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The Weekly Review (30 Jun, 06)
Hello. Are you reading carefully? Then you may care to learn about our "raffle" / competition job to win one of 10 "in the world" Johnny Trunk endorsed Fuzzy Felt sets to promote his 'Fuzzy Felt' extravaganza. The Trunkster is really hammering this one & we have one original complete set of "wild west fuzzy felt" to give to the lucky winner with a signed certificate of Trunkenticity. All you have to do is ORDER/PRE-ORDER the album on CD or LP and your name will be thrown into our flat cap & dragged out by a rabid ferret a couple of weeks from now. Just think of the hours of fun re-creating an early Seventies vibe in your lava lamped up bedsit. You could even find out if they still make Double Diamond lager, buy some tins & play strip fuzzy felt with your sister. Perhaps not actually.....
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-giddy-aunt this is Magpie here fresh from her little break and raring to get into some quality tunes.... First up here I have my favourite type of artist at the moment.. that being the lonely bedroom laptop programmer.. They're nocturnal creatures and stepping over pizza boxes and discarded spliff ends you can usually find them in dark bedrooms stooped over their glowing screen with sore eyes and bad posture. This guy might be a bit different though - Brian English is a 23 year old graduate of the 'UC Santa Cruz Electronic Music program'. Here on his debut album we're treated to his Aphex influenced sound garden, fresh with electronic roses and glitchy dizzy lizzies. Using 75% original sounds, its a study and mastery over cubase and fruity loops. With songs such as "I gave My Sister Ace of Base in the 3rd grade, this is what she gave me" he takes us through a personal journey of discovery and self exploration. This is played out over 78 minutes and he covers alot of ground taking us from dark electonica to the final "Orchestra surprise" which is a delicate harpsichord children's lullaby. A proud day for Mr and Mrs English and all the support they're given their son (probably). He's entitled it beyond words and its on record label records.
Next up I have the new single from Domino's Archie Bronson Outift called 'Dead Funny'. Well it ain't dead funny... it isn't really dead anything.. Maybe dead boring.. no it isn't boring, its alright actually. Kinda simple plodding broody rock and roll with tortured vocals. Its sounds like a thinner Super Furry Animals song that I forget the name of, anyway 'tis not going to blow you off but after a few listens it will be in your head and you'll be stomping around thinking your the lead singer (its very easy to learn). 3rd track is a Four Tet remix. Its also got a video on as well oooo!
Now coming swinging their ra-ra skirts onto the Norman turntable/stile is the Pipettes new single 'New Shapes'. It sounds so much of an era that its making me see in black and white and think Cilla Black is a bit of all right. Sweeping violin sections add to the euphoria of this bubble gum poptastic girl group. Its even got dance moves to show you how to do the dance.. maybe if it's quiet this afternoon i'll see if the boys are game. Think of that advert Shelia's wheels without the vibrato. Its so sweet its making my teeth hurt. ooooo go away pain. The second song is entitled "really that bad" and in answer I'm not sure but its pretty close ladies...
Now I have the geezer Jose Gonzalez and his single 'Hand On Your Heart.' He's doing well isn't he this guy? Just one man, a bit of hollow wood and 6 strings 'n' some mesmerizing tunes. So i ain't going to big him up. Here he's gone and covered Stock Aitken and Waterman's 'Hand on your Heart' with his own unique style. I like the other two tracks on the single too, all relaxing like a session by a skillful masseur. pass the baby oil... getting deep, deep into your fickle souls diggin out the malice and jealously that you've built up from a day of modern living, numbing the anger and calming the seas that crash against your sense of self belief. Safe and quite unchallenging but eeeeeeasy listening.
More more more more I hear you chant.. so I cleverly introduce 2 (volume 1 and 2) 7" records Electric President on Morr music called 'You have the right to remain awesome'. The first thing that hits me is the geezers voice which sounds like he's got a comb stuck up his ass.. light, awkward & fairy, it stutters over a catchy tuneful laptop-pop close crop. It's sharp and kooky and demands a look or an ear. Been compared to Death Cab for Cutie and Postal Service, its a jolly good single.
Now I have The Rifles new single entitled 'She's Got Standards' on 2 x 7" and Cd's. Its a contemporary popular sound, hinting at a Jam influence and sounding a bit like the Futureheads.. Then bang you hear the b-side a cover of the Cure's 'In between days' and he sings it with such mimicking accuracy, you just know this geezer's been singing infront of the mirror as Robert Smith all his young life. Lots of hype about not a lot I think (Zane Lowe's favourites but did you hear HIS own single??)
