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September 19th 2010 10:16
THE NATIONAL: Bryce Dessner, Scott Devendorf, Matt Berninger, Bryan Devendorf, and Aaron Dessner
The National are a Brooklyn, New York based suit-wearing indie-rock band who have been releasing music for nearly 10 years now. The line-up consists of Matt Berninger (vocals), twins Aaron (guitar, piano) and Bryce (guitar) Dessner, and brothers Scott (bass) and Bryan (drums) Devendorf.
HIGH VIOLET: Rating...an outstanding 9/10
Tracklist
1. Terrible Love
2. Sorrow
3. Anyone's Ghost
4. Little Faith
5. Afraid of Everyone
6. Bloodbuzz Ohio
7. Lemonworld
8. Runaway
9. Conversation 16
10. England
11. Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks
High Violet, which was also produced by the band, is The National's fourth full-length studio album and was released earlier this year. It is the first album from The National that I have listened to in full, but I already think of them as one of my favourite bands in the world today. This is simply a brilliant album. The distinctive baritone singing of Matt Berninger is in full force, and while to some ears there is a monotonous bore to it, there is definitely a strain of emotion in his voice making the world of difference to my ears. Currently, The National are heavily involved in charity and awareness work, which comes out through some of these songs. Afraid of Everyone is about the shocking state of the political world, and features the phrase "the voice is swallowing my soul...". The entire album is full of amazing lyrical craftmanship rarely heard in music from any era. It's hard to pick a weak song on this album, so I'll go through the highlights instead. First single, Bloodbuzz Ohio, was the song that got me listening to The National, and is written about growing up and leaving Cincinatti, Ohio, where all members of the band grew up, Lemonworld is about the sexiness of Berninger's wife and sister-in-law, while Conversation 16 is a great song too and Sorrow ("I don't wanna get over you...") is one song that spoke to me on a personal level. Berninger's lyrics are at the forefront of the songs, supported more by piano than guitar on this record. String arrangements (written by the Dessners and the ever impressive Nico Muhly) soar in and out of most songs, and Bryan Devendorf's drumming often sets the tone for songs even before Berninger's voice.
High Violet would have to be one of the best releases this year, and personally I can't wait to see The National performing at The Falls Festival over the Aussie summer!
September 19th 2010 07:07
LITTLE RED: Adrian, Dom, Quang, Tom, and Taka
Little Red are Melbourne rockers Adrian Beltrame (Guitar, Vocals), Dominic Byrne (Guitar, Vocals), Quang Dinh (Bass, Vocals), Tom Hartney (Keys, Vocals), and Taka Honda (Drums). Their sound has been likened to The Beach Boys because of their dancey-rock and vocal harmonies on debut album, Listen to Little Red, but that sound has changed on their new album, Midnight Remember.
MIDNIGHT REMEMBER: Rating...a solid 8/10
Tracklist
1. Get A Life
2. Slow Motion
3. Forget About Your Man
4. Rock It
5. All Mine
6. I Can't Wait
7. Place Called Love
8. Lazy Boy
9. Little Bit of Something
10. In My Bed
11. Follow You There
12. Going Wrong
13. Chelsworth
Midnight Remember signals a change in sound and direction for Little Red. While Listen to Little Red had a number of almost demo-like tracks (a number of them were under 2 minutes), Midnight Remember contains more traditional-length songs. There is a notable difference in sound production too. While the debut album was very raw sounding, the new songs are more layered and spaced out, not sounding like they were trying to be crammed inside 2 minutes and over before you can blink. The new sound direction is more modern too: moving away from retro 60's dancefloor anthems, the band have included a new, more modern, rockier sound with horns, guitar layering and some basic effects, while still maintaining the warm, recognisable 3-and-4-part harmonies that Little Red has become famous for. While these harmonies take more of a support role on this album, they still stand out when they are implemented. Lead vocals are still shared between songs. Put simply, this new direction demonstrates more intelligent songwriting and a fuller, rockier sound. First single, Rock It, which has received extensive airplay on Triple J, is one of a number of highlights of this new direction. Other standout songs are opener Get A Life and second single Slow Motion while fans of their old work will still be pleased with the fiery, dancey-upbeat riffs on Lazy Boy and Place Called Love.
While live crowds will still be hearing upbeat classics such as Coca Cola and Witchdoctor, fans can expect a different live experience than what they used to with this young band.
September 18th 2010 12:57
Cousins, Kishore and Kieran Ryan
Kid Sam are a Melbourne indie duo consisting of cousins, Kieran (guitar, vocals) and Kishore (drums) Ryan. Kishore also drums for sister bands Otouto and Seagull. I had the pleasure of seeing Kid Sam live, while supporting Grizzly Bear back in July, and although they only had time for four songs, it was enough to convince me to buy their self-titled debut album.
KID SAM: Rating....8.25/10
Tracklist
1. Mirror Drawings
2. Down To The Cemetery
3. The Sunday Bus
4. Landslide
5. A Black Ant
6. Jodie Makes A Fire
7. Close Your Eyes And It All Goes Black
8. We're Mostly Made of Water
9. Soft, Grey Rain
Opener, Mirror Drawings, is a fantastically crafted epic with a strange dissonant tone coming from a slight string bend in Kieran's guitar. The dissonance takes a minute to get used to but when Kishore's slow drumming arrives is used to magnificent effect throughout the rest of the song. Down To The Cemetery, A Black Ant, Jodie Makes A Fire and We're Mostly Made of Water provide the distorted volume and medium pace and include Kishore's drumming on pots and pans (an awesome idea!) while these are interspersed with softer acoustic tunes and the Radiohead-esque Landslide. These songs provide a much needed contrast throughout the album, as the sound of the aforementioned rockier songs is not too dissimilar from track-to-track. The Sunday Bus is a highlight of these acoustic-and-drum songs, and the use of a melodica in the chorus is very cool. Kieran's voice is really sweet and rich throughout the album, particularly on Mirror Drawings. The guitar tone, while not so diverse, suits the indie songs, and the pots & pans are certainly not over-used nor out of place on the record.
A really solid debut by one of Australia's new indie darling bands, and an excellent live band.
September 18th 2010 08:32
NZ's Finest: Seamus Ebbs, Connan Mockasin, Eliza-Jane Barnes, Liam Finn, and Lawrence Arabia
Barb is a New Zealand super-group made up of five of the country's modern-day indie darlings, Liam Finn, Connan Mockasin, James Milne a.k.a Lawrence Arabia, Eliza-Jane Barnes, and Seamus Ebbs. This, their self-titled debut album, is the long-awaited result of years of trying to find the time to record a bunch of tracks. However, Liam Finn has said that this is "hopefully not just a one-off record
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Ready to Start is the first official US/Australian single from Montreal seven piece Arcade Fires soon to be released third album, The Suburbs. If youre an internet nerd or an Arcade Fire groupie worth your salt youd have listened to four of the tracks from the album already, theyve leaked. If you havent, theyre relatively easy to access.
Back to the song actually released by the band, then. Ready to Start is just about as rocky as the Canadians get. A thumping, constant drum beat, spacey guitars, heavy bass and gentle piano betrays the dark lyrical content. The song is heavy and atmospheric from the get-go, yet still has this unique ability to rise in tempo throughout. It ends with a sizzling crescendo complete with the spine tingling instrumental interplay fans of the band come to expect
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Jamie Lidell: a man of many genres
Jamie Lidell (born in Cambridge, England, in 1973, but now based in New York, USA) is a true genre-hopping musician. Having been associated in the past with styles such as electronic/techno, pop/rock, and funk/soul/R&B, he has thrown it all together, with the help of a number of notable accomplices, on his fourth full-length studio album, Compass
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The road has been a natural progression for Jack Johnson
To some, Jack Johnson is just another surfer dude from Hawaii who occasionally makes a few radio-friendly, bland acoustic songs. To others, such as myself, his songs add a lot of meaning and relaxation to an otherwise stressful life. His 5th studio album, To The Sea, is musically a natural step forward from his previous album, Sleep Through The Static
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Bright Victory is an interesting title for Sydney band Cabins debut album. Cabins play music that is far more ominous and atmospheric than bright and optimistic, but its certainly a victory for the band; this album is a killer
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MOUNTAIN FOLK: Jeremy, Alister, Ulrich, and Heidi.
Cloud Control are an indie/pop band from the Blue Mountains in New South Wales, Australia, consisting of Alister Wright (guitar, vocals), Jeremy Kelshaw (bass), and siblings Heidi (keys, vocals) and Ulrich Lenffer (drums). Bliss Release, released earlier this year, is the debut LP from the up-and-coming young band
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LOCAL NATIVES: Matt, Kelcey, Andy, Taylor, and Ryan
Local Natives (formerly known as Cavil At Rest) are an LA band formed out of high school by Taylor Rice (vocals/guitar), Kelcey Ayer (vocals/keys/percussion), and Ryan Hahn (guitar/vocals), who then added Andy Hamm on bass and Matt Frazier on drums. Their debut, Gorilla Manor, named after the house in which they lived together, was released in late 2009/early 2010 (depending on where you live.) Interestingly, Local Natives were signed by a UK label before a US label, but have made up for it in the States this year, the highlight coming at SXSW in Austin, Texas through March where they played a whopping 9 shows in 3 days
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Comment by Whiz-Kid
on Philadelphia Grand Jury - Hope is for Hopers reviewed
Melodic Youth
Yeah it's a good album with raw energy, but I just had a few things that stopped me from rating it higher.