I used to have a friend called ‘Ewok’, I no longer remember his real name, if I ever actually knew it, but I, and well, pretty much everyone, knew him as such – he really, and I mean really looked like an Ewok! Anyway, I’d dropped round his house one day and he would not shut the fuck up about the new Stone Temple Pilots album, ‘Purple`. I knew about STP but had never given them much love; I’d been into grunge since the ground floor – having seen Alice in Chains back when they supported Megadeth; Pearl Jam‘s first UK appearance; Nirvana at Reading? Yep. I was there. So for me STP were imposters riding the wave, a kinda commercial grunge lite.
Then I heard ‘Purple’.
Damn, what a fine album that was and still is – it stands the test of time, every track a killer. Then I got hold of a twelve inch single of ‘Plush’ one day when I was out hunting vinyl. When I flipped it over to play the b-side – unplugged versions of ‘Plush’ and ‘Sex Type Thing’ – I had one of those beautiful music moments when you uncover a real treasure.
I’d like to say I went on to become a mega Stone Temple Pilots fan and that Velvet Revolver were a dream come true, but I didn’t and they weren’t. I don’t really know why, I guess there was just too much else going on and maybe VR just didn’t have the songs, whatever, it doesn’t really matter.
A man has died. A talented man with rock star charisma and one of the most incredible voices in rock. I cannot and will not pass judgement on the man, just as I won’t put him up as a hero. What I will do is give thanks for the incredible pieces of music that affected me so profoundly all those years ago and that are still a part of my life until today. Now, I guess I’ll go find that MTV Unplugged set in full on YouTube.
Placebo were formed in 1994 after a chance meeting on a London tube platform between Brian Molko and Stefan Olsdal, who had both previously attended the American International School in Luxembourg. Their first album was released in 1996 and in celebration of its twentieth anniversary the boys are doing a number of retrospective projects including the recent MTV Unplugged set of primarily early material. As such, it seems like as good a time as any to celebrate the work of one of my favourite alternative rock bands.
Born in the midst of Britpop and inaccurately labelled as such, Placebo have always trodden their own path, often in the face of senseless criticism, and have succeeded in amassing a consistently high quality body of work. Placebo albums are a bit like Denzil Washington‘s films, never bad.
Although ostensibly a British band, Brian was born in Belgium to an itinerant Scottish Mother and American Father, while Stefan, despite being born to Swedish parents in Sweden, also moved around a fair bit before settling in London. For me, this is one of the principal reasons for Placebo never quite fitting in, they have a multi-cultural background and a kind of rootlessness that enables them to play by their own rules.
Their sound is very much their own, not only down to Brian’s distinctive vocal, but also instrumentally; their hard edged alt rock sound, owing as much to Wedding Present as to Marc Bolan, never plays it safe and they are also not afraid to explore more atmospheric airs, regularly incorporating piano and strings. I’ve had the privilege of seeing them live just the once, at Reading in 2000, and although they put in a great performance, I had the distinct impression that headliners, the Stereophonics, were worried and made sure their volume was turned down.
Anyway, here’s a handful of songs celebrating the awesomeness of this criminally underrated band of outsiders who despite bucking trends and media hostility have managed to sell in excess of eleven million records – count em!
‘Nancy Boy’ was the first Placebo song I ever heard and in the post grunge comfort zone of overblown Britpop it was refreshingly loud and crunchy, yet had just enough pop sensibility to nag its way into my unconscious. Love the guitar sound on this version from Later with Jools.
Placebo were unaffected by “difficult second album” syndrome; following up the top 5 success of their debut with a dark brooding slab of hard edged intensity. The title track of ‘Without You I’m Nothing’ (see below), ‘Pure Morning’ and ‘Every You, Every Me’ are the obvious killer cuts from the album, but ‘Brick Shithouse’ is as hard as it’s title and ‘Scared of Girls’ has a groove vaguely reminiscent of early Cult. Check out this badass version of ‘Scared of Girls’ from their debut headline show at Brixton Academy back in 98. The action starts at about 3’50.
‘Without You I’m Nothing’ is an epically dark ballad that is superbly intense in it’s own right, but as a duet with David Bowie could not have had a better compliment paid to it.
‘Plasticine’ – love it. Rocks hard from start to finish. “Don’t forget to be the way you are.”
‘Protect me/Protege Moi’ finds Brian at his wonderfully pretentious best.
‘Battle for the Sun’ is one of the more unusual Placebo tracks, but the building intensity and insistent vocal give it a defiant urgency.
Back in December of 2008 Placebo played a unique semi acoustic set at the Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia at the beginning of the ‘Battle for the Sun’ tour. The 40m showcase is really something special with its atmospheric vibe; check out this mesmerizing version of Meds with a superb performance from the new boy on drums at the time, Steve Forrest.
Placebo has never shied away from doing a cover and ‘Sleeping with Ghosts’ saw them bring an album’s worth of B-sides and one offs together for a bonus disc that included songs by artists as diverse as Kate Bush and Darts. Their version of Where Is My Mind by the Pixies is so damn good that even Black Francis (A.K.A Frank Black) came out at the legendary Paris show to play on it. I actually get goosebumps from head to toe when I watch this.
Despite having lived in Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro, for the last thirteen years, I will readily admit to not being the most assiduous follower of the Brazilian music scene. There is some stuff that I really like, a whole load of stuff that I steer well clear of and a gaping black hole in between. Basically, I use the excuse that I just don’t have the time, but the simple fact is that I mostly prefer English language music, which is a little short-sighted of me. However, as recent experience has highlighted how difficult the music industry has become for new bands in England nowadays, it got me wondering about the situation here, so I decided it was high time I found out what was going on. In fact, I didn’t have to look very far; between ex-students, good friends, friends and relatives of other students and a handful of acquaintances I suddenly had access to a whole host of local bands, perfect for comparing the grass roots scene here with what goes on back home.
Primarily, I wanted to know about the difficulties faced by upcoming bands in Rio de Janeiro and the unanimous response was that outside of the Lapa district in Rio, there is a distinct lack of venues with high quality sound and an appropriate infrastructure. Personally, I put this down to a lack of pub culture, no sweaty beer soaked backrooms or spit and sawdust venues here, but the complex legal system and, at times, lack of adherence to is also a factor. Throw in the fact that if you can actually find a place to play, getting paid for it is a mission in itself, because not only are gigs badly paid, it is also par for the course for venue owners/promoters to pay late – we are talking weeks or months – no musicians union backing here. Also, according to Alexandre Daumerie of the “On The Rock” project, “That’s when they don’t ask you to play for free, which many unknown bands will often do just to show their work and get the exposure”.
In fact, the basic consensus is that there is not much money to be made unless you are playing covers of popular music or are willing to sweat blood for your art, and even then you won’t get paid what you deserve and you’ll have the demands of promoters to contend with. One reputable promotor that I spoke to, Vitor Da Cunha Gomes of A Conspiração Produções e Eventos, who moonlights as the bassist in metal core group Ambstract, goes as far as to suggest that to get on a relatively interesting bill “you have to sell a pornographic number of tickets for the event promoter, and the bands that do so are not always top quality (cover bands etc), so the event ends up full of poor bands that bring down the level.” Vitor’s company goes against the flow by only inviting bands with their seal of approval, with good material and marketing, and that are supportive of the local scene.
The proliferation of covers acts and the willingness of bars to book them as an attraction, also means that even bands with a strong local following are battling for space in the market. João Paulo Barreira of Barcamundi goes a little further still, citing “a lack of incentives for independent culture on the part of public organs, as well as a certain disinterest of the majority of the public for original music or for that not endorsed by mass media.”
This lack of interest on the part of the public could be a reflection of the dynamic of the class system here. In England basically you have a working class spectrum, so any given venue can pull people in democratically, whereas here you have a working class chasm between the haves and have nots, which is reflected in the public frequenting certain venues. The paradox here is that the bands making alternative, indie or rock tend to be from middle class backgrounds but don’t have access to middle class venues. Ok, so I admit that this is something of a sweeping generalization, but the point is that the structure and tastes of society here is a far more complex issue than in the UK.
