Last year, Clinic cleared house with rarities collection, Funf. As underwhelming as it is, it could prove to be the band's most significant statement, as their fifth studio album, Do It! sees Clinic make their first steps forward since their classic debut, Internal Wrangler.
Do It! eschews the scratchy D.I.Y. aesthetic that has atrophied Clinic's career over the last three albums and goes for a pin-sharp production style, but most importantly, the Liverpudlians have knuckled down on the songwriting front, making Do It! their most immediately likeable album in eight years.
Clinic haven't lost any of the idiosyncrasies that have formed their sound since inception, but their quirks no longer overpower the songs. This is clear from the outset with the fractured psych-punk-stomp, 'Memories', which alternates between Nuggets fuzz and eerie prog-pop melodic interludes, but the transition never jars, serving the overall feel of playful schizophrenia. Elsewhere, 'Emotions' is a woozy dreamboat sway that Johnny Ray would have been proud of, 'The Witch' is the closest they've come to the spirit of The Monks without aping them outright, while the overdriven sax and violence whirlwind of 'Shopping Bag' is thrillingly bracing.
Ade Blackburn's tortured sneer is as simultaneously malevolent and vulnerable as it's ever been and on 'Free Not Free' channels an eloquent grace not tapped since 'Distortions'. All of which makes Do It! Clinic's best full-length since their first and quite possibly their best full stop. What a pleasant surprise.
http://highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=3533&band=161
Tuesday, 8 April 2008
Album: Andrew Weatherall - Watch The Ride (Harmless)
Nowadays you can download excellent mixes for free on an almost daily basis. Free from licensing constraints, DJs are free to put whatever the hell they like on an online mix, leading to net mixes more closely resembling what it's like to catch those DJs in their natural settings; a sweaty club.
This means then, that to persuade the average electronic music fan to part with upwards of ten quid for a mix CD, labels and DJs are having to pull out the stops a little more. Mixes are inherently more transient than artist albums anyway, with only a handful of mixes resonating past their meagre shelf-life. The Watch The Ride series has thus far been more throwaway than most, seeing the likes of Tom Findlay and Zinc turn in 'will this do?' snoreathons. That they've snagged Andrew Weatherall, one of the best DJs around, is head-turning enough in this crowded marketplace and the trademark Weatherall magpie spirit is definitely in evidence here.
It's a typically dark, dubby, danceable affair, with the curveballs coming thick and fast, but as with most mixes, come the end, you can't help but feel that the thrills are merely vicarious in nature. Maybe this mix might open people up to the Afro-jazz-disco delights of Mock & Toof or the emotive melodic techno of Danton Eeprom, but in an age where you can get better mixes than this for free, it just serves as a reminder that your money will be better spent going to see Weatherall in a dingy basement somewhere.
http://highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=3596&band=492
This means then, that to persuade the average electronic music fan to part with upwards of ten quid for a mix CD, labels and DJs are having to pull out the stops a little more. Mixes are inherently more transient than artist albums anyway, with only a handful of mixes resonating past their meagre shelf-life. The Watch The Ride series has thus far been more throwaway than most, seeing the likes of Tom Findlay and Zinc turn in 'will this do?' snoreathons. That they've snagged Andrew Weatherall, one of the best DJs around, is head-turning enough in this crowded marketplace and the trademark Weatherall magpie spirit is definitely in evidence here.
It's a typically dark, dubby, danceable affair, with the curveballs coming thick and fast, but as with most mixes, come the end, you can't help but feel that the thrills are merely vicarious in nature. Maybe this mix might open people up to the Afro-jazz-disco delights of Mock & Toof or the emotive melodic techno of Danton Eeprom, but in an age where you can get better mixes than this for free, it just serves as a reminder that your money will be better spent going to see Weatherall in a dingy basement somewhere.
http://highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=3596&band=492
Tuesday, 18 March 2008
Album: Funky Nassau: The Compass Point Story 1980-1986 (Strut)
About damn time someone put together a Compass Point compilation. It's not just reckless hyperbole to say that some of the best music of the 1980s – all time, even - came out of that Bahaman studio. A combination of location, the right engineers, producers and musicians and a common goal to make it funky, above all else led to Compass Point gaining notoriety amongst right-thinking musicians at the time, making it THE place to record.
Strut's compilation gathers together some of the studio's lesser-known highlights and some you should know and love already, but it's by no means exhaustive. I guess the 'Funky' in the title should have been a signifier, but a more comprehensive look at CP's history wouldn't have gone amiss. So we get 'Genius Of Love', 'Spasticus Autisticus' and 'My Jamaican Guy', alongside obscurities such as laid-back, sun-kissed disco masterclass, 'Obsession' by Guy Cuevas, the dubby new wave of Cristina's 'You Rented A Space' and cosmic classic, 'Adventures In Success (Dub Copy)' by Will Powers.
There's no room, however, for any B-52s, Black Uhuru (a missed opportunity if ever there was one) or anything from Bjork's Post (the timeframe did for that). Hell, they could have squeezed 'Back In Black' on there for shits and giggles, surely. That's for another collection though and you can't argue with the riches here. Any compilation that features Grace Jones, Tom Tom Club and Gwen Guthrie and also acts as a primer for some of the most luxuriously spacious dance music ever created gets my vote.
http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=3526&band=492
Strut's compilation gathers together some of the studio's lesser-known highlights and some you should know and love already, but it's by no means exhaustive. I guess the 'Funky' in the title should have been a signifier, but a more comprehensive look at CP's history wouldn't have gone amiss. So we get 'Genius Of Love', 'Spasticus Autisticus' and 'My Jamaican Guy', alongside obscurities such as laid-back, sun-kissed disco masterclass, 'Obsession' by Guy Cuevas, the dubby new wave of Cristina's 'You Rented A Space' and cosmic classic, 'Adventures In Success (Dub Copy)' by Will Powers.
There's no room, however, for any B-52s, Black Uhuru (a missed opportunity if ever there was one) or anything from Bjork's Post (the timeframe did for that). Hell, they could have squeezed 'Back In Black' on there for shits and giggles, surely. That's for another collection though and you can't argue with the riches here. Any compilation that features Grace Jones, Tom Tom Club and Gwen Guthrie and also acts as a primer for some of the most luxuriously spacious dance music ever created gets my vote.
http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=3526&band=492
Album: Neon Neon - Stainless Style (Lex)
What seems like nothing more than a zany idea – a concept record about bad-boy automobile engineer, John DeLorean – actually makes perfect sense. DeLorean's colourful life makes for an intriguing jumping-off point, filled as it was with starfucking endeavours, drug deals gone wrong and muscle cars. What could go wrong?
Well, very little, on the face of it. Gruff Rhys and Boom Bip's Stainless Style blinds you with its surface sheen and multifarious hooks and it has to be said that, weak Yo Majesty! guest spot, 'Sweat Shop' aside, every track here could be a megahit. In 1985, at least. There are some genuinely great pop songs here – the paranoia-wracked electro-funk of 'Michael Douglas', 'Luxury Pool', on which Fat Lip paints DeLorean as a kind of Frank Lucas of the car industry and, best of all, 'I Told Her On Alderaan' which acts as the best argument for John Hughes resurrecting his career, if only to have this soundtrack the prom night sequence – but Stainless Style never fully gels.
Why? Well, the musical styles are so disparate and the sequencing so off-whack that the conceptual ruse proves to be counter-intuitive. Sometimes, it's almost as if there are two albums playing simultaneously. I appreciate Rhys' and Bip's devotion to 80s nostalgia while having one foot firmly planted in the here-and-now, but the power pop and electro never totally coalesce. So while Stainless Style features some of the finest pop moments in recent years, it ultimately serves as proof that a great album always has to be more than just the sum of its parts.
http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=3525&band=2177
Well, very little, on the face of it. Gruff Rhys and Boom Bip's Stainless Style blinds you with its surface sheen and multifarious hooks and it has to be said that, weak Yo Majesty! guest spot, 'Sweat Shop' aside, every track here could be a megahit. In 1985, at least. There are some genuinely great pop songs here – the paranoia-wracked electro-funk of 'Michael Douglas', 'Luxury Pool', on which Fat Lip paints DeLorean as a kind of Frank Lucas of the car industry and, best of all, 'I Told Her On Alderaan' which acts as the best argument for John Hughes resurrecting his career, if only to have this soundtrack the prom night sequence – but Stainless Style never fully gels.
Why? Well, the musical styles are so disparate and the sequencing so off-whack that the conceptual ruse proves to be counter-intuitive. Sometimes, it's almost as if there are two albums playing simultaneously. I appreciate Rhys' and Bip's devotion to 80s nostalgia while having one foot firmly planted in the here-and-now, but the power pop and electro never totally coalesce. So while Stainless Style features some of the finest pop moments in recent years, it ultimately serves as proof that a great album always has to be more than just the sum of its parts.
http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=3525&band=2177
Album: Hercules And Love Affair - Hercules And Love Affair (DFA/EMI)
Blending high-minded arty concepts with that most purely functional form of music, disco, can be thorny ground. If you over-intellectualise something that purposely lacks depth of intelligence then the whole enterprise tends to crumble under the weight of all that thinking.
This reasoning makes Hercules & Love Affair's debut seem all the more heroic. Fusing art and disco is very much a New York pursuit and H&LA fit right into the canon alongside Arthur Russell, Grace Jones and ZE Records. New York DJ, Andy Butler has assembled a bunch of like-minded aesthetes and freaks to ensure that the balance between highbrow and lowbrow is struck precisely.
While it helps to know your touchstones going into this record, it's not essential. Some of the tracks nod vigorously at the past, like 'This Is My Love', which steals the guitar from Chaz Jankel's 'Glad To Know You', the Frankie Knuckles-referencing opener, 'Time Will' or the jackin' 'You Belong', but it never wanders into shameless nostalgia.
What it most definitely is, at its core, is a modern pop record with some of the best vocal performances in recent years from the rotating cast, most notably Antony Hegarty ('Blind') and Kim-Ann Foxman ('Athene'). Also, take a bow, Tim Goldsworthy. The other half of DFA steps right out of James Murphy's shadow with this crisp, clean production.
Hercules & Love Affair may well pay dutiful respect to NY's past on their magnificent debut, but they also offer us a glimpse into its future. A feast for mind, body and soul, Hercules & Love Affair is nothing short of miraculous.
http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=3497&band=2174
This reasoning makes Hercules & Love Affair's debut seem all the more heroic. Fusing art and disco is very much a New York pursuit and H&LA fit right into the canon alongside Arthur Russell, Grace Jones and ZE Records. New York DJ, Andy Butler has assembled a bunch of like-minded aesthetes and freaks to ensure that the balance between highbrow and lowbrow is struck precisely.
While it helps to know your touchstones going into this record, it's not essential. Some of the tracks nod vigorously at the past, like 'This Is My Love', which steals the guitar from Chaz Jankel's 'Glad To Know You', the Frankie Knuckles-referencing opener, 'Time Will' or the jackin' 'You Belong', but it never wanders into shameless nostalgia.
What it most definitely is, at its core, is a modern pop record with some of the best vocal performances in recent years from the rotating cast, most notably Antony Hegarty ('Blind') and Kim-Ann Foxman ('Athene'). Also, take a bow, Tim Goldsworthy. The other half of DFA steps right out of James Murphy's shadow with this crisp, clean production.
Hercules & Love Affair may well pay dutiful respect to NY's past on their magnificent debut, but they also offer us a glimpse into its future. A feast for mind, body and soul, Hercules & Love Affair is nothing short of miraculous.
http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=3497&band=2174
Album: The Glimmers - The Glimmers Are Gee Gee Fazzi (www.theglimmertwins.com)
It seems the Radiohead bug is catching. The Glimmers have gone one better by giving away CD copies of their debut album at DJ gigs. They could well have made a bit of coin out of this long-player, but keeping it out of the system (not entirely, or I wouldn't be reviewing it) makes them look like they're flicking the vs at the money-grubbing majors and also acts as a neat brickbat-dodge.
Fans would have sniffed at having to fork out for this one, as most of the tracks here have been released before, so making it a freebie is a move both canny and hip. What of the music though? The Glimmers have always been more appealing in theory than practice. Their touchstones (classic Italo, Eurotrash-y rock, Middle Eastern percussion) and their mixes are impeccable, but their own productions have most often been less interesting than their genetic make-up. While this is occasionally the case here, …Gee Gee Fazzi is still an entertaining, fun listen.
Despite the occasional misstep (Princess Superstar's guest spot on 'Wanna Make Out' being the most obnoxious thing the duo have committed to tape), The Glimmers approach the album like a mix, never allowing a song to outstay its welcome. The super-fun take on 'Let's Get Physical', Linn drum workout, 'Kobe's In Columbia' and Lindstrom & Prins Thomas collaboration, 'Music For Dreams' all have massive replay value, but there's an aftertaste of missed opportunity. Thankfully though, while the record's spinning, you'll be enjoying yourself too much to even notice.
http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=3508&band=2178
Fans would have sniffed at having to fork out for this one, as most of the tracks here have been released before, so making it a freebie is a move both canny and hip. What of the music though? The Glimmers have always been more appealing in theory than practice. Their touchstones (classic Italo, Eurotrash-y rock, Middle Eastern percussion) and their mixes are impeccable, but their own productions have most often been less interesting than their genetic make-up. While this is occasionally the case here, …Gee Gee Fazzi is still an entertaining, fun listen.
Despite the occasional misstep (Princess Superstar's guest spot on 'Wanna Make Out' being the most obnoxious thing the duo have committed to tape), The Glimmers approach the album like a mix, never allowing a song to outstay its welcome. The super-fun take on 'Let's Get Physical', Linn drum workout, 'Kobe's In Columbia' and Lindstrom & Prins Thomas collaboration, 'Music For Dreams' all have massive replay value, but there's an aftertaste of missed opportunity. Thankfully though, while the record's spinning, you'll be enjoying yourself too much to even notice.
http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=3508&band=2178
Single: Neon Neon - I Lust U (Lex)
'I Lust U' is the third single from Neon Neon's (Gruff Rhys and Boom Bip) forthcoming John DeLorean concept album, Stainless Style and it's one of the strongest examples of the pairing's retro-futurist schtick. Synths fart and an 808 vamps about and it's all very 1983. In fact, it recalls C-Bank's seminal 'One More Shot' at times, only not as good (Bip, as good as he is, is no John Robie).
What almost propels 'I Lust U' to full-on greatness is the warm tones of Rhys' muse of late, Cate Le Bon. It's no coincidence that her verse now opens the track (in the early version, Gruff's did), given how ubiquitous the Super Furry Animal has been of late. It's a smart move as music this knowingly mechanical needs a touch of humanism. 'I Lust U' is fun and quite addictive, no more no less and sometimes that's no more than you can ask for. That and a kicking drum machine break anyway.
http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=3505&band=2177
What almost propels 'I Lust U' to full-on greatness is the warm tones of Rhys' muse of late, Cate Le Bon. It's no coincidence that her verse now opens the track (in the early version, Gruff's did), given how ubiquitous the Super Furry Animal has been of late. It's a smart move as music this knowingly mechanical needs a touch of humanism. 'I Lust U' is fun and quite addictive, no more no less and sometimes that's no more than you can ask for. That and a kicking drum machine break anyway.
http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=3505&band=2177
Single: Hercules And Love Affair - Blind (DFA/EMI)
As hook-ups go, the collaboration between Antony Hegarty and New York disco deviant, Andrew Butler, is one for the file marked "out of left-field". That's not to say that it doesn't work, as disparate voices have a tendency to coalesce into one strong force for good.
Butler's uplifting, yet melancholic take on that most flamboyant of genres allows Antony's voice a rein-free, yet strikingly immediate flight. Pitched at some point between Liza Minelli and Arthur Russell, Hegarty's rich enunciations are a perfect twin for the twisting bass guitar, dramatic synths and blaring horns making this one of the most addictive singles that DFA have ever put out.
Neither of the two remixes quite hit it out of the park, with Frankie Knuckles' sensuous classic house faring better than Serge Santiago's dark, tech-y redo, but if you want unadulterated dancefloor bliss, you're better off sticking with the perfect original or the 'Hercules Club Mix' on the 12".
http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=3496&band=2174
Butler's uplifting, yet melancholic take on that most flamboyant of genres allows Antony's voice a rein-free, yet strikingly immediate flight. Pitched at some point between Liza Minelli and Arthur Russell, Hegarty's rich enunciations are a perfect twin for the twisting bass guitar, dramatic synths and blaring horns making this one of the most addictive singles that DFA have ever put out.
Neither of the two remixes quite hit it out of the park, with Frankie Knuckles' sensuous classic house faring better than Serge Santiago's dark, tech-y redo, but if you want unadulterated dancefloor bliss, you're better off sticking with the perfect original or the 'Hercules Club Mix' on the 12".
http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=3496&band=2174
Live: Spektrum (Night & Day, Manchester, 9.2.08.)
Bands put themselves at the mercy of a lot of different factors when they hit the road. Fickle business that it is, fans swarm like moths from one shiny thing to the next and if you pause for a moment, the next younger, brighter, shiner thing usurps you without even a bye or leave.
So for a band like Spektrum, who were doing this electro-punk-funk hyphen-pop thing waaay before the likes of Metronomy, Late Of The Pier and the other upstarts, it must be difficult knowing where your next audience is going to come from. That's before you figure in other obstacles like 'flu-ridden band members and useless soundmen.
Frontwoman, Lola Olafisoye is a bewitching presence onstage, but tonight she's without her stoic counter-balance, knob-twiddler Gabriel Olegavich (struck with the aforementioned 'flu) and seems a little at sea, despite an able rhythm section and the warmth from the small crowd. Matters are made worse by her needing to keep prodding the soundman to play the backing track (making up for Olegavich's absence) in-between lines.
Also, the newest songs here are over twelve months old, so you can expect a little sluggishness here and there. Still, 'May Day' is a storming opener, 'Cedar' is lascivious enough to knock the temperature up a notch and 'Kinda New', blended with the famous Tiefschwarz remix, is nothing short of brilliance. It's a patchy, occasionally frustrating night for Spektrum though, through no fault of their own and one that almost makes you wonder whether being a vanguard is worth it in this day and age.
http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=3452&band=2147
So for a band like Spektrum, who were doing this electro-punk-funk hyphen-pop thing waaay before the likes of Metronomy, Late Of The Pier and the other upstarts, it must be difficult knowing where your next audience is going to come from. That's before you figure in other obstacles like 'flu-ridden band members and useless soundmen.
Frontwoman, Lola Olafisoye is a bewitching presence onstage, but tonight she's without her stoic counter-balance, knob-twiddler Gabriel Olegavich (struck with the aforementioned 'flu) and seems a little at sea, despite an able rhythm section and the warmth from the small crowd. Matters are made worse by her needing to keep prodding the soundman to play the backing track (making up for Olegavich's absence) in-between lines.
Also, the newest songs here are over twelve months old, so you can expect a little sluggishness here and there. Still, 'May Day' is a storming opener, 'Cedar' is lascivious enough to knock the temperature up a notch and 'Kinda New', blended with the famous Tiefschwarz remix, is nothing short of brilliance. It's a patchy, occasionally frustrating night for Spektrum though, through no fault of their own and one that almost makes you wonder whether being a vanguard is worth it in this day and age.
http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=3452&band=2147
Single: Les Savy Fav - Patty Lee/The Sweat Descends (Wichita)
What at first appears a curious choice for a double-header (pairing one of the highlights of last year's Let's Stay Friends with inarguably their finest moment) seems more obvious with the information that LSF are about to reissue their singles compilation, Inches over here in Blighty.
'Patty Lee' is an effortlessly swinging singalong popper that acts as a marker for how Tim Harrington and co. have matured as songwriters, but the real draw here is 'The Sweat Descends', which is a signifier for just how stupendously good Les Savy Fav can be when firing on all cylinders. A raging, supremely danceable monolith, 'The Sweat Descends' is a bloody, red in tooth and claw battle between erudite American indie and balls-out, heart-pumping, muscular modern rock. It's not unlike TV On The Radio facing down Queens Of The Stone Age at high noon. The outcome is too close to call but the bout is bracing and beautiful. So, it's a four for 'Patty Lee', but for 'The Sweat Descends' it's a resounding...
5/5
http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=3453&band=1962
'Patty Lee' is an effortlessly swinging singalong popper that acts as a marker for how Tim Harrington and co. have matured as songwriters, but the real draw here is 'The Sweat Descends', which is a signifier for just how stupendously good Les Savy Fav can be when firing on all cylinders. A raging, supremely danceable monolith, 'The Sweat Descends' is a bloody, red in tooth and claw battle between erudite American indie and balls-out, heart-pumping, muscular modern rock. It's not unlike TV On The Radio facing down Queens Of The Stone Age at high noon. The outcome is too close to call but the bout is bracing and beautiful. So, it's a four for 'Patty Lee', but for 'The Sweat Descends' it's a resounding...
5/5
http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=3453&band=1962
Live: Akron/Family and Phosphorescent (The Phoenix, Manchester, 30.11.07.)
There seems to be a legion of American underground bands blending bucolic electronics with folk weirdness these days so it seems appropriate that two of these should be sharing a bill. First up is Michael Houck a.k.a. Pitchfork-approved off-kilter troubadour, Phosphorescent.
Houck's recently-released second album, Pride is currently the subject of much chatter in the blogosphere and it isn't hard to see why. Making full use of his effects pedal, Houck cuts a solitary figure onstage but makes up for it with liberal usage of live looping techniques, used to great effect on a unifying closing cover of 'Suspicious Minds'. It's on the more intimate, Will Oldham-esque songs that he really excels though, like the beguiling 'Cocaine Lights'. Definitely one to watch.
Akron/Family are a different proposition altogether though. Coming with an in-built pedigree and a fearsome live reputation, they start promisingly with a couple of lithe, groove-laden, yet hushed numbers, before disappearing up their collective rectum with copious amounts of freeform wibbling and noodling.
It all culminates in an astonishing, rowdy run through of 'Ed Is A Portal' but, for me, they hadn't done enough to deserve the rapturous applause and pogoing that accompanies it. Akron/Family need to spend more time tweaking the finer points of their live show and learn how to manage the peaks and troughs of their set (tonight is wildly uneven) if they're ever to be considered a truly special band. Phosphorescent, on the other hand, is almost there.
http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=3345&band=1401
Houck's recently-released second album, Pride is currently the subject of much chatter in the blogosphere and it isn't hard to see why. Making full use of his effects pedal, Houck cuts a solitary figure onstage but makes up for it with liberal usage of live looping techniques, used to great effect on a unifying closing cover of 'Suspicious Minds'. It's on the more intimate, Will Oldham-esque songs that he really excels though, like the beguiling 'Cocaine Lights'. Definitely one to watch.
Akron/Family are a different proposition altogether though. Coming with an in-built pedigree and a fearsome live reputation, they start promisingly with a couple of lithe, groove-laden, yet hushed numbers, before disappearing up their collective rectum with copious amounts of freeform wibbling and noodling.
It all culminates in an astonishing, rowdy run through of 'Ed Is A Portal' but, for me, they hadn't done enough to deserve the rapturous applause and pogoing that accompanies it. Akron/Family need to spend more time tweaking the finer points of their live show and learn how to manage the peaks and troughs of their set (tonight is wildly uneven) if they're ever to be considered a truly special band. Phosphorescent, on the other hand, is almost there.
http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=3345&band=1401
Interview: Les Savy Fav
It seems fitting that terminal nearly-men and ‘band’s band’, Les Savy Fav should hit
Tim is busily working away on a customised poster for tonight’s show throughout the interview. Although being knee-deep in cut-out letters (spelling out the words “Man Chest Hair”), he manages to be erudite and charming, while drummer Harrison Haynes is able to pick up the slack when Harrington’s concentration starts to wander. Much minutiae is covered (TV comedy, the vertiginous effects of the dressing room wall covering) before the talk moves into more serious territory.
“There was a period (a couple of years ago) when I thought we weren’t allowed to be a band”, Tim muses, before
Pushed on how he thinks the landscape has changed over the years, Tim reflects, “Since we started as a band… it’s gelled up to be a kind of functioning industry. It’s now like, ‘My job is I’m in a band’ and that never occurred to us. We always had other jobs outside the band”.
Tim goes on to talk about the overriding influence of the internet on today’s music; “There’s more connoisseurship. More people have access to more music, which is cool, but there’s not as much of that kind of misunderstanding when you live in a town where there’s no good record shops and there’s no good music”.
Tim seems perturbed at the changes in how people are turned on to music today, having seen it evolve from “checking out the thank-you list in the liner notes and just buying them all, hoping that some of them would be good”, to “downloading a song off MySpace and deciding whether you like them or not”. He qualifies by saying “It’s great… for some kinds of musicians that years ago would have been in a punk, underground type of world, whereas now they can actually think of making a living out of it”.
There’s a refreshingly old-school sentiment at the heart of Les Savy Fav that could be misconceived as reverse-snobbery were it not for Harrington’s super-enthused, thoughtful manner. When ruminating on the instant fame some bands have thrust upon them these days, he comes to the conclusion that bands “need time to suck”, before breaking the whole of the music industry’s band nursery down into three types of band:
“There’s band that comes out of nowhere that people go crazy for, but it turns out that all they have is three songs and they suck. Then there’s band that comes out of nowhere and it turns out that they actually are a really great band, they just didn’t have to fuck around for five years before they got any attention. That’s awesome for them.
“Then there’s the band that suck at first and would’ve gotten awesome, but never get the chance because everyone saw their ugly first baby-steps and will have then forgotten about them and then you’re fucked.
“In the past, every city had, like, 50 shitty bands who’d play for each other and no-one got to hear of them outside of that. But it was like Darwinism, slowly but surely they’d be allowed to evolve into something that was really solid. Now it’s like, if you don’t get a hole-in-one, then you’re screwed”.
Les Savy Fav never had that hole-in-one but they’re making up for it now with arguably the strongest album of their career. The epithet on the band’s website reads “Missing out on cashing in for over a decade”, but if it doesn’t happen for them now, something tells me the band won’t be bothered too much, as Tim notes, “All the bands I loved failed. There’s something about being as good a band as you can be but not having to be professional. That’s why (we called the album) Let’s Stay Friends. The friendly thing is really critical to us. We can’t really picture the band any other way”.
Printed in the December/January issue of High Voltage magazine.
Live: Robyn (Manchester Club Academy, 8.11.07.)
The first thing I notice on entering Club Academy is that this must be the most diverse crowd I've seen in ages. There are the ever-present hipsters (onboard since Pitchfork gave her album a rave in 2005, obviously), a fair smattering of young girls (newly-converted since 'With Every Heartbeat' broke), a healthy representation from the gay community (male and female, natch) and quite a few incongruous-looking older men (whom I most closely resemble, I fear), all gathered to see everyone's favourite new (not that new at all really) popstar.
The general apprehension when approaching live pop music, especially when it's largely electronic on record, is that the live band tack can sometimes be doomed to fail. Songs fall flat when session musicians are allowed to 'jam', but Robyn has a shrewd, tight backing band in collaborators – and tonight's support act – Kleerup, who strike the right balance between synthetic and organic.
The tempo rarely drops below giving-it-some, meaning that the songs are allowed to burst from the sound system with the vitality they have on record and the brief, punchy set list harbours no filler. 'Konichiwa Bitches', 'Who's That Girl?' (Robyn herself on floor tom duties) and 'Be Mine!' all stand out, but the obscure, Christian Falk-penned 'Dream On' and oldie 'Keep The Fire Burning' split the vote for song of the night.
Those who stick around past the first encore are treated to intimate, semi-acoustic versions of "that number one hit" and 'Be Mine!' and by this point it's clear that Robyn is every inch – all sixty of them - the star. It's just a shame that it's taken this long for us all to catch on.
http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=3302&band=1646
The general apprehension when approaching live pop music, especially when it's largely electronic on record, is that the live band tack can sometimes be doomed to fail. Songs fall flat when session musicians are allowed to 'jam', but Robyn has a shrewd, tight backing band in collaborators – and tonight's support act – Kleerup, who strike the right balance between synthetic and organic.
The tempo rarely drops below giving-it-some, meaning that the songs are allowed to burst from the sound system with the vitality they have on record and the brief, punchy set list harbours no filler. 'Konichiwa Bitches', 'Who's That Girl?' (Robyn herself on floor tom duties) and 'Be Mine!' all stand out, but the obscure, Christian Falk-penned 'Dream On' and oldie 'Keep The Fire Burning' split the vote for song of the night.
Those who stick around past the first encore are treated to intimate, semi-acoustic versions of "that number one hit" and 'Be Mine!' and by this point it's clear that Robyn is every inch – all sixty of them - the star. It's just a shame that it's taken this long for us all to catch on.
http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=3302&band=1646
Single: Liars - Houseclouds (Mute)
Restless reinvention has been Liars' M.O. since day one, but after last year's triumphal nailing of an idiosyncratic style of their own on the Drum's Not Dead album, no-one foresaw Liars returning to the form and structure of their debut. That's exactly what they did though on this year's excellent self-titled effort, from which 'Houseclouds' is taken.
At first, the shock of a catchy new Liars single is what pulls you in. On multiple listens however, subtle complexities jump out at you and it's then that you realise this isn't a million miles removed from their more adventurous previous work. Whereas the Liars of DND sought beauty in disintegration and noise, the Liars of 'Houseclouds' achieve the same effect through the loose medium of the pop song. Put 'Houseclouds' on repeat and it has the same fractious, hypnotic feel of Liars circa 2006. And yes, it does sound a little like Beck.
http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=3308&band=1898
At first, the shock of a catchy new Liars single is what pulls you in. On multiple listens however, subtle complexities jump out at you and it's then that you realise this isn't a million miles removed from their more adventurous previous work. Whereas the Liars of DND sought beauty in disintegration and noise, the Liars of 'Houseclouds' achieve the same effect through the loose medium of the pop song. Put 'Houseclouds' on repeat and it has the same fractious, hypnotic feel of Liars circa 2006. And yes, it does sound a little like Beck.
http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=3308&band=1898
Album: Eskimo Volume V Mixed By The Glimmers (Eskimo)
Ever in danger of spreading themselves a little thinly, this is The Glimmers' (aka Mo Becha and David 'Benoelie' Fourquaert) twentieth mix compilation. You know what to expect from the boys these days, especially following their more high profile mixes for both the DJ-Kicks and Fabriclive series, and this one holds very few surprises.
Eskimo Volume V is the usual collision of staples given a different twist and reclaimed for the more discerning dancefloor (this time around it's Primal Scream's 'Loaded' and Trio's 'Da Da Da'), generous helpings of obscure new beat and Italo (Venus Gang's O'Jays-cribbing, 'Love To Fly' and Das Etwas' 'Go Ahead') and some genuinely thrilling discoveries (Dissidenten's supremely beguiling, 'Fata Morgana' and Herb Alpert's shockingly contemporary 'Bullish'). Add to this their own tweakings of the likes of Shirley Bassey, Pop Dell'Arte and Music For Dreams' Kenneth Bager.
So while it feels almost too familiar, it never strays into pedestrian territory and if there's one thing that The Glimmers have perfected in their practice, it's how to keep interest levels at a maximum. They might well be able to do this kind of mix in their sleep these days, but it's to their credit that Eskimo Volume V never threatens to have the same soporific effect on the listener.
http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=3203&band=492
Eskimo Volume V is the usual collision of staples given a different twist and reclaimed for the more discerning dancefloor (this time around it's Primal Scream's 'Loaded' and Trio's 'Da Da Da'), generous helpings of obscure new beat and Italo (Venus Gang's O'Jays-cribbing, 'Love To Fly' and Das Etwas' 'Go Ahead') and some genuinely thrilling discoveries (Dissidenten's supremely beguiling, 'Fata Morgana' and Herb Alpert's shockingly contemporary 'Bullish'). Add to this their own tweakings of the likes of Shirley Bassey, Pop Dell'Arte and Music For Dreams' Kenneth Bager.
So while it feels almost too familiar, it never strays into pedestrian territory and if there's one thing that The Glimmers have perfected in their practice, it's how to keep interest levels at a maximum. They might well be able to do this kind of mix in their sleep these days, but it's to their credit that Eskimo Volume V never threatens to have the same soporific effect on the listener.
http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=3203&band=492
Album: Midnight Mike - Midnight Karaoke (The Republic Of Desire)
When Mike Silver (aka Midnight Mike) burst onto the underground back in 2002 with the mighty fine, off-kilter electro-pop of 'Round & Around', a lot of the right people saw quite a bit of promise in the guy, me included. He followed that up with a succession of fantastic remixes (most notably for Coloursound's 'Fly With Me' and Playgroup's 'Make It Happen') and continued to impress with his own productions for Flesh and Gomma. It's with a heavy heart that I announce his debut album an almost irretrievable failure.
That it's taken five years for him to pull his finger out and release a full-length is bad enough, but that said debut turns out to be a collection of lazy covers, masquerading as a karaoke party album. The only people having any fun here are the singers as, barring a couple notable exceptions, the versions veer between cringeworthy and just plain pointless.
There are irony-soaked trudges through the likes of 'Money For Nothing', 'Boys (Summertime Love)' (yes, the Sabrina europop number) and 'Tip-Toe Through The Tulips' that border on unlistenable, especially the Dire Straits cover as no matter how sardonically Juice Windscreen delivers the words "faggot" and "homo", it still sounds offensive.
Points are gained for the louche, loungey take on Bo Diddley's 'Who Do You Love?' and the genuinely heartfelt rendition of Roxy's 'In Every Dream Home A Heartache' (by Mike himself), but the rest is just dross that anyone who buys would have every right to feel soundly cheated by. Avoid.
http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=3209&band=2021
That it's taken five years for him to pull his finger out and release a full-length is bad enough, but that said debut turns out to be a collection of lazy covers, masquerading as a karaoke party album. The only people having any fun here are the singers as, barring a couple notable exceptions, the versions veer between cringeworthy and just plain pointless.
There are irony-soaked trudges through the likes of 'Money For Nothing', 'Boys (Summertime Love)' (yes, the Sabrina europop number) and 'Tip-Toe Through The Tulips' that border on unlistenable, especially the Dire Straits cover as no matter how sardonically Juice Windscreen delivers the words "faggot" and "homo", it still sounds offensive.
Points are gained for the louche, loungey take on Bo Diddley's 'Who Do You Love?' and the genuinely heartfelt rendition of Roxy's 'In Every Dream Home A Heartache' (by Mike himself), but the rest is just dross that anyone who buys would have every right to feel soundly cheated by. Avoid.
http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=3209&band=2021
Album: Henrik Schwarz - Live (!K7)
You may not have noticed, but Henrik Schwarz, alongside compatriots and kindred spirits, Ame and Dixon, is reinvigorating techno. Injecting the soul back into the genre after years of mathematical minimalism, Schwarz' brand of techno is more human, organic and danceable than anything that's ever come out of Kompakt or Perlon. Therefore, it's good to see this compilation/DJ mix/live album out there so that the Johnny-come-latelys can catch up on one of the most thrilling things to happen to techno since the birth of Underground Resistance.
Utilising his own productions and remixes, this acts as an instant immersion into Schwarz' idiosyncratic, deep style. Mixed in key and beatmatched to precision, to the untrained ear this may all seem like much of a muchness on first listen, but give it a few more spins and the subtle differences and shifts in mood leap out at you.
The three-song movement from Schwarz' 'Kalimba Dance', into 'Where We At' (with the aforementioned Ame and Dixon) and then onwards and upwards with his remix of Kraak & Smaak's 'No Sun In The Sky' is just jaw-dropping and only topped by the near-orgasmic denouement, starting with his do-over of James Brown's 'It's A Man's World' and climaxing with his own 'Jazz Book #2'. As essential for newbies as it is for the initiated, Live is an entertainingly different spin on the greatest hits set.
While others are disappearing down more and more off-putting navel-gazing rabbit holes (stand up at the back, Villalobos!), it's great to hear someone offering an impassioned, inclusive alternative.
http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=3197&band=1344
Utilising his own productions and remixes, this acts as an instant immersion into Schwarz' idiosyncratic, deep style. Mixed in key and beatmatched to precision, to the untrained ear this may all seem like much of a muchness on first listen, but give it a few more spins and the subtle differences and shifts in mood leap out at you.
The three-song movement from Schwarz' 'Kalimba Dance', into 'Where We At' (with the aforementioned Ame and Dixon) and then onwards and upwards with his remix of Kraak & Smaak's 'No Sun In The Sky' is just jaw-dropping and only topped by the near-orgasmic denouement, starting with his do-over of James Brown's 'It's A Man's World' and climaxing with his own 'Jazz Book #2'. As essential for newbies as it is for the initiated, Live is an entertainingly different spin on the greatest hits set.
While others are disappearing down more and more off-putting navel-gazing rabbit holes (stand up at the back, Villalobos!), it's great to hear someone offering an impassioned, inclusive alternative.
http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=3197&band=1344
Interview: Black Lips
Just four hours later, Atlanta, Georgia’s Black Lips are tearing up The Roadhouse stage, using all manner of baseless shock tactics to throw the audience curveball after curveball, ranging from catching your own spit to sporting bling-bling gold teeth. Right at this moment though, you wouldn’t dream that these four decidedly normal, well-spoken guys would stoop as low as to urinate in their own mouths or French kiss each other on stage just to keep their audience on their toes.
Yet here we are, with Cole (singer/guitarist/spit-catcher), Jared (singer/bassist/handlebar moustache), Ian (guitar/gold fronts) and Joe (drums/screams/flailing arms) waxing lyrical about alcoholic energy drinks and the state of country music. More importantly though, there’s that new album (Good Bad, Not Evil) to cover.
“Our album’s released on September 11th in the States”, Cole informs us, “but we really wanted to compete with Kanye West for a release date. We got some country guy releasing his album on that day though…” “Kenny Chesney”, Jared informatively chips in.
“It’s not even country though. The new (country music) is kinda hilarious. The lyrical content… it’s all (adopts hackneyed Southern accent) ‘Were you theeere when the toweeers feeeelll!’ They’re retarded.”
As one non-sequitur reaches its end, Ian is willing to bring up another so as to not let the conversation take on too linear a manner; “We’re getting into the spirits business”. Jared elaborates, “Ian’s brother invented an alcoholic energy drink… to rival Lil’ Jon’s Crunk Juice”. The band then enthusiastically embellish on the drink’s merits, telling us that it’s “made from exotic Brazilian herbs”, it’s “chemically infused” and that “there’s science involved”. Quite.
The band are just as enthused about the current scene developing out of Atlanta that themselves, Deerhunter and Mastodon seem to be spearheading. “There’s a band called The Selmanaires”, Jared notes, “that are like a Kinks/Talking Heads mash-up. There are bands popping up all over right now. The Coathangers, The Carbonas…” “It’s a really close-knit scene in Atlanta”, Cole explains, “Even, like, Cee-Lo from Gnarls Barkley and Andre 3000 from OutKast, you’ll see on the street.”
What about the future of Black Lips though? What kind of goals do the band have for this new record? “A billion records”, Cole beams. “We want to outsell Kanye and 50 Cent”, Joe quips, an ironic smirk creeping across his face. I guess it’s a mark of the band that they treat the important things trivially and the trivial things with the utmost importance, but something tells me that the manic stage show and borderline-unhinged recordings are all part of some devious world-domination plot. Be warned when you crack open that bottle of D-Tuned.
http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=3170&band=1728
Yet here we are, with Cole (singer/guitarist/spit-catcher), Jared (singer/bassist/handlebar moustache), Ian (guitar/gold fronts) and Joe (drums/screams/flailing arms) waxing lyrical about alcoholic energy drinks and the state of country music. More importantly though, there’s that new album (Good Bad, Not Evil) to cover.
“Our album’s released on September 11th in the States”, Cole informs us, “but we really wanted to compete with Kanye West for a release date. We got some country guy releasing his album on that day though…” “Kenny Chesney”, Jared informatively chips in.
“It’s not even country though. The new (country music) is kinda hilarious. The lyrical content… it’s all (adopts hackneyed Southern accent) ‘Were you theeere when the toweeers feeeelll!’ They’re retarded.”
As one non-sequitur reaches its end, Ian is willing to bring up another so as to not let the conversation take on too linear a manner; “We’re getting into the spirits business”. Jared elaborates, “Ian’s brother invented an alcoholic energy drink… to rival Lil’ Jon’s Crunk Juice”. The band then enthusiastically embellish on the drink’s merits, telling us that it’s “made from exotic Brazilian herbs”, it’s “chemically infused” and that “there’s science involved”. Quite.
The band are just as enthused about the current scene developing out of Atlanta that themselves, Deerhunter and Mastodon seem to be spearheading. “There’s a band called The Selmanaires”, Jared notes, “that are like a Kinks/Talking Heads mash-up. There are bands popping up all over right now. The Coathangers, The Carbonas…” “It’s a really close-knit scene in Atlanta”, Cole explains, “Even, like, Cee-Lo from Gnarls Barkley and Andre 3000 from OutKast, you’ll see on the street.”
What about the future of Black Lips though? What kind of goals do the band have for this new record? “A billion records”, Cole beams. “We want to outsell Kanye and 50 Cent”, Joe quips, an ironic smirk creeping across his face. I guess it’s a mark of the band that they treat the important things trivially and the trivial things with the utmost importance, but something tells me that the manic stage show and borderline-unhinged recordings are all part of some devious world-domination plot. Be warned when you crack open that bottle of D-Tuned.
http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=3170&band=1728
Interview: Elektrons
It’s a time of transition for Luke Cowdrey and Justin Crawford (aka
To the naked eye at least it seems that way, but the decision to end The Chair and the emergence of Elektrons aren’t really as interlinked as they at first seem.
“Every year, for at least the last ten years, we’d sort of check ourselves”, Justin ponders. “Is it time? Are we still enjoying it? It would be wrong to say that we aren’t getting distracted by Elektrons. We are. We’re putting a lot of time and energy into it. It’s just that before we couldn’t imagine a future without The Electric Chair, but now we can.”
It appears that the need in Justin and Luke not to rest on their laurels and a mutual distaste for rose-tinted nostalgia helped their decision. As Luke elaborates, “We think change is a very fundamental thing in music. We’ve always said bomb the past, don’t be complacent, don’t rest on some kind of horrible reputation that ends up being just a Spinal Tap kind of thing anyway… We’re just gonna change guise and shape and format. We’re still gonna do parties and one-offs like Electric Souls (parties that Luke and Justin have put on in the past in various off-the-beaten-track locales)”.
“We’ll get a Saturday night off once a month now, too”, laughs Justin.
One point where the guys are happy to have the night and the band intersect is in the music. “We did sometimes think when we were in the studio”, says Justin, “Would this work (at The Chair)?” Luke interjects, “We think (the album) is – and this might sound like a pompous thing to say – an honest reflection of where we’ve come from and Me and Justin have always talked about the lineage… of our music. Going back to Northern Soul, through to the Wild Bunch and Massive Attack… Soul II Soul. Great British sound systems that started off as parties, then taken into bands and collectives. It’s not like we’ve copied that but we’ve taken inspiration from that British vibe.”
“As DJs, we try to bring the vibe and the atmosphere of the club into our music, just like people like Soul II Soul and Basement Jaxx do”, Justin is eager to clarify. A view that’s mirrored by Luke, “The idea at the heart of The Chair was that some of our favourite records might, potentially, be records that everyone else liked as well. For us, Elektrons is a very natural continuity of what we’ve been doing… for the last thirteen years.”
Again, Luke is adamant that their music not be a backward-looking venture; “We wanted it to be very bold and dynamic… We didn’t just want to be derivative. We love house music, gospel, disco, soul and we wanted to take that and rekindle it and make something new. Whether that works or not I’m sure we’ll find out”
Elektrons aren’t just a duo, with singers like Pete Simpson (“
“We wanted to work with them though because, essentially, they’re really talented” says Justin, pragmatically. “When you work with people as talented as they are, it makes it easy”.
Something else that has come easy to Elektrons at this early stage is getting number one singles in far-off places. “We were number one in
“We could probably do with a few more
Printed in the October/November issue of High Voltage magazine.
Album: Les Savy Fav - Let's Stay Friends (Wichita)
Les Savy Fav are almost the living definition of the term 'cult band'. They're revered in certain circles for their fearsome live reputation and fitfully tremendous recorded output. Let's Stay Friends ends a six year hiatus from the album format for the band and comes three years after one of the most-loved (by those who've heard it) and most-criminally-ignored singles compilations in living memory, 2004's Inches, an album that both helped and hindered the band in more ways than one.
The biggest fault that Inches highlighted for many is that LSF are a great singles band that have always struggled with the confines of a studio album. The problem with Les Savy Fav – and it's a good problem to have – is that they have that keen an understanding of the dynamics of the short form that they seem to lose scope when it comes to the bigger picture.
Therefore on Let's Stay Friends, as is the case with the rest of their albums, you get great songs, neighboured by samey filler. There are signs of growth however, in songs such as the ominous 'Brace Yourself' which shows that they are learning a thing or two about pacing. Then there's forgettable pop-punk numbers like 'Scotchgard The Credit Card' and 'The Year Before The Year 2000', which undo the band's good work elsewhere on the record.
Whilst it can only be a good thing to have a band of Les Savy Fav's calibre back making albums again, you can't help but think that this is yet another missed opportunity.
http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=3119&band=1962
N.B.: This grew on me.
The biggest fault that Inches highlighted for many is that LSF are a great singles band that have always struggled with the confines of a studio album. The problem with Les Savy Fav – and it's a good problem to have – is that they have that keen an understanding of the dynamics of the short form that they seem to lose scope when it comes to the bigger picture.
Therefore on Let's Stay Friends, as is the case with the rest of their albums, you get great songs, neighboured by samey filler. There are signs of growth however, in songs such as the ominous 'Brace Yourself' which shows that they are learning a thing or two about pacing. Then there's forgettable pop-punk numbers like 'Scotchgard The Credit Card' and 'The Year Before The Year 2000', which undo the band's good work elsewhere on the record.
Whilst it can only be a good thing to have a band of Les Savy Fav's calibre back making albums again, you can't help but think that this is yet another missed opportunity.
http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=3119&band=1962
N.B.: This grew on me.
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