international music

Catch-up spins

/ Tony / 3 Comments

It’s been a while since I was ‘here’ having pretty much taken most of summer off. It feels like a fitting way to get back up to speed with a review of what’s been going on in my ears over the past few months.

Air – Radio # 1

I spent a good chunk of time in France, again, this summer. Arriving in time to watch the Olympics’ closing ceremony from a hotel bed and marvel at – after hours of more pointless faff that rivalled the opening ceremony for fuckery – how wasted Air were. It did mean that I spent time in a number of Lyon record shops hunting for Air albums though and came home with their first trio. Following up the faultless Moon Safari was never going to be easy and while 10,000 Hz Legend wasn’t as successful or well-recieved I’ve always had a soft-spot for its willingness to experiment.

Soccer Mommy – Driver

It sounds like the upcoming new album from Soccer Mommy is a bit of a retreat from the production of 2022’s brilliant Sometimes, Forever to a more organic sound and I’m all on board for it.

The Cure – Alone

It seems strange that as we near the end of 2024 I’m still enjoying a new Pearl Jam record, I have pre-orders in place for new records by Smashing Pumpkins, Pixies and The Cure. On the one hand it’s akin to Pink Floyd and The Rolling Stones releasing new albums in 1994 which would’ve been pretty much unnoticed by the younger ears of the time, on the other hand I’m bloody loving the fact that so many of my favourites artists are still dropping records and that so many of them are hitting at the same moment. The wait for a new Cure album has been ridiculous but Song Of A Lost World is shaping up strong based on the two songs dropped thus far.

Girls In Hawaii – Flavor

Another album fittingly purchased while in France – the 20th Anniversary edition of Girls In Hawaii’s From Here to There, an album my wife and I listened to on repeat on our first holiday together some 16 years prior and soundtracked plenty of our driving around France at the time. While I’ve enjoyed some of their subsequent albums more, this Belgian band’s upbeat indie vibe is always a fun spin.

Kim Deal – A Good Time Pushed

In some ways it feels mad that we’re only getting a Kim Deal solo album in 2024 but given how many wonderful Pixies, The Breeders, Amps albums we’ve had it’s not like she’s been shirking. Given that she walked from working on new Pixies material it’s not too surprising just how sonically wide-reaching the sound of the songs released ahead of the album are.

Crowded House – Together Alone

I’ve been trying to listen to whole albums at a time again on my commute. Together Alone, the final of Crowded House’s first run of albums and still their finest, has popped up a couple of times. I adore this album’s sound and vibe especially the Maori choir and log drummers on this track.

Pearl Jam – Other Side

Anywho, here’s more Pearl Jam. As much as I’ve been enjoying Dark Matter since its release, I’ve been listening to tunes from their ‘lost’ era – Binaural and Riot Act – lately and Other Side, the other side to ‘Save You’, is a great tune that should’ve made the cut.

You better, you better take cover: Post-Rock (Mondays) from Down Under

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Despite all our fervent entreaties to various fictional deities, Monday is upon us. For me that always means working to a post-rock soundtrack. I’ve recently added one of the genre’s high points to my collection with We Lost The Sea’s Departure Songs. As it winged its way to my record shelves via Australia Post (BandCamp is a wonderful thing) I thought it a good opportunity to spin the eye of this blog momentarily onto that country’s offerings.

Once again I’ve turned to the internet to come up with a definition of post-rock and, once again, it continues to amuse: “Post-rock is rock music transcending itself – a form of creative freedom that looks within rather than without.Instead of exuberant frontmen and women, we’re confronted by shy, often sad-looking artistes, more at ease in the solitude of a recording studio rather than in front of an audience who love their music.

Audacious experimentation requires introspection and staying away from the loud, chaotic lifestyle that for decades was the epitome of rock music. And because of that, post-rock bands introduced a new way to experience this genre, one centred on the individual and their deepest emotions.”

Crikey.

We Lost The Sea – Challenger Part 2 – A Swan Song

Departure Songs, to quote the band is “inspired by failed, yet epic and honourable journeys or events throughout history where people have done extraordinary things for the greater good of those around them, and the progress of the human race itself.” It’s a beautiful album and this is a gorgeous final track.

Sleepmakeswaves – Perfect Detonator

Changing gears with Sydney’s Sleepmakeswaves. They have a new album that’s about to drop but Love of Cartography (which, shockingly has just turned ten years old) remains a favourite both in terms of its tunes, title and cover art. Australia Post should be setting a copy my way imminently as my CD copy has suffered an unfortunate fate.

Meniscus – Simulation

Hard-hitting, sweeping, tender… and all in one song. Meniscus’ Refractions album was a few years back now but is always worth a listen.

iiah – 20.9%

iiah have seemingly called it a day. Which is a shame as their last album Terra was exactly the kind of filmic stuff with a nod to the cosmos I love.

Bear the Mammoth – Freshwater

I’m not gonna lie; sometimes it’s the name that gets me listening. That was definitely the case with Melbourne’s Bear the Mammoth but I stayed listening the tunes and, particularly, the drums.

Tracks: Beaux Dimanches

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Blowing the dust off the cartridge to plug the ‘Tracks‘ format wherein I spotlight a particular song that stands out in my mental jukebox and sits amongst my favourites back into action. Are these favourite songs? I suppose so. If one of those folks in Hollywood could finally settle on a suitable compensation package for me, these tunes would no doubt occupy at least a side or two of the soundtrack to my life’s movie.

Why ‘Beaux Dimanches’ by Amadou & Mariam? It’s hard to to recall now exactly when this song floated into the mix but I know that it’s probably post 2008. Even before I started rebuilding and improving on my French enough to get to grips with the lyrics I was hooked – the slinky Mali-blues guitar lines, the beat, the sheer joy of it: there’s no way for me to hear this and not feel uplifted.

Amadou & Mariam are a musical duo from Mali. The couple, born in the country’s capital Bamako, began playing together in the 1980s, working their way up from more minimal arrangements of guitar and voice before perfecting their blend of rock guitar, Mali blues and about every kind of world-music vibe you could throw a hat at to form their own take on Afro-Blues as they moved from Mali to Paris via the Ivory Coast building up wider and wider audiences and fans like Stevie Wonder and Manu Chao. It’s a heady, delicious mix that vibes just right with me.

Both Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia are blind. Amadou lost his sight when he was 16, Mariam having lost hers at age 5 thanks to an untreated case of the measles. They met at Mali’s Institute for the Young Blind and, along with going on to form their musical partnership, would go on to marry and have three children.

It was Chao that produced their 2004 album Dimanche à Bamako (Sunday in Bamako) from which this track is taken. ‘Beaux Dimanches’ (Beautiful Sundays) is a joyous song about weddings in the capital -‘Les dimanches à Bamako c’est le jour de mariage’ – suitably upbeat and coloured with references to Malain traditions.

Dimanche à Bamako was the record that bought the duo to the attention of the world. From here they’d record the anthem for the 2006 World Cup, play major festivals like Coachella, Latitude and Lollapalooza and play with folks like David Gilmour, that knob from Blur (who’d also have a hand in producing their next record) and Beth Orton while touring with the likes of Coldplay and U2. They have continued to put out a wonderful album every few years. 2012’s Folia in particular gets many a spin in the motor and improves every drive when it does. When Matt Groening curated the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival in 2010 he chose Amadou & Mariam to close it.

Post-rock Mondays: Post-rock français avec samples

/ Tony / 8 Comments

Bonjour mes amis et bon retour! As I stumble blindly forward with posting here I find myself once again starting off the week working from home and enjoying a post-rock soundtrack thinking “hey, it’s time for another one of those Post-rock Monday’ posts I used to try and do frequently”.

Given my affinity for our friends over the channel and the amount of time I’ve spent / spend there, it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that I love exploring their additions to the genre either. While I’m not as immersed in their output as I am of that of, say, Spain, I’ve found plenty to love.

Oh, and, as per, here’s another ‘handy’ definition of that most beard-strokingy type of music: “Post-rock incorporates contamination that covers the entirety of the music spectrum, from Krautrock to heavy metal, to contemporary classical and free jazz, often blended together in unique ways that bring new sounds to life; in fact, one of the most crucial features of post-rock is its ability to embrace a wide range of musical influences and combine them all into a coherent soundscape.” If that doesn’t put you off…

Post-rock bands love a good sample and poached dialogue, film quotes or specifically written interludes have popped up in tracks way back to the genre’s earlier days – whether we’re talking Iggy Pop’s interview snatch on Mogwai’s CODY or Godspeed You Black Emperor’s immense ‘Blaise Bailey Finnegan III’. Aside from the intended message or reason form the band’s point of view, from a listener’s perspective it can provide a little anchoring in a genre in which actual vocals are predominantly absent as well as lend a cinematic element to the tuneage. And sometimes they’re just there to make you fucking laugh (Romanian band Am Fost La Munte Și Mi-a Plăcut do a bang up job of this). The French are no exception to employing a good sample so here, in a few smatterings, a some of my favourite from the rich post-rock scene in France.

Lost In Kiev – Mirrors

Parisan band Lost In Kiev’s Nuit Noire is one of the first international post-rock albums I added to my collection. Its dark, looming epic post-rock intertwined with a spoken word narrative continues to hit every one of my tingle buttons some seven years on. Rather than lift from anything existing they write their own spoken-word pieces that are then used to give their work a massive, cinematic effect.

GrimLake – Everything Everywhere

GrimLake is Paris-based Mathieu Legros’s solo project. I’ve featured on of his tracks before in these pages and will no doubt again at some point as I’m a big fan of both his albums. JFK’s manner of speaking and the substance of his speeches make for a rich vein in terms of sampling and his address on Civil Rights is a pretty heady one to tackle but I reckon Mathieu pull’s it off.

Féroces – Qu’est-ce qu’on va devenir nous deux

(What will become of the two of us?)… Féroces are another one that use the odd slab of written dialogue to drive their thumping brand of post-rock forward. They’ve released a handful of EPs over the years, each named after, presumably, a character – but seem to have vanished of late, sadly.

As The Stars Fall – No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

I think there’s a rule, probably written down somewhere in Impact font, that sampling Christopher Walken automatically elevates your song to a higher level.

Have the Moskovic – L’inflexion des voix cheres

As part of one of the precious few New Year’s resolutions I’ve ever stuck with I’ve thrown myself into improving my French this year with daily lessons. Perhaps because of that but probably also down to the fact that it’s a bloody fine album, I’ve really been enjoying Have the Moskovic’s 2018 album Papier Vinyle.

Post-rock Mondays: Que viva España

/ Tony / 4 Comments

Another Monday only this time to sit alongside the buzz kill of work I’ve got an emergency date with the dentist to add insult to injury. However, post-rock is once again providing a comforting tonic and as I prepare to set sail for summer in less than a week I’m enjoying a volley of offerings from Spain where we’ll be touching shore twice in the coming weeks.

Once again I’ve tried to find a way of summing up the genre and have found this handy yet daft and pretentious explainer: “Post-rock generally applied to bands that used the typical instruments of a rock band—two guitars, a bass, and drums—with nontraditional rhythms, melodies, and chord progressions. Guitars created ambience by altering the colour and quality of the sound. Vocals, if they were included, were frequently treated not as a vehicle for lyrics but as an additional instrument. The focus was on the texture of the music and the sound produced rather than on melodic patterns and the basic structure of a rock song. Embracing “quiet as the new loud,” post-rock shifted away from the hard, male-driven outbursts of rock music as that music became more commercialised; post-rock and other alternative genres were more independent and less commercially oriented.”

I’ve mumbled before about how I love the universality of a genre that doesn’t rely on words and can, accordingly, be created whether those inclined to do so happen to be. Spain, particularly, has proven to be a real treasure chest of great post-rock bands and with a real sense of variety across those. My way into it came by chance when I found the website for AloudMusic – a label and distro operating out of Barcelona and championing all things of alt / post / homegrown bent. I’ve found through my admittedly non-expert ears that the bands from the Catalonia region lean toward the the melodic with bands out of the capital providing some almighty wallop. I’m probably wrong, as much exposure as I try to seek there’s undoubtedly more to learn.

Anyway, here’s today’s selection.

Toundra – Cobra

Probably the most widely-known of Spain’s post-rock bands and bringers of the aforementioned almighty wallop. Toundra hail from Madrid and formed in 2007.

Exxasens – Your Dreams Are My Dreams

Also formed in 2007, Exxasens hail from the beatific Barcelona. What I love about this band are that they typically have a space theme to their albums and that their drummer feels like he’d be equally at home in a hard rock band – I’d like to think that live he beats the shit out of his kit – propelling it along like bloody rocket yet never overpowering it.

Audiolepsia – Brain Fog

Another of those melody-first acts from Barcelona, Audiolepsia lean more toward the soaring guitar end. They’re a couple of albums in and while I picked up Muses from Aloud Music when is was put out with assist from another all-things-post championing label, Dunk!. Their recent Waves and Particles was self-released and picked up via Bandcamp, something which makes me feel like I’m kicking more coin to the band themselves, always a plus.

Jardin De La Croix – Intermareals

These guys come from Madrid and veer – see – toward the heavier, citing themselves as a mix of post-rock, post-hardcore, post-math and post-is-always-late. Maybe not the latter. Five albums in, the latest released on Aloud Music. This is from their 2016 stormer Circadia.

Astralia – Abyss of Night

It’s been a while since Astralia – formed in La Floresta, just outside of Barcelona – have released anything. Their two albums – 2017’s Solstics from which this track is taken and 2014’s Atlas – are great examples of the more ambient end of the genre (I’m not talking panpipe moods, mind, there’s still plenty of clout) and I hope there’s more to come.

Exquirla – Destruidnos Juntos (EN: Destroy Us Together)

Technically this is Toundra, again. Well, sort of. This is what happens when one of Spain’s most crushing post-rock bands finds itself on the same bill as one of the country’s flamenco singers, Niño de Elche. Fittingly – as I’m going to be revisiting the city shortly – the meeting took place in Cadiz. It’s one of those things that on paper doesn’t sound like a winner: the power and intensity of Toundra combined with flamenco singing. As it turns out it’s fucking GOLD. The album Para Quienes Aún Viven (EN: For those who still live) is one of my favourites and I’ll punch this up at home and in the car. I just wish they’d do it again.

Thursday now, that’s such a crazy, lazy day…. current spins

/ Tony / 13 Comments

A whole month between posts…. this is getting pretty sporadic to say the best.

Thursday is a pretty good day really – the weekend is just a nad hair away and it’s time to load up on caffeine and hit up Mr Fyfe’s weekly quiz. It also feels like a good moment to cast an eye / ear over what I’ve been enjoying of late.

Pearl Jam – In My Tree (Live at Melbourne Park)

Record Store Day this year was a bit of a non-starter for me. I spent a couple of weeks of this last month barely able to walk thanks to severe knee pain – caused by what turned out to be something called a Baker’s Cyst* – so the notion of getting up at a dirty time of the morning and standing for hours was ruled out. Thankfully the one thing I had my eye on wasn’t this year’s big draw – seems like Pearl Jam aren’t as popular with RSD crowds as Taylor Swift or The 1975 – and I was able to wander down at a much more human time of 11am and find plenty of them left.

Give Way – the sign used in place of Yield in most places outside of the States especially Australia – is a live album that’s long been sought after. It was originally prepped for CD release as a freebie for early purchases of their ‘Single Video Theory’ but minds were changed at the last minute and 55,000 copies were ordered destroyed. Some escaped the cull and became massively valuable. Twenty five years later as part of Yield‘s anniversary (one of their finest and ranked fourth in my list way back when) and the concert – recorded March 5th in Melbourne Park – was unleashed for RSD.

A live Pearl Jam album is always worth wrapping your ears around and this one is another brilliant addition to their already strong selection – it’s a real showcase for Jack Irons’ drumming and the vibe his looser drumming style bought to the band. Sadly the run in Australia would be Jack’s last as he was battling a lot of mental health issues behind the scenes and would soon announce his decision to part ways with the band following the tour – he’d be replaced on the Yield tour by Matt Cameron, documented on Live on Two Legs.

Paul Westerberg – Mannequin Shop

My son is building up a Spotify list of his ‘favourites’ – though this is more any song that takes his fancy. We recently caught ‘Waiting for Somebody’ in the car and it made me dig out Westerberg’s 14 Songs for a spin – it’s still a solid listen but it’s the delightful take on the plastic surgery of the early ’90s that has been stuck in my head since. Much in the same way as I wonder how the writer of ‘Answering Machine’ would feel about today’s lack of real communication I’d have to wonder how Mr Westerberg would feel about the state of enhanced vanity in 2023. Unfortunately though, Paul seems to have gone to ground again.

Adé – Insomnies

I popped over the channel again this weekend past for a couple of days and have been keeping an ear to RTL2 since both to assist with the language learning and the variety of music – it seems hard to find a station here that plays as genuine a variety (though their obsession with Harry Styles and Ed Sheeran gets annoying) . Last summer I heard Adé’s ‘Tout Savoir’ a lot and, this trip, it seems that her song ‘Insomnies’ is the current radio player and another I’ve been enjoying.

Daughter – Be On Your Way

Daughter’s new album Stereo Mind Game is bloody good. Gorgeous sounds and arrangements with Elena Tonra’s vocals breathing through an album of lush shoegaze / moody indie-rock vibe.

Slowdive – When the Sun Hits

Speaking of lush shoegaze… I picked up Slowdive’s Souvlaki recently and have spent many a glorious spin lost in the warm blanket of sound it generates.

Silver Moth – The Eternal

One of those albums I hit pre-order on as soon as it was announced – Silver Moth are a band formed out of a few online conversations during the pandemic. Only members Stuart Braithwiate (of Mogwai) and his wife Elizabeth Elektra had met before they hit the studio on a remote Scottish island and recorded Black Bay in just eight days. It’s a bloody strong album – a multilayered beast of slow-burning yet immediate songs that combine its members’ shoegaze** and post-rock dynamics with two vocalists who’s vocals find a place between Kate Bush and Elizabeth Fraser.

Faith No More – Epic

Another one of those ‘hey, if you like this one, check this out’ conversations with the cub after picking up a 7″ of ‘Easy / Be Aggressive’ recently. There’s very little like this and it remains a fucking awesome tune some (gulp) thirty four years later.

Stevie Ray Vaughan – Texas Flood

Texas Flood is forty years old this year, which is as little a reason as I need to have been giving this one some attention.

*whether this is something first experience by a chap called Baker or those spend their time kneading dough develop the issue I don’t know.

**third and final mention.

Out of Europe: Five From Italy

/ Tony / 3 Comments

I haven’t revisited this series for a while. Last I dipped into this theme was 2021, in fact. Thankfully I’ve since been able to return to the continent and am already booked up to do so again this summer.

The stupidity and complete cuntwomblery that is / was Brexit has made it a little tricker – bit more faff at borders – but there is hope that this will soon change as the reality of just what a fucking twat of an idea it was becomes clear and the costs of that blue passport* become clearer cause climb down after climb down…. I’ll stop before this becomes too political again. Where was I? Oh, yes, with Italy on the cards again this summer this felt like a good opportunity to pull this one out of ‘drafts,’ blow off the proverbial dust, finesse and let it loose.

Italy is one of those countries I’d longed to see and doing so in 2011 was a fantastic experience. We’ll be going back this summer and getting to show the cub some of the wonderful things the country has to offer is something that fills me with immense joy. When it comes to culture and, particularly music, Italy is a touchstone and has given so much to us.

But, if this blog doesn’t touch on the expected classical (though Vivaldi is responsible for some of my favourite pieces), discuss opera or, as sure as the Pope wears a ridiculous hat and heads a shameful organisation, won’t add a Måneskin video – what has my digging into music from the footwear-shaped country yielded?

Red Light Skyscraper – 4AM

Let’s get things started with a little post-rock – because it’s usually my way ‘in’ to a country’s music lately. One of the joys of a mostly-instrumental genre is its universality and yet there are differences to be found in the genre from country to country as well as region to region in some instances. Red Light Skyscraper (yes, a very post-rock band name) hail from Siena and lean to a more modern (concise tunes vs, say, GSYBE!’s 20 min epics) and propulsive element, with a few choice samples here and there and some solid driving beats. ‘4AM’ (I’m a sucker for a song with a time in the title) kicks pretty fucking hard once it gets going.

Ennio Morricone – Gabriel’s Oboe

When it comes to film score composers Ennio Morricone, born in Rome in 1928, was one of the very best. Not as grand in sound as John Williams, say, but nobody could create a score as evocative or moving as Ennio Morricone – whether it’s the famous stand-off in ‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’ or the sheer emotional heft that lived in the swell of strings throughout the score from’Once Upon A Time In America.’ For me, though, very little beats ‘Gabriel’s Oboe’.

Massimo Volume – Le nostre ore contate

These guys have been at it since 1991, save for a temporary break between 2002 – 2008. Their vocalist has a sort of poetic, spoken-word approach to vocals (Italian sounding like one of the more poetic European languages vs, say, German) against a guitar and drum-driven instrumental backdrop that’s almost like post-rock in its build ups, rhythms and structure. All bloody good things and right up my alley.

Baustelle – Charlie fa surf

Now this one I’ve really been enjoying – it’s got a brilliantly upbeat, bounce to it, I really dig the vocal harmonies and it gets bonus points for, in what seems like a made-for-radio tune, including “andate a farvi fottere” (go fuck yourself). It’s always good to learn the important phrases when trying a new language.

Hailing from the Tuscan town of Montepulciano, Baustelle describe themselves as having an “extremely peculiar blend of Italian pop tradition, British pop (Pulp, the Smiths), and French chanson… mixed with 1960s naivety and 1980s imagery.”

Manuel Agnelli – La Profondità Degli Abissi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJU7Lrai8fw

From what I’ve read there were a few big rock bands to come out of Italy during the ’90s. One of them was a group called Afterhours and this is a solo song from their singer Manuel Agnelli. ‘La Profondità Degli Abissi’ (the depth of the abyss) packs a lot into its three minutes and, even though I haven’t a clue what he’s singing about, it’s an all-out bonkers-yet-brilliant cracker and I really dig the way his vocals build up and soar off with strings.

*I had to update my passport on return from France last year and reluctantly traded in my ‘EU’ passport for the dark blue one but take great amusement from the fact that, inside, it bears greater resemblance to the EU ID cards than anything ever before

Drinking to the seldom seen kid: Monday spins

/ Tony / 11 Comments

The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men. Gang aft a-gley… it seems each time I build up a head of steam on here the train falters just a few miles out of the station.

But let’s persevere, shall we, and slip back in by commencing another week with a summary of those songs that have been getting some love from my ears of late.

Exxasens – Le-Voyage, Pt2: (Back to Space)

There’s a wonderful, rich seam of post-rock in Spain. Bands like Toundra, Astralia, Audiolepsia and, of course Exxasens are regular spinners for me. I particularly love those bands from the Catalonia region – to my ears there’s something more of the melodic bent to their brand of post-rock and Exxasens, from Bareclona, typify this beautifully. Plus, a lot of their releases are space-themed and I do love a bit of the space race. This is from their gorgeous new album Le-Voyage.

M’dou Moctar – Chismiten

Thanks to tuning in to The Rough Guide to Desert Blues – courtesy of 1537’s reminder to do so – songs like this often slip into one of my Spotify play lists and this one really made me sit up and pay attention. M’dou Moctar is a mean Tuareg guitarist and his brand of Saharan rock / desert blues just soars… it blows my mind sometimes how music of this calibre comes from places you might least expect it.

James McMurtry – Canola Fields

Changing gears pretty sharply here… you know when a monarch slips this mortal coil the radio stations here have to change gears too and adopt songs from a more suitable sombre tone, pre-approved play list. The commercial stations also have to do away with adverts – whether this is a requirement or because maybe hearing that prick James Cordon enthusing about their printer’s ink coffee during a period of ‘national mourning’ isn’t the image McDonald’s wants I don’t know.
However, it does mean I both listen more to stations I wouldn’t normally and tend to hear those tunes that wouldn’t get much airplay usually. Driving back from some rave in an aircraft hanger or massive acid bender somewhere during that period I flicked the radio over and caught this one and was hooked. More specifically I caught the lyrics, the moody tone and the guitar work and was hooked. Alt.Country has often throne up some fucking great lyrics (see Bill Mallonnee and the Vigilantes of Love’s ‘Resplendent’) and this is another prime example of how to get across a novel’s worth in a song without over stuffing the sandwich – due diligence later on enjoying the album of the same name revealed the James is the son of writer Larry McMurtry so it’s clear where the story-telling gene comes from.

Cassandra Jenkins – Michelangelo

Speaking of bruising guitar tones…. the combination of Cassandra Jenkins’ vocals and that tone on this one caught my ears on one of those ‘Best of 2021’ comps that I dug out of the door bucket in the car and slipped on whilst drunkenly careening down country lanes after an all-night booze-up. Her album An Overview on Phenomenal Nature is one I’d missed entirely last year but have been enjoying lately – the variety of styles, all underpinned with Jenkins’ voice and great performances – makes for a real enjoyable spin.

The Hold Steady – Denver Haircut

The Hold Steady’s return, and return to form, had kind of been unnoticed by me but I’ve been belatedly really digging their last two efforts – Open Door Policy and Thrashing Thru The Passion – and while the ‘indie’ scene seems to be overrun by sprechgesang of late it’s a timely reminder that Craig Finn had been effortlessly putting lyrically dense narratives against some blistering riffs long before it was the cool thing.

The War On Drugs – Oceans of Darkness

Last year’s I Don’t Live Here Anymore was another slab of perfection from The War On Drugs. Unfortunately they’re signed to a massive label which means that its success warrants a ‘deluxe edition’ re-release less than a year later and, as if to excuse such a step, they’ve included a new tune. Still, that’s what streaming is for. It’s a bloody belter though and shame it wasn’t included first time round.

The Beatles – Taxman (2022 mix)

Paul McCartney once said “I’m not signing that, that’s disgusting. Put it away.” He also, apparently, said no to helping George Harrison with the lyrics for ‘Taxman’ so Lennon – who wasn’t involved with either heroin or Yoko at this point – did. Since spending time with ‘Get Back’ I’ve been enjoying The Beatles more than before and while I’m not about to go out and drop any money on the upcoming massive archival release of Revolver (my favourite Beatles album) I will be enjoying nuggets like this as they pop up on the streamers. 

Out of Europe: Five From Spain

/ Tony / 9 Comments

While those duplicitous, intellectually and morally deficient cockweasels that make up the spearhead of the government’s Brexit movement continue to flounder around like a freshly-neutered dog wondering what the hell he can now lick as the reality of both the consequences and legalities thunder down on them, I thought I’d take a look at the music of Spain.

I’ve been fortunate enough to see a fair bit of Spain and – while there are mixed emotions attached to part of it now – I’ve always loved being there. I’ve always found it a beautifully vibrant and colourful country, especially the Catalan areas I’ve spent time in, and from the Galician north-west to the Canary islands off the coast of Africa, I found warmth in both climate and people. And the food…..

As for the music, let’s go:

Héroes del Silencio – Entre dos tierras

NB: I don’t think the video is supposed to be as funny as it is. They may have been this earnest.

Héroes del Silencio – formed in the 80’s in Zaragoza – were BIG in Europe which, as per, means jack shit in England and they never crossed over. My wife, however, being from Europe ‘proper’ did know of them and dug them out of Spotify last year. One of Rock en Español most successful bands, they played big rock with a serious, capital R from the late 80’s up until 1996 when the singer went his own way. Rock en Español is a catch-all grouping for those ‘rock’ bands that sang in Spanish and precious few achieved success outside of Spanish speaking countries due to lack of promotion. Héroes del Silencio were signed to EMI and the album this track is taken from shifted well over 2 million copies alone. Not too shabby.

Spotify Link

Exquirla – Europa Muda

I’ve blasted this album out of my car and home speakers so much since picking it up earlier this year. Exquirla is the a surprise collaboration between Spanish post-rock band Toundra and flamenco singer Niño de Elche. The two acts met when they were both appearing at a festival in Cadiz (a city I love very much). This surprise collaboration yielded an album of intense post-rock with traditional guitar and flamenco vocals that’s hugely addictive, even if I haven’t got a clue what Senor de Elche is emoting about.

Spotify Link

Audiolepsia – Beatrix

One of the joys of the internet is the degree to which the discovery of new music from places so geographically distant and bands not affiliated with major labels is now possible. I also love the ability that it has created for bands who don’t have or don’t want major backing to get product out there in a grass-roots, DIY style and build a genuine fanbase. It’s meant I’ve been able to discover a huge amount and I found a real groundswell of post-rock / ambient flowing out of Barcelona – perhaps it’s the Catalan element. I can really go down the rabbit hole at times and the discovery of Aloud Music (who work with the equally brilliant Dunk!) is a dangerous one for my bank balance. Veering more toward the melodic end of the genre, along with Astralia, Audiolepsia are one of those bands who’s album Muses has been on steady spin since discover.

Spotify link

Triángulo de Amor Bizarro – De la monarquía a la criptocracia

They take their name from the New Order song Bizarre Love Triangle (but I won’t hold that against them) and were formed in the Galician city of A Coruña (again: another city I’ve visited). Highly praised by press and famous musicians from various quarters they’re renowned for powerful live performances and mix indie, post-punk and shoegaze into one heady combo.

Spotify link

Joaquín Rodrigo – Concierto de Aranjuez II: Adagio

Stepping away from the usual fare on this blog but there is zero possibility of talking Spanish music and not mentioning what is one of my favourite pieces of music.

It’s nothing revolutionary and is probably a very well-known piece yet there is something undeniably beautiful about the Concierto de Aranjuez, it’s one of the finest pieces of Spanish classical music and the Adagio moves me every time. I’ve had the joy of seeing this performed live by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with Rolando Saad on guitar. There’s no video of that particular combo, that’s Rolando Saad in the video, though but the Spotify link is to just that pairing. The moment at which the orchestra fulls into sweep around the 8 1/2 minute mark always gives me goosebumps.

Spotify link

Currently Spinning…

/ Tony / 5 Comments

Ok, in an effort to return to semi-normal service here I thought I’d have a run down of what, Buffalo Tom’s latest aside, has been playing on my turntable, car stereo and iPod of late.

GrimLake – The Reality of the Naive

There’s been a lot of post-rock going into my ears of late. I’ve been taking in music from all over the shop – Germany’s Kokomo, Toundra and Audiolepsia from Barcelona… Then Lost in Kiev, one of my favourite discoveries of last year, shared that they’d been included on a free 41-track compilation. This is taken from that compilation but there’s so many great tunes on it that it’s been spinning heavily since I downloaded it.

The National – Day I Die

I don’t know why it took me so long to get a copy of the new album from The National. Their previous albums have seen heavy rotation and I enjoyed the early tracks but for some reason I only picked up Sleep Well Beast early this year. It’s a great album, one of 2017’s best, that sees the band play to their strengths while expanding their musical arsenal. Well worth investigation.

The War On Drugs – Nothing To Find

If we’re talking best albums of 2017 then The War On Drugs’ A Deeper Understanding has to be up there – that album hasn’t left my car since its release and has been played to the point I’m surprised its still holding up.

 

Death Cab For Cutie – No Room In Frame

Perhaps because it’s about time a new one was due from these guys but for some reason I’ve been spinning Death Cab’s Kintsugi a fair bit lately. That the vinyl came with a cd for the car never hurts. While it’s not up there with their finest – I feel a Top Five coming on – it’s a strong album nonetheless and I hope there’s more from them soon.

Pink Floyd – The Happiest Days of Our Lives / Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)

He’s a fair few years ahead of me on this one but my son is loving some Pink Floyd lately. Because Echoes is such a great compilation it’s often in the car and my son has developed a love for this particular combo. Initially it was the helicopters but I’ve often caught him singing along to ‘Another Brick…’ and  in true pre-school style there’s no such thing as too much of a good thing so this is often requested multiple times but with Gilmour’s playing as sublime as ever on this one who am I to complain.