It's Valentine's Day so I thought I'd play some tunes with an international flavour. Hopefully these aren't too cheesy. I did for one silly second contemplate 'Zoom' by Fat Larry's Band but I'm trying not to scare my readership away!
By the way, if anyone's reading this blog please do let me know what you think about it, how it can be improved, subjects you'd like covered, that sort of thing.....
...back to the music. Tenniscoats are a Japanese band that have been going for about ten years now. They're a two-piece affair that play folky, guitar based music but sadly, have been a bit slow in releasing any new stuff of late. I hope they rectify it soon. I do often check their website but my lack of Japanese hinders investigation!
This tune is from the seriously under-rated Thomas Denver Jonsson, a Swede who has drawn comparisons with Bright Eyes, Jim White and others on the Americana scene.
Next we have Bebe who hails from Valencia. She's a complex character, often withdrawing from the public gaze so that she can distance herself from the stardom that she obviously finds difficult to get used to. Her music tends to be slightly downbeat, sometimes with electronic accompaniment and always with that Spanish edge to it. You notice it in the guitar playing and the way the beat keeps threatening to become flamenco. One downside to her music is that I find her a bit bland at times but not with this song.
And seeing as it's St Valentine's Day let's play something with 'love' in the title. This last tune is by young Lithuanian, Alina Orlova and is called 'Lovesong'. It's definitely not your typical ballad-y number. I discovered her music whilst on holiday in Kaunos last year and was very impressed.
I had to pop into town to pick up my new Daniel Steinberg record from the post office. Whilst in town, I took the opportunity to pop into the excellent Resident Records and bought the following:
The Go! Team - Rolling Blackouts
Conquering Animal Sounds - Kammerspiel
Esben and the Witch - 'Violet Cries'
Strictly speaking, the Go! Team album is for my 8 year old son, he's been a big fan of them for a few years now. I might insist he leaves it with me though! This is the title track and a couple of others from the Esben and the Witch album:
Without doubt one of my favourite albums ever. If I've played this once I must have played it a thousand times. It's best known track 'Ain't talkin' 'bout dub' famously sampling Van Halen, reached number 7 in the UK charts and was massive throughout Europe. It also featured 'Carrera Rapida' which was used in the PS1 game, Rapid Racer.
Starting with an operatic 'Stealth Overture' it really disguised what was within the album but did give clues to its depth and craftmanship. It then kicks in with the dance/rock crossover 'Ain't Talkin...' The band have always employed two drummers, rare but not unknown in pop ,The Glitter Band and Adam and the Ants have both used them as has Nick Cave in his first Grinderman incarnation. It gives the music a really tribal feel to it and emphasises the percussion. 'Altamont Super-Highway' has a hip-hop groove tied with an electric slide guitar. The band are literally making this a road trip soundtrack.
Then we come to 'Vanishing Point'. WOW. Double WOW. This is just so perfect, so wonderful, so tight, so atmospheric, so chilled. I could quite happily loop this and listen all day. Essentially a drum and bass track but very much an ambient number. The operatic sample and keyboard interludes just tip this into the awesomeness bracket but the drop...when it comes is heavenly.
'Tears of the Gods' returns to the hip-hop/slide guitar feel with Charles Bukowski sampled along it. Very Alabama 3. That's a good thing. 'Carrera Rapida' is a jaunty little number never really straying from the glitchy drum patterns and a chorus that you'll be tapping your toes to for days after. I can't think of this tune without feeling slight nostalgia for my old Playstation. Happy days.
With a song called 'Krupa' you would expect nothing less than frenetic, jazz drumming. A great tune with the drummers being given top billing with an old style hammond organ (jazzed up) accompaniment. I trust it was done in a Krupa style. There's cowbells too!
'White Man's Throat' slows the tempo right down (ready for the next song....) and has bass and electric guitar jamming. The drumming is also subdued, the tune changing the mood to a late night jazz bar. A trumpet can just be heard as you sip your umpteenth JD and coke and reflect, in a Philip Marlowe style, on the murder case that you have but 24 hours to solve and a new partner who insists on playing by the book. Goddammit.
'Pain in Any Language' is the true masterpiece on this album. It's nasty, real nasty but the Billy Mackenzie falsetto delivery (ex of the Associates, this was his last recording before committing suicide in 1997) makes this a beautiful tune, it really is, but don't linger on the words. A full 9 minutes long that builds and builds to one of the great songs about the pain of a lost love. I could wax lyrical about this song until the cows come home. I shan't. Please listen to the song instead.
'Stealth Mass in F#m' is essentially a fuller version of the overture at the start of the song. It acts as a chillout tune after the mental battering of the previous song. A shame that it has to immediately follow as it deserves to stand high in its own right. 'Raw Power' is the kind of tune that Apollo Four Forty do best - a dance/rock crossover with a killer chorus. I understand that some releases of the album don't have this on. I pity them, I really do.
A couple of nights ago, I saw Olafur Arnalds play at the Tabernacle in London. I was stunned by the performance and left the show really buzzing. I don't often watch classical music being performed live and this was a real treat for me. Arnalds is still only 24 but already has a very impressive back catalogue of music. He's an Icelandic composer and multi-instrumentalist specialising in neo-classical pieces with an electronica edge.
Over the last week I've been listening to his last 4 releases (I really must get round to buying the 1st album he did). I don't profess to know too much about classical music so apologies for the mistakes but, for what they're worth, here's my thoughts:
Variations of Static (released 2008)
This 5 track EP is an intimate affair, never rising above 2 or 3 instruments at any one time. It starts with a purely classical piece then a drum machine reveals itself and the album as a kind of classical electronica. There is a very imaginative use of computerised samples and combined with pop-like element to the piano compositions it is definitely a modern piece. The piano does focus on the minor keys and together with an understated violin it feels quite autumnal. There is a lovely interchange between the 3 main instruments: piano, cello and violin but all 3 compliment each other without trying to take over. I like the restraint in the way the instruments move in and out, throughout.
Each track merges seamlessly into the next and often cross-reference each other. You can take the tunes in isolation but when added together they really are greater than the sum of their parts. The title is a misnomer as this is anything but experimental 'noise'. Without getting too deep, I'm inclined to think that the title refers instead to static as in lack of movement. The composition being cyclical.
Found Songs (released 2009)
This is more melancholy, the violin playing second fiddle (pun intended) for the first half of this, his first full album, and only really coming to the fore halfway through. Some of the tracks are only a couple of minutes long but even so, there's never a feeling of being rushed through the tunes. By track 5 both the piano and violin share equal billing almost apologetically. It's noticeable that each of the 7 tracks is on it's own. I'm only guessing but perhaps the title of the album suggests the songs were written at different times and hence the isolation between them. I love each tune but the last one Ljosio, really is exquisite and the accompanying video is stunning in it's simplicity.
Dyad 1909 (released 2009)
This is his most experimental work to date and has a real sense of foreboding with the instruments being played in a fuller style, perhaps darker with an almost industrial quality to it. Surprisingly, it reprises some of the samples from the Variations of Static. It is difficult at times to tell where each track starts and ends but right in the middle of the album is a cryptically titled tune '3326' which is possibly his most 'classical' piece I've heard from him, it's also the most aggressive.
Straight from this to a sub-drum and bass like composition which comes completely out of the blue. This work ends almost as it starts with violin and piano interspersed with sound effects. It reminds me in part of a few things Pink Floyd did in their most experimental phase, possibly Ummagumma but I'd need to go and check as I don't have that album on my iPod! I found this the least accessible and it took me a few months of listening - going away - returning again before I got my head around it. I'm glad I persevered though.
...and They Have Escaped the Weight of Darkness (released 2010)
This is his longest and most accomplished album to date. Comparatively, quite similar to Found Songs in the style and tempo but unusually starts off without an extended introduction. We're thrown straight into the tune. I wonder if the title of the album refers to a switch from the denser, previous album back to the reflective work he is best known for. I like the way that the tunes are all sad without being melancholy. It is refreshingly free from the mawkish musical cliches.
There are recurring key patterns in the tunes and the way the piano will start, violin emerge and retire quietly and leave your emotions on a plateau, a bit like watching the sea ebb and flow. It's not until track 6 that we get the drums and electronica but the way they are introduced shows the composer's genius. There's a short interlude in track 8 but then the drums are back with a wonderful finale that wraps up all the best elements of the album into this, the last song.
I've been in bed with my laptop going through the new releases on Beatport minimal techno charts and I came across a tune that sampled another dance tune. It bugged me for ages about where I'd heard the sample. It was a tune I'd played lots and lots of times but I play so much music that I kind of gave up trying to guess it. I hate it when that happens...but it's then just come to me. I can now go to sleep without it worrying me.
Anyway, the tune provides me with a brilliant excuse for playing 3 lovely tunes as they are all interconnected. The first has possibly the best opening sequence to a song I've ever heard. Johnny Marr never sounded better. I've heard versions that cut out the 2 minute piano intro. That's not just bad that's criminal. The second is a dance tune by Ada based on the first (sharing the same title also) . I'd heard it on her Adaptations mix CD an album that's always within easy reach. The last one is the new track I was listening to tonight, 'Malin' by Marco Baldassarre.
Sea of Bees' debut album 'Songs for the Ravens' is a must-have. It's the work of Sacramento-born Julia Ann Baezinger. A voice similar to Leigh Nash from 'Sixpence None the Richer', she has all the twee-ness but the lyrics are darker and the music is fuller. A multi-instrumentalist, she plays everything that you hear on the album.
I'm reminded of the School of the Seven Bells in it's arrangement but it could at a stretch have been an experimental second album by the Sundays (remember them and their seminal one album wonder 'Reading, Wring and Arithmetic'?). She's embarking on a round of intimate solo gigs and also supporting John Grant on tour. They're in Brighton next month, I'll go with CD in hand and ask her to sign it.
'Kammerspiel' is also a first album for Glasgow-based Conquering Animal Sounds. An almost-experimental electronic duo who delight in tormenting amateur reviewers such as myself because I'm finding it hard to stick a label on them. I'll go for the lazy option and some blurb from their record company who describe them as Fever Ray meets Bjork.
It's a fair comparison, up to a point but they are less flamboyant than the two comparative acts although an undercurrent of prophetic doom that characterises Fever Ray is also here by the shovelful. Personally, I'd also include in there a comparison to Amiina or Silje Nes as the music does get a little art-folky too.
p.s. I've been listening quite a bit to the 'When Saints Go Machine' EP and the whole mini album has left me with deja vu. Couldn't place it though but just realised where I've heard his voice before - it's a dead ringer for Steve Mason. Listen to the 'Boys Outside' album and tell me I'm wrong!
I've been very restrained today at Rough Trade Records and only bought the following albums:
Sea of Bees - Songs for the Raven
When Saints Go Machine - Fails Forever EP
James Blake - James Blake
Squarepusher Presents Shobaleader One - D'demonstrator (to replace the copy I appear to have lost)
The Mummers - Mink Hollow Road
Watch this space for a review of the Mummers album in the next few days.
The Danes have struggled at times to make their voices heard when you compare them against fellow Scandinavians: the Swedes, Icelanders and Finns. Maybe the buying public is more familiar with music from these countries but the Danes can be rightly proud of their homegrown talent too.
My album of last year was 'Golden Sea', the second release from Our Broken Garden. It was probably released too late for the ridiculously early compiled 'best of' lists that the record shops and music magazines published for 2010 but for atmosphere, lyrics, for the way the album developed I thought it couldn't be bettered. I've recommended track 3 (I seem to have a knack for remembering the track numbers on albums - good memory or Rain Man? You decide), the Fiery and Loud as the very best example of this to all my friends.
It's no surprise that lead singer, Anna Bronsted, is also in Danish folky electronic band, Efterklang who also specialise in moody downtempo songs to rather fat orchestration. This gets the thumbs up from Thomas, my 11 year old and that is rare praise indeed from a very fussy pop music afficianado! This is the first song, 'The Departure' from 'Golden Sea'.
A year or two ago, I came across a quirky hip hop type song by Balstyrko. There's something about them that made me want to investigate further. Formed in 2007, the 3 musicians are well-known on the Danish circuit from previous bands and play a kind of folky trip hop in their native Danish. Just think of Massive Attack or Smith and Mighty in their 'spoken' songs with female backing singers. That's not to say they are downbeat, more offbeat (I mean that in a good way).
I wrote to lead singer, Lasse Bavngaard (better known as Blæs Bukki) asking him if Balstyrko were planning on coming to the UK. Sadly, he told me that, no, they weren't planning on touring anytime, anywhere, in the future. I've tried looking out for any side projects that he's been involved in but my lack of Danish hinders my searches. If any Danes out there can help I'd really appreciate it. After a lot of hunting, I did manage to buy a copy of 'Jagten Paa Noget' and it has pride of place in my ever growing CD collection. This is called 'Flammer og Steaks' and is from that very album:
When Saints Go Machine are another Danish outfit producing some excellent dance music. They release 'Fail Forever EP' this week and it's certainly causing a lot of people to sit up and take notice. The tune sounds similar to EBTG's super smash 'Missing' but heavy use has been made of classical orchestra instruments as well as the familiar keyboard and drum machine. I'd classify this as dream pop but I wouldn't argue the point too much if you described this as mournful, blues-y dance music.
I wonder if these bands being Danish has held them back somewhat. I really hope that they get the mainstream success they deserve and lead the way for a whole generation of great Danish pop. It's worked with the Swedes and Icelanders, after all.
Shangaan electro is a DIY music scene from the Limpopo area of South Africa. It's characterised by super-fast marimba beats at upwards of 180 bpm on MIDI keyboards and no bass. Ordinarily, a beat pattern that fast would be fingernails down a blackboard to me but it's actually very melodic and quite hypnotic.
The Shangaan scene is about 5 or 6 years old and in the last year or so has certainly attracted worldwide attention and this has concerned some militant elements who see the attention as cultural voyeurism. I did read one comment describing it as "...yet another example of Western scavenging off indigenous black music." I don't buy this at all. Granted - the sound is definitely South African but the marimba isn't African, the instruments aren't African. It's also pretty much impossible nowadays for any new music genre to be totally 'linear' in its development inasmuch as developed free from outside cultural influence.
The Shangaan Malcolm Mclaren/Anthony H Wilson is a chap by the name of Richard Mthethwa aka Dog who produces and releases the music for the biggest named musicians including Tshe Tsha Boys who dress as if they should be in Slipknot with masks and boiler suits as de rigeur. "Dog" has been key to the success of Shangaan electro but rather refreshingly, he remains commited to the community that has made him wealthy. Perhaps Malcolm McLaren is an unfair comparison in that case.
The production values are a little shaky but without patronising the artists, I think this adds to the feel of the music and I suspect that some of the spontaneity would be lost with endless (re)mixing and editing. Lyric-wise, it's the universal tale of men/women/money troubles. Dance is as much a part of the music as the tunes themselves and the videos remind me of Northern Soul/breakdancing cameos but with lots of hip shaking from the women and stomping from the men. There's a lovely surrealness to some of the moves though. One video I watched had a male dance pretending to be a dog and miming peeing on a tree!
Having spent a bit of time in South Africa, I'm well aware the importance music and dance has in black society and so I'm not surprised to see that it has permeated through to religious songs of worship. Here we have Foster Manganyi, a pastor in Limpopo with one of my favourite Shangaan tracks. His music tends to be more sparse and mournful, well...solemn, perhaps but given his day job I'm not surprised. You can hear his album, Ndze Teke Riendzo, for free from here: we7.com/FosterManganyi
It's black history month in the US and to mark the occasion I thought I'd delve into black musical history. It would be easy to mention the roots of soul, funk, R&B, hip-hop, blues, jazz, more or less any genre but I thought I'd go with punk. Up until now I thought punk rock was an exclusively white affair until DJ Don Letts played reggae to the Bromley contingent at the legendary punk rock haunt, the Roxy. But recently I read about 3 brothers from Detroit who made pioneering garage punk before the genre had been given a name.
Brothers Bobby, Dannis and David Hackney had what can only be described as an epiphany after seeing the Who and Alice Cooper in concert. They eschewed the funk and disco and chose the path of hard rock. Even now with global and instant access to every genre of music it would be hard to imagine 3 ordinary black kids choosing this route but when it's 1974 and in Motor City it seems too far-fetched to be true.
In 1975, they recorded 7 songs at United Sounds Studios under the name 'Death'. The thought behind this was to turn the ultimate negative word into something positive. After local success, they released one of these tracks a year later with the financial backing of Clive Davis, head of Arista. He obviously saw something in the band and urged them to change their name. They stuck to their guns however and said no at which point Davis lost interest in the band, no doubt well aware how difficult it would be to market them. They were left playing local gigs and in 1977 they upped sticks and moved to Vermont, changed the band's name to 4th Movement and also the music direction. 4th Movement were now a mixture of gospel and hard rock.
The band fizzled out a few years later with 2 minor selling albums and brother David moved back to Detroit where he died in 1990. The 2 remaining brothers formed Lambsbread, a reggae band and continue to record with relatively more success. So the story would have ended but in 2003 a Death song was included on a punk bootleg and they began to finally get the attention they deserved. Thankfully, Death has reformed with David's place taken by Lambsbread guitarist, Bobby Duncan and last month the album 'Spiritual, Mental, Physical' was released to considerable critical acclaim.
It's tales like this that, in my opinion, really make a mockery of the way black music is pigeon-holed into cliched 'urban music' and patronised with award shows such as the MOBOs. Enough ranting from me, let's get to the important stuff; the music. What did Death sound like? It sounds to me as if Hendrix was jamming with Deep Purple. Make no mistake though, this is hard rock but with an early punk attitude that John Lydon would have given his milk teeth for. Imagine how this tune would have gone down at the Roxy.
White Stripes have announced that they are splitting for good. This is from their official website:
The White Stripes would like to announce that today, February 2nd, 2011, their band has officially ended and will make no further new recordings or perform live.
Third Man Records will continue to put out unreleased live and studio recordings from The White Stripes in their Vault Subscription record club, as well as through regular channels. The reason is not due to artistic differences or lack of wanting to continue, nor any health issues as both Meg and Jack are feeling fine and in good health. It is for a myriad of reasons, but mostly to preserve what is beautiful and special about the band and have it stay that way.Meg and Jack want to thank every one of their fans and admirers for the incredible support they have given throughout the 13 plus years of the White Stripes’ intense and incredible career.
Both Meg and Jack hope this decision isn’t met with sorrow by their fans but that it is seen as a positive move done out of respect for the art and music that the band has created. It is also done with the utmost respect to those fans who’ve shared in those creations, with their feelings considered greatly. With that in mind the band have this to say: “The White Stripes do not belong to Meg and Jack anymore. The White Stripes belong to you now and you can do with it whatever you want. The beauty of art and music is that it can last forever if people want it to. Thank you for sharing this experience. Your involvement will never be lost on us and we are truly grateful.”
I can't say they were my favourite band and Seven Nation Army did get played to death but all the same, it's a shame that a talented duo are no more. I prefer Jack White's solo stuff - especially his adventures into Americana and look forward to what he's got planned now. In the meantime I leave you with this fine song from their album 'Elephant'. Very Neil Young-sounding it is too.
Occasionally I come across a song that just is "wrong". I'm not talking about Crazy Frog sort of wrong, the wrongness I mean is of something deeper. Sometimes it's the subject matter, the lyrics and occasionally the artist themselves.
Here's an example: Peter Wyngarde was famous as the wonderfully camp lounge lizard detective, Jason King back in the late 60s and early 70s. As was common then (and now I suppose) these actors are offered recording contracts for one-off albums. More often than not it's a chance for the actors to do karaoke cabaret classics but Wyngarde took the contract very seriously and recorded what is one of the most bizarre albums I've ever heard. Believe me, I've listened to Arab Strap, Captain Beefheart, that album Bjork did when she was 11 but Wyngarde's album blows all those into the water. One of the tracks is him reading out a letter to the Times in around 1968 by a young skinhead girl of 15. Others are equally as barking but there is one track that hits the gutter and keeps crawling. No wonder the record company withdrew the album.
It's sensitively called 'Rape'. The song title really is the least of the song's worries. It starts with Peter W ruminating on the different types of rape as if he's telling you over a dinner table. To add to the nastiness there's also a female backing singer screaming 'rape'. Then we get not so casual racial stereotyping and just downright bigotry. I know we need to consider the historical context of prevailing attitudes before judging but was rape ever a subject for cheap laughs?
Compare and contrast with the Rhoda Dakar song 'The Boiler'. This deals with the same subject matter and pulls no punches but you know where they are coming from with the song (harrowing though it is) and they're not doing it for the giggles.
Another wrong song is this one by Charles Manson (yes, THE Charles Manson). The title doesn't help either! The reason I feel really uneasy about this is that I actually quite like the tune. Now, Manson did have a minor musical career and (I think) had links with Dennis Wilson so he obviously had musical talent. A documentary I saw on the Manson Family made a big deal of how music was an important part of bonding within their cult. The Manson Family Singers recorded 'Family Jams' whilst Manson was on trial for the Tate murders. It was recorded secretly with several members still on the run from the FBI at the time. The lyrics are littered with macabre and sinister references to their crimes. The album itself is a typical post-hippy, choral affair with the all the cynicism of its contemporaries. It's not too bad if you're looking for artistic merit but you can't help but think about the people behind those voices and what they had done.
I find it strange that certain artists are so toxic nowadays that their music is never played. Case in point is Gary Glitter. No-one listens to his music, it really is that cut and dried but when you consider Pete Townsend is still rocking with the Who (aren't they down to play Glastonbury this year?), R Kelly, Ike Turner, Chuck Berry, Phil Spector and a whole host of wife-beaters still have mass appeal then I have to wonder what the rule is. Should we disassociate Gary Glitter the artist with Gary Glitter person? Should Pete Townsend be told that he is not welcome at Glastonbury? As you might have guessed, I don't have any answers to these questions.
The will of God, whatever you wanna call it call it Jesus, call it Mohammed, call it your heart call it whatever you wanna call it. It's still music to me. It's there. It's the will of life." - Charles Manson
