It's Been A While (5-1)

5) Maths - Descent

Holy Roar, put simply, is perhaps the best record label this country has produced in a really long time. Not only do they have a roster to die for, but their shameless work ethic and continued D.I.Y. approach means that they are a definite weapon in the argument for the music industry. Arguably, the jewel in their crown this year has to have been Maths' debut, a soaring, hard-hitting post-hardcore record that flourishes at every opportunity. Equal parts Tool and At The Drive-In, each song is layered so exquisitely and the production means that the album as a complete piece of work is both seamless and glorious. A challenging, intricate debut that surpasses many of the old vanguard of the genre.



4) The XX - XX

Easily the most promising band of the year, the XX's debut was the ultimate soundtrack to the end of the decade. Dark, minimal, but evocative, the stunning vocals set to a post-post-punk backing track, it blew me, and many, many others, away. 'Islands' is my song of the decade, no question. The remixes, by both the band and their legion of admirers, show unbridled promise and although its a huge cliche, they really are a band to watch like a black shirt-clad hawk.



3) Wavves - Wavvves

Imagine the best beach party you've been to. Every in rolled up jeans, cheap Ray Bans and consuming more drugs than a multiple tumor cancer patient. Beer cans equal in number to the grains of sand under your feet. Now imagine this was done to a John Cale soundtrack. Wavvves make noise, but what a noise. The guitars don't sound like their being played, it sounds like their being kicked down the stairs into a Sonic Youth roadie.



2) The Horrors - Primary Colours

'Reinvention' is such a dirty word. Fuck you, Cher and Madonna. Reinvention has now become a term used solely to describe the length/visibility of vagina that old hags have on display. The Horrors, however, proved that reinvention was very possible. Dragging shoegaze kicking and screaming into the new year, the band shifted their image from horror-punk jesters drawn by Tim Burton with such attention to detail. The songs became longer, broader and immensely more powerful. Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine now have something to worry about; the Shoreditch bitches may challenge their position as kings of noise in years to come.



And the moment literally noone has been waiting for:

1) Fever Ray - Fever Ray

I genuinely thought that I would never find an electronica album that would ever top The Postal Service. I have looked, trust me. Bonobo and Mr Scruff have come close but nothing's channeled the wonderment and unlimited potential of synthesized noise. Then I heard Fever Ray (Karin from Scandinavian duo The Knife, famous for their Jose Gonzalez-covered 'Heartbeats') and the arse fell out of my world. Haunting samples, cardiac basslines and vocals taken from a Hayao Miyazaki movie, it was deeper and darker than the Indian Ocean. I love this album more than I may ever love my children. Please, turn off the lights, get yourself a bottle of absinthe and enjoy.



Well there we go. I may well try and do a '5 acts of 2010' but I don't know if I will have the time to. If not, happy Kwanza. Now fuck off.

EE
x

It's Been A While (10-6)

Sorry for the terrible Staind reference, but seriously, I have become lax as shit with regards to this blog. So I thought, as the year draws to a close, I should do a little summation of my top 10 albums of the year. Because everybody else seems to be doing it and it's piss easy :)

10) Converge - Axe To Fall

Ok, so hardcore's always going to be a divisive musical genre, but that's really the point. Anyone who has any sort of inclination can appreciate that Converge are one of the most intense and passionate acts in the past 20 or so years. 'Axe To Fall' is, to my mind, their finest piece of work, their magnus opum if you will. The brutality of each song in no way overshadows their skill as musicians, and the level of craftsmanship into each song, each breakdown, is something that should be revered highly. Yes, it's an assault on your ears, but this may be the best album to get you pumped up since Rage Against The Machine re-invented swearing in songs. And Jacob Bannon sings, which is surely one of the most intriguing developments in the scene ever.



9) Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

Perhaps the unrivalled darlings of 2009, Animal Collective have a definite sound that can only be theirs, and on the new album channeled their psychedelic hybrid of folk and electronica into new, unchartered waters that will inevitably lead to many imitators, but few who can match the level of intensity. Lead single 'My Girls' is the world's greatest drug come-up put to music, and throughout there are definite signs that the outfit really have put thought into their product. Considering so many 'indie' bands are now relying on keyboards and electronic music to take their music to new levels, it is thoroughly refreshing to see a band that achieve this experimentation with such ease and aplomb.



8) Volcano Choir - Unmap

Folk has certainly been one of the big hitters of the past year, with Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes and Mumford and Sons all achieving high degrees of both commercial and critical success. Volcano Choir, a meeting of minds courtesy of Justin Vernon (who is, to all extents and purposes Bon Iver) and underground heroes Collections Of Colonies Of Bees, provided one of the most pleasant and ethereal albums, if not of 2009, then perhaps of the entire decade. Taking an obvious nod from nu-folk archetypes Sigur Ros, the use of vocals as instrumentation as opposed to narrative produced a sonic-landscape that many have tried to accomplish, but few with such grace and charm.



