fatandconfused

Oh how I love Scout Niblett… I’ve just got my hands on her new albums “This Fool Can Die Now” due for release by Too Pure on October 9^th…there’s something wonderful about Scout, her voice, so powerful and emotive, especially on Your Last Chariot, like she’s been up all night crying and then just picked the mic up and poured all her deepest sorrows into song.

The opening brace of songs are duets, the first Do You Wanna Be Buried with My People, I know not who this is with, the second is instantly recognisable as Will Oldham, a lush and powerful six minutes of love and emotion aptly entitled Kiss. The duets tend to show a newer more mature and produced sound to Scout Nibletts already high standards, the kind of touch needed to put her up in the big league (she has always been there, if not above in my mind) the push that will see her recognised clearly amongst the Cat Powers (of whom she is unarguably far superior, if not to the eyes of the mass media) the Will Oldhams, the Bill Callahans and the Joanna Newsoms. However her stripped down sound I was first attracted to (some songs on here feature violins and full band) is still present on a number of tracks that stand out to me, the ferocious Nevada and Let Thine Heart Be Warned.

I’m only half way through but already I know that This Fool Can Die Now is destined to be an album I cherish for some time…oh, how I love Scout Niblett.

MySpace
Website
Too Pure

Scout Niblett - Kiss MP3

Loscil – Plume (Kranky)

Loscil – States (One Net Label)

I would never have understood this music five years ago but now I feel instantly at ease with the swells and drones that make up the music of Loscil, namely Scott Morgan who for a living makes sound effects for computer games. The music is slow and dreamy, the kind of music you imagine is fed into the womb, the comforting caring sounds of a loving mother, the heart taking its first beat and the embryo slowly developing into a little human in its own right, this is the music of miracles, mesmerising and transfixing, music to send you off into dreams and restful sleep. 

Website
MySpace
Kranky
One Net Label

Loscil - Sous Marin MP3
Loscil - Stases Full Album ZIP

Hylozoists - La Fin Du Monde (boompa)

The music of Hylozoists is sweeping and endearing, it is Francophilic in sound, carrying a certain Parisian romance in its sweeping upbeat orchestral arrangements. 

Man who was builds up into a wall of hope and fantasy conjuring images of Tim Burton-esque sets, mysterious and magical, where limits have no place, anything is possible and all is within your reach, unicorns roam freely and fairies fly like butterflies unafraid of being seen. At times their cinematic sound strays into areas covered by the wonderful Espers yet not quite so folk-sy. Now and then there are hints of About a Boy, but I’ll let you decide if that’s good or bad.

Much like Cue it’s refreshing to hear a less bleak and more upbeat sound in an instrumental band, triumphant and joyous, let these well arranged orchestrations soundtrack whichever occasion you choose. 

MySpace
Website
Boompa

Hylozoists - Strait is the Gate MP3

Many apologies for the long absence, as ever i've been filling my ears with much great music and have struggled to know where to start where it comes to reviews. I also keep forgetting to mentiion that the kid people at FatCat have let us put some songs on our MYSPACE for your listening pleaseure so please take advantage. As well if anyone is interested i have uploaded for free download our album and ep of a few years back at the following links
Times are Bad for Dreamers
Dressed in Yellow

Mice Parade – Mice Parade (FatCat)

Mice Parade return with their fifth and self titled album picking up much where they left off on the wonderful Bem Vida Vontade an album that accompanied me in to world of dreams on many an occasion during 2005 and again that element is there, NOT to say that in any way that Mice Parade are boring or that their approach is the musical equivalent of paint drying, instead that their music is so pure and organic, melodies weaved with needles, like wicker baskets on gingham tablecloths, both traditional and timeless with the ability to take you to just about any place you wish, just close your eyes and let the music take you.

The heavily delayed and distorted guitars are there as ever, accompanied by intelligent lines and hand claps executed quite beautifully 42 seconds into The Last Ten Homes which totally breaks down and rebuilds in little less than 30 seconds, and is all the better for the renovation.

Perhaps the tracks most likely to stand out are those featuring guest vocals. Tales of Las Negras sees a lovely duet develop between Adam Pierce and Stereolabs Laetitia Sadier but as ever the best track on most Mice Parade albums are those that feature Kristin Anna Valtysdottir of Múm, dare I say I believe she is better utilised within Mice Parade than her own band. The delicate Scandinavian Isobel-alike whisper of a vocal sung in Icelandic over gentle arpeggios and flamenco percussion rhythms is a real highlight and in itself absent-minded and majestic, Adams low vocals (at least in comparison) compliment each other so well, its like Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan in soft focus, gentle and delightful. But that’s not to take away from the other tracks, each one a textured nugget of a dream sequence bound to calm the nerves and help you temporarily forget the pressing issues of the day, a lovely album to simply sit back and lose your self to.
http://www.myspace.com/miceparade22
www.myspace.com/fatcatrecords
www.bubblecore.com/artists/mparade/

Stuffy/The Fuses – Angels Are Ace (Sour Puss)

Stuffy/The Fuses – Ahhh Song/Cardboard Song (Sour Puss)

I decided some time ago that I don’t really like Stuffy/The Fuses from the weird typesetting of their name to his voice and not to mention the artwork, again on the album Angels Are Ace its reliably horrible BUT WAIT as I give them another chance, admittedly this is when the double ASide Ahhh Song/Cardboard Song falls through my door that I think I should give them another chance, after all its only two songs and I like the cover on this, I like the way they’ve chosen two songs so lazily titled that they include the word song in the title, like they couldn’t be bothered to think up a real name and I’m immediately slapped in the face by the wonderful Ahhh Song, a lovely slab of P-O-P that has all the ingredients used to cook up the Ooberman classics that saw me turn 18, a blast of drums last hit so hard by The Deathray Davies on opening track of The Day of Ray, Is This On, “ah-ah-ah-ahaaaaaah-ah-ha-ah” she sings before those magic keyboards come in, cheap as chips and as classic as the solo from Belle and Sebastian’s Mayfly. Cardboard Song is equally as good and really should be on the album, all poptastic like they used to do it, finger melodies cheekily appearing here, there and everywhere.

And so out comes the album and the treats don’t stop, the press release says Fugazi and I guess at times like on the intense yet fantastic Spineless I can hear their influence mixed in with a healthy dose of pop appreciation, McClusky, Warm Jets, Echobelly, Elastica (Joe C (is an idiot)), Clearlake and Dalmatian Rex and the Eigontenes all spring to mind along with the aforementioned Ooberman, shades of the remains of the outer circles of Britpop and a book full of clever hooks bookmarked by two lovely instrumental pieces. Forget Angels Are Ace, Stuffy/The Fuses Are Ace!

www.myspace.com/stuffythefuses

www.stuffythefuses.net 
 
Catch them live here…

7th - Sonic, Norwich 01603 622533

8th - The New Adelphi Club, Hull 01482 348216

16th - Carpe Diem, Leeds 0113 243 6264

17th - 13th Note, Glasgow 0141 553 1638

19th - The Surgery, Stafford 01785 605605

20th - Head of Steam, Newcastle 0191 2304236

21st - Cert 18, York 01904 627679

27th - The Basement, Chelmsford

28th - Green Room, Welwyn Garden City 01707 372 700

29th - Café Saki, Manchester

30th - The Priors, Bury St Edmunds 01284 748941

1st - The Albert, Brighton 01273 730499

2nd - Half Moon, London

My Sad Captains – Bad Decisions (Fortuna Pop!)

Ah the summer, those sunny days, the smell of freshly cut grass and light evenings, drinking outside and generally feeling good about yourself. These days are few and far between but when they arrive you need nothing more than a song like Fortuna Pops new signing My Sad Captains Bad Decisions to turn up full blast and fling open your windows to announce their arrival to the world. Bababa’s galore from her as he tells of “I would like to see you confused/ see all your excuses used…Its all messed up so I start again/ but what’s the point when I never win/ and I’ve thought of a few /Bad Decisions that will bring some comfort to you”

BSide Here and Everywhere is equally as summery, reminiscent of those early Track and Field releases, bands like Tompaulin, Kicker, The Tyde, Camera Obscura and perhaps Aberfeldy, lovely duets to while away your summer away to.

http://www.mysadcaptains.co.uk/
www.myspace.com/mysadcaptains
www.myspace.com/fortunapoprecords
www.fortunapop.com

Fanfarlo – A Fire Escape (White Heat Records)

Starting off gargling notes of lovely electronic sounds last utilised so well by Grandaddy, Fanfarlos follow up to the excellent Talk Backwards in another sure fire

Winner full of little ideas all wrapped up into one summer-tastic tune that you’ll want to be putting on repeat over the next few months. The range of instruments on offer suggest similarities to Belle and Sebastian especially the trumpet solo but equally both songs here are so strong that simple comparisons would be unfair.

On the evidence available here and on the previous single it would be quite rational to imagine that Fanfarlo could really be quite dangerous given the funds and means, for now though this will more than suffice, certainly one to keep an eye on.

http://myspace.com/fanfarlo
http://www.myspace.com/whiteheatrecords

Scout Niblett – Just Do It/ Dinosaur Egg (Too Pure)

I love Scout Niblett and that is no unsupported rubbish, check here, there is something mysteriously original about her simple songs, some feature little more than her and her drums and that voice, again fading Miss Marshall into the insignificance of all the hype that surrounds her. I wonder what goes through her mind, what inspires her to write songs about dinosaur eggs (I wonder no longer, on further inspection the CD sleeve reveals that the lyrics are taken from David Shrigleys book of noodles released by Tomlab), how she makes so much noise, how she can turn the sparsest pickings into near on metal like riffage, still I don’t wonder too much cos that would take away the simple pleasure of listening, the unconsciously brainwashing nature of the songs, the times I’ve sat at work singing away to myself “we’re all-ha-all gonna die, were all gonna die” to looks of confusion and disgust.

Dinosaur Egg tells the tale of erm a Dinosuar Egg unsurprisingly that refuses to hatch and in a way so the song refuses to hatch, never reaching the heavy heights you perhaps imagine it would but at the same time sometime not getting what you want can make you stronger and in this instance Scout again in taking the least expected route succeeds in producing something new and refreshing, her vocals scaling new heights and beauty and delight.

However if for some reason you find yourself disappointed that Dinosaur Egg never quite reaches the climax of tracks like Hot to Death and Lullaby for Scout in 10 Years then you may well also be disappointed by Just Do It which teases and teases for six and half minutes before threatening to explode, instead settling for a minor blast of distortion and angular shapes. I can see that one or two may be disappointed but any sensible person would go and add this to their record collection as soon as possible or at very least promise to buy just one of her albums. I love scout.

www.toopure.com
www.myspace.com/scoutniblett
http://www.scoutniblett.com/

July