Archive for March, 2009

Bob Dylan: Our tip for “next big thing”

0
2 years ago
in
Bob Dylan

One of the most enjoyable elements of music blogging is writing about the little bands or artists that wouldn’t usually get very much of an outlet. Sure, there’s mainstream stuff that’s worth writing about too which is obviously important, if only in terms of traffic levels. The most rewarding posts though tend to be the ones about a tiny band that plays to a room of 20 people, yet is still being read about and listened to worldwide, albeit in rather small numbers.

In that light, today we have up and coming Minnesota singer-songwriter . While never really achieving any kind of success, the guy has been prolific, churning out no less than 33 albums this early on in his career. While some of those earliest works did pick up a little buzz, and involve some great work, I must confess that I haven’t kept up with much of his most recent output.

Beyond Here Lies Nothin’ is the first track from his upcoming album, and while not his strongest work, it does demonstrate that he is by no means out of ideas. The music has a slight -like quality to it all, but it’s Dylan’s voice that is star here. Sounding grizzled beyond his years, it demonstrates a vocal talent rarely seen in musicians of today. Give it a few more years to get his sound just right and this guy could be something special.

Together Through Life will be released on April 28 via Columbia Records.

Great British Hopes: Copy Haho

0
2 years ago
in ,
Copy Haho

I was always under the impression that were actually called Copy Halo. I’m not entirely sure why, as that isn’t exactly a more logical name. In fact, I only noticed that it was Haho last week, several months after first listening to them.

Those several months ago, I liked what I heard, and did intend to feature them. Promptly, I forgot all about them, as if often the way. Then I noticed that they are one of the Awesome Pals, and projected them right back into my blog field of vision.

Copy Haho are by far the best thing to ever come out of Stonehaven in Scotland. The fact they are probably the only thing to come out of Stonehaven makes that honor a little unfair though. Hyperbole aside though, Copy Halo have obviously spent much of their youth playing records and a whole bunch of other 90s American indie to death. Words border on the laconic, melodies gently move around in the background, only occasionally leaping into action.

There is certainly a gap in the current indie scene for this kind of lazy slacker rock. Bands like and often come close to filling this void, but never quite seem to do so. Record labels seem to be wary of this kind of music, and I can’t for the live of me figure out why. Granted, it’s never going to sell out a stadium, but it’ll certainly get the indie kids moving. Or at least gently swaying.

Website / Myspace

Travis Morrison Hellfighters tackle devils with pitchforks

1
2 years ago
in
Travis Morrison Hellfighters

How on earth did this one pass me by? I was under the impression that following Pitchfork’s 0.0 slaughter of ’s Travistan that the guy would be about done musically. Such is the power of the ‘fork that I had images of him now working for the Gap where he had the crap beat out of him on the first album. Now, I confess that I hold some affection for that album. I actually quite enjoy it. It’s certainly not a great record, but nor is it the calamity that Pitchfork tried to paint it as. It’s lightweight fluff, but so long as it’s not taken too seriously, it’s a good bit of fun.

It was only a few weeks ago that I discovered that there had been any kind of follow up. Given it was apparently released in 2007, that fact is more than a little embarrassing. Still, it was nice to dive into it without it being an “album of the minute” that most things I listen to tend to be. The main difference here is the structure of the band. Morrison has assembled a full band this time around, thus we the . And it really does take some Colbert sized balls to still use the Travis Morrison name front and centre.

Still, the band seem to have taught Morrison a little restraint, something that would have been useful in the past. His more, erm, interesting eccentricities are kept more in check, leaving us with a rather more straight up rock sound. I have no idea whether or not it wins back that those scared away from Travistan though. Pitchfork certainly approve of the new direction though. They gave this one a 4.5.

All Y’All was released in 2007 on Barsuk.

Rose Elinor Dougall releases another pop song; starts to find own voice

0
2 years ago
in
Rose Elinor Dougall

I wasn’t really bothered one way or the other when broke up last year. Sure, I quite liked some of their songs, but the whole thing felt like an exercise in the novelty band. Entertaining enough, but something that would wear thin very quickly. So one album and then done worked well enough for me.

Then last year I received a song by , seemingly the first of them to launch an inevitable solo career. The song didn’t do much for me, coming across as sonic experimentation than anything resembling a pop record, but hey, who am I to judge? It meant I wasn’t overly excited to receive and listen to Start/Stop/Synchro though.

Thankfully though, the song seems to have found the happy middle ground between the kind of dream pop that now seems to hold Dougall’s attention and The Pipettes. Hell, the introduction even sounds like something that could have come from that band. It evolves into something more though, the sparse arrangement rising throughout, but with most of the song hanging on Dougall’s voice. Her voice is the stand-out here, easily moving from the strong to the wounded as the song requires.

I’m still not entirely sold on this project. I suspect some of her experimentation will turn out to be too much, too soon when put down in album form. From the evidence of Start/Stop/Synchro though, there is something valuable here in the voice. It just needs to find the right outlet.

Start/Stop/Synchro will be released on June 8 via Elefant Recordings. Vinyl only.

I’m well aware that ‘The Pipettes’ are still around and possibly recording, but honestly, if you’ve lost two thirds of your band members, you’re not the same band.

Jenny Owen Youngs and the case of the missing post title

1
2 years ago
in
Jenny Owen Youngs

There is something unfortunate about an artist that manages to hit the ground running. Often it will set the bar unreasonably high for what is to come. Art Brut have never managed another Formed A Band, Kate Nash could never live up to The Nicest Thing and will likely never top The Start Of Something. None of which negates anything they do later on, and indeed many will continue to put out good records. But the lingering feeling of “it’s not as good as..” will always remain.

Which brings us to . Three years ago, she appeared out of nowhere with the near-perfect Fuck Was I. It was the first song I’d ever heard of hers, and it instantly became a favourite. The problem is that upon getting the full album, Batten the Hatches, there was an element of disappointment. Certainly, it contained a number of worthy songs, but nothing held me as much as Fuck Was I managed to.

Still, this long after, maybe it’s easier to look at things with a different perspective. Or, based on Led To The Sea, perhaps it isn’t. It’s certainly a different type of song, rather more upbeat, flirting with more elaborates song design. Various layers do give a richer sound to the proceedings, but seemingly at the expense of the intimacy.

Maybe I’m just opposed to any change to the things I like. Or maybe I’m just expecting too much. Led To The Sea is s solid song, and I look forward to hearing what the full album brings. Perhaps it isn’t so wrong if Fuck Was I is never matched.

The Led To The Sea EP will be released on April 7, and Transmitter Failure will be released on May 26, both via Nettwerk.

Gladshot emerge from my pile (of CDs)

0
2 years ago
in
Gladshot

I often feel band about a lot of the bands that send me music to listen with an aim of getting me to write about it. First of all, more often than not, I’ll end up not writing about them simply because I don’t really like the music. This in itself I tend to feel bad about too. A band goes to the effort of sending their music to a nobody like myself and I then do nothing with it. The ones I feel worse for though are the ones that have ended up on my CD PILE OF DOOM.

The CD PILE OF DOOM is a pile of promo albums and singles that I simply haven’t listened to yet. At any given time, there will be between 50 and 100 discs on it. In a logical system, I’d listen to the oldest ones first, but sadly gravity conspires against that kind of thinking so it tends to be that I get through a couple of the top and then add five more to it. For those competent in the laws of mathematics, you can tell that this doesn’t work out very well for the discs residing on the pile.

Every now and again though, I’ll blitz the pile and find something wonderful hidden within it’s depths. Today I discovered . I have no idea how long their disc has been trapped there. I think it’s about six months, but given I have discs near the bottom that have been there since 2006, who can really tell?

Gladshot are a pop-rock duo from New York that tend to meet my most of my favourite bits of a band. Boy-girl vocals, sweeping melodies, and there’s even a piano in here too, and if anything can turn me round on a pop record, it’s a piano. The package adds up to make a delightful summer sound. So it’s probably best I didn’t pull it out in winter.

I realise it’s remarkably self-indulgent to spend almost the entire post talking about my lack of organisation rather the music itself, but it’s been one of those days. I suppose it’s also proof that digital distribution is a godsend for people like me.

The Parallelograms: Better than The Rhombuses

2
2 years ago
in
The Parallelograms

Yay for other bloggers! I only discovered because Matt over at the wonderful Skatterbrain recently released a compilation. If You Like Everything, There’s Nothing Left To Love! is a lovely collection of indie pop that is now sadly sold out. Which proves there is at least some way to make a little money out of this blogging lark. Everyone will probably be releasing their own albums in the next year or something now, which will be great for all concerned.

I was already familiar with about two thirds of the artists on the record, but the other third managed to turn up a few real gems too. Chief amongst them was The Parallelograms, who turn out to be from Sheffield. Sounding as if they would be more at home in 1986 as opposed to now, there is nothing particularly new here for those down with the indie pop, but The Parallelograms carry it off with such joy that they are impossible to dislike.

I have absolutely no idea about whether the band is still active. A split EP with The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart from last year seems to be their most recent output, and their Myspace page seems to be looking rather deserted. Still, even if the band were seemingly fleeting, the songs still hold their own regardless.

Immaculate Machine sum up life with metaphorical vomit

1
2 years ago
in
White Lies

I was kind of at a loss for what to write about today. Not because I don’t have a big list of things to cover, as I do, but I wasn’t really in the mood for any of it. As my iPod shuffled away, came on, and it occurred to me that I never had gotten around to them previously.

Now, in keeping with the recent run of newish type things, I was going to include something from their upcoming High on Jackson Hill album. The problem with that is that I don’t really like it very much. Maybe it’ll grow on me over time, but it gives a vibe of bland noise at the moment.

So we instead look back to 2007′s Immaculate Machine’s Fables and the delightful C’mon Sea Legs. Sure, the meaning behind it is simplistic enough, but it’s a masterclass in pop song construction. Vocals dominate the track, at some points seeming to be the only thing in the mix. Different voices float in and out, all building to a wonderful flourish toward the end. Not every song can work like this (indeed, it would be boring if they did), but sometimes the simple designs function best.

White Lies come out of nowhere, score number one album, get featured on blog

3
2 years ago
in
White Lies

I should really dislike . Reasonably popular, absolutely nothing original at all, songs that wouldn’t sound out of place in a stadium setting. I find them rather hard to hate for two reasons. First of all is that derivative or not, the songs are pretty good. Secondly, they put on a hell of a live show.

The first time I ever even heard of White Lies was back in August at Reading. I only saw them because they were on immediately before Los Campesinos! and I wanted to ensure a good position for that particular set. Which paid off given the insanity of that performance, but I’ve covered that one previously. When White Lies arrived in stage, all dressed in black, I feared the worst. Expecting some kind of gloomy drivel, it was nice to discover that while gloom was certainly involved, drivel it was not. They kept me entertained right through their thirty minute set and I intended to check them out further.

Which, as with so many other bands, I never actually did. The next time I heard about them, they had just scored a number one album. Which took me by surprise, not because they aren’t really up to it, more because it came so quickly. I haven’t really kept up with them much more since then, and if I’m honest, I don’t really care to. This will never be a band I’ll fall in love with. But songs like Death are still mighty fine songs.

Voxtrot return, seemingly to the 80s

3
2 years ago
in
Voxtrot

It’s been a couple of years since we heard anything new from . Two beautiful EPs followed by a disappointing full length and the band seemed to fall from the face of the earth. The band have popped up again now though with a brand new song. The only problem is that I’m not even convinced this is , for the change is so different.

Certainly the vocals are still Ramesh Srivastava, his voice sounding a little more his own and a little less Morrissey’s, but the rest of it seems kind of off. It’s more electronic than anything previous, almost to the point where it resembles a drum machine and computerised keys in the background. I say almost as I don’t intend to be harsh if this is the sound the band were going for, but something doesn’t quite sit right with me.

Perhaps the lukewarm response that last album has pushed the band onto a path that explores new territory. In itself, it wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing if it did, assuming it means more than just attempting to replicate the sound of the 80s. Trepanation Party is fine, and I can actually see it playing well at indie discos, but without more to go on, I’m a little worried about where Voxtrot may be heading next.

Go to Top