Ute - The Gambler EP

Alcopop! Records

Released: Tuesday 7 December 2010

I must admit, at first I did not know what to make of Ute's, The Gambler EP; their first release under Alcopop! Records. What Ute offers us here would be foreign to many and you could say it was a bit of a gamble. Great risks bring great reward, though, and despite an indifferent start to 'Innocent Tailor', once you give it a chance, like when you gain the trust of a female, she will show you her hidden fears and her beauty.

Whether it is the repeated guitar riff in the final stretch of Innocent Tailor I am not sure, but the guitar work makes this track seem so ice cold fresh, like a constantly pulsing breeze, coming through a car window as you go on a drive on a seaside mountain road. The vocals on the track do at times come to an intimidating and dark pitch but you can appreciate the visceral energy in the voice.

'The Refuser' starts disappointingly clichéd. It is underwhelming after Innocent Tailor's never-ending guitar riff and frightening vocals and I am left confused as to where the EP is going in terms of style. The long held out notes are all-too reminiscent of the vocal experimentation already done by bands, such as Vampire Weekend, however, when Michael and Ollie's voices overlap, it transforms the song and makes it much more worthwhile and original.

'We Used to be Friends' is a melodic interlude, you could call it a filler, in between the other four major articles. It shows again Ute's intention to experiment with vocals; it seems like all three band members add to a layered chorus in this track. I am totally supportive of vocal dice-throwing and I applaud Ute for this. However, this short track does not really have the same crescendo that some of the EP's other songs have. Nevertheless' it does have that ongoing vocal 'landscape' that many music fans love, it is just not my thing.

'Brother' is another experimental and melodic track. It has a pleasant accompaniment of a soft and sweet guitar and a sensitive vocal performance from Ollie. It starts off slow-paced but picks up by the time the four-minute glass is half full where more abrasive and compelling guitar playing is introduced.

After Innocent Tailor starts off the EP with a raucous bang, the main meat of the track list is quite low-fi and calm so when 'Bunker' comes around, it is a necessary change of pace and atmosphere. It is a six-minute-long track but Ute really hit the jackpot and display what I believe are their best traits: their ability to be scarily loud and violent, their vocal energy and their ability to change the pace of a song seamlessly. The difference between Bunker and We Used to be Friends could not be starker. Bunker is six minutes long but seems to last for a shorter period due to its engaging nature. This is what I want all of Ute's tracks to sound like. However, I guess without slow and quiet, you could not enjoy quick and loud and after quick and loud, you might want some peace to relax you.

The main idea we get from Ute's Gambler EP is that they do like to gamble when it comes to vocals. Ute like to experiment and they also like to be dark when appropriate. They do not turn their amps to eleven just because it is 'rock & roll'; they are stubborn in their docility at times. For their rousing traits, though, I think Ute are definitely worth keeping an ear on.

Volcanoes - Badchild Farsight

Badchild Farsight is a new EP from Yorkshire band, Volcanoes. It’s a record that’s getting lots of positive reviews. I usually hate to go with the crowd but, on the face of it, I will have to go along with it like Shaun the Sheep- bahhh!

Volcanoes are still unsigned despite their popularity around Leeds and Sheffield, however, they don’t sound like an unsigned band, oh no. Volcanoes have all of the instrumental skill, lyrical creativity and musical identity to make them, what I see as a ‘proper’ band.

I believe, ‘Talking Shadows’ is the high point of the EP as it displays each of Volcanoes’ talents. The classic guitar intro lets us know that what’s coming will most likely please us and then the vocal greeting confirms that. This is how I want the whole EP to sound but Volcanoes seem to lose their way a little on other parts of the EP. On the other hand, we have to remember Badchild Farsight is an EP (extended play) and due to this, it’s an experimental recording of ideas Volcanoes have. Talking Shadows incorporates harmonies reminiscent of Mystery Jets and you can’t go wrong there.

Despite the experimental nature of the EP, pretty much everything on Badchild Farsight sounds grrrrreat. ‘I think I know stuff reading the news’ has the chirpiness of The Holloways but also sounds like The Paddingtons, maybe as their lead singer is also from Yorkshire and these are favourable bands to be likened to. I mean, The Paddingtons’ guitarist, Josh Hubbard used to date Agyness Dean, didn’t he?

As I mentioned before, in ‘I think I know stuff reading the news’, Volcanoes don’t sound like an unsigned band, they sound like they’ve been in the limelight, on TOTP and Jools Holland and in NME for years. They have a very experienced and confident aura.

