Category: Albums


The Wrong Songs to Right Wrongs

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March 13, 2012

Album of the Week: Hey Enemy – The Wrong Songs to Right Wrongs

See that album cover? A drumkit on fire? Let’s start with that, shall we?

It’s not quite Rage Against the Machine’s self-immolating monk, but it is a brave statement and you’ll think ‘Danger!’ ‘Excitement!’ ‘Arson!’. If an album fails to deliver on such promises it’ll look more ridiculous than a fat man pissing on a burning drum kit.

Thankfully The Wrong Songs to Right Wrongs largely delivers, although we’ll have to let them off the lack of tangible arson action.

Hey Enemy hail from the historic central Scotland town, sorry ‘city’, of Stirling, an unlikely backdrop for such angry, visceral music but the band, comedy pseudonyms and all, have produced something to stir the loins.

Citing both McLusky and Queens of the Stone Age as influences, there’s certainly no shortage of riffs and wry humour here, but we’d suggest they’re more metal than the former and less polished than the latter.

Pink Steam is an almighty opening clatter and there’s not much let up over the course of eleven tracks. Snowy, Best Dog in the World bites hardest (see bonkers video below) and the relentless rawk could prove to be a bit much for some ears but there is enough light and shade to keep interest levels high throughout.

There’s even tunes. I Am the Blues is hook-laden and a potential radio anthem, and Chump Rebate is genuine slowy. Well, until the guitars get turned up and the screaming starts, that is. On the note, Flight of the Latex Eagle would make Anthrax proud.

The band have been around for a while and having torn Stirling a new one, we reckon they’re gunning for your own posterior. Whether they can resist torching their own percussion in the process is unclear.

Naturally, a chat with drummer ‘Caspin Rouge’ was the order of the day.

How did you guys come together as a band?

To be honest I can’t remember anymore, it was eight years ago. Basically, Colin and Chris (that would be Chet Harbringer and Jesus LaFontaine, alias fans) played in Dead Or American at the time and approached me about starting a 3-piece. My band had played on a bill with them a couple of times and Stirling being a small, incestuous, melting pot of a town we all knew each other some way or another… that and Colin is my uncle.

How does it feel to get an album out?

A relief? I recorded the drums for the album about two and a half years ago. The fact that it has taken eight years from band formation to debut ablum release gives you an idea of how we roll. We are just back from a three week European Tour that was designed to promote the release. I think we should do a tour to promote every album we make if that is the case we will probably release another album next Friday.

What have your key influences been?

I’m definately the worst person to answer this question, I listen to Jazz, Country and Blues. I remember being in Chris’ flat and him playing some Jesus Lizard and Unsane records, giving me an rough idea of the noise we were about to create. There was some influences we all shared, the likes of Nick Cave, Tom Waits and Queens of the Stone Age.

Can we expect to see you playing live soon?

Not all that soon, the month of May is the next time we hit the road. We are planning a short jaunt across the border to Auld England town for some shows.

The Wrong Songs to Write Wrongs is available from quality record shops and the band’s website.

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Die Hard

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March 6, 2012

Album of the Week: Die Hard – Die Hard

You will find no wisecracking New York cops here, oh action movie thrillseeker.

Instead of defending skyscrapers, airports or underground bullion stashes, this Glasgow three-piece are more intent on defending their own identities from the public eye, remaining largely anonymous.

Perhaps said approach is to allow the music to speak for itself. Well, we’re hearing it loud and clear, particularly In the Garden, all hissing unease and vocal effects, reigned in by a steady drumming. A smidge Knife-y, we might suggest.

Here Comes the Rage is altogether cheerier, janglier and Djangoier. Okay, so we’ve just invented another adjective to compare bands with other bands and for that we apologise and ask your forgiveness. But let’s set aside the song’s patently angry lyrics and look at Die Hard as a complete picture.

Present and correct is a sparky mix of guitars and programming with such a wide variation in song styles, that we’re very much into art pop territory. So suggesting they’re not unlike a Django Django without the hype or an Animal Collective without their heads up their arses is fair comment.

Hands’ layered vocal melodies and firm beat shouts ‘single!’ but we doubt that – at this stage at least – Die Hard would do anything as populist as, y’know, release a single or anything.

No Vendetta feels like Brian Wilson if he was a high concept pattern serial killer and Mmmm is a lyric-free FX clusterbomb to the senses.

Quirky, odd, a little pretentious. Absolutely the polar opposite of the John McClane film saga, but when they decide to start playing gigs, they should be playing to packed theatres around the land.

And so much for being elusive, we tracked down the band for a word…

You appear to have come from nowhere – what’s your background?

Craig: Music’s been a thread that’s ran through our friendship for years, as you do growing up, we used to play, or batter guitars, then recently we started to melt samplers together and just over a year ago, the three of us decided we should write an album and since we had moved into the same flat and we started building the band up from there; it allowed us to record together at crazy hours, mostly staying up all weekend or through the night.

Could... not... resist...

What were the key inspirations for the band, both musically and lyrically?

Adam: When we were creating the album we tried not to use guitar, it’s there, but usually always in the background. From years of rehearsal room bashing in different bands, we had grown tired of the guitar sound, so we were trying to keep away from it. Inspiration came from more a more unusual sound, weird classical, electronic and music with textures. There was no one band or album. Films were a major influence when we were growing up together though, something like Total Recall was one of those major influences; when we were younger we used to pass around pirate copies of all sorts of strange films, that definitely crossed over to our music-making sensibilities. As for the lyrical inspiration for this album, its dark with a pinch of salt, we like positives and negatives.

There’s an element of secrecy around the band. Has this been a deliberate move?

Ryan: As we haven’t played a gig, it felt natural to just let the music speak and let our personalities be secondary to that, to us it makes sense. These days everything is so personal, I think we’re just being laid back for now.

Can we expect to see some more live shows in the near future?

Adam: Yes, no doubt – it’s something we’re really looking forward to. There should be a show lined up for Stag and Dagger and a few other gig offers that we’re looking at just now.

Die Hard is out now through major download services. For more info head over here.

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Aloha Tigers

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February 29, 2012

Album of the Week: Aloha Tigers – Aloha Tigers

Presenting the debut album by Illinois duo Aloha Tigers. On a Scottish DIY tape label.

Obviously.

See, this neat little release marks the first activity by Kirkcudbright Tape Club, a micro concern by former ‘Have Fun At Dinner’ blogger and current Song, by Toad associate Ian Greenhill.

And it’s a perfect fit. Greenhill’s old site had an unhealthy obsession with the dreamier side of indie pop, especially if it happened to be Swedish.

Now, we’re not aware of any Scandanavian blood flitting round Aloha Tigers’ veins but if you close your eyes you might just find yourself imagining underrated lo-fi troupe the Radio Dept streaming laid back, melodic loveliness into your eyes.

We’ll hear more about how this bizarre collaboration came about below, but let savour some bite size chunks from Aloha Tigers.

Your Ghost would make the Shins proud, all the more pertinent in the year that they’ve returned with a rather ropey single. The Kind of Girl You Like might feel like lightweight pop fluff but within the song lurk lyrics and vivid descriptions of their somewhat negative effects.

Arguably best of all is Darkest Dreams, which aptly takes you to a place where you could curl up, close your eyes and forget about that big bad world out there before poking you awake with a sharp reminder that feral kids are stripping your car of its useful parts outside.

And the band name? You’re thinking of tigers cubs in Hawaiian shirts aren’t you? Hang on to that imagine, it’s worth savouring… Cute but likely to turn on you once you realise what they’re all about.

I grabbed a word with the band this week.

Care to introduce yourselves?

Michael Wharfield: We started Aloha Tigers in October of 2009 as a home recording project. We basically met on accident. At first, each of us was kind of intimidated by the other, but that ended abruptly after we actually got to talking and realized that we had the same musical goals and interests. And that we share a number of similar neuroses. And it went from there.
Nick Aister: Mike built our studio from the ground up, makes all our beats, does all the production, and all the mixing, and mastering. I write and perform the songs. It’s kind of a DJ Jazzy Jeff/Fresh
Prince, “He’s the DJ, I’m the Rapper”-type thing, except I do not believe that either of them was suffering from massive depression or crippling anxiety when they were making their albums. Although I don’t know that for certain.
Mike: We’ve both been making music since we were kids and intend to keep doing it until we are old and feeble.
Nick: I am already somewhat feeble.
Mike: And old.
Nick: And old. I am old.

Aloha Tigers. Hello Kitty with sharper teeth in Hawaiian shirts. Discuss.

Nick: I am personally a huge fan of that description. We genuinely try to make upbeat, catchy pop songs, but the darkness always finds a way in. I’ve always been really into people like Randy Newman and Jarvis Cocker, who write absolutely amazing tunes with scathing lyrics, and that’s kind of what I aspire too. And I like kitties, a lot.
Mike: I stole a Hawaiian shirt from my dad once and tried to make Nick wear it, but he wouldn’t.
Nick: It looked really terrible on me. I only look good in certain types of shirts.
Mike: You should always keep an eye out for a shirt you like.

What were the key inspirations behind the album?

Nick: The world is clearly falling to pieces all around us and we wanted to make an album that sort of reflects how we feel about that.
Mike: Between impending environmental collapse, peak oil, corporate-sponsored war, the global rise of the neo-feudalist state and the coming of the singularity, we feel its pretty obvious that humankind is on its last legs, so we convened and decided that now is the time to make art.
Nick: We locked ourselves in a smoky room for a year and basically taught ourselves how to make an album as a means of distracting ourselves from our encroaching destruction. It was fun.

What drew you to a super low key DIY Scottish label?
Mike: Primarily, Ian Greenhill. He started Kirkcudbright Tape-Club as a genuine labor of love and he”s been in our corner from the very beginning. It’s a good fit because we’re kind of ornery and independent-minded, and Ian is too. He’s allowed us maintain control of our artistic vision, if that doesn’t sound too pretentious, and he’s repeatedly worn himself ragged sticking his neck out there and promoting the shit out of us. When you have the opportunity to work with someone like Ian, you jump at it, you know?
Nick: Also, we’re from a relatively small town in the middle of America, so signing with a label out of Scotland is terribly exotic. Although I believe Ian may have had a minor objection to being referred to as “super low key”. We all consider ourselves to be rather high key. That’s a thing, right? Sure it is. Print that.

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The Narrow State

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February 22, 2012

Album of the Week: Rumour Cubes – The Narrow State

The Tidal Wave of Indifference bloody loves post rock.

Hopefully that was obvious with our frequent Mogwai-related drooling and our championing of pretty much everything that comes with guitars set to ‘epic’ and vocals set to ‘none’.

The arrival of the debut album by London-based instrumentalist Rumour Cubes in our inbox was always likely to receive favourable treatment then, but thankfully this is no mere run-of-the-mill jaunt.

Yes, we swoon over its glacial guitars, its unhurried build up and its massive, massive loud guitars, but it’s the use of the violin that adds that little bit extra to proceedings.

It’s not exactly a new trick for a post rock band, but Rumour Cubes bring out the best of the instrument once best known for being your weapon of choice when deliberating whether to beat Nigel Kennedy to death or not.

In amongst the thunderous guitars and portentous pontificating on The Gove Curve, the violins (and viola) are lacerating, rhythmic, and deeply unsettling. On the more lament-like At Sea, they’re heartfelt and more likely to have you staring at the bottom of a glass wondering why your beloved left you and even took the bloody cat.

At six tracks, The Narrow State is perhaps a little slight as nothing here, unlike, for example, much of the work of Mono, will have you checking your watch. But there’s plenty going on and the frequent time changes (see halfway through Rain On Titan) keep things interesting.

Triptych is a full-on blast of rock and roll and sounds like it would best appreciated live with everything, bowed or otherwise, getting the crap kicked out of it, until things break down rather beautifully. Needless to say, it then ramps up once again, conveying that sense of euphoria that makers of this kind music must all strive for.

But very few truly achieve it.

Naturally, we had a wee yarn with the band.

Are there any particular themes running through the record?

Adam Stark (guitar/electronics): One particular theme that has come out is the marketisation of education. This wasn’t particularly deliberate but there are strong political impulses in the band and so it happened naturally. Certainly, we believe that education should be a) free to all and b) free-thinking, i.e., it should not merely be the servant of a market economy, churning out ready-to-go employees – rather it should seek to empower people to challenge the society they are living in, giving each generation the opportunity to remake it as their own. These are some of the themes behind the opening two tracks, “The University is a Factory” and “The Gove Curve”. The poem that appears on The Gove Curve was written by poet Steve Willey, a good friend of the band.

Terry Murphy (viola): In a way all the songs bear the influence of the state and mood of the country at the time we made the album. I think the title ‘The Narrow State’ reflects both how we all feel about the political and governmental climate at the moment, and the mood of the songs bears that out, be it as a reflection of gloom and depression – or oppression even – or as a rallying cry of intent and hope in railing against that. Lauren Mortimer, who did the magnificent drawings for our album, really symbolised visually the marketisation of education theme, too.

How was the recording process?

AS: Brilliant! And long! We recorded the album at Café Music Studios in east London, with Mark Sutherland (producer) and Cherif Hashizume  (engineer). They injected a new life into the band and really made sure we got the best out of ourselves. We are also a picky bunch and so it took a lot of tweaking and revisiting things until we were able to sit down, listen to it and say “ok, it’s done, time to stop”. The record took nine months to make explicitly with some parts recorded more than 18 months ago. We are pleased with it though.

TM: We had to stop because we’d eaten all the supplies of ton-weight syrupy waffles from the shop next door. And by ‘we’ I mean Adam. Mark and Cherif really welcomed us into their studio and it became our second home – I’d charge Omar (Rahwangi – drums) rent if I were them! The amount of junk food required was heavy going though – that was definitely our rock and roll excess.

