Chimpomatic

The Raconteurs

Brixton Academy, London

I could've sworn The Raconteurs have only made one album. After last nights show I felt I should go home and Google these guys to see if Broken Boy Soldiers wasn't their fifth due to the rapturous reception they got from the adoring Brixton crowd. And no one went home disappointed. Although opening with Intimate Secretary, the albums weakest track, Brendan Benson and Jack White's band put on one hell of a show making a sound so loud that if it wasn't for White's shriek the vocals would have been all but lost.

As on the album Benson is a solid performer but tends to assume the role of the straight guy when put next to the charisma and on/off mic antics of White. Whether he's being a Raconteur or a White Stripe, Jack White is electrifying to watch. Holding the guitar like it's an extension of his arm and with frequent visits to the front of the stage, guitar held aloft this concert was on the verge of becoming the Jack White show.

With only 10 songs to their name and each one getting aired, the order of the night was guitars - with each song being extended in length, volume and intensity. Forthcoming single Broken Boy Soldiers was, as anticipated, the standout moment - with White retreating to the back of the stage to shout the repeated line "The boy never gets older" into a voice distorting mic but the funky-as-hell Level and the gut punching, sonic boom of Store Bought Bones came in a close second. They even threw in a few covers - Gram Parsons and a mammoth rock opera loosely based around Nancy Sinatra's Bang Bang.

The crowd favorite Steady, As She Goes came soon after the encore and was so huge I was sure this would be the finale. But Blue Veins was to close this rock extravaganza and although I questioned this rather downbeat choice, it was given the same amped up treatment as the rest with White and Benson playing the blues something special. This was the final moment for Jack to show his masterful grasp of his instrument as his guitar gently wept and all over Brixton dogs pricked up their ears and cocked their heads.

I fear this performance may have ruined the album for a lot of people as the beefed up power of the live songs leaves the originals sounding positively anorexic. The only complaint would be the 'one album' thing and the drowned-in-sound quality you sometimes get at The Academy but apart from that this was an electrifying show of two musicians in complete control of their instruments and really loving their side project. You would have been forgiven for thinking that this was Led Zeppelin's farewell tour as the band bowed, arm in arm, at the front of the stage to a deafening applause that continued long after they had departed.

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21st Oct 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

The Blood Arm

Lie Lover Lie

They're a confident bunch, The Blood Arm. One would suppose you don't get nominated for Best New Band in LA (2004) through modesty and reticence. "I told you before, when I was young and obscure, it takes more than an ocean, to keep me ashore" proclaims singer Nathanial Fregoso, on album opener 'Stay Put!' a White Stripesy number, that has forceful pianos accompanying Fregoso, before being joined by crashing cymbals and distorted guitars.

Confidence, doesn't necessarily mean substance though. The piano hammers and cascades, driving all the songs along at a brisk tempo, so that as a whole, the album sounds like a collection of Show Tunes; 'Blood Arm: The Musical' if you will. Here's our hero proudly announcing that "I like all the girls and all the girls like me." 'Suspicious Characters'. Here's the chorus-line, linking arms and belting out an ode to the Road Trip 'Going to Arizona'. Like its theatrical cousins from the West End, 'Lie Lover Lie' isn't going to change the world, but for those times when you just want to get drunk, forget about thinking and have a good time, this could be what you need.

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20th Oct 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

New Rhodes

Songs From The Lodge

"Tonight Matthew (or Cat), I'm going to be Morrisey" is something New Rhodes singer James Williams might say, were he appearing in the final of Stars in their Eyes. He'd win it too, so good is his impression.

The songs zip along pleasantly enough and will presumably have the indie teens shaking the clubs, as well as the 30 somethings who still yearn for those indie teen years - jiving after the dinner parties. But having all songs sound like potential singles; chart-bothering singalongs loses points in my book. After a while, you want to grab the band and shake them 'Do something naughty!! Spit on the floor. Steal a Magazine. Anything!' However, when they do: "When you look in the mirror tell me what you see, because all I see is a useless, worthless piece of shit" (Cowardice), you feel a bit guilty that you made them do it. The style of Morrissey's singing, present; the wit of his lyrics, absent.

They are technically well put together songs, if slightly forgettable. I expect they'll get themselves quite a sizable following and they are certainly inoffensive enough to do so. But if your natural leaning is towards something with a touch more hair on its balls, this isn't going to do it for you.

Watch the video for "History of Britain" here.

