Cryptacize, London Union Chapel

Cryptacize's Nedelle Torrisi

May 28, 2009

Preceding a sublime Final Fantasy set is Asthmatic Kitty’s Cryptacize, all the way from lovely Oakland. Featuring ex-Deerhoof guitarist Chris Cohen and the wistful, rueful vocals of Nedelle Torrisi, their songs somehow strike an awkward balance between too much and not enough.

The extremely comprehensive set evokes Camera Obscura circa Underacheivers Please Try Harder (particularly ‘New Spell’ – grammer-lover’s- dream), Beirut’s Balkan folk through soft focus and the rhythms of American vaudeville. So to go back to that earlier point, it’s strange that it should feel any part of ‘not enough’ – to expand on the point a little further, the problem lies with the way every component is conveyed with such a sense of sparseness, making it ever-difficult to engage with the variety.

Song structures veer between comfortable and predictable even though the rhythms and misnomer of an upbeat are far from easy; the performance just feels a tad tentative. Yet while maintaining this sense of perhaps deliberate restraint, parts also feel indulgent.

Cohen’s detuned guitar is mythical, almost, and Torrisi’s electronic interludes are disorientating, but the ordering of the set needs context or to be sped up.  ‘Blue Tears’ is opened with a wonderful syncopated collaborative effort, which then eases off into something too consciously psychedelic; ‘Mythomania’ is delightful but feels like a half-baked effort at showcasing Torrisi’s vocals; ‘One Block Wonders’ is strikingly stark but lacks the drive to fully carry it off. And the staticness of the bassist and drummer simply adds to this confusing dichotomy. … Continue Reading

Final Fantasy, London Union Chapel

Final Fantasy, a.k.a. Owen Pallett

May 28, 2009

Architecturally and acoustically stunning, and with the kind of reverent atmosphere that can only come from sitting in church with a host of other believers, the Union Chapel could hardly be more fitting a setting for tonight’s performance. Over the course of the evening the light flooding through the ceiling and windows gradually fades to twilight, leaving the ornate stained glass aglow behind the stage as Owen Pallett reaches for his violin and eases into ‘The Sea’.

As a live artist Pallett’s reputation precedes him; a hugely talented composer and string arranger, he is also a violinist of considerable dexterity and a dab hand (or foot) with a loop pedal. On record his classically influenced pop songs are complex, layered and repeatedly overdubbed. As a solo performer his means of recreating that density on stage is through looping individual parts to reproduce the whole – as visually as it is musically arresting. Alongside him, a friend produces charmingly ramshackle visuals with an overhead projector and scraps of paper and plastic, which dart and flit from their screen over the walls and ceiling. … Continue Reading

Maxïmo Park, London Brixton Academy

Maxïmo Park's Paul Smith

April 27, 2009

If you’re expecting a review in the typical sense, take a deep breath and forget about it.

Yesterday I realised that this Brixton Academy show makes for the 10th time I have seen this clearly dearly beloved Teesside five-piece live. Over a five-year period starting with a Futureheads support slot, I have less-than-gradually succumbed to a point where I hoard a collection of B-sides, demos, covers… look, I’m obsessed with Pavement and other such but this is different. It’s now.

From the umlaut to the stage quirks, Maxïmo Park are the sort of band it’s natural to fall in love with. And gone now is the book prop of the early days; it’s been replaced with something far more big-scale, namely professionalism. I can recall figureheads for every single one of the nine shows: Brixton Academy in 2007, A Certain Trigger is played in order, Paul Smith almost (I think ‘almost’) cries after playing ‘Acrobat’ for one of the first times; a cover of The Go-Betweens‘ ‘I Haven’t Seen Her In Ages’ at The Forum last year, in the encore; ‘Once, A Glimpse’ at the Vinyl Factory in London with different lyrics read from a book (nameless, I think).  Let’s not even get into the scissor-kick/falling-less-than-gracefully-into-a-heap-on-the-floor incident at Camden Barfly in January 2005. … Continue Reading

The Lions Constellation – Flashing Light

The Lions Constellation

Spanish JAMC/Pixies enthusiasts The Lions Constellation could just have become my favourite sub-genre of the Summer with the arrival of this album. The Barcelona quartet, who feature RJ Sinclair of Tokyo Sex Destruction, sing in flawless English and here release eleven great tunes in the same sonic vein as their obvious influences.

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Royksopp – The Girl And The Robot

Royksopp

For a short while there, it was looking as though Röyksopp may fall into that “band from that car/phone advert” category.

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Hockey – Learn to Lose

Hockey

You know when hip new bands get used in the soundtrack of US teen televisual waffle; you might for instance have seen Death Cab for Cutie make a fleeting appearance on The OC, or heard Paramore spring up for a few seconds on The Hills when Heidi dumps Spencer for the twentieth time? Well now it appears that a whole genre of generic indie is coming through to fill those ten to twenty seconds where a dash of music is needed to add to the ‘drama’.

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Banjo Or Freakout – Upside Down EP

Banjo Or Freakout

According to his MySpace, Banjo Or Freakout allows himself to record all his songs only once and then carries out post-production with cheap Mac software. It shows, in that all his songs have a certain ramshackle charm buried under the layers of ghostly fuzz and noise.

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Classic album: Mr Hudson & The Library – A Tale Of Two Cities

A Tale Of Two Cities

Ahead of the forthcoming hype that there will be regarding Mr Ben Hudson’s second album, Straight No Chaser, executively produced by a certain Kanye West, I thought that I would take some time to recall the first Mr Hudson album.

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Au Revoir Simone – Still Night, Still Light

Au Revoir Simone

Having loved the initial single (’Shadows’) from this, Annie, Erika & Heather’s follow-up to 2007’s The Bird Of Music I was eager to see what else was on offer. I’ve not been disappointed either as this is as beguiling a collection of sweetly sung odes as you’re likely to hear anywhere this year.

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Our Brother The Native – Sacred Psalms

Our Brother The Native

Materialism? Secularism? Western consumerist culture? So overrated.

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