Keeping Rock n' Roll Alive…
Posts tagged Acoustic
Camden Crawl 2010: Day One
May 23rd
Who ever thought that putting a music festival on in London on a May Bank holiday weekend probably thought it was a good idea? Granted that extra days recuperation was great, but with general London transport chaos even arriving in Camden would be a half day mission in itself. Luckily for myself and the team, DoesItRock Towers is handily close by. We wandered down to the Roundhouse to pick up the days schedule for day one, laughing in the face of a weather forecast that would make the Outer Hebrides look like the Caribbean.
After seeing the schedule it’s easy to get swamped under the sheer size and scope of the lineup. 17 evening venues and 27 daytime events…where do you start? This of course leads to a music fan’s worst nightmare, clashes! Then you have to filter in the venue choice, venue capacity, arrival times in order to gain entry and if you have to pay extra stealth charges to see bigger bands. So under the enormous strain of options we did what any gaggle of men would do in times of difficult decisions…head to the pub!
With opinions flying at all angles, a plan finally came together. Hence it was time to get down to the serious business of catching some bands!
Dissolved In
We arrived rather chilly and windswept to discover the new for 2010 Outdoor stage was running late. S we ended up catching the tail end of an upbeat set from this Punk-pop quartet. They sounded quite promising and they have decent enough guitar melodies and vocal harmonies, although I am only judging on their final 2 tracks, the rest could have been pants!
Dissolved In
KASMs
Talking of pants, KASMs lead singer was liberally showing off hers as she catapulted around stage in all manner of screwball methods (including powerslides & Japanese schoolgirl kooky leaps). This in fact was a glad distraction from the noise generated by her screechy adolescent vocals. Ignoring the voice the music was edgy and alternative with plenty of sound effects which were largely hit and miss. They have lots of good ideas, outstanding energy and cannot be faulted for effort but today they failed to captivate. An indoor venue would definitely improve their sound, but for the time being, you get an E…more work required!
KASMs
We had been very lucky with the weather and the rain held off as we dived from pub to pub taking in quizzes, jazz sessions and musical bingo until we were en-route to the Electric Ballroom for the first of the evening performances. When the rain finally arrived, it was ferocious! Driving rain hammered the streets, turning Camden high street into a new canal extension! Drenched like hamsters in a washing machine we gained swift entry and prepared to be rocked.
Camden Lock before the storm
Pulled Apart By Horses
This young band from Leeds are a huge part of the experimental alt-metal scene developing in the city and from watching them tonight you can see why they are at the forefront of the movement. They play with a voracious intensity and skull denting power. An ever changing time signature, stop-start melodies, plenty of epic anticipation building crescendos and technically superb massive metal riffs litter their sound which is unpredictable and compelling to behold.
Pulled Apart By Horses
Almost as precarious is their crazed stage antics which left their bassist sporting a bandaged up knee prior to this evening. Yet he still managed to ascend to stand and leap off a 2 storey stack of speakers, meanwhile the vocalist went on aimless walkabouts through the crowd knocking over fans with his wildly flailing mic/guitar leads. Put simply they are entertaining and totally bonkers!
Ready for a Fall!
Lead vocals are, as one DiRocker pointed out “A bit shouty” & other noted “quite Blood Brothers-esque”, hence not easily accessible but still drive each tune with catchy melodies which demand your attention. Their volume is deafening as is the thump of their drumming but all this combined to form a brilliant set which is not going to be forgotten for some time to come. An essential new band worthy of attention!
That Fucking Tank
Next we trotted off to The Dublin Castle for another slice of Leeds originated alternative rock, this time a little more subdued, or so we thought. That Fucking Tank are an instrumental duo (drummer and guitarist) who play in perfect harmony some of the biggest goove heavy beats of the weekend, despite their minimal stage setup.
That Fucking Tank
Monster drumming and big guitars laced each tune, each craftily setup into an instantly recognizable riff, rhythm, chorus, solo structure. They are one of those catchy bands you can’t help but dance to, no matter how hard you try to resist. Scuzzy electro riffs, progressive trip-outs, heavy muted power chords and classic rock influenced interludes were all present in this great set proving variety is key without any vocalist to liven things up.
Throwing in a couple of classic licks from the likes of Nirvana and Springsteen helped really get the party going as the stage was overtaken by stage divers leaping back into the tiny mosh gathering down front. Their success was evident as the crowd would not be settled until they played an encore. This is a band you need to see live! On record they are good but nothing can recreate the duo’s almost telepathic musical connection and raw sound which is just as ease at the disco or the rock clubs! A huge prospect to keep an eye on!
Alex Metric
While Calvin Harris was entertaining the (supplementary ticket buying) crowds at the Roundhouse we were checking out a worthy rival to his electro crown in Alex Metric. His live performance was pretty good with hard hitting bass lines, snazzy keyboards and catchy vocal led dance tracks proving very popular. However the venue was hugely overcrowded and just too tiny, for all the fans that turned up and could not get within 10 meters of the stage, this was a disappointing outing. In a club venue this would have been rocking, instead it was subdued and underwhelming.
Alex (is back there somewhere) Metric
Teenage Fanclub
Instead of providing a springboard to the wee hours Teenage Fanclub lulled the crowds packed into KoKo into a sweet harmony of blissful semi-consciousness. Majorly indebted to 60’s folks The Byrds and love for the jangly melodies and high pitched sugar coated vocals were great for about 20 minutes. From which point on the relentless floppy haired mid-tempo acoustic strum-by-numbers became monotonous, tedious and lacking in invention.
Teenage Fanclub
Mixed in their set were a few good little pop numbers, but they were only resonating well with the long term fans who seemed to know every lyric. Their performance was mediocre and so it received lukewarm appreciation from the DiR mob as we jumped back in the taxi towards HQ for the night, ready to do it all again tomorrow.
Newton Faulkner @ Colston Hall, Bristol
Apr 13th
Friday 5th March 2010
There was a distinctly couple friendly air to the gathering throng of people in bristol’s revamped theatre come music venue Colston Hall. On closer inspection I got a deeper sense that many of the women have dragged their other halves with the promise of beer and an it’ll be worth your while smile. Seemed to work a treat!
This did lead to the somewhat expected disinterest in arriving early to catch the support act for the night, a very ‘Fair Trade’ gentlemen by the name of Charlie Winston. His shabby/rustic appearance with charity shop chic gave exactly the right impression on a man who is in-fact a very talented singer-songwriter who is just slightly crazy and a tad too much on the side of Bob Geldof for credibility.
Charlie Winston
Musically he played his acoustic guitar with purpose and a pop friendly charm backed up by his immediately hummable and sing-a-long tunes. His sidekick was a very talented Mouth Organist who had a sound similar to a saxphone, interesting and compelling. Charlie laced his songs with wit and humour which kept the crowd entertained. Songs like My Life As A Duck (complete with crowd vocal line “I’m A Duck”) and Kick The Bucket (a tribute to life & living). He brought his sister Vashti out to sing harmony on Boxes which was a beautiful, if underwhelming ballad. Watch the radio waves because I reckon Charlie Winston isn’t far from breaking into the big leagues.
Newton Faulkner didn’t so much as bound onstage, he seemed to stumble upon it. Seeming startled that so many people were in the room he proceeded to put down his cup of tea and remember what he was doing this evening. With all the “Hey I’m Newton, I play guitar, I don’t have a backing band…” style niceties done and dusted he rang out his characteristic pitch perfect acoustic guitar harmonics on his opening track from the latest album Rebuilt by Humans, Badman. Another stunning show of harmonic’s were displayed on the intro to one his biggest hits I’ve Got Something which sparked a chorus of happy voices from the floor.
Newton Faulkner
Entertainment was plentiful here this evening what with Newton’s laid back nature and rambling story telling between song banter he never failed to raise smiles. He excelled himself on a short melody of covers he’s been experimenting with such as Dead or Alives cheesey classic You spin me Right Round as well as older Rn’B hits like Blackstreet’s No Diggity and Warren G’s Regulate just funny! In fact the cover he finally did play was his Massive (Attack) hit Teardrops. This was stunningly eerie, compelling and beautiful, unaccompanied on his solitary guitar.
Moving off his weary feet he moved to a raised seat on one side of the stage which he liked to call “The Office”. It was less like the office I’m used to as his was crammed with cello effects pedals and a multitude of sonic contraptions. The addition of the cello effects (played with his feet) add a new edge to his act and musically sounded bigger and bolder. He even risked betraying his fans when he picked up a…deep inward breath…an electric guitar to play a lovely blues based tune.
In his office he was very concerned that we would be disconnected with the music he was producing, so a variety of cameras were set up and displayed on screens to show his foot movements. He even went so far as to record video clips of music samples (namely the kazoo like instrument played on Lipstick Jungle) and a revolving tape deck labelled Strings playing (you guessed it), a string section accompanied backing track. It was basic humour but surprisingly effective and funny!
He finally wrapped up in the office after playing the song of two parts “She’s Got The Time”. This is a brilliant track played with genius simplicity on a guitarlayle (a hybrid eucalalye/guitar), for which he produced the lyrics on a screen for upmost crowd participation (all that was missing was the Disney bouncing ball). Now singing this song is hard to sing even if you know the words, made even more tricky by the fact that you’re busy giggling at deranged lines like “Chewing on my food on the floor at the station gets some bk its ok tryna be friendly, i said yo do u wanna haribo she said no!!”.
Leaving the office he returned to his classic material as he thrust into the stunning Dream Catch Me which was met with rapturous appreciation. On Gone In The Morning Newton instructed the crowd to sing along as if “You are Pirates with Rabies and are ready to land and storm a beach full of barbarian mother kissers”. Did I mention that some bits of this gig got a bit surreal? Especially the part during UFO when Newton was busy doing a silly little dance. Out of stage left an Alien appeared and proceeded to dance the funky chicken, Saturday night fever and walk like an Egyptian. Probably falling into the quirky (but inspired) category was his cover of Queens Bohemian rhapsody on a single acoustic guitar! What a brilliant but bonkers idea, one executed sublimely.
Now I agree with Newton’s philosophy on Encores…why bother going off only to “suprisingly” return once more?. He states it would actually be more radical to just stay on stage and play one more song before leaving for the night. Something he proceeded to do signing out with a sombre ballad I’m Not Giving Up Yet.
This was an outstanding show and one which will be remembered for exquisite guitar playing, quality entertainment value, and above all else a superbly joyous performance! This was feel good music at its finest.
Does It Rock? March Round-Up
Mar 29th
Plenty of great albums were released this month and we here at DiR.net have picked the best of the bunch to bring to you in a handy Spotify playlist! The widest variety of music in one playlist your likely to find!
Listen now >>> DoesItRock.net – Mar 10 Mix
1) Airbourne – Raise The Flag … Get your beers and raise them to the sky to salute Australia’s “new” Hard Rockers of distinction. DiR? Review
2) Jimi Hendrix Experience – Sunshine Of Your Love ... New album from the legend and this cover is proof to show why he is ‘the’ original guitar god!
3) Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Mama Taught Me Better …Coming out of their folk doldrums this tune is a kick back to those early years DiR? Review
4) Ted Leo and the Pharmacists – Mourning In America… Indie rock with pop flowing though veins feeding a bold punk heart, DiR? Review
5) Two Door Cinema Club – I Can Talk … Huge dancefloor filler of the electrock variety from promising uk band.
6) Gorillaz – Stylo (Feat. Mos Def and Bobby Womack) … Albarn and co. are back with more hip-hop pop DiR? Review
7) The Automatic – Interstate … Going electro has added a cool edge to their once monotonous guitar pop. (Plus its sounds a bit like Motion CIty Soundtrack)
8) Lifehouse – All In … American radio hit for certain, catchy chorus…check, deep booming vocals…check, pop guitars…you get the picture…
9) Alphabeat – The Beat Is … Thoroughly disappointing second album from the once happiest band ever, this is a rare gem from said record.
10) Blood Red Shoes – Don’t Ask … More pop than punk but still can craft a chunky riff or two.
10) Laura Marling – Devil’s Spoke … Beautiful melodies, bleak landscaping and impassioned vocals from the slightly sombre uk folk starlet.
11) Goldfrapp – Rocket … 80′s electro-pop is the latest trend for Goldfrapp ditching the atmosphrics of their previous album.
12) Tunng – By Dusk They Were In The City … Scandinavian indie pop, melodic and too cool for school.
13) Efterklang – Raincoats … Even more from the Nordic countries, this time its Erfterklang’s turn to sprinkle sparkling pop on the masses.
14) Liars – Scarecrows On A Killer Slant … Potent alt fuzz rock from the ever morphing meld that are Liars
15) Jimi Hendrix Experience – Bleeding Heart … Its not very often I’ll be able to say ,”Taken from the new Jimi Hendrix album” so I’m making the most of it! Psychedelia in its prime!
16) Titus Andronicus – A More Perfect Union … Prog rock meets indie and with this much energy and invention these guys will do well!
17) High On Fire – Snakes For The Divine … Wade through the heavy sludge metal to find an amazingly technical and fiery tune!
18) Scorpions – Raised On Rock … Aging German rockers proves there is still guitar gas in the tank as they churn out a cracking tune.
19) Broken Bells – The High Road … When the Shins got involved with Dangermouse this bright tune was the outcome.
20) Streetlight Manifesto – Just … The Streetlight gang have given the Radiohead classic a super happy ska punk makeover!
Jimi Hendrix Experience – Sunshine Of Your Love
Two Door Cinema Club – I Can Talk
Tunng – By Dusk They Were In The City
Lifehouse – All In
Alphabeat – The Beat Is
Efterklang – Modern Drift
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Mama Taught Me Better
The Automatic – Interstate
Gorillaz – Stylo (Album Version) (Feat. Mos Def and Bobby Womack)
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists – Mourning In America
Blood Red Shoes – Don’t Ask
Laura Marling – Devil’s Spoke
Jimi Hendrix Experience – Bleeding Heart
Goldfrapp – Rocket
Efterklang – Raincoats
Liars – Scarecrows On A Killer Slant
Two Door Cinema Club – I Can Talk
Tunng – By Dusk They Were In The City
Lifehouse – All In
Alphabeat – The Beat Is
Efterklang – Modern Drift
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Mama Taught Me Better
The Automatic – Interstate
Gorillaz – Stylo (Album Version) (Feat. Mos Def and Bobby Womack)
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists – Mourning In America
Blood Red Shoes – Don’t Ask
Laura Marling – Devil’s Spoke
Jimi Hendrix Experience – Bleeding Heart
Goldfrapp – Rocket
Efterklang – Raincoats
Liars – Scarecrows On A Killer Slant
DoesItRock? January 2010 Round Up
Jan 31st
It’s not typically a good month for new music, but we’ve been scouring the new releases for the best new music of the new decade to bring to you. We have thrown in a few of our favourite tracks for good measure too!
Listen now >>> DoesItRock? – Jan 10 Mix
1) OK GO – White Knuckles … One of the highlights from a pretty leftfield release: DiR? Review
2) Motion City Soundtrack – Stand Too Close … Happy sounding / saddening lyrics wrapped in perfect sugar coated acoustics wth such an immensely catchy melody: DiR Review
3) TAB The Band – Left For Dead In Hilton Hotel … Blast of infectious garagey blues rock from Joe Perrys offspring.
4) Delphic – This Momentary … Big buzz band prove they ar up to the expectation heaped upon them: DiR? Review
5) Eels – Paradise Blues … Poppiest offering on E’s latest downbeat album End Times: DiR? Review
6) Adam Green – Goblin … Short Guitar ditty from anti-folks main man. DiR? Review
7) Citay – Fortunate Sun … Folk centred classic rock with a led-zep swirtling beauty and harmonious intrumental genious.
8) Cold War Kids – Audience of One … Piano stomp taken from their Jan released EP Behave Yourself
9) Spoon – Is Love Forever? … Spiked guitar line mark this lively indie rock tune from latest album Transference
10) Brilliant Colors – Motherland … Uplifting indie guitar rocker with scrambled blurbs of vocal action
11) Laura Viers – July Flame … Beautiful melody and an angelic voice, sit back, relax and drift away…..
12) Lost Prophets – Where We Belong … Thundering pop rock single from the returning welsh rock masters.
13) You Me At Six – Playing The Blame Game … UK pop punk is in safe hands with You Me At Six at the wheel.
14) Hadouken! – Turn The Lights Out … Nu Rave isn’t so much new anymore but can still pull off a catchy pop/electro/rock/rap crossover tune.
15) Manic Street Preachers – Me And Stephen Hawkins … Classic Manics from last years incredible LP Journal For Plague Lovers
16) The Wildhearts – Jackson Whites … Ginger and co. go all mettallica style on this cracking rock number!
17) Japandroids – Rockers East Vancouver … Alternative indie rock from superb sounding canadian duo.
18) Devendra Banhart – 16th & Valencia Roxy Music … The folk stalwart returns with a surprisingly upbeat pop song.
19) The Last Vegas – Whatever Gets You Off … Motley rock and roll from these superb sleazed up hard rockers.
20) All Time Low – Weightless (Acoustic) … Uber catchy tune superbly reworked, Pop Punk Anthem of the Month!
Album Review: Eels – End Times
Jan 24th
Eels second release in quick succesion follows hot on the heels of 2009′s Hombre Loco.
Eels – End Times
RockOSaurus Says:
Mark “E” Everett has that uncanny knack of being able to write deeply personal songs with such graceful melancholy. After Hombre Loco’s upbeat optimistic rock sound Eels have slid back into the beautiful melodies and acoustic strummers which are amazingly easy to listen to.
Just listing the song titles you can tell it won’t be the happiest release this year; Gone Man a bluesy shuffle, A Line In The Dirt a piano accompanied life tale, End Times gravel vocal driven ramblings, Unhinged one of the few upbeat tunes and Paradise Blues one of Eels effortlessly classic little melodies. Despite the subdued nature of the album End Times is an irresistible collection of beautiful understated tracks, which demand to be replayed!
Mr Flowers Says:
Mark Oliver Everett sings some sad songs in a lonely place, and puts together one the Eels’ best efforts in their career. It’s funny how an album full of such melancholy is full of pretty and simple songs… a joy to listen to.
RockOSaurus: 8/10
MrFlowers: 8/10
DoesItRock Overall Score: 8
Listen to Eels – End Times now on Spotify!
Dot to Dot 2008: Day 1
Jun 30th
Dot To Dot Festival, Bristol
26th May 2008
The weekend kicked off in glorious fashion in blazing sunshine, not a cloud in sight but unfortunately a fair share of hay fever induced sneezing from this weekends companions Mr Flowers and Anna. Three ice creams, three wristbands and one coin toss later we found ourselves in a rock pub called The Fleece on the East side of town ready to watch the first band of the weekend.
Hatcham Social to be fair, have a long way to go if they are going to move up the bill from this early afternoon slot. Musically they started raggedly but the rough clatter brought a certain charm after your ears had recovered from the excessive noise levels. Vocals were pretty poor and the few catchy tracks were driven mainly by the guitar lines. More touring necessary I think!
After carefully traversing a neighborhood of plentiful massage parlors and blacked out windows, we thankfully arrived at Trinity Music Centre (TMC). To my shock and surprise this was actually a church converted to a music venue, not an arena usually reserved for booze and rock and roll I imagine! However I’m sure the lord would have approved of the next band we saw, Ida Maria.
Ida Maria, a Scandinavian female fronted indie band with a keen eye for melody and an Ikea sized warehouse of cracking songs. Lead singer has a cute kitsch aura surrounding her and her Kate Nash-esque vocals (thankfully with better pronunciation). She commands the stage as the band more than get this church o’bopping. Instant happiness and breezy melodies tied to contagious chorus’s on tracks such as I Like You So Much Better When Your Naked, Oh my God and Queen of The World make this a super uplifting set. Can’t wait for their Debut album!
