Album Review: Wye Oak - Civilian

Wye Oak: No longer plunging in at the deep end

Baltimore, Maryland duo Wye Oak’s first two records, 2007’s If Children and 2009’s The Knot, sounded like a band with the all the tools required to be master-sculptors or their art, but one lacking in the requisite experience – and often direction – to fashion something truly worthy. Although their enviable ear for a hook was plainly manifested, the songs’ attempts to subvert de rigueur ‘trends’ overcompensated. Mix introverted folk-sprawl with hootenanny freakouts? That’ll show ‘em! But it was too much, too often; thrilling on an artificial level, without having the artifice to craft something with lasting appeal beyond the live performances for which they were famed. However, their apprenticeship served and with new UK label City Slang affording them a shot at reinvention, Civilian succeeds by playing it straight.

This review was written for Notion magazine . Go here to read the rest (page 90 of the digital reader)

Album Review: Gruff Rhys - Hotel Shampoo

Ever wondered what the Super Furry Animals get up to on tour? The sex, the drugs? The indie rock ’n’ roll? Well, according to SFA frontman Gruff Rhys, the one boundary of decadence most often pushed is the pilfering of vast quantities of hotel toiletries. Such was the childlike enthusiasm and wonder with which Rhys approached professional touring after the band signed with Creation in 1996, he’s been collecting hotel shampoos as mementos ever since. But what to do with your haul when there’s only so much hair to wash? Of course! Build a miniature hotel out of them and then name your third solo album after it. He’s a peculiar fellow...

This article was written for TheLineOfBestFit. Go here to read the rest.

Album Review: Emily Barker and the Red Clay Halo - Almanac

Emily Barker is something of an enigma. The Australian born singer-songwriter has, since forming alt-folk outfit The Low Country back in 2002, racked up several remarkable musical milestones. She has enjoyed a critical kudos which has dutifully persisted from her earliest output through two outings with current foil the Red Clay Halo. She has toured with luminaries such as Jose Gonzalez. She also has an uncanny knack of picking up awards, with the handful of Aussie songwriting gongs she netted in 2006 now vying for pride of place in the trophy cabinet with the BAFTA and Royal Television Awards she won last year for providing the theme to hit BBC series Wallander (a reworking of her 2008 track ‘Nostalgia’). And yet, she returns this month as a virtual unknown outside a network of zealous folk-enthusiasts, and with a third Red Clay Halo album, Almanac – her first in 3 years – funded largely with donations thanks to an arrangement with the Pledge Music initiative...

This article was written for TheLineOfBestFit. Go here to read the rest.

Live Review: The Joy Formidable at Koko, Camden, 14 October 2010

Live review of The Joy Formidable headlining the NME Radar Tour at Koko in Camden on 14 October 2010 for Subba-Cultcha.com.

If the ever-expanding number of NME tours tells us one thing, it’s that the demand for seeing bands work their magic in the live arena has never been greater. We’re constantly told that it’s touring, not record sales, that is keeping all but the very highest echelons of the music industry afloat. And who better to cash in than the NME? Their flagship NME Awards tour has long been a bastion of saleable yet credible guitar music and even better value, whilst the NME Radar tour has, since its 2005 inception, proved a perfectly-pitched arbiter of ‘who’s next’ for the indie masses. One need only look at the previous headliners such as La Roux (2009), Crystal Castles (2008) and Maximo Park (2005) to know that get it right more often than not. Now even the Radar tour has a sister-site to boost even lesser known acts, the so-called ‘Autumn Radar Tour’.

However, despite the tour’s track record, there’s a murmur of suspicion amongst tonight’s assembled throng that this year it might not come off for headliners The Joy Formidable. Anyone who has seen the band in pokier surroundings – such as an incendiary show at the Camden Barfly last December – will know that despite their simple guitar-bass-drums ensemble, the trio have always been able to hold their own (and then some) in the noise stakes. But that was in 300 person venues. The cauldron-like Koko, with its rising stories and deep, dingy pit of a central dancefloor could be a much more taxing engagement.

The doubters needn’t have worried, as the Welsh pop-gazers fill every inch of Koko’s cavernous expanse of stairwells and stalls with crescendo after crescendo of beautiful noise. Launching straight into two new songs might seem brave to the point of folly, but with such confident, effusive delivery the audience are instantly charmed – the sheer saturation of sound allowing no time to act upon any misgivings. It’s a third of the way through the set before the band play anything from their 2009 debut, A Balloon Called Moaning. When they do, the one-two punch of ‘The Greatest Light Is The Greatest Shade’ and ‘Austere’ stir what started as a rebellious gaggle of moshers into a sea of pogoing patrons stretching rows and rows back.

Whilst the band’s main strength surely lies in livewire frontwoman Ritzy – a bundle of wide-eyed energy and sweetly melancholic vocal delivery – her co-conspirators revel in their equal billing, with drummer Matt unconventionally positioned to the right-front of stage. They’re an act who are almost impossible to dislike; wholly lacking in pretension and with a raw passion for their craft too often forgotten by today’s bright young things.