7) Black Lips - 200 Million Thousand

If one band was guaranteed to get you into the right parties and give you the best drugs, Black Lips would be that band. The raukos 'flower-punk' has gained them a notoriety that most bands employ people to achieve, and their most recent release shows that the band have no intention of slowing down or changing tack. Equal parts overdose-meets-Stooges-meets-Velvet Underground, the careless approach and often shambolic guitars convey images of what the Libertines might have sounded like if they replaced crack with acid and had been born during Woodstock. Oh, and 'Drugs' is, not surprisingly, one of the best songs to tackle the subject since Andy Warhol died.



6) The Dead Weather - Horehound

When I first heard that Alisson Mosshart and Jack White were recording a collaborative album, I won't lie, terrible, unimaginable things happened in my pants. Two of the most original acts of the past decade, based around Mosshart's modern day Nico meeting Jack White's pioneering garage/blues credentials, the album certainly didn't disappoint. A dark, whiskey swagger and haunting keys made the album the best thing to happen to leather jackets and dark sunglasses since heroin. As a mark of how good this album was, one of my very dear friends, Polly, had 'Cut Like A Buffalo' tattooed on her. And Polly's awesome. She got me into weed and hairspray.



N.B Numbers 5-1 to follow soon.

R.I.P Jerry Fuchs

A very sombre post indeed. Jerry Fuchs, drummer from bands such as !!!, LCD Soundsystem and Holy Ghost tragically passed away yesterday. I had the pleasure of seeing him perform with !!! a few years ago and I cannot impress upon you how great a drummer/performer he was. He will be sadly missed by myself and many within the music community.

Below are two examples of this man's incredible talent.

Good Other People

A bit of publicity for some incredible blogs to anyone that hasn't already heard of them.

http://ellipticaledits.blogspot.com/ - Awesome film blog based from a post-grad. Real good technical knowledge and a genuinely well-informed opinion. For connoiseurs of film study.

http://castlegreyskullz.blogspot.com/ - Another film blog, this time written by two friends of mine. Their film, Boiling Point, is awesome and you can view the whole thing for FREE on the site.

http://drtchockii.blogspot.com/ - Insane ramblings from the quasi-fictitious Dr Tchock II who spends most of his time dipping from metaphysics and post-rock and general madness.

Check ya heads!

The Sly-Tones - The Sly-Tones

Cabaret has, in recent times, become a bit of a dirty word. Blame Dita Von Teese; suddenly a performance tradition that has been around since the early 18th Century is now accessible to all who can afford entry-level Anne Summers’ nipple tassles. It is, then, quite refreshing to see a band embrace the macabre, eery side of this hallowed art form. The Sly-Tones, dressed in Shoreditch smoking apparel and sporting facepaint that’s half Norweigan black metal, half Insane Clown Posse jugallo, are not afraid to wear their influences proudly on their cuffs, and this, their first major E.P, is promising in both it’s execution and its confidence.

Lead singer Ashley Edwards is best described as Tom Wait’s with less of a nicotine dependency, a growl that would sound awful normally but coupled with the atmospheric, carnival of horrors accompaniment channels all of the madness and horror of cabaret and acts such as Screamin’ Jay Hawkins and Lord Sutch. This potent delivery is most superbly showcased on final track ‘Shake The Cage’, where the whole tone becomes far more sinister, channeling that most important of musical influences, mental illness. The angular, erratic guitars crash beautifully into honky-tonk piano, washing the listener in a sea of crushed velvet, sharp leather and opium smoke.

What’s perhaps most astounding with this band is that, unlike much music, they are not following a current or vastly popular trend in modern music; the only two bands I can think of who are in anyway similar are the Dresden Dolls and Darling’s Cabinet Of Sundry Horrors, neither of whom have gained that significant an audience in Europe. Songs such as ‘Run Rabbit Run’ and ‘Silver Harpoons’ show that the Sly-Tones are as much substance as they are style, and now that the Horrors have departed to fulfill longstanding shoegaze fantasies, the Sly-Tones might well be the next band to bring the spectacle and the macabre into the modern musical climate.

8/10

Weezer - Raditude

Time to put on your geekiest sweater, most comfortable chinos and develop an unnatural fear of the opposite sex: it’s new Weezer album time. A band that throughout it’s career has unashamedly embroiled itself with the cool-uncool dichotomy, Weezer are a fan’s band through and through. Their new album, with perhaps the most perfect Weezer-esque album title yet, is one of their most engaging yet, blending their characteristic pop/grunge /indie hybrid with new musical directions that seem both intriguing and perverse at the same time.

