorious is the core of the album. On The Ropes is an obvious metaphor, beautifully woven into a heartfelt ballad. E is firmly at home playing the broken man, or the troubled soul planning and scheming but never fulfilling his desires. The Turnaround is the album highlight - the thoughts of a defeated yet hopeful drifter and another wonderful arrangement. 'I always bit the hand that beat me' is simple and effective. It builds to a rousing climax. Another high point is the cool, creepy, pop of New Alphabet, complete with distorted vocals and edgy guitars - a great example of Eels as a robust 'band'. Stick Together takes the same approach - the 50s guitars and cheesy lyrics showing a 'lighter side' to E: 'It's me and you, taking on all comers...watching them fall and nothing could be fun-er'.
Wonderful, Glorious builds to a good finish. True Original is a moving tribute and Open My Present is more of E in antagonistic mode. This could be an Eels Christmas record. You're My Friend is one of the only moments when it doesn't work - the weary vocal compliments the lumbering guitars and limp electronica, but this is immediately forgotten as I Am Building A Shrine is wonderful - the vocal production shows E's voice perfectly and it is an open, honest love song. The album closes with the title track which limps from a structureless first half of empty spaces and pseudo-funk guitars to a brilliant finale. E's last words are unexpected and poignant: 'My love is beautiful, it's here for the taking, it's strong and pure and utterly Earth-shaking... My love is only here to show you it's true, or it's like me...you'll make it through'. The delivery is honest and irony free.
At times it feels like Wonderful, Glorious is turning back the clock, to replace the messy and incoherent Shootenanny! but it also feels very much in the present. E is still a prolific songwriter, even if his reference points seem limited and the subject matter veers into melancholy, frustration and contrast. He often sounds distance these days and upbeat moments are hard to engage (Peach Blossom's lyrics do not conjure a picture of a man enjoying the springtime but someone sitting in a dark room, thinking about how great it would be to go outside - but avoiding the disappointment when it doesn't meet his imagined expectations). Tragedy and loss has fuelled E's music for decades and looking back to the dark times is always going to happen. But now that his life story is written, these days he is not looking back too far...
It comes a time in the evolution of every band when, not satisfied with taking their art to the next level, they take it a level further. Biffy Clyro - still a formidable trio of Simon Neil and twin brothers James and Ben Johnston - have continued to beguile and intrigue, since the 2007 landmark album Puzzle, with their unique blend of guitar-fuelled, often progressive, hard-edged emotional music. Two years on, the band released the brilliant, Mercury Prize nominated, Only Revolutions; an instant critical success positioning Biffy Clyro as a more acceptable alternative to the pomp and extravagance of Muse and the emotive wide-eyed visions of Coldplay. And like their contemporaries, they are now filling stadia, headlining festivals and firmly in the mainstream - so what better way to acknowledge this presence than to make two albums in one, one celebrating the past and the other bringing in the future. Opposites is a huge double-album, bloated with ambitions and startling arrangements, packed with Neil's double-edged lyrics and vocal arrangements, and seemingly limitless in its scope and depth.
The two sides of Opposites are not as musically opposed as they first seem. Part one (named unofficially as 'The Sand at the Core of Our Bones') is not packed with all the big songs, leaving part two ('The Land at the End of Our Toes') as a weaker bag of experimentation and wilder moments. Far from it. The entire album is expansive and coherent, and the songs flow with consistency. From the opening Different People, a delicate cinematic ballad transforming into frantic guitars and drums, to the stirring emotional pop of recent single Black Chandelier, it is clear that this ambitious project is still wrapped up the familiar Biffy Clyro approach. In the latter, Neil throws us 'When it's just the two of us... and a cute little cup of cyanide' and the band deliver a heavy, muddy guitar break - not your typical love song. Opposite, with echoes of Idlewild at their brilliant best, is more controlled, heartbreaking and emotional, soaring with 'Baby, I'm leaving here...you need to be with somebody else', while Biblical is near-perfect pop, a simple trick wonderfully executed, brimming with obvious rhymes within a superb vocal structure. The second half of 'The Sand...' is something of a mixed bag. The Fog stands out as obscure and magical with playful and mysterious guitar-work making way for a heavier, menacing, Mogwai-esque finish, while Little Hospitals is more of an 'emo' montage of other ideas pieced together, like something from Green Day's American Idiot. But it is The Thaw, another love song with a big open-hearted chorus, closing part one in style. 'Forgive me if my mouth is dry, I'll blame it on my battle cry' sings Neil, as the delicate guitars wash through the song. This builds to a rousing chorus and predictably, a big finish.
'The Land...' opens with the big, bold arrangement of Stingin' Belle, complete with bagpipes to compliment the driving drums and guitars. Ben Johnston excels in the second half as a huge instrumental closes the song. Modern Magic Formula has all the feel of an anti-fame protest song, delivered through punk-pop guitars and pounding drums - Neil sings 'So you wanted to change the world? But I didn't believe you...' before the emotional: 'I'm trying the best I can but there's a white flag burning in the middle of my hand'. This is more loose and liberated than anything before - slightly out of control and manic. Victory Over The Sun is similarly vitriolic - the juxtaposition of sharp verses and a gliding chorus with big strings to finish. This leads to the best of part two, Pocket, another great pop song, bringing in piano and a sublime guitar arrangement. Skylight is another example of Biffy Clyro taking on the likes of Coldplay and winning the battle of the emotional heartstrings. 'We are users...but at least we use each other, friend...' is another brilliant line from Neil. The song quickly dives into a massive cinematic instrumental adding another dimension. In the final trilogy, Accident Without Emergency is another highlight while closer Picture A Knife Fight brings together obscure references and an upbeat chorus into a spirited finale. 'We've got to stick together' becomes the last refrain.
