Albums Thread - 2015

[Buzzer]

Jah Wobble - Celtic Poets is a cracking one for some poetry set to music. My favourite spoken word tune could well be Rhoda Dakar and Special AKA - The Boiler. It's not easy going though.


...And that reminds me of the Peter Wyngarde album that he made and was dumped because it was so offensive. There is a track on there where he reads out a letter from a teenage skinhead girl to the Times explaining the fashion cult.

 

[spring hall convert]

Just seen Ornette Coleman has died.

Probably my favourite jazz record (sorry Miles.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lbt9DDolcag

 

[Trufflehound]

I was thinking of less samples, more poetry, spoken word etc,...

Who could forget Procol Harum's epic 1977 musical poem "The Worm and the Tree"?

Actually, most people it seems, and with good reason (spoken as someone who was a Procol Harum fan). It was overly long self-indulgent prog-rock released at precisely the time when everyone else was throwing overly long self-indulgent prog-rock out of the window and embracing punk.

If you're up for 20 minutes of utter tedium (play it at a party when you want all your guests to go home):

[yt]Yb4QT_uH6LQ[/yt]

 

[spring hall convert]

Catching up with some local stuff recently

Slum of Legs recent single is more of a straight up punk number - https://riotsnotdiets.bandcamp.com/album/doll-like
Nature Channel "rock and roll party music for the end of days" featuring Tom from the much missed Help She Can't Swim - https://naturechannel.bandcamp.com/
Nightkites anonymous Brighton based producer channelling early Burial. Highly reccomended. - http://nightkites.bandcamp.com/releases

 

[BBassic]

Catching up with some local stuff recently

Slum of Legs recent single is more of a straight up punk number - https://riotsnotdiets.bandcamp.com/album/doll-like
Nature Channel "rock and roll party music for the end of days" featuring Tom from the much missed Help She Can't Swim - https://naturechannel.bandcamp.com/
Nightkites anonymous Brighton based producer channelling early Burial. Highly reccomended. - http://nightkites.bandcamp.com/releases

for Slum of Legs! Great band, great people.

 

[spring hall convert]

for Slum of Legs! Great band, great people.

We love 'em.

http://www.brightonnoise.co.uk/live-review/?p=89169
http://www.brightonnoise.co.uk/live-review?p=99846
http://www.brightonnoise.co.uk/live-review/?p=103164

Forgot to mention Last Chance Dance Band's wonderful EP Yes, Yes There Is A Light EP. Whimsical indie, not unlike Weezer, some cracking lyrics as well.

https://cupboardmusic.bandcamp.com/album/yes-yes-yes-there-is-a-light

 

[Buzzer]

I must have been in a mellow mood last night and this morning as all 3 artists are acoustic guitar troubadours. 3 very good albums though and each one highly recommended

Little Wings - 'Explains' There's nothing to date this album at all, it could be mid-70s or mid-noughties, Little Wings aka Kyle Field has a lovely deep Midwest twang that borders on falsetto and gives him a sound very much like Bill Callahan (eerily like Bill Callahan actually) or at a stretch someone such as James Taylor. His album is pitched very much in this genre. As with all the best songwriters his songs are deceptively simple and it is predominantly acoustic guitar with accompanying piano, very light on the drums and occasional flute but it's his voice and guitar that drives the album. This album is quite soporific but in a very good way. Standout tracks Old Apocalypse Style, Light Brang and Around The World. One for fans of Bon Iver and Bill Callahan.



Ryley Walker - 'Primrose Green'. This is another timeless album, slightly more upbeat - Think Nick Drake 'Pink Moon' pace. The Guardian describes him as Tim Buckley-esque and the comparison is fair but I'd say it's a lot closer to John Martyn. Now I'm a big fan of both so don't bandy those comparisons around lightly, this is a superb album. I'd also add that even though he's American his folky style does sound very English to me. There's so many great tracks on this album and he's not afraid to really go for it with the guitar and typically you'll get a good couple of minutes intro where the band show the full extent of their talent. I bet he is one hell of a live performer. To be honest I could have picked any track of the album, it's that good.



Jose Gonzalez - 'Vestiges and Claws' I don't think he's ever done a bad album and this can sit up there with the best of them. You kind of know what you're going to get with any of his albums, he's not one who has veered far from his roots. The album trundles along at a lovely little jog and it's a great choice for a balmy sunny day. I listened to this album the other night straight after Bridge Over Troubled Water and the join was almost seamless.

 

[Gwylan]

Just seen Ornette Coleman has died.

Probably my favourite jazz record (sorry Miles.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lbt9DDolcag

Yes, surprised to see so few obituaries for him - there were plenty of mentions for Lee and Moody, who were fine actors, but neither of them revolutionised their field in the way that Coleman did. I've been playing plenty this morning - why does it take someone dying to dig out old stuff?

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Had my first listen today and found it quite entertaining. Plenty of humour in there as you would expect (Police Encounters, Collaborations Don't Work, Piss Off). As a long term Sparks fan I've always liked the OTT nature of their work and the link up with FF seems to work well.

I have now added it to my (CD) collection. Like you I have found it entertaining and amusing and it's a collaboration which does work very well.

It's possibly too easy to tell which side finished the songs off, not a bad thing though. And it has added an element of extra wit to FF. Some of the songs are character based which I like and Little Guy From The Suburbs is a good example, and a lovely song. Piss Off is IMHO the classic of this get-together and a song I'll no doubt turn to when I've had enough of things.

They've been added to the Lollapollaza Berlin line-up, me and Cheeky have tickets for this.

 

[Buzzer]

A few new albums:

Gengahr - 'A Dream Outside' North London band with a very impressive debut album. There's nothing new here, they play a dreamy guitar indie-pop with some infectious tunes and a festival-friendly attitude to songwriting but they do it well and the album is perfect for this kind of weather. The lead singer's voice is pretty good too, he has a falsetto style a bit like the lead singer of Passion Pit or if you've never heard of them then do you remember the singer from Wheatus? It's just like that. The album does peter out a bit at the end but it's not a massive drop.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNPnxSG-evk" target="_blank">

Moonbabies - 'Pink Heart Mother': Swedish dream-pop duo. Apparently they've been around a while but I can't recall anything by them before. THey did de-camp to Berlin for a while but have now returned to Malmo where they made this album. I say 'dream-pop' but that doesn't really get going until a few songs in. Until then it has more of a disco feel to it, the first track especially reminding me of the Italians Do It Better label and that nu-disco sound. When it does get dream-pop it's quite lovely. Standout tracks for me are Playground Dropouts and 24.

https://soundcloud.com/moonbabies/moonbabies-24

Flo Morrissey - 'Tomorrow Will Be Beautiful': North London female singer/songwriter with her first album. No relation to Stephen Patrick. She's firmly rooted in acoustic folk/pop with a voice that reminded me a lot of Lana Del Ray although I did read elsewhere comparisons with Harriet Wheeler from the Sundays and I can see why she was mentioned. She (Flo Morrissey) does have a strong singing voice and consequently the album can have a samey feel to it if you don't pay attention but if you do or you hear the songs in isolation then they stand alone quite comfortably as well-crafted and very pleasant listening.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WewK7ubydKQ" target="_blank">

Mr Fogg - 'Youth': This is an unusual album, not what I was expecting at all when I first heard it. I did a bit of digging after listening to this and apparently he's from a family steeped in the opera and it shows. Although a lot of electronica here there's also a lot of traditional orchestration with the likes of cello, flute to accompany his voice for an album that I didn't think people made anymore. Think Sigur Ros in their pomp or Radiohead in their quieter moments.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gR3RF1gMUFs" target="_blank">

Jaakko Eino Kalevi - 'Jaakko Eino Kalevi': I listened to this album a few days ago and I was instantly grabbed, another listen this morning and not so sure that I remembered it at all, it sounded completely different. What kind of genre is it? Well - it's electronic and it's sort of pop but extremely self-indulgent but in a good way, it has me scratching my head as to whether I still like it as much as the first listen because it does mess with your mind. I felt exactly the same with Ariel Pink and I'm not the only one to make that connection. However I eventually feel about it, it will undoubtedly be the best album by a Helsinki tram driver you'll hear this year!

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOXy7XwDQ9c" target="_blank">

A couple of albums that disappointed:

Milk Carton Kids 'Monterey': Los Angeles folk duo who have a 60s Greenwich Village sound to them. Nice but a bit like marzipan you get sick of it after two or three mouthfuls.

Passion Pit - 'Kindred' - can't recall if I have already mentioned their 2015 album, it came out a few months ago but writing about Gengahr reminded me. Quite disappointed with this from a band that I have in the past raved about as up there with Hot Chip in making very catchy electro-pop. The songs on this album sound the same for the most part, the songs are a bit boring and one of those albums that you know after 3 or 4 listens that you won't return to again.

 

[Albumen]

Buzzer how do you get time?!

 

[tinycowboy]

Passion Pit - 'Kindred' - can't recall if I have already mentioned their 2015 album, it came out a few months ago but writing about Gengahr reminded me. Quite disappointed with this from a band that I have in the past raved about as up there with Hot Chip in making very catchy electro-pop. The songs on this album sound the same for the most part, the songs are a bit boring and one of those albums that you know after 3 or 4 listens that you won't return to again.

Really liked their first, second was very average, didn't bother with their third - sounds like I made the right choice.

Buzzer how do you get time?!

I think it must be the long commute....

 

[BBassic]

Gengahr - 'A Dream Outside' North London band with a very impressive debut album. There's nothing new here, they play a dreamy guitar indie-pop with some infectious tunes and a festival-friendly attitude to songwriting but they do it well and the album is perfect for this kind of weather. The lead singer's voice is pretty good too, he has a falsetto style a bit like the lead singer of Passion Pit or if you've never heard of them then do you remember the singer from Wheatus? It's just like that. The album does peter out a bit at the end but it's not a massive drop.

I just got through listening to this. I was really impressed.

 

[Buzzer]

Buzzer how do you get time?!

I think it must be the long commute....

...is the answer. The Brighton to St Pancras train is invariably a 1 hour 40 journey each way and add to that the 15 minute walk from home to station. That's 4 hours each day.

 

[Buzzer]

My favourite albums of the year so far:

Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit And Think and Sometimes I Just Sit
Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear
Ghostpoet - Shedding Skin
Leftfield - Alternative Light Source
Marika Hackman - We Slept At Last
Of Monsters And Men - Beneath The Skin
Shamir - Ratchet
Sóley - Ask The Deep
Stealing Sheep - Not Real
Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell
The Gaslamp Killer – The Gaslamp Killer Experience Live In Los Angeles
This Is The Kit - Bashed Out

 

[Buzzer]

Breakage - 'When The Night Comes' London producer James Boyle with a full-length album of dance tunes. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that along with Leftfield and the DJ Koze DJ-Kicks album, this is going to be one of the must-haves for proper dance music fans. It starts off innocently enough, a moody R&B number that has whiffs of Massive Attack about it but then it's wave your hands in the air full-on house music and then he switches it again to some very lovely intelligent drum and bass. The major themes running through the album are that it is intense, it's profoundly English and it's blow your socks off brilliant.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=yO8hIO94VmM

Wolf Alice - 'My Love Is Cool' I was given an advance copy and before I had a chance to listen to them I'd googled them and read their description as grungy pop-punk and the first track certainly lived up to that but thereafter the album offers so much more. Having listened to the album a few times I'd say their natural home is indie-pop, the proper indie-pop that wouldn't be out of place in the late 80s/early 90s but they also do a decent stab at a sort of dream-pop too. I'm surprised just how wide their range is given that this is their first album. Fair play to their record company for allowing them the freedom to mix things arounfd so thoroughly on a debut album. I do expect this band to be very big in the future.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD_Q9CxXTo4

Kacey Musgraves - 'Pageant Material' She's a Grammy-award winning country singer with a new album that didn't do much for me at all. Apparently, her earlier output was edgy, anti-establishment, that sort of thing but this time round it sounds like an audition for the Grand Ole Opry, the album is far too Nashville-friendly for my liking. There's a few tracks that break from the formula and even on the country-by-numbers ones she throws a few lines in to the mix to show her rebellion but overall it's song after song about small-town life with trite cliches lifted from inspirational posters. Michelle Shocked, she ain't.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Flo Morrissey - 'Tomorrow Will Be Beautiful': North London female singer/songwriter with her first album. No relation to Stephen Patrick. She's firmly rooted in acoustic folk/pop with a voice that reminded me a lot of Lana Del Ray although I did read elsewhere comparisons with Harriet Wheeler from the Sundays and I can see why she was mentioned. She (Flo Morrissey) does have a strong singing voice and consequently the album can have a samey feel to it if you don't pay attention but if you do or you hear the songs in isolation then they stand alone quite comfortably as well-crafted and very pleasant listening.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WewK7ubydKQ" target="_blank">

Can see the LDR, although only in the TONE. Glad to see that she is from North London, and happy to SOUND like she's from North London, rather than falling into the trap of pretending she's from California. Not having the Harriet Wheeler though. This girl's voice is richer. Harriet's thing was how vulnerable she sounded, and why I loved her...

 

[Buzzer]

A Grave With No Name - 'Feathers Wet, Under The Moon' Definitely one of those albums for quiet reflection, it was perfect for the start of my commute this morning. It's quite beautiful, each tune an incredible show of musicianship and the lead singer's voice reminiscent - very reminiscent - of Sparklehorse's Mark Linkous. Standout tune is definitely Orion, it's a thing of sheer joy.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDc5yIh-t-k

Sorority Noise - 'Joy, Departed' I listened to this album 3 times on the trot last night, something I don't tend to do very often but there's something about this album that is extremely captivating and endearing. They're ostensibly an emo band, a genre I'm not particularly comfortable with but this particular album won me over straight away. They do play around with styles on tracks before invariably letting rip with some excellent riffs but unlike a lot of emo bands that I've heard, these lads can play their guitars and can sing. The album comes in at just over 30 minutes for 10 songs and that kind of format works very well for them, I think if they went for 4 or 5 minute tunes then they would stray into self-indulgence. Given that a lot of the subject matter for the album - breakups, non-conformity at school, substabce abuse - if they stretched the tunes out then it would come across as very whiny. Keeping it short keeps them sounding fresh. I'm glad to see that a few critics are raving about this album too, it deserves the attention it's getting.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JPecqm1VZQ

Sarah Cracknell - 'Red Kite' Lead singer of one of my favourite ever bands, Saint Etienne, has a solo album out and very much what you would expect from her. Retro-sounding English soul music and carrying on from Petula Clark, Dusty Springfield with tales of love, life and everyday living. It's extremely easy-going, very much Radio 2 material and there's a danger that if you had heard this album for the first time without knowing anything about Ms Cracknell or Saint Etienne that you would think it MOR easy listening but this territory is where she and the likes of Bob Stanley in Saint Etienne have always played, twisted and teased. They are unashamedly pop fans and forever in the search for the perfect 3 minute pop song. There's plenty on this album including a duet with Manic Street Preachers singer/bassist Nicky Wire.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kuh6vJUi538

 

[tinycowboy]

For dub fans, just come out:
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[The Lemming Stomper]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kuh6vJUi538[/URL]

She was brilliant at the Komedia on Weds night, as were Sea of Bees, the support