Reviews

Girl Band – Holding Hands with Jamie Review

Posted on by edwardlayland

girl_band_-_holding_hands_with_jamie_-_600_4

Spoiler alert: This is not your normal run of the mill review because Girl Band are not your everyday band.

Umbongo of intense swathes of guitar builds to furious echoes. A festival of noise then quiet. Beseech before the guitar alarm goes off to the heartbeat drum. Chaotic battering, it’s fever pitch; real nightmare scenario. I look crap with my top off, quirky Pears for Lunch. Yelling at a runaway bass. Tear your hair out sonic histrionics then the bass, go bananas take a breather then go proper mental – phew Baloo, playing percussion down the hall, no room for convention here, taking their time – speaking directly to your soul.

I can’t think about it or I might cry.

There’s that crazy bass back in the mix. He’s gone hitting things In plastic and repeating repeating repeating. Guitar breathing like a snoring man. Something weird this way comes. Heartbeat drums again. Loops. Wtf are you singing man?

My brain may burst.

Paul, that sinister motherfucker, he’s in the room. Almost normal. He’s angry. Freestyle – come on! Pulsating. Beats. Aaaaaaghhhhhh. Frenzy! Smash it up; go shit arse crazy. Enough. Noise of the last Riddler. A trade off I don’t even know. Its over. Texting an Alien is pointless and I don’t know why I’m doing it but its downbeat. I can talk about it as the noises layer in smooth arcs. Distortion breaks it up. Shuffles to a stop.

Fucking Butter spreads around my head. Car alarm riffing folds around the tapping. Noise. Noise. Noise skips and turns and comes back round. Everything seems Ok. There’s a production line between my ears. Here comes a monster driving a bass line, an he got groove baby. But then he went to the shop and came back Texas drawl. Its gonna blow but the bass says no. No. NO.

The Witch Dr beats his drum. Talk real fast bro. He no nice. Demons growl. Gotta run. Industrial jungles muscle in. Shoot you down raygun style. Stone cold crazy chachachacha. Torn asunder in a painful demise.

Done.

Amazing, hideous, glorious. Music to wake up gasping for air to, I dare you.

10/10

http://store.roughtraderecords.com/left-menu-roughtrade/artists/girl-band.html/

Public Enemy – Live from Metropolis

Posted on by edwardlayland

Public EnemyBack in 2014 a handful of lucky fans had the privilege of witnessing a one off show from rap legends Public Enemy, backed by a full live band, S1W, in the intimate setting of West London’s Metropolis Studios, in the very room where Amy Winehouse recorded Back to Black. Tickets were trading for somewhere in the region of $7000 for this exclusive gig and based on this 1h20m soundtrack to the DVD/Blu Ray, it was money very well spent. To put it simply, Public Enemy absolutely kill it.

We are treated to a selection of career spanning tracks from ‘Miuzi Weighs a Ton’, through ‘911 is a Joke’ and “Bring the Noise’ to the surprise hit from the London Paralympics ‘Harder than you Think’; they are all here, barring one or two personal favorites from Muse Sick, so it’s essentially a ‘Best of’ played live in this awe inspiring performance.

Twenty-eight years into their career at the time of recording; “He’s 55, I’m 54, that’s a hundred an’ nine fuckin years”; and Public Enemy are still at the top of their game. Chuck D’s flow is as sharp as ever, his baritone bite on every syllable the perfect foil to the insouciant style of partner in crime Flavor Flav. Not that Flav is found slacking, on the contrary, he works the crowd tirelessly and is a superb counterpoint to Chuck’s relentless attack. There is an almost telepathic understanding between the two, born of nigh on thirty years prowling the stage together, which reflects in their interplay; Flav conducting the small crowd like an excited pied piper while Chuck challenges them to keep pace. It’s a lesson to any performer in how to work a room, whatever its size; there’s only 125 people watching the show but PE are blowing the roof off.

Public Enemy may be old school but everything sounds as fresh as the day it was pressed, hitting the spot time and again. ‘Rebel Without a Pause’ is the first to really get things rocking, with DJ Lord scratching some serious vinyl, before Flavor turns up the heat on ‘911’ and Chuck piles on the pressure on ‘Terrordome’ – you can almost feel the room heaving through the speakers. S1W add a whole new depth and flexibility to PE’s sound, with some serious shredding on ‘Hoovermusic’ and ‘Black Steel’; the house is rocking and the show has barely started. “Real Hip Hop is here!”

