Simple yet effective is back, people.
It's the age of austrity, music is rediscovering melody and none more sucessfully than The Candle Thieves. The duo - from Peterborough, never knowingly infamous for musicians unless you know otherwise - have a straight-forward, innocent side, at turns endearing and naive. "Breathing (Just For You)" is a repositining of Owl City to the shires of England and it's all the brighter for its playful charm.
The Candle Thieves spent the best part of 2010 on the road with gigs ranging from colourful toytown instrumentation at fans’ local pubs, living-rooms, kitchens and back-gardens to high-profile US support slots for Scissor Sisters, Lissie and David Gray, in-between releasing acclaimed EP ‘Sunshine And Other Misfortunes.’
With all the talk of cuts and budget constraints, why not enjoy the stripped-down simplicity of a darn-good pop song.
I don't do scores usually, so give the Candle Thieves a luminance rating of "sparkly".
"Breathing (Just For You)" is released on the 21 March.
You can find them - www.myspace.com/thecandlethieves
Tuesday, 1 March 2011
Monday, 7 February 2011
Robert Miles "Thirteen"
In the mists of time, hidden amongst layers of subsequently placed concerns about paying the bills, football statistics and favourite recipes, is the memory of “Dreamland”, the shockingly successful (16 platinum discs, 12 gold, across 21 countries) album from Robert Miles. If you don’t remember him for “Children”, try “One and One”, the follow-up single with the female vocalist....Got it? Good. Now forget all of that, because it won’t help you one bit here.
“Thirteen” is essentially Miles’ “where I am now” album, and as his sixth studio release it is distinctly soft-rock and guitar wig-outs. The licks of guitars are everywhere; reverb on “Somnambulism”, jamming on “Black Rubber”, and fuzzy amongst the tin-pot drums throughout “Archives”. This possibly is some kind of midlife crisis (Miles is 41), for amongst the mild sci-fi hints (an obscured vocal sample features across all songs saying the same thing) and loose feel of a concept album, all the songs here sound like is the forced marriage of dance and lift muzak.
In fairness, this is not the dance music of the contemporary club scene, and should not be compared with that kind of output. Putting the guitars to one side, as one expects should have been suggested by his producers, the tinny drums and basic chillout here is simplistic stuff. It would appear obvious to point out how disappointing this album is, though they do say “Thirteen” is unlucky.
“Thirteen” is essentially Miles’ “where I am now” album, and as his sixth studio release it is distinctly soft-rock and guitar wig-outs. The licks of guitars are everywhere; reverb on “Somnambulism”, jamming on “Black Rubber”, and fuzzy amongst the tin-pot drums throughout “Archives”. This possibly is some kind of midlife crisis (Miles is 41), for amongst the mild sci-fi hints (an obscured vocal sample features across all songs saying the same thing) and loose feel of a concept album, all the songs here sound like is the forced marriage of dance and lift muzak.
In fairness, this is not the dance music of the contemporary club scene, and should not be compared with that kind of output. Putting the guitars to one side, as one expects should have been suggested by his producers, the tinny drums and basic chillout here is simplistic stuff. It would appear obvious to point out how disappointing this album is, though they do say “Thirteen” is unlucky.
Tuesday, 11 January 2011
Britney Spears "Hold It Against Me"
So it's out there, and YouTube is full with "0 Views" hastily copied videos of it, Twitter is awashed with RT'd links to naughty download sites, and Facebook seems to have become a de facto fan site....
Yes, Britney Spears - the schoolgirl gone RnB princess via media meltdown - has a new single out (as though any of the contrived publicity has passed out by). Is it any good? Erm...Well....
It's a muddle of a song, to be fair. The title - "Hold It Against Me" - is the tag-line for the world's worst chat-up line (and, it seems, written in more seriousness than The Bellamy Brothers ever did).
There's just the hint of the GaGa about it (the 'in the club playing my favourite tune' vibe of the first verse is clearly hoyked from "Telephone"), with the dubstep beats and multi-layered vocals all combining together with an over familiarity. Remember when Kylie over-used the vocal-effect of 'coming up to air from underwater' ? It's here, right before the Eurovision-style key change for the end. There's even a sudden stop ending, an old throwback if ever I heard one...
All that said....however....it's a comeback single alright, one which shows intent and direction. Faced with Rhianna and Lady Gaga, and witnessing the hapless reinventions of one time rival Christina Aguilera, le Spears has not embarrassed herself much at all. Tap your foot, nod your head, murmur along to the words whilst in the shower; it's at the upper end of 'decent'.
Whole new image? Entirely new direction? Revolutionary reinvention? Not a chance. It's still very identifiable as Britney Spears, unusual mouth-full-of-boiled-vegetables voice an' all; it sure as Heck ain't "Toxic".
Yes, Britney Spears - the schoolgirl gone RnB princess via media meltdown - has a new single out (as though any of the contrived publicity has passed out by). Is it any good? Erm...Well....
It's a muddle of a song, to be fair. The title - "Hold It Against Me" - is the tag-line for the world's worst chat-up line (and, it seems, written in more seriousness than The Bellamy Brothers ever did).
There's just the hint of the GaGa about it (the 'in the club playing my favourite tune' vibe of the first verse is clearly hoyked from "Telephone"), with the dubstep beats and multi-layered vocals all combining together with an over familiarity. Remember when Kylie over-used the vocal-effect of 'coming up to air from underwater' ? It's here, right before the Eurovision-style key change for the end. There's even a sudden stop ending, an old throwback if ever I heard one...
All that said....however....it's a comeback single alright, one which shows intent and direction. Faced with Rhianna and Lady Gaga, and witnessing the hapless reinventions of one time rival Christina Aguilera, le Spears has not embarrassed herself much at all. Tap your foot, nod your head, murmur along to the words whilst in the shower; it's at the upper end of 'decent'.
Whole new image? Entirely new direction? Revolutionary reinvention? Not a chance. It's still very identifiable as Britney Spears, unusual mouth-full-of-boiled-vegetables voice an' all; it sure as Heck ain't "Toxic".
Monday, 10 January 2011
Sleeper
Back when NME used to leave newspaper print on your fingers, and "Melody Maker" wasn't the name of an iPhone app, Britain rocked to the sound of one of the last genuine musical movements.
Jealous of being locked out of the older scene - where a single £15 pill would last all weekend - the kids of the 90s picked up their guitars and generated years of a very British music revolution. Call it 'Britpop' or 'indie', it was the coming together of northern lads borrowing from Merseybeat and southerners taking on the Mod sound, in a gear-shift in cultural attitudes and behaviour. It wasn't without its low points (ahem, cough, Kula Shaker, aichooo), nor did it end when it should have done (go away, Silver Sun), but don't we all want to compartmentalise our youth into little packages? Course we do.
And here's the thing: most retrospectives will stuff their pages chocka with the Union Flag plus Gallagher combo, plastering the memories with posters of blokes and their outgrown fringes. Despite the best efforts of many female-fronted and all female-bands (from Sneaker Pimps through to Lush), the majority male bias to the scene remains the more profitable to recall.
This is a shame, not least because any broadbrush overview ignores the very specific reasons why Britpop was unlike any other modern musical moment. (Why are all contemporary females in pop soloists, whilst men make up the groups? Wasn't always ever thus...)
Louise Wener's Sleeper (as they were always called, especially in Select), did not use femininity as a leitmotiv, though female twists to the narrative did appear throughout their time bothering in the charts. It was Wener, to be fair, who sold the band for what they were. Her voice - with the fragile break of Tracy Thorn about it - and indie-chic look (dividing schoolboys between her and fellow pop Louise Nerding from Eternal) were vital pieces in the Sleeper jigsaw. Yes, they had more radio-friendly melodies than many of the other girl-led bands (Elastica, for example, tended to stay away from mainstream radio stations), but that is by no means a crime. Heck, it got Garbage through two albums before the scene finally ended its final come down.
Sleeper stand up today to much critical scrutiny. This is uncommon - Lush turned out too many middling fillers for my liking, and Echobelly had a firework-like career (though check out "Djinn", if you can, cracking late-late-late-career single). Sleeper have a constituency and maturity which belies the mainstream, readily available nature of their output.
There's plenty of songs I could highlight, but I'll go for the couple to which I return the most. "Inbetweener" - the name living on in cult Channel 4 sitcom-land, though not the same meaning - and "She's a Good Girl". I hope the unitiated enjoy.
Jealous of being locked out of the older scene - where a single £15 pill would last all weekend - the kids of the 90s picked up their guitars and generated years of a very British music revolution. Call it 'Britpop' or 'indie', it was the coming together of northern lads borrowing from Merseybeat and southerners taking on the Mod sound, in a gear-shift in cultural attitudes and behaviour. It wasn't without its low points (ahem, cough, Kula Shaker, aichooo), nor did it end when it should have done (go away, Silver Sun), but don't we all want to compartmentalise our youth into little packages? Course we do.
And here's the thing: most retrospectives will stuff their pages chocka with the Union Flag plus Gallagher combo, plastering the memories with posters of blokes and their outgrown fringes. Despite the best efforts of many female-fronted and all female-bands (from Sneaker Pimps through to Lush), the majority male bias to the scene remains the more profitable to recall.
This is a shame, not least because any broadbrush overview ignores the very specific reasons why Britpop was unlike any other modern musical moment. (Why are all contemporary females in pop soloists, whilst men make up the groups? Wasn't always ever thus...)
Louise Wener's Sleeper (as they were always called, especially in Select), did not use femininity as a leitmotiv, though female twists to the narrative did appear throughout their time bothering in the charts. It was Wener, to be fair, who sold the band for what they were. Her voice - with the fragile break of Tracy Thorn about it - and indie-chic look (dividing schoolboys between her and fellow pop Louise Nerding from Eternal) were vital pieces in the Sleeper jigsaw. Yes, they had more radio-friendly melodies than many of the other girl-led bands (Elastica, for example, tended to stay away from mainstream radio stations), but that is by no means a crime. Heck, it got Garbage through two albums before the scene finally ended its final come down.
Sleeper stand up today to much critical scrutiny. This is uncommon - Lush turned out too many middling fillers for my liking, and Echobelly had a firework-like career (though check out "Djinn", if you can, cracking late-late-late-career single). Sleeper have a constituency and maturity which belies the mainstream, readily available nature of their output.
There's plenty of songs I could highlight, but I'll go for the couple to which I return the most. "Inbetweener" - the name living on in cult Channel 4 sitcom-land, though not the same meaning - and "She's a Good Girl". I hope the unitiated enjoy.
Tuesday, 28 December 2010
Last Lungs
Lancashire post-rock lovelies Last Lungs agreed to sit around a table for a little chat about their tour, plans for the future, and an unexpected favourite track for the journey home [clue, it's at the bottom of this entry ;)]
The interview can be found right here
A little slice of their stuff is right here :
Oh, and for a treat, as played on their van home...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjLcQMO5SS4
((This interview took place at the New Continental, Preston))
The interview can be found right here
A little slice of their stuff is right here :
Oh, and for a treat, as played on their van home...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjLcQMO5SS4
((This interview took place at the New Continental, Preston))
Tuesday, 14 December 2010
UndeReview - Next Stop Atlanta "Next Stop Atlanta EP"
Next Stop Atlanta
Truth be told, the pop-punk scene didn’t half trip itself down the steepest of hills just as things appeared to be breaking out into very interesting times. Maybe the need for mainstream foot-tapping melodies over-balanced the logistics necessary in ‘keeping it real’, the fashion equivalent of bringing two north-facing magnets together?
Next Stop Atlanta take to the stage with this history – albeit not personal – putting its hand on their shoulders. For the best part of their EP is reimagining the past, remembering how everything was and could have been. This is the photo album flick-through which doesn’t involve awkwardly skimming past elderly relatives in bikinis or parental units in states of undress. Smiles and relief all round, not least in the familiar surroundings of breakfree choruses lifted above melodic free-for-alls and snappy surf guitars.
To British ears this could seem positively garish, so thankfully the lyrical content has melancholy and regret whisked into the generally over-familiar streetsmart attitude. Unlike the kind of throwaway “songs with no meaning” referenced in the brilliantly catchy “I’ll Catch Fire”, there are substantial, heartfelt moments throughout, strides away from the playground lowlights from recent years.
Opener and typesetting nightmare “fourteennineeightseven” has more bounce than Freejumpers let loose in a multi-storey, all layers of vocal and runaway drums and the much maligned stop/start ending. In short, these are top songs more “Deathcar” than “Ticket Out of Loserville”.
Lesser publications would make issues aplenty with NSA’s female singer, who speaks assuredly from the heart without vocal trickery or (and here’s the thing) an accent from the Emo Stageschool. When asked to soothe worried souls (“When Perfection is Key”) or put the record straight (“You, Me and the Dance Flaw”), her authenticity far outshines any audacity.
That could well be the best summary for the EP; polished production, and tasty little guitar breaks which are superb and conventional in almost equal measure. There is no threat of history sticking out its leg anytime soon, there’s clearly a lot of Next Stop Atlanta to go round only hinted at here. A fine EP and much promised, even if the ambition of the band name may be a while off yet...
Next Stop Atlanta on MySpace, Twitter and Facebook
Saturday, 11 December 2010
Interview with Make Me King
Lancashire’s Make Me King are taking their merry brand of melodic alternative rock on the road to promote “The Whisper is a Hint” (RiotPop Records). As their eponymous song says, “every boy needs a score”, and these guys seem to have done that very highly with a polished and professional debut EP.
“Since we started all this, for like three years, all I’ve wanted to do is live in a van touring,” sighs bassist Lewis Clark, his youthful expectation hidden behind thick facial hair which didn’t need anyone shaking Movember sponsorship forms to get going.
Guitarist Jack Mason, having helped Deep Elm Records’ Last Lungs on their national tour earlier this year, nods his head sagely; “There’s nothing better. You’re partying, you’re drinking, you may or may not be doing drugs, and you’re playing gigs. It does me.”
Formed three years ago at a college in Preston, the path which leads the twenty-somethings to publicising their debut appears to have been not merely direct but lined with travelators. The tangible result is an album brimming with attitude, confidence and youthful zeal, one with a coherence which hides the truth of its disjointed origins.
Guitarist Sean Marshall explains, “The thing is, it didn’t all get recorded in one section. It’s more luck, to be honest, if it all sounds like it works together. We kinda put “Every Truth or Dare” in the middle of our set and worked things out from there.”
“We started out pretty pop punk,” Jack chips in, “and now we’ve preferred to write now we’ve grown up over the years.”
“Growing up” strikes as a bold claim for the lads as they snigger, chuckle and wisecrack through the interview, relishing with broad grins the chances afforded them and their highly strung set of songs. In the pop-punk tradition, though notably broadened out and matured, their take on the ubiquitous genre is particularly sharp.
Particularly dangerous territory is this sort of thing, littered with Lost Prophets and Fightstar comparisons. Credit to them for knowing how often to hat-tip influences whilst making a path of their own, even if enquiring about influences sets off minor squabbles and layers of interrupted over-talking.
“Right, Jack, just choose two albums, like when you started out or something, and I’ll think about mine,” suggests Sean in full diplomacy mode.
“I kinda loved the old Panic! At The Disco sound on the first....”
“Bastard! Bastard, you stole my one...”
Lewis goes for the rare trait of answering the question.
“Yeah, there’s kinda different things, I dunno, Brand New, like, were a massive influence. Me especially, that guy [Jesse Lacey] is a fucking genius”.
The MMK sound – “swingy choruses, like dun-de-dun-de...sorry” tries Sean by way of explanation – eschews the over familiar hand-clap-and-power-chords combo for variety and production quirks. Having suggested that the upbeat songs could make it possible to jive to their songs, a short debate lands on the certainty of waltzing if nothing else;
“You could waltz to us, I want to see that in our first video, fact, Tower Ballroom, it has to be done,” table-thumps Jack, to agreeable nods from Sean.
“Would be sick, make it happen someone”. Lewis demands, feigning a call to the producers of Strictly Come Dancing.
The topic of “growing up these past few years” comes back to mind, but too many tangents have been fired off to suggest returning to topic. Whatever that had been...
Having joined together as friends and grabbed attention the modern way – “MySpace, back in the day, was at its height for bands”- Make Me King have spent most of the formative years recording. This may point to the eagerness to get out beyond the clubs of the north-west, having ventured to London for two weeks to essentially live in the recording studio.
“The eight-minute ballad I’m going to write for the next album will be about my getting lost on the walk across London listening to Ellie Goulding,” Jack confidently asserts.
Irreverent they may be, committed they most certainly are. All digital voice recordings of this interview suggests no actual conclusion was determined, the lads talking and gabbling on musicianship – “We worked in time signatures switches, like, to advance what ideas we had. Well, a bloke told us that’s what we had done, to be honest.” – to the ongoing NUS protests - “I want to get a job full time, like,” nods Sean. “I fancy a riot,” offers Lewis.
It is probably the best way to conclude the little chat, for even the formality of start-middle-end during conversations seems a bit much. They are good lads with focus, albeit without total command on concentration, and the promise to turn whispers into shouts if the EP is any reasonable guide.
With or without the ballroom dancing...
You can find RiotPop records right here
“Since we started all this, for like three years, all I’ve wanted to do is live in a van touring,” sighs bassist Lewis Clark, his youthful expectation hidden behind thick facial hair which didn’t need anyone shaking Movember sponsorship forms to get going.
Guitarist Jack Mason, having helped Deep Elm Records’ Last Lungs on their national tour earlier this year, nods his head sagely; “There’s nothing better. You’re partying, you’re drinking, you may or may not be doing drugs, and you’re playing gigs. It does me.”
Formed three years ago at a college in Preston, the path which leads the twenty-somethings to publicising their debut appears to have been not merely direct but lined with travelators. The tangible result is an album brimming with attitude, confidence and youthful zeal, one with a coherence which hides the truth of its disjointed origins.
Guitarist Sean Marshall explains, “The thing is, it didn’t all get recorded in one section. It’s more luck, to be honest, if it all sounds like it works together. We kinda put “Every Truth or Dare” in the middle of our set and worked things out from there.”
“We started out pretty pop punk,” Jack chips in, “and now we’ve preferred to write now we’ve grown up over the years.”
“Growing up” strikes as a bold claim for the lads as they snigger, chuckle and wisecrack through the interview, relishing with broad grins the chances afforded them and their highly strung set of songs. In the pop-punk tradition, though notably broadened out and matured, their take on the ubiquitous genre is particularly sharp.
Particularly dangerous territory is this sort of thing, littered with Lost Prophets and Fightstar comparisons. Credit to them for knowing how often to hat-tip influences whilst making a path of their own, even if enquiring about influences sets off minor squabbles and layers of interrupted over-talking.
“Right, Jack, just choose two albums, like when you started out or something, and I’ll think about mine,” suggests Sean in full diplomacy mode.
“I kinda loved the old Panic! At The Disco sound on the first....”
“Bastard! Bastard, you stole my one...”
Lewis goes for the rare trait of answering the question.
“Yeah, there’s kinda different things, I dunno, Brand New, like, were a massive influence. Me especially, that guy [Jesse Lacey] is a fucking genius”.
The MMK sound – “swingy choruses, like dun-de-dun-de...sorry” tries Sean by way of explanation – eschews the over familiar hand-clap-and-power-chords combo for variety and production quirks. Having suggested that the upbeat songs could make it possible to jive to their songs, a short debate lands on the certainty of waltzing if nothing else;
“You could waltz to us, I want to see that in our first video, fact, Tower Ballroom, it has to be done,” table-thumps Jack, to agreeable nods from Sean.
“Would be sick, make it happen someone”. Lewis demands, feigning a call to the producers of Strictly Come Dancing.
The topic of “growing up these past few years” comes back to mind, but too many tangents have been fired off to suggest returning to topic. Whatever that had been...
Having joined together as friends and grabbed attention the modern way – “MySpace, back in the day, was at its height for bands”- Make Me King have spent most of the formative years recording. This may point to the eagerness to get out beyond the clubs of the north-west, having ventured to London for two weeks to essentially live in the recording studio.
“The eight-minute ballad I’m going to write for the next album will be about my getting lost on the walk across London listening to Ellie Goulding,” Jack confidently asserts.
Irreverent they may be, committed they most certainly are. All digital voice recordings of this interview suggests no actual conclusion was determined, the lads talking and gabbling on musicianship – “We worked in time signatures switches, like, to advance what ideas we had. Well, a bloke told us that’s what we had done, to be honest.” – to the ongoing NUS protests - “I want to get a job full time, like,” nods Sean. “I fancy a riot,” offers Lewis.
It is probably the best way to conclude the little chat, for even the formality of start-middle-end during conversations seems a bit much. They are good lads with focus, albeit without total command on concentration, and the promise to turn whispers into shouts if the EP is any reasonable guide.
With or without the ballroom dancing...
You can find RiotPop records right here
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