THE ALARM MMVII LIVE FROM THE GATHERING 2007 (DVD)
THE ALARM MMVII LIVE FROM THE GATHERING 2007
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Silverstein Live in Wrexham
Wrexham Central Station, 27 November 2007
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Beth Rowley VIOLETS EP. Blue Thumb Records
It’s refreshing to hear a new British talent like Beth Rowley seriously take on the blues, and come up smelling roses. Looking at her photograph, you’d think she was another Universal ‘pop princess’ with her frazzled blond locks and sweet looks. But no, because here is a young lady with a distinctive and smooth voice suited eminently suited to singing the blues (and probably anything else she chose to poke a stick at). But it’s not that she can sing the blues, it’s how well she can sing them.
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Serj Tankian and Fair To Midland Live
Manchester Academy 1, 16 November 2007
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Sigur Ros HEIMA DVD. Run/EMI
2007 has turned out to be a great year for studio albums, but a vintage year for live performance albums. Two of the best have been released on DVD and this is one of them. Icelandic band Sigur Ros decided it was time to give something back to the people of Iceland and embarked on a two-week free tour of the country. The band played in community halls, fields, disused fish processing plants and whatever was available as they toured the whole country. The film’s backdrop is therefore the desolate Icelandic landscape which ties in perfectly with the band’s ethereal music. But even more important and relevant was the nature of the people that turned out in their droves to witness the band play. Whole communities gathered including the aged and the very young. In the lead-up to a concert held in a field people could be seen coming out of nowhere, walking along winding roads and paths, in cold weather, until they eventually arrived at the field. Huge campfires and clear, starlit skies added to the amazing atmosphere, while the band played a selection of songs from all its albums - beautifully.
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Sigur Rós HVARF-HEIM. EMI
Great music is defined by its ability to make an emotional connect with the listener. It must say something of substance about people and the world they inhabit. It must be, above all, an emotional journey carried along by melody and performance. Sigur Rós, despite singing in a different language, create music that reflects a mood and place with a strong and accessible emotional pull. Over this 2CD recording the band illustrate just why it is so admired the world over by people who take their music seriously. HEIM (HOME) is essentially a re-worked acoustic/unplugged recording of some of the band’s most popular studio recordings. It is beautiful and opens with what sounds like an introduction to the CD. ‘Samskeyti’ gently wanders in with repeated piano refrain in the foreground and I think a harmonium treading water in the background. There’s a key change about two-thirds through before it reverts back to finally disappear in a whisper. It’s a wondrous start. The pace quickens with ‘Starálfur’ and a fragile vocal is introduced along with sweeping string accompaniment. The pace quickens and slows to a glacial pace throughout in a song that is simple and performed to perfection. ‘Vaka’ opens with Hammond notes and sounds like church music. The six songs here are beautifully produced to reflect the purity and simplicity of the band’s music, while providing the singer and instruments individual space to be heard with total clarity. This is more than just background music, it’s an emotional journey. The only thing missing is a set of sleeve notes with translated lyrics.
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Editor Blog October 2007
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Crash My Model Car GHOSTS & HEIGHTS. My Dad Recordings
Glaswegian four-piece Crash My Model Car is led by Iain Morrison who tried for several years to find the right instrumental vehicle for his songs. Looks like he’s come up trumps… The album comprises songs written over the last three years, and during a time when the band built a solid reputation in live performance circles. The major challenge for any band is to establish a distinctive sound in harness with great song-writing. Opening track, ‘In Dreams’, seems to indicate the band has managed both. There’s a strong folk vibe enforced by the gentle, quivering lead vocal, wispy vocal harmonies and subtle instrumentation. Melody is an important part of the make-up here and is even more evident on the next delightful track, ‘Siren.’ Morrison provides a more free-ranging vocal performance that adds substantially to the song’s beauty. ‘West Coast Train’ is a song with choruses that lift the song to another, higher level after calm, almost monotone verses. It ends up being one of the highlights of this album. ‘The Flying Rodleighs’ is a stripped down beauty with just the brush of cymbals and drums, with the steady hum of a harmonium in the background. It’s a more contemplative, edgier song that opens out a little more instrumentally as it approaches its conclusion. ‘Maybe’ takes on a more aggressive rock tone and again boasts a fabulous chorus. The guitar riffs and vocals soar in what is another album highlight, and one that adds diversity to songs that tend to this point feel a tad similar. ‘Omu Prin & Me’ also sounds quite different as brass is introduced for the first time and a talking vocal features. It’s another album highlight. ‘She’ll Go All The Way With You’ is a moody, slow-burning indie rock song that adds crashing instrumentals to the choruses to add more spice to this very good collection of songs. The final track, ‘Taking The Lot’, is a haunting beauty with the most fragile vocal on the album. But then the song builds around the middle-eight with guitars and drums dominating to provide a fitting climax to the album. This is a grower and will undoubtedly feature in our list of ‘albums of the year’ next month. Strongly recommended.
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Neil Young CHROME DREAMS II. Reprise
Young has already bagged our best live album of 2007, so how will this all-new studio album fare? This album has already met with widespread critical acclaim and been compared with his best, older work. At time it certainly bears some resemblance to those early classics, especially during the opening tracks of the album. ‘Beautiful Bluebird’ is a simple and pleasant love song while ‘Boxcar’ is an even simpler rights of passage song. It’s track three, the epic twenty-minute ‘Ordinary People ’, that really starts the ball rolling. Young has always been a writer that uses simple, powerful lyrics to tell his stories and this is no exception. As the title implies it’s all about ordinary, down-trodden people – fucked by bosses, assembly-lines, overwork, politicians, debt, booze and drugs. Young introduced a strong brass section in the choruses, with piano, drums and guitars also playing major roles. The guitar riffs soar periodically and there are regular extended instrumental passages throughout the song. While not really offering anything musically adventurous the song manages to make its mark big-time. It’s an anthem for our times and especially for the good old USA (with the UK not far behind!). ‘Shining Light’ is a beautiful, contemplative song with old style vocal harmonies and another wonderful set of accessible lyrics. Young’s voice sounds fragile and expressive as he sings a song that sounds very much like a lullaby. ‘The Believer’ rides on the back of a thumping drum rhythm and another fragile Young vocal. ‘Spirit Road’ takes on a more aggressive tone, and the highly rhythmic‘Dirty Old Man’ takes on a Rolling Stones style of driving rock. The pace slows dramatically with the country tinged ‘Ever After’ before another marathon starts. ‘No Hidden Path’ is a fourteen-minute bluesy rock number with long guitar riff dominated passages that make the song just a bit special.
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Neurosonic DRAMA QUEEN. Bodog Music
2006 was a brilliant year for album releases, but 2007 has been even better. The diversity of music has been staggering, with new interpretations of rock music a strong feature. Take this album by Neurosonic for example. It’s impossible to place this one in a neatly tied generic box with its mix of punk, metal, pop, dance and rap. Opening track ‘So Many People’ is a jagged, bass-driven, dark, melodic slam-dunk of a song, the like of which you will not have heard before. Superb. Next track ‘Are Solar’ is rock rap with choruses that will get every alt dance club bouncing to kingdom come. ‘I Will Always Be Your Fool’ suddenly changes route and could have easily been found on an early Beatles album. The verses move along in first gear while the choruses explode metal style. God knows why this ditty wasn’t released as a single, it would have slaughtered everything else. ‘Me Myself And I’ follows and I doubt whether there’s been a more beautiful rock song released all year. The lead vocal and harmonies are stupendous while the huge melody and subtle instrumentation carry the song along. Quite extraordinary. So far, every song a winner and I was left wondering whether the standard could be maintained. Shouldn’t have worried. Screeching guitar riffs introduce multi-paced, rampant rocker ‘Until I Die’ before the haunting and highly emo ‘Fearless’ is launched to provide a remarkable album highlight. Need I go on? Hell, this could be our rock album of the year!
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Shakenstir Photo Supplement |
DPK: Digital Press Kit |
Shinedown |
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