Pixies

The Best Records of 2016 Part 2

Posted on by edwardlayland

I’ve already highlighted a bunch of records from 2016 that I believe to be cool as fuck and I’ve also banged on at length about the thrash metal renaissance – five of my favourite albums of the year are right there. However, there was so much awesome music around this year deserving a mention that my end of year round up merits a part two, so here goes…

The Lion and The Wolf – ‘Cardiac Hotel’ is one of the most lovely records I’ve heard in years. Its sublime blend of folky indie ticks all the boxes as it wraps the listener in a warm blanket of melancholy, the sadness of which manages to be uplifting and comforting in equal measure. The quality songwriting weaves a richly textured tapestry, striking an intimate chord with the listener as it deals with the everyday hurt in life. Thank you Thomas George.

The problem with the Pixies – ‘Head Carrier’ is that it’s not ‘Surfer Rosa’ or ‘Doolittle’, but if you take it on its own merit, it is a mighty fine record. Sure, one or two tracks are on the ordinary side, but there is still plenty of quality on display – ‘Classic Masher’ being as good a slice of indie pop as you are likely to hear, while the sound of Black Francis screaming his way through ‘Baals Back’ rolls back the years. Throw in the banger that is ‘Um Chagga Lagga’ and it’s a winning record.

The anarchic chaos that is Heck – Instructions is another record that surprised the shit outta me this year. Already famous for their frenetic stage show, the band formally known as Baby Godzilla managed to translate their wild abandon into a noisy as hell collection of attacking riffs and pummelling rhythms that transcends classification, such is the stylistic melting pot on offer. Just when you think it’s all frenzied mayhem they trip you up with a moment of subtle beauty or an absolutely stunning guitar solo. Well worth a listen – it’s exciting stuff.

My EP of the year over at Already Heard went to the superb Making Monsters – ‘Bad Blood’, whose six tracks of hard edged alternative rock are all killer. This is a band going places – they know how to bang out a bad ass riff and in Emma Gallagher they boast a really talented and versatile vocalist; she can do tender or angry, deliver a hook and even go guttural. Couple that with their sassy songwriting and you have a winning combination; can’t wait for the debut album.

I’ll admit that The Hotelier – ‘Goodness’ took me a few listens to get into, but once I did, it became a regular play. It’s a pretty deep record and worth investing some time exploring. For some reason, it reminds me of REM, but in a good way – I guess they are kinda like how I always wanted Stipe and Co to sound – intelligent lyrics in well structured engaging songs, only with an edge. Tracks like ‘Piano Player’, ‘Settle The Scar and ‘Soft Animal are all kinds of good, check em out.

Admittedly, I haven’t given it as much time as it deserves but man, Black Peaks – Statues is one spectacular record. From the furious opening and intricate twists and turns of ‘Glass Built Castles’ through to the shifting textures of ‘To Take The First Turn’ with its powerful blend of progressive hardcore, this is a rollercoaster of an album. It takes the listener on a heady journey through the aggressive, the dramatic and the beautiful; it is as haunting as it is engaging and makes for a truly powerful listen. Following a debut album as epic as this one is gonna be quite a task.

There is a subtly cool vibe to Solange – ‘A Seat At The Table’, as the younger Knowles sister stylishly pulls up a chair. This is a finely worked album that blends elements of pop, soul and R &B around Solange’s soothing tones, though her voice possesses a delicious ache just beneath the surface. There is a maturity to the songs and the insightful interludes as she expounds on race, womanhood and empowerment, that makes for a thoroughly compelling listen. Hypnotic rather than bombastic, assured rather than sassy, this is one classy record.

There is something almost elusive about Warpaint – Heads Up; it seems to be much more about the overall groove than individual songs as it rumbles hypnotically along. It is something of a master class in the use of beats and bass to create a vibe, as the understated guitar lines and gossamer thin vocals add a textured finish. I really enjoyed this record and it’s one that I keep going back to, trying to grasp its meandering indie groove; superb.

I’m sure there are other albums I could’ve included here, but I decided to focus on those that have most stayed with me to make this another excellent year of music. Roll on 2017….

What’s Hot In My House – October 2016

Posted on by edwardlayland

It’s been slightly weird musicwise of late. I’ve been kinda stuck, well, not exactly stuck, just dominated by Metallica, I guess. It went from revisiting ‘Master of Puppets’ to working my way through the back catalogue. Basically, with the upcoming release of ‘Hardwired…’ I’ve been writing a beginner’s guide for the good people at Already Heard, which involves gargantuan amounts of research, and I’ve also done my own top ten of Metallica covers and a piece on the big four of thrash.

https://hardpresseded.wordpress.com/2016/09/14/metallica-top-ten-covers/
https://hardpresseded.wordpress.com/2016/09/10/the-big-four-part-1-thrash/

Metallica aside, I can’t seem to put down the awesome Black Foxxes record and I keep going back to Pixies’ ‘Head Carrier’ too. It’s been like my default record and I am now convinced it’s a cracker. Anyway, what all this has meant is that the rest of my listening time had been restricted to what I have been reviewing, which has actually been of pleasingly good quality, albeit not exactly plum in the middle of my comfort zone. So, here are the mosh pit fillers and sweaty back room bangers that have been vibrating in my cans of late. Check em out.

I had the distinct pleasure of reviewing the reflective break up album ‘You Make Everything Disappear’ by Trade Wind. This is an interesting side project from members of a couple of (post) hardcore groups, Stick to Your Guns and Stray from The Path, on which singer Jesse Barnett bares his tortured soul in emphatic style. It’s a deeply atmospheric record that slips easily between the tender and the vitriolic to a musically exploratory backdrop that includes spacious piano melodies, subtle touches of electronica and hard edged riffs to stunning effect; great record.

Now here’s a record that surprised the shit outta me. Cove are essentially a hard core band, which normally would have me enjoying the odd song, but not really going back for more – it’s the constant angst filled screaming you see, gets on my tits. However, these guys incorporate some serious metal riffing and certainly know how to structure a good tune, which makes for a vibrantly energetic record with plenty of depth. So if you like a bit of barbed wire to your emotion and can take a little hard edged pummelling, this is well worth a look.

At the completely opposite end of the spectrum is the ragged beauty of the warm hug of a record that is The Lion and The Wolf‘s ‘Cardiac Hotel’, reviewed here: https://hardpresseded.wordpress.com/2016/10/07/the-lion-and-the-wolf-cardiac-hotel-review/
Simply put, this is a gorgeous album that keeps me coming back for more, sure it is wrapped in sadness and some of the tracks are like open wounds, but it also a record that offers comfort and warmth, I cannot recommend it more highly.

What’s Hot In My House – September 2016

Posted on by edwardlayland

There aren’t that many benefits to writing a music blog or contributing to independent music websites; it involves quite a lot of work, you end up listening to a lot of stuff you might not choose to and financial recompense is a non-starter. The words labour of love spring to mind. However, there is the great satisfaction of having an outlet for your opinion (and occasionally gaining some respect for it), it’s kinda cool to be a part of the industry in an albeit minuscule way and, most importantly, you get to hear (and sometimes download) new releases before everyone else. When people ask me if I get paid, I always tell them I get paid in music! Anyway, every now and then, the humble music writer might be privileged enough to get to hear about a particularly cool new talent way before the rest of the public, or, be lucky enough to receive the new release of a genuinely iconic band almost a month before it hits the racks. This might explain one of the big spinners on my digital turntables this month – check it out….

Yes folks, the Pixies are back! Friday the 30th will see their sixth studio album ‘Head Carrier’ unleashed on their expectant public, which is sure to provoke stacks of debate in internet land. Having spent the last couple of weeks playing my advance copy on an almost daily basis for my review for Already Heard, I have a few observations. First up, it’s a grower – don’t expect to be blown away on first listen – give it a chance and it’ll eat into your subconscious. Second, it was never going to be the same cutting edge experimental slop of yester year, that was nearly thirty years ago and they just ain’t that hungry anymore, so tone down your expectations. Finally, they always had an ear for a melody, think ‘Here Comes Your Man’, and this record has a bunch more to get your toes a tappin’, as well as the irresistible ‘Um Chagga Lagga’, which is a fucking tune.

Besides Pixies, I have also been listening the shit out of the Black Foxxes record, the brilliantly titled ‘I’m Not Well’. The British three piece offer up a loud chunk of cathartic indie rock with an enviable sense of melody that is nothing short of awesome. It is sure to be among my records of the year – this is a band that deserves to be massive.

Another recent release that I have been slipping into with frequency on early morning and late night journeys, is the beautifully melancholic folk of Lisa Hannigan. It’s lyrically sharp, wonderfully sung and avoids the whimsically bland trappings many singer songwriters so often succumb to, instead she delivers a contemplative mix of quite lovely tracks that is very easy on the ear.

Six Second Albums That Actually Nailed It

Posted on by edwardlayland

Ah yes, the difficult second album – there’s so much that can go wrong and it so frequently does, more often than not ending up in the shadow of the classic debut and the all important third album. The list of second albums that fall somewhere between the disappointing and the disastrous is immense. Bristol triphoppers Massive Attack are prime example of a band that falls into the former category, 1993’s ‘Protection’, despite being a nice enough album with some quality tracks, is positively lukewarm in comparison to their monumental debut ‘Blue Lines’. Florence and the Machine‘s ‘Ceremonials’ is another culprit; Iron Maiden get beyond the artwork on ‘Killers’, but it’s hardly a tour de force; ‘Van Halen II’ is but a shadow of the first album and despite positive criticism The Strokes sophomore effort, ‘Room on Fire’, was never going to live up to ‘Is This It’. As for categorical failure of a follow-up, look no further than Stone Roses’ ‘The Second Coming’ – can it get any worse than this?
Yes – Kula Shaker, ‘Peasants, Pigs and Astronauts’ – nailed that band’s coffin closed.

Actually, there’s a whole bunch of other records that were never really what you’d bought into on the debut, the list is endless; Portishead, Finlay Quaye, Terence Trent Darby, Duffy, Elastica and so on and so forth, and as we can see, failing to deliver the goods is irrespective of genre, although it has become a far more common phenomena in the days demanding instant success. It seems that the second album basically runs into trouble because of pressure resulting from the first record. Bands get caught up in the touring and the success and are too busy “making it” to get the next record written. Then there’s the inevitable come down when they find themselves in the studio under pressures of time and money to deliver a new product, but this time, barring a few leftover tracks not quite good enough for album number one, they’re starting from scratch, having spent the last few years playing to death that first batch of songs they so lovingly created. Bands get so focused on establishing themselves with the first album that they don’t have time to really think about there being a next one, let alone what to put on it. They almost need to fuck up the second album a bit to take the pressure off and get the hunger back for album number three – if there is one!

However, despite the all too common let down of a band’s second record, there are also plenty of killers. Once upon a time, artists were given the chance to develop; their record labels actually helped them progress. Bands were often signed to seven album deals, so labels were in it for the long haul – they wanted to see their artists improve and sell progressively more records. Also, it wasn’t unusual to sign a band based on potential rather than one that already had its bangers primed and ready. Blur is a great example of a band that had potential, but had yet to find its songwriting chops on debut album ‘Leisure’, it’s their second album ‘Modern Life is Rubbish’ where things start coming together. Then there’s the thrash metal scene; in the beginning it was all a bit rough and ready, but by their second albums Metallica, Megadeth and the like were coming on in leaps and bounds. So, here’s a bunch of second albums that not only progressed but blew away their predecessors and quite rightly became classics.

The ultimate second album is surely Nirvana‘s ‘Nevermind’, possibly the most game changing record in history. It’s predecessor, ‘Bleach’, had hinted at the band’s potential, but was miles short of what would follow. Cobain had long harboured the desire to harness the aggressive energy of punk and marry it to more accessible melodies and the final pieces of the puzzle finally fell into place whilst writing the songs for Nevermind. Kurt borrowed the Pixies loud – quiet – loud template and suddenly not only his fury, but also his talent had a vehicle; the rest, as they say, is history.

Radiohead‘s debut album, ‘Pablo Honey’ is a fairly unremarkable affair, save for the ubiquitous ‘Creep’, which the band grew to hate; its follow up, The Bends, however, is one of the finest albums of alternative rock ever to see the light of day. The entire album is all killer, ‘High and Dry’, ‘Fake Plastic Trees, ‘Just’, ‘Street Spirit’, I mean, it’s quality track after quality track that propelled the band towards the big time. They may have taken a more arty direction after the fairly conventional songwriting on display, but without The Bends and the bold statement that is ‘OK Computer’, Thom Yorke and co never would’ve gained the leverage to follow their chosen path.

If you go back and listen to the first Lenny Kravitz album, ‘Let Love Rule, you’ll here a soulful young man blending a kinda laid back hippy-like innocence into some funky folky rock n roll toons, and it’s a highly enjoyable record. The world’s one time highest paid session musician was breaking in slowly though, as on his second effort, ‘Mama Said’, he came back pimped up, jazzed up and funked up and knocked it out of the park. Fields of Joy is a ‘Stairway’ for the 90s, ‘Always on the Run with Slash is a sublime rocker; there’s quality rock pop a plenty, funky reverb on ‘Stop Draggin’ Around’; soul fueled crooning on ‘All I Ever Wanted’ and the whole album is peppered with bass groove and jazzy licks. Where did it all go wrong?

Led Zeppelin II. It’s Led Zeppelin, only more so – every song a winner. Nuff said really.

Björk shook off the Sugacubes on ‘Debut’, but it was on ‘Post’ that it all came together. This urban soundtrack remains as one of her finest albums and is jam packed with hard edged indie pop in the Icelander’s own inimitable style; from the sinister opening to ‘Army of Me’ you just know it’s going to be a winner. There’s the manic Hyperballad, the irrepressible ‘It’s Oh So Quiet’, ‘Isobel’, ‘The Modern Things’, ‘Enjoy’ and so on and etc not a dull moment to be found.

I will readily admit to not being the biggest Foo Fighters fan in the world, but you gotta love Dave Grohl for just being such a nice bloke, and on his/their second album, ‘The Colour and The Shape’ he delivered the goods. Besides the killer singles ‘Monkey Wrench’, ‘My Hero’ and ‘Everlong’, which are without doubt some of the most iconic alternative rock songs of the nineties, the album is imbued with a cathartic quality that runs surprisingly deep. Ok, so there’s plenty of upbeat snippets where Dave and co sound like their having a great time, but it’s the raw emotion on the ballads that really picks the scab on Dave’s then recent divorce. Besides, the emotional moving on, this record really exorcised the whole Nirvana thing and paved the way for Foo Fighters to be respected in its own right – respect. Check out this live version of ‘Hey Johnny Park’, Dave looks so young and it’s got such raw emotion.

Eight Killer Placebo Moments

Posted on by edwardlayland

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.

Check out the trailer for the MTV Unplugged show here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVGrqoOxT4o