Tag Archives: CD

Sarah Cracknell : Red Kite, released June 2015

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As the voice of Saint Etienne, Sarah Cracknell has given a distinctive tone to their many cool and sparse musical vignettes. It is going back a bit, but their ‘Too Young To Die : Singles 1990-1995’ is a great listen.

A follow up to ‘Lipslide’ from 1997, this new solo album features co-writing and many instruments played by Carwyn Ellis of Colorama. The opening track ‘On The Swings’ is a beauty, the spooky introduction creates for me an image of 4am on a damp London Street in 1965 even before the vocal breathes in to take it to another level. Sarah has an instantly recognisable voice, never seeming to try too hard she dominates the piece. The duet with Nicky Wire on the radio-friendly ‘Nothing Left To Talk About’ is the bittersweet ending of a relationship, short and sharp with slide guitar. ‘In The Dark’ is a smooth and velvety voice over waves of acoustic guitar and building strings.

And so the album flows and dreams on like a perfect summer evening. Folk-rock duo The Rails add layers of harmony to ‘Take The Silver’ and the cover of the song ‘The Mutineer’ goes into gentle folk territory. ‘Hearts Are For Breaking’ is pure up-tempo pop. ‘I Am Not Your Enemy’ has sinister guitar lines and is a bit different in texture to the rest, then the closing lullaby of ‘Favourite Chair’ showcases Sarah’s pure vocal.

This album is a grower, give it a spin through the summer and like me hope one day to see her in concert…

http://www.saintetienne.com

Franz Ferdinand/Sparks : F.F.S, released June 2015

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Franz Ferdinand recording with Sparks?! A dream collaboration, resulting in this new album. Along with early Roxy Music, Sparks’ TV performances still stand out when shown on the many music compilations shows from the 70s (thanks BBC4!) and their ‘The Number One Song In Heaven’ is prime-cut electronica from 1979. Franz Ferdinand continue to be a formidable live attraction (see my review on this site) and last album ‘Right Words…’ kept up their high standard.

The sixteen tracks kick off with ‘Johnny Delusional’, a keyboard-led stomper and from the start it is clear that this offspring has shared the traits from the two parents equally. ‘Call Girl’ keeps the energy up, then listening onwards you get the feeling that they are recording all sorts of styles and ideas, then without thinking too much sticking it on the album anyway. A commendable attitude indeed, this experimentation yields many delights – the most spectacular being the many sections of mini-operetta ‘Collaborations Don’t Work’, probably unlike anything else released this year?

Across the songs the lyrical subject matter covers modern obsessions, cultural touchstones, semi-obscure icons, death references (‘so many bridges in the world to jump off of….’) and the music jumps around unpredictably. ‘Save Me From Myself’ could be an Abba greatest hit and ‘The Power Couple’ an excerpt from an updated Brecht/Weill songbook.

It is all a bit much in one listen, but give the album time, you will be occasionally disappointed but in the end richly rewarded…

http://www.franzferdinand.com/
http://allsparks.com/

Motor Tapes : Count To Ten EP, released April 2015

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Cambridge four-piece band Motor Tapes continue to record carefully crafted quality music as shown on their new EP. After many hours in the studio the resulting four tracks show a new and varied musical direction. So what do we get?

1. Everything. This great opening track was previously released as a single. The shimmering synthesiser introduction drifts in and out then gives way to pounding drums and a powerful guitar rock riff, lyrically it sounds like the resignation at the end of a relationship as the insistent chorus that ‘I’ve given you everything….’ is left hanging and unresolved. Musically every recurrence of the main theme has an extra twist, that synth garnish appears throughout and finally drifts out as it arrived.

2. Falling Away. A bit deeper and darker, with a deceptively simple melody and drum pattern that sticks in your head. Again the arrangements and sonic textures keep changing slightly around the tune; by the end of the track so much has been crammed in you are surprised that it was only just over three minutes.

3. What I Want. Clipped bass and a pulsing synthesiser to the fore, drums start calm then let loose as if striking all the objects found in a forgotten attic. Sharp unnerving guitar interjections weave into the mix. I am not sure of the lyrical message, or is the vocal used as another instrument, punctuating with cut-up words?

4. Count To Ten. Lots of keyboards again with some prog-rock style deep bass sustained notes. This could be Gary Numan (with a better voice) fronting dour indie popsters The Twilight Sad for slabs of keyboard delight and images of death and foreboding. This is my favourite track, you hear some extra chord directions and adornments creeping in when you play it loud. As the track ends there are some spoken voices in the background, annoyingly indecipherable and hopefully not some satanic hidden messages…

All good stuff, the best recordings they have done so far. These tracks sound great live and loud and will there be more new songs soon?

http://www.motortapes.co.uk/

Gang Of Four : What Happens Next, released March 2015

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In the heady days of late seventies post-punk and new wave, the Gang Of Four emerged from Leeds, an angry four-piece memorably named after a Chinese political faction. Their debut album ‘Entertainment!’ is still cited as a long-lasting classic from the era of ‘Marquee Moon’ by Television, ‘Fear of Music’ by Talking Heads, ‘Unknown Pleasures’ by Joy Division and many more. Their mix of social comment, political thought and the ultra-spiky guitar of Andy Gill was and still is a hypnotic cocktail.

The band have undergone line-up changes, including a proper reunion of the original members in 2004. More upheaval has now left Andy Gill as the only original member and the driving force behind the new ninth album ‘What Happens Next’. Opening track ‘Where The Nightingale Sings’ starts with a pounding bass thud, guitar figures punctuates in and out and builds well into some strange apocalyptic imagery of London. Alison Mosshart, singer in The Kills and collaborator with Jack White takes on lead vocals in the rocky ‘Broken Talk’ and ‘England’s In My Bones’.

‘Isle of Dogs’ pulls no punches, an insistent guitar backing and distorted lyrics about corporate shenanigans. Successful German actor and singer Herbert Grönemeyer is guest vocalist on a contemplative track ‘The Dying Rays’ (and ‘Staubkorn’, the same song sung in German(?)). ‘Obey The Ghost’ is a gentle introduction into a nightmare vision of media control set to strident bass pedals and layers of industrial metallic fuzz. ‘First World Citizen’ features soaring guitar and a brittle chorus, almost catchy. Robbie Furze is another guest singer on ‘Graven Image’ then there is some heavy riffing from collaborating guitarist Tomoyasu Hotei on ‘Dead Souls’.

So it is a challenging listen, not comfortable in many ways but certainly an antidote to the anodyne lyrical concerns and painless musical meanderings of some other bands. It sounds like the band still have an explosive live show too…

http://www.gangoffour.co.uk/

Ryley Walker : Primrose Green, released March 2015

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Ryley Walker, a guitarist and singer/songwriter from Chicago follows up his 2014 debut album ‘All Kinds Of You’ with a new collection of jazz/folk/rock songs, built on his percussive acoustic guitar picking and subtle accompanying instrumentation.

Some commentators have compared him with Nick Drake, I think that is because of a desire to find such a person rather than the reality. His free-form pieces have more in common with some of the more experimental work of John Martyn, but he is taking any influences in a new direction, adding a rockier edge too. This is most evident in the epic ‘Sweet Satisfaction’; it starts off like a track from Martyn’s classic album ‘Solid Air’ then the emotional lyric and acoustic vibe tangles up with a distorted electric guitar and drums building to an exhausting, relentless finale. Brilliant.

This is followed by the gentle string sounds of ‘The High Road’. A roving double bass introduces the instrumental passage of ‘Same Minds’ before the vocal soars and glides above it all. ‘Griffiths Bucks Blues’ is a zesty instrumental, ‘On The Banks of the Old Kishwaukee’ is a bluesy slice of Americana. In contrast, ‘Hide In The Roses’ could almost be from the soundtrack to sinister British horror-flick ‘The Wicker Man’. The opening track ‘Primrose Green’ has many of the good ingredients of the rest of the songs with a more mellow vocal performance.

So it is moving in a different direction from his first album, more loose and moody. I look forward to seeing him in concert..

http://ryleywalker.com/

Van Morrison: Duets, released March 2015

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Van Morrison’s new CD is subtitled ‘re-working the catalogue’ and he has certainly dug deep, mining a rich seam of 16 songs from his 34 studio albums. Some of the choices are familiar but there are many tracks here that are less well-known. A lavish menu for the dedicated fan and also an inviting opportunity for the large numbers who seldom delve more deeply than ‘Brown Eyed Girl’ or ‘Have I Told You Lately’.

The guests all acquit themselves well, especially when they add some instrumental extra to Van’s top-notch backing band, step forward Mark Knopfler and Taj Mahal (guitar), also Steve Winwood (Hammond organ heaven!). A highlight is the version of ‘Higher Than The World’ with the jazz vocal and guitar from George Benson adding a different texture. Mick Hucknall confidently takes on the pastoral meanderings of ‘Streets of Arklow’ and Joss Stone sweetly sails and soars through the challenging loose structure of ‘Wild Honey’.

Clare Teal’s beautifully-judged performance breaks our hearts with the longings of ‘Carrying A Torch’, a sumptuous version of one of my favourite Van songs where the voices and backing blend perfectly. Michael Bublé must have been pleased to be given the show stopping stomp of ‘Real Real Gone’ and there is the long-awaited symmetry of ‘Whatever Happened to P J Proby’, a duet with…P J Proby! Mavis Staples belts out ‘If I Ever Needed Someone’ and as a fitting tribute the opening track is ‘Some Piece Of Mind’ with the late Bobby Womack.

Van’s voice is as on form as ever (see my recent live review) and is always a contrast to the guest, sometimes sharing verses, harmonising, leading or following. He has shared vocals several times before, live and on record with John Lee Hooker, Tom Jones, BB King, Ray Charles and the underrated golden tones of fellow Irishman Brian Kennedy (listen to ‘Tupelo Honey’ from ‘A Night in San Francisco’, the 1994 live album), as well as many others.

So will this uplifting album be the basis of the guestlist/setlist for a future live show…..?

http://www.vanmorrison.com/

Public Service Broadcasting: The Race For Space, released February 2015

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Public Service Broadcasting are an electronic and acoustic duo, ‘on a mission to entertain and educate’. By combining the original recordings of speeches and commentaries with different musical settings they create a variety of involving and atmospheric pieces. Careful crafting of the voices meld perfectly with the sentiments of the added music. It is not the normal expectation that a song will inform you of historical or cultural events, but here we get the full rundown of the competition in the 1960s and 70s between Russia and America to get people into space and on the Moon.

The prologue is John F. Kennedy’s stirring 1962 speech setting out plans for the future Moon landings over a background of ethereal voices, then the electronic pulsing of ‘Sputnik’ evokes the worldwide excitement of the first satellite. ‘Gagarin’ is a lively brass-funk workout, released as a single, then the optimistic mood is brought down with ‘Fire In The Cockpit’ reminding us of the fatal dangers always present in the early days of space. ‘The Other Side’ is brooding and tense electronica with commentaries from the Apollo 8 mission into lunar orbit. ‘Valentina’ commemorates the first woman in space with gentle strings and acoustic guitar and the heavenly floating vocals of Smoke Fairies, who will be accompanying PSB on their upcoming tour.
At last it is ‘Go!’, building genuine excitement in music and words as Apollo 11 finally lands on the Moon. ‘Tomorrow’ uses a looser structure to end the album on a speculative note, finally playing out with layers of keyboard, drifting off into space of course (a nod to the end of Holst’s Planets Suite?)

In concert they combine the sampled audio with live playing and visuals, I am looking forward to it…..

http://publicservicebroadcasting.net/

The War On Drugs, released March 2014

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A retrospective track by track review of ‘Lost In The Dream’ by The War On Drugs, one of the most acclaimed albums of 2014.

1. Under The Pressure. Distant percussion, guitars fade in and out then suddenly it kicks off with piano and the full band sound. We are in for a long opener, as with so many tracks on this album there is plenty of time and space to develop the ideas. Adam Granduciel adds a Dylanesque vocal to a simple chord structure and over the nearly nine minutes there are instrumental twists galore.

2. Red Eyes. The first single when the album was released. A bit more up tempo and sparse, romping along over a pulsing drum then bursting into extra life.

3. Suffering. A haunting but simple statement of love or acceptance, again the length of track allows time for a heavily treated guitar line to bookend the wistful vocal, all reminiscent of late-period Roxy Music.

4. An Ocean In Between The Waves. The musical centrepiece of the album, the singer travelling on musically and lyrically as the cryptically described relationship turns sour over a driving beat and gradual introduction of walls of synthesiser and unrelenting guitar solos.

5. Disappearing. A more relaxing feel to this one, the distant sentiment in the words somehow captured by the floating guitar and repeating piano motif. This whole album sounds so lovingly crafted, every instrumental cameo perfectly placed.

6. Eyes To The Wind. A Waterboys-style big sound pervades this story of moving on, it is energetic and lyrically dense, before playing out gracefully with a saxophone break.

7. The Haunting Idle. An echoing guitar instrumental interlude, could almost be Pink Floyd in 1975, effectively acting as an introduction to….

8. Burning. A recurring repeated piano note, wide-sweeping lyrics and a neat structure with chorus sections make this one of the most accessible songs on the album.

9. Lost In The Dream. A quieter contemplative track, gentle chords and nostalgic imagery.

10. In Reverse. The epic finale, vocal lines over free-form guitar textures, then the band maintain a solid calm backing for the words of regret and impending darkness. The song ends quietly as it began and fades away into the waves…

http://www.thewarondrugs.net/

Violet Woods, released Nov 2014

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Track by track review of the recent self-titled LP/CD from Cambridge band Violet Woods. An adventure in indie psychedelia…..

1. Electric Fascination. A strong, brooding opening track. The shimmering 12-string guitar figure opens the song then persists through variations as the echoing vocal competes. It is a walk through the trees (woods) on the LP sleeve with occasional glimpses of the brighter sky.
2. Over the Ground. A companion piece to track 1, again with a sinister guitar phrase dominating, backed with descending organ and vocal layers. A fuzzed electric guitar solo takes us to an abrupt end.
3. Here. A resolution to the first two songs, an optimistic pop song with a heartfelt statement of contentment. A simple and affecting lyric, the title barely mentioned but the sentiment very clear. Uplifting guitar lines and well judged sustained keyboards.
4. The Dancer. Appropriately titled, a bit funky this one, when played live it is an energetic high point of the show. Skips around at first, light touch on the bass, then from nowhere a big noisy finale.
5. Take Your Time. A low key ballad, but definitely a grower. Singer Xavier Watkins delivers one of his best vocals on the album, plaintive and subtle. Guitar, drums and organ given plenty of time to build on a repeated phrase at the end.
6. What I Need. Mid-tempo compact structure based around a staccato drum pattern, passes along nicely but not quite the same immersing ambience of the other songs.
7. Raw Love. The band’s debut single from late 2012. A carefully crafted catchy pop song, radio-friendly hook line, if only all radio was as good as 6 Music.
8. Driftwood Royalty. I really like this one, so laid back, could be from the sixties or eighties, it floats in and out again like some sort of impressionist reverie.
9. The River. The rest of the album paves the way for this track, it draws on all the others to create a complex epic, musically driven by military precision drumming, punctuated by restful passages with underlying tension. The last two minutes of the song goes into drumming and guitar overdrive before the final sustained note, tempting us back to track 1…

Overall an accomplished debut, excellent production and deserving of repeated listens (it sounds good live too!)

http://violetwoods.tumblr.com/

http://violetwoods.bandcamp.com/

Album Review, The Centimes, released 12 Oct 2014

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Track by track review of the new CD ‘Wooden Shirts’ by Cambridge Indie band The Centimes.

1. Wooden Shirts. A lively opener, setting the template of 12-string guitar, driving drums and solid bass. Some acapella vocals and harmonies add extra gloss to the mix.
2. Local Pool. Previously a single, a driving rhythm behind a full sound and strong vocal, the much repeated line ‘the party’s over, find another party’ indicating fruitless Saturday night wanderings or maybe a bigger metaphor.
3. I’m Fine. Coupled with Local Pool on the single release, a sparse but well-balanced and rather lovely song with a Velvet Underground first album feel. The sort of song to be playing in your head when you wave goodbye at the railway station after a weekend that didn’t go that well, perhaps with some regrets but ultimately tinged with optimism.
4. Locked Out. A moody echoing guitar figure slowly starts, then goes into another up tempo track. Lots going on behind the lead vocal, even a bit of synthesiser.
5. Billy. A change of direction into an American blues rock sound, heavier guitar and rolling bassline, smoky voice on the verse then blistering chorus that leaves no doubt that Billy is ‘the only one’.
6. La La Land. The guitar goes into full jangly mode, developing into a Chic style rhythm over steady drumming on one of the more musically changeable tracks on the album.
7. Stormy Tuesday. The musical centrepiece of the album, a long instrumental introduction, a pounding bass gathering storm, thunder and lightning on the drums and guitar eventually resolving into chords, then the voices blend well together for a lyric of threatening weather nightmare….play this one loud.
8. I Don’t See It Anymore. A slightly heavier track, each lyric line answered by the title phrase. A bit of keyboard and a guitar solo add to the atmosphere.
9. Little Table. Like a track from the first Orange Juice album the echoing 12-string skates on top of the bass and solid drum beat, then a tale of relationship aftermath unfolds with a strong optimistic chorus.
10. Spider. Often the first song of the live set, this is a confident but subtle mid-tempo closer to the album. An end of summer mood, beginning with a slow chiming picked chord, answered by a delicate descending bass run and some non-drums percussion and gentle vocal. The song keeps building, by the end we have strings and synthesisers and as the last chord fades away we are very glad we have shared 40 minutes with The Centimes, it is an impressive debut album.

http://www.thecentimes.com/index.html
http://thecentimes.bandcamp.com/