Thea Gilmore - Angels In The Abattoir Update (June 2010)

Back from seeing Thea at Glastonbury :) and a song for June. Reason Enough is the 12th song from Thea during the Angels In The Abattoir project and one of her best. Described as "A song about love I guess.. and viewing yourself with the eyes of someone you love to try and improve the way you do things", this may not sound like Thea in a 'good place' but it is. More great lyrics: "I'm so tired of chasing answers, with my back against the wall..." and the Crowded House-esque "...I will earn your love... that is reason enough...". Beautiful song writing.

I have enjoyed being a part of Angels In The Abattoir and will continue supporting the project.

Glastonbury 2010

So I’m back from Glastonbury 2010 (the 40th anniversary!). It was hot, sticky (TMI?), busy, noisy, smelly, but above all… bloody marvellous. I’ve been twice before (2003 and 2004) and despite being underwhelmed by the headliners this year there was plenty to draw me to the ‘other’ stages. Highlights for me were Mumford & Sons and The Black Keys at John Peel on Friday, Laura Marling and Midlake at The Park on Saturday, and (of course) Orbital on the Other Stage on Sunday.

This was my festival…

Friday

I arrived on Friday morning at 11 ish and headed straight for the Park area to find a campsite. I was aiming for Park Hill or even the Dairy Ground as I knew Pennard Hill would be packed. I lucked out when I saw a couple of people moving pitch and grabbed it - just off the path to the south of the Dance field opposite the Other Stage. Away from the hedge, slightly in shade, and flat. Perfect.

First up was Seth Lakeman at Crossiant Neuf which was very busy and I didn’t have a great view. He sounded on top form though. After a bite to eat, I wandered back past the Tipis to The Park for the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble then back up through the packed markets to get my first proper view of the Pyramid. Snoop Dog was on, effing and blinding and doing this thing so I made for my destination for the evening, John Peel, via the Dance Village.

Two bottles of water and a slice of pizza later I arrived just in time to see the end of Ellie Goulding (in very fetching hot pants and flailing blond hair) and snaked my way under the canopy (John Peel is the only big stage that is covered by an enormous ceiling which turns to whole thing into a sweaty greenhouse). Mumford & Sons were fantastic and even though I wasn’t a massive fan before, I am now. Surprisingly quite a few people left after and during their sound check, I got further forward for The Black Keys. Another amazing set, with most songs just the two of them and Patrick drumming his heart out. There was what seemed like a huge wait for the headliners Groove Armada. I had never seen these guys live and they are Glastonbury veterans and (from what I had seen, and heard) always put on a good show. I was not disappointed as they mixed new stuff with old with a very energetic new front woman Saint Saviour on vocal duties. A mesmerising laser show was a visual highlight.

Saturday

I got up surprisingly early on Saturday morning and headed straight for the Green Fields and stone circle. Lots of people about, not all of them conscious. I got a couple of bacon bagels and an energy drink smoothie (I didn’t ask what was in it but it did the job) and went for a sit down in the sun.

First band of the day was Coheed & Cambria, back at the Other Stage, who made a glorious racket. A huge crowd for early in the day and lots of talk of Kate Nash later. I had a tough decision to make and one that I had still not made. Do I stay at the Other Stage for The National or head for the even busier Pyramid for Seasick Steve and then The Dead Weather? Over some lovely Mexican chicken, rice and beans and lime iced tea I mentally flipped a coin and made for the Pyramid. One of the reasons was The National (who were bound to start late) clashed with Thea Gilmore at Leftfield and no matter how hard you try, the irony of actually being at Glastonbury is that you can’t see all the bands. Seasick was great and a real crowd pleaser (he got a girl out of the audience for Walkin’ Man) but most of the hangers on didn’t really get White and Mosshart in what was more of a dark downbeat set. They would have been better on a smaller stage later in the day. Some odd song choices too, especially from the new album Sea of Cowards. Apparently The National were superb but not really a ‘festival’ band - something contradicted by the guys I was chatting to on the train on the way home.

So I did manage to get to Leftfield for most of Thea Gilmore’s set. Again it was packed but very respectful and Thea was resplendent in a gold and white sleeveless t-shirt. The guitar-free Icarus Wind was incredible. I wanted to meet Thea but thought that she would think I was a creepy stalker or something. And she seemed to vanish after the set. So from one superb female to another - Laura Marling at the Park. I had heard that she was on stage at 7:30 which made little sense as she was on second from last. Turns out it was 9.30. So when I got there some band (I assume it was the surprise set from Biffy Clyro) were just finishing and then it was Candi Staton. I had a wander around The Park, got a horrible hotdog and a beer (first of the weekend) and headed back for what was another brilliant night. Staton showed Florence Welch exactly how to sing You Got The Love and Marling was with her band which worked better on The Park stage and I’m sure a couple of new songs (maybe older ones) slipped by. The headliners were the majestic Midlake, again full of emotion and energy with the songs from latest album The Courage Of Others. Even the news of The Edge joining Muse on the Pyramid didn’t drag me away from this one.

Wanting to make the most of the festival (and still buzzing from Marling/Midlake) I had a quick trip over to Shangri La, Block 9 (this place is weird) and Avalon (I resisted the urge to venture too far into the Cabaret areas). There is always plenty going on ‘after dark’ including strange puppet shows, fire throwers/eaters, and circus acts. There was a huge crowd singing round a campfire (turned out this was Bombay Bicycle Club). I thought about seeing Oli Brown at Bourbon Street but a) he was due on at 1am, b) I couldn’t find the place, and c) I was knackered. So I called it a night.

