In the last two years Groove Armada leaked a couple of very disco sounding songs. When they performed at the very strange but free Bacardi sponsored (what?!) concert last year I can’t remember much (‘cause of being drunk) except that they still had it. And that the floor was wet with booze so I was able to shimmy.
In the past I had always thought Groove Armada were a bit hit and miss, no album quite striking me the way their singles did. But it seemed they were getting… better? How is that possible 13 years after they lost their musical virginity?
In any case, Black Light could very well be their best album release yet. Look Me in the Eye Sister suggests a Meatloaf-inspired album, I Won’t Kneel a Heart-inspired album, and Paper Romance remixes could be as well received as Does it Offend You, Yeah?’s Dawn of the Dead. Yet it all works as a whole.
I feel I could be listening to any of these songs while dancing in a dirty underground New York club in the late ‘80s. Black Light is the perfect title; I can see lots of vibrant ultraviolet lights bouncing off the sexy youths (which excludes me) as they bump and grind on the D-floor (I could almost be considered a youth for dropping the ‘ance’ in ‘dance’ right?). In conclusion, this album is very cool!
Yeasayer - Odd Blood [Secretly Canadian] :
This particular album saw me moist lipped many an afternoon, reading through blogs and that whispered of leaked tracks and claims made by the band about how it was potentially more pop and mainstream. When it finally arrived, the only real disappointment was the cover art. The strengths of Yeasayer as both musicians and producers are flowing abundantly on this release, doing what they do so much better than other bands vaguely in their league of world music: give it a legitimate platform, make it accessible to the masses without bastardising it, and prove their exceptional skill at fusing genres.
They have respect for what an album really is, creating a thought out entity rather than a lot of their modern day counterparts who simply treat it as singles pushed together with obligatory buffers in between. A few tracks are slightly amiss, but All Hours Cymbals suffered the same fate, proving their interest in creating original pieces rather than pleasing the masses. There are giant bursts of energy on ONE and even Ambling Alp, but the real art remains in the composition, and the intricacies that continue to reveal themselves on every listen.
I can recall being in a particularly psychedelic frame of mind with a bunch of friends and playing the classic 1969 Grateful Dead album Live Dead. At one point, the band locked into an improvisation that was the manifestation of a single group mind just as I locked eyes with a beautiful girl who knew that everything was going to be alright. How often does that happen? Not often enough for us ordinary folk, but there have been MV & EE occasions where I have come close to re-living the Grateful Dead moment, and I’m not just saying that because of the influence the latter band has had on the core MV & EE line-up of Matt Valentine and partner Erika Elder. In recent years this two-piece has kept the psychedelic music flame alive by sometimes coming across as a cosmic Neil Young and Crazy Horse, but with an enticingly off-centre sensibility that commands attention in an all-embracing kinda way. On Barn Nova, there is a continuation of roots music transformation as second track Get Right Church taps into an early blues form, but filtered through some fabulous acid rock leanings with Erika Elder’s gorgeous vocals the icing on the cake. On the eleven minute Bedroom Eyes, an all-out rock ‘n’ roll vibe emerges, perhaps due to the influence of J Mascis from Dinosaur Jr who sporadically works with the band, and whose presence complements the already righteous blend.
Like a strong cuppa of tangy lemon with a hint of ginger, the Tealeaves’ debut album will add zest to your day. This collection is light, sweet as cider and crisp as a virgin paperback, with simple but very appealing melodies inspired by the pop of the ‘60s and ‘70s.
The songs cover a panorama of emotions including joy, loss, comfort, devotion and goodbyes, yet the overall message is one of uplifting happiness. The Melbourne septet, which only formed in 2008, features the crisp vocals of James Van Cuylenburg and Jess Wilson. Singing singly they shine; in duets such as It’s Only Time, they sparkle. And the album is full of brilliant harmonies that magnify the passion expressed in the songs, as seen in the heart warming Beside Me.
The opener Barefoot and Beautiful is a great upbeat tune, with the crisp voice of James, the rich underlying sound of the accordion and swelling harmonies. Travelling Far is a fast paced folksy number, with Rochelle Bryson’s fiddle dancing as James and Jess take alternate lines of the song. Jess leads in the delicate The Little Ones with its glockenspiel feature at the hands of David Schmidt.
I Come Undone and Josh are more sombre tunes but, for all that, they are two of the most beautiful tracks. This brew is sure to put a smile on your dial.
Over a visceral surge of warbling buzzes and electro stabs, there’s a layered vocal line rising: a battlecry. If you close your eyes you can almost imagine fists held high, a zealot rallying his troops. “A call to arms! / A call to everything you wanted.” It bellows, it promises, and for an adrenaline-filled moment you think you can reach out and take it. These jittery electro beats and staccato melodies herald the arrival of Acolyte, the first record by much hyped outfit Delphic. A fusion of indie ideals and electronica sensibilities, it recalls the same concept of Bloc Party’s Intimacy.
Red Lights is an anthemic march towards the dancefloor, with enough arpeggiated buzz saw goodies to keep Infected Mushroom fans sated, and Acolyte begins with gorgeous ambience before morphing into another reverberated stomper. The synths sizzle and spew forth, the beats jiggle and jive, but alas! What is missing? What is this empty feeling? It all feels like a safety net. It all feels familiar, like an old blanket or your granny’s crib; it all feels like they toed the line. But there’s nothing wrong with that (no, Nan, I needed an example! I’d love to come over for Scrabble. No, I don’t feel obligated, I want to). And if you are indeed ‘searching for the new sound’, I suggest you wander elsewhere. But there’s nothing wrong with dipping your little toes into charted, synthy waters every now and again.
After fine tuning their music for two and a bit years, Melbournian four piece Dark Horse have offered up their first EP. The flavour is heavy melodic rock, with a strong blues influence, as seen in songs such as From Now On. The band’s favourite formula is the use of alternating waves of slow and fast tempos, with slow, quiet verses and loud, fast choruses. This is an effective recipe, as Adam Eaton’s bluesy voice dominates the lurking guitars which tick over menacingly in the background, before they explode in a rage of sound in the chorus. Beautiful Scene breaks this mould, going for broke right from the start. There’s no doubt that Apostasy, which spins a rich haunting atmosphere with its echoing guitars and was released as a demo single, is a CD highlight. But there are other goodies too, in the opener Right Son with the music rising and falling rapidly like a jagged saw, and Hurricane with guitars crashing repeatedly like waves on rocks before the shrieking guitar solo at the end of the song. Most lyrics are clear, although the inflections to Adam’s voice occasionally make the words indecipherable - a bit like Kings of Leon. Even so, I couldn’t really work out the themes. However, words are less important in this genre than the gutsyness of the guitars and Dark Horse are a good rock package, with roaring guitars and great vocal tones.
