Lyrics.

If a singer has nothing about which to sing, is there any point in him singing actual lyrics?

Sigur Rós – Westminster Methodist Central Hall Review.

Concerts coinciding with album releases are often filled with a special kind of buzzing atmosphere: for the band, there is a desire to please an obviously devoted crowd with some highlights from a stunning back-catalogue whilst also giving an airing to some new songs; for the audience, it’s always a thrill to see a band who have just spent most a year cooped up in a variety of studios, suddenly unleashing their magic once again, on the road. For Sigur Rós yesterday night, this special atmosphere was intensified by a beautifully intimate venue – Westminster Methodist Central Hall – where even those seated at the back of the balcony could be treated to a close encounter with one of the most emotionally raw and unadulterated bands touring today. With Radiohead performing on the other side of London in the detached environment of Victoria Park, it was clear that here in Westminster, we could be in for an evening’s entertainment that was alternately charming, exhilarating, deafening and heart-wrenching.

Sigur Rós – Westminster Methodist Central Hall.

I’m very excited about this concert.

I’m hoping it sounds a bit like this:

The only tinge of regret I’m feeling is for not having a ticket to see Radiohead the next day

My Bloody Valentine – Loveless.

Pitchfork ranked it as the second greatest album of the 1990s (no prizes for guessing what came top!), and its influence can be heard in countless albums of the post-rock and shoegazing genres. And yet, though I have been able to appreciate so many of the bands that count My Bloody Valentine as their inspiration, I’ve never really been able to connect with MBV themselves.

Thus I have decided to open my mind to Loveless one more time, to see if I can finally come to understand its genius, which has thus far eluded me. I really do hope I can love it, if only so that I won’t feel so guilty enjoying other, even more noisy, reverb-drenched stuff.

When I do decide to give it another go, I’ve also decided to ‘liveblog’ my experiences of it, here on the blog, which should be fun. I dare say that it won’t quite achieve the fame or reputation of this particular liveblog series, but, still, what with MBV setting out on their reunion tour as we speak, it should be a timely occasion for me to approach such an influential work.

Beck – Chemtrails.

While I don’t think every album Beck has made is consistently great, I have always applauded him for the great songs he writes, and his love of working with innovative producers to give each album such a unique fit and finish. Odelay was probably his most consistently enjoyable album: though it encompassed a wide variety of styles and song structures, the delightful cut-n-paste samples from The Dust Brothers gave everything a slightly cronky, slightly wonky, very much alluring feel. 2005’s Guero was, in part, a return to that style – after all, Beck was working with the Dust Brothers once again – but, for me, most of the second half of the album melded into one homogenous lump, leaving the album sounding very front-loaded. While Earthquake Weather and Missing were two of my favourite, and most inventive, songs of that year, tracks like Scarecrow and Go It Alone were fairly anonymous.

Field Music – Tones of Town.

I’m not sure about the current whereabouts of Sunderland’s Field Music, but I am comprehensively certain that they don’t get nearly enough praise for their blend of Beach Boys-style harmony and diverse instrumentation; Wire-esque post-punk; and a dusting of Steely Dan studio perfectionism. They just about ambled onto the scene in 2005 with an eponymous debut but, for me, their creative peak was definitely to be found on last year’s follow-up LP, Tones of Town.

Muxtape.

I’m in the process of uploading my first playlist onto Muxtape. If you haven’t used Muxtape, it’s all in the name: it’s a mixtape on the internet… and I’m not really sure about the ‘Mux’ bit.

Anyway, here it is, for your aural delectation:

“Love Is A Province Of The Brave.”

How to describe this initial foray into sequencing a mixtape? It’s quite a moody affair; very sonically dense and sludgy in places, and, by the end, it’ll probably have exhausted you somewhat.

(Thanks to Cocoa Grove for the cassette icon, released under the Creative Commons License.)

Hercules And Love Affair – You Belong.

[Updated to include the official video for the single and release date!]

One of my favourite albums so far this year is the eponymous debut from Hercules And Love Affair. It’s a wonderfully sprawling, decadent history lesson in dance music and, as certain critics have noted, charts the rise and fall of gay culture, which occasionally hints at the crises of AIDS and drugs. More prominently though, it’s the fantastic music that makes it so great. In certain songs, the DJ supremo who’s behind the band, Andrew Butler, weaves in more futuristic ideas, but, for the most part, it’s big time nostalgia of all things Giorgio Moroder, Arthur Russell, and a smattering of Chicago House.

Underpinning quite a few of the tracks are the delightfully spine-chilling vocals of Antony Hegarty, of Antony and the Johnsons fame, and it his fractured, kaleidoscopic backing vocals that turn You Belong into one of the album’s standout tracks. I believe it’s going to be released as a single on the 7th of July, and I hope it gains a wider audience, partly because listeners will be afforded the opportunity to hear the throbbing lead vocals of Nomi, an enchanting vocalist sure to gain in reputation this year.

I have a feeling the B-side is going to an interesting remix of the track from Riton, which you can hear in the box.net widget on the right-hand side of this page.

 

Mercury Prize.

Last year, the shortlist for the Mercury Prize was announced on the 17th of July, suggesting that in just under a month’s time, this year’s shortlist is sure to make an appearance. My interest in the Prize waxes and wanes, depending on the shortlist: all too often the judges fall back on lowest-common-denominator material such as, on last year’s shortlist, the thoroughly boring Hats off to the Buskers by The View, along with every Coldplay album ever. My experiences of the winning albums have also been something of a mixed bag: in 2006, Arctic Monkeys won with their debut, ahead of (in my opinion) more worthy albums from Muse and Guillemots; conversely, last year, Klaxons won the prize ahead of Arctic Monkeys, who had since returned with the infinitely superior Favourite Worst Nightmare.

Nevertheless, there’s no doubting the Prize’s ability to – overnight, frequently – thrust a struggling yet talented artist into the limelight, thus ensuring a short-term boost in sales. Elsewhere in its history, the nominees and winners have definitely caused me to further investigate a particular artist, as in the case of Antony and the Johnsons in 2005 (who won), and Richard Hawley in 2006 (who didn’t).

Though I have no fear in saying that British music is at an all time nadir, it is with some optimism that I would suggest the past twelve months have seen signs of a resurgence among our more experimental and esoteric, risk-taking artists, and I really hope the judges take a careful look at such albums when making their decisions this year. Though I doubt my selections will bear any relation to the real shortlist, here are some British albums that have been released since last August (the usual cut-off point) that I feel the judges would be loath to ignore:

25 Albums of 2007.

I do realise that we are half-way through 2008, but, still, I thought it worth mentioning, if only to elucidate anyone of my personal preferences. And, with the nominations for the 2008 Mercury Prize surely but a month or two away, it’s worth recounting some of the albums from the latter half of last year that may be eligible for this year’s award.

In alphabetical order:
Animal Collective – Strawberry Jam
Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
Arctic Monkeys – Favourite Worst Nightmare
Battles – Mirrored
Bloc Party – A Weekend In The City
Bright Eyes – Cassadaga
Burial – Untrue
Deerhunter – Cryptograms
Dizzee Rascal – Maths + English
Field Music – Tones of Town
The Good, The Bad & The Queen – The Good, The Bad & The Queen
Interpol – Our Love To Admire
KanYe West – Graduation
Kings of Leon – Because of the Times
LCD Soundsystem – 45:33
LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver
Low – Drums And Guns
M.I.A. – Kala
Modest Mouse – We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank
The National – Boxer
Of Montreal – Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
Prinzhorn Dance School – Prinzhorn Dance School
Queens of the Stone Age – Era Vulgaris
Radiohead – In Rainbows
The Shins – Wincing The Night Away