Album Review: Warpaint - Warpaint (2014)

LA-based indie rockers Warpaint first crossed my radar a few years back when I heard their inspired cover of David Bowie's 'Ashes to Ashes', and a superb track called 'Undertow', which was a single off the band's full-length debut The Fool. I never got around to picking up a copy of The Fool, but that initial exposure to Warpaint left a big enough impression for me to grab a download of the band's eponymous second album when it was released earlier this year.

Produced by Flood and mixed by Nigel Godrich, the second album has proven to be a marked success, propelling the all girl group into a whole other stratosphere from the humble origins of the low key debut – as their recent raved-about appearance at Glastonbury would tend to indicate. Warpaint, it seems, is one of the "buzz" bands of 2014, and one that offers yet more evidence that no longer is there any line between what we once called indie, and what now amounts to commercial pop, class of 2014. But I'm personally not so sure I get what all the fuss is about.

There's not really a lot wrong with the album - it's essentially lush dark atmospheric pop music, not too dissimilar to the more commercial variant offered by the Cocteau Twins all those years back. In fact you could argue that all of the album’s strongest moments have a soft-rock retro crossover feel about them.

Buzz gurls

But as much as I've tried to get on board with it, as many times as I've given it "another chance" by giving it another spin, I'm quite bored by it. It's all just a bit bland.  It ticks many of the boxes; it’s well produced, as you'd expect from a production dream team, there’s nothing offensive about it (to damn with faint praise), it’s just that nothing on the album really grabs me, nothing really screams out … "listen again" ... so, the truth is … I probably won't.

Highlights: it certainly feels like all of the best moments occur in the first half of the 12-track album – say, 'Keep It Healthy', 'Love Is To Die', and 'Biggy'. 

 

This is a great little clip and one that catches the band in an almost perfect light:
 

Album Review: No Broadcast - No Broadcast (2014)

This one came recommended by a couple of local bloggers and it’s a “name your price” download on Bandcamp, so I figured what’s to lose?

No Broadcast is a hard rocking Christchurch-based three-piece and this self-titled debut album was released digitally a few months back. The band has been together in one form or another for the best part of a decade, calling itself Anthesiac for a few years – releasing an EP titled ‘Null And Void’ under that moniker back in 2011 – before a name change to No Broadcast. An EP called ‘1736’ followed in 2013, and earlier this year a second EP, ‘Live at the Dux’, showcased the band performing live in Christchurch.

Finally getting around to a full length release, the Bandcamp blurb notes that the album was “recorded throughout the year of 2012 in Josh's garage and house” ...

The fact that the band has honed its craft with regular gigs and live performances over a prolonged period probably explains why the album itself immediately comes across as very assured for a debut release. These guys are tight, and the album feels like the culmination of many years worth of hard work.

Whatever else it is, No Broadcast is a solid set of very heavy tunes – not metal, but atmospheric hard rock, brooding and foreboding at times, with prog rock influences also at play. Classic rock touchstones abound, and the album seems to get progressively heavier, relentlessly building to the climax of the eight-minute-plus closer ‘Driven’.

Other highlights here are the opener ‘Reset The Sun’, plus ‘Realise’, which I think was an advance single, and the mid-album two-part ‘Drone’, with part two being particularly impressive in its menacing Mogwai-esque approach.

Josh Braden’s vocal, guitar playing, and production is strong throughout, while rhythm pairing Sam Hood (bass) and Chris Self (drums) lay an unyielding foundation, and I’m struggling to recall the last time I heard this much of a racket from a three piece.

Harder rock forms aren’t usually my bag ...well, not post-millennium hard rock forms anyway ... but this was well worth the trouble of the download and it took me a little by surprise. You really should grab a copy from the band’s Bandcamp page and decide for yourself.

 

No Broadcast on Bandcamp here

 

Here's 'Reset The Sun' ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elvis Should Play Ska

Sometimes when I’m surfing the net and poking around You Tube music clips I get an overwhelming desire to share my discoveries. Like anyone else really cares, right?

Perhaps that’s a childhood conditioning thing, perhaps it’s an external validation thing, or perhaps it’s something else entirely ... I dunno. I don’t really care ... it is what it is.

Anyway, I’m not usually one for posting completely random video clips to the blog – that’s more of a Facebook thing for me – but I’ve already owned up to a love of Tears For Fears on here, and well, I thought there was something slightly disturbing about this clip, and I wanted to share the cringe factor with you.

Because let’s face it, if I can’t “disturb” my reader(s) every now and again, I’m not really much of a blogger am I?

So, have you ever wondered what Curt and Roland were doing before they became emo synthpop giants? They were part of a band called Graduate and they weren’t very good ...

Here's Graduate with 'Elvis Should Play Ska' ...

WARNING: contains awkward and embarrassing 80s dance moves, proceed at own risk:

 

 

Linky Love

I noticed that the online edition of NZ Musician has posted my June/July issue Q&A with local indie god and funny man Vorn Colgan. I thought the questions I posed were really rather ordinary but Colgan’s responses were superb ... here's the link:

Q&A with Vorn Colgan (of Vorn) as featured in NZ Musician June/July 2014

Album Review: Celt Islam - Generation Bass (2014)

This is the first of two recent Earth City Recordz* label releases the blog currently has queued up for review. The other release is another instalment in the label's Future Sound of the Underground sampler series – Volume 4 – and I hope to get back to that one soon. But this one takes pride of place and is yet another cutting edge work from the label's main man, Sufi electro/dub specialist Muhammad Hamzah (aka Celt Islam).

Earlier in the year I took a look at Celt Islam's seriously good Medina EP, but Generation Bass represents something entirely different. Not only in terms of the album being rather more expansive than the EP format – featuring twelve frenetic tracks – but because it also appears to represent a move toward a much harder edge style.

Where much of Celt Islam's past work has merged electro textures with dub and softer world music signatures, Generation Bass morphs industrial strength dubstep with high tempo EDM in a way that elevates this sound to another level of intensity altogether. It doesn’t sacrifice a commitment to global sounds – a wide variety of “world” music influences remain intact – yet it also feels quite different to past work ... heavier, more urgent. In short, Generation Bass feels like progression, a genuine step forward for Celt Islam.

The album opens as it means to go on, instantly reaching for the jugular on the highly charged dubstep-infused 'Dub Virus', followed by the sub-rattling 'Ghettoblaster', which does exactly what it says on the tin. They’re clear highlights and a great choice as an opening pairing, but there's no let up all the way through to album closer ‘Energize’. With no obvious catch-yer-breath chill out moment, this is relentless high bpm electro dub of an almost post apocalyptic nature.

If Celt Islam’s music is all about sending a message – and it is, the message has always been one of respect, tolerance, and inclusiveness – then right now it appears that something is under this man’s skin, and right now it seems he’s as mad as hell.

And why wouldn’t he be when every day it feels like nobody is listening? When every day (on a global scale) there’s another new conflict? When every day murder, hatred, and division is rife just about everywhere you care to look ... when you’ve reached the stage where you can no longer trust your own government or its puppets in the mainstream media?

Generation Bass, whatever else it is, feels as though it was a cathartic exercise for the man who made it.

Other highlights include ‘Cosmonaut’, ‘Earth Tribe’ and ‘Interstellar Nomad’, but there isn't really any filler on what amounts to a take-no-prisoners no-holds-barred beast of an album.

My copy of the album is an advance release for preview, so it’s not quite out yet ... but keep an eye on the Earth City Recordz Bandcamp page ... and maybe grab a couple of the label’s other releases while you wait.

* belated postscript/update 27 August 2014: it turns out Generation Bass was released on Urban Sedated Records - not Earth City Recordz. This review was written pre-release and I just presumed Earth City Recordz would release and distribute as per the case with much of (but not all of) Celt Islam's previous work ...

On My Radio

Fantastic news this week that 2-tone legends The Selecter will open a six-date tour of Australia with three gigs in NZ this October – one each for Christchurch, Wellington, and Auckland. For me this is a bucket list gig, up there with The Specials in Godzone back in 2009. I’ve always believed that The Selecter and The Specials were/are the most authentic acts of the late 70s ska explosion. I didn’t mind missing out on The Beat (a few months back) and I never really warmed to Madness, but there was a degree of political nous and serious social commentary present in the music of The Specials and The Selecter that elevated both bands to a height other acts of the era never quite attained ...

PRESS RELEASE:

Metropolis Touring and Tombowler proudly present:

TOO MUCH PRESSURE – 35th Anniversary Tour!

2-Tone Legends The Selecter will return to Australia this October on their Too Much Pressure 35th Anniversary Tour!

One of the most vital, visceral and important ska / 2-Tone acts ever, The Selecter are fronted by the female icon of the 2-Tone era, Pauline Black (cited as a prime influence by No Doubt’s Gwen Stefani) and Arthur 'Gaps' Hendrickson. Mixing punk, ska and reggae, The Selecter reflected the social and political issues of the early Thatcher years in Britain and gave a voice to disaffected youth across the racial divide that still rings true today.

The Selecter burst onto the ska scene in March 1979 with the self titled song on the flipside of The Specials 'Gangsters' (the debut release on 2-Tone Records). They followed that in October with their own single, the skankin’ classic 'On My Radio'. And in February 1980 they released their classic debut album Too Much Pressure which spawned the timeless - 'Three Minute Hero', 'Missing Words' and of course 'Too Much Pressure'. It will be played IN FULL along with a special encore of all your favourites from their extensive back catalogue!

Pauline Black “We thought our 35th anniversary would be the perfect time to revisit our very first album Too Much Pressure and perform it in full…for the very first time! We can’t wait to get on the road to bring our message of multiculturalism from across 4 decades to venues up and down the land. See you there!”

After hitting Australian shores in 2012 for the first time ever, the band have jumped at the chance to return to a country filled with 2-Tone lovers. They will kick things off with three shows in New Zealand, where they are venturing for the first time before playing every capital city in Oz. As anyone who came along last time knows this isn’t a band simply going through the motions – they still put every bit of energy they have into their shows and deliver the ska goodness!

"The pit and circle of sweaty dancers threatened to spin out of control." Coachella Review

"A joyous rude-boy revue from an act as slick and brash as their shiny silver suits." GQ Magazine

LOCAL DATES:

Thursday 8th October – DuxLive – Christchurch NZ

Friday 10th October – Bodega – Wellington - NZ

Saturday 11th October – The Studio – Auckland NZ

www.theselecter.net / www.metropolistouring.com / www.tombowler.com.au

 

 

Blog update, Me, and Mrs Jones ...

The blog has been a little neglected lately. You may have noticed. Usually I’m pretty anal about regular updates or posts – even if it is just an album review or two to keep things ticking over. But last month was the first time in two full years where everythingsgonegreen fell short of its self-imposed minimum quota of four posts per month. Ah well ...

It isn’t as though your humble blogger hasn’t been busy. So much so, whenever I’ve thought about the blog it’s amounted to a shrug of the shoulders and a ... “nah, can’t really be arsed” (that’s a little voice in my head, not anything I said out loud).

But with a whole raft of real life issues to contend with – a short family holiday, a cancer scare/biopsy, ongoing health dramas for a teenage daughter, the tragic accidental death of a close friend, some DIY, World Cup footy, and the small matter of successfully breaking free of my last remaining addiction (nicotine) – you might say I’ve had a lot on my plate ... and then there’s the day job.

I’ve also started a new relationship with another publication. I’ve been moonlighting. I’ve been seeing “someone else”. Breaking out from the bosom of everythingsgonegreen and contributing words for NZ Musician magazine. That in itself has taken me beyond a comfort zone and presented fresh challenges. When I write album reviews for the blog it’s simple; I ramble ... I have as much space as I like to say whatever I like ... whenever I like ... about whatever album I like. There are no rules and no word count restrictions. I’m the boss of me.

With NZ Musician it’s quite different; I have no idea what album I’ll be sent to review, or even how many. I have to say what I want to say with a maximum of around 300 words, and the brief includes trying to be “positive wherever possible” or to “view it from the angle of the audience it WILL appeal to”. Which is fair enough. It’s a bi-monthly publication with limited space, and whatever else it is it’s a magazine about NZ music for NZ musicians. It pushes the boat out for local content far more than any other “local” music publication currently in print form (say Groove Guide, The Fold, Rip It Up). You could call it “loyal”.

For the most recent edition (June/July) I reviewed new releases from exceptional Wellington-based band Vorn, and Melbourne-based Kiwi rockers Bonjah. I also posed a few questions for a two-page Q&A spread with Vorn Colgan (of Vorn). For the next edition I have a CD/DVD/new release from another Wellington-based musician, a solo artist, and my first impression of that one is that it’s going to be especially hard to stick to the “positive” brief. Thankfully I have a word count to adhere to.

More generally, chatting (online) with members of the small editorial team at NZ Musician has been interesting. The magazine exists only due to the hard work of a few key individuals yet its muso-centric starting point is very unique, and I think that point of difference is actually quite important for the industry here in NZ. It would be great if more outlets stocked it, despite it being readily available around Auckland and the upper North Island, only The Rock Shop and Slowboat Records help out with distribution in Wellington. For a quality glossy pick-me-up, that's a real shame.

So anyway, everythingsgonegreen is back, for now at least. I will upload (on the blog) the work I’ve done for NZ Musician at some stage – but not until the next issue is in circulation, as I guess that gives the magazine some form of interim exclusivity (for what that's worth!). In the meantime I also intend to jot down a few words for the sole benefit of the blog, to get things back on a regular footing, with regular posts.

But I really can’t be sure of that either ...

Album Review: Al Dobson Jr. - Sounds from the Village Volume 1 (2014)

South London DJ/producer Al Dobson Jr certainly gets around. It seems he's everywhere at the moment – with two brand new album releases and a couple of high profile Boiler Room sets behind him, along with the buzz being generated by the heavyweight likes of Mixmag, XLR8R, FACT, and Resident Advisor, he's very much a man of the moment.

Fresh from dropping a curtain raiser for the fledgling Rhythm Section International label, an album called Rye Lane Volume One, we get this one, Sounds from the Village Volume 1, a second full-length release, this time on Kutmah's IZWID imprint. There were 2013 collaborations with Creole - on the experimental Japanese-themed Japan Project - and Tenderlonious - four tracks on a shared release, and it’s fair to say Dobson Jr’s current profile and status as a genuine up and comer is hard earned and well deserved.

 

Quite often these new releases come with promo blurbs so far wide of the mark it renders them rather pointless, but IZWID's own description of Dobson Jr's album nails it in a way that almost makes this review utterly superfluous. I honestly can’t think of a better way to describe what we get on Sounds from the Village than … “cosmic vocal rips and a myriad of loose, soul-infused beat tape-style sketches with its digital flourishes”…

Each and every one of those sample-licious “vocal rips” blend beautifully with the bass-centric rhythmic foundations underpinning everything else, while those “digital flourishes” consist of loops that glisten with washes of warm synth and a host of other glitchy bits and bobs. This is one part soulful-5am-vibe, and two parts dirty funk leftovers, with a sense of pure decadence right at its core.

After an opening couple of minutes (and tracks) so laid back they’re practically horizontal, the highlights start to emerge, and it’s an album that steadily builds in momentum to become a rich and warm listening experience.

The production from label guru Kutmah and Dobson Jr himself is pristine, and as is the IZWID way, Kutmah contributes wider design and cover art, which LA-based collective HIT+RUN will hand-print on a chipboard jacket … (er, not quite sure how that works, but obviously this is for vinyl only copies and not something you’ll get with a download or anything … which I sincerely hope goes without saying!).

The best tracks here are ‘Dunza Blues’, ‘Maiysha’, ‘Sensi Block’, ‘Work Together’ and ‘Tomorrow’, but even some of the shorter tracks, some of the more experimental half formed ideas resonate in a way they probably really shouldn’t.

So if I have a small criticism it’s exactly that. Some of these tracks do actually feel slightly less than fully formed – just as they’re warming to their task they abruptly expire and we’re immediately onto the next way-too-short groove. I get that sometimes less is more, but equally, with vibes this good, sometimes more is also more. The entire 15 track album is over in a tick over 33 minutes, so it is fairly short by album standards.

 

Then again, perhaps that’s part of its charm. If brevity is the source of any genuine frustration, why not just flip it over or press “repeat play”? …

Download Sounds from the Village Volume 1 here

 

And also from IZWID, there’s this little beauty, Seven Davis Jr doing Prince’s 'Controversy', this has been out six months or so now, but it’s a freebie download so you know what you should do …

Download Seven Davis Jr – 'Controversy' here

Al Dobson Jr Boiler Room DJ Set:

 

The Analogue Fakir - 'Dead Souls'

I was fortunate enough to be sent a copy of the new Celt Islam album, Generation Bass, over the weekend, and I’ll get around to reviewing it here sometime in the next couple of weeks. Regular readers of the blog will already be familiar with everythingsgonegreen’s obsession with this extraordinary artist, but here he is in his other guise, as The Analogue Fakir, with a recent tribute track to Joy Division, ‘Dead Souls’ …

 

 

Classic Album Review: Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes (1982)

Not quite like anything else around at the time, this superb self-titled debut album caused something of a minor stir when first released in 1982. Combining garage pop attitudes and production values with something that could best be described as acoustic folk punk, the Violent Femmes present us with a bold set of stories (occasionally x-rated) about pubescent sexual insecurities, adolescent rebellion, drug-taking, and all-round teenage angst. You know – all of the usual daily dilemmas and standard issues confronting the average Milwaukee schoolboy of any given generation.

Songwriter and vocalist Gordon Gano had a knack for that old hammer-nail-head thing, and the strength of this album is the raw and direct confessional nature of his lyrics. Always challenging, frequently confrontational, and laced with humour, the words are ably backed up by a solid set of tunes, with plenty of quirky and interesting facets to the band’s overall sound – see percussion, xylophone, and unusual acoustic bass. The band employs various loud-soft-loud teases, plus repeated and often explosive changes in pace, an MO later mastered by the likes of The Pixies.

The album would become something of a college radio playlist favourite for the best part of the next decade, and the Femmes for a short period following this album’s release built up a relatively sizable following largely through word of mouth and limited underground/non-mainstream level exposure.

The band’s career proved very fragmented in the end, the past three decades having been littered with fall outs, splits, and repeated attempts to reunite. There was a particularly public and bitter falling out in 2007 when Gano allowed ‘Blister In The Sun’ to be used as an advertising jingle for fast foods chain ‘Wendy’s’ – much to the shame and chagrin of the other rather more principled members of the band.

The Violent Femmes never again scaled the critical and commercial heights reached here, and despite attempts to reinvent themselves on more experimental later works, they perhaps suffered from being typecast too soon, and to some extent the band was viewed as a one-dimensional one-trick pony. Whatever, we’re left to reflect on what essentially became an unfulfilled promise.

‘Blister In The Sun’, the opening track, is one of the album’s genuine highlights, but look out too for ‘Kiss Off’, ‘Add It Up’, ‘Please Do Not Go’, ‘Prove My Love’, and ‘Gone Daddy Gone’. My version of the CD includes two excellent bonus tracks, ‘Ugly’, and ‘Gimme The Car’.