Singles, EPs, Album Reviews
A Dead Forest Index – Empty and Dark I Shall Raise My Lantern (EP)
9/10
Adam Sherry composes harrowing and goosebump-inducing music under the name A Dead Forest Index and plays this live with his equally talented artist brother Sam. Reverb-heavy drums and gently droning guitar wash throughout the EP. With heart-wrenched vocals outpouring poetic lyrics in pained delivery, Sherry produces an incredibly impressive, riveting and original listen. From the opening/title track’s eerie anguish to the more densely hypnotic grunge sound of Dust Caught In Light, his soft, angelic voice remains the highlight. Sherry has the uncommon ability to marry catchy riffs with untouched, otherworldly and original song writing ideas. His songs are beset with emotions, most notably anguish, and the songs are made with an ancient quality that seems to stem from a possible fascination with ancient folklore and storytelling. It has a hint of gypsy curse and impoverished traveler about it, as bells jangle softly and backing vocals (by Simon Gooding, who recorded the EP with Joe Talia at York Street Studios) sigh and organs howl faintly. It is akin to a religious experience in listen, with the underlying feeling of all of the songs being like an inexplicable, beautifully moving force. A strange flute calling in the end of final song Paint The Sixth is a perfect unexpected accompaniment. The only fault I can find with the whole EP is that it is too short. Three tracks long, it demands repeated listens as the stories unfold the more you hear them. The anguish and despair gradually wear away as the wash of beautiful music makes things clearer and ultimately so grand you cannot ignore it or leave it and must listen to it again. Maybe therein lies the curse; once you start listening to it you may never stop, such is the great quality of Sherry’s songs, and the unique aura he creates with each. Future releases from this upcoming Melbourne-based multi-media artist will be met with great excitement. Buy this EP! Visit www.myspace.com/adeadforestindex.
Sarah
Rhian Sheehan – Standing In Silence
4/10
It is problematic when listening to a CD through a computer when you can hear the computer’s fan better than the music, even when the volume is turned way up. Sheehan’s album reminds of a time when everything took a long time; scribbling words on a page, making music, getting anywhere; communicating. Through its evocative and emotive answering machines-on-parade style bleeps and blips, Parts 01 – 14 (such is the way the songs are titled) are laconic and technologically designed to mirror the stark chemical nature of our modern world. Sheehan sounds like he is expressing the idea of loneliness and frustration in man-made nature through man-made music. His vocal-less slow-moving sketchy techno-dub coasts elegantly through waters of lush blues and idyllic greens like a blue whale on its own course. It’s the biggest thing out there and no one can mess with it; only marvel at its beauty. It’s when the music fades out of your consciousness because its songs are impersonally and solely instrumental orchestrated music that it loses its majestic emotion-swelling grandeur and becomes more like densely layered and thoughtfully constructed elevator music (Parts 4 and 7). Other times it reeks of overly dramatic emotion-wrenching classical music (Parts 8 and 10). Sheehan uses field recordings from his travels around Asia, as well as found objects that he manipulated in his attic studio. Knowledge of this makes the recordings feel more resonant and relevant, for without understanding the production history of Silence it sounds electronically manufactured; the lone insight of a man who maybe distances himself from society, when in fact this is not the case at all. Sheehan is trying to encourage positive change with Standing In Silence, however a tedious and oft-dreary listen it may be. However he should be applauded for releasing this album with a week-long gallery exhibition at the Moving Images Centre (K Rd, Auckland). With the aid of Greenpeace and artist friends Sheehan devised an exhibition where the patron listens to the album through headphones while absorbing other visual arts – a true state of standing in silence. The exhibition took place in late February and showed films of cultures in the midst of change (India, Japan, China), and illustrated industrialisation’s effect on the environment, urban development and our relationship to nature. These films are to be used in upcoming live performances by Sheehan. Buy this album if you like abstract dub/instrumental electronic/field recordings, or if only to help fund Greenpeace’s Climate Change action, for a percentage of profits from album sales go directly to Greenpeace.
Sarah
The Veils – Sun Gangs
7/10
The press release projects that this is the first proper offering from The Veils, that their first two forays, Runaway Found and Nux Vomica, didn’t quite showcase their talent enough. Nux Vomica was a widely celebrated and mature achievement, but Sun Gangs sees the band swiftly assert their talent even further. The glossy lushness of Bernard Butler’s production never strays from its reputation of oft-overproduced overkill. This time, however, it seems to work (he produced Sit Down By The Fire, the rest of the album was produced by Graham Sutton). It seems that Finn Andrews has been listening to a lot of Leonard Cohen, with his moody dramatic sentiments shining through in the harrowing and heartbroken languor of his voice and his destructively emotive piano/guitar strum marriage. There could also be comparisons made to Jack White in Andrews’ erratic shouty vocals in Killed By The Boom, but in softer tracks such as The House She Lived In he shows a more subdued side. Ultimately Sun Gangs is not a huge divergence from their known sound, but suggests that Andrews has endured a lot more since his cushy days at his parents’ place. He’s travelled the world, endured both overbearing praise and harsh criticism, and expressed this in more than just his songs. It seems the pressure building up is mirrored in the tense and experimental eight-minute-plus Larkspur. The songs are largely more sombre, particularly with the title track and opener Sit Down By The Fire seeming to express a dire sadness. This mood reappears in the latter half of the album. Andrews’ vocals show that he’s still at the top of his game and Sophia Burn (bass), Dan Raishbrook (guitar) and Henning Dietz (drums) all play eloquently. Punchy, aggressive and individual, Sun Gangs is a perfect musical representation of Andrews and the perfect vehicle for expressing his recent emotional endeavours. He describes the album as “a very modern mixture of prayers, love letters and personal record keeping”. The image of him dutifully transcribing his thoughts at night by the light of an oil lamp and then screaming and singing these thoughts to tape is oddly heart-warming. The Veils has always exuded a kind of old-time sophistication, and this shines through resolutely in the more aggressive approach of Sun Gangs.
Sarah
Fujiya & Miyagi- Transparent Things
7/10
Fijiya & Miyagi; named after a character from the movie The Karate Kid and a manufacturer of vinyl record players. Their second album Transparent Things is now available in
Nick
8/10
Nick
Panther And The Zoo – Think About It Not Exploding (EP)
6/10
Clearly produced and pronounced, Graham Panther’s bittersweet vocals in Think About It Not Exploding derive from classic songwriters like Malcolm Middleton of Arab Strap, with the calmly plucked acoustic guitar lending another familiar edge. Familiarity is bred throughout Panther (and friends)’s debut EP, a neat package that harks back to the days of properly pretty handmade releases. While I Know Your Name grates slightly with this overly familiar feeling, Panther doesn’t push it by not exceeding the two-minute mark. The weird segues of electronic-sounding organ in Voices is distracting but also compelling, and stays very true to the live version that audiences may recognise. Panther’s simple storytelling nature is effective for getting his points across (often about relationships), which can be both good and bad. At times this appears to be made up for with exuberant production but falls a bit short, making the listen feel elementary. The title track is heavy on instrumentation and collaboration vocally, which lushes it out and adds an a capella orchestration quality, with Graham’s strong voice riding high, but this all comes to a sudden halt all too soon, leaving you hanging and with questions unanswered. Graham is a very talented singer and songwriter but the way he uses this voice and his constant swapping of minimal and over-the-top approaches leaves a puzzled feeling and a slightly bitter aftertaste.
Sarah
Totally Michael- Totally Michael
9/10
Nick
The Virgins – The Virgins
7/10
These snotty-nosed punks from New York City have been really scrubbed up to sound super slick and professional in their debut (out on major label Atlantic), released in the US last June but only just reaching New Zealand shores this month. Fortunately scruffiness has never been the major drawcard for the poppy foursome, whose catchy hooks and clean production have been the real reasons behind their success. This sound has been dolled up to the nines with no song spared. It’s okay, it just makes them sound like Prince or The Police circa the ‘80s squeaky clean sound boom. Although the bombastic production and weird effects towards the end of Rich Girls has totally changed this standout song’s vibe, it’s still an impeccable pop song, brimming with love and lust and candid catchiness. This is what The Virgins do best, and explains their major label bent. Teen Lovers is epic in its shining bliss, and the slowed down version of Love Is Closer Than Death has its great moments. But singer Donald Cumming’s eerie similarity to Antony Keidis from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers in the song Fernando Pando is irksome when not charming. There are also moments of weirdly boy band-esque romps, such as the oddly electronic Murder with the unbelievably cheesy vocals. Elsewhere the perfect and syncopated rhythm section shows off in Hey Hey Girl and of course Rich Girls. They revisit that garage rock revival sound in Radio Christine, and with this more synthy number they would sit comfortably next to The Strokes, but you can tell they strive for more. Private Affair gets its acclaim for the right reasons, and this version stays relatively true to form. While inconsistent and clearly overproduced, The Virgins’ debut album sees them yet to lose that racy wit and compelling catchiness that has kept them interesting all this time. Here’s hoping they revisit that lo-fi, honest quality they once imparted so well in future releases.
Sarah
The Whitest Boy Alive- Rules
3/10
Sometimes you get the impression that music is made on a whim and that some musicians really aren’t challenging themselves. You get that from The Whitest Boy Alive, whose sophomore album Rules has a lot of lazy sounding lounge-y pop songs. Throughout Rules the majority of the songs seem to plonk along, molding together like a jam session between musicians playing together for the first time and failing miserably to expand into anything of real substance. As pop songs, they rely to heavily on bass and not enough on new member Daniel Nentwig’s Italian synthesizer (which is mentioned proudly in the albums press release). The couple of songs where the music does expand, most noticeably towards the end of the album on ‘Promise Less or Do More’ and ‘Dead End’ do help brighten up the album, but only after guitars are rushed in to ensure the album isn’t full of ruthless bass and dead instrumentation. The Whitest Boy Alive’s first album saw them described as an electronic band, but the stripped back material here has them sounding more like The Virgins than Hot Chip; unfortunately without the catchy vibes and expression of both those groups. There are much better albums out there in a similar vein to this one; you’ll do best to look further a field for a band seamlessly making more effort to create something slightly more expansive.
Nick
Snowfield / Seth Frightening- The Raven / If This Is liberty Then Give Me Death
9/10
Nick
Guillermo Sexo – Magic Lanterns
4/10
Squally, distorted guitars meet staccato drums and the occasional eerie keyboard to create upbeat, dissonant pop in this Massachusetts band’s debut LP. The music can at times reach the realms of Franz Ferdinand or other guitar bands of that ilk. The only thing letting this album down is the flat female vocals that occasionally creep to the fore and really bring the whole level of expertise down. Singer and keyboard player Noell competes with the guitar in ‘Junior World Champions’ and at times it’s hard to differentiate between the two, which is slightly more intriguing than it is grating, but the rest of the time she carries on in a slightly squawking manner that alternates between alarmingly low or intolerably high, and it’s these high notes that she never quite reaches properly. In other words the overly clean production shows the glaring truth of her limited vocal range, particularly in the title track. Otherwise this is quite an impressive and fairly adventurous debut, with an exciting breakdown in ‘Hurried Moments’ and a great punk energy in ‘Telegrams’. Near the end of the album ‘Cinnamon Park’ hints at very great things, with a more heavy rock vibe. I’d be curious to see what they could do with some more reverb or distortion.
Sarah
Pavement – Brighten The Corners: Nicene Creedence Ed. (reissue)
9/10
One of the seminal alternative grunge/pop albums of the ‘90s has undergone a “super-deluxe reissue”, coming at you in a plush package featuring a meaty 48-page booklet and neat cut out cover. The booklet boasts an article by Alex Ross, originally published in The New Yorker in 1997, that describes the band as a “dangerous Dadaist cult”. This is the fourth in a series of remastered reissues by Matador, a sort of fancy dalliance that can only come from either record company recession pains or a shitload of cash. I’m quite glad they’re doing it however, as they kind of forcibly introduced me to this great Pavement album that I was until now unaware of. I’m a Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain kid, but the simple, skewed pop bliss of Brighten The Corners’ songs really appeals to me. Anyone with a penchant for pop sensibility marred by a disjointed view of the world will be attracted to this meandering gem with its uneven ends. And this edition, a two-CD set featuring 44 tracks, 19 of which are unreleased recordings and seven of which are entirely unreleased songs altogether, is an exciting and covetable collector’s item. Many of these sorts of releases are shallow and unnecessary, clearly cash-ins, but this actually seems like it has useful, interesting stuff for fans. Ironically Steven Malkmus even sings “You better shake your rations/ ‘cos someone’s gonna cash in” in ‘Harness Your Hopes’. But no self-indulgent videos lie in this release; which instead includes B-sides to the EPs Stereo (including the awesome ‘Westie Can Drum’), Shady Lane and Spit On A Stranger, rare compilation tracks (including ‘Oddity’, from Flying Nun’s God Save The Clean tribute album), radio sessions (including Peel Sessions and the incredible ‘Neil Hagerty meets Jon Spencer in a non-alcoholic bar’ live radio session) and various studio outtakes. Get it for the insanely good unreleased material, but if that’s not enough (and it should be!) know that the article by Ross in the booklet is utterly inciteful and will blow your mind as well. Ross has an enviably deep perception of Pavement’s influential music and lyrics (“Your classic rock song has been hijacked by surrealists”) that only comes from years of listening. The placement of the article throughout the book makes digesting the whole thing easier, as pictures, scribbles, art and posters break up the text. Likely what a lot of people have been waiting for for a long time.
Sarah
9/10
Beirut- Realpeople Holland
7/10
Packaged with this album is a wee bonus disc of material Condon rerecorded over the past year. The Holland EP is a collection of old bedroom material that was originally written before
Nick
The Wicks- Why Do People Walk (EP)
4/10
Nick
Lou Reed – Berlin: Live at St. Ann’s Warehouse
7/10
Often great artists are only revered after their deaths. Lou Reed has been both revered and reviled for the various works he’s released during his 50-year career. Berlin is an interesting example of work that has been both widely criticised upon its initial release and then later praised and highly ranked. It was this initial poor reaction that prompted Reed to abandon his initial plan for the theatrical staging that would result in Berlin: Live at St. Ann’s Warehouse, and not play any of this material for 30 years. Then suddenly and surprisingly in 2006 Reed’s wall came down, and he decided to produce the unforgettable, theatrical and considerably uplifting performance of Berlin. With equally impressive and iconic modern singers Sharon Jones (of Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings) and Antony Hegarty (of Antony and the Johnsons) in tow along with Reed’s classic cohort, guitarist Steve Hunter, plus horn and brass sections and the Brooklyn Youth Choir, the show was a standout success. Recorded for a DVD directed by Julian Schnabel and later released on CD and vinyl, the show is clearly meant for viewing and listening concurrently. It may sound ridiculous, but at times listening to Berlin: Live at St. Ann’s Warehouse feels like you’re only getting half the picture. It has been claimed that this release captures the cinematic essence of the original album. If the parts weren’t so drawn out in quasi-blues fashion on some of the later songs then it wouldn’t be so distracting and one wouldn’t be constantly trying to envisage the staging that’s so colourfully described in the press. The songs themselves sound grungey and uptown, with accents of brass littered everywhere. Lou merely plays a part in this huge affair of performers. The rockier, gospel-lite versions of songs in the middle of the album are difficultly drawn-out, with Lou’s voice and guitar sounding gruff and gritty. Lou’s Berlin is challenging and robust, and the creepy collage that cedes in after the cherubic announcement of the choir in the first track, telling the tales of the infamous subject, the drugged and depressed couple, does it cinematic justice indeed. Reed’s vocal delivery doesn’t fall short, his punctuated and illustrative voice stands up like Johnny Cash until the day the man in black died, and there are moments of simplicity and genius like the end of ‘Oh, Jim’. But like with any grand production, this falls a little short when you’re not front row centre and gazing up at the behemoth of rock. Latter songs ‘Candy Says’ and ‘Rock Minuet’ are amazingly strong – subdued, subtle, clean and sophisticated; the stories are easy to digest and understand, and when Lou stops singing and stabs everyone’s hearts with his rusty guitar in ‘Rock Minuet’ it feels like he is awakening the soul of rock and roll.
Sarah
Belle and Sebastian- The BBC Sessions
9/10
Nick
Leathermouth- X0
3/10
Nick
Fort Knox Five – Radio Free DC
5/10
While it’s too long and punishing and slowly peters out towards the end, the eclectic Funk/Hip Hop of Washington D.C. four-piece Fort Knox Five’s debut LP has moments of greatness. Beset with R&B, Reggae and Electronic tendencies, FKF has been causing quite a stir in America; now I know why – at least with the first half of the album. Their music initially comes across as styled in the vein of Jurassic 5 or The Roots. But as you venture through the album you’re met with relentless sampling and an increasingly more upbeat House complex the likes of Thievery Corporation, of which one member of FKF is also a member. Technically very adequate, the debut is full of flavour, passion and unique sounds. The bristling funk basslines are at times met with sitar, fuzzed-out electric guitar noodling and robotic laser beams all in one track, which is kind of a little bit much to stomach at times. On the happier side, FKF is an interesting, soulful and energising listen that sees them achieve their goal of fiery funk-infused live electronic music. Unfortunately they take the easy way out with the overly played cheesy route. While some songs are just downright fun (namely ‘Sao Funky Parts 1 & 2’), you could never really take them seriously. They verge on the cringe-worthy with relentless garb – “you’ve got to funk it up/ with the Fort Knox Five” in ‘Funk 4 Peace’ and chants of “DJ fire it up!” in ‘The Party Pushers’ – not to mention the cheesy and dated use of numbers substituting words in track titles. They slightly redeem themselves with grooving dub basslines, catchy melodies and energy, but at times it rings of background bar music. There is an interesting breakbeat element amidst the funky live instrumentation, and the pace regularly echoes James Brown or Fat Boy Slim. And while the world is in need of a few smiles in these dark times, I wouldn’t go so far as to push the whole FKF album on them. But I’d definitely consider the first part. This should be played on record, with the particularly warming option of not flipping it over, come the end of side one.
An interview I read with the band on Skater Geek magazine’s website explains the lackluster second half. The band supplied three tracks from the first half of their album for free download on Skater Geek’s website, sending a signal that even they aren’t too stoked with the overly sampled, cheesy and badly mixed second half. My advice? Easy up on the techno-style round-ups.
Sarah
Moron Says What?!- Pop Up (EP)
7/10
Some parts are slightly out of tune, but it’s still absolute pop perfection. I always hoped that Moron Says What?!’s first official release would contain some sort of lo-fi element and thankfully the slightly distorted vocals sound like they were recorded into a old toy microphone. After all, it was a love-affair with their lo-fi recordings that first sparked my interest in the band, and without it, a polished MSW?!?! might sound more like CSS. The cleverly packaged Pop-Up EP, completely individually handmade by the band, opens up like a sandwich with the disc imitating a slice of tomato. The song titles are printed on a pyramid shaped piece of cardboard that rises up when you open the packaging. First song ‘Eat’ is the most disjointed of the four tracks and sounds slightly out of time, however, due to it’s ramshackle nature it highlights each band members individual playing style. The guitar riff on second track ‘Sleep’ is an obvious stand out; a simple yet profound pop riff, it runs throughout the song and leads into third track ‘Gringo’ where a new and equally inventive riff takes over. ‘Gringo’ provides brief evidence that the girls can also write wonderfully quirky lyrics, but the best is saved for last. ‘Nathalie Touch Me There Again’ is easily the best and cleanest track. The only track where the lyrics can be easily distinguished, it’s a schoolgirl style Barbie love song perhaps influenced by Katy Perry’s ‘I Kissed A Girl’. Singing “Nathalie, if I was a boy, I’d have a big crush on you, your hair is so soft”, the song is both charming and delightfully funny, much like the girls themselves.
Nick
Bon Iver- Blood Bank (EP)
10/10
Folk music that is absolutely flawless. Blood Bank is the follow up to Bon Iver’s stunning debut For Emma, Forever Ago, which was voted number 17 on EMJ’s ‘Top albums of 2008’. The four tracks on Blood Bank are an expansive transition, taking Bon Iver’s music into another dimension beyond the realms of anything currently performed under the folk moniker. Each track transfixes time, creating a dreamy mix of psychedelic folk and bedroom pop that when played alone takes hold of your consciousness and puts you in a bubble somewhere unimaginable. Building from the opening notes of title track ‘Blood Bank’, the EP slowly takes grip through its crisp story-telling and delightfully evanescent guitar picking. Climbing through the high point of ‘Blood Bank’ and into the faster, raw folk emotions of ‘Beach Baby’, the powerful energy then crashes into a jet stream of hypnotic harmonies that run throughout both ‘Babys’ and ‘Woods’. Without trying to imagine a longer version in the future, this EP embodies a perfect piece of work that Bon Iver may struggle to ever repeat.
Nick
Bizzart- Future Stars And Small Wonders
8/10
Pre-School teacher and self proclaimed ‘music therapist’ Arthur Arellanes III has a outlook on music that pushes the boundaries of hip-hop and explores themes outside of the usual square. A deacon of the American Orthodox Church by the age of 17, his influences and vision seem somewhat distorted, blending highly political music with his spiritual beliefs. Future Stars And Small Wonders is an expansive album of political chants; fast intellectual vocals combine with spoken word pre-recorded backing tracks and overlay sparse instrumentation that spreads Bizzart across a number of musical genres. The cut-up beats of opening track ‘Android Hearts’ straight away shows the exploration and passion behind Arellanes music. Reminiscent ofRage Against The Machine front man Zac de la Rocha, Bizzart’s political fire burns throughout the album, addressing subjects of anti-Americanism, poverty and abortion. Stand-out tracks include ‘Changing Stars’, a slowish RnB number that echoes Radiohead via electronics and backing vocals that sound a lot like Thom Yorke. ‘Hookers and Bling’ is a passionate hip-hop track with quick rhymes pointing towards a poignant message of anger and frustration. Bizzart pushes boundaries on a good portion of the album and rides the fine line between political hip-hop and electronic RnB nicely. His inspired music is a call to arms from a different perspective, and it’s interesting to hear a new take on many of these topics.
Nick
Lissy Trullie – Self Taught Learner (EP)
9/10
Self Taught Learner is arguably a perfect EP. Flawlessly produced, catchy new-wave rock and roll from the angular NYC beauty Lissy Trullie and her band is served up on her debut EP. I’ve held a long-lasting love for her first single; title track Self Taught Learner, ever since I first heard it, and some might say I subsequently (and duly) thrashed it on EMJ radio. The six-track EP, out February 17 on American Myth Recordings, is perfectly track-listed with effortless flow from one song to the next, constructing a wonderfully ponderous, at times angsty and at other times content lyrical view of Lissy’s world. This has to be one of the most well-produced EPs I have heard in a long time, the swimming bass and crashing cymbals and plucked guitar topped off with Lissy’s anguished ‘oh-oh oh-oh’s on the title track is particularly stunning, the previous version having been polished even further to strip back any remaining grittiness and leaving gleaming perfection. The pummelling, pulsating rhythmic changes and ecstatic backing vocals in Forget About It with Lissy’s androgynous, cool-as-ice voice and new-wave instrumentation is endlessly enjoyable. I can imagine it’d be sublime live. The final track, a disjointed and shimmied-up cover of Hot Chip’s popular Ready For The Floor, shows up the original’s monotonous and repetitive style, highlighting Lissy’s unique vision and creativity, prompting me to instantly prefer this version over the original. I expected so much from this release and was not let down one bit. It’s one of the most well rounded and enjoyable releases I’ve had the pleasure of listening to in a long time. Lissy’s energy, creativity and honesty is to be commended.
Sarah
Hacienda- Loud Is The Night
7/10
Blending the few decent elements of horrid Californian band Japanese Motors and the swampy bits of Little Joy, Hacienda succeeds at their own take on full-bodied rock and roll. Championed by Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys (whose influence can be heard on third track ‘Useless And Tired’), the Texan’s come highly recommended by one of the most respected modern day blues exponents. The latest band to list the song titles on their album cover (I thought that was a thing of the past), Hacienda bounce between piano ballads, continental surf pop and ‘Dead Man’ style grinding desert rock. Highlights mostly come in the first half of the album; ‘Hear Me Crying’ rides heavily on country and western rhythms to produce a spooky, deathly collage, reminiscent of a journey deep into the salt planes of Utah, while ‘Another Day’ draws on Pink Floyd’s psychedelic experimentation, circa Dark Side Of the Moon, and morphs into a sea-side pop number rolling with a deranged guitar line. As a piece of work, Loud is the Night has a nice balance, with different styles entwined tightly together but with enough diversity to reveal each songs true beauty.
Nick
Alice Russell- Pot Of Gold
6/10
Alice Russell’s voice is renowned for its soulful depth and soaring strength, but on the opening track of her fourth album it sounds like she’s either been singing too long and has shattered her vocal chords, or she has been inhaling helium. I saw her at the Union Fish Co. building a few years back and she was on top form, as powerful as I was powerless to her crazily strong and loud voice. We all marveled at this tiny English girl who sounded like a classic motown diva. So naturally I was excited and intrigued to hear her latest album when word broke about it. I don’t remember her sounding like this, though. The material on Pot Of Gold often sounds more harsh, less deep and less soulful; perhaps it is the more orchestrally illustrated recordings and the more high-pitched singing she does on this album. It’s very crisply produced by T.M. Juke, her partner in crime, but it seems like every good track is separated by a slow dud. Her trademark sass and wit stays strong throughout though, and there is more of an amped up Motown feel in the shuffle of the drums on many tracks. But I am wary of her threatening slide into jazz-house. Playing in Auckland with Sola Rosa, Cian, Bevan Keys and Toni Cooper at Sale Street on January 31 and in Wellington at Sandwiches on the 30th, not to mention the notes of “house” and “uplifting jazz” in the press release has me worried. But I’m sure the spunk in Got The Hunger? will endure in providing her trademark squeal that continues to pump life into her classy r&b. I needn’t have worried, as any great singer she just takes a few songs to warm up! And it does get better, what’s possibly the best song on the album, Hurry On Now, is buried at the end of the album, coming in second to last. This album will please the fans for sure.
Sarah
Sharpie Crows- Greed
8/10
The second album from Wellington’s Sharpie Crows sees the band becoming more complex but remaining true to the lo-fi DIY style of recording. Surrounded in heavy bass rhythms and driven strongly by Jackson Hobbs’ drumming, the album is more diverse than the band’s debut We Fought The Great White Whale. Their experimentation with the softer/ slower side of noise rock, primarily on the track ‘Feathering The Nest’ is a welcome surprise, relieving some pressure from more abrasive tracks like ‘I’ll Haunt You’ and ‘Landlords’. That said, ‘I’ll Haunt You’, which was previously released on a limited EP, is the backbone of the album. A raucous ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ tale, it is driven by a heavy guitar riff displaying elements of early Black Sabbath. Just like on their previous record, Sharpie Crows show they have an acute social awareness. ‘Landlords’ addresses the current housing crisis and the growing gap between rich landlords and young tenants, while ‘Hebrew Vs Key’ is quite possibly the first anti John Key song ever written and runs just under eight minutes. There’s a famous John Peel quote about The Fall which goes “Always different, always the same” and perhaps it’s an appropriate quote to describe Sharpie Crows; because while the guitaring and keyboard playing continues to expand, becoming more experimental, the drum and bass rhythms provide a swell undercurrent that holds the band together and shapes their overall sound.
Nick
Reb Fountain – Holster
7/10
With wisdom and resolution beyond her years, southern California born Reb Fountain is an inspired and talented, locally entrenched Folk/Country/Rock style singer/songwriter who, with an all-star band firmly in tow, has delivered a very credible step up with her second album Holster. Powerful and energetic songs like TAB and Wrecking Ball give way to sombre and sorrowful sounding songs like Milk & Honey and Renegade. From watching, listening to and later reading about Reb, you can tell she’s lived an amazing life. Studying performing arts in Seattle, participating in an internationally renowned jazz club and being so resolutely steadfast and determined to live this romantic, artistic life eschewed with folklore and friends, Reb’s songs are at times disappointingly short but her tales are full and enigmatic. With appropriately hearty, lush and vigorous production Holster is delicately layered and impressive. With her band, colourfully titled The Bandits, featuring Simon Gooding on guitar and bass, Brendon Morrow on drums and piano, Sam Prebble on violin and mandolin and Dylan Storey on guitar and dobro, it is an established and intelligent brood that takes to the road of storytelling and folklore style that Reb imbues. While a decent portion of the songs ring true of those tried notions of commercial soft jazz/folk, others like TAB shine a light much needed for many of New Zealand’s struggling folk artists. Reb and her band is world class, inventive, thoroughly impressive and enjoyable live, and almost otherworldly, like New Zealand’s answer to Emiliana Torrini or PJ Harvey. I would like to see her experiment more and possibly add more weight and depth to her songs. But ultimately Holster is top notch!
Sarah
Brett Dennen- Hope For The Hopeless
3/10
I think someone forgot to tell Brett Dennen that on his third album he should expand on the standard singer song-writer thing. The San Francisco musician is famous for his work with non-profit organisation The Mosaic Project, helping children from disadvantaged backgrounds fight for a better future. His music is meant to reflect their struggle and to some extent it does. Unfortunately it’s done in a way that is unattractive to alternative music listeners, leaning more towards the easy listening market. At times Dennen’s lyrics are touching, but oh so often he sounds like an impoverished Rob Thomas or John Mayer with a social conscious. ‘Make You Crazy’ featuring African legend Femi Kuti starts of with a soft rock vibe and an attempt to incorporate world music rhythms towards the end, leads to it sounding like a track from Carlos Santana’s The Game Of Love. A large majority of the other tracks start off by hitting your political conscious, but thanks to repetitive instrumentation they quickly become boring and you lose interest. For Dennen to expand his appeal and become more accessible to a wider audience, it would be good advice to team up with the likes of Kuti on a more regular basis.
Nick
Deerhunter – Microcastle/Weird Era Continued
9/10
Visceral and heart-pounding, like a rabbit being chased through sand dunes but enjoying the agonising, shit-stirring freakiness of the chase, Microcastle gets your blood pumping. It makes you feel sentimental, sway around, sing along, daze out, feel bliss. It has all the aesthetics of a ‘90s stoner/psych hits the likes of Pavement, but soars above all of that in skill, storytelling and musicianship. Not that the guitars are ultra flash or anything, but everything is swathed in reverb that sounds ultra pretty and dreamy and soundscapey. At times there is that shrill, squiggly sound you get when you kick a cheap amp repeatedly. All the songs are simple and beautiful and just the right length. Bradford Cox has really honed his abilities in this double album that’s been met with righteous – and from what I’ve read, unanimous – acclaim. Coming after Cryptograms and Fluorescent Grey, Microcastle/Weird Era Continued wins over its predecessors because it is unashamedly subtle, never straying too far from the simple, edgy, psychedelic nature that makes it so perfect. Like a wonderfully well-rounded, exploratory, creative and slightly psycho kid who refuses to grow up and get out of the sandpit, instead choosing to make sandcastles for the rest of his life. I hope Bradford Cox makes music as inventive and escapist as this for the rest of his life. Microcastle is up there with the best.
Sarah
The Debutantes- The Debutantes EP
6/10
Listening to the opening track ‘Tapes Tapes’ on The Debutantes EP, you’d easily think they have some sort rock and roll revival thing going on. With its simple structure and repetitive Sesame Street-style sing along vocals, it sounds novice at best. However The Debutantes are much better than that first track suggests; in fact their three track EP is quite diverse. The Auckland band have been around the live circuit for a long time (they used to play shows with Shaky Hands, before they changed their name to Cut Off Your Hands) and that experience shines through brightly on the other two tracks. ‘You and Me’ is driven by a traditional indie pop guitar melody fueling comparisons to Collapsing Cities, but instead of trying to transport you to the streets on London they offer fields of lavender and poppies with more of a pop music vibe. Third track ‘Rocket Park’ focuses on a bouncy bass rhythm and uses a cow-bell to steer them in another new direction, before developing into a shouty club anthem in the vain of the Tiger Tones or a stripped back Rapture. It’s the best track on the EP and is also the band’s most enjoyable live track. Two out of three ain’t bad and if they remain focused on further diversifying their music The Debutantes could eventually end up with something unique.
Nick
The Faint – Fasciinatiion
7/10
It’s always a blast when you can’t tell if it’s a person or an instrument singing. The Faint has already established itself as leaning into the wind of experimental/foreboding/futuristic pop, gracefully and unyieldingly taking the reigns over all the other shit-tastic purveyors to bring us a blindingly fresh and acerbic vision of modern music. With their fifth(!) album they’ve gone their own route, delivering Fasciinatiion on their own terms and on their own label, Blank.wav., which is something to applaud. And the same applause can go to Fasciinatiion, an intriguing and fun glimpse into a twisted and heavy world that these guys understand and portray very well. It’s pretty fun to listen to robots in unison on early standout tracks Get Seduced, The Geeks Were Right and Fulcrum And Lever; and while they’ve been said to sound more mechanic and less human on this album, it is definitely singer Todd Fink jamming with a vocoder. Lesser-known song Machine In The Ghost and Mirror Error bring out funky undertones previously hinted at, and develop The Faint’s electro-spazz sound. Each song swirls and swings into its own rhythmically powered, electronically charged and attitude-challenging poetic prose action. So the remixes at the end fit in well. Fasciinatiion is worthy of praise; Top 40-in-waiting!
Sarah
Kittentank – Post Modern Hoe-Down
7/10
Lo-fi casio drum machine-driven mope pop with swirling distorted and lazy guitar produced with strange FX over the top makes for a compelling listen. Frank Eggleton is Kittentank, and has a unique voice bathed in a grit similar to fellow Wellingtonian Sam F Scott, and delivers this with a semi-sarcastic, matter-of-fact style. The track You People is an awesome cross between Thought Creature and Golden Axe, name checking glad eyes in staticky, smushed vocal whines. The crunching guitar riffs merged with polished drum machine and bass and brought up at the end of each segment by a tunnelling SFX brings to mind all those crazy house parties dancing to Golden Axe in bizarre costumes. Old Lady sounds like a classic alt-noise jam, breathing familiarity and arty expressionism with each overly echoed line. Relatable and imaginative lyrics bubble underneath all the distortion; it’s good a couple of the song’s lyrics are included in the liner notes, for you may not notice their poetic quality. “If I only had a thousand days/ I’d sail the crashing waves/ while a flock of mimes pretend to be productive with their fleeting time/ If I only had a thousand days/ would I still be who I am/ A desperado drunk on hope that dreams of some escape”. Post Modern Hoe-Down is a wonderful, imaginative and fun escapist masterpiece filled with instant epic classics.
Sarah
The Ribbon- The Ribbon
6/10
Nick
Jaguar Love – Take Me To The Sea
6/10
Jilted power pop that shrieks and fizzles with every tumbling guitar line and piano stab and cymbal crash is the style of Jaguar Love’s debut album. The singing is out of key and largely effortless, but it sure makes for an interesting listen! The obvious “takes the cake” tune, Bats Over The Pacific Ocean, scores a double-whammy of vocal whining to the tune of a perfectly syncopated, tight-as-fuck rhythm section. Unfortunately at first listen it doesn’t seem like the rest of the album is going to live up to that winning track, and on second listen a decent portion doesn’t. But with the oceanic connotations of Bats Over The Pacific Ocean’s title, the dreamy escapist feeling that swathes around each song, and the carefree way Johnny Whitney shrills and swoons through chorus has resulted in multiple playings on EMJ radio. Still, I was hugely disappointed with my first listen of Take Me To The Sea, and first impressions last. The song Jaguar Pirates shows that Whitney, J Clark and Cody Votolato are definitely immersed in their punk rock pirate lifestyle, valiantly flaunting any notion of appropriation and declining to stick to the hardcore mould, which is a scene they’re greatly affiliated with. It’s a grand and great gesture to go this sky high with vocals, and when they’re not whiling away album minutes with grotesquely melancholic ballads like ‘Georgia’ it works a treat. Being emotionally expressive without espousing that horrid nu-core emo-gone-wrong notion also earns points. Jaguar Love have obviously made their own formula, and it’s a more toxic, potent brew than their predecessors’ – it’s reared in the most modern of ages.
Sarah
The Jellyfish Bandits- Bat In The Blowhole
9/10
“Nobody likes The Jellyfish Bandits, except for you, except for you”, sings Aaron Leck and Melinda Tracy on the opening track titled ‘Famous Art Thieves’ from the duo’s debut record Bat In The Blowhole. That statement is clearly untrue, because I love them! Their DIY lo-fi pop is just about as infectious as anything I have heard over the past six months, and numerous Jellyfish Bandits songs have stuck in my head for days on end. On their debut album, everything gets minimal treatment, from the synths to the handclaps, each song is held together without to much poise or complexity. The basis to each track is a catchy synth or guitar line and lyrics sung so delicately that they make you swoon with your heart-strings hanging lustfully from your chest. ‘Ghostical Love’ contains the most swoontastic moments, with it’s cheeky little synth line dancing around while the pair sing “…my skin turns to indigo, I’ll watch you through your window. I hope you don’t think that’s creepy, it’s just that you complete me…” and the lyrics continue to have a sing-a-long aspect that’s like a shinny little penny in the spring tide. It was simply one of my favourite songs of 2008. Other highlights from the album include ‘Off Your Leash’, with delay put on the vocals (listen for “hey, hey, heyhey, hey, heyhey”) and ‘Dinosaur Underwear’, a sweet little love song containing the lines “I want to lie next to you in the tall grass, with dinosaur underwear…”. Essentially Bat In The Blowhole is a pop album about love and friendship, and while to many people this topic can be cheesy and a bit mouth gagging, The Jellyfish Bandits have managed to channel the love perfectly, remaining slightly disguised by their super happy bubblegum pop vibe.
Nick
El Guincho – Alegranza
8/10
Bursting to life with a live version of the much-loved Palmitos Park, notably and greatly covered by The Ruby Suns, El Guincho, aka Pablo Díaz-Reixa has had a fair amount of internet hype to live up to. With Alegranza he largely delivers on his promise of Spanish flair, with the live drums and rampant shrieks of Palmitos Park cascading perfectly into Antillas’ crisp, sun-toasted tortilla filled with peppery Cajun spices, bubbling beans, spicey African rhythmic chants and repetitive bell sounds. Life’s a party for El Guincho, and fortunately he brings this party on his long awaited debut. It can ring with repetition, but such is the combative blessing and curse of digitised culture, which more than presents itself on the cover art of Alegranza, with old school Spanish houses backlit by technicolour hexagonal spikes protruding into the sky. El Guincho’s old school background has him weaving Afrobeat, dub, Tropicália and indie tendencies into what he calls “space-age exotica”. With these whimsical futuristic tendencies in tow he has gently swept himself skyward, just as his technicolour hexagons have, to his current fame. Let’s see how it lasts! With brilliantly layered and intoxicatingly beautiful songs like Kalise and Fata Morgana taking us on a heady, exotic and chaotic journey, with El Guincho’s magnitude of drama, life-loving exoticism and cultural flair, this artist has a knack for transporting you out of your “meh”-inducing mid-afternoon slump and into a kind of hazy whirlwind of carnival fun in your head.
Sarah
Emiliana Torrini- Me and Armini
8/10
Nick
Thunders – The Sympathetic Oscillators (EP)
8/10
Jangly, scuzzy and grungey tropical sun-stroked garage rock and roll with pop perverses and verses, Thunders come on board yelling and hollering atop clocking percussion and an almost wall-of-noise sound. Their EP is instantly likable, catchy and relatable, and super fun to listen to. I can’t really find fault with The Sympathetic Oscillators, with its imaginative name and debauched party vibe, other than that more diverse production could help bring out the songs more from one another. But at the same time the crazy production is one of its highlights! And I’m sure that on a full length LP they would deliver with diversity in spades. A modern twist on rock and roll while remaining duly faithful to their predecessors, the EP is charming and original. 83 is a psyched out stoner glam gem with twinkling tambourines and chiming guitars swimming over watery vocals. With a fake end in the middle and an eerie end that ricochets into the next track, The Sympathetic Oscillators becomes more memorable and adventurous the more you listen to it.
Sarah
Jenny Lewis- Acid Tongue
4/10
Nick
So So Modern – EP0004
8/10
Valuable to avid collectors of So So Modern memorabilia such as myself (I rue the day I missed out on EP0000, now sold out!) the fifth in the ‘Triple Zero EP Family’ touts only two new tracks and a whopping four live songs from their recent extended jaunt around Europe. While a relative indication of their time spent overseas (listen to it while scrolling through the screeds of pictures of their travels on their website!), it runs a little thin because of the amount of live, already-heard tracks. While the recordings are top notch, I would have much preferred more stellar new studio material, such as the epic Clean Up Step Up. SSM are a renowned live band, and it makes sense to celebrate their enigmatic, electric performances, but some live tracks, like Loose Threads, sound rushed through on record, while they’d probably be more enjoyable if you were actually at the show because you can tell they’re going absolutely manic. Live synth alterations on Vulture Kisses and The New Internationale were unexpected compared to the preceding faithful live recordings, and are way more interesting and exciting because of this. Despite all this though, it’s still So So Modern, relatively of old, and their progressions shown in the two new tracks and admirable and energising as always.
Sarah
The Guest Bedroom- Treading Water/ Blowing Smoke EP
9/10
They describe themselves as “a nervous and somewhat dramatic rock band from
Nick
One Day As A Lion – One Day As A Lion (EP)
7/10
The eponymous release from Rage Against The Machine singer Zach de la Rocha and The Mars Volta’s original drummer Jon Theodore came out to great excitement. Like a stripped down RATM, with Zach on keyboards and vocals and Jon on drums, it is an energised, politicised affair; as you’d expect. In fact most songs come dangerously close to sounding like RATM songs. However instead of the inimitable guitar and perfectly succinct basslines of RATM there are muddy synths that sound like a dirty bass guitar with all the levels turned way down and the volume turned way up. Possibly the most riveting songs are the first and last, which mimic RATM’s early glory days with clean mixing, simple set-ups and heavy-handed lyrics. The lyrics haven’t matured either, retaining Zach’s old-school fire and spit, which is just perfect. Cases in point: “They say that in war the truth be the first casualty”, “If you fear dying then you’re already dead”, “You a minute man wait a minute man/ Talk like that might limit your life span”. With the same trademark squealing – this time care of keyboard, not guitar – and with drums heavier than ever, the music weighs on you harder than the lyrics, which is the flipside of RATM material. But the wisely spoken words weigh on you once you read the hand-scrawled lyrics in the CD inlay book, and it’s these that cast a ray of light on anything Zach so much as breathes on. He said he went away from RATM to work in politics; I’m not sure if he did, but his lyrics sure reflect his continued thinking. Long live political activism in music!
Sarah
Meho Plaza – Sampler
8/10
Listening to Meho Plaza is like getting to that final destination in the computer game you strived so hard to beat when you were 9, but no matter how hard you tried to turn and press the controller, you just couldn’t stop those angel wings from sprouting and the GAME OVER sign from blaring at you. This isn’t to say it’s a tireless battle, or any sort of work at all. It’s better compared to that sense of elation you feel once you get to that seemingly unreachable level in Sega’s Alex the Kid, past the underwater stage, past the underground stage, to a new dimension you’d never even conceived of before. A kind of surprise and excitement of how wonderfully different it is. New age techno-melodic pop maestros Meho Plaza are as unique as their name suggests, and in all honesty nothing like a Sega game. But they are fun and electronic! Seamless synths, clean calm vocals and technical drumming wizardry, are broken up by the continuous staccato rhythm with a dizzyingly floaty synth. Innocent reveries like Say Go Now give way to disconcerting lurching theatrics in Let’s Play Police. With frequent changes in melody and rhythm, Meho Plaza builds infinite layers of fuzzy distinction and distortion, bending and twisting guitar loops like wires. It is hard to imagine how they could pull this flawless precision off live, yet easy to fathom their popularity. There are elements of Muse in the distorted bass and flaky guitar scales in Your Future Looks Bright, but the vocals are decidedly more downplayed. The squealy guitars that threaten to fly away are somehow held down by the consistent drummer and polished dedication of the bass, and it is this sort of precision that is likely to transfer to the stage very well. Behold, the future looks bright with Meho Plaza.
Sarah
