High Fidelity Records

2012-01-15T09:41:00.003+01:00

HFR’s album top 2011

Here we are once more: HFR’s album top 2011 and this year’s releases compilation. It has become a rather eclectic mix of music with, a little to my own surprise, quite some electronic orientated albums in it.
And again: the exact order of the album top doesn’t really matter. It’s only use is to show if an album is rated as one of the best 3, 5, 10, 20, etc. of this year. In my humble opinion that is, of course.

50. Conquering Animal Sound - Kammerspiel
49. Little Comets - In search of elusive little comets
48. Polock - Getting down from the trees
47. Bell X1 - Bloodless coup
46. The Rural Alberta Advantage - Departing
45. School Is Cool - Entropology
44. Ponderosa - Moonlight revival
43. Pete And The Pirates - One thousand pictures
42. Gardens & Villa - Gardens & Villa
41. Airship - Stuck in this ocean
40. Loch Lomond - Little me will start a storm
39. Jape - Ocean of frequency
38. Cold Cave - Cherish the light years
37. Oh Minnows - For shadows
36. Säkert! - På engelska
35. Chris Bathgate - Salt year
34. Young The Giant - Young The Giant
33. Other Lives - Tamer animals
32. M83 - Hurry up, we're dreaming
31. Dan Mangan - Oh fortune
30. The Rapture - In the grace of your love
29. The Drums - Portamento
28. Benjamin Francis Leftwich - Last smoke before the snowstorm
27. The Boxer Rebellion - The cold still
26. The Antlers - Burst apart
25. The Fruit Tree Foundation - First edition
24. Norman Palm - Shore to shore
23. Apparat - The devil's walk
22. The Bony King Of Nowhere - Eleonore
21. Tape The Radio - Heartache and fear

20. Metronomy - The English Riviera
19. Blood Orange - Coastal grooves
18. Friendly Fires - Pala
17. Cold War Kids - Mine is yours
16. Fool's Gold - Leave no trace
15. Grouplove - Never trust a happy song
14. Chapel Club - Palace
13. I Am Oak - Oasem
12. Wolf Gang - Suego faults
11. Cloud Control - Bliss release
10. SBTRKT - SBTRKT
9. Beirut - The rip tide
8. Bombay Bicycle Club - A different kind of fix
7. Nicolas Jaar - Space is only noise
6. Sparkadia - The great impression
5. The Naked And Famous - Passive me - Aggressive you
4. The Head And The Heart - The Head And The Heart
3. Jamie Woon - Mirrorwriting
2. Foster The People - Torches

1. Bon Iver - Bon Iver, Bon Iver

HFR’s album release mix 2011 (incl. HFR’s album top 2011, # 1-20):
part 1: HFR’s album top 2011
part 2 part 3 part 4 part 5 part 6 part 7 part 8 part 9
Total size: 1,49 GB

The album year lists of the previous years, you can find here:

HFR’s album top 2009

HFR’s album top 2008

HFR’s album top 2007

HFR’s album top 2006

ENJOY!

2011-12-25T14:07:00.002+01:00

Good Luck Mountain - Good Luck Mountain

Year: 2011
Genre: Americana / alt. country
Listen: search on soundcloud.com
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~221]
Scene release: no
File size: 63 MB

Track listing:
01. Softly tonight 2:43
02. The seven sisters 3:51
03. More than a feeling 5:42
04. Requiem for Andrew 3:47
05. On faith 2:43
06. Heaven in the haze 6:13
07. On returning 5:00
08. Wayward blues 2:56
09. The perfect circle 6:14

Review:
Good Luck Mountain is the new project from Tandy frontman Mike Ferrio. The self titled release is essentially a project to commemorate Tandy member Drew Glackin, who passed away suddenly in 2008. As a musical mix it covers a vast spread of genres from complex rock to soul and minimal ambiance; a mix as vast and varied as the musical talents it employs: from Konrad Meissner (The Silos, Matt Nathanson) to Jason Mercer (Ron Sexsmith, Ani DiFranco), Pavement’s Sibel Firat and The Damnwell’s, and finally violinist Eleanor Whitmore and Lucy Hollier on viola, who provide Good Luck Mountain with its very heart via solemn country refrains.
Recurring notions of loss, remembrance, questionings of “what next?” and imaginings of meeting his maker, Ferrio – vocals somewhere between a Springsteen and a Petty – eulogizes in a way that is both universal and yet wholly personal given the story at the core.
Given the nod by the likes of Steve Earle and Jim White this is a contemporary and fresh approach to the alt-country genre, with its outlook given a timeless quality and production: understated guitar, harmonica and string arrangements lighting much of the way for the dark topic at its root; finally allowing it to branch out into something pure and positive. Certainly a record that while immediate on numbers such as ‘The Seven Sisters’, exudes small wisdom and stirring instrumentation in many of its more portentous numbers. Well worth a listen.

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2011-12-25T14:05:00.003+01:00

Jape - Ocean of frequency

Year: 2011
Genre: Electronic / indie / pop
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/richiejape
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~238]
Scene release: no
File size: 78 MB

Track listing:
01. An hallucination 0:54
02. Please don't turn the record off 3:22
03. The oldest mind 4:58
04. Too many people 3:55
05. One of those days that just feels so long 3:26
06. Borrowed time with peace 4:57
07. Scorpio 3:46
08. You make the love 3:14
09. Internal machine 3:48
10. Its shadow won't make noise 5:16
11. Nanoitanicullah 0:53
12. Ocean of frequency 4:55

Review:
Since picking up the Choice Award for their 2008 album, Ritual, Jape have seen a massive rise in their popularity both home and abroad. They’ve spent the last three years playing national and international tours as well as several high profile festival spots at Glastonbury, Electric Picnic and many more. Now the band is back with their fourth studio album, Ocean of Frequency and they’re in prime position to make the most of their celebrity as one of Ireland’s leading electro-pioneering pop groups and go all the way.
But do they want to? Ocean of Frequency is the album Tickets There was anticipating a year ago when the band performed a mini-studio break show in the Button Factory. Sparse, quiet and extremely subdued in almost every way. All in all, a re-design of their classic tranquil sound with little or no attempts made to compete against live classics like ’I Was A Man’, ‘Strike Me Down’ and ‘Floating’ while at the same time it also lacks standout quieter moments like ‘At The Heart of all This Strangeness’, ‘Phil Lynott’ or ‘The Hardest Thing To Do’.
Oddly enough, Jape have chosen not include well received tasters ‘Hands of Fire’ and ‘Lying on a Deathbed’, which surfaced at the start of the summer or ‘The Worry Fades’ that was previewed last year and instead gone all out with a fresh spread for fans to enjoy. The new sound works well on tracks like ‘Please Don’t Turn the Record Off’, ’The Oldest Mind’ and ‘Too Many People’ – the albums opening tracks. However, as the record rolls on it becomes harder and harder to pull real excitement out of it and anyone hoping for a perfect musical assault, like that seen on Ritual, may be in for a let-down. Fans of the older sound will find a lot more to enjoy with songs like ‘You Make The Love’, ‘Scorpio’ and ‘Its Shadow Won’t Make Noise’ adding Jape’s signature writing style to the mix.
Ocean of Frequency is by no means an objectionable record, in fact it perfectly sits in line with the direction Jape initially started off on, but veered away from when Floating became such a hit. Unfortunately though, it lacks a definitive flag ship song to rally around, enjoy and sell it. The band has proven they can go all the way if they want but with Richie Egan’s tendency to keep all eyes focused on the music– maybe this is his way of reverting back to his roots and keep Jape the way he wants it, rather than let fans and popularity dictate the direction his creation should go in. At the end of the day, there’s no arguing with that.

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2011-12-25T14:03:00.004+01:00

Lanterns On The Lake - Gracious tide, take me home

Year: 2011
Genre: Folktronica / indie
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/lanternsonthelake
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~226]
Scene release: no
File size: 83 MB

Track listing:
01. Lungs quicken 5:35
02. If I've been unkind 4:48
03. Keep on trying 5:04
04. Ships in the rain 2:04
05. A kingdom 4:14
06. The places we call home 6:15
07. Blanket of leaves 3:28
08. Tricks 6:35
09. You're almost there 3:10
10. I love you, sleepyhead 5:41
11. Not going back to the harbour 1:13

Review:
The misty waters of the River Tyne have long exerted a gravitational pull on poets, painters and lovelorn, heartbroken bards. Even to this day in my hometown, there remains a curious sense of past, present and future as you stare across history at the ageing cranes and warehouses nestling alongside luxury apartments and modern architecture. Like many other major river cities, Newcastle may have changed, but lifeblood and heritage flows deeply within the currents, ebbs and tides of the river that once sustained its every whim and desire.
Lanterns on the Lake, one of the first bands to break out of the insular (though generally excellent) folk and nu-folk hegemony which forms the strongest pillar supporting the Newcastle scene clearly share in the same dewy-eyed romanticism that has provided so many artists with their muses across the years. Newcastle has always been a folk haven with its working-class roots but Lanterns on the Lake typify a newer, younger, more experimental and more elegant hybrid style (though it’s still immersed in heartbreak, sighs of longing and lamentations). But their sorrow brings happiness to us, for their music is generally wonderful.
The sonic breadth of the record is drawn between slow, dense waves of melancholy and atmospheric storm (as best emphasised by ‘Ships in the Rain’) and a more hopeful, sweet melodic folk-pop lilt (the perky ‘A Kingdom’ may well convert many of the assorted Mumford/Noah fans). But their most confident, expressive territory is found in the spaces between, specifically when the breathy, Elizabeth Fraser-esque vocal chimes of Hazel Wilde tangle up sensually with the gliding strings and an admirably mature reservation in not pushing for cheap thrills, but instead revelling in the sensuality of the moment. ‘The Places We Call Home’, sitting somewhere between Sufjan, Sigur Rós, Arcade Fire and a Northumberland folk troupe is absolutely beautiful: six minutes of gorgeous swelling, moving atmospherics and stark emotion. And standout track ‘I Love You, Sleepyhead’, arriving towards the end of the record is quite magnificent, especially in its rising cacophony of sound that steadily picks us up and carries us towards the horizon. Their understanding of dynamics is wonderful. But they’ve got other avenues of creativity too. ‘Tricks’ is a dark and mysterious collage of textures that actually hints more towards Portishead than anything with a folk leaning. Its simple effectiveness defines a band who have done their homework, ascertained their collective strengths and weaknesses and are now looking to establish the best way to utilise them.
Gracious Tide, Take Me Home is not without its occasional stumbles. ‘Blanket of Leaves’ doesn’t end up going anywhere meaningful despite its promise and lovely as it is, ‘Keep on Trying’ isn’t possessed of enough depth to justify a full five minutes. But these are minor quibbles and for the most part, this is a tremendous, impressive and authentically pretty debut and one which I can see having a surprisingly broad appeal (folk has never been more popular and their dynamic layering and sound construction will appeal to shoegaze and electronic advocates). It will be interesting to see how Lanterns on the Lake develop their sound over the next part of their career; you get the sense from the record that they’re only just beginning to explore their sound and their flirtations with electronica are fascinating, nodding towards a promisingly experimental future. But all this is to come. As a debut, as a mark in the sand, Gracious Tide, Take Me Home is an endearing and beautifully drawn modern folk record: its wounded heart pinned to its lacy, windswept sleeve, watching atop the harbour walls and pining for a release from its sorrows.

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2011-12-11T11:55:00.004+01:00

School Is Cool - Entropology

Year: 2011
Genre: Rock / indie
Listen: www.soundcloud.com/schooliscool
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~257]
Scene release: School_Is_Cool_-_Entropology-CD-2011-HB
File size: 87 MB

01. The world is gonna end tonight 3:30
02. Car, backseat, parking lot 2:58
03. In want of something 2:33
04. O delusions 3:30
05. The road to Rome 3:23
06. Interlude 1:46
07. Dawn, and a newly hatched damselfly 1:32
08. On the beach of Hanalei 2:42
09. Algorithms 2:40
10. Trouble in the engine room 1:56
11. New kids in town 3:12
12. Interlude 1:13
13. The underside 3:17
14. Car, backseat, parking lot (reprise) 2:34
15. Warpaint 3:46
16. Entropology 4:45

No English review available (yet). Just listen to the songs on the soundcloud website to get an impression.

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2011-12-11T11:53:00.004+01:00

Grouplove - Never trust a happy song

Year: 2011
Genre: Indie / pop / rock
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/groupmusic
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~257]
Scene release: Grouplove-Never_Trust_A_Happy_Song-2011-SiRE
File size: 88 MB

Track listing:
01. Itchin' on a photograph 4:20
02. Tongue tied 3:38
03. Lovely cup 4:18
04. Colours 4:18
05. Slow 3:38
06. Naked kids 3:30
07. Spun 3:26
08. Betty's bomb shell 3:35
09. Chloe 3:18
10. Love will save your soul 3:48
11. Cruel and beautiful world 4:03
12. Close your eyes and count to ten 4:49

Review:
"If it makes you happy," Sheryl Crow once mused, "then why the hell are you so sad?" It’s a question that could well be reversed and asked of California five-piece Grouplove, whose hotly anticipated debut album is finally a tangible prospect. While its songs – on their glossy, shiny, chirpy, summery surface – seem full of ebullient joy, underneath that buoyant exterior, there’s a lingering, ineluctable sense of melancholy. The first thing, however, that strikes you about these 12 songs is just how different they are. Not necessarily from other bands around today – although that’s true to an extent – but from each other; just how much, in this album’s 47 minutes, it shifts sounds.
The breezy, doe-eyed, wistful opener Itchin’ on a Photograph is redolent of their first, self-titled EP, where, like that record’s lead track, Colours, there’s more than a hint of Modest Mouse to Christian Zucconi’s vocals and the song’s soaring yet delicate melody. It’s upbeat but wistful, life-affirming yet jaded – akin, perhaps, to experiencing the hangover of a crazy night out while still downing the cocktails.
It’s a paradox that runs through the whole album. Tongue Tied is similarly caught between two polar opposites, its sentiment at beautiful odds with its bouncy tune; while the aforementioned Colours and the whimsical Lovely Cup, although seemingly nonsensical at first, soon reveal themselves as full of emotional instability. Slow – a dark, spectral song, and one of a few on which keyboardist/vocalist Hannah Hooper takes centre stage – completely shifts the musical focus of the record, something which Naked Kids, replete with its Bran Van 3000-esque slow-motion ‘rap’ takes full advantage of, while it emulates the perfect California day.
Elsewhere, Betty’s a Bombshell is a lilting story song that glides with syrupy harmonies, Love Will Save Your Soul an immediately hummable, optimistic, energetic (and wonderfully naïve) romp, and penultimate number Cruel and Beautiful World a downbeat, rain-soaked ode to the best and worst things in life, all of which is captured in its simple but powerful chorus. Then, Close Your Eyes and Count to Ten ends the album with bittersweet poignancy. Never Trust a Happy Song is far from a cohesive album, but that actually works to its advantage – because it encapsulates the ups and downs, the joys and sorrows, of this emotional rollercoaster known as life. Live it – and (Group)love it.

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2011-12-11T11:50:00.006+01:00

Apparat - The devil's walk

Year: 2011
Genre: Electronic / pop
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/apparat
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~244]
Scene release: Apparat-Devils_Walk-2011-FNT
File size: 91 MB

Track listing:
01. Sweet unrest 3:34
02. Song of los 4:34
03. Black water 4:43
04. Goodbye 4:17
05. Candil de la calle 4:37
06. The soft voices die 4:22
07. Escape 5:46
08. Ash / Black veil 5:44
09. A bang in the void 6:02
10. Your house is my world 3:55
Deluxe edition bonus track:
11. The world around you 4:08

Review:
Berlin-based producer Sascha Ring, aka Apparat, positioned his DJ Kicks mix, released in 2010, as a farewell to the dancefloor-focussed section of his career. His label Shitkatapult continues to release house and techno, but with The Devil’s Walk Ring appears to have abandoned tracks that aim to move bodies in favour of songs that aim to move hearts.
The sonic touchstones for The Devil’s Walk include Junior Boys, M83, the melancholic pop of Maximilian Hecker and, most obviously, Sigur Rós. The Icelandic band’s predilection for surging anthems that quiver between celebration and sorrow looms large on Song of Los and Black Water, while The Soft Voices Die is so indebted as to be pastiche.
Elsewhere Ring tends to keep on the right side of influence, but his magpie tendencies remain apparent. The richly melodic A Bang in the Void, for example, apes Steve Reich’s counterpoint works of the 1970s, as did Not a Number from his previous solo album, Walls (2007). Ring’s attention to detail is typically exquisite here: the looped bowing of a cello provides a droning bassline beneath pitch-bent chimes.
Vocally The Devil’s Walk finds Ring in lovelorn, po-faced mood. Song of Los, Black Water and Ash/Black Veil are essentially traditional power ballads given a tasteful electronic spritz: they’re catchy, melodramatic, and pretty cheesy. Candil de la Calle pulls a lot of the same moves, but the shuddering lurch of its dubstep-influenced rhythm establishes a more interesting push and pull between vocal and melody. Unfortunately, other tracks on the album just pass, almost without notice, when you play this album.
One of the best songs here is Goodbye. It resonates with the doom-laden delivery of Anja Plaschg, aka Soap&Skin, intoning above scrabbly clouds of acoustic guitar and piano chords that sink like a corpse in water. If only there was more drama of this sort here, to bolster Ring’s talent as an arranger and a producer.

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2011-11-27T14:41:00.004+01:00

Säkert! - På engelska

Year: 2011
Genre: Indie / melancholic pop
Listen: http://soundcloud.com/dgrmusic/sets/saekert-pa-engelska/
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~231]
Scene release: Sakert-Pa_Engelska-(RAZZIA185)-CD-2011-GCP
File size: 62 MB

Track listing:
01. November 2:56
02. Honey 3:38
03. Fredrik 3:48
04. Can I 3:12
05. The lakes we skate on 3:22
06. The flu 3:56
07. Dancing, though 2:52
08. You'll be on your own 2:42
09. It's going to lead up to something bad 3:43
10. Weak is the flesh 3:28
11. Quiet 3:17

Review:
Translating songs to English will always be a difficult and tedious process, yet for Annika Norlin of Säkert! it was a task that she enthusiastically signed up for. While few foreign language crossover artists can imitate the success of let’s say Shakira, for Annika she kept thinking about how sad that her English speaking audience couldn’t have the pleasure of understanding her songs in Swedish. When it hit her that she should just translate the songs, the result was that her songs mostly from her previous album “Facit” (translates to looking back/result) did get translated and ended up being part of her first English album as Säkert! suitably named “På engelska” (In English).
While the Swedish language may be soft and fluid at times it is still undeniably harsh, for Annika switching to English has given her songs a bit more light and in essence sweetened her vocals. For the most part Annika does a commendable job translating from Swedish without losing too much lyrically or rhythmically. Whether it’s the unique storytelling in simplistic “Can I” (originally “Får jag”) a song about about watching a Sweden vs. Finland hockey game at a bar called Dovas or the rather complex rhythms of global warming-themed twee song “Isarna” (Ice) the feel and rhythms aren’t lost on its English equivalent “The Lakes We Skate On”. Translation aside På engelskais filled top to bottom with great song after another. Take “Honey” with its glistening guitar licks for example; “Dancing Though” with its fast-paced flamenco/ska beat and “The Flu” despite some awkward/clumsy anatomical terms is perfectly melancholic with its Celtic-flavored guitars and strings. All points considered, despite being a translated album, the songs perfectly stand on their own. Even without Markus Krunegård on the English version of “Det kommer bara leda till nåt ont” translated as “It’s going lead up to something bad” the song measures up perfectly to its Swedish equivalent.
There is a word in the Swedish language about the Swedish ethos that every Swede will tell you can not be directly translated. Norlin wrote this album with this ethos in mind with the songs being about working too hard, loving too much, talking too little, growing up too slow in the northern parts of Sweden, and about fearing your country’s politics is going somewhere where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Some people call it Scandinavian minimalism, some people call it the classic Swedish melancholia, but Swedes know it as lagom. It’s this lagom or Swedish ethos unfortunately that is so hard to translate. It’s the idea that the middle road is always best that applies even in music by being neither too much nor too little and being neither too happy nor too sad. While Norlin has done a phenomenal job translating all the texture and feel into “På engelska”, it’s still a matter of “lost in translation” as the prose and structure simply can’t rival that of Säkert!’s original Swedish language songs. So if you speak and understand Swedish by all means grab a copy of “Facit” and also her eponymous self-titled LP “Säkert!” but if you still haven’t gotten a firm grasp of the Swedish language, På engelska definitely won’t disappoint.

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2011-11-27T14:38:00.003+01:00

Cloud Control - Bliss release

Year: 2011
Genre: Rock / indie / electronic / psychedelic folk
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/cloudcontrol
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~245]
Scene release: Cloud_Control-Bliss_Release-(Deluxe_Edition)-2CD-2011-TAKU
File size: 111 MB

Track listing:
01. Meditation song #2 (why, oh why) 7:03
02. There's nothing in the water we can't fight 6:31
03. Ghost story 6:43
04. Gold canary 6:04
05. This is what I said 5:54
06. Just for now 6:09
07. The Rolling Stones 7:06
08. Hollow drums 4:22
09. My fear #2 5:51
10. Beast of love 5:52

Bonus disc:
11. My fear # 1 5:22
12. Island 6:04
13. This is what yo mamma said (Fishing remix) 5:11
14. Gold canary (Seekae remix) 5:18
15. Gold canary (Djanimals remix) 3:32
16. There's nothing in the water we can't fight (Spod remix) 6:05
17. Pursuit of happiness (FBI Radio Sydney live recording) 4:03

Review:
Are other countries' equivalents of the Mercury Prize just as potentially poisonous as our version (what with the decline of Gomez, the difficult drama of Klaxons, and the recent fall from universal critical acclaim of Elbow)? If so, we probably ought to be terribly concerned for nearly-Sydney foursome Cloud Control. This record won Australia's version, which hasn't exactly led to international recognition for predecessors such as... any of them, really.
Throughout Bliss Release, Cloud Control masterfully craft their own special brand of folk-infused, psychedelic pop. Toying with looping (“Death Cloud”), soulful chanting (“Gold Canary”), and a lot of tambourine along the way, each song’s base of keys, heavy bass, and distorted guitars morphs into something greater. Opener “Meditation Song #2 (Why, Oh Why)” offers the perfect example of this, as a drone and acoustic strum swell into a triumphant cacophony of hand-claps, swirling psychedelics, and a downright grungy guitar lick. The vocal performances of Alister Wright and Heidi Lenffer are the icing on the sonic cake. Wright usually leads the way, his wails recalling James Mercer, especially on “There’s Nothing in the Water We Can’t Fight”. When they sing together, though, Cloud Control reaches a new dimension: Her lofty, breathy delivery paired with his more direct, quivering voice creates shiver-inducing harmonies (most notably on folksy “Just for Now”).
Cloud Control’s lyrics may not be revolutionary, but that isn’t the point of Bliss Release. It is a demonstration of truly versatile, fresh talent, a debut full to the brim of completely absorbing, compelling songs. In a line indicative of the album’s general sentiments, Wright and Lenffer sing, “Sometimes the world’s real hard to understand.” Fortunately, the hardest thing about Cloud Control to understand is why we’ve taken so long to find out about them.

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2011-11-27T14:36:00.002+01:00

Son Lux - We are rising

Year: 2011
Genre: Indie / electronic / folk
Myspace: http://music.sonluxmusic.com/
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~241]
Scene release: Son_Lux-We_Are_Rising-2011-CMS
File size: 63 MB

Track listing:
01. Flickers 4:56
02. All the right things 3:52
03. Rising 4:30
04. Leave the riches 4:49
05. Flowers 2:55
06. Chase 3:01
07. Claws 4:07
08. Let go 3:22
09. Rebuild 3:55

Review:
In just one month, Ryan Lott produced a seriously strong, intensely evocative record and all because National Public Radio told him to. The man that is Son Lux spent February answering All Songs Considered’s RPM Challenge, in which an entire album must be recorded from scratch in a single month. On top of his own digital dabbling, Lott added contributions from friends in Midlake, The Antlers, and My Brightest Diamond, coming away with a fully-fleshed, well-orchestrated electronic album.
On his 2008 debut album, At War With Walls and Mazes, Lott showed his comfort with both electronic sound sources and traditional instruments, as well as the ability to blend the two. From the opening track, “Flickers”, on, it’s occasionally hard to tell what exactly is pulsing out of the speakers. Blasts of what might be low-octave melodicas or feathered synth wrap around Lott’s theatric vocals, later getting doses of broken drums and beehive strings. The whole thing comes off like the dark, operatic middle ground between Owen Pallett and In Rainbows-era Radiohead or Wild Beasts’ fantastic, operatic heights.
“It’s not your fault, no it doesn’t have to be,” Lott drones over the distorted bass drum and parade horns of “All the Right Things”. The scooped, caterwauling harmonies steal the show, though, the pack of operatic Lotts swirling and diving. The goofy, neo-tribal opening to “Rising” belies another solid, soundtrack-style piece. The slow-burning “Leave the Riches” relies on Lott’s controlled, Grizzly Bear-style vibrato and shuddering, dark-tinted percussion.
Everything sounds very narrative-focused, very dramatic. Even the simpler moments, like the low, quiet “Flowers” with its twinkling, octave-peddling xylophone and chiming church bells, shine with a writerly bravado. Lott is clearly a talent, with a rich array of tools and an advanced understanding of how to use them.

