Last year’s mkULTRA Ep was a tasty appertiser for the main course, Underground, and by all accounts, its a sumptous feast! Underground (MK’s third album) encapsulates all that is wonderful and delightful about pop music. And when I use the term “pop”, I am talking in the classic sense, as in the kind of music that the world lapped up from Bob Dylan, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, the Byrds, Carol King, Laura Nyro et al, all those years ago.
Thus, the eleven songs on Underground bear testimony to MK’s grasp of melody, reverential pop sense and literate lyricism. Whether intentional or not, Underground can be split into two halves. The first five songs are sophisticated, smart pop that combine technical brilliance and instinctive coolness. Tracks like the smooth Green Street (last heard on mkULTRA with the line “And I lived back in the village/Where there’s no more any sign of Dylan” prominent), the melancholy Easy to Believe At First, the countrified Nashville (resplendent with its Harrisonesque slide guitar), the provocative Saved (where MK protests against being judged), the Nyro-Rundgren channeling Mr. Friedman (and perhaps my favorite of the lot) and song #10, the Honeys produced by Brian Wilson influenced One Thousand Times A Day.
The rest of Underground tends to a little more folky, with MK’s acoutic guitar high in the mix, whilst MK either tugs at your heart strings or challenges your thinking processes. The wistful Me, the Bee and the Miner, the strident title track (“I don’t wanna leave the underground” the declaratory statement of intent), the pleading Attention, the twangy Joe Jackson cover – Different For Girls and the closing So Long, a loving tribute to the late great George Harrison – “I have found religion/I follow the sun/I don’t care a smidgeon what you are/Or who you have done”.
Various online sources are claiming that Jermain Defoe was badly injured in training on Friday and will be sidelined for a considerable period of time.
The Independent reports that Defoe has broken a metatarsal bone in his foot and will be out for 10 weeks. The report states that Defoe had been carrying this injury before he re-signed for Spurs and calls into question the medical that Defoe had undergone at Spurs.
BBC online claims that Defoe will be sidelined for only a month.
The Sun describes the injury in the worst possible terms, stating that Defoe would be out for the rest of the season!
This news comes at the worst possible time for Spurs. Defoe has been scoring goals since his return and he has been effective in partnering Pavlyuchenko up front. And with Spurs still in the market for a striker, all the available targets would have increased in value significantly. Hopefully, the injury is not as bad as it seems but definitely Defoe will not be ready for the Bolton game today, which leaves Harry Redknapp with a selection problem. Who to replace Defoe? The seriously out-of-sorts Darren Bent or the inexperienced Frazier Campbell? At least, we’ve got Palacios and Chimbonda to come in to give us the steel but will there be a cutting edge in yet another must-win six-pointer?
In the CD sleeve, new dance pop sensation Lady GaGa thanks Andy Warhol, David Bowie, Prince, Madonna and Chanel. And listening to her hit debut album, The Fame, its the influence of Madonna that comes across strongly. Yes, you can’t mistake the 80s vibe that permeates this highly commercial effort.
This former Interscope staff songwriter has taken a bold step into the limelight and is credited with co-writing every single song on The Fame. Nothing exceptional, I might add, the music is a typical modern mix-up of hip-hop R&B, electro-dance-pop with emphasis on the groove and hooky choruses, notably on Poker Face, Eh Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say) and Just Dance.
The lyrical concepts are also typically aimed at the groin primarily. Here’s a sample -
“I wanna take a ride on your disco stick” (Lovegame)
“Need a man who likes it rough” (I Like It Rough)
“Let’s go see the Killers and make out in the bleachers” (Boys Boys Boys)
Disposable teen fare? No doubt.
The Singapore edition includes Disco Heaven as a bonus track.
Took a while for Charlotte to be properly introduced but here she is -
A keen writer honing her craft while diplomatically trying to subdue urges to conform to the socially acceptable views of the masses. Music has always played a major role in her life and so has writing as a form of expression, communication and presentation.
A self proclaimed idealist with a penchant for intense experiences sprinkled with humour and a dash of melody (preferably from a guitar). An amateur singer/songwriter whose chosen weapon is a six string and her material based on anything from a floating feather from her pet parrot, to the solitude of a clinically depressed genius whose only companion are the words flowing from the tip of his pen and the empty syringe tossed aside.
It’s no surprise then that she loves and enjoys – Jeff Buckley, Joy Division, The Cure, The Smiths, The Ramones, Tool, Waits and the likes…
Always eager to reach out and connect with a chosen few.. - So echoes the whispers of a fallen angel: Victims Aren’t We All…
Seriously though, love being able to listen to and review the artistes showcased on this site!
To call Here We Go Magic a band is a pretty loose term, yes they consist of three members and appear under one name, but the real driving force and creativity behind Here We Go Magic is Luke Temple and this band and album are pretty much him just under another name. Brooklyn born Temple is joined by Baptiste Ibar on bass and Peter Hale on drums but this appears to be purely for touring and live purposes, there is no doubt that this is Luke Temple’s ideas and creation.
Originally trained as a painter and mural artist, Temple soon took a transitional stumble into music and found his true calling. Releasing his debut solo album, Hold a Match for a Gasoline World, in 2005 he showcased his undoubtable talent as a songwriter and musician. This followed with more success on his 2007 album Snowbeast, which gained awareness from a wider audience when Make Right with You featured on Grey’s Anatomy (the show responsible for Snow Patrol being EVERYWHERE during 2006).
Starting with Pieces, Here We Go Magic instantly brings to mind comparisons with Paul Simon, it has a very tribal, looping beat that repeats, layered with simple vocals that sing nothing more than a single sentence. Much of the album is like this and it works very well, creating a structured clutter of instruments for the listener, just enough that it doesn’t become too crowded or claustrophobic. Temple produces a truly interesting and unique sound, parts of the album did remind me of the whole psychedelic rock/folk sound of MGMT but you don’t get the impression that he is trying to jump on that band wagon. Fangala, the most instantly striking song melodically on the album, breezes along like a daydream, making it impossible for you not to tap to the beat and drift off beyond the walls of your room. Ahab starts with a bluesy and gritty riff mixed with softly sung, haunting vocals, truly demonstrating how varied Temple’s sound is. He is not content with staying on one particular track and delights in deviating from it.
If I had one criticism of Here We Go Magic it would be that it does lull after the first four songs of the album. The beautiful Tunnelvision is followed by Ghost List which is an atmospheric and haunting song containing no words or beat, just sound effects and distortion. This much slower pace continues right up until the concluding track and I felt it could have been broken up with the bouncier tracks at that start. When the album does come to conclusion though with Everything’s Big you are not left disappointed from the experience, the song feels my head with images of Paris and a misty morning walk along the Seine for some reason, it is a very stripped down song compared to the rest of the album and more simplistic in it’s structure and could almost be from another artist. This is Luke Temple’s gift though and what makes Here We Go Magic work, the fact that his influences and creativity is so wide and varied.
Thought-provoking answers from Darryl Silvestri of Driving on City Sidewalks.
1. Why play music?
I’ve never thought about it. I suppose because I was created to create.
2. Who are your influences?
Jesus Christ. Thrice. Further Seems Forever. Explosions in the Sky. Appleseed Cast. Mineral. UnderOath. Brand New. David Bazan. Emery. Brandtson. Jimmy Eat World.
3. What is success?
Hearing someone say, “Thank You”
4. Why should people buy your music?
If they feel its something worth supporting
5. Who do you love?
Laura, my wife. My family. My friends.
6. What do you hope to achieve with your music?
Connections with other human beings
7. Who comes to your gigs?
No one. haha. We have yet to do gigs.
8. What is your favorite album?
The Moon Is Down – Further Seems Forever
9. What is your favorite song?
Probably Nothing – Brandtson, OR
Some Seek Forgiveness Others Escape – Underoath, OR
Open Water – Thrice
10. How did you get here?
I got here while i was trying to find my way home.
Driving on City Sidewalks’ new EP, Where Angels Crowd to Listen, is out now.
For 45 spell-binding minutes, Spurs made a mockery of their lowly position at the foot of the Premier League and played like a team chasing for a Champions League spot. Within 25 minutes, goals from Aaron Lennon, Jermain Defoe and Michael Dawson had placed Spurs into an unassailable lead.
Naturally, Spurs took their foot off the pedal somewhat and gifted Stoke’s James Beattie a goal but for once, Spurs were not in any real danger of losing a substantial lead. This time, anyway.
Considering the attack-minded midfield – Bentley, Modric & Lennon all started – the combative Stoke midfielders could not take control in the middle of the park especially with Modric pulling the strings brilliantly. This game was also notable for being the debut of new goalie Carlo Cuducini and although Stoke never really tested him, Cuducini looked composed throughout.
With Palacios and Chimbonda stil to come on board, Spurs are beginning to look like they will have the steel to match the flair as the crucial run-in begins with a tough game away to Bolton this Saturday.
Fronted by the vocals and guitar of A. Wesley Chung, Boris Smile are a collection of musicians (eight in total) and a whole community of friends who make guest appearances on their work. Based in California, their Beartooth EP offers a short but sweet sample of their music and what they have to offer.
