Inside Nokia Music

A Stitch In Time by The Smashing Pumpkins

The next instalment from the epic forthcoming Teargarden By Kaleidyscope has landed sooner than expected with the release of A Stitch In Time - hopefully this is a sign that the project may begin to progress a little quicker.

It seems that on my previous post I may have been mistaken about something. Clues are beginning to show and suggest the “album” will be 11 x 4 track EP’s and not 4 x 11 track EP’s as I originally thought (yes, I know that doesn’t constitute an EP). But there are still a few things that suggest I was right in the first place.

A Quote from Billy’s Blog

“The story of the album is based on ‘The Fool’s Journey’, as signified in the progress of the Tarot. It is my intention to approach this by breaking down the journey of our life here into four phases as made by these different characters; the Child, the Fool, the Skeptic, and the Mystic.”

I think I’m sticking to my guns on 4 “EP’s”!

Can’t say I think much of the track just yet, but I usually have to chew food and allow it to tantalise both the sweet and the sour sides before I can say anything with wholehearted honesty.

All 3 tracks so far have been pretty tame, but the smart money’s on the “fool” and the “sceptic” chapters bringing the thunder!!!

I’ll be posting on the entire progression of this project.

Smashing Pumpkins albums are available to download from The Nokia Music Store - if you’ve got ‘Comes With Music’ get them for free!

I don’t half bang on about them Arctic Monkeys do I!?… but how can I not when they’re one of the few bands on the scene these days that without fail, spoil us with a wealth of b-sides on every single they release.

True to form, they’re doing it again with the release of third Humbug single and album opener My Propeller. As with the release of Humbug’s previous 2 singles, they’re only set for release on 10″ & 7″ vinyl through Oxfam in the physical realm. Thankfully the 2 previous singles and their b-sides made their way onto Nokia Music Store, so I should expect the same for those of us who’ve completely expended our holiday allowance,  taking days off to successfully track these elusive beauties down.

…and in other news…

With the horrific lull between the release of Favourite Worst Nightmare and Humbug, and consolation for this only coming from frontman Alex Turner’s side project The Last Shadow Puppets, it’s come as a welcome surprise that the band have dropped the word that they intend to begin recording album number 4 in the near future, possibly reunited with Humbug producer and finger-in-all-pies man Josh Homme.

My Propellor is released on the 22nd March.

Loads more Arctic Monkeys music available to download from the Nokia Music Store - if you’re a  ‘Comes With Music’ subscriber, it’s completely free!

If the second album is generally acknowledged to be a band’s tricky proving-point, then what of the third? If you’re lucky then like the third act of a play it would move towards resolving much of the heartache and trauma expressed in the second, reviewing lessons learned and hoping for better in the future.

The Winter of Mixed Drinks

The Winter of Mixed Drinks from Scottish indie folk Frightened Rabbit manages to portray this excellently. Whilst its critically acclaimed predecessor, The Midnight Organ Fight (well there’ve certainly been worse euphemisms for sex) wallowed, even reveled in the still-raw emotion of a recent breakup and its subsequent flailing rebounds (“You twist and whisper the wrong name, I don’t care nor do my ears” – The Twist) their third release gains some ground in moving on from the experience.

Luckily the album feels no less personal and sincere than Organ Fight despite Hutchinson (Scott; writer, lead vocals + rhythm guitar) describing it as this time, semi-fictional. The brutally frank lyrics and all too-familiar emotions however are far from fictitious.

The going is sometimes rough, images of death and lonely desperation rear their heads throughout the album; but this time the voice is more wry, on the outside looking in at the feelings (“When all you need’s a coffin and your Sunday best, to smarten up the end” – Things).

Leading single Swim Until You Can’t See Land rolls and tinkles like the lyrical waves and shoreline that describe someone (let’s be honest, probably Hutchinson) distancing himself from a heartbreak and its deliverer.  (“Let’s call me a Baptist, call this the drowning of the past. She’s there on the shoreline throwing stones at my back.” – Swim Until You Can’t See Land)

The progression of the album is faltering, it loops and returns to an earlier refrain (Man/Bag of Sand) and time is given to instrumental meandering. As it approaches the midpoint it sees our narrator wishing to shortcut this difficult rite of passage (“If this is the prime of life, I wish I could skip the blasted youth, skip the youth it’s aging me too much” – Skip The Youth). But slowly, despite the set-backs and self-doubt some acceptance is gained. The momentum is helped by Hutchinson (Grant; drummer, brother to Scott) using his drumming to drive on the songs when guitars and vocals drift and fade with almost militaristic beats.

This third record also sees the addition of a fifth band member, Gordon Skeene on keyboard.  Whilst it enriches the sound adding a choral, airy sound (see: Foot Shooter; the track most likely to be referred to as ‘epic’ and ‘the one that gets them noticed’) die hard Rabbit fans won’t be complaining of the band over-complicating things. No lilies being gilded here; they won’t be going all Snow Patrol any time soon.

Things turn around though somewhere after the current single, Nothing Like You’s almost gloating accomplishment of having finally pulled someone that although not particularly special has the vital quality of being nothing like the person who so badly wounded him. In the last couple of tracks our protagonist’s outlook brightens as the tunes become more affirmative (“Though the corners are lit the dark can return with the flick of a switch. It hasn’t turned on me yet, yet” – Not Miserable).

Deluxe edition bonus tracks Fun Stuff and Learned Your Name provide a great little epilogue to the main album that may leave you questioning whether all is so neatly finished and resolved…(“And I’m quite all right, I get by just fine; I’m not depressed, not most of the time. It’s just the fun stuff is much less fun without you.” – Fun Stuff)

Frightened Rabbit – Nothing Like You (Alternate Video) – Fatcat Records

More Frightened Rabbit videos on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/frabbitTV

Frightened Rabbit are currently touring, more information can be found at: http://www.myspace.com/frightenedrabbit

Download Frightened Rabbit on the Nokia Music Store. If you have a ‘Comes With Music’ Subscription you can download as much as you want for free!

Back again, flying the Muse flag high on the insidenokiamusic blog as usual, this time it’s all about the third single Resistance from the massively successful 5th album The Resistance.

I’m far more excited about the release of a new single this time around because, unlike first single Uprising with it’s solitary b-side that circulated several months before it’s release, and second single Undisclosed Desires which didn’t have any at all, Resistance has answered my prayers and will feature 2 new songs, as well as the obligatory radio edit and a remix by Tiesto.

the first new track is a cover of Prague by Mega City Four. The second is again a cover, this time of Popcorn by Hot Butter, a track I believe the band live debuted during their highly acclaimed homecoming double-nighter “A Seaside Rendezvous” a week or so before the release of The Resistance. It’s a song I doubt any other rock band could cover and still keep their credibility intact, but the swirling synths are right up Muse’s alley. Sadly this track only appears to be available on a limited edition 7″ single exclusive to the band’s official website.

The entire Muse catalogue is available to download from the Nokia Music Store and is completely free to ‘Comes With Music’ subscribers. Resistance is released this coming Monday 22nd February.

Just in case you, dear reader, are not as cool as me and have no idea who the hell Yeasayer are I will sum them up quickly for you: an experimental, eclectic Brooklyn based trio who chuck out a variety of pop, rock, world, folk, dub in one genre merging delicious assault on your ear canal.
And they’re really very trendy, look:

Trendies? Moi? - Back in the four-piece days

The follow up to 2007’s phenomenal All Hour Cymbals, Odd Blood dropped on Monday and I was very, very excited about this. Imagine my horror then, when the first track made me want to do a little sick in my mouth. It’s horrible, just horrible. I don’t get or appreciate tracks that have 1. Annoying vocals 2. Don’t ‘go anywhere’ 3. Just annoy the hell out me the whole way through. I persevered though, kept the vom down, and went on to track two. And thank goodness I did! ‘Ambling Amp’ – the first single from the album – is lush; with a retro 80’s feel and some tasty afro/electro beats and falsetto loops.

The stand out song at the moment for me (bound to change with every fluctuation in my mood) is ‘O.N.E’, a song with so many layers – almost Caribbean at the core – that is bound to cheer up anyone faced with a gloomy, grey February day.

Brief descriptions of other tracks highlight the true eclectic breadth of this album; the synthy romantic ‘I Remember’ could well be the theme tune of some trippy 70s kids show, ‘Strange Reunions’ contains some dubby sitars; then there’s the head bopping hecticness of ‘Rome’ and the poppy ‘Mondegreen’ complete with a hip hand clap or two.

Overall, despite the oddball weirdness expected from Yeasayer, the sound of this album is much cleaner and therefore more accessible than it’s highly acclaimed predecessor. Together with clear, easy lyrics which compliment the complexity of the arrangements and timings going on in the background, the poppy vibe and danceability factor throughout leads me to give Odd Blood a huge thumbs up. There’s definitely something on here for everyone so why not go have a listen and see what you think.

UK gig listings in case it turns out you love them as much as I do are as follows:

16th Feb @ O2 Academy Birmingham
17th Feb @ Oran Mor, Glasgow
20th Feb @ Speakeasy, Belfast
21st Feb @ Manchester University
22nd Feb @ The Faversham, Leeds
23rd Feb @ Heaven, London
25th Feb @ Thekla, Bristol
26th Feb @ Brighton Digital
26th May @ KOKO, London

THE GIG

Late last year a friend of mine convinced me to see a band called Subsource. I was planning on staying in that night and catching up with some much needed sleep. But soon as she mentioned that they were a live dance band on a similar tip to The Prodigy and better than Pendulum, I quickly ditched any ideas of relaxation a got a Taxi down to the centre of Bristol.

This was a wise choice as I wasn’t disappointed. They were a high energy group of lads with some amazing and varied songs. A good mix of genres from Breakbeat, Hip Hop, Dubstep, Punk and DnB kept the mood fresh throughout their performance.

THE BAND
The Band consists of lead singer and Double Bass player – Stuart Henshall, Vocalist – Mutanda Kimba, Borg Ng on keys and percussion, Paul Frazer on guitar and keys and Neil Shervell on Drums. They all come from very different backgrounds both musically and geographically, which is probably why they have a sound which is a hybrid of all the bass heavy electronic music we all know and love.

THE IDES
Their new single The Ides out on Doomsday recordings on Feb 22nd February is
a good In-sight to how this band operates.

The glitchy, distorted, electronic noises at the start are reminiscent to the Prodigy’s more recent material. After a short intro it kicks into a rock style chorus, backed by a big breakbeat and more of those glichy noises.
The structure of this song has been designed for the dance-floor, as the songs edges out of the breakdown it changes to a Dubstep rhythm with a chorus wobble bassline. This all supported by soaring, lush pads and arpeggiated synths, both of which have warm analogue tones of 80’s synthesis.
The Ides, when you listen closely has a complex depth that shows off the skills of all the musicians involved. But it’s still a catchy dance-floor track that will wake you out of any tired state. It worked for me.

Here’s the video for their last single The Reason available now on the Nokia Music Store

To say things are going well for Justin Bieber would be the biggest understatement of 2010 so far. His debut album, My World, has gone platinum in Canada and the US. He is the only artist in US Billboard history to have four songs from a debut album chart in the Top 40 of the Hot 100 before the album’s release. When My World was released, it debuted at number one on the Canadian albums chart. It’s an impressive start to anyone’s career, but what’s truly impressive is that he’s only 15.

I managed to catch up with him in the middle of his huge promotional tour of the UK, full of TV appearances, interviews and shows. It seems I can’t even turn on the TV or pick up a magazine without seeing an interview or feature on him. It’s certainly been hectic for Justin. “This week I’ve been too busy to listen to music,” he says pragmatically. “I’ve been everywhere. I’ve been all over the UK, I’ve just been to Manchester and Glasgow and I performed at Wembley arena. Today I’m on my way to Bedford to meet some girls and sing some songs.”

It’s a life at odds with his beginnings. Justin has spent most of his life in Ontario, Canada, and according to his MySpace page, below the poverty line. However modest his upbringing, though, he was fortunate enough to be introduced to music as soon as he could pick up an instrument. “I started music roughly at 2. My mum played at little guitar and sang, my dad played guitar and sang a little bit too and played piano.”

After entering a local singing competition in Canada, he posted the footage online just for family and friends. “My parents are always encouraging me,” Justin remembers. “I posted some videos on YouTube and a lot of people started viewing it. Then I got found by a manager named Scooter Braun who flew me to Atlanta where I got to meet Usher. Then I was flown to meet Justin Timberlake a week later and they both wanted to sign me.”

“I ended up signing with Usher over at Island Def Jam and I put out My World in America and Canada.” Not only did Usher sign Justin to Island/Def Jam, he also makes an appearance in Justin’s video for One Time and lends his vocals to First Dance. The album is the kind of R&B Pop you would associate with Usher, which is nothing new for Justin – the cover versions in his early YouTube footage are almost exclusively R&B. Even then his voice was impressive and reminiscent of childhood footage of Justin Timberlake and other child prodigies. It comes as no surprise when Justin admits that “I listen a lot to Michael Jackson… It would have been cool to meet him but it was sad he had to go so early. The Thriller album was really good.”

Justin’s eyes are fixed firmly on the future, though. “I’d like to work with Beyoncé, I think that’d be fun. And maybe Little Wayne,” he adds. Given his track record, we wouldn’t bet against him.

Justin’s debut album, My World, is available to download at Nokia Music Store.  Please open this link in IE.

What a wonderful surprise to start Monday with the second track from The Smashing Pumpkins in-the-works album Teargarden By Kaleidyscope. It would seem the new song Widow Wake My Mind was not announced by the band when it became available, but instead only came to light due to the cunning investigative skills of a fan on an unofficial Smashing Pumpkins forum… good job there my friend, keep up the good work!

As I reported earlier, all 44 anticipated tracks from the album will be free to download as they become available, and as each of the 4 EP’s that make up Teargarden By Kaleidyscope is complete, they’ll get a commercial release too. Thankfully, as it would seem that part of this strategy is poor quality audio files.

The entire Smashing Pumpkins back-catalogue is available to download from The Nokia Music Store and is completely free to ‘Comes With Music’ subscribers.

Part 10

Them Crooked Vultures – Them Crooked Vultures

John Paul Jones, Dave Grohl and Josh Homme… and not just playing a one-off in each others bands… Who wasn’t excited about this? The number of t-shirt sales before anyone had even heard anything more than the teaser video for Nobody Loves Me and Neither Do I is testament to that, as if these 3 names were the worlds most irrefutable Satisfaction Guarantee!

If you like balls-to-the-wall Rock, super-riffolgy, JPJ’s signature wall of sound and Dave Grohl doing what he does best… then no doubt you too have asked Santa to replace the speakers you destroyed on the day TCV’s debut landed!… to pick at the rotting carcasses of the dead.

Like both The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather before Them (haha), super-bands aren’t unheard of, but TCV are the open slues-gate that could soon be held responsible for the flood of super-bands that I believe will dominate the second decade of the 21st century (hopefully you heard it here first).

Stand out moments:

Most of it really but I’m particularly fond of the vocal melody in Reptiles and Dave Grohl’s backing vocal contribution to Mind Eraser, No Chaser.

Seen them live this year:

Grinning ear to ear on the balcony front row as I finally get to watch Dave Grohl drum at jealousingly close proximity… in support of Arctic Monkeys @ Brixton Academy 26 August 2009.

Here’s the teaser that whipped everyone into a pre-release frenzy.

The self-titled debut from Them Crooked Vultures is available to download from the Nokia Music Store and is completely free to ‘Comes With Music’ subscribers.

Part 9

Absolute POLYSICS

POLYSICS are a Japanese New-Wave-Punk-Pop-Devo-inspired 4 piece, heavy at times and with a live show to boot! I discovered them back in 2005 with the release of POLYSICS OR DIE!!!!, a compilation album for the Western market comprised of choice-pickings and re-recordings of songs from the bands several previous Japan-only releases. What followed would border on obsession for me as I’d go on to watching them perform 7 times and would come to occupy my time with trying to track down the Japanese releases without having to pay the ridiculously over-priced logistical costs of importing them.

So when a friend popped over to Japan on holiday to coincide with the release of Absolute POLYSICS I was beside myself with joy and seized the opportunity to snag this Japan-only release, and in special edition non the less… and this is why this little obscurity made my 10 most anticipated albums of 2009 list.

So how did it live up to my expectations?

Well to be completely honest, I’ve only given it a spin a couple times so am yet to decide.

Stand out tracks so far:

Cleaning, it’s about the closest thing I’ve heard them do to one of my über-favourites Code4.

Seen them live this year:

If they toured the UK this year you can bet your life I’d have a few more belt notches in my live count!… 1 of the 2 best live bands I’ve ever seen!

Here’s a video for POLYSICS most commercially successful single to date.

Selected POLYSICS albums are available to download in certain countries from the Nokia Music Store and is completely free to ‘Comes With Music’ subscribers.