Mekong Delta Reviews

The Weeknd - Demos/Unreleased

2011-05-26T15:38:00.014+01:00

Unreleased The Weeknd by k.niteh (via Pitchfork)

Rolling Stone

The posting exceptions keep coming today. In fact I'm seriously re-appraising what I'll cover here now that Soundcloud/YouTube links are seemingly more prevelant for even the 'obscurer' musical side of things, which means there's more scope to share the music I love and recommend rather than simply telling you what it sounds like.

So, to the matter in hand. Toronto's laid back sex/love ethereal, music makers The Weeknd, hot on the heels of the 'net released 'House of Balloons EP' and things blowing up big style on the back of 'High For This' in general have a batch of demos and unreleased tracks (until now) available to stream/listen - look up there. Press play. Easy peasy.

Holy Other - With U EP

2011-05-26T13:37:00.005+01:00

Ordinarily it's albums or live shows that get covered here. Occasional exceptions to this rule are made however and I can't think of better exception right now that the debut EP of Manchester based Holy Other who having wowed earlier in the year is about to see his debut EP drop on Tri Angle Records, June 7th.

Listen. This is what music should sound like!

Manchester Orchestra - Simple Math

2011-04-27T20:43:00.001+01:00

Manchester Orchestra, the reviewed incarnation of the band at least, are a polarizing force. They're either devoutly beloved or massively under appreciated by the music press, depending on who it is you read. They're also not to be confused with the real thing. The actual musicians.

The band's third installment, 'Simple Math', following two previously perfect albums, and perhaps the musical landscape is shifting because it feels like Andy Hull's maturing songwriting may finally win over the audience who've previously been dismissive.

'Simple Math' is a concept album. It really doesn't matter what the concept purports to be, the tendency to question life, love, relationships and spiritually has always been at the centre of their music.

There are some wonderfully lush arrangements, 'Mighty' and the delicate 'Leave It Alone' for example, sat either side of the four sublime songs at the albums heart. 'April Fool', 'Pale Black Eye', 'Virgin' and the eponymous 'Simple Math' are so densely packed with tension, regret and brilliance - each one is its own mini drama. The latter being as wonderfully melodic an example of expressed doubt as you're likely to hear.

Manchester Orchestra set the bar really high yet here they surpass even their own exceptional standards which is why declaring this the best album of the year by far is so gratifying.

Maybeshewill - I Was Here For A Moment, Then I Was Gone

2011-04-26T23:51:00.004+01:00

It happens. Bands are emotional beasts. Personnel changes. Focus shifts. What was previously relevant seems to no longer reflect their identity. So they take a step back. Re-assess. Consider their next move in light of the fact that they’ve failed to light up the musical heavens as they'd hoped.

It's a well worn path but with 'I Was Here For A Moment, Then I Was Gone' Leicester instrumentalists Maybeshewill have seemingly decided that linear progression won't suffice as they've elected to approach this, their new (third) album, as if it was their debut apparently. To give them a fresh perspective and renewed impetus in their approach.

Other than the meatier, clarity of sound that recording in studios has given the songs, there are only hints to suggest a rebirth. They belt out riff heavy melodies with the same glorious power they always have. There's more 'light and shade' now and no dialogue samples. They evoke those same 'spoken' emotions through their playing, meandering piano lines and whirling strings this time out.

This is a progression then? Yes. It's definitely their most cohesive album to date, so reappraisal or not, I guess what they're doing is working.

Austra - Feel It Break

2011-04-25T19:39:00.000+01:00

Emerging from the seedier peripheries of synth pop and resurrecting that uneasy sense of dread and sleaze favoured by the likes of Japan or Soft Cell, signer, songwriter, leader, Katie Stelmanis, accompanied by Maya Postepski (drums) and Dorian Wolf (bass), ventures once more into her unsettling 'goth' electro world and delivers something beautifully strange.

Under the Austra name Stelmanis' trio explore a range of territories and emotive areas not unlike the strangely dark edges of the The Knife's best moments where the unsettling meets the playful and then by turns the oddity factor of Fever Ray almost by default.

Of course the most distinctive thing about Austra is always going to be Stelmanis' operatic vocal style but the songs themselves are stronger, poppier, than before, more liable to stick in your brain and have you humming them for hours, in particular the uptempo 'Lose It' which has literally been, rattling around this reviewers brain for weeks.

Perhaps the closest artist to which you could compare Austra would be Bat For Lashes however there's less, fantasy dust on display here as Austra prefer to emote more grit, grime and real world anxiety amongst their own particular brand of fairy glitter pop.