Opening track Beartooth (Spooky Version) is a mix of acoustic base, driven bass and machine gun drumming building to a conclusion of spooky backing harmonies. The real issue I have with this track is the vocals, there is no doubt that singer Chung has ability but the chorus is just so off key it is to the point of distracting. He repeats the words Bear Tooth and it is almost painful how Chung wanders and struggles to deliver the line. I am not one to criticize singing, I have not got the most angelic and powerful voice myself, and I can understand how in the slacker folk rock genre this is seen as appealing, but it is just not for me.
Later tracks however do not suffer so badly from this problem. Hour of the Wolf is a melancholic and soulful song with emotional vocals and excellent female backing that really compliments the main hook of the song, Everybody loves you but yourself. It is bordering on Emo but my eyes refrained from rolling because despite this it is a very good song.
Tut Tut is definitely the one song on the EP that made me sit up and really listen. It is a beautiful song full of melody and a cacophony of sound and instruments that draw the listener in. I had images of a Friday evening when listening to this song, knowing that the working week is done and your mind can finally concentrate on meaningless and stress free thoughts, with the troubles of the world sliding away at least for a couple of days.
The last track on the EP, Books with Blank Pages, is quite an ironic title because the song almost feels like a non-event. It passes by without any real significance. It is a difficult song to listen to though after the previous song Program Me to Love which is an amusing robot love song about a synthetic being wishing for the emotion of love, the song skirts on the side of being too cheesy for it’s own good but just manages to save itself from disappearing over the edge.
Beartooth EP is certainly an interesting collection of songs and shows a lot of potential. I am not completely convinced that Boris Smile will be a permanent fixture in my record collection but I am sure that there will be days that I will revisit this EP and perhaps find more to like about it, despite Chung’s vocal style and sometimes more cringe worthy moments. Will I await a full length album with bated breath? Not likely, but I certainly will give it a passing glance to see what this band is capable of with a larger scope of material to showcase.
It’s been a while since we had a PoP10, so thanks to singer-songwriter Jessie Kilguss, we have a spanking new one…
1. Why play music?
Because it makes me happy.
2. Who are your influences?
Nina Simone, Marianne Faithfull, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Tom Waits, Nick Drake,Aretha Franklin, Nick Cave, Lou Reed, Edith Piaf, Miriam Mekeba, Mahalia Jackson…the list goes on and on
3. What is success?
For me it is happiness, balance, health, love, artistic fullfillment and getting joy out of what you are doing as often as possible…it is attainable and yet always changing slightly…
4. Why should people buy your music?
Because they like it and also cause I have a dog to support.
5. Who do you love?
Ralph
6. What do you hope to achieve with your music?
I’d like to take people on journeys that are familiar and new at the same time and also to engage people on an emotional level….hard to answer this question without feeling like a self-involved douche…can I use the word douche here?
7. Who comes to your gigs?
Friends and fans
8. What is your favorite album?
Oh come on! Just one! Today it is Pink Moon.
9. What is your favorite song?
Seriously! I can’t chose just one. Today’s favorite; Karen Dalton’s “Something on your Mind” off of “In My Own Time.”
10. How did you get here?
A series of bad decisions.
Jessie’s new album – Nocturnal Drifter – is out now.
History in the making? Okay, so maybe that’s pouring the hyperbole a little thick but then again, it’s not that far off from the truth. What am I talking about? Obama’s election? Nope, something much closer to home.
Fourteen years ago, I appeared on Live on 5, the last time we had a TV programme featuring S-ROCK bands live and last night I was thrilled to be at the world premiere of Live N Loaded. As Rachael and I shuffled into the near-empty studio, with A Vacant Affair blaring over the PA, I was struck by how compact the venue was, especially with the two performing stages across each other. I looked for somewhere I could lean on and ended up in front of one stage and before you know it, Saiful, Mag, Khai, Song and Fandy walked on!
The crowd went apeshit and for the next hour or so were unrelentless in shouting and screaming themselves hoarse in adoration and approval of our S-ROCK bands. GSE kicked it off with a fiery Siti in the City and Ling (looking and sounding great) followed up with a jaunty Suburbia. Three “exposed” bands and one “Sonic Youth” strutted their stuff viz. Kay Swisher featuring the Supreme One, Fatskunks, Sea Bed Sound and Lamp Post Shadows. Though to be honest, I could not quite get into the music but to their credit they obviously gave it 100%.
Ling Kai by Thomas Tan
With GSE upping the ante, Electrico had to be on their game and how. Oozing class from every pore, the band was augmented by the Horndogs – trumpet and sax – and delivered a rockin’ We Satellites, with William and Desmond an awesomely tight rhythm section. Before you know it, GSE was playing Class ‘A’ Love Affair (see vid below), the final song and it was over. Well, not really, as the Live N Loaded team and GSE gifted us new song The Lights as a wonderful bonus.
Overall, the debut show was a cracking success. The give and take between bands and audience as one pushed the other to greater heights was a sight to behold. I’ve always believe that a rock audience will only get as good as they give and with the crowd giving their all, it was obvious that their energy and excitement was rubbing off on the bands and their heightened levels of performance was clear to all. The buzz around the studio was incredieble. Electrifying. Towards the end, the kids were moshing and bodysurfing, and I was thinking to myself that an activity that was used by the authorities to shut down indie gigs in the past was now being televised live on the goverment-controlled TV network. And who says things don’t change.
One down, nine episodes to go, I intend to go to as many as I humanly can. Next – Vertical Rush, A Vacant Affair, Jack and Rai and more. Can hardly wait. Kudos to Sebas and the Live N Loaded team for a well produced show.
“I consider all of the arts to be interconnected and think there is fluidity in the boundaries between them. Many of my favourite singers started out in some other artistic discipline; Joni Mitchell with painting, Leonard Cohen as a scholar/poet, David Bowie as an actor…” – Jessie Kilguss
Classically trained actress turned singer, songwriter – Jessie Kilguss’ Nocturnal Drifter is the second album, following Exotic Bird.
This Brooklyn singer’s sultry, husky, intoxicating vocals command the tone on each track. Collaborating with production team Super Buddha, this feast of echoes, question-like harmonies, emphasize her vocal and lyrical foray into the likes of one of her idols – Mitchell.
The first track Gristmill captures you with the easy, cabaret-like atmosphere as Kilguss laments about life in a densely populated city with savvy, lyrical flair. This is then followed by the post-rock beats of Americana, again beautifully weighed by the soulful plea of Kilguss’ vocals.
Almost all of the ten tracks on this album showcase a different character being channelled to tell a story and to Kilguss’ credit – done seamlessly and without a hitch in the flow of the desired plot. A testament to tapping into the creativity of being in character with her training as an actor and painting the desired backdrop and tapestry of each piece with her talent as a songwriter and her unique voice.
You’ll be able to find at least one track, if not three, that you’ll relate to, just because it’s been delivered to you in a manner you can’t resist nor deny. Mine would be 31.
A tidbit that made me smile: She lives with her canine companion: Mr Walter Peanuts.
DRIVING ON CITY SIDEWALKS Where Angels Crowd to Listen (Red Plane/Count Your Lucky Stars)
“Driving on City Sidewalks was formed out of a genuine love for music…” according to Barry Mielke of this two piece Ontario band.
Their EP, courtesy of Red Plane Records andCount Your Lucky Stars is titled Where Angels Crowd to Listen and it is an emotion-driven album with a heavy emphasis on psychedelic post rock-infused guitars and raw vocals on some of the five tracks.
For someone who started recording music in his basement about a year and a half ago, the journey of the band seems to be a story out of a fairytale. Actively promoting their music on MySpace and being discovered by a French Label – Red Plane Records, both Barry and Darryl have set their sights on moving ahead with their brand music.
The track that stands out on the EP in my opinion would be Farewell to knowing it all. A 9 minute offering that leads with dreamscape-like soft guitar notes and kicks up the intensity by more than a couple notches with a steady flowing rhythm of crash cymbals and cranking it out in the final two minutes with brazen, heavy guitars.
This is definitely one not for the masses but the beauty of it is held in the originality of its offering and in the quiet stirrings of the story being told.
LARS HORNTVETH Kaledoscopic (Smalltown Supersound)
Much is to be said when time has to be scheduled to listen to an album. It’s been a long time coming and that is what Kaleidoscopic had me doing.
Kaleidoscopic is the follow-up to the critically acclaimed debut album, Pooka, byJaga Jazzist and The National Bank leader Lars Horntveth.
Comprising of one composition spaced out in 36:47 minutes, Kaleidoscopic can be very easily labelled as cinematic – One can’t help but see various scenes play out before your eyes as the strings and horns blend and bleed from one emotion to another. Guided by 41 members of the Latvian National Orchestra led by Norwegian conductor Terje Mikkelsen, with Lars himself playing piano, horns and clarinets – your senses are immersed in the electro-tinged ambience, orchestral carpet rides and a frantic race to a place only you know.
This album is above all an auditory trip that harnesses a listener’s visual power – a little frightening even but beautifully seamless as the shifts and switches in moods with key instruments, paint your inner world with a touch of noir, epic and vast horizons, tranquil and forest-lush hideaways, and even a simple side walk at dusk, with just a pluck of a harp. My favourite ride on this journey began at the 27thminute mark - strings and Horntveth’s own piano playing wrap up the trip over the final ten minutes. An album that will be savored by any ardent fan of visual music journeys.
