Looks like Beirut in here...

Posted : 1 week, 4 days ago on 29 September 2008 05:57 (A review of The Flying Club Cup)

I tend to throw this word around a lot, but Beirut and this album are just sublime. I can not believe how young and talented one guy can be. The entire band play just about every instrument under the sun and the final result is something that resembles an Eastern Bloc carnival. Brass ensembles and traditional Balkan instruments provide the soundtrack to romantic evening strolls through the friendly French suburbs in The Flying Club Cup. It's definitely a more upbeat and relaxed album than it's predecessor. It often makes me wish I wasn't such a bitter and resentful person and instead the kind of guy who got to experience the festivities that seem to entwine casually with the life of Zach Condon.

This is something amazingly different yet completely solid on my media player. I've never had so much respect or admiration for a band! It's what music should be, he has an amazing voice and an immense talent for writing fantastic songs. His love affair with south eastern Europe and the Mediterranean translates into thoroughly enjoyable music.


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Pulp Hits review

Posted : 5 months, 2 weeks ago on 25 April 2008 05:55 (A review of Pulp Hits)

This album will do nicely in anyone's collection. There was a lot of column inches dedicated to the banal rivalry between Blur and Oasis during the late 90's with their own brands of inane 'Brit-Pop', but for me, Pulp always had the edge with this genre. Sure, Oasis and Blur produced one-off albums that were filled with highly enjoyable pop-tracks, but Pulp had more of a longevity about them. You may also notice that they have since retired gracefully, rather than drag out their smidgeon of musical talent over an entire decade.

Furthermore, Pulp weren't relying on some media-orchestrated hate frenzy between one band and their rivals to sell records. Having said all of this, I only gave this album a generous 6 out of 10, which probably speaks volumes about what I think of the Brit-pop era in general.

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Antidotes (2CD) review

Posted : 5 months, 3 weeks ago on 19 April 2008 07:07 (A review of Antidotes (2CD))

Indie darlings, Foals, release their much anticipated debut album after what seems like an age of putting out demos and playing live gigs across the country. Formed of former members of the mighty, yet almost completely unknown, Edmund Fitzgerald, I was expecting a sound reminiscent of the heavy, gloomy math rock that the former band pioneered. That isn't the case however, as the music on offer here is far more accessible and poppy than I anticipated.

That's not to say it's a bad album. It took me a few listens to begin to appreciate it on the whole, but stand out tracks like Cassius and Balloons were instant hits. In essence, they've put out a bunch of bite sized experimental pop-songs. I really think they could've made more use of their instruments throughout the entire album as the breakdowns in songs such as Heavy Water are amazing and show what talent they have as instrumentalists. The vocals on the other hand are hit and miss, seemingly effective on the songs made for single release, but being too unimpressive for other songs where I wish they'd just let the instruments do the talking.

I think the next album will be make or break time for the band, they can either go a bit more leftfield and knock out some amazing tracks, or they could continue with another album like this and not reach their full potential as a band.

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Travesty.

Posted : 6 months, 2 weeks ago on 24 March 2008 08:27 (A review of Scouting for Girls)

This is not only one of the WORST albums of recent times, but clearly also one of the WORST bands to secure a record deal so far in the 21st century. The word 'worst' is perhaps overused in reviews, but I want to emphasise it here, I'm not lying when I say that this is the worst album I've heard this century.

I have a reputation for having a pretentious music taste, but I still keep up with the flood of generic indie bands that graces the radio in Britain. 'Scouting for girls' are the only one I can ever remember inciting feelings of raw rage and anger because of their lacklustre sound and completely bland and uninspired lyrics. Even my dad, a Phil Collins fan, pointed this out. Let's take a look at how he came to the conclusion by analysing the lyrics to their last two singles:

Song: She's so lovely
Lyrics: "She's so lovely
She's so lovely
She's so lovely
She's so lovely
She's so lovely
She's so lovely
She's so lovely
She's so loverrrly"

Song: Elvis Aint Dead
Lyrics: "Elvis isn't dead
Elvis isn't dead
Elvis isn't dead, coz I heard him on the radio
Elvis isn't dead
Elvis isn't dead
Elvis isn't dead, coz I heard him on the Radio.

I mean I know it's easter and all but I have to take his name in vain - Jesus Christ. If you really like this band and if you've ever made a conscious effort to listen to (or even BUY!!) one of their albums/songs, then you are a horrible horrible person and an insult to the entire sense of hearing. In fact you're probably deaf and your ears are rotten nubs of dead flesh.

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Bless you

Posted : 6 months, 3 weeks ago on 18 March 2008 02:14 (A review of F#A# ∞)

Despite there only being three songs on the entire album, this CD still manages to clock up over an hours worth of listening time, and what an hour it is. I had something of a musical epiphany when I first heard The Dead Flag blues, I knew I had to explore the genre and the band as much as I possibly could, just in case there were other instances of such rare musical perfection as this that I didn't know about. Three years later and my search is still going strong and I have reaped the rewards of some marvellous music.

Back to this album. It starts with a tremendous song that dredges through the deepest mires of depression in a post-apocalyptic world. It has to be heard to be believed. A dour monologue is read over strings that slowly build into a tragic and melancholic rhythm that pretty much offers no hope to the listener. It then dies down and almost begins a completely different song which is initially peppered with despair but eventually achieves the unthinkable by ending on a high and hopeful note. It's just a tour de force of emotion!

The latter songs on the album are similarly impressive, but do not focus so much on hopelessness, instead just amazing soundscapes and instrumentation that slowly build into rewarding crescendos of blissful noise. The whole album is perfect.

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Doing the rounds.

Posted : 6 months, 3 weeks ago on 18 March 2008 01:54 (A review of Rounds)

Easily one of the most complete electronica albums around. There isn't a low point on the whole album, it's spectacular from start to finish. Four Tet and his songs are well and truly ingrained in my brain thanks to the sheer number of times I've listened to Rounds. I remember willing him to release another album when I first heard this one, but when he did I was disappointed with it. It wasn't anything near as good as this.

Beautiful melodies and relaxing ensembles make up 45 minutes of pure listening pleasure from the master turntablist. Definite highlights include 'Unspoken' and 'My Angel Rocks back and forth'. Spawned a whole universe of remixes and b-sides that are also well worth hunting down on his Remixes album.

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He's not gonna tear your face of anymore

Posted : 6 months, 3 weeks ago on 18 March 2008 01:10 (A review of Hello Everything)

For his latest album, Squarepusher has pushed all of the trademark skull-crushing electronica aside and made this album a lot more accessible to the average man. It's still an electronica album, but there are no more jarring interludes (such as the middle segment of Ultravisitor) there to catch you off guard. Some may say that's a good thing and I'm certainly more a fan of his melodies than his torture tunes, but at the same time I feel a little bit of him has died. It feels like he has accepted old age or impending retirement without a care in the world and churned out a record that reflects his contentment with life.

There are plenty of good songs on Hello Everyone, but there are no great ones. Classics like Tetra-Sync, Ultravisitor, Port Rhombus, the Iambic Poetries... they are in another league compared to what he has produced here. There was no song that stopped me in my tracks and forced me to listen to a musician who was clearly at the top of his game. Which was a crying shame.

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It's a Feedelity Affair review

Posted : 6 months, 4 weeks ago on 16 March 2008 04:31 (A review of It's a Feedelity Affair)

Please see review for Gui Boratto and apply it to this album. Another bland and uninspired electro offering that has won fantastic reviews from the indie music press despite being as dull as battleship grey. Listening to this, it's what I would expect from the lifts in a three-star Ibizan hotel. The sort of modest and unsuccessful background dance that came out of the early 90's springs to mind.

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Final Fantasy VIII review

Posted : 6 months, 4 weeks ago on 15 March 2008 09:18 (A review of Final Fantasy VIII)

I think this is by far one of the strongest soundtracks for a Final Fantasy game to date. In my honest opinion, it all starts going downhill from here (Apologies to all of you FFIX fans!).

What I really appreciate is how epic the soundtrack gets towards the end of the game. Throughout the discs you continuously assault the Sorceress who is accompanied by various sorceress themes. The sorceress fights are highlights of the game for me because of the music which goes with them.

Disc four is full of quality tracks, but overall, here are some of my picks from the game:

* Find your way
* Blue Fields
* The Landing
* Succession of Witches
* The Stage is Set
* Premonition
* Compression of Time
* The Oath
* Maybe I'm a lion
* The Extreme


I better stop there before I list the whole soundtrack. Anything with the sorceress beats in the background is an instant hit for me. The only part of the game that I bore quickly of is Timber, but that's probably only because the music in that area of the game is pretty dull.

Overall, this is probably my favourite soundtrack from a final fantasy game. Its pretty superb and it pips the FFVII soundtrack mainly because the quality of the instruments sounds superior than the midi classics of its predecessor.

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Chaos Theory: Splinter Cell 3 Soundtrack review

Posted : 6 months, 4 weeks ago on 15 March 2008 08:18 (A review of Chaos Theory: Splinter Cell 3 Soundtrack)

I've tried to get into Amon Tobin's music for a long time. I've always thought that there was something inherently dull or repetitive about most of his other work, but I noticed that Chaos Theory is a lot different. It seems to have more rhythm and substance than other albums of his. I never played the original game, but still enjoyed this soundtrack, which is testament to the fact that is strong enough as a stand alone album.

There are some solid tracks, such as El Cargo and The Lighthouse which roll along in a mechanical manner and easily generate a feeling of stealth and subterfuge. I think this is probably Amon's best work.

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