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Archive: progressive rock

The Fiery Furnaces — Remember

2 November 2008 12:15

Categories: Entertainment, Music, Reviews

Remember cover You wouldn’t expect The Fiery Furnaces to do anything in the conventional way. When their debut album, Gallowsbird’s Bark, was released in 2003, they were seen almost as being part of the same scene as The White Stripes. There was the bluesy-rock element to the thing, then the fact that both bands were a brother–sister partnership (though in the case of The White Stripes, it was actually a desperate publicity-seeking lie).

But come the release of their second album, Blueberry Boat, it was clearer that The Fiery Furnaces weren’t going to play it by the book. The stripped-back bluesy rock took a back seat and was supplanted by a kind of wonky prog, with antique synths, rattling pianos and a ceasless desire to keep the listener alert. Their following album, Rehearsing My Choir, was a concept album about their grandmother, who also provided lead vocals. Enough said.

Staggeringly prolific, the band now has five albums and an EP under its belt (plus a double solo album from Matthew Friedberger) after just a few short years. This year, for the first time since their debut, they have opted not to release a studio album.

Instead, they have released a double live album, Remember. But quite what you should expect from a live album from The Fiery Furnaces? Their live shows (although, regrettably, I’ve not been lucky enough to see them live yet) are famous for the radical reinventions of their songs, setting the words of one song to the melody of another, chopping their songs into little bits and creating one long medley, and so on. This promises the audience something a bit more than the sort of experience you might get by putting the album on a loud stereo and standing among a bunch of sweaty men who are intent on spilling beer all over you. You’ve got to admire a live act for putting a bit of effort into mixing things up a bit.

The only thing predictable about a Fiery Furnaces live album is that they would do something weird. Weird move number one was to eschew a standard tracklisting, instead listing six ‘suites’ and inviting you to guess the tracklisting for yourself and check a website later to see if you were right. I guess that at least replicates the live experience, where you are not sure what the setlist will have in store for you.

But that wasn’t all. When you start listening to the album, it is quickly clear that there is something not quite right. The first track proper, ‘Blueberry Boat’, contains a number of jarring switches in sound quality. It transpires that the “live album” that you hear on the CD has been spliced together from at least four different recordings, even to the point where songs are interrupted in their prime to switch rendition. Quality ranges from song to song and even within songs, from soundboard quality to bootleg without warning. Well, the liner notes do warn, “Please do not attempt to listen to all at once.”

Even though it takes a bit of time to get used to, it is not as annoying as you might think. What the purpose of this experiment was is not clear to me. But the decision to include a number of different recordings does at least mean that the album documents a full overview of the Fiery Furnaces live experience, with tracks spanning the band’s whole career.

As you might expect, not all of the live versions of the tracks sound as good as the studio-recorded album versions. But some of them are. Besides, what is really great about Remember is that it is not just another live album, where you could just add some canned crowd noise onto the studio album you already own. This is almost like hearing 52 brand new songs. Strangely familiar, yet different enough to provide a completely new experience.

Typically, despite the ostensibly painstakingly-created edits, the album keeps some of the band’s live guff-ups in tact. In fact, very near the start of the album we hear singer Eleanor Friedberger forgetting the lyrics and practically holding a committee meeting with her brother as they try to remember what comes next. It fits in with The Fiery Furnaces aesthetic — equal parts grand and shambolic.

Wonky prog, remember? Each of their albums sounds like an attempt to make Kid A with the cheapest, oldest equipment going. It’s all part of the band’s charm, and it’s good for that kind of attitude to continue even in the manner in which Remember has been edited.

So full marks to The Fiery Furnaces. Even though the strange editing has alientated some, I think the album is an excellent document of the band’s capabilities as a live act. It has provided me with a taste of some of their excellent live versions (I especially love ‘Single Again’ and ‘The Garfield El’). I am now eager to see them live whenever they next come near my neck of the woods.

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Squarepusher — Just a Souvenir

28 October 2008 14:52

Categories: Entertainment, Music, Reviews

Just a Souvenir cover

The premise of Just a Souvenir is most intriguing. “This album started as a daydream about watching a crazy, beautiful rock band play an ultra-gig,” says Tom Jenkinson on his website. He goes on to describe the mad japes that the band got up to in his daydream, setting out a vision of an eccentric, futuristic, science fiction-inspired rock band. Squarepusher then saw it as his duty to recreate his daydream in album form.

