RIP Storm Thorgerson

The National - "Demons"

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Specter At The Feast (Album Review 2013)

The road to greatness has not been easy for Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. After a promising eponymous début, the then line-up of Peter Hayes, Robert Levon Been and Nick Jago broke-up with their record label and each other (twice) and mourned the passing of Been's father Michael, the band's sound technician and mentor. Seven albums later, Hayes and Been, alongside Leah Shapiro (once of the The Raveonettes - on tour at least), B.R.M.C. are still going strong and making some of the best music of their lives. Previous album Beat The Devil's Tattoo is a glorious mix of swampy garage-rock, blues, folk and psychedelic pop; a welcome relief after the underwhelming Howl and the odd instrumental The Effects Of 333, either side of the straight no-nonsense rock 'n' roll of Baby 81. Three years on and Specter At The Feast follows on perfectly, in spite of a different mood and agenda.

Specter At The Feast opens in style with Fire Walker, part instrumental, part mournful ballad which builds to a vocal duel between Hayes and Been while guitars, keyboards and lazy drums quietly creep up to fill the space. An excellent, if surprising start. The Call cover Let The Day Begin brings in the familiar formula - like Kasabian doing Tomorrow Never Knows, smart and emotional in equal measures, before Returning slows things down. This is an open-hearted tribute, beginning with the line 'A part of you is ending; a part of you holds on..'. At its most sorrowful, the refrain 'But you must leave and not turn back, knowing what you hold; How much time have we got left? It's killing us, but carries us on' is the highlight, as the guitars soar. And the final words are simple and effective: 'You'll carry us on...carry us all'.

Lullaby is another highlight, a mid-tempo gloomy ballad centred around the words 'I'll walk until I've no shadow' set to folky guitars. B.R.M.C. prove that grungy rock is still in their hearts at the core of the album. Hate The Taste echoes their impetuous début sound, while Rival tries the same approach from the other direction - and a chance to cut loose. Of the trio, Teenage Disease is the most empty-headed and consequently the weakest. The comedown to all this is the moody blues of Some Kind Of Ghost, another glorious move back to the balanced feel, and neat comprise that now forms band's sound. And in contrast, Sometimes The Light finds an equilibrium between Spiritualized and the band they are often compared to (way too much) The Jesus And Mary Chain. This creates a wonderful interlude; a song of poise and control. Lyrically it's another soulful tribute: 'Sometimes the fallen is all we know; I leave your picture inside the room, for I'll remember all we could. Sometimes the light turns out too bright'.

Specter At The Feast's closing trilogy starts with the fuzzy guitars and echoing vocals of Funny Games. It's the album's weak point, sounding for the most part like something Supergrass might attempt, but with Gothic overtones. Thankfully Sell It is the highlight, and one for the best songs in the B.R.M.C. arsenal - a swirling delight of stomping drums, howling muddy guitars and a complex vocal arrangement. The angst starts from the opening line: 'I'm mad! Sell it on a T-shirt'. Closing song Lose Yourself is equally effecting, at just over seven minutes it builds from a slow vocal to a mass of Coldplay-esque guitars, before doing it all over again. The music soars to the end.

Tragedy inspires creativity and music is no exception. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club have made an album that is both a fitting tribute but also a strong follow-up to their best work. The band has managed to find the perfect pitch between their rock roots and prosaic arrangements, anger, melancholia and sadness to make a rock record that is both emotive and uplifting.

-- CS

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

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

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

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

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

-- CS

Music Chart - March 2013

A real mixed bag of 'old' and new for March. New albums this month for Stereophonics, Jimi Hendrix, Kate Nash, Palma Violets, Josh Ritter, Ed Harcourt, David Bowie, John Grant, How To Destroy Angels, Atoms For Peace, Daughter, Stornaway, Low, Billy Bragg, Suede, Sound City - Real To Real, Peace, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Depeche Mode.

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

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

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

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

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

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

A great night.

