mp3: Heretics

Well, why not, I mean it’s not like he doesn’t deserve it, bless him.

Much like the tolerance zones cities have for prostitutes and their clients to conduct their business in a safer and possibly more morally conducive environment, The Tool Shed has cleaned its kerbside, provided bins and adequate street-lighting and now they’ve allowed Andrew to strut his stuff in a seductive manner with the above, a real honest-to-goodness clean as a whistle .mp3 of Heretics for bloggers to link to without worrying about the moral repercussions.

So on you go.

Also, here are the European tour dates, with a new Dublin and Scando date. Nice to see him sold out in London and Paris.

MARCH 19 // Dublin, Ireland
CrawDaddy - another show added!

MARCH 20 // Galway, Ireland
Roisin Dubh

MARCH 21 // Dublin, Ireland
CrawDaddy

MARCH 22 // London, England
Bush Hall - SOLD OUT

MARCH 23 // Brussels, Belgium
Botanique

MARCH 24 // Gothenburg, Sweden
Club Woody @ Pusterviksbaren

MARCH 25 // Stockholm, Sweden
Kagelbanan/Sodra Teatern

MARCH 29 // Paris, France
La Maroquinerie - SOLD OUT

MARCH 30 // Amiens, France
Musique de Jazz et d’Ailleurs Festival

MARCH 31 // Benicassim, Spain
CinemaScore

mp3: Heat Seeker

website: http://www.thespores.com/

The first time I heard The Spores, I got pretty excited. They ticked a bunch of boxes that have worked well with me throughout my music history: girl singer, fuzzy guitars, electronics, big pop melodies…

Here is some text I previously published in the paper, as it least provides some more practical information (not much, mind):

“She sounds more like an Irish pub than a real breathing person, but Molly Malone is in fact a pretty talented gal. Canadian but based in LA, she’s an artist, puppeteer, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. In fact, if you follow indie rock circles, you’ve probably seen her perform before. In the not too distant past, she’s worked with Mark Lanegan, Mondo Generator, Nick Oliveri, Queens of the Stone Age, and Frank Black, to name just a few. Even so, your chances of knowing her current band, The Spores, aren’t huge.”

I think the immediate thing for me is that songs like ‘Heat Seeker’ transport me back to the late ’90s, when Garbage still meant the world to me. And there are a few tracks on The Spores’ debut album Imagine the Future which send shivers up my spine for that very reason - even though The Spores are nowhere near as over-produced or hyped. Other parts of the album take a more electronic route, and having only dabbled in it so far, I’m not completely smitten. But there’s potential here, and the scattering of songs I really like will encourage me to return and give it more opportunities to impress me.

And if you’re still looking for practical information, they’re currently on tour with the Eagles of Death Metal, possibly/probably with puppets in tow.

Buy? I’m sure the album is available somewhere. I previously saw it on http://www.youmakemusic.com/ but at the time of writing, that site is offline.

mp3: Viva Voce - Birds on the Wing
mp3: Viva Voce - Alive with Pleasure
mp3: Viva Voce - From the Devil Himself

web: Official “Word of Mouth”

So here’s the thing. I love this band. I don’t really know why.
Perhaps it’s the upbeat way in which they chant, “we do not fuck around” in the song of the same name. Maybe it’s their occasional piano-bar sing-a-long gone wrong sound. Maybe it’s the way they sound somehow familiar, a conglomerate of beloved bands past: somehow part Apples in Stereo, part Mama’s and the Papas, part Delgados, part Polyphonic Spree, part Flaming Lips. Do I hear piano strains from The Rocky Horror Picture Show? A little Kim Deal patois? Perhaps.

In any case Viva Voce are great. Originally from Arkansas they now reside in Portland, Oregon, where they create beautiful music together. Literally. The band is Anita and Kevin Robinson, a couple who met at a concert in 1998, and by 2001 were releasing Lovers, Lead the Way!, recovering from a scrape with the record industry, and oh yeah, were married. After touring about the planet, they returned to their living room and began writing more fabulous songs you want to clap along to releasing a second album The Heat Can Melt Your Brain in 2004 and Get Yr Blood Sucked Out in 2006.

One moment sentimental, the next psychedelic, the next dark and melancholy, the songs are infectious and enjoyable: a happy cacophony of guitars, drums, keys, vocals with the occasional samples and loops. “Birds on the Wing” is from Lovers, Lead the Way!, “Alive with Pleasure” is from The Heat Can Melt Your Brain and “From the Devil Himself” is from Get Yr Blood Sucked Out.

I hope you like it.

Buy.

mp3: Narcolepsy
mp3: Army
mp3: Rock This Bitch (live)

website: http://www.benfolds.com/

So Ben Folds plays in Amsterdam on Tuesday night. The last time I saw him live was a couple of weeks before I moved to Holland, playing Barrowlands with the Divine Comedy. Considering that it was a pretty expensive show and I pretty much hate(d) the Divine Comedy, it showed how much I really loved seeing Ben live, and even though it was a split billing, the majority of the audience seemed to share a similar viewpoint as me.

Well, I may not be at Tuesday’s show, simply because it’s also very expensive and I may not be able to afford four trips to Amsterdam in one week, but the prospect has had me listening to my old Ben Folds Five records again.

They were a great band. I think back when they first began breaking into the UK scene, I didn’t like them. I can’t remember why. Either way, it didn’t last long because I had the ‘Underground’ single and then all of their albums, and was witness to a handful of amazing live shows too. Partly it was because Ben Folds Five were a band with incredible chemistry and musicianship, and partly it was because they (Folds in particular) were a bunch of fools, so they’d be silly, jump up and down on pianos, throw around stools and make up songs on the spot. All traits that really appealed to me.

Their final album The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner is my favourite, just because it’s such a complete work. There’s no real filler in it, just substance, and what more can you ask from an album? That’s why I’ve opted to share two tracks from it–’Narcolepsy’ is all grand and sweeping, while ‘Army’ plays more of the comedy card, yet was still a great single and the ideal introduction to the album. Also ‘Army’ strikes me as a good companion piece to The Decemberists’ ‘16 by 32′.

I’ve actually been comparing BFF and The Decemberists a lot in my head lately. There are similarities, both in songwriting style and execution. The main difference is that Meloy’s lyrics play in my mind like a screenplay and Fold’s fictional tales almost always end up in the first person.

Anyway, I’ve also included a live version of ‘Rock This Bitch’, recorded during an Australian tour with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra. You’re better listening to it than reading me trying to explain it, but it’s basically this improv piece that turns up regularly at shows, only in this version he has an orchestra to pull along too. Good fun.

Buy.

So the new Andrew Bird album, Armchair Apocrypha, leaked on the internet this week. I really wouldn’t have known, but suddenly AB began leaping up the elbo.ws ranking, as seen on the right hand side of this page, and that raised my suspicions. So I immediately went out into the wide world and downloaded it.

Which isn’t it to say I’ve listened to it or intended on sharing it. With some releases I develop an irrational block, and while I’m gleeful at having a copy of the album on my computer, part of the joy stems from it just being there, if I wanted to hear it.

If you do wish to hear it, it’s probably not difficult to find. And even if you’re just looking for samples–I already provided plenty of live excerpts in 2006–you can easily look here for a list of bloggers covering it. It’s not without controversy, however, as a representative of AB has been requesting bloggers hold back on posting. You can read the whole thing here. It makes for an interesting read, with decent arguments from both sides. Not all that I’d agree with, but it’s worth going through.

My personal feeling is that downloads can only benefit an artist of AB’s stature. Those excited about the release and downloading it before the release date were already going to purchase it. Those who were merely curious about his work stand a good chance of falling head-over-heels for it–I’ve only seen positive responses for it so far–and in turn buying it when it’s released. As for those who were never going to buy it, well you can’t really regard them as a lost sale. It’s not always clean cut, but it’s how I feel it is regarding AB. Only time will tell.

Putting sales aside, another argument I’ve heard from some (of my favourite) artists, is that their art is being tainted by listening to inferior quality rips, or only hearing the album piece-by-piece by way of blogs. Then I’d ask those artists to consider that a large chunk of those who’ll support their art will be listening to it via computers, mp3 players, cars, or even just crap Hi-Fis, even if they did pay for a CD copy. And if audio quality is so crucial, why do so many of these same artists then allow audio streams–be they Flash or Real Audio–which are lesser quality than mp3s? How is that a vital introduction to your art?

I know my own view point is pretty warped and irrational in parts. Why else would I download albums then not listen to them? But when you look at it from the angle of artists I wasn’t so passionate about it, then labels would be losing sales from me without downloading. Twelve new CDs have come into my life this month. The majority of which I’d never have touched without downloading them first.

Why trust media? Why trust journalists? Why trust other kids sitting behind a computer? Why trust me? I love writing about music, and I love getting passionate about something and introducing others to it, but words only go so far. The purpose of this site is asking others to listen for themselves. I know too well from personal experience. All I have to do is turn around and face the CD racks behind me, and dotted around them are countless albums from the mid- to late-nineties and early-2000s, of which I was sold on two or three great songs, while the rest of the tracks are dull tripe. I own over 1000 CDs. Lots now sit in uncared for piles because they’re worth nothing to me. Owning EVERYTHING is no longer that important to me. There’s less money to go around, so wasting it on average/poor albums isn’t an option. Therefore, other than those artists I truly trust (Andrew Bird being one of them), I won’t buy physical products until I’ve explored whether they’re something I really need/want. A cloudy issue, sure, but it’s that or I buy nothing. Which would labels prefer?

In the grand scheme of things, the AB leak is quite a small thing–admittedly not to those involved, but still. Also leaked was the new Arcade Fire album, and I still cringe thinking about the Fall Out Boy quotes this week. While I barely know anything them and have only heard one song before, their arrogance is almost enough for me to download their album, not listen to it, and just keep it shared so that anyone can grab it. But I won’t, as effectively I’m lazy.

Anyway, thanks to the leak, it’s now possible to pre-order AB’s album from the American label. If not, you can glimpse the pretty artwork.

The people who run the music channels here in the UK have, by law, to subtitle a small proportion of their “output” or “music videos” as we call them when not in hell-media land, and part of my job as a subtitler is to add captions to 6 or 7 new songs a week for them. This week, I have been chosen to pick through them.

1. The Feeling, “Rose”
What a dreary video, and dreary song, sorry. Do young people like The Feeling? They were the ones with the 70s album cover that made me feel sick, I think. I have no idea why bands think anyone wants to watch them play their instruments; I’d rather watch them making a pot or digging, or flying in the air. Or eating dinner. The highlight of this video appears to be a pink light in the top left hand corner of the screen when one of them is looking into the middle distance, probably trying to remember the melody to the song, which it turns out appears to be about pink wine, as it’s actually “Ros-ay” but we can’t put in accented “e”s on subtitles as they are considered to be “errors” in the file and mean they won’t be broadcast. Which means some people wouldn’t be able to share the joy of The Feeling’s new lyrics, which I think you’ll agree would be a shame. So lay off the circumflexes, graves, cedillas and accents, guys, if you want the hard of hearing to like your songs too. And tildes.

2. Lil Chris, “Figure It Out”
He sounds like Pat Benatar. Which was a bit of a surprise. And he has the same spade-face as Linda Robson off top slag-com Birds of a Feather. I can’t think of anything else to say about L’i'”‘il’ Chr’is’ because his music was like egg falling off a dirty car bonnet.

3. The Fray, “How To Save A Life”
Hmmm, more piano. More boys with guitars. Except the One Defining Feature for this band appears to be the singer is singing through a toilet roll tube and singing like he’s at some sort of Musical Notes Trolley Dash, grabbing all of them on the way up and all of them on the way down but never really settling on the one he meant for, so it’s the equivalent of only ending up with some bog roll and a KitKat. The video is like a cross between an educational video for people who have been brought up in a sealed-off design museum about what the outside world must be like and an advert for skin cream. The singer looks like he writes poetry where every single poem he writes starts with the word “..And”. It features very pretty adolescents, probably all having mp3 blogs about Keane, crying on an off-white background and lit to look vaguely ugly and “normal” when they’re nothing of the sort and is therefore all about real emotion, and is thus very real. Words appear in that revolting way like “23.Accept” and “11. Be someone”. Jesus Christ, one of you, just fucking smile, it won’t kill you. It also seems to last roughly an hour. Music to cock your head slightly cutely to in Starbucks with your hands wrapped round the mug like it’s your heart, actually. It has an ugly black fat person crying at the end. A work of hideous genius. “86. Open up.”

