Album for today… Mission of Burma – Vs [1982]

// August 27th, 2010 // No Comments » // Music Reviews

Stewart Lee‘s excellent new book How I escaped My Certain Fate, The Lives and Deaths of a Stand-Up Comedian takes the first part of its title from a song by American post-punk band Mission of Burma. The comedian recently delivered his own version of that song (“That’s How I Escaped My Certain Fate”), backed by Franz Ferdinand, to close a special gig at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre. My acquaintance with Mission of Burma had been almost non-existent up until that moment. I tracked down both 1981′s Signals, Calls and Marches and Vs from 1982 and was immediately very glad that I had. Comparisons with The Clash are probably inevitable and the band’s influence on later artists such as Nirvana, R.E.M. and the Throwing Muses is easy to see. Vs is an enthralling and cathartic 53 minutes which still sounds as vital in 2010 as it must have done in 1982.

Proper release for Dark Night of the Soul

// July 13th, 2010 // No Comments » // Music Reviews

After a lengthy legal dispute between EMI records and the artist Danger Mouse, his collaborative album (with Mark Linkous, AKA Sparklehorse and David Lynch …. yes, that one) Dark Night of the Soul [link] has finally been given a proper release. It featured in my list of favourite albums of last year and this release may give me an excuse to repeat it in this year’s list too. Given the title of the record and the fact that both Mark Linkous and guest vocalist Vic Chesnutt committed suicide within the last year you might be forgiven for dismissing it as being rather bleak. While there is certainly a searching introspective undercurrent throughout, the record is also inspiringly beautiful.
(more…)

Album for today… Shearwater – Rook [2008]

// July 9th, 2010 // No Comments » // Music Reviews

I first heard these songs around 6 months ago and they promptly got lost among the playlists I was going through at the time in order to compile my Festive 50. However, I’m now on my 3rd listen of the week. Shearwater are from Austin, Texas and Rooks was their 5th album release. You could characterise them as melancholic indie rockers with a taste for the baroque and a liking for unconventional instruments. The most startling facet of this album is the vocal delivery of singer, Jonathan Meiburg. He’s been described as being like a cross between Antony Hegarty and Jeff Buckley and his lyrics lend a slight otherworldliness  to this brilliant album. Below this short article I’m pasting a 4 track video (originally from NPR Music) by the band.
(more…)

The Festive 50

// December 18th, 2009 // No Comments » // Music Reviews

I must have heard upwards of 150 new release albums during the course of 2009. Listed below are the 50 albums I kept returning to and consider to be the best of the year. In recognition of the late John Peel, I’m christening this post the Festive 50.

Mainstream commercial music may be controlled by Simon Cowell (or as I think of him, the Beast) but as the collection of sublime albums below testifies, the alternative scene is as strong as it ever has been. These 50 albums could quite happily keep me going for years on a desert island but if I had to select a few for special praise I think I’d go for those releases by The Decemberists, Bill Callahan, Malcolm Middleton and Grizzly Bear as being those I’ve gone back to the most.
(more…)

Malcolm Middleton, Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh (27th Aug 2009)

// September 3rd, 2009 // No Comments » // Edinburgh, Music Reviews

It has actually been a fairly good year for gigs in Edinburgh so far. Scotland’s capital city has long been living in the shadow of Glasgow when it comes to live music, both in terms of the venues available and the calibre of artists those venues tend to attract. This year I’ve seen superb Edinburgh shows by Antony and the Johnsons, PJ Harvey and John Parish, Elbow, Nick Harper, Kristin Hersh and also, last Thursday evening (27th Aug) Malcolm Middleton.
(more…)