First things first; yes, there is a song with Lil’ Wayne, and sadly, it is awful. The buttock-clenchingly cheesy ‘Can’t Stop Partying’ is really, really bad. A horrible, cheap sounding backing track that shows none of the musical talent that is so apparent with Weezer, coupled with lyrics that sound like they were written on a 14 year old girl’s Bebo profile, it’s just really, really upsetting. Lil’ Wayne’s rapping sounds lazy, reflecting none of his characteristic wit or delivery that was present on the frankly brilliant ‘Tha Carter III.’ If you are a certified mentalist and the idea of a Weezy/Weezer crossover sounds appealing, then may I direct your attention to a free remix album called ‘Weezyer - What Lil‘ Wayne’s Rock Album Should Sound Like’ (www.weezyer.com) which is surprisingly refreshing and showcases a similar level of craftsmanship to that which went into arguably the Holy Grail of ‘mash-up’ album’s, Dangermouse’s ‘The Grey Album.’

Throughout the album, there are definite signs of musical experimentation. A key example is the refreshing and charming ‘Love Is The Answer’, which features a stunning Bollywood sample and sitar work by Indian legend Nishat Khan. Where the success of such ventures is at times debatable, such as the unnecessary level of synth on ‘Put Me Back Together’ that strays into Cyrus-sibling territory, it is nice to see the band attempting new things with an already successful formula. There are several songs on the album that are classic-Weezer, notably the ones where the production was solely in the hands of lead singer Rivers Cuomo. ‘Let It All Hang Out’ is McLovin in a Marshall amp and ‘In The Mall’, although somewhat cheesy, is still one of the best Weezer songs from their past 3 albums.

Weezer have produced an album that will both entertain existing fans and attract others, mainly with the presence of celebrity names such as Jermaine Dupri and Lil’ Wayne. Although at times hit-and-miss, ‘Raditude’ is a very strong album that shows the band retaining their trademark sound and ethos whilst at the same time continuing to move forwards.

7/10

Tubelord - Our First American Friends

Tubelord - ‘Our First American Friends’

Hassle Records

In a music scene which frequently finds itself turning somewhat stagnant, it’s truly refreshing when a band comes along that breathes new energy into it’s genre whilst at the same time happily acknowledging it’s predecessors and influences. Kingston locals, and Banquet darlings, Tubelord, are a band that are generating a lot of interest in exactly the right areas, mainly because of the quality of both their song-writing and their musicianship. Their eagerly anticipated debut has had many scenester-types doing all sorts of sex wees in their super-tight jeans, and now that it’s finally out, it’s easy to see why.

Each song on the album has been meticulously crafted; choosing to openly ignore the verse/chorus/repeat structure that so many bands happily fall into, their appreciation of all things mathematical create meandering, shifting songs that constantly challenge the rigidity of 4/4 time scales and guitar solos. The guitars layer and clash at exactly the same time; I’ve heard it described as 4 different people playing 4 different songs, but don’t let this put you off. The songs work; I don’t know how, and quite frankly I don’t care. Tubelord are a band that haven’t made this album to become yet another Vice ‘Do’, but to write songs that evoke a menagerie of emotions in just 3 or so minutes.

A key example of this is ‘Somewhere Out There A Dog Is On Fire’ (the band have a penchant for Fall Out Boy-esque song titles), which recently featured on the sublime compilation ‘Music Sounds Better With Huw.’ The narrative, if that’s the correct term, of this and every song, is beautifully exclusive. The music isn’t there for empathy, instead it’s there to appreciate the craft that’s been put into it. This isn’t a band that sets it’s goals at your heart, it sets them at your brain.

Lead singer Joe Prendergast has a stunning, ethereal and downright androgynous voice that contrasts the sometimes raucous music perfectly. The drums are as tight as a duck’s arse and the guitar playing is an enchanting mix of Bombay Bicycle Club and a less crack-addicted At The Drive-In. ‘Night Of The Pencils’ is the song that sums up what it means to be 20+ years old: an acceptance that teenage frivolity is over, but that fun is still possible and perhaps now far more worthwhile. It’s an embracement of youth without sounding twee or childish. It’s a stunning soundtrack to being ‘twenteen’ in London and quite simply one of the most charming, seductive debuts in a very, very long time.

9/10

A little bit of prose, for a change.

I wrote this after taking 20mg of Adderall and 2 5-htp's. Sometimes, prescribed medication really can get the creative juices flowing. As Brendan puts it so well, it's a 'stream of subconcious conciousness.'