A young band that starts off playing punk-influenced, textured rock and roll before expanding their canvas and horizons to include dreamily ambient, atmospheric experimenting? We’ll ignore the obvious temptation to reference the four lads from Ireland here and instead tell you that underneath all the alien-sounding pyschedelia is a very well-honed pop sensibility that ensures the record remains firmly rooted in Planet Earth-style accessible melodies. Besides, Caw! Caw!’s brand of experimentation is much closer sonically to the art-rock of Radiohead anyway.
The record opens with a little patch of outer space and twinkling star guitars coloring the soundscapes on Escape The Red Giant, before rollicking drums intrude and set up the song for the entry of lead vocalist Tim Tsurutani’s half-whispered, half-drawling lyrics. It’s followed by easily the catchiest track on the album, Organisms, one that deftly blends indie-style sonic colors and irresistible tunefulness. Wrapped Up Neat In The Bible is equally catchy and cosmo-spacey, but towards the end of the track there is some truly virtuso screeching-guitar work that would make both Eric Clapton and The Edge proud.
There’s some really solid songwriting on display here, but at the same time an unconventional approach to song structure that will keep you on your toes, such as on the rocker number Work, which is probably the closest thing to modern radio alt-rock you’ll find on this record. Penultimate track Rotten Ghost is a dark and brooding number teased onto a razor edge, and the album closes on the sprawlingly gorgeous piece, Sheets.
A gorgeously beautiful record at times and unbearably catchy at others, Caw! Caw! might be a bit too loose and unstructured for the mainstream, but one gets the feeling that something might be lost if they were to work within the confines and rigours of a traditional songwriting structure. Underneath the experimentation though, is a intuitive pop discipline that will definitely serve them well in future. A brilliant record worthy of every praise.
There’s much to be said for doing some research about the album you’re about to review before you go into it at full volume. I say this because my eardrums are still ringing from the aftershock of being blasted with the raw garage-rock opening riffs of The Safes’ latest EP, Sight Of All Light. (In my defence, I was attempting to listen in on the dialogue of a particularly stubborn Youtube video earlier on my headphones.)
The brainchild of the O’Malley brothers trio, Sight of All Light is their fourth release and second EP. Clocking in at just around 11 minutes long, The Safes waste no time in getting to the point as title track Sight Of All Light sets the pace and tone for the rest of the record with a driving drum pulse and massive, ear-filling guitar power chords that wrap around the vocals in a very 1970s Cheap Trick manner. Second track Troublemaker doesn’t depart much from the opener as ringing distortion underline the harmonies on the intro, before settling into an abrasive repetitive format for the rest of the song.
The rest of the EP can pretty much be summed up in the same few words really, catchy, hooky choruses on top of crashing power riffs that leave no space for breathing. It’s hardly as boring as that description might suggest, mainly due to the length of the EP itself. The unprepared listener might come out shell-shocked after the 11 minutes due to the breakneck frenetic intensity at which The Safes plow through the songs, but a few repeats on the playlist will offer up some rewards as one begins to notice the subtleties and layers that cleverly underline the songs. The Sky Is Falling is one such track that will offer up its secrets upon revisitation.
A rather good record that grabs you by the scruff of the neck on the first listen and demands you stay for the rerun.
I hadn’t realized that when I previously wrote about The Organ with respect to a free download at RCRD LBL that they had split up in 2006! So, I was a little surprised (but very pleased) to receive the all female band’s final Ep, Thieves in the mail from Canadian indie Mint Records recently. Seems the story is that after the breakup, Debora Cohen, guitar; Ashley Webber, bass; Shelby Stocks, drums; Jenny Smyth, Hammond organ and Katie Sketch, lead singer; went back into the studio in 2007 to complete certain recordings the band had started before the demise of The Organ. The result of which is this truly excellent Ep, which only makes you wonder why this wonderful post-punk-influenced band is no longer making music together.
Anyway, fans of intelligent, multi-layered post-punk should at least be thankful for the existence of The Organ’s swan song. Songs like the opening Even in the Night, with its intricate instrumental interplay and Katie’s doleful & melancholy singing is a wonder to behold. Sure, it hearkens back to post-punk but presented in a unique manner. Same goes for the ironic jaunty Oh What A Feeling, the tweeful Fire in the Ocean (reminiscent of Felt’s finest moments) and the rustic Don’t Be Angry.
I must really find out what these gifted ladies are up to right now cos the power of this Ep cannot stop here. Will keep you boys and girls posted of any new post-Organ developments.
Here’s your chance to support the S-ROCK scene in a very tangible way. I Am David Sparkle has had the honour of being the 3rd S-ROCK band (after Great Spy Experiment & Electrico) to be invited to the prestigious indie rock festival, SXSW. Unfortunately, part of the deal is self-financing the traveling and accomodation expenses, which according to the band is the region of $30,000.
Thus, the band and the KittyWu label has organized To Texas and Back, a fund-raising benefit for the band’s SXSW adventure, on 31 January 2009 commencing at about 2pm at the Home Club. Entry is $18, which is reasonable considering the array of S-ROCK bands and (more importantly) the knowledge that you’ve contributed to the development of our beloved S-ROCK!!!
SET TIMINGS:
FLEA MARKET STARTS FROM 2.00PM ONWARDS (OUTSIDE HOME CLUB)
Band 1: 3.00 – 3.30pm (30mins) : A Band Named Power
Band 2: 3.45 – 4.15pm (30mins) : Indus Gendi
Band 3: 4.30 – 5.00pm (30mins) : Amberhaze
Band 4: 5.15 – 5.45pm (30mins) : AUM
Band 5: 6.00 – 6.30pm (30mins) : Plainsunset
All changeovers above are 15mins each.
6.30 – 7.30pm INTERMISSION, Music by Sweetmusic.fm (Roland)
Band 6: 7.30 – 8.00pm (30mins) : Amateur Takes Control
Band 7: 8.15 – 8.45pm (30mins) : The Great Spy Experiment
Band 8: 9.00 – 9.35pm (35mins) : Muon
Band 9: 9.50 – 10.30pm (40mins) : 41 (from Kuala Lumpur)
Band 10: 10.45 – 11.25pm (40mins) : I Am David Sparkle
Instrumental rock is nothing new, of course. I grew up listening to the Shadows and the Ventures in the 60s and bands like Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky, Cinematic Orchestra are modern versions, that’s all. Naturally, the S-ROCK scene has its own proponents, chief of which is I Am David Sparkle.
Add spanking new S-ROCK instrumental band, Lunar Node, to the list. The band is releasing its debut EP – Exploring Unknown Territory – in February and the EP launch is slated for 7 February 2009 at the Playden, Arts House. Amateur Takes Control opens the show at 8pm.
More esoterica from Thrill Jockey comes in the form of Lithops’ new album. This time around, Jan St. Werner (who is Lithops) has collected a selection of installation soundtracks from several recent exhibitions. How apt! It’s basically industrial noise without much context. There are no chords or melodies, whatsoever, and it would be no exaggeration to say that Ye Viols is an acquired taste.
That said, the tracks do have distinctive character and mood and probably would make more sense with a visual element. I figure that it would provide good background “music” for studying like Pink Floyd use to do. Except that Ye Viols will not put you into a dreamlike reverie. The dissonent percussive sounds are a little harsh and there is precious little sweet and light to be found but if you enjoy experimental music, then this is right up your alley.
As a long time Spurs fan, I’ve witnessed my fair share of Spurs losing three goal leads. Remember 3-5 to Man Utd, 3-4 to Man City and 4-4 with Leicester? I’ve been trying hard to forget and hoped that those dark days were behind me.
For 118 minutes, Spurs had basically lost a commanding three goal lead to a Championship team and were facing a totally humiliating Carling Cup exit. To the team’s credit, they did not give up and in a split second Bale and Assou-Ekotto fashioned an opportunity which Pavlyuchenko converted and Burnley’s brave run had ended. Defoe rubbed salt into wound a minute later and Spurs are through to a Carling Cup Final date with Man Utd on 1 March.
How did Spurs do it? Serendipity. No other explanation. If Spurs don’t wake up to the fight on their hands, they will be relegated.
It begins with a generic fuzzy (bass) riff, Bono sings a generic melody line that takes its cue from Dylan’s Subterranean Homesick Blues before getting slightly off the ground with a Arabic sounding middle eight. Nothing ground breaking, merely sufficient. Lacks the verve of the best songs from the last two albums. If this is the lead single, then I’m concerned about the rest of the new album.
Viral marketing, you’ve got to love it! Check out the New Frontiersman site, which features cool stuff like the above pic. Great set up for the film as the site presents the back story of the Watchmen universe. Wonderful material, whether you’ve read the graphic novel or not. What? You haven’t read the graphic novel? What are you waiting for?
As part of this viral marketing campaign, this video popped up at youtube featuring Dr Manhattan. Coolness, natch!
Well, here are two S-ROCK bands that have recently released albums viz. Reasons to Leave (AVA) and Kiss My Astro! (Astroninja). Both CDs come in unique packaging, which sets them apart from the masses. Both bands share an uncompromising approach to their music with a “take it or leave it” attitude that bristles with pride and confidence. Superficially, it’s not difficult to spot the differences. AVA dress like guys off the street, if you passed them by you probably wouldn’t notice them. Astroninja, of course, are instantly recognizable for their sartorial splendour, shall we say. Musically, of course, it would seem that AVA’s hardcore-punk-screamo is poles apart from Astroninja’s glam-punk-metal but listen closer and there may be more than meets the ears.
Levan Wee (Astroninja)
Take the two frontmen, for example. Matthew (AVA) and Levan (Astroninja) are never shy to make their opinions known to the audience and are constantly “in the face” so to speak. Matthew has a versatile voice, able to shift from a growl to soaring falsetto effortlessly. Levan, on the other hand, possesses a more classic rock larynx, leaning heavy on Axl riffing but never derivative (in any case, Kiss My Astro! outdoes Chinese Democracy anytime!). Singers that cannot be ignored, that’s for sure.
In terms of traditional melodies, Astroninja is clearly ahead on points with tracks like Bukkake Udon Song, Anthem for the Ordinary, I’m In Love With A Zombie and Thunder although AVA does have its moments with Reasons to Leave, We Are Not the Same and Connecting the Dots.
In the final analysis, if push came to shove, I’d personally listen to Kiss My Astro! more than Reasons to Leave but I guess that’s only because the former album is more accessible and I’m a classic 70s rock geek always. However, in terms of execution and spirit, certainly I would say this match-up is a high score draw. But of course, this is not a competition but merely a device to highlight that our S-ROCK scene is pretty eclectic and big enough to contain bands as diverse as AVA and Astroninja, which can only be a good thing.
Bottom line, what I am saying is that if you’re an S-ROCK fan (or if you’re interested to find out more about S-ROCK) then, these albums are essential and perfect introductions.
With the dispute between Fox and Warner Bros over the rights of the movie finally settled and the release date confirmed for 6th March 09, we can all relax and enjoy the promotional blitz to come in the months ahead. Here’s TV Spot #2 which, I must geekily declare, contains many previously unseen footage.
Is this four-track EP a follow up to last year’s masterpiece For Emma Forever Ago or an extension of it? To these ears, the latter description seems to be the accurate one. Simply because the title track is allegedly taken from the same sessions that spawned Emma but never released. Well, not only that but the recordings on this Ep possesses similar sensibilities to Emma in that it contains sparse instrumentation and Justin Vernon’s now familiar falsetto.
Despite these songs having apparently been performed by a band rather than Vernon on his own, the Ep does not sound too different from Emma and in many ways, you could add these four tracks to the end of Emma and not notice any difference. Both album and Ep highlight a strange collision of acoustic and electronic sounds, vocal manupilations and odd soul-folk combinations. Which sets Bon Iver apart from say, Coldplay despite sharing certain common qualities.
I mean, you could never imagine Coldplay something as experiemental and yet heartfelt as Woods with its bizarre acapella choral effect. It’s probably the best track on the Ep with its ghostly evocation allied to a soulful delievery. The rest of Blood Bank is par for the course – the title track’s classicist folk-rock, the austere stripped down Beach Baby and the piano-drenched Babys – keeping fans happy but not really building on the goodwill generated by that excellent debut.
There were four moments in this match that summed up Spurs season so far, perfectly.
First, was Lennon’s speculative shot/cross deflected off Distin and somehow, James flung himself across goal to deny Spurs a deserved lead!
Second, from that save, James passed the ball forward and from a Corluka tackle in front of the Spurs’ penalty box, the ball felt invitingly for Nugent and his shot too a slight deflection off Bale’s foot to sneak in at the far post past a helpless Gomes!
Third, from inspired play between Zokora and Modric, Defoe emphatically finished off a classy move to bring Spurs level. The relief that resonated around White Hart Lane was palpable!
Fourth, Bentley – looking rather energized from being dropped from the first team – delivered the perfect cross (with his left peg no less) onto the head of Bent, who despite all the odds, proceeds to put the ball past the post! Harry echoed the feelings of every single Spurs fan at the stadium and watching on the telly – “How the fuck did he miss that?!!”
There you go. I am sure that all the non-Spurs fans are simply lapping this up. It’s a constant case of “could have been worse” for Spurs now. Still, the fact that there are only 3 points between 12th and bottom, still offers up hope for the last ditch great escape which Harry is famous for.
Still loads of work to be done and with two weeks to go before the window slams shut, Harry has got to work his wheelin’-dealin’ magic before it’s too late. Next – Burnley and “we’re on our way to Wem-ber-ley”.
As the countdown to the maiden episode of Channel 5′s Live N Loaded begins in earnest, Mediacorp has been bringing the S-ROCK showcase to the kids. Featuring bands like A Vacant Affair, Allura, Vertical Rush, Astroninja and Plainsunset, this early show (starting at 5.30pm!) drew a robust crowd and built anticipation for the upcoming TV show.
All the bands all gave a good account of themselves of ahead of the breakthrough into Singapore’s mainstream consciousness – despite the poor sound (this is a malaise that affects almost every single S-ROCK gig) – and I am sure that given a fair chance will blow Singaporean TV audiences away!
A Vacant Affair began proceedings and got the crowd moshing with Matt’s cajoling/scolding/hectoring style and launched into their tradermark melodic hardcore, the highlight being current single We Are Not the Same. The strength of any band is their latest material and for Allura, Loose Change is getting stronger with every performance. There’s no doubt in my mind that mainstream audiences will totally adore Inch – this girl is made for TV! Vertical Rush delivers sophisticated indie rock in a very acessible package. Marcus and Nick were probably the most dynamic guitar combo on the night, and with Esmond’s confident vocals (not to mention Marcus’ and Nick’s harmonious backing), Vertical Rush presented a unique S-ROCK sound.
By the time Astroninja took to the stage, the crowd had swelled considerably. Astroninja is a band that divides the scene somewhat. There are those who are uncomfortable with the makeup, the garish clothing, the repeating swearing and the off-the-wall sensibility. Personally, I don’t know what all the fuss is about. As far as I’m concerned Astroninja takes its cues from 70s rock icons like KISS, T.Rex, Bowie, Alice Cooper and the New York Dolls, which is pretty much good company, if you ask me. But underneath all the image, there are strong melodies allied to a muscular punk-metal approach which will win the band many many fans. That said, I was disappointed with the verbal attacks against James from SOFT from Levan, rather uncalled for, if Astroninja demands respect, then they must respect others as well.
Plainsunset closed the event in high tempo, inciting moshing, body surfing and enthusiastic singalongs through Plainsunset classics (Checking Email, Plain Sunset) and even inviting an encore at the very end. It is always heart warming to watch Plainsunset in action, to see the response they inevitably provoke from their adoring fans. S-ROCK rules!
As usual, it was good to say hi to Dex, HQ, Sean, Sherwin, Visa, Beni, Esmond, Jon, Soo (thanks for the embarrasing shout out!), Sebas, Brian and Jianping.
See you at the 1st Live n Loaded on 27 January 2009.
A sobering thought maybe but I count my blessings that I am still able to do what I love – write and play my music. Ever since plunging back into the S-ROCK scene after New York April 2007, things have been happening for me. So on the 14th and 15th January 2009, I made my solo debut at the Esplanade Concourse, armed with my guitar (and a piano).
And whilst it was enjoyable to be able to share songs from my 15-year recording career (such as it is), it was even more satisfying to share the stage with my apprentices – Racheal Teo and Nick Tan, two talented singer-songwriters who have the potential to make an impact not only on the S-ROCK scene but across the world. And why not?
Nick
So thanks to all the kind folk who made this event such a fun one for me – the Esplanade peeps (Chloe, Lynn, Ashton, Keith), Rachael, Nick, Gary and Janice, Georgene, Mandy, Esther, HQ, Nick, James & Mel, Es, Jon, Sherwin, Ivanified et al.
Set list -
(1) Love & Water (Rachael Teo), Late Night Request (GSE), Never Liked the Beatles, Beautiful, High Cost of Living, I Love Singapore, My One & Only.
(2) Hot Burrito #1 (Flying Burrito Bros), My Life, This Savage Garden, Keep the Faith, Oh Lord!, Always, My One & Only
(3) Lyric Space (Nick Tan), Jealous Guy (John Lennon), Feel the Same Way, Here, Mister Ong, Orchard Road, My One & Only
(4) Waterloo Sunset (The Kinks), A Climate of Fear, Easy, Damaged, Heaven, My One & Only, Gum
Hope to upload a couple of tracks recorded live from both nights soon.
… still there’s more …
And… watchmen@midnight Ep is still available for free download here.
Here’s an interesting Watchmen movie tie-in. A 12″ picture disc of My Chemical Romance’s version of Dylan’s Desolation Row. In case you’re wondering what that has to do with Watchmen, of course, the title of Watchmen #1 – At midnight, all the agents…, is a line from Desolation Row. If this sounds good to you, the disc may be purchased here. Personally, I would have preferred the original but I guess the youth card played heavily on the minds of Warners marketing executives. Discs look cool though…
What to make of bands like Pit Er Pat? This multi-instrumentalist quartet - Fay Davis-Jeffers (vocals, piano, guitar, kalimba), Rob Doran (bass, vocals, guitar, electronics) and Butchy Fuego (drums, vocals, percussion, electronics/programming) – eschews conventional pop-rock songwriting in an attempt to come up with a unique sound and voice.
