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)