Clash Music - Issue 52

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07/05/10--07:36: Au Revoir Simone - Night Light (chan 1151928)



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Remix albums can destroy a perfectly good band’s sound. Au Revoir Simone create light, experimental and ethereal indie pop, music that should be easy to play with, but at the same time, equally easy to maim.

‘Night Light’, which features toyings from the likes of Jens Lekman, Silver Columns and Montag, is about as inoffensive (and astoundingly beautiful) as one of these things gets. From the absolutely aerial soundscapes of Your Twenties’ ‘Anywhere You Looked’ to Max Cooper’s haunting ‘Take Me As I Am’, ‘Night Light’ does absolutely nothing to disfigure ‘Still Night, Still Light’ - it positively enhances it.

7/10

Teri Williams







07/05/10--07:46: Ozomatli - Fire Away (chan 1151928)



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Sprawling LA collective Ozomatli return with ‘Fire Away’, their fifth full-length to date, and offer another rich dose of positive energy and musical diversity. The album provides some fairly easy - but not necessarily simple - listening throughout, infusing Ozo’s funk, hip-hop, Latin American and other global musical influences with plenty of slick, skin-tight grooves. The all-out party vibe of opener ‘Are You Ready?’ sets the tone for tracks like ‘Yeah Yeah Yeah’, ‘Nadas Por Free’ and the one-fingered salute of ‘Malagasy Shock’, whilst ‘Love Comes Down’ and ‘Caballito’ help us go out the way we came in.

7/10

RYAN DREVER

Dig it? Dig deeper: Oso, O.A.R, Blues Traveller







07/05/10--08:01: Grasscut - 1 Inch / 1/2 Mile (chan 1151928)



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Found sounds and field recordings provide the source material for the latest shuriken chuckers at Ninja HQ, the music of Grasscut leant a quintessentially British quality by folk song samples, the plummy pronunciation of BBC announcers and plenty of talk about the war. The result is some distance from the entirely horizontal soundscapes of Jarvis Cocker’s recent National Trust project however, with composer Andrew Phillips and his multi-instrumentalist compadre Marcus O’Dair having thrown plenty of big beats, bleeps and buzz saw analogue synths into the mix for a record closer to MGMT than Eno ambience. Brilliantly bizarre.

9/10

Kingsley Marshall

Dig it? Dig deeper: The Memory Band, Parsley Sound, The Squire Of Somerton







07/05/10--08:22: I Am Kloot - Sky At Night (chan 1151928)



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It’s business as usual for the Manchester-based trio with their fifth offering of sedate guitar warbling. Mixed by Guy Garvey of Elbow, the whole timbre seems to have a Parisian flavour that conjures images of a less than positive continental existence.

Whilst each track delivers exactly what is to be expected from an IAK album it is a little disappointing that there seems to have been no development from the previous outing. So, if you are already a fan this record is for you, otherwise look elsewhere.

6/10

Chris Collington







07/05/10--08:38: Nigel of Bermondsey - London Dreamtime (chan 1151928)



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Former Gay Dad bassist Nigel Hoyle’s second solo album develops his gritty take on bedsit pop. Huge hooks on the excellent ‘It’s A Killing Thing’ counterbalance a requiem to street violence, while a spartan version of the Inspiral Carpets’ ‘This Is How It Feels’ is full of introspective candour, on an album that is immediately impressive and deceptively complex.

6/10

John Freeman







07/05/10--08:51: Larsen B - Musketeer (chan 1151928)



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A musical version of relaxation therapy; Larsen B make you lie back and imagine being elsewhere. Transporting the listener away from a world of the urban and mundane they weave pretty rural landscapes with a charming, if unadventurous, blend of pop and folk standards.

‘Marilyn’ and ‘Stitch’ are deep and rich, borrowing Mumford And Sons’ banjos and making something genuine and believable with aplomb. Elsewhere however, ‘Codeine’ is reminiscent of Grizzly Bear’s preppy majesty minus the ability to truly wow, a problem that permeates throughout, rendering Larsen B merely good; far from the band you dream of.

6/10

David Renshaw







07/05/10--09:06: Milky Disco 3 - To The Stars (chan 1151928)



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The latest Milky Disco comp (confusingly the fourth installment, not the third) continues the series’ exploration of the outer limits of space disco. Black Devil Disco Club are here doing, well, much the same as they always do, but in brilliant fashion. Leo Zero brings perfect, precision engineered techno, and there’s a surprising wobbly acid detour from The Flying Sapphire. Top stuff. Disc one is the pick, with the tracks in their unedited form, though disc two - a mix by Jon Tye - ain’t too shabby, and manages to cram in a few extra cuts. Space is the place.

8/10

Will Salmon







07/05/10--09:18: Mystery Jets - Serotonin (chan 1151928)



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The Eel Pie Islanders' sees the band mature as songwriters, which should attract the mainstream attention that's so overdue them.

Opener 'Alice Springs' sees the band lace themselves in psychedelic heaven complete with fuzzy guitars and a whole lot of class, whilst instant classic 'Dreaming of Another World' is what The Drums would sound like if they weren't so lo-fi and had a penchant for synths.

A fantastic album from a band that deserve to be massive.

9/10

Kevin Angel







07/06/10--04:38: Gangster's Paradise: Jerusalema (chan 1151928)



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Gangster’s Paradise presents a dog-eat-dog existence amidst Johannesburg’s notorious slums. After escaping a life of carjacking, Lucky heads to the city for a fresh start. When his business is destroyed by a similar accident, he revisits his old schemes on a grander scale as he seizes control of tower blocks under the guise of taking from the rich to give to the poor.

Built around a social context that rises beyond a hackneyed morality tale and backed with a vibrant soundtrack, Gangster’s Paradise mixes grim realism with visceral thrills to create an involving underworld drama that approaches the standard of City Of God.

8/10

Words by Ben Hopkins







07/07/10--02:30: The Coral - Butterfly House (chan 1151928)



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There was some concern that the departure of Bill-Ryder Jones might mark the decline of The Coral. The good news is you wouldn’t know he’d left. Actually, that’s sort of the bad news too.

A perennial singles band, capable of euphoric highs but also rather a lot of chugging jangle when called upon to fill an entire album, there’s little here to suggest a radical rethink.

Album opener ‘More Than A Lover’ is the power-pop insulin of old while the title track offers a more malevolent, wonky, psychedelic backdrop. It’s all very ‘nice’ but only sporadically truly vital.

6/10

Words by Gareth James

Dig it? Dig deeper: Love, The Zutons, The Bees







07/12/10--02:00: Alan Pownall - True Love Stories (chan 1151928)



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London-based Alan Pownall might have an acoustic guitar and count Noah And The Whale among his friends, but he’s not the troubadour some might paint him as. Gentle summer pop, not folk, is the touchstone on his debut album.

More Jack Johnson than John Martyn, ‘True Love Stories’ is likely to be the soundtrack to many a bland barbecue thanks to its laid-back, off-beat strumming and the hint of soul in the Americanised vocals. But just when you think you have him figured out, Pownall still manages to pull out some beautifully warm melodies to catch you off-guard.

5/10

Words by Steve Harris







07/12/10--02:18: Daniel Johnston - Beam Me Up! (chan 1151928)



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The prolific Daniel Johnston can be forgiven for releasing a “best of” record, particularly when he throws in a couple of new tracks (‘Sarah Drove Around In Her Car’, ‘Last Song’) and recruits the B.E.A.M Orchestra as his backing band. Fans will appreciate listening to his lo-fi masterpieces with new, lush, hi-fi production values, but with that same warbling voice.

7/10

Words by Steven Garrard







07/12/10--02:20: Danger Mouse And Sparklehorse - Dark Night Of The Soul (chan 1151928)



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It’s taken a year or so, but the legal eagles at EMI have thankfully managed to resolve the problems which stalled the release of this astonishing collaboration between the ’Mouse and the ’Horse; Brian Burton and the late, great Mark Linkhous, respectively.

Amongst the army of incredible contributors, all unified by melancholic production drawn from the ether of another age, David Lynch’s star shimmers brightest. His delivery of the wonky title track is simultaneously spooky and sensual; if there were a jukebox in the Double R Diner of Twin Peaks, this would be playing. Continuously. Damn fine.

9/10

Kingsley Marshall







07/12/10--02:30: Tired Pony - The Place We Ran From (chan 1151928)



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Written and recorded in a week in New Orleans, ‘The Place We Ran From’ is a ten-song collaboration between Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody, R.E.M.’s Peter Buck and a host of other musicians.

A gentle and mellifluous set of songs, it’s an album that’s haunted by a deep and evocative sense of fragile melancholy. And although ‘I Am A Landslide’ suffers slightly from its somewhat repetitive, MOR refrain, ‘Point Me To Lost Lands’ is a jangly slice of resignation, and the near-seven minute muted insecurity and tension of ‘Pieces’ is a perfect end to an album for lost, lonely times.

7/10

Mischa Pearlman







07/12/10--02:39: The Boy Who Trapped The Sun - Fireplace (chan 1151928)



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The boy, twenty-five-year-old Colin MacLeod, eloquently brings you into his dreamlike world, mostly set in the Isle of Lewis in Northern Scotland. The glorious title track refers to the four days MacLeod was trapped in his Lewis home as a raging thunderstorm battled the island (“We have windows, a roof, and a bottle of brew”). What sets it aside from being merely a quirky folk album is MacLeod’s angelic voice, poetic lyrics, and some blazing piano playing. You can almost forgive the cheesy love letter ‘Thorn In Your Side’. Almost, but not quite.

6/10

Stephen Maughan







07/12/10--02:42: School Of Seven Bells - Disconnect From Desire (chan 1151928)



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‘Disconnect From Desire’ wastes no time in setting up School Of Seven Bells’ icy, futuristic soundscapes. From the chilling vocals of opener ‘Windstorm’ and the throbbing robotics of ‘Heart Is Strange’, the band’s second album begins a bracing journey through a dream-like world.

For all its forward thinking, the combination of shoe-gaze and synthy electronica leads the record inevitably back to the 1980s, mirroring the haunting sound that M83 have perfected so well. Though the luscious wall of sound becomes a bit predictable by the record’s second half, it’s still an interesting step forward.

6/10

Steve Harris







07/14/10--06:29: Mount Kimbie - Crooks and Lovers (chan 1151928)



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Mount Kimbie are a double hype band, being one of the most exciting proponents of the in-vogue dubstep genre. Their debut album splinters dubstep into a more percussive, more introspective and ambient experimental form, to strange and interesting effect; melancholic opener ‘Tunnel Vision’ sounds like a scout troupe playing camp fire songs in purgatory, with strange chanting and backwards guitar chords.

8/10

Words by Steven Garrard







07/14/10--06:39: Tokyo Police Club - Champ (chan 1151928)



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Canada’s Tokyo Police Club are the posterboys of heartfelt hard-and-fast indie pop. ‘Champ’ follows the release of the excellent ‘Elephant Shell’, and like its predecessor drips with North American boyhood and cajole. Openers ‘Favourite Food’ and ‘Favourite Colour’ are the first signs of songwriting maturity, but TPC keep their trademark sound snug against their chests - the sound that is at once warm, tight and breathtakingly exhilarating - following right through to ‘End Of A Spark’ and the bittersweet ‘Frankenstein’. Again, like their previous work, ‘Champ’ is a short and sweet affair - but not one to miss or forget.

8/10

Words by Teri Williams







07/14/10--06:49: Department of Eagles - Archives 2003 - 2006 (chan 1151928)



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That his ‘main’ band Grizzly Bear is currently white-hot ensures Daniel Rossen’s Department Of Eagles project gains elevated significance. Largely taken from (in their words) a “failed” January 2006 session, this dredge through their formative recordings is an unfettered joy; charting Rossen and sidekick Fred Nicolaus’ transformation from green-gilled college mates, to masters in the creation of dark, expansive Americana. A series of five ‘Practice Room Sketches’ outline a burgeoning sense of the grandiose, while the surging skiffle and soaring chorus of ‘Brightest Minds’ is positively euphoric. A magical insight into the development of Rossen’s creative genius.

8/10

Words by John Freeman







07/14/10--06:58: Oriol - Night And Day (chan 1151928)



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Oriol Singhji buffs up a tonic of ever-breezing synth funk and twittering broken beats to make you squint and hallucinate enough to divide reality from the weaving of chrome-plated tapestries. The danger of Oriol repeating himself, as he rides synthesizers like a futuristic waterslide, means it’s best to take ‘Night And Day’ as one idyllic tropic. Permanently wearing sunglasses, ‘The Process’ and ‘Kam’ ground slip ‘n’ slide beats amongst a plethora of dream sequences, fluffy clouds and schmoozing in liquid funk paradise. Just steer clear if optimism passes you by or you’re prone to dozing off easily.

7/10

Words by Matt Oliver







07/14/10--07:08: Donna Regina - The Decline Of Female Happiness (chan 1151928)



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It’s no great surprise to learn that Donna Regina, a duo of some twenty years vintage, are popular in Japan, sounding as they do like delicate quirk-pop masters Pizzicato Five on Ritalin. A sweetly melancholic, analogue warmth pervades this record with Nico-like hushed vocals atop floating acoustic guitar and laconic beats. “So many kinds of loneliness / I’m learning about them all on a lost and lonely Sunday” sings Regina Janssen on one of the album’s standout tracks, ‘Lost Sunday’, and yet the lightness of touch ensures that in these hands even sadness doesn’t sound that sad.

7/10

Words by Gareth James







07/14/10--07:17: Max Richter - Infra (chan 1151928)



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Instrumental pieces are often good, rarely great. The abstract musical vocabulary, conveying feelings without lyrical assistance, requires a delicate touch and ambitious execution. Max Richter does not make background music. All four of his previous albums command your attention and ‘Infra’, expanded from the soundtrack to a 2008 ballet of the same name, is no different. At times agitated and claustrophobic, at others mournful and emotive, this album needs time to breathe. While the pace hardly fluctuates wildly, the constant twists and turns create an emotional collage that’s stunning: expect to be left contemplative and euphoric in equal measure.

8/10

Words by Gareth James







07/14/10--07:32: I Am Arrows - Sun Comes Up Again (chan 1151928)



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Three words scream ‘NO!’ in relation to this solo project: Former. Razorlight. Drummer. But bugger me if ‘Green Grass’ isn’t a refreshing summery surprise from multi-instrumentalist Andy Burrows (who plays everything on the album). With producer Eliot James (Noah And The Whale, Bloc Party) successfully creating an upbeat West Coast mid-’70s infused vibe, we have the enthusiastic percussionist in honest voice and exuberant form. Sharing the pop soul sensibilities of Squeeze with just a dash of Brendan Benson, there’s even a soupçon of harpsichord in there. What’s not to like about these small songs with a big heart?

6/10

Words by Anna Wilson

Dig? Dig deeper: Wings, Elliot Smith, Graham Coxon







07/14/10--07:54: Jamie Lidell New Single Release Date July 19th (chan 1151928)



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Jamie Lidell is set to release single 'I Wanna Be Your Telephone' on limited 12'' vinyl and digital. The single comes from critically acclaimed album Compass, and features stand out track 'I Wanna Be Your Telephone' as well as two remixes. The first remix is Compass track 'You Are Waking' in which Jamie collaborates with Berlin – based sonic artist Bill Youngman, and the second is a remix of the single by Montreal club master Tiga, re – working the track from its original funk – love jam into a dance, club banger! The video for the new single is available to view now, Jamie says: “Well here it is! It's a dance routine, a mini picture, an ascot, a home made biscuit, a velvet drape, a hat, a pipe and a satin slip of a video. Relax in the knowledge that naughty is still real nice.”

Jamie Lidell and his band are on the line up to perform at the sold out Latitude festival this Sunday, and will release a special edition of his album Compass on Monday - including a second disc of dub versions, bonustracks and the short film of the making of the album, featuring Beck, Feist and Chris Taylor from Grizzly Bear.

Jamie has also announced a string of world wide tour dates, as follows:

July 17 – Grafenhainichen, DE (Melt Festival)
July 16 – Sesimbra, Portugal (Super Bock Super Rock)
July 18 – Southwold, UK (Latitude Festival *SOLD OUT*)
July 31 – Montreal, QC (Osheaga Festival)
Aug 05 – Salt Lake City, UT (Pioneer Park)
Aug 06 – Chicago, IL (Lollapalooza)
Sept 04 - Seattle, WA (Bumbershoot)
Sept 07 – Denver, CO (Bluebird Theater)
Sept 08 – Lincoln, NE (Bourbon Theatre)
Sept 09 – St. Louis, MO (Old Rock House)
Sept 10 – Cleveland, OH (Grog Shop)
Sept 11 – Boston, MA (Royale)
Sept 20 – Washington, DC (9:30 Club)
Sept 21 – Asheville, NC (Orange Peel)
Sept 22 – Atlanta, GA (The Earl)
Sept 24 – Austin, TX (Antone’s)
Sept 25 – Dallas, TX (Granada Theater)
Sept 27 – Phoenix, AZ (Rhythm Room)
Sept 28 – Solana Beach, CA (Belly Up Tavern)
Oct 02 – Petaluma, CA (Mystic Theater)
Oct 05 – Calgary, AB (Republik)
Oct 07 – Winnipeg, MB (Pyramid Cabaret)







07/14/10--08:36: Biffy Clyro To Release New Single (chan 1151928)



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August 23rd sees the release of Biffy Clyro's new single 'God & Satan'. Deemed as “A huge polished brute of a record...”(The Guardian) and “A supremely confident, passionate and gritty work...” (The Sun), Biffy Clyro's release of 'God & Satan' is eagerly awaited to say the least. Whilst the current album 'Only Revolutions' has seen the Scottish trio climb to rock's premier league with 300,000 sales, the new single is surely set to be a scorcher.

The single, which will be released on 7'', CD and digital format sees the band lyrically dealing with thoughts of the afterlife, its release coinciding with the band's appearance at Reading (27th August) and Leeds (29th August), following their July 11th appearance at T in the Park and their headline performance at the iTunes Festival on July 31st.

Astoundingly the once cult band follow their festival dates with a UK arena tour this winter, the dates as follows:

November
25th – Aberdeen, AECC
26th – Glasgow, SECC
27th - Glasgow, SECC (added show)
29th – Hull, Arena
30th – Nottingham, Arena
December
1st – Plymouth, Pavilions
3rd – Manchester, Central
4th – London, Wembley Arena







07/14/10--08:40: David Bowie Tribute Album To Eventually Be Released (chan 1151928)



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'We Were So Turned On': A Tribute To David Bowie, is a project which began in early 2008 is now set to see the light of day. The album which will be a benefit for charity War Child- one that Bowie himself supports, will be a homage to Bowie by an eclectic array of artists, a musical reinvention of the man who invented the art of reinvention itself.

The record sees contributions from Devendra Banhart (Megapuss), Vivian Girls, Carla Bruni, A Place To Bury Strangers, Duran Duran, ex-Slits Viv Albertine and legendary avant-garde bassist/musician Mick Karn. With Warpaint, Chairlift and Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros coming on board later on. The track listing (as follows) is every bit as chameleon-like as Bowie himself, making sure there will be something on the album for every Bowie fan.

Disc One:
Exitmusic "Space Oddity"
Duran Duran "Boys Keep Swinging"
Megapuss "Sound + Vision"
Warpaint "Ashes To Ashes"
Corridor "Be My Wife"
Chairlift "Always Crashing In The Same Car"
Vivian Girls "John, I'm Only Dancing"
All Leather "Fame"
We Are The World "Afraid Of Americans"
A Place To Bury Strangers "Suffragette City"
Tearist "Repetition"
Halloween Swim Team "Look Back In Anger"
Afghan Raiders "Fashion"
Polyamorous Affair "Theme From Cat People"
Swahili Blonde "Red Money"
Jessica 6 "I'm Deranged"
Aska & Bobby Evans (Feat. Moon & Moon) "African Night Flight"
Xu Xu Fang "China Girl"

Disc Two:
VoicesVoices "Heroes"
Carla Bruni "Absolute Beginners"
Papercranes "Blue Jean"
Keren Ann "Life On Mars?"
Lewis & Clarke "Changes"
Zaza "It Aint Easy"
Genuflex "Soul Love"
Sister Crayon "Bewlay Brothers"
Marco Benevento "Art Decade"
Mick Karn "Ashes To Ashes"
Lights (NYC) "World Falls Down"
Aquaserge "The Supermen"
Caroline Weeks "Starman"
Rainbow Arabia "Quicksand"
Mechanical Bride "Sound + Vision"
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros "Memory Of A Free Festival"







07/15/10--01:13: Daedelus Ninja Tune XX Download (chan 1151928)



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Renowned electronica producer Daedelus is this week's free download as part of Ninja Tune's 20th birthday celebrations.

