Under The Influence

Firstly, I'd just like to say thanks to Kev for pushing me back into getting this site moving again and for his great contributions so far (and to the many yet to come).

Obviously, since I last posted on here over two years ago I've listened to a lot of great new music. On my travels there's one band that I've fallen in love with and come back to time and again.

It was Death Cab for Cutie's album "Narrow Stairs" that first caught my attention - notably "I Will Posses Your Heart" with Benjamin Gibbard's lush vocals sat atop an endless driving rhythm. The production is just so spacious, a sprinkling of piano dotted throughout. And his lyrics on the album - "she holds a smile, like someone would hold a crying child", brilliant.

I've decided to upload an entirely different track from an entirely different album. I Will Follow You Into The Dark is from the older "Plans". To be honest it's not really representative of their sound. In fact it was just an unplanned, almost accidental, recording during technical difficulty downtime at the studio. It's Death Cab at their sweetest.

When I found myself chatting to Wayne Coyne before a Lips gig last year, he mentioned that the band were going to cut a cover-to-cover version of Pink Floyd's classic 'Dark Side of The Moon'. I was interested in how this was going to sound, but I didn't have to wait very long to hear the finished result.

Wayne's nephew (Dennis) and his band Stardeath & White Dwarfs help out, as do Canadian singer Peaches, and Henry Rollins. The result is (in the opinion of your reviewer), a great interpretation of a classic album, and I realise that after listening to it, this may turn many music lovers against The Lips.

Stick with it, listen to it again. You might end up liking it.

I'd heard of Jazzanova's influence, but not been lucky enough to hear much of their body of work.

This compilation has served as an eye-opening guide to the German collective, and as such, needs to be an essential component of every musicologists collection.

Spanning only three years, the group has assembled their entire remix output onto a disc that is utterly indispensable for those who appreciate their brand of innovative soul.

The featured track, 'Welcome To The Party', shows Jazzanova at their best. Originally a composition that appeared on Ubiquity's outstanding New Latinares compilation, Jazzanova turns this honest, simple piece into an extended workout, complete with a shimmering piano breakdown that would have the snootiest of jazz purists bobbing their heads and shaking their hips.

Turn the lights down low, and enjoy!

A truly lovely record, 'Hazards of Love' brings the rock opera format bang up to date. Drawing on influences as diverse as Emerson, Lake & Palmer, The Incredible String Band and Fairport Convention, this record tells the tale of a maiden knocked up by a shape–shifting beast who may be her future husband. There's also a psychotic queen and three revenge–seeking ghost kids to keep a look out for.

Grab a seat in front of the fire, stoke your Meerschaum pipe and take a trip.

'Colors' began as a short-lived series of radio commercials written and voiced at the behest of the Fuller Paint Company. The spots ran as scheduled; however, at the end of the campaign listeners began calling radio stations to request they be rebroadcast. Once word got back to Nordine, he rewrote the scripts.

Each selection runs roughly 90 seconds and represents a specific shade -- most of which are variations of those found on the primary spectrum. The record kicks off with "Olive" being hailed as "about-to-be-named color of the year by those with the nose for the new, by the passionate few."

All your mix tapes will be very happy that you've bought this strange record to flavour them with.

What a surprise, another great album from Berlin. Apparently these guys are one of Thom York's favourite. He sings a track with them on this one.

Hyper Hyper is a shout out to the great electro artists of the past (and you can hear the influence in there). It even sounds like ... oh damn, what's it called? That classic dance track I can't remember right now but I always get confused with 3 Drives.

There are lots of other interesting collaborations going on here. Maximo Park and Apparat make an appearance, as do Puppetmastaz, Berlin's famous animal puppet faced hip-hop group. I'm not sure who Siriusmo is, but the track they help out on, Déboutonner, is definitely a standout piece.

Don't Wait For Tom caught my interest straight away when it was played to me. It's so obviously a nod to Tom Waits. From the very first clatter everything about it is Tom Waits. Actually, I found that the rest of the album makes for better listening.

It's a bit novelty humour sounding in parts. I prefer the sweeter numbers myself - Karin Bergquist has a lovely voice. Nothing Is Innocent does it for me. Check out Trouble though, it's a catchy number.

Some bits of it reminded me of a later Morcheba sound. Jim White too. Hey, didn't they collaborate at some point? Hmmm, that's strange.

I went through a period where I listened to a lot of Mercury Rev, All Is Dream and Deserter's Songs in particular. In the early days I'd get the strangest feeling that I'd heard it all before. I have no idea how it worked but it felt like I was listening to something from deep in my childhood. The more I listened the more the songs became associated with Mercury Rev.

This album didn't do that to me. This sounds like Mercury Rev from the get go. That's not a bad thing, they have a unique sound and it's a pleasure to listen to. I think this is one that with a bit of work will stay with me.

Ha! In A Funny Way just did that Beach Boys thing - that drum sound like in Bat For Lashes.

It's so hard to classify anything these guys do. I love it, I really do. It's like they're able to strip the music back expose just the stuff that effects us. Then they rebuild with a layer of absurdity in place of traditional content. Those that don't try to understand are put of by this layer and those of us that do are left scratching our heads trying to figure out what it is that makes it so damn effective.

Music Midas Touch.

So, I was amongst the lucky few that got to attend Goldfrapp's dress rehearsal at the Union Chapel last night. Mmmmmmm special. Intimate affair, amazing venue, great sound and well... Goldfrapp!

She played a bit of Felt Mountain and Supernature and a lot of the new material. Damn, I had shivers running up and down my spine the whole way through Paper Bag. So great to see it played with the string quartet and two harps. Needless to say her stuff has been on heavy rotation since this morning. How had I forgotten how amazing this was?

3rd time I've seen her play, 3rd time's the charm, they say.