Röyksopp are a brace of modern upbeat, Jean Michelle Jarre’s and their 3rd studio release provides a rather satisfactory aural happy slapping compared to my habitual dour preferences.
There is one stand-out corking bouncy instant hit on this album in “Heads Will Roll”. It’s a likeable mixture of old school rock augmented with more clubbing beats than a beach full of seal pups. As Karen O sings out “Off, Off, with head, dance, dance till your dead” to a euphoric rhythm it’s hard not to get swept along with her. Sadly for me the rest of the album has looped around several times on my iPod and all the other tracks have failed to grab my attention.
“Understanding Electricity” is a great debut album that provides a perfect platform for the Official Secrets Act to become a major new force in 2009. Despite being an original and contemporary album, it still evokes some early 80’s déjà-vu for me
Since the heady days of punk, few bands have grasped the mantle set by the Sex Pistols and managed to make themselves vilified by the tabloid press and championed by originality seeking anarchic youth. 1997’s “The Fat of the Land” hardcore electro punk sound and provocative titles secured suitable notoriety and fame. Now 12 years on they have released their 5th studio album and continue to vibrate our intestines with extreme drum and bass, but it all now seems much more accessible and instantly likeable.
The first new album of original material for 2009 to enter my music collection is by Animal Collective. “Merriweather Post Pavilion” is the Eighth studio offering from these busy Baltimore boys and the first to come to my attention. It contains eleven avant-garde sonic compositions of noise rock, each consisting of a thickly layered tapestry of industrial beats, synthesised loops, sound effects and a rich topping of beach boy styled harmonic vocals. Occasional interest is supplied by the stripping away of some of the layers to reveal the tracks composite undercurrents and provide variety. However after eleven variations of this technique I was left with a deep yearning for a simple melody or riff played on a conventional instrument. As I downloaded this particular album, one essential aspect of the album that could easily be overlooked is the cover art. The small thumbnail on this blog doesn’t really do the optical illusion justice, so try finding a higher resolution version of the image and stare at it for a while. What appears to be a uniform pattern turns out to be a shifting complex image that actually seems rather apt for the contents of the album. Professional reviewers have been fairly united in their praise for this new album so I’m going to keep listening, to see if a deeper appreciation materialises. I’ll post an update in the comments field if I capriciously get the urge to elevate my opinion. In the meantime, I’m very much looking forward to what the music industry has in store for us in the first part of 2009 spearheaded by new albums from Franz Ferdinand and U2. Rest assured they are all pre-ordered from my favourite on-line South American river and will appear in this blog shortly.
Moody electronic ambience prevails over the psychedelic rock of previous albums and sound effects entwined in the synthesisers bring nature and life to these new recordings. The overall feel of “Snowflake Midnight” is solemn and melancholic, but that suits a contemplative old misery like me.
I never really got into Grace Jones when I was younger and she was at the height of her fame, mainly I suspect because I was shit scared of her. She is a formidable and imposing woman who would put the willies up any chap, as Russell Harty found out to his cost. I therefore found it interesting to read a recent in-depth article in Mojo that attempted to see the Grace Jones behind the dominant and daunting veneer. This armed me with sufficient interest to check out her latest offering. First off the starting blocks is “This is Life” with its tribal rhythms and, over exaggerated black accented rapping. This is followed by “William’s Blood” which is a more subdued affair with softer vocals and disco beats and concludes with a rendition of Amazing Grace, quite apt. Next up is “Corporate Cannibal”, which completely reinforces her well crafted image with its refrain of “I’m a man eating machine” overlaid on some great modern rolling slow dance beats, gnashing guitar solo and a reference to “Slave to the Rhythm”. Well that’s covered the first 3 of 9, but it’s certainly worth continuing to listen to the end.
Portishead’s 2nd was released in 1997, so was it worth the 11 year wait for their 3rd? Well they’ve retained their distinctive sound of repetitive jarring beats overlaid with Beth Gibbons’ angelic vocals. Despite the simplistic sound, like all music of any credit there’s far too much to be picked up on the first couple of listens, and some of the disjointed rhythms don’t seem to make sense the first few times around. However, “3rd” is up there with the first 2 great Portishead long players and the similarity surely guarantee’s aficionados of the first two will also love this one. To pick a few standout tracks, I would have to mention “The Rip” with its delicate acoustic guitar refrain underpinning the gorgeous vocals before the synthesised rhythm gradually builds up and takes a hold. “Magic Doors” opens with the monotonous tone the BBC used to broadcast at night when they’d run out of telly, the unwavering tone is joined by an avant-garde drum loops reminiscent of early Nick Mason to produce a surreal cacophony.
Alison Goldfrapp has previously worked with Tricky and Orbital before joining forces with Will Gregory in order to produce this debut album. The album was actually released at the end of last year, but too late for the 2000 awards. The snow covered forest on the inside cover of the album sleeve suggests the cold and crisp landscapes that can be easily conjured up in the mind whilst listening to the gentle and sometimes haunting music. The opening track "Lovely Head" will be recognisable to many since being used to advertise one2one. The album contains string and brass arrangements that could well have come from an early James Bond Soundtrack along with Portishead style scratches and samples. More suited to a sophisticated dinner party than a rowdy knees-up.
This London two piece certainly seem to have a high profile in the dance music scene after the success of their first album, "Remedy". Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe are eager to build on the success of their first record by making an album that appeals to both the mainstream dance clubs and the more diverse underground. The album is packed full with as many sound effects as they could cram in. It seems that because they have the technology available to produce whizzing, buzzing and beeping effects they had to stuff them all in somewhere. Although it is a very jolly album, the majority of the tracks are fairly uninspiring and don’t appear to have much depth. The opening track, "Romeo" featuring Kele Le Roc, is a good example of this lacklustre but happy format. However there are a couple of better tracks to be found. "Get Me Off" has a good solid dance beat and sexually provocative lyrics that are sure to go down well in the clubs. The highlight of the album for me was "Do Your Thing" which successfully mixes dance and jazz with its trumpets and synthesisers working in perfect harmony with each other. Unfortunately these good tracks are too few and far between and I’m unconvinced that this represents the best of what’s available in the dance genre.
Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker from North London both opted to study sound engineering and served their apprenticeships at RAK studios. A college friend of theirs was producing Radiohead’s "OK Computer" and gave them the opportunity to remix "Climbing up the Walls", which proved popular on Radio 1. Since then there’s not been much on offer other than a very hard to find EP and a few more remixes. "Simple Things" is their debut album and has allowed them to be recognised as much more than an English version of Air. The album should receive wide appeal with its subtle mix of soul, jazz, and funk, chill out instrumentals and heavily orchestrated themes. It’s hard to pick the standout tracks from a whole album of gems but perhaps the instrumental "Red Dust" with its indolent acoustic introduction leading us into an assortment of melodic synthesisers and strings deserves some special mention. An album wholly worthy of it nomination, and perhaps more.
