*REVIEW* Bon Iver- 22, A Million

8/10

I was working in a record store, when Bon Iver's debut album arrived. We all played it over the loud-speakers at work. It was on high rotation not just at work, but at home, at parties, this album actually for a period in my life was everywhere. In 2008, it seemed so quaint a record, that you couldn't help but revel in it's stark honesty and solemn beauty.

3 years later, I was in a different job, moved town and had a totally different outlook on things. The second Bon Iver record arrived at a different juncture in my life. While it retained the amazing balladry from For Emma, Forever Ago, it actually improved upon it and more instrumentation was used. It was an amazing accomplishment, and for me it actually left the debut in the dirt for a lot of reasons.. It was actually one of the few sophomore efforts by an artist to surpass their debut.

I was looking forward to what they were about to do next. I saw them when they toured Perth, (and actually played their song "Perth" to a hysterical crowd). It was amazing. But then the feeling of dread occured to me.... the blasted 3 year long wait between albums.

But it turned out to actually be 5..

So again 22 A Million shows up at yet again another juncture in my life.. I am actually 30 now..

Why does any of this back story matter? Well it probably doesn't, but Bon Iver's music tends to touch on different things inside the person listening to it. For most, it's transcendental.. You remember where you were when you first heard "Holocene" or "Skinny Love". This strange high pitched falsetto that became a signature for Justin Vernon, it permeates through the minds of listeners everywhere, it holds a special place, and it always feels like a campfire fanfare whenever on of their songs is being played.

The new album, further advances the Bon Iver sound. 

Opener "22 Over Soon" starts off with a plaintive tale of anticipation. What is about to end, what is about to begin, it's not certain, the only certainty is that everything and everyone changes all the time.

"10dEATHBrEAST" starts off with this embryonic slushy synth sequence that anchors the sound of the track. A very strange song.

The worst aspect of this record, are the tracks where auto-tune is used. "715-Creeks" uses this to exhaustion, and to the point where it becomes a parody of itself. I can understand why it's used in the studio for artist effect, but I feel it detracts from Vernon's haunting voice.

"33 "GOD". This is probably the strongest track on the record. It's melody is the most immediate thing on the record. I'm still really unsure whether this music was made impenetrable on purpose, or just came out that way.

"29 Stafford APTS" recalls For Emma era Bon Iver, the more organic early stuff. Having said that, the vocal effects on this again... they detract from the magic of the song.

"666" uses some over the top overdubs, including some squelchy blast beats over the top of pitched-up vocals. The song is actually quite good, but it suffers from over-production.

 A lot of 22, A Million seems to wallow in it's own indulgence mess, everything from the front artwork, to the ridiculous unpronounceable track titles. 

Underneath all the production flourishes, are the templates for a collection of amazing songs. 22, A Million works best when it is stripped back a bit. "8 (Circle)", even for it's grandiose overdubbing, doesn't seem to have anything that's not necessary in it. When the pitched vocal samples drop in, they don't feel overpowering like some of the other tracks. The horns come in and sound magnificent, recalling the best moments on the self titled LP.

Trever Hagen's foreword to this album, on the offical Bon Iver webpage, alludes to the fact that Justin Vernon felt disillusioned with his career. He had built it up, and put it out into the world and it became bigger than any one member of the group. 

During this time, some side projects and collaborations hinted at what would be next. I think at the time Vernon didn't quite know what that would be. So in analysing the cluttered artwork of the front cover, and the nature of the music, this set of songs were built around fragments. These fragments were stripped apart, put back together again or completely scratched. 

When the worlds of digital and analogue sounds unite on this record, it forms a harmonious marriage of past and present. Bon Iver like to look at remnants of sounds, that's why quite often you can hear saxophones or vocal samples, deep down in the mix.. Like washes of memories, faint reminders of the past.

"00000 Million" closes out this album. I feel polarised. I feel hope and excitement simultaneously. I remember where I was when I heard this. I will always remember.

*REVIEW* The Peep Tempel- Joy

9.5/10

Melbourne trio The Peep Tempel's latest album, is exciting, intense and oozes with kinetic energy. It's a further consolidation of their sound.

If I was to pick who sounded the most mongrel out of Tempel's vocalist Blake Scott and the drones Gareth Liddiard, I would be very hard pressed to.

The rural Australian dialect of the vocals is what these two acts share in common. Their fondness for suburban desolation, old fables and cynicism make them an act that offers an inward look at everyday     working class problems. 

Their new album "Joy" revels in these such themes. We have the opener "Kalgoorlie" in which Scott, in his signature half sung-spoken word narrative traverses the sparse and remote land of Kalgoorlie. 

The second track "Totality' riffs on the same ideas but features one of the best grooves on the album.

The pure hysteria of "We You Forgot", which sees Blake lament over "the rats THE RATS THEY'RE RAVENOUS". A song outlining the sheer horror of isolation in the outback. 

"Ray guns", here is where Blake Scott brings out his inner Johnny Rotten, with the accentuated lyrics reminding me the classic pistols track "Bodies".

So the first four tracks start of the album with a blast. Right now, The Peep Tempels are in a vanguard of their own, existing within their own musical universe.

The centrepiece of the album though "Constable" is utter perfection. It tells the tale of a police officer demoted to a rural town, here he narrates his everyday life, what he's seen, what he's done. It's all spoken word and is propelled by the wordless chorus that rises above. 

"Empathy will make your bones break, and you're heart bleed", "there's ghosts in my walls, but at least I own my own house". 

Scott quite often examines the human condition in his lyrics, and the complexities of being a man in the modern age, especially being an authoritative figure. 

The displacement of emotion to try and remain stoic in the heart of ugliness. The repressed feeling that as long as a material asset, like a house is owned, you can feel like someone. In this age of economic instability.

"Neuroplasticity" sees the band explore the existential crisis of a man trying to make sense of the world, trying to find joy in the crazy world. It's basically a call to arms to say, we have to adapt or die.

"Go Slow", heads down a soulful path, like a mid tempo swap soul blues track. With an insatiable bass line and key arrangement. This song I don't think tackles any deep issues here, it's just a great jam, a great band jam. 

"Brains" is pretty hard to pin down, Im not sure if it's about a maniac or not. It sends us on a slow descent into madness with the coda "I"VE BEEN LIVIN' ON YOUR BRAIN!!".. 

But like flashes of genius, they are brilliant and fleeting. This album lasts 37 minutes and not one minute is wasted on it. If you haven't checked this band yet, you need too! They are currently touring too, and are a forced to be reckoned with as a live act. 

Another brilliant release from this amazing trio.

*REVIEW* Leonard Cohen- You Want It Darker

7.5/10

Listening to Leonard Cohen's music most of the time, is the epitome of purgatory. Emotional purgatory. I think to be generally interested in his post 90's output you would have a hard time trying to decipher what is incredible past his usual impeccable lyricism.

Cohen's voice with age grew darker and distinguished, and from reading how he had trouble with back problems during the recording of this LP, it isn't surprising you can hear him labouring to get most of the vocals on "You Want It Darker".

I think arrangement wise, this album seems to just make a mere backdrop to Cohen's dark half spoken  croon, (if you could call it that) but that has been the case for most of his canon from the 90's onwards.

Now obviously, I will be met with blasphemy, if I consider this to be none less than a modern masterpiece from an elder statesman. Well to be honest, it's a listenable new release with some great lyrical ideas and competent but average arrangements.

I will be basing a lot of my verdict on the lyricism contained within. Because really if you take out the lyrics and Cohen's vocals, you will find soundtrack music for a nondescript film. There really isn't much beneath the lyrics on this. 

Cohen tries his best to tell the story, but in all honesty, I would rather him just release a spoken word album and be done with it. I get it, it's poetry to music, and that's Cohen's calling card. But there's absolutely nothing engaging in the instrumentation on this album. I actually found the arrangements on 2014's Popular Problems to be more absorbing than this.

The opener and title track, starts with the brooding voice of Cohen, with the sparse kick drum and choral vocals washing underneath Cohen's own. I actually perceive this title track, and it's choice for the album title, to be self deprecating and tongue in cheek. As if anybody would expect light listening on a Leonard Cohen record, the fans want it darker every time!

"Treaty" sees Cohen expressing frustration and disillusionment at the same time. He alludes to their being a tug of war between him and a lover;


"I do not care who takes this bloody hill
I'm angry and I'm tired all the time
I wish there was a treaty, I wish there was a treaty
Between your love and mine"

I guess this either signals that there's virtue in submission, or that there's virtue in transparency.

Speaking of transparency, in "On The Level" Cohen sings " let's keep it on the level, when I walked away from you, I turned my back on the devil..and an angel too". This track speaks in volumes more about Cohen's life philosophy, than the good and evil theme inferred in the track. The best of ten years Cohen spent practising Zen Buddhism, so it's apt to find him addressing the proverbial heaven and hell metaphors as just another distraction in a world where he is striving for clarity and peace.

"Travelling Light" is a tribute to the wondering spirit that Cohen is. Drawn from experiences he has gathered over the world. The quaintest track on this album.

"It Seemed The Better Way", deals with wavering faith. Asking the god that you pray to, the truth that was told in the past now appears to be false? He asks several times, he feels doubt, but still drinks the blood of christ. This is the friction between pragmatism and unconditional faith. Can the god that has lied to you be repentant?

"Steer Your Way" uses symbolic gesturing to tackle religion and modern consumerism. Cohen basically talks about how our society is delving further and further, into relying on material things for self gratification. 

As I harp back on the point that Leonard Cohen should release a spoken word album, there really isn't any glimmer of anything worth noting about the arrangements here. I don't believe instruments are a necessity in his music, although I do believe he has been more adventurous earlier in his career arrangement and production wise (see the Spector produced "Death of a Ladies Man" and the mid eighties gem "Various Positions"). 

Whether it be a way to work through an existential crisis in his twilight years, or to just exercise his right to be self deprecating and sullen, You Want It Darker brings Cohen's dynamic lyricism into the stratosphere. 

And it's on this, he prepares a dress rehearsal rag of a different kind.. 

I'm ready my lord..

*REVIEW* Young Animal You Yang

7/10

Within the continuation of this blog, I will be occasionally picking a random album I have no idea about. This is one of those. 

Doing a bit of background research, I found out that Lost Animal comprises of Jarred Quarrell and Shags Chamberlain. They have one other full length release 2011's Ex Tropical. They are signed to the Dot Dash Recordings, a subsidiary of Remote Control and Inertia Records which has been in existence for a little over ten years now. 

So with this scant amount of information, I proceeded to start listening to this record. 

The most obvious thing about the music that Lost Animal produces, is it doesn't jump out of the box at you. From the opener "Leave It On the Street" we get a pretty good idea of the sound of the track-list and lyrical themes that will permeate You Yang. 

Starting with some programmed beats and the sedated sound of Jarred Quarrell's vocals, I can equate to the sound of a contemporary Nick Cave on tons of valium or a slightly less talented Greg Dulli from The Afghan Whigs. It's a very slow drawly type of croon. If you have trouble enjoying this sound, then the entire thing is filled with this vocal style.

The first 3 or 4 tracks of the album start off very sluggishly. They don't tend to veer away from the sound represented in the opener. But as the album progresses, the arrangements get better, it starts to open up and sound more adventurous, it sort forms a foil to Quarrell's vocals, which they may have identified as being too monotonous with too few accompaniments. 

"Do The Yerk", basically represents the most accessible track on the album, and probably is the reason it was chosen for the lead single. The stomping beat is the only thing on this (with the exception of possibly Message of The Future and Too Late To Die Young) to feature anything remotely seen as mid tempo.

The lyrical content basically deals with relationships, the fear of losing a loved one, the feeling of emotional entrapment. It feels like these themes are in every single track, with the background melodies and instrumentation slightly changed. A dossier of broken dreams. 

The staggering "Cross The Water" provides an interesting tense account of what seems to be a predatory man coaxing a certain someone somewhere. It's not quite clear who this person is, but the pitched down vocals used as an overlay tell you this is a guy you don't want to mess with. 

The closer "New Years Day" I felt was the strongest track on You Yang. The serene and melancholic acoustic guitars and woozy background synths. You can listen through this quite easily, it feels like the internal struggle between treading water and looking optimistically forward. Do you revel in past loves, waiting for them to return, or do you look forward to new ones. It's so unsure of itself. Maybe that's the entire point of this record. 

This music is extremely laconic, it won't change the world but it's an engaging set of songs that you can sink into. For fans of The War On Drugs and other like artists, definitely check this out. 

*REVIEW* AMERICAN FOOTBALL (2016)

9/10

To look at this record subjectively, it really has to be assessed in isolation to their debut LP of 1999.

Otherwise, I think you will have a predetermined bias against the music. Of course it's natural to feel this way, given the almost god like status the first album has given over the last decade and a half.

American Footballs debut record was a huge sleeper hit, continuing to amass accolades from the listening public. In a way the band was like a mirage, you can't quite see them in the distance, but you're sure you've seen something. The music they created was so well presented and mystical, that it's hard to fathom that they only made this one album.

The members dispersed into other ventures shortly after recording the first album, and quietly dissolved the group. Mike Kinsella formed Owen, to which a lot of the style of AF can be heard in.

I think the fact that this band completed this project, then under a week later all moved to different towns, is probably very telling in the way they felt about the music. It was a good recording session, but none of them could of imagined the lasting impact the record has had.

Their reunion in 2014 was ominous, after some shows to rave reviews, and a reissue of the aforementioned debut, it seemed another studio album was on the cards.

So now we hear the first material in 17 years. It's a long time in between albums (except for Tool perhaps). A lot has changed.

The most notable thing is Kinsella's vocals. Over the years his voice had become more distinguished, so replacing the high end squeaky emo stylings of Mike Kinsella circa 1999, is a slightly lower octave mature vocalist, who can control his voice with the years of practice.

The other thing, probably the most here, is that all the band members are in their mid to late thirties now. they have all gone off to do various projects and have spent a good deal of time, detached from the music of American Football for a long time. We have to remember here, that this band before their hiatus, were around for only 3 years. So the spontaneity of the music, I think was captured so well, that I think listeners immediately took to it.

The opener "Where are we now" starts off the album brilliantly, with a slow fade in and the iconic twin guitar interplay being put to the front. Then we have a track that feels very forward thinking, but contemplative.

"Instincts are my enemy" carries the album through the same sort of themes.

"Give Me The Gun" is probably the best track on this album, for some reason it seems to hit a note with me, it's a high watermark for the album.

Where LP1 dealt with the disillusionment of youth, that angsty feeling of your teenage years, your inability to articulate your feelings properly without breaking out in a rage. LP2 basically has us in a totally different headspace. After all, everyone has grown up or has to grow up sometime. In our most solitary moments, our thoughts drift backwards, about what could of been, and forward, the future presents uncertainty.

And that's the thing about good music. It's in the moment. A lot of artists are interviewed and will talk about how many hundred times they did a take for a song in the studio, but remember the 1 that made the record and the other 99 were forgotten about. They know when the moment has come, we know when the moment is here. That's the approach the first LP took. They had nothing to lose, put it all out there, then left it, only to become this gargantuan cult classic.

So it's a big ask to try and get the band to recreate or emulate that feeling again after all this time. The blueprint for their sound is here, Lamos' stuttering drum style, the polyrhythmic guitar riffs, the brooding trumpets on some of the tracks. It's all here, and it's executed brilliantly. 

"I've Been Lost So Long" was a great single release in the lead up to the LP. It tends reel you in with the nostalgia hit I think a lot of people will be coming to this record for. Because if I'm to be completely honest, the critics and fans have put American Football so high up on a pedestal, that anything other than a ground breaking effort will result in their utter deflation. 

I think that is something the band will have to deal with. We can't expect miracles, but at the same time we can't live in suspended animation either and wish we were in 1999 for the rest of eternity.

This album is a well executed, competent album, with some great vocal delivery musicianship and lyrics synonymous with Kinsella's great musical output. Endearment takes time, because after all, we could be talking about this album as an un-desputed classic when the 3rd album drops in 2033.

Callan Cummings

*IN RETROSPECT* CICCONE YOUTH

SONIC YOUTH (AS CICCONE YOUTH)
THE WHITEY ALBUM

Some premier indie acts have been known to go on artistic detours, to the disdain of fans sometimes are waiting for the next "proper" release from them.

In recent times, Justin Vernon from Bon Iver, had a flurry of activity with side projects like Volcano Choir amongst a few others, in between major Bon Iver releases. Yo La Tengo's pet project Condo Fucks, the Wilco alumni involved in the band Loose Fur.

While these excursions are sometimes helpful in keeping a musician focused and well rounded, not letting the music they're playing to become boring, it gets channeled into lower profile guest appearances or collaborations on other bands albums.  Some of which the results are incredibly mixed.

If you are the kind of person who will look at your favourite band through rose coloured glasses, you will most certainly eat up anything they are associated with, you'll buy everything they release regardless of the content or quality.

Sonic Youth were among them, I don't  think these forays into different projects detract from their long-standing musical credibility, but what it does do, is endear you to them. They just really didn't care at all during their reign as possibly the greatest indie group rock that ever was (is) whatever..

I mean it can be argued that when they left SST and went to Geffen records, their own sound was watered down, but I think a lot of things happening in their music leading up to releases like GOO and Dirty, were precursors to the sounds of those albums.

They never seemed to lose their integrity throughout all the different phases of their career. In fact one way they knew they could fly under the radar musically with their avant-garde experiments, was to release them under different pseudonyms like their "difficult listening series" known in volumes as SYR, that was how Ciccone Youth was born.

A made up group comprising of Sonic Youth and Mike Watt from the minutemen, solely for the purpose of recording this album. The concept stems from an EP SY put out called Master=Dik. The first use of programmed drums in anything Sonic Youth related was a curiosity and at the time probably wasn't expected to be fleshed out into an entire full length project.

But that's exactly what they did, they also took inspiration from the most unlikely of sources, Madonna.

As we see a magnified photo of Madonna as the album cover, we are really none the wiser as to the music on this thing. Madonna had given her approval of the art work to be released, and who knows maybe she has a copy of this at home, it does after all contain covers of a few of her hit tracks like "Burnin' Up" and "Into The Groove".

All throughout we basically have a Sonic Youth record except with the addition of Mike Watt, drum machines and synthesisers. The guitars are still quintessentially Thurston and Lee, the occasional cool  Kim Gordon crooning appears a few times. We also have some nice instrumental tracks that border on industrial no wave (which goes back to their origins as a group).

The Whitey Album comes together like an pop art counterculture pastiche, with the two worlds of pop music and the fringe music of Sonic Youth colliding in a gloriously chaotic marriage of sound.

There are a couple of tracks with spoken word segments, and they remind me of some of the "concrete musique" elements of the Swans LP "Soundtracks of the blind". 

Sonic Youth reissued The Whitey Album in 2006, after being out of print for about ten years through their GOOFIN records imprint. It is definitely worth checking out if you are a Sonic Youth fan. If you're looking to get into them, I would probably suggest Daydream Nation or any of the post SST albums, as this one will be for the die-hards.

There's not much to make of it, it's not an unheralded gem in the Sonic Youth discography, an understood masterpiece. It's just a wacky curiosity, something they cooked up and had a good time with. It showed that Sonic Youth weren't just another pretentious art-rock group from New York.

Callan Cummings

*REVIEW* BRAIN TENTACLES

9/10

If you have a look outside yourself for a moment, and really think about yourself as a music admirer, you will quite often dismiss something that sounds like a novelty, because really "it won't last" or "it's so gimmicky it has not substance".

Well I'll the first to admit that, however it was only the last review I did where I basically lambasted The Lemon Twigs for doing the same thing that I'm commending Brain Tentacles for.

So here I am doing an about face, because really.. this thing is super silly. If you haven't even heard a note of this record, I will explain why.

This group basically incorporates a horn section with bass and drums, and occasional synths. What isn't orthodox about this though, is that where the horn sections are playing, is exactly where the guitar parts would be.

That's right a sax is replacing guitars entirely... 

It almost feels like all  of this music was written and arranged on guitars, because there so much riffing in this music, that's it's hard to imagine it's been arranged for a brass instrument. 

At their core, Brain Tentacles are a sludge metal group, infused with horns. It would astound me if they didn't know about King Crimson's 21st Century Schizoid Man, which is basically the template for this sound, throaty sax riffs against the backdrop of precision fusion bass and dexterous drumming, with constant time signature changes throughout single tracks. 

They blend this sludge metal with these elements, and quite often with interesting results. I think once I got past the sheer stupidity of the concept of the record, I then began to really enjoy it.

The group is a really tight unit, there is some excellent playing on this. The jazz fusion level of precision really stood out. I think the musicianship is the major focal point of this project.

The opener, "Kingda Ka" really shows you the brass element of the album. 

The silly "fruitcake" basically begins ridiculous high pitched yelling, and for some reason the main riff/motif on this reminds me of a sped up version of Frank Zappas "Peaches En Regalia". The really cool, and if you thought the saxophone couldn't shred like a guitar does, you are wrong my friend, they kick ass on this track.

The next track "Cosmic Warriors Girth Curse", with it's stop start drone epicness is another early highlight, and the second most expansive track on the album nearing 10 minutes in duration. 

"Gassed" with it's circus from hell waltz is truly disturbing, and would not be out of place as backing music for a freakshow rodeo.

"Death Rules" walk a tightrope with a call and response rhythm section from the drummer and sax playing.  It is so intense that you feel like you're in a black turtleneck trying to defuse a bomb before the whole city blows up just listening to it. 

"Fata Morgana" takes it down a couple of notches, and is probably the most straight forward track on the album, with it's slow rhythm and moody background vocals really giving some nice sound texture.

At this point, it seems like remnants all of the best horn parts from rock music in the last 40 years, have been distilled and worked into a context within which a band can operate wholly. While John Zorn had used horns in the late 80's with his Naked City project, I feel like Brain Tentacles is the full realisation of this. And it's not like the band members just said, "oh hey, we can just put saxes all over this stuff", and were done with it, they actually thought it out properly and came up with something endearing, paying homage to some great music while still being slightly innovative.

The musicians involved in this project basically speak for themselves. Anything Bruce Lamont touches is oozing with elite musicianship and gusto, and Dave Witte is one of the best drummers around at the moment. Some of the beats of this LP are amazing, but he also knows when not to play, adding incredible nuance to these songs. Aaron Dallison has a huge presence with his bass work on Brain Tentacles. Quite often high in the mix, he imposing himself in the rhythm section, and adds some serious amount of precision and dread. 

In assessing this album, I was thinking well it doesn't have to be meaningful and pretentious to be good, it has to be listenable.. and that it is! But it's also full of hilarious sections of tracks, that you can't help but laugh at. 

So in what I hear, it's great, it's engaging. Will I be calling it a classic in ten years time? Who knows? But one thing is for sure, it's campy quality and well played instrumentals will keep me returning for a while, this one is a gem, out of the box.. I hope they make a followup. 

Callan Cummings.

*REVIEW* The Lemon Twigs- Do Hollywood

6.5/10

The 4AD label has a pretty good track record when it comes to signing artists. Iron and Wine, Beirut, Ariel Pink among others.

One of their new signees, The Lemon Twigs have just released their debut album "Do Hollywood". At first you could be mistaken that this was a reissue of some obscure power pop band from the 70's given the washed out feel of the front cover photo.

Also listening to the sounds on this, could conjure up the same feels. However, this is indeed a new group whose members are basically just out their teens.

We have their sound basically paying homage to 70's acts, their are a lot of callbacks on this one. It's almost like spot the influence, it's pretty easy to do throughout this thing.

The opener "I Wanna Prove To You", signals that this will be a nostalgia soaked affair. But that's not necessarily a bad thing, if they didn't do it in a way that is so boring and derivative. There are a few moments when some awful moog sounds creep in. It detracts from the overall quality of the instrumentation and song writing. 

"Those Days IS Coming Soon", goes along the same track, although we have some interesting time changes that are reminiscent of Pet Sounds era beach boys or early 10cc.  "These Words" has chorus vocals that immediately bring back those huge sounds heard on the best queen tracks from the 70's.

"Haroomata" is easily the most eye brow raising and unappealing track on Do Hollywood. It has more time changes than a Godley and Creme record. It's psychedelic slow intro leading into an Emerson Lake and Palmer style synth groove, morphing itself into a sped up circus waltz.... Gee glad that was only 3 minutes.

"As Long As We're Together", is another 70's pastiche sounding more like a Todd Rundgren b-side. It's overly sentimental lyrics seem so drab it's hard to get through.

The thing is, I don't mind nostalgia in music. You hear remnants of the past in all forms of art. It's the past that informs the future. But I can't seem to get any kind of stimulation from The Lemon Twigs, it's definitely something I should like, but for some reason it hasn't clicked with me. 

A lot of acts that are around now, that are doing similar things. But I think the difference is, in some way it is being contemporary without sounding too novel. Best Coast, Wavves, Ariel Pink among others are the kind of artists who are able to make something modern with something old. 

The Lemon Twigs seem like they are hopping in a time machine, coming back with the sounds of the 60's and 70's, and creating carbon copies of it, masquerading as a throwback indie group. 

Don't get me wrong, the D'addrio brothers have great talent, and can write some nice hooks. But until there's something more palpable than bygone era worship, they will just feel like another indie throwback group. 

*REVIEW* KINGS OF LEON-WALLS

6/10

8 Years ago,  I reviewed Only By The Night, the third studio album by KOL. At the time I was admittedly excited by the prospect of a new album, as the release preceding it "Because of the Times" when on to become one of my most played albums of that time.

For me the album struck the optimal balance of southern tinged mid tempo belters and huge arena rock anthems. It felt like around the corner, there might be a major stylistic shift in the group, only by the night turned out to be underwhelming. 

The album started out very promising, with the use of synths on the first two tracks I thought would be a good feature, and I thought they might be transitioning into something fresh and different. 

The third song, which was the gigantic hit "Sex on Fire" dropped straight after these two tracks, and after that the whole album lost it's way. We had "Use Somebody" "Revelry" amongst others. It was rock by numbers, banal and overused cliches thrown around in the lyrics and bland instrumentation. 

Although KOL songs have never been renowned for their lyricism, Only By The Night's lyrics had gotten worse. The irony of this was, with each release they got better and better as a band musically, but the quality of the lyrics just kept on declining. 

I noted in that review that I believed they would continue to deliver consistent and satisfying songs, as they had on the three albums previous to that. I really believed that at the time. But how wrong I was.

So now in 2016, KOL deliver WALLS. For the best part of a decade, after their breakthrough success, everything they touched wreaked of mediocrity, from their nondescript "Come Around Sundown" which was completely devoid of memorable songs, to 2013's "Mechanical Bull", which pretty much went further down the abyss. 

It really is no wonder that critics and fans alike talk about complacency when they talk about KOL. This is a band that were (maybe unfairly) hailed as the southern U2 8 years ago. They had mainstream success, and then seemed to not really embrace it, but become passengers within that realm. Who knows whether they have ever become comfortable with it, articles and interviews will tell you they aren't, but they aren't showing any signs through their music that they want to resist against it. 

The opener "Waste A Moment", starts with minimal fuss, builds to a mid tempo crescendo over a couple of minutes, really an ok way to start the album off, considering nothing really goes beyond the tempo of this one, it's probably the most upbeat song on here. 

There's no absence of awful lyrics on this one too. Here's the OPENING two lines of the album:

All the way from Waco to WE-HO with a rabbit on her chain
Drove a little slick car to tend bar with the static on her brain

And straight away, about 15 seconds in I am scratching my head. There's a lot more though. 

The second track "Reverend" is the most endearing track on Walls, the story of a country singer who was tragically shot in 1989. When KOL go into story song mode, I have to say it's refreshing to hear. Their usual fare of awkward cliches about relationships always get on my nerves, and this makes for an interesting take, not only of their sound, but of Americana itself.

"Around the World" has a great guitar hook, but never has enough vocal capacity from Caleb to hold it together. The chorus is also unmemorable. 

"Over" is a song about heartbreak, in the most generic sense, I wouldn't mind so much if I could hear some conviction in the singing. But more often than not, Caleb seems to bring about emotion, like it's nothing he's experienced since 2002. It's just over the top sentimentality than diminishes the song quality. It happens on a few tracks on WALLS. 

When we get to "Muchacho", KOL have pretty much dealt all their cards out, nothing really gets worse or improves from here on in, but we do have our first WHAT THE FUCK moment on here. This track actually incorporates these 1970 MOR calypso beats over some slide guitar that sounds like something off an early Ry Cooder album, then when the beat drops in, it's in this waltz step timing, which is just bizarre. 

"Conversation Piece", gets back to the sanitary boring vibe of the album, with another lacklustre vocal performance and banal instrumentation.

By the time we get to WALLS, the title track and closer of the album, there's isn't really much left to say at this point. 

It's a competent album by an extremely successful rock band. It's no gamechanger, surprises are kept to a minimum, there's no artistic growth, musically or lyrically. 

I hope this is just an era of stagnation for KOL. Because honestly they are capable of so much more. Sure they were never the greatest the band in the world. But when you can consider this is the same band that made songs like "Molly's Chambers" and "Charmer", at least back then they gave it some gusto, now it seems WALLS is a conscious effort just to barely exist. They can be seen on the periphery, but they are no longer at the forefront of every one's mind.

Callan Cummings

*REVIEW* TYCHO-EPOCH

 7.5/10

If I'm to be completely honest, anything dubbed as IDM, chillwave, new age, ambient, deep house etc, has to be listened to, to fully appreciate or understand what that actually means to the music. 

TYCHO, the project of photographer and musician Scott Hansen, has been active for the best part of 10 years. His releases have all kept within the frameworks of these so-called "sub genres". Like someone touting that which is called "electronic music" it's more of an umbrella term. It could mean all of the above, or none at all.

The latest "EPOCH" doesn't tend to break new ground too much, but establishes itself as a very solid album with sound arrangements and confidant instrumentation.

The thing I've always like about TYCHO, is the organic instrumentation woven into analogue synths and programmed beats. Again it's been done before, but it really does it well and is engaging enough to not feel like a retread.

The opener "Glider", has a Tangerine Dream vibe to it, with pulsing bass lines propelled by a tight motorik beat. Really nice opener. 

It sets the tone for the album. Throughout we have the pseudo :"fender rhoades" keys sounds which have been a part of most of TYCHO's recordings.

Another late album highlight "Local" mixes a nice downtempo beat with giddy high pitched analogue  synth leads which meld very nicely with the guitar on this one. 

The guitars on EPOCH, (and all the other TYCHO recordings for that matter) really remind me of something you would hear on a FOALS album, that reverb heavy glassy sound that permeates through their music. I have always enjoyed the guitars on their albums. 

We never really hit anything quicker than mid tempo on this one, but that has also been a prominent element in TYCHO's discography.

The structure of this album is also interesting. The first half is front loaded with lengthier tracks, while the second half has the shorter cuts on the track listing, although this doesn't really make the shorter tracks flash by. I think the music and it's very nature makes you feel like you are in suspended animation, so song durations never really count for much, just something I find interesting to note.

Arpeggiated synths, four to the floor beats, silky guitar lines are all apart of the standard fare here. 

Make no mistake, this release pales in comparison to some earlier efforts, most notably 2011's "Dive" which somehow (although I hope not) will never be surpassed. 

If you are wanting something more adventurous of this elk, most risk for reward, you will probably have to look elsewhere. This one goes with the flow, you may want to try Oneohtrix Point Never or Nicolas Jaar for more game-changing types of intent. 

"EPOCH" doesn't really hit a crescendo, it's like a calm lake. You're never really floating downstream, or upstream for that matter. You're on the even flow. 

A competent release that is engaging without being too spectacular. Still a lot to like here.

Callan Cummings.

IN RETROSPECT SLINT-TWEEZ

The calm before the storm, it's always calm before the storm, in quite a lot of Slint songs, you can feel the sense of impending occasion. It's basically the foundation of Spiderland, their critically acclaimed masterpiece from 1991.

So much has been written about Spiderland, that it seems redundant to bother at all in 2016.

The significance of that album cannot be disputed.. But their debut album Tweez often never gets a look in.. Why is that?

Is it because it's an inferior album to Spiderland? Most people believe this to be the case. But some people believe it's because it lives in the shadow of Spiderland. After all everything is subjective, and ones opinion about it doesn't make it definitive. 

Tweez was produced by the infamous Steve Albini. His production style is all over this, and is in stark contrast to the understated dynamism of Spiderland. It's sound is acerbic, loud and glorious. 