The risk with Opposites is always that quantity would make way for quality but this is never the case. The band sound magnificent and Simon Neil's writing is as compelling and as sharp as always. The album never seems bloated and over-thought - granted there are a few weak moments - The Joke's On Us is instantly forgettable, Sounds Like Balloons and Spanish Radio are trademark (spiky and anthemic) but nothing new, and Trumpet or Tap is an odd attempt at something different with an overblown ending; yet the ebbs and flows help create the overall structure and charm. The 'single edition' of the album is baffling idea - an attempt to merge 'The Sand...' and 'The Land...' together while omitting stand-out songs like The Fog, Pocket and Accident Without Emergency. But overall, Opposites is the sound of an band reaching their true potential and a brilliant attempt at staking claim to a poorly-guarded kingdom, left vacant by bands who can no longer defend it.
New year, new chart! A quiet start to 2013 but some interesting new albums from Villagers, Serafina Steer, Christopher Owens, Dutch Uncles, Yo La Tengo, Wooden Wand, New Order, California X, The Joy Formidable, Esben and the Witch, Widowspeak, I Am Kloot, Mountains and Paul Simon....
Let It All In by I Am Kloot
Fade by Yo La Tengo
Wolf's Law by The Joy Formidable
Blood Oaths Of The New Blues by Wooden Wand
Centralia by Mountains
Lysandre by Christopher Owens
California X by California X
Almanac by Widowspeak
Wash The Sins Not Only The Face by Esben And The Witch
BBC radio 6 Music is celebrating 10 years (actually nearly 11 by now) as a radio station by asking people to choose their favourite song from a list compiled by staff and presenters from March 2002 to the end of 2012. Interesting idea. You can vote here.
My own shortlist (from the shortlist) is....
Coldplay - Clocks (from the best Coldplay album, back when they knew how to write songs)
Elbow - One Day Like This (as long as it's the album version and not the shorter single)
Fleet Foxes - Mykonos
Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out (the best song they've made and still wonderful)
Johnny Cash - Hurt (a heartfelt rendition of the Trent Reznor masterpiece by a timeless genius)
The Killers - Mr Brightside (one of my favourite mood-lifting songs)
Kings Of Leon - Molly's Chambers (the only KOL song I like - and a great pop song)
Laura Marling - Sophia
LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends (not as great as Losing My Edge or the Pretentious version of Yeah but still great)
Midnight City - M83
Mumford & Sons - The Cave (between this and Little Lion Man)
The National - Bloodbuzz Ohio (as close to perfect as it gets)
Noah & The Whale - Five Years Time (for Laura - and because it's more perfect pop)
Richard Hawley - Tonight The Streets Are Ours (sublime)
Sigur Ros - Hoppipola (uplifting, mesmerising and beautiful - one of my Desert Island Discs)
The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army (awesome)
There is no Bat For Lashes as Daniel is better than the more recent Laura. No Black Keys as I Got Mine is better than Lonely Boy. Later Florence & The Machine is better than anything from Lungs, i.e. What The Water Gave Me. Likewise Goldfrapp has to be A&E over Strict Machine. Kasabian should be from the début or Empire instead of Fire and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds should be Breathless or I Call Upon The Author or Hiding All Away and Gold Lion is the quintessential Yeah Yeah Yeah's song.
And too many bands and artists missing to mention. Death Cab For Cutie, to mention one.
I voted for Sigur Ros but could have gone for The Killers, The National or Laura Marling.
I've never been a huge David Bowie fan but at the risk of jumping on an already packed bandwagon, this new single, accompanied by a 'creepy' surreal video which isn't quite as odd as it could have been, is rather magnificent. You can see it all here.
This is Bowie's first new song in ten years and this nostalgia trip back to Berlin grows into a cinematic work of genius, subtle and unassuming with a delicate vocal contrasted with huge orchestral music.
The winner of the BBC Sound of 2013 is LA sister trio HAIM. Great to see a band winning (so many solo artists have topped the shortlist in recent years) and such a strong female-oriented line-up. The top five are:
HAIM
AlunaGeorge
Angel Haze
Laura Mvula
CHVRCHES
HAIM create a combination of retro-80s pop rhythms, a bit of R&B and plenty of big guitars. There are definitely echoes of 'Tango In The Night' era Fleetwood Mac on big single Don't Save Me...
The BBC Sound of 2013 longlist has been published. The artists are:
A*M*E
AlunaGeorge
Angel Haze
Arlissa
CHVRCHES
HAIM
King Krule
Kodaline
Laura Mvula
Little Green Cars
Palma Violets
Peace
Savages
The Weeknd
Tom Odell
The five artist shortlist is being announced a day at a time and the first in the top five are Glasgow electro-pop trio CHVRCHES. Number four in the shortlist is Birmingham's Laura Mvula. Seeing the longlist for the first time, the immediate stand-out artists based on what I heard in 2012 are AlunaGeorge, Kodaline, Palma Violets, Savages and Tom Odell.
The electronic-infused garage-soul of AlunaGeorge, aka Aluna and er... George, from London is slightly quirky and interesting. Single Your Drums is both compelling and annoying while You Know You Like It is better. The juxtaposition of styles is a great concept.
