Well if you missed it you certainly missed one of the electronic albums of the year in Errors 'Come down with me'. A follow up to the hit and miss first album they released in 2008 it has enough heavy hitters in its depths to clear the memory of Mr Milk and its Channel 5 associations. Having been carefully stewarded by label owners Mogwai their sound has grown to stand by itself, although to take in much of the subtlety a complete listen through or two is advised. Opener Bridge or Cloud is a symphonic start up evolving into a scratched noisescape before blowing out with a beat of such purity it could come from CBeebies. If that puts you off don't let it - the tuning of the band augurs well for things to come later in the album.
First single off the album is up next and a Rumour in Africa doesn't let itself be cowed. With an insistently muted guitar line and screeching synth sax it is fused to the rest of the album by that omnipresent soundscaping the group does so well. Yet the single for all its appeal lacks something fundamental that the next track provides in spades. Supertribe. Harking back to the Tour de France feel of electronic greats this pulsing and energetic track manages to also get in a hint of mystery. This aural confusion gives the song obvious layers but it possesses what Rumour in Africa does not; a piece of heart, of soul that endows tremendous personality on the song. Like a steam train on pills.
Other stand out tracks include the Omega Man apocalyptic nightmare of Jolomo which rains down a smattering of comet like effects before purposefully introducing its slanting synth. I swear its familiar? The playful dreams of Germany and Sorry about the Mess provide a lighter interlude but rarely seem to make the jump to a higher level of meaning. They are.....pleasant. That is all.
Capping off the album however is a piece of bravado and drive that thoroughly enjoys itself with the formula that sustains the whole album. A breezy opening leads to a dwindling and diminution of sound. The crystalline electro beeps that follow presage a typical rock riff bolted fairly clunkily onto the remainder of the track but you know what? It works and gives the album just under 6 minutes of its most invigorating moments. Just a pity that the album follows the structure of the songs - confident start, strong end and saggy middle. If their next album can stop the middle aged spread of the central 4 songs it could be a real treat.
Monday, 27 September 2010
Sunday, 26 September 2010
Miliband of Brothers
Ah. The end of the Labour leadership contest has ushered in a new dawn. Or maybe not. The halycon dawn of the Labour party was in 1994 but look what that got us. Ed certainly isn't Tony or Gordon and maybe in the next few years we will get to see the true character of the man - albeit in opposition, which is hardly the stiffest of tests in a country that tends to vote very similarly every election.
It reminded me that every man has to watch out for the earth shattering cataclysm about to shake their life down to its foundations. For Conan the Barbarian it was having his father savaged by near feral dogs and his mother decapitated next to him, for David Miliband it is losing the election to his younger brother. To say that he might find that hard to accept is understating it. The point is, will Miliband the Elder cause ruckus in the party or can Miliband the Younger repair the damage. Now is not the time to start circling the corpses as you never know when one has a bit fight in him. Or indeed who may have the last laugh.
This tenuous rubbish was just strung along to have an excuse to play you this. Enjoy!
It reminded me that every man has to watch out for the earth shattering cataclysm about to shake their life down to its foundations. For Conan the Barbarian it was having his father savaged by near feral dogs and his mother decapitated next to him, for David Miliband it is losing the election to his younger brother. To say that he might find that hard to accept is understating it. The point is, will Miliband the Elder cause ruckus in the party or can Miliband the Younger repair the damage. Now is not the time to start circling the corpses as you never know when one has a bit fight in him. Or indeed who may have the last laugh.
This tenuous rubbish was just strung along to have an excuse to play you this. Enjoy!
Friday, 24 September 2010
Nostalgia and soundtracks
Now that we are under attack once more (the IRA? Really?) I think its definitely time for some Cold War nostalgic soundtracking. After all you can't escape the reality into a bright new future anymore so its better to go retro. OK I know that The International is in a contemporary setting and that things like the Bourne Identity have a yearning for a complicated but essentially straightforward narrative: the grey men in suits might win but at least things don't fundamentally change. Sinister corporate maneuvers on the one hand are sweetened by the reassuring lack of revolution.
Or perhaps we can swing over to some future nostalgia? Firefly has really had some considerable heft in terms of its dialogue - influence does not necessarily stem from volume of episodes. For instance the soundtrack to recently released PC/Mac game Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty has definite thematic elements of the space-cowboy subgenre of sci-fi. Wistful and soulful fiddles, a solo bass and ...industrial grinding synth? Hmm. Definitely a melding which works better in some tracks than others although below is a good example of the Terran soundtracking - meant to embody the freedom that comes with being a cowpoke on a starship.
