fatandconfused

Fat & Confused Top 25 Albums of 2007

2008-01-20T18:31:15Z

Finally got round to deciding what my albums of 2007 where, got it done to 25...lots of good stuff released on reflection

http://fatandconfused.blogspot.com/

We've Moved to Blogger

2007-12-27T16:00:41Z

Hi,

Hope yr wel , we've moved over to Blooger for the foreseeable future, just seems easier and we get more traffic that way, anyway feel free to pop by, plenty of new reviews

http://fatandconfused.blogspot.com/

Recent Reviews of:
Tullycraft - Every Scene Needs A Center (MagikMarker)
Darren Hayman - Darren Hayman and the Secondary Modern (Track & Field)
Bogdan Raczynski - Alright (Rephlex)
Lacrosse - This New Year Will Be For You and Me (Tapete)
Sparky's Magic Piano - Feel The Beat and Do It Anyway (MelodyFactory)
World's End Girlfriend - Hurtbreak Wonderland (Human Highway)
Yasushi Yoshida - Secret Figure (Noble)
Kashiwa Daisuke - Program Music I (noble)
Pantha Du Prince - This Bliss (Dial)

Emma Pollock & Alaska in Winter Reviewed

2007-09-29T21:38:25Z

Emma Pollock – Watch The Fireworks (4AD)

It was just last night that I and a good friend were discussing how difficult we were finding it to write songs of late, to come up with something new, in the past songs have come easily or at least there would be those days once or twice a week, maybe a month if I think deeply enough, the days and years all seem to float into one these days, when a song would fall together just out of nowhere, or a melody or riff would almost play itself. Just lately it all seems to sound so uninspired and as if it’s all been done before, I personally put my new deficiency down to the wider world of music that the internet has enlightened me with, an endless library of inventive tunes, too clever for me and more time consuming than I can justify, still although there is no shortage of people out there still bashing tunes out left right and centre in the traditional way, few do it so simply and so consistently as it would appear Emma Pollock does. I had previously concluded that she was simply a voice to Alun Woodward’s thoughts in the excellent Delgados but it would appear that she has more talent than I’d ever given her credit for.

You can still hear the Delgados in the general sound, 3 minutes into opening track Paper and Glue its classic Delgados piano breakdowns and sweet vocals, slightly tainted by an icy fear as it slowly moves into a lovely waltz outro and at times echoes Reasons for Silence. Acid Test is upbeat and fresh sounding, slightly more “pop” than the Delgados by and large were, Adrenaline likewise an ascending piano tune that needs no help in introducing itself to you.

If this does nothing more than make you aware of the existence of the Delgados and their excellent back catalogue then it will be a success, hopefully though it’ll help you realise what a rare talent Emma Pollock is.

Website

MySpace

4AD Records

Emma Pollock - Limbs MP3

Alaska in Winter – Dance Party in the Balkans (Regular Beat Recording Co.)

By simultaneously mixing Piano & Vocoder, Alaska in the Winter have created what may be the most original and ambitious pop albums of the year. It will not surprise you upon listening to them that their line up is as follows Brandon Bethancourt, Zach Condon (of Beirut), Heather Trost (of A Hawk and a Hacksaw), Hari Ziznewski (of Rap), Stefanie Lamm, Rosina Roibal (who played in the Kanye West live string section), Hilary Bethancourt, and Naila Dixon.

There are obvious references to Beirut and A Hawk and a Hacksaw but here they are mixed with vocodered vocals that almost give some songs a daft punk feel. Other songs such as Harmonijak and Horsey Horse have piano chords as sparse as A Silver Mount Zion, mixing these tender sounds with electronic drums and the aforementioned vocoders, this really is something special.

MySpace1
Myspace2

Website

Alaska in Winter - Harmonijak MP3

Alaska in Winter - Close Your Eyes We Are Blind MP3

Tom Brosseau - Grand Forks Reviewed

2007-09-24T22:25:07Z

Tom Brosseau - Grand Forks (Loveless)

In my childhood and early youth my dad constantly tried to brainwash with me with all sorts of country music, generally it would be quite horrible and sickly sweet, fiddles galore and yodels aplenty. Ever so occasionally though the odd track or artist would stand out, Johnny Cash obviously (although my younger brothers constant repetitive playing of Folsom Prison Blues should yet somehow didn’t turn me off that song for life) Willie Nelson, Lonnie Donegan and perhaps with the most long lasting effect Hank Williams. And so it remains that in my blood I have both a loathing and a small box room in my house of music for out and out country *(I’m not talking bonnie prince billy, Sparklehorse etc)

Tom Brosseau has instantly been promoted to the top of that list with his wonderful album Grand Forks, recalling the Smith Garrett Band, at times Benjy Ferree with his Steptoe and Son pop so delightfully done on opening track I Fly Wherever I Go, Down on Skidrow is like the moody dusty best of Calexico and both At the Close of Everyday and Misplaced Music’s Charlie Parr on the accentuated Plain Lined Jacket.

A gloriously simple album to coast down still waters on with a picnic basket and a bottle of cider.

