Dreamy?

Empire Of The Sun - Walking On A Dream *****



Oh cool MGMT! hang on? is probably what most people think when they take a look at this electro-indie duo who were silly clothes and are apparently "very very cool". But in truth Empire of the sun are slightly more than just a hanger on after NME named MGMT's Oracular Spectacular the cooles.. I mean Best album of 2008, They are comprised from that dude from The Sleepy Jackson (Good band) and the other guy who'se name i forget who was in Pnau and the predecessor to Ladyhawke with Pip Brown (so he gets the thumbs up too) And together they make synth tipped dreamy progpop. I first encountered title track and single Walking On A Dream about a year ago, i liked it, alot (this was when the whole world was having a wet dream about the frankly bland MGMT album) but then forgot about them untill i re-heard the song a few days ago, and set my computer to download mode to check it out.

Empire of the sun can be summed up pretty quickly, so i wont bore you and will keep it relativly short, the album has similar pitfalls to the band they so say their not MGMT. The album is half baked and inconsistent, which i probably put down to an eager record company rushing out an album to capitalise on there popularity, apart from the singles "Walking On A Dream" and "We Are The people" and the very dreamy instrumental "country" the album is just lacking, boring samey songs trudge onto each other, they are empty and hollow, just a series of irritating noises an attempts at making wierd electro pop, there is little sense of melody, Empire of the sun have produced 7 tracks of a monotone rainbow, its unpredictable and random, but not in a radiohead Blow-your-mind way, its just irritating, "Tiger By My Side" sounds like the Rocky Horror Show remixed by the Yea Yea Yea's after suffering brain aneurism's.

To sum up the pair have created a Mongrol, they dont know wheather to write melodic beauty like "Walking On A Dream" or just make camp irritating din. If this project had been channelled and worked on it could have been a work of art, instead its a mess among synth 80's pop revival masterpieces like the aformentioned Yea Yea Yea's latest outing.

And Oh, three words THE POSTAL SERVICE

Essential Tracks - Walking On A Dream, We Are the People

Like Walking On A Dream? Check Out!

Yea Yea Yea's - Its Blitz *****
MGMT - Oracular Spectacular *****
The Postal Service - Give Up *****

I review somthing vaguely contemporary? Dont adjust your laptops.....

The Dead Weather - Horehound *****



Oh look! Another Jack white record........
Is probably what your thinking, and you would have every right to, the man has set himself on putting out polished turds ever his musical zenith being the excellent first Raconteurs album, which has seen both his other two bands seemingly grind to a halt under the new found blandness. But horehound is somewhat a pleasent suprise, White takes drum and occasionaly vocal/guitar duties (although i would put good money that he did all the guitar on the album) alongside equally as barmy Allison Mosshart from the kills. (and two other boring people that nobody cares about) This dynamics shift in Sort-of-the-raconteurs-but-not-the-raconteurs has a certain charm that lacks the mundane attempts at wierdness found on "Icky Thump" and "Consolers of the lonely" and is light on endless twiddling and howling. But Horehound goes for a more straight up face-punching hard blues rock feel, that wreaks of Zeppelin, cigarretes and sex, of course the drums are WAY too loud in the mix, but whites blatent ego abuse just adds to the swagger, the album hurtles like a train wreck of riffs, excellent drumming (white is easilly as outstanding with drums as he is a guitar) and power packed vocals. Three words can sum up this album, Loud, abrasive and invigorating. Jack white has got his Mojo back.



Essential Tracks - 60 feet tall, So far from your weapon, Treat me like your mother, New Pony

Like Horehound? Check out

The white stripes - The white stripes (1999)
Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti (1975)
The Kills - Midnight Boom (2008)

Zwan - Mary Star Of The Sea *****


Billy Corgan..Powerpop.. Surely not? Was probably what most Pumpkins fans were thinking when it was announced that he had formed and new band in 2003 (3 years after the painfully bad demise of smashing pumpkins) with some of his buddies called "zwan". But bemusal aside we all wondered what the hell this would be like, Billy making even vaguely approachable music could see a return to his glory days of mixing sludgy guitars with pop tinted melodies ("Today" anyone?). Or it could just be another wanky ego trip (the whole of Machina anyone?)

After a first listen it becomes apparent that the two sides of Mr Corgan are very apparent in this latest outing, the stomping opener "Lyric" opens with with chiming REM-like guitars, followed by 3 minites of harmony touched pop gold, Bass player Paz Lenchantin's (also of - A Perfect Circle) voice compliments Corgans croon exceptionally. As the album unfolds more its very much of the same, the first half of the album gallops along with melody after melody, peaking with the near perfection "Honestly", which is probably the best thing Billy Corgan has ever done. Sweeping chorus's dominate the opening tracks, backed by a tight and solid pack of very well produced guitars, that sound accessible and dont swamp the listener (Very unlike Pumpkins) but still "rock", the riffs are huge, the solo's killer, you still get the wall of sound, but its in moderation (unlike early SP were some tracks were rumoured to have over 100 tracks of guitar on at once!)

Lyricly the album is full of religious refernces and themes of redemption, love and rescue, Corgan himself is credited on the album as "Billy Burke" referencing the Floridian evangelist who has i quote "dedicated his life to touching the world with God's power". The influence is hardly "Christian Rock" but it creates a very ereatheral and personal record. The lyrics open up and are inviting, becoming semi-hypnotic as you listen more, somthing which as always absent from any of his previous work, the listener does not feel alienated or scared off.

But as the album progresses the Dark side of corgan becomes present, on first listen it can be hard to distinguish the tracks from each other, (bittersweet acoustic number "Of a Broken Heart" being really the only punctuation in an hour of mid-tempo powerpop) and after a while a feeling of monotony sets in, the album is easilly 25 minits too long, most of which are hogged by the largely pointless title track (clocking in at 14.04) There is an unnerving feeling that perhaps the other members had spoken up a little and tried to contain some of BC's ambition this would have made a better record. Most of the tracks are credited to all the members, but there is a feeling that once again Corgans controlling sense has taken over with his music (its also rumoured that for the second Pumpkins album "siamese dream" Billy played every instrument on the album) A claim which was backed up by the fact that Zwan eventually imploded months after the release of "Mary". Its a shame an album with so much potential leaves such a sour feeling, but being an avid fan of Corgans other work i have almost come to expect that feeling. Remember kids endless ambition is not always a good thing.

Essential tracks - Lyric, Settle Down, Honestly, Of a Broken Heart

Like Zwan? Check out
Nada Surf - Lucky *****
Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream *****
Red Hot Chilli Peppers - By the Way *****
Ash - Intergalactic Sonic 7's The Singles *****

Further catching up....

continuing with my first post, of reviewing an old album, here is one from last year

Beck - Modern Guilt ******



Beck in recent years has earnt the tag of the "Modern day Dylan" an assumption not to be taken lightly, over the years everyones favorite Scientologist has reinvented himself so many times its hard to keep track, you had the slacker folk boy-wonder, the hip-hop grunge anti-icon, the psychadelic pop man, the smooth acoustic genius and so on... But with his latest career twist it seems he has finally settled and made what he was born to do. Beck emerges from modern guilt the paranoid conspiritor and guitar hero, not only is it his best album to date, its his cleverest, his darkest, his most edgy, and i can guarentee in years to come his most influential, he has created his masterwork amongst a sea of haunting vocals, screaming guitars and apocalyptic lyrics.

The album starts on a feel that seems suprisingly beck-ish, a mid tempo acoustic number entitled "Orphans" full of his trademark mastery of sampling, layering and creating a huge sounding track, but beneath the surface it sounds almost stripped back for a Beck song, there are no annoying hip hop noises or obnoxious beeping, just an ultra modern folk song that would have worked in the 60's as well as it does now, with backing vocals from Chan Marhshall it adds to the haunting ghost-like feel of the song, you feel completly immersed in what Beck has created, drawn in by the simplicity of its complexion. Gamma Ray sounds like a 60's surf classic with apocalyptic scientology-inspired lyrics

The feel continues through the album, each track jam packed full of sound, but it feels so natural, ambient keyboards and earthy basslines turn tracks like Chemtrails and Replica into hypnotic siren-songs, accompanied by Becks eerie falsetto it sounds like the music is coming from mother nature herself, even the screaming guitar solo at the end of Chemtrails, which rivals Johnny Greenwood in terms of wierdness still sounds so right, a bat's screech in the forrest of Beck.

The album contains Beck's most biting work, he has turned viciously anti-everything in Modern Guilt, the title track is an apathetic look at modern society, whilst in Youthless he takes an equally cold approach;

There's a million horses dragging down a monolith. With these trademarks so bereaved. Tied my leg to a barricade, with a plastic hand grenade. They tried to turn emotion into noise .

But despite his apparent distance the album still speaks to you on a personal level, beck makes himself appealing in the stranges of ways, and the album becomes very very addictive, this album is probably the most impressive of 2008, in terms of originality, conceptuality, and its sheer musical brilliance, Beck elevates himself miles above the competition with his ever unique uniquity.

Beck changed his usual producer (radiohead mastermind Nigel Godrich) to one of the most in demand contemporary music producers, Danger mouse. Which has a big part to play in the overall feel of the album, there is no "fat" to accompany this pork chop, coming in at little more than half an hour and only 10 tracks, but there isn't a feeling that somthing is missing, every second placed on the album feels just right, as if only what was utterly neccesary was added, and a rich palette of songs is created in what seems like no time at all. It will be interesting to see if artist and produce keep up their partnership, as this is only the beginning. Beck is totally reborn in Modern Guilt. if you thought you had heard it all think again, this record will blow your mind.

And yes, it gets 6 stars, its that good.

Essential Tracks - Orphans, Gamma Ray, Chemtrails, Volcano

Like Modern Guilt? Check out

Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited *****
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Self titled *****
Arcade Fire - Funeral *****

First Post of my new blog! Whoo

Hello, so i made a blog!

anyway, for my first entry i have a review about an album it took me WAYY to long to check out...


Rilo Kily - Under The Blacklight *****





Under the Blacklight was released by Rilo Kiley in 2007 to some pretty tasty critical acclaim, i have been a mild fan of the band for a few years, in 2008 i got frontwomen Jenny Lewis's solo album Acid Tounge (which is also excellent). Back on track, i finally checked out this album today and it was well.. Great!

Rilo Kiley are (or were) a reasonably typical american indie band, they hang out with deathcab, they make pleasing melodic guitar based music, they're a bit quirky (Singer Lewis and guitarist Blake Sennet former child acting stars, heroin addicts and lovers respecticly) But this most recent album shows a certain growing up element, Jenny Lewis's voice has developed into a more womanly and warm and Karen-Carpenter-esque sound. The songwriting of her and Sennet has also matured, tackling issues such as their frankly wierd past in a more grown up nature. Previously edgey guitar-pop has mellowed into more acoustic and piano driven, but there is still an important presence of the chirpy guitar sound that helped break them, tracks like Silver Lining and Smoke Detector have killer loungey guitar lines over smooth organ, creating a relaxing and very pleasent feel to the whole album, the polished production makes a very easy listen, a great kick back and pass-the-time album.

But while your Lured into by the sultry vocals and smooth guitar and piano indierock sound, its all very nice, odd american band have grown up and made a radio-friendly album thats sure to send them to a wider fanbase, hell they will probably even have a song or two in Greys Anatomy! But then it hits you, this is not just a band who got bored of naive guitar pop, there is a real venom and punch behind the ever so pretty sound, Songs like Moneymaker and Close Call drip with attitude and anger, Lewis's lyrics reflecting her past with bitterness and spite, making for some great pieces of songwriting. In 15 Lewis tells the semi autobiographical story of a teenage drug addicted girl and Breaking Up has a malice-filled sarcastic look to her former relationship with Guitarist Sennet, set to a chirpy Club Tropicana like beat, it creates a unique mix of acidity and sweetness, this feeling runs throughout the album.

Its no wonder that many fleetwood mac parralells have been drawn to this band's latest album, And in places it truly lives up to it, with some excellent pieces of modern Pop music. No real bad points about the album, it is thoroughly impressive and a razor sharp perfectly tailored piece of modern music. Commercial success still escapes them, as Rilo Kiley's own specialities are too hard to suppress, even with the most appealing of sounds, you still can't ignore there uniqueness, which may make them hard to sell to a mass audience, but for the small cult following this album is a real treat, conneisours of quirky indie and easy listeners with an open mind (which is the important bit) will adore this band.