Kodaline is a quartet from Dublin, with the gorgeous vocals of Stephen Garrigan, who released their début eponymous EP this year including the psychedelic ballad Lose Your Mind. Influences are easy to hear, from The Beatles to Radiohead but Kodaline immediately sound like a band destined for big things. There is also a bit of Dry The River (on the stirring Pray) which is no bad thing.
Palma Violets, a furious and frustrated quartet from London caught my attention on Later... with Jools when they performed Tom The Drum - a complete shambles of a performance but with raw intensity and plenty of passion, and just a bit of retro guitars. Another band who need songs and a strong début album.
Savages, another London four-piece are more rooted in the dark electronica of the 80s and recently followed Flying To Berlin/Husbands with the live EP I Am Here while Tom Odell, again based in London, is the strongest of the five with an impressive début Songs From Another Love, backed up with a heartbreaking vocal and emotive piano.
As for CHVRCHES, they certainly deserve a place in the top 5 - vibrant keyboards and Lauren Mayberry's chirpy pop vocals make The Mother We Share a great single and the live performance of We Sink (at Maida Vale for the BBC) shows that electronic music is not all pre-constructed and a great example of a band embracing technology within the excitement of a gig. You can see it here...
Laura Mvula has found a wonderful combination of narrative song writing,
clear vocals and soulful instrumentation, delicate at times then softly
explosive. She talks on the BBC website about her love of voice and piano, simple arrangements and intimate stories.
As for the rest, self-confident 18 year old A*M*E, who recently signed to Gary Barlow's label, really needs Barlow to write her some decent songs if Play The Game Boy is anything to go by. That said, her clear (if over-produced) vocals, attitude and swagger is out there. Angel Haze is likely to go far - a no-nonsense female rapper from New York while Arlissa's only work to date is a duet with Nas which is like an upbeat take on Dido and Eminem.
Haim comprise three sisters from LA who have gone 'solo' from their family band - and an interesting mix of R&B influenced vocals, pop rhythms and sublime guitars, while another young Londoner, King Krule (previously Zoo Kid) really sounds like he doesn't want to be singing - think a morose angst-ridden Billy Bragg, if that's possible.
The final three of the BBC Sound Of 2013 longlist are another Dublin band Little Green Cars - like Mumford & Sons with big guitars, Peace - Birmingham's answer to the stutter-rock of Foals or Friendly Fires, and Toronto's The Weeknd (Abel Tesfaye) whose début album of 'mixtapes' Trilogy yields the largest body of work (occasionally brilliant but often dull and anonymous R&B) for any artist on the longlist.
The end of the year chart is here! A strong finish with some great new albums from Julia Holter, Martin Rossiter, Melody's Echo Chamber, Willy Mason, The Unthanks (again), The Staves, Green Day (again, again, again!), James Iha, Pond and Singing Adams.
Dry The River were the early contenders for best album of the year and it was never bettered. Mumford & Sons, Jake Bugg, Sigur Ros and First Aid Kit forming the impressive top 5.
Shallow Bed by Dry The River
Babel by Mumford & Sons
Jake Bugg by Jake Bugg
Valtari by Sigur Ros
The Lion's Roar by First Aid Kit
Sugaring Season by Beth Orton
Carry On by Willy Mason
Bloom by Beach House
Traces by Karine Polwart
Ssss by Vcmg
The Defenestration of St Martin
The Sound Of The Life Of The Mind by Ben Folds Five
The Haunted Man By Bat For Lashes
Company by Andy Burrows
Look To The Sky by James Iha
Psychedelic Pill by Neil Young & Crazy Horse
Generation Freakshow by Feeder
Celebration Rock by Japandroids
The 2nd Law by Muse
Cut The World by Antony & The Johnsons
Oshin by Diiv
Silver Age by Bob Mould
Electric Cables by Lightships
New Wild Everywhere by Great Lake Swimmers
Standing At The Sky's Edge by Richard Hawley
The Ghost In Daylight by Gravenhurst
Born And Raised by John Mayer
Coexist by The xx
Sun by Cat Power
Strangeland by Keane
Do The Struggle by Franz Nicolay
¡Tre!by Green Day
Lost Songs by And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
A Conversation Well Rehearsed by The Birthday Suit
An Awesome Wave by Alt-J
The Blossom Chronicles by Philter
Battle Born by The Killers
Sweet Heart Sweet Light by Spiritualized
Moves by Singing Adams
Ghostory by School of Seven Bells
Charmer by Aimee Mann
¡Uno!by Green Day
Dead & Born & Grown by The Staves
Like Drawing Blood by Gotye
Observator by The Raveonettes
Now For Plan A by The Tragically Hip
III by Crystal Castles
Songs From The Shipyards by The Unthanks
Race The Loser by Lau
Southern Air by Yellowcard
Dead End Kings by Katatonia
Banga by Patti Smith
Instinct by Niki And The Dove
Human Again by Ingrid Michaelson
Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend! by Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Privateering by Mark Knopfler
The Unthanks with Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band by The Unthanks
20 by Kate Rusby
Close Up, Vol. 4 - Songs Of Family by Suzanne Vega
Even On The Worst Nights by Mixtapes
Koi No Yokan by Defones
Unknown Rooms by Chelsea Wolfe
Oceania by Smashing Pumpkins
Blood Speaks by Smoke Fairies
Handwritten by The Gaslight Anthem
Beard Wives Denim by Pond
Forward/Return by The Album Leaf
Stardust by Lena
The Light The Dead Can See by Soulsavers
Hello Hum by Wintersleep
Sounds From Nowheresville by The Ting Tings
Lonerism by Tame Impala
Allah-Las by Allah-Las
Mutual Friends by Boy
