Albums Of The Year

Albums Of 2015

We are fast approaching the end of the year. So it seems appropriate that I discuss what I think the best albums of the year have been.

Hooton Tennis Club - Highest Point in Cliff Town

Signed to a label that could previously boast the likes of Manic Street Preachers and currently feature bands as diverse as The Wytches and Temples, Hooton Tennis Club have a lot to live up to. Their album released in August 2015 scored solid reviews from various publications. "Highest Point in Cliff Town" makes this list because of its melodic tones and relaxed feel. First single 'Jasper' contains hazy guitars teamed with first album Swim Deep levels of atmosphere. There is also a feel of those bands who signed early to legendary label Creation. It sounds like a rebirth of Teenage Fanclub's debut. The album is extremely catchy and at times a bit silly. Track "P.O.W.E.R.F.U.L P.I.E.R.R.E" is the perfect track that sums that up. Front-man Ryan Murphy sings about tea leaves before launching in to one of the catchiest choruses of the year, 

P.O.W.E.R.F.U.L P.I.E.R.R.E

Drenge - Undertow

After the release of their aggressive, murky self-titled debut album, the Loveless brothers, aka Drenge, returned in 2015 with a second album to give Britsh grunge a good kicking up the backside.‘Undertow’ is the sound of a band who have found their feet. With an added bass player they were able to experiment with new sounds. Album opener ‘Running Wild’ feels gloomier and heavier, and would fit perfectly into an opening scene of a horror film. It sounds polished and dirty at the same time, creating a unique sound - an element that is ever-present throughout the album. 'We Can Do What We Want' is Drenge at their finest. The riffs are grimy with a slight blues feel about them. The song is centred around a highly addictive stomping groove, to which Eoin Loveless adds lyrics telling anyone who dislikes Drenge to fuck off. "No one tells us we are wrong and no one tells us when to stop". 

Standing In The Cold 

Peace - Happy People

In February 2015 Dom Boyce from the band told me that the biggest change Peace have gone through since their debut album 'In Love' made the walls shake in every indie club is the way Peace have written songs. 'In Love' saw the quartet develop musically, there are some serious hits on the album including 'Lost On Me' and stand-out track 'I'm A Girl" which is an instant classic with its heavy guitar based intro and catchy lyrics. As well as writing these songs which have the same power as "Lovesick" Peace can write songs with intricate melodies which has led to guitarist Doug Castle being dubbed as one the best guitarists of his generation.

I'm A Girl

The Wombats - Glitterbug

It is only natural for bands to progress. And with that, they will lose fans but potentially gain some too. This was the case when The Wombats released their third album "Glitterbug". Gone were the scuzzy guitar based riffs from their 2007 debut "A Guide To Love Loss and Desperation" and in their place came neon lights and synths. The album is very clean and crisp which is credit to the group and the producer of the album Mark Crew. Sure it does lack a bit of punch, but it more than makes up for that with immensely catchy songs with instantly memorable choruses. 'Emoticons' and 'Greek Tragedy' are examples of these songs that show the band in a new light and people may say that light is artificial but with the album sounding near perfect when played live, The Wombats have the chance to be playing bigger venues around the world.

Emoticons 

Palma Violets - Danger In The Club

2015 saw the return of Palma Violets who after touring debut album "180" for what seemed like an eternity released their second album "Danger In The Club". "180" was a rough and ragged album, but it was full of emotion, like flicking through drunk photos ten years after they were taken. "Danger in the Club" follows suit, but everything feels more together and enhanced. Yet it still has that same sense of pandemonium and energy, for instance when you hear tracks like ‘Gout Gang Go’ and ‘I Got It’ you can envisage that madness in your head. Palma Violets have achieved a youthful and joyful sound on their second album, which has the power to make you reminisce. It feels like a proper moment. 

Sauna Youth - Distractions 

Post-punk four piece Sauna Youth released their second album 'Distractions' in 2015 and although you may have missed it, you will know about them and the record sooner rather than later. The album is full of interesting sounds and spiky riffs. There are blends of old-school three-chord punk similar to The Buzzcocks and the sophistication of The Cure. There is even a slight hint of 70s pub-rock hidden away in track 'New Fear' the guitar sounds replicating Dr Feelgood, there is even a nod to The Human League's 'The Path Of Least Resistance" which is mentioned within the lyrics of the song. The music is very crisp, it has the sound of a band that have been touring and performing for twenty years.

Transmitters

Fidlar - Too

Fidlar definitely seem to have the feel of a band who live by the motto "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Too (their second release) takes elements of self titled album including the catchy riffs and big choruses and adds depth and a little bit of panache. The album as a whole is very catchy. Lyrically and instrumentally, this comes to a head on the opener '40oz On Repeat' which opens with some nasty, hard hitting drums and guitars but there are some interesting parts to the song. There are passages with acoustic guitars and what sounds like a toy piano which gives the song more personality. It's still a very rough album with some pop elements, 'West Coast' has a very sunny melody typical of California but mixed in to that we have the rough vocals making the song well balanced. 'Punk' is very abrasive and then 'Leave Me Alone' has a very new wave feel to it. This just makes the album more appealing, it's much more versatile than their
self-titled first album and with the constant changes of pace it feels very fresh.

Drone

New Order - Music Complete

Electronic music pioneers New Order returned in 2015 with "Music Complete" their tenth studio album along with guest appearances from La Roux, Brandon Flowers and Iggy Pop. Pop features on the track 'Stray Dog' in which he narrates a monologue over the top of a rudimentary electro-beat with some synths and piano. 'Stray Dog' is one the songs that doesn't immediately jump out. It doesn't really fit in with the album, it feels a little bit like an audiobook with some low-rent music thrown in. The stand-out track is without question 'Plastic'. It harks back to the days of the Hacienda in Manchester and this would not feel out of place on any New Order album. The intro slowly builds up and then the beat kicks in with the synths and Bernard Sumner's vocals are the centrepiece of the song. 'Tutti Fruiti' is a very funky song with a simple but powerful bass line - for once not provided by Peter Hook - it sounds a little bit like New Order's classic 'True Faith' but with added elements thrown in. The vocal harmonies and melodies are sharp which gives the album a very polished feel. Sumner's vocals still have that sad, melancholy style that just seem to fit the way New Order make music, bringing listeners back down from the music which is incredibly upbeat. 

Plastic

Best of 2015

Best of 2015

We are rapidly approaching the end of 2015 and after a great year for music, the time has come to evaluate it all and see who deserves what accolade.

It's like every other awards list you've seen. I've tried to be fair and used various elements to make the lists for instance popularity over song-writing.

Band Of 2015

1. Wolf Alice

2. Drenge

3. Manic Street Preachers

Album of 2015

1. Fidlar - Too

2. Drenge - Undertow

3. Palma Violets - Danger In The Club

Best Festival

1. T in The Park

2. Glastonbury

3. Rock Werchter

Best Live Band

1. Alt-J 

2. Drenge

3. JAWS

Music Moment of 2015

1. Kanye West headlines Glastonbury

2. Eagles Of Death Metal announce gig in Paris after attack in November

3. Manic Street Preachers play "Holy Bible" live in full

Song of 2015

1. The Prodigy - The Day Is My Enemy

2. Fidlar - 40oz On Repeat

3. Everything Everything - Spring/Sun/Winter/Dread

Best International Band of 2015

1. Foo Fighters

2. Fidlar

 3.  Tame Impala

Best Solo Artist

1. Florence Welch

2. Jamie T

3. Noel Gallagher

Best International Solo Artist

1. Grimes

2. Courtney Barnett

3. Kendrick Lamar

Revisited: The Pyschedelic Furs

Revisited: The Psychedelic Furs

In 1980, punk was all but dead. But in its place a new genre of music was forming. Up in Manchester Joy Division had created a new sound later known as post-punk and across Britain bands were adopting various elements of punk and adding a dose of experimentation to its basic structure.

One of those bands was The Psychedelic Furs from London. Fronted by the enigmatic Richard Butler their first album reached number 18 in the UK album charts and gave the band a voice in Europe. There is a balance on this album of aggressive and experimental music. The vocal on 'Sister Europe' the second track of the album is quite monotone and Butler's voice - although very clear and the definite centre-piece of the song - sounds quite dull. What saves the song though is that it's very intriguing, though very simple. The use the guitars is very unique and the added saxophone - an instrument overlooked by many bands of the era - creates added atmosphere. 

The guitar style changed constantly throughout the album, it hides away then appears again. 'Pulse' is a track where the guitars take centre stage. It's one of the most aggressive tracks along with the opener 'India'. The guitars wail as Butler sings in a shouty style similar to that of The Fall. There are also songs that you can tell are from the post-punk era 'Wedding Song' could be a PiL song with it's experimental sounds and Lydon-esque vocal delivery. 

The album is very "of the time". It was released early on in the genre's birth, but the Furs didn't invnt the wheel, although they did open the door for further experimentation, and with the addition of the saxophone, this album sounds like The Beach Boys with ten times the aggression. 

7/10

Kurt Vile - B'lieve I'm Goin' Down

Kurt Vile 

B’lieve I’m Goin Down

Kurt Vile the singer/songwriter from Philadelphia is known for his blend of folk and psychedelic rock. This mix of genre is at the forefront of his latest record ‘B’lieve I’m Goin Down’. Opening track ‘Pretty Pimpin’ is a very summery song you can imagine hearing walking down an American street bathed in sunlight. However, once it finishes, the energy level – which isn’t too high to start with - drops dramatically in tandem with Vile’s vocal delivery. Once this energy is lost the album loses impact and slowly drifts away.

The vocal delivery sounds lazy and low key almost as if no effort has been put in. It’s very subtle and feels like it’s been pushed to the side. The issue with not only dropping the energy level lower is putting Vile at the front of these songs. He doesn't’ come across as the most riveting guy in the world. In no way does the music leave a lasting impression. However there are at least a handful of moments where the lyrics are very telling in a personal way. For instance on the song ‘Lost My Head There’. Musically it’s very easy going which is all well and good but it needs to be topped with better vocals.

Lyrically, it’s very empty and meaningless. Even on ‘Kidding Around’, which is arguably the most poignant moment on the album. His song-writing process is clear here. He appears to say something meaningful but actually he’s just kidding around. At no point on the record is there a stand-out line that makes you react and take note. It’s very casual. And it doesn’t make any lasting impressions. 

5/10 

JAWS Live at The Joiners Southampton

JAWS live at The Joiners Southampton

09/12/2015

Since supporting fellow Birmingham-based indie bands like Swim Deep and Peace, JAWS have progressed significantly, creating a diverse sound and enhancing their live shows. On Wednesday the 9^th of December they played the Joiners in Southampton and only enhanced the aforementioned credentials.

Amongst the sea of denim shirts and skinny jeans stands the Joiners stage where in a few moments JAWS will blow the roof off the venue. The set begins with a new song. ‘What we haven’t got yet” which harks back to the band’s debut album “Be Slowly” full of great indie-pop hits. From the first couple of songs it’s clear that the band are great musicians. The guitars are melodic, intricate and have a really nice summery twang to them. The drums are solid, and the bass holds everything together. This all comes to a head when the band treat the audience to ‘Toucan Surf’ a track form their “Milkshake” EP. The floor begins to shake as the crowd started to seriously get in to the music. As the pace of the night is slowed with the harmonic “Think too much feel little” JAWS show us that whilst catchy two and a half minute indie-pop songs are all well and good, it’s great to have those subtle tracks which add depth to the bands live shows.

The highlight of the night arguably is the run of song leading up to the climax. ‘Be Slowly’ the perfect accompaniment to a summers afternoon lights up the dingy joiners, before another new track ‘Bad Company’ completely changes the mood. It’s a heavy and grunge-tinted song which shows the band in a new light. Gone are the summery guitars and in their place come distorted guitars which don’t lack any bite at all.

With a new album recorded and ready to go, JAWS are a band definitely on the rise and with live shows that are as polished as a band who have been on the road for 20 years, the future looks bright for the band. 

All photos taken by me. 

Archy Marshall - A New Place 2 Drown

Archy Marshall - A New Place To Drown
Album Review

Since 2010 Archy Marshall has been uploading various tracks of the experimental flavour to his bandcamp under the alias Zoo Kid. From his early grimey blues like U.F.O.W.A.V.E - a collection of minimally produced guitar scrawls to his most polished full length album '6 Feet Beneath The Moon'. Since then he's undergone some serious changes. He adopted the name King Krule, a somewhat more memorable and harsher name than his soft almost cuddly name. His band members during his time as King Krule have no place on this new album too. And to top it all off  Marshall has produced the likes of DJJD Sports and Edgar The Beat Maker but now he returns with a whole new concept. 

'A New Place 2 Drown' is a multimedia effort. It's a ten minute documentary, a 208 page art and poetry book and this album a 37 minute soundtrack. Marshall is joined by his brother Jack. Who helped Marshall with the visual side of King Krule. He designed the artwork for '6 Feet Beneath The Moon' inspired by the likes of Sin City sketcher Frank Miller. Musically, 'A New Place 2 Drown' is very experimental with lots of artificial sounds thrown in to create a sound that is the perfect metaphor for what music could sound like if it was made by robots. The album is extremely vibrant. "The Sea Liner MK1" is very simple. It's two notes played on a synth with a rudimentary electronic drum beat which is almost entirely instrumental apart from the final minute. 

"6 Feet Beneath The Moon"

The poems that feature within the entire collection sometimes feature in the lyrics on the album. In the book there are scattered images with lines from the poems. Lyrically, it's quite dark. The tone of voice throughout the album is very monotone and low as we've heard on his various other releases. It's also very mysterious. It fades in and out amongst the sounds creating a very uneasy feel but it's very interesting. The experimentation doesn't just stop at the sounds heard. Marshall also uses various samples for example on track "Sex With Nobody" he uses some spoken word sampled from what sounds like an old television program. 

When "6 Feet Beneath The Moon" came out, there was a lot said about the fact that he had found his definitive sound. "A New Place 2 Drown" completely throws this in the opposite direction. It sounds so different. It's extremely minimal but at the same time there's a lot going on. It might be a slow burner, but it definitely stands out. 

"A New Place 2 Drown"

Rating - 7.5/10

5 Minutes with........LoneLady

5 Minutes With........ LoneLady

The Manchester music scene of yesteryear seemed to be very simple. Sound like Oasis and you'll be successful. Nowadays however, bands and musicians from the city are changing the musical landscape of Manchester. One of those musicians is Julie Campbell otherwise known as LoneLady whose retro pop is at the forefront of this change.

I asked her a few questions about the city itself, and her latest album Hinterland. 

What bands, songs or albums inspired you to start making music?

JC: I grew up  as a kid listening to loads of chart pop; I think this catchy sensibility has stayed with me; REM (early REM in particular) was my first obsession; I thought Michael Stipe was arty and intriguing..but  my main love was and probably still is post-punk. Buying a Tascam 4-track cassette recorder was really key in terms of how I started to write and record music.

You have quite a distinctive style of music, do you think it's important to have an identity?

JC: Of course. It can't be forced though; it ought to develop naturally; longevity over gimmick. 

You're from Manchester and very proud of that. It's been said that you wander around the city picking up ambient sounds via Dictaphone. Has the city been a key influence when you write songs? 

JC: I wouldn't say I was proud especially..its my home, that's all. I have occasionally done that, but it hasn't been a big part of my process. It's more to do with an instinctive wandering that gradually turned into a kind of ritualistic behaviour and fed into the song-writing. Hinterland is a deeply psychogeographic record; every song on there has an urban or interior landscape as its subject matter.. You don't have to travel far from the centre of the city to find find pockets of wastelands, dilapidated buildings, curious moments and details hidden behind the ordinary facades and I don't see this dereliction as a negative or sad, I find it all very playful all this fed into Hinterland. 

In an interview with The Telegraph you stated that you feel deep respect for Joy Division and Gang of Four. Why these two bands in particular?

       JC: 'Deep respect' sounds a bit lofty...but I'm  big fan of both, sure...Andy Gill has been a huge influence on my guitar playing, and Martin Hannet's production has definitely had a lasting impact on me; Joy Division and Manchester's landscape seem one and the same; intensely ambient, haunted and violent.

  

   

     Who are your favourite up and coming bands from in around Manchester? 

JC: I've been touring for a year so pretty out of the loop. However I really like Vanishing, who had a release on Telsa Tapes.

What song/s do you enjoy playing live the most?

JC: With four live musicians on-stage, LoneLady live has become more of a kinetic, energised experience, both for us, and judging by the reaction, for audiences too. All the groove-oriented songs off Hinterland have translated well; I always like to start with 'Into The Cave' as it feels instinctively really natural; a murky, inviting groove to kick things off..There's now an extended 'dance' version of Hinterland which we've been closing the set with, making Hinterland a 10-minute sort of 'goodbye, so -long' workout; that feels cool too. 

Why do you think Manchester seems to produce such a diverse range of musical talent?

       JC: It seems structured to generate a kind of murky, restlessness ...I like how Paul Morley describes its geography as having the moors 'looming just at the edge of vision.' I find it easy to project a kind of violent, gothic romanticism onto the Manchester landscape .I don't think that answers your question particularly.

Is there any song that you wished you had written?

JC: Lots. I Listened to Bill Nelson's 'Stay Young' the other day and wished I'd written that.

Catch LoneLady perform 'Into The Cave' 

Visit LoneLady's tumblr: http://concrete-retreat.tumblr.com/ 

Visit LoneLady's Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/lonelady 

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/LoneLady/?fref=ts

The NME 1952 - 2015

The NME 1952-2015

As you know, the NME (New Musical Express) recently decided that their magazine should be available for free. With sales plummeting, general interest in the magazine declining and the usual suspects on the cover (I'm looking at you Alex Turner) a decision was made. It has given the magazine a chance to start afresh. Away from the days of endlessly assuring that Noel Gallagher must feature in every issue.

One good thing about it however which made it a desirable publication was the new bands section. Christened as the 'Radar' section, they did tip bands like Arctic Monkeys, The Vaccines, Oasis, Wolf Alice, Florence and The Yeah Yeah Yeah's for success early on in their careers and thus they haven't strayed too far from the magazines pages. However, when they got it wrong, they got it really wrong. Remember The Enemy? and The Pigeon Detectives? Even further back with the likes of Embrace, Shed 7 and Starsailor. When these bands failed to make the grade, the NME would shove them to the side with some crude remarks and a 5/10 album review (which in all honestly they probably deserved). 

Flicking through this new free NME, you just get a sinking feeling that the love of music has left the publication. And low and behold the first two pages of the first free NME are a tour poster advertising one of those bands they tipped for greatness The Libertines. A good start then. Looking at the contents nothing really grabs my attention, sure, the 'Radar' section is there but you're in for a nasty surprise when you reach it. Elsewhere we have a feature about The Big Bang Theory, an interview with Rihanna and a feature about Scottish trio Chvrches. A mixed bag then. They also have a feature entitled 'Things We Like' a mish mash of items that the people in the NME office apparently like. I doubt it. Why would you make a big deal of a magazine going free stating that "its packed full of things you want to read and - significantly - free" and then say oh yeah we really like these £90 trainers and we think you should go and buy them. They're missing the point a bit there. 

That nasty surprise about the 'Radar' section is that the NME of old would give new bands a chance to be heard. I remember they did a bumper edition of 'Radar' at the beginning of 2014 with big pieces on bands like Iceage and Eagulls. Now however 'Radar' is not about new bands its about "Best New Tracks, And when to drop them" on the title alone you know its not going to worth reading. Not a new band in sight. Eagles of Death Metal, Hurts and Carly Rae Jepsen are all in there with descriptions like "best for hip-shaking". It goes against what 'Radar' was all about. 

Who knows how long the NME will last now, twenty years down the line they might still be going strong and shifting lots of copies. There might be a journalism revolution by then and the NME could be completely re-branded again. Time will tell.