You are in a box factory. You stumble across two boxes that catch your attention. Unsure of whether it is safe to dare opening them, you decide to hedge your bets and begin to cautiously make your way into the first. You could have guessed what was contained inside without even looking - a fairly standard, identikit, mass- produced box of garage rock. Disappointed, you think you may as well at least check the second one, although what will be found is most likely to be something of the same. Carelessly, you quickly rip off the brown packaging tape and fling open the box. The word Pandora springs to mind. You have unleashed chaos, it runs amok, drunk and disorderly. You run away as its mischievous sound chases you, it's fast and clever, taking unexpected short cuts and tripping you up. You manage to escape, the bedlam you created for now locked inside the factory.
The following day you decide to head back, hoping that things have miraculously solved themselves. And, miraculously, they have. The contents of the two boxes have fused, creating a brilliantly organised mess; accessible yet original, punky garage rock, full of energy, charm, and charisma. You have compiled an assortment of short, fun tunes that you can dance to, or just sit down and enjoy. It becomes clear that what is present in Thee Sheffield Phonographic Corporation Factory is 'A Box Of Odd'. Whether the bounding, full on energy of the bands would be listenable on an entire album is questionable, but as individual tracks they work brilliantly. You can tell that the accompanying sleeve notes have been lovingly crafted, and the return is an entertaining read, giving a different take on the origins of the c.d.
There is no telling how the sound will progress, it may simply fizzle away and disappear, though hopefully it will leave the box, running amok and infecting all of our eardrums. A refreshing treat.
Review by Nathania Hartley
What,
more live material from the band who have released over 80 ‘bootleg’
live albums in the last couple of years? Well yes and no. You see, this
is them playing an acoustic set for charity late last year and as live
albums go, this is surprisingly more than decent. Looking at the track
listing, there are a few glaring omissions, where’s ‘Jeremy’,
‘Nothingman’ or ‘Better man’? To be honest, this
double CD is probably all the better for not having them. Instead we get
some stripped down versions of underrated and underplayed tracks like
‘Of the girl’ and ‘Thin Air’ plus tracks from
their oft ignored ‘No Code’ album (‘Off he goes’,
‘Lukin’ and ‘Around the bend’). Eddie Vedder’s
voice has never sounded better and rarely filter’s through the 26
song set, which sees them provide more than a handful of classy tunes.
B-Side ‘Fatal’ is the lost song that would have made ‘Binaural’
a great album, whilst ‘Immortality’, ‘Low Light’
and ‘Crazy Mary’ are poignant reminders that Pearl Jam are
still that same band that made you sit back and go ‘wow’ after
listening to the album ‘Ten’ for the first time.
Covers of Johnny Cash’s ’25 Minutes’ and Bob Dylan’s
anti war epic ‘Masters of War’ complete a near faultless collection
of songs from their expansive back catalogue. A moving rendition of ‘Black’
that has the whole crowd singing almost brings a tear to my eye (and I’m
not the crying type) whilst the essential ‘Yellow Ledbetter’
brings proceedings to an end, leaving us with more admiration for a band
that thankfully refuses to go away.
Review by Bevis Man
I was looking forward to hearing this CD since I have heard nothing but good things about this band. All I know about them is that they hail from Glasgow and are signed on Rough Trade. On first listen my impression was that it was ok but quite forgettable but on further listens it etches deeper into your mind and before you realise it, you are grinning away with these lovely tunes about vegetarian restaurants swirling about in your head. Sitting here and listening to this music it does conjure up the beautiful region of Perthshire where they may have taken their name. Vivid blue sky and green forests, these songs make me slightly melancholic that summer is over although it does put you in the mood for those wonderful bright sunny, fresh autumn days.
It’s folk tinged pop is straight out of the Belle and Sebastian school of quirky melodies. Lovely fragile vocals, great choruses with a slight 60’s psychedelic sound. “Summer’s Gone” has a Scottish feel to it, the only clue to where they are from (if you are really bothered). Their debut single “Heliopolis by Night” is lovely but this is not an album packed with singles. All the songs do all sound quite similar and should heard as a whole. It’s the kind of album to bring you down from the summer and to take you into the new season. Oh and in this case don’t judge this CD by it’s cover! It may be preying lions on the cover but this music is more comparable to a house mouse.
Review by Sonia Pagliari
We all like a bit of a moan from time to time, dull jobs, late trains, traffic jams, smelly people on the bus, life seems to be full of reasons to be a little ticked off. Luckily then we have ‘From home to Home’ to cheer us all up, not in the sense of S Club 7 or Fast Food Rockers (no, I never got the rock part either. They were rubbish in any case) – in fact I’m struggling to think of a decent pop act that doesn’t sound manufactured. Which is good news then for Tamara, because we have ten slices of finely crafted pop that could well put that smile back on your face before summer is completely out in an old-school-feel-good kind of way.
Having formed Tantrum Records out of her own determination and talent after graduating, she has been writing away and doing the rounds in the London gig scene culminating in this, her debut long player. There’s no denying that the album is brimming with very hummable moments, ‘A Little Advice’ is perhaps the catchiest of them all, whilst ‘To Dom from Anthony’ is a piano driven homage to all the moments you were ever felt alone (okay, so I lied a bit when I said it was all cheerful). ‘Everyway, Everyday’ is wholesome pop goodness with a spiky edge to it, ‘Sea of Thoughts’ stands out for its guitar intro whilst ‘It’s the way’ is perhaps an indication of where she could be taking things next, what with its rockier feel and prominent guitars. The only grumble I might have lies in the fact that having seen her live a few times now, I’ve gotten use to extended versions of ‘It’s the way’ and the reprise at the end of ‘Headful of Beer’ which is sadly missing on the album. But these are minor quibbles on what is essentially a very good album and a credit to her live performances. Worth searching out for.
Review by Bevis Man
Great, more trip-hop rubbish. Well, that was my first impression anyway. You see, Sean Beavan use to mix and engineer Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson, so it’s not a huge surprise that the 6 tracks on the e.p retain the dark and more sombre qualities of the aforementioned artists. The other half of 8mm is Juliette Beavan (a husband and wife duo!) whose luscious vocals do justice to the well thought out lyrics about love and loneliness. Imagine Massive Attack with a dash of Portishead and you should have a pretty good idea of what 8mm sound like. Sure, it’s nothing you haven’t heard before, but it’s all very impressive stuff. Music like this can run the risk of sounding a little too slow and quite frankly dull, yet they’ve managed to create a handful of diverse tracks that hold your attention until the end. The chorus of ‘Never Enough’ (“…how could I, ever be enough for you?”) is a haunting anti love song, the spoken word aspect of ‘Crawl’ is perfect for a sleazy little smoke filled bar somewhere in Camden and the last track, ‘Give it up’ is their best to date. A twisted affair that flirts with guitars, keys and some satisfying bass lines, the opening bars sound uncannily like Massive Attack’s ‘Angel’, recalling the more sub industrial moments of Sean’s’ previous work before it gradually fades layer by layer. Not the most original but definitely worth giving it a good listen to if you like this sort of thing. Best saved for a rainy day and served with a healthily sized portion of melancholy.
Review by Bevis Man
The front cover of Mark Lanegan’s new album simply states ‘Mark Lanegan Band’ in small font in the corner, the rest is blank. This alone should be enough to draw in the attention of anyone mildly interested in music. Lanegan boasts a highly decorated career: singer with 90’s fucked up blues band Screaming Trees and more recently guitarist with Queens Of The Stone Age, this all without mentioning his solo work. As if Lanegan himself wasn’t enough of a draw this record boasts fellow Queens Of The Stone Age Member Josh Homme as well as Polly Harvey, with whom he duets on most of the record.
The music its self is as dark as always and seemingly hard going but defiantly well worth the effort. Lanegan produces a sound somewhere between Nick Cave and Johnny Cash, epitomising the murder ballads of Cave with the country influence of Cash. The record starts slowly and ends slowly with Lanegan retreating to his older styles on ‘Sideways In Reverse’ and ‘Driving Death Valley Blues’, the latter sounding like an extract from either of the QOTSA albums. Polly Harvey’s influence is overwhelming throughout, the contrast on ‘Hit The City’ between her own individual style and Lanegan’s rough tones being mesmerising and one of the many high points. The album sounds incredible as a whole and picking it apart there are too many specific points to mention. Langen’s timeless popularity is epitomised by his headline slot on the Carling stage at this years Reading festival. It will most likely see him play against The White Stripes and on the strength of this album I can’t see that being a problem.
Review by Barry Bennett
www.marklanegan.com
Misty’s Big Adventure. The name itself sounds fun, and when I saw them live in July, having never heard them before, I was pleasantly suprised. Much dancing was evoked by their brilliant pop. I could only look forward to their album with anticipation.
I was not disappointed. From the first track to the last, each song make you grin like an idiot and want to dance like one too. This is an album full of 3-4 minute gems of absurd pop. The opening track, simply titled "Intro", is a cacophony of musical noises that lasts barely a minute, which declares the name of the band. You may think that sounds slightly big headed, but even this track makes you smile and guarantees that you’ll want to listen to the rest of the tracks. Whilst one of the weirder, but still loveable, tracks is "Home Taping’s Killing Music", a purely vocal fifty second track carrying a message of sorts.
Other highlights of the album include "Mulling It Over", a perfect track with a reggae feel; "I Am Cool With A Capital C", which has possibly the catchiest chorus I’ve heard in ages and "Biscuit Tin", short but sweet with a jaunty guitar intro.
However, my personal favourite is "A Dog like You" which incorporates electronic noises from a child’s toy, shouting and funny lyrics: "I don’t need anybody, especially a dog like you". This track is sublime, in an almost nonsensical way.
The frontman, Grandmaster Gareth, has one of those voices that you instantly love, but you can’t put your finger on the reason why. Whether he’s singing about unrequited love, lack of money or biscuit tins, he makes every track sound fun. Whilst the rest of the nine member strong band bring musical genius to the album, whether it be saxophone, mixing, trumpet, piano or anything else.
And that is the best word to describe this album, pure fun. If it doesn’t leave you smiling for weeks afterwards, then I don’t know what will.
Review by Jackie Barker
Well, to be honest I'd only met him once before, and it wasn't very memorable. He came across as quite timid, with little to say and a bit boring really. But, you see, with it being such a brief encounter I'd misjudged him. Anyway, I'll tell you what happened.
It was the wedding reception
of an old family friend. They didn't have much money to spend, so it was
held in The Function Room of a grotty little working man's club. Despite
this, it was really good, most people were laughing, partying and generally
enjoying themselves. I, however, was feeling a little left out, my brother
who I'd came with had long since found himself a bright eyed blonde with
whom to try his luck, and the rest of the people I didn't really know,
and I hadn't much desire to make new
acquaintances. So I sat in a corner on a stool with a wobbly leg, tired,
feeling sorry for myself, and in a vain effort to be cheery I started
playing tiddlywinks with discarded bottle caps and a dirty ashtray. 'Hello',
he said, in a voice that exposed his mood to be the same as mine, the
exception being that he was relieved to see a familiar face, yet I sighed,
seeing it only as another hindrance. I would now have to keep up appearances,
and entertain this Half Cousin that I'd not thought much of the first
time that we had met.
He asked me if I wanted to
dance, I forced a smile and reluctantly followed him to the dance floor.
This perked me up a little, a good boogie always does. The first song
filled the room with it's sound, pumping through my body, and now, mimicking
my strangely increasing heartbeat. It was really loud, so he came closer,
and almost touching my ear, whispered something. I perceived his voice
differently to our original encounter, where as before it was reserved
and lifeless, now it seemed mysterious, soft and sultry. I hadn't heard,
and was enjoying the closeness, so I asked him to repeat. He spoke over
the Country Cassette, apparently he wasn't really into weddings, they
displayed decay, ending and unending. I thought that maybe his brain was
decaying, he seemed a little off the wall, but it was endearing. I'm 'failing
to explain just what it was that changed', as we went somewhere quieter
I 'found my cousin.under darkness'. 'He was half turned to rain with dreams',
passionately revealing his ambitions in life, and telling me little tales.
We shared a love for books, poetry and music, a particular favourite book
of his was called 'Faces in the water' by Janet Frame. He told me he enjoyed
bluegrass, indie, r'n'b, electro, country, classical, and then
without warning suddenly burst into a beautiful cover of 'Girl' by the
Beatles, saying it was dedicated to me. I blushed, my face seemingly morphing
into that of a beetroot, and turned my head so he wouldn't sense my embarrassment.
Everything he did and said, every little action right down to the way
his face expressed itself, captured and enthralled me. I felt there was
still something hidden, something I still needed to discover. Having recovered
my regularly pale complexion, I turned back and dared to look
straight at him, realising that I hadn't yet noted anything to do with
his appearance. But he wasn't there. He'd disappeared, just like that.
I went back to The Function Room, but the reception had ended, and there
was nobody there save one old drunk collapsed amongst the remains of the
party. My head was fuzzy, and I couldn't think properly. I went home,
confused, and
remained awake all night, repeating the event in my mind. This took until
morning, when I decided to get up and get on with things, the first thing
was to make my bed. I lifted the pillows and found a piece of ageing paper.
Since then I've 'lost my cousin, lost the note he left', but I will never
forget its contents. It read, I'm 'only leaving to return', but he never
did.
by Nathania Hartley
Tanya Donelly has some great credentials to her name. Starting the Throwing Muses with step-sister Kristin Hersh, then the Breeders and then fronting her own band Belly. Three solo albums in and this is without doubt her best.
It’s easy to spot Emmylou Harris as one of her main influences and her love of alt-country throughout her previous work, the best example is probably 'Untogether' on Belly’s first album, a beautiful cautionary tale which had a distinct country feel to it.
'Whisky Tango Ghost' is piano laden with a delicate country atmosphere. She recently said in an interview that she has never felt comfortable with the country tag until now and it shows. With her almost other worldly vocals this is a very comfortable listen. Her lyrics are full of imagery and quite magical with ghosts and butterflies and at times are dripping in sadness. Her voice may sound as sweet as a mouthful of chocolate but it does not seem that she has been having the easiest of times and this comes across in her songs. In “My Life As A Ghost” she ends the song “this perfect day, I lay my shield at your feet and beg to stay”.
Some people may find this album bland and want to put Tanya into the category with other women singer/song writers but don’t! With a combination of delicious melodies, haunting vocals and slightly dark lyrics this is a superior ghostly collection of songs definitely worth having in your collection.
Review by Sonia Pagliari
I've just got through the first six tracks on the album, and somehow miraculously managed to keep awake. It's tiring, listening to yet another band seemingly low on ideas, effort, and originality. It follows the pattern, blending in with countless other bands. Which bands I'm not sure exactly, as the tracks could easily have been thought of by many acts, though unfortunately the persistently present words of 'garage' and 'rock' spring to mind. I'm just about to give up on this music along with the small, withering quantity of hope I had of anything remotely exciting, when something strange happens. It seems almost as if someone, or more accurately, something, else has hijacked the stereo. What emerges from the speakers is a ghostly whirring, layered among a mysterious and eerie soundscape. As it quietens, a song, named 'Low Life', surfaces. A song, which seems to be a total change of direction and style. A song, which is quite listenable, and could actually have a chance of standing out among the crowd. A song, to which I could even envision masses of people swaying and singing along to, as it is played during a headline set at future Glastonbury. Then, as suddenly as it came, it disappears. Lowfive return, their regular selves, the next few numbers slightly perkier and a little more fun, but it's pretty much standard. So, the band show a spark of promise, and as the album comes to a close a more structured, though still haunting whirring is welcomed again. Maybe if they stop trying to fit in with the crowd then Lowfive will get somewhere, but at the moment there's not much to credit them for.
Review by Nathania Hartley
Words cannot fully describe some of the achingly beautiful music on tracks like 'Daybreak' or the downright uplifting arms in the air style of 'Just Want To Live', when you get to hear CDs like this you realise corporate pop is never going to kill off real music, just make it harder for quality music to get heard. A particular favourite track of mine is second song 'Bring Me Down' with its Cure like guitar strumming and at times quite jaunty (is that a word I can use in this day and age?) feel to counterpoint the darkness of opening track 'Close My Eyes'.
Towards the end of The Silent Hours songs like 'Can You Hear?' re-inforce The Open's willingness to experiment with song structures with some very 70's like Who guitar and drum dynamics mixed in with vocals that reminded me of A Flock Of Seagulls. Basically what I am trying to say is that this is a pretty brilliant album that will be listened to again and again by me with enough variation in the grooves to keep things interesting from the first listen to the fiftieth and beyond. 5/5
Review by Darren Bunting
ThisGirl are possibly the most award nominated, tour friendly band you’ve never heard of. They were nominated by Kerrang for best British Newcomer in 2003, Ones to Watch in 2003 by Rock Sound and voted in the top ten of British Bands of 2004 by Metal Hammer. They’ve played with giants such as Limp Bizkit and Deftones as well as over 150 shows off their own back last year. Basically ‘Uno’ is the result of some damn hard work since the release of their debut album ‘Short Strut to the Brassy Front’ released in 2002.
There’s no denying that this is an album that will appeal to a range of different music lovers, it’s not that each song is particularly different but it is hard to slot them into a particular category, and that’s certainly not a bad thing. You’ve got your distortion when required, funky bass lines, strings, melodies, aggression, without sounding too cliché a song for every mood.
Each song has it’s own merits, the opening track ‘Master Blaster’ would be a shock to the ears if you were tuning in for one of the more mellow tunes such as ‘Drake’ but it works as an opener, instantly grabbing onto you and not letting go until the bass line of ‘Don’t be a Kite’ kicks in.
‘Your Are But A Draft, A Long Rehearsal For A Show That Will Never Play’ sticks in your mind and you’ll be humming it for days, definitely one of the highlights if not just for the incongruous title. Throughout the album the lyrics seem to role off the tongue of vocalist Liam Creamer and this is especially displayed in the quirky ‘Inshallah’.
Overall a fine follow up second album and if you liked this then check out their live show as I’ve no doubt with their relentless touring they will coming to a town near you very soon.
Review by Robert Bassett