“Lungs” – Florence & The Machine (Joint Review)

Pop’s got a bad reputation and some may say pop too intelligent and too musical to be called pop, but for me pop is a kind of music that everyone can listen to, whatever genre they’re into. There’s no reason at all why pop can’t be intelligent, it’s just rare for a pop band to go down that path.

I’ve caught on a bit late on Florence & the Machine, they truly are one of the best “pop” bands that have arose in the past decade. The first time I listened to Florence & the Machine’s debut album, ‘Lungs’ I got shivers down my spine. It just hit the spot and it’s grown on me as well, it’s that good of an album.

.

Florence And The Machine - "Lungs"

Florence & the Machine are fronted by the amazingly talented singer Florence Welch, she’s one of the best female vocalists I’ve come across for a long time, but the best thing about her is the fact that she writes breathtaking songs, lyrics and all. Where other bands have failed, I think Florence & the Machine have succeeded, they’ve written songs that will appeal to both mainstream and indie radio, but also have enough talent to really make marks on the live scene as well, which is something a lot of pop bands lack.

There is one song that really stands out and that song is ‘Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)’, it’s just one of those songs that shows the best of a particular artist. In this case, it showcases Florence Welch’s singing as well as the band’s ability to make songs that are simple seem complicated, which is partly due to the production, which is of note.

While a lot of albums have songs that are amazing, rarely these albums have the depth that ‘Lungs’ has. There are some great songs, but the songs that fill the album definitely aren’t fillers and are as good as any others. ‘Hurricane Drunk’ and ‘Howl’ are some of these songs that make the album so consistent and easy to listen to as a whole.

This is an album where you shouldn’t over-think things. It’s catchy, intelligent pop and that’s something that’s really rare at the moment, ‘Lungs’ is one of the best pop albums in a very long time and it’s turning out to be one of my favourite albums this year.

Pop should always sound like this, the singing is honest, but also simple and while other artists at the moment are trying to out do one another with “Idol-esque” singing, Florence & the Machine show that singing is so much more than that.

Seriously, go out and listen to ‘Lungs’, because to be perfectly honest I think this is THE perfect pop album.

Stand-out Songs: Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up), Drumming Song, Hurricane Drunk.

Rating: 9/10

“Ambient One” – ‘The American Dollar’

It seems like such a long time ago, now that I come to think of it, when I first appeared – more like ‘gatecrashed’ uninvited – onto Highly Evolved, and ever since, it’s been a total blast. I’ve received some welcomed comments of praise, so far lucky on any negative-criticism. Every now and then I like to sit back and re-read over my reviews, see how I’ve grown here and there, picked out the fine points from one album, and now, after a couple of months of a play-through, like it all over again.

This week, I thought I might take a gambit – it could pay off, these guys are big on www.last.fm with a whopping 900,000+ hits: ‘The American Dollar’ just about epitomises the decade of ambience, a long-forgotten genre which is easily overlooked due to it’s lack of lyrics, lead, and human-interaction. It commonly associates itself with long-faced teens on the cusp of consciousness, whose eyes are weary from the lack of sleep; those stone-heads, trippin’ on some amazing flight in and out of the atmosphere. Envious much? Not quite – there are ways around those physical drugs, and music like this is one of them:

"Ambient One" - 'The American Dollar'

Where do I begin?

It’s another one of those ponderous questions like: Who are you? It’s not something that we like to read, it’s not something that we like to answer. What are we: are we a sum of individual processes, a highly-developed multi-cellular organism, merely just a collective of microbic-life working together in harmony for the beneficiaries of food, water and the likes. Or are we those sentient memories. Another time perhaps, this music does set the mood for my philosophical attitudes towards things. Ambience is all about evoking emotion musically, and I think some people are inured to this sensory-perception because they target very specific musical things which are lacking in this area. Lyrics are one thing, rhythmic-composition is another – what constitutes ambience?

It lingers in the shadow of minimalism, some might say a very-distant mute-cousin of trip-hop. It has the fundamental layers that make good music, but it’s lacking in good ways, the very elements which would pigeon-hole it into something like rock, or something like experimental. Ambience isn’t one of those flexible genres, I believe: to make good ambient music, you have to limit certain aspects, like lyrics and lead – these become distractions. There are overlays of sound, synthetic or otherwise, that build on one and other, and occasionally, acoustic or otherwise, a sound comes out from beneath to blow your mind. Shoegaze seems to be an acoustic/synth mix, a brother to ambience. It’s an acquired taste, I know, but sometimes, if you just sit back, ambience is one of those unique genres that lets your imagination fly…

… And that’s why I love it, I’ve drifted far from my roots these past few weeks, and ventured into genres that have tempted me to stop and stay and listen. I’ve stopped, I’ve listened, but I’m always on the move. And it’s like coming home when I hear something as good as this: “Ambient One” is an album with individual-tracks that must be listened to in entirety. The album plays like a auditory-film, characters appear and fade in and out as the story changes. As we move from scene to scene, these become the varying tracks, the different rhythms, the different leads, and “Ambient One” is so refreshing in that it tackles its tracks in such an awe-inspiring way. There are ‘multiples’, as I would call them, of the same track; variations of a variation, small, self-contained multi-verses that exist within the existence of an entire track-universe, that co-exist within an album-universe!

Garbled-much?

In total, there are twenty-nine tracks, and eight of them are grouped in couplets, triplets, or quadruplets, and even one odd-looking quintuplet with it’s own subsidiaries called 1 and 2. Take for example the opening sequence, called “Starscapes”, the first, second, third and fourth track-title – the first of the miniature-universe sets. What’s really different about these is that they all take on relatively the same sound, minus some changes. I’ve seen a handful of artists tackle this same perspective to little avail, hence the first mention of it here – like: “Two Dancers” and “Two Dancers II”, but that was just the tip of the iceberg in concern with “Ambient One”. They were too different to be the same, they lost their flow.

For all I know, my copy of the album could be faulty, and my stupid-Vista computer could be reading something wrong – and in that case, all these multi-verses are in fact singular tracks that are about seven-minutes long. Disappointed, I know I would be. But what I don’t like about those suppositions is the small changes to the song in each, they don’t flow-on from one to the next, and all-too often you’ll hear an awkward cut from one to another. But enough about the construction of the album, which fascinates me to no end: onto the music itself, it’s why you’re here, and it’s why I’m writing it.

For readers who are looking for a similarity between ‘The American Dollar’s’ music and some other artist, it’s difficult to find, for me at least, an ambient artist that is similar to them: I could suggest ‘Konntinent’, but their music had an experimental twist to it which is in no way found here. ‘Van Morrison’ was probably one of the gifted forefathers of this growing genre, but parallels between are thready at best. ‘Mogwai’ aren’t a good artist to complement ‘TAD’, but they are it’s opposite. So, you can work off those sketchy-details, or you can take a listen for yourselves.

I’ll start from the top, it seems like the most logical place to begin with. Back to “Starscapes”, and you’ll find it’s easy to immerse yourself in the world of “Ambient One”. As soon as the waving-synth kicks in, you’ll be on your back, too far away to notice that you’re even where you are. ‘TAD’ is using synthesised sounds to construct their songs, and it’s some of the best I’ve seen to date, a shining example for – hopefully – many artists to come. It’s difficult to describe in great detail the distant chiming synth, or the reminiscent synth-guitar, but “Starscapes” the first sets the scene for it’s brothers and sisters to come. In it’s second incarnation, after the first dies off like a solitary track would, you’re left in a void of empty sound, and then a drip of piano. The synth returns with a flourishing distance, and instead of synth-guitar, the piano takes it’s place. In it’s third, the synth-organ explodes at the beginning and follows through to the end. Here we see that the tracks are building to a final-track-crescendo. The fourth and final “Starscapes” and we see a totally different form of the song. A reduction of the wavy synth, and a build on the more leading-synth piano and organ.

I could go through each and every track like this, but it seems utterly pointless. It’s really something that’s best to be heard and then appreciated, rather than read. Although we’ve got these bizarre multi-cellular tracks like this, we’ve also got the quintessential quantum singularities like “Bump”, which reminds me of a lost ‘Halo’ track. My personal favourite out of the entire album, which will now become a must-buy,  is “We’re Hitting Everything”, and it’s got the distant elements of trip-hop – trip-hop in that it has that simplistic rhythm, high-high-low, or low-high-low, etc. Then it has it’s layer of background synth and this very sombre, very emphatic, and emotionally-lethal xylophone that just tickles your soul. It’s the sort of song that turns your insides into jelly, and your mind into mush.

Fans of ‘Chicane‘ or even ‘Enigma’ might find some strings to follow, but ‘TAD’ are still very different. At a very, very generous over-hour limit, some listeners might find it hard to listen from start-to-finish, “Ambient One”. It sluggishly moves from start to end, and although I admire this ooze, some might find the ambient thrill a little tiring and somewhat repetitive. It is a downfall for synth music, that it begins to sound the same, but sit yourself in a corner and try it anyway, the mind needs some private time. What better else than “Ambient One”. I am almost tempted to give it a five, but I don’t know why I can’t, or I won’t. I feel as if I do, another album’s just squeezed it out of me because I’m tired after a long day, or bored on the next. But if I keep giving these epic+ albums fours, or four’s and a half’s, then I’m cheating you and I’m cheating myself. This is the best, best ambient synth example I can find for you guys, to date, and I’ll do it again:

5

Until when,

The Enantiomorphic God

“Lungs” – ‘Florence + The Machine’ [Joint Review]

Well, it’s ‘recovery-day’ over here at Highly Evolved, and I’ve got to admit that my partner’s eighteenth was a smash. People falling over each other here and there, cruisers to the left of me, jokers to the right, and: here I am, stuck in the middle with you. The twelve-o’clock walk home in the dark was quite fun, the least to say, dangerous – but the antics of an eighteenth aren’t new to nobody, so we’ll get straight to business…

[drinks coffee]

… I must admit that the amp. set up last night was awesome, and ‘Florence + The Machine’ managed to creep on for perhaps a track or two in the wee-hours of the night before the thrash-heads brought out of the woodwork the likes of ‘Rage Against The Machine’ and the hair went flying; but overall I think Michael Hodder has literally been dieing to review ‘Florence…’ and her gang for the past week since he found them. And I’ve just about been as enthusiastic, because this week for the Joint Review pick, we’ve got another example of those fine, female boomers who are making it out onto the stage without the sex-appeal of mainstream backing them.

Take that, scantily-clad women: shazaam!

"Lungs" - 'Florence + The Machine'

Where do I begin?

My head is swimming in music, I’ve got so many tracks exploding in my ears that it’s difficult to pick out singular-songs. ‘Florence…’ has this uncanny ability to either grow on you or fade away without a second-thought. And my return to the album today is striking up some sparks that I found when I first listened to it the full-way through. First-timers to ‘Florence…’ will find a sort of ‘La Roux’ quality about the lead-singer, ‘Florence Welch’, but connections between are thready at best. They’re both unique, and ‘Florence…’ has a few more years experience under the belt than our red-head-friend, who should aim to be ‘Welch‘ in the not-too-distant future. You can tell these experience-gained qualities in the versatility of ‘Welch’s’ voice when it reaches those fantastic highs, and those contrasting, bluesy lows.

I know Michael Hodder and I were having a great-debate last week about what to class “Lungs” under, what genre suited best, whether or not she was a pop girl, or whether she was an indie-wanna-be, an alternative on the cusp of pop, or just simply something else. We had our own distinctive opinions, and it was interesting to see how we differed when it came to a final decision. And that never really came at all, to be honest. It was a clash between pop and indie-alternative, and I took the mongrel-genre indie on my side with the unparalleled strength of alternative to tackle the woes of pop. I had a huge discussion, I think back in the ‘La Roux’ review, when I explained to my readers how pop is one of the rare genres that evolves with the passing of each decade and the progression of music, technology-wise. Because of ‘Florence…’ and it’s acoustic-quality within “Lungs”, I was reluctant to label it pop, although some of you might disagree, I just can’t find those elements:

The lyrics are far too good, the music is far too sophisticated, and not all of “Lungs” has this optimistic quality about it, there’s urgency in ‘Welch’s’ voice in parts, ecstatic bliss in others, and maybe even a hint of melancholy. To shove it into pop is a little unfair, and, I’ll quote, their music is:

“… generally referred to as soul inspired indie rock.”

Now that just about sums up genre there, it’s on the dot. You’re asking, I suppose; ‘what the hell constitutes “soul inspired indie rock”eh?‘ Well, for a start you can listen to the album and deduce for yourselves, or leave that piece of highly-developed fat sitting in it’s oozing cage above your neck alone, and let my piece of highly-developed fat sitting in its oozing cage above my neck figure it out for you. If you’re at all confused by that sentence, read on:

Let’s break it down, shall we – soul-inspired basically means that ‘Welch’ has got an emphatic-emotionalised-voice with music in the background, if she wants it to be sad, it sounds sad, if she wants it to be happy, she makes it sound happy. Soul was all about putting yourself into your music, the way I see it. I won’t give you any soul-examples, however. Indie is pretty hard to explain, it’s probably the hardest part, so you’ll need to look into Michael Hodder’s review on that subject, which is awesome; that’ll clear it all up for you. And rock? Well, you know what that is. Put it all together and you get ‘Florence’s…’ “Lungs”.

From the top, “Lungs” is a journey of an album, and each track is surprisingly self-contained. It’s not something that I come across all too often, and others might beg to differ; but the flow of the album is quite disjointed. Don’t hold that as a negative connotation, however, because it’s this difference that I’ve clung to that makes me love it so much more. “Dog Days Are Over” opens for “Lungs” and I believe it could be a ukulele that starts it off. Some elec. claps which could be acou. back as the beat, and ‘Welch’ comes in with her soul-inspired voice. When she sings:

“… The dog days are over…”

You’re in ‘Florence…’ town. I won’t stick around here too much, because the real proof of the pudding is in the second track, my personal favourite, and I think the best that “Lungs” has to offer on the whole. “Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)” opens with a variety of synth with ‘Welch’ in tandem. This is what probably drew my partner to the genre pop, and it’s what drew me to the comparison of ‘La Roux’. When ‘Welch’ powers through the chorus, she takes you with her, arm in arm, and I just can’t get enough. It’s infectious, it’s one of those songs you’ll sing in the shower, on the way to work, on the sidewalk, in the car, and it has the making of mainstream.

“… We raise it up… this is a gift, it comes at a price…”

Oh yeah!

“Raise it up! Raise it up!”

Oh yeah…

“Howl” is another one of those tracks that examples ‘Welch’ power through a chorus. It was there in “Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)” and it comes back in this fourth-track. When it gets to the end, we drop all that power, and ‘Welch’ sacrifices it for this fantastic urgent-crescendo. I was told to look at the third-last track, so I shall…

“Hurricane Drunk” opens with some waving-air, ‘Welch‘ and perhaps a harp, I’m not completely sure. It’s that classic switch between soft and loud that makes ‘Florence…’ unique. Where other artists might explode through an entire song, or sing it soft from beginning to end, “Lungs” shifts in both tracks, and inside tracks themselves, to achieve this nice juxtaposition. I’ll have to admit, “Hurricane Drunk” isn’t a particular favourite of mine, but it’s a good example nonetheless.

I think when it comes down to a rating I’m still drunk on “Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)“ and I’m still a little dazed by ‘Welch’ herself. Look, it’s got some great layers happening, and it’s got some great music happening, it’s a refreshing sound too, and it’s utilising almost the entire musical-spectrum in context with musical-apparatus. It’s probably a must for diehards, and it might be worth going back to where it all began. I’m going to be greedy and give it a four-outta-five, because it doesn’t deserve halves or anything below a three. I’m constantly hunting for these fantastic songs and these fantastic albums, and we’ve found one. You’d be crazy not to listen…

Until when,

“… Raise it up! Raise it up!”

The Enantiomorphic God

“We Fell To Earth” – ‘We Fell To Earth’

I’ve got to write this review!

Suddenly I remembered that I had something to do on Friday. And, yes, I’ve probably got more important things to go on doing…

[crickets sound]

… But I’ll pull myself away from all those other trivial pursuits and get straight into it. I said last review, sometime last week that I thought I was losing my “spark” for finding decent albums. And I think it’s true, this week’s review mightn’t live up to the traditional standards; because, today-of-all-days, I’ve decided to tackle trip-hop, this quiet, seemingly unnoticed-genre that machinates in the shadows of the music scene, pulling perhaps more strings than one. “We Fell To Earth” is a bizarre combination of minimalism meets ‘Massive Attack’, although the qualities between artist and album are distant at best.

"We Fell To Earth" - 'We Fell To Earth'

This is, to date, the first and foremost trip-hop orientated album that I’ve even contemplated reviewing. I’ve always been put-off by the added “-hop” at the end of “trip”, and thus, avoided it for obvious reasons [my loathing of R&B, Rap and other offside affiliates like hip-hop]. And now, I suspect, I’ve lost a few readers. But nevertheless, I will pursue with my review. Because I wasn’t completely sure about this genre, I was hesitant to go ahead with it in the first place. When I approached my counterpart for a reasonable definition, I was met with a reasonable answer:

“… So, what the hell is it?” I would ask

“… It’s sort of like… simple rhythms and tunes, that kind-a stuff, all together;” he would reply

“… Like minimalism?”

“I suppose.”

So I finally had something to go on. I’d found another interesting genre. If you look at “We Fell To Earth” from an alternative-, or even a rock-, perspective, you’ll fall short on it’s uncanny repetition and length, whereas if you fall back on electronica or shoegaze, you get caught up in acou. samples that repeat alongside lyrics and solos. It goes beyond the realm of trance or techno, to the otherworldly side of music where strangeness reigns supreme. It doesn’t have the qualities I’ve begun to admire in experimental or even psychedelica because it simply does what it is and what it was supposed to do: be.

“… You should look up ‘Massive Attack,’ Michael Hodder said one day.

“… ‘Massive Attack’,” I wrote on my hand.

“Yeah, check out ‘Teardrop’, it’s the backing-track for ‘House’, except they’ve cropped the part they wanted,” interrupted Collins.

“‘Teardrop’, got it…” I wrote on my hand.

“I’ll have large fries and an extra coke,” another blabbed…

“… Large fries, extra – hey!”

And so it began. Fans of ‘Massive Attack’ mightn’t find similarity between this and tracks like ‘Teardrop’, for the simple reason that I felt ‘MA’ had these very overdrawn, very simplistic songs that oozed on forever, whereas our friends ‘WFTE’ were using backing samples and lyrics in the same way, minus the ooze. I don’t know what constitutes ‘ooze’, ‘MA’ just has this time-stopping feel to them where ‘WFTE’ lacks it a little. So, I was getting that much closer to a firm definition of trip-hop. It’s still hard to explain in a single sentence. If new-music-lovers can imagine a song with a simplistic sample, like the pick of a guitar, or the beat of a drum, electronic or otherwise, then that’s the base of the cake, to begin with. Then, comes the cream/jam in the middle, that’s the lyrics, or the vocals, or the solo-instrument that leads you along. The real icing, however, is where a crescendo builds, or where a solo breaks out, to differentiate itself from the simplistic sample. Hence, I suppose, the naming of the genre: tri-p-hop, as in, “tri” meaning three…

… Yes, I just pulled that one out of a random hat, but it worked, didn’t it.

“Hail your new messiah!” An Evangelical priest commands.

[they bow towards the hat]

… Why is it always the hat? Now that the genre has been shoved into a corner, it’s being tamed with electrocution through various shock-treatment therapies. The ongoing battle is with the music itself, which struggles in the arms of morphine, tangled in a mess of acid and amphetamine binges previous. From prior-listening, I wasn’t all too flat-on-my-back – to be honest, the songs were dark, they were slow, they were long, and they were everywhere. The album lacked definition, the album lacked confidence, and for a debut, it’s opening and closing tracks were somewhat withdrawn and unsophisticated.

But my new trip-hop appreciation has rendered me in a state of self-disagree-ment. Those are the good points, believe it or not: when it concerns trip-hop – I believe – these are the deciding factors for a successful album that revolves around this double-edged-sword-of-a-genre. I’m totally and utterly surprised that a band such as it is, exists. It will be extremely fortunate if any of mainstream picks them up. JJJ over here in Australia might have a crack at it, but the major-music-league is a bit narrow-minded when it comes to smash-hits and money-making, which might be difficult for tracks like “Spin This Town”. For a debut, it is surprisingly sleek; by that, I mean it transforms the reality it bends into a noir unseen for the past decade, very slyly. I found this noir-bending in albums like “Artefacts For Space Travel”, or “205″, but it’s hard to find because it’s not something that every body’s looking for. Everybody has their own musical-tastes, I hunt for the obscure – if I can find it…

“We Fell To Earth” opens with the beating of a very ethnic-drum. It’s like an eastern-timpani, and after dutiful listening, it’s infectious, distinctive, and original. I’ve never really looked at definition from this perspective before, but trip-hop” is like using metaphor in a very descriptive written-passage, it’s the underlay, the hidden meaning, that you as the reader, or in this case, the listener, have to decipher for yourselves. When the vocals/lyrics kick in, they’re very solemn, they’re very distant, and almost robotic. With emphasis on the phrase “… spin this town…”, the track’s title is overall successful, and as the song itself develops, more instruments come to layer themselves upon the ethnic-timpani, like the wave of psychedelic synth, or the space-age flick every so often that just makes things perfect. The whine of the guitar sounds like an electric wail that just creeps into your soul.

And just as you’ve been spun, we’re thrust unexpectedly into “Lights Out”. And it’s basically using the same equation as previous, with difference:

Base layer + Vocals/Lyrics + Difference = trip-hop Song

When I first listened to the album the full-way through, I was a little dazed by this repetition, and it was this that drove my initial dislike. After a solid play-through I can appreciate the song’s qualities, but I have a tendency to stick with my somewhat arrogant cover-judgements, so the album is refreshing with a recurrent bitter aftertaste. I did, however, manage to come across a keeper:

“The Double” epitomises trip-hop style music. It is the cleanest, it is the simplest, it is the most effective track on the entire album. It is emphatic, it is infectious, it is everything, it is nothing, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. When that tickle of guitar explodes into full listening-pleasure, you’ll be squirming in your seat for more. But it’s the same, over and over and over again, and it buries itself deep. Again, those vocals/lyrics burst in, and although they’re not the sole driving force behind the track, its these second and third layers that help influence this primary layer into an epic+. When it shifts, it’s like biting into chocolate, when it grows, it’s like starring at an American Redwood, when it falls, it’s the deepest abyss, and when it finishes, it is the final aria on the final stage. Such a great song, placed elegantly between all these other fine examples, and it is the saviour, this little five-minute track, that says it all…

… And when I come to rating it, I’m torn between the left and the right, the better or the worse, the beginning-hate or the end-love. For such a situation, most people would draw a line in the sand and make it fifty-fifty, but 2.5-outta-5 is far too harsh for this soon-to-be-under-loved album, and 5 is just too generous. 3 isn’t a number I really like, but 3.5 will have to do. It’s as close as I can come to a final answer, and don’t even start me on purchase-value…

Until when,

The Enantiomorphic God

“Julian Plenti Is… Skyscraper” – ‘Julian Plenti’ [Joint Review]

And so, again, the titans clash, and the roar of thunder can be heard throughout the Earth. Whose music reigns supreme? None shall answer, for to answer the un-answer-able is to defy the belief of what and where and why an answer should exist…

… Oh, sorry, wrong blog, wrong review. It might play relevance, however, because today me and my partner have decided to tackle ‘Interpol’s’ lead-singer ‘Paul Banks’ side-project. Now, I’ll set the records straight. I think, although I’m not a 100% sure, but I think I introduced Michael Hodder, a wee-few years ago, to a lonely, somewhat unnoticed band-at-the-time called ‘Interpol’. They had a really pessimistic-attitude buried deep beneath their songs, and their music was generally of a quality that was lacking at the time.

Don’t ask me the exact year, but it was much before these reviews even came into being. It was a time when things were much more simpler than they are now. And ever since that day, I suppose, I’ve really enjoyed listening to ‘Interpol’. Although I personally think they’ve matured in the wrong direction over the course of the past few years, because that classic taste they had with their first album left their second, and was somewhat muted in the third, fans will find little, if any, influence taken in: “Julian Plenti Is… Skyscraper”.

'Julian Plenti' - "Julian Plenti Is... Skyscraper"

I must admit that I held no prior anticipation for this album whatsoever. It was something that my partner had been mentioning on-and-off for about a solid month, and I’d taken perhaps the occasional interest, not that I don’t avidly listen to his musical-knowledge:

“When’s it being released?”

“… Soon,” he would reply.

or

“Has it leaked yet?”

“… Nope,’ he would reply.

But other than that, nothing much else. And I’m a little disappointed, as I am with a majority of side-project albums. In my opinion, they tend to be a little rushed composition-wise, and it seems whoever deviates from their original band is being a little unfaithful. Instead of putting their full attention and musical-capabilities to their first-and-foremost, it’s somewhat arrogant to go gallivanting off on another crusade with another bunch of zealous followers to claim the relic of Jerusalem. And it’s not the first side-project from ‘Interpol’ either, their drummer did the same – and, again, I wasn’t very enthusiastic about that either. ‘Paul Banks’, if you’re reading this, you’re next ‘Interpol’ album better be epic+ or I’m going to scold you for it!

… My partner also commented on my enthusiastic-dislike of britpop, the most-loathsome of all pop – ‘Jarvis Cocker’ has rendered me inert to it’s teachings, sadly. I’d never looked at this album from a britpop-perspective. I can’t find those characteristics in “… Skyscraper” that I can with some other albums, like ‘Cocker’s’ among others. “… Skyscraper” has a sort of lazy-optimism about it, whereas the ‘Paul Banks’ I’m accustomed to has this sort of “I-could-give-a-toss-but-I-can’t-be-bothered” whine in his voice that emphatically draws you along. I’m not even sure what constitutes britpop, it’s another growing mongrel-genre that’s starting to get overused without success. If the britpop’ I’m thinking of contains poorly-strung lyrics, simplistic rhythms and tunes, then I don’t quite think of “… Skyscraper” in that overall direction.

It’s a definite mix of alternative meets rock, and occasionally ‘Powderfinger-esque’ sounds creep through the sound-barrier and repel me further. There isn’t much of a ground-breaking performance here, and experimental-lovers will find themselves without a teddy to cuddle on this cold, cold night. Classic-lovers might be drawn to the overdrawn guitar, percussion and bass, but it’s nothing to go wax-lyrical about. When it comes to ‘Banks’, I was just about sure until this album that he could sing anything he put his mind to, his voice is so versatile in tone, but this regression to atavism is less than impressive.

We’ll get straight into it, shall we?

[smiles]

“Only If You Run” just about epitomises what you’ll expect from “… Skyscraper”, and it’s this lack of definition, this constant repetition, that keeps you in a unmoving state of boredom. My partner said that this and the second-track were the real hurdles that listeners had to overcome before they found themselves ecstatic. But I drone on, and on, and on, and on about an album’s BEGINNING in all of my reviews, how this is the bait, and I’m the fish, and if it looks like shit-on-a-stick, it probably is shit-on-a-stick…

I was almost fooled with the synth-esque beginning, which quickly faded and turned to ‘… damn, I’ve been suckered…’ and out came the elec. guitar, the acou. percussion and the “…. oooooh…. oohhh…” of ‘Banks’ voice. The lyrics:

“… Only if you run…”

… Basically sums up what you and others should be doing after the twenty-second mark – only if you run can you make it farther-enough from this uninspiring failure. It is the bare-minimum of a song, comprised of a solo, a chorus, a solo, a chorus, the facade of an epic finish, and an abrupt halt, now thrust into track two:

“Fun That We Have” starts off with the tickle of guitar, and the lyrics:

“… With all the fun that we have, we have come far…”

Nothing special, just a song with these lyrics that go over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and then a change, and then over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over… and… over…. and over… and… Finish. Statement-much?

Subliminal-spam?

“Skyscraper” sees the first appearance of an acou. guitar, and it’s like a puddle of mud in a desert – nothing else to drink, so drink it. The tickle of guitar begins again, and some piano appears – so maybe, just maybe, there’s a fly in the mud; nothing else to eat, so eat it too. If anything came close to a favourite on this album, this would be my only least-disliked track.

… And by now you’re wondering:

“… Why does this guy/gal even bother with such drivel? We get the point already, just shut up and give us a rating for god’s sake, for all our sakes, hurry up!”

Sorry, but I just had to hammer in my argument to make dead-sure everybody knew my disposition on side-projects and britpop. No-buy, from me, no chance, my money’s better spent on other things, like ear-plugs. ‘Bank’s’, my friend, you’re lucky I’m staying faithful to ‘Interpol’ after this miserable crusade. If you gain followers, it’s obviously because of your hypnotic-voice, and the free brainwashing-brain-bugs that come with the album’s purchase…

… Wait…

… Please.

No…

[struggles...]

What the fu….

… get it off, get it off!

[... struggles]

I RESCIND ALL OF THE ABOVE REVIEW… “JULIAN PLENTI IS… SKYSCRAPER” IS THE GREATEST ALBUM IN THE WORLD, ALL BOW BEFORE YOUR BENEVOLENT LEADER ‘PAUL BANKS’.

[Message ends]

“Julian Plenti Is… Skyscraper” – Julian Plenti (Joint Review)

Today I’m reviewing a side project that has really got a hold of me, it’s by Interpol’s Paul Banks and is to be released under the name Julian Plenti.

I’ve listened to a fair few side-project albums this year, but none have really kept with me and a few have even been disappointing. I guess that’s because of the high expectations we have for these albums, often we think that these people will re-create what they achieved in the band that got them to where they are.

I believe that the only way to make a great side-project is to make music that is aesthetically and musically different, and the proof is in Damon Albarn’s brainchild Gorillaz, If you’ve read the blog before then you’ll probably know of my counterpart’s dislike of Britpop, but he still does enjoy Gorillaz, which is interesting because Damon Albarn was at the very front of Britpop. What makes this side-project different is the fact that Damon Albarn transcends Britpop, because he is willing to experiment with different genres and in the process master them.

.

Julian Plenti - "Julian Plenti Is... Skyscraper"

.

‘Julian Plenti Is… Skyscraper’ is not an album where you get what you expect, and in a way it may disappoint many people. I came to the album expecting a twist on the Interpol sound, and in general it doesn’t really achieve that, Paul Banks has made an album where it’s almost impossible to compare to Interpol, I mean, you can try, but I don’t think there’s much to be gained.

There’s two extremely distinguishable styles on the album and the first two songs follow the style that is in the minority on the album, which I must admit was a bit misleading. The split is seemingly caused by the need to write electric songs, when in reality the softer/acoustic songs are actually more enjoyable in my opinion and in the end are actually more prominent. This means that it’s definitely an album that I would advise you not to stop after the first few tracks if you dislike them, the first few songs may not be your cup of tea, but the softer songs may be and it would be a great shame for someone to miss out on these.

Paul Banks’ voice is definitely a point of interest, in that it’s more polished with this release (in relation to his recordings with Interpol) and he dabbles with double tracking which, at times, is seriously effective. Again, it really defied expectations, which added to the surprise of the album and meant that I got something that was really different and refreshing.

There is one issue with the album though, in the process of departing the Interpol sound, he seems to have left a bit of style behind. Interpol oozes style, and in my view, sums up the term cool, but Julian Plenti is just another musical act and there’s not a great deal of songs that could become popular, because they aren’t catchy or edgy enough.

There is no doubt in my mind that the quality’s here, that’s not why I think the album will largely go unnoticed, there’s an imbalance on the album and I think there’ll be too many people that dislike part of and then disregard the rest in a knee-jerk reaction.

I’m loving the album at the moment and the people who don’t listen to it are missing out, I know my counterpart has a different opinion, but I really think this is one of the growing list of better albums this year.

Stand Out Tracks: ‘H’, ‘Skyscraper’ and ‘Only If You Run’

Rating: 8/10

“Two Dancers” – ‘Wild Beasts’

It might be the first week back to our dismal existence at school, but nonetheless, my Friday returns are dead on schedule. In the past I’ve found that there have been a few exceptional albums worth juggling for weeks on end, but for these few, I’m utterly spent. It’s hard to find an album that scrapes it through my fine-tooth-combing, and it’s a result from either one of two occurrences:

1) The albums are generally lacking in quality,

or

2) I’m getting scrupulously-picky…

Either way, I’m sad to say that if it weren’t for this life-saving album – although somewhat average from first glance – you’d be out of your Friday entertainment. I can’t quite wait to tear apart ‘Julian Plenti’ and his leaked, supposed ‘masterpiece’. But I’ll have to be patient and really sleep a few nights before Sunday’s sun rolls into town and it’s back to reviewing business. “Two Dancers” is ‘Wild Beasts’ second full-length feature, and after their “critically acclaimed”‘ debut in ‘08, they’re back and at it again. There’s some good stuff coming out of Europe these days, other than the Northern Americas and the somewhat isolated scene in Perth-Australia, Europe’s where it’s at. Hailing from the UK, brit-pop influences come through the album, overall – it’s quirkiness is what overrides in my opinion, much of the fault that casual listeners might bestow upon ‘Wild Beasts’:

"Two Dancers" - 'Wild Beasts'

I think that the last album I reviewed was “Silos”, and it was of an exceptionally high-calibre quality that I’m finding lacks in most of the albums at the moment. I sometimes wonder to myself, after an epic-album, what’s the point of looking for more? I’m constantly hunting for those groundbreaking songs, the songs that keep you glued to your seat, those songs that keep you coming back for more, those songs…

… Well, that I love the best. And for a tiny moment I thought that “Two Dancers” would deliver in most ways some other albums this past month haven’t. It’s just above the bar called “average”. What constitutes this mundane word, you ask? In my opinion, average is another term, like indie, that gets a little overused – because, in the end, you, the listener, have little, if any idea, why we thought it should’ve been put on the back-burner rather than have it as a full-blown review. To me, at least, something that’s just average has songs that have no spark, that melt into other albums, or too many genres, or not enough in retrospect. Some just have a beat, a guitar, some lo-fi-esque lyrics and they call themselves shoegaze. Others have the same, and then they’re alternative. It’s almost instinctual, when it comes to music, when we listen to a song and it all clicks, we know:

“… That’s the one, that’s the one I love; just listen, it’s fantastic!”

I think I’ve reviewed about fifty-albums by now, and I’ve tried to distance myself from this instant-click-scenario, because I stop looking at the album from other perspectives, like composition, ambience, lyrics and instrumental-vocals. Sometimes, just sometimes, these can pull through for an album, like “Two Dancers”, and make me enjoy it a whole lot more.

And I wouldn’t say that “Two Dancers” are breaking any musical traditions, but they sure-as-hell have an uncanny sound about them that I think’s unique, although occasionally timid. Genre-wise, I’m reluctant to shove them into indie, even though they refer to themselves as this: it’s a mongrel-genre that needs to be weeded out, in my opinion. “Two Dancers” has this laid-back experimental quality about them, unorthodox vocals and luscious-lyrics that will either hypnotise you, or conversely, repel.

It’s lyrics like:

“We got gusto, we are headstrong, we still got the taste dancing on our tongues…”

That compare to some of the strange-qualities ‘The Killers’ utilise – and although ‘The Killers’ are masters of their trade, if ‘Wild Beasts’ must be praised for something, it’s the lyrics. I mean, where do these artists begin – which hat do they pull these lyrics from? I admire well-composed lyrics that are pushing on the ordinariness of pop. Genres like brit-pop, although I’m not a huge fan, after ‘Jarvis Cocker’ and his humiliation, it certainly can be seen in the music of the ‘Wild Beasts’.

I’ll start from the top, it’s the most obvious place to begin, and it’s also the most vital. The album opens with so much potential, I was in absolute awe with the instrumentation. A mix of synth, elec./acous. harp, guitar, and a wide vocabulary of percussion. But as soon as the vocals come in at 1:30, I might lose a few of my readers. To be honest, they’re not the best, and it’s like listening to a semi-stoned version of ‘Passion Pit’, without the highs, with too many lows. But it’s got the layers that I love, and “The Fun Powder Plot” would probably have to be my utmost favourite. I know, I know, I always pick first or second songs as my favourite, but these songs are important because they make impressions on the listeners. If “Two Dancers” had it’s second, or it’s third in first-place, I probably would have shunned this album altogether. Instead, here we are in this alternate-universe where men walk with two feet, where birds fly, and fish swim…

… Damn that Doctor…

“Hooting & Howling” follows this interesting song, and again the lyrics are worth listening to. But the song, on the whole, is perhaps the worst thing I have heard in an album for a long, long, time. I mean, I’ve listened to “Two Dancers” so many times that I’m beginning to like it, but new-timers to ‘Wild Beasts’ might feel a sudden urge to purge. It has alternative influences, and lacks in synth, and it’s just a mixture between acous. percussion, elec. guitar/s and vocals. Nothing overly special…

NEXT!

I’m going to jump all the way to the middle where I think ‘Wild Beasts’ shine best, and that’s at the 6th and 7th track, where we have a very individual song-couplet. I’ve no way else to describe it, but the songs are called, in order of appearance, “Two Dancers” and “Two Dancers II”, and they’re a real nice, refreshing song-pair after such melodrama. The lyrics here, are my absolute favourite, and perhaps I was a little hasty before when I said the opener was the best, these two have got something going that I think would baffle a lot of readers, and other musical artists. Where some bands tend to have long-winded tracks that range from ten to fifteen minutes, ‘Wild Beasts’ have these two songs that follow each other, broken into separate tracks. In the first, we have this very cautious, yet powerful voice, this very sombre tickle of guitar, this emphatic beat, with these emotionally-laden lyrics:

“Our sun was dieing, and we could hardly eat… They dragged me by my ankles through the street… They passed me round them like a piece of meat… his hairy hands, his fallen face, his dancing cock, down by his knees, I’ve seen my children turn away from me…”

BANG – musical-chorus.

And although my externalisation of them isn’t as grand as the song itself, they bring with them a great potency even without the musical-backing. “Two Dancers II” opens with the trickle of shoegaze synth, very quiet and withdrawn, which swoops occasionally. The same tickle of guitar rages in, though more optimistically – a direct contrast to it’s brethren previous. The vocals are much more simpler, and somewhat emotionally-withdrawn. The lyrics do change here and there, but the songs’ contrast is what I like: it’s very different, and it’s very different in a good way. First, we have this very frustrated song, and then we have this very accepting one…

Disappointingly, the entire album doesn’t follow-suit like this in all respects. It finishes with an uninteresting track called “The Empty Nest”, and it toys with that same failing alternative rhythm that “Hooting & Howling” had. I can’t personally stand it, but brit-pop wise, it could be good. Because the album can be salvaged, I’ll be cruel and give it a two-outta-five – it needs work, maybe by the fifth album, ‘Wild Beasts’ will have some ear-breaking material.

… So I’ll be:

“… Gone, Gone, Gone… Going, going, going, gone…”

Until when,

The Enantiomorphic God

“Silos” – ‘Déclassé’ & “La Roux” – ‘La Roux’

It’s getting near to the end of the holidays, and I suppose things are starting to ease up. I found myself in a state of ‘writer’s block’ the other day when it came to utilising my creative energy, it seems Highly Evolved gets the best of me these days. I apologise in advance to any and all teachers reading this review, my essays won’t be at their usual top-notch-standard. Coincidence, maybe?

Besides, I’ve been a little busy elsewhere, so the machine has been quiet, and the internet has been asleep as well. I’ve given the music scene the flick long enough for it to recover from my monthly harvest, and surprisingly, artists have bounced back into action and they’re pumping out albums like there’s no tomorrow. Again.

Today, I’m back to my usual duo-reviews, because I’ve found that, uncannily, as the albums mount, the genres stick together. Just a few weeks ago I was immersed in the poorly-strung-psychedelica scene where I was amazingly disappointed with all the albums I came across. And, during the great music-drought of 09, a large quantity of electronica and pop jumped out onto the scene to take its place. Salvaged from that wreck, “La Roux”, an album on its own not worth a review, but together with the more tasteful ‘Déclassé’, something worth me writing!

"Silos" - 'Déclassé'

To be honest, I found this little gem last night. It’s simplistic, abstractly-drawn cover enticed me inwards, and I couldn’t help but think at the time that “Silos” might surprise me, and turn out to be another ‘When Saints Go Machine’. Hailing from the cold Finland, ‘Déclassé’ epitomise the European-pop movement at the moment. Although it mightn’t be headline news, or common fact for that matter, I find that personally, Europe stands as the pioneer for electronica, trance, techno and pop itself. Highly Evolved doesn’t necessarily focus too much on the futuristic-music-movement all too often, and I try to balance my reviews with acoustic and electric music wherever possible.

Genre-wise, I was delightfully-surprised to find that “Silos” has an awesome, massive shift from start to finish. It’s first song is nothing like it’s last, and ‘Déclassé’ is one of those rare bands that’s able to utilise elements from all affiliate-genres and put them together. You might be asking yourself:

“… But, hey? I’ve seen other bands do that before?”

But then I reply, quite candidly:

“Yes, you’ve seen other bands do that before; but most of them haven’t been that good at it, either.”

If it’s one thing we as human-beings like, it’s consistency, order and control. There are very few anarchists in this world – perhaps that’s an understatement – “… I know very few anarchists in this world…” and so the majority of neat-freaks out there can’t help but shudder at the thought of a genre-shifting album. ‘Déclassé’ say themselves that:

“… Their music itself [is like] synth-shoegazing-gothic-disco-pop.”

Now, I didn’t believe it when I read it off their www.last.fm site, but it summarises I think, the bare minimum that ‘Déclassé’ are playing with. There are others that scrape through, but it’s a list that’s not worth reciting, and an album that’s better listened to if we want to be nit-picky. I love it to bits, literally – each and every song will have you riding on the edge of your seat, or leave you on the flat of your back. The combination of pop’s edgy, catchy rhythms and lyrics combined with the elements of shoegazing and synth make this one of the most potent musical-cocktails I’ve ever happily endured!

We’ll start from the top, shall we?

“Days Of Confusion” opens for “Silos”, and the somewhat slow, but thrust-full beginning of xylophone, synth and acoustic percussion make for a simplistic tune that’s ever-so infectious. In tandem, the lyrics - “… this is the night we sing and dance and have no fear…” and the vocals here just melt into the music. Out comes the synth bass that explodes come the crescendo and the chorus. The balance between soft and loud is only made possible by that dancing xylophone, and it has to be the sole-driving force behind the entire track.

“… This is the future… and we’re a bunch of idiots… This is the future… illusions and plasma screens…”

Pop has the annoying ability to tie in pathetic lyrics with powerful music, that make for an average song. Here, we’ve got some politically-active lyrics with some ground-breaking music. And at a powerful 4:50, ‘Déclassé’ take you into their dreamworld called “Silos”. It all works in my opinion, and it’s my total and utter favourite for the entire album.

Following, is the just-as-beautiful “Default Values” and it begins with that same-sounding synth present in “Days Of Confusion”. After a while, I began to notice that ‘Déclassé’s’ sounding like an optimistic-version of ‘Interpol’: if only because the lead singer sounds strangely like him on the lows. Other than that, not much similarity elsewhere. The track draws you in with silence, and leaves you blown away with high-powered crescendo-chorus’ that were present in opener.

“A Man Of Instant Boredom” shows ‘Déclassé’ in another light, and it softly opens with an alternative/rock/goth that the rest of the album lacks in comparison with. The vocals are the only tie between songs as ‘Déclassé’:

“… takes you on a journey THROUGH TIME AND SPACE…”

If I were to look at this track on it’s own, it’s got the elements of shoegazing and post-rock that bands like Kyte and Engineers have. This difference shakes it all up, so the album never stays the same. It makes for some great entertainment, and I can whole-heartily agree that there is nothing “Silos”has that shouldn’t be where it is. I know I’ve said in the past some albums have strayed from the path a little, “Silos” does it so well, it’s an exception unto itself. From start to finish, a solid play-through, definitely worth your money. A well-earned 4.5 stars outta 5. A warm-welcoming album for my return to music-reviewing!

"La Roux" - 'La Roux'

“La Roux” has been sitting in my PENDING folder for about a month and a half, another European pop band, ‘La Roux’ has the fundamental basics for making it big in the mainstream world:

Girl + Sex Appeal + Pop Music = $$$ In Excess…

It’s mainstream-101, and sadly, it’s the cause for some loathsome music - Britney Spears and the likes. If you can beat those mainstream-dogs back with a stick, you should just about make it clear from the rabid world of shobiz. It’s not everyday that I come across such a strong, female-vocalists. I find them in the likes of ‘The Yeah Yeah Yeahs’, although they’re not a personal favourite; she’s got strength, she’s got power and the songs have momentum. ‘Metric’ had it in “Fantasies”, and although both these bands were heavily rock/alternative, ‘La Roux’ have the potential for much more that this one-dimensional pop music.

The lyrics aren’t much to rave about, and with this day and age as it is, pop is one of a few genres that evolves with the progression of musical capabilities; if it can, it’s vocabulary limits words to three syllables or less, as well. So, “La Roux” has the typical synth-and-voice duo, layers or repetitive loops, on the odd-occasion, some vox-voice-alteration, altogether with the vocals which punch through to reign supreme. Where “Silos” progressed through its varying genres, “La Roux” will be a heavenly-change for all those neat-freak listeners/readers who enjoy a continuous, seamless album without hiccups. For those of you who might be expecting “La Roux” to come parading in with a new era of pop, think again.‘La Roux’ just about epitomises pop of the current generation, and it’s one of many representatives for this mutagenic-genre.

From the top: “In For The Kill”, also ‘La Roux’s’ prior single I believe, has an infectious beat, to-die-for vocals, and an unfound intimacy that I find lacks in some of the rest of “La Roux” itself. The lyrics – “… We can fight our desires… ooooooooohhh… but when we start making fires… we get ever so hot… ooooooooohhh…. whether we like it or not….” They’re simple, quick-to-the-point, and for an opener, and for pop, it tops at 4:09, which is slightly tedious and repetitive.

“Tigerlily” follows, and out comes the power of singer ‘Elly Jackson’. Here’s where she comes out from the stereotypical pop vocalist, and becomes unique. It mightn’t be easy to pick out the difference, but together with the emphatic beat, it’s what attracted me to the album on a whole; what can I say, I like the power!

“… Have you ever felt like you’re being followed, or watched the ones that held your stare, turned around to see who’s behind you to find there’s no-one there? Lurking in the dark, cause someone breathes you night and day, there’s a friend that wants sooooo much more… and if they can’t have you, they’ll never let you walk away…”

… Are the chilling, somewhat overly-raunchy lyrics from a male-vocalist [yet to be identified], that made be break out in laughter after I heard them; yes, I am weird.

There are 12 tracks that follow the same equation the first and second have, and if you’re into this kind of repetition, it’s not too bad to keep on going. “La Roux” can sometimes pull out a surprise here and there, and I like that kind of thing. I wouldn’t be too hasty in buying it, however – I’d give it an average 3 outta 5 stars, because ‘Elly Jackson’s’ voice is so refreshing!

Until when,

The Enantiomorphic God

When The Old Become Classic… (Part 1)

I’m currently listening to the Hottest 100 of All Time on triple j and pondering whether these songs that have been voted (by the public) as the 100 greatest songs of all time are what people would call “classic” songs. Judging by the inclusion of Kings of Leon’s ‘Sex On Fire’, surely not…

But it’s not that simple is it.

The countdown’s up to number 82 and there’s been a very large percentage of “modern” bands. Placebo, System of a Down, Bon Iver, Kings of Leon and TV on the Radio were just some of the bands that have already been included and while I would argue that these bands do generally sum up the best that the last few years has had to offer, what the list has proven so far is the demographics of the radio station.

I’m also intrigued by the older songs that are getting into the countdown. They’re songs that have been incredibly influential, which begs the question, does a great song have to be influential or is it vice-versa (does an influential song have to be great)? In my view, the songs that are timeless and appeal to all generations are the songs that directly influence other bands and this can be seen with the popularity of The Velvet Underground which is probably better regarded than it was when it was first released.

It’ll be very interesting to see what gets in the next few parts of the list, and even more so, the top of the list. I’m guessing the older songs will start to be heard more, but I’ve got absolutely no idea what will take out the number 1 spot after hearing the first 20.

As I write, the first part of the list is just being concluded with the next twenty songs being revealed tomorrow, the list is as follows:

100. Franz Ferdinand – Take Me Out
99. TV on the Radio – Wolf Like Me
98. Led Zeppelin – Kashmir
97. Midnight Oil – Beds Are Burning
96. Daft Punk – One More Time
95. Stevie Wonder – Superstition
94. Modest Mouse – Float On
93. Massive Attack – Unfinished Sympathy
92. Bon Iver – Skinny Love
91. AC/DC – Back In Black
90. Kings of Leon – Sex on Fire
89. Rage Against the Machine – Bulls On Parade
88. The Rolling Stones – Gimme Shelter
87. Coldplay – Yellow
86. The Beatles – Come Together
85. The Dandy Warhols – Bohemian Like You
84. Bob Marley & The Wailers – No Woman, No Cry
83. Placebo – Every You Every Me
82. System Of A Down – Chop Suey!
81. Pulp – Common People

I might write more tomorrow in response to the next 20 songs on the list, but more than likely will wait a day or two for the list to become more complete…

“Wait For Me” – ‘Moby’ [Joint Review]

I’m back, and I’m bad.

Did you miss me!

Yes, it’s been a delightful few days, I’ve managed to get my head around some things, sit back, take it all in. Over the past week, I’ve drifted away from the music scene, and I’ve left my reviews in the dark, albeit burdening a little too much on my counterpart.

… Now, hmm…

I know I said I’d be gone for a little while, and I’ve probably skipped a review or two that you guys would have probably disregarded, given the music scene’s a little slow-at-the-mo. Although it’s yet to be displayed, some “bad-press” has recently crept onto the Highly Evolved blog. It’s inevitable, but still disheartening nonetheless. Although it awaits my partner’s approval [seeing as it was his review, it's only fair], it still remains in limbo. But I’d just like to say - even though no obscene words were used – we are fully capable and appropriately armed with any and all vocabulary-missiles, which can and will be launched when necessary.

… But enough said, cheers to those people with decent things to say.

“Brian” – I am watching you… [The Enantiomorphic God does the "Meet The Parents" gesture]

Moby - "Wait For Me"

It’s gotten to an extreme point where I’ve realised that I tend to ‘jabber’ a little too much in my reviews, and on the odd occasion, lapse into melodrama. For a while I’ve probably overstated the obvious: yes I’m overworked, yes I’m underpaid, no I’m not middle-aged, yes I whine like a elderly-chap reminiscing about “the-good-old-days”. Melodrama is what makes the world go round, and it’s a ‘ploy’ Hollywood and the likes utilise to compensate for the lack of idea-flow.

‘Moby’ has had me follow it on a short leash for about three years now. It’s not easy music to get into, it’s got an acquired taste that takes time to develop and fully appreciate. It’s fleeting genre-placement can sometimes be surprisingly frustrating, or delightfully quaint. Perhaps I’m not the right person to be writing this review, but what’s the point of writing any of them, or doing anything, for that matter; is it all just for a challenge?

“Wait For Me” is just another example of the flourishing bedroom-studio albums that this decade now bears witness to. With the record-companies and their bean-counters continuing to hamper artists [like 'The Dandy Warhols'], bands are looking elsewhere to record their talents. With money as scarce as it is, and with bands as numerous as they are, it looks as though if you’ve got a soundproof room, a few pick-ups, a guitar, some vocals, a heck-of-a-lot-of synth, some recording equiptment and a laptop full of loops, you’ve just about got the makings for a home-made album. Potential-wise, I can’t say – some have got it, some don’t. If you’re dedicated enough to do anything, just because a studio won’t record you doesn’t mean you can’t get out there, as we’ve seen…

“Wait For Me” is a fine example of this same dedication: if you bloody-well want to record a song, by all means, give it all you’ve got. It has a mix of synth, acoustic beats/rhythms/instruments, and although a handful of songs are purely instrumental, others have vocals and lyrics that are to die for. Friends of ‘Moby’ himself were utilised for these vocal-roles and give this album an edge where there otherwise wouldn’t be any. “Study War” implements a strong usage of a pre-recorded speech [which I have yet to determine] as it’s main vocal/lyrical medium, partnered with a strong female voice.

Genre-wise, I don’t think ‘Moby’s’ breaking any new ground. Personally, I’ve seen countless albums, songs, and the likes, that have used just the same method to make the music. But the style that ‘Moby’ has just gives it a strong sense of something else. He’s been at it for years, and it really shows; newcomers to the bedroom-album will find that the average band will limit it’s vocals if it can: it’s music is just a sum of basic loops and beats, and repeats over and over again for a length of some minutes. The more adept-bedroom-album will implement pre-recorded speech, but masters – like ‘Moby’ – will actually have live-vocals and original lyrics. Just because “Wait For Me” is using synth doesn’t make this album something for trance-lovers, or techno-freaks, the album floats between alternative, electronica, and ambience. But it has no fixed position in either, as stated previous, and this might be detrimental to new-listeners.

Still, at a solid 50-minutes, which might sound short, ‘Moby’s’ songs are full of body, and are deceptively long. Don’t expect a song to last anywhere beyond five-minutes, which is a good, average length for something of this fleeting-genre album. There’s a general mix of length, with some songs only lasting a minute or so, perhaps as intermediaries. I’m not going to stand on a firm answer there; some might find it unnecessary, but the synth ambience here is refreshing after a five-minute track.

Other than that, it’s down to the music itself: “Division” sees “Wait For Me” off as it’s opener, and it’s a fantastic ambient-beginning, well-placed, well-titled. It’s slow violin draws you in, and divides you from reality. As you immerse yourself in the world of ‘Moby’s’ “Wait For Me”, you slowly close your eyes and await the arrival of the next track. It’s enough to keep you guessing, it’s enough to keep you just on edge; you’ll be relaxed, you’ll be mellow.

A sudden stop at 1:57 and we’re off to “Pale Horses”. The feminine-vocals here have such a sudden impact; as the synth dies down from “Division”, it’s just enough to set you in the ‘Moby’ rut. The synthetic violin is obvious here, and as the whine of a woman creeps in slowly, the lyrics “put me on the train, send me back my home, couldn’t leave without you…” echo hauntingly. It’s not one of my particular favourites, and it doesn’t stand as an figurehead for the rest of the album. My partner’s favourite, “Shot In The Back Of The Head” utilises some interesting, backwards loops, that are fantastic. It’s really a song that should be played from the end to the beginning, although I’ve yet to try it. The off-tune music here is wonderfully composed, and the layers do make it one of the best instrumental tracks on the album.

Probably my favourite for the entire piece is “Study War”. The pre-recorded speech has a strong message to convey. The words “… and study war, no more…” have been etched into my brain; it’s hard to find politically-active music these days, Dylan did it, but it’s a dieing art-form that will be sorely missed. It’s probably going to be one of those quiet tracks that gets overlooked, but these are the kinds of songs that I hunt for, and if an artists just has one of them, I’m ecstatic.

About halfway through the album, we get another great track called “Mistake”. ‘Moby’s’ use of a male voice is fantastic, and the violin is very reminiscent of “Division”. The electric guitar is the icing on the cake, from my perspective. Another shady track, it’s all good.

When it comes to the bottom-half of the album, I get a little lost. After “Mistake”, things start to get a bit blurry. At a whopping 16-tracks, it’s hard to stay enthused. It’s one of those albums that has an awesome beginning, and a half-rate end. “Isolate” finishes “Wait For Me”, and it’s another instrumental with about half the potency of “Division”. It’s not a good eye-opener for the musically-comatose.

So, overall, if you’re fine with all of that, then “Wait For Me” is a quiet, well-strung album that should have you off with the fairies in no-time. If you’re finding it hard to sleep at night, those pesky dreams of yours will turn to butter at the first sight of “Wait For Me”, and you’ll be whisked into a cloud of wonder. [See! I'm stuck for ideas, so out comes the melodrama] When it comes to a rating, it’s hard to give the album four-stars at a maximum, and two at a minimum. Because it jumps so much, I find myself torn between two worlds: 3/5 sounds reasonable, but slightly unfair. I did enjoy listening to the album, but it just wasn’t legend-making-material for me.

Until when,

The Enantiomorphic God