We'll hang them, those holy ghosts, from the highest tree we can find. But then again, it's never enough. They rise as frequently as the sun y'know. They're the Hydra, they're the fear of the Hydra. I am your Hercules. I am your Perseus. When you look into the eyes of your lover, there I'll be. I am the face of that which you covet, that which you long for. It courses through our veins like souls in the Styx . Pay me the gold; I'll paddle us out. We'll look up and watch the stars die together. We'll watch it all turn to dust and we shall laugh in joyous rapture for we are enlightened and so we are cursed.

The XX-xx

The xx – xx

Very rarely does a band come around that completely stops me in my tracks. Even more rare is this achieved on the strength of one album. The XX, however, are that band. Possibly one of the most interesting bands to have come out of the past 10 years, the four piece perfectly convey the isolation and loneliness one can feel in such a sprawling city as London (originally from Putney, the XX attended the same school as Micachu, Hot Chip and dubstep-hero Burial.) The concept of ‘maximum-minimum’ is bandied about with much abandon, but on their self-titled debut, The XX manage to accomplish it with aplomb. If you were to strip down the band to its key elements, you could hardly believe that the intensity and prowess of the music could come from such simple beginnings. The most glorious aspect of the band are lead singers Romy Croft and Oliver Sim’s dueling, symbiotic vocals that never reach more than a gentle hush. It’s almost as if the Moldy Peaches removed their shambolic elements, took singing lessons and then spent all of their time listening to The Jesus and Mary Chain.

The goth influence, glaringly apparent in their strict all-black attire and ‘Pornography’-era Cure haircuts, does not mean that the album is gloomy. Songs such as ‘Basic Space’ and ‘Night Time’ are genuinely uplifting, with percussionist Jamie layering simple, atmospheric drum samples that sound like a tranquilized Aphex Twin or DJ Shadow. The stand-out track on the album, ‘Basic Space’, sounds like it’s been found on an old tape deck, where the sound quality has aged beautifully. The band’s simplistic attitude make for such delightful hearing when a lot of contemporary music these days seems to be striving to be intentionally garish. Yes, I’m talking to you, Muse, Mika, Hockey, etc. Thank god for the XX, who seem to triumphantly distance themselves from the pretense that is modern music and instead carve their own path without relying on massively over the top production. In fact, samplist Jamie is the producer, and his flair and talent can be seen on the numerous remixes the XX have produced; one to certainly check out is their reworking of Florence and The Machine’s cover of ‘You’ve Got The Love.’

Quite simply, the XX are a band that I have not stopped listening to since I saw them at Reading earlier this year. If you’re going to buy one album, let it be this. It will prove to be one of the most satisying decisions you’re going to make.

10/10

New Reviews. Honestly, I'll do more soon.

Japanese Voyeurs - Sicking and Creaming E.P.

If you already own this E.P, then I seriously think you need to sit down somewhere and have a long hard think about what you have done. This is by far and large one of the most unpleasant experiences I have ever had to endure. There is no merit whatsoever in any of the three tracks. Instead of listening to this, I could have had far much more fun rupturing my bowels or hitting my genitals repeatedly with a meat tenderiser. Seriously, it’s that unbearable.

Imagine the worst Nirvana covers band ever. Like, a band so bad that they seem allergic to rhythm, composition, music in general. Imagine that they were given some good amplifiers and guitar sounds. Then imagine that they’re fronted by a crack-addled Polly Pocket. Seriously, I hate this band so much that I won’t even do them the service of looking up the lead singer’s name. They are quite simply the worst band I have heard in the past two years. It’s the musical equivalent of finding your mum having a bubble bath with Hitler. And there’s only one towel.

Just to boost the word count, a band that are far more interesting are London-based S.C.U.M, a band who, despite owing all of their sound to the new Horrors’ album, make challenging and interesting music that is equal parts Misfits, Public Image Limited and Sonic Youth. Certainly worth checking out. Japanese Voyeurs, on the other hand, will be about as much fun as a lobotomy.

www.myspace.com/japanesevoyeurs

www.myspace.com/scum1968

Album Review: Chase And Status - More Than Alot

http://www.myspace.com/chaseandstatus

The problem with dance music for many years is that it has been the musical world's equivalent to the indigenous, cannibalistic tribespeople of the Amazon; if you're part of the core community, it can be incredibly fulfilling and rewarding. If, however, you are an outsider, it can seem to primitive, simplistic or downright alien to contemplate. The past two years have seen notable names, such as Pendulum, Ian Van Dahl and Calvin Harris, emerge and become the breakthrough artists that are bringing electronic music to the masses. In many respects, Chase And Status could, or rather should well be the next act to join this particular list of names. With a list of remixes already under their belts, they are quickly progressing on the live scene and have appearances at several UK and European festivals scheduled for the coming summer. Their new album, the grammatically erroneous 'More Than Alot', should do for them what 'Hold Your Colour' did for Pendulum. It is therefore such a disappointment that the album lacks direction, substance, and most importantly, hits. Put simply, this album will become the favourite of the 14 year old Bebolites that drink Stella and play music at an awful quality from their mobile phones on the back of the bus.

Chase And Status’ key issue is that not only does the album contain a lot of filler tracks, but the tracks themselves have large amounts of filler, only rescued by 30 second samples of heavy basslines and hyperactive drums. A key example of this is on ‘Pieces’, which features one of the UK’s most interesting hip-hop stars, Plan B, on vocals. The first minute or so of this song is just unbearable, with lyrics and guitar playing that even the most emo of bands would have scrapped on the grounds of being too apathetic and pitiful. Then suddenly, it seems as if a DJ with a proper set of bollocks takes the decks away from Chase And Status, and all of a sudden there is a hedonistic build up which is sure to appeal to the MDMA-frazzled followers of the drum and bass movement. The subsequent 30 seconds or so of the song, noise which makes Slipknot seem like pussies in terms of intensity, just makes you want to flail every single limb and throw every guitar record you own out of the window, and is more than enough to shift both units and bowels. ‘Pieces’ is a microcosm for the album in general; there are so many glimmers of absolutely incredible electronic music, such as ‘Eastern Jams’ which will surely be at every drug casualties’ house party and the seizure-inducing ‘Take Me Away’, which are then defecated over by the awfulness of the unfunny and insulting pretentiousness of ‘Music Club’ or the unpleasant retro that is ‘Can’t Get Enough’, which seems to have the amazing capability of infusing everything that was shit with 1980’s video games and 1990’s dance music into 3:27.

Chase And Status will be big, that much is inevitable; the only sad thing is that in a genre which gets such little recognition yet produces amazing music, these will be heralded as more important than artists and Djs that certainly deserve such an accolade. The one positive to take from this is that it will only intensify the current scene, as existing drum and bass fans will surely dislike the commercialism that this album smacks of. One of the most interesting events in recent electronic music history is the emergence of dubstep, a deeper, gravellier and dirtier form of drum and bass that many are heralding as the ‘metal’ of electronica. If you are looking to expand your knowledge of this particular style of music, then I sincerely recommend ignoring this tepid album, buying something Box Of Dub: Volume One (which I have provided a Spotify link to), gather all your friends, turn off all the lights, and wait for the carnage to begin.

5/10

P.S - Link to Box Of Dub: Volumes 1 (http://open.spotify.com/album/79lOQ3ektrxE8PtKDH5uYS) and 2 (http://open.spotify.com/album/6HxLNkMi8tuyFuJbmcg0FP)

Film Review - Barton Fink (1991)

'I pulled off early today. Took your advice, went to a doctor about this ear. He says 'You have an ear infection, ten dollars please'. So I says 'I told you I had an ear infection, you give me ten dollars!' Well that started an argument.'

This is my first ever attempt at a proper film review, bar a GCSE write-up on Zefferelli's 'Romeo And Juliet' which I described as being 'a highlight of tedium, proving that the novelty of men in codpieces and tights wears off within four minutes.' However, as a means of testing my own creativity and hopefully expanding the audience of Sirens Of London, I thought I'd try and introduce some to what I think is the finest film ever made: 'Barton Fink.'

'Barton Fink' is a relatively simple story of eponymous playwright Fink (John Turturro), who moves from New York to Los Angeles after his succesful first play, 'Bare Ruined Choirs', attracts attention from Capitol Pictures. Asked to write a 'wrestling' picture, Fink develops crippling writers' block and relies on a friendship with insurance salesman Charlie Meadows (John Goodman) and writer's secretary Audrey (Judy Davis) to help him cope with the stresses of the Hollywood lifestyle. I can't really write any more of a synopsis because the film contains to my mind two of the best plot twists in any film and they come as such a surprise that anyone who has not seen this film will really appreciate the shock factor when they do see it.

So why do I love this film? First of all, it's by Joel and Ethan Coen, who to my mind are two of the finest storytellers in current film. Every single film of theirs has a certain charm or weight to it that doesn't rely on recurring trends or images, other than a reflection of their mastery of cinematography and narration. As directors, writers and producers, they seem to be able to flit from genre to genre with ease, tackling stoner comedy ('The Big Lebowski'), film noir ('Blood Simple), hard-boiled crime ('No Country For Old Men') and rags-to-riches family drama ('The Hudsucker Proxy') with utter ease. They also have a remarkable skill for casting, using actors such as Steve Buscemi, Jeff Bridges and John Goodman absolutely perfectly for the roles. They know exactly what they want from the characters and actors in Barton Fink; the title character has to be somewhat weasely and pathetic, Capitol owner Lipnick has to be a parody within a parody and Charlie has to be the lovable guy next door, who also happens to have his wife under the patio slabs.

