Chimpomatic

Brightblack Morning Light

Brightblack Morning Light

Matador

I was due to review this a while back, but like the vibe of the record itself, I couldn't really be arsed. This is seriously chilled music, all brushes on drums, echoed vocals, wah guitar, deep bass and lolling, rolling organ - with the occasional visit of a slide guitar, to add a touch of spice to this herbal heavy recipe. It's the sort of music to listen to when doing something else, like sleeping or fending off the Sunday morning hangover. As the whole album is so one-paced, ie, Sloooooooooooooooooooow, it feels like one long song, punctuated by a few pauses - no doubt a time for the band to get another lungful of Mother Nature's finest. I like it though. A good one to listen to as an alternative to Zero 7's overplayed 'Simple Things', that is if you can be bothered to put the disc in the player.

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30th Oct 2006 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Subtle

For Hero: For Fool

Anticon

I haven't heard a hip hop album this original since the last Subtle album. Formed in 2001 by Anticon's Jel (Jeffrey Logan) and Doseone (Adam Drucker) Subtle took their time getting started. After a few singles and 2 EP's, Summer and Autumn, they finally got around to their debut full length in 2004. A New White was a multi layered musical masterpiece that vaguely clung to the fringes of hip hop fusing programmed and live beats, with electronics, strings and Dose's expertly delivered vocals. Their stage show was equally magnificent with a white top hat and tails clad Dose springing around the band like a court jester possessed. While on tour in 2005 their bus skidded off the road paralyzing keyboardist Dax Pierson from the chest down. It seems a small miracle this album was ever made due to the seriousness of Pierson's injuries not to mention the fact that much of the harmonica and backing vocals come from Dax himself.

But thankfully it was made - as it's yet another forward thinking piece of Anticon splendor. Since the demise of cLOUDDEAD and Themselves, and with Deep Puddle Dynamics being less than productive Subtle has become the main vehicle for Doseone to flex his outstanding lyrical muscle and with Jel on beats, Marty Dowers on woodwind, Jordan Dalrymple on guitar, Alex Kort on cello and the afore mentioned Pierson, Subtle's sound is textured to say the least. The key to their success is their grasp of contrast, light and dark, blur and focus, chiaroscuro if you will. Their multi layering of samples, instruments and sometimes indecipherable spoken and sung vocals create a pea soup like fog of sound that is then punctuated by its opposite. Sharp beats and Doseone's acutely pronounced prose spring from this fog at a thrilling pace but never become formulaic, quite the opposite. Much of Subtle's music is confusing and can often make the listener feel as if he is involved in a private conversation of which he knows nothing about, the music never goes where you think it will and although the theme of human pointlessness and the general decay of society is graspable the delivery is often in the form of surreal word play that moves on quicker than you can keep up.

As a whole For Hero: For Fool adopts the same contrasting form that each song does. A Tale Of Apes I & II usher in the fog with the use of post rock mush, Boards Of Canada style nostalgia-synth and Kraftwerk electro pop while Middleclass Stomp swamps you with it's glorious power-cord pop. The three main points of sharp focus are the hip hop extravaganza of Midas Gutz, the unashamedly danceable The Mercury Gaze and the jaw dropping Return Of The Gaze. Here Jel lays down the most complex beat of clicks, scratches and stabs with Doseone's rapping coming in softly at a pace that defies comprehension, he never misses a beat, he doesn't even breathe. His nasal delivery seems to take on the same properties as the electronic, stop-start beat and an accompaniment of gentle acoustic guitar and brushed cymbals culminating in wailing guitar and crashing drums makes this the finest moment on the album. Vocal dexterity is Dose's forte and when put with Jel's masterful grasp of the textured beat the result is an aural delight.

Hip Hop was born from the deconstruction and reassembling of other genres and for that reason remains one of the most versatile music forms. It's creative perimeters are huge. There is nothing it can't borrow, steal or sample. This scope is expressed perfectly in the music of Subtle who seem to see no limits to how far they can stretch this genre. In the hazy, surreal fog of For Hero: For Fool boundaries and classifications are simply not visible.

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27th Oct 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

Sebadoh

III

Who are Sebadoh? Well, Ill let them introduce themselves, courtesy of Showtape 91 the 11 minute spoken-word epic that closes side 2 of the re-issue of 'III', the aptly titled 3rd album, from this Massachusetts 3 piece.

Amongst other things, Sebadoh are:

- "Your new favourite dope-smoking renaissance threesome"
- "Your post modern folk-core saviours"
- "Featuring that guy who played bass in Soul Asylum, Lou Barlow"
- "3 more reasons to leave your boyfriend. Way to Go, Sebadoh!"

So there you have it; cynical, sarcastic, funny, confident and impossible to pigeonhole. Whilst III was their third album, it marked something of a starting point for the band. Previous albums The Freed Weed and Weed Foresting were self released cassettes that unashamedly wore (literally) their creative influence upon their sleeves. For III Lou Barlow and Eric Gaffney were joined by Jason Lowenstein, and whilst not compromising their taste for musical extremes, produced an album that heralded the introduction of 'lo-fi' in the midst of the Grunge Explosion.

Barlow, freshly liberated from a traumatic stint in Dinosaur Jr. (not Soul Asylum) used III as something of an exorcism, wasting no time in having a dig at J Mascis on track 1, The Freed Pig "You were right, I was battling you, trying to prove myself". From then on, the album takes the familiar shape and form of a typical Sebadoh album, ie. all over the place. Track 2 is a blistering cover of Minutemen's Sickle & Hammers, the heavily distorted bass (a signature sound) and blood curdling screams of Scars, Four Eyes is followed by the delicate Truly Great Thing "Make it easy and I'll hold it against you, Make it hard and I'll run away". Back to their herbal muse for Smoke a Bowl, a song which wouldnt be out of place on the Black Lodge Jukebox in Twin Peaks. How do you follow that? With the country hoe-down tinged Black Haired Gurl of course.

The album continues in this vein before closing with As The World Dies, The Eyes Of God Grow Bigger which captures the split personality of the band perfectly; acoustic singalong, followed by distorted screamalong, all ending with the cheery farewell "BLOOD ON THE WALLS, BLOOD ON THE WALLS." Hey, a trip with Sebadoh isn't ever easy, but you go to some interesting places along the way.

Disc 2 of this re-issue is immediately a winner, in that it includes the Gimme Indie Rock EP - the title track of which, is possibly the finest 3 and a half minutes this prolific band ever laid to tape. The rest of the extras all add to the whole; unreleased songs from the recording sessions, raw 4-track versions of old songs and the bizarre closer Showtape '91. At a hefty 41 tracks, the new 'III' might help solve that terminal puzzle: 'What to get the Sebadoh fan who has everything?'

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25th Oct 2006 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Brakes

The Beatific Visions

After 2004's Give Blood, Brighton's Brakes are back with their second album The Beatific Visions - and the bets are on. Where Give Blood was an eclectic and electrifying collection of tracks, it certainly wasn't without it's problems. It showed great promise however and the threat of a more permenent band (The Electric Soft Parade is another band featuring two of the Brakes) spending more time focusing on a new Brakes album was a tasty prospect.

Opening track Hold Me In The River fulfills the early promise right fom the start. The playing is sharp and focused, with the song quickly shifting up through the gears. The guitars are high on the priority list, with a sliding screech like a muscle car burning rubber. Although the song is more focused tha some of the more comedy elements of Give Blood, there's still plenty of room for wit - with Scarlett Johansson being amongst this song's topic of fun.

There's no drop as we move on with Margarita and the album's already sounding like an old favourite. The country-punk element of their sound is one of the band's strong points - making for taught and engaging songs without the constraints of sounding like everyone else at the moment. This aspect to the Brakes sound has evolved and matured with this album - no doubt helped by the fact that the album was recorded in Nashville with a who's who from all over the record industry. Recorded by Stuart Sikes (Cat Power, White Stripes) at The House of David studio (as used by Elvis amongst others) and featuring David Briggs (of Muscle Shoals, and Elvis' 70's band). If I Should Die Tonight showcases all of these elements to full effect, creating a superb modern country sound layered with guitars and piano under a simple but engaging lyric.

My main gripe with Give Blood was always the under-developed feeling of some of the songs, which seemed to end just as they got started. That has been addressed on several songs here, but unfortunately Mobile Communication, No Return and title track Beatific Visions are the least successful songs this time round. The songs seem to flatten out into a far more conventional sound and structure, robbing the band of much of their originality. It's a small niggle however, and things pick up again with Cease and Desist and the excellent Porcupine Or Pineapple? - distilling recent wars to a few simple words. Spikey, spikey, spikey. At 1.04 it's the shortest track on the album, which still only clocks in at 28 minutes for 11 songs.

The balance seems a bit lost on the album, which could possibly be rectified different sequencing... although I think from now on I'm just going to shut up and keep my opinions to myself, as if this is any evidence to go by Brakes can do a good job of moving things on by themselves. There are some fantastic songs on this record and it just adds further evidence that the band are heading in the right direction, making great music along the way.

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24th Oct 2006 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Loney, Dear

Sologne

Loney, Dear is the brain child of Sweden's Emil Svanangen and this outfit is often described as the one man band with nine members. Whatever that means is a mystery but it does go some way to describe the sound of Sologne. Loney, Dear's blend of DIY indie-pop and lo-fi folk brings to mind solo artists like Stina Nordenstam or Mugison, but the rich tapestry of sounds that is woven around his most delicate of lyrics could be compared to experimental indie kids Grandaddy. All of these comparisons only go a fraction of the way to describe the originality and arresting beauty of this album.

From the first two songs you would be forgiven for thinking that this was yet another record of oh-so-chart friendly, run of the mill, male singer/songwriter crap but wait until you hear The City, The Airport and if you have any heart at all you will reevaluate your earlier judgments, discard your heavy robes of cynicism and jump head first into Sologne's warm waters. It starts of with a cheap casio synth beat overlaid with Svanangen's musings of "the city, I don't want another life that's killing me," then expands like a great bird into a cacophony of instruments, backing vocals, wails, shouts, you name it. It's the childlike equivalent of Radiohead's Let Down and rises and rises with such effortless grace that you want it to go higher and higher. And from here on in it's pure quality. Le Fever is a lonely, melancholic tale but continues the swell of emotion with increasing instrumental textures. Come to think of it, they all do. Songs like In With The Arms creep in with gentle folk sadness then slowly rise to a tearful euphoria with lines like, "Off with the boards, off with what's keeping you down, in with the arms." It's quite exhausting as each song starts you low then lifts you up. We get a little break with the Money Mark style instrumental organ ditty of Grekerna, then the final euphoric blow is dealt in the form of I Lose It All. It's a shame this doesn't end the album as it reaches heights way higher than any thing else as it ticks along at a steady pace then eventually explodes into a piano heavy, drum pounding, Rocky running up the steps glorious piece of crescendo magic that will leave you hands in the air and eyes to the sky wasted.

I do hope I'm not building this up too much but it's just such an honest piece of music akin in charm and emotion to Sunset Rubdown's Shut Up I Am Dreaming and each song on Sologne could be the closing soundtrack to a desperately sad film but as you dry your eyes it's genuine beauty reassures you that everything's gonna be alright. If last year was the year to look to Canada for the best in indie music then in 2006 Sweden is launching a typically Scandinavian counter attack. It's restrained, measured yet unfathomable in its quality and creativity. My only fear is that this quality could easily be undone by a Vodafone advert and then I would have to disown this album. Providing this doesn't happen, Sologne may just make my 'best of 2006' list.

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24th Oct 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

James Yorkston

Year Of The Leopard

2006 is shaping up to be another fine year for music with releases from old veterans like Yo La Tengo and Grandaddy more than fulfilling expectations. But it definitely lacks a few things that we all need. After their stunning tour and appetising glimpses of new songs we need another Radiohead album and it's been so long since A Ghost Is Born that I think everyone would agree that we certainly need a new Wilco album but as Mr Yorkson shuffles his feet up to the plate to make his mark on this year it soon becomes clear that we don't need Year Of The Leopard. I don't come to this opinion lightly as I am a huge fan of Yorkston's honest and strangely uplifting style of folk but this new offering seems to lack all those attributes and is dull to say the least. A great deal of (dish) water has trickled under the bridge in the world of nu-folk since Yorkston's beautiful second album Just Beyond The River, so to emerge after 2 years with this is just not good enough.

We were dazzled by his presence at the Homefires festival and it was clear that he was a trailblazer for the impressively low key yet fiercely progressive Fence Collective, but since then his subordinates have lapped him in creativity and even though he pumps out new music all the time I could certainly handle another King Creosote album.

Yorkston has eased off on the lush orchestration that layered his previous albums opting instead for Homefires organiser Adem's stripped down style of drowsy folk and that's where the problem lies. Where Adem's voice has the intimate closeness that commands your attention, Yorkston just seems too tired or bored to command anything and before all you blinkered fans out there argue that Yorkston's understated and low-key style is the what makes his music work I would have to refer you to the latest Jason Molina offering or fellow Domino artist Bonnie "Prince" Billy as examples of just how captivating this style of music can be.

Each song follows the same structure with delicate finger picking ushering in hushed, whispering vocals until a feint swell of violins brings the whole thing to an easy close only to begin again and again. The Athletes seem to have all but disappeared and the only song that strives to break from this structure is the aptly titled Woozy With Cider, where Yorkston uses ill considered spoken word to tell his crazy tales of drunken debauchery.

Year Of The Leopard just proves that in a highly competitive market, feet shuffling simply won't do and illustrates perfectly the phrase 'If you snooze, you lose.'

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7th Oct 2006 - 3 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Band Of Horses

Everything All The Time

Sub Pop

First up, comparisons with My Morning Jacket are inevitable. On the first few listens, I had to check that Jim James himself wasn't providing the vocals on a couple of tracks. With that in mind, the chase cut to as it were, let's base the review around that knowledge. Let's suppose that MMJ had a younger brother, who hung around the practice sessions and was witness to their particular brand of genius. He's maybe thinking to himself, yeah that's pretty good - but those extended, distorted solos are a bit distracting, at times they get in the way of a nice, clean, imaginative pop song. I like the reverb on the vocals, I'll have that (It's possible that a couple of tracks were actually lifted straight from the outtakes of a MMJ session - Part One and I Go To The Barn Because I Like The could well be from At Dawn). The result is a charming, dreamy album with enough emotional weight to demand full attention. Comparable to MMJ and completely comfortable with that comparison.

Apologies, if you've never heard of My Morning Jacket. If this is the case, I can only presume it is your first visit to Chimpomatic - welcome.

Update: With the Chimp team seemingly in approval, it looks like this is going to stay the distance. I'm prepared to admit it when i'm wrong: This is not just a good album, it looks like it's going to be a classic.

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2nd Oct 2006 - 4 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Charlotte Gainsbourg

5:55

From the uber-cool monotone cover photograph, to the A-list guest list (Jarvis Cocker, Air, the Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon, and Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich) and Ms. Gainsbourg's obvious pedigree; this record promises much yet only partially delivers.

As you would expect from such a stellar line up, much of the song writing and music is excellent. It is a crying shame that the weak link throughout is Gainsbourg herself – who seems a little lost and listless. Her half breathless whisper is thin and strains to hold the songs together, despite the obvious strength of some of them – 'Everything I Cannot See' in particular.

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29th Sep 2006 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Kings Of Leon

Day Old Belgian Blues

Recorded live at AB Box in Belgian (sic) on 11/04/04, this six-song limited edition EP showcases..... the fact that the Kings of Leon are trying to plug the gap between studio albums with this load of filler. This band were never prolific with their b-sides, and this live EP just makes that obvious. Uninspring versions of six songs - all which feature on the excellent studio releases - and not a sneaky rarity in site. Give this a miss and hold out for studio album number three.

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26th Sep 2006 - 6 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

My Morning Jacket

Astoria, London

After missing them in NYC, London (twice) and then Brighton it was a relief to see My Morning Jacket finally walk onstage at the Astoria. Following much of the same vibe as Okokonos they certainly did not disapoint. It Beats 4U was fantastic, Phone Went West, Run Thru, Magheeta and more. They tick all the boxes when it comes to the one album rule, pulling from a huge range of great tracks and turning every one into an extended rock-a-thon. When they finally played my favourite, The Bear, this gig sealed it's place in ossumness. - CSF (4.5 Stars)

After a few cancellations I was highly anticipating this gig. Starting superbly with a string of tracks from the latest album followed by all time classic One Big Holiday it was living up to all my hopes. The latest album (Z) is by far the most accessible with short tracks which quickly move on. Like the back catalogue though, the gig became more sprawling as time went on. Solos and track finales were extendedly played out as the band indulged in some great moments. Unfortunately at times there was a sense that this was getting to be a little too much for much of the audience. Certainly more for the hardcore but a good show all the same. - CJ (3 Stars)

MMJ surpassed all expectations at the Astoria on Friday as they raised the roof with an awe inspiring, riff heavy, rock marathon. Front man Jim James set the pace with an inexhaustible display of energy and enthusiasm, sometimes looking as if he resented his singing duties preferring to rock out with the rest of the boys gathered, worshipingly around the alter-like drum kit as each song was stretched to breaking point. High points were Gideon, One Big Holiday and Run Thru. - BC (4.5 Stars)

As a relative newbie convert to the mighty MMJ I probably wasn't as psyched up as the rest of team chimpomatic for this gig, but I came away on a real rock high, glad that CSF had managed to get me to get over my misgivings about their name and actually get round to listening to them. Wasn't prepared for the full-on epic jam quality, the duelling guitar action or indeed the sheer volume of hair-rocking... almost made me want to grow my hair back (in a kind of bizarro universe Crosby Stills Nash & Young move). Highlights for me were probably all the Z hits - It Beats 4 U, Gideon etc - but I was still pretty much with them by the end when it seemed like they were just really enjoying themselves. And frankly, if you were in such a great band, why wouldn't you want to just keep playing? (4 Stars for me, probably would have been higher if I'd got round to getting into them earlier…) C71

See photos of the gig here.

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26th Sep 2006 - 6 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

White Whale

WW1

Like the great ocean herself White Whale have managed to create an album of immeasurable depth that can at times rise to majestic swells of dazzling proportions, drowning you in its drama and carrying you off to far flung places but it can also be a bit wet. I use the ocean as metaphor here as this is the principle theme that punctuates most of WW1. Tales of sea faring voyages, grand ships and intrepid admirals are delivered in style by the breathy vocals of front man Matt Suggs. Drawing comparisons to label mates Spoon, Suggs writes music that is as grand as it is delicate and tells his tales with expertly crafted and slightly surreal lyrical compositions.

Nine Good Fingers opens with the line "Wont you lay your nine good fingers on me but keep that long one wrapped in gauze," and features lots of lyrics about finger finding melodies and toes tapping in time. And tapping is exactly what your toes will do through most of this album especially on O'William, O'Sarah where the anthemic chorus gives way to a long rhythmical interlude where a fantastically raw drumbeat creeps in as if being played in their garage and takes the song past the 7 minute mark. This leads on nicely to the album highlight of The Admiral, a sea faring story from days of old, told with epic grandeur and at times ferocious passion. It's an impeccably crafted gem that is unfortunately followed by the albums lowest point. I Love Lovely Chinese Gal is an ill considered low-fi ditty about East and West and is full of uncharacteristically obvious lyrics. But it's not worth dwelling on as normal proceedings are resumed straight away as the record finds its wave again and sails off into the glorious sunset with many a high point including We're Just Temporary Ma'am and Forgive The Forgiven.

WW1 is a wonderfully rich album combining live instruments with drumbeat and synth to great effect. It's great to see a debut album with its sights set so high and a band not afraid to attempt the epic and the grand. Their devotion is heard on the all-guns-blazing finale of One Prayer where Suggs exclaims, "It's our duty to go down with this ship." Hopefully that won't be necessary and if their maiden voyage is anything to go by this ship is destined for great things.

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26th Sep 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

Wooden Wand And The Sky High Band

Second Attention

New York avant-gardist Jason Toth re-emerges after last years solo album and his many outings with The Vanishing Voice to bring us this quality psych-folk classic. Second Attention is packed full of religious references which are delivered with Toth's ironic, country drawl and the result is refreshingly hard to label. Compared to his earlier work Second Attention is a relatively straightforward, song-orientated affair that channels healthy doses of Dylan and the odd dab of Hendrix.

The fantastically gospel Portrait In The Clouds starts off as a sing along folk ditty about religious redemption repeating the chorus "God's Portrait in the clouds, I am bloodthirsty no more." Then along with the strumming acoustic guitar comes an almost question and answer formation between a gloriously bluesy electric guitar and organ. This is a pattern employed on the most interesting moments on this record. The more conventional folk numbers like Crucifixion Pt. II and Dead Sue are where the early Dylan comparisons appear, with their rambling, repetitive story telling formation but the best moments are found in songs like The Bleeder, Sweet Xiao Li and Mother Midnight where The Sky High Band really shine. On the whole the band takes a back seat allowing Toth's vocals to take centre stage but on the occasions when the grimy electric guitar creeps in the song is transported to new territories. This is what ultimately makes this record a success; it's ability to surprise you. Even though by his standards Toth has created a relatively conventional piece of work it is clear to see that Second Attention has been born out of a colourful history of music appreciation.

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21st Sep 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

My Morning Jacket

Okonokos

Fewer and fewer bands seem to put out a decent live album these days, so it's a refreshing change to see My Morning Jacket releasing a live CD (and upcoming DVD) "Okonokos". Inspired by Neil Young's Marshall-speakers-and-Jawas efforts with Rust Never Sleeps, the band put on two shows at the Fillmore in San Francisco, inviting the crowd to come in fancy dress. Fancy lighting and a load of trees on stage set the scene and the band proceeded to rip through two nights of extended jams, cut through with Jim James amazing voice.

The album is certainly not just the Jim James show, turning in relatively few of the spine-tingling moments found at his solo shows, or on the Acoustic Cistouca EP. Instead it's very much a full band affair, swapping the delicate drum machine-style of It Beats 4 U for a beefed up sound that turns the song in the opposite direction and re-invents it as a heavy love song.

Crowd favourite One Big Holiday is a highlight, but there is certainly no shortage - The Way That He Sings, Golden, Anytime - all fantastic. This is a band that has no problem producing new material, and they showcase a broad range here, including some less well known tracks like O Is The One That Is Real. The band specialise in re-working and expanding old favourites and X-Mas Curtain and the finale of Magheeta are supurb.

If you're looking to convert a potential fan then this probably isn't the right album to use. Start them off with Z. If you're a fan already then you won't need much convincing, and you won't be dissapointed.

We're off to see them at the Astoria tomorrow. Review on Monday.

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21st Sep 2006 - 2 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Midlake

The Trials Of Van Occupanther

This is the second outing for the Texas based lo-fi quintet Midlake, and sees them exploring 70's influenced soft rock to beautiful effect. Perfect vocal harmonies, layered guitar, strings and organs all contribute to make this a corny and yet surprisingly appealing piece of work.

The album begins with its finest moment. Roscoe could be a lost Fleetwood Mac classic. The lyric "When I was a child I wondered what if my name had changed to something more productive like Roscoe, and born in 1891 waiting with my aunt Roselyn," sets the scene of this song and, in fact, the whole album. It has an 'other worldly' quality to it as if hailing from a time long ago. Bandits floats gracefully on the breeze while Head Home picks up its feet slightly and threatens to disappear off into a classic Neil Young guitar solo but sadly never does. In This Camp does a similar thing but ups the anti a bit more making these two songs some of the most interesting moments. They change pace nicely with confident guitar work blowing out the cobwebs.

This record is so effortless in terms of a listening experience that I am surprised it doesn't become too easy and therefore forgettable, especially as it sometimes treads dangerously close to Travis territory. It's akin to looking through an old family photo album, with its bleached out images of you and your brother in 70's clothing, squinting at the sun, but then you keep flicking and the photos get older and you see how your grandparents used to live. There are moments of melancholy but overall the feeling of nostalgia is a comforting one.

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7th Sep 2006 - 5 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

The Mountain Goats

Get Lonely

Get lonely is exactly what you will do when you listen to John Darnielle's follow up to 2005's harrowing "The Sunset Tree". Anyone who has ever suffered a painful split from a loved one will find plenty of familiar ground here and anyone who is going through this right now I urge you to steer clear. I listened to this on a drive home one evening and on pulling up to my house I had to shake myself from this dream and remind myself that I was still loved and she was just inside that door. The music here is as sparse and minimal as the moments of joy in Darnielle's life and his falsetto delivery of woe is powerful and crippling.

Many of the songs chart the various stages one has to go through after a break-up. "Woke Up New" describes the first morning you wake up alone and how your daily routine is peppered with memories of the person that shared your life. He wanders through the house, lost, and states "an astronaut could have seen the hunger in my eyes from space." In "Half Dead" he throws himself into menial jobs "trying not to get caught, try to think like a machine," he tells himself as he sorts through her old things. "Moon Over Goldsboro" charts that time in the break up recovery when you allow yourself to reminisce about your lost love either thinking you can handle it or knowing you can't but the masochist in you needs the pain. Each memory is followed by the line "Still wake up alone," as if she is following him everywhere like a ghost.

But the song that really finishes you off is the title track where Darnielle really sets the scene of a world empty and cold that has no place for you now that you're alone. It features the achingly beautiful line, "and I will get lonely and gasp for air, and send your name up from my lips like a signal flare."

Darnielle's emotional power doesn't really come from intricately crafted poetry as it would from Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, but from his simple descriptive lyrics and hushed, delicate singing and although "Get Lonely" navigates very well known waters it does it with heart breaking grace.

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4th Sep 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

Cut Chemist

The Audience's Listening

Lucas Macfadden, aka Cut Chemist, is obviously a man who knows when he's standing on a sinking ship. If he didn't he'd be blind as its been clear ever since their first full length album that Jurassic 5 were never going to surpass the genius that was their first ep. So the backbone dj of that once glimmering light has quit and gone at it alone. On first hearing about this solo debut I thought it was going to be Cut Chemist following in the footsteps of good buddy DJ Shadow. But The Audience's Listening is nothing of the sort. Cut Chemist has obviously pin pointed where he excels and stuck to it. And that area would be straight up hip-hop beats and scratches. The album is basically 43 minutes of the instrumental interlude tracks that punctuated the Jurassic 5 LP's. and although I found these slightly tiresome they really seem to work here to form a complete unit.

(My First) Big Break starts proceedings off in classic Jurassic interlude form with beats heavy and samples and scratches a plenty. It's a good start but does hint to you that the album may never get much deeper than this and there's only so many scratches and samples one can handle and though this is quite true we are treated to a more varied array of these tried and tested formulas. As on the album's best offering The Garden, a jolly loop of guitar twangs builds up slowly and instead of taking the regular route of dropping the big beat after the first twelve bar set he keeps it simmering. So when the beat is eventually dropped it feels great and with the added female vocal and slightly orchestral under-layer we get a song with more depth and weight than the entire album put together.

Normal service is resumed until Storm, the best of the vocal tracks featuring Edan and Mr Lif. and with help as good as this you can't fail. Cut Chemists beat is more electronic and linear than normal and Edan's spits his opening vocals with venom flowing smoothly into Lif's intense delivery. All this along side a driving, banging beat that is occasionally interrupted by stabbing bleeps. The samples are minimal and the scratches done away with and the result is fantastic.

Cut Chemist proves that he has a completely different agenda with this record than Shadow. He is not trying to break into new hip hop territories, he's just making beats to get you moving and for the most part he succeeds.

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31st Aug 2006 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Devastations

Coal

This is the second full length from Melbourne trio Devastations and I think it might just see me through to the next National album - whenever that might come. Musically it certainly is comparable, largely due to front man Conrad Standish's low mumbling voice. Thematically it's a different story - these are love songs indeed but they are more like Nick Cave's Murder Ballads than label mates The National's strangely uplifting songs.

Sex And Mayhem starts things off with typical meandering vocals accompanied by an ever-increasing layer of instruments. But if you thought things were going to be as cheery as this, then The Night I Couldn't Stop Crying makes you think again with it's ominous, jangling guitars and Standish's particularly dark mumblings barely audible over the screeching guitar feedback. Things take a slightly different turn with the introduction of Tom Carlyon on vocals on Terrified. This is not a turn for the worst by any means, the lyrics are still dark but sung with an almost Bryan Ferry croon. If things are all getting too mumbly and simmering for you at this point Take You Home soon changes that. It's the most up-tempo song on the album and builds nicely to a crescendo of guitar noise and feedback.

Though I prefer Standish's vocals the album is brought to a glorious close with Dance With Me. It tiptoes in quietly with Carlyon's lonely vocals but is steadily joined by piano, accordion and a string section to produce a truly heart breaking finale.

This album is aptly named, as if ever there was a musical equivalent of coal then this would be it. Dark, impenetrable and slow burning. Great stuff.

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30th Aug 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

The Young Knives

Voices Of Animals & Men

This is the debut full length from Leicestershire art/punk-pop trio and it's a mixed bag, which ultimately falls short of the high praise given by many critics. They have been heralded as the new Pulp with their oh-so-English wit but they don't come close to Jarvis Cocker's originality. Their sound is basic and lead singer Henry Dartnall seems far too aware of himself. Current single Weekends & Bleak Days starts off with the classic lyric "Hot summer, what a bummer," and rarely goes much deeper than that. Whatever originality they possess seems to have been manufactured to suit a gap in the market.

But I said it was a mixed bag and with the bad stuff out of the way the second half of the album really picks up. Once they drop the bravado as on Another Hollow Line the quality starts to shine through. The vocals are toned down and sound more real while She's Attracted To tells the story of that situation we can all relate to when you punch out the father of your girlfriend and uses much chunkier instrumentation and almost Parklife spoken vocals that genuinely make you laugh. In Loughborough Suicide, the best and most resolved track on the album, we see exactly what they are capable of. All the English pathetic wit works perfectly here and brings to mind previous masters of this art form such as Morrissey. The line, "I'll never go down fighting" is repeated proudly as the song dips and rises to different tempos, it just makes me wish it wasn't the second to last track.

Although Voices Of Animals & Men is a good listen I can't give it a particularly high rating as it seems like the product of an extensive market research session with NME readers to find out just what kind of sound they want at the moment. This feeling effects every aspect of The Young Knives from their accents to their anti-indie image. Instead of the oh-am-I-having-a-photo-shoot-I-didn't-realise casual bullshit of bands like Razorlight, they adopt the slightly podgy, comfortable-living, conservative party, suit and tie look that's equally affected. But once you get past all of that they show great promise that I hope they can mature into.

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29th Aug 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

Pearl Jam

The Point, Dublin

Having seen Radiohead earlier this year, and with My Morning Jacket coming up in September and MC Hammer in done 1990 only Pearl Jam and Wilco remained as the pillars of my music taste yet to be seen live. Now, after one memorable night in Dublin, Wilco stand alone.

This could have gone either way, as I have been into this band since I was a kid and although I love the new album it rarely gets played when a Pearl Jam mood grips me - often losing out to such classics as Vitalogy or No Code. I was quite surprised to find myself at the front of a seething mass of frenzied fans as I thought it was just me, CSF and a few other Chimp affiliates that still followed this band. Apparently not. Even though the Dire Straits sounding Inside Job is far from being my favourite track on the new album I was very grateful to hear its slow steady build up as the opening track. Had a more anthemic opener been chosen I fear my rib cage would have collapsed under the pressure of 7000 foaming, sweaty fans. This calm intro didn't last long as the band began to race through a string of the best of the new stuff, with the mighty World Wide Suicide being a crowd favourite.

From then on the order of the day was 'hands-in-the-air-platoon-moment-classics,' and it was simply dazzling. Given To Fly had the fans in a blissful state of euphoria and the wonderfully extended version of Daughter was followed by the live favourite Better Man which saw Vedder's voice being drowned out by the swell of a 7000 strong sing along which couldn't help to send shivers down the spine. As if this wasn't enough the first act was brought to a climactic finish with the phenomenal Rear View Mirror, Pearl Jam's finest moment in my opinion. It's a pretty epic song at the best of times, the bands Bohemian Rhapsody if you will, but tonight it was extended beyond my wildest dreams. It dipped and soared and seemed as if it would never end until finally it burst into a climactic crescendo with every light in the house being called upon.

Two encores later and just about every classic you could possibly wish for (including a cover of Dublin favourite The Boys Are Back In Town by Thin Lizzy) and I was truly exhausted. Every time I was fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of Eddie Vedder through sweaty bodies and other peoples wet hair plastered across my face he looked to be having a really good time. Lots of banter with the crowd made us feel that this was an important night for him and the band as well as us, and after a lengthy rendition of Neil Young's Fuckin' Up Vedder thanked the crowd for welcoming them back after six years and humbly departed the stage.

It was clear to see the bands unity after 15 years of playing together as they often huddled together and jammed furiously, as if alone in this great hall. In true Donnington Monsters of Rock style they all stepped aside during Even Flow for a five minute Matt Cameron drum solo which was simply ossum. My only criticism was the shear size of the venue. I gave up fighting for my life while straining to see anything along time ago and even though it beats sitting it's far from ideal. Apart from that it was everything I expected and much, much more.