Devotion by Jessie Ware
Ekstasis by Julia Holter
Would You Stay by Steffaloo
Moth by Exlovers
Tramp by Sharon Van Etten
KU:PALM by Photek
WIXIW by Liars
My Head Is An Animal by Of Monsters And Men
Young Man In America by Anais Mitchell
Given To The Wild by The Maccabees
The Sister by Marissa Nadler
Americana by Neil Young and Crazy Horse
Unearth by Grasscut
Little Broken Hearts by Norah Jones
Gold Dust by Tori Amos and Jules Buckley
King Animal by Soundgarden
Melody's Echo Chamber by Melody's Echo Chamber
Hot Cakes by The Darkness
Synthetica by Metric
Words And Music by Saint Etienne
Wonky by Orbital
Crown And Treaty by Sweet Billy Pilgrim
Shrines by Purity Ring
Internal Logic by Grass Widow
¡Dos!by Green Day
Here Come The Bombs by Gaz Coombes
Tough Love by Pulled Apart by Horses
Interstellar by Frankie Rose
New Relics by Errors
An Omen EP by How To Destroy Angels
Dead In The Boot by Elbow
Wild Peace by Echo Lake
Dub Egg by The Young
Born Villain by Marilyn Manson
Let It Break by Gemma Hayes
Life Is Good by Nas
Living Things by Linkin Park
Beacon by Two Door Cinema Club
Oh No I Love You by Tim Burgess
Underwater Sunshine by Counting Crows
Manifest! by Friends
Clear Moon by Mount Eerie
Tree Bursts In Snow by Admiral Fallow
Human Don't Be Angry by Human Don't Be Angry
The Family Tree: The Roots by Radical Face
Weapons by Lostprophets
Blues Funeral by Mark Lanegan Band
A Monument by Tu Fawning
Aufheben by The Brian Jonestown Massacre
Have Some Faith In Magic by Errors
Hello Cruel World by Gretchen Peters
Voyageur by Kathleen Edwards
Pale Fire by El Perro Del Mar
Long Live The Struggle by The King Blues
Fossil Of Girl by Sarah Donner
Blunderbuss by Jack White
Here I Am by Oli Brown
Spirits by Plankton Wat
Visions by Grimes
Come Home To Mama by Martha Wainwright
Tales From The Barrel House by Seth Lakeman
Dark Black by Kristina Train
The Temper Trap by The Temper Trap
¿Which Side Are You On? by Ani Difranco
Eighty One by Yppah
Wrecking Ball by Bruce Springsteen
First Serve by De La Soul's Plug 1 and Plug 2
Kin Con by Alex Winston
Gossamer by Passion Pit
The Afterman: Ascension by Coheed and Cambria
Siberia by LIGHTS
Ocean Roar by Mount Eerie
Europe by Allo Darlin'
North by Matchbox Twenty
The Something Rain by Tindersticks
Something by Chairlift
The House That Jack Built by Jesca Hoop
Mirage Rock by Band Of Horses
The Savage Heart by The Jim Jones Revue
Who Needs Who by Dark Dark Dark
Anxiety by Ladyhawke
Fear Fun by Father John Misty
Transcendental Youth by The Mountain Goats
Fragrant World by Yeasayer
Shields by Grizzly Bear
California 37 by Train
Break It Yourself by Andrew Bird
Reign Of Terror by Sleigh Bells
The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping
Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do by Fiona Apple
I have been a Green Day fan since I discovered Dookie in 1994 and the songs Welcome To Paradise and Basket Case. Since then, before the band discovered the concept of prog-punk, only Nimrod is consistently impressive. From here, something strange happened. Green Day made the album Cigarettes and Valentines which was never released. It was supposed to be the antidote to the disappointing Warning but never saw the light of day - someone stole the master album from the studio. So they decided to start again, with new ideas and a new philosophy. The band describe this as a 'blessing in disguise'. No official versions of the album exist and it is now lost to the mists of time. So began the new era of Green Day - the album they went on to make, American Idiot, remains the most ambitious and musically accomplished collection of songs the band has made; a furious mix of fast energy and honest reflection. After the tour of American Idiot, Green Day repeated this process to make 21st Century Breakdown.
¡Uno! ¡Dos! and ¡Tré! are three separate albums, a trilogy of new songs to celebrate how Green Day got to where they are. The making of these albums turned the band paradoxically from a trio to a foursome as long-time touring guitarist Jason White joined the band. The debate about the nature of these albums rumbles on but they work as a trilogy in spite of some dodgy lyrical moments and ¡Dos! running about twenty minutes too long. ¡Uno! is a spirited start to the 'project' and ¡Tré! is the best of the three in terms of individual songs, and a great album to add to the Green Day catalogue - a solid mix of formulae, ideas and musical consistency. But the trilogy is bloated, self-indulgent and narrow. Thirty-seven songs should be about twenty-five with some 'mashed' together; as the chaos and ambition of American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown has not been translated here. Many of the songs are around three to four minutes (arguably the perfect length for powerful punchy pop) and get straight to the point lyrically. The highlights of ¡Uno!include the wonderful and ironically offensive single Kill The DJ, the fast pop-punk of Angel Blue and Rusty James - a great chorus framed by a tuneful no-nonsense delivery. Nuclear Family is a great introduction (complete with countdown ending) and another tuneful chorus is at the heart of Stay The Night. The change of pace comes with the retrospective love song Sweet 16 and the cool guitar stomp of Carpe Diem. Closer Oh Love is good but not as great as it could be; "I'm wearing my heart on a noose" is an interesting line among the stomp. But songs like Troublemaker (American Idiot's younger brother), the empty Loss of Control and the air-headed chorus and expletives of Let Yourself Go are a step backwards. But, in terms of energy and commitment, you can't fault Armstrong, Dirnt, Cool and White.