Hannah Morgan (violin): I had an absolutely amazing time at Café Music Studios. It’s a wonderful place that we pretty much entirely took over while we were there – we’d have one member downstairs recording, others assembling string lines upstairs, while the rest were making coffee, ordering Chinese, doing band admin on laptops… And that doesn’t even begin to touch on the jamming sessions, cover versions, filming, podcasting, etc that was going on as well. I’d live my life like that if I could.

What prompted the use of strings in your sound?

AS: I think when we formed the band, we wanted to go for a more diverse line up. A number of other musicians tried out for the band, including a cellist and a flautist. We tried our best to find a contra-bassoon player, but to no avail.

TM: One of the Sky Sports News presenters plays the bassoon – I used to play in the Merseyside Youth Orchestra with him. We could drop him a line. I wasn’t in the band when the line-up was decided, but I assume the decision to have a violin was due to not being able to find two violas (only joking, Hannah!)

HM: Actually I seem to recall it being me who suggested a viola player! We wanted something to complement and contrast the violin, and toyed with a few different instrumental ideas but the viola was by far the best choice – it’s a more mellow and fuller sound than the violin, but still has a similar range, whereas a cello would have been an octave lower.

Any plans to tour? Scotland perhaps?

AS: We do plan to tour later this year, yes. No specifics as yet, but we’d love to come up to Scotland – anyone wanna put us up?!

TM: I went to a wedding at a place called Crear about 20 miles from
Lochgilphead on the west coast of Scotland in the summer (I mean I went there in the summer. I assume it’s on the west coast of Scotland all year round, rather than being migratory). It runs residential courses for musicians I think. It’s in the middle of nowhere, so chances are we’d be playing to a field of sheep, but it would be an awesome setting!

HM: Touring is something we absolutely, desperately want to do. We just need to find time to do it! Co-ordinating seven people is difficult at the best of times. But we’ll definitely get there soon.

The Narrow State is available on Monday on Bandcamp.

Rumour Cubes – Triptych (live) from Rumour Cubes on Vimeo.

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Dead Wolf Situation

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February 15, 2012

Album of the Week: Hysterical Injury – Dead Wolf Situation

Death From Above 1979 and Blood Red Shoes. Right, now we’ve got the ubiquitous ‘sounds like’ reference out the way, we can get on with reviewing this rather splendid record by Wales’ Hysterical Injury.

Really though, they can expect nothing less – a boy/girl duo combining drums with a stringed instrument equals an instant Blood Red reference. Add that the instrument in question is a bass, then your DFA link is sealed too.

Thankfully, Dead Wolf Situation can stand on its own four feet. Absolutely as ferocious as you’d expect, it goes immediately for the jugular with Halo Alkanes, swiftly followed by Icebreak and Cycle One, combining vulgar power with a canny sense of melody. In fact, we’d argue that this is as strong an opening blast as on any album this year. Annie Gardiner howling “Everybody knows its rattling his cage” on Cycle One simply won’t leave your mind for weeks.

And sure, the bass has its limitations as a non-rhythmic instrument, but you wouldn’t guess that by listening to this album. Six string chords are simply not missed and it’s great to see a band doing something beyond yer standard fare. While the above comparisons are valid, they’re far noisier than Blood Red Shoes and a little less hairy (and considerably prettier) than DFA 1979.

Annie’s brother Tom is the man behind the kit, adding propulsion to the relentless racket. It can be slowed down a touch when required with Vex and showing restraint, and there’s lyrical depth on display with the scything Skyline Interface dealing with that whole unpleasant Meredith Kercher/Amanda Knox business.

Tipped by 6 Music for big things this year, Hysterical Injury are probably way too awkward for the mainstream, but Dead Wolf Situation is quite an introduction.

We spoke to Annie last week.

How does it feel like be a ‘tip’ for this year?

It is very very nice to hear that people like our music and so being a ‘tip’ is an honour.

What on earth is a ‘dead wolf situation’?

Dead Wolf Situation can be a kind of fairy tale metaphor to have slewn your fears! It was a happy accident we had a few choice words written down and assembled them until it sounded nice, and luckily the album has a lot of content about fear so it fitted.

Tell us about what’s influenced the album.

For a long time I’ve wanted to make an album that had the kind of psycho-ness that Joy Division got in Unknown Pleasures. I dont think we or this album sounds like it at all but that album has been a big influence on me to follow my curiosities about what sound and lyrics I would want to put on a record. I am also a huge David Lynch fan and have always been intrigued by his unfolding of seemingly mundane situations to find the abstraction. I wanted to make something that was something too… you know took you somewhere, that had energy in it… like when I first discovered Lightning Bolt I was just blown up by their energy. It is otherworldy, its almost a physical being, you are really aware of the physical change in energy when they play – you know air pressure turning into electrical currents, turning into kenetic responses… It made me smile and I wanted to do that too… and a huge urge to do what we like despite the world we live in….keeping rebellion alive and all.

Can we expect to see you in Scotland any time soon?

I would love to come to Scotland. My family are Scottish, although Tom and I were born and bred in beautiful Wales, our roots are in the North for sure. There is talk that we shall make it this year and I cant wait !!

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Plumb

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February 7, 2012

Album of the Week: Field Music – Plumb

When eyes unexpectedly turned to the North East of England in the middle of the last decade looking for the next big thing, no one really expected Field Music to be the ones with staying power.

But here we are in 2012 with the Brewis brothers about to release their excellent fourth album while the Futureheads and Maximo Park have largely drifted out of the public’s consciousness.

Maybe it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise? Field Music were always alchemists – full of awkward, staccato rhythms which should take down the catchiness level of any song, but somehow still keeping their songs in the drawer clearly marked ‘pop’ – but certainly not throwaway popsters.

This formula hit its peak on 2007′s wonderful Tones of Town and while it’s follow-up Measure overextended itself at 22 tracks, it still oozed quality, thicker than any Geordie accent.

So in theory, 15 tracks over barely half an hour on Plumb should see Field Music stripping things back a bit?

Nuh-uh.

Short and sharp some of the songs may be (three fall short of the minute mark), but the band have woven in complex time changes all over the shop and some songs like opener Start the Day Right manage still be multi-part Bohemian Rhapsody/Paranoid Android-esque epics while barely scraping past two minutes.

And the tracks come at you so thick and fast it can be difficult to differentiate between one of those time changes and a new piece kicking off altogether.

The Brewis voice has alway been a strength and the brothers are in fine voice once again with vocals that must surely now be described as ‘unmistakable’. First single (I Keep Thinking About) A New Thing certainly needed no introduction on the first of its many radio plays.

In amongst all the musical intricacy is woven a gorgeous sense of melody (Choosing Sides and Guillotine particularly standing out) and some superb guitar sounds, like on Who’ll Pay the Bills.

To date Field Music have been seen as little more than well respected cult heroes who don’t sell as many records as they should. Here’s hoping that Plumb changes all that.

We were delighted to catch a word with David Brewis last week.

How has your approach to writing and recording differed since Measure?

As ever, we’re just trying to get better at what we do. There was definitely a feeling this time round that we should embrace some different approaches to structure, especially given that a lot of the songs on Measure were quite conventional in that respect. In terms of recording, we’ve had to get used to working in a new space, as we moved to a new studio just before we started recording. That’s allowed us to be a bit less inhibited with regard to instrumentation.

What are the key themes we can hear on Plumb?

Musically, there’s an incredibly wide range on the record. I think the more-fragmented structures have led to a few sections which really draw on musicals and film; maybe using the music as narrative in a way we haven’t done in the past. But on the other hand, there are plenty of songs where that wouldn’t be apparent at all!

Lyrically, quite a few of Peter’s songs deal with nostalgia and how memories impinge on the here and now. In my songs, there’s quite a lot of existential frustration! How do you communicate with people without diluting your ideas to make them more easily understood? Can you hold onto your ideals as you get older? Isn’t there something more useful to do with your time than making music? The usual.

Looking forward to getting out on the road again?

I am actually. I think the band is sounding really good and I think some of the songs will be quite surprising for people to see and hear live. I wouldn’t want to play as much as we did after Measure – I don’t have the mental stamina to play the same songs night after night that often and still enjoy it. It’s great to go out and play but, for me, that has to be balanced out by quiet, solitary time when I can let some new ideas percolate.

You can catch Field Music on the following dates:

Feb 10, Newcastle, The Cluny (SOLD OUT)
Feb 12, Newcaslte The Cluny (Extra date just added)
Feb 18, Glasgow Stereo
Feb 19, Manchester Deaf Institute (SOLD OUT)
Feb 20, Leeds Brudenell Social Club
Feb 22, Nottingham, Bodega
Feb 23, Bristol The Fleece
Feb 24, Kings College London

Some of the camerawork on this unofficial video is on the shaky side, but it certainly captures the essence of (I Keep Thinking About) A New Thing.

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No One Can Ever Know

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February 1, 2012

Album of the Week: The Twilight Sad – No One Can Ever Know

Much has been made of the Twilight Sad’s ‘change of direction’. You know the one – that famous wall of noise now morphed into dark, swirling synths.

True, it sounds strange at first. There was a definite transition between debut Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters and 2009′s Forget the Night Ahead, but this is something else entirely.

Maybe that’s why the band and their chose to trail the album so heavily in advance. Three of its nine tracks have been available for advance download, two for free, so music fans that were already into the band have had plenty of time to readjust. Those who weren’t have a clean slate of course, but seeing them live may make them wonder just what’s going on.

If reports are to believed the band have lost absolutely none of their power – and let’s face it, volume – live, even on the less guitar-y new songs. Impressive, as it’s hard to see some of these songs turning into true foundation shakers.

That’s not to say they’re lacking in other qualities, of course. Present and correct is James Graham’s anguished howl, the OTHER defining trait of the Twilight Sad. It blends magnificently with the creaking door synths on opener Alphabet.

That unsettling ’70s horror soundtrack feel runs through the album and on Dead City it kicks on into a cracking chorus. Sick’s difficult lyrics announce a different tact – slow and breathless – and it’s maybe an odd choice for a single, but hey isn’t The Room one of the ‘Sad’s best-loved songs?

The closing doubler – Another Bed and Kill It In The Morning – you’ll already be familiar with and if you’ve any sense, utterly love.

The Twilight Sad have progressed their sound certainly, but have lost none of their intensity. No One Can Ever Know is an album to be proud of and one you’ll keep coming back to. Trust us.

We spoke to James from the band last week.

It feels like a breakneck few years for the band. Fancy slowing down any time soon?

Ha! I suppose we’ve been kind of busy, although we’d have liked to have been even busier. We’re a working band and playing live is what we love to do, so we’re not planning on slowing down anytime soon. 2012 looks like its going to be a really full on busy year for us, which is great. The only way we’ll be slowing down is if we split up or end up killing each other over the next year.

Much has been made of your apparent change in sound – how do YOU think you’ve changed?

Personally, I don’t see it as that big of a change. We’ve just done what comes naturally. I’m not the same person I was when I wrote the first or second album. I mean, I’m still the same person – I haven’t had an identity crisis or anything – I’ve just got older. I still write in the same way I’ve always written, the songs are still about where I’m from and things that have happened to me/my friends/my family but I think musically we always want to try new things whilst staying honest and true to ourselves. We never wanted to make the same sounding record on any release so we’ve just done things that have interested us musically and tried to move the band forward in a direction that keeps us interested and excited. I mean, I don’t listen to any of our old albums, so people that have recently or occasionally over the past few years, might think it’s a big change. But to me we’re the same band and hopefully that comes through on this new record in a new and exciting way.

Is there a particular influence that’s now coming to the fore?

No one in particular, it was more something that happened at the song writing stage. The songs just took on a sparse/bleak approach, which actually helped to add certain new elements to the sound of the songs, if that makes any sense. Andy was listening to stuff along the lines of Siouxsie and the Banshees, Can, PiL, Fad Gadget, Cabaret Voltaire, Wire, Bauhaus, Magazine, D.A.F. etc. Which probably helped influence the new songs. As far as the vocal melodies and lyrics go, I just did what came naturally when I was listening to and writing along to the music that Andy gave me. That’s the thing with this band, we just do what comes naturally and we’re not trying to be anything we’re not.

Can we expect to see you out on the road again soon?

Yeah, we’re touring the UK at the start of February, beginning a four-week North American tour at the end of February which ends at SXSW. Then I think we’re off to mainland Europe in April/May, then it will be festival season. Then in the second half of the year we’ll be releasing something else with the new album so hopefully we’ll be touring the world again. We’re really hoping this new album will take us to countries and cities we’ve never been before. Life on the road is what we’re hoping for.

Those tours dates as follows:

Feb 9 Glasgow Grand Ole Opry
Feb 10 Manchester Ruby Lounge
Feb 11 Sheffield Queens Social Club
Feb 12 Birmingham Hare and Hounds
Feb 13 Bristol Fleece
Feb 14 London Cargo
Feb 15 Nottingham Stealth
Feb 16 Leeds Brudenell Social Club

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Have Some Faith in Magic

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January 25, 2012

Album of the Week: Errors – Have Some Faith in Magic

Thank fuck for Errors.

In these times of economic Armageddon, Middle East unrest and what seems to have been a spate of rather grisly murders of late, you can always rely on Scotland’s finest exponents of math-funk (© The Tidal Wave of Indifference 2012) to transport you to another place as they beam down their altogether pleasant sounds.

2010′s Come Down With Me was a classic of sorts, and one which saw them start to throw off the supposed shackles of post rock, which were ill-fitting anyway. The dancefloor-friendly Supertribe and A Rumour in Africa sounded sod all like Mogwai, and hey, while we’re at it, just because bands share a label doesn’t mean they sound alike, eh?

Those shackles are well and truly off on Have Some Faith in Magic. Like its predecessor, it’s ten sharp sounding rhythmic blasts, but far from a facsimile, this is more focused on synths and beats than anything they’ve done before.

And there’s vocals too. The signs were there on pre-release freebie Earthscore as mumbled wisps of human utterances chased spidery guitar and juddering bass over the whole song, and it’s a theme that’s carried across the whole album.

Don’t expect a lyric sheet though. Most of the wordsmithery is incomprehensible and simply acts as a additional instrument in an already heady mix where nary a second of …Magic’s running time goes to waste.

Also where Come Down With Me blasted out a number of instant toetappers, the, approach here is more measured. Magna Encarta takes it time, but is still a big, big tune stuffed with time changes and synths that will get you whirling both physically and mentally, helping you forget that horrible big world outside. By the time the soung wraps up with crashing drums you’ll be bloody beside yourself.

Blank Media is a woozy affair before Pleasure Palaces well and truly hits the spot with some uptempo techno. The keen of ear may even be able to pick up a lyric or two with ‘my soul’ seemingly cropping up regularly.
Once we pass the thumping Earthscore, it feels like the album is starting to hit a comedown but then along comes Holus Bolus to up the ante fizzing out on wall of feedback.
Overall, this feels like at least the equal of Come… and god knows we need more records like this to help drown out the DEATHDESTRUCTIONPESTILENCEMELTDOWN happening right outside your door.

We grabbed a chat with the band’s Steev Livingstone last week.

It feels like a non-stop few years for the band – ever plan to take your feet off the pedal?

On the inside it doesn’t really feel like that. I get guilty if I’m sitting about not doing very much, so that kind of ensures that we are quite productive. But I’m still in bed typing this up and it’s one in the afternoon so it’s not like i’m Mr Motivator or anything.

What’s the album title about? Has one of you been practising witchcraft?

We argued about where this came from and who came up with it. Simon believes it was words of wisdom that he gave to Greg before recording a guitar part that he was unsure about. As with most of our titles, to us it doesn’t really mean anything, other people always will explain what it means for you so we could really call our albums anything we wanted and people would interpret them or read into them in what ever way they wanted to. In our video for Earthscore, there is a white witch performing a ritual where he blesses a crystal for us to protect us on tour, he sent it up to us on the post and now I carry it with me everywhere.

How do you feel your sound has developed since Come Down With Me?

I’d say this is our most consistent sounding record yet. It also has a lot more space in it and we’ve learnt how to give things space to breathe a little better I think. Most obviously we’ve included vocals on nine of the ten tracks on the record, so I reckon for a lot of people that will be a big difference for them. We adopted a sort of stream of consciousness approach to writing on a lot of the tracks where we were trying not to repeat or return to sections that had already happened. The tune “The Knock” is a good example of this.

Touring again, we see – ever get sick of it?

The only thing I don’t like about going on tour is not being able to write any music, I’ve tried it in the past and it’s a very frustrating experience.

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Illuminated People

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January 21, 2012

Album of the Week: Islet – Illuminated People

Cardiff four-piece Islet have slowly but surely built up a profile over the last 18 months, courtesy of two acclaimed mini-albums, festival slots and a burgeoning reputation for unhinged live shows.

When a band becomes known for its on-stage mania, the challenge is always how to channel that energy into a record that is both coherent and exciting.

With Illuminated People, we’re pleased to report that Islet have pulled it off. Think what would happen if Can ever produced Slow Club or Broken Social Scene and that ought to give a fair approximation of what to expect here – both wilfully awkward and melodic, usually within the same bar.

The band have maintained their DIY ethos and refused to compromise on their principals. Kicking off an album with the nine minute sprawl that is Libra Man, hardly smacks of a band chasing the Yankee dollar, but even that feels like it’s merely building up to the pounding syths and hammering drums of This Fortune.

After the playful Entwined Pines, we strike gold dust. It’s What We Done Wrong that really lights up Illuminated People. Almost following convential song structure and with something that, with a bit of imagination, could even be described as a chorus. It’s a full-on pop song and in its searing instrumental outro, it’s easy to how that live reputation has become such a talking point.

At the other end of the scale is We Bow, as stripped back as Islet get. It’s simply main man Mark Thomas’ voice, an acosutic, light brushed drums and lady harmonies. And it’s bloody lovely too.

The second half of the album pulls back the wall of sound a little but Fillia stills ebbs and flows towards bursts of noise and album closer A Bear On His Own hits those ‘pop’ buttons we heard earlier on the album.

This isn’t technically a debut but as a first full length record, but it feels like this exciting band has made peace with the conflicting needs of doing exactly as they please and entertaining people.

We’re confident this will be  a huge year for Islet.

Rather belatedly, we spoke to the band’s Mark Thomas…

It feels like a full length record has been a long time coming – how does it feel to have it out?

It feels great to have a new record out! It is always a buzz as you never know what is going to happen. It’s also the end of a cycle and it feels exciting as you can instantly crack on with the next one! However, it doesn’t feel like it has been a long-time coming for us as at all. All our  records are recorded and tours are toured around our jobs (not through choice – we just need to eat!!).

Can you feel your sound progressing since the early days of the band?

We all love making music together and it has been constantly evolving and changing since we started. Music is a constant thrill in all of our lives, we’re addicted to it!

Do you feel you can achieve everything you want to with your DIY work ethic?

We call in ‘doing it together’ as opposed to DIY. It comes naturally to us to do our own artwork, build our own websites, send out all our postal orders from home and do a lot of recording. It’s fun – we’ve got our own cottage industry! There are quite a few things we don’t do ourselves though – we have a live agent and other bits and bobs like that.

Can we expect to see more live dates in the coming months?

Yes, we’ve just announced a small European tour in April and a UK tour for May. There should be some cool festivals as well in the summer, we’re excited as we’ve just been announced to play at Greenman festival. We played there before in 2010 and it was great fun!

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Voyageur

Filed under: Albums, Interviews — 2 Comments
January 10, 2012

Album of the Week: Kathleen Edwards – Voyageur

Leg-ups can be the making of some careers. Canadian songstress Kathleen Edwards has been making a name for herself in an unfussy fashion for the last decade with her last record Asking for Flowers being nominated for her home country’s Polaris Prize in 2008 (eventually losing out to Caribou).

But things feel different this time. A lot of that may have to do with the involvement of one Justin Vernon a.k.a Bon Iver, who, not content with hauling Ms Edwards out on tour for a run of sell-out shows, has produced her fourth album, Voyageur.

And it’s delightful.

Vernon’s pawprints – such as the rumbling guitars and military drums on A Soft Place to Land, more than reminiscent of Perth – are occasionally audible, but he’s not the only guest on the album.

However, aside from the familiar vocals of Norah Jones on For The Record, it’s hard to detect the involvement of other luminaries like British folk-pop foursome Stornoway, demonstrating that this is very much Edwards’ album.

Lyrically, the themes of Canuck disillusionment, a hangover from …Flowers are picked up again from the off on Empty Threat, as our narrator warns of “moving to America” over the fast-paced opener.

Change the Sheets is an obvious single with big melodies and a poppy arrangement but not everything here takes an easy path. The guitar sound on Mint is coarse as sandpaper and the bleak Going to Hell could have sat on For Emma, Forever Ago, and is appropriately maudlin.

The aforementioned For the Record closes Voyageur – simply French (Canadian?) for traveller by the way – and as you would imagine, given Jones’ involvement it’s a downbeat slowie, but at the same time, arguably the album’s high point. “For the record, I only wanted to sing songs,” indeed.

We caught a word with Kathleen this week.

Welcome back, Kathleen, it feels like a while since we’ve heard from you! What have you been up to since Asking for Flowers was released?

Herding cats, moving cities, writing a new album, picking my nose, but mostly just recording and writing a record.   
 

Bon Iver has been a significant figure for you in the last year or so – how did the collaboration come about?

We started out as email friends and before too long we were talking about recording some songs together. And then when it seemed like that was ridiculously fun and amazing, I ended up doing my whole record with Justin Vernon.

What have been the key inspirations for Voyageur – both lyrically and musically?

Musically I’d say the inspiration was to be more adventurous than I had been before. All the people who played on this record were so instrumental (pardon the pun) in shaping how the songs developed sonically, but I did have an initial goal to really delve more into musical territory that I loved esthetically but hadn’t yet achieved on record. Lyrically, the album is obviously very personal, which is a blessing and a curse. It feels good to stand up on stage and feel like the honesty of your work is intact, but some of the material crosses over into a difficult period of my last few years and there are days where you’d like to not be reminded of it. 

Finally, can we expect to see you back on UK shores soon?

Yes.  Thank God the Internet exists to help answer the when and where.

Internet Schminternet. Kathleen’s UK dates are right here:

Feb 24, Glasgow Oran Mor (www.gigsinscotland.com)
Feb 26, Manchester Ruby Lounge (www.ticketline.co.uk)
Feb 27, Birmingham Glee Club (www.glee.co.uk)
Feb 28, London Islington Academy

Voyageur is out on January 23.

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