Eduardo Marcolino of progressive rockers Anxtrongoes deeper into the issue of apathy on the part of the public: “many people are satisfied with free online material and don’t bother going to shows. Besides, almost nobody pays for an album anymore, making recording even more costly as it doesn’t generate much return.” Sound familiar English bands?
As such, the influence of the internet is frighteningly similar the world over, with bands more often than not peaking at the thousand true fans level and living in the hope of going viral or getting picked up by the mass media. In the meantime it’s online marketing and social media to divulge the new material, show etc, and just like in the UK (and probably the rest of the world) Brazilian acts love the fact that they have control over how they appear to the world and how they communicate with their fans. However, João Paulo´s guitarist in Barcamundi, Leon, makes the pertinent observation that number of likes/followers can be a doubtful indicator and just because one band has 20k “fans”, while another has the faithful thousand, it doesn’t mean the first band is 20 times more popular than the other. João completes the idea by saying “It’s necessary to work, make contacts, rehearse and publicize your band in the real world, but with the help of the internet.”
Although the internet is seen by all concerned as a useful tool in terms of publicity, especially given Brazil’s highly digitalized society, being social media savvy is quite simply not enough. Why?
Two words:
Organizações Globo.
Globo is one of the most powerful media organisations in the world and its influence here in Brazil is nothing less than massive. What little space they give to music, is dedicated to the mainstream or established “alternative” acts, as well as for more traditional Brazilian styles such as Sertanejo (Country), Samba, Pagode, Axé and even Funk Carioca. Even their coverage of Rock in Rio is a little limited, with the Sunset stage (the b-stage) only shown on one of their satellite channels, which does go to redress the balance a little by also showing events like Lollapalooza, but the homegrown programmes on the music channel are very old guard. So basically if Globo is behind you or willing to give you a shot, this will open a lot of doors, as in the case of Scalene, but if you are not a media darling, which most indie and alternative acts tend not to be, otherwise they wouldn’t be called alternative, getting any media exposure outside of social networks is gonna be difficult.
OK, so Globo is by no means the only media outlet in the country, but they lead by example and most other outlets tend to follow suit, so the indie/rock/alternative scene is very much an underground one. However, according to Vitor of A Conspiração and Fabricio Figueiredo of Útero Ruídosproductions it is a thriving scene and there is a lot of talent in Rio. Both suggested that São Paulo has a better infrastructure while Rio has the better bands. When I asked about how competitive the scene was, there was agreement that, as in England, in general it tends to be one of mutual support and incentive, despite the fight for attention and the occasional envious eye on another band’s success.
Vitor: “I always like to watch the local bands and see how they are doing well, recently there’s been an enormous improvement in the quality of the bands; they’re making music that’s getting richer and more elaborate, which always makes me want to improve.”
He goes on to cite a number of interesting local bands that cover the entire rock spectrum, far too many to mention here, but I checked out as many as I could and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Menores Atos, Cervical, Lougo Mouro and the one that particularly caught my eye, Parola, who play a highly competent brand of Brazilian Hard Rock.
As for other aspects of band life, just like their British counterparts it’s a labour of love here too. Having to run a band part-time means rehearsing only once a week and long term plans remain un-ambitious, the focus being on improving and continuing to enjoy playing, whilst hopefully building a competent body of work. So, all in all being in an indie or alternative rock band in Brazil has all the difficulties of the British scene plus a whole host of structural and cultural questions thrown in for good measure.
Nevertheless, there has to be some kind of middle ground between this level of virtual obscurity and media endorsed mega stardom, and just as English bands are starting to find with forward thinking indie labels and innovative PR companies, there is life beyond the DIY circuit and outside the limited rosters of the major labels. Companies such as Útero are working like a creative hub for artists where they can gain access to expertise in production, recording and mixing, creation of audio-visual projects, fundraising and distribution.
Fabricio Figueiredo explained that Útero’s vision actually goes beyond the artist; they see the lack of know-how on the local music scene as an opportunity to help stimulate and organise the market, providing a safe haven for artists to get their work produced and a focus for fans to connect with quality sounds. By coordinating the activities of studios, musicians, promoters, venues and fans they work as a catalyst for artistic projects and an opinion maker on the local scene. However, their vision goes beyond the local; the video they recorded for Rebeca Sauwen being one of the factors getting her on to The Voice.