Sunday

Woke early on Sunday but didn’t leave the tent until 10 - and only because it was just too hot. Got a late breakfast, juice and coffee and went to the Other Stage for Frightened Rabbit. The Joy Formidable were finishing up in front of a sparse crowd as I found a decent spot. Taking full advantage of a big venue, Frightened Rabbit were excellent mainly thanks to material from the brilliant Winter of Mixed Drinks album. Then it was Norah Jones at the Pyramid. Got some water and fruit and sat down on the grass with a good view of the central big screen. A really mellow set from an artist I had fallen out of love with in the last few years. Discarding piano for guitar (maybe because she was ‘opening for Slash’), the Johnny Cash cover Cry, Cry, Cry was great.

Then was the small matter of the World Cup. The festival opened a field especially to show it and thousands of people made their way across the grounds. Including me. I wish I hadn’t. I was hot and tired. I didn’t need to be annoyed too.

Back to the music, and with slightly deflated spirits, I always try to see a new band (new to me anyway) at Glastonbury and this year was no exception. And I hadn’t been to the Queen’s Head yet so Field Music followed by I Am Kloot was a tempting prospect. I got an early snack and wandered over. Not sure about Field Music but Kloot were great - again I’m not a huge fan but recognised many of the songs. And it wasn’t that busy.

For the final stint I had another choice. This could be (and I would be surprised if it wasn’t) my only chance to see Stevie Wonder live. But getting anywhere close to the guy was impossible. Likewise this could be LCD Soundsystem’s last big gig and I would never see them. And given that I had discarded Orbital for Muse before, and the mighty Hartnoll brothers were headlining, I gave up Faithless and Wonder and spent an exhilarating night at the Other Stage. I don’t think James Murphy was expecting a crowd at all, let alone one as big and full of energy as LCD Soundsystem got. The set was a bizarre mix of reworked hits (a very funky Daft Punk Playing at my House) and more straight-forward new stuff from This Is Happening. As you would expect most people were actually there for Orbital and after another long wait, the finale to the weekend kicked off. Opening with the blazing Satan, a cornea shattering light show complimented what amounted to a supreme DJ set of continuous brilliance, all topped off with a surreal appearance from Matt Smith (the new Doctor) and a rousing rendition of the Doctor Who theme. Even Smith seemed to wearing the classic ‘head torch’ glasses as he helped on the decks.

So 17 artists in three days and the site bathed in sunshine. I didn’t get to see Stevie but apparently he was everything his genius would suggest. Even with the finale duet of Happy Birthday with ‘flat’ Michael Eavis.

Happy Birthday Glastonbury. Thank you.

The Chemical Brothers - Further Album Review (2010)

Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons return to their DJ roots for album seven.

For In One Ear (thanks again SG!).

Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons have returned to their DJ roots for their seventh album Further. Or so The Chemical Brothers would have us believe. Ever since the name-change inspired debut Exit Planet Dust fifteen years ago, Tom and Ed have produced consistently beguiling, intriguing and wonderful music fusing electronic big beats with equally big name guest vocalists. But no album since has attempted to capture the essence and the raw energy of the debut; the swirling vortex of sounds that blend into one another to create a huge behemoth of duelling, almost improvised, dance music. This was attempted on the last album We Are The Night, most notably the excellent Saturate and mesmerising Burst Generator (later included as part of the original Battle Weapons series on the Brotherhood singles) - both born from an old-school experimental approach. This is a spectacular u-turn in the wake of previous album, the brilliant Push The Button.

The big difference with Further is the (optional) inclusion of visuals. The full version of the album is a DVD of videos to accompany each song, developed by Adam Smith and Marcus Lyall, the stark vibrant images moving in time with the music. This isn’t quite the collaboration that formed Gorillaz but something much more subtle, with videos designed to compliment the music and not the other way round. Without these, Further is still a captivating audio experience. From the slightly subdued opener Snow, gliding from Morse code to pulsating psychedelia within a laboured five minutes, to the epic shimmering shoe gazing indie of Wonders Of The Deep, the Chemical Brothers deliver their most understated work to date. There are no big obvious singles, no hard-hitting dance floor fillers, and no epic stadium finale. It is like one massive slow build-up that ends in chilled-out ambivalence.

At nearly twelve minutes, the mighty Escape Velocity is an early highlight. As the remnants of Snow melt away (too obvious?) in the first minute, the soundscape builds in the second to be replaced suddenly by stuttering and wavering bass that finally gives way to drums and synths. This is typical Chemical Brothers given a low-fi treatment. Four minutes in and things really take a discernable shape and almost immediately descend into a slow whirling vortex of bends and curves, to build again at the half way point, this time with more purpose. A serious lull forms much of the seventh minute before a Beatles-esque cacophony of noise brings back… much of the same. The final three minutes is livened by a mix of textures, more swirling beats and neat layering before it just fades away into a series of repeated bleeps.

Of the rest, Dissolve is an obvious crowd pleaser, sitting somewhere between Tomorrow Never Knows and Oasis circa Be Here Now. A central riff is revisited constantly and held together with buzzing space-aged circuitry. This is built around a familiarly obvious framework of loud, quiet, loud into the last pulsating minute and a half. Disappointingly it chooses to fade out rather than go out with a bang. Likewise Swoon is also impressive, after an uncertain opening suddenly jumping into life like a long lost Orbital masterpiece. “Just remember… to fall in love”, echo the vocals over and over within the siren-like synths. It all comes together when the drum tracks kick in and the ideas start to flow, the start/stop formula used with expert effect. Easily the high point of Further. Following this, K+D+B is more soulful but lacks substance and a decent vocal arrangement. And Another World could be Lemon Jelly at their most eclectic with Rowlands on rare vocal duties amongst the shifting backwards beats and cymbal-heavy percussion. But at the heart of Further is the absurdly good Horse Power. Only the Chemical Brothers could pull off such a stupendous near-six minutes of repeated vocoder and horse samples and make it sound even vaguely like a credible piece of music.

