Albums
March 2013
FOUND IN THE STREETS OF LISBON
JACQUES A ROBIN "STATUETTES" (HORTUS MEDIA)
RELEASED? 6th May .
SOUNDS LIKE? Genuine. This interests me. ''Statuettes''
is largely a thing of innocently desired, but worm eaten
beauty. It swoons and swoops from the melancholy to the
deliriously bored, it's affectations loom more immensely
than the arse of King Kong and much effort goes into
creating the effect, the effects. ''Statuettes'' is, in short,
unlikely to flourish in our brutal age of instant access
entertainment. This is a shame, because ''Statuettes'' is a
work of weight, a work of art and something that has been
as much wrought as it has been written and recorded. The
language is plain, but plainly elegant, ''Her Belly Scar''
being a case in point. The music is more of an aid to mood
and message, but it drifts and coils immaculately through
various flavours of euro-swoon, possibly the sort of noises
that might come from a time travel enabled collusion between Mark Ronson and Steve Harley and the more playful of the Cage/Drake axis, you have ''The Witch's Son'' for that.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Yes. Jacques A Robin has crafted something solid, but fragile from nothing but the turmoil in his head, hear what he means by clicking the link.
WHERE IS IT? http://www.jacquesarobin.com/
JACQUES A ROBIN "STATUETTES" (HORTUS MEDIA)
RELEASED? 6th May .
SOUNDS LIKE? Genuine. This interests me. ''Statuettes''
is largely a thing of innocently desired, but worm eaten
beauty. It swoons and swoops from the melancholy to the
deliriously bored, it's affectations loom more immensely
than the arse of King Kong and much effort goes into
creating the effect, the effects. ''Statuettes'' is, in short,
unlikely to flourish in our brutal age of instant access
entertainment. This is a shame, because ''Statuettes'' is a
work of weight, a work of art and something that has been
as much wrought as it has been written and recorded. The
language is plain, but plainly elegant, ''Her Belly Scar''
being a case in point. The music is more of an aid to mood
and message, but it drifts and coils immaculately through
various flavours of euro-swoon, possibly the sort of noises
that might come from a time travel enabled collusion between Mark Ronson and Steve Harley and the more playful of the Cage/Drake axis, you have ''The Witch's Son'' for that.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Yes. Jacques A Robin has crafted something solid, but fragile from nothing but the turmoil in his head, hear what he means by clicking the link.
WHERE IS IT? http://www.jacquesarobin.com/
ALWAYS AIMING FOR THE MAIMING
THE SCARAMANGA SIX "PHANTOM HEAD" (WRATH RECORDS)
RELEASED? 1st April.
SOUNDS LIKE? You'll laugh, but The Scaramanga Six have been around long enough, released
enough albums and matured sufficiently to sound like The Scaramanga Six and on this outing they do, with Steve Albini producing, sound like a sharper, leaner and encouragingly nastier version of their younger selves. So, 'Phantom Head' is stripped back and then re-laid, they used to call it overdubbing, but the effect is one that makes manages to achieve kick arse rock n roll, tubbed raw, immediacy in a multi layered pop production that Bacharach would recognize and envy. Now you know where to go for some real power pop and if we really have to play sound-a-likey... ''The Bristol Butcher'' is pure Who, ''The Stepford Bands'' tears a new arse for the Chemical Romance / Kaiser Chiefs axis and ''Blunt Force Trauma'' is doing clever things to Alice Cooper. All of which means that ''Phantom Head'' is a top notch, modern rock record. Believe me, you've gone apeshit for bands who couldn't live with this lot.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Very good, The Scaramanga Six have been through all sorts of rock n roll fun n games, line up changes, all that, but I've never had a bad record from them.
WHERE IS IT? http://www.thescaramangasix.co.uk/new/
THE SCARAMANGA SIX "PHANTOM HEAD" (WRATH RECORDS)
RELEASED? 1st April.
SOUNDS LIKE? You'll laugh, but The Scaramanga Six have been around long enough, released
enough albums and matured sufficiently to sound like The Scaramanga Six and on this outing they do, with Steve Albini producing, sound like a sharper, leaner and encouragingly nastier version of their younger selves. So, 'Phantom Head' is stripped back and then re-laid, they used to call it overdubbing, but the effect is one that makes manages to achieve kick arse rock n roll, tubbed raw, immediacy in a multi layered pop production that Bacharach would recognize and envy. Now you know where to go for some real power pop and if we really have to play sound-a-likey... ''The Bristol Butcher'' is pure Who, ''The Stepford Bands'' tears a new arse for the Chemical Romance / Kaiser Chiefs axis and ''Blunt Force Trauma'' is doing clever things to Alice Cooper. All of which means that ''Phantom Head'' is a top notch, modern rock record. Believe me, you've gone apeshit for bands who couldn't live with this lot.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Very good, The Scaramanga Six have been through all sorts of rock n roll fun n games, line up changes, all that, but I've never had a bad record from them.
WHERE IS IT? http://www.thescaramangasix.co.uk/new/
WITHOUT A TRAIL OF BREADCRUMBS
OLD MAN LUEDECKE "TENDER IS THE NIGHT" (TRUE NORTH RECORDS)
RELEASED? 15th April.
SOUNDS LIKE? Paul Simon with a banjo, next please. Just kidding. Mind you, Old Man Luedecke, or OML as we shall call him for convenience and modernity, has that apparently effortless way with a lyric and a way of vocal phrasing that sounds more than a little like Paul Simon.
Yes, the album is country and bluegrass, or white folks folk music and there are some genuinely lovely things here, notably the subtle and sublime fiddling on ''Little Stream Of Whiskey'', the whole damn thing that is the sweet cover of Charlie Monroe's ''Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms'' and ''I'm Fine'' is 'the absolute shit kicking, poptastic and country fried rebutal of the miserable REM's ''Night Swimming''. It's impossible to do anything except instantly fall in love with ''Tender Is The Night'', but trust me, you'll grow to love it more.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Yeah, sweeter than Olivia Newton John's country stuff and grittier than fall in a pub car park.
WHERE IS IT? http://oldmanluedecke.ca/
OLD MAN LUEDECKE "TENDER IS THE NIGHT" (TRUE NORTH RECORDS)
RELEASED? 15th April.
SOUNDS LIKE? Paul Simon with a banjo, next please. Just kidding. Mind you, Old Man Luedecke, or OML as we shall call him for convenience and modernity, has that apparently effortless way with a lyric and a way of vocal phrasing that sounds more than a little like Paul Simon.
Yes, the album is country and bluegrass, or white folks folk music and there are some genuinely lovely things here, notably the subtle and sublime fiddling on ''Little Stream Of Whiskey'', the whole damn thing that is the sweet cover of Charlie Monroe's ''Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms'' and ''I'm Fine'' is 'the absolute shit kicking, poptastic and country fried rebutal of the miserable REM's ''Night Swimming''. It's impossible to do anything except instantly fall in love with ''Tender Is The Night'', but trust me, you'll grow to love it more.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Yeah, sweeter than Olivia Newton John's country stuff and grittier than fall in a pub car park.
WHERE IS IT? http://oldmanluedecke.ca/
WHEN THE WORLD SURRENDERS
WHERE THE SKELETONS PLAY "SEROTONIN
BLUEPRINT" (i-TUNES etc)
RELEASED? 27th May.
SOUNDS LIKE? Well, it comes labelled as 'ambient hard
rock', but I prefer to think of it as prog-noir. Of course, I
have no idea what prog-noir means, but neither have you
and Where The Skeletons Play have that kind of darkness
and everything is structured on the monumental scale and
they've fucked everything over with boiling synths, bass
lines like muscle bound pythons and a range of effects
that make Mark Ronson seem like Mr Unplugged. We're
thinking ''Brain Salad Surgery'', but hearing perverted
technology rammed through amplifiers, something like
Rico and his ''Violent Silences'' slithers to mind. Where
The Skeletons Play have a pervasive, measured and
invasive way with the crisply fuzzed rock brutal that makes
them an essential part of any ear candy collection.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Technically excellent with a high end
production that's a skin tight fit for the innovative material and all of that would mean less than nothing if Where The Skeletons Play weren't proper rockers. Listen to this, love this, go see their shows, all of that, you know.
WHERE IS IT? www.facebook.com/WhereTheSkeletonsPlay
WHERE THE SKELETONS PLAY "SEROTONIN
BLUEPRINT" (i-TUNES etc)
RELEASED? 27th May.
SOUNDS LIKE? Well, it comes labelled as 'ambient hard
rock', but I prefer to think of it as prog-noir. Of course, I
have no idea what prog-noir means, but neither have you
and Where The Skeletons Play have that kind of darkness
and everything is structured on the monumental scale and
they've fucked everything over with boiling synths, bass
lines like muscle bound pythons and a range of effects
that make Mark Ronson seem like Mr Unplugged. We're
thinking ''Brain Salad Surgery'', but hearing perverted
technology rammed through amplifiers, something like
Rico and his ''Violent Silences'' slithers to mind. Where
The Skeletons Play have a pervasive, measured and
invasive way with the crisply fuzzed rock brutal that makes
them an essential part of any ear candy collection.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Technically excellent with a high end
production that's a skin tight fit for the innovative material and all of that would mean less than nothing if Where The Skeletons Play weren't proper rockers. Listen to this, love this, go see their shows, all of that, you know.
WHERE IS IT? www.facebook.com/WhereTheSkeletonsPlay
STOP PRESS: ICE MELTS TO WATER
WINTER VILLAINS "FEBRUARY" (BARELY
REGAL)
RELEASED? 22nd April.
SOUNDS LIKE? Strangely warm for an
album that seems to be concerned with one
of the bleaker winter months. Even odder,
much of ''February'' sounds like some monks
transplanted to 1967 California to record
under the direction of the Mamas & Papas.
Yes, we are talking sweetly layered vocals
on upbeat pop beats, and never mind the
beat breaking trickery of stuff like ''House Of
Knives''. It's all clever and it's all correct, but
Californian pop techniques aside, ''February'' is cold and leaves me cold. It's unchanging tone dulls the ear and after the nth breathy intro you too will be thinking about nipping round to Winter Villains HQ with a chainsaw.
IS IT ANY GOOD? You'd be more excited, but less annoyed listening to a party political broadcast.
WHERE IS IT? http://wintervillains.tumblr.com/
WINTER VILLAINS "FEBRUARY" (BARELY
REGAL)
RELEASED? 22nd April.
SOUNDS LIKE? Strangely warm for an
album that seems to be concerned with one
of the bleaker winter months. Even odder,
much of ''February'' sounds like some monks
transplanted to 1967 California to record
under the direction of the Mamas & Papas.
Yes, we are talking sweetly layered vocals
on upbeat pop beats, and never mind the
beat breaking trickery of stuff like ''House Of
Knives''. It's all clever and it's all correct, but
Californian pop techniques aside, ''February'' is cold and leaves me cold. It's unchanging tone dulls the ear and after the nth breathy intro you too will be thinking about nipping round to Winter Villains HQ with a chainsaw.
IS IT ANY GOOD? You'd be more excited, but less annoyed listening to a party political broadcast.
WHERE IS IT? http://wintervillains.tumblr.com/
WHEN IT COMES APART
HUG "CLAY" (REVENGE WESTERN RECORDS)
RELEASED? Out now.
SOUNDS LIKE? Pretty average indie fuzz schwarm from the early nineties. Post punk, mid table fodder for a Steve Lamaq show. Nothing wrong with any of it, ''Kingdom Come'' being a fine bit of 'This Is The Nineties Volume II'', but the time has passed, the bus has gone and Hug pissing a Blondie plan b into a cynical wind isn't going to do anything for them, me, or you.
IS IT ANY GOOD? It was never bad, but it was never going to be up in lights.
WHERE IS IT? www.revengewestern.com/clay.shtml
HUG "CLAY" (REVENGE WESTERN RECORDS)
RELEASED? Out now.
SOUNDS LIKE? Pretty average indie fuzz schwarm from the early nineties. Post punk, mid table fodder for a Steve Lamaq show. Nothing wrong with any of it, ''Kingdom Come'' being a fine bit of 'This Is The Nineties Volume II'', but the time has passed, the bus has gone and Hug pissing a Blondie plan b into a cynical wind isn't going to do anything for them, me, or you.
IS IT ANY GOOD? It was never bad, but it was never going to be up in lights.
WHERE IS IT? www.revengewestern.com/clay.shtml
DOCTOR WILL BE YOU NOW
PIGBAG "YEAR OF THE PIGBAG" (SUGAR
SHACK RECORDS)
RELEASED? 25th March .
SOUNDS LIKE? Usually a group of words that
read ''funk afro-jazz'' would have me either
nailing the windows shut or slitting my wrists
open, but we are talking about Pigbag of
''Papa's Got A Brand New Pigbag'' fame, so
exhale, pass that fat boy around and listen up;
Pigbag were over thirty years ago, now they're
back and sounding frankly phat and fabulous.
From the masterful brass of the opening
''Cuban Rice'' they're slipping into rubbery,
sweaty grooves that transcend genre or time
zone. The only difficulty that I can hear is that
every track is made from the same three
building blocks, brass, bass and slinkiness,
every track is absolutely ace, but nine lengthy ones in the one go is too much. Play any of these during the course of your party and people will nick this album, play them all back to back and they'll nick off somewhere else.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Like medicine, works well in prescribed doses.
WHERE IS IT? http://sugarshackrecords.bandcamp.com/album/year-of-the-pigbag
PIGBAG "YEAR OF THE PIGBAG" (SUGAR
SHACK RECORDS)
RELEASED? 25th March .
SOUNDS LIKE? Usually a group of words that
read ''funk afro-jazz'' would have me either
nailing the windows shut or slitting my wrists
open, but we are talking about Pigbag of
''Papa's Got A Brand New Pigbag'' fame, so
exhale, pass that fat boy around and listen up;
Pigbag were over thirty years ago, now they're
back and sounding frankly phat and fabulous.
From the masterful brass of the opening
''Cuban Rice'' they're slipping into rubbery,
sweaty grooves that transcend genre or time
zone. The only difficulty that I can hear is that
every track is made from the same three
building blocks, brass, bass and slinkiness,
every track is absolutely ace, but nine lengthy ones in the one go is too much. Play any of these during the course of your party and people will nick this album, play them all back to back and they'll nick off somewhere else.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Like medicine, works well in prescribed doses.
WHERE IS IT? http://sugarshackrecords.bandcamp.com/album/year-of-the-pigbag
HAVING CIGARS IN THE COUNTRY
WHITE SAILS "WHITE SAILS" (RUSKA RECORDS)
RELEASED? Out now.
SOUNDS LIKE? They might be American, there is
talk about them being from 'The Bay Area' on the
press release. Mind you, there is also talk about them
being folk and country influenced and I know that's
guff, because White Sails are a genuine, late sixties
to early seventies rock band. Everything is very full
blown and lush, even the grit and listening to
something like 'Seaside'' makes it hard not to think
about the illegal jam between the survivors of the Pink
Floyd Vs The Great Crusades bar brawl in a mud
swamp studio. You will have guessed, by now, that
White Sails do the rampantly accessible, pop melodic
and they offer dirty, but anthemic balladry on an album
that's artfully produced and skillfully scuffed and I might be an idiot, but they sound real to me.
IS IT ANY GOOD? It's a great album and you might like it as well.
WHERE IS IT? http://ruskaproductions.com/white-sails/
WHITE SAILS "WHITE SAILS" (RUSKA RECORDS)
RELEASED? Out now.
SOUNDS LIKE? They might be American, there is
talk about them being from 'The Bay Area' on the
press release. Mind you, there is also talk about them
being folk and country influenced and I know that's
guff, because White Sails are a genuine, late sixties
to early seventies rock band. Everything is very full
blown and lush, even the grit and listening to
something like 'Seaside'' makes it hard not to think
about the illegal jam between the survivors of the Pink
Floyd Vs The Great Crusades bar brawl in a mud
swamp studio. You will have guessed, by now, that
White Sails do the rampantly accessible, pop melodic
and they offer dirty, but anthemic balladry on an album
that's artfully produced and skillfully scuffed and I might be an idiot, but they sound real to me.
IS IT ANY GOOD? It's a great album and you might like it as well.
WHERE IS IT? http://ruskaproductions.com/white-sails/
You're not Gram Parsons are you?
No
HE'S BEEN WARNED ABOUT IT
SAM PAGE "TAKE IT EASY" (SPOTIFY etc)
RELEASED? Out now.
SOUNDS LIKE? Devo invading the suburbs and he's coming in The Cars, a smile in one hand, a riff in another and healthy dose of self awareness in the other, other hand. This is a man, a boy, an American mix-match who is groping The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band. Sue me,I dare you. Any psychobabble merchant can tell you that Sam Page is vaguely disturbed, but only I can tell you that it doesn't matter.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Yes. We have, at last count, nine trillion cunt-fuck arse-wanks punching retro pop-rock buttons, but Sam Page is one of the dozen who do it with style, humour and honesty, he's good, Sam Page is good.
WHERE IS IT? www.sampage.com
SAM PAGE "TAKE IT EASY" (SPOTIFY etc)
RELEASED? Out now.
SOUNDS LIKE? Devo invading the suburbs and he's coming in The Cars, a smile in one hand, a riff in another and healthy dose of self awareness in the other, other hand. This is a man, a boy, an American mix-match who is groping The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band. Sue me,I dare you. Any psychobabble merchant can tell you that Sam Page is vaguely disturbed, but only I can tell you that it doesn't matter.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Yes. We have, at last count, nine trillion cunt-fuck arse-wanks punching retro pop-rock buttons, but Sam Page is one of the dozen who do it with style, humour and honesty, he's good, Sam Page is good.
WHERE IS IT? www.sampage.com
ADAM ANT AND THE POGUES?
JACOB'S MOUSE "NO FISH
SHOP PARKING" (STURM
UND DRANG RECORDINGS)
RELEASED? Out now.
SOUNDS LIKE? We all loathe
the lazy review that describes a
band as sounding like 'blah
meets blah'', but just this once..
How does a dolly mixed fight
club of punky Pogues, Adam &
The Ants and Steve Hillage grab you? I know, I know, Jacob's Mouse the raging torrent of sound, ankst and yelping that can give any old Nirvana a run for your money, Jacob's Mouse the stripped down, but beefed up, post-post-modern three piece, beloved of John Peel and the flavour of the month for most of 1991, when I play them I can hear the Pogues, any eedjit can hear the influence of Marco Peroni in the guitars and when they go beautifully nutzoid meltdown, which is often, I can hear Steve Hillage doing his 'rape the hippy ears' routine. Jacob's Mouse are, as you will have gathered by now, very, very good. This album was the '91 debut and it's the sharpest, most brutal and snappiest of the three that they released and even at 22 years of age, it makes most of the current 'rock' offerings sound limp and dated.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Fucking brilliant is the one we're going with.
WHERE IS IT? www.facebook.com/jacobsmouse
JACOB'S MOUSE "NO FISH
SHOP PARKING" (STURM
UND DRANG RECORDINGS)
RELEASED? Out now.
SOUNDS LIKE? We all loathe
the lazy review that describes a
band as sounding like 'blah
meets blah'', but just this once..
How does a dolly mixed fight
club of punky Pogues, Adam &
The Ants and Steve Hillage grab you? I know, I know, Jacob's Mouse the raging torrent of sound, ankst and yelping that can give any old Nirvana a run for your money, Jacob's Mouse the stripped down, but beefed up, post-post-modern three piece, beloved of John Peel and the flavour of the month for most of 1991, when I play them I can hear the Pogues, any eedjit can hear the influence of Marco Peroni in the guitars and when they go beautifully nutzoid meltdown, which is often, I can hear Steve Hillage doing his 'rape the hippy ears' routine. Jacob's Mouse are, as you will have gathered by now, very, very good. This album was the '91 debut and it's the sharpest, most brutal and snappiest of the three that they released and even at 22 years of age, it makes most of the current 'rock' offerings sound limp and dated.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Fucking brilliant is the one we're going with.
WHERE IS IT? www.facebook.com/jacobsmouse
We dont want to be in
The Pogues
I do!
I'm with the band
I seem to have mislaid my panto