Month: January 2009

MARYKATE O’NEIL Underground (71 Recordings Collective)

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”.

Simply magnificient! An essential for 2009.

Check out Marykate O’Neil’s Myspace page.

Here’s the music video for Nashville. Enjoy!

LADY GAGA The Fame (Universal)

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.

Check out Lady GaGa’s Myspace page.

HERE WE GO MAGIC Here We Go Magic (Western Vinyl)

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. 

(Adam Gregory)

Check out Here We Go Magic’s Myspace page.

CAW! CAW! Wait Outside (Slanty Shanty)

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. 

THE SAFES Sight of All Light (Self released) 

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. 

(Samuel C Wee)

Check out the Safes’ Myspace page.

THE ORGAN Thieves (Mint)

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.

Check out The Organ’s Myspace page.

LITHOPS Ye Viols! (Thrill Jockey)

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.

Check out Lithops’ Myspace page.

U2 Get On Your Boots (Universal)

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.

Listen to Get On Your Boots at Last.fm.

BON IVER Blood Bank (Jagjaguwar)

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.