Further isn’t an immediate triumph but it’s certainly interesting. The Chemical Brothers continue to set a high standard and in trying to return to the musical style that inspired them, and brought their sound into the mainstream, they have taken less of a u-turn and more a sidestep. The lack of high profile collaborations (the understated inclusion of Stephanie Dosen aside) is a positive here. Further is much more real, much more intimate and personal, and much more a Chemical Brothers album, because of it. And the live shows will be as good as ever, with or without visuals. But you can’t help thinking that in making the kind of album they wanted to in the early years, the Chemical Brothers now lack many of the big ideas that got them this far.

-- CS (for In One Ear)

Chemical Brothers - Further Videos teaser

Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles (II) Album Review (2010)

A review for In One Ear. A really frustrating listen.

The duo of vocalist Alice Glass and producer Ethan Kath became Crystal Castles in 2004 when Kath (at the time a solo musician) asked Glass to provide vocals for a collection of instrumental tracks. He was looking for the ‘missing ingredient’ and appeared to find it when a secret recording session turned into the debut single ‘Alice Practice‘. The band’s debut is an astonishing mix of vibrant 8-bit computer electronica, punk and dance that sounds like it was formed within the twisted insides of a 1980 Pac-man arcade machine. And now, following the band’s diverse eponymous debut, the second album has, imaginatively, the same name. It is equally diverse but not in a good way.

As you might expect, when Crystal Castles (II) is good, its very good. And this immediately shows a promising progression. Gone are the thumping drums, the spiky keys and the distorted howling vocals and in comes soft, gliding serenity and Glass actually attempting to sing, even though for the most part you can’t hear her clearly - but not because the feedback is too thick but due to the marshmallow production. The early highlight is undoubtedly Celestica and a great example of the band’s new found shimmering pop sound. Glass delivers a perfect vocal melody and explosive choruses while Kath adds some harder edges. But with the exception of some curious squeaks and bleeps, the song mostly stays the right side of listenable. The effect is not too far from Dubstar in their prime. In almost the same way, but with added vocoder, Suffocation uses the same approach, never threatening to descend into noise and chaos. It takes a while to get going but Empathy is equally vibrant, a constant juxtaposition of pulsing beats, gliding strings and soft vocals.

The flip side of all this is the big problem with Crystal Castles (II). Opener Fainting Spells is designed to put off the casual listener. As a manic mix of screaming vocals, razor-edged keyboards and disjointed drums, even Trent Reznor would struggle to justify this to kick off a new album. Likewise Doe Deer (at just over a minute and a half and laughingly released as a 12 inch single), is just as awful. What makes this even more horrible is a great guitar riff throughout the nonsense. Continuing the pain, the vocals on Baptism drag the whole thing back to the bad old days, and Birds is ruined by some absurd electronic blips. Intimate is okay for two minutes forty seconds and then for some reason it all gets stuck in a seemingly endless barrage of noise. Then Crystal Castles (II) closes as it began, with I Am Made Of Chalk - a truly agonising random mess.

But it is the middle ground that lifts the quality of the rest. The Jónsi (Sigur Rós) sampled Year Of Silence is inspired, Violent Dreams is oddly downbeat and Vietnam, also with vocals provided by Stina Nordenstam is wonderfully inoffensive. The upbeat Pap Smear gives a late lift as does the jolly Not In Love, with an even more bizarre robotic vocal production and stadium-esque finale.

Sometimes a band is its own worst enemy. Whether Glass is reluctant to let go of her punk roots or Crystal Castles (II) is the sign of a band heading slowly (and reluctantly) in a new, more stable, direction is open for debate but the fact remains: the album suffers from several stupendous (mis-)judgement calls. Given that there is a wealth of material and the good trying to make up for the bad, Crystal Castles should not be criticised for lapsing back to the sound that made the band’s early sound and debut release such an engaging prospect. But such is the gap between the tuneful and the tuneless that it doesn’t take a genius to work out which is the right approach - even if this means compromising style for substance. Crystal Castles really needs to make this distinction.

-- CS (for In One Ear)

How To Destroy Angels (Trent Reznor) - Free EP

Trent Reznor's new band How To Destroy Angels has a new free six track EP.

New Chemical Brothers 'Further' MySpace Album Preview

Very short preview of the new Chemical Brothers album 'Further' on MySpace.


The Chemical Brothers: Further Album Teaser (MySpace Exclusive)

Chemical Brothers | MySpace Music Videos

Suzanne Vega - Close-Up Volume 1, Love Songs Album review (2010)

A review for In One Ear.

Here’s an idea. You’re a brilliant and well respected New York folk poet with seven superb albums and countless great songs, spanning twenty five years in the industry. What is your next move? The inevitable swathe of greatest hits? The live compilations? A Motown covers album in which you declare that you‘ve always loved the music and it was a massive inspiration even though you‘ve never mentioned it before? No, what you do is make four new albums of your own previously recorded songs. Precise, clean, honest, beguiling and fantastic in equal measure, Close-Up Volume 1, Love Songs is a new take on old material spanning Vega’s entire back catalogue.

As a collection of ‘love songs’, there are some less than obvious, and some very obvious, choices. A trio of albums boast nine of the twelve songs with no place for anything from the wonderful Days of Open Hand. You can argue that Book of Dreams is a perfect love song, as is Men in a War and we can only hope that they are both featured on another of these new quartet of records. Likewise you could pick most of the songs from Nine Objects of Desire and omit Headshots (which is featured) and include much of Beauty & Crime. But compilations are always subjective beasts and the listeners interpretation of what is a love song is not always aligned with the artist’s. This explains the material reworked from Songs In Red and Gray, written in the wake of Vega’s marriage break-up and now given a fresh retrospective, and more measured, take.

