Review: James - The Night Before

May 312010


After almost 30 years of writing and performing in some form or another, it wouldn’t be surprising if James settled into that “established act of yester-year” phase. Like The Cure or Depeche Mode, they could be recycling their old ideas in increasing less-essential albums, mopped up by the faithful, whilst live they perform greatest hit sets to casual fans, young and old.

Their reformation album Hey Ma seemed to lay the ground work for this phase. Despite its post 9/11 protesting, it was very much a glossy business-as-usual piece of work that could’ve sat between 91’s Gold Mother and 92’s Seven, without being as memorable as either.

But James have never been a band who’ve been able to stay static for long. Although the James sound is always noticeable, they’ve always shown a determination to try new things and take their music into new directions. The Night Before thankfully keeps up this tradition, if a little more modestly than before. Album opener It’s Hot includes a Peter Hook inspired bassline that’s more exciting than almost the whole of Hey Ma.

The Night Before is one of twin mini albums; the other, The Morning After, will follow towards the end of the year. It seems really to be logical extension of the final pre-break up album Pleased To Meet You, boasting the same deep sound, but made lighter by some of the gloss left over from Hey Ma.

It’s a solid collection; not one of James’ best, but far from one of their worst. It’s the bookends that make the album, aside from Hot, the bizarre Dr Hellier is the song that resonates the most. A strange sci-fi concoction which compares the war on terrorism to a Fantastic Voyage-esque quest to heal the body, probably suggesting that the solution is worse than the problem.

Maybe it’s the glossy production that lets it down. For a band with such roots in improvisation and anarchic live performances, the sheen feels disappointing. The songs with more edge are by far the most immediate sounding, without necessarily being the catchiest. Still, it’s a strong step forward; always a band of swings and slides, it feels that James still have some creative life in them after all. Confirmation will hopefully come later in the year.

Rating: ★★★½☆☆

James – Dr Hellier (mp3)

Buy The Night Before

What was your first album?

May 252010

Sat in the sunshine at my local station this morning, listening to my ‘new favourite band’, Washed Out, I got to thinking about how I got into music. I still remember, as I’m sure many of you who read this post will, what my first album was. Now, I’m going to hit you straight – no lies to retrospectively cool-up myself, no altering of history. Boss Drum by The Shamen.

It was on tape, bought from the Longton branch of Woolworths. I was 10. I was a pretty naive ten year old too, for I’d wanted the album due to the amazing performance they’d given of Ebeneezer Goode on Top of the Pops featuring a crazy man in a cape – a band miming to a track about ecstasy. My parents did not approve, my mum tried several times to change my mind, and I wasn’t allowed to listen to it in the car home. I’d only got my own tape player the Christmas before, along with a copy of Now 23. Boy did that tape get hammered.

I remember taking in each track of the album, being utterly bewildered by the last track – an eight minute spoken word epic about, well, I’m still not entirely sure. I was also confused by the long sleigh bell infested intro to Ebeneezer Goode – it didn’t sound like the version on telly – or the version I’ve now got on CD (wikipedia suggests it’s a different mix). I listened to it over and over again; bounced around to Phorever People and Comin’ On. I was slightly bemused when my older cousin told me about the meaning of Ebeneezer Goode one day, and even now I relate the track to odd men dancing round in top hats rather than drug culture – maybe I’m still naive.

Whether or not this was a great bearing on my future musical tastes is easy – no. Although I remained partial to mainstream dance until it became intolerable (or I grew up) in about 2000, it never became my thing entirely – Britpop and the indie boys were but two years away. I do however still pull Boss Drum out from time to time, watch the awful videos to later Shamen singles (Check out Destination Eschaton for a prime example) on Youtube. I still like it. Allmusic certainly do; they give 4.5/5!

With today’s music consumption less about the ‘album’ and more about tracks I wonder if this piece of memory will still apply in ten, fifteen year’s time – it’d be a shame if not. It’s a memory that so many of us share in our own way, like your first kiss or favourite t-shirt as a kid. Or maybe it doesn’t matter, another rose tinted nostalgia trip, designed in one’s mind to escape the present and reinvent the past.

So readers, share yours – embarassing or cool.

The Shamen – Phorever People (mp3)

Live Review: The Divine Comedy

May 202010

Despite being a band that essentially consists of one man, Neil Hannon has never actually toured solo before, or at least not since hitting the big time. Normally he’s seen on stage backed with anywhere up to 35 players.  But – for his latest tour Hannon has unexpectedly gone back to basics; it’s just him, his piano and his guitar.

Hannon often comes across quite uneasy at the beginnings of concerts, taking a few songs to really get into the swing of things, but despite the added pressure of performing solo, he seems completely at ease at London’s rather intimate Tabernacle in Notting Hill. Things begin with a new number from upcoming release Bang Goes the Knighthood; it’s a clever little ditty called The Complete Banker. No prizes for guessing what that one’s about.

By stripping down the songs down to their basic elements, Hannon has the opportunity to show off just how well constructed his compositions are. Songs such as The Frog Princess are hard to imagine without their indulgent orchestrations, but by stripping them down to the basics, he proves just what a smart and skilled writer he is; each song can stand on its own, stripped down, without the big budget arrangements.

If there is a fault with his work often it can be too deliberate. When choosing to write about a certain subject, his choices can be too obvious, and his lyrics too predictable. New single, At The Indie Disco, is very much in this vein. It distinctly lacks the spontaneity of old; certain lines you can guess, and references to popular songs and performers are too carefully chosen to give the songs cult credibility. It’s just too planned and strategically delivered.

Hannon is at his best when he’s being clever. Although this has put people off his music (there’s no denying he’s a smart arse) it’s what’s always separated him from his peers. The other new material fairs better; I Like is based on such as simple idea, it’s hard to believe no one’s come up with it before. Can I Stand Upon One Leg is a funny, music hall-esque ditty, that gives him the chance to show off his party trick – the ability to hold a single high note for a ridiculously long amount of time.

Tonight, Hannon proves himself to be a great entertainer, able to captivate through both his music and his banter. Of course it always helps when you have a select small audience of people who are extremely well disposed towards you. He manages to put in at least one track from every album, making room for a few lesser played singles, Everyone Knows (Except You) and The Pop Singers Fear Of The Pollen Count. He also makes room for Duckworth Lewis favourite Jiggery Pokery and a cover of MGMT’s Time To Pretend. He fluffs up a number of times, but makes a good joke of it, keeping the audience very much on his side, using them as a prompt during one big slip-up.

For hardcore fans like myself who’d seen Hannon perform quite a few times before, this evening provided something refreshingly different. And with him at his most charming, we couldn’t have really asked for much more.

Rating: ★★★★★☆

The Divine Comedy – A Lady Of A Certain Age (Live) (mp3)

The Divine Comedy – At The Indie Disco (video)

Photo: Jon and Lu @ The Tabernacle, London, 12.05.10

Review: Peter Gabriel - Scratch My Back

May 072010

It isn’t normally a good sign when a late-in-their-career artist brings out a covers album. It normally signifies a significant drop in bankability and the chase of a fast buck; in the desperate hope that tried and tested tunes will earn them some attention.

Fortunately, Peter Gabriel’s career prospects seem a little more healthy. Gabriel is a man who  doesn’t complete an album until he’s good and ready, which seems to be about roughly 8 years. If his hardcore fans were disappointed that this new release was not his long muted I/o project, at least they can take some solace in the fact that Scratch My Back is at least more high concept and significantly more challenging than the average covers collection.

Scratch My Back discards the Peter Gabriel style guide completely; there are no drums, no synths, and no guitar. Each song is played with orchestral arrangement; the arrangements are not lush or overblown, they’re carefully restrained and very deliberate – it’s the most low key thing he’s ever released.

The album puts its best foot forward with a version of Bowie’s Heroes. Not the easiest song to cover, Gabriel takes Bowie’s post glam-rock crowd pleaser and changes into a song of fragile, tender beauty. While Bowie’s original is an arms in the air anthem, Gabriel brings out its sweeping beauty, as if it were composed to be a morning after companion to its original. This is the best kind of cover version, one that makes comparison totally irrelevant; it has been taken apart and put back together to create a totally different entity.

Of course it can’t keep up that memento. And indeed, what follows is the mixed bag covers albums usually deliver. The melancholy strings perfectly serve the feelings of injustice behind Talking Heads’ Listening Wind and Gabriel’s more sweeping, grandiose take on Bon Iver’s Flume gives it a fresh touch of tenderness and intensity.

But some tunes rally against his wrought orchestrations. Paul Simon’s Boy in the Bubble loses its joyful melody. Arcade Fire’s My Body is a Cage is overdone, and the lyrics just don’t have the same impact sung by Gabriel’s more trained voice. And Radiohead’s Street Spirit becomes so tragic, it’s almost hilarious.

All together, it becomes a bit too much, a bit too melodramatic. But despite its misses, it’s hard not to admire the courage and ambition of the project. It’s not an easy thing to take a risk and throw away your safe, usual musical methodology and approach something in a completely different way. Scratch My Back may not be the greatest covers collection ever produced, but it’s got to be one of the most original and the most impressive.

Rating: ★★★★☆☆

Peter Gabriel – Flume (Bon Iver Cover)

I Need That Record - Watch!

Apr 192010

It was Record Store Day this Saturday. A serious lack of moolah in the Jealousy wallet meant no new purchases for me this year, but there was some great stuff available; Blur, MGMT, Foals, Black Keys etc. Most of it you can probably find for a fortune on Ebay, not that it was that cheap to start with! Not that this is going to be a rant about the somewhat backwards nature of RSD, it being backed by major labels and such…

There is however, something you can get for free! Pitchfork are showing, for a solitary week only, the documentary film I Need That Record. Subtitled ‘The death (or possible survival) of the independent record store’ it deals with the usual suspects; chain stores, the internet, record store owners being twats, apathy – but it does it with a fair wash of charm and some big names. You’ll find Thurston Moore, Ian Mackaye, Mike Watt, Glenn Branca and even Noam Chomsky alongside record store owners, past and present.

Go watch it, but remember – the future isn’t as bleak as this film makes out, at least not here in London. Our record shops are making a defiant stand against the high street hegemony of HMV! I really hope that when you hear about great music on this and other blogs that you head out to your local shop and support them – mine is Banquet Records down in Kingston and not only do they rock but they had their busiest day of trade in over ten years on RSD. The thing just might work…

Watch I Need That Record on Pitchfork

Buy I Need That Record on DVD – with added Thurston!

Saint Etienne – I Buy American Records (mp3)

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