September 2011
3 posts
28) Beirut @ Manchester, 06/09/2011
Kicking Against The Pricks #11, 23/09/2011
A few years ago, a friend of mine, once a fervent Zach Condon follower, fell out with Beirut. He fell out with them over questions of “authenticity”. Now. The debate over authenticity goes on and on and on, uselessly. There are not enough trees to print on, not enough servers to flame on, for the arguments of arbitrary purists to be validated or...
27) Muso's Guide Singles Club, 12/09/2011
Muso’s Guide, 12/09/2011
The festival season is over. Basically. No more festivals. Clash-finder sheets and snuck-in arena beers are being slowly replaced with grimy puddles to drag your shoelaces through and an acute drop in Vitamin D to make you slowly spiral into depression, alone, in your stupid house that isn’t even a tent. It’s time to beat the Seasonal Affective Blues in the way that...
26) "Beacons Festival" @ Brudenell Social Club,...
Kicking Against The Pricks #10, 09/2011
Tom Vek, Jamie xx, Willy Nelson, Jamie Woon, Summer Camp. Artists that were billed for the debut of Yorkshire Dales four-dayer, Beacons Festival. Originally set to take place on Heslaker Farm, Skipton, the event had to be called off last minute due to weather-related safety concerns, as a nearby river burst its banks and the site and surrounding roads were...
August 2011
2 posts
25) Tramlines Festival - New Music Stage @...
Kicking Against The Pricks #9, 08/2011
Tramlines is a fledgling festival a mere three years of age, where Sheffield’s diverse and thriving music scenes are celebrated by way of a bustling and bewilderingly free of charge extravaganza courtesy of numerous venues, promoters and artists.
Sunday, its opening syllable savagely appropriate, the mathy tap lines of Brontide ring out outside City Hall,...
24) Jonny Greenwood - Bodysong (soundtrack)
Kicking Against The Pricks #8, 09/2011
Bodysong (Best British Documentary at British Independent Film Awards, 2003) is Simon Pummell’s ambitious art film intended to document the narrative arc of life. From birth, through childhood, eating, dancing, sex, and *spoiler alert* death. Not only did the very high profile score composer indisputably bring the project to the majority of its audience, but...
September 2010
2 posts
23) No Ripcord Debate #3: Are The Beatles...
No Ripcord, 12/09/2010
I came across a jukebox recently in a bar in Leeds. A friend and I thought it well worth one pound to startle the surrounding Stella-smelling wannabe football pundits with the brutal sounds of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, the opening movement of Pictures at an Exhibition, and the completely inappropriately stirring Ode To Joy. It was super, super hilarious. More...
22) Peter Broderick - How They Are (Bella Union)
The Quietus (edited by Luke Turner and/or John Doran), 09/09/2010
Efterklang contributor Peter Broderick has produced a daringly pared down mini-album to keep fans occupied until release of his new full-length, a record delayed, curiously enough, by a knee injury. How They Are sees enchanting delicacy contrasting with moments of silence, for example the Eno-esque piano lines of ‘With a...
August 2010
8 posts
21) Phil Selway - Familial (Bella Union)
No Ripcord, 29/08/2010
I’ll start with the obligatory observation “good lord! A drummer with a solo project? That. Is. Mad.” It’s true that the percussionist in a band is usually the last you’d expect to put out a solo effort, but surprising moves are hardly a new gambit for Radiohead, who can, on account of being essentially the biggest band in world, do as they please. With the sterling output...
20) Mice Parade - What It Means To Be Left-Handed...
No Ripcord, 27/08/2010
Mice Parade have always been magnetised toward the hip, as it is presumably difficult not to be whilst signed to FatCat. But they have always resisted this attraction, maintaining an instantly recognisable musical persona.
Immaculately-intoned bongo patterns open the album, and the undulations of Swahili vocalist, Somi, combine with this to form a sound instantly evocative...
19) A Muso's Guide To Leeds
Muso’s Guide, 25/08/2010
Leeds can be argued the best city in the UK for music. With Manchester or London, the sheer size and intensity of the scenes render them difficult to keep on top of; one must specialise, keeping specific promoters, acts, or venues in mind. The bustling musical climate of Leeds, however, is much more penetrable, and it is feasible (if exhausting and costly) to keep...
18) Sleepy Sun / Besnard Lakes @ Brudenell Social...
Glasswerk, 24/08/2010
Still touring off the back of this year’s Fever (ATP Recordings), Sleepy Sun bring a distinctive blend of styles to the party, whilst keeping it tastefully consistent.
The opener plunges into sickly, filthily swung pot smoke reminiscent of Dead Meadow, but pierced by the bright light of Bret Constantino and Rachel Fannan’s dual vocal. Black Mountain comparisons...
17) The Books - The Way Out (Temporary Residence)
Kicking Against the Pricks, Issue #2, 24/08/2010.
The latest instalment in The Books’ library is tinged with a more prominent sense of humour than previous output. Although past work has seen such priceless comedy-poignancy collisions as ‘Motherless Bastard’ and ‘All Our Base Are Belong To Them’, this record is more openly playful. This is demonstrated in no small...
16) Kemialliset Ystävät - Ullakkopalo (Fonal)
The Quietus (edited by Luke Turner and/or John Doran), 17/08/2010
It is difficult to paint a picture of Kemialliset Ystävät’s sound to those who have not already come across them. There are acoustic textures that bring to mind the earlier, less sensible work of Animal Collective or múm (with whom musical director Jan Anderzén has previously collaborated). Additionally and conversely, some...
15) Candy Claws - Hidden Lands (twosyllable)
No Ripcord, 08/08/2010
The descriptor “dream pop” should have been reserved for this album, as should the achingly over-employed journo fallback “ethereal”. Having first met at an Evangelical church, Candy Claws have put out an appropriately heavenly sounding sophomore offering.
A comforting blanket of ambience is pulled over the listener as the album opens. Although the sparse post-rock-esque...
14) Department of Eagles - Archive 2003-2006
The Quietus (edited by Luke Turner and/or John Doran), 03/08/2010
What we have here is an outtakes compilation from the personal project of Daniel Rossen (of Grizzly Bear fame) and Fred Nicolaus, who he met in shared accommodation at New York University. The eleven tracks expose the lessons learned and the corners turned between each Department of Eagles release.
The band themselves do not look...
July 2010
13 posts
13) Frank Turner - 'Try This At Home' (Xtra Mile)
Glasswerk, 29/07/2010
Ozzy Osbourne once said that the aim of most Sabbath riffs, ‘Paranoid’ in particular, was not to carry technical merit, but more to cultivate in young fans the urge to go out, buy guitars, and start bands. This is a commendable sentiment, albeit coming from a bumbling victim of excess, and music that serves this role has its valid place.
Frank Turner displays...
12) Asher Roth - 'G.R.I.N.D.' (Island)
Glasswerk, 27/07/2010
The sentiments expressed in this song are nondescript inspirational regurgitation - the rhetoric of it, however, works. Asher’s rhythmically well assembled, if somewhat inane, poetry is delivered with an earnest inflection welcomely devoid of the alpha male saliva-in-your-face ego or the tits-etc. chauvinism found in the majority of mainstream hip hop. As well as this,...
11) Seth Lakeman - Hearts and Minds (Virgin)
The Quietus (edited by Luke Turner and/or John Doran), 23/07/2010
Read the original publication (link below). The retorts are fabulous.
Lakeman’s previous works to date - which nobody would know existed if it weren’t for his career-catalysing rugged looks, photographed near some grass looking pensive - have been sufficiently homogeneous for the slight upping in “heaviness” on Hearts...
10) Skream - Outside The Box (Tempa)
Glasswerk, 14/07/2010
New full-length release from Skream (with a ‘k’!) sees the Kroydon-based dubstep producer coalesce with a high profile cast of hyperfamous collaborators. The track accompanied by La Roux is a treat, her vocal being melodic and satisfyingly produced - it’s easy to forget that she is a cut above the likes of Florence and the Really Terrible Machine or Lady “Really Terrible”...
09) Hermes - 'No Age For Saints'
Glasswerk, 12/07/2010
NOTE: I would like to dedicate this piece to “Mike102” for quite rightly reprimanding me for swearing and being ‘harsh’, and “Dave1985” for questioning my sources. These pillars of society have made me the writer I am today.
Baroque, in pop music, is a slippery term. Moreover it is an absolutely vacuous term, an obnoxious identifier for...
08) Here We Go Magic - Pigeons (Secretly Canadian)...
The Quietus (edited by Luke Turner and/or John Doran), 30/06/2010
This follow-up to his self-titled debut sees Brooklyn boy Luke Temple abandon a hissing lo-fi ethic in favour of a lucidity of production and rich well-rounded textures. It is, needless to say, a gesture that has been particularly fashionable over the last year and a half or so. Here we go: although it is difficult to deny that his...
07) Zola Jesus - 'Night' (Sacred Bones)
The Leeds Student, 05/03/2010
Nika Roza Danilova is 20 years old. Nika Roza Danilova released two albums last year. Nika Roza Danilova has a majorly hyped EP pending. Bitch. The lead single from it is textbook Jesus. The exposed bass drum and confrontationally simplistic bassline make for a gothic atmosphere, and the lyrics lie somewhere ‘twixt romantic and horrifying.
06) Efterklang - Magic Chairs (4AD)
The Leeds Student, 05/03/2010
Efterklang dress excellently. Seeing them in Mine Bar at last year’s Brainwash Festival was a fashion epiphany. The large ensemble scrubbed up as a caricature of Scandinavia chic, virtually a different coloured trouser on every member. Depressingly, however, recent press shots see them all clad in check shirts. Check shirts. They could easily find themselves a...
05) DJ Scotch Egg @ Brudenell Social Club, Leeds,...
The Leeds Student, 04/12/2009
Insane confrontational chiptune with a ponytail from Japan (via Brighton). The opening earsplitting feedback wail establishes the tone nicely for this well attended, well-danced-to set.
Attacking his Boss MetalZone pedal as if it has defiled his woman, screaming down his Poundland microphone until he looks like he’s going to vomit Red Bull everywhere, and running...
04) Warp at 20
The Leeds Student, 09/10/2009 Originating in the not-so-far Sheffield, Warp Records has grown impressively in height (commerical gain) and width (style encompassing), although contrary to what you read a few seconds ago, the label is far from two dimensional. Its first substantial venture was Artificial Intelligence, a series of releases which showcased the cerebrally motivated work of the likes...
03) Swan Lake - Enemy Mine (Jagjaguwar)
Negative Thirty Miles, 02/09/2009 A supergroup on our hands here. With this Canadian trio the vocals and composition are provided by a revolving cast of Carey Mercer (of Frog Eyes fame: wailing, beast-like, amazingly emotive), Spencer Krug (of Sunset Rubdown fame: starkly assertive, military, equally emotive), and Daniel Bejar (of Destroyer fame: weary, earnest, sounding a bit like Torquil...
02) Lightning Bolt - Earthly Delights (Load)
Negative Thirty Miles, 02/09/2009 This latest work from the Rhode Island pair of Brians is a Lightning Bolt record through and through - noisy, riffy, and maintaining the impression that they would be even better live (which they are - see them, or failing that, YouTube them). Promising opener ‘Sound Guardian’ displays their unwavering allegiance to the minor third and the distorted...
01) Tyondai Braxton - Central Market (Warp)
Negative Thirty Miles, 02/09/2009
Tyondai Braxton is the son of Anthony Braxton, a highly praised (and equally shunned) experimental jazz musician whose prolific output spans the last half a century. Tyondai also fronts Battles, whose first full-length Mirrored received substantial acclaim and was lauded among any press outlet (particularly those afflicted with the list-making compulsion) as one...