Feels Like Summer

Fyfe Dangerfield – Walk In The Room

You know how Guillemots have these perfect pop songs with perfect tiny webs of guitar chords that give them perfect retro vibes? And then Fyfe adds his soft and rather bluesy vocals and the songs turn into perfect sing-along? His Simian La Breeze scented song Walk In The Room (taken off his upcoming solo debut Fly Yellow Moon) is no different: it’s just a bundle of infectious joy. It actually makes you happy not to be sad.

The Dead Weather – I Cut Like A Buffalo

I think it’s pretty obvious this foursome can do absolutely no wrong. Not in a million years! This musical piece might remind some of Beastie Boys (on even more crack than usual) or the reggae beat might seem to be of Clash influence, but what is really important is that it’ll be really really hard not to play it over and over again (with your volume all up to 11).

Internet Forever – Cover The Walls

This brilliantly-named London-based trio has the cutest and most sincere songs ever. Laura Wolf’s soft and carefree vocals, the sugar-coated fuzzy guitars, their casiotone-pop, the summer vibe, it all makes Cover The Walls a great single and guarantee you’ll fall in love with it instantly. You just know there’s no escaping.

Dance To The Radio

Like Demontré (check out yesterday’s post), Project:KOMAKINO are part of what is now known among its followers as The New Think, a London-based movement which includes the likes of the now ubiquitous The Horrors, Neils Children and hipster favourites S.C.U.M. A movement which brings together bands who share a common overall esthetic more than musical similarities.

As expected, Project:KOMAKINO have received some help in the making of their debut album The Struggle For Utopia from The Horrors’ Tom Furse but also from other people involved in the scene: British industrial act Micron 63, Russian post-punkers Motorama and member of DiscError Recordings, Ciaran O’Shea. With an obvious influence from the German cold wave esthetic, a simple manifesto “To Konstrukt” and tales of dystopias and totalitarism that would make even George Orwell blush, Project:KOMAKINO sound more like a journey back to the unremembered 80s than a mere band.

The opening song, KV-1 (surprisingly, not a Kraftwerk cover) might be familiar to those of you who have heard Spider And The Flies mixtapes for Vice Magazine (yes, it was on one of them and yes, I get extra points for being a nerd). Even so early into the record, you know these guys love krautrock though, as soon as the second track Penumbra 1 begins, you are tricked into believing this is actually Libertines Last Post on the Bugle (the drum pattern is identical). But Project:KOMAKINO might just love toying with your mind. The track is by no means a garage-punk piece, it actually takes a dark path, the same one Bauhaus took when they created their seminal work Mask.

If you were happy there was no Joy Division reference, don’t. Like other fellow bands, Project:KOMAKINO’s music is heavily influenced by the Manchurian quartet, sharing the same sharp guitars, fragments of cold synths that steadily creep into one’s ears and a dense atmosphere of their last years. Even the drums beats give you the impression Martin Hannet was there to produce this album. But they also add elements of late Bowie like in the case of Nebula and Walking on Glass, making a niche of their own. It’s also hard not to feel the similarities between them and S.C.U.M and the way both bands use industrial to give they music a claustrophobic feeling (Civility is the perfect example). And then there is Kris Kane’s voice, a strange mix between Ian Curtis, Peter Murphy and Sisters of Mercy’s Andrew Eldritch.

The album ends majestically with Tom Furse’s remix for Syndrome, majestically because Furse uses his contorted view of electronica and love for BBC Radiophonic Workshop and, yes, German industrial to create a spaced-out four minutes and a half reinterpretation of the song (the almost alarm-like synths are finger licking).

This being said, beyond any references, any similarity, what you actually need to know is that these four guys with sharp Kraftwerk haircuts are incredibly good and a force to watch out for.

*photo from here

All Fired Up

Today’s semi-obscure band of choice: Demontré, a three piece post-punk/shoegaze trio from London. They take bits and pieces from bands like Joy Division, Bauhaus, Josef K and Pere Ubu but also include psychedelic guitars and a certain Interpolesque sensibility in their songs. While they have been around for a while (2006-2007) and should by now be enjoying the fruits of the media’s sudden interest with The Horrors and co, they have only just released their debut single, Brandenburg. The song features spoken words backed by shoegaze guitars and a big post-punk chorus. The video draws its influence from the omnipresent Joy Division and their Love Will Tear Us Apart and is undeniably elegant. It’s one of the things that will forever make us, followers of the new London scene, think that the bands we love and cherish so would be huge if only properly promoted (just like fans of 80s indie pop used to say about their bands).

First Impressions Of...

I’m going to cut the long story short. Truth is I wanted (hell, we all did!) this review to be about a The Strokes album. You know, a follow up to 2005’s First Impressions Of Earth, not yet another solo project of a member of the band. But it’s not. This is about Julian Casablancas’ solo Phrazes For The Young. Saying goes you have to make do with what you get so for now, me and a bunch of other Strokes fans will be relatively happy.

But this means by no means it’s a bad album. First songs that promoted the album, 11^th Dimension and River Of Bakerlights, set the bar pretty high. Both are great fun songs and Casablancas’ lyrical talent and vocal skills shine. And while 11^th Dimension is so 80s infused and has great lines like ‘Where cities come to hate each other in the name of sport’, River Of Bakerlight does not veer far from something The Strokes themselves would put out (in fact, it gives a nod to Strokes’ Ize of the World and Sparklehorse’s Little Girl).

Opening track Out Of The Blue doesn’t escape the Strokes parallel: the guitar could very well be taken of the bands 2001 debut album, while the lyrics seem to be a follow up to his general hopeless state off FIOE. It also features a kick ass line: ‘Going to hell in a leather jacket’. So Joey Ramone. But it’s Julian’s time to shine (some more) and he sings it loud and proud: 4 Chords Of Apocalypse is an incredibly touching piece of gospel-scented synth pop with a little bluesy riff. And it’s safe to say there is not one filler moment on this album. Every song is a proof of his musical vision. And you kinda hope he’d do more songs like closing piece Tourist (with its Beirut-esque ending).

So, until that new Strokes album, we’ll all be busy enjoying this perfect gem.

Daydreaming.

Lupe Fiasco - Solar Midnight

You remember how one of the team members, Smaranda, was praising the New Moon soundtrack a few posts ago? Well, here I am doing almost the same thing. I mean, it’s a fabulous soundtrack. It stands right up there with 24 Hour Party People and RocknRolla. So, maybe unsurprisingly, the bonus tracks are immense as well. One of them is Lupe Fiasco’s Solar Midnight. Let me just put it this way: it’s dope. It’s a song with a really dark mood and, as Lupe himself said, is influenced by Red Hot Chili Pepper’s Anthony Kieds. What’s even better is that Lupe, while being a well-known (and great) rapper, takes a step into the alternative rock world and does it better than most people who claim to be alternative. Hats off!

Dreaming Forever

A few days ago, Deerhunter's Bradford Cox released his second studio album as Atlas Sound, called Logos. Just for the record, "logos" is a term used in philosophy, which basically means the natural order of the cosmos – and that somehow helps you to get an idea about the complexity of this album before listening to it.

Your expectations prove to be correct after you start to play it. The Light That Failed has a rather simple instrumental, mixed with hypnotic electronic sounds. Cox's soft voice, which repeats obsessively (without becoming annoying) the words from the title, makes this track even more sober. The electronic part doesn't stand out that much on the rest of the album; Cox preferred to stick with the acoustic part mostly, and it turned out to be a very good choice.

Even if you might believe this means songs are simple, this isn't actually the case. The simplicity is only apparent. That's why it takes some time for you to manage to concentrate on the lyrics, as you tend to focus on the sound in the first place. However, I'd like to say it's worth it. Lyrically as well as musically, this album is a journey between the frail human states of mind and feelings. Take as an example tracks like Quick Canal (an excellent collaboration with Lætitia Sadier, ex-Stereolab), My Halo, or An Orchid, which give you such feelings, that they actually become indescribable.

Actually, I'd say that "indescribable" is an adjective that applies to the album as a whole. After you listened to it, you feel like you just woke up from a long and complicated dream. You know it was something beautiful and unique, but you just can't remember anything than fragments, which melt little by little in your mind. Don't feel sorry – now the dream can start again.

*photo courtesy of Kranky Records.

Wow. Just Wow.

Johnny Foreigner’s name sounds like that of some character from The Mighty Boosh, one of those really hip stars Vince Noir was chasing around in Eels trying to tag. In fact, we are sure Noel Fielding felt a bit pissed off when he heard this name he’d never thought of.

Johnny Foreigner do this thing: taking ‘fight pop’ to a whole new level. The new single,Criminals, is great. It is youthful, energetic and rock (in an age when one has to be so many things after rock) and you know it will make such a festival anthem. It doesn’t creep slowly into your ears, it just hits you in your solar plexus from second one.

The promo comes with two b-sides, Camp Kelly Calm and Wow. Just Wow (one of the best song titles we’ve heard in ages and a line that can in fact sum up the whole promo). Unlike Criminals,Camp Kelly Calm doesn’t start like a monster pop-punk anthem and it does have moments when the three kids from Birmingham let you breath only to take you on a crazier ride. But it has what can easily be one of the best intros: “You said ‘see, I'm not just a pretty face’/ And how you're wrong, you're not, you're not even pretty!”.

Wow. Just Wow is just as tight as the previous two, the drums are just as big and the two singers spit their words with the same passion as before. Truth is any of these songs could easily become a single. And all there of them should be some of next year’s festival favourites.

Musical Cocktail

Some say White Denim are a garage rock band. Now, I don't know about you, but I think "garage rock" is actually a poor description for the music this band makes. And Fits, their third studio album, does nothing but to prove this fact (again!).

It throws you from the 60s to our days and back with an amazing speed. Most of the songs (if not all of them) attract you instrumentally rather than lyrically, and that's because the voice doesn't stand out that much. But, taking in consideration a song like Radio Milk How Can You Stand It, we can say it's not such a tragedy. You won't really want to listen to the lyrics; you'll be in "give me my music and I'll be happy" state of mind. And you'll get it. After listening to it, you'll probably find yourself in the middle of the room, tired of dancing/screaming/laying down with your eyes closed, and you'll ask yourself: "What the hell was that?!"

That's because Fits doesn’t have the kind of sound that " incorporates elements from the [insert musical period here] and somehow remembers about [insert well-known band name here]". Psychedelic, garage, experimental… it has them all! At certain points, you might feel like you're listening to some bands from the 80s, in a pub full of smoke (the riffs of Say What You Want are a perfect illustration), and then you'll be awaken to reality by a song that yells 'nowadays' (Sex Prayer). Harder, faster. However, the whole thing ends, surprisingly (or not), in a slow note, with Regina Holding Hands and Syncn.

This sound fits (!) everywhere and, at the same time, nowhere. It doesn't have a fused style, is more like different styles mixed together. That's what makes this band so special in the first place, but it might also be tiresome for those of you who hate experiments. Because that's how it sounds: like an experiment. Love it or hate it.

*photo courtesy of White Denim's official site.

Another Soldier!

Back in the good (teenage) days I loved the guys from N.E.R.D. because they used to be known as the guys from The Neptunes. They produced and gave us ‘I’m a slave for you’ and the amazing remix for ‘Sympathy for the devil’ from The Rolling Stones (they added that sensual flavor to the all classic track : 2004 version check it out – a masterpiece). And then as history is we got N.E.R.D. (Nobody Ever Really Dies - cool, unless you end up in purgatory, meaning a ghost on Earth). I loved and shook my booty on some of their tracks but it seems to that their work for others is much more fulfilling. So they have a new single. Honestly I have this thing (one of many) when it comes to name for songs. I just simply hate it when they can’t find other names for songs besides the ones that have already been used. I mean this new track is called ‘Soldier’, even if the other track that comes to mind is ‘Soldier’ from Destiny’s Child (one of their best), still that is no excuse. Can’t you bloody find another name, synonyms baby, synonyms!


What, are you already feeling my distaste for the single, well, yes. It’s a big load of crap. It can’t even be categorized as a play song (the kind of track born in a studio play at late hours of the night and boredom). The fast tempo is a bright sad reminder of Benny Hill kind of tune, and even a bite from Foo Fighters – The Pretender. Then it eases predictably into a lazy rhythm to hold the voice of Santogold, who does not what she does best but what she can only do. Can’t wait for the album, when interesting work like this will poise my ears.
I want The Neptunes! * cries like a baby*.

Just Two Friends In Lust

LCD Soundsystem – Bye Bye Bayou

A cover after Alan Vega’s 1981 song and what a cover it is. James Murphy has always been able to take the anthem out of every song he’s ever covered and this is no exception. A sexual Daft Punk scented new wave gem that will surely fill every dancefloor around the world.

Los Campesinos! – There Are Listed Buildings

Los Campesinos! amaze us with yet another great track from their upcoming album. While it starts as a twee song, it evolves into a noisy, shouty (and rather dissonant) piece. The subject at hand is a typical one – boy like girl, girl doesn’t like boy – but Gareth Campesinos! twists the words with a Morrissey-an skill (‘We are but two atheists in lust, you know, we gotta make our own luck’).

Grammatics – Double Negative

Reasons why it’s arguably one of the best singles of the autumn: the overly dramatic cello, the marching drums, the way Owen Brinley’s voice almost turns into whisper as he reaches the bridge, the exploding chorus.

Clap Your Hands Say Whaaaa…?

And here we have it, Alec Ounsworth (lead singer of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah) has taken out his first solo album *round of applause*. It's called Mo Beauty and it contains ten wonderful, sublime, exceptional, great tracks, written in such an innovative style, that… Oh, never mind, just kidding. About the "innovative" part – the rest of the affirmation is proven to be correct.

After such a harsh beginning, you might think this album sucks. Well… To say that "it sucks" might be a little exaggerated, as none of the tunes makes you want to shut down the computer while screaming in pain, "OH MY GOD I HATE IT!" It has well-written instrumentals, nothing disturbing – from this point of view, everybody did a good job.

However, if there is nothing disturbing, there isn't actually anything interesting enough to make you want to listen to this album again. The sound is too predictable. You know that kind of song you could listen to every single day of your life, without ever remembering if you had listened to it before, or what its name was? Well, what you have here is a
great collection of such songs. The only song which makes an exception is Holy, Holy, Holy Moses (Song for New Orleans). It has an interesting guitar line, and Ounsworth's voice is not that annoying (I had to say that). Another song I liked was the last one, When You're No Eyes, although I couldn't say if I liked it because it was worth it or because it was the last song.

So the conclusion would be that Ounsworth released an album which is neither good, nor bad. It's as worse as it can be: in between. Oh well, if you need a pleasant background while you're working (for example) I guess this album would do. Remember to turn down the volume if you're allergic to high vocals.

*photo courtesy of Anti- Records.

A Design For Life

The Horrors' new video, for the b-side Whole New Way, just came out (a day or two ago, and I honestly have no idea how we’ve missed this). It’s simple but not in the Cornerstone-kind of simple. It shows the five boys walking in a field with medical spectacles (a kind that protect you against the light) as the sun goes up. It also fits into the whole make-over of the five Southenders. It follows the idea of maturity and growth they have been talking about ever since their sophomore album came out. But it drops the psychedelic/chaotic approach they had for Mirror’s Image and takes on the elegance of Who Can Say and Sea With A Sea.

And as the colours get warmer, as the sun turns every shadow into a clear silhouette, the synths burst cheerfully and invade your ears like any Our Love To Admire-era Interpol song would.

Enough Is Enough

Yesterday we were writing about how Richard Ayoade did a terrible job with the video for Arctic Monkey’s Crying Lightning. Yesterday as well, we saw the four boys from Sheffield posting on their official site a video for the new single off Humbug, Cornerstone. Plot line? None. It’s just Alex Turner singing in front of the camera with a tape record. There’s actually no point in watching the whole thing. You can just press stop after the first two lines. Director? Ayoade again. Now, don’t get me wrong. Ayoade happens to be a fantastic actor, one of my favourites as a matter of fact. But he can be a shite director. Yes, this is the hyper-realist era and one can do anything and everything and deconstruction is still good and, yes, the artist has to do things that normal people can relate to etc etc. But this is just Ayoade telling Turner to sing in a microphone in front of a camera. This is what is known as ‘We had to do it, but we had no idea what to do.’ This is no eyecandy, even if it has Turner's face. Some of us might be fan girls, but the sight of his puppy eyes and crotch won't make us swoon forever. Monkeys are supposed to be a serious band not Jonas Brothers.



P.S.: Get W.I.Z. aka the guy who made View From The Afternoon back. Please.

Video Resurrected The Radio Star

...or how to stick with the song and forget the video ever existed.


1. Arctic Monkeys, Crying Lightning (2009)
Directed by Richard Ayoade

Don't get me wrong. The idea is very nice: the guys at sea in a boat, the storm, and the figures that rise from the sea (and prove to be the guys themselves)... but for God's sake, it all looks like a bad video game! The sea and the storm are so unnatural! It could have been so much better.


2. Blondie, The Tide Is High (1980)
Directed by David Mallet

Oh, a classic. But that doesn't make it better than it is. Those fishes swimming in the water near the windows are completely out of picture. Not to mention Darth Vader. Look, I know it was the "Star Wars" era... but everything has a limit. Apparently, they didn't realise this. The only good thing in all this crap is (as always) Debbie Harry. Looking at her almost made me forget how awful the video is. Almost.


3. HIM, Wings of a Butterfly (2006)
Directed by Meiert Avis

Uhm, what we were saying before about "a bad video game"... Double it. Okay, I know we are in the digital era and stuff, but if you want to make a video that's based on image, at least make it look good, if you can't give it some sort of a hidden meaning (no, the heartagram does not count as hidden meaning).


4. Hotel Persona, To the Light (2008)
Directed by Wolfgang Jaiser

Most of people praise this video, saying it's great because it's so simple. Oh wow. It doesn't show anything else than the faces of Olsdal, Solo and Amen. And them singing. So inspiring... yeah, right. You know, I could actually have made this one too, in my apartment. But of course, my video would have probably been accused to be shitty, as I'm not Hotel Persona. It's too bad, the song is really nice.


5. Placebo, The Never-Ending Why (2009)
Directed by Champagne Valentine

It's really sad when you think these guys used to have beautiful and inspired videos. This video is presented on Placebo's official site as being "based around a semi-surreal narrative mixing Asian styled puppet animation with hyper coloured 3D design." Let me translate this for you: "We were too tired to make a good video, so we called a few kindergarten kids, we asked them to draw a boy, a girl, a scary creature and then many-many people, then we put an ugly colour in the background and made everything three-dimensional, and then expect for fans to find a meaning in all this stuff". Good job... not.

I'm Just Looking

Here’s the deal. Yes, they have great live performances. Yes, everyone will sing-along to Have a Nice Day. But Stereophonics are a rather mediocre band. At times, they do manage to make great songs but something makes you doubt they’ll be remembered as a great British band. In the video for their new single, Innocent, they do this thing that makes me think they’re desperate already: they use one too many Union Jack flags. Ok, we get it. We know you’re British, we know you make British rock (one could be mean and say this means they rip off only British bands) and you want to be in the Big League of British Bands. Besides the Union Jacks, the video’s pretty good and the warm colours used, the vintage shots really fit the jingly guitars and the little crescendo. The song’s not bad either. In fact, it should be seem as the great part of Stereophonics’ work. It has a perfect build-up, it’s a terrific sing along and it really makes you want to turn up the volume. Now, all we have to do is wait for the album which will be out sometime in November and enjoy this piece.

Out with old, in with the new moon!

Of course I had to write something about this soundtrack, or else Nancy would have never heard the end of it. I am a fan of the Twilight series, (mea culpa) but because I started reading the first chapter way ahead this whole frenzy with the movies. So you see I am a fan of the books, not of that crappy movie that Mrs. Hardwicke tried to pull, I can’t believe the woman did ‘13’.

I like images and sounds, so guess what I like movies and soundtracks. The Twilight movie had as a soundtrack a list of tunes mostly after the author’s own inspiring list of songs, it featured Linkin Park, Radiohead (divine piece not featured on the official soundtrack – fail!) Paramore (great promotional track for the soundtrack, personally I like it more than Death cab for Cutie version, no wait, I hate the Death Cab for Cutie version), Muse (the author’s favorite band) and music from Perry Farrell (the dude from Jane’s Addiction and the dude that created the Lollapalooza festival), Blue Foundation or Robert Pattinson (I’ll just mention his name, there aren’t enough adjectives for his beauty or talent). And bonus tracks like ‘La Traviata’ and ‘Claire Du Lune’, the main male character was over 100 years old so of course he had to listen to the mother of all mothers of opera and piano suites.

The music supervision for the second installment of the Twilight series is Alexandra Patsavas as for the first movie, but this time she was probably given more reign to choose the artists to spring songs for New Moon. This woman is amazing, so if you heard Sarah McLaughlin on the Roswell TV show, or Clinic, Jeff Buckley, Iggy Pop on The OC, The Rapture, Ok Go, Cold War Kids on Gossip Girl or great emotional songs at the end on each episode from Grey’s Anatomy it would be because of her. This time around of the franchise she gathered what could closely be a Big League of musical products from incredible artists.

She got Death Cab for Cutie to take the lead with their song ‘Meet me on the Equinox’ and make the clear statement that this time we get educated and elevated on a soundtrack level, with a smart and elegant video; and then she managed to add the surprise ‘Friends’ from Band of Skulls (great band discovery), a mesmerizing ‘Hearing Damage’ from Thom Yorke (yes, that Thom), a mellow ‘Possibility’ from Lykke Li, a fantastic ‘A White Demon love Song’ from The Killers (even they shine here), a melodramatic girly ‘Satellite Heart’ from Anya Marina and a miserable ‘I Belong To You’ from Muse ( the track is beyond mediocre). Adding then even a soft ‘Roslyn’ from Bon Iver & St. Vincent, a pure rock ‘Done All Wrong’ from Black Motorcycle Club and a bold rusty ‘Monsters’ from Hurricane Bells. All to sprinkle it with a charming ‘The Violet Hour’ from Sea Wolf, a typical charismatic Ok Go song ‘Shooting the Moon’, a masterpiece ‘Slow Life’ from Grizzly Bea ( reminiscent of Sigur Rós style), a perfect ballad ‘No sound but the wing’ from Editors (my heart’s sweetheart) and a score song from Alexandre Desplat ( composer for ‘The Painted Vail’, ‘The Queen’, ‘Coco Avant Chanel’ etc), as indicated for a particular scene.

I scream the angelic salutation ‘Hail Alexandra’, more appropriate form here for ‘Hail Mary’, and begin abusing the soundtrack for many weeks to come, until some of us will be curios to see where these tracks fit in the actual movie.

Where's The Change?

Remember what I was writing a couple of weeks ago about Fuck Buttons? At that time, they had just release their new single, Surf Solar, and I was hoping that (maybe) they decided to throw away the repetition-distortion-vocals recipe and make their music a little bit diversified. That's why I was waiting impatiently for the release of their new (and second) album, Tarot Sport. You never know.

Tarot Sport has seven tracks, the shortest having four minutes and forty-four seconds and the longest ten minutes and fifty-four seconds. It opens with the already known Surf Solar and then continues… on and on and on in an amalgam of strange noises and repetitive beats. If you lay on your couch, your eyes closed, and your mind God knows where, this album is the perfect background. Also, if you're an experimental music fan and you don't actually mind repetition, you will like this album. Same, if you're a Fuck Buttons fan.

However, if none of these are the case, maybe you should skip it. It might seem interesting, of course, to try and decompose the sound in pieces and analyze it, but, as time passes, and you won't discover any new elements, you will get bored (I feel like I said this before). The album makes you wonder why the hell they split it in seven tracks. It could have been as well a single and very long track. Well… at least they changed something, huh? No distortion and no vocals, this time just repetition. Isn't it lovely how these guys crush hopes?

*photo courtesy of Fuck Buttons MySpace.

Butterfly .

When I was asked to digest and write about the new Editors album I felt rather challenged, not mentally but rather emotionally. I adore Editors, only one song and that is ‘Smokers Outside Hospital Doors’, that is beyond above beyond, there is no such expression, but still you get the drift.

So I snatched the album, again you get my drift, and opened the folder to dive into the songs: a clean technical title, explanatory cover reminiscent of Edward Hopper’s works – well thought! And just 9 songs. See, I am a woman and for women, as you probably have experienced painfully, there is no such thing as enough or we don’t quite do the less thing. So when I get only 9 songs on an album, hm, it smells fishy. The only good explanation would be that there are 9 perfect songs, that only this and nothing more will fit perfectly. Ok, for now I’ll swing with it.

I tried to listen carefully to each track, and take it one at a time but I immediately realized that it is supposed to be taken as a whole in the strictest way possible. Like a wave that comes and hits you then retracts and then hits again, a pattern of flowing emotions. Taken as a whole the album is typical Editors, style, lyrics, composition, track list you name it. An album that has rather deep charisma and musical relevance. As they (the band) simply cataloged it an album with an electric feel. I don’t like at all, feels absolutely electric indeed but also boring to exhaustion, draw my eyelids to close but not sufficiently annoying to change the track and pass to the next one. It numbed me to the point of lethargy.

Still I will not deny that without a doubt it is nothing more than an album to be tasted, not at all for the wide mass of listeners, but for the fans and some snob poor bastards that would attempt to taste some form of musical cuisine a la Editors.

Now, not taken as a whole I had a different feeling regarding tracks like ‘Eat Raw Meat = Blood Drool’ - magically orchestrate and divinely outlined by Tom - and of course ‘Papillon’ - for me the it song of this album. It is simply the perfume of the entire fragrance display; another strike of genius a la Editors acknowledged as first single. Now, if ‘Eat Raw Meat= Blood Drool’ is the olive in the Martini glass, then ‘Papillion’ is the Bellini’s white peach.

Ladies and gentlemen, the new Editors album.

Those Bass Lines Are Evil

One of the best moments in award shows history has to be when Wayne Coyne surfed the crowd in a bubble. It was epic! It just had the world going ‘Oh my God, I want to be him!’. That moment there gives Coyne the right to smile like a smug bastard for the rest of his life. His ‘I am the King of the Freaks’ life. For all I care, The Flaming Lips could do another ‘At War With The Mystics’, which wasn’t a bad album at the end of the day. But no, The Lips aren’t that kind of band. They like to surprise people (why show up at the VMA’s and present an award with Tony Hawke if not to surprise you – no, not shock, they’re above that). Yet, there will be voices who will claim that one should not be surprised with the new album, ‘Embryonic’, because, hey, this is The Lips.

It also stops being a surprise that something great is happening on this new release when you hear the opening song, ‘Convinced of the Hex’, and hear its intensity. There are so many good things going on in this krautrock piece it’s hard to figure out which one to start with when you list the reasons why it’s so damn good and infectious: the sensual vibe or maybe the drum pattern or even the evil guitars. Once you can stop playing it on repeat and sink deeper into the album, it becomes clear this is in fact a statement. The rich sound, the lack of traditionally structured songs, the drums that assault your speakers are here as evidence.

Second track, ‘The Sparrow Looks Up At The Machine’, sets off as a bundle of scraping guitars and evolves into a space-y dronish number(as a cheeky bonus you also get the static effect the speakers make when a phone is ringing right next to them). This rather schizoid approach is easy to notice all through out the album (in fact, it’s one of the things that bring the album together). For instance, the next three tracks. ‘Evil’ is a heartbreaking ballad (when the high-pitched end of the line ‘Those people are evil’, you feel a bit of yourself crumbling) that has elements of both jazz structures and ambient music. ‘Aquarius Sabotage’ is a half noisy rampage, half Yoshimi Pt.2 infused piece that almost leaves you wondering what the hell just happened. And ‘See the Leaves’ is as menacing as a song can get, but one can wonder if it’s the first two minutes of the song or the bleepy experimental electronica ending that give it this vibe.

Then there’s something else that keeps the album together: some songs are connected to those before them. Such is the case of ‘If’ that is a response (and an attempt to add some hope to the general vibe’) to ‘Evil’. ‘People are evil’ sings multi-instrumentalist Steven Drozd, only to continue ‘But on the other hand/They can be gentle’. In the same category, of connected songs, you have ‘Sagittarius Silver Announcement’, a space-rock piece that sometimes sends you back to the second song off the album.

And the album needs such things to bring it together. Otherwise, putting two songs like ‘If’ and ‘Gemini Syringes’ (which features a bleak bass and Karen O making clicking gunshot sounds) would be just strange. And then you jump to a whole new thing: ‘Your Bats’ is a two and a half minutes rock jam with immense drums and yet another menacing sound. ‘Powerless’ is the longest track on this record (almost seven minutes) and it only sets off after about two minutes of twinkles when it goes straight into what seems to be experimental jazz.

‘The Ego’s Last Stand’ can be summed up in one word: badass! The drums are badass, the bass line is badass, the crescendo is badass. Although, I have to admit, the way the song explodes in your face is heavenly. Further deep into Lips’ strange world you get the, well, most strange love song ever: ‘I Can Be A Frog’, reminiscent of Deus’ ‘Nothing Really Ends’, a duet with Karen O who does the interpretation of all the animals/things Coyne lists (no, she can’t do a helicopter sadly). Here’s another thought: the whole album features heavy bass lines. But not one is as heavy as the line on ‘Worm Mountain’, a bombastic piece featuring none other than MGMT and a riff that might be part of some stoner rock song.

And just when you thought stuff like Karen O making animal sounds was weird, you get a free improv in the shape of ‘Scorpio Sword’ and then you skip to the mellow ‘The Impulse’ which features a harp and a vocoder and is a good break from all the free jamming and heavy bass. And as it ends, you should prepare yourself as here we go again. ‘Silver Trembling Hands’ would probably have a place on ‘The Soft Bulletin’: it’s a vibrating song and it makes a great sing-along with all those twinkles in the back. By now you should know that the next song will makes you thing ‘What?’ and ‘Virgo Self-Esteem Broadcast’ delivers: a ping, spoken words, floating harmonies, lots of empty spaces in the instrumental that probably work wonderfully when you hear this on headphones (and what might be Karen O who thinks this is still ‘I Can Be A Frog’ and is still doing animal sounds).

The album wraps up gloriously with ‘Watching The Planets’ (that has reminisces of ‘I Can Be A Frog’ – remember the connection I was talking about before?). It features Karen O again, a really groovy distorted bass (that is in fact the same as the one on ‘Convinced By The Hex’) and it’s the second great sing-along on the album (the no-no-nos and yeah-yeah-yeahs chants really help). ‘Embryonic’ is an epic album, maybe a reaction to the poppier ones released before, maybe a re-birth of The Lips, but definitely a highlight in their career and among this year’s releases. Wayne Coyne&co are currently busy grinning like the smug and really creative freaks they are.

*Photo courtesy of Flaming Lips

Can You Create…?

Ah, the feeling you have when you listen to a good debut album. That "oh-my-God-this-one-sounds-great-I-should-definitely-keep-my-eyes-on-this-artist" feeling. However, there is also a disadvantage for the artist who manages to awake such feelings. The expectations for the second album will be huge. That was also the case with Maps. I think you all remember We Can Create – songs like You Don't Know Her Name or Lost My Soul are not something you can forget easily. And of course, the great expectation syndrome hits you instantly.

First thing you get to observe when you start to listen to Turning the Mind, Maps' second release, is that the sound has changed somehow – and after a few seconds, you realise it. It has become more electronic. However, this is not necessarily a bad thing, you say to yourself. It had electronic touches before too. You continue to listen, waiting for the revelation to come. And before you realise it, you're at the ninth song. Huh? "But I didn't get anything… wait!" So you listen to it again, searching for that well-known feeling the first album had given you. The problem is that there is nothing to find. Yes. The great expectation syndrome didn't actually find a cure.

It's not disturbingly bad. I actually might say it's an enjoyable background – and that's mostly because Chapman's voice remained the same, thank God for that! Unfortunately, it serves only as a background. There isn't actually a song which will make you feel the need to put it on repeat.

And there you are, ending the musical journey with the same "Huh?" in your mind. Save your regrets and go back to We Can Create if you really want to listen some good Maps songs. You can use this album as a lullaby in the evening.

*photo courtesy of Maps MySpace.

Everything Ends

So there you have it: a long-hair Ben Gibbard and the first video for a song off ‘New Moon’. It’s a simple video, the band playing in one room and footage from the film. But, hey, what else could they do? They had to insert clips from the movie. And it has what could easily be one of the best video moments ever: the band standing still while the sun comes in through a window just as Gibbard utters the line ‘the sun across your bedroom’ (aha, so someone has been paying attention to the lyrics!). Not to forget that Robert Pattinson’s crazy fan girls will watch it on repeat/worship it as they do with anything that had at least a hint of the actor.

P.S.: Is it just me or Ben Gibbard is fit like he’s never been? And why does the song seem to be influenced by Placebo?

My Secret Friend

A few posts ago I was telling you about the IAMX concert I've been to. What I didn't tell you back then was the fact that the band will release a new single, My Secret Friend on the 12th October. The song features Imogen Heap and it's one of the most interesting and attractive songs on Kingdom of Welcome Addiction. The single version has a different start than the album version and a modified ending, but manages to keep the same feeling given by the original.

The chorus, "My secret friend / Oh take me (I'll take you) to the river / My secret friend / So we can swim forever", seems to be the expression of disappointment and loneliness. Actually the song is built on an antithesis between the strength given by love in the past and the emptiness of the present. "The river" is given as a final, ultimate solution, representing most probably a suicide (killing your soul or killing yourself as you're still searching for your love dream). The instrumental is rather simple, but Heap and Corner's voices fit just perfectly, giving the song a sensual touch no one can ignore.

*photo courtesy of IAMX Official Store.

It's The Beat!

So this is an old story: ‘Journal For Plague Lovers’ gets remixed. Yes, the album. Yes, we know all the comments, all the bitching, all the ‘oh, this has nothing to do with the original’. And still, it’s hard to say it’s a bad remix album. Sure, there are two actually bad versions. First, Jonathan Krisp’s remix of ‘Bag Lady’: utterly pointless, some beats and a voice that don’t fit together plus the main riff to remember us of the original. And then the last five minutes of Andrew Weatherall’s ‘Peeled Apples’: while the intro is quite interesting, after a while it gets far too repetitive and all you can think of is ‘Ok, I get it!’.

And then you have the three actually lush/fabulous/even-better-than-the-original-at-times remixes:

1. William’s Last Words (Underworld Remix)

What makes this one so great? The tambourine, the echo-like vocal effects, the choir. The crescendo and the way it goes from a very basic and lo-fi instrumental to big lush arrangements. And the fact that Underworld’s rework keeps all the pain and nostalgia of the original.

2. All Is Vanity (Errors Remix)

Errors really did what anyone would do when remixing a song: added a beat. No reinterpretation, no follow up to the original like The Horrors or Fuck Button did. But they did it right. They took the vocals, slowed them down (really, Bradfield could put any rapper to shame) and added a slightly bouncy rnb beat. The end result: wow! Just wow!

3. Facing Page: Top Left (Adem Remix)

‘Facing Page’ is a very simple song: a harp, a voice, a guitar. Why ruin it, right? Just keep the intro and first stanza the same and gradually add chimes, another set of vocals in the background to make it grand and you have the perfect song to play over and over again.

Never-Ending Story

This seems to be the season of new materials, and this time it's Thom Yorke's turn. Feeling Pulled Apart by Horses / The Hollow Earth, his double single, had already been released in 12" format and will be available for download starting the 6th October.

Feeling Pulled Apart by Horses is actually a (very) old version of Reckoner, the seventh track on Radiohead's album In Rainbows and has been written by Yorke and Jonny Greenwood. However, the final version of Reckoner doesn't resemble the original very much, which was a piece of noisy rock. Feeling Pulled Apart by Horses keeps the melodic line Reckoner had, but the sound has changed and became electronic (we all know Yorke, so we shouldn't be surprised about that). As a result, the song doesn't have that refreshing touch the original version had, but its diversified instrumental and Yorke's voice manage to make it interesting and strange in a very good way.

On the other side, The Hollow Earth allows the listener to hear Yorke's high vocals a little bit more than its predecessor (also, the song is shorter than Feeling Pulled Apart by Horses). Actually, it's based more on Yorke's voice, the instrumental bits being rather minimalistic. Not that it would be a bad thing, on the contrary – probably anything other than simple would have been ruined the impression.

Lyrically, the songs keep the same atmosphere we got used to already, the well-known "I'm not here, this is not happening (or maybe I am, but I don't want to be)". But hey, it's Yorke, what else would you expect? Certainly, this doesn't ruin the overall impression, which is a good one. I sure am looking forward to a new album.

*photo courtesy of Waste.uk.com.

Shine A Light

Themselves & Why? – Canada

It’s the kind of song that sticks in your head. The reasons? Too many. It could be the little chiming bells or just the overall effect of the twee (and utterly brilliant) instrumental. It could be the ethereal voice of Themselves’ lead singer Dose One or the way his vocals and those of Why?’s Yoni intertwine as the songs comes to an end. It may as well be the songs general softness and gentle vibe whereas it’s obvious the lyrics evoke some sort of resign and anger. It could be that line everyone finds it hard to ignore, ‘You’re showing your pinkest parts in my absence’, or just the one that seems to be such a Wolf Parade reference – ‘You are your father’s daughter and I am no runner’. Which ever you prefer, which ever bit’s in your head when you walk out of the house making you feel stupid because you forgot to put the song on your iPod… yes, it’s going to be embedded on your brain for a long while.

Just Follow The Echo Of My Voice

IAMX, Fratelli Studios, 1st of October, Bucharest, Romania.

An IAMX concert is always more than just a live show, and anyone who had the chance to see Chris Corner on stage will agree on this matter. This explains the impatience and expectations I had when it came to this concert (let's not mention the fact that I am a huge IAMX fan).

When I got to Fratelli, they were only a few people and I feared the band won't have a proper audience. Fortunately, as time passed by, more and more people showed up. I guess it was a little difficult for them to find the location. That shouldn't be surprising, as "I bought my ticket to IAMX, hooray... where's Fratelli?" was a very used phrase on Internet in the last two days before the concert.

The warm-up act was DJ Marika. At the beginning it was okay; it wasn't some kind of an extraordinary performance, but it was nice – I recognized fragments of Placebo, Klaxons and White Lies tunes in his mix. As time passed, people became more and more impatient. Look, I know what a warm-up means. But when the audience starts booing, then you know something is wrong. And at this concert it was more than wrong.

After this annoyingly long warm-up, came the sound check. Another delay. Of course sound check had been made for hours before the concert, but well, I guess they just wanted to make sure everything will be perfect (at least that was what I was thinking then). When IAMX finally came on stage, people started to scream like the roof was on fire. It was a crazy atmosphere, and I cannot say the band didn't like it. On the contrary, they encouraged the crowd. And after these greetings, they started to play. And Chris started to sing. I'm not sure when he started to sing, as I couldn't hear his voice very well. It was covered by the instrumental part. Great. I wonder why that damn sound check was made for.

Except this "little" problem (which reappeared several times during the concert), everything was great. Anyone in the crowd would agree that the band did its just impeccably and the moments when members of the group tried to crowd surf or just got off the stage and went into the crowd were an experience few will forget too soon. They played most of the songs from their third album (including here Tear Garden and My Secret Friend), but also some well known songs from their previous ones, such as Spit It Out (of course), Nightlife, Kiss And Swallow and President (this one was played as an encore). Chris was in his best shape, and managed to show us all why an IAMX concert is so much more than a simple live musical show. It was a wild, almost sexual experience, dark, primitive and sophisticated at the same time.

I left pleased by the show as a whole, but also a little disappointed, due to the sound problem. The concert would have been perfect without it. Even so, it remains one of the best musical experiences I had on this year.

Just Like Honey

Albums this autumn are somehow like catwalk shows at this September’s Fashion Weeks. They rarely tell you what songs will be perfect for this year, but they always tell you what songs will be the must haves on your iPod next summer. And part of the summer 2010 collection we have The Raveonettes’ ‘In And Out Of Control’.

Cliché as it might be, you seriously wonder why the hell did they not take out album opener ‘Bang!’ as a single this summer, in June or July, when the sun was shining even in Scotland. On the other hand, one can’t think of a serious reason why it shouldn’t be played 24/7 until next autumn, regardless of the amount of rain/snow falling. With its ‘f-f-fun all summer long’ vibe, this one sets the tone/musical direction for the entire record. There are fewer layers, less noise and distortion, less Jesus and Mary Chain guitars and more Beach Boys-infused pop. In fact, there is only one song to feature any type of noise, ‘Break Up Girls!’, and this one is the next-to-last on the album.

Some people will say it’s slightly more mainstream then the rest of their albums. Fair enough. If you replace ‘mainstream’ with melodic. The pounding upbeat drums, the rockabilly guitars (which sometimes end up sounding like part of a Cramps song – ‘Breaking Into Cars’ comes to mind), the blending of the voices, all these are catchy enough and make great sing-a-longs. The only moment when the summer-vibe fades is halfway into the record, on the bitter-sweet yet somehow disposable ‘Oh, I Buried You Today’.

There is another thing the Danish duo got us used to, besides heavy distortion: dark lyrical content. And ‘In And Out Of Control’ has this: there are talks of drugs, heartbreaks, rape, suicide and nostalgia. And, yes, it ends with ‘Wine’ that also is also about the sunny days of summer but it’s clear that, unlike ‘Bang!’ which is about looking forward to those careless days, this one is about feeling sorry there gone just like so many other things.

All together, this is easily one of this year’s best albums and it would be surprising if it didn’t make the cut for several lists at the end of this year. And, if there’s any justice, it’ll be stuck on your iPod until next time this year.