3 to make study pass a little quicker

I've been studying rather hard of late. It's great I've been really relishing my exams and every exam is a joyous two hour window in which I have a great opportunity to splurge my learning all over the sheet.

'I'm a fuck man, I mean me only really human quality to speak of is a fondness for Celtic mysticism' - Colm Meaney (as Garda Jerry Lynch in Intermission)

I notice from my blog view statistics that the majority of people who read this are from the USA, in fact big shout out to Germany coming in a number 4 too. I have a soft spot for the Germans mostly due to the quality of their football team. So yes for you American folk, Intermission is an Irish movie you'll enjoy it.

Whole thing available on youtube

Intermission Part 1

So in a nod to Intermission here is Clannad and some of that Celtic Mysticism.

Making my study a whole lot more enjoyable has been Italian prog rock maestros French Teen Idol. 

To round off the three I have chosen The Church. Not JC but rather a collection of Aussie rockers, from their brilliant album Starfish; Reptile

I could live here dressed in honey.

From there to here: Slowdive to Mojave 3

Apologies for the text and colour etc, it just started happening I don't know how to get rid of it. 
Slowdive, one of those Creation Records bands; Alison. 


'I'll wear your clothes when we're both high
Alison I said were sinking
but she laughs and tells me its just fine'


Somehow the three lines really manage to convey who and where Alison and the persona are in their lives. The soft ambient swirling of the guitars and the formidable yet tender wall of sound is simply breathtaking. It feels like swimming in some sort of warm vibrating jelly-like substance

Mojave 3 rose like a phoenix from the flames of Slowdive.Neil Halstead, Rachel Goswell and Ian McCutcheon (potentially a relative of Martine McCutcheon whom I found very arousing in Love Actually). Their sound is a folked out more acoustic version of Slowdive the vocalists are the same. Ask Me Tomorrow is a lovely album a really mellow, warm yet haunting effort. The opening track Love Songs On The Radio is my pick of the lot upon initial listens. The closing track Mercy is equally wonderful.

3 with female vocalists

Hope Sandoval's voice is a bit like floating in a cloud of warm ice cream. Her voice is so effortlessly smooth and graceful.

Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers

And some Grace Slick with The Great Society

Yours in boats and ho's

Nosferatu Man

Whipping Boy

I have been very lax about actually posting anything on this of late. Rank disgusting laziness. I wouldn't deal in mistruths or weak excuses.

I have been listening almost exclusively to Whipping Boy of late. They formed in Dublin in the late eighties, went on to release probably the best Irish album ever with Heartworm, before falling apart amidst record company squabbles in 1998. Their debut release was Submarine in 1992. It was a low key release and I even recently read a review of Heartworm in which the reviewer noted that he/she had been unable to track down a copy of Submarine to listen to!

Submarine, thanks to the internet is now pretty readily available if one has the patience to search for it. It is by no means a perfect album, the production is weak at points but it is also a strong indicator of a band with potential and has it's share of great moments. The influence of Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine is present in the shifts between wonderful shoegazing guitars to Fearghal McKee's vocals which become almost hypnotic at points. 

Sushi meanders from the beautiful soft opening riff to a noisy loud song by the end.

Favourite Sister is an absolutely wonderful shoe gaze song bringing to mind all that was great about bands like Galaxie 500 and My Bloody Valentine. 

Submarine reached only a moderate audience mainly due to it being released on a very small label and the lower production values. While the album may not have sold well the bands live performances began to raise their profile. The gigs were known for being intense and all consuming with McKee cutting himself with glass at some gigs. Submarine began to generate some much deserved critical acclaim and a record deal with Colombia was arranged.

Colombia oversaw the 1995 release of Heartworm. Every once in a while I will come across an album that I fall completely in love with and Heartworm has turned out to be one of those few albums that I just cannot get enough of and can spend hours just listening to it and thinking about it. McKee's vocals and lyrics are absolutely sensational on this album. It simply blows an other 'confessional' album out of the water. Without ever descending to being mawkish. Nearly every line has a purpose and conveys a clear feeling. 

It all blends together wonderfully to form a complex but perfectly interwoven tapestry of McKee's fears and hopes. The opening song Twinkle is a fantastic opener and was also released as a minor hit single. The verses are backed by a melodic guitar riff and lighter instrumentals all around. As it hits the chorus the music and vocals jump up a few notches resulting in what is really just some fucking fantastic noise.

The biggest song on the album was quite probably We Don't Need Nobody Else. It opens with a hint of 1992 R.E.M and McKee begins to sing. Initially he does little more than talk and the lyrics are clearly audible and your focus is drawn to them.

 'In the morning I am a recluse, lost in memories, ideas, situations and convulsions, I am never in and I can't remember, They built portholes for Bono so he could sit and look out across the bay and sing about mountains, maybe'

I absolutely love the lyrics throughout this song, the intimate nature of the delivery always drags me right into the words. The picture of the singer being lost in the morning ties in with the fact that he apparently wrote his best when heavily hungover. As he finishes speaking the verse the music picks up and the distortion kicks in you could be up and headbanging in no time at all. 

The second verse deals with an incident of the protagonist hitting his girlfriend or wife for the first time. 'I hit you for the first time today........ 'You wouldn't let me go to the phone, you wanted to make love and I did not'..........'Silence and you started to cry, that really hurt you said, Yeah?, And you thought you knew me'. As soon as the word me has been uttered the music again takes off for the chorus, the change in tempo is pretty intense and the chorus truly does sweep you up.

What really blows me away about Whipping Boy more than anything else is that across 3 albums which is by no means a massive amount of songs they manage to sound like more brilliant bands than I can think of. I have definitely heard little snatches and thought; The Killers, Joy Division, Arcade Fire, U2, My Bloody Valentine, Galaxie 500, Velvet Underground, The Smiths, Doves, R.E.M or Sonic Youth. I don't mean to trivialise them as some sort of mad concoction of the above just their music is incredibly varied. Not varied in the here's a straight up rock version and a techno remix but a sort of subtle range of varieties. I've probably listened to it all a little bit much.

The final Whipping Boy release was a self titled album in 2000 on the Low Rent label. The album had been recorded almost two years previously but the release was delayed. It shows a development from Heartworm and it maybe lacks the raw emotional power of that seminal album.

The fourth track Mutton is one of my favourites. It is like a cross between a Blur song and The Clash's hit Lost In The Supermarket.

The other highlight is Ghost Of Elvis. It is a quieter slightly more stripped back track than most of their songs. There are two lines at the end of the first verse that are brilliantly witty and cutting that have really made me love this song. 'Read it in the papers, love the company, the attitude, the videos, the ideas, Love the money, the law suits, the cheap jokes, the honesty of sleaze'. A shot at the record labels or just a sarcastic take on a job interview, who knows?


Unfortunately youtube has let me down in a big way and I cannot find a recording of Ghost Of Elvis. That's a bit of a bum note to end on, sorry. It is probably worth your while going and acquiring the three Whipping Boy albums. For a big journey through an album, fantastic noise, poignant lyrics and sheer emotion any of the three will do the trick for you.


Peace

Musings #12 & 35

I am getting up in the morning and packing my backpack and getting on an aeroplane. I am flying to London Stansted. Then I am going to see Pulp at the Brixton Academy. Pulp were the first band I truly loved. The band that thought me to listen to music by albums. Jarvis Cocker's wondrous lyrics, the brilliant ironic, cynical and sardonic take on the years between 1993 and 1995 (His n'Hers and A Different Class). The era that spawned the incestuous opening to 'Razzmatazz' the innate summation of the despair of the masses on Common People, not to mention the iconic Babies. Pulp are and always have been my favourite band. I will bore you further when I get back from the gig. I'll leave you with my top three Pulp songs.

I am lying about now dying for something bleak and slow moving so as to hasten my departure to the land of nod. I have stumbled across a couple of old favourites of mine that for me anyway fit the bill. Bark Psychosis released an album in the mid nineties that captivated the listener and delivered an epic journey through post rock heaven. The opening track is a big favourite of mine.

This title was inspired by the Bob Dylan song, another great opening track; Rainy Day Woman #12 & 35. The famous chorus line; 'Everybody must get stoned' makes stoners everywhere a little happier every time they hear it.

Apologies for having deviated from the journey into melodic and sombre slumber. We may resume with another track in that vein right here and right now. A far cry from his feel good rocker moments Bruce Springsteen toned it down and poured himself into Nebraska. The haunting vocals and the as expected; perfect songwriting and formidable guitar playing combine to create a fantastic album. I have gone with the second track here. The harmonica is great too it seems to join on and elongate the vocals at times.

Rounding off tonight's posting is Anomie Belle's song Down. It is my attempt at a trip hop equivalent of the recurrent theme.

Musings 412: The Return Of A Mind

Internet peoples; I have been absent from this blog of late and for that my humblest apologies. I was stuck right between a mouse and a hard place. I didn't have comfortable internet access. You know what I mean, the sort of internet access where once can be naked and picking crisp fat from one's hirstute upper torso. Jamie Stewart of Xiu Xiu once sung 'Listen to On Fire and pretend someone could love you'

He was referring to the Galaxie 500 album On Fire. An a bittersweet effort in melancholy and fuzzy ambience. It includes a wonderful rendition of the George Harrison song Isn't It A Pity. It truly is a remarkable album, Blue Thunder and Snowstorm are particular highlights for me.

Galaxie 500 enjoyed a short lived existence between 1987 and 1991. They were a trio: Dean Wareham on vocals and guitar, Naomi Yang on bass guitar and drummer Damon Krukowski. They originally met in London but began playing together whilst in Harvard. Early Galaxie 500 recordings feature a drum kit on loan to the band from none other than Conan O'Brien a fellow student of theirs at the time. On Fire is the bands best work and sits proudly as their greatest achievement, it truly is an outstanding album

Also popping around inside my head begging to be played is the Yo La Tengo album Painful. And this song in particular.

My ability to accumulate music has stalled recently due to laptop problems as it is suffering from being over stuffed with superfluous files and so generally just turns itself off at will.

Peace

A beer, a bass and Jeremy Messersmith

Minneapolis is home to one Jeremy Messersmith. When he is not busy being a resident of Minneapolis Jeremy manages to devote a little bit of time to being a really universe-rocking singer-songwriter. He has released three albums; The Reluctant Graveyard, The Silver City and The Alcatraz Kid.

I first came across his most recent album; The Reluctant Graveyard on a music forum a few months back. I enjoyed it from first listen, the wonderful melodies and quirky lyrics really sold themselves to me. A few days after seeing The Antlers in Chicago I noticed in a paper that Jeremy had been playing on the same night I was rather disappointed to have missed him.

Being from Ireland, you don't hold high hopes of your favourite relatively obscure Minneapolis based singer songwriter appearing in a theatre near you very soon. Upon crossing a large amount of the country and finding myself in Berkeley I plunged into the local gig listing and there it was. Standing alone and proud in black generic print. 'Hotel Utah Saloon, July 20th, Jeremy Messersmith'. The quoted price was 10 dollars, not too shabby I must admit.

And so on the evening in question my girlfriend and I donned semi-respectable clothes and hopped aboard the Bart, the Hotel Utah Saloon our destination. We got the venue and it was just a small cosy bar with a little stage and a little standing area a half floor below the bar. We listened to the two opening bands whilst choking down some inappropriately and formidably hot chicken wings. Having undergone the pain of handing over 14 dollars for two JD and coke's we moved to Pabst Blue Ribbon at a measly 3 dollars a pop.

We were in flying form by the time Jeremy took to the stage with his band. As you see in the photo he plays an improbably cool acoustic guitar with a white patch in the middle of it. He switched to another uber-cool instrument; a small Paul McCartney-esque bass guitar for some songs. I could tell you the songs he played or you could refer to the picture of the setlist which I now own having chatted up the guitarist and plundered it.

Lazy Bones and Dilinger Eyes both from his latest album really got the gig going for us. We sang along at the tops of our voices, tragically being the only people in the small crowd doing so. We couldn't help it really such was the infectious brand of indie pop being played by Jeremy and band. The guitarist in particular was amazing.

One song you will not see on the set-list is A Girl, A Boy And A Graveyard, upon which the title of this posting is loosely based. It is not included on the set list but Jeremy did play it after outlined encore.

'Well, why did he do that huh?'

He played it because we urged him too, honestly the two of us and a third chap we did not know started asking him to play it, calling out to him, beckoning him to ease our blues. The rest of the band the violinist apart had departed the stage for the bar. This didn't seem to deter Jeremy though as he produced a truly splendid, perfect and soothing version of the song. It was the highlight of our night. We also got a chance to speak to Jeremy at the end of the gig and he turned out to be a really nice and genuine guy, he took the time to talk to us and then posed for a few pictures with us.

Peace

3 from yesteryear; Roskilde

Roskilde is a festival that goes off once a year, in June. It is in southern Denmark. I don't know much about Denmark; kroners, cold, Copenhagen, beer and Roskilde. Nothing wrong with Denmark I've just never really found it interesting, it never makes the effort, never sends a card or anything.

Roskilde though seems to be the bees-knees. I have been scooting about the interweb like a deranged mole all morning (read afternoon) seeking out the best of the bunch of recorded performances.

Bob Marley all the way back in 1978 is the first one.

One of the top comments reads;

Oh..that beautiful Danish summer of '78...those rhytms, the crowd in front of the 'store scene' was like a boiling jamming ocean. I was in front of the stage, enjoying the concert with a beautful Danish girl (daugther of a priest) who ended up staing in my tent.. Nobody can go unaffected of Marley's rhytms. He died the next year, glad I got to hear him live. What a memory.

Krudtbamse 1 year ago 25 

The next video is the live performance of Radiohead's Reckoner by Gnarls Barkley. 

Leonard Cohen, Roskilde 1988.

Peace

Space Is Only Noise - Nicolas Jaar

 Jaar was born on the 10th of January 1990 and so missed out on being born in the eighties, which frankly disgusts Calvin Harris. Born in NY, Jaar spent most of his childhood in Santiago De Chile. He was interested in music from an early age and credits his movement into electronic music with his early days of tampering with a midi keyboard and Reason.

There is another anecdote about the web which tells of his conversion to electronic music. Apparently aged 14 he heard Tiga's DJ Kicks mix playing. He decided on the spot that he was going to like electronic music. His father around Christmas time obviously moved by his sons interest walked into a record shop and said 'Give me the most forward-thinking electronic music album right now.' He was given Ricardo Villalobos' 'The Au Harem D'Archimede'. He lists composer Erik Satie, the minimalist modernist  who is often tagged as the Godfather of ambient music as his primary influence along with Ethiopian jazz legend Mulatu Astake. 


With such a varied smorgasbord of influences it is perhaps easy to see why Jaar's music is as, well, Nicolas Jaar as it is. His album 'Space Is Only Noise' is almost unclassifiable genre-wise and I always struggle to compare them to anybody else when trying to explain what they are like. There are in my opinion two signatures to his music a very deep funky bassline and the percussion which takes slightly irregular beats and seems to skit around the basslines.


Below is the title track; Space Is Only Noise (If You Can See)

The album is available here on Nico's site; Open In New Tab

Peace

Stopped With My Tracks

Being stopped in ones tracks is the bane of the easily surprised that's why I prefer to stop with my tracks. It's a life choice thing, you probably wouldn't understand. Hence I just sit down and listen to a few songs or an album or something. In my humble opinion it is vastly superior to the gut wrenching ache of those stopped in your track moments. But hey, it' just a ride.

It's coming up to six in the evening, I was meant to work but that did not come to fruition. I actually got up at 6.57 this morning, which really bummed me out. To make matters worse I had to lounge about a closed train station for an hour before giving up on the whole thing altogether. So now I am taking the time to stop with my tracks.

Indian Summer were an influential post hardcore band from the San Francisco bay area. There is precious little information available about them easily findable on the interweb. Although apparently they never named any of their songs and the songs have simply assumed the names that fans call them. Legendary for the gravity of the emotional experience one went through at their concerts. I have become particularly fond of Woolworm/Angry Son . It seems to have it all complete with a cathartic and powerful finish.

I listened to it with a friend the other day and whilst discussing it we took a trip down memory lane. It brought us around to Ultimate Spinach, a set of Boston based psych rockers. Their music has that almost buttery feel, lie paint sliding down a wall and oozing together at the base. Fifth Horseman Of The Apocalypse is split into 3 sections each as beguiling, intriguing and enjoyable as the last.

Bon Iver's new album, titled twice, for effect or maybe a subtle hint at some self perceived duality in the Bon Iver set up. Who knows? Title aside, which I really don't like. I can sometimes understand the use of the bands name as a debut album title. That is alright, like a 'hello this is us'. However for a second album, the title; 'Bon Iver, Bon Iver' let me down. It is though a fantastic album it has a certain ambient or soothing quality I love.

Peace

3 Catching This Eye

Morning, evening, night open the links in new tabs.

How is your eye? Mine is fine, 20, as is the other one. I skip and jump across the interweb trying to find something to listen to a number of times any given day. Mid skip and jump the other day I peered down at the screen and saw the big blonde head of Erika M Anderson. She shortens it to EMA when releasing music, which makes googling her a no-go zone, you just get loads of hits for the European Medicines Agency. This all means that when she gets picked up, polished up and handed repetitive dross to record she will have some brand new google friendly moniker. However right now she has released a corker, an absolute stonker of an album; Past Life Martyred Saints.

Pitchfork gave it a pretty good rating, so good that it made their uber cool 'best new music' section. Clipper Johnson (who will be sharing his thoughts on Nicolas Jaar soon) also e-mailed me with a youtube link to the track California.

 Leaving aside how epically cool Erika is behind that lies a brilliant song resplendent with dark lyrics and a strong and booming sound. The runaway tempo of the vocals runs perfectly on a slower treadmill of deep drum beats, deep key chords and a wandering synth line. 

The album as a whole is a powerful experience too, from the echoes of the Fake Plastic Trees bass line (1 minute or so in until it kicks in) present in the opening song; The Grey Ship.

To the impressive vocal harmonizing present on Coda to the six minute closing epic Red Star. As I listen to it and write this the Radiohead comparison jumps out at me again. The drone and synth opening could very easily be that of a song on In Rainbows minus the cymbals maybe. Erika's vocals then take over and she sings of a beautiful boy with green eyes. This is further augmented by the introduction of some gentle guitar interspersed around the song at the perfect time it seems.

I am still only in the very dormant stages of getting to know this album hence the slightly loopy feedback thusfar. She will be back here though!

Catching the other sectors of my eye, and ears of course, this week is Jeremy Messersmith. I have been listening to him quite extensively and am going to see him soon.

July 20th
Hotel Utah
500 4th St
(between Harrison St & Bryant St) 
San Francisco, CA 94107
Neighborhood: SOMA


That is where it as at folks. I'll buy a drink for anyone who actually goes having read this, email me for details, we'll call it a competition! 

Rounding up tonights three is Nicolas Jaar. You will be getting to read a piece about him in the next few days. His unique brand of laid back techno deserves more than this cursory mention. 

So that is that. 

Generic title, writing about The Antlers again.

In a nightmare, I am falling from the ceiling into bed beside you. You're asleep, I'm screaming, shoving you trying to wake you up.And like before you've got no interest in the life you live when you're awake. Your dreams will follow storylines, like fictions you would wake.

I've said it before, and you know what? Hot damnit I shall say it again: THE ANTLERS! I was lucky enough to see them a while back in Chicago. I was given the tickets for my birthday by my girlfriend. I was also urged by a close friend and musician (Clipper Johnson) who you will be hearing from soon to post an immediate review of the gig.

I contemplated running back to my apartment and posting it, like an eager little bear. In the end I decided not to as I was having trouble with bed bugs. I really was, it was terrible. In some ways I am glad I held back with the review of the gig. Of late my page views have showed an alarming dip, I am a bit obsessed with the page views. Sad, I know. So know, just in order to rally against the diminished views I will write a piece so captivating, so fucking eloquent, that it will grab the attention of the world at large.And so concludes my apology for not posting a piece on the gig any sooner.

It was fantastic, truly mind-blowing, spiritual and orgasmic, it really delivered. From the moment we walked in, collected a JD and coke from the bar to the final round of applause it was a breathtaking few hours. Peter and the band took the stage in an unassuming having all been out to fine tune their set-ups. They smacked of a group of guys who cared for their music. They opened with Parantheses, a track from the new album; Burst Apart. In all they played nine from Burst Apart and four from Hospice. I was lucky enough to have listened to Burst Apart extensively and so the emphasis on it was to my liking. I would reason that to the Hospice fan it could have been a let down.

I reckon, personally, as time has gone on, that Burst Apart is a better album in it's entirety than Hospice, even if Hospice, maybe contains the highest points the band has reached. Kettering was played next and it was amazing. Judge for yourself (open in new tab or this page will move to), go on read the rest of it. Silbermans falsetto vocals were the highpoint of the night. It was a great joy to realise he does not need auto tuning or other record company shit.

The next song; No Widows was probably my discovery of the night. Pre-gig I considered it a good album track, not much more. Re-listening to it now brings me back to it's opening bars at the gig. I was immediately transfixed, the echoing melody simply entraps me. 'No shirts to hang or fold, no kids out in the cold,no widows on the wall, no widows on the phone'. The melancholic singing combines with the positive words to create a beautiful contradiction, a true expression of sorrow in joy.

Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out is one of my stand out tracks from Burst Apart. Sadly not from the gig I was at, the song is undeniably interesting. There is a fantastic scope, and the vocals are again interesting and compelling. 'You and I; divorced but not devoured, every night my teeth are falling out'. The interesting lyrics and equally interesting delivery combine to create a very good song here.

They closed with Wake, THEY CLOSED WITH WAKE, they closed with wake. It was sublime, beautiful and amazing and really good and just fucking great. I have it recorded on my shitty Nokia. I am not going to rave about it here. Just listen to it. Go on buy the album!

The picture above is a picture from the gig and it's taken from roughly where I was standing from what I can tell.

Peace

My Threesome, of remixes.

I feel lazy so I think I am just going to embed three little remixes I have been taken with recently and you can do the analysis or just listen to them maybe, or not. I don't care, I am taking a hard to get approach with this.


First up Nicolas Jaar brings his funky percussion and laid back techno style to an Ellen Allien track from the brilliant album Dust

Next in line is a slowed down, indie'd up take on The Suburbs by Arcade Fire. It slows it down and chills it out, so that it barely resembles the pulsating anthem we thought we knew.

In third place, which I was always told is nothing to be ashamed of is Miami Horrors reworking of Gorillaz Empire Ants. I enjoy it most at the start of an evening of drinking. You might enjoy it in other scenarios, I wouldn't judge.

Thoughts on a postcard or in the comment box

Peace

EXCLUSIVE - Youth Lagoon: E-mail Interview

Following on from the discovery of Youth Lagoon's Soundcloud page. I e-mailed Trevor Powers, the man behind the music, and mooted the idea of an e-mail interview. So here we are, this column is losing it's interview virginity.

1)  Can you tell us a little about yourself and where you are from etc?

    

   My name is Trevor William Powers and I was raised in Boise, ID. I spend a lot of my spare time laying in parks. Or going to shows at a small dive bar called the Neurolux in downtown Boise. 

 

2) What is in the pipeline for Youth Lagoon, new material upcoming etc?

  

      I am going to have my debut album coming out soon..  It will be entitled The Year of Hibernation. I have recently signed with a label and am going to be announcing everything including the release date shortly. 

3) In terms of your music are you trying to create something beautiful or are you trying to tell us something? (basically just is your musical concept aesthetically based or is it a medium of communication for you?

      I would say that my music is definitely something aimed more at myself. I mean that in the way that my music is very personal. A lot of it is built around the anxiety I have struggled with my whole life and turning that into music. Not just my anxiety, but all kinds of things I have spinning around in my mind or memories I am still dealing and struggling with. I realize that if I am honest in my music, other people will be able to relate to it. And I think there is definitely a certain beauty in that. 

4) If you were faced with a two hour car drive with two strangers what two albums would you bring for the journey?

       Ahh soo tough.  At this point, I'd have to say Cass McCombs' "Wit's End" and I'd probably put my buddies TEENS track "Die With You" on repeat..

Once again folks and folkettes you can listen to Youth Lagoon by clicking on this link and I highly recommend you do. Because, you know what? It's fucking fantastic.

Peace

Youth Lagoon

It is a Wednesday, which I generally prefer to Tuesday. Tuesday is in my weighty opine the worst day of the week. I mean one has a real genuine reason to hate Monday as you have to start a whole new week which requires effort. Wednesdays are cool as you are over the hump and nearly there. Tuesday though just gets in the way, I would like to get rid of Tuesdays.

However given that is not likely to happen I might just instead listen to some Youth Lagoon. Hailing from Boise in Idaho, I like to think it is pronounced Boyz-ee, I am not sure though. Trevor Powers is the man behind the music. As of now there are just three songs on the Youth Lagoon Soundcloud.

Montana, Cannons and July, which is of no relation to the celtic power ballad disasterama that is Mundy's July. Youth Lagoon manage to create that dreamy atmospheric sound augmented rather than dominated by some luscious vocalization. The variety of instrumentation too is striking with many any interesting jingle and jangle to be heard, especially around the minute mark of Cannons where there is a lovely soft intro followed by the introduction of a jaunty banjo-esque sound.

Youth Lagoon's July is probably my pick of the bunch, the slow vocal laden introduction just covering a gentle echoing keyboard section is peaceful and atmospheric. It slowly picks up as the keys become more prominent before like the song gracefully takes flight.Once again it is the slow melodic tinkling rhythm that seems to be the strongest part of Youth Lagoon's music that dominates. Haunting almost Antlers-esque vocals drop over the instrumentals and fade as the instrumentation picks up again. The wonderful combination of synth loops, keys and bells continues as the vocals build in both volume and intensity. We are brought back down to earth gently via another gentle soothing keyboard piece as the song ends.

It could be dangerous to make a bold prediction based on three songs alone. But there is no need for such future clamouring when right now there are 3 fantastic songs that will provide a truly terrific 13 minute cigarette break for anybody. Yes, anybody.

Peace

Musings 2: Blonde On Blonde and Blood On The Tracks

They lie next to each other in most people’s I-Tunes or alphabetised record collections. Be the latter, wish I was. They lie next to each other in terms of the object of the albums. They also lie next to each other in terms of legacy and in a word brilliance. Dylan’s two great odes to Sara Dylan; Blonde On Blonde and Blood On The Tracks.

So that ugly question rears its head; which is better? First of all to try and retain some veneer of intelligence let me rephrase the question. Which do you find preferable? Both are truly superb albums BOB being slightly more upbeat whereas BOTT is, as attested by Hank Moody, a sublimely melancholic heart break album.

All sorts of highlights everywhere; the jangling almost Let It Be-esque piano on You’re A Big Girl Now, the howling chorus on Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again’. The opening tracks; Rainy Day Woman and Tangled Up In Blue are damn near inseparable. Charles Cross biography of Jimi Hendrix contains a wonderful anecdote about the first time Hendrix listened to BOB with Linda Keith (then boyfriend of Keith Richards whilst Hendrix was a struggling guitarist in Harlem). It tells further of his first acid trip and his reaction (delight and awe) to the opening track. No such succinct anecdote for Tangled Up In Blue. Although I did hear it on the radio in a doctor’s waiting room in Chicago, not bad really. It made the waiting room a little more entertaining. The only magazines they had were ‘Healthy Pregnancy’ (5 issues) and ‘Disney Life’ (2 issues, the second of which was dire).

The first two big-super-massive stand out songs for me are Visions of Johanna and I Want You on BOB, conversely the only equally impressive song on BOTT is If You See Her, Say Hello. Visions is an awe inspiring song, its epic length never threatens to cheapen its effect. The initial description of long empty nights is so beautifully poignant. Dylan’s voice recalls gently over the snapping cymbals a whole series of images, metaphors and more beautiful images. The drawn out singing of ‘That conquer my mind’ certainly makes me conscious of the effect of his mind being conquered. I Want You is a completely different song, it has a jangle and a swagger to it. The over emphasis of the final word on most lines in the verses and the stress on want in the chorus line is a perfect yet subtle opposite and a nod to Dylan’s mastery of words. My favourite Dylan lyrics, ever and of all time are also in this song, so it sort of has to get a mention from me. ‘And I wait for them to interrupt, me drinking from this broken cup’. I won’t even get into it, it is further down the blog in the piece about Springsteen’s cover of the song. Go on, go find it, the increased page views will tickle me with all seven shades of delight.

My personal decision on the two albums lies with If You See Her Say Hello. Consider the album, devoted to the divorce with Sara Dylan and the suddenly the meaning is clear. It is his closure, the return of the natural good will that is the result of sharing so much happiness with someone. This is the same Sara, the subject of Sara on the album Desire. He recounts to her in that song that he stayed up in the Chelsea Hotel, writing Sad Eyed Lady for (you). Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands, which took up one entire side of the LP on release is another epic love song and showcases the strength of feeling he had for his wife.

I have always felt that it is easier to fall in love than to climb out of the hell hole that follows and so in it’s relatively miniscule length (about 35% as long as Sad Eyed Lady) it manages to do a whole lot more. The pain in BOTT is somehow more appealing to me than the more mirthful BOB, a heartbreak album just somehow means more. I guess the slightly lower profile appeals to me too. Bring up Dylan and most pseudo intellectual muso’s can tell you all about how great Just Like A Woman is, think of that scene in Annie Hall when he goes out for a date with the Rolling Stone journalist. I think it is knowing those first few lines; ‘If you see her say hello, she might be in Tangiers, she let here last early spring, is living there I hear, say for me that I’m alright, though things get kind slow, she might think that I’ve forgotten her, go tell her it isn’t so’. It is all there, the time away from her and his dealing with it. He has gone on to remember her fondly;’ if you get close to her, give her a kiss from me’, and ‘oh whatever makes her happy, I won’t stand in her way’. The sheer emotion contained in this song is indicative of the album as a whole and for that I think it just shades it for me. So there you go, if you like misery, you might prefer Blood On The Tracks!

Peace

The Antlers - Burst Apart Vs Hospice - Did it measure up?

I am completely obsessed with them right now. I recently turned 22 which was very difficult for me. I can no longer have fun and it wouldn't be all that weird if I had a child. I don't really care though obviously. To sweeten the deal I was given a two tickets to The Antlers by SUPERINJUCTION.

So on the twelfth of June I will be standing in front of them in all their glory, so much more than the mounted moose heads that I once considered antlers. Hospice quite simply blew me away. It was recommended to me not long after its release by a friend but I didn't get around to listening to it until about five months later.

I got a pre release live version of Burst Apart. I liked it admittedly but reasoned I would have to wait to listen to the studio version before making my mind up. I got the studio version a week ago. I suppose the big question surrounding the album was could it live up to Hospice which was an absolutely terrific album. Burst Apart is probably an absolutely terrific album, I struggle to fault it. Hospice was a very good album made great by Kettering and the two closing tracks Wake and Epilogue. This rendition of Kettering is absolutely sublime. Peter Silberman's singing is amazing and the gentle cymbals combine with the almost aquatic synth in a weird but brilliant way. Epilogue is a very very interesting song lyrically. For me it is dealing with a break up of some sort. He seems haunted by the antagonist, losing his job, bad dreams etc. As the closing track, and its title this song is making statement on the conclusion of the album. It does not seem to be a happy one and that is significant to say the least. Furthering this again in my opinion is the track before it Wake which is an eight minute epically beautiful and mournful and again a track you would struggle to take joy et al from.

Burst Apart again has a good conclusion, Corsicana and Putting The Dog To Sleep are probably my two favourite tracks on the album. Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out is worth a mention as well. Burst Apart doesn't differ dramatically from Hospice and once again the same things impress, the impressive and ambitious vocals the melancholy air and the subtle usage of a wide range of instruments; bowed banjo, harp, trumpet, accordion. These same things shine through in Burst Apart. Yes you could say it is more of the same but thankfully for us more of the same has turned out to be good enough. The dramatic pleading of 'Prove to me, I'm not going to die alone' in Putting The Dog To Sleep is truly breathtaking. Silberman's voice soars and we are snapped back by just that a sharp snap of some instrument, I can't identify it. The almost spanish guitar in Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out is a good example of the subtle developments present in this album. This song combines this spanish guitar playing with standard electric guitar and the resulting jam is amazing.

On first listen Burst Apart was great but not quite as good as Hospice. With a few more listens and a bit more of an appreciation for it I think Burst Apart is probably as good as Hospice. I would probably go with;

Hospice - 53/60
Burst Apart - 52/60

Yeah I rate shit out of sixty.

Peace

Musings 2: Rory Gallagher, The Irish showband scene, house hunting and shoe gaze!

NOTE: I WOULD RECOMMEND OPENING LINKS IN A NEW TAB OR YOU WILL BE WHISKED AWAY!

I suppose the format of my delivery on this blog is beginning to develop in my head as I get used to it. I think it is moving toward posts containing my general thoughts; such as this one. I will try mix it up with more hard edge informative stuff like pieces on new albums I like etc.

Today is a Wednesday for me although actually it has now slipped into what is technically the early hours of Thursday. I had a few drinks and a long chat with an uncle of mine. He was turning 18 in the late sixties and was playing music semi regularly with Rory Gallagher. This was the era of the showbands in Ireland. It was not necessarily the greatest musical era witness this; The Impact. It is interesting to think that Gallagher went from that to Rory Gallagher - Moonchild.

There were a number of fantastic stories to be heard from my uncle; walking into a smoky bar in London watching Clapton play, he felt a tap on his shoulder and trying to get past him to the stage was none other than Jimi Hendrix! By all accounts this was a great time to be in London as far as music was concerned. He managed to sum it up pretty nicely when he said 'In the space of one week, we saw Page, Hendrix and Clapton play, a teenage Elton John playing blues piano in a tiny bar and the Pink Floyd transit van was parked at the top of our road all week'. For a trip down memory lane there are a few links below.

Jimi Hendrix - Hey Joe
Pink Floyd, 1968, with David Gilmour, live, playing Astronomy Domine
The Yardbirds - Train Kept A-Rolling
Eric Clapton discusses his Gibson SG

I have been having a torrid time trying to find a suitable apartment in Chicago for the next 2 months or so. I have been ringing all sorts of people in Chicago. I had one chap today, I couldn't get him off the phone. He said we wouldn't be able to rent as his landlord won't lease to people with no credit history like us. He spent, no joke, ten minutes apologising for the whole thing. So much empathy, I was all empatyhied out by the end I was running on empathy. That was a pun not a misuse of the word.

To get me through this turbulent search I have turned to shoe gaze. I just love the melancholy swaying it has. I have been getting pretty lost in Mazzy Star and The Drop Nineteens. Mazzy Star you will probably know from the single Fade Into You. It has that sort of gentle rhythmic tenderness that makes you want to just stand and gaze at your shoes and just sort of be chilled about it all I suppose. Another song of theirs I would recommend is the lush and beautiful rendition of Five String Serenade.

I think that is just about the sum of my words for the evening.

Peace