Aaaahhh The Charlatans.. the grandfathers of our pop age.. now these boys could write a hit in their days and have an enviable back catalogue of classic tunes and swagger. This new single on Creole is called 'NYC' (theres no need to stop). Well its not going to fit into that category but its not for lack of trying with Tim Burgess throwing as many vocal hooks he can find in his bag of tricks. Its a bag of nothing really but it's not harming anyone so leave it alone. Its a nice enough canter round the big apple. I could say "there's no need to stop" and then say well maybe there is guys.. but I'm not going to say that as for me they can keep on rocking for as long as they chuffing want...they've earned that place. Goodnight grandad x
Ant here with a juicy slice of Dubstep from Timeblind A.K.A Chris Sattinger. 'Ghostification' is dark, creepy, sinister electronic music which creates an uneasy atmosphere. Pure sonic paranoia. The production is fairly minimal with little bits creeping in as the track evolves. The centre hole on this record is so tight I nearly couldn't get it off the spindle to flip it over. The flip is pretty decent actually with chopped up percussion creating a shuffling groove with the sounds of water over a nasty bass stab. Good stuff indeed on DJ/ Rupture's Soot imprint.
Its an absolute pleasure to get to review Flourescent Grey's 'Lying On The Floor Mingling with God In a Tijuana Motel Room Next Door To A Vetinary Supply Store' We've been hammering the promo of this in the office over the last few weeks. Its one of the best electronic albums I've heard in ages. It's really all over the place. Think of the best bits of Autechre, Team Doyobi and Pthalocyanine. Strange sounds from another world collide with electronic noise, found sounds and cutting edge synthesis. There is an eastern vibe weaving in and out of some of the tracks. The arrangements are complex and you never know what's coming next. Quality experimental electronics at its finest on Isolate / Record Label records. Also in on Record Label records is 'Dastgaah' by Sote. Again this has an eastern vibe to it and tons of bizarre sounds. Its really difficult to describe this music really. All I can say is that its fresh, original, forward thinking and totally worthy of investigation. As is the aforementioned Brian English CD and der Kush Arora release which is a fantastic fusion of eastern sounds and electronics.
More electronic goodness this week courtesy of Mordant Music. 'Dead Air' is a damn fine album which is a brooding mix of Techno, Electro, Industrial, Pop, Grime, Music Concrete and just out there futuristic sounds. The album also bizarrely has narration by former Thames TV announcer Phillip Elsmore!!! As always the packaging is great. Mixing up this many genres could have had disastrous results but its all done really well. This album is worthy of your attention folks so get on it.
If you're after some futuristic forward thinking hip hop you could do worse than invest in the latest EP from Stacs Of Stamina. 'Roll' is a slow, heavy hip hop cut featuring MC Ears and scratches from DJ Tron. You get instrumentals too which is handy. 'Stay Beautiful' on the flipside features One-two on vocal duties and is nothing to write home about if I'm honest. 'roll' is definitely the winning cut. Great dark electronic hip hop on Werk. Blimey nothing that makes me want to cut my own ears off this week. Lucky me.
Jeezey Kreeeezy I say. It's Brian here to welcome you bunch of delectable pop pickers into my review boudoir for a right royal audio spanking.
The best thing about this 7" by Snowfight in the City Centre is the bands name. Great. They must have all the troubles in the world these lads. It's hyper glossy stadium indie pap with all those chiming guitars & atmospherics. Nice vocal arrangements & a sprightly, anthemic pace don't make up for the fact they've probably never had to drag their arses round Blighty rammed in a cramped transit with cymbals hitting them in the face as they travel to Bognor Regis' Murderer's Arms to play another hopeless 3rd on the bill slot supporting David Devant & his spirit wife. Grrrrrr. For fans of Keane, Snow Patrol, Editors & Wetherspoons pubs.
Quite enjoy checking these Cookie & Brownie EPs out on Astro Lab. We're on vol. 3 now & honoured guests include Caural, Dimlite, Omid & Take. No lengthy monikers for these guys. Caural offer up sleepy, jazzy abstract hip hop that only someone suffering the effects of no sleep & a couple of palmfuls of magic mushrooms would be able to "dance" to. Dimlite provide scuzzed up, squelchy Prefuse 73-esque gear. In fact I believe a certain D. Grimm owes that Scott Herring a fish butty. The Omid track rules the roost immediately. A juddery, fluid & itchy cut called 'Words From My Mouth' that'd have me on the dancefloor wiggling my hairy arse in girls faces at the drop of a pint. Errrr, perhaps not actually.....Take do a Four Tet/Prefuse take on things, hazy & staggery with nice atmospherics & intermittent disembodied vocal snatches. I'm probably not the man for the job but to my ears this sounds like a quality collection of fresh 'n' funky electronic avant-hop
Trying to suss out what the International Karate Plus sound like. We've a vinyl album, numbered of 100 on Filthy Little Angels to sell & it's recorded in a way where the bass & vocals seem to be at the forefront of the mix giving it this charming tinny vibe. I'm thinking about legendary New Zealand bands again with big chunks of skewed, discordant early 90's yank rock. Early Pavement spring to mind. Fats says Built To Spill as always. Then he says Unwound but only 3 men from Tunbridge Wells have ever heard of them. Or is that Unhome? Hahahahaha. It's bloody great, mind & possibly better than almost everything else this week. I've enjoyed every freewheeling, off-kilter noise pop anthem on here so far. Timeless stuff.
You just KNOW when it's time to open the weekly delivery boxes from certain distributors, you've NO FOOKIN' IDEA what the hell yr gonna get. That's why I'm delighted some comedian has given me an LP by The Assdroids to review. Ant summed it up by describing the first track as the sound of someone rampaging through a zoo with a machine gun. It's schizo spazzy noise basically with snatches of Happy Flowers mentalism & the occasional suggestion they could actually get a moshpit moving with a post hardcore groove if they could actually be arsed. Out of 15 tunes, one song title wins them an award for absolute fuckheadery - "Grinding meat is just like feeling up yr girlfriend on a cheap 6 pack buzz" Funny stuff on Cock Rock Disco
We have a single in by Kid Harpoon & it initially gave me the willies as out of the corner of my ears I detected a hint of Levellers style crusty anthemic raggle taggle but listening closer everything's kinda ok. I know people who'd probably really like this earthy semi acoustic trad rock but it really ain't my thing. They'll probably be massive in the end & i'll have egg all over my face but I don't think this is ever capable of giving me a musical boner.
With boring electronica for chinstrokers having virtually run into the ground due to cataclysmic disinterest, City Centre Offices have turned their somnolent attentions towards more acoustic fields with new "sub-label" Buro. Now this CD by One Second Bridge (their second outing) actually works beautifully 'cause it's gently inventive, very atmospheric & the piano, for one, is sublime. I'd say people who liked the Julian Fane CD may well dig this blend of hazy keys, spacey acoustics & drifting effects. It's quite moving & imbued with real subtlety & grace. Stuck for obvious reference points so I'll definitely namecheck Slowdive, 4AD & Angelo Badalamenti.
Susumu Yokota is back with another jobbie, this time 'Wonder Waltz'. I think as a producer he has a certain freshness but not great deal of depth. The vocal track on the first tune works nicely, a sweet lilting female vocal over some shuffling slo mo break with piano & occasional synth flourish but I'm really struggling trying to be at all gripped or moved by this mans music. He seems to rely on some awkward charming minimalist approach to music that ends up (on this record) sounding like Mum but less exotic & alien (so perhaps pointless). It seems Lo is going down the pan a little as the Cursor Minor record did little for me either. That's not to say this doesn't work brilliantly as soothing background music but that's not the chuffing point.
I still hold the opinion Peaches debut album was an absolute work of timeless genius. Her primal electro-slut-on-heat schtick empowered half of Europe & is possibly one of the dirtiest, sexiest records EVER made. Never mind the bollocks indeed. Her new single 'Downtown' unfortunately isn't really worth the plastic it's pressed on. Unless you really dig the offal Goldfrapp churns out in the name of "future-pop" CD/12" through XL. Looks like she's had a shave too. Ahem.
I'd say the only gig that's ever had both me and our man Clint both "rocking" at the exact same time, all the way through was TV on the Radio a couple of years ago. They sent shivers up my spine throughout, precisely because they looked & felt so natural but offered a sublime & original take on thought provoking electrified pop. On 'Return to Cookie Mountain', the Peter Gabriel-isms remain. The songs are unfurling many-layered epics that build so gracefully & open up gradually (like a butterfly of sound - hahaha) as there's so much to take in first listen. Denser than it's predecessor, the magical songwriting hasn't been diluted at all. It's the slow to mid tempo pace of the best songs that allows these atmosphere laden gems to breathe life into your jaded musical heart. I can't be arsed namechecking bands as there's not many that come anyplace close but in a sphere of their own creation, TV on the Radio are No. 1 in my heart! Album of the week without a quibble.
Heeeellllllllloooooooooo. Phil here pressing too hard on my keyboard. Well that's what happens when you take for too much heroin. The ole consciousness takes a right battering so I don't know whether I'm coming or going. That's what I expect it's like being in Bardo Pond judging by the promo poster we have on the wall for 'Dilate' here. It's in the eyes you know..... They have a new album out on ATP called 'Ticket Crystals' which is a big folk stoner thing. I'm told this is their most accessible album to date and I think it probably is. It's reasonably easy on the ear with some long drawn out psych style workouts coupled with wispy folk meanderings. All thoroughly enjoyable I must say and it's CD only.......
There hasn't been much decent in the way of electronic music for some time. The odd bit and bat here and there but nothing amazing.... I've always had a soft spot for Kettel's brand of bouncy melodic electronica. He's made a couple of my favourite electronic records of all time. Hoorah for the Dutch wunderkin and his knobs. This new album (on first listen) sounds a bit useful initially taking in ambience, squelchy acid and techno. We all thought it sounds quite a lot like Plaid at times. So there you go. A kettel is not just something which brings you warm tasty pleasure in the morning, oh no... it's also a Dutch knob twiddler who makes lush sounding melodic electronica. Very nice.... Oh it's called 'My Dogan' on the Sending Orbs label.
Phwoar.... I've just seen that Ivor Cutler DVD we got in... might have to pinch that.... Another week and another release on the useful Type label. This one is by The North Sea and Rameses III and it's called 'Night Of The Ankou'. The North Sea has had some stuff out on Slow Loris and apparently he runs Digitalis which is a cool US label doing CDR's of way out-there gear. Rameses III you may know of as they've been mentioned on these pages a few times..... In fact we had some of their back cat stuff in the other week which is well worth checking out cos it's lovely music. This CD is all droney pretty floaty lovelyness which makes me think of enormous bongs and mystical skylines. For fans of Stars of The Lid and other tripped out dronesters. Fecking lovely.
The rather superbly monikered Quack quack have a new 7" single out on Run Of The Mill Records called 'Mars'. Woohoo. Quality instrumental old style Chicago style rock with a Ray Manzarek (The Doors dude) keyboard thing over it. In fact I've been listening closely to this mother and it's like a direct cross between Mice Parade, Shellac and Broadcast. Imagine all those in a big pot all cooked up and served with some warm rolls. Out of the 6 or so records I've paid attention to today this is the one which is screaming to be taken home with me.... incredible drumming in it too.....
Brian has just offered us cheesecake.... I love my life sometimes..... Jawbone have a 7" out on Loose records if you're interested. If not then we're eating chocolate brownie fudgecake..... Am sure nothing else really matters.... hang on... am gonna go and eat it now cos I can't concentrate...................................................................oh my god that was so good... Back to the music... Jawbone do the lo fi bluesy thing and sound like The White Stripes would do now if they hadn't got really big and made videos with lego and Frenchmen....
Jamie T finally has a single which we can get a hold of. Even the bands management couldn't us the last single. Sheila is out on 2 x 7" and CD and it's a right chirpy affair. The vocals have a Streets ish vibe to 'em but it's much more indie... possibly a bit of John Cooper Clarke in there too.... am getting a bit of The Gorillaz in there as well but I think that's the beats... It's a very cheeky sounding thing whatever it is. Apparently he's tipped for bigness.... We shall see eh?
And finally from me is a 7" by Volcano! called Apple or A Gun on Leaf which is the first time I've properly sat down and listened to them. I wasn't prepared for the noise on offer...... This is a great little 7"! Think somewhere between Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Deerhoof, The Paper Chase and The Mars Volta.... that's what you're getting here. One of the best things I've heard on Leaf for freaking ages now. This is the kind of record that gets me excited. Bring it on!
And some breaking news..... I've just heard Big Black are reforming for a one off gig in Chicago for the Touch & Go party between Sept 8 and 10th. Christ..........How cool would that be??
THE MENTIONS.....The Grates have a new single out Dew Process Records. It's on 7" and CD and it immediately whiffs of Be Your Own Pet and Yeah Yeah Yeahs.... If you like that kind of indie with shouty female vocals this is for you....... That Rumble Strips 7" that came out the other week now has a friend on CD which includes the 2 x videos for the singles released so far... on Transgressive Records.... The Guillemots single (Made Up Lovesong #43).... well the less said about that the better...... That Candie Payne single that came out a while back on Deltasonic is out again but in a plain die cut sleeve (ie not a picture sleeve)... why oh why oh why??... The Delilahs new single (Lets Tango) sounds like Elastica buit without the stretchyness..... ie a piece of string........pointless......The My Latest Novel LP is out on vinyl now courtesy of Bella Union...... I saw these live a while back and was well impressed...... Brand new King Creosote single which is very much like his previous singles. If you can differentiate and you're a fan then the title is 678.....Regina Spektor has turned into Tori Amos.... it's official...she even looks like her on her new record sleeve (On The Radio)......... Razorlight are back with a new single and it sounds like they've turned into Ocean Colour Scene... like we need 2 of 'em...... Check out the Depeche Mode single on 3 x vinyl format. Oh yes 2 x 12" and 1 x 7" picture disc which includes an UNKLE mix.... John The Revelator is it's name....
Thanks everybody....
teamNORM xx