I can’t help but wonder if the story is just a bit of an excuse, explaining the slightly tongue-in-cheek nature of some of the tracks. Just a few minutes into the album the listener is asked to “re-spect the coat… HANGER” by a cod 1980s vocoderised singer (a giant coathanger being the fantasy band’s main prop). This is not a criticism. I don’t like music to take itself far too seriously, and Squarepusher remains on the playful side of things for most of this album which makes it a much more pleasurable listen.

The premise of the album also gives Squarepusher maximum opportunity to pursue his crazy sonic experiments. Then there is the fact that the band is apparently supposed to be a prog rock band. This mixture — a focus on technology and quasi-prog stylings — makes Just a Souvenir sound like the sort of album most bands in the 1980s would have dreamt of making. It’s the music that Tomorrow’s World promised.

But perhaps the most unique-sounding tracks are the ones which don’t have the pomp of the prog rock approach. The sonic experimentation is most evident on tracks like ‘Open Society’, ‘Fluxgate’ which presumably depict the classical guitar player who can travel backwards in time, taking the surrounding sounds with him to create “imploded sonic pin cushions”.

Stylistically these tracks are similar to some tracks that Squarepusher has been doing for a few years, beginning with ‘Itti-Fack’ from the Square Window EP. These tracks are brief and sound as though the audio has been recorded in another dimension. I can’t think of anyone else who makes music that sounds like this. It’s almost as though Squarepusher has created a new genre which, for the time being, is specifically his domain.

Elsewhere, Squarepusher’s sonic palette has been expanded with the surprising inclusion of some all-out rock songs. Although Tom Jenkinson is well-known for being a highly accomplished bass guitar player, his playing is typically of the jazz fusion variety, or perhaps set to some of his madcap Amen break-fuelled drill and bass, IDM or suchlike. I suppose since now that IDM is deeply unfashionable, it is sensible of him to move away from that sort of thing.

But it is nonetheless surprising that he has gone so far down the rock route. While tracks like ‘Delta-V’ are by no means like conventional rock music, the almost metal-like style of these tracks undoubtedly moves Squarepusher into brand new territory. Incidentally, what an enjoyable listen ‘Delta-V’ is.

What strikes one listening to this album is just how much it does sound like a full band. It has long been known that Tom Jenkinson is a truly multi-talented fellow, being a particularly accomplished bass guitar player while also impressing on guitars and drums, all while mixing it with electronic music’s oligarchy at Warp Records.

For his past few albums, Squarepusher has been increasing the eclecticism of his output, beginning with the amazing Ultravisitor (still my favourite Squarepusher album) which gave us a full taste of all of his talents from drum and bass stormers to gentile Spanish guitar performances, mixing studio-based and live performances to create a truly unique, odd-sounding album that can’t help but leave you impressed.

But in Just a Souvenir the tone doesn’t jump around uncomfortably as it sometimes does in Ultravisitor. Now all of Tom Jenkinson’s many talents are performing to such a high level, gelling so well that you would never guess that it wasn’t actually a band. What an achievement.

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Music of 2007: top three

2 February 2008 13:53

Categories: Entertainment, Music, Reviews

Music of 2007

A series of posts

  1. What I listened to in 2007
  2. Music of 2007: #40–#21
  3. Music of 2007: #20–#11
  4. Music not of 2007: three reissues
  5. Music of 2007: #10–#4
  6. Music of 2007: top three

Yesterday I promised that I would finally get round to posting my top three albums of 2007 today. I almost forgot about it because I was having so much fun writing my dissertation (true story). But a promise is a promise, so I am staying up extra late. I’m sure it won’t take long…

3. Shining — Grindstone

Grindstone artwork This must be the most overlooked album of the year. I should point out, in case you were confused, that I am talking about the Norwegian electro-jazz-prog metal band, not the Swedish suicide-themed death metal band.

I discovered Shining because some of their members used to be in Jaga Jazzist, another Norwegian band that I love. But while Jaga Jazzist are known for their quirky electo-jazz stylings, Shining have increasingly forged a path into the altogether darker territory of progressive metal.

But it’s not just that — it’s a cartoon version of metal. Jazz instruments play as big a role as guitars, and the whole lot is backed by whacked out singing and interspersed with ambient interludes. In short, expect the unexpected.

If it all sounds a little bit overwhelming, as though they have over-egged the pudding, do not fear. Although light moments are mixed with the darkness of metal, it is far from a scatter-gun approach. Everything is meticulously arranged. In fact, it is the multi-layered nature of the tracks and musicianship of the band members that impresses me the most about Grindstone.

I think it is an utter travesty that Shining are not more well-known.

Listen to the album in full at Last.fm

Video: ‘Winterreise’ — not an official video, but it has kind of been endorsed by the band.

2. Radiohead — In Rainbows

In Rainbows artwork So much has been made of this album, but not much of it has been about the music itself. I am a serial offender here as well.

I was disappointed at first. If you have been reading this blog for long, you will know that I quite like exploratory electronic music. I am much more of the Kid A stripe of Radiohead fan than The Bends kind. So I initially found In Rainbows to be a let down. It seemed too safe for a band as good as Radiohead.

It sounded little different to Hail to the Thief. It rather does suggest that Radiohead have found their equilibrium. The post-OK Computer explorations were just that: explorations. Now they have found a happy medium, and every future Radiohead album will pitch its flag in this middle ground.

But that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It is strange to hear Radiohead sounding so comfortable — but over time I have come to see that as one of the greatest strengths of In Rainbows. Probably for the first time in several years — the first time ever? — Radiohead don’t sound tetchy or fed up or lost. They are at ease. They are just making great music.

In Rainbows makes Kid A sound immature and Hail to the Thief sound downright shambolic. Not that I am announcing that I now dislike Kid A — it is probably still my favourite album. But In Rainbows has a craftsmanship to it. It has been constructed, not thrown together. Kid A had ideas. In Rainbows has songs.

So the experimentation has gone. Or at least it is taking a back seat. So there is nothing aurally exciting like ‘Everything in its Right Place’ or ‘Pulk’. But there is now pure beauty: ‘Nude’, ‘Videotape’ and ‘Reckoner’ are now among my very favourite Radiohead songs.

What makes In Rainbows stand out as a great album is Phil Selway’s drumming. Time and again he has been the essential element in a Radiohead song, most notably in ‘Pyramid Song’. Today he is at the top of his game, providing unusual but immediate drumbeats. He’s obviously had to up his game since the rest of the band started using drum machines!

If I have a complaint, it is about ‘Arpeggi/Weird Fishes’. Not that it’s a bad song, but I much prefer the original ‘Arpeggi’. It doesn’t sound as powerful as the original live version, as the guitars make the arpeggios sound rather muddied.

And great albums don’t have songs as weak as ‘House of Cards’ and ‘Bodysnatchers’. The latter also has a line that has been stolen straight out of Pulp’s ‘The Fear’, right down to the way it’s sung. Not a high crime, but rather off-putting.

Discbox purchasers got a second CD, and amazingly the music is pretty much at the same high standard as on CD1. ‘Bangers + Mash’ in particular is a great, fun song. It should have been on CD1 in place of ‘Bodysnatchers’.

Videos: lots — mostly live performances

1. Battles — Mirrored

Mirrored cover I have been going on all year about how great Battles are, and truth be told I don’t think there’s much else I can really say about Mirrored. Suffice it to say that it is great to hear someone genuinely pushing the boundaries and showing everyone what really can be done with technology when you put your mind to it.

Video: ‘Tonto’

My original review of Mirrored

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Music of 2007: #10–#4

1 February 2008 01:04

Categories: Entertainment, Music, Reviews

Music of 2007

A series of posts

  1. What I listened to in 2007
  2. Music of 2007: #40–#21
  3. Music of 2007: #20–#11
  4. Music not of 2007: three reissues
  5. Music of 2007: #10–#4
  6. Music of 2007: top three

At last! I have got round to the top ten. Was it worth it? Probably not. Next (i.e. this) year, I am only doing the top 20, I swear…

10. Hanne Hukkelberg — Rykestrasse 68

Rykestrasse 68 cover A neat album of playfully experimental jazzy folky songs. The interesting but subtle use of found sounds makes Rykestrasse 68 an unconventional album, but one that never forces the fact down your throat.

At the heart of this album is good songwriting and a wonderful singing voice. I just love the quirkiness of the vocals in ‘Fourteen’.

Video: ‘A Cheater’s Armoury’

9. The Future Sound of London — From the Archives Vol. 1–3

From the Archives Vol. 1 artwork
From the Archives Vol. 2 artwork
From the Archives Vol. 3 artwork Technically, this isn’t from 2007 (or is it? I dunno), which is the only reason why this doesn’t appear any higher on the list. But bear with me.

The Future Sound of London are (a little bit) before my time. But they are still among my very favourite electronic music groups, despite the fact that electronic music normally dates really badly. Sadly, little has been heard of FSOL since the release of Dead Cities in 1996 (not counting that Amorphous Androgynous stuff). I don’t suppose we can be too upset — they were stunningly prolific in the few years leading up to that moment.

I often yearned for the return of FSOL. A best of here and a compilation there has come, mostly reminding people that maybe FSOL just belonged in the 1990s. Would their music still seem so vital today? I wondered.

Well in 2007 FSOL seem to have begun a huge clearout of some sort, releasing several CDs worth of archive material from the 1980s and 1990s. So far only From the Archives vol. 1–3 seem to have come out on CD. I’m biding my time to see if the rest gets a CD release, but it doesn’t look like it.

Anyway, the point is that From the Archives is amazing. It is hard to believe that all of these tracks are rejects. It is clear that the technology available to them was not what it would be today. But this just means that it sounds like classic FSOL in their prime. To think that they had all of this awesome music just sitting around doing nothing for all those years!

Plenty of tracks contain familiar elements and samples from more well-known FSOL material. So it is useful to think of it as a historical document as much as a collection of albums.

The artwork takes a similar tack. Well-known elements of old FSOL artwork have been remixed into a form that is rather deferential to the peak period of activity. All in all, it’s quite a refreshing approach because normally bands seem keen to distance themselves from the past.

Because it sounds dated, and consists of music that didn’t make the cut, it is perhaps best to recommend it only to people who are already fans of FSOL. But for those people, what a treat this is! I couldn’t believe my luck when I read about it.

For those not so keen on getting the lot, there is a digest 2× vinyl edition. And Bleep are selling what appears to be an alternative digest version on MP3 and Flac.

8. Simian Mobile Disco — Attack Decay Sustain Release

Attack Decay Sustain Release Simian Mobile Disco is the phoenix that has risen from the ashes of the early-noughties indie-electro band Simian. Slaving away for years only to have your shtick stolen by the much more successful Hot Chip as soon as you disband. It must hurt.

A change of tack was in order for the Simian lads then, and Attack Decay Sustain Release is the result. Unashamedly danceable to an almost cheesy extent, don’t expect much in the way of experimental explorations. Do expect to be grinning ear to ear.

Video: ‘It’s the Beat’

7. Björk — Volta

Volta artwork The pre-release hype had it that this was Björk’s most accessible and poppy album for around a decade. There is a modicum of truth in that. But fans of Björk’s wonderful explorations won’t be disappointed.

Okay, so if you compare the Timbaland-produced lead single, ‘Earth Intruders’, with one of the more guttural offerings from her last album, the almost a cappella Medúlla, then it does look like a change to a poppier direction. But there is more to Volta than that.

In reality, it is just as exploratory as other Björk releases. Any preconception that Volta is a pop album is encouraged by the fact that ‘Earth Intruders’ opens the album, but the balloon is popped when the song fizzles out and ends with a cacophony of foghorn sounds that last over a minute.

There are a few other fun moments. ‘Innocence’, the second single, is a particularly interesting song. It is fun and catchy, but if it is commercial then it is a delightfully skewed version of pop. For me, though, the best moment is Vertebrae by Vertebrae. I love those dissonant horns.

Video: ‘Earth Intruders’

6. The Fiery Furnaces — Widow City

Widow City artwork It is a sign of how strong 2007 was for music that The Fiery Furnaces are so low on this year’s list. Possibly the most prolific band around, they often churn out more than one album per year and quality never seems to drop.

Okay, so Widow City isn’t quite up there with Blueberry Boat or Rehearsing My Choir. But this is still a stunningly awesome album. Fans of Matthew Friedberger’s double solo album will be particularly pleased — Widow City is similar in style in a lot of ways.

The album begins with a lush, slow, Eno-esque guitar solo. A fine curtain raiser to the normal Fiery Furnaces diet of playful alliterative lyrics, Mellotrons and other vintage synths, and delightfully wonky prog.

Unusually, there are some weak moments in this album. Some tracks towards the end of the album are particularly forgettable, but ‘Clear Signal From Cairo’ takes the wooden spoon — it just hasn’t clicked with me at all.

Video: ‘Ex-Guru’

5. Justice — †

† artwork It’s easy to get bored of electronic music. In dry patches you listen to one techno album after another, none particularly improving on what has come before. Then a group like Justice comes along to provide a breath of fresh air and remind you why you love electronic music.

What’s good about this album is that it is really immediate. It is clearly designed for the dancefloor. But there is still a good deal of sonic experimentation going on there to keep it interesting for the chin-strokers like me. And of course Justice have that infectious sound that only Parisian groups seem to have (hence the number of times you see Justice compared to Daft Punk).

My favourite track is ‘Tthhee Ppaarrttyy’. It’s not a banger as you might expect from the title — not at first anyway. Instead, it sets the scene of a person preparing for a party against an introspective-sounding melody. Can’t forget the other highlights though — ‘DVNO’ and, of course, the monumental ‘D.A.N.C.E.’

Video: ‘D.A.N.C.E.’

4. Underworld — Oblivion With Bells

Oblivion With Bells artwork I have been a fan of Underworld for quite a while, but I was still floored by the quality of this album. It has been a while since Underworld have released a studio album, so I was wondering if they were running out of steam. On the contrary, they have raised the bar.

It takes a while for the album to get going. I thought lead single and opening track ‘Crocodile’ was so-so. After that things star to get better. Before you know it, every track is a winner.

Particular highlights include ‘Ring Road’ which has an infections driving beat and hypnotically rhythmic vocals. It’s impossible not to nod your head or tap your foot along. Meanwhile, ‘Boy, Boy, Boy’ sounds like the past future of pop music that sadly never happened.

What amazes me is the fact that after all of these years Underworld are still going strong. Okay, it’s been five years since their last album, but this is top quality stuff. Most electronic acts tend to fizzle out after a few years. But Underworld’s history can be traced back to the 1970s, and they’re still going strong. I might even go as far as to say that Oblivion With Bells is Underworld’s best album. Karl Hyde must be the coolest fifty-something around. Except for Brian Eno.

Video: ‘Boy, Boy, Boy’

The top 3 is coming tomorrow. I promise.

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Squarepusher — Hello Everything

16 October 2006 01:24

Categories: Entertainment, Music, Reviews, Television

Hello Everything artwork The reviews were pretty mixed, but Squarepusher’s tenth album, Hello Everything, has turned out to be a pleasant surprise.

The bright and breezy ‘Look Around You‘-style cover and pink artwork somehow doesn’t suit Squarepusher’s image as a dark and angry fellow. But don’t let that deceive you. The most notable thing about this album is how much it sounds like Squarepusher — and you couldn’t mistake it for anybody else.

Since he emerged ten years ago, Squarepusher has taken his fans on a bit of a journey. It’s not unusual for acoustic instruments and full-on electronic music to appear together, but often it’s as a bit of a gimmick. Squarepusher does it as though it’s the normal thing to do. His electronic music is as good as anybody’s, but he’s also a bloody demon on the bass guitar. Check out this live video of Hello Everything‘s opening track, ‘Hello Meow’.

His appearance on The Culture Show showed how intense he is when playing the bass guitar with all those involuntary facial expressions pulled. (Unfortunately the appearance also showed us his receeding hairline and the fact that he only has one shirt, although he makes up for it with his splendid beard.)

It was this amazing combination of virtuoso bass playing and intricate electronica that initially turned heads with Squarepusher’s emergence ten years ago. But along the way Squarepusher has experimented with the formula a lot. There was the murky, woozy yet captivating Music is Rotted One Note, an album that sounds like it’s melting all the way through.

Then there was Go Plastic and Do You Know Squarepusher, a pair of albums that almost completely dispensed with the bass guitar. In Ultravisitor the bass guitar made its triumphant return in a quasi-live album that sounded as if it owed more to prog rock than the Amen break.

But Hello Everything isn’t a surprise like that. This sounds like classic Squarepusher straight away. Some of these tracks could have easily been at home on his first album, Feed Me Weird Things. ‘Bubble Life’ harks back to Selection Sixteen.

If I was pressed, I would say the main difference to Squarepusher’s past work is that Hello Everything sounds quite space-like. The intense ‘Planetarium’, an instant stand-out, is unashamedly cosmic.

Like Ultravisitor, the style and mood skips from track to track. So as well as the drum and bass tracks we have the more thoughtful, relaxing moments. ‘Theme From Sprite’ is a very cool track that sounds like it should be played in a smokey jazz bar. Nice! There is also the irresistably beautiful ‘Circlewave 2′.

Also included with Hello Everything is a ‘bonus CD’ entitled Vacuum Tracks. Unfortunately, it is extremely boring. Almost twenty minutes of inconsequential bleeps and whoooos that go absolutely nowhere. One track in this style, ‘Vacuum Garden’, was included on Hello Everything itself, and that was quite enough thank you very much.

More successful is the Welcome to Europe 12-inch / digital single. ‘Hanningfield Window’ is a fine track, but ‘Exciton’ is the one that really grabs you by the balls. I’d like Squarepusher to do more tracks like this!

All-in-all, Vacuum Tracks aside, Squarepusher’s new music is a great success. I was actually a bit iffy about Squarepusher until the release of Ultravisitor. Ever since then I’ve come to appreciate his older music more. For me, Hello Everything just underlines the fact that Tom Jenkinson is one of the finest musicians around at the moment.

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