Bring the Noise nails it, the rapping urgent and on point. There’s a funky bounce to the vibe on ‘Don’t Believe the Hype’ as Chuck and Flav work it; is that Liam Gallagher in the house? The temperature just keeps on rising as ‘Can’t Truss It’ struts out to some badass beats. Chuck D described ‘Man Plans, God Laughs’ as the most intense Public Enemy record of the century, sorry Mr D but you were way off, Metropolis is destroying it dude. ‘Fight the Power’ actually provides a slight breather after Chuck nails Bring the Noise a’capella. Flav brings it on again for 31 flavours before Shut em Down and the stunning climax that is the uplifting ‘Harder than you Think’, Public Enemy’s biggest UK hit; the horns actually give me goosebumps before some badass guitar rocks the midsection. Chuck D and Flavor Flav then bring the show to an intense close, “Just like that”.

The truly remarkable thing about this record is that the intensity and vibe of the performance comes through loud and clear; it’s rare for a live album to live up to the memory of a great show, but here you have the finest possible document of the Public Enemy live experience imaginable.

10/10

http://www.publicenemy.com/
https://www.facebook.com/publicenemy
https://twitter.com/MrChuckD
https://twitter.com/PublicEnemyFTP

Iron Maiden – The Book of Souls

Posted on by edwardlayland

Iron MaidenThere is a tendency among fans of great bands to live in the hope that the object of their affection will somehow recapture whatever it was that made them great, so making comparisons with a band’s peak period is inevitable, and, as such, totally unfair. Music is very contextual and lets face it, it’s not 1985 anymore, so even if they released Seventh Beast of a Powerslave in Time, it just wouldn’t be the same. That said, after a five year break, Iron Maiden have “come back” with a very strong album, and in terms of quality, in terms of Maidenness and potential future classics, it doesn’t get much better than this.

There is air of excitement about The Book of Souls, possibly down to the live element of the recording process at their “special” Guillaume Tell Studios, Paris, or possibly as a result of the on running theme of death, both on the record in the numerous references to the Mayan belief that souls live on after death; and off the record; Steve Harris having suffered two significant losses, while Bruce Dickinson discovered a lump that would turn out to be a tumour. With Steve contributing a little less than normal, albeit in stirring fashion on the likes of ‘Tears of a Clown’, Bruce was involved extensively with songs on subjects as diverse as the 1930 R101 airship crash, ‘Empire of the Clouds’, and stories of WWI triplanes on Death or Glory’. Throw in further contributions from the three guitarists and you’ve got a monster of an album, 92 minutes all told, packed with epic tunes.

‘If Eternity Should Fail’ gets things underway with an atmospheric spaghetti western style opening, but then the riff kicks in with that dum dada dum bass line and it’s pure Maiden heaven. ‘Speed of Light’, the first single, follows with a real old school hard rock feel to it and suddenly the Irons are sounding as fresh as ever.

There are more atmospherics on ‘The Great Unknown’, with its unhurried riffs and air of drama; it’s good intense stuff and is a formula that is put to good effect elsewhere, the epic ‘Book of Souls’ being not dissimilar in structure. In fact Maiden have a number of instrumentally complex tracks weighing in on the lengthy side on offer here. At times it does border on the indulgent, three guitar solos where one might do, but I guess they’re working on the premise that what Maiden fans need is more Maiden, nowhere more so than on ‘The Red and the Black’. Here a familiar riff bounces along atop a rumbling bass line like a derailed locomotive to a chant of “whoa o oh oh oh” and a never-ending instrumental break brings the song to a massive thirteen and a half minutes; and it’s not even the longest track on the album!

It’s not all epic bombast mind, some of the most effective tracks being the shortest; the lyrically reflective ‘When the River Runs Deep’ is classic hard rock, as is the frantic ‘Death or Glory’, which has instant classic written all over it; while ‘Tears of a Clown’, reportedly inspired by the Suicide of Robin Williams, is a slower, more thoughtful, measured rocker and one of Steve Harris’ finest moments.

You don’t get to this stage of your career without a bit of recycling going on though, the intro to ‘Shadows of the Valley’ sounding very much like ‘Wasted Years’; and haven’t we heard those ‘woah oh oh’s somewhere before? Even so, the gargantuan eighteen minutes (yes EIGHTEEN!) of ‘Empire of the Clouds’ is all new territory, with Bruce going all Axl at the piano; still it’s a fine melody and is a grandiose finale to a grandiose record.

So basically we have got as much Iron Maiden as you could possibly squeeze into a double album, ok, so it’s overly long, very overblown and more than a little over the top, but there is plenty of extremely strong material to get your teeth into, die-hard fan or otherwise. It would be a fine swan song to the band’s career, should they decide to call it a day, or it could even mark the start of an exciting new phase of creativity. I can’t help but wonder how they’d sound if Rick Rubin were to get hold of them and strip them back to basics, maybe then it would sound like 1985 again.

8.5/10

Follow Iron Maiden online:
Official Site: http://ironmaiden.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ironmaiden
Twitter: http://twitter.com/ironmaiden
Instagram: https://instagram.com/ironmaiden/
Spotify: https://play.spotify.com/artist/6mdiA…
Apple Music: https://itun.es/gb/nzfc

British IBM – Psychopaths Dream in Black and White Review

Posted on by edwardlayland

British IBM Image Even though I readily admit to being a bit of a sucker for folky Indie melancholy, the somewhat strangely titled ‘Psychopaths Dream in Black and White’ turned out to be a delightful surprise. As well as possessing some comforting down beat slices of introspection from the Cambridge three piece, I couldn’t help but fall in love with the beautifully rich swathes of Anna Scott’s Cello, which adds another dimension to the wistful sound of the prolific songwriting skills of front man Adrian Killens.

The folky bliss of ‘All the time’ opens proceedings with an almost childlike comfort to it, which spills over into ‘Hey Mikie’ with its well worn acoustic guitar sound over the bubbly bass line. However, it’s ‘Just Get By’ that first grabs the attention with its melancholic air and beautiful orchestration; the Cello providing a depth and sophistication to enrich their sound. Anna Scott’s orchestral contribution transforms otherwise average tracks such as ‘I’m just like you’ and ‘We were stars’ into soothingly hypnotic slices of aural tenderness.

‘Nothing ever lasts that long’ is another of the stand out moments, conjuring up memories of evenings spent with friends in a laid back vein of easy percussion and acoustic strum to accompany the orchestral melody.

“We walked back through the city lights / Watched the girls on the corner fight /
But now the evening’s gone and nothing ever lasts that long / And all the money doesn’t count / I made a choice to be here now.”

Equally lovely is ‘Silver Cigarette Case’, which once again uses strings to define the melody, though the addition of horns adds another dimension, providing a rare moment of perfectly timed uplift. Although one or two tracks like ‘Tread Carefully’ and ‘Evolution’ are on the predictable side they still make for pleasant enough listening.

So as ‘What more can I Say?’ draws the album to its downbeat close (it takes a minute to realize that’s it and the next track ain’t gonna start) what you are left with is the warm glow of pleasant tunes, evoking that almost elusive feeling of bittersweet nostalgia. It’s most definitely an album to go to after a long day when you need something chilled, but would also be perfect for a boozy night in chatting with old friends about times gone by.

8/10

Psychopaths Dream in Black and White is a self release out on September 4th

http://www.thebritishibm.com
http://www.twitter.com/thebritishibm
http://www.facebook.com/thebritishibm
http://www.youtube.com/thebritishibm

Tairrie B. – Vintage Curses

Posted on by edwardlayland

Tairrie BThis is not your usual rap album, but then again Tairrie B. Murphy is not your usual artist; she’s a fifty-year-old feminist heavy metal screamer (of My Ruin fame) and she does things on her terms, period. So what’s a woman like this doing making a rap record? – Well, because she can! The thing is, back in 1990 she learnt her trade with the legendary Eazy-E, yes, THE Eazy-E from NWA – go see Straight Outta Compton, which (not so?) coincidentally was released the same day, and you’ll get it. So if you’re wondering if she can actually rap, put your fears aside because Tairrie B. possesses a flow many a younger rapper would kill for.

Opening track ‘Beware the Crone’ sets the tone for things to come; smooth well rhymed verses, the occasional well placed sample, some dark rhythms (courtesy of husband Mick Murphy on drums, bass and guitar!) and plenty of bruxaria. The overriding theme of the record is witchcraft, with Tairrie cast as coven leader in this West Coast Helloween (sic). However, this, for me at least – make up your own minds by downloading (or naming your price) on the link below – is the one thing which is a little OTT and makes it a little difficult to take some tracks seriously, notably ‘Wicked Witch of the West Coast’, which is best taken with tongue firmly in cheek.

That said however, Tairrie does approach the subject of witchcraft as a form of empowerment much more seriously on the highly credible ‘Down as Dirt’ and `Carpe Noctem´, which both work the theme well. Speaking of empowerment, when the subject matter is a bit closer to home, such as the role of women in the music industry, she really nails it – ‘Ad Nauseam’ standing out for its lyrical content and hard edge rapping – killer.

Equally killer are ‘Spirit Queen’, which successfully blends rap with her hard rocking side, and the genius sampling of ‘Grease is the Word’ on ´Sky Above, City Below´. Throw in the superb bitchin finale to ‘BTCHCRVFT’ and you’ve got some really stand out moments.

I think it’s fair to say that Tairrie B. more than holds her own on the rap front and has put together some highly listenable well worked tunes, with more than a touch of the old school. She proves that a well placed sample is an art form in itself and that there is a place for the dark side in hip-hop, although in my humble opinion a little less witch and a touch more bitch would really nail it; even so, worth a listen, check it out.

7/10

http://tairrieb.bandcamp.com/

The Maccabees – Marks to Prove It

Posted on by edwardlayland

b0ffeb97d813799ac7300b9768c33196-98You know those retro Nikes, the ones that hark back to the seventies but actually look fresh and have a certain cool about them? Well, I see the Maccabees as their musical equivalent; there are some old school influences bubbling away under the surface yet there is something fresh and confident about them that sets them apart from their contemporaries. I was a big fan of the expansive sound scapes of 2012’s Mercury nominated ‘Given to the Wild’, so I was anxious to hear the follow up, and thankfully, I’m not disappointed.
On ‘Marks to Prove It’ the Maccabees have upped their game, following an extensive US tour with Mumford and Sons and some trials and tribulations in the studio, and have produced a somewhat introspective mature sounding album, reflecting harsh urban landscapes and themes of love, friendship and the challenges of growing older.
Title track, ‘Marks to Prove It’ is a hectic opener with a crunchy guitar sound in a clear cut nod to their Indie kid days, but there is much more depth to the sound and you can hear their development. They actually experiment to great effect throughout; no two songs sound alike and Orlando Weeks varies his vocal delivery to offer another new dimension, as on the atmospheric ‘Kamakura’ and the multi-faceted ‘Spit it Out’ with its tender piano intro and high tempo rocky climax. ‘Silence’ starts out similarly tenderly and is frankly a rather beautiful song – “understand that it never ends / she’s waiting round every corner every bend” – to which ‘River Song’ is quite a brooding contrast of histrionic saxophone.

I love the emotional urgency of Orlando’s voice and it’s evident in the moody bass rich ‘Slow Sun’ and the intense ‘WWI Portraits’; possibly the most accomplished track of the album. As the record progresses so does the sound, with ‘Pioneering Systems’ and ‘Dawn Chorus’ showing the band’s maturity; the latter being especially interesting with melodic guitar lines, thoughtful vocal and even some horns to give it another dimension, not to forget the female backing vocal which helps bring the album to a meandering hypnotic close.
The one track which I find lacking credibility is the second single, ‘Something Like Happiness; it’s kinda jaunty and actually sounds like something the Mumfords might write rather than a Maccabees song – disappointing.
Nevertheless, ‘Marks to Prove It’ showcases a well developed band offering up their most accomplished release to date; I like the fact that they have progressed steadily throughout their career and have put making great music ahead of achieving instant commercial success. For me they embody the philosophy of do what you love and the success will come. Lovely record, listen as a whole.

9/10