Author Archive
The NewMusic First Spin: The Big Pink
Thursday, September 17th, 2009
The UK used to be a hub for buzz bands, but not since Ting Tings a couple years ago has there been an artist as hyped as The Big Pink (that I’ve paid attention to, of course).
Comprised of Milo Cordell and Robbie Furze, the London duo caused an instantaneous stir with their expansive sound, a marriage of fluttering guitar textures with rolling drumbeats and hooks as simple and enduring as your average Oasis hit.
Rising up out of their city’s underground music scene, the two already had experience under their belts: Cordell founded the tastemaking label Merok, which launched the careers of Klaxons, Crystal Castles and The Teenagers, and Furze played guitar for Atari Teenage Riot main dude Alec Empire.
The Big Pink released their debut single “Too Young To Love” last October, which not only drew mouth-watering raves from international press, but also a record deal with the idyllic 4AD label.
Following two more singles comes A Brief History of Love, the highly anticipated full-length. Opening with rainfall guitars, “Crystal Visions” exudes the sparkling imagery of its title; with its baggy percussion, it recalls a more modern spin on what the Stone Roses started back in ‘89.
The snapping rhythm and dazed melodies of a re-recorded “Too Young To Love” immediately announces the vastness of The Big Pink’s sonic prowess, which then blasts into the sing-along silliness of the breezy “Dominos”, their best shot at a hit single.
Meanwhile, “At War With The Sun” uses the same washing guitars and synths as the latest Horrors LP, and “Frisk” explores aims big with the type of hefty dance rock that made Kasabian stars.
But it’s second single “Velvet”, that acts as both the centerpiece and the emotional anchor of the album, with Furze delivering a longing vocal balanced by the heavy layers of shoegazing guitars.
Where A Brief History of Love stands apart from almost any other record is in its ability to sit comfortably in between the artistic and the commercial boundaries. It’s an album that can please both the pickiest hipsters and the daftest meatheads, and that’s not an easy thing to do.
Artist: The Big Pink
Album: A Brief History of Love
Release Date: September 22, 2009
Label: 4AD
Author: Cam Lindsay
First Spin Live Until: September 29, 2009
Track Listing:
Tags: first spin, the big pink
Posted in Reviews, The New Music | No Comments »
The NewMusic First Spin: Muse
Thursday, September 10th, 2009
There is nothing subtle about Muse. From the early Radiohead fandom on their debut album to the overnight metamorphosis into the leaders of modern prog rock on the second, the English trio have always been unabashed about indulging. And why not? Look where it’s gotten them (i.e. performing on the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards).
After turning in the rather middling Black Holes and Revelations - which went on to become their best-selling album, go figure – in 2006, Matt Bellamy, Christopher Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard return with arguably their most over the top album yet.
The Resistance kicks off with the discotheque-ready “Uprising,” a sparkling bit of dance floor euphoria that’s equal parts Goldfrapp’s “Strict Machine,” ABBA’s “Lay All Your Love” and the theme from Doctor Who. But it gets even weirder.
“Undisclosed Desires” is an absolute Depeche Mode homage – from the electro pop arrangement to the yearning lyrics in the chorus that you swear you’ve heard Dave Gahan sing a million times.
“United States Of Eurasia/Collateral Damage” is the undisputed corker, however. Sure, it appears to be a gorgeous piano’n’strings concerto, but wait for it! Bellamy summons his inner Brian May and the song transcends into a Queen-sized anthem with an ostentatious Arabian melody as the centrepiece.
If it all sounds a bit, well, arty and flamboyant, have no fear: the guys dig into the riff-roaring alt-rock that made them kings on “Unnatural Selection,” a shred-athon that scratch the headbanger’s itch.
But Muse save their most ambitious and possibly most dividing work ever for last. “Exogenesis” is a three-part classical suite that begins with the lavishly symphonised “Overture,” a swelling piece of orchestral rock that ebbs and flows like a strong, dreamlike current. This crescendos into “Cross-Pollination,” which opens with Bellamy hammering away at a piano like a distinguished composer. It wouldn’t be Muse though without introducing some guitars, as they unload a surge of rock halfway through. “Redemption” then closes out the piece with a rather subdued, yet uplifting lullaby that fades without any surprises.
In a nutshell: resistance to The Resistance is futile.
Artist: Muse
Album: The Resistance
Release Date: September 15, 2009
Label: Warner
Author: Cam Lindsay
First Spin Live Until: September 15, 2009
- Uprising
- Resistance
- Undisclosed Desires
- United States of Eurasia (+Collateral Damage)
- Guiding Light
- Unnatural Selection
- MK Ultra
- I Belong to You (+Mon Coeur S’ouvre à ta Voix)
- Exogenesis: Symphony Part 1 (Overture)
- Exogenesis: Symphony Part 2 (Cross Pollination)
- Exogenesis: Symphony Part 3 (Redemption)
Tags: first spin, muse
Posted in Reviews, The New Music | No Comments »
NewMusic First Spin: The Wooden Sky
Tuesday, August 18th, 2009
Normally a name change long into a band’s career is often a nail in the coffin or a confusing moment that kills whatever buzz they’ve built. But for Friday Morning’s Regret, it seemed like the right thing to do (for a few good reasons).
Now called The Wooden Sky, the Toronto-based quartet have thrived off changing their name, achieving more in the last couple of years then they had the previous four.
Though they originally released their debut album, When Lost At Sea, independently under their original name, they were lucky to have it reissued by Black Box under The Wooden Sky early last year.
If I Don’t Come Home You’ll Know I’m Gone is their follow-up and it picks up from where its predecessor left off. Though the band have slowed and toned down the rock edge of When Lost At Sea, they’ve fine-tuned their rootsier side, which seems like the angle that works better for their rustic, expansive sound.
The most obvious leap forward is in how they’re beaming with more confidence on this record. Lock and Key allows the guitars to soar into an unconventional, bleeding frequency, When We Were Young has them discovering their inner Springsteen and letting loose with an anthem for the blue-collared set, and Oslo is a tear-stained ballad enhanced by some heart-wrenching slide guitar and the help of a brittle female guest vocal duet.
And they were wise to put Oh My God (It Still Means A Lot To Me) upfront - it’s an irresistible introduction that immediately grabs you, much like everything that follows.
P.S. If you pre-order If I Don’t Come Home You’ll Know I’m Gone early enough over at MapleMusic, you’ll also get a copy of the Bedrooms & Backstreets EP and the The Lonesome Death of Helen Betty Osborne 7-inch.
Author: Cam Lindsay
Tags: first spins, the wooden sky
Posted in Reviews, The New Music | No Comments »
NewMusic First Spin: Young Galaxy
Tuesday, August 18th, 2009
Young Galaxy first came into most people’s consciousness as an addition to the Arts & Crafts family in 2007. Representing as the label’s token dream pop act, their self-titled debut struck a chord with the shoegazer community for its ethereal textures and refreshing depth, not to mention the boy-girl tag team vocals of primary members Stephen Ramsay and Catherine McCandless.
Now with a new label, Fontana North, Young Galaxy return with Invisible Republic, a more varied album that still keeps its head in the clouds, but comes back down to shake up the foundation they laid out on their more direct debut.
Long Live the Fallen World opens with some ’80s nuances courtesy of the splashing synths and that angelic call of McCandless (think very early Sarah McLachlan). Things get more interesting when it breaks into its coda, slamming on the brakes, pulling a U-turn and then chugging to a Krautrockin’ motorik pulse. Destroyer sets its guitars to a jet engine squeal that recalls the late L.A. shoegazers Medicine, before it descends into one of the more memorable choruses on the album.
The standouts, however, stray more from what Young Galaxy has become known for. Pathos drops the guitar squalls for a bit of piano, which waltzes in a carnival-esque motion before it rises up to heaven. Disposable Times is even more unpredictable, shimmying to the type of sexy, hand drum rhythm Sade is known for. Queen Drum looks to U2 for some inspiration, nicking those marching drums from “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and the Edge’s signature guitarscapes to guide McCandless on the weighty chorus.
The only way to sum up the closer Firestruck is by declaring it their “Freebird.” While it could be twice as long to sustain its epic scale, everything – McCandless’ poignant vocals, the gospel choir, the soul-saving organs and the melting guitar solo – converges for a finish that is certain to inspire the swaying illumination of lighters and cell phones whenever it’s performed live.
Author: Cam Lindsay
Track Listing:
Tags: first spin, young galaxy
Posted in Reviews, The New Music | No Comments »
NewMusic First Spin: Still Life Still
Tuesday, August 18th, 2009
Arts & Crafts’ latest signings may seem new to a lot of people but they’ve actually been together for a decade, just like the label’s flagship act Broken Social Scene. Just one difference though (and I do mean just the one): Still Life Still began when the members were 13. So, not a grey hair or weathered tour vet in the bunch.
No, this is a bunch of fresh-faced 23-year olds who spent most of their existence developing their sound in East York (aka the east end of Toronto) basements. That is before they were finally discovered by BSS figurehead Kevin Drew, who took them under his wing and decided to not only sign them to A&C, which he co-founded, but also help them record their debut album, Girls Come Too.
You could say Drew and his indie rock collective had a profound influence on Still Life Still in many ways. While they have about one-third of the membership, this five-piece certainly modelled their sound after the BSS archetype: layered, curving guitars, hushed vocals and bursts of “jam it out loud” noise.
Working up a sweat on his kit, drummer Aaron Romaniuk takes a page out of Justin Peroff’s book on Lite-Bright Lawns and Danse Cave, while Brendon Saarinen and Eric Young go through fluid motions with their guitars. Kid and Wild Bees, on the other hand, use the soft textures and guitar-bending style of Modest Mouse to sell their music acoustically.
It’s safe to say, Girls Come Too fits right into the Arts & Craft canon. Whereas most of the label’s roster contains one element of Broken Social Scene’s genetic makeup, it’s hard to argue that Still Life Still weren’t trying to up the ante. There’s obviously some hero worship in their music, but it’s safe to say a lot of Scenesters should dig what they hear.
Author: Cam Lindsay
Track Listing
Tags: first spin, still life still
Posted in Reviews, The New Music | 5 Comments »
NewMusic FS: Fun & The Hundreds and Thousands
Tuesday, August 18th, 2009
In need of something to listen to? Check out new albums from Fun & The Hundreds and Thousands.
Tags: first spins, fun, the hundreds and thousands
Posted in Reviews, The New Music | No Comments »
NewMusic First Spin: Jack Peñate
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009
Jack Peñate turned some heads in 2007 with songs like “Spit At Stars” and “Torn On The Platform” that had many, or at least, me hailing him as this generation’s Billy Bragg. Okay, so he wasn’t exactly a politico fighting for miners rights, but he had a zippy pop style and knack for storytelling that left me comparing the two Londoners.
But Jack’s debut album, Matinée, left me feeling a bit empty and thinking he would forever be remembered only for his early singles. And so here comes that lesson I keep learning that I shouldn’t be so quite to write off a career based on the debut album.
For his follow-up, Jack sought the production wizardry of Paul Epworth, who famously manned the boards for the first albums of Bloc Party, Futureheads, Friendly Fires and most recently, Florence and the Machine, and the decision seems to have done wonders.
Everything Is New, his bio reads, is “in short, a soul record.” But only on the inside. On the outside it’s a perky listen that is chock full of colours, distinct international flavours and heaps of woeful melody.
With Epworth’s guidance, Jack gathered a ridiculous amount of influences that became a self-proclaimed mash up of “Brazilian Tropicalia, Krautrock, New Orleans marching bands, Bashment, Afrobeat, lo-fi hip-hop, gospel, Reggaeton and Philly Soul.” Sounds like a recipe for disaster, and normally this kind of genre dabbling ends with messy results, but Jack Peñate somehow manages to pull it all together.
Single Tonight’s Today jumps aboard the Caribbean bandwagon for a shuffling tropical vibe that would make Vampire Weekend a bit jealous. Be the One, on the other hand, uses soul as a foundation the way Primal Scream did with Screamadelica’s “Come Together. And Let’s All Die calls on a commanding Afrocentric rhythm section to make meeting your maker seem like a fine idea.
Never has a voice this melancholic sounded so pleased to be miserable. And with such a skip in his step you’re left wondering if he wrote this for the Cure as a sequel to Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, which really is one of the greatest compliments I could ever give to a record.
Listen to it here.
Artist: Jack Peñate
Album: Everything Is New
Release Date: August 18, 2009
Label: XL Recordings
Genre: Indie Pop/Rock
Author: Cam Lindsay
Track Listing:
Tags: first spin, jack penate
Posted in Reviews, The New Music | No Comments »
NewMusic First Spin: The Antlers
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009
Every once in a while you stumble upon an album that is so intimate you almost feel uncomfortable listening to it. Hospice is one of those albums. The third full-length by Peter Silberman, who’s better known as the driving force behind The Antlers, Hospice was borne from a solitary bedroom in Brooklyn and grew into a full-on collaboration with musicians who would come to form a proper band.
Self-released earlier this year by the Antlers, the album has spread like wildfire thanks to unanimous praise from music bloggers. The overwhelming reaction led to a record deal with FrenchKiss (Les Savy Fav, Dodos, Passion Pit), which will now reissue the album on August 18th.
Garnering regular comparisons to the Arcade Fire for its sweeping orchestrations and sombre tones, Hospice is an exhausting trip through a rough patch that Silberman experienced between 2005 and 2007. Said to be written about his nightmares, the narrative follows a man watching his significant other succumb to bone cancer in the Sloan Kettering Cancer Ward. (For a sobering experience, you can read the lyrics and liner notes here)
However, it’s Silberman’s haunting, fragile quiver and the band’s spacious, shoegazed dreamscapes that turn his words into such an emotionally devastating listen. The opening Prologue prepares you for the floodgates to open on Kettering, a funereal torch song that sets up the narrative to unfold. From there, Sylvia is a passionate release that raises the volume with soaring guitars, Bear is a driving song that contemplates mortality and, despite its disturbing imagery, Two introduces some lightness with its positive melodies. It all sets the tone for the melancholy that hits with Wake, where the man says goodbye.
After it ends with the apt Epilogue, there is a staggering feeling of catharsis for Silberman, his character and yourself that feels both poignant and draining. Hospice is a demanding, but deeply rewarding listen.
Artist: The Antlers
Album: Hospice
Release Date: August 18, 2009
Label: Frenchkiss Records
Genre: Indie Rock
Author: Cam Lindsay
Track Listing:
Tags: first spin, the antlers
Posted in Reviews, The New Music | No Comments »
NewMusic First Spin: The Cave Singers
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009
If you’re still heartbroken over the demise of Pretty Girls Make Graves, well, it’s safe to say you won’t get your fix from The Cave Singers. After PGMG split, Derek Fudesco traded in the bass for an acoustic guitar and left behind the angular post-punk muscle he flexed in both PGMG, as well as the fiery rock and roll of his previous band, Murder City Devils (which he reunited with for a tour earlier this year). He then began plucking along with singer Peter Quirk and percussionist Marty Lund to a very different tune.
As they proved in 2007 with their their debut album, Invitation Songs, The Cave Singers may seem more aligned with the downhome, whiskey-soaked charm of earlier Ryan Adams and Langhorne Slim, but like those two shit disturbers, they’re frayed at the edges like any good punk band.
The band returned to Colin Stewart’s Hive in Vancouver, BC for album number two, Welcome Joy. With a richer sound full of new textures (thanks to some assistance from Amber and Ashley Webber of Lightning Dust), The Cave Singers move beyond any sort of trappings into a time capsule that smacks of airy, ’70s AM rock and standard alt-country.
Quirk’s voice is the band’s strongest asset, quivering words of loss and affection like there’s a bottle of Jim Beam clutched in his hand. Fudesco’s intricate guitar work is as much more pronounced this time around; on the rollicking Leap, where Quirk aches his pleas, the notes race from Fudesco’s acoustic like a wanted fugitive on a midnight run.
At the Cut turns up the guitars and the bass drums for a deep Southern tinge, equally as in debt to Exile On Main Street as it is CCR. Both I Don’t Mind and Hen of the Woods, on the other hand, have magical, sentimental washes to them that were last heard on Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk. Jangle keeps things contemporary, with a slice of Americana modeled after something suited for Adams’ Whiskeytown.
The Cave Singers aren’t your typical rootsy band, as they’re straddled somewhere between an indie rock past and a deep Southern sound. But that just makes Welcome Joy fine for either type of audience.
Listen to it here.
Artist: The Cave Singers
Album: Welcome Joy
Release Date: August 18, 2009
Label: Matador Records
Genre: Folk-Rock
Author: Cam Lindsay
Track Listing:
Tags: first spin, the cave singers
Posted in Reviews, The New Music | No Comments »
NewMusic First Spin: Jay Reatard
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009
After making a great leap forward last year from the depths of the underground garage/punk scene to the overexposing indie rock circles, Jay Reatard keeps his prolific rep in tact with yet another new release. His singles collection for Matador was a nice experiment that rewarded longtime fans, but Jay returns with his first proper LP since the 2006 breakthrough, Blood Visions.
Though he’s not a fan of having to record full-lengths, this doesn’t sound like a disgruntled songwriter at work. In fact, Jay sounds pretty content for the scoundrel he is, leaving most of the ferocity from his earlier solo work behind for something a little more restrained, but also a hell of a lot more melodic.
Having established himself as more of a popsmith with last year’s Matador Singles ‘08, Jay has taken his patented buzzsaw garage and sanded it into some carefully considered power pop. The result is Watch Me Fall, a flat out, unapologetic pop record.
Has he turned his back on his roots? Well, yes and no. Lead single It Ain’t Gonna Save Me could have found its way onto Blood Visions, sure. So, depending on how you view him (A fire-breathing hellion who fronted The Reatards as a teenager? Or a shrewd dude who realizes that rehashing the same stuff every time kills artists dead?) it’s fair to say he sounds both different and similar on this record. The razor sharp riffs have been rounded with flecks of ’60s pop, the blood curdling screams have been tamed into bellows and howls, and well, there are strings and more of those acoustic guitars on the lovely Hang Them All. But there’s no arguing that this is the ‘Tard at his best.
While I’m Watching You sounds 45 years old and English, like it was dug up from the Kinks’ formative years, Rotten Mind finds him working at his trademark breakneck pace, but toning down the aggro and actually, y’know, harmonizing. Nothing Now, on the other hand sounds goth enough to justify that album cover, which suggests Jay relocated to Norway to become a black metaller and burn churches part-time.
All in all, he’s bound to lose some fans here. But I’m guessing he’s gonna double that total in gaining new ones. The perfect summer album for disaffected youth across the country, indeed.
Listen to it here.
Artist: Jay Reatard
Album: Watch Me Fall
Release Date: August 18, 2009
Label: Matador Records
Genre: Lo-Fi Indie Rock
Author: Cam Lindsay
Track Listing:
Tags: first spin, jay reatard
Posted in Reviews, The New Music | No Comments »
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