¡Dos! suffers from no consistency - leading to mixed results. See You Tonight is a great start; a fragment of Simon & Garfunkel while Lazy Bones is more of what we expect from Green Day but in between, F*** Time is a poor idea, badly executed and Stop When The Red Lights Flash is dull and lacking ideas. Stray Heart is a cracking pop song and an instant highlight. This is one of the best songs from all three albums but Ashley and Baby Eyes are annoyingly one-dimensional and Lady Cobra doesn't work at all - a shame as this is supposed to be a tribute to the album's 'guest' vocalist. This is the part of ¡Dos! that fails to engage and drags the whole album down badly. Nightlife attempts to do something different (with the aforementioned Lady Cobra) but ends up like the uneasy mix of Eels jamming with Madonna. There are a few saving graces here. Wild One is well-paced and tongue-in-cheek with "She
gave up on Jesus for livin' on Venus...I'm drinking the Coolade, I've
jumped on the grenade, knowing my mind's gonna blow..." a good line. And Makeout Party is messy 50s rock 'n' roll. ¡Dos! goes for the big finish. Wow! That's Loud would be good with some original melody and Amy (for the late Amy Winehouse) is hard to criticise for its open-hearted approach - vocally this is Armstrong's finest hour.
¡Tré! has some of the best songs of the trilogy, starting with the mid-tempo cheesy ballad Brutal Love. This is Green Day striving for something different and mixing styles into their punk-pop formula. X-Kid is a great rework of Father & Son and Missing You is proper emo love-song. The guitar work on 8th Serenade is superb and the song breaks the verse-verse-chrous mould. Another song that tries to steer away from the back-to-basics Green Day template is A Little Boy Named Train - continuing the inventive, yet familiar guitars and drums, but weaving in Armstrong's nursery-rhyme prose. It's not all good news as ¡Tré! has a few faltering moments. Drama Queen is ultimately dull and lyrically uneasy and Sex, Drugs & Violence is empty-headed and obvious. Amanda suffers the same fate and Dirty Rotten Bastards is an inane mash-up - the only song to do this with varying results. The Forgotten is a solid, composed five minutes to end the album and the trilogy.
Ultimately Green Day are on top form. The creative process is alive and kicking but it feels like quantity over quality. The guitars shine with crisp punchy precision and as a quartet, the band now have depth and presence. In this digital age, it doesn't really matter if bands throw all of their ideas at fans (aside from cost of buying individual albums - if that's what some people still do) but when you can choose, this trilogy can be distilled into a single decent double-album. With ¡Uno! ¡Dos! and ¡Tré! out of the way, maybe the band can filter their creative urges into a single, solid, consistent follow-up.
Some musicians stand the test of time and only come along once in a lifetime. And it's even more wonderful when you can share that lifetime with them. Canadian legend Neil Young, now well into his late sixties, is back with Crazy Horse - the brilliant Billy Talbot, Ralph Molina and Frank Sampedro, who sound like a combination seventeen-piece folk orchestra/rock skiffle group - for his thirty-fifth album. Arguably Young's best work has been his own: After The Goldrush, Harvest and more recently Prairie Wind, but his work with Crazy Horse remains the most engaging and interesting. From the début Everybody Knows This is Nowhere to the brilliant Sleeps With Angels to the audio-saga of Greendale, the collaboration is the perfect musical-marriage. After the straight-forward Americana earlier this year, Psychedelic Pill is particularly ambitious, but at the same time, as the music is built on improvisations and jam sessions, entirely obvious and expected. Consequently the album is an enormous triumphant mess.
With a running time of an hour and a half, the nine songs boast an opening song of twenty-seven minutes. Driftin' Back is part retrospective, part protest at the state of the music generation and the invasion of technology. Young treads a fine line here, trying to balance his own musical philosophy and life-vision with the inevitable rush of technological progress. Young's mournful 'improvised' verses (in which he declares his therapy is to 'write it in my book' - a reference to his recent memoirs) are exquisitely framed with swathes of trademark Crazy Horse instrumentation. As the song unfolds, Young drifts between calm alto-voiced serenity and frustrated anger - his listeners are only getting five percent of his music when they 'used to get it all'. An exaggerated, but well-made, point. The guitar-work and percussion shine as the song enters its final journey in the twenty-second minute and four minutes later Young returns with talk of getting a 'Hip-hop haircut' and paganism. Genius with a sense of humour.