The trio of songs taken from Vega’s eponymous debut are amongst the best. Small Blue Thing is stripped of the sharpness and the distant vocal production, pushing Vega’s distinctive voice right into the foreground. The cluttered chorus is replaced by something much more ethereal. But the real surprise is the new version of the superb pop masterpiece Marlene On The Wall, slowed to a more sedate pace and simplified. The wonderful guitar work is still present but, like the vocal, pushed to the fore. The snide nasal bitterness in Vega’s voice is removed as is the percussion. Some Journey, a little known album track, is a brave choice given a new chance to shine. Not one of Vega’s best but it floats and drifts mysteriously at the end of Close-Up Volume 1, Love Songs unfolding as Vega muses on the possible roles in a relationship - a theme explored many times throughout her music.

Gypsy, the only song from Solitude Standing is treated exactly the same: the essence of the song is preserved within a new production and much cleaner sound with simple guitar and Vega’s exquisite matter-of-fact delivery creating the second instrument. In contrast (If You Were) In My Movie is rerecorded in very odd way, somewhere between the intimately acoustic and trying to get close to the original. If there was an obvious low point of the album it is this misjudgement.

Nine Objects of Desire is the source of the next three songs and more odd choices. Headshots, as mentioned, doesn’t strike as an immediate song of love, lust or even infatuation until the song steers that way into the last minute. And the slower delivery is very laboured. Caramel, which questionably features on Tried and True (1998s best of compilation) is actually a better version mainly due to Vega’s updated vocals and a very crisp acoustic guitar melody. And the overtly sensual Stockings is even more sultry, enhanced by a much clearer vocal, as if Vega is whispering a forbidden encounter to a lover rather than retelling a sordid tale to an much wider audience.

From the later work, there is more correlation with the vocal arrangements on the songs. This doesn’t stop Vega conjuring up a few diversions. From Songs in Red and Gray, (I’ll Never Be) Your Maggie May is given the bare bones treatment (gone is the harpsichord and percussion and in comes acoustic guitar), making the music and words stand out. In an album that deals with the before and after of divorce, the title track has little of the understated drama of the original but all of the pain. If anything the lack of huge musical movement and no production on the wordless chorus adds to the stark empty feeling. Harbor Song is equally stripped, most notably the bass and drums.

Close-Up Volume 1, Love Songs closes with Bound from Vega’s most recent album Beauty & Crime. The original is a superb piece of dramatic theatre with breathless angelic vocals, big drums, a guitar driven interlude, before a string laden build up to a magnificent soaring finale. How Vega reworks this in a new way is to go straight to the other extreme. And it works beautifully. No bass. No strings. No drums. Just a guitar and a voice.

Suzanne Vega is a legend to some and, in spite of diminishing commercial success in the last decade and the fact that it took a remix by DNA to make Tom’s Diner her biggest hit in 1990, she has continued to make music unlike anyone else. The quality of the song writing, the musicianship and performance on Close-Up Volume 1, Love Songs is not in question here but you have to ask yourself: what is the point of this endeavour? This feels as much a cathartic experience for Vega as it is a musical gift for the listener. She is not only trying to remind us of how great her songs are; she is trying to remind herself. But a huge part of music is time and place, a moment captured with all its purpose, perfections and faults, never to be redone. So the skill is to retain and enhance, respect and add new relevance. Suzanne Vega has found a unique way of revisiting her own brilliant music.

-- CS (for In One Ear)

Made by Maid live by Laura Marling for Jools Holland

Seth Lakeman - Hearts and Minds Album Review (2010)

A review for In One Ear. Thanks to SG for this one :)

Seth Lakeman is for some the poster boy of the English folk scene, born in the heart of Dartmoor in a region soaked in history, heritage and stories, he now has an impressive trio of albums under his belt. From the battlefields of Freedom Fields and the oceans of Poor Man’s Heaven emerges the honest open-hearted politics of Hearts and Minds. For this album, Lakeman has enlisted the talents of prolific producer and recording engineer Tchad Blake who has worked with artists as diverse as Elvis Costello, Suzanne Vega (on the brilliant 99.9F), Crowded House (the acclaimed Woodface) and Cheech & Chong (yes, really). On his working relationship with Blake, Lakeman described it as ‘a good learning experience’ and working together ‘has moved things forward’. The result is, even in the heavier moments, a softer collection of songs - the predictable violin always present accompanying Lakeman’s trademark earthy rasp.

A perfect example of the new ‘melody’ driven approach is the brilliant Stepping Over You, with quiet subtle verses exploding into vibrant flowing choruses. The song starts with simple banjo and vocal before filling in after a minute. Easily one of the best songs Lakeman has delivered, perfectly judged and controlled. This is a chance to muse on spirituality: ‘the secret scars that we all bear, as saints or sinners rising up from the earth into the air…’. This is reinforced with the final words: ‘learn a lesson if you can, a great belief is, in the hearts of every man’. But this is not just empty headed controversial liberalism, this is a message for a changing time echoing (somewhat fortuitously) the recent shifting political landscape in the United Kingdom. Spinning Days is also an early moment of seriousness. Not that Lakeman isn’t serious, but this is a very obvious fusion of control and melody designed to get even the most hardened gig goer reaching for the nearest lighter.

Hearts and Minds hits hardest when a more direct message is required. Opening with the title track and getting the more obvious rhetoric out of the way quickly, Lakeman seeks to separate the ‘suited men from the public schools’, attacking bailiffs and standing up for farmers, to remind us that there are ‘people in constant need’. This is in massive contrast to the less militant messages conveyed by most of the album. And the instrumental finale would make The Levellers rethink their entire approach to music. Superb. Likewise The Watchman is a metaphor for surveillance culture, ensuring travellers ‘a safe journey’ but really watching their every move. The middle ground is reached with See Them Dance. Instead of just adding a violin track, Lakeman works the song around it, creating a core thread for everything else to hang onto. More brilliant song writing.

Sometimes in a quest for something more mainstream Hearts and Minds veers slightly off track. Tiny World is bouncy folk-pop with a horribly trite chorus and a very thick string arrangement. This translates into an even thicker vocal collision later on. A bit like organised chaos, albeit annoyingly engaging and charming. Tender Traveller tells the story of a man on the run and ultimately accepting ones fate but the message is stretched thin. In the same way Hard Working Man stays just the right side of patronisation but the idea is stifled by an inane delivery.

Elsewhere there are a few surprises. No song deviates from what you would expect but some get close. The stabbing Signed and Sealed quickly moves from the more traditional to weave in eastern rhythms as the story is told, that of a man doomed to die in pursuit of wealth (’his mortal life caught and bound with one final debt to pay’). Immediately preceding this, Changes is delicate and poised, oozing just a bit too much radio-friendly charm. To finish, The Circle Grows is beautifully executed and after a wayward second half this gives Hearts and Minds some much needed stability.

Seth Lakeman has approached his fifth album with a wide-eyed optimism combined with deep rooted realism of the modern world. Much of the themes here involve injustice and prejudice, both modern and historical. It doesn’t always hit the mark and sometimes the message is confused and conflicted but that is the nature of tackling the big issues. Instead of steering away, Tchad Blake has pushed Lakeman further into those things his critics want him to leave behind with startling results. As a song writer Lakeman adds relevance by championing the common man rather than resorting to obvious and empty handed rabble-rousing. The core of folk music is story telling and Seth Lakeman is not only getting better musically but also narratively. Great musicians are great story tellers and this makes Hearts and Minds a progression and a triumph.

-- CS (for In One Ear)

Thea Gilmore - Angels In The Abattoir Update (May 2010)

The new song this month from Thea Gilmore is Devils Song (note the lack of an apostrophe). Thea describes it as follows: 'I guess its a bit of a musing on the nature of being a songwriter and how, no matter how in control of your art you think you are, its actually art that wears the trousers!'

The song is mid-tempo, dark echoing vocals, guitar led with some great piano. Excellent lyrics, sung with control and subtle menace in equal measure. Just what we expect from Thea and another fine song. It looks like Angels will go into a second year which is great news and I for one will be resubscribing for another round.

2010 Music Chart - May

A really busy month with some fantastic new albums. First up The Dead Weather return with the dark twisted Sea Of Cowards, LCD Soundsystem with their final act (probably) This Is Happening and the superb Brothers by The Black Keys. If that is not enough, The National's great new album High Violet and Pendulum follow up In Silico with the water world inspired Immersion.

1. I Speak Because I Can by Laura Marling
2. This Is Happening by LCD Soundsystem
   
3. The Betrayed by LostProphets
4. Brothers by The Black Keys
   
5. The Winter of Mixed Drinks by Frightened Rabbit
6. Sea Of Cowards by The Dead Weather
   
7. The Quickening by Kathryn Williams
8. Acolyte by Delphic
9. The Courage Of Others by Midlake
10. High Violet by The National
    
11. July Flame by Laura Veirs
12. Year Of The Black Rainbow by Coheed & Cambria
13. Immersion by Pendulum
    
14. When This Was The Future by Lisa O Piu
    
15. Handmade Life by Chris Wood
    
16. End Times by Eels
17. Fire Like This by Blood Red Shoes
    
18. Graceful Bow (EP) by Jason Ward
    
19. Rotten Pear by Andrew Vincent

LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening

It is hard to imagine life without LCD Soundsystem. If rumours are to be believed This Is Happening is the third and last album from the project led by US producer James Murphy. No doubt he will go on to other things, and continue to make music, but not in this guise. Talk about quitting while you are ahead. The band’s eponymous debut, with all its faults, is a huge exploration into modern dance-punk: exciting, unpredictable and compelling. Perversely the album’s best moments are not the more mellow echoes of what was to follow but instead the spontaneous frantic ‘straight-from-the-mind-of-a-genius’ ‘lay-it-down-in-one-take’ masterpieces: Movement, On Repeat, the mighty Losing My Edge and the epic takes of Yeah (it is debatable if these last two are actually part of the album as it is presented as a two disc pack - a mere technicality…). This is followed by the more sedate and coherent Sound of Silver, equally brilliant yet more focused and ‘planned’ record. So it comes as no surprise that This Is Happening follows perfectly to create one of the most impressive trilogies of any band in the last fifty years.