The use of imagery and color is key to any Coen film, and this is very true for 'Barton Fink.' Despite the supposed glamour of pre-WW2 Hollywood, the conditions of the Hotel Earle of the mouldy greens, the leaking pipes and mucus-releasing wallpaper all create a sinister backdrop to a sinister story. The sense of confinement that we as viewers feel is both intelligent and awkward, and the dialogue frequently relies on overlapping and awkward silences to add to the drama and tension of both the narrative and the audience. Some of the dialogue is almost uncomfortable, and yet in it their is a poetic beauty that reflects the strength of the Coen's ability as writers.

John Goodman clearly steals the show as Charlie, a character who takes the jolly, fat man stereotype and makes it both pitiful and uplifting, a task which I struggle to remember ever having been achieved before. The blue-collar nature of the insurance salesman makes it an honorable trade, and with the film's seminal plot twist Meadows quickly becomes one of my favourite anti-hero's ever. Tuturro as Fink is a powerful and yet understated performance, with the neurotic, nihilistic nature of this ratty little man becoming contemtable and mournful. It really is a superb matching of actor and role: it's one of those performances where it's hard to imagine anyone else playing the character after having seen the film.

I cannot praise this film highly enough; it perfectly encapsulates the stresses and strains of writing at any level, whilst also taking a deep and analytical look into relationships of all levels and what they mean. For anyone that likes their storytelling simple and yet powerful, 'Barton Fink' surely stands at the top of the list of films to watch over and over again.

www.imdb.com/title/tt0101410

P.S For those of you who wish to read a half decent film blog, check out CASTLEGREYSKULLZ (one of my 'followed' blogs). Joe and Max know what they're talking about and are very good at analysing a film without being overly subjective. Thanks to them for giving me a template that I can plagiarise. :p

Classic Album: The Wedding Party - Seamonsters (1991)

http://www.scopitones.co.uk/

http://open.spotify.com/album/6PToNau7uGQATIDCbq8jb1

First of all, I bought this album completely under the wrong guise. In a sale-induced frenzy I picked up 'Seamonsters' thinking it was by The Birthday Party, Nick Cave's seminal pre-Bad Seeds group that infused the way for much modern indie and alternative music. However, 'Seamonsters' is a true gem of 90's indie that wasn't under the horrible umbrella of britpop. Instead it takes equal influence from bands like The Smiths, Joy Division and Pixies, melding droning guitars with inspired lyrics of a forelorn life and a production by Steve Albini (responsible for some of the best albums ever: 'Surfer Rosa', 'Yanqui U.X.O' and 'In Utero' to name but a few) into an album that luckily escaped being tarred by the brush of many 90's bands.

Primarily, this album has, in my mind, two of the best songs from the 1990's; 'Suck' and 'Dalliance', both of which take the concept of a 'love song' and apply such darkness and intensity that it almost makes you terrified of ever falling in love. David Gedge breaks down to a primeval scream in 'Suck', proudly claiming that 'I just love hearing you say "Oh please don't go"' as if no emotion can find its way through. Perhaps that's the best way of describing the key aspect of this album; it's an album about love performed by those who no longer believe in it.

Lead single 'Corduroy' can really be described as the original blue print for bands such as Interpol and Editors, who tried to capture the bleak despair of Joy Division and apply it to a more mainstream sound. The chilling cover of Cockney Rebel's '(Make Me Smile) Come Up And See Me' is one of the few cover songs that truly peaks it's original, with the song taking a real sense of pleading, as if they Gedge needs nothing more than someone to help him cope with the depression he feels. It fits perfectly into the album, a rare skill for most cover songs.

The droning guitars in many ways suggest a more appealing approach to playing than the extremities of Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine, but still are distorted enough so that as a listener you are presented with a wave of noise that continues to build, with each song reach a multi-layered crescendo; 'Lovenest' is possibly the best example of this.

'Seamonsters' is The Wedding Party's third album, and in my opinion the rest of their catalogue never really matched the quality of 'Seamonsters'. If you are interested in expanding your knowledge of the band then 'Bizarro' and 'Saturnalia' are definitely worth checking out, but 'Seamonsters' remains to me a perfect example of how British music in the 1990's was not solely derived of cocky Essex boys or monobrowed Mancunian thugs. Simply sublime.

Album Review: Swanton Bombs - Mammoth Skull E.P

http://www.swantonbombs.com/

http://open.spotify.com/album/5I1KWuVwfU8n3bI3M7MrzP

Doesn't 2008 seem such a strange time, so very long ago? Remember back then when some of us still liked Muse and Michael Macintyre? Luckily, we're far more sensible. However, 2008 did produce some incredible music, and Swanton Bombs' debut EP (they have possibly the best name for a band ever. Jeff Hardy was the coolest wrestler when you were 11) is a gem on indie-pop that doesn't try too hard or punch above its weight.

There's a real twee element to the 4 tracks, all of which take the basic elements of guitar-based indie and apply a healthy dollop of tongue-in-cheek pop. There's clearly an overriding sense of fun behind the band, who should hopefully see a resergence in interest with their appearance on the new Huw Stephens compilation, the modestly titled 'The Music Sounds Better With Huw.'

The music is noticeably unpolished; the somewhat muted vocals are an interesting concept but can drag, and there is very little seperating 'Turnstile' from a Keane/Feeling track, but the E.P is definitely worth investing in, if purely for opener 'Shock.' Considering how Swanton Bomb's manage to get the balance of guitar and keyboard right without sounding like boring kids covering Luke Leighfield, its amazing when you consider their age that 'Moth And Moon Song' sounds like it came straight from Rufus Wainwright's 'Want' series. A very promising e.p indeed, from a band who if they can escape the horrors that afflict so many MOR bands, could become very interesting indeed.

7/10

Album Review: Thee Oh Sees - Help

http://www.myspace.com/ohsees

http://open.spotify.com/album/76tlxhx2OgtcHNsLR7WQCZ

One of the most annoying and over used terms in all walks of journalism is the postscript of '...on acid.' This is commonly used to show how something has changed as if they were on massive amounts of psychadelics. This normally is a complete load of bollocks, and is a term used by someone who cannot really grasp ideas or sounds that challenge their preconceptions. However, Thee Oh Sees really are the Mamas and the Papas on acid. I'm sure of it. Brigid Dawson is clearly Mama Cass after the Atkins and a fistful of microdots.

'Help' is their third album, although if you consider that Thee Oh Sees are merely a vehicle for John Dwyer, 2009's answer to Lux Interior, then this is just one in the string of both albums and bands that have showcased Dwyer's skill at taking sun-kissed, Californian pop and injecting a healthy amount of distortion and garage-spirit into it. Despite Dwyer's acumen in and around his native San Francisco, there's still a DIY approach to the production of the album that really captures the nostalgic, playful sense of a band doing what they love.

The album is consistently entertaining, with 'Destroyed Fortress Reappears', 'Peanut Butter Oven' and 'Enemy Destruct' perfectly showcasing the lo-fi talents of the band. In many ways its simple to see how Thee Oh Sees and Wavves have become linked together musically and socially; both of them exact a level of crackly nostalgia that is comparable to flicking through a 1970's punk zine or finding a teenage loveletter inside your Dad's LPs.

Although the album's noisy decadance can be a little grating, especially through repeated plays, 'Help' commands a massive amount of respect for fans of both new noise projects (Wavves, HEALTH etc), lo-fi recording (Milky Wimpshake, Casiotone For The Painfully Alone) and the greatest of American sun-pop.

8/10

Album Review: Bombay Bicycle Club - I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose

www.myspace.com/bombaybicycleclub

http://open.spotify.com/album/4CVzsnMQTcC5mfU4XNTTaI

Bombay Bicycle Club have been the underground darlings of British indie music for pretty much the past two years, releasing two incredible E.P's in the form of 'The Boy I Used To Be' and 'How We Are' and proving to be incredibly succesful on the live scene. The hype for this band can only really be compared to that of the Arctic Monkeys in 2006, prior to the release of 'Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not.' Where the Arctic Monkeys pushed their debut through shortly after they reached an incredible level of recognition, Bombay Bicycle Club have spent over 2 years developing the album whilst being the focus of much attention. The big question raised with the release of the album is; will it have been worth the wait?

Well, yes. And no. This album is as divisive and complex as you would expect from a band that are both incredibly complex musically and low key personally. The diversity of tracks is staggering, showing a range of influences and capabilities that haven't really been seen since Arcade Fire released 'Funeral.' Opener 'Emergency Contraception Blues' is possibly the shortest Mogwai track ever written, whereas recent single 'Always Like This' takes the Afrobeat scene that Vampire Weekend rely so heavily on and meld it into Factory Records entire output. Two of the bands most popular songs, 'Cancel On Me' and 'The Hill' have made their way onto the album, despite being well over two years old. The inclusion of 'The Hill', though, is where the album's flaws start to become more apparent. Re-recording a hit is always a dubious and rarely successful choice, as Enter Shikari's constant tweaking of 'Sorry You're Not A Winner' proved, and there is the sensation with 'I Had The Blues But Shook Them Loose' that Bombay Bicycle Club don't know what they want to achieve with the album.