4. Guns N Roses, “Sweet Child O Mine”
I actively looked forward to this song, which is, by the way, brilliant. It has that brilliant thing that everyone did in the 90s of having a colour camera and a black+white camera for “effect”, all grainy, from a slightly different angle. I believe it was known as “Shakycam” on Adam and Joe, and I think it was actually the law between 1990 and 2000 to have grainy B+W footage cut into your video from a slightly different angle, the desired effect of which was similar to the reason why people stonewashed their jeans or wrote on their schoolbags - authenticity - the actual effect being it looked like you specifically had stonewashed your jeans or written on your schoolbag - tragedy. I like that high bit that Slash plays. I am good at reviewing music. The person doing the subtitles for this song appears to have got the lyrics from a Slovenian palindromes site. The out-of-character-for-the-song guitar solo in the middle should have had Gary Moore ringing his lawyers. If he’d had lawyers. Which he probably did. Like I say, I’m good at reviewing music, me. The “Where do we go now?” bit is ripped off, I am 99% sure, from Jesus Christ Superstar.

5. Guns N Roses, “Welcome To The Jungle”
Nahh. “I wanna watch you bleed”. Well. That’s not very nice, is it? He looks like Russell Brand in this one. It’s a bit boring. Again, it’s making me think of the song Judas sings at the end of Jesus Christ Superstar. That’s not right, is it? That said, it does have:

# Feel my, my, my serpentine

..as a lyric, so you know. It’s not all bad. The video appears to be about Axlotl going into the “city” and watching TV and seeing bad stuff going on. Some sexlicious saucepots in black are lying in a non-contextual bed and looking at the camera. And there’s a bad key change. That said, the bit where Axl/Cartman sings “You know where you are? You’re in the jungle, baby! You’re gonna DIE” could be useful over loudspeakers on I’m a Celebrity after the “Eat As Much Peyote As You Can in 2 Minutes” round, when they get really desperate for viewers. Jesus, this song’s about an hour long too.

6. Take That, “Shine”
In which Mark, the not-right one, is allowed to dance down some stairs on his own to a Moby B-side while the others make sure he doesn’t trip up and damage his little face on the sharp metal edging. Meanwhile, Gary sits at the bottom rather overstatedly pretending to play a piano he’s never sat at before while the other two make sure the remaining sides of the video screen have someone in them too, which is very important. This said, I love very low piano notes played in quick and rhythmic succession, it flicks a weird little switch in my brain and seems to release some sort of powerful gladness enzyme, so you know, it all works out in the end. I can’t help thinking that’s a very large staircase though, and they only use a bit of it. Then it pretends to be The Beatles a little bit, which is cute, then you think, “Oh, hang on, was that the chorus? The verse was much better.” And then the verse comes again, and the one in white looks a bit like the Aphex Twin with his big flappy mouth if you don’t look at the screen properly, but you know what, it’s fine. I don’t mind this at all. Look at the smile on little Mark’s face! Makes me want to give £2 a month to something. They even let him shout a bit at the end before the Sunshine Coach turns up to take him back to Doncaster, or whatever postcode lottery it was he won.

7. Nelly Furtado, “Say It Right”
Opening shot: helicopter, big tall building, break of day. The helicopter has “Nelly Furtado”, the words, emblazoned on the side. She strikes me as the sort who doesn’t lend it out. Ooh. Neptunesy type blopping. Clapping. Oh, is it going to be like Maneater again where she went to a sewer and danced with the gang from Police Academy? Oh, no. It’s a ballad. Urgh, she’s gone a bit um, angular, hasn’t she? Oh, now she’s in a sequinny evening dress on a helipad. Is this what counts as aspirational these days? Helipads?
This song sounds like a Belinda Carlisle record at 3/4 speed. There’s a bit in the video where she’s in the rain! No, really! She looks kind of sad and she’s dancing in the rain. I wish more people would do that in videos, really. Oh! It faded out like she left the oven on or something. That was quick.

I have this recurring idea that 2007 can only lead to musical disappointment for me because the expectations are so high. January brings a new Kristin Hersh album, February brings Aereogramme, then March brings Andrew Bird. And to make matters more exciting, all of them are touring within the next two or three months. But in the back of my mind, I’ve also been aware that a new Neil Finn album has been scheduled for March, and while I’ve remained sceptical of it actually being released then–I continued to worry he’d scrap it all and go re-record it–it stands a chance.

The thing with the Neil Finn album, however, is that I’m desperate for him to take some chances. I want something more edgy and artistically challenging, and at this moment, I’ve no idea what to expect. But he did record the bulk of the record at Real World Studios in England with Ethan Johns (Ryan Adams, Ray Lamontagne), so there remains a tiny chance that it won’t be entirely sugar coated.