The Set list was (I think):

• High Lonesome
• Handwritten
• We Came To Dance
• The Diamond Church Street Choir
• "45"
• The Patient Ferris Wheel
• Desire
• Film Noir
• Changing Of The Guards (Bob Dylan cover)
• The Navesink Banks
• Casanova, Baby!
• Biloxi Parish
• Mulholland Drive
• Orphans
• Too Much Blood
• Great Expectations
• Keepsake

Encore:

• She Loves You
• Here Comes My Man
• Old Haunts
• The Queen Of Lower Chelsea
• The '59 Sound
• The Backseat 

-- CS

Peter Kay and 'James' - Sit Down for Comic Relief 2013

Music Chart - February 2013

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

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

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Push The Sky Away (Album Review 2013)

In 2009, Mick Harvey left Nick Cave as the last remaining founding member of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. It ended a 25 year career. Their last album together: Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! was one of their more inconsistent, ending the band's run of form that started in 1994 with the introduction of Warren Ellis (then a guest member) on Let Love In followed by the glorious Murder Ballads. This marked a transition, not only physically but musically, from upstart punks 'Kicking Against The Pricks' to master song-crafters, troubadours and poets - with The Boatman's Call and Cave's tour-de-force No More Shall We Part, still his most beautiful and proficient song writing, they matured and evolved. And in 2004, the double album Abattoir Blues/The Lyre Of Orpheus yielded some of the best songs the band has produced. Push The Sky Away is Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds' first album in five years. Distracted by evil-twin side-project Grinderman, and the lure of soundtracks to expand their musical repertoire, Cave, Ellis and drummer Tom Wydler - now the stylistic core of the Bad Seeds - are back to their main, important, focus.

From the outset, Push The Sky Away is truly mesmerising. The combination of Cave's deep, resonating, evocative vocals and the oddly compelling, often hypnotic sounds of bass, drums, guitars, big strings, then tiny hushed rhythms, create an album of songs that absorb rather than enthral. It is dark, with edges of light and shade and, while not as minimalist as The Boatman's Call, certainly echoes its feel and mantra. This conception is augmented by some earth-shattering moments - all building to the mighty opus of Jubilee Street. From stark, lazy guitar-led narrative to mournful strings, through a subtle change of pace - Cave matching this startling effect with the line 'The problem was, she had a little black book; and my name was written on every page...' as the story unfolds, moving from third to first person as the music builds to a glorious guitar/violin crescendo. Leading to this moment, Wide Lovely Eyes and Water's Edge set the cold, desolate tone. The former, a listless, wavering love song - keyboards gliding over cut-glass percussion with Cave almost speaking the lyrics, while the latter unfolds like a horror movie, driven by Martyn Casey's bass and Cave's evocative delivery.

At times Push The Sky Away sounds like the songs are fragments of much bigger ideas, yet the unstructured, loose approach is incredibly effective - the listener is dipping in and out of a collective, wandering consciousness. An exception to this rule is structured opener We No Who U R - instantly recognisable with Cave's breathy vocals against the Ellis flute, and delicate backing vocals. This is haunting, creepy and sympathetic in equal measures. In contrast, one of the album's more serene moments, proving that Cave can still deftly amuse, confuse and delight at every turn, Mermaids is a joyous love song. 'I do driver alertness course, I do husband alertness course, I do mermaid alertness course...' is one of the most bizarre, yet perfect, lines he has written. After the magnificently understated We Real Cool and the stupefying Finishing Jubilee Street, Push The Sky Away ends with the near eight-minute Higgs Boson Blues; Cave becoming more bewildered and frenetic - part mad scientist, part sceptic - as the song progresses. Musically, the mood is matched by the rising guitars and lazy percussion. The title track brings the album to a close in majestic style - a late highlight of contrasting vocals, drifting music and thoughtful tone.

In 2013 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds have made an album which sounds unlike anything else. Push The Sky Away is unique in its mood and its execution. It is as if the band made a conventional record of complete structured pop songs, the vocal arrangements and guitar/piano marrying predictably, and then replaced the soundtrack with murmuring heartbeats and subtle, yet mesmerising loops - to create an oddly oppressive feel and texture. Push The Sky Away isn't an album that is pitched for commercial success, nor is it solely for fans and purists; it hits the middle ground perfectly as something different, yet familiar, compelling and relevant. At last it sounds like the chaotic and disjointed Grinderman project has proved to be the necessary catharsis for Cave and The Seeds to polish the jagged edges and make way for this uniquely beautiful, dark and captivating genius.

