Burying The Protest Song

So we have buried one of this country’s most iconic leaders and from beyond the grave she is still causing controversy, creating protest of real angst and vitriol and even in death living up to her name. It’s far too easy for anyone with liberal tendencies to jump on the bandwagon of hatred and as much as I like to pour scorn on those who put themselves in a position to be judged I don’t think it is forward thinking or progressive to have a pop at the actions of a determined woman that changed the face of our country some 30 years after they were protested against originally, lets concentrate on the here and now.

I can’t find it in my cold heart to attack the actions of Margret Thatcher, I can laugh at the jokes and resent the bill we will foot for her funeral but I can’t believe that she doesn’t deserve to be recognised by our country for the effect she had upon it. Whatever you may think about her actions you would be hard pushed to find a person since who has strode so strong in the face of objection with the conviction of her beliefs steadfast and resolute and if you were to find an equal I know it would not be among the world of Politicians.

I don’t hope for a liberal agenda, I don’t believe in equal opportunities for all and I don’t believe that a population has the ability to know what is best for itself at any given time, I’m not saying I’m a supporter of Thatcher but I am a supporter of strong leaders with conviction who will do everything they can to execute the power of their beliefs. Politicians now don’t have the backbone to effect real change, the process has become more and more a whishy washy backstabbing popularity contest with the grinning goons vying for our admiration in national debates or televisual titbits telling us how much they love to eat pasties. There are no inspirational rebels because there is no real arch-enemy to rile against, nobody with enough conviction that it would take a true hero to topple.

Real and world altering change comes in the fires of opposing forces clashing in the midst of passionate belief that leads people to starve themselves, to rally thousands to risk their own wellbeing to show their hearts feeling to give such a visceral show of belief that the universe must take notice. In today’s England we have childish yobs who steal trainers and flat-screen TV’s in protest that their free money has been taken away. In the governing of countries there can be no coalition, no middle ground, no half answers, no people pleasing policy that is engineered only to secure points in the popularity contest we call democracy, we need strong minds and determined hearts that will pit their wits against each other to fight for the Greatness we aspire too.

The protest and debate took to the airwaves and took the argument to the world of music, where another fine sign of our times was displayed in a torridly boring chart battle and a ethical quandary for dear auntie beeb. Of all the songs they could have picked, it had to be the least offensive twee piece of out of context nonsense possible, directly aimed to appeal (as usual) to the lowest common denominator numskulls and children who had no knowledge or interest in the genuine idea of the protest but love being against things because it means shouting and feeling cheated. Musical protest can be a real tour de force of passion and annunciation of feeling that swells the spirit of the believer and has the protagonist shaking in fear at the masses yelling the poetry of rebellion, or it can be a crass dig with little artistic merit that twitters in the face of disapproval – Pathetic. Our nation has spurned some of the greatest poets and angry profligates the world has ever seen and the fact that a trite piece of musical theatre is the best we can offer as protest is a sad reflection of the state of play. Should the BBC have played the song in its entirety, who gives a shit?

Meanwhile across the pond, more protest? Of a much more explosive nature as life is lost and people injured as victims show a great divide in our human spirit that while drone strikes and occupation kill innocent people on a daily basis we must mourn in disgust an attack of much smaller consequences because it took place on the side of the great and resplendent nation of America. I don’t agree with the foreign policy of this worldwide aggressor and although innocent life is lost it can only be inevitable in a country where the term ‘collateral damage’ was coined. America attacks countries that have no chance of legitimately defending their beliefs and have turned to whatever means necessary to defend their ideals. On home soil the greatest danger to the American people is not the foreign aggressor but the disaffected loner with access to automatic weapons far beyond the Taliban’s wildest dreams. An aggressor will be found and blame will surely be attributed but can it ever truly fall on the right shoulders when the hypocrisy rules supreme.

 Don’t get hung up in rhetoric and don’t let the wool get pulled over your eyes and remember that while we remember the passing of one……

Cunts Are Still Running The World

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbGmAKXJoos

A third of the way through the year and we have some real heavy hitters in the album stakes, I am forced to eat humble pie as some artists I once maligned come good and we are all treated to some real great noise and welcome returns.  In the constant quest to be modern and on the date I can accidentally overlook some albums and not honour them so I would just like to hail two late entries to last year’s top 50 albums I know that would make it a Top 52 but I’m all about adding to the awesome not taking it away, I’m not giving them a full review just pointing you in their direction.

   L’Enfant Sauvage - Gojira

                                        I haven’t enjoyed Metal in quite some time but hearing ‘Born In Winter’ on BBC 6 had me running straight to get this album and being stunned by it ever since.

   Carry On – Willy Mason

                                        I don’t know how I missed this one because I had been awaiting its release eagerly, slippery mind. Listen to ‘Restless Fugitive’ and remember why you love this bittersweet troubadour – Would have been top 10 material.

