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!
Saturday, 4 July 2009
Friday, 3 July 2009
still alive
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...
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...
Saturday, 27 June 2009
Wilco 'Wilco (The Album)'
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]
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]
Friday, 26 June 2009
new Fleet Foxes song...
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
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
Tuesday, 23 June 2009
Foreign Born 'Person To Person'
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]
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]
Monday, 22 June 2009
Looking For Eric (directed by Ken Roach)
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]
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]
Friday, 19 June 2009
Foreign Born
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!
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!
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