Pissing On Bonfires/Kissing With Tongues - Excellent!

Meursault are a band best described as folk/punk/electro from Scotland who released their debut album, Pissing On Bonfires/Kissing With Tongues on the 15th December 2008. They're yet another charming indie folk band out of Edingburgh but set themselves apart with an elegance in songwriting which sees Neil Pennycook's Meursault as all of bleak, upbeat, experimental and slightly chaotic, whilst retaining the kind of irresistable addictiveness you usually get from the latest Orange advert. Part of what keeps you coming back to this album is the ecletic range of influences evident everywhere, and the way this album sounds like a combination of these you can't really hold in one place. The banjo riff on 'The Furnace' sounds like an oddly timed Crystal Castles crossed with a reverb filled Born Ruffians with the acoustic strumming style of Neutral Milk Hotel, and the beautiful 'Small Stretch of Land' is as beautiful as folk gets, showing a strong voice and lyrical expertise in one of the best tracks on the album. For such an unknown band, with under 40,000 views on their myspace, they have released a highly commendable late entering debut in one of the best albums of the year, available from Song, By Toad Records via link on the myspace. They recorded a nice little Toad Session of the Furnace just below:



and an interview here.

The Furnace (YSI)
Small Stretch of Land (YSI)

Signs of a radically new Kasabian?

Something i've always admired about British rock 'n roll band Kasabian is their ability to completely alter their songs every time they re-record them. Songs such as 'Empire' and 'Shoot The Runner' have proved easy to acousticize, and it appears Kasabian, in their rework of L.S.F (Lost Souls Forever) on the recent live lounge, have completely transformed the once urgent track into something more easy-going.

With a blues guitar part sounding more like Seasick Steve than Serge Pizzorno, vocals lose all Kasabian swagger from the original and fit more to Kasabian's description of what their eagerly awaited third album will sound like. Tom Meighan stated in an interview on the subject that:

"It all joins together which is beautiful, there’s no gaps in it, it’s very psychedelic, there’s very much elements of the first but it’s a more distant sounding Kasabian than we have been with the last two albums."

The blues psychedelia in the music behind this track, Kasabian's ability to experiment with reworks of older tracks as well as the willingness to incorporate new sounds such as dance/heavier synths in the second album is what really sets them apart from the Britpop bands such as Kaiser chiefs and Razorlight they are typically classed with. The outrageous claims they make in interviews as well as the sketchy and contradictory descriptions of their latest sound which they give in interviews (everything from 'Hip-Hop' to 'Syd Barrett') mean that the new sound really could be anything. If the end result is anything like what they describe, Kasabian will surely become a truly experimental band, and i honestly cannot wait.

Live Lounge 3 L.S.F (mp3)

Use Somebody (Tenzin Remix)

http://www.myspace.com/tenzinstark

Powerpop/Electro producer from the home of laid-back electropop Sydney, Australia.

Long, relaxing, electro remix of the Kings of Leon's 'Use Somebody'

The Dance Mini Mixtape.

1. La Roux - Quicksand (autoKratz Drags to Riches mix)
La Roux, french for 'the red haired one' is 20 year old Elly Jackson from Brixton, UK. A relative newcomer, she makes incredibly catchy synthpop songs with a punch, and a big focus on lyrics. The remix removes most of the lyrics in the verses but the Ting Ting's style driving beat, manipulated vocals with the fantastic 8-bit riff behind the song meant it was too catchy to omit. She embarks on a UK club tour around the end of January/ beginning of February, before supporting Lily Allen on her UK tour in mid-March.

2. Justice - D.A.N.C.E (MSTRKRFT Remix)
This remix = pure adrenaline. MSTRKRFT take an already fantastic song and give it even more drive. One of my favourite remixes of the year, even if the changes it makes are only subtle.

3. GRUM - Go Back
Self-proclaimed Electro/Breakbeat/Disco House artist from Leeds, UK whose dirty electro/grime sound I am loving at the moment. 'Go Back' is a great example, but check out the Myspace for 'Woah' or 'Heartbeats', both great tracks reminiscent of a techno crossover of Cut Copy and 'Call On Me', by Eric Prydz.

Covering The National.

Lackthereof is the long-running side project of Menomena's Danny Seim, formed in 1997, who made their 9th release (third with any kind of proper distribution) July 22nd 2008. 'Your Anchor' contains a highly experimental selection of songs, almost a caricature of Seim's main project, with new influences, simpler instrumentation and a definite folk influence. I think the band's attempt to describe themselves in three genres on their myspace (emotronic/folk/healing & easylistening) is about as close as they realistically could have got. While some songs retain the kind of funk/punk Menomena feature, other parts (namely 'every kind word') explore folktronica with the kind of psychedelic vocals more often seen from Devendra Banhart. The vocal itself isn't too far from the National's Matt Berninger, but varies so much across the album, particularly on their cover of 'Fake Empire', that any kind of generalisation is made impossible.

