tracksandgigs

Juliana Hatfield 'Peace and Love'

2010-02-23T05:30:00.001-08:00

Writing this blog for the last couple of years has been an enormous pleasure. Looking back on all the posts, I have a great record of all the music I have heard, how my tastes have changed a bit and evidence of the joy I get from discovering great new music. Sometimes though, I have to document my disappointment with an album and that is especially difficult when it is an album by an artist who I have been a fan of for many years.

...and I have been a fan of Juliana Hatfield's since the early 90s, a couple of her records are two of my all-time favourites. 'Only Everything', released in 1995 and lost in the middle of grunge and britpop was a brutal but celebratory record of anthems, hard-hitting and euphoric. 'Beautiful Creature' just a few years later was a tender album of ballads, though lyrically just as brutal as 'Only Everything'. Hatfield has fought the good fight for nearly 20 years now and in the last ten she has still produced great moments, particularly on 2002's 'Gold Stars' collection and 2004's patchy but occasionally inspired 'In Exile Deo'.

Whereas for most of her career Juliana seemed to fluctuate between producing loud, abrasive records and tender heartfelt ones, the last couple have been firmly placed in the middle of the road, musically and lyrically and her last full-length 'How To Walk Away' was disturbingly bland. So, a solo acoustic album of off-the-cuff, raw and heartfelt numbers seemed a great idea. Hatfield plays every instrument here and most of the songs on 'Peace and Love' are just acoustic guitar and vocals. Unfortunately and surprisingly, this does not make for a pleasurable listening experience.

Back on 'Beautiful Creature, a song recorded in this manner 'Slow Motion' sounded simply stunning. Gentle, spare but full of tension and drama, it was one of the most beautiful and poignant moments of her career. Nothing here comes close. The opener and title track is a simple plea for the 'peace and love' in the title, with generic lyrics over even more generic acoustic guitar. It is twee and ever so crushingly dull.

So much here follows that template. 'Why Can't We Love Each Other?' follows exactly the same formula, non-descript guitar and the title repeated over and over again. It sticks in your head, but you don't want it to.

There are some good moments, so to make myself feel better, perhaps I should talk about those. 'Butterflies' is lyrically childlike and musically quite lovely with some nice piano and a pleasant melody, 'Evan' (yes, that Evan) is full of heart on sleeve reminiscing with a nice coda and 'Unsung' is a pretty instrumental.

Elsewhere though, most songs drift past without capturing the imagination or holding the attention and that is after repeated listening. 'Peace and Love' unfortunately sounds like a bonus demos cd that might be given away free with an album to show how the songs sounded before they were worked out properly. It is intimate, yes. But it is also weak.

It gives me no pleasure to write this review. I paid for this record, I'm a fan...I wanted to love it.

4.0

['Peace and Love' is out now on Ye Olde Records]

Beach House 'Teen Dream'

2010-02-10T05:06:00.000-08:00

This has hardly been off the TracksandGigs stereo for the last couple of weeks, but my own record-reviewing rules now permit that I have to live with an album for at least that amount of time before writing about it. I've made some mistakes in the past, you see.

Not this time though, because I've consistently loved 'Teen Dream' from the first time I played it and subsequent listens have served only to confirm and enhance its status. This is the third Beach House album, but somehow I've missed the previous efforts from French-born Victoria Legrand and Baltimore native Alex Scally. Legrand sings and plays organ, while Scally contributes guitar and keyboards. Their sound is best described as dream pop, sometimes sounding like a glorious mix of Mazzy Star and Cocteau Twins.

The first thing that struck me about 'Teen Dream' is what a visual and cinematic record it is. Each of the ten tracks seems to occupy its own world, creating strong pictures and feelings. Opener 'Zebra' is a sweeping, majestic symphony with Legrand singing beautiful over swirls of keyboards, guitar and cymbals. This sets the scene perfectly for a memorable collection of elegant pop songs, sweeping you up in emotions before you even get round to thinking about the lyrics, the music is rich and very spacious.

In truth, most of the songs (or 'pieces' might even be a better description) are highlights. 'A Walk In the Park' has a lonely, yearning vocal over a simple keyboard and drum machine background and sound impossibly soulful and timeless, 'Norway' is the-one-you-may-have-heard-on-the-radio, opening with the foreboding "we were sleeping until you came along.." and building into a chorus with the longest possible stretching out of the word 'Norway'. While the most immediate and catchy tracks are frontloaded, one of the best is right at the end...'10 Mile Stereo' sounds like a soundtrack to footage of the Winter Olympics if ever I heard one, moving from quiet, inspirational vocals into a surging drum-machine led mid section which is almost hypnotic.

'Teen Dream' provides a wonderful listening experience. Legrand's vocals are rich and textured and the soundscapes are deceptively minimal, providing diverse and evocative backgrounds. Thoroughly enjoyable and a rewarding listen which reveals more of itself each time you play it.

9.3

['Teen Dream' is out now on Bella Union]

Eels 'End Times'

2010-01-23T08:03:00.001-08:00

Break-up albums seem to be all the rage these days. Noah and The Whale's excellent 'The First Days Of Spring' was an enthralling account and dissection of the last days and aftermath of a relationship and the new Eels record seems to be designed from a similar template, but with some differences.

'End Times' begins with 'The Beginning', a flashback to the opening days of the relationship when everything was "beautiful and free". Delicate and acoustic, it seems to set the scene for the unraveling of the story to come. Instead, Everett moves right to the end with 'Gone Man', a fuzzy rocker which thematically links the end of the relationship with the deterioration of the planet. Its a great track and easily the most raucous recording here.

From here on, the album mainly focuses on acoustic laments, heavy on self pity and sorrow. 'In My Younger Days', for example, is beautifully sung but deeply depressing as Everett describes how he would have been able to shrug off a setback like this...if he wasn't so damn old. Here and there, the songwriting is so accomplished that it rises above the gloom. 'A Line In The Dirt', with some piano and a falsetto vocal, encapsulates the end of the relationship in a verse and a chorus (including the killer line..."she locked herself in the bathroom again/ so I am pissing in the yard")and is the best track on the album.

Things are more interesting too when Everett moves away from the acoustic laments. 'Paradise Blues' is livelier again with some anger in evidence, while 'Apple Trees' is a sad, spoken word reminiscence but sounds fresh and different.

The album, of course, describes Everett's real-life separation and divorce and there is no resolution towards the end of the album. 'Little Bird' is the nadir, with Everett describing a bird on his porch as his only friend, over a lifeless guitar tune this really is too much. The closing track 'On My Feet' predictably describes Everett's attempts to move on from his pain.

Everything here, with the exceptions of 'Little Bird' and the similarly unspeakable 'I Need A Mother', is eminently listenable and accomplished but the middle part of the record is filled with too many samey downbeat laments. I know this was never a record that would be full of joy and laughter but at times it is seriously hard work. There is still enough here though to show that Eels remains a quality singer-songwriter and capable of real innovation.

7.6

['End Times' is out now on Vagrant]

Scout Niblett 'The Calcination of Scout Niblett'

2010-01-18T08:19:00.001-08:00

I first heard the music of Scout Niblett seven years ago when I saw her supporting Smog. I was immediately drawn to the exhuberance and simplicity of her songs. She performed solo, alternating between playing drums and guitar but always singing in a quite unique voice, in turn pure and mournful and then vibrant and full of enthusiasm.

Her albums since then have been somewhat patchy, best of all was 2004's 'I Am' which captured best the quiet/loud/quiet/completely demented style of her live shows.

Here she returns with her sixth album, once again produced by Steve Albini. The combination works well since Niblett has, this time, gone for a sound which is heavy on spine chilling electric guitar walls of sound. It is a stripped bare as things can get, usually just guitar or drums with Niblett singing over the top. Her voice has developed into a thing of beauty. She either wails over the top of the loud feedback-drenched workouts or laments with a plaintively pure, soulful voice over the softer ballads...

In truth 'ballads' is a slightly misleading word here because even when things are quiet, this record is full of ice cold menace and you are never far away from a lightning bolt of electric guitar or a flourish of full-band accompaniment. The songs blend seamlessly into one another and the record is certainly presented as a traditional LP, twisting and turning through different moods.

This is far from easy listening but as a mix of garage and blues with a soul singer at the helm, it works well. Musically 'Calcination..' is a dark, fearsome record but when Scout sings the blues, it will melt your heart.

7.5

['The Calcination of Scout Niblett' is out now on Drag City]

Tindersticks tour dates

2010-01-16T08:42:00.001-08:00

Whoever booked the Tindersticks London show for their 2010 tour has made a serious error. I have seen the band around 20 times, mostly in London and at some wonderful venues...Royal Court, Union Chapel, Royal Festival Hall, Somerset House...and now what do we get? Shepherds Bush Empire.

Yep, the most inappropriate booking decision I have heard in a long time. ATP are promoting it so I am blaming them. They are playing the infinitely more special Queens Hall in Edinburgh though so I would suggest UK fans try to make that one. I am lucky enough to be seeing them at one of their European dates so will report back from that. UK dates are below anyway. In other news I am currently assessing the new Shearwater and Scout Niblett albums so will write about those next week.

Tindersticks UK dates:

Monday 22 March - Edinburgh, Queens Hall
http://www.seetickets.com / Venue Box Office: 0131 668 2019

Thursday 23 March - Manchester, Cathedral
http://www.seetickets.com

Friday 24 March - London, Shepherds Bush Empire
http://www.atpfestival.com/events/tinderstickslondon2010/tickets.php

New Joanna Newsom album....

2010-01-13T01:16:00.000-08:00

Was starting to wonder if either of the two artists who made the seminal American albums of the 00s (that's Joanna Newsom and Sufjan Stevens..) were ever going to follow them up or if the weight of expectation was just too much.

It would seem not, for Newsom at least. After a day of cryptic messages, photos and trails, it has been confirmed that Joanna will release her third full-length album on February 23rd (probably Feb 22 in the UK). It is called 'Have One On Me', which has led some to speculate that it may be free or there may be some other innovative idea behind it's release. Either way, this could not be much more exciting and confirms that 2010 is looking just unbelievably good at the moment. Newsom is currently touring Australia and has dates in the U.S to follow.

More brilliant Pavement news

2010-01-06T02:11:00.000-08:00

2010 has already officially been declared 'The Year of Pavement', what with all of those reunion shows taking place this Spring and Summer, but just when you thought things couldn't get any better..

..Pavement will also be releasing a best-of compilation entitled 'Quarantine The Past: The Best Of Pavement' on March 9 2010. This is a 23 track compilation spanning Malky and Co's career from 1989 to 1999 with remastered songs from each and every album and EP. It'll be out on cd,LP and if you really must, download.

I can't give you a tracklisting, for the simple reason that the tracklisting itself is the subject of a fantastic competition which could see you win tickets to Pavement's New York show (with flights and hotel rooms paid for!), the chance to have your tracklisting choice pressed up into a special LP or a complete set of Pavement vinyl on Matador. Its a fantastic idea, sure to get the forums buzzing with dream Pavement track and setlists. Full info here:

http://www.matadorrecords.com/matablog/2010/01/05/pavement-quarantine-the-past/

And finally, the news that the end of the year will see 'Terror Twilight', the band's final album, get the full deluxe re-issue treatment.

The Year of Pavement indeed.

Tindersticks 'Falling Down A Mountain'

2010-01-04T03:48:00.000-08:00

Hard to believe it is over sixteen years since I first heard a Tindersticks song. Since then they have pretty much consistently been my favourite band and for a time in the early 00s, I felt like I knew what I was going to get from a new Tindersticks album - no surprises but no disappointments either.

That all changed with the hiatus and line up change that took place after 'Waiting For The Moon', eventually seeing the band return with a great set of songs and a renewed sense of energy and purpose for 2008's 'The Hungry Saw'. Now with another slightly tweaked line-up, they return with 'Falling Down A Mountain', the most vibrant and alive Tindersticks album since their debut.

Whereas 2003's 'Waiting For The Moon' album was polished and precise, sounding like each song had been meticulously rehearsed before being recorded, 'Falling Down A Mountain' is deliciously off the cuff. The opener and title track originated from a melody recorded onto mobile phone and built into a glorious, jazzy six minutes with Terry Edwards' trumpet taking centre stage over some laid back bass and guitar with Stuart Staples' understated vocal contributing to the mood rather than dominating the song. Its a wildly different opener for Tindersticks and while things never get quite so adventurous again, what follows is a collection of songs showcasing the band's various different styles, including some new ones, giving in the sound of a Greatest Hits collection.

'Harmony Around My Table', for example, wouldn't have sounded out of place on 1999's soulful 'Simple Pleasure', building into a rousing crescendo with 'doo-wop' style backing vocals and Staples cutting loose with a terrific vocal that demonstrates how much he is enjoying the band's reinvigoration. 'Peanuts', a quirky duet with Mary Margaret O'hara and 'She Rode Me Down', a mariachi style song with a memorable flute sound throughout, both bring memories of old glories but it is the second half of the album where the band sound supremely confident with a string of career highs.

'Black Smoke' is a heady rush of a song, coming on ever so slightly like the Velvet Underground, with Staples' voice emerging through the fog to sing lines like "I can see the outline of my feelings now", it is frenetic, unstoppable and triumphant. They follow it with the Stones-ish 'No Place So Alone', excellent electric guitar from Neil Fraser, layered vocals and witty lyrics ("he's mooching round my kitchen now/ he's whisking up my eggs"), poppy, loose and jangly, I can see this getting some radio airplay if released as a single.

'Factory Girls', which follows, is simply gorgeous, one of the finest Tindersticks songs. It builds from a beautiful extended piano introduction into a majestic, swirling middle-part with Staples singing his heart out and then fades away again. The opening is impossibly sad ("its the wine that makes me sad/ not the good times that I've had" and then Staples' vocals soar to sing "I'm standing up and not falling down", it is momentous, triumphant...a quite beautiful song.

'Piano Music' which closes the album is an instrumental, with many more instruments used than the title suggests, building into several different sections and styles. A fitting end to an adventurous album.

Tindersticks returned in 2008 with 'The Hungry Saw', an album that showcased the style that made me love them back in the 90s. They haven't tried to replicate that here, instead they have made the album they wanted to make, without worrying about what had gone before. This is an adventurous and vibrant record. It may take Tindersticks fans a while to get used to the changes, but this is an album that will stand the test of time and may end up being one of the very finest records of 2010.

9.4

[This was reviewed from a promo. 'Falling Down A Mountain' is out on January 25th on cd and vinyl via 4AD. There is a special edition vinyl version from Constellation Records in the U.S]

Various 'Portland Stories'

2010-01-02T07:46:00.000-08:00

One of the records that got me out of my "I don't want to listen to ANYTHING" musical hiatus was a limited edition compilation album that I bought on an absolute whim called 'Portland Stories".

It is a collection of nine songs, produced and compiled by Heather Woods Broderick. She rode her bike to different locations in Portland and recorded on a four-track, various singer-songwriters performing their songs as live. Consequently, amongst these recordings we have tape hiss, false starts, spontaneous applause and a more intimate feeling than I can remember on any album for quite some time.

Portland is certainly a city filled with talented songwriters but all of these performers were new to me. The idea behind the project pretty much encourages solo guitar/vocals songs and that is what we have here just about exclusively. Consequently despite featuring nine different artists, the record flows very well and will appeal to anyone who likes alt country, slowcore artists or just accomplished singer-songwriters.

Generally the album works best when the songs serve as fleeting vignettes and introductions to each artists, the couple of five minute plus songs feel somehow like the performer is outstaying their welcome! The highlights for me are Kele Goodwin's touching and gentle 'Kite Strings', Michael Elias' trad-country offering 'Halfway There' which is not short on cliche but is warm and heartfelt and Nicholas A Marshall's slightly sinister 'Into The Night'. Mention must also be made of 'Galveston' who is actually Christopher Ashby, his offering 'Never Ask Why' is so reminiscent of M.Ward that I wondered if Ward himself was actually making a guest appearance, it must be something to do with the Portland air.

'Portland Stories' is such a rewarding little album, it reminds you why you fell in love with music in the first place. It is limited to 369 copies, beautifully packaged and the sleeve notes contain information and links to each of the artists featured. If you're looking for a gentle, heartwarming album to start the year with, I can't think of anything better.

8.5

['Portland Stories' is incredibly limited but as of now is still available through Sonic Pieces ( www.sonicpieces.com ). You won't find this in HMV.]

Album of the 00s

2010-01-01T08:44:00.001-08:00

Since everyone else is doing it..

I'm not going to make a list but I should say what my album of the decade is. I've known what it would be for some time, barring some sort of miracle. It is 'Befriended' by The Innocence Mission. This is maybe the most beautiful set of songs I have ever listened to, barely a week has gone by since 2003 without me returning to it at some stage. I have written extensively about it on here before, but if there is anyone out there who hasn't heard it, I strongly recommend that you check it out.

Thank you to Karen and Don Peris for making such a wonderful album, a record that will always stay with me.

2009

2010-01-01T08:16:00.000-08:00

Music-wise I'm glad 2009 is over. For a couple of creeky months at the end of the year I fell out of love with music for a bit. Hitting one of those spells where nothing I played made any sense and walking round listening to podcasts for most of the time. I was in a rut, caused at least partly by a bunch of sub-standard albums that I'd hoped for better from. Music for a while felt stale and lifeless.

I was dragged out of this rut by the exceptional new Tindersticks album (more on that very soon) and listening to the Velvet Underground. Music is starting to make some sense again.

I don't think that 2009 was a vintage year but there were some records that did more than tread water or cover old ground. These were the records that I kept returning to and the ones that I'll treasure from a pretty bad year for new music...

God Help The Girl 'God Help The Girl'

A superbly crafted pop record. It told a story but more importantly than that, it was great to listen to, revealing a little more each time you played it and introduced the wonderful vocal talents of Catherine Ireton. The closing track spoke to me a lot too and became a real comfort. A truly accessible, imaginative and quite splendidly fun record.

Camera Obscura 'My Maudlin Career'

There are similarites between my first and second choices and that is no coincidence. In a year when so much was dull and worthy, these records had a spark. Tracey-Anne Campbell and Camera Obscura produced their most finely crafted album yet, catchy melodies and tunes with heartfelt, personal lyrics that tugged at the heartstrings. Effortlessly good.

Mark Eitzel 'Klamath'/ 'Live From Copenhagen'

Eitzel's studio album was difficult and took a while to click with me. The mix of acoustics and electronics sometimes hiding great songs but they crystalised eventually and like every Eitzel record this had some stunning songwriting and also some pretty melodies. 'Live From Copenhagen' was not a real album (see my full review) but it was the most powerful live recording I have heard in years, the sound of an amazing songwriter singing his songs.

The Duke and The King 'Nothing Gold Can Stay'

I kept returning to this. Its such a listenable mix of folk and soul, lovely melodies, great songwriting but sounding so modern and unique. I really regret not seeing them play live yet.

Bill Callahan 'Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle'

A major return to form as Bill "gets dark again". Just great songs and moods.

The Mountain Goats 'Life Of The World To Come'

Great idea (each song was named after a bible verse), superbly executed. Some of these songs provoke an awful lot of thinking, deeply personal and beautiful songs from John Darnielle. The piano and vocals pieces were particularly heartbreaking.

Mentions should also be made of records by Hope Sandoval, M Ward, Morrissey (massively under-rated that one), The Twilight Sad and The Duckworth Lewis Method, all of which were really good.

As it stands, 2010 looks like being a quite incredible year. The Tindersticks album is incredible and there are albums to come from The Innocence Mission, Arcade Fire, Low, Radiohead and others. I am personally really looking forward to seeing Tindersticks play abroad for the first time and seeing Pavement play in May.

Lets hope 2010 lives up to expectations...

Films of 2009

2009-12-23T02:27:00.000-08:00

Yep, a blog about music and my first '..of the year' involves films. Well, in a not so great year for music some of my favourite pieces of art this year were films and in many ways my favourite films have meant more to me than my favourite albums. I haven't seen all of the films I wanted to, due to the complete and utter crapness of my local Cineworld, who only seem interested in blockbusters and there will be a list of stuff that I have been forced to miss at the end. But my favourite are:

1. Fantastic Mr Fox

I may be a total Wes Anderson groupie, but this was just brilliant. Such attention to detail, such great lines, such memorable music, some great cameos, it all just came together better than you could ever have hoped. More Anderson than Dahl, this just left me wanting to see it again and again. You notice new things each time. Clear winner.

2. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Most people hated this, but I loved it. Yes it was too long and there was lots of un-necesary background stuff and it was overly sentimental but it did make me cry and it made me think and I thought it was an extremely memorable film.

3. Looking For Eric

Very funny but also exceptionally warm hearted and a simple story about friendship with a great twist. Lots of laugh out loud stuff and great to find out that a lot of it was ad-libbed. Extremely British- what on Earth would Americans make of it?

4. In The Loop

Probably even funnier than Looking For Eric although obviously not as warm hearted! Peter Capaldi is brilliant as Malcolm Tucker, supremely watchable and quotable. The ending will make you very angry too, so a very clever film.

5. The Damned United

Another film with a great central performance but also excellent support from Timothy Spall. You don't need to be a football fan to enjoy it, all about ambition, greed and friendship. Martin Sheen does a great job as Brian Clough.

6. Up

Never mind all the fuss about the 3D, this was just a great story with great characters and a brilliantly clever sequence early on that can't possibly fail to make you cry.

7. Milk

Powerful, shocking stuff. Great casting as Sean Penn was not an obvious choice for the role. The film tells you what is going to happen in the first few second and then unravels the stories before your eyes. Very well made and a great istory lesson too.

8. Adventureland

Nothing amazing here, just a nice coming of age story with a good soundtrack which I found rather enjoyable.

9. The Wrestler

Great performance from Mickey Rourke who carries a straight-forward, cliched story, although at least avoiding the Hollywood happy ending. Powerful stuff in places. All about Rourke though.

10. 500 Days of Summer

In two minds about this. Very consciously 'indie', but with a realistic storyline with no short cuts and happy ending.

Disappointments:

The Invention of Lying - terrible film. Ricky Gervais is clearly starting to believe the voice of his own ego. Stupid idea that doesn't stand up to the slightest scrutiny, bad acting. Boring. And the only thing worse than a boring film, is a boring film that is terribly pleased with itself.

Synedoche New York- really really wanted to like it. Nothing likeable in the film at all. Unpleasant, depressing and boring.

Bruno - simply not funny. in any way.

Films I was not able to see yet / aka Thanks Very Much Cineworld:

Moon
An Education
A Serious Man
Sunshine Cleaning (although to be fair, this does not look good)
The Class

The TracksandGigs Christmas Number One

2009-12-23T01:04:00.000-08:00

Firstly, many apologies to any (are there any?) regular readers for the complete lack of updates. Won't bore you with the reasons but TracksandGigs will be back to normal in the new year with reviews of all the latest albums. 2009 wasn't such a great year for music but 2010 already looks great with new LPs from Innocence Mission, Tindersticks, Arcade Fire and Fleet Foxes on the radar and all sorts of Pavement activity to get excited about.

I have already heard the new Tindersticks album, courtesy of a promo. I've played it so much it feels like an old friend rather than a new, as yet unreleased, album. More on this in the New Year.

Anyway, I have decided to nominate a T&G Christmas Number One. This will be a yearly tradition and almost uniquely it will be based on MUSIC. Yes. Much as poking Simon Cowell in the eye sounds like fun, Rage Against The Machine are on Sony so seem to be rather raging against themselves these days and there seems to be something of an irony in people responding to peer pressure and internet campaigns to pay 79p for a song with a chorus of "fuck you I won't do what you tell me". Or is that just me? Most likely.

Anyway, I am nominating Camera Obscura's 7" single which couples a cover of Jim Reeves' 'The Blizzard' with their very own insanely catchy 'Swans'. 'Swans' I have blogged about before. It will always hold a place near to my heart as I ran an entire 10k race with its nagging melody dancing around my brain. 'The Blizzard' is new and utterly gorgeous. Managing to be both warm, solemn and jangly at the same time, Tracy-Anne Campbell sings Reeves' song about a man who travels on a pony in the snow to meet his love Mary-Anne and then....freezes to death just yards from where she waits. How much more Christmassy can you get?

Anyway, its a beautiful single, when I look around for the competition, I...can't see any...and it would have won even if there had been some, so the TracksandGigs 2009 Christmas Number One is...

Camera Obscura 'The Blizzard/Swans'

Take that Simon Cowell.

Mark Eitzel 'Live From Copenhagen'

2009-11-21T08:25:00.000-08:00

All of the albums that have been released this year may just pale into insignificance next to an amazing recording that has been made available on the net, but surely should prompt Mark Eitzel to release an official live album from his recent solo tour.

I was already disappointed not to have seen Mark on his tour where he was accompanied by Marc Capelle on piano, but the emergence of a superb quality recording of his show in Copenhagen on 31st October has made me even more envious.

Eitzel sounds on absolute top form and the format of the show suits him perfectly. Not having to play guitar allows Mark to concentrate fully on his vocals and he sounds relaxed and totally at ease. His singing is as strong as it has sounded in a long, long time and the recording is on a par with the incredible 'Songs of Love Live' as a document on how it is to see Eitzel live.

In between songs he tells stories and jokes with the audience. Some of the songs are light-hearted, especially a priceless 'Patriot's Heart' but he also delivers achingly beautiful renditions of classics such as 'Last Harbor' and a showstopping 'The Nightwatchman'.

Eitzel's career has been somewhat haphazard in recent years but he is still writing amazing songs and playing enthralling shows. I hope he does another tour like this, it suits him, he sounds happier than I've heard in a long time here. I hope he also has a soundboard recording of a few shows on this tour because an officially released document of this brilliant show would be an absolute winner.

This recording is a reminder, if one were needed, of what a huge, huge talent Mark Eitzel is.

10 for the 00s

2009-11-20T04:46:00.000-08:00

Since everyone else is doing it, I've been considering my favourite records of the 2000s. Over the coming weeks I will be writing about each one before coming up with a final list, so here in no particular order, are my favourite ten records of the 2000s....and believe me, even getting to this stage wasn't easy and I should say that Songs:Ohia's 'Magnolia Electric Co', Arcade Fire's 'Funeral' and Tindersticks' 'Waiting For The Moon' were about as close as it is possible to get to making the final ten. I may even expand the list to 20 at some point.

American Music Club' Love Songs For Patriots'
The Innocence Mission 'Befriended'
The Innocence Mission 'We Walked In Song'
Joanna Newson 'Ys
Low 'Trust'
Radiohead 'In Rainbows'
Sun Kil Moon 'Ghosts of the Great Highway'
Tindersticks 'Can Our Love'
Tindersticks 'The Hungry Saw'
Wilco 'A Ghost Is Born'

Port O'Brien 'Threadbare'

2009-11-20T03:43:00.000-08:00

Port O'Brien return with the follow-up to last year's joyful 'All We Could Do Was Sing', an album written on a fishing boat and containing ramshackle acoustic-based songs which tugged at the heartstrings whilst encouraging the listener to sing along. The band are, essentially, a duo. Both Van Pierszalowski and Cambria Goodwin sing and play instruments and both have jobs outside of the band. Goodwin's brother died whilst this record was being written and while it is not a solemn album, the dominant themes are life, death and friendship as well as finding pleasure in the simple things in life.

Musically things haven't changed all that much. 'Threadbare' in general is a little less hurried than its predecessor, the songs are allowed to breathe a little more and it is generally a touch slower. There is certainly nothing here as out-and-out celebratory as 'I Woke Up Today. Port O'Brien certainly have a way with melody though. Most songs here, whether slow or fast, have a memorable melody and are very hummable. Pierszalowski's 'My Will Is Good', in particular, is extraordinarily catchy.

The key difference between the two records though is that while everything on 'All We Could Do Was Sing' was enjoyable, here there are some great songs....and they are mostly those featuring Goodwin on vocals. 'Tree Bones' starts off as a gentle strum before building into a swirling anthem and finishing with Goodwin singing quietly and starkly over minimal backing, its a song of growth, life and then decay, disarming, affecting but joyful. The title track and the two versions of 'High Without The Hope' that bookend the album create similar moods with slow arrangements and Goodwin's ghostly vocal combining to usher in a sound not unlike Mimi Parker-fronted Low songs.

There is certainly a split between Goodwin's songs and Pierzalowski's. The latter are generally livelier, the ramshakle 'Oslo Campfire' with its chants and yelps being a key example as well as the buoyant 'Leap Year', the nearest thing here to the carefree abandon of 'I Woke Up Today'. The exception that proves the rule though is the album's centrepiece 'Calm Me Down', an epic ballad sung by Piewzalowski, patiently building into an impassioned chorus and a string-laden coda. Its perhaps the best track here.

'Threadbare' is not a record that will provide instant gratification. Its a varied, sometimes difficult, album that demands patience and a willingness to explore. It is also a beautiful set of songs and delivers, through sadness, a feeling of joy and life-affirment. A record about friendship, love and life. Great stuff.

['threadbare' is out now on City Slang]

Tindersticks return!

2009-11-12T09:04:00.000-08:00

Just when I was getting a little bored with new music and thinking that things had been a bit disappointing lately....Tindersticks are back.

The follow up to last year's incredible 'The Hungry Saw' is called 'Falling Down A Mountain' and will be released on 4AD (such a good fit) on January 25th. We have a tracklisting:

Falling Down a Mountain:

01 Falling Down a Mountain
02 Keep You Beautiful
03 Harmony Around My Table
04 Peanuts
05 She Rode Me Down
06 Hubbards Hills
07 Black Smoke
08 No Place So Alone
09 Factory Girls
10 Piano Music

and what's more, you can now hear 'Black Smoke' on the band's Myspace and it is a quite wonderful, dark, but catchy number that will have you singing along in no time.

Tour dates to follow soon, we hope.

currently listening to...

2009-11-12T03:26:00.001-08:00

Mark Eitzel 'Klamath'

and pretty much nothing else.

This record is such a grower. I'm always excited to hear a new Eitzel record anyway and as I wrote in my review, this one does contain some really excellent songs, but initially I found the use of pro-tools distracting and a bit irritating. Give the record time though and it all comes together and makes sense. A record you really need to spend time with and allow to weave its magic.

Just thought I'd say.

still here

2009-11-07T06:01:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lack of updates.

Have not been well over the last week but am also suffering a lot disillusionment about the lack of any genuinely exciting new music around at the moment.

I've mostly been listening to old stuff, as well as the sublime Sleeping Years single (which is also beautifully packaged and presented, so you need to buy the 7" single) and the Hope Sandoval album.

I don't think 2009 has been a vintage year and I can't remember the last time I really loved a new album by a new band. Am currently listening to lots of new stuff though, including the Broken Records EP and albums from the XX and Local Natives so will report back soon.

In other news, the guy from the Fiery Furnaces has made a REAL idiot of himself by slagging off Radiohead (a crime anyway) without being in possession of a) the facts and b) a clue. What a berk.

Also, there is apparently going to be a Pavement 'best of' next year. Hope we're still going to get the 'Terror Twilight' deluxe edition too.

The Sleeping Years 'Into Sunlight'

2009-10-29T04:14:00.001-07:00

I realised yesterday that for the last week or so, I've been listening exclusively to music that is at least ten years old, or new music by bands I discovered at least ten years ago. This may account for the lack of updates on here. I should mention that my listening has mainly centred around the new Grant Lee Phillips album (and old Grant Lee Buffalo stuff), the new Hope Sandoval album (and old Mazzy Star stuff) and the new Sleeping Years EP (and old Catchers stuff). I seriously need someone to recommend me some new bands that I might like. I can't remember the last time I discovered a really good NEW band.

In any event The Sleeping Years 'Into Sunlight' is single/EP of the week and, for that matter, month. It is out now as a four track single on itunes and out Monday on 7" vinyl. The lead track is probably the most catchy, poppy song that Dale Grundle has put his name too since Catchers' 'Cotton Dress'. Really shimmery, pretty stuff with a flourish of brass at the end that makes it sound grand, its a great song and one deserving of more airplay and attention than it will most likely get.

The b sides are both quiet, slower songs. 'Katherine Cove' is particularly good, sounding dark and mysterious. Sleeping Years' last album 'We're Becoming Islands One By One' was shamefully overlooked in most of last year's 'best album' lists (not mine!), but this single offers hope that their next album is going to be even better.

Grant-Lee Phillips 'Little Moon'

2009-10-21T06:10:00.001-07:00

Former Grant Lee Buffalo frontman, Grant-Lee Phillips' solo career had been frustratingly inconsistent thus far. Ten years in and the highlight was still his understated debut solo EP 'Ladies Love Oracle'. From there on he has produced a fairly wide range of styles but whilst each album has had something to recommend it, each has been let down either by poor production, a lack of strong songs or in the case of 2007's 'Strangelet' a lack of any interesting lyrical or musical ideas at all. After last year's nadir, a woefully inessential album of 80s covers, he returns with his fourth solo album of original songs.

'Little Moon' was written and recorded quickly, with a four-piece band and consequently of all Phillips' albums it is the most natural and 'live' sounding. Recent efforts have suffered under the weight of a good deal of studio-trickery and over-production but the sound here is fresh with plenty of room for the songs to breathe. And happily, 'Little Moon' is a fine and diverse collection of songs, by some distance Phillips' best work since the last days of Grant Lee Buffalo.

It is also a very positive and uplifting album. Phillips is enjoying domestic bliss with his wife and recently-born daughter Violet, so this was never likely to be an angst fest, and so it proves. Opener 'Good Morning Happiness' is like a less irritating version of 'Wake Up Boo!', a short, sharp blast to welcome you in. Elsewhere, Phillips varies the pace and feel more than he has in the past and the result is an album that sounds full of ideas. The title track for example is a lovely, drawn out ballad sung beautifully by Phillips in a warm croon over piano and strings, but it is followed by the swagger and stomp of 'It Ain't The Same Old Cold War Harry' with brass accompaniment.

Elsewhere 'Blind Tom' is a pretty piano ballad about catching songs on the wind, 'One Morning' is an anthemic guitar-led number sounding more like Phillips' old band than anything else here and 'Older Now' is a funny/sad song about ageing delivered in a patient and soothing style that emphasises Phillips' maturity and ease.

I was a fan of Grant Lee Buffalo and have bought every Phillips solo album really wanting to like it, but despite still being an engaging live performer his LPs have always been something of a let down. This however, is excellent. A varied and always interesting collection of memorable songs. Highly recommended. Assured and confident.

Mark Eitzel 'Klamath'

2009-10-17T07:53:00.000-07:00

'Klamath' is the new solo record from Mark Eitzel. You're only going to be able to buy this either directly from Mark ( www.markeitzel.info ), through his European distributer Decor Records or from Mark at a show. On his website he states that he needs to sell 500 of these, he is by all accounts pretty broke. This is a tragedy.

Mark Eitzel is an amazing songwriter, he has written some of the most beautiful, affecting and, sometimes, funny songs that we have. His album 'Songs of Love live' is an absolute bona-fide all time CLASSIC. A partial recording of a solo gig from 1988, just Eitzel and his guitar, it is a document of Eitzel playing his songs, absolutely from the heart, occasionally sobbing, laughing, apologising, it is sad, touching, heart in mouth stuff...just like seeing Eitzel play live. Everything he has ever recorded has been honest and from the heart and unfortunately that has not resulted in huge sales.

In a right and proper world, he would be recognised as one of the World's top songwriters, 'Songs of Love live' would have been reissued in some kind of deluxe version with the full gig and a bonus dvd or something and this new album, 'Klamath', would be eagerly awaited by millions. But life's not like that and, in a way, Eitzel wouldn't be Eitzel if things were this way. Instead he has his small but loyal fanbase who buy everything, try to convert people and attend gigs knowing it could be terrible or it could be just about the best show they've ever seen.

Even on his poorest ever album, 2005's 'Candy Ass', there was 'Sleeping Beauty' a song that makes me gasp everytime I hear it and was later re-recorded with American Music Club. Its a tattered, broken song with such strong imagery that I have my own little film that plays in my mind each time I hear it. Its maybe the most beautiful song I have ever heard.

'Klamath', like the last couple of Eitzel solo releases, is recorded largely by the man himself with the aid of Pro Tools. Occasionally the use of Pro Tools is frustrating, a track like 'Like A River That Reaches the Sea' sounds like it would be just fine with Eitzel singing and playing acoustic guitar, instead it is spoilt a little by the electronic shenanigans going on in the background.

There is more than enough here to warrant buying this album though. 'The Blood On My Hands' with its alarming opening line 'Now girls, if you want to maintain a look like mine, then you've gotta spend hours on your face, and your nails and your hair', is fully formed and sung with a snarl. 'I Miss You' is soft and regretful ("I miss you/ your heart was warm".

The best tracks though come in the second half of the record when Eitzel more often than not ditches the electronics and just plays guitar and sings. 'I Live In This Place' is spectacular, minimal and broken. Apparently written about a prostitute looking back at their life, it can also be taken as autobiographical and is classic Eitzel....as is the title of 'Why I'm Bullshit', the song too wit its "all I know is I betrayed you" refrain.

Still time for two more standouts. 'Remember' could have been on any of the early AMC albums, acoustic, gentle and fragile. Closer 'Ronald Koal Was A Rock Star' sounds out of place...but in a good way. Loud, funny and containing electric guitar, its an uplifting end to the record.

Eitzel carries on. As he sings here "I know I'll be doing this for the rest of my life". Maybe he will, or maybe he'll get tired of it, sometimes it sounds like writing these songs, recording them and playing them to audiences is a big struggle for him and he'd be happier doing something else. Whatever, I'm glad I own this record, I'm glad I've seen him play live several times, I hope he sells more than 500 of these.

You should buy this record. This is a songwriter wearing his heart on his sleeve.

['Klamath' is out now via www.markeitzel.info or http://www.decorrecords.com ]

The Twilight Sad 'Forget The Night Ahead'

2009-10-16T02:47:00.000-07:00

The Twilight Sad are long time TracksandGigs favourites. Their debut album, released in 2007, was astonishingly assured for a first effort. Mixing passionate vocals with wall of sound guitars and pulsating drumming, it sounded like nothing else around and set the bar high for the follow up record.

A couple of EPs later and Kilsyth's finest are now back with their second full length album and 'Forget The Night Ahead' is quite some album. Lyrically as dark as dark can be, James Graham's words create a feeling of unease, trauma and regret, he doesn't tell stories, rather he plants words and phrases in your mind and creates an atmosphere. As with 'Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters' there are many references to childhood and past trauma, but the themes are ambiguous and somewhat enthralling.

Musically, this is a dense but cold record. Aside from the terrific, innovative noisy guitar, there are memorable basslines and some superb drumming. Opener 'Reflection of the Television' is dark and brooding, sounding like a track from their quieter EP 'Here It Never Snowed', just as it builds it flows into 'I Became A Prostitute', powerful and raw and just about the most anthemic they have ever sounded.

A sequence of fast, loud songs follow, 'Made To Disappear' is a highlight with it's "I only wanted some honest fun" refrain, after a forbidding instrumental, the album reaches a peak with 'The Room'. Built largely on a piano refrain and simple drum beat, the song builds slowly with ominous strings in the background, Graham sings "you're the Grandson's toy in the corner, don't tell anyone else", it is all menacing, disturbing but somehow quite beautiful, maybe the best song they have yet recorded.

There is no let up in the quality. 'Floorboards Under The Bed', started with Graham singing away from the mic, is similarly full of suspense and tension, whilst louder songs such as 'That Birthday Present' offer some release, in this case in the story of a hedonistic friend's spiral down.

Right through to the dark closer 'At The Burnside' this is an excellent album. Guitarist Andy MacFarlane does an excellent job of creating thick fogs of innovative guitar noise for Graham to sing over...and he has matured into a fine singer, knowing when to emote and when to tone it down a level. The mix between noisy numbers and the more minimal, tension filled tracks is just right. This is a powerful, dark but very listenable record.

9.4

['Forget The Night Ahead' is out now on Fat Cat. The Twilight Sad are touring the UK from next week]

The Sleeping Years 'Into Sunlight'

2009-10-11T09:24:00.000-07:00

So much great music around at the moment. I have to say none of it better than the incredible new Twilight Sad album, which I am still writing a review of, but I was delighted to receive the forthcoming single from The Sleeping Years...

Dale Grundle's new band produced one of the albums of 2008, the new single 'Into Sunlight' is a taster from their forthcoming second album and by the sounds of it, it could be an even better record. 'Into Sunlight' itself is a wonderfully upbeat, joyful pop song with the trademark acoustic guitar, cello and yearning vocals but with a fuller sound and a coda featuring some added trumpet.

B Side 'Katherine Cove' is more stripped down and moody, led by vocal, piano and cello. "I'm so far from God here/ I'm so far from home" sings Grundle.

These two songs both sound as good, if not better than most of 'We're Becoming Islands One By One', the cello in particular sounds really great and mixes so well with Grundle's voice.

The single is out on November 2nd, on vinyl and download. It will actually feature a couple more tracks than I've heard so far, so I'll blog about them when I get the vinyl. In the meantime, The Sleeping Years play an acoustic show at London's Boogaloo, this Wednesday.

Richard Hawley 'Truelove's Gutter'

2009-10-10T23:04:00.000-07:00

I've always found Richard Hawley a little confusing. I've seen him live a couple of times, supporting other bands, and he has a terrific sense of humour and is an engaging and entertaining character. This has never, for me, come across in his music which, certainly in the case of his last two records, has sounded overly sentimental with his deep croon sounding ever so slightly mannered. I always wondered if he had worked so hard to cultivate an image that he didn't really 'mean it' anymore.

His new album is certainly a change of direction from the dull 'Lady's Bridge' which seemed to be a poor attempted re-write of 'Coles Corner'. This time the songs are longer, the subject matter is darker and for the most part, this works well.

The songs are drawn out and unhurried. Musically the record is very low key with an emphasis on atmospherics and this suits Hawley's voice well allowing him to unravel some memorable vocal melodies. Opener 'As The Dawn Breaks' for example is gentle and understated but with a haunting vocal that sticks in the mind.

Elsewhere, songs like 'Open Up Your Door' are more familiar retro-style Hawley pieces with plenty of guitars and subtle but uplifting strings. The undoubted highlight though is 'For Your Lover Give Some Time', a perfectly executed love song for Hawley's wife, full of evocative imagery, sung quite beautifully and always reigned in, so never sounding too overblown.

Some of the songs here are a little too long and there is something of a lack of variety, but that is maybe the point. It sounds like Hawley has made the album he wanted to make here, without compromise. It is an old style record full of tasteful and subtle ballads, dark but comforting, perfect for the Winter nights ahead.

7.4

['Truelove's Gutter' is out now on Mute. Hawley is currently touring the UK]

Hope Sandoval and the Warm Inventions 'Through The Devil Softly'

2009-10-06T07:29:00.001-07:00

I was a pretty devout Mazzy Star fan back in the 1990s. As was the way in those days, I would scan the news pages in the NME each week in the hope of reading about a new release from David Roback and Hope Sandoval. Only three records ever came of course, but they were perfect. A mix of folk, blues, acoustic ballads and psychadelia with Sandoval's warm, golden voice purring over the top. They never recorded a bad track, let alone a bad record.

Since they split, Sandoval has made one record with The Warm Inventions, the slightly disappointing 'Bavarian Fruit Bread', but nothing has been heard from her in seven years. Now she returns with, what else but, more of the same. Sandoval has been making the same record for near on twenty years, why on Earth would she stop now?

'Through The Devil Softly' is a record out of time in many ways. It has nothing to do with any current fashions or trends and it is wholly unsuited to the present vogue for listening to music 'on the go'. You'd no more want to listen to this on the tube or while walking round town on your lunchbreak than you would feel inclined to beat yourself over the head with a stick; it'd be pointless. This is a record that demands to be listened to without distractions, to be wallowed in and hypnotised by.

The sound is luxurious. Slide guitar, piano, cello and of course acoustic guitar create a rich, shimmery landscape and of course Sandoval sings beautifully. The record moves at such a languorous pace that you are often completely unaware of which track you are listening to or how near the start or end of the record you are. Only when something unexpected happens, such as the vaguely strident drum roll at the opening of 'Trouble', do you jolt back to the present.

Highlights? The low bass rumble of 'The Rest Of Your Life' with spooky glockenspiel and Sandoval's singing as cold as ice, the delicate acoustics of 'Lady Jessica and Sam', probably the most 'Fade Into You'-sounding of any track here and the incredible finale 'Satellite' which opens with the sound of lapping waves and then comes on like a fuzzy, distorted torch song from the end of the world.

People talk about albums becoming un-necessary in this world of instant downloads, but this record is a clear example of why they are talking rot. Buy this album, switch off the lights, disconnect the phone and turn off all distractions and allow it to wash over you. Gentle, soothing and in it's own way, spectacular.

9.3

['Through The Devil Softly' is out now on Nettwerk. Sandoval plays Queen Elizabeth Hall on 8 November]

The Mountain Goats 'The Life of the World in Flux'

2009-10-06T07:19:00.001-07:00

For those Mountain Goats fans who do not yet own the stunning new album (and I should say at this point that I now have FIVE versions of this in my possession...promo, ordinary cd, itunes version for the bonus track, LP and the edition I am about to mention...), you could do worse than head to Rough Trade or even roughtrade.com and buy from them.

If you do, you'll get a nice limited edition pack which contains 'The Life Of The World In Flux' a 13 track cd of demos and sketches of the album's tracks, including a couple that didn't make it onto the LP. All intimate, hushed, low key, lovely stuff.

Incidentally I've read some reviews that hint that there is an amount of cynicism in some of the lyrics on the album. Personally I don't really find that. I don't know what Darnielle's religious beliefs are but I just take these songs as poignant songs about aspects of life and of course pretty much all aspects of life are reflected in the Bible. You don't have to be a Christian to enjoy this album and if you're a non-Christian I don't see why you'd need to want Darnielle to be looking at the God-stuff in a cynical way.

Having said that, it has made me think a lot more than pretty much any other album I've listened to for a while.

The Mountain Goats 'The Life Of The World To Come'

2009-10-02T07:30:00.000-07:00

John Darnielle has produced at least one new album every two years since 2002 and each one has had a theme and story of its own. This has made each new Mountain Goats album feel like a real event, you know you are going to get more than just an album of six fast songs and six ballads, you can expect a whole new feel, direction and mood.

'The Life of The World To Come' is perhaps the most radical example of this to date. Each song is named after a Bible verse and Darnielle has described the record as "12 lessons I learned from the Bible". I have had a promo copy of this album for the last 10 days and I've listened to little else, I'm now awaiting the arrival of the double vinyl record with such excitement and anticipation that its hard to believe I already know these songs so well.

In terms of sound, TLOTWTC sits somewhere between 'The Sunset Tree' and 'Get Lonely', mainly quiet, sad songs which Darnielle sings in a soft voice, but impecably written and packing a huge emotional punch. The first thing to say is that you should not be put off if you are not a Christian, (I'm not), these songs do not preach, rather they tackle universal issues life, death, regret and love. All these you will find in the Bible, but also in your own life.

After a low key, sparse opening the album hits its stride with 'Psalms 40:2' as loud and passionate as anything from the last Mountain Goats album, the more upbeat 'Heretic Pride' and containing some classic Darnielle wordplay ("feel bad about the things we do/ but not really that bad"), it moves nicely into the jaunty 'Genesis 3:23', a distant cousin of 'Dance Music' and the most poppy song here, a tightly written song describing a return to an old home, wondering about the lives of the people living there now.

More accessible songs follow including 'Philippians 3:20-21' which features some lively percussion. From the centre to the end of the album though, comes a run of beautiful, highly emotive songs which carry real resonance. For example 'Genesis 30:3' is a heart-wide-open love song, sung softly by Darnielle over a piano, the slightest hint of acoustic guitar and at the very end, rolling drums and just a touch of strings. Its gorgeous and stops you in your tracks as you listen to Darnielle sing "I will do what you ask me to do/ because of how I feel about you".

There's just the slightest lift in mood next, with the jangly, acoustic 'Romans 10:9', the song here that most promotes faith, it has a lively chorus and lines like "a kind and loving God won't let my small ship run aground". From here follows another ballad similar to 'Genesis 30:3', sad but full of resolve with lines like "I won't be afraid of anything ever again" and then 'Matthew 25:21' a desperately stark account of a loved one's death from Cancer, heartbreaking and breathtaking...

...as is 'Deuteronomy 2:10', again sung over mournful piano, this time Darnielle's voice reduced at times to a tiny whisper as he sings "I am a flightless bird/ there'll be no more after me", distant drums roll again at the close, making such a slight song sound impossibly dramatic. 'Isaiah 45:23', more upbeat in terms of sound, explores the idea of a spirit being separate from the body as Darnielle sings "I won't get better...but someday I will be free/ cos I am not this body that imprisons me".

The album ends with 'Ezekiel 7 and the Permanent Efficacy of Grace', sung over a sad, timeless piano melody with a feeling of resolution and the refrain "drive til the rain stops/keep driving..". The album ends with the sound of a drum like a heartbeat, life continuing.

Darnielle has made an extraordinary record here. This is one of the saddest, most emotive, but ultimately life affirming albums I have heard in a long time. At the moment I don't want to listen to anything else.

9.8

['The Life Of The World To Come' is out on Monday on cd/2LP. Do yourself a favour and buy this record]

brand new Low concert on archive.org

2009-09-27T05:38:00.000-07:00

While I continue to marvel at the new Mountain Goats and Twilight Sad albums (reviews coming soon, I promise), I've also been enjoying a fantastic audience recording of a recent Low gig.

Check out http://www.archive.org/details/low2009-09-18.spbmc2

The gig took place just a week ago and contains a brand new track. Alan Sparhawk recently said that he had re-evaluated his back catalogue and this is evidence of that. After all the studio trickery pokery of their last album, Low are back to making raw spine-tingling music again.

Kicking off with a stunning 10-minute version of 'Shots and Ladders' from 'Trust' and featuring an incredible rendition of 'When I Go Deaf' and some white-hot electric guitar in the intro to 'Canada', this is the sound of a band going back to doing what they do best. Incredible tension, power and beauty, one of the best bands in the world, sounding supreme.

Monsters of Folk 'Monsters of Folk'

2009-09-25T06:34:00.000-07:00

I am pretty overwhelmed with the amount of new releases I have to review at the moment! I am the proud owner of the new Mountain Goats album on promo and have been listening to that to try to get to know the songs before the UK shows in a couple of weeks. I also have the new Richard Hawley record to assess and am currently awaiting delivery in the next couple of days of the Twilight Sad, Hope Sandoval and Port O'Brien records...

'Monsters of Folk' is the hideous title of the new collaboration between M Ward, Conor Oberst, Jim James and Mike Mogis. Having previously toured together in some kind of Rolling Thunder Revue style, the four have now made a record together in some kind of Travelling Wilburys style.

The record is split pretty evenly into songs written and fronted by each of the artists and each plays to his strengths. Oberst's contributions are largely wordy, country songs of the type that worked well on his self-titled solo record a couple of years ago, Ward does his retro, smokey-ballads and fuzzy rockers and Jim James brings soul/country pastiches. James actually provides the highlight, in the record's most untypical song. 'Dear God' is a striking soul number, sounding modern and catchy.

There's not enough of this, elsewhere much is stodgy and staid. Oberst sound like he is going through the motions, providing mellow country tunes with little direction or effort. Worst of all is 'Man Named Truth', country rock by numbers and with bland lyrics. Ward's contributions are largely more successful, 'The Sandman, the Brakeman and Me' is undeniably lovely, 'Whole Lotta Losin' is cliched but lively at least and while 'Slow Down Jo' is lazy and languid, that is at least, apparently, the intention in this case.

The record's main problem is that over the course of an overly long sixteen tracks, the mood hardly ever changes from mid-tempo and middle of the road and the lyrical focus is on general, broad themes such as 'hitting the road...moving on..." and 'life and death', there's little in the way of interesting ideas and wordplay. No song sounds like it was begging to be written, instead much seems forced and directionless.

Also, it seems a terrible waste to have a record with three truly great singers and then have them hardly ever sing together. A few years ago on Jenny Lewis' 'Rabbit Fur Coat' LP, Ward, Lewis and Oberst sang 'Handle With Care' together, alternating verses and sharing the choruses. It sounded vibrant, exciting even and it shows what 'Monsters of Folk' could have been, with just a little more inspiration and invention.

As it is, there is plenty of pleasant, listenable music here, but it is not, I would imagine, a record you would feel the need to return to time and time again.

6.5

['Monsters of Folk' is out now on Rough Trade]

Micah P Hinson 'All Dressed Up and Smelling of Strangers'

2009-09-23T07:26:00.000-07:00

A covers album!

There are two ways of doing a covers album. One is to choose some relatively obscure songs and do some respectful and reverential versions, upsetting nobody and probably introducing your fans to some new artists. The second way is to laugh in the face of this notion and just choose your favourite songs and record them exactly as you choose. Micah P Hinson has chosen the second option.

As a result, the Texan troubadour presents a two volume collection of covers, divided loosely but not completely into a set of intimate acoustic recordings and louder full-band efforts. Hinson aims high and tackles well loved songs by the likes of Dylan, Cohen, Denver, The Beatles, Buddy Holly and, er, Emmy The Great.

Inevitably, with a project like this, the songs are executed with varying degrees of success. One constant though is Hinson's deep Texan drawl, a quite wonderful instrument which conveys real emotion; smooth and soothing one moment, harsh and broken the next, it has served him well with his own songs and in many ways works even better here...

..Take 'The Times They Are A Changing', no point in doing a cover of this you might think, especially not in exactly the same acoustic tradition as the original, but it is a joy because Hinson sings it so well, emphasising some of the words differently and stretching some of the syllables out, it is engaging and rich...and wisely he doesn't ruin it with a harmonica solo. Similarly, he does a great job with Emmy The Great's 'We Almost Had A Baby', switching it to the male perspective and having fun with lines like "I am a man...but before I met you, fuck, I was only a kid" and he does a straight, perfectly sung version of Leonard Cohen's 'Suzanne'.

If Volume 1 is filled with moody, lo-fi americana versions of standards, Volume 2 is far more adventurous and playful. For example, Hinson yells out Buddy Holly's 'Listen To Me' over a wall of guitar noise and Leadbelly's 'In The Pines' may lack the naked emotion of Kurt Cobain's version but is just as edgy and desperate.

'All Dressed Up and Smelling of Strangers' is a triumph for Micah P Hinson. As covers albums go, it is daring and experimental, but most of all it showcases what an amazing singer Hinson is. He takes on some of the all time greats here, and never sounds out of his depth.

8.1

['All Dressed Up and Smelling of Strangers' is out now on Full Time Hobby]

Yo La Tengo 'Popular Songs'

2009-09-20T07:10:00.000-07:00

Yo La Tengo are one of those bands that I've always thought I should be a fan of, but never quite got to grips with. They've been going 25 years too, so there's been plenty of opportunities. For anyone who feels the same, 'Popular Songs' may be the album that does the trick...it worked for me at least.

The cover art showing a mangled cassette is actually oddly appropriate because the number of twists and turns and changes of direction that this record takes make it sound like some kind of US indie mix tape. Opener 'Here To Fall' sounds like something from Flaming Lips' 'The Soft Bulletin', insistent and hypnotic with the foreboding hook line "I know you're worried/ I'm worried too'. It sounds orchestral and grand, a really great start. The mood lightens with a couple of dreamy, vaguely psychadelic tracks before a superior slice of Garage rock arrives with 'Nothing To Hide'.

This is how things go. Styles vary wildly from track to track; 'Periodically Double and Triple' is stylish and soulful, while 'If It's True' is a dreamy duet, all sunshine and smiles.

Just when you think the record has settled down on a steady indie pop sound for a few tracks (never less than catchy and slick by the way), they end the album with three extended mainly instrumental workouts. The best of these 'More Stars Than There are in Heaven' unravels slowly and gently over a masterful nine minutes.

There is a lot of music here and much of it is very good. This is a hard record to pin down but has certainly made me eager to explore Yo La Tengo's extensive back catalogue.

8.0

['Popular Songs' is out now on Matador]

er....Pavement HAVE reformed

2009-09-17T07:33:00.000-07:00

Still can't quite believe this but I may just get to see my second favourite band of all time play.

Pavement ARE going to play some shows next year.

See... http://www.crookedrain.com/

How incredible is this?

Exclusive - Pavement have not reformed (yet)

2009-09-17T06:14:00.000-07:00

Contrary to what you may read on just about any music site you might click on today, Pavement, the greatest American alt.anything band of all time have not yet reformed or announced any dates.

It does look likely though that my prediction of a 2010 reunion might just turn out to be spot on. There are a couple of rumoured festival/benefit gig dates and the absence of any sort of denial. On the other hand, Stephen Malkmus and Scott 'Spiral Stairs' Kannberg both have albums scheduled for next year and will presumably be touring those. Any Pavement reunion would have to involve a lot of rehearsing so its hard to see how it is all going to slot into the first 8-9 months of the year (assuming that they are going to play the Summer festivals).

One thing to be sure of is that 'Terror Twilight' gets the deluxe re-issue treatment next year and I am sure Matador would just love to tie that in with some kind of 'best of', to co-incide with a tour.

All just rumours and dreams for now. That's not to say that I haven't been dreaming..

[review of extraordinary Micah P Hinson covers record coming soon]

God Help The Girl 'Stills' EP

2009-09-14T02:26:00.000-07:00

Two albums have been dominating my listening time in the past few weeks and they are both records that I under-rated at the time of their release. I have considered re-reviewing both but it may suffice and ease my conscience to just go on about them endlessly and wait for the 'end of the year' lists to right my wrongs.

One is The Duke and The King's sublime 'Nothing Gold Can Stay' and the other is Stuart Murdoch's 'God Help The Girl' side-project. When I first heard this record, I thought it a little showy and forced. In my defence I did keep listening and what I heard eventually was exceptional songwriting from Murdoch and Catherine Ireton's wonderful, crystal clear voice. The songs are sad, happy, funny and wise, the story is compelling and the ending tugs at the heartstrings. It is a monumental achievement and a beautiful, winning piece of art. Thats what I should have said first time round. At least I have learnt my lesson and am now 'living with' albums a lot longer before writing about them.

Anyway, GHTG have now issued 'Stills', an EP of songs from the same sessions as the album but which didn't make the cut. This appears to have nothing to do with quality, but instead Murdoch's intention to sequence the album so that the story unfolds with each song. It works on the album but means that this EP is also essential listening.

From the brassy 'I'm in Love with the City' to the torch-song 'Stills' and the funny/tragic 'The Psychiatrist Is In' these are five more perfectly executed pop songs and fans of Ireton's warm vocals will find plenty to love here.

I have only two more wishes from God Help The Girl...a London performance of the album in its entirety and a box set with the album, the EP and the b sides.

Get to work then Stuart...

['Stills' is out now via Rough Trade on 10" vinyl and download]

The Dodos 'Time To Die'

2009-09-11T06:48:00.000-07:00

One of the unexpected delights of 2008 was The Dodos' 'Visiter' LP. Singer/guitarist Meric Long and drummer Logan Kroeber, crafted a vibrant and fresh sound that made excellent use of space, focusing on bouncy, upbeat numbers with occasional sparse, thoughtful ballads. The single 'Fools' was instantly catchy and memorable.

The follow-up has arrived quickly and was heralded by an reasonably good promotion, sell-out shows and consumer-friendly ideas such as streaming the album well in advance of its release. The only way was up, unfortunately the music is a massive disappointment.

Whereas 'Visiter' was a restless, jittery child, moving from one style to another with 60s strumming and heady drum rhythms, 'Time To Die' is a dense, humourless creation. The big problem is the sound, there is no variation, less acoustic guitar and a fuller, more consistent sound that doesn't suit the band. The songs are too long, usually stretching out over five or six minutes, sometimes devoid of melody, sounding tired and leaden.

There are but two exceptions. 'Small Deaths' combines acoustic and electric guitars to good effect and is catchy and easy on the ear, while 'Fables' is this album's 'Fools', light and summery, it floats around your ears.

Otherwise, this album is hard work and offers little reward for the effort it demands. It is an uninviting, occasionally tedious record and a massive disappointment.

4.6

['Time To Die' is out now on Wichita]

Sleeping Years return with new material and UK show

2009-09-10T04:01:00.000-07:00

Dale Grundle's The Sleeping Years made one of the finest albums of 2008 in 'We're Becoming Islands One By One', so it is great to hear that new material is on the way.

A brand new single will be released on 7" and download on 2nd November with an album to follow. More news on these when I've heard them!

In equally good news, The Sleeping Years will support The Notwist at London's Union Chapel on December 12. At last, a Sleeping Years gig in London on a Saturday.....

Micah P Hinson covers LP

2009-09-07T08:07:00.000-07:00

Micah P Hinson's brand of country-noir is perfectly suited to soundtracking the start of Autumn, so what better time for Micah to release....a double album of covers?

Yes indeed, 'All dressed up and smelling of strangers' is released on cd and download on September 21st and has a quite mouthwatering tracklisting, which is below. Also, Micah plays the Cargo in London on 15th September.

The album is on Full Time Hobby and you can pre-order now directly from them.

1. Slow and Steady
2. This Old Guitar
3. Kiss Me Mother, Kiss You Darling
4. Not Forever Now
5. The Times They Are A Changin’
6. Suzanne
7. We Almost Had A Baby
8. My Way

Volume 2
1. Sleepwalk
2. Running Scared
3. Stop The World
4. Are You Lonesome
5. In The Pines
6. You Didn’t Have To Be So Nice
7. Listen To Me
8. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

(500) Days of Summer - the film and the soundtrack

2009-09-05T23:02:00.000-07:00

'Juno' seems to have sparked a trend. Kooky, introspective, happy/sad, indie-wannabe film with teenagers uses oh-so-tasteful indie soundtrack, creating a huge hit and a spike in sales for the associated bands. 'Juno' was the first, there have been lesser others, but '(500) Days of Summer' is the idealogical successor.

I saw the film yesterday and it is good. The story is a well known one. Boy meets girl, boy falls in love, girl doesn't. Well known in life but not, to be fair, in major-release films. There is no happy ending here, the girl, Summer (Zooey Deschanel....Ellen Page presumably, wasn't available) marries someone else and the boy, after something of a nervous breakdown (quits job, turns to archeology), eventually embarks on a new relationship. The film deals with the question of whether there is 'a one' for us all and whether fate plays a hand in us meeting that person. The boy meets his new girlfriend by chance and we are encouraged to think that this girl is his 'one', but many will leave the cinema thinking that this relationship is clearly doomed to failure as he will always love Summer. This stuff happens. So how much of a 'happy ending' it is really depends on your outlook. For me, it was pretty bleak stuff, but a well made, thoughtful film.

It won't be to everyone's taste, it is undoubtably very American and Zooey Deschanel is as kooky as the most kooky thing you could possibly imagine on Planet Kooky. She plays Summer as being very detached and slightly robotic, offering little hint of what is going on in her head, meaning that your sympathies are usually with Tom (played by Joseph-Gordon Levitt). Maybe this is how it was meant to be, it just felt a little odd to have such an undefined lead character.

One aspect of the film is that Tom and Summer have similar taste in music. "Sad English music" apparently, although I saw little evidence of this. The Beatles...sad? The Clash....sad? Does anyone still think of The Smiths as sad (ok they were listening to 'There is a light that never goes out' not 'Frankly Mr Shankly' but still). This is lazy and a bit cliched. The selection of songs used in the film is an exercise in making a mix tape of tasteful indie. It is more notable to look at what was missed off. I was surprised there was no Sufjan, Belle & Sebastian were mentioned but not used ('Another Sunny Day' would have fitted in well) and I was surprised not to hear 'Fade Into You' by Mazzy Star at some point).

This is all well and good but there will be none of this type of songs left to use soon. Its a positive thing if it encourages people to check out The Pixies or Regina Spektor for the first time though.

Oh and She and Him's version of 'Please Let Me Get What I Want' just reinforces what I have always thought...there is no point in covering The Smiths. You can't out-Morrissey Morrissey and a straight cover just sounds...boring.

Go and see the film though...

single of the week

2009-09-03T08:45:00.001-07:00

Single of the Week...

Apologies for lack of updates. Have been very busy.

Consequently I've found myself listening to odd songs rather than albums. I've got a backlog of LPs to review and will try to get them done at the weekend.

One of those LPs is the new one from The Dodos, the jauntily monikered 'Time To Die'. Its a bit different from last year's 'Visitor', generally less upbeat with longer, denser songs. More effort required, not to say that is a bad thing. Their new single 'Fables' is the exception though, a thrilling pop song with some lovely strumming and some satisfying percussion. It is one of those songs that you feel you must have heard before somehow. Will get a lot of play on the radio I should think. I like it a lot.

Will be blogging about one of the albums of the year in the near future, as well as a couple of gigs and the new Nick Hornby book, which is most certainly of interest to readers of a music blog. Oh yes.

Radiohead...astonishing Reading performance online now

2009-08-31T01:29:00.000-07:00

Radiohead continue to dazzle and amaze me.

An hour's worth of footage from their stunning set at Reading last night, featuring a terrific rendition of 'Paranoid Android, is available to view online now, here..

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00mgwv4/Reading_and_Leeds_Festival_2009_Radiohead/

The Fiery Furnaces 'I'm Going Away'

2009-08-28T07:01:00.000-07:00

Bonkers.

The Fiery Furnaces, brother and sister Matt and Eleanor Friedberger and assorted helpers, have walked the line between genius and madness for six years now, rarely has a band divided opinion so much.

I first came across The Furnaces when their debut 'Gallowsbird's Bark' was released in 2003. It was a likeable set of stripped down indie rock songs that drew comparison with The White Stripes but aside from a lyrical quirkiness did not at all hint at what was to come. I saw them play at 2004's ATP and was utterly blown away- 45 minutes of the most enjoyable live music I had ever witnessed. They played a medley of songs from their debut mixed with songs from the forthcoming follow up, it was frenetic, off the cuff and quite brilliant. I left the hall to hear many other people saying what I had just said..."that was incredible".

So too was the record that followed. 'Blueberry Boat' was a sprawling concept album taking in subjects as wide ranging as piracy (as in...with real pirates...on the seas), lost dogs and Champions League football. The sound was dominated by organ and frequent slide guitar solos, the vocals were shared, stories were told...it was funny but also touching and it had melodies to die for. Many wrote it off, the NME gave it 1/10, but to those who believed, it was one of the greatest things ever recorded. Really. That good.

Since then, The Furnaces seem to have been so desperate to make even grander statements that the plot has been lost somewhat. They recorded an album that was sung in the main by their 80 year old Grandmother, they released two further, difficult concept albums and they released a 54 track live album with no tracklisting and instructions not to try to listen to it all at once. There was just too much music, too many words, too many song titles and it was not easy to keep up.

Now, with 'I'm Going Away', the Friedbergers are back on track. This is their best record since 'Blueberry Boat' and their most accessible album to date. Ironically, this may disappoint their most ardent fans.

'I'm Going Away' is short, punchy and has no great concept. Its a collection of bluesy rock songs, led by organ and electric guitar. Eleanor sings most of the songs, and we are talking about songs here, rather than pieces of music. Songs like 'Drive To Dallas', a gorgeous ballad and 'Charmaine Champagne' a frantic, funky rocker that somehow reminds me of The Hold Steady . It is feelgood stuff with some exceptionally catchy melodies, notably on 'Even In The Rain' which is all handclaps, piano and a melody that you can't believe hasn't been written before.

It is an exceptionally enjoyable record and 'Take Me Round Again', a big 'lets do the show right here' sing-along epic finishes the record perfectly, leaving the listener wanting more.

The Fiery Furnaces have plenty to offer and 'I'm Going Away' is the best thing they could have done at this point. Without the prog and the difficult lyrics, this is a fun record. If you liked the first two albums, it is safe to buy this album!

8.8

[I'm Going Away' is out now on Thrill Jockey]

Single Of The Week

2009-08-23T08:45:00.000-07:00

No doubts this week...

Noah & The Whale 'Blue Skies'

"This is a song for anyone with a broken heart...this is a song for anyone who can't get out of bed" sings Charlie Fink. Not for me then...my heart is intact and I am usually out of bed first thing in the morning to go for a swim or a run, or both. But still, this is a gorgeous single. The turning point of the 'First Days Of Spring' album, the song where Fink tries to let go of his lost love and look to the future and the "blue skies (that are) calling". It sounds as lush as it gets. Strings, a choir and a bit of brass at the end. Just a great song. Although, I will say that this radio-edit has been 'jazzed' up a bit, which is un-necessary because the version on the album is, as near as damn-it, perfect.

Out now on download and 7".

new Grant Lee Phillips record

2009-08-21T06:17:00.001-07:00

Since Grant Lee Buffalo split, frontman Grant Lee Phillips has released a string of every more disappointing solo albums, each sounding further and further away from matching the euphoria and poignancy of a Grant Lee Buffalo record. 2007's 'Strangelet' was a collection of entirely pleasant...and entirely bland pop/rock guitar songs. Totally inessential and really disappointing.

You started to wonder if the fire still burned for Grant. Well, it seems it does. In October, Grant will release 'Little Moon' on Cooking Vinyl and you can listen to it now here: http://www.reverbnation.com/grantleephillips

On first listen, it is a fine collection of songs recorded with a full band and containing the same diversity and experimentation as the best of GLB. It has fiery rockers, such as the immense 'Good Morning Happiness', heart-felt ballads such as 'Older Now' which was written about Grant becoming a father at 44 and the sort of quirky, exhuberant, slightly glam numbers that Grant used to make, in the shape of 'It Ain't The Same Old Cold War Harry'.

In short, the record is a blast. It sounds like it was fun to record and it is great to listen to. Mark this one in your diary, out in October! Nice one Grant.

The Duke & The King 'Nothing Gold Can Stay'

2009-08-20T08:05:00.000-07:00

What a lovely little album this is. I say 'little', because it will only take up just over half an hour of your life to listen to it, but it is a beautiful collection of songs and a fresh mix of folk and soul.

'Nothing Gold Can Stay' is the result of a collaboration between Simone Felice from the Felice Brothers and Robert Burke. The songs are acoustic-led, mostly ballads but with soulful vocals carrying a hint of gospel. Whilst the music is light, the subject matter weighs heavy. These are songs of regret, sadness and loss but lifted by the hope that things will get better and a feeling of coming home.

Opener 'If You Ever Get Famous' sounds like a standard. A hushed lullaby urging the listener to remember their roots, it is delicate but catchy. 'The Morning I Get To Hell' is darker altogether but with a soulful, light vocal and a surprising but effective drum-led outro.

One of the standouts is 'Union Street' an acoustic ballad with a rambling lyric recalling childhood memories and hoping for a return to those days ("if I could just get to Union Street/ everything would be alright"). Towards the end of the record, a couple of truly lovely ballads, beautifully sung lighten the mood, 'Summer Morning Rain' in particular is as warm and bright as the summer day it describes. There is a darkness around this album though, that you only catch if you listen to the lyrics. Going off to war is a recurring theme as are death and loss. The lyrics are very direct and the listener sometimes feels that they are intruding on something private. The only time the music hints at this darkness is some guitar distortion on 'Lose Myself'.

When 'One More American Song' ends proceedings on a similar tone to the opening track, you get the urge to play the record again and delve deeper. You feel like you've listened to something extraordinary, yet on another level it is a breezy summer listen. It is an almost unique record, mixing soul and country in a way I've never quite heard before and adding in some hard hitting confessional lyrics.

Brilliant stuff.

9.0

['Nothing Gold Can Stay' is out now on Loose Records. The Duke & The King are playing some UK shows over the next few months]

Richmond Fontaine 'We Used To Think The Freeway Sounded Like A River'

2009-08-18T06:50:00.001-07:00

Richmond Fontaine are a band who have never completely clicked with me. If you read Uncut, you'd think they were the saviours of modern music, so ridiculously over-praised have they been by that magazine's editor. In truth, on their seven albums before this one, they have simply produced some pretty good Americana, little inspiration musically but with a singer songwriter (Willy Vlautin) who is an excellent storyteller.

Here, on their eighth record, they make some kind of lurch towards the mainstream. 'We Used To Think The Freeway Sounded Like A River' (and that is the last time I'm typing that out in this review) is a slightly more poppy version of the same thing. Vlautin's throaty, country-style vocals are not to everyone's taste, so the songs here are broken up by some nice, wistful instrumental interludes. It works well.

When he does sing, Vlautin sings some of the most depressing sets of lyrics to see the light of day this year. The songs almost exclusively concern themselves with the desperate, the drunk, the downtrodden and the lonely. Men trying hard to make a living whilst doing right by their woman and kids. Its the sound of blue collar America and it gets a bit wearing after a while. I could in particular have done without the "sometimes I was almost too drunk to get us home, but I always got us home" line, even if not meant literally.

There are some good songs here though. 'The Boyfriends' is upbeat and rocky, almost sounding like The Hold Steady and Vlautin's vocals move slightly away from the norm, 'You Can Move Back Here' is radio-friendly country rock, ticking all the boxes for a Replacements-style anthem, best of all is 'The Pull' a weary ballad about a washed up boxer.

Musically and lyrically though, there is not enough variety. The standout songs sound vibrant and driven, but too often the record sinks into easy rockers and dreary, dusty ballads.

Great title, sometimes great lyrics, average record.

6.4

['We Used To....' is out now on Decor Records, cd/lp/dl]

still nothing new to review, but...

2009-08-14T23:36:00.001-07:00

The new David Bazan LP sounds quite something.
Thats all.

new Mark Eitzel record and other stuff

2009-08-12T00:33:00.000-07:00

Morning.

You catch me midway through my week off, with a spare 5 minutes between swimming, watching cricket and listening to awful cds that I have to review for the other site I work for. I can't imagine I'm going to write about them on here, various reasons, but mainly it just doesn't feel right. Its nice to be sent free music to listen to though...this has only ever happed with 'the other site I write for', never Tracks and Gigs, hmm, hint, hmm, hint....

Anyway, I'm slightly panicked about the amount of records that are out on 31st August this year. God knows how I am a) going to afford to buy them all, b) going to find the time to review them all.

Nothing to review so far this week, but I am going to re-write a review of the God Help The Girl album later this week. I'm not afraid to say that I got that album badly wrong when I first reviewed it. In the 2 years I have been writing this blog, this album is the one that has most made me think "oops, why didn't I wait a while longer before reviewing that", so I am going to do it again. Sorry to all concerned.

Great news today in that the Mark Eitzel LP now has a tracklisting. It is out in September, tracklisting below, am still waiting (not so) patiently for tickets to his London show to go on sale..

1 Buried Treasure
2 Like a river that reaches the sea
3 The Blood On My Hands
4 I Miss You
5 There’s Someone Waiting
6 What Do You Got For Me
7 The White Of Gold
8 I Live In This Place
9 Why I’m Bullshit
10 Remember
11 Antennas
12 Ronald Koal Was A Rock Star

Radiohead 'Harry Patch...in memory of'

2009-08-08T00:58:00.000-07:00

Can't believe there is anyone who doesn't already know this, since it has been reported everywhere from Pitchfork to Radio 4, but it is worth saying that Radiohead's tribute song to Harry Patch is worth £1 of anyone's money.

Despite being written, recorded and released in a very short space of time, it is on a completely different level from most music I have heard this year. Managing to sound haunting, sad (it almost reduced me to tears on first play), defiant and angry at the same time, it sounds orchestral and beautiful whilst describing the futility and tragedy of war.

Anyone who downloads this from somewhere non-official without paying for it, or even just listens to the stream should hang their head in shame. All proceeds go to the British Legion and as I said, this track is worth far more than £1.

Purchase from here:
http://download.waste.uk.com/Store/did.html

Mountain Goats UK Tour Dates

2009-08-05T00:49:00.000-07:00

Just received the marvellous news that the Mountain Goats return to the UK this Fall/Autumn, to play two shows...and even better news is that they are playing a nice venue in London this time (I'm not a fan of the ULU). Here are the two dates, not sure when they go on sale, they don't appear to be yet...

10 - QEH, London, England
11 - Ruby Lounge, Manchester, England

Both dates are solo acoustic...so no Peter Hughes unfortunately.

Noah and The Whale 'The First Days of Spring'

2009-08-04T02:08:00.001-07:00

If you had told me, at the start of this year, that by the end of summer we will have a shimmering, gloriously melancholic, orchestral masterpiece released, I would have struggled to have guessed that it would have come from Noah and The Whale. Nice though their upbeat, chirpy debut album was, there was simply no sign that they were in any way likely to make a record like this.

'The First Days of Spring' is a concept record, documentating the last days and aftermath of singer Charlie Fink's relationship with his girlfriend (who by all accounts, was Laura Marling). Fink has written a fine set of lyrics that document despair, confusion, heartbreak, reflection and finally, hope. He sings these words with a calm assurance, sounding at times a little like Bill Callahan and indeed some of the songs remind me of mid-period Smog.

The words alone would make a fine poetry collection, but luckily for us music fans, Noah and The Whale, along with a choir, orchestra and string section have combined to make Fink's concept into a beautifully arranged, evocative and uplifting piece of music, perhaps the best released so far this year.

The record is split into three distinct sections. The opening four songs document the end of the relationship. The title track sets the scene, building into a Tindersticks-style orchestral epic whilst Fink ponders his life at a crossroads("I do believe everyone has one chance to fuck up their life"), 'Our Window', with the sound of rain hitting the window occasionally in the background, is slow and mournful, piano-led, the sound of a couple on the verge of a split, both looking the other way. Its the most heartbreaking and desolate track here, especially Fink's refrain "its been a while, since I've stared at the stars".

After another couple of tracks with the same feel, a change is needed and we certainly get one! A couple of lush instrumentals bookend 'Love Of An Orchestra' which is rich with strings and a choir, completely overblown and utterly joyful.

The third section of the album looks to the future. After the slightly subdued 'Stranger', Fink searches for optimism and happiness on the graceful 'Blue Skies' which he introduces as a song for "anyone with a broken heart". He sounds most like Callahan on this track, wounded and hurt in the verses but lifting himself for the "Blue skies are calling" in the chorus. The record ends with 'My Door Is Always Open', lyrically reaching closure and peace and musically resisting the urge for a big orchestral finish but finding something just as uplifting, although understated.

'The First Days of Spring' is an extremely accomplished piece of work. Sure, its sad and melancholy but it is never, ever depressing or miserable...either tugging at your heartstrings or being uplifting and joyful. I haven't been able to stop playing this since I received it. Its a very bold attempt to produce something fully formed, rich and adventurous, without sounding overblown or ridiculous. They completely succeed. Noah and the Whale must stand a very good chance of winning the Mercury Prize for 2010. This is the finest British album I have heard in a long, long time.

[this was reviewed from a promo. 'First Days of Spring' is out on August 31st on cd and cd/dvd (more on the dvd soon) via Mercury]

Single of the week...

2009-08-01T23:42:00.000-07:00

The Twilight Sad 'I Became A Prostitute'

The Twilight Sad return with the first single from their forthcoming album 'Forget The Night Ahead'. Louder and faster than recent EPs, this is a return to the sound of their first album. Dense, dark, thrilling....and with just a hint of a chorus..this is just as good as I'd hoped and there was a lot of expectation around this record. Looking forward to hearing the album.

For now, this is out on 7" and download, via Fat Cat Records.

more on the Zak Sally cd..

2009-08-01T05:08:00.000-07:00

The Zak Sally cd has arrived from the States and I have to say it is one of the nicest handmade cds I have yet seen. Well worth getting if you are a fan of Zak (or were a fan of Low-era Zak), the cds are all signed and numbered.

More on the actual music soon, along with the new Twilight Sad cd and the Noah and The Whale album (which I have to say is stunning).

Bowerbirds 'Upper Air'

2009-07-31T00:22:00.000-07:00

When I wrote about Bowerbirds' debut LP last year, I said that their music was entirely pleasant and listenable without doing anything much to make the listener really set up and take notice. They return here with a reduced line up, now just husband and wife Phil Moore and Beth Tacular, and to a certain extent more of the same. It all seems a little more focused and direct though.

Take opener 'House of Diamonds', a song advocating giving up the city life and moving to the country and embracing the natural world where "you are already free"..could be awful but the beguiling melody and Moore's strong, twisting vocal carries it through. There are moments too, when the rustic sounding acoustic guitars and accordions pause, allowing Moore and Tacular to share harmonies, their vocals mixing well together and creating an atmosphere something like early-Low.

Best of all though is 'Northen Lights', an exceptionally pretty love song presumably written by Moore for Tacular. It is both well written ("I don't expect a southern gril to know the northern lights") and very lovely ("All I want is your eyes, in the morning, as we wake for a short while").

The record drifts a little midway through before finishing with the sparse and thoughtful 'This Day'. Bowerbirds have a great album in them. That much is clear from the best stuff here and the spellbinding moments when Moore and Tacular sing together unaccompanied. I'd like to hear more of that, for now this is a fine and very listenable record.

7.8

['Upper Air' is out now on Dead Oceans]

new Mountain Goats LP...

2009-07-29T01:02:00.001-07:00

Whilst wading through some pretty dull new releases that I have to review, came the news that a new Mountain Goats LP will arrive this Autumn.

Thank the Lord for that. Quite literally in fact, because every tMG album has a theme and this one is religion. The record is called 'The Life of the World to Come' and each track is named after a bible verse. Darnielle describes the theme as "twelve hard lessons I learned from the Bible". Jesus.

Anyway, as per the current trend, there is a free mp3 of one of the tracks ('Genesis 3:23') on the Mountain Goats website and it sounds good. Upbeat, with a full band sound and a gentle vocal...think a bit of 'The Sunset Tree' and a bit of 'Get Lonely'.

Album is out on October 5th, but I strongly suspect that there is going to be some kind of pre-order now, get the digital album instantly deal with this one. Just a hunch.

Zak Sally's Fear of Song - first listen

2009-07-23T07:20:00.000-07:00

Zak's album is now available to buy via his website http://lamano21.com/

Also on the site is a quite brilliant description of the record, written by the man himself. The album is completely handmade, signed and numbered and will be posted out by Zak..the whole thing is a one man project. He instructs anyone wanting to review the record to buy the $7 download as "i'm probably broker than you are". So I did that, with the intention of ordering the record too (unless I completely hated it, which of course I don't)and I've now done that.

I'll write a proper review of this when I get the physical version, when someone has put so much effort into the whole thing, it seems a shame to review a $7 download. Anyway, this isn't the sort of record that you can really gives marks out of ten to, that would defeat the whole concept.

'Fear of Song' is a quite marvellous thing. Anyone who loved the part played in Low will want to hear this. It is a set of spontaneous, honest, big-hearted pieces of music. Not polished, not lush, not pretty but raw and true. I was expected a louder more aggressive record but am pleased at the mix of fiery, feedback drenched rockers and acoustic laments.

Buy this. It is possibly the least cynical and least calculated release of the year. One man in a room opening his heart and making some music from nothing. Great stuff.

Single of the Week...

2009-07-22T06:29:00.001-07:00

Firstly, a quick word for the England cricket selectors..... "Beg Marcus Trescothick to return"...

Secondly, this week's single of the week is...

Zak Sally 'Why We Hide'

Loving this single. Zak describes it best himself when he says it is the sound of "one man clanging". It is also noisy, discordant, ramshakle but also strangely tuneful and catchy. It has some nice hand-claps midway through, which remind me of Zak's attempts to encourage audience participation when Low played 'La La La Song'. It is what you'd expect really, three minutes of U.S alt.rock noise. You get the impression from this that Zak had a lot to do with Low's 'The Great Destroyer'.

It is out now on pink vinyl from Subpop, you get a download voucher with the vinyl (or at least, I did).

The album is due out round about now on Zak's own label, although as yet there is no link to buy it on his website.

Noah and The Whale 'The First Days of Spring'

2009-07-20T07:14:00.000-07:00

This band passed me by when they released their debut LP last year. It all seemed a bit light and overly jolly. Things appear to have changed though...

The first track from their second album 'The First Days of Spring' is available to download for free from the Noah and The Whale website and it is stunningly good. Tense, orchestral and lovelorn, it is the sound of a band making a huge jump in quality and stature. Looking forward to hearing the album.

Magnolia Electric Co. 'Josephine'

2009-07-17T07:27:00.000-07:00

Back in 2003, under the guise of Songs:Ohia, Jason Molina made one of the great alt.country records, 'Magnolia Electric Co'. As near as anything gets these days to in-his-prime Neil Young, it was an album of power and grace, a beautiful, searing complete piece of music, that was just about perfect. I played it over and over on hot summer nights that year, with the windows open. It was all good and I thought Molina would just get better and better.

Since then however, his output has been somewhat patchy. Largely sidestepping the powerful stuff and concentrating on mood pieces or sketchy country numbers, he hasn't made a great album since. 'Josephine' arrives with a lot of fanfare, high hopes and a back story. MeCo bassist Evan Farell died whilst ideas for this album were being forumulated and the finished album serves as a tribute to him and his hopes for the record. It is a concept piece of sorts, the loss of 'Josephine' representing the loss of Evan and Molina centres most of these songs of themes of loneliness, loss and heartbreak.

But the first thing you notice when you hear opener 'O Grace' is a fuller and more varied sound. 'O Grace' is upbeat and accessible with harmonies on the chorus and sax and piano used. The first few tracks continue down this path, with the title number being catchy, short and snappy with some crashing guitar, although the lyrics are sombre "oh what a fool I've been".

He follows this with several dusky, acoustic numbers that would not be out of place on a Molina solo record, lonely and bruised. There is more variety to come though, 'Hope Dies Last' employs harmonies and a great bassline, 'The Handing Down' kicks off with a fiery guitar riff and settles down before producing some satisfying feedback mid-song, it will satisfy those who crave the riffs Molina gave us on numbers like 'The Dark Don't Hide It'.

Molina also gives us the two most unlikely songs of his career, to varying success. 'Little Sad Eyes' is a organ-led, doo-wop style interlude, sounding lazy and inconsequential next to some of the more considered material and 'An Arrow In The Gale' is an interesting closing track, short and sweet and with Beach Boys harmonies and split vocals.

Whatever styles and ideas Molina tries on 'Josephine' the lyrical themes remain the same. "I've been as lonely as the world's first ghost' he sings and the overwhelming themes are of loss and regret. This isn't as gloomy as it sounds and the sound of the record, particularly with the frequently used harmonies ("Oh Josephine" is a recurring refrain) presents a sense of hope.

After years of seemingly avoided making a straightforward album, by releasing various live albums, compilations and boxsets, Molina has shown that he is perfectly capable of producing a consistent, cohesive LP. 'Josephine' references all of the different phases of his career, whilst being the most varied and full recording he has produced to date. This doesn't quite scale the heights of 'Magnolia Electric Co' but it is a very good, thoughtful and passionate record.

8.5

['Josephine' is out now on Secretly Canadian on cd and lp. Magnolia Electric Co play UK dates in September.]

Mark Eitzel UK Tour Dates

2009-07-16T02:13:00.000-07:00

As promised a while ago, below are the Autumn UK tour dates from genius singer-songwriter Mark Eitzel. From what I understand, Mark will be playing AMC songs at these shows and will also be playing the piano each night. These gigs are essential, Mark's show at Dingwalls in 2002 remains the greatest gig I have ever attended - I cannot remember ever experiencing so many emotions at one show. Support comes from The Hold Steady's Franz Nicolay. Most dates, including the London one, don't go on sale til next week:

4.10.09 - Exeter -Phoenix
6.10.09 - Winchester – Tower Arts Centre
7.10.09 - London - St Giles in the Fields
8.10.09 – Brighton – The Basement
3.11.09 - Bristol – St Bonaventures
4.11.09 - Birmingham – Glee Club
5.11.09 – Manchester - St Margaret's Church
7.11.09 – Edinburgh – Cabaret Voltaire
8.11.09 – Newcastle – Cluny 2
9.11.09 – Leeds - Brudnell Social Club

Single of the Week

2009-07-14T08:27:00.000-07:00

My 'single of the week' this week is 'The Swimmer' by Alice Gun.

I'd never heard of Alice before this and I admit I was attracted by the song title (being a swimmer myself). Glad I checked it out though, cos its a lovely, tense, atmospheric piece with cello, accordion and a assured vocal. Piano-led b side 'Minty Fresh' is almost as good.

One to watch for certain. Turns out this is Alice's debut single. She's a classically trained multi-instrumentalist and signed to Ambiguous Records. 'The Swimmer' is out now on vinyl and digital, you can listen at www.alicegun.com and I suggest that you do.

Zak Sally returns with single and LP

2009-07-14T01:34:00.000-07:00

Former Low bassist Zak Sally returns with a new single and LP in the next couple of weeks.

Zak was always the star of Low as far as I was concerned and I enjoyed 'My Secret World', the song that he made available last year as a preview of the album to come. The LP is 'Fear Of Song', the title apparently references Sally's dilemma over whether to continue to make music after the Low split. It will be self-released, I understand but the first single 'Why We Hide' is out on 7" only via Sub Pop next week. Incidentally the b-side is the superbly titled 'When I Said I Missed You I Just Meant My Aim Was Off (The Quiet Life)'.

More news about the release-specifics of 'Fear Of Song' when I get it...

The Duckworth Lewis Method 'A Methodology'

2009-07-10T00:50:00.000-07:00

Music and cricket, two of my favourite things, so what could be better than an album about cricket? There's never been one before, to the best of my knowledge, but now Neil Hannon and Thomas Walsh have created one and released it, just in time for the Ashes.

Naming the album after a very complex cricket scoring system may put off those fans of Hannon's music who do not also love cricket, but they shouldn't be scared, this is a short album of lush pop songs, plenty of swooning strings, big choruses and harmonies..the songs just happen to be about The Summer Game.

For the most part this works well. 'The Age of Revolution' is a catchy, upbeat number reflecting on the changes to cricket in recent years ("always denied entry by the English gentry/ now we're driving Bentleys and playing 20/20"). This is the first single and seems to have been the template.

Writing a whole set of albums on the topic of cricket does seem to have been a challenge for Hannon though. 'The Sweet Spot' uses a double meaning for the title but the song has nothing whatsoever to do with cricket and 'The Nightwatchman' hints at the anxiety suffered by batsmen who are 'not out' at the end of a day's play, but seems more like a desperate love song by the end.

The undoubted highlight though is an absolutely hilarious account of Mike Gatting's dismissal by Shane Warne in the 1993 Ashes, from the perspective of Gatting himself. Over an jaunty piano tune, we hear the funniest lyrics of the year so far, including an inevitable reference to a cheese roll. Totally priceless. Would love to hear what Gatt would make of it.

All in all, this is a pleasant album with some nice string arrangements and some catchy melodies. I do feel that they could have gone further with some more interesting cricket themes and stories, but that's because I love my cricket just as much as I love my music. An enjoyable little album for the Summer.

6.7

['The Duckworth Lewis Method' is out now on Divine Comedy Records. The DLM play Rough Trade East on Monday 13th July at 7pm]

Mark Eitzel to release countless new records imminently...

2009-07-09T08:19:00.000-07:00

Possibly TracksandGigs' favourite songwriter of all time, Mark Eitzel, has blogged about a string of upcoming releases.

He is putting the finishing touches to a solo album, after that he is due to work on some songs with Peter Buck, he is also about to record a tour cd for his Autumn European tour...and...there is the prospect of a new AMC album in 2010.

Thanks Mark, that's enough to keep us going for a while!

In other news, I am currently penning a review of Neil Hannon's 'Duckworth Lewis Method' cricket concept album, which contains possibly the funniest song I have ever heard.

also... you can now pre-order the new Magnolia Electric Co album 'Josephine' from Secretly Canadian and receive an instant download of the whole album. Bargain.

More tomorrow..

Hope Sandoval returns!

2009-07-07T06:27:00.000-07:00

Back in the early 90s, Mazzy Star were one of my favourite bands. It seems a bit strange actually to call them a band, since they consisted of David Roback's bluesy guitar sound and Hope Sandoval's dusky voice. They did produce some magic though and anyone who has ever heard Sandoval sing has been longing for some new material from her since a solitary solo album appeared in 2002.

Well, she's back! 'Hope Sandoval and The Warm Inventions' release an album 'Through The Devil Softly' in September and a single 'Blanchard' in August. TracksandGigs has heard 'Blanchard' and can confirm that it is a slow, sultry ballad with acoustic and slide guitar and sounds marvellous.

In other Sandoval news, this time which T&G finds a little harder to believe, Sandoval is planning a tour and Mazzy Star are putting the finishing touches to their long awaited fourth record. From experience, we'll believe both of those events when we see them...

The Low Anthem 'Oh My God, Charlie Darwin'

2009-07-04T09:23:00.000-07:00

There are times, rare but glorious, when you hear an artist's music for the first time and you know that you will most likely listen to their music for the rest of your life. This happened to me with Tindersticks, when I first heard Innocence Mission's 'Befriended' and when I saw Low play live in London...now it has happened to me again after a mere few days of listening to The Low Anthem's second album 'Oh My God, Charlie Darwin'.

On opener 'Charlie Darwin', singer Ben Knox Miller uses a Bon Iver style falsetto to relate a tale of a drowning world.."oh my god, the water's all around us...oh my god, life is cold and formless" over a sparse, gentle melody. It is stunning and hymn-like, an incredible opener.

They follow with two more ballads, the best of which 'Ticket Taker' is a crushed love song from the perspective of the guy collecting tickets for entry onto a modern day ark which is saving people from the aforementioned floods. Knox Miller uses his natural voice here, a strong singer-songwriter voice and the added harmonica make this the first real Americana sounding track on the record. You will be enthralled by the lyrics at this stage though.

They change direction here and Knox Miller reveals the third different singing voice used on this record. This time, it is a throaty roar as the band move through two Stones-esque rockers with all the exhuberance of Dylan circa 'Highway 61 Revisted', rousing rootsy stompers both.

The pace changes again for perhaps the best track of all. '(Don't) Tremble' is a beautiful, stripped down ballad with acoustic guitar in one speaker and birdsong in the other. Knox Miller sings of staying strong, not giving up...human resilience ("...do not tremble, do not sweat/ for where then would you get?"). His voice is like a whisper in your ear, haunting but comforting.

It is hard to see how the record could have faltered after reaching such heights and thankfully it doesn't. What follows includes 'Champion Angel', the album's key rocker, a joyous Arcade Fire/Walkmen style epic with some glorious guitar and enough of a chorus to have you singing along and even considering punching the air. There are another couple of low-fi ballads and a reworking of 'To Ohio' to finish.

The songwriting on 'Oh My God Charlie Darwin' is exemplary. Individually the songs are poetic, well written and affecting. Collectively the record tells a story which is touching, life affirming and a comment about aspects of the modern world. The writing is vivid enough to allow you to conjure up images in your mind of some of the scenes described, you will care about the record and the people within the stories.

The music itself is often low key, allowing the words to take centre stage but there is great innovation too. 'Oh My God Charlie Darwin' is a record to treasure. Containing echoes of the work of some of the all time great songwriters, this is a magnificent album - one of the very finest that I have heard in the last decade.

9.8

['Oh My God, Charlie Darwin' is out now on Bella Union. The Low Anthem tour the UK in September]

The Low Anthem 'Oh My God, Charlie Darwin'

2009-07-04T00:58:00.000-07:00

All bets may just be off.

I am sure I have enjoyed an album on first play more than this one, I must have, I just can't remember a particular occasion. Not for a long time at least.

A few more plays later and I am sure of it, this record is stunning. I need to find out more about who The Low Anthem actually are, but this supreme collection of dusty hymns, sparse sketches and exhuberant rockers is maybe the record of the year so far...at least right up there with the Bill Callahan album.

I am totally floored by '(Don't) Tremble' in particular. A mix of acoustic guitar in one speaker and birdsong and water in the other, with a whispered vocal..

"If your pilot light should die
Do not quake and do not bark
You will find the spark

If your tree should bare no fruit
Do not turn and do not spill
You are beautiful"

It is haunting, effortless and comforting.

There is more, so much more, but I will save this for the full review, which will come soon. I have also just discovered that I have just missed them playing The Union Chapel....please please return to London!

still alive

2009-07-03T05:35:00.000-07:00

just a quick post to say sorry for the lack of updates, I have had the busiest week at work ever and have had little time for music listening, let alone writing about it.

when I have found time, I've mostly been enjoying the new Wilco, as well as various Innocence Mission albums. Am contemplating buying the Low Anthem and Bowerbirds records but have to assess funds. I have, however, purchased Neil Hannon's 'Duckworth Lewis Method' cricket themed album and will be writing about that soon. If the music is half as good as the concept, it'll be great.

back to work...

Wilco 'Wilco (The Album)'

2009-06-27T22:59:00.001-07:00

Wilco will have learnt throughout their career that you can't please all of the people all of the time. Their more traditional alt.country fans were alienated by the experimental and noisy sound of 'Yankee Hotel Foxtrot' and 'A Ghost Is Born' (their two finest albums in my opinion) and 2007's 'Sky Blue Sky' with its smooth textures was a disappointment for followers looking more rattle and buzz. Here, Wilco will surely succeed in pleasing all of the people...some of the time, as anyone who has ever liked Wilco's music will surely find something to enjoy in this new record.

The first thing to say is that it all sounds terrific. Wilco use a style of production here that I particularly like, it sounds similar to the analogue recording on the Jenny Lewis LP last year. Each instrument is given so much space. This works particularly well for guitarist Nels Cline, who plays some stunningly dramatic electric guitar on this record, at times on extended solos, at other times just ripples in the background, but always brilliant. He is a truly innovative guitarist and perhaps the best we have at the moment.

'Wilco (The Album)' opens, appropriately, with 'Wilco (The Song)', a piano and guitar led old school rock song with just a hint of drone in the background. It does have some pretty cringeworthy lyrics which serve as a message to the band's fans that 'Wilco loves you'. It doesn't seem to be tongue in cheek. Tweedy's appalling lyrics do not detract from a great song though.

Things really kick off with track 4, 'Bull Black Nova', a terrifying kraut-rock workout that sounds like a shorter version of 'A Ghost Is Born' track 'Spiders'. Kline and Tweedy are superb here, Kline's solo is ear-splitting and abstract, Tweedy is on the edge vocally and the whole thing is a five minute blitz, perhaps their best ever recording.

A whole album like that would never work, marvellous as it may be. So, 'You and I' which follows is a whispered acoustic ballad and a duet with Feist. It is light and gentle, only spoilt slighly by a harsh fade out. In turn, 'You Never Know' which comes next is another departure, a feel-good rock song with some traditional rock guitar and a catchy chorus. It could be a hit!

The second half of the album is more straight-forward. 'Country Disappeared', however, is a thing of beauty. A piano led bruised ballad about watching a country deteriorate from the eyes of the TV news, Tweedy sings this so well, it is touching and affecting without ever being overblown. Same again with 'Solitaire', an acoustic number about the joys of selfless living with Tweedy's vocal like a whisper in the ear.

After a couple of fairly routine upbeat numbers, the closing track 'Everlasting Everything' sounds like Wilco's very own take on Bill Fay's 'Be Not So Fearful' a song they regularly cover live. Strings swoon in the background, a bell rings, but it never turns into the big epic that it always seems on the verge of being. It is all the better for it.

As I said at the start, anyone who has ever loved Wilco will like at least some of this album. In its own right though, it is perhaps the most assured release of their career. In many ways this sounds like a 'Best of Wilco'

9.4

['Wilco (the album)' is out now. TracksandGigs recommends the 180gram vinyl version with free cd]

new Fleet Foxes song...

2009-06-26T23:09:00.000-07:00

reviews of the new Wilco LP and Tindersticks live will appear here soon, but for now news that brand new Fleet Foxes material is starting to surface.

Robin Pecknold played 'Blue Spotted Tail', a sparse acoustic song, for BBC Radio 6 prior to Fleet Foxes' appearance at Glastonbury last night. Its gentle and pretty and can be heard and indeed downloaded here:

http://downloads.pitchforkmedia.com/Fleet%20Foxes%20-%20Blue%20Spotted%20Tail%20(Live%20On%20BBC6).mp3

Foreign Born 'Person To Person'

2009-06-23T07:06:00.000-07:00

Once again, I have no idea who Foreign Born are. They were a chance discovery and a risk purchase. I bought this album because they are on Secretly Canadian and I trust them and also because I felt like hearing some new music. Might be good, might be bad, might be neither. I really need to find a job that pays better than my current one if I am going to take risks like this but as Steve Jobs once said...er..."You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart". So....there.

Anyway, this isn't a disappointment or a waste of money. Foreign Born, it turns out, are a folk-rock band from California and they play suitably summery, shimmery guitar-led stuff that is just perfect for the first few weeks of summer when its nice and warm, but not hot enough to make you irritable.

'Vacationing People' is still my favourite. Fuzzy guitar, harmonies, nice chorus. Singer Matt Popieluch (obviously I had to look that up) sounds a little Dylan-esque on 'Winter Games' and on 'Early Warnings' they sound like Kings Of Leon used to sound before they turned into U2.

What I like about this album is that it is short, snappy and never less that interesting. There are some great arrangements, memorable basslines, some cowbells, even a bit of brass....for a debut album it is quite adventurous.

So, lots of hooks, some great guitar and a bundle of ambition. An enjoyable summer record.

7.8

['Person to Person' is out now on Secretly Canadian]

Looking For Eric (directed by Ken Roach)

2009-06-22T06:44:00.000-07:00

I did claim on here a while back that I would review some films, but I've never really got round to it despite seeing some absolute crackers ('Benjamin Button'...'In The Loop') recently. What better time to start with the film reviews than when there is a dearth of new music releases?

By some miracle, our local cinema are showing 'Looking For Eric', the new Ken Roach film feauturing Monsieur Cantona, so we went to see it yesterday as it will almost certainly be gone within a week. The cinema was disasspointingly empty, save for a few lads who I think expected 'Looking For Eric' to be some kind of updated version of 'Escape To Victory'.

Instead, it is a warm hearted comedy that follows 'flawed postman' Eric Bishop as he attempts to rebuild his life following a period of depression and a failed suicide attempt. Bishop still loves his ex-ex wife (Lily), who he walked out on after a panic attack thirty years ago and at his lowest point he starts to have visions of his hero Eric Cantona, who proceeds to give him life-lessons in the form of some cod-philosophy, helping him attempt to win back Lily and help his stepson escape some shady gangsters.

Bishop is played by Steve Evets, a bit-part actor previously, who once played guitar in The Fall. Evets is superb and makes Bishop entirely believable, giving the impression that he is not really acting. His shouts of "fuck, fuck...oh fucking hell" when things go wrong for him are full of realistic frustration and very empathy-evoking. Cantona, of course, plays himself too, although sometimes I thought he was playing the public's perception of himself, which must have been quite a challenge. He dominates the film really, you are always keen for him to return, simply because he is very cool and has some great lines ("I am not a man, I am Cantona"). He does sometimes mumble these lines and often it is difficult to tell if he is speaking in French or English but of course, this is simply because he is so enigmatic...

The film is really about friendship. Bishop has to call on his mates to help him out, just as Cantona needed his team-mates. Cantona spells this out for us, by explaining that his favourite moment in football was not a goal of his own, but a pass to create a goal for someone else (surely the only time un-sung Irish fullback Denis Irwin has been mentioned in a cinema film?).

Take out Cantona and you would have had a straightforward 'man seeks redemption and tries to win back lover' type film, but still a superior and very funny one. Cantona adds an extra dimension, but in many ways Evets is the star of this warm hearted and enjoyable film. Well worth a couple of hours of your time.

8.5

['Looking For Eric' is showing at all decent cinemas now]

Foreign Born

2009-06-19T07:47:00.000-07:00

There are many things wrong with the Summer. The heat, for one. The number of 'fairweather swimmers' you find at swimming pools, for two. And the general lack of interesting new releases for three.

Nevermind, it'll be October soon and anyway there are some terrific gigs coming up (Tindersticks at Hyde Park in less than a fortnight!). In the meantime, there are a few odd, interesting records about. Secretly Canadian rarely release duds and it looks like their latest band, LA's 'Foreign Born' are another good discovery. Sounding like a meatier version of the Fleet Foxes, nice harmonies and soulful vocals but with more in the way of riffs and anthems, they release their debut album 'Person To Person' on Monday. There will be a review here next week, but for now, you can download a couple of tracks from it, from www.secretlycanadian.com for no cash at all. Bargain!

Sharon Van Etten 'Because I Was In Love'

2009-06-17T06:01:00.000-07:00

I have no idea who Sharon Van Etten is and the only information that I have been able to glean from the interweb, is that she is a singer-songwriter from Brooklyn who is variously described as "the voice of New York", "the new Cat Power" and "the new alt.folk sensation"....and I'm the one writing the non-professional, just for fun, music-blog then? Hmm, OK. Well I shall do my best to not describe Van Etten as the 'new' anything.

What I will say is, don't listen to this album's first track 'I Wish I Knew' whilst driving a car, slicing bread or doing anything that requires concentration. It is a quite astonishing piece of work and will cause you to stop whatever you are doing and stand open-mouthed thinking "did I just hear that?". Van Etten strums an acoustic guitar and sings with a hauntingly beautiful (sorry) voice that twists, turns and wraps itself around words. It sounds like a ghost in the pipes, visceral white noise in its own quiet way, as she sings a song of confusion, uncertainty and fear. It continues like this until Van Etten reaches a comforting conclusion ("I don't know shit and neither do you...but thats ok as long as we can talk about it") and the song stops dead, like static fading out. It is supremely beautiful and otherwordly and one of the best things I have heard this year.

It is no criticism of Van Etten that the LP cannot continue at this hightened level. The sound from thereon is a more traditional folky sound, coming across a little like a mix of Cat Power and Beth Orton (but I'm not saying she is the 'new' either of them OK? Just to be clear), 'Consolation Prize' is catchy and light and 'I Fold' is downbeat and serene, it is never less than highly listenable. There is a bit of a departure on 'Tornados' where she goes crazy with the instrumentation....in the context of this record, that means an added tambourine and electric guitar... and it all sounds very bluesy and very, well, Mazzy Star.

This is a really fine debut record. You'll want to play it at home, when its nice and quiet, on a rainy day. It doesn't work so much on the train. Worth buying for the stunning opening song alone.

7.0

['Because I Was In Love' is out now on Drag City]

top 5 records of the year so far...

2009-06-13T23:00:00.000-07:00

Its pretty much halfway through the year, so I though, in time honoured tradition, that I would list my 5 favourite records of the year so far. 2009 has been a 'steady' year so far, not quite the same excitement of the new (bon iver..fleet foxes..) as last year but some really good albums all the same. Lots still to come too with Wilco, Twilight Sad, Innocence Mission, MeCo and Mark Eitzel records on the horizon and the T&G diary positively full with gigs I'm attending in July/August. Anyway, the five best so far..

