When I first heard their ska pop debut single “I Love You Because I have to” last summer, I got very excited. It is a killer tune , full of life and energy. After it’s initial release they were snapped up by V2, one single later, they are now ready to release their debut album and to re-release their first single (they have changed it slightly and in opinion taken the exciting rawness out of it)
With a first single as good as it was and a second making it into the top 20, the album was always going to be a bit of a disappointment, if they made every song as good as their first they would be classed as musical geniuses. It is a fine, fine effort. They are unique in a sense, they have a quirky sound, singer Craig’s voice is very distinct and recognisable. There are a few crackers on here. Opener God Hopping is a burst of piano pop with some great lyrics. Celebrity Sanctum is a lovely quirky tune. Every song has catchy hooks and sound busy like you have just stepped into a party when it’s in full swing. It’s a great fun album and they are one band that you should catch at one of the summer festivals.
Review by Sonia Pagliari
Berliner Andre Abshagen is the man behind Pet. A veteran on the music scene this is his first solo debut album. It kicks off with 'No Yes No', the first single released from it. The opening bars remind me of something a boy band like Blue would come out with but it does improve. It is cheesy but fun. This is mainly an electro pop album and comparisons to the superior Daft Punk are obvious but it offers nothing unique to make you take notice. There are a couple of impressive tunes on here but it’s all a bit emotionless for me, too many beeps and not enough passion. There is nothing outstanding about this and it’s mediocrity blends in to all the other album’s in it’s genre.
Review by Sonia Pagliari
She’s super sexy, she sings in Portuguese sometimes, she has a great accent…but her music is scarily close to sounding like a hybrid of Nelly Furtado and Dido for my liking. Bland, boring…it’s just too…how do I put it? Erm…nice! When I read about her being the queen of Bossa Nova I thought, “Score…some funky Spanish music that I can salsa my ass of to”. I need to brush up on my Hispanic music terminology clearly. It would seem that Bossa Nova means “BORING NOISE!”. Well, probably not but that’s what I shall translate it as.
If you have trouble getting to sleep at night then the opening track “Simplesemente” will sort you out there with it’s violin and raspy vocal. “Every Day You’ve Been Away” is a cheesy western influenced love song that has blatantly been picked up from the Katie Melua *spits* reject pile and “Baby” (my most hated word to hear being sung in a song) is something that you’d only want to play to your baby (i.e. thing that pukes and pees itself a lot, not your partner) to punish it severely and introduce it to music that should never be listened to by anyone under the age of 40.
This really is MOR music at its best…or is that worst? Every song on this album is close to 4 minutes long and nothing is gained or gotten across in its entirety. It all sounds very samey. Now this is nowhere near as bad as maybe I have made it sound or as Ashborn’s debut album; it would make great background music at a hairdresser’s dinner party. There are some songs that save it however; “Cada Beijo” (I think that means every kiss) has a great rhythm to it and it’s something that Royksopp could sample very nicely, and “Ceu Distante” is truly quite a beautiful sounding piece of work. But that’s about all it has going for it.
So if you’re going through a mid-life crisis and need to be comforted by the soothing sounds of a young Hispanic lady singing to you in an almost whisper then this is most definitely for you. But if you are an avid follower of this site and love the music we recommend to you and review, then…well I think you’ve got the picture. And by the way, Bebel must mean something pretty cool or her parents were having a laugh!! It sounds rude!
Review by Jason Edwards
About three years ago around the time of the release of ‘Gold’ you couldn’t pick up any music press without reading about Ryan Adams and his apparent genius. Celebrities were coming out of the woodwork to shower him with praise, Elton John and Noel Gallagher but to name a few. Seemingly nothing has changed, the accompanying sticker on his new album ‘Love Is Hell’ reads ‘Adams at his very best-NME 9/10’. ‘Heartbreaker’ the first solo album post the split of Whiskeytown was a step forward for Adams, it showed he didn’t need a band to make music that evoked emotions left untouched by most contemporary artists. ‘Gold’ signalled a change in style, less focused in on the country acoustic style he had made his own and more upbeat pop songs. This allowed Adams to break into the mainstream, which coupled with a surprise appearance on CD:UK seemed to have him heading towards the fame he has so long desired. Since then apart from constant touring he doesn’t seem to have made a lot of progress. The release of a stop gap album ‘Demolition’ didn’t live up to the standards previously set which lead onto ‘rock n roll’. A concept album apparently about Adams making a rock n roll album. Confused? I am a bit too. So when I went to listen to ‘Love is Hell’, previously released in two parts at Adams’ record label Lost Highways demand, I wasn’t sure what to expect. The outcome seems to be an attempt at a return to the country acoustic pop songs, which seems to be a reverse from the new U2 style rock he is writing now. I don’t know who reviewed this at the NME but I really hope they haven’t listened to ‘Heartbreaker’ because ‘Love Is Hell’ is a long way off the standards set on that record. As a whole it doesn’t sound too bad, a bit bland in places but mostly of a decent standard. But an attempt to skip back to any particular track leaves you at a loss, as the album seems to wash past with little lasting effect. Most probably it will be remembered as the one with the cover of ‘Wonderwall’ on, which in itself doesn’t impress me greatly as I never really liked Oasis and Adams covering it doesn’t help. He seems to have become enraptured in his own fame and pretension and is worryingly turning into Bruce Springsteen, but I highly doubt whether that would actually bother him a great deal.
Review by Barry Bennett
After leaving Sub Pop and music behind, Carl Newman resurfaced with The New Pornographers who went on to have two critically acclaimed albums, now he releases his first solo outing and what a lovely outing it is!
Newman delivers an endearing set of songs in just under 35 minutes. It’s great psychedelic 60’s pop that shimmers with lovely vocals and melodies. Some of the songs are not dissimilar to The Shins. Like Travis and Keane touring together, their music blends together and if you weren’t paying attention you might not be aware which band were on stage. I think this would be the same if Newman did a tour with The Shins. By the end of the night you would be feeling joyous as if you were in a bright sunny field with the sun licking your face and not in a sweaty darkened hall drinking over priced beer.
This album is a real antidote to all the post punk bands hitting our ear waves at the moment. Uplifting tunes combined with lively harmonies. The first three tracks, especially “Drink To Me, Babe, Then” are breezy little numbers.
There is no mistaking that these are the sunniest bunch of songs around and they demand your attention. So get down to your record shop and buy this from this red headed indie wonder.
Review by Sonia Pagliari
Magnus are the result of the kind of unlikely pairing that happens every so often in popular music, where marginalized indie meets the hedonistic world of dance. Occasionally this brings great results- when former rock obsessives Primal Scream teamed up with Andy Weatherall in 1991, they produced Screamadelica, a classic album that still astounds today and proved above everything else that guitar music and dance music could indeed be worthy bedfellows.
Magnus however is the slightly more leftfield collaboration of Tom Barman and CJ Bolland- the former was the lead singer in Belgium rockers Deus, a band who's doom laden drone rock is perhaps a lot more influential than is often acknowledged., while CJ Bolland is apparently "a key figure in the international techno scene". The only song I know of his is Sugar Daddy, a truly insane break-beat track from 1997 that featured a suitably terrifying accompanying video that starred a floating puppet with a huge scary head (don't ask). With this in mind, I hoped "The Body Gave You Everything" would be some kind of extreme electro guitar-destroying mash up, like Sonic Youth meets Squarepusher, or failing that, at least something original and eclectic that reflected the diversity of the artists involved. However, the results are a lot more tame, and disappointingly, a lot less entertaining than that.
Opener Rhythm is Deified finds
Barman half whispering "sound is powerful, rhythm is deified"
over and over again until the words become even more meaningless than
they already are, while some late 80's/early 90's cheesy electro squelches
along in the background. Summer's Here (the first single) opens with an
urgent break beat rhythm and some warped backing vocals, but
the singing again lets the track down, as Tom sounds like he's seducing
some girl he's been stalking in a horrible American Psycho yuppie voice.
This reaches it's sleazy peak on Hunter/Collector- where the schizophrenic
phrase "you better watch yourself, what you looking at?" is
repeated with a menacing intensity that makes for rather uncomfortable
listening. Unfortunately Barman's seedy half whispered, half crooned rasp
dominates the whole album, but not all the blame can be put on the singer
for this Magnus' failure to impress me, as the music is equally uninspiring.
No house music cliché is left unused- the vocoders, synthetic strings,
cut up female vocal samples, and generic drum'n'bass beats of many a DJ's
vanity project are all present, making the album sound unusually safe
and coffee table friendly. Everything has an over produced sheen to it,
and no matter what instruments Bolland brings in to colour his bland beats,
they all end up sounding strangely processed and limp.
The song that sums up this
album's failings is track 8, entitled Rock Chick. It's cringe worthy lyrics
state that "rock chick plays air guitar" and that the female
in question "don't mean a thing, because she ain't got that dancing
thing". It's patronising and slightly embarrassing, as if Tom has
rejected all of his rock-ist leanings after visiting a couple of clubs
and being allowed to "hang" with real DJ's. Neither collaborator
dominates the album, or brings anything particularly exciting to the whole
affair,
instead opting for a comfortable middle-ground of blandness. I doubt that
hardcore fans of either party will take to this album, so my advice for
casual listeners would be to stay away.
Review by Ian Viggars
You get the impression that you have been traipsing through some sort of secret garden, and by chance stumbled upon a quaint little house. Peering in through the window, you spot Damon Gough opening a small wooden chest. Then you notice the room, and realise that the music on Badly Drawn Boy’s new album can be described best by examining its artwork. There’s a whole person’s life amassed in that room - pictures, photographs and nick knacks collected over the years. Cabinets full of little figurines, each one with a story to accompany it. Shelves are filled with books, dolls houses and Russian dolls, and a large space is filled with records. The room appears clustered, yet organised and cared for. Along with these collected things, the music brings together a diverse range of sounds, more so than on previous albums, and gives each one its place whilst still working consistently together as a whole. Nothing really sticks out; to the outsider everything is on a par. If you explored more, after repeated listens some of the pieces may begin to emerge with greater importance; like the gems that mean most to their owner.
You could spend hours exploring the room, and immersing yourself into the music. It is pretty, and really exudes emotion and a personal, reflective mood. Looking around you see that the items haven’t just been snapped up with an image in mind and one shopping trip to Habitat. It has taken time for these things to be accumulated, time that has been savoured, seeing the music progress and Mr. Gough develop as a songwriter. Similarly to each object, the album isn’t one that you will get out and listen to every day, it may even grow dust. However, when you do decide to return to it, it will truly be savoured, like some sort of forgotten treasure. And so, in the lyrics of ‘Logic of a Friend’, ‘I don’t know how to tell, is it heaven or hell?’ the music won’t be enjoyed by everyone. Akin to the room in the artwork it is more of an acquired taste, and not something that everybody can live with.
The album won’t change your life, though it may send you to sleep. The sleep won’t be brought on by boredom, rather through comfort; as though you were young again and your parents were singing you a lullaby whilst you drifted away. When you do fall asleep Badly Drawn Boy will remind you (as in ‘This is That New Song’) that, ‘this is that old dream I told you about twenty years ago’. You will sleep soundly, recounting all those buried memories of old friends from days gone by, and truly at ease, you will have some of the most beautiful dreams. When you awake, and your mind meanders in confusion at why the room is empty and where those friends have gone, you will listen to ‘One Plus One Is One’, and although you are on your own, you will not feel alone.
Review by Nathania Hartley
Released back in May this year 'Embattled Hearts' by Canadian band Veal almost sneaked away from me, dirty blues rock riffs, off kilter lyrics crossed with a rare groove running through the music makes for a hidden gem of an album. Imagine The Hives or The Strokes getting down with ZZ Top and early bluesy Deep Purple on some seriously bad ass whiskey and you should have a good idea what the sonic debris left by this band in the studio turned out like. Some tracks sound like they should be on a Tarantino film soundtrack, opener Defiler being a good example, and others are a bit more straightforward like Girlfriend Pts 2&3 with its T-rex style intro.
Songs like 'Judy Garland' show the band are able to add a bit of chimming guitar into the swampy rock 'n' roll mush and end up sounding a little like Weezer playing Cheap Trick covers when they do, all in all this CD is very enjoyable, at times dark at others quite light hearted and varied enough to never become boring. Veal are a new favourite band for me at least, give Veal a try even if you're a vegetarian.
Review by Darren Bunting
Another Sunderland four piece release an album in the post punk vein. Ross Millard from the Futureheads used to be the bass player with them. I rekon he’s had a lucky escape, his future seems far brighter if this debut is anything to go by. After a few listens to this, the songs just don’t get any better. They sound like a third rate Clash and although Lucas Renney does have a good voice and could be mistaken for Joe Strummer on the occasional song that is where the similarities stop. The lyrics also really let the songs down too.
There is a hilarious song called “I am a Camera”. I really hope that they have their tongue firmly in their cheek. It’s so bad that it could potentially be good. It’s like a tribute song to “Girls on Film” by Duran Duran. I still giggle when I think about the chorus “I am the Camera, you make my shutter go, Click Click Click Click”. It certainly smells of the strongest cheese around.
The only decent song on this album is Renaissance Kid, which came out as a single last year and got some airplay.
“I dreamt Jesus turned whisky into water” sings Lucas. I wish Jesus sent them a message to leave all musical instruments alone. There is certainly no praise for any of the songs on this album.
Review by Sonia Pagliari
After listening to TV on the Radio repeatedly in the car, I decided to listen to the radio and who should be playing? Well TV on the Radio of course and apparently they are “much talked about” at the moment. This I found this most puzzling; TOTR don’t exactly strike me as ‘radio-friendly’, as it were, particularly not Radio 1 friendly. They do most certainly deserve to be talked about, however.
The first thing that struck me about the album was how much it reminded me of the Beta Band-an analogy which has gradually moved to the far reaches of my memory with every listen, of which there have been many. I’ll quite readily admit that I’m addicted to Desperate Youth Blood Thirsty Babes.
At first it comes across as quite a straightforward record, but this is where it is very deceptive. Each time around something you missed last time floats to the surface. A perfect showcase of this is Ambulance, based around a barbershop quartet style vocal bass line, with layers of complementary voices built up and around it. The hypnotising sounds serve as a distraction from the beautifully simple lyrics ‘I will be your accident if you will be my ambulance…’. A work of genius.
Every track must have fought off stiff competition to make it to the final cut. TV on the Radio have managed to craft a near perfect debut that oozes originality; no one track carries it, the album as a whole appears to mature and reveal more of itself with every play and most importantly, it will have you addicted for months to come.
Review by Holly Wild
Imagine that you’ve never eaten a rock cake before (as many people probably haven’t), and you want to know how it tastes. You have the raw ingredients, but just thinking about their flavours does not give a proper indication as to the taste of the baked cake. This is similar to trying to describe Reuben. They take some melodies, and mix them thoroughly with a heavy, hardcore sound, so that there are no abrupt starts and stops. Next it’s time for them to put in something a little screamy. They add accessibility and familiarity whilst veering away from crap ‘nu metal’, and vaguely hint at bands such as Hundred Reasons. When all of these things have been beaten intensely together ‘Racecar Is Racecar Backwards’ emerges. None of the ingredients or the tracks stands out from the others, yet the album is still really good. It seems quite standard on the surface, though it is unique in its own inexpressible way. And so you see, Reuben seem to be a mass of contradictions, and cannot be described simply by the sum of their parts. However, what I can tell you is that they give us a fantastic recipe for modern rock music.
Review by Nathania Hartley
Lets c if u find it irritating when i write like this. Y? Cos i wanna!!! Usually it gets 2 me 2, but strangely !!! taking on this style doesn’t just work, it works brilliantly. The name says it all really. !!! (pronounced chk chk chk) – a little pinch of faceless dance/electronica mixed with exclamation marks. Exclamation marks? Well, add a little humanity, some fun and a sense of humour that comes around all of a sudden, out of nowhere, and slaps you in the face. It forces you to wake up, get up, and dance. And dance you will, you will boogie until your little ass explodes. The music would be best pumping out at full volume at a club or a party. It would still be good at home, something to brighten up the day while you are doing the dishes or ironing. Get the creases out of that shirt, yeah! In fact, rip the shirt up and wear it on your head like a crazy at a festival. In the words of !!! ‘when the going gets tough, the tough get karazee’, and ‘you can learn a lot from taking your chances/pants off’! A mass of contradictions, wisecracks and an in your face attitude abound. So what r u waiting 4? Crank up the volume of this punk/ funk / disco/ electronica sound and louden up – NOW!
Review by Nathania Hartley