NOIZEMAKESENEMIES.CO.UK

REVIEW // ST VINCENT - ACTOR

2009-07-15T23:24:00.002+01:00

A rare thing it is indeed these days to hear a second album surpass an impressive first. But that’s exactly what Annie Clark of St Vincent has managed to achieve here.
From the very first haunting moan from the flute, to the last string of the violin. The aptly titled second album Actor is all about facades and reflections and persistently asks what’s going on beneath the surface. One look at the album cover which portrays Clark looking not unlike a stepford wife, all wide eyes and porcelain features, would possibly have you expecting some indie pop served up on a platter of safe with a side of tried and tested. But look closer and beneath this tranquil exterior there’s something bubbling beneath the surface.

On the surface swooning, soulful vocals lure you into a false sense of security. These are juxtapose to the discomfort and anxiety of the lyrics. When Clark swoons ‘paint the black hole blacker’ – from album opener ‘The Strangers’ - these poignant words serve to capsulate the theme of St. Vincent’s new album. It’s a melancholy one for sure. Certainly not one short of scope, ambition, and above all theatre either. We’ve already mentioned the inventive use of wind instruments; well that’s just the tip of an orchestral iceberg. Foot stomps, bells, triangles, brass, choral section. Entire ensembles feature at times in the same song. This serves to provide a supreme musical depth to an album already awash with ideas.

This classical influence features heavily on Actor. Sweeping orchestral arrangements and wistful silver screen vocals give the impression this could be a film score from Hollywood’s golden era greats. You could be forgiven for making this connection as it turns out one of Clark’s primary influences behind the album was classic Walt Disney - who’s films she would apparently shut herself away watching for hours, almost making this a kind of concept album.

This is a perfect analogy. Just as with all good fairy tales there are dark undertones here too. And just as the wicked witch looks into her magic mirror searching for answers only for untimely truths to be revealed, Actor articulates it’s dark truths with that of the electric guitar, overdrive, synths and pounding kick drum. Actor is that mirror. And it is Clark’s means of portraying the anxiety, expectations and boredom that potentially lurks under every façade of domestic bliss or suburban paradise.

Actor is out now, if you’ve bothered to read thus far and still aren’t convinced, check out the video for single Actor Out of Work which perfectly depicts the sense of fallacy and frustration in a very visceral and visual way. It also shows off the two sides of St. Vincent’s music and the contrast between the two – angelic vocals and classical arrangement on one side, grunge guitars and dark lyrics on the other – one you wouldn’t immediately expect to work, but on the contrary, it does. More over, it does it beautifully. Emphasising the caged emotions heard throughout the record.

By James Green

Rating: 9/10
www.myspace.com/stvincent

REVIEW // WAVE MACHINES – WAVE IF YOU’RE REALLY THERE

2009-07-15T23:21:00.001+01:00

From an album opening with the line ‘the day is wasted, if you’re not wasted’ you’d probably expect Pigeon Detectivese-sque boorish lad rock, but Liverpool funclub Wave Machines offer no such thing.
Specializing in fragile white-boy funk and shiny shiny melancholia, ‘Wave If You’re Really There’ recalls an uber-chilled Hot Chip, combining intellectual lyrics with disco beats to make irresistibly danceable songs with a heart.

The band wear masks on stage to remain elusive, but there is something hidden in their music too. Whilst the anthemic ‘I Go I Go I Go’ might sound incredibly chirpy on the surface, beneath its snappy beats and Golden Silvers style synths lie lyrics that tell of heartbreak and pain, as vocalist Tim Bruzon meekly coos lines like ‘tape up my soul before it falls apart’ and ‘cover me up cos the daylight burns my skin.’

Elsewhere ‘The Greatest Escape We Ever Made’ recalls The Pet Shop Boys’ gawky electro, whilst ‘Dead Houses’, penned by drummer Vidar Norheim, is a broken, mournful paean to Liverpool’s abandoned buildings. Tender and pensive, it’s a perfect end to a poignant record.

By Sophie Thomsett

7/10
Format: Album
Label: Neapolitan
www.myspace.com/mywavemachine

REVIEW // DINOSAUR JR. – FARM

2009-07-15T22:56:00.000+01:00

Alt. rock legends Dinosaur Jr. return with their new album Farm which displays the band’s classic sound in a modern context. Whilst fans are eager to hear the new album, those who aren’t big fans may not be aware of what the fuss is about.
On the first few listens Farm sounded too much like an early Foo Fighters record. It didn’t take long though for the subtleties to slip through the tracks and lay on top of the song, such as the screaming guitar solo on Plans or the grunge/garage sound juxtaposed with clear modern production methods. The vocals are uniquely melodic and add to the wealth of the album, especially the harmonies on Your Weather.
The record as a whole, however, isn’t varied enough. Each song is a mid-tempo riff based chugging which gets tiresome quickly as all the tracks blend into one after a while. Whilst there are subtleties that stand out occasionally, they usually have to be listened out for carefully.

Farm probably would have been more suitable fifteen years ago, making it more for Dinosaur Jr’s bigger fans. Whilst it is very listenable and even quite enjoyable, Jr. needed to evolve their style much further for this to be a grand album.

By Josh Charig

Rating: 6/10
Format: Album
Label: PIAS
www.dinosaurjr.com

REVIEW // FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE - LUNGS

2009-07-06T23:38:00.000+01:00

Everyone is born with a set of lungs. But no one is blessed with a pair of lungs like Florence Welch. The fiery diva has put an end to what is a year long wait for most of her fans and has released her magnificent debut album, ‘Lungs’.
The album opens with single ‘Dog Days’ and is then followed by recently released single ‘Rabbit Heart (Raise it Up)’. So by getting the two singles out of the way, this leaves us with songs that just have to be listened to. The songs that make this album are the ones that may not get released but nevertheless these are such beautiful songs that will not go unheard.