If this mini-album opener wasn't enough, there are two sixteen minute songs on Psychedelic Pill. Ramada Inn is a dark tale of love and family with a superb opening four minutes. From here the guitars and Young's vocals get wilder and more unfocused, but no less engaging and effective. This is followed by a massive guitar-fuelled section before the big finish: "He loves her so, he does what he has to...She loves him so, she does what she needs to". The second epic, Walk Like A Giant is the continuation of what began in Driftin' Back, taking Psychedelic Pill full-circle (if you ignore the odd inclusion of a different version of the title track). Again this is more remonstrating on the present and yearning for the past: "We were gonna save the world, we were tryin' to make it better...but then the weather changed.." before the emotional "It breaks my heart...". There is real passion for music and life here. After more brilliant guitar-work, the song grinds to a shuddering halt for the last three minutes of industrial noise.
Within these gargantuans are more gems. Born In Ontario is a spirited tribute to Young's roots and proof he can still rock like the best of them, albeit a bit steadier these days. Likewise the heavy over-produced swirling title track is a decent pop song and For The Love Of Man is the album's only beautiful ballad - and a definitive highlight, proving that there are still two sides to Neil Young.
Psychedelic Pill is terrifically balanced between moments of intimate songwriting and huge wandering instrumental breaks. No other collaboration on Earth can do this, and do it so well.
New albums from The Album Leaf, Philter, Chelsea Wolfe, And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, Andy Burrows, Steffaloo, Photek, Allah-Las, Ingrid Michaelson, Sam Russo, Crystal Castles, Green Day (again!), Kristina Train, Soundgarden, How To Destroy Angels (EP), El Perro Del Mar, Neil Young & Crazy Horse (again!!) and Deftones.
Shallow Bed by Dry The River
Babel by Mumford & Sons
Jake Bugg by Jake Bugg
Valtari by Sigur Ros
The Lion's Roar by First Aid Kit
Sugaring Season by Beth Orton
Bloom by Beach House
Traces by Karine Polwart
Ssss by Vcmg
The Sound Of The Life Of The Mind by Ben Folds Five
The Haunted Man By Bat For Lashes
Company by Andy Burrows
Psychedelic Pill by Neil Young & Crazy Horse
Generation Freakshow by Feeder
Celebration Rock by Japandroids
The 2nd Law by Muse
Cut The World by Antony & The Johnsons
Oshin by Diiv
Silver Age by Bob Mould
Electric Cables by Lightships
New Wild Everywhere by Great Lake Swimmers
The Ghost In Daylight by Gravenhurst
Strangeland by Keane
Lost Songs by And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
Sun by Cat Power
An Awesome Wave by Alt-J
The Blossom Chronicles by Philter
A Conversation Well Rehearsed by The Birthday Suit
Battle Born by The Killers
Sweet Heart Sweet Light by Spiritualized
Ghostory by School of Seven Bells
Charmer by Aimee Mann
Born And Raised by John Mayer
Coexist by The xx
Like Drawing Blood by Gotye
Standing At The Sky's Edge by Richard Hawley
Observator by The Raveonettes
Now For Plan A by The Tragically Hip
III by Crystal Castles
Race The Loser by Lau
Southern Air by Yellowcard
Dead End Kings by Katatonia
Banga by Patti Smith
Instinct by Niki And The Dove
Human Again by Ingrid Michaelson
Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend! by Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Privateering by Mark Knopfler
The Unthanks with Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band by The Unthanks
20 by Kate Rusby
Close Up, Vol. 4 - Songs Of Family by Suzanne Vega
Even On The Worst Nights by Mixtapes
Koi No Yokan by Defones
Unknown Rooms by Chelsea Wolfe
Oceania by Smashing Pumpkins
Blood Speaks by Smoke Fairies
Handwritten by The Gaslight Anthem
Do The Struggle by Franz Nicolay
Forward/Return by The Album Leaf
Stardust by Lena
The Light The Dead Can See by Soulsavers
Hello Hum by Wintersleep
Sounds From Nowheresville by The Ting Tings
Lonerism by Tame Impala
Allah-Las by Allah-Las
Mutual Friends by Boy
Devotion by Jessie Ware
Would You Stay by Steffaloo
Moth by Exlovers
Tramp by Sharon Van Etten
KU:PALM by Photek
WIXIW by Liars
My Head Is An Animal by Of Monsters And Men
Young Man In America by Anais Mitchell
Given To The Wild by The Maccabees
The Sister by Marissa Nadler
Americana by Neil Young and Crazy Horse
Unearth by Grasscut
Little Broken Hearts by Norah Jones
Gold Dust by Tori Amos and Jules Buckley
King Animal by Soundgarden
Hot Cakes by The Darkness
Synthetica by Metric
Words And Music by Saint Etienne
Wonky by Orbital
Crown And Treaty by Sweet Billy Pilgrim
Shrines by Purity Ring
Internal Logic by Grass Widow
¡Dos!by Green Day
Here Come The Bombs by Gaz Coombes
Tough Love by Pulled Apart by Horses
Interstellar by Frankie Rose
New Relics by Errors
An Omen EP by How To Destroy Angels
Dead In The Boot by Elbow
Wild Peace by Echo Lake
Dub Egg by The Young
Born Villain by Marilyn Manson
Let It Break by Gemma Hayes
¡Uno!by Green Day
Life Is Good by Nas
Living Things by Linkin Park
Beacon by Two Door Cinema Club
Oh No I Love You by Tim Burgess
Underwater Sunshine by Counting Crows
Manifest! by Friends
Clear Moon by Mount Eerie
Tree Bursts In Snow by Admiral Fallow
Human Don't Be Angry by Human Don't Be Angry
The Family Tree: The Roots by Radical Face
Weapons by Lostprophets
Blues Funeral by Mark Lanegan Band
A Monument by Tu Fawning
Aufheben by The Brian Jonestown Massacre
Have Some Faith In Magic by Errors
Hello Cruel World by Gretchen Peters
Voyageur by Kathleen Edwards
Pale Fire by El Perro Del Mar
Long Live The Struggle by The King Blues
Fossil Of Girl by Sarah Donner
Blunderbuss by Jack White
Here I Am by Oli Brown
Spirits by Plankton Wat
Visions by Grimes
Come Home To Mama by Martha Wainwright
Tales From The Barrel House by Seth Lakeman
Dark Black by Kristina Train
The Temper Trap by The Temper Trap
¿Which Side Are You On? by Ani Difranco
Eighty One by Yppah
Wrecking Ball by Bruce Springsteen
First Serve by De La Soul's Plug 1 and Plug 2
Kin Con by Alex Winston
Not Your Kind Of People by Garbage
Gossamer by Passion Pit
The Afterman: Ascension by Coheed and Cambria
Siberia by LIGHTS
Ocean Roar by Mount Eerie
Europe by Allo Darlin'
North by Matchbox Twenty
The Something Rain by Tindersticks
Something by Chairlift
The House That Jack Built by Jesca Hoop
Mirage Rock by Band Of Horses
The Savage Heart by The Jim Jones Revue
Who Needs Who by Dark Dark Dark
Anxiety by Ladyhawke
Fear Fun by Father John Misty
Transcendental Youth by The Mountain Goats
Fragrant World by Yeasayer
Shields by Grizzly Bear
California 37 by Train
Break It Yourself by Andrew Bird
Reign Of Terror by Sleigh Bells
The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping
Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do by Fiona Apple
After leaving Razorlight in 2009, Andy Burrows has been guest drummer with We Are Scientists and one half of the Smith & Burrows collaboration with Editors Tom Smith. His début solo album The Colour Of My Dreams, is an engaging selection of poetry set to music, made as a charity record. Burrows's second album Company is an entirely different record - much more robust and complete, filled with luscious melodies, sharp song writing and meticulous instrumentation. The undoubted highlight at the centre of Company is the stirring ballad Hometown - a song with great structure built around piano and vocals. The emotion pours into the chorus and delivers one of the best lines on the album: "...Leave the lights on when I go, so I can watch you down below" is just beautiful. And the central string arrangement is sublime. Earlier, there isn't a weak moment, from the vocal harmonies and Fleet Foxes/Midlake-esque title track, with subtle building strings, to the country-waltz Maybe You, all vocal melody and more solid lyrics: "I thought about it once; thought about disagreeing with you. But I was someone else; someone whose heart was indestructible...". Even the odd comedy brass break works to lighten the mood. And Because I Know That I Can is near perfect funk-folk with great guitar-work. The scond half breaks from the comfort zone with mixed, yet satisfying, results. On Somebody Calls Your Name, Burrows is Elliot Smith, Stars In The Sky is a soft vocal lullaby and the shimmering pop of Shaking The Colour blends strings and guitars to form the conclusion. A great album.
Philter - The Blossom Chronicles
Little is known of Norwegian musician Magnus Gangstad Jørgensen, AKA Philter. He released his début album The Beautiful Lies at the end of 2011 and the follow-up The Blossom Chronicles continues to blend stirring orchestral arrangements with electronic beats and loops. This time around, Jørgensen focuses on strings and piano, bringing in female vocalist Miriam Vaga for only four of the thirteen songs - so the Blossom Chronicles is an instrumental album at heart. This is the soundtrack for a film/game that exists only in the mind. After the dramatic Prologue, the early highlight is Adventure Time, a string-laden cinematic clockwork soundtrack with buzzing electronica. This is followed by the wonderful Spellbound In 8-Bit - a fun cool combination of 'Speak And Spell' samples and vibrant arcade-style beats. Of the vocal tracks, Mountaintops & Skyscrapers is a great blend of traditional and modern, and Vaga's best performance, with the more delicate They Call Her Blossom a close second. After a good first half, The Blossom Chronicles loses its way, especially in the closing four songs. The Seven Seas is charming enough and a neat blend of guitars and tribal percussion and Draw Your Weapon sounds like a Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds remix, without Cave's vocals, but We Fought Monsters doesn't fit the mood of the album and the over-produced 'chipmunk' vocals of The Lights (Epilogue) are a constant and annoying distraction. But the problems are few and The Blossom Chronicles remains a good example of how to make dance music for geeks.
