USIC MAGAZINE
Volume 1 / #1
British Sea Power
TEAM Jack Luckett Editor
Jose Carbajo Editor
Amy Jenkin Sub-Editor
Adam Bychawski Sub-Editor
Lachlan Marais-Gilchrist Sub-Editor
Bengee Gibson Sub-Editor
Lucy Watson Photographer
Jake Farrell Interviewer
Gus Beamish-Cook Reviewer/Comic Strip
Jake Farrell Interviewer
David Ward Reviewer
Leo Naylor Columnist
CONTENTS
Interviews
03 - British Sea Power 04 - This Town Needs Guns
Album Reviews
06 - Deerhunter - Everything Everything - Gold Panda 07 - Interpol - Magic Kids - Salem 08 - Of Montreal - Bellowhead - Gang Gang Dance - Ray LaMontagne
Live Reviews
10 - Max Tundra - The Correspondents
Columns
11 - Electro - Hip Hop - Metal - World Music
12 Spin-Off 12 - Britian Vs America - A Man with a Nose
Lev Harris Reviewer
Nathan Marks Reviewer
EDITOR’S NOTE Sarah Harris Reviewer
Will Vignoles Reviewer
Coco Cole Columist
Adam Flores Reviewer
01 Contributors & Contents
So here it is, the URY Music Team – MURY - magazine, Circulation. Hopefully, this issue will be the first of many. We want to thank everyone on the team, particularly Bhav Mistry who did all of our design work. If you would like to be involved in
future, send us an email circulationmagazine@gmail. com. ‘Till next time.
2428. Design by Bhav Mistry http://www.2428.me
. . . h t i w terview
In
h s i t i Br r e w o P a Se Andy Farrington: The new E.P ‘Zeus’ is released now. vIt’s quite a long album to start … Yan: (Light-heartedly interrupting) it’s not an album, I am not normally strict but that is one thing that I am going to be strict on. We have an album coming out in January. AF: How did you choose which material made it onto the album and which were included on the E.P? Yan: The ones that got left off the album, they are the ones that are on the Maxi E.P. It’s as simple as that really. That’s why we don’t want people to think that it is an album because it has been a while and we don’t want people thinking the E.P is the album we have been working on for two years. AF: We have only heard a handful of track from the E.P but instantly you notice a stark contrast to the ‘Man of Aran’ album. Was it hard moving away from that material in such a bold way? Yan: It was not difficult. I mean ‘Man of Aran’ was based on music to bring out the best in the movie you know. I mean it’s alright if you listen to it on your own but you are meant to watch it with the film, ideally. AF: We noticed yesterday you did a ‘Man of Aran’ gig, is it difficult jumping between the new material and that album live? Yan: I like the ‘Man of Aran’ gigs. Noble: It is surprisingly easy. We are the kind of people who enjoy change. Yan: And I get to do more solos. AF: Would you ever consider working on another soundtrack? Have there been any films that have already taken your fancy? Yan: I would like to do a Sci-Fi film but I don’t know which one. It might prove a little difficult though because as soon as you get dialogue in there then…. (We wait for a conclusion that never arrives)
AF: You were out In Norway recently playing at the ‘Traena Festival’. What was it like playing in such a remote part of the world? Yan: Oh yeah, it was good. They gave us little boats. My brother got breathalysed. Noble: By the police. Yan: Yeah by the police. Actually, it could have been the coastguard. AF: Was he driving? Yan: Yeah, he was driving. Luckily he had just stepped in as driver and he was properly the only person on the boat that would have passed. It was quite surreal. We did a ‘Man of Aran’ gig in a little church that was painted white which you could only reach by fishing boat.
“Can you give us any inside information about the new album?” Yan: It’s a little bit more coherent than the E.P. There is no real effort on the E.P for any narrative or form we just did the best running order that we could. Hopefully the album makes a little bit more sense. Noble: The album clocks in at an hour. Yan: In general it’s a little bit punkier with a few softer, epic tracks on there as well. Andy Farrington
03 Interviews
s n u G s d e e N n w o This T .
.. h t i w w Intervie
Behind their affability and genuine decency then it seems that there is a certain steel to This Town Needs Guns. Here are a band up for the challenge of preserving the ideals that they entered into this project with, of creating affecting music truly for themselves and those whose support they value so highly. They stand and chat for almost 20 minutes despite the tightness of their schedule and the absurdity of the cluster fuck unfolding in the venue behind us, which has seen their sound check pushed back by over half an hour. After the gig they will start on the four hour drive back to Oxford and normality before hitting the road again later in the week. I head to get a drink before the gig starts, hoping that they are as startling playing live as they are obliging in interview, thinking on how their story forms a compelling narrative of the modern pressures of a fraught industry. When I come back the gig has been cancelled and technical issues are being blamed. Stuart Stone apologises profusely and offers me a free ticket for the show in Leeds two days after. I thank him and wonder if he realises that it is actually him that has done the favour tonight by taking part in the interview, not the keeno with the dictaphone. He heads back into the venue, shoulders sagging slightly under the weight of hours wasted on a gig destined to never happen. It’s going to be a long drive home. Jake Farrell
Standing in the middle of myriad guitar cases, cables and frantic looking roadies the members of This Town Needs Guns cut unassuming figures amidst the ritualistic pre-gig chaos. After a seven hour drive down from Scotland to York they could be forgiven for a certain sullenness, especially in reaction to a gig that is rapidly disintegrating around them. “Shall we find somewhere a bit quieter?” I venture tentatively as a man that looks like an extra from This is Spinal Tap begins a raucous sound check on drums. We end up by the bins out the back, surrounded by the detritus of the recent venue refurbishment. It seems that nationwide tours, this time around as main support to Manchester natives Oceansize, aren’t as glamorous as you would think.