1. Bill Callahan 'Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle'

A clear winner thus far. A graceful set of songs from Mr Callahan, his finest for many a year. From the simple beauty of 'Jim Cain' to the quirky brilliance of 'My Friend' and 'All Thoughts Are Prey To Some Beast'. Best of the lot though, is the stunning 'Too Many Birds' with the stare-at-the-sky-beautiful unravelling of the line "if you could only stop your heartbeat for one heartbeat" being the musical highlight of the year so far.

2. M. Ward 'Hold Time'

Still not as magical as 'Transistor Radio' but 'Hold Time' is a retro feast for the years. Beautifully recorded and with some great tunes, Ward is the finest troubadour we have.

3. Broken Records 'Until The Earth Begins To Part'

Not for everyone. Your love for this record will depend on how you feel about windswept Waterboys-esque epics...sung with a Scottish accent. For me though, this is a fiery, passionate delight and I can't wait to see them play live.

4. Camera Obscura 'My Maudlin Career'

More Scots! Sad, lovelorn songs but strangely uplifting due to a sprinkling of fine tunes and Tracey-Anne Campbell's warm vocals. Perfect pop as it should be.

5. Fanfarlo 'Reservoir'

Out of nowhere this London based band produced a fine record of pop masterpieces, mixing the multi-instrumental sound of Beirut with the passion and drive of Arcade Fire. Great stuff and 'Comets' is the ballad Chris Martin wishes he'd written.

There's the five. Yes I know Bonnie Prince Billy didn't make it...and nor did Morrissey.

stay tuned.

Radiohead 'Last Flowers'

2009-06-11T06:06:00.000-07:00

Despite having 'In Rainbows' as one of the top 3 albums of the year in 2007, I never managed to (afford to) get one of the limited edition discboxes which featured a second cd of songs that didn't make the cut for the main album. Helpfully, if rather late, the band have now made disc 2 of 'In Rainbows' available to purchase in digital format from their website for a very reasonable £6.

It all sounds good, but in the main I am reminded of my thoughts when I heard the 'OK Computer' out-takes...."Good, but you can see why they didn't make the album". Here there are a couple of exceptions..

Most notably, 'Last Flowers', which is a fragile, plaintive ballad and honestly, one of the best things they have ever recorded. It is often pointless trying to fathom meanings behind Thom Yorke's lyrics, but often his unsettling words remind me of how I feel when I travel home from work after a really bad day. The sense of tension, anger and frustration, offset by a feeling of coming home and just the hint of warmth, of the sun coming out from behind a cloud.

Its all here in this startling little song. "Appliances have gone beserk/ I cannot keep up", he sings, alluding once again to the click and buzz of the modern world not sitting right with him. Later on there is the 100% Yorke-esque phrase "snot nosed little punk" and an acknowledgement that "I can't face the evening straight". He's on his way home but it is "too much, too bright, too powerful".

He sings it beautifully of course, his voice cracking at times. Musically, it is piano and acoustic guitar with the sense that more is lurking in the background, building silently.

Its the sort of song that reminds me that I love music.

catching up

2009-06-09T06:45:00.000-07:00

They don't allocate me time at work to write this blog, which seems a bit unfair really. Surely if I had time each day to catch up on new music and waffle on a bit about it, I'd be a far more relaxed member of staff. Never mind.

Anyway, I've got quite behind with stuff (both work and blog stuff as it goes!) and am just started to catch up. Have been listening to the new Manics and the new My Latest Novel via Spotify, not sure if either are worth a purchase yet. One album I am really liking is the new A Camp LP 'Colonia' which is Nina Persson from The Cardigan's new band. Lush sounding with loads of special guests and one starry-eyed duet, look out for a review soon.

In T&G bands related news...Mark Eitzel is releasing a solo LP and touring the UK this Autumn I hear. Dates when I have them. Eitzel is still responsible for 'The Greatest Gig I Have Ever Attended' so that will be a must go-to. Unlike the Broken Records ICA show tonight, which I now cannot attend due to the tube strike.

(loads) more soon. honestly...

Broken Records 'Until The Earth Begins To Part'

2009-06-05T05:45:00.000-07:00

Back in January I labelled Edinburgh's Broken Records as the band to watch this year. Between their early singles and the release of this debut LP, their sound has evolved a little from the Scottish Indie Arcade Fire of their early releases to the Big Music sound that you can hear on 'Until The Earth Begins To Part'. It takes some getting used to and it won't be to everyone's taste, but to my ears this is a wonderful, joyous record.

I can't imagine anyone reviewing this record will fail to mention The Waterboys, because the music is big, loud and epic and Jamie Sutherland's forceful, passionate vocals remind me of a young Mike Scott. The record is full of brush strokes.. piano, accordion, violins, cello, trumpet..all here. The music is dramatic, energetic and powerful.

But none of this would mean a thing if the songs didn't do the sound justice and in the main, they do. 'Nearly Home' is the perfect opener, building slowly and then crashing to a dramatic finale, Sutherland employing his falsetto vocal for the first time. The title track and 'If The News Makes You Sad, Don't Watch It' are anthemic stompers, 'Until The Earth...' in particular is a perfectly constructed feelgood folk-rock anthem, piano intro, slow build, big electric guitar chords in the background and then a huge, epic finish.

A whole record like this would be pretty exhausting though and luckily they don't attempt that. 'Wolves' and 'Ghosts' are the primary departures, both ballads and in the case of the former especially, really beautiful with some haunting piano and an effortless melody... they just about resist the temptation to turn it into 'November Rain'!

My only criticism here is that Sutherland has the 'passionometer' on his vocals turned up to 11 pretty much throughout, even when he is singing a quieter number with some restraint, you know he is just building up for a roll of the drums and a chance to cut loose again. Bruce Springsteen sounds subdued in comparison. It might not be to everyone's tastes.

You'd have to be pretty hard-hearted not to enjoy this though. Let's be honest, it sounds bloody good. Every instrument known to man is played here and while the lyrics break no new ground, all about love, unity etc (there are a few topical digs at politicians too, nothing more profound than "they don't speak for me"), you'll find yourself singing along. I have a strong suspicion that Broken Records would be completely awesome live and I will be testing this out on a couple of occasions in the near future.

Big, passionate, feel-good music. Nothing at all wrong with that.

9.2

['Until The Earth Begins To Part' is out now on cd/vinyl/dl on 4AD. Broken Records play the ICA on 9th June and support The National at RFH in August]

Magnolia Electric Co return with 'Josephine'

2009-06-01T07:22:00.000-07:00

The Summer of 2003 was maybe the hottest I remember and as I'm someone who dislikes hot weather, I don't have too many good memories of it. One thing I do recall with fondness is the nights I spent listening to Songs:Ohia's 'Magnolia Electric Co' LP, probably the finest alt.country record there is.

I remember being so happy when I finally received the vinyl version and could follow the instructions of 'Old Black Hen' and "play that black record".

Jason Molina has struggled to better it since, but as it is one of the few records that I genuinely regard as perfection, that isn't surprising. Anyway, Molina returns in July with 'Josephine', recorded with Steve Albini. The title track is available to listen to here : http://www.magnoliaelectricco.com/media and whilst I am loath to get too excited by preview mp3s, I will say this... Promising, very promising.

'Josephine' is out on July 20th on Secretly Canadian, Magnolia Electric Co play the following UK/Ireland dates in September:

9/02 - London, UK - Bush Hall
9/03 - Brighton, UK - Duke of Yorkshire Picture House
9/04 - Leeds, UK - Brudenell Social Club
9/05 - Stradbally, Ireland - Electric Picnic 2009
9/06 - Porthcrawl, UK - Seascape Festival at The Grand Pavillion
9/07 - London, UK - Institute Of Contemporary Arts

Fanfarlo 'Reservoir'

2009-06-01T00:58:00.001-07:00

Right on the other side of the hype-scale to Grizzly Bear comes the debut album from Fanfarlo. This London based band with a Swedish born singer have hardly received any press attention so far, possibly due to the fact that they have yet to sign to a record label and this cd is only available through their website or as a gorgeous, deluxe, hand-made version through Rough Trade shops.

As for their music, Fanfarlo's debut is an entirely pleasant, polished and assured record. If that doesn't excite you, I'd advise you to still give it a try because there's plenty to love here. The arrangements are lush, with use of just about every instrument you can think of. Trumpet and accordion often take centre stage ahead of guitars, which at times make the musical landscape resemble Beirut, whilst singer Simon Balthazar sounds a little like Wim Butler.

...and if you're looking for comparisons, Fanfarlo do sometimes sound an awful lot like Arcade Fire. The opening song 'I'm A Pilot' with its marching drums and chanting is a dead ringer for 'Windowsill' from 'Neon Bible'. The faster songs all follow this anthemic template, 'Walls' and 'Fire Escape' being the pick. Perhaps the best song here though is 'Comets'. It starts off dark and mysterious with clicking and whirring like a faulty hard drive but builds into a beautiful, wistful ballad, emotion but without ever going all Coldplay. It is far more confident and effortless than any band have the right to sound on their debut record.

You need to give this record time. I've owned it since April (just got the special edition too, which was the trigger for this review) and to begin with, the songs blended into one another a little and it took time to really distinguish them, get a feel for the melodies and learn to love this record as much as it deserves. There is excellent musicianship here, the songs are well crafted and you'll be singing along too. Why they haven't had more attention I don't know, but this is one of the records of the year so far.

9.0

['Reservoir' is out now via www.fanfarlo.com. The band play the ICA tomorrow (June 2)]

music gets no better

2009-05-30T09:19:00.000-07:00

I have reviews to write and new music to listen to. I know I do.

But, right now, listening to Tindersticks 'Live In Glasgow', just reminds me of how wonderful their live show was last year and hopefully will be again in July at the Serpentine Sessions.

Can't stop listening. Someone else make music this good then..

Grizzly Bear 'Veckatimest'

2009-05-28T03:36:00.000-07:00

Once bitten, twice shy. Around a year ago, I listened to the Fleet Foxes LP a few times, wasn't all that impressed and blogged about how it was a pleasant enough folky My Morning Jacket style effort but that it was majorly over-hyped. It didn't take me long to realise how wrong I was and I did admit my error several times on these pages, but I felt very silly nonetheless.

In terms of hype and potential mainstream-crossover-potential, 'Veckatimest' from Brooklyn four-piece Grizzly Bear, could be this year's 'Fleet Foxes', or so they say. Firstly, I should say it doesn't really sound much like Fleet Foxes, and certainly nothing at all like Bon Iver, which was a claim I saw presented in a local 'record shop' the other day. There is a vague similarity with the former, in that both bands mix a folky sound with Beach Boys style pop harmonies but I'd be surprised if this crosses over as much as 'Fleet Foxes' did, simply because there are no big catchy ballads in the style of 'He Doesn't Know Why' or 'Your Protector'. Its a more 'difficult' record in many ways.

"Our haven on the Southern point is calling us" is the first line of the anthemic drum-heavy opener, followed by the piano-led, catchy as hell 'Two Weeks'. These two tracks are as upbeat and immediate as things get. From here, the record shifts into an intricate soundscape that is at times beautiful to listen to, but at other times hard to engage with.

Melodies drift in and out, along with harmonies and loops. 'Dory', for example, has an ambient feel reminiscent of Animal Collective but is underpinned by a harsh electric guitar riff. 'Cheerleader' starts off with a bouncy bassline but twists into a rich and soulful groove with harmonies and a choir.

Every style under the sun is here somewhere and this is undoubtably a meticulously envisaged and executed piece of work. It is never less than a pleasure to listen to, but I wonder how many times in the future I am going to feel a desire to listen to a record that is such hard work, reveals so little of itself and is at times just as distant and isolated as the tiny island where it was recorded.

The pop flourishes at the start of the album will make you try hard to warm to it, but this is a challenging record that will require a lot of your time. For some that may be a good thing, but it left me feeling just a little disappointed.

6.7

Fanfarlo 'Resevoir' special edition

2009-05-27T06:09:00.000-07:00

T&G has had an extremely busy week at work thus far. Yes, I do have to go to work to earn the money to buy the records that I write about here. Just not fair.

My listening so far this week has been dominated by the new Grizzly Bear LP (review soon) and the Fanfarlo album that is probably UK record of the year so far. The latter is now out on a supremely limited (500) edition, hand-packaged by the band, only available from Rough Trade shops and website. Suggest you get this now.

More on both records soon...

Bob Dylan 'Together Through Life'

2009-05-24T07:07:00.000-07:00

..probably the only UK Number 1 album that I will review this year, or most likely even listen to.

I had a major Bob Dylan phase a few years ago. I think this happens to everyone at some point in their lives. For a while I only wanted to listen to Dylan and going through his career's work discovering all the gems and the duds was a real joy. I even had a fondness for some of his later work, its easy to love the 60s stuff but tucked away in his late 70s/ early 80s output were a couple of diamonds, including the utterly gorgeous 'Every Grain Of Sand'.

This phase lasted until I saw Dylan play live. This was monumentally disappointing for me, even though I knew pretty much what to expect. From what I could make out, his band jammed for an hour and a half, occasionally I realised which song Dylan was singing. There are apparently special nights when Dylan might play guitar, play a song like 'Every Grain of Sand' or 'Gotta Serve Somebody' or just generally seem more interested than usual. The show I saw wasn't one of them. I saw Kris Kristofferson play live a few years back, I'm not a fan of his but it was a captivating night where he told stories, charmed the audience and played stripped down renditions of his songs. Hard to know why Dylan can't/won't do something like that.

Since 'Time Out Of Mind', Dylan's records seemed to have declined in quality with each release, but even 2006's 'Modern Times' had the regal 'Nettie Moore' and the triumphant 'Workingman's Blues', so I had some hope for this record.

Unfortunately it is one of Dylan's poorest efforts. A lazy, tired sounding record that few would give the time of day if it was not a Bob Dylan album. His band play a mid-tempo blues throughout the album and Dylan sings with a voice that is now little more than a rasp and a gurgle over the top. Its fine, Dylan is clearly enjoying singing old-style blues numbers each night but there is nothing of a superior quality here and nothing that would make you feel anything in particular.

Contrary to what has been written in some music magazines, it isn't a lot of fun either and it certainly isn't "a blast". Uncut wrote the following about the song 'If You Ever Go To Houston'...."the band kick up dust like people who turn up at a party and before you know it are blowing doors off the hinges, juggling cats and running around with their hair on fire". Funny that, because all I hear is a mid-tempo, ultra repetitive blues with some vaguely humourous lyrics sung by a guy having some fun.

Thats all. No more, no less. Nothing to get excited about here.

5.6

['Together Through Life' is out now on Columbia. As if you didn't know.]

Goodbye Plan B

2009-05-22T07:38:00.000-07:00

2003 suddenly seems like a long, long time ago.

I took a week off in Feb 2003, to basically follow Low around the country for a week, partly with my friend Jason. We saw them play four times and had a great time touring record shops in the cities we visited. Almost all of those record shops are now closed. I also remember discovering a couple of new magazines back then...

'Comes With A Smile' was a terrific fanzine, which seemed to focus mainly on bands I really liked...or bands that I would learn to love after reading about them in CWAS. I became a subscriber and was so upset when CWAS folded back in 2006.

'Foggy Notions' was a decent indie mag from Ireland. No new issues have appeared since 2008 although it is to relaunch as an online mag soon.

'Careless Talk Costs Lives', edited by Everett True, became 'Plan B' which was the last bastion of quality alternative music mags. It was sometimes a little too alternative for my own tastes (I often hadn't heard of a lot of the artists featured) but I discovered several new bands through it and always bought it. It was a magazine that reviewed albums honestly and passionately, which is more than can be said about certain other more mainstream magazines that I have heard various horror stories about.

June's Plan B will be the last. Its another sad day.
Keep buying records people, before this gets even worse.

Mark Kozelek 'Lost Verses, Live'

2009-05-21T06:43:00.000-07:00

Mark Kozelek continues his quest to become known as the most prolific recording artist around at the moment. Since April last year, he has released, by my count, a studio album, a covers album, FOUR live albums including this one and a book with a live EP. A lot of this stuff has been non-essential and just when you get to the point where you think "why am I still buying all these live LPs', 'Lost Verses' makes everything fall into place.

Recorded live at various venues in the U.S and Europe over the last year, 'Lost Verses' feature Kozelek playing his songs on guitar with only second guitarist Phil Carney accompanying him. The cd packaging bills this as a "greatest hits" set, but it is nothing of the sort, there is only one Red House Painters song and eight of the tracks are from last year's 'April' album. Kozelek 'solo' gigs can be hit and miss affairs and it often depends on the venue. I saw him play the Bar Academy in Islington a few years ago and poor sound combined with an audience who were more interested in ordering drinks than listening to the music combined to make it a poor show, but in more refined surroundings, these shows can be pure gold. This is why Kozelek's show at The Union Chapel in July should be excellent and why these recordings, with some from The First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia and The Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, sound so good.

The songs are clearly recorded and sound so melancholy and stark. Rather than concentrating on individual songs, the record works as one whole piece especially with Kozelek's good humoured (and this isn't always the case when you see him live!) banter between songs. The songs from 'April' work so well like this, 'Heron Blue' is full of tension and 'Harper Road' is warm and homely, sung beautifully by Kozelek. Perhaps best of all is a brief, haunting version of 'Salvadore Sanchez', Kozelek's song about a deceased boxer.

I'm not sure why this album works better than the other live albums he has put out recently, maybe it indicates what a superb record 'April' is, but you'll find yourself playing this again and again and enjoying the flow of the music. It may even be the best introduction to Kozelek's music that there is.

This is music to lose yourself in.

9.0

['Lost Verses' is out now on cd from Caldo Verde, it will be released in June on vinyl with a free EP of bonus tracks. Kozelek plays The Union Chapel in July.]

Jason Lytle 'Yours Truly The Commuter'

2009-05-19T07:34:00.000-07:00

Jason Lytle, one-time Grandaddy frontman, returns with a new album which sounds so much like a Grandaddy record that you have to wonder why he needed to go solo.

Obviously the dreamy, floating vocals are still there but so is the mix of electronics and acoustics, sad vocals over jaunty melodies and the feeling, present on the last two Grandaddy albums, that an opportunity has been missed ever so slightly.

Lytle starts off with his most strident song, the title track, with its "I may be limping/ but I'm coming home" refrain and some crunchy guitar. The album is frontloaded with the livelier radio-friendly tunes, including 'It's The Weekend', which sounds like something by the Wannadies used by Sky Sports in the mid 90s.

The better stuff is the more experimental, 'This Song is the Mute Button' is minimal and stark and 'Brand New Sun' is the electro-folk cousin of Grandaddy's 'Now Its On'.

This is a really nice sounding record. Lyrically, Lytle offers a critique of the stresses and strains of the modern world, a good subject from someone who has recently escaped it all to live in the Countryside. He sounds at peace here and has made a breezy, enjoyable record that doesn't challenge but will please his fans.

7.2

['Yours Truly The Commuter' is out now on cd/LP from Anti]

God Help The Girl 'God Help The Girl'

2009-05-16T22:26:00.000-07:00

So I obtained a promo of God Help The Girl, the new project from Belle & Sebastian's Stuart Murdoch. It is a story set to music, with a film to follow, sung by Stuart and several guest vocalists. Murdoch has been working on this for some time, as evidenced by the fact that two of the songs here originally appeared on Belle & Sebastian's excellent 'The Life Pursuit' sung by Murdoch, although they were penned with this project and another singer in mind.

The trouble with concept pieces like this is that it can be difficult to devote attention equally to enjoying the music and following the story. This was a slight problem on the Decemberists' superb 'The Hazards of Love' and is more of an issue here, largely because the three female vocalists have relatively similar voices. The story centres around the main character, Eve, who is voiced by Catherine Ireton, sings "there is no way I'm looking for a boyfriend" and then proceeds to fall in and out of love as the record progresses.

Musically, the sound is lush. Lots of piano and lots and lots of strings, it was recorded with a 45 piece orchestra. All sounds fantasic, yet somehow I found it deeply....annoying and at times it reminded me of an episode of 'How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?'. Much of it is fine, 'Pretty Eve In The Tub', sung by Murdoch over a plink-plonk piano is funny, sinister and then beautiful, 'Come Monday Night' is a torch song for those who feel overworked, underpaid and overstressed and is sung with much warmth by Ireton and 'I'll Have To Dance With Cassie' (which should really be the finale) is a joyous 'let's do the show right here' stomp.

But, what could be a great EP is fleshed out into an inconsistent and repetitive LP. There is a truly dismal karaoke re-working of B&S's 'Funny Little Frog, inconsequential instrumentals and fluff like 'I Just Want His Jeans'. One of the record's strongest aspects, the blend of Murdoch's and Ireton's voices, is underused with show-tune 'Hiding Neath My Umbrella' being the only real duet.

Its a shame, because this is a great concept, on paper it sounds great but on record doesn't quite cut it. The film on the other hand, may well be brilliant.

6.0

['God Help The Girl' is out in June on Rough Trade in UK and Matador in US. There is a pre-order deal with bonus tracks etc. check out www.godhelpthegirl.com ]

Bill Callahan UK dates

2009-05-15T09:27:00.000-07:00

Finally...the man responsible for easily the finest album of the year so far is touring the UK. Bill Callahan returns to the Union Chapel on August 19th. Having seen him play there back in 2003 and enjoyed a stunning gig, I will be there in August. Tickets are on sale now via Ticketweb.

He will also play Duke of Yorks in Brighton on August 18th, the Stereo in Glasgow on the 23rd andthe Thekla in Bristol on the 26th.

Hope Jim White is on the drums..

back from holiday

2009-05-15T08:36:00.000-07:00

Tracks&Gigs is back from a week's holiday!

Unfortunately this was supposed to have been kicked off by seeing Morrissey live at the Albert Hall on Monday, but he cancelled so I have nothing to report on that.

Have now got lots of catching up to do on various new releases and a couple of promos so expect a lot of posts in the next couple of days..

new Twilight Sad song and tour

2009-05-08T06:58:00.000-07:00

T&G favourites The Twilight Sad are finally close to releasing their long awaited second album, the follow up to 2007's awesome 'Fourteen Autumns, Fifteen Winters'. No release date yet, but September is the rumour.

Gideon Coe played a song from the album, entitled 'Downstairs', on wednesday night on 6 Music. You can hear the song by using the 'listen again' feature on said radio station's website. It sounds unsurprisingly brilliant, tense, dark and powerful. There's definitely a bit of Joy Division in there. Sounds like they have gone with the slow, brooding sound that they used on the 'Here It Never Snowed...' EP but who knows what the rest of the record sounds like?

Well, if you want to know, you may well find out some more by attending one of the recently announced UK gigs listed below...

13 May - Rainbow, Birmingham, UK
14 May - Water Margin, Brighton, UK (The Great Escape)
15 May - Audio, Brighton, UK (The Great Escape)
17 May - Bullingdon Arms, Oxford, UK
19 May - Joiners Arms, Southampton, UK
20 May - Fleece, Bristol, UK
21 May - Stag & Dagger, London, UK
22 May - Stag & Dagger, Leeds, UK
23 May - Stag & Dagger, Glasgow, UK

Single of the Week

2009-05-07T07:39:00.000-07:00

runner up this week is Stuart Murdoch's 'God Help The Girl' project's 'Come Monday Night', which I blogged about in April..

BUT...single of the week...and on 4AD is..

Broken Records 'Until The Earth Begins To Part'

I blogged about these super Scotsmen in January and they are going to be HUGE. This single is a thing of wonder, soaring, uplifting and quite quite glorious. Trouble is, all the bands I want to compare them to (with the exception of Arcade Fire) are horribly unfashionable (hang on, are Arcade Fire fashionable now?) so I am going to whisper the following words. del. amitri. the. waterboys. Yes! Its the BIG MUSIC!

Enough. Single of the Week! Out on 4AD on Monday on lovely vinyl and horrible download. They're playing the ICA in June don't ya know. Can't wait for the album.

Morrissey 'Maladjusted - re-presentation'

2009-05-07T06:58:00.000-07:00

Unlike with 'Southpaw Grammar', I don't have particular memories of listening to 'Maladjusted' all that much first time around. I do recall that I had a promo and was fond of the lawyer-baiting 'Sorrow Will Come In The End', finding it amusing and brave (not so brave to pull it from the final release though!) and I thought 'Alma Matters' was an ok single, catchy but slight. Since news of this re-issue/representation etc etc broke, I have read nothing but condemnation of 'Maladjusted' and pretty universal acceptance of the view that this is Morrissey's worst album, a shambolic mess. So, with some trepedation, I purchased it anyway and have been listening to it a lot this past week.

As with 'Southpaw..' Morrissey has tinkered with the track listing, a more serious tinkering this time. Five songs are added, two removed and in this case this really does have the effect of creating a very different sounding album. The two songs removed are both "character" songs whereas the songs that come in feel more personal, and this, along with the frequently used piano and acoustic guitar creates a record that is ballad-heavy and much much lighter that 'Southpaw..' or any of Morrissey's music since.

Generally it works well. The first two tracks (the title track and 'Ambitious Outsiders') are atypically dark but 'Trouble Loves Me' which follows is beautiful. A rich ballad on a par with some Smiths classics it has humour too ("on the flesh rampage/ at your age"). There are a fair few songs which follow this formula... sad lyrics, acoustic guitar, piano and Morrissey singing more softly than he often does, more his "I Know Its Over" voice than his "Panic" voice. 'Lost' is excellent too and I wonder why it was omitted from the original album, perhaps the lyrics ("if i see you and i tell you/ that i've watched you/ don't make fun of me later/ cos i'm just lost") were deemed unsuitable to musical trends and national moods in 1997, but when did Morrissey ever want to fit in?

Perhaps the slight problem here is a lack of variety. Most of the songs are sorrowful, dignified and pleasant to the ear. 'He Cried', 'Now I Am A Was' and 'Wide To Receive' all blend into one a little. 'This Is Not Your Country' is a thoughtful, slow ballad about Northern Ireland and 'Satan Rejected My Soul' is livelier but 'Alma Matters' and 'I Can Have Both' are Mozz by numbers.

Other reviews I have read of 'Maladjusted', especially a one-star review (in both senses) in Uncut have dismissed the album as lazy and lacking in ideas and tunes. Its nothing of the sort, Morrissey evidently put a lot of effort into this record and his singing is superb. He could have put ten of the sad, mournful ballads onto one album and it would have been one of his best but would anyone in 1997 have wanted to hear that anyway?

This re-presentation is another excellent release, beautifully packaged and with more illuminating sleeve notes. 'Maladjusted' is nowhere near as bad as most people will have you believe.

7.4

['Maladjusted' is out now. Morrissey plays the Albert Hall next week!]

Serpentine Sessions

2009-05-05T06:09:00.000-07:00

Surely the gig of the year will take place in London on July 1st as Tindersticks play Hyde Park as part of the 'Serpentine Sessions' series of gigs.

Nice to see a series of gigs with multiple bands playing that is focussing on bands on independent labels. The headliners over the three nights are Tindersticks, Regina Spektor and Bon Iver with more bands for each night to be announced soon.

Full details here
http://www.serpentinesessions.com/home/index.aspx

It does sound like a great concept, and having seen Tindersticks play an absolutely amazing outdoor show at Somerset House in 2002, I already have tickets for 1 July and suggest you get some too...

Morrissey 'Southpaw Grammar' re-presentation

2009-05-01T06:23:00.000-07:00

In 1994, Morrissey released 'Vauxhall and I', an excellent and consistent record that mixed Morrissey's perspective on his various troubles at the time with some lighter, character-based songs such as career-highlight 'Now My Heart Is Full' with its "loafing oafs in all night chemists". As I was a bit too young to fully appreciate The Smiths back in the 80s, this was the album that made me grow to love Morrissey's songs and I look back on 'Vauxhall and I' with nostalgia now. Its hard to believe it was 15 years ago.

Just a year later, when Steven Patrick came to record the follow up album, Britpop was in full swing. He could have attempted a bandwagon-jump and made an album full of cheeky ditties about loveable cockney rogues....but it was never likely that he would want to do that and so came 'Southpaw Grammar', a difficult album then and a record that was all but written off by the music press at the time. For me, it was a seriously under-rated collection of songs. If my memory serves me correctly it was released on a bank holiday and I remember playing it and thinking "thank goodness, he hasn't done what the NME would have wanted him to do".

'Southpaw Grammar' contained some of the most powerful songs of Morrissey's career. Just eight songs long and bookended by two ten-minute epics, it was as far from 'Parklife' as could be. It is also one of the most musically-minded Morrissey albums. Recorded with simply two guitars, a bass and drums, it is murky and claustrophobic but on the long songs in particular, the drums and guitars are given free reign to such an extent that the swirling coda to the 11-minute 'The Teachers Are Afraid of the Pupils' is thrilling even without any input from SPM himself.

On the original release, the middle section of the album contained the shorter, more comercial sounding songs and here on this 're-presentation', Morrissey front-loads the album with these songs...possibly the only thing that could have saved it commercially at the time. It starts, then, with a spring in the step, 'The Boy Racer' is typical Morrissey knock-about.."he thinks he's got the whole world in his hands/ standing at the urinal", while 'Dagenham Dave' ("I love Karen/ I love Sharon/ on the windowscreen") could have been on any 90s Mozzer album, but is fun nonetheless. Elsewhere, 'Just Do Your Best and Don't Worry' offers re-assurance to a friend and 'Reader Meet Author' may just contain yet another attack on the NME.

This time around then, the darker, longer and more majestic songs ('The Operation', 'Southpaw' and the magnificent 'The Teachers...') come later, only for a couple of songs that didn't make the original cut to close the album. 'You Should Have Been Nice to Me' is the best, light and wistful, its a mystery why it was left off back in '95.

The other new additions don't really add to the record that much but what make this re-release even more essential is the new artwork, with some nice photos of Mozz and more importantly, the simply enthralling sleeve notes written by the man himself which reveal much about Morrissey at the time and also show that if he ever penned a memoir, it would be likely to rival 'Chronicles'.

I hadn't played 'Southpaw Grammar' much in the last few years and now I wonder why that is. It is a great record, powerful and triumphant, one of his best. It serves as evidence that sometimes an album is judged on how it fits in with the times, rather than on its quality. Morrissey went on to make 'Maladjusted' two years later before taking a seven year sabbatical. I'll take a look at the re-issued 'Maladjusted' next week.

9.0

['Southpaw Grammar' has been re-presented by Morrissey and is out now on beautifully packaged cd]

treasure

2009-04-27T06:06:00.000-07:00

Still we wait for the new LP from the incomparable Innocence Mission. It is due sometime soon it would seem and last year's 'Steet Map' was a wonderful taster. Since The Innocence Mission are undoubtably a Spring or Winter band, they should hurry and get it released as soon as possible.

This morning, leaving the house early to go swimming I selected 'We Walked In Song' (their last LP..from 2007) on my ipod and it was perfect. Sitting on the train, watching the sun rise and listening to the most gentle, serene and moving music. The really great albums, the ones you would call favourites are the ones that you play without thinking about it, the ones you find yourself turning to automatically.

Its hard to believe we are already a third of the way through the year. We've had some pretty good releases already this year. When I think about which ones may be beyond good...albums that I will be playing for years to come, I think of M Ward's 'Hold Time' and Bill Callahan's 'Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle'. Callahan's LP especially, still sounds wonderful. Its one of the best sounding records I've heard in a long time. There's been some amusing discussions and differing opinions on the Smog mailing list, but for me it is one of his best albums. Other records have come and gone this year, sounded great at times, but those two are my favourites thus far.

I'll be reviewing Morrissey's re-issued, re-packaged, re-presented, re-sequenced 'Southpaw Grammar' in a few days time. For me, unlike the similarly re-done 'Maladjusted', SG was always a very good album, unfairly derided. Its easy to forget that it was released in the middle of Britpop, when lengthy, wordy, dirge style songs were the least fashionable thing going. Morrissey never did care too much for trends.

Also will be writing about the Handsome Family and Art Brut albums in the days to come.

and I have heard a whisper of some very exciting news for UK people who are fans of a T&G favourite. But I'm not allowed to say anything yet.....

Great Lake Swimmers 'Lost Channels'

2009-04-23T06:44:00.000-07:00

Previous albums by Toronto's Great Lake Swimmers have been, to my ears at least, pleasant but somewhat lacking in drive. Songs floated in and out, as light as a feather and sometimes barely there, they made early-Low sound like AC/DC. I guess they belong(ed) to this ambient-folk genre, inhabited by the likes of Iron and Wine, excellent for stroking beards to and occasionally liable to cause you to tap your foot (ever so gently) but not all that memorable.

With 'Lost Channels', GLS have changed direction slightly and moved more into folk-rock territory. Acoustic guitars are all over this record but rather than being gently picked, they weave some beautiful and catchy melodies. Singer Tony Dekker's voice sounds stronger and the band seem to have a new confidence. In particular 'Pulling On A Line' is so catchy and familiar that it could be a hit single, while 'She Comes To Me In Dreams' is poppy and a feel-good Summer song.

There are more melancholy pieces such as the mandolin-led 'Palmistry' and the heartfelt 'Everything Is Moving So Fast'. The record flows beautifully, no song outstays its welcome and the whole thing sounds, sorry to use this word, positively 'dreamy'. Fans of Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes will find lots to love here.

8.4

['Lost Channels' is out now. GLS tour the UK in May]

Camera Obscura 'My Maudlin Career'

2009-04-20T07:00:00.001-07:00

I ran a 10k race at the weekend. Clearly this has little to do with Camera Obscura's new LP, except to say that melodies from these songs were bouncing round my head as I ran and at that point I had only listened to the album twice. There are some seriously catchy tunes here!

Camera Obscura's fourth album is a lively mix of upbeat 60s sounding pop tunes and torch ballads. It is an almost perfect 50/50 mix. Lyrically, the album is concerned with matters of the heart, generally the bouncy, upbeat tracks document love arriving and blossoming whilst the ballads are usually 'maudlin' break up songs. Most notably, 'James' is a real heart-on-sleeve tearjerker, sung beautifully by Traceyanne Campbell, and if it is a true story, she pulls no punches. Its a song about what to do when love disappears and whether it is possible to still be friends. The answer seems to be "no". 'Away With Murder' and 'Other Towns And Cities' chart a similar course, mixing sadness with bitterness over swooning strings.

Elsewhere though, 'My Maudlin Career' is full of joyful, vibrant sounds. 'French Navy' is a stirring, buoyant account of falling in love and 'Swans' is just the catchiest thing you will ever hear; a song extolling the virtues of travelling the world, with more than one catchy melody and a central one that sounds like it should be used as the theme to a kids tv show.

The downbeat ballads probably just about hold sway, meaning that the record has a predominant sense of melancholy with fleeting glimpses of joy. The music is lush throughout though, the strings and rich vocals give the record a cinematic sound and it feels like a throwback to the music of the 60s. It feels good and it sounds great.

9.0

['My Maudlin Career' is out now on 4AD]

Fanfarlo 'Reservoir'

2009-04-17T07:31:00.000-07:00

Record Store Day reminder

2009-04-16T07:55:00.000-07:00

There will be a reviews of the Fanfarlo and Camera Obscura albums in the next day or two, but just a reminder that this saturday is RECORD STORE DAY. There's loads of limited edition vinyl being released on the day and loads of bands playing in shops. It should be a brilliant day. TracksandGigs will be at Rough Trade East, Pure Groove and Sister Ray and will report back on Sunday. Find your nearest participating shop here:

http://www.recordstoreday.com/Home

I'm currently reading a great book called 'Last Shop Standing - whatever happened to record shops' and, despite being a brilliant read, it is enough to make you weep. Get out and support your local record shop on Saturday - they need all the help they can get.