‘I’m Not Calling You a Liar’, ‘Howl’, ‘Cosmic Love’ and ‘Hurricane Drunk’ are great examples of album tracks that make a record so special. Of course the album has the brilliant ‘Kiss with a Fist’, ‘Girl with one Eye’, ‘Between Two Lungs’ and ‘My Boy Builds Coffins’, they too make this a record worth waiting for. Each song is their own stunning fairytale and you can tell which songs come from Florence’s own personal experience as expresses her emotions throughout. The album sadly does not feature her marvellous ‘Bird Song’ but makes up for it by having a bonus track, her beautiful cover of ‘You’ve Got The Love’.

Miss Welch obviously has her own take on music. Being not quite indie, not quite folk or pop, there is a mixture of all those things but with this album she proves she is something different by having her own version of girl power and awesome attitude. There is a definite pop-diva feel to this record and who is to say there should not be? Florence has most definitely proven herself a unique and talented young woman in her debut and hopefully her music shall continue to grow and progress.

With many Amy Winehouse sound-a-likes and UK Top 40 pop princesses melting the music world into a bland place, it is refreshing to know that there is a musician so unique, not driven by saying something to get attention, not just a pretty face and has a blinding voice.

Lilly Roberts

Rating: 9/10
Format: Album
Release Date: 06/07/09
Label: Island

REVIEW // FUTURE OF THE LEFT – TRAVELS WITH MYSELF AND ANOTHER

2009-07-06T23:34:00.000+01:00

Let’s shed a few words on the album cover, which deserves mentioning: It is always a good sign when you see that a band has had visual taste into choosing the design to represent their CD, and this is the case for Travels With Myself and Another.
Not that a good album can be told by its cover, because by this rule Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys, would have never seen a sale with the obscenity of the picture into which they courageously wrapped their historic masterpiece (there is a little goat for each member of the band in that picture! I don’t get it, goats are not even proper pets and they are not musical either...). Anyway, when you buy an album it is reassuring to know that at least your eyes will be pleased.

It is even more reassuring when listening to the album you find out that the trio from Cardiff have decided to detach themselves from the political apathy and socio-realistic void by which an exhaustingly increasing part of their contemporaries militate, in pursuit of that perfect 80’s carefree glitter. Future Of The Left know it is no longer the eighties (thanks God because someone should tell other people too), they are switched on and awake in a decade marked by war and economic depression and this album is their reaction to this time. That is why most of the album is preached and screamed by Falk’s strident vocals chasing the hectic drums and speedy guitars, and not melodically sung and polished, which really would contrast with the contemporary chaos we are in.

Songs like Arming Eritrea, You Need Satan More Than He Needs You and Lapsed Catholics reveal cutting wordplay and poignant tackle of themes. All expressed with a certain urgent veraciousness, which makes this album appealing and involving.

Maybe this will not be a pioneer in rock history, because admittedly, its sound is not the most cutting-edge, innovative, or groundbreaking, but at least it rocks.

By Liza Adebisi

Rating: 7/10
Format: Album
Release Date: Out Now
Label: 4AD
www.myspace.com/futureoftheleft

REVIEW // DIRTY PROJECTORS - BITTE ORCA

2009-07-06T23:24:00.003+01:00

Pop music has made various attempts to connect with African music. Paul Simon did it. Sting's tried it. Damon Albarn has also given it a whirl with his Mali Music project. More recently, Baba Maal, Tinariwen and Amadou & Mariam have been making a big impact beyond the usual world music fanbase.
Meanwhile, Vampire Weekend have been doing their best to introduce African beats and rhythms to the ipods, radios and speaker systems of the indie brigade on both sides of the Atlantic.

Dirty Projectors have a similar agenda. Their latest album, Bitte Orca is the band's fifth outing and is full of experimental pop filled with influences from the African continent.

It's a mixed bag of a record, more a collection of musical ideas that a fully defined album. The musical styles fluctuate between Beyonce-ish RnB in the lead single Stillness is the Move and a lo-fi indie experiment in soundscapes in Useful Chamber. The latter improves with repeated listens, but suffers from such terrible gratingly out of tune ooh-ings and ah-ings from the backing vocal that it will actually hurt your brain.

In between these two points of reference, soul and indie, there is Two Doves? which features not so much of a nod of the head in the direction of Nico's These Days as a full frontal bear hug of that songs accompaniment.

The problem with Bitte Orca is that it seems to be a little too sure of itself. It?s a daddy-look-what-I-can-do record, crammed with as many disconnected ideas as possible: freeform jazz, random German words and atonal experimentalism along with nonsensical song titles (Stillness is the Move, Fluorescent Half Dome and Useful Chamber).

While there is nothing wrong with any one of these ideas or concepts, the seeming random splash of all of these ideas thrown into one album is a little disconcerting. It is not an easy album to like.

After forcing myself to listen to this album forsaking any other music for the best part of a week bits of the record (sections of Useful Chamber and the instrumental parts of Fluorescent Half Dome) are beginning to grow on me. But this may be a rare case of musical Stockholm Syndrome.

Albums should not be this difficult to like. Although there are records deserving of the description growers out there, there cannot be enough time in the average music lover's life to cultivate an intense love affair (or even a fling) with this album.

