Oh the Irony! An American Band with a scottish name release an album on a scottish label. Mocking. Over.
Because Loch Lomond's SIXTH album "Little Me Will Start A Storm" is a startling statement of folk instrumentation dressed up in a pretty soaring package but much like a rotting onion, unpeel it's layers to discover something dark, unsettling and tear inducing. Although lazly compared to touring mates The Decemberists or Blitzen Trapper, their true soulmates are probably lost in the trees, like the North Carolina Troop, Loch Lomond are subtle and daring guaranteed to stop you dead in spite of whatever you are doing. Essentially a pop record which pulls no punches, "little me..." encompasses a range of perspective, point of view and a raw edge which proves that there is a lot more within the portland scene to be discovered...
Thursday, 27 October 2011
Mikal Cronin- Mikal Cronin
If the Strange Boys isn't psychedelica enough for you, look no further than Ty Segall's "best friend" (made that up) and bassist/singer for the moonhearts.... Mikal Cronin, who's self-titled debut is a fully formed swaggering confident garage rock masterpiece.... Pitchfork described him as the Waylon Jennings to Ty Seagall's Buddy Holly, which is very clever indeed. But Cronin is very capable on his own merit, with an ear for arranging above and beyond Seagal, rushing from prog to garage to psychedelia to a longing introspection within mere minutes.
A joyous suprise!
Couple of Tracks from Cronin on his bandcamp (see below):
A joyous suprise!
Couple of Tracks from Cronin on his bandcamp (see below):
Class Actress- Rapprocher
I've been waiting so long for Elizabeth Harper's debut album proper that I'd almost forgotten about her entirely. Class Actress' EP Journal of Ardency (released in 2009) was a near perfect collection of electro pop gems obviously enchanted by the forefathers (and mothers) of 80's electro pop, as if written in seedy nightclubs despite a real longing to be accepted in the light of the day. The album Rapprocher totally fulfils on the EP's promise, Harper's ice cold vocals capable of charming the pants off anyone, radio friendly, innocent but extremely sexy.
Listen to this track from the new album called "love me like you used to"
Listen to this track from the new album called "love me like you used to"
The Strange Boys- Live Music
Austin, TX Sons The Strange Boys return with their new album "Live Music" after making me sweat from every pour in their hot as fucking hell show at SXSW. Be Brave was a stunner and Live Music is much of the same, one minute on the boil indie rock and roll, switching to some raw heartfelt balledry. In a sea of rock and roll fuzz, 'boys will make you boogie woogie (in a way Jools has never been able to), bounce up and down and then cradle you in a fashion that would make Kat Dennings proud.
Here's the opening track from their new record "Live Music" titled "Me and You"
Here's the opening track from their new record "Live Music" titled "Me and You"
Youth Lagoon- The Year of Hibernation
This one's been doing the rounds for a ages now... but Boise, Idaho's Trevor Power's pained and personal semi-ego Youth Lagoon is one of the autumn's most pleasant suprises...
The Year of Hibernation is about life and not in a grand existential way but in a general every day way, its about how the past makes the present, about how the present shapes us, it's mostly about a boy going to school, falling in love, falling out of love, most importantly the things people struggle to talk about, the things that haunt you in the middle of the night, the things that stop you from jumping out of bed first thing in the morning. It's the sort of record that you can only make when you havent been smashed by the dreams and realities of being a touring musician.
Like the best pop music, Youth Lagoon creates a dreamy etherreal cheerfulness on the surface with a haunting reality shining through the lyrics.
The Year of Hibernation is one for the end of the year lists... it certainly will be on mine.
Here is Montana with it's striking video:
The Year of Hibernation is about life and not in a grand existential way but in a general every day way, its about how the past makes the present, about how the present shapes us, it's mostly about a boy going to school, falling in love, falling out of love, most importantly the things people struggle to talk about, the things that haunt you in the middle of the night, the things that stop you from jumping out of bed first thing in the morning. It's the sort of record that you can only make when you havent been smashed by the dreams and realities of being a touring musician.
Like the best pop music, Youth Lagoon creates a dreamy etherreal cheerfulness on the surface with a haunting reality shining through the lyrics.
The Year of Hibernation is one for the end of the year lists... it certainly will be on mine.
Here is Montana with it's striking video:
Friday, 19 August 2011
The Top 20 albums (so far) of 2011 that you should listen to... Part 2
Braids- Native Speaker
An all to brief debut which tells of child like innocence without being naive, a flurry of photographic flashbacks accompanied by a lush sonic smear. Not too many debuts have been capable of combining so many compulsory feelings in one statement, visceral and blunt, longing and old super 8's.
Cloud Nothings- Cloud nothings
Cleveland golden boy Dylan Baldi is quite simply straight up power punk, a young cousin to Jay Reatard and Wavves, although more consistent, as this debut proper proves, from full on punk rock to some of the albums slower and more sensitive tracks, coulda been the soundtrack to the summer but instead kicked in some january anthems.
Minks- By The Hedge
Another gaze band they arent, Boston resident Minks seem to fit the captured tracks sound (tongue firmly in cheek blogsphere) with a reference to a pre-disintergration Cure, but the insanely creative side of By The Hedge is how they adapt and evolve as the album progresses... the only staple being the usual pop interest of the lyrics and the old basis of what came first the music or the misery.
Say Hi- Um, uh Oh
Eric Elbogen is one of the most underrated singer/songwriters in the world today, Um, Uh Oh is his SEVENTH record but also his most accomplished. It's soulful indie pop at it's finest rooted by some of the most longing songs of the decade. Not every track hits quite as hard as opener "Dots on Maps" or "Take Ya Dancing" But Elbogen remains one of the most vital performers you've never heard of.
Sore Eros- Know Touching
Effortlessly beautiful record which officially came out last year but fuck it! Kurt Vile, Atlas Sound and reel to reel come to mind, but it's spaced out melody are completley their own.
Y Niwl- Y Niwl
Best Surf record ever to come out of wales! says it all really!
Gareth Liddiard- Strange Tourist
Epic Storytelling from Drones Frontman, a slow slug of a record which pulls no punches!
Lia Ices- Grown Unknown
Lia Ices Grown Unknown is a smart pop record far beyond the aforementioned folky longings. There are many great female vocalists set to discover this year, but Ices outshines most of them from the simple glories to epic pop.
Tim Hecker- Ravedeath 1972
Explosive haunting noise explosion from Canadian legend Tim Hecker. Intense, storming and intoxicating.
Grimes- Halfaxa
Grimes is etheral and often atonal (a necessary part of her dream/nightmare lure) but Halfaxa's charm lies in the pop songs that leer underneath, like the hope that despite the horror, a happy ending is in sight...
No Joy- Ghost Blonde
I LOVE No Joy, the most authentic 80s/90s indie noise band... with a record mixed by Sune Rose Wagner (The Raveonettes), hidden vocals provide melody but simply as a part of the bigger picture ("you girls smoke cigarettes?") of static recalling guitars and lush ethereal supreme. A Kim Gordon reference would be unimportant...but she pathed the way for balls out girl fronted bands like this... while a nod to j macis sums up laura lloyd's live performance more than anyone else. Sonic Joy! and Hawaii has the most epic opening i've loved all year.
White Hills- H-P 1
Bands often talk about capturing an elusive "live sound" few ever do it... With their second album White Hills have nailed it... best heard through a shitty bar's violent PA, HP-1 is busy, noisy and nasty, although at times somewhat endless.
Secret Cities- Strange Hearts
their debut was beautiful... and they were one of my favourite bands at SXSW this year. in debt to the sixties flower power definitely but their playful realism always keeps on the ground. Secret Cities maintain a playful bounce with a melancholy march quite like no-one else.
Mechanical Bride- living with ants
Too long in coming, but Lauren Doss' debut is a beautiful affair which seems to be lost in the shuffle, but upstages silmilar female artists (Laura Marling, Bat For Lashes) which she herself pre-dates. Ultimately a clever and inviting warmth that few achieve.
Bearsuit- Phantom Forest
Bouncing all over the place (like they always have) Phantom Forest is the band's finest record if only because it's the sharpest and poppiest.
Julianna Barwick- Magic Place
If Tim Hecker nailed the intensity on Ravedeath 1972, Barwick nailed the Angela Carter nightmare fairytale with an explosion of idealistic vocals, bended within a nightmare. Truly a one-off experience.
Craft Spells- Idol Chatter
Knowingly nodding to it's 80's pop influences, Craft Spells talent lies in the necessary goods to back it up... never missing a moment or hook or geninue sensiblity to do more than just look back.
An all to brief debut which tells of child like innocence without being naive, a flurry of photographic flashbacks accompanied by a lush sonic smear. Not too many debuts have been capable of combining so many compulsory feelings in one statement, visceral and blunt, longing and old super 8's.
Cloud Nothings- Cloud nothings
Cleveland golden boy Dylan Baldi is quite simply straight up power punk, a young cousin to Jay Reatard and Wavves, although more consistent, as this debut proper proves, from full on punk rock to some of the albums slower and more sensitive tracks, coulda been the soundtrack to the summer but instead kicked in some january anthems.
Minks- By The Hedge
Another gaze band they arent, Boston resident Minks seem to fit the captured tracks sound (tongue firmly in cheek blogsphere) with a reference to a pre-disintergration Cure, but the insanely creative side of By The Hedge is how they adapt and evolve as the album progresses... the only staple being the usual pop interest of the lyrics and the old basis of what came first the music or the misery.
Say Hi- Um, uh Oh
Eric Elbogen is one of the most underrated singer/songwriters in the world today, Um, Uh Oh is his SEVENTH record but also his most accomplished. It's soulful indie pop at it's finest rooted by some of the most longing songs of the decade. Not every track hits quite as hard as opener "Dots on Maps" or "Take Ya Dancing" But Elbogen remains one of the most vital performers you've never heard of.
Sore Eros- Know Touching
Effortlessly beautiful record which officially came out last year but fuck it! Kurt Vile, Atlas Sound and reel to reel come to mind, but it's spaced out melody are completley their own.
Y Niwl- Y Niwl
Best Surf record ever to come out of wales! says it all really!
Gareth Liddiard- Strange Tourist
Epic Storytelling from Drones Frontman, a slow slug of a record which pulls no punches!
Lia Ices- Grown Unknown
Lia Ices Grown Unknown is a smart pop record far beyond the aforementioned folky longings. There are many great female vocalists set to discover this year, but Ices outshines most of them from the simple glories to epic pop.
Tim Hecker- Ravedeath 1972
Explosive haunting noise explosion from Canadian legend Tim Hecker. Intense, storming and intoxicating.
Grimes- Halfaxa
Grimes is etheral and often atonal (a necessary part of her dream/nightmare lure) but Halfaxa's charm lies in the pop songs that leer underneath, like the hope that despite the horror, a happy ending is in sight...
No Joy- Ghost Blonde
I LOVE No Joy, the most authentic 80s/90s indie noise band... with a record mixed by Sune Rose Wagner (The Raveonettes), hidden vocals provide melody but simply as a part of the bigger picture ("you girls smoke cigarettes?") of static recalling guitars and lush ethereal supreme. A Kim Gordon reference would be unimportant...but she pathed the way for balls out girl fronted bands like this... while a nod to j macis sums up laura lloyd's live performance more than anyone else. Sonic Joy! and Hawaii has the most epic opening i've loved all year.
White Hills- H-P 1
Bands often talk about capturing an elusive "live sound" few ever do it... With their second album White Hills have nailed it... best heard through a shitty bar's violent PA, HP-1 is busy, noisy and nasty, although at times somewhat endless.
Secret Cities- Strange Hearts
their debut was beautiful... and they were one of my favourite bands at SXSW this year. in debt to the sixties flower power definitely but their playful realism always keeps on the ground. Secret Cities maintain a playful bounce with a melancholy march quite like no-one else.
Mechanical Bride- living with ants
Too long in coming, but Lauren Doss' debut is a beautiful affair which seems to be lost in the shuffle, but upstages silmilar female artists (Laura Marling, Bat For Lashes) which she herself pre-dates. Ultimately a clever and inviting warmth that few achieve.
Bearsuit- Phantom Forest
Bouncing all over the place (like they always have) Phantom Forest is the band's finest record if only because it's the sharpest and poppiest.
Julianna Barwick- Magic Place
If Tim Hecker nailed the intensity on Ravedeath 1972, Barwick nailed the Angela Carter nightmare fairytale with an explosion of idealistic vocals, bended within a nightmare. Truly a one-off experience.
Craft Spells- Idol Chatter
Knowingly nodding to it's 80's pop influences, Craft Spells talent lies in the necessary goods to back it up... never missing a moment or hook or geninue sensiblity to do more than just look back.
Wednesday, 13 July 2011
The Top 20 albums (so far) of 2011 that you should listen to... Part 1
Everyone else is doing it so why shouldn't I... except I will not be mentioning PJ Harvey, Mogwai, Anna Calvi, Decemberists, Panda Bear et al, there's no point you would have heard them anyway and decided you loved them and most of the aforementioned left me cold or at least they were records that I didnt think were anyway near as strong as previous releases...
And there are also so many records to be released in the rest of 2011 which may eclipse a lot of these records... or hell I may relisten to one of these above and decide it's the best thing since Stephen Malkmus picked up a pencil who knows... But here are 20 records you should have heard this year... some you will have, some you wont. There's also a load that I won't mention here, mainly because Ive mentioned them before or will rave about them more later...
FUCKED UP- David Comes To Life
This Record has been raved about by pretty much anyone who has heard it and for those who didn't love it... they've been fitted with hearing aids and have now changed their minds. Fucked Up's opus was a marvellous, intriguing, brutal and beautiful discourse on love and misery. Reject all concepts you have of the band or of their prog hardcore sub-category, sit down with a bottle of whiskey and listen to this record with the lyric booklet wide open, no record this year will have any more of an emotional punch than David...
And this is the sort of school I want my children to go to...
DESTROYER- KAPUTT
Destroyer finally makes the record of his career with Kaputt, which sounds like a perfect pop record lost somewhere at the 80s synth pop peak with shades of the pet shop boys, spandau ballet and Haircut 100. Despite it's ear catching hooks, its also a sonically closed album with less going on than Dan Bejar's previous ventures. Bejar is an intriguing yet intelligently awkward figure enhancing Kaputt to a beyond beautiful, suggestive and insightful pop album encompassing an ambience far superior to many of the record's it shares traits with. I can guarantee that not many records do quite what this record is capable of... it's closer companion in my mind at the moment is Handsome Furs' incredible Sound Kapitol.
DIRTY BEACHES- Badlands
Sticking with Canada is Dirty Beaches' Badlands a creepy little lo-fi release, stylised and noirish nightmare rockbilly fused pop. Sparse instrumentation reminates around what sounds like a bad tape recording of an old 45 but Alex Zhang Hungtai's debut is an atmospheric beast which lead it to being longlist for the polaris prize earlier this year. Not for everyone's ears but an imaginative release which will leave you haunted beyond its short duration.
More Tomorrow....
And there are also so many records to be released in the rest of 2011 which may eclipse a lot of these records... or hell I may relisten to one of these above and decide it's the best thing since Stephen Malkmus picked up a pencil who knows... But here are 20 records you should have heard this year... some you will have, some you wont. There's also a load that I won't mention here, mainly because Ive mentioned them before or will rave about them more later...
FUCKED UP- David Comes To Life
This Record has been raved about by pretty much anyone who has heard it and for those who didn't love it... they've been fitted with hearing aids and have now changed their minds. Fucked Up's opus was a marvellous, intriguing, brutal and beautiful discourse on love and misery. Reject all concepts you have of the band or of their prog hardcore sub-category, sit down with a bottle of whiskey and listen to this record with the lyric booklet wide open, no record this year will have any more of an emotional punch than David...
And this is the sort of school I want my children to go to...
DESTROYER- KAPUTT
Destroyer finally makes the record of his career with Kaputt, which sounds like a perfect pop record lost somewhere at the 80s synth pop peak with shades of the pet shop boys, spandau ballet and Haircut 100. Despite it's ear catching hooks, its also a sonically closed album with less going on than Dan Bejar's previous ventures. Bejar is an intriguing yet intelligently awkward figure enhancing Kaputt to a beyond beautiful, suggestive and insightful pop album encompassing an ambience far superior to many of the record's it shares traits with. I can guarantee that not many records do quite what this record is capable of... it's closer companion in my mind at the moment is Handsome Furs' incredible Sound Kapitol.
DIRTY BEACHES- Badlands
Sticking with Canada is Dirty Beaches' Badlands a creepy little lo-fi release, stylised and noirish nightmare rockbilly fused pop. Sparse instrumentation reminates around what sounds like a bad tape recording of an old 45 but Alex Zhang Hungtai's debut is an atmospheric beast which lead it to being longlist for the polaris prize earlier this year. Not for everyone's ears but an imaginative release which will leave you haunted beyond its short duration.
More Tomorrow....
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