After hightailing it to The largest of the weekends eenues, the Bristol Carling Academy, we settled down the front to catch my only “must” see performer of the festival. Not before we strayed upstairs into academy two to witness a gabbled mess of electro and processed beats played erratically and Wee’haaay too loud by The Death Set. Not unexpectedly… we left!
Frank Turner, did not disappoint in the slightest. The rough around the edges hardcore punk rocker turned acoustic anti-folk hero was a commanding presence with his laid back rock and roll ethos. His new material sounded awesome, good time tunes with his characteristic heart on sleeve transparency.
Frank is immediately likable in a “you must have some crazy stories kind of way”, some of which he sung about here this afternoon. Set highlights included The Real Damage which documented one such boozy weekend, Fathers Day with its melodic grace and Back in the Day retraced to his angry youthful punk days (which he clearly still clings onto quite a lot).
However the show stopping track was the heartstring tugging, uplifting anthem for a lost friend that showcased his poetic no-nonsense songwriting at its best.Long Live The Queen is a perfect tribute to someone who clearly meant a hell of a lot to the guy. As the final chord rung out of yet another cracking tune The Ballad of Me And My Friends, we shuffled out knowing we’d witnessed the best the weekend had to offer!
Back over to TMC we trotted to catch the alt country duo Two Gallants. Their unique take on country music with finger plucking noisy fuzz riffs sounded great. The lead singers weathered vocals were not the strongest but what they lack in power they regained in character. This was rather enjoyable and one of the most un-formulaic bands of the weekend, but they did little to totally inspire the crowd, which is a shame really.
A pretty lengthy walk to Fiddlers later we settled down and caught some terrific piano indie pop in the shape of Golden Silvers. They put on a fantastic short set which had the crowd totally enthused and they were not short of style, melodies or catchy vocals either! Unknown to me before now, until now!! Watch out for these guys!
The real reason we were here was for Anna’s choice, the 80′s loving popsters of Palladium. Being honest I didn’t expect much more than a few cheery pop numbers, but this was a whole heap of fun. I just truly hope that their tongues were in cheek as their outfits were truly Duran Duran inspired. I was keeping a firm eye on the sublimely over the top keyboardist (complete with silver glittered visor) prancing around trying to be cool. To put it bluntly, he missed woefully and induced more than a few belly laughs. Anywho with all this lightheartedness it would take a pretty depressive band to lower the vibe….they duly arrived.
Tonight’s headline act Glasvegas (Elvis quiffs et al… ) have now been labeled the best new band in the country by NME. They did their very best to spread misery, angst and depression. They succeeded spectacularly! Their moody noise rock melodies were atmospheric and suitable dark and with lyrics like your dad he’s gone, he’s gone, he’s gone… these guys set to take on Morrissey for title of pop music’s grand miserablists. I will have to disagree with the stamp place upon them by NME, but then… that’s not particularly a big surprise.
A downbeat but no less impressive end to a cracking opening day…. Day 2 coming soon
Ageing Superhero?
Apr 21st
Newton Faulkner @ The Roundhouse, Chalk Farm, London
6th March 2008
So Chalk Farm was the place for the return leg of the gigging xmas presents between me and my friend Nic. A pop gig with serious radio appeal, which also showcases great talent was the show this evening. So after grabbing dinner on the Camden Lock, we rambled down to the Roundhouse, which is exactly that…round!
This being my first visit to the Roundhouse, I feel obliged to sing its praises as a live music venue. This place really has it all, good size for medium to large fan based artists, superb design, clearly had a sparkling refit, yet still retains the rustic charm of the age old cavernous building which once housed a huge turntable to rotate trains. The venue soars high into the night sky and the sound is perfectly resonated throughout the building. The elated atmosphere bounces so perfectly off these walls in abundance!
Newton Faulkner
Newton Faulkner is a rare talent in the current crop pop and radio friendly singer songwriters. For a start he doesn’t take himself to seriously. His rather unique appearance with his ginger dreadlocks plus his amazing talent for crafting superb pop songs with some really inventive stripped down guitar melodies. The full range of acoustic double tapping, body drumming, harmonic pinching, finger picking, with great vocals and amusing comical banter were on show with minimal need for a backing band.
The charm of the oddity on stage was highly evident and with his very funny between track ramblings, you just really like the guy. Faulkner floated through the majority of his debut album with expert ease with the top tracks being Ageing Superhero, I Need Something and Gone In The Morning fresh with an funny extended improvised ba-ba, de-de-lums & do-wop vocal solo.
Where the crowd was lacking here this evening was the knowledge of album tracks as most here were clearly radio one junkies who have heard the singles. Yet Newton engaged all with a stupendous (if not strange) compelling cover version of Bohemian Rhapsody, classic…hmmm! But sadly the time had come to leave so droves of gatherers piled onto the streets with smiles on their faces, a song in their hearts and a spring in their steps, thus is the Faulkner Effect!
Albums of 2007: #6 – 4
Dec 28th
#6
LCD Soundsystem – Sound Of Silver
I am not usually the electronic music fan, but this year there have been some cracking dance albums with this outing being the best of them. The second album from mega-producer James Murphy is a classic electronic album. Sound of Silver is a perfect mix of loop based band driven electro, funky samples and pounding bass. Each track has a cracking melody which really draws you in and takes you on an high octane ride of danceable rhythm’s.
North American Scum is one of the great modern dance tracks, taking scuzzy guitar and driving keys all loaded with superb vocals. More highlights come in the form of the huge looping melody of Us Vs Them the deep dirty bleep riddled Something Great and the piano led frenetic frolic that is All My Friends.
Dance music never sounded so great with LCD Soundsystem’s collection of fantastic adrenaline pumping energy fuelled anthems! Played live these tracks are transformed into rave anthems and should definitely be the electronic score of 2007.
#5
Frank Turner – Sleep Is For The Week
I will admit that I’m not the biggest folk fan in the world, true the odd outstanding lyricist will catch my attention, but on the whole great rock guitars and catchiness is where I lay my musical hat. This maybe why I’ve fallen for this anti-folk album from the ex-hardcore punk front man of Million Dead, Frank Turner. His honest lyrics all seem to hold a sensitive and translucent feel to them with stories of him starting out on the road The Ballad Of Me And My Friends, the aftermath and fallout after a party The Real Damage and being a punk rocker on the fast paced strummer Back In My Day.
More than anything else this is full of cracking upbeat pop songs. The backing musicians push this album to greater heights with the superbly melancholic violin driving the melody on one of the tracks of the year Fathers Day. His vocals are far from an x-factor winner, but that is surely the point! Their strength is in their swaying from driving rousing chorus’s of Once We Were Anarchists to the sweet charm of Romantic Fatigue.
Frank Turner has produced a fine album of simple acoustics’, layered instruments and compelling storytelling lyrics you just want to sit and follow the lyrics sheet to.
#4
Modest Mouse – We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
We Were Dead… Is the latest chapter In the already pretty long story of Modest Mouse and for me one of their finest. After hitting slight mainstream spotlights with Good News For People Who Love Bad News, the pressure was on to keep the band on top form.
By heck did they succed! Their brand of american indie pop has been spruced up with the addition of Ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr adding his axe slinging skills and a whole lot of publicity. Lead single Dashboard is as good a indie pop song there has been this year with understated tricky guitar melodies and layers of multi-intrumental genious. Florida is another contender for indie pop song of the year with floating guitars and subtle sonic soundscapes making for beautiful listening.
We Were Dead… retains the charm and quirky oddness of previous albums and is showcased on chillout track Fire It Up and strking stomper Education. The mellow on this album is amazing, how they make quiet rock so loud, is amazing. Still when they put their mind to producing great rock tracks again they come up trumps, exibit A We Got Everything.