And the songs. Even the superb ‘The Last Drop’ is eclipsed tonight by a swirling, visceral ‘Whirring’, expanded in length and breadth to peak with a thrilling climax of distorted noise after singer Ritzy bustles into the crowd with guitar in hand. It seems like a seminal moment in 2010. If this is the sound of tomorrow, then the future is in safe hands.

Thanks to Roz @ Atlantic
Click here to see the band's website

Live Review: Placebo at 02 Brixton Academy, 28 September 2010

Some words I did on the Placebo show at 02 Brixton Academy on 28 September 2010 for Subba-Cultcha.com...

It’s hard to believe that Placebo first surfaced back in 1995, some fifteen years ago. Back then, even as the young whippersnapper that I was, their punky, angst-ridden slant on the alternative-rock scene grabbed me immediately. I should have been 16 and into marijuana and perfectly executed misery; I was 9 and interested only in music which sang in my ears. I remained a committed disciple from Placebo, their striking debut, through the more sombre Without You I’m Nothing and production-heavy (and occasionally awful) Black Market Music. However, just as I approached my supposed years of ‘teenage angst’, shifting musical allegiances and a slightly protracted period of inertia from the band saw my interest wane, singles aside.

Indeed, Placebo had so withdrawn from my radar that I’m immediately taken aback with the sea of baying fans who line the Brixton Academy floor man-for-man awaiting the arrival of their treasured heroes. A band I had always seen as a scratchy, artsy aural pursuit are suddenly transformed into double-dose – the band also played the Monday evening – Brixton headliners, with an authoritative aura of those not crashing a party, but anointed as the guests of honour

For a band who have always flirted with the flamboyant decadence of androgyny and knowing sexual ambiguity, tonight they don’t disappoint. Latest drummer Steve Forrest is an indie-boy’s Tommy Lee, his bare body covered to the inch by an array of tattoos, and assaulting the drums with bone-shaking vigour. Meanwhile, imposing bassist Stefan Olsdal dazzles in an iridescent silver suit, whilst the wafer-thin Brian Molko’s babyface and skin-tight jeans belie 15 years of hard toil on the road. It’s glamorous without being glam; showy without showing too much.

Pleasingly, the music also delivers. Launching straight into early standout single ‘Nancy Boy’, the band rifle through a back catalogue which, whilst weighted with a number of tracks from last year’s Battle For The Sun, plucks hit after hit from each of their records. ‘Ashtray Heart’ and ‘Battle For The Sun’ deserve their warm reception, whilst ‘Every You Every Me’ predictably sends the crowd into raptures. All the while, background visuals maintain the bands air of tongue-in-cheek subversion, depicting everything from a hindu dancer to sand-encrusted lovers. It might seem inane, even deliberately insincere, but it works.

Some might point to this along with a bizarre, gothic-themed mime show which precedes the encore as an example of a band who are complicit in sending up their own style without necessarily allowing their audience to laugh at the joke. However, as the last strains of an extended ‘Taste In Men’ flood the venue, few care for any more than the music which sings in their ears.

Recent Published Work...

Here's some I made earlier...

Album Reviews
The Fall - Your Future Our Clutter
Sweet Apple - Love and Desperation
Eli 'Paperboy' Reed - Come and Get It
Ganglians - Monster Head Room

Interviews
Surfer Blood
Thao and the Get Down Stay Down
Cymbals Eat Guitars
The Drums
The Soft Pack
Good Shoes

Short Cuts! April Round-up

April's album releases, including The Futureheads, Laura Marling, MGMT, Black Francis and loads more...

5/4

Laura Marling – I Speak Because I Can
Indisputably the most vital and most talented amongst her ‘nu-folk’ (yeesh) contemporaries, Marling’s tender years continue not to be a hindrance, either with her husk-augmented register or her intricate grasp of how to weave commercial and credible into hit after hit. That said, the age does betray her sometimes unfathomable life lessons, not to mention neutering their authenticity. Meanwhile, though she’s better at Joni Mitchell (‘Made by Maid’) than she is at Stevie Nicks (Devil’s Spoke), she’s most accomplished at being Laura Marling (‘Darkness Descends’). A triumph.
Choice Cuts: ‘Made By Maid’, ‘Darkness Descends’, ‘Goodbye England’
9/10

Black Francis – NonStopErotik
Get past the recurring mental image of the portly Francis manoeuvring himself around the 24-hour vice den which apparently constitutes his life in NonStopErotik, and you’re left with a startling return to Pixies-esque ingénue. In short: seamless key changes, twisted chords and backhanded melodies, all drenched in a knowing sense of noir – Noir Francis, that is.
Choice Cuts: 'Cinema Star', 'Corinna'
8/10

Ted Leo – Brutalist Bricks
After the outright disappointment of 2007’s sprawling misfire Living With The Living, sprightly 30-something social-idealist punk Ted Leo goes back to basics on his Matador debut. Save for hip-shaking soul-rocker ‘One Polaroid a Day’, the tracks here are short, sharp and direct, bustling past in a head-rush of instantly claimable hooks and intricate guitar stabs. As usual, the political moments (‘The Stick’, ‘ Ativan Eyes’), whilst brimming with passion and conscience, are only ever a fist-pump away from a toe-curling lyric; as usual, the personal as political cuts (‘Bottled Up Inwith  Cork’, ‘Even Heroes Have to Die’) jumpstart head and heart with cracked-macho displays of vulnerability.
Choice Cuts: ‘Bottled Up In Cork’, ‘Gimme The Wire’, ‘Even Heroes Have to Die’
8/10

Dr Dog – Shame, Shame
Presumably as bored as we were with the agricultural approach to psyche-outs championed hitherto, Fido and chums return with their tails wagging and a pop-sheened charm offensive. Just a pity it’s taken until now to get them house-trained.
Choice Cuts – 'Shadow People'
7/10

Harper Simon – Harper Simon
Daddy, daddy cool – and at 37 Harper finally realises it. The only thing that’s missing is Art.
Choice Cuts: 'Wishes and Stars', 'Ha Ha'
6.5/10

12/4

MGMT – Congratulations
There’s a lot of Love in this room – Arthur Lee looms largest over this startling re-imagination. For synths, read: guitars; for ecstacy, read: LSD. For electro-pop throwaway, read: surf-psychedelia tour de force.
Choice Cuts: ‘Song for Dan Treacy’, ‘Flash Delirium’, ‘It’s Working’.
9/10

Plan B – The Defamation of Strickland Banks
Invoking the spirit of the Winehouse Summer (2007), Plan B heads East not North, hooks up with a Charles and Eddie cover band instead of Mark Ronson, and produces a pleasingly complete soul-pop smash – notwithstanding the reliably superfluous ‘concept’. Note to all the ‘sell-out’ catcallers: alternating between Jamie T and Dizzy Rascal rapping never counted as ‘grit’ in the first place.
Choice Cuts: ‘Love Goes Down’, ‘Stay Too Long’
7.5/10

Darwin Deez – Darwin Deez
Inwhich the moustachioed New Yorker demonstrates he’s fairly good at tackling the Strokes with added noise (‘Lights On’), the Strokes with a serious pop kick (‘Radar Detector’) and the Strokes minus the Ramones (all the others). What he doesn’t establish is if he’s likely to widen his record collection before the next one drops. Still, those sold on a hook certainly won’t begrudge the price of admission.
Choice Cuts: ‘Lights On’, ‘DNA’
7/10

19/4

Caribou – Swim
Plastic-electronic hermit Dan Snaith might be more comfortable at a house party than filling dancefloors, but here he proves he’s just one killer pop loop away from a Billboard breakthrough. Whilst he searches for the right note, the rest of us can enjoy the fact Snaith’s abundance of grey matter hasn’t yet obscured the life (and love) in the wires.
Choice Cuts: ‘Kaili’, ‘Odessa’
7.5/10

Ash – A-Z Volume 1
MOR of the same from the eternally youthful Downpatrick tykes... who are actually old enough to know better these days. Still, as one might expect from what is essentially a singles compilation (comprising the first half of their admirable but inconsequential a-z singles experiment), most of the tracks herein pull you in hook, line and sinker, more than making up for the occasional stinker. Bravo.
Choice Cuts: ‘Joy Kicks Darkness’, ‘Command’, ‘Song of Your Desire’
7.5/10

Kate Nash – My Best Friend is You
Lily Allen sings Billy Bragg – this time with more guitars, and less show-tunes. Lacks ‘Foundations’ but the first and second floors have had significant renovation. That said, entertain the full spoken word rant of ‘Mansion House’ at your own peril, and cringe at the gratuitous swearing and “cocaine” plugs.
Choice Cuts: ‘Do Wah Do’, ‘Paris’
6/10

26/4

The Futureheads – The Chaos
I’ve always had a sneaky suspicion that The Futureheads were a power-pop band – the chunky palm-mutes, the quad-tracked harmonies – hiding under a post-punk veneer, and their fourth long player proves it. Here, they tone down the sparser guitar exchanges and 90 degree angles and instead puff their chests out as they strut through their best choruses (‘Heartbeat Song’, ‘I Can Do That’) since ‘Skip to the End’. As usual, they’re sincere enough to carry it off, even if the tricks are cheap.
Choice Cuts: ‘I Can Do That’, ‘The Chaos’, ‘Dart At The Map’
8/10

Harlem – Hippies
Sticks closely to the garage-rock mantra – “it plays therefore it is” – then adds chorus after chorus, and lyrics about ghosts and people on fire.
Choice Cuts: ‘Number One’, ‘Tila and I’, ‘Poolside’
7/10

Gogol Bordello – Trans-Continental
With some 7 nationalities amongst their 9 full time members, Eugene Hutz’ gypsy-punk jivesters are unlikely to be booked to play a BNP function in the near future – nor, on this evidence, are they likely to disuade Nick Griffin that gypsies should be neither seen or heard. Whilst slow-burning twisted folkies like ‘When Universes Collide’ are pretty enough, the band (and Hutz’ vocal) works best when the eclectic musicianship is twinned with the jolting stop/starts and “hoi hoi hois”, a match-up only infrequently realised here. Time to move to pastures new?
Choice Cuts: ‘Immigraniada’, ‘Sun Is On My Side’
5/10