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25th Aug 2006 - 9 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy

The Letting Go

Something has happened to Billy, he's not so depressing anymore. During 'Lay and Love' he eulogises about a woman. 'From what I've seen, you're magnificent, you fight evil with all you do… From what I hear you're generous. You make sunshine and glory too. When you walk in things go luminous.' What's going on? What happened to the Billy that made me feel my life is so much better having heard how tough his life is? Is she the one he's in love with? But then why not? For someone with such poetic sensitivity, he's bound to find love.

I really could preach about Bonnie Prince Billy forever, how special and rare his talent is etc. I love the way he peppers biblical references in his previous albums. The thing about Bonnie Prince Billy is whenever I listen to his songs I get lulled into a false sense that I'm listening to something very pretty and sweet, only to be stunned he's actually singing about the very opposite of that - sometimes dirty sexual encounters, at others times kinky affairs. 'No Bad News' is a fine example of this, a very melodic song about someone bearing bad news – by far the best song here, and the most accessible. His melodies don't always immediately hit you, they take time. But once they do you really do feel like you've worked for it – and you feel an ownership to it. "The Letting Go" in some ways has lost that edge, as it is more accessible, but that edge has been replaced giving us a fuller, meatier album. This is a fantastic album with beautifully crafted songs.

'The Letting Go' has a female vocal to complement Will Oldham's coarse voice - vocal harmony of the highest order. At times these songs feel like duets. There are drum beats too – we're talking electronic beats - but having said all this we're still talking about Bonnie Prince Billy and even when he attempts more accessible songs they still have something no singer can get near. His lyrics are like little Raymond Carveresque stories, full of poignancy and wonderment.

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25th Aug 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

Electrelane

Singles, B-Sides & Live

"Singles, B-Sides & Live" is a title that speaks for itself, with this album collecting together some odds, ends and non-major(ish) label releases from this Brighton based all-girl band.

Things start off well, with heavy instrumental Film Music - which is exactly that. I'd like to think it would be laid over a montage of a murderous rampage at a seaside fairground. I Love You My Farfisa is another moody highlight, building up a slow instrumental until it finally bubbles over with a screaming finale.

Cover versions have a great way of bosltering your opinion on a band - either when they cover a favourite song, or do an unusual cover that sends you off looking for the original. Bruce Springsteen's I'm On Fire does the business here, falling nicely between both camps.

Some of the live tracks are also covers and, while the sound quality often leaves something to be desired, the enthusiasm of covers of Roxy Music's More Than This and Leonard Cohen's The Partisan have definitely added this band to my live hit-list.

The album suffers from the lack of sequencing that often thwarts a compilation album. Here they have gone for Singles (by date) / B-Sides (by date) / Live (by date). That seems to lump things into blocks, making the album top heavy on sound quality, but bottom heavy on the material that is most 'new'. The album does however collect together some real gems - mostly suitable for inclusion on a flirtatious mix-tape.

Electrelane have been on heavy rotation in the office this year, so if you don't fancy this one then at least get a copy of the Steve Albini produced album The Power Out.

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20th Aug 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

M. Ward

Post-War

Post-War is a warm, lovely record. Determinedly low key and melancholic from the outset, it is however never less than immediate and grabs your attention throughout. M. Ward's song writing is as strong as ever; the opening Poison Cup is a quietly stunning masterpiece and Requiem is another early highlight.

As an album it feels altogether more polished and coherent than its predecessor Transistor Radio. The sound is slightly bigger and warmer without Ward loosing his slightly loose and ramshackle quality. The excellent first single Chinese Translation is majestic, with it's shuffling guitars and drums. Later, Chimp favourite Jim James guests on the excellent Magic Trick - a rousing bar room sing-a-long. Great.

Bush Hall gig review.
Click here for pictures.

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18th Aug 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

Absentee

Schmotime

I have made it my mission lately to source bands who's lyrics go deeper than the obvious and could stand alone without the music to disguise their shallowness. So I was excited at the prospect of the first full length release from this promising British indie quintet. Their mini album Donkey Stock. released in 2005, was an unexpected gem and although Schmotime expands on a lot of the good points about Donkey, it ultimately fails to impress. And this annoys the hell out of me. It really has the makings of a great piece of work. Singer Dan Michaelson has a voice steeped in Tom Waits / Tindersticks tradition and lyrics that can often match the wit and tragic irony of Morrissey.

The element that lets the whole thing down is the music. Absentee's main manifesto, I would imagine, is that they make tragic melancholic songs about lost love and wasted life but set them to ironically jolly music. Whenever Morrissey or The Smiths tried this, in my opinion, it didn't work and it doesn't work here. Like Girlfriend In A Coma, songs like We Should Never Have Children see exceptional lyrics being lost in the weak, upbeat musical accompaniments. It hurts to hear lyrics like "darling we should never have children, they'd be one in a million ugly swine," go unappreciated. He then goes on to point out, with profound observation, the dangers of what would later become "A burning family tree, generations of falling leaves." In the excellently titled Truth Is Stranger Than Fishin he starts off, "One hundred fisherman set sail with rods out but only hooking tail." Here Michaelson uses the sea and the shore as metaphor for their distanced bodies and cuttingly points out, "besides I prefer slightly firmer lands." This metaphor for his lovers body as territory is continued in what is another brilliantly titled song, Something To Bang. In it he states, "I'm tired of being a man, always farming your land."

Even as I write these lyrics down their genius makes me wonder if I have got this band wrong and that I should persevere more, but I have really tried and as much as it pains me I just don't buy it.