This Is Happening is one hour and nine songs of sublime storytelling. Opener Dance Yrself Clean is a very understated and sedate beginning mainly thanks to a brilliant use of volume coupled with the fact that Murphy‘s voice was ‘completely blown out‘ when the band recorded the song; the final result is a ’steroid’ enhanced Murphy who is both thoughtful and reflective, a distant voice musing about the future and the past with the first signs that the end is nigh: ‘Present company, excluded every time…present company, the best that you can find’ and ‘we’ve got to bring our results, I want to play ‘til the time comes, but there’s a string of divorces; you go and throw your little hands up…’. Things kick off at the three minute point with a thumping buzzing full-volume keyboard riff to add an injection of madness to the song which remains levelled and controlled. Murphy descends into howling (presumably the drugs kick in at this point) ‘it’s your show’ before the last act. The line ‘everybody’s getting younger, it’s the end of an era it’s true’ has a definite air of finality about it but it’s the closing shot, barely audible over stoic handclaps: ‘we should try a little harder, in the tedious march of the few…’ that stings. This was the last song recorded for the album and it feels like it. But the real story is yet to unfold…

So with the scene set, the album dives into the shortest and most inane song Drunk Girls. This is a social and political rant with just a loan or two from Blur (not just Girls & Boys but the melody from Tracy Jacks is in there somewhere…). Great lyrics aside, the message of late night carefree club life is lost within a dull repetitive delivery. Without this the album would be as close to perfect as it can get. That is how much this moment of poor judgement lets it down. Moving on, the album just gets better and better. One Touch is a whirling old-school dance track led by Bowie-esque Murphy and the wonderful Nancy Whang providing ‘American Scum’ shout outs. More organic but equally Bowie-esque is the wonderful All I Want, blending soaring guitars with some of the best vocals Murphy has cut to record - imperfect and natural, full of nonchalance and emotion. A great keyboard solo breaks into the three minute point. If anything this is layered a bit thick into the last two minutes as it all threatens to go off the rails. But it stays on even into the shambles of a conclusion.

I Can Change is another great song. You would be forgiven for thinking that your iPod had suddenly skipped to your 80s electronica play list and this was a long lost Yazoo or early Depeche Mode track. The love song of self-doubt moves from the head-over-heels hopelessness of ‘never change’ to the ultimate and inevitable ‘I can change’. The line ‘love is an open book to a verse of your bad poetry…and this coming from me’ is sublime ironic writing given what is to come. You Wanted A Hit is the nine minute (not quite) centre piece for an album that is trying to reconcile the past with the future, to justify lack of success while at the same time realising that doing your best is all you can ask for. A shimmering intro is slowly taken over by a thumping drum track that feels a lot less than three minutes before Murphy starts. He opens with ‘You wanted a hit, but maybe we don’t do hits. I try and try, it ends up feeling kind of wrong’. The key line here is ‘And so you wanted a hit, well this is how we do hits. You wanted a hit. But this is not what we do…You wanted it real, but can you tell me what’s real?’. If one moment of the album sums up the situation it is this. Murphy is a delicious combination of bitter and confident, like a burden has been lifted and in an attempt to sum up the band’s lack of commercial success they are both ironic and funny (‘Yeah, you wanted the time, but maybe I can’t do time. Oh we both know that’s an awful line, but it doesn’t make it wrong’). Brilliant.

The last trio of songs on This Is Happening continue the brilliance. Pow Pow could be the reworked remnant of something from the first album. Murphy is in ‘talky’ mode, part planned, part improvised charm. All this set to tribal drums and looped beats, entrancing and engaging into the last psychedelic mesmerising two minutes. Somebody’s Calling Me is equally compelling and haunting with plodding vocals fused with tuneless cold synths. It feels like the antithesis of On Repeat - drawing you in to an odd shapeless world. Closing with the appropriately upbeat and feel-good Talking Heads inspired Home, This Is Happening refuses to stumble across the finish line. Instead it races into a new world of sounds and textures with considerable carefree style.

There is a lot to be said for quitting while you are ahead. If this isn’t LCD Soundsystem’s swan song, it sure feels like it. This is self-awareness without self-indulgence. The problem is this is not hopeless, messy and pointless; it is the sound of a band at the height of its power, analogous to Nirvana’s In Utero. But maybe that’s the point - the thought of continuing is stifling and suffocating for James Murphy. The result of this anxiety is that This Is Happening is wonderfully liberated, comfortable in its acceptance of a predetermined and inevitable fate and hopeful of an unknown yet exciting future.

-- CS

The National - High Violet

High Violet is the fifth album from Brooklyn’s The National. As you would expect from a band composed of two pairs of brothers (Aaron and Bryce Dessner and Bryan and Scott Devendorf), The National is a cohesive unit and on the strength of High Violet the band is getting better with time and age. Following the impressive Boxer and before that the 2005 masterpiece Alligator, it is sad that the band are almost completely overlooked in the UK and is only just starting to get the recognition it deserves. Hopefully High Violet will prove this injustice.

The National takes standard guitar-led indie and take it to the next level; levelling instruments, generating melody from vocals, and pace from percussion. Lead singer Matt Berninger is a vocalist of the ‘speak softly and carry a big stick’ variety - always in command but letting the band provide harmonies on request.

At the centre of High Violet is the masterful Bloodbuzz Ohio. A great choice for the first single, the song is an expertly crafted combination of musical arrangement, drums and melody. Berninger provides a commanding Nick Cave baritone worthy of the brilliant lyrics: ‘I was carried to Ohio in a swarm of bees’ and ‘I never thought about love when I thought about home’. More understated but arguably better, Runaway is a work of beauty. Reminiscent of Gordon Lightfoot, Berninger is again superb: ‘what makes you think I enjoy being lead to the flood?’ is a great line, as is the simple motto: ‘we don’t bleed when we don’t fight’, each paired with exquisite arrangement, fragile guitars and subtle drums. In the second half an elegant brass section is introduced and slowly builds.

Conversation 16 completes a wonderful trio of songs. The best writing on the album, and bittersweet juxtaposition of nasty words set to angelic music, it is another masterpiece. This is followed by the reminiscent storytelling and stadium-bound England (‘you must be loving your life in the rain’ sums it up perfectly). This quality washes through the entire album, from the muddy guitars and soft harmonies of opener Terrible Love, which appears to start halfway through and feels more like a big finale than an introduction, to the wonderfully intriguing ’nuns versus priests’ child-like game of Little Faith with drum, bass and string combination. The music rarely falters. Only the rambling Lemonworld and the odd mid-tempo closer Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks let the side down.