Therefore, despite the apparent difficulties of the Brazilian music scene, it is by no means all doom and gloom, especially when you not only have talented performers, but also forward thinking individuals willing to stimulate the music industry in the name of art. Given a more sober vision of the music business, as is already being seen in the big international markets, there is no reason why we cannot form a sound middle class of music operating way above the thousand true fans level, but without the necessity to be the next big thing; whether it’s Brasil (sic) or back in the UK.
This surprise EP, recorded at the Saint Cecilia hotel in Austin, Texas, dropped on Saint Cecilia’s day; well, perhaps not so surprising after all then, especially considering she’s the patron saint of music and that there was a countdown clock on the Foo Fighters’ website. Anyway, it’s a kind of end of tour (or possibly end of career given the tone of the accompanying letter) thank you from the Foo Fighters to their fans and was recorded in a series of Margarita fuelled sessions that picked up the pieces of some riffs and song ideas that had got left on the studio floor.
As a result, it feels like a step back in time and is actually quite fun, although it’s a bit like listening to Noel Gallagher in that you get the feeling he’s used that melody/riff/lyric somewhere before and if you looked hard enough you’d probably find it. But what the hell, we all love Dave, so if he wants to give us free music, then great!
‘Saint Cecilia’ kicks things off and it’s Foo Fighters being Foo Fighters; straight forward rock n roll riffing, a catchy chorus, a tempo change in the mid section and a perfunctory guitar solo. Pretty much everything you’d expect, and well, it’s Dave, so it’s pretty good. ‘Sean’ is uptempo Foo, this time the mid section has a punked up Rockabilly feel to it and again it’s good fun, albeit relatively disposable.
‘Savior Breath’ is more retro with its punky riffing and raucous feel; this would have fit nicely on the Teenage Time Killers record, although it is not the best production wise (which may be deliberate); the vocal being a little distorted in the mix. ‘Iron Rooster’ is a straight rip of Neil Young’s ‘Old Man’ up to the dreamy Zeppelin esque mid section, and serves as nothing more than a little respite.
However, ‘The Neverending Sigh’, a twenty year old tune, is far and away the standout moment; an atmospheric opening segueing into multi-layered riffing that ebbs and flows around time changes and hook filled melodies. OK, so it follows the Foo formula, but it sounds fresh and epic at the same time and would stand up amongst their classic material from the same period.
So, what you’ve basically got here is the Foo Fighters celebrating themselves as a treat for their legions of die hard fans, it’s hardly groundbreaking but is all very enjoyable and seems like a fitting way to close this chapter. Maybe Dave and co. need to do something else for a while and this gives fans a little something to hang onto while they are away.
While thinking back over the music I’ve enjoyed during the past year, I came to the realisation that a very large portion of it came from female artists or female fronted bands. This really shouldn’t be noteworthy in this day and age, but if you think about it, with the exception of the pop market, most musical styles are still pretty much male dominated. I mean, think of your all time favourite metal/rock/indie/rap acts and basically only indie really has a high chance of including a girl and she’s almost certainly gonna be called Kim.
As such, Indie continues to lead the way with a much higher percentage of female fronted bands; maybe it’s down to being a less image oriented genre, where who or what you are is far less important than your art, who knows? Even so, with the exception of Florence’s last minute headline slot at Glastonbury, the UK festivals were still shamelessly male dominated, indicating that there remains an undercurrent of male bias in the industry. This is highlighted by the fact that when you consider that based on merit alone, rather than the questionable practice of positive discrimination; that is, using record sales and critical acclaim as a guide, the main stage at Reading, Glastonbury, Leeds or IoW could easily have lined up Bjork, Florence, Sleater-Kinney, Wolf Alice, Courtney Barnett and Soak on the main stage; wouldn’t exactly have been torture now, would it?
So, whether the powers at be choose to recognize it or not, there has been a lot of damn fine records released this year by women across all genres, even Rap. Therefore, in my best Emma Watson-esque spirit, I think it only fair and right to give a shout out to some of the supremely talented ladies that have contributed so much to my listening pleasure of late.
Although the overriding misogyny of the Rap/Hip-hop scene continues to be a difficult hurdle for female talent, the likes of Kate Tempest, the classy Dej Loaf and Little Simz represent a new generation of talented girl rappers. In addition, 2015 also saw the return of some old school talent; with the unique Missy Elliott coming back with a stylish new single after stealing the half time show at the Superbowl from under Katy Perry’s nose. However, it’s Tairrie B., one of the most pioneering performers in the game, that has most surprised and challenged me this year with her return to the genre for the accomplished ‘Vintage Curses’ project (https://hardpresseded.wordpress.com/2015/08/18/tairrie-b-vintage-curses/). It showed that she still has a flow comparable with any major rap artist around right now, as well as being as empowering as ever. Check out this badass remix of ‘Wicked Witch of the West Coast’ by Mediatrix – another upcoming female talent.
Hard Rock / Heavy Metal is another complicated area for women, but the likes of Pvris and Marmozets are breaking down old fashioned sexism with the sheer quality of their material. Speaking of quality, I can’t put down the smoking ‘Into the Wild Life’ by Halestorm; Lzzy Hale has a superb hard rock vocal and on ‘I Am The Fire’ she is, well, on fire.
As I said before though, it’s the world of indie/alternative where women are really holding their own. I cannot get enough of Wolf Alice’s ‘My Love is Cool’, especially killer tracks like ‘Bros’, ‘Your Love’s Whore’ and ‘You’re a Germ’. Lead vocalist, Ellie Rowsell, has a superb voice, drifting easily from a breathy hush to a full blooded scream on WA’s classy songs – album of the year?
I discovered the old school indie sludge punk of Haybaby a couple of months back and believe they too are set for bigger things. Leslie Hong has a very strong voice and is equally good whether understated or raging; I love her screaming “I don’t give a fuck if you love me anyhow” in the middle of the chorus to ‘Old Friends’, badass.
Laura Hancock of The Echo and The Always, is another vocalist that has seriously impressed me this year. She has a little more bite to her voice, which glides easily amongst the multiple facets of their intriguing record; she can deliver a pop hook with ease, hold her own on rockier numbers but also has the smoothness of a folk singer. This band will be massive.
To be honest, there is so much amazing female talent around right now, whether it’s a tiny upcoming band like False Advertising (Jen Hingley), hot new singer-songwriter like Soak or a legend like Björk, I could go on and on giving examples. Suffice to say that with so much good music on offer I find it staggering that the issue of equality still needs to be addressed in the music business.
The hard working Millie Manders is a badass singer songwriter from South London, who, like the city, has quite a cosmopolitan approach. There is a punky attitude to the rocked up ska tinged tunes that create a backdrop for her socially conscious lyrics and cutting vocals; the four tracks on her third EP showcasing her multiple talents succinctly as she tackles subjects as diverse as the media’s perception of women and possessive/abusive relationships.
Title track ‘Obsession Transgression’ kicks off in upbeat fashion with an insistent sax riff and low-fi guitars. The vocals are sharp on the hooky chorus and the ska vibe gives it a cool retro feel. ‘Teddy’, however, is quirkier with its mooching bass line and slightly manic vocal; it actually reminds me of early Florence demos and there is a certain charm to the punky simplicity of it, although the saxophone once again adds dimension.
‘Bacchus’ has a more serious tone, the swirling sax riff building intensely, while a deeper vocal fits the ode to alcohol use and abuse well. Millie has great range, not only of tone but also style, dictating the emotional vibe of her songs with apparent ease. Everything comes together on the sublime groove of final track ‘Long Gone’; again the vibe is more serious and there’s a suitably intense vocal performance, superb horns and some great guitar work as the song ebbs and flows.
At only four tracks long the EP is on the short side, which is a shame because I’d like to hear more from Millie, the last two tracks especially, hinting at some serious potential. I’m not sure she has the same mainstream appeal of a Florence or a Marina but there is obviously great passion in her art and it will be interesting to see what she comes up with next.
My earphones have been as busy as ever with the likes of Haybaby and Wolf Alice, but there’s been plenty of other stuff filling my personal airwaves. I’ve reviewed some great stuff for Already Heard, like Saint (the) Sinner, Aurora and This City Limits (See below for reviews), as well as the new Nitin Sawhney and Jeff Lynne’s ELO releases right here. It’s all great stuff but there’s a few other things topping my personal charts right now.
Dave Gahan & Soulsavers
It’s quite natural for stuff that I’m reviewing to get a fair few plays, but Dave’s latest has been on super heavy rotation ever since. The almost cinematic quality of this sweeping soundtrack to life is extremely impressive and its depth and texture nothing short of sublime. Gahan puts in a strong vocal performance throughout; the rough edge to his voice carrying an emotional weight that combines beautifully with the epically dark gospel feel. Killer.
The Cult
I’m not ashamed to admit that The Cult is my all time favourite band and tend to get played pretty much every week as it is. So when I decided to do my 10 reasons The Cult are awesome piece (https://hardpresseded.wordpress.com/2015/11/10/10-reasons-the-cult-are-awesome/) it was the perfect excuse to delve into their back catalogue even more. Electric/Peace got a fair few listens as did Love. They are such a unique band, despite wearing their influences on their sleeves; nobody else sounds like them and they defy classification. Billy Duffy’s guitar playing is always superb, conjuring up varied riffs and smoking solos, while Ian Astbury’s baritone is the most distinctive voice in rock. Here is something a little newer though, from the soundtrack to Gone In 60 Seconds, ‘Painted on my Heart’. Love ’em.
Of Allies
I’ve reviewed them, I’ve interviewed them, I’ve featured them in not one but two other pieces and yet I can’t stop listening to them. Both the first EP, ‘Tempers’, as well as its follow up, ‘Fragments’, are regular listens that I just never get tired of hearing. On Tempers we get the earworm that is ‘Ghosts’, the brooding ‘Our Decay’, the bombastic ‘In Screens’ with its guitar interplay and hook filled chorus, the ebb and flow of the atmospheric ‘In Stasis’ with its epic finale and the massive ‘Play Dead’. Fragments is equally triumphant with its slightly more radio friendly, but no less hard edge sound. The title track is pure quality, ‘One 19’ is a hook filled belter, ‘Old Bones’ is full of twists and turns, while ‘Tempers’ rocks seriously hard before the accomplished ‘Call It Home’. Basically, I cannot get enough of this band and am stoked that work on their debut LP has begun – look out for them in 2016.
It seems unbelievable that one of the hottest records of the moment is the comeback album of Jeff Lynne’s Electric Light Orchestra. It shouldn’t be, I mean there is no way this should be happening, Jeff’s last comeback in 2001 was nothing less than a complete disaster and lets face it ELO part II was just flogging a dead horse. So, how the hell has a band which fizzled out thirty years ago been dusted off, reanimated and come back sounding exactly like they always did? It’s like the time fabric continuum got folded and Jeff just picked up where he left off.
Basically, this is Jeff doing what ELO does best; high quality hook filled tracks offering a sense of nostalgic comfort. So, in that regard it’s an enjoyable record that fits the current retro climate perfectly, but one can’t help but feel that there’s something not quite there. It’s a bit like drinking decaf, it tastes good and fulfills ones desire for a cup of coffee but something just don’t feel right, and I think I might just have put my finger on it.
‘When I Was a Boy’ sets the tone with its easy piano melody like something from a John Lewis Ad, that slightly muffled drum sound and the nostalgic lyric; it’s oh so familiar as we are taken back in time to Jeff’s childhood bedroom. It’s effective though, I find myself transported back to my own, except in mine you could here ELO coming through the floor from my Mum’s record player. ‘Love and Rain’ continues the vibe with a vaguely funky guitar riff, like a laid back ‘Superstition’, it’s lyrical simplicity in stark contrast to the musical complexity with multiple layers of instrumentation.
The album then proceeds to pilfer Jeff’s own back catalogue magpie style; we get the futuristic sound effects on ‘Dirty to the Bone’, the predictable ‘All My Life’ and the mid-tempo flashback of ‘I’m Leaving You’. It’s as if Jeff went into the studio and pieced a few songs together from the ELO catalogue of licks, drumtracks and melodies; nowhere more so than on ‘One Step at a Time’, which is futuristic sounding, but with those well used ELO harmonies. The two bonus tracks, the Wilbury’s-ish ‘Fault Line’ and ‘Blue’, seem to owe more to other periods of Jeff’s career however.
Nevertheless, there are some gems sandwiched between the slices of predictability. The reggae vibe of the riff and the minor piano chords to ‘When The Night Comes’ giving it a slightly darker feel, while the atmospheric ‘The Sun Will Shine On You’ evokes a sense of longing, but is bang up to date and has a quite lovely vocal from the man. There is always a simple Beatles-esque number and in ‘Aint It a Drag’ we get a straight ahead crowd pleasing pop-rock melody that sounds as if it has Ringo on the drums.
Album closer’Alone in the Universe’, the bonus tracks notwithstanding, is a down tempo slice of emotion with a lingering guitar to give it a heartfelt edge – it’s all kinda obvious, but hey, what the hell, Jeff could give lessons on how to write a hit.
All in all ‘Alone in The Universe’ is an enjoyably nostalgic journey through everything that once made ELO the biggest band in the world and Jeff Lynne one of the industry’s most successful hit makers. It’s a comfort zone record, Jeff didn’t leave his and it will no doubt transfer you to yours and as such fits the times like a glove. There’s just that ever so slight sense of disquiet, the feeling that something is missing and I guess it’s the drama that those sweeping orchestral crescendos of multiple Cello and Violin used to bring to ELO all those years ago, after all, losing 21 members of a band is bound to strip something away.
Multi-talented, multi-instrumentalist Nitin Sawhney is back with his tenth studio album and as you might expect from someone so critically acclaimed, the bar is high. With the growing hostility towards immigrants as an underlying theme, ‘Dystopian Dream’ is an intelligent record flirting with musical genres in characteristically atmospheric fashion.
‘Fires’ provides a nice chilled start with easy guitar picking, down tempo beats and a pensive bass line adding texture to the hooky vocal. The moody vibe continues on the first track to feature Eva Stone, ‘Days R Gone’, which is a little darker with its slow grinding beats. Eva is back later, on ‘Silence’; its chilled out piano and lovely beats very easy on the ear.
There are plenty of other guest collaborators but they come further down the line, in the meantime we get crisp beats and slide guitar on ‘Dark Day’, the soundtrack vibe of ‘Timetrap’ and the bluesy house beats of ‘Lose us All’, which is vaguely reminiscent of Moby.
The first male vocal comes from Akala on ‘Dystopia’ and it’s suitably disjointed, giving a sinister edge to the rolling desert storm beats and moody synths. Other elements of Sawhney’s style come through on the jungle-esque ‘Scape’ and the most Asian track of the record, ‘Tere Khyal’, whose multi-vocal chants convey deep emotion.
However, it’s the latter half of the album that has the most high points; there’s the badass performance from Stealth on ‘When I’m Gone’ and the flamenco guitar, break beats and Indian vibe vocal from Natacha Atlas on ‘Can’t Breathe’. Meanwhile, ‘Keep the Light On’ finds Joss Stone on form, her soulful voice suits the bluesy acoustics and jazzy piano equally well; there’s a nice contrast between the bar room feel and the jungle-y beats. The high point for me though is the quite stunning vocal from J’Danna on ‘Redshift’, the rough edges and jazzy soul feel to her voice over the clever bass beats nothing short of sublime.
There are one or two moments when Nitin could maybe hold back a little; the overly textured ‘Dimension’, featuring Bernhard Schimpel, being a bit irritating actually, although it does work in context, and sometimes there is so much going on in a track music wise that it crowds the raw emotion of the vocal a little.
Even so, Nitin Sawhney’s talent is undeniable and once more he has come up with a highly accomplished, mature sounding record, soundtracking the disquiet of modern life; good stuff!
I blame my brother, he went through a Goth phase at school in about 1987; I was just entering a hard rock/heavy metal phase and the one common ground we developed was The Cult. After resisting the jangly goth lite of ‘Love’, which I now, er, love, I gave in to ‘Electric’ with it’s array of classic rock riffs and soon became a mega fan/collector of all things Cult. I was overjoyed when ‘Sonic Temple’ achieved mega success whilst sounding like only The Cult can sound. They were the first band I ever saw live, well the second if you count their support band Claytown Troupe, at Wembley Arena on the Sonic Temple tour, and I went on to see them another 16 times (I think!) – the only reason I went to Guns n Roses at Milton Keynes Bowl was because The Cult were supporting. Every time I saw them they were fucking awesome; working the stage as hard as hell whatever the crowd; even the lukewarm half sized crowd the last time I caught them in Brazil (2006?) were treated to a relentless performance. IMHO Ian Astbury is the best rock vocalist of a generation – nobody but nobody sounds like him, he has a uniquely rich voice of superb depth that adds a real emotional edge, while Billy Duffy is a cruelly underrated guitarist that can play pretty much anything from badass rock to the ethereal. The Cult are a unique band that never really conformed and could never be pigeon holed and here’s ten reasons why you gotta love em.
Horse Nation
One of the first songs to really show the band’s potential, from the atmospheric intro to the scuttering riffs, it offers a glimpse of what Billy Duffy can do as a guitar player, what the band can do as songwriters and primarily how even with some very familiar elements they manage to sound unique.
Love
The most obvious rocker from the album of the same name, it’s got groove, it’s got feeling and is a showcase for some smoking guitar from Billy as he plays multiple breaks of ever increasing intensity behind Aster’s slow boiling vocal. “Gonna drive away in a big fast car….”
She Sells Sanctuary
This is the song that made them and stands up as a classic until today. I can’t really pinpoint one thing that makes it so good, maybe it’s that it sounds like no one else, maybe it’s the instantly familiar opening chords or the riff structure, or maybe its the multiple hooks; whatever, it works and is a master class in song writing, the 7 minute Long Version from the 12″, with the vaguely ironic clapping at the end, being nothing short of superb.
Love Trooper/Zap City
The Cult had a turbulent time making their third album, Electric; infamously scrapping the Manor Sessions with Steve Brown in favour of a stripped down, rocked up sound with Rick Rubin. The final result worked and both versions are very listenable (despite the god awful ‘Bad Fun’), but two tracks left off the final version of Electric, and rightly so because they don’t really fit, though subsequently used as b-sides, are two little gems from those initial sessions, Love Trooper and Zap City. They are pretty straight forward rockers but there was enough of Love in them to bridge the gap to Electric, and here’s the thing, they stand up as highly listenable until today.
Wolf Child’s Blues
Recorded live in the studio New Year’s Eve 1987 – I fuckin love this song – there’s just something so raw about it. Killer.
Fire Woman
On Sonic Temple Bob Rock helped them marry up their Led Zeppelin aspirations and the atmosphere that Rick Rubin had stripped away to come up with an enormous sounding record the Americans went mad for, and Fire Woman was the perfect lead off; it rocked, had a big ass chorus, some great riffs, the instantly recognisable intro and was just enormous. Winner!
Gone/Real Grrl
The Cult’s eponymous album failed miserably but further listening reveals it to be seriously underrated. The album came out at a difficult time for rock bands, if you weren’t Grunge or Britpop you were going nowhere, as this record did, but in a different context listening to it today, which I have done frequently, there are some great tracks – ‘Gone’ is angry as shit with some seriously hard guitaring from BD while ‘Real Grrrl’ is a superbly structured song brimming with power, energy and emotion.
Love Removal Machine
Although L.R.M is by no means the Cult’s greatest song, it is the best show closer in their armoury; partly because it’s got some groove from the tambourine shakes and the rumbling bass but mainly because you know what’s coming in the frantic closing section; the song rocks back and forth, Billy teases with a cool solo, the Stones-esque riff ebbs and flows, then…bam “Look out here she comes” – “Shake it don’t break it baby” and it’s swirling mosh pit chaos – I should know, I was in it every time.
When I started writing this I didn’t realise The Cult had new material about to drop, lets call it a happy coincidence! Check out killer new track ‘Dark Energy’ right here:https://youtu.be/pSDnqJB3Wc8
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