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17th Aug 2006 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Our Lady Of The Highway

Beauty Won't Save Us This Year

Imagine for a minute that in some parallel universe David Gedge from The Wedding Present was born a twin and his other half was then shipped off to a loving family in Oakland, California where he grew up with the same hopeless luck with women as his brother. Then he gets into music and tries to convey this anger and disappointment in song. Dominic East would be that brother and his band Our Lady Of The Highway would be the result

Musically this is pretty run of the mill alt-country but it's the lyrics that East almost spits out at a long departed ex-lover that make this record interesting. They start off pretty tame as on Lord Stop The Bar where he says "There's of a box of your records that you won't get back," a venomous progression can then be charted, as in the standout track OYBAT where he talks about a letter he has sent to this unfortunate ex where he states, "Every thing I Want to do to you is in the last paragraph of the 3rd draft that I will never send to you" through to End Of The World where he admits "I can't count all the curses I've put on you." But it's at the point where he says "It's raining in all four chambers of my poor heart" where David, the long-suffering yet supportive brother would reach for the phone and call Mrs Gedge. "Mum, I think you better come get Dominic, he's really losing it."

When he's not spitting, East can produce sensitivity not unlike Ben Folds but it always has an edge, but this bitterness seems quite genuine and yet tongue in cheek and is delivered with a passion than can only be applauded. It's also free to download on eMusic, so gains points there.

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17th Aug 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

Shearwater

Palo Santo

This is Shearwater's fourth full-length and sees Jonathan Meiburg take the reins entirely from once collaborator Will Sheff of Okkervile River and sees them take a slightly new turn away from maudling Americana towards a much grander sound. Red Sea, Black Sea is the first sign that there's a new sheriff in town, and he means business. It ticks over slowly to start with then bursts with grandeur both instrumentally and vocally with Meiburg really starting to explore his range. It's this grandeur that makes Palo Santo so different from other Shearwater releases.

We see it again in Seventy Four, Seventy Five - the albums best moment. The thumping piano counts us in then the now characteristic bass heavy drums thunder through with the ever-increasing intensity of Meiburg's vocals. The only complaint is that as on Red Sea, Black Sea it all ends too suddenly.

There have been many comparisons between Meiburg's voice and Jeff Buckley. This is very evident and adds a certain sensitivity to other more low key tracks like Failed Queen and the album closer Going Is Song, a heartbreaker of a song that eases the album to a melancholic resting place.

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14th Aug 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

M. Ward

Bush Hall, London

Wandering onto stage looking like Paul Giamatii's lost brother, M. Ward instantly dispelled my preconception that he would be a mannered or uneasy performer. He opened alone on the guitar with 'Paul's Song', that was as plaintive as it was capturvating. The small and intermate Bush Hall was a perfect setting.

Like all great music M. Ward instantly reminds you of many things, that somehow you cannot quite put your finger on. His guitar playing has something of John Fahey about it and his voice has echoes of Tom Waits and Billie Holiday. I could well be wrong though. But he most definitely is his own man.

After this stunning opening he was joined by his full band and demonstrated that he has many other strings to his bow. Where the opening was gentle and almost sedate the band ripped through a rousing 'Four Hours in Washington' and a storming version of the great 'Big Boat'. Although he played most of his excellent previous album 'Transistor Radio' and previewed songs from the forthcoming 'Post-War', Ward left the stage after an hour and a bit, which felt all too brief to me. And there was no 'Hi-Fi'.

Still great though.

Click here for pictures.

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14th Aug 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

The Diableros

You Can't Break The Strings In Our Olympic Hearts

This is the debut full-length offering from the Toronto based sextet and it further goes to show that the mighty talent that has been flooding out of this country for years is not looking like subsiding. Their sound has been compared to the baritone seriousness of Interpol but The Diableros bring a welcome change to this style injecting furious urgency and a passion that leaves Interpol's Paul Banks' vocals sounding slightly laboured and sluggish. For me this album continues the good work already done by bands such as Interpol but take the music to places I always want Paul Banks and his merry men to go every time I listen to them.

One of the stand out tracks, Push It To Monday, saunters in with a Springsteen-esq "Born To Run" bass line and with the introduction of Pete Carmichael's vocals we soon have a true 'hands in the air' classic The Boss would be proud of. While Tropical Pets has an arrogant swagger worthy of Oasis in their Supersonic heyday.

The Diableros have more in common with The Wedding Present than any of their countrymen. As on albums like Bizarro or Seamonsters the vocals here are so under produced they are barely audible over the 'wall of sound' guitars that frequently attack your ears. At first I thought this was going to be a problem but then realised what effect this under-production had on the overall feeling of the record. It gives it a certain immediacy and rawness that is only found when a band play live and the audience is left stunned by the sheer energy of what they are seeing. You really feel exhausted at the end of each song, as so much emotional ground seems to have been covered in such a short and frantic space of time. This is quite a rare feeling with a lot of indie music these days as if the bands don't quite have it in them to grab you by the scruff of the neck and kick your arse.

I could go on and list so many instances where this is happens on this record but none so satisfying as on the album closer 'Golden Gates.' It starts off with a marching drum beat and simmering vocals then, as if shifting up to a hidden gear, it accelerates to a stomping finale that really evokes the defying sentiment of the albums title, "You Can't Break The Strings On Our Olympic Hearts," and for a glorious moment you profoundly believe this to be true.

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7th Aug 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet

Oneida

Happy New Year

Jagjaguwar

This is the eighth full-length album from this Brooklyn trio. On the whole it's a pretty patchy affair but when it's good it's great, as on the album masterpiece Up With People. This epic assault, clocking in at nearly eight minutes, is the reason to get this album. It's by far the heaviest song on the album with relentless guitars that sound like an engine refusing to start - calling to mind speed metal heroes Anthrax. Although Oneida fail to reach these heights again, the rest of Happy New Year is an interesting listen spanning many genres and tempos, but somehow falling short.

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7th Aug 2006 - Add Comment - Tweet