Tom Brosseau - Plain Lined Jacket MP3

Mirah and Spectratone International - Reviewed

2007-09-23T21:26:43Z

Mirah and Spectratone International - Share This Place (Stories and Observations By...) (k)

I was a little more than disappointed by the recent Joyride:Remixes album on K with many artists and remixers failing to add much to those Mirah songs we’d grown to love over the years, it seems only a short while ago when I discovered Mirah on a Red Square seven inch compilation, so I was slightly cautious in my approach to this album, fully expecting to be let down. Fortunately that’s far from the truth as from the very start this is as lovely and welcoming as the Mirah we’ve known for all the years.

Opener Community sounds incredibly familiar; whether that be an old tracks of hers or someone else, it’s on the tip of my tongue yet I can’t quite put my finger on it, either way the duel vocals have a haunting effect that sends a shiver down the spine and relay to us once again what a talent Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn really is.

Throughout the album the main difference from previous Mirah albums is the instrumentation, a depth of instruments ranging from cello to accordion that add a nice touch, a worthy compliment to a voice that we know so well, a voice that has nothing to prove but one that has now moved onto higher social circles, gone are the scratchy guitars and cheap drum machines, instead deep warm melodies from every instruments under the sun and what a welcome addition they are.

A truly cherish-able album from one of the last decade’s most underrated artists, well worth a try.

MySpace

Mirah and Spectratone International - Community MP3

Mirah and Spectratone International - Credo Cigalia MP3

The Books & Monkey Swallows The Universe Reviewed

2007-09-02T19:07:46Z

The Books – Lost And Safe (Tomlab)

Few bands have managed to come close to The Books in mixing experimentalism with perfectly acceptable and hospitable pop, perhaps Tunng would be the exception to the rule but to be honest The Books are several furlongs ahead in this particular race. Songs like An Animated Description of Mr Maps and Be Good To Them Always have an almost EMO appeal to them, like the postal service with double the IQ. Charming and inventive, the lyrics echo the samples to amazing effect.
I only realised today, despite having the album a good couple of years that the inner sleeve of the gatefold vinyl contains both the lyrics and samples.
It Never Changes to Stop is thought provoking and ever so slightly disturbing, the Books are geniuses and let’s hope they’ll have a new album for us soon.

An Animated Description of Mr. Maps
He is forty two,
five-feet-eight-inches tall,
normally wears his curly hair long.
He has a ruddy complexion,
broad shoulders and is barrel-chested,
is unusually strong.
He frequently wears a full beard and sometimes glasses.
He is a college graduate,
a talented artist, and sculptor.
Now, Maps is a soft-spoken loner,
who resents society and all organizations.
Maps fancies himself a ladies' man.
He is an avid chess player, smokes cigarettes, and a pipe.
He is a beer drinker and loves to eat.
Maps is a man of widespread interests,
who might very well be living abroad.

He willed away the miles while quixotically attempting to reclaim his inner child,
he was embrangled and enmeshed in something far too loud to comprehend:"I want all of the American people to understand that it isunderstandable that the Americanpeople cannot possibly understand."

The Books - Be Good To Them Always MP3
The Books - Albums Sampler
Tomlab MySpace

I can’t stop listening to… Matter Honey…by Monkey Swallows the Universe. Where my musical tastes tend to veer off towards electronic and post rock meanderings I had previously and still have a soft spot for Belle and Sebastian, all things indie pop and songs as sweet as honey. Matter Honey as the title suggests is a song of such sweetness, reminiscent of the first time I heard Camera Obscura’s 80’s Fan, a song so special and instantly, unknowingly engraving itself on your subconscious mind, one to sing in the shower, in the car and just about anywhere you like.
This is spine tinglingly brilliant with an ace video and cowbells to compliment it.

MySpace
Website

Monkey Swallows The Universe - Matter Honey

Cue, Suburbans Kids With Biblical Names, Boards of Canada Etc

2007-08-30T21:57:14Z

Motoro Faam Reviewed ...(Boards of Canada, World's End Girlfriend etc)

You can now view this on Blogger too!

Motoro Faam - …and Water Cycles (Preco)
Motoro Faam are three highly talented twenty five year old musicians from Japan mixing classical and contemporary music with irregular beats and sampling. This is probably the most genuinely moving thing I’ve heard since Johann Johannsson’s IBM 1401 – A Users Manual and perhaps the most original and thought provoking thing since I was first wowed with Godspeeds intelligent outlook on modern music. It’s like Lucky Dragons should they ever decide to soundtrack a ballet recital, pianos roll and electronic glitches flicker like decaying static.
The sound will satisfy those partial to the sounds of Max Richter and the like, however this is one if not two steps ahead of their game and is one of the most exciting discoveries I’ve had the pleasure to stumble across lately, timeless yet undeniably original. …and Precipitation weaves and delights with bubbles of waters and waves, sandstorms and gentle pianos beneath stormy rainfall, it’s unlikely you will find anything quite so delightful this year.

Motoro Faam – …and Surface Runoff MP3

Motoro Faam – …and Condensation MP3

Motoro Faam – … and Evaporation MP3

Website

Preco Records

Myspace

Normans Records - We have another great Motoro Faam CD on the Preco label from Japan called 'And Water Cycles'. This is pretty lush sounding stuff. Gorgeous electronics and neo classical nubbins mixed together in a sexy love pot all ready to pour into your unsuspecting ears. There's a healthy dash of Ryuichi Sakamoto in there and maybe some more. It's quite experimental and there's an awful lot going on. The sound is very dense and full, but together it makes a really beautiful listen, what with all the lovely classical-ness being chucked into the electronic mix. Mingus thinks it sounds a bit like Takagi Masakatsu....highly recommended anyway!

Boards of Canada

Long term readers will need no introduction to the fact that i absolutley adore Boards of Canada, I stumbled over these videos on youtube, the excellent video for ROYGBIV, the song that turned me on to them (thanks to an NME compilation!!) and then a rather crazy but suprisingly good Audio/Video mashup/blend of David Hasselhoff's cover of "Blue Bayou" mixed with Boards of Canada's "An Eagle In Your Mind"...nice!!

And a couple of other videos i saw that summarise some of what i'm getting more and more into at the moment...beautiful stuff

at the close of every day - Hemelsblauw

World's End Girlfriend - We Are The Massacre

Reviewed

Cue – Wedding Song (Thirty Ghosts)

I only recently discovered quite how much decent post rock there was out there, everyone is familiar with the Godspeed’s the Explosions in the Sky, The 65 Days of Static, the Dirty Three’s and although I had long been ignorant perhaps Mono were not so deep in the underground as I imagined. Thanks to Jordan Voldz Silent Ballet and particularly their top 50 Instrumental albums of each year since 2005 I’ve unearthed a number of great bands not least the Ascent of Everest, Laura, The Pirate Ship Quintet and Souvenirs Young America, still what I’ve found is that all too many whilst undoubtedly being excellent have often followed the straight forward formula that Explosions in the Sky do so well. As I say, it’s not that its bad, it just lacks depth, much like with a “pop” band I get bored of seeing guitar, bass and drums, at the very least bring in a keyboard, so it is with post rock that the piano and violin can add that extra depth that allows the band to take on a new level, to dig deeper and express a dictionary full of new and unknown feelings. It’s refreshing to hear a band like Texas, Austin’s Cue, that are described rather nicely on last.fm as a four-piece progressive instrumental/chamber noise rock band. Although one of the things that draws me to post rock is the slightly doomy outlook most bands have, the darkness and apocalyptic direction most take, its again refreshing to hear such an upbeat instrumental band.
It comes as no surprise to discover that guitarist Colin Swietek is an occasional member of Graveface Records outfit the Octopus Project (perhaps best known for their collaboration with the also fantastic Black Moth Super Rainbow. Wedding Song for Living Things and Dead Things, YROKROLSUKKDN2002, Can You See My Skeleton? And Fleur de Lis stand out, though as whole this is a great upbeat album that could quite welcomely be my wedding song.

Cue - Forests of Pencil Pierced Children - MP3

Cue - Fleur De Lis - MP3

Myspace

Thirty Ghosts Records

Suburban Kids With Biblical Names - #3 (Labrador)

I was first drawn to the Surbaban Kids by their excellent name, I don’t know how many times I have been disappointed with this theory yet this time I was far from disappointed, their first EP bragging the instantly classic Rent a Wreck and Trumpets & Violins. This was followed with #2 boasting the instantly loveable Funeral Face as lead song and now #3 a classic collection of songs sung in the style of Jonathan Richman and generally accompanied with handclaps, drum machines, whistles, and ba-ba-ba’s, unsurprisingly as they to quote ”want turn all the dance floors into a burnings inferno of Ba-ba-ba”
The majority of the album is excellent but really peaks at track 9 with the trio, S_____y Weekend (take those silly shoes off and go back to summer camp/ and don’t ever come back/ you look like you live in a tent…), Rent a Wreck and Seems to be on my Mind (love seems to be on my mind/ seems to be all the time/ oh what a lovely way to spend your life/ not needing anything…I’m a young boy with a lot of things on my mind) which’ll all have you singing along before you finished hearing them for the first time. Suburban Kids With Biblical Names, not just kids with great names after all.

Suburban Kids With Biblical Names - Funeral Face MP3

Suburban Kids With Biblical Names - Rent a Wreck MP3

Myspace

Labrador Records

Vic Chesnutt & Amandine Reviewed

2007-08-29T16:59:40Z

Vic Chesnutt – North Star Deserter (Constellation)

A quite exquisite release from the ever reliable Constellation label, featuring a host of guests namely all seven members of Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band, along with Guy Picciotto (Fugazi), Chad Jones & Nadia Moss (Frankie Sparo), Eric Craven & Genevieve Heistek (Hangedup), Bruce Cawdron (Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Esmerine) and T. Griffin (The Quavers) and quite frankly you can hear their influence, particularly A Silver Mt Zion on tracks such as the epic Everything I Say and You Are Never Alone, both building up storms of sound, dark and yet hopeful, epic and yet easy on the ears along with the near full on post rock assault of Debriefing.

