Not quite so Serene Republic

In 2005 I went to see Broken Social Scene. I managed to see the last couple of songs from The Most Serene Republic who opened for them and I have to say; I was impressed. Even though similarities with BSS are obvious (large group of Canadians with male and female vocals making cacophonic music) they were actually the first band to be signed to the Arts & Crafts label who were not in any way part of BSS.

As I said, when I saw them live they intrigued me. I quickly found their debut ‘Underwater Cinematographer’ and expected to love the album. That, sadly never happened. It’s not that it’s a bad record, it just never clicked with me. Even the song I liked best from that album (‘Where Cedar Nouns And Adverbs Walk’) had a clear flaw (an unnecessarily long intro). Here was an album I really wanted to like but didn’t, what I mostly heard was potential.

Then came 2006 and I came upon ‘Emergency Performance Art Piece’ from their EP ‘Phages’. I really liked it and hoped this was an indication of their second album.

Now their second album ‘Population’ is (almost) out and they have made progress. The mathematic rhythms are still here, as are the cacophonic mash of instruments and the beautiful harmonizing. But the songs are much stronger and much better structured. It’s good to see they're living up to their potential.

From their debut: The Most Serene Republic - Where Cedar Nouns And Adverbs Walk (myspace)

From the new one: The Most Serene Republic – Present of Future End

WiTTY TiTLE WiTH WEiRD TYPOGRAPHY

If you like your music slow, low and dark and with alternative typography then we might have just the thing for you. iLiKETRAiNS (I do, but that's not the point here) are a band from the UK that depressed us (in the good way) with their album 'Progress/Reform' in 2005.

They sound like a choir of doomed miners in a slowly collapsing mine. With epic guitar walls and a Nick Cave like voice singing pitch-black lyrics about historic tragedies. Tales about tragic chess-players ('A Rook House for Bobby'), doomed forgotten explorers ('Terra Nova') and selfish railway reorganizers ('The Beeching Report'). But as much as this might sound like a gimmick (they even wear British Rail-uniforms) the music is solid and lasts.

Their new album 'Elegies to Lessons Learnt' continues along the same line but features smaller personal tragedies instead of grander ones. I just can't get enough of tragedies, unless their my own (or Britneys, I'm sooo done with her).

Some tragedies for you

Not even that: iLiKETRAiNS - No Military Parade (mp3)

iLiKETRAiNS – A Rook House For Bobby (mp3)

And from their new album: iLiKETRAiNS – The Deception (mp3)

Tap the Supersonic Fuzz Gun

Well, now we’re on the ‘they’re from New York and sound a bit like Jesus and Mary Chain’ tour, I should introduce you to A Place To Bury Strangers. This band is being described as the loudest band from New York, mostly because of their overwhelmingly use of reverberating distortion which blows out of your speakers.

This is where front man Oliver Ackermann kicks in. He’s responsible for these noise explosions, since he designs and builds his own hand-wired pedals, not only for APTBS but also for bands like Spoon, Wilco and TV on the Radio. The pedals have names like Interstellar Overdriver, Total Sonic Annihilation and Supersonic Fuzz Gun, and their sound can be heard on the website of Ackermann’s company, Death By Audio. If you don’t feel like clicking the link; the names of the pedals pretty much describe their sound.

After shoegaze band Skywave split up, front man Ackermann formed APTBS and the other band members continued under the name Ceremony. APTBS recorded a self-titled debut album, which sounds like I said, a bit like JAMC. Especially the guitar effect, bassline and distant and monotone vocals can be compared to JAMC‘s Psychocandy. Just listen to APTBS’s Breathe and Psychocandy’s Inside Me and you’ll know what I’m talking about (or won’t of course). But APTBS aren’t just copycats. They have their own distinct sound that’s less slow and sweet for example and also tends more towards post-punk.

Their album has a lot of good songs, but I especially like I Know I'll See You and the epic album closer, Ocean…but that’s me. Feel free to listen to the other songs!

Rockethouse

Rrright. A mySpace band with about a thousand listeners. What is wrong with this picture?
a) Bad Band.
b) Bad Luck, exposure wise.
c) OMG! They're from New York! And they sound (a bit) like Jesus and Mary Chain! Copycats!
d) Have you been typing random words into Google again?

Yeah. It's C. You could probably tell, or could tell probably.

Rockethouse first caught my attention about two years ago, due to their then current album title ("Weapons of Mass Distortion") and also due to the 'I can download whatever I want' factor. Truth be told, the album did not disappoint: as I can't be bothered (UKian: arsed) to rip the oldies but goodies of the Jesus and Mary Chain to mp3, so I'll just settle with these guys - although they're from the States.

Wait. Is that really fair?

Yeah, as much as the comparison between the Monkees and the Beatles makes sense (haha! I'm not a musician, I just play one on the xylophone). Both give a twist to the genre that's unique, relative to the side of the pond you're on. Who is reinventing who - I'll keep out of that; one thing is for sure! Shoegaze is not dead! Viva el shoegaze norte-americano! (c.f.: Asobi Seksu)

Check out the songs on their myspace page-thingy: http://www.myspace.com/rockethouse
. They've got a new album out but it doubt we'll get to hear it here :(

If I could link legally to 'Pedestal or 'Lock and Load' I would - that would be great as those two figure greatly amongst my semi-recently acquired anthems. But you youngsters don't know much about the Jesus and Mary Chain in the first place:)

Although I have not expressed any opinion on the musical quality of 'Rockethouse', lemme just say that the drumming on 'Pedestal' is as good, if not better, as the drumming on Ride's track 'Nowhere' - capisce?

All you nostalgists, think about it.

It's elementary, my dear Patrick Watson...

For my first post, I'm not going to talk about an entire style, artist, album or even song. Some songs, albums, artists or even styles you may have to grow accustomed to - sure. I want to get down to the basics instead.

From time to time, just listening to a random song, you get this magical moment: "What? What! Can I hear that again?" - a snippet of a song that is just so cool you have to hear it over and over again. It could be a lyric that's really cool, but that's not what I'm talking about here (worthy of another post, though!). Sometimes the music itself is so enchantingly beautiful that you can listen to the same ten-second segment on repeat for hours on end.

My most recent run-in with this phenomenon was with the opening track of Caribou's new CD, Andorra. The song is called "Melody Day" and the relevant moment occurs right at the start, at 0:15, 0:28, 0:35, 0:42, 0:56 etcetera. Just those high plinking tones, mind you, forget about the tambourine - those high tones make me all dreamy.

What's your favourite snippet?

Kevin and Feist sitting in a tree, S-O-C-I-A-L-I-S-I-N-G

With the risk of repeating of repeating myself; I love me some Broken Social Scene. And not just the Broken part, but the entire Social Scene. Last year they put the collective on indefinite hiatus since the members of the scene had more success with their solo-projects and bands than was (probably) anticipated (especially Feist*). But soon they came up with a new, more workable format called 'BSS Presents...'. It features one song-writer with parts of the collective playing his/her songs. First up is Kevin Drew, who together with Brendan Canning forms the core of BSS.

Where BSS sounded chaotic, explosive (in a very good way) and anthemic on their last album Kevin's 'Spirit If...' sounds more subdued. It’s less eclectic but still eclectic enough and it’s far more personal. Although most lyrics are still indecipherable they contain just enough understandable parts to move you. Like in ‘Bodhi Sappy Weekend’ where the repeating line “please don’t scratch me out” sounds anguished and desperate, especially placed between the lines that are less direct. Desperation and frustration seem to be the main themes on Spirit if…, with song-titles like 'Tbtf' (Too beautiful to fuck), 'F-up Kids' (“he’s in love with the fucked up kids”) and 'BrokeMe Up' ("everybody broke me up").
There is a lot to discover in Spirit if… and it's easily one of the best albums of this year for me. But then again, I am a bit prejudiced. Because I love me some Broken Social Scene.

Frustrating: Kevin Drew - Tbtf (download from site)

In love with the fucked up kids: kevin Drew - F-up Kids (mp3)

Apparently he wrote this in three hours as a gift for a friend who had a bad day: Kevin Drew - Cocaine Skin (myspace)

* Rumor is that Kevin is dating Feist (who just keeps popping up everywhere). They could be the coolest pair since Nick Cave and PJ Harvey.

Klicking, ticking, strumming and picking

I don't know what it is about 'folktronica' (ugly term), 'future folk' (less ugly, more stupid) or 'laptop folk' (totally demeaning) but sometimes I really seem to need a fix of it. Ever since David Kitt's 2001 modest masterpiece 'The Big Romance' with it's beats, repeats and multiple electronic layers over romantic folk-ish songs I've been a fan of the genre and got curious with every release labeled with aforementioned ugly, stupid and demeaning terms. The problem is that there aren't that many artists in the genre and even fewer good ones (The Books, Four tet, Múm, The Album Leaf). 2003 saw Postal Service's incredibly succesful debut 'Give up' and some PS-lite's surfaced after that but the more harcore 'folktronica' (let's call PS 'poptronica' and say we didn't) releases are still few and far between. That's why I was thrilled to see a new Tunng album as well as a new Efterklang and a new Caribou release. But with the latter two having dropped most of their overt electronics from their sound that leaves me with just Tunng. Tunng has been making the kind of music that I need for three albums now. Little folksongs riddled with chirps, loops and sometimes surprising beats (like in 'Surprise me 44'). Clicking, ticking, strumming and picking their way through songs about girls, dead cats and spoons (I personally draw the line at girls). Their new album is called 'Good Arrows' and is totally satisfying.

From their debut 'Mother's Daughter and other songs': Tunng - Tale From Black (mp3)

From their sophomore 'Comments of the Inner Chorus', a song about a dead cat (I'm not ashamed to say I've cried): Tunng - Woodcat (mp3)

And their Bloc Party cover: Tunng - the pioneers (myspace)

Here is the video for their new single: Tunng - Bullets (video)