Under The Influence

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.

Hang on, let me just wipe the tear from my eye. What a sad collection of songs. Damn, it sure is strikingly beautiful - "I could die here in your arms, but I'm not sure you're worth the sacrifice".

I love the banjo sound. Luckily it features throughout of the album. Often just meandering along, certainly never overpowering. Nothing is overpowering here. Every instrument, voice included seems to find a humble spot somewhere in the background.

Some bits of this remind me of the days when I was listening to a lot of Jim White. The better bits of Jim White that is.

Have I heard Walk On before? Is it a cover? Maybe not, it's a must hear though.

Bang! Cock/Ver 10 hits you like a kick in the teeth. The drum arrangements are downright amazing. What great interpretations - the potential for screwing this up is huge. Plenty of people have attempted this sort have stuff in the past and the end results are generally disappointing to say the least.

These guys have come up with some very inventive ways of creating the sounds - apparently they had to knock together some strange instruments to imitate the original recordings. Actually the attention to detail is phenomenal - check out the simulated acoustic scratching, inspired stuff indeed.

From what I understand this is some sort of Steve Reich related group - I think they may have performed a couple of the albums he composed. I have no idea whether he was involved with this particular project at all.

Truth be told I'm not a massive Aphex Twin fan - don't get me wrong, that's not to say I don't like the stuff I've heard. Actually I've really loved what I have heard, it's just that I've never owned any of the albums and hence I've never dedicated any real time to it. After listening to this I think that's going to be changing very soon.

Stomping punked up Klezmer, that's what it is. And it's good too, very good.

There's a massive western influence going on here - in fact I think these guys are from the states. That's what gives it it's original sound. I do love my gypsy beats, but it's great having them turned up a notch (not that it's generally required - just go to a Fanfare Ciocarlia gig to see what I mean).

Funny lyrics too - check out Not A Crime. I keep coming back to this one and I don't see that changing in the future.

This album is far too short.

It kicks off with a great Rockabilly cover of the classic Strange Fruit. Actually, I believe the whole thing is a covers album, though I certainly don't know them all.

The song selection is varied and everything is given a top reworking to sound uniquely theirs. You can hear all sorts of different musical styles buried beneath the rock exterior.

Tears Of Rage is a great bit of americana, Bob Dylan Wrote Propaganda Songs is completely amping and Need A Job hits like a kick in the teeth - sounds a lot like Ivory Springer in some respects.

I really like this.

Another strange little work. Very much a hippie album - all acoustic guitars, vocals and flutes of some description. The basis is quite traditional - reminds me of, and I'll show my ignorance here, Joan Baez. See, I really don't know very much about the style but it sounds almost medieval to me. Thing is, it's actually very dark and experimental in places.

Initially I downloaded the title track after reading a review but it's There Are Eyes Above that really jumps out at me when I listen to the album, it's a beautiful number. Hominy Grits too.

Her mad soprano vocals are all over the place which is going to make this rather inaccessible for most.

Personally I find it to be very pretty.

This is pretty off the wall. I downloaded a single track from a different album randomly the other day and was enthralled. Such an interesting sound.

Ryland Bouchard's vocal deliver reminds me of Sparklehorse - the music... well it's not like anything I've ever heard before. The whole thing has a WW2 era sound. I'm not sure if he's using old samples for it or if it's a whole new creation. Brilliant either way.

The lyrics are a extremely political commentary on the state of the world - but done in what feels like a tongue-in-cheek way. "Jesus and Hitler were in the back seat trying to make out, their tongues were twisted and tied around their mouths"

So an interesting work. Pure genius really.

Searching sets the tone of the album - soft clacks, tocks, scrapes and dings throughout. It's really dainty - very much the music box. She (Hanne) has lovely voice. A second falsetto line adorns the main vocal in many segments.

True Love is perfect - Simple off-kilter little melody/rhythm in the verse that unexpectedly slips into the plushest chorus. Boble is very French - another of my picks actually. Wonderful accordion work. Reminds me a bit of the Il Postino soundtrack (beautiful movie with a beautiful soundtrack by the way).

Similarities with Kiki Bohemia can be heard - I guess Hanne is the German version of Hannah. I wonder if she's from Berlin too (gotta love that city). Just checked Wiki - Born in Norway however the first track on her 2nd album, Rykestraße (which I've just purchased), is called Berlin.

Pretty Little Things.

This is a very hard one to describe. It's alternative rock I guess. I've been avoiding writing about this one for days because I have no idea how to describe it. I feel like I should use Wilco to set the scene. That may well just be because Spoon too, have a great camera track (I turn my Camera On). Two Sides / Monsieur Valentine is pretty country, almost sounds like Tom Petty or something.

Great beats. The songs are all really strong. Just download yourself a copy of the opening track, The Beast And Dragon, Adored, and you'll be instantly hooked. Gah! There are just too many great pop masterpieces on here. Currently listening to They Never Got You - what a great little guitar riff.

It's strange how this one has snuck up on me. I feel like I've almost never listened to it but somehow it's subversively wriggled itself into place as one of my favourite albums of the moment.

I'm not sure why/where/when/how this album came to my attention. The male singers voice is really familiar, maybe that's the association and I just can't pick it. Beautiful orchestration - I bet it's a BigBang/National Bank affiliated project (one of those Norwegian groups).

Not exactly melancholy, warmer than that - certainly very sparse. It almost feels like sitting in a conservatory. It's not raining - but everything's too wet to go outside - not that you mind though... 'cos the fire's on and it's cozy in here.

Ha! I just had a look on t'internet. Turns out that it's a couple who have locked themselves away in a cabin in the woods in Finland. It's probably fair to say they've managed to portray the atmosphere of their existence nicely then!

'Tis a lovely bit of work.