GeekWeekMusicChic

Being a cynical know-it-all holier-than-thou loser, I was late to the Primary Colours party, despite the positive feeling that it was met with by many. But when I did listen at last, I was amazed. It was a complete rebirth. Finally coming back to the present day, Skying is not quite the same leap of style that occurred between the first two albums - but then what could be?

The first thing that hits you when you pop on the album is the pace and space, particularly in the opener ‘Changing the Rain’. The listener can immediately realise why the album is titled Skying. It soars and floats on a cloud of reverb, sleigh bells and airy melody. This continues in the second track, with its tinny keyboards and somewhat clearer vocals - ‘now the echoes are endless’ croons Faris, and he’s not wrong.

However, by the beginning of ‘Endless Blue’ you begin to feel lulled, and there is danger of the album feeling one-dimensional. Once again, the title feels self-referential until almost telepathically, then, the track audibly changes gear a minute and forty seconds or so into the track. The song picks up pace, the guitars come to the fore and the extra kick makes this one of the standout tracks.

The track some may be familiar with already is first single Still Life. It comes across as one of the more deliberate tracks, with its steady insistent beat, and the backward-sounding guitars giving way to a chiming chorus - ‘when you wake up you will find me’ and a synth riff. It is well executed and gives the album a nice lift when it needs it. 

The rest of the album is also strong - the Doors-like ‘Moving Away’ which clocks in at eight and a half minutes and walks the fine line between self indulgent noodling and artistic experimentation, and closer ‘Oceans Burning’ sounds something like Pink Floyd attempting to breed with Stone Roses, whilst on a massive comedown.

And there lies the intrigue of this album - it really proves tough to tie together the influences of this album and comparisons when they can seem so disparate. There is a big dose of early 90s sound in places, but splashes of prog and the classic 60s garage rock influence still remains, though deeply buried. The lyrics aren’t audible much of the time, but that doesn’t matter much when everything sounds so echoing, messy, stoned, yet somehow as if it has been carefully thought through and placed. 

This album, then, is a triumph of sound and style. The Horrors, against the odds perhaps, are fast becoming a true cult band of the era, and it is their broad reach and their willingness to be dynamic that has ensured this.

7.5/10

Check Out: Endless Blue, Still Life, You Said.

One unproductive Friday afternoon, something more interesting than most of the events of the day happened - on Facebook, an innocuous looking link to arcticmonkeys.com appeared. What happened next, I’m sure you can guess, is that the video for the new song ‘Brick By Brick’ appeared, and a frantic scramble to try to find out more information ensued.

The deliverance of some new Arctic Monkeys material, and the undeniable punch of the song contributed to a great deal of excitement, proclamations of ‘that’s how you do a lead single’ and longing for more. The manner in which Humbug alienated many long time Arctic Monkeys fans perversely made me rather happy and increased my enjoyment of an album which was already full of quality and invention. It’s not that I’m a snob, it’s just really satisfying to see a band who aren’t afraid to piss of their fans in order to develop their sound. The new song, comes across as retaining elements of the dense, heavy sound of Humbug, whilst seeming to incorporate a joyous, unabashedly head-shaking 60’s pop sound. I loved it immediately and wanted to dance ridiculously around the room to it. 

Having listened to it a fair few times now, I still love it, I still want to dance around to it, but my feelings of excitement have been somewhat tempered. The initial happiness and impact of the revelation of the song was probably enough to make me ignore some other factors. As many have pointed out, there is little in the way of subtlety in the song, lyrically in particular. Whilst (nearly) no one wishes for a return of the social realist kitchen sink dramatics of Alex Turner’s earlier lyrics, the repeated confession that the Monkeys ‘want to rock and roll’ probably won’t burst into the imagination in the same way as their usual sentiments might. As with the earlier release of ‘Under Cover of Darkness’, they enjoyment that the listener feels is undeniable, they are both 3-4 minute-ish slices of hooky, pop glory and in that respect are ideal lead tracks and if there is any justice (there isn’t) they will be chart and radio bothering tracks for weeks to come. However, you can’t help but hold out hope that the rest of the respective albums don’t come out too similarly. Thus, there has been much promised in the two new tracks from these titans of rock/alternative/whatever you decide to call it music with respect to the new albums, and what we have been given are two good, exciting pop tracks that (we hope) won’t be our favourite on the albums, but certainly have served to pique the anticipation of anyone listening.

Grace - noun

1. elegance or beauty of form, manner, motion, or action.

2. a pleasing or attractive quality or endowment.

This album describes itself.

What a way to start a blog. I guess that Grace is strange as far as albums go as it is both a first and last album, due to the tragic death of Mr Buckley. But it’s good enough to stand as something to be immensely proud of and fitting at either of those sides of a career. Grace, above all, without meaning to sound pretentious, is a mood. You know when it’s the time to listen to Grace. It’ll come to you when you need a cure for a bleak mood, or when you need to sleep but feel like it may never come, or even when you’re joyful and elated and buoyant. In short it is a once in a lifetime album where every track resonates with melancholy and you feel like you have to grab hold of every second of the music lest it float away.

IF I sound at this point like I’m getting too caught up in this album, going over the top perhaps, then forgive me. However, with such an expansive topic as beginnings and debuts, with all of the first albums of the modern era to call upon, it speaks volumes that Grace is the one chosen.

I’m going to avoid the temptation to go through the album track by track, fearing that I could go on for hours, and merely pick out the moments from Grace which I think make Jeff Buckley more than just a cult figure due to his early death and make him a truly important musician in a broader context. 

The most obvious track to pick out is the absolutely wonderful rendition of Hallelujah. It’s hard to talk of anything to do with this song that hasn’t already been said, but it seems that no amount of listens, no amount of covers, interpretations or talk can diminish the eerie, inescapably striking Leonard Cohen composition. Buckley’s version of John Cale’s version or Leonard Cohen’s song is the highlight in a lineage that had veered towards popular interest unavoidably. It is quite simply possibly the definitive version of one of the most touching songs ever recorded.

But the best thing is, that Hallelujah, arguably, isn’t even the highlight of the album. That honour could go to either Mojo Pin, Last Goodbye, Lover You Should’ve Come Over or… well… practically any of the tracks. So if you get the chance today, turn the lights down, put a good pair of headphones on, pour some wine, close your eyes and disappear.

We’re going to have a weekly theme, based upon the events that have happened to us, or the world in the news of the week just passed. Then, linked to this theme, there will be an analysis or recommendation of some sorts of various media that we love, like, or are just too cleverly related to the theme to miss out on. 

SO!

Mondays will be an album, past or present BUT NOT FUTURE, which means something awesome (hopefully) for you to go off to listen to, or just to scoff in derision at our choices, either of which are acceptable.

Tuesdays will be image. Hopefully as we carry on the vast majority will be taken by those working on the blog, but we may sneak in some famous art works, or some not so famous art works for that matter depending on how we feel. I guess they speak for themselves really so we will let them do so!

Wednesdays will be book reviews. Well, hopefully anyway, it depends on how many books I’ve read in the past and how many are in my arsenal. If not then I’ll just write something ridiculous as my forfeit. Why not eh?

Thursdays are Famous Thursdays, basically we talk about some kind of famous entity, celebrity, well known personality or historical person etc. Whether they’ve got right up our nose, or we adore them, as long as they’re in with the link they’re in the blog.

Fridays are films. Everything visual from short film to blockbuster, we’ll be grabbing hold of the best of the cinematic medium (and probably the worst too) and attempting to dissect it for you like some wild beast.

Saturdays are the game section. What better way to start of the relaxation of the weekend than sitting sheltered inside your house, turning the light off and pretending you’re pixels? So it’s gaming reviews, be they old new or something we’re hankering after for Saturdays.

Sunday is a bonanza! First off is Benjamin Knight, our resident new music expert (if he actually agrees to it that is) to pick out the best track he’s found this week, so expect some unheard, new, fresh music to download and grab hold of for your iPod. ALSO there will be the round up of the maybe bizarre, maybe awesome things that have happened to us this week and the theme for the coming week.

SIMPLE?! Right?

So this Monday kicks off DEBUTS AND BEGINNINGS. I doubt we need to explain but it feels suitable to us all and so expect the best debut albums, books etc etc

-Dan and Richie