Despite the inauspicious surroundings This Town Needs Guns are in good spirits. The Oxford based four piece have experienced the difficulties of an industry where their music ticks almost no commercial boxes and have come out of the other side with their sense of humour and integrity still intact. I can’t help wondering though if there is any semblance of frustration or anger lurking beneath their amiable exteriors at the way in which their beautiful, conceptual LP Animals, released in 2007, failed to translate to increased exposure. “Not really” says lead singer Stuart Stone “ I think the kind of music that we play, we have always been aware of the fact that its not going to appeal to a mass market. All we want to do is write songs that we like”. Tim Collis, lead guitarist and architect of TTNG’s mathy, intricate sound, is also philosophical about the limitations of a style that has its roots in Chicago’s underground: “ If a band that is very
04 Interviews
underground suddenly, still playing their own music, becomes massive and does it three-hundred days of the year its going to lose a bit of how special it is. It sucks a bit that we can’t do this as much as we thought we wanted to but it’s not too bad. We don’t tour as much as a lot of bands but when we do we really enjoy it.” “All I’d like to think is happening is that we are being true to ourselves and putting forward our music for people to see that it really means something to us” seconds Collis’ brother and drummer Chris. When I ask if the band feel that an outfit of their ilk inspire a greater loyalty amongst their specific audience the real joy of being in a band like TTNG seems to become more apparent. “We’ve seen so many bands get hyped and then just disappear or split up and it’s really sad. We’ve been doing this for four years now and I’d much rather that the people who like us really like us and the people who don’t never get to hear us.” says Stuart Stone with a smile. So can touring save bands that have a niche or selected audience? “ I think that it is the only way that artists can make serious money nowadays. If you have a loyal audience then they’ll come and see you and buy your records because they know it helps you out.” TTNG’s personal investment in the band as a project is startling. Whether its touring, whilst maintaining their day jobs, or fighting tooth and nail to get a record out there (their second album is slated for release next May) being in a band of a certain size in this day and age is seemingly an attritional slog. “Writing for this next record has been really hard, every time we seem to have got into our stride we’ve had to go on tour. It just breaks it up and you have to start all over again. We’ve got quite a few songs that we are really happy with though.” says Stone. I ask if the traditional template of releasing albums is redundant in the modern age, if their efforts to create full-length records are untenable. Chris Collis’ answer is unswerving and passionate, perhaps giving a glimpse of the fuel that powers bands in similar situations to TTNGs : “An album is a document of how we are feeling at the time. All of the songs on Animals were written over a couple of months and that was where we were at. We could write a song and release one a month but I think it would be shit.”
05 Interviews
Album Reviews
content of our memories to suit a nostalgic aesthetic. By passively rewriting the past we create a longing for a time that may or may not have existed. Halcyon Digest’s role as a musical memory bank allows Cox to express his influences without being criticized for being too derivative. 50s American pop is one such influence evident in the upbeat Motown rhythms of the aptly named ‘Revival’ and the reverb-soaked warmth of ‘Basement Scene’. Although the vocal melody is almost identical to that of The Everly Brother’s ‘All I Hav To Do Is Dream’ this is not a ‘criminal’ act of musical plagiarism, but rather a nostalgic reference point. Cox is recalling the melody as a fond memory and in doing so has made it his own. Sonically, Halcyon Digest is a clear evolution from the ambient punk sound of Cryptograms and Microcastle, devoid of the heavy distortion that makes DeerDescribing the latest Deerhunter album, hunter one of today’s phenomenal live Bradford Cox revealed that Halcyon Digest acts. But by turning down the noise, the is about the way we edit the order and sensitivity in Cox’s lyrics is allowed to
Deerhunter Halcyon Digest
Everything Everything Man Alive A common myth, started from an Albert Einstein misquotation, is that the average man only uses 10% of his brain. Although this has never been proved, you may start to believe it after listening to the infinite loops of landfill indie, R&B by numbers and soulless pop that plague daytime radio. This is possibly a myth that Everything Everything believe, as they seem determined to fulfil all of their brain’s creative capacity in order to construct an album that bridges the gaps between every genre you never thought would work together; the band’s name can be read more like a mission statement. Early single ‘Suffragette Suffragette’ opens with understated math-rock bleeps and what sounds like the singing of a castrated hamster, and then goes on to stadium sized riffs and an angelic harmony to the lines “who’s gonna sit on your face when I’m gone?’’
Gold Panda Little Shiner Essex-based producer Gold Panda (originally Pink Worm, a name dispelled on the grounds that it sounded too much like the
06 Album Reviews
(a question probably not asked by Albert Einstein). However, the only weird thing about this song is how well it works. Other songs work equally well on this album, for example opening track ‘MY KZ, UR BF’, combining early Genesis vocal crooning with funk guitars, disco synths and a harmonic call and response. One constant through the whole album seems to be the confidence of the band, in particular frontman Jonathon Higgs, who seems like the kind of man who would go to a buffet and come back with ice cream on his chips. Although diverse and often rewarding EE’s debut is by no means perfect: the peculiar avant-garde lyrical style and references often make the songs unique but also lack an accessible deeper meaning leaving you with the feeling that Jonathon and co. are being purposely incongruous merely to occupy an uninhabited musical niche. Having said this, maybe it is better to have songs with lyrics like “I put a rain forest in an Oxo Cube” (‘Photoshop Handsome’) than another song about some girl down name of a hardcore band) has been on our radar for a while now. A career that began remixing Bloc Party, Little Boots, Simian Mobile Disco and HEALTH among others was quickly followed by the release of EP’s Miyamae and You earlier this year (complete with remixes by Osborne, Seams, Dam Mantle and Minotaur Shock); both progressive yet not wholly fulfilling records whose dreamy, slow house sensibilities seemed to be somewhat indebted to the likes of Caribou, Flying Lotus and Four Tet. ‘You’ appears again as the opening track on GP’s debut full-length Lucky Shiner, an M83 and Field-like experiment in glitchy, beat-driven electronica. When questioned on the writing process, he remarked that “I didn’t want to write ‘beats.’ I didn’t want bangers. I wanted songs with structure”. With this more methodical approach to the songwriting process, more expansive melodic contours are able to resonate on tracks like ‘Before We Talked’.It is this that helps structure the album’s emotional,
resonate with greater clarity, increasing Halcyon’s credentials as Deerhunter’s pop album. Songs such as ‘Sailing’, ‘Memory Boy’ and first single ‘Helicopter’ are the greatest evidence of this change in sound; the heavier production and inclusion of autoharp, mandolin and harmonica are reminiscent of Cox’s solo work in Atlas Sound. But to say that Cox is only using Deerhunter to communicate his most abstract musical fantasies would neglect the influence guitarist Lockett Pundt has had on the record. ‘Desire Lines’ with its krautrock drive and overlapping guitar hooks is an album highlight and a reminder of his own songwriting prowess. Halcyon Digest is proof that a concept album doesn’t have to be a pompous rock opera but instead a deeply personal work of art. This LP is refreshing in an age where the album as an art form is increasingly neglected and serves as the perfect expression of nostalgia. Jose Carbajo
the pub. This is a challenging album and may not be to everyone’s taste, but if your brain enjoys wandering musical mazes, then this is your cup of tea.
Nathan Marks deeply personal soundscape. When asked on the influences behind the record, GP replied “touring, mixing, moving houses and splitting with a girlfriend. Family, friends, and lovers, places I’ve never been.” Lucky Shiner was recorded over two sessions at Gold Panda’s grandparents’ home out in the English countryside, affording the album an idyllic, contemplative quality. Yet its down-tempo, wistful disposition is for the most part rooted from his two year study of Japanese culture, language and history at the School of Oriental and Asian Studies in Japan. It is a cathartic LP, evoking a transient state of mind, daydreaming of airy geishas and crouching tigers. The mix of vinyl-static beats, lo-fi drum machines and synths are sometimes combined to dizzying effect, the whole album glowing and gleaming with saturated colours and heart-on-sleeve melancholy that doesn’t take hold of your ears straight away, but endears on repeated listens. Lev Harris
Interpol Interpol
extreme, and speaks of a band tired of their success and weary in their creative processes; perhaps it is this weariness that inspired Dengler’s departure in May of this Carlos D came to define Interpol in a year. Interpol feels like a band at the end certain way. With his fascistic dress sense of their tether, straining to find an escape and carefully calculated persona he added route from their malaise but only managing a tinge of fun to his band’s work of dismal to re-hash earlier glories with mediocrity. It beauty. Sadly, Interpol’s latest self-titled re- is a cold, careful album; not laughable in lease, the last to feature the inimitable Mr. its ineptitude but disappointing in its slugDengler, is not a swansong worthy of such gishness. “I have succeeded/ I won’t coma distinctive NYC East Side oddity. pete for long” intones Paul Banks on staid Interpol, then, is far from an embarrassopener “Success”, which seems more like ment, yet neither is it a renaissance. the limp dirge of a broken man rather than Incremental decline is a phenomenally dif- the fire-brand anti-fame sermon it hopes ficult trend to avoid throughout a musical to be. And so, Interpol chugs along in career and is made all the more painful that vein, devoid of anything to rouse the by a debut that will be remembered as a memory of how essential this band once high water mark. Turn on the Bright Lights were. “Barricade” briefly restores some may have earned comparisons with Joy faith in their ability to conjure something Division’s Closer for its raw, regret soaked approaching a hook, before the tail end soundscapes but even that starts to sound of the record becomes bogged down in a chipper in comparison with the New York dogmatic obsession with its near-singular band’s latest offering. theme - the hollowness of fame. Lyrically, this is an album bleak in the Listening to this album, it is little wonder
Magic Kids Memphis The recession has produced some rather incongruous musical trends in the UK. It seems that as soon as the economy took a tumble, Britain was overrun by earnestly
miserable 80’s revivalists attempting to drag everyone back to fashion crimes and synth abuse. Thankfully, in other parts of the world a happier decade is being mined for inspiration. After MGMT and Tame Impala’s update on late-60s psychadelia comes the short, sweet California pop of Memphis, the debut album of Tennessee band Magic Kids. Their fondness for harmonies, pretty surf-pop melodies and sugary lyrics of the early 60s has led to some critics cruelly labelling them as “budget Beach Boys”, but this verdict misses the point. True, the Beach Boys mastered this type of music forty years ago, but this shouldn’t stop people appreciating Memphis as a refreshingly joyful and unrestrainedly poppy album. ‘Candy’’s swooning chorus floats over sweetly minor hooks, ‘Hey Boy’ comes over like a Wrecking Crew off-cut, while ‘Sailin’’ skips along over lush harmonies. The band’s pop sensibility is well complimented by their studio skills – main songwriters Bennett Foster and Will McElroy also produced the
Carlos D has sought release from the duty of being in Interpol. This is a band clearly at a low creative ebb. Perhaps it would do them some good to return to the darkness of the New York streets where they were formed. Jake Farrell album, conjuring up hefty walls of sound for ‘Hey Boy’ and ‘Phone’, and inserting subtle string arrangements throughout. However, for all its upbeat nature and accomplished hooks, Memphis is not for everyone. Purists may just whack on the Beach Boys instead, the lyrics occasionally veering into self-parody, and the album’s songs of sunshine and happy couples can feel somewhat superficial and trivial. Memphis is not an album for those in search of emotional impact. Nevertheless, it makes a nice change to listen to songs dealing with the simple pleasures of love and having a good time rather than how depressing the world can be. Memphis isn’t going to change your life or, in truth, advance pop music a great deal, but if you want 29 minutes of relief from Britain’s grey and overcast autumns then it is as good a candidate as any. And as for the tag “budget Beach Boys”? Well, there are worse bands to ape. Will Vignoles
Salem King Night
me to ask questions about truth – are they more style than substance, image than music? Only time will tell for sure. King Night, then, is made up of tracks both Are SALEM the real deal? Emerging out of old and new to long-time followers of the trio. rural Michigan, complete with a back-story of Earlier single ‘Frost’ makes the cut, along with drug addiction, prostitution and general darka tweaked ‘Redlights’ and slow-rap track ‘Trapness, they are regularly cited as the inventors of door’. It is a bold album, as most sub-genre what has come to be known as ‘witch house’, debuts are, giving a complete answer to those an engrossing blend of shoegaze, dubstep who wonder just what witch house is. Some and Southern rap that veers wildly from having writers claim it is the future of music and some an attractive pop sheen to a more abrasive, think it is just another musical fad – nu-rave for punk-like sound. It is otherworldly and strange an economic depression. I think it is somemusic, taken for a joke by many when it first where between the two, containing enough appeared, featuring slowed-down rapping, groundbreaking musical ideas to have a blown-out bass and neat, clicky 808 drum longer life than other sub-genres, and SALEM’s sounds. The inherent unease present in their debut shows its full range. From end of the music is only increased by their various press world soundtracking collisions of choral music shots, almost always taken at night in a wood, and dubstep (‘King Night’) to slow rap over a invariably catching the band in some Blair backing track that uses car screeching sounds Witch-like act. This near-perfect combination as percussion (‘Trapdoor’), the group push the of sound and image has led to SALEM being boundaries of what pop music can be – and picked up as a ‘fashion band’, their interviews it is essentially pop that SALEM make, every featuring in well-printed magazines like Dazed track on the album, once the sometimes harsh & Confused. It is this development that leads exterior is passed, being easy to listen to. It is
07 Album Reviews
an affecting listen, but this is largely created by bass frequencies than the lyrics and vocals, the two vocalists apparently taking inspiration from Sigur Ros in the use of voice to simply add to the music, not lead it. Whether they can repeat this success remains to be seen. Jack Luckett
Of Montreal False Priest
Lachlan Marais-Gilchrist
Aside from the bland creations of nu-folk figureheads Mumford and Sons and Noah and the Whale, the folk scene is thriving. One of those pushing the genre forward is Bellowhead, who mix both traditional elements and more modern constituents. This is done by adapting archaic lyrics and constructing new songs around them, distinctly folk yet incorporating segments as disparate as Balkan swing and thrash. In their new album, Hedonism, the band have an increasing focus on seediness, their tracks centring on tropes such as whores, beggars and drunken sailors. All this is sung by Jon Boden’s expressive, at times desperate, shanty vocals. The theme is ignited in the opener, ‘New York Girls’, a tale of scouting the New York underbelly for girls who “dance the polka” set to intertwining brass and wind, a thumping bass drum and plenty of cowbell. Following this ‘A-Begging I will Go’, an ode to tramp-hood -“the best trade in England” - which erupts into a storm of fiddles as well as a pinch of funk guitar. The stately ‘Cross-Eyed and Chinless’ is up next, complete with an unexpected gypsy
Gang Gang Dance Kamakura
Lucy Watson
Ray LaMontagne’s fourth studio album sees two changes. Firstly, his previously unnamed backing band receive joint billing, a confidence boost that hardly seems needed, considering their earlier collaborations with established artists such as Beck and Joe Cocker. Secondly, the album sees the loss of LaMontagne’s loyal producer Ethan Johns, who worked on his last three albums, making the fact that the album was recorded within two weeks at LaMontagne’s own home-studio in Western Massachusetts all the more remarkable. This latest musical venture has a similar feel to his third album, Gossip in the Grain, mirroring its breakaway from the traditional singersongwriter feel of LaMontagne’s first two LPs, ‘Til The Sun Turns Black and Trouble. The tracks move sublimely through LaMontagne’s spin on all things folk, from the dirty southern blues feel of ‘Devil’s in the Jukebox’, to the hazy atmosphere created in ‘This Love is Over’ that wouldn’t sound out of place at midnight in a Parisian cafe. The opening track, ‘Repo Man’, sees LaMontagne take a back seat, allowing the
08 Album Reviews
Even those Of Montreal fans who loved 2008’s Skeletal Lamping precisely because it was an unpredictable and fragmented affair are unlikely to be disappointed with this decidedly less bonkers latest offering. Sure, there’s nothing quite as unhinged here as, say, ‘Nonpareil of Favor’ (which ditches song structure altogether at 1:47), but then False Priest is hardly a pop album in the conventional sense either. Relative strangeness aside, Of Montreal are still way too much fun to ever really hate. The sleaze has been toned down slightly but this is more than made up for by, among other things, the hilarious reminiscence of a failed relationship on ‘Our Riotous Defects’ (with Barnes’ admission that he once “hooked up with one of your cousins/Just to feel somehow closer to you” being a particular highlight); and his vocal performances are as hyper, bizarrely Prince-like and gorgeously self-harmonized as ever. The fact that Barnes is, for the most part, back to constructing songs more coherently around dominant melodic phrases isn’t a bad thing. Skeletal Lamping teased listeners with shards
and glimpses of melodies, discarding them almost as soon as they’d been introduced. This approach sometimes made for a frustrating listen (for example ‘An Eluardian Instance’). Although far from overly-civilising the experience of listening to Of Montreal, more structure and cohesion actually seems to have brought the “WTF?!” moments into clearer focus - and there are still plenty of these. Certainly, anyone who doubts that Of Montreal still possess the ability to disturb can’t have stuck with False Priest until it’s utterly deranged closer, ‘You Do Mutilate?’ False Priest isn’t perfect. ‘Sex Karma’ is the most obvious misstep, featuring a surprisingly understated vocal appearance by Solange Knowles and lyrics that, though characteristically sex-obsessed, are devoid of any of the humor or bite laced through the best material on Skeletal Lamping. In general, however, False Priest holds its own against the Of Montreal back catalogue. There’s enough development on familiar concepts to intrigue existing fans, whilst its greater accessibility might just win them a few new ones to boot.
feel. The sweetness of this track is contrasted with the sheer groove of ‘The Handweaver & the Factory Maid’, featuring one of the best basslines of the year swaggeringly puffed on a tuba. The track is perhaps the most sexual Bellowhead have yet recorded, featuring the line “I see her two breasts standing so / like two white hills covered in snow” randily sung by Boden. It contains a filthy funk groove recalling classic R&B as well as parts of Captain Beefheart and Zappa. This is then paired with the exhausted ‘Captain Wedderburn’, sounding gorgeously hungover. The stand-out track of the album follows, a cover of Jacques Brel’s gutter poem ‘Amsterdam’. This distinctively Bellowhead lament tells of weeping rivers and dying sailors, with plenty of accordion, plucked fiddle and a tortured vocal performance from Boden. The album concludes with ‘Yarmouth Town’, a perfectly crafted pop song. Hedonism is a much more consistent album than Bellowhead’s previous efforts. It is a gin-soaked, filthy minded take on the folk album. David Ward Kamakura may be Gang Gang Dance’s first release since 2008’s well received Saint Dymphna, but it has the misfortune of being recorded in 2007, and thus no indication of how the band intend to progress, or even if they will. Still, this doesn’t detract from the EP. And if they do insist on teasing us like this then it can’t harm their upcoming album on new label 4AD. Comprising of a single 15:08 minute track, ‘Amorphous History (closing seen)’, Kamakura was released as part of Latitudes, a limited edition session series by Southern Records to promote a closer relationship between studio, label and musician; all in honour of the late John Peel. The packaging for each release is consistent, folded card and arabesques, hand numbered. There is even a doom metal promo CD alongside. All perfect if you like nice pictures and free stuff and indie roots or something (which I do). Aside from the irritation of having to go without new GGD material for even longer, Kamakura is a satisfying listen for existing fans. It’s short, and the single track is, like its name, shapeless. Parish Dogs to come to the fore with an impressively funky breakdown, featuring some fine guitar work from Eric Heywood and urging bass from Jennifer Condos. However, the album is far from a complete shift into unknown genres, with all-too-familiar, twangy electric guitar making an appearance in perhaps one too many tracks. Nonetheless, LaMontagne’s songwriting is as strong as usual, most notably in ‘Are We Really Through’, a beautiful guitar and vocal duet that highlights LaMontagne’s unique ability to seem gentle despite his strong and throaty voice. The title track is another high point, its opening phrases invoking wild and fantastic American landscapes and images of Ray ‘The Mountain’ herding bison and felling giant redwood. Overall, the listener is definitely left with the knowledge that Ray LaMontagne & the Pariah Dogs are capable of producing a varied and refreshing musical creation. Adam Flores
It takes the form of a mix rather than featuring any consistent motifs, and manages to squeeze in everything GGD have ever been noted to have used. Changing from witchy incantations to grime to vague Middle Eastern strings by the minute, and taking a middle ground between the polished pop of Saint Dymphna and the situational recordings of Hillulah, it’s hard not to think that ‘Amorphous History’ is their history, an attempted blurb on the back of their career. The short mix isn’t ground-breaking, but it demonstrates what GGD do well- an ideal introduction for the impatient. The liner states that GGD ‘define the ultimate world music for the now’, but it is more universal and classless than the ‘world’ genre. Sampling the forms and styles of Eastern, Asian, African and Urban genres and stripping them of association, meaning and origin with refreshing ignorance. The result is a dense and enigmatic recording that demonstrates GGD’s unique sound and texture.
Columns
Live Reviews
the aural pleasures extractable from this magic number should overshadow the lack in lexical creativity. Check them out at www.crookers. net. Do not leave this world without listening to: Crookers – Knobbers (Keith & Supabeats Remix) It’s not always easy finding those DJ’s waiting in the shadows of adequate exposure so I thought I’d shed some light. Initially brought up on Rock ‘n Roll, Blaze Tripp is hard evidence that electro house really is the spiritual home of human existence. He’s touring the UK and Europe between December 10th – 25th; and with support from Kissy Sell Out, Steve Aoki & Foamo, it can only be sensible to trust the taste of these masters and get yo’self some
tickets! Listen to his tunes at www. myspace.com/stalkblaze. Dance yourself skinny to: The Chemical Brothers – Swoon (Blaze Tripp Remix) Get dirty sweaty – Don’t miss:
Missy hadn’t stepped a foot wrong but it was a depressing symptom, nevertheless, of the lack of female talent around. In the last year things have improved with the global success (if questionable political beliefs) of M.I.A. and the rise of Nicki Minaj. Minaj makes Adam Bychawski her debut in November, in a year otherwise dominated by the critically Like it or not, hip-hop is still a man’s acclaimed Big Boi solo album, prisongame; and although there are sevrelease records from Lil’ Wayne and eral essential female-fronted hip-hop Gucci Mane – not to mention Kanye records, they are vastly outnumbered West’s comeback. She’s definitely by their male counterparts. So much picked a difficult year to grab the so that in 2007 BET no longer held spotlight but having pre-emptively nominations for ‘Best Female Hip-Hop won the BET ‘Best Female Hip-Hop Artist’ due to lack of eligible releases. Artist’ award might act as a springIn subsequent years the award board to greater success. category returned, although only to Perhaps the biggest challenge facing give Missy Elliot a fifth award. Sure, Minaj is defining her image. She has
described herself as a “Harajuku Barbie”. Others place her somewhere between Lady Gaga and Lil’ Kim; but Minaj is picking her reference points more carefully than that – and she’s reluctant to base her act as overtly on sexuality. As such, her recent jungle-military-themed video for ‘Massive Attack’ more closely resembles Missy Elliott’s ‘Get Ur Freak On’ than anything Lil’ Kim has released. There are also a number of female artists emerging from the underground. Take Rye Rye, who pricked M.I.A’s attention and is now signed to her record label N.E.E.T.; her sound takes much from her native Baltimore’s house and grime scene. Then there’s Maluca, signed to Diplo’s Mad Decent record label, and whose Dominican roots have been the inspi-
ration for her style. Both have found success through bringing a unique sound to the scene. Earlier this year, however, Ludacris released an album entitled Battle of the Sexes. Initially intended as collaboration with Shawnna (the first female rapper to be signed to Def Jam) before she decided to go independent, it is about as awkward as one of those school disco party games – you know, where its boys vs. girls. Unsurprisingly, the female stars are barely given a mic enough of the time to consider it a battle. So, while there’s signs of improvement, to quote Boy Better Know “we need some more girls in here/too many men too many men”.
risen with each and every release since their phenomenal self-titled debut. They met those expectations with Futures, they consolidated their sound on Chase This Light, and I can safely say that their latest release hasn’t failed to impress. So what’s new? Well, on the presumption that Chase This Light was a refinement of Chris To their poppy sound, Invented heads In this issue’s rock column we look further in that same direction. The agtowards a new release from the gression once present on songs such comfortable kings of alternative rock, as ‘Salt Sweat Sugar’ and ‘Pain’ has and introduce the contenders to their ebbed away, allowing for a penchant throne. for slower tempos and softer hooks to Jimmy Eat World recently released surface. For me this is a slight disaptheir 6th full-length release, Invented, pointment but it by no means drains cementing their rightful place on top the enjoyment out of listening to the of the pop-rock hierarchy. Known for band altogether. Crucially, Jimmy some time as the main pioneers of alEat World haven’t lost their ineffable ternative emo-rock, expectations have ability to evoke raw human emotion.
‘Heart is Hard to Find’, ‘Cut’, and ‘Littlething’ are irresistibly powerful songs but frankly, the whole album acts as an emotional continuum of musical miasma, taking you on an epic journey with every listen. Now, to the contenders. Earlier this month came the second full-length release from Aberdeen three-piece The Xcerts. The band received so much hype on the basis of their debut, ‘In the Cold Wind we Smile’, that they headed to America with producer Mike Sapone (Brand New, Taking Back Sunday) for recording this time around – and it in my view The Xcerts have elevated themselves through the stratosphere with this release. Two albums into their career and they’ve delivered their magnum opus, their very own Deja Entendu.
Taking inspiration from a wide spectrum of musical sources, although Nirvana and Brand New are clearly their primary influences, the band has captured a sound that unsettles as much as it delights. The true brilliance of tracks like ‘I Scare Easy’ and ‘Hurt With Me’ lies in their haunting details, and naturally require multiple listens to fully appreciate. It won’t be long before they catch the attention of a major label and perhaps establish themselves as one of Britain’s finest talents.
The first disc features work by Pankaj Mallick, and has thus far received most critical praise. Notable for its deft amalgamation of ethnic and western styles, his approach formed something of a blueprint for the genre throughout latter half of the century. This is Leo Naylor the apparent upon delving further into Even if you’ve only the most marginal the collection, as soundtracks become interest in Indian music, it’d be pretty suffused with elements of disco and hard to miss The History of Indian Film modern pop, exhibiting the consistent Music this August. This colossal ten CD dialogue between eastern and western compendium documents the developmusic that has become typical of Indian ment of Bollywood soundtracks from soundtracks. the 1930’s through to the present day, In other news, Małe Instrumenty will and is the first comprehensive study of be touring this autumn, bringing their its kind. The inclusion of sleevenotes by inimitable blend of sonic experimentajournalist Rajiv Vijayakar, presenting tion and humour to the British Isles for a sentimental account of this genre’s the first time. Their name translates as elaborate history, provides a unique ‘small instruments’ and a second or two selling-point. of listening reveals exactly why; this
six-piece from Poland create music with toys, miniature instruments, idiophones and homemade contraptions. Whilst the concept might read like a recipe for disaster, the result is witty, quirky, fiercely catchy songs (many of which are available on their website for free). Their back-catalogue largely comprises work for film but their 2009 LP, Antonisz was a real hidden gem. This said, Małe Instrumenty are best appreciated live. Don’t miss out this October! Also notable for an especially unconventional approach to music-making is French sound artist Anne-James Chaton. Essentially a poet working with the medium of sound, his recent projects include an album with Andy Moor (The Ex) entitled Le Journaliste. Chaton uses ideas from his ‘portrait’ project, in which he fashions rhythmical
lattices of numbers and words taken from articles in friends’ wallets/coats/ homes. A hypnotic verbal data-stream unfolds, around which Moor’s machinelike guitar extemporizations construct layers of metallic sonority, until the two blend, locking into phase. Not surprising, then, to hear that Chaton has collaborated with Carsten Nicolai (Alva Noto), as both share a proclivity for minutiae and an obsession with illuminating the ubiquitous, yet ordinarilyignored data that saturates our human world. His collaboration with Moor is planned to continue over a series of four 7” singles, the first of which will be released later this year. Many of his previous live collaborations are well documented online, and you can catch him alongside The Ex during their tour this autumn.
Electro Coco Cole
Max Tundra
Of all the performances at Field Day, Max Tundra’s was the only one to feature a short, balding man in hiking boots waving at the crowd whilst nonchalantly eating an apple. After a day of disappointing and occasionally cringe-worthy music (see Mount Kimbie politely tapping a drum kit at random intervals whilst mumbling like an embarrassed child), seeing Tundra dance idiosyncratically to the spasmodic swing of “Merman” was a breath of fresh air. As he shook like a hyper four-year-old between disorientating blasts of syncopated electronic tom drums, it didn’t matter that much of the audience in the half-empty tent hadn’t heard of him. If anything, the low turnout only added to a sense of intimacy usually lacking from festival performances. Spurred on by Tundra’s bouncing, even
the most stubborn audience members were attempting cautious hip gyrations during the bass-heavy, mutant RnB groove of “Lights”. My personal favourite “Which Song”, an enjoyably confusing progression of saw wave and pitch-bending funk intrusions, had me grooving around the tent floor grinning like an idiot, while the few friends I had persuaded to join me nodded with the zeal of the convert. The 11-minute epic “Until We Die” saw Tundra glued to his synths, dispensing tonguein-cheek prog riffs amid heartfelt lyrics about friendships, Rubik’s cubes and Arthurian legend. A semi-ironic synth-prog jam, ending in a lengthy wash of ambient saw pads, would cause many audiences to lose interest. For some reason though, it worked.
Now that the summer has disappeared from this part of the world, what better way to warm your behind by throwing some shapes to Mad Decent’s latest release? Only 26-yrs young, Mumdance is already father to an admirable back catalogue. Though better known for his remixes, it appears that with The Mum Decent EP Jack Adams (civilian alias) has now decided to test the
For Tundra’s finale he retreated to his equipment-laden table - on which rested a glockenspiel, a banana-yellow notebook, a VL-tone and a variety of synths - to return, triumphantly carrying a melodica, to the opening bars of KLF’s “What Time is Love”. As his re-imagining of the trance hit thumped on, replete with added synth hits and a clattering toy percussion section, Tundra thanked the audience for listening amid melodica blasts. As the tent cleared, I walked around the back of the stage. Tundra emerged holding a few copies of his last album “Parallax Error Beheads You” and a butternut squash. Unsurprisingly, he was a very nice man. Gus Beamish-Cook
waters of original production. This EP slices across a variety of global sounds: ‘Smasher’ offers a whiff of the orient and you can almost feel the carnivalesque buzz in ‘Sacrifice’. Mumdance is also making a colourful statement by having bagged production duties on forthcoming releases with the likes of Bonde Do Role & Brodinski. Exciting times my friends... Find out more at www.mumdance. com. Please acquaint you ears with: Mumdance – Kerplunk Part 1 Remember the rather fantasmic album Tons of Friends by Crookers? (Punishment required if not). The remixed version is out now! It’s quite originally titled ‘Tons of Remixes’… but with names like Brodinski, Renaissance Man, Subskrpt & Junkie XL on the bill,
Hip Hip
Metal
The Correspondents Before the third day of Bestival I’d never heard of DJ/MC duo The Correspondents. I agreed to see them so that my friend would accompany me to one of my favourite bands later that day, but I was shattered, muddy and not looking forward to seeing a DJ named ‘Mr. Chuckles’. But somewhere between Rolf Harris (I’m not even ashamed) and The Flaming Lips, something bizarre happened. For forty minutes that afternoon, the sleeplessness and alcohol-induced haze lifted and the Bestival crowd seemed to have a whole different energy. The Correspondents’ waist-coated Mr. Bruce gave a phenomenal performance. The singer/MC didn’t stop moving for a second, his limbs flailing and his brogues barely touching the stage. Half dapper
10 Live Reviews
1920s gentleman, half hip-hop obsessive, his style and energy were infectious – even the post-Ellie Goulding and pre-Mumford and Sons tag-a-longs were dancing along. Combining risqué lyrics and scat in a vocal performance as energetic as his moves, it’s difficult to see how anyone could resist. Numbers like ‘Washington Square’ and ‘I Wanna Be Like You’ (complete with samples from the Disney classic) maintained the audience’s frenzied enthusiasm. This was a set that was careful never to fall into a rut, introducing a quartet of sharp-suited swing dancers for ‘Ah Ha’ and then a treadmill for even more lithe-limbed feats by Mr. Bruce (think of that OK GO video but in hyper-fast-forward). The Flaming Lips may have brought pyrotechnics, zorbing and
tickertape to the Main Stage later that night, but The Correspondents didn’t need that stuff – their stage presence was outrageous enough without it. The Correspondents’ swing/hip-hop blend contrasted radically with many of the Main Stage performances that day, but it was a refreshing change. By the end of the set, my initial apprehension was long gone. The crowd gave back in praise what the pair gave in enthusiasm and it made for an astonishing performance...not exactly what I expected from ‘Mr Chuckles’ and a skinny bloke on a treadmill.
Sarah Harris
World
11 Columns
• Wax:On at The Mint Club, Leeds. Fri 22nd Oct. £5 Before 23:30 / £6 After. (N.B. £6.95 Off-peak return train. No excuses!) • Cattivo Sessions & Chinese Laundry at Blue Fly, York. For doses of funky house electro. If this has left you with musical urges then tune into Coco..Electro every Monday night 9 – 10pm on ((URY)) and follow the fun at www.cocoelectro.blogspot.com.
Spin Off Britain vs America When the NME’s Best New Bands of 2010 list came out sometime last month, it was unsurprising to see that American artists took up the majority of the shortlist with 27 emerging artists in total. Although the UK were not far behind with 20, one could not help but feel that some of the acts representing Britain had benefited from a bit of ‘musical patriotism’. I understand that quantifying art into statistical data is the greatest sin committed by profit-seeking record labels, but the trend is there to be seen. Just looking at the top 10, it is not surprising to see that Californian surf-pop duo Best Coast are hitting the top spot, closely followed by The Drums. But inexplicably in at number 3 Manchester’s Wu Lyf have lodged themselves ahead of two of America’s hallmark breakthrough artists, Sleigh Bells and The Smith Westerns. Don’t get me wrong, Wu Lyf are a band with a lot of promise. I like how their atmospheric ballads and ‘anti-attention’ tactics (no MySpace, bandana-shrouded faces) have propelled them to online cult status, giving them a rare sense of mystique in this Internet age. But this is exactly the kind of stunt NME pull. I couldn’t help but feel that inside their offices the thought of an all American top 5 was too much to bear, so they thrust Wu Lyf into the spotlight to balance the books. So why have the Zane Lowes of this world persistently talked of a ‘Golden Age’ for American Indie? Perhaps it has something to do with the huge difference in radio culture. The big player in American radio is the company Clear Channel, owning a total of 1,200 radio stations in USA alone. Out of 250 of America’s largest radio markets these stations are present in 247, generating a $3 billion profit every year. With such an overwhelming monopoly, the standard of music played has gone down, with more focus being placed on bombarding the listener with advertising rather than promoting a breakthrough act. The story is very different in the UK, where stations like BBC6 music, BBC Radio 1 and XFM are always on the prowl to share the ‘next big thing’.
opportunity for a left field act to make it big (just look at Arcade Fire). Meanwhile, in Britain the radio carrot is all too inviting for a band trying to make its way: just throw some Johnny Marr-style riffs together, a disco beat and say you’re from Manchester This fact is initially surprising as one expects and you’ll almost be guaranteed short term that if the radio waves are begging for new success before you’ve had time to perfect alternative music then the quality would your sound. Nothing against the Arctic be of a higher standard here in the UK Monkeys or Manchester, but one can’t deny than in America were it is comparatively British music media’s obsession in pigeon neglected. However, with no aspirations holing bands as the ‘next Oasis’ just to fulfil or expectations for mainstream success a some crazed Madchester prophecy. young American band can strive to be truly alternative. Compromising their sound for I don’t want to end this article by jumping something ‘radio-friendly’ would be out of back on the fence, but at the end of the day the question, leaving them to create music good music is just down to personal taste. for music’s sake. With internet music trends Maybe us here in Britain have exaggerbeing impossible to control, it gives greater
12 Spin Off
Gus Beamish-Cook ated the quality of American bands due to the fact that their foreignness generates more of the mystery that makes good music great music. Either way, the newest musical ventures from across the pond have proved to be more attractive than what Britain has to offer of late. Jose Carbajo