It seems a misfortune that I have heard this album after Spiderland. But I can feel that it is something good, something transcendent mystical even. The guitars on this thing are loud in your face, and jump out of the mix, much like it's respective rhythm section. Sounds are often clashing with one another, it's brutal and ugly, but beautiful at the same time. 

Years later Albini was commissioned to produce Nirvana's swan song  IN UTERO, you can see a lot of the foundations of that work on Tweez.

From the opening track "Ron", you can feel the tension and volatility in the air, in the guitars. Everything feels rushed like it needs to be captured on tape before the spool catches alight. 

The whole theme of Tweez, is to give the listener no time to respond. It's like a disjointed post hardcore band from another dimension. But maybe with No-Wave aspirations. Its burns through tracks. A quick adrenaline rush.

Thats the reason why the albums work so well. The ying and yang. Spiderland was more patient and calculating, it would lure you into a false sense of security, and then BANG you're bombarded with noise and another time change. The shortest song of that thing is just over five minutes in length. We have 3 or 4 around the 2 minute mark on Tweez.

For some reason, the bass is prominent for me. It's not to say it wasn't on Spiderland, but it really stuck out, and may of been a by product of Albini's production, he is know for pronouncing bottom end in his work. Ethan Buckler only appeared on this, he didn't record on Spiderland. I felt more with the rhythm that I had with the other album.

There aren't any narrative style lyrics on this either. If there can be any significance drawn out of the fact that all the song titles were named after the band relatives, it can be seen they probably were stuck for song titles and that made it easier. It doesn't seem to signify anything about the songs themselves. It's a slapdash approach to recording and putting together an album, but it seems to work in a strange way. It's like this was there litmus test, and Spiderland was there apollo mission. 

Since their hiatus in the mid nineties, they have occasionally reunited for shows, they are also remastering Spiderland. They often play Spiderland in it's entirety, but songs from Tweez are played too.

I want to spread the word about the debut, I think it's a raw and unique experience, and it would be a shame for it to be obscured by the herculean epic that is Spiderland. Please listen to Tweez.. NOW!!

Callan Cummings

*REVIEW* MACHINEDRUM- HUMAN ENERGY

6/10

There are many instances in contemporary music, when something completely spontaneous becomes an industry standard, for better or for worse.

New Order basically creating a dance floor anthem off the back of a demo recording with drum machines.. A wrongly configured auto tune track turns into a recording effect, a legendary guitarist plays a bar out of time (Black Dog). The next thing you know, guitarist are playing half a bar behind the drummer for effect.

These things are the spur of the moment, but musicians adopt these because they like them so much and want to see how they sound on their own records. Producers and engineers will ask for, "more autotune", give me that "gated drum sound". 

The problem with some of this is, there is a fine line between homage and walking cliche.

No more is this conundrum present than in electronic music.

We have the new Machinedrum release HUMAN ENERGY. Travis Stewart has been operating under this pseudonym for best part of 17 years now. While a lot of his recordings I have enjoyed thus far, this release has me feeling like it could of been more.

There's the opening intro track "Lapis", which builds and builds into this epic crescendo of synths. Like most of the other tracks, there are elements of songs I like, but I can never truly give myself over, truly engage in them.

"Morphogene" truly kicks off the album. With the looped vibraphones in the beginning it sounds ethereal, and we have male vocals which are buried underneath squelchy synths and beats.  An underwhelming track.

The slow fade in of "Angel Speak" again sounded really cool, and then when the beat cuts in and the mid level saw synths start vamping, I'm virtually lost again. More male vocals murkier in the mix and unintelligible. Being coherent in electronic music isn't a necessity, but all throughout this album I was trying to find something to sink my teeth into, and the vocal cuts simply give anything.

"Do It 4 U" is the best track on here, the intro with the woozy fast attack synth lead is amazing, and the beat is really good. I feel like it is probably the most palatable thing on the album. The gated synth part in the chorus are reminiscent of early house. 

"Celestial Levels" carries through artificial string sounds which are very blissful, with a trap beat dropping through. Again nice enough to listen to, but nothing too spectacular. 

"Ocean of thought" and "Etheric Body Temple" continue on with the ethereal themes on spirituality.  When the tracks are at their most mellow, is when they are the best.

The track I probably disliked the most was the closer "Colour Communicator". The high pitched voices looped at the start were grating, and as the track proceeded it got more and more cluttered with sound. Luckily it is a short track on this.

Travis Stewart uses a lot of overused cliches on this. Some of the sounds are extremely tired and worn out. But it's not to say that it's entirely unlistenable, anyone who is a fan of his other work (Vapour City, Bidnezz, side project Sepalcure) will enjoy this. I couldn't seem to stitch together all of the elements of the tracks with their accompanied songs. It felt like disjointed gratification. 

But who am I to say? This release will please many IDM fans out there.