But this solo album has also been recorded with ex-Crowded House member Nick Seymour, and throughout the collaboration in 2006, a number of media stories broke claiming it was the beginning of a Crowded House reformation–something rubbished by the majority of fans, and put down to the media jumping to conclusions. But were they? Maybe it was excited leaks from record label personnel more than just fiction.

The point is, a Crowded House reformation is on. It was certainly an unexpected thing to wake up to this morning, but the Australian press are carrying the story, with confirmation from Peter Green–the fans’ closest connection with the band. So yes, Neil Finn, Nick Seymour and (the wonderful) Mark Hart will be touring together (seemingly) as Crowded House in 2007.

There are still many unanswered questions at this stage. Is the solo album due in March still regarded as a solo album? Will it be toured first as a separate entity? Who will play drums?

It’s an unexpected decision, because of all the things Neil Finn can do, reforming Crowded House doesn’t have to be one of them. Especially after drummer Paul Hester committed suicide back in 2005. Which itself is something that will divide fans, because many will claim the band can’t and shouldn’t exist without Hester. I’d have to disagree, purely for the fact the two occasions I saw Crowded House live were after Hester had originally left the band, yet both shows were magnificent and life changing for little old 16-year-old me.

Of course, the chances of any new reincarnation of Crowded House moving me like they did then are slim. But there’s a magical chemistry about those guys on stage, and as much as I loved their songs as songs, it was the live experience which raised them to another level altogether–the simple reason that I still have hoards of bootleg CDs taking up entire racks in the shelving behind me.

Anyway, it’s looking like I’ll get to relive some old times in 2007, as well as soaking up the more ground breaking material from a selection of my favourite artists. I’m not quite excited about the Crowded House aspect just yet, mainly because I’m waiting to see how it unravels, but it does add an unexpected twist to my musical year.

European tour dates:

01 Mar 07     Bristol, England - Thekla
02 Mar 07     Leicester, England - Y Theatre
03 Mar 07     Nottingham,England - Rescue Rooms
04 Mar 07     Birmingham, England - Glee Club
06 Mar 07     Portsmouth, England - Wedgewood Rooms
07 Mar 07     London, England - Koko
09 Mar 07     Sheffield, England - Leadmill
10 Mar 07     Manchester, England - Academy 3
11 Mar 07     Glasgow, Scotland - Oran Mor
12 Mar 07     Dublin, Ireland - Temple Bar Music Centre
14 Mar 07     Amsterdam, Holland - Melkweg
15 Mar 07     Ghent, Belgium - Handelsbeurs
16 Mar 07     Paris, France - Nouveau Casino
18 Mar 07     Madrid, Spain - Moby Dick
19 Mar 07     Barcelona, Spain - LA 2
21 Mar 07     Milan, Italy - Rainbow Club
22 Mar 07     Zurich, Switzerland- Moods
24 Mar 07     Stuttgart, Germany - Theaterhaus
25 Mar 07     Munich, Germany - Ampere
26 Mar 07     Berlin, Germany - Postbahnhof
27 Mar 07     Hamburg, Germany - Knust
28 Mar 07     Copenhagen, Denmark - Pumpehuset
29 Mar 07     Aarhus, Denmark - Vox Hall
31 Mar 07     Stockholm, Sweden - tbc
1 Apr 07       Oslo, Norway - John Dee

I believe there’s also an Icelandic date after Oslo. Personally, I’m hoping to catch three gigs.

Her new single ‘In Shock’ is released this week in UK/Europe (not US), followed by the album Learn to Sing Like a Star on 29 January. I ordered both from the 4AD store last week and they’re now on their way to me. It’s not the cheapest place to buy, but it’s a matter of old loyalty. Of course, Friday officially marked the last day in the job of mail order legend (and friend of many years) Jo, so I can’t promise the same level of excellent service from her replacements, but I’m sure they’ll try.

4AD also posted the ‘In Shock’ video on youtube, so you can watch that here. It’s hardly a music video masterpiece, but you have to bear in mind that it was recorded with zero budget, possibly with favours from friends. Still worth watching.

mp3: Everything (As It Moves)

website: http://www.idlewild.co.uk

So apparently there’s a new Idlewild album due out on 5 March. That’s only a month and a half away, yet any web forums I visit regularly haven’t been invaded by angry Idlewild kiddies claiming the band have sold out and are now crap. Maybe it means the band have been completely deserted by their core following. Maybe it means those who’ve already heard Make Another World are happier with it than their previous album Warnings/Promises.

I don’t know the answer, but from what I’ve heard of the new disc, it does seem they’ve made a more concerted effort to get a bit louder and faster again. Sure there’s none of the chaos of the early days that I used to love. But like the band, I’ve grown old since then and I’ve been perfectly happy to listen while they explored their softer side–though apparently not happy enough to actually buy Warnings/Promises. I can see myself buying this album though, and adding to my surprisingly large Idlewild collection–I reunited all my old singles and albums this week for the first time in five years. There’s a bit more passion on display, and I hope they follow it up with proper touring outside of the UK rather than supporting more crap bands in crap venues for crap amounts of money.

mp3: Waxwing

website: http://www.alasdairroberts.com/

I first wrote about Alasdair Roberts back in 2002/2003, and while I mean this in a good way, I could probably go back and copy and paste chunks of text, because not a lot has changed since then.

The former Appendix Out frontman still sounds like he’s channelling ancient folk stories from out of the ether. With his acoustic guitar, gentle plodding drums and soft Scottish voice, the recipe is simple and predictable. But that doesn’t take anything away from his quiet folk tales, which provide a lovely solution for when your mind requires an escape from the daily urbanism.

His new album The Amber Gatherers has just been released by Drag City, and he’s also been touring the UK with Joanna Newsom, which was a great opportunity for him to enjoy some extra recognition.

Buy.

mp3: Be Less Rude
mp3: The Greys

website: http://frightenedrabbit.co.uk/

It’s official. I’m out of touch with the Glasgow/Scottish music scene. Frightened Rabbit are merely the final nail in the coffin.

I’d had my suspicions when another Scottish band appeared in the Pitchfork reviews late last year. Suddenly they were being read about and downloaded around the world, yet I’d never heard of them. It could have been a one off, a freak occurrence. But no, another review (Frightened Rabbit) appeared early in January, and it was apparent I was a goner. Still, I was impressed with what I heard this time.

There’s nothing revolutionary about the band. Their loose guitar-driven indie rock is replicated around the world all the time, but they’ve combined it with enough DIY charm, sweetness, cynicism, humour and lyrical alertness to turn me on. The album flies past in a half an hour, is good fun, and is never afraid to be Scottish.

Anyway, I may be out of touch (to be fair, I’ve been away more than four years), but I don’t feel the need to be first on the scene to enjoy something.

Buy.

Keeping with the record label mail order today, I also took up an offer from Barsuk this week.

As mentioned previously last year, I’ve been very excited by the new Menomena album Friend or Foe. Browsing around for somewhere to order it online (as it’s officially released this coming week), I found an offer in the Barsuk shop for buying it together with debut album I Am the Fun Blame Monster for only $20. Even throwing in $8 of postage to get to Europe, it’s a bargain price.

You can listen to a full stream of Friend or Foe here too.

It was brought to my attention yesterday that Track and Field have a special offer running just now. It’s a lucky dip deal, and if you send them £10 via Paypal, they’ll send you six CDs in return (if you live in the UK, or have a UK address you can use). I figured there was nothing to lose. Track and Field have an excellent record of quality indie pop, and if for some reason I don’t like what I’m given, I can always give it away.

If you’re not aware of their signing and their sounds, visit here for a wide variety of mp3s.

mp3: Bob Dylan - Wigwam
web: official bob

I don’t know much about this song.
I know it first appeared on his 1970 album Self Portrait, near the end sandwiched between “She Belongs to Me” and “Alberta #2″.
I don’t know what it means, what it is about or inspired by.
I do know that it fits today like no other.

I hope you like it.

Buy.

mp3: Half Day Closing

(slightly pointless) website: http://www.portishead.co.uk

As she grimly walked away
“I’m leaving you,” she said.
And I had nothing new to say
Like the 2nd album by Portishead - Armando Iannucci

A tad harsh, but a fair opinion when you listen to some of it. The first album, of course, was derided for being on every vaguely cool TV show and the background to every dinner party of the mid-90s, which is a bit unfair, considering the level of ingenuity of the music. It was the soundtrack to my -30C sojourns into blizzards in St Petersburg, Russia, where it hurt to go shopping. In fact, Sour Times reminds me of that very painful experience every time I hear it. I have a lot of time and affection for the first album. It was marvellous.

The second one? Hmm. Time has been kinder than I thought, though. Seems they had quite a hard time with it, as you would after selling 14 billion copies of your first one, not really expecting it to sell more than maybe a few hundred, and seemed to think total suