August and After - Wolves (track review)

Given that so much mainstream indie folk is drenched in the radiation left behind by the Mumford and Sons shaped mushroom cloud that still pollutes the genre, it’s refreshing to hear a folk trio that play upon emotional and instrumental subtlety the way August and After do. 

Opening with the unaccompanied voice of Vendatha Kumar, the song is instantly captivatingly sombre.  The gentle plucking of Ned Mortimer’s acoustic guitar is understated enough to both support every word and allow for the pizzicato violin parts to be heard.  It’s when Jordan Bergman’s ethereal violin enters in full effect that the layered folk instrumental becomes transcendental, with every staccato guitar note interweaving in a truly mystical tapestry. 

By the time the haunting falsetto vocals and melancholy piano chords fade out, I’m convinced that this trio are every bit as talented in their craftsmanship as some of the heavy weights of indie folk.  I recommend this single highly, and await their EP “Cascades” with baited breath.

Charlie McCartney

Watch the new video for Wolves below

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9ISB4JMS7A

Fallen Arches - Footprints EP Review

Fallen Arches is a solo project by fresh face Colin Bell. He appears out of the ashes of previous three piece outfit Sneaky Pete and from a brief glimpse at their work his solo project is more revision than revolution. The synth groove beats of his previous project have been mutated however, into more uplifting indie rock. Throughout the EP his distinctive Scottish voice firmly channels fellow countrymen like Snow Patrol and Twin Atlantic to develop an admittedly highly derivative lyrical sound. This sound can appear grating to many people but looking past it there is still a lot to admire.

The production and instrumentation included in this EP are really excellent. The little orchestral and piano elements again seemingly harken back to Snow Patrol and Coldplay in their big worldly pieces that feel massive, yet retain modesty and never veers into vain, elaborate self-congratulation. As musical pieces they sweep you up somewhat and even with the bane of modern pop rock, the acoustic guitar, being fully utilised this still leaves the instrumentation being sometimes very impressive.

My particular favourite track is probably "Footprints" with its cute piano piece which is highly, almost hopelessly optimistic which I think carries on through the theme of the song. Its choral outro also leaps out and wouldn’t be out of place with a crowd being the choir.

Despite this the main fault of the EP that is apparent throughout is the lyricism. It is to be honest pretty shockingly bad throughout. It is a shame really, in that it takes away so much from the nice instrumentation that is on show. It makes it really hard to recommend this EP as the lyrics do not feel like a forgotten part of the piece that aren’t to be harshly criticised but feel more like an integral part of the music that Bell is deeply affected by. This is why it is even more unfortunate that it went as wrong as it did on this record.

Even with the rather terrible lyrics, the instrumentations shines through and with every note written I can see Colin Bell and the Fallen Arches project growing in strength. I would be lying to say I recommend this EP fully though and would advise you to listen with trepidation.

Dominic Allan

Joanna Newsom - Divers Review

It has been 8 weeks since I reviewed Joanna Newsom's "Sapokanikan". The single, buzzing with delightfully cryptic lyrics and lavish instrumentation, won me over immediately and served as a savory aperitif to her first album in almost five years - Divers. Indeed, Newsom had kept herself far out the studio for longer than ever before following the release of Have One On Me.

Following up the huge success of Ys, a genre defining (or perhaps defying) critical smash, Have One On Me proved Newsom's ambitions stretched farther than ever anticipated. At 124 minutes it was her longest release by far, and her infatuation with simple polyrhythmic harmonies and stripped back production had been replaced with a flurry of fiercely elaborate melodies and a general desire to "sound big". The album incorporated world music with classic orchestral sounds while courting notions of Jazz and Blues, and pulled it off spectacularly. It soon became one of the standout albums of 2010, and after that? Nothing.

Albeit, this half-decade of artistic quiet was not wholly silent. Joanna tried her hand at acting, and various high profile performances and collaborations with both classical icons (Philip Glass) and indie darlings alike (Thao and the Get Down Stay Down) further whetted the music world's insatiable appetite for another album.

Now said album has arrived, and it is relieving to to say that Joanna's impeccable reputation remains untarnished.

Firstly, this is her most concise record to date - no two-hour runtime, no 17 minute-long ballads; rather a selection of 11 perfectly crafted songs each fine tuned to sound as tight as they possibly can. Therefore the high production values from Have One On Me Have returned, bringing with it the rich arrangements and overdubs which made it sound so expansive in the first place. A Spector-esque approach to production is used to combine multiple layers of instrumentals and tones to make a towering Wall of Sound. The first half of this album is particularly vibrant, and tracks like "Leaving the City" and the aforementioned "Sapokanikan" build to such cinematic heights in the closing moments that it becomes almost cathartic.

Jazz influences seep through the cracks once more in the form of complex guitar and drum sections, and the juxtaposition of these with the archaic folk sounds of fiddles and accordions bridges the gap between Joanna's contemporary style and her older, rootsier material. Her distinctive harp playing remains the centerpiece for most of the album though, and for good reason. Her skills as a harpist have been well documented since Milk-Eyed Mender, her very first foray into the musical world, but the level of expression that Joanna manages to convey each time she steps behind the instrument continues to impress and inspire. At a certain point in listening it becomes more than just a musical tool; it becomes a conduit of every feeling, thought and emotion Joanna possesses; serving as a sharp looking glass into both her artistic and real life personalities.

There is more here than just impressive musicianship, however. Lyrical and thematic elements play just as integral a part in the makeup of this album as any other, and this is [or at least appears to be] a highly conceptual album. A principle theme throughout is the concept of time, or rather the ever fluctuating perception of time regarding where we are in our lives, who we are with, and what we are experiencing at that point. Joanna explores these concepts by throwing out any notion of chronology and instead using each song to delve into a specific topic or thought, ultimately playing out like a collection of small vignettes - each telling of a different story or memory. The opening song, "Anecdotes" actually sums up this theme perfectly.

By a single play-through of the record you have already spanned centuries and travelled through various settings and time periods: at one moment you are witnessing the genesis of New York at the hands of the "Dutch Masters", the next you are mourning a lover lost to some futuristic civil war. I haven't the words to describe the sheer enormity of this album, or the true message of everything found within it it, though it is very clear that Joanna has a lot to say and a lot to ponder. It eventually comes clear that, despite the seemingly unrelated nature of the songs, the overarching themes of time and space remain firmly attached to each track. With every song you are merely turning the page in a very old and very long scrapbook full snapshots and pictures of seemingly disparate and isolated memories which end up coming together as a document of life itself.

And if you aren't impressed by that then I don't think I can say much more.

With Divers Joanna Newsom seems to have found a perfect equilibrium between the romantic mysticism of her early work with the frenetic energy of Have One On Me. Add to this the dense, beautiful lyrics and intriguing subject matter and you have one of my favourite albums of the year. Check it out.

Jack McGlone

Half Moon Run - Sun Leads Me On Review

“Sun Leads Me On” was certainly released at the perfect time.  Being the musical equivalent of a warm hug from a friendly bear means it can raise the spirits of anyone who hears it all the way through Winter.  From the moment the absolutely gorgeous flute tone of “Warmest Regards” starts, a sense of overwhelming euphoria washes over the listener like a wave of thick marijuana smoke.  It becomes transfixing as it ascends above its own hazy fog during lucid moments in which horns and

strings take the reins.

The driving acoustic guitars and soulful harmonies of “I Can’t Figure out what’s Going On” feel somewhat out of place behind Devon Porteilje sinisterly singing about poisoning all his friends.  The primarily electronic “Consider Yourself” is one of the more distant and cold songs on the album, and actually my least favourite, substituting syrupy strings and acoustic guitars for rigid piano and distortion.  Fortunately it’s followed by the stellar “Hands in the Garden”, one of the brightest songs I’ve heard this year, with the main lyrical refrain being “I never thought I could be this happy”.  

“Turn Your Love” is a perfect example of how to make electronically tinged music personal and intimate.  The Fleet Foxes-esque harmonies are simply exquisite on this track.  It falls down somewhat at the chorus where it incorporates a more distorted guitar and somewhat ruins the enclosed feeling of the verses.  Once again any faults are redeemed by another acoustically driven track “Narrow Margins”, which may be more sinister in tone than previous tracks, but maintains its charm through temperate keyboard and string instruments.

 

The title track is another optimistic track that I find myself captivated by.  It encapsulates all the nuanced emotion this album has to offer.  However I can’t help but feel that for every heartwarming acoustic serenade, there is a less connected, bleak throwaway track.

 

It’s certainly the perfect album to lift the spirits of anyone who listens to it, and that in itself is admirable.  Despite it having a fair number of tracks that I can’t find myself involved in, I’d say it’s worth downloading for yourself.

Charlie McCartney

James Parenti - Don't Be Gone Long, Ellen Album Review

The world of dark, inward looking indie folk is one which is graciously reaching its popular and musical peak in this decade and the end of the last. For better (Bon Iver, Sufjan Stevens) or worse (The Lumineers, Passenger) the rise is both interesting and obvious. Its genius is in its simplicity, a lack of instrumentation lets other parts of the music take centre stage, namely vocals and lyricism.

James Parenti, admittedly adds little to this formula but in all honesty anything that would bring significant change to this formula would see this shift away from the genre that Parenti seems so comfortable and adept at.

On this record “Don’t Be Gone Long, Ellen” it would be a lie to say that Parenti isn’t as skilled, melodic and haunting as any of the masters of the genre.

The first thing to note from this record is that it is bitterly, devastatingly miserable, and that is ok. His emotion comes off as real and he has a belief in his lyrics and in what he is saying. The themes of love through the troubles of mental illness are a rarely explored vessel for, at times, deeply affecting music.

“Cave in Burn Down” is one of the most challenging, troubling songs on the record, its accessibility masking the soul crushing lyricism and I would struggle to imagine anyone being at least somewhat affected by this.

Although some of the lyrics I feel could be a bit more nuanced throughout the record they convey the message just as strong and effective. “Sleepwalker” is a prime example of this. Throughout the record although heavy handed at points the songs create a distinct aura that is undeniable. It feels like Parenti may be best appreciated in a live setting where you can really connect to him.

My highlights of the record would likely be “Back to Sleep” and “Lucky Star.” They affect the 

most with the almost childlike appearance of “Back to Sleep” and the musically visible descent in “Lucky Star” ending the record leading to a both hopeful, beautiful and in the end realistic conclusion on the realities of the situations and events in this record which convey a tragic yet magnificent narrative.

For fans of sadder works in the indie folk genre like some of Bon Iver and Elliot Smith’s releases I would certainly recommend James Parenti’s “Don’t Be Gone Long, Ellen.” It is certainly a difficult listen that may require a lot of contemplation but this may be worth it to appreciate everything that James has to say on this record.

Dominic Allan

Get this album on Bandcamp here : http://jamesparenti.bandcamp.com/

Emporium - Gloomy Shadows (track review)

Diverse (definition): Showing a great deal of variety; very different. Emporium’s optimistic record label describe their music using words such as ‘eclectic’, ‘kaleidoscopic’ and most heinously: ‘diverse’.  
 
Many words can be used to describe Emporium but the use of ‘diverse’ genuinely confused me. Don’t get me wrong, if you actually like this song chances are you’ll like their other material. In fact you’ll have over a decade of monotonous music to wade through to your heart’s content. If, however, you require music to stimulate you in some way to get an inkling of enjoyment out of it I’ll recommend you don’t waste your time. 
‘Gloomy Shadows’ shows a shocking lack of creativity. I could excuse this as a minor flop in such a long career if their entire career didn’t sound like a phone call stuck on hold. Due to this, though, I feel like it would be a sensible move to simply hang up the phone and try elsewhere. Because if the sixteen years since the release of their debut album shows us anything, it’s that if anyone was actually interested to begin with they’ve long since forgotten the phone was ringing.

Searching through their back catalogue looking… no… hoping for something to stand out against the beige sea of basic drum beats and repetitive keyboard melodies; I did find the odd song that lured me into the belief that it could be interesting before the familiar vocals slithered in with the same up and down tone of disinterest. Unfortunately, this song in particular has no redeeming features and the disinterested vocals, which simply remind you the song’s still playing when your brain bothers to tune back in, fade out towards the end of the song foreshadowing the fate of a band that unless they actually take a risk and do something drastic for once will fade deeper and deeper into obscurity.

I cannot recommend you buy this song as it’ll only encourage them. Nathan Beck

E.W Harris - Re-Entry Review

Oh God, not another white-guy-with-acoustic-guitar act.  I bet he raps too doesn’t he.  What’s that?  Every song is a complex and absurdist insight into the human experience told from the perspective of perfectly constructed metaphors based around sci-fi and horror?  Oh…

 E.W Harris is utterly unique in the folk genre, not as a result of the electronic tinges his music takes on, but because of the bizarre subject material of the stories being told.  I generally garner my enjoyment of music from a unique melodic feature, or an interesting instrument thrown into the mix,

but the craftsmanship shown in Harris’ lyrics is the best part of this album.  It’s a tour-de-force in blending personal struggle with outlandish metaphorical observations.

On the title track “Re-entry”, Harris likens himself to an astronaut entering a world he doesn’t recognise, “The world is strange on the surface, and I am changed on the surface” he sings, before going on to vividly paint a vision of this alien planet, “Violet Oceans in violent motions, they swirl and crash to breach an afterimage sky”.  “Panopticon” opts for a more haunting instrumental, with a driving, almost tribal beat, and what I’m almost certain are steel drums in places.  “Phonies” is a starker affair, with Harris’ impressive vocals being at the forefront.  The theme here seems to be more religious, with lyrics such as, “All those who know, never can tell, who goes to heaven and who goes to hell”.  “Ether” is the catchiest song on the album.

The highlight of the album for me is the longest song in the setlist, “Los Vampiros”.  If the chilling violin tremolos didn’t make it a perfect candidate for the soundtrack of a Hitchcock-esque horror film, then the tormented lyrics certainly do.  “I’ll wander around some dusty back roads, round up some freaks and start my own show” being just a short extract from a song as poetically theatrical as anything I’ve heard all year.  The effort thrown into this song is so clear, from not only its length, but from its dedication to its noir tone.  By the time the final croaked words die away, I’m convinced that this album challenges Father John Misty for my folk album of the year.

As I’m sure you’ve deduced, I enjoyed this album a great deal.  Few albums are as expansive in their emotional range, lyrical creativity or tonal consistency.  I recommend that you listen to this album and buy it in whichever formats are available.

Charlie McCartney   

Ryan Adams - 1989 Cover review

Very rarely do artists choose to modify anything more than a single instrument or lyric when performing a cover, for fear of being met with the ire of a rabid fanbase.  So only an artist as established and contrarian as Ryan Adams would choose to cover an entire album by the most fanatically adored pop star on the planet.

This project confirms a few suspicions I had.  Firstly, that Taylor Swift's lyrics are actually somehow better when being sung by someone else.  Adams manages to add a maturity and depth to her lyrics that were relatively basic on the original.  Secondly, that Ryan Adams is probably better at conveying and understanding your own emotions than you are.  And third, that absolutely no one can improve 'Shake it off'.

The tempo shift Adams uses in an attempt to make the song seem more contemplative simply does not work.  If anything they remove the final modicum of enjoyment the song has, and reduce it to an absolute dirge with awful lyrics, and it actually sounds as though all the hating the haters have been doing has really upset him.  He doesn't rap though, so it could've been worse.

The highlight of the original 'Out of the Woods' also feels disappointing, as it's probably the only song Adams can't improve upon by slowing down and turning into an emotional ballad.  As far as ballads go however, 'This Love' has flourished under Adams supervision and transforms from a forgettable album track to a beautifully smooth song, dripping with atmosphere and gorgeous piano tones.  'How You Get the Girl' is the most reminiscent of Heartbreaker era Adams that the album gets, and the folk stylings of the guitars improve it immensely.

But the more forgettable songs from the original admittedly struggle to be more memorable here. I refuse to believe anyone was that excited to hear covers of 'I Know Places' or 'All You Had to do was Stay'.  Not on an album with the single power of 1989.

Adams admittedly does a good job when it comes to the latest single 'Wildest Dreams'.  While the original was a distractingly tactless rip off of Lana Del Rey, Adams version is more forceful, desperate even, as a result of the shift in speed.  'Style' is also improved incrementally by its added speed and aggression, but admittedly doesn't surpass the original in this case.  The lush guitar layers of 'Bad Blood' come the closest to achieving Adams intention of covering the album 'in the style of the Smiths'.

'Blank Space' is an absolute joy to listen to from start to finish.  Lo fi guitars have replaced electronic beats, Swift's almost obnoxious vocals are replaced by the heartbroken howls of Adams upper register and the songs potential as the perfect break up song is finally realised.

There can be no doubt Adams adds a level of melancholic emotion that was severely missing from the original.  This kind of song writing is more suited to acoustic guitars and tortured voices than Swift's confidence and pop perfection.  1989 was a pretty great album to begin with in many ways, but Adams improves it, and it's definitely worth a download.

Charlie McCartney

Ryan Adams - Bad Blood (track review)

Since announcing his plans of covering Taylor Swifts 1989 album in its entirety, Ryan Adams has teased the record through a series of 15 second Instagram videos, building massive hype from his moodier, and much darker snippets of the biggest selling album of 2014. Now the ever endearing Alt-Country star has premiered the first full cut off his upcoming release - "Bad Blood" - and it's actually pretty great.

Adams turns what was one of 1989's most lackluster songs into almost four minutes of sad, sprawling janglepop goodness. Polished bass heavy beats are swapped for chiming guitars; Swift's self-assured vocals are replaced with Adams' particularly somber voice full of melancholy; and Kendrick Lamar's guest verse is unsurprisingly nowhere to be seen. There is almost no trace of Bad Blood's previous incarnation, pretty much everything short of the lyrics has been scrapped, and the song sounds more like an obscure Nebraska-era Springsteen track than a chart topping pop single.

These changes pay off. Not only does the new sound fit the song, it adds a whole new depth to its subject and lyrics, providing a new dimension to what was previously a pretty surface level chart hit.

I really like what Ryan Adams has done here, and fans of either artist are sure to enjoy it too. Keep an eye out for this album when it drops - it's sure to be a good 'un.

Jack McGlone