                               

And now back to 2013

    II – Unknown Mortal Orchestra                       

                                      It takes one record to do well in the realm of a particular genre to make the record labels pay attention and start promoting and releasing from an output that may have otherwise been sorely overlooked. Tame Impala’s success with their brilliant work last year has proved the public once again has a thirst for that fuzzy guitar logic of the psychadelia vibe all beautifully cushioned between tight guitar lines and eloquently strummed out chords.

This sound must be garnering the mantle of timeless because it draws so heavily on the origin of the electric guitar exploration of the late 60’s but fits perfectly into the music scene of today, perhaps the movement itself lives on a cloud of dreamy nostalgia that seeps into the public conscious from time to time.

 I could well be talking of the work of Endless Boogie with their release Long Island or the closer to home recent output of Clinic –Free Reign II but for me this trendy threesome just pip them to the post for a section on my review headlights, though I highly recommend you check out both those other releases as well you busy eared rock stalwarts.

This is stylised rock that creates a real space of atmosphere that cuts through the modern and sounds so distinct it is quite consuming, I want to be listening to these sounds emitting from a vintage radio while I frolic in a haze of poetic smoke while viewing the world through my optimistic spectacles of liberated free thinking lovers not fighters. I love this sense of revisiting that sound because I know there are so many people who would head straight back there with access to a time machine and will be soaking up this audio revival of those probing attitudes to what was possible with a guitar and a free mind.

‘Swim & Sleep (Like A Shark)’ is a real set up of the stall for this album, it rings out at the tips of every strum and wallows in the appreciation of all the noises that are laid out, its tight and pithy with an air of mystical dreaminess. Have I heard this riff before? Or is it simply built on such a wealth of love for a sound that I want it in my life – it’s a great song.

The album in a whole can obviously be meandering and less subsinct in some parts but it is woven with solid riffs, great production and glitchy beats that add real character to this vintage piece of modern mastery. And as a bonus there is a glimpse of boobies on the cover, can’t fault that genius idea.

On second thought I owe some space to those other bands mentioned even if it just convinces you that bit more to have a listen and validates me when I go and fall in love with them later.

   Long Island – Endless Boogie

                                                It could be one of the most appropriately named band names ever as they demonstrate a boogie hear that yes does seem quite infinite and endless. If you are a guitar fan then welcome and come bathe in the glorious waters of riff and solo, if you are not then be prepared for an assault of 8 minutes songs retreating further and further up their own backsides. This is a stubborn stalwart of guitar worship that without being wanky is a real haven for the groove that rock is capable of. This is a tour de force of stripped down groove and a natural prowess that creates a laidback style that can’t be matched. Think Zappa without the crazy on top, think all the great American road bands without the need to cut it down into a radio edit or add any cheesy posturing to the core of why it’s great to have long hair and drive with the window down.

   m b v – My Bloody Valentine

                                So it’s been a while and after rumour upon rumour the actual release comes all of a sudden and has people online late into the night waiting for a soft release of possibly one of the most long awaited follow up albums of all time.

As if the anticipation wasn’t enough from the very first strum I am reaching for the volume dial and seeing how much intensity I can take and wading through the fuzz to that glorious recollection of all the good and bad times I have endured through ‘Loveless’ and the happiness I have that this is back with me and is unchanged by time. In my mind there is little wonder the gap has been so long between releases because the final refrain of these chords will span on through reverbing shoe gaze for another 22 years.

To some it may not seem so, but when you envelop yourself in this wall of sound as so many have and will, you notice the attention to detail that can and clearly is so fanatical. For anybody who has ever recorded music may hint a guess towards understanding the control of chaos the taming of such raw power in noise is a herculean task that makes a work like this such an accomplishment. This is daring stuff that doesn’t use the well-trodden paths of structure or form, the songs are broken machines of war that are captured as they crunch over all convention or sensible reasoning – every track could easily go on forever if something or some baying mass of fans didn’t remind someone that the beast needs to be caged and packaged and possibly even bought.

                Maybe work like this or where it could lead can help us not mourn so heavily the loss of the physical music format, unrestrained from the concepts of output we could simply log in to a world of noise where My Bloody Valentine were continuously ringing out in one evermore dimension of fuzz. But who will point the new disciples to this church, as anesthetised as many may feel the music retail world has become I know for a fact that back in my day behind the till I would have risked the sack to play this album out in full across the HMV till. Get this album into your life and don’t just listen to it, bask in it turn it up as loud as you can go and let the sound wash over you because it’s one of the few bands that can make me feel as if I can walk through fire and eat bricks.

   The 20/20 Experience – Justin Timberlake

                                That’s right you cynical fuckers I’m reviewing the JT album in the same blog as m b v, could it be fallacy or genuine eclecticism, I don’t really care but I quite genuinely enjoyed this release without a hint of irony. Frank Ocean and the outstanding ‘Channel Orange’ opened mine and I’m sure many other ears to a new type of appreciation of what can be achieved with the modernization of R&B and Justin has always been there on the edge of the wave of what was being produced and I’m sure his resurfacing is no coincidence, it’s well timed and doesn’t require a massive change in his unflappable style to be right back in the middle of the dance floor status quo.

   This album has slabs of pop that evolve and deliver in so many ways without ever dropping from being insatiably catchy and drop dead sexy. The songs evolve around a central theme or hook adding and taking away and exploring different rhythms and grooves that create large pieces that glorify all that is pop. There are no throw away 3 minute songs here, these are well crafted and thought out jams that keep us interested and really shine of creativity and craft.

        Timberlake is a natural star, all be it a well-practiced and crafted one he oozes swag and style from every pour and with the length of time he has been around we can believe his pedigree and love of music. There are pretenders to a thrown but really we must have crowned our modern King of pop. Back collaborating with Timberland we see him explore songs in a musical way and use his celebrity and status in a welcoming way and his modesty and charm shine through.

Above all these songs are great fun, they stick in your head but not just for a repeated 30 second loop, they are through composed and interesting that gives a little way to let a miserable muso into wanting to smile and listen to popular tunes. Michael Jackson always used to know which songs would become big by how much they made him want to move and this album has me wanting to brave the fear of looking old and frumpy to throw shapes on a busy dancefloor.

Lots more in my ears at the moment, so I will be back soon to sing their praises.

Hope you are all well and are loving life in the ?Springtime?

What Are They All Having For Their Tea

 There are far too many people in this world, this is a recurrent and often completely stifling thought that clouds my mind and at times makes moving around on the face of our overcrowded planet a tiresome and relentless struggle.  It’s the answer to all our questions it’s the solution to all our problems and although a merciless, unemotional outlook that opens you up to possible fascist arguments of selection it is a cold hearted fact that I from time to time wish there was far less of us.

“Instead of controlling the environment for the benefit

of the population, perhaps it’s time we control the population to allow

the survival of the environment.”

                                              Sir David Attenborough

We have to stop seeing the smiling or crying faces of individuals and listening to the stories that make us special little snowflakes and see ourselves as part of a species that is consuming its habitat at an uncontrollable rate. It is the natural urge of and animal to continue its hereditary line into the future but you would hope that as our species evolved it would learn to look at the bigger picture and realise there are more pressing issues to ensure this aim then purely procreating.

Myself as one of the approximately 7.063 billion souls cluttering up these 57,505,693.767 square miles of land talk about this from not only an ecological point but from a purely selfish social one. The way we have spread ourselves across the land that is available to us is a response of ease so that we are able to deal and build as a social and economic group, it all makes perfect sense but that doesn’t stop it being a perfect pain in the arse. As I get older I like less and less people, I have a strong sense of my own identity and the traits in others that I like to be around, this is coupled with a lack of time to see the people I have found that fit my criteria so I have no need for more and more humans cluttering my part of those square miles. The constant clatter and noise of all the people we cram into trains in our heaving cities and suburbs fill my brain like the blunt thud of a sledgehammer smashing my synapses into a thousand meaningless nothings, this problem is accentuated when you spend time in a country whose language you don’t understand because the blissful unawareness is so soothing it is like a mental spa. The act of trying to ignore the cramped conditions we are in screws up our faces and as hard as we try to ignore we are intrigued by the enormity of the populous and our places in it.

When I see large expanses of accommodation, be it large blocks of flats, cityscapes or driving through seemingly endless mazes of suburban dwellings I always wonder to myself ‘What are they all having for tea?’ it is a way of objectifying the mass and concentrating the multitude within realms that I understand and connect with. Most likely they are all tucking in to horse laden lasagne and oven chips and the thought of that makes me despise society even more and myself even more than that for being such an incurable snob. Society seems to cater specifically for the lowest common denominator and this is the section that seems to be expanding at a far more than exponential rate. Maybe Horse or insects or a synthetically grown organism is the only way that this world can accommodate the notion that we all want, not need a protein rich diet and the smokescreen that seems to be in place to make us believe that all is well is forcing it to be an underhand sale rather than an out and out confession. If you want to live in a Capitalist country where finance garners success then our agriculture may not be able to support your desire and we would rather lie to you than admit that we just can’t deliver on demand at the cost that lets us live in an inclusive society.

Politics struggles with these issues on a day by day basis and is stifled by the constant desire to appeal to all for the pure necessity of re-election.  How democratically elected politicians in the contemporary, polluted self-centred system effect any real change that would be productive in a real and effective way to the population when their base desire is to please and keep on side as many of their bloated constituency as they can. People will point the finger at immigration but this surely is a natural reaction to a capitalist state that forces the opportunities into a smaller and smaller space while the population spirals out of control.

Political correctness and the belief that all humans are born equal have blinded our views to the same degree that religious fanaticism lead to Charles Darwin’s theories of evolution being seen as hokum and totally offensive. Will we one day see our current reluctance to view our own lives from an outside and subjective position as repressive and stunted as an atheist may view creationism today. Climbing the busy stairs of The Natural History Museum towards the marble figure of Charles Darwin and wondering how he would view the endgame of how our evolution would continue and the ramifications of us becoming the dominant species in this world and maybe one day others. Our sense of entitlement and morality may have hidden from our hearts some harsh reality and certain of our technological advances in medicine and welfare have led to the notion of survival of the fittest being another extinct notion.

My personal sympathy is very low and is chipped away at every day but then again I am a successful young mammal who is living a comfortable life more to do with the attainment of luxuries than providing necessities. I’m here spitting rhetoric but have in my life made a conscious decision to step aside and admit that I have no desire to busy myself with human advancement but to live purely for enjoyment. I don’t want to be important or pivotal I just want to encourage people to enjoy the time they have and take the best that they can as we compete in this ever complicated game of life, I trust my fate to the power of the planet not the wills of the creatures that inhabit it.

This ranting debate in my mind could go on forever but it is more eloquently and beautifully shown in the Channel 4 Drama Utopia. Rarely has a piece of drama so acutely encapsulated visual aesthetic, political rhetoric and powerful and poignant imagery and delivered it in such a slick way to a mass audience. The freedom afforded to the media is ever increasing and this visionary drama is clear proof of that, the action is brutal and the message is applicable to the society right outside your door – this isn’t Cold War paranoia it isn’t dystopian futures this is the world we are living in today and it shows how close we could be to tipping point at every point.  I’m not going to speak about the actual plot or exploits in the series because I urge anyone who has not watched it to do so and it would be terrible to spoil any of the gripping and compelling drama so get to it and enjoy because it’s completely mesmerising and a true call to arms for the masses of people who see the world in the dim light that I do.

 

This year seems to be continuing in the comic book style that it started with more Sickapedia material being produced every day with the crazy goings on of the world, be it Horse filled burgers, resigning paedophile protectors or the unfortunately/fortunately timed shootings by paralympians. I have once again withdrawn slightly being taken over by the comings and goings of my own life and the frustrations of a malfunctioning keyboard. Music is having a real hit and miss output with more music flooding into my ears with nearly 60 albums making my 2013 folder so far but there are a few that are standing head and shoulders above the noise – in honesty I cant keep up but I will at least attempt.

  Us Alone – Hayden

                                                I have always liked and sometimes even rolled over into loved the voice and work of Paul Hayden Desser, even though casting my mind back to first discovering his music doesn’t find me in a good place it fills me with the joy of sadness that it seems his heart and voice are still wallowing in. Little has changed in the style since his first release in ’95 a sparse sort of folk that tells small and lonely stories that conjure a wonderfully painful and artistic world. There is a poetic slowness to his work that is laid back and faltering steady to the point of almost stopping. The breathy vocal and occasional empty stage ghostliness is as eerie as it is effective; it speaks to heartbreak and the feeling that nobody could ever understand the longing or the injustice, it is candlelight music that is painfully personal yet held in that heartbroken part of all of us. Some might feel threatened by the cavernous emptiness of this sound but I think it is very fragile yet totally musically assured and engaging. Try it drunk and when you feel that the world is against you and you will feel that you either have a friend in misery or at least you aren’t as low as this guy.

This isn’t an expansive album its subsinct and lonely even but its oozing with  atmosphere and heart and really honest and gritty real emotion.

   Jim James – Regions Of Light And Sound Of God

                                                            An unfortunate tumble from stage leads Jim James to be bedridden with time to reflect and in the company of some inspiring literature and possible concussion related delirium and at the other end we have this album and a look inside a musician with great scope and ingenuity. With the 2011 album ‘Circuital’ Jim and his main project My Morning Jacket opened themselves up to a much larger audience and hit the true stride of all their output was capable of, here we see the underbelly of that with a mash of concepts and feelings that while still delivered with that same tone that lures us in to Jim’s voice there is a freedom to explore and throughout the album go further down the rabbit hole into personal and religious exploration.

The album title inspired by the lithographical pictorial book by Lynd Ward a Methodist minister who charted his struggles through life and the divine with black and white prints, this audio interpretation is at times quite haunting and questioning, yet is studded with a laid back funk and groove that really draws you in. The sound is expansive at times unnerving but when you view it alongside the art that inspired it gives another dimension and an artistic experience that is quite vivid. The new background image for this blog is a Lynd Ward piece, I can see the attraction for an artist laying back and viewing their place in this life their ability to connect to art and ultimately their mortality.

  AMOK - Atoms For Peace

                                                It’s good to have friends, especially when they are super talented and share your vision and want to do things like form Super groups with you and produce cutting edge music that everyone will hang on every crotchet of. This line-up was originally the touring band that Thom Yorke took out to play songs from his debut solo album ‘Eraser’, they obviously enjoyed the experience and to have such creative people together and not to create would have been a loss so we have this group and this album. The name comes from an Eisenhower speech and a movement he forged to assist the public moving forward into a nuclear age so in Yorke’s dystopian mind it must have fit perfectly.

Much has been done in the world of sketchy, glitch electronica that I truly hate many bands that will fawn at the feet of this release are to me pretentious inaccessible and so much style over substance that it sticks in my ear canal and makes me truly hate it. What they all miss and should learn from this release is the addition of tune, of letting the layering and technology mix with instrumental prowess, song progression and dare I say it tune.

Far from saying this is a straightforward rock album, it is a digital dream that seems sparse from humanity and somewhat cold but it also delivers on substance. The noises are warm and atmospheric and the ghostly presence of Yorke’s voice is as intriguing as always. 

The sound can be stifling and disconcerting but maybe that is indeed the message there is a dystopian feel yet it is all underpinned by a tribal beating that grounds it within the realms of the human.

This endeavour could have been labelled as indulgent and ridiculous but infact it is as organic as it is electronic as jazz past as it is glitch future and while it isn’t soothing or easy it is listenable danceable and above all enjoyable.

    Local Natives – Hummingbird

                                                            A much mellower and understated offering in this much anticipated release from the LA that could be much more ‘their’ sound than the attention grabbing first release.  There have been many differences and difficulties in the production of this album that have seen the members shrink in size but grow possibly quicker than nature in age and maturity and release an album from a much darker more personal space.  The loss of the lead singer’s mother is a reflection in this album; it is not based around excess and the frivolity of youth it is based around that shrinking world feeling and a tenderness that ages us faster than time. On first listen The Beatles song ‘Yesterday’ may seem like a love song for a jilted partner but in honesty it was about the loss of McCartney’s mother, this is a deep love that connects us to the earth and everything we are as people and hearing its sorrow in the opener ‘You & I’ is a touching way to give flight to this intricately vocal album.

There is a real cohesion in this band and a precision that let them take soaring flights of fancy with a underpinned rhythm and structure, that adds to the vocal centre. Great use of techniques and the space in which they record gives an echo and realism to the sound that is as simple as it is complicated to capture. The songs feel like they are part of the place they were recorded and the very presence of the band is changing and adding to the sound, it is a subtlety to production that relies on faith in the sound to leave an amount of the polishing to the air itself.

“Haven’t stopped you smoking yet, so I share your Cigarette”, these are personal songs drawing from the simple things that become so much more in their absence. This band are not pushing upwards into melodrama as high as they did with the likes of ‘Airplanes’ or ‘Sun Hands’ but they are giving the same flourish and panache inside a reigned in approach. The same lift is still present in songs such as lead single ‘Breakers’ where that reverb seems to shake like a tightly coiled spring as the drums rattle along to give real urgency to the cooing waves of harmony. Still present are the stabbing hits of ‘Math Rock’ genius that wriggle with synth pips and plonks as the drum layers grow in their simple lines on top of each other.

This album is a wonderfully reflective place, I didn’t pay enough attention at first as the striking impact wasn’t there but that was only because I wasn’t listening closely enough to a band that have delivered a great advancement of their sound but on reflection it has all the punch and wit of the first release and I’m refreshed in its tender subtle brilliance.

    Holy Fire - Foals

                                 It’s only February and it’s already time to start gushing, I suppose it is Valentines so a good opportunity to declare my love and tell all albums to follow that you have got your one to beat. It is hard to know where to start, so I guess I will try the beginning. When you are met with an opening track called prelude your guard goes up and you are worrying that you might be walking into a pretension minefield – I should set the scene that my first full listen took place on a drive between Reading and my house through the tri-counties country lanes and with a rather large spliff in my mouth. The opener was immediately reminiscent of the rambling and excellent ‘Break into Heaven’ on The Stone Roses much maligned but for me much loved album ‘Second Coming’, if the baggy guitar beat had blended in to album first proper and first single ‘Inhaler’ then we would have had a perfect start but after that I have literally no complaints so I may be picking at straws. This album sets its stall out quick and manages to hold that intensity, swagger and dance floor cool throughout the 11 track playlist.

‘Inhaler’ is an absolute stonker with a blend of infectious beat and riotous guitar ferocity. The quality of the production wraps us in a drum beat that fits perfectly amongst the maelstrom of guitar noise while Yannis Philippakis’s voice soars above like a crooked angel before ripping itself against the rocks of chest beating chorus wonderfulness, the hair came down for this one, I went full Viking for what is the best guitar solo I have given myself neck ache to in some time. All this praise and we are still on track one.

Quick drop into the second track and the mood lightens in a contrast that makes me swoon and we are bobbing our head after thrashing it so piously – this is dance floor rock with no sense of triviality or trite flowerings but lashings of cool and toe tapping joy.

There are such a catalogue of noises in this album that the tracks form around that are not gimmicky or overdone they are quite simply perfectly set to enhance core songs of true strength.

There is a strong tone that runs throughout but it is punctuated and added to in a way that makes each track grow in new ways – which is praise indeed for an album with such a strong opening. ‘I’m the loudest Cowboy in this town”, what a line.

I am reminded of many other bands while listening to this, the floating subtle guitar twiddling’s of John Squire, the northern bombast and psychadelia of shouda woulda coulda hair rock wannabes The Music, the big bag of toys glee of The Cooper Temple Clause but on top of all of these it is more like a completed message a coherent package that delivers in all the other areas where others have fallen short. The Breakdowns are pure Funk which is such a solid backdrop for that Bez dancing bounce, we have glockenspiels we have a snare sound so tight even Martin Hannett would be satisfied and the album is still riding high. Plucked strings and syncopated hand claps, over a wall of what sounds like rainfall it rises into a drumbeat and takes us to a euphoric cloud of indie enjoyment – I am totally in love.

The band apparently toned down their consumption of marijuana when going in to produce this album which shows, it’s a professional and highly polished piece of work that has all the hallmarks of the knowledge of blissed out excess, it is brooding and sexy at times fragile and at others has all the strength to break down walls. Much muck has been slung at British guitar music in the past few years but I can’t help but declare my admiration for this well-crafted album and how well it reaffirms the Brits ability o make such engaging and truly powerful works, it fills my chest with pride especially as they hail from Oxford I mean I truly believe there is something in the water.

Once again its been too long, while I have had plenty of time my head is awash with ideas as I try to push my life in new and exciting ways but I must always remember to come back to this warm space where I can be saved by music.  I look forward to speaking to you all soon and keep any suggestions flooding in, im always wanting to know what is making your hearts sing.

The Death Rattle - Every Dog Has Its Day

   In the shocking and brilliant 2003 documentary ‘Touching The Void’  the protagonist is in part saved by his desire to not perish while the song ‘Brown Girl In The Ring’ the infectious Boney M ear worm from 1978 is playing through in his mind. This desire to not meet his demise with that song as his mental soundtrack spurns him on to dig that little bit deeper and ultimately survive his ordeal, I have to admit the same feeling has gone through my head when driving.

 Whichever way you try and look at it everything we do is strewn with danger that plots to end our days at every turn, there are endless ways that our existences could be extinguished in everyday life but when you are driving it is given a very real physical metal framed form. Concentrating on controlling the vehicle so as not to career into moving or stationary objects obviously focus’s or maybe at very least raises the mental possibility of failing and careering into the tree in front of you or losing control on a corner and rolling your vehicle down a steep hillside to its crashy end. These are far from morbid thoughts, they are the concerns and real possibilities that keep out eyes glued to the road and hopefully keep our minds on the task at hand. This concentration is either heightened or distracted by music, Just as Joe Simpson in his herculean trials of survival on the snowy peaks of the Siula Grande I too have been spurned on to survival by the desire to not die when listening to a certain piece of music for a while I was forced to listen to a very limited selection of radio stations in my car due to a few technical dilemmas but this could be a great tip in car safety because there was no way I was going to meet my maker while listening to ‘D.N.A’ by Little Mix or anything by Conor Maynard in fact most of Radio 1 is probably designed to stop sentient people of taste dying in road accidents because there is no way I’m winging my way to the afterlife sound tracked by that nonsense. The same can be said in reverse though – I would first like to add a disclaimer that I am in no way suicidal or prone to thinking about my own death any more than I think it is perfectly natural to, but there are certain things I have considered and a playlist is certainly one of them. Handing over the control of my music catalogue will be a consideration in any will that I make in hoping that it can transfer to someone who will grow to love it as much as me. Time goes in to considering the music that will be played at many points during the average individuals life and for a diehard music obsessive these considerations and deliberations are amplified in their importance and there are far more factors and options to consider, in a very real sense of the terms there are acceptable songs to live buy and acceptable songs to die by.

In the world of purchasing music and producing there has been some sad deaths and some institutions that are ill to a possibly terminal level it would be remiss of me not to mention both even though in some ways I feel sadly responsible in my own small way.

Something that couldn’t possibly be fingered to me is the sad end of ‘The Mars Volta’ who have parted ways after 12 years and 6 phenomenal albums, the two driving forces behind the band have met inconsolable differences that forced Cedric Bixler into admitting that he can no longer consider himself as art of the group as a whole. This group and the work of these 2 individuals in forwarding the world of rock music in a variety of new and seemingly incomprehensible ways will probably be massively overlooked but in my mind there are very few musicians releasing music today who have such a strong vision and direction and seeming lack of concern for the mainstream or the sellable, they have explored every avenue that entered their strange and tortured brains with panache, gusto and above all incredible skill. I remember very clearly the first time I heard this band and the building hope and fear as the opening intro to their debut album built and built in its atmosphere and tension, the moment of silence before the drop was a whirlwind of musical emotion with a myriad of possibilities about to play into my ears and change my connection to rock forever more. Ever since that point I have been entertained amazed and enthralled with this group ever since and will be one of the many that will miss there blend of so many genres and ideas that is completely unrepeatable. They became a touchstone in my estimation of any person’s musical taste and for those I have shared the love with or introduced to their work there is a bond that will endure. I’m not completely shocked at the band calling it quits, with such complex intricate and evolutionary music there is a level of passion and involvement needed that must be all consuming, the relationships required to fuel that level of exertion must be so hard to endure in the sanest of situations, throw in massive drug use, tormented minds and a powerful will to be weird it is a stroke of pure fluke and genius that they ever managed to release a single song. Watch Zac De La Rocha introduce them and be amazed by the live ferocity of a band that i will always be glad that i have known.

The other point I must raise I will do so only in brief as it seems the story has not yet reached a definitive conclusion and my part in this one does make me feel slightly guilty, I’m speaking of the state of affairs within the HMV retail group. Looking back with rose tinted spectacles it was a very happy two years I spent working for this company, that is forgetting all the time I hated the actual minutes of the actual days, but the team of wonderful individuals I worked with are what would be the sad loss to the high street and the overlooked skills and knowledge on display is what can never be replicated by a website download or a delivery service. My guilt comes from not only the albums that I “borrowed” while working for the dog but in general the way I consume music as a customer in general, I apologised for this fact when I first started writing this blog, in many ways it is sad in a very doe eyed nostalgic way that the way in which we consume music has changed but here we are and at the heart of it my biggest concern is that the product itself will not be affected by the way in which it reaches its customer. I will talk about this more as the story reaches any kind of conclusion but for now let me turn my attention to the sounds that have reached my ears in January of this year and will be setting the president for the year to follow.

   Villagers – {Awayland}

                                                It was in the cavernous slightly soulless venue of The Brighton Centre that I saw the impish figure of Conor O’Brien looking frail and small alongside his band supporting Elbow, playing to a crowd that were certainly the more recent Elbow fans and not such appreciators of the introverted music with its tales of ancient gods and fables entwined in the Celtic and worldly mystery. I didn’t feel sorry for them but I did for the audience who made little attempt to muster the small amount of effort it would have taken them to fall in love with this dreamy and pointed music that was washing into my ears, I did my best to stand out as the one guy in the audience who owned there excellent record ‘Becoming A Jackal’ and howled at the sky along with them as there set finished and hoped they got the message that somebody cared. I have heard in interview that the group did not enjoy the touring experience and nearly didn’t continue, the band separated in distance and luckily for us have come back with a new streamlined approach that hones their sound and adds some new elements that really fit there aesthetic while still having the same haunting ambience. Conor admits to only really experiencing electronic music in his phase of disillusionment with the  live performance and has added these effects to great effect among this record such as the start of the track I will link below ‘The Waves’ which dare I say it has a very Radiohead sound (the curse of a Radiohead comparison can be deadly). But as usual it is the lyrical mysticism and the sly turn of phrase that has me clambering to hit repeat on this release “and we’ve got to keep the wheels in motion, and we’ve got to get the kids before they grow, God forbid they retain their sense of wonder” manages to be bitter and bittersweet all at the same time “I Believe this land is my land, you are not the same at all, c’os the man in the sky has got my back” is a damming indictment to release while their country is once again killing over land ownership, a protest song with a subtlety that Bono could only dream of. They seem to be one of the few Irish bands that escape the constant labelling and mention of their heritage because they wind meaning into their music that has appeal on a personal level and nothing to do with nationality. I urge you to listen to this album with an open heart, my first new album of 2013 and we are off to a very strong start.

   Everything Everything – Arc

                                                I’m glad that I am talking about these next two albums next to each other as I feel that they are both sides of a coin that shows where attention can get misguided towards a shinier more polished but ultimately less accomplished act even when their end goal appears to be similar. So first of let me say that I do like this album, it has many things that I look for i.e. use of syncopated rhythms vocal lairing and a linear approach to the songs that see them grow and change around a central theme, the one thing that is really missing is charm. The band formed in a rabble of press acceptance and being hoisted up a poll before they really did anything, a sense of entitlement spread cross their smug faces (seriously don’t put your mug shots on the cover of your album when you look like such smackabale pricks). They announce and advertise themselves as trying to sound different and breaking moulds which is just a vapid and ultimately despicable statement as people describing themselves as ‘a bit wild, what you see is what you get I speak my mind’ which nine times out of ten translates to ‘I’m too loud, arrogant and ultimately a boring disappointment’. I don’t think much to the vocal in general it sounds so forced and unnatural and the sometimes obtuse lyrical content seems so false that I’m sure the singer has less idea what he is talking about than I do so what chance do I have? The themes are supposed to be alluding to a dystopian future, it’s supposed to be pessimistic and yell to us that we are pretty much fucked as a species, this should be right up my street, I should love this record but I don’t I really really don’t.

   Dutch Uncles - Out Of Touch In The Wild

                                                Much less of a fanfare has followed this British group who are being different and staying true to a sound that is all their own without feeling the need to tell us that, doing that crazy thing that bands can do such as letting their music do the talking and hiding their actual faces behind an artistic approach and a love for what you are doing over who is listening. The music in this album is pointed direct and wonderfully syncopated by a wonderful array of percussion instrumentation that gives each song a sound that you can’t quite put your finger on. The subtlety and sleight of hand to this release makes it so much more appealing and accomplished than that of ‘Everything Everything’ this of course doesn’t deliver the instant impact that the more impatient band might crave but for the listener gives a deeper feeling when the tunes play into your headspace..

Joy Formidable – Wolf’s Law

                                                I’m making rash judgments here but I can’t help feeling there has been an element of pressure here that has led to a rush to release this album that has done nothing to help the difficult second album. With the 2011 release ‘The Big Roar’ the band had written a set of songs that played to their strengths and set them apart as having a sound that was all their own, they had huge successes in the live field and made some fans that I am sure will be awaiting this release eagerly. For me although the sound is still very much in tact there is little to give this release the same definition and drive as the previous and leaves it sounding like a bit of a necessary afterthought. I feel a bit mean now because there is definitely a passionate performance evident here and the sound in question is still as strong as it ever was and there are small snippets and riffs that have great potential yet for me there is not enough coherence to define and link the songs and make the album stand out as anything other than a continuation of the same process. I will listen again and in some different environment’s and hope that this is not another band who are going to be ground to dust by the machine in which they operate, but they do need to realise that album two doesn’t mean you have to amp it up and that amping it up doesn’t only mean turning it up to 11.

   Esben & The Witch – Wash The Sins Not Only The Face

                                                Intelligent, dark and brooding are words that could have you running a mile but while all the bands around seem to be trying to recapture pop sensibility it is a refreshing sound to hear something so brooding and gloomy with a real sense of style that goes past the gothic label people might throw at them just because they have the word ‘Witch’ in their name. Calling a band Intelligent is somewhat of a double edged sword that I don’t really get the sense of, if the music is intricate and well written then you can say so without having to shelve it as cerebral that might conjure thoughts of inaccessible music that is self-indulgent and impersonal where I do get a straightforward sound from this album that seems to have direction and still feature some of the dreamy pop vocal that seems to be in vogue at the moment. Yes they might take their name from Norse fairy tales and there album title from Greek myth but these are just sounding boards to create brooding music with an air of malevolence not try hard attempts to seem like academic know it all’s.

With the massive disappointments from the likes of ‘Crocodiles’ and ‘The xx’ last year there is  gap for this mix of sparse yet immense music which manages to blend beats and guitar layers from a popularised format and mix it with the menacing edge that sets them apart. The music is atmospheric and for that it is intelligent, it is thought out and designed to take you to a place of their design this is also intelligent and there is no trace of overstatement and the flourishes are subtle enough to avoid being cringe worthy which is also intelligent so take from the pigeonholing what you will but listen and be intelligent enough yourself to make your own conclusion.

   I Am Kloot – Let It All In

                                                I will make a point of declaring my love for this band before I try and do anything as difficult for me as talking about their work in an anything approaching critical manner, I hang on their new releases with baited breath and in my blind love I believe they can do little wrong. The natural and seeming necessity of song writing to this band comes through in droves in this album especially with the stripped down sound of the first 2 songs, if these songs were not getting released they would be sang as John Bramwell hung on the end of Manchester bars letting his soul pour out for all around to soak in. The love of drinking and the way that seems to embroil itself into the music and the approach is an obvious draw to me and blends itself perfectly with the laid back honesty of which the songs are written and performed. As with the last Album Guy Garvey and Craig Potter come in as producers which is a product of these bands close links ever since Kloot started recording – the additions of augmented instrumentation makes these songs much bigger much lusher but at heart they are still bitter songs of drunkard loss and disappointment, Is there a drive to get this band to escalate their performance platform to a larger level as Elbow have done, in many ways I hope not because it is the bitter cynicism and flat misery that give Kloot all their charm, writing songs as a knee jerk reaction to life without the need to put them through the stadium rock machine. I don’t know if the extra production adds or detracts from the performance, I’m sure that live it will disappear and we will be left with three old friends with the simple instrumentation and there sad songs of alcohol and loss which are the things that make this band great. They are so stylistically and thematically strong that there is a core to what they do that is unshakable and so endearing, but saying that it is in songs like ‘These Days Are Mine’ where we hear that Elbow sound adding to that core and widening the appeal and scope of the music that can only for now be a good thing especially when it is balanced in misery and simplicity with the album closer ‘Forgive Me These Reminders’.

Lots more great music on the horizon and already playing round in my head and for now I have nothing but free time rattling about the house with only my laptop to keep me company. I hope there is much more time for music of my choosing this year because it only takes a few weeks to realise how much I missed the way it enriches my life, that and a good debate with one of my closest music compadres and I hope to be back in full ranting style very soon, until then listen well and live loud.