I owe something to Paul for letting me know about this band. I often reminisce to him about how much i loved the now defunct Townsville band Sleeping in Trains, and particularly their final EP The Fisherman which i found transfixing and compelling listening, particularly at a time when i was listening to a lot of aggressive punk rock. (JJJ Unearthed)
Anyway, the last time i mentioned this to Paul he told me about Silver the Moon, a band which features three fifths of the aforementioned.
Silver The Moon currently have two tracks floating around, both can be downloaded from their JJJ Unearthed page.
This band has still got a long way to go, and hopefully have the growing in them, but right now these tracks are just as compelling as i found Sleeping In Trains a number of years ago.
I have decided on some whim whose intent may or may not be fulfilled that i will start writing again. So i offer you H O R S E. A compilation that i put together of things i have been listening to recently.
I have absented myself for the last few weeks, and, not to point the finger of blame with too great a vehemence, but the reason is David Bazan. His album Curse Your Branches has completely floored me.
But i am back, and i have reconsidered, from now on i am going to write about whatever i want, as frequently as i desire.
To assuage you, my reader, here is a carefully sequenced compilation of my ten favorite tracks that have been released in the last few months.
Put them in this order in a playlist for maximum love, download the above photo as a visual accompaniment.
1. And The Hazy Sea 2. You Shout Minus Blood 3. Slow For Me, My Island 4. Growing Up Alone 5. Heavy Breath 6. Russia 7. Did You Find Peace? 8. Something Good 9. Waiting On You 10. Cement
A word on the ratings system that i am employing here.
At this point in time, i am doing this writing unsolicited and unrewarded, this means that i am probably not going to write about something which i do not enjoy, as such the ratings that any release gets from me are entirely relative and personal decison.
So that you have a point of reference, if anything scores over five then it means that there was something i enjoyed about it, its worthwhile. Over six means i think its good. And so we work our way towards the top score of ten (out of a possible ten).
Decarly are a five piece band from Melbourne, three of it’s members are related and they have a sole release out here, in the ether.
That is just about all there is too know about Decarly and that is pretty much all that you need to know about them-their music is self-released, available online right now, for free at gimmiesound. No extensive back story to affect a listeners approach to and perception of their work, no mitigating factors which affect either their writing and recording, a perfunctory list of influences on their myspace page and this, Decarly EP.
Decarly’s eponymous EP is a stirring, well built piece of work. Urgency is the key to this recording, not a rushed urgency, but rather an intriguing impetus behind the music. Even in its slower and more reflective moments their is a forceful movement in the way that their music is put across. Damaged And Done kicks it off with an insistent guitar line over a following piano. The vocals then kick in, filtered, and with them comes a haunting feeling as they rise and fall. This haunting sense is the other overarching felling throughout the recording. ‘Haunting’ is a difficult concept to put down, it is there in the feeling in the vocals, the soaring synths that sit in the background, the occasional intensity of the electric guitar.
The third track and centerpiece Notes brings this underlying haunted feeling to the fore, introduced with a soaring and intense melody (that is not a laptop synth but rather whistling through a snare), and a punching rhythm, this is a gripping song, complex and entirely approachable as group vocals rise behind the chorus and then drop again into the verse. This is a track with underlying strength, a real power that drives it forwards. The whole of the recording is well pieced together, there are smatterings of electric guitar throughout, never overbearing, always well placed. The group vocals are never too much, complementing what is already at play. Despite that the sounds are familiar throughout, no instrument at any time becomes tiresome or frustrating.
This, Decarly EP, is a really strong debut, underpinned by an urgent, haunting intensity and reinforced with powerful melody from all corners as it whorls around outside and inside of your head.
Red Hot Chili Peppers. They have risen from indie obscurity in the 80s to become one of the biggest and most popular bands of the world today. I used to be a big fan, but Stadium Arcadium completely lost me at some point between Jupiter and Mars and that spelt the end of my fascination with the band.
Around the same time I was being turned of Red Hot Chili Peppers I began to listen to the solo work of their lead guitarist John Frusciante. After releasing his fifth solo album Shadows Collide With People in February of 2004, Frusciante announced in June of that year to Rolling Stone Magazine that he would release six records over the next six months. Most of these records were to be recorded over a short period of time. The express intent of these recordings was to try and return to the roots of popular music, to break away from being pedantic about the minor details of the recording and record everything in a short space of time. A Sphere In The Heart of Silence is the fifth record in the series of six, released in November of 2004. Recorded in collaboration with Josh Klinghoeffer over the space of ten days the album is an extensive foray into electronic music, marking a fairly significant departure from Frusciante’s normal solo output which is typically guitar driven.
There is no clear way to define this album beyond the manifest presence of synthesizers and a pop leaning throughout. The record pops and squeaks into existence through opening track-Sphere-an 8 minute instrumental. While there are crackling synths and heavy beats throughout the record Sphere is not necessarily an accurate measure off which to gauge the album. From the second track the vocals kick in (a duty that is shared between Frusciante and Klinghoeffer) and they completely change the mood and intensity of the album from this point onward.
The centerpiece of the record to my mind is the third track-Walls. Walls is brought in through a programmed beat and then completely takes off with a driving and repetitive synth line, which is until the vocals kick in. It’s difficult to define, but there is just something about the way that Frusciante sings everything is immediately brought into focus and it almost doesn’t matter what he says because you can positively feel it leaking out of the vocals. Klinghoeffer serves as a good foil to this intensity, his vocals immediately feel as though they are being heard through a matte finish, not dull, but definitely tapping into a different vein of intensity to those of Frusciante. If Walls is the centerpiece of the record, then Surrogate People is its most clear statement. The track essentially closes the album, followed only by the a little out of place, but nonetheless sweeping track My Life which comes in at only 1:37. Frusciante’s refrain throughout Surrogate People “surrogate people, they walk on by, when they replace you they live your life” suggests at the tone of the preceding tracks, an observation on the state of life and emptiness.
Intensity is the key here. This record is a vigorous exploration of feeling laced with synthetic sounds and aggressive pop informed vocals. Immediately a little disarming but wholly approachable the record never wavers and once it starts to seep in becomes inescapable.
There is a reason that this blog occupies this domain here at progress.tumblr that goes well beyond my ingenuity on the inter-web or my appreciation for the songs of David Bazan. That reason being, that if there is one thing i crave to find throughout an artists recorded output it is progress. Their desire to continually reinterpret and represent themselves throughout their recorded body of work. That is not to say that i do not laud and enjoy bands who remain in a particularly sound or niche throughout their career. I do however feel that this element of progress is one of the key markers that separates good musicians and good bands from the great ones.
Sarah Blasko is one such artist in whom this element of progress is evident throughout her recorded body of work. Thus far Ms. Blasko has released three full length albums, in July of this year she released As Day Follows Night, following on from 2006’s What The Sea Wants The Sea Will Have and her debut 2004 release The Overture And The Underscore. Each album is of course greatly informed by its predecessor and with Blasko remaining the chief songwriter and sole voice throughout each record there is a natural familiarity with each release. Progress within the work of Sarah Blasko shows itself in both the style of the music that she creates and the themes addressed within the songs. The Overture And The Underscore was recorded in Los Angeles, USA with Wally Gagel the record is underpinned by Blasko’s characteristic melodies and has an encompassing pop sensibility too it. What The Sea Wants, The Sea Will Have saw Blasko in Auckland, NZ. The record is heavy and while still a pop record with bright moments, beyond the radio-release singles is generally a much darker record. The record is a picture of internal struggle, as it heaves and yearns with a subtle aggressive pain that sits tightly alongside uplifting beauty. What The Sea Wants The Sea Will Have won the ARIA Award in 2007 for “Best Pop Release” and it is easy to see why, it is a cohesive work, equal parts beauty and pain. What The Sea Wants, The Sea Will Have is perhaps on of my favorite records of the last 5 years and so As Day Follows Night had a lot too live up too in my estimation.
It would be fair to observe that location plays a significant role in the way in which the music of Sarah Blasko is shaped. The first consideration of the impact of location on As Day Follows Night is the manner in which the songs were composed. Much of the album was written on piano. What is more, the songs were primarily written during bussiness hours on a piano inside the offices occupied by her record label Dew Process. It is perhaps not too much of a stretch to suggest that this mode of writing affects the style and tone of the songs themselves and as such affects the record at its base level as it has brought a much brighter approach to the songwriting. This is certainly not a negative attribute for although As Day Follows Night may often seem bright in tone this is coupled with the recurring themes within Blasko’s work of love, loss and life.
The second consideration on place within the music of Sarah Blasko pertains to the actual location in which the album is recorded. Los Angeles yielded attractive pop and Auckland brought out the dank and dark elements of the music. As Day Follows Night was recorded in Stockholm, Sweden with Bjorn Yttling of Peter, Bjorn and John. This unfamiliar location, the use of local musicians on the record combined with Blasko’s entering the studio for the first time without frequent collaborator Robert F. Cranny has served to create an album with a pop sound that is naturally familiar but at the same time a firm step into new territory.
One of the most immediately striking features is how sparse the album is, how much space Blasko and Yttling have created. Many of the songs on the record revolve around just a few instruments, often the combination of simple kit drumming and double bass. With this as simple base one gets the feeling as though throughout the entire record that Blasko’s voice is beautifully freed.. The vocal melodies floats above the instruments and truly shine throughout the entire length of the album. When the other instruments do come into play they thrive on the space that has been created, everything seems considered, everything is purposeful and everything is complementary. This record functions beautifully, at points dashing, at points relaxed, As Day Follows Night is a pristine slice of pop and Sarah Blasko only goes from strength to strength.
I highly recommend buying the special edition, which comes with a bonus EP entitled Cinema Blasko which has Ms Blasko covering her favorite show tunes. For an introduction to Sarah Blasko, download the Triple J Like A Version Performance above.
I have been considering over the past weeks since i started writing onto this blog what the best course of action might be going forward. I read a lot of blogs and they all have a different approach to what they’re doing in what can be loosely termed musical journalism. As such I figured that it would be prudent if i set myself at least some sort of goal to which i can work within my writing. So, if you are a reader of this blog, here is what i am going to do.
Following the model set by FBi radio station in Sydney i am going to endeavor to focus on local music. I am going to shoot for four reviews per week of those four, one will be of a Sydney band, one of a band from greater Australia and two will be looking at international bands. Of the two international bands i look into i want to write on one 2009 album every week, leaving one review per week for me to write on whatever i want. At the moment i want also to focus on photography here, and so sundry to my four reviews a week i will be doing live reviews of most of the shows i go too and looking at photographers and artists that i admire, as well as taking some time to post some of my own work. This seems onerous, but now at least we all know what to expect.
As a little bit of extra information, this blog is named after two particular tracks. Progress is a song which originally appeared on Pedro The Lion’s Progress EP under the title April 6, 2039 in 2000 and then later on their their LP Control in 2001. The other is Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin’s Half Awake (Deb) which comes from the b-side their 2008 It’s Not Worth Fighting 7” single. Both these bands i have a great love for, and they each somehow sum up the way i feel about music. That visceral connection.
So let us begin with the back story. Handsome Furs are a synth, guitar and beats based duo out of Montreal, Canada. The two members of the band are Dan Boeckner (of Wolf Parade) on guitar and vocals together with his wife Alexei Perry (a short story writer) running the programmed beats, playing synth and doing some backing vocals. The band are signed to the American indie behemoth Subterranean Popular and this year they released their second record Face Control. Although not immediately evident under the waves of guitar and synthesizer, Face Control is a reactionary record. Says Alexei “The world isn’t representative of how I want it to be, so I have to always rally against it. And that’s what I want on the record”(via). The record is primarily inspired by the dehumanized post-Cold War Eastern Bloc and the contrasting underground arts culture that they experienced while they were there. Face Control is potent with this juxtaposition of aggression and affection within both its music and its themes. The record’s title is similarly inspired, taken from a door policy in Russia wherein bouncers can keep people out of club’s just because they don’t like the look of them.
Despite the inherent humor of the plotline, the video below for the first single off the record I’m Confused is a great visual representation of this attitude as it exacts throughout their record. As the band plays the world is devoured by zombies.
So with the band on our shores for their first ever visit to Australia, the question then became, how do two people (a husband and wife no less) that are making beat driven music that is rife with emotion and energy in the studio translate this into a live show. The answer is, with consummate ease. Handsome Furs are in fact not limited by their size, rather they are freed by it. Two people on stage, and at that, two people with an obvious and intense connection with one another which spills over into their music and performance meant that the show was entirely engrossing throughout and felt almost voyeuristic at times.
Boeckner immediately got the crowd’s collective ego onside, declaring “Sydney 1, Melbourne 0” after the opening song got a strong response from the audience. Trying to play into this a little more, things went a little awry when they tried to let the crowd dedicate the track Handsome Furs Hate This City (Off 2007’s Plague Park) to Melbourne as an act of inter-city aggression, in the end it got bumped to Wellington NZ, which is probably fair enough.
Misplaced state pride aside Handsome Furs delivered an intense show. Throughout the set, which was primarily derived of songs from Face Control, the absence of a real, living drummer was not even something that was even noticed. Boeckner and Perry more than made up for this with their energy onstage. Perry particularly bounced all around her set-up and at the end of almost every song collapsed to the ground before rising to kick it all off again. Boeckner was similarly active, his guitar parts may not necessarily be described as beautiful, but they sure are catchy as all hell and he uses space within the music beautifully, at no point does one feel as though he is overplaying his hand and flooding the songs unnecessarily. From beginning to end Handsome Furs delivered a fiery set of powerful pop based-beat driven songs.
The show was a blistering success as the husband and wife held everyone’s attentions throughout their entire set. Face Control is highly recommended, as is their live show, next time thier in town.