High Violet is a truly beautiful album, brilliantly written and executed. The song writing duo of Berninger and Aaron Dessner with contributions from the band prove that The National are as workmanlike as they are proficient. And they are helped along the way by an equally proficient group of ‘hired help’ including Sufjan Stevens who provides harmonium and vocals on Afraid of Everyone. Always poetic, deep and often uplifting, in spite of a dour demeanour, the band place themselves on the right side of seriousness and melancholy thanks to brilliant arrangements and a clear positive sound. Even in its more sedate moments, the music is both intimate and engaging. This alone makes High Violet The National’s most accomplished album and completes a wonderful trio of records.

-- CS

The Dead Weather - Sea of Cowards

It is no surprise that Jack White’s current musical output is via The Dead Weather; the band caused a storm when its line-up was announced and the first sounds of the debut album Horehound began to reach our airwaves. The involvement of The Kills’ Alison Mosshart, Queens of the Stone Age multi-instrumentalist Dean Fertita and the ever reliable Jack Lawrence from White’s ‘other band The Raconteurs was as delicious as any ‘super group’ (with the exception of Them Crooked Vultures) and the debut album (and supporting gigs) did not disappoint. So it is with a sense of trepidation that we venture toward the follow-up Sea of Cowards.

One of the big problems with The Dead Weather is that of style over substance. With the songs the band is superb; always interesting, brimming with ideas, textures and sounds, all with a growing familiarity that defines the core sound. The risk here is that the second album was rushed and like The Raconteurs fate, things were stretched just a little too far. A promising debut never transformed into a lucrative endeavour to stand the test of time, and with White’s attention span the band is doomed to be rejected for ’new’ projects. But for now The Dead Weather is an important outlet for White and Mosshart who don’t seem to be able to get things together with their respective ’day jobs’. Sea of Cowards proves this serendipity.

As with the debut, when The Dead Weather is good, it is very very good. From the dirty buzzing guitars of opener Blue Blood Blues, one of only a few songs featuring White on lead vocals - for the most he hands the microphone to Mosshart - this sets the scene by fusing space-aged keyboards with clanking tin-pot percussion. Typical of many songs, there is no discernable chorus; instead relying on recurring themes. Conversely Hustle and Cuss is just one big chorus, this time with Mosshart, a delicious bass line and more pulsating keys. The pace quickens for a quick instrumental followed by a duel vocal scream-fest finale. Great start.

The Difference Between Us and I’m Mad could be one song in two distinct movements. That said, the latter has prog-rock aspirations of its own, switching from a military style drum dance loop to a superb musical interchange led by a central riff and more of the ever determined AM on vocal duties. Another huge guitar/vocal chorus is the core of Die By The Drop with added piano and JW on backing. Then comes one of the highlights: I Can’t Hear You has Mosshart delivering a very passable White impression and a great example of everything working well together.

Issues plague the second half of Sea of Cowards. Gasoline, even with a solid organ arrangement, is a bit of everything else, self-indulgent and ideas without a clear thought. Looking at the Invisible Man is horrible song writing and lacks a much needed structure and Jawbreaker feels like nothing new. But No Horse, with its 70s soft rock feel, meshing into thrash guitars then back to lazy riff, is mostly well judged. And as expected, the most interesting song is left to last. Old Mary starts with White in demented preacher mode and unfolds like a cult movie. It quickly descends into a wonderful blend of piano, guitars, static and odd sampling. A great ending.

Sea of Cowards is more consistent than Horehound. That said, the core songs from the debut (Hang You From The Heavens, Treat Me Like Your Mother and I Cut Like a Buffalo) remain the best from the project so far. Some of Sea of Cowards is very close, and as a whole it is arguably more focused, better musically, definitely darker and more involved, but it remains the flip-side of an intriguing coin. The sporadic nature of the song writing gives an improvised edge without making the whole thing sound thrown together and he duo of White and Mosshart share vocal duties and compliment each other perfectly. Backed up by Fertita and Lawerence, the band remains a strange, spontaneous and wonderful collaboration.

-- CS

New Laura Marling songs

Two new songs performed live by Laura Marling in session on WNYC Spinning on Air. Brilliant stuff.

Don't Ask Me Why



Rest In The Bed

Ivor Novello Awards - Lily Allen and Natasha Khan

This year's Ivor Novello song writing awards has delivered Lily Allen three awards and a much deserved 'Best Contemporary Song' for Daniel by Bat for Lashes (Natasha Khan). About time too.

The winners in full:

BEST CONTEMPORARY SONG

Song: Daniel
Writer/s: Natasha Khan
Performed By: Bat for Lashes
UK Publisher/s: Chrysalis Music

BEST SONG MUSICALLY AND LYRICALLY

Song: The Fear
Writer/s: Lily Allen / Greg Kurstin
Performed By: Lily Allen
UK Publisher/s: Universal Music Publishing / EMI Music Publishing

BEST TELEVISION SOUNDTRACK

Broadcast: Desperate Romantics
Composer: Daniel Pemberton
UK Publisher/s: Moncur Street Music

ALBUM AWARD

Album: Sunny Side Up
Writer/s: Paolo Nutini
Performed By: Paolo Nutini
UK Publisher/s: Warner/Chappell Music

PRS FOR MUSIC MOST PERFORMED WORK

Song: The Fear
Writer/s: Lily Allen / Greg Kurstin
Performed By: Lily Allen
UK Publisher/s: Universal Music Publishing / EMI Music Publishing

