Scrambled Music

Steve Reich Rewrites Radioheadthequietus.com Influential...

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 10:12:00 +0000

Steve Reich Rewrites Radiohead
thequietus.com

Influential minimalist composer Steve Reich is to debut a work based on two songs by popular Oxford group Radiohead, reports The Guardian. Radio Rewrite will be performed at the Southbank Centre next March by 13 musicia…

Interesting to see what this produces…

Left Silver Apples halfway through for fear the gig would ruin a...

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 00:41:51 +0000

Left Silver Apples halfway through for fear the gig would ruin a great album for me. Didn’t click with Junior Boys (Spandau Ballet covers). Omar Souleyman, whilst a default choice, is bringing a huge grin to my face.

Sun Ra Arkestra win the prize for sparkliest capes, hats and...

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 20:11:37 +0000

Sun Ra Arkestra win the prize for sparkliest capes, hats and outlooks of the festival. Strangely Christmassy.

Pharoah Saunders: Legend! This will certainly be the most...

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 16:25:22 +0000

Pharoah Saunders: Legend! This will certainly be the most original thing I hear all weekend.

One of the finds of ATP, for me: Dead Rider

Sat, 10 Dec 2011 23:06:52 +0000

One of the finds of ATP, for me: Dead Rider

Flying Lotus doing some astounding things with a laptop.

Sat, 10 Dec 2011 23:03:04 +0000

Flying Lotus doing some astounding things with a laptop.

Dead Rider.

Sat, 10 Dec 2011 22:59:15 +0000

Dead Rider.

This what people came to see Gary Numan for. He didn’t...

Sat, 10 Dec 2011 20:38:28 +0000

This what people came to see Gary Numan for. He didn’t disappoint, but I get the sense there was more new material than old. Good set - very gothy-industrial. I expect Are Friends Electric was the closer, although a potentially yelling daughter meant I missed the last 10 minutes.

Battles, co-curators of ATP Nightmare Before Xmas, kicking off...

Sat, 10 Dec 2011 15:42:54 +0000

Battles, co-curators of ATP Nightmare Before Xmas, kicking off day two. Yesterday was pretty good - one or two duds, but set the standard for what’s promising to be a great line-up.

Holy Fuck. Holy fuck!

Sat, 10 Dec 2011 01:35:44 +0000

Holy Fuck. Holy fuck!

Oxes cover of Wild Thing. Who needs more than guitar, vocals and...

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 22:02:00 +0000

Oxes cover of Wild Thing. Who needs more than guitar, vocals and drums. I am standing near the PA, vibrating gently.

The Budos Band: bastard offspring of The Horny Horns and...

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 20:57:01 +0000

The Budos Band: bastard offspring of The Horny Horns and Metallica. Like ‘em!

ATP Nightmare Before Christmas: Les Savy Fav/Battles/Caribou

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 18:24:35 +0000

Bodes well - Marnie Stern (2nd band on) tearing the roof off…

Elbow: build a rocket boys!

Sun, 24 Jul 2011 21:01:05 +0100

As I’ve probably mentioned before, Elbow’s previous album was a firm favourite, and a deserved Mercury Prize winner. Garvey and co. really know how to write a tune, and Seldom Seen Kid was a masterpiece of simple, direct and heart-rending tunes, so I was keen to hear where they’d go next: a retread of the commercial and critical success, or something else entirely?

The answer seems to be that build a rocket boys! builds on their long-awaited overnight success (sic) by reintroducing the prog rock elements that used to flavour their earlier albums. Before you run a mile, this is no Yes-style wig out and there there is no Focus-type yodelling. The album opener, The Birds, fairly well exemplifies what we’ll be getting here: a slightly angular riff, ticking percussion, weird vocal double tracking, interesting intervals on the bassline, unexpected chord changes and extended breakdown. All in all, we know this is going to be an interesting album. Lippy Kids, the album’s mission statement, is full of reverie for the halcyon days of childhood: this combination of sentimental content with lush and interesting arrangements is what Elbow do really well. I admit that on occasion, this can become a little cloying, but when I’m in the mood, there is no band better at getting under my skin. Favourite tracks, and highlighting the skill and dynamic range are Neat Little Rows - with an awesome bombastic chorus and the breakdown starting at 2:40 - and, by complete contrast, Jesus Is A Rochdale Girl - an intimate, downtempo and achingly beautiful song. I love this album, and would definitely recommend it to you.

♫ Listen ♫

Adele: 21

Sun, 24 Jul 2011 20:01:05 +0100

Adele’s 21 is definitely the commercial hit of the shortlist. 17 weeks at number 1 thanks largely, it would seem, to a performance of Someone Like You at the Brits. So does the album merit this huge success?

The first thing to say is that the opener, Rolling In The Deep, is a really great bluesy stomp of a track which showcases Adele’s voice perfectly. (As an aside, I’m guessing I’m not alone in finding this somewhat reminiscent of Gimme Shelter.) The real problem, to my ears at least, is that the songwriting elsewhere on the album is not really up to the same standard. Truth told, it’s all a bit anodyne, with nothing outstanding on the production side which helps elevate it. We’re left with a series of beautiful, powerful vocals let down by the emotion-by-numbers backing. Rapidly pedalling piano with stormy sting backing? Check! Soft rock balladry? Check! Westlife key change? Check! Grrrrr… Annoying. If she’d only get a decent songwriting partnership set up, she could be really something. I mean, 17 weeks at number one, what an underachiever! What me, bitter?

OK, possibly an unfair point of view. It’s not a really bad album, it’s just a bit mainstream for my taste. Aside from Rolling In The Deep, I’m really taken with I’ll Be Waiting’s bluesy swagger. This is, however, counterbalanced by the cover of The Cure song Lovesong seems rather perfunctory, managing to deliver less tortured emotion per square foot than the original. All in all, a bit disappointing…

♫ Listen to short excerpts ♫

(Sorry, couldn’t find a full stream of this - guess the reckid labels don’t want to cannibalise the CD and download sales to eke another few thousand copies… even with the annoying adverts on we7… breadheads!)

PJ Harvey: Let England Shake

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 21:00:05 +0100

I’ve heard PJ Harvey talking in interviews about how this is a set of folk songs. Well, not sure about that Peej, but it is a fine, evocative album, dealing with the horrors of war in an honest and often outspoken manner. It’s being hailed as her masterpiece, which I can kind of see, but then I’m a long-time admirer of her music, so it’s a bit difficult for me to get perspective.

There’s certainly much for the faithful here: The Last Living Rose has echoes of her earliest material primal material, but she’s taken the personal / sexual focus of that material and turned it to shine on the political. To that end, this is the one album from the Mercury 2011 shortlist that I’ve felt inspired to sit down and read the lyrics for, which helps to get on the same wavelength as the album. They evoke of the style, in theme and content, of the poets of the Great War: so Hanging In The Wire is stuffed full of imagery that wouldn’t be out of place in an Owen or Sassoon poem. Herein lies my one complaint: it’s all a bit “sixth form” for me when taken out of the context of the music. All in all, though, a great album, certainly up there with her others. It may just need a touch more in-depth listening to truly appreciate it.

♫ Listen ♫

Gwilym Simcock: Good Days at Schloss Elmau

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 20:00:05 +0100

…aka “the jazz one”. It starts at a cracking pace with some lovely rhythmic and free (tonally) piano work. It’s another mood-evoking album which moves from joyous celebrations to thoughtful ramblings to wistful, erm, whistlings. I’ve no idea, really.

It’s a nice set - all beautifully played on solo piano (including interacting with the case and strings directly). The cool-jazz-ish sound owes something to Vince Guaraldi’s style (think Charlie Brown, and you’re in the right area), but has enough contemporary twists to stop it being mere pastiche. I find this kind of thing really good “concentration music”, and as such, it’s a bit difficult to pick a stand out track, although the album’s opener These Are The Good Days is as good as any, and I like the incessant motion of Wake Up Call.

♫ Listen ♫

Anna Calvi: Anna Calvi

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 21:00:05 +0100

I already own, know and love this album. It’s a really great combination of intimate, whispered moments and (ahem) “rocking wig-outs”. Obvious touch points are PJ Harvey, Chrissie Hynde, Patti Smith, the angular cool of Walkmen or Interpol, but this does not come across as derivative (although The Devil has definite echoes of Ms Harvey’s song of the same name). This is a hugely self-assured, strong and vibrant collection of alternative pop songs.

She certainly knows how to create a great hook: Desire and Blackout are evidence of that. There is some really excellent songwriting, and the change in gear from spooky romance to out-and-out belter in First We Kiss is testament to her skills in this regard. She’s also a mean guitarist: I detect an element of classical technique, which, played on a Telecaster, bring a tinge of Americana to the proceedings. Really excellent album, and I challenge you to resist the urge to bounce around to Blackout. Go listen immediately…

♫ Listen ♫

King Creosote & Jon Hopkins: Diamond Mine

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 20:00:05 +0100

Every Mercury shortlist has its “the folky one”, and Diamond Mine is this shortlist’s. Reductionist genre-tarring over, this is a lovely set of songs. Very pastoral, with the album being kicked off with a field recording of what sounds like a small Scottish cafe.

Vocally and instrumentally, this is a restrained affair which will repay many listens, indeed at a running time of just 32 minutes, this is no big ask! Somewhat reminiscent of Sigur Rós fronted by Kris Drever, but Kenny ‘King Creosote’ Anderson’s voice is much less strident. My favourite (at least on the most recent listen) is Running On Fumes. All in all, a real gem of an album which I strongly commend to you.

♫ Listen ♫

James Blake: James Blake

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 19:30:00 +0100

This album announces its intent fairly clearly in the opening moments: you will be seduced, then confused, then alienated, then hugged by the womb-like production. Wonky is the word. It’s incredible that this album represents the far end of the dubstep spectrum from Katy B and Tinie Tempah.

The music and lyrical content is so sparse to the extent of nonexistence in places, but never less than effective at communicating serious emotion. The Wilhelm Scream (named for a sound effect) is a great example of this: over a single more-or-less repeated verse, one ends up with a great sense of resigned despair. I Never Learnt To Share takes this further repeating the lyric “My brother and my sister / Don’t speak to me / But I don’t blame them” to an abstractly burbling backing which swells like a monster-movie soundtrack to a defiant resolution. Elsewhere the mood is contemplative, meditative almost. It’s difficult to hear through the serious autotune (well, vocoder) effects on his vocals, but he’s got a great voice. If you need proof, listen to this version of Joni Mitchell’s A Case Of You he performed for a BBC session, or the cover of Feist’s Limit To Your Love. This latter includes the excellent phrasing of “slow motion” drawn out over a bar-and-a-half, present in the original, but feeling here like a longing sigh. I love this album - it provides a perfect mood-altering experience when listened to on headphones, in a similar vein to Spiritualized’s Ladies And Gentlemen, We Are Floating In Space.

♫ Listen ♫

Scrambled Music

Steve Reich Rewrites Radioheadthequietus.com Influ­en­tial...

Left Silver Apples halfway through for fear the gig would ruin a...

Sun Ra Arkestra win the prize for sparkliest capes, hats and...

Pharoah Saunders: Legend! This will certainly be the most...

One of the finds of ATP, for me: Dead Rider

Flying Lotus doing some astounding things with a laptop.

Dead Rider.

This what people came to see Gary Numan for. He didn’t...

Battles, co-curators of ATP Nightmare Before Xmas, kicking off...

Holy Fuck. Holy fuck!

Oxes cover of Wild Thing. Who needs more than guitar, vocals and...

The Budos Band: bastard offspring of The Horny Horns and...

ATP Nightmare Before Christmas: Les Savy Fav/Battles/Caribou

Elbow: build a rocket boys!

Adele: 21

PJ Harvey: Let England Shake

Gwilym Simcock: Good Days at Schloss Elmau

Anna Calvi: Anna Calvi

King Creosote & Jon Hopkins: Diamond Mine

James Blake: James Blake

Steve Reich Rewrites Radioheadthequietus.com Influential...