By Stephen Morris

Rating: 5/10
Format: Album
Release Date: Out Now
Record Label: Domino Records
www.myspace.com/dirtyprojectors

REVIEW // BECK - ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE

2009-07-06T23:23:00.000+01:00

If anything, 2009 has been and still is the year of the ‘re…’ – reformed bands, re-released, reissued and re-mastered CDs. Cash strapped musicians? Yes, I think so. But in amongst all the Limp Bizkits of the ‘re’ era, there have been a few good ones, a few innovative attempts at a money-spinning ‘re’ project - and “One Foot in The Grave” by Beck is one that at least tries to be interesting.
Originally released only four months after his debut album “Mellow Gold”, “One Foot In the Grave” marks a severe musical blip in his early career. After freely mixing a melting-pot of seamless influences on “Mellow Gold” (rock/folk/pop/rap/psychodelia), “One Foot In The Grave” focuses only on minimal folk – sounding more like “Pay No Mind (Snoozer)” rather than the non-fan’s favourite, “Loser”.

The album itself is long – over 20 tracks, half of them previously unreleased. Some are catchy, some are weird, some of them endearing, others nonsensical. But they are all still definitely Beck, despite his departure from a sound we more often associate him with, with each song a short, sharp glimpse inside the workings of his mind.

Because of this, “One Foot In The Grave” is probably just of interest to the diehard fans. But seeing as Beck, to my knowledge, has quite a few of these, this will be a ‘re’ moneymaker that should settle the cash flow problems…

By Josie Allchin

Rating: 7/10
Format: Album
Release Date: Out Now
Label: XL
www.myspace.com/beck

REVIEW // ANDERS TRENTEMØLLER - HARBOUR BOAT TRIPS - 01: COPENHAGEN

2009-07-06T23:22:00.001+01:00

In the film, though surprisingly not the original book, of High Fidelity, our hero Rob explains that making a mixtape is a tricky business: You're using someone else's poetry to say what you feel?. Danish DJ Anders Trentemøller is trying just the same thing with Harbour Boat Trips - 01: Copenhagen. And he?s doing a fairly good job. This is, apparently, music to boat to.
Now That's What I Call The Best of Banging Anthems in the World Volume IX this is not. Each track has been specially chosen to reflect a certain mood - a snap shot of Trentemøleer's current musical landscape. If he'd compiled this collection a week later, or a week before, the end result would have been entirely different.

As such, this is a very personal sounding CD, rather like your best mate inviting you back to listen to some records. The records in question revolve loosely around a Post Punk/Eighties Alternative vibe featuring Suicide's Cheree and the DJs fellow Danes relatively faithful retelling of Joy Divisions She's Lost Control.

There is also a guest appearance of Soft Cell's Tainted Love mixed seamlessly with a lesser known track, Copenhagen by the Copenhagen Collective. Occasionally, a diversion from the underbelly of 80s miserablism can be found, such as the gloriously chilled psychedelia of Brian Jonestown Massacre and their song Anenome.

The joy of any good compilation is the opportunity it provides the listener to make discoveries amidst the safety of more familiar songs. And so it is with Harbour Boat Trips. Three tracks in particular leap out; Graven Hurst?s ?I Turn My Face to the Forest Floor?, Emiliana Torrini's Lifesaver and I Got You on Tape's Somersault. Happily, these songs sit side by side on Trentemøller's play list so you don't have to skip too far to find them.

I Turn my Face to the Forest Floor is a song filled with a brooding intensity to set the mood for what is to come. For all the fast flowing guitar lines, delivered with the lightest of touches, there is much darkness here: You're only a stone's throw from all the violence you buried years ago. It's a grim, grim song filled with foreboding complete with tolling bells and thudding drums.

Lifesaver is, by contrast, a gentle song with the most delicate of vocals quivering over a simple rippling guitar and a hypnotic creaking sound, evoking the mesmeric movement of a ship upon water. For an album dedicated to the notion of harbours, boats and all things nautical, this is the song that most conjures up a life on the ocean wave.

Somersault meanwhile replaces the solo female vocal with a chorus of male voices but retains the same chilled tone reserved for much of the album. It's a song tinged with regret and sadness for things left undone and for absent friends, but remains utterly gorgeous.

Where Harbour Boat Trips falls slightly is in its repeated use of a couple of the artists. While there is nothing particularly wrong with the music of The Raveonettes or Suicide, the logic of a compilation is slightly confused by the reoccurring presence of some artists.

Nevertheless, for all this reviewer's nitpickings, Anders Trentemøller has produced an excellent collection of songs. The albums strikes a good balance between old favourites and new discoveries. This is music, if not to boat to, then certainly to chill out and generally relax to.

By Stephen Morris

Rating: 8/10
Format: Album
Release Date: Out Now
Record Label: HFN
www.myspace.com/trentemoeller

REVIEW // IAMX - KINGDOM OF WELCOME ADDICTION

2009-07-06T23:15:00.001+01:00

The third album from IAMX enlarges on the grandeur of its predecessors to create a rich and complex sound. The album's sound is muddier than that of debut 'Kiss & Swallow' and second album 'The Alternative', however IAMX's singer and producer Chris Corner still achieves a slick, polished sound, without letting it overshadow the lyrical content.
The album's opener 'Nature Of Inviting' is a hypnotic tussle between the inevitability of surrender and the willingness to flee. The theme of fear and uncertainty underlying this song is picked up again on 'I Am Terrified', 'An I For An I' and the closer 'Running', whose gentle and almost redemptive tone stands in contrast to the rest of the tracks. The theatrical feel of 'The Alternative' is echoed on the title track, an exploration of the highs and lows of addiction. This is continued in 'Tear Garden' (a pun on Berlin's 'Tiergarten'), half-threat, half-warning of destruction backed by and insistent drums which build to a more and more unsettling rhythm.

'My Secret Friend', on which Corner's voice is beautifully complemented by that of Imogen Heap, reassurance is simultaneously sought and offered, a brief interlude in the midst of confusion. Attempts to make sense of this confusing world are made in 'The Stupid, The Proud', 'You Can Be Happy' and 'The Great Shipwreck Of Life'. All three hint at the deceptive promises of modern life and the hollowness left behind when they prove false.

The album's highpoint comes in 'Think Of England', a heart-quickening ride through a familiar-yet-strange cityscape where the willing exile's expectations were disappointed.

This album is IAMX's strongest yet and displays perfectly Chris Corner's ability to evoke emotions and landscapes. Its sound is epic, yet this is not mere surface sheen; each lyric is profound and the songs would stand up when stripped of their layered orchestration an performed acoustically. This is an urgent and poetic journey through addiction, fear, isolation, destruction and resignation which you cannot help but be swept along by.

By Ruth Thompson

REVIEW // ENTER SHIKARI - COMMON DREADS

2009-07-06T22:19:00.002+01:00

Enter Shikari are the well documented spokes group for concerned and antagonised teenagers, their ripples of emancipating sounds drove them on to becoming only the second ever unsigned band to sell out the Astoria.
Accelerating through at a ferocious space this is an indefatigable compendium of commentary on the issues pressing today. Rather than despondency and disgruntlement, the opening chords of an Enter Shikari song have you teetering on the edge of hope, and with each thrashing reverb and edgy chorus you are thrown headlong into hedonism and excitement.

Enter Shikari recognise that the morals that seep from their music could be perceived as preachy, but instead their creativity is sourced from the soul. “Politics are unavoidable”, says singer Rou Reynolds. “We just can’t write sappy music...we have the ability to influence people – and with that comes a responsibility to speak our minds.”

Not just an aural petitions versus the evils of Tesco (see town plans in St Albans) Common Dreads is a feisty record combining the causes with poetry (on Common Dreads ‘we must reunite’, Prodigy style dance hooks and Mike Skinner esque spoken word.

Of course Enter Shikari’s protesting is not comparable to that taking place in other countries, and neither can the dreads they are fighting. But it does have the ability to exuberantly incite the desire for political, social and personal emancipation – and that starts with losing structural limitations or music making and liberating limbs and lungs to dance and sing and take action.

By Francesca Baker

Rating: 7/10
Label: Ambush Reality
Release Date: Out Now

REVIEW // FREELAND - COPE

2009-07-06T22:04:00.001+01:00

Freeland, the one man band consisting of DJ Adam Freeland is bloody spectacular, I could end this right here, but I guess I’ll go on.
Okay, so it’s not all Freeland, the record’s credits actually read like a who’s who in the world of rock and punk. Twiggy Ramirez of NIN and Marilyn Manson plays bass, Tommy Lee, yeah, THE Tommy Lee on drums, Tony Bevilacqua of Distillers and Spinerette plus Joey Santiago on guitar, oh, and Brody Dalle performs vocals on a track, yeah, this is something special.

The album mainly consists of fuzzy buzzing synths, backed up by simple but totally danceable drums, just like you’d expect from Tommy Lee. The album is incredibly polished; honestly, if it was any cleaner you could see your reflection in it, although for all you narcissists you can do that with the actual CD. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I’d like to hear a bit more dirt, especially with the distorted synths used.

The problem with the record is that while everything’s competent, and some tracks, like the instrumental Mancry are beautiful in a soundtrack way, really stand out, the rest feels like filler. The synth sounds get repetitive, those simple danceable drums just keep pounding along and the only thing to keep your attention is the occasional guest vocal.

While the guest performers are impressive they seem to be there simply to get people buying the record, or at least to add excitement to an overall boring album, which at times sounds like a group of Nine Inch Nails samples (mainly from their latter days) stitched together.

If you really must have some rocky dance and have something against more popular artists like The Prodigy and Pendulum then by all means take a look at Freeland’s Cope, but in terms of innovation and pure song writing ability there are some much better options out there.

By Rob Barker

Rating: 4/10
Format: Album
Label: Marine Parade
Release Date: Out Now

REVIEW // TOMMY SPARKS – THE ALBUM

2009-07-06T21:16:00.001+01:00

... or better the album that never sparked.
Tommy Sparks adamantly applies that same old and tested pop formula which prescribes unrelenting repetitions of synth-conceived beats, words and refrains in order to infix tunes into people’s brains.

Every song is trying to be one of those hits that people will remember and sing along to every single time they are played, but somehow Sparks misses the point. The well applied formula lacks its very essential element: charm; making it impossible for the banality of the record to camouflage and condemning all this euphoric pop commotion into the inexorable limbo of mediocrity.

By Liza Adebisi

Rating: 4/10
Format: Album
Release Date: Out Now
Label: Island
www.myspace.com/tommysparksmusic

REVIEW // LET’S WRESTLE - IN THE COURT OF THE WRESTLING LET’S

2009-06-29T21:44:00.001+01:00

Apparently recorded in a Whitechapel basement beneath the only ukulele shop in Europe, ‘In The Court of The Wrestling Let’s’ is a fun, dynamic and catchy album with excellent musical hooks and energy-filled melodies.
The first noticeable flaw, however, is that the vocals are pretty terrible, but much like the seventies punk bands that Let’s Wrestle cite as their influences, it takes nothing at all away from the sound as a whole, and there’s something weirdly charming in their vocal quality.

The strange lyrical subject matter of each song is a source of fantastic amusement as you navigate through this very much out-of-the-ordinary release, which in places is quite bewildering but nevertheless works incredibly well as a collection of music. It mixes just the right number of cheeky, entertaining tunes such as ‘My Arms Don’t Bend That Way, Dammit!’ with heartbreaking but totally random rock ‘n’ roll ballads such as ‘My Schedule’, a song which centres on failing to make cups of tea and visiting charity shops. The ukulele-driven sound of seventh track ‘In Dreams’ alongside the strangely addictive vocals this band provides is reminiscent of folk-indie bands like Noah And The Whale and Mumford & Sons; a little different from The Clash and other well-known punk bands in terms of style.

The album, at sixteen tracks, is perhaps a little longer than any good punk rock record ought to be, but the length does provide the band an opportunity to show they are a little bit more than all the other punk and rock bands of the twenty-first century. And the album may be sixteen tracks long, but three of these are less than a minute in length, and like you’d expect from punk-infused music, only one track lasts more than three and a half minutes. The short bursts of song mean you don’t get bored at any point in the album, and the varied feel of the product as a whole is fantastic.

For this reason and for its general feel, I highly recommend this as a record to take with you if you’re going on any road trips this summer; it has all of those things necessary for driving long distances, and will provide a fantastic soundtrack for road-related antics of all kinds.

By Lauren Razavi

Rating: 7/10
Format: Album
Release Date: 29/07/09
Label: Stolen Recordings
www.myspace.com/letsfuckingwrestle

REVIEW // FANFARLO - RESERVOIR

2009-06-29T21:37:00.000+01:00

Welcome to the world of Fanfarlo. It’s a sort of understated instrumental frenzy that combines a violin, a mandolin, a glock, a sax, a trumpet, a banjo alongside, of course, the conventional instruments in a way which immediately emulates the drama and beauty of the likes of Arcade Fire and leaves the listener with no misunderstanding about how truly talented the five-piece really are.
This, underpinned with Swedish frontman Simon Balthazar’s vocals sounding like a more sedate and peaceful Win Butler (of Arcade Fire) as he cries out /Why cant they just think like us?/ in a way that is refreshingly simple yet profound. The innate beauty of Balthazar’s delicate vocals are the perfect addition to Cathy Lucas’ faultless violin playing and the lyrics which echo such honesty and a dark rawness that is reminiscent of the likes of Cold War Kids or The Maccabees.

With a headlining tour in June and having already played at SXSW and The Great Escape, Fanfarlo have already began building up a solid fanbase since forming in 2006, no doubt all equally mesmerised by the enchanting layered production of their music.

Fanfarlo has the intoxicating ability to use their charming vocals, precise lyrics and talented instrumental formation to enter the listener and accommodate their desire to be distracted and escape from reality for forty minutes; something that friends of Fanfarlo, the spine-chilling Sigur Ros and Canadian talents, Wintersleep, are similarly renowned for.

Whether it’s the Swedish romanticism, or the natural and low key dramatics, Fanfarlo have an innate beauty that is almost guaranteed to sweep you off your feet with tracks like ‘Comet’ and “Drowning Man”. Step into Fanfarlo’s world, it’s entirely worth it.

By Laura Routledge

Rating: 9/10
Format: Album
Release Date: Out Now
www.fanfarlo.com

REVIEW // THE MARS VOLTA - OCTAHEDRON

2009-06-29T21:31:00.001+01:00

Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala have to be two of the most prolific creative personalities in modern music. The fact that 'Octahedron' is the fifth studio album in nearly as many years under the Mars Volta banner is impressive in itself, but throw in two live records, one EP, 12 Rodriguez-Lopez solo efforts, and a seemingly endless list of collaborations, guest appearances and production work, and it's little wonder that the pair grew frustrated with the comparitive snail-like pace of former group At The Drive-In.
Sometimes brilliant, often nonsensical, each previous Mars Volta full-length twists and turns through its narrative with a blend of textured musical effects, abstract lyrics and obsessive attention to detail, which is why it's such a surprise that the track chosen to get the ball rolling on 'Octahedron' is a slowburner that takes well over a minute to really get going. 'Since We've Been Wrong' is also one of a handful of TMV titles that requires neither an encyclopedia or a translator to decipher.

In fact, 'Octahedron' is full of surprises. Only this time round, it has nothing to do with the strange and wonderful places the music leads, but rather the places it blindly refuses to go. Of the eight tracks, 'Cotopaxi' is by far the most complex, and the only one to sustain any real energy. A trio of tunes - 'Since We've Been Wrong', 'With Twilight As My Guide' and 'Copernicus' stray even from the traditional band format, comprising mainly of just vocals and guitar. Elsewhere, 'Desperate Graves' and 'Halo of Nembutals' are actually fairly repetitive mid-paced tunes that both start to drag a little towards the end.

It's pretty obvious that the reason for all this restraint is because the band are desperate not to make the same album twice. After four albums, people have begun to build up a picture of what The Mars Volta are about, and 'Octahedron' serves well as a challenge to those expectations. There will be those that struggle to get to grips with the minimalist attitude and it's fair to say that this album doesn't demand attention in the same way that it's predecessors have done, but at the very least, it's a powerful statement about creative expression, and a chance to show that there's more to The Mars Volta than endless guitar noodling and incomprehensible lyrics.

By Rob Dand

REVIEW // RICEBOY SLEEPS – RICEBOY SLEEPS

2009-06-29T21:29:00.000+01:00

Riceboy Sleeps is the side project of the second most well known Icelandic musician in the world, Jónsi Birgisson, of Sigur Rós fame. The eponymous debut is part of a collaboration with his bowl cut adorned boyfriend, Alex Somers; a collaborative effort which also includes the production of various artworks, including a forty eight page picture book.
Somers' explanation for the origin of their name pretty much sums the band up: "When I met Jonsi, I was really, really poor and I was just living off of rice mostly and I was sleeping too much so Jonsi was writing a song while I was asleep one day and he named it Riceboy Sleeps."

Based on this naïve description of a life which sounds like the plot of Watership Down, it comes as no surprise that the music produced between the two is like a more delicate, perhaps slightly more sentimental echo of the music of Birgisson's main band; like Sigur Rós, the music is arguably somewhat pretentious, yet fantastic and worthwhile in it's own haunting, beautiful, somnambulist way. While there are pauses between most of the tracks, they are rarely perceived; like the landscape of the frozen North, the whole album gradually blankets the mind in snowy violins and stretched out falsetto vocal notes, until finally the listener drifts into a warm, pneumonia induced, eternal sleep. The only real problem is the lack of brevity; only the most hardened Birgisson fans will be able to stay awake through the album's entire length, which stretches nine songs into over an hour of hypnotism.

A beautiful album, but perhaps one for bedtime.

By Steven Garrard

REVIEW // MSTRKRFT - FIST OF GOD

2009-06-29T21:22:00.002+01:00

The first thing that struck me about this band was the fact I had absolutely no idea how to say their name. Not always an appealing or marketable aspect of an act, but certainly something to grab the listener’s attention before the music even starts.
When the music did start, I found it difficult to formulate more of an opinion beyond an eye roll. Unfortunately for this band, who have openly said that they consider themselves to be alternative and unique within their genre, their songs pretty much just sound like everything else on the dance floor and in mainstream music. I was left with a nonchalant bitter taste in my mouth, and no desire to start dancing to any one of the tracks nor to listen to them again.

There is a huge amount of musical and technical range on ‘Fist of God’, which is perhaps both the result of and robustly emphasised by the fact that the majority of tracks on the release are featuring some other artist or band (the only one of which I’d heard of was John Legend). Though collaborating in music can make great things, on this release the sheer number of partnerships made me question whether there’s actually anything to this act on its own. Certainly the strongest tracks on this album are the ones which feature another artist, which actually reflects on Mstrkrft in a very belittling way.

‘Fist of God’ is tries to be new, vibrant and different, but can only be defined as a failed attempt. Very disappointing on all levels, and a release that is definitely not worth your time.

By Lauren Razavi

Rating 3/10
Format: Album
Label: Geffen
Release Date: Out Now
www.myspace.com/mstrkrft

REVIEW // ASTRID WILLIAMSON - HERE COME THE VIKINGS

2009-06-29T20:48:00.001+01:00

Upon seeing the album cover of Here Come The Vikings, the 3rd album from Brighton based singer songwriter Astrid Williamson I wasn’t optimistic. You can count on one hand the amount of decent records where the artist has decided to put a picture of themselves on the cover.
Williamson deals mainly in soft upbeat rock and heartfelt ballads. As befitting a solo artist the focus is primarily on the singer and musically there isn't a lot going on. Most of the tracks sound like session musicians going through the motions however there are some notable exceptions. Slake is the highlight of the album with an intense spoken word verse, a simplistic but euphoric chorus and some explosive guitar sonics. The driving rock of opening track Store is rare in that it actually has a bit of edge about it and Pinned show’s another side with a melancholy intro blending into an uplifting finish.

She has a great voice but is let down but some shocking lyrics. See track 2, Sing the Body Electric; ‘Isambard Brunel, was a man of iron and could build a bridge very very well’. Or weak girl power track Shut Your Mouth; ‘You make me feel spiritual, and lyrical, and physical but I want to get you in my bed’. Or try Falling Down; ‘Sometimes I think I love you, sometimes I think I don’t, sometimes I can’t make up my mind’. Also there’s an over reliance on simply saying ‘yeah’ or ‘hey yeah’ which occurs on at least 3 songs.

Astrid obviously has talent but this record only shows it in patches with too many bland tracks. Also if anyone has any idea where the title of the album comes from then I'm listening...

By Alex Telfer

Rating: 3/10
Format: Album
Date: 8th June
Label: One Little Indian
www.myspace.com/astridwilliamson

REVIEW // DATAROCK - RED

2009-06-21T16:12:00.002+01:00

The album begins with what feels like a time mix-up. 80s infused nostalgia mixed with robotic electro. Bonnie Tyler meets Robocop.
Homage is paid to Prince’s “Lets Go Crazy” lyrics as well as the internet; calling the song “The Blog” and a call “Every one must advertise, advertise, advertise” it’s an attack of internet induced information and a heavy leaning on the past makes it a time warp like no other. An explosive way to begin an album. Following with a jazz-funk fusion Howard Moon would be proud of the jittering beats and Space Invader “powpow” sounds intersperse only to lead into a more soul-electro based song in “True Stories” a true bowing-at-the-feet moment to Talking Heads. It’s impossible not to like a band who make tribute to David Byrne in such an obvious way- making up the lyrics of the songs with titles of Talking Heads songs.

It’s a collection of diverse and wandering ideas, sprawling far and wide over musical genre. The name “Datarock” sums up the band well; “Data” has all the futuristic possibilities of computer induced noise whilst “Rock” gives the ethos of the band. They do rock out. Songs like “Dance!” and “The Pretender” have an element of it for sure. Songs like “In the Red” is like The Specials in 3009, or if you put them underwater at a fairground. Better than it sounds, with an eerie undertone and a wealth of ideas behind it. “Back in the Seventies” refrains from doing the obvious Night Fever-esque accolade and instead takes a writhing guitar and places confident vocals over it with the drums setting it off nicely. Are Datarock artists, painting a layer of meaning under their dancefloor friendly dance tracks? The thinking mans Justice perhaps? Or hipster pranksters being let loose in 1981 and work their way from there? It seems more like the latter but there are hints of genius in songs like the macabre “Fear of Death”.

It seems like a fleeting album despite it’s thirteen tracks but maybe that’s due to the jittering, jumping pace which speeds along every song with. It’s not only having a poke at the eighties, this album embodies it and spits it out- the resulting package being a futuristic, power-ballad, Talking Head induced dream.

By Jade French

Rating: 8/10
Format: Album
Label: Young Aspiring Professionals
Release Date:Out Now
www.myspace.com/datarock

REVIEW // JACK PEÑATE - EVERYTHING IS NEW

2009-06-21T16:08:00.005+01:00

When I heard that Jack was back I groaned, rolled my eyes and waited with little or no enthusiasm for the inevitable Radio One homage onslaught. Imagine the surprise that occurred when on hearing “Tonight’s Today” I thought I was listening to Wild Beasts and applauding Radio One for getting some taste.
But no- it was Jack! He’s ditching the cockney-boy-guitar-in-hand persona for someone with music taste. Naming the album “Everything is New” might be a handy ploy to inform old fans that songs like “Second, Minute, Hour” are a thing of the past but it also does give an air of hope. Like Lily Allen ditched the trainers and prom dress combo for Chanel and style so Penate has shed the skin of his former musical body for Afrobeat and Krautrock. Songs like “Pull My Heart Away” involves a plaintive yowl over a slow, melodic backtrack whereas “Be the One” has trumpets and a little chant at the beginning. Some of the songs do sound a little like “Tonight’s Today” but luckily that turns out to be a good thing. The album is at it’s best though when songs like “So Near” take a departure from rolling melodies and breaks up the monotony nicely. Staccato guitar is carried by Penate’s strong vocals and there are moments when a tinge of Larrikin Love (note: a tinge) edges its way into the dynamic. There is a bit of a stodgy refrain of “Every moment passes by me” which is a little bit depressing but the hopeful up rush of feel good instruments gathers up the vocals as the call “I’m so near” gathers itself up.

A low point threatens in “Every Glance” which is a bit Daniel Merriweather/ boy band yet suddenly the next track “Give Yourself Away” explodes through the speakers with a Basement Jaxx “Bingo Bango” beginning and a soul infused, dance floor friendly beat. A guitar riff or two in the middle and a rolling, relentless drumbeat and the song is a hit. Taking the same soul infused goodness and applying it in a more laid-back way for “Body Down” there are diverse moments in this album. Some songs stick and judder along (“Every Glance” being one of them) but for the majority I think we can heave a sigh of relief that Jack has ditched the Matinee-idol, annoying gawblimy-jabber of “Torn on the Platform” but also concede that a musical rite-of-passage has occurred somewhere along the way (possibly when Paul Epworth was lugged on board the good ship Penate). This doesn’t feel like a second album, there’s no natural follow-on from the last. This feels like Jack Penate’s first album, no doubt, he’s found his feet and succeeded in making a credible album. I never thought I’d become a fan.

By Jade French

Rating: 8/10
Format: Album
Release Date:Out Now
Label: XL
www.myspace.com/jackpenate

REVIEW // KING CREOSOTE - FLICK THE VS

2009-06-21T16:07:00.001+01:00

Flick the Vs is well regarded singer / songwriter King Creosote’s millionth album according to the record company blurb. This puts him 2nd in the all time productivity lists ahead of The Fall but way behind Frank Zappa. It’s actually his fifth album and its an intriguing collection of up tempo pop and harmonious acoustic tunes.
No One Had It Better starts with a kaleidoscope of off kilter beats, reverb laced vocals and what could almost be sampled Sunday morning church bells before a driving beat kicks in propelling us into an atmospheric opening track. Two Frocks At A Wedding has a soft intro with captivating harmonies while the track builds up to what almost constitutes an anthem before a funky beatific outro comes from nowhere.

The melodic Camels Swapped For Wives has great lyrics and showcases a satisfying well placed expletive. Nothing Rings True is a beautiful arpeggio based acoustic track and Rims starts like a campfire song before exploding into a beautiful multi layered chorus.

The King is an innovative singer songwriter with a gift for a melody. This is a record that if you can’t afford to buy yourself… then claim it on expenses courtesy of the honest hardworking taxpayer.

By Alex Telfer

Rating: 7/10
Format: Album
Label: Domino
Release Date: Out Now
www.myspace.com/kingcreosote

REVIEW // DISCOVERY – LP

2009-06-21T15:50:00.001+01:00

Bands side projects are generally something to be embraced these days; seemingly, songwriters are always moving amongst new sets of musicians, usually with positive effect (for example, Gruff Rhys, Bradford Cox and Jack White are all masters of embracing diverse genres to critical acclaim). Discovery is the collaborative electronica attempts of Ra Ra Riot’s Wes Miles and Vampire Weekend’s Rostam Batmanglij.
From the outset, this is not something to you might have expected from the pair. It's a crazy musical mashup of classic electronica, r'n'b (the modern kind, not the good kind), 80s cheese and rubbish drum machines. In fact, at some points, it is difficult to decide whether this is a serious musical project at all. Then again, they do say that the craziest of people are often the most genius and there are undoubtedly a few gems in the rough here. Discovery seem to be at their best when they remain on the quiet and refrained elctronic side of things. 'Osaka Loop Line' has a musically dream-like quality reminiscent of Crystal Castles 'Air War', couple with intelligent vocals. 'It's Not My Fault (It's My Fault)' is much the same in style terms.

On the (rather overpowering) negative side however, album opener 'Orange Shirt' sounds disturbingly like it should have been included on the latest Akon album. 'So Insane' and 'Swing Tree' both contain crazy drum machine beats which have rarely been heard, for good reason, since the 80s, and melodies which wouldn't be out of place on something as cheesy as a Phil Collins album. 'If I Want You Back (In Discovery)' is the most obvious song in support of the joke theory; a Jacksons cover sang wholly with Auto-Tune vocals, it is seriously terrible.