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2011-11-06T09:45:00.002+01:00

The Fruit Tree Foundation - First edition

Year: 2011
Genre: Folk / indie / rock
Myspace: http://www.facebook.com/fruittreefoundation
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~232]
Scene release: no
File size: 84 MB

Track listing:
01. Splinter 3:09
02. Forgotten anniversary 2:39
03. Favourite son 3:31
04. I forgot the fall 3:47
05. Beware beware 4:27
06. Dead leaves and a swollen leg 3:50
07. Singing for strangers 3:00
08. Fall arch 2:56
09. All gone but one 3:37
10. After hours 3:32
11. The untrue womb 4:32
12. Tooth and claw 3:48
13. Hired help 3:40
14. Just as scared 3:32

Review:
Charity records aren’t usually that great, are they? Being honest, if you exclude Dark was the Night and some parts of Help, you’re left with a whole load of passable covers and a nagging sense that you perhaps ought to have donated some cash to a worthy cause online instead.
So it gives me great pleasure to report that the first album by The Fruit Tree Foundation is not just a great charity record, but a great record full stop.
The Fruit Tree Foundation is a new independent project in Scotland led by musicians Rod Jones (Idlewild) and Emma Pollock (the solo artist and former Delgado). They formed a group in February 2010 for five days to record a charity album for The Mental Health Foundation, comprising of the best in Scottish talent including Scott Hutchison (Frightened Rabbit), James Graham (Twilight Sad), Jill O’Sullivan (Sparrow and the Workshop), Karine Polwart, Jenny Reeve, Alasdair Roberts and James Yorkston, which was followed by a couple of high profile gigs. Now a year on, it’s being released officially with artwork by Aidan Moffat to further the good work and let those of us that missed it first time around hear what they created.
What you end up with is a collection of songs that hang together remarkably well as a whole yet were conceived by two strangers in a short period of time, giving the whole project a varied feel from song-to-song and a sense of pleasing, fresh spontaneity.
It’s one of those records where your favourite tracks vary constantly but the two founding members’ passion for the project shines through. They only work together on the penultimate ‘Hired Help’ - a rousing sing-a-long affair with some wonderful dual harmonies - but whenever their name crops up it’s fair to expect something special imminently.
Pollock teams up with Hutchison on ‘Singing for Strangers’ with fine results, but her duet with Yorkston on ‘Forgotten Anniversary’ is up there with the very best songs on either artist's previous album, featuring some wonderful lyrical interchanges: Yorkston quips “And although I’m not fucking Poirot I don’t believe you’ve read all those books / by the spiders on untroubled spines” to which Pollock retorts: “Catholics and corsets don’t interest me oh you’ll have to do better than that / I’m not impressed by your second-hand matter of fact - and your God just bores me.”
Her three way harmony with Jill O’ Sullivan and James Graham (another recurring pair of names working at the peak of their abilities) on ‘Favourite Son’ help elevate a very good song to one of the album highlights. The finale repeats over and over “Scream. And scream all you want…” and is powerful stuff.
Elsewhere Rod Jones duets with some slightly less familiar Scottish names and ends up with a collection of songs memorable for very differing reasons. 'The Untrue Womb' sees him lock voices with Alasdair Roberts on a song that feels like it should only ever be admired and not dissected, Scott Hutchison joins in on the slightly epic ‘I Forgot the Fall’ (which has heavy hints of both males’ day jobs coursing through it) and the gorgeous ‘Dead Leaves and a Swollen Leg’, a breezy and beautiful ode to a tree, finds him teaming up with Jill O’Sullivan. It feels like something that might have soundtracked a pivotal scene in O Brother, Where Art Thou? (if it was made in Scotland). His duet with Graham on ‘All Gone But One’ is a more instant album standout, with both of them repeating a series of short snappy phrases such as “When the light turns we’ll leave her there… I’ll throw you on the spire” over one another’s take.
In truth though, while the project instigators rightly deserve a lot of credit, it’s a fully conceived team effort that echoes issues surrounding mental health but never directly preaches about it. Opener ‘Splinter’ sets the tone immediately, pitched just perfectly the right side of grand and with a brooding fragility to it that Graham’s vocals suit down to the ground - vocals that reappear and couple wonderfully with Karine Polwart on the brief but bright ‘Fall Arch'.
Roberts’ heavy drawl creates a brooding atmosphere on ‘Beware Beware’, which Yorkston underpins superbly with some raw, crackling guitar sounds. ‘After Hours’ is one of those tracks which continues to unveil itself with every listen whereas ‘Tooth and Claw’ (O’Sullivan / Jenny Reeve) swells from a fairly straight-forward number into a deliberately ominous outro.
All-in-all it’s a beautifully layered listen. A few of the arrangements are impressively complex considering the album was only recorded in five days. A reminder of that arrives as Yorkston and O’Sullivan duet on the affecting closer ‘Just as Scared’, singing “I don’t have the answers / I’m just here with you / Just as lost as you / Just as scared as you”. A digital watch beeps in the background, destined to be part of the recording forever more.

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2011-11-06T09:43:00.002+01:00

Bombay Bicycle Club - A different kind of fix

Year: 2011
Genre: Indie / folk / pop
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/bombaybicycleclub
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~244]
Scene release: Bombay_Bicycle_Club-A_Different_Kind_Of_Fix-2011-SiRE
File size: 90 MB

Track listing:
01. How can you swallow so much sleep 3:30
02. Bad timing 3:34
03. Your eyes 5:21
04. Lights out, words gone 5:01
05. Take the right one 3:35
06. Shuffle 3:55
07. Beggars 4:11
08. Leave it 3:54
09. Fracture 4:03
10. What you want 4:19
11. Favourite day 4:56
12. Still 4:25

Review:
It’s okay if you’re a little irritating if you’re also annoyingly good. Bombay Bicycle Club, young and fey when they pedalled onto the scene four years ago and now looking even younger and acting even more feyly, may still not be embraced by those who feel the post-Belle and Sebastian school of anti-rock merits a good slap rather than a hug and an exclamation of "aw, bless", but it’s getting increasingly difficult to deny their talent.
Yes, they’ve been given more encouragement, nurturing and backing than most bands receive in a lifetime, but they’ve now released three albums of bravely different styles. Their debut was dynamic indie-pop, while top-10 follow-up Flaws lurched across to soft folk territory with a perversity that only seemed opportunistic with hindsight. Now, thankfully electing not to go the full Mumford, they return with something that’s beautifully hard to categorise. A bit Italian house, a bit Animal Collective (Ben Allen is among the producers, as is 21st century tyro Jim Abbiss), a bit Talking Heads and a lot flush with giddy enthusiasm and sunshine, it’s very indie and very fey – but in a good way.
Lead single Shuffle provides pretty much a microcosm of the album’s feel. Building a gentle, hooky pop song over a looping, dance-inducing piano sample, it’s, like all the best late-summer sounds, 75% exuberant and 25% melancholy. What You Want and Bad Timing waft in on similar breezes, but with less definition, more ambivalence. Lights Out, Words Gone is as close as they come to the realms of the epic, fostering a stabby white-funk riff until it blows off science (they’re warmer than Foals) and stumbles happily onto something not a million miles away from soul.
Guitars are understated throughout, and singer/co-producer Jack Steadman’s penchant for making bedroom-electronica off duty has permeated these grooves without smothering them in ‘blub-’ or any other kind of ‘step’. Yes, the videos still display awkward, cringe-worthy naivety that could inspire the next The Inbetweeners movie, but this music is a mature mix of jaunty and jaundiced.

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Bombay Bicycle Club - Flaws (2010) [V2,~182]

2011-10-26T10:46:00.004+02:00

The Drums - Portamento

Year: 2011
Genre: Indie / pop / rock
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/thedrumsforever
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~226]
Scene release: The_Drums-Portamento-2011-SiRE
File size: 74 MB

Track listing:
01. Book of revelations 3:30
02. Days 4:30
03. What you were 3:15
04. Money 3:53
05. Hard to love 3:53
06. I don't know how to love 3:22
07. Searching for heaven 2:49
08. Please don't leave 4:12
09. If he likes it let him do it 3:51
10. I need a doctor 4:17
11. In the cold 3:30
12. How it ended 4:21

Review:
The Drums have got simplicity down to a fine art. When vocalist Jonathan Pierce and guitarist Jacob Graham first formed a band, they named it Goat Explosion. After temporarily going separate ways – Pierce fronted Elkland and Graham formed Horse Shoes – their 2006 reunion dropped the animal imagery for a name so effortlessly and obviously brilliant that you couldn’t believe nobody had beaten them to it. Suitably attired, The Drums’ newly minted blend of surf-rock and indie pop (most obviously Mancunian at heart, from The Smiths to Peter Hook basslines, with a dash of Orange Juice) was as canny as it was minimal and uncomplicated. Song titles from their self-titled debut, from Let’s Go Surfing to Best Friends, were never likely to mask socio-political treatises. As The Vaccines know, sometimes route one is the only way to go.
The use of the word Portamento – the musical term for "a gradual slide from one note to another", and used here to denote change – threatens to derail this base formula. But don’t worry. The change in question, namely last year’s departure of co-guitarist Adam Kessler, has created an even more stripped-out sound, even when electronics are sometimes thrown into the mix. And titles such as Days, Money and In the Cold reveal The Drums are still keeping it simple.
"Devastated" by Kessler’s decision, the remaining trio were clearly keen to move on, given Portamento arrives just 14 months after their debut. And it does sound rushed. Portamento is simplicity redux. They only really have one kind of song and tempo, rollicking yet melancholy. The lyrics to Money could easily be sung over the following Hard to Love. Is the backdrop to I Don’t Know How to Love much different to, say, Let’s Go Surfing? True, the difference between The Beach Boys’ first two albums is roughly the same. ‘Progress’ is perhaps overrated and The Drums write their songs very, very well. After a few plays in, I Don’t Know How to Love’s nimble, hypnotic and archly simple beauty digs in.
Yet Portamento is richer still when it changes tack. Searching for Heaven’s analogue synth burble is perfect for Pierce’s languid declaration, and If He Likes It Let Him Do It (how Morrissey would kill for that title) grows in stature when a Theremin-toned synth soars through the chorus, sounding closer to the uncanny lush pop of The Associates. I Need a Doctor isn’t far behind, either. Next to them, though, Days and In the Cold resemble throwaways. In other words, here’s to The Drums’ Pet Sounds.

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The Drums - The Drums (2010) [V2,~174]

2011-10-26T10:43:00.004+02:00

The Rapture - In the grace of your love

Year: 2011
Genre: Indie / post-punk / electronic / rock
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/therapture
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~256]
Scene release: The_Rapture-In_The_Grace_Of_Your_Love-2011-BriBerY
File size: 92 MB

Track listing:
01. Sail away 5:22
02. Miss you 4:10
03. Blue bird 3:07
04. Come back to me 5:38
05. In the grace of your love 5:36
06. Never die again 3:59
07. Roller coaster 3:41
08. Children 3:57
09. Can you find a way 2:52
10. How deep is your love 6:28
11. It takes time to be a man 5:42

Review:
Looking back, the Rapture's legacy is as a galvanizing force for the underground, busting indie rock's standstill so mightily that we're now embarrassed to be the guy not dancing. They never seemed like a good bet to break dance music to the mainstream audiences, though. Pan-pop conspiracy theorists might note that the Rapture reached fever-pitch in New York in 2003, but if the Rapture hadn't stopped their own momentum, someone would have stopped it for them: likely labelmate/mentor/producer James Murphy, whose LCD Soundsystem offered the same funk-punk grooves and a more explosive live presence, with pathos to boot. The Rapture were too nervy and out-of-sync to ascend the ranks.
After several years of radio silence they now return with “Grace”. It’s fleshier than its predecessors, with horns, needlework guitar, and Jenner's brash voice filling the negative space the band used to gift to the dance floor. They deftly respond to choral background vocals, funky synth slabs, and tasteful guitar fills. A group that was once a combustible ball of energy is now a functioning nervous system with a keen sense of pace and texture. You can hear notes of U2's propulsive anthems ("Sail Away"), Talking Heads' agitated funk ("Can You Find a Way"), and XTC's ballast pop ("Rollercoaster"). You can forgive them for envying Cut Copy's hot-knife-through-butter crowd uniters ("Children").
Grace is the band's mature album, by their own reckoning: Press for the record has almost unanimously focused on the members' stroller-pushing benders, how frontman Luke Jenner spent time playing softball, attending church, and coping with the loss of his mother. Stability and love dominate its themes, the title cutting think-pieces off at the pass by invoking grace directly: This album is about sustained, earned love, as well as the forgiveness inherent in it.
And sure, you could argue - as many have - that The Rapture have always coasted on attitude more than, well, talent. We can also argue about the significance of the "dance-punk" movement or what Pitchfork keeps trying to call its "demise", but that argument would never be anything more than mindless pseudo-intellectualism. You've taken a course in "the social science of music"? Great. Now, assuming that academic rationale hasn't yet impeded your pleasure centers, let's dance.

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2011-10-04T11:34:00.004+02:00

Other Lives - Tamer animals

Year: 2011
Genre: Indie / folk / rock
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/otherlives
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~243]
Scene release: no
File size: 71 MB

Track listing:
01. Dark horse 2:40
02. As I lay my head down 3:47
03. For 12 4:11
04. Tamer animals 4:08
05. Dust bowl III 4:58
06. Weather 3:50
07. Old statues 4:09
08. Woodwind 2:21
09. Desert 4:26
10. Landforms 3:18
11. Heading east 2:32

Review:
Tamer Animals, the sophomore release from the Stillwater, Okla., five-piece Other Lives, is meticulously written and arranged and, at times, vividly cinematic. In the wrong hands, this music could feel labored or overstuffed, but thanks to the makeshift orchestra's shaggy ringleader, Jesse Tabish, these wistful Americana-styled tracks (influenced by Tabish favorites Sigur Rós and Godspeed You! Black Emperor) rarely feel forced. Instead of the big studio sound of their self-titled debut, Tamer Animals feels organic and lovingly crafted, a record whose lushness often invites you to simply collapse into it.
Other Lives fits nicely with the pastoral richness of Fleet Foxes (whose influence is felt in the vocal harmony arrangements here) and the elegantly wasted music of Kurt Vile. On "Landforms", crestfallen strings swell with Tabish singing about the "oceans and plains," and you can almost taste the salted air. The dark, hymn-like "Weather" is similarly visual, but prophetic and baleful. "The sun is getting closer to the world," sings Tabish, clearly not talking about soaking up rays.
Tabish has enlisted a group of players that holds these intricate pieces in place. It's not as if the songs here feel heavy or overloaded-- in fact, most of them are positively buoyant, thanks to the richly colored interplay of all the instruments and the spacious production. Nearly every member pulls double and triple duty on cellos, violins, clarinets, keys, trumpets, and drums, and in a live setting, the band constantly shifts and repositions to hit every mark. On record, these professional assets come through even stronger.
Still, Tamer Animals isn't without its flaws, the quality of the vocals chief among them. For something so painstakingly made, it's strange that most vocal takes-- including some of those terrific harmonies-- sound oddly flattened. On an album about leaving behind the things you love, this seems like one element Other Lives should've made more of an effort with, as the pained stoicism in Tabish's voice doesn't always match the grandiosity of the music.
But that grandiosity makes it feel as if Other Lives are coming from a million different directions at once. "Old Statues" has the whispery endlessness of a spaghetti western soundtrack; the string draws nicked from Radiohead's "How to Disappear Completely" impart a deeply haunted vibe to the provincial lope of "For 12"; "Woodwind" channels the magical spook of a Grimm fairytale. Even if the emotional intent often feels recycled from other records, Tamer Animals is a record that takes you places.

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2011-10-04T11:31:00.002+02:00

Fool's Gold - Leave no trace

Year: 2011
Genre: Indie / pop / exotical
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/foolsgold
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~266]
Scene release: no
File size: 85 MB

Track listing:
01. The dive 4:01
02. Wild window 2:56
03. Street clothes 5:00
04. Leave no trace 3:28
05. Balmy 4:46
06. Narrow sun 4:13
07. Tel Aviv 5:04
08. Mammal 4:21
09. Bark and bite 4:56
10. Lantern 4:33

Review:
If Robert Smith, the Cure’s lead singer, wrote songs from his happy place, the result might sound something like L.A.-based Fool’s Gold’s sophomore album, Leave No Trace: outwardly sunny guitar licks, the occasional detour into instrumental segments, a noticeable synth presence and that deep-but-nasal quality of Smith’s vocals. But Smith’s happy music would lack that which fuels so much of Fool’s Gold’s sound and personality: the global span of its influences, from African drum music to L.A. indie rock to a whole resumé of international genres on which co-frontman Lewis Pesacov studied and was raised. The band has both nurtured and fought the associations that come with Afro-indie-pop; Smith-like lead singer Luke Top draws attention to the band’s global perspective by singing both in Hebrew and in English, and he’s quick to reference obscure musical genres like soukous music and Touareg desert blues when citing influences, but the band bemoans comparisons to other African-inspired indie rock groups, most notably Vampire Weekend.
The way Pesacov and Top see it, similarities between Fool’s Gold and Vampire Weekend are purely coincidental and not entirely accurate. Raised on world music and—at least in Pesacov’s case—learned in classical theory and composition, the frontmen see their blend of American indie rock with global sounds as a natural expression of their roots and tastes. But Fool’s Gold does sound like Vampire Weekend. The similarities are maybe shallow but also glaring from the first track on Leave No Trace, “The Dive,” which opens with a jangle of drums and bells alongside a chirpy guitar lick—general but applicable qualities of Vampire Weekend tunes. Maybe Vampire Weekend is African-inspired indie rock and Fool’s Gold is indie rock-inspired Afro-pop, but it’s hard to deny their similarities.
To Fool’s Gold’s credit, the bandmates are accomplished musicians capable of cohesively fusing a host of different sounds into air-tight drum beats, quick and clean guitar melodies, and woozy synth blips. They have a tendency to lapse into jam band-style organized chaos, allowing the instrumentalists to take center stage in songs like “Bark And Bite.” While Top wails a refrain, the guitar picks up speed and noodles away in sync with a saxophone, allowing the drummers to patter a collection of different drums in upbeat harmony. Since Fool’s Gold’s 2009 debut LP, the band has whittled down its membership from around a dozen musicians to just five, allowing the band to maintain tight control and unity over instrumental digressions.
While Fool’s Gold’s debut featured lots of Hebrew lyrics, on Leave No Trace Top scales back the use of his native tongue, occasionally gliding between languages on songs like “Tel Aviv.” Even so, Top isn’t one for articulation, so often his lyrics are hard to decipher; however, the sunny melodic mood is more important than the words on this late summer release.

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2011-09-18T11:04:00.001+02:00

Foster The People - Torches

Year: 2011
Genre: Pop / indie / rock
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/fosterthepeople
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~257]
Scene release: Foster_The_People-Torches-2011-CaHeSo
File size: 85 MB

Track listing:
01. Helena beat 4:36
02. Pumped up kicks 3:59
03. Call it what you want 4:01
04. Don't stop (color on the walls) 2:56
05. Waste 3:25
06. I would do anything for you 3:35
07. Houdini 3:23
08. Life on the nickel 3:37
09. Miss you 3:36
10. Warrant 5:23
11. Love (Best Buy edition bonus track) 3:40
12. Chin music for the unsuspecting hero (Best Buy edition bonus track) 3:25

Review:
Indie rock is undergoing a much-needed regeneration of late. Reedy guitars hold less sway, funk punk is finally packing up its cowbell and the glum cells of black-clad doom-mongers imitating Ian Curtis because they can’t actually sing are headed for the shadowy obscurity to which they so tediously aspired. In their place comes a disco nous, hints of Afrobeat and MGMT psychedelia. LA-based Foster the People are the culmination of that transformation; the Matt Smith of the new indie.
Envisioning themselves as a more populist and accessible Animal Collective, they adapt AC’s art-tronic adventurousness to incorporate the funky danceability of Scissor Sisters, the fuzzy pop catchiness of Kids and the knack of throwing in deceptively downbeat twists akin to Girls, Sleigh Bells or Smith Westerns. Current single Pumped Up Kicks is a prime example, with singer Mark Foster trilling "You’d better run / Faster than my bullet" to a psychedelic block party skipping tune that seems to have dropped off the end of Oracular Spectacular, giving the impression of the cheeriest schoolyard gunman ever.
That’s the darkest corner of Foster’s psyche illuminated by Torches; elsewhere, there’s considerably more levity. Call It What You Want is full-on trance pop complete with disco piano and hip hop squiggles, and Don’t Stop (Color on the Walls) is peak-era Dandy Warhols right down to the clap-along guitars and jubilant disregard for the laws of the land. By the time I Would Do Anything for You rolls around with its sunny, Auto-Tuned ode to blossoming romance you’d be forgiven for deciding FTP are the MGMT who’ll never prog-out on you.
After Houdini sees Torches deliver its own sparking Electric Feel, however, the latter section of the album reveals them as a far more promising and intriguing proposition. Life on the Nickel is a falsetto pop chant swathed in grime clicks and crunches, and Miss You sounds like Chris Martin lost and alone at a pagan rave; both suggest that FTP might soon pioneer a transatlantic fusion of dance and indie aesthetics that threatens to merge and rejuvenate both genres like no act since The Rapture. Time will tell, but this opening salvo will certainly leave you pumped up for further Foster kicks.

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2011-09-18T11:02:00.003+02:00

Chris Bathgate - Salt year

Year: 2011
Genre: Folk / alt. country / acoustic / indie
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/chrisbathgate
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~233]
Scene release: no
File size: 70 MB

Track listing:
01. Eliza (Hue) 4:51
02. No silver 2:54
03. Poor Eliza 4:04
04. Levee 2:34
05. Fur curled on the sad road 4:20
06. Borders 3:44
07. In the city 2:44
08. Own design 3:10
09. Salt year 4:38
10. Time 2:44
11. Everything (overture) 6:14

Review:
It’s hard to believe that Chris Bathgate is a young man. The voice and the emotions that pour out of him on his new release, Salt Year, seem to belong to someone much older. But if the internet is to believed, perhaps Bathgate is simply an old soul. Salt Year is a beautiful album from a folk-rock prodigy truly coming into his own.
Bathgate’s music is dreamy, whiskey-colored folk floating above a careful arrangement of guitar and piano, used only to augment the songs rather than lead them. Bathgate playing acoustic must sound pretty much like this album; everything is designed to show off his voice, and his voice is in fine form here. He’s distinctive enough to admire but subtle enough to allow your mind to wander through his songs.
“No Silver” is catchy and casual, loping at an easy pace through country-style guitar and some gentle percussion. “Poor Eliza” is a darkly quiet meditation on relationships: “It is what it is/what it is.” Its apparent companion, “Eliza (hue)”, sounds like Dispatch would if that band had a greater depth of emotion. Title track “Salt Year” is dreamy and sad, reflecting on lost loves in a melody that showcases the velvety texture of Bathgate’s voice. Album closer “Everything (Overture)” is a lovely, six-minute dalliance through a bare soundscape colored at first only by a lone guitar and Bathgate’s voice, featured in a quiet harmony that brings to mind the Once soundtrack. Gradually, horns and percussion flesh out the song into a fully loaded rambler. It’s startling when the music ends; you expect it to just keep going on into the sunset.
Chris Bathgate owns the voice and the melancholy of someone twice his age, and Salt Year packages enough charm to spare. This is the perfect background music for writing, drawing, or maybe just dreaming away the afternoon.

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2011-08-28T15:08:00.001+02:00

Beirut - The rip tide

Year: 2011
Genre: Indie / (Balkan) folk
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/beruit
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~231]
Scene release: no
File size: 56 MB

Track listing:
01. A candle's fire 3:20
02. Santa Fe 4:14
03. East Harlem 3:59
04. Coshen 3:20
05. Payne's Bay 3:48
06. The rip tide 4:26
07. Vagabond 3:19
08. The peacock 2:27
09. Port of call 4:21

Review:
"I may drift a while," sings Zach Condon on Port of Call, The Rip Tide’s closing song, one of a number of references to feeling lost, alone or swept up by something not entirely fathomable that appear on Beirut’s third album.
Having assimilated and channelled Eastern European folk styles into his startling 2006 debut, Gulag Orkestar, before sprinkling the sound of chanson française throughout The Flying Club Cup the following year, Condon’s most recent output as Beirut found him collaborating with a Mexican marching band on 2009’s March of the Zapotec. The slower pace and darker tones of that EP are immediately cast aside here in favour of a cleaner, brighter aesthetic that informs each of these nine songs.
Unlike those previous works, The Rip Tide doesn’t offer up a geographical postcode, and it also comes off a little slight at first. This is partly because of its length (its 33 minutes fairly fly by), but mostly due to the high benchmark Condon has set himself. The urgent melodies of earlier songs like Elephant Gun and Nantes are nothing if not instantly memorable, and while this may be Beirut’s out-and-out ‘poppiest’ work yet, it does benefit from a little time to breathe – allowing its horns, strings and vocals to distinguish themselves from each other; its charms to ensnare you.
Because it is a lovely (albeit little) record. Full of sweeping flourishes and the kind of weary romanticism Condon could probably patent by now, tunes like East Harlem and A Candle’s Fire eddy and swirl into unexpected breaks with all the confidence of anything the band have released to date (look out for Sharon Van Etten’s brief, smouldering turn on the latter). Goshen is intimate and subdued, Payne’s Bay sweet and propulsive, and Port of Call, with its rich arrangements and driving, persistent chord pattern, is one of Condon’s very best to date.
The Rip Tide’s refined title-track is the longest on here at four-and-a-half minutes, yet lyrically it consists of little more than a pair of repeated lines concerning a house, a rolling tide, and loneliness. The pleasure in Beirut’s music has always largely been in what it evokes – a kind of melancholy tempered with optimism and sometimes celebration. And it evokes marvellously here: whatever current Condon found himself caught up in that led to the creation of these songs, it’s one you feel he’s happy to coast a while yet.

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2011-08-28T15:07:00.002+02:00

SBTRKT - SBTRKT

Year: 2011
Genre: Electronic / pop / dubstep
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/subtractone
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~232]
Scene release: SBTRKT-SBTRKT-(Advance)-2011-SiRE
File size: 63 MB

Track listing:
01. Heatwave 2:58
02. Hold on 3:31
03. Wildfire 3:25
04. Sanctuary 3:56
05. Trials of the past 4:28
06. Right thing to do 3:27
07. Something goes right 5:04
08. Pharaohs 3:43
09. Ready set loop 3:11
10. Never never 4:02
11. Go bang 3:38

Review:
The debut full-length from UK producer SBTRKT (pronounce “subtract”) comes as a bit of a surprise. Up until now we knew him mostly for some high-profile remixes and his original, instrumental tracks, which were solid but nothing to flip out over. He was loosely dubstep in the way, say, Floating Points is, using the genre as a rough guide but also weaving in several other strains of contemporary bass music. But with this self-titled LP, SBTRKT is something different: Recruiting guest vocalists to sing over his arrangements, he's working more as a traditional producer, and his music, while still grounded in experimental bass, is inching much closer toward pop.
You might call what SBTRKT is doing here "post-dubstep". That's not a totally accurate term (for one, he's building off more than just that one genre), but his approach is certainly similar to what guys like James Blake and Jamie Woon have been up to in the last year or so. The central differences here are that a) SBTRKT doesn't sing himself (he's brought in vocalists Sampha, Jessie Ware, Roses Gabor, and Little Dragon's Yukimi Nagano for that); and b) his music is more immediate than both Blake's and Woon's. Rather than go for showy, scene-stealing productions, he keeps things tight and purposeful: The focus is on the overall song and the vocal, and beats are just one part of that equation.
The record pits some emotive and occasionally downcast singing against arrangements that throb nicely, and there's a good sense of balance and variety throughout. First single "Wildfire", for example, is a squelchy, Timbaland-like pop moment, where "Trials of the Past" is spooky and slower-paced. The reason the tracks work individually and as a whole is that SBTRKT has a keen sense of how to draw the most out of his guest vocalists. UK singer Sampha, who is featured heavily on the LP, has a warm, higher-range croon that seems built for R&B, and SBTRKT arranges accordingly, giving him stuttery tracks that draw from American urban pop and smoothed-out drum'n'bass.
Importantly this makes the album greater than the sum of its parts. "Dubstep dude with a bunch of singers" becomes something much more collaborative and cohesive. SBTRKT is ultimately a colorful and highly enjoyable future-pop record, an extension of bass culture but not indebted to it. The other crucial thing is that the album is actually quite accessible, which is something that's eluded similar post-bass projects. Those other guys-- Blake, Woon-- might have a purer artistic vision, but of the three, SBTRKT has arguably assembled the broadest and most listenable collection of songs. And in a field where approachability isn't always given a ton of weight, it feels brave to take this more song-oriented path and pull it off.

