POTS #7 - April 2007
By: Thomas Hannan
April is meant to come complete with rain showers and general malaise. Instead we get some of the sunniest days on record and it's too hot to sit indoors and listen to music. So, instead you get your iPod (or any other MP3 player you choose) and go outside and sit in a park in the sun and enjoy doing nothing. Well that's what I've been doing, and this is what I've been listening to. Firstly, April has been dominated by a certain Icelandic singer called Bjork. You might have heard of her. 'Earth Intruders' is her new single and it's a tribal, pagan-sounding march through music history, taking in African rhythms via eighties synths, through to Timbaland-produced beats. There's a bit near the beginning where she sings (in a way only she can) 'Turmoil / Carnage' and it sounds like pure ecstasy. Then there's 'Innocence' which is currently being streamed on her MySpace page. Again it features the input of Mr Mosley, but this time the beats are more frenetic, sounding as they do like a strange mix between 808 State, MIA and an old arcade game. The album's going to be amazing.
Speaking of Timbaland, everyone knows he's a great producer and he's created some of the best pop singles of recent years, but he seems intent on rapping and he just can't. His new album 'Shock Value' is disappointing on the whole, but the man can still come up wit some amazing sounds, not least on 'Give It To Me', 'Come Around' and the mental rock fusion of 'Throw It On Me' (featuring The Hives, remember them?).
Other then that I have been mainly listening to Patrick Wolf's 'Magic Position', which seems unwilling to get out of my CD player and also Robyn's self-titled album. Despite the faux-American accent (she's Swedish) there are some amazing pop songs on it, especially the brilliant 'Who's That Girl' and the genuinely sad 'With Every Heartbeat'. Plus, despite wanting to not like it through some misplaced anger at them being young and rich, I really like the new Arctic Monkeys album. I wanted to hate it for some reason. But 'Old Yellow Bricks', '505' and 'Teddy Picker' are as good or even better then anything from their first album. There, I've confessed it.
Quick quick sharp words coming atcha-
Having encountered many a crisis with the ways, the wherefores and the whatsits of my music listening, I appear to have reached a conclusion. Namely, that the music must be in one of the following categories:
1. Adventurous, luscious songwriting;
2. Canon;
3. Worthier than thou;
4. Futurefuck. Also known as, "Cooler than thou".
And so, in these categories I offer the following four records:
1. 'Are We Not Horses?' by Rock Plaza Central.
A record of luscious, adventurous songs. Obviously. Less obvious, however, is the conceit of last year's masterpiece - the existential troubles of steel horses. I mean - we should just say, why don't you just f**k off? But don't. Tender, soaring, brutal and astonishingly human (well, equine) - just about the most beautiful record I've heard, ever.
2. 'Myrmidons of Melodrama' by The Shangri-Las
Pop songs. Sung by nymphs. In the sixties. With behives. About rebels and death. I forget why I don't listen to this every day.
3. 'Canticles of Ecstasy' by Hildegaard von Bingen
12th Century German saint and one of the founders of the little known "Opera" genre, I already feel like a worthy twat for including this but will persevere because you can laugh at me a little.
4. Dubstep Allstars Vols 1-5
It's a knife-fight tomorrow, a louche and menacing grumble that, listened to whilst moving through city streets, insists you to raise the most sardonic of eyebrows at all passersby, whether be-suited or dressed Niyi-stylee. An empty, hollow reason to feel smug, but you do nonetheless. Will most likely make you feel like you'll shank anyone.
Ahhh...Shank...yes, that puts me in mind of wanky uber-neu ravé poshcore djs PartyShank - the meeting of the illustrious Party Sausage with his mighty equal, I'll Shank You for a Penny, this is ridiculous, abrasive chiphop nonsense made by children, which will make you grin at the stupidity of the world, and be happy about it. Find them here.
Plus, try Elliott Smith-(r)aping Eddie Halliday. Good songs, pretty voice. Check out his album "Run to the Trees".
And, finally, treat yourself to a little giddiness after you read this. Go give that Love is All record a spin. Isn't it the most joyful thing you've heard in months? Don't forget it - that one's a keeper.
KERI KENNEDY -
I've been finding it hard to decide whether I actually like The Cribs' new offering 'Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever', or if it's just a blatant Strokes rip off. There's no arguing the first single 'Mens Needs' is annoyingly catchy and you won't be able to get away from it this summer.
On a totally different note, I've been getting more and more into Two Tears aka the one-woman band Kerry Davis, who supported Dan Sartain on his UK tour in February this year. From Alabama, now based in Dubai, think a low-fi Breeders, maybe a bit of PJ Harvey thrown in. 'Pick Me Up' from the album 'Enjoy Yourself' released on Bent Rail Foundation is pure stripped down garage rock. Go see her if you can, she plays guitar and thumps a bass drum with her right foot.
Lastly, like every other person on the planet Arctic Monkeys 'Favourite Worst Nightmare' has found itself on repeat on my Ipod. I'd suffer a muddy weekend at Glastonbury to hear 'Old Yellow Bricks' alone from the main stage.
For the first part of April I spent a lot of time listening to Kings Of Leon's 'Because Of The Times' album, thinking it was the best thing I'd heard all year - I mean, there's a song that sounds like The Pixies on there! KoL sounding like the Pixies! Genius! My initial euphoria has cooled somewhat, however, and while I still applaud them for the progress they have made and for the overall 'size' of the thing, I am not sure that it is quite that good after all. I think I'll revisit it in a little while to form my definitive opinion of it.
April has also been firmly Wilco month for yours truly. The excitement of 'Sky Blue Sky' coupled with finally getting round to watching the 'I Am Trying To Break Your Heart' documentary meant 'Summerteeth' and 'Yankee Hotel Foxtrot' were on rotation on my stereo for a good while. Simply one of the best bands of their generation if you ask me.
I was also lucky enough to review 'Atlas' by Battles and, while I haven't got hold of the album yet, if that track's anything to go by it will be fairly incredible.
And finally, those Arctic Monkeys are back apparently. On first couple of listens the album seems very strong lyrically. The ballads are ace, but I'm yet to be convinced by some of the heavier numbers. It doesn't have the immediacy of their debut, but like 'Brianstorm' was with me, it will be a grower no doubt. And fair play for releasing a 'comeback' single that doesn't have a chorus.
This month, 'of an evening', Feist's album has been positively super-glued to the CD player, which is a shame, because I'm sure I'll be wanting to play something else at some point.
On the single front, Travis' 'Closer', although lacking a biting chorus, actually benefits from this, and suits its reflective mood. Since Fran's fin disappeared, along with most of his hair, Travis have not been deemed 'cool', and this, along with hair loss, appears to be a theme this month, as at Brixton on 26th April, the perennially uncool James surpassed expectation (such a rarity these days, with expectation stoked and encouraged by reviews over-influenced by press releases and promotional campaigns). It was a memorable night, from being asked to move because the person behind couldn't see, to watching an audience chatting about mortgages and offspring (not the band thank god) during The Twang, until Tim Booth and cohorts took to the stage for the first time in 6 years, provoking reception so warm, it demonstrated those 2:2's and 3rd degrees had been forgotten. Even Tim did a good job of suppressing a response of, "Cheers, but where were you b*st*rds when I released my solo album?" The band may have lost their hair, but so have the majority of their audience. Larry Gott must be one of rock's underrated guitarists, and songs like 'Mother', 'Sometimes', 'Getting Away With It' and obviously 'Laid', shone like classics.
I'll be the first to admit that my slightly over enthusiastic view of modern music is making the truly great sounds drown in the background of mediocrity and for that reason I've taken the step of re-educating myself on what truly awesome music is. I've avoided all the newer stuff that's around and focused on the music that inspired me growing up. It's only natural that we find ourselves ardent for the glory that the music around us today is the best of any generation past and although we have one of the most diverse and talented scenes it is nonetheless plagued by so-so artists supported by a one-trick industry looking to bash what life could grow out of a band at such an early stage that they're really not having to try and the results speak for themselves. Bands like The Twang and The Enemy are surviving on a shoestring of talent yet grasp fame from every possible angle and while they're today's indie heroes their shelf life is less than a rice pudding and once whipped through the system will fade to nothingness pretty darn quickly, becoming almost instantly forgotten. It's hard not to get carried away with all these shiny new British indie bands with a decent sound, but how can we separate the real genius from the bandwagon tagalong? Well, in a bid to sort myself out I'm raising my standards and to do it I'm looking at albums that have stood the test of time.
Firstly, an album from a band that have been credited as being the real instigators of grunge (don't give me that whiney Nirvana talk), 'Doolittle' by Pixies. This album shifts through almost every known genre, occasionally through the course of just one song, and showcases a dynamically vibrant vocal with bass lines too amazing for us mere mortals to have penned. 'Debaser' might just be one of the best songs ever written, with a composed and aggressively simplistic drive, but it's the album as a whole that breaks through your door screaming all the rock and roll greatness that modern music is based on. It's 'Monkey Gone To Heaven', 'Wave Of Mutilation' and 'Hey' that pull this into the realms of the unbelievable and although the music is erratic, sometimes pointlessly random even, is somehow catchy and earnestly charged. Everything works here and it's important to note that no other album out there today comes close to anything this innovative and for my over-enthusiasm over the past few months I apologise... The Maccabees are a robustly kick ass band, but their album aint no 'Doolittle' and that's for feckin' sure.
The Cure's 'Disintegration' was another album that made people pay consideration to music again back in 1989 (ha, I was only 2). This album gave the world dark pop, baleful and electrically stubborn, showing that you can have a melody while being filthily evocative and experimental. In a kind of post-Smiths way, this album appealed to the masses in a niche way providing songs that were so well received and respected they're still used as inspiration for bands such as The Killers and Interpol nowadays. They're one of only a few bands still going that have this iconic stature and a lot of that is thanks to this album as although the 'Friday...'s and 'In Between...'s are great tracks they didn't give The Cure the identity they needed to continue making great albums up to the present day... they needed 'Disintegration' to be The Cure and we needed 'Disintegration' to make the advancing steps in music we did.
I'll bring this showcase of heroes to a climax with the furthermost, and possibly original, indie band... the legendary, probably over loved and overplayed, celebrated force that was, is and always bleedin' will be Joy Division. We've all heard 'Unknown Pleasures' and their selection of tracks and EPs that surrounded it and the band during their unparalleled and tragically short rise to fill the gaps in the nations heart in the 1970s and their touching portrayal of sound is felt by millions of people and the bands they comprise. No band in their right mind would trash a comment stating they shared anything of a connection with this establishment and they continue to be a muse to generation after generation. 'Unknown Pleasures' is everything a new band would like to say and do, and carried out in a way that sets them aside and above everybody else in their field, and will remain one of those albums that nobody can tell you to listen to, but must stumble across yourself to truly grasp its importance.
This however leads me to the one new band that's been the subject of my affection lately... in the form of Foals... who are signed to some brilliant label apparently (ahem). Being born in the late 80s I missed the rise of Joy Division by a clear decade and a half, but seeing Foals live is how I imagine the birth of that genius to be. Every person in the crowd at a Foals gig knows that something important is happening and their records spin just as well, with a sense of liberated zeal and uncontrollable strength. I'm not saying this band is doing the same kind of music or even trying to be 'the next JD' but what I am saying is that had I been around Manchester in 1977, drowning in the flames of a lit dancefloor paved with the bodies of unwashed devotees, I think that this is how I'd feel. The majority of bands coming through the system just now have a few good songs, a current image and a nice big record deal, but they don't come close to having the heart or lasting ability of The Cure, Pixies or Joy Division. I'm glad that I've learned what makes an honestly great album and having played these four artists back to back with a Duels bookend I can look at the contemporary scene with a sense of liberation, not taking it all too seriously and relaxing in the naive fashion of today's heroes.
I can't say I've listened to this album more this past month than I have any other month, as to be honest, it seems to get a few spins in each one. But this time I was able to read the lyrics etched in to the fourth side of the double vinyl gatefold copy of Low's masterpiece 'Things We Lost In The Fire' that I found in charity shop for a pittance whilst listening to the two bonus tracks that don't exist on the CD edition and think 'my, I'm a huge f**king geek, and I do not care!'.
Other than that, I seem for some reason to have been listening to records which exist only in the 'S' section of my collection. I'll relate them to you alphabetically. Given that I'm getting giddy with excitement about the first Shellac record in seven years being released next month, downloading all kinds of Peel sessions and versions of artwork featuring greyhounds sat amidst fruit and vegetables, I thought I'd bring my favourite record ever, '1000 Hurts' (the band's last LP released in 2000), in to the office to blow away a few cobwebs. And I'll be damned if it isn't still to this day the funniest, scariest, most technically proficient and vital record I have yet to hear in my short life. Perfect.
April also brought us a bank holiday, during which I indulged in a bit of record shopping, and thanks to a girlfriend's staff discount managed to complete my Sonic Youth collection for a reasonable sum. Sonic Youth albums? Yep, I now own 'em ALL. The first one, the extended self titled EP, is perhaps the most intriguing of the ones I've recently bought - it's the sound of a very young band finding their feet, indeed often just messing around, but it's worth it for the ideas, the promise, the funny photos of a very young Kim and Thurston and the bassline on 'The Burning Spear' alone.
I'm disgusted with myself that the Sunset Rubdown album 'Shut Up I Am Dreaming' has been available on import for a year and yet I knew nothing of it. Spencer Krug, he of Wolf Parade and many other projects, has delivered a masterpiece with this one - wholly accessible but essentially daring song writing featuring both some of the best lyrical imagery and use of false endings I've heard since 'Daydream Nation'.
(Psst - I just heard 'Volta'! It's.... well, it's incredible...)