Three Imaginary Girls - Domino

Becoming A Jackal

Chris Estey — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 04:17:54 +0000

8.2

http://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Jackal-Villagers/dp/B003H6Z0IQ/?tag=www.threeimagi-20

The first album from Ireland's latest export Villagers has been lavished with tribute from the New York Times and NPR, giving much early Stateside attention for these lads from Dublin. Becoming The Jackal features 11 songs filled with shrewd lyrics about "longing on trial" in all manner of ways, sung with very gentle melodies from frontman Conor J. O'Brien, and set to spare acoustic-based compositions occasionally massaged by strings and keys. For an area of the United States where Hey Marseilles and The Decemberists always receive fervent welcome and Jonathan Richman could probably set up residency, Villagers should thrill Seattle-ites.

Becoming The Jackal opens a little deceptively too grim, with one of the more assertively mordant tracks on the album, "I Saw The Dead," with piano trills and violin reminiscent of Bernard Hermann setting the scene for a paranoid scenario in which a man rents out his soul to ancients a la Faust. It's easy to get a little frightened by the imagery of "back rooms where I saw the dead," wondering how gruesome the details may get further on, but it may all be metaphor, even in a line like "you take the torso and I take the head." It ends with the sound of tape breaking perhaps, or perhaps a head being lopped off and falling in a basket.

Pretty bold way to start out. And the album continues to create dramatic tension with the title track, which hints at ritual human sacrifice and violent manipulation ("where the jackals preyed on every soul / and tied you to a pole"). This one's less a horror soundtrack than a tom-tom tumbling gentle anthem, but it's still a contrary sequence of subject matter to most full-lengths, as these two grimmer tracks would have probably been held till later on albums by The Smiths or The Triffids. (Take note of musical names just dropped.) The album gets much lighter later on emotionally on earworm-attacking pure pop tunes like "The Pact" and "Set The Tigers Free" (two more of my very favorite songs of this summer now).

O'Brien's voice has been reminding people of Bright Eyes and the music of all your classic Scottish post-punk troubadours, but there are times even American folk-rock lovers-not-fighters like Richman and the underrated Steve Forbert can be heard in the sparkle and smarts of the almost pre-rock respect for form. If you start the album and expect the darkness of the first half to only inspire playing when wishing torment, the second half will have you coming back for more lines like "I'll be standing by the sidelines with a sandwich and a beer" set to tunes as toe-tapping as when you first heard Belle & Sebastian or Aztec Camera. That's a strong assertion, but I recommend getting into Villagers early so you can possibly find a boy or girlfriend by playing them their music. (I recommend the songs not about corpses or bloodthirsty animals for that.)

(Villagers plays on Sunday, 4:15 pm on the Neumos Stage at the Capitol Hill Block Party.)

The first album from Ireland's latest export Villagers has been lavished with tribute from the New York Times and NPR, giving much early Stateside attention for these lads from Dublin. At the 2010 Capitol Hill Block Party we will get a chance to experience music from what the Washington Post called "one of the year's best debuts." Becoming The Jackal features 11 songs filled with shrewd lyrics about "longing on trial" in all manner of ways, sung with very gentle melodies from frontman Conor J. O'Brien, and set to spare acoustic-based compositions occasionally massaged by strings and keys. For an area of the United States where Hey Marseilles and The Decemberists always receive fervent welcome and Jonathan Richman could probably set up residency, Villagers should thrill them on Sunday at Neumos.

Wednesday's Recommended Show: Dirty Projectors at Neumos

Imaginary Shrie — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:21:20 +0000

I’ve been a fan of Brooklyn experimental rockers Dirty Projectors for years now, before they caught hold in the indie music community with their most recent (and definitely most accessible) album, Bitte Orca. I first saw them at a tiny club in Texas, and I think they scared the bejeesus out of everyone with their weirdness, but I was absolutely enthralled.

Bitte Orca took their strange angular approach to lo-fi and mixed it up with SUPER catchy melodic hooks and a disjointed dance-feel, which really propelled them into the indie spotlight. Dirty Projectors' brand of wiry rock punctuated with puzzling shifts in song structure is complete addictive, gorgeous and promises to pack a good punch.

This is a don't-miss show at Neumos, this Wednesday, November 4th. Little Wings opens.

Two Sunsets

Chris Estey — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:37:14 +0000

7.9

http://www.amazon.com/Two-Sunsets-Pastels/dp/B002JTBXSI/?tag=wwwthreeimagi-20

pastelstenniscoats.jpg

Two Sunsets is a single disc release from a Glasgow band, The Pastels, and a Tokyo band, Tenniscoats. It was recorded when Tenniscoats had some studio time booked in the former's city, and they collaborated "just to see what would happen, and maybe find out what it is they have in common," their label Domino proclaims.

Many people will be attracted to this release due to the irresistible treatment of The Jesus & Mary Chain's About You, the b-side to the pre-release single "Vivid Youth." Both are excellent examples of a twelve song full length that treasures melody as much as lassitude, its modality of warmth generously consistent.

Just like how the recording process got off to a slow start, the opening instrumental, So Many Stars, seems hesitant, like a newly birthed animal getting its legs. It's a beautiful critter though, a slow, bass-heavy Velvet Underground (third album) style shimmer, evoking a blissful mood with no no haste or pressure. Then the title track features vocals from Saya, and her lovely voice describes a pastoral utopia, as if it's a summer morning after the sparse dawn-dub of So Many Stars.

Ueno from Tenniscoats' guitar playing combines well with Stephen, Katrina, and Gerard from The Pastels, but also leaving room for the legendary Norman Blake (Kevin Ayers, Soup Dragons, BMX Bandits) and Bill Wells (Ayers, Isobell Campbell) to help paint the sounds. This means the song cycle is even more talent-rich than you expect, and the two primary bands were promising enough. While nothing is surprising, it's all pure pleasure, cooked low and slow and with a very bearable lightness of being.

FYI: The Darkland-era J&MC cover was originally recorded for a theatre production by the groups, but both bands seemed happy placing it in tis sequence as well.

Merriweather Post Pavilion

Imaginary Shrie — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 04:59:29 +0000

9.2

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001MW0J2O/?tag=wwwthreeimagi-20

animalcollective.jpg

Here Comes the Indian was a brash onslaught of noise to me, when I first heard it. I didn't put much stock into it, and I certainly didn't expect Animal Collective to evolve into the avant-indie media darlings that Merriweather Post Pavilion thrust onto them. As the lulling folk of Campfire Songs and the pastoral and melodic Sung Tongs exposed me to their more refined sounds, my own musical taste started to evolve into a more cerebral and experimental arena. I started to warm up to the "weirdness" of Animal Collective and how they meshed sound with vocals and other ambient textures.

By the time '07s Strawberry Jam made waves on the Billboard charts I was a solid promoter and fan of their work. So, as Merriweather Post Pavilion has saturated every critic's future best of lists so early in the year, and as hip kid indie rockers tout this band as the tour de influence in their sound, I've quietly become completely obsessed with the album.

Most of the album consists of David "Avey Tare" Portner and Noah "Panda Bear" Lennox trading vocal duties, meshing them into one lush instrument. The harmonies could stand alone, without the music, washing in and out but never turning soft. I would say that most modern pop bands owe at least a smidgen of credit to harmony-laden pioneers, the Beach Boys, but Animal Collective achieves the zen balance of Brian Wilson and co. more precisely than most. They take child-like melodies, the sweet sweet inflection of summer a la Mercury Rev and twist it into something more cinematic and layered. The complexity of sound on this album almost creates a visual representation in your head of what your ears are absorbing, much like a movie and it's completely fitting soundtrack.

The album highlight in my opinion, "My Girls", enters with tickling xylophone-like background sounds and then gently launches into a playful high-stepping chorus reminiscent of old breezy jazz tunes. Easing effortlessly into "Also Frightened", the basic sound is the same... a shimmering wall of sound topped with an irresistible Beatles-esque vocal pairing. "Summertime Clothes" is a hodge podge of sound, at once joyous and submerged in echoey hand claps and thumping bass. Once again, the vocal style just blows me away. The repetitive chanting and plopping back beats, aided by a bouncy tempo, just scream hit single. Could this be their first major crossover explosion? In turn, "Bluish", meandering and liquidious, contains the most addictive lyric on the album for me; "I'm getting lost in your curls". I hear it revolving in my head from sunup to sundown, and all the space in between.

Though this album sounds like it's the sonic chronicle of an otherworldly affair, it finds Animal Collective at their most approachable. As they double back on the vocals, it almost gets more basic than their previous efforts... more child-like and forward moving. Their songs exist as more than just simple songs. They've broken the structure of the pop song and replaced it with a formula more suited to their craft. The overlapping vocal harmonies and circular flow of their songs, and the songs within the album, hint at a much more in-depth approach to soundsmithing than we're used to experiencing.