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2011-08-28T15:05:00.002+02:00

Mechanical Bride - Living with ants

Year: 2011
Genre: Folk / indie
Listen: http://www.myspace.com/mechanicalbride
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~219]
Scene release: no
File size: 58 MB

Track listing:
01. Magpie 4:24
02. Young gold (you stole my heart) 3:23
03. Colour of fire 4:18
04. Peach wolves 4:02
05. By night 5:01
06. Lakes 4:10
07. To the fight 2:45
08. Walk into the forest 1:34
09. Demons 3:36
10. Boom! (shine a light) 3:25

Review:
At a time when artists are pioneering formats and technologies for music consumption, new genres emerge and transform and styles evolve, sometimes it’s nice to take a step back and remind yourself how equally powerful and emotive just a single voice still can be.
Mechanical Bride is the solo project of Brighton resident Lauren Doss. Living With Ants marks her debut album, but it’s an effort mature beyond its freshman status.
Her vocals are the key pull: close, intimate, and delicate across the melodies of these tracks. They blend with glowing piano lines before disappearing into a breathy whisper. There’s a Beach House-like husk to her voice that plays against Laura Marling-recalling arrangements, but this isn’t a straight comparison. Mechanical Bride follows the new folk trend, but tailored to a more traditional ear.
Her elegant song construction can be handed in part to the production, which plays a large role in the record, gracing Living With Ants with a wonderful amount of space inside each track. Every instrument is allowed to come to the fore, but never overshadows Doss’ delivery.
At times proceedings embark on a tangent, leaving the calming and touchingly honest tones of songs such as Colour of Fire and Lakes, expanding into foreign genres. By Night has a strong air of Bat for Lashes to it, Demons takes a jazz turn and Walk Into the Forest marks a bizarre and almost Fiery Furnaces twist that’s far too short-lived. Living With Ants proves itself a pioneering showcase for the talents of Doss, and promises that great things are still to come from this young artist.

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2011-08-14T17:08:00.003+02:00

Tape The Radio - Heartache and fear

Year: 2011
Genre: Alternative / rock / pop
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/tapetheradio
Format: mp3
Bitrate: 256cbr
Scene release: no
File size: 72 MB

Track listing:
01. Our love is a broken heart 4:35
02. A desert track 3:05
03. Heartache and fear 3:18
04. Shaking hearts 4:09
05. Save a life 4:35
06. 1989 3:52
07. Stay inside 2:53
08. The message 4:10
09. Horses 3:45
10. Suffer me suffer you 4:35

Review:
Indie newcomers Tape The Radio release their debut album ‘Heartache & Fear’, which they spent 3 years on, recording to perfection. The album stays true to its name and is full of songs really about heartache and fear, which listeners of all kinds will be able to relate to.
The album has a mellow sound to it, and the opening track ‘Heartache & Fear’ starts off slowly with an eerie piano solo and, lead singer, Malcolm Carson’s beautiful and soft vocals. The album does pick up after the opener and has its faster moments throughout. ‘Shaking Hearts’ is the next track on the album and is the one that actually sets the pace for the rest of the album and is followed by ‘Save A Life’, which is the fastest track on the album.
‘Heartache and Fear’ takes a step back midway, and returns to the initial, darker, feel with ‘Suffer Me Suffer You’. A rockier song, it starts off with some epic drumming and also contains the emotional lyrics that are present throughout the album. With lyrics such as ‘Here she comes again, stepping on my heart since I don’t know when’ the band really shows their song writing ability.
‘Stay Inside’ is probably the most poppy track on the album, with an upbeat sound throughout and is livelier than the rest of the album. It is a fun song to listen to and leads the way for ‘Our Love Is A Broken Heart’, which is another upbeat, poppy song.
The album ends as it starts, with a slow, almost gothic, sound with ‘A Desert Track’. Once again, Tape The Radio shows that they can go a lot darker than expected. It has an epic sound and ends ‘Heartache and Fear’ on a high.
Overall the band has a very melodic sound and is perfect for easy listening. Tape The Radio have made an exceptional debut album and are a band worth keeping an ear open for.

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2011-08-14T16:56:00.008+02:00

Laki Mera - The proximity effect

Year: 2011
Genre: Indie / pop / folk / electronic
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/lakimera
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~237]
Scene release: no
File size: 91 MB

Track listing:
01. The beginning of the end 3:24
02. More than you 3:31
03. Fingertips 5:50
04. Double back 4:39
05. Onion machine 3:47
06. How dare you 3:47
07. Crater 3:52
08. Solstice 6:02
09. Pollok Park 5:55
10. Fool 4:21
11. Reverberation 6:06
12. The end of the beginning 2:15

Review:
The debut album from Glaswegian quartet Laki Mera follows Clutter the 2010 EP which earned them comparisons to the likes of the Cocteau Twins, Portishead, Blue Nile, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Radiohead.
The debut album shows little sign of immaturity as the band have been playing together since 2004 when Laura Donnelly, formerly of God’s Boyfriend, teamed up with Italian-born producer and multi-instrumentalist Andrea Gobbi, both of whom were in search of new musical horizons.
Gobbi’s addition of rich electronica to Donnelly’s simple vocal/guitar recordings set the tone for things to come. The recruitment of drummer and percussionist Tim Harbinson who had an electronic background and Keir Long (piano/synth), who is classically trained, only added further dimensions to the already unique sound.
The Proximity Effect showcases the foursome’s eclectic range well while flowing seamlessly from track to track.
Opening with The Beginning of the End, the track launches the listener into Laki Mera’s unique sound with an unsubtle mix of electro coupled with a haunting and distorted vocals of Donnelly.
More Than You is a catchy dance track with an upbeat pop vocal which echoes the style of current pop artists such as Ellie Goulding while maintaining a still heavily electronic backdrop.
The track demonstrates how easily Laki Mera could cross into the mainstream. Donnelly’s fragile folk influence is largely apparent on Fingertips and makes the album more digestible than if it had been a 12-track whirlwind of synths and effects.
Moreover Fingertips demonstrate how the various members are allowed to explore their musical passions within the band which can only point towards longevity. These subtle folk influences meet ethereal eeriness with the likes of Solstice while Onion Machine employs a retro-futuristic synth riff, an emotive layer of cello and stabs of grinding guitar.
Tender vocals from Donnelly, the lone female in Laki Mera, echo the style of Imogen Heap and provide a gentle approach to the at times heavily layered electronica. The incorporation of strings on tracks such as Fool offer a further dimension to the debut album and draws comparisons to the likes of Massive Attack or Zero Seven.
The original mix of acoustics and reverb on Donnelly’s vocal on the aptly titled Reverberation demonstrates well the collision of genres the band have created and what is perhaps Laki Mera’s real feat with this album, they manage to combine these genres and styles in a fluid way that doesn’t create an uncomfortable partnership, but rather an atmospheric fuzziness that will transport your spirit and seduce your soul.

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2011-08-07T17:54:00.007+02:00

Benjamin Francis Leftwich - Last smoke before the snowstorm

Year: 2011
Genre: Folk / acoustic / indie
Listen: http://www.myspace.com/benjaminfrancisleftwich
ormat: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~225]
Scene release: Benjamin_Francis_Leftwich-Last_Smoke_Before_The_Snowstorm-(Advance)-2011-SiRE
File size: 51 MB

Track listing:
01. Pictures 2:58
02. Box of stones 2:41
03. 1904 4:04
04. Butterfly culture 2:57
05. Atlas hands 2:54
06. Stole you away 3:37
07. Shine 2:59
08. Snowship 2:15
09. Last smoke before the snowstorm 3:08
10. Don't go slow 3:54

Review:
Benjamin Francis Leftwich is a young British singer songwriter, this is his first album following on from last year's “A Million Miles Out” EP and the “Pictures” EP from earlier this year. If you're unfamiliar with those records you may remember him covering Arcade Fire's “Rebellion” on Demot O'Leary's Live Sessions.
He's loosely affiliated with the whole London based nu-folk school based around Communion Records and their live showcase gig nights at the Notting Hill Arts Centre. Think Noah And The Whale, Laura Marling, Mumford And Sons and you get the picture. “Last Smoke Before The Snowstorm” is his fine debut of dreamy, soft focus folk. The songs don't demand your attention, they don't reach out to grab you, (I get the impression there's not a lot of AC/DC or Extreme Noise Terror currently on his turntable!) but that's missing the point. There's a subtlety that draws you in, more of a whisper in the ear rather than shouting from the rooftops.
Similarly there's nothing overtly political or preachy which can be potentially embarrassing for a young, white, western male with an acoustic guitar. What you do get though is a collection of simple, heartfelt, understated songs that deal with the personal rather than the political. And it's done well too. The instrumentation is kept simple, nothing overly virtuoso, all tastefully arranged to suit the songs. Mostly it's simply strummed or finger picked acoustic guitar, reverbed vocal harmonies, with minimal drums, occasional violin and piano, giving the whole collection a continuity of sound that a lot of artists seem to dispense with when making albums these days.
He has a nice way with lyrics too, like the music they're not overly busy but well thought out, usually intimate, thoughtful and contemplative. Occasionally humorous too, as best demonstrated on “Snowship”.
With only 10 tracks and clocking in at just over half an hour, the album doesn't outstay its welcome, and could have done to be slightly longer. The fact that you're left wanting to hear more can only be a good thing though.

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2011-08-07T17:52:00.003+02:00

Pete And The Pirates - One thousand pictures

Year: 2011
Genre: Rock / alternative / pop
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/peteandthepirates
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~253]
Scene release: Pete_And_The_Pirates-One_Thousand_Pictures-2011-pLAN9
File size: 83 MB

Track listing:
01. Can't fish 3:46
02. Cold black kitty 3:42
03. Little gun 2:05
04. Come to the bar 5:41
05. Winter 1 3:43
06. Washing powder 4:23
07. Blood gets thin 3:09
08. United 3:04
09. Shotgun 3:26
10. Motorbike 2:53
11. Things that go bump 3:37
12. Reprise 2:10
13. Half moon street 4:00

Review:
Under the radar for the last three years, Reading’s Pete & The Pirates have been stealthily gathering pace and fans, road-testing a brilliantly bittersweet pop concoction that’s not just another nabbing of Libertines, Strokes or Blur influences. Their debut album Little Death – a celebration and commiseration of teenage-hood’s giddy fumble for orgasmic release – was instead a Home Counties spin on the sublime guitar-pop of New Zealand’s legendary cult label Flying Nun (as in The Chills, The Clean, The Bats, Abel Tasmans and more). Patented in the mid-80s, it’s a sound both innately happy and intuitively sad, with simultaneously fragile and robust melody and harmony, entwined guitars that ping back and forth between spiky and jangly, and tightly meshed guitar/bass/drum patterns that retain a palpable feeling of space. There were hints, too, of Buzzcocks and The Undertones in this renaissance of so-called ‘perfect pop’. And now they’ve gone and perfected it even further.
For newcomers, there are two Petes among this quintet: bassist Pete Cattermoul and co-guitarist Pete Hefferan. But lead vocalist Tom Sanders is the band’s emotional heart and soul, with enough melodies at his disposal to also fuel his solo sideline, Tap Tap. But the Pirates are the main draw, and One Thousand Pictures is almost insanely catchy. It’s also a step on, witnessed by the heavier guitar fest and gorgeous keyboard squiggle in the opening Can’t Fish. Cold Black Kitty is equally ramped-up and electronically tweaked while the irresistible chug of recent single Come to the Bar is part-driven by burbling and pinging synths. It’s the album’s most euphoric chorus, which nails an everyday emotion – Sanders pleads with girl to just come back, and then go down the pub – with an eagle eye. With his attractively nervy voice, he always sounds haunted by ye olde girl trouble: "My tail’s between my legs now," he cowers with emasculated honesty on the downbeat Washing Powder. But sometimes he scores. On current single United, he sings, with tangible glee, "I just think it’s funny how we are united, on the carpet."
With these nuggets of hormonal pop, Pete & The Pirates may not be courageous or sophisticated and the album's coda lacks snap – as if 13 tracks was too big an ask. Still, here be treasure... and a little sand.

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2011-08-07T17:49:00.003+02:00

Okkervil River - I am very far

Year: 2011
Genre: Indie / rock / folk
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/okkervilriver
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~257]
Scene release: Okkervil_River-I_Am_Very_Far-2011-CaHeSo
File size: 93 MB

Track listing:
01. The valley 3:51
02. Piratess 4:00
03. Rider 4:25
04. Lay of the last survivor 3:51
05. White shadow waltz 4:26
06. We need a myth 4:39
07. Mermaid 5:04
08. Show yourself 5:20
09. Your past life as a blast 5:33
10. Wake and be fine 3:25
11. The rise 6:16

Review:
Okkervil River have been going for quite a while now, managing to boast a pretty much flawless discography, yet they are far from being an alt.country household name in the way that Bright Eyes and Wilco have achieved indie adoration despite a few sketchy releases of their own. I Am Very Far is yet another decent album to add to Okkervil River's already fine back catalogue, but it still won't launch their commendable career to Arcade Fire heights.
One of Okkervil River's strengths has always been in front man Will Sheff's ability to present a coherent and compelling concept within an album and run wild with it, always willing to let his listeners inside that mesmerizing mind of his. Sheff has treated his fans with respect, trusting that he could spill his heart to them and, in turn, has won a reasonably sized and vigorously supportive fan-base. This release sees Sheff withdrawing ever so slightly and delivering an album which is considerably more opaque than previous outings.
The result of mixing wildly contrasting sounds throughout the album is an intentional sensation of bewilderment with Sheff himself claiming that, "The goal was to push my brain to places it didn't want to go. The idea was to not have any idea – to keep myself confused about what I was doing". Songs such as We Need A Myth dwell upon this idea of mystification, disenchantment and not truly knowing one's true desires. The music is notably sure of itself, guitar stabs and piano chords confidently stride out throughoutthe song whilst Sheff sceptically laments, "We're cut adrift/We need a mass uplift/The world is trembling and weeping/And at the point of believing/In a myth".
Fans can expect to find Sheff in typically melodramatic mood on this album; song compositions are just as ambitiously intriguing and elaborate at times, such as in songs like Rider and Wake To Be Fine where Sheff gathered numerous musicians into the recording studio to meticulously record and re-record a single song for hours at a time. When less audacious and much steadier songs, such as the soft-rock inspired Piratess and the almost Bruce Springsteen-esque White Shadow Waltz find their groove, Sheff warbles and wails undulating melodies over the top. The first track The Valley opens the album in terrifically pompous style with sharp snare cracks, menacing strings and exuberant, impassioned vocals.
Much more petulant and moodier than previous albums, I Am Very Far swirls around in an illusory motion in which all manner of sounds and textures spin and whirl around the ubiquitous figure of Will Sheff; unwavering and untouchable, residing within the heart of the album's hidden emotions.

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2011-07-17T13:31:00.003+02:00

Jamie Woon - Mirrorwriting

Year: 2011
Genre: Pop / soul / dubstep
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/jamiewoon
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~217]
Scene release: Jamie_Woon-Mirrorwriting-2011-pLAN9
File size: 73 MB

Track listing:
01. Night air 5:23
02. Street 3:10
03. Lady luck 4:08
04. Shoulda 3:49
05. Middle 4:38
06. Spirits 3:46
07. Echoes 2:16
08. Spiral 5:25
09. TMRW 3:30
10. Secondbreath 0:47
11. Gravity 5:07
12. Waterfront 3:51

Review:
Is 2011 turning out to be the year UK bass music goes semi-mainstream? Well, not exactly. For one thing, genres like dubstep and funky have been moving away from the club fringe and toward the center of the pop conversation for a while now. (In the UK itself, they've been at the center for some time already.) Dubstep sonics, however toned-down or disguised, can be heard in all sorts of chart music these days. And now we have a full slate of singers with (sometimes very loose) connections to bass culture, several of whom have released albums in 2011 aimed as much as folks who need songs as folks who obsessively collect dubplates.
Thing is, and not a little ironically, the singer whose songs have the strongest sonic connection to UK bass is also the most pop, Katy B, where the hard-hitting drums and wobbler bass effects are sweetened by her I-wanna-be-a-star delivery. Meanwhile, dubstep fans, juiced on the weird rhythmic experiments of his early singles, have been scratching their heads trying to figure out why James Blake's album so firmly lashed itself to the mast of indie-crooner culture. And in the middle, we have Jamie Woon.
Almost the exact middle, actually. Young and school-trained London singer Woon's debut album, Mirrorwriting, sits between Katy B and James B, pop theatricality and singer-songwriter calm, club culture and bedroom indie, old-school soul and modern electronic R&B, extroverted and introverted. And tying it all together is the language of UK bass. His first major single, 2010's justly lauded "Night Air", announced him as one of a number of young English artists for whom garage, and everything that came after, was just another bit of pop language to use. And from the slow-motion jungle syncopations and muted bass blare of "Street" to the stuttering retro-rave breakbeats that drive "Spirits", the computer-assisted Woon makes sorta-pop from the last 20 years of UK dance the way current U.S. guitar kids draw from surf-rock and girl-groups.
But if that's all Woon was doing, he'd be just another indie one-man-band with a full software suite, making specialist music with materials from stuff with more pop-appeal. A couple things about Mirrorwriting make you wonder though if Woon really is destined for crossover success. One is his voice, which is the instrument that turns many of these songs from sorta-pop to real-deal pop. Much has been made that Woon went to the same school that gave us Amy Winehouse. His delivery is low-key for most of Mirrorwriting, far from her roadhouse belting, but the guy's clearly got chops, and an elastic way with a number of styles.
And unlike a lot of guys making a murky late-night brand of indie-soul right now, Woon's pleasingly warm and smooth tone, mixed mostly up-front with little obscuring reverb or distortion, gives you the feeling that he could have a straight R&B career if he wanted. His restraint and lack of melisma trickery seems more like a choice to fit the slow drift of the music, not a limitation, and his use of HTDW/Blake style heavily processed vocals is careful, like Burial samples deployed as background harmonies. Woon wants these songs to appeal to folks for whom digitally tweaked singing is an occasional fun special effect, rather than the whole draw. And while the album's mostly full of left-field R&B, there are also hints of Hall and Oates, 80s Brit synth-pop, house, and more. There's also an occasional and unfortunate tendency toward limp VH1-ready MOR ballads, which it must be said comprises the album's weakest stuff, though thankfully Woon doesn't indulge this side as much as a truly crossover-minded hack might.
Woon's attempted to bridge so many opposed vibes here that you'd want to praise his ambition, even if he couldn't pull it off. The fact that Mirrorwriting really does manage to blur so many different musical worlds into something so smoothly unified is Woon's real achievement. But because of that very in-betweenness, Mirrorwriting is still likely to rankle genre partisans of all stripes. Too slick and synth-heavy and modern for fans of Winehouse-style retro-soul. Too subtle for true dubstep fans wanting more club thunder. Not subtle enough for those heart-on-sleeve beat weirdos who've made James Blake a cause celeb. So it'll be interesting to see if it really is the wide mass of pop and indie listeners that winds up embracing Woon's everything-at-once approach. Whoever his audience turns out to be, Woon's managed one assured and beguiling hybrid of UK bass pressure and slick blue-eyed soul.

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2011-07-10T14:33:00.005+02:00

The Head And The Heart - The Head And The Heart

Year: 2011 (Sub Pop re-release)
Genre: Americana / folk / indie
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/theheadandtheheart
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V2 [~182]
Scene release: The_Head_And_The_Heart-The_Head_And_The_Heart-2010-FNT
File size: 52 MB

Track listing:
01. Cats and dogs 1:56
02. Coeur d'Alene 4:21
03. Ghosts 4:19
04. Down in the valley 5:03
05. Rivers and roads 4:44
06. Honey come home 3:22
07. Lost in my mind 4:19
08. Winter song 2:44
09. Sounds like hallelujah 3:10
10. Heaven go easy on me 5:41

Review:
Recorded in early 2010, this is the debut full-length by The Head and the Heart. Self-released in June 2010, the album helped build an impressive head-of-steam for the band through the second 1/2 of the year, gaining fans at influential Seattle station KEXP, local record shops and venues up and down the West Coast, culminating with signing to Sub Pop Records and the album’s 2011 re-release.
If you’re looking for a song to unwind to after a rough day or one to play on repeat when the weather is taking too damn long to warm up, look no further than “Down In the Valley” by Seattle newcomers The Head and the Heart. The song is nothing short of a religious experience when you hear it at the right time. It’s a song you can’t help but sing along to – one that expresses feelings you didn’t even know you felt but are glad you discovered. Starting with an unassuming guitar melody and progressively sped up and fleshed out with strings and pulsing percussion, the song is one hell of an anthem. And by the time frontman Josiah Johnson finishes the song, whispering the opening lines “I wish I was a slave to an age-old trade, like riding around on railcars and working long days,” you know exactly what he means even if you had no idea when he sang it the first time.
The Head and the Heart specialize in this kind of elegant transformation of sorrow into cathartic joy, and they’ve put it to record on their self-titled debut filled with Americana folk tunes. They have an incredible knack for harmonizing vocals and building momentum, as newest track “Lost in My Mind” attests. This is mostly due to the nicely juxtaposed vocals of Johnson and violinist Charity Thielen as well as drummer Tyler Williams’ ear for timing and talent with a tambourine.
When they’re at their best, their exquisitely layered soundscapes and pitch-perfect execution can mask the fact that these guys (and gal) just met. They hooked up randomly at a Seattle open-mic night two years ago. Stars in alignment, the band witnessed a meteoric rise fueled by chemistry and passion. In no time, they were opening for the likes of Vampire Weekend, and their debut’s reissue now has Sub Pop’s stamp of approval.
One of the band’s unique talents lies in creating a participatory listening experience. Their songs are filled with sing-along choruses and verses that make you unconsciously tap your toes or nod your head. This quality is best paired with their enthusiastic live shows, and they have yet to learn how to capture all of the magic in the studio.
Plenty of that magic is captured, though, and themes of youthful uncertainty are beautifully interpreted in tracks like the fragile ballad “Rivers and Roads” and alt-country charmer “Winter Song.” Highlight track “Sounds Like Hallelujah” sees the band experiment with sectional tempo change-ups, while detailing the deterioration of a relationship – all of which they pull off seamlessly.
It’s refreshing when such genuine talent sees correlative success, but sometimes the lack of collaborative experience translates to a lack of identity. The awkward, piano-driven shuffle of “Coeur d’Alene” and gothic vaudeville of “Ghosts” are valiant efforts but don’t play to the group’s strengths. “My roots are grown, but I don’t know where they are,” Johnson sings on opener “Cats and Dogs,” perfectly capturing the sextet’s conundrum. There’s undeniable depth here but little self-awareness in terms of who they are as a band. If they stick to the melodic folk at the core of their best songs, that fateful open-mic night could be the beginning of something really great.

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2011-07-10T14:27:00.004+02:00

I Am Oak - Oasem

Year: 2011
Genre: Indie / pop / folk
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/iamoak
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~220]
Scene release: no
File size: 54 MB

Track listing:
01. Horizon 2:40
02. Distances 1:06
03. Ancient 3:05
04. Curt 2:38
05. Island 1:55
06. Elbows 2:41
07. Distances II 2:42
08. Giant 3:29
09. I 4:28
10. Ocyaan 3:07
11. Island II 2:49
12. Horizon II 3:16

Review:
The release of his second full-length On Claws in 2010 heralded a remarkable development for Thijs Kuijken aka I Am Oak. The shy Utrecht-based singer-songwriter suddenly faced spotlights and rave reviews, a kind of attention he wasn’t used to deal with. Even if it was fully deserved based on the lush vocal harmonies and subdued folksongs that sprouted from his voice and guitar, he was more than a little ambigious about his rise as a public figure. You could say Kuijken matured as an artist in the year that passed, in full light of the public opinion.
A notable asset of I Am Oak is the group’s productivity. Since the release of On Claws in 2010, I Am Oak recorded two albums – the second of which came into being in Finland. The first to be released is Oasem (pronounce: awesome) an album that sounds very distant from his previous work, but at the same time hugs the most important quality of his music: the vocals. The warm melancholy and sweet harmonies (often dubs of his own voice) survived the transition from traditional folkee to edgy indiefolk artist. As engaging a record as On Claws was, it somehow felt like an exercise into a style of songwriting he admired in his idols: Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes being the predominant associations. On this new release, Kuijken finds a style all his own. Lo-fi organ sounds play an important role, as well as a battered old electric guitar. Drums and bass are louder and distorted at times, making for an intruiging contrast with the vocals. With this evolution this album is not as easy on the ear as it’s predecessor; it might take you quite some time to appreciate this new record fully.
Lyrically, Kuijken still looks to nature for inspiration. In many ways, his lyrics reflect tendencies associated with the late-Romantic era in arts and literature. Having said that; it doesn’t take much imagination to link the album cover (Kuijken is photographed from the back as he looks out across a lake) to Caspar David Friedrich’s trademark painting Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer. A fitting image, as Oasem is a record that ponders the wonders of life as much as it celebrates them. Meanwhile, the slightly more bombastic approach is another area where I Am Oak overlaps – at least in intensity – with Romantic era music esthetics. Listen for instance to the song ‘I’, where Kuijken sings with a deeply emotional tremble in his voice that resembles the great Antony Hegarty.
Oasem will speak to I Am Oak’s folk-loving crowd, but it’s also an album that clears the playing field for explorations into a host of new musical directions. Keeping in mind the background of his fellow bandmembers (whose other projects range from post-hardcore to electropop), it’s only fair to expect the unexpected from I Am Oak in the future.
Considering it’s productivity, quality of songwriting and young age (Kuijken is still in his early twenties), I Am Oak is only at the beginning of what might become an impressive catalogue. But that’s a thing of the future. For now, Oasem is a new landmark in I Am Oak’s young existence: a wonderful album that is both soothing and daring. Impressive stuff.

