Another Form of Relief

It’s been a pretty hectic week for me here, so while I’m still trying to get back on track with this blog thing, here are a couple of bands I’ve really been enjoying of late. Apologies for the brevity of the comments.

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Cardiff just keeps on churning out quality bands, and in that spirit, I’m happy to present Cloud Atlas for your listening pleasure. Forming a year ago, they have been gigging around Cardiff as well as making the occasional excursion down to London. They will even be featured on Channel 4 in the near future as they made it to the finals of the JD Set Unsigned competition. ‘Even Astronauts’ is one of their newer recordings, demonstrating a frantic energy that was only hinted at on their previous recordings. I have no idea what the song is actually about, but it’s far too fun for me to be worried about trivial details like that.

MP3 Cloud Atlas - Even Astronauts (expired)

Cloud Atlas: Myspace

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It’s kind of odd to discover a band that I think is new but actually turns out to be long established. When I first heard Stars of Aviation, I thought I was hearing a new band, but they have actually been together for seven years now. Based in both London and Brighton, the band bring the same kind of summery melancoly than made early Belle & Sebastian such a joy. These are wonderful, layered songs that can only come from a band that has anything up to nine members in it. I also think that the first song below may just be the longest title that I’ve ever posted on here.

MP3 Stars of Aviation - Stars of Aviation Are Singing About Summer, But Is It Going To Be Sunny, Carol? (expired)
MP3 Stars of Aviation - Love Is Only In Your Mind (expired)

Stars of Aviation: Website || Myspace

The Mountain Goats intimidate me. Not in the literal sense of course, but rather that I find their back cataog to be far too large. I only discovered them a couple of years ago when ‘The Sunset Tree’ was doing the rounds. Since then, I’ve explored them a little, but their output is simply too prolific for me to be able to get through all of it without rushing through it, which would probably result in me failing to form any connection with most of it. It’s a vicious cycle. So far I’ve explored most of the newer, less lo-fi content, but the thought of heading back further is daunting.

Occasionally I use the Live Music Archive as a way of looking through recent shows, listening to both the songs I know and the ones I don’t as a way of becoming more familiar with old “favourites”. There’s never a shortage of cotent to explore with nearly 50 complete Mountain Goats shows in the archive. Looking around recently though I noticed that the band are perfoming their cover version of ‘The Boys Are Back In Town Again’. I know they played this on a French radio session once and have a rip of it, but thought I’d listen to how they play it now.

The first thing I noticed is that the song was listed as “with Pony Up!”, which was a surprise to me as I didn’t even know they were touring together though. It’s certainly an interesting combination, and enjoying both bands, I couldn’t resist giving it a listen. The most surprising aspect was that it’s the polar opposite to the previous version I’d heard, with this one being upbeat and quite rocking. This is something of a contrast to the slowed down, mildly creepy version that I’d heard previously.

Now Pony Up! add little to this beyond backing vocals on the chorus, but it gives the song a little extra depth, and everyone sounds like they are having a fun time with it. Of course, John can’t resist bursting into a quick rendition of R Kelly’s ‘Ignition Remix’ before the song is over, which seems to now be standard.

MP3 The Mountain Goats & Pony Up! - The Boys Are Back In Town (live) (expired)

Boring details: The quality isn’t particularly great, but most live recordings tend to be like that. It’s certainly more than listenable though. If you’re interested in the little details, this was recorded at the Independent in San Francisco on 8 March 2007. You can listen to the entire show that it was recorded from here.

The Mountain Goats: Website
Pony Up!: Website || Myspace

The National are one of those bands that sneak up on you from nowhere. I paid them little attention a couple of years ago, even when people were raving about their 2005 album Alligator. Sure, I liked it, but after the first few plays, I put it on my shelf and thought I was done with it. Then sometime last year I started listening to it again. Just occasionally at first, but then more regularly, to the point where I was listening to it daily for a good few weeks. I don’t play it quite that often anymore, but it’s probably one of the best albums I own, even if I’d never put it on a favourite list.

In a couple of months, the band will release Boxer. I have no idea how they will be able to surpass or even match Alligator, but if the opening track from the album is any indication, we could be in for something special. ‘Fake Empire’ starts unassumingly enough, just a gentle piano while Matt Berninger drones about life within the “fake empire”. The political sentiment behind this concept is obvious, so we’ll leave that element aside for now. Around halfway through the song, a flourish of instrumentation enters the proceedings, continue to swell until finally even horns have entered the mix before drawing to a close all too quickly.

When I woke up this morning, the fact that The National were releasing a new album was something of interest, but little more. Now it’s probably the upcoming release that I’m anticipating most. As a song by itself, ‘Fake Empire’ feels somewhat incomplete; as a teaser for the album though, it’s perfect.

MP3 The National - Fake Empire (expired)

The National will be making one stop in the UK, with a live date at the Astoria in London the day Boxer will be released on May 22 via Beggars Banquet. In the meantime, here are some older songs by The National for your enjoyment:

MP3 The National - All The Wine (expired) (Alligator, 2005)
MP3 The National - Murder Me Rachael (expired) (Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers, 2003)

The National: Website || Myspace

I’ve managed to almost entirely avoid the hype surrounding ‘Neon Bible’. I didn’t download any of the leaks, and it was only a few days ago that I listened to ‘Black Mirror’ for the first time. Since then I’ve only heard one more song from the album. While I like both of them, for some reason I can’t seem to get myself excited about hearing the album as a whole. I suppose I had a similar problem with ‘Funeral’. I only really liked the ‘Neighborhood’ songs and didn’t much care for the rest. I’ll still probably end up picking it up once I find it in some bargain bin though. All of that said, I really like the song below. I’ve given up on trying to draw any deep meaning out of their songs, but the imagery is wonderful, and it’s all presented in a vaguely unsettling way. Is the rest of the album like this?

MP3 Arcade Fire - Black Mirror (expired)

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Another Form of Relief favourites Pocketbooks will be playing a rather unique gig on April 28. They, alongside fellow indiepop bands Slow Down Tallahassee and Tottie, will be playing as part of Indie Tracks in Ripley. The twist here is that the entire event is centred around the railway. Bands will be playing on the station platform, and between sets, an indie disco will be rocking on a 1950s steam train as it bolts through the countryside. You can get fuller details from the Indie Tracks Myspace.

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The Features are back after being dropped by their record label following their ‘Exhibit A’ album. I actually rather liked that album, although I never gave it quite as much atention as I should have done. ‘Contrast’ is the title song from their first self released EP, a jaunty little number that sets the tone for their newer sound. The EP itself is a collection of five songs that you can purchase for only $6 from their website.

MP3 The Features - Contrast (expired)

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Homo Eclectic has two songs from the upcoming Voxtrot full length album. ‘Kid Gloves’ is fantastic, and I think ‘Stephen’ will be a grower like ‘Soft & Warm’ was. This is probably the album I’m most excited about for this year.

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The new Ted Leo and the Pharmacists record, ‘Living With The Living’, is released next week and would you believe it? Ted is still pissed at the state of the US. Like their previous ‘Shake the Sheets’, it’s another collection of powerful, lyrically direct rock songs. Which means while there is nothing unexpected here, it is another solid collection.

‘A Bottle of Buckie’, awkward sounding title aside, is one of Leo’s finest vocal performances yet, knowing perfectly when to jump from the restrained to the forceful. It’s a somewhat sweet song involving love in Glasgow, even if it’s a little weird to hear Leo of all people singing about Neds with their Burberry scarves.

MP3 Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - A Bottle of Buckie (expired)
MP3 Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - The Sons of Cain (expired)
MP3 Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - Bomb. Repeat. Bomb. (expired)

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I try to not post all that many Youtube videos, but I’m including the music video for ‘Thou Shalt Always Kill’ by Dan le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip below. I am doing this for two reasons:
1. It’s an absolutely fantastic song, but I can’t post an mp3 of it.
2. The video is a hell of a lot of fun.
Judging by the amount of play and acclaim this song seems to be getting, I have the feeling we could be looking at something huge here.

There seems to be a small trend for adorable neurotic girls with accents in music at the moment. Just when you think that Sweden has this particular corner of the market covered with Hello Saferide, France have decided to hit back with the duo of SoKo.

Now I can’t tell you very much about them because they don’t have a proper website and a lot of what I did find is written in French. They do seem to comprise of SoKo Girl and SoKo Boy (I’m guessing stage names rather than vindictive parents). He tends to play the guitar while she sings, and that’s about as complex as it gets.

‘I’ll Kill Her’ is one of the those rare songs that will just sit on repeat for long periods at at time. SoKo Girl starts gently enough: she’s talking about how the guy she likes didn’t call her to go on their date. So far, so mundane. This evolves into anger as the song goes on about the “bitch” that is now in her place, through the eventual announcement that makes up the title of the song.

The interesting part here though is that the narrator seems entirely unstable. It may all be as literal as it sounds on the initial listen, or it could be so much more. Even people bitter about a breakup don’t usually launch into detailed “what ifs” about the children they would have had (even naming them Tom and Susan). At the very least, this girl has some kind of issues. Listen again though, and you start to wonder if there was even a breakup involved. She never mentions one directly. For all we know, she has never even met the guy she’s bitter about losing to someone else. This could just be the most elaborate stalker scenario put to record.

It doesn’t really matter exactly which scenario it is though. At the very least, it’s a fascinating stream of consciousness of a somewhat damaged person. It’s sung in such an informal (almost conversational) tone that it’s impossible to dislike her, no matter how crazy it may come across as at times.

MP3 SoKo - I’ll Kill Her (expired)

SoKo: Myspace

Man, that Daytona 2 machine was awesome, wasn’t it?

It sounds like Johnny Foreigner have finally pulled themselves out of the dustbin they were recording in, if the new recordings on their Myspace are anything to go by. The band have gone back and put together some new versions of old favourites ‘Sometimes, In The Bullring’ and ‘Sofacore’, and they sound fantastic. This isn’t an entire sea change though, as there is still very much a DIY feel to these recordings, but in a way where you can actually hear the words now.

MP3 Johhny Foreigner - Sometimes, In The Bullring (expired)
MP3 Johnny Foreigner - Sofacore (expired)

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Now I’m not one for things like karaoke, but if I were, this just might be the greatest thing ever. A fairly lengthy list of indie songs, all done in karaoke format (no vocal, guided lyrics). While it’s largely made up of “known” indie bands (meaning shit ones), there are a few obscure gems in there like Belle & Sebastian’s ‘She’s Losing It’, Malkmus’ ‘Jenny & The Ess Dog’ and Arcade Fire’s ‘Laika’. Guaranteed hours of fun, if you like that sort of thing.

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I’ve been loving this song for quite some time now, so it’s great that I’m finally able to write about it. It’s the first single from the second album by Brakes (I’m not calling them brakesbrakesbrakes, no matter how many promo emails try and get me to), and it’s better than anything that was on their impressive first album. Like most of their songs, it’s short and to the point, including a dig at our government’s draconian anti-terror legislation (I woke up late and found my liberty lost / It had been written down in law as a security cost / 28 days and I’m presumed guilty). It also scores extra points for being able to namedrop Scarlett Johannson, which must be something of an awkward name to work into song.

MP3 Brakes - Hold Me In The River (expired)

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Pitchfork ‘for the fiftieth time, we’re not a fucking music blog’ Media wins “Best Weblog about Music” at the 2007 Bloggies. Strangely don’t feature it in their news section.

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Assembly Now have now made another one of their singles available for free download on their website, meaning you can now get hold of all of their official releases for free. ‘Leigh-On-Sea’ is the single, ‘Tenement’ is the b-side, but they are both great songs. These guys will be supporting the also rather good Wombats on an upcoming tour of the UK, including a stop near my neck of the woods in Tunbridge Wells, which should be fun.

MP3 Assembly Now - Leigh-On-Sea (expired)
MP3 Assembly Now - Tenement (expired)

A few weeks ago, I was convinced by a friend to go with them to see a band they like called Lucky Soul. Around the same time, I discovered a band called Friends Of The Bride. I forget how I found them now, but that doesn’t really matter. I listened to a couple of songs on their Myspace and really liked them. A few days before the Lucky Soul gig, I checked to see who the support band were for that show. You can see where all of this is going, can’t you?

The headline on their Myspace is “tonight we’re going to party like it’s 1959″, and they certainly aren’t kidding. Every song sounds like it could have come from the era of swing and big band music, but it somehow manages to remain fresh at the same time. This could partly be down to the fact they largely use a conventional setup (guitar, bass and drums), with the more extravagant instruments subtly included on record. By the time the gig itself rolled around, I was far more excited about seeing them than the headliners. Although their set turned out to be a little on the short side (six songs by my estimation), every one of them was a winner.

‘Cut Down On My Friends’ is an obvious standout, a bitter tirade about needy friends accousing the singer of being anti-social. “Everybody’s telling me I gotta get a little more social life / Everybody’s ringing me and everybody thinks they know what I like” he laments before declaring he’s going to have less to do with them by moving to the suburbs. This was the b-side to the band’s first single, so they are setting the bar pretty high, given this could have been a superb single in itself.

MP3 Friends Of The Bride - Cut Down On My Friends (expired)

Friends of the Bride’s second single, the rip-roaring ‘Buckle Up, Sunshine!’, will be released by Young & Lost Club Records on March 19.

Friends Of The Bride: Myspace

So this blog turns a year old and I disappear entirely for more than a week. That was on the most part an accident as I’ve had a lot going on lately (some good, some not so good), but it seems like an appropriate time as any to have a little break. I’m back now though, and the list of bands to tell you about is even longer than ever, so normal service will be resuming immediately.

The first thing I should get to is the gig I was involved with last Thursday. It was a joint venture with the great folks at Life:Temper:Riot, and saw us putting on four bands in the heart of London. Now I’m a little wary about how to approach writing about this, largely because I’m involved in it and something seems a little wrong about telling you how great it was. So this will be a relatively brief run through of the night, with some mp3s included, so you can try out some of the bands yourself.

Our setting for the evening was the Horse & Groom pub in Shoreditch, a lovely little pub in a Shoreditch backstreet that seems to have not aged since it opened, even though it’s now surrounded by modern office developments. Due to a small organisational error, the night had to be run downstairs, which is the first time the pub has had live music in the main bar area. An impromptu stage is constructed toward the back of the bar, leading to fun things like the “backstage” area also doubling as the route to the toilets.

Captain Phoenix are our first band to take to the stage, and set a suitably rocking tone. I was a little wary about these guys before seeing them, fearing their set would be a little “rock-by-numbers”, but that thankfully turned out to be wrong. By the end of the first song, the not insubstantial crowd seemed to be into them, with upbeat numbers like ‘Living On The Guest List’ being the highly. Given how young the members of the band are, they already sound like they know exactly what they are doing, and they seem destined to break out of the small indie circuit in the near future.

The next band on the bill were rather more polarising. Thomas Tantrum put on a set that I enjoyed on the most part, but they seem to suffer the Ryan Adams syndrome of not knowing when to edit their own output. The good songs in their set are fantastic, but the weaker ones are pretty bad at times. Each song was interesting, and they certainly weren’t afraid to try something new, but they are in need of a producer that will reign in their eccentricities. That said, a lot of the audience did seem to be into them in quite a big way, so who am I to judge?

Talk Taxis were the last band to be added to our lineup, coming straight off the back of touring with the Maccabees. Their set seemed to go by very quickly, although I don’t know if this was due to it being short or me just really enjoying it. Every one of their songs sounded great, bringing a driven, garage rock kind of sound. ‘Publicity’ was the highlight of this, but other songs like ‘Mother’s Eyes’ and ‘Liverless’ also came over very well. These guys will be playing all over London in the coming weeks, so try and check them out if you can.

Our headliners for the evening are Royal Treatment Plant, and they turn in a storming set of songs, from the opening rock out of ‘You Don’t Need Me’, through to their single ‘Carry Me’ and the brutality of ‘Playing Dumb’. Lead singer PP throws herself into the set with such energy that it’s impossible not to be drawn into it. The whole band comes together wonderful, with their guitars, drums and keyboards all getting their chance to shine, without ever sounding too choreographed. By the time we reach our conclusion with the fantastic ‘Trained’, the entire crowd have been won over.

All in all it was a very enjoyable night, and everyone there did seem to have a good time. Now, in case you think I’m just hyping up something I had a vested interest in, here’s another review from Forty Shades Of Noise. They even have some tiny pictures, unlike me, because I didn’t think to take any.

MP3 Royal Treatment Plant - You Don’t Need Me (expired)
MP3 Royal Treatment Plant - Trained (expired)

MP3 Talk Taxis - Publicity (expired)
MP3 Talk Taxis - Mother’s Eyes (expired)

Bands: Royal Treatment Plant || Talk Taxis || Thomas Tantrum || Captain Phoenix