-- CS

Veronica Falls - Waiting For Something To Happen (Album Review 2013)

Sometimes the difficult second album really isn't that difficult. London's Veronica Falls seem to have followed their promising eponymous 2011 début with such effortless precision that Waiting For Something To Happen sounds like a classic mid-80s indie guitar album. Far from the smouldering wet ashes of punk and the impending pomp and arrogance of Britpop, this quartet of lead vocalist Roxanne Clifford, guitarist/vocalist James Hoare, bassist Marion Herbain and drummer/vocalist Patrick Doyle are reminding us of a world of shimmering guitar hooks, delicious three-part harmonies and sparkling, vibrant pop songs.

Waiting For Something To Happen kicks off in style with the wonderful Tell Me, the pure combination of velvety vocals and looping guitars, accelerating out of the first minute on a wave of pounding drums. The stark, awkward, Gothic rhythms of the band's début are gone, now replaced with a shining energy and clear confidence. Recent single Teenage is just as arresting, a tale of discovery and love, memories of 'driving home' and letting your better half 'listen to the music they like', followed by the excellent Broken Toy - the best pop song on the album and some of the best lines. 'If you don't care, you'll never care; if you don't care now, you'll never know how' leads to a punchy, yet downbeat, chorus and a quick guitar break before the next. This is slick, uncluttered song writing.

The highlight of the album is the glorious trilogy of the title track - another perfect blend of guitars and vocals all brought together with the deft percussion, the darker feel of If You Still Want Me - with Clifford and Hoare providing their best vocal arrangement over the thundering guitars, and My Heart Beats - another excellent vocal and chorus. In the second half of Waiting For Something To Happen, Everybody's Changing and the brilliant Falling Out, with its verse-hook-chorus structure, dropping then rising, continue the charm. These quickly make way for the final duo of the beautiful Daniel, a three-vocal ballad set to a rippling guitar track, and closer Last Conversation, a slow-building epic (at nearly four minutes, the longest song on the album) of spellbinding vocals wound into another gorgeous arrangement.

It's not every day that a band make an album that captures the body and soul of a band as perfectly as Veronica Falls' Waiting For Something To Happen. Clifford and Hoare blend effortlessly with guitars and vocals to create new instruments and textures, while the production is light and adds a brightness to the songs. This is the sound of a band proving they are much bigger, and better, than the sum of their parts; a proficient and skilful machine of old souls and new minds.

-- CS

I Am Kloot - Let It All In (Album Review 2013)

Once the greatest Manchester band no one had heard of, I Am Kloot are now flirting with the mainstream thanks to previous album: the impressive, Mercury Prize nominated, Sky At Night. Ten years from their eponymous second album, Let It All In continues in the same style, blending pop and folk to create a truly unique mix to compliment lead-singer John Bramwell's characteristic, earthy vocals. Let It All In follows Sky At Night both in terms of musical creativity and songwriting. Bramwell is continuing to excel as a singer and a lyricist, while Peter Jobson and Andy Hargreaves are as prolific as ever in support.

From the slow-building mid-tempo waltz of opener Bullets, the music steadily building to a noisy disjointed guitar break, the line 'You treat your mind like a cheap hotel; somewhere you can stay but never stop..' stands out (later substituting 'mind' for 'body'). Let Them All In is a clever verse-chorus combination in which Bramwell, with his finger on the pulse of the nation, asks 'Is this a free-load trip or an ordinary situation?' in weary, charming style. The early stand-out moment arrives with the slow, dark brooding Hold Back The Night - a wonderful vocal from Bramwell as the song builds to a neat string section, and then a big, dramatic guitar finish. These moments owe much to the production skills of Guy Garvey and Craig Potter (Elbow), and their presence adds a polish to the raw, edgy I Am Kloot sound.

Another highlight is the gorgeous Shoeless (lifting the album after the lacklustre Mouth On Me), a reminiscing love song with another superb arrangement. Bramwell delivers 'Don't let the clouds clutter up your skies; let the TVs turn off their weary eyes'; another great line, but it is the mighty production of Even The Stars (first heard on the Moolah Rouge DVD) that steals the show with its beautiful arrangement, guitar work, and dramatic, sparingly-executed vocal. Masquerade borrows somewhat from Coming Around by Travis and adds a folky charm to the album - with echoes of John Lennon in the vocal, and Some Better Day brings a brass arrangement to the quirky charm. This may not be the best song but it delivers the best writing with: 'Through the gales of life and laughter, when you don't know what you're after; drag me to the kitchen sink, my whole day is on the brink; from here I can see the moon, I think I'll move there someday soon'.