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I am Oak - On claws (2010) [V0,~217]

2011-06-26T11:27:00.004+02:00

Metronomy - The English Riviera

Year: 2011
Genre: Indie / pop
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/metronomy
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V2 [~205]
Scene release: Metronomy-The_English_Riviera-2011-pLAN9
File size: 67 MB

Track listing:
01. The English Riviera 0:37
02. We broke free 4:06
03. Everything goes my way 3:30
04. The look 4:38
05. She wants 3:52
06. Trouble 4:46
07. The bay 4:50
08. Loving arm 3:31
09. Corinne 3:16
10. Some written 6:03
11. Love underlined 5:57

Review:
Joseph Mount, the man behind Metronomy, hails from Totnes in Devon. You’d never have guessed it from the locationless indie-disco of his earlier music, but the third Metronomy album sees him carefully hone in on the charms of southwest England. The market town in question is reimagined as (a different/fantasy) the English Riviera, a romantic destination where magic happens – and it’s apparent from the get-go, with the sound of cawing seagulls opening the album’s first song.
With this relocation comes a new sound too, a further excursion into Mount’s fascinating brain. The restless pace of 2008’s Nights Out is tempered with frequent moments of calm, and the insistent top layer of squelchy falsetto replaced with more modest, lithe hooks. She Wants is newly sentimental, adding a personal touch to the more generalised feelings the songs had previously explored, while Everything Goes My Way has a female lead vocal and the glamour of a John Hughes film from the 1980s. The latter is deliciously summery, but one of the album’s weakest for how uncompelling its structure is.
The lowlights on The English Riviera are thankfully rare. Trouble’s tart vocals head wistfully into a swaying doo-wop beat, with typically smart lyrics such as the cute tautology of "There’s a tear in your eye / And there’s no ‘I’ in tear". And that brings it back to the familiar; Mount’s strengths as a songwriter come from his willingness to show off, however much he may be aware of this.
Love Underlined is incredible, a standout song that hypnotically rises through urgent, insistent and twisted rhythms that start out at odds with each other and eventually come together into a giant four-to-the-floor chorus. The Bay, a theme tune of sorts for the album’s setting, sees the band taking on Daft Punk for energy levels – and more than matching that winsome fervour. "This isn’t Paris, this isn’t London, this isn’t Berlin, this isn’t Hong Kong, this isn’t Tokyo," Mount sings charmingly, glamorising his hometown through summery, lightly roughed-up choruses.
If Nights Out was the soundtrack to an all-hours party that threatened to blow the speakers, The English Riviera is the music in the ears of a restless insomniac. The type of punch Metronomy now pack is differently varied, and instead of relying on catchy melodies, its excitement and originality is now more broadly sourced.

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2011-06-26T11:25:00.002+02:00

Sister Crayon - Bellow

Year: 2011
Genre: Indie / electronic / triphop / soul
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/sistercrayon
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~237]
Scene release: no
File size: 78 MB

Track listing:
01. I'm still the same person 3:44
02. Here we never die 3:41
03. And glass... 4:33
04. (In) reverse 3:55
05. Every third hour 3:36
06. Anti-psalm 5:12
07. Thief-boxer, asleep 4:54
08. Stem 4:47
09. Ixchel, the lady rainbow 7:52
10. Souls of God 3:59

Review:
At a time when so many perfectly decent (and better) female vocalists are risking their records being turned off by over-singing when they might’ve been advised to stay within their comfort zones, it’s a pleasure to hear someone who knows that they don’t need to reach ear-piercing levels to get their point across.
Note the name Terra Lopez now as there’s the feeling on this debut album that the Californian singer/songwriter has the talent to, eventually, make an impression on the mainstream – whether it’s with Sister Crayon or not. Her vocals are reminiscent of a fair few parallels – previous press reports have referenced Bat for Lashes and Mazzy Star’s Hope Sandoval (we’ll add Florence to the mix, when she’s not annoyingly shrill, and My Brightest Diamond’s Shara Worden) – but there’s also something new at work, a singular zeal, emotion that doesn’t come bottled ready to be poured into a recording whenever the producer deems it necessary. She sounds like a star before she’s even flickered into a rhythm, her every sigh the sort of heart-squeezing exhalation that should draw a thousand admirers smashing onto her ruby red lips.
On Ixchel, the Lady Rainbow, Lopez is accompanied almost exclusively by a simple piano – the effect is utterly mesmerising. It’s real stop-what-you’re-doing fare, exquisite in its stark beauty; it actually loses some of its charm when the drums come crashing in towards its climax. But crash in they should, as this is far from a solo project – Lopez is aided by three members contributing wonderfully detailed and textural backdrops, which fluctuate between the warm organic pulse of Here We Never Die to the clattering percussion and woozy organ of And Glass…, sometimes supported by choral vocals which lend additional depth to pieces that are already infinity mirror-like in scope. (In) Reverse could be the greatest single Rihanna’s never released, mixing RnB sensibilities with classical grandeur. It’s one sign, among many, that influences at work aren’t restricted to the rock/indie spectrum.
Past shows with Warpaint and School of Seven Bells provide clues as to who Sister Crayon is likely to appeal to immediately, audience wise. But there might well be more potential here than in either bigger (to date) bill-partner. Lopez is the driving force behind that hunch, for sure. But there’s invention and ability aplenty across these 10 tracks, enough to make Bellow worth substantial investment of anyone’s time.

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2011-06-18T14:52:00.004+02:00

Bon Iver - Bon Iver, Bon Iver (incl. bonus disc)

Year: 2011
Genre: Indie / folk
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/boniver
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~220]
Scene release: Bon_Iver-Bon_Iver-2011-FNT
File size: 82 MB

Track listing:
01. Perth 4:22
02. Minnesota, WI 3:52
03. Holocene 5:36
04. Towers 3:08
05. Michicant 3:46
06. Hinnom, TX 2:45
07. Wash. 4:59
08. Calgary 4:11
09. Lisbon, OH 1:33
10. Beth;Rest 5:17
11. Wisconsin (bonus track) 5:25
12. Come talk to me (bonus track) 6:20

Review:
Whatever maudlin magic musician Justin Vernon found in the remoteness of rural Wisconsin come the close of 2006 and the dawn of 2007 – made devastatingly real on his debut LP as Bon Iver, For Emma, Forever Ago – it’s something that many another artist has been trying to conjure since. Dispatch a band into isolation today, to cajole those creative juices, and inevitably some plucky press type will label them as "doing a Bon Iver". The album’s impact on today’s indie-folk scene, and beyond, was powerful, and global commercial success was the unlikely culmination of Vernon’s catharsis following the break-up of both his previous band and a relationship.
For this follow-up, Vernon and band – among them Sean Carey, whose own solo debut, We All Grow, was released to fine reviews in the summer of 2010 – have developed the sound of For Emma… without over-stretching themselves and making a mess of arrangements which are all the more effective for their striking intimacy. There must have been temptation to draft in a name producer – but Vernon sees to that side of the process too, and this control has resulted in a set that’s as arresting in its first few seconds, Perth’s rolling percussion providing a base for Vernon’s exquisite emoting, as it is come the David Gilmour-styled guitar showmanship of closer Beth/Rest. This is how to spend an improved budget (though anything is more than nothing), and expand a sonic palette, without compromising what appealed in the first place.
To some, the consistent mood that pervades this set – of reflection, introspection; bruised and sincere, but never cloyingly so; melancholic, but not without a blurry, horizon-line optimism – might lead to attentions wandering. And there’s no doubt that this eponymous collection isn’t the step into immediacy that some might have expected, or even hoped for. But the majority of listeners will surely come to this aware that nothing on For Emma… leapt from the speakers with quick-fix frills attached. This – like Wild Beasts’ sublime Smother, Julianna Barwick’s otherworldly The Magic Place, and How to Dress Well’s Love Remains – is one of the year-so-far’s finest albums when it comes to repeat-play value: each spin will uncover something previously missed, a tiny but essential nuance that was obscured by a hypnotic motif the first and second time around. Vernon’s songs may appear skeletal on an initial encounter; but, on closer inspection, they reveal studied layers and levels of masterful design.

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2011-06-13T11:07:00.002+02:00

TV On The Radio - Nine types of light

Year: 2011
Genre: Indie / experimental rock / pop
Listen: http://www.myspace.com/tvotr
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V2 [~199]
Scene release: TV_On_The_Radio-Nine_Types_Of_Light-2011-FNT
File size: 81 MB

Track listing:
01. Second song 4:20
02. Keep your heart 5:42
03. You 4:04
04. No future shock 4:03
05. Killer crane 6:14
06. Will do 3:45
07. New cannonball blues 4:34
08. Repetition 3:45
09. Forgotten 3:39
10. Caffeinated consciousness 3:20
11. All falls down 4:54
12. Will do (Switch remix) 5:21
13. Will do (XXXChange Dancehall mix) 3:45

Review:
TV on the Radio have been many things in the decade since they first dive-bombed New York City's outer boroughs. Arty a cappella reductionists on 2003's Young Liars EP; sky-bound funk-slop visionaries on 2004's still-epic Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes; tenacious, politically ravaged anthemists on 2006's Return to Cookie Mountain; and most recently, a manic pixie dance band on 2008's Dear Science. Throughout, their songs have been marked by lead singer Tunde Adebimpe's to-the-heavens demon howl, producer/multi-instrumentalist Dave Sitek's searing gospel-funk hoedowns, and an ineffable sense of drama -- theirs is a sound that is meaningful but shaded, aggressive but delicate. It can burn as quickly as it can fade away. TV on the Radio make Important Music for Important Times.
So, as the country claws its way back to sanity, if not normalcy, Nine Types of Light begins as a surprise of sorts: It's lovers rock. Which isn't to say this band has never loved. Guitarist Kyp Malone's "Lover's Day" from Dear Science remains an oft-quoted Brooklyn sex jam, and they are an undeniably physical band -- not quite hip-thrusters, but Adebimpe's wounded, off-kilter sensuality is a particularly unusual brand. They just haven't been this intimate about their feelings before. "I'm gonna keep your heart / If the world falls apart / I'm gonna keep your heart," Malone sings softly on the chorus of the stuttering, mandolin-accented "Keep Your Heart." Later, on "You": "You're the only one I ever loved." "Will Do" is a torch song that begins with such plainspoken unfussiness that it could appear on a Taylor Swift album.
While drummer Jaleel Bunton and bassist Gerard Smith were Science's lifeblood, pumping and chugging out some fractured take on disco, now they're barely audible at times. And is that a banjo on "Killer Crane"? It all raises another question: What happened to the lupine fury? The apocalypse of the soul once proffered with such ferocity? It's still there intermittently -- "New Cannonball Blues" and the stomper "Caffeinated Consciousness" jerk the wheel into the oncoming traffic of blues rock.
But mostly Nine Types of Light feels like the liquefying of a band, ten years and four albums deep, into the soft tenderness of pre-middle-age satisfaction. Like, maybe family life sounds pretty good right about now -- and it fits them well. Interpreting the album's title is a dicey proposition, but taken literally, it's revealing: TV on the Radio have shifted constantly, from the humble visible form of light that brightens the world in their earliest days to the violent gamma explosions of Return to Cookie Mountain, straight to the cosmic light of the sky -- a destination not unfamiliar to this band during Dear Science. And here, they return to the earth's surface, intact, with their eyes open to what's right in front of their faces.
Still, Light is never rote or dull. Even the sappier moments are refracted through Tunde Adebimpe’s offbeat croon and Dave Sitek’s prog-gospel stew production of tense guitar and sudden horn blasts. And Light puts the moves on listeners in more ways than one, with jarring flashes of fury provided by the spastic jerk of “No Future Shock” and “Caffeinated Consciousness,” and the urgent funk of “New Cannonball Blues” and especially “Repetition” (so slithering, it could be an outtake from Prince’s Sign O’ The Times). Finding the beauty and the beat in unpredictable chaos—keeping the heart when the world falls apart—has always been TV On The Radio’s specialty, and here, it sounds completely effortless.

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2011-06-13T11:05:00.003+02:00

Cold Cave - Cherish the light years

Year: 2011
Genre: Indie / wave / rock
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/coldcave
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V2 [~207]
Scene release: Cold_Cave-Cherish_The_Light_Years-(Advance)-2011-404
File size: 60 MB

Track listing:
01. The Great Pan is dead 4:07
02. Pacing around the church 3:27
03. Confetti 5:38
04. Catacombs 3:22
05. Underworld USA 5:00
06. Icons of summer 5:51
07. Alchemy around you 3:28
08. Burning sage 4:03
09. Villains of the moon 5:45

Review:
Morphing underground noise scene origins into something more befitting 1980s Sheffield, Cold Cave's 2009 debut Love Comes Close betrayed its ultimate impact from title down. Despite the emotion poured in, a crucial longevity was missing. It didn't quite sate desires sufficiently for fans to consider a monogamous relationship with the New York-based outfit.
This time around, though, it's the real thing. Cherish the Light Years is, apparently, the record frontman Wesley Eisold always wanted to make. And, boy, does that shine through.
The not-so-straightforward story so far: Eisold spends much of the 2000s getting in the van with spazzed-out US hardcorers American Nightmare and Some Girls, none other than Fall Out Boy infamously half-inching a bunch of his lyrics along the way. Which past aural exhibits do little to unravel Cold Cave, wherein Eisold reboots influences from Scott Walker and the androgynous end of 1990s Britpop into distinctive darkwave pop.
From the crashing, urgently dramatic announcing bars of The Great Pan Is Dead, sheens of gothic 1980s veneer actually conceal something much deeper, more uncomfortable. A nocturnal shot of adrenaline to the heart of a paranoid urban dweller, Eisold's coal-black, almost deadpan delivery booms over synths at times misleadingly bright and airy.
Burning Sage clunks back to industrialist origins, percussion more iron lung than the "black lung" Eisold talks of throughout, while Underworld USA brims over with darkly heartfelt declarations, notably the heart-nudgingly sweet-slash-deranged couplet, "I will love you with all of the love that I have / Even if that means there's none left for me".
There is one issue that keeps Cherish from being an unqualified home run: The mix and mastering job are brickwalled to the extreme, squashing all the production detail and rendering this 40-minute LP tiring to listen to as a whole. Considering how much care went into the songwriting and overall conception, we have to assume that Cold Cave have their reasons for wanting the album to sound like this.
As Villains of the Moon heads off danger of lyrical cliché with charcoal-hearted intent – sample lyric: "Do you die in your dreams? / I don't even have them" – you're left with a sensation that this is what the much-maligned cold wave sound should have achieved. But it's Underworld USA that claims the most telling lyric, Eisold imploring somebody – anybody – to "Take me to the future / I'm ready". No need, Cold Cave; you're already outrunning most the competition in that particular direction, with one eye cast approvingly to the past.

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2011-06-13T11:03:00.002+02:00

Bell X1 - Bloodless coup

Year: 2011
Genre: Indie / pop / rock / americana
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/bellx1
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V2 [~187]
Scene release: Bell_X1-Bloodless_Coup-2011-FNT
File size: 65 MB

Track listing:
01. Hey Anna Lena 5:37
02. Velcro 4:49
03. Nightwatchmen 4:22
04. Sugar high 5:58
05. Built to last 5:35
06. 4 minute mile 5:18
07. Safer than love 4:17
08. The trailing skirts of love 4:56
09. Haloumi 4:15
10. 74 swans 3:31

Review:
A couple of LPs on (including their most successful, self-released LP, Blue Lights on the Runway) Bell X1 now look set to go cosmic with their fifth album, Bloodless Coup, which also forces you to re-evaluate everything you thought you knew about them!
Far from being content to trade on the same formula, Paul Noonan and co have decided to mix the organic sound of old with the digital outlook of now, thereby enabling electronic influences to come to the fore more than on previous releases.
It’s an approach that served Yeah Yeah Yeahs well and it seems like a natural evolution… replacing the former Radiohead comparisons with something of a Talking Heads vibe.
But make no mistake, the new material here is very much Bell X1, mixing the personal and introspective with the more expansive and crowd-pleasing.
The former is best exemplified by the former single Velcro, which drops a funky electronic pulse, some slick beats and a rousing chorus over observations about sticking together and remaining resolute through the darker points in life.
Noonan’s vocals are terrific, while the lack of pronounced guitars doesn’t seem to take anything away from their sound at all.
Album opener Hey Anna Lena, on the other hand, opens amid an electronic surge and some subtle piano chords that immediately hook you in, before turning into an epic tale of love and escape, buoyed by Noonan’s falsetto vocal. It’s a lengthy opening… but one that’s disarmingly brilliant.
Later on, Nightwatchmen finds Noonan coming over more personal and reflective, with a melancholy guitar riff providing the backing for his heartfelt central vocals. It’s a slow-builder, though, that gradually layers in an epic sound of shimmering beauty.
Built To Last, too, is surrounded by the optimism of a strong relationship, but delivered in a subtle, simplistic fashion that, again, endears you to the song in general. Early on, Noonan almost comes over all Peter Gabriel – but such is the emotion within the lyrics that you can’t help but comparisons are entirely justified.
The subtle acoustic guitar work on this track is also great, and nicely accompanied by a firm electronic pulse.
Elsewhere, the personal is substituted for some more social awareness that’s designed to reflect the state of turmoil that Ireland currently finds itself in, as well as the need for change.
As such, there’s an angry vibe surrounding the rousing rock of 4 Minute Mile, which is rife with emotive sentiment and a more retro vibe, and a soul-searching sensibility on the practicalities of modern life and where love fits in on the synth-led Safer Than Love.
But no matter what Bell X1 are doing, there’s an inherent quality and thoughtfulness that makes every track worth hearing. This is a great album and a welcome evolution of sound that really should send this band into the big time!

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2011-05-22T11:33:00.001+02:00

The Black Atlantic - Reverence for fallen trees (extended edition)

Year: 2011
Genre: Folk / indie
Listen: http://www.myspace.com/theblackatlantic
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~212]
Scene release: no
File size: 71 MB

Track listing:
01. Baiulus 1:35
02. Fragile meadow 3:34
03. Heirloom 4:07
04. An ocean and pPeril 2:47
05. Old, dim light 5:04
06. Walked-on wood 4:57
07. Dandelion 2:42
08. Madagascar 3:13
09. Reverence for fallen trees 3:46
10. I shall cross this river 3:23
11. Ella (bonus track) 4:43
12. Walked-on wood (new) (bonus track) 4:48

Review:
The Black Atlantic is a folk band from The Netherlands, consisting of four members. Their album, Reverence For Fallen Trees, came out in 2009 and in the same year they made their appearance at SXSW. There music is lovely in all the right ways. Featuring melancholic arrangements of piano, mandolin, guitar, drums and soft harmonies, these songs are deceptively quiet. Recorded in Saranac Lake, NY in the heart of the Adirondack Mountains (in a log cabin!) with guest performances by friends, The Antlers and Spanish Prisoners as well as Kim Janssen, Reverence For Fallen Trees is a very pretty album and not as simple as it seems. There’s a current running through the background of this that is a constant stream of energy, almost a hum. It makes me feel the same way about songs on this album as I did for The Antlers’ Hospice; the layers of sound exist almost on separate planes. And when they break or join … that silence or combining of sounds is so striking! I hear it especially on “Old, Dim Light” and “Reverence For Fallen Trees.” The Black Atlantic have crafted a collection of songs here that evoke what it must be like to float aimlessly on the ocean without fear of drowning or being lost. Their music is so peaceful and yet thought-provoking enough to keep your interest for the duration of the entire album.

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2011-05-22T11:29:00.010+02:00

Polock - Getting down from the trees

Year: 2011 (international release)
Genre: Pop / rock
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/polockband
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V2 [~201]
Scene release: Polock-Getting_Down_From_The_Trees-2010-VPE
File size: 61 MB

Track listing:
01. High on life 4:03
02. Fireworks 3:45
03. Nice to meet you 5:19
04. Not so well 3:46
05. Sometimes 3:56
06. Faster love 4:11
07. Tangerines & unicorns 3:59
08. Tenderlies 3:06
09. Defenceless 5:56
10. Night shot 4:11

Review:
Polock are from Valencia. Valencia is a fine city, blending perfect beaches that stretch past the horizon and restaurants where Hemingway once loafed with the bustling artists of the fashion conscious city. Whilst it's therefore a touch strange that something as close in sound and melodic bent to Phoenix should be picked up from a city that's so unique, there's absolutely nothing wrong with Getting Down From The Trees. It's replete with the fodder to set the indie clubs a-fling with a few anthems this summer.
To focus on obvious comparisons may not be especially productive, for there's enough here that is the band's own. This debut has a thoroughly live sound, in the same way the first down-strokes of The Strokes immediately announced something exciting and natural. Polock keep things refreshingly straight, even with the odd fluffed guitar note towards the close of opener High On Life.
There's a playfulness here that recalls the Elephant 6 collective, particularly the pop and crackle of The Apples In Stereo's finer moments. As bass lines underpin the pop-scratch and keys nicely surge toward soft pop whimsy, you get the impression their frontman could match the Apples' Rob Schneider blow for blow on the emotive power-grab stakes. It has impact, it's catchy and gives off a misty-eyed, optimistic outlook. The songwriting isn't grade A throughout, but it's 85% there.
Europop, apart from the occasional Scandinavian explosion and the obvious success that's stemmed from certain members of the Ed Banger crew, has somewhat snobbishly been ignored. A quota is accepted but the saturation point is low. The problem stems from a European music scene culturally too attached to heritage and to the past. If the media is so quick to pick up on a band that aren't the most original troupe in the game, why not cast the net wider? Maybe because Phoenix's last album sold well. Why fix what isn't broke?
Tangerines And Unicorns is sunshine, twee to the rafters and makes you want to skip as its chorus explodes in reverie. It shows off a band with an ear for melody that's demonstrated on an album that, derivative or not, deserves to be danced to and can easily be stuck on repeat.

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2011-05-22T11:27:00.001+02:00

The Crookes - Chasing after ghosts

Year: 2011
Genre: Pop / rock / indie
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/thecrookesmusic
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~248]
Scene release: no
File size: 80 MB

Track listing:
01. Godless girl 3:43
02. Chorus of fools 3:13
03. Just like dreamers 3:06
04. Bright young things 2:49
05. The Crookes laundry murder, 1922 4:57
06. Youth 5:08
07. I remember moonlight 4:10
08. Bloodshot days 3:46
09. Carnabetian charms 2:48
10. By the Seine 3:59
11. City of lights 5:37

Review:
Referring to your fanbase as the Bright Young Things: preposterously pretentious call, or actually an endearingly Smash Hits kind of manoeuvre? On all the evidence, it's probably a bit of both for The Crookes. After all, live they positively crackle with the sort of inclusively bonhomous pop charge that modern thinking seldom credits currently-little-league guitar bands with, but they've also managed to make a debut album that accommodates all the allusions that come with such a soubriquet. So yes, there's a litany of literary instincts. There's a rhapsodic regard for the bohemian. And, most of all, by crikey, does it spring in a chickenly manner.
In fact, it's pretty clear from the outset that they're aiming for the smart set. The tracklisting alone suggests a certain tendency for the wisely wide-eyed (Just Like Dreamers! Youth! Carnabetian Charms!), while rhythm guitarist Daniel Hopewell's lyrics frequently tend towards the Morrissey-ian. But rather than adopting a pained potency, he's a rather more traditionally sensitive figure, interested in the half-told tales of disparate and historically diverse characters – the opening Godless Girl alone explicitly casts the band as Angry Young Men musing cryptically on an ambiguous-eyed fellow lost soul, while By the Seine's troubled itinerant pavement artist and the opportunist rogues of The Crookes Laundry Murder, 1922 (based on a true story, true story fans) are outlined with a similar attention to detail.
Plus, there's invocation galore of indie like it used to be – quite some way, in fact, before any of the foursome were even born. Frontman George Waite may have an effusive vocal style that lurches consistently between the sugared confiding of Andy Bell (out of Erasure, of course, not Ride/Oasis et al) and the lugubrious bequiffed pipes of Charlie Rumble Strips, but, behind him, The Crookes are more Aztec Camera men. Consequently, absolutely joyous jangles abound – the superbly swinging Bloodshot Days opens in magnificently chiming style before recklessly chucking in some thoroughly rock'n'roll "ba-ba-ba-OOH!"s, with Bright Young Things hurtling Housemartins-ishly along (a comparison they underline with a London 0 Hull 4-cribbing cry of "get up off our knees!" in Bloodshot Days) – and there's a terrific tension between, say, the dynamism of I Remember Moonlight and its romantic reveries, or the mild melancholy and hot-coals-dancing that make up Chorus of Fools.
Alright, so you could argue, if you wanted, that there's something rather unbecoming about so much old-fashionedness in ones so young, but it's all done with sufficient charm to render such a standpoint churlish. They might not have the shock of the new on their side, and they're admittedly unlikely to shepherd in a fresh wave of post-Britpop, but at least The Crookes are stealing from all the right places.

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2011-05-15T11:03:00.002+02:00

Sparkadia - The great impression

Year: 2011
Genre: Indie / rock / pop
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/sparkadia
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V2 [~188]
Scene release: Sparkadia-The_Great_Impression-2011-OZM
File size: 75 MB

Track listing:
01. The great impression 2:35
02. Fingerprints 3:40
03. Talking like I'm falling down stairs 4:05
04. China 4:41
05. Love less love 4:14
06. Ghost 4:54
07. Shoot straight 3:03
08. Mary 4:02
09. Hurt me 4:23
10. I started something I couldn't finish 3:02
11. The lost ones 3:12
12. Fade from view 5:44
13. Still can't make up my mind 4:05
14. Too young 4:23

Review:
Just as life-altering changes can arise in the wake of a night and priorities can be reshuffled to our heart's desire, a lot can happen in the space between album releases. Just ask Alexander Burnett. Following Sparkadia's 18 month tour for their acclaimed debut album Postcards (2008), the Sydney quartet suddenly dissolved into a solo entity. Despite having each of his band mates depart for personal reasons in 2009, Burnett bravely and passionately carried on.
This shedding of members is not evident on The Great Impression, such is the warm, full sound that fills the album. Female choirs, strings (real or synthetic) and walls of various atmospherics fill almost every corner and aptly back Alexander Burnett’s newly matured songwriting. The changing of reigns is directly evident, however. These are big songs and Burnett was clearly aiming for a big sound.
Burnett’s voice will be the deciding factor in regards to whether you like this album. At times sounding like Evermore’s Jon Hume blended with Chris Martin, Burnett's vocals have the ability to go either way. Either emotive and sweet, or whiny and affected; whichever side of this fence your opinion falls on will decide your ultimate enjoyment of this album.
Highlights on the record are the second (and current) single China (which borrows a piano line from Gyan's Wait, although its doubtful that this is intentional lifting), the hypnotic Ghosts, and the expansive title track, which opens the album as a perfectly realised statement of intent. Elsewhere The Lost Ones unashamedly plunders from '80s pop and comes out triumphant, while Shoot Straight hints at an appealing dark-side, but unfortunately veers too close to po-faced Muse territory; a dangerous world to traverse.
The Great Impression is a triumph of production, with London-based Mark Tieku (Florence And The Machine) polishing these songs to an immaculate sheen. This is the other main factor that will affect how much you enjoy this album. If you were a fan of the original Sparkadia sound, which was less accomplished but ultimately more immediate, then this staid and very-British production treatment may leave you cold. However, this album far surpasses anything Burnett has achieved in the past, and it is clear that his singular vision and ambition is what will make this record succeed.
If Burnett aims overseas with this record, there is every chance that Sparkadia could follow The Temper Trap’s successful path in the UK.

