fatandconfused

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

Cocorosie – The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn (Touch & Go)

To say that Cocorosie are slightly weird would be more than a slight understatement, they are a personification of the whole new weird folk movement yet as many of the bands and individuals that find themselves pigeonholed into the genre they have occasionally suffered from over hype, leaving you a little bit disappointed when their albums aren’t quite as spectacular as originally made out, with new album The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn they have at least to some extent delivered a work of wonder, something also truly unique. I will however state that of the 12 tracks on offer 5 are fantastic and would’ve made an exceptional EP, yet that’s not to take away from the “weaker tracks” so to speak which have their place just don’t quite stand up to the awesome folk hop of Rainbowarriors, Promise, Werewolf and Animals or the bizarre, best thing since Prozac of Japan, a song sure to make you smile if only momentarily, mixing high pitched cheeky rhymes with operatic breaks, really quite lovely. The four previously mentioned songs catch a certain sound that is so refreshing and clean amongst a genre that so often lets itself down with its determination to make bad language and violence cool, the hip hop beats are accompanied by toy instruments and half spoken lyrics covering allsorts of subjects and feelings, here we have something new and unique, something to hype over yet I hope they stay amongst those in the know, that they won’t start thinking they are Jesus just like Devendra, letting the hippy thing go a bit too much to his head, going over indulgent spoiling the illusion just like Herman Dune, lets hope.
www.myspace.com/cocorosie
www.touchandgorecords.com

A Hawk & A Hacksaw - And The Hun Hangar Ensemble (The Leaf Label)

Its hard to explain and even harder to understand how much I struggled with A Hawk and A Hacksaw, I tried so hard to fall in love with them & The Way The Wind Blows album, the one that so many people raved about, the one that was included in so many end of year polls, and rather highly too, yet it never really struck the chord, just like Beirut whatever everyone else was seeing was passing me by, I was probably staring right at it but couldn’t see for looking. So its comes as quite a surprise that the follow up that has scarcely been mentioned, I’ve yet to see any hype on the forums from the very same people that championed The Way The Wind Blows, has had such an instant appeal to me. Each track warm and inviting like an evening round a fire snowed in in a Hungarian log cabin, accordions and all sorts of weird instruments at the ready, taking in the Amelie soundtrack, the most mariachi parts of Calexico along the way and much beer from silver tankards, overflowing as they clash together in pure ecstasy. Let this soundtrack your next Hungarian disco.
www.myspace.com/ahawkandahacksaw
www.myspace.com/hunhangarensemble
www.myspace.com/theleaflabel