The Line Of Best Fit

Cooperative Music presents MultiMix Club Night – win stuff inside!

Rich Thane — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:11:31 +0000

This Thursday night (11th February) sees the long awaited launch party of the Cooperative Music group’s Club Night at The Macbeth, East London. For those unfamiliar with Cooperative, they’re a bunch of very nice folk who devise multi-territory marketing and promotions campaigns for some of the best independent record labels around, including; Bella Union, City Slang, Moshi Moshi, DFA, V2, DFA, Heavenly, Downtown and Rabid. You could say that they know their onions, and you’d be right.

Cooperative’s club night “MultiMix” has been a long time in gestation and now it’s finally around the corner, we’re rather pleased to announce that TLOBF will be involved in some capacity on a regular basis; prize giveaways, DJ sets, massages to unsuspected punters – that kinda thing.

MultiMix kicks off on Thursday in super style with DJ sets from TLOBF, The Man That Funk Built, DJ Chunks, White Fang, Rough Trade, CoOp, Heavenly Jukebox and some guy who goes under the name “Caribou“. Never heard of him. Doors open at 8pm and close at the ungodly hour of 2am. What’s more, it’s free entry – all night. For more info, head on over to the Facebook event page.

The Macbeth is situated on Hoxton Street in Shoreditch, London. For directions and other info, visit their website.

Competition

To celebrate this most joyous occasion, we’re giving away a bunch of CD’s from Cooperative’s huge roster of acts. The prize will include albums from The Soft Pack, Eels (ltd edition), Phoenix (ltd edition), BlakRoc and Mos Def – to name just a few.

To enter, simply click on the green “re-tweet” button at the bottom of this here post. We’ll then select a winner via Twitter in a couple of days. If you’re not already following TLOBF on Twitter, you can find us here: www.twitter.com/tlobf

If you don’t have a Twitter account and would still like to enter the competition, simply send ret@thelineofbestfit.com an email with the subject line MULTIMIX – including your name and postal address and you’ll be entered into the prize draw. Good luck!

Song Of The Day #4 // Active Child: “Wilderness”

Alison King — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:00:26 +0000

Today we’ve got a massive treat for you in the shape of the beautiful and ethereal vocal stylings of Pat Grossi or ‘Active Child‘ who conjures up another side to the ever evolving L.A scene with a darkly haunting sound. Already the subject of blog buzz with his ‘Voice of An Old Friend’ and ‘She was a Vision’ (with great remixes by Pina Chulada and Summer Camp) the latest mp3 ‘Wilderness’ takes you back into doomed basslines and icy electro-pop. Sweeping over the hushed keyboards with quivering vocals it’s wistful, sad and utterly compelling. Like the previously mentioned singles, ‘Wilderness’ is lifted from the Mirror Universe Tapes release Sun Rooms (a $5 blue cassette limited to 100 copies), we’re crossing our fingers the remaining three tracks ‘See Thru Eyes’, ‘When Your Love Is Safe’ and ‘Take Shelter’ will eventually get a digital release.

mp3:> Active Child: “Wilderness”

Esben and The Witch – The Hobby Horse, London 04/02/10

Paul Bridgewater — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:19:48 +0000

There’s a carefully managed conceit at work somewhere in the heart of Brighton trio Esben and the Witch. Their mission – to make “intriguing, ambitious and innovative music” (the words of frontgirl Rachel Davies, interviewed late last year on this very website) – involves an indulgent foray into the extemporaneous. The props that bedeck the boxy stage tonight – a skull, wooden owl, globe and several dusty lamps – transcend mere artifice or whimsy. They’re an attempt to create something cohesive – both a figurative and physical ‘room’ in which the audience is both observer and participant.

Yet grabbing the audience and holding them in the palm of your hand – from the moment you step onstage – and leave them wanting more is a difficult move to pull off. It’s made even harder when electronic instruments falter, there’s an absent microphone and the noise from the back of the room exceeds that onstage. These are the terrible trials that beset Esben and the Witch tonight at The Hobby Horse, one of the recent boho haunts that’s responsible for the joojing-up of Kingsland Road.

Thus, an extended sound check stumbles without warning into the set and whispery sound levels barely register to those stuck at the back of the room. Esben, nevertheless, soldier on, delivering a shaky-at-first performance that hits par only a couple of songs in. It’s more than one might expect under such extenuating circumstances and frustration is outed when the trio of performers – Davies and her musical partners Daniel Copeman and Thomas Fisher – emerge around the solitary drum and cymbal that sits centre stage and proceed to bash the living hell out out of it.

In the middle of the chaos, they play killer tune “Marching Song”, the centrepiece of free mini album 33 (a record that kept me going through the misery of Xmas and well into the New Year). The record is a perfect representation of what makes them such an appealing proposition: Rachel’s magnificent, febrile hollering building to crescendo over escaping guitars and a stuttering percussion. It’s easy to box them as the missing link between the Banshees and Portishead but there’s a richer mix in the works than such a comparison might suggest. Appealing elements of the pastoral and a theatrical streak colour every part of their personality, both musical and intellectual.

Their set at The Hobby Horse ends with something of a whimper and there’s no applause. We are an audience disarmed, expecting a track or two more and hearing something akin to an intro that might be Esben but could also be the DJ. There’s silence for a few moments as the band sit down in front of us and start unplugging instruments and winding up cables. All of a sudden it feels very British – we realise it’s over, we want to applaud but the moment has passed. And they didn’t even play their somber, mephistophelean reworking of Kylie’s ‘Confide in Me’, which I was kinda hoping they would.

Was their confidence shaken tonight? I think so – they punched far below their weight, through no fault of their own. Still, there were hints of the power, intrigue and near magic they have on record – a testimony to the strength of their songs, especially in the face of such adversity.

The Chemical Brothers announce new London shows

Rich Thane — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:31:33 +0000

The Chemical Brothers are set to play their first gigs in nearly eighteen months with the announcement of two headline shows at London’s Roundhouse (May 20th and 21st) and a Saturday night headline gig at Sonar in Barcelona (June 19th).

May
20th Roundhouse, London
21st Roundhouse, London

June
19th Sonar Festival, Barcelona

Tickets are available from Friday 12th February @ 9am from www.gigsandtours.com

Vampire Weekend – De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill 05/02/10

Ro Cemm — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 09:00:20 +0000

“How you doin’ Bexhill?”

It’s probably the least rock and roll phrase ever. Quite why Vampire Weekend (who later confirm that it is “our first time in town”) are playing Bexhill isn’t immediately apparent. That said, it doesn’t stop them putting on a show to remember, turning the masterpiece of modernist architecture that is the De La Warr Pavilion in to a steamy, writhing mess of excitement.

Vancouver’s Fan Death, who hit the stage first, are in an unenviable position- the youthful crowd is unfamiliar with their work, and eager to see their heroes. Such is the life for the support band on a pop tour. Thankfully their mixture of spiky new wave and string driven disco does get a large proportion of the room dancing. Clad in sequin hotpants and glitter, frontwoman Dandi shimmies, bends and high-kicks her way through the set, a constant ball of energy.

Fan Death

As the house lights go down to mark Vampire Weekend’s arrival a scream goes out. Then another, and another. It isn’t just the kids either, although thre are a lot of them in the audience tonight. As the band bounce on stage they share knowing smiles. The black curtain at the back of the stage drops to reveal a giant version of the cover to latest album Contra. Before the curtain fully hits the floor the band have charged in to their set at breakneck speed, the crowd singing every word with them, even with the new material. ‘Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa’ hits three songs in and the whole of the sunken dance-floor is dancing, arms aloft. Refreshingly there isn’t a mobile phone in sight, just arms waving in the air, the crowd carried along on the surging pop wave, yelling the lyrics along with Koenig, as if trying to attain some kind of communal catharsis. Koening himself has all the right phrases, involves the crowd, and has clearly learnt the power of the “Woooooaaahh” for winning over an audience. This is stadium show slickness in a small venue. Every song here feels like a hit, and the band barely put a foot wrong. The band channel Dick Dale, Reggaeton, the groove of The Mahotella Queens, chamber harpsichord and more than a little Talking Heads as they romp through their set, everyone in the room, band and audience, seeming to be having the time of their lives. “Our shirts are changing colour. That means we must be having a good time, right? Well let’s keep dancing” suggests Koenig before breaking in to ‘A-Punk’. From the front row to the back of the balcony, it seems like everyone in the venue does just that.

“This is a pretty historic and beautiful building we’re in right now. This ones for all the architecture geeks.” Koenig announces as he introduces ‘Mansard Roof’. When he later compares the quiet seaside town of Bexhill to Cape Cod later in the set, the location no longer seems strange, it seems perfect. And boy do Vampire Weekend bring the party.

Built To Spill – There Is No Enemy

Steve Lampiris — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 07:55:45 +0000

Everyone seems to have written off Built To Spill at some point during this last decade for one reason or another, be it the (undeservedly) cool reception of either Ancient Melodies of the Future or You In Reverse, Doug Martsch’s solo effort Now You Know, or just the supposed fact that the band isn’t what it used to be. But people change and priorities shift. Thus, we “welcome” back the band that never actually left with There Is No Enemy.

Doug Martsch’s trademark fly-locked-in-a-house noodling only appears once on side A (‘Good Ol’ Boredom’). This is both a shame because it’s a – if not the – cornerstone of the band’s sound and a pleasure because it slightly closes off that part of the band’s sound which results in putting the band’s fantastic songwriting on greater display. Not that BTS didn’t write terrific songs before, certainly they did. But here, as with Keep It Like A Secret, it’s clear that the band is more than just three guys writing three-minute songs that spiral into eight-minute guitar wankery. While it does feature some superb blue-flame playing (more on that later), the less-is-more approach allows the band to roam foreign countryside. There’s a little bit of punk (‘Pat’), a little bit of country (‘Nowhere Lullaby’), a little bit of shoegaze (‘Oh Yeah’) and a little bit of rockabilly (‘Boredom’).

Sure, they’ve tried all of these elements before, but it’s so much more potent when they’re all in one place. Side B fares better for those who desire the spacey side of the band. The rhythm section of ‘Things Fall Apart’ swirls and floats around in a vacuum of Martsch’s guitar work. The melody of ‘Done’ staggers back and forth in the corner while the lead guitar track explores the entire stage with its waltz-like personality. Then there’s ‘Tomorrow,’ which contains a guitar solo that hisses and screeches at reality in an effort to reach the stars.

Life seems to be the predominant topic of discussion here, with the band contending that, you know what, it just ain’t that interesting after all. It’s kinda just there, existing as any other entity on Earth. That doesn’t preclude the band from commenting on aspects of life (or life in general, anyway), however. Take the aforementioned ‘Things,’ for example: “It doesn’t matter if you’re good or smart/ Goddamn, things fall apart/ Let’s go for a walk, yeah, let’s go for a drive/ Don’t know how to say, ‘Thanks for being alive’” Or how about the concession the band makes during ‘Life’s A Dream’: “Common wants only fill me up with need/ Everybody in this world is just like me” and later “Finally decided, and by decide I mean accept/ I don’t need all those other chances I won’t get.” But perhaps the most honest thing Martsch sings during the entire record is found in ‘Pat’: Pat, we know you fucked up/ But we don’t care you fucked up/ Everybody’s fucked up”

OK, here’s the thing: It’s a Built To Spill record so, essentially, you know what you’re gonna get even before you hear it: guitar hero-based indie rock with Doug Martsch occasionally waxing philosophical. That’s not meant to be a stab at the band. Really, how many modern bands can you name with at least half a dozen records that haven’t made a bad one? That’s one short list, to be sure. And, certainly, BTS is on it. Life may be all sorts of fucked up to Built To Spill, but on There Is No Enemy the band seems gracious enough for its inspiration anyway.