Ah romance. Perhaps through action we can get to our nostalgic roots more conveniently. The betrayal by a lover is perhaps one of the most well mined portions of human experience - it has happened to the vast majority of adults, albeit usually not in a life or death situation. Most of the time it is fairly banal and dull. It is after all a commonplace experience. Yet to imagine ourselves as heroes, as heroic in some capacity is fundamentally important for many people. To couple that betrayal with loss and a vindicating death? Genius. Argue amongst yourself whether it carries on a longstanding misogynistic tradition or not, this delicate and haunting piece of soundtrack still carries a cresting swell of emotion within it that manages to feel utterly appropriate to the world it is created for.
So three very different examples of nostalgia. One which we want to feel, one which we have all felt and one that we reinterpret the past with. Freedom, pain and revision. Sounds like your GCSEs but maybe nostalgia is our minds way of telling us there is still something round the corner, something more we can accomplish than just sitting at home waiting for life to get into our living rooms.
Or perhaps we can swing over to some future nostalgia? Firefly has really had some considerable heft in terms of its dialogue - influence does not necessarily stem from volume of episodes. For instance the soundtrack to recently released PC/Mac game Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty has definite thematic elements of the space-cowboy subgenre of sci-fi. Wistful and soulful fiddles, a solo bass and ...industrial grinding synth? Hmm. Definitely a melding which works better in some tracks than others although below is a good example of the Terran soundtracking - meant to embody the freedom that comes with being a cowpoke on a starship.
Ah romance. Perhaps through action we can get to our nostalgic roots more conveniently. The betrayal by a lover is perhaps one of the most well mined portions of human experience - it has happened to the vast majority of adults, albeit usually not in a life or death situation. Most of the time it is fairly banal and dull. It is after all a commonplace experience. Yet to imagine ourselves as heroes, as heroic in some capacity is fundamentally important for many people. To couple that betrayal with loss and a vindicating death? Genius. Argue amongst yourself whether it carries on a longstanding misogynistic tradition or not, this delicate and haunting piece of soundtrack still carries a cresting swell of emotion within it that manages to feel utterly appropriate to the world it is created for.
So three very different examples of nostalgia. One which we want to feel, one which we have all felt and one that we reinterpret the past with. Freedom, pain and revision. Sounds like your GCSEs but maybe nostalgia is our minds way of telling us there is still something round the corner, something more we can accomplish than just sitting at home waiting for life to get into our living rooms.
Wednesday, 15 September 2010
Berlin! 2 Months later...
Phew! Well that was the quickest two months of my life in a city that was never once dull. Writing a guide, designing it and taking almost 2000 pictures in a place that never seemed to close (except Sundays and the fact that no shops are open - sometimes a 24 / 7 Tesco Metro is not the devil we all think! ). There was always a bar or a festival, a place to rest or a spätkauf. From the sidewalk to the highest roof there was graffiti and thanks to money problems of the Berlin local bureaucracy it was largely left where it was pasted, sprayed or painted. In summer this leads to a playfully anarchic atmosphere in the city with hundreds of pieces sprayed next to tiny football cages and local shops. The splashing of colour so liberally over a city famed for its stark aesthetics has been accompanied by another change in the cities storied cultural history. Throbbing with cool the capital has an incredibly youthful feel, especially in the east where I stayed - although I must confess that I never had rooms in Kreuzberg - which has been a consistently hip destination for 20+ years.
The cold war aesthetic of much of Berlin coupled with the surprising immensity of a city consisting of just over 4 million can sometimes make the place seem a little empty. Exposure to so much cheap clubbing and drinking venues can certainly turn your head and I was certainly guilty of staying out far too late far too often. However it was the small pleasures of the city that really worked their way under my skin, such as cycling along the dominating Karl Marx Allee towards Mitte and disappearing into Tiergarten for a few hours. Under the unbroken tree cover I would sit and think about what I needed to write or design - perhaps practise my German with people sitting nearby if I was feeling sociable.
