The Low Anthem: Oh My God, Charlie Darwin

What a brilliant album title, how could I not get myself a copy? The Low Anthem are an American alternative rock/folk combo with founding members Ben Knox Miller and Jeff Prystowsky now augmented with classical composer Jocie Adams, (A NASA technician no less).

So is there much beyond a quirky album name. Oh yes indeed. OMGCD is released on the Bella Union label (the home of Fleet Foxes), and there are many comparisons that can be drawn between the two bands.

There’s plenty of variety within the album from the sepia toned gentle folk of “To Ohio”, the stomping blues of “Home I’ll Never Be” the country romp of the title track, the harmonic, almost, Simon & Garfunkel vocals of “Cage the Songbird” and the atmospheric brilliance of “To The Ghosts Who Write History Books”.

OMGCD has tinges of Dylan and Cohen and is modern Americana at its finest.

Mark Knopfler: Get Lucky

In terms of quantity, Knopfler’s solo output has now eclipsed his Dire Straits output. However, I don’t think many would be so quick to make the same claim for quality. It is perhaps unfair to compare Knopfler’s solo albums with his Dire Straits albums, they are essentially separate beasts, and to his credit, Knopfler has explored some different and often interesting avenues when not shackled to Dire Straits. However, in the case of Panic Crew, it seems to me that Knopfler has at times strayed into a Celtic-folk cul-de-sac.

It’s not that I’m just pinning for the rockier riffs and guitar solos of the old days, I have in fact enjoyed many of the slower more subtle pieces on his solo albums. Especially when he’s sniffing around that American Blues sound, and indeed there are some tracks on this album, such as “You Can’t Beat The House” where I am happily reminded of it.

The Kittiwakes: Lofoten Calling

Lofoten Calling is a rich album of folklore and myth inspired by the Lofoten Islands above the Arctic Circle in Norway.

The Kittiwakes are a highly talented trio of musicians comprising of Kate Denny: vocals, violin, Jill Cumberbatch: violin, mandolin, octave mandola, guitar, vocals and Chris Harrison: piano, accordion, piano and vocals.

The title track however sees the Kittiwakes setting their instruments aside for a sublime and powerful harmonic performance. The mixture of solo vocals and beautiful and mesmerising harmonies paint a mystical picture of bleak haunting landscapes complete with soaring eagles and distant whale-song.

The album opens with Maelstrom, an accordion lead shanty based around local folklore and Edgar Allen Poe’s “A Decent Into the Maelstrom”. Denny’s captivating vocals create a power musical meme that is frequently stuck in my brain.

Perhaps my favourite track from the album is “Lynx”. It’s opening fiddling riff gives way to an elegant acoustic guitar and the tale of the Lynx searching for the path down to the salt salt sea. As the Lynx eventually finds the shore and places his paw in the sea the song fades with a beautiful piano outro. An interesting album footnote explains how the Norse name for the islands comes from their shape resembling a lynx footprint.

A wonderful, beautiful debut combing Nordic and British folk influences.

Monsters of Folk: Monsters of Folk

Meh.

Bob Dylan: Together Through Life

There’s no doubting that Bob Dylan has released some truly seminal albums. “Highway 61 Revisited”, “Blonde on Blonde”, “Blood on the Tracks” and “Desire” are all unequivocal musical masterpieces.

Although his musical quality took a steep nose dive in the late 70’s early 80’s (curiously enough, the period where he became a born-again Christian, compelling evidence indeed to support the hypothesis that the Devil has all the best music), he has however had a late blooming purple patch with recent albums like “ Time Out Of Mind”, “Love and Theft” and even “Modern Times”

The professional critics' reviews that I have read for Dylan’s latest album all provide glowing endorsements for this recent work. Maybe they’re right, or perhaps they’re so in awe of the genius that created those aforementioned works of art, that they have failed to mention that the emperor is inclined to occasionally wonder around stark bollock naked.

I’m not suggesting that this is not a good album, there are indeed some great new songs on here, but I still think the package as a whole is a bit of a mixed bag. Accordion player, David Hidalgo, has a constant presence on this album but despite his talent, for me, he outstays his welcome.

Dylan is at his best on this new album with tracks like “Forgetful Heart”, “My Wife’s Hometown” and “Shake Shake Mama” where he opts for a more unadulterated blues formula. Conversely he’s at his most irksome on tracks like “Life is Hard” where the semi-spoken and strained vocals grumble over a painfully slow rhythm.

The Decemberists: The Hazards of Love

Let’s start off this review with a few introductions. The Decemberists are:
Colin Meloy: Singer / Songwriter
Chris Funk: Guitar / multi instrumentalist
Jenny Conlee: Hammond Organ / Accordion / Piano / Keyboards
Nate Query: Bass
John Moen: Drums


The Decemberists formed in 2000 in Portland, Oregon and “The Hazards of Love” is their fifth full length studio album. It is a dark musical fairytale that like a classic Pink Floyd album must be taken as a whole, not a random collection of songs. The story unfolds throughout the 17 connected tracks. I shall attempt to retell the narrative whilst describing each song in turn, but first, allow me to introduce you to the characters in our little story:








William: The Hero, who takes the form of a faun by day
Margaret: The Heroine
The Queen: William’s Mother, The Queen of the Forest
The Rake: The child killing villain of the tale


1. Prelude
A low morose hum gradually increases pitch and is eventually joined by a series of organ chords and choral backing vocals, very evocative of Floyd’s “A Saucerful of Secrets”. I can see why the Decemberists opted to play a recording of “Echoes” in its entirety at the start of the recent gigs premiering this album.

2. The Hazards of Love 1 (The Prettiest Whistles Won’t Wrestle The Thistle’s Undone)
Acoustic guitars join in as the prelude fades and the story begins with the narrator describing how Margaret rides out into the forest and after straying somewhat she meets

“a white and wounded faun”

in the woods, she helps the faun and stays with him till later when

“The beast began to change”

into William, its true form. William takes Margret to the Taiga deeper in the forest and makes love to her. The track is a fairly gentle folk affair with intricate guitar work that reminded me of a late 60’s Kaleidoscope (US) track. A distant shout heralds the start of the next track

3. A Bower Scene
The music speeds up with a ticking beat and running electric guitar as Margaret returns home and

“when young Margaret’s waistline grew wider, the fruit of her amorous entwine inside her”

she returns to the Taiga to seek out William.

4. Won’t Want For Love (Margaret in the Taiga)
A more bluesy and rockier guitar kicks in as the thumping beat continues assisted with a stomping piano refrain and Margaret sings

“columbine, columbine, please alert this love of mine, let him know his Margaret comes along”

in search of more love as she sings out

“Despite this swelling in my belly it won’t quell my want for love”

5. The Hazards of Love 2 (Wager All)
We return to the slower folkier sound of the next instalment of the title track as William finds Margaret and sings

“to lay you down in clover bed, the stars a roof above our heads”

as they make love again throughout the night until the corncrake crows.

6. The Queen’s Approach
A short “Bert Jansch” style acoustic intermission heralds the approach of William’s mother, the Queen of the forest.

7. Isn’t It A Lovely Night?
An acoustic guitar and accordion (whose player sound like they may well be wearing lederhosen) provide a backdrop for Margaret to recount their lovely night together:

“And here we made a bed of boughs, And thistle down, That we had found, To lay upon the dewy ground”

The upright bass joins in for the last verse and a slide guitar adds a more country and western feel to this track.

8. The Wanting Comes in Waves / Repaid
A harpsichord accompanies William as he hears the Queen approach and declares:

“Mother I can hear your foot-fall now, Soft disturbance in the dead-fall how, it proceeds you like a black smoke pall”

The beat picks up and we enter an “Arcade Fire” style piece as William anticipates his mothers rage and pleads that the

“wanting comes in waves”

A heavier rockier change introduces the Queen who screams

“This is how I am repaid”

at William after all she has done for him. We return to the harpsichord / Arcade Fire style for William to offer a deal to the Queen.

“Grant me freedom to enjoy this night and I'll return to you at break of light”

There’s a final return to the Queen’s rockier sound which allows her to accept his proposition as she screams

“Consider it your debt repaid”

9. An Interlude
We then fade into an acoustic instrumental intermission that would fit rather nicely at the end of a lengthy Mike Oldfield composition.

10. The Rake’s Song
If there is to be a single from the album, I propose this dark sinister tale giving us the back story of the villain of the piece. The song reminds me a little of the 3rd Pixies album with its simple electric riff. The harrowing tale explains how the Rake was married at 21 and considered himself cursed as

“her womb starts spilling out babies”

The Rake has a total of four children whom he describes thus:

“First came Eziah with his crinkled little fingers. Then came Charlotte and that wretched girl Dawn. Ugly Myfanwy died on delivery. Mercifully taking her mother along”

The Rake is then able to persue his freedom by killing his remaining children in a various macabre ways.

11. The Abduction of Margaret
We return to the main plot and some classic rock as the arbours provide cover for the Rake to sneak up and

“Our heroine here falls prey to her abductor”

12. The Queen’s Rebuke / The Crossing
A slow heavy Black Sabbath like beat with squealing guitars allows the Queen to fill in the back story of William’s upbringing and how she found him abandoned as a child and turned him into a faun by day. Jon Lord styled keyboards and guitar solos give a classic Deep Purple style sound as the Queen aides the Rake by allowing him to cross the river Annan with Margaret, out of William’s reach:

“But the river is deep to the bends and the water is wild. I will fly you to the far side”

13. Annan Water
The pace of the music quickens with rapid strumming guitars as William pursues Margaret and the Rake and reaches the shores of Annan Water where the Queen helped the Rake flee. Unable to cross the turbulent waters, but undeterred by the Queens warnings that he will drown, he prays to the river spirit and makes another deal to the accompaniment of Church organ.

“So calm your waves and slow your churn. You may have my precious bones on my, on my return”

14. Margaret in Captivity
The Rake taunts Margaret telling her that her calls cannot be heard, but Margaret continues to call out to William to rescue her.

15. The Hazards of Love 3 (Revenge!)
The ghosts of the Rakes children return for their revenge to the familiar opening refrain of “The Wanting Comes in Waves” . The children all sing

“The Hazards of Love”

in unison along with a painfully screeching cello sounding like finger nails down a blackboard. The children take their revenge on their loathsome father.

16. The Wanting Comes in Waves (Reprise)
A final triumphant reprise of this song to reunite William and Margaret.

17. The Hazards of Love 4 (The Drowned)
The slow and sad conclusion to the tale features a beautiful slide guitar that could have come from a classic Eagles hit. As their boat begins to sink William promises Margaret that they will be together as ghosts as they take their wedding vows and sink beneath the waves.

“Oh Margaret the lapping waves are licking quietly at our ankles another bow another breath this brilliant chill's come for the shackle. With this long last rush of air we speak our vows and sorry whispers, when the waves came crashing down, he closed his eyes and softly kissed her.”

In 1969 there was “Tommy”, in 1979 there was the “The Wall”, now in 2009 we finally have “The Hazards of Love”. I guess it could be considered a tad pretentious but I have a huge hard-on for this album. Superb stuff. Go buy it.

Leonard Cohen: Live in London

Leonard Cohen is without any shadow of a doubt, my all time favourite French Canadian Jew. For the benefit of those uninitiated in the genius that is Leonard Cohen, here’s a very quick single paragraph summary.

Having published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1953 and his first novel in 1963 Cohen moved into the burgeoning folk scene in 1967 with the release his first album. All of his art has been sombre and contemplative with rich sexual and religious imagery throughout. This made him highly adorned by beatniks, pretentious 6th form students and morose teenagers (of which I was one). He was already seen as a mature artist by many of his peers on the late 60’s folk circuit. Cohen recorded albums throughout the late 60’s 70’s 80’s and early 90’s, although his output considerably slowed after the 70’s. In 1996 Cohen was ordained as a Zen Buddhist monk and retreated to a monastery. I feared that that would be that, but he emerged again in 2001 with 10 New Songs and another album in 2004.

If it wasn’t for the fact that his life long manager then lost his $5,000,000 retirement fund, things may still be quiet. I suspect this financial issue may well have been the driving force behind last year’s tour and this subsequent live album.

On this new album immense effort has been put into the musical arrangements of these classic Cohen songs for the perfect live performance. Cohen’s gravely tones are accompanied throughout by a highly talented and rehearsed bunch of minstrels.

Despite sounding cleverly improvised and profound, the in between song banter is obviously beautifully scripted, as I recall the exact same dialogue when I attended a gig a few days after this recording was put to tape. Cohen’s chatter with the crowd evokes the feeling of an intimate performance for his personal friends despite actually performing to a packed O2 arena.