The 1980s weren't wholly bad in terms of electronic music, but there have been several light years of positive improvement since then. It's hard to know whether these boys are attempting to be somewhat quirky with their 'retro' approach, or whether they are even being serious at all. This is an album that almost certainly was never meant to reach anywhere near the commercial value of Vampire Weekend or Ra Ra Riot, but nor does it graze them in musical ability either. What it does do however, is baffle.

By Heather Minto

Rating: 5/10
Format: Album
Release Date: 06/07/09
Label: XL

REVIEW // ART BRUT - ART BRUT VS. SATAN

2009-06-21T15:18:00.004+01:00

Here is a band that polarise opinion. Championed by sections of the music media and growing ever popular in the US (‘we love those crazy Brits’) but also seemingly loathed by many UK fans. The reason is the vocals. Frontman Eddie Argos doesn’t really sing but more speaks over the songs in an unmistakable and at times almost embarrassing English accent. It can take some getting used to.
Art Brut vs. Satan is the bands third album and follows a similar trend to their previous releases. The music is a fairly generic sound typical of many current British bands. A sort of spiky rock straddling the fence of indie and punk but there is a few nice riffs which break through. Highlights include Am I Normal with some nice melodic guitar underpinning a confession of opportunities missed. Slap Dash For No Cash is catchy three minute burst and epic closer Mysterious Bruises builds to an almost funk backing track before a fist in the air outro.

Lyrically there’s social commentary, small townisms and tales of growing up. Demons Out! for example is an enjoyable anguished rant about the idiots who buy chart music. Throughout the album there’s many popular culture references mostly to bands like The Replacements, The Clash, Iggy Pop, U2, the Beatles, The Stones, The Warm Jets. Some complimentary some not.

Rock legend Black Francis produced this record but Pixie’s fans looking for a hit may be disappointed as its hard to make out his stamp on proceedings. However if you can get into the vocal styling then you might find this album a pleasant surprise.

By Alex Telfer

Rating: 7/10
Format: Album
Release Date: Out Now
Label: Cooking Vinyl
www.artbrut.org.uk

REVIEW // IN CASE OF FIRE - ALIGN THE PLANETS

2009-06-21T15:13:00.001+01:00

I tried for ages to conjure up an hilarious joke about Northern Ireland and the way it seems to churn out three piece bands. I couldn't think of one. I probably spent more time mulling over that seemingly insignificant detail than I will writing the rest of this review. The fact that my efforts have been so easily misdirected away from the record itself, however, probably gives much away much about what I'm poised to write.
The first alarm bells began to ring after a glance at the production credits. Uber-producer Gil Norton is a man who seems to arrive quite suspiciously just after bands turn in the albums of their lives, and right before the words 'mature' and 'critical acclaim' start to get wheeled out. See also: Funeral for a Friend, Feeder, The Distillers, blah blah blah.. On the plus side, this being their debut, at least In Case of Fire have no existing killer material with which to compare this to.

'Align The Planets' kicks off with the muscular 'This Time We Stand', and this is where problem number one already becomes apparent. The drop-tuned riffs are at times quite meaty, but the fact that vocalist and guitarist Steven Robinson's tuneful but indistinctive voice sits way up in the higher register completely undermines any kind of aggression the tunes would otherwise convey. It's like a boxing match between two 5-year-olds. After a few tracks of this, the wailing choruses begin to blend into one another, and the heavily Americanised pronunciation really starts to grate.

After repeated listening, it becomes no easier to distinguish each track. The only two I can call immediately to mind (and this is not inherently a good thing) are Radio One-playlisted 'The Cleansing' and 'Parallels', a more mellow but equally repetitive affair, for which the only notes I wrote after having heard it through the first time were: 'SHIT'. Caps and everything. Worse still, considering the money either the band or their label has presumably had to stump up to secure the rights to the portion of Dr King's legendary 'I Have a Dream' speech that appears (rather uncomfortably) halfway through 'Plan A', the end result is such a disappointingly messy attempt to make some kind of dated political point about the KKK.

The overriding feeling that prevails once the dying seconds of 'Second Revelation' have passed, is that this sounds like an album of rejected Fightstar B-Sides. Given the hype surrounding In Case of Fire and the level of cultural significance to which they aspire, it's disappointing to discover that 'Align The Planets' is all bark and no bite.

By Rob Dand

Rating: 3/10
Format: Album
Label: Zomba
Release Date: Out Now
www.myspace.com/kingcreosote

REVIEW // MAGIC ARM – MAKE LISTS DO SOMETHING

2009-06-14T12:55:00.007+01:00

The electro-folk poetry of Magic Arm is of a slow yet charismatic charm. I say slow, because this album is a grower, it approaches your ears as curious and interesting, then it becomes pleasant, and then when you find yourself, as I have, playing it over and over, you realize it has been gently flirting with you, and now you have fallen for it.
In it, the acoustic romanticism of the sixties graciously meets a modern electronic sophistication and it is soon sonic chemistry and harmonious coexistence between the two. The mark by the influences of bands like The Beatles and The Beach Boys is traceable, whilst the laptop conceived elaborations claim originality.

Some have compared the Manchester based Magic Arm to Beck and the Beta Band, and there is definitely an eclecticism that fraternizes him to these artists, though his sound still emerges as one of the most unique I have recently come across.

The soundscapes created by songs like Outdoor Games show how atmospheric and melancholic a tune the combination of drums and electronics is able to convey.
The minimal Bootsy Bootsy has a memorable impact and reveals a refreshing, almost row spontaneity.

Make Lists Do Something is worth being part of any music collection, because as I said, it may not be love at first sight, but it is a long lasting companion.

By Liza Adebisi

Rating: 8/10
Format: Album
Release Date: Out Now
Label: Switchflicker / Peacefrog
www.myspace.com/magicarm