Little Motel

Tuuuuuuune

2009-09-08T00:09:00.002+01:00

CLICK

Stoner/metal/drone/whatever band Boris get a reworking from trendy remix type Todd Edwards.
Excellent.

Soz

2009-09-04T18:00:00.003+01:00

I've been abandoning the blog recently. The dream, the glitz and the glamour of the student life has taken my focus off what truely matters: Beef.
By way of apalagy, have an album of a sorta up and coming electronic artist.

Nosaj Thing is a glitch electro artist from L.A., specialising in building up layers of warbly electronics with acid tight drum beatz. Drift, his full length debut, showcases the shimmering blip artist at work, creating suitable lounge beats and also atmospheric tunes. Enjoy.

Nosaj Thing- Drift

Last.fm
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Ubar Tracklistz

* 1. “Quest”
* 2. “Fog”
* 3. “Coat of Arms”
* 4. “IOIO”
* 5. “1685/Bach”
* 6. “Caves”
* 7. “Light#1″
* 8. “Light#2″
* 9. “2222″
* 10. “Us”
* 11. “Voices”
* 12. “Lords”

Pygmy Lush - Mount Hope

2009-06-30T23:34:00.003+01:00

Mount Hope

Last.fm
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Tracklist:
1) Asphalt
2) No Feeling
3) Dead Don't Pass
4) God Condition
5) Red Room Blues
6) Mount Hope
7) Frozen Man
8) Hard To Swallow
9) Concrete Mountain
10) Dreams Are Class
11) Butch's Dream
12) Tumor

Pygmy Lush are an odd bunch. As one of these pretentious music types I like to think that a few samples of a song off a band's myspace or a few listens of their last.fm page will tell me all I need to know to make a fairly quick judgement that will decide whether I will or won't listen to that band again. Never before however have I gone to a band's myspace and not known whether I will be treated to eight minutes of folk bliss or two and a half minutes of screamo.

Mount Hope, you may or may not be pleased to hear, is completely void of the latter, and spends three quarters of an hour treating the listener to what can only be described as blissful acoustic lullabies (I've got time, though, so i'll try and describe it as something else as well). I generally don't have any time for folk music, too often I personally find it slightly meandering and pointless, (says the Post-Rock fan) but Mount Hope is pretty much spot on. There's moody guitar rumbling in the likes of Asphalt, the one man and his dog anthem of Dead Don't Pass, and the backroom bar shuffle of the album's title track. Where Mount Hope shines, though, is in it's extended pieces, the likes of Red Room Blues, which starts out standard enough and descends into a Pink Floyd esque haze, and the frankly flawless album closer, Tumor. Everything on offer here is brilliantly emotional, but still retains some subtlety. More importantly, everything on offer here is beautiful. I'll not pretend to know the reasoning for a screamo band branching out into lo-fi folk music, but it could have been so easy to make a half baked Tom Waits pastiche here. Instead, Pygmy Lush (what a great name, by the way) have maken an album that is unique, brilliant and beautiful, and borrows elements even from the folk artist everyone can get behind; Bon Iver. Even at that, though, vocals are muffled, dark, and the acoustic guitars are wonderfully forlorn.

As previously mentioned, or not mentioned but what you should have taken from this, Mount Hope isn't really going to get the party started. It's one to stick on late at night, after one too many glasses of wine, when you can feel your cheeks getting a bit red. Or play it in iTunes and have a lie down. Or put it on after watching Forrest Gump.

I'll review something happy soon, I promise.

8.7/10

The blogs back, makes over the top claims about The Antlers.

2009-06-25T12:46:00.002+01:00

So these guys are pretty fuckin good. Like, best band with a :( of the last 10 years. I frothed over Hospice a while back, and still nothings come along to convince me that it isn't still the album of the year. Plus, some beefy new live footage shows the band in all their crashing majesty. The quiet bits are heartfelt, and the loud bits are apocalyptic. If you haven't checked out one of the despairingly best albums of the year so far, do so. Live links below.

GIEF MEH.

New MGMT video - Kids

2009-06-04T13:50:00.008+01:00

Jesus. It's back. The new shit/freaky/child torturing video of Kids is what you'd expect from MGMT.......scary and surreal. There's no way that kid in the video's not going to have issues when he's older. See the 6 minute freakout below. Now....can we please let this song die?

Jesu - Silver EP

2009-05-31T19:17:00.005+01:00

Jesu is the post metal droneage of Justin Broadrick, former member of industrial band Godflesh. After suffering a nervous breakdown in 2002, Broadrick disbanded Godflesh and formed the one man band Jesu, taking on all guitar, bass and programming duties. Silver EP is a wonderful journey through some seriously loud metal drones and occassional crunching electronics. Silver EP, considered to be one of Broadricks' more melodic releases, has gained comparisons to MBV and bands such as Pelican and ISIS. This music, however, more than speaks for itself. Enjoy.

Tracklist:
1.Silver
2. Star
3. Wolves
4. Dead Eyes

Buy It
Download

Banjo Or Freakout - Bootlegz

2009-05-21T16:16:00.003+01:00

Banjo Or Freakout is the solo psychedelic fuzz folk of Alessio Natalizia, an Italian based in London. I'm really excited about this guy.....instead of gloomy shoegaze we have ambitious bedroom swathes of guitar and optimism. It's pretty incredible for one guy, and even more incredible given the code by which he records: everything must be done in one take. I'm still trying to get a hold of his latest Upside Down E.P., but these tracks should be enough to keep us going. He also has a penchant for covering other people's songs....I've taken two officially released songs, (Mr. No and the DFA approved cover of LCD's Someone Great) and a handful of cover versions that I could find.

1. All I Need (Radiohead Cover)
2. Archangel (Burial Cover)
3. Atlas (Battles Cover)
4. Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa (Vampire Weekend Cover)
5. Mr. No
6. Someone Great

Download

This is soaring stuff. Archangel in particular is turned from the moody, rainy at 3am sounding twostep shuffle into a humble fuzz folk effort, and his psychedelic tendencies translate especially well on Atlas. Nothing really compares to the last two tracks however, and I would urge you to listen to them first. I'm waiting frustratedly to get a hold of his latest E.P. Until then, this should tide you over, and one thing's for sure; we should be seeing a lot more of this fellow in the future.

Mastodon invade Yank's homes

2009-05-19T18:10:00.004+01:00

Whilst not really showing off the boy's vocal abilities, this performance of Oblivion from Letterman really, really makes me want to see these guys live. Whether that's a testament to their music or the fact that this isn't all that good, is another matter.

They frighten an old man though, so that can't be bad.

New Modest Mouse Video - Satellite Skin

2009-05-15T19:39:00.002+01:00

Following on the age old MM tradition of truely.....terrible videos, Satellite Skin arrives as the upcoming A side from the new E.P., a collection of B sides. ABCD LOL.

Satellite Skin

Anamanamadness

2009-05-10T16:38:00.006+01:00

Some new/old tracks from dose chiptune freeks. First is a cover of lo-fi star Wavves tune, So Bored. The second is a minute long cover of Mariah Carey's, All I Want For Christmas Is You. Absolutely daft, and refreshingly inappropriate for the middle of May. Right click to download. Enjoy.

So Bored
All I Want 4 Xmas is U

Future of the Left - Travels with Myself and Another

2009-05-04T22:23:00.002+01:00

Travels with Myself and Another

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1. Arming Eritrea
2. Chin Music
3. The Hope That House Built
4. Throwing Bricks At Trains
5. I Am Civil Service
6. Land Of My Formers
7. You Need Satan More Than He Needs You
8. That Damned Fly
9. Stand By / Your Manatee
10. Yin / Post-Yin
11. Drink Nike
12. Lapsed Catholics

Wooooeuuughharrrgh. I dismissed these guys as long haired beer swilling louts (lol hypocriseez) back when I saw them at Belsonic. They had a few decent tunes, but more often than not it just appeared noise. A bassist that terrorizes the audience is all very well....but music's good, too. This album however, is a stomper. Arming Eritrea grabs you from the offset and doesn't let up, it's snarl of "Come on Rick, i'm not a prize/I'm not a cynical one of those guys" will probably cause me to associate it with my da, but it's a fucking beast. The arrogance of the verse splurges into the At The Drive In style chorus/rest of the song, it's truly wonderful. Instead of dumb ballsy rock there's some actual emotion here, and it's a tune as well. Off to a good start.

The Hope That House Built is pretty much a damned march into hell, "Come join come join our lost cause". Class. It's one of those ones that slowly but surely gets into your head, maybe not on first listen.....but it'll happen.
Another indication that this isn't just another letspickupguitargokk album is the sense of humour throughout. I can't imagine someone running these lyrics past bandmates. Throwing Bricks At Trains, for example; "Slight/bowel movements/preceeded/the bloodless coup" Indeed.
You Need Satan More Than He Needs You builds up tension and angst like a group of youngsters being told they can't go into Indianaland juuuust yet. FUCK. Genuinely menacing, with a Jesus Lizard style bassline and atmosphere, it's....distburbing. Great fun.