Buy the album on Amazon | iTunes | Rhythm Online

Song Of The Day #3 // The Radio Dept.: “Heaven’s On Fire”

Rich Thane — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:00:31 +0000

In recent years, I can’t recall a Swedish album so eagerly anticipated as that of The Radio Dept.’s Clinging To A Scheme, which finally sees the light of day on April 21st via Labrador Records. “Heaven’s On Fire” is actually the second taster from the album – “David” was released as a single back in June of last year, and is now available as a free download over on Labrador. Four years in the making and the follow-up to the acclaimed Pet Grief (2006), idle chit-chat on Twitter and various blogs hint towards Clinging To A Scheme to be yet another classic from the jewel in Labrador’s crown.

“When youth culture becomes monopolised by big business, what are the youth to do?” – So begins the sample that kick-starts “Heaven’s On Fire” before The Radio Dept.’s trademark keys ease us into a dream like mist of shuffling drums, jangling guitar and the unmistakeable croon of Johan Duncanson. “It seems like everyone you know is on your side – constantly moving against the tide” – perhaps not the greatest lyrics ever penned, but no matter; as the chorus drops from the major to the minor key, those words will wrap around you like a hug from an old familiar friend.

mp3:> The Radio Dept.: “Heaven’s On Fire”

Lindstrøm & Christabelle – Real Life Is No Cool

Erik Thompson — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:00:15 +0000

By the time Christabelle’s velvety voice emerges from the cacophony at the beginning of Lindstrøm & Christabelle’s Real Life Is No Cool with the question “What should we do?” you really are prepared to hear anything in response. And, over the course of this sprawling, imaginative album, what Hans-Peter Lindstrøm gives us is a fresh sonic collage of styles and sounds that serves as both a nod to his influences and his pioneering past, as well as a complete change in direction for the Norwegian producer.

Gone are the dense, arduous 20+ minute tracks of his recent releases, replaced here with clean, compact dance numbers that still maintain the soulful inventiveness that Lindstrøm is known for. It helps that he sounds invigorated by working with longtime collaborator, and fellow Norwegian, Christabelle, whose vocal range and simmering passion shines through on every track. Their inherent comfort level allows them both to feel free to experiment with futuristic ideas, but also to be secure enough to rework and cultivate a classic, vintage sound (including two songs, ‘Music in My Mind’ and ‘Let’s Practice,’ that were initially released in the middle of the last decade, when Christabelle was known as Solale). As a result, Real Life Is No Cool has a thoroughly modern spirit while still managing to coalesce decades of dance music into one fluid statement.

After the penetrating bass line and questioning vocals of ‘Looking For What’ establishes the glassy ambiance of the album, the piano-laden funk of ‘Lovesick’ really kicks the record into gear. While the predominance of vocals threaded throughout these songs might shock longtime fans of Lindstrøm’s work, Christabelle’s sultry crooning never sounds obtrusive or superfluous, often enlivening and personalizing the tracks, giving them an organic, homespun feel despite their sonic sophistication. The album flows seamlessly, progressing effortlessly through many different eras of music from track to track, with echoes of early 80’s-era Prince in ‘Let It Happen’ to a more discernible homage to Michael Jackson’s ‘Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ on ‘Baby Can’t Stop.’

The scattershot lyrics were supposedly crafted on the spot by Christabelle in the studio, and were subsequently truncated by Lindstrøm and layered through the songs liberally. While they are occasionally head-scratching in their simplicity, they never aim to offer anything other than release, which goes hand in hand with the uplifting air of the album. This is most assuredly a buoyant work that is more interested in helping the listener cast-off their concerns and dance than it is in making any real cerebral connection. Lindstrøm shows off his deft virtuosity throughout the proceedings, but reigns his vision in enough to keep these songs taut and lively, which results in a very smooth, stylish record. So now that the duo has emphatically answered the question of “What should we do?” we have to wonder just what they’ll do next.

Buy the album from Real Life Is No Cool | iTunes

[Photos] Smoke Fairies – Lexington, London 01/02/10

Valerio Berdini — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:55:31 +0000

RJD2 – The Colossus

Andrew Taylor — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 12:00:34 +0000

It was nostalgia that made me pick this record up for review, even though I probably should have known better. It’s eight years since the excellent debut by RJD2 (aka. “Ramble John Krohn”) came out on Def Jux – at that time, the label was on a krush groove that seemed like it would never flatten out, and they were producing some of the most exciting and innovative hip-hop records around. It’s surprising to think that Labor Days, Fantastic Damage, The Cold Vein, Deadringer and I, Phantom were all released so close together, almost a decade ago. Stick any of those albums out now and they would still sound utterly fresh.

However, eight years can be a long time – and if I needed proof, I’d just need to look at how RJD2’s star has fallen. It’s been a long and winding road that a fair amount of fans won’t have stuck with (perhaps because RJ has largely blocked the way with wreckage from his 2007 album The Third Hand). This was the record in which he re-invented himself as singer/songwriter and for many, it proved to be a difficult sell. It’s not hard to see why; imagine DJ Shadow or Dr. Dre saying they had always wanted to sing like Elliot Smith. Then imagine putting that resulting record at the top of your Christmas list – you just wouldn’t, would you? (Actually, I might if Dre said that, but for all the wrong reasons).

Anyway, that was the problem. No matter how good a producer RJ is, the album’s songwriting was just not compelling enough. It was suggested in interviews that people who voiced that kind of opinion just didn’t get it but, if so, having listened to the new record, I’m pretty sure I’ve still got the wrong end of the stick.

The Colossus is a far more mixed set than The Third Hand and is a bit better for it. It starts out well on ‘Let There Be Home’, a punchy instrumental track with stabbing horns and a growling string sample that RJ screws around with engagingly. It’s a throwback, sure, but it’s also a bit of a tease – a suggestion that he may have found some focus. This same trick is repeated on the third, ‘Giant Squid’, which produces a similar effect almost entirely through live instruments, but without the same crackling energy as on the opener. There are other instrumentals too, some more memorable than others. ‘The Stranger’ is a welcome return to The Horror-era RJD2, however ‘Tin Flower’ sounds like the kind of thing that could feasibly be sold to television. Daytime television (Antiques Hunt?).

Which brings us onto the songs and for me, where the album falls down. The genre-hopping is undeniably slick and there’s usually something tinkly, funky or squelchy going on to grab your attention. ‘The Shining Path’ bounces along nicely, while there’s a smooth You’re Under Arrest vibe to ‘Crumbs off the Table’. Apart from that, I couldn’t help feeling the songs were often melodically flat and lyrically out-there in a banal, meaningless way. Unless I’m missing a punchline, ‘The Glow’ is purely about the nice things celebrities get (“The crowds all part as we pass through/the hangers on all come around to mooch”x2 ) and elsewhere, the album contains frequent inanitites such as “I’ll walk it off/if this dream’s just a fable/but if it ain’t?” and “flea market… weekend… watching people/see how the haggling goes/might pay a princely sum if it’s alright”. Dearie me.

So, who is this album for then, other than RJD2 himself? It’s hard to say, but on that point, I’d have to hold my hands up and say best of luck to him. Here is an extremely talented chap spreading his wings, doing exactly what he wants, making music and writing songs he really believes in. And that’s fine by me. It’s not that I don’t like him any more, we’ve just grown apart.

Buy the album on Amazon | iTunes | Rhythm Online

Flying Lotus get all Cosmogramma on new LP

Rich Hughes — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 11:34:47 +0000

Warp Records have announced details of the latest album by Flying Lotus.

The album is to be called Cosmogramma and and guy has, apparently, unlocked a range of astral sounds and self-described as a “space opera”. It features collaborators such as Erykah Badu and Outkast string arranger Miguel Atwood-Ferguson and guest vocalists Thom Yorke and Laura Darlington (featured on Los Angeles’ epic closing track ‘Inifinitum’).

The album will be released on the 3rd May.

Cosmogramma Tracklist:
01. Clock Catcher
02. Pickled!
03. Nose Art
04. Intro//A Cosmic Drama
05. Zodiac Shit
06. Computer Face//Pure Being
07. And The World Laughs With You ft. Thom Yorke
08. Arkestry
09. Mmmhmm ft.Thundercat
10. Do The Astral Plane
11. Satelllliiiiiteee
12. German Haircut
13. Recoiled
14. Dance Of The Pseudo Nymph
15. Drips//Auntie’s Harp
16. Table Tennis ft. Laura Darlington
17. Galaxy In Janaki

Paperplain – Entering Pale Town

Katherine Rodgers — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 10:00:05 +0000

Today, whimsical female singer-songwriters are a dollar a dozen – a person can’t turn around without being assaulted by hordes of sweetly unassuming females, swathed in floral prints and brandishing guitars and gently-lilting ditties about cups of tea and bicycles – however, if you are going to devote your attention to just one folky female, it might as well be unfathomably precocious 19 year old Helen Page – aka Paperplain – who’s debut album Entering Pale Town is as gently buoyant as her chosen alias.

Refreshingly enough, on Entering Pale Town, Helen makes no excuses for her fancifulness – she wears her cross-stitched heart on her cardigan sleeves, making Entering Pale Town’s twee aesthetic so utterly absorbing, it’s impossible not to allow yourself to drift off into a sepia-tinted, pleasantly snug daydream – something akin to the centrespread of a Cath Kidston catalogue.

Sometimes this blissful state of torpidity works for Paperplain – ‘Rescue Boat’s gently-ebbing melody recalls an adolescent Kimya Dawson, minus her often devastating bouts of cynicism, or even Kate Nash, minus that supremely intolerable mockney drawl – however, Paperplain fares best when veering slightly out of her comfort zone – ‘Foreign Fingers’ sees Helen come across like Laura Marling dosed to the eyeballs with Prozac, lightly skimming the surface of a relationship fretted with all kinds of moral dilemmas – “I know that your girlfriend is home on her own / But you’re not in the country so nobody knows / We’ve had nine or ten now so don’t close your eyes / But I’m not sure we’ll sleep great with a whole stream of lies”. She even swaps the infernal cups of tea for gin, ye gads.

In the end, Entering Pale Town’s eventual downfall is its ceaseless vagueness – Paperplain seems incapable of making a statement without wrapping it in dulling, cotton-wool swathes of gaucheness – and it’s this lack of lyrical assertiveness that renders Entering Pale Town merely pleasant, rather than genuinely affecting. However, it’d be foolish to write off a debut that is, all things considered, still a solid achievement for one so young – and it’s more than likely that in a few short years, Helen will return with an album that will pierce through the heart, rather than drifting, inoffensively, in one ear and out the other.

mp3:> Paperplain: “Foreign Fingers”

SHIFT FESTIVAL: Robyn Hitchcock presents a Maritime Evening

Ro Cemm — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 09:03:40 +0000

Cape Farewell is a charitable organisation bringing together scientists and artists to create an informed artistic response to climate change. During the last weekend of January they took over London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall for the SHIFT Festival, a multi-arts programme raising awareness of climate change. In 2008, Robyn Hitchcock was part of a Cape Farewell party that voyaged to the Disko Bay area of Greenland. A mysterious, powerful force, the mystery of the sea has inspired creative minds for centuries. Hitchcock’s Maritime evening then, combined his experiences with Cape Farewell with a collection of traditional and not so traditional sea songs and shanties, taking in everything from Martin Carthy and the Byrds to Mates of State, with a few other choice moments in between. All of the evenings songs, Hitchcock observed, were “written near, about, or with the aid of liquid.”

Split into two halves, the show followed the progression of so many of these “…and friends” affairs, Hitchcock taking centre stage to open before gradually introducing his guests for a few songs at a time. In keeping with the nautical theme of the evening, Hitchcock called them up from “below decks”. The first guest to join Hitchcock was the heavily pregnant Katherine Williams, who gamely confessed to attempting to “smuggle someone on board”. Long gone are the days where Williams was crippled with nerves at the prospect of live performance, and she joked with ease about having to play guitar “sidesaddle”, asking the audience to forgive any impromptu percussion cased by the baby kicking. The pair covered ‘The Grey Funnel Line’ and ‘The Balled of Easy Rider’ before Williams debuted a beautiful new song from her forthcoming album. While the covers were certainly pleasant, the original material was what really stood out, William’s voice and observational writing as sharp as ever.

Later Graham Coxon joined Hitchcock for a pretty fingerpicked acoustic number before strapping on his trademark tele for “Caspian Sea” from last years The Spinning Top. With it’s psychedelic overtones, it was ideal fare for Hitchcock, a master of such things, and both men clearly enjoyed the opportunity to wig out while saying “CASPIAN SEA”. A Lot. Helpfully, the projectionist for the evening assisted with a map of said body of water.

To bring the evening to a close, Hitchcock was joined by his fellow Disko Bay traveller KT Tunstall, back that day from finishing her new album in Berlin. After debuting a track from the new album inspired by the Disko Bay expedition to Uumannaq, she appeared visibly moved by her experience. While that song is a logical progression from Tunstall’s previous records, it was the unaccompanied “Whale Shanty”, a stark and haunting folk song, that was the highlight of the evening.

Although the new material from Tunstall and Williams were undoubtedly highlights, the show suffered, as so many of these collaborations seem to, from a lack of consistency: the lack of rehearsal time was all too apparent, giving the proceedings a shambolic quality, which, while not unwelcome, was a little disappointing given the collective talents of the ensemble. In the end however, Hitchcock’s charm, charisma and forays into the absurd ( including the imminent arrival of Stalin’s giant crabs, how rope is made, snake mating rituals and the “shoulder padded, beats per minute tyranny of the eighties”) pulled the show together. Rather than preaching to the converted on the subject of climate change, the show was a celebratory love note to water, the environment and the sea.

Photos courtesy of crazybobbles

Ardentjohn – Bull and Gate, London 30/01/10

Sam Shepherd — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 09:00:10 +0000

Those expecting a homogenous line-up tonight are probably somewhat disappointed (or pleasantly surprised) when Eleven Fables take to the stage. Looking a little like the evolution of man in band form, visually they encompass the look of LA Guns, stoner rock (the bassist the spit of Pepper Keenan) and suave sophistication (singer Tim). Musically they’re unlikely to inspire those in search of acoustic whimsy, but they do happen to do a good line in anthemic rock. Initially they’re a bit of a shock to the system, and early on they struggle to find a bit of rhythm, but as they reach the mid-point of the set, neat riffs coupled with some fine vocals start to hit the target and the room warms to them. They maybe a little middle of the road for some tastes, but it’s hard to deny that they’ve got some pretty nifty pop-tinged rock tunes in their armoury.

However, tonight is all about Ardentjohn, this being their album launch after all. Despite being based in Edinburgh, this feels like a homecoming show with the venue sold-out and heaving from front to back. Even those in the bar are arching their necks in order to catch what they can from the back. They kick things off with ‘Open Road’, a jaunty and delicate folk-tinged number. On record, there’s an undeniable sense of melancholy to the song, tonight, it feels almost celebratory.

The violins that flesh out the sound of ‘On A Wire’ are absent tonight; however, in their place is a cellist who provides them with a tonality that is achingly beautiful. The band themselves are clearly revelling in their art, and their enthusiasm is transmitted to the audience who respond to each song like they’ve been blessed by a higher being. They drift towards the sound of any number of landfill indie-bands at times, but such incidents are few and far between, and are easily forgiven considering the warmth encapsulated in these wonderfully languid, enticing songs.

It could be argued that on another night Ardentjohn could stuggle to inspire such a response such is the drowsy nature of some of their songs, but tonight this is a band on fire.

TLOBF Interview :: Magnetic Fields

Sebastian Reynolds — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 07:55:35 +0000

Stephin Merritt, through his work primarily with Magnetic Fields and various side projects, has developed a fan base who hang on his every acidic put down and sentimental melody. For brand new psych pop folk opus, Realism, Magnetic Fields go almost totally acoustic. I caught up with Stephin on the verge of the records release.

So this is your 3rd record in a row without electronics…
Without synthesizer, we have a lot of electronics but not synthesizers.

Was that a conscious decision?
It’s a trilogy, a no synth trilogy. But the next Magnetic Fields album will have synthesizers again. There’s a new crop of synthesizers that I quite like, made by artists rather than by manufacturers. They have new sounds finally. It’s been a long time since there have been new sounds, and now there are.
So it was a kind of dissatisfaction with the technology as much as anything else?
Right. My roots are in electro pop, so I grew up expecting every new record to have new sounds on it. And that hasn’t been possible for a while, but now it is.

Have you played around with Kaoss pads? Kaossolators and all the Korg stuff?
Those are not new sounds, those are new contexts. I wouldn’t describe that as novel enough for me. That’s traditional. Oscillators, filters, the same old model. But the things I’ve been playing around with recently are a different model.

So, although the album is called ‘Realism’ and made with what one could call ‘real’ acoustic instruments only, I find it interesting that, in terms of some of the themes that it seems to cover and the atmosphere and sound of the record it’s, in a way, the most dreamlike Magnetic Fields record yet. Was it a conscious intention that there would be this interesting juxtaposition inherent in the record?
It’s only called Realism because of the production style, not because of anything about the lyrics or instrumentation or anything. Well I suppose the instrumentation is part of the production side. I didn’t mean it to be a theme, particularly. Although of course it’s been taken as a theme, by a few people. Somebody pointed out a few days ago that, unlike on the usual Magnetic Fields album, on this record there are a lot of allusions to mythical creatures and some of the characters are not human. The second song, one of the characters is the moon. And then there are ghosts and werewolves and mermaids. Not usually my stock and trade.

Do you remember your dreams? Are you inspired by things that happen in your dreams?
I remember my nightmares, I don’t remember ever remembering a positive dream, a happy dream. I remember lots of nightmares though.

Is there anything else that you’d like to say about this record in particular?
I think this record wouldn’t have been possible if I hadn’t moved my studio to LA, before making it. In LA they have these music stores filled with central and south American instruments that you don’t encounter in New York music stores at all, even the exotic ones. So I went happily shopping in the music stores of Los Angeles and discovered instruments I had never heard of. And bought them up and brought them home and played them into the record. So much of the record is me playing instruments I’ve never even heard of before. And of course I don’t play them spectacularly well, but that’s OK, I don’t play anything well. But I did actually take harp lessons, because on harp you really have to play it well or it sounds terrible.

Did you play the sitar on the last track, ‘From A Sinking Boat’?
No, John Woo played the sitar.

I read that that track was recorded in a bathroom, is that correct?
Yes, everything on the last song, From A Sinking Boat, was recorded in a bathroom, except the piano. Each track has a very different recording style. So the one used for From A Sinking Boat was there’s no reverb except for the sound of the bathroom. All the reverb is just how far away the microphone is.

I’ve been listening to your music for a long time now and I am very moved by a lot of it. I find that, in some of the tracks, certainly tracks on the record and tracks from throughout the back catalogue, like Old Fools and Sentimental Melody for example, there’s so much depth of feeling that you so skilfully articulate in such a short space of time, given the fact you like to keep things concise in terms of musicality and length. How do you manage this?
It’s because I use lyrical clichés that immediately point to whole psychologies from the past. Like ‘My Sentimental Melody’ sounds like you’d be hearing it on The Laurence Welk Show. So any use of romantic clichés is good, in my opinion.

I think what draws people so much to the Magnetic Fields, and as I’m sure you’re aware, you do have a great cross appeal from a more mature audience to the cool young kids and I think it’s because you deal with these universal themes and trade in clichés in a way but you put enough of an edge on it so that it doesn’t become cheesy. It’s sentimental but not naff. Quite an achievement!
I think that what I’m doing is that I use contradictory clichés. So they’re still clichés, but not the usual combinations of clichés. I’m always drawn to the simile that music is like cooking. It’s a great deal like cooking, although I can’t actually cook personally, I can do things that are like cooking. People don’t object to the same old things being used in cooking. And I feel like if you want to make something novel, you use very common ingredients that are not usually found together. I think there are two things that can ever make music interesting as opposed to pretty. Which is cultural borrowing and new technology. ‘My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts’ (1981 collaboration album between Brian Eno and David Byrne) is filled with both cultural borrowing and new technology, so that’s why that was a very interesting album when it came out. And it sounds great again, by the way. For a good 10 years there it sounded awful, but now it sounds really good again.

So are you looking forward to touring? How do you feel about playing live?
Usually a problem that solves itself quickly. I hate touring and I hate playing live. So I’m dreading going on tour.

So you like to keep it as brief as possible?
Yes, but this year we are actually touring for 2 months.

Wow, that’s quite a lot if you hate it!
Yes

So have you always hated playing live? Is it always something you’ve tolerated out of necessity?
Yeah, I’ve never made any secret of that. I’ve always disapproved of the whole idea of live music trying to have anything to do with the record. I feel like live music and recorded music have nothing to do with each other. When we play live I would rather do completely different music. But then that wouldn’t fulfil the function of selling the album, which is the only reason why you play live.

And I suppose with record sales generally declining would you say there’s more pressure to tour as well?
Well no because ticket sales are also declining! The pressure is to have a day job, I don’t have a day job, some day I will probably have to.

Some of your tracks that I love have these incredible, epic sweeping romance stories that you squeeze into 2 or 3 minutes sometimes, are you interested in more extending story writing? Ever thought of writing a novel?
I have not done any extended fiction writing since I was in college, I always felt that my best writing was in verse. But I have the unfortunate habit of not being able to write verse for very long without it turning melodic. I feel like I get much of my inspiration from rhyming and I find it difficult to write poems that don’t rhyme for very long. I love working in rhyme. If I could speak only in rhyme it would probably be very helpful to me.

Have you ever tried?
Yes. You do find yourself returning again and again to the themes that work best in rhyme. For example you don’t tend to talk about silver and orange, if you’re talking in rhyme.

So you’re coming over to tour, we’ve talked about the next record that’s already being planned. What else is on the horizon for you?
After the tour I’m going to be doing a silent film score at the Castro theatre in San Francisco, where they have this wonderful theatre organ. I’m scoring the 1917 silent version of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea on May 4th. One time only, get tickets now.

So, as we’ve discussed, you’re already planning another record…
I’m always thinking about new records.

Any more motion picture soundtracks or collaborations in the pipeline?
Not in the pipeline but yes in discussion.

Well I’m sure our readers will await news on that with baited breath.
I’m also waiting with baited breath.

Realism is out now on Nonesuch Records and Magnetic Fields are on tour throughout March.

More info – www.houseoftomorrow.com

Ceephax Acid Crew – United Acid Emirates

Ash Akhtar — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 07:55:06 +0000

Ceephax Acid Crew’s latest album is a whirlwind concoction of thumping technicolour sound layered with synthetic arpeggios that thunder through it like a Bull at Pamplona. If Street Fighter II had come with great music, instead of that ridiculously annoying, noisome theme that plagued the ears of everyone waiting for their playing partner to pick a character (Ryu! Ken! It’s easy enough! Oh, Zangief, well done!), it would have sounded something like the wonderfully named Ceephax Acid Crew. Heavily influenced by 8-bit technology, Andy Jenkinson (yes, brother of that Jenkinson) plasters his flighty United Acid Emirates with uplifting techno squall, pastes with experimental digital quirk and papers with complete danceability.

Drawing listeners in with the body-popping electro of ‘Cedric’s Sonnet’, Jenkinson skips genres and drives directly on to the techno rumble ‘Castilian’ where he puts his beloved Roland SH-101 to great use, building the track with looping psychedelic 303 licks for that heady Acid feeling. Where earlier Ceephax tapes were plagued by excessive 303 workouts, United Acid Emirates — though appearing initially dumb — is clearly the result of great labour and dedication and spans eclectic electronic eras from the ’70s to ’90s. Released on the revered Planet Mu label, this is an album that manages to sound simultaneously historic, current and futuristic.

With a selection of dissonant and harmonious ambient pieces strategically placed to break up the album, and despite all other indications arguing to the contrary, Jenkinson manages to convincingly play the grown-up, matching the early effervescent output of brother Squarepusher and his contemporary, Aphex Twin. Though not as technically or breakbeat-fixated as either Warp signing, Jenkinson is content to wear a love of early rave on his sleeve (particularly on ‘Life Funk’ which comes complete with ‘Woo! Yeah!’ sample, staccato ascending piano chords and airhorns.)

There is little fat on the album and whereas some critics will undoubtedly take great pleasure in excoriating its seemingly meretricious nature, those who have ever held a glow stick in their hand, a whistle in their mouth and day-glo construction jackets on their backs will revel in its palpable affection. It’s music for a musically analogue generation bred on a digital visual stimulus: brilliant.

Buy the album from Rhythm Online

Song Of The Day #2 // Victoria & Jacob “With No Certainty”

Rich Thane — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:45:10 +0000

A slight change in direction for Victoria & Jacob with new single “With No Certainty”. Manipulated vocals, textured beats and an altogether more focused musicality ushers out the thrift shop electro-pop of previous single “Clash”. Where Owl City have blatantly ripped off The Postal Service blueprint to within an inch of its life, Victoria & Jacob take a fresh approach at the often tiresome electro-indie cross-over *genre*. Poppier than The Knife, less outwardly weird than Animal Collective – the music of Victoria & Jacob has a real beating heart that pulsates around Victoria’s poetic musings to great effect. Listen to the single over on the duo’s MySpace page and download a brooding remix by Bright Light Bright Light below.

“With No Certainty” is released via Voga Parochia on 5th April.

Victoria & Jacob are support for Bella Union signings Chimes & Bells at The Lexington on 15th February. Check their MySpace for further shows.

mp3:> Victoria & Jacob: “With No Certainty [Bright Light Bright Light Uncertain Remix]“

Sisterworld Reinterpretations gets full tracklisting

Rich Hughes — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:21:30 +0000

We all know about Liars eagerly anticipated new album Sisterworld. We also know about their bonus disc which comes with a hat full of “reinterpretations” of the tracks by the likes of Thom Yorke, Bradford Cox and Suicide. What we didn’t know, was who was doing what… but now we do!

Scissor – By Pink Dollaz, Lance Whitaker & Transformation Surprise
No Barrier Fun – By Duetonal (Alan Vega / Suicide)
Here Comes All The People – By Atlas Sound (Bradford Cox)
Drip – By Kazu Makino (Blonde Redhead)
Scarecrows On A Killer Slant – By Tunde Adebimpe (TV On The Radio)
I Still Can See An Outside World – By Boyd Rice (NON)
Proud Evolution – Thom Yorke 500qd Remix
Drop Dead – By Fol Chen
The Overachievers – By Devendra Banhart & The Grogs
Goodnight Everything – By Melvins
Too Much, Too Much – By Carter Tutti (Throbbing Gristle)

Not too long to wait now… 8th March is when you can get your grubby mitts on this…

Zun Zun Egui and John Parish head up Bristol-based Haiti appeal

Laura Snapes — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:05:44 +0000

Zun Zun Egui // Photograph by Oliver Marler

Finally, a musical fundraiser in aid of the Haiti appeal that doesn’t stink of self-serving publicity opportunities. On 6th March, John Parish, Zun Zun Egui and a host of other Bristol greats (full line-up below) will play across two venues to raise funds for the Haiti Kids Kino Project, a basic and micro-humanitarian goodwill project that will provide a little fun, escape, community, emotion and social occasion to a people and place that the Cube wishes to communicate with, and to contribute to rebuilding hope.

Taking place across two venues, tickets cost £8 in advance and are available from Bristol Ticket Shop and the Here Shop in Stokes Croft. As it is a multi-venue show, a ticket does not guarantee you will get into your first venue of choice.

The line-up is as follows:

At THE CUBE CINEMA 6pm – 1am
John Parish
Get The Blessing
The Moles
Men Diamler
With Dunkit & Bumpy DJs + High’n'Mighty + Cake Stall + Films after 11pm

At THE CROFT 8pm – 3am
Zun Zun Egui
Shogun Kunitoki
Aye Aye
Spin Spin The Dogs
World Beatz co-hosting the bar with World Beatz DJs + Chew Magna + Young Master + Fat Paul + Monkgoose + a very special guest

Far be it from us to suggest that the special guest might be a certain Mr Barrow. Just speculatin’.

For more information on the Haiti Kids Kino Project, click here.
For more information about the night and the acts playing, click here.

ILL FIT 16.2 w/ Maple Bee + Acrylics + Fitness Club Fiasco

The Line Of Best Fit — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 13:00:22 +0000

The Line Of Best Fit and London label Something In Constriction are back for yet another (by now, legendary) ILL FIT. Oh yes.

February will feature MAPLE BEE aka Mel Garside (Tabitha Zu/Huski) doing her lush and pastoral big big songs. SiC signings FITNESS CLUB FIASCO who are getting lots of radio play from Huw Stephens, Steve Lamacq, RobDabank and John Kennedy in support of their debut single “Forest City”. ACRYLICS are from NYC and are about to release their debut single via SiC. Chris “Grizzly Bear” Taylor produced their EP and Pitchfork and Stereogum love ‘em. So will you.

Plus the bickering ILL FIT DJs, free swag, free entry and good old fashioned good times.

Facebook Event Page

This is ILL FIT XII
Previous guests include White Denim, Leisure Society, Air France, Gay Blades, Loney Dear, Martin Carr, Memory Tapes, Forest & The Trees, Rayographs, LIsa Milberg…

THE SOCIAL
5 Little Portland Street
London, W1W 7JD
020 7354 5809

Skullflower – Strange Keys To Untune God’s Firmament

John Skibeat — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 12:00:14 +0000

Skullflower are one of a number of bands that grew out of a jaded punk scene, featuring individuals that wanted to continue to test their audience by producing even more unacceptable levels of sonic oblivion.

They formed in 1985 having evolved from a much darker vehicle, the band Total, who in turn had been shaped by members of Pure. For the next eight to ten years, all of these players worked alongside each other to create a catalogue of bruising, psychotropic mindfood. Skullflower took an elongated hiatus in 1996 after the release of the album This Is Skullflower but their continuous discography is proof enough that they never really left us.

Strange Keys To Untune God’s Firmament is their first brand new studio album in 13 years and it’s certainly not for the faint of heart. Having been described by the label as “not easy listening by anyone’s standards”, it is of no surprise to find that Skullflower are still experimenting with their extreme assault.

With ‘Shivering Aurora’ throwing you straight in at the deep end from the first note, there is immediately a sense of panic, a loss of sensation and ability to breathe. For nine minutes the slowly warping, sucking industrial machine drags you down, but with acceptance comes a heightened sense of perception. The dissonant dirge shifts discreetly, like sand particles that never quite settle. Then, the pattern cuts out to be replaced by the steady mechanical boom of ’Starlit Mire’, which comes up at you from beneath the white noise, feeling almost like a replacement for the heartbeat that you soon realise has gone missing.

Not often do I find myself reaching for an album such as this; I find the intensity of the experience all too overwhelming, each track merely an elongated, stagnant wave of oppression, but prior experience has taught me that with discipline comes a certain level of self-detachment not often found in other extreme genres – the mind is suddenly free to wander. I am alone in a bell-tower for ‘Enochian Tapestries’ surveying a sea of people far below; I am being stonewashed to death by vast mechanical hoses during ‘City Of Dis’ and again during ‘Nibelungen’; I am aboard a craft approaching warp speed during the marvelously-titled ‘Gateway To Blasphemous Light’, and yet really, all this time, I have been merely sitting here drinking in what is essentially just a vast ocean of fragmented synth, dirty feedback and white noise.

There are moments where lucidity fails me. ‘Basement Of An Impure Universe’ has the most obnoxious tweet and succeeds in pushing me over the edge, whilst ‘Blood Mirror Streams’ threatens to turn my skin inside out such is the scouring intensity of its bass roar. ‘Blackened Angelwings…’ and ‘Chaotic Demons…’ dare to break out into a disconcertingly bellicose black metal drone, but then we get a track like ‘Skar Konstellation’, uniquely forming a series of ear-rending explosions, teasing me into ramping up the volume just one more notch.

SKTUGF is an utter riot in which to immerse yourself, a cacophony of messages all sounding off at once, but, given time, the careful layering does seem keen to reveal much that is hidden within the gritty folds of its skin.

Buy the album on Amazon | iTunes | Rhythm Online

Rachael Dadd tours with Alessi’s Ark, unveils video & mini LP

Rich Hughes — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 11:30:51 +0000

The wonderful Rachael Dadd has unveiled a series of tour dates with Alessi’s Ark around the UK for this month:

February
06 Union Chapel – London **midday gig**
10 Moles – Bath – Support from Alessi’s Ark and Adelaide’s Cape
11 Buffalo Bar – Cardiff – Support from Alessi’s Ark
12 The Cube – Bristol – Support from Alessi’s Ark and Adelaide’s Cape
16 The Haymakers – Cambridge – Support from Alessi’s Ark and Adelaide’s Cape
18 The Birdcage – Norwich – Support from Alessi’s Ark and Adelaide’s Cape
21 Nation of Shopkeepers – Leeds – Support from Alessi’s Ark, Broadcast 2000, and Adelaide’s Cape
22 Bungalows and Bears – Sheffield – Support from Alessi’s Ark, George Pringle, Slow Moving Millie
24 The Basement – York – Suport from Alessi’s Ark
26 Cafe Oto – London – Support from Alessi’s Ark and The Mariner’s Children
28 Hamptons – Southampton – Support from Adelaide’s Cape

With the help of her sister, she’s produced the lovely stop-motion video below for the song ‘Table’:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Her mini album, Moth in the Motor, will be released on 15th February, and it’s a mini-masterpiece of soft, gentle but beautiful folk music.

Motorpsycho – Heavy Metal Fruit

Ash Akhtar — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 10:00:44 +0000

More likely to be named after the Russ Meyer film than the Bob Dylan song of the same name, Motorpsycho’s latest album finds the Norwegian trio on drastically effective form. Clocking in at just over an hour, five of the six tracks presented here are expansive prog freakouts sitting around comparatively brief piano ballad, ‘Close Your Eyes’.

Opening with a minute’s silence before descending into a maelstrom of heady grooves amidst a strange brew of time signatures and determined instrumentation, ‘Starhammer’ delivers a series of blows to the rotting carcass of that vastly over-hyped supergroup from the last decade: Them Crooked Vultures. Clearly influenced by luminaries such as King Crimson, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and The Beatles, it’s also easy enough to pick out the rivulets of Sun Ra and John Coltrane that run through the channel. Nowhere is this clearer than on ‘The Bomb-proof Roll and Beyond’ which features Mathias Eick’s (Jaga Jazzist) trumpet sitting atop a slithering bass groove that pushes the track through to its eventual reverb-soaked Sonic Youth inspired haze.

With the majority of songs charged with an average run time of 10 minutes, a listener could feasibly expect to be bored — but this is not the case with Motorpsycho. An unbelievably taut and precise outfit, Motorpsycho’s ‘Heavy Metal Fruit’ is far from lax. The seductively tantalizing vocal harmonizing recalls both Queen and The Beatles; the ineluctable guitar solos simultaneously conjure up images of Carlos Santana, Mark Knopfler and Billy Gibbons jamming in some kind of six-string utopia before disappearing into oblivion; the somewhat indeterminate, arrogant pomp that plagues über-stars Muse is never present – even when the band brings in string orchestration and an opulent 20 minute finale…

‘Gullible’s Travails (pt I-IV)’ is one of the most interesting pieces of music I’ve heard this year. Sounding like it was written with lightning across a Monday morning sky in 1969: ‘Gullible’s Travails’ dips into the muddy waters of rock history, exploring each warm era with love and affection.

Wonderfully recorded, mixed and produced by the band and producer Kåre Vestrheim, any tree capable of bearing ‘Heavy Metal Fruit’ would sonically dip under the immense weight of the classic, psychedelic rock permeating this record. Heavy Metal never bore fruit as palatable as this, but the influences driving Motorpsycho’s ‘Heavy Metal Fruit’ were the ones that chipped away at the patina to reveal Black Sabbath.

The first essential rock album of the decade? Quite possibly.

Buy the album on iTunes

1986 return with full-length Everybody Is Whatever I Think They Are

Rich Hughes — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 08:59:19 +0000

1986 is the project of Giorgio Angelini and Cully Symington. Two names you might not recognised, but if you’ve heard Bishop Allen, The Rosebuds, The Gutter Twins, Cursive, or Okkervil River then you’ve seen their work. Between the hectic touring schedules of these bands, Giorgio and Cully pieced together the record Everybody Is Whatever I Think They Are.

It was recorded in Austin, Texas in November, 2007 with TJ Doherty at the helm, the longtime recording engineer for Wilco. After capturing the basic tracks, the band enlisted the help of other musicians to contribute to the recordings, including Jesus Lizard guitarist, Duane Denison, and Adam Franklin, of Swervedriver.

If you’re keen to find out what they sound like, and it’s worth playing loud, you can download the track ‘Undertow’ here!

The album will see the light of day on 8th March.

Xiu Xiu and Deerhoof to Perform Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures

Rich Hughes — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 08:28:58 +0000

Xiu Xiu and Deerhoof will perform Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures on April 29th at the Donaufestival, which runs April 28th through May 8 in Krems, Austria.

Other festival performers include Peaches, Rufus Wainwright, Deichkind, Panda Bear, Dan Deacon, Wolf Parade, Cobra Killer, Alec Empire & The Ex, Fuck Buttons and many more.

Additional information can be found at www.donaufestival.at and you can order tickets here.

For the first time in my life, I feel as if I’m missing out on something by not living in, or near, Austria…

Infinite Body – Carve Out the Face of My God

Gina Louise — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 07:55:39 +0000

Infinite Body may indeed be a fitting moniker for Kyle Parker, as his music has an endless and all consuming air about it. However, Carve Out the Face of My God does not convince me that this ‘infinity’ is an entirely good thing. Whilst he balances delicate melodies with electronic drone, I’m not sure if the monotony is a little too excessive to make it successful. Though saying this, he has managed to create an ambient piece that has many tangible influences that make his work different, if nothing else.

His original sound is an odd mix of manufactured field noises, orchestral crescendos and ambient drone, in a sort of odd meeting of Max Richter melodies and the Gentle Friendly electronica. His attempt to combine such fundamentally different genres together is not without its merits, and though he may be punching a bit above his weight Parker creates some beautiful sounds on tracks such as ‘A Fool Persists’, and ‘Lived On Its Knees’.

‘A Fool Persists’, though repetitive, creates a nice contrast to the rest of the album, and probably impresses me so much as it has the antiquey sound of classical music being played on an old not-so-reliable radio. This track’s ability to manufacture a sound so spot-on shows Parker’s obvious talent, which makes me think perhaps his latest musical endeavour is just a little mislead; the production is flawless, and whilst the songs don’t flow as well as you may expect from a conceptual electronica album, they are clearly very considered.

The inclusion of field noises gives the album a Peter Broderick effect, and the church bell synths, seaside noises and crowd noise do infuse a little life into the album, though they do appear rather sporadically to work completely effectively.

Perhaps I have met my match in the niche electronica department; I am well aware that sometimes the repetition is all a part of the music, yet I just can’t get into the album. I’ll leave this one to the hardcore fans with patience for monotony that well outweighs mine.

Buy the album from Amazon | iTunes | Rhythm Online

Song Of The Day #1 // Caribou: “Odessa”

Alison King — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:02:50 +0000

Because we’re always on the ball here at The Line Of Best Fit we’re excited to offer you a WHOLE FREE SONG each and every day of the latest and greatest releases. We just can’t keep these tracks to ourselves so we’re spreading the word via a free download! To start you off we have the wonderful Caribou with the new single ‘Odessa’.

If you’re familiar with Caribou’s last album Andorra, perhaps you’ll be expecting lazy guitars and hushed vocals; you’re in for shock then as they take a leaf out of Deerhoof and Grizzly Bear’s book with this great indie dance track. Bubbling with spikey funk basslines, pepperings of percussion and lead by the Erlend Øye-esque vocals, the song rolls in and out of a plastic fantastic indie dream. Dan Snaith’s new direction has made us very excited about Swim out on April 19th and this is definitely a track you’ll be rocking out to in your computer chair.

mp3:> Caribou: “Odessa”

Joel Alme – Waiting For The Bells

Mathew Parri Thomas — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 14:53:59 +0000

With a wash of proud brass, emotional strings and cavernous drums Joel Alme enters: “If he ever changed his mind would you leave me for the corner, darling?” his voice cracking and echoing, swept up in the production of Mattias Glavå. Inside thirty seconds the scene has been set.

In 2008 Joel Alme released his debut, A Master Of Ceremonies, on Sincerely Yours (Air France, The Tough Alliance, jj). It was an album of polished, sweeping, emotional tracks that could draw comparisons with the likes of Okkervil River. Back with his second record, Waiting for the Bells (this time released via Razzia), Joel Alme has taken the sound he honed on his debut and has thrown it into the past. And the results? Quite brilliant really.

Running throughout the album is the theme of a love lost; ostensibly this is a break up album. ‘When Old Love Keeps You Waiting’ finds Alme questioning a loved one’s lingering affection for an old flame, “Hand in hand you’re mine, but you always leave a finger waiting,” ‘You Will Only Get It Once’ pines on losing The One, “I never saw your eyes change, I should have asked,” and ‘You Remeber The Good Times But The Good Times Don’t Remember You’, well, the title speaks for itself really.

With Mattias Glavå behind the desk, Alme has managed to take his perfectly crafted pop nuggest – I say pop as few of the tracks here break the 3 minute mark – and dress them in what can only be described as a Dylan meets Motown clothing. Alme’s cracked, broken and genuinely passionate delivery is backed up by a barrage of gallant strings, backbone bass and dancing brass. Tambourines are high in the mix and drums sound like they’re recorded in a cave. The whole sound brings to mind tracks like Dylan’s ‘Wigwam’ and ‘Man In Me’, or, more specifically, the sort of stuff you’d expect to hear on a Wes Anderson soundtrack. Where producers like Mark Ronson are championing a modern, polished take on 60s soul, Mattias Glavå has managed to give Waiting For The Bells a sheen that makes it sound like it was actually recorded 60 years ago. I can imagine this record may be bet with a few, “This was released this year?” comment.

With Waiting for the Bells Joel Alme has created an album with one foot firmly in the past; a record of warmth, heart and emotion that pays homage to the likes of Dylan and the instrumentation of Motown soul. When it comes to Swedish crooners, Jens Lekman is no longer the only name on the list.

Buy the album from Klick Track

Ja Ja Ja :: Ungdomskulen

Ja Ja Ja — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 14:15:27 +0000

The line-up for February’s Ja Ja Ja has been finalized with the curator revealed as Simon Raymonde of Bella Union. A huge fan of Nordic music for many years, Simon has chosen Denmark’s The Good The Bad, Vuk from Finland and Ungdomskulen from Norway, he’ll also be DJing with TLOBF’s Rich Thane. As always, the event will take place at The Lexington, London on the third Thursday of the month (two days after TLOBF’s other affiliated club night ILL FIT) on February 25th. For full details visit the Ja Ja Ja website.

Norwegian trio Ungdomskulen – Frode Kvinge Flatland, Kristian Stockhaus and Øyvind Solheim – wanted to rock on a regular basis and so they did. After writing a bunch of songs in their fish house studio in Bergen, they recorded their debut album Cry Baby which was released in 2007 to widespread acclaim.

Since the release of Cry Baby, Ungdomskulen has toured the globe, including two UK tour with their biggest fans, Young Knives and shows at CMJ and SXSW festivals in the US.

For people out there that have never heard of you. Give us three reasons why they should?
1.Because we bring the free-range prog-noise in the most delightful way.
2.Because we answer to no man.
3.Because it´s better sooner rather than later.

Tell us a little about where you’re from. Do your surroundings affect the music that you create?
We are all located in Bergen on the West coast of Norway.

It´s the second biggest city in Norway, but its still a pretty small one, it´s located by the water, and has a lot of mountains around it, its super-attractive and we love living here.

Living here is affecting us in such a way that it´s easy to go practice because its not a super busy town, people are really friendly and relaxed and you don´t have to prove yourself all the time.

If you could have played on or written any song, what would it be?
You know the “bang” on Simon & Garfunkel´s “The Boxer”, la-la-lai ka-boom!!!, i wish that was me doing that sound, did they throw something down an elavator-shaft or something for that sound?

How did the band come in to being? And where did the name come from?
We met and bonded like most young men do, staring at the floor, making some noise and cracking some jokes. We just threw away some of our musical and personal baggage, listened, learned and observed and then the metmorphosis just happended one night, and we started being Ungdomskulen.

The name came naturally, it just popped up in my head one day, and it really made sense, i guess to us it represents something that´s really awesome and ugly/wonderfull at the same time, totally boring while it´s happening but utterly fascinating in retrospect.Our name means middle school, or youth school if you translate the words that are ungdom and skulen.

What is the most memorable gig you have played, and what can we expect of your live set at Ja Ja Ja?
Our most memorable gig must be the time we played a wedding, imagine starting your new life to us…

If you were asked to curate your own Ja Ja Ja night, which three acts would you choose and why?

1. E.L.P
It would be great to see E.L.P in a small club, with your average club-backline, it would be equally awesome and dreadful to see Keith Emerson rock a Nord Lead :).

2.Talking Heads
It would be fun to dance the night away to the real thing with them doing a 3 hour dance-set, how realistic should this night be?

3.Deerhoof
A contemporary band finally, such an amazing band, I’e never seen them live but i was close once, not close enough though, but pretty close, close but no cigarillos.

We’d like you to make us a Nordic themed mix-tape. Which five tracks would you choose?
Povel Ramel – Ta av dig skorna (take off your shoes)
A song about how the world would be a better place if people took off their shoes and just enjoyed life once in a while.

Ai Phoenix – Revolution Gray
Nordic melancholy at its most beautiful and heart-felt, and not at all self indulgent as melancholy music often tends to be.

bob hund – En Pratstund
Classic opening-track from bob hund´s Martin Kann-record, Sweden’s finest rock band of all time.

Junior Senior – Move Your Feet
Shameless classic dance-track from this dynamic Dane-duo, a track that makes you wanna go on a cocktail drinking-binge on TV´s Love Boat.

Neneh Cherry – Manchild
Such a breeze of a song, and it has a wonderful video too. Very Bahamas!

The Album Leaf – A Chorus Of Storytellers

Mathew Parri Thomas — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 12:00:55 +0000

A Chorus Of Storytellers, The Album Leaf’s fifth long player, treads a similar path of creation to its predecessors. Recorded on the outskirts of Seattle in the biting February of 2009, the record then found its way over to Iceland and into the hands of Sigur Ros’ Birgir Jon Birgisson for mixing. So far, nothing new; the band’s association with the Iceland’s purveyors of glacial soundscapes is hardly a revelation, this however is: A Chorus of Storytellers sees The Album Leaf recording as a band. Historically, principal song-writer and multi-instrumentalist Jimmy LaValle has taken it upon himself to play everything on record, with a band backing him up for live performances — this time they’re along from the start.

Opening with ‘Pero’, those who are already acquainted with the band’s mellow and ambient signature sound with be in familiar territory. The slow, brooding instrumental starts proceedings with a wash of wordless harmonies over a hopeful chord progression. Slow, digital rhythms fade into focus bringing an unintelligible spoken word sample with them. This is followed by ‘Blank Pages’, with its bowed strings, repetitive piano and processed beat flitting and squelching under a bed of aural calm. It’s not until ‘There is a Wind’ that we really start to feel the presence of the band. The first track of the album to feature vocals, it intones, “Running so far ahead just to get back to the end,” as the digital beats which characterise the band’s sound give way to drums played with flair, inventiveness excitement.

The presence of the band is continued sporadically throughout the rest of the record. ‘Falling From The Sun’ finds LaValles vocals breaking with a sweet sincerity which almost finds the track coming off like a Flaming Lips remix – almost. On ‘Stand Still’ the sound of a very live drum kit is a refreshing change in dynamic and is nicely juxtaposed against the trademark programmed electronics as piano and guitar lines delicately mirror each other’s moves.

Even with this extra dynamic of a live band apparent on the album it could be argued that it suffers from a lack of ideas. Although there is plenty here to applaud (‘Summer Fog’, ‘Until The Last’, ‘Within Dreams’) and tracks stand up individual scrutiny, over the eleven tracks on offer the building blocks of: take a guitar or piano line, introduce a beat, then some strings, then “make it big” is employed a little too often. This is surprising when one considers the input from extra band members and begs the question: did LaValle ask the band along to help write the album or merely to help record it?

Although A Chorus of Storytellers lacks some of the inventiveness that helped me and countless others fall in love with its older siblings it’s still a record of merit, accomplishment and one that you’ll be happy to return to. With a full band in tow it’ll certainly be interesting to see where The Album Leaf go next.

Buy the album on Amazon | iTunes | Rhythm Online

Danton Eeprom – Yes Is More

Sean Bamberger — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 10:00:09 +0000

Just who is Danton Eeprom? A man possessing a fine name, that is for certain. Despite having released a smattering of original music, and creating remixes for artists like Little Boots and Au Revoir Simone this Frenchman in London has largely escaped untarnished by the TLOBF brush. That is until a copy of his debut long player, entitled Yes Is More, landed squarely on our desks.

After a few plays, it becomes clear to the listener that Danton is a man of many facets, an avant-garde artist more suited to the overindulgent 80’s than the recession-choked new millennium. ‘Thanks For Nothing’ possesses a new romantic sensibility, and enough quirkiness to make Peter Gabriel lean back in his segeway and smile, before gliding off to crack back on with all that world music he does nowadays. ‘Vivid Love’ is a power ballad from MIDI keyboard hell (but all the better for it) and ‘Confessions Of An English Opium Eater’ makes a slight diversion to the early 90’s with a French-infused house belter, weighing in at over ten minutes and still managing to hold attention from start to finish. If there was ever a soundtrack to a drunken night in shoreditch, this would be it.

This isn’t to say that Mr Eeprom cannot hold his own against the current generation of trend-setter musicians populating the charts. ‘Give Me Pain’ is a wonky anthem that would give Metronomy a run for their money, and tracks like ‘Tight’ and ‘Unmistakably You’ have the potential to kick recent high-roller Deadmau5 into touch. Oddly, album closer ‘What’s A Balloon But A Bag Of Air’ sounds scarily similar to the type of music Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly would have written in his heyday. With many influences, it’s handy that Danton has the ability to match the ambition.

Despite all this leftfield presentation though, the true oddities hidden in this album are two specific tracks hiding away in the final cut. These are the cover of ‘Lost In Music’ and ‘The Feminine Man’, which sound like a horrible karaoke evening and an adaptation of Serge Gainsbourg’s ‘J’taime…Moi non plus’ by registered sex offenders respectively. Both tracks are pretty cringe worthy, and definitely don’t deserve to be on an album of otherwise solid and admirable quality.

So, if you are prepared to overlook a couple of slack choices, in Yes is More you will find a selection of songs just as capable of filling dancefloors as they are relaxing a weary pair of ears after a long day at work. Dark, subtle and eclectic, Danton Eeprom is a smooth operator, and a hugely talented chap to boot.

Soft core 80’s pop from NYC: Acrylics

Rich Hughes — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 08:46:38 +0000

Ever wondered what the Shout Out Louds would sound like if they had a female vocalist and listened to Tango in the Night on repeat? Regardless of whether you have or haven’t, Acrylics are that band.

Watch the soft-focus loveliness of the video for ‘Molly’s Vertigo’:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The band will be in the UK for a small run of shows:

February
15 Borderline w/Freelance Whales
16 ILL FIT @ The Social w/Maple Bee
18 Old Blue Last w/ Erland & The Carnival ***SOLD OUT***

Copies of Acrylics debut EP All Of The Fire will be available exclusively from Rough Trade from the 8th February.

The 10” vinyl is in extremely limited numbers, so act quick and order here.

Colour of Birmingham announce trio of shows

Rich Hughes — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 08:08:23 +0000

Colour is a live music promoter based in Birmingham, dedicated to showcasing leftfield and independent artists in intimate surroundings. 2010 will see a greater frequency of events and other projects, including the following run of shows in February and March 2010.

These shows include the following:

Willy Vlautin (of Richmond Fontaine)
Thursday 11 February, The Victoria, Birmingham. 8pm, £8.

The Declining Winter & Fieldhead
Saturday 13 February, Island Bar, Birmingham. 7.30pm, £5

Woodenbox With A Fistful Of Fivers & Young Runaways
Thursday 4 March, The Victoria, Birmingham. 8pm, £5

Tickets for each event are available at wearecolour.com/events or on the door.

Tempelhof – We Were Not There From The Beginning…

Gina Louise — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 07:55:43 +0000

So they may not be everyone’s favourite knob twizzlers, but Tempelhof are a relatively undiscovered gem of musical talent. They have not yet hit the mainstream and given the nature of their music they are unlikely to be heard on the Top 40; yet their experimental electronica is fused with just the right amount of shoegaze to make their music all the more accessible. The edge is taken off the concise computer generated percussion of Aphex Twin that they weave through their tracks by the inclusion of a myriad of instruments, some faraway vocals and the intensity reverberating guitars.

Their new release boasts a title that A Silver Mt. Zion would be proud of, and sets the precedent for the entire piece; if you call your album We Were Not There For The Beginning, We Won’t Be There For The End, you’re going to have to make it pretty epic. They manage to combine the intensity of Sigur Ros, the lulling rhythms The Jesus and the Mary Chain and some Editor-esque vocals.

Though the album starts a little weakly, it soon picks up the pace and gathers an almost oppressive momentum as it snowballs towards the ambitious last song which bears the same name as the album. Their music is layered with a myriad of influences and instruments that create an essentially seamless album that engulfs you in a conflicting clash of noise that somehow works together.

Whilst each song on the album has a right to praise, those of note are; the beautiful ‘Song For Lily’, which incorporates much needed faraway vocals to ground the music; ‘Alice’, which laces sparse piano melodies over the gentle lyrics reminiscent of The Smiths ‘Asleep’; and ‘Enjoy Neukölln’, an uplifting mesh of sounds that demands your attention with vigour.

But, good as they are, it seems that all of these songs are merely a prelude to the epic ‘We Were Not There From The Beginning, We Won’t Be There For The End’, which begins with a loaded mesh of guitar and piano interspersed with an electronic melody that is not unlike the more emotional Cure singles, and slowly builds to an excruciating crescendo of noise and layered instruments.

Whilst Tempelhof may not be the obvious choice for those who are adverse to a bit of ambient electronica, their hazy shoegaze/experimental hybridity means that they are well worth the effort of a listen. The habitual sporadic glitches that often make electronica a little oppressive are muted by guitars and faraway vocals, making it less intrusive. In short, Tempelhof have created a hazy mess of sound to immerse yourself in completely, and have done it rather well.

Buy the album on Amazon | Rhythm Online

[Photos] Ja Ja Ja Club Night – The Lexington, London 21/01/10

Ja Ja Ja — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 21:10:04 +0000

The third TLOBF sponsored Ja Ja Ja night, curated by Sean Adams of Drowned In Sound. All photographs by Paul Bridgewater.

Leaves

Simon Says No

Sudden Weather Change

[Photos] Midlake – Rough Trade East, London 01/02/10

Rich Thane — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:46:04 +0000

Photographs by Paul Bridgewater.

Real Estate – Real Estate

Tyler Boehm — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:00:02 +0000

When I first moved to Los Angeles, I really only had one friend, a fellow transplant, and we used to go out together every Saturday night. We’d go to a little run down bar – it had been a Rat Pack hangout, but these days it’s low-key and well-worn- across the street from the beach in Santa Monica. We’d get drunk, reminisce about high school and then stumble back to my friend’s apartment to pass out. The next morning we would put on our sunglasses and bake off our hangovers on the beach. Real Estate’s eponymous debut, packed from start to finish with gently nostalgic and pretty songs, would have been the perfect soundtrack to those mornings.

The band shares Beach House’s relaxed, hazy aesthetic but standard rock instrumentation gives them a more organic sound. With two instrumentals in ten songs, Real Estate puts the emphasis on the jangly, slightly surfy, interplay of their guitars, underpinned by shuffling drums that prove surprisingly expressive. The album opens with ‘Beach Comber,’ which in its own rollicking way encapsulates the band’s aesthetic, before moving into its sleepiest section. Real Estate manages to remain just as engaging even as they slow down and by the time you get to midpoint ‘Atlantic City,’ a 50’s style meanding instrumental spiked with some surf guitar, Real Estate’s consistent, warm tone will have you hooked.

The second half of the album builds slowly but surely to album highlight ‘Suburban Revenge.’ Here a descending bass line slowly pulls chiming guitars into lockstep with a slightly distant sounding chanting, before a beautiful repeating guitar melody propels the song to as close to a blissful climax as Real Estate’s laid-back music could ever get. Real Estate has made an album full of dusty, comfortable music that still somehow sounds new. Put it all together and you have the sound of the morning after a great night, and a thoroughly enjoyable debut from a band with surely more great music yet to come.

Buy the album from Amazon | iTunes

Broken Social Scene, Japandroids, Delphic and much more for Great Escape

Rich Hughes — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 13:31:13 +0000

The initial line-up for this year’s Great Escape festival in Brighton has been announced, with an impressive list of bands.

The following have all been confirmed!
DELPHIC / CHASE AND STATUS / BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE / MARINA & THE DIAMONDS / ELLIE GOULDING / CRYSTAL FIGHTERS / SLOW CLUB / COLD CAVE / ESBEN AND THE WITCH / HURTS / JAPANDROIDS / REAL ESTATE / TIMBER TIMBRE / DARWIN DEEZ / BEST COAST / THE CHEEK / WILD PALMS / THE RUBY SUNS

Yikes – that’s pretty TLOBF friendly… BSS, Japandroids, Esben and the Witch… think I might have to find somewhere to stay in Brighton.

The festival takes place over 30+ venues throughout the city and hosts over 350 bands playing from May 13-15th.

More info when we get it folks!

Magnetic Fields – Realism

Sebastian Reynolds — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 12:00:39 +0000

Realism is an understated masterpiece that sees Stephin Merritt once again at the height of his lyrical and melodic powers. “You can’t just go round saying stuff / Because it’s pretty / And I no longer drink enough / To think you’re witty.” Right from the chiming, chattering psychedelic folk-pop gem of an opener, ‘You Must be Out Of Your Mind’, you know you’re in for another treat. Recorded entirely without synthesizers and almost all acoustic (‘real’) instruments, it’s a fascinating jumble of musical and metaphorical contradictions, and is also perhaps the most dream-like and surreal offering from the band yet.

In interview, Merritt has sited one inspiration for the album as being his trawling the music shops of Los Angeles in search of new sounds, having decamped his studio there from his beloved New York. What he found in these West Coast music stores was a treasure trove of Central and South American instruments, and one of Realism’s many charms is a rich feast of these bizarre and not-so-bizarre acoustic instruments. Classic Magnetic Fields elements are still present of course, from Merritt’s signature drawl to Sam Davol’s lilting cello playing and the cooing vocals of Claudia Gonson and Shirley Simms. And the lyrics are just as resplendent with that beautiful Merritt melancholy, in the vein of ‘The Cactus Where Your Heart Should Be’ (from 69 Love Songs) and ‘I Die’ (from I). This is a band that doesn’t just have a back catalogue – they have a ‘Canon’, a universe of characters and musical tapestries that they’ve developed over 20 years that make them something quite special and unique.

Speaking of lyrics, this record is something of a departure in terms of lyrical themes, with Merritt dipping more into the fantastical than before. Alongside the classic romantic ballads (‘I Don’t Know What To Say’) and knowing folk pastiches (‘We Are Having A Hootenanny’) he introduces us to the occasional mermaid and werewolf. Not that any of them escape that same dry, world-weary wit: “On winter nights the mermaid sings / ‘I was made for better things…’”. Addressing the people of Earth and Mars on ‘Dada Polka’, our faithful narrator beseeches us to “… do something – anything / Do something a little out of character, it won’t kill you.”

There’s something wonderfully perplexing and endlessly beguiling about trying to fathom Merritt’s actual take on the world: how much the arch cynic, and how much the hopeless romantic? How does he really feel about all his creations? Because, for all his toying with clichés, his dead-pan sarcasm and his occasionally biting put-downs, there’s still a tremendously endearing and uplifting spirit running through his words and music. Merritt’s gift for empathy and compassion mean that his songs never feel trite or cheesy, and it’s hard to imagine that they won’t continue (to quote vintage Magnetic Fields) to “ring in your ears, down through the years, bringing a tear to your eye.”

The record’s swan song, ‘From A Sinking Boat’, ends with the killer line: “Know that I loved you, / Know that I wrote my last words to you, / From a sinking boat.”

A modern masterpiece. Seriously, go and buy this album.

Look out for our interview with Stephin Merritt tomorrow!

Buy the album on Realism | iTunes | Rhythm Online

Cover art for new Joanna Newsom album unveiled

Rich Hughes — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 11:52:43 +0000

So, there you have it – the very Cleopatra-esque scene will be the cover art for the highly anticipated new album from Joanna Newsom. At least it’s not a close up of Newsom, otherwise Mr. Matt Poacher (regular TLOBF scribe) would get a bit too excited.

The new album, Have One on Me, is due for release on 22nd Feb via Drag City Records. It’s going to be a triple LP, so best start saving the pennies.

You can check out the song ‘81′, which is streaming on the Drag City site (on the side panel).

Andrew Vincent – Rotten Pear

Alex Cocks — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 10:00:16 +0000

Andrew Vincent is proof positive of the sheer abundance and quality of the music scene in Canada over the last decade, ably demonstrated by The Line OF Best Fit’s very own regular feature Oh! Canada. Little known outside his homeland, Rotten Pear is Vincent’s fifth album and the first after a five year recording hiatus. Bereft of his backing band the Pirates, the album is lent an air of intimacy by being recorded at home in Toronto with producer Jarrett Bartlett.

The album veers between gently plucked acoustic numbers and a reconfiguration of garage rock, replete with primal stand up drumming and scratchy guitar, which is counterpointed with Vincent’s baleful vocals. Occasionally rambling lyrics are wedded to subtle subversions of the construct of ‘rock’ music across the album, culminating in the friction between the subject matter of ‘Going Out Tonight’ and its breezy, soulful execution. Elsewhere the gossamer thin strands of melody that shift and sway during ‘Sleep To Dream’ offer a subtle change of pace, as does the cello and woodwind driven title track. Perhaps the only misstep is the cover of Kate Bush’s ‘Hounds of Love’ which closes the album. The ubiquity of both the original and the Futureheads version mean that while the song itself isn’t ‘untouchable’, subsequent versions will always have to bear comparison. Vincent’s version strikes off on its own tangent. Woozy and somnambulant, the song is stripped down to its core elements. A diverting if not entirely successful version, but Vincent has plenty more arrows in the quiver.

Rotten Pear is at its strongest in its striking use of narrative, shifting seamlessly between different modes and themes throughout. The narrators are good time boys with a beer in hand and a quick quip on their lips, losers, drifters and vagrants while the songs are populated by acne scarred youths, wannabe songwriters and down at heel drug addicts. There is a filmic sensibility to the songs, portrayed in the diner scene in ‘Diane’ and the barely contained violence of the bar brawl in ‘Under Your Thumb’. The existential tension of ‘Going Out Tonight’ and the irony-laden ‘Canadian Dream’ display a keen sense of Vincent’s personality, a Canadian Sisyphus watching a clay-covered beer can roll back down to the plain. But while the songs display a weariness and melancholy, Vincent always conjures the right turn of phrase to add colour and warmth to a desperate circumstance.

The songs find expression in an emotional, tragic-comic vein. Vincent writes intelligently with clarity of purpose and melody, and across the breadth of the album proves himself adept at capturing the sensation and minutiae of a situation. It is this preciseness of the record that lends it such warmth…”In a sports bar in the bad part of town, all the guys gather round, with their sweat pants and acnes scars, one by one, they ask you out” (‘Hi-Lo’).

Vincent’s voice has a delightfully lived in appeal, full of a gentle old-fashioned naiveté and the album is testament that a good song and melody needn’t claw at the face of your conscience but can gradually envelop you with a sense of beauty and control. Self-deprecating, funny, occasionally adventurous, nostalgic and beautiful – Rotten Pear proves to be Vincent’s most satisfying and complete release to date, mining a deep seam of emotion and experience which deserves a wider audience for his work.

High Places unveil new album, give away track, play dates

Rich Hughes — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 09:57:35 +0000

High Places have announced plans to release a new album. High Places vs Mankind will be released on 5th April, and you can download one of the tracks, ‘On Giving Up’, now thanks to Thrill Jockey. Click here!

The band are playing a series of dates around the UK:

May
03 Brighton Freebutt
04 London Cargo
05 Dublin Whelans
06 Glasgow Nice & Sleazy
07 Sheffield The Harley
08 Leeds The Brudenell Social Club

The Knife stream their Operatic masterpiece online, buy digitally

Rich Hughes — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 09:40:29 +0000

Tomorrow, In a Year, the studio version of the Charles Darwin Opera, written by The Knife in collaboration with Mt. Sims and Planningtorock, is now available to stream in full, purchase digitally (as high quality files) and pre-order on CD at theknife.net.

The album is also available worldwide from digital stores including iTunes and Amazon from today, Monday 1st February. The CD will be in stores from the 1st March.

Jookabox – Dead Zone Boys

Andy Johnson — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 08:00:18 +0000

Know much about Indianapolis? No, me neither. Hardly America’s most culturally-referenced city, the only other band I’ve knowingly heard that hail from that part of the world are 1980s punk outfit Zero Boys, whose brilliant 1982 album Vicious Circle was reissued by Secretly Canadian last year. Formerly known as Grampall Jookabox, Jookabox (chiefly David “Moose” Adamson) borrow elements from that album’s title track on a song here – ‘East Side Bangs/East Side Fade’. It’s almost unnoticeable, the textual reference inside the CD case at least as significant a homage as the musical reference barely heard on the song.

Dead Zone Boys apparently documents a twisted midnight version of “Indy”. Phantoms, zombies and and Black Sabbath-esque evil women haunt its fidgety, chaotic lyrics which are married to the ominous tribal beats, wonky synths and demented chants which echo a cheap Indiana-set 70s horror flick. Towards the end of lengthy stop-start collage ‘Gonna Need the Guns/Doom Hope’ a whirling cacophany of voices like crazed ghouls wail madly over the the song’s slow wind-down. ‘Zombie Tear Drops’ takes the vague horror theme too far however, taking a quite frequently silly record into numbing self-parody territory.

Generally though, Jookabox create a fascinating atmosphere on Dead Zone Boys. The songs are many-layered, frustrating attempts at genre classification by including industrial beats, sped up, slowed down and pitch-shifted vocals, damaged-sounding acoustic guitar and frantic chidlike chants, as on the infectious ‘Don’t Go Phantom’. At its best the album truly sounds like nothing else. The use of vocals is frequently impressive – something interesting is always being done with them on almost every track, especially on ‘Light’ which rescues the album from ‘Zombie Tear Drops’ and is gripping and inventive from start to finish. Ever surprising, Jookabox conclude with ‘F.I.T.F. #1′ which we soon realise refers to the oft-repeated phrase “faith in the fucking”.

An admirable and largely very entertaining attempt at a darkly distinctive record, Dead Zone Boys is a impressive if not entirely consistent effort. Most definitely worth a listen for anyone intruiged by the idea of a black-humoured and twisted genre-splice.

Buy the album on Amazon | iTunes

Cold Cave announce May tour & limited edition 12″

Rich Hughes — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:48:43 +0000

The finest purveyors of ice-cool electro-pop Cold Cave, have announced a series of UK live dates around their performance at the Matt Groening curated ATP.

To coincide with this, the New York based trio will release live favourite ‘Life Magazine’ as a 12″ featuring a number of high profile guest remixes (full details to follow).

Check out the video below:

Click here to view the embedded video.

May
07 All Tomorrows Parties (curated by Matt Groening), Minehead Butlins
08 Nation Of Shopkeepers, Leeds
09 Captains Rest, Glasgow
10 Deaf Institute, Manchester
12 Cargo, London
13 Great Escape Festival, Brighton

Owen Pallett – Union Chapel, London 25/01/10

Daniel Offen — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 13:18:00 +0000

Having arrived slightly late at the eagerly anticipated, and sold out, Final Fantasy/Owen Pallet Gig, finding a pew (which are remarkably uncomfortable, but rather lovely and twee), I was delighted to find that one of the mystery guests was Lightspeed Champion. A man with whom I’m not intimately familiar, but have heard many good things about, he struck an odd figure on stage, and was fantastic. He was a charming performer, who managed to hold almost all of the attention of the crowd, a somewhat rare feat for the first act any night. Closing with a great cover of ‘She’s Got The Devil In Her Eyes’, he was definite success.

The next act, introduced by Owen Pallett himself, were Sam Amidon and Nico Muhly. They played mostly nice, clever folk songs on guitar and piano. For half the time at least they were rather compelling, and sounded somewhat ethereal. But then, however much I like watching a performer have a great time on stage, discordant violin accompanied by whaling (deliberately designed to be an unpleasant noise, begins to grate. They experienced problems, when a female guest singer, Beth Orton, was late to the stage, but they made the best of the problem claiming to be searching for a little voice. They were later joined by Owen himself on the violin, and ended their show very well.

As every other review of this gig will say, the Union Chapel is the perfect venue for Owen Pallet; even more so with how his new album sounds. Writing more personal intimate songs than ever before, the Union Chapel seemed like the perfect place for him to shine. From the moment he entered the stage and started playing it was clear that he was going to live up to expectations. Watching him create his loops is immensely compelling, and it’s fascinating to see the techniques he uses to create certain sounds, such as shouting in the mic within his violin, and moving away from the microphone. Joined onstage by Thomas Gill, who helped with percussion and guitar, Owen managed to make a massive sound. Personally I prefer watching him plays alone on the stage, the songs seem more personal and impressive when you know that all of the sound is solely coming from him.

But, even requiring help, he is still an incredible performer. His violin tone is remarkable, playing ‘The Article Circle’ solely from the microphone, we got a taste of quite how good a violin player he actually is. Owen also has a great sense of humour, turning bad situations such as coughing in the middle of a song into a joke with the line “Can you imagine if that happened to Beyoncé? It would be the best thing ever.” His show peaked with the performance of the wonderful ‘Lewis Takes His Shirt Off’, a song that never fails to give me chills on record, performed live it was breath taking. Finishing with a one song encore Owen Pallett left a spellbound audience behind. Easily the best gig of the year so far, Owen is a must-see act.

Photos by Crazybobbles

Good Shoes – No Hope, No Future

Daniel Offen — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 12:00:46 +0000

There’s nothing wrong with Good Shoes, nothing wrong at all. They make perfectly sensible indie rock that sounds like the Arctic Monkeys, and it’s all very good an well. Not particularly inspired, original or revolutionary really, but then does it have to be? No Hope, No Future doesn’t have me paying much attention to it, but then it hardly leaves me running screaming from the room with my ears covered, and who could ask for much more from noughties indie rock? No Hope, No Future is a relic from the noughties, almost to the point of seeming dated, is this sort of stuff still really popular? It is relevant? Or are Good Shoes just hanging on to the glory days of this-sort-of-thing?

Anyway, that all seems rather unimportant, who cares about the context and relevancy of a record if it’s good? Despite my previous comments about the abject mediocrity of No Hope, No Future it does have strong elements to it. Opener ‘The Way My Heart Bleeds’ paints a optimistic picture for the rest of the album, but it never really moves past that point. There’s little variation, or original ideas contained within. Just the same old indie rock repeated ad infititum, good but not exceptional.

I suppose I’m being unnecessarily harsh, Good Shoes do what they say on the tin, and I don’t think anybody would expect any more from them. To do so would be betraying their fans and a highly odd thing to do. I suppose it’s a shame that this album has come out about 2 years late when everybody’s appetite for this-sort-of-thing has declined. Nobody wants to hear Rhys Jones singing exactly like Alex Turner, despite being from London not Sheffield, we’ve heard it all before and gotten bored with it.

Maybe there’s some hidden genius to this album that I have not managed to uncover, maybe the lyrics (which didn’t seem particularly worthy of attention) hold an incredible worth of subtext and imagery that my puny brain couldn’t really uncover, but on the face of things No Hope, No Future is happily mediocre. Enjoyable and jolly, but far from sensational.

Buy the album on Amazon | iTunes | Rhythm Online

Her Name Is Calla auction goodies for Oxfam Haiti Appeal

Rich Hughes — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 10:48:12 +0000

Her Name Is Calla have put up a number of auctions to help raise money for Oxfam’s Haiti Appeal.

Lot 1
Condor and River ♯1 (Tom’s own copy)
A Moment of Clarity 7″
Condor and River 12″
Long Grass EP on CD and LP
The Heritage on CD and LP
Forthcoming 2nd album The Quiet Lamb on CD and LP including a specially handpackaged copy (These will be delivered a fortnight before the release date)

Lot 2
Two guest passes to every date of the forthcoming tour
Long Grass EP on CD and LP
The Heritage on CD and LP
Forthcoming 2nd album The Quiet Lamb on CD and LP (These will be delivered a fortnight before the release date)

Lot 3
A personal song, written by us and released only to you. Specially handpackaged. We might perform it at gigs, but we’ll never release it elsewhere. And to note, this is not a song ABOUT you – it is a song that we will write in the normal manner and give to you.
Long Grass EP on CD and LP
The Heritage on CD and LP
Forthcoming 2nd album The Quiet Lamb on CD and LP (These will be delivered a fortnight before the release date)

Lot 4
A living room gig – Exactly that – we’ll come and play a gig in your living room, basement, garden, plane wing, whatever. Maybe in some kind of stripped back form. Depends how annoyed you think your neighbours will be. This is only available if: you live nearby to one of our forthcoming tour dates, in the Midlands, UK and Yorkshire, UK. For other locations please email us before bidding to check first.
Long Grass EP on CD and LP
The Heritage on CD and LP
Forthcoming 2nd album The Quiet Lamb on CD and LP (These will be delivered a fortnight before the release date)

Amazing prizes, so get out your money out and get some great rewards for doing something good…

Matthew P – Swimming EP

Andy Johnson — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 10:00:43 +0000

“You can shake your head,” Matthew P sings at the start of this EP, “things will never change”. The first line of the next song is “Things will always change.” There’s nothing wrong with contradicting yourself directly between songs – hell, is there anything wrong with doing something The Beatles did? Albeit partly during a cover in their case. Matthew P doing it is incredibly noticeable, given how prominent those lines are and how close together they are heard on this sparse EP Swimming. Is the juxtaposition deliberate or accidental? Are both lines true under different circumstances? Is one sung from one perspective and the other from another?

These questions, whilst perplexing, probably aren’t important. To say that those lines are their contrast is the most striking thing about this five-track EP is not a condemnation but merely a reference to the fact that this is a pleasant but quiet and generally restrained set of songs. The emphasis is on acoustic guitar, increasingly joined by colourful Jesper Norda-esque piano, percussion and handclaps, and forever supporting Matthew’s intriguing voice – generally relaxed but tense for a moment or three on ‘Keep on Swimming’, possibly the EP’s best song and far more than a probably-accidental almost-homage to Dory from Finding Nemo.

Matthew P’s ambition is not huge, but he achieves what he aims to on Swimming. This is a small but accomplished set of songs, breezy in delivery but with just enough of an edge to make them feel significant and interesting. If Matthew can vary his sound and instrumentation, he may sound at least as impressive on a longer format than this humble, unassuming little EP.

Buy the EP on Amazon | iTunes

Midlake – The Courage Of Others

Mathew Parri Thomas — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 08:00:00 +0000

It’s been four years since Texan five-piece Midlake released The Trials of Van Occupanther, which, in my opinion (and with no hint of hyperbole) is a masterpiece. Evocative imagery of woodland life, travel and adversity wrapped around a blend of Fleetwood Mac soft rock (not a dirty word), Crosby Stills and Nash harmonies and the analogue synthesizers that characterised their debut. Everything about the album was pitch-perfect; the guitar solo on ‘Head Home’, the simple-yet-beautiful two-chord wonder of ‘Van Occupanter’ – it was the complete package.

Opening with lead single ‘Acts of Man’ (albeit a limited to 500 vinyl copies single), The Courage of Others hits the ground, well, walking. Delicately played acoustic guitar lines trade melodies as Tim Smith sings “If all that grows starts to fade, starts to falter, let me inside not to wake.” Instantly the tone of what’s to come is set; the themes of nature, earth and simple times are all still present but are this time underpinned with a melancholy.

This idea of the affects of man seems to run through the core of The Courage of Others. As Smith sings almost entirely in the first person, a nameless protagonist weaves tales about the changing of the seasons, “As spring is made alive the winter dies,” death, “I will take my rest with all creatures who dwell under the smallest of green,” and the fate of future generations, “As their fortune appears it begins to die.” Even on the John Denver-aping ‘Fortune’ everything is delivered with a dejected, almost defeated, delivery which only goes to add to the sombre tone that permeates throughout.

When setting the pitch of a record, instant gratification versus reward-through-investment is always a tricky one. While familiarity may lead to contempt so too can a lack of satisfaction, and this is something Midlake are treading close to here. The problem – if you can call it a problem – is that things never really get going. The whole affair is played out at such measured pace and volume that it’s easy to let it pass you by. On the few exceptions where things do pick up (‘The Horn’, ‘Winter Dies’, ‘Bring Down’) it almost sounds as if the band are playing like their lives depended on it – but someone only turned the amps up to six. Bass lines still flourish with all the flamboyance of a lead guitar, guitars wrestle to keep wayward distortion at bay and vocals layer to create blankets of warmth, yet it still fails to make to stop you in your tracks.

That said, this is still a very accomplished effort. Maybe with expectations so high and bars already raised it’s hard to stomach anything other than The Trials of Van Occupanther 2. Judging The Courage of Others on its own merits, the album does come alive when it’s afforded a little time and attention. Midlake are still masters of finding the perfect sounds and arrangements for everything they do – it’s almost taken for granted. Where the Courage of Others may not pack as much punch as its predecessor, those who invest the time to listen and discover the record’s intricacies will soon find that there’s more on offer than first meets the ear.

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