The Bees – Free The Bees
The Bees started out as a duo recording songs in a homemade studio in a shed on the Isle Of Wight. This is how their 2001 debut Sunshine Hit Me emerged but for this, the follow up they morphed into a full band and recorded at Abbey Road in the same
studio as The Beatles. The choice of studio was probably deliberate as the spirit of the 1960s pervades the entire album. Chicken Payback sounds like something that Rufus Thomas would have recorded if early Pink Floyd had ever coaxed him into a studio. Opener These Are The Ghosts is a highlight; beginning with Beach Boys like harmony singing and then bursting into life with some psychedelic drums and guitar. The Bees might sound like a sort of 1960s cover band but they have a sound all of their own and they use their influences to create a strongly original album. From start to finish this album chugs along like the soundtrack to the best 1960s party film ever. Only the wistfully I Love You gives some respite as it soothes with its harmonised chorus and nice little horn section. It’s also probably the only song with decent lyrics but to be honest the lack of those on the rest of the songs doesn’t really detract from how enjoyable and fun this album is. One Glass Of Water highlights this brilliantly, nonsensical lyrics but utterly infectious…10/10
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Beth Orton – Comfort Of Strangers
Beth Orton has been around for nearly twenty years and has produced a couple of brilliant albums in that time but is still perhaps best known for her contributions to the first two Chemical Brothers albums. Her solo work has probably been unfairly overlooked; maybe because female singer songwriters don’t get as much credit as their male counterparts or maybe because she’s never produced a great album from start to finish. Her first two albums Trailer Park and Central Reservation have some brilliant moments but also a little bit of electronic noodling that sounds dated now. Her third album Daybreaker tried to embrace a contemporary American alt-country sound but just ended up dull and forgettable. This, her fourth album strips things back to basics and features fourteen simple songs with mostly just bass, drums, guitar and piano as backing. The simplicity highlights her nice melodies and heartfelt lyrics and goes someway to banishing the over produced ghost of Daybreaker. Opening track Worms comes across like a tight Fiona Apple number with its simple piano, bass and drums and a slight jazz feel. Other highlights include the poignant Shadow Of A Doubt and the contradictory Shopping Trolley both euphoric and world-weary. While her first two albums are probably better this is more consistent and a good place to start…8/10
Beth Orton has been around for nearly twenty years and has produced a couple of brilliant albums in that time but is still perhaps best known for her contributions to the first two Chemical Brothers albums. Her solo work has probably been unfairly overlooked; maybe because female singer songwriters don’t get as much credit as their male counterparts or maybe because she’s never produced a great album from start to finish. Her first two albums Trailer Park and Central Reservation have some brilliant moments but also a little bit of electronic noodling that sounds dated now. Her third album Daybreaker tried to embrace a contemporary American alt-country sound but just ended up dull and forgettable. This, her fourth album strips things back to basics and features fourteen simple songs with mostly just bass, drums, guitar and piano as backing. The simplicity highlights her nice melodies and heartfelt lyrics and goes someway to banishing the over produced ghost of Daybreaker. Opening track Worms comes across like a tight Fiona Apple number with its simple piano, bass and drums and a slight jazz feel. Other highlights include the poignant Shadow Of A Doubt and the contradictory Shopping Trolley both euphoric and world-weary. While her first two albums are probably better this is more consistent and a good place to start…8/10
The Tallest Man On Earth – Shallow Grave
I went to see this guy in concert a couple of weeks ago and was well impressed. For just one man with a guitar (and piano on occasion) he managed to hold the attention and keep the energy levels high of the quite sizable crowd in Vicar Street. It always pays to go and see an artist with an audience of real fans who sing along to every song and appreciate every little aside and story, it brings music to life, sometimes reinforcing your love of an old favourite or giving an extra dimension to an overlooked gem. That was the experience I had at the gig and it made me re-examine an album that I had only listened to in passing. Opening track I Won’t Be Found is a brilliant introduction to this modern Swedish troubadour, a warm cheery guitar sound and instantly singable lyrics. Honey Won’t You Let Me In is exhibit number one to back up claims that he’s the Scandinavian Dylan bearing a resemblance to Dylan’s When The Ship Come In. If you bear that comparison in mind then you’ll get a good grasp of the music contained on Shallow Grave but don’t think that The Tallest Man On Earth is a poor imitation. Songs like the brilliant The Gardener demonstrate his ability to write great lyrics accompanied by great musicianship. The Sparrow And The Medicine features some fantastic finger picking, playing that he struggled to reproduce live. If an album of a man singing clever lyric accompanied by a strummed acoustic guitar is your thing then this is one of the best out there at the moment…9/10
I went to see this guy in concert a couple of weeks ago and was well impressed. For just one man with a guitar (and piano on occasion) he managed to hold the attention and keep the energy levels high of the quite sizable crowd in Vicar Street. It always pays to go and see an artist with an audience of real fans who sing along to every song and appreciate every little aside and story, it brings music to life, sometimes reinforcing your love of an old favourite or giving an extra dimension to an overlooked gem. That was the experience I had at the gig and it made me re-examine an album that I had only listened to in passing. Opening track I Won’t Be Found is a brilliant introduction to this modern Swedish troubadour, a warm cheery guitar sound and instantly singable lyrics. Honey Won’t You Let Me In is exhibit number one to back up claims that he’s the Scandinavian Dylan bearing a resemblance to Dylan’s When The Ship Come In. If you bear that comparison in mind then you’ll get a good grasp of the music contained on Shallow Grave but don’t think that The Tallest Man On Earth is a poor imitation. Songs like the brilliant The Gardener demonstrate his ability to write great lyrics accompanied by great musicianship. The Sparrow And The Medicine features some fantastic finger picking, playing that he struggled to reproduce live. If an album of a man singing clever lyric accompanied by a strummed acoustic guitar is your thing then this is one of the best out there at the moment…9/10
ESG – Come Away With ESG
Not all self thought sibling bands turn out like the Wiggin sisters. ESG were one such outfit that managed to create music that has been sampled endlessly since the release of this their first album in 1983 . The music is simple rhythmic stuff, heavy on the bass and drums with the simplest of vocals. It’s music that still sound fresh today and tracks like Dance should be played at all the coolest parties. This is brilliantly repetitive dance funk and as a result should be played loud to get the most from it.
Perhaps the one fault would be that spread over an entire album the music does begin to grate a little because of the lack of variety but there’s just enough catchy drum breaks and shouted choruses to keep the whole thing listenable…8/10
Not all self thought sibling bands turn out like the Wiggin sisters. ESG were one such outfit that managed to create music that has been sampled endlessly since the release of this their first album in 1983 . The music is simple rhythmic stuff, heavy on the bass and drums with the simplest of vocals. It’s music that still sound fresh today and tracks like Dance should be played at all the coolest parties. This is brilliantly repetitive dance funk and as a result should be played loud to get the most from it.
Perhaps the one fault would be that spread over an entire album the music does begin to grate a little because of the lack of variety but there’s just enough catchy drum breaks and shouted choruses to keep the whole thing listenable…8/10
The Shaggs – Philosophy Of The World
This is one of the strangest albums you’ll ever hear. It’s either the worst collection of music ever recorded or the best example of outsider art you’re likely to hear. Frank Zappa thought it was the third best album of all time and Kurt Cobain placed it in his top five. High praise indeed for an album made by three sisters with no musical ability whatsoever.
The strange story of this group begins with a palm reading. Apparently the girls father Austin Wiggin was told during a palm reading by his mother that he would marry a strawberry blonde, have two sons and that his daughters would form a popular music group. Well after the first two predictions came true Austin decided to buy his daughters musical instruments and paid for lessons in order to push things along. In 1969 he brought them to a recording studio to get them on tape “while they were still hot”. They recorded Philosophy Of The World in one day and then had 900 of the 1000 copies stolen by the president of the recording studio (only God knows what he wanted them for). The album sank without a trace and after playing regular gigs in a local club the group disbanded in 1975 on the death of their father. Listening to the album you get the feeling that Mr. Wiggin should have taken more heed of Shakespeare’s MacBeth before he started trying to force predictions to come true…0/10 or 10/10
This is one of the strangest albums you’ll ever hear. It’s either the worst collection of music ever recorded or the best example of outsider art you’re likely to hear. Frank Zappa thought it was the third best album of all time and Kurt Cobain placed it in his top five. High praise indeed for an album made by three sisters with no musical ability whatsoever.
The strange story of this group begins with a palm reading. Apparently the girls father Austin Wiggin was told during a palm reading by his mother that he would marry a strawberry blonde, have two sons and that his daughters would form a popular music group. Well after the first two predictions came true Austin decided to buy his daughters musical instruments and paid for lessons in order to push things along. In 1969 he brought them to a recording studio to get them on tape “while they were still hot”. They recorded Philosophy Of The World in one day and then had 900 of the 1000 copies stolen by the president of the recording studio (only God knows what he wanted them for). The album sank without a trace and after playing regular gigs in a local club the group disbanded in 1975 on the death of their father. Listening to the album you get the feeling that Mr. Wiggin should have taken more heed of Shakespeare’s MacBeth before he started trying to force predictions to come true…0/10 or 10/10
M83 – Hurry up, We’re Dreaming
A double album might seem like the wrong place to dip a toe into a groups musical sea but this is good enough to warrant it. M83 have been around for a few years now and their earlier album Saturdays = Youth is also worth a listen as are probably all their other albums but I haven’t heard those so I couldn’t really comment.
There’s a lot of really good indie/electro/pop coming from continental Europe these days and M83 are well up there at the top of the pile. If you like 1980s new wave mixed with a bit of shoegaze and a bit of indie credibility then look no further. The second track Midnight City probably encapsulates the best elements of the French bands approach; hazy vocals low in the mix, swirling synths, a catchy riff and a little bit of sax in the fade out. The album isn’t as steeped in the 80s sound as Saturdays = Youth with tracks like Raconte-Moi Une Histoire (featuring a little girl telling a story about a strange little frog; a piece of music that could quite easily feature on a Lemon Jelly album) and Soon, My Friend (with it’s acoustic guitars and harmony singing sounding like an outtake from Pacific Ocean Blue) mixing things up a little. In fact as a result of the extra space that the two CDs provide there’s a lot more variety to the tempo and the mood than the previous album…8/10
A double album might seem like the wrong place to dip a toe into a groups musical sea but this is good enough to warrant it. M83 have been around for a few years now and their earlier album Saturdays = Youth is also worth a listen as are probably all their other albums but I haven’t heard those so I couldn’t really comment.
There’s a lot of really good indie/electro/pop coming from continental Europe these days and M83 are well up there at the top of the pile. If you like 1980s new wave mixed with a bit of shoegaze and a bit of indie credibility then look no further. The second track Midnight City probably encapsulates the best elements of the French bands approach; hazy vocals low in the mix, swirling synths, a catchy riff and a little bit of sax in the fade out. The album isn’t as steeped in the 80s sound as Saturdays = Youth with tracks like Raconte-Moi Une Histoire (featuring a little girl telling a story about a strange little frog; a piece of music that could quite easily feature on a Lemon Jelly album) and Soon, My Friend (with it’s acoustic guitars and harmony singing sounding like an outtake from Pacific Ocean Blue) mixing things up a little. In fact as a result of the extra space that the two CDs provide there’s a lot more variety to the tempo and the mood than the previous album…8/10
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Gaz Coombes Presents - Here come the bombs
So Supergrass are gone.com or at least taking a break for
the fore see able future. But Gaz is still plugging away. For those people who
were/are fans of supergrass this doesn’t feel completely different. His brother
is still heavily involved in this project so it has a comfortingly familiar
sound. Its maybe not as fun as some of their earlier stuff and has a sprinkle
more of an electronic feel than we are accustomed to. But to be honest its a
good thing. The Album almost feels like this is where Supergrass may have gone
had they stayed together. All in all its quite good albeit not different enough
to make Gaz really stand out as a solo artist. 7/10
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