Head over to the NinjaTuneXX website to get two snippets of new material from the Los Angeles native, one a song written for the Ninja Tune XX album, the other an exclusive remix of label mate Emika.

Daedelus has also been playing host to Clash Magazine, offering up his guide to his L.A. hometown. Read the guide on ClashMusic.com HERE.







07/16/10--03:37: City Island (chan 1151928)



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New York has been captured on film so many times, it feels like we know every block of it, but City Island manages to show us a new side of it.

Set on the eponymous City Island - an idyllic fishing community at the tip of the Bronx - the film offers an amusing, warm-hearted portrait of a blue collar family that keeps rather too many secrets from each other.

Andy Garcia is Vincent Rizzo, a prison guard who dreams of becoming an actor and secretly goes to drama classes. He is so afraid of admitting this to his wife (Julianna Margulies on fiery form) that he pretends that he’s going to play poker - arousing her suspicion that he’s having an affair.

He’s not the only one with something to hide, though, and when he makes the ill-fated decision to bring home his estranged, ex-con son, the family’s secrets are revealed with colourful consequences.

In the end, the film resolves things rather too neatly, and for all its air of dysfunctionality, you feel that there was never any real danger of the family breaking up. Despite this, the warmth of the characters means that you don’t begrudge them for their eventual reconciliation.

5/10

Words by Ben Stevens







07/16/10--03:45: Splice (chan 1151928)



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Clive (Adrien Brody) and Elsa (Sarah Polley) are scientists at the forefront of genetic engineering and their experimental breakthrough results in Dren; a biologically unclassified creature whose evolution quickly morphs from plucked chicken to almost human via Benjamin Button. Dren symbolically fills the couple’s childless existence but their conflicted emotions become ever more complex as Dren gains a threatening sense of independence.

Splice isn’t afraid to provoke the moral implications of our possible scientific future, even if the biowaffle masks what is essentially a contemporary updating of Bride of Frankenstein. The couple’s relationship is tested by some fascinating dilemmas born from the dangers of genetic manipulation, while the photography peaks with an evocative, if underutilised, sense of nausea.

Unfortunately, after such a promising launch, Splice goes spectacularly astray. The concept is pushed to its furthest extreme, resulting in scenes theoretically intriguing but, in practice, hilariously misjudged. Bewilderment then yields to regimented genre clichés. The patronage of Guillermo del Toro delivers originality as ever and Splice is certainly enchanting - that enchantment, however, is strictly of the WTF?! variety. Splice’s own DNA is 30% intelligent ethics, 10% ludicrous brilliance and 60% crazy bullshit.

4/10

Words by Ben Hopkins







07/30/10--06:07: Undertow (chan 1151928)



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The “I see dead people” concept has been done to death, but this winner of the Sundance World Cinema Audience Award lifts the idea out of purgatory with a blast of originality.

Set in a small fishing village in which traditional values are the law, Miguel balances life with his pregnant wife with a secret relationship with ostracized artist Santiago (Manolo Cardona of Beverly Hills Chihuahua “fame”). When Santiago dies at sea, his spirit, unable to rest without a burial ritual, returns to Miguel. Miguel, however, is more than happy to embrace his newly unseen relationship with his lover. But can he risk everything by laying Santiago to rest?

The blend of fantasy and realism doesn’t gel quite as smoothly as could be hoped - especially with Santiago’s arrival in the netherworld - but Undertow poses plenty of intriguing questions about religion, masculinity, homosexuality and honour in its two contrasting scenarios. Playing out over a beautifully captured coastal backdrop, the strongly conventional performances ensure that this is an examination of humanity’s moral challenges rather than a mythical supernatural tale.

As it builds towards a truly moving conclusion, it becomes apparent that Undertow is an unlikely but undeniably charming oddity.

7/10

Words by Ben Hopkins