Chimpomatic

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

Crash

(dir. Paul Haggis)

Paul Haggis' stylish directorial debut manages the astonishing task of condensing the sprawl of LA into a movie-studio sized hamlet, where every cast member's life is intertwined with the others. Pulls the heartstrings, but is essentially empty.

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24th Oct 2006 - 1 comments - 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

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

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

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

The Black Keys

Le Trabendo, Paris

October 5th 2006

In a postmodern world where everyone sounds like someone else, The Black Keys are pretty easy to pigeonhole. Sitting somewhere between The White Stripes and Wolfmother, they take heavy blues and run with it. And thats about it. "I woke up this morning" nah, nah, nah, "Tied up my shoes" nah, nah, nah. They don't have the inventiveness of The White Stripes to make only being a two piece their selling point, and they don't have the punishing power and speed change fun of Wolfmother - preferring the slower heavier, sound.

None the less, it was an entertaining show. Although there is little variation between their songs, and there was little stage chat or interruption, that one hour long smoky-blues-jam that they played was a good one. They obviously love what they are doing, and they do it well. There was power and passion and the venue was electric with the enthusiastic, well behaved, civilized Parisian crowd. Hats off to opening band and Black Mountain side project Blood Meridian too. They warmed things up nicely with their own band of bluesy rock ...and they spoke a bit of French.

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6th Oct 2006 - 4 comments - Add Comment - Tweet

Stephen Malkmus

Kindling For The Master EP

Domino

4 remixes of Stephen Malkmus' latest single provide disco entertainment for mix tapes, but surprisingly it's Hot Chip who take the honors - with their Jan Hammer style re-working.

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2nd Oct 2006 - 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

The Bronx

The Bronx (II)

You might have missed The Bronx (I), but 'they're back' with this self-titled second album. This isn't Led Zeppelin II however, or even Tindersticks II. The Bronx are a strange mix, falling between Guns 'n Roses (Gilby Clarke produced their early recordings) and the Rollins Band (or even Annihilate This Week era Black Flag), but strangely seeming almost like Pavement - certainly in terms of their excellent video History Strangler's. That's a lot of links, commas and brackets, but this is a band that's hard to define.

The credibility supplied by not actually looking like Gwar gave a me a reason to persevere, and I like this band a lot. They know how to rock and they know how to play it loud. Senor Hombre sets the scene with some mystical hokus pokus before we're off into the meat of the album. Shitty Future is an awesome rolling track, and History's Strangler's is equal to the task. Things mellow out a bit with Dirty Leaves, which has a much more bluesy sound - letting you see some of the influences that the band must have. It dips a bit after that with some questionable morality tales (Rape Zombie, Three Dead Sisters) that must have some point, but towards the the end it's back to firing on all cylinders and you get more of what this band is good at - playing loud in your car or at home while your girlfriend (or parents) are out.

Turn it up to 11.

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22nd 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