I made what seemed like a million new friends and ate out more in a central European city than seems sensible - although unusually Berlin has a fantastic line in Mexican and Japanese restaurants with Sushi being remarkably cheap. The one thing (and Berlin is not alone in this)there did not seem to be was a good fish and chip place, with restaurants stockpiling mediocrity rather than high quality food. Still who needs fish and chips when you have Maki rolls? Back to the friends though - and the majority of people visiting Berlin nowadays seem to be from Spain. Perhaps they have some sort of affinity for the place and its not hard to see why with one of the best known arts and partying venues in Berlin having a substantial link to spanish culture. I am of course talking about Tacheles. Although flooded with tourists all day and night it is a genuinely interesting and bizarre series of buildings, left twisted by bomb damage and taken over by a ragtag bunch of artists and hermits. A definite site although it may be in danger of demolition to be replaced by a new glass and steel monster that would bring in money by the bucketload at the cost of a small but significant portion of the culture.
Favourite district? A head to head between edgy new hotspot Prenzlauer Berg and the greenery of Tiergarten/Charlottenburg. The latter edges ahead with sites and museums but P-Berg certainly holds it own with dynamic bars and venues for young people to congregate.
Favourite bar? Haus am Mein See! Not just because I got free drinks and got to know all the guys working there very well - it was a genuinely awesome little place that literally did not close. Great for working at 4 in the morning.
Favourite moment? Rowing our silly little boat in the Tiergarten with Jane, Jasmin and Victor. 4 apparently intelligent people in one boat and we can't make it go in one direction unless of course it was the wrong one! Finished off with beer and pretzels and a nap in the park. Awesome.
Favourite song? Anything by Janelle Monae - her last album Archandroid was not given a listen through in its entirety. Long cycle rides thankfully put an end to that tragedy. Her telegraph beeping, guitar screech imitating voice and 1920's via the year 3005 stylings seem to put her on a perfect par with Berlin's futuristic old world vibe.
Whilst we peace out here is the lovely Janelle Monae with Faster.... and next time? Mushrooms, Battle and my triumphant return!
The cold war aesthetic of much of Berlin coupled with the surprising immensity of a city consisting of just over 4 million can sometimes make the place seem a little empty. Exposure to so much cheap clubbing and drinking venues can certainly turn your head and I was certainly guilty of staying out far too late far too often. However it was the small pleasures of the city that really worked their way under my skin, such as cycling along the dominating Karl Marx Allee towards Mitte and disappearing into Tiergarten for a few hours. Under the unbroken tree cover I would sit and think about what I needed to write or design - perhaps practise my German with people sitting nearby if I was feeling sociable.
I made what seemed like a million new friends and ate out more in a central European city than seems sensible - although unusually Berlin has a fantastic line in Mexican and Japanese restaurants with Sushi being remarkably cheap. The one thing (and Berlin is not alone in this)there did not seem to be was a good fish and chip place, with restaurants stockpiling mediocrity rather than high quality food. Still who needs fish and chips when you have Maki rolls? Back to the friends though - and the majority of people visiting Berlin nowadays seem to be from Spain. Perhaps they have some sort of affinity for the place and its not hard to see why with one of the best known arts and partying venues in Berlin having a substantial link to spanish culture. I am of course talking about Tacheles. Although flooded with tourists all day and night it is a genuinely interesting and bizarre series of buildings, left twisted by bomb damage and taken over by a ragtag bunch of artists and hermits. A definite site although it may be in danger of demolition to be replaced by a new glass and steel monster that would bring in money by the bucketload at the cost of a small but significant portion of the culture.
Favourite district? A head to head between edgy new hotspot Prenzlauer Berg and the greenery of Tiergarten/Charlottenburg. The latter edges ahead with sites and museums but P-Berg certainly holds it own with dynamic bars and venues for young people to congregate.
Favourite bar? Haus am Mein See! Not just because I got free drinks and got to know all the guys working there very well - it was a genuinely awesome little place that literally did not close. Great for working at 4 in the morning.
Favourite moment? Rowing our silly little boat in the Tiergarten with Jane, Jasmin and Victor. 4 apparently intelligent people in one boat and we can't make it go in one direction unless of course it was the wrong one! Finished off with beer and pretzels and a nap in the park. Awesome.
Favourite song? Anything by Janelle Monae - her last album Archandroid was not given a listen through in its entirety. Long cycle rides thankfully put an end to that tragedy. Her telegraph beeping, guitar screech imitating voice and 1920's via the year 3005 stylings seem to put her on a perfect par with Berlin's futuristic old world vibe.
Whilst we peace out here is the lovely Janelle Monae with Faster.... and next time? Mushrooms, Battle and my triumphant return!
Saturday, 5 June 2010
Mixtape #1
The noble mixtape, that thing of the past, once so ubiquitous and easy to do. Blank tape, record songs, try not to get annoyed at the DJ spelunking through the last 30 seconds. Yes its fantastic to have such a wide variety of media and great access to new ways of getting it ON to solid formats but.....nostalgia sometimes makes me want to go back to those old taped days of family cars and unending loops of Al Stewart. It seemed geared romantically towards the semi-professional pretensions of music fans with the veneer of the artisan, the simulation of the capable that the hand-holding approach of CD burning places on you. Maybe that was the main difference - you felt like you were imposing yourself on something by physically imprinting it, by the clicking of large and vulgar buttons with semi-universal symbols on them. Once you strip away the physicality of music maybe you lose something?
Sam Amidon - How come that blood
With that insistence and repetition of an ancient folk song combined with the misery-loves-company lyrics of country this song strobes and bottlenoises itself along forcefully under the surface. Electronic noises disrupt the surface of the song and perfectly match the theme of the lyrics.
An omnipotent bass wends its way through the surprising d'n'b of this indie examination of conquering sexually and of examining the other as purely different. Coming from a band who declared they would make 'a ballet with beats' this could be remarkably ridiculous stuff but luckily it avoids the minefield of the rest of the Foals' back catalogue by being....well.....good.
Holly Miranda - Sweet dreams
A little piece of poetry and wailing concealed crescendo's with an upbeat horn section that embeds itself amidst the sparkles.
Errors - A rumour in Africa
Those lovely occasional brushes of the piano light up this track, the excited kisses of the guitar making a smile cross your face involuntarily whilst the perfectly proportioned segments of sound divide and partition each other with a neat segue. A definite happy song.
Janelle Monae - Cold war
Apparently Janelle Monae is Afrofuturistic which is an awesome genre but whatever genre she is moulding let it be known that she is fantastic at anything she points her vocal cords at. One of the more straightforward pop songs on the album it showcases her craft perhaps more than her invention and ingenious squarerooting of exhilarating music from the 20's onwards. Check out her whole album - it comes seriously recommended.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Heads will roll (A-Trak Remix)
What should be a brutal and fairly insensitive remix actually takes off at points into a weird sort of sexually lucid and postmodern clubbing fairytale. Surreal strings and and ear ringing beeps service a melody that appears to have escaped from the 90's.
Lawrence Arabia - Look like a fool
A stunningly rounded piece of indie-pop that seems to plunder everything fantastic from the Beatles of the experimental early 70's and emerge with its own identity feeling fresh. A dash of Elliot Smith makes a delicate and breathy vapour of music that sways from vocal cracking high note to definitive snare hit. 'Just leave me undesirable?' I'm afraid with tracks this short and sweet its a hard confection to resist.
Thievery Corporation - Sweet tides
A morning sun rising over excess and indolence, little pools of sweetened affection making you close your eyes and drift off.
What has made a difference though is we can now put those moving picture whatsmadoodles in with the soundamajigs. And THAT is awesome. Price of progress = one part super sad, one part super awesome.
Ahhh another great instrumental - somewhat more brutal than the above though.
Tuesday, 1 June 2010
Yoav - A Foolproof Escape Plan
Only half way through the year and already I have at least 3 of my favourite albums for 2010 with LCD Soundsystem's alleged swan song and Janelle Monae's latest eclectic offering making up 2 parts of this triptych. Okay, okay Broken Bells self titled EP is in there as well but it didn't look as neat in my head. Needless to say its been a surprisingly strong year for music from the leftfield - specifically for those artists with a neat melody or a haunting synth line.
Which is where Tel Avivan (Viva Gaza?) Yoav comes under the radar with his choral melodies from the back of the throat and pride in highlighting influences. Striking a balance between high noon and an orientalist's vision of sleepy midday Tel Aviv this record keeps on coming back to suspended moments of time and tension. There are moments when a wail almost makes its way out his throat just to be restrained by a sawing guitar or a far off call to prayer.
The opener 'Greed' is possibly the most obvious song in the album and at points sounds like David Gray with a bassy, ominous rumble behind it. This is possibly the least interesting song on the album but very well crafted. 'Moonbike' is where that taut sound begins to establish itself and a wide variety of dischordant counterpoints all highlight how silky Yoav Sadan's voice can get. The hollow interior sound of his style sounds like voices inside of his head that the listener is peeking into, a voyeuristic and overwhelming journey that turns the passive listener into someone who wishes to second guess the direction of his music. The obsessed 'Yellowbrite smile' plays with the genre staple of quiet, loud, quiet, loud and emerges not exhilarated but more anxious to remove the homogenous emotions it protests against in a huge splurge unreciprocated emotion.
'Spidersong' is heat haze off a road, shimmering and obscuring the obvious instrumental heights whilst also letting them occasionally waft transcendentally over the rest of the chorus. The delicate pluckings that precede these 10 seconds of opiate bliss are perfect den-fellows for the brooding cello lurking behind the treble.
What this album is in 5 statements;
Intense as first love.
Brooding and unsettling.
An uncomfortable statement of a mind caught between dream and reality.
A drum skin tight series of arrangements and tension that posits relaxation as a temporary solution.
Very lonely.
A fantastic album and one that probably deserves a little more exposure.
Monday, 31 May 2010
Songs I am currently listening to a whole bunch.
Gorillaz - Glitter Freeze - Squealing, pounding and insistent to the very end. Open mouthed assault.
LCD Soundsystem - Drunk Girls - Poppy and perky as well as surprisingly annoying - still love it.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Soft Shock - Waves of sound crashing on to you when listen to it.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Gold Lion - Like a protest song with raised fists and an interrogative tone.
Blaqk Audio - Stiff Kittens - Lethargic and slightly nightmarish new wave disco pop. Dystopic overtone.
Arcade Fire - Keep the Car Running - Strumming urgency and counterbalanced lyrics leave you wonderfully disorientated.
Micachu and the Shapes - Golden Phone - Inventive and fun and more than a bit catchy.
In The Aeroplane over the Sea - Holland, 1945 - Wonderful song writing to a gentle lullaby tune.
MGMT - The Handshake - Contemplative and then stompy like a stroppy philosopher.
Lush - Last Night - A true British soundtrack to personal apocalypse. Biting and lost in meandering sound.
Mary Onettes - Under the Guillotine - 80's Power Pop revival from 2006, pulsing and harmonious at its best in the chorus.
LCD Soundsystem - Get Innocuous! - Surprisingly Gregorian chanty and like something off Daft Punk's better albums.
Dan Arborise - Under Your Spell - Meditative and compelling, like the regret of finishing a book for the first time.
One new artist who I am giving a lot of time to is Yoav who seems to have a wonderfully intuitive understanding of what gives a pop hook that little hopeful, heroic twist. His music seems to have a pendulous and heightened sense of reality to it - his percussion is like listening to a handclapping chorus in a butcher's shop; all chops and slaps of sound that drifts to make the music dense and textured. Needless to say I am a huge fan. UK tour please???
LCD Soundsystem - Drunk Girls - Poppy and perky as well as surprisingly annoying - still love it.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Soft Shock - Waves of sound crashing on to you when listen to it.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Gold Lion - Like a protest song with raised fists and an interrogative tone.
Blaqk Audio - Stiff Kittens - Lethargic and slightly nightmarish new wave disco pop. Dystopic overtone.
Arcade Fire - Keep the Car Running - Strumming urgency and counterbalanced lyrics leave you wonderfully disorientated.
Micachu and the Shapes - Golden Phone - Inventive and fun and more than a bit catchy.
In The Aeroplane over the Sea - Holland, 1945 - Wonderful song writing to a gentle lullaby tune.
MGMT - The Handshake - Contemplative and then stompy like a stroppy philosopher.
Lush - Last Night - A true British soundtrack to personal apocalypse. Biting and lost in meandering sound.
Mary Onettes - Under the Guillotine - 80's Power Pop revival from 2006, pulsing and harmonious at its best in the chorus.
LCD Soundsystem - Get Innocuous! - Surprisingly Gregorian chanty and like something off Daft Punk's better albums.
Dan Arborise - Under Your Spell - Meditative and compelling, like the regret of finishing a book for the first time.
One new artist who I am giving a lot of time to is Yoav who seems to have a wonderfully intuitive understanding of what gives a pop hook that little hopeful, heroic twist. His music seems to have a pendulous and heightened sense of reality to it - his percussion is like listening to a handclapping chorus in a butcher's shop; all chops and slaps of sound that drifts to make the music dense and textured. Needless to say I am a huge fan. UK tour please???
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