Let It All In is consistent to the end with the album's best song: the delicate, yet mighty, These Days Are Mine - a wonderful arrangement, reminiscent of The Cedar Room (fellow Manchurians Doves), complete with a smooth choral finish. And closer Forgive Me These Reminders, an ambient reflective ballad, is perfectly judged to round off an impressive album.

I Am Kloot have moved on greatly from 2005's Gods And Monsters, which ended the band's first chapter. A shift from sparse spiky arrangements, bitter-sweet lyrics and edgy themes has positioned the band to a more accessible position, and the music is better for it. Now reunited with Garvey and Potter, a more commercial sound has been reinvented, while ensuring that the personality is retained to keep centre-stage. With Sky At Night and now Let It All In, it feels like the next life for a band who always had the voice but no room in which to use it.

--CS

Eels - Wonderful, Glorious (Album Review 2013)

In 2005, Mark Everett (E) put his life story into song, once and for all, and created the masterpiece Blinking Lights and Other Revelations. We all knew this wasn't to be the end of the E saga. A trilogy of 'concept' albums has followed, all slightly different and themed (loss, desire and redemption), but all delivering more of the same - his trademark thoughts and dreams, tributes of the long departed, and hopes of the future. So what next in the troubled life of Mark Everett? Wonderful, Glorious has been pitched as a new direction - a more upbeat album, pop-tinged with garage blues and a more robust feel than the delicate arrangements of Tomorrow Morning and End Times.

Wonderful, Glorious feels like the direct successor to 2001's Souljacker. From the opener Bombs Away - possibly an ironic nod to the media's perception of the aforementioned prelude, E announces that he is back, in dark, menacing style - this is immediately self-referential, with harsh rasping distorted vocals set to a horror movie soundtrack. Over the five-minute running time, E goes from 'whispering fool' to howling maniac. Kinda Fuzzy is the hangover, a Beck-like exploration into an addled mind, gliding through different styles and textures. It is clear that Wonderful, Glorious is an album of contrasts as Accident Prone is a minimalist ballad and a sedate controlled tale of serendipity. The big drums and buzzing guitars of Peach Blossom bring us back - E reels off repetitive lyrics until the guitars take over in the second half for a cool arrangement.

The best of Wonderful, Glorious is the core of the album. On The Ropes is an obvious metaphor, beautifully woven into a heartfelt ballad. E is firmly at home playing the broken man, or the troubled soul planning and scheming but never fulfilling his desires. The Turnaround is the album highlight - the thoughts of a defeated yet hopeful drifter and another wonderful arrangement. 'I always bit the hand that beat me' is simple and effective. It builds to a rousing climax. Another high point is the cool, creepy, pop of New Alphabet, complete with distorted vocals and edgy guitars - a great example of Eels as a robust 'band'. Stick Together takes the same approach - the 50s guitars and cheesy lyrics showing a 'lighter side' to E: 'It's me and you, taking on all comers...watching them fall and nothing could be fun-er'.

Wonderful, Glorious builds to a good finish. True Original is a moving tribute and Open My Present is more of E in antagonistic mode. This could be an Eels Christmas record. You're My Friend is one of the only moments when it doesn't work - the weary vocal compliments the lumbering guitars and limp electronica, but this is immediately forgotten as I Am Building A Shrine is wonderful - the vocal production shows E's voice perfectly and it is an open, honest love song. The album closes with the title track which limps from a structureless first half of empty spaces and pseudo-funk guitars to a brilliant finale. E's last words are unexpected and poignant: 'My love is beautiful, it's here for the taking, it's strong and pure and utterly Earth-shaking... My love is only here to show you it's true, or it's like me...you'll make it through'. The delivery is honest and irony free.

At times it feels like Wonderful, Glorious is turning back the clock, to replace the messy and incoherent Shootenanny! but it also feels very much in the present. E is still a prolific songwriter, even if his reference points seem limited and the subject matter veers into melancholy, frustration and contrast. He often sounds distance these days and upbeat moments are hard to engage (Peach Blossom's lyrics do not conjure a picture of a man enjoying the springtime but someone sitting in a dark room, thinking about how great it would be to go outside - but avoiding the disappointment when it doesn't meet his imagined expectations). Tragedy and loss has fuelled E's music for decades and looking back to the dark times is always going to happen. But now that his life story is written, these days he is not looking back too far...

-- CS

Biffy Clyro - Opposites (Album Review 2013)

It comes a time in the evolution of every band when, not satisfied with taking their art to the next level, they take it a level further. Biffy Clyro - still a formidable trio of Simon Neil and twin brothers James and Ben Johnston - have continued to beguile and intrigue, since the 2007 landmark album Puzzle, with their unique blend of guitar-fuelled, often progressive, hard-edged emotional music. Two years on, the band released the brilliant, Mercury Prize nominated, Only Revolutions; an instant critical success positioning Biffy Clyro as a more acceptable alternative to the pomp and extravagance of Muse and the emotive wide-eyed visions of Coldplay. And like their contemporaries, they are now filling stadia, headlining festivals and firmly in the mainstream - so what better way to acknowledge this presence than to make two albums in one, one celebrating the past and the other bringing in the future. Opposites is a huge double-album, bloated with ambitions and startling arrangements, packed with Neil's double-edged lyrics and vocal arrangements, and seemingly limitless in its scope and depth.

The two sides of Opposites are not as musically opposed as they first seem. Part one (named unofficially as 'The Sand at the Core of Our Bones') is not packed with all the big songs, leaving part two ('The Land at the End of Our Toes') as a weaker bag of experimentation and wilder moments. Far from it. The entire album is expansive and coherent, and the songs flow with consistency. From the opening Different People, a delicate cinematic ballad transforming into frantic guitars and drums, to the stirring emotional pop of recent single Black Chandelier, it is clear that this ambitious project is still wrapped up the familiar Biffy Clyro approach. In the latter, Neil throws us 'When it's just the two of us... and a cute little cup of cyanide' and the band deliver a heavy, muddy guitar break - not your typical love song. Opposite, with echoes of Idlewild at their brilliant best, is more controlled, heartbreaking and emotional, soaring with 'Baby, I'm leaving here...you need to be with somebody else', while Biblical is near-perfect pop, a simple trick wonderfully executed, brimming with obvious rhymes within a superb vocal structure. The second half of 'The Sand...' is something of a mixed bag. The Fog stands out as obscure and magical with playful and mysterious guitar-work making way for a heavier, menacing, Mogwai-esque finish, while Little Hospitals is more of an 'emo' montage of other ideas pieced together, like something from Green Day's American Idiot. But it is The Thaw, another love song with a big open-hearted chorus, closing part one in style. 'Forgive me if my mouth is dry, I'll blame it on my battle cry' sings Neil, as the delicate guitars wash through the song. This builds to a rousing chorus and predictably, a big finish.

'The Land...' opens with the big, bold arrangement of Stingin' Belle, complete with bagpipes to compliment the driving drums and guitars. Ben Johnston excels in the second half as a huge instrumental closes the song. Modern Magic Formula has all the feel of an anti-fame protest song, delivered through punk-pop guitars and pounding drums - Neil sings 'So you wanted to change the world? But I didn't believe you...' before the emotional: 'I'm trying the best I can but there's a white flag burning in the middle of my hand'. This is more loose and liberated than anything before - slightly out of control and manic. Victory Over The Sun is similarly vitriolic - the juxtaposition of sharp verses and a gliding chorus with big strings to finish. This leads to the best of part two, Pocket, another great pop song, bringing in piano and a sublime guitar arrangement. Skylight is another example of Biffy Clyro taking on the likes of Coldplay and winning the battle of the emotional heartstrings. 'We are users...but at least we use each other, friend...' is another brilliant line from Neil. The song quickly dives into a massive cinematic instrumental adding another dimension. In the final trilogy, Accident Without Emergency is another highlight while closer Picture A Knife Fight brings together obscure references and an upbeat chorus into a spirited finale. 'We've got to stick together' becomes the last refrain.

The risk with Opposites is always that quantity would make way for quality but this is never the case. The band sound magnificent and Simon Neil's writing is as compelling and as sharp as always. The album never seems bloated and over-thought - granted there are a few weak moments - The Joke's On Us is instantly forgettable, Sounds Like Balloons and Spanish Radio are trademark (spiky and anthemic) but nothing new, and Trumpet or Tap is an odd attempt at something different with an overblown ending; yet the ebbs and flows help create the overall structure and charm. The 'single edition' of the album is baffling idea - an attempt to merge 'The Sand...' and 'The Land...' together while omitting stand-out songs like The Fog, Pocket and Accident Without Emergency. But overall, Opposites is the sound of an band reaching their true potential and a brilliant attempt at staking claim to a poorly-guarded kingdom, left vacant by bands who can no longer defend it.

--CS

RIP Reg Presley

BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards Winners!

The Winners and Nominees

FOLK SINGER OF THE YEAR

• Winner - NIC JONES
• Sam Lee
• Jim Moray
• Karine Polwart

BEST DUO

• Winner - KATHRYN ROBERTS & SEAN LAKEMAN
• Katriona Gilmore & Jamie Roberts
• Hannah James & Sam Sweeney
• O'Hooley & Tidow

BEST GROUP

• Winner - LAU
• Bellowhead
• Treacherous Orchestra
• The Unthanks

BEST ALBUM [Public vote]

• Winner - BROADSIDE – BELLOWHEAD
• Ground Of Its Own - Sam Lee
• Race The Loser – Lau
• Skulk - Jim Moray
• Traces - Karine Polwart

HORIZON AWARD

• Winner - BLAIR DUNLOP
• Luke Jackson
• Maz O'Connor
• Rura

ROOTS AWARD

• Recipient - BILLY BRAGG

MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR

• Winner - KATHRYN TICKELL
• Ross Ainslie
• Duncan Chisholm
• Sam Sweeney

BBC RADIO 2 YOUNG FOLK AWARD

• Winner - GREG RUSSELL & CIARAN ALGAR
• Luke Jackson
• Graham Mackenzie & Ciorstaidh Beaton
• Thalla

BEST TRADITIONAL TRACK

• Winner - LORD DOUGLAS by JIM MORAY
• Tha Sneachd‘ air Druim Uachdair by Kathleen MacInnes
• Unknown Air by Duncan Chisholm
• Wild Wood Amber by Sam Lee

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

• Winner - HATCHLINGS by EMILY PORTMAN
• King of Birds by Karine Polwart
• Tailor by Anaïs Mitchell
• The Ballad of Andy Jacobs by Kathryn Roberts & Sean Lakeman

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

• Recipient - ALY BAIN
• Recipient - ROY HARPER

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FOR CONTRIBUTION TO SONGWRITING

• Recipient - DOUGIE MACLEAN

Music Chart - January 2013

New year, new chart! A quiet start to 2013 but some interesting new albums from Villagers, Serafina Steer, Christopher Owens, Dutch Uncles, Yo La Tengo, Wooden Wand, New Order, California X, The Joy Formidable, Esben and the Witch, Widowspeak, I Am Kloot, Mountains and Paul Simon....

1. Let It All In by I Am Kloot
2. Fade by Yo La Tengo
3. Wolf's Law by The Joy Formidable
4. Blood Oaths Of The New Blues by Wooden Wand
5. Centralia by Mountains
6. Lysandre by Christopher Owens
7. California X by California X
8. Almanac by Widowspeak
9. Wash The Sins Not Only The Face by Esben And The Witch
10. The Moths Are Real by Serafina Steer
11. {Awayland} by Villagers
12. Out Of Touch In The Wild by Dutch Uncles
13. Lost Sirens by New Order
14. Early Rocking by Paul Simon

BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards

The nominations for this year's BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards are...

FOLK SINGER OF THE YEAR

• Nic Jones
• Sam Lee
• Jim Moray
• Karine Polwart

BEST DUO

• Katriona Gilmore & Jamie Roberts
• Hannah James & Sam Sweeney
• O'Hooley & Tidow
• Kathryn Roberts & Sean Lakeman

BEST GROUP

• Bellowhead
• Lau
• Treacherous Orchestra
• The Unthanks

BEST ALBUM [Public vote with five nominees]

• Broadside – Bellowhead
• Ground Of Its Own - Sam Lee
• Race The Loser – Lau
• Skulk - Jim Moray
• Traces - Karine Polwart

The Public vote for Best Album has now closed.