BEST ORIGINAL FILM SCORE

Film: Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
Composer: John Powell
UK Publisher/s: EMI Music Publishing

BEST ORIGINAL VIDEO GAME SCORE

Game: Killzone 2
Composer/s: Joris de Man
Developer: Guerrilla Games
UK Publisher/s: Sony Computer Entertainment Europe

INTERNATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT

Imogen Heap

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT

Paul Weller

PRS FOR MUSIC OUTSTANDING
CONTRIBUTION TO BRITISH MUSIC

Trevor Horn

SONGWRITERS OF THE YEAR

Lily Allen and Greg Kurstin

SPECIAL INTERNATIONAL AWARD

Neil Sedaka

THE ACADEMY FELLOWSHIP

Sir Tim Rice

THE IVORS CLASSICAL MUSIC AWARD

Sir Peter Maxwell Davies

THE IVORS INSPIRATION AWARD

Johnny Marr

Ryan Adams 'sci-fi' concept album and new song.

Here is an article from Pitchfork about the new Ryan Adams album Orion. It's only on Vinyl and not on CD:

link

You can hear a track from the album: Electrosnake here:

ORION . ELECTROSNAKE by ryanadams

The Dead Weather hidden 'songs'

This is a weird YouTube video showing two hidden songs on the vinyl edition of Sea of Cowards, the new album from The Dead Weather. Weird indeed...

Later... with Jools Holland - Series 36 Episode 5.

There are usually two things that lure me to watch Later… with Jools Holland: A band I love showcasing new material and the show’s tendency to throw in a few ‘unadvertised’ surprises. This week was the turn of LCD Soundsystem who release a new album This Is Happening, out on Monday. Also appearing are The National, a band I have been following for a while but I’ve never been a fan. Until now. Turns out the Brooklyn five piece are easily the best of a really bad show. More and more I seem to be going into a Later review with a heavy heart and this is no exception.

The line-up:

• Kelis - Acapella
• Crowded House - Saturday Sun
• The National - Bloodbuzz Ohio
• Sam Taylor Wood and Aaron Johnson (Chat with Jools)
• LCD Soundsystem - Drunk Girls
• Tracey Thorn - Oh, The Divorces!
• Crowded House - Don’t Dream It’s Over
• Kelis (Chat with Jools and Sweet Dreams duet)
• The National - Anyone’s Ghost
• Pete Molinari - Streetcar Named Desire
• LCD Soundsystem - I Can Change
• Crowded House - Amsterdam
• Kelis - 4th of July (Fireworks)
• The National - Terrible Love

I’m not going to dwell on this too much but the main problem with Later this week was how uninspired and dull it is. The good music was downbeat (mainly thanks to The National) and the upbeat music was bad (thanks to the direction taken by LCD Soundsystem and the awful Kelis). Even Jools looked (even by his standards) unenergised and almost bored with the chore of hosting what is the BBC’s flagship music performance show. Maybe this has something to do with the fact that it has now been pushed so far down the Friday night schedule that it is now on Saturday morning (something he points out with hints of bitterness).

Starting with James Murphy and crew, I’m liking the new direction LCD Soundsystem is taking less and less the more I hear of the new album. Drunk Girls is reworked Blur and I Can Change is like a lost discarded album track from one of many unknown 80s electro-pop bands that were lost in the mire of other more successful 80s electro-pop bands. And that is all we get. Hardly a great advert for a great band. Crowded House (now just one Finn, Neil minus Tim - but with the core founder members of Nick Seymour and Mark Hart) is a shadow of the great band Neil Finn formed nearly 30 years ago. With a new album Intriguer out, we were treated to two new songs: Saturday Sun and Amsterdam - the former better than the latter, plus a spirited but clumsy rendition of Don’t Dream It’s Over.

The shining light here (or maybe the least dark) is The National. The band is proficient, talented and focused, pushing the new album High Violet with three new songs: Bloodbuzz Ohio, Anyone’s Ghost and Terrible Love. Each song is a dour miserablist guitar-fest from the likes of Editors but with melodic elements of Midlake. Great stuff and a wonderful frenetic end to Terrible Love closing the show.

Elsewhere, ex-Everything But The Girl Tracey Thorn trudges through the piano ballad Oh, The Divorces! Even with the string section, the lack of melody and structure was a big surprise from a great talent. Kelis, back with yet another image change opened the show with the Goldfrapp-esque Acapella [sic] complete with over-produced vocals, a rubbish ‘impromptu’ vocal on Sweet Dreams in duet with Jools, and the dull 4th of July (Fireworks). Doesn’t inspire me to go anywhere near her new album Flesh Tones. The interview with Jools is equally dull - she grew up listening to jazz and gospel (there’s a surprise). Jools showed a VT of her last performance of that god-awful ‘I hate you so much right now’ song and I remembered how painful that show was…

The surprise this week was another pointless (tenuous) interview with director Sam Taylor Wood and actor Aaron Johnson taking about the DVD release of the John Lennon biopic Nowhere Boy. I wanted to hear from The National and James Murphy. And Pete Molinari’s Streetcar Named Desire with Jools and his band is truly horrible. Flat 50s throwback vocals and disjointed music.

Later… with Jools Holland is always a melting pot of musical styles, tastes and textures and so as everything that tries to be ‘everything to all people’, it sometimes ends up being a show that is relegated to selective viewing. It is becoming more miss than hit and I fear the only great music show on UK television is heading into irreversible decline. And now with the late running time, I never watch it at the scheduled time but instead catch it on BBC iPlayer - not something everyone can do but at least you can (reluctantly) skip through the dross. In anticipation of next week, my heart is still heavy…

-- CS