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Sparkadia - Postcards (2008) [V0,~251]

2011-05-15T11:00:00.003+02:00

The Naked And Famous - Passive me · Aggressive you

Year: 2011 (European release)
Genre: Pop / rock / electronic / indie
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/thenakedandfamous
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V2 [~208]
Scene release: The_Naked_And_Famous-Passive_Me_Aggressive_You-2010-CaHeSo
File size: 75 MB

Track listing:
01. All of this 3:55
02. Punching in a dream 3:59
03. Frayed 3:46
04. The source 0:48
05. The sun 3:57
06. Eyes 4:44
07. Young blood 4:07
08. No way 5:30
09. Spank 4:11
10. Jilted lovers 3:16
11. A wolf in geek's clothing 3:15
12. The ends 1:49
13. Girls like you 6:06

Review:
New Zealand's latest musical offering The Naked & Famous arrive with great fanfare. In 2010, the quintet became the first act to debut atop the Kiwi charts for 16 years, and on this side of the world they're riding on the anticipation that comes with being shortlisted for the BBC Sound Of 2011 critics poll. Incredibly, their debut album Passive Me, Aggressive You has been out for over a year in New Zealand. Now, finally, it hits the UK.
Theirs is a synthy, polyphonic blend, loaded with the pent-up emotion of adolescence, yet it never approaches emo; the Naked & Famous aren't one-dimensional enough for that. Dreamy opener All Of This kicks things off, its breathy chorus and punching drums adding urgency to the ethereal synths. The tone is set for the album as they display purposefulness, control and poise - an arresting blend rare in a band so new.
It's an album not short on anthems. The dripping synths and iconic riff of Punching In A Dream leaps out as an instant classic, and ought to be on everyone's festival playlist this summer. With simple melodies punctuated with the lashing-out of clashing cymbals, teenage angst never sounded so good. This is synth-pop perfection, like MGMT but better. Meanwhile, new single Young Blood, with its signature line like a peal of bells, veers towards Yeasayer, shuffling wistfully along.
The anthems are testament to the band's ability to pick out a tune. The gorgeously fragile, vocal harmonies on No Way are achingly beautiful, breaking out into a soaring finale. Elsewhere, the spread chords that open Eyes are warm and dawn-like, while the other-worldly piano of The Source builds anticipation perfectly on the transition into The Sun. The latter's rolling lyrics wash over the listener in waves, bosom-heavingly driven and emotionally-intense. However - and this is the real virtuosity of The Naked & Famous - it's all delivered with a masterful poise and control, channelling the intensity in all the right directions.
End number Girls Like You is a softly brooding masterpiece, carrying latent undertones of jealously ("How would you feel if nobody chased you, what if it happened tonight?") From an unassuming beginning, it quickly ratchets up into a raw, heartfelt belter, with a lingering reflective hum at the end.
The true sign of a band at ease with their musicality is experimentation. At times this album borders on concept art. On a track called Frayed, the effect of Thom Powers and Alysa Xayalith beginning in unison before literally fraying into arrestingly offbeat contrapuntal harmonies is simply mesmerising. The only complaint here would be that the last note is sawn off instead of being allowed to resonate a little. It's a bizarre production decision which isn't at all in keeping with the musical accomplishment of the rest of the album.
Nevertheless, the genius of Powers et al comes out again on Spank, a song which begins with the lyric "I don't remember the first time". In a disorienting whirl of lyrics, touching on amnesia and hinting at paedophilia, Xayalith promises to "take it right back to the start" - the track cuts out and, after a few seconds, completely restarts as if nothing had happened, cranking up the intensity and roar of guitar a few notches further. As well as being perfect for a lengthy encore, it's really fun to listen to.
As with most albums, there is a weak link, and it comes in the form of A Wolf In Geek's Clothing, whose erratic guitar-crunching and airy vocals are interesting to listen to, but not as accomplished as the rest of the album. That, however, says a lot more about the overall quality of Passive Me, Aggressive You than about that of this individual track.
For all in, this is a glorious debut. The Naked & Famous are a band with that nigh-on impossible combination - the passion of youth and the control of maturity. Musically, lyrically and emotionally, it works. The more airwaves and stage time it takes over this summer, the better.

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2011-04-24T11:14:00.005+02:00

Nicolas Jaar - Space is only noise

Year: 2011
Genre: Electronic / downtempo / minimal
Listen: http://www.last.fm/music/Nicolas+Jaar/Space+Is+Only+Noise
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V2 [~194]
Scene release: Nicolas_Jaar--Space_Is_Only_Noise-(CCCD009)-2011-OMA
File size: 65 MB

Track listing:
01. Être 4:19
02. Colomb 3:22
03. Sunflower 0:48
04. Too many kids finding rain in the dust 3:28
05. Keep me there 5:21
06. I got a 4:09
07. Problems wIth the sun 3:52
08. Space is only noise if you can see 5:42
09. Almost fell 2:32
10. Balance her in between your eyes 3:45
11. Specters of the future 1:58
12. Trace 0:23
13. Variations 3:21
14. ^tre 2:56

Review:
Another decade, another Chilean expat genius ready to redefine electronic music – so the hype goes, anyway. In the 00s, Ricardo Villalobos forged the path of minimal techno; and, thanks to a series of stellar singles, 20-year-old NYC resident Nicolas Jaar has been seen by some as a successor of sorts. There's no doubt that Jaar possesses talent in abundance – and manifests it in a genuinely singular vision. He draws on the blues, traditional global folk, found sound, modern classical music and minimal techno, among others – but listening to his slo-mo house, built from intricate details, an inventive and seemingly endlessly unexpected sonic palette, and some deceptively heavy bass, feels like entering an entirely self-contained world.
Jaar's much-anticipated debut album is a further exploration of that world that seems, initially, like a departure. For a producer operating under the dance rubric, Jaar often seemed to approach the actual dancefloor from tangential, almost accidental directions – and Space Is Only Noise tilts the balance further towards music for the head rather than feet. It's unafraid to take its time, to wend slowly and sparsely towards its pay-offs via tantalisingly lightly sketched musical ideas. For long stretches of time, Jaar reduces the beat to insectile clicks and whirrs, almost casually throwing in piano motifs or filament-thin guitars, but it's an extraordinarily submersive experience – an effect magnified by the rippling wave samples that recur across this fluid, often elusive album. Tracks have a habit of ending up in totally different places to their starting point – the squalls of sax that break into Keep Me There, for instance, or the way Too Many Kids Finding Rain in the Dust starts out as a Lynchian take on the blues and ends up in twanging spaghetti western guitars via keening cellos. Throughout, Jaar ringing the changes with almost imperceptible subtlety. While his music can often seem like a cocoon, such is its own self-sufficiency, it's one that's humanised by samples of background chatter, children laughing and snatches of spoken word like fragments of half-heard film scenes. Jaar's own surprisingly deep voice, too, adds both emotion and gravitas - a bluesy croon that's both seductive and sad.
Space Is Only Noise is a less immediate starting point than Jaar's singles: little here has the focus of El Bandido, Wouh or A Time For Us – or the full-sounding lushness he has brought to his remixes of Kasper Bjørke's Heaven, The Bees' Winter Rose and Ellen Allien's Flashy Flashy. Instead, it is unnervingly delicate, endlessly distracting and ultimately addictively tactile as it sneaks under your skin.

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2011-04-24T11:12:00.001+02:00

Wye Oak - Civilian

Year: 2011
Genre: Rock / indie
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/wyeoak
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V2 [~200]
Scene release: Wye_Oak-Civilian-(Advance)-2011-FNT
File size: 56 MB

Track listing:
01. Two small deaths 3:50
02. The alter 3:42
03. Holy holy 4:36
04. Dog eyes 3:25
05. Civilian 3:41
06. Fish 4:48
07. Plains 3:45
08. Hot as day 3:51
09. We were wealth 4:38
10. Doubt 2:28

Review:
For many an indie rock band, tapping into a palpable intensity without fully giving oneself to punk rock or something less listener-friendly can be a tricky task. Similarly, creating an aesthetic density or ethereality without going shoegaze sometimes also proves challenging. And that goes double for a duo. While Baltimore's Wye Oak has, from time to time, been labeled as "shoegazer," the music they make is far less dependent upon an overbearing sonic aesthetic. It's subtler, but carries a hefty emotional weight. It's powerful, but never overwhelming. And where other duos such as Mates of State or The White Stripes make up for their limitations by kicking up as massive a racket as they can, Wye Oak focuses instead on pursuing a rich and textured sound, seemingly dismissing the idea that they have any limitations at all.
From the opening shimmer of "Two Small Deaths," the ballad that opens Civilians, the band's third and best album, Wye Oak slowly but beautifully immerse the listener in a glowing wash of guitars, keyboards and spare cymbal taps. It's a simple but gripping opening to an album that only grows bigger and more expansive from there, and, most impressively, with essentially the same elements that make up that haunting, subdued introduction. What follows, dreamy highlight "The Alter," is one of the few moments when Wye Oak actually do approach shoegazer territory, yet they do so without the massive effects so often associated with the genre. Rather it creates the illusion of density, Jenn Wasner 's guitars and Andy Stack's guitars layering into a wall of blissful haze.
One of the strongest elements on Civilians is Wasner's voice, which is neither showy, nor precious, but raspy and soulful. Her ragged pipes evoke a melancholy weariness on the jaw-dropping title track as she laments, "I am nothing without pretend/ I know my faults/ can't live without them," before the tempo intensifies and a dose of delay echoes her heartbreaking but all-too-familiar verse, "I don't need another friend/ when most of them/ I can barely keep up with them." And on "Holy Holy," a harder rocking gem and a not-so-delicate exercise in tension and restraint, Wasner transforms the title phrase into "hold me, hold me," before later declaring "all human joy is precious/ and I for one should know this" and ultimately unleashing that joy and passion in the form of higher pitched cries in the song's cathartic and explosive final minute. She's not just an entertaining singer, but one with a sympathetic and human voice; she's the kind of frontwoman that you feel you can trust.
A commanding and emotionally gripping singer requires a solid backing, however, and Stack more than holds up his end of the bargain. In a live setting, he performs the complicated feat of playing drums and keyboards simultaneously, which seems extra tricky when you consider the kind of rhythmic heft he provides on Civilian. He kicks off "Holy Holy" with the kind of massive crashes and stomps that suggest dynamic ascension later on, but of course the band keeps the listener on edge for more than two minutes before that final, satisfying detonation finally happens. His tom-tom beats and rich organ on "Hot as Day" heighten the intensity on what might have otherwise been a more low-key piece, save for its dramatic, ascendant coda, of course. And Stack and Wasner make a seamless transition from quasi-danceable indie pop to murky, Crazy Horse-style crawl on "Dogs Eyes," revealing themselves equally adept at both wiry indie exercises and meaty, classic rock anthems alike.
A work of sadness and joy, painted in vivid, natural hues, Wye Oak's Civilian is the breathtaking result of what happens when a band doesn't merely aim to create a good indie rock record, but rather a great rock record. The beauty in Wye Oak's music is all the more affecting because it feels real, uninhibited by excess or affectation. That it rocks hard in all the right places merely stirs up that complex mix of emotions even further, leaving a musical journey that the listener will be more than pleased to embark upon repeatedly.

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2011-04-24T11:10:00.004+02:00

Conquering Animal Sound - Kammerspiel

Year: 2011
Genre: Electronic / folk / indie
Listen: http://soundcloud.com/gizeh/sets/gzh27
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V2 [~180]
Scene release: no
File size: 52 MB

Track listing:
01. Maschine 3:59
02. Wasp 3:49
03. Wild things 2:59
04. Flinch 3:25
05. Cheer 0:45
06. Bear 5:15
07. Crawl 3:57
08. Tracer 4:03
09. Neanderthal 2:44
10. Giant 3:41
11. Ira 4:26

Review:
I have long been of the opinion (and I suspect that I’m far from alone on these pages in thinking this) that the best record labels are those which are able to bring together bands with some kind of aesthetic similarity. Certainly the records released by my favourite labels over the years have, on the whole, tended to have a common thread which distinguishes them instantly as a product of their particular imprint. In recent years, one such label to have emerged to fit in with this particular penchant has been Leeds’ Gizeh Records, home to the likes of Glissando, Sleepingdog and Fieldhead. When a Gizeh release lands on your doormat you know that you’re reasonably likely to encounter something chilly and unearthly, but also something which more often than not will be a beautiful and enriching piece of work.
And so it is with Glasgow-based duo Anneke Kampman and James Scott, aka Conquering Animal Sound. Their debut album Kammerspiel is a ghostly collection of minimalistic beats, loops and fragile ambience, overlaid with Kampman’s beatifully frail vocal. Its delicateness and woozy air mean that it is a record which is best absorbed late at night, preferably at the point last thing when your brain is at its sleepiest. In this context it becomes almost lullaby-esque, with Kampman’s soft burr tailor-made for soothing away the mental aches of the daily cut and thrust.
Too often records made up of minimal components are misinterpreted as being gloomy, but this is unlikely to be a fate which befalls Kammerspiel, given the sunlit glow which bathes its sounds. Opening song ‘Maschines’ begins with a twinkling melody and builds gently like the breaking of the day, culminating in Kampman softly cooing “You are home”. As the album progresses, you come to see that the template of ‘Maschines’ is in fact the blueprint for much of Conquering Animal Sound’s work. Frequently their songs begin in timorous fashion, gradually layering more and more sounds on top as they build. Let’s be clear though, this isn’t to say that Kammerspiel is in any way guilty of being formulaic, because the band display a boundless creativity with the finer details throughout, a little snippet of tape hiss here, a dissonant hint of cello or a snatch of thickly-distorted vocal sample there, meaning you’re never really fully aware of where they’re taking you at any point.
In spite of its predilection for abstract noise, Kammerspiel is still at heart an album of songs and melodies which frequently follows the verse/chorus structure. Clearly, Conquering Animal Sound are more than just aimless experimentalists, because throughout there is a strong feeling that while you might not know what they are going to do next, they most certainly do. Probably the most naked song on the album is final track ‘Ira’, which dispenses with the effects, leaving the beauty and the melody of the song unadorned. It’s an interesting taster of what Conquering Animal Sound might be like were they a little more conventional, and while ‘Ira’ might be sufficiently pretty to stand on its own two feet, the contrast between it and much of the rest of the album illustrates the importance of the flourishes of the noises and samples.
With Kammerspiel, Conquering Animal Sound have simultaneously managed to capture on record the full depth of their creativity and imagination, as well as the inherent beauty of their sound. It is a wonderful piece of work which deseves to be cherished, and gives us far more than we might reasonably expect from anyone’s debut album.

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2011-04-24T11:06:00.009+02:00

Little Comets - In search of elusive little comets

Year: 2011
Genre: Pop / rock / indie
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/littlecometsmusic
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V2 [~201]
Scene release: Little_Comets-In_Search_Of_Elusive_Little_Comets-(Advance)-2011-SiRE
File size: 50 MB

Track listing:
01. Adultery 3:02
02. One night in October 3:24
03. Joanna 3:09
04. Her black eyes 4:00
05. Isles 2:43
06. Darling Alistair 2:49
07. Tricolour 2:32
08. Post time 3:17
09. Dancing song 2:30
10. Mathilda 3:06
11. Intelligent animals 4:11

Review:
Little Comets had to wrestle this debut album from the clutches of Columbia – the label dropped them at the beginning of 2010. Finally, 12 months on, it sees the light of day, and it will leave you with one overriding thought: Columbia must have been mad to let Little Comets go.
The North East certainly has a ‘sound’ these days: the angular art-rock of The Futureheads and Maxïmo Park has spread throughout the region. And there’s plenty of that to be found in this debut. The rhythms are jerky and perky; the melodies and vocal harmonies come thick and fast; the lyrics are full of kitchen sink dramas. But Little Comets draw from a broader palette than that, also borrowing tricks from Razorlight, The Kooks and Mystery Jets to create a commercial record that’s smoothed out at the edges.
That’s why Columbia’s decision feels strange: because nearly every song here is a potential radio hit. Dancing Song, Adultery, Joanna and Darling Alistair are all as contagious as the flu. They’ll get you singing along and digging out your dancing shoes. Maybe it will take a few spins, but eventually you can’t help yourself. Even Isles, with its gloomy state-of-the-nation lyrics ("the streets are bleak, the kids are running wild") will make your feet twitch with its clattering, broken percussion.
And then there’s the sonic subtlety at play here – on closer Intelligent Animals and the magnificent Her Black Eyes – that carries In Search of Elusive Little Comets to another plane altogether. One where the songwriting isn’t just a lark, isn’t just about making music for people to dance to at student discos; but where it is mature and dealing in weightier emotions.
There are times when Robert Coles’ vocal grates slightly (strangely enough most noticable on their single One night in October) – he seems to be on a mission to make it sound idiosyncratic, yelping through phrases and rendering them unintelligible. Little Comets are at their best when he reins this in and allows the melodies to work their magic unassisted. It is, after all, the lack of affectation that makes Little Comets such a joy to listen to.
But overall this is a shiny penny of a debut, and it would be a terrible shame if Columbia’s mishandling of this band resulted in it being forgotten.

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2011-04-10T09:37:00.002+02:00

Norman Palm - Shore to shore

Year: 2011 (European release)
Genre: Folk / indie / electronic
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/normanpalm
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V2 [~187]
Scene release: Norman_Palm_-_Shore_To_Shore-2010-CRUELTY
Filesize: 55 MB

Track listing:
01. Start stop 3:12
02. Smile 3:57
03. Images 3:56
04. Landslide 4:30
05. $20 5:11
06. WDYD 2:17
07. Easy 5:11
08. Sleeper 4:29
09. Phantom lover 3:59
10. Go to sleep 4:08

Review:
With spring around the corner sometimes it’s nice to be able to listen to something a little ahead of the weather. The sun may not quite be here just yet, but the uplifting sound of Norman Palm helps bring a touch of buoyancy to our ears. Norman grew up in Germany and became a multi-instrumentalist at a young age. Once he finished high school he went off to art school, a relaxed atmosphere which may describe the calming nature of his productions. As a result of Norman’s artistic background his live shows often incorporate audio visual backings. Tropical indie (you’re probably thinking “what the…?!” now) is the best way to describe Shore To Shore – a record with tender lyrics and joyful instrumentals. For a record so soft vocally, it doesn’t shy away from the bass. At times Norman’s production drifts away from gentle indie rock and crosses over to the electronic side of the music spectrum. For an indie band or artist to converge with electronic elements isn’t as innovative as it was five years ago, but Shore To Shore combines the two without feeling artificial; the addition of atypical and vintage xylophones adding to the scenic atmosphere intended. The opening track ‘Start/Stop’ opens the real mood of the record. The guest female vocals act as a demonstration of the dynamics and intricacy that are prevalent throughout. Although much of the record seems instrumentally straightforward, unusual yet effective elements help to build up a jubilant yet contradictorily soothing aura. One of the stand-out tracks on Shore To Shore is ‘Images’. The opening to the track uses pulsating drums and soothing chords – a combination of instrumentals that wouldn’t sound out of place on Foals latest record Total Life Forever. The lyrics in Palm’s tracks often focus on isolation and new life, presenting a realistic and optimistic outlook on life: “I need another beginning; I need a very good start”. While Norman’s lyrics are interesting, it’s the instrumentals that make Shore To Shore a very listenable record. The euphoric drums and synths throughout ‘Easy’ act as a simple but highly rhythmic backing to the vocals. The chords in the run up to the chorus lift the mood of the record to an epic, tranquil high. Shore To Shore is a clever and entrancing record; powerful instrumentally and lyrically serene. For those in need of a little optimism in their lives, the tropical sound of Normal Palm could be the fitting soundtrack to the run-up to this year’s summer festivals.

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2011-04-10T09:21:00.003+02:00

Noah & The Whale - Last night on earth

Year: 2011
Genre: Indie / rock / soul
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/noahandthewhale
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V2 [~196]
Scene release: Noah_And_The_Whale-Last_Night_On_Earth-2011-SiRE
Filesize: 47 MB

Track listing:
01. Life is life 3:37
02. Tonight is the kind of night 3:10
03. L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N. 3:48
04. Wild thing 4:49
05. Give it all back 2:56
06. Just before we met 3:38
07. Paradise stars 1:30
08. Waiting for my chance to come 2:56
09. The line 3:31
10. Old joy 3:33

Review:
Four years ago Noah And The Whale were at the forefront of the Nu-Folk scene, which gave us the likes of Emmy The Great and Mumford And Sons. Back then the band were verging on being the jokers of the pack. But when vocalist Charlie Fink and partner and bandmate Laura Marling parted ways a dramatic reappraisal of the band's outlook occurred. Fink turned away from the chirpy whistles and handclaps that had populated the band's first album Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down, and immersed Noah And The Whale in a more introspective, almost cinematic sound. The result was The First Days Of Spring, an emotionally charged record that not only took the band in a different direction but also explored Fink's state of mind in the wake of his break with Marling. Last Night on Earth sees Noah And The Whale develop their sound once again although not quite in as spectacular fashion. The pop whimsy is more defined this time around, which is something of a relief for those that found the introspective nature of The First Days Of Spring just a little bit too much to bear. It would also appear that Fink has been exploring songs as stories, and in order to do this, he's turned his attention to the likes of Lou Reed, Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty and their ability to populate songs with characters that hold the hopes, fears and occasionally the neuroses of their author. This is most immediately apparent on the first single L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N. which takes the character-per-verse construct Reed used on Walk on The Wild Side, truncates it (presumably for brevity) chucks in some gospel tinted backing vocals and finds time for a ridiculously catchy chorus. A cynic would suggest that the idea of Fink writing about a "rock n roll survivor with pendulum hips" who goes "down on most anyone" is spurious and to a degree they'd have a point. It does feel ever-so-slightly fraudulent, but the straight-faced delivery and the lilt of the chorus just about means the band get away with it. Tonight's The Kind Of Night borrows from Bruce Springsteen so heavily it's almost plagiaristic. Essentially a coupling of Badlands and The Who's Baba O' Reilly, it is so laden with classic pop hooks it can't fail to please. It finds Fink writing in a positive manner once again too as the uplifting nature of his outlook finds its way into a mesmerizing chorus. Wild Thing cribs from Springsteen once again, most notably from the Nebraska period and continues the storytelling vein of L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N. In contrast to the optimism found in the music (if not the stories) of L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N. the tone here is set far darker and is more affecting, suggesting perhaps that Fink and his band work better when exploring the depths. Essentially this is an album about escapism, whether it's from a city (as in Tonight's The Kind Of Night) or the place in life that these characters find themselves. There's always a glimmer of hope to be found somewhere in these songs, whether it's in the passion of a school performance of Don't Let Me Down related in the Stephen Jones flavoured Give It All Back, or the jaunty violin that introduces Waiting For My Chance To Come. There's always hope, there's always a chance that things will get better, because life does go on after all.

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2011-04-10T09:12:00.008+02:00

Stateless - Matilda

Year: 2011
Genre: Electronic / indie / triphop
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/statelessonline
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V2 [~191]
Scene release: Stateless-Matilda-(Advance)-2011-404
Filesize: 68 MB

Track listing:
01. Curtain call 6:16
02. Ariel 3:33
03. Miles to go 4:25
04. Visions 3:00
05. Assassinations 4:12
06. Red Sea 2:01
07. I'm on fire 5:22
08. Ballad of NGB 3:31
09. Song for the outsider 5:17
10. Junior 4:38
11. I shall not complain 7:11

Review:
Stateless are far from just another bland, guitar-based indie band; in fact, they're pretty much the opposite. Combining echoing atmospheric accompaniments and soaring vibrato-laden falsetto with the electronic beats and squelches of fuzzy, sample-ridden trip-hop, Stateless' sound is something quite unique and continues to evolve throughout Matilda. Also fusing neo-classical influenced string-led waltz feels alongside strong flavours of different global musical cultures, Matilda, their second full-length album, showcases much ambition, variety and determination. During the first seconds of opening track 'Curtain Call', guitar and vocals emerge gradually from a bed of electronic sounds; Buckley-esque vibrato-laden vocals then continue to soar over heavily delayed guitar sounds and whooshing, meandering synthesisers. Later, when electronic beats kick in, the track suddenly chops from its' suspense driven, atmospheric, alternative-rock opening into a fuzzy, sample-ridden, trip-hop blend complete with a forceful beat. A similar unpredictable variety of sounds in former single 'Ariel' which evolves from a sitar-like sounding introduction echoing the blend of a different musical culture, to a hip hop vibe sounding squeaking and squelching synths and electronic samples then moving onto a much sparser sounding piano-accompanied section before snapping back to the hip hop groove. Even from the opening tracks, it's clear that the intelligent blend of genres and cultures is more central to Stateless' music than constructing strong choruses , for example; 'Assassinations' in particular emphasises that beats are intentionally more dominant than melodies. During 'Assassinations', percussion continues to dominate over the gentle suggestion of glockenspiel sounding electric piano, then the track sounds a gradual build of layers and noise before plunging into a fuzz-ridden, grunge-meets-hip hop break. The spacey instrumental track 'Red Sea' then provides contrast to the previous grunge-tinged noise with an electric piano and guitar blend loaded with echoing reverb which swells and fades atmospherically like waves of sound which eventually allow gentle picked acoustic guitar to seep through. The closing tracks of Matilda seem to build further and further upon Stateless' already diverse sound. 'Ballad Of NGB' has more of a cool, jazzy club feeling with the strings' pulsating rhythmic backings complemented by electronic beats. This is contrasted by the melodramatic 'Song For The Outsider' which further explores the strings through range and techniques; like superimposing Vanessa-Mae on top of a Radiohead-like climax, before dying out to a solo string section to contrast the preceding madness. The beautiful 'I'm On This' starts with picked electric guitar and suspension-ridden, uneasy, Radiohead-like tonality over which soulful vocals sound; into the chorus, the waltz builds with the soaring falsetto melody suggesting hints of Chris Martin softened with a gentle, warming vibrato and backing vocal harmonies. 'I'm On This' builds from gentle beginnings into something well-worked and powerful, goosebump-inducing with smooth strings and all. Later, 'Junior' continues this beautiful sound with vocals reminiscent of Guillemots' Fyfe Dangerfield singing clear over strings and echoing atmospheric sounds before handing over to the second, more soulful vocal. It's clear throughout Matilda that Stateless discard conventional verse-chorus-verse songwriting and replace it with complete technicality, piecing together segments of alternating genres and musical blends. The result proves difficult listening and Matilda feels at times like a showcase of Stateless' technical ability and obsession rather than a collection of musical tracks that bind together well as an album. That said, however, Stateless' confidence, technical ability and individuality as a band are undoubted and Matilda offers more than mere gentle suggestions of potential; instead a whopping hint of a sound that, if refined, could really be something great.

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2011-04-09T11:56:00.006+02:00

Elbow - Build a rocket boys!

Year: 2011
Genre: indie / pop / folk
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/elbowmusic
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V2 [~170]
Scene release: no
Filesize: 64 MB

Track listing:
01. The birds 8:04
02. Lippy kids 6:05
03. With love 4:12
04. Neat little rows 5:41
05. Jesus is a Rochdale girl 3:19
06. The night will always win 4:24
07. High ideals 5:40
08. The river 2:51
09. Open arms 4:54
10. The birds (reprise) 1:32
11. Dear friends 5:02

Review:
Elbow had already been together for nearly a decade when their debut album, Asleep in the Back, dropped in 2001. Unhip even among the unhip bands vying to become the "next Radiohead," playing the underdog worked out well for Elbow-- both at the start and over the span of three critically acclaimed and modestly successful records. After 2008's The Seldom Seen Kid took home the Mercury Prize, Elbow earned platinum status in Britain. Even in the U.S., "Grounds for Divorce" and "One Day Like This" have shown up on TV (even if you were looking at George Clooney the whole time). So what happens now that more people have expectations of Elbow? A good part of what makes Elbow so beloved is they've always felt impervious to either trends or expectations. Singer Guy Garvey even admitted recently his life isn't providing grist for his typical lyrical gloom. Instead, on Build a Rocket Boys!, the band finds itself camping out in its childhood hometown and reminiscing about days gone by. If that sounds like a return to much-beloved Asleep in the Back closer "Scattered Black & Whites" or Leaders of the Free World's "Station Approach", that's true thematically. The gorgeous "Lippy Kids" harkens back to the Talk Talk spirituals of their early work, but what's remarkable about it is the totality of its lyrical warmth. Garvey avoids lionizing a specific time period, instead offering an empathetic survey of the banality and confusion of childhood-- two features of it that you never seem to outgrow. But sonically, Elbow continue down the narrow corridor they've established in recent years-- immaculately recorded and stripping away nearly every bit of ethereal studio magic. (It's hard to remember that they used to make records people could conceivably get high to.) It only sounds like rock music when they're going out of their way to announce it as such, as on stomping lead single "Neat Little Rows". But more than ever, Elbow are hitching their fortunes to their lead singer, and with that, Rocket is by a large margin their quietest record to date, the closest thing to a Garvey solo album we've heard. That's in the quite literal sense: a rhythm section that could always be relied on for crucial texture and propulsion goes missing for large stretches of time. Still, putting Garvey's charmingly tattered burr at the center is a wise move; it's rangy, warm, and no longer making any bones about its resemblance to Peter Gabriel. But there's a sneaky risk to it, since what has troubled Elbow from the beginning is that while Garvey is a phenomenal vocalist and wordsmith, the dots don't always connect to form memorable songs. That's particularly glaring during Build a Rocket's pokey midsection, which abates melodically and hangs on to Garvey's redolent lyrics for dear life. On the other side, for a band who's often held up to an alternative to Coldplay's more bombastic healing powers, Elbow's never met a gospel choir they didn't think could boost an anthem up to the rafters. But unlike the overblown "With Love", "Open Arms" rings true, a celebration that no one's beyond the convalescent power of the conditional love that one's family or hometown can offer. "Open Arms" in particular makes the case that the missteps and borderline mawkish sentiments of Build a Rocket Boys! can be attributed to the degree of difficulty involved with making grown-up music about youth without resorting to smugness, sensationalism or pandering. It's no slight to say the record's distinguishing quality is the one Elbow has had since the beginning, an honest humanity that's imperfect but can be appreciated if you live with it.

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Elbow - Cast of thousands (2003) [APX]

Elbow - Leaders of the free world (2005) [APX]

Elbow - The seldom seen kid (2008) [V2]

2011-03-26T11:23:00.015+01:00

Young The Giant - Young The Giant

Year: 2011
Genre: rock / pop / alternative
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/youngthegiant
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V2 [~190]
Scene release: Young_The_Giant-Young_The_Giant-2011-CRN
Filesize: 70 MB

Track listing:
01. Apartment 3:57
02. My body 4:05
03. I Got 4:22
04. Cough syrup 4:11
05. God made man 4:49
06. 12 fingers 4:18
07. Strings 4:13
08. Your side 3:52
09. Garands 4:07
10. St. Walker 4:10
11. Islands 4:06
12. Guns out 4:46

Review:
To be honest, I refuse to acknowledge that Young the Giant are from Newport Beach. If I made a list of things worth hating in the world, bet your bottom dollar that just above dirty Torontonian air and soggy cereal would sit Orange County. Sure, it’s naive to assume after watching an episode of Laguna Beach that everybody there is an uppity, orange-skinned valley girl with as much depth as a puddle but rest assured, once you’ve paid the area a visit, you’ll be clambering to get out. This is why it’s such an internal struggle for me to betray myself and tell you that Young the Giant’s debut album, despite coming from the yuckiest place in the USA, is probably the catchiest, most confident indie rock album you’ll hear this year. Sure, it might not have the sexy strings of Ra Ra Riot’s The Orchard, the warbly vocals of Frightened Rabbit’s The Winter of Mixed Drinks or the oh-my-god-you’re-zooey-deschanel irresistibility of She & Him’s Volume Two, but it has what each of these other albums wishes they could have in spades: lasting power. Not just flair and creativity; confidence. So, yeah, it’s a pretty big deal; Young the Giant is Orange County’s get-out-of-jail-free card for 2010 and I’ll personally award the band with it if I get to pretend they come from Canada.
Now if you have no idea who the hell Young the Giant are, let me be the first to tell you that they used to be a band called The Jakes. Now, because you still have no idea who the hell Young the Giant are, let me tell you: they should’ve been on your radar a long time ago. They should’ve been a lot of radars. See, Young the Giant wear their influences on their sleeves but never seem unoriginal or dishonest; they always sound like their own band. Take, for instance, the track ‘Garands’: it’s 60% Coldplay, 20% Kings of Leon and 20% Maroon 5 but at the very same time, it’s 100% Young the Giant. Weird, eh? Or how about a song like the amiable ‘Your Side’? It has a harmless, effective groove straight from the books of Ra Ra Riot but still sounds distinctly honest and personal. Don’t ask me how they do it, but Young the Giant never seem incapable of personalising and making their music their own out of pieces of the music they love; Young the Giant is an expression of the love for music the band has and their desire to reciprocate that love. So remember, it’s not a parasitic relationship; nobody’s getting ripped off: it’s mutualistic.
And if you were one of the lucky few people who heard the band’s EP Shake My Hand way back in 2008, you’ll be happy to hear that despite the (stupid) name change, nothing else has made a turn for the worse. The groovy drumming is still around, the catchy-as-hell melodies are in tact, the band unity is stronger than ever and Shake My Hand’s token hit ‘Cough Syrup’ even pays a visit to Young the Giant (this time, with cellos!). And while it’s surely impressive how well the band gels together on tracks like slide-guitar opener ‘My Body’ and the poppy ‘I Got’, it’s hard to discredit vocalist Sameer Gadhia’s as the cog that keeps the machine running. What separates Young the Giant from pop-in-2010’s best work is the fact that not only are they instrumentally solid, they also have a damn fine vocalist that keeps you utterly and entirely captivated. Whether he does that in his smooth falsetto in the ambient ‘Islands’, with his aggressive and infectious voice in ‘My Body’ or with his low and sexy vocal fry in the chorus of ‘Apartment’, Sameer Gadhia ropes in the listener with his deliberate melodies and makes the songs soar with his arena-ready choruses and bizarre inflection (where the hell is he from anyway?).
But in the end, let’s tally up the marks. Can one great Orange County indie rock album in 2010 negate an entire God-given year filled with unapologetically spoiled and promiscuous beach culture? You’d be hard-pressed to get me to answer “well, yeah” without having made me listen to Young the Giant. So, if you’re feeling graceful, guilty (depending on your location) or if you’re simply just in the mood to hear some absolutely bangin’, tightly knit, catchy indie rock because you love the hell out of music, Young the Giant will probably serve you well.

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2011-03-26T11:18:00.006+01:00

Ponderosa - Moonlight revival

Year: 2011
Genre: Americana / rock / roots / blues
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/ponderosamusic
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V2 [~183]
Scene release: Ponderosa-Moonlight_Revival-2011-FNT
Filesize: 57 MB

Track listing:
01. Old Gin Road 3:37
02. I don't mind 3:59
03. Pistolier 3:41
04. Hold on you 4:54
05. Little runaway 3:47
06. Pretty people 3:35
07. Girl I've ever seen 4:43
08. Revolution 3:54
09. Broken heart 4:29
10. Penniless 3:32
11. Devil on my shoulder 3:21

Review:
At their best, Ponderosa puts some much-needed roll back in rock. It’s something Keith Richards talks about in his new autobiography, Life, and something this Atlanta/Athens band seems to understand inherently. I’m talking about that gritty, soulful, free-swingin’ blues-and-country-based rock ’n’ roll sound that has almost entirely eluded the indie-rock world for years: a little bit of Muscle Shoals stirred in a pot with some early-’70s Stones, Rod Stewart-fronted Faces and their heirs apparent, The Black Crowes, then dashed with Zeppelin’s sexy swagger and Skynyrd’s Southern boogie. Ponderosa even adds Wilco’s lush sparkle and some Beatles-inspired three-part harmonies for good measure.
On the more laid-back fare, singer/guitarist Kalen Nash, lead guitarist Kris Sampson, bassist Jonathan Hall, keyboardist John Dance and drummer Darren Dodd do a decent job of updating the weird, old Americana sound of The Band’s self-titled brown album, though they polish it up a little much, losing most of the weirdness in the process. On a few tunes, Ponderosa also convincingly channels the sound of their New West labelmates the Old 97’s, albeit without the clever lyrical turns of Rhett Miller. And, while Ponderosa never gets as outright mindless lame as Kings of Leon’s “Sex on Fire” or Jet’s “Are You Gonna Be My Girl,” they occasionally flirt with the sound and lyrical territory of both bands—big, dumb, sweaty, bearded, panty-stealin’ rock that might get you laid, but at the expense of your musical and lyrical dignity.
By now you’re probably noticing how many different bands already referenced in this review who aren’t Ponderosa. Eleven in all. This brings up an important point. Ponderosa still seems to be searching for what makes it truly unique. But this is okay. They’re fantastic players and there are certainly hints of uniqueness on this album, two of which I’ve touched on already: the way they top their blue-eyed soul rock with crisp, contrasting harmonies, and their ability to bring a more modern sheen to classic sounds. Their most original turn on Moonlight Revival just might be “Little Runaway,” during which they take the feel of Jackson Browne’s “These Days” and crank it up, coming out with a new subgenre I can best sum up as Power Roots.
One other issue I’m having with Moonlight Revival is that it seems a little suffocating sonically, which I found strange at first since it’s obvious that Ponderosa is not layering everything to death. My best guess is that the album is over-compressed and mastered too loud. This is a common problem with the way music is made nowadays, so it’s not exactly fair to pick on Moonlight Revival, but with Ponderosa’s gritty, downhome sound, it seems to hurt them more than others. The problem with mastering too loud is that it kills dynamics, since it lessens the depth-and-height variance of the loudest and quietest sound waves. It takes away space where space originally existed, and while it sounds rockin’ at first, the music ultimately loses punch and crispness and air. What was once quiet in the mix becomes almost as loud as everything else, taking up more and more room, and resulting in an unnecessarily cluttered sound. Listening to a whole record mastered like this gets exhausting, leaving you overstimulated, ears gasping for breath. (If you’re interested in learning more about this issue, watch this helpful two-minute video, complete with audio and video examples.) Also strange is that this decision happened on the watch of producer Joe Chicarelli, who also helmed The White Stripes’ Icky Thump, an excellent-sounding modern record that avoided this pitfall. With due respect to Chicarelli and Ponderosa, producers and artists need to stop sabotaging their own records by asking mastering engineers to crank everything—they need to leave the the volume knob in the listener’s hand, and the impact of dynamic range in their music.
All this said, Moonlight Revival is a solid roots-rock record, most of which will get your ass moving, even if it’s firmly planted in a chair. And, more importantly, it’s the first step of a talented, powerhouse live band still searching for its identity—and how to best capture the fiery mojo of its performances in a studio setting.

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2011-03-26T11:13:00.003+01:00

Friska Viljor - The beginning of the beginning of the end

Year: 2011
Genre: indie / pop / rock
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/friskaviljor
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V2 [~181]
Scene release: no
Filesize: 62 MB

Track listing:
01. Larionov 3:55
02. Come on 3:40
03. You meant nothing 4:10
04. My thing 3:21
05. What you gonna do 3:07
06. Useless 6:47
07. Passionseeker 4:06
08. Malou 3:54
09. Did you really think you could change 4:23
10. To be alone 3:12
11. People and so on 7:04

Review:
Those that have heard of Friska Viljor before probably know the story of how Daniel Johansson and Joakim Sveningsson started the band after both their relationships had gone down the drain. Those of you who haven’t heard of the band still know this particular kind of story far too well. Heartache has always been one of the prime catalysts for artistic work, and every artist sees their own suffering as something unique, and their thoughts and work about it as something the whole world should share, says Daniel. After four years using music as a cheap therapist both Daniel and Joakim had come to the point in their lives when it is time for a fresh start.
In English Friska Viljor means strong willed and ‘The Beginning of the Beginning of the End’ is testament to this. Don’t expect something different than their previous albums. The lyrics still are stories of happiness, broken hearts, sorrow and hope. The music is the same melodic pop rock. One little difference may be that it seems that they tried to soften that shrill raspy voice that can sometimes distract you too much from the music.
The album opens with a steady stampede of pure optimism pouring from the lead track “Larionov” – it will tell your mind that you should not, under any circumstances – any at all – be sitting still. Be warned: a cheeky tap of the foot, at least, is inevitable. As the album progresses in a swirl of eclectic percussion, elusive electronica, the odd fanfare and some delicious vocals, you’re swept away in a subtly strange collision of moods that multiply and ascend with each new song sprung upon you. With soaring harmonies and melodies that just seep into your mind, the genre-bending duo have crafted a sound comparable to Arcade Fire, yet they maintain a tangible essence of something truly unique.
The quirky, catchy undertones in every track keep a bemusing kind of smile taped onto your face, even as the lyrics approach rather more tender matters of the heart, as in ‘Come On‘, the second track from the album; “…and I like when I cry/ I go up to see the tears that’s falling down from my eyes” – amalgamating that one bundle of words with such lovely vocal strains creates something wonderfully endearing, and makes for some pretty sweet listening.
The album as a whole takes you a-strolling down a rainbow road, only to find yourself swimming through a sad little sea, and then right through the centre of a smile. It’s rare to find a pair who can carry you from one mood to another with such a pleasing sense of schizophrenia. To be brief, and to elude any more metaphors, they make smiles and sadness fit together just right. From buoyant orchestral highs to the most melodic of come-downs, the album is like an all-you-can-eat for your ears; most certainly wholesome.

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Friska Viljor - Bravo! (2007) [V2,~177]

Friska Viljor - Tour de hearts (2008) [320cbr]

2011-03-14T12:21:00.005+01:00

The Bony King Of Nowhere - Eleonore

Year: 2011
Genre: acoustic / folk / indie
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/thebonyking
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V2 [~159]
Scene release: no
Filesize: 39 MB

Track listing:
01. Sleeping miners 4:28
02. Girl from the play 2:56
03. The garden 3:03
04. Going home 4:13
05. Hear them calling 2:42
06. The poet 4:01
07. Eleonore 3:47
08. Some are fearful 3:18
09. Mother 6:05

Review:
After having listened to this album it remains a mystery who she exactly is, but it’s clear Eleonore is a lucky girl. On his second album, belgium Bram Vanparys, has crafted 9 beautiful and melancholic songs dedicated, or so at least the album title and two songs (“Girl from the play” and the title track) suggest, to this girl.
On his previous record, Alas My Love, there was some experimentation on the song structure and productions. This new record is more like a plain singer-songer writer record. In this case that’s not a bad thing at all; it proves to be a big leap forward.
The Bony King often is compared to Thom Yorke or Leonard Cohen (“The Garden”), but on this record a Young Tim Buckley comes to mind. A good voice only is no guarantee at all for a good record. But combined with the soothing melodies and harmonies, for example on “Girl From the Play” and single “Going Home”, this a surely a record that stands out.“The Poet” is a nice interpretation of dutch poet Van Elsschot poem “The Marriage” and musically a reincarnation of The Band.
So don’t be surprised if this album is going to be the, more than deserved, international breakthrough of The Bony King Of Nowhere. In the meantime he leaves us with a beautiful record and keeps us wondering who Eleonere is.

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2011-03-14T12:18:00.003+01:00

The Boxer Rebellion - The cold still

Year: 2011
Genre: indie / rock
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/theboxerrebellion
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V2 [~180]
Scene release: The_Boxer_Rebellion-The_Cold_Still-(Limited_Edition)-2CD-2011-SiRE
Filesize: 68 MB

Track listing:
01. No harm 4:02
02. Step out of the car 3:03
03. Locked in the basement 3:42
04. Cause for alarm 3:34
05. Caught by the light 4:51
06. Organ song 3:28
07. Memo 3:05
08. Both sides are even 5:06
09. The runner 3:39
10. Doubt 4:58
Bonus disc:
01. 325 3:26
02. Secret handshake 3:34
03. Semi automatic (alternate version) 3:54
04. Spitting fire (acoustic) 2:35

Review:
We're only 30 seconds into The Cold Still and Nathan Nicholson is suggesting that "Maybe there's no use, the way it was before." It doesn't read like an epitaph, but more a statement of his and The Boxer Rebellion's quest for a clean slate, new beginnings and perhaps more importantly mainstream recognition.
Without dwelling too much on the past, it would be fair to say that The Boxer Rebellion are one of the unluckiest bands in living memory. Indeed, one wonders if some evil charlatan was actually placing unavoidable ladders on every street corner within walking distance while leaving mirrors under the front and back wheels of each member's cars should they decide to opt for an alternative means of transportation. Standing on the cusp of greatness ever since the impeccable 'Watermelon' announced their arrival some eight years ago, they've been dogged by a catalogue of setbacks, many of which would have consigned lesser artists to retirement years ago ('If we were solo artists we'd have all quit by now' said Nathan Nicholson in a recent interview).
What's quite remarkable about this band is that ever since 2009's grandiose Union heralded their resurgence, they've risen against adversity in spectacular fashion. Perhaps surprisingly for a band whose sound is quintessentially British (despite the origins of their singer and guitarist), The Boxer Rebellion are more likely to be found selling out venues Stateside than back home, where astonishingly they're still viewed by many within the music industry as newcomers.
Nevertheless, they've progressed onto that all important third album and once again, entered a musical seachange. After Union, it was always going to be a challenging decision as to what course of action the band would take next. Persuading producer extraordinaire Ethan Johns to come on board could be seen as something of a masterstroke, his last contribution partly responsible for the flood of acclaim bestowed on Laura Marling's I Speak Because I Can, whilst ultimately paving the way for Kings Of Leon's career beforehand.
Here, Johns' knack for making every instrument sound like a heartbeat, every chord resemble a final breath, comes to the fore, particularly on opener 'No Harm'. An assertive piano melody flowing through it like blood coursing through every vein, its chorus opening up like Elbow at their most lavish. 'Locked In The Basement', meanwhile, takes the form of a lullaby, albeit one that seems more cautiously aimed at a partner rather than one's offspring. Nicholson's vocal takes on a similar air of fatigue to that of Doves' Jimi Goodwin on 'Kingdom Of Rust', lines like "I don't want anything, anything at all" suggesting an element of closure in its sentiment.
That's not to say The Cold Still is all about emotional ballads and heartfelt statements. Lead single 'Step Out Of The Car', broody U2 flavoured rocker 'Memo' and the fast and furious 'The Runner' all hark back to both Union and its predecessor Exits. Todd Howe's exquisite guitar sound is key throughout, all three provide a welcome respite from the largely maudlin feel engulfing the rest of the record.
However, when The Boxer Rebellion do acoustic laments, there's no one who can challenge them. Take both 'Caught By The Light' and the closing 'Doubt': the former taking its inspiration from Chris Isaak's 'Wicked Game' musically, while Nicholson spits the couplet "And the memory gets deeper, survived by the pain" while the latter reveals a deep seeded paranoia rooted in trust and betrayal, bringing The Cold Still to an eventual and natural standstill.
Whisper it quietly but this could be the record that breaks The Boxer Rebellion onto the daytime radio schedules at last. However, whether it's their best collection to date would be open to debate (Union still takes that accolade by a fair margin). In any case, it should serve them well both for the present and the future.

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2011-03-14T12:14:00.004+01:00

Joan As Police Woman - The deep field

Year: 2011
Genre: indie / folk
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/joanaspolicewoman
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V2 [~194]
Scene release: Joan_As_Police_Woman--The_Deep_Field-2011-OMA
Filesize: 77 MB

Track listing:
01. Nervous 6:03
02. The magic 4:09
03. The action man 5:09
04. Flash 7:52
05. Run for love 5:38
06. Human condition 5:34
07. Kiss the specifics 4:31
08. Chemmie 4:48
09. Forever and a year 5:56
10. I was everyone 6:06

Review:
Beauty comes in many guises. On 2006’s Real Life, Joan Wasser’s first album as Joan As Police Woman, it arrived as a fractured, fragile thing, dispensed via pensive piano pieces and a voice that spoke of a life spent on the edge of some vertiginous emotional precipice. Already 36, Wasser was one of those intriguing NYC art-music propositions: classically trained, she was a protégée of Rufus Wainwright and Antony Hegarty who had collaborated with Lou Reed and had also been Jeff Buckley’s lover at the time of his death in 1997. Buckley wrote the slinky “Everybody Here Wants You” as a hymn to Wasser’s magnetism, and listening to Real Life it wasn’t hard to understand why.
The beauty in evidence on follow-up To Survive (2008) was sparkier, more diverse. While the emotional centre remained spectral torch songs like “To Be Lonely”, elsewhere Wasser edged towards a funkier, fuller sound. A further hint of changing priorities came last year with the limited-release stop-gap album Cover, where she tackled songs by everyone from Public Enemy to Adam Ant, suggesting she had outgrown her previous parameters.
The Deep Field turns that suggestion into fact. There is beauty aplenty in these 10 songs, but anyone yearning for the delicious ache of old will find it only fleetingly. It’s there on the sparse, almost tribal rhythms of “Flash”, which stretches out hypnotically over eight minutes, and most obviously on “Forever And A Year”, a beautiful ballad which Wasser sings like Eurydice at the gates of Hades. Though it’s where we find the album’s title phrase, referencing one of the universe’s furthest flung galaxies, “Forever And A Year”’s ravishing melancholy turns out to be anomalous. Instead, The Deep Field attempts to articulate the beauty of happiness, a trickier concept to convey than sorrow.
Wasser has always been in thrall to ’70s soul, but The Deep Field goes in with both feet. It’s a fully fledged attempt to capture the cosmic mixture of funky fun, lush production values and sonic adventurousness heard on Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On, Sly Stone’s Fresh and Stevie Wonder’s Fulfillingness’ First Finale, with a touch of Funkadelic to taste. Odd, layered harmonies break into the mix and then swiftly depart; analog synths squelch; songs wander off into unexpected corners and then zip back to nail a killer chorus.
When it all clicks it’s deliriously good. “The Action Man” is rapturously melodic, climbing to a slow fade of warm brass, low strings and blended voices which suggest that all four Stylistics are hiding in the headphones. “Kiss The Specifics” must surely have fallen off the end of Al Green Is Love, while “Chemmie” is Wasser making like post-Supremes Diana Ross and letting biology do all the heavy lifting: “It’s elemental, a force of nature”.
This turns out to be a lyrical manifesto for the entire album – stop thinking, start feeling, trust your instincts and keep moving. On “The Magic”, Wasser is looking for “the right way out of my mind”, a question which might seem more profound if the song didn’t sound like Flight Of The Conchords’ “Mutha Uckas”.
Even when The Deep Field doesn’t quite work it remains compelling. “Nervous”, a proggy-soul broth with Moog synths and a bit of Bowie thrown into the pot, meanders around trying to work out exactly what it is before stumbling upon a gloriously uplifting chorus. “Human Condition” is strange soul muzak, on which regular vocal foil Joseph Arthur unveils his karaoke Barry White, Wasser comes on like late period Joni Mitchell, and cheesy bass honks over maddening chord changes.
It’s intriguing, but you might not want to live there. The Deep Field fearlessly maps out new territory for Wasser without ever quite allaying the suspicion that she’s playing against her more obvious strengths. But that’s the thing about taking a leap forward. It’s almost inevitable that something precious will get left behind.