Crystal Castles - III
Ethan Kath and Alice Glass continue their quest to make dark twisted and challenging dance music. For III, the Canadian duo sought inspiration in Warsaw to make an album of oppression and alienation, throwing away the computerised sound of previous albums I and II, and trying for something more organic and more focused. From the opener Plague, it is clear that Crystal Castles haven't done anything completely radical - all the trademark sounds are here: Kath's layers of production and obfuscation, and Glass delicate and sweet then fighting to be heard through the fragmented noise. An early highlight is the superb Wrath Of God, like two songs intertwined, one forwards, one backwards, again with Glass screaming through the haze of electronic froth. Sad Eyes is about as good as it gets - a ghostly mutated pop song of driving drums, piercing keyboards and above all, melody. Violent Youth would be the album's great pop song if it had a vocal track that didn't jump around, and percussion that didn't sound like a bad Human League b-side. Obviously Crystal Castles are trying to make interesting and compelling music but Throughout III you get the impression that they are specifically sabotaging their own creations. The horrible unlistenable vocals and dull repetition of Pale Flesh, the equally disjointed and nasty Insulin, and The 'mice from Bagpuss' backing vocals and stark empty instrumentation on Kerosene, are notable examples. Affection is pleasant enough but it's like a delicate love song scoured with sandpaper and metal wool. One track that stands out, as it seems to have a solid clear subject, Transgender is clever and sharp, intricate and complex. III ends with a strong trio. The (mainly) instrumental Telepath is cool and elegant, likewise Mercenary is dark and brutal, yet hopeful and uplifting. Closer Child I Will Hurt You is a soft sweet lullaby hiding a razor-blade centre. III is the sound of Crystal Castles progressing, but not as far as everyone wanted. Moments of brilliance and individuality are shattered by mind-numbing chaos and obscure swamped vocals; if this is the oppression they were trying to find, they found it.
Natasha Khan has completed her glorious trilogy (following the Mercury Prize nominated Fur And Gold and Two Suns) with The Haunted Man - a more stripped down collection of songs than previous albums. Khan continues to juxtapose the intimate with the distant, drawing the listener in with personal stories and themes, and pushing them away with metaphor and wandering obscurity. The magnificent centrepiece is undoubtedly Laura (co-written with Justin Parker - a fellow Ivor Novello award winner for Lana Del Rey's Video Games); this is a stirring operatic ballad of moving beauty, gaining power and meaning on every repeat listen. The vocal production allows Khan's voice to soar with raw emotion. Equally effective is the dreamy electronic-infused Marilyn, complete with odd robotic chipmunk interlude, and second single All Your Gold is a great combination of 'old' and 'new', from uncluttered tribal opening, and borrowing heavily from Daniel, to the orchestral beats ending. While The Haunted Man is very much a solo record, Khan has gathered a swathe of talent - including producers David Kosten (Faultlines) and Dan Carey (who has worked with everyone from The Kills to Hot Chip), and drummer Rob Ellis. Bringing these musicians into her world, while keeping her vision, is the greatest success of The Haunted Man. The ideas and personnel flow on the title track - the only time The Haunted Man veers into prog-rock waters, only to weather the storm and rise triumphantly through the waves as Khan leads the choral ending. This is the end of a beautiful trilogy.
-- CS
Forward/Return by The Album Leaf
The Album Leaf, the brainchild of Jimmy LaValle, first rose to
prominence in 2004 with the release of In A Safe Place - recorded with
the help of Icelandic band Sigur Rós. Forward/Return (released as an EP -
in spite of its 35 minute running time) is a welcome return after
2010's A Chorus Of Storytellers. Opener Stretched Home is a gorgeous
blend of lazy drums, horns and delicate synths while Descent brings a
more electronic produced sound. The Album Leaf always play like Mogwai
in their more erudite, composed moods; like their Scottish
contemporaries, crafting a complex layered composition around a central
idea. Low Down brings in another great brass section - not raspy but
polished and smooth, and Skylines is simply beautiful, with its stark
spiky percussion and gliding strings - a subtle piano melody emerging
from the depths. Under The Night, the only song on Forward/Return with
vocals, is a prosaic low point which could be much better with the
absence of words. That said, it builds to a satisfying, if repetitive
climax. Images is a slightly chaotic, unfocused penultimate four minutes
while closer Dark Becomes Light is exactly this - bleak droning 8-bit
beats through the first three to four minutes to break through at the four minute
point into glorious hope-filled rays to complete the transformation.
Another wonderful record from a true pioneer of electronic post-rock.
-- CS
Unknown Rooms: A Collection Of Acoustic Songs by Chelsea Wolfe
Three albums in three years for Sacramento's Chelsea Wolfe has brought the gothic singer-songwriter from the ghostly, challenging (try Deep Talks), religious-imagery of The Grime And The Glow to the more impressive Apokalypsis. Now we arrive at Unknown Rooms. As the subtitle suggests this is an album of more organic, guitar and vocal based, folk songs from the singer's unreleased archives - with the Wolfe twist. But this is far removed from the usual dark melancholia and harsh musical arrangements. Lightness is everywhere. The delicate seduction of opener Flatlands comes alive in the second
half for a wonderful string-laden finale, while Appalachia has a
hardened-edged determination - sharp guitars and howling strings, while
Wolfe is superb. The Way We Used To and Hyper Oz are a curious menagerie of vocal arrangements, the former with added military drums, the latter with spooky strings and vocals, while Spinning Centers is a simple guitar/vocal combination; all softness and light touch. Likewise, Our Work Was Good is very reminiscent of PJ Harvey's Let England Shake, with better execution. There are scattered moments of darkness: I Died With You is a short ghostly interlude before the sparse,
fragmented and haunting Boyfriend (a cover by Karlos Rene Ayala and Ben
Chisholm - who plays with Wolfe on the album). This is a weird, yet wonderful, addition which descends into sinister buzzing synths. Closer Sunstorm is a real surprise, a piano-led vocal duel between two halves of the same consciousness. The two bonus songs, new original compositions, are a great addition: Virginia Woolf Underwater is mesmerisingly great, as are Wolfe's vocals on Gold. Unknown Rooms is unlikely to propel Chelsea Wolfe into the big time but this is certainly her most accessible and consistent album. Ironic then that it is filled with songs that have taken this long to come (in)to light.
