Twilight Sad tour cd

Apologies for lack of updates. Likeanyoneisbothered. Haven't had time to listen to albums, let alone review them lately.

Anyway, news reaches me that the utterly brilliant Twilight Sad (check the archives for reviews) are releasing a limited edition EP which is a marvellous mix of live tracks and covers. TracksandGigs particularly wants to hear their version of 'Half A Person'. Unfortunately, the EP which is brilliantly named 'The Twilight Sad Killed My Parents and Went On The Road' is only available at their European shows, supporting Mogwai. I will eat my hat if it isn't released through their Myspace or somewhere soon though, so keep an eye out. Track listing below:

01 Walking for Two Hours (live)
02 That Summer, At Home I Had Become the Invisible Boy (live)
03 Untitled #28
04 Cold Days From the Birdhouse (live)
05 And She Would Darken the Memory (live)
06 Twenty Four Hours [Joy Division cover]
07 The Weather Is Bad
08 Half a Person [The Smiths cover]
09 Untitled #27
10 Modern Romance [Yeah Yeah Yeahs cover]
11 I Was Hoping the Winter Was Over

single of the week

Before announcing this week's Single of The Week...I have to recommend the film 'Burn After Reading' which is the second best movie I have seen this year. Extremely funny but also very clever and ultimately, strangely heartwarming. Go see it....go on...

Single of the week goes to Denison Witmer's 'Beautiful Boys and Girls', a song which I intitially found disappointing. Denison's last two albums proper, 'Philadelphia Songs' and 'Are You A Dreamer' were both lovely, delicate collections of songs and in the case of the latter, a record to remind you to look for the good things in life and ignore worries. This single, the first from Denison's new LP 'Carry The Weight' (out Nov 10), is a little different. On first few listens it may sound a little repetitive and laboured but once you get used to it, it becomes a hazy, warm Autumnal song...all Jackson Browne vocals and laidback guitar. Its out now on digital release only and can be heard on Denison's Myspace.

The Dears 'Missiles'

I've never been a fan of The Dears. I bought their last but one album after being told it sounded like The Smiths, obviously I was disappointed when it sounded like nothing of the sort. I decided to give them another try and purchased this one after hearing that pretty much all of the band had left during the recording of 'Missiles', leaving just singer-songwriter Murray Lightburn, his wife, singer/keyboardist Natalia Yanchak and several new recruits. The resulting record is such a labour of love that the band have posted Italo Calvino-style instructions on how to listen to it on their website.

However you choose to hear it, you won't miss the general air of tension and unease that feels the record. Lightburn sounds like a man trying to keep it together whilst everything falls apart around him. "People are saying you're wrong/ but I think you're on to something" he sings on 'Meltdown in A Major' and there are frequent references to work, keeping going and God.

The music is lush and easy on the ears. Guitars and keyboards are frequently embelished by strings and brass. Several songs have extended codas that take them to a different place entirely- this doesn't always work, 'Lights Out' is a pretty lullaby which is transformed rather disappointingly into a prog-epic but on a song like 'Missiles', the build up of tension leads perfectly into the electric guitar driven finale. Similarly 'Meltdown In A Minor' builds into a stirring crescendo and is a portrait of a man on the edge.

There is a lot to take in and this is an hour long album with several songs longer than 6 minutes but The Dears are correct to say that this is a record that should be listened to as a whole. In particular, the final three songs fit perfectly together leading up to 'Saviour' which is an 11 minute epic with a children's choir and a plea for redemption ....way better and more restrained than it sounds!

Through adversity The Dears have made their best and most original record yet.

7.5

['Missiles' is out now on cd only we believe.]

Pavement 'Brighten The Corners- The Nicene Creedence Edition'

When ATP asked for fans to vote for the bands they would most like to see play their festival a couple of years ago, Pavement, despite having split up almost a decade ago, were at the very top of the list.

Its easy to see why. Of all the successful alt.rock bands of the 90s, Pavement are pretty much the only ones not to do a reunion tour yet, they also boast the most consistent body of work of any of those bands AND they have kept themselves in the picture by undertaking just about the most comprehensive re-issue series I can remember. Every two years, a Pavement album is lovingly remastered and repackaged with a quite stunning amount of bonus tracks. It is a labour of love taken on by band members and Matador Records. So, 11 years since it was released, we now come to 'Brighten The Corners'.

It is still exciting to hear the opening bassline of 'Stereo' giving way to explosive guitar feedback, heralding one of the great rock songs of the 90s. 'Shady Lane', which follows, is a gorgeous woozy ballad with some left-field but touching lyrics. In fact, 'Brighten The Corners' is probably the high point of Malkmus' Pavement lyrics, there are so many clever/funny lines on this album that it would be wrong to pick a few or even list all of them, they just need to be heard and enjoyed. This is probably the most straight-forward Pavement album, full of anthems (even if they are anti-anthems) and slower songs, there is nothing difficult here.

Along with 'Crooked Rain...' it is also Pavement's most affecting album. Although Malkmus rarely seems to be singing about himself, songs like 'Type Slowly' tug the heartstrings while 'We Are Underused' is the classic Pavement slacker-anthem and simply demands that you sing along. Pavement fans could argue all day about which album is their best, but this is a strong contender. Great guitar riffs, supremely witty lyrics and Stephen Malkmus sounding better than he ever had...up to that point. One of the best alt.rock albums of the 90s.

As far as the extras go....there are 42 songs in total on this release. If you pre-order the album you will also get a bonus live vinyl LP (which we'll review at a later date), but the 2cd's bonus tracks include pretty much everything you could possibly find from this era in the way of radio sessions, b sides, outtakes etc. For me, it is a joy to hear two versions of 'Harness Your Hopes', already one of my favourite Pavement songs and a couple of work-in-progress versions of what turned out to be 'The Hexx'. There are also a couple of previously unreleased outtakes from the BTC sessions, both of which are excellent.

If you are a Pavement fan, you must buy this. If you want to know what all the fuss was/is about, this or 'Crooked Rain...' are the best places to start.

9.5

['Brighten The Corners...' is out in Novemeber, but if you pre-order NOW from Matador Records you get a stream of the album to listen to right now and all manner of goodies leading up the release date. Seriously one of the best reissue packages I have ever seen]

most annoying song of the week

by a long way...

Keane 'Playing Along'

heard this on Radio 6 on Monday. have no desire to ever hear it again.

just thought i would mention this.

The Mountain Goats 'Satanic Messiah'

Nice to see bands getting inventive with the ways they are releasing music. Plenty of artists now have 'pre-order and get a download now' type deals, Matador Records are doing a completely awesome pre-ordering package for the Pavement 'Brighten The Corners' re-issue (which T&G will be writing extensively about very soon) and now John Darnielle and The Mountain Goats have released a limited EP which you can download now at http://satanic messiah.com . Price? No, none. Pay what you like or pay nothing if you are very mean, considering the record wasn't free to make. The site has a paypal and google checkout link and you can choose what you pay, radiohead style. Good stuff. The EP is also out on limited double 7" which currrently seems only to be available at shows in the U.S but will probably be on ebay soon for £sillymoney.

The music itself is nice. Pretty much exclusively acoustic guitar, piano and voice. The songs sound more 'Get Lonely' than 'Heretic Pride', the storytelling in the lyrics is excellent and 'Gojam Province 1968' is the highlight; impossibly sad and pretty. Its also notable for a song which, even for a band who have some excellent song-titles, has to have the coolest name yet.....'Wizard Buys A Hat'!

This is a worthy addition to TMG's mighty cannon and is well worth the standard price of an EP. Would like to see the vinyl available on this side of the Atlantic though...so much nicer than a folder of mp3s!

7.666

['Satanic Messiah' is out now to download at satanicmessiah.com . check the mountain goats website for details of physical formats]

American Music Club 'Mercury demos'

1991's 'Everclear' seems to have been pretty much universally accepted as the classic AMC album, but some fans have held the belief that the follow up album 'Mercury' contains the better songs. To these ears anyway, that album had huge potential but was dragged down by Mitchell Froom's stodgy production which now makes the record sound ridiculously dated since it is only 15 years old.

This collection of demos for 'Mercury', available at shows and via AMC's website, lets us hear how it could have sounded and the results are stunning. Without Froom's fussy production the songs can breathe and in some cases sound as good as the live versions Eitzel has been playing for years. 'Apology For An Accident' is absolutely sensationalwith a gripping, edgy vocal performance from Eitzel and a terrific guitar break, 'What Godzilla Said To God...' is lighter than the album version, sounding more like Eitzel's solo recording from 'Songs of Love Live' and 'Gratitude Walks' reminds me of the way they played it at the 2004 reunion shows.

As if this wasn't enough there are some songs that didn't make it on the album. Some have already appeared as b sides but 'Crystal Always Knows' is, to me at least, completely new and a great addition to AMC's cannon. The only gripe with this is that there is no demo of 'Johnny Mathis' Feet', one of Eitzel's finest songs and one of the highlights of 'Mercury', but I guess that is because it was written late.

This is not really an unbiased review as I am an AMC fan, but if you are remotely interested in Eitzel, AMC or discovering the work of one of the World's greatest songwriters, you should buy this.

9.0

['Mercury Demos' are out now via Decor Records in the UK]