Features ‘Wavves’ Post Acid. Cool.

I know I will regret not going to see BSS this week, but if anything, this video should serve as a very small consolation.

Brilliant video, brilliant track. Everytime I hear this track it jsut gets bigger and bigger….

I like to think that I will give anything a listen, and I’m always really disappointed when I get let down by by an artist that I should be able to rely on. So when there’s a cross over with something that I struggle to listen to and it’s by someone who I thought I would love everything by, obviously, it’s a huge let down.

The flip side of this is when albums that I thought I had given up on end up being unbelievable after a few listens.

In the last couple of weeks, I’ve managed to continue to plug away with two albums that I thought I hated (but actually believed I should have loved), Heligoland by Massive Attack, and Broken Bells’ self-titled debut.

I never once felt ‘offended’ by either album, in fact there were a number of tracks on these two albums that I thought were fantastic (the opening single from ‘Broken Bells’ and Horace Andy’s vocal efforts on Massive Attacks’ ‘Baby I love You’ for example), but I’ve always been intrigued by albums that completely change on you over a period of time.

Heligoland is, not surprisingly, another dark effort from Massive Attack, and perhaps I needed to be in a dark mood to actually start listening to it (I had played it, but not sure I was actually hearing it).

It could also be that the opening track ‘Pray for Rain’ is the weakest on the album. The fact that my ears seem to be stimulated the moment Martina Topley-Bird’s vocals start dripping though the speakers cannot be a coincidence. I understand that ‘Babel’ is not an opening track, yet for me this is where the album starts.

Like all Massive Attack efforts, the use of guest vocals makes this album special; Horace Andy and Marshall work with Del Naja to give an airy and creepy texture to ‘Splitting The Atom’. while elsewhere, Topley-Bird flits over ‘Psyche’, and Hope Sandoval (Mazzy Star) oozes femininity over ‘Paradise Circus’.

Of course, all the guest stars in the world aren’t going to make a great album if the compositions are shite. Like their Bristol counterparts, Del Naja and Marshall know how to build their sound to get the most out of their collaboratees. No where on the album is this more obvious then ‘Saturday Come Slow’ which must be neigh on the best track Damon Albarn has ever lent vocals too (and that is saying something).

Broken Bells is another kettle of fish altogether.

James Mercer and Brian Burton (DangerMouse) sound like a complete mismatch, yet the work that Burton has done with Gnarls Barkley and the Black Keys show that he is adaptable and more than capable. Mercer of course, as we know from his work with ‘The Shins’ is an indie dynamo.

Again, Broken Bells has had to grow on me – and after initial listens, I had decided the experiment was a failure (contrary to what other people were telling me about the album).

Finally, I managed to listen to it while working to work on a sunny morning. Was ‘Vaporize’ written with such a moment in mind? It’s fuzzed out drums and fairground organs are the perfect remedy for a great start to the day/week/financial year. If Heligoland is the album for your dark moments, ‘Bells’ is the one for your sunny ones.

To me, Mercer’s voice has always seemed remarkably unremarkable – it never pretentiously soars or quivers, yet uniquely, he is able to create drama and emotion with his lyrics, and their simple delivery. In the same way his work with ‘The Shins’ uses melodies to complement his easy-going vocal styles, tracks like ‘October’ and ‘Sailing to Nowhere’ see Mercer stick to the formula, albeit with a little added ‘spit-and-polish’ via the hands of Burton.

The conclusion of the album (which. while only 37 or so minutes long, initially seemed to take an age to get to), weirdly sits the highlight of the Broken Bells effort – ‘The Mall and the Misery’. A beautiful track that captures Mercer verbally sparring with a eclectic mix of guitar, synths and drum machine.

Again, it is a perfect snapshot of what this album does right – and probably for me, allowed the rest of the album to make sense. In someways, it’s an uneventful collection of tunes, in other ways, a simple and outstanding picture of the direction modern indie music is heading.

Both albums are available now, and work checking out (via iTunes)

Broken Bells – Broken Bells

Heligoland – Massive Attack

Smooth music has had a rebirth in my house. The comedic genius of Yacht Rock had me searching for anything smooth I could lay my hands on…but is anything smoother than LA Funk?

Dam Funk thinks not, and on this mighty mix he compiled for the BBC, you’d be stupid to second guess him.

I like his mantra that Funk is not Retrospective – he is pushing Funk into the present; unashamably he ties it all back to 70-80′s Funk, but one would have to be blind to conclude that that is where it should stay.

From the BBC – via moovmnt

I love Dizzee Rascal. Boy in the Corner is neigh perfect. While his rise and rise has been witnessed here through his many memorable performances at BDO, it seems as though in his homeland, he’s really still to achieve full crossover stardom…at least, for the moment.

Great article in the Guardian about the man, and lets all give thanks for him, and ‘Stand Up Tall’

Are Deerhunter possibly the greatest band in the world? Possibly. Revival (from the upcoming ‘Halcyon Digest’) puts pay to anyone questioning whether ‘Microcastle’ was a one-off (though I doubt anyone is that stupid).

Yeah Tron Legacy will be cool – and Daft Punk will be making it cooler. You can check out snippets of the French duos work on the Soundtrack (or is it the score?) for the upcoming movie here.

Early leaks from Nathan Williams’ Wavves project (‘Mickey Mouse’ and ‘Post Acid’) had me frothing at the mouth. His DIY ethos, Lo-Fi slacker approach and crazy concert antics had me intrigued.

Kicking off 2010′s studio effort with stereo-typical-proto-punk tune ‘King of the Beach’ gives the listener a hint to what ‘Wavves’ is all about; 60′s-by-way-of-90′s punk forms the basis of the album, with tracks like ‘Super Soaker’, ‘Post Acid’ and ‘Idiot’ backing up the opener with some furious aural assaults.

Williams may be traveling a well trodden road on occasions, yet his ability to slip between the role of indie crooner (‘When Will You Come’ or ‘Convertible Balloon’) eclectic-mind melter (‘Baseball Cards’, ‘Mickey Mouse’) and his default the punk monikier without any effort seems both curious and inventive.

It’s hard to escape the nostalgic feeling that this album gives me, and while I feel incredibly lazy making comparisons to other artists when summarising albums – even one that displays it’s influences so obviously – on it’s own merits ‘King of the Beach’ is 36 minutes of the most pleasing and enjoyable (Read:AMAZING) music I’ve heard in a very, very long time.

Take in the glorious ‘Post Acid’ below. ‘King of the Beach’ is released early August through Fat Possum Records.