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20th Oct 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

The Devil And Daniel Johnston

(dir. Jeff Feuerzeig)

A truly incredible film. Daniel Johnston is possibly most widely known for having a piece of artwork adorn a t shirt, extensively worn by Kurt Cobain at the height of Nirvana's success ('Hi. How Are You?'). This prolific artist and musician from West Virginia, achieved notoriety and a certain degree of fame in the 80's and early 90s, through his home-recorded cassettes and subsequent descent into madness. As Daniel was also an avid film-maker, as well as frequently recording his thoughts onto tape - this is as thorough a documentary as you could hope for. From troubled/gifted teen - to the overweight and fragile Daniel of today, you are taken every step of the way. Whilst the journey is exhilarating and exhausting, you can take your pick from the hundreds of sub-stories that make up its whole.

- A worried Thurston and Lee from Sonic Youth, driving around trying to find Daniel, clearly losing his mind on his first visit to New York.

- A typically twisted Gibby Haynes (Butthole Surfers) conducts his interview from the dentist's chair, recollecting the time Daniel first took LSD

- Or when Daniel tried to force the demons from an old lady (an ongoing obsession, hence the film's title) she was so frightened, she jumped from a 2nd floor window.

One of his friends hits the nail on the head when describing his guilt at having Daniel committed to a mental hospital. Explaining that he had always been on the side of history's tortured artists, such as Van Gogh, here he had shot had helping such an artist, but he simply couldn't handle it. And that is what this film is above everything else: A document of the battle between Genius and Insanity. The last line from Daniel's remarkable parents, looking after a recovering, but still clearly unwell son, is an absolute killer. Awesome.

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20th Oct 2006 - 3 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Bruce Springsteen

The Seeger Sessions: We Shall Overcome (American Land Edition)

Since making it big in 1975 with his third album Born To Run, Bruce Springsteen has had the artistic luxury of rarely releasing a record with the same sound as his last. The Seeger Sessions is no exception. A folk record, this is the first covers album The Boss has ever done. Based on the tracks recorded and popularised by Pete Seeger in the 40s, 50s and 60s the album was recorded with a large ensemble of musicians over two days, and as a result the album has a very live feel. Although this reviewer is not overly familiar with Pete Seeger's music, most tracks on this release have a familiar sound and feeling, as if perhaps we all used to sing them back in our school days.

Things kick off with the snappy and enticing banjo chords of Old Dan Tucker. This is one that would certainly get people to their feet at the hoe down. Springsteen's banjo and gravelly vocals sit perfectly alongside the bass and rythms of the big band. Next up is Jesse James the tale of Jesse James and his murder by The Coward Robert Ford. The band keep tempo with Springsteen's quick story telling developing into some saloon bar accordian.

The album moves on with much variation in tracks from the Seeger catalogue. Mrs McGrath tells the story of the mother of a son badly wounded during the civil war, their woes being spelt out with a strong fiddle accompanyment. O Mary Don't You Weep takes turns to faith and the story of Moses and Pharohs army drowning at the parting of the Red Sea. Pay Me My Money Down was sung by black ship workers when captains tried to slip out of harbour without paying them, and the title track We Shall Overcome reflects Springsteen's active criticism of the current US political regime as a famous song sung around the world in political protest for justice and equality.

This edition varies on the original April release with the addition of five extra tracks, the strongest of which Froggie Went A Courtin, and the excellent American Land, recorded live in front of a New York audience. However, all additional tracks are up to the quality of the original release and there is a sense that the back catalogue was there to produce many more tracks to this high standard.

This is not an album that you will play repeatedly, but like Springsteen's other more adventurous projects you will return to it again and again at times when something a little different is what's required.

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19th Oct 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

Camera Obscura

The Scala, London

October 18th 2006

Famous mainly for an illegal screening of Clockwork Orange in the 80's, former London cinema the Scala has got to be one of the best places to see a band. Often a last stop for bands heading onto the higher peaks of The Astoria or Brixton Acadamy, many favourites have had great shows here - DJ Shadow, Low, CocoRosie, George Hurley and Mike Watt supporting Shellac...

Scottish indie popsters Camera Obscura's sound is perfect for a venue like this. Enchanting and intimate, Tracyanne Campbell's vocals fall somewhere between the brooding darkness of the Cocteau Twins and the lighter sounds of The Sundays or even The Cardigans.

Mostly playing tracks from their latest album Let's Get Out Of This Country, the bands sound has become focused and upbeat and the band have an accomplished live show, based on 10 years of playing together - as well as numerous sessions with fan John Peel.

Whether it was the sublime Tears For Affairs, or the fluffy ephemeral Lemon Juice and Paper Cuts (a line from Lester Bangs' biography) the band were always in control and always connected to the well behaved audience. Let's just hope they don't get any bigger and leave us behind for more distant peaks.

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19th Oct 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

The Early Years

Cargo, London

After being won over by their debut album, London's The Early Years have put themselves in a dangerous situation where I am starting to believe the hype. Having been under-whelmed by bands with only one album before, I was slightly apprehensive... but was not disappointed.

Opening much the same as their album, the band's show started without anyone really noticing. One minute they were tuning up, the next you're being punched in the guts by a pummeling bassline. Like a post-rock metronome, thumping the listener into submission.

