Deerhunter – Rainwater Cassette Exchange EP

Deerhunter - Rainwater Cassette Exchange

Modern musicians tend to get a bit of a bad rap for not being as prolific as their counterparts of years gone by. Bradford Cox and his mates in Deerhunter, however, give massive lie to this reputation. By my reckoning, since the start of 2008, they have released four albums between them (two under the Deerhunter guise, one as Atlas Sound and one as Lotus Plaza). As well as this, dozens of songs, virtual singles and EPs have been given away for free download on Bradford’s blog.

In spite of the accusations of a lack of quality control which have been slung at the band, their prolific outlook is welcome, as is their relaxed attitude to giving their music away. It’s exciting to be able to chart an artist’s progression so readily. And, as anyone’s mother would tell you, it’s a bit churlish to turn your nose up at something that’s being handed to you for nothing

The latest ‘proper’ Deerhunter release is the Rainwater Cassette Exchange EP. It opens with the title track which is an immediate example of the impact of Bradford’s recent Animal Collective fixation. The band take the underwater production feel of some recent Animal Collective songs and enhance it with a bassline which creates a real groove, making the song both woozy and stirring at the same time.

There’s something a bit child-like and heart-warming about the way Bradford’s influences seep into his band’s music. He’s clearly as much a fan as he is an artist. Where the genius of Deerhunter lies though is in their ability to create something completely original, in spite of wearing their influences firmly on their sleeves. … Continue Reading

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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Our Brother The Native – Sacred Psalms

Our Brother The Native

Materialism? Secularism? Western consumerist culture? So overrated.

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One EskimO, London ICA

One EskimO

May 14th 2009

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St Vincent – Actor

St Vincent - Actor

Not that I want to make any broad, sweeping generalisations or anything, but the British music scene is currently dominated by female singers, song writers and musicians who all seem to be doing much the same thing. Little Boots, Florence and the Machine, Ladyhawke, La Roux and the rest are all nestling somewhere on the sound/look radar between ‘the 1980s’ and ‘twee’ and it’s boring. There have been numerous articles in the British press where writers have applauded the industry/themselves for managing to move on from backward-looking blokey bands to backward-looking, pretty women. La Roux’s hair may be a work of art, but that’s about it.

Those seeking some kind of relief from the kind of music that we in the UK are currently being told to like could do a lot worse than picking up the new album by St Vincent. Actor is a huge step forward from her still impressive 2007 debut, Marry Me, finding her coasting along delicately on gorgeous, string-laden backdrops one minute, before wielding a guitar in the middle of all that prettiness the next. There is real experimentation here, while the lyrics swing between dry humour and pathos; both reveal themselves with each listen. Oh, and her hair’s pretty good too.

St Vincent, real name Annie Clark, has constructed a wonderfully intricate album, both musically and lyrically. More often than not, the songs are built around her string arrangements, which are deliberately Disney-esque; however, she builds up these fairytale worlds in order to knock them down. Her guitar playing is extraordinary; she’ll tear into these distorted riffs suddenly, almost splitting her songs in two. These moments of energy sound like real pockets of release; they are the catharsis that Clark avoids in her mannered, controlled vocal delivery.

Like artists such as Kate Bush or PJ Harvey before her, Clark adopts characters for her lyrics. On Actor, she concerns herself with women trapped by relationships, suburbia or normality, and the strings-guitar bi-polar music perfectly suits her words. Lead single ‘The Strangers’ is a case in point; wedding day fights and Playboys under mattresses are repressed until the song erupts half way through.

‘Save Me From What I Want’ is jerky mix of percussion and processed guitars with Clark declaring ‘I’m a wife in watercolours, I can wash away/What seventeen cold showers couldn’t wash away’; it sounds like some kind of despair experienced through a Prozac-clouded mind. The tension breaks a little on ‘The Neighbours’, where the watchful gaze of nuns, parents and neighbours provoke a rare crack in Clark’s delicate voice. It works brilliantly. … Continue Reading

Patrick Wolf – The Bachelor

Patrick Wolf - The Bachelor

Did anyone else widen their eyes in glee when Patrick Wolf said he’d been miserable after the experience of touring The Magic Position (2006)? Yes, he’s got his pain back… so much so that he’s virtually re-made Wind in the Wires (2004) track for track.

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Alec Empire – Shivers

Alec Empire

Atari Teenage Riot founding member, and pioneer of digital hardcore, Alec Empire was nice enough to let us listen to a few preview songs from his forthcoming seven-track mini album, Shivers. Shivers is to serve as an aperitif before his next album, which is due out later this year.

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Hanne Hukkelberg – Blood From A Stone

Hanne Hukkelberg - Blood From A Stone

The soft, delicate voice of Hanne Hukkelberg lures the listener into a false sense of security, as you drift into a land of snow capped hillsides and winter sun.

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Swan Lake ‐ Enemy Mine

Swan Lake

Swan Lake is the coming together of three distinct song-writing talents from the other side of the Atlantic. There’s the ultra-prolific Spencer Krug, who is also a member of Wolf Parade and Sunset Rubdown (he released an album with the former last year, and there’s a new Sunset Rubdown record to come in a few months, so take that procrastinators everywhere), Dan Bejar, of The New Pornographers and Destroyer, and Carey Mercer, who is content with just the one other band ‐ Frog Eyes. Apart, they are all unique talents with idiosyncratic approaches to making music; together, they are no less unpredictable and odd, which makes for moments of brilliance that sit alongside others that don’t quite work.

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The Paper Chase – What Should We Do With Your Body (The Lightning)

The Paper Chase

Ah, the curse of indie band name dissonance strikes again.

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