It’s no secret that Parades are up there on my list of favourite Sydney bands at the moment. After a self-titled, self-released first collection of songs in late 2008, followed up by the gobsmackingly brilliant Hunters/Dead Nationale single in mid-2009, the band has recently signed with label Dot Dash / Remote Control (home of Snowman, Ned Collette and others) and are on track to release their debut LP Foreign Tapes in April this year. I predict good things ahead.

Their pre-album single is “Past Lives”, and it’s a lovely, concise pop tune that’s big, pretty and spacious. It continues a trend the band seem to be exploring with more adventurous arrangements, with Efterklang-esque horns floating around the background, and loads of ambiance scattered everywhere.

The band’s had a live lineup shakeup as reported on their Myspace – their touring party now contains the girls from Kyu along with appearances from a brass section where possible. You can see these changes yourself as the band promote the new song alongside The Seabellies on the following tour dates:

• 18th March 2010 – Oxford Art Factory, Sydney
• 19th March 2010 – The Grand Hotel, Wollongong
• 21st March 2010 – Northern Star, Newcastle
• 27th March 2010 – John Curtin Hotel, Melbourne
• 1st April 2010 – The Clubhouse, Brisband

Get amongst it. Their live show comes highly recommended.

Download

• Past Lives (mp3)

I’m in. I’m sold. If Beach House‘s last album Devotion was an introverted, dimly lit Pet Sounds by way of a drum machine, this one’s bigger, brighter, and more assertive. Not that I didn’t like Devotion by any means, but I think I’ll be spinning this one more regularly.

So, the changes in sound: there’s the aforementioned brighter tone to it, for a start. It’s got more dynamic shifts – bigger harmonies, lusher mixes, bigger choruses, but it still manages to retaining the delicate dream-pop elements that are fundamental to the band’s sound. Instrumentally, the arrangements feel a more substantial than past album – Victoria Legrand’s voice is also out front and centre, propelling each song and making sure it connects.

The songs are gorgeous – first single “Norway” definitely sticks out as the biggest, catchiest number, but opener “Zebra” and “Lover of Mine” come close in infectiousness, with the latter particularly finding a groove amidst some subtle 80s pop influences. “Real Love” definitely jumps in as a highlight in the form of a lovely, slow-burning ballad.

There’s not a lot more I need to say. If you’re into music that’s dreamy, sunny, texture-rich and song-oriented, this one’s in category A. I highly recommend it. If I could hack a metaphor, Beach House seem to overcome their indoor-bound introversions and discovered the outdoors. This album is a natural progression – neither a leap nor a baby step – but the results are working for me, and I think it’ll take the band to a bigger crowd.

Also: I also have to make special note of the packaging – I picked up the special edition CD and it’s brilliantly presented as a folded digipak box with individual full-page artwork for each song. Really enjoyable. The special edition also comes with a DVD containing video clips for every one of the album’s songs. Buy your music yo, it rewards you with pretty pictures and stuff.

Teen Dream is out now on CD through Mistletone/Inertia. The vinyl release is available for import from Sub Pop.

Listen

• Norway (mp3)
• Walk in the Park (mp3)

It’s taken me the two weeks since Massive Attack‘s new album came out for me to decide I’m ready to put my thoughts together on this album, and even then I’m not entirely sure I’ve got my head around it altogether.

Let’s get things started with the bit I wasn’t expecting to write: this album’s not crap.

I know, I’m scratching my head as well. After the dismally middling 100th Window, and all of the subsequent rumours of the remaining two members of Massive Attack’s barely-functioning relationship, I’d basically given up on Massive Attack or any kind of return to their former greatness.

Having said this, this isn’t (in my humble opinion) a return to band’s greatness as seen in their best works – but in a lot of ways I think comparing Heligoland to those albums will perhaps inhibit your enjoyment: I started to properly enjoy the album once I managed to disentangle my listening from comparing the album to it’s predecessors, and trying to work out where it fit within the Massive sound.

The album’s sound and aesthetic is clean, and bright: it’s melodic, it’s pure. This is not entirely good, but it’s not entirely bad either. There’s no sonic grime – no Blue Lines vinyl crackle and hiss or Mezzanine distortion. It’s calculated and precise, and most definitely digital – occasionally with a little too much Pro Tools post-production applied. That’s not to say it doesn’t have atmosphere – there’s plenty, it just manifests itself in different ways. There’s less bombast by way of slow, plodding beats or rib-shattering sub-bass, but the band manage to conjure up dark and occasionally downbeat textures by way of other means, including an unexpected presence of recognizably acoustic instruments: pianos, horns, drums and guitars.

The highlights are definitely pushed forward by their guest appearances – Tunde Adebimpe (saves an otherwise potentially dull song), Hope Sandoval (absolutely stellar), Horace Andy (“Girl I Love You” is excellent) and Damon Albarn (excellent) each turn out incredible tracks, largely due to their performances and songwriting input. Elbow’s Guy Harvey’s modern futuristic spy tune feels like it’s trying a little hard to be a clever tune, but it ends up winning you by the time it reaches its horn-laden conclusion. Robert Del Naja seems to have given up on rapping (unfortunately) but he manages to turn out two good singing performances on “Rush Minute” and “Atlas Air” – but these songs, while decent, seem let down by uneven arrangement and production, both feeling a little bit laborious and uninspired in their assembly.

And then there are the missteps, sure – “Splitting The Atom” is an embarrassing attempt at a lighter Blue Lines-era tune with phoned-in performances from Daddy G, Horace Andy and Del Naja, while Martina Topley-Bird’s two contributions are pleasant enough but ultimately unremarkable.

All this being said, I found once I got amongst the album and let it speak on it’s own terms it’s thoroughly listenable and definitely enjoyable. A few tunes will be able to stand as classic tracks in the Massive Attack oeuvre, and many of the remaining at the very least contribute to a cohesive album.

Colour me surprised – I wasn’t expecting much from this one at all.

“Splitting The Atom” Video

A lot of people are saying they really love the new Four Tet album – I don’t think I’ve got anything too unique to add, just chipping in to agree really.

I reviewed this record’s preceding release – the Ringer EP – on Polaroids of Androids and as a conclusion wondered whether it was a sort of experiment, or a hint of the nature of his next album. Turns out, it was kind of both: There Is Love In You does have similarities – soft four-to-the-floor foundations, organic samples scattered liberally and flourishes of synth elements – but it pulls back on the hypnotic, lengthy song structures just slightly and tightens up the focus of each piece. It ends up as an accessible, thoroughly enjoyable listen. It’s at times happy (“Circling”), bouncy (“Sing”), baddass (“Love Cry”) and simplistically beautiful (“She Just Likes To Fight”) in turn.

In amongst all of those above words, I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m finding it really really good.

Stream

• Love Cry on Myspace (best I can do, sorry)

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you contender #1 for Worst Album Cover of 2010.

Disclaimer: it’s usually my policy not to write negative reviews. Felt like this one was a valid exception to the rule.

I really wasn’t expecting the anticipation that came ahead of Midlake‘s The Courage of Others being released. Sure, The Trials of Van Occupanther was a cool album and all, but I didn’t realise it had attracted as large a number of devotees as there seemed to be anxiously hankering out for this one.

If my last review was one of extremely low expectations being surpassed, this one is the polar opposite. I mean, daaaaamnnn.

I should have known as soon as I saw the awful cover art. But no, your hapless reviewer soldiered on and gave this album not one, but many listens.

Where to start! I mean, hasn’t the druidic folk thing kind of been played out to death already? Haven’t we got enough classic albums (mostly released in the 70s) with ambling fingerpicking and mumbled mystical lyrics that work better than this? Not to mention bombastic harmonies? Friggin’ multi-tracked flute ensemble arrangements? (no offense to the flautists). From start to finish, it plays like a bad 70s hippie-folk throwback you’d discover in the bargain vinyl collection, almost to the point of comedy. Well, it would be, if it wasn’t so dull.

This album has the following unwavering constants: minor keys, epic choruses laden in three to four part harmonies, and slow tempos. One song blurs into the next. I was pretty ecstatic every time I approached the end of each listen.

And here’s the problem: it’s not badly done. I mean, they’ve pulled it together sounding remarkably true to this whole vein of music. It just comes off sounding a little too wishy-washy, not to mention limp and largely lifeless. What a shame.

The Courage of Others came out on the 1st of February through Speak ‘n’ Spell Music, if you’re still keen.

I find it a little bizarre that I’m writing about this album, as I’m frequently not much of a fan of the lo-fi garage rock ‘n’ roll set. I don’t think it’s a genre prejudice, I just find that the line between “authentic” and “sloppy” can be altogether too blurry at times.

Having heard the The Soft Pack‘s recent Australian release of singles, b-sides and demos entitled Exctinction, I was gearing up to dump the band in the “sloppy” category. The release, apparently intended to capture interest arising from the group’s “buzz” status, contained a lot of songs with mediocre-to-dismal sound quality and a general lack of impact.

It was with little enthusiasm, then, that I gave the band another go with their new self-titled. Surprisingly, what jumped out at me was a different band to what I’d previously encountered. The production, granted, is more refined: the arrangements are more pre-meditated than before, in the way the guitars blend, the vocal harmonies and the dynamics of the songs. Many might cry foul of this as “losing the vibe”, but here’s the thing: unlike the previous songs I’d heard from the band, all these modifications allowed the hooks to shine through. And, as it turns out, these boys have a knack for writing hooks – tons of them.

This is infectious stuff – no revolutions here, just an album that’s a 32 minute ride of quality, rollicking rockers. Despite the aforementioned production values, the album’s sound still retains the punch of a band-in-the-room aesthetic. The songs saunter along, usually at a brisk pace. It’s got singable choruses and a boatload of energetic riffs. The refinements simply aid the band in hitting the spot more consistently, making for a much more enjoyable start-to-finish experience.

In conclusion, I think what’s been managed here is a straddling between the two extremes – spontaneous, “authentic” performances and refined production value. Too much of either and you lose the plot, but The Soft Pack have managed to turn out a release that walks the line neatly in the middle without pandering to either side. The result is a cunningly executed balance: when it comes served like this I’m not too concerned about its originality, I’m having too much fun enjoying the ride.

The Soft Pack comes out March 6th through Pod/Inertia.

Download

• Answer to Yourself (mp3)

I’ve been utterly blown away by and constantly replaying this album of late since first having my ears massacred by it a few weeks back. Yes, massacred. It’s an experience to behold: layers of rib shattering bass, gorgeously arranged strings and horns, delicate piano and scattered glitched out fuzz.

Finding words to describe the album is not particularly easy: it defies categorisation but sits somewhere in the general realm of modern ambient composition. That being said, it straddles just about every gap – both organic and electronic, beautiful and abrasive, melodic and dissonant.

I first came across the album after hearing “Híbakúsja” late one night on FBi. It was intriguing but radio’s definitely not the medium to listen to this stuff through! Once you hear it a high quality recording an entire panorama of bleak, paranoid soundscapes open up and completely immerse you. It’s terrifying, but simultaneously exhilarating. Sorry about the semi-hyperbolic language, can you tell I enjoy listening to it?

Comparisons? It defies them, but the works do remind me a little of Efterklang in places, particularly the use of horns. Amiina (Sigur Ròs’ string quartet) make an appearance, so some will draw links to that. Frost’s collaborator and co-producer Valgeir Sigurðsson also works with Björk and a host of others, so you there’s plenty of that Icelandic experimentalism happening in the mix.

Whatever the case, give it a shot. It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea but it’s definitely a mind expanding and thoroughly rewarding listen.

Listen to the whole album at Ben Frost’s bandcamp site

It’s been a mayhemic few months and, as you may or may not have noticed, not a lot of blogging has happened here on Joe.Blog in that time… but I’ve been absorbing plenty of music nonetheless. Despite the lack of in-depth coverage, a lot of that music has been discussed on my Twitter feed.

For those of you who don’t get amongst the whole Twitter thang, I thought I’d give a broad summary of some of my musically related tweets, along with some additional thoughts. There are plenty of mp3s linked, so you’ve got a good amount of music to download, stick on your iPod and get amongst.

Hopefully you’ll enjoy this fly-by retrospective, for what it’s worth. And, of course, if you want to actually get this stuff as I’m blabbering about it, you can follow me on @flukazoid.

Why?

Oct 13, 2009: Finally have the new Why? album. To say I am excited is an understatement.

Oct 14, 2009: the new Why? album… didn’t think I’d like an album full of Yoni singing this much, but it’s hitting the spot for me

It’s not hard to see why (pun!) the new Why? album Eskimo Snow isn’t being given the same rapturous applause that Alopecia was getting, but this collection of song-songs (rather than hip-hop via songs) still has the capacity to get under your skin. The lyrics are frequently insecure musings on life and death, and as a result the tone is a good deal more sombre – but it’s still hard to work out what is delivered with a good dash of irony and what’s actually sincere. Who knows. At any rate I greatly enjoyed the album and if you liked previous Why? works then you should definitely give this some spins. Just make sure it gets multiples.

Download

• Eskimo Snow (mp3)

Justin Vernon gets wacky

Sept 18, 2009: surprised by Justin Vernon’s new band Volcano Choir. cutups, loops, abstract arrangements. potentially awesome, we’ll see. spectral folk?

Oct 23, 2009: Still getting my head around the Volcano Choir LP. Parts are phenomenal, other bits lose me a little. Certainly impressive, at least…

Let me just state: IF ANOTHER PERSON QUOTES THE DAMN JUSTIN-VERNON-IN-THE-WOODS STORY I WILL THROW HIS ALBUM OUT THE WINDOW.

Ahem. Maybe Justin was feeling the same way. Although Volcano Choir pre-existed Bon Iver, this album is certainly a huge departure from anything that will appeal to a good proportion of Bon Iver’s fanbase. The Americana/folk influences are there, but it’s been heavily tampered with a huge amount of editing and sampling, not to mention bucketloads of reverb. At it’s best, it’s powerful and compelling. At it’s worst it tries a little too hard, ends up as a wash up digital haze and leaves you appreciating the technique rather than the music. It’s interesting, but hasn’t rewarded replays for me yet.

Download

• Island, IS (mp3)

The Yeasayer single and album

Oct 31, 2009: Cranking this up as soon as I get home RT @pitchforkmedia: Listen to the new Yeasayer single, “Ambling Alp” http://bit.ly/4rIlN

Oct 31, 2009: nice work topspin… turned up for the free yeasayer mp3, ended up buying the limited 12″ and extra downloads. http://www.amblingalp.com/

Oct 31, 2009: whoa, new yeasayer sounds like some good fun. too much fun almost? hmmm. think I’m down with it…

Oct 31, 2009: after listen #2, the new yeasayer is AOK by me

Dec 16, 2009: kind of getting depressed about the initial reports I’m hearing about yeasayer’s new album. gotta stop reading spoilers and d/l it tonight

Dec 16, 2009: headphones retrieved. halfway through new Yeasayer. my brain is exploding. this is AWESOME.

It’s enough of a grower that it rewards plenty of listens, but catchy enough that it’ll ensure you actually get there too. The new Yeasayer album entitled Odd Blood (to be released on February 8, 2010) is incredible, so’s the single, and you need to make sure you get amongst it. It’s worlds different from the excellent All Hour Cymbals, but continues the freaky, multi-genre amalgamating, 80s referencing experimentation while staying on a firmly pop-savvy footing.

I guess what I am trying to say is IT IS COOL JUST BUY IT.

Downloads

• Ambling Alp (free mp3)
• O.N.E. (free mp3)

Two guys called Girls

Oct 23, 2009: hadn’t heard a thing from Girls (the band). just sat down and listened to Album (the album) from start to finish. I’m in. hooked. awesome.

Nov 6, 2009: Lunch + Girls (the band, or specifically Album) + Park Bench = one of my favourite lunches ever

The story behind Girls‘ debut album (called Album) and songwriter Christopher Owens’ living hell with the Children of God cult has been well documented (almost to as much over-repetition as the aforemention Bon Iver story). I won’t repeat it here, but somehow in his culturally isolated environment he managed to pick up a fine ear for melody and a penchant for creating great archetypal rock song structures. It works well, and combined with bandmate JR White’s production, it’s a woozy, psychedelic and overall sad collection of songs about, well, girls mostly. The hype has left it overrated, but it still deserves attention. It’ll be great to see what happens next providing drugs don’t kill the band first.

Downloads

• Hellhole Ratrace (mp3)

The Drones – Live at The Hi-Fi

Oct 24, 2009: the new Drones live album MELTS MY FACE

The Drones released a special live album entitled Live at the Hi-Fi. It was produced for a special 2CD edition of 2008′s brilliant Havilah album and exhibits the band blowing the roof off The Hi-Fi in Brisbane and is thoroughly enjoyable. Recommended.

Download

• Shark Fin Blues (live at the Hi-Fi AAC)

F*** Buttons make another insanely amazing album

Dec 5, 2009: Words can not begin to describe how awesome the new F*** Buttons album is for road trips

Nov 19, 2009: some seriously Vangelis moments on F$&# Buttons’ new track “Olympians”… I should be outside running. in slow motion. across a finish line

Dec 28, 2009: Roadtrip with two goons, F*** Buttons cranked to potentially dangerous levels and mayhem abounding. A sort of entertaining way to go insane

Only a year after their first album Street Horrrsing was released, F*** Buttons burst back on the scene with another development of their approach to beat driven noise-pop. It boasts Andy Weatherall on production duties (?!) and has a more streamlined, accessible sound. Put simply, it’s really cool and entirely addictive.

Download

• (sorry no mp3s, just buy it)

Other albums and tracks I really dug

Dec 15, 2009: Isis and I had a moment (or 10) on a late night drive… Wavering Radiant really is a great album.

And that’s basically all there is to say – Wavering Radiant by Isis is some phenomenal post-metal. Plenty of texture, intricacies and thoroughly enjoyable songcraft. Even if you’re not typically into this kind of thing, give it a go anyway.

Download

• 20 Minutes, 40 Years (mp3)

Dec 10, 2009: you’ve all gone and checked out Telefonica right? http://bit.ly/8QfYuC they deserve another mention. get their album immediately.

Jan 6, 2010: getting amongst the new Danimals tracks… it’s nice stuff, got a kinda FlyLo/Prefuse 73 meets BMSR thing happening. http://bit.ly/4CABGL

Oct 29, 2009: hey go check out this new tune on @poa by Sydney band Guineafowl http://bit.ly/e3GH0 … nice lo-fi upbeat pop, reminds me a little of TVotR

The above are just three of many examples of why Sydney’s indie music scene is so amazing at the moment.

Oct 24, 2009: My little bro bought me SDRE’s Diary on vinyl. Truly I have the best brother. (it sounds unreal)

SDRE = Sunny Day Real Estate, a proto-emo rock band from the early 90s. Their debut, Diary, was an underground hit in it’s day, inspired an entire new wave of bands of that ilk (for better or worse) and still has effects to this day. The band recently reformed for a tour and with that their Sub Pop albums were remastered and reissued. I’ll be seeing them on February 23rd at the UNSW Roundhouse.

Triple J Unearthed for iPhone actually rocks

Jan 14, 2010: kudos to @triplej for the new Unearthed iPhone app. great concept, stellar execution. hoping it will lead to lots of grassroots discovery!

There’s a lot of hate for Triple J in the blogosphere, but I’ve really got to hand it to them for this impressive work. This is commitment to getting unsigned music into the hands of as many people as people. Bored? Sick of what’s on your music player? This is encouraging people to discover their New Favourite Band in their idlest moments. I have nothing but praise for the initiative.

Download

• Unearthed for iPhone (app)