Drink Nike takes the energy of bands like Drive Like Jehu and At The Drive In and adds red bull. It's tense and jittery, and a tuuune. It's always on the brink of being noise, but it's actually very clever rock. It's all delivered in 2 or 3 minutes bites of catchiness, and before you can linger on the last one, the next one's begun. You're being sonically raped, but i'm sure you've been sonically raped before. You whore.

Lapsed Catholics.....haha. This is genuinely funny. It isn't particularly contrived, it's just very random and funny. Hands up who was busting to correct him at the Morgan Freeman bit....(you need to listen for this to make sense). Also, the line, "A Justice of sorts if you listen to fools who have dressed in the dark for a bet" has to be one of the lines of the year so far. It's not very deep or meaningful....it's just funny. And not cheesy, and before the witty bant has outstayed its welcome, we get some more razor sharp guitar lines to see us out.

Travels with Myself and Another is brief at 12 songs in 32 minutes, but it ensures that Future of the Left don't outstay their welcome. The only downside of this may be that this will take a few listens for particular songs to sink into your head, one listen will usually leave you going "Wow, this first song's class" and not absorbing much else. It's great fun though, some pretty arrogant rock in a pretty short space of time.

In the end, everybody wins.

8.4/10

It's the beef.

2009-05-04T19:58:00.002+01:00

Just an update.....andy beef is going legit! Well, sort of. I shall now be devoting portions of my sarcastic bastard time to Pinpoint Music, writing about musicky things. So, updates here may be less frequent than they once were (Who am I kidding......i'll still have time for both). So yeah....have a look at that site, check me out, but i'll still be writing on this one. Cos i'm still beef from the block.

Burial & Four Tet - Moth/Wolf Club

2009-05-02T17:14:00.003+01:00

Moth/Wolf Club

Last.fm
Buy It (Lol don fink so - Gone in minutes)

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A. Moth
B. Wolf Club

A very mysterious and enigmatic release from the UK's dubstep poster boy, Burial, and electronic titan Four Tet. Sold out in minutes, and with a general auora of mystery surrounding the whole thing, people were unsure as to whether it was a collaboration or whether it was simply a split single. The reality is that Burial and Four Tet have contributed to both tunes here, with each others influence clearly audible on both tracks. Moth stomps along surely and is a massive tune, extremely linear and simple yet with flecks of Burial's trademark sound underpinning the Four Tet electronica. Wolf Club begins tentatively with Sweet Love For Planet Earth esque waterfall electronics. Give it time though, and it soon kicks in. An easily recognisible Burial drumbeat kicks in supported by those beautiful electronikz.

It's grown on me, and i'm sure it will continue to do so, but it doesn't appear to live up to the hype on the first few listens. The first track is extremely simple and doesn't seem a world away from something The Field might put out. Second track has the much loved Burial sound, but there isn't a whole lot going on, overall.

Still, a great idea for a collaboration, and great to see new tracks from these fellas. Plus Moth seems to kick more ass each time I listen to it.

8.3/10

Korouva - Shipwrecks & Russian Roulette

2009-05-01T19:38:00.007+01:00

Shipwrecks & Russian Roulette

Last.fm

Buy It (This is an officially-sold CD-R and it is not, nor
ever has been available as a factory pressed or retail CD)
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1. Slowclub
2. dne eht ton
3. buddhist bell
4. In bed with you
5. the rain song
6. tide
7. wheat fields
8. der verlovene
9. part II
10. the martyr

Shipwrecks & Russian Roulette is a 30 minute haze of stripped down bluesy jazz by musician and photographer Miranda Lehman. The whole album seems to have been recorded using out of date production methods which add tremendously to the overall feel of the album. Background noises creak and crackle whilst the uncomfortably close sounds of rain add an eerie atmosphere to the experience. It's the sort of music you can picture seeing in a beaten down bar on a rainy night, amidst a haze of alcohol and smoke. A lot of Shipwrecks & Russian Roulette manages to maintain a balance of creepy and charming at the same time, maintaining a blues-esque whistfulness and forlorn beauty. Vocals are present but are sparse throughout, and give a layered density to what can at times be a contrastingly simple record.
Everything is done at it's own pace. The piano isn't rushed in order to get to the point of the song, and vocals aren't there to make you ponder the greater mysteries of life (most of it is aahs and oohs). Instead this is a record that takes it's time, something delightfully fresh and important in times where we tend to be quite intense, and where apparently giving 100% isn't good enough anymore. As some advert said one time......what's the rush?

It's a record that might not be everyones cup of tea for precisely that reason, there aren't any shamelessly trendy remixes and it's not likely to get the party going. Instead it's one that you should kick back and relax to and let unwind, or even just pull the duvet over yourself a wee bit more and relax to. I was pleasantly suprised at discovering this having not heard of Korouva before, and it's a wonderful ambient album. I know it's not perfect, and I don't want to have to slap a score on it and be done with it. We should all of us be able to take time out and spend too much time listening to an album every now and then, and all the better if it isn't an NME flavour of the month. I highly reccomend this and would urge anyone who feels like getting lost in an album to give this a try.

One for rainy nights, or very early mornings.

Crippled Black Phoenix - 200 Tons Of Bad Luck

2009-04-24T19:21:00.005+01:00

200 Tons Of Bad Luck

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Tracklist:
1 Burnt Reynolds
2 Rise Up and Fight
3 Time of Ye Life / Born for Nothing / Paranoid Arm Of Narcoleptic Empire
4 Wendigo
5 Littlestep
6 Crossing the Bar
7 Whissendine
8 A Real Bronx Cheer
9 444
10 A Hymn for a Lost Soul
11 A Lack of Common Sense
12 I Am Free, Today I Perished

For a band that has described their songs as "end time ballads" there's certainly a lot of life affirming moments in Crippled Black Phoenix's music. And there should be - with 200 Tons Of Bad Luck clocking in at 1 hour and 20 minutes, it's not going to give you a quick fix. It is however, a grand post rock epic, and well deserving of your time.
200 Tons Of Bad Luck is borne out of a previously released 2 disc collection by CBP- The Resurrectionists, and Night Raider. This record then aims to take the best and most cohesive songs from the two albums and condense it into one. With the aforementioned album length, condensed probably isn't the best way to describe this album, but largely they have managed to select the best cuts from their previous works.

200 Tons... begins with Burnt Reynolds, and an eerie Pink Floyd esque synth in the background. It's properly spooky, it lasts for like a minute and a half, just synth and woodwind. It sets the tone perfectly for the grandeur of what's to come on this record. Some solid bass playing by Mogwai's Dominic Aitchison lead into the very prog rock opening of the record. Even the watery sounding guitar grooves sound like they could be taken from something off Wish You Were Here. A series of melodic chants and vocals make way for this song's glorious climax. There's suprisingly a few almost cheesy moments on this album, but it's never that over done, and it sort of goes hand in hand with the level of end of the world music we're talking about here.
Rise Up And Fight does what it says on the tin. The mournful brooding of the first track gets a swift kick up the arse and we're straight into some four horsemen of the apocalypse guitar chugging.

The 18 minute epic beginning with Time Of Ye Life......sounds as if it was written solely to satisfy my post rock tastes. Emotional old man speech over delayed guitars? Yes plx. A somberly delivered speech is combined with some GY!BE style guitars to create a genuinely emotional track, with words of wisdom courtesy of Evil Knievel. I actually thought it was by some American President before I found out who it was.....it's pretty stirring. There's something about the seriousness/sadness of the music with the speech that just works. Have a listen, anyway. The track develops into what really does sound like an end time ballad, with post rock, prog and folk colliding into a real epic. 18 minutes though....jesus. That's like.....most of a Simpsons episode. Or if you tuned into an episode of Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares after 18 minutes.....you'd be pissed. Stick with it though, it'll reward you in the end, and not in the sort of, i'm knackered but i'm glad I can say I stuck with it, kind of way. The fuck yeah, kind of way.
Wendigo gives us a much needed 3:50 song. Yes! A normal lengthed song. But they still haven't found a sense of humour, laying on some truely depressing folk doom. Chances are you didn't start start listening to Crippled Black Phoenix thinking they were the next Flight Of The Concords though, so suckem.
Littlestep isn't spectacular, but it's nice to hear vocals again, as in this case they do lend something to the album. Words, ofc.
Crossing The Bar starts off with charming acoustic picking and an ominous bass drum of death. If Robin Hood had this as his theme tune, he'd get a lot more rEEspect. Before it turned into the touching piano ballad toward the end, after which he'd get beaten up by the tough kids. The violin laden I am Free, Today I Perished plays out the album in suitably victorian style.

200 Tons Of Bad Luck is a great album, and would definetely be my post rock album of the the year so far were it not for a certain local band winning everyones hearts. It's pretty heavy, at the many times previously mentioned one hour and twenty minutes it's not going to give a quick fix. But it's worth taking some time out to savour, it's an emotional album combined with doom laden inspirational instrumentation. It sounds at times like something out of the 19th century, and at others like a Pink Floyd collaboration. What it is undoubtedly though, is a worthwhile work of rock grandeur, an accquired taste, and one that will contstantly reward.

8.8/10

Pale Blue Dot

2009-04-24T18:05:00.002+01:00

Pale Blue Dot

"Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives...

There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. "

Bloc Party - Intimacy Remixed

2009-04-22T19:12:00.005+01:00

Intimacy Remixed

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1. Ares - Villains Remix
2. Mercury - Hervé Is In Disarray Remix
3. Halo - We Have Band Dub Remix
4. Biko - Mogwai Remix
5. Trojan Horse - John B Remix
6. Signs - Armand Van Helden Remix
7. One Month Off - Filthy Dukes Remix
8. Zephyrus - Phase One Remix
9. Talons - Phones RIP Remix
10. Better Than Heaven - No Age Remix
11. Ion Square - Banjo or Freakout Remix
12. Letter To My Son - Gold Panda Remix
13. Your Visits Are Getting Shorter - Double D Remix

This is actually pretty good. I haven't really been excited about anything Bloc Party have done since......Silent Alarm really. It also perhaps speaks volumes that they didn't even bother to have a remixed album of A Weekend In The City, and cut straight to their third album, reinforcing my belief that the producer for their second album (Jack Knife Lee) is a spo and has ruined several of my favourite bands.

While Intimacy was a bit of an improvement on AWITC, it was still a bit of a halfway house. You can't open with the neo apocalypctic rave of Ares and have the most Banquet sounding song since Banquet (One Month Off) sitting comfortably in the same room, really. Intimacy Remixed, then, is really what Intimacy should have been. The band have made no secret about wanting to go all electro on us, so just get on with it. Having said that, these remixes are obviously by other people, but the source material's there.

Ares - Villains Remix is simply Ares cranked up a notch. It takes the moodiness of the original and cranks everything up. The building electronics and thumping bass makes this track amazing, and Intimacy Remixed immediately has your attention. A bit like a Death From Above remix, the waxy bassline is a whole heap of fun, and the provocative lyrics of "Get out of the way, or get fucked up" make this a great choice to stick on if you plan on getting in a fight tonight.
The remix of Mercury sounds a lot more natural, oddly, with a heap of electronics and keyboards wacked on top of it. It certainly didn't make me cringe upon first listen as the original did. The thick bass and drums make you feel as if you should be raving under a bridge, but it's still a lot of fun, and is a lot easier to listen to than the original was. This is how this song should have turned out, minus the lolwut brass section of the original.
The rework of Halo is a lot more reserved than anything else on the album, and has a few charming blips and blops. The faced paced guitars of the original have been stripped away in favour of swirling vocals and a nearly dream pop esque bassline.

Mogwai let me down. Biko hasn't changed spectacularly, and is still moody and forlorn, which is probably why Mogwai got to remix it, but it's still not very original. It's barely changed really, and if you didn't know who was remixing it you probably wouldn't be able to churn out a guess, save for "Someone boring". Think I might stick to the original. Trojan Horse is....haha....great. It really does make you feel like a moke listening to it though, as you are instantly transported to a Ministry of Sound gig in the Odyssey Arena. There's a real darkness to it though, it's cless.

Theres a lot of flac up until the Talons remix, which, being done by someone who's been remixing Bloc Party since about half an hour after they formed, should be good. It is, and leads nicely onto the intense No Age remix of Better Than Heaven, the duo doing themselves proud here. There's something strangely enjoyable about the Letter To My Son remix. It's quite idiosyncratic and charming, and at parts downright odd. It's very nice, actually (Poet Laureate here I come).
Your Visits Are Getting Shorter plays the album out nicely, parts of it which might not sound out of place on Royksopp's latest. Perhaps. Certain bits of this also sound like they could be taken from a record by The Field (Check him out- minimal techno ftw).

The album isn't perfect, there's a lot of songs here that are just remixes by numbers. One thing's for certain though, if you're at a party and it's the sort of crowd that like the new Kings of Leon record but haven't heard of Squarepusher, this will be an instant pleaser. No effort, stick this on, let party and drinking commence. Some remixes here do what a good remix should : either speed up the original and make it sound more badass, (Ares, Mercury)
or transform the original into something completely different altogether (Halo, Better Than Heaven). That's not to say that there's only 4 good songs on this, not at all, and it's still probably the best electronic album i've heard so far this year. Sadly that isn't saying a lot, but there are suprising moments of originality and idiosyncracy in this record that ensure it's an improvement upon the original in many ways.

Intimacy 2.0

7.5/10

Alarma Man - S/T

2009-04-19T17:16:00.004+01:00

Alarma Man

Last.fm
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Tracklist:
1. Sweden Sweden
2. Cheese My Dad
3. Fell in Love With a Woman Twice My Size
4. I Am Eleven Years Old, I Have No Animals
5. Signed Up for Games and Theory
6. High Tech Towers
7. Shut Up or Chaque Jour
8. This Is Not a Teaser
9. Illuminati
10. Viper

I had to blog this, as it's recently began to gain an unshakeable foothold in my listening time. A shame that not more people have heard of these folks, Alarma Man is the aural equivalent of being shaken roughly and given a slap in the face before eating some ice cream. This record has some wonderfully fun moments and a few genuine tunes, but you'll have to fight through aggressive math rock buggery to get there. This ain't foals.

Album opener Sweden Sweden starts off with a squealing guitar rallying call, before hurtling along through an auditory thorn bush of guitars. The bass and drums then pave the way for some seriously pent up guitar frustration, and the motherfucking ghost train kicks back into action again. It's hard not to listen to this with a dumbass grin on your face. The track soon develops into a two hand tapping math rock extravaganza.
The album continues at the same breakneck speed, but gratification is rarely as instant as the first track. Cheese My Dad is what the mob would have as their soundtrack, assuming they were down with the Swedish instrumental scene. A genuinely dark and arrogant bugger, it still manages to get under your skin. Then again, so do BCG injections.

Fell in Love With a Woman Twice My Size recalls some of the insta catchyness of the albums first track, and is frikkin' fantastic. You'll know what bit i'm talking about when it kicks in. Yeeaaaaah. Catchy as herpes. The main verse (?) slams into your head and when that hook starts playing, it probably seems a lot more perfect than it is, by contrast. I mean, if you'd just spent a week walking in the desert with barely enough water to survive, you'd be able to force yourself to drink a pint of Stella. If you were in the pub with your mates, the thought of the same pint would quite rightly turn you. Having said that, it's still brilliant, and an album highlight.

I Am Eleven Years Old, I Have No Animals must surely have left the bassist with carpal tunnel syndrome. It's not particularly melodic, but what it lacks in tuneage it makes up for in being fucking insane. You're not going to put it on at a family do instead of Chasing Cars or Fix You, but if you're pumped or you've just had a particularly strong coffee, yes. This'll do it.

Signed Up for Games and Theory is a bit more of a slow burner, and not really what you want when listening to this sort of music, really. Though, a slow burner in these guys terms is still like being twatted with a bulldozer. It's not as fun as other tracks on the album, but still manages to sound like it's boring through your skull.
High Tech Towers marches along angrily before unleashing a turbo charged melee of power chords and tech metal tapping. Again it ruffs you up at the start, but ultimately your patience is rewarded.

The album chugs away at a similiar runaway train on fire speed for the remainder, with closer Viper in particular offering some menacing math punk. It encapsulates the overall sound of the album into five and a half minutes, and successfully references the touchstones of this band - the likes of Refused and Don Caballero- and still manages to imprint their catchy, punch in the face sound.

As an album, it isn't spectacular, there's some tracks that Alarma Man could do without, or that they should have spent more time on or replaced with other tracks. It does however have some brilliant standout tracks, and they alone are worth a listen of this album. As an entire album it's still enoyable though- whether you're after a 3 minute catchy instrumental punk song, or want something to soundtrack you going insane, there's something here for everyone.

One that shouldn't have been a silent alarm.

7.2/10

Boxcutter - Arecibo Message

2009-04-13T00:58:00.008+01:00

Arecibo Message

Last.fm
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Tracklist:
1. Sidetrak
2. Mya Rave v2
3. Arecibo Message
4. S p a c e b a s s
5. Arcadia 202
6. Old School Astronomy
7. A Familiar Sound
8. Free House Acid
9. Sidereal Day
10. Otherside Remix (Earth Is My Spaceship)
11. Lamp Post Funk
12. Kab 28
13. A Cosmic Parent

Boxcutter, or Barry Lynn when he's at home, is a well established artist in the nationwide Dubstep/electro scene. Far from being a Northern Irish artist who's done quite well for himself "despite" coming from N.I., instead much of us haven't paid much attention whilst he's been making a name for himself across the water. His previous album, Glyphic, was a thoroughly enjoyable piece of chilled out dubstep, Arecibo Message is distinctly darker and seemingly aimed more squarely at da club.

Sidetrak starts off tentatively enough, with bassy drones and spooky electronics. It's darker than previous works, and after a lengthy intro kicks off into dubby bass and a cacophony of drum clashes. The trademark jungle flute noises that you can't quite put your finger on are still present, as the brooding bassline plays us out, and into the definitively more upbeat Mya Rave v2. Well with a title like that it should be, really. It's a much more lively affair and is the sort of thing I wouldn't mind hearing on the dancefloor. If this was the sort of thing they played at the Box, then i'd have no problem. Once they sorted the crowd out, that is. Blippity bloppity fast paced electronics and a dark bassline ensure this one's the one you'll be skipping back to. On your iPod that is, not in the camp way.

Title track Arecibo Message starts off with a few strange noises that sounds like a robot being disturbed from hangover sleep (Trust me). The thuddy bassline and creepy as fuck samples combine with the emergence of what sounds like a SNES end of level boss tune to create something truly....odd.

S p a c e b a s s delivers a funky bassline to ensure the creepysong/danceysong/creepysong/danceysong order is preserved. It's hard to write about and describe music like this that doesn't sit still for more than a few seconds, like a hyperactive dubstep child. It does however manage to sound innovative and again gives you a sense of pride that this kind of music is being made on your doorstep, it is possible to be inventive and DIY without plugging in a guitar and hitting overdrive.

Arcadia 202 is a bit of a slowburner.....well.....as much as a song lasting 3:14 can be. It chirps along fairly unremarkably to be honest...until the last minute or so when it starts to give a fuck a bit more. It's not unpleasant, but it doesn't help this albums flaw of slipping into the void of background music.

A Familiar Sound gets the guest vocals out for the leds, and helps give Arecibo Message a nice reference point. This is what you've listened up to, now let's listen to the rest of the album, kind of thing. It's again, not spectacular, but it's pretty cool and the watery electronics and echo vocal effects all add to the sense that you get whilst listening that hey, you're a pretty cool guy/girl.

Things thankfully pick up again with Free House Acid. The insane grandfather clock noise in the background and random blips and blops make this a pretty fun tune and gives the listener a break from the more creepy dubstep on the album.
Lamp Post Funk is great. I was going to say it does exactly what it says on the tin, but I don't know what brand of funk is befitting for a Lamp Post, tbfh. It's an extremely enjoyable, funky electro number though, and doesn't make you feel dirty for listening to electro dubstep which is normally enjoyed extremely late at night/early in the morning.

Arecibo Message is great fun, and it's a pretty innovative and inventive album of dubstep/electro. It manages to keep a melody throughout most of it without simply throwing a swear word in the title and basslines that will knacker your speakers. Again it's great to think that this sort of music is being produced locally, however, whilst a little solidarity may go a long way, it doesn't make up for average tunes. Discerning readers wit da eagle eyez may notice I didn't mention a few tracks. Mainly because a few tracks aren't worth mentioning. It took quite a lot of effort to listen to and review the album, that's not to say that it's by any means bad, but you have to pay some serious attention in order to see where one song ends and another begins, and while that's great at times and gives it a flow, it has a tendency to meld it into one big electro dubby mess. My standard criticism of you'dbehardpressedtowalkawayhumming, also applies here. You would have to go back and listen to specific songs to work out a tune in order to associate music with song title.

It's still thoroughly enjoyable though, one of those ones where whilst you're listening, you're like, "Yeah, I like this", you just might be hard pressed to stop on it whilst flicking through your iPod.

Even so, I hope you get the message.

7.6/10

Therapy? - Crooked Timber

2009-04-11T01:03:00.002+01:00

Crooked Timber

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1. The Head That Tried To Strangle Itself
2. Enjoy The Struggle
3. Clowns Galore
4. Exiles
5. Crooked Timber
6. I Told You I Was Ill
7. Somnambulist
9. Magic Mountain
10. Bad Excuse For Daylight

While ASIWYFA, General Fiasco, Panama Kings and others are bringing a wave of optimism and freshness to the NI music scene, veteran rockers Therapy? have been churning out hook laden rock n roll for nearly twenty years now. Normally a band that's been under the radar for a while suddenly bringing out a new album in a midst of cool kids spells a certain ominous embarassment, an imminent realisation that they're clawing to remain relevant. Therapy?, however, aren't over complicating things on their latest, or discovering God (lol?). Instead they've kept things relatively simple, catchy as fook rock songs with meaty norn irish vocals.

The Head That Tried To Strangle Itself is exactly what you expect upon seeing the title; a sort of theme tune to insanity - Agitated riffs and vocals marching all the way into the asylum. It'll get under your skin after just a few listens and you'll be grinding your teeth to it in no time.
Enjoy The Struggle shows LaFaro just how snarly northern irish crunk should be done. A greasy bassline and hyperactive drums pave the way for Andy Cairns' rough n ready vocals, and again another arrogant riff that will sink into your cranium in no time.

Listening to album highlight Clowns Galore's riff is like being repeatedly pummeled in the ribcage by Joe Calzaghe (probably). You get the shite beaten out of you, but it's certainly an experience, and "Give the circus a break/It makes us happy" is probably going to be stuck in your head for quite some time.

Exiles shamelessly goes for a dirty main riff, and aims to have you humming it's chorus for the next few weeks. It's maybe a tad predictable, but it's pretty fuckin good, and it thankfully slows the pace down in Crooked Timber a tad.
Title track Crooked Timber shows Therapy? mixing things up, slightly. The vocals are less bulldog, more jack russell. Pinched harmonics make way for a riff that develops slowly and purposefully throughout the song, before we get a cheeky breakdown for the fans. "Times attrition, grinds these landscapes, sifts them into shape/My resistance, to its' pressure, buckles more each day." It's less guns blazing than the rest of the album, but manages to go out with venom, "My train will come for you" is delivered with suitable snarl.

The album blazes on satisfyingly enough, I Told You I Was Ill gives us some emotion from Cairns instead of the usual confident howl, as well as getting in an odd reference to Spike Milligan's gravestone.
Magic Mountain, a 10 minute long instrumental, (haha, yes, i'm home) looks terrible on paper. An ageing rock band bringing out a new album after a while......featuring an instrumental track around the same time as another instrumental band are making a name for themselves?
It works, though. With Crooked Timber being a bit, fuck you, Magic Mountain is more like, yeah, let's have a cup of tea. It's in the same vein as that Life In Technicolour number from Coldsplat's latest. Very optimistic, and pretty lovely to listen to. I have never listened to Therapy? before this, so I don't know if it's in keeping with their sound, i'm pretty sure it's not, but it's simply really nice. The ten minutes will fly in wonderfully.
Bad Excuse For Daylight is alright, but it's a bit like when you're writing the conclusion for an essay, you've blown off a night out to finish it, you've spent several hours on it already, and all you want to do is get it in the bag and not ever have to think about sociological methods ever again. It's not bad, but it seems a slight rushed ending.

Crooked Timber is pretty good. It's a shame not more of a fuss was made about this, or the press didn't make more of a song and dance over it, it's really good. It might have been enough to convince LaFaro that a handful of songs is not going to keep us going forever, and they're not the only ones going in for this hard rock malarky. If you're one of those people that cringe a wee bit when they hear a northern irish vocal, this probably isn't going to change your mind, and if you're not, well Crooked Timber probably isn't going to change your life either. It would be a damn shame, though, to let this album go under the radar.

Fire it up.

8.2/10

And So I Watch You From Afar- S/T

2009-04-06T23:56:00.011+01:00

And So I Watch You From Afar

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Buy It *Nods*

Tracklist:
1. Set Guitars To Kill
2. A Little Bit Of Solidarity Goes A Long Way
3. Clench Fists, Grit Teeth...Go!
4. I Capture Castles
5. Start A Band
6. Tip Of The Hat, Punch In The Face
7. If It Ain't Broke, Break It
8. TheseRIOTSareJUSTtheBEGINNING
9. Don't Waste Time Doing Things You Hate
10. The Voiceless
11. Eat The City, Eat It Whole

Well well. It's been a fair oul wait since we saw This Is Our Machine And Nothing Can Stop It and Tonight The City Burns!, and it has been worth the wait. Truth be told, neither were flawless, the latter only really gave us one standout track, and a collaboration with Jonny Black and Fighting with Wire man, which slowly started to wear on me, to be honest. It speaks volumes then that so many have been waiting in anticipation for this, their full length debut. A Little Solidarity, a 3 day event organised in November by the band designed to showcase Northern Irish talent and show a little......yeah......is partly responsible.
Most folk got swept up in the whole thing, myself included, and even if you didn't know a lot about Northern Irish music, it made you feel like you did, and you kinda thought y'know what, NI music ain't that bad really. It's pretty fucking impressive, actually.

So if you find them over hyped, over rated, or you're sick of seeing their posters, fuck up. If they didn't make you feel proud of your wee country then they at least helped give us "a fuck load of amazing music."
Another reason this album has been a long time coming for many, and this is directed towards the cynics, and those that are sick hearing their name : Instrumental post rock is a genre, that frankly, it is very easy to be ok in. Anyone can play something clean and slow for a while, and go nuts at the end of a song. Big deal. It is a genre that is bloated with copycats and mehness, and if you don't know, i'm telling you. So the praise for ASIWYFA is deserved. They aren't some pretty good instrumental band from NI, they have managed to surpass their contemporaries and should now be reckoned with on the same footing as Mogwai.

And they're exiciting. Their music is joy and rage and sadness, and it gives you a fucking boot in the side of the head. Album/live opener Set Guitars To Kill begins with an ominous marching uproar and squealing guitars, before plunging straight for the center of the earth. It doesn't let up for a second, and manages to almost perfectly capture the live chaos, minus the sweat and elbows to the face. It's post rock, but not as we know it Jim. It's fucking angry.

A Little Bit Of Solidarity Goes A Long Way, frankly, is the most inspirational thing i've ever heard come out of Northern Ireland. It can't be stressed enough how much this doesn't need words. Raging guitars stampede onwards while that persistent....neverending riff plays on in the background, like a countdown to the end of the world. The re-recording has been kind to this tune, everything seems better mixed and much more clear. Simply breathtaking.

I can't do every song like this because no-one's going to take the time to read it, but this album is immense. Every time you think you've guessed which direction they're taking it in, it veers off in another. Clench Fists, Grit Teeth...Go! explodes through your speakers with some serious rage, I Capture Castles has again done well from the re-recording, (props to Rocky O' Reilly) seeming more urgent, and darkly unstoppable as a result. Start A Band, far from starting off as optimistically as the title suggests, has a brooding, tortured soul of an intro. It's a lovely instrumental piece, but maybe they should have opted for a different title, as something called Start A Band should really sound like a joyous headfuck throughout. Perhaps, "An evening in with a curry and Jonathan Ross" would have been better, or "My tea's cold." Probably not, but you get the idea. It goes mental at the end as well, so we'll forgive it.

The "Hey guys, we're happy!" of Tip Of The Hat, Punch In The Face rattles along nicely without a care in the world. Until it grows up slightly at 1:17, and starts crunching through, picking up a meaty riff along the way. The heavily At The Drive In influenced, If It Ain't Broke, Break It, is an album stand out. Starting out with over a minute of sonic warfare, before progressing into crashing drums, the track develops into something truly special after around 3 minutes. This is earthquake music.
ASIWYFA calling card, TheseRIOTSareJUSTtheBEGINNING (ft. improved name) has not done so well out of a re-recording. Im tempted to just delete the new version and slip the old one in it's place. It's still good...it just feels less....dangerous. It's not as urgent, that bit at the end that gets your attention where it goes mental has slowed down noticeably....everything seems at a much more sensible volume...I dunno. I'm not sure.

Don't Waste Time Doing Things You Hate, soon to be the band's new comeonguyswecandothis anthem, is brilliant. It has the explosive guitars and silly noises that everyone can get behind. It's a truly optimistic number, and it isn't cheesy or contrived. It's just brilliant. And then comes that silly, Friendly Fires esque samba breakdown. Oh....ok....go on then. It's a bit silly, but in a genre that regularly takes itself too seriously, it's probably not a bad thing. Trackthatevenmumscanappreciate, The Voiceless, still sounds beautiful. It's a lovely song, and an apt penultimate number. Eat The City, Eat It Whole, sounds remarkably like Mount Kailash, but whatever. It's a darkly atmospheric closer, building on swishy swashy guitars before getting all excitable, and eventually exploding. I couldn't help but feel that Mount Kailash might have been a better album closer, despite being an old tune. It's still great though, and rampages off into the distance with a characteristic daftness.

It's not flawless, by any means. It's maybe not as trim as it could have been, and the re-recording of TheseRIOTS....is still upsetting me. But the fact that a wee band from NI are now one of the leaders in their genre, well, it's pretty darn impressive. As a debut it's incredibly strong, distinctive and fresh, in a genre that as already mentioned is full of copycats and samey-ness. If you wanted to initiate someone into post rock or instrumental with a short attention span, this would get the job done quicker than Mogwai or Sigur Ros. You're never going to be bored for long on this album, and as far as single tracks are concerned, it will keep you coming back for.....well, forever. Not only for the tunes, but cos however Northern Irish music progresses from now on, you can listen to this again and remember that you were there at a truly exiciting and promising time. You were there when ASIWYFA led the assault.

9.5/10

Rosetta - Wake/Lift

2009-03-29T17:35:00.006+01:00

Wake/Lift

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1. Red In Tooth And Claw
2. Lift (Part 1 & 2a)*
3. Lift (Part 2b & 3)*
4. Wake
5. (Temet Nosce)
6. Monument

It's taken a whack of sludge post metal to kick me back into the blogging habit, I feel this needs to be shared. This album is everything you could want; it has wonderfully airy moments which make you feel like you could be floating in space, and has a suitable element of guitar sludge for the purists out there.

Red In Tooth And Claw crashes in with walls of guitars and drums. The screaming vocals are there, definetely, but barely audible. Right away you know this isn't going to be an easy listening album, this is thick stuff, drenched in sound. It's a tough album to talk about track by track, since each track lasts about 3 or 4 times as long as a normal song, so I won't.
It's no secret that I am a fan of post rock, however my dabbles into metal are normally in the shallow end of the pool. Here, Rosetta have thrown post rock towards metal and seen what happens. Apart from the vocals, Wake/Lift does tend to lean towards the latter, but still maintains a gritty edge to it. Best listened to for when you have absolutely no plans apart from kick back and relax, although it sounds wierd for a metal album, Wake/Lift's ambient moments truly are beautiful and while they may not be as soft and purdy as a band like Sigur Ros, they are something to be marvelled at (See- Temet Nosce).

There are certainly no shortage of bands out there trying to achieve this sound, and it's a shame that this band hasn't gained more of a reputation in post metal/rock circles. I would reccomend this over the new ISIS record anyday.
If Miley Cyrus is your cup of tea, best to leave it. Then again, if Miley Cyrus is your cup of tea, you......you need help.

An album that will most definetely wake, and lift.

8.4/10

Did you ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?

2009-03-22T18:24:00.003Z

Born To Run, everyones favourite weekly feature......IS DEAD.
I have a load of albums I could have ranted on about....but frankly, forcing yourself to listen to something from within a certain year isn't what i'm about, ya'll. It certainly isn't within the spirit of this blog. I'll probably start some other weekly thing, just.....more enjoyable.

P.S. D'yu notice how, so far, I've basically gone against everything I said i'd do in my first post? I haven't talked about any sort of remix, no material whatsoever by Justice or Soulwax, I haven't mentionted that northern irish instrumental band, and I certainly haven't grumbled generally about lifes misgivings.

Oh well. Now's not the time to think about where you came from. It's Mother's day, after all.

Total Wipeout!!

2009-03-21T22:00:00.005Z

I couldn't not blog this. Regrettably only getting into this tonight, this has to be the funniest thing i've seen on BBC1 in recent memory. (Sorry Comic Relief, I know it's a good cause n all)

A series in which contestants run, slide and bounce along impossible obstacles, featuring commentary from Richard Hammond, (No, it's actually pretty good) this is just outstanding. A shame I only realised it on the grand final. This had me in stitches, particularly the sucker punch wall. Here's a cheeky clip. Enjoy. Hahahaha.

Mastodon - Crack The Skye

2009-03-21T18:48:00.005Z

Crack The Skye

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Stream it son! (For those not on waffles)

Oblivion
Divinations
Quintessence
The Czar / (I) Usurper / (II) Escape / (III) Martyr / (IV) Spiral
Ghost Of Karelia
Crack The Skye
The Last Baron

The new Mastodon album is going to cleave off your head. I mentioned confidently a while back that if the new album was as strong as the best single of the year so far, it would be unstoppable. It is.
I'm not going to make any highly intellectual comments (in general) about how Crack The Skye compares to the likes of Remission or Leviathan, because I haven't heard those two albums. This review (lol?) is from a newcomer's perspective, completely. A shameless bandwagon jumper...on-er.

What I am reasonably qualified to comment on, however, is the technical prowess displayed throughout by all musicians. Both guitar parts remain intricate and mind baffling at all times, the bass is played effortlessly, and the universally accepted demi-god of a drummer lives up to expectations. But no-one cares about that, so i'll move on.

The whole album, as mentioned, maintains an incomprehensible level of technicality throughout, but yet remains consistently morish and, dare I say it, easy on the ear. The Last Baron goes a bit wobbler in places, but is still thoroughly enjoyable. For me, this album has a high level of emotion, particularly with various choruses that sound like truly frantic, heart bursting stuff.

Oblivion is a slow burner with such a chorus, with frantic drums leading up to Brent Hinds' dark and melodic vocals. If Oblivion is a Friday night in watching Jonathan Ross, Divinations is getting absolutely splattered in Laverys and still being steaming the next day. Indeed even after several listens of this, i'm still reeling, and it will definetely be in my recently played for quite some time.

Quintessence is an airy finger tapping treat, kind've like that bit going up on a rollercoaster, you know you're about to be plunged into mayhem in a few seconds, but it wouldn't be as fun without the steady ascent. Some rough and ready guitar riffs lead us into main album track, The Czar.

Starting off pretty confidently and slyly, (like a usurper would, I guess) before building into a metal frenzy. It's Crack The Skye summarised in 10:54 minutes. Listen to the rest though....it's good....I promise. Ghost of Karelia is the only song on the album I could do without. It's not bad, it's just not great, and when you've only been given a seven song album, they should all be pretty special. Perhaps they set the standard too high at the start of the album, or perhaps it's because of what's to come next. Title track Crack The Skye is primal. A seriously rough howl over some distorted guitar chunk leads into the heart wrenching chorus. This is truely end of the world stuff, and suprisingly beautiful. Not a word i'd imagine using if you told me a few years ago i'd be listening to Mastodon. Then again, I also liked Keane a few years ago.
The bridge flickers back and forth at breakneck speed, before returning to that apocalyptic chorus. Fan fucking tastic.

The Atlanta shredders play us out with The Last Baron, a decidedly more calm affair. Things soon pick up though, even if by the laws of physics and musical ability, this song should not exist. A few more obvious prog rock moments before returning to the main theme, and going buck daft once more, and Crack The Skye comes to a close.

After several listens I feel I can now confidently say Crack The Skye will be one of the albums of the year. Although I don't listen to a lot of metal, (and after all, if you don't immerse yourself in a genre, you can't have an opinion on it, eh?) but you shouldn't be here if you don't want my opinion, and I genuinely believe this is great. Although for my gnat-like attention span, 10:54 and 13:01 are pushing it, both songs are great, and the album has several instantly gratifying songs to keep me happy after my large americano. (That sounded rude...maybe it's just me)

So yes, apparently great albums come around in groups, after a wee dry spell. I wasn't really expecting this to come out of no-where and for me to love it pretty much instantly. Such is life I guess.

LACK OF WITTY SIGN OFF.
...just listen.

9.3/10

New Modest Mouse- Satellite Skin

2009-03-20T22:28:00.004Z

Dirty. The moose are back, minus Johnny Marr, (who seems permanently shacked up with a certain UK indie band-presumably trying to make them sound more radio friendly) and plus a whole load of pasty white guys. Satellite Skin comes from the band's forthcoming E.P. , No One's First And You're Next - comprising of b sides and leftovers from the band's last two albums. The new song is simple enough.....not that many MM songs aren't...but they usually bring it back with something wierd , or a horrible shout from Brocky Mc Brockerson. It's got an ok riff I guess....i'm sure it'll grow on me.
Another song to feature on the new E.P., King Rat, was directed by Heath Ledger and is to be released later on in the year.

Letterman chirps up at the end, "You passed the audition."
Hmmmm. We'll see.

Röyksopp - Junior

2009-03-17T16:11:00.004Z

Junior

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1. Happy Up Here
2. The Girl and the Robot
3. Vision One
4. This Must Be It
5. Röyksopp Forever
6. Miss It So Much
7. Tricky Tricky
8. You Don't Have A Clue
9. Silver Cruiser
10. True to Life
11. It's What I Want
12. Were You Ever Wanted

They take their time, these fellas. The electronic chillout legends from Norway have been tentative when it comes to releasing full length albums, but when you release records as groundbreaking and goddamn awesome as Melody A.M. , we're willing to forgive. No pressure on Junior then, 4 years after 2005's upbeat offering The Understanding.

For the band's 3rd full length, they've pulled out all the stops in assembling an all-star ass kicking team of Nordic talent, consisting of Robyn, Lykke Li, and Karin Dreijer of the Knife. Also appearing is Anneli Drecker, who appeared on 2001's Melody A.M.
The album sets the bar high, slightly too high, with first single Happy Up Here. Encapsulating the classic Röyksopp sound, blips and blops, a waxy bassline, and a touch of campness, it ensures that Junior has your attention, and is simply magnificient. This is what juicy fruit flavoured gum sounds like. As someone I know once said, however, the danger with singles being released before albums is that after repeated listens, they then become that song. The song that's a reference point for the entire album, what following songs will be judged by. Röyksopp aren't really a singles, dancefloor slaying machine. They make swathes of driven, chillout bliss, and although the album is good, the strength of the first track almost detracts from the overall listen. I'm guessing the average listener will maybe make it five tracks in before they stick on Happy Up Here again.

Enough of that, back to the driven electronica I was talking about. The Girl and the Robot, with Robyn on vocals, demonstrates this perfectly. The tune doesn't go the way you think it should....like most Röyksopp songs. It pays off however, and is another example of a Röyksopp song being highly enjoyable but also having something indistinguishably sinister about it at the same time.
Junior takes its foot off the gas slightly, (but what do I want from a chillout duo, I guess) whilst remaining no less brilliant. The wonderfully distinctive voice of Karin Dreijer bursts through on This Must Be It, a stomping electro voodoo beast, a fitting precursor to a "Let's go all quiet" moment, Röyksopp Forever. Moments like this on the album prove that these guys still know how to take it down a notch better than most. Miss It So Much is an album highlight, featuring Swedish indie pop pixie Lykke Li. Unlike the other collaborations on the album, (which are still sweet) it seems as though more thought has gone into this one. The song matches her voice perfectly, and could really be one of her own songs played on keyboards with blippity blops, a contrast to what seems to be a slightly, recordsomeelectroandthrowabignameatit attitude. Also, that which cannot pass without comment is Tricky Tricky. I quite like it, but I have to say, "Six afraid of seven, cos seven ate nine" has to be one of the campest/unsettling things i've heard this year. It's a bit like anything presented by Dale Winton. Regardless, these guys still have the tunes to pull through.

Junior is good. I was however, really, really looking forward to this. Anything that promises a mix of Melody A.M. and The Understanding, frankly, should be friggin' awesome. It's not that it's not....it's just....I dunno. It's already grown on me after several listens, and hopefully it will continue to do so. It's still one of the best releases of 2009 so far, and the best electronic album of the year so far, but I was expecting instant classic material. And even after several listens, I don't think i'm going to get that. It suffers slightly from not knowing whether it's an upbeat electronic stomper of an album or a chilled out lounge party record, and while that is a mix of the two aformentioned albums, the contrast is done with little grace, with one track being a pulsing dance tune and the next being a wistful blippy bloppy marshmallow.

It isn't quite the musical apex that Melody A.M. was, but even still. I'm happy up here.

8.6/10

Eat. Sleep. Folk.

2009-03-15T22:07:00.004Z

The man with the most rockstar-ish name in Northern Ireland plays for us here an acoustic set for local station, NvTv. Featuring a very different version of LaFaro crowd pleaser Tupenny Nudger, a Bob Dylan cover, plus an amazing version of James River Blues, Jonny Black shows us there's more to him than a confused look and a few chunky power chords.

Let me see it, pls.

Born To Run #3

2009-03-15T21:38:00.005Z

Pixies - Bossanova

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1. Cecilia Ann

2. Rock Music

3. Velouria

4. Allison

5. Is She Weird

6. Ana

7. All Over the World

8. Dig for Fire

9. Down to the Well

10. Happening

11. Blown Away

12. Hang Wire

13. Stormy Weather

14. Havalina

I had a meaty handful of albums I could have done for everyone's favourite weekly music feature, (lol?) featuring several smart and dry witty things to say. Most of these were albums beyond my normal musical pallette, and I would have made reference to the joy to be had in avant-garde musical exploration, and how variety's the spice of life, and all that. But at the end of the day, particularly a Sunday spent doing a long drawn out Philosophy essay, some gloriously simple and instantly pleasing grunge pop with easily discernable tunes is all that you could want.

Bossanova followed on from Pixies' career defining Dolittle, the one which usually tops best of charts and has a few tunes that you'll have heard before. And, I mean, it's pretty good....its got the insta hit tunes.....but Bossanova is a far more consistent album. It's not garish or trying to grab your attention, and it has a natural flow. Bossanova starts off with psych rock freak out Cecilia Ann, (it's a lot more rock than it sounds) a surf rock anthem meets the four horsemen of the apocalypse. Rock Music....this track made me think I had been duped into downloading a metal album from a remote shed in Sweden. I was not expecting this. It's abrasive, but it isn't unpleasant. Which leads onto the anthemic Velouria, shimmering with an unsettling edge. The first half of this album really rattles along joyously, with Kim Deal providing some pulsing basslines. The pace slackens somewhat, however the songs are no less enjoyable or inventive.

This album wouldn't be a bad starting point for many bands starting out today. A listen or two to this album before young lads rush out to make indie topshop nonsense would, I imagine, see a higher standard of tuneage. Be confident, true to yourself, have a laugh, break up down the line, shameless reform, terrible comeback single, disband.

Live the dream.

Wavves - Wavvves

2009-03-14T22:03:00.005Z

Wavvves

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1. Rainbow Everywhere
2. Beach Demon
3. To the Dregs
4. Sun Opens My Eyes
5. Gun in the Sun
6. So Bored
7 .Goth Girls
8. No Hope Kids
9. Weed Demon
10. California Goths
11. Summer Goth
12. Beach Goth
13. Killr Punx, Scary Demons
14. Surf Goth

For the uninitiated, a quick google or search on your music site of choice will bring up results such as, "Pop noise" or "Beach punk" for Californian artist, Wavves. However, boxing this album into such specific genres is difficult and frankly, needless. Wavvves is simply a big silly mess.

First of all, the "Pop" part. I doubt we'll be seeing an Annie Lennox collab any time soon. This is fuzzy guitar drenched treacle. The brief noisebites crash and burn wiith grizzly guitar melodies and flickers of delay. It does share a similarity with pop music however in that it is shamelessly fun. Much like the Cows album, it can be hard at times to remember why you're listening to this. Gratification is far from instant with this album, but it pays off in the end. Whilst noise feasts like Rainbow Everywhere and Killr Punx, Scary Demons are acceptable and neccessary to build up walls of fuzz and add an unsettling atmosphere, there's slightly too many tracks like this. Wavves is at his best when delivering snappy punk such as Beach Demon, To The Dregs, or album highlight So Bored.

And these tracks are the dogs balleex. It's the sort of music you ought to stick on really loud to piss off your mates when you're still drunk, and they're sober as a judge. Or when you're asked to pick a song for a family event and for some reason want to offend every single one of your relatives. On their own these tracks can flounder and you'll just look like a twat; you need to listen to this album in its entirety or in clumps of songs to fully appreciate. Listening to this record under altered states of mind would also help, (omgsubstanceabusez) leaving the noisey bits rendered less offensive and the squealy punk bites all the more glorious. Still, the reason the more tuneful numbers are so pleasing is that they contrast with the noisey 3 minute meat cleavers so well. And of course, one can't be intoxicated all the time, right?!?

Hmmm.

7.9/10

The Antlers- Hospice

2009-03-14T17:42:00.004Z

Hospice

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1. Prologue
2. Kettering
3. Sylvia
4. Atrophy
5. Bear
6. Thirteen
7. Two
8. Shiva
9. Wake
10. Epilogue

Several listens of this album has left me quite speechless, but since that sort've snookers you if you're trying to write about an album, i'll have to manage.
Hospice is the work of singer songwriter Peter Silberman, who upon moving to NYC in 2006, disappeared into isolation for a year and a half. Hospice emerged out of this isolation, and as such is beautiful, introspective, and forlorn.
The theme of sadness prevails throughout this album, conveyed through slow, dreamy tunes and Silberman's wistful falsettos. His voice is brilliant, and couldn't suit this music better.

The album starts off with the eerie Prologue, and sets the scene that Hospice is going to be a heavy, less than cheery affair. By the second listen of this album I had forgotten how beautiful Kettering was. A minimalist piano piece with an Anthony Hegarty esque vocal makes for a chilling experience. "I should have quit but instead I took care of you/You made me sleep and uneven/And I didn't believe them when they told me there was no saving you." The soundtrack to the next Fast and Furious film, this is not. Some shoegaze elements and crashing drums culminate in a devastating triumph.

Sylvia starts as tentatively as previous tracks, before exploding in a wall of sound. Atrophy is a gentle and desperate tale, but the album keeps its head just above the water (The water here being, you wanting to kill yourself) with melodic piano lines and fuzzy electronics. Also tucked away at the end of Atrophy is a wonderous acoustic gem.
Singles Bear and Two aren't nearly as sorrowful as the other tracks on the album, yet still maintain the bands' characteristically introspective sound. The latter even manages to be a great pop song.

The album finishes with Epilogue (Lol prologue + epilogue I c wut they did der) . For a song with truly depressing lyrics, it still manages to be a perfectly contented pop-acoustic song. "But now it's not a cancer ward/we're sleeping in the morgue." Yes, quite. Silberman's vocals reach an emotional apex before he is cut off by fuzzy electronics. Honestly, this isn't as tragic as it sounds. It's not going to win you any friends as a happy go lucky kinda guy, and it won't be DJ Dez Dancelot's choice on a Saturday night, but on a grey cloudy day, I can think of nothing better to stick on and fall asleep to.

I haven't listened to an album this year yet and thought, aw jeah, album of the year material.

'Bout frikkin time.

9.2/10

Bullion - Young Heartache E.P.

2009-03-09T21:41:00.008Z

Young Heartache E.P.

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1. Young Heartache
2. Are You The One?
3. Time For Us All To Love
4. Long Promised

This is really good. A fifteen minute long, warm summery hug from instrumental hip hop/electronic mofo, Bullion.
I'll get the obvious comparison and the one which hits you twenty seconds into Young Heartache out of the way; Bullion is very, very similiar to Flying Lotus. The same brand of soul infused, thick electronic beats prevails in both artists catalogues, yet Bullion manages to make his work just about distinguishable by freckling it with samples from Film and popular culture, and at times introducing dreamy soundscapes into his music.

First track Young Heartache is an apt all round introduction to Bullion, with eerie vocal samples and drum loops that sound as if they've had one too many drinks. Are You The One? takes things a bit more seriously with it's prominent bassline, before the dreamy Time For Us All To Love takes over, sounding as if it could be taken from The Avalanches back catalogue. This really is paradise music. Bullion plays us out with the jazzy dreaminess of Long Promised. At a brief 15 minutes, Young Heartache hits the balance of just about right and leaving you wanting more.

I don't want to generalise about an entire genre that I know next to little about, but (omgwtfhypocritz) Bullion has created some of the freshest sounding Hip Hop that I've heard, from anyone, ever. Maybe it's my inkling for music without prominent vocals, but this really is warming, summery stuff. While i'm not sure after describing a drum track as drunk that I can call this the most intelligent music i've heard in a while, it is a very confident E.P., and its sounds speak of being drunk on a beach at sunset, or chilling in the garden in the summer with your mates. Normally you listen to a piece of music and then associate it with memories; with Young Heartache, you've already mapped out what you'll be listening this to.

Bullion, along with Flying Lotus, will be hailed in ten years as one of the founders of modern hip hop. Get ahead of the curve.

8.6/10

Metric - Fantasies

2009-03-09T13:02:00.005Z

Fantasies

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1. Help I'm Alive
2. Sick Muse
3. Satellite Mind
4. Twilight Galaxy
5. Gold Guns Girls
6. Gimme Sympathy
7. Collect Call
8. Front Row
9. Blindness
10. Stadium Love

Fantasies comes four years after Canadian girl + 3 guy group Metric's last album, Live It Out. It featured the track Monster Hospital, which did very well and got remixed tae fuck.
With vocalist Emily Haines' dreamy voice perfectly suited for indie rock music, and a band which obviously know how to write a catchy song, there wasn't much that could have gone wrong here. And, it hasn't.....but it hasn't really blown me away either.

Which would leave us floating in meh. Help I'm Alive, the first single off Fantasies, is great. It's catchy and regularly returns to the "Beating like a hammer" refrain, and Haines' vocals of, "They're gonna eat me alive/If I stumble" is quite touching. Next track Sick Muse, while making a good impression on first listen, fails to ascend much past middle of the road indieocrity. The album melds into garage rock guitars and floaty electronics until Gold Guns Girls, which despite some cringe worthy lyrics, is pretty decent.

This is an album which is trying to sound big. Despite the band releasing this independently in the states, there's an overall impression that they're aiming for Coldplay levels of radio play, which they aren't going to get. Ambition is fine, but it seems creativity has been sacrificed in it's place. Awk, it's not a bad album, and when listening to it you'll probably think, "This is fine", and it is, but after an entire listen of this album I would challenge you to walk away humming one of these songs. Fantasies fails to leave any sort of lasting impression, and instead of being a solid indie rock record from a band which have more things going for them than most in their position, it has ideas above its station and falls gruesomely between two posts.

You could do alot worse, and you could do alot better, but nothing is worse than indifference.

5.2/10

Born To Run #2

2009-03-08T13:39:00.006Z

Cows- Effete and Impudent Snobs

Last.fm
Buy it (Not rly has been discontinued lolo)

Let me have this horrible, horrible music.

1. Memorial

2. Dirty Leg

3. Big Mickey

4. Preyed on

5. Immigrant Song

6. Whitey in the Woodpile

7. Nancy Boy Cocaine Whore Blues

8. Cartoon Corral

9. Little Bit

10. Put Me Down

11. Sittin' Around

No, I haven't heard of them before either. I'm not really sure why, after one listen, i'm listening to this again. It's disgusting.
Screw MSTRKRFT, if a dirty bassline is what you're looking for, and I mean, dirty, then look no further.

Effete and Impudent Snobs is a 35 minute sonic rape of an album from Minneapolis noise-rock dudes, Cows. First track Memorial snarls in with a greasy bassline and welcomes you to the hellish musical pit you'll be dwelling in for the next half an hour or so, should you see this album out to the end. Which you probably won't.
The first half of this album squeals along with barely distinguishable guitar melody, yet there's still a sense of growing darkness. I've never heard something which I imagine to sound so much like hell itself, Glasvegas jokes aside. The tension eases up slightly on The Emigrant Song, and I mean lighten up comparitively. It still sounds like you've been given a two and a half minute long song to listen to while the entire world laughs at you behind your back. Whitey in the Woodpile, (presumably written about Kevin Brown) is a brief refrain of silliness, before the barrel of laughs of Nancy Boy Cocaine Whore Blues. This is horrible, brain frying stuff, and truely would be an apt punishment for a lifetime of sin.

Strangely, however, I like this album. I meant everything I said, it is horrible........but sometimes that hits the spot. I would reccomend giving the band a listen on last.fm before downloading this feral beast. I mentioned not seeing it through to the end, and whilst I did, it's doubtful that the average listener will. All too often the temptation to listen to something.....with some sort of discernable tune, kicks in. This is a filthy album though, reccomended for when you're not feeling quite yet human after the night before. Or for those with implosive tempers; this is our soundtrack to finally cracking.

Hardly essential, but enjoyable filth. Bit like Skins.

Anamanaguchi- The Dawn Metropolis

2009-03-04T12:45:00.015Z

The Dawn
Metropolis

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1. Blackout City
2. Jetpack Blues
3.Dawn Metropolis
4. Danger Mountain
5. Overarrow
6. Tempest, Teamwork, Triumph (At Sea)
7. Mermaid

Anamanaguchi are a four piece NYC band from the "chiptune" scene. Whilst this may immediately bring Crystal Castles into your head, this album is different from a lot of other albums in the same genre.

First of all, that cover. God it's great. Even before listening to the music I feel like im playing the SNES. It also fits the tunes perfectly.
I mentioned this album being different from similiar styled bands. Whilst a band like Crystal Castles are pulling no punches in aiming for the scenester crowd, Amanaguchi on The Dawn Metropolis, don't care. Their tunes are here for you to listen to, regardless of your scepticism or raised eyebrows. If you're in a bad mood, stick on Unknown Pleasures. Come back when you're ready to smile again.
This album is a massive heap of fun, and even if you didn't play Super Mario all stars or Donkey Kong world as a nipper, it'll make you think you did. If you were a nerd as a child, this is for you. It will fill you with memories of nintendos, rainbows and innocence.

A hacked nintendo system is combined wonderfully with fuzzy power chords and a band with an ear for a tune. Whilst you'd be hard pressed to find something like this in the charts, many of these melodies would suit some of todays modern pop artists, just maybe not as frantic as on display here.
The first two tracks snap, crackle and pop along happily, and are a good idea of what this band's all about. The title track shows off that ear for a tune I was talking about, and on Danger Mountain, the electronics go absolutely alloy. The same theme continues along until album closer Mermaid, which despite not being a chiptune Flight of The Conchords cover builds up quickly and confidently, culminating in a mess of joyful electro nonsense.

This album is free leech for a bit on Waffles, and has helped give this band some deserved exposure. I also advise checking out the official website, which is very cool. At 7 tracks in 26 minutes, its pretty much exactly the length you'd want an album of this sort of music to be. The pace is maintained, and this is great, great fun throughout.

A little nostalgia goes a long way.

9.0/10

Greenday- Still alive, and with new material.

2009-03-03T00:35:00.007Z

Bleh. The soundtrack to whenever you first started playing a cool instrument are back, with a "21st century breakdown." Oh gad.
Mainly about how his generation sucks, Billy Joel sings, ""My generation is zero / I never made it as a working class hero." He is entitled I suppose, to express his dissapointment at his depraved and lower class lifestyle.
I would for one, however, like to hear Greenday singing about money and porsches, and not in an ironic way.
And with Bush no longer in power, Billy Joel has only one thing left to rant about; how we've failed future generations. Awwwww. Before breaking into a Queen esque bridge and shouting, "the bastards of 1969!"
It certainly isn't something unpredictable.

Born To Run

2009-03-01T18:15:00.018Z

The 1990's - They bestowed a plethora of gifts upon the world. From the Poll tax, to randy politicians, (maybe they had been steaming the night before or something) the 90's had it all.

1990 was also the year I was born, and in a tenuous linkage i've decided to chuck up an album every week from 1990, which I may or may not have come out of the womb listening to. Awesome.

Fugazi- Repeater + 3 Songs

Last.fm
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1. Turnover

2. Repeater

3. Brendan No 1

4. Merchandise

5. Blueprint

6. Sieve Fisted Find

7. Greed

8. Two Beats Off

9. Styrofoam

10. Reprovisional

11. Shut The Door

12. Song #1
13. Joe # 1
14. Break-in

Repeater is a suprisingly listenable punk rock record, and an incredibly solid one. The angry guitar squealing doesn't let up, and if it does, it's done to make way for some fancy bass fretwork. Despite being a punk album, Repeater has some serious indie rock sensibilities. Take opener Turnover, for example. Before ex-Minor Threat vocalist Ian MacKaye's angry taunts are introduced, you could be forgiven for thinking you were listening to a classic indie rock record. Shit, the bass part could even belong to a Joy Division song.

It is a punk album though, and even with 14 songs rattles along in just over 40 minutes. This urgency lends itself perfectly to the music and ensures you don't go sticking on another album before it's done. It isn't an effort, though, as previously mentioned it's an easy album to listen to. As one screaming riff ends, another palm-muted harbringer of chaos has begun.

It is, also, a hoot. While it does have enough tuneful moments to appeal to a large audience, sometimes it can be extremely fun to listen to someone else go absolutely buck daft, and Repeater has those moments in spades.

Well worth a listen.

New Mastodon single- Divinations

2009-02-27T23:34:00.002Z

Divinations

Mastodon's new single is a fucking beast. Starting off with a creepy snake charmer esque riff, it goes into the musical equivalent of a wrestling match between the Devil and Jay Curran , before the what must surely be impossible drum roll takes it into the main, runaway train-on-fire riff. The chorus is pleasingly melodic, and the bridge will tear off your head.

The new album, Crack The Skye, will be released on March 24th. If the album is as strong as this, Jay help us all.

Brilliant.

New S.M.D. - Steals title from some Soulwax album

2009-02-27T22:19:00.006Z

1000 Horses Can't Be Wrong

Filthy. The new tune from Simian Mobile Disco starts off pretty reservedly, with a few trademark blip blops. It then goes all, "Oh yeah, thats Simian Mobile Disco". At a beefy six minutes it ain't gonna be an insta hit, but pretty nice to see something from the likeable nerds of eletronic musask.

Enough, gief track pls

The world according to Ben Whiteside: Volume one

2009-02-26T17:59:00.003Z

"She has a chin, that you could write Shakespeare on......if she was upside down."

Bask.

The Dismemberment Plan - "Emergency & I"

2009-02-25T00:02:00.002Z

Emergency & I

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Myspaz

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1. Life Of Possibilities

2. Memory Machine

3. What Do You Want Me To Say

4. Spider In The Snow

5. Jitters

6. I Love A Magician

7. You Are Invited

8. Gyroscope

9. City

10. Girl O' Clock

11. 8 1/2 Minutes

12. Back And Forth

This ain't a review......this album has been out for 10 years, and I doubt even my Shakespearean way with words is going to change anyones opinion. Simply here because I haven't been able to listen to much else the past two weeks. Catchy as fuck, (see: "Shakespearean") and with a sense of humour throughout, it really is my kind of album. Although...i'm pretty sure it's not that great. Hes not an incredible singer, and although the world is short of white guitar bands, (LOL) there's nothing that points to this having changed the world.

Regardless, this has been rocking my world for the last couple of weeks, (wouldn't take much) and will definetely continue to do so. Until ASIWYFA release something new, or Bloc Party go back to being good.

NO SCOREZ LOL/10.

Skag Trendy

2009-02-24T22:45:00.000Z

So I started a blog so I did, an internet deadspace where I can grumble to myself about life's misgivings, talk about that reeeeallly good new remix by Soulwax, that reeeeally lame new remix by Justice, and whatever else I feel like. A certain Northern Irish instrumental band are also likely to be mentioned quite a bit.

Music will be posted with links, hopefully.

That is all, best wishes, suckem.