featuring; the horrors

EASILY one of the bands i am MOST anticipating at this years big day out, is THE HORRORS. ask anyone. seriously do, they’ll all say ‘crustt? oh yeah, she’s going for THE HORRORS’. and for damn good reason. they’re awesome.

i’ve spoken just a little about them on this here blog, but i can always spout more. One of the main reasons i’ve become so fond of them, is their second album primary colours. i found it to be one of the most well-crafted records of last year, not mentioning the fact that their tracks are just great. they’ve explored a much more mellow sound on this record, something i think they needed to if they wanted to be seen as a serious act, instead of a teenage fad.

their first album strange house erupted in england amidst a WAVE of hype. and with hype comes much danger. the debut album has a very erratic and frantic feel; there’s an immediacy and urgency in every track, even the more experimental ones like GIL SLEEPING. and whilst the experimental on strange house sounds spooky and eerie, experimental on primary colours sounds courageous, cue: SEA WITHIN A SEA.

but enough of my nonsense, the ONLY WAY you’ll be convinced to see (or was that sea?) them is to hear them. i’m not sure how they fare live, so expect either high praise or scathing reviews. but suffice to say, i’m thrilled; i never thought they’d set foot in australia, they’ve only just seemed to have made an impression in our fair country.

COUNT IN FIVES | strange house

SCARLET FIELDS | primary colours

part with your funds! | the horrors online

2009; a musical retrospective part two

wow. the final two have SNUCK up on me today! but i can assure you all that these albums are easily my favourites of the year. and really, the two can be interchangeable for the number one spot – it’s so HARD to pick out one, so i won’t number them. they’re both tremendous. but anyway, enough of my nonsense introductions and ONTO THE WINNERS!

THE HORRORS / primary colours

This is SUCH an incredible album. if we were to make a comparison between this and their previous strange house - there would be none. this is EASILY so much better – a more mature sound for sure. Perhaps different from their debut, primary colours seems to focus more on the music, rather than creating the kooky, gothic atmosphere they were renowned for. It’s safe to say that the tracks on this albums are a lot more digestible and seem to throw back to post-punk and garage influences (which i HIGHLY approve of) And it’s not all just heavy distortion and clashing cymbals, there’s a bit of the old synth thrown in on tracks like MIRRORS IMAGE and WHO CAN SAY. but the track that really shows their growth is easily SEA WITHIN A SEA, the 8 minute epic that has it all. Low points are very difficult to come by, each track falls into place easily, but perhaps the only downside is the plodding I ONLY THINK OF YOU. of course, it’s overshadowed by the GOODNESS of the rest of this stellar album, with tracks like the tense NEW ICE AGE and the JOY DIVISION-ESQUE SCARLET FIELDS as stand-outs. SUCH QUALITY! go and buy it. ay-sap.

LEADER CHEETAH / the sunspot letters

i think we ALL knew that this would be ranking quite highly on the old list, considering it did come in at number 2 on my favourite album of the noughties. thus, it would be quite illogical for it to NOT be number 1. I think i might’ve already spoken a lot about this album, so i won’t repeat myself again. i’d just like to congratulate the lads once again on creating such a wonderfully atmospheric and well-constructed debut album. if you would like to read my extended works on this terrific collection of musical stylings, go here and read in detail.

and there we have it! and no ANIMAL COLLECTIVE, GRIZZLY BEAR or FLAMING LIPS in sight. in case you were wondering, the runner up album to this wonderful lot was the very catchy and dance-based attempt from the energetic YEAH YEAH YEAHS – it’s blitz! only just missing out on an entry, it’s still a great album and gets applause from me for trying something new and not reverting back to their old punk-clash or …whatever show your bones was meant to be. there’s no denying that ZERO and HEADS WILL ROLL are awesome tracks and even the slower ones like HYSTERIC show off ms karen o’s lovely vocals.

stay tuned lovely children, a review of their concert will be up tomorrow. i would post sooner, but considering they’re only performing tonight, it’s a tad difficult to give an accurate picture. i hope you enjoyed the brief countdown – it was certainly less stressful than the MARATHON that was the best of the noughties.

2009; a musical retrospective part one

so 2009 was a year that held a lot of fairly hyped albums. merriweather post pavillion, humbug, veckatimist…the list goes on and on. HOWEVER. when it comes to my personal favourite albums of 2009, none of the aforementioned are included. despite being ‘critically acclaimed’ and whatever else, they just don’t rank highly on my list. i don’t really GET ANIMAL COLLECTIVE all of the time, humbug sounded like a british QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE to me and i’m still up in the air on GRIZZLY BEAR at this juncture.

if you know anything about me, my choices probably won’t come as a surprise. and i’ve already spoken about a lot of them in other posts, so i figured i wouldn’t subject you all to a repeated word-smashing and keep them brief. SO! COUNTDOWN!

5. FRANZ FERDINAND / tonight

it didn’t receive many positive reviews. and i can understand why; there really isn’t much of the old franz to be found on this record. with a much more electronic influence tonight seems to be a bit darker and more sultry than their cheekier you could have it so much better. i’ll be honest. when i first bought it (with MUCH anticipation) i was really disppointed. i had been waiting for more classic franz and found this weird mutant synth sound. turns out, it was just one of those albums that after a few more listens (perhaps letting it stew in the old mindtank for a while) is actually pretty damn fine. i applaud the lads for taking a step away from their usual guitar and drum set up and diving into some synths and electric stuff; the album version of LUCID DREAMS (an epic 8 minutes) starts out as traditional franz, but descends into a chaotic and hypnotic pattern of beats and distortion. KATHERINE KISS ME shows their acoustic talent which, i HOPE they explore further sometime soon. it’s not their best work, but i still enjoy it, HENCE why it’s on the list. and the fact that it’s franz probably helps too.

4. PHOENIX / wolfgang amadeus phoenix

placing a very respectable number 8 on pitchfork’s best albums of 2009, this album has been widely celebrated and RIGHTLY SO! it’s a very cheerful record that is so damn infectious that it’s impossible not to move in some way. right from the opener LISZTOMANIA, the album remains on. no track skipping here if you please. each of the tracks just fit together so nicely. for example. 1901 followed by the sultry FENCES which leads onto ROME. even the instrumental LOVE LIKE A SUNSET PT 1 doesn’t feel out of place. i love the pop sound that PHOENIX have carved out for themselves on this album too – it’s pop, but heartfelt and sometimes heartwrenching pop all with a cheerful riff to make it all better. it’s i think one word to describe ths album would probably be consistent. it’s quality the whole way through.

3. WOLF & CUB / science and sorcery

this album was so CLOSE to being included in my best of the noughties list and only missed out because i thought it might be too soon to include many albums released this year. they may need time to marinate. but i can safely say that this album is very VERY deserving of a best of 09 label. i think the second full length from these guys has a lot more direction than the somewhat bumbling VESSELS had. it’s the perfect mix of their trademark psychedelic sound and a more structured song format. even the insane drum jam at the end of WHAT ARE THEY RUNNING doesn’t sound like self-indulgent wanking, it sounds pretty damn awesome. a lot of the tracks on this album have huge layers of sound and even after numerous listens i still hear new stuff, which is always a good sign. science and sorcery could maybe be split into two halves. the typically structured, guitar/drum romps (like BLOOD and LOOSEST OF GOOSES (GO ON YOUR OWN) and then the more experimental synth/psychedelic trips of RESTLESS SONS and HEART. it probably isn’t everyone’s cup of tea (i know i don’t like tea) but they certainly have a very unique sound. plus, mr joel byrne’s fabulous yelp/wail just gets me.

so there we have it! the top 2 will be revealed tomorrow with much gusto! just to make you wait a smidgeon longer.