Under The Influence

First impressions scream Beck - his voice is really similar in parts and the production is quite different from your run of the mill work. Generally quite mellow, certainly the first half is anyway. The deeper you get into it the rockier it becomes - eg 850 Commando (I knew a guy that had one of those once, probably still does - hell of a bike).

The keys in The Dartmouth Soundsystem sound like a Check Your Head era Beastie Boys lick. I just noticed that there are lots of electronic beats in the production. The more I listen the more diverse I realise this is. I prefer the more downbeat stuff, there are lots of lovely layers in the production. Having said that I enjoyed You'll Never Come Back which verges more on black/sludge metal.

Of course, the style of the track doesn't really matter. What matters is that there are pop hooks, and he has those in abundance.

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.

Strangely Fleetwood Mac / The Eagles were the first things that came to mind on first listen. It's not quite what I expected. That's not entirely true because I'd watched a couple of their videos on youtube a while back and I now recall it being something like this. I was introduced to these guys through their exceptional live acoustic album, Radio Radio TV Sleep (one of the most beautiful albums I've ever heard). This is much rockier - actually that's why I've put off listening to this for so long, their acoustic stuff is just so damned good I figured it would be impossible to top.

I think I still prefer the raw stripped down innocence of Radio Radio TV Sleep though there's plenty of lovely stuff to explore here. The 70s sound is definitely carried the whole way through the work. I like their chunky guitar distortion. Some of the tracks, Music In Me being a prime example, are adorned with that beautiful string sound that I've come to demand from the Norwegians.

Yeah, it's growing on me - agreeable sounds for the rest of my summer.

Just look at his name! "When you're Hobo Low there ain't nowhere to go, there ain't nuttin lower than Hobo Low." I think that lyric alone should give a pretty good insight into Seasick Steve's sound.

Naturally he has plenty of tales to tell. In Dog House Boogie we're treated to a synopsis of his life and the album is rounded off with a cool little story about a dog he once had.

This is some of the coolest blues I've ever heard. It's just got a great blues attitude - it works so well when it's written/performed by someone who's actually lived the life. Looking at my itunes I've basically just gone through and given everything my top rating.

If there's only one blues album you ever listen to, make it this one. It really is that good.

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 know, I know, this is old news. I've listened to the album through before - it's just that this is the first time I've had my very own copy to enjoy.

This stuff is good. I've listened to too much Brit rock that really hasn't done much for me of late (I'm looking at you Arctic Monkeys) - listening to this again restores my faith in the genre. I think half the tracks on here were hits last summer, rightfully so too. It's fun. Silly fun with great pop hooks.

Chelsea Dagger is a top lads-down-at-the-pub-sing-a-long track. Overall it got a bit boring towards the end - but mostly because I've bombarded with this stuff so many times before that I already know the whole thing off by heart.

The first thing that springs to mind is that this it Mazzy Starish but I don't know where I get that from. It's far too light and fluffy for Mazzy Star. I think it's probably because it sounds so pretty. There's a nice vintage air about the sound that makes it feel kinda 50s. Great use of Hammond Organ.

The title track just made me realise what this reminds me of - it's The Smiths. The Let's Get Out of This Country sentiment spills over into the following track. Wow, great lyric - "You can't see that I'm just the same, as all the stupid people who you hate."

They've gone for a really full noisy production - somewhat like Go Team!, though not as pronounced.

I think this one is going to become a favourite.

I stumbled across Joan on the internet one day and was very impressed by the few samples I heard... then I forgot about her/them. It was seeing them billed for Rock Werchter that refuelled my interest.

It sits reasonably close to standard american, piano playing female pop rock, but the deviation is wide enough that one has to give it more attention. Eternal Flame jumped out at me straight away - very interesting chord progression. The whole thing is quite dark.

Listening to it again I think that it was the loss of the subtleties in the concert killed a bit of the inspiration for me. This is actually really cool.

When people mention acapella covers I normally cover my ears and start rocking back and forth. Even though I love covers I feel that I'm not strong enough to endure another bad acapella cover song. Luckily the good folk in Leuven picked a good one for me to enjoy this time round.

In covering some of my absolute favourites (such as Enjoy The Silence) you're heading into seriously dangerous territory. It just works though. The arrangements are lovely. I guess it's cheesy - but it's so damn beautiful.

In all honestly once I started I simply couldn't turn it off.

Feel like I've heard Parentheses before - very catchy little melody. Cute lyric too "And when you're holding me, we make a pair of Parentheses". Lots of the rhythms are really broken - almost dub step in places. Kicks are supplemented with lots of finger clicks and hand claps. The synth sound is almost New (Old) Wave.

Last track on the album, True Affection, really caught my attention on the first listen, though it's not necessarily typical of the sound. Actually, nothing on here seems to be typical of the sound. Oow, I like Fists Up now.

In some ways it feels really immature - but it's just so darn cute that you can't help but like it.