Vic is perhaps sadly better known for the fact that he is a paraplegic rather than for his great song writing talents, hopefully this album will make a difference. In addition to the earlier comparison fans of Lambchop, Will Oldham and Smog will not be let down by what’s on offer hear, the lovely slow and comparatively short Wallace Stevens for example, Splendid too, very much alt. country and undeniably familiar in sound yet not afraid to venture of into more experimental waters, kicking in again after seven minutes with a lovely Silver Mt Zion-esque vocal refrain. An album that will no doubt feature highly come the end of year polls.

http://www.cstrecords.com/cst046.html

MySpace

www.vicchesnutt.com/

Amandine – Solace in Sore Hands (FatCat)

Quite lovely album from Swedes Amandine, a lovelorn collection of songs falling mainly into the alt. country bracket but with enough pop sensibilities to appeal to a much wider audience. Silver Bells is a delicate pop song song of desperation and strong feelings that relationships can bring to the fore “honey, distance brings us closer/ and honey hardship makes us strong” and carries a hint of Concretes style horns that melt themselves into your brain.

No doubt this will appeal to those who have in recent years fallen for the likes of Sufjan Stevens and The Broken Family Band. Go let yourself be woo-ed by the gorgeous Americana on offer here from the opening Faintest of Sparks to the gorgeous closer, all six minutes sixteen seconds of New Morning.

Amandine – Secrets MP3

Corwin Trails & Ascalaphe Reviewed

2007-08-28T20:17:29Z

Corwin Trails - Corwin Trails (Archaic Horizon)

Stunning little EP from the kind people at Archaic Horizon, as with most of their releases this is ever so slightly indebted to the Boards of Canada, though as I have previously said that isn't often a bad thing. If like me you love tracks such as Dandelion, the simple psychadelic kaleidoscopes of electronica graced with clever samples, children’s stories and philosophy lectures then this will more than satisfy your appetite for more. Those familiar with the work of French Teen Idol will be likewise delighted. Each track is a childlike wonder, so much so that its hard to decide between Oasis is Myth and Icicle as to which is the better, childlike innocence matched with curious electronical experimentation.

Corwin Trails LP (zip file)

Corwin Trails - Oasis is Myth MP3

http://www.myspace.com/corwintrails
http://www.myspace.com/archaichorizon

Ascalaphe – The Hollander Café EP (Earstroke)

Another discovery of electronic mischief, treading similar paths to The Books, though on a rainier and therefore muddier day are Acalaphe, the brainchild of Fred Debief whose work has previously appeared on the critically acclaimed Skam label. Abstract and strange its bound to have its doubters but what we have here are glorious collages of samples, field noises, cat’s miaows and electronic mayhem, though slow and organised mayhem if such a thing exists. Well worth a try.

Ascalphe – The Hollander Café EP ZIP

Ascalaphe – Alter Ego MP3

Ascalaphe – Cat Time

http://www.myspace.com/ascalaphe

www.earstroke.com/

The Twilight Sad, Whitenoisesound vs. .redshifts, Airborne Toxic Event, All Angels Gone, M.I.A.

2007-08-25T13:53:43Z

Having some problems with the formatting today, if this isn't displaying properly, please view at http://blog.myspace.com/i39dratherbefatthanbeconfusedfanzine

The Twilight Sad - Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters (FatCat)

Perhaps out of all of FatCat’s recent releases this is the one that should have hit me instantly, what with the Ladybird style cover, the post rock leaning and the long song titles, yet I struggled for a while but with continued listens I’ve learnt to fall for these Scottish boys, an accent to add to the Proclaimers and Ballboy, Scottish and proud of it. Each song dripping in resonance and walls of sound, the kind that Oasis thought they had achieved yet they are made to look little more than pebbles in comparison never more so than on the excellent Talking With Fireworks / Here, It Never Snowed, an explosion of guitars reminiscent of Rose Kemps Violence and Mogwai back when they weren’t afraid to do the predictable quiet loud quiet loud, lovely triumphant marching drums that most street bands would be proud of. And She Would Darken the Memory conveys the tiresome part of relationships “I’ve putten up with your constant whine” at the top of his voice and from the bottom of his heart in such a manner that will easily win over Arcade Fire fans. Noise, melody and songs sung from the heart, I don’t know why it took me so long, I really don’t.
www.myspace.com/thetwilightsad
www.fat-cat.co.uk/
www.myspace.com/fatcatrecords

Whitenoisesound vs. .redshifts – Single Series Six (Burning Emptiness)

Another challenging listen from the picturesque Burning Emptiness label, Whitesnoissound are a seven piece that at least on this recording (their myspace would reveal a more guitar driven sound) are ambient and for the most part of Blood Reprise slight unnerving and disturbing, although it does eventually morph into an Asa Chang stylesleep inducing psychedelic dream piece. You wouldn’t guess from the type of music made that there are seven of them! I thought ambientronica was for onemanbands, geeky laptop users with a knack for finding a tune from a decay pile of electrical overload. .redshifts it would appear is a onemanband and indeed Adam W. Flynn has a knack for finding a tune amongst electrical overload, Distant is ten minutes of resonant joy, a little bit Loscil biut not afraid to bring in inappropriate drums just when you least expect them, as perfectly wrong as the scenes from Donnie Darko where he is being a teen arsonist and his sister is taking part in the dance competition all set to slow moving music, capturing the moment and extending it till your ears ring a wonderful tone.
http://www.myspace.com/whitenoisesound
http://tinrp.free.fr/