At times elated and joyous, and other times ghostly and longing, Merriweather Post Pavilion is the most accessible, most polished and arguably the most impeccably cohesive work of Animal Collective's career to date.

At times elated and joyous, and other times ghostly and longing, Merriweather Post Pavilion is the most accessible, most polished and arguably the most impeccably cohesive work of Animal Collective's career to date.

Win tickets to see Clinic and Shearwater at Neumos this Friday!

three imaginary girls — Thu, 15 May 2008 19:51:06 +0000

Clinic is going to be at Neumo's this Friday, May 16th (with Shearwater) and Three Imaginary Girls is excited to have two pairs of tickets to giveaway to a couple of lucky imaginary readers.

Do It!

Erik Gonzalez — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:45:14 +0000

http://www.amazon.com/Do-Clinic/dp/B0014DBZU6/wwwthreeimagi-20/

Clinic.jpg

There is something appealing about an album that sounds like it was recorded completely off the cuff. There is an inherent danger with that sometimes; it can come across as sloppy, careless or a throwaway effort. However, sometimes it just works well, sounding spontaneous and electric. Clinic's Do It!, although by no means a perfect outing, is at least a fun listen filled with energy and spunk.

In a sense, Do It! sounds like Clinic traveling backwards through time and recording like a '60s garage rock band: raw and loud. That is not to say that Clinic are suddenly a 'raw and loud' band, but instead they take that thick wall-of-sound and fold it into their art-rock style. In a sense, their sound could be called 'retrofuturistic,' because I'm sure that there were many people in the late '60s that were convinced that music 40 years down the road would all sound like Clinic (minus the costumes). Even from the opening moments of “Memories” (OK, I have to admit that the real opening moments of “Memories” reminds me of “Take My Breath Away”, but after that), you get this driving, grinding guitar combined with a militaristic, marching rhythm section and oddly they all blend together with Ade Blackburn's labored (but in a good way) vocals.

“The Witch” sounds exactly what you might have expected a song by the same name by someone like the Sonics might have sounded. Clinic does an excellent job with the dichotomous nature of there music with “Free Not Free,” where you get part eerie pop rock punctuated by faux-metal jabs. In fact, whenever the guitars are brought to the front, you know they're going to be aggressive (“Shopping Bag”), otherwise they seem to fade into the periphery, letting the drums, bass and vocals take the lead (“Corpus Christi”).

However, the Jefferson Airplane meets the Stranglers is finely focused on “High Coin,” a piece of modern psychedelia that works shockingly well, while “Winged Wheel” seems to borrow more from the hollow pre-metal of Iron Butterfly.

If anything, Clinic might be best seen as a parallel universe version of Radiohead. Imagine, if you will, a world where after Pablo Honey, Radiohead became obsessed with guitars and reverb rather than technology and synthesizers. In that world, the role of Radiohead might be played by Clinic (of course, to truly work with the alternate reality, there alternate Clinic might end up sounding like Megadeth and alternate Radiohead like Clinic, but you get the point). Do It! is no masterpiece, or even the best Clinic has to offer, but it is a satisfying bunch of songs.

There is something appealing about an album that sounds like it was recorded completely off the cuff.

Beat Pyramid

Erik Gonzalez — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 14:32:36 +0000

7.5

http://www.amazon.com/Beat-Pyramid-These-New-Puritans/dp/B00134YQ6G/wwwthreeimagi-20/

TheseNew.jpg

Any music critic who tells you that the life of a music critic isn't one of constant regret and second-guessing is either (a) lying, (b) self-deluded, or (c) both. Heck, I can start second-guessing my reviews before I even finish writing the darn things, like the angel and devil of musical taste on my shoulders are firing Scuds back and forth with naked aplomb. There are the sorts of reviews that you can almost feel yourself regretting as you strike the words to paper, yet somehow you can't stop yourself from writing them. You know that a year, five years, 10 years down the road, you'll look back and wonder "what was I thinking to say the Fiery Furnaces were good?" or "I thought Joanna Newsom was better than Franz Ferdinand's debut?" Why do I bring this up right now? These New Puritans have done an excellent job recording an album that I can listen to right now and really enjoy, but I am so sure that down the road I will be wondering what I ever saw in it; but hindsight is 20/20 and foresight is much more myopic, so we will charge ahead — Future Me be damned!

Beat Pyramid, in the name itself, betrays the sort of band you are about to encounter: vaguely futuristic, very artsy, extremely post-punk. The song names are a bit of an indecipherable goo that doesn't as much raise your confidence in the band as much as hope that you won't be too horrified. These New Puritans are obviously cut from the same punk-dance cloth as The Klaxons and obviously have wallowed in the back catalogs of The Fall, Public Image Ltd and Pop Will Eat Itself, shamelessly hybridizing rock and electronic into a chimera of sound. This is where These New Puritans must walk the tightrope between being derivative or creative. "Numeralogy" is a chaotic attack, jabbing at us with sharp rhythms and trilling melodies from heavily modified guitars. Lyrically, the song is a pile of slogans and shouting — but it falls together in a surprisingly favorable fashion. However, the flipside is "Colours" where they try similar tricks to only end up sounding like Klaxons 2.0.

Where does the truth about These New Puritans lie? "Somewhere in between," I answer. Bah! How unsatisfying. I need to search out the pure truth like a latter-day Leonard Nimoy in search of the truth about the Nazca Lines. "Swords of Truth" is again a song that is complex and fascinating; is this really a band of 20-ish year olds that have only been playing together for a few years? Hard to believe, but the song is nicely avante-gard without being insulting — a tough row to hoe. "Elvis" takes us back to The Klaxons' back yard, so what went wrong?

Then what to make of "Doppelganger" or "C. 16th +/-," "Infinity Ytinifni" or "Mkk3"? These half-works just muddle the waters, making you wonder if they really can filter out the flotsam. "En Papier" clocks in at almost five minutes, easily the marathon of Beat Pyramid, but it really never gels into anything beyond a series of riffs, much like the much shorter "(pound)4." "Navigate-Colours" operates on a much higher level, like Supersystem or !!!, trying to extend the band's sound into a more richer palette of sound.

Beat Pyramid is an album who's overall score is very misleading. It exists as a bimodal distribution, where some tracks are excellent while others are just rehashed dreck, yet little exists in the middle. Can you really justify a score that implies overall averageness when there is such a divergence from the mean? Not particularly, but that is what we are left with, an album that has moments of brilliance and moments of disaster. Yes, many people will just write off the band as another lamprey on the carcass of long-dead artists, but These New Puritans show they might come out on top — or might not come out at all.

Many people will just write off the band as another lamprey on the carcass of long-dead artists, but These New Puritans show they might come out on top — or might not come out at all.

Good evening Seattle...please welcome back...THE NOTWIST!!!

Joseph Riippi — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 05:04:53 +0000

Hark, the record angels sing! Download "Good Lies"

Time to get out the nurse uniform, Clinic is coming to town

imaginary liz — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 17:40:11 +0000

Some know Clinic as the band who strictly don hospital scrubs on stage, but I love them for their discordant guitar harmonies, thick relentless bass lines, and vocals that seethe with urgency. The end result is a beautiful mixture that is exotic, striking and dark.

The Freed Man

Imaginary Kelly — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 05:19:40 +0000

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000M3452Y/wwwthreeimagi-20

sebadoh07sep.jpg

DIY didn't used to be a proud badge worn by bands, it was instead a fact of life for musicians trying to get anyone and everyone to listen to their music. In the late 80s, amid top singles by the Bangles and Bobby Brown, indie rockers would have especially looked to DIY as a way to reach their fan base, a small majority for sure.

Sebadoh's The Freed Man is a sort of love letter to the early days of lo-fi indie rock. An assortment of 52 short songs and avant-garde fuzz from 1984-1990, The Freed Man reveals the true genius that is Lou Barlow and the lesser known Eric Gaffney. Songs are interspersed with samples and sound clips taken from a variety of sources, which later became a staple of 90s indie rock and made for an interesting answering machine message (I tried them all).

The music is not technically superior, but the songwriting is undeniably witty. Smacking of raw talent, the lyrics bite, the percussion stings, and the guitar itches.

Not only is The Freed Man like a time machine, taking the listener back to the beginnings of the indie music movement, but it also stands alone as a brilliant link to the music of Sebadoh. This record has a DIY crunch that is completely satisfying to a palate that feels somehow starved by slick production values. A particular favorite is "Soulmate." When Barlow sings "I will probably have to sleep with a lot of girls/Before my soulmate reveals herself to me," it's a moan of innocence that not only speaks to the teenager in all of us, but it also a prophecy of both the career of Barlow and the future of DIY music.

Not only is The Freed Man like a time machine, taking the listener back to the beginnings of the indie music movement, but it also stands alone as a brilliant link to the music of Sebadoh.

Favourite Worst Nightmare

Erik Gonzalez — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 03:41:22 +0000

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000NQR7NO/wwwthreeimagi-20/

arctic.jpg

Music can be like cars a lot of the time. There are cars that are flashy, sexy, and possibly questionable and dang, they're exciting. There are a lot of cars that are good, reliable, and soundly constructed -- but they don’t get you excited. The Arctic Monkeys, to me at least, are the latter: They are the Toyota Corolla of modern Britrock. I can sit down and listen to their new album, Favourite Worst Nightmare and feel that it is: (a) good; (b) tight as an overwashed pair of jeans and (c) catchy as all heck. So, why is it that I can’t get excited about the album? Why is it that there isn’t really a song on the album that makes me want to listen to it over and over?

Trust me, I’m baffled about this. This is part of the reason why I’ve been sitting, contemplating this album for so long. I’ve been trying, desperately, to have an opinion about Favourite Worst Nightmare beyond “well, good." However, that is the most I can muster. There isn’t any particular song that stands out in my head, in fact, I sometimes can’t even tell the difference between them. They have a lot of energy (the oddly titled “Brianstorm”), they have hooks (“D is for Dangerous”), they are a lot of fun (“Fluorescent Adolescent”) but none capture my imagination like close relatives like Franz Ferdinand’s “Take Me Out” or even the Arctic Monkeys’ own “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor.”

A few that stand out in my mind when pressed with the issue might be the subtle “Do Me a Favour,” a song that doesn’t attempt to be so ‘balls to the wall’ with its presentation. Instead, it has a nice bittersweet flavor that mixes well with the almost 60’s rock feel. The same could be said for “505,” a little more restrained song that almost has a U2 feel to it. “The Bad Thing” is a little more spasmodic, setting it apart from the dance numbers until that song even gives up and heads out onto the dancefloor. Beyond that, I really couldn’t offer much specific description of the songs beyond “catchy dance number.”

In that sense, the Arctic Monkeys are a perfect pop band. All this talk of the Arctic Monkeys being something akin to a modern versus of the Smiths sort of confuses me. I kind of equate the Arctic Monkeys in my head with Oasis or Robbie Williams or Coldplay: they sure know how to write songs that people can groove to, that they can enjoy in the arena settings they are born to inhabit. However, they really just feel like they lack any real insight or emotional depth that makes a hooky song into something that will stand up to the rigors of time. Favourite Worst Nightmare is a good album, don’t get me wrong, and all things considered, I’d rather have the Arctic Monkeys selling out arenas around the world over All Saints or James Blunt, but really, the style feels absent of substance sometimes.

The Arctic Monkeys are the Toyota Corolla of modern Britrock.

With Lasers

Cal Ledbetter — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 15:42:10 +0000

8.2

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000PSJBL6/wwwthreeimagi-20

bondedorole07aug.jpg

Bonde Do Role’s first full-length album, With Lasers, is not a concept album. If it were, though, it might go something like this:

***A young guy sits on a beach in Brazil. He has a penchant for 80s hard rock, everything from AC/DC and Metallica to Van Halen. He has his guitar plugged into an amp and rocks out on the sand. A guy and a girl are walking along the beach. They come across the dude playing his guitar and begin rapping along to his riffs. Before they know it, they’re playing full-on songs, rocking out as the waves come in and the sun goes down.***

Brazilian band Bonde Do Role blend 80s rock and hip hop with Brazilian funk beats, drums, and sing-song lyrics. Easy comparisons can be made: M.I.A. beats, Go Team rap-chants, Sugarcubes male/female voice dynamic, CSS energy. Bonde do it differently, though, blending styles to make something uniquely theirs.

The album begins with an electric guitar and a demonic voice chanting, “Death to Your Speakers” (some of the only English spoken on this album). Like how Michael Jackson combined the creepy voice of Vincent Price and electric guitars on “Thriller,” Bonde (Marina Vello, Pedro D’eyrot, Rodrigo Gorky) combine these elements on “Danca do Zumbi,” before busting in with Brazilian drums and the forceful rapping of frontwoman Vello. Vello sites Courtney Love as an influence, and it’s apparent on With Lasers as she shouts her lyrics with conviction. Although any research I’ve done on Bonde Do Role’s lyrics (sung all in Portuguese) comes up short, it’s rumored they’re saying some very nasty things, such as references to tonguing whore’s assholes.

Although most of the album is sung/rapped in Portuguese, the band slides in some English here and there. They sing only one English phrase “Office boy” in the song of the same title. Apparently the song is about a dude working in an office. English phrases in other songs don’t make much sense at all, such as in “Gasolina” when Vello says, “Meet me after school and I’ll beat you like gorilla.” I’m not sure what this means, and I’m not entirely sure Vello knows what this means either.

What I suspect is producer Diplo had something to do with it. Diplo (M.I.A. producer and boyfriend), sought out to work with Bonde after hearing one of their songs. The best example of Bonde Do Role’s dynamic may be best displayed in the song, “Divine Gosa.” The song begins with Diplo-inspired Brazilian drums, and Gorky’s strange spoken words, before Vello busts in with frenzied raps that get more and more chaotic as the song goes on. The stomp-inducing, clap-along song sounds like how I would imagine Carnaval to sound. Add some guitar to this song and it could quite possibly be Bonde Do Role’s signature tune.

It was rapper Afrika Bambaataa who turned Vello onto hip hop. Prior to Bonde she was singing in a rock band. On “Gasolina” Vello even drops his name several times throughout the song. The track encompasses more hip hop beats, and is not quite as dancy as some of their other songs, but still has the Brazilian feel, including hand drums.

Once “Gasolina” concludes, the album takes a slight slide for the worse. “Geremia” is a silly track using kazoos to carry the melody, and “Quero Te Amar” is completely throw-away, sounding like something that could have been included on Madonna’s last album. The cheesy computer-made beats and electronically altered voice sounds out of place on the album. Thankfully it’s the only song of its type on With Lasers.

Bondallica,” a play on words that combinesBonde and Metallica, works perfectly as the final track on the album, bringing it all back home. Vello gives up on the club-like affected vocals. The beats are simple, and the guitar riffs are hard. If there’s any song on With Lasers that actually shoots lasers, it’s this song.

Final tip for sounding cool to your friends: The band’s name is pronounced “Bon-jah Doh Hol-ay,” and if you hear anyone saying “Bon-day Do Rrro-lay” as if in Spanish, correct ‘em and tell ‘em TIG sent ya.

Although any research I’ve done on Bonde Do Role’s lyrics (sung all in Portuguese) comes up short, it’s rumored they’re saying some very nasty things, such as references to tonguing whore’s assholes.

Love and Other Planets

Joseph Riippi — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 07:00:00 +0000

6.6

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000ENV3YK/wwwthreeimagi-20

adem06sept.jpg

Love and Other Planets begins with the windy whispers of distant cymbals, which slowly approach in the soundscape until they've been joined by guitar to form the stellar track "Warning Call." It seems to burst out of its ethereal tidal glockenspials and teary-eyed vocals at all moments, but it never quite does. The result instills in the listener a sense that a storm is brewing: either outside the apartment or within whatever "good" relationship one may think they are a part of.

Love and Other Planets follows Adem's critically-lauded debut, Homesongs. The new disc finds this London singer-songwriter (also a member of the band Fridge, with Kieran Hebden of Four Tet) tackling the classic endeavor of a concept album. As the title implies, Adem tackles the concept of "space"—be it outer space, physical space, relationship space, or just a metaphor.

And, though strictly adhering to his concept, the moods vary but complement each other well enough to make this truly an album and not just a collection of songs. The opening "Warning Call" deals with the situation of being forewarned that we are destroying ourselves and the only planet we can ever live on; whereas second track "Something's Going to Come" emerges from the zero-gravity reverb of the previous track to offer hope and happiness: "If you still believe / that things are gonna be / like we'd hoped they'd be / then we'll have love / always love."

The rest of the record passes with similar ups and downs in mood and time signature. Some songs pass as one long, shallowly-graded crescendo, teetering on a fulcrum of suspense until they reach their yearning, anti-climatic climax ("X is for Kisses"; "Crashlander"). Others delve into the realm of percussive experiments and strings ("You and the Moon") or offer waves of an elusive happiness in the form of glockenspial arpeggios and major-key choruses ("These Lights are Meaningful"). And then there is the harmonium-based, minimalist title track, which alone can drive goose-bumps from lumberjacks.

As a whole, Love and Other Planets plays start to finish as a competent and enjoyable album from a talented singer-songwriter. Aside from the title track, Adem does little to sound like much more than a less-dynamic (yet much more British and depressed) John Vanderslice. However, Love and Other Planets' success stems from the fact that it is, well, a much mellower, more British, more vocal-reined, John Vanderslice.

It seems to burst out of its ethereal tidal glockenspials and teary-eyed vocals at all moments, but it never quite does.

The Repulsion Box

The Mad Professor — Mon, 20 Jun 2005 07:00:00 +0000

9.5

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0008F111E/

repulsion.jpg

Title: The Repulsion Box
Artist: Sons And Daughters
Catalog Number: WIGCD155
Genre: Yet Another Scottish Indie Band
File Under: Not Just Any Scottish Indie Band

Sons And Daughters are a four-piece Scottish folk/rock troupe formed by former Arab Strap backing vocalist Adele Bethel and drummer David Gow. In 2004 they put out a seven-track, 25-minute mini-album Love The Cup to critical acclaim. With The Repulsion Box they now deliver their first full-length album, on Domino Records, which makes them label-mates of the perhaps just a wee tad over-hyped and fellow Scots, Franz Ferdinand.

On The Repulsion Box, S&D have further refined their version of 'less is more' stripped down indie folk-rock into a concentrated and intoxicating brew and come up with a real gem of an album. While being not much longer than it's predecessor at less than 32 mins in total, it comes across as much more substantial, wiser and — well — vitriolic. S&D's often acoustic and bare bones music, with its relentless yet hypnotic military martial beats, is topped off with Adele's positively passionate and often caustic vocal delivery, lyrics and unashamed Scottish brogue. It's these powerful vocals by Adele that carry The Repulsion Box, raising it from being merely highly entertaining to downright compulsive.

Musically, S&D's brand of indie folk reinterpretation seems reminiscent of early Violent Femmes and 16 Horsepower (had they gone electric) but with the rhythm section from New Model Army. There's also and an unmistakable infusion of contemporary Scottish rock influences from the likes of Franz Ferdinand, only this time with a welcome edge. There are also occasional Nick Cave overtones, which are perhaps to be expected since the album was produced by Victor Van Vugt, who has also produced Beth Orton, Mercury Rev, and of course Nick Cave, among others.

The Repulsion Box opens with "Medicine", a track that rudely introduces you to the concept of having your skull bashed in with a lead-lined haggis by way of the relentless military beats S&D employ throughout the album. Without pause, we are then launched into the folksy and acoustic "Red Receiver", a track very reminiscent of early Violent Femmes. However, despite their musical delivery and often bleak lyrics, several tracks on The Repulsion Box are in fact quite catchy and danceable, including "Dance Me In", "Taste the last girl" and "Monsters". Indeed, as guitarist and co-vocalist Scott Paterson has said of S&D, "There is a very dark side to our music... but at the same time, it's music that you can dance to. At gigs, there's nothing worse than seeing people just standing around..." .

To wit, "Dance Me In" is a hypnotic, coarse guitar riff-driven beast that quickly sucks you in and should make even the most kinetically-challenged want to get up and bop to the beat. "Taste the Last Girl," on the other hand, is a good ol' 60s-style rock song, and with it's "na-na-na-na" vocal lines to boot. Other tracks include "Choked", where S&D's Franz Ferdinand influences are at their most apparent, and "Rama Lama", the 'epic' number of the collection at over five mins, which best shows off their reductionist approach to musical arrangement.

The highlight of The Repulsion Box, however, is the irresistible "Monsters", where S&D's fast-paced martial beats drive the music relentlessly forward, while Adele's lyrics and delivery are at their acerbic best as she and Scott spit barbs at each other as if the most jaded lovers:

(Her) "Don't go and ask your sick little questions
I can't fake the cure for desire
If it continues I'm saving myself
By putting my hand in the fire"...

(Him) "Monogamy to you seems just black and blue
All the best psychotic lovers ain't got nothing on you".

Finally, The Repulsion Box perhaps fittingly wraps with "Gone", which opens with a tantalizing rock guitar riff that makes you half expect S&D to do what they've avoided up to then and explode into total a total rock out. However, in keeping with their 'less is more' musical approach, it instead slowly shrinks away to just rhythm and isolated notes — and just like that, Sons And Daughters and The Repulsion Box are gone...

On The Repulsion Box, S&D have further refined their version of 'less is more' stripped down indie folk-rock into a concentrated and intoxicating brew and come up with a real gem of an album.

Winchester Cathedral

Salvador Santos — Thu, 14 Oct 2004 07:00:00 +0000

7.7

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0002LJTWC/wwwthreeimagi-20

clinic-wc.jpg

For those familiar with Clinic's previous material Walk With Thee and Internal Wrangler, their latest offering Winchester Cathedral will come as little surprise. With the sounding of chimes, Clinic launches their latest headfirst into material that resembles, frighteningly so, the arrangements found on their prior efforts — at least for the first half of the record.

Why so critical, you ask? After all, is Clinic not Liverpool's answer to today's vehemently mundane rock scene? The scene which has introduced relatively nothing new since the last Liverpool band to personally take on Jesus? Is this not the scrubs-bearing quartet that John Peel and Thom Yorke so proudly trumpet like two fathers gloating over their wee'ns at a rugby match?

Yes, one and the same. Yes, they are that damn good and important — precisely why I expected more, because I know that "more" is entirely within their reach. But I digress.

Clinic may yet be the remedy to the ills which befall the conventions of modern rock. Their elixir is still quite potent. The serpentine vocals of Ade Blackburn slither over exotic melodies and surgical-precise percussion, taking us on wildly psychedelic trips through East India, Arabia, Brazil and Sicily, whilst not leaving the comforts of English rock.

If the first four tracks on Winchester Cathedral offer little in the way of progression, then the six that follow are evidence of a band experiencing a split identity. Turning on its path mid-way through, Clinic spits out the barbaric instrumental number "Vertical Takeoff" in Egypt, shakes us with the deviant Brit-punk "W.D.Y.Y.B", twist our ears with the David Lynch doo-wop "Falstaff" and the Kletzmer/surf of "August". All of this finished off with the soothing jazz instrumental titled "Fingers".

Are you dizzy? Although much of this latter material is unquestionably darker, sexier and more intense than anything recorded prior, one gets the image of a two-headed beast dueling against itself. But perhaps their newfound strength is found in this duality. Perhaps the purpose of this dragon was to deceive us, luring us into a familiar trap, only to sink its venomous teeth into us at its own leisure. The harder we fight, the more the web ensnares us. The more we listen to the charmer, the more entranced we become.

Clinic may yet be the remedy to the ills which befall the conventions of modern rock. Their elixir is still quite potent.

Greg Gilbert and Colin Fox of Delays

three imaginary girls — Fri, 08 Oct 2004 07:00:00 +0000

What better way to spend a sunny September afternoon than chatting with two delightfully charming and impossibly articulate British musicians? igDana and imaginary jessica got a chance to do just that when they talked with frontman Greg Gilbert and bassist Colin Fox of Delays.

Delays, who visited Seattle in late July, came back to play the No Vote Left Behind festival. Since NVLB was motivated by the Seattle music community's strong desire to get rid of Bush, the conversation started with politics but soon explored subjects ranging from whiskey to Welsh Elvis impersonators to the very lovely Tegan and Sara.

TIG: What's it been like being in the states during an election year?

Colin: I find it really interesting because my preconception of the whole thing was quite different. Although I knew there was a lot of anti-Bush feeling, it's interesting to see the sort of people…it's not just the young knowledgeable crowd, it's quite a lot of people…

Greg: It's strange being here during an election year because Bush is going to win. He's got that smugness about him that he knows he's going to win.

Being in a band you play venues and tend to meet the more liberal people in every area so I don't know if that's a very good overview. Middle America is what makes the difference to these things and that's not what you get to see when you're touring. It's frustrating. I've had this conversation with so many people about George Bush and what does my head in is that I can't believe he gets away with it. I think it's evil. By virtue of the fact of how motivated they are…it's by money, a lot of what's going on, the division of humanity, that's evil.

Colin: It's the calculatedness of what's going on…

TIG: And that they feel they can totally get away with it.

Greg: And they do! When September 11 happened, it was one of the most terrifying things for everybody to see that happen but there were people, countries coming up and pledging a certain allegiance to America that you never would've thought would've done it. Maybe I'm naïve but I thought there was an opportunity to unite countries in a way that hadn't happened for a long time. But it's just blown out the window. You go around a lot of Europe and people's views of America are completely messed by the government of America. It's sad.

TIG: I know you guys travel all over the place - what is the perception of America outside America and is there anyone who thinks Bush is doing a good job outside of our country?

Greg: There are people who think Bush is doing a good job but it's the same people, it's the British equivalent of the Republicans. I can honestly say hand on heart since I've been in America I haven't met anybody that was an asshole, not at all. But the trouble is it's like anything, you get tied with your government so people do think Americans are gun-toting…

Colin: When we went to Europe I think there is in certain sections that impression that the US is a paranoid nation, almost to sort of a cartoon effect. It's blown out of all proportion.

Greg: I think the young people living in America and Britain at the moment could find ourselves living in the equivalent of the Third Reich to the rest of the world and not actually know it. My problem with Iraq was that the first thing they should've done was the sanctions should've been lifted because they were never hurting Saddam Hussein. If they really did have the people's best interest at heart but right there, you know they haven't. I'd rather be naïve and hope for something good at the end of the day.

TIG: So you guys know what this event tonight is about, right?

Greg: No Vote Left Behind, right?

TIG: Yeah…did you know that before you guys got signed on to it?

Greg: No, we didn't but it makes it sweeter obviously. I think this is the most worthwhile thing going on. The stuff I'm reading, I really can't understand how people are getting away with it. I read the other day that the Senate gave three million dollars to investigate 9-11 and they gave fifty million to investigate why that spaceship crashed. Figures like that, to me, make absolutely no sense but they're freely available, it's not being hidden.

TIG: But if you offer it up to people, you're some kind of pinko liberal.

Colin: Un-American is a word that gets bandied about a lot here. It's a scare tactic.

Greg: It's like Venezuela, with Chavez, I'm not totally up with exactly what's going on but I know that they intervened on him because they said he didn't have America's best interests at heart…I mean, sue the president of Venezuela for not having America's interests at heart!

Colin: They didn't just intervene, they basically engineered the coup…

TIG: Have you seen that film?

Colin: "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised"? It's one of the best documentaries I've ever seen. It's the only time I've ever been in a cinema and found myself actually sort of on the edge of my seat. When they were in the palace and they weren't sure if the other side was going to bomb them, and they're in there with a camera - it's just incredible to see it actually at work. And then the way the Americans engineered what went on the television, it just wraps it all up.

Greg: That's the thing, isn't it, when you talk about these things, you say "the Americans." That's the inherent problem to people outside of America…because of the nature of the way we talk and everything abbreviated, we just abbreviate everything to "the Americans." But it's not the Americans, it's the American government.

TIG: Do you think Tony Blair's going to get the boot?

Greg: I don't think he'll get the boot because there's a lot of scared people who want to cling on to that old imperial thing. In Britain and America, we've got an older generation that doesn't want to let go of their stranglehold in the world.

Colin: I think there's a possibility that they might change the leader but it'll still be a Labour government.

Greg: When you have a democratically elected prime minister who says "I don't ever reverse gear," what that essentially means is that he won't be swayed by public opinion. That's worrying in a democratic country. Blair set himself up as a really liberal rock and roll prime minister and he's let everybody down. He's Maggie Thatcher in different clothing.

Colin: Especially in Britain, everything's gone that way since the war. It just seems in the past few years to have gathered pace and it's all very right wing.

Greg: This is why young people are so important. I think there are a lot of older people in politics making decisions who can remember a time when multiculturalism wasn't so prevalent. We've grown up with it and it's not even something you've ever considered, that's the way the world is, your best friend's black or your best friend's Asian. But the guys in power still feel like they've had it thrust upon them or something, these old guys. It is a scary time. But I think I've never known my generation to be so politically aware as they are right now.

TIG: I feel like it's the artists that are going to save this election. If Kerry pulls it off it'll be because of all this momentum that's going on, because it does feel so hopeless, because the Republicans own the whole media reverb right now.

Colin: When we were in New York earlier, I was in a little café and overheard a conversation between these two guys sitting next to me. It stuck in my head because one of them said something like "I always make sure I watch CNN because I want to know what's going on." That stuck in my head because you can't be more wrong but it just seemed apt considering exactly what's going on.

TIG: How's the media in the UK? Do you feel like you get unbiased news there?

Greg: No but it's more obvious there. There are definitely Tory papers and definitely Labour papers so you know where they stand with these things.

Colin: The TV news isn't as slanted.

Greg: It doesn't feel like it's as slanted but then again TV in general isn't as slanted. There are adverts in America that you wouldn't get away with in England. Just generally, it's quite blatant here.

Colin: The adverts in America are something to behold. It's like an adrenaline rush, you're just bombarded with images.

Greg: You don't get time to consider what you're being shown. You just have to react on a primal basis, you know, thinner, good, go! Low carbs!

I think naivete is a really good thing to have when you're passionate about things like politics. You're always going to reach for the unattainable which means even if you get halfway there it's a good thing. I don't like personally being too considered about it. If I was just going to be realistic about everything then I wouldn't be in a band. But especially in terms of politics, I think you need to be really naïve and believe in utopia…

TIG: Let's change gears off the whole political thing here and lighten it up a little bit. What's it been like playing with Franz Ferdinand?

Greg: Political. (laughter) It's been interesting because the kind of band that we are, we're completely outside of what I'd say, I don't want to sound like an old man but, "the scene." We're completely outside of the scene right now and Franz Ferdinand are very much a band spearheading the scene and it's been interesting to see that working from the inside. The mania…It's great for us.

TIG: I thought it was a great match-up because they are so different, your sound and their sound.

Greg: It's positive and negative. Have you seen Franz Ferdinand? They're fantastic live. They really kick. But you've got the percentage of their fans who will kind of watch us and cross their arms...

TIG: They're getting popular enough now in the states that you've probably got a big meathead contingency there, people who are like "play that Take Me Out song again." You know, baseball cap on backwards...we apologize.

Greg: We have the equivalent in England, the football fans. I didn't know what to expect really. We're so far away from what they're doing and what The Futureheads are doing.

Colin: It's kind of an odd sandwich.

Greg: It is a very odd sandwich. But it's healthy, to put yourself out there. It's a healthy sandwich, a low carb sandwich. And it's good to put yourself out there, scare yourself, challenge yourself because we're playing to the kind of people who normally wouldn't seek us out by virtue of how we'd probably be described. How would Delays be described? I've seen us described as the Cocteau Twins meets the Las meets...If you were to describe Franz Ferdinand and the Futureheads, your reference points wouldn't be that delicate sort of sound.

TIG: How was your last show here at the Crocodile?

Greg: Seattle's a really good place for us, or it has been so far. The gig was really cool, cramped and busy. Region by region, going from state to state is like going from England to Scotland. It's kind of weird. I actually like Seattle as a place, you know. I went for a walk and ended up sitting down by the docks because the heat wave was going on and it was cool.

The one thing I want more of at our gigs is I want more people dancing.

TIG: Seattle crowds notoriously don't dance. They're head nodders. If you get that, that's pretty good. We're very aloof. Except for Franz Ferdinand - people went apeshit.

I bet you're asked a lot of questions about your voice because it's so unusual.

Greg: Yeah I do. The thing is that, you guys don't think about the way that you walk or the way that you talk, nobody does, so I've never really analyzed the way that I sing. You don't analyze. I've got favorite singers but I certainly haven't analyzed it. I think you do things like that when you're 70 years old and you write your memoirs and you try and decide where you started. The only thing I can think of is that I was really into Prince when I was a kid, Stevie Nicks...singers like that were the people I really loved when I was first getting into music. I do remember my dad taking me aside and saying "you know, son, this falsetto thing just really doesn't work." (laughter)

TIG: Did you have training?

Greg: No. I don't think anybody should. Personality is the most vital thing you can have - in music or in art or in anything - because that's the one thing you've got that you can guarantee nobody else is going to have. And training would just refine it and push you where everybody else is going. When you hear bands and they all sound alike, you know there's a lack of honesty going on.

Colin: There's so many bands that sound the same. You've got four people in a band, everybody's got their own personality, everybody puts their own personality into it. So how do those bands come out sounding exactly the same as each other?

Greg: It amazes me how all these people can independently develop a sound exactly like The Strokes. (laughter) It must be a phenomenon sweeping the globe.

TIG: Do you have a ritual? Can you drink before you sing? Some singers have to eat certain things before they go out in order to hit an extraordinary range?

Greg: I like to have a room to myself and just walk up and down for an hour, humming and yawning. And I do a lot of yodeling because you do a lot of leaps in your vocals. Nothing really outlandish. I like whiskey. Whiskey's good.

TIG: Whiskey's always good.

Colin: Whiskey's just good.

Greg: Whiskey's just good.

TIG: Any way you look at it.

Greg: There are a few records I like to listen to…I like a Judy Garland album.

TIG: Really?

Greg: Only because she's a freaking powerhouse and it's quite an inspiration to hear somebody like that. Not vocally, just that energy coming through. What else have we been listening to? R and B, Outkast, Jay-Z, stuff like that because it's so vibrant.

TIG: I was really upset when the Republican National Convention co-opted "Hey Ya." The Bush twins got up and were like "my dad has been known to shake it like a Polaroid," I was like, you know what, fuck all of you. That song could save the world.

Greg: The greatest thing was when Reagan used "Born in the USA" as his running song and didn't realize it was an anti-Vietnam song. They had a comparison between the American and the British generals talking to the troops just before Iraq, giving rousing speeches and the British guy was very "we're going to go in and we're going to give these people back their democracy and remember this is their country, we are the visitors." And the general, this American, was like "we're going to go in there, we're going to kick ass" and then it kicks into "We Will Rock You." (laughter)

TIG: What else have you guys been listening to while you've been on tour?

Greg: I bought a Psychedelic Furs album yesterday. I haven't quite checked it out yet. The last two records I bought were the Black Album and Outkast.

TIG: What was the first album you both bought? That's a telling sign.

Colin: Oh, I hope it's not. Mine was a band called Wet Wet Wet. I don't know if you've ever heard of them. They were massive in England. And they're awful. Just bad. Bad music. But I was about 12 at the time.

Greg: My first album I bought was Electro 9 because these older kids, my cousins used to breakdance when I was really little and I loved to go with them. It was this electro compilation. I'm quite lucky. Because after that I bought a complete load of shit for years. Bryan Adams "Reckless," The Muppet Christmas Album...

TIG: I love the Muppets! That's totally respectable.

Greg: Shakin' Stevens.

Colin: He's a Welsh Elvis impersonator and he was massive.

TIG: Did he have TV specials or anything?

Greg: Yeah, he was always on TV.

Colin: He was everywhere.

Greg: When I started really getting into music was when I first got into Prince. My first CDs were all Prince CDs.

TIG: Are you a Magnetic Fields fan? Because Stephin Merritt reviewed your album in the New York Times!

Greg: Stephin Merritt reviewed our...did he like it?

TIG: Yeah!

Greg: Oh good! I've been giving "69 Love Songs" to loads of my friends, lending them the album. What did he say? I'm intrigued. I hope he liked it.

TIG: He did. It was very positive. I can't believe you didn't know that!

Greg: That's fucking great!

TIG: What direction are you going with your next album?

Greg: We're trying to reach a point where you can listen to us and don't have to be told it's us. Like Nirvana, the best band I can think of for that, you can just hear it and you know it's them, you don't have to be told it's them. We were talking earlier about that personality thing, that's what we're striving for, to get more and more to that point where you don't even need to be told it's us. The writing now is much more 50-50 between Aaron {Greg's brother and Delays' keyboardist} and myself so there's much more keyboard-driven than the first album.

TIG: Do you have any idea when your next album will be out?

Greg: March or April, that's the hope. We've already recorded the single and we'll be playing it tonight. "Lost In A Melody." That's coming out in November. It's not on the album but it's a sign of where the stuff's going. It's kind of like, how would you describe it?

Colin: Grunge disco.

Greg: It's grisco! We listen to stuff like New Order and we're trying to keep the melodic side and the harmonies.

Colin: It's been a very natural evolution. We made half of the first album before Aaron joined the band so the second half was trying to incorporate Aaron into it. Now it's very much a four-way thing. It has changed the way the music goes very much for the better.

Greg: We were trying to find our sound in the studio on the first album. Most bands, take a band like the Strokes, they've got a really cool live defined sound and they very much captured that with their record. We didn't have a clue when we went into the studio. The guy that produced us, he was tearing his hair out because we were actually changing what we were as we were recording. He went in with a band he thought was like the Las and then Aaron brought in these loops and stuff. It was very hard. I lost my mind for an hour.

TIG: Only an hour?

Greg: For an hour yeah.

Colin: It took ninety days in the studio to actually get it done and there were weeks where you wouldn't want to be around any of us. We didn't want to be around any of us.

Greg: I can empathize about being a control freak. You end up thinking that the way you stood when you played your guitar is going to affect the outcome of how good the song is. You get really really uptight.

Colin: You analyze it so much, you think the littlest thing will mean it will be the performance or not so you think, if I don't do that like I did last time, it's not going to work. It's almost like obsessive compulsive disorder. You tap your guitar five taps before you do the take…

TIG: Speaking of obsessive compulsive, do you care about Delays versus The Delays?

Colin: It was kind of a reaction at the time because when we came up with the name, when we came out, every bands was "the." But we're not precious about it.

TIG: So it's just Delays

Colin: It's Delays

Greg: I like The Delays. To me, in my head, it's The Delays but, just like you said, on the Magical Mystery Tour is just says Beatles.

Colin: Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, everyone says "the."

Greg: I'm not precious about it. When you're a new band, people need an angle and that was pretty much the angle people had on us. That's the one thing they knew...a big controversy about the name.

TIG: Are there any random bands you think we should know about that we might not know about?

Greg: Do you know Shack? They used to be called Pale Fountains in the 80s. Then they started making records under the name of Shack and they made an album called "Water Pistol," which is probably my favorite record ever. They're kind of, you know the Las, they're like that but much less finessed and more soulful. Really thick Liverpool accents. It's just haunting, it's beautiful. Also, our friends from Southampton have an acoustic duo, they're called Pellum Air. They just signed to Rough Trade and they're coming on tour with us. They're great, imagine Simon and Garfunkel doing mega ethereal. They're really good.

Colin: There's a band Aaron got me into called Last Days of April. They're really good.

Greg: I don't know what anyone thinks of this band but I saw the cover and I bought the CD and it's complete pop but really good pop. It's Tegan and Sara.

TIG: I just interviewed Tegan last night.

Greg: What are they like? Are they nice people?

TIG: SO nice. And adorable.

Colin: We wanted them to support us in the UK but they couldn't because they're busy. But I think they're coming to Montreal.

Greg: What we're really hoping for when we come back is to play with those guys because actually that is the best album I've heard. Song for song, it's great pop songs. When we were here on the last tour 6 weeks ago, that's when we got a copy of the album. We were down by a swimming pool in LA just playing Tegan and Sara.

delaysCWARS.jpg

What better way to spend a sunny September afternoon than chatting with two delightfully charming and impossibly articulate British musicians? We got a chance to do just that when they talked with frontman Greg Gilbert and bassist Colin Fox of Delays.

Love the Cup

Salvador Santos — Fri, 03 Sep 2004 07:00:00 +0000

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000WKOO0/wwwthreeimagi-20

SonsDaughters.jpg

They have it. They have that coveted "it" which is so elusive and difficult to define. But I am a writer, so it's my job to try and put a few words to it.

Franz Ferdinand boldly proclaimed Sons And Daughters and as the best new band in the UK, and while that may seem a bit audacious given the scores of bands that the Common Wealth produces, he may not be far from the mark. You may recall S&D's Adele BethelDavid Gow from their former role with Arab Strap, whom they backed for a number of years. But far from the laid-back lounge music that underscored Aidan Moffat's intoxicated perversions, Adele and David have reached deep into the dark and cold ground for the fire that feeds this baby.

Like prophets in their own land, however, Sons & Daughters were not immediately received. Despite the glowing Ferdinand endorsement and the Moffat ties, it ended up being a relatively obscure indie label in New Jersey called Ba-Da-Bing that took the initial risk of signing this Glaswegian band. So, they took this break and blew the fucking doors off the barn at SXSW this year, earning them enough buzz to rear the beast's ugly head and get noticed by a larger indie label, a reputable booking agency, and the inevitable swarm of parasitical reviewers such as yours truly.

But enough history, what is it about the seven tracks on Love The Cup that is so captivating? Let's deconstruct the band. Consisting of four members, two lads and two lasses, and splitting the role of primary vocalist between Adele Bethel and Scott Paterson, they bring with them a simple setup of two guitars, keyboards, drums, bass and the occasional mandolin. Compelled by a forceful and unapologetic drum beat, matched with equally forceful and unapologetic Scottish-tinged vocals (alone Adele's and Scott's pub-style singing is nothing particularly special, but works in context), they have tapped into the same primal energy as The Flaming Lips, PJ Harvey, Sixteen Horsepower, or Black Eyed Snakes.

From what I discerned through the brogue, their lyrics are sinister, suggestive of Nick Cave's Murder Ballads. "You keep on holding back/thinking to yourself/your life is nothing/but the fear's making sense," sings Adelle in a melody reminiscent of Arab Strap, but with greater intensity, on "Lune." And, along with Nick Cave, they pass a hearty nod towards the father of Country-Noir, testified by their homage to the Man in Black titled, aptly enough, "Johnny Cash;" a naked and brutal hellfire assault which seemingly channels the devil himself.

But their real magick rests in a nearly alchemical manipulation of the effect that tension and release has on an audience, in creating anticipation, in knowing when to let go and when to restrain. Too long have we been conditioned to stand stoically along the side, analyzing the band as we would an art installation, not showing a hint of emotion let alone any actual enjoyment. With arms folded, we nod our heads, glancing to the left and right to check that we're not too out of sorts, comparing hair cuts, vintage cowboy shirts and shoe choices. Every once in awhile a band like Sons And Daughters comes along and taps into something raw, making us involuntarily shake. We get lost in the motion and begin to dance, forgetting for a moment about how silly we all must look.

Compelled by a forceful and unapologetic drum beat, matched with equally forceful and unapologetic Scottish-tinged vocals... they have tapped into the same primal energy as The Flaming Lips, PJ Harvey, Sixteen Horsepower or Black Eyed Snakes.

Clearlake

three imaginary girls — Tue, 09 Mar 2004 08:00:00 +0000

Critically acclaimed Clearlake is one of the best British bands out there today. These charming boys from Brighton, England were kicking off their first U.S. tour at the Crocodile. Despite being bit jetlagged (and maybe slightly hung over after their first proper night out in America at the Cha-Cha), Jason Pegg, Sam Hewitt, Woody Woodward and Toby May chatted about lots of things with igLiz and lee. over beers and several white russians.

Jason is the main songwriter, vocalist and guitar player. Sam harmonizes beautifully with Jason, while deftly playing guitar and occasionally percussion. Playing bass and offering a bit of vocal support here and there is Woody. And Toby, who we learned replaced the original drummer more than a year and a half ago, quite ably holds down the percussion.

And without further ado...

TIG: Do you have any good touring stories from Europe? This the first time you’re touring the U.S., right?

Woody: Well, we played CMJ in New York.

TIG: That’s right! I heard you on KEXP, which was so awesome and made me run straight to the record store to buy your record. And all they had was the "Almost the Same" EP - which of course I fell in love with.

Toby: Awww, I love America.

TIG: Yeah, so any good tour stories?

Sam: in Europe?

TIG: Yeah or even just driving around your home town...

Woody: What about the time we discovered this wonderful drink called "Flaming Fat Man"?

Toby: Yeah, that happened on tour.

Sam: And, it’s happened again and again.

Woody: We were in York, in a pub, having dinner. And, a very large barman asked us if we’d like to try a new technique of drinking. So you get a shot of tequila in a glass, and you balance a segment of an orange on the rim of the glass with brown sugar on it. And then you get a large spoon w. tequila in it and you heat it over a candle until it bursts into flames and then you pour over the brown sugar and it caramelizes. And then you drink it.

Sam: And you get a pillar of fire in the drink for a moment, and so the lights have to be off. It’s a big ceremony.

TIG: Wow, that’s kind of scary to combine alcohol and fire (laughs). It’s an act of endurance!

Jason: I seem to remember a 6’5" man in New York shouting, "Get out of my way New York. You’re slowing me down." He was dressed like a tennis player and shouting.

Toby: We met a great guy today (in Seattle) as well, on the pavement. There was this really camp looking guy with a bandana (and) this sleeveless thing who was dancer. He was pirouetting down the sidewalk.

TIG: Seattle representing.

Jason: (in NYC) Just after the man was shouting get out of the way, we got into a crossing. And this little Chinese man in a little electric car, like a disabled car, bumped into Woody and then went beeeep, beeep (on his little electric car horn)

Woody: Yeah, instead of saying, "Excuse me, you’re in my way," he went and bumped into me a little more.

TIG: Because you’re so critically acclaimed, one of things I wanted to know was, lots of really honorable people are among your admirers. Is there anyone you find most surprising or one that makes you blush?

Sam: Michael Stipe made me blush.

Jason: You might not know him, but there’s a guy named Matt Lucas. He’s a comedian. He didn’t make me blush, but I liked it when he said he liked our music. That was a nice weird thing when he turned up at a gig.

Woody: Grandaddy...

Toby: Yeah, Grandaddy. (But) I think all of the big ones happened before I came along. I’m still on a bit of a trip about it really. Just getting used to going away.

TIG: So do you have any unusual favorite musicians or songs? I ask this question because I get a different answer everytime and they always surprise me. Last time I ended up discussing that guy Peter Cetera from Chicago.

Jason: Oh, I like Peter Cetera.

TIG: Exactly! I had asked "what was the first song you ever fell in love with" and got that. It was awesome to talk about that song "Being without you!" So, do you have any odd influences? Like when you pull it out of your closet people are like, "You like Justin Timberlake?"

Woody: I would have to say the new Britney Spears.

Toby: Oh you bastard!! I was gonna say that!

TIG: Really?

Woody: Oh well, Toby knows,

Toby: I think it’s fantastic!

TIG: Really?! Because it’s so honest? Or because it’s so logical?

Toby: It’s just about a guitar riff actually, in the chorus there’s some really good, spangly guitar.

Woody: You know what I really like is when she sings falsetto. She gets that girlie, falsetto-y thing going on. I think it’s quite experimental for her.

TIG: Yeah actually there’s an album in that genre that I totally love. And people think I’m joking when I tell them how much I love it, but it’s almost like a sorbet. It cleans the palate to get back to indie rock. So, you could think of it that way.

Toby: Which is?

TIG: (blushing and knowing this question was inevitable) Ummm, I don’t know if you guys know the name Joey McIntyre? He was a New Kid on the Block? Yeah, he was the young one. He just did this album like two years ago, and it’s soooo... well, there’s this song called "NYC Girls" that I could just rap along to right now... for the right amount of money.

Toby: (laughs), That sounds cool!

TIG: (laughs) I put it on mix cds and people are like, "That was a really funny song!" And I’m exclaim, "You gotta hear the whole album!!" So I imagine that Britney Spears took a nod from Joey McIntyre and his NYC girls masterpiece.

Jason: I have a guilty pleasure that’s really something actually. And actually no one may know this, but one of my favorite bands... no, no, I listened to it recently... I’m really in to is this 80’s record by Scritti Politti.

But the most guilty pleasure was that he did a song... well, I’ve realized I really like people who do themselves, or they have an obsession and they go down this line. I hate the sounds that he picks or the way he picks it. It’s incredible.

Anyway, he did a cover of Beatles song, which is blasphemy anyway. And, he kind of did it. And I really love the way he did it. And it’s horrific! It’s horrible! And it’s got Shabba Ranks, who is like this rascist horror. And he did a cover of "She’s a Woman." And I love his horribly high-pitched, sort of transsexual voice. I don’t know what it is, but I love that he spent so much time making meticulously weird popmusic. And I would never try to make anything like it, but I like something in it. It’s got a weird soul to it.

TIG: What do you all think of The Darkness?

Sam: I liked them for that long (hold up hand, displays less than 1/2 inch between his thumb and index finger). (but) I loved the idea.

TIG: What are you guys listening to in the tour van? Did you bring some music along or are you just going to enjoy the radio?

Jason: Today it was Cat Power.

Toby: And tomorrow we are going to be listening to my CD. It’s a Finnish band. You might know of it? They’re called Apocalyptica. And it’s four cellists doing covers of Metalllica songs. It rocks. (Everyone is laughing)

Jason: What do they sing?

Toby: It’s just four cellos.

clearlake2_cwar.jpg

I’m really in to is this 80’s record by Scritti Politti.

AstroPOP! for January 2004

chilly c — Thu, 01 Jan 2004 08:00:00 +0000

Imaginary rock and roll astrology CD reviews by Chilly C for January 2004

Capricorn {December 22-January 19}
Your ill will towards the romantically smitten has reached alarming proportions. Your Imaginary New Year's Resolution for 2004: negate the hate, and learn to love the love. It's ok to be suspicious at first: on their double-cd fantasia Speakerboxx/The Love Below (LaFace), OutKast may be playing to the whole crowd, but their watchful eyes are on every lady in the house. And what with vampire weddings, potty girls in the clubs, and women asking Cupid to drop his arrows and pick up guns, it's no wonder Andre 3000 and Big Boi are afraid of the L-word. But Big Boi knows he can trust his family, and Andre admits that "don't nobody want to grow old alone." So even if you're tentative for now, Cap, let your heart feel love this year. Otherwise, you'll go crazy wondering "why are we here? Huh? Huh? Huh?"

Aquarius {January 20-February 18}
You call it "speaking your mind." Your friends call it "taking over by talking louder." Now, I'm not telling you to keep quiet — but your Imaginary New Year's Resolution is to try keeping quieter. Sometimes, Aquarius, the softest voice commands the most attention. Rocky Votolato's 2003 release Suicide Medicine (Second Nature) starts with a subtle arrangement of guitars, bass, vintage keys, and drums, and as the album progresses, the songs gets quieter and quieter. And quieter. By the time we reach the album's closer "Mix Tapes/Cellmates," it's just Votolato and his guitar. With a voice that sighs like Paul Westerberg at his most plaintive, Votolato whispers secret truths that grab your attention in a way that shouting never will. And when he does raise his voice-slightly-it sounds like the most desperate wail in the world. Keep quieter, Aquarius — people will listen.

Pisces {February 19-March 20}
Your Imaginary New Year's Resolution for 2004: learn a language. Once you get bilingual on our asses, Pisces, your already articulate nature will be even more unstoppable. Check out Franz Ferdinand's angular new ep, Darts of Pleasure (Domino). This UK four-piece throw down five catchy songs that effortlessly manage to keep up with both your 'rock is back' and 'new wave is back' joneses. Best of all, the band transforms their Strokes-meet-Iggy Pop title track from one of last year's best out-of-nowhere singles into one of last year's best out-of-nowhere singles with a final chorus sung in German! Repeat after me, Pisces: "super phantastisch."

Aries {March 21-April 19}
Aries. Look. You and I need to talk about the way you rush around so fast paced always late never having any time at all to breathe or slow down or take any kind of rest whatsoever until at the very end of the day you collapse into a restless sleep without any dreams at all and then you wake up and start the whole thing over and over and over and. Your Imaginary New Year's Resolution: relax, Aries. Put on Different Stars by the LA four-piece Trespassers William asap-it'll be the last thing I want you to do immediately. After that, sit back and listen. The slow tempos, the fretless slides, and Anna-Lynne Williams soothing, measured voice will quiet your fried nervous system and start you on the path towards a more serene lifestyle. Williams sings "Oh I know what I need" on standout track "Lie In The Sound," and Aries, now you do too.

Taurus {April 20-May 20}
Did you know that the most popular New Year's Resolution is to lose weight? Not for you, though, Taurus. Your sallow complexion and gaunt frame requires the opposite approach: your Imaginary New Year's Resolution is to put on the pounds. But before you reach for the Krispy Kremes, listen to Catch-22 (Parasol) by Seattle pop vets Toothpaste 2000. Their sunny harmonies and 60's-influenced confections are sure to satisfy your sweet tooth for pure pop. And with instantly memorable songs like "Count Choc-o-lat" and "Candy Pants," TP2K guarantees a great-tasting listen. If you like the Muffs, the New Pornographers, and the Shangri-La's, you can't go wrong with Toothpaste 2000. Just don't overdo it, Taurus, or else next year... well, we know what resolution you'll be making then.

Gemini {May 21-June 21}
Seriously, I'm afraid to tell you that you're too self-critical, because knowing you, that'd be just one more thing you'd criticize yourself about. Your lack of confidence prevents you from seeing yourself in the positive way others see you. You really need to listen to JPG's cd "Ten Songz" (no label). JPG — a melancholy rapper with a talent for odd-metered rhythms — has a similar self-image problem. He creates lo-fi beats in his bedroom, then rocks the greater Eureka/Arcata, CA area with nothing but a boom box and his dexterity on the mic, but he asserts that he's a down-and-out type with "no social skills" who needs to train a dog to help him break the ice with girls. But there are plenty of girls who adore JPG-he just needs to look out in the crowd while performing. Your Imaginary New Year's Resolution: build a little self-esteem. Look out at your crowd, Gemini. We're all supporting you!

Cancer {June 22-July 22}
How many times has this happened, Cancer? You meet someone, you think of something funny or clever to say... but by the time you put it into words, they've already walked away shaking their head. Make an Imaginary New Year's Resolution to transform your tongue from awkward to acrobatic. Seattle four-piece Laymans Terms will help you learn how to address to impress. From their fetching pictures on the cover of their latest cd {Everything You Love And Hate} (Laymans Terms) to the arresting first line of the record "I found God in blue jeans/Flipping through magazines," it's clear this band knows how to grab you from the get-go. But they're more than just a dazzling first impression. The songs are strong throughout the cd: big, passionate anthems for young-at-hearts who believe that there is value in everything if you know where to look. And if you know just what to say when you find it, Cancer. Pleased to meet you!

Leo {July 23-August 22}
Your fear of heights has caused you difficulty for a long time now, Leo. 2004 will be the year you conquer it! Your Imaginary New Year's Resolution will have you up on rollercoasters, on ski lifts, and in the Space Needle in no time. Listen to the Dear John Letters' stabilizing Stories Of Our Lives (Foodchain). Robb Benson's soaring voice is like a rollercoaster itself: climbing higher and higher to an energetic plea, then plummeting to a quiet sigh—often in the same song. From bruised hearts to fresh scars, the songs will send your emotions on a wild ride as well, but Johnny Sangster's circular, Kinks-inspired guitar riffs will never make you dizzy. As Benson puts it in "Bipolar," "Only for an hour of ups and downs/Ups and downs." Vertigo never sounded so good.

Virgo {August 23-September 22}
You're always there for everyone else, you never miss a party, your cell phone plan is the biggest on the market. All fine, but I worry that you're short-changing your need for "alone time." Your Imaginary New Year's Resolution is to give yourself a break from your social commitments. LA's Summer At Shatter Creek likes alone time. Lots of alone time. The band is in fact the singular vision of sole member Craig Gurwich, who plays every instrument and sings every note on SASC's self-titled cd (Absolutely Kosher). It's a testament to the achievement of solitude: the songs drip with carefully layered instrumentation, and Gurwich's ethereal tenor evokes a calmer Jeff Buckley or a more urbane Nick Drake. Lyrically, the plaintive descriptions of missed connections and lonely holidays suggest that while solitude has its price, it also provides a great opportunity to think about one's place in the world. In your case Virgo, that's in a crowded taxi, on your phone, in between parties.

Libra {September 23-October 22}
Embrace art! Libra, your right-brain dedication to moving forward in your career is commendable, but you need to give your left-brain a workout as well. It's your call: painting? Photography? Toothpick sculpture? Visit your local art supply store; they always have cool stuff to buy. Biography of Ferns definitely embraces art, Libra-you should take your cues from them. Their new 5-song ep Memory's Servant (Tellous) is arty in the way that only a sonic splatter painting of the Gang of Four, the Clash, Pavement, and the Kent 3 (another great Seattle trio) can be. Each song is like a piece on a gallery wall: colorful, expansive, and adventurous in narrative. But before you get the wrong idea, Libra-Biography of Ferns definitely rock it out too. They put the action into action painting. Now grab your brush, your camera, your toothpicks, and make some art yourself.

Scorpio {October 23 - November 21}
You're loaded with baggage, Scorpio, and I'm not talking about the emotional kind. I'm talking about stuff: under the bed, bursting out of closets, and I won't even mention that basement storage space. Your Imaginary New Year's Resolution: strip down to the essentials, and keep only what you use. Take your cue from the Fiery Furnaces. This New York-via-Chicago brother-sister duo is the missing link between the Raincoats and the White Stripes; they're the Velvet Underground if Mo Tucker had fought her way to the front after John Cale was kicked out. On their amazing debut Gallowsbird's Bark, (Rough Trade), the Furnaces take two chords, ancient rock'n'roll imagery (travel, love, isolation), and a sparse piano-fuzz guitar-drums sound and use them to reinvent the universe. You don't have to think that big, Scorpio. Cleaning out your basement storage space is a good enough start.

Sagittarius {November 22-December 21}
It's well known, Sag, that your choices in romantic partners usually lead to relationships whose outcomes fall under the "no chance in hell" category. Now, you might think I'm going to tell you to approach love rationally this year, but this astrologer has never believed in applying logic to matters of the heart. For example, who would discourage, say, a record album cover painter from falling in love just because the woman of his dreams is a Greek God's immortal daughter who just jumped out of an alley wall mural? Not me. In fact, I'm going to encourage these kinds of relationships by asking you to listen to the Xanadu soundtrack (MCA) over and over. Your Imaginary New Year's Resolution: follow your heart, Sag, wherever it may lead you. One day, destiny will arrive to bring all your dreams alive. For you.

astropop.gif

Your rock and roll astrological forecast for January 2004, featuring reviews of Outkast, Rocky Votolato, Franz Ferdinand, Trespassers William, and more!