Judging from the instruments used on this – the band’s third album - electric kalimba, bobo balaphone, Burmese temple gongs, agogo bells, anandolohori, cuica, timbale, conga, bongos, vibraslap, various shakers, bells, chimes, claps, and melodica (I don’t even recognise most of these instruments, never mind what they sound like!), it’s obvious that High Time is not going to be an easy ride for the uninitiated.
Thus, let’s just say that the esoteric music of Pit Er Pat is an acquired taste in the extreme. But if you’re looking for something different and something more challenging than your usual three chord wonders, then you might want to check out High Time. It’s not easy to draw reference points although in terms of approach, you might find some affinity with the more experimental songs of The Doors and Love and in terms of the modern music scene, perhaps Beirut, Joanna Newsom and Blonde Redhead.
You might even call it left-field world music filtered through post-rock sensibilities but I’m sure even that description will not do any justice to this charming and inventive music.
Rachel Getting Married isn’t really much about Rachel’s wedding than it is about Kym returning home and attempting to fit in.
Anne Hathaway headlines this small film, a gem of a family drama. Hathaway plays Kym, an ex-junkie out from rehabilitation to attend her sister, Rachel’s (Rosemarie DeWitt) wedding.
All seems rather well under the quiet surface of things until Kym discovers that she’s not Rachel’s Maid-of-Honour, to which Kym creates a big fuss. Later, Kym embarrasses Rachel with an Alcoholic Anonymous sharing cum confession over the Rachel’s rehearsal dinner. Secrets are revealed and the audience sees a family torn apart over a tragedy.
Hathaway channels the yearning and desperation of Kym – dole-eyed, fidgety, and insecure as Kym, cigarette almost never leaving her hand. Kym is wrecked by guilt, unable to face her demons. Kym is an outsider in her own home, trying to integrate into her own family. Hathaway has come a long way to establish herself as a fine actress, a change from the days of Ella Enchanted and The Princess Diaries. Rachel Getting Married cements that. It is not surprising that Hathaway is considered a forerunner for a Best Actress nomination at the 2009 Oscars.
DeWitt acquits herself well against Hathaway, portraying succinctly the neglected child who wants the attention for a change. DeWitt also successfully conveys the love-hate relationship and quiet resentment Rachel has towards Kym.
Bill Irwin is all tender and kind as the home-proud father who is caring about his daughters.
Kudos goes to Debra Winger as Rachel’s and Kym’s estranged mother. Winger is all good as the cool steely reserve of their mother whose attention both Rachel and especially Kym so desire to have but never reciprocated equally.
The movie is shot in a DV like mode and joined together shot-by-shot. It makes all the more a gripping family drama. Although one letdown would be the over-extended song and dance segment of Rachel’s wedding, this movie is one ride of a drama about family and acceptance.
It’s a rock concert cliché, really, an oft-familiar sight at rock concerts: the applauding, adoring crowd lifting a wall of adulation around the triumphant homecoming rock band heroes. Nothing out of the ordinary, right? To paraphrase Paul Celan, rock music is a sort of homecoming. What made this particular scenario different, however, was that the baffled but very much thrilled rock band on stage hailed from a town 9200 miles away from the venue of the concert.
To tell the truth, I didn’t really rank myself as a Stars fan when I decided to attend this concert together with Kevin. I had heard of them, sure. How they started off doing ambient, melodic electronica before discovering the art of actually playing instruments on their 2005 breakthrough album, Set Yourself On Fire, and how they’d garnered themselves quite a fanbase overseas as their fame steadily spread. Still, they only existed on the fringes of musical consciousness before then. Which was why I surprised myself when I accepted Kevin’s offer to attend the concert with him.
It’s been said that the audience is a rock band’s most crucial instrument. Stars certainly appeared to have taken that maxim to heart as lead vocalists Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan worked the crowd into a storm throughout the concert by throwing roses into the audience. Initially there were some technical issues pertaining to the sound, which resulted in the very odd sight of Campbell running off stage during Amy’s vocal turns to shout instructions to the sound technicians.
No technical problems, however, could keep Stars from the audience that night. The audience was enthusiastic and positively overjoyed from simply being present at the concert, and their enthusiasm was infectious as the band replied stirringly in kind, producing that certain sort of magic to a live performance of a song that studio performances can’t achieve. Thus it was so that numbers such as Ageless Beauty, The Night Starts Here and Calendar Girl transformed from the quietly mesmerizing tracks they are on the various albums into positively ethereal experiences that spellbound the audience into closed-eyed singalong abandon. In fact, it was almost a religious experience, transcendental in the degree of surrender the audience trusted to the band, as Kevin remarked midway through. As the band launched into a gleeful performance of Elevator Love Letter, I felt every inch of cynicism and apathy within me melt away and willingly gave myself over to the infectious singalong chorus.
One moment defined the concert for me. Midway through the encore performance of Calendar Girl, Torquil embarked on his own personal Lake of Genesareth moment, falling into the audience feet first. The clustered crowd at the front of the stage willingly carried him out of the stage as he walked unsteadily upon the uplifted palms of the crowd members.
He reached the seated areas, and did not stop. As the band played on the hypnotically captivating bridge of the song, Torquil waded further into the crowd, every step on the seats of the audience a relentless invasion and attack on the distance between the band and the audience. “I’m alive,” he screamed, the soft hook from the song transforming now into a statement of intent and a declaration of faith in the audience.
It’s oddly contradictory that the distance between the audience and the performer is only as long as the link that binds them together: music. The size and sweep of the music performed can be crucial to how closely a band connects to an audience. But in that one perfect moment, as Torquil tilted his head back and howled a wordless cry of grace, gratitude and carthatic emotion at the audience that reached out at him with outstretched hands, they were together as one in that sweeping anthem of perfect intimacy.
“We are Stars, and so are you,” proclaimed Torquil just before they left the stage for the last time. It was a statement that rang profoundly true in more ways than one.
(Samuel C Wee)
From my vantage point, it was clear that Stars were overwhelmed by the enthusiasm that swept over them like a tidal wave from the sell out crowd. Torq joked about having lost a $100 bet that the audience would be composed of Canadian English teachers rather than true blue Singaporeans and that probably summed up the delight and surprise at moving over a 1000 tickets in Singapore.
But that is the power of the internet, surely, indeed, the power of pop!
Initially, I was shocked by the shoddy sound and perhaps the band was affected by that challenge as well as Stars opened their set a tad tenatively. But once they got into their collective stride, there was no stopping them. With each succeeding song intro being drowned out by the crowd’s besotted response, it seemed that there was an electric exchange between band and audience (that frankly is not that common in Singapore) that swell into a crescendo of mutual adoration.
Live, Stars were a harder edged proposition than their elegaic recordings would suggest. I personally enjoyed the strength of their melodic hooks in songs like Take Me To The Riot, What I’m Trying To Say, Elevator Love Letter, Undertow and of course, Ageless Beauty. Incandescent moments. This is a concert that will live long in the memory.
In the 60s, Singapore had a thriving pop music scene with top bands like the Quests actually out-selling the Beatles at times. However, in the 70s, the Government deemed rock music to be decadent and undesirable and basically threw the baby out with the bath water. Long hair was effectively outlawed and pop culture in general was discouraged to such an extent that the local music scene died. Thus, in the 80s, there was no local scene to speak of as Filipino covers bands dominated the musical landscape.
In the early 90s, a revival of S-ROCK took hold as a combination of BigO magazine, supportive radio stations (Heart 91.3) and DJs X’Ho and Suresh Menon put Singapore music at the top of the radio charts and into the public consciousness again. But sadly, this revival did not last as the 1997 Asian financial crisis put money concerns back high on everybody’s agenda.
However, in recent times, the S-ROCK scene has once again been in the ascendancy as the Government has realized the value and role of S-ROCK in making Singapore a vibrant global city. Which is why in January 2009, Mediacorp TV will be debuting a live music programme featuring S-ROCK!
Live n Loaded promises to be more than just another music variety show as it will be on all media platforms – TV, Radio, web and print – and will “expose” local music acts and “showcase” local, regional and international music stars in front of 4.8 million people in Singapore, live every week.
Not only that but aspiring artists/bands can create profiles and upload music and stuff so that the general public may decide who is worthy to perform on the show.
Well, that’s the concept, anyways.
Personally, I think it’s about time and always better late than never!
Power of Pop will of course be on hand to cover this significant S-ROCK event and hopes it will indeed achieve exposure for the S-ROCK scene.
First off, this Saturday, at Scape, you can catch Astroninja, Allura, A Vacant Affair, Plainsunset & Vertical Rush. Then the live taping of the show on 27 January 2009. 8.30pm every Tuesday with the first show to feature Great Spy Experiment, Electrico and Ling, amongst others.
My first gig of the year will be a solo affair, armed only with my guitar. Not entirely true actually, as there will be a little surprise for those of you at the esplanade concourse tonight for the 2nd set at 8.15pm.
Also, my talented Noise apprentices Rachael Teo and Nick Tan will be opening each night’s set with a original song of their own. These kids are gifted singer-songwriters and you can expect to hear much more of them in the months to come.
I will be singing a few of the usual suspects and many songs that I’ve never ever played live before. I’m blessed to still have an audience even after all these years and for this, I am thankful. So hope to see all you kind folk tonight or tomorrow night and please do come up and say hello…
Supporting Spurs is sometimes oh so predictable. In the dying minutes of the match against Wigan, Spurs gave away a pointless corner and at the pit of my stomach, I knew a goal was coming. And when the ball inevitably hit the back of the net from Maynor Figueroa’s free header, millions (thousands?) of Spurs fans around the world screamed in unison – “I knew it!”
But really, Spurs deserved nothing from the game and this time the manager and the players shared the blame equally. It wasn’t so long ago that Spurs fans were taunting Juande Ramos with derisory “You don’t know what you’re doing?” chants (at Portsmouth, ironically). This time it seemed Harry Redknapp had lost the plot. Gambling with a 3-5-2 (or was it actually 5-3-2 or maybe a mutant 4-4-2?) with Ledley King in midfield, the opening minutes seemed to catch Wigan a little confused with Spurs formation but at the 20 minute mark, Wigan had sussed out Redknapp game plan and Spurs never got a whiff of Wigan’s goal again.
Redknapp seemed to compound matters by replacing Pavlyuchenko and Modric with Bent and Lennon respectively (to little impact), deciding to leave the visibly injured Gomes on the pitch (he was static at the deciding corner) and having to bring on the clueless Jenas (who was caught out by Figueroa for the goal) for the combative but concussed Dawson. Which all meant a toothless 4-4-2 by the end.
In the post-match interview, ‘arry laid angrily into his players but surely he was equally at fault with his team selection. With the news that Jenas has been stripped of his vice-captaincy, all is not rosy at White Hart Lane now. The next three Premiership games – against Portsmouth, Stoke & Bolton – are absolutely crucial to Spurs immediate future…surely, Spurs are too good to go down, aren’t they?
“My name is Harvey Milk and I’m here to recruit you.”
Milk is director Gus van Sant’s telling of the final eight years of the life of San Francisco’s first openly gay City Supervisor Harvey Milk who was voted into public office.
Milk was later gunned down by a disgruntled ex-fellow Supervisor Dan White less than a year after taking office.
The film stars Sean Penn in the title role of Milk. Shedding the audiences’ perception of his tough bad boy image, Penn channels one of his career’s finest and most nuanced moments of a gay man cum activist. Penn not only succeeds in nailing the physical aspects and gestures of Milk, but also delivers Milk’s political ideals and passion as well as Milk’s playfulness and affection towards his lovers. Penn is a hot favourite for a Best Actor nomination at this year’s Oscars.
The film opens in New York with a closeted Milk (about to turn forty) meeting his long-time love Scott Smith, played with heart-breaking tenderness by James Franco who tries his best to support Milk in the latter’s political endeavours. Smith and Milk move interstate from New York to San Francisco in search of a change.
There Milk begins to campaign and crusade for gay rights at a time when religious fervour and the worry of the disintegration of the family begin to threaten the rights of homosexuals in the form of the Briggs Initiative or Proposition Six to which Milk successfully campaigned against.
Josh Brolin is superb and tragic as an embittered White whose perfect world and everything he believes is sent crumbling by Milk. Emile Hirsch is tart and brilliant as Milk’s protégé Cleve Jones.
Milk intersperses actual archival video footage and scenes of Milk taping and chronicling his crusade which is to be played in the event of his death.
Harvey Milk inspired hope and change that anticipated and is mirrored by U.S. President Elect Barack Obama. The movie Milk may not effect change as much but it is a masterfully crafted film of the celebration of hope and the unwavering human spirit. It is an inspiration of hope in this turbulent time.
It’s about a month to go before Ani DiFranco’s concert in Singapore (10th Feb) and I figured it was the appropriate time to share with you my thoughts on DiFranco’s 2008 record (and her 18th overall), Red Letter Year. Touted as DiFranco’s most lush and orchestrated work, Red Letter Year does recall the best recordings of such folk-rock luminaries such as Michele Shocked, Suzanne Vega, Bruce Cockburn and of course, Joni Mitchell.
Which means, that DiFranco’s acoustic guitar is low in the mix and full band arrangements are the order of the day. That doesn’t mean that DiFranco has gone soft or ‘sold out’. Not when songs like Alla This contains a couplet like – “and I can’t support the troops, cuz every last one of them’s being duped” – hard hitting, for sure. The acoustic does come out for the motherhood-centric Present/Infant, where DiFranco sings – “But now here is this tiny baby/And they say she looks just like me/And she is smiling at me with that present infant glee/Yes, and I would defend to the ends of the earth/Her perfect right to be, be, be, be”. See, no mellow, sentimental gushing nonsense, new mother DiFranco is as strident as ever.
Or what about Way Tight, a powerful description of DiFranco’s relationship with her current life partner – “and I tell you what there is plenty wrong with you, stuff you’d sooner fight for than cop to but I think it’s just more reason why we are meant to be. People say I look like you and you look like me, we get this crazy combination of everything and nothing right. We are way way way way way way way way way tight” – sung to the gorgeous trad-folk guitar performance. Then there’s the religiously zealous defence of the Atom – “I have this great great uncle/Who worked on the atomic bomb/He got a nobel prize in physics and a place in song and I bet there were no windows and no women in the room when they applied themselves to the pure science of boom” – funny and yet awfully preachy at the same time.
Sure, it’s about the lyrics and concepts, not to mention the intricate and ornate instrumentation but the centerpiece of Red Letter Year, is DiFranco’s vocals, which is at turns warm, angry, joyous and loving, that manages to rein in the contrarian strands of environmental, anti-war, anti-religion, feminist and political rhetoric that permeates this intriguing album.
Tickets for Ani DiFranco’s concert are available from SISTIC.
The post-punk epoch (basically 1978 to 1984) was a fecund period in rock history. These years are special to me personally because I really started listening seriously to rock music during this precious era. But of all the bands that flourished during this time and beyond, the Cure is one post-punk outfit that I could never get into. To date, in fact. But it is impossible to deny that perhaps, apart from Joy Division/New Order, U2 and the Police, no other post-punk band has been as influential on the modern rock scene as the Cure.
Case in point, Cut Off Your Hands, hailing from New Zealand but now based in the UK, a post-punk revival band that has been making waves and creating buzz with their hyper-kinetic, highly danceable & irresistibly tuneful indie pop music. Three Eps (viz. Shaky Hands, Blue on Blue and Happy As Can Be) have all been well received by critics and fans alike. Part of the secret behind COYH’s success is their partnership with producer (ex-Suede guitarist) Bernard Butler, which has been working since recording Blue on Blue in 2007.
You & I does not disappoint. Whatever the label, this debut album is chock full of eminently listenable pop songs that resonate with verve and playful melodicism. It’s hard to pick favorites because all the tracks are equally strong but if pushed, I would say that the quietly provocative Someone Like Daniel, the poppy single Oh Girl, the vibrant Let’s Get Out of Here and the strangely Spectoresque Happy As Can Be are the tastiest delights of this sonic buffet.
A very early contender for a place on the 2009 best albums list already…
“Esser is a broken man, searching for his wayward son amongst the rough streets of London’s homeless. Milo is a heartbroken thirty-something desperately trying to find a way back to the purity of first love. Emilia is a beautiful art student, her suicidal art projects becoming increasingly more complex and deadly. Preest is a masked vigilante detective, searching for his nemesis on the streets of Meanwhile City; a monolithic fantasy metropolis ruthlessly governed by faith and religious fervour. Esser, Milo, Emilia, Preest- a group of people who couldn’t be further apart. Their individual worlds are set for a cataclysmic collision. In an explosive finale, thepath of a single bullet will decide the fate of our four lost souls….”
So goes the press release of the upcoming HanWay Film sci-fi movie Franklyn. Which, going by the trailer, seems to be a hybrid of dystopian future/steampunk/super hero genres. Interesting. Reminds me very much of Dark City and Children of Men in its visual presentation. Worth checking out. Will be released in the UK in February. No news on international release dates so far.
Power of Pop began in 1998 as a website to feature my music writing. Of course, I have other interests – football, film, TV, books etc and have usually set up other sites for these topics.
Film
But lately, I’ve been thinking about consolidation. Power of Pop should be more than music, it should encompass the whole of popular culture, as it is. And the sudden appearance of film and football posts is just the beginning.
Comics
So this is an open call to writers out there who are interested in writing about pop culture. It’ll still be reviews-centric with a strong commitment to music but there will be space for other interests as well, as long as it is pop culture relevant.
Football
If you’re interested, do drop me a line – info (at) powerofpop (dot) com
So what to make of Jermain Defoe’s return to Spurs? The moment Harry Redknapp was appointed as Spurs boss, this was firmly on the cards, so it’s no surprise I guess. But is it a good move and is it the right move?
Well, in money terms, I would say that it’s a bad move as Spurs had to shell out an extra 6 million quid for a player they sold exactly a year ago. Not only that but obviously Defoe has re-signed on better terms as well so that more money lost. Surely, if they had re-negotiated more favorable terms in January 2008, Spurs would not have to go through this debacle. Although it could be argued that at that time, Spurs did not expect Robbie Keane to leave in the summer and Defoe was surplus to requirements. Or so ex-head coach Juande Ramos and ex-Director of Football Damien Comolli thought at the time.
In purely football terms? That’s really hard to say. Much will depend on how well Defoe links with Pavlyuchenko or Bent. Defoe is a natural goal-scorer and always gets himself into great scoring positions though his finishing sometimes lets him down. Spurs have definitely lacked fire power this season and if Defoe does his job, then everyone would have forgotten and forgiven the last 12 months. In any case, if anyone can get the best out of Defoe, it would be his mentor, Harry Redknapp.
Of course, seeing is believing so Defoe will have to prove himself tomorrow when Spurs take on Wigan at the JJB stadium. Wait and see…
A Climate of Fear was played on Monday (6 Jan) night on Tan[g]kap Suxx’s show on unpopular radio. You can download the entire show from the link on the site. I must say that Tan[g]kap Suxx’s DJ style reminds me of the late great John Peel. So check it out for some great music – including yours truly.
The biggest movie of 2008 is worth watching more than once and you can do so now with the DVD release. This sequel to Batman Begins outdoes its predecessor in so many ways, that it’s easy to forget that Batman Begins was a great film in its own right. I’ve review the film elsewhere on Power of Pop but suffice to say that watching the film over again, one realizes that the the late Heath Ledger steals every single scene he is in.
Sure, the plot may concentrate on the rise and fall of Harvet Dent/Two Face and what that means to the hopes and dreams of Bruce Wayne/Batman, but the compelling tale is the Joker. About the Joker is a commentary on rational and cold evil. The Joker is no mere super-villain, he is the evil of mankind personified. None of his crimes are too far-fetched for modern reality as we witness similar acts of terror becoming too commonplace.
Of course, the film isn’t flawless and the whole idea of Gordon’s fake death and the Joker allowing himself to be caught so that he could get to Lao does not make too much sense but in the final analysis is totally forgivable. Not to mention the marginalization of Batman as a lead character in the face of colourful villains like the Joker and Two Face.
One imagines that it would be difficult for director Christopher Nolan to follow this wonderful movie achievement but it will be intriguing to see him try.
As with most DVDs, the icing on the cake comes with the special features. That’s where this DVD is found wanting. No commentaries, no deleted scenes, no interviews. What we are left with are technical “making of” featurettes and six episodes of the Gotham Tonight series.
I guess in this instant, it’s all about the movie itself and thank goodness that this is one that bears up to repeated plays.
The Watchmen Japanese trailer is online and all you Watchmen geeks will be thrilled to know that it contains loads of previously unseen footage that serve only to reiterate that this movie is going to be one of the best comic book/sci-fi/speculative fiction/whatever movie of all time.
Am I making all this up? Check out the trailer above, courtesy of Trailer Addict.
Cartoons on the cover? Check. Scintillating colour scheme? Check. Mandatory animal reference? Check. Mandolin? Check. Syllable-balanced song titles? Check.
It doesn’t take a Nobel laureate to figure out what kind of music to expect the second you glaze your peepers over the cover of Tomb Of Leopards. Pretty much all the twee pop stereotypes are fulfilled amidst the quaint vector artwork. Fortunately, the music showcased in the album is anything but nondescript.
Tomb Of Leopards is a jaunty reinterpretation of a genre that, as I’ve always maintained, has already been jaunted all the way back to an age where “merry” was still a perennial adjective. No mean feat, considering the saturated nature of the genre.
Managing to maintain the characteristic upper register cheeriness of a twee pop record, the group catapults the genre into modern relevance by subsumption of numerous unexpected elements into their distinctive sound. Treading the fence between unsullied knelling and raw energetics, they have managed to strike a very gratifying balance between glee and melancholia.
You want proof you say? Check out See You In Hell. Yes, it IS a happy tune. Now slow down, take a deep breath, and review the title.
One musical anecdote I particularly enjoyed off the album was the growling, Page-esque guitar solo in the postlude of Biological Sense, which very tastefully succeeded a bluesy refrain of lost love built upon threadbare Mandolin chords. It isn’t easy to incorporate these themes into a sad pop song without dragging along their affiliated clichés, according further testament, in my book, to the group’s very discernable talent.
An excellent release that’ll probably stay in heavy rotation on my playlists this year. Highly recommended.
I suppose technically, this should have been in my top ten albums list except that I kept thinking it was a 2007 release and that I had reviewed it before. Wrong on all counts! So better late than never.
So what is it about Bon Iver/Justin Vernon’s lo-fi experiments into indie-folk-pop that has got music bloggers everywhere all excited? Well, it just sounds so refreshing and so diffierent from the majority of the crap out there trying to pass of as alternative or indie.
Despite the austerity of the production, there is so much going on in these lo-fi recordings that one could listen to them again and again and still hear something new. For me, it’s the way the Justin Vernon uses his voice – whether as falsetto, tracked to death or good ol’ country-folk larynx.
Flume and Lump Sum encapsulate everything that is vital and gorgeous about this album – the brilliant harmonies on Flume’s chorus (not to mention that guitar string ringing) or the unforgettable melody (one that Macca himself would be proud to call his own) and heavenly choral effects of Lump Sum.
The rest of For Emma, Forever Ago keeps the momentum at a high. The fragile beauty of The Wolves (Act I & II), the immersing vocal envelope of Creature Fear and the jaunty, Neil Young vibe (think: eponymous debut) of For Emma make for an intense ride. If you love the ethereal magic of Van Morrison, Nick Drake and Jeff Buckley, then you just cannot ignore Bon Iver.
The Stars concert is only three days away. Go to the Greenhorn Facebook page and get the password for the discounted ticket price. Not much time left, so don’t hesitate. Hope to see you there!
Canadian powerpoppers have been honing their pop craft since the bad old days of grunge. Having been mistakenly lumped with the likes of Stone Temple Pilots and Pearl Jam after their debut Smeared, the band would go on to dispel any misconceptions about where their musical allegiances lay.
Seven studio albums later (not to mention fame & fortune in their homeland), Sloan remain a bit of a secret cult treasure in the USA and beyond but that has not stopped them from producing some of the finest classicist pop-rock albums of the last decade or so.
After the 30-track extravaganza of Never Hear the End of It (2006), perhaps its understandable that Parallel Play – clocking in at under 38 minutes, is Sloan’s shortest album ever. As usual, the 13 tracks on Parallel Play are individually brilliant exercises in guitar pop par excellence, and collectively a shining example of how 70s classic pop-rock can still be relevant and viable in 2008.
From pop punk (Emergency 911) to powerpop (Cheap Champagne) to Stonesy R&B (Believe in Me) to jaunty piano rock (Witch’s Wand) and to even cheesy reggae (Too Many), Sloan reiterate their mastery over guitar pop forms to deliver an album that every fan of good old fashioned rock ‘n’ pop music will delight in.
Happy vibrant pop that is at once angular and nuanced, borrowing heavily from psychedelic rock and music hall. In that respect, The Spinto Band recalls the work of the Kinks, XTC and Blur. In the modern rock milieu, the Spinto Band shares much in common with Of Montreal.
The Spinto Band have been recording artists for more than a decade and still their innocent embrace of quirky and jaunty pop show no sign of abatement. Moonwink is chock full of energetic outbursts of sound, childlike tunes and whimsical arrangements, which includes a wide array of instruments eg. timpani, horns, church organ et al. Exciting and fun material is the order of the day for the Spinto Band with Moonwink, nothing too serious, anything to make you jump around and smile!
Singaporean musicians have managed to achieve some semblance of pedigree since the mid-90s when we were nothing but a scene that celebrated itself. OK fine, I’ll admit, a substantial proportion of us (completely impartial commentaries notwithstanding) are still stuck in that rut.
I’ve know I’ve been on about this like a broken record, but I’ll say it again; it takes pure, unadulterated bollocks to shove the mighty little finger in the “scene’s” face and rise above the sad institutionalization of circle-jerking cliques and carebear support groups who wear their affiliations on their sleeves.
Constituted by members who have each paid their ample share of dues to the community, Astroninja is probably one the closest things we’ll ever get to an all-star shootout. Originally formed under the moniker Astroninja All-Stars as a one-night-only supergroup at Rock For Wayne, the band has since settled into a more permanent configuration, dropping the postfix in favour of the spunkier alternative.
After emerging from a year in the studio noodling and tweaking their sound, these purveyors of “Astro-rock” have seen their laborious efforts come to fruition in the form of Kiss My Astro! their 11-track LP. Sealed in an obnoxiously large yellow sleeve, the package also includes a Bobby (the band mascot, he is lamb, you know!?) badge, stickers bearing the cartoon likenesses of each member, and a self-explanatory Ninja Card. Unorthodox? Definitely. Moreover, the band would be quick to slap you across the head with a giant trout to remind you that that’s EXACTLY how they like it.
If you’re wondering why you haven’t seen any of the fellows in a while, it’s because they haven’t been maintaining an active calendar of gigs. That’s right, no gigs at all, at least, not yet. They have chosen to forgo some of the more traditional promotional elements to focus on their music. Not surprisingly, it seems to be working a lot better for them than some of the more current models, which in my opinion, are considerably flawed.
As is the case with any “supergroup”, the omnipresent question of par proximity is bound to arise. How well does Kiss My Astro! (yes, with the exclamation mark, none of that let’s-cut-the-word-in-half-cos-we-r-kool crap) match up to its eminent expectations?
The first thing you notice about the album is its astronomically (you shall have to excuse my puns, I have been trapped in headline hell for well over a week now) tasteful guitar works, which draw equally from classic, driving rock, a reckless street-punk ethos, and appropriately applied effects. With this in mind, you’d half expect a disappointingly unfocused delivery to follow, considering the bands utterly random inclinations with regards to content. Not so. These are paired with thundering, amply-filled rhythmwork, and a searing vocal style delivered with a nuclear excess of aplomb.
The vocals are an entire area of consideration on their own. So important to the direction of this album, that I reckon they deserve their own paragraph. If you find the voice screaming back at you familiar, it’s because you’ve probably heard it before. Singer Levan Wee, former frontman of Ronin, returns with a very apparent maturation to his howls, taming the mayhem of his Revolution and Do What Thou Wilt days, and channeling the underlying energy to drive messages of liberation, anti-conformity and self-empowerment, all with subtle undertones of politically-fallacious humour.
That’s not to say that every song is a searing Johnny Ramone buzzsaw affair, there is plenty of ambient goodness to be had (check out the soaring introduction to Cacophony, the albums epilogue) along with uncommonly compelling vocal explorations (Jess, Thunder, Anthem For The Ordinary et al.)
All in all, an album that covers plenty of ground, all while managing to stay firmly rooted to its key principles. Astroninja’s 100% home-blended political incorrectness is something we are in dire need of around here.
KMA! is without a doubt, the most exciting S-Rock album to have emerged from 2008. Watch out for more from the Astro boys this year: the time of the Ninja approaches.
My earliest memory of TV was an Astro Boy cartoon in the mid-60s, when I was growing up. I guess you could say that my interest in the upcoming Astro Boy movie (released on October 23) is purely nostalgic. Astro Boy, of course, is an android built by Doctor Tenma, head of the futuristic Ministry of Science, in memory of his deceased son. Before comics, Astro Boy was my introduction to the world of sci-fi, fantasy and super powers. Frankly, I don’t remember much about the cartoon so it should be interesting to see how this movie turns out.
ONE SMALL STEP FOR LANDMINES If You Could Get Over Me Ep (Self released)
Most rock bands treat acoustic performances with a sort of measured trepidation. It’s not hard to see why. Rock music thrives on electricity to build the sort of atmosphere where it can explode into either epic catharsis, ala U2’s 1987 With Or Without You, or snarling landscapes of narrative, like Bob Dylan’s 1965 Like A Rolling Stone.
It takes a certain amount of panache, therefore, for a rock band to pull out the plug and risk not having power for those power chords, like Tallahassee emo pop-rock band One Small Step For Landmines does here on their fourth release, the free six-song acoustic EP, If You Could Get Over Me.
To be fair about it, it’s not really anything unusual to see emo rock bands releasing acoustic songs, or albums for that nature. Most of them would be better off sticking to the full band treatment though; it really is no compliment to your musicianship when audiences start realizing that there’s not much different in arrangement between your acoustic songs and your band songs. Case in point: the insufferably snore-inducing Secondhand Serenade.
Interestingly enough, One Small Step For Landmines have actually made an album here that is rather enjoyable. Breaking away from the stiflingly conventional rattle and strum that has characterized most emo acoustic music, Landmines inject sufficient innovation and layering into their songs to keep the music compelling and interesting without overwhelming the lyrical focus.
The lyrics here are conventional emo pop-rock fare, sprawling streams of consciousness punctuated by the occasional passage of narrative. What lifts them here, however, is the interesting melodies that lead singer Kevin Allen colors them with. They are tied together with a delivery that is characteristically bleeding-heart-on-the-sleeve naked.
Title track here, If You Could Get Over Me, is an excellent representation for the album itself; bright, catchy plucked guitar arpeggios underlining the conversational emoting of Allen. Aluminum Can Strings follows the same formula, telling through a series of sketched thoughts, meandering poetry and geographical name-dropping the normal break-up story. New York, On Purpose is probably the best track here on the E.P, recounting a night of reminiscent reunion through rockin’ riffs. (Gee, alliteration is sure fun!) One gets the feeling, though, that the track would be more complete as a full-out driving piece of emo-punk, and Landmines might want to consider revisiting this track on future albums. The E.P closes with She Told Me A Story, a conversation between a mother and a son about a difficult childhood.
All things considered, One Small Step For Landmines do a good if not inspired job here with some pretty melodies and lyrics so intimate, they’re microscopic. It’s not exactly Joni Mitchell’s Blue or Bob Dylan’s Blood On The Tracks, but it’s catchy, easy on the ear, and if you happen to be having a bout of teenage emotive angst, it might even be cathartic.
Faithful readers will know that I am a sucker for harmonica over an acoustic guitar. And that’s how English shoegaze/orch pop outfit Lorna has elected to introduce us listeners to the wonders of this brand new sparkling album. As Mark and Sharon Rolfe (yup, husband and wife team) harmonize on the chorus of the opening folky Look Left, goose bumps spring to life on my skin.
Which sets the tone for this collection of deliberately soft and preciously constructed songs. Not In My Lighthouse is a prime example of this as tasteful organ, light harp and deep clarinet embellish the Rolfes’ collective magic. Another is A Place That We Can Go with its lightly strummed acoustic guitar, heavenly pedal steel & plucked banjo giving it a surreal countrified feel. Gorgeous.
The pace of Writing Down Things To Say is largely easy and relaxing. The emphasis is on atmosphere without sacrificing melody as every instrument is carefully selected to produce a certain mood. Nowhere is this more evident that in the evocative Monsters Are Forever, where these various elements are coalsed into a spine tingling whole. Breath taking to say the least.
Fans of fragile country-folk and lovely chamber pop will simply adore Writing Down Things To Say from start to finish.
The 80s post punk revival continues unabated with indie bands like Oxford Collapse. Having much in common with British outfits like Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand, British Sea Power in that these bands draw similar inspiration from Gang of Four, Wire, The Fall et al.
The instrumentations and arrangements are spare and the guitars are clean. The overall production is lo-fi and almost seems like it was recorded on the fly. A free-wheeling sensibility permeates the album, where the songs are sung pseudo-drunkenly, in that respect recalling the very early albums of the Replacements.
To be honest, whilst I appreciate the general tone and direction, I find it hard to get into the tunes, such as they are, and I have to say that this one is strictly for fans only.
Whatever you may think of The Killers’ obsession with the music of the 80s, at least the band is never ashamed of wearing their influences proudly on their collective sleeves. In fact, band leader, Brandon Flowers, has always made a point of loudly declaring the specific inspirations for each album. From the dance-rock of Duran Duran and New Order on debut Hot Fuss to the serious rock of U2 and the Boss on sophpmore Sam’s Town, Flowers has made no bones about what each album was meant to achieve in his mind.
Now, on third album – Day & Age – the band has claimed that David Bowie, Elton John and Lou Reed were weighing heavily on their minds during recording sessions. Personally, I don’t hear it at all. So was it all a smokescreen? If so, what is Day & Age about then?
Simply put, Day & Age continues The Killers’ post-punk revivalist tendencies filtered through a hyperventilating lyrical and melodic sensibility. The band has crammed as many late-70s/early 80s references points as physically possible. Which can either leave you breathless or bored. I’m wagering it’s more like somewhere in the middle.
To their immense credit, The Killers are trying their best to stretch their musical boundaries to embrace different forms and arrangements whilst retaining the melodicism and danceability that made them megastars to begin with. Cases in point – the world music slant of This Is Your Life, the bossa nova treatment of I Can’t Stay, the bombastic trip of Neon Tiger, the blue-eyed soul groove of The World We Live In and the gothic mood of Goodnight, Travel Well.
The first half of Day & Age finds The Killers with eyes fixed firmly on the pop charts as gleaming synths, growling saxes, deep bass runs, head-bopping rhythms and thrashy pop tunes inhabit the irresitsible ear candies of Losing Touch, Human, Spacemen and Joy Ride.
Perhaps the band meant Bowie circa Let’s Dance, John circa I’m Still Standing and Reed? That one I still can’t figure…
Whatever, in Human and Spaceman at least, The Killers have distilled all that was strange and wonderful about early 80s British pop and have planted the seeds into the experience of young music fans worldwide and for that at least, I’m grateful.
(71 Recordings Collective)
(Western Vinyl)
(Self released)
(Smalltown Supersound)
(Slanty Shanty)
(Self released) 
(Mint)
(Thrill Jockey)
(Jagjaguwar)
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(Righteous Babe)
(Frenchkiss)
(Sandbox)
(Jagjaguwar)
(Park the Van)
(Words On Music)
(Sub Pop)