A slightly shorter column than the ones of previous weeks. No, that’s not laziness, just an acknowledgement that perhaps this weekly column DOES tend to ramble on a bit more than necessary, and that by keeping it a bit more simple but including links to expanded articles, people might be more inclined to check out the music featured. So I watched the BBC’s coverage of the Reading And Leeds festival a week or so ago, and… Let’s just say I’m glad I was born early enough to attend the festival in 2000 rather than having to make do with what they had this year. With internet access, viewers can watch some great sets by the likes of Johnny Marrand Tame Impala. Foalsdidn’t disappoint, and Frank Turnerdelivered the kind of moment when you realize just how far an artist can come after enough hard work. But unfortunately the rest of what the BBC were showing just didn’t have any kind of impact on me whatsoever. For a band who released THREE albums only last year, Green Dayplaying the 1994 favorite ‘Dookie’ from start to finish just seemed like a backwards step and a bit of a cop-out. And Billie Joe, don’t ever sing ‘Let Yourself Go’ (or any other song) without wearing your guitar. You look like an idiot.
But each year the festival always comes at a time when the summer is beginning to wind down. I first noticed this 13 years ago on the journey back from Leeds the very day after the event, how it seemed to suddenly get darker earlier even thought the clock change was still a while away. There are a lot of songs and albums that remind me of the interim between summer and autumn, and that year Placebo’s ‘Slave To The Wage’ was one of them. Already there are tracks and even albums from 2013 to be released over the coming months that I know are going to provide this year’s post-summer soundtrack. Of course, I will be featuring many of these in forthcoming editions of this column. For the time being I’m wrapping up summer with some of the essential songs of this season that you might or might not have missed. I’m including these as part of my daily Track Of The Day feature on the RW/FF website, so go and have a look HERE at the entries from the last seven days or so...
As well as that wonderful new Manicsalbum ‘Rewind The Film’ and Atlanter’s stunning debut ‘Vidde’, I’ve spent a good portion of the week indulging in the new albums from Crocodiles, Franz Ferdinand, Dreadzoneand Troumaca, the latter of which is what I can honestly describe as the perfect soundtrack for these late summer evenings. In something of a reviewing frenzy, I will be publishing the lowdowns on all of these records over the coming week on the RW/FF site.
It’s been quite a busy week for albums: the skewed psych of Splashh’s debut ‘Comfort’, NOCEREMONY//’s self titled full-length, and ‘Rubies And Ruffians’, the second LP from the Antwerp-based Strumpets. You’ll hear more about those in next week’s column.
I’ve also been listening to Factory Floor’s much-anticipated debut, which is out next week (September 9), as well as Teeth Of The Sea’s extraordinary third album ‘MASTER’ (not entirely sure if the capital letters are compulsory), which is hitting the music world on October 7. It has just been confirmed that the band are to co-headline a tour with the incredible Thought Forms and Brighton's Esben And The Witch. Take a look at those tour dates HERE. Talking of Thought Forms, take a look at this recent live session, filmed at Melksham's Nine Volt Leap studios. The studio (whose website can be found HERE) is highly recommended for quality, expertise and value...
When bands reform or return from a hiatus, it can often be thrilling and worrying in equal measures for the fans: always great to be able to hear your favorite songs played live, but always a chance of disappointment when it comes to releasing new material. Some band feel a bit rusty after so long out of action, and sometimes you can hear them struggling when they emerge from the studio with the results. But Nine Inch Nailsaren’t exactly a band, and Trent Reznor’s return isn’t a case of him desperately cobbling together whatever he can come up with, more a case of a confident, bold revitalisation that shows he is still very much a man with a heedful of ideas. While admittedly some of it still sounds like a chrome-covered mixture of Depeche Modeand Bowie, a lot of ‘Hesitation Marks’ can be surprising at times, and some old-school NIN fans will take a while to get used to some of the more melodic moments. Even after one listen I’m impressed, and after a few more plays I will see if I still like it enough to review it soon. In the meantime, here’s ‘Everything’. It's a bit poppy yes, but does this also remind anyone else of My Bloody Valentine?
Earlier this week on Tuesday, the world woke up to a brand new PixiesEP. The four songs were produced by Gil Norton and Dan Austin, the latter doing a fine job on Six By Seven’s new album. Austin is another musical figure who grew up in my hometown of Melksham, and his father is the same Mr Austin who sometimes features in the “Rewind” section of this weekly column. In another bit of “what a small world” information, the bass on these new tracks comes courtesy of ex-Fallmember Simon ‘Ding’ Archer, a top bloke who I met a few months ago when his band Bobbie Perusupported Mark E Smithand co at a Bristol gig. Of all the tracks on the new EP, this belter is the one that is most reminiscent of their earlier works…
Paul McCartney has a new album out on October 14, titled 'New', and here is a song from it, also called 'New'. Nice.
Asian Dub Foundationstill haven’t announced a release date for their new album ‘The Signal and The Noise’ but you don’t have to wait to hear the LP’s fierce title track, which delivers a hard-hitting combination of bhangra beats, hard rock guitars and punk attitude. Brilliant stuff. News of the album will appear on their Facebook page HERE soon...
Formed only last year in 2012, the Bath-based five piece Pylo make beautiful melancholic music with plenty of space and room to breathe. Some of it reminds me of Coldplay... wait come back! I meant Coldplay when they first started out, when they had a real emotional depth to their music. I can also detect hints of Doves, but as you will hear, this lot are no copycats. This gorgeous track is lifted from their 'Bellavue' EP, which came out earlier this year. They're playing Bestival tomorrow (Saturday 7 Sept), at 11am on the Replay stage. For more info go to their Facebook page HERE...
Stephen Jones, that fellow who used to wear condoms around his neck and cover his head in baked beans on Babybirdrecord sleeves, is back with new music. When I say he’s back, what I really mean is he’s returned with his first new material in over a week. Yes, a rather prolific figure is Mr Jones, who posted this brand new song on YouTube a few days ago, a beautifully fragile track which could hopefully make its way onto his upcoming solo album. For another side of Jones, check out the Black Reindeeralbums he’s also been releasing throughout the year. Oh, and apparently he’s releasing ANOTHER one of those any day now, probably during the time I’ve been typing this article. Slow down, I’m having trouble keeping up! http://thestephenjones.bandcamp.com/
After hearing Al Lover's 'Vodun Moon' for the first time last week, I decided to play it on my radio show during Monday night's show. Cranked-up tunage of the absolutely mental variety.
Rewind: 1995Last week I recalled the September of 1995, the beginning of secondary school and the brilliant (in some cases not so brilliant) music that soundtracked those times. While I’m writing the next instalment, here’s more of the tracks that made ’95 the golden year it was…THE VERVE - THIS IS MUSICBLACK GRAPE - KELLY'S HEROESGENE - HAUNTED BY YOUELASTICA - WAKING UPCAST - HISTORYSUPERGRASS - TIME
OASIS - THE MASTERPLANPULP - BAR ITALIA