Posts Tagged ‘LP’

October 28, 2009 2

Shakira – She Wolf

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“There’s a she wolf in your closet, open up and set her free!” Did you hear that sisters? Ladies, you should be listening, because this must be the proclamation you’ve been waiting for. “Let the she wolf out, and let her breathe,” and the soundtrack to that, er, transformation is disco-funk saddled with badly played guitars. And then maybe later, as the Colombian poppet wails on ‘Mon Amour’, you should get pregnant. Though, maybe not to Matt Damon as, according to the guitar-led ‘Men In This Town’, he’s run off with all the other men because they heard Shakira was coming around… Perhaps you, dear reader, couldn’t make it up; but this booty-shaking, joint-popping, Latino Aguilera-Lavigne-Spears clone certainly can. IN SPADES.

The mixture of electronic and guitar-oriented songs that dominate the album all bear the same, flat quality, and potential singles are spruced up with Arabic melodies that meander meaninglessly in-and-out to lend the tracks an insincere  ethnic air. It really is awful, patronising trash and, frankly, you’d be foolish to disagree.

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October 22, 2009 0

The Heavy – The House That Dirt Built

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It’s OK to diversify. It’s all right to have choice. As adult individuals, we can have almost anything we want. When it comes to playing music, The Heavy like to play everything they like in a fashion they can’t help but choose. This debut should be the archetypal album for these eager young turks, and yet The House That Dirt Built sounds more like an oversimplification, a distillation of iPods smelted in a deep cauldron of love. Which is a shame, because this is a band with promise and taste.

The first four songs of the album find the band ripping it up on the ghoulish rockabilly of ‘Oh No! Not You Again!’;  then funking it up on ‘How You Like Me Now’; before waltzing it out on ‘Sixteen’ and then shooting up (no, not like that) on the Spaghetti Western styles of ‘Short Change Hero’. Should I continue? Why not. Let’s mention the Led Zeppelin riffing on ‘No Time’ that comes before the floaty retro-rock balladeering of ‘Long Way From Home’ and gives way to the spacious dub reggae of ‘Cause For Alarm’ which, incidentally, is the best darned track presented here.

Of course, the band hold the music together well and vocalist Kelvin Swaby capably serenades invisible devils all the way through  but, as can be seen from just that short list of songs there, the band are completely incapable of delivering a coherent album. There’s nothing wrong with citing influences and using them to drive forward a combined, communal vision, but taking a piece of many different pies to make one giant, new pie just doesn’t work because it’s cheating and distasteful.

The Heavy are probably a massive hit live, but on record they just can’t carry it off. Not yet, anyway.

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October 22, 2009 0

Jay Z – Blueprint 3

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It’s Jay-Z! Does anyone really think that he will ever release anything truly awful? Not now that Jay-Z is no longer a man. By selling more than just a few million CDs during his career, he has catapulted himself  into the stratosphere of rap, overseeing a multi-million dollar empire whilst laying claim to be a small part of the reason Obama is now President. If you thought Kanye West could talk a boastful game, you’ve obviously never heard ‘The Blueprint 3′.

Packed to the gills with sassy beats and glossy production, the inevitable superstar collaboraters  include Alicia Keys, Kanye West, Kid Cudi etc. In fact, of the 14 songs, the rapper only makes four solo appearances. But, really, none of this matters, simply because this is Jay-Z we’re talking about! Fans are going to buy the album because they’re the fans and that’s what fans do, whilst everyone else judges the album’s merits after hearing lead single ‘Run this town’. And what of it? Well, it’s not a terrible song: it’s cheesy, it’s got a massive video to back it – it’s plain, mainstream rap with a vocal hook that can easily double as a ringtone.

Everything on BP3 is generic: there is little progressive, philosophical, or particularly interesting to be found anywhere. Much like the cover, it’s a mostly colourless affair, toploaded to grab the listener’s attention and tailing off in the final third. Perhaps if the album had ended at the very American ‘Already Home’, The Blueprint 3 may not have been such a divisive blip in the megastar’s career. But,sadly, it doesn’t end there and neither, one suspects, does Jay-Z’s career.

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October 12, 2009 0

Thavius Beck – Dialogue

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“I’m of the opinion that if you have a platform to say something, don’t just say some bullshit. Use that platform to say something worthwhile – it doesn’t have to always be ultra conscious or serious, but if every song you make is about bitches, cars, and drugs, you either live a very empty life or you’re a huge liar.” Thavius Beck.

Titling an album can be one of the hardest things an artist has to do. Without clarity of vision, it’s possible to get completely lost, enmeshed within the solitary jungle of creation with no room for thought about what may happen along the way and how those eventualities might affect this daunting task.

As can be seen from his quote, Thavius Beck would appear to not suffer these problems. Yet, calling an album ‘Dialogue’ when it’s really a monologue with a view to dialogue, suggests a propensity for argument. And arguing is pretty much what Beck is doing; with everyone, including himself.

Of the 15 burning, riotous hip-hop diatribes presented here, 13 carry one-word titles: ‘Painful’, ‘Hardcore’, ‘Money’, ‘Violence’ and so on. It’s important the listener understands the picture, so, lyrically; Beck deals in hefty swathes of brevity. Musically, however, Beck could care less.

From the off, anti-ringtone Ranthem ‘Cracking The Shell’ (“Do what you will to make your life just”), has much in common with the output of early Public Enemy recordings, by bearing facets set to unsettle listeners. With no silence, each track runs into the next, lending Dialogue a fake compulsion which only augments Beck’s argument for a platform to rap from.

Fortunately, the mechanical machinations he chooses to deploy are generally successful as he gathers source material from mainstream rap, before purifying it by pouring molten electrolyte into its current. Arpeggiated synthesisers and sub-bass lines are the musical staple of Dialogue with this combination being most effective on the neck-snapping ‘Go’ replete as it is with double-time verses and synchronised scratches.

Beck straddles a thin line between political gangster and sermonising buffoon, but Dialogue finds him confidently aiming for a casual hit upon any fakers that stray across his path. Where there is war, there are casualties; and Beck’s counting on that.

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October 11, 2009 0

Nick Oliveri – Death Acoustic

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It’s impossible to think how Nick Oliveri felt getting kicked out of one of the biggest alternative bands in the world, and if anyone is looking for Death Acoustic to be a personal, confessional reflection (and, with that title, why would they?), it’s  not going to be found here. Oliveri’s contribution to the development of Queens of the Stone Age is not especially forgettable, particularly if you saw them live and caught a glimpse of their frequently nude bassist. The 10 songs here are a collection of covers that Oliveri has either had a hand in, or has a love of. Though his dedication to music is unquestionable, his ability to convey a song’s meaning with an acoustic guitar is debatable.

Sounding more like a series of demos that a musician might present to his band before instructing, “This is the arrangement”, Death Acoustic is a clunky, badly produced record: an idea that should have gone no further than Oliveri’s home studio.

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October 11, 2009 0

Chromeo – DJ Kicks

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Disco is not dead. Which is a shame. Montreal duo Chromeo are the latest group to contribute their mostly disco-oriented record collection to the !K7 collection. The first since Booka Shade’s 2007, this collection represents an uninspiring return for the usually strong label that gave us the classic Kruder & Dorfmeister mix.

The mix rolls in at just under one hour and features the kitsch likes of Toba (Movin’ Up), Lovelock (Maybe Tonight) and Leo Sayer (Easy to love). For those seeking a mix that dwells in the chic, spinning light of an ‘80s glitter ball whilst suspect funk is churned out by an aging DJ in danger of falling asleep – this record is the one that you must immediately pick up.

But, ironically, this is an hour’s worth of records that most people would rather not hear. Ever.

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October 11, 2009 0

Sharam – Get Wild

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The spaghetti western genre appeals to Iranian-American producer Sharam Tayebi. As one half of the Grammy award-winning duo Deep Dish, this debut solo outing finds Sharam opening up ‘Get Wild’ with a fairly convincing impression of a Sergio Leonie / Ennio Morricone theme before his record dissolves into faceless, repetitive tech-house. Disc one (entitled Wild Dish) includes ‘She Came Along’ which features Kid Cudi doing his best Kanye West impression whilst discussing polygamous arrangements as well as the legendary Chuck D. Well, so claims ‘Say Yeah’, but actually Sharam just sampled ‘It Takes A Nation Of Millions to Hold Us Back’ when Chuck says, “Somebody in the house say yeah!” Surely, the claim of ‘featuring’ is tantamount to false advertising. Or, er, lying.

Disc two (Side Dish) begins with the engorged 10 minute didactic excursion that is ‘Be the change’ and‘features’ Anousheh Khalili (also of Iranian-American descent). Get Wild really is an album filled with hubris and the tribute to Eddie Murphy’s ‘Party All The Time’ as originally produced by Rick James includes a snippet of the original which only highlights how awful Sharam and P Diddy’s interpretation is.

For any listener that has ever been to Ibiza, and remembers that one song which, when played, will trigger memories of the sun rising over the island signalling the opening of a new club someplace else, it’s unlikely to have been any track featured here.

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October 11, 2009 0

Nic Dawson Kelly – Old Valentine

By in Music Reviews

Nic Dawson Kelly carries a name that will conjure up images of three songwriters entwined under one moniker like Crosby, Stills and Nash; but Old Valentine is created by one artist and plays out like a very real homage to inspirations from the ‘50s and ‘60s. Though Dawson cites country bluesmen such as the legendary Son House as an additional influence, there is little evidence of that here.

His tremulous vocal style sounds much like a bleating Bryan Ferry, and will either entice or irk listeners. Kelly’s material is created primarily with acoustic guitars that are frequently combined with diatonic harmonica meanderings, and the train-like shuffle that made Johnny Cash famous. It’s hardly original stuff, and lacks the crossover quality that Amy Winehouse was fortunate enough to muster. Old Valentine is likely to find fans amongst the musically nostalgic, and with history such as it is, its affection will be hard to ignore.

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October 11, 2009 0

John Brown’s Body – Amplify

By in Music Reviews

This sixth album for American 8-piece reggae band John Brown’s Body finds the outfit fully embracing the production values that have become synonymous with Easy Star Records. This may come as a surprise to older fans more used to their usual rough and ready style and generally more reminiscent of British reggae in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. The 12 tracks on offer here show off JBB’s ability to diversify as they turn their hand to associated Caribbean styles. From the dancehall flavours of title track ‘Amplify’ to the poppy dub refreshments on ‘The Gold’, there is undoubtedly plenty here to simultaneously keep fans happy whilst easily generating new followers.

Overall, though, the polished production is somewhat at odds with lead singer Elliot Martin’s lyrics which are generally steeped in more traditional notions of roots. Though it lacks the gutsy vibe that makes the emotion of reggae what it is, Amplify is an enjoyable listen that, quite literally, lives up to its title

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October 11, 2009 2

Sliimy – Paint Your Face

By in Music Reviews

Do you like Lily Allen, Mika and Frankmusik? Then you will love France’s version of these musical abominations. Having supported the poptastic Katy Perry and appeared on stage with Britney Spears, the 20 year old Moroccan-Algerian, Sliimy (real name Yanis Sahraoui), comes funded by major label cash, gunning for teenage bedrooms across the land.

With dreamy, sunshine pop melodies and titles like ‘Our Generation’, Sliimy’s musical arsenal includes major chords, reedy guitars, sparkling synths and counter cultural references to modernity such as Myspace on title track ‘Paint Your Face’. Note that rhyme of ‘face’ with ‘space’. Genius.

Ultimately, though, Sliimy’s floppy French delivery is utterly flaccid; and this distinct lack of grit results in a thoroughly irritating, saccharine treat that will rot minds before teeth. When Sliimy does embrace darkness, as he does on ‘Mum’ (“I just want you to be proud of me,”), he still spruces it up with xylophones and the same synth wash that permeates the entirety of this hideous, vacuous record.

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