2008 Music Chart - April 2008

Only two new reviews this month but four albums to add - new stuff from REM, The Last Shadow Puppets, The Raconteurs and The Gutter Twins (reviews to come on the last two).

1. Ghosts I-IV - Nine Inch Nails
2. I Want You To Know That There Is Always Hope - I Was A Cub Scout
3. The Age Of The Understatement - The Last Shadow Puppets
   
4. Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
5. Seventh Tree - Goldfrapp
6. Accelerate - R.E.M.
7. In Rainbows - Radiohead
8. Alas, I Cannot Swim - Laura Marling
9. Midnight Boom - The Kills
   
10. Do You Like Rock Music - British Sea Power
11. Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings - Counting Crows
12. Consolers Of The Lonely - The Raconteurs
    
13. Saturnalia - The Gutter Twins
    
14. Neptune - The Duke Spirit
15. This Gift - Sons & Daughters

LATER...with Jools Holland (25/04/2008 - Series 32, Show 4)

Another great and interesting week in the world of Jools…an eclectic mix of artists with everything from British guitar music to Japanese drummers to Eartha Kitt.

Tuesday live set

• The Charlatans - The Misbegotten
• Was (Not Was) - Semi-Interesting Week
• The Pigeon Detectives - This Is An Emergency
• Eartha Kitt (Chat with JH)
• Yamato - Yakura
• Eartha Kitt with Jools - Ain’t Misbehavin’
• Brandi Carlile - The Story
• Was (Not Was) - Walk The Dinosaur

Friday set

• The Charlatans - You Cross My Path
• Was (Not Was) - Your Luck Won’t Last
• The Pigeon Detectives - This is An Emergency
• Eartha Kitt (Chat with JH)
• Brandi Carlile - The Story
• Eartha Kitt with Jools - Ain’t Misbehavin’
• Was (Not Was) - Where Did Your Heart Go?
• Yamato - Rakuda
• The Charlatans - The Misbegotten
• Don and David Was (Chat with JH)
• Lykke Li - Little Bit
• The Pigeon Detectives - Say It Like You Mean It
• Yamato - Cymbals
• Brandi Carlile - Turpentine
• Was (Not Was) - Semi-Interesting Week
• The Charlatans - Oh! Vanity

This week sees a huge return from the legendary Charlatans who are promoting their new album, previously given away for free on the internet. The live performances capture them at their best, newly invigorated and dynamic, living up to the top billing. They performed You Cross My Path, the very New Order-esque The Misbegotten and probably the best song the band has produced in years Oh! Vanity to close the show. Unfortunately this pushed another promising new band The Pigeon Detectives who only got two songs, both showing the band’s energy and chemistry. This Is An Emergency is a bit shouty, the overall sound not to dissimilar to, say, Bloc Party. It is a tried and tested, if a little stale, formula. Say It Like You Mean It is a much better live song but there wasn’t enough of them for my liking.

Was (Not Was) has an new album out after decades away and performed two new tracks Semi Interesting Week and Your Luck Won’t Last. In between on the Friday show they gave a spirited rendition of Where Did Your Heart Go? The Tuesday live show closed with Walk The Dinosaur. They still have a lot to offer and even though the vocals are a bit shaky these days, their support musicians are excellent, particularly the guitarist and saxophone players. Another older musician, now 86, is Eartha Kitt. She had the honorary main interview, looking very guarded on the Tuesday but much more at ease on Friday when she knew what was going on. Friday was a bit more flirtatious. She performed the same song with Jools, the best version on the Tuesday which was much more spontaneous and fun as she tried to put JH off by sidling up to him on the piano stool. Very entertaining and a genuine transformation when she performs.

World music is represented this week by Yamato (The Drummers Of Japan) who are as much a visual experience as an audio one. One piece for each show, including the biggest drum ever to appear on the show, plus a wonderful little cymbal interlude (at the risk of being patronising). They looked like they were having a lot of fun, even when not performing as they bounced to The Pigeon Detectives and clapped along to Was (Not Was).

Another great surprise was Brandi Carlile, who I must confess I have never heard of. She was fantastic, like a one-woman Coldplay infused with the spirit of Kurt Cobain. She performed two songs: The Story and Turpentine, the former showing her incredible range and including a guitar change midway through. Also on the show - again contributing to only two songs from The Pigeon Detectives - was Sweden’s latest export Lykke Li. She was a beguiling figure without a visible microphone and armed with tambourine and finger cymbals. The performance of Little Bit was a bit striped down, even for her, and just about worked.

So, a good show (again!) with lots of variety and high points. More please!

Humphrey Lyttelton

1921-2008

It has just been announced that Humphrey Lyttelton has died. A sad day. Known by most as chairman of the Radio 4 comedy 'antidote to panel games' I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue, Humph was a wonderful jazz musician and broadcaster. I had the pleasure of seeing ISIHAC being recorded and it was one of the most enjoyable evenings I have ever had. I have never laughed so much and so hard since.

RIP Humph. You will be missed.

The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age Of The Understatment Album Review (2008)

Alex Turner is full of ideas. So much so that he has to form a new band just to stop himself exploding. In a similar move to Jack White and Brendan Benson creating The Raconteurs, Arctic Monkeys front man Turner has formed a side project with The Rascals Miles Kane. The Last Shadow Puppets is not a band in the conventional sense, more two lead singers/guitarists set to a swathe of orchestral accompaniment. The effect sounds like they have been listening to too many Andy Williams and John Barry albums.

The Age Of The Understatement opens with the title track and sets the tone for the rest of the album’s sound and style. The mix of Turner’s semi-acoustic barrage and Kane’s electronic chords forms a relentless charge akin to Kaiser Chiefs' I Predict A Riot. Turner and Kane take dual vocal duties, forming a new single voice. The orchestral arrangement pulls you in immediately. Standing Next To Me is more melodic and light - again with wonderful vocals from both singers and a great orchestral/guitar break. Into the last 30 seconds, the strings threaten to take over but there is just enough without overwhelming the mix. Calm Like You stomps in before settling into Turner's vocals. He is the dominating force here so for that reason it sounds the most like a AM track with added instrumentation. This is probably why it doesn’t work - stuck between two sounds and ideas.