There is no real cohesiveness; all of the songs are recognisably Bombay Bicycle Club, but in many ways this is how you imagine a badly organised 'Best Of' would sound in 20 years time. The songs are consistent, although 'Autumn' and 'Magnet' don't showcase the technical guitar work that for many has been the USP of the band. But the album just seems...messy. There's no crafting in terms of the album as one sentient unit, an entity in itself. The sounds of the album are too diverse to really be seen as a singular outing; the happy-go lucky guitar of 'The Hill' just seems the polar opposite of the White Lies-esque 'Dust On The Ground.' In many ways, I just feel like the band have played their hand too soon; if one album had been used to capture the youthful exuberance of their E.Ps, and then another to showcase their darker, more foreboding writing, then there would have been an obvious sense of progression, rather than a sense of hotch-potch production.

This is still a fantastic album, and the band will surely receive the awareness and publicity that they rightfully deserve on the back of its release and their numerous festival dates over the summer. It's just somewhat disappointing as a Bombay Bicycle Club release, who for many were going to be as important and groundbreaking as the Smiths. The level of potential that they showcased frequently prior to the album's release perhaps set expectations too high; they are by all means incredibly young, most of the band only just having reached their 20's. Hopefully, the 'difficult second album' will clarify their united voice and vision as a band.

6.5/10

Band Spotlight: Grouper

www.myspace.com/grouperrepuorg

http://open.spotify.com/album/2lKkwpMH6NDTM15QtLauB7

http://open.spotify.com/album/6faiJmDRFljT7N1R9lllDv

In my opinion, a new and serenely beautiful genre of music is emerging, taking elements of folk, gospel and post-rock and combining them into sonic loveliness that captures the spirit of bands such as Sigur Rós whilst removing the repetitive overplay of their key songs. Fleet Foxes and Bon Iver are two of the pioneers of this lucid genre, where the vocals seem never ending, played through simple effects with simple instrumentation behind it. However, perhaps the most compelling act to produce this haunting music is Grouper.

Hailing from Portland, Oregon (a city which has produced some of my favourite bands, most notably the Brian Jonestown Massacre, Elliott Smith and the Decemberists) they seem to constantly develop their music whilst retaining a unique sound that is unmistakably theirs. Their debut, 'Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill', is almost foggy in its slightly crackly, reverb-laden sound that gives the illusion that you're simply hearing the music through the trees of a secret, sparse forest. Standout tracks include 'Heavy Water/I'd Rather Be Sleeping', which is the answer to the question of what the Postal Service would sound like in a power cut, and 'When We Fall'. The new album, 'Way Their Crept', continues to develop the sonic experience of Grouper, and create the fantastic paradox whereby you cannot tell if there is only one instrument or hundreds. The only true concern with Grouper is that they do not fall into the way of many post-rock acts and accumulate such attention that their work is used in television, advertising or other media. This is not bad in the sense that they are questioning their own integrity, but music of this beauty does not benefit from repeated playing; you will simply lose the magnitude and magnificence of the noise. Grouper are very much like you're first love; you will always remember how they made you feel with great fondness, but sometimes the emotion is enough to break your heart.

New Music: Black Nerd

www.myspace.com/blacknerdband

Hailing from my hometown and comprising of three friends of mine, I would in most circumstances be emotionally contracted to loving Black Nerd, irrespective of the music they played. Sycophantism is a bit of a skill of mine. However, in comparison to their former musical outing, the often-confrontational and sometime-hilarious i!AMYOU, Black Nerd's otherworldly shoegaze sound actually shows a maturity and richness of sound that comes in stark contrast to the ever-frequent emo and pop-punk that the South West seems to churn out at an almost hourly rate.

The increasingly intense community formed of rakish fanboys of Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine and Failure is growing daily, with synthesizers and effects pedals being used for the right reasons once again and vocals becoming as much a sonic tool as an expression of emotion, sentiment or opinion. Black Nerd's music unashamedly takes influence from whale music, with seemingly endless notes being played through mountains of reverb so that they simply become another layer to the music, such as on the sublime 'Why We Got The Sack From The Museum.' I played it to a friend not long after hearing it for the first time myself, and she said that she couldn't bring herself to turn it off, as if the noise produced was somewhat hypnotic. It may sound like everyday musical hyperbole, but the music is trance-like, lulling you in a series of peaks and waves that effortlessly blend into one another, providing a musical soundscape similar to the work of Brian Eno's solo efforts 'Music For...' series.


An upcoming gig at the Queens Hotel in Weymouth with Into The Dust, Battle For Paris and Run, Walk! should see whether the complexities of the demos can transfer effectively and succinctly live. If they do not, then Black Nerd promise to be a band who will remain steeped in cult status through a constant level of recordings and underground recognition. If they do pull it off, they could very quickly seem themselves spawning many followers and many imitators.