The double album consists of 25 sublime Cohen songs perfectly arranged and delivered. Here’s a selection of some of the many fine moments:

The Future
I have always been fairly obsessed with Cohen’s poetic lyrics and am likely to quote them extensively throughout this review. Cohen has in fact censored his own lyrics on this particular version of the title track of his 1992 album. Here’s the original version:

Give me crack and anal sex
Take the only tree that's left
and stuff it up the hole
in your culture
Give me back the Berlin wall
give me Stalin and St Paul
I've seen the future, brother:
it is murder.

For this performance Cohen opts to replace the word “anal” with “casual” but little potency is lost.

Bird On The Wire
The original album version had only slight guitar accompaniment to the melancholic lyrics. This version has added organ and mandolin throughout and even incorporates great separate guitar and saxophone solos. Once again I feel the need to quote from this Cohen classic:

Like a baby, stillborn,
Like a beast with his horn
I have torn everyone who reached out for me.

Everybody Knows
The mandolin and pedal steel guitar mingle with the familiar pounding rhythm of this seminal 1988 track. Despite sounding very similar to the studio version an extra level of detail seems to have added, further enhancing the original version. Once again here’s some lyrics:

Everybody knows that you love me baby
Everybody knows that you really do
Everybody knows that you've been faithful
Ah give or take a night or two
Everybody knows you've been discreet
But there were so many people you just had to meet
Without your clothes
And everybody knows

In My Secret Life
One of Cohen and Sharon Robinson's more recent compositions features an out of synch duet where Cohen growls along with Robinson’s beautiful dulcet tones.

Who By Fire
A magnificent Spanish guitar introduction gives way to the opening verse and applause and I am unable control the goosebumps and the tingle that runs through my body. The audience perfectly respect the deathly silence during the dramatic pauses and an unexpected Hammond organ solo further entertains us before the climatic bass.

Hey That’s No Way To Say Goodbye
This live version is missing the cheesy female vocal “boings” from the original but takes advantage instead of the mandolin player and mouth harp.

Tower Of Song
I recall Leonard walking up to his pre-programmed keyboard and pushing the magic button that kicks of the great synthetic rhythm that immediatley identifies this song. (For anyone who has just read my damming review of the Pet Shop Boys, and their reliance on programmed keyboards, my hypocrisy can be noted.) Anyway it’s hard to suppress a wry smile when the crowd cheer following his dead pan delivery of the immortal lines:

I was born like this,
I had no choice,
I was born with the gift
of a golden voice.

Leonard encourages his backing vocalist to continue with their chanting “do dum dum dum de do dum dum” long after the song proper has come to an end and he teases us with his profession to finding the meaning of life. It isn’t “42” as I suspected, or even “How many roads must a man walk down”, but it is in fact: ”Do dum dum dum de do dum dum”. That’s cleared that one up.

Suzanne
This is perhaps one of Cohen’s best known songs and he plays it beautifully, following that original 1967 recording.
(See YouTube Video at the bottom of the blog)

The Gypsy’s Wife
This was not originally one of my favourite Cohen songs, but this sublime live version is one of the many highlights of this album.

Hallelujah
Lack of exposure to commercial television and dirge radio has spared me from the inconvenience of being tainted with last years Karaoke cover version of this Cohen classic. This centre piece from Cohen 1984 album, “Various positions” is portrayed by the skill and wit of its original author as it should be. That musician’s perennial favourite trick of replacing a place name with their current venue always pleases the local audience and works its usual magic by embedding a London reference into the song.

Democracy
As this concert was recorded shortly after the election of President Obama, has there ever been a more timely moment at which to deliver these lyrics?

It's coming through a hole in the air,
from those nights in Tiananmen Square.
It's coming from the feel
that this ain't exactly real,
or it's real, but it ain't exactly there.
From the wars against disorder,
from the sirens night and day,
from the fires of the homeless,
from the ashes of the gay:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

I’m Your Man
One of my all time favourite Cohen songs is depicted in all its full splendour with accompanying woodwind. The song also provided an ideal opportunity for the pun writers of the title of a collection of Cohen covers by admiring musicians, “I’m your fan”. Here are some words of wisdom from this standard:

If you want a lover
I’ll do anything you ask me to
And if you want another kind of love
Ill wear a mask for you
If you want a partner
Take my hand
Or if you want to strike me down in anger
Here I stand
I’m your man

I was going to mention a few other songs too, but I think I’ve been going on for long enough now.

I may no longer subscribe to the religious doctrines so eloquently professed in many of these exceptional songs, but their poetic power remains undiminished by my disbelief.

Neil Diamond: Home Before Dark

I’ve not listened to any Neil Diamond since I was a kid, I’d always regarded him as being of my parents generation and hadn’t really bothered with him, but The Beatles and The Stones are of my parent generation and I certainly wouldn’t apply the same logic to them. So I thought I’d best shelve my illogical prejudices and give this new piece of work an honest and fair appraisal. Initialling listening to the new Neil Diamond album seemed a little strange as the voice I remembered seems completely unchanged and evocative of my childhood. The Rick Rubin produced album features unhurried drum-less acoustic guitar and piano tunes, non more enchanting than “If I Don’t See You Again” at the top of the album. The album clearly exposes the great song writing skills of Diamond by not cluttering the great guitar and piano work with over produced orchestrations and harmonies. By entering the US Charts at No. 1 Neil Diamond becomes the oldest artist at the age of 67 to release a number 1 album, overtaking Bob Dylan’s 2005 “Modern Times”.

Bon Iver: For Emma Forever Ago

Stick a relatively unknown singer/songwriter in a remote cabin in Wisconsin for 4 months in 2007 and the result seems to be a piece of work that has enthralled all the music critics in every music press review I have read this year. Bon Iver is in fact the stage name for one Justin Vernon and the critics seem to have a fair point as this is indeed a beautifully crafted debut album of acoustic folk. The album starts of with “Flume” with its gentle harmonies, simple and effective acoustic rhythm mixing with a spooky metallic vibrating string adding an extra dimension. A rich and contemplative album that deserves timeout for a quite undisturbed listen.

Fleet Foxes: Fleet Foxes

This has become a firm favourite for me on the morning train journey to work. It’s a melodic mix of choral and folk music. Each songs beautiful layered harmonies and delicate acoustic guitars make this Seattle based band my favourite debut album of the year.

The Coral: Roots and Echoes

The Liverpudlian quintet continues to successfully blend late 60’s psychedelia and rock with a modern twist. Roots and Echoes is their 4th album since 2001 debut and they have spent a successful summer touring with the Arctic Monkeys.

The Waterboys: Book of Lightning

This gem of an album seems to passed under the radar of much of the music press that I have read this year which is a real shame as this album is up their with the best of their work. It has the typical Waterboys sound featuring the intricate Irish fiddling of Steve Wickham, evocative of Fisherman’s Blues and the more rocky guitars of Dream Harder. The stand out track is “Everybody Takes a Tumble” which is a showcase for Wickham’s mastery of the fiddle.

Bob Dylan: Modern Times

I heard that Alicia Keys where very pleased to be name dropped in the opening verse on the first track of Dylan’s new album, certainly his best since 1997’s “Time Out Of Mind”. Despite the title, the style seems closer to his late 60’s early 70’s work, which is no bad thing. The lyrics are of course transcendent, but I’m sure no one expected any less. The penultimate track “The Levee’s Gonna Break” must surely be included following last years events in New Orleans but like Zeppelin, he has included no credit for Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe. My favourite track, “Ain’t Talkin’”, sounds a little Leonard Cohen-ish and you can virtually see him walk off into the sunset as the track & album draws to its conclusion.

Bert Jansch: The Black Swan

You’ll have to leave normal Pop/Rock aisles of HMV and stroll over to the Folk section to locate this little gem. My attention was first drawn to Bert Jansch about 25 years ago when I first got into Led Zeppelin and learnt that “Black Mountain” side on the first Zeppelin album was a reworking of some classic Bert Jansch. Echoes of that same style can still be heard on this new offering off mellow acoustic bliss. Bert must have had a fairly high profile year (by his standards), as I spotted him at one of last summers music festivals in North Devon on one of those steamy hot days back in June. Great for your middle class dinner parties, and in case anyone asks, it’s Beth Orton on vocals on those tracks.

Yusef: Another Cup

When Cat Stevens got his calling from Allah and turned his back on the music industry it was a great loss for us music aficionados. When he therefore decided to release his first new material for nearly 30 years under his Muslim name of Yusuf Islam I bought it with great anticipation. The opening track “Avoid the City after Dark” is one of the album highlights along with his reworking of his 1970 classic “I Think I see The Light” presumably now directed at his new preferred deity. However, as with all religious delusions, they are as irrelevant to me as his skin colour, sexuality or favourite shade of blue, I’m only interested in the music and that sounds pretty good to me.