Separate And Ever Deadly is much more stylist and menacing with huge rolling drums. The two vocalists oscillate and intertwine, separate in parts and together when required. As their voices are very similar it all gets confused. Kane opens with "When we walk the streets together, all the faces seem to smile back. And now the pavements have nothing to offer, and all the faces seem to need a slap". It shows that an old-fashioned sound has been brought right up to date with modern observations - of a jaded twenty first century Britain. The Chamber continues the slightly uneasy listening, in spite of softer vocals with Kane providing, this time, a distant backing. This only lasts just under two minutes before the descending into a delicate spooky instrumental.

Only The Truth is probably the most upbeat song. You expect the two singers to break into a rousing rendition of Conquest at any moment. The orchestra provide the same urgency and energy, adding a third voice. But the effect is empty and vacuous as the song doesn’t really go anywhere. It is saved, however, by an inspired last fifty second instrumental and brief moment of self-indulgent chaos.

My Mistakes Were Made For You sets the album back on track. A fantastic song which uses all elements - vocals, orchestra, guitars - perfectly. "Coz we're just following the flock round and in between before we’re smashed to smithereens, like they were, and we scrambled from the blame" is a strange line trying to sum up the perils and pitfalls of being a ‘rock star’. It’s only half explained by "and it's the fame that put words in her mouth; she couldn’t help but spit them out. Around your crooked conscious she will wind". It is the right mix of obscurity and well-learned observation. Great stuff.

Black Plant is another cracking song with all components expertly arranged. If anything, the orchestral pieces are a bit pick-n-mix, like samples thrown into the empty spaces. But the overall sound is dense and complex and feels crafted and not forced. The lyrics weave a sorry tale of lost love and longing, again with a menacing edge. "When it's just one of many bullets you will bite, while waiting for a ray of light" have a typically venomous tilt. The constant slowing of the vocals is a neat touch, fading after three minutes into another instrumental interlude. Continuing the theme, but with none of the quality, I Don’t Like You Any More is another faster rant, slowing and accelerating again but ultimately ending up in no man's land - too convoluted, messy and unhinged. The weakest track by far.

In My Room is another great example of why this collaboration exists - like a modern day take on an old formula Bond Theme. The vocal arrangement is excellent, as is the arrangement, full of suspense and fervour. The last thirty seconds threatens to build up to a frenzy but backs off. Meeting Place is an interesting contradiction of sound and subject - another love story told from each perspective with excellent lyrics: "He's worried she's waiting in his dreams, to drag him back to the meeting place. His love had left him there, where the voice still echoes". All this set to another great arrangement.

The album closes with the intriguing The Time Has Come Again, softly sung with simple acoustic guitar and light strings. It is pleasant enough but not the big finish that is expected.

The Age Of The Understatement is not a masterpiece but it is just too good to be a side project. A more mature sound than either of the bands it was formed from and some great observational song writing hold it all together. At times a few clichés are thrown into the mix for good measure - obvious orchestral arrangements aside - and it lapses into Walker Brothers doing Bond Themes. But it is clear that time and effort has been spent on each song and this isn't just two guys with nothing better to do. They have braved a different direction and challenged themselves. And just for good measure, it works.

-- CS

The Last Shadow Puppets

LATER...with Jools Holland (18/04/2008 - Series 32, Show 3)

Two great shows this week - more guests performing on the live Tuesday show and a more eclectic line-up.

Tuesday live set

• The Last Shadow Puppets - Age Of The Understatement
• Sharon Jones And The Dap Kings - 100 Days, 100 Nights
• Lonnie & Eric from War - JH Chat
• Toumani Diabate - Ala Lake
• Devotchka - The Clockwise Witness
• Phil Campbell - Maps
• The Last Shadow Puppets - In My Room
• Portishead - Machine Gun

Friday set

• The Last Shadow Puppets - Age Of The Understatement
• Sharon Jones And The Dap Kings - Keep On Looking
• Portishead - Machine Gun
• Marshall Chess from Chess Records - JH Chat
• Devotchka - Head Honcho
• Toumani Diabate - Elyne Road
• The Last Shadow Puppets - My Mistakes Were Made For You
• Portishead - The Rip
• Lonnie & Eric from War - JH Chat
• Sharon Jones And The Dap Kings - I’m Not Gonna Cry
• Phil Campbell - Maps
• Devotchka - The Clockwise Witness
• The Last Shadow Puppets - In My Room
• Portishead - We Carry On

The Tuesday set has everyone on the main show as a preview with The Last Shadow Puppets getting two slots. They are certainly band of the moment - the formation of Alex from Arctic Monkeys and Miles from The Rascals works incredibly well. Both play not as a band but as two lead singers, each taking turns in some wonderful vocal arrangements. The instrumentation is provided by electric (Alex) and acoustic (Miles) guitars and backed by the Metropolitan Orchestra. The music is definitely more mature than the singers’ bands and My Mistakes Were Made For You, in particular, plays like a modern Bond theme. I hope the album captures the vibrancy of the live sound.

Also impressive are Sharon Jones And The Dap Kings, who get three songs across both shows. The best - 100 days, 100 nights - is on the Tuesday show. I’m Not Gonna Cry is overwhelmed by too much brass but Jones’ voice and style is amazing.

To complete a great lead trio of artists is the best of the three - Portishead. Back with a new album after ten years away they are eager to showcase it and JH was only too happy to oblige. They close both the Tuesday set (we are teased right until the very end) and start the Friday show with the new single Machine Gun, all pounding drums and Beth Gibbons’ haunting vocals. The Rip and We Carry On are following the same formula - the band has learned how to end songs, typically with long(ish) instrumental pieces. It’s like all they have been listening to since 1998 is Radiohead albums. Again they steal the glory from The Last Shadow Puppets and end the show - after Gibbons has finished her vocal duty on We Carry On, she walks off set leaving her band to finish up. As the credits begin, only an empty microphone and stand remain. Chilling.

The support this week is provided by Devotchka, Toumani Diabate and Phil Campbell. Devotchka are a strange beast, from Denver in the US and fronted by Italian-American Nick Urata, the sound is an acquired taste. They owe a lot of their success to the sound of Gogol Bordello and the film Little Miss Sunshine. The best of the two songs The Clockwise Witness is very reminiscent of Arcade Fire and comes complete with sousaphone. Toumani Diabate is an African musician who plays a kara - a 21 string West African harp. It is a delightful sound adding some much needed ethnicity to the typical guitars, piano and big band sound. Phil Campbell, a singer songwriter who was poised for enormous success ten years ago before an attempt to live the rock lifestyle nearly ended it before it had begun, is back with a new album. It’s strange that he gets just one song and lead single Maps, performed on both shows. He clearly has much more to offer.

The only disappointment this week is the infamous ’Chat with Jools’ (usually across a table filled with glasses, or own-branded bottles, of beer). For some reason, none of the artists are interviewed. It would be great to hear from Portishead and Alex Turner to give us some truth amongst the wild speculation in the press but instead Jools interviews Marshall Chess from Chess Rcords and Lonnie & Eric from the reformed War. Rather than be informative and interesting the show has opted for a shameless plug of a Chess compilation CD (and new film) and announcement of an another old band reforming when they probably shouldn’t bother.

New Portishead Album

It's been a while - about 15 years - since Dummy was made, an amazing album from Portishead with such masterpieces as Sour Times, Numb and Glory Box. But now the band is back with a new album Third and a harder sound, if the new single Machine Gun is anything to go by. They closed the latest Later...with Jools live Tuesday show with some style, leaving everyone slightly bemused but eager for more. Hopefully there will be more on Friday night.

You can hear the whole of Machine Gun on the band's MySpace page here.

LATER...with Jools Holland (11/04/2008 - Series 32, Show 2)

A much better show (or shows) this week mainly due to the sensible choice of artists and the great performances. Also the dual show thing worked well this time.

Tuesday Live Set

• The Kooks - Always Where I Need To Be
• Goldfrapp - Happiness
• Yeasayer - 2080
• Luke Pritchard from The Kooks (Chat with JH)
• Natty - Cold Town
• Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova - Falling Slowly
• Goldfrapp - A&E
• The Kooks - Mr. Maker

Friday Show

• Goldfrapp - Happiness
• The Kooks - Always Where I Need To Be
• Yeasayer - 2080
• Luke & Paul from The Kooks (Chat with JH)
• Dawn Kinnard - One Little Step Away
• Natty - Coloured Souls
• Goldfrapp - Caravan Girl
• Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova (Chat with JH)
• The Kooks - Sway
• Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova - Falling Slowly
• Yeasayer - Sunrise
• Dawn Kinnard with Ed Harcourt - Clear The Way
• Goldfrapp - A&E
• Natty - July
• The Kooks - Do You Wanna

A much better line-up of artists with Goldfrapp and Yeasayer leading the way this week. Goldfrapp began the Friday show with current single Happiness (stealing the mantle from The Kooks), one of the more straightforward songs from new album Seventh Tree. Underneath the swathe of vocal production, Allison Goldfrapp’s voice is superb and she is a vision of beauty. Caravan Girl was even better, cumulating with a wonderful choral ending enhanced by the backing singers. A&E is also great but worked better on the Tuesday when it followed Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova.

Yeasayer, who were declared by The Kooks as their new favourite band, are amazing live. The manic lead singer is like a man possessed delivering a fantastic vocal range. They stomped through 2080 and Sunrise, both full of tribal rhythms, bass and electronica. The Kooks themselves were a bit of a disappointment in the full show. They seemed to relish the ’live’ experience much more, and the two Friday songs Sway and Do You Wanna pushed the band too far into sleazy rock, the former is a bit too Coldplay with heavy guitars. Always Where I Need To Be and Mr. Maker are better examples of their sound and style. This doesn’t bode well for the new album. They (singer Luke on the Tuesday then with Paul on Friday) chatted uneasily with JH about their influences and The Rolling Stones. The tobacco packet in Luke’s top pocket was either a bold pro-choice political statement or a lame attempt to look cool. You decide.

Glen Hansard (ex-The Frames) and Marketa Irglova joined Jools to perform their Oscar winning song Falling Slowly from the film Once. It is a great performance and a good song. If you are new to the pair, you only understand the full extent of the achievement on the Friday show, discovering that they also starred in the film as the two main characters.

The line-up was completed by three songs by London singer Natty and Dawn Kinnard from the US. For Natty, Cold Town on Tuesday’s show worked better than Coloured Souls and July. He sounds like Marley singing Jack Johnson covers. Kinnard delivered he unique folk-goth minimalism and was joined by Ed Harcourt for Clear The Way which is much better than the disjointed One Little Step Away.

The arrangement in the Tuesday show of Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova followed by A&E by Goldfrapp is inspired and sadly missing from the Friday show. It is a real highpoint as the two songs blend together which doesn’t happen in the full set. Also for the first time, the same band or artist hasn’t started and ended the show - a strange move.

One other point of note is how ‘slack’ Jools is getting in terms of his presenting - messing up his lines, mispronouncing names, etc. He has a unique charm and style but it gets very annoying when he looks unprofessional and a bit bemused all the time. It’s a shame. Maybe he just had an off night which is more than can be said about the musicians who were largely on top form. Superb stuff.

R.E.M. - Accelerate Album Review (2008)

1994 was a defining year for R.E.M. Following the enormous musical success of the glorious ‘big label’ debut Green, the band enjoyed huge commercial success with Out Of Time and Automatic For The People - which are, thankfully, also very good albums. Extensive touring and living in the public eye for two years took it’s toll, both physically and musically, as Monster was a unmitigated disaster. R.E.M. came to the UK, never a happy hunting ground, cancelled tours and lost Bill Berry - not just a drummer but the heart and soul of the band. Given that the idea was to inject some vibrant energy into the band and deliver sexy rock n roll, the album fell flat on it’s arse. Things would never be the same again, in spite of comments by enigmatic front man Michael Stipe declaring that a three legged dog is still a dog. Putting things in perspective for a moment, R.E.M. were never going to explode or fade away. They simply are too good. And when you set a high standard, as was set in the mid-nineties, it takes time and something special to get back to your best.

Since Monster, R.E.M. have been inconsistent at best. And they always were even in the I.R.S years, from the wonderful Life’s Rich Pageant to the lows of Fables Of The Reconstruction (Of The Fables) - the last time they had troubles in the UK - so this wasn’t entirely unexpected. Perversely New Adventures In Hi-Fi is one of the best R.E.M. albums and Up contains some of the best songs from the last ten years. In between Reveal and Around The Sun, both defining horrible low points in the current musical lull, the band decided (with the help of record executives) to release a third ‘best of’ compilation. The two CD version of this attempt to appease old fans and also reign in the new, is a massive disappointment. Again, after Around The Sun, the band release yet another ‘best of’, this time the early hits, and an uninspired live album. This did nothing to help the three legged dog.

