Under The Influence

A couple of tracks in I was pretty convinced I'd stumbled on some rather dark material in my collection - almost invoking images of Sisters of Mercy. As it went on I started to pick up restrained Bjorkesk moments in the vocals in the lead singer's tone. I'd changed my opinion by the end of the album.

I like the instrumentation used throughout. Rhodes, piano, harpsichord, snares, handclaps; I think I even spotted a dash of theremin in there. I really like the rhythmic elements they choose to throw into the mix. Prescilla has some great examples of loose acoustic beats that really work.

It's not as dark as I'd envisaged, or at least elements of it aren't. It still feels gothy/vampirey/fantasy based but it almost like it contradicts that with the lyrical work (the content being kind of urban). Oh, I don't know what's going on, but I do like it.

As a completely irrelevant aside, the first second of What's a Girl To Do sounds like it's sampled from a Beach Boys track (Sloop John B I think). Told you it was irrelevant.

I don't understand what's going on here. Is this new Jean Jacques Perrey? It certainly sounds like Perrey - on the other hand it's clearly modern.

If you've never come across his stuff before you need to go do some digging.

As I understand it he was a travelling salesman that used to demo synths way back in the day. He turned out a whole bunch of wicked and innovative stuff - E.V.A. being the most famous (I think). Air or someone do a great remix of Cosmic Bird. In fact, lots of people have remixed his stuff over the years.

I think the Plastician Mix has to be my favourite. It's got a cool swagger.

I have to admit that I've raved about Coco Rosie in the past without even really hearing them. Well I've heard them now, and I'm relieved to find that I was within my rights to take the stance I did. I'd become very familiar with Terrible Angels after randomly discovering it on an internet music service (Pandora from memory).

It strikes me how similar this is to a lot of the stuff I've been listening to in Berlin lately - Goldmund goodness like Golden Disko Ship. The fact that this is close to blues dawned on me when listening to Jesus Loves Me. This sounds so much like Sister Rosetta Tharpe that I have to wonder if it's a cover.

Acoustic guitar, twisted female vocals and beats formed from the scraps and rattles of found sounds. Every track, varied as they are, is great. Check out By Your Side, it's adorned with the sort of loop/hook that the hip-hop heads strive for.

Great to finally hear the whole work.

This reminds me of a lot of different stuff - probably because it's all over the place in terms of style. Don't get me wrong, it's stronger for it - a cohesive work. I imagine that without paying attention it probably sounds like a bit of a jumble of noises - closer inspection reveals some really intricate bits of construction.

Almost feels like Rachels (Systems Layers in particular) done on a budget. It has more variation than that though, bits of post-rock Mogwai-ish elements in there too (see All Our Base Are Belong To Them).

Just listened to Getting The Job Done. I really don't know what to think of this anymore.... though I do know that I like it.

Great little collection of cool little ditties produced by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop between 1958 and 1975. These are the guys that sat around toiling with synthesisers all day creating the sounds that would infect our child-hoods.

There are some real pearlers on here - The Panel Beaters and Geraldine are such kick ass pieces of cheesy TV theme music.

The whole sound from this era is really cool - got the Jean Jaques Perry sound going on. Damn I love those old synths.

I got this the day it came out and then only listened to it once. That's pretty stupid of me considering how much I liked her last album (and everything she's ever done). There was something about the fact that it's Timbaland produced that put me off. Not that I don't like his work, it's just that I know his sound and I just didn't want to hear Björk like that.

Declare Indepndence is the song that jumped out at me on this one. It crescendos into such a great rolling sea bound swell. I also predict that it's probably the track I'd get sick of first.

Flicking through the tracks again I can hear that it's good. This girl really knows how to turn out a great pop work.

What the hell? Where has this been hiding? This is serious stuff - dark and dirty.

Such an original sound, it's hard to describe (as all truly original music must be). Dubstep; strange pulsing rhythms. Scattered rambling vocals sit atop the low rumble that serves as the bassline. The only real recognisable sounds are the electronic kick-drum, snare and hi-hat. Weird electronic noises are dusted throughout to make up the rest. Minimal creation at its best.

I imagine that this is what listening to Photek's Solaris felt like when it first came out in the UK. Distant Lights is an absolute killer, menacing as all hell - third listen now.

I was about to go to bed and now I've got another hour of listening to do - there's no way I can stop this album part way through.

Again again!

Just a short little EP to whet the appetite. Does a fine job too.

Emasculate The Masculine is a great little bit of pop rock while The Unicorns: 2014 is a cool little futuristic space ditty. The demo version gets pretty menacing towards the end (it's cool). Has a sweet drum line somewhat like the one from that big Hot Chip track (name escapes me right now).

I was tipped off about these guys after Jakob mentioned them in an interview. I think it must be something the put in the water in Scandinavia. I once heard someone refer to the style as minimalist noodling - though that description is far too shallow for the beautiful music they create. Just have a listen to Chapter 6 - in fact take a few moments to check out the video (it's stunning).

There's a great deal of texture to the music. Most songs feature both male and female vocals / choirs / harmonies. Intricate patterns of pops and clicks form the basis of the rhythms which are then beefed up with traditional drums (amongst other things). Some of the heavier tracks, Step Aside for example, are intensified with the use of quickly repeating synthesised bass notes. Massive timbre too - subtle piano arrangements can be heard throughout and both strings and brass are used constantly.

The album is endowed with my most-listens-in-itunes medal with over 20 plays clocked up so far. I give every album at least 2 listens but by my standards that pretty much makes it an institution, one I'd be unhappy to be without.

This is one of those rare beasts, a giant long electronica track that by all rights should have done its time on Top Of The Pops. I guess in a sense it probably did. I recall hearing it at various nightclub outings over the last year. Another dark work with one of the most intriguing and addictive little hooks you're likely to hear for a while. The work is performed in waves. Dropping away to near nothingness then slowly bringing bits in until it's time for the hook again, each time reaching a climax with more detail than the last wave revealed.

My guess is that if I actually went out clubbing all the time I'd be over this track by now. But I don't, so I'm not.