girl anachronism

Argh, could a mod please change "Laura" to Laika in the title? Worst autocorrect.

In!

Dean Blunt- Black Metal

Found this an odd listen in that I don't think I've ever felt simultaneously immersed in and totally distant from a record whilst listening.  The guitar work on the first few tracks had a nice, hazy Kurt Vile sort of feel, which I liked, the girl's vocals were great and I dug the call and the response stuff, but I found the main vocal really jarring and off-putting.  Some of the longer tracks in the middle showed promise, nice sparse beats and wordless vocals, but then (particularly in "X"), there were blasts of dancehall/euphoria sounds coming out of nowhere that really didn't fit with the rest of what was going on.  Some of the harsher electronic stuff reminded me of Encre, but a lot less interesting.  The last few tracks where there was a more grimy, spoken-word vocal worked better, but I sort of felt I was done with the album by that point and wished he'd taken more of that approach throughout.  There were elements here that I did enjoy, however the album as a whole felt disjointed and lazy, a bit of an identity crisis, and I almost felt that it was intended to be a difficult listen.

2/5

Ariel Pink- Pom Pom

...and almost instantly, I found myself pining for Dean Blunt.  I really can't articulate what it is I dislike most about this record.  "Plastic Raincoats" felt like it was made to be a soundtrack to some kooky mobile phone commercial and the playground chanting was infuriating.  Then there was the excessively glam guitar work, the weird, uncomfortable porn groove stuff and pan pipes.  PAN PIPES.  It's hard to believe that this was a record released for listening pleasure and not a sleep-deprivation tactic from Guantanamo Bay.  I certainly felt like I'd been waterboarded with Red Bull, or Relentless, or something even more ropey. I considered giving it one point for actually being able to provoke such a hostile response from me, but since I hated everything about it, I ended up with that Ugly Kid Joe song stuck in my head which only exacerbated my fury.

NIL POINTS

The Decemberists- What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World

I really like The Decemberists and all the essential ingredients are present here: theatrical lexicon, orchestral flourishes, skillful musicianship and lovely harmonies.  Might be a grower, but finding this lacking in big memorable songs.  The single is great and a lot of the folkier tracks have a bit of a Richard and Linda Thompson vibe, which I liked, but overall quite a safe yet palatable listen.  

3/5

I'll review today also

"Other bands/side projects" maybe?

Also, this was great. Really looking forward to more discoveries!

I think it felt long to me as it definitely felt like it was in "parts", if that makes sense.  There was (for me anyway) a definite shift in style between the tracks at the start and the end.  For me, it felt like similarly paced and sounding tracks were grouped together, which maybe contributed to it feeling longer than it is on paper.

Water Torture- Pillbox

I seem to have become a lot more receptive to this sort of stuff in the last couple of years.  I can take or leave fast blasts and that sort of thing- I don't find the whole pace thing too impressive and it can feel like a bit of an endurance at times.  That said, I thought the low-end riffs and vocals were totally ferocious and I imagine it'd be outstandingly visceral live.  Felt all the noise interludes worked well and added a really unsettling quality to the record as a whole.  Would love to see it live.

3/5

This Will Destroy You- Another Language

When this initially started, I really liked it.  Really ethereal sounding and some of the synths in the first track in particular sounded very Eno-esque.  Then they ruined it for me by hammering on the volume. The drum sound was not my thing at all. In the end, I found this quite a frustrating listen as I tended to find the parts of songs I was really enjoying were (quite prematurely) in a lot of songs, truncated and sacrificed for volume.  Some great shimmering sounds, but it's the post-rock predictability that I don't like and much preferred the songs that built layers round repetition and did something a little more spacey and interesting, which felt a bit few and far between on this.   Fared better on repeat listens, but not by much.

2/5

Shabazz Palaces- Lese Majesty

Thought some of the arrangements on the early tracks in particular were great- really sci-fi soundtrack-esque and interesting.  I'm more used to hip-hop where the track's propelled along by the vocals, so it seemed a little odd initially with the vocals being so processed.  With that in mind, I felt the beats could have maybe done with being a little less pedestrian, though still found it an enjoyable listen for the most part.  I really liked the humour in some of the tracks and enjoyed some of the more directly-approached stuff a little later on when I could hear the vocals a bit better. Overall, I think it suffered for being a bit on the long side and I definitely felt my interest waning during the latter tracks, though it did flow incredibly well.  

3.5/5

Was great to check out some music I don't think I'd have come across otherwise.  Of the 3, I'd be most likely to listen to Shabazz Palaces again, but would probably enjoy Water Torture live.

Go on then

I'm aiming to improve my backing vocals. It's something that I've tried to work on myself, but until I learn to do project my voice properly, I'm just going to continue hurting my throat. Hoping to get some lessons booked.

Took some singing lessons, enjoyed them and learned a lot. My posture and technique had been all wrong, so it didn't take long for me to start noticing a difference once that was rectified. Having a lot of fun chipping in with backing vocals, which I'm now doing a lot more frequently and have felt motivated to try writing some lyrics too.

A ringing endorsement.

Hate shite like this http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jul/22/thomas-the-tank-engine-children-parents

That's ridiculous. What is wrong with people?!

Same. They all seemed really nice.

Copied/pasted:

"By the way. See the lass in the picture. She is an absolute STANKMONSTER"

"Not kidding. Check the state of her puss. Rotten man. Seen tastier looking dog shites"

Really awful to see that, no need.

The guy plays bass in a band from Glasgow called Vasa. We've played with them before, they came across as nice people, so this is disappointing.

Ah, okay, I'm not familiar with the band, my mistake. The guy having a go seemed to think she was.

I enjoyed it, it was a very funny read. It's hard enough not to come across like a bit of a fanny in interviews at the best of times, but these guys have managed to make themselves sound quite spectacularly bad.

I think a lot of people shared it because they found it amusing, it's borderline Spinal Tap. Although I didn't bother reading all the comments, there were some very unsavoury attacks made by one individual in particular, in quite a sustained and aggressive way, on the girl in the band, which was really awful and uncalled for.

:-(

Is this still happening? Heard rumblings of all Euro dates being cancelled? Big sads if that's the case...

Yeah I don't think we quite had the same level of energy. Realised I'm too old for putting on LCH shows during the week if we're working during the day. A lot of prep goes in to them and I was dead on my feet before we even got doors open- TO'D and T'D for sure! Was worth it though.

Poor Things were fantastic, total champs. Everything is just so together, especially the vocals. It's also quite something to see a bass player with such a gnarly bass with broken machine heads and everything sound that great. What a hero! Picked up a record so hoping to get a chance to listen to it today.

Thanks to everyone for coming out, next one is at the end of the month: Saturday the 24th at Downstairs again and we have Robot Doctors coming up from Dundee to play that one.

http://robotdoctors.bandcamp.com

Thanks Adam. I've never felt such pressure! The "I thought they were going to be shit but they're actually quite good" sentiment can only last so long. Really looking forward to this gig.

In related news, I will be taking my large, unworn Das McManus T shirt down to the gig in the hope of swapping it for a medium. If I were to keep it could only be used as a nightie. Please advise if your returns policy will not cover this.

I believe the returns policy does indeed cover this. If you elect to change your mind and keep it as a nightie, this will not affect your statutory rights.

Really, really looking forward to this. Both Depeche Choad and Poor Things were great the last time I saw them. The Poor Things record is fantastic.

To get back to current music- saw Autumn Hang at Cellar on Saturday night and was mightily impressed. Not my usual thing and wasn't expecting to enjoy the music as much as I did, but kudos, it was great!

Awesome! Looking forward to these!

So because of this the guitars are loud to fill in more space in the mix. They're panned too, which may give a loud feel to the whole thing.

 

Yep, I get this, we do the same with pulling out certain frequencies to get the best out of our limited recording resources.  Joe is spot on with what he says above.  I think additionally to not sounding completely crap though, it actually retains the energy of the song, which is important and isn't always the easiest thing to achieve.