At a time where the music media is filled with the ‘will they/won’t they’ hope of a Libertines reformation, eye-of-the-storm Peter Doherty has coolly released his most ruthless album to date. So apologies folks, but he hasn’t pressed the ‘self destruct’ button just yet.
Filled with the ambience of lost dreams in albion, Peter’s suprisingly atmospheric masterpiece Grace/Wastelands springs forth images of him beavering away in that broken mansion of his, on songs which might just bring him back from the brink of ruin.
Grace/Wastelands seems quite samey on first listen, but make no mistake, Doherty is the master of writing the ‘grower’. After a few listens your ears become exquisitely attuned to his key changes and sombre vocal tones which gives you the well-earned opportunity to sit back and enjoy his exhibition of mesmeric acoustic songwriting. Exploring new avenues of songwriting but also keeping a firm hold of his unique throwaway offbeat strumming style, the album is not as stripped back as you might expect.
Recorded at Olympic Studios in London by legendary producer Stephen Street (The Smiths, Blur), Grace/Wastelands features a few collaborations including Dot Allison, who co-wrote and provides vocals on the wistful Sheepskin Tearaway. Peter’s Babyshambles band mates, Mik Whitnall, Adam Ficek and Drew McConnell also contribute to tracks on the album. Another fresh surprise is the accompanyment by Graham Coxon on guitar. As Peter explains, “Graham Coxon ended up playing on most tracks. He was probably in the studio more than I was, to be honest. I was absolutely horrified when he said he was actually a fan of some of the things I’ve done.”
The truth of the matter is, this is Peter’s most diverse, atmospheric album to date. A far cry from the frantic Babyshambles style. It is ruthless and kind, whisking pirate, jive and doo-wop influences into a melting pot of vintage Doherty ambles. Grace/Wastelands is sure to win over any doubters of this man’s ability to write and perform, as Peter continues, “I’m really curious to find out what people honestly think of the songs, particularly critics, because in a way you can kind of bank on certain people’s opinions, you know? You know that if someone’s into you then they’re into you, whereas critics are gonna look at it less subjectively and pick holes if you like. That’s what I’m waiting for really.”
Most of the songs have been played live or been leaked in demo form, but here they are in all their livery:
ArcardieLast Of The English Roses1939 ReturningA Little Death Around The EyesSalomeThrough The Looking GlassSweet By and ByPalace Of BoneSheepskin TearawayBroken Love SongNew Love Grows on TreesLady, Don’t Fall Backwards
The first single from the album is one of the standout songs, Last of the English Roses, which is out on 9 March (watch the video above). In truth there isn’t a bad song on the album. The sheer quality of songwriting, execution and production is remarkable. Although if I had to pick favourites, 1939 Returning, Salome, I Am the Rain and New Love Grows on Trees would be my choice.
Do not miss this album, for it is Peter Doherty back on form and at his very best. He may have been caught behind enemy lines, but make no mistake; Peter Doherty is now on a one way road back to Blighty.
Monday, 2 March 2009
Friday, 27 February 2009
Howling Bells - Radio Wars Album Review
G’day folks! Howling Bells have succeeded in expanding their range of melancholy graininess into a forte of songwriting which is both formidable and peculiar. Radio Wars showcases some of the old genius from their self-titled debut album, yet also imbeds new and unexplored shades of beautiful darkness into their style. The first album was certainly not a one-off then.
Lead singer and rhythm guitarist Juanita Stein’s sumptuous and wistful voice is like melting chocolate throughout Radio Wars. Gee, I could listen to her voice for hours. However, it is that voice bookended with clever lyrics and unexpected guitar hooks that makes this album so listener friendly, maybe more so than their first album. It may be slightly less intense and more diluted, but I have a feeling this will draw more listeners, hmm. The masses need pleasing folks, and Howling Bells are pulling out all the stops to do just that.
The spectrum of Australian rock is growing ever wider with the psychedelic timewarp that is Tame Impala on the west coast and Howling Bells on the east. It’s all positive stuff - along with many other bands coming out of the woodwork on the far side of the world, it’s like a pleasant burst of hot air in the face to see a resurgence of good guitar-based rock bands coming into the fray from anywhere other than the UK and USA.
So, Howling Bells have still got the attitude and the songs. They paint their music on a technicolour canvass of love and loss and create a dreamlike outback landscape that you can lose yourself in for fifty minutes. They are possibly the best thing to come out of Australia since Nicole Kidman. Nice work!
Lead singer and rhythm guitarist Juanita Stein’s sumptuous and wistful voice is like melting chocolate throughout Radio Wars. Gee, I could listen to her voice for hours. However, it is that voice bookended with clever lyrics and unexpected guitar hooks that makes this album so listener friendly, maybe more so than their first album. It may be slightly less intense and more diluted, but I have a feeling this will draw more listeners, hmm. The masses need pleasing folks, and Howling Bells are pulling out all the stops to do just that.
The spectrum of Australian rock is growing ever wider with the psychedelic timewarp that is Tame Impala on the west coast and Howling Bells on the east. It’s all positive stuff - along with many other bands coming out of the woodwork on the far side of the world, it’s like a pleasant burst of hot air in the face to see a resurgence of good guitar-based rock bands coming into the fray from anywhere other than the UK and USA.
So, Howling Bells have still got the attitude and the songs. They paint their music on a technicolour canvass of love and loss and create a dreamlike outback landscape that you can lose yourself in for fifty minutes. They are possibly the best thing to come out of Australia since Nicole Kidman. Nice work!
Wednesday, 11 February 2009
Hot Leg - Red Light Fever review & interview with Justin Hawkins
Never judge a book by its cover, for falsetto-voiced-boy-wonder Justin Hawkins has created something very much like his previous stadium-filling band The Darkness, only better. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Hot Leg. I thought I told you never to judge a book by its cover?
Spandex leotards have been demoted in favour of attire that would be more at home on Centre Court in W1, and Hot Leg has certainly served up a few aces here. And yes, I am being serious!
Hot Leg’s debut album Red Light Fever - released 9th February - is a return to rock god form with classic blues rock licks stimulating your musical clitoris mercilessly throughout.
Hawkins’ larynx has been rested over the last year or two, but it gets a good workout throughout the album. His impeccable high-pitched wails intertwine with trademark over-the-top guitar solos like never before, and from the first listen it certainly does sound like a return to form. Debut single I’ve Met Jesus is a scorcher of a song, but will Hot Leg always be compared to The Darkness? I recently caught up with Justin to ask him just that, and his response was positive:
‘We have just started in this band so the only thing people have to compare us to are The Darkness,’ he said. ‘However we are our own animal and I think eventually the comparisons will stop.
‘We have more drive and more focus, and the songs are more channelled to the ‘Man Rock’ vibe we’re giving out. I think we are better all round. I really do.’
Man Rock vibe? Red Light Fever is set to take spring by storm and if they live up to the hype and the songs, it will be game, set and match. 7 /10
Spandex leotards have been demoted in favour of attire that would be more at home on Centre Court in W1, and Hot Leg has certainly served up a few aces here. And yes, I am being serious!
Hot Leg’s debut album Red Light Fever - released 9th February - is a return to rock god form with classic blues rock licks stimulating your musical clitoris mercilessly throughout.
Hawkins’ larynx has been rested over the last year or two, but it gets a good workout throughout the album. His impeccable high-pitched wails intertwine with trademark over-the-top guitar solos like never before, and from the first listen it certainly does sound like a return to form. Debut single I’ve Met Jesus is a scorcher of a song, but will Hot Leg always be compared to The Darkness? I recently caught up with Justin to ask him just that, and his response was positive:
‘We have just started in this band so the only thing people have to compare us to are The Darkness,’ he said. ‘However we are our own animal and I think eventually the comparisons will stop.
‘We have more drive and more focus, and the songs are more channelled to the ‘Man Rock’ vibe we’re giving out. I think we are better all round. I really do.’
Man Rock vibe? Red Light Fever is set to take spring by storm and if they live up to the hype and the songs, it will be game, set and match. 7 /10
The Prodigy - Invaders Must Die
Ah, I remember my pill-popping days of old; raving into the night at Homelands and Creamfields with my chin sticking out a metre in front of me, dancing into a sweaty, frothy frenzy and telling everyone profound, chemical-induced thoughts on life and activism. I loved every minute of it. I have been taken back there over the last couple of days. The Prodigy’s new album Invaders Must Die is responsible.
This is simply vintage stuff. The Prodigy have made a welcome return to the 90s pill-popping rave scene and chucked a few genre-splitting riffs into the melting pot for good measure. They may have been at their peak of fame when The Fat of the Land was released, but they are on the crest of something far bigger here; something that mixes the current urban punk culture with a burning spark of the old skool rave generation. The two collide and make a black hole. That black hole is this record. People with Isle of Wight Festival tickets are in for a treat!
Liam Howlett describes the opening title track Invaders Must Die: ‘The first tune on any Prodigy album has to be got to be something that just tears and smacks you round the head really. Spitfire was like that on the last album, Smack My Bitch Up on the one before. This does it in a different way. It’s a very abrasive sounding electronic track, kind of different to anything we’ve done before.
‘I wrote the riff about a year ago on my laptop when I was on a plane. It sounds like the kind of thing I would have written in 1992, it sort of has that rave melodic feel with a tearing track underneath. I had the track 80% there and hooked up with James from Does it Offend You Yeah and he pulled a few sounds out of the bag and helped put it together. It’s one of my favourite tunes on the album.’
Yes, the rumours are true; Dave Grohl features on the track Run With the Wolves, but until now very few people know how such an unlikely relationship was formed:
Keith: ‘It all started with an email to Liam saying ‘Listen man, I’ve finished touring and I’m bang up for doing something. Liam said he was just finishing the album but Dave said listen, I’m just going to go in the studio and put down some drums, which he did. A hard drive arrived at our studio and out of that came the process of writing this. We had the vocal on another track already but they just weren’t working. They had too much venom for the track. But we still enjoyed the excitement of it and what it was saying and this was the ideal opportunity to make it work. Liam re-did the track, then we re-did the vocals and we sent it over to Dave who was like ‘Yeah I was really hoping it was going to be something like this.’ He was really excited and worked some more on it.’
Liam: ‘I think you were angry the day you wrote this weren’t you?’
Keith: ‘Yeah I was’
Liam: ‘Yeah it was definitely written about a certain someone, we don’t know who it is but Keith does.’
Maxim: ‘Was it about me?’
Liam: ‘Nah, don’t get para. Hah, when I listen to this tune I just want to smash my head against the wall. It kind of like when the riff drops in its, just violent you know?’
Some of the tracks on Invaders are less aggressive and even verge on the anthemic; Omen is the melodic, lovechild of Breathe from TFOTL. With a classic vocal hook, this track is somewhat less intimidating than the sinister sister track Omen Reprise which is,according to Liam, ‘An orchestrated version of Omen but it really reminds me of the music from Scarface. It’s got this 80s Vangelis sound.’ And ‘like a dark Bladerunner’ according to Keith.
It’s great to see these guys back on form and hungry to start the machine again, and they certainly have a few tricks up their sleeve to keep you on the ropes for the duration.
Piranha is a personal favourite. With its 60s garage-meshed-with-old-skool-rave vibe, its urban punk at its absolute best, and Liam likes it too. ‘Piranha is a metaphor for something living off of you, you know, chewing off you. That was the concept of the track. We wanted to have 1960s B-movies vibe to it.’
Maxim made a big move forward with his vocals on this track, ‘For me it was a chance to do different vocal ideas rather than the monotone rap. I tried injected more melody into the vocals. This track, like the rest of my vocals on the album is a real step up for me.’
Already fan favourites, World’s on Fire and final track Stand Up prove this album is not front-heavy. These tracks have a quality that is reminiscent of previous albums, yet they carry a sheen of new hooks and synthetic riffs that bring them to the forefront of where The Prodigy are now; on top of their game. Liam explains: ‘This is the real wild card on the album. I think people will go ‘is that the Prodigy or isn’t it?’ but its got this real victorious feel. It’s a tune I really love and it’s like being wrapped up in a warm blanket before you fuck off home.’
Someone asked me recently if the record sounded big. It’s fucking colossal!! Its like an interstellar war between punk rock, rave, drum’n'bass and breakcore. These electropunk beats batter your skull and shudder through your spine until you are begging to be let go, only to be left with a tremor for days. The Prodigy’s knack for a thousand yard stare will have droves of gurners travelling the miles just to catch a glimpse of a punk band back to their best. They have successfully given the media and mass pop culture a big crooked middle finger. As Liam describes the album title, its clear to see that The Prodigy aren’t quite ready to make their final stand just yet…
‘People were starting to infiltrate our unit, starting to bleed into what we were and we needed to re-establish ourselves as a unit. I can’t remember whether it was Keith or Maxim that said it, but one of them went, ‘fuck it, invaders must die!’. I was like that’s the album title right there. It stayed with us. It’s about protecting what’s yours.’
Well, they have certainly done that. The only way to describe Invaders is contorted electronic genius. The g-word word gets thrown around willy-nilly these days, but I’ll be frank; this album takes you to the edge of an oily, metallic, cliff of bones and sinew, holds you over by your ankle and lets go with a big grin on its face. It absolutely murders your senses and hits you hard right in the keister. It’s a head-shaking mesh of destruction and flag-waving madness.
Phew, I’m glad that part is over, but for all you future listeners and ex-ravers, the writing is most certainly on the wall.
This is simply vintage stuff. The Prodigy have made a welcome return to the 90s pill-popping rave scene and chucked a few genre-splitting riffs into the melting pot for good measure. They may have been at their peak of fame when The Fat of the Land was released, but they are on the crest of something far bigger here; something that mixes the current urban punk culture with a burning spark of the old skool rave generation. The two collide and make a black hole. That black hole is this record. People with Isle of Wight Festival tickets are in for a treat!
Liam Howlett describes the opening title track Invaders Must Die: ‘The first tune on any Prodigy album has to be got to be something that just tears and smacks you round the head really. Spitfire was like that on the last album, Smack My Bitch Up on the one before. This does it in a different way. It’s a very abrasive sounding electronic track, kind of different to anything we’ve done before.
‘I wrote the riff about a year ago on my laptop when I was on a plane. It sounds like the kind of thing I would have written in 1992, it sort of has that rave melodic feel with a tearing track underneath. I had the track 80% there and hooked up with James from Does it Offend You Yeah and he pulled a few sounds out of the bag and helped put it together. It’s one of my favourite tunes on the album.’
Yes, the rumours are true; Dave Grohl features on the track Run With the Wolves, but until now very few people know how such an unlikely relationship was formed:
Keith: ‘It all started with an email to Liam saying ‘Listen man, I’ve finished touring and I’m bang up for doing something. Liam said he was just finishing the album but Dave said listen, I’m just going to go in the studio and put down some drums, which he did. A hard drive arrived at our studio and out of that came the process of writing this. We had the vocal on another track already but they just weren’t working. They had too much venom for the track. But we still enjoyed the excitement of it and what it was saying and this was the ideal opportunity to make it work. Liam re-did the track, then we re-did the vocals and we sent it over to Dave who was like ‘Yeah I was really hoping it was going to be something like this.’ He was really excited and worked some more on it.’
Liam: ‘I think you were angry the day you wrote this weren’t you?’
Keith: ‘Yeah I was’
Liam: ‘Yeah it was definitely written about a certain someone, we don’t know who it is but Keith does.’
Maxim: ‘Was it about me?’
Liam: ‘Nah, don’t get para. Hah, when I listen to this tune I just want to smash my head against the wall. It kind of like when the riff drops in its, just violent you know?’
Some of the tracks on Invaders are less aggressive and even verge on the anthemic; Omen is the melodic, lovechild of Breathe from TFOTL. With a classic vocal hook, this track is somewhat less intimidating than the sinister sister track Omen Reprise which is,according to Liam, ‘An orchestrated version of Omen but it really reminds me of the music from Scarface. It’s got this 80s Vangelis sound.’ And ‘like a dark Bladerunner’ according to Keith.
It’s great to see these guys back on form and hungry to start the machine again, and they certainly have a few tricks up their sleeve to keep you on the ropes for the duration.
Piranha is a personal favourite. With its 60s garage-meshed-with-old-skool-rave vibe, its urban punk at its absolute best, and Liam likes it too. ‘Piranha is a metaphor for something living off of you, you know, chewing off you. That was the concept of the track. We wanted to have 1960s B-movies vibe to it.’
Maxim made a big move forward with his vocals on this track, ‘For me it was a chance to do different vocal ideas rather than the monotone rap. I tried injected more melody into the vocals. This track, like the rest of my vocals on the album is a real step up for me.’
Already fan favourites, World’s on Fire and final track Stand Up prove this album is not front-heavy. These tracks have a quality that is reminiscent of previous albums, yet they carry a sheen of new hooks and synthetic riffs that bring them to the forefront of where The Prodigy are now; on top of their game. Liam explains: ‘This is the real wild card on the album. I think people will go ‘is that the Prodigy or isn’t it?’ but its got this real victorious feel. It’s a tune I really love and it’s like being wrapped up in a warm blanket before you fuck off home.’
Someone asked me recently if the record sounded big. It’s fucking colossal!! Its like an interstellar war between punk rock, rave, drum’n'bass and breakcore. These electropunk beats batter your skull and shudder through your spine until you are begging to be let go, only to be left with a tremor for days. The Prodigy’s knack for a thousand yard stare will have droves of gurners travelling the miles just to catch a glimpse of a punk band back to their best. They have successfully given the media and mass pop culture a big crooked middle finger. As Liam describes the album title, its clear to see that The Prodigy aren’t quite ready to make their final stand just yet…
‘People were starting to infiltrate our unit, starting to bleed into what we were and we needed to re-establish ourselves as a unit. I can’t remember whether it was Keith or Maxim that said it, but one of them went, ‘fuck it, invaders must die!’. I was like that’s the album title right there. It stayed with us. It’s about protecting what’s yours.’
Well, they have certainly done that. The only way to describe Invaders is contorted electronic genius. The g-word word gets thrown around willy-nilly these days, but I’ll be frank; this album takes you to the edge of an oily, metallic, cliff of bones and sinew, holds you over by your ankle and lets go with a big grin on its face. It absolutely murders your senses and hits you hard right in the keister. It’s a head-shaking mesh of destruction and flag-waving madness.
Phew, I’m glad that part is over, but for all you future listeners and ex-ravers, the writing is most certainly on the wall.
Should 2009 be Glastonbury's 'Fallow Year' ?
What can we expect from this year’s Glastonbury Festival? It is almost a given that the heavens will open for at least two of the five days, Pete Doherty will turn up late and someone will fall into one of the many festering toilet pits, but I’m talking about the music, and to be more specific, the headliners.
In the midst of an even longer wait for 2009’s festival - and wanting to play the Gallagher brothers at their own game - Michael Eavis was quoted this week as saying ‘We’ve got four headliners at the moment. If they all confirm, then I’ve got two headliners for Saturday’. Ah, so he’s got TWO headliners this year then, interesting. A brand new feature for a festival that is quickly becoming out of fashion with ye olde faithful and in fashion with a new generation of multi-coloured-welly-donning youths.
I’m slightly concerned; is Eavis trying too hard to make Glastonbury Festival fashionable? I thought one of the main attributes of the festival was the fact that it stuck its proverbial middle finger in the establishments face and said a big fat NO to conformity?
Well, as much as it pains me to say it, I think its high time we all came to realise that Glastonbury Festival is now commercial. There… I’ve said it. Eavis (Michael and Emily) appear to have been trying to spruce up the whole Glastonbury experience over the last decade, and it’s a totally different festival to the one I first attended in 1999.
Yes, there are some positive signs of improvement to the experience as a whole:
1. People aren’t jumping the fence to gain access to the site anymore.2. The new ticket regime this year seems to be fairer than previous years, giving buyers more chance of being able to log onto a website that was previously harder than getting into a nun’s knickers.3. More and more donations are going to Greenpeace and Oxfam every year, so it’s fair to say that Eavis still gets top marks for his green message.
However, what’s all this ‘you wont know who is playing until you have bought a ticket’ nonsense? Michael please, give us a chance mate! Last year attendance was at an all time low because you wanted to look ‘cool’ and added Jay-Z to the Saturday slot when you could have drawn thousands more with Muse, Radiohead, Led Zeppelin to name a few world-class bands.
Is watching someone rap to a CD classed as a real Glastonbury experience? The majority of people said it was refreshing but I think in the backs of their minds they knew it was a slight letdown. Now I’m not saying Jay-Z isn’t a good artist, rather that he doesn’t belong at Glastonbury Festival just for the sake of having something different in front of our eyes. Are the days of booking the best acts in the world gone? Is there any thought going into booking these headlining slots?
Last year I had more fun watching bands on the Park Stage than I did on the Pyramid Stage. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t think having ‘The Boss’ as a headline this year is the way to go. Landscape rock dinosaurs will draw the crowds for all the wrong reasons.
As I stand with the Fields of Avalon before me, I want to know that in one hand I have a slightly warm can of Carling, and in the other I have a festival programme that boasts the best acts on the planet. Reading/Leeds, V and Isle of Wight are nicking all the good acts now it seems; The Prodigy, Kasabian and Radiohead? What choice do we have at Glastonbury so far? Bruce Springsteen and Kanye West – do me a favour! We need acts to bring an excitement back to the Pyramid Stage. What Eavis has got to be careful of is having people watching the headline acts out of interest rather than love. It shouldn’t be such a gamble, should it?
With new plans to move the ‘fallow year’ back until 2012 to avoid the Olympic clash, it seems Eavis would be better off taking time out now to seriously rethink things. I hope I am proven wrong, but Eavis, you are too old to start trying to be cool now.
In the midst of an even longer wait for 2009’s festival - and wanting to play the Gallagher brothers at their own game - Michael Eavis was quoted this week as saying ‘We’ve got four headliners at the moment. If they all confirm, then I’ve got two headliners for Saturday’. Ah, so he’s got TWO headliners this year then, interesting. A brand new feature for a festival that is quickly becoming out of fashion with ye olde faithful and in fashion with a new generation of multi-coloured-welly-donning youths.
I’m slightly concerned; is Eavis trying too hard to make Glastonbury Festival fashionable? I thought one of the main attributes of the festival was the fact that it stuck its proverbial middle finger in the establishments face and said a big fat NO to conformity?
Well, as much as it pains me to say it, I think its high time we all came to realise that Glastonbury Festival is now commercial. There… I’ve said it. Eavis (Michael and Emily) appear to have been trying to spruce up the whole Glastonbury experience over the last decade, and it’s a totally different festival to the one I first attended in 1999.
Yes, there are some positive signs of improvement to the experience as a whole:
1. People aren’t jumping the fence to gain access to the site anymore.2. The new ticket regime this year seems to be fairer than previous years, giving buyers more chance of being able to log onto a website that was previously harder than getting into a nun’s knickers.3. More and more donations are going to Greenpeace and Oxfam every year, so it’s fair to say that Eavis still gets top marks for his green message.
However, what’s all this ‘you wont know who is playing until you have bought a ticket’ nonsense? Michael please, give us a chance mate! Last year attendance was at an all time low because you wanted to look ‘cool’ and added Jay-Z to the Saturday slot when you could have drawn thousands more with Muse, Radiohead, Led Zeppelin to name a few world-class bands.
Is watching someone rap to a CD classed as a real Glastonbury experience? The majority of people said it was refreshing but I think in the backs of their minds they knew it was a slight letdown. Now I’m not saying Jay-Z isn’t a good artist, rather that he doesn’t belong at Glastonbury Festival just for the sake of having something different in front of our eyes. Are the days of booking the best acts in the world gone? Is there any thought going into booking these headlining slots?
Last year I had more fun watching bands on the Park Stage than I did on the Pyramid Stage. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t think having ‘The Boss’ as a headline this year is the way to go. Landscape rock dinosaurs will draw the crowds for all the wrong reasons.
As I stand with the Fields of Avalon before me, I want to know that in one hand I have a slightly warm can of Carling, and in the other I have a festival programme that boasts the best acts on the planet. Reading/Leeds, V and Isle of Wight are nicking all the good acts now it seems; The Prodigy, Kasabian and Radiohead? What choice do we have at Glastonbury so far? Bruce Springsteen and Kanye West – do me a favour! We need acts to bring an excitement back to the Pyramid Stage. What Eavis has got to be careful of is having people watching the headline acts out of interest rather than love. It shouldn’t be such a gamble, should it?
With new plans to move the ‘fallow year’ back until 2012 to avoid the Olympic clash, it seems Eavis would be better off taking time out now to seriously rethink things. I hope I am proven wrong, but Eavis, you are too old to start trying to be cool now.
Friday, 3 October 2008
Thoughts on Laura Marling
I recently read an interesting article written by Helen Davies, in which she gave a detailed account of how women in the music industry are - and have been - treated by the press. The piece was titled ‘Rock n Roll is Homosocial: The representation of women in the British rock music press’. In it H. Davies touched on how female artists are – and have been - treated unfairly in mainstream pop culture and how their talents are widely discredited and overlooked in favour of their appearance, amongst other things. It is no doubt that a lot of this is true. Female performers in the music industry have been treated with a distinct lack of equality since ‘pop’ music was formed (the term invented by a male, no doubt), with men writing songs for men, and the target audience for many mainstream magazines, bands and songwriters being males aged 16 – 24.
It is with all of this in mind that I believe Laura Marling stands out. Firstly - as a blood-sucking male journalist - I intend to look at her appearance in the stereotypical way: She has short, blonde, undistinguished hair. She wears little or indeed no makeup and wears – dare I say it – rather scruffy clothes that are too big for her. Point one made. It is impossible to say Laura Marling is trying to sell records by using her looks.
This leads me nicely onto my second point; Marling’s song writing style is always very true-to-roots, giving it an illustrious air of authenticity, something which many of today’s female so-called singer-songwriters are lacking, or faking (Kate Nash, for example). Her songs have a slight hint of traditional Irish music, along with an exuberant amount of influences from 60’s English folk culture. True, she is no Bert Jansch on guitar, but she doesn’t try to be. Again, it is in this aspect that Marling stands out from the crowd; she is not trying to be anything but herself. Her songs are catchy, yet not over flamboyant. She rarely plays to huge crowds, preferring to play low-key intimate gigs. She comes across shy, and rarely looks comfortable playing her guitar. Let me tell you one thing however, she sure can play and sing those songs of hers. It is the combination of all these ingredients that makes her appealing to so many. For Marling, less is definitely more.
A recent near-miss with the Mercury prize may be a blessing in disguise for Laura. It is too hard to see her being a star on an international scale. She is not ‘mainstream’ enough, and she absolutely will not sell out on her writing style in order to sell more download units. The success of her debut album, ‘Alas I Cannot Swim’ coupled with various tour dates at major UK festivals has made 2008 a successful year for her. In a world where female artists are constantly scrutinised for seeking attention or being over-dramatic in a very illustrative sense, Laura Marling may have found just the right mix of authenticity, good songs, shyness and of course, talent. Let us not forget that Laura Marling is only nineteen years old, yet for me, she is setting the standard for all female singer songwriters out there. Ladies, follow her lead.
Ian Easton
03.10.2008.
It is with all of this in mind that I believe Laura Marling stands out. Firstly - as a blood-sucking male journalist - I intend to look at her appearance in the stereotypical way: She has short, blonde, undistinguished hair. She wears little or indeed no makeup and wears – dare I say it – rather scruffy clothes that are too big for her. Point one made. It is impossible to say Laura Marling is trying to sell records by using her looks.
This leads me nicely onto my second point; Marling’s song writing style is always very true-to-roots, giving it an illustrious air of authenticity, something which many of today’s female so-called singer-songwriters are lacking, or faking (Kate Nash, for example). Her songs have a slight hint of traditional Irish music, along with an exuberant amount of influences from 60’s English folk culture. True, she is no Bert Jansch on guitar, but she doesn’t try to be. Again, it is in this aspect that Marling stands out from the crowd; she is not trying to be anything but herself. Her songs are catchy, yet not over flamboyant. She rarely plays to huge crowds, preferring to play low-key intimate gigs. She comes across shy, and rarely looks comfortable playing her guitar. Let me tell you one thing however, she sure can play and sing those songs of hers. It is the combination of all these ingredients that makes her appealing to so many. For Marling, less is definitely more.
A recent near-miss with the Mercury prize may be a blessing in disguise for Laura. It is too hard to see her being a star on an international scale. She is not ‘mainstream’ enough, and she absolutely will not sell out on her writing style in order to sell more download units. The success of her debut album, ‘Alas I Cannot Swim’ coupled with various tour dates at major UK festivals has made 2008 a successful year for her. In a world where female artists are constantly scrutinised for seeking attention or being over-dramatic in a very illustrative sense, Laura Marling may have found just the right mix of authenticity, good songs, shyness and of course, talent. Let us not forget that Laura Marling is only nineteen years old, yet for me, she is setting the standard for all female singer songwriters out there. Ladies, follow her lead.
Ian Easton
03.10.2008.
Kings of Leon – Only by the Night, a review by Ian Easton
29.09.2008
Studio trickery is always a no-go area for any true-to-roots rock band. Kings of Leon didn’t quite hit the nail on the head with their last album, Because of the Times, but luckily for them by this time the masses had already hopped aboard the Hillbilly Rock bandwagon. Yet, the new five-syllabled album Only by the Night may be quite the grower, even to the most hardcore of fans, they just don’t know it yet. Granted, it doesn’t have the abundance of monolithic tracks smothered with growling vocals about Southern Americana, and their drummer doesn’t look like a bespectacled Jesus anymore, but it’s certainly got something – the trademark KOL swagger.
What this record does have in stacks is a reservoir of landscape rock, embellished with layered and wailing primal guitar riffs. Caleb Followill’s vocals are clearer, more directed than in previous efforts. This might be due to the fact that he wrote most of the words whilst under the influence of incapacitating pain killers, or it may simply be because he is now more confident in his delivery. Maybe it’s a nice medley of the two. One thing is for sure, he may just be one of the most vital frontmen of a generation.
I first heard Crawl at Glastonbury 2008, whilst trudging through a mammoth crowd trying to find my mates. ‘Here’s a new one’ Caleb said before Brother Jared flew into the first few hugely fuzzed baseline notes. I didn’t like it. I have no idea why but it has grown on me since that mud-caked lost evening. It must prove to be somewhat taxing playing new tracks to big crowds, and a lot of bands fall by the wayside attempting to win over a wider range of fans. The first single Sex on Fire might well be a carbon copy of California Waiting from Youth and Young Manhood, but it is satisfying in a more rounded way. Somehow they have kept their trademark sound whilst not quite selling out and chasing the Yankee Dollar. Applause.
The album starts off with a bang, with the two stand-out numbers named above, followed by the epic sure-to-be-a-flagwaver Use Somebody. The vocals are layered, and the lyrics paint a selfish picture of wanting and absence. The chorus has minimal vocals, which work well with just the backing vocals wailing into the night. A great one to drive at night to as well, I would imagine.
A lot of the tracks have hints of the masterpiece that is Fans from the last record, which appears to have been a benchmark for the sound of the bulk of this album. Jared’s near-perfect baselines are key to the epic image of these songs (Manhattan, Revelry, the beautiful Notion, Cold Desert). If only KOL’s fans didn’t all listen to the songs on poor iPOD headphones, they would be able to appreciate this more.
Vintage equipment has been used again throughout the whole recording process, which is pleasing to hear, as it has been their way of doing things since the outset. The KOL group are very close nit, their cousin and guitar tech Nacho could be mistaken for a fully-fledged member of the group itself. For a deeper insight into the recording process and build up to the records release, see their Only By The Night Home Movies page on YouTube. Very funny indeed. It’s hard to imagine that Caleb recorded a lot of his vocal tracks whilst drunk.
KOL may have had time to sit back, reflect on shared STDs, arguments over women and the many, many problems that newfound stardom brings, but that hasn’t stopped them living a cultured Rock n Roll lifestyle within their family group. They are still TrailerPark Trash at heart. That must be libellous.
Only by the night is a much more melodic, mature, cleaner-in-it’s-delivery, epic sounding record than any Kings of Leon have written before. It’s certainly grown on me, and it may take time to win over their hardcore fans with these songs, but if it appeals to the masses, they might no longer care? Album sales speak for themselves at this stage in their career. Stadium Tour, anyone?
Ian Easton
29.09.2008
Studio trickery is always a no-go area for any true-to-roots rock band. Kings of Leon didn’t quite hit the nail on the head with their last album, Because of the Times, but luckily for them by this time the masses had already hopped aboard the Hillbilly Rock bandwagon. Yet, the new five-syllabled album Only by the Night may be quite the grower, even to the most hardcore of fans, they just don’t know it yet. Granted, it doesn’t have the abundance of monolithic tracks smothered with growling vocals about Southern Americana, and their drummer doesn’t look like a bespectacled Jesus anymore, but it’s certainly got something – the trademark KOL swagger.
What this record does have in stacks is a reservoir of landscape rock, embellished with layered and wailing primal guitar riffs. Caleb Followill’s vocals are clearer, more directed than in previous efforts. This might be due to the fact that he wrote most of the words whilst under the influence of incapacitating pain killers, or it may simply be because he is now more confident in his delivery. Maybe it’s a nice medley of the two. One thing is for sure, he may just be one of the most vital frontmen of a generation.
I first heard Crawl at Glastonbury 2008, whilst trudging through a mammoth crowd trying to find my mates. ‘Here’s a new one’ Caleb said before Brother Jared flew into the first few hugely fuzzed baseline notes. I didn’t like it. I have no idea why but it has grown on me since that mud-caked lost evening. It must prove to be somewhat taxing playing new tracks to big crowds, and a lot of bands fall by the wayside attempting to win over a wider range of fans. The first single Sex on Fire might well be a carbon copy of California Waiting from Youth and Young Manhood, but it is satisfying in a more rounded way. Somehow they have kept their trademark sound whilst not quite selling out and chasing the Yankee Dollar. Applause.
The album starts off with a bang, with the two stand-out numbers named above, followed by the epic sure-to-be-a-flagwaver Use Somebody. The vocals are layered, and the lyrics paint a selfish picture of wanting and absence. The chorus has minimal vocals, which work well with just the backing vocals wailing into the night. A great one to drive at night to as well, I would imagine.
A lot of the tracks have hints of the masterpiece that is Fans from the last record, which appears to have been a benchmark for the sound of the bulk of this album. Jared’s near-perfect baselines are key to the epic image of these songs (Manhattan, Revelry, the beautiful Notion, Cold Desert). If only KOL’s fans didn’t all listen to the songs on poor iPOD headphones, they would be able to appreciate this more.
Vintage equipment has been used again throughout the whole recording process, which is pleasing to hear, as it has been their way of doing things since the outset. The KOL group are very close nit, their cousin and guitar tech Nacho could be mistaken for a fully-fledged member of the group itself. For a deeper insight into the recording process and build up to the records release, see their Only By The Night Home Movies page on YouTube. Very funny indeed. It’s hard to imagine that Caleb recorded a lot of his vocal tracks whilst drunk.
KOL may have had time to sit back, reflect on shared STDs, arguments over women and the many, many problems that newfound stardom brings, but that hasn’t stopped them living a cultured Rock n Roll lifestyle within their family group. They are still TrailerPark Trash at heart. That must be libellous.
Only by the night is a much more melodic, mature, cleaner-in-it’s-delivery, epic sounding record than any Kings of Leon have written before. It’s certainly grown on me, and it may take time to win over their hardcore fans with these songs, but if it appeals to the masses, they might no longer care? Album sales speak for themselves at this stage in their career. Stadium Tour, anyone?
Ian Easton
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