Reviews August 2010

Timber Timbre - Demon Host (Single)

Timber Timbre are a bluesy Canadian acoustic folk band, and Demon Host is their first single to be released in the UK.
It's a dark, eerie, somewhat macabre confessional tale, driven almost entirely by one acoustic guitar and voice, with a touch of chiming piano and choir-like additional voices towards the end. The song appears to be a lament over a life full of regret and unheeded warnings and is riddled with the chilly fear of a man waiting for his inevitable damnation. Mood-wise it has much in common with Robert Johnson's work (e.g.Hellhound On My Trail ). Lyrical images of death, churches, futile repenting and forthcoming demons augment its haunting melody, and singer/guitarist Taylor Kirk's delivery is pitched just right to maximise the effect.
****

French for Cartridge - Liquorice
French For Cartridge is a London-based male/female duo 'formed as an attempt to create atonal pop music whilst at Goldsmiths' which has received fawning reviews from the likes of Artrocker magazine.
Musically, it's a quirky mixed bag of oompah-beat pop songs (Oooh!, Sitting and Reading) samey mood pieces, (A Hundred and One, Two Feet in The Water) breezy yet plodding pop-rock (Loosening The Structures, Picture Negative) or various combinations of the aforementioned styles. Several of the tracks manage to create a pleasant ambience, but there is little expressive melodic quality as the lyrics are generally abstracted from the mood of the melodies. Twice as Nice, for example, is a sarcastice swipe at Hollwood-style image-obsession and and consumerism, yet has an utterly inappropriate saccharine melody. It simply doesn't work, even ironically.
Liquorice thus shares the same musical problems as many art-rock recordings. It sounds as if French for Cartridge take lyrical ideas and then set them to music. Really, this shouldn't be so blatantly apparent as the songwriter's gift is surely in the ability to marry melody and lyric into a seamless whole that is more than the sum of its parts. Without this, music may an interesting (in an abstract way, as Liquorice is in its blend of styles), but it could never be moving.
I'm not impressed by the lyrics either. In several of the songs they are impenetrably vague. Here's an example from A Hundred And One - 'allagretto -allegory -alleluia -allez Marie - alphabet -alphabet-alphabet-alphabet- alphabet-alphabet-alphabet -alphabet -also- alphabet'. Hmm.
In other places they seem to have fallen straight into the Noel Gallagher Don't Believe The Truth/Definitely Maybe/Slowly walking down the hall faster than a cannonball trap of confusing contradiction with depth. In Loosening The Structures we have 'complex, subtle too/even when it's seemingly simple and confused.' In TV Dinners we have 'Broken Ribs/All is well'. You could argue a coherent meaning for both, of course, but it would have to be an argument.
Liquorice left me cold and confused. Or is that hot and bothered as I understood it only too well?
*

Josephine Foster & The Victor Herrero Band - Anda Jaleo

Anda Jaleo is a collection of Spanish folk songs by Federico Garcia Lorca that were banned by Franco and have now been arranged and released by Josephine Foster & The Vistor Herrero band who are about to embark upon a European tour to support the album.
The entire album is gloriously earthy-sounding - it's exactly what you would hope for - a whirl of dramatically strummed nylon-stringed Spanish guitars, castanets and a dash of harmonica here and there. The vocals are all performed in the original Spanish.yet come accompanied by handy English translations. If you had told me that Josephine Foster was the greatest living Spanish folk songer I'd have believed you. Her voice is utterly convincing and captivating as she guides us through an odyssey of joy, woe and danger with Lorca's tales of adventure, romance, bull fighters and beautiful gypsy women. Great stuff.
****

Sleigh Bells - Treats

Sleigh Bells are a Brooklyn electro-pop duo with bottomless resources of ear-candy hooks.
Treats is a delightful and wildly oscillating genre-straddling joyride. It is extremely rare that such disparate influences are distilled into a coherent, effective and original direction. Vicious guitar lines and brutal beats sit together in perfect harmony with gentler melodies as chant-like female vocals scat over groovy stomps underscored by endlessly inventive guitar/synth lines and counter-melodies. There is an chaotic and futuristic quality to many of the tracks (Crown On the Ground, Tell 'Em) and a breezy retro pop feel to others (Rill Rill). It works so well as all is informed by an unswerving and masterful musicality. The beats, instrumental lines and melodies are carefully plotted, making for a satisfying cohesive whole where every aspect combines to make each track more than the sum of its parts.
Treats is continually (and very nearly continuously) entertaining. It's joyous, innovative and unique.
****

Mount Kimbie- Crooks and Lovers

Mount Kimbie are a Dutch experimental post dubstep duo who set up a drum machine, hold down keys on keyboards and add chopped-up vocal loops over the top.
Each track is a beat-driven soundscape devoid of any form of traditional songcraft, where a range of different notes/sounds/effects have been put through a sonic blender. It may, therefore, be missing the point to judge Mount Kimble by any traditional criteria as they seem utterly unconcerned by expressive narrative.
It is certainly experimental, yet throwing everything you have in your fridge into a food processor doesn't require any culinary skill, and although the results would be innovative in a sense it could hardly be considered a contribution to cuisine. There is a meaningful difference between doing something unique and creating something innovative and progressive. I have the impression that any moments in Crooks and Lovers with any semblance of expression is utter fluke and it is difficult to see what they are attempting to acheive. I found it directionless - and tedious.
*

Latest Single Reviews

Delphic - Counterpoint

Trancey, hypno-beated electro- pop with an incessant looping synth riff, occasionally augmented with an Edge-style, delay-drenched guitar part. Lyrically we find the protagonist variously 'holding my head up' and running 'through streets and empty corridors', asking to be told that 'nothing's wrong today' over and over again. There is a 'nice' mood throughout, but that alone isn't nearly enough to sustain interest over a trying 6 minutes and 21 seconds. Yet, in fairness Counterpoint did leave me with food for thought. I still can't quite decide whether the track is only 3 minutes or 6 minutes and 21 seconds too long.

Bot'ox - Overdrive

This is a French electro-pop mood- piece instrumental. It's light on the instruments, heavy on the mental and mood-wise not unlike what Lennon's 'Revolution 9' may have sounded like had it been made with a sequencer.

Young Fathers - Automatic/Dancing Mantaray

Young fathers are a Scottish hip-hop trio with heavy overtones of Outkast. Both tracks here are smoothly and highly produced - 'Automatic' is dancey and upbeat, 'Dancing Mantaray' is bass heavy, quirky and rather appealing. The vocal stylings are very Andre 3000 on 'Automatic', yet Young Fathers have enough song craft and personality about them to suggest that they may be able to carve out a niche for themselves. Promising.


Chapel Club - Five Trees

This is insipid plodding pop-rock complete with a depressing everyman vocalist. There are several instances where they commit that most cardinal of lyric-writing sins - the melodic emphasis is completely out of whack with the lyrical emphasis. Thus prepositions/conjunctions etc. are stressed instead of key words (e.g.' I strayed too far into A dream'). The chorus lyrics revolve around the line 'Dust in my heart, dust in my veins'. If that's what Chapel Club are trying to express here, then they've done themselves proud.

Airship - Algebra EP

As per-usual the accompanying PR release would have you believe that this band are the second coming. By the end of the second paragraph phrases such 'generation-defining artists' have already been cheaply bandied about. In reality, Airship are much nearer to the 47,000th coming of the regional English indie-pop template, with chiming guitars and earnest, yearning vocals. The moods across the four tracks are, it must be said, admirably varied - showing an unusual versatility. There's an appealing Pixies-esque feel to some of the songs - ( 'Spirit Party's verse is reminiscent of ' Monkey Gone To Heaven'). The title track is by far the best, with a somewhat uplifting low-soaring chorus. Yet, as so often, hope for more dies with the melodies. They're decent enough, but there's little magic here.

The Winter Olympics - Attention All Departments/They Launched a Probe

The Winter Olympics call themselves a dance-punk band. Driven by synths and pounding distorted guitars and drums, they're more like an 80's power- pop band. Singer Andrew Wagstaff's voice is a blend of Simon le Bon and Tony Hadley, and they deliver their massive-sounding, pulsating, chest-thumping choruses with precision and abandon. They're going for triumphant transcendence through humorous, yet emotive fist- pumping arena-ready anthems, and you have to suspect that this may work out very well for them. The melody of second track They Launched a Probe hints at the potential for an emotional depth beyond most bands of this ilk. The sound is fantastic, the lyrics refreshingly different, and this release makes you very curious to see if they are able to deliver the Kaiser Chiefs/Scissor Sisters like sense of fun in their music and lyrics live.

****

No Machine - On Ebay

The accompanying press release tell us that "On Ebay is set to give to give (sic) music a breath of fresh air". That's music in general apparently folks. Congratulations on winning the hyperbole superbowl lads.
It also tells us that the song concerns 'a guy who puts his girlfriend on ebay, then regrets it.' This is the closest anything in this particular package came to interesting.
It's well produced etc., the instruments (guitar, bass, horns, keyboard, drums) are skillfully played and arranged etc etc., but so what? A pleasantish synth harmony underscoring the chorus melody aside, this is a bland song with a pedestrian repetitive melody (albeit passionately delivered) that manages to get on your nerves halfway through the first listen. I wonder how pleased with it the team behind it really are. It seems something of a song for the sake of it.
Excuse me. I think I need a breath of fresh air.

*

Album Review - 'First Of The Last To Know' by Peter Katz

Peter Katz is a sensitive singer songwriter type with an oh-so-lovely breathy smooth singing voice and a heartfelt delivery. The album is so well produced that it sounds like Katz and his band are right in front of you. It's all gentle acoustic guitar, piano and percussion with the occasional cello, violin or trumpet thrown in to help the listener distinguish between tracks. The songs are very personal tales of longing and/or waiting marinated in self-pity, even when he adopts other personas such as in The Fence (a homophobia victim), and Oliver's Tune (a leukemia victim). Katz knows that the title track has the strongest melody and has roped in Glen Hansard (oscar winner and erstwhile frontman of underrated The Frames) for his vocals and name. It could well be a hit.
If you're bursting with yearning and sweetness you may be able to relate to First Of The Last To Know better than me. In this regard, it's a perfectly realized collection of songs. Either Katz is the nicest man in the world or he purposely excludes any thoughts and emotions that aren't cuddle-worthy. It's all too easy to imagine the songs as background accompaniment to the summing up wisdom voice-overs on Scrubs or One Tree Hill and the like. I don't doubt the sincerity which he wears on his sleeve, but the album is so incessantly pensive and nice that it began to irritate me. The press release states that 'Katz' songs, carried by his passionate, intimate voice, guide us through the gamut of human experience.' Well if that's the gamut of his human experience, he really needs to get out more.

For acoustic introspection fans *****
Everyone else **

Album Review - Laments by Richard Warren

It's a shame really.
Any chance this album had of striking me as more than a pleasant and breezy grower was ruined by aGRRressive PR.

Laments sounds great and is beautifully produced. Ragged good-time stomps are followed by introspective ballads, with a spontaneous feel maintained throughout. The skillfully and tastefully employed instruments (clear electric and acoustic guitars, drums, piano and lashings of hammond) are mixed masterfully. There is no denying the album's amiable warmth, earthiness and folky-swagger. Warren is evidently an excellent arranger and producer, although not the most assured vocalist. With occasional exceptions (e.g.No Companion Like Solitude and Black Stone Empires) he opts for a natural tone, but otherwise his voice is effects-drenched and nasal, and in places reminiscent of 1970's era Dylan.

The problem is that the melodies are relatively weak and the production, upon repeated listening, appears to serve as a crutch. Certainly most of the melodies would not suceed very well in the ultimate 'how would it stand up with only voice and guitar?' test.You could argue that, with Laments' focus upon the sonic whole, this is an unfair criticism. However, when its accompanying PR release describes the songs as 'Unforgettable' and claims that the album 'resembles nothing less than a compelling compilation of "greatest hits" comprised of timeless songs that were never released' you can't help but feel disappointed that the hardest thing to forget is in fact the laughable hyperbole of the PR statement itself. Perhaps the pervasiveness of the election and summer blockbusters have sent marketing departments into a frenzy, but this ludicrous exaggeration does Warren a disservice by setting unmatchable expectations.
However, to continue the realtive-quality line, Laments is a damn sight more enjoyable and appealing than most things I've heard this year. Lamentably.

Russian Circles/Earthless - Camden Underworld 13/04/2010

Russian Circles/Earthless - Camden Underworld 13/04/2010


Although also an instrumental American rock band, opening act Earthless are a very different kettle of fish to the headliners. Vivacious drummer Mario Rubalcaba and hippie-haired bassist Mike Eginton are a juggernaut rhythm section that pins you to the wall with relentless rhythms whilst trigger-happy guitarist Isaiah Mitchell blazes over them with his Hendrix-toned bluesy shred. However, there is little for the listener to grab on to. Earthless's music is... well...somewhat ungrounded. They are highly skilled musicians, but the sheer length of their audience-losing improvisatory passages smacked of self-indulgence and left a non-plussed crowd yearning for some song-craft.
Russian Circles gave the audience exactly what they were missing. The vital distinction between the two bands' music is that Russian Circles' tracks have a purposeful, progressive narrative with emotional coherence and meaning. Each section of each track has its function in relation to the whole. Each member plays precisely what is required to serve the big picture, nothing more and nothing less, and Earthless seemed utterly incoherent by comparison. Where their performance was politely appreciated, Russian Circles’ performance was relished. Their class shone from the first moment, and the previously subdued audience responded as if they had been let out of a cage, leaping and moshing with abandon.
Russian Circles’ light-and-shade music is peppered with brutal metalesque percussive passages and balanced with moments of delicate melodic sensibility (although even these sections are always pulsing and rhythmic). There are obvious echoes of Master Of Puppets era Metallica in many of the riffs and a constant underlying Tool-like sinister eeriness - yet they have forged a unique sonic identity that transcends such influences. Aided by a very musical use of loops and sampling, the three members manage to produce an enormous sound, and tonight focused upon tracks from their recently released third album, Geneva. Brian Cook (bass and samples) may be the new boy (having joined in 2007), yet he is the dominating presence onstage, furiously conducting the music with his entire body.
None of the band addressed the audience at any stage, the gaps between each track filled with throbbing distorted tones washing around the room as the band members remained motionless until the cue for the next number. A shy wave from each as they left the stage was the only interaction.
No vocals, no banter, no ego. For Russian Circles, it really does seem to be all about the music.