Fresh back from a week spent exploring the rainy Cornish coast and I already have a pile of releases mounting on the side of my desk. Before beginning the trawl through the precarious mountain beside me and whilst doing my usual weekly round of bandcamp, I stumbled upon The Revival Hour and their outstanding debut single Hold Back / Run Away.
Hold Back is big in every sense of the word, opening line “I am the lonliest climber of them all” sets a brooding tone which continues through; combined with gospel backing, rising choruses, swelling strings, deep brass, staccato piano, D.M. Stith’s brilliant falsetto voice and finally complimented with some seriously smooth production and this track just begs to be played loud. It’s powerful stuff, full of soul and incredibly intense. Lyrics question and demand, “Am I right to hold back?”, as the song rises and builds into something really quite wonderful. It’s dark, there’s no doubt about that, but it’s also crackling with suppressed energy. Bold stuf indeed.
The Revival Hour’s other half is completed by John Mark Lapham (The Earlies, The Late Cord) and with contributions from members of The Earlies, My Brightest Diamond and Shearwater, they are looking like they could become something really quite special. The single was released on 24th October of last year and after digging on facebook it appears the duo are working on release number two, a full length and a forthcoming tour. It couldn’t come soon enough as I can see myself exhausting this song pretty quickly if tonights play count is anything to go by!
Brian Jonestown Massacre, the band made infamous by their various ups, and mainly downs, in the documentary Dig! are back with a new album Aufheben.
The band have had a few line-ups over the years and unfortunately the music is often overlooked by many in favour of the on screen antics, that have been mostly sensationalised in the media. This is such a shame as their music is superb; Anton Newcombe, the constant in the psychedelic collective has consistently put out a great library of music over the last 20 years.
The new LP is due out on May 1st and after the electronica tinged sound of the last release Who Killed Sgt. Pepper?,Aufheben brings the traditional Brian Jonestown Massacre sound back, mixed with eastern influences.
The track I Wanna To Hold Your Other Hand has been made available for streaming and has a delightfully laid back, and heavily sedated Beatlesque sound that even makes a nod to the fab four in the title.
Listen below.
The track listing for Aufheben:
1 – Panic in Babylon
2 – Viholliseni Maalla
3 – Gaz Hilarant
4 – Illuminomi
5 – I Wanna To Hold Your Other Hand
6 – Face Down On The Moon
7 – Clouds Are Lies
8 – Stairway To The Best Party
9 – Seven Kinds Of Wonderful
10 – Waking Up To Hand Grenades
11 – Blue Order New Monday
Brian Jonestown Massacre play London this July – on sale now
It’s already been a busy year for releases and with the constant slew of new music it has been far too easy for things to fall by the wayside. I hope you are all suffering from a heavy chocolate hangover right now; hair of the dog doesn’t seem to have the same effect with this one unfortunately so why not spend your lazy sunday afternoon/evening reading through our run down of some of the highlights 2012 has had to offer so far! Lets hope the rest of the year continues in the current fashion! Without further ado and in no particular order:
[Lilacs & Champagne] have managed to craft one of the most interesting and promising debuts I think I’ve ever heard. It’s a rich tapestry woven from samples and organic pieces strung together perfectly to create a sound that’s incredibly fresh.To put it crudely, if you take the Grails template from their recent efforts and give it a hip hop, sample focused twist, this is what you get.
It’s followed up with some more excellent reviews from various other publications. We can’t recommend it enough!
Quantic & Alice Russell With The Combo Bárbaro – Look Around The Corner
Will Holland reunites with Alice Russell, backed by the ever excellent Combo Bárbaro. As you’d expect it’s packed with Columbian grooves, soul soaked vocals, smooth strings and brassy funk. It’s a graceful fusion and throw in Quantic’s sublime production and it will bring sunshine to your stereo whatever the weather. This is another album that’s escaped a proper review for the moment, but it hasn’t left my CD player since it dropped on my doormat so expect one soon. Highly recommended!
Dodgy – Stand Upright In A Cool Place
90′s band Dodgy reformed for a new album after eleven long years. Think Crosby, Stills & Nash combined with all the good Britpop you’ve ever heard, then add a little Fleet Foxes and a dash of excellent song writing. It’s a winning combination and perfectly executed, if not released a little early as these songs sound like summer anthems through and through.
Errors – Have Some Faith In Magic
The four-piece band from Glasgow released their brilliantly catchy full length follow up to 2010′s Come Down With Me. It’s catchy electro-indie at it’s finest and really builds upon the sound they’ve made their own over the two previous records. Bold, pulsating rhythms and bright keys aside it comes across as a rather organic sound and most importantly a finely crafted album.
The Civil Wars – Barton Hollow
I still have yet to review this album, it’s been one of the best of the year so far on many levels. Stripped and spacious, John Paul White and Joy Williams have managed to bring together one of the most intimate sounding records I’ve heard for a while. It’s primarily acoustic, largely without any form of percussion and effortlessly straddles both modern and old creating a timeless album that should appeal to a great many people. It’s beautiful stuff indeed and shifts between mellow, tender tracks and bluesy roots tracks with ease. I believe it’s been out for a year across in the States but we’ve only had it over here for a short while so if you’ve missed it, now’s the perfect time to catch up.
Django Django – Django Django
The British Quartet sprung almost out of nowhere with this infectiously catchy psychedelic indie-pop debut. It’s hard not to mention legendary group The Beta Band but throw in a little Metronomy as well and you’re half way there to Django Django’s sound. Deep, detailed, throughly danceable, quirky yet entirely accessible, this album should not be overlooked and was a real surprise highlight of the year as yet.
The Shins – Port of Morrow
If any of you have read my review of Port of Morrow you’ll already know how highly I regard this album. James Mercer returns with a finely crafted and absolutely stunning slice of Indie Pop. Its addictive melodies, beautifully written choruses and superb production contribute to arguably the strongest Shins record yet. 2010′s Broken Bells diversion with Danger Mouse is evident with a more electronic influence and helps to bring the Shins sound forward. Miss this album at your own loss!
Andrew Bird – Break It Yourself
Quirky, beautiful, haunting, charming. A mish-mash of various styles coming together to form something quite wonderful. It’s almost traditional yet thoroughly modern and has some killer whistling solos. Yes, you read that right, whistling solos. This was my first instruction to Andrew Bird and after reviewing it back in the first half of March it’s become a regular in my CD player. Blending traditional folk with a more modern rock approach it flits effortlessly between the two, forming an interesting flowing album that’s rich and detailed.
If you’ve made it this far hopefully you’ve either found something you’ve missed this year, or even better, maybe discovered something new. Let us know in the comments box if we’ve missed anything! I know I have!
Happy Easter from the Universal Wax team! I’m off to eat some more chocolate.
After a two year break – Black Moth Super Rainbow, the experimental electro-psych pop group from Pittsburgh are back with a new track Spraypaint and the announcement of a new album.
The sound on the track has the familiar serene and warm soft fuzzy acid sound of previous releases, along with heavily Vocoder drenched vocals.
Although there is no definite release date for the upcoming and as of yet untitled album, frontman Tobacco has hinted at the record dropping in the summer.
Whilst the Fleet Foxes ponder what to do next after last years frankly outstanding Helplessness Blues, Christian Wargo (Fleet Foxes, Crystal Skulls) Casey Wescott (Fleet Foxes, Cystal Skulls) and brothers Ian and Peter Murray (The Christmas Cards) have been busy signing to Sub Pop Records and preparing the freshly released EP Illusion under the monicker Poor Moon.
While it’s clear there are elements of the Fleet Foxes woven through the EP, equally it would be naive to think they’re simply a carbon copy of the band. Any Place is the perfect slow burning dirge which brings to mind not only the Fleet Foxes more mellow numbers but also Midlake. There are shades of The Flaming Lips – most audible on the superb upbeat People In Her Mind and it’s easy to draw Simon & Garfunkel comparisons on the hushed finale Widow. It’s a wonderful blend that really brings this EP to life. Production on the EP is handled with care and varies from spacious light reverb soaked acoustic guitar, to a more electric and full bodied sound that wouldn’t sound out of place back in the 70′s. There’s a lot of variation between tracks but all five sit together gracefully, it builds before dropping down again and as a complete piece it satisfies immensely.
While I’m not familiar with The Christmas Cards music this is without a doubt an EP that fans of the Fleet Foxes can pick up in confidence. For others who might be curious it’s definitely worth a look as a solid debut EP which can slide easily into the Indie Folk genre tag. I look forward to hearing a full length from Poor Moon if this is anything to go by.
Sub Pop have the entire EP up for stream and if you can spare fifteen minutes of your day it gets my recommendation wholeheartedly.
Au Palais; my latest find is once again managed by the label Sound of Sweet Nothing. This is the kind of track I’d imagine being on the Drive soundtrack if it were made by a Brit.
It’s a slow-paced electronic song, with a drumming beat, overlayed with softy trickled vocals. The people behind the music are siblings; Elise and David Commathe who divide their time between Toronto and London. Before Au Palais, David was living in Tokyo composing minimal electronic music, and you can definitely catch moments of that style in music. Whereas this is Elise’s singing debut, and you could never tell!
Tender Mercy is their first EP, and there are talks of a full length album soon. The other tracks on the EP are equally all enjoyable. They all encompass a hint of that 80′s electronic sound, which has become more and more popular in the last few years. I look forward to hearing what’s next. Have a listen:
