Music – a stoned selection

By Kaz Peet

Wire – ‘Red Barked Tree’ Pink Flag

One of post-punk’s most potent and enduring bands display their relevance in 2011 with the typically considered new album ‘Red Barked Tree’. Since their ‘77 classic ‘Pink Flag’ Wire have forged an uncompromising path, subtly evolving with each new record to arrive at this, an album confident enough to appear with no guest players and sound defiantly individual yet the same as they always have. Encompassing the nuanced lyricism of ‘Please Take’, the sprightly propulsion of ‘Now Was’, shimmering melodic romance in ‘Adapt’, the stentorian, rough-grained art-punk of ‘Two Minutes’ and minimal yet expansive ‘Down To This’, Wire are still offering strong work.

Mark Harrison – ‘Watching The Parade’ Highway Records

When times are dark people begin to look for a deeper meaning within things. Apparently, philosophy is the subject most on the increase amongst young people applying for university places. Blues has always been the musical method by which to face difficulty and to laugh in the face of adversity and following in the footsteps of this well trodden path, whilst being distinctly contemporary, comes ‘Watching The Parade’, debut album from Mark Harrison. The simple yet deeply enchanting sound moves through a spectrum of emotions, effortlessly changing from gentle to gritty and from somber to uplifting. This five-piece combination of double bass and bass, mandolin, harmonica, drums and guitars sound equally at home recreating the spirit of the Louisiana swamps bluegrass or the devotional folk and ragas of the Himalayas. Crucially instrumental in the shaping of this sounds substance, is Mark’s use of a 1934 National Trojan, a wood-body resonator guitar that has, he describes, “…a sweet sound but it’ll bite if you want it to.” Drawing on elements from the past some of the songs pick up on parallels between the world of the great blues artists and the here and now. Some are just about the here and now – as Mark says, “there’s a lot to be said that isn’t necessarily getting said.”

Stateless –‘Mathilda’ Ninjatune

It’s easy to talk about the “epic” quality of this or that record, its “cinematic” feel. And how many artists have you heard say, as Chris James, lead singer of Stateless does, that “I wanted the record to be like a journey”? But sometimes it’s true. Sometimes it just is true. Sometimes you have to hold up your hands and admit it. Welcome to ‘Matilda’, then, an eleven track, fifty minute follow-up to 2007’s eponymous debut, which takes all of those easy words and makes something concrete out of them. Working with Bjork producer/programmer Damian Taylor, ‘Matilda’ ties together classic songwriting with rhythmic drive, slatherings of sub-bass and enough electronic interference to satisfy the most anal of glitch-nerds. The results are spectacular. From the atmospheric opening of ‘Curtain Call’ you know you’re in for something special. The driving bass of first single ‘Ariel’ is followed by the sinuous melody and building atmospherics of ‘Miles To Go’. ‘Visions’ features lead vocals from bass player Justin Percival. “As a vocalist he really is something else,” says James. “I think more and more Stateless will become a twin vocal band. Well, it is already!”

‘Red Ocean’ functions as an ambient-folk interlude to clear the palate before ‘I’m On Fire’, a duet with Shara Worden of My Brightest Diamond, recorded in her Brooklyn front room over a bottle of wine. ‘Ballad of NGB’ almost has the feel of contemporary R&B, if contemporary R&B producers were bugging out to Bartok’s Hungarian folk songs and working with the remarkable Balanescu Quartet. This world-renowned string group comes into its own on ‘Song For The Outsider’ when, in addition to a superb string arrangement, violinist Alex Balanescu finishes things off with a vicious solo: “At the end of the take the control room was just speechless,” James remembers. “Everyone’s jaws just hit the floor, completely astounded. It was mind-blowing.” ‘Junior’ aches with longing and throbs with out-of-focus electronica. ‘I Shall Not Complain’ finishes the album back somewhere in Eastern Europe, piano combining with one of the most beautiful melodies on the record to take us out on a melancholy, uplifting high.

David Lee Jr. – ‘Evolution’ Universal Sound

Soul Jazz Records/Universal Sound release this ‘lost classic’ radical deep spiritual jazz album from David Lee Jr. Originally released in New York in 1974 (400 copies only ever pressed), ‘Evolution’ is composer and drummer David Lee Jr.’s extraordinary one off solo album, pressed on the artist’s own Supernal Records, a record company whose slogan ‘seeking creative progress’ and dedicated ‘ to peace and freedom’ clearly displayed artistic intent over any commercial or market led - forces. David Lee Jr. was born in New Orleans and the deep experimental drum compositions featured on ‘Evolution’ are as rooted in this southern city rhythmically as they are in the spiritual and metaphysical musical ideas of John Coltrane, Sun Ra and other futurist soul-searchers. In the early 1970’s Lee headed off to New York, playing in Roy Ayers’ Ubiquity for a couple of years before immersing himself in the thriving loft deep jazz scene playing with Leon Thomas, Lonnie Liston Smith, Harold Alexander, Charles Rouse and recording for independent labels such as the classic Strata East, India Navigation and Flying Dutchman.

New York left-field jazz meets New Orleans syncopation and military parade rhythms to produce an avant-garde drum suite as hypnotic as Roy Ayers circa ‘We Live In Brooklyn’, as radical as fellow drummer Steve Reid or Rashied Ali’s musical excursions in the early 1970’s. Far out!

Spokes – ‘Everyone I Ever Met’ Counter Records

The very excellent Spokes have been around for a while now but it is with ‘Everyone I Ever Met’ that they make their most substantial statement as a band. Sidestepping the post-rock styling’s of its predecessor, this sophomore album is their first foray into ‘proper’ songs, and what songs they are. Comparisons are likely to be made to The Arcade Fire (look – fancy instrumentation!) and to be honest you could even draw parallels with classic Pink Floyd (especially in the album’s introspective third act), but Spokes manage to do their own thing simply by sticking to their guns and producing amazing songs delivered with intensity and honesty. There are no half-hearted attempts to break new ground or lackluster swipes at some hip new genre or other – this is just great music, and in that Spokes are pretty much out there on their own right now. Just check the sublime orchestral opener ‘3, 4, 5’, the noisy and deliriously catchy ‘Torn up In Praise’ or the lengthy title track and you’ll know you’re in the presence of something quite special. More than anything else, what strikes you listening to Spokes is their complete sincerity, their lack of any sideways glance at what their contemporaries are doing. They make beautiful, sad, celebratory, delirious, worshipful music because that’s how they feel and, in doing so, that’s how they make you feel, too.

Karton – ‘For All Seasons’ Sound of Habibs

‘For All Seasons’, the recently released debut LP from production duo Karton is an album that is both defined and challenged by the concept of its own title. In an environment where changing styles and genres most music disposable, Karton set out to deliver an album that has a place today as much as it will tomorrow and the next. Designed to represent the collective interests, influences and experiences of Karton, ‘For All Seasons’ is a 15 track outing that is not constrained by the rules and expectations of any one ideology but rather comes as an epic opus encompassing all facets of the Karton ethos expertly produced to the exacting standards we have come to expect of the duo. Two years in the making, ‘For All Seasons’ showcases fully what has only been hinted at in previous Karton releases. Encompassing melodic synths, haunting strings, chopped guitars, heavy basslines, precision drums and the vocal talents of Manuel Sharrad (Infusion), Nick Craven (Hancock Basement), Jeff Hann (Friendly Yen) and Cris Clucas, Karton have expanded their sonic palate to deliver an album that is as wide in scope as it is ambitious in title. While it may seem to be a departure from the club orientated bass driven music the duo are known for, they see it more as a natural progression, taking full use of the album format to deliver an experience that goes beyond simply being a record for the club or the home. Built on the idea that each track has the ability to extract a visceral emotional response from the listener, ‘For All Seasons’ will have something that people can resonate with, regardless of the season.