So now it is 2008, fourteen years after Monster nearly destroyed R.E.M. The band is back in the UK with a high profile gig at the Royal Albert Hall to promote new album Accelerate, a fast paced, short, sexy slice of indie rock. It all sounds horribly familiar. Thankfully it isn’t.
From the opening guitar of Living Well Is The Best Revenge you know this will not be just another lacklustre mid-tempo R.E.M. album. When Stipe comes in, he spits in the vocals at frenetic unstructured pace, only adding some melody with the flat chorus ‘All you sad and lost apostles, hum my name and flare their nostrils, choking on the bones you throw to them’. The song is full of religious reference and a reaction to being old and dated - Stipe goes on to declare ‘…history will set me free, the future’s ours…’, a stab at critics and cynics alike. The song speeds through it’s three minutes, fuelled by Stipe/Mills and Buck and Rieflin’s Dave Grohl drums.

Man-Sized Wreath starts with the same energy wrapped up in a different swagger. ’Turn on the TV, what do I see? A pageantry of empty gestures all lined up for me, wow!’. Mills adds some great bass under messy guitars. It is in danger of sounding like an aging rock band still trying to be sexy but the band pulls it off wonderfully. Stipe adds his own talkie backing vocals to the second chorus, under Mills, showing that there is a plethora of ideas being used in a very small space. If anything the ending falls a bit flat.

Supernatural Superserious should be the lead track - with more polished clear production and a great structure. It sounds like an ‘old’ R.E.M. song with new life. Buck provides a great guitar riff and again the drum arrangement is outstanding. As the song unfolds, Stipe is telling the story of how it’s easy to get lost in the crowd and suffer for it. Leading into the last thirty seconds we get some of the most intriguing lyrics: ’Now there's nothing dark and there's nothing weird. Don't be afraid I will hold you near. From the séance where you first portrayed an open heart on a darkened stage. Celebration of your teenage station’. The end of the song is amazing, a nod towards to end of Bad by U2.

Hollow Man is a respite from the pace and sees Stipe in calm reflective mood. The chorus adds the tempo: ’Believe in me, believe in nothing. Corner me and make me something. I've become the hollow man. Have I become the hollow man I see?’. He is inviting criticism and pleading for ideas. It is by no means a classic but certainly defines the mood and theme of the conception of the album. At just over two minutes, Houston is a short menacing political statement. Stipe starts in venomous mood: ‘If the storm doesn't kill me the government will. I've got to get that out of my head…’, eluding to the recent state of unrest in the US, political or otherwise, currently inspiring him. He goes on: ‘So a man's put to task and challenges. I was taught to hold my head high; collect what is mine; make the best of what today has’. Conversely the chorus is uplifting against the dark overtones and grinding distortion of guitars, but Stipe is weary and deflated by the end.

The album’s title track sounds like a reworking of The Great Beyond, with Stipe’s metaphoric musing: ’Where is the ripcord, the trapdoor, the key? Where is the cartoon escape-hatch for me?’. But the approach is much more frantic rant, less philosophical waffle. Into the last thirty seconds, the big ending again collapses.

If there is one truly outstanding song on Accelerate it is Until The Day Is Done. Like a cross between Final Straw and Swan Swan H, it is the brightest and most obvious anti-government, anti-capitalism (always a bitter pill to swallow given the money ’rock stars’ have) and anti-war song since Turn You Inside Out. Starting with a Country Feedback countdown then ‘The battle’s been lost, the war is not won’, the approach is controlled and measured. The mood lifts in the chorus which is timeless and distinctively R.E.M. Musically, the whole arrangement of guitars, piano and vocals has hidden depth. Stipe continues the sentiment with anti-Bush and anti-religion in the same line: ‘Forgive us our trespasses, father and son’. On an album full of high-tempo songs, this is a revelation and a sign that R.E.M. can still produce.

As Accelerate closes, there are a couple of divisive tracks. Mr. Richards sounds like a reworked Monkeys song with the space-aged vocal mix and the constant drone of guitars. The subject matter is clear but who it is about is not. Sing For The Submarine says very little and rather ironically takes far too long to do it. Curiously, in the first two verses Stipe namedrops two songs: Electron Blue and Feeling Gravity’s Pull (he goes on to mention two more: High Speed Train and partially ‘World As We Know It‘). The guitars on the chorus are great but generally the music is laboured and oppressive. Maybe that’s the point. Towards the end he starts to ramble: ‘Tyrel and his mechanical owl, a moth disguised as a leaf…’.

Horse To Water gets things back on track, a punchy two minute pop song with a wonderful chorus. Stipe is spitting lyrics again and what seems vacuous it very clever. He even finds time to slip in the album’s only expletive. Conversely the album closer I’m Gonna DJ just feels…wrong. Like Wanderlust on Around The Sun it is sexing up the unsexy. Annoying at the song has some great musical moments, particularly when Stipe declares ‘It’s on my mind, it’s in my mind. It’s what I found, it’s what I find’. Simple but effective. That said, the whole song never really works but ends the album with a great line: ‘Music will provide the light you cannot resist’.

Accelerate is not Monster. The first difference is Peter Buck who has never sounded better - at least not since Out Of Time. All memories of the woeful mess of a guitar solo on What’s The Frequency Kenneth? have been expelled. Mike Mills, ever dependable bass player, delivers some great backing vocals, like he used to do. And the iconic Michael Stipe is energised and inspired. It would be easy to say the reason for this new found exuberance is drummer Bill Rieflin. He was present on Around The Sun and that never revived the mood. It takes more than a new drummer to suddenly change a band but he does bring back some much needed ‘life’ into the core organic sound. Whatever has happened in the last four years, and we may never know exactly what that is, R.E.M. is sounding alive and real. Sometimes it takes a critical kicking to get a band focused but there is more to it than that. There is a distinct lack of polish, a good thing made up for by smart editing, and the inability to finish is frustrating at times. Very little of the album drags, also due to the only obvious criticism of being too short. The approach of Monster is perfectly executed on Accelerate, with proper songs and brilliant musicianship. It is a great mix of pop and political statement, not so much a reinvention as a reworking of old ideals sounding relevant and modern. Every band endures peaks and troughs, this finally sounds like the start of a peak. More please.

-- CS

LATER...with Jools Holland (04/04/2008 - Series 32, Show 1)

After a few weeks break, Jools is back with series 32 and a new format and two shows - a live preview show on Tuesday night and the main show on Friday. I’m not sure the extra half hour on Tuesday adds a great deal as it plays out like a ‘best of’ after watching the Friday show, with a couple of special additions. I have decided to review both shows together as one with main focus on the Friday line-up.

Tuesday live set

• Estelle (ft. Kano) - American Boy
• Adele - Chasing Pavements
• James Taylor (Chat with JH)
• The Only Ones - Another Girl, Another Planet
• James Taylor - Sweet Baby James
• Black Kids - I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You
• Adele and Jools - Make You Feel My Love
• Estelle - No Substitute Love

Friday set

• Estelle (ft. Kano) - American Boy
• The Only Ones - Another Girl, Another PlanetAdele - Right As Rain
• James Taylor (Chat with JH)
• Black Kids - I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You
• James Taylor - Copperline
• Estelle - No Substitute Love
• Adele (Chat With JH)
• The Neil Cowley Trio - His Nibs
• Adele - Hometown Glory
• The Only Ones - Black Operations
• James Taylor - Sweet Baby James
• Black Kids - Hurricane Jane
• Estelle - Wait A Minute (Just A Touch)

A very weak show this week for a number of reasons. Estelle, standing in for Gnarls Barkley, looked very uneasy and clunky rattling through recent hit American Boy. No Kanye West (surprise) but instead Kano who added a limp rap to what should have been a great performance. All the smiles and softness of the original song are not present here which is a great shame. The other problem with the ‘live’ arrangement from Estelle and her band was the constant use of scratching from the DJ. It’s annoying and adds nothing useful. This is evident on the dull No Substitute Love and closer Wait A Minute (Just A Touch), the latter looking even more awkward than the opener.

Much better was new British singer Adele, like Duffy in the last series adding much needed quality. She got the best of Tuesday live show performing two songs not included on Friday: Chasing Pavements and with Jools for Make You Feel My Love. Excellent performances on Friday and a great interview, cutting past the Kate Nash sound and demeanour telling JH about her inspiring Brit School upbringing and future aspirations to produce and write and promote new musicians. Anyone who thinks Adele is just another Winehouse is very much mistaken - she is level headed and talented.

The Only Ones, who probably should have given up a long time ago, gave a spirited rendition of the classic Another Girl, Another Planet while looking older than The Rolling Stones. Their second attempt, Black Operations was shaky and boring. The ‘new music’ was provided by Black Kids - a great new shambles of a group from Florida with two female keyboard players who also sing backing vocals. They look great and sound terrible - just what you need to offset the blandness. I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You gets a bit shouty and Hurricane Jane is just a bit dull.

More quality was added by veteran singer and guitarist James Taylor. A couple of interviews with the slightly uncomfortable interviewee on each show and couple of country feeling songs: the statesmanlike Springsteen-eque Copperline and Sweet Baby James. As always it is the unknown artists who seem to make an impact and this week it was the turn of The Neil Cowley Trio, lead by the ex-Zero 7 keyboardist. They stomped through His Nibs, a jazz piano instrumental which got a bit repetitive even with the drum solo and messy ending.

A weak line-up with Adele and James Taylor lifting the standard. Black Kids were ok but Estele and The Only Ones let things down. I would have liked more from The Neil Cowley Trio. Having watching both shows, I’m still not convinced that the format works. If Tuesday was completely different from Friday in terms of the performances - keep the same artists obviously - then it might be better.

2008 Music Chart - March 2008

Some big hitters this month in the chart as the year starts to get going: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Counting Crows and Nine Inch Nails.

1. Ghosts I-IV - Nine Inch Nails
2. I Want You To Know That There Is Always Hope - I Was A Cub Scout
3. Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
4. Seventh Tree - Goldfrapp
5. Alas, I Cannot Swim - Laura Marling
6. Do You Like Rock Music - British Sea Power
7. Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings - Counting Crows
8. Midnight Boom - The Kills
   
9. In Rainbows - Radiohead
10. Neptune - The Duke Spirit
11. This Gift - Sons & Daughters

Counting Crows - Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings Album Review (2008)

Counting Crows have never been the hippest band in the world. When their debut August And Everything After was released in the early nineties, everyone was still listening to Nirvana or enveloped in Britpop. Listening to a sensitive US indie rock band, back when it simply wasn’t cool, was never a popular choice. But back before emo took over punk and bands got younger, Adam Duritz was churning out the type of emotional Americana most of us can only dream about. Mix in some great songs, delicious piano and excellent crafting and it is a winning formula. Or it was. Since the wonderful debut, Counting Crows have only come close a few times: most of Recovering The Satellites, some of Hard Candy and This Desert Life. In between, a few live albums remind us of how great an event a Crows gig can be, but the single version of Big Yellow Taxi does little to win many new fans. Then bring out a ‘Best Of’ and re-release the debut - not a smart move as this often signals not only a lack of new ideas but the end of the road. So, fifteen or so years later, Counting Crows return with a new album curiously titled Saturday Nights And Sunday Mornings.

The album opens with 1492, and one of the least Crows sounding songs. Duritz immediately starts a garbled rant before setting the tone of the album against a Columbus metaphor. It is fairly unstructured stuff but messy and in-your-face rock, something the band do not usually do well. When Duritz comes in with his ‘history’ lesson, there are echoes of Nick Cave, reeling off modern day anecdotes within a fable-like context, his voice less controlled and more frantic, vibrant and alive. He is genuinely venomous when talking about ‘these people who impersonate our friends’.

Hanging Tree is also a little rough around the edges but a glorious no-nonsense pop song. A great guitar lick sets things up for the rest of the band, underpinned by piano. Duritz declares ‘I am a child of fire, I am a lion, I have desires and I was born inside the Sun this morning…’, before probably the best chorus on the album. Despite the ever present desperation in the vocals, it sounds like a band having fun. Similarly Los Angeles is the same, this time a mid-tempo bluesy rock piece full of an orchestra of guitars and piano. ’So if you see that movie star and me. If you should see my picture in a magazine…’ sings Duritz, a man born of frustration, searching for a soul in the city. Again his vocals are magnificently wayward. The final minute settles down like a drunken night out before he finally concludes that LA is a great place for a taco. Sublime…

Sundays is a great song suffering from two things: hopelessly simple lyrics and a noticeable contrast between the verses, which are fantastic, and choruses that are flat - the harmonies are good though. Again it’s a melting pot of instrumentation with plenty of time for guitar break. ’Give me a reason or I might stop breathing. Give me a reason why I’m soaking wet. Gonna stop breathing coz the sky is falling. I might go out and watch the moon explode. Give me direction to the highway crossing; I’ll go lie down in the middle of the road’ is a rare moment of Mark Everett genius, all bittersweet delivery. As Duritz declares triumphantly ’I don’t believe in anything’, he has never sounded so good.

Insignificant is just that (without wanting to be herded together with all those who have made the same clichéd comparison), mainly because it sounds like it’s too easy. It owes much of the great guitar melody to Far by Longpigs, probably the only standout ingredient in the characterless soup. Cowboys on the other hand is a perfect example of why Counting Crows are where they are. Despite the slightly unimaginative chorus, the song is a standout showcase of pure musical talent with more ideas in one song than in most new albums these days. Duritz is controlled and measured, back to his energetic and spine tingling best. The last minute goes completely off the rails which is more a surprise than a disappointment as the climactic ending leaves you wanting more.

The big ballad of the album is Washington Square and marks the point where the album changes slightly. The arrangement appears simple but a complex network of guitars creates the foundations for more subtle piano, over which Duritz delivers another great vocal and Springsteen-esque harmonica break. From here, On Almost Any Sunday Morning sounds like an off-cut from the previous track, like the band indulged in a jam session afterwards. Duritz attempts to make his voice do something different - sustained notes are never his strong point - which is admirable but misjudged. The song serves as breathing space and nothing more.
When I Dream Of Michelangelo continues the delicate approach. Duritz is typically inwardly reflective: ‘I can’t see why you want to talk to me, when your vision of America is crystalline and clean’. It is safe, inoffensive and utterly brilliant.

Anyone But You is another unfortunate lull and a song which in its five minute odyssey never really gets going. Again Duritz’s attempts at harmonic melody almost works but feels uncomfortable and awkward particularly at the end when it all goes a bit Beach Boys with horrible effect. One that maybe should have hit the editing room floor, given the quantity and quality of what else is on offer. It’s all as frustrating as Mr. Duritz sounds when You Can’t Count On Me brings the album back in style - a near perfectly crafted mid-temp rock anthem with a great lyrical construct. And then comes the really big surprise. Instead of more of the same, and a set of predictable formulaic Counting Crows ‘play it safe’ moments, Ballet d‘Or happens. For five minutes, the band are possessed by the spirit of Led Zeppelin in their more controlled psychedelic phases. For a band who are all too often criticised for being too safe, this is an experiment that works. The song is a dark brooding, yet un threatening, fragment of building vocals. Extended to seven minutes with an added guitar break ending, it would make a great album closer.

On a Tuesday In Amsterdam Long Ago has Duritz returning to more reflective mood. Not that the band is easy to read but this is the big piano number and with the vocals the two create a brilliant song unfettered by constraining structure or direction. In complete contrast Come Around is polished rock formula akin to You Can’t Count On Me and previously Murder Of One. Returning to a point of safety is probably a wise move. In the mid section the backing vocals are outstanding. At the end, they form a second vocal - another album highlight.

The album closes with the mammoth Sunday Morning L.A. which has Duritz pushing his vocals again. This creates a strange beguiling effect as the band return to psychedelic rock blues for a rousing conclusion. As the vocals build, Duritz sings ‘I have just realised that it’s all fun. Get off on life, endure this sun’, continuing the theme of west coast American life. ‘We never get away…these stupid sinners; the angels all have guns…‘. It doesn’t all work but it shows an interesting direction. The last minute and a half gets southern rock - Duritz hollering like Jimmy Page over squealing guitars. Almost the closer Ballet d‘Or could have been.

Saturday Nights And Sunday Mornings constantly reminds you how great Counting Crows are. It does, however, fall too easily onto the safe ground with songs that are barely there, existing only as Duritz’s vocals without flow or melody. All too often in the past, Duritz is doing his own thing, drowning out the other six members of the band. Thankfully this is less evident here with plenty of ideas, lots of instrumentation and some great up-tempo songs sounding live and earthy rather than sculpted and edited. And the slower songs typically sound as good as ever. At an hour, the album is overlong with a few lulls along the way but you can’t criticise too much material - there is a great 50 minute, 12 song album in their somewhere. Counting Crows may not be the coolest band, or the most direct, but the music is still relevant and Adam Duritz still has plenty to be angst-ridden and frustrated about. Long may he and his band continue to share it with us.

-- CS

Death Cab For Cutie

Ben Gibbard from Death Cab For Cutie performed a Hub session for BBC 6music on the George Lamb show. He previewed new song 'Cath...' from the forthcoming new album Narrow Stairs. After some banter with Lamb, stating that new bands shouldn't make albums unless they have some songs to put in it, and discussing whether one microphone or five is good for recording, he said that the new album is a lot more 'live full rock' than Plans. Ben sounded good but the whole band would have been better!

R.E.M. Live At The Royal Albert Hall

With the new album Accelerate almost released, R.E.M. play at The Royal Albert Hall to preview the 35 minutes of new material. Yes, 35 minutes.

The set list (from Murmers.com):

Main

Living Well Is The Best Revenge*
Accelerate*
Drive
Man-Sized Wreath*
Electrolite
Houston*
Hollow Man*
Supernatural Superserious*
Final Straw
Losing My Religion
The Great Beyond
I'm Gonna DJ*
Horse To Water*

Encore

Imitation Of Life
Until The Day Is Done*
Man On The Moon

*from Accelerate

The gig was broadcast live on BBC Radio 2 - well the main set list anyway, with encores, to follow during the day after. With a set limited to promoting the new album, it was a wonderful shambles. The new songs are short and spiky and delivered with energy and determination, even if Stipe’s voice is slightly shaky. Peter Buck plays his guitar constantly and the band have regressed back to the garage band days for Accelerate. With great backing vocals from Mills, it takes you back pre-Green to Life’s Rich Pageant.

In between all this new energy laid waste to the mid-tempo hopelessness of Around The Sun, R.E.M. still have time for live favourites such as Drive (the original version and not the funky ’live’), Electrolite, a near perfect Losing My Religion and The Great Beyond. It is so evident in current times to hear musicians preaching about the state of the world, but Americans have a lot to shout about. And R.E.M. have never shied away from politics and a great performance of Final Straw was delivered with dark foreboding, like new song Houston and Until The Day Is Done. It’s what Stipe does best - within all the new Monster-esque sexy rock, it is always the serious stuff that is relevant and pointed.

I can’t comment on the encores but the main set was predictable, safe and short. It would be naïve to expect anything more from such an orchestrated showcase at one of the worlds most prestigious live venues. Stipe announced that given the heritage and aesthetic of the venue he wanted an entirely acoustic set. I’m glad they didn’t as the new songs work live. The two missing from Accelerate, Mr. Richards and Sing For The Submarine, were out for a reason but you can’t help thinking that given the event, it wouldn’t have hurt to play the whole album plus a few more of the older songs, giving a longer set. It was described as a ‘Radio 2’ set played for a ‘Radio 2’ audience. Probably right.

So, R.E.M. are back with a solid yet expected event and a very short punchy album. From what I have heard of Accelerate so far, it is tightly edited with only a few down turns as the album sags at the end, lifts and then concludes with a high. The live sound is now great and the band, Stipe and Buck in particular sound invigorated. Given that the UK is not an entirely happy place for R.E.M. and the last time the band tried to ‘rock’, it resulted in Monster, the worst album they have made, and a tour that ended with the near death of former drummer Bill Berry, maybe now they can put some of the ghosts to rest.

R.E.M. Living Well Is The Best Revenge (Version) YouTube Video

This is not a great version of the song but a brilliant home movie video of the band performing in a moving car. They look like they are having fun at long last...

The video is also free on iTunes.

Nine Inch Nails Ghosts Film Festival on YouTube

Nine Inch Nails invites you (yes you!) to submit videos for songs from their new album Ghosts I-IV. The basic idea is to allow members of the public to create visuals for some, if not all, of the 36 instrumental tracks and put them on YouTube. All the info is here.

The Kills - Midnight Boom Album Review (2008)

Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince have always given us style and substance in equal measure. Having a ‘look’ as well as a ‘sound’ is important for a band who like to stay up late and wear their sunglasses indoors. But there is more to this duo than the cool exterior they exude. From their startling debut Keep On The Mean Side in 2003 to their previous album and critically lauded No Wow, The Kills has produced the sort of bluesy garage-rock inviting comparisons with their US counterparts The White Stripes. This is even more surprising as Jamie Hince hails from Newbury in the UK. So with this unique fusion of Florida born punk goddess Mosshart and enigmatic guitarist Hince that The Kills give us Midnight Boom.

The album opens with the two recent singles and most distinctive tracks. U.R.A Fever starts with a phone dialling before the vocal duelling begins, handclaps, scratching, distorted bass percussion and machine-gun guitar riffs following. The phone samples continue to add a distraction but it’s the contrast in vocals between Mosshart and Hince which are the most striking. At a little over 2 minutes it’s way too short. Cheap And Cheerful also opens in similar unceremonious style with Mosshart coughing over the drum machine. “I’m bored of cheap and cheerful”, she declares. ‘I want expensive sadness. Hospital bills, parole; open doors to madness. I want you to be crazy coz you’re boring baby when you’re straight. I want you to be crazy coz you’re stupid baby when you’re safe‘. It is the ubiquitous song about the perils of fame and fortune in the hedonistic and self-indulgent noughties. After a brief and slightly odd bout of military drums, Mosshart tries to convince herself that ’It’s alright, to be me’ - it’s a shame that unlike the ‘live’ version, Hince doesn’t provide the backing vocals, the band instead opting to tightly edit the single voice.

The album settles down into the mid-tempo guitar driven Tape Song. Mosshart sounds suitably bored: ‘time ain’t gonna cure you honey, time don’t give a shit’. It’s not going to win any song writing awards but it is effective. Hince provides the robotic guitars. It’s only in the last minute that the band really comes to life, pushing the vocals and deepening the sound, like an early P J Harvey demo. Getting Down is a lot more funky, again with great vocals - even when the duo run out of things to say and just warble. The lyrics are typically punk: ‘I’m getting down with your new vocation. I’m getting down with your cute cut wrist’.

Last Day Of Magic is probably the first sign that The Kills can make a complete three minute pop song if they put in the effort. If there is one thing the band suffers from it’s the perception that the duo lose interest and quickly move on the next new idea. It means things are not overproduced and stay fresh, but also the songs tend to be short and punchy. This a happy medium finding common ground between the two approaches. Mosshart in particular sounds energised and enthused.

Hook And Line is another fragment of a song but with genuine charm - garage meets sixth form poetry. The chorus explodes in a swathe of guitar and vocals. The cheesy handclaps starting Black Balloon do nothing to add some credibility and slightly ruin some great vocals from Moss hart - strong and tuneful. It all feels a bit post-grunge US west coast. Then the song gets a psychedelic string injection. In the closing minute, Hince adds some wonderful simple guitar melody. The song is a real surprise. In contrast the one minute forty seconds of M.E.X.I.C.O.C.U is vibrant and messy even when the vocals come in.

Sour Cherry is another great example of the three minute pop song in the same vein as Getting Down but with more substance. Alphabet Pony is annoying, not just the dull chorus but also the predictable guitar riff. What New York Used To Be has a slightly uneasy start, the buzz guitar failing to find a rhythm. The song also never seems to get a hold - an empty sentiment that just gets repetitive.

The album closer Goodnight Bad Morning is another surprise - acoustic guitar and piano, just a smattering of guitars and Mosshart playing Patti Smith. Hince adds some great backing vocals but the song just drifts along to bring things to a very downbeat end.

Midnight Boom isn’t a huge leap forward for The Kills. At times it is the sound of a band perfecting their art, within their own boundaries augmented by producer Alex Epton. Like the aforementioned Stripes, the band does a lot with just two voices and a guitar, against the backdrop of programmed drum machines. Mosshart’s voice is amazing when she allows it to be, as are the guitar pieces added by Hince. But the tendency for the quality of songs to create obvious highs and lows ,and the stark artificial percussion holding it all together, sometimes gets tiresome and predictable. That said, the overall sound of Midnight Boom is full of energy and charm that ebbs and flows throughout the album. The Kills might be too much style of substance, but they are still exciting and relevant. And just a little bit predictable.

-- CS

I Was A Cub Scout @ SXSW - Pink Squares YouTube Video

From the BBC SXSW Blog.

Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts I-IV Review

Nine Inch Nails, AKA Trent Reznor, has always been unconventional. In 1991 he released Pretty Hate Machine and in a time when the world was embracing Brit-pop and Grunge, Nine Inch Nails were obsessed with mid-80s synth-pop with an industrial edge. The Broken and Fixed EPs reinforced this new sound and three years after the debut, Reznor made The Downward Spiral. In spite of huge critical distaste for the album it remains one of the best examples of the genre and one man’s struggle against the corporate music industry. So this constant rebellion against authority and ’the organisation of free-will’ is not only present in the music but is deep within his soul.

Reznor is portrayed in the media as a pioneer of industrial rock and creator of albums filled with the sound of grinding machinery, electronic feedback and heavy guitars. But it is the ever present instrumental compositions throughout Nine Inch Nail’s work that is intriguing. From Help Me I Am In Hell to the delicate ambience of A Warm Place to the chaotic stomp of Complication to the rebel rousing apocalyptic feedback of Hyperpower, Reznor always returned to the instrumental as a source of safety and solace. So out of nowhere, but hinted at due to the recent internet experiment with Saul Williams, Nine Inch Nails release Ghosts I-IV, a huge 36 song instrumental set available on the internet for $5 with Ghosts I downloadable as a ‘free’ preview. It is what die hard fans have been waiting for…

Ghosts I begins tentatively. Tracks 1-I and 2-I are delicate piano pieces. Only 3-I and 5-I start to sound like minimalist Nine Inch Nails with 4-I going from acoustic to industrial noise. 6-I is something of a surprise, a full four minutes of creepy piano with no discernable breaks. 7-I shows the first signs of something special: two minutes of trademark robotic beats. 8-I is slower but equally striking with layered feedback and a high point with just a few similarities to Visage’s Fade To Grey. 9-I ends the first volume as it started with delicate piano, this time with layered strings and spiky percussion.

Ghosts II is much more audacious as if volume I was a mere warm-up. 10-II is spooky, uneasy and ambient with everything soaked in fuzzy static. 11-II loses the static and is much more minimalist but takes the same approach. Both 12-II and 13-II could have been lifted from the Road To Perdition soundtrack, if the film had been made in the year 3000, and is another highlight. As is 14-II, like 7-I only more direct and controlled. It is one of those tracks that you expect Reznor’s voice to wash over at any point. But of course it never does. The paradoxical child-like samples and juxtaposition screaming and creepy nightmarish atmosphere on 15-II make it a very uneasy listen. 16-II comes back with more electronic beats and driving bass and some rare pseudo-vocal samples. Unfortunately is loses its way and gets messy. 17-II is like a shorter reworking of 6-I with full instrumentation and a different melody. 18-II continues the vibrant electronic theme and ends Ghosts II with a light plodding rhythm, multiple bass lines and a spooky string arrangement. Again like Ghosts I it travels full circle.

Ghosts III kicks off with 19-III, sparsely drum lead and sounding like a futurist computerised stream engine. It’s the sort of thing that infuriates parents the world over. 20-III isn’t much better with a tuneless mess of buzzing feedback. The track picks up in the last minute, building up furiously to a simple piano and a backing that sounds like wasps stuck in a drainpipe. 21-III is more of 1-6, upbeat with a constant swirling backing track. 22-III is playful piano improvisation and drums. 23-III is a continuous buzzsaw of guitars drowning out any tune or melody whereas 24-III is the definitive highlight on Ghosts III sounding produced and polished. It is one of the high points of the whole 26 song collection. Again, rare vocal samples are used against a driving guitar rhythm which builds and slows in equal measure. This is exactly why Nine Inch Nails should be doing this. Annoyingly 25-III loses all this momentum and is empty space, probably the most vacuous piece. 26-III attempt to lift the mood again, drums pounding as guitar and piano fight for a tune. It builds then slows for a disappointing ending. 27-III brings Ghosts III is a strong close, given the bad start. It sounds like an instrumental version of another song from the archives, all twisted metal and crashing percussion.

Ghosts IV starts with one of the longest tracks 28-IV, a slow melodic piece which rises and falls around a stark banjo-esque guitar riff and harpsichord. The duelling guitar ending is controlled and precise. It is not what you expect from an ‘industrial-metal’ band. 29-IV is also very good, with a great Chemical Brothers bounce with all the Nine Inch Nails sound still there. 30-IV is three minutes of sparse tribal drums and slowed down vocal samples leading into the heavy menacing 31-IV, like 23-III with aggression and a tune. Again another wondrous high point with a magnificent speeded up guitar solo. 32-IV couldn’t be more different, another slow melodic plod. It threatens to build at the end but never really does. 33-IV has a similar approach, the squealing guitars and static pumping out a melody between the empty spaces. 34-IV brings back the piano and the banjo from 28-IV. At nearly 6 minutes this is the longest and most complete piece of music on all four volumes. The fantastic deep resonating piano leads into strings and moaning ambience. The track never comes back with such defiance instead choosing to drift away slowly. 35-IV continues the strong finish, a howling guitar riff lifting an otherwise ordinary piece of fuzzy electronica. Ghosts IV ends at Ghosts I started with 36-IV, a simple piano piece.
To treat each track on Ghosts I-IV separately would be a disservice as the whole 36 track collection plays out like a continuous soundtrack. Also trying to assess each volume in terms of sound and style is also a problem as themes entwine and are revisited constantly across the whole set. The soundtrack ebbs and flows - Ghosts I is a good introduction, the start of Ghosts II is strong and wonderful unlike Ghosts III which is messy, inconsistent and unhinged. Ghosts IV ends on a high and is the most consistent of the volumes, providing some of the most complete ‘songs‘.

In recent years Nine Inch Nails has enjoyed a huge return to form, not that the band lost it in the first place, but The Fragile was such a sprawling mess of an album that many people didn’t know what to make of it. With Teeth and Year Zero are the best albums since The Downward Spiral and after flirting yet again with remixes and video (see Y34RZ3r0r3mix3d) after breaking free from Interscope, the world is at Mr. Reznor’s feet. There will be more volumes of Ghosts which can only be a good thing but let’s hope we get this and ‘full Nine Inch Nails’ in equal measure. Ghosts is too good to be a side project.

-- CS

South by SouthWest BBC 6Music Blog

BBC - Music - South by SouthWest Blog