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2011-02-27T13:33:00.005+01:00

Devotchka - 100 lovers

Year: 2011
Genre: indie / folk / “polka” / rock
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/devotchkamusic
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V2 [~187]
Scene release: no
Filesize: 63 MB
Uploaded: 26-02-2011
Hosted by: uploaded.to / multiupload

Track listing:
01. The alley 5:04
02. All the sand in all the sea 4:51
03. One hundered other lovers 4:11
04. The common good 4:26
05. Interlude 1 0:40
06. The man from San Sebastian 3:44
07. Exhaustible 3:30
08. Interlude 2 0:24
09. Bad luck heels 4:14
10. Ruthless 4:49
11. Contrabanda 3:55
12. Sunshine 4:55

Review:
Ever since DeVotchKa had a Grammy nomination for Little Miss Sunshine the bar for the Denver group was set incredibly high. Their music has been used in countless films, TV shows and commercials but so far they can not seem to break out to the indie masses. The bands fifth album, 100 Lovers, will make a good run at it, with its overall burning Arcade Fire type intensity that strays away a bit more from some of their eclectic gypsy tinged sounds found on earlier recordings.
100 Lovers was produced by Craig Schumacher (Calexico, Neko Case) and the album takes on the smooth stylings of other bands he has worked with. This dynamic sets up some conflicts because DeVotchKa, at times, seem a bit lost in their own world. Do you let the horns play, do you crank up the chorus or do you go a bit more mellow and let some of your world influences take over? These are all questions that don't necessarily get answered here and it sends the record's flow into different directions. There are some strong tracks that could really win over some new fans but with some refinement and a bit more direction 100 Lovers could have been an even better album.
While 100 Lovers might not be a perfect album, it does recapture the sort of epic romanticism that the band cut its teeth on – reminiscent particularly of How It Ends but also with a more fully fleshed out sound that reflects the band’s growing indie-rock sensibilities. And unlike in previous efforts, those sensibilities don’t get in the way of the band’s crafting of great songs. While DeVotchKa began as a world music influenced band, particularly taking inspiration from Eastern European Roma music and Mexican polka styles; as of late the band has seemed to model itself more on the Arcade Fire model of epic, soaring indie pop. Even the most pop oriented work on Lovers is redeemed by its allowance for the band’s baroque roots to shine out as well. “100 Other Lovers” for instance, is jazzed up by Tom Hagerman’s always interesting, classically trained violin work. “The Common Good” benefits similarly, in addition to a gypsy handclap beat. And the best work on Lovers fully embraces a wide spectrum of influence – Mariachi horns in stomper “Bad Luck Heels,” French accordion and rockabilly in “The Man from San Sebastian,” and so on.
One thing that hasn’t changed at all for DeVotchKa is frontman and multi-instrumentalist Nick Urata’s haunting baritone. Throughout Lovers and particularly in standout tracks “All the Band in the Sea” and “Exhaustible” Urata carries the sound nearly completely, affecting his trademark mix of restlessness and weariness. It’s the voice of a man who can neither sit still nor rest. And while DeVotchKa contains some top notch musicians, it has always been Urata’s epic wail that’s been the secret to the group’s success. Urata shines here like he’s recently rediscovered his sense of sorrow, and the sound’s funereal sense of loss and rebirth is back in all of its soul-tugging force.
The album’s overall sound never goes stale, as each song features its own variety of instrumentation and vocals. With a sound that never goes old, DeVotchKa has remained on top of its sound. 100 Lovers is composed of more peaks then valleys. It is 44 minutes of turbulence-free umbrella travel.

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Devotchka - A mad and faithful telling (2009) [192cbr]

2011-02-27T13:31:00.002+01:00

The Dears - Degeneration street

Year: 2011
Genre: indie
Listen: http://www.myspace.com/thedears
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V2 [~192]
Scene release: no
Filesize: 82 MB
Uploaded: 26-02-2011
Hosted by: uploaded.to / multiupload

Track listing:
01. Omega dog 5:02
02. 5 chords 3:35
03. Blood 4:10
04. Thrones 4:33
05. Lamentation 4:20
06. Torches 1:37
07. Galactic tides 4:37
08. Yesteryear 3:52
09. Stick w/ me kid 3:29
10. Tiny man 5:05
11. Easy suffering 4:33
12. Unsung 4:15
13. 1854 5:24
14. Degeneration street 4:57

Review:
Murray Lightburn makes no small gestures. That isn’t necessarily a shortcoming, considering how he and The Dears fire “Thrones” into its pre-chorus with the words “Not a single one of us has the guts to bear a cross.” That line would leave a simpler singer with nothing but pure feigned insolence, but Lightburn is still deft at tying maudlin lows to the highs of romantic tenacity. The Dears never have trouble sounding convinced of their material.
At its best, Degeneration uses eclecticism as “wow” factor; opener “Omega Dog” is a nervous, tightly wound funk-rocker packed with an emo gut-punch, spiderbite guitars, and Lightburn’s gorgeous falsetto—the whole package reminiscent of TV on the Radio’s recent foray into funky texture. “Thrones,” on the other hand, sounds like the work of a completely different band, nurturing a dreamy ‘80s rock melody into a Bowie-esque pop anthem. The genre-hopping and complete devotion to sound-sculpting is more than admirable; in fact, the album’s all-encompassing musical scope helps keep Lightburn’s most angst-ridden lyrics grounded—the rising and falling chords and gorgeous, stereo-panned sonics on “Lamentation” make heavy-handed visions of Heaven (“We believe what the prophecy says / Those billions of souls on the edge”) easier to digest. All-around, the songs are their most dynamic and fleshed-out in years, and it’s no surprise—they decided to work with an outside producer: Tony Hoffer (Beck, Belle & Sebastian), and long-lost bandmates have rejoined the fold.
But occasionally, The Dears simply try too hard. When they aim for OK Computer levels of grandeur, the results are shaky—“Galactic Tides" is their “Exit Music (For a Film),” building a cinematic level of suspense, but it’s the Lifetime movie version of Radiohead’s grandiose Citizen Kane-style epic. Conversely, their lone attempt at “rocking out” is even shakier.
Still, Degeneration Street is a credit to Lightburn’s songwriting acumen and stubbornly heightened emotions. The Dears make some bulky records, but no half-hearted ones.

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2011-02-27T13:29:00.004+01:00

Cold War Kids - Mine is yours

Year: 2011
Genre: indie / pop / rock
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/coldwarkids
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V2 [~175]
Scene release: Cold_War_Kids-Mine_Is_Yours-2011-404
Filesize: 56 MB
Uploaded: 26-02-2011
Hosted by: uploaded.to / multiupload

Track listing:
01. Mine is yours 4:17
02. Louder than ever 2:44
03. Royal blue 3:34
04. Finally begin 3:42
05. Out of the wilderness 4:07
06. Skip the charades 4:26
07. Sensitive kid 3:33
08. Bulldozer 5:02
09. Broken open 4:40
10. Cold toes on the cold floor 4:06
11. Flying upside down 4:18

Review:
When I sat down to listen to Mine Is Yours, the latest efforts from Cold War Kids, my thoughts on what I had set myself up for were a little agnostic. As their first album Robbers and Cowards had received critical acclaim and hadn’t left my head phones or speakers for the best part of six months, playing on repeat ‘til the early hours of the morning and making my heavily mundane bus journeys in the mornings all the more enjoyable, rather than just counting how many flakes of dandruff were on the girl’s jacket in front of me.
It was the offbeat piano melodies, Nathan Willet’s screeching and sometimes whiny vocals about hanging him up to dry, and the implicit rawness which emanated from Robbers and Cowards which ruffled my feathers.
Like any fan, I eagerly awaited the follow up to Robbers and Cowards, which finally came after a two year wait. Loyalty To Loyalty, a record which started off with such promise with raw and aggressive melodies and riffs that had the potential to top their debut album.
Only it didn’t. It quickly became apparent that as the track numbers were going up, the level of creativity went down and all that was left by the end of the record were the slurs of a man who sounded too pissed to play the piano or sing, like the drunk fool who always features in the old cow boy films, attempting to play the piano in a salon, hiccupping his life away with an empty bottle of Jack by his feet.
So when the first strains of third album opening track ‘Mine Is Yours’ reached my ears I was pleasantly surprised. Unlike Robbers and Cowards and Loyalty to Loyalty, the Kids have taken a completely different angle on their music writing, taking a similar road to that of Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs by adding a slice of pop to their sound.
Now that doesn’t mean that this record is drenched in over elaborate production and irritating choruses. No, instead Cold War Kids have created a record which is a lot easier going on the ears than previous excursions, with ‘Louder Than Ever’ and ‘Finally Begin’ being at the forefront of this new direction in sound. Of course there are still their trademark stark, piano-driven tracks, like ‘Sensitive Kid’ and ‘Cold Toes On The Cold Floor’, which are reminiscent of the much better tracks on their debut, like ‘Rubidoux’ and ‘Hang Me Up To Dry’, proving that their unique style of sound hasn’t been lost and have executed each track on this record down to a big capital Tee.

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2011-02-19T13:02:00.002+01:00

The Sand Band - All through the night

Year: 2011
Genre: folk / acoustic / indie
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/thesandband
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V2 [~165]
Scene release: The_Sand_Band-All_Through_the_Night-2011-JUST
Filesize: 47 MB
Uploaded: 19-02-2011
Hosted by: uploaded.to / multiupload

Track listing:
01. Set me free 2:49
02. To be where you are 3:32
03. Song that sorrow sings 2:40
04. The secret chord 3:26
05. Open your wings interlude 5:49
06. The gift and the curse 3:03
07. Someday the sky 2:22
08. Burn this house hourglass 5:11
09. All through the night 3:22
10. If this is where it ends outro 7:24

Review:
Since the break-up of Oasis, Noel Gallagher has been keeping a low profile, biding his time and quietly working on new material with one David McDonnell, lead singer of Liverpool's the Sand Band.
But here's the surprising thing: in place of the Beatles, the Sand Band's sound is in thrall to Calexico, Elliott Smith, Big Star, Neil Young and Sparklehorse. They've even got themselves a pedal-steel player. The result is what the Verve might have sounded like if they'd come from Memphis.
Led by chief songwriters David McDonnell and Scott Marmion, this up and coming group from Liverpool use the foundational (or foundationless) space where ladies-and-gentlemen-we’re-floating-somewhere-in-a-dark-void to build their folk rock love songs around. Certainly taking a page from psychedelic forbearers, the atmosphere on All Through the Night, the band’s sophomore release, is lush and pretty. It’s this lushness that adds an element to some of the duller moments on the album, which tends to come in waves with three of the tracks split into two part suites. Only the finale of the album succeeds with this format; “If This is Where It Ends / Outro” segues from a chilled out strum to a spoken word sample from a sleep aid that is backed by prettily chiming guitars. “Open Your Wings / Interlude”, however, fares worse than the album closer as the second half drags the album to a halt at its midpoint. As a creative writing professor once told me, “it’s like littering your streets with obtrusive garbage. The more you’re slowed down on the narrative path, the less you pay attention.”
Such a proverbial rock in the road is rather unfortunate because until that point All Through The Night was building itself into a bit of a force. The band seemed to have struck that right balance between atmospheric histrionics and stripped down, Leonard Cohen and Neil Young inspired folk rock. In so many words, the band has a gestating knack for songwriting, for writing the precious melodies that their sound promises are held within. The Cherry Ghost vibe of opener “Set Me Free” welcomes the listener easily; a temptation, almost. Even the all-too-familiar chord progression of “The Gift & The Curse” is given extra punch with the introduction of keys, “oohing” back up vocals, and appropriately dark lyrics lamenting the follies of love. “Wish I could reverse, and give them the curse”, bemoans McDonnell on the track, following a theme that is well trodden throughout All Through the Night.
Almost too well trodden; the band tends to lack strong ideas at key moments, particularly with the lengthier, more adventurous tracks. At times they fall off the tightrope into the feudal land where atmosphere is king and melody is nothing but a lowly serf, toiling forever as a replaceable necessity. All Through the Night, then, doesn’t exactly deliver on the promise that it seduces us in with on the opening half of the record. But the important thing to remember is that there is promise in here and The Sand Band are still in an incubating period. Like any band worthwhile beyond a one-off debut, these young lads from the Merseyside have to walk before they run. It’s best to follow the advice of the spoken word outro and, relax, sit back, and rest. Let the album wash over you--take its flaws with a grain of salt. You’ll enjoy it all the more if you do.

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2011-02-13T10:22:00.004+01:00

The Thoughts - I won't keep you here

Year: 2011
Genre: folk / acoustic / indie
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/thethoughtsmusic
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V2 [~176]
Scene release: The_Thoughts-I_Wont_Keep_You_Here-2010-FNT
Filesize: 54 MB
Uploaded: 12-02-2011
Hosted by: uploaded.to / multiupload

Track listing:
01. Orange sky 3:30
02. Stages of sleep 3:01
03. You're not happy here 5:51
04. Form and color 3:09
05. Winterkill 4:01
06. Spinning-falling 2:54
07. Cutting skin 4:22
08. I wanted to 5:15
09. I won't keep you here 4:16
10. Blood and bones 2:47
11. The cage 3:23

Review:
The Thoughts formed in 2007, when Seattle violinist Katie Mosehauer joined forces with chief singer-songwriter Ian Williams and drummer Jon Horwath, who'd been playing together "for a long time." On the band's excruciatingly cute website (www .thethoughtsmusic.com), Williams describes himself as "a mostly harmless animal who wanders the cities of the Pacific Northwest, though some sightings happen as far east as NYC. He went to school, studied music and theatre, and writes songs. He loves crows, but crows don't love him. He would like to meet a polar bear, but it suspects that the polar bear might be indifferent, or possibly hostile. He likes that whales sing songs." Not surprisingly then, themes of nature, animals, and love and loss run throughout the band's 2011 record I Won't Keep You Here: "Thoughts of you keep me up at night/I should be sleeping/I should be sleeping/All the stages of sleep mean nothing with no one there/To measure and record them" ("Stages of Sleep") and "I know that you're not happy here/And it wasn't that cold this time last year" ("I Know You're Not Happy Here").
The album’s focus on dynamics is evident, but heavy-handed at times. There’s the barebones-to-begin-with campfire waltz-ballad of “You’re Not Happy Here,” the despondent intimacy of “Form and Color”; there’s the sparse, almost classical guitar feel of “Winterkill” compared to the theatrical builds of the startlingly Shearwater-esque “I Wanted To,” where Willian’s voice climbs into a falsetto glide and dip similar (if less sturdy) to Meiburg’s. But no song is too measured, too restrained to resist the eruption of a bridge with a crying violin, a tempestuous peal of percussion, a swarm of strings, or a bellow of vocals. Minimal executions—whether guitar, strings, or xylophone tinkles—inevitably and without exception give way to indulgent crescendos. These epic moments often emphasize Mosehauer’s violin works
Fans of considerate chamber pop with folk undertones in the likes of Mumford & Sons or Bowerbirds could do worse than to check out the Thoughts.

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2011-02-13T10:20:00.004+01:00

Spokes - Everyone I ever met

Year: 2011
Genre: rock / indie
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/spokessound
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V2 [~194]
Scene release: Spokes-Everyone_I_Ever_Met-(Counter_Records)-WEB-2011-soup
Filesize: 76 MB
Uploaded: 12-02-2011
Hosted by: uploaded.to / multiupload

Track listing:
01. 345 4:24
02. We can make it out 4:40
03. Everyone I ever met 7:41
04. Sun it never comes 1:48
05. Give it up to the night 5:18
06. Peace racket 6:27
07. Torn up in praise 4:54
08. Canon grant 1:48
09. Happy needs colour 5:13
10. Forever the bridge 6:02
11. When I was Daisy when I was tree 4:17

Review:
Preston-formed, Manchester-based outfit Spokes have been going about their business fairly quietly since coming together in 2006. A self-released EP in 2008 attracted a little attention their way, but here is where they really make good on early promise: a debut album that is by turns beautiful and bombastic, rippling with raucous energy and seductive in its subdued melodies.
What Everyone I Ever Met is not, however, is a record that stands alone with its sound. Across its tracks there are pronounced echoes of Arcade Fire, Broken Records and Doves; less obviously, there are parallels to be drawn with similarly under-the-radar act Shady Bard, as both acts take aspects of folk and filter them through some dynamic post-rock sensibilities. But Spokes have been savvy enough to not dilute their material with too many definitive nods to influences, accidental or otherwise. So, while there are several moments where the listener will be temporarily transported to the work of another group, this takes nothing away from what’s a hugely satisfying experience.
We Can Make It Out takes the group vocals of a band like Danish symphonic-indie ensemble Efterklang and sets them against some busy percussion – the effect is pulse-raising, conveying drama aplenty. The slow-shifting Peace Racket also owes much to inspired indie arrangements from Scandinavia, conjuring comparisons with the off-kilter anthems penned by Mew. Torn Up in Praise could pass for a stripped-back Broken Social Scene, and the wonderfully sombre Happy Needs Colour will become a firm favourite of anyone particularly fond of melancholy most memorable.
Originality, then, isn’t really on the agenda for Spokes; but so excellent are these arrangements – in terms of feeling immediately familiar, without alienating through heard-it-before repetition – that the band’s failure to really find their own voice on this debut matters little. It’s a little too studied, maybe; a little show-off in places where some naivety might have proved a more endearing trait. But, despite so many elements that would, in another album, be terribly off-putting, Everyone I Ever Met is a fine first long-player. Think of it as a solid foundation to build something more unique from and it’s a triumph; or, better still, don’t think at all and let it tickle several sonic taste-buds in a single sitting.

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2011-02-13T10:17:00.004+01:00

White Lies - Ritual

Year: 2011
Genre: rock / alternative
Listen: http://www.myspace.com/whitelies
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V2 [~192]
Scene release: White_Lies-Ritual-2011-SiRE
Filesize: 69 MB
Uploaded: 12-02-2011
Hosted by: uploaded.to / multiupload

Track listing:
01. Is love 4:53
02. Strangers 5:25
03. Bigger than us 4:43
04. Peace & quiet 5:54
05. Streetlights 4:59
06. Holy ghost 4:23
07. Turn the bells 5:04
08. The power & the glory 5:14
09. Bad love 3:58
10. Come down 5:10

Review:
Ritual, this west London trio’s second album following 2009’s chart-topping debut To Lose My Life, carries on much in the same vein of windswept angst set against the serious-face black-and-white press shots.
Broadening their musical palette with electronic touches and nods to Peter Hook’s bass style, Ritual’s references orbit very firmly around a lot of music made pre-1985 – lead singer Harry McVeigh has moved on from the early Ian Curtis intoning, and now has a touch of the Julian Cope about his voice – and is in thrall to the mid-00 new-wavery that the likes of Editors have made their own. It also encourages parallels with early U2, back when Bono considered Echo & The Bunnymen their main threat and before the pomposity that followed their big breakthrough. Produced by Alan Moulder, who has form with the likes of Depeche Mode, Ride, Smashing Pumpkins and My Bloody Valentine, it’s a step on from the sixth-form Joy Division-isms of their debut.
Highlights include opener Is Love, setting the stall out for the whole album by introducing interesting electronic elements. Strangers has a big chorus that could induce a wave of nu-goth arm-waving while soundtracking goals of the week montages, likewise first single Bigger Than Us. The Power & the Glory toys with MBV-style strafing feedback over Human League-lite touches, which is likely to invigorate the tents during the festival season, and closer Come Down channels The Killers doing Kilimanjaro (quite a good thing, actually).
Despite being disabled with rotten cover art, Ritual is a sturdy affair, and one that should continue White Lies’ steady ascent towards something serious and important. Their big issues sound perfect for a manky January, but a bit of light relief wouldn’t go amiss among the semi-overblown soundtrack to self-harming and painting-your-bedroom-black that is too often implied. But hey, it’s worked well for others – and you never know, they (and we) may wake up in a few years and find that they’ve become colossal in the States.

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2011-02-06T10:16:00.005+01:00

Say Hi - Um, uh oh

Year: 2011
Genre: indie / pop / rock
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/sayhi
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V2 [~187]
Scene release: no
Filesize: 47 MB
Uploaded: 05-02-2011
Hosted by: uploaded.to / multiupload

Track listing:
01. Dots on maps 3:45
02. Devils 2:20
03. All the pretty ones 2:37
04. Take ya' dancin' 3:01
05. Posture, etc. 2:55
06. Sister needs a settle 3:11
07. Lookin' good 3:31
08. My, how it comes 2:23
09. Shiny diamonds 3:20
10. Handsome babies 3:23
11. Trees are a swayin' 2:02
12. Bruises to prove it 2:40

Review:
In our current media-oversaturated culture, it’s not only possible for a band to become a household name after playing a handful of gigs, it has become the norm. Then there’s the case of 34-year-old Eric Elbogen, a singer-songwriter whose decade-long list of career deflating obstacles includes sparsely attended tours, an amusing amount of line-up changes, and one very unamusing band name (Say Hi to Your Mom). Despite the fact that his band has “broken up 37 times”, Elbogen has bravely soldiered forward, releasing a new album almost every year since 2002, and eventually finding a home on the Barsuk label. His latest release, Um, Uh Oh, his third since rechristening his now one-man band Say Hi, is an unexpected breakthrough that finds Elbogen fully embracing his underdog status.
Say Hi’s music, often written off as run of the mill indie, is unlikely to make much of a first impression. If it sounds like something you can easily hear someplace else, it’s because you can. For this release, Elbogen adopts Spoon’s minimalist aesthetic and sings like a caffeinated M. Ward. While earlier albums were powered by driving, Cars-y synths, this sparse, homemade collection might best be categorized as polished lo-fi. Musically, there’s scarcely an original moment here, yet Elbogen somehow manages to rise to the task of infusing familiar arrangements with new life. The prickly narrator/composer comes across like a brooding barfly who is a closeted romantic that can turn a memorable phrase on command. If you’re willing to saddle up next to him for a short spell, you might find his downer charm irresistible.
Opener “Dots on Maps” effectively sets the template. Over rumbling bass and judiciously applied piano and guitar, Elbogen sings of a couple speeding willfully toward uncertainly. Nobody here has any answers, but instead of getting too worked up about it, everyone seems content to forge ahead and consider the consequences after the fact. There’s always something ugly just around the corner, and Elbogen flirts with it gleefully. On the twisty leadoff single “Devils”, he’s thrown open his house to the man downstairs and is thus unable to “make it back from the dark, dark, dark”. He closes out the song sarcastically repeating “Oh woe is me indeed”, suggesting that the dark, dark, dark might not be a bad place to be. On the deceptively bouncy “Take Ya Dancin’”, he beckons a young lady to the dance floor with “You’re stomach’s not full of butterflies / And your head’s about to burst / Your organ has no player / And your hands are looking worse.” Might as well party through the pain, right?
The mood lightens considerably for the album’s second half, which is stocked with charmingly effortless Americana. Elbogen seems most at ease when the acoustic guitars are out, as evidenced by the affirming “Lookin’ Good” and the simple yet unexpectedly touching “Trees Are a Swayin’”. He even dips into stormy Elvis Costello balladry on “Shiny Diamonds”, where he reminds himself that “You can’t hide the fact that she’s a diamond, shiny diamond / And you, sir, are merely just a man”.
Say Hi would probably sound like Arcade Fire if Elbogen had ten bandmates instead of zero. While there are certainly moments that beg for the full band treatment (looking your way, “Sister Needs a Settle”), Elbogen’s economical approach to writing and recording winds up being his biggest asset. Given that every track is under three-and-a-half minutes, there’s little time for the few underwhelming tracks to underwhelm. Once the hook is played and the point is made, the page is promptly turned.
By letting the darkness shine in and learning to laugh in the face of potential failure, Eric Elbogen has taken a significant step creatively. This music might be too unoriginal and unassuming for the hipsters, but its got conviction on its side, and conviction goes a long way.

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2011-01-29T15:29:00.005+01:00

Dolorean - The unfazed

Year: 2011
Genre: folk / alt. country
Listen: http://www.myspace.com/doloreantheband
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V2 [~185]
Scene release: no
Filesize: 57 MB
Uploaded: 29-01-2011
Hosted by: uploaded.to / multiupload

Track listing:
01. Thinskinned 4:14
02. Country clutter 4:38
03. The unfazed 4:20
04. Hard working dogs 4:26
05. Fools gold ring 4:22
06. Sweet boy 3:20
07. Black hills gold 4:01
08. If I find love 3:51
09. These slopes gave me hope 4:03
10. How is it 5:22

Review:
Dolorean may have left longtime label Yep Roc behind, but with its new record’s dreamy violin brushstrokes, classical-tinged piano lines, hushed drumming and singer/guitarist Al James’ weary sigh of a voice, the introspective band is still making some of the most honest, understated indie rock this side of Sun Kil Moon.
The Portland country-rock band perfected its soft-focus sound over its first three albums, serving up song after song of loping rhythms, brushed drums, hushed guitars, rippling piano, and the whispery regret of singer-songwriter Al James. Dolorean’s fourth LP, The Unfazed, doesn’t vary the band’s pitch, but it does put a little more zip on it. Opening with the nimble “Thinskinned”—with its line about hopping into a tanked-up car and hitting the road with an argumentative partner—The Unfazed expresses how wide-open vistas can be spoiled by “one burr under the saddle,” and it does so through music that blends the dreamy psychedelia of Pink Floyd with the yearning balladry of Gene Clark.
Part of the album’s strength is that when James takes those long, hard looks in the rearview mirror, he manages to forgive his shortcomings while never sugar coating the way things went down. “I lied when we met,” he sings on “Sweet Boy.” “It was an honest mistake / I said I could wait for your past to fade away / I had no idea what I was talking about.”
At times, the album relies too much on tasteful arrangements to put across songs that are overly funereal, but then Dolorean comes up with something as arresting as the stormy “Hard Working Dogs” or the faintly funky “Black Hills Gold,” and the jolt of energy puts the mellower songs in context. Life’s little irritations do serve a purpose, if only for the way they inspire even the sedentarily inclined to get up and move.

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2011-01-29T15:26:00.004+01:00

The Mondays Mornings - Fireweed parade

Year: 2011
Genre: indie / rock / pop
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/themondaymornings
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V2 [~205]
Scene release: no
Filesize: 55 MB
Uploaded: 29-01-2011
Hosted by: uploaded.to / multiupload

Track listing:
01. And on a crippled day 3:48
02. Cable cars 4:51
03. Ideas alike 3:20
04. Shift the sea 3:52
05. All rise 3:41
06. Shotgun smile 3:56
07. Claim gold god 4:25
08. Where's your love 4:36
09. Shadowbox lightswitch 5:18

Review:
Seattle-based singer Michael Mearns and his band The Monday Mornings sound lands somewhere in the realm of a Sunny Day Real Estate release with its stark moodiness, clear, vibrant harmonies and meandering, sunny melodies. While the music's roots stretch into folk, pop, and country territory, the band doesn't hunker down for too long in any one of those adjoining styles.
Mearns undeniably has one of the best new voices in indie rock, hearkening back to Frank Black's early years. His tone is edgy and viciously flat, but catchy as hell. Wearing his heart on his gutted metallic strings, his sun-baked voice murmurs, "I am not an anchor / Though I wish that I were / I would stop the sighing ocean from waving us in motion," on the album's title track. He handles his vocals and acoustic guitar with southern rock swagger.

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2011-01-29T15:24:00.003+01:00

Harrys Gym - What was ours can't be yours

Year: 2011 (international release)
Genre: indie / pop / electronic
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/harrysgym
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V2 [~193]
Scene release: Harrys_Gym-What_Was_Ours_Cant_Be_Yours-2010-MTD
Filesize: 60 MB
Uploaded: 29-01-2011
Hosted by: uploaded.to / multiupload

Track listing:
01. Old man 3:28
02. The visitor 5:41
03. Mountains 3:36
04. No hero 3:46
05. Extraordinary girl 3:22
06. Toothpaste 3:08
07. The ring 5:05
08. Sailing home 4:10
09. Tell it to my face 2:25
10. The part that falls 4:07
11. Next time 4:44

Review:
Harrys Gym is named after an abandoned fitness centre that they found in the same building as their rehearsal space. It might also explain the missing possessive apostrophe in their moniker.
On the back of their self-titled debut album (which was released in May 2010 on Norwegian label Hype City) the band earned a New Band Of The Day feature in Guardian and heaped praise from the likes of Drowned in Sound, Uncut and Music Week amongst others. It also saw Harrys Gym subsequently sign to major label Universal in Norway for their follow up – quite an achievement for a “difficult” pop band.
For their follow-up, they chose to work with up-and-coming British producer James Rutledge. Rutledge and vocalist/songwriter Anne Lise Frøkedal bonded at once over the phone from Oslo to London, where they discussed Vashti Bunyan, folk music and the crossover between programming and running naked in the forest. Not to mention a shared fondness for salty licorice.
Rutledge sent a Spotify playlist to the band to give an idea of where he thought the music was heading. This included names such as Brian Eno, Atlas Sound and MGMT, which was enough to convince Frøkedal and the other members that they definitely should book him a ticket to snowy Oslo to begin recording.
How to describe their sound? It is lush and lovely enough to call it “dreampop”, but intricate and intense enough to merit the term “prog-pop”. It rocks hard but is simultaneously lighter than air and relies as much on guitar-bass-drums as it does keyboards. Blending beguiling pop with ethereal sounds, Harrys Gym create epic, glacial and distinctly Nordic soundscapes guided by Anne Lise Frøkedal’s hauntingly beautiful vocals.
“No one knows how to describe us,” says Anne Lise, “or what category to put us in. We’re a pop band but we’re not the easiest – there are more radio-friendly bands than us. And we can be pretty hard-hitting live, which no one expects.” Anne Lise explains that “the one band we all agree on is Blonde Redhead - although we don’t have their Sonic Youth approach to music. We’re more poppy.”

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2010-12-31T09:47:00.014+01:00

HFR’s album top 2010

Here’s my album year list again. Don’t pay to much attention to the particular order though: which album I like best depends of my mood and differs from day to day. However, this year’s number one really stands out for me.....

50. The Rural Alberta Advantage - Hometowns
49. Midlake - The courage of others
48. John Grant - Queen of Denmark
47. My Jerusalem - Gone for good
46. Arcade Fire - The suburbs
45. The Strange Death Of Liberal England - Drown your heart again
44. Lone Wolf - The devil and I
43. The Mad Trist - Pay the piper
42. Wintersleep - New inheritors
41. Matt Pond PA - The dark leaves
40. Caribou - Swim
39. Fortune - Staring at the ice melt
38. Foals - Total life forever
37. The Miserable Rich - Of flight & fury
36. The Kissaway Trail - Sleep mountain
35. Symon - 1+1=3
34. Broadcast 2000 - Broadcast 2000
33. Two Door Cinema Club - Tourist history
32. Yeasayer - Odd blood
31. Fol Chen - Part 2; The new december
30. Hurts - Happiness
29. Sun Airway - Nocturne of exploded crystal chandelier
28. J. Tillman - Singing ax
27. Où Est Le Swimming Pool - The golden year
26. James Yuill - Movement in a storm
25. I Am Oak - On claws
24. The National - High violet
23. Kings Of Leon - Come around sundown
22. Marina & The Diamonds - The family jewels
21. Hawksley Workman - MILK

20. Everything Everything - Man alive
19. Styrofoam - Disco synthesizers & daily tranquilizers
18. Perfume Genius - Learning
17. The Phantom Band - The wants
16. Monarchy - Monarchy
15. Vampire Weekend - Contra
14. Hey Hey My My - A sudden change of mood
13. The Lines - The Lines
12. James Vincent McMorrow - Early in the morning
11. Shearwater - The golden archipelago
10. Black Soul Strangers - Animate
9. Cherry Ghost - Beneath this burning shoreline
8. Stars - The five ghosts
7. Broken Records - Let me come home
6. Goldheart Assembly - Wolves and thieves
5. The Drums - The Drums
4. Blaudzun - Seadrift soundmachine
3. S. Carey - All we grow
2. Freelance Whales - Weathervanes

1. Cloud Cult - Light chasers

........I just can’t believe “Light chasers” is the most overlooked and unacknowledged album this year, while for me it has everything: great songs, melodies, a story to tell, it rocks and variety in instruments used. And even the videos for the songs are great; this is Art! Be sure to watch the videos I added below.

And of course, here’s this year’s compilation:

HFR’s album release mix 2010 (incl. HFR’s album top 2010, # 1-20):
part 1: HFR’s album top 2010
part 2 part 3 part 4 part 5 part 6 part 7 part 8 part 9 part 10 part 11 part 12
Total size: 1,08 GB

The album year lists of the previous years, you can find here:

HFR’s album top 2009

HFR’s album top 2008

HFR’s album top 2007

HFR’s album top 2006

ENJOY!

2010-12-18T15:54:00.003+01:00

Perfume Genius - Learning

Year: 2010
Genre: folk / indie / piano
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/kewlmagik
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V2 [~165]
Scene release: no
Filesize: 34 MB
Uploaded: 18-12-2010
Hosted by: uploaded.to / multiupload

Track listing:
01. Learning 2:45
02. Lookout, lookout 2:58
03. Mr. Peterson 2:52
04. Gay angels 4:05
05. You won't be here 1:38
06. Write to your brother 1:53
07. No problem 2:11
08. When 3:33
09. Perry 3:43
10. Never did 3:22

Review:
The promotional materials for Perfume Genius' Learning show the project's sole member, 26-year-old Seattle resident Mike Hadreas, shirtless and with a black eye. It's as evocative an image as the Strokes wearing leather jackets and Velvet Underground t-shirts or Animal Collective wearing tribal masks. The songs on Hadreas' full-length debut are eviscerating and naked, with heartbreaking sentiments and bruised characterizations delivered in a voice that ranges from an ethereal croon to a slightly cracked warble. The production value is lo-fi, although not in a staticky, antagonistic way. Instead, the crude recording adds intimacy, to the point where you can hear Hadreas' feet on the pedals of the piano that plays a central role in many of his songs. This music sounds personal.
On paper, Perfume Genius would seem to cater to a small niché, but Hadreas has an innate gift for melody that ups the accessibility considerably. Many of these understated songs turn out to be surprisingly persistent earworms, with tunes that are refreshingly uncluttered. The song structures of cuts like "Learning", "Mr. Peterson", and "Write to Your Brother" mostly sticking to short melodic sequences that slowly work their way into your headspace. This simplicity puts greater focus on Hadreas' lyrics, and they deserve the attention. He's tackling emotionally fraught topics here-- the struggle to gain acceptance from loved ones, suicide, molestation, substance abuse, and questionable relationships with figures of authority, to name a few. "Write to Your Brother" addresses a person named Mary to act upon the titular command, reminding her to tell him, "Mom treats you like a lover/ That you have to hide all the mouthwash from her." "Mr. Peterson", the album's most heartbreakingly direct cut, concerns a teenager's sexual relationship with a teacher, ending with a grisly death.
Hadreas has a knack for detail that recalls Sufjan Stevens' more intimate and non-big-tent moments, and he knows how to tell a story. One comes away from "When" remembering "the line of the trees/ Above the end of the street," as a mother steps into her yard "holding her daughter." It's the small things that stand out: the Joy Division mixtape in "Mr. Peterson", the pressed flower concealed within a letter in "Write to Your Brother", the paycheck held by the about-to-vanish titular subject in "Perry". These songs touch on a range of emotions, but the fine details make them hit harder.
For all its fragile moments and depictions of emotional instability, Learning is an unbelievably warm-sounding record. That warmth especially emanates during the album's more textural moments, like the pulsing synth dirge "No Problem" or the impressionistic ambient smears of "Gay Angels". On the latter cut, Hadreas comes closest to achieving transcendence, as near-wordless cries tangle and moan around drones and low-mixed rumbles of thunder. However upward he hits, though, Hadreas remains down to earth, whispering harshly at the track's end, "It's okay/ It's okay." In another artist's hands, this might come off as melodramatic playacting. Hadreas turns it into one of the album's most affecting songs, as this talented new artist uses those two words to evoke Learning's ultimate mindset: Today is terrible, but tomorrow can bring anything.

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2010-12-18T15:50:00.005+01:00

The Strange Death Of Liberal England - Drown your heart again

Year: 2010
Genre: rock / indie
Listen: http://www.myspace.com/tsdole
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V2 [~195]
Scene release: The_Strange_Death_Of_Liberal_England-Drown_Your_Heart_Again-(Advance)-2010-SiRE
Filesize: 62 MB
Uploaded: 18-12-2010
Hosted by: uploaded.to / multiupload

Track listing:
01. Flickering lights 4:34
02. Flagships 3:41
03. Rising sea 4:10
04. Like a curtain falling 3:21
05. Lighthouse 3:43
06. Autumn 3:01
07. Shadows 4:11
08. Come on you young philosophers! 3:53
09. Yellow flowers 4:12
10. Dog barking at the moon 10:03

Review:
For a band who seem to have been around forever, it will probably come as a surprise to many people that Drown Your Heart Again is in fact The Strange Death Of Liberal England's first actual long player. Having been tipped for greatness on these very pages some five years ago, they've slipped off the radar somewhat, which is something of a shame as their admittedly sporadic single and EP releases to date have maintained high standards of quality control where many of their peers from back in the day failed, miserably.
Perhaps the comparisons of those early recordings to the lofty likes of Arcade Fire and REM proved a hindrance, as such praise would be difficult for even the most accomplished of artists to live up to. Nevertheless, the promise shown on 2007's Forward, March! mini-album has reached fruition here, not least in the unquenchable development of their songwriting talents. If first single 'A Day Another Day' announced their intentions, albeit to the indie scene illuminati, the ten pieces that make up Drown Your Heart Again represent a composed transition for a band unfairly forgotten in an ever-changing cyclical musical landscape.
Although not a concept album as such, the sea-related themes on Drown Your Heart Again only add to its mystery and glamour, while enlisting producer Dave Allen - whose previous credits include the likes of Disintegration and Some Friendly - also proved something of a masterstroke. Indeed Allen's astute capability in fleshing out recordings so every instrument stands out in its own right is undoubtedly one of the most satisfying aspects of Drown Your Heart Again. Ambitiously conceived as anyone aware of The Strange Death Of Liberal England's previous output would expect, the addition of string segments, mariachi brass and military style drum echoes to the conventional aspects of a five-piece band makes for a thrilling adventure that in many ways is closer to British Sea Power's more experimental outings than the transatlantic megastar comparisons of yore.
Take opener 'Flickering Light', where all the musical elements combine in one glorious operatic rockout, main vocalist Adam Woolway opining nonchalantly "nothing lasts forever anyway" as the song peters to a halt. Elsewhere, the contrast between the despairing lyrics and sprightly musical arrangements continue as he sighs "our history grows, our future corrodes" on the similarly upbeat 'Lighthouse', while the closing 'Dog Barking At The Moon', a near ten-minute opus split in two parts, delivers the couplet "everybody likes a good old war, especially when you don't know what you're fighting for" to devastating effect.
There are times where Drown Your Heart Again tails off a little; the laidback acoustics of 'Yellow Flowers' and brass fused 'Come On You Young Philosophers' don't quite hit home as hard as most of the other compositions here (despite the latter possessing the best song title we've come across this year). Overall though, Drown Your Heart Again is an accomplished body of work that serves as a timely reminder of why The Strange Death Of Liberal England caught people's attention in the first place.

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2010-12-18T15:47:00.005+01:00

John Grant - Queen of Denmark

Year: 2010
Genre: folk / indie / pop
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/johnwilliamgrant
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V2 [~188]
Scene release: John_Grant-Queen_Of_Denmark-2010-SiRE
Filesize: 69 MB
Uploaded: 18-12-2010
Hosted by: uploaded.to / multiupload

Track listing:
01. TC and honeybear 5:07
02. I wanna go to Marz 3:58
03. Where dreams go to die 6:04
04. Sigourney Weaver 3:31
05. Chicken bones 3:38
06. Silver Platter Club 4:10
07. It's easier 4:39
08. Outer space 3:15
09. JC hates faggots 3:48
10. Caramel 3:35
11. Leopard and lamb 4:42
12. Queen of Denmark 4:49

Review:
John Grant had almost given up on music until he met Midlake. The Texan folk-rockers saw the disillusioned former frontman of The Czars live, fell in love with his burnished baritone and elegantly sad songs, invited him on tour and then persuaded Grant to make a solo album at their own Denton studio. Fans of confessional singer-songwriters owe Midlake a vote of thanks, because Queen of Denmark is one of the most deeply satisfying debut albums of recent times.
A key example of the current 1970s obsession among American musicians, Queen of Denmark is a literate and poetic album about being a perennial outsider. Grant grew up gay and alienated from his religious family in Kalamazoo, Michigan and Denver, Colorado, struggled with the overlooked Czars, hid his pain in addictions to booze and drugs, and contemplated suicide. Yet his debut eschews self-pity and tortured angst for wry snipes at old lovers and the straight world, sci-fi metaphors and soaring testimonies to the impossibility of perfect love. His rich, effortless voice has a built-in smile which contrasts beautifully with Midlake’s elegantly miserable blend of acoustic folk, orchestral classicism and the occasional eerie synth.
An ex-lover called Charlie inspires three of the highlights – opener TC and Honeybear is an epic essay in bittersweet loss and male insecurity; Where Dreams Go to Die shows off Grant’s flair for the melodramatic yet restrained love song; and Caramel is a romantic ballad of minor-key majesty. Elsewhere, I Wanna Go to Marz, Chicken Bones and the wonderful Sigourney Weaver excavate key moments in Grant’s past over music that recalls relatively obscure 70s singer-songwriters: Clifford T. Ward, Gilbert O’Sullivan, Jackson Browne and Neil Sedaka haunt this gorgeous sound far more than, say, Elton John or Leonard Cohen.
But comparisons are difficult here. Queen of Denmark transcends the sum of its influences by concentrating on the irresistible appeal of sad yet optimistic love songs, classy arrangements and a dark and handsome croon. Midlake’s only mistake is making Grant’s startling debut better than their own latest release.

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2010-12-11T11:47:00.003+01:00

The Phantom Band - The wants

Year: 2010
Genre: experimental / rock / folk / indie
Listen: http://www.myspace.com/thephantombandpage
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V2 [~180]
Scene release: The_Phantom_Band-The_Wants-(Advance)-2010-404
Filesize: 62 MB
Uploaded: 08-12-2010
Hosted by: uploaded.to / multiupload

Track listing:
01. A glamour 6:27
02. O 4:32
03. Everybody knows it's true 4:17
04. The none of one 8:18
05. Mr. Natural 5:23
06. Come away in the dark 2:41
07. Walls 4:38
08. Into the corn 6:28
09. Goodnight arrow 5:22

Review:
You come to the second Phantom Band with high expectations. Not only was their 2009 debut Checkmate Savage an intriguing and beguiling mix of post-Stereolab krautrock moves and folkish croons, but the press release accompanying The Wants is a hoot, largely being a wry Mickey-take of the angst-ridden, "this album nearly killed us" shuck and jive favoured by the kind of indie-rockers that take themselves far too seriously. This Glasgow sextet gets the joke, which is always a sign of good taste and sharp minds.
But that still doesn’t prepare you for just how good this record is. The Wants makes Checkmate Savage seem like the rough sketchbook for a gallery of masterpieces. It also makes this year’s other British rock contenders look pretty damn silly.
The bar is set ridiculously high by an opener appropriately named after a mystical illusion. A Glamour begins with the scrapings of a West African balafon and synthetic winds. Pulsating synth crawls out of the fug, before thunderous battlefield tom-toms decorated by shocked electronic whoops. Then Rick Anthony’s voice: a deep, Americanised croon full of unlikely self-assurance. The feeling that you’ve been dropped into some night-time woodland pagan bacchanal is tough to shake. Yet every track on The Wants rises to A Glamour’s eerie yet alluring challenge and adds another layer of mystery, dread and esoteric influence to the story. Bands this eclectic and unusual are generally happy to stick with the wilfully avant-garde. The Phantom Band resolve all their wild ideas into big tunes with rousing festival choruses.
But what The Phantom Band actually do want is harder to fathom. Anthony definitely gets a case of existential lost love in The None of One, which is so beautiful it could be a missing Jimmy Webb song the band found under a tree in Kelvingrove Park. But the rest of The Wants is not an album to be pinned down to this meaning or that point. Perhaps the press release isn’t a joke, and this really is "the soundtrack to their own personal apocalypse". But isn’t that the best thing about truly great long-players? You get to spend many years of thrilled listening, trying to work out what something so rich, dark and powerful really, truly means. The Wants is one of those records. And there haven’t been too many of those in a while.

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2010-12-11T11:45:00.004+01:00

My Jerusalem - Gone for good

Year: 2010
Genre: rock / indie
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/jerusalemtx
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V2 [~184]
Scene release: My_Jerusalem-Gone_For_Good-2010-404
Filesize: 59 MB
Uploaded: 08-12-2010
Hosted by: uploaded.to / multiupload

Track listing:
01. Valley of casualties 4:26
02. Sweet chariot 3:31
03. Remember everything 2:38
04. Sleepwalking 4:15
05. Gone for good 3:03
06. Bury it low 4:25
07. Poison the truth 3:47
08. Shake the devil 3:31
09. Proposition 3:49
10. Hit the lights 4:12
11. Love you when you leave 2:13
12. Farewell 4:40

Review:
New Orleans debutants My Jerusalem are a band with no small amount of experience between them. Jeff Klein and Dave Rosser ran with The Twilight Singers, while Rick Nelson, Ashley Dzerigian and Cully Symington were members of Polyphonic Spree, Great Northern, and Bishop Allen respectfully.
And it would appear that such simultaneous freshness and familiarity has enabled My Jerusalem to craft an endeavour as vital as Gone For Good as their first full-length imprint: they're a school of veterans revelling in one another's new-found company, and this album is the tantalising result.
Indeed, it is something of a familiar opening gambit: Valley Of Casualties trundles gently alongside reverberating pickery before blossoming into an assertive chorus, and from the opening languid brass notes onward, it's very much in the Polyphonic Spree mould. So far, so nice.
It is Sweet Chariot, though, that has made My Jerusalem such an enticing proposition from their very earliest days. Sounding not unlike Bellowhead with a new-found taste for punk, it's a track whose unassumingness says little of the snarling anger ahead; and Jeff Klein's venomous cries - "What you waiting for?" - are perfectly measured, and not merely shrieks for their own sake. Sweet Chariot is the spine-tingling, head-turning foundation on which the album is built.
Of course, the fact that such outbursts are few and far between lends them extra weight, and for the most part Gone For Good is a tad more refined. Remember Everything's moonshine anthem evokes peaceful imagery, and the title track is molasses-paced, full to the brim with melodic regret.
There's also Sleepwalking. Sat slap-bang in the middle of the running order, it offers genuine variety with its inch-perfect take on thudding bohemia. Its soaring choral passages and Klein's two-tone, yelped and distorted vocals, in fact, channel Hawksley Workman's most electrifying efforts and capture his elusive, ragged brand of beauty.
As such agreeable tones settle into the listener's brain, another roaring indictment pricks the ears. Bury It Low sees Klein again straining himself for his art, and could be - for its astute construction, grimacing overdrives and signature chorus - the anthem that launches My Jerusalem into the wider consciousness. It is, indeed, already gaining a foothold on the airwaves.
Certainly, though, when such comparative departures from an album's mode are so attention-grabbing in their effectiveness, concerns arise about the rest of the material on offer. Is it just chaff compared to such wheat?
In My Jerusalem's case, such worries are soon put to bed. Tracks like Shake The Devil bridge the gap between light and shade, and slow burners like Proposition are afforded the type of care and attention that allows them passage into the ether, fuelled by perceptive songwriting and a less-is-more approach to the soundscape.
Take lead single Love When You Leave. A tender anti-ballad on which Dzerigian lends her striking tones. Its timeless sentiments amount to little more than two minutes, but that is time enough, with such a deft touch, to say what is to be said and imply a great deal more. This is the case with Gone For Good as a whole, a sensational, Seldom Seen Kid-type opus that could be the making of My Jerusalem.

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2010-12-11T11:43:00.005+01:00

Warpaint - The fool

Year: 2010
Genre: indie / art-rock / psychedelic
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/worldwartour
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V2 [~169]
Scene release: Warpaint-The_Fool-2010-CaHeSo
Filesize: 58 MB
Uploaded: 08-12-2010
Hosted by: uploaded.to / multiupload

Track listing:
01. Set your arms down 5:06
02. Warpaint 5:54
03. Undertow 5:53
04. Bees 4:26
05. Shadows 4:08
06. Composure 4:58
07. Baby 5:03
08. Majesty 6:35
09. Lissie's heart murmur 5:12

Review:
Though Warpaint were probably minus-four-years-old at the time, and on the wrong continent, the all-female LA quartet appear to have a direct line back to 1982 Britain. When ‘gothic’ was not a term of abuse, long overcoats were the alt-fashion and resistance to New Romanticism was on a par with anti-nuclear protest. Guitars were spidery, basses were sepulchral and female voices resembled sirens, coaxing you on to the rocks of their angst. The xx know a lot about this post-punk world, and they know a lot about this Warpaint, having asked them to join them on their current US tour.
It’s not just The xx who are clued in. Besides most every ‘talent rising’ media slot going, former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante co-mixed their 2009 (but recorded in 2007) debut EP Exquisite Corpse (such a quintessentially 1982 title), and they have Hollywood pals via their original drummer Shannyn Sossamon, now a full-time actress. But what truly earmarks Warpaint is how they re-imagine those early 80s hallmarks. Not with xx-style dubstep but a serpentine, borderline-psych flow (they’re from LA, not South London) that taps into classic slo-core (Galaxie 500, Low, Mazzy Star) but is entirely theirs. Likewise the sound of three singers (spearhead Emily Kokal joined by guitarist Theresa Wayman and bassist Jenny Lee Lindberg). It’s much more than Cat Power in triplicate, but you get the gauzy idea.
Nine songs and 47 minutes long, their album debut feels like wandering through desert plains and darkened streets, tumbleweed at your feet and in your brain. It’s by no means instant, and obvious hooks are thin on the ground, but hang around and everything falls into place. If nothing out-performs Exquisite Corpse’s exquisite highlight Billie Holiday – which exquisitely interpolated Mary Wells’ Motown swinger My Guy – the twilit Baby comes close. The near six-minute Undertow, is expertly titled ("we're going for an overall underwater mood," they said last year) and Composure’s schoolyard of chanting voices, skittering middle section and combining coda equally won’t let go. The nearest The Fool encroaches on xx turf is Bees, with its digi-beats and luminous bass. This album’s guest mixer is Andy Weatherall, so that should give you a clue. But so should the fact Kokal and Wayman were raised in hippie communes, but sound like the sky has slightly caved in. Come smash yourself against their rocks, you won’t regret it.

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2010-11-21T11:08:00.003+01:00

Styrofoam - Disco synthesizers & daily tranquilizers

Year: 2010
Genre: indiepop / electronic
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/styrofoam
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V2 [~195]
Scene release: Styrofoam_-_Disco_Synthesizers_and_Daily_Tranquilizers_(EXCEL 96246)-CD-2010-TALiON
Filesize: 61 MB
Uploaded: 20-11-2010
Hosted by: uploaded.to / multiupload

Track listing:
01. Carolyn 4:30
02. Get smarter 4:28
03. Extra careful 4:51
04. Kids on acid 4:22
05. The only one to curse 2:54
06. Looking glass to zero 4:14
07. Mile after mile 4:36
08. Am I the ghost 3:36
09. What's hot (and what's not) 4:30
10. Believe everything 5:18

Review:
Aside from being one of the music industry’s ‘go-to’ producers known for bringing the best out of the tracks he works with, Arne Van Petegem also operates under the band name Styrofoam. As an act in front of the mic, Styrofoam is fast establishing himself as one of the smarter operators. Acute awareness of the recording and pacing process means Van Petegem, the performer, is ahead of the game when it comes to tracking and capturing the tunes. He possesses the shrewdest of ears with an appreciation of his Belgian roots and American recording studio. He takes the best of both worlds, heads straight for the sound he wishes to achieve, and presents a hybrid of instant club and house party pleasers.
With a heavier edge than 2008’s A Thousand Words, Styrofoam uses this latest release to play host to some illustrious company that may offer explanation for the darker moods. Paul Cook from the Sex Pistols guests on "Kids On Acid" whilst Jim Adkins from Jimmy Eat World lends a voice on “Extra Careful,” and Devo’s Alan Myers appears in full drumming duty on “Believe Everything.”
“Kids On Acid” is a genuine treat, with psychedelic synth-twirls and off-kilter beats that layer and slightly warp proceedings. “You will see so much clearer” is a promotional mantra between descriptive verses of what to expect from experimentation. The real magic is in the balance between straight forward lyrical approach which avoids cliche and half-expected, lazy descriptions of the drug’s effects measured against the instrumental drive and twists. It’s a track that kind of mythologizes but kind of normalizes the psychedelic experience, which is kind of how dropping acid can be, which is far more honest than the FDA will admit.
In a collection that borrows its name from an Elvis Costello lyric in “This Years Girl," which was a scathing glance at fashion, listeners won’t be surprised by other cynical references and above-average literacy. Electronica isn’t usually this high-brow. There’s a mood of prospecting that runs through many of the tracks like bore holes are being sunk into the usual fare of synths and beats to work a more substantial response than the need to dance. If Costello had a keyboard, not a guitar, perhaps he’d have been turning out something similar.
There’s a fluidity to the collection which is also a major strength. A sharp producer’s vision, which here is shared with Wally Gagel, who also takes on mixing duties, presents a running order which moves like a river. Slow and reflective to more rocky and troublesome in mood, things keep moving at pace so as not to stagnate or repeat or rely on the familiar.
“Carolyn” opens the album with an almost pure Pop feel, with measures of Julian Casablancas-type vocal phrasing. It’s all very easy and a seductive invitation to get further involved. But don’t be fooled--you will become involved, and the rest of the album isn’t quite as sugarcoated. True, there are elements of confection, but Styrofoam doesn't overdress anything. You’re treated as an adult to deal with the contradictions and shifts in mood; you are never patronized. You’re expected to come at this collection with your own experience and opinions. This is a fashionable artist, but he deals in more than mere fashion. A real test of Electronica is to listen through headphones--sure, it all sounds swell when through assertive sound systems, but how does it feel when poured straight into the senses? In the case of Disco Synthasizers & Daily Tranquilizers, you can tick all the boxes; it may even improve when you’re selfish, shut out the world and listen alone.

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