Crippled Black Phoenix - The Cluny, Newcastle - 8th April

2011-04-12T10:53:00.003+01:00

As anyone who knows The Cluny is aware the venues stage can comfortably accommodate a standard 4/5 piece band, 6 at a push depending on the setup. Anyone who knows Crippled Black Phoenix, and that's the bulk of tonight's crowd of course, also knows they are far from a standard band and number eight (usually). I counted eight tonight, or seven, maybe, it's hard to tell as it's a bloody tight squeeze up there! People and instruments are cramped together and meld into one!

But it doesn't appear to hinder them as they launch into their own unique mix of prog-cum-post-rock. Drawing mostly from new album 'I, Vigilante' and 2009's '200 Tons of Bad Luck' CBP immediately hit their groove and conjur up a succession of heavy and melodic tunes which ebb and flow as they drive forward. Amply sized songs like the lurching, unsettling 'Troublemaker' or the dreamy epic that is 'Burnt Reynolds' rub glacial paced shoulders with each other, brittle but immensely solid - the sound you'd imagine from musical granite.

The crowd is good (healthy) not huge, but CBP receive enthusiastic and justified applause each time one of these mini-epics reaches a natural conclusion and commence another and when 'Rise Up and Fight' beats out its tribal rhythms, lead by Joe Volk's emotive vocals and a series of strident, drum figures, guitar riffs and embellishing synth swirls, the venue becomes awash in a maelstrom aural nuances making for an unbelievably immersive listen. It's this atmosphere which lingers on throughout their set.

Beautifully realised music from a talented group deserving of more attention.

Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs - No Help Coming

2011-03-25T08:34:00.003Z

You can always rely on Holly Golightly to give you something familiar. And 'No Help Coming' is not going to be the album to buck any trends. The songs cover much the same ground as any of her earlier ones. The characters and situations as well worn as any in the country music canon. That's not a criticism by the way. Sometimes familiarity doesn't breed contempt. Sometimes is as welcoming as a hug from a lover or as warming as duvet in winter.

Even when the subjects she's singing about are bitter and/or broken 'The Rest of Your Life', 'Here Lies My Love' – hell any of these tunes would meet that criteria under close scrutiny.

Aided again by long time collaborator Lawyer Dave (essentially a cipher for the Brokeoffs!), who supplies guitar, backing vocals and lead voice on 'Under Arrest' the album is a stripped down back-to-basics homage to old country and rootsy sounds. With newly written originals and resurrected oldie covers sitting side by side as happy bedfellows in what is simple, beautifully clear attempt to allow Holly's knack for storytelling shine through and succeeding wonderfully.

Colourmusic - My ___ is Pink

2011-03-24T10:26:00.007Z

If I was to only recommend you hear one thing by Colourmusic, assuming that this one thing couldn’t be the entirety of 'My ____ is Pink' for some self-imposed and utterly imagined reason, then I'd have to settle on 'The Little Death (In Five Parts)' an extended mix of psych-drones and hooks at the heart of this album and an epic sounding ten minute arrangement either in celebration or warning of human weakness and lust! Not that you'll know that necessarily. You'll feel it though. Yes, you'll definitely feel it.

Oh, sure there are other songs on the album. Lots of them and they all twist and change and can't be pinned down and genre-fied with an easy descriptive moniker or pithy soundbite phrase either. They have a life of their own. A personality and a drive that gives them their own inherent charm.

But I would say this - any band who'd create, record and release this music demands your full attention. It's heavy, brutal, harmonious, sing-along, discordant and weird at various times (sometimes at the same time!) And I love it. All of it. Well, except for 'The Beast with Two Backs' which serves little purpose.

The album finishes with the rampant, positively charged frenzy of 'Yes', replete with its sublime choral vocals which perfectly sums up 'My ____ is Pink'. This album will in years to come be viewed fondly as a work of genius, vision and (perhaps) misunderstood beauty. I say 'perhaps' as I've not read any other reviews of the music contained herin, I don't know if others are able to divine the beauty of this music, or if it's being passed over for more obvious sounding fare.

I think either way that if you were to listen and recognise this fact - that Colourmusic's 'My ____ is Pink' is a startling force of musical nature - today then you can be smug in the knowledge that you're already well ahead of the curve when it comes to knowing your musical onions!

White Lies - Newcastle O2 Academy - 17th February

2011-02-19T10:00:00.004Z

Tonight is a little puzzling to me. See, I still think of White Lies as being a small, 'cultish' band with a loyal but limited following. This makes no real sense because they have bags of tunes and wide appeal, even so this thought prevails. I'm strangely excited then to see they've filled the Academy to bursting. An even more impressive feat when you consider their average audience member is a tiny fifteen year old taking up no space at all.