When I questioned the consistency of Badchild Farsight before, I was alluding to the track, ‘Monkey Gossip Cross Tesseract’. It’s not that it’s a bad song, in fact it’s very good but it doesn’t seem to fit with Volcanoes’ identity. It sounds like an electro-punk band, such as Test Icicles. Now, I’m a huge fan of Test Icicles but you wouldn’t catch them playing ‘Whatever’, by Oasis, would you?

‘Harlequins’ is another dark-sounding song but more of what I’d expect to hear from this band. It has engaging guitar riffs and some delightfully harmonious vocals. Guitars and vocals go together like eggs and bacon, everyone knows that and I think that when Volcanoes put these two ingredients together, they can’t go wrong. Volcanoes already sound like seasoned pros. Let’s hope they get that record deal and the media attention their potential warrants.

Shugo Tokumaru

Port Entropy

P-Vine Japan/Zoom

Released: Friday 5 November 2010

It is great to see Asian and Western culture colliding like this, in the form of Japanese singer/ songwriter, Shugo Tokumaru and his fourth official album, 'Port Entropy'. Shugo is from Tokyo, in Japan and first started playing the piano when he was five-years-old, before he took up the guitar and other instruments as a teenager. How often do you see someone from a far eastern culture dressing like Indie bands and playing the guitar? Yeah, you get Eurasians in western bands but Shugo Tokumaru is very clearly Japanese born and bred. It is not easy for Far Eastern kids to express themselves in creative ways like this. Their culture is more constrictive than Western culture. So Shugo's music is certainly something new and unusual.

He only sings in Japanese, which brings another perspective to his music. Most of us cannot understand his words but with the tone of his voice and the hum of his guitar, we can tell the main essence of the story he is telling. It only takes one person who tries something different to create a chain reaction and maybe Shugo will start one in East Asia.

It is actually refreshing to not be able to understand what a singer is singing when there are so many bands and artists around singing about the same old same old. With Shugo, we can simply listen and enjoy the glorious sound of his voice and his intelligent use of different instruments.

Track 5 on the album, Rum Hee, despite seeming quite suitable for your average 'hip' Hollywood film starring Michael Cera or Zooey Deschanel, is a lot of fun. The waves of harmonies are beautiful and pull you along with them on a wonderful, happy ride. It has some similarities to upbeat, US/ Canadian bands, such as Born Ruffians, but that isn't a bad thing. Rum Hee is a four minute song yet it feels like its half that length, which is a compliment to the constant movement and evolution of the song. It's such an enchanting track.

Of course, hearing someone singing in another language is always going to be novel at first but the entertainment doesn't seem like it will be short-lived. 'Lahaha' is another fun track on the record with what sounds like a wind instrument starting off proceedings. Again, it has similarities to upbeat, American bands but it has that kitsch, amusing personality, which you could only find in something from East Asia.

'Linne' is a more downbeat song about Shugo diving off a sinking ship and surfacing out of the water where he sees a bird flying away. It serves as a necessary change of pace as a constant happy tone would become sickly sweet. However, Shugo goes back to making us smile again with, 'Malerina'. It's another upbeat track but it has a seventies American rock 'n roll feel about it but with Japanese lyrics.

For most of you, this will be the first time you've heard of Shugo Tokumaru and unfortunately, who knows how many more will. I don't know how well a Japanese singer can do in the British or American charts. I mean, there is a reason it feels like such a find hearing his music. This makes Port Entropy a haul of treasure though and it has made me want to discover more East Asian bands and singers. I really recommend you listen to the album!

The Duke & The King live at the Deaf Institute, Manchester 31/10/2010

I think the Halloween demons might've got to the band after all 

It was Halloween yet no-one in the building was dressed for the occasion (including me). It could have been something to do with eighty per-cent of the audience, who had come to see The Duke & The King, being middle-aged but who cares, I hate Halloween anyway?

The artist in support was Gabriel Minnikin, a folk singer from Nova Scotia, Canada. Apparently, he was a last-minute inclusion and despite not being able to decide if I liked him, a longer set would have helped me to decide and would have eaten in to the massive, sleep-inducing wait we had before The Duke & The King arrived. Nevertheless, his short set was genuine and honest and he seemed to mean what he was singing. It was just that when Gabriel told us that the following would be a song about people from back home in Canada, it was a somewhat uninteresting introduction.

After Gabriel Minnikin left the stage, a young scallywag stumbled as he walked to his seat and spilled some of his beer on a shocked old woman – nice bit of light relief after the constant low-tempo but well-intentioned country twang.

For some reason, maybe to create an eerie atmosphere on Halloween, the workers at the Deaf Institute turned all of the lights off apart from one behind the bar, which lit up bottles of spirits. This made the one hour-plus wait for The Duke & The King all the more excruciating after a hard day’s work. It didn’t create a scary atmosphere either, it just looked like there had been a power cut. I felt for the audience who were standing on the dance floor – at least I had a hard wooden seat to sit on in the football stadium-like seating area. After about half an hour – forty minutes, a few bold and impatient old souls in the audience began to do a slow clap while some stomped their feet on the wooden floor boards, in protest at the long wait. Standing around waiting all night isn’t exactly what you want to do when you just came out for a nice time.

Eventually, after about an hour and twenty minutes, four Americans who look like the Village People plus one foxy chick, moseyed on to the stage. I actually didn’t remember them apologising for the late arrival so I was wondering if their performance would make up for it.

The Duke & The King’s low-fi sound and old-fashioned, hippy appearance is understandably attractive to my parents’ generation. However, you should know that if the oldies are in to a certain band or artist then, most of the time, the act must be half decent. These guys grew up in the 60’s and 70’s when music was at its best!

The Duke & The King opened with ‘If You Ever Get Famous’. It was immediately obvious that Simone Felice is the leader of the band and despite being a poser, his charisma and strong singing voice shone through. The song is laid back, not really what I wanted after such a long wait, but the emotion in the song and warmth of the guitar perked me up and the audience seemed to slowly become appeased.

In ‘No Easy Way Out’, we saw that the band is full of beautiful singing voices. Simi Stone took the lead here and her voice is just as pretty as her face. So clear and fluttering with colourful tones, she could win the heart of any man and sing any babe to sleep.

The Duke & The King is a very talented theatrical troupe, however, I believe the jewel in their crown is Nowell Haskins’ husky, soulful voice. When he belted out, ‘Shine On You’, I was reminded of the late Marvin Gaye. He has the same ability to convey strong emotion.

Most of The Duke & The King’s songs seem to be autobiographical but I’m not sure where their song, ‘The Morning I Get To Hell’ comes from. I mean, yes, the band did look a bit ‘happy’ and seemed to be somewhere else in their heads, but the line doesn’t really fit with their ‘let’s all hold hands and sing around a camp fire’ image. However, it seems to be more of a spiritual lament to what it might be like to die and see God than a song about wishing you were dead.

Ultimately it seemed that those who were stamping their feet and clapping their hands in frustrated protest before The Duke & The King were finally on stage, were eventually won over by the talents of this big-hearted, sweet-sounding, soulful band.

Shugo Tokumaru

Hey biznitches. Just a quick hello to say I'll be reviewing Shugo Tokumaru's soon to be released album, 'Port Entropy'. I will probably post it on the day of the albums release, November 5th. Hope you're all doing well. Today I had an interview and a test for a journalism course, in Manchester. I think it went well :)

Little Comets - Club Academy, Manchester (12/10/2010)

So I eventually got to see Little Comets live at Manchester Academy. They were supporting New York's own Darwin Deez. After a short delay, which I filled by going to quench my thirst at the bar and catching some of the England vs. Montenegro game, Robert Coles' Geordie accent ensued.

The room was packed with teenagers who seemed to be lapping it up. It appeared that Little Comets have a bigger following than I had first realised. There was a pretty girl near the front, singing every word, eyes glazed over in a heavenly trance.

Isles sounds like a soundtrack of a whole host of British culture in the near future just like Blur's Parklife was in the Nineties. The ever enthusiastic Robert Coles sings, 'In the B.R.I.T.I say British Isles, the streets are bleak the kids are running wild'.

You can never truly judge a band before you have heard/ seen them live. I think I have made this point before but it is a valid one and it is important to stress when reviewing Little Comets. Their single, Isles, which is to be released on October 18, is a decent, catchy tune when listened to at home but to really appreciate the track, you have to hear the sound coming directly from Robert Coles' passionate, emotive gob.

They go on to sing 'Joanna' and seem to enjoy performing it more than any of their other tracks. They are laughing and smiling at each other throughout the song. Due to their accent, it sounds like Little Comets are singing a made up word, 'chuanga' - I assumed that was what they were so amused at but no. Regardless of how fun the song is due to the band's enjoyment, it is hard not to warm to it with its high tempo and Robert Coles' Enthusiastic delivery and equally fervent backing vocals. In fact, I am going to keep singing, 'chuanga' instead of 'Joanna' because it makes me laugh.

'Adultery' is another 'feel good' track, despite it's title. At first you hear a happy, scratching guitar intro, played by Michael Coles (yes, it is another band of brothers) and you expect the song to be about loving a girl but Robert Coles goes on to explain that, 'this is a tale of a boy of a man of a girl of a wife' and you start to see the story in the song coming to light. It is another very catchy song and by this point, I am starting to sweat with the musical waves Little Comets are bombarding me with. My skin is tingling and I am reminded that live music can be fun if the band you are watching care about the quality of their performance.