With pedals and effects to rival Jonny Greenwood, David Malkinson and Roger Mackin build up slow layered sounds with gentle lyrics. Backed by the excellent drumming of Phil Raines and a ferocious strobe light, words are often abandoned in favour of the dual sonic attack - with tracks like Brown Hearts.

Recalling My Bloody Valentine or Ride in approach and sound, the band have a late 80's / early 90's vibe, but thankfully they are stylist free. They cite Tortoise and Can as influences, which fits in nicely with my current direction so I'm more than happy.

There were a few minor sound problems which stilted things a little bit, but while the band's stage schtick was a little lacking that will only develop with time. For now time was nearly up, but although they only played around 5 songs they were stretched out to an impressive 45 minutes.

Things wrapped up with A Simple Solution - probably the best track on their current album. Hopefully it will soon be eclipsed by newer, further greatness and will be relegated to being their Creep. With talk already of a new EP of material The Early Years seem destined for great things, shaping up to be one of the best new bands of 2006. I look forward to claiming that I never doubted them.

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19th Oct 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

Califone

Roots & Crowns

Eight years in and Chicago collective Califone are hitting their stride. After 2004's Heron King Blues, the band went on a brief hiatus - with band leader Tim Rutili moving out to California to work on film scores until repeated listening to Psychic TV's track Orchids prompted him to start writing again. That debt is acknowledged here with a sublime cover of the song, but let's start this review at the beginning.

Pink & Sour opens the album with a superb layered guitar sound that builds up with Rutili's hushed vocal's weaving in and out of the music like another instrument, before segueing perfectly into a near sing-a-long with Spider's House.

A history of touring with such bands as Smog, Sonic Youth and Wilco gives you some idea of where Califone are coming from and the album is often reminiscent of Loose Fur's self-titled debut album - never in a hurry and always enjoying itself, subtly building up and easing back. However, where that album could often be accused of being a side project, Roots & Crowns is always on-message. The delicate acoustics of Burned By The Christians sit comfortably next to the loops and sounds of Black Metal Valentine, or the crackling piano of Rose Petal Ear. Images of re-birth and evolution slowly creep through, creating a cohesive and focused vision.

Although it can sound both modern and subtly electronic in places, the album's over riding sound is the booming acoustics of layered guitars, low harmonies and organic, complex drum beats. With moments reminiscent of bands like Crosby, Stills and Nash, the album takes traditional sounds and brings them forcefully into the 21st century. While on the first few listens the album may seem slightly flat in places, with further and further repeat listening Califone's subtle sounds will echo round your mind, embedding themselves to be stirred and re-energized with repeat listening.

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18th Oct 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

Sebadoh

Bubble And Scrape

Before MySpace. Before The Strokes. Before Pete Doherty. Before rock bands arrived image-ready with an NME endorsed 1st album to force down your throat. Before this, there was a gentler time. Where bands recorded music and couldn't give a Razorlight what they looked like. Sebadoh, were kings of such bands. How tight the jeans, how battered the converse? Wouldn't have crossed their minds.

Sebadoh probably woke up around 4, mooged around the house in a dressing gown, eating breakfast cereal and drinking a beer. Then they'd pick up a guitar, a 4 track recorder and knock out great tune after great tune. Ex- (and now 'present' once again) Dinosaur Jr. Bass-Pounder, Lou Barlow, was the main man, whose songs seemed to be a result of putting his private diaries to music. They were mostly about relationships; how wonderful they could be, how devastating they could be, but were never anything less than brutally honest.

'Bubble & Scrape' is slightly more coherent than its predecessor 'III' yet less polished than 'Bakesale' which followed. It's a good place to start if you want to get into Sebadoh, which is something I would personally recommend. The relationship theme runs through it, as are the polemic ways it is expressed, both lyrically and musically. From hurt, honest, tenderness "I think our love is coming to an end." - 'Soul and Fire', to angry, bitter and cutting "I love you sister/ I love how you condescend." 'Sister'. There are no bad tracks here. Of the 17 (Count' em!), I'd say the following would make my Sebadoh 'Best of…': Soul & Fire, Happily Divided, Cliche, Sixteen, Homemade and Forced Love. With at least 4 others on standby. Not bad for a band that released 7 albums between 1989 and 1999.

Yep, Sebadoh have a MySpace site, I'd like to think though that perhaps they'd prefer to just send cassettes through the post. Maybe I'm a dreamer, but then most Sebadoh fans are…

Click here for our Bakesale Review
Click here for our Live Review

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18th Oct 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

J Dilla

The Shining

Jay Dee aka J Dilla is known as a producer's producer and was often compared to the likes of DJ Premier and Kanye West. He is a little known character in the Hip Hop world but was responsable for such master works as The Pharcyde's Running and De La Soul's Stakes Is High. His is a story of unrelenting dedication and a story who's end came far too soon - both for him and hip hop. He suffered from illness for many years, performing in a wheelchair towards the end of his career, and finally died just days after his 32nd birthday.

The Shining was the album he was working on when he died and just before the end he passed it on to fellow Detroit producer and long time friend Karriem Riggins. It is a mouthwatering line up featuring Common, Busta Rhymes and Madlib but despite this it is a very disjointed whole. This is to be expected considering the circumstances but when it's good it's great. It would be a crime to give some of these guys a whack beat and Dilla dutifully lays down a beauty for Common on E=MC2. Common is at his best when rhyming over hard and funky rhythms and that is what he gets here. At a glance the best cuts here are the "Love" songs. Love Jones is an all too short instrumental ditty from the man himself, Love featuring Pharoahe Monch is a classic soul groove, Jungle Love is a low down, dirty, beat driven grime-fest featuring MED and Guilty Simpson where we get the priceless line " I got hoe's like firemen." In an album that frequently sways into mushy RnB, Jungle Love has enough dick and hoe boasting to see us through. The last "Love" song is Black Thought's masterfull Love Movin'. The complex clicky beat is like nothing you've ever heard and it flows with the greatest of ease to the hard hitting vocals of The Roots front-man.

Unfortunately these moments are broken up by some less than perfect and often week cuts like the shocking collaboration between Common and D'Angelo and Busta Rhymes' testosterone filled opener that sounds more like a Richard Prior sketch. It's not enough to ruin this great artist's final work, however it does suggest, annoyingly so, what The Shining could have been if Dilla had been allowed to see it through.

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18th Oct 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

Tortoise

A Lazarus Taxon

Some bands never put a foot wrong. Whether it's a perfectly pitched new album, a superb accompanying book, or a zeitgeist-defining DVD they get everything right.

Tortoise might well be one of those bands. With this 3 CD+DVD box set, the Chicago band collect together 12 years of rarities, b-sides, remixes and live material - as well as numerous promo videos and some live footage - all superbly presented in this box set with artwork by retired Swiss policeman Arnold Odermatt.

Where oddities and rarities often make for a patchy album at best, Tortoise manage to hold steady over three CDs without ever feeling like we're being fed scraps and left-overs.

The first two discs compile 25 tracks from Japanese issues, compilations, promotional 7" singles and more. The opening 12 minute Gamera is superb - a drastic reworking His Second Story Island from the debut Tortoise album. Gamera is then re-worked itself later on - now called Goiriri. David Pajo's composition Vaus also stands out, as does promo 7" track Madison Area - all using sublime instrumentals to creat a moody, atmospheric landscape.

For disc three this compilation manages to avoid the pitfalls of some compilations and keep even the remixes on-message. Following the release of their debut album, the band asked some friends to provide remixes - which became long-out-of-print album Rhythms, Resolutions & Clusters - included here in it's entirety. Generally avoiding the "Blah Blah (Ho Hum Remix)" path, most of these are re-built as completely new tracks - often with new titles. Steve Albini, Jim O'Rourke and Mike Watt are amongst the chefs - with Watt and Kira Roeseler adding some Dos bass to extra bonus track Cornpone Brunch.

Like the 4 sided double album ("let's play disc 2, side 1") before it, even a 3CD set is condensed into one, long digital playlist these days. Although 33 songs, 3CDs or 2.9 hours is certainly a lot to cover there's barely a moment to rest and like Fugazi, Wilco, Radiohead no record collection is complete without some Tortoise - and this might well be the place to start.

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17th Oct 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

Brakes

The Luminaire, London

Brighton's Brakes dazzled a Myspace friendly crowd at Kilburn's The Luminaire last night with their country-punk antics. It was a night of great new music with Blood Red Shoes providing a truly memorable performance before hand, but when Brakes opened with the 30 second punch in the face of Hi How Are You you knew this was a band with more experience and confidence than anything that had gone before. Their timing was tight, their guitars loud and the shaved head of front-man Eamon Hamilton repeatedly displayed a near to bursting vein. Although old favorites like Heard About Your Band and All Night Disco Party from Give Blood sounded fantastic and caused frenzied cheers from the crowd, the songs from the new album Beatific Visions seemed fuller and more focused in comparison.

Album openers Hold Me In The River and Margherita had might and weight that made the blink-and-you'll-miss-them punk ditties seem like musings of a band long gone, but the soon-to-be live favorite was the vein throbbing, spit propelling onslaught of Porcupine or Pineapple?. Introduced as one of the songs they recorded on a recent trip to Nashville the line "Who won the war, what the fuck is it for?" was delivered with such jaw dropping venom that you wonder how these boys were received in those hallowed lands.

All in all Brakes displayed an energy and urgency that was great to behold in such an intimate venue and with a band full of look a-likes ranging from Goldie on vocals, an allergic Pete Doherty on guitar, Will Ferrell on bass and Chris Martin on drums Brakes put on one hell of a show that will keep your ears ringing and bleeding for some time to come.

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17th Oct 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

The Early Years

The Early Years

Finally a band who aren't afraid to make long songs. All too often these days a song will suggest that it has ended too soon and could really do with a good 5 minutes more in the oven. This debut album from London's The Early Years seems to go some way to satisfy me in the length department and if you talk to all my friends they'll tell you that's important.

I say 'some way' because these songs arent all long, none of them are less than 4 minutes, there's a 6.3 and an 8.4, but the thing to mention here is that they all feel long. Some of the greatest songs ever made in my opinion (for 'opinion read 'fact') have the same formula. They are epic, they change pace and they never end where they started. Stairway To Heaven, Paranoid Android, Bohemian Rhapsody, I Am The Resurrection, Free Bird to name but a few all follow this structure and although there is nothing on The Early Years that comes close to these they certainly have the right idea.

Their songs are often the musical equivalent of the average life-cycle of a person. Take High Times And Low Lives for example. It starts with an almost embryonic, blissed out ambient whisper, takes its time to build to maturity to peak at mid point on a crashing cymbal and guitar majesty. It then calms down for a while then starts to gallop again towards the end and quickly gains a glorious running pace. As with a lot of people, many of the songs threaten to end but seem to hang on to life until they feel it's time to go, and only then do they gracefully fade away to silence. The reason for this is obviously their eclectic source of influences. The band cite bands such as Spiritualised, Tortoise, Elevator's, The Velvet Underground and Neu! as source points and that more than explains their ability to handle ambient noise, motorik beats, drones, feedback and melody all in the same song.

The Early Years are a 3 piece which is hard to believe once you have heard their sound. They create the grandeur of at least 5 musicians. They can do heart wrenching ballads, epic swells and they can certainly rock when they want to. They seem to have everything and although there are a few less than exceptional moments this debut suggest greatness.

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12th Oct 2006 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

The Rapture

Pieces Of The People We Love

I was very underwhelmed with 2003's Echoes and so really wasn't expecting to feel anything but a confounded sense of self-righteousness about this record. The Rapture were the embodiment of all the pretension of the post-punk revival, creating edgy, dance rock about nothing at all and insisting on it all being told with self-consciously grating vocals. However with Pieces Of The People We Love we see that in 3 years The Rapture seem to have calmed down and focused on the music, easing off on the cliches that dogged their earlier work. Here we see a more mature sound and a far more coherent album. Luke Jenner's vocals are restrained compared to Echoes and except for the first track they resist the need to quickly drop into the catchy repeated chorus that they did so often before.

The title track is the first hint that this band has moved on and this is largely down to the fact that the mighty Danger Mouse produced it. This is the first of two tracks produced by him and it shows a layered depth of sound that doesn't go for the quick sell. This makes Get Myself Into It all the more appealing as it does go for that instant fix and it really works. Its the first single off the album and out of context it sounds dull and predictable but in the right sequence it's Police-inspired harmonies and driving chorus are just what you need.

First Gear is for me the stand out track on this record building on a steady thudding beat, layered instruments and repeated backing vocals and weighing in at over 6 minutes but hinting that it could be longer. On first glance at the track listing Whoo! Alright Yeah...Uh Huh seemed to sum up this band as the aesthetically pleasing but ultimately meaningless, self-referential trash I had come to expect. But as it turns out it's a very amusing attack on their fans that stand in the crowd, arms folded and motionless. I thought this was an interesting observation as it's as if the fans were falling for the same 'too cool for school' crap that the band was. Maybe after hearing this album they might loosen up and enjoy themselves. The band obviously have.

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12th Oct 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

Nouvelle Vague

Bande A Part

In 2004 Nouvelle Vague put out their self titled debut album of catchy cover versions of 80's indie classics. Their sweet bossa nova lounge style was a joy to listen to and they really brought something different to these well known songs. However I quickly tired of the formula and was quite surprised to see their follow up album follow exactly the same pattern.

"Bande A Part" covers a similar era and the only difference here is the introduction of a second singer. On its release I had very little interest in it as it looked like more of the same, but after hearing the opening version of Echo & The Bunnymen's Killing Moon I was snared in its delightful trap. With The Buzzcocks' Ever Fallen In Love the grip tightened and I couldn't believe I was falling for the same trick a second time. Thankfully I managed to wriggle loose of its clutches and soon realised that this album was going nowhere. The novelty wears off soon after the first 3 tracks, as the formula sets in once more. I remember when I used to eat in McDonalds as a kid and they would play their own musak versions of popular songs. My mind would automatically search through it's database to tag the tune they were playing and once located the attention would come to an abrupt halt. This is the same here, after the song has been identified it holds no more intrigue. I think I would pay more attention to this band if they stopped the cover version gimmick and wrote some of their own material. They have such a beautiful style of easy listening, washed out and sun drenched bliss that at first went so well with their choice of covers but now is lost. If they dropped the covers their music would become the focus. Until then it fades to the background and becomes little more than lift music.

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12th Oct 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

The Lemonheads

The Lemonheads

I thought I'd misread the details on this album. Seminal 90's under achiever Evan Dando is back with a new Lemonheads album, backed by Bill Stevenson and Karl Alverez of my 80's Santa Cruz-skate-favourites Decendents/ALL. A potential dream come true.

With a slow intro quickly being upgraded to breakneck punk pop, we're off to a great start on Black Gown, and with no time to waste between songs we roll straight into Become The Enemy and the album is already bearing all the hallmarks of it's main contributors.

While the album certainly starts off great, and never really fails, unfortunately both Evan Dando and Bill Stevenson can be a little methodical with their song writing and combining the two of them just highlights that in places. Dando never seems to know when to stop rhyming, and the lyrics/guitar blast/lyrics/guitar blast style of ALL often raises it's (non too ugly) head, which although not that common is strangely predictable.

Although most songs feature these hallmark sounds somewhere, they usually move on to something else. For example Poughkeepsie starts off very predictable, but as interest slides it stages a come-back turning off into new instrumental directions. The best moments on this album are when the songs veer of into just such unpredictable territory, such as on Let's Just Laugh, or current favourite Baby's Home - written by Aussie Tom Morgan of Smudge/Godstar.

There's further cameos galore, with The Band legend Garth Hudson playing keyboards on a couple of tracks, and J Mascis turning it up to 11 - most notably on No Backbone. Although Stevenson is only credited with writing two and a half tracks, the album often sounds almost like an ALL album with Dando singing. Stevenson's two solo credit tracks are both highlights (angsty older man tracks Become The Enemy and Steve's Boy) and the more punk-rooted support that Stevenson and Alvarez supply for Dando seem to give him a focus and urgency that he has previously often lacked. For 34 minutes of it at least.

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12th Oct 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

Lupe Fiasco

Food & Liquor

If Jay-Z was about 10 years younger and hadn't been paid so much or jaded by police harrasment he would probably sound a bit like this. "Food & Liquor" is Chicago based rapper Lupe Fiasco's long awaited debut album. Long awaited due to it's hefty list of collaborators and a troubled record deal that pushed back its release until now. Lupe is only 25 and through most of this album that's hard to believe. Intricate and profound lyrics are woven together so tightly and are complimented by intelligent beats. My enjoyment of Food & Liquor is similar to that of Murs and his 2003 debut for Def Jux, "The End Of The Beginning". Both rappers are young enough to give us a new insight into hip hop but intelligent enough to make it interesting. The times when Lupe's age does show are to his credit. We get so much thug rap these days and whether it's real or not it gets so boring after a while so its very refreshing to hear a rap about skateboarding as on "Kick, Push" and then carried on to the fantastic "Kick, Push II" towards the end of the album. "I Gotcha" is a jazzy little number with a heavy piano based beat while on "The Instrumental" and "He Say She Say" he proves he can deal with more serious issues.

But It's not all skateboarding and fatherless childhoods though, the Jill Scott collaboration "Daydreamin'" has a reassuring amount of references to jacuzzis full of big tittied women but that's not surprising seeing as production duties on much of this album are shared but the likes of The Neptunes and Kanye West to name but a few. Much of the production sounds like a hip hop album from the early nineties with lots of synths and piano but it comes across as intentional and really works. The guest list is impressive yet not allowed to outshine the main star and for a 25 year old and a debut album he certainly has a lot of people to thank judging by "Outro", the 12 minute long 'peace out' dedication song often found closing a hip hop album.

"Food & Liquor" isn't smashing any boundaries or redefining the genre but it's quality from start to finish and due to the recent DJ Shadow memo that he's taking a break from good hip hop Lupe Fiasco is a pleasure to behold. He seems to have come to hip hop from a slightly different angle and provides us with a freshness and honesty that is so welcome after The Outsider's cop out cliches.

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11th Oct 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

Pride Of Baghdad

Brian K Vaughan and Niko Henrichon

Based on the true-life story of a pride of lions that escaped from Baghdad zoo during a 1993 US bombing raid, this graphic novel reworks the Disney Incredible Journey talking animals routine into a subtle take on the Iraq War. Zoo-keepers stand in for Saddam's regime, a metaphor that works to explore the push-pull control of living in a dictatorship; while at the same time the casually brutal effects of "shock and awe" blanket-bombing are somehow even more shocking when seen through animal eyes. Avoids the potentially corny Babe aspects you might expect.

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11th Oct 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

The Exterminators Volume 1: Bug Brothers

Simon Oliver, Tony Moore

Low-key tale about an urban pest control firm in LA, with an ex-con starting to work for his step-father and finding himself drawn into a Repo Man-like world of cockroach infestations, corrupt landlords, ODs, dodgy corporations, and a scarab-worshipping cult… Good characters, with a story that feels like it's got legs

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11th Oct 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

Pan's Labyrinth

(dir. Guillermo Del Toro)

Excellent, involving, intense fantasy from the Hellboy director, who's moved back into making Spanish language films here. Set during Franco's fascist post-second world war regime, we follow Ofelia (Ivana Baquero), a young girl whose mother has remarried the local commander of a military outpost in a tiny village. While her mother's pregnancy keeps her bedridden, Ofelia finds herself drawn into a Gilliamesque world of tricksy fauns, cricket-like fairies and a complex mythology.

Paralled to this is the stark brutality of the fascists, making snap life-or-death decisions, point blank executions, torturing the communist rebels etc. The violence escalates as Ofelia's journey into a magic world deepens.

The fantasy elements feel organic here, superbly balanced against the real world, drawing you into both without trivialising either the history or the weighty sense of doom inside the labyrinth.

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11th Oct 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

Torchwood

Season One, Episode One

New Doctor Who spin-off series (oooh it's an anagram). Captain Jack Harkness (the American one who snogged the Doctor) is in charge of another one of those super top secret alien police organisations where everyone wears long trenchcoats and spends their time reverse-engineering alien technology and ordering pizza.

Feels similar to Who, with added swearing, which feels a bit pointless - it's not much more graphic than Who, and seems almost mean to make a spin-off that kids can't watch (or won't be supposed to). It's got the same sort of budget (ie not enough for large crowd scenes, so there's a bit in the pilot where a cop is trying to usher people away from a crime scene, but there's no-one to actually usher away, which is quite odd), and mines the Men In Black secret HQ idea, except it seems to be hidden under the Cardiff cultural centre. For some reason they keep having meetings on top of buildings, perhaps because they stretched the budget to include some helicopter shots.

It's not bad, and might build into something worthwhile, but it's hard not to feel like we've seen all this done much better w the X-Files, MIB, Dark Skies etc… That said, would rather see BBC3 making this than another series of A Packet Of Crisps, or Dogtown…

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10th Oct 2006 - 130 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Clinic

Visitations

This is the fourth album from the eclectic Liverpool four piece and the best way to describe it is to let the man who is responsible for its greatness sum it up. " The rule is: surprise yourself," says singer Ade Blackburn. "We went for something direct and primitive – surreal ballads next to subhuman riffs." Visitations is a grimy, tense and moody affair that is utterly compelling from start to finish and it's largely down to the pent up ferocity of their front man. If you got into a fight with Clinic you'd be wise to keep your eye on Ade Blackburn. He'd be seething silently in the background but would be the one most likely to do serious damage. His buddies with the instruments do a lot of shouting but he manages to keep his cool for just over 32 minutes and it's gripping to witness. For the most part the guitars are fierce but fuzzy and often threaten to drown the almost indecipherable vocals. Blackburn spits his lyrics through gritted teeth and that's where the power lies. He breeds a tension and urgency from this delivery that keeps you on your toes and locks in your attention like a rabbit in the headlights.

From the outset Visitations lets you know that this ain't gonna be pretty and some people may get hurt. The fierce guitars and heavy drums of Family herald the start of a rough but rewarding road ahead while Tusk does its best to pulverise your eardrums. Although these are typical of Clinic's ability to produce hard hitting, gritty rock gems the most arresting moments come in their down time. Animal/Human is a beautiful tripped out Velvet Underground moment while Paradise recalls the sparse, hollow melodies of Cowboy Junkie's cover of Sweet Jane. But as fine as these moments are the best of all comes in the form of Harvest (Within You). This is to be the first single off Visitations and it's a wise choice. It's a dirty little bitch of a song and I'll be damned if it isn't the most toe tapping, funky number I've heard in ages. It builds up in subtle layers of instruments and just as you feel you could nod to this rhythm all day it rises gracefully to almost Doors like majesty.

Clinic manage to change tempo with effortless confidence but never take a drop in intensity. Their music stares you in the face and challenges you to look away. Blackburn ends proceedings with the title track that is based around the repeated line "Don't get close" and although Clinic do their best to keep you at arms length I strongly urge you to defy Ade's words and get as close as you can to Visitations. It won't be a comfy snuggle by the fire but it's guaranteed to be a friend for life.

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10th Oct 2006 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Four Tet

Remixes

The release of a new remix album hardly sends me running to the shops these days but when it has Kieran Hebdan aka Four Tet's name anywhere near it I tend to take more notice. Although not everything Four Tet has given us recently has quite matched the master works of his earlier albums he is still pretty consistent and always strives for integrity and quality. His recent collaboration with Jazz maestro Steve Reid shows the breadth of this man's musical appreciation and this collection of remixes hints at that breadth too. The first disc showcases Hebdan's reworking of artists like Aphex Twin, Bloc Party and Radiohead, while the second is the reverse and has remixes of Four Tet's back catalogue from the likes of Caribou, Battles and Boom Bip.

The first installment is the one that demands the most attention. Hebdan's remixes are far superior to anything that is made of his work and it really shows what he brings to this art form that along with the B- Side has been severely damaged by the MP3 culture. The difference between Four Tet's remixes and a lot of his competitors is that on hearing the rework you don't wish you were listening to the original. The best examples here are his take on Radiohead's Scatterbrain and Bonobo's Pick Up and each one really shows how his vision allows for the best parts of the original to remain while totally making the song his own. Two of the longest pieces here are his beautiful alteration of Rothko's Roads Become Rivers and the epic 11 minute version of Beth Orton's Carmella ...and they show that quantity does mean quality. He strips away the meat on Bloc Party's So Here We Are and provides a solid-as-hell backbone beat for Madvillian's Money Folder.

The second disc contains much of the failings of many remix albums and that is it's flow. Though many of the remixes are good it stops and starts and unlike the first disc does make me want to listen to a Four Tet album. He has such a distinctive style and tweaks his victims with a ramshackle of sampled noises, off kilter drum beats and trumpet squeaks and a grouping of his remixes really flows like one of his own albums.

Judging from his web site there is a mouth-watering array of artists about to get the Four Tet treatment like Archie Bronson Outfit and The Longcut. This heralds a bright future for the remix and many compilations of this quality to come.

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10th Oct 2006 - 5 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

The Strokes

First Impressions Of Earth

After 2004's disappointing second album Room On Fire, I had almost zero interest in checking out First Impressions Of Earth when it was released back in January. I stumbled across a copy a few weeks back, and since then is has been slowly grinding me down and winning me over.

The raft of Strokes imitators that have emerged over the last few years have forced the band to move further and further forward, and the song structures of this album are much more involved and complex than Is This It?'s catchy pop rock. The superb opening track You Only Live Once starts things off with a great bass line and the rhythm section builds up the trademark catchy pop into a fine rock sound. Heavy rocking first single Juicebox then ups the pressure straight away and gives the polished album a sense of urgency.

The development of the band's sound really starts to show them off as more of a band than just a backing band for Julian Casablanca's lyrics. It is the guitars that shine on nearly all of the stand-out tracks, with Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr's dual guitar's adding an important layer to the sound. The cascading guitars of Heart In A Cage or the singing guitars of Red Light bring almost as much personality to the band as Casablanca's voice.

The album dips slightly towards the middle, but recovers well, with Ize Of The World's building up an ever increasing pressure, until it abruptly ends. Red Light finishes the album off, and at 14 tracks and 52 minutes it is by far the bands longest release.

After this surprise turnaround I went back to Room On Fire, thinking I must be wrong there too - but it's still a stinker (...for now).

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7th Oct 2006 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Jason Molina

Let Me Go, Let Me Go, Let Me Go

Secretly Canadian

Since 1996 Jason Molina has been delivering his sparse tales of woe in various forms from Songs: Ohia to Magnolia Electric Co. he has done collaboration albums with artists such as Alistair Roberts and My Morning Jacket and more recently has begun trading under his own name. Let Me Go, Let Me Go, Let Me Go is his second full length and his best yet.

Molina opens his album with a song entitled It's Easier Now. This sends a shudder down my spine at the thought of what it was like, as Let Me Go is as bleak as it gets. But if anyone can do bleak it's Molina. The whole album sounds like a last gasp cry for release as expressed in the title through to the final note of this trickling 34-minute slope into blackness. We get bombarded with albums with the same agenda as this all the time, but most of them are a struggle to get through and the only thing that moves quickly is your emotional shift from interest to boredom. This is far from the case here. Molina has an absolutely captivating voice and coupled with the impeccable production his words chime with crystal clarity that keeps you listening and hanging on his every devastating word. Though he rarely rises above a whimper his voice has a dormant strength that threatens to roar.

All of this, and his ability to write lyrics that break your heart faster than a Live Aid appeal interlude, make this a powerfully empty experience. In Alone With The Owl, he asks "while I lived was I a stray black dog, while I lived was I anything at all?" then describes the stagnancy of his life as he "stood beside the ocean not a single wave." But it's on Get Out, Get Out that he really shows his poetic skill with the achingly sad line "I live low enough that the moon wouldn't waste its light on me, what's left in this life that would do the same for me?"

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7th Oct 2006 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet