I’ve just realised its been a while since I’ve posted on here (well, a couple of days anyway). Real life has been getting in the way and I’ve been a bit busy, no gigs or reviews yet, though I’ve got a couple of records to review before Monday. One record that fell through the letter box this week was the new album from a band called The Ponys.

I’d not heard of these guys before, but a quick search on AMG sparked my interest. Turn The Lights Out will be their third album, but they’ve been recorded by Steve Albini (a musical hero of mine) so I rushed to play the album. I wasn’t disappointed. It’s a garage-punk-shoegazing-rock album. Oh yes. Different tracks throw up different influences, the opening songs reminding me of The Von Bondies whilst others remind me of Ride or My Bloody Valentine. The production is dark and brooding, the instruments sound dense and just out of focus. A band well worth checking out.

Links
www.myspace.com/theponys
www.theponys.com/

Future Of The Left - Fingers Become Thumbs!

This is the kind of single that should benefit from the new changes in the UK Singles Chart. Just under two minutes of pure, unadultured noise madness. The Future Of The Left is the other half of Mclusky, not the Shooting At Unarmed men lot, but singer/guitarist Andy Falkous and drummer Jack Egglestone. This debut double ‘A’ side single is a complete blast of fresh air and those hankering after more Mclusky madness, this is for you. The music still sounds as fractured and as harsh as it ever did, the obvious influence of Steve Albini ever present, but this is back to the original Mclusky, no indie rock here, this is an aggressive and harsh listen.

Links
Full review
www.myspace.com/futureoftheleft
www.futureoftheleft.com/

The Hedrons - One More Won’t Kill Us
The title of The Hedrons debut album, One More Won’t Kill Us, has a hint of self reference. Do we really need more punk rock chicks thrashing around on stage being all aggressive and shouty? Well, after listening to this, sure we do… There are a few stipulations however.

Links
Full review
www.myspace.com/thehedrons
www.thehedrons.com/

Whatever you think about Supergroups, The Good, The Bad & The Queen re-write the rule book. Their self-titled album, released last week, is an album full of understated beauty. It’s not an instant album, it’s so delicately put together than the songs only truly open themselves to you after repeated listens. Damon Albarn’s voice full of anxiety and, at times, sounds a little strained and half-arsed, but he’s only summing up the themes captured here. The songs all deal with living in Britain in the 21st Century, a fractured and disturbing place that still exists in the shadow, muscially, of Britpop in the 90’s and Albarn wrote this as a counterpiece and successor to Parklife.

In my opinion it’s quickly becoming one of my favourite albums of the 00’s, I love everything about it, from the delicate intrumentation through to it’s themes and emotional involving lyrics. A true highlight.

Read a review from one of my fellow writers on CD Times.

Below is an excerpt from The Culture Show which featured The Good, The Bad & The Queen.

New Young Pony Club have been hotly tipped for this year, being included in the latest NME craze “Nu-Rave” isn’t going to help though, but I like these guys. It’s left-field pop music with overly polished synthesizers and chiming guitars. The video also mixes two of the World’s favourite things; sweets and porn. It looks like Beartie Bassett’s wet dream, but hey, they look like their having fun!

Heads up on a couple of interesting features over on Pitchfork at the moment.

First is a light hearted interview with Band Of Horses which involves a great conversation involving them watching the recent, what sounds like, Ashes matches in Australia.

Pitchfork: Are you an NFL fan?

Ben Bridwell: Little bit. We’ll watch it, right?
Creighton Barrett: Yeah.
BB: Any reason to sit around and drink beer on a nice day. I mean, I’ll watch back-to-back baseball games, and you’ve gotta be pretty stupid to waste your day like that.
CB: We can watch cricket too.
BB: We watched Cricket in Australia. We got into it. We understood it after a while.
CB: Crazy game. Real crazy. Once you understand it, it makes less sense.

Love the last bit… sometimes cricket does feel like that!

Full interview here.

Next feature is Clap Your Hands Say Yeah completing Pitchforks Guest List questionnaire, with their favourite record of the moment being the fantabulous Orphans boxset by Tom Waits.

Full feature here.

After their much praised debut, Let’s Get Worse, the Desert Hearts seemed to go into hiding. Released in 2002, it topped many a year end list but, after a 4 year wait, they’ve returned with an aggressive yet tuneful record filled with catchy riffs and angst driven lyrics with the front cover hinting at the contents within; dark, disturbing and yet oddly beautiful.

From first pressing the ‘play’ button you get mesmerised by the crunching rhythm section and pulsating riffs. They sound like the missing link between Sonic Youth and Sparklehorse, spinning together the more pop-orientated aspects of these bands and fusing them into this glorious sound. “Goodbye to Everything” sounds like Sparklehorse with the whispered and fuzzed up vocals yet running through it are crystal clear guitars and electronic tones. “Gravitas” is one of the many highlights. Beginning with some echoing guitars, delicately placed around a simple drum line with the vocals quietly sung, it then jars into something altogether more aggressive - the drums crash through with screaming howls in the background and the guitars thrashing around.

What’s really amazing about this album is how fresh it sounds. You can hear their influences firmly in the songs, but they way they’ve arranged them and hooked them into their own form and spirit is what really impresses. Each song is a compelling listen, an amazing mix of styles and sounds that captures the imagination. “Ocean” takes it’s cues from Californian surf-pop and early Weezer with its chiming guitars and catchy riff yet descends into crashing guitars and feedback. “New Kings” is one of the best indie tunes I’ve heard in ages, a perfect blend of absorbing riffs, “ba da” harmonies and a sing-a-long chorus, the guitar line echoes in my head for hours after I hear it.

This record epitomises all that’s great about music. They’ve managed to successful channel their influences and musical heroes into something original. They’ve created some wonderfully vivid and exhilarating music and which even extends to the excellent album title which has an amusing story behind it apparently… they just haven’t told anyone, yet. If they keep on making records like this however, they won’t be able to hide from it for very much longer.

Links
www.myspace.com/deserthearts
www.gargleblastrecords.com/

The Earlies - The Enemy Chorus
It seems as though there’s a re-appreciation for 70’s prog-rock at the moment. Whether it’s as a response to the vast quantities of bland rubbish being spewed into the charts at the moment or it’s the latest fashionable decade to be seen to name check who knows, but, in my mind at least, it’s great to see and hear. Most of those bands quickly lost the plot and became too over blown for their own good (see Yes and Genesis) but they did produce some ambitious and ground breaking music. With their second album The Earlies seem to have taken cues from these bands as means of developing their sound.

For starters The Enemy Chorus isn’t as shoe-gazing or as mellow as their debut. There was a certain innocent charm about that record, but this has a more polished and assured feel to it. Whilst it’s nice to hear a band develop their sound, it doesn’t always work. The drums and multi-instrumental parts sound overly produced in places and feels as though they’ve been programmed badly. The brass-section on “Foundation and Earth” sounds like its come from some cheap and nasty Casio keyboard found in Argos.

However when it does work, it works wonderfully. The title track is a beautifully meandering song that builds through various disparate parts into one cohesive vision. Simple drums and keyboards echo around the gently spaced out vocals which reminds me of Gabriel-era Genesis. Other highlights include “Little Trooper”, which is built up around various TV / radio samples and a simple piano line which harks back to the shoe-gazing tendencies of the debut, and “Burn The Liars” with it’s 70’s Glam feel sounds like the Scissor Sisters if they’d actually listened to Pink Floyd rather than covering them. The album finishes with the great “When The Wind Blows” and instrumental “Breaking Point”. The former has plenty in common with The Secret Machines with its cranked up and overly-produced drums but it still sounds like The Earlies and it’s a rare move into an up tempo song that surprisingly suits them.

One unexpected bonus with this album (and supporting singles) has been its artwork, they’ve been exquisite. The design compliments the music perfectly and harks back to the LP artworks (and Roger Dean pieces) of the 60’s and 70’s where care and attention was taken over them. It’s just a shame it’s crammed onto such a small space!

So whilst their second album might not be as an outright joyous event as their debut, it’s still full of delights and sounds like a band who aren’t happy to plough the same furrows as everyone else. They want to do something different and they’re going to do it their way. And, with evidence like this, who can blame them.

Links
www.cdtimes.co.uk
www.myspace.com/theearlies
www.theearlies.com/

Kristin Hersh - Learn To Sing Like A Star
Former Throwing Muse Kristin Hersh has been around a bit (I’m sure she won’t mind me saying). Twenty years and fifteen albums into a career which has seen her front a seminal Alt-Rock band and scream “shut the fuck up” whilst steering the good ship 50 Foot Wave on its course, she’s also released a series of solo albums. All three projects have differed in sound and presentation and her 7th studio effort is one of her more laid-back efforts. Learn To Sing Like A Star maybe the title of the record but there’s no likelihood of her appearing on Pop Idol just yet, that husky howl of a voice is still there and the music still decidedly off-kilter if pandering more to the mainstream this time round.

Where this album disappoints is in its lack of any real vision. The songs are all pretty similar and don’t really sound any different from other alt-rock front women, which is rather worrying. This has plenty in common with Tanya Donnelly’s recent slump in form, it all sounds rather safe. “Peggy Lane” could have been written by any female singer-songwriter in the past 40 years whilst “Vertigo” is a simple folk song that doesn’t really go anywhere and recent single “In Shock” is so shockingly (sorry) alt-rock by numbers that I’m amazed that it was the lead single from this album.

There are a couple of highlights though that drags this out of the mire. “Sugarbaby” sounds impossibly like acoustic grunge, as if it was recorded in a dark, damp basement, the guitars all dirty and fuzzed up and racing through the chorus with Hersh’s husky drawl just off centre. “Wild Vanilla” follows in a similar vein with its acoustic rock approach augmented by a whispy string section. The closing track is also a real gem and the album highlight. “The Thin Man” is a haunting ballad with brooding piano and strings with that voice sounding sinister with its throaty growl, all infused with sporadic guitars dusted in feedback.

A patchy return then, but one that still hints at past glories and suggests that she’s still got the talent; it just needs a little more direction and a sense of adventure.

Links
www.cdtimes.co.uk
www.myspace.com/kristinhersh
www.throwingmusic.com/

See the full article and pictures here.

Further proof that Canada is cooler than America: While our high schools get motivational speakers and pep rallies for special events, Canada’s kids get concerts by the Arcade Fire in their cafeteria. Okay, so it’s not that common an occurrence, and Canterbury isn’t just any Ottawa high school; it’s the alma mater of Arcade Fire charter member Richard Reed Parry. On Friday night, Parry brought his colleagues to the lunchroom of his youth for a special, top-secret performance, open only to Canterbury students and their guests, with all proceeds going to Canterbury Arts Centre Development Association, the organization that helps fund the school’s highly-regarded arts programs. Thanks to a tip from the Pitchfork Intelligence Agency’s Ottawa bureau (local student Matt Bostelaar) and the good graces of the band’s management, we were given the privilege of being the creepy old guy at the show, the lone media witness to the proceedings.

Of course, this wasn’t just a special-venue one-off for the band– it was also the premiere performance of material from their forthcoming album Neon Bible, and the first show on a tour that promises to rival the marathon jaunt to promote the band’s breakthrough debut, Funeral. Having already sold out three five-night runs each in New York, Montreal, and London, this show (and an equally hush-hush appearance in their hometown the next night) served as an open rehearsal for the Neon Bible songs, a chance to test out the new equipment in a humble space. And it doesn’t get much more humble than one end of a small school cafeteria, where the crew had to cover overhead fluorescent lights that couldn’t be turned off, the security staff was a dozen grandparents in matching t-shirts, and the Green Room was hastily set up in the teacher’s lounge.

With such a hospitable audience, the obligatory technical issues and fumbling associated with the new songs from Neon Bible were no big deal. All but three songs in the set were from the upcoming record, and these performances largely lacked the Arcade Fire’s characteristic stage frenzy, as if the group still has to concentrate hard on playing each song correctly before they can resume attacking each other with percussion instruments. But the statelier sound of the new album was still given a more unhinged flavor on stage– the shoutalong choral parts of the newly recorded “No Cars Go” and “Black Wave/Bad Vibrations” were every bit as heart-skipping as those from “Rebellion (Lies)” or “Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)”. New toys were in abundance: Win Butler strummed a mandolin for “Keep the Car Running”, Régine Chassagne cranked a hurdy-gurdy, and a laptop was used to replicate the massive church organ from “Intervention” (although it seemed to have some unfortunate triggering problems).

But such hiccups couldn’t dent the show’s feel-good armor, as the band shyly fed off the energy of the young crowd. Parry, repeatedly referred to as “Richie” by the school organizers, obviously seemed to be the most bemused of all, lecturing the kids on how lucky they are to attend Canterbury and smiling at the girls with homemade “CHS Lit Program Loves Richard!” shirts in the front row. Raw and unpracticed as it was, the setting was ultimately perfect for the Arcade Fire, whose undiluted melodrama and emotional sweep is the perfect soundtrack for the struggles of high school students, or the high school feelings that linger deep within us older fans. For a band on the brink of storming the globe for a second time, it was a chance to reconnect with the world they’re so good at portraying, a reminder as valuable as any rehearsal.

At last! 10th February sees The Crane Wife, the fourth full length from Portland, Oregons favourite literate indie-pop troupe get a UK release. God knows why its taken so long, it was released in October in the States! Rough Trade are putting it out over here. Pre-order it here.

The Decemberists - The Crane Wife
1. Crane Wife 3 [DOWNLOAD]
2. The Island
Come and See / The Landlord’s Daughter / You’ll Not Feel the Drowning
3. Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then) [DOWNLOAD]
4. O Valencia
5. The Perfect Crime 2
6. When The War Came
7. Shankhill Butchers
8. Summersong
9. Crane Wife 1 And 2
10. Sons And Daughters

WATCH >>>
The Decemberists - O Valencia [Live on The David Letterman Show]

Allmusic.com review
Colin Meloy and his brave Decemberists made the unlikely jump to a major label after 2005’s excellent Picaresque, a move that surprised both longtime fans and detractors of the band. While it is difficult to imagine the suits at Capitol seeing dollar signs in the eyes of an accordion- and bouzouki-wielding, British folk-inspired collective from Portland, OR, that dresses in period Civil War outfits and has been known to cover Morrissey, it’s hard to argue with what the Decemberists have wrought from their bounty. The Crane Wife is loosely based on a Japanese folk tale that concerns a crane, an arrow, a beautiful woman, and a whole lot of clandestine weaving. The record’s spirited opener and namesake picks off almost exactly where Picaresque left off, building slowly off a simple folk melody before exploding into some serious Who power chords. This is the first indication that the band itself was ready to take the loosely ornate, reverb-heavy Decemberists sound to a new sonic level, or rather that producers Tucker Martine and Chris Walla were. On first listen, the tight, dry, and compressed production style sounds more like Queens of the Stone Age than Fairport Convention, but as The Crane Wife develops over its 60-plus minutes, a bigger picture appears. Meloy, who along with Destroyer’s Dan Bejar has mastered the art of the North American English accent, has given himself over to early-’70s progressive rock with gleeful abandon, and while many of the tracks pale in comparison to those on Picaresque, the ones that succeed do so in the grandest of fashions. Fans of the group’s Tain EP will find themselves drawn to “Island: Come and See/The Landlord’s Daughter/You’ll Not Feel the Drowning” and “The Crane Wife, Pts. 1 & 2,” both of which are well over ten minutes long and feature some truly inspired moments that echo everyone from the Waterboys and R.E.M. to Deep Purple and Emerson, Lake & Palmer, while those who embrace the band’s poppier side will flock around the winsome “Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then),” which relies heavily on the breathy delivery of Seattle singer/songwriter and part-time Decemberist Laura Veirs. Some cuts, like the English murder ballad “Shankill Butchers” and “Summersong” (the latter eerily reminiscent of Edie Brickell’s “What I Am”), sound like outtakes from previous records, but by the time the listener arrives at the Donovan-esque (in a good way) closer, “Sons & Daughters,” the less tasty bits of The Crane Wife seem a wee bit sweeter.

This from Peter Green on the official Neil Finn messageboard:

One thing, yes Mark Hart IS part of the band.

If nothing else it will allow for some exciting discussions over the next few months.

If this is true, I’m very excited. One of the bands I missed playing live in the 90’s was Crowded House and although I did see the Finn Brothers a couple of years ago, it wasn’t quite the same!

Maximo Park release their eagerly anticipated new album, titled Our Earthly Pleasures on April 2nd. Preceeded by a new single Our Velocity on March 19th. Their debut album, A Certain Trigger, was my album of 2005.

Apparently “it’s heavy” according to Archis Tiku whilst Paul Smith says of the new video to the new single “We can be seen jumping around, due to the catchy, yet aggressive, nature of this song”. Well, sounds like business as usual to me, fingers crossed…

Tracklisting for Our Earthly Pleasures is as follows:
1. Girls Who Play Guitars
2. Our Velocity
3. Books from Boxes
4. Russian Literature
5. Karaoke Plays
6. Your Surge
7. The Unshockable
8. By The Monument
9. Nosebleed
10. A Fortnight’s Time
11. Sandblasted and Set Free
12. Parisian Skies

I can’t wait… might break my “no singles” policy as well…

Links
www.maximopark.com
www.myspace.com/maximopark

Nature Springs (Live At The Tabernacle) - The Good, The Bad & The Queen [Download]

Watch a live set from Wilton’s Music Hall in London.

www.myspace.com/thegoodthebadandthequeen
www.thegoodthebadandthequeen.com

The classic Bob Dylan rockumentary, Don’t Look Back, will be reissued on DVD with a bunch of extras in the 65 Tour Deluxe Edition.

D.A. Pennebaker (Monterey Pop, Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars) directed the original film, which followed Dylan on a 1965 British tour, and it was critically acclaimed for its inside look at the young singer/songwriter when it hit theatres in 1967. The new version has been digitally transferred from the original film, which also features Joan Baez, The Animals’ Alan Price, Marianne Faithfull, Donovan and Dylan’s manager, Alan Grossman. Pennebaker and Dylan tour manager Bob Neuwirth provide audio commentary.

The two-DVD package also includes Bob Dylan 65 Revisited, an hour-long film featuring previously unseen archival material, with commentary from Pennebaker and Neuwirth. The original 168-page 1968 companion book to the film, the theatrical trailer, a Pennebaker filmography, a Dylan discography, and cast and crew member biographies are also included along with collectible packaging.

A “Subterranean Homesick Blues” flip book, which provides a frame-by-frame look at what many people consider to be the first music video, is included along with an alternate version of the song’s infamous cue-card sequence.

Docurama will release both the deluxe two-DVD set and the single-disc remastered version of the film on Feb. 27.

The Duke Spirit are going to be making a short film in the coming weeks and one of the elements they’ll be incorporating is a Question & Answer scenario…so if there’s anything you’d like to find out about The Duke Spirit then send your question to duke.spirit@gmail.com or enter it as a comment on this blog or here.

For other Duke Spirit gubbins click here

The Shins excellent and long overdue new album Wincing The Night Away is now streaming via the bands myspace page here. The album will be officially released through Sub Pop on 29th January and is expected to send the band into the mainstream once and for all. Its been getting mixed reviews on the internets since its leak a few months ago but ill stand by it and say its their finest album to date. Its certainly not as instant as Chutes Too Narrow or Oh, Inverted World but worth sticking with for sure.

Tracklisting:
1. Sleeping Lessons
2. Australia
3. Pam Barry
4. Phantom Limb
5. Sea Legs
6. Red Rabbits
7. Turn On Me
8. Black Wave
9. Split Needles
10. Girl Sailor
11. Comet Appears

Heres the band performing “New Slang” on Saturday Night Live

Released on March 1st is Endless Highway, a tribute album dedicated to the music of The Band. Normally these things are pretty poor, and there is some crap on there - the Jack Johnson track is as drab as can be, but hey whats new. There are definately a few decent tracks worth checking out though, especially Death Cab For Cutie’s take on “Rocking Chair” and “It Makes No Difference” performed by My Morning Jacket.

The full tracklisting is:

1. Wheel’s on Fire - Guster
2. King Harvest - Bruce Hornsby,
3. It Makes No Difference - My Morning Jacket
4. I Shall Be Released - Jack Johnson
5. Weight - Lee Ann Womack
6. Chest Fever - Widespread Panic
7. Up on Cripple Creek - Gomez
8. Night They Drove Old Dixie Down - The Allman Brothers Band
9. Stage Fright - Steve Reynolds
10. Rag Mama Rag - Blues Traveler
11. Whispering Pines - Jakob Dylan, Lizz Wright
12. Acadian Driftwood - The Roches
13. Unfaithful Servant - Rosanne Cash
14. When I Paint My Masterpiece - Josh Turner
15. Life Is a Carnival - Trevor Hall
16. Look out Cleveland - Jackie Greene
17. Rockin’ Chair - Death Cab for Cutie

Download the Death Cab For Cutie track here

I meant to post this before Christmas but never got round to it…

The mighty Duke Spirit are back. Well, sort of. Until the new album surfaces at some point this year we can make do with a four track EP of cover versions of recently departed good spirits. The band recorded the tracks in Somerset during October of last year. The tracks are: Desmond Dekker’s ‘007 (Shanty Town)’; Jessie Mae Hemphill’s ‘I’m So Glad’ and two Tracks by Love ‘A House Is Not A Motel’ & ‘A Message To A Pretty’.

Its available as an exclusive download on Rough Trades website priced at £2.99. You can stream the tracks via the bands myspace page www.myspace.com/thedukespirit

So far no details have been revealed about the new album, though back in September 2005 Leila told me the demos had a definite Stax feel to them. The bands website is currently under reconstruction so hopefully when its back up some news will also be posted. After checking the website of Loog records I notice that The Duke Spirit have been taken off their artists roster. I’m speculating here but I have a feeling that the new album may come out on Bella Union, the label run by the bands close friend and producer of the debut album, Simon Raymonde (ex-Cocteau Twins bass player ). Wishful thinking maybe but Bella Unions list of bands is amazing (Midlake, The Howling Bells, My Latest Novel, Fionn Regan, Explosions In The Sky to name just a few) and the Spirit would fit nicely in there dont you think?

Download a live session from The Duke Spirit from Seattle radio station KEXP - Recorded last year whilst the group were in America.

The version of Win Your Love is stunning.

Songs played:
Love Is An Unfamiliar Name
Hello To The Floor
Interview
Win Your Game
Love Is An Unfamiliar Name

Right click and choose save-as. [DOWNLOAD]

At a recent gig in Nashville, Jeff Tweedy let slip a few details about the new Wilco album. It’s going to be called Sky Blue Sky and is pencilled in for a May 15th release this year…

I am very excited!

Links
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/
http://www.wilcoworld.net/

Sub Pop have struck gold in their recent signing. Loney, Dear or Emil Svanängen as he’s known to his friends will release his fourth album Loney, Noir through the label on February 6th.

His music has been described as soulful indie folk with a powerful mini orchestra. Layer upon layer, adding instrumentation and vocals, these songs seem to bloom like time-lapse photography, depicting glimpsed scenes of modern disaffection and timeless yearning. Loney, Noir is at once effervescent and resigned, exhilarating and melancholy, joyous and confessional.

Preview tracks from the album below. Plus, as an extra treat watch a live performance of The City, The Airport from last years equally brilliant Sologne.

Loney, Dear - I Am John
Loney, Dear - Hard Days
Loney, Dear - I Will Call You Lover Again
Loney, Dear - I Am The Odd One

“The City, The Airport”
I’d just like to add that after watching the below video I now have a king size crush on the cute Backing Vocalist…

Currently on extreme heavy rotation on my ipod is The Hold Steady’s third album Boys And Girls In America. It took a while to sink in (6 months to be precise) but my god it was worth it. Friend of Line Of Best Fit Richard Hughes reviewed it over here.

The band are jetting over to the UK for a brief tour in February.

Feb 13th Manchester Night & Day (Club Fandango)
Feb 14th Glasgow Cathouse
Feb 15th Hoxton Bar And Grill SOLD OUT
Feb 16th Club NME @ Camden Koko
Feb 17th London Borderline
Feb 18th London Borderline

These guys have a fabulous live reputation so seeing them in such an intimate venue as the Borderline should be a real treat.

Stream the album here.