HORIZON AWARD

• Blair Dunlop
• Luke Jackson
• Maz O'Connor
• Rura

MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR

• Ross Ainslie
• Duncan Chisholm
• Sam Sweeney
• Kathryn Tickell

BBC RADIO 2 YOUNG FOLK AWARD

• Luke Jackson
• Graham Mackenzie & Ciorstaidh Beaton
• Thalla
• Greg Russell & Ciaran Algar

BEST TRADITIONAL TRACK

• Lord Douglas by Jim Moray
• Tha Sneachd‘ air Druim Uachdair by Kathleen MacInnes
• Unknown Air by Duncan Chisholm
• Wild Wood Amber by Sam Lee

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

• Hatchlings by Emily Portman
• King of Birds by Karine Polwart
• Tailor by Anaïs Mitchell
• The Ballad of Andy Jacobs by Kathryn Roberts & Sean Lakeman

I'm backing the wonderful Karine Polwart.

BBC 6 Music's 100 greatest hits

BBC radio 6 Music is celebrating 10 years (actually nearly 11 by now) as a radio station by asking people to choose their favourite song from a list compiled by staff and presenters from March 2002 to the end of 2012. Interesting idea. You can vote here.

My own shortlist (from the shortlist) is....

• Coldplay - Clocks (from the best Coldplay album, back when they knew how to write songs)
• Elbow - One Day Like This (as long as it's the album version and not the shorter single)
• Fleet Foxes - Mykonos
• Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out (the best song they've made and still wonderful)
• Johnny Cash - Hurt (a heartfelt rendition of the Trent Reznor masterpiece by a timeless genius)
• The Killers - Mr Brightside (one of my favourite mood-lifting songs)
• Kings Of Leon - Molly's Chambers (the only KOL song I like - and a great pop song)
• Laura Marling - Sophia
• LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends (not as great as Losing My Edge or the Pretentious version of Yeah but still great)
• Midnight City - M83
• Mumford & Sons - The Cave (between this and Little Lion Man)
• The National - Bloodbuzz Ohio (as close to perfect as it gets)
• Noah & The Whale - Five Years Time (for Laura - and because it's more perfect pop)
• Richard Hawley - Tonight The Streets Are Ours (sublime)
• Sigur Ros - Hoppipola (uplifting, mesmerising and beautiful - one of my Desert Island Discs)
• The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army (awesome)

There is no Bat For Lashes as Daniel is better than the more recent Laura. No Black Keys as I Got Mine is better than Lonely Boy. Later Florence & The Machine is better than anything from Lungs, i.e. What The Water Gave Me. Likewise Goldfrapp has to be A&E over Strict Machine. Kasabian should be from the début or Empire instead of Fire and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds should be Breathless or I Call Upon The Author or Hiding All Away and Gold Lion is the quintessential Yeah Yeah Yeah's song.

And too many bands and artists missing to mention. Death Cab For Cutie,  to mention one.

I voted for Sigur Ros but could have gone for The Killers, The National or Laura Marling.

Voting closes on Friday 25th February 2013.

David Bowie - Where Are We Now?

I've never been a huge David Bowie fan but at the risk of jumping on an already packed bandwagon, this new single, accompanied by a 'creepy' surreal video which isn't quite as odd as it could have been, is rather magnificent. You can see it all here.


This is Bowie's first new song in ten years and this nostalgia trip back to Berlin grows into a cinematic work of genius, subtle and unassuming with a delicate vocal contrasted with huge orchestral music.

BBC Sound of 2013 Shortlist and winner!

The winner of the BBC Sound of 2013 is LA sister trio HAIM. Great to see a band winning (so many solo artists have topped the shortlist in recent years) and such a strong female-oriented line-up. The top five are:

1. HAIM
2. AlunaGeorge
3. Angel Haze
4. Laura Mvula
5. CHVRCHES

HAIM create a combination of retro-80s pop rhythms, a bit of R&B and plenty of big guitars. There are definitely echoes of 'Tango In The Night' era Fleetwood Mac on big single Don't Save Me...


You can read about the winning band here.