Inside Nokia Music

Where do you start with a band like Pavement? In recent years there have been few acts that have cultivated – and then steadfastly retained – a similar level of underground, independent credibility. Or inspired so many other acts with their lo-fi, indie rock sound. In fact, if you heard Quarantine The Past, a retrospective of the band’s initial 10 year stint together, without knowing anything about Pavement and their place in rock music’s pantheon, you could be forgiven for writing them off as yet another grunge-lite outfit pedalling the sort of jangly guitar pop you’d find on an early ‘90s Nirvana or R.E.M. B-side. Which, in a perverse way, is probably the greatest testament that could be paid – those B-sides likely wouldn’t be there without Pavement’s influence, as the band’s sound cross-pollinated with that of their contemporaries, including Sonic Youth and R.E.M.

So it’s only when placed in the context of the early 1990s music scene that Quarantine The Past can be properly appreciated. While the album doesn’t include any unreleased or new tracks (Pavement reformed last year; the comeback tour is underway as you read this) it gathers the band’s most significant tracks from the period spanning 1989 to the breakup in 1999. Stereo and Cut Your Hair will be instantly recognisable to anyone who took an interest in the indie scene in the UK 20 years ago (it makes me shudder to think it was that long ago). Meanwhile, album cuts like Shady Lane/ J vs. S and Date w/IKEA continue Pavement’s pattern of wrapping winding lyrics around surprisingly tight melodies (despite all their efforts to sound to the contrary) that still sound fresh today.

The only criticism that can be levelled at Quarantine The Past is that it gives the desperate-for-new-material Pavement fan what she or he will have been wishing for: something they haven’t heard before. Granted, the tracks have all been given the obligatory run through the digital car wash, but re-mastering Pavement tracks almost robs of them of their raison d’être – they were never about crystal clear fidelity, but rather the quiet, knowing, scratchy warmth of a close friend. Of course, many Pavement fans are obsessive-compulsive completists who’ll buy Quarantine The Past anyway. But it won’t supplant last year’s brilliant and exhaustive deluxe reissues of the band’s original albums, crammed with live recordings, unreleased gems and alternative mixes. No, instead this is the ideal place for a new generation of fans to discover just why Pavement are spoken about with such reverence. It’s an album bursting with songs of charming honesty, intriguing simplicity and that cast the musical mould for a generation.

You can download Quarantine The Past, along with Pavement’s back catalogue, from Nokia Music Store. If you’re a Comes With Music member you can get it all for free.

What do you get when you take one hyped to high heaven indie band, a boat in Bristol, and mix them with loads of too cool for schoolers who mostly don’t even know the band they’re about to see? The answer: a one hell of a weird gig.

Yeasayer played the Thekla in Bristol the other night as part of their UK tour, and I had been looking forward seeing them headline a show since way back when in ‘07 when I first became aware of them. Since then, the band has created such a buzz on the internet, especially in blogs (coooey!), that everyone who’s anyone seems to be talking about them.

The gig was sold out, which should be a good thing, but in this case it was just a bit annoying.  All I wanted to do was to go the front and have a boogie, but to do so I had to elbow my way through the moronic, bored looking crowd who looked like they’d rather be anywhere else, arms folded, yawns stifled, the lot. I even heard the child next to me say at one point ‘totally should have listened to the second album dude’. Quite.

Anyway, so to concentrate on the band (who, by the by, didn’t even seem to notice the dull lackluster crowd and commented at the end ‘wow this is the best crowd yet in the UK!’ – errr yeh ok mate, best get back on that mineral water ey…). They played everything I thought they would, in much the order I thought, and perfectly too. The sound was spot on – not something I normally notice much – and they were really entertaining to watch both individually and as a group. The highlights were the old fave Sunrise, and then new single O.N.E. Big Jeff and I were dancing like loons by the time that came to an end, sweaty hairy messes the both of us.

So all in all it was a good show, just a shame there weren’t more real fans there to appreciate it and give them the support and encouragement they deserved.

Band – 10/10

Venue – 10/10

Crowd – 4/10, could try harder.

Here are a few snaps. Just look how fed up those balcony lot look – shame on them! And that’s me posing with the bands Bell, although I accidentally managed to ring it too which made the entire crowd turn to look at me in disgust and confusion – wicked!

You can download Yeasayers’s albums ‘Odd Blood’ and ‘All Hour Cymbals’ from the Nokia Music Store - if you’ve got  ‘Comes With Music’ , they’re 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!

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

Part 7:

Skunk Anansie – Smashes and Trashes

So again, another greatest hits compilation that really shouldn’t feature but after 9 long years praying for new Skunk Anansie material, those prayers were finally answered with the 3 new songs that were included on Smashes and Trashes. Songs that were fresh yet retained that sonically dynamic beauty that has secured Skunk Anansie as the best band in the era of my lifetime.

The news of Skunk Anansie’s return superseded all other in my year, something I never anticipated ever happening considering the duration of their time apart, nor could I have foreseen that through a series of acquaintances I’d on occasion come to hang-out with a certain member of the band and find myself in the loop about the potential reunion before it was officially confirmed, a hero of mine that by some bizarre twist of fate would end up in my apartment playing on my drum kit and making a contribution to my doodle sofa… something that I’d never in a million years have dreamed would have come to pass.

Stand out moments on the album:

As I mentioned before, it is a GH compilation so it’s all the new songs, Tear The Place Up, Because Of You and Squander… picking up right where they left off, the tracks are all prime examples of their dynamic reach and though a tease, will hold me off until a new studio album in the new year.

Seen them live this year:

Not once, but twice for my favourite live band of all time… The Electric Ballroom Camden 7th October (reviewed) + Brixton Academy 26th November (reviewed) – with a little backstage action!

Smashes and Trashes is available to download from The Nokia Music Store and is completely free to ‘Comes With Music’ subscribers.

Part 6:

Muse – The Resistance

The Resistance (reviewed) was my single most anticipated album of the year, just like Black Holes and Revelations before it and Absolution before that… solely for the reason that Origin Of Symmetry is the album that had the most profound effect on me this decade even though I only discovered it a year or so after it’s release. With my new found obsessive fandom this lined-up Absolution to what would in retrospect be my most anticipated album of the decade that truly delivered far and beyond.

Now obviously the anticipation factor was equally as high for Black Holes and Revelations and The Resistance, but ultimately I’ve found that although I love each album dearly, there’s a pattern of preference for each album before, it’s not that the band are in gradual decline, but feel are a little tainted by the increase in commercial appeal.

Thankfully they still in part touch back on the feel of previous albums to let us know they can still do it if that’s what they wanted.

Such is the case for The Resistance stand out tracks: Unnatural Selection, which could easily be from the Origin Of Symmetry sessions and not just because the riff is partially borrowed from New Born, but for the song’s feel as a whole… and MK Ultra which could easily have made a home on Absolution somewhere between The Small Print and Ruled By Secrecy.

Seen Them Live This Year:

Wouldn’t have missed it for the world… 12th November @ The O2 Arena London (reviewed)

The Resistance and the entire Muse back-catalogue are available to download from The Nokia Music Store and is completely free to ‘Comes With Music’ subscribers.

Wondering who is the kind of person who would go out on the release day and buy 50’s Before I Self-Destruct?  Well that would be me. Yes, it’s true; and I was not disappointed. The album has got a lot of negative criticism from people and I don’t know why. This album is a lot different to his first album Get Rich Or Die Tryin’, so maybe people were expecting something different? I don’t know; all I know is that I have been listening to it (almost constantly) these past few weeks.

The first time I saw the video for Baby By Me, I was hooked. 50 is beyond hot, and is singing “Have a baby by me.” As a female, what is there not to like? Plus the smooth sexy voice that is Ne-Yo just helps captivate you. And the video features Kelly Rowland, so there is some eye candy there for the men too,  so everyone is happy! Do You Think About Me is going to be the second single from the album. This song also has a good video for it – Vivica  Fox plays the part of 50’s crazy ex-girlfriend, and the video sees her blow 50 up – or so she thinks!

The album does have a darker edge to it, with songs like Death To My Enemies and So Disrespectful, where 50 makes reference to Game’s sexual abuse claims. But this doesn’t put you off listening; his flow and the almost comical tone in his voice during the hook draws you in. Songs like Gangsta’s Delight helps to remind everyone that 50 is still a major player in Hip Hop. The collaboration with Eminem on Pyscho is just as hot as the collaboration on Get Rich Or Die Tryin’.

Overall I think the album has a good mixture of songs to suit most moods and is well worth the money. I would not hesitate to buy it again.  I enjoy the way 50 alters his voice, and even his accent in places, to add more depth to the song. I think this album has shown a different side to 50. He has now completed the contract he was under, so it’ll be exciting to see what his next move is.

It’s that time again where we reflect upon the year and what we’ve done with it.  For my first post I’d like to introduce you all to the wonderful world of Modernaire, feel special and lucky for you are about to be privy to one of electro’s best kept secrets.  So without further ado, Ladies and Gentlemen I bring you my gig of the year… *drum roll *

Parisians are apparently not known for their natural bouncing enthusiasm where attending gigs is concerned, however by the end of their first song Modernaire had cast their hypnotic and energizing spell over this audience of largely reluctant movers. Since last experiencing the joy of Modernaire live they have now added live drums and guitar which have given a bit more depth to their sound, but with such great stage presence from the singers, Chesty La Rue and Cruella De Mill (noms de chanteur) , this is just an added bonus.

This electro disco pop trio from Manchester are deliciously dark and dramatic but luckily their music is just so infectious that one can almost forget that most of their songs are lurid tales of murder and revenge. Taking their name from an unsoundtracked song from Purple Rain by Dez Dickerson, which in itself is commendable, Modernaire, somehow, manage to mesh robotic synth backing with an austere 1940s boogie woogie syncopated vocal style.

From the off they kept up enormous energy and the backing, led by music maestro Oscar Wildstyle controlling the synth, was incredibly tight, which was just as well really considering the immense skill of the vocals. Stagecraft is somewhat minimal, with a highly animated Chesty dancing barefoot around the stage occasionally stopping to tell the odd anecdote, while Cruella, somewhat shyly, tilts her vintage floral crowned head away from the audience and towards her bandmate, as though they’re viewing this show as a bit of fun rehearsal time rather than a public concert, but this merely adds to their charm.

At first glance one might wrongly tarnish Modernaire as pretentious with their glacial pop noir and chic motifs but, happily, on further scrutiny there is clearly, most definitely a sense of humour bounding round the stage, as the crowd pleasing number Bloodshed In The Woodshed showed. The girls’ sweet and deceptively innocent harmonies partially mask the tale of a scorned woman taking justice into her own hands. “Gutted, garrotted, noose ready knotted, sharp scythe, rusty knives, bedroom full of beehives,” they trill, complete with the infamous synchronised stabbing dance move. Faites Vos Jeux was another highlight of the evening, which has made it on to a few upcoming indie-electro band compilations, a dark story about murder in Monte Carlo.

Met with rapturous applause and a host of whistling, the band seemed slightly bemused with the many outcries of “encore.” Later singer Ruth, AKA Chesty, professed in a conversation we had over the merchandise table that they had in fact run out of songs. And that is what is so delightfully captivating about Modernaire, they don’t take themselves too seriously and are having a lot of fun with it.

Check them out now!! DO IT!

http://www.myspace.com/modernairetheband

I have been massively excited about this album, from the first day that I heard about Dave Grohl’s latest side project, Them Crooked Vultures. Surely mixing aspects of Foo Fighters, Led Zeppelin and Queens of the Stone Age into one super group would leave fans more excited than seven dwarfs who have found out that Snow White is being replaced with Megan Fox. This has been demonstrated by all announced live gigs selling out before the group had officially released any material, so is it justified?

Overall I think the album has a more mature and grown up feel to it, especially when comparing it to previous Foo Fighters albums, a sort of Foo Fighters for dads. This of course isn’t a bad thing. It has much more of a classic hard rock feel, with blues and psyc rock influences to the structure of the songs, and the distinctive vocals of Josh Homme means that there is always going to be an instant association with Queens of the Stone Age.

The first song, No One Loves Me & Neither Do I,  really sets out what this album is all about; the effects on the guitars and vocals make you want to believe that this was recorded in Dave’s garage, probably a massive garage with more electrical kit than your average Death Star, but the thought was there. You can feel that the song is building up to something and after 2 mins it really kicks in with a massive distorted riff and the album has started properly.

It then flies into a Mind Eraser, No Chaser which I reckon would fit easily on a Queens of the Stone Age album. My favourite track is Elephant, both in listening terms and in terms of the first track that I would learn how to play. The intro is awesome and I would have loved to have been in on the jam session where they came up with this.

I think this album is great, it all fits together so well and I have been listening to it over and over again. It is a great tribute to proper classic rock bands and I am hoping that it will kick off a bigger revival for this type of music.