Airborne Toxic Event - Does This Mean You're Moving On (Square)
As free time and employment get in my way I have less and less time to spend sifting through 7" singles in record stores the way I used to on the empty Monday afternoons of my youth and as such my musical tastes have moved away from those lovely homemade indie pop treats that i used to so delight at receiving and purchasing, here I’m reminded of what I’m missing out on. A three track seven inch single full of Gedge like delights, not least the title track, three and a half minutes of prime pop ala Cinerama, lyrically packed and catchy as can be. One for the indie disco that much is sure.
http://www.theairbornetoxicevent.com/

I can’t stop listening to…Stephen H, by All Angels Gone, the slowly wondering pianos that announce recent sorrow, a death, a murder, unexpected and spontaneous, the body still lying on the floor, a vase smashed into a thousand pieces and the rain relentlessly crashing down against the window, a solitary tear running down her face…by 2 min 38 there is hope on the horizon, new beginnings and fond memories, this is beautiful music that you will want to listen to again and again despite in melancholy feel. Like Esmerine had they been a bit more hospitable, Eluvium in a less dreamy mood, Dirty Three if only Warren Ellis would stop trying to be such a frontman.

Stephen H. mp3
http://www.last.fm/music/All+Angels+Gone

I can't stop listening to...Sunshowers by M.I.A., I must say I was slightly surprised/ disappointed to see M.I.A. on the front of this month’s Plan B magazine, I had them down as more underground than that, I could be wrong but I’m of the assumption that M.I.A. has a certain amount of mainstream critical acclaim under her belt. I'm self proclaimed awkward when it comes to music, for the reason though that the "big" bands, the bands that grace the cover of the NME, Q etc have enough listeners already when no doubt as I prove to myself everyday there’s a million and one great bands to discover who get nowhere near the coverage they should. I'm pleasantly proved wrong in the case of M.I.A. she is a legend, and Sunshowers is the most instantly lovable song you can imagine, this is a song for the good times, a song that comes at a time when I’m deeply wrapped up in post rock that gets me in the mood to go out, go surprise yourself, you won't be disappointed..."He had colgate on his teeth/ And Reebok classics on his feet" how can you not love that?
www.myspace.com/mia

Joanna Newsom, A Silver Mt Zion, Quasi Reviewed

2007-08-08T16:58:33Z

Joanna Newsom – Joanna Newsom and the Ys Street Band Ep (Drag City)
I don’t suppose you need me to tell you that Miss Joanna Newsom is some kind of genius. What you might need me to tell you is that Y’s is, it would seem just a taster of what she has to offer. Here on the ridiculously expensive but almost justifiable (if only due to the quality of music on offer here) 3 track Y’s Street Band EP we see a taster of the first new material since the aforementioned Y’s if only in the form of one new song and two reworkings.

New track Colleen as showcased at ATP is as beautiful and as remarkable as remembered. I remember on the night I had mixed expectations of something new, so often have a band I loved been picked up by the media and then delivered something ridiculously bad or at least lacking the ingenuity of their early work. Joanna it would seem has no such problem for now, Colleen is outstanding, a true work of genius, an instant classic, timeless and charming, a song that puts what was possibly the most outstanding opening track to an album in sometime, Emily from Y’s, into the background, or at least out of the limelight. If anyone had a problem with her voice as on the Milk Eyed Mender then here is a more palatable, less shrill tone to sweep up those curious outsiders, those who take that little extra convincing, those who think more than two colours in an outfit is risky, how can you fail to love Colleen?

Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie from the Milk Eyed Mender & Cosmia from Y’s are reworked in a more intimate setting, the latter given a lush new feel, this is a portable Cosmia, Cosmia as played by Joanna and her friends in a room full of friends. Intimate and inventive and more charming for it.

If expectations weren’t high enough already for any possible follow up to the landmark Y’s then they have just been raised considerably with this release.
www.joannanewsom.co.uk/
www.dragcity.com/bands/newsom.html

I can’t stop listening to…God Bless Our Dead Marines by A Silver Mt. Zion…eleven minutes of near perfection, the slow and steady double bass that booms like a death march, a sign of defiance to the impending destruction, the clouds that get blacker and blacker, the wind picking up forming remarkable scenes in the skies, clouds twisting, menacing and full of anger, still we continue with our heads held high as others around quake with fear and terror, holding on for their very lives. We though are not afraid, tired of the threats, the lies, the injustices and the false promises, we will continue to walk straight toward the danger area, people getting sucked up as the rain thrashes down until finally we are inevitably inseparable and as helpless as all those surrounding us…is this the end?

When the piano comes in at 8.05 it hits you that no matter what anyone does, the destruction around you, the wreckage and the disarray, the world is still beautiful and if we pull together, hold hands and sing at the top of our voices from the bottom of our hearts we may perhaps be able to do something, to at least distract ourselves from the terrors that we cannot avoid…just maybe…few songs portray fear, desperation and resolute, unbendable and unyielding faith in something greater, something better, truly a thing of beauty.

www.tra-la-la-band.com/
www.cstrecords.com/bands_silvermtzion.html
download the track here http://www.southern.com/southern/band/ASILV/CST33_audio.php

I can’t stop listening to…It’s Raining by Quasi…whilst each day since I purchased a car up until last week has been marred with rainfall, often torrential, each day has likewise been graced by the uplifting and enriching sound of Quasi’s It’s Raining from the Domino album Sword of God, a classic example of their optimistic take on pop music, sadly the ones they have influenced are probably better known, the likes of the Research in particular, the distorted fuzzy keyboards and soaring duel vocals of the divorced Sam Coombes and Sleater Kinny’s Janet Weiss are more than enough to drag you out of any rain sodden depression you may have been on a slippery slope toward.
www.myspace.com/theequasi
www.theequasi.com/

A Sunny Day In Glasgow, Welcome, David Karsten Daniels Reviewed

2007-08-06T20:07:24Z

A Sunny Day in Glasgow – Scribble Mural Journal (Notenuf)

I once wrote a song when I was younger called A Sunny Day In Scotland, but that’s irrelevant, all you need to know is that A Sunny Day in Glasgow are a rather wonderful recent discovery of mine. Songs that merge into one pool of sticky mess, as tasty as Rocky Road is ugly and as beautiful as the rainbows stained petrol puddles that reveal themselves as the sun rises following the rain.

Each song is a mosaic of sounds, a mixing desk nightmare to some, to me a dreamy skyline. The vocals merge into the sound to the point that the human voice becomes an instrument itself somehow expressing more than is possible when we actually speak fully formed words. This one’s for the dreamers, for those who can’t express how they feel in words, for those who wonder when they speak if to the majority of people it appears only as a jumble of sounds, us mumblers and those incapable of shouting, us who insecurely think we’re being ignored when really we really should speak that little bit louder.

The sound takes in a number of influences whisked together and dished out in one delicious offering, from A Mundane Phonecall to Jack Parsons Clinic like sound to The Fields tripped electronica, embracing any number of girl pop indie bands, the much missed Empress, Tompaulin and a healthy garnish of all things ethereal…I like A Sunny Day in Glasgow a lot!
www.asunnydayinglasgow.com/
www.myspace.com/sunnydayinglasgow
www.myspace.com/notenufrecords

Welcome - Sirs (FatCat)

Much like label mates Blood on the Wall Welcome put together a lovely racket of surprisingly melodic noise, mixing the spiky, wiry and intuitive guitar riffs with the gravel throated Kurt-esque vocals of Pete Brand or Jo Claxton’s honey like vocals on what has become my favourite song (according to last.fm) Bunky, a rival if there ever was one to Blood on the Walls I’d Like To Take You Out. Elsewhere Deerhoof comparisons are fairly justified but Welcome are a more universal taste, where many people struggle with Satomi Matsuzaki’s vocals, there is nothing to dislike about the often twinned vocals on offer here, mixing anger with pop melodies in way that McClusky do so well. Another great release from the ever reliable FatCat label.
www.myspace.com/yrwelcome
www.myspace.com/fatcatrecords
www.fat-cat.co.uk/

David Karsten Daniels – Sharp Teeth (FatCat)

Don’t let the cover put you off, instead just sit back and fall in love with a sounds, simple and pure, envy at the way Mr Karsten Daniels can make such a beautiful song like American Pastime sound so effortlessly beautiful, modest even, no doubt he plays all the instruments too yet his sound is so sincere and naturally beautiful. The kind of sound you’d associate with such geniuses as Elliot Smith, Sufjan Stevens and on Minnows, The Besnard Lakes. Not that he mimics them, rather that his sound is pure and inspiring, clean and unadulterated, made in the mountains where the city hasn’t had chance to pollute and corrupt the naivety that exists within the simple communities that reside there, a sound that rises and falls with the sun, like the black and whiteness of Pleasantville before it was drowned and ruined in colour. Beautiful and not a million miles away from the sound that Jon Brion so frequently achieves on his exceptional film scores…don’t let the cover put you off.
www.myspace.com/davidkarstendaniels
www.myspace.com/fatcatrecords
www.fat-cat.co.uk/

Plastic Operator/ Me & You & Everyone We Know/ Renu Reviewed

2007-08-01T21:17:30Z

Plastic Operator – Different Places (Fine Day)

I remember some time back on a compilation a good friend did for me a track that stood out amongst the others, a song that showed a move with the times and mankind’s infinite ability to transform even the most mundane happenings and objects into a metaphor for feelings of the romantic kind, the endless obsession of falling in love, of being loved and of telling the one you love just how much you love them but also mankind’s hopelessness in being able to communicate those feelings without disguising in such guises as previously mentioned. Fifty years ago this would not be possible, it would be laughable but now in all its glory Plastic Operators Folder is a touching upbeat love song to make your heart glow, “that’s why I copy and paste into your folder with your name/ it would be more than I can take/ if I just told you what I feel/ that’s why I just copy and paste into your folder, with your name.” Who can deny being part of this, hiding behind technology, treading water in text messages and emails, slowly dropping hints before finally plucking up the courage to bear all, only to hold back, scared of handing over those feelings, scared of being hurt…again?

And so here Plastic Operator delivers a full length album of electronic genius replete with gems (Parasols, Special Case, Peppermint & Couch especially) similar to the aforementioned folder, each one a shimmering synth pop treat, like Figurine if only they were more consistent, like Freezepop if they weren’t so cartoonish and Fog & Ocean had they been more focused & a more grown up Lo Fi Fnk.

Good things come to those who wait, and so if you’re after a summer of synth pop perfection then look no further than Plastic Operator, songs that you’ll sing along to, dance to and no doubt relate to.
www.myspace.com/plasticoperator
www.myspace.com/finedayrecords
www.last.fm/music/Plastic+Operator

Me & You & Everyone We Know – Michael Andrews / Various Original Soundtrack (V2)

Its been some time since I watched a film, maybe a bit of Jurassic Park over the bank holiday but a whole film, I’m not sure perhaps Vodka Lemon several months ago, a film that didn’t impress me and left me wanting so much more, my attention span seemingly can’t cope with two hours of intake, I imagine if I were to think hard enough the only other films I’ve watched with the exception of Pirates of the Caribbean 3 (which I fell asleep to at the cinema) are Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind and Donnie Darko, two films that I adore and could watch over and over again. Tonight is Monday and I’m bored stupid, well I’m ill in fact and can’t bring myself to read, study or even listen to music and then arrives the idea of watching a film. I bought Me & You & Everyone We Know some time back, you no doubt understand the power of Fopp, the impossibility of entering but not purchasing, its one reason to be grateful for its demise.
It’s a strange film that covers some fairly risqué subjects but on the whole is the most inspiring thing I’ve seen in some time, the camera angles, the character studies, the fragile story line that is less important than the dreamy music that serenades each scene, all fuzzy and cotton soft, moulding itself to the shape of your ears, politely imposing itself in your sub consciousness, instantly throwing you into a dream like moment, the ability to make you feel like you relate to the everyday characters held within the stories and yet they are not everyday characters, these are the dreamers, these are hippy death cult members, these are the people that fascinate me, the little girl who collects consumer goods and hides them in a hope chest, the obsessive lady who misreads scenarios and lets herself get hurt without reason, the one who sees the beauty and the mystery in other peoples photographs, who makes stories to go with the film stills. This is the most beautiful soundtrack I’ve heard in a long while, perhaps even better that Jon Brion’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and his superior again Punch Drunk Love. An album to dream away sunny days to.
www.myspace.com/elginpark
www.myspace.com/meandyouandeveryoneweknow
www.myspace.com/mirandajuly

Renu – Into the Skyland

The critical reviewer will immediately point out to you that Into the Skyland is in all but name a Boards of Canada album and they wouldn’t be wrong. Renu creates a sound that is so close to that of the aforementioned Boards that you wonder if perhaps he himself knows just how similar it is, I say this only because I discovered a lot of my musical heroes after I’d made music similar to theirs but I guess Boards of Canada are slightly more well know than Henrys Dress and a song called 1985 that sounds uncannily like Boards of Canada’s trademark woozy, kaleidoscopic electronica who’s Geogaddi featured a song entitled 1969.

But after all this I cannot help but love Into The Skyland, I never really got into The Campfire Headphase and Geogaddi was one of the best discoveries my record collection ever stumbled across hence if you loved that then you will no doubt love Renu.
www.myspace.com/renumusic

Belle & Sebastian No Age The Pocketbooks The Yellow Moon Band Serafina Steer Mike in Mono Reviewed

2007-07-01T20:21:42Z

The Yellow Moon Band – Entangled

Mike in Mono – Euro Eccentric

Serafina Steer – Peach Heart (all Static Caravan)

I love Static Caravan right down to the little things they do, those special extras they make me miss the world of seven inch singles I used to be so entangled within, the rainbow design on the oversized centre of the vinyl that makes me go search out the thingy you put in the middle, whatever its called, the free sticker, the horses that run through the rainbow on the cover of The Yellow Moon Bands Entangled, in itself not the strongest release thus far by the excellent label but still worth a few minutes of your time to take in the twin riffing and picture in your mind how this would look live, poodle perms and leather trousers perhaps??...Mike in Mono is a different kettle of fish completely, pumping out 1980’s electro like Printed Circuit used to but mixing it with Kraftwerk-ian vocals all echoey and recollecting images of the numerous other German bands from the time with long fringes and no shortage of inanimate objects on stage to bash with whatever happened to be in their hands at the time. B-side Binary is more playful still, yet ultimately follows the same electro kraut path…there are a number of names that will consistently turn up when almost any female singer songwriter with even the tiniest bit of a quirky voice appears, its too simple really but perhaps Serafina Steer deserves to be mentioned alongside the Joanna’s, the Hanne Hukkelberg’s, The Holly Throsby’s. Peach Heart is a lovely tune, staccato, unusual and as unexpected as the dragonfly that rides a bike on the sleeve of this record, medieval sounds using modern technology, music box twinkles that recall the wonderful Textile Ranch, skipping needles on overplayed records. Mano e Mano is equally as mesmerising, full of weird instruments and gentle sentiments.

www.staticcaravan.org
mikeinmono1@hotmail.co.uk

www.myspace.com/theyellowmoonband
www.myspace.com/monoinmike
www.myspace.com/drumstreetsefa

The Pocketbooks – Cross The Line

Wow! This is the kind of indiepop gem I used to thrive on, fresh and happy and recorded for a fiver in someone’s garage, done for the fun of it and all the better for it. Its like Kicker had they had better singers, the Aislers Set if they weren’t tinged with melancholy and so obsessed with distorted guitars and broken hearts. Young people taking advantage of the simple things “I’d swap some sleep for a fixed emotion/ a g&t and some sun tan lotion/ a bag of chips in a seaside coast town/ an empty seat on the underground/ a basement club where there’s space for dancing/ a conversation that’s life enhancing/ a suddentwist that I’m not expecting/ a novelette with a cryptic ending” etc…flip it over and it gets better still, Every Good Time We Ever Had is one that escaped from Belle & Sebastian, the kind of song that should have graced The Boy… instead of Ease Your Feet Into The Sea or Sleep The Clock Round, the kind of song Aberfeldy always wanted to write, I love the Pocketbooks and so should you.

www.atomicbeatrecords.co.uk
www.pocketbooks.org.uk

www.myspace.com/pocketbooks

No Age – Weirdo Rippers (Fatcat)

A compilation of the highlights of the first five releases from LA duo No Age that were interestingly simultaneously released in the same day by five different underground indie labels (UTR, Deleted Art, Teardrops, Youth Attack & PPM) available on CD for the first time. They are a funny bunch, choosing to mix and match, cut and paste and generally make up their own rules. Opening track Every Artist Needs A Tragedy finally emerges into song after 3 minutes if interference and noise, like a tuner finally coming into an area of reception, My Life’s Alright With You & Dead Plane follow the same formula with the former coming in and out like switching between programmes. When they do finally explode into song, especially on Boy Void, perhaps the most straightforward, obvious and my favourite they plough a similar furrow to noise pop experts such as Numbers and Erase Errata yet with less squeal and maybe a touch of Pavement at their most raucous or at times Elfpower such as in Everybody’s Down and the lo-fi My Life’s Alright Without You. On semi-sorted there’s hints a Black Dice, on Sun Spots, Bracken like collages.

No Age are also heavily into the LA art scene and seriously worthy of your attention.

www.fat-cat.co.uk
www.myspace.com/nonoage
www.myspace.com/fatcatrecords

Belle and Sebastian – The Life Pursuit (Rough Trade)

I went and did it, I returned to an old love, I dug out the photos, relived the memories, and now I find myself ten steps back, instead of moving on, instead of dealing with the situation I now find myself back where I started, helplessly & hopelessly in love.

Being the awkward type I am, I only ever half listened to The Life Pursuit as the tendency can be with a downloaded album, no artwork, no song titles, somehow it cheapens the experience (yet its enabled me to hear hundreds of albums I otherwise wouldn’t have) and so the album slipped out of my pile of recently listened to albums, judged to be a betrayal, one step too far towards out and out commercialism…and then for some reason I went out and bought it in all its glory the other day, all green versus monochrome and stuffed full of letters from fans that one day I will sit down and read and guess what? I love it. Yeah its not If You’re Feeling Sinister but then why would we need a repeat album, instead its shiny and poppy and perhaps a little too mainstream for the average fan or should I say the “true fan” though as has been pointed out previously, if you were a “true fan” you would love everything they did, would you not? There’s swearing for swearing sake for sure but overall we have thirteen glorious pop songs that I’d much rather listen to than anything else that charts, perhaps White Collar Boy and The Blues are Still Blue are a little bit too TREX but still they are classic feel good songs in their own rights and who could deny that Funny Little Frog is little less than perfect, snappy major 7^th chords, trumpets “Honey loving you is the greatest thing/ I get to be myself and I get to sing” and a snappy chorus to boot, one to sing along to on sweaty dancefloors as you strut your latest indie pop moves. “I am living my life out as a poet/ I am the jester in the ancient court and you are the funny little frog in my throw-it” We Are The Sleepyheads littered with bah-dah-bas can do nothing less than bring a smile to your face and improve any day no matter how bad it is. To Be Myself Completely perhaps Stevie Jacksons finest moment yet. all motown strums and sixties harmonies, since when has any chart band done anything so rewarding as this? For The Price of a Cup of Tea another upbeat almost gospel like singalng.
Yes Belle and Sebastian have changed but people do, sometimes its better and more rewarding to just get on with it instead of wondering what it could have been like.
www.belleandsebastian.co.uk/