They're popular then. Radio hits. The new album 'Ritual' draws in a new audience too. And they’re still accepting goodwill for their excellent debut album. All very much deserved and earned. Touring continually. I get it, I really do.

I'm a genuine fan of their songs. 'Bigger Than Us', 'Farewell to the Fairground', 'To Lose My Life', 'Strangers' - these all possess the melancholy and anthemic edge on stage that they evoke on the albums. The crowd of tweenies, and a few of us older souls, revel in singing every word. We dance and surge, raise our hands in praise and generally give it some welly throughout.

So, I'm puzzled why? Weirdly, I think we, the crowd. are working harder than the band. The reciprocal love isn’t felt coming from the stage. There are some cursory 'Thank you's' but doled out with a lack of passion. It feels pretty clinical and by turns insincere. Late in the set launching into 'Death', still by far their best song, I'm almost prepared to forgive their formulaic approach but really would have killed for some enthusiasm along with the cracking tunes.

The Joy Formidable, The Chapman Family - Newcastle O2 Academy, 8th February

2011-02-13T23:22:00.006Z

My entry to tonight's gig is initially thwarted partly to PR inefficiancy, but happily I bump into The Chapman Family's front man Kingsley who kindly bundles me indoors just in time to watch his band play a blistering set in front of the packed crowd.

Support slots can be a thankless position but The Chapman Family's years of constant touring sees them take control as they belt through their abrasive pop-rock songs, showcasing imminent debut album 'Burn Your Town' (out March 7th). Current single 'Anxiety' rubs its hummable chorus up against the foreboding of 'Kids' and the hypnotic, sadomasochistic feel of 'A Million Dollars' and the mix fits very well.

With less than half a stage to suffice due to the headliners set-up, the Teeside quartet's already claustrophobic energy is given more reason to vent. With freedom to roam they'd undoubtedly reach more epic heights but they still play like their life depends on it and build to an incendiary climax, confirming new acolytes to their cause. Job done.

The Joy Formidable are also now reaping the rewards of a persistent life on the road. The Big Roar, their new album, is freshly squeezed and the trio of Ritzy, Rhydian and Matt relish the command their headliner role brings.

Opening with 'The Greatest Light Is The Greatest Shade', we're all called to joyous attention. Older set favourites are given an aural sparkle like the hopeful expectation of 'Whirring' or recent radio hit 'Austere' and newer album tracks prove to be instant crowd favourites. Dreamy guitar pop fills the venue and 'The Everchanging Spectrum of a Lie' sums up their appreciation of mood and melody perfectly.

The Joy Formidable are assured and entertaining and will only get bigger and better.

R.E.M. - Collapse Into Now

2011-01-24T14:54:00.005Z

R.E.M. have soundtracked my life.

I make no apologies for saying that had Pixies not existed R.E.M would happily sit atop the list of my favourite ever bands. Over the course of their 30 years together and my discovery of them a few of albums into their journey we've been pretty much inseparable. We've had some astonishing highs and lets be honest some heartbreaking lows.

So it's always with some trepidation that a new R.E.M album is anticipated and listened to for the very first time. I'm not sure the band would admit this but recently, and I'm talking about the 4 albums they've released last 10 years here, their albums have been hit and miss generally. Including some great pop songs but also indulging in lengthy unmerited exposition and lacking the editorial strength to weed the chaff from the real heart of each record.

'Collapse Into Now' then is instantly recognisable as a leaner, keener animal. Harking back to a more vibrant period. With vigour and drive. They don't lose the tender moments but balance the mix well. With the upfront rockier 'Discoverer' kicking things off you might expect a 'Monster' like vibe to pervade but as the album unfold with all the subtle beauty of songs like 'Oh My Heart', Walk It Back' the fantastically singable chorus of 'Mine Smell Like Honey' and the shimmy where you stand delight of 'Uberlin' the first half of the album skips by reminding you of all sorts of careers peaks - more akin to 'Out of Time' and 'Automatic For the People'.

It's an absolute triumph of an album and although there are some dips here and there, notably 'Alligator Aviator Autopilot Antimatter' (good title, so so song), the album rings out with the 'Country Feedback' gnarly vibe of 'Blue' aided by Pattie Smith to great effect.

If I was ever out of love with the band - I wasn't we just didn't talk that much in recent times - then I'm happy to re-stoke the embers and tell them I'm sorry. Can we still be friends?

The Decemberists - The King Is Dead

2010-12-21T19:45:00.004Z

As any hardcore fan will tell you the imminent release of a new album by your favourite group brings with it both hope and trepidation. You want to love the new songs. But you want to love them because they're exciting, fresh and brilliant not because it's [insert favourite band here] and they can do no wrong in your eyes.

When this group happens to be The Decemberists and they've already set the bar very high, their last two albums 'The Crane Wife' and 'Hazards of Love' both rated 5/5 by this reviewer, the danger for 'The King is Dead' is heightened further as the only way is down. It's an impossible dream to think they could better or at least maintain their brilliance. Isn't it?

Actually it isn't. 'The King is Dead' marks a much heralded return to the simplicity of former glories following the dense songwriting narrative of Hazards and peeling back the songs to their basics emphasises further Colin Meloy's knack for creating a hummable tune.

Referencing American guitar music through the ages from Neil Young, The Byrds and REM - musical guest Peter Buck an obvious reference point for the guitar picking on 'Calamity Song' - the album's focuses on musical tradition for inspiration. With tender voiced Gillian Welch for accompaniment throughout Meloy narrates tales of love and loss with typical storytelling flair and recent single 'Down By the Water' reaches any previous peak with ease. There are fewer moments like this than I’d like personally but it's never a chore to listen to and simple songs or not they possess a complex heart withstanding repeated plays for a long time to come

www.thedecemberists.com
www.mekongdelta.co.uk

David Lynch - Good Day Today - Single

2010-11-29T12:22:00.001Z

Godfather of weird and purveyor of all things cult David Lynch has a single out. Yeah you heard! The director has long been into his music, soundtracking his films and collaborating with composer Mark Frost and other musicians including his recent Dangermouse/Sparklehorse collaboration 'Dark Night of the Soul' so it's no biggie to hear he's produced his own single finally.

Until you hear it of course...as it's nothing like the echoey scrapes and experimental rattles of his previous output, this is a full on Electo-beat pop/dance single complete with (heavily treated) vocals from Eraserhead himself.

Listen via the Guardian here and purchase via iTunes now.

--

And stop the presses here's another new tune from Mr Lynch named 'I Know', courtesy of Rob da Bank's Youtube Channel Sunday Best Recordings

Top Ten Albums of 2010

2010-11-23T21:00:00.022Z

1. The National - High Violet

The National spent far too long on the peripheries, gaining their widest exposure with 'Boxer' back in 2007, but it's taken High Violet to push them into the mainstream completely. Ohio Bloodbuzz also claims my best single top spot too by virtue of being a simply brilliant slice of bitter sweet love pop. The gloom and laconic humour combine perfectly here to finally bring these guys the plaudits they've deserved for years.

2. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

After a build of extraordinary anticipation (in my head at least) Montreal's greatest exponents revealed another beautiful slow burner of an album. They have an awful lot to live up to musically and The Suburbs saw them touch on those magic moments from Funeral and Neon Bible once again.

3. Salem - King Night

Okay so that's mainstream well and truly covered. Salem take third place due to the perverse music they make, the weird shit they say, the way they're seemingly so anti band sometimes and yet manage to create stunningly original tunes with a dark centre. Witch-core is the worst descriptive term ever but they have a black voodoo in their hearts and this time next year they'll either be dead or lauded as Gods.

4. These New Puritans - Hidden

Just like Salem, These New Puritans don't give a flying fuck about scenes, what's hot or not, they just rip music a new asshole and pile up the tunes laden with Taiko drums and Samurai blades clashing over haunted vocals. Rumbling echoes in the darkness. This album creeps you out and draws you close simultaneously. Remarkable. The most exciting new band of 2010 without doubt.

5. Liars - Sisterworld

From newcomers to established old hands (sort of) Liars have been around for a decade anyway and with Sisterworld they smoothed out the uncomfortable sounds of earlier albums to deliver an abrasive album you could still cosy up to. Just be wary of the knife behind their back.

6. Glasser - Ring

A sparkling debut from Cameron Mesirow in the Fever Ray, Florence Welsh, Bat For Lashes vain, i.e. stunning vocals, weird visuals, thrilling sounds. It may struggle to maintain it's own high standards throughout but as a debut album it showcases her innumerable talents and points the way to greater things to follow. She's also on True Panther Sounds the coolest label anywhere right now.

7. Jonsi - Go

Stepping out from the shadow of epic tunesmiths Sigur Ros, Jonsi benched his dreamy, mysterious vocals and opened up a bit, singing more clearly on his newest songs. He took the album on tour with a visual/audio extravaganza, dressed as a native American Indian, looked like he was having the best time of his life and pulled (No. 6) Glasser along for some of the ride. This is sublime pop music despite the artsy context and the songs from 'Go' stack up very well against anything his revered back catalogue might muster.

8. Dum Dum Girls - I Will Be

Girl rawk made a return this year - it probably never went away - and Dum Dum Girls brought some of that nostalgia for 'chicks' and guitars (Runaways, Raincoats) and the 60's girl groups with the Spector sound - particularly The Ronnettes. But 'I Will Be' is about as far from a cliche as it's possible to be, this album upped the ante with bitchy and ballsy songs in full effect. Essentially a solo project expanded to play live Kirsten Gundred aka Dee Dee Penny kicked monumental ass on stage and on record. Bow down fey indie boys and worship.

9. Effi Briest - Rhizomes

By virtue of being completely uncategorisable in any genre Effi Briest make the top ten with their debut album. They're pop, they're rock and they're weird, in the best possible sense. The only way to know what the fuck they're like is to listen to Rhizomes, a lot. It's a remarkably rewarding experience.

10. School of Seven Bells - Disconnect From Desire

From the ashes of former dream-electronica outfits On! Air! Library! and Secret Machines this trio of twins Alejandra and Claudia Deheza and Ben Curtis shine on 'Disconnect From Desire', their second album. It coalesces the promise of their debut into a more direct set of songs with actual radio play hit potential. Unusual and unorthodox but ethereally beautiful too.

Honorable mentions: Shearwater - The Golden Archipelago, Errors - Come Down With Me, Beach House - Teen Dream, LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening, Gayngs - Relayted, Zola Jesus - Stridulum II.

Laboratory Noise - When Sound Generates Light

2010-11-22T22:19:00.004Z

Post-rock. Shoegaze. Noise pop. All descriptive terms which have pretty much had their day. They all, seemingly, belong to another era. At least they do if you're me and have lived through them numerous times before in the inevitably cyclical musical landscape, so I’m like 'Oh, yeah, Lab Noises why don't you just evoke the re-invigorated spirit of My Bloody Valentine or Ride or Spacemen 3 or the blissed brutality of A Place To Bury Strangers - see if you can do that for me...'

And you know 'When Sound Generates Light' starts promisingly enough with 'Mae' warping it’s distorted guitars and reverbed vocals all over the place like a disoriented drugged lurch. My woozy head of uncertainty swirls into 'She Dies Screaming' and the drugs are feeling like they’re beginning to work, yes thank you - pretty vocals only temporarily bursting my tremolo created bubble.

Okay enough drug talk, because it's not big or clever, but as analogies go never was anything more apt because midway through third song 'Lost in Battles' the chemical balance is perfect and you know it could be these new headphones I bought for my MP3 player which make the drumming sound so intense and the guitars chime with the clarity of church bells on an autumn evening. Or more likely it's the brittle contrast of light and shade in this song that fills my heart with joy. But something has happened. I am changed.

Barely ten minutes in I'm sold. I want to hear everything Laboratory Noise will ever create, witness every gig they'll play. This album has been on repeat for almost a week. It’s intoxicating, unashamedly, uncomplicatedly, L-O-V-E, LOVE.

www.myspace.com/laboratorynoise
www.mekongdelta.co.uk

Glasser- Ring

2010-10-09T18:43:00.001+01:00

From the opening tribal thrum of 'Apply' it's apparent that Ring is going to be a listening thrill and as the enchanted music unfolds into the rest of this debut from Glasser (a one-woman army of ideas Cameron Mesirow) the magic just continues to build.

There are numerous 'kook's and crazies' on the scene right now who mix the bizarre and weird with vocal and visual dexterity - see Joanna Newsom, Bat For Lashes, Fever Ray for instance - that attention is tricky to come by. But the more listens I manage, particularly to standout tracks such as 'Apply', 'Mirrorage' or 'Home', the more the albums distinct qualities come to the fore.

The care and class and attention taken to craft its songs, to create an ethereal world, inviting you in for an adventure is immediately evident. It's a deliberate all-encompassing experience.

The fact that Fever Ray producer Van Rivers brushes his influence here and there is a double-edged sword as the album feels spectacular as a result but draws obvious comparisons by default. Still it's not like this overshadows Mesirow's ambition and uniqueness it just means she's right in the mix and shooting for much bigger things.

www.myspace.com/glasssser
www.mekongdelta.co.uk

The Vatican Cellars - The Same Crooked Worm

2010-10-08T02:50:00.000+01:00

Sometimes you take a bit of a punt and prepare yourself to be surprised by a band or an album you're unfamiliar with, hoping against hope that you could add to your library of tunes and 'discover' something fresh, this was supposed to be one of those occasions but it's not actually turned out that way. Why not?

The Vatican Cellars hope to evoke the 'quintessentially English, folk-noir' sounds of Nick Drake, The Lilac Time or Tindersticks, which is odd as these three performers/bands sound nothing like each other and evoke little 'folk-noir' between them. Okay Tindersticks are gloom-mongers of epic proportions but here UK singer-songwriter Simon Hughes and California born and ridiculously named The Birthday Girl, augmented by a dull as dishwater rhythm section, don't even come close to sounding as despairing, as lost or as intense.

Singing about loss and death whilst strumming minor chords on your acoustic guitar with sweeps of cello or harmonium and melodica swirling around does not a heartfelt sound make, well not in this instance. Isolating individual tracks is pointless as they're all so similar. Whatever it is the band think they’re shooting for they're a long way off the mark.

www.myspace.com/thevaticancellars
www.mekongdelta.co.uk

Manic Street Preachers - Postcards From a Young Man

2010-09-13T12:42:00.001+01:00

It's remarkable given the solemnity of the Manics previous album, the suitably reflective ode to Richey that was 'Journal for Plague Lovers', that they have, this time around, managed to raise themselves out of the funk to create an exuberant album filled with lush orchestration and fantastic, sing-along tunes.

From the off with the raucous '(It's Not War) Just the End of Love' you begin smiling and the feeling doesn't wear off through title track 'Postcards From a Young Man' or 'Some Kind of Nothingness’ either, the latter being augmented on vocals by Echo and the Bunnymen's Ian McCulloch.

This leaves the overt politics of some former albums - 'The Masses Against The Classes' and 'This is My Truth, Tell Me Yours' - in the background, although not gone altogether and instead the trio's aim is squarely on entertainment. Direct hit.

This newly replenished zest harks back to the daft punk thrills of 'Generation Terrorists' in some ways but the weight of maturity they also imbue their songs with is what makes them stick in the mind. They still have a huge enthusiasm for their art and – despite the occasional jarring Nicky Wire lyric (hey it's not a Manic's without a couple) - this latest addition to their cannon is as fine as they’ve ever been.

www.manicstreetpreachers.com
www.mekongdelta.co.uk

Crippled Black Phoenix - I, Vigilante

2010-08-13T14:42:00.000+01:00

"Lupus Pilum Mutat, Non Mentem" – The wolf may change its fur, but not its nature.

With an opening gambit on 'Troublemaker' featuring a dead language proverb and a decidedly 'prog' album based around the concept of standing up for your beliefs and learning from history 'I, Vigilante' may already be dividing opinion as you read this. But hold your ferrum (horses), this isn't some clever, clever band lording it over the plebs. Well I can't be certain, but the album itself doesn't give out a condescending vibe.

Instead you just get a flowing, almost wistful, ride around a combination of beauty and nostalgia, perhaps tinged in places with regret – hear their peon to WWII 'Bostogne Blues' and I defy you not to hear echoes of GY!BE's 'Dead Flag Blues', another track of epic sadness and melancholy.

'I, Vigilante' is difficult for the right reasons I guess. It's not a series of easy to dismiss songs and you can't 'dip into it' easily. The very notion of listening to something from start to finish is perhaps anathema, but if your not of that opinion there's a rewarding listen here and you get the impression a CBP live show would be scintillating stuff.

www.myspace.com/crippledblackphoenix
www.mekongdelta.co.uk

DD/MM/YYYY - Black Square

2010-08-11T15:06:00.001+01:00

DD/MM/YYYY (that's Date Month Year, pronunciation fans) are a spunky, punky mix of all and no styles at the same time. Verging on the musically shambolic at times but maintaining a vice like grip on core beats, the chaos at the heart of Black Square is best summed up in the No Age blitz which is 'No Life', the mad jerk of 'Sirius' or frankly insane 'Lismer'.

Combining math and experimental rock with glitch core, spazzcore and generally grinding everything to hand into a two or three minute burst of occasionally painful Crystal Castle cast-offs, the bulk of the songs here are urgent workouts which belie the musical dexterity the group clearly possesses.

As a testament to the versatility they switch the pacing and drama around over the course of their thirty five minutes. It's not all blistering, heads down charging at the listener in contempt for the usual conventions. Subtler tunes like the coolly reflective 'They' and the Grizzly Bear gone berserk, jazz-referencing 'Birdtown' demonstrate their willingness to try something different, not that the other tracks are too normal in the first place.

Black Square is a genuinely mixed bag and deliberately so, but that automatically means DD/MM/YYYY's debut won't be everyone's cup of curdled milk.

www.myspace.com/ddmmyyyy
www.mekongdelta.co.uk

Cours Lapin - S/T Album

2010-08-03T10:58:00.001+01:00

As a music reviewer it's sometimes easiest to stick within familiar parameters when assessing the merits of a bands musical output for fear of getting the judgement horribly wrong, offending those 'in the know', or not grasping the scope of the intent and giving the band, the album and mostly your own ignorance what for with both damn barrels. In the face!

But hell it's worth the risk to step outside the comfort zone and breathe in the heady delights of the vast musical landscape where you’ll discover Cours Lapin (Rabbit Run) and their self-titled album.

On paper it sounds like a conceit too far, four Danish film composers conspire to write a timeless album of French songs that could well be a lost soundtrack from New Wave cinema or David Lynch depending on the song playing at any particular point.

French being a rudimentary skill for me, there's limited grasp of the content they're singing about, but that genuinely doesn’t matter as you sit back and absorb the otherworldly visions and theatrical nuances their music conjures up.

Understanding little is a bonus as the mind wanders to fill in the blanks. This is a beautifully gloomy album worthy of your time.

www.myspace.com/courslapin
www.mekongdelta.co.uk

Effi Briest

2010-07-13T14:27:00.008+01:00

If I'm speaking to the converted then apologies, but for anyone who doesn't already know Effi Briest that are the best band to come out of New York since fey boys in cardigans tried to reclaim post-punk as their own, let me explain why.

Their fascinating debut album ‘Rhizomes’ has a heady atmosphere reminiscent of other timeless debuts like Murmur (REM), Unknown Pleasures (Joy Division), Yeti (Amon Düül) or 77 (Talking Heads) that inhabit their own claustrophobic spaces and define a universe for their creators. Of course the fact that the brilliant ripple of Talking Heads Tina Weymouth bass are in the mix throughout, along with a dash of Siouxsie Sioux vocal and atonal Can beats doesn't hurt either, but the combination is an off-kilter parade of space-rock and krautrock. Hold on, don't just roll your eyes.

If your seeking a melancholic X-factor the Effi Briest have it, whether this has it origins in the fact that the band are a sextet of women or that their musical affiliations flirt with bygone eras (mostly) without being remotely retro. Perhaps it's the bands name origins in a typically teutonic nod to classic German literature where the heroine is a doomed adulteress. Madame Bovary with less smiling!

Whatever it is which sets Effi Briest aside from most bands they undeniably rock to their own skewed beats and aren't beholding to male-orientated histrionics. In an otherwise boring field of inert rock music they have the balls (excuse the reference ladies) to forge their own wonky path and I'm happy to follow along in their footsteps.

www.myspace.com/effibriest
www.mekongdelta.co.uk

Larsen B - Muskateer

2010-06-14T20:55:00.004+01:00

Right from the off Larsen B set out their stall with the exuberant burst of wistful melody that opens their debut album in ‘Codeine’. It’s difficult to put you finger on it but it is simultaneously uplifting and woozy like a party drunk, the good kind, who’s funny and charming and the life and soul of the party.

The pace and pop credentials are maintained as ‘Marilyn’ zips by before the mood turns casually reflective with ‘Atlantis’ and this triumvirate has pretty much set up the tone of the album as a whole. Snappy tunes with occasional brief dips into melancholic reminiscence’s. There’s a childlike sense of wonder at the heart of the album that revels in the sensation of new experiences and less demanding times.

The tunes that don’t rely on gimmicks or stylistic meanderings there’s just a stream of honest pop songs well executed and hummable. Sounds dull to you? Well maybe you’re seeking your thrills in the wrong place. It’s true that Muskateer isn’t likely to set the world alight but for a brief spell it makes the soporific, hazy sunny days we’re supposed to call Summer appear real, rather than the cold drizzle we get instead.

www.myspace.com/wearelarsenb
www.mekongdelta.co.uk

Delorean - Interview

2010-05-15T14:39:00.008+01:00

Delorean are a band in great demand at the moment but I'm tenacious enough to pin the Spanish foursome down in their home city of Barcelona long to ask a few questions and the logical place to begin with Ekhi Lopetegi, vocalist and bassist, is how much attention they’re receiving and the fact that they’ve just signed to uber-cool New York label True Panther Sounds.

“We’re really happy to have achieved some things that we've always wanted, like being with a good record label such as TPS or touring worldwide. But we always say that we’ve built our career step by step and we try to continue working that way.”

“It’s been a long time coming hasn’t it?” I ask, “You’ve been together for ten years, did you think this level of success might have passed you by? Or is it not something you care too much about?”

The band is very humble in reply, “We don't care much about it. It’s like starting over in many senses. Of course it's not, but the way we work, the friends with whom we work, all of this is new and feels fresh. I don't see ourselves having the band forever, but we just like creating music and trying to make good songs.”

Which prompts the question, “Why record the “Subiza”, the new album, now?”

“It has been four years since the last album, we also did the Ayrton Senna EP so we were already writing stuff and had the album in mind. You need an album to survive (at least in Spain). If you want to get reviews and get booked for shows its mandatory to have an album. Plus, you want to make an album if you're in a band right? And we were doing tons of remixes and producing a lot and it's just natural for a musician to make an album.”

Indeed they’ve recently produced remixes for the likes of The Big Pink, Cold Cave, El Guincho and John Talabot.

I say I initially thought the band was a remix project “Does this confusion happen often?” They gracefully skip over my ignorance, “We’ve always been a band since day one, actually all the remix stuff started pretty late, like two years ago. So we’re surprised that people think that we were a remix project, but that’s normal if you've never done anything relevant outside of your country.”

With the EP’s plaudits behind them they concentrated on trying to “do things better and try to reach a different sound for the new tracks. By the time the EP was gaining media exposure “Subiza” was 90% done. So they decided to move away from their own Barcelona studio. “What prompted this decision?”

The blunt answer is, “Our gear is not good enough and also I think that we still have to learn and improve a lot to record an album properly by ourselves, mixing and engineering is not easy. So that's the main reason is to work with someone that is able to do what you can't do and also because you like the work that he's done before.”

The person in this instance being Hans Krugüer with Chris Coady taking mixing duties.

So having confided that the band are yet to enter the phase were they can luxuriate in the space of a tour bus, having previously toured the US for five weeks in a van stuffed to the gills with equipment, band members and suitcases, how easy is it to write new material?

“Everybody in the band has the beat in his mind, we always build tracks around a strong kick driven break, and the intensity is another important part of the songs. We used to jam, but for the last record everything is computer based because we wanted to get a 100% electronic production for the new tracks, and you can’t get that with real drums. It’s also easy and cheap and you can see the idea of the song really fast.”

“And where do the lyrics come from in the writing process?”

“The lyrics are basically about love, not about 'love' in general but about a certain love that pulls you and challenges you to keep up with it, to resist and stand for the love and your loved one as you face difficulties.” Which sounds really dramatic until you hear the cool dance tones of the album and consider what a juxtaposition this is. Closer investigation is required maybe?

So how do the band try to relax on tour in a cramped van? “What’s on your stereo?”

“It depends on who is the driver and his iPod, the driver has the authority to put what he wants cause he’s making the effort of driving. Usually Cocteau Twins or Prefab Sprout and Ariel Pink are enjoyed by the whole crew. The secret is to travel with the right people, traveling with close friends and people that you love, that make things so easy.”

It’s a great attitude to have for a band about to launch into whole heap of touring. Following some festival dates in Spain and an upcoming US tour they are making plans come to UK shores in August when we could have the kind of weather which will compliment Delorean’s blissful music so well we can all imagine we have the balmy Mediterranean sun at our backs.

www.myspace.com/delorean
www.mekongdelta.co.uk

We Are Scientists - Barbara

2010-05-08T13:16:00.002+01:00

Whilst there are more obvious things to hate about Razorlight than their drumming the defection of their former tub-thumper Andy Burrows to join We Are Scientists last year has seen his new employers saddled with La ‘Lights uninspired flat sound and a mood vacuum of epic proportions - comparing “Barbara’s” turgid fare to former glories like 'The Great Escape' or 'Nobody Move...' tells you everything.

‘Barabara’ moves away from their dynamic sound and is so imbued with sub-par 80’s production, that where once they held my heart with their vim, vigour and humour, now all I’d be willing to give WAS is a good kicking.

Languid – or 'shit' - efforts like 'Foreign Kicks' or the vom-inducing, Crowded House with chiming guitars, effort of ‘Ambition’ make you pine for wit or melody. 'Break it Up' and 'You Should Learn' are incessantly catchy but that’s not necessarily a good thing and no excuse for the rest of the album.

The lead single 'Rules Don’t Stop' or even 'I Don't Bite' should have been their templates but instead they reside in the toilet bowl of mediocrity. Someone flush and put us out of our misery.

www.wearescientists.com
www.mekongdelta.co.uk