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
Social media is a funny thing; sometimes it works amazingly well, other times it’s like pissing in the wind. I work on the premise that if someone has decided to follow me the least I can do is check the person/band out and maybe follow if there is some common ground. In the case of musicians I am also more than happy to give them a listen and a little publicity. However, when the follow up from them is non-existent, or stops at a favorite/heart on a tweet, it’s a bit frustrating – they want publicity, I’m giving them publicity, but rather than publicize the piece you just get a “oh, thanks” – jeez if you want people to see what others are writing about you then retweet it and/or post it on your Facebook page – quite simple really! Anyway, here’s the latest batch of artists who’ve taken an interest in following me:
Walking Stone Giants
This Greek power trio sound pretty much as you might expect from their name – big! They have a heavy metal/stoner rock vibe going on and I will admit to being pleasantly surprised by their measured, technically proficient, approach of interesting riffs, low key bluesy vocal and smoking solos. Their 2013 EP is available as a free download right here: http://walkingstonegiants.com/getit.html
Tim Turner
Very slick, smooth groove, acoustic pop – Tim crafts a nice tune and has a good voice. There’s a latino air to some of the guitar playing which adds a little depth to his pleasant sound. He also has a fair few covers on his YT channel, including this nice take on Frank Ocean.
Sean Beeson
Piano composer. Relaxing, vaguely wistful, instrumental pieces composed with soundtracks in mind.
Anokato
This German rock band have the unique concept of releasing a song every 10,000 followers. Not sure it’s a great marketing technique but what the hell, I checked out ‘Heart of the Nile’, their 30k release (they now have over 40k), and at nigh on six minutes it’s good value. It is pretty well done intense brooding middleweight rock that slow boils to a fairly resounding climax. Nice.
The Droids
Damn these guys are good! This husband and wife team make what I can only describe as alternative pop; there’s a bit of everything going on – synths, guitars, dark piano, the occasional break beat and superb vocals from Sarah Anne. It’s all fairly uptempo and there are some serious hooks, I guess they’re in similar territory to Marina and the Diamonds or Florence and lose nothing by comparison. Great stuff.
Fetal Pulse
Conceptual atmospheric electronica with a serious vibe. It’s not all beats and beeps as there is plenty of instrumentation and good work with beats. It’s interesting stuff actually, occasionally bordering on ambient, that makes for a chilled out listen.
Navaka
Pleasant enough, positive vibe pop rock with an air of country, inspired by the transition from financial services work to full time musician. Not exactly pushing any boundaries, but sure to find a niche in the American market that cannot resist a catchy country rocker. Also enjoys a cover.
Vita Museum
Epic rock from the dark side, with a strong industrial/electronic feel from the heavy synths and programmed beats. It’s an interesting mix with an accomplished feel and even an air of dark pop to the well constructed atmospheric tracks. Worth a listen.
Since staring to write for http://www.alreadyheard.com and subsequently on my own blog I have become more and more involved with bands at the hard end of the music industry.
Earlier in the year I wrote a piece on some upcoming British bands and went on to interview three of them about the difficulties of the industry. (https://hardpresseded.wordpress.com/2015/08/06/five-british-rock-bands-that-could-use-a-break/) The picture they painted was, to be quite frank, fucking depressing and totally awesome in equal measure. Depressing because it is just so damn hard to get anywhere when so little money filters down to this level of the industry, especially given that major labels are now far less likely to take a risk, indie labels live eternally cash strapped and a large amount of so-called music lovers seem to believe that music should be free. Throw in the fact that every five minutes another venue closes and you’ve gotta feel for the bands; not much chance of giving up the day jobs just yet, all the more so when you consider the competitiveness of the scene. Which brings me to the awesome part; the music scene is bubbling with superb new bands! The internet has made life so much easier in many respects; they are able to market themselves, get financing and even sell their product more easily – bandcamp is a veritable hotbed of vibrant new material.
Nevertheless, there is still this disconnection between industry savvy professionals and the pool of talent, so not only do bands have to finance themselves and juggle rehearsals, shows and writing around their day jobs, they then lack top draw professional input in terms of production and or A&R advice, even if they are lucky enough to have a deal, as with one or two of the bands here. Moreover, studio time itself is also expensive, before you throw in a producer, and even if the band have a manager it is rare to find one that really knows about artistic development. So the odds are stacked against new bands, but they keep appearing and here are a handful that I have come across recently that could all use a break, whether in terms of a record deal, quality A&R input or just expanding their fan bases; check them out.
False Advertising
Manchester based trio False Advertising are “twisted power grunge” indie rockers with a serious weight to their riffs and some interestingly quirky touches to their songwriting. They have just the right amount of pop sensibility to write a decent hook and are particularly good vocally, whether it’s Jen Hingley or Chris Warr taking the lead. They are such a DIY band that they also share guitar and drum duties, while Chris does production and Jen takes responsibility for artwork and videos. The addition of Josh Sellars on bass added depth to their songwriting/sound and their totally DIY debut album is pretty damn good. With a bit of polish to their rough edges they could really go places.
(Full review: http://alreadyheard.com/post/128182956195/album-review-false-advertising-false (not my words))
The Endeavour
Peterborough based five piece are on the radio friendly side of alternative rock and certainly know how to write a hook. They showed plenty of potential on their debut EP released earlier this year and have been working hard on the live circuit to build a following. They are strong instrumentally and flirt a little with a number of styles, though they’re at their best when exploring their guitar interplay. They have definite hit-making potential and with a steadying hand could well sail onto bigger things.
(Full review:http://alreadyheard.com/post/124570358619/album-review-the-endeavour-voyage-ep)
Deepshade
Hailing from Wigan, this three piece band have a distinctly seventies feel to their straight ahead hard rocking sound. They do have a slight touch of the psychedelics coming through now and again though, and IMHO their sound has more depth when they mix it up a little and include a few twists and turns. However, lyrically speaking they are socially aware, especially on the highly critical “Out of Hand”, and instrumentally they are seriously talented – there are plenty of top draw riffs and musical interludes that really nail it; throw in the occasional smoking solo and it’s hot rocking heaven. As I said in my review, if they leave their comfort zone a little more when composing they could be set for bigger things.
(Full review: http://alreadyheard.com/post/130061922814/album-review-deepshade-everything-popular-is)
Aurora
Maybe it’s down to the fact that life for a certain section of society always gets a bit shitter under a Conservative government or that the youth of today really are the “Lost Generation”, who knows? But either way the UK metalcore scene is boiling over with top quality bands expressing their disquiet in emphatic style and close to the top of that pile is the hard as nails sound of Aurora. They are a bit less screamy than some bands, which helps add even more weight to their sound, and they are not afraid to mix things up, putting plenty of stops and tempo changes into their songs. When they go on the attack they are badass heavy but when they slow it down they also know how to work a melody to good effect, it’s a good example of where metal is at right now.
(Full review: http://alreadyheard.com/post/132473530378/album-review-aurora-faithbreaker)
Saint (the) Sinner
Spectacular blend of melodic hardcore and alternative rock, Saint (the) Sinner have a theatrical quality á la Panic! At the Disco combined with a seriously hard edge that is really something special. They employ two different vocal styles, one a guttural scream, the other more melodic, which combine to good effect on their catchy as hell songs. The new EP, ‘Masquerades’, was released to coincide with Halloween in a stroke of marketing genius and these guys really look set for bigger things. Their post hardcore side may limit their appeal in the long run but right now they are an interesting proposition – ones to watch.
(Full review: http://alreadyheard.com/post/131955145513/album-review-saint-the-sinner-masquerades-ep)
Hold the phone, what is this? Thirty eight minutes of awesomeness, that’s what. Suspend whatever preconceptions you might have, turn off the lights, close your eyes and let your imagination ride, because Dave Gahan and Soulsavers have come up with one of the most incredible records of the year. Forget Depeche Mode and think Nick Cave; here is a collection of beautifully constructed songs that play like a soundtrack to life.
The epic gospel feel of ‘Shine’ kicks things off with a slow burning spaghetti western style riff; there’s a big sound but its got a lot of space, the quiet moments actually increasing the impact of the individual elements. ‘You owe me’ follows, punctuating the soundtrack feel with its expansive guitar, conjuring up images of wide open landscapes in middle America. Dave’s voice is as strong as ever, but understated and brooding, though he opens up towards the end, the female backing providing an interesting balance.
There is an awful lot happening on this record with layers of hammond organ, orchestrated elements and the occasional horn section adding a massiveness to the sound that works beautifully, nowhere more so than on the sublime ‘Tempted’. The spacious atmospheric guitar and laid back groove, underpinned by some lovely organ work, make room for a nice hook; there is just the right amount of hurt in Dave’s voice, he doesn’t need to blow a gasket to hold the emotion as the track slow boils to a simmering climax. Superb.
‘All of This and Nothing’ is similarly atmospheric but more up-tempo, while the slow grinding ‘Don’t Cry’ offers up a rockier vocal and a harder edge; both are good tracks but there is something special sandwiched between. ‘One Thing’ is a dark piano ballad that is beautifully melancholy. It is deeply evocative, like everything feels wrong, the lack of percussion and insistent piano giving a sense of disquiet that offers up all kinds of images; like arriving home to an empty house that was once full of life, or hearing a familiar voice to look up and find you were mistaken – incredible.
‘Lately’ is also piano based and is also quite lovely, while ‘The Last Time’ picks up from ‘You Owe Me’ in terms of sound, like there’s a thread running through the record. Album closer ‘My Sun’ ties things up nicely though, incorporating all the elements wonderfully. Dave’s vocal is superb, the piano melancholic, the guitar strum wide open and it broods slowly to a defiantly understated climax on the back of subtle orchestration, organ and brass.
All in all ‘Angels and Ghosts’ is a wonderfully produced record of expansively evocative tracks of spectacular depth and texture. Dave’s rich baritone is solid throughout, adding darkness to the soundtrack vibe of the multi-layered instrumentation. There’s barely a hint of filler on the record and in ‘Tempted’ (with just the slightest echo of Depeche Mode) you get one of the best songs I’ve heard this year. Excellent stuff.
Recently, I had the pleasure of stumbling across, and subsequently reviewing, the delightful slice of folk tinged indie rock that is the British Ibm. Their second album, ‘Psychopaths Dream in Black and White’ is a highly enjoyable, soothing collection of richly textured tracks, with swathes of lilting cello that compliment the comfortable melancholy of Aidy Killens thoughtful songwriting. As I’ve had the album on heavy rotation since before its official release, it makes for a lovely chilled listen after a big day, I decided to hit Aidy up for an interview and he has been good enough to answer a few questions about the band, the album and future plans; here’s what we talked about.
So, how’s the album doing, are you happy with the reception so far?
Really well, it’s got some decent reviews and feedback and even some radio play in the US. Also, one of the tracks is being used in the new trailer for ‘From Bedrooms to Billions: The Amiga Years’, which is cool, as they used the title track from the previous album on their first ‘Bedrooms to Billions’ film (see below).
‘Psychopaths Dream in Black and White’ seems like an unusual title for such a laid back record, what was the thinking behind it?
I came up with the idea for an album about psychopaths quite a while ago and wanted to create something conceptual that told the story of a psychopath and how his lack of empathy was more of an asset than than a hindrance. It was influenced by stuff like ‘Kill Your Friends’ by John Niven. The title of the album comes from the book ‘The Psychopath Test’.
For me the use of the cello on a number of the tracks adds a real depth, how was it that Anna Scott came to be involved?
Anna’s awesome and probably my favorite bit of the recording session because you get to just sit around and listen to her play. She’s also just the right mix of indie-savvy (if that’s a word) and classically trained. So you don’t need everything written out in perfect musical notation; she can adapt and change to the songs as they progress in the session.
I got to know about her via the local scene and she played with other bands we knew like Eureka Stockade. She played on the last album too and did an equally awesome job on that too.
Did she contribute to the composition or had you already worked out the orchestrated parts?
I already had the majority of the string parts composed on the original demo tracks using synth strings, which she replicated. But she did ad-lib on a couple of bits. The middle eight on ‘We Were the Stars’ and also ‘I’m Just Like You’.
Does she/Will she ever join you live?
She joined us once live for a radio session with Q Radio. You can download the session from the shareware section of our site for free. http://www.thebritishibm.com
How much of a team effort is British Ibm?
It’s mainly me to be honest, I write all the songs and manage all the day to day stuff and then teach the songs to Dave and Paul for the live shows. Both of them are pretty busy with their own projects too. Paul plays in multiple bands and also acts and writes. Dave plays in a few bands too and recently started his own band called Taken With The Tides.
You seem to be a very prolific song writer, is there already another project in the pipeline?
Always! I make video games in my spare time with a friend under the name Gimpy Software and we’re working on the mobile version of a game we released on Xbox 360 a while ago. It’s called ‘Lunar Panda’, and we’re also working on a sequel to our other mobile game ‘Gimpy Bomber’. So I’ll be doing all the music for those. I’ve also got some ideas and demos for the next British IBM album, which has the working title of ‘Where is Matthew Smith?’.
I realize that there is this relationship between gaming and music, but I wanted to know more about your musical and songwriting influences…
I was a bit obsessed with REM growing up and their stuff from the IRS years. Although one of my favorite REM albums is ‘New Adventures in Hifi’, which influenced at least one track off this album. As well as REM though, I listen to a lot of music and a lot of different stuff, though probably 80% of what I listen to is within the genre of indie rock. I guess all that kind of bleeds into my songwriting in some way or another.
I’ve recently interviewed some bands about the difficulties of the UK music scene, what’s your view on the current musical climate?
Bands and artists always seem to have a tendency to blame their local music scene for all sorts of reasons and I think it’s the same the world over for bands and artists at our level. I played some gigs in Vegas last year with 8 Bit Weapon who are from LA and we were chatting about our local scenes and seemed to have a lot of the same grievances, despite being an ocean apart.
Although at a higher level there are definitely some things that wind me up such as the growing popularity and enablers of shows like X Factor and The Voice and how prominent these reality shows have become in our culture. For such a small country the UK is probably the largest exporter in the world for music; a lot of the biggest bands have come out of this country such as the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Gorillaz, Prodigy, Oasis etc.. and you can look back at any decade from our past and sum it up with the iconic imagery and a soundtrack that reflects what was going on at the time. Right now it feels like we’re pissing all over that.
Is the internet more of a help or a hindrance?
It’s a massive help to DIY Musicians such as myself, I can distribute and promote my music myself, find gig venues, book hotels when we’re on the road etc. And I’m constantly using online tools like Trello and Google Sheets to manage things. Sure there are some issues and it can be hard to get heard above the noise, but overall I think the pros far outweigh the cons.
As an artist, where do you stand on streaming services? Do you use them as a listener?
Love them! I have Spotify and use it everyday. As a music fan it’s awesome having that much music instantly available at your finger tips. I go through the new albums on Metacritic each week and listen to them on Spotify to discover new stuff, I use it to create playlists and go through back catalogs of artists I’ve discovered, or to just listen to old favorites without having to dig up the physical media from a box somewhere in my attic.
As a musician I don’t make a lot of money off of it, but I’m not bothered, there are other ways to make money from music and it’s still helped with exposure.
Finally, what are your short and long term plans for British IBM?
Short term, do some more promotion and gigs for this album so that I can feel happy that I did everything I could do to get it out into the world. That’s been like a full time job in itself but it has been fun.
Long term, I’m going to start work on ‘Where is Matthew Smith?’ and I’m also going to start incorporating some retro gaming into our live shows in 2016.
There’s a strong indie flavour to my listening right now, with Wolf Alice still more than pertinent, but as ever, I’ve been getting through a lot of music and there’s certainly been some cool new discoveries, like Haybaby, mentioned below. However, as I have given a fair amount of space to some of the bands that are on heavy rotation before, and don’t want to risk sounding repetitive, I’m only including the most relevant things this month, just in greater depth. Enjoy!
Haybaby – Sleepy Kids
Reviewed this the other week for Already Heard and have been playing it to death ever since. There are rough edges aplenty and some seriously sloppy guitars; throw in the lazy croon of Leslie Hong and some histrionics, and you’ve got a superb mix for their songs about life and lust. I’m finding more and more that I like with every listen; from the “I don’t give a fuck” attitude of ‘Old Friends’ and the breezy bass of ‘Her’, through to the insistent melody of ‘Elevator Song’ and the awkward geekiness of ‘Shy’. It’s a sublime record well worth repeated listens, whether it’s to revel in the emotional outpouring of the monumental ‘Edelweiss’, for the vaguely sinister ‘Doored’ or the superb ‘Pizza Party’, there’s never a dull moment and ‘Sleepy Kids’ is fast becoming one of my favourite records of the year. Full review here:http://alreadyheard.com/post/131624144363/album-review-haybaby-sleepy-kids)
Girl Band – Holding Hands With Jamie
Similarly sublime, significantly more sinister but no less enjoyable is the wholehearted festival of noise that is Girl Band. There is something strangely compelling about ‘Holding hands with Jamie’, making it a challenging but rewarding listen that will have you rethink how music should be. There’s no bullshit here, it’s music as art that reaches deep inside – go on, dive in. (Full review here:https://hardpresseded.wordpress.com/2015/10/02/girl-band-holding-hands-with-jamie-review/)
The Libertines – Anthems for Doomed Youth
I kinda missed out on the whole Libertines furore the first time round, so I didn’t have the same level of anticipation/expectation about this album as many people did. I’d got into Pete and Co recently though, so for me it just picked up from where they left off, the band members’ individual histories having no bearing on my enjoyment of the record. As such, I’ve been racking up the streams and loving Doherty’s poetic, semi music hall, Artful Dodger take on the world. Anthems is lyrically sharp, especially on the superb ‘Gunga Din’, surely the Libertines at their very best. Other high points are the rousing ‘Barbarians’, the quintessentially British ‘Iceman’ and the boisterous ‘Heart of the Matter’. All in all, the whole album is thoroughly enjoyable, highlighting everything that makes the Libertines the most important British act since Britpop.
What I most like about Twitter is that it’s not Facebook; there’s a kind of quasi-anonymity to it, yet at the same time you are also totally accountable for whatever it is you tweet about. Personally speaking I use Twitter to further my interest in music, though not exclusively, as well as to promote my work as a music writer. Consequently, the number of people and bands following me is growing daily, so I think it only right to reciprocate their interest by continuing to write about any musical followers regardless of their musical leaning/ability, that way they may expand their audience (or not) and readers may discover something new that they love (or hate). So here’s the latest…
SpaceMarch
Heavily 80s influenced electronica mixing well produced covers and original material. Clearly loves New Order, Depeche Mode etc.
4 Dead in 5 Seconds
Melodic Death(ish) Metallers from the Australian Gold Coast are an extremely talented band with a pretty cool progressive sound. They’re not afraid to slow it down here and there and explore time changes and arrangements, interesting stuff. Wolf Hunt is well worth a listen.
The British IBM
I recently reviewed their new album, Psychopaths Dream in Black and White, and will readily admit to thoroughly enjoying their brand of folk tinged indie. There’s some sublime Cello on the record adding a quite lovely depth to their textured sound. It’s a real end of a hard day album and well worth immersing yourself into its warm bath of comfort.
Jon Cruz/Heart Impaled
Heart Impaled is a kind of conceptual metal project from Jon Cruz that is actually quite badass. There’s plenty of machine gun riffing and more than a vague nod in the direction of industrial with the heavyweight sound effects, the processed vocal sound and the metallic edge to the riffing. It’s all very apocalyptic, with titles like ‘City of the Slain’ and Engines of Inferno’ but if you like your rock on the dark side then this may be just the right level of intensity for you. https://play.google.com/store/music/artist/Heart_Impaled?id=Aswsuhxd7pkrw3isrlst2eg3kve
Susan Muranty
Not really my bag, but in the interest of maintaining my democratic approach to this section I am including all followers. Susan has a kinda folky, vaguely Celtic, acoustic strum soothing piano thing going on, so if you like your listening easy this may be your thing.
Hard Pressed 