There’s so much love in the Queen Elizabeth Hall; Collins is determinedly walking with the aid of a stick to his spot at the front of the stage, his band pumping out Chic’s Good Times. Sometimes, the applause of a performer onto the stage can be a little perfunctory, but there’s no hint of that here. Every single person in the crowd is ecstatic and thankful that the Scotsman is with us, the fact that he’s making music a bonus scarcely believable five years ago. He settles into position and leads his band, and make no mistake lead he does, into the title track from his new album, Losing Sleep.
In some ways, Bang Goes the Knighthood is very different from Neil Hannon’s past work. Long time fans on pressing play for the first time will expect the stirrings of a string section or the familiar rat-a-tat of his signature drum beat – but there is no grand opening this time. Instead, Hannon’s 10th album begins with wistful melancholy; Down On The Street Below is about looking at your own life and feeling out of place. Of course it’s about his own minor celebrity status, albeit too elegantly written to seem like egocentric wallowing.
There’s something mechanical about the way the Fever Ray show starts, that wonderful rumble that opens last year’s magnificent debut album from Karin Dreijer Andersson. As the band lurches into If I Had A Heart the bass is deadening, it’s the kind of noise you feel as much as hear – for me it reverberates around the top of my stomach. Then you get to hear the voice, disconcerting and inhuman – pitch-shifted and bent out of recognisable form. Visually you get no clues either, you can barely see the band for the smoke and darkness that envelopes the stage. Instead you rely on glimpses – a sword jutting out of one band member’s back – the alien shape of Dreijer Andersson underneath her triangular headpiece. The sounds could be coming from anywhere, and anyone – it’s quite a bewildering experience.
Kicking off with discovery of the week, South London artists and all round creative types Breton. Already building a name as remixers, video artists as well as making spiffing tunes in their own right – this track comes from their forthcoming EP, Sharing Notes. A heady mix of post-rock, electronica and mathy guitar noise, I can’t wait to get my hands on the physical version of this. Not only are the tunes great, but get this – it comes attached to a circuit board with instructions on how to make a fully working synth – talk about the decline of the tactile music! I haven’t been this excited about a new release, since well heaven knows when. I’ve picked out 15x to listen to here, but you should also feast your eyes on the video for the ace track The Well below. Catch them live at Madame JoJo’s on July 6, or at the excellent 1234 Festival in Shoreditch on July 24.
When I first came across Villagers, supporting Tindersticks at a recent show in London, I wasn’t entirely sold on them. Sure, they could hold the stage but the audience started to drift after a couple of numbers, myself included. They did have one belter of a track – unfortunately I can’t recall the title… All is not lost though, as included in this first Mailbox Monday missive is Becoming A Jackal, title track off their recent LP out on Domino. They’ve a much more polished sound on record, more propulsive with the same neat vocals. They’ve also a new video out for new single Ship Of Promises, which reminds so much of the Washed Out tape release cover…I digress. Check it out.
Kele’s solo debut effort continues to gather pace following a splendid set at Glastonbury, and nestling in my inbox this week is a stonking mid-90s flecked, horn-laden stomper of a remix of hot single Tenderoni courtesy of Brooklyn duo PUNCHES. They have remixes aplenty over at their Myspace, go check out the disco madness – also, in keeping with the Euro-feel of their mixes, check out the video below of them DJing at the Eiffel Tower…
Beautiful remix of Pete Lawrie’s upcoming single All That We Keep released on August 16th – a Beloved-esque sashay, perfect for these long summer evenings. Catch Pete at a variety of venues this summer, from Hop Farm on July 2 to London’s The Social on July 25.
A new Chemical Brothers album. Not news to stir the emotions is it? Five years since their last decent track (Galvanize, if you were wondering) and much further back since their last full length really hit the spot; you could be forgiven for immediately writing Further off without a second thought. Stick with it though and Tom and Ed’s seventh studio album reveals a partial return to form. Gone are the odd guest vocalists that plagued the last few records, and back is the expansive and ever-so-slightly psychedelic twisting electronica that we all fell in love with, ooh fifteen years ago. This is no mere big beat revival though, Further contains some of the most experimental tracks the duo have produced outside their Electronic Battle Weapons series.To continue the experimental theme, the album comes with an accompanying disc of visuals too – a dose of the famed Chemicals live experience in your living room.
Why only a partial return to form? Some of the tracks lack the propulsion to get them over the finishing line. Escape Velocity struggles to live up to its name, and its nigh-on 12 minute length; accelerating but ultimately remaining Earthbound. When they do re-tread old ground it’s pretty decent, Horse Power feels as if lifted straight from Surrender, piling on snatches of sound that recall previous singles in abundance. It’s with Horse Power that Further really starts to come alive, leading into a great run of tracks to close the record out. Recent single Swoon is the album standout, shifting and stretching layers of synths set to a bouncing bassline – reminiscent of Orbital’s halcyon days. Although you’d struggle to pin another single out of the remaining tracks there’s no filler here. So, shake off your apathy and giver Further a whirl – there’s life in the old dog yet.
Stereo Jealousy - a blog about music, feelings, gigs, albums, people, London and all that.
Most of the media on here has been freely shared - music by the artists, photos by the folk that took them and the words, well they're mostly mine. And Dave's.
