Reviewed: Sons of Frida – The Bulgarian LP

Sons of Frida released The Bulgarian LP in May 2010

Download the song ‘Burn’ for free from the Insomnia Radio Daily Dose

Parisian post-rockers Sons of Frida, purveyors of beautiful musical chaos and complex aural textures, started life in 2004 and brought out their fourth album, The Bulgarian LP, earlier this year. It is equal parts dissonant anarchy, driving post-rock/math-rock and lyrics that could soundtrack a descent into madness. Despite its almost crushingly tumultuous sound, the album is cohesive and engaging, pulling you under with a riptide of noisy rock and deliciously dark tones.

There is a decidedly bi-polar feeling to this record, as it throws in occasional, fleeting moments of melodic bliss before the music descends once again into the chaos, where you find a juddering mix of clashing guitars, prominent, driving bass lines and heavy, tight drumming. From the dichotomy of dissonance and harmony, to the occasional haunting trumpet that pierces through the layers of guitars and the hint of a French accent hiding behind the English lyrics, this is a record that is in a constant struggle with itself, forever reinforcing the ever so slight discomfort that you get from such an intense musical experience.

But, while The Bulgarian LP embraces the dark fragments of the human spirit and displays them with candour, it never lets those fragments take a complete hold. Like the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel, there is a glimmer of harmony that peppers the record that can’t be shaken. The album is a glorious cacophony, a pulsing landscape of dark discord and dissatisfaction cut with the sweetest flickers of light.

[As the first proper, direct submission to missmorrisonsmix.com, The Bulgarian LP by Sons of Frida will always be special to this site; listen out for a track on the first episode of the forthcoming Miss Morrison’s Mix podcast!]

Live review: Anxieteam

Anxieteam played live at Cafe.Bar.Contemporary on Saturday 28 August 2010

Reviewed for LeftLion.co.uk

What happens when you take a German contemporary pop artist and a doodle artist from the Midlands, and give them a synth, some sample pads, a ukulele and a projector? Well, one of the most fun, light hearted and engaging gigs you’re likely to have been to in a while, for starters.

Jim Avignon and Jon Burgerman, both internationally renowned artists in their own rights, have decided to put down the pens and paintbrushes for a bit and team up to start making some music.

The evening started with support from the intricate and rhythmic guitar of Matthew Stephen Cooper, who surprised the crowd with his strong, growling voice and dark, bluesy tones. During the break between sets I chowed down on an Anxieteam-themed cupcake from Star Bakery, and I also snuck over to buy a copy of the single – a glorious vinyl double A-side picture disc, both sides lovingly designed by Jon and Jim themselves.

Before they started, the two of them went around the crowd handing out hand-drawn balloons, which they made “just in case nobody showed up, so we could still have an audience”. Thankfully, the turnout was super and things just got better from there. With Burgerman tackli

ng vocals and ukulele and Avignon on electronics (read: everything else), Anxieteam created charming and wry songs full of lyrics with far more meaning that you first realise, simple uke strummings, bleeps, bloops and ridiculously infectious synthy pop beats.

In their own words, Anxieteam “talk about the very big in terms of the very small”, and that’s just what came across as they jumped about the stage, dancing with broken umbrellas and donning angry Pac Man masks. The whimsical, lighthearted nature of their shows masks a deeper level to the whole endeavour – you get the feeling that they just want to make the world a little better in whatever way they can, and if that means singing about soya and video games, well then so be it. It certainly made me happy!

Reviewed: Mahri Autumn – ri-solv

Mahri Autumn released ri-solv in March 2010

The track ‘High Time’ is available to download for FREE on the Insomnia Radio Daily Dose (11 August 2010)

Review also published on thejustinwayneshow.com

Australian musician Marianthe Loucataris has set the bar high on her first solo endeavor with the sweeping, emotive sounds of ambient-folk record ri-solv. The album is a revealing collection of ten songs that float over your ears on a breeze of acoustic delicacy which underpins a most soulful voice that is full of quiet passion and deep yearning.

The album begins tentatively, introducing the record’s underpinning elements with the accordion-rich strains of ‘High Time’ – a flowing, folksy piece peppered with acoustic guitar, piano and Egyptian percussion (of which more will be said later on). But what really catches you is your first introduction to Loucataris’ voice, which is a beautiful, overlayed harmonic experience; she sings with purpose, but with an utterly charming reserved undertone that permeates each song with a sense of intrigue. It can at times make you feel a little voyeuristic, as if by listening to her songs you become privy to a very private form of expression, but that only serves to make the album more touching and personal. The record ebbs and flows between confidence and reservedness, but always with a delicate touch from the vocals.

As well as her strong vocal talents, what sets this record in a very interesting and rather unique light is Loucataris’ use of Egyptian percussion techniques, which reflect both her cultural heritage and her time spent studying under an Egyptian drumming master. Setting these traditional percussive sounds in a very modern soundscape makes listening all the more pleasurable, as you will hear curious sounds that fit perfectly into the context of these ambient, enveloping tracks that, honestly, can’t really be pinned onto any genre. She creates ethereal soundscapes, with overlapping vocal melodies and layer upon layer of carefully-placed instrumental and electronic elements.

I’ve spun this album many times, and it is one from which you can garner something new from each listen. From twinkling piano and gorgeous accordion drones, to the delicately plucked acoustic guitar and unique percussive elements, and of course, that astounding emotionally exposed voice, Mahri Autum’s ri-solv is a beautiful cluster of deeply heartfelt songs that are wonderful in their subtle complexity.

The album is available to download for whatever price you choose.

Reviewed: Youth Sounds – The Bit Parts EP

Youth Sounds released their debut EP, The Bit Parts EP, in the summer of 2010

Reviewed for the Insomnia Radio: Daily Dose (click to hear/download the track ‘As Strangers Would’)

Dreamy, lilting and with an occasional sharp edge, the debut EP from New Orleans’ Youth Sounds stands them in promising stead for things to come. A short but sweet endeavour at three tracks long, The Bit Parts EP is, in the varying parts that its title suggests, pop, electro and soft rock, and tugs the heartstrings whilst maintaining a very stylish and polished sound – especially for a first-time outing.

Youth Sounds are a brother-sister outfit made up of self taught musicians Erika and Federico Mejia, who honed their respective crafts in church choirs before moving on to their own project alongside Adrian Frye and Taryn Mejia, making the group very much a family affair. Erika’s delightfully soft and creamy vocals float above music that takes the EP from uplifting electro/rock, laced with synths, electric guitar and piano in ‘As Strangers Would’, to the tentative, emotive acoustic guitar-led ‘Smoke and Mirrors’ that leads into a strong, enveloping epic of a track before falling back to its timid origins, and finally to ‘What Is It Like’, a bona fide pop/rock anthem complete with twinkling chorus and piano lead, guitar fuelled backing.

What we have here is an accomplished and mature debut offering from a band that needs eyes fixed very firmly on them because they are surely bound for something great, and if they can get it this right on their first time out, just imagine what the debut album is going to bring to the table. I for one will be waiting expectantly.

Reviewed: Gold Motel – Summer House

Gold Motel released their full length album Summerhouse on 1 June 2010

Reviewed for The Justin Wayne Show and Insomnia Radio: Chicago

Well this is a little embarrassing. I was sent Gold Motel’s EP a couple of months back kindly by their lead vocalist Greta, formally of  The Hush Sound. But in the time that it’s taken me to get my act together to review the EP, they’ve gone and released a full length! Honestly, these indie bands and their organisational skills. So to try and keep up with the times, I’ve decided to forego the EP and dive straight in to writing some very nice things about their album, Summer House. And nice writing it does indeed deserve, being a lovely, sunshine-tinged jaunty escapade of a record.

Summerhouse is one of those gorgeous, jumpy boppy indie albums that will be spinning on your mp3 player all summer long just because it makes you smile. Vocals and keys are provided by Greta Morgan, who uses the former to coat the album in a golden honeyed shine, and the latter to ground it firmly in the territory of classically uplifting pop music. These combined with a duo of guitars with a surf’s-up-sounding twang and a solid rhythm section, make Gold Motel’s sound one that invokes images of California summers, floaty dresses, melted ice cream and diving into lakes in the blazing sun.

There is happiness seeping from almost every wave of this album; from Morgan’s crystal clear, lilting vocals to the close vocal harmonies with guitarist Dan, and the keyboard sounds dotting in and out of each song, Summerhouse is bursting with songs that are just dying to get stuck in your head – and they will succeed. There are a few tracks that really shine through on Summer House, like ‘Perfect in my Mind’ during which I defy anyone to resist singing along to some ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ by the end, ‘Safe in LA’ which will have you dancing like an idiot all over the shop, and ‘The Cruel One’ with its jolly piano track and heavily punctuated rhythms beneath cool and sweet vocals.

But in the end, all you really need to know is that if you need a good happy soundtrack for anything you do during this summer, just spend a while in Gold Motel’s beautifully decorated, multi-coloured Summer House.

Reviewed: Hot Fiction – Dark Room

Hot Fiction released their debut album on 7 June 2010

Reviewed for The Justin Wayne Show

Hot Fiction

UK two-piece garage rockers Hot Fiction released their crunching, lo-fi debut album ‘Dark Room’ today, which, whilst sparse in instrumentation, is rich in riffage and chock full of bluesy soul. Comprised of school friends Andy Yeoh (vocals and drums) and Simon Miller (guitar), Hot Fiction’s sound paints a picture of two lads who, upon discovering their dads’ record collections, fell in love with the great masters of rock and roll and made it their lives’ ambitions to build upon that legacy. There are flickers and glimmers all over their music that point towards their influences, from classic rock and blues as well as the more contemporary heralds of back-to-basics lo-fi rock, but none so much that they come off as easily pigeon-holed. Some might delight in reeling off a comprehensive list here of those influential flickers and glimmers, but not me – I’d rather leave the comparisons up to you, dear reader, when you listen to the record, that’s much more fun.

The album kicks off with an a cappella wail that sounds borne of the banks of the Mississippi, then settles into the steady, fuzzed up groove of Start it Off; this track sets the tone for the rest of the record – sparse, riff-orientated, heavily punctuated rock that’s steeped in blues, with a modern edge that sets it off down a road of its own. From there, the record undulates through fields of upbeat 12-bar blues jams (My Girl Dances), dark and slightly sinister down-tempo grooves (All My Love in Vain), riffs that make you want to strut you way down the street (I Just Want Your Body), driving rock and roll (Truly Dark), and ends with a shockingly catchy number, considering how musically scant the track is, in the form of Creepy Disco – it will keep spinning in your head like a stuck vinyl for days. And in between all them lay many more delights to find for yourself.

All of this is overseen by Yeoh’s raspy, fuzzy vocals, which nestle in the songs next to the guitar like a third instrument, and are dripping with vaguely melancholic cool. Yeoh and Miller create an interesting sound for a two-piece, getting driving rhythms and distorted licks fully down and locked, and although I usually have issues with singing drummers (see: Phil Collins), these lads have nothing to worry about as they definitely pull it off.

One thing that shines through from this album is how well Hot Fiction’s songs would transfer to a live setting; the rough-edged recording does do justice to the DIY feel of the band, but I can’t help feeling that I need to hear these tunes in a scummy pub’s back room where my feet stick to the floor. In that vein, keep an eye on their website as they’re playing the hell out of London and a few others over the next few months.

Dark Room is imbued with just the right kind of nostalgia that will have you reaching fondly for your old LPs after listening, but not before a thoroughly enjoyable listen to a record that is in equal parts an homage to the band’s heroes, and a rough and ready, fresh take on garage rock.

Reviewed: Liam O’Kane – Happy Days Sad Songs

Liam O’Kane released his debut album in early 2010

Reviewed for Issue 35 of LeftLion Magazine

Is there anything more happy and summery than a simple acoustic reggae backbeat underneath simple, honest lyrics? If there is I think you’d be hard pressed to find it, and as the opening to Liam O’Kane’s debut release, on ska label Do The Dog Music, it stands the record in promising stead. But listen a little closer and the title track to this album reveals itself to be quite a lyrically sombre number, with cheery upbeat music masking a painful tale of a broken heart.

O’Kane has a simple songwriting style that tells honest stories about every day life – sometimes mundane, sometimes heartwrenching, always delivered with charm – over an folksy acoustic backdrop of ska-laced roots rock, with the occasional lick of melodica and ukulele. They are stories that every one of us can relate to; trying to be upbeat when you feel like crap, trying your best and still getting it wrong, a lover leaving, feeling frustrated in the face of politics or missing the last train home. But amongst the sadder themes are a few happier ones, like getting a cab home with a nice driver, or the importance of being polite. Forgive me for getting a little deep here, but this record reflects the mask that we all put up when we feel down and out – a cheerful facade to hide our feelings, like the upbeat melodies that conceal the saddening lyrics of this lovely album.

Live review: 65daysofstatic

65daysofstatic played live at Rescue Rooms on Friday 7 May 2010

Reviewed for LeftLion.co.uk

After a day of looking more down in the mouth than a toddler who’s had her balloon taken away, having seen my idealistic political dreams pretty much stomped on for the past 20 hours and facing the prospect of a shiny-faced ex-Etonian, hater of skint folk and bullshitter extroardinaire, running the country in a few days time – without a doubt the best cure for my malaise was a hefty dose of very, very loud music.

As luck would have it, 65daysofstatic – generally credited with the ability to immerse their listeners in a sonic bath of sweeping aural landscapes whilst they beat your troubles over the head with a large stick – were in town and playing at the Rescue Rooms, and were clearly the perfect remedy. The set began with the stuttering, juddering beat of Drove Through Ghosts To Get Here, which felt as if it were dragging itself through mud with sporadic beats and jittery melody, as the band trickled on to the stage, before materialising into the familiarly solid flow of soaring post-rock that would continue throughout the next 90 minutes.

Seamlessly melding electronic elements with organic, they powered through a relentless powerful attack that took the audience from tempo-defying favourites like Radio Protector, to tracks from their new album ‘We Were Exploding Anyway’ which has taken them to dancier territories with elements that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Pendulum record. But just as you thought they were teetering on the edge of sounds that would sound quite comfortable next door in Stealth, they punched you in the ears with some guitar-led madness that threw you right back into a rock frame of mind.

The highlight of the night personally, was the epic Retreat Retreat; the track has long been my ‘everything’s going to be all right’ anthem (as I’m sure it is for many others), and I don’t know if it was me just being the sad git that I am, or the discourse of the past couple of days, but I must admit, it made me a tad misty-eyed.

For 90 glorious minutes that felt all too short, my worries were kicked into touch and drowned out by the epic, engulfing sounds of 65daysofstatic’s unique mix of rich textures, crazy beats, powerful guitars, hope and promise.

Memo to the British public: No matter how shit things get, never underestimate the power of great live music. If things look bleak, sack it all off and eff off down town to see some music – the floors will be sticky, the beer will be over priced and warm, but you’ll feel the bassline right between your ribs and for a short while everything will be amazing.

Live review: Manieres des Bohemiens

Manieres des Bohemiens played live at Cafe Bar Contemporary on Saturday 10 April 2010

Reviewed for LeftLion.co.uk

For one night only in our fair city of Nottingham, I was temporarily transported to a basement bar in a Parisien ghetto when I went to see Maniere Des Bohemiens at the Cafe Bar Contemporary. Inspired by the likes of Django Reinhardt and Duke Ellington, Maniere Des Bohemiens have jazz in their blood and gypsy fire in their soul, producing improvised gypsy swing that is as passionate as it is skillfully played, which was truly exhilarating.

Manieres des Bohemiens

The band is fronted by violinist Rob Rosa, who was sometimes joined by Robin Hevness on soprano sax, underpinned by a solid, grounding rhythm section of Roger Rosa on guitar and Mark Lewandowski on double bass, and on occasion John Kerry on accordian. Their renditions of traditional gypsy-folk tunes, jazz/swing standards and little-known gems took the set from slow, emotive numbers to raptuous and highly charged upbeat tunes. Rosa’s violin playing, which is almost entirely improvised and technically outstanding, captured the audience’s attention with every flick of his bow but did not overshadow the skill of the rhythm section, and when combined with Hevness’ sax produced some interesting and imaginative solos which bounced between the two of them seamlessly.

Everything was in the true spirit of improv jazz, from the bass solo breakdowns to the unspoken communication between the musicians which steered each song through undulating sections and captivating solos. They are well schooled in the etiquette and deep-set traditions of their genre, but their interpretations incorporating French swing and Eastern-European gypsy-folk were refreshing and exciting. They also achieved something which I have rarely seen ’round these parts – they got people dancing. To see an audience go from fairly non-plussed at the start of the set, to quickly realising what fantastic music they were lucky enough to be listening to, to straight-up attempting to swing dance and crying out for more by the end was really something.

Stand-out tunes included jazz standards Autumn Leaves and Take the A-Train, which were given a new lease of life by the group’s arrangement and unique Bohemian/Romany/Parisian interpretation, and Romanian Train Song, which started out at a frantic pace and got so speedy that Rosa’s arm looked like it should have been falling off. The night as a whole was a right good frolic, full of dancing, merriment and music that would have made the old masters proud.

Reviewed: We Show Up On RadaR – A Loaf Of Bread, A Container Of Milk, And A Stick Of Butter

We Show Up On RadaR (AKA Andy Wright) released his second EP in early 2010

Reviewed for Issue 34 of LeftLion Magazine

If you need some convincing that there is still some good in the world, look no further than this record. With the follow up to last year’s single ‘Mountain Top’, Andy Wright (the man behind WSUOR) has lovingly pieced together an EP from such gloriously uplifting elements that it’s impossible to come away from listening to it with any less than a contented smile and a tingle on your arm hair. It is a trickling stream of experimental folk-pop with an undercurrent of electronica and an unmatchable whimsical charm. The subject matter spans love, relationships and heartbreak; stories told almost as if through the eyes of a child, with Wright’s classically English, endlessly delicate voice lilting through every song like a comforting, sage character who explains the ways of the world in the gentlest possible way. For me, the lyrical feel of the EP is encompassed in a line from ‘A Spider on a Thread’: “When I said I didn’t need you, I might’ve lied a little bit”.

Musically, the record is led throughout by acoustic guitar, intricately intertwined with synths and keyboards, unusual electronic clicks and pops, vocal harmonies and tuned percussion to create a unique fusion of simple folk and contemporary electronica. To say that this is a carefully produced record would be an understatement; you can hear the love and time that has been spent creating each one of these tracks, building each one into a mini aural marvel. Buy this EP and treat your ears and mind to some charming, unique and just ruddy lovely treats.