I've always loved how Danny Seim's projects really do explore boundaries of indie rock i could never even imagine existed. 'Fake Empire' is the icing on the cake. The catchy piano line present in the National version has been stripped and replaced with a simpler one and an electro-ambient drone has been placed underneath two tired psychedelic voices. This is an extremely odd but strangely satisying take on a classic song by The National.

Grab the original here.

The Lackthereof cover is available for streaming here.

And also, here's another strange cover of this song, by Scottish folk rock band Frightened Rabbit, who give in to a partial cover during their song 'My Backwards Walk' live in Denver.

Alt Track.

Alt Track are an ambient experimental drum & bass band formed in 2007 from Bradford, UK. The music refrains from conventions set down under the drum & bass tag, instead providing a wider range of tonality and instrumentation ranging from piercing overdriven guitars to crisp piano lines. I call the band experimental due to the complete lack of uniformity on their recent EP. While some songs are reminiscent of the kind of eery indie rock Menomena are known for (notably 'Pedestrianised'), others don't stray far from moog heavy house music with vocals verging on hip-hop. I have a certain fascination with these songs mostly due to the extreme range of influences this album draws on from hip-hop to electronica, indie to post-rock. 'Lazarus' features both a heavy rhythm guitar before descending into a Butterflies & Hurricanes-esque piano solo, whilst 'The End' features the more relaxed parts of the EP and also the clearest vocals. This is definitely drum & bass music with a darkened edge, exciting, unconventional, experimental and unique. The self-recorded, self-released debut EP 'A Nation Is On Fire' is available for free download on Last.fm here.

Gig Review: Kings Of Leon w/ M83 @ Bournemouth BIC 14/12/08

M83 are a band who's sophistication and grandeur really amazes me, and i always thought them an interesting choice of band to open for the much more direct alternative rock which is Kings Of Leon. For the people who arrived on time, M83 left them more in awe than warmed up for the chaos which ensued when Kings arrived on the stage. Opening with 'Closer', by no means an upbeat track, your typical large group of sweaty and drunk 25 year old men more often seen at Pigeon Detectives or The Enemy gigs descended upon the front section of the floor, looking more for a fight (several of which were started) than for any kind of genuine enjoyment for the music. I was glad very few of these arrived on time for M83, but the cringeworthy football crowd chant of 'who are ya?!' was still heard echoing from somewhere near the left hand side as Antonio Gonzalez and band entered the stage. When M83 began they humbly demanded respect, and this they got, playing through mostly songs from the new album namely the sweeping 'Graveyard Girl' and single 'Kim & Jessie'. An extreme passion was clearly visible in the performance with M83 really acting like they meant what they were singing. They didn't particularly acknowledge the crowd but put in a very polished and tight performance, tainted only by the lack of organisation which led to M83's lead guitarist spending the third and fourth songs of the set searching for his second guitar backstage.

This was the first time i had seen Kings Of Leon after missing tickets for their date at the BIC last year. I much prefer Because of The Times to Only By The Night but after hearing how fantastic the gig was last year I was expecting better from the evening. At times they seemed like they weren't really with it and none of the band members really moved away from their places on stage. Maybe a lack of enthusiasm for their new album, which whilst opening new doors in terms of mass popularity, has alienated both themselves the longer term fans of the garage rock Kings of Leon became established for. Sex on Fire provoked both the best crowd reaction and the worst, one half of the crowd visibly disgusted (the tickets for the gig went on sale before Only By The Night's release) and the other half acting as if it was the reason why they attended.

I hope that the lack of enthusiasm i saw at the recent gig combined with the drop in standards seen on the recent album are not signs of a sellout, especially since so many bands with the same fan base have released weaker albums than the standards they set with their others; Snow Patrol and Razorlight to name but two. There was no question that the gig would fail to create a crowd reaction in the sense that the gig almost played itself, with Caleb losing what little singing voice he began the gig with around the half way mark. The band played twenty songs before and four songs after the encore and wrapped up with 'Black Thumbnail'. Waiting at the front after the gig, merchandise was being hurled of the stage, and although i did not win the scrap which ensued following the landing of several drumsticks, i came away with a setlist, and here it is:

M83
Graveyard Girl
We Own The Sky
Kim & Jessie
Teen Angst
Skin Of The Night
Up!

Kings Of Leon
Closer
Crawl
My Party
Razz
Molly
King Of The Rodeo
Joe's Head
Fans
Revelry
Milk
Four Kicks
Pistol Of Fire
Wasted
Sex On Fire
The Bucket
Notion
Use Somebody
On Call
Cold Desert
Trani
___________________

Knocked Up
Charmer
Slow Night, So Long
Black Thumbnail

White Lies.

White Lies, formed in 2007, play New Wave in a similar style to Editors or Glasvegas in taking a huge influence from Echo & The Bunnymen and Joy Division. The first single, Unfinished Business, with urgent lyrics, 80s organs and jarring baselines seamlessly turn a minimalistic post-punk approach into a dancepunk anthem reminiscent of Tom Vek or LCD Soundsystem. You can grab the single free from their website (www.whitelies.com) or alternatively an epic Haunts remix of their song 'Death' from right here. White Lies are definitely ones to watch this year, playing sold-out shows with Glasvegas in the next few days and touring the UK until mid-March.

Death (Haunts Remix) (mp3)

Pre-order upcoming ...To Lose My Life, arriving January 19th 2009.

Eels Go With Anything.

Mercury Rev's dream pop masterpiece 'Tonight It Shows' and Eels's 'Novocaine For The Soul' popped up in the last place i'd have imagined today, in a half-watched common room broadcast of Dom Joly's Trigger Happy TV. There's always a time and place for Eels, what better accompaniment to these rampaging squirrels?






Tonight It Shows (mp3) (Buy)
Novocaine For The Soul (mp3) (Buy)

In 5 Years Time...

It's been a busy year for Noah and the Whale, from the success of Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down to the announcement last week that they would be releasing a 'punk' project along with a short movie for their second album. It's hard to imagine anything remotely anarchistic or aggressive from the band which only these last few months have been whistling such twee classics as 5 Years Time and Give A Little Love. But there you have it, who knows where Noah and The Whale could be in 5 years time?

Give A Little Love (mp3)

Buy

Menomena - Friend and Foe

Firstly i have to say that this is definitely the most fascinating album artwork i've ever seen. The red and yellow parts of the cover both change and twisting the Cd in its case will change the eyes of the characters to display amusing expressions of shock as they look out at you. The album cover is almost as intruiging as the band itself.
Menomena are an experimental rock band from Portland, USA, who share lead vocals and, through a wide variety of conventional instruments, create indie with elements of jazz, rock, and electronica to name but a few. Comparisons can easily be drawn to Tv On The Radio, however Menomena ooze originality and show off a very distinctive style despite the changes of vocals from track to track. Friend and Foe is the follow up to the independently released first album I Am The Fun Blame Monster! (an anagram of The First Menomena Album) of 2003, and a clear progression in terms of both recording quality and tightness can be seen.
One of the distinguishing and most interesting features of Friend and Foe is its prominent experimental drumming, capable of completely changing the feel of their songs in one strategically placed rhythm change and added bass line. Evil Bee is a perfect example of this. This track begins as a slow, disturbingly unbalanced acoustic build up to be converted by the entry of an alto sax, bass and simple drum line into a driving funk rock song, before combining the two for a beautifully woven outro.
Wet and Rusting is the highlight of the album. Beginning with a synthesizer, and mildly unnerving high pitched lyrics, the song develops into a disturbing combination of off beat, almost wrong-sounding acoustic strums and reverbial, distant sounding piano lines (both Menomena trademarks). The bullet-like drums in the chorus drive the song with such force that rather than simply holding the song together they create a completely new element to the music. Concentrating solely on the drumming in Menomena songs is something quite easy to become accustomed to.
With any distinctive sound there comes the responsibility to keep it both interesting and fresh simultaneously. Menomena partially succeed however the album does trail off nearing the end, and the song Boyscout'n, the second longest album track, is really quite terrible with persistent jabs of the alto sax and a piercing whistle riff the track would do better without. The song is attempting to be too catchy in the wrong context and fails miserably at fulfilling its role as one of the happier, more upbeat songs on the album.
Failings aside, Menomena have released a very strong follow up to their debut, and their music pushes enough boundaries to take experimental music forward without venturing too far into electronic effects or too far away from conventional musical intruments.

8.1/10

Wet and Rusting
Evil Bee

Buy

Saturdays = Listening To M83.

Recently i have fallen in love with M83. They combine electro indie with dream pop and shoegaze with fantastically original results. Saturdays = Youth is the perfect dance album to relax to, notably the epic eight and a half minute immersion of Couleurs. Other highlights include the brilliant We Own The Sky, mixing an addictive synthesized force of a melody with a spacey vocal chant of an outro. The general ambient feel to the tracks is similar to a synth-based My Bloody Valentine and a more drawn out version of the melodies of early Mercury Rev. However the result is something quite different, revolutionary, and ecletic. M83 will leave you on a cloud. Earlier album Before The Dawn Heals Us is also home to such gems as the darker Teen Angst. The band have, somewhat surprisingly in terms of genre, landed themselves a support slot with modern garage rockers Kings Of Leon on their UK tour, opening the doors for potentially a wider recognition here in the UK.

The Ortolan

I've been listening back recently through one of my favourite albums of the summer '08, The Ortolan by The Deadly Syndrome. Straight out of LA, the band play some of the most charming and uplifting indie pop you've never heard. They've been championed by Hot Hot Heat and toured with Oh No! Oh My!. Light, catchy guitar riffs are everywhere coupled with the rasping indie rock vocals of Christopher Richard. The Deadly Syndrome have, in one album, mastered the kind of exciting, chaotic chorusses that have been lacking in the post-elephant 6 indie rock scene; and every instrument, riff and irresistable piano line knows exactly its place.
Highlights include:

Heart
Eucalyptus

And here's a fantastic live version of I Hope I Become A Ghost: