By Martin Sharman on Thursday, 17th May 2012 at 12:00 pm
Emmy The Great’s album ‘Virtue’ has been out for nearly a year now; she’s decided not enough people have heard it, so a deluxe version is on its way in order to tempt those who haven’t yet made a purchase. With the usual ‘deluxe’ trimmings, and more rare tracks and remixes, this is a release both for the Emmy completist, and for those who are just falling under the spell of the jewel-voiced Ms Moss for the first time.
To announce the new release, ‘God Of Loneliness’ is being released as a single. Given that the album documents a particularly sudden breakup, this song fits right in, documenting as it does a one-sided conversation between Emmy and her projected demons. Or in this case the demons are reimagined as a god, although a bittersweet one that appears on the death of a relationship, rather than an omnipotent being who looks after you in times of need. The instrumentation is gentle, and features sufficient melodic undulations and harp sweeps to make it quite a summery background ditty, if we ever get a summer in this glum, rainy country. As inoffensive as a chilled glass of sparkling rosé wine on a grassy slope, and possibly more of a ladies’ favourite; men might like something a bit chewier to go with their post-breakup blues.
B-side ‘Fade Into You’ is a cover of Mazzy Star’s most famous song, and adds just a bit more vim to the original. Whether or not the song needed more vim, or struck just the right languorous tone the first time around is not clear. What is clear is that the song is a lovely, dreamy waltz with distant guitars and deserves another hearing. Just the soundtrack if you’re sharing that glass of sparkling rosé with a special someone.
Intriguingly, the single is accompanied by a ‘horror rom-com’ short film set in Emmy’s favourite brutalist tower block, Erno Goldfinger’s Trellick Tower, which inspired a track on ‘Virtue’. As a connoisseur of brutalism, it’s great news every time an example pops up in pop culture. This particular building has led a charmed, media friendly existence, having appeared in several music videos including Blur’s ‘For Tomorrow’, and benefits from residing in the well-off Kensington and Chelsea borough of London. Certainly modernist, but due to the softening of its concrete expanses with numerous windows and walkways, maybe less brutal than impolite. Due to its location, fame, and listed status, Trellick Tower is to be spared the ignominy of demolition which is befalling so many of its contemporary brethren. The song gets an extra point for bringing up the topic of brutalism.
7/10
The deluxe version of ‘Virtue’ is out now. ‘God of Loneliness’ was released as a single last week (the 7th of May) on Close Harbour. Grab the Dems remix of the song on this previous MP3 of the Day post.
Summer has pretty much had its foot completely in the door where I am, and it seems the perfect time to blast up some low-fi guitar tunes on a beach under the scorching sun. Here, exlovers’ new single, ‘This Love Will Lead You On’, combines low-fi guitar strumming with blush-inducing boy-girl harmonies.
The track starts very directly with no delay and dives straight into the core. The whole song evolves in a natural way as the lyrics’ narrative does the same, too. Its chorus is haunting and it floats around my brain for days, it also has a melody great for humming. Other than that, the uplifting line that is both the track’s title and chorus “this love will lead you on” just discharges the negativity in me completely.
It’s a pleasant track and also extremely radio-friendly. I believe given certain spins from various stations, this single shall be quite successful. With such a strong lead single, exlovers’ upcoming debut album is surely something to look out for.
‘This Love Will Lead You On’, the first single from exlovers’ debut album ‘Moth’, is available now.
By Mary Chang on Thursday, 10th May 2012 at 12:00 pm
Worry sets in when I’m sent an album by a band I know nothing about; I become most anxious about not representing the band appropriately when I review the release. Often it is even worse when there is little to read up on the band that’s either for or against them, because you don’t really know what you’re getting into (big band vs. indie) and the wind (it’s hard to tell with what Patrick Wolf calls “the fickle press”) doesn’t seem to be blowing one way or another.
This is just as well, since the band in question, Apparatjik, had live appearances last year – including superimposing images of themselves on the side of a cube at an art installation in Berlin – that seem to be downplaying who exactly is in the band and instead embracing their oneness in their…weirdness. Which all seems a bit strange, given the principals, who need no introduction, as they’ve all been involved with megagroups of current or at least recent memory: – Magne Furuholmen of the now defunct a-ha; Guy Berryman, bassist for Coldplay; Jonas Bjerre of Mew; and producer Martin Terefe (who’s worked with the likes of Jason Mraz and KT Tunstall).
Their latest album length effort, ‘Square Peg in a Round Hole’, surprised me a lot– pleasantly, I might add – with its intriguing combination of electronic and urban elements. That said, this is an ‘experimental’ record in the sense that there are some unusual things at work here too, so don’t expect a tune by Apparatjik appearing on Radio1 anytime soon. I mean, come on, who writes a song called ‘(Don’t Eat the Whole) Banana’, expecting us to keep a straight face? (If you’re wondering, Bjerre is using some kind of autotune function on his voice, which makes the song all the more ridiculous. Or experimental, depending on which side of the fence you’re on.)
The kookiness continues with ‘Gzmo’, with the effects taking centre stage rather than the robotic words proferred, and ‘Combat Disco Music’, which has a chorus sounding exactly as the title suggests: the Village People in the military (“whoo, ha! / whoo, ha!) Yet throughout, it’s a mix of dance, hip hop and new wave on show here in ‘Square Peg in a Round Hole’. It sounds futuristic, and it’s probably not your cup of tea if standard rock ‘n’ roll is your usual poison. Just saying.
‘Do It Myself’ featuring Pharrell Williams (masquerading on this album as ‘Auto Goon’) comes across as a wonky, Gorillaz-styled jam and deserves to see the light of day. (Take back that comment I said earlier about this not having a chance with Radio1…) Opening track ‘Time Police’ (live video from Berlin below) also gets the Midas touch from Williams; it’s not as inherently catchy as ‘Do It Myself’ – it’s more of a new wave-y, slightly new age-y track with a hip hoppy poppy lyric – but still, a major surprise.
Surprises continue with tracks like ‘Cervux Sequential’, in which Berryman takes the vocals but the surprise are synthesised baby voices; ‘Blastlocket’, sounding like a Nintendo game overlaid on top of a late ‘80s slow jam; and ‘Your Voice Needs Subtitles’, where a mesmerising beat, piano chords, and the stretched vocals lead to a dream. So it’s disappointing to hear tracks like ‘Signs of Waking Up’ and ‘Superpositions’ (despite having gorgeous a capella harmonies), which sound like a completely different band. A better representation is ‘Tell the Babes’ , a dance anthem standout clearly pointing out that the more overt – and dare I say it, even the weird – dance numbers are where this band shines.
7/10
‘Square Peg in a Round Hole’ by Apparatjik is available now from Metamerge. They have an appropriately weird Web site that reports on future gigs but the one that I’m aware of – since I’m on their festival mailing list – is an appearance at Roskilde, and the band have already requested that they want people’s faces and have invited people onstage with them.
I Dream in Colour are back with their single ‘London,’ with vocals that manage to pierce your heart effortlessly and with the kind of riffs which wouldn’t sound unfamiliar on ‘The Joshua Tree’.
They’ve done it again, producing music that is just so uplifting in nature that it can never fail to put a smile on your face, whether it’s the subtle drips of piano underlying the track or just the fact that through being quite minimalist it manages to just sound gorgeous. Now anyone who knows me will know I love a good belting chorus, screamed at the top of your voice ala Foo Fighters. But I Dream in Colour have won me over with pure catchiness and a simplicity. It’s easy to make your way as middle of the road indie band these days, but this band, while not being particularly out there and groundbreaking, have the ability to portray serious emotion, in a catchy and generally uplifting way.
While the airwaves are crammed full of Cheryl Coles and other generically rubbish acts, I Dream in Colour again with ‘London’ have produced something refreshingly real, showing real craft and vision and exceptional thought.
It’s a real treat to listen to, I recommend you do.
8/10
I Dream in Colour’s next single ‘London’ will be released on the 21st of May. The band will appear at the Alternative Escape in Brighton this Friday (11 May) at 14.00 at LIFE, then at Liverpool Sound City on Thursday (17 May) at Zanzibar Club at 21.00. They are also on tour this month starting next Monday at Sheffield Soyo; all the details are here.
By Cheryl Demas on Tuesday, 8th May 2012 at 12:00 pm
The brothers Jarman have surged back onto the scene with their latest album, ‘In the Belly of the Brazen Bull’. This, the Cribs‘ fifth studio release, is an album full of the raw guitar and emotion you’ve come to expect from this punky, once again three piece rock band.
Arriving with 14 tracks, the Cribs deliver the goods too, none of that 10-track garbage. The West Yorkshire boys are known for their energetic live shows and you can hear the potential for such raucous showings in songs like lead track ‘Glitters Like Gold’ and ‘Jaded Youth’.
The first track made available to the public, ‘Chi-Town’, was a free download, and while it was not my favorite on the album, it gives a good taste of the whipping frenzy that the record is capable of. ‘Come On, Be a No-One’ (video below), a much better track, was released as the first single. However, I like the plodding distortion of ‘Back to the Bolthole’ and the thick sounds of ‘Uptight’ more.
I have to say that I am pleased to hear that, despite the trend of more and more bands latching on to the notion of adding electronic bits and pieces, the Cribs have remained blissfully apart from this. It’s just the lads flailing away on their guitars and drums, no orchestration, no electronic keyboard peeking in. While I know it’s all the rage, it’s nice to get back to a good guitar band sound.
With former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr’s departure early last year, the Cribs worked hard to get back the feel they had pre-Marr, who was only with them for ‘Ignore the Ignorant’. Undoubtedly while that was a great album, it seems more like Marr was on for a few years just to give them a leg up (similar to what he did with Modest Mouse?), but it was something not really needed for a band that had already produced three albums at that point and had a loyal following before Marr’s addition. Marr should probably stick with guesting and not serially joining bands.
This time working with producer Steve Albini, Gary Jarman noted that “…we’re on our fifth record now, we’ve got the luxury of realizing when we’re that far in, maybe you don’t have to worry so much about pleasing everyone all of the time, and you have more freedom to sort of do what you want.” They spent just 3 days with Albini who was able to give them “how you guys sound” and nothing more. I think nothing more was needed.
8.5/10
Released this week, ‘In the Belly of the Brazen Bull’ is now available from Wichita Recordings.
By Tom Mughal on Thursday, 3rd May 2012 at 1:00 pm
In case you haven’t been watching the news, Carl Wilson’s long-lost children have all found each other, formed a pop group and released their first full-length studio album, entitled ‘Choreography.’ No? Okay, well close your eyes and play the new Weird Sounds record and you could very well believe this to be true. (Oh and for the record, they’re Carl’s children because he was and always will be the best member of the Beach Boys).
There’s nothing strange about Weird Dreams, a four-piece indie pop band from London who have recently come off of touring the UK with American indie rock darlings the War on Drugs.
All 12 tracks on their debut album feature everything you expect for a summer album like this: clapping, falsetto harmonies and warm psychedelic riffs. It’s the aural equivalent of a late evening walk on a sunset-soaked beach. However, the lush melodies all contrast with the lyrical content of the album. There’s nothing quite like a happy, upbeat tune to accompany the words “always so faceless/ your voice encased in mystery.”
One great track for me would have to be ‘River of The Damned.’ Compared to a vast majority of tracks on the record, there’s a much slower tempo here. When lined up next to the quick jingly riffs of the other songs, it creates a contrast with the rest of ‘Choreography’ and makes it stand out from the crowd. ‘Faceless’ is also another treat on the record, if not purely for the baseline that begins the song and runs throughout. ‘Faceless’ and ‘Michael’ both featured on the band’s well-received EP ‘Hypnagogic Lullaby’ that was released last year.
Unfortunately, it’s the title track that lets the album down. Compared to the rest of the album it just seems flat and, dare I say it, disappointing. Maybe this was intended as a way of warming down the listener at the end of the album, after all ‘Choreography’ is the 12th song of 12. Either way, it doesn’t wind the listener down in a way that makes me excited at the prospect of the band releasing another album. If this was a TV show, its season finale would be the ultimate anti-climax. Luckily, the content of the rest of the season more than makes up for it.
It sounds hyperbolic but it’s true: it has been a while since an album has encapsulated the sounds of summer in such a way as ‘Choreography.’ Weird Dreams produce their modern take on the melodic pop that made the ‘60s and early ‘70s what they are best known for. The band are currently on a tour of the UK this month, so I recommend going along if you want to begin your summer holiday early and fancy escaping those rainy showers.
8/10
Weird Dreams’ debut album ‘Choreography’ is out now on Tough Love Records. The band will be performing at this year’s Great Escape as part of the Under the Radar showcase at the Psychosocial basement at 20.30 (8:30 PM) on Thursday 10 May and as part of a showcase being sponsored by the Fly Magazine at Blind Tiger at 20.30 (8:30 PM) on Friday 11 May.
There Goes The Fear is where we tell you about the latest tours, gigs, and music we love and think you should too.
We love music that has its heart on its sleeve, tells a story, swims around our head all day or makes us dance like idiots.
The blog is edited by Mary Chang, who is based in Washington DC. She is joined by writers in the UK and America. It was started up by Phil Singer in Bristol, UK.
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Summer has pretty much had its foot completely in the door where I am, and it seems the perfect time to blast up some low-fi guitar tunes on a beach under the scorching sun. Here, 
Worry sets in when I’m sent an album by a band I know nothing about; I become most anxious about not representing the band appropriately when I review the release. Often it is even worse when there is little to read up on the band that’s either for or against them, because you don’t really know what you’re getting into (big band vs. indie) and the wind (it’s hard to tell with what Patrick Wolf calls “the fickle press”) doesn’t seem to be blowing one way or another.
The brothers Jarman have surged back onto the scene with their latest album, ‘In the Belly of the Brazen Bull’. This, 
In case you haven’t been watching the news, Carl Wilson’s long-lost children have all found each other, formed a pop group and released their first full-length studio album, entitled ‘Choreography.’ No? Okay, well close your eyes and play the new Weird Sounds record and you could very well believe this to be true. (Oh and for the record, they’re Carl’s children because he was and always will be the best member of the Beach Boys).