Drummer, Mark Harle, has to be given credit as he is the engine of the musical machine behind little Comets' live performance. He keeps the tempo fast and he keeps Robert Coles' consonants in time.

Prior to the gig, the only song of theirs that I knew well was, 'Isles', but they bowled me over with songs I had never heard before or only remembered vaguely and I left Club Academy wanting to buy their album whenever it comes out.

Carl Barât - Carl Barât (album)

Arcady Record

Released: Monday 4 October 2010

Barât's voice is unmistakable. It was one of the main power tools that gave The Libertines and Dirty Pretty Things their catchy sounds. His is not a voice like Marvin Gaye or Axel Rose but it is a voice that you feel familiar with in a good way. It has an innately warming affect on me, which not many voices do. Of course, the album, also named, 'Carl Barât', is more low-tempo than most of the songs which we associate with the man in question. In many cases, this wouldn't work. Many bands rely on the energy they evoke in their fans from their up-tempo songs to succeed and if that tempo is slowed, the band or artist becomes just an average act. This doesn't seem to be the case with this record though.

For those of us who wondered if Carl Barât could be as lyrically apt without the help and muse that Peter Doherty gave him will most likely have their question answered here. There is no question mark about the wonderful tone and sheer catchiness of his first solo album.

He steels and mixes lines from the song, 'Where Have All the Flowers Gone?' written by Pete Seegerin 1955 in first track, 'The Magnus': 'Where have all the flowers gone? Gone to young girls every one.' - An interesting bit of inspiration there as the original song was about women plucking flowers and their husbands who had joined the army. Don't you just love a badly-hidden pop-culture reference? I do. In fact, it's a poignant reminder of our boys in Afghanistan.

The second track on the album, 'Je Regrette, Je Regrette', (I regret, I regret) is a bit more brisk and it's amusing and refreshing to hear Barât sing, 'I'm a wretch, I'm a wretch, a tosser at a stretch'. It's great when an 'artist' doesn't take them self too seriously, especially when it is someone who you imagined would be somewhat diva-ish.

The record offers value as well as quality for money as its ten tracks are at an average 3 minutes 48 seconds long. This extended song length goes to show the way in which Barât tells a story in the majority of songs on the album. I think most good songs are stories. The narrative makes you want to continue listening to find out how the story or song ends. In fact, several of the songs on the album seem to be about losing someone he is infatuated with. He repeatedly sings, 'better let her go', in the swinging, 'Run with the Boys'.

I won't tell you about any of the other tracks on the album. All you need to know is that it's worth listening to. Carl Barât certainly isn't a half-arsed attempt at a debut solo album. I will be cautious saying this but it might even be as good as anything Barât has done before. There have been others before him who have succeeded after going solo, in fact it seems to give artists a new lease of life. Look at Robbie Williams (even though he's back with Take That now) and then there is Beyonce Knowles. Even Feist only truly shines as a solo artist away from Broken Social Scene. It seems to be the era of the solo singer and Carl Barât surely merits that title now.

Maps & Atlases - Perch Patchwork

Maps & Atlases are one of only a handful of truly memorable bands I have listened to in 2010. Their qualities are based on simple talents, mainly Dave Davison’s voice along with Erin Elders on guitar, Chris Hainey on drums and Shiraz Dada (what an awesome name) on drums. They only formed six years ago when they met in art school (that’s unusual) at Columbia College, Chicago, however their sound is very mature, like they have been recording together for decades.

Before the release of this, their debut full-length album, they released a single from the album, called ‘Solid Ground’, which I reviewed also. Solid Ground creates a beautiful and harmonic musical landscape. Dave Davison’s voice, along with some exciting guitar work, played by Erin Elders, and some distinctive piano chords make the song a milieu of rich tones. You could listen to the track wherever and whenever.

‘The tide has turned across the pond again.’

‘Israeli Caves’, sixth on the album, continues with the harmonies of Solid Ground, however, it sounds more like you would expect from an American East Coast band. It has that folk style which is popular in East Coast cities at the moment. American Cities like, New York and Chicago, seem to be the main areas where interesting, intelligent music is coming from. A few years ago, it was London, which created bands like, The Libertines and Klaxons but now the tide has turned across the pond again.

If I were to say they sounded like any other band, it would probably be Vampire Weekend, however, with their song, ‘Will’, they continue to show they have something different to offer. In Will, which is fairly short at only 2:16 minutes, Maps & Atlases get creative with unusual sounds from voices and instruments.

It is difficult to be original in music these days with bands attempting to recreate or even improve upon the great music of past decades but I feel that Maps & Atlases are one of a group of bands making music at the moment (mainly from North America) who are at least trying to make something new and great which might be remembered as great music in twenty or thirty years’ time. I am not saying it will be but if bands like Maps & Atlases continue to be creative and consider unusual ideas, it might just happen.  

Perch Patchwork could be described as ‘easy-listening’; you could listen to it all day as it basically sounds great and it is not too intense. Nevertheless, it also has that quirky aspect that I have previously mentioned which will keep you interested. If you are already a fan, I would certainly suggest getting hold of the album. If not, at least give some of the songs a listen and definitely keep an ear out for their future releases. Maps & Atlases could be big.

MGMT - Congratulations

MGMT

Congratulations

Columbia

Released: Monday 27 September 2010

Congratulations is a song from MGMT's new album, of the same name, a record which has a lot of work to do in order to live up to their previous mark-making album, Oracular Spectacular. So I'll try not to size this track up against tracks, such as 'Kids' from OS. The psychedelia of Oracular Spectacular is still there, however, but with a bigger budget and more fine-tuned musical abilities, Congratulations makes a technical improvement.

In Congratulations, we hear exotic, beach-borne sounds from instruments, like steel drums and xylophones. It is a chill-out track and Andrew Vanwyngarden's voice is reminiscent of Marc Bolan in the seventies. It is not just Vanwyngarden's (did he make up this name to confuse journalists?) voice that has that funky seventies flavour. I guess it is the lack of artificial sounds. You do not hear electronic keyboards, just a strumming guitar, a set of drums and a voice. Considering MGMT are releasing this track as a single we can conclude that this 'stripped-back' sound is something that MGMT are planning on using as they develop their song writing talents.

Congratulaions is maybe an offering that fans of MGMT will be a bit underwhelmed by as it is not as radical as some of the songs from Oracular Spectacular, however good music is good music, and Congratulations is a quality song.

Maps & Atlases - Solid Ground

Maps & Atlases

Solid Ground

FatCat

Released: Monday 20 September 2010

Maps & Atlases go by the pigeon-holes, progressive music and art rock but, on the planet where I live, between these receptive ears, they go by the description of: AWESOME.

In their single, 'Solid Ground', released by FatCat, singer, David Davidson's voice is something to take note of and not a note he sings falls in to the recycle bin of flat or unnecessary harmonies. I could listen to his voice in this form all day and night. Just put this song on repeat and you will not see it as wasted listening time, I promise.

Maps & Atlases' first full-length LP came to the US and online this summer, June 29, 2010 and it is to be released in the UK and Europe on October 4 (I will be bringing you a review of this). The album is seen as a more musically mature piece than the EPs M&As had released prior to it. Maybe Solid Ground is not particularly rebellious but for the honest and beautiful-sounding track it is, Solid Ground is perfect.

YOU! To Disappear re-appears

YOU! To Disappear

Amazing! I reviewed this song for Soundblab.com a month or so ago but I only realised a small fraction of its greatness. This is a must-listen, people. While I'm here I'd like to mention that Brandon Flowers' new album, 'Flamingo', is really very good. I might write a full review soon. Will have a review of Maps & Atlases' single, 'Solid Ground' tomorrow night as well. Peeeeace!

J-Level - A Symphony of Psychedels

J-Level

A Symphony of Psychedels

Thirteen [rec]

Released: Monday 6 September 2010 (original source)

A Symphony of Psychedels is the second full-length offering from J-Level, a so-called electronic music artist from London who has also spent time honing his DJ'ing skills in Leeds.

As you might expect from a predominantly electro album; each of its eight tracks exceed six minutes in length, yes six minutes, and yet, each track seems to run in through one ear and out of the other in the time it takes to say 'J-Level'. However, that is not due to boredom setting in. It is just that the tracks on the album are so relaxingly atmospheric that they put you under a spell as deeply as any narcotic or alcohol might (if you were that way inclined).

It is not a surprise to find that J-Level is a fan of Regina Spektor when you listen to possibly the most commercial track on the album, 'Velocity Structure remix feat. Caz'. As much as J-Level is predominantly a DJ, he seems to understand the possibilities that are opened up when you add a simple melodic voice to an otherwise mechanic track. Female vocalist, Caz, helps to soften the occasionally pointy, robotic nature of the album, of which effect can be noticed most starkly on Velocity Structure.

A Symphony of Psychedels would be a perfect soundtrack to a tense, platform videogame with its somewhat retro-futuristic sound. And in this sense, the sound of the album takes advantage of something that is very current and popular. J-Level uses some equally timely and interesting samples in his album, such as in 'The Place Of The Way', which includes parts of a speech by an American president, possibly JFK. It gives A Symphony of Psychedels an authentic and quality feeling. It also adds originality which can be severely lacking in other modern music.

A Symphony of Psychedels is a rolling hillscape of pockets of different sounds from varying origins. Haunting female voices, (those of Emma Green and Caz) whistle through its musical heather plants and metallic raindrops tap beats on corrugated out-houses. It is an electronic album about as natural as an electronic album could be. It is a great entry-level album to get in to electronic music, so give it a play.

The Heebie Jeebies - Misery Guts

The Heebie Jeebies

Misery Guts

Everything On Toast & Blame Television

Released: Monday 6 September 2010 (original source)

Misery Guts video

I first had the pleasure of hearing Misery Guts by The Heebie Jeebies on the video for the song. It is mad to say the least. Okay, the production values do seem fairly low-budget, especially the video but, just like when someone goes to the effort and has the creativity to make you a card for your birthday, a makeshift video always deserves credit, unless it is awful or offensive, or both...

A bit about the band then - They are from Rotherham and are made up of Owen Adams on vox and the guitar, Thomas Barnett Membranophone (a musical snob's drum) and Del Hoyle on the Bass guitar and backing vox. They were apparently 'talent spotted' by Vogue, whatever that means and have been recommended by the likes of the Steel City's very own Richard Hawley as well as Jarvis Cocker.

Owen Adams sounds a lot like Pete Doherty when he sings and so you can probably guess that when Misery Guts really gets going, it would not sound out-of-place on The Libertines' eponymously named album, 'The Libertines'.

I would suggest avoiding the video before you have listened to Misery Guts, because it is an acquired taste. You might have seen The Heebie Jeebies on their recent tour which finished on the 4^th of September in Dundee and I imagine The Heebie Jeebies are a band who would be best-appreciated seen live. However, there is enough invention and juice in The Heebie Jeebies' debut single, Misery Guts to offer hope that their soon-to-arrive debut album will deliver something interesting.

New Single Release

Back Ted N-Ted - The Mirror

You might not be aware of Back Ted N-Ted. He does not even have a dedicated page on Wikipedia which is rare for modern bands and artists, especially when they are better than bad. Nor does he have a regularly maintained Myspace page. Either Mr Back Ted N-Ted (Ryan Breen) is a bit lazy, he is going for an underground fan base OR he is just enjoying making music and that is the sole reason that he does.

The Mirror, out now, is Ryan Breen’s first real commercial LP but shows few signs of inexperience. That will probably be down to Breen’s vast producing experience. Breen spent almost ten years producing music but without singing as he had a kind of fear of it. Why he ever feared using his accomplished, multi-faceted voice is beyond me. He sounds great on The Mirror. The track is not necessarily groundbreaking but you can really hear his producing experience coming through. It all sounds very good. Breen is not just a favourable producer though; he is also a talented lyricist which makes for an extremely catchy and accomplished first LP.
The Mirror gets a 10 out of 10 from me!

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

 

I'm watching the film for the second time now. I don't think I saw all of it the first time, just bits but I remember it being a very very good film.

If you don't know the five-oscar-winning film, it stars Jack Nicholson with appearances from the likes of Danny DeVito (who is awesome) and Louise Fletcher (bitch?). 

The film is about a guy who is committed to a mental hospital because of a number of violent altercations which he (Randle Patrick McMurphy) explains were just fights. He also had sex with a 15 year old girl who had told him she was 18 (fair enough?). 

Anyway, Nicholson is a bit of a, let's say, 'rebel' *chortle* and he causes one hell of a ruckus. Nurse Ratched, played by Louise Fletcher will not allow the patients to do anything which varies from their daily routine that she has decided on. She plays classical music overly loudly so that the men cannot talk to one and other without shouting and she seems to want to prevent them from doing anything normal. For example, she stops them from watching a game of baseball, even though McMurphy (JN) manages to get 10 out of the 18 patients to vote 'yes' to watch the game.

Overall, it's a funny, touching and enlightening film about the way people are or were treated in this type of institution until the Mental Health Reform in 1983. Jack Nicholson is amazing as usual. I would enjoy any film he is in but One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is one of his best.

Just about to watch The Hills Have Eyes: 2, but I doubt it will live up to OFOTCN.

Tallest Trees - Ostrich or the Lark

Record Label: other-electricities

  Release Date: 17/8/2010 (original source: soundblab)

Tallest Trees are a duo, consisting of Thomas 'Trees' Samuel and Dabney 'Voice' Morris who reign from Nashville, Tennessee; the birthplace of rock and roll. Such luminaries as Elvis Presley and Hank Williams Sr. came from this musical hot-bed. However, if 'Jail House Rock' is what you are expecting, you would be closer if you imagine further west, to Roswell, the place where a UFO supposedly crash-landed in 1947, because it is quite alien. Their music does not come from any particular traditional music genre; you could say it is a malaise of guitar music and keyboard music of the eighties.

Lead singer, Dabney Morris, has such a listenable singing voice that it is a shame it is not heard more often on the album. A 50/50 mix of instrumental to voice would have been more welcome to me but I have always been attracted to bands with great singers. Those of you who are more interested in the instrumental sound of music will probably love Ostrich or the Lark. Nevertheless, it can be an enjoyable album for most.

I must say, 'Skinny Little Wrists' is my favourite track on the whole album. It really makes use of Dabney Morris' voice and its harmonies and enchanting lyrics tempt you to look towards the skies and ponder the delights of music. Maybe it is more of what I and most of us are used to so we cannot blame Tallest Trees from seemingly experimenting with a lot of their album. You could say that the majority of the Ostrich or the Lark record is a proposition to music lovers, asking, 'have you ever thought about the possibility of this?'

Considering Tallest Trees' experimental character, it might only be possible to fully appreciate their inventiveness by seeing them live. From seeing the video for their track, 'Learn', you see how they put on a visual display and obviously that will not come across the same when you are only listening. It does tell us though that Tallest Trees are trying to create wonderful, colourful images in our head when we listen to their music and if you open your heart and ears and give Ostrich or the Lark time, you will see those wonderful colours.

The Morning Benders - Big Echo

Record Label: Rough Trade Records

Release Date: 9/8/2010

(original source)

The Morning Benders album, ‘Big Echo’ could not have reached me along those electronic mail pathways at a more welcome time. ‘Tis a dainty, breeze-laden august evening as I listen to The Morning Benders’ guitars ejaculating wave after wave of sound.

The Mind Benders are a four-piece consisting of, Christopher Chu on vocals and guitar, Jonathan Chu on guitar, Julian Harmon on drums and Tim Or on bass. It fails to surprise, after hearing the first few seconds of their album, that they reign from California. However this does not mean that they follow any long-since-dead west coast American trend.

The album’s name, Big Echo, is based on a Zen proverb: ‘Shouting in to a valley. Big shout: big echo. Small shout: small echo’. So it seems that The Morning Benders see their second album as a big shout to music fans out there or maybe they are shouting out in pain or joy. ‘The title Big Echo sums up what we’re doing sonically and textually,’ says singer, lyricist and songwriter, Christopher Chu. ‘The idea was to take sounds from all different eras and all different kinds of music, throw them together, and see how they sound bouncing off each other. Throw it all into an echo chamber. Thematically, there’s a lot of pondering about time, the span of your life and how your perspective fits into everyone else’s. It explores the idea of your memories as echoes that are always inside you, creating these frequencies that become your soul.’

Moreover, singer, Christopher Chu, has the sonic attributes of Brian Wilson, previously of The Beach Boys, but he does not have the same anguish in his voice. Nevertheless, The Morning Benders are good enough to escape any accusations that they might lack originality. Any similarity they have to other west coast bands stems from inspiration and that alone.

On this occasion, you can really see how living in a beautiful, warm and sun-bathed environment can breed an equally beautiful blend of music. You can see the light glinting off the gentle waves in their wind chimes. In contrast, the regularly cloudy skies of England have rarely inspired such engaging imagery since Morrissey sang, ‘the rain falls hard on a humdrum town, this town has dragged you down’, in The Smith’s, ‘William, It Was Really Nothing’, in 1984.

The opening track of the album, ‘Excuses’, begins in a magical way with high pitched guitars (courtesy of Jonathan Chu) reminiscent of Willy Wonka’s ‘Oompa’ whistle from the film, ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’. But then, wistful violins are introduced and romantic harmonies ensue. It is a gentle introduction to the album and only after several listens do you realise how ‘old fashioned’ some of its features are. The lyrics in between the ‘dum dum dum’ harmonies are difficult to decipher but it is a wonderfully disorientating wall of sound that you are presented with.

‘Wet Cement’ is an instant hit with me as it reminds me of Bart Simpson’s love of skating over wet cement in the cult US sit-com, ‘The Simpsons’. Christopher Chu’s voice would comfort any broken heart. Wet Cement is about meeting someone and seemingly setting your memories together in stone and the associations that you forge together over time. Christopher Chu sounds a lot like Conor Deasy of The Thrills in this one. Whether The Thrills were one of The Morning Benders’ influences or the similarity is simply because they were both inspired by California is not clear.

As soon as, ‘Cold War’ kicked in, I thought my iTunes library had skipped to, ‘That’s Entertainment’, by The Jam. However, it is just a promise that The Morning Benders are no one trick ponies. Not all of Big Echo is gleefully harmonic; Cold War shows that this four-piece can write decent foot-tapping tunes as well.

Big Echo is a delightful album to listen to. Its sun-kissed, natural tones will warm your heart and ears like the warm Pacific Ocean. You can almost imagine that this collection of harmonies might have been lost at sea in the 1960’s and washed up on a shore somewhere far away. It is impressive that Big Echo is only The Morning Benders’ second album. It seems that they are a band who value quality and strive to put all of their best creative and musical talent in to each piece of music that they create. Either that or they have just struck musical gold.

YOU! To Disappear

YOU! are a Parisien duo consisting of Romuald Boivin composing and the voice of José Reis Fontao who are signed to Kuskus/ Discograph. They release their debut album this summer, also named, YOU! You could say it is all about YOU! And after listening to their single, ‘To Disappear’, it does seem that it might be all about these French fancies.

The song commences with a guitar riff worthy of Kings of Leon but something less obvious. There is also a beat that creeps in like an unexpected dumping but less painfully. Before you know it you hear a mixture of harking guitars and modern drum beats, which bring two genres of music together to create something like, ‘Indie-electro’. It is somewhat derogatory, however, to attempt to constrain this song to a genre, especially as it is not immediately easy to do so.

‘...the real star of To Disappear is José Fontao’s emotive voice...’

Despite the guitars and beats, the real star of To Disappear is José Fontao’s emotive voice that reminds me of Damon Albarn’s voice in several of his songs with ‘Gorillaz’. Fontao has the same simple, heart-breaking quality in his voice. His words seem slicked with a beautiful hurt.

To Disappear breeds much excitement for things to come from this Parisien duo and I have no doubt that YOU!’s debut album will live up to that. Catch them while you can!

Round Ron Virgin - Cowabungler

Records Records Records

Released: Tuesday 27 July 2010

The nature of the release of this record was very special in that it was released on the 25^th of May to download for free online. You might say that we can download music for free online anyway but Round Ron Virgin's record company, Records Records Records decided to release it as a 'soft' copy for free to bypass the need to download it illegally and, presumably, for some positive publicity. Something similar was done when Radiohead released their album, 'In Rainbows', in October 2007. They told their fans that they could pay as much or as little as they wished for the record.

Cowabungler was the brainchild of Oli Chance, previously of Oli 'n' Clive. Chance broke up the band to go to work for Nintendo in Germany and while he was there he found new inspiration and wrote some songs. Round Ron Virgin includes artists such as, Tom, Henry and Matty from The Rumble Strips, previous members of Oli 'n' Clive, Clare Evans, Katie Potts and Sanjay Mitra (now of The Coastguards), Babak Ganjei and Melinda Bronstein of 'Wet Paint' and 'Absentee' and Jonnie Fielding who sings by the name of, 'Not To Self'. Sounds pretty crazy as a combined group, does it not? The favourable aspect of this situation though, is that not all of these acts work together on every piece, which means that they can concentrate on separate songs, adding their own unique style to the songs which they perform on. Oli Chance is the voice you will hear, however.

Certain tracks, such as, 'Strong Stuff' and 'I Love You, But You are Nuts', have a somewhat unoriginal acoustic, 'make-shift' sound, created by what sounds like a ukulele. However, their charm prevents this from being a damning characteristic. Any song that says, 'I love you', and makes you believe it, will be a song that anyone with a heart will warm to. The general atmosphere of the album is either romantic or downbeat. This isn't unwelcome though in a modern music world often saturated with fake emotion. This believable emotion is one of the things that make this album worth listening to.

Now, Round Ron Virgin has to receive some praise simply for releasing Cowabungler as a free download but it is worth more than that. It isn't a free goody bag of uninspiring things and it isn't just a promotional tool to popularize the band. Despite this, even if one of the main agendas of this album was to get Round Ron Virgin's name out, that isn't something to be frowned upon; it's an ingenious idea. There are many new bands who pass us by unheard because we do not want to risk a tenner on finding out whether they are worth that tenner or not, especially with numerous uninspiring wannabes coming on to the scene every week.

From the cover of the album, showing a young boy and girl with their faces painted and a balloon each, you get the impression that one of the main ideas of the album was to go back to something very simple and honest and 'Been Waiting' has the essence of a lullaby.

Cowabungler might be more extraordinary than most of what is in the charts today but I cannot help thinking that if more time and money had been spent on it, it might have been of benefit. Maybe then, Round Ron Virgin would have dared to charge us for it.


(15/8/2010) Would just like to mention that I might have been slightly harsh with parts of this review as it is an album which is 'all smiles' so to speak and somewhat romantic and at the time of writing it, I wasn't feeling romantic at all...