talksy

In brief: Reflections on 2008

2009-01-01T18:45:00.007Z

Pros: Obama's election...overcoming my dislike of flying to finally leave the UK again, not once but twice during the year...the wonderful Primavera festival and the beauty of Barcelona...Secret Chiefs 3's magnificent first ever UK show at Cargo; let's not wait ten years for the next one though, eh?...becoming an uncle to little Amy Jennifer...a host of highlights, but particularly Harvey Milk and Max Tundra at Supersonic...the BBC Radiophonic Workshop reissues...the continual resurgence of Aston Villa Football Club...Nina Nastasia at Green Man...My Bloody Valentine at the Roundhouse, still as sonically impressive as 16 years ago...being introduced to the books of Richard Brautigan...the continuing inspirational coverage of The Wire and Plan B...the near collapse of global capitalism hopefully precipitating a return to more socialist values...

Cons: Tim Smith suffering a stroke; get well soon Tim, please...the suicide of David Foster Wallace...Boris Johnson becoming London's mayor...still not reading enough...still not blogging enough...the monsoon conditions at Green Man...Girls Aloud's rotten new album...missing ATP again...there not being enough hours in the day to listen to the amount of music I'd like to...allowing tiredness and lethargy to prevent me from attending more gigs...London's free newspapers, objectionable on so many levels...my failure to truly reconnect with what I enjoy about living in London, something I aim to rectify in 2009...

Talksy's Festive Fifty

2008-12-24T11:06:00.028Z

My 50 Favourite Albums of 2008

50. Fuck Buttons - Street Horrrsing (ATP)
49. Burning Star Core - Challenger (Plastic)
48. Toumani Diabate - The Mande Variations (World Circuit)
47. Arthur Russell - Love Is Overtaking Me (Rough Trade)
46. Machinefabriek - Dauw (Dekorder)
45. Boris - Smile (Southern Lord)
44. William Parker - Double Sunrise Over Neptune (AUM Fidelity)
43. Mike Patton - A Perfect Place (Ipecac)
42. Rings - Black Habit (Paw Tracks)
41. Department Of Eagles - In Ear Park (4AD)

40. Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part One (Universal)
39. Abe Vigoda - Skeleton (Bella Union)
38. Melvins - Nude With Boots (Ipecac)
37. 2562 - Aerial (Tectonic)
36. Kasai Allstars - In The 7th Moon, The Chief Turned Into A Swimming Fish And Ate The Head Of His Enemy By Magic (Cramworld)
35. Neil Landstrumm - Lord For £39 (Planet Mu)
34. El Guincho - Allegranza (Young Turks)
33. The Fun Years - Baby, It's Cold Inside (Barge)
32. Grails - Doomsdayer's Holiday (Temporary Residence)
31. Ponytail - Ice Cream Spiritual (We Are Free)

30. Birchville Cat Motel - Gunpowder Temple Of Heaven (Pica Disk)
29. Boredoms - Super Roots #9 (Thrill Jockey)
28. Deerhunter - Microcastle (4AD)
27. Asva - What You Don't Know Is Frontier (Southern)
26. Philip Jeck - Sand (Touch)
25. Jacaszek - Treny (Miasmah)
24. James Blackshaw - Litany Of Echoes (Tompkins Square)
23. Lucky Dragons - Dream Island Laughing Language (Upset The Rhythm)
22. Benga - Diary Of An Afro Warrior (Tempa)
21. Kayo Dot - Blue Lambency Downward (Hydra Head)

20.

Parenthetical Girls - Entanglements (Tomlab)

http://www.myspace.com/parentheticalgirlsband

19.

Stephan Mathieu - Radioland (Die Schachtel)

http://www.bitsteam.de/wp/?page_id=23

18.

Juana Molina - Un Dia (Domino)

http://www.juanamolina.com/eng_home.html

17.

Rolo Tomassi - Hysterics (Hassle)

http://www.myspace.com/rolotomassi

16.

Paavoharju - Laulu Laakson Kukista (Fonal)

http://www.myspace.com/paavoharju

15.

Max Richter - 24 Postcards In Full Colour (Fat Cat)

http://www.24postcards.co.uk/

14.

Los Campesinos! - Hold On Now, Youngster (Wichita)

http://www.myspace.com/loscampesinos

13.

The Advisory Circle - Other Channels (Ghost Box)

http://www.ghostbox.co.uk/theadvisorycircle.htm

12.

Fennesz - Black Sea (Touch)

http://touchshop.org/product_info.php?cPath=11&products_id=256

11.

Secret Chiefs 3 - Xaphan: Book Of Angels Volume 9 (Tzadik)

http://www.webofmimicry.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=24&products_id=63

10.

Max Tundra - Parallax Error Beheads You (Domino)

http://www.dominorecordco.com/artists/max-tundra/

Growing - All The Way (Social Registry)

http://www.thesocialregistry.com/index2.html

Flying Lotus - Los Angeles (Warp)

http://www.myspace.com/flyinglotus

Harvey Milk - Life...The Best Game In Town (Hydra Head)

http://www.harveymilktheband.com/music.html

Deerhoof - Offend Maggie (Kill Rock Stars)

http://www.myspace.com/deerhoof

The Bug - London Zoo (Ninja Tune)

http://www.myspace.com/thebuguk

High Places - High Places (Thrill Jockey)

http://www.myspace.com/hellohighplaces

Grouper - Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill (Type)

http://www.myspace.com/grouperrepuorg

Marnie Stern - This Is It And I Am It And You Are It And So Is That And He Is It And She Is It And It Is It And That Is That (Kill Rock Stars)

http://www.myspace.com/marniestern1

Gang Gang Dance - Saint Dymphna (Warp)

http://www.thesocialregistry.com/index2.html

The Festive Fifty...Close, But No Cigar

2008-12-19T21:41:00.016Z

Yep, it's that time of year again. After much cogitation, consideration and deliberation, my favourite 50 albums of 2008 have been decided upon. Check back next week to find out what's made the list.

2008 has been a cracking year for new music and it proved harder than ever to trim the list down to just 50 this time. So, while you're waiting on tenterhooks for the final selection, here's a whole host of cracking releases that almost made the grade, and on another day may well have done. All come highly recommended...

Oren Ambarchi & Z'ev - Spirit Transform Me (Tzadik)
Ascend - Ample Fire Within (Southern Lord)
Atlas Sound - Let The Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel (4AD)
Au - Verbs (Aagoo)
Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago (4AD)
Bowerbirds - Hymns For A Dark Horse (Dead Oceans)
Christina Carter - Original Darkness (Kranky)
Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles (PIAS)
Bill Dixon - 17 Musicians In Search Of A Sound (Arts For Art)
The Doubting Guest - Acid Sauna (Planet Mu)
Earth - The Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull (Southern Lord)
Excepter - Debt Dept (Paw Tracks)
Fred Frith - To Sail, To Sail (Tzadik)
Fucked Up - The Chemistry Of Modern Life (Matador)
Hauschka - Ferndorf (Fat Cat)
Ezekiel Honig - Surfaces Of A Broken Marching Band (Anticipate)
Ignatz - III (K-raa-K)
Indian Jewelry - Free Gold! (We Are Free)
Islaja - Blaze Mountain Recordings (Ecstatic Peace!)
Je Suis Animal - Self-Taught Magic From A Book (Perfect Pop)
Lau Nau - Nukkuu (Locust)
Library Tapes - A Summer Beneath The Trees (Make Mine Music)
Lone - Lemurian (Dealmaker)
Magik Markers - Gucci Rapidshare Download (Oscillation 3)
Matmos - Supreme Balloon (Matador)
MoHa! - One Way Ticket To Candyland (Rune Grammofon)
Nadja - Bliss Torn From Emptiness (Profound Lore)
Nisennenmondai - Neji Tori (Smalltown Supersound)
No Age - Nouns (Sub Pop)
Part Wild Horses Mane On Both Sides - Bataille De Battle (Singing Knives)
Pete & The Pirates - Little Death (Stolen Recordings)
Portishead - Third (Island)
Pyramids - Pyramids (Hydra Head)
Sic Alps - US EZ (Stiltbreeze)
Tape - Luminarium (Hapna)
These Are Powers - Taro Tarot (Dead Oceans)
Times New Viking - Rip It Off (Matador)
Valet - Naked Acid (Kranky)
Venetian Snares - Detrimentalist (Planet Mu)
Wildbirds & Peacedrums - Heartcore (Leaf)
Xiu Xiu - Women As Lovers (Kill Rock Stars)
Yo! Majesty - Futuristically Speaking...Never Be Afraid (Domino)
Zomby - Where Were U In '92 (Werk)

De Selby's Golden Hours volume 4

2008-11-30T17:27:00.010Z

So here, at last, is volume 4! Hope you enjoy it...

Volume 4

Gang Gang Dance - First Communion
taken from the 2008 album St Dymphna (Warp)
These Are Powers - Cockles
taken from the 2008 album Taro Tarot (Dead Oceans)
Parenthetical Girls - A Song For Ellie Greenwich
taken from the 2008 album Entanglements (Tomlab)
Flying Lotus - Parisian Goldfish
taken from the 2008 album Los Angeles (Warp)
Tinchy Stryder - Six4Fire
taken from the 2008 album Cloud 9: The EP (Royaltyshare)
Sic Alps - Mater
taken from the 2008 album U.S. EZ (Stiltbreeze)
Japanther - Um Like Your Smile Is Totally Ruling Me
taken from the 2008 album Tut Tut Now Shake Ya Butt (Menlo Park)
King Midas Sound - One Ting (Dabrye remix)
taken from the 2008 12" Cool Out (Hyperdub)
High Places - From Stardust To Sentience
taken from the 2008 album High Places (Thrill Jockey)
Peverelist - Roll With The Punches
taken from the 2008 12" Roll With The Punches (Punch Drunk)

De Selby update

2008-11-24T18:21:00.002Z

Jeez, it's been ages, sorry! The long overdue Volume 4 will be on the way this week...honestly!

In the meantime, it has been drawn to my attention that the embedded players on this site don't always work...apparently there's been a particular problem with Volume 3. If this is the case for you, then you can access all De Selby's Golden Hours on the 8tracks site at http://8tracks.com/talksy.

More very soon...

De Selby's Golden Hours volume 3

2008-10-20T16:39:00.008+01:00

Brand new tracks from the wonderful new albums by Marnie Stern and Deerhoof this time out, plus the usual smorgasbord of delights taking in everything from highlife bounce to sonic splatter, psych folk to jazz harmolodics, sitar funk freakouts to stoner groove...

Volume 3

Marnie Stern - The Crippled Jazzer
taken from the 2008 album This Is It and I Am It and You Are It... (Kill Rock Stars)
Deerhoof - Eaguru Guru
taken from the 2008 album Offend Maggie (ATP)
Rings - All Right Peace
taken from the 2008 album Black Habit (Paw Tracks)
El Guincho - Antillas
taken from the 2008 album Alegranza (Young Turks)
Fucked Up - No Epiphany
taken from the 2008 album The Chemistry Of Common Life (Matador)
Ananda Shankar - Streets Of Calcutta
taken from the 1975 album Ananda Shankar And His Music (EMI India)
Pumajaw - Spangler
taken from the 2008 album Curiosity Box (Fire)
MoHa! - Too Smart Enough To Drink
taken from the 2008 album One-Way Ticket To Candyland (Rune Grammofon)
Ornette Coleman - Three Wishes
taken from the 1988 album Virgin Beauty (Portrait)
Grails - Predestination Blues
taken from the 2008 album Doomsdayer's Holiday (Temporary Residence)

The Dreaming

2008-10-12T15:55:00.006+01:00

Apropos of nothing, bar the fact that I've been listening to Kate Bush's 1982 masterpiece today, here's a selection of videos from that album for your enjoyment. It's Kate Bush...no excuse needed!

Sat In Your Lap

Suspended In Gaffa

There Goes A Tenner

De Selby's Golden Hours volumes 1 & 2

2008-10-06T13:25:00.009+01:00

At last I am pleased to announce the launch of De Selby's Golden Hours, a new forum for me to share some of the sounds tickling my tastebuds via the wonderful 8tracks website. Consider it a radio show with the added bonuses that you don't have to listen to me wittering on and you can fast forward through any track that you find particularly unpalatable!

New shows will appear fortnightly with full tracklistings here on this very site. And being the caring, sharing guy I am, I've begun with a bumper double pack of goodness for you...

Volume 1

Koenjihyakkei - Rattims Friezz
taken from the 2005 album Angherr Shisspa (Skin Graft)
Excepter - Kill People
taken from the 2008 album Debt Dept (Paw Tracks)
Matmos - Rainbow Flag
taken from the 2008 album Supreme Balloon (Matador)
Grouper - Heavy Water/I'd Rather Be Sleeping
taken from the 2008 album Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill (Type)
Indian Jewelry - Bird Is Broke (Won't Sing)
taken from the 2008 album Free Gold! (We Are Free)
Nisennenmondai - This Heat
taken from the 2008 album Neji Tori (Smalltown Supersound)
Bowerbirds - Dark Horse
taken from the 2008 album Hymns For A Dark Horse (Dead Oceans)
Principal Edwards Magic Theatre - Sacrifice
taken from the 1969 album Soundtrack (Dandelion/Cherry Red)

Volume 2

Zach Hill - Stoic Logic
taken from the 2008 album Astrological Straits (Ipecac)
Take A Worm For A Walk Week - Turkish Snowcone
taken from the 2008 album The Monroe Transfer (Undergroove)
Wildbirds & Peacedrums - The Battle In Water
taken from the 2008 album Heartcore (Leaf)
Venetian Snares - Sajtban
taken from the 2008 album Detrimentalist (Planet Mu)
The Bug feat. Warrior Queen - Poison Dart
taken from the 2008 album London Zoo (Ninja Tune)
Getatchew Mercurya - Yegenet Muziqa
taken from the 1972 album Negus Of Ethiopian Sax (Buda)
Talibam! - Guns and Butter
taken from the 2007 album Ordination of the Globetrotting Conscripts (Azul Discografica)
Ponytail - 7 Souls
taken from the 2008 album Ice Cream Spiritual (We Are Free)
James Blackshaw - Infinite Circle
taken from the 2008 album Litany Of Echoes (Tompkins Square)
Robin Williamson & His Merry Band - The Bells
taken from the 1977 album Journey's Edge (Fledg'ling)

Koenjihyakkei

2008-10-06T12:59:00.005+01:00

Now, I'm not sure how I'd managed to avoid stumbling across Koenjihyakkei before, but am I ever pleased I've done so now. They're so far up my street that they've moved into my house and are kipping on the sofa! Yoshida Tatsuya of Ruins' avant-garde, operatic prog/jazz/thrash project. If you like Magma, John Zorn, Henry Cow then check them out. Actually, just check them out! Total zeuhl wonderment!

If you've got a spare ten minutes you could do a lot worse than spend it revelling in the awesomeness of the live footage below...

Apologies, Secret Chiefs, Knife World and more...

2008-10-06T12:43:00.002+01:00

Yeah, I know, it's been a while. Sorry. Work commitments have kept me away. But, once again, I'll try to keep the posts more frequent from now on. Hopefully...

Anyway, that Secret Chiefs 3 show at Cargo was amazing! Gig of the year so far...almost worth the ten year wait! Magnificent, explosive, grandiose, genuinely moving and above all FUN. Lost count of the encores. Renunciation threatened to take the roof off. If they come back again I would strongly advise you to be there.

I've also got my grubby little mitts on the final mix of Knife World's astonishing Buried Alone album and, boy oh boy, it's a beauty! The long-awaited solo project of Kavus Torabi (Cardiacs, The Monsoon Bassoon, Guapo) had begun to take on almost mythical status due to length of its gestation period, but at long last it is almost ready to burst screaming upon an unsuspecting world. Much much more on that soon...

Plus news on the way of a new record label and some long overdue re-issues and rarities from much-missed avant-psych-math legends The Monsoon Bassoon...stay tuned for more!

The Chiefs Are Coming...

2008-09-08T22:29:00.004+01:00

Yes, excitement is mounting round these parts as it's now only just over a week until the arrival of the legendary Secret Chiefs 3 in London for their first ever UK live show. Unmissable I'd say!

So to celebrate, here's a (admittedly rather old) clip from Australian TV...

...and a rare sighting of a promo video for the track 'Exodus' from their astonishing 2004 album 'Book Of Horizons'...

There's more Secret Chiefs info and aural samples at their website

James Blackshaw

2008-09-02T17:41:00.005+01:00

James Blackshaw - Litany Of Echoes (Tompkins Square)

27 year-old twelve-string virtuoso James Blackshaw had seemed totally on top of his game with last year's stunning 'The Cloud Of Unknowing' album and it was difficult to see how he could surpass it. But surpass it he has. 'Litany Of Echoes', already his seventh album, is bliss. Previously earmarked as a guitarist in the Takoma tradition of John Fahey and Robbie Basho, 'Litany Of Echoes' sees Blackshaw expand into new territory, incorporating the spirit of minimalist composition of Philip Glass or Terry Riley. The album is bookended by two exquisite repetitious piano pieces; in between Blackshaw guitar playing is as heavenly as ever. The epic 'Past Has Not Passed' is a masterpiece...bowed, droning strings providing the background for Blackshaw's fluttering plucked melodies; 'Infinite Circle' is reminiscent of Michael Nyman, adding flowing piano and swooping violin to the gorgeous guitar harmonics. An astonishing talent, Blackshaw just keeps getting better and better. 'Litany Of Echoes' is an album of rare beauty.

http://www.myspace.com/jamesblackshaw

Das Wanderlust

2008-09-02T16:49:00.002+01:00

Teesside self-styled 'wonky-popsters' Das Wanderlust are not exactly prolific, as their output of just two rather good 7" singles in the last couple of years attests, but their debut album, 'Horses For Courses', is finally due for release later this year, preceeded by probably their best effort yet. 'Puzzle' is a bit of a belter and hits the shops next month...

http://www.myspace.com/daswanderlust

Mixtape August 2008

2008-08-29T23:11:00.005+01:00

Well, it would've been time to update my mixtape, except that those loveable folk at the RIAA (that's the Recording Industry Association of America) have shut down the muxtape site...more info here.

Fear not though, alternatives are currently being sought, and there will be another mix for your delectation shortly...

Paw Tracks Goodness

2008-08-26T21:59:00.013+01:00

Three intriguing new releases in 2008 from Animal Collective's Paw Tracks label...

Tickley Feather - Tickley Feather

Tickley Feather is the nom de musique of four-track enthusiast Annie Sachs and her debut album consists of 20 tracks of scratchy, ethereal, lo-fi psych-pop in a little over half an hour. Hiss and crackle, spoken word snippets, dreamlike melodies that never outstay their welcome...it's charmingly naive and playful.

http://www.myspace.com/tickleyfeather

Rings - Black Habit

Enchanting, off-kilter debut album from female trio Rings. Ghostly post-punk meets avant-folk experimentalism that clatters and yelps and screeches. Uneasy and jarring, yet delicate and melodious too.

http://www.myspace.com/firstnationlove

Excepter - Debt Dept

Brooklyn six-piece electronic noise experimentalists mix up bleeps, loops, droning synths, electro dub, psychedelic drift, some no wave guitar...it's trippy, dark, spectral. And often mesmerisingly good.

http://www.myspace.com/excepter

Isaac Hayes (1942-2008) R.I.P.

2008-08-12T18:28:00.001+01:00

Primavera in pictures, part two

2008-08-12T13:06:00.004+01:00

No Age
Hefner at Parc Joan Miro
The Vice stage by night
Dirty Projectors

Dirty Projectors

Primavera in pictures

2008-08-12T12:51:00.003+01:00

The ATP stage
The Vice stage
HEALTH
The solar panel
Boris

review: Primavera Sound 2008

2008-08-10T12:16:00.025+01:00

Barcelona. The Catalan capital. Home of Gaudi, the Camp Nou, and a startling array of faux-Irish pubs. Roman remains, stunning Gothic architecture, the medieval feel of the labyrinthine streets in the Old City, the post-modern design of the post-Olympics waterfront. Pavement cafes and Estrella Damm beer. And, for a few days each year, Primavera Sound.

2008 is Primavera's eighth outing as an open-air festival and its fourth year at the spectacular Forum waterfront site. A vast concrete harbour, featuring two stepped outdoor auditoria, four additional stages (including a seated indoor venue), a gigantic solar panel structure, giant inflatable bottles, a covered food court and fabulous sea views. Minor gripes about the rather convoluted drink-ticketing policy and the over-priced, limited food choices aside, it sure beats a muddy field in Reading. Combine all that with arguably the best festival line-up of the summer and Primavera was nigh-on unmissable.

THURSDAY

With the hazy early-evening sun streaming out over the Rockdelux stage, it falls to Brooklyn's current NME faves MGMT to set the whole shebang rolling. Judging by their Oracular Spectacular debut, reports of their progressive/psychedelic experimentation have been greatly exaggerated; that said, it does have its moments, notably the indie-pop-Supertramp-meets-Flaming Lips-isms of Kids and Time To Pretend. Live, it all seems a bit more 'rock'; there's hints of Neil Young, early 70s Stones, maybe latter-day Mercury Rev's more classic rock moments in places, and there is a palpable sense of fun to proceedings, but ultimately, as explosive event openers go, MGMT are a bit of a damp squib.

Having wandered over to the ATP stage for the rather underwhelming finale of Phil Elverum's MOUNT EERIE set, it's time for the first 'must see' of the weekend...HEALTH. Shoe-horned into the skinniest jeans of the festival, HEALTH proceed to lay waste to the Vice stage, all flailing hair and limbs, convulsing bodies, squalls of noise and driving tribal rhythms. Yes, there's an air of pretentious hipster styling about them, but it's all so fevered and tumultuous and fun that I'm left grinning like a loon.

There's something I find inherently irritating about the current obsession with ATP's Don't Look Back series of canonical nostalgia fests but, what the hell, when it's PUBLIC ENEMY performing It Takes A Nation Of Millions..., one of the most important, mind-expanding and viscerally thrilling albums in my life, then I can cast my doubts aside. Having pushed anticipation levels through the roof with an interminable 'warm-up' DJ set from producers The Bomb Squad, Chuck and Flavour finally bound onto stage and the opening barrage of Bring The Noise induces pandemonium. That this material can still sound so fresh, so vital twenty years down the line is testament to its genius. Even with no Professor Griff, Terminator X now retired (lending an almost eulogistic feel to Terminator X To The Edge Of Panic), and the memory of Flav's cringeworthy pantomime performances on reality TV in recent years, side one races by in an ecstatic, celebratory blur. Disappointingly though, following a rumbustuous She Watch Channel Zero, time is up, so almost half the album remains unplayed, including Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos and Rebel Without A Pause. But we do get possibly PE's finest moment to close and witnessing thousands singing 'Elvis was a hero to most but he never meant shit to me' during an incendiary Fight The Power is a joy to behold.

PORTISHEAD are undoubtedly the biggest draw of the night, yet the crowd are largely ambivalent towards the new material they open with, the band themselves appear restrained, possibly nervy, and it's all just too downbeat. I feel the need for ROCK, and fortunately BORIS oblige. With Michio Kurihara adding additional guitar, Takeshi, Wata and Atsuo shred the night sky with a searing bombast of gargantuan psychedelic rock. Man, they are LOUD! Almost tremor-inducingly so. I'm battered and buffeted by the tsunami of sound, wilfully submitting to the overwhelming intensity, transported to the outer reaches of the universe before the crash of Atsuo's giant gong brings me hurtling back to earth. Atsuo is thrashing at the gong like a man possessed before catapulting himself into the crowd where he's jubiliantly borne aloft. Boris exit as heroes, for tonight, at least, justifiably so.

And still there's more. CARIBOU's melody-drenched, helical, propulsive psychedelia and kaleidoscopic lightshow is just dreamy and perfectly hits the spot. Not so the rather predictable atmospheric post-rockisms of EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY, although they're hardly helped by a crowd that, around me at least, seems intent on chattering throughout the quieter interludes. So it's off to check out PRINZHORN DANCE SCHOOL, whose monochrome post-punk minimalist grooves and shouty boy/girl vocal interplay sends us off weary but happy into the early morning streets.

FRIDAY

Day two, and a rather leisurely approach unfortunately means we miss Scandanavian anarchist-prog pioneers Trad Gras och Stenar. So we grab a beer and head off to chill out with MV & EE WITH THE GOLDEN ROAD. Bandanas are the order of the day here it seems...the stage is full of them. If dousing yourself in patchouli oil and hitting the open road in a battered old camper van is your bag then this could well be your soundtrack. Rolling country rock with a nod to Neil Young, veering into Lynard Skinnard territory at times, it's not without its charms but I'm just not really feeling their vibe, man.

We drop by on THE CRIBS but soon tire of their uninspired, workmanlike punk-pop. PISSED JEANS, on the other hand, are far from workmanlike. Their set is unsurprisingly based around last year's fine Hope For Men album; scathing, bluesy hardcore-punk that's so lowdown & dirty it could crawl under a snake's belly. Add a front man who strikes a perfect balance between passionate intensity and posturing self-parody, throw in a ten-minute improvised noise assault mid-set after a snapped guitar neck leads the guitarist to totally trash his instrument in frustration and disgust, and you've got yourself a pretty damn enjoyable show.

NO AGE are one of the bands I've been most looking forward to. Last year's collection of single and EP tracks Weirdo Rippers and new debut album proper Nouns are both excellent records; frenetic DIY punk-pop tunes aligned to experimental noisescaping. A band most definitely in the ascendancy right now, the guitar and drums duo seem relaxed and confident and their set is a joy. Sleeper Hold, Cappo and Teen Creeps rattle by in a fuzzed-up, furious, adrenalin-rush. Boy Void dropkicks my ass into the middle of next week, Neck Escaper is irresistable. Yeah, No Age's natural home is probably a dank, dark, DIY basement club but hell, a dusky open air harbour will do just fine for now thanks very much.

THE SONICS sound like a wedding band. Probably the best wedding band in the world granted, but a wedding band nonetheless. Shorn of the feral punkish vigour that permeates their 1965 Here Are The Sonics album, all that's left in 2008 is goodtime rock'n'roll that far too often veers into self-congratulatory, Jools Holland bar band boogie-woogie territory. I guess some stones are just best left unturned.

LA trio AUTOLUX never really deliver on the promise of their kosmische-tinged motorik opener, lapsing into pleasant but unremarkable post-shoegaze pretty indie soundscapes. SEBADOH may be feted as lo-fi indie gods, but they never did much for me first time around and a brief stop-by at Rock Delux does nothing to encourage me otherwise. So it's back to Vice to check out MAN MAN. And boy, did that punt ever come in...Man Man are probably the revelation of the weekend. Pushing the fun factor off the dial, Man Man are a heady whirl of unrestrained vivacity, taking in clanking, experimental percussion, mediterranean gypsy folk, dark cabaret, Zappa's playfulness and Rain Dogs-era Tom Waits. Looking like he's just stepped off court at Wimbledon in 1975, the hyperactive, jack-in-a-box, gravel-throated singer tops an exhilarating performance by rushing from the stage and diving headfirst into the sea during the closing number! Fabulous.

How to follow that then? Well, to paraphrase, are we not Man Man, we are DEVO. (Sorry!) Yep, it's time for America's futuristic, theatrical new wave pioneers and they totally steal the show. Banging out classic after classic...Jocko Homo, Freedom of Choice, Whip It, Mongoloid, Gates of Steel, Satisfaction...it's a relentless barrage of post-punk, proto-electro-pop gems that whips the crowd into a whirling, bouncing frenzy. The yellow contamination suits and 'energy dome' hats make way for rather fetching tight black shorts and knee-high socks mid-set...even the Booji Boy mask makes an appearance. Revisiting the past may not always be advisable (see The Sonics above) but tonight, for pure audio-visual entertainment, Devo are untouchable.

I have a soft spot for CAT POWER but Chan Marshall arguably hasn't made a truly good record since 2003's We Are Free, and I'm in no mood for her current, grown-up, soulless balladeering. Certainly not when FUCK BUTTONS are playing. I had my suspicions that the scale of the ATP stage may have dwarfed Fuck Buttons tonight but, if anything, it seems to suit their salvo of experimental electro noise to a tee. Mixing psychedelic drone with distorted vocals, dreamy melodies, shearing noise and propulsive, tribal rhythms, Fuck Buttons demonstrate that they're far from the 'noise' band some have painted them as...yes, they are noise elements but it's their ability to mould those to danceable beats and repetitious melody that makes them such an interesting, and pleasurable, proposition.

SATURDAY

Saturday starts early with a luchtime trip over to Parc Joan Miro on the other side of the city. The reason? HEFNER. Or at least 'Darren Hayman and Jack Hayter play Hefner' which, let's face it, is pretty much the same thing. And seeing Mr Hayman performing a magical set of Hefner's finest moments up close and personal among the palm trees is a rare delight. A perfect start to the final day's entertainment.

Back to the Forum and Ohio trio TIMES NEW VIKING are having 'technical problems' involving a broken string. Guitarist Jared Phillips is not happy. Which is a shame coz when TNV do snap into the groove their lo-fi, fuzzed, garage band version of bubblegum indie-pop induces smiles all round. Wandering over to the Vice stage, there's the hooded figure of Deerhunter's beanpole frontman Bradford Cox fiddling with electronics, emitting some gorgeous, dreamy waves of psychedelia. This is ATLAS SOUND, Cox's solo project, seemingly a vehicle for him to allow his creative imagination to run free. Cox undoubtedly owes a debt to Animal Collective, and Panda Bear in particular, a fact he himself acknowledges from the stage, but it seems more driven by love than larceny. The lysergic langour created by the layered loops, gentle melodies, woozy calypso stylings and reverberating vocals is the perfect antidote to the first rain of the weekend, which soon dissipates, as if embarrassed at dampening Cox's parade.

Time for a confession. I've never really understood the fuss about SILVER JEWS. But then I've never tried that hard, cursory listens to Starlite Walker and Natural Bridge that left me largely nonplussed aside. But David Berman attracts such adulation I must be missing something. Forty minutes of admittedly enjoyable alt-country Americana later though, I'm still none the wiser. Maybe it's just not my bag. Or maybe, and I suspect this to be the case, Silver Jews are a band you need to immerse yourself in fully, rake over with a fine toothcomb, before you truly uncover their treasures. And I don't have the inclination. My loss perhaps, but I can live with that.

Especially when DIRTY PROJECTORS are up next. Man, I love this band! Dave Longstreth's distinctive prodigious vocal acrobatics. The celestial harmonies. The depth of ideas and their visionary, technicolour conceptualisation. The progressive structures, bouncing polyrhythms and joyous highlife-meets-mathrock guitars...yet for music so staggeringly complexed, Dirty Projectors remain surprisingly accessible. Some of the most innovative, spellbinding, life-affirming sounds around. The set closes, as usual, with a rousingly beautiful rendition of Rise Above and I'm left floating on air.

DEERHUNTER, in comparison, are disappointingly flat. I want to like them...there's an appealingly enigmatic, ethereal darkness to their Cryptograms album. But it's all too much of a plod tonight; the band are subdued and the songs fail to ignite. So we cut our losses and race across the site, chasing thrills, heading for MISSION OF BURMA. And, putting my cynicism at punk reformations aside, we certainly get some fire in the belly. The seminal, forward-thinking, early 80s post-punksters are taut and wiry, cranking out their unruly anthems to a smallish but devoted audience. All very enjoyable, but I can't shake the feeling that the 80s live footage on their recently reissued Signals DVD is probably a better representation of Mission Of Burma's legacy.

Heading back over to the ATP stage, there's little doubt who wins the 'Most Oversubscribed Show of the Festival' award. It's SHELLAC. With no chance of fighting through the massed hoardes, we're forced to clamber up the steep grass bank and virtually cling onto a tree to get a view. But it's worth it. Shellac are so much better than their latest album, Excellent Italian Greyhound, had suggested...The End Of Radio is restored to its rightful place as a harrowing live epic, Prayer To God is sensational...when they hit their stride there's still nobody who sounds quite like them. They're having fun too; Scout Niblett is brought out to take questions from the crowd, and the finale sees Albini and Weston dismantle Todd Trainer's drum kit piece by piece while he plays on, ending with them carrying him from the stage on his stool, arms still flailing away at thin air.

No surprises here, but the 'Entrance of the Festival' award goes to...LES SAVY FAV. Singer Tim Harrington arrives dressed as a palm tree. There are so many costume changes it's near impossible to keep count...a truly hideous multi-coloured leotard, a judo suit, a gigantic purple cloak. The band around him get on with the business of churning out kick-ass angular punk-pop melodies, but there's only one focal point with Les Savy Fav. Like a child with ADHD, Harrington is humping the monitors one minute, disappearing into the crowd the next. He's dragging a roadie out from the wings and riding him across the stage, back in the crowd engulfing members of the audience in a sweaty embrace, backstage again. Sure it's a show, and very entertaining for a while, but eventually it starts to become a bit grating. Time to move on...

You're never sure what to expect from ANIMAL COLLECTIVE. Except the unexpected that is. As their influence grows so too does their rate of evolution. Having distilled their more freeform freak-folk tendencies into the magical sugary pop rush of last year's Strawberry Jam (prompting a backlash from some of their more 'cooler-than-thou' devotees, the fools!), Animal Collective have already moved on again. Their latest three-piece, electronic incarnation (no guitars, Deakin on a year-long sabbatical) sees Avey Tare, Panda Bear and Geologist reaching new levels of hypnotic, entrancing brilliance. Psychedelic loops, tribal dancebeats, beautiful melodies, trippy harmonies...songs stretched to breaking point in a disorientating, transcendental euphoria. There are new songs aplenty and they're up there among Animal Collective's best; there's a couple of Panda Bear tracks from his phenomenal Person Pitch album; older Collective songs are reworked and segued together into wonderful lengthy medleys. Defying categorisation, challenging preconceptions, Animal Collective remain peerless, a treasure of forward-thinking psychedelic pop invention. A fitting end to a fabulous festival.

Mixtape July 2008

2008-07-16T19:19:00.005+01:00

Back from Supersonic, had a blast! I'll be cobbling together some sort of review shortly, so keep your eyes peeled for that and my long overdue Primavera musings...

In the meantime, I am in a giving mood and therefore urge you to follow the link below, where you will find a virtual mixtape featuring just a few titbits from my recent musical menu for your aural pleasure...

http://talksy.muxtape.com/

Tracklisting is as follows:

The Bug featuring Tippa Irie - Angry
(from the 2008 album London Zoo)

Lykke Li - I'm Good. I'm Gone
(from the 2008 album Youth Novels)

Rolo Tomassi - Curby
(from the 2006 Untitled EP)

Venetian Snares - Kyokushin
(from the 2008 album Detrimentalist)

High Places - Sandy Places (7" version)
(from the 2008 album 03/07 - 09/07)

Ponytail - Sky Drool
(from the 2008 album Ice Cream Spiritual)

James Blackshaw - Infinite Circle
(from the 2008 album Litany of Echoes)

Matmos - Polychords
(from the 2008 album Supreme Balloon)

Burning Star Core - Beauty Hunter
(from the 2008 album Challenger)

Animal Collective - Water Curses
(from the 2008 Water Curses EP)

Fuck Buttons - Bright Tomorrow
(from the 2008 album Street Horrrsing)

Anthony Braxton - The Bell
(from the 1968 album 3 Compositions of New Jazz)

An England Story

2008-07-08T13:32:00.003+01:00

A new compilation from the ever-reliable Soul Jazz label, An England Story celebrates 25 years of MC culture in the UK from the arrival of dancehall and soundsystems in the early 80s through UK hip-hop, jungle and garage up to current grime & dubstep. And rather ace it is too. A comprehensive overview in just 21 tracks is impossible (no Smiley Culture unfortunately!) but as an introduction that illustrates the development of Black British musical styles and their common Jamaican heritage this is pretty much essential. 'Fast chat' legends such as Tippa Irie and Papa Levi rub shoulders with old skool hip-hop pioneers the London Posse; there's classic UK dancehall from General Levy and Tenor Fly alongside current UK hip-hop stars Ty & Roots Manuva; the 90s rave-oriented feel of Navigator & Freestylers, the junglist hip-hop of Skibadee, Riko's Wiley-produced minimalist grime, the wonderful bouncy ragga soundclash of Warrior Queen's Things Change.

Listen, buy etc here.

Warrior Queen and Tippa Irie also crop up on London Zoo, the earthquakingly good new album from Kevin Martin's mutant ragga/dubstep project The Bug, which also features Spaceape and Flowdan & Killa P of Roll Deep among others. Deep, dark, claustrophobic, apocalyptic...it's early days yet but London Zoo is threatening to be one of the albums of the year. Check out the edited single version of Poison Dart featuring Warrior Queen below...

the futility of lists - 2007 catch up (third and final part)

2008-06-29T16:20:00.007+01:00

Well, it is nearly the end of June, so time to wrap up the albums that missed possible inclusion in the 2007 list. Here are the final four that would most certainly have warranted consideration...

Wolves In The Throne Room - Two Hunters (Southern Lord)

Farm-dwelling ecologists from the Pacific Northwest, Wolves In The Throne Room take the traditions of black metal and then subvert with post-rock soundscapes and operatic gothic atmospherics. Two Hunters is an immense album. Black metal in thrall to the power of nature and mythic pastoral existence. Cathartic, paradoxical, sometimes confusing, but always thrilling.

Hear I Will Lay Down My Bones Among The Rocks And Roots at the Southern Lord website.

Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - In Glorious Times (The End)

My first proper exposure to the majesty of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, which like the HEALTH album, I'd heard last year without being fully convinced and now have no idea why! An epic rollercoaster ride of imagination and invention; a genre-defying triumph of progressive avant-metal. Listen here.

Burning Star Core - Operator Dead, Post Abandoned (No Quarter)

Narcotic, immersive noise from avant-violinist C. Spencer Yeh and friends. Violin and electronics squawk, shriek and roar over scattered drum patterns. Ears bleed. Walls are stripped of paint. But this is no sheer bombast; it's deeply textured and structured, at times almost peaceful yet always enveloping. Overwhelmingly good.

The Locust - New Erections (Anti-)

Four years since Plague Soundscapes and things have changed chez Locust. Only 11 songs on an album! And some over 90 seconds long! But this could well be their best. It's rhythmically adventurous, unconventional, raucous, abrasive. It screams, it grinds, it confronts and confounds. It's punk rock in the best possible sense.

You can listen to the tracks We Have Reached An Official Verdict: Nobody Gives A Shit and Slum Service here.

Devo sue McDonalds!

2008-06-29T15:15:00.004+01:00

Fabulous post-punk pioneers Devo are suing McDonald's over their New Wave Nigel American Idol Happy Meal toy (read story here).

"we don't like McDonalds and we don't like American Idol so we're doubly offended"!

Go Devo!

Here's a much more appropriate use of Devo dolls, likely to appeal to any Adam & Joe fans out there...

the futility of lists - 2007 catch up (part two)

2008-06-28T18:42:00.009+01:00

A brief look at some more of last year's gems that somehow slipped under my radar at the time...

Cobalt - Eater Of Birds (Profound Lore)

The best metal album of 2007? Almost certainly. An ambitious, intense 70 minutes of visceral thrash riffing, epic stoner grooves and ritualistic interludes. An awesome, ear-shredding ride.

HEALTH - HEALTH (Lovepump United)

I actually picked this up towards the end of last year but was not initially that impressed. Hmm. My mistake. Wonderful tribal drumming underpins jagged guitars, swathes of FX and looped feedback that owes plenty to Liars whilst retaining enough sense of invention and individuality to mark HEALTH out as something pretty special. Great live too.

Triceratops, Crimewave and Glitter Pills can currently be heard on their myspace site.

http://www.myspace.com/healthmusic

Birchville Cat Motel - Seventh Ruined Hex (Important)

New Zealand's prolific noise/drone artist Campbell Kneale enlists help from Matthew Bower (Sunroof!, Skullflower) and delivers an album of uncompromising, dissonant delights. A mind-altering, multi-layered mix of atonal guitar noise, serrated feedback and transcendental drones, ranging from cacophony to meditative beauty. Extreme, elegiac and damn near essential.

Pissed Jeans - Hope For Men (Sub Pop)

Ace lowdown & dirty American punk rock to rival the mighty Oxbow. The sort of fire and lyrical disection of the male condition that I'd hoped for from Grinderman.

http://www.myspace.com/pissedjeansband

Mouthus - Saw A Halo (Load)
Yellow Swans - At All Ends (Load)
Sightings - Through The Panama (Load)

Three corkers from Rhode Island's Load label. Beautiful, layered electronic drones and hypnotic guitar noise from Yellow Swans; Mouthus mix up shamanistic free-folk, psychedelic experimentation and droning distortion to great effect; Sightings pick up the baton from Drum's Not Dead-era Liars and take a path further into no wave experimentalism. And throw in a Scott Walker cover for good measure!

http://www.loadrecords.com/

Loren Connors - As Roses Bow: Collected Airs 1992-2002 (Family Vineyard)

American composer and improviser Loren Connors has amassed a remarkable array of recordings over the last 30 years, collaborating with such artists as Jim O'Rourke, Jandek, Keiji Haino, Thurston Moore and John Fahey among others, yet remains largely ignored outside more avant-garde circles. This double CD collects together 43 of his 'miniature compositions' inspired by traditional Irish song...timeless, melancholy, ethereal guitar music, so fragile it often seems on the verge of falling apart.

Supersilent - 8 (Rune Grammofon)
This uncompromising, avant-garde Norwegian quartet meet only to record/play live, never rehearsing or even discussing music, feeling that this would impinge on the freedom of their improvisations! Technically impressive, 8 is a challenging listen, but the spooked brooding atmospherics and freeform noise assaults reward perseverence.

Circle - Katapult (No Quarter)
Wasn't really sure about this on first listen, seemed like a bit of a messy hotchpotch that didn't really work. But then I listened again. And again. And then realised that I didn't want to stop listening! Is it prog, psychedelia, black metal, avant garde experimentalism? Possibly all of these and more...whatever, it's really rather good!

Oren Ambarchi - In The Pendulum's Embrace (Touch)
A work of ambient drone-doom beauty from the Australian composer and multi-instrumentalist. An album about texture and composition, slow-burning unreleased tension. Three lengthy tracks that are sombre, yet warm; deep sub-sonic bass and deliberate, unhurried, resonating lower-end guitar that brings to mind Earth's Hex.

Harmonia - Live 1974 (Gronland)
A long-lost live set from the hypnotic German electronic/kosmische pioneers that comfortably stands up alongside their two great studio albums.

Coming soon...part three, including Wolves In The Throne Room, The Locust, Burning Star Core and Sleepytime Gorilla Museum...

Ch-ch-ch-changes...part 2

2008-06-28T14:13:00.003+01:00

Ok, I lied. But this time, things will be different. The blogging bug has returned. There will be more regular posting again from now on...expect a review of the wonderful Primavera festival, among many other things, very soon.

In the meantime, I declare today to be a Beefheart day. Having already gorged myself on Safe As Milk and Strictly Personal, the stunning Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) is currently getting a long overdue outing. Here's a couple of clips for you to join me in celebrating the genius of Don Van Vliet...

Top Tens - Earache Records

2008-03-23T01:06:00.003Z

Ten uncompromising gems from Nottingham's pioneering extreme metal label

(in chronological order)

Napalm Death - Scum
Godflesh - Streetcleaner
Entombed - Left Hand Path
Naked City - Torture Garden
Fudge Tunnel - Hate Songs In E Minor
Cathedral - Forest Of Equilibrium
Pitch Shifter - Desensitized
Sleep - Sleep's Holy Mountain
Carcass - Heartwork
The Dillinger Escape Plan - The Dillinger Escape Plan

Autechre - Quaristice

2008-03-15T19:30:00.002Z

Autechre - Quaristice (Warp)

There was a time in the 90s when a new release from Autechre was a major event round these parts. They were one of the prime movers in IDM and, along with Aphex Twin and Squarepusher, released some of the most innovative and influential electronic music of the era. All of their 90s material is pretty much essential, but particularly their 'holy trinity' of Tri Repetae, Chiastic Slide and LP5, albums that crashed through the perceived boundaries of electronica. To describe Autechre as the Kraftwerk of the 90s may be an audacious claim but hey, it may not be too far from the truth.

Come the new millenium though, I kinda lost interest. Partly this was personal circumstances and a period of musical disillusionment, but partly it was a feeling that the 'golden age' was over...almost as if having reached perfection, where was there for Autechre to go? The answer, it seems, was into abstraction and experimentalism...the little I have heard of their noughties' output has been largely disappointing (especially 2005's Untilted). But with the release of their ninth album Quaristice, there was talk of a 'return to form', their best album in a decade, and my interest was piqued...

Probably should have left it alone though. It's not that Quaristice is bad as such, it certainly has it's moments, but too much of it appears an incoherent muddle of unrealised ideas, aimless jamming and random noise. It's an album lacking in cohesion, it doesn't flow. While applauding Autechre for resisting the temptation to return to past glories and continuing to push forwards, I can't help but think that too much of Quaristice just eshews melody in favour of half-baked sonic experimentalism. And in my book, when you've got a history as glorious as Autechre that just won't do. A disappointment.

Ch - ch - ch - ch- ch- changes!

2008-03-15T19:12:00.003Z

First off an apology to anyone out there who visits this site. It's been an age since anything new went up. There are numerous reasons for this, none of which I'm going to go into here (it's really not that interesting to be honest!), but what this inactivity has demonstrated to me is that there need to be some changes if this site is to continue in some form. Frankly, I'm still thinking these through, but stay tuned coz I can promise that the posting will get more regular again from now on...and I've got a helluva lot of great stuff to tell you about!

The futility of lists - 2007 catch up (part one)

2008-02-08T18:20:00.001Z

Nadja - Touched (Alien 8)
MV & EE With The Bummer Road - Green Blues (Ecstatic Peace!)
Sir Richard Bishop - Polytheistic Fragments (Drag City)

Lists are pretty rubbish really aren't they? Even putting aside the argument that it's impossible to rank an artform (how do you quantify whether 'Daydream Nation' is better than 'It Takes A Nation Of Millions...?'), the idea of a definitive list is laughable. As anyone who has ever studied the reams of 'Greatest Albums Of All Time...Ever!'-style rundowns that regularly appear across the music media will know, lists change depending on what's in vogue. At best they act as a snapshot in time, serving only to give an insight into the opinions of readers/'experts'/the individual at a particular point. Fashions change, tastes change, people change...the world would be a much sorrier place if they didn't.

All of which leads me to my own 'Festive Fifty' of 2007. Looking back less than two months later, it's generally a fair reflection of what I enjoyed most last year. There are a few admissions that would have made the cut on another day...notably Earth's 'Hibernaculum', 'Six Litanies For Heliogabalus' by John Zorn, Field's 'Here We Go Sublime', maybe Explosions In The Sky, Dalek and Vialka. But come back to the list this time next year and it's highly unlikely that I would agree that those were my favourite albums released in 2007. There's simply so much I didn't get to hear; albums that evaded my radar or that I simply didn't get hold of in time. So while 2008 gets off to the traditional 'slow start', it's time to catch up with some of last year's missed gems...

There's been quite a buzz building around prolific Canadian drone/doom duo Nadja over the last few months, yet I somehow managed to miss their releases last year. My loss. The Guilted By The Sun EP is impressive enough, but the full-length album Touched is astounding. This is avant-metal at its very best. Opener 'Mutagen' creeps in and suddenly the whole world begins to slowly implode; seismic bass levelling entire cities, shearing white noise shattering the sky. 'Stays Demons' leaves contempories (Pelican, Isis, even Jesu) trailing in its wake, surfing along on a melodic wave of emotive, howling guitar drones and colossal, shuddering riffs, while the magnificent 'Flowers of Flesh' is a monolith of gothic portent. The beautiful and the grotesque, the spiritual and the diabolic, extremity and melody, terror and euphoria...Nadja have embraced these contradictions to craft an awe-inspiring album that could, and should, act as a signpost to metal's future. 'Touched' is right up there among the very best of 2007. The follow-up, Radiance of Shadows is rated even higher by some...I'll be investigating for sure.

Another act seemingly churning out albums over the last year are MV & EE, the musical persona of Matt Valentine and Erika Elder. But whereas Nadja inhabit avant-metal's netherworld, MV & EE are steeped in Americana. MV & EE With The Bummer Road's Green Blues is an acid-free-folk gem, evoking a rural America of cowboy boots and rattlesnakesm wide open spaces and dusty roads. Akin to Yerself Is Steam-period Mercury Rev (and, as fabulous as See You On The Other Side undoubtedly is, that's still my favourite era of theirs) relocated to the deserts of the deep south and dosed up on peyote by nomadic shamen. Green Blues is an hour-long trip of spiritual, hippie abandon, whether spiralling off into blissful psychedelic oblivion or drifting along in a bluesy haze of harmonica, flute and acoustic guitar. Self-indulgent? Quite possibly. But when it's as good as this, I say indulge away!

But when it comes to prolificacy, few come close to US underground experimentalist legends Sun City Girls, who have amassed in excess of 60 releases over the last 25 years. I must confess that the solo work of founder member Sir Richard Bishop had passed me by til now, but Polytheistic Fragments, his sixth solo album but first for the Drag City label, is a beauty. A perfect showcase of Bishop's multi-faceted, kaleidoscopic talents: fast finger-picked folk, raga drone, gentle dreamy acoustics, Django Reinhardt-inspired gypsy stylings, some considered avant-garde pieces, even a ten-minute piano meditation. Wonderful stuff. Next week's show with Earth is looking like this year's first 'must see' event...can't wait!

Talksy's Turntable w/e 27/01/08

2008-01-28T19:08:00.000Z

The Magnetic Fields - 'Distortion' (Nonesuch)
Amon Duul II - 'Yeti' (SPV)
James Blackshaw - 'The Cloud Of Unknowing' (Tompkins Square)
Toumani Diabate's Symmetric Orchestra - 'Boulevard De L'Independance' (World Circuit)
Woelv - 'tout seul dans la foret en plein jour, avez-vous peur?' (K)
Talking Heads - 'Stop Making Sense' (EMI)
Can - 'Monster Movie' (Spoon)
Can - 'Ege Bamyasi' (Spoon)
Ali Farka Toure - 'Niafunke' (World Circuit)
Harmonia - 'Live 1974' (Gronland)
John Zorn - 'Naked City' (Nonesuch)
Richard Youngs - 'Autumn Response' (Jagjaguwar)
The Dissolving Orchestra - 'The Dissolving Orchestra' (Dissolving Records)
LCD Soundsystem - 'Sound Of Silver' (dfa)

review: The Magnetic Fields - 'Distortion'

2008-01-28T17:14:00.000Z

The Magnetic Fields - 'Distortion' (Nonesuch)

The Magnetic Fields are one of those bands that inspire an almost frenzied devotion among followers, who hail songwriter Stephin Merritt as a lovelorn, lo-fi pop genius. Their revered magnum opus, the astonishing triple album '69 Love Songs', has developed a life of its own, spawning cult-like fanaticism and even its own 'unofficial companion piece' website and an illustrated book.

'Distortion' is The Magnetic Fields' eighth album and their first in nearly four years. And, true to form, while the familiar lyrical theme of bittersweet, wry tales of love and desire remains present and correct, it sees Merritt musically changing tack once again. As the title suggests, 'Distortion' is, well...distorted. Much has been made of Merritt's desire to out-Mary Chain the Mary Chain, citing 'Psychocandy' as a major influence. And sure enough, each track here is awash in a haze of reverb and feedback...yet 'Distortion' is undoubtedly a pop album. Couched in 1960s Phil Spector-esque pop classicism, the white noise providing the backdrop for melodies that are as sweet as ever, whether bubblegum power-pop or stately lugubrious balladeering.

Killer songs abound; the amusingly bitter tirade of 'California Girls', the swooning dream-pop of 'Till The Bitter End' or 'Courtesans', the Christmas carol feel of 'Mr Mistletoe', the singalong garage-pop rush of 'Too Drunk To Dream'. 'Distortion' is wonderfully acerbic, beautifully melancholy, dryly witty and above all fun. Whether it quite lives up to the Ronettes-meet-JAMC greatness that some are already bestowing upon it I remain to be convinced, but it's certainly got 2008 off to a cracking start.

Talksy's Turntable: w/e 20/01/08

2008-01-21T21:48:00.000Z

The Magnetic Fields - 'Distortion' (Nonesuch)
Various - '200' (Planet Mu)
Harmonia - 'Live 1974' (Gronland)
Woelv - 'tout seul dans la foret en plein jour, avez-vous peur?' (K)
James Blackshaw - 'Waking Into Sleep' (Kning Disk)
MV & EE with the Bummer Road - 'Green Blues' (Ecstatic Peace!)
David A Jaycock - 'The Improvised Killing of Uncle Faustus and Other Mythologies' (Early Winter Recordings)
Alice Coltrane - 'Journey In Satchidananda' (Impulse!)
Gong - 'Angel's Egg' (Virgin)
The Dissolving Orchestra - 'The Dissolving Orchestra' (Dissolving Records)
Fela Kuti - 'The Best Of The Black President' (Wrasse)
The Band - 'Music From The Big Pink' (Capitol)
Tom Waits - 'Swordfishtrombones' (Island)
Jeffrey Lewis - '12 Crass Songs' (Rough Trade)
Pharoah Sanders - 'Karma' (Impulse!)

revisit: Tom Waits, Robert Wyatt

2008-01-14T22:16:00.000Z

I know it's been a while but then January is not my favourite time of year. Festivities over, it's not long before any blank-page, new year optimism is supplanted by the lethargy and misery brought on by cold, dark days and seasonal ill-health, whether physical, mental or both. And what does music have to offer in terms of new releases to help coax me through these tough times? Very little it seems; no gigs of any consequence to entice me out from under my duvet, while new albums of interest rarely appear. So comfort is sought by heading back to the familiar, revisiting a couple of old favourites that may at busier times be overlooked in pursuit of the new.

I am by no means an authority on Tom Waits but 'Swordfishtrombones' is a definite favourite. I love the way that after building a substantial following and acquiring critical acclaim with no fewer than seven previous albums of barfly philosophy and lounge jazz balladry, Waits chose to reinvent himself, embracing the surreal and the avant-garde. 'Swordfishtrombones' is an astonishing, timeless album, drawing on delta blues, spacious jazz, cabaret and country, with echoes of Beefheart and Weill. It wheezes, rumbles and clanks through 15 songs in a little over 40 wonderful, unpredictable minutes, exhibiting a complete disregard for convention or compromise, Waits' deep gravelly vocal sounding even more like he's just chain-smoked several packs of Capstan Full Strength than ever. Affecting, colourful tales of misfits and outsiders, the forgotten and ignored, mixing deadbeat humour and tender pathos. Unhinged, twisted and quite brilliant.

With all the (totally justifiable) fuss about 'Comicopera' last year, I'd almost forgotten just how good Robert Wyatt's 1997 tour de force 'Shleep' is. As always with Wyatt, it is brimming over with imagination and ideas, accessible yet challenging, comforting yet questioning, rammed with classic Wyatt songwriting. The playful avant-jazz nursery rhyme 'Duchess' and the mesmerising, dream-like 'Maryan' are surely up there among his best, but the highlight for me has to be the mournful, philosophical balladeering of 'Free Will & Testament'; its plaintive final refrain of 'demented forces push me madly round a treadmill, let me off please, I am so tired' is heartbreaking.

As usual with Wyatt's albums, 'Shleep' is packaged in a gorgeous sleeve, illustrated by his wife Alfie, but the real treat is the photo of Robert himself in the CD tray...every time you remove the CD to play it, there's Bob smiling up at you like some kindly, wise uncle ready to impart joy and wisdom with every missive! I've said it before but it bears repeating: this man is a national treasure; cherish him.

In brief: Reflections on 2007

2007-12-31T17:24:00.000Z

Pros:
Battles fulfilling all the promise of 2006 to deliver the album of the year and some jaw-droppingly ass-kicking live performances....Sonic Youth performing 'Daydream Nation'....the return of the godlike genius that is Robert Wyatt....Green Man Festival....Cardiacs live....the enthusiasm and inspiration of Plan B magazine and falling back in love with The Wire....Gowns at The Old Operating Theatre in London Bridge....Rhianna's 'Umbrella'....the new Rough Trade East shop being virtually on my route home from work (see also Cons!)....Sunn O))) & Boris performing 'Altar'....the sheer volume of quality albums released, making my Festive 50 a nigh-on impossible task....

Cons:
Missing All Tomorrow's Parties (again)....the disorganised, shambolic rip-off that was Field Day Festival....Electrelane calling it a day....Arcade Fire's immensely disappointing 'Neon Bible'....Missing Boredoms at Shoreditch Town Hall....the media's treatment of Britney Spears and Amy Winehouse....the return of The Stooges....the continuing downward spiral in quality of British 'indie' rock....

Talksy's Festive Fifty

2007-12-24T13:51:00.000Z

My favourite 50 albums of 2007

50. Yeasayer - All Hour Cymbals (We Are Free)

49. Low - Drums And Guns (Rough Trade)

48. Eyvind Kang - Athlantis (Ipecac)

47. Herman Dune - Giant (Source)

46. Flower/Corsano Duo - The Radiant Mirror (Textile)

45. Jesu - Conqueror (Hydra Head)

44. Tomahawk - Anonymous (Ipecac)

43. Thurston Moore - Trees Outside The Academy (Ecstatic Peace!)

42. Meg Baird - Dear Companion (Wichita)

41. Boris with Michio Kurihara - Rainbow (Drag City)

40. Oxbow - The Narcotic Story (Hydra Head)

39. Pinch - Underwater Dancehall (Tectonic)

38. Beirut - The Flying Club Cup (4AD)

37. Holy Fuck - LP (Young Turks)

36. Les Savy Fav - Let's Stay Friends (French Kiss)

35. PJ Harvey - White Chalk (Island)

34. Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? (Polyvinyl)

33. Caribou - Andorra (City Slang)

32. Scout Niblett - This Fool Can Die Now (Too Pure)

31. Richard Youngs - Autumn Response (Jagjaguwar)

30. Six Organs Of Admittance - Shelter From The Ash (Drag City)

29. LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver (DFA)

28. Yacht - I Believe In You. Your Magic Is Real (ERR)

27. Deerhunter - Cryptograms (Kranky)

26. El-P - I'll Sleep When You're Dead (Definitive Jux)

25. Dan Deacon - Spiderman Of The Rings (Carpark)

24. Chrome Hoof - Pre-Emptive False Rapture (Southern)

23. James Blackshaw - The Cloud Of Unknowing (Tompkins Square)

22. Liars - Liars (Mute)

21. Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala (Secretly Canadian)

20. Melt-Banana - Bambi's Dilemma (A-Zap)

19. Phosphorescent - Pride (Dead Oceans)

18. Prinzhorn Dance School - Prinzhorn Dance School (DFA)

17. Magik Markers - Boss (Ecstatic Peace!)

16. M.I.A. - Kala (XL)

15. No Age - Weirdo Rippers (Fat Cat)

14. Deerhoof - Friend Opportunity (ATP)

13. Marnie Stern - In Advance Of The Broken Arm (Kill Rock Stars)

12. Electrelane - No Shouts No Calls (Too Pure)

11. Jeffrey Lewis - 12 Crass Songs (Rough Trade)

10. Von Sudenfed - Tromatic Reflexxions (Domino)

9. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam (Domino)

8. Om - Pilgrimage (Southern Lord)

7. The Fiery Furnaces - Widow City (Thrill Jockey)

6. Dirty Projectors - Rise Above (Rough Trade)

5. Robert Wyatt - Comicopera (Domino)

4. Burial - Untrue (Hyperdub)

3. Gowns - Red State (Upset The Rhythm)

2. Panda Bear - Person Pitch (Paw Tracks)

1. Battles - Mirrored (Warp)

Talksy's Turntable - w/e 16/12/07

2007-12-17T21:08:00.000Z

The Fiery Furnaces - 'Widow City' (Thrill Jockey)
Gowns - 'Red State' (Upset The Rhythm)
The Monsoon Bassoon - 'I Dig Your Voodoo' (Weird Neighbourhood)
Battles - 'Mirrored' (Warp)
Dan Deacon - 'Spiderman Of The Rings' (Carpark)
Von Sudenfed - 'Tromatic Reflexxions' (Domino)
Jesu - 'Conqueror' (Hydra Head)
Burial - 'Untrue' (Hyperdub)
Can - 'Ege Bamyasi' (Spoon)
Tomahawk - 'Anonymous' (Ipecac)
Om - 'Pilgrimage' (Southern Lord)
Melvins - 'Stag' (Atlantic)
Prinzhorn Dance School - 'Prinzhorn Dance School' (DFA)
Young Marble Giants - 'Live At The Hurrah' (Cherry Red)
Richard Youngs - 'Autumn Response' (Jagjaguwar)
Wu Tang Clan - 'Enter The Wu Tang (36 Chambers)' (RCA)

review: Gowns live

2007-12-16T14:19:00.000Z

Gowns

The Old Operating Theatre, London

Gowns' first two UK shows last week, at Gramaphone and Barden's Boudoir, were a delight. I'd been a little doubtful whether they'd live up to the brilliance of their album, but within minutes those worries evaporated. Spoken-word confessionals over atmospheric violin, bass drone and bowed cymbals; gorgeous melodies wrapped up in a haze of distortion and spooked electronics, startlingly inventive avant drumming. There's a louder, more 'rock' feel to proceedings, but it's still totally immersive, haunting, heartfelt.

Tonight Gowns are back in London from a whirlwind mini-UK tour at possibly the strangest venue I've ever been to: Britain's only surviving 19th Century operating theatre, now a museum. On arrival, it's up a scarily narrow and winding wooden staircase to the museum itself, which is astonishing...loads of old medical instruments, including a frightening 'cervix dilator' that looks like some attachment for an industrial-sized food processor, and an 'infant decapitator' which was apparently used to smash the baby's skull and remove its head if the life of the mother was in danger during labour!! Plus lungs, brains, tapeworms etc in jars, treatments for venereal diseases involving worms and slugs (!), and amputation instruments from the days before anaesthetic.

Through a door for the gig in the old operating theatre itself, the 'stage' down on the floor with banks of wooden steps holding around 50 people in a semi-circle, like an ancient lecture theatre. The surroundings create a slightly uncomfortable, hushed atmosphere; you could've heard a pin drop as Gowns emerge. It's a very different set from last week; Gowns' 'quiet set' apparently due to concerns that the walls may cave in if the volume is too high! The result is an intensely intimate and affecting experience. The electronics and keyboards are sacrificed, Ezra plays a lot more violin, Erika's guitar playing is reigned in and the drumming is more restrained, though no less inventive and experimental. There's an almost 'unplugged' vibe, but it really works; the eerie, spectral drones and haunting, ardent vocals perfectly suiting the location.

A very special night.

Talksy's Turntable - w/e 9/12/07

2007-12-11T22:47:00.000Z

The Fiery Furnaces - 'Widow City' (Thrill Jockey)
Gowns - 'Red State' (Upset The Rhythm)
Dan Deacon - 'Spiderman Of The Rings' (Carpark)
Prinzhorn Dance School - 'Prinzhorn Dance School' (DFA)
Health - 'Health' (Lovepump United)
Yacht - 'I Believe In You. Your Magic Is Real' (ERR)
Mum - 'Go Go Smear The Poison Ivy' (Fat Cat)
Lavender Diamond - 'Imagine Our Love' (Rough Trade)
Magik Markers - 'Boss' (Ecstatic Peace)
Oxbow - 'The Narcotic Story' (Hydra Head)
No Age - 'Weirdo Rippers' (Fat Cat)
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - 'In Glorious Times' (JFK)
Of Montreal - 'Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?' (Polyvinyl)
Alela Diane - 'The Pirate's Gospel' (Names)
Infinite Livez - 'Art Brut Fe De Yoot' (Big Dada)

review: Gowns - 'Red State'

2007-12-09T22:05:00.000Z

Gowns - 'Red State' (Upset The Rhythm)

Gowns floor me. In a year where there's been no shortage of great debut albums (Battles, Marnie Stern, No Age, Prinzhorn Dance School, Dan Deacon to name but a few), 'Red State', now finally given an official UK release courtesy of those wonderful people at Upset The Rhythm, is right up there among the best of them. An incredibly intense, claustrophobic, yet poignant and beautiful record, 'Red State' is a mesmerising amalgam of deeply atmospheric, apocalyptic psychedelia, fractured folk and haunting, scrambled electronics and static. Hushed intimate confessionals, almost mantra-like intonations, dispossessed narratives about the minutae of smalltown America. Eerie, shimmering drones intercut with spectral keyboards, scratchy violin and dislocated guitar. It's hypnotically brilliant, unsettlingly spooked and edgy, and spine-tinglingly affecting.

Gowns floor me. Looks like we got ourselves another contender for Album of the Year.

Talksy's Turntable - w/e 2/12/07

2007-12-03T23:33:00.000Z

Gowns - 'Red State' (Upset The Rhythm)
Prinzhorn Dance School - 'Prinzhorn Dance School' (DFA)
Sigur Ros - 'Hvarf/Heim' (EMI)
Dirty Projectors - 'Rise Above' (Rough Trade)
Burial - 'Untrue' (Hyperdub)
Six Organs Of Admittance - 'Shelter From The Ash' (Drag City)
Richard Youngs - 'Autumn Response' (Jagjaguwar)
Yacht - 'I Believe In You. Your Magic Is Real' (ERR)
Nina Nastasia & Jim White - 'You Follow Me' (Fat Cat)
Om - 'Pilgrimage' (Southern Lord)
Animal Collective - 'Strawberry Jam' (Domino)
This Heat - 'This Heat' (This Is)
CSS - 'Cansei De Ser Sexy' (Sub Pop)
LCD Soundsystem - 'Sound Of Silver' (DFA)

review: Prinzhorn Dance School - 'Prinzhorn Dance School'

2007-11-30T20:15:00.000Z

Prinzhorn Dance School - 'Prinzhorn Dance School' (DFA)

Latest signings to James Murphy's DFA label (and the first from outside the US), South Coast duo Prinzhorn Dance School seem to be polarising opinion in an almost Cardiacs-ian manner. Contrived, self-indulgent, art-school pranksters or visionary, off-kilter art-punksters? On first listen I wasn't sure, but the more I hear this debut album the more I lean towards the latter.

For sure, Prinzhorn have arrived from way out leftfield. Everything about them screams monochrome; the artwork, their attire, the music itself. Very much from the '78-'81 post-punk school, this is a gem of uncompromising, minimalist, austere restraint. Sparse instrumentation - taut drums, lolloping bass, stabs of atonal guitar - topped by part-spoken, part-yelped male/female vocals. Bleak tales of the anxiety, the dissatisfaction, the mediocity and mundanity of contemporary urban life, but with a human heart; not unlike the musical equivalent of a Ken Loach film. Think early Fall, Young Marble Giants, ESG. Think mesmerising, repetitive, stark no-fi minimalism. Think lyrically astute songs about leisure centres, urban decay and mental illness. Think this album sounds like the business. Coz it is.

Talksy's Turntable - w/e 25/11/07

2007-11-26T22:21:00.000Z

Gowns - 'Red State' (Upset The Rhythm)
Burial - 'Untrue' (Hyperdub)
Richard Youngs - 'Autumn Response' (Jagjaguwar)
Cardiacs - 'On Land And In The Sea' (Alphabet Business Concern)
Jeffrey Lewis - '12 Crass Songs' (Rough Trade)
Yacht - 'I Believe In You, Your Magic Is Real' (Err)
Steve Reich - 'Triple Quartet' (Nonesuch)
Battles - 'Mirrored' (Warp)
Low - 'Drums And Guns' (Sub Pop)
Panda Bear - 'Person Pitch' (Paw Tracks)
The Moldy Peaches - 'The Moldy Peaches' (Rough Trade)
Vialka - 'Plus Vite Que La Musique' (Vialka)
Dirty Projectors - 'Rise Above' (Rough Trade)
Pinch - 'Underwater Dancehall' (Tectonic)
Eyvind Kang - 'Athlantis' (Ipecac)
Stereolab - 'Mars Audiac Quintet' (Duophonic)

Talksy's Turntable - w/e 18/11/07

2007-11-19T22:26:00.000Z

Cardiacs - 'A Little Man And A House And The Whole World Window' (Alphabet Business Concern)
Burial - 'Untrue' (Hyperdub)
Jeffrey Lewis - '12 Crass Songs' (Rough Trade)
Caribou - 'Andorra' (City Slang)
John Zorn - 'Six Litanies Of Heliogabalus' (Tzadik)
Cardiacs - 'Songs For Ships And Irons' (Alphabet Business Concern)
Cardiacs - 'The Seaside' (Alphabet Business Concern)
Wooden Shjips - 'Wooden Shjips' (Holy Mountain)
Pinch - 'Underwater Dancehall' (Tectonic)
Sigur Ros - 'Hvarf/Heim' (EMI)
Murcof - 'Cosmos' (Leaf)
Black Dice - 'Broken Ear Record' (dfa)
Michael Nyman - 'Wonderland' (Virgin)
Michael Nyman - 'A Zed And Two Noughts' (Venture)
The Pentangle - 'Solomon's Seal' (Sanctuary)
Eugene McGuinness - 'The Early Learnings Of...' (Double Six)
Bishi - 'Nights At The Circus' (Gryphon)

review: Wooden Shjips - 'Wooden Shjips'

2007-11-19T21:56:00.000Z

Wooden Shjips - 'Wooden Shjips' (Holy Mountain)

There was a time, back at the arse-end of the 80s, when I would spend many an evening in joss stick scented rooms, smoking badly rolled joints, drinking Thunderbird, listening to Loop and Spacemen 3. Judging by their self-titled debut, this is far from an alien experience for Wooden Shjips. This album is so stoned you half expect it to collapse in a fit of giggles halfway through and bugger off to the 24 hour garage for some M&Ms. That said, it's pretty good stuff. Tripped out repetitive riffs, droning organ, faraway vocals drifting through the ether, some searing freakout soloing. Tracks called 'Shine Like Suns' and 'Lucy's Ride'. You get the picture. Now pass that bong, man...

review: Cardiacs live

2007-11-18T19:38:00.000Z

Cardiacs

London Astoria

Ten reasons why, for around 100 minutes tonight at least, Cardiacs are the greatest band in the world:

1. Their barefaced tenacity and belief, having spent the last 30 years steadfastly sticking to their guns, at best ignored, at worst derided by the music industry, whilst continually producing some of the most innovative, awe-inspiring, downright enjoyable music I've ever heard. The exuberant, life-affirming swathes of sound. The bewilderingly complexed structures. The infectious, contrapuntal majesty. The kaleidoscopic multi-tracked symphonics. The fact that, even now in 2007, Cardiacs can still sound so fresh, so transcendental, so vital.

2. Cardiacs live is an EVENT. The jubilant, celebratory atmosphere; the sense of occasion and spectacle. The camaraderie and utter devotion they inspire. The familiar faces and old friends in the crowd.

3. The set tonight is damn near perfect. The opening salvo of 'Big Ship', 'Tarred And Feathered' and 'Fiery Gun Hand' is awesome, unsurpassable. The pomp and grandeur of 'The Icing On The World' is marvellous; 'To Go Off And Things' tears the place apart; there's the sublime psychedelic pop rush of 'Day Is Gone'; the elated splendour of 'Buds And Spawn'. OK, so there's no 'Is This The Life?' or 'The Duck And Roger The Horse' but it's all so consummately phenomenal that I barely even notice.

4. The tunes, man, the tunes. So much is made of Cardiacs' complexity, their supposedly impenetrable density, BUT the tunes kill. Seriously.

5. The instrumental section at the end of 'The Breakfast Line' that sets off thousands of tiny fireworks careering around my stomach and makes my heart swell until it feels fit to burst right out of my chest.

6. The way the two red-dressed female backing vocalists somehow manage to spend much of the gig perched on high stools like statues, seemingly oblivious to the wonder unfolding around them.

7. 'R.E.S.' 'That's the way we all go...'

8. The feeling that Cardiacs themselves are enjoying it all just as much as the crowd are. New(est) boy Kavus beaming away like he still can't believe his luck at being a part of this; the re-invigorating effect his enthusiasm seems to have had on Tim in particular. The fact that everyone in the place knows they are part of something very special.

9. The closing, spine-tingling, multi-layered epic 'Dirty Boy', especially the incredible, lung-busting finale. And then the encore: cracking new single 'Ditzy Scene' and the perfect ending, a mind-alteringly magnificent rendition of 'The Ever So Closely Guarded Line'.

10. The realisation of just how much Cardiacs have helped shape my life since I first heard 'Is This The Life?' nearly twenty years ago. The lifelong friends that I've met, the music I've been introduced to; my life would have been very different and much the poorer without them. Thank you Cardiacs! And long may you continue...

Talksy's Turntable - w/e 11/11/07

2007-11-12T17:42:00.000Z

A cracking week for new releases, with Burial's sophomore effort every bit as awe-inspiring as hoped and Pinch's debut proving there's plenty of life elsewhere in dubstep too. And, as someone who loves both Jeffrey Lewis and Crass, Lewis's '12 Crass Songs' is a delight. All three are already threatening to make serious inroads into the upper reaches of this year's 'best' list.

Elsewhere, a special mention for Electrelane, who this week announced that they will go on an 'indefinite hiatus' after completing their current winter tour. A real shame; their latest album 'No Shouts No Calls' is arguably their most accomplished, a wonderful set of infectious, kosmische-tinged art-rock, and their live shows earlier this year at The Scala and the generally disappointing Field Day festival were both exceptionally entertaining. Try to catch them for one last time if you can.

This week's list:

Burial - 'Untrue' (Hyperdub)

Jeffrey Lewis - '12 Crass Songs' (Rough Trade)

Yeasayer - 'All Hour Cymbals' (We Are Free)

Holy Fuck - 'LP' (Young Turks)

Pinch - 'Underwater Dancehall' (Tectonic)

Electrelane - 'No Shouts No Calls' (Too Pure)

Charalambides - 'Likeness' (Kranky)

Neil Young - 'Zuma' (Reprise)

Slapp Happy/Henry Cow - 'Desperate Straights' (Virgin)

Deerhunter - 'Cryptograms' (Kranky)

Liars - 'Liars' (Mute)

Gram Parsons - 'Grievous Angel' (Reprise)

Patrick Watson - 'Close To Paradise' (Secret City)

Scout Niblett - 'This Fool Can Die Now' (Too Pure)

Kit - 'Broken Voyage' (UTR)

review: Charalambides - 'Likeness'

2007-11-11T16:25:00.000Z

Charalambides - 'Likeness' (Kranky)

For nigh on 16 years now Tom and Christina Carter have been collaborating as Charalambides, carving their own niche in the netherworld of psychedelic free-folk on eight official album releases and countless self-released CDRs. 'Likeness' is exactly the sort of slow-burning, exploratory acid-folk you'd expect...Christina's singular, bewitching vocals floating across Tom's otherworldly, spectral guitar soundscapes. The twist comes lyrically; the majority of tracks here feature words from the traditional and public domain American songbook, re-worked and incorporated into Charalambides' dark, hypnotic ambience to create a set of mysterious, warped protest songs. 'Likeness' may not be as astonishingly captivating as 2004's 'Joy Shapes' or as inviting as its predecessor 'A Vintage Burden', but it is nonetheless a worthy addition to Charalambides' impressive legacy.

review: Holy Fuck - 'LP'

2007-11-11T16:04:00.000Z

Holy Fuck - 'LP' (Young Turks)

Not many bands would kick off their first official UK release with a live track but then, as their moniker suggests, Holy Fuck are a contrary bunch. On a mission to mimic modern electronic music without recourse to laptop technology or programmed backing tracks, these Toronto experimentalists employ multiple pedal effects, mixers, old school keyboards and battered toy instruments alongside their bass and drum set. And the result is really rather good. Sure it ain't subtle, but whether it's the pulsing krautrock vibe of aforementioned opener 'Super Inuit', the gorgeously infectious, euphoric psych gem 'Lovely Allen', 'Royal Gregory's high energy techno funk workout or the industrial rumble of 'Echo Sam', Holy Fuck deliver relentlessly propulsive, dynamic, raw dance grooves which batter you into submission and drag you out onto the dancefloor.

review: Yeasayer - 'All Hour Cymbals'

2007-11-09T17:56:00.000Z

Yeasayer - 'All Hour Cymbals' (We Are Free)

Have you ever downloaded a CD to your computer and had the genre come up as 'unclassifiable'? Well, that description pretty much sums up Brookyn quartet Yeasayer. On first listen, 'All Hour Cymbals' is a bewildering album; even after repeated exposure I'm still not sure where it fits in. But what the hell, it's a beauty! African rhythms, 60s psychedelia, 70s rock, multi-part harmonies and chants, swooping Arabic melodies, a bit of folk and some of those early 80s 'world' music experiments (Byrne, Gabriel etc) are all chewed up and spat back out in a gloriously out-of-time, surprisingly coherent polyrhythmic potpourri. Nearest contempories are possibly Animal Collective or Grizzly Bear, but Yeasayer really sound like no one else around in 2007. Another victory for idiosyncracy and sheer bloody-mindedness over trend-chasing hipsterdom. And amen to that.

Talksy's Turntable - w/e 4/11/07

2007-11-05T23:27:00.000Z

Holy Fuck - LP (Young Turks)
Charalambides - Likeness (Kranky)
Thurston Moore - Trees Outside The Academy (Ecstatic Peace)
Trans Am - Sex Change (Thrill Jockey)
Yeasayer - All Hour Cymbals (We Are Free)
Studio - West Coast (Information)
Les Savy Fav - Let's Stay Friends (French Kiss)
Harold Budd - Lovely Thunder (EG)
Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam (Domino)
Liars - They Were Wrong So We Drowned (Mute)
Joanna Newsom - ...& The Ys Street Band EP (Drag City)
Eyvind Kang - Athlantis (Ipecac)

Talksy's Turntable - w/e 28/10/07

2007-10-30T11:53:00.000Z

Scout Niblett - This Fool Can Die Now (Too Pure)
Boredoms - Super Ar (Birdman)
El-P - I'll Sleep When You're Dead (Definitive Jux)
Dirty Projectors - Rise Above (Rough Trade)
Boris - Akuma No Uta (Southern Lord)
Liars - Liars (Mute)
Neil Young - On The Beach (Reprise)
Deerhoof - Friend Opportunity (ATP)
Marnie Stern - In Advance Of The Broken Arm (Kill Rock Stars)
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Chronicle (Fantasy)
Blonde Redhead - 23 (4AD)
Help She Can't Swim - The Death of Nightlife (Fantastic Plastic)

review - Magik Markers : Boss

2007-10-23T14:49:00.000+01:00

Magik Markers - 'Boss' (Ecstatic Peace)

Magik Markers have built their reputation on searing, improvised noise mangling so it's not surprising that 'Boss' is being seen as quite a departure. There are actual songs throughout, even a piano-driven ballad for Christ's sake! But ignore any naysayers screaming 'sell out' because 'Boss' is a fantastic record.

Yes, Magik Markers have written an album of fully realised songs but 'Boss' is still uneasy listening. This is a progression from previous releases not a volte-face. The avant-garde brutality and feral visceral power are still present, but this time around Magik Markers have harnessed this to structure to great effect, creating their most diverse and accessible recording to date. Excellent opener 'Axis Mundi' sets the tone, its squalls of screeching feedback soon subsiding into a darkly trippy chug over more muted guitar noisescapes. 'Body Rot' is a punked-up fiery adrenaline rush, while 'Last of the Lemach Line' is nine glorious minutes of increasingly fevered intonations over lugubrious, hypnotic thrum and drone. Much of 'Boss' is infused with a sense of claustrophobia and discomforting dread that most readily calls to mind Sonic Youth's 'Bad Moon Rising'...perhaps not surprising considering that it was produced by Lee Ranaldo and is released on Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace label. But the diversity of this album shines through...take the aforementioned piano ballad 'Empty Bottles', a moment of heartbroken beauty worthy of Chan Marshall, and the gorgeous 'Bad Dream/Hartford's Beat Suite', reminiscent of Flying Saucer Attack's gentle droning soundscapes. And then there's the streamlined, brooding psych-pop of 'Taste', arguably the most accessible Magik Markers have ever been.

So 'Boss' is an album that confounds expectations, and is all the better for that. Magik Markers are treading new ground without losing sight of where they've come from. And that's a journey well worth taking with them.

review: Dirty Projectors live

2007-10-22T15:19:00.001+01:00

Dirty Projectors

Bardens Boudoir, London

Cold, flu, bug, whatever; I'd been laid low for the best part of a week. But this was Dirty Projectors, and having contrived to miss them when they opened for Beirut back in June I was damn sure it wasn't going to happen again. You see, I'd read about their new album 'Rise Above', supposedly a re-imagination of Black Flag's 'Damaged' created purely from memory, and I was intrigued. Then I heard a couple of tracks and I was entranced. Dirty Projectors could just be the most innovative, original band I've heard in a long time.

Man, this is something else. Dirty Projectors are amazing. Transcendental. The way the most beautiful picked guitar patterns weave into my brain before exploding in showers of glorious technicolour. The way they can transport me from this dark North London basement to some balmy psychedelic wonderland within the space of the very first song. The way Dave Longstreth's soul-drenched vocals croon and yelp acrobatically, intertwining with the celestial harmonies of the wonderfully-named Amber and Angel. The sheer glorious unpredictability of it all. Reference points: Talking Heads, Prince, afrobeat, Fred Frith, Beefheart, Brian Wilson maybe. And yet not like any of them. In truth, not really like anything I've ever heard. Utterly magical.

And a helluva lot more effective than Lemsip.

Talksy's Turntable - w/e 21/10/07

2007-10-22T13:08:00.000+01:00

I finally got round to picking up the latest album from Californian experimental hardcore trio xbxrx this week and very enjoyable it is too. 12 tracks of relentless, off-kilter, no wave noise punk in a little over 27 minutes.

On a more relaxing note, the debut album from Icelandic seven-piece ensemble Seabear is also rather good. Affable, dreamy, country-tinged folk pop that brings to mind Sufjan Stevens or Belle & Sebastian in places, full of gentle strings, banjo, lilting piano and soothing brass.

With anticipation mounting for the forthcoming second album from dubstep pioneer Burial next month, his wonderful self-titled debut of last year also got plenty of play this week. Its tense crackling atmospherics, dense muffled dub and crisp syncopated rhythms having staked out a possible signpost to dubstep's future, I can't wait to find out where Burial ventures to next.

Having been blown away by the Dirty Projectors show at Bardens, I was also inspired to return to Fred Frith's seminal masterpiece 'Gravity', only to find that I've somehow misplaced my vinyl copy. Fortunately though, tragedy was averted when I uncovered a battered old C90 copy of it in a box under the stairs! And what an absolute gem it is! A joyous avant-garde assimilation of world folk and dance music, beautiful melodies married with innovative complex rhythmic structures; nearly 30 years after its release, 'Gravity' remains an astounding, ground-breaking album. Anyone fancy buying me the CD?

This week's list:

Dirty Projectors - Rise Above (Rough Trade)
Magik Markers - Boss (Ecstatic Peace)
Scout Niblett - This Fool Can Die Now (Too Pure)
Cardiacs - Ditzy Scene (Org single)
Fred Frith - Gravity (Ralph)
Beirut - The Flying Club Cup (4AD)
Burial - Burial (Hyperdub)
Various - Universal Sounds Of America (Soul Jazz)
Robert Wyatt - Comicopera (Domino)
Seabear - The Ghost That Carried Us Away (Moor Music)
xbxrx - Wars (Polyvinyl)
Miles Davis - Bitches Brew (Columbia)
Animal Collective - Spirit They've Gone, Spirit They've Vanished (Fat Cat)

Top Tens - Warp Records

2007-10-20T12:31:00.000+01:00

Ten stone cold classic albums from the Warp archive

(in chronological order)

LFO - 'Frequencies'
The Black Dog - 'Spanners'
Seefeel - 'Succour'
Nightmares On Wax - 'Smokers Delight'
Autechre - 'Tri Repetae'
Aphex Twin - 'Richard D. James'
Boards Of Canada - 'Music Has The Right To Children'
Squarepusher - 'Music Is Rotted One Note'
Broadcast - 'The Noise Made By People'
Battles - 'Mirrored'

Top Tens - 10 Great Rock Books

2007-10-19T23:41:00.000+01:00

'England's Dreaming' by Jon Savage
'Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung' by Lester Bangs
'Nirvana - The True Story' by Everett True
'Shakey - Neil Young's Biography' by Jimmy McDonough
'Rip It Up And Start Again - postpunk 1978-84' by Simon Reynolds
'The Real Frank Zappa Book' by Frank Zappa
'Head On/Repossessed' by Julian Cope
'Touching From A Distance' by Deborah Curtis
'Upright - The Story Of The Velvet Underground' by Victor Bockris & Gerard Malanga
'Kiss and Make Up' by Gene Simmons

review: Beirut - 'The Flying Club Cup'

2007-10-19T20:20:00.000+01:00

Beirut - 'The Flying Club Cup' (4AD)

Beirut's debut 'Gulag Orkestar' was one of my favourite albums of last year. It's a remarkable record, all the more so when you consider that Zach Condon was still a teenager when he constructed it in his bedroom in New Mexico. Condon's prodigious ability to marry Balkan-flavoured brass, accordian and ukelele with sumptuous American indie-pop melodies led to purist debates around authenticity, but when music is this achingly beautiful and enjoyable does that really matter?

Essentially 'The Flying Club Cup' is more of the same. Having firmly established an identity last time out, Condon sticks pretty firmly to the blueprint; despite the French theme to many songs on this record and the fact that Condon has now assembled a seven-strong group around him, there are no great surprises or stylistic departures here. But then there don't need to be. The swooping layered vocal melodies are exquisite, the instrumentation gorgeously lush and exotic, the tunes warm and enchanting. Familiarity with the Beirut sound may make this album less immediately staggering than its predecessor, but that doesn't detract from its wistful charm. Whilst unlikely to convert any of the doubters, 'The Flying Club Cup' should keep Beirut's growing legion of admirers very happy.

review: White Mice/Parts & Labor/DJ Scotch Egg live

2007-10-15T22:35:00.000+01:00

White Mice/Parts & Labor/DJ Scotch Egg

Barden's Boudoir, London

Ah, the evils of the demon drink! DJ Scotch Egg begins his set in lively, entertaining form, adopting the playful persona that made this year's 'Scotch Hausen' CD such riotous fun. He's bouncing around, throwing shapes, unleashing Game Boy jingles and gabba rhythms, screaming distorted gibberish. All very enjoyable so far. But, as the man himself admits, he may have had one beer too many, and about 15 minutes in the mood starts to sour somewhat. Scotch Egg becomes increasingly irritated by the 'distorted' sound, complaining at length between tracks and berating the soundman. The earlier party atmosphere wanes and Scotch Egg begins to lose the crowd. Time for a cigarette break...

Back for Parts & Labor, who have built quite a reputation for combining the abrasive with the melodic, their uptempo noise punk tunes drawing comparisons to the likes of Husker Du and Minutemen. But the jury's still out for me. New album 'Mapmaker' is enjoyable enough but the vocals have a tendency to grate a bit and their attempts to add more texture and space to their sound this time round all too often seem to reduce their edge and intensity. Live in such an intimate venue, I expected passion, potency, more of an onslaught but tonight Parts & Labor's presence on stage brings little extra to the party. Yeah, it's OK, and there are moments when they do sparkle, but rather like listening to 'Mapmaker', I'm left largely nonplussed.

White Mice, on the other hand, are right at home in this setting. The Rhode Island trio take to the stage dressed as laboratory mice and proceed to level the place with exactly the kind of extreme sonic barrage you'd expect from a group with a couple of Load albums and support slots with Lightning Bolt and Drop Dead behind them. Bone-rattling bottom end, relentless speed drumming, squealing digital oscillation and guttural screaming...ears are bleeding, faces melting, paint peeling from the walls. Apparently this was White Mice's first ever UK show. Judging by the rapturous reception and the merchandise flying off their stall at the close, a lot of us would like to see them back again soon.

Talksy's Turntable - w/e 14/10/07

2007-10-15T12:37:00.000+01:00

Robert Wyatt - 'Comicopera' (Domino)
Magik Markers - 'Boss' (Ecstatic Peace)
Eyvind Kang - 'Athlantis' (Ipecac)
Om - 'Pilgrimage' (Southern Lord)
Chrome Hoof - 'Pre-Emptive False Rapture' (Southern)
Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam (Domino)
Howlin' Wolf - Anthology (Spectrum)
Oxbow - The Narcotic Story (Hydra Head)
Flower Corsano Duo - The Radiant Mirror (Textile)
No Age - Weirdo Rippers (Fat Cat)
Arvo Part - Tabula Rasa (ECM)
Beirut - The Flying Club Cup (4AD)
Fennesz/Sakamoto - Cendre (Touch)
Meg Baird - Dear Companion (Wichita)
Various - The Sound Of Swn (Plan B)

review: Om - 'Pilgrimage'

2007-10-15T12:07:00.000+01:00

Om - 'Pilgrimage' (Southern Lord)

A worthy successor to last year's awesome 'Conference Of The Birds' by the ex-Sleep rhythm section Al Cisneros and Chris Hakius, 'Pilgrimage' deviates little from the Om blueprint set down by their previous recordings, but that's no bad thing. Not when Om are driven by such pure singularity of vision, when they've already so succesfully carved out their own niche. Grounded in drone and hypnotic, doom-laden stoner rock, Om stand apart by virtue of their understanding of the power of restraint, dynamics and melody, combined with the texture they manage to weave from just bass, drums and Cisneros' detached, dream-like vocals. Whether fashioning trance-inducing patterns of shamanic psychedelia or plunging headlong into earth-quaking riffage, 'Pilgrimage' is the sound of two mastercraftsmen totally in control of their art.

review: Robert Wyatt - 'Comicopera'

2007-10-15T11:52:00.000+01:00

Robert Wyatt - 'Comicopera' (Domino)

I love Robert Wyatt.

I love how his music is so intricate and eclectic and 'outsider' yet still so open and accessible. How his records ask questions of the listener without ever demanding anything of them. I love the way he balances a surreal, dream-like quality with a grounding in the realities of human existence. I love his politics, his outlook on life, his honesty, his self-effacing humility. How his music can be both heart-warmingly beautiful and yet heart-breakingly plaintive. I love his evident enthusiasm for the process of making music, his playfulness, his willingness to experiment.

'Comicopera' has all this in spades. So overflowing with ideas, in other hands this could have turned into a ramshackle, unfocused mess; in Wyatt's it becomes a wondrous, life-affirming masterpiece. Divided into three 'acts', 'Comicopera' flows from deeply moving musings on personal relationships and ageing ('Just As You Are', 'A.W.O.L.') through keen-eyed critiques of modern society ('A Beautiful Peace') and subtle, emotional anti-war polemics ('A Beautiful War', 'Out Of The Blue') before fleeing into escapism via Spanish, Italian and spacious free-jazz. The result is astonishing, sometimes abstruse, yet always coherent and compelling. In fact, 'Comicopera' may just be Wyatt's best album since 1974's seminal 'Rock Bottom'. A heartfelt, emotionally honest record; a record you can believe in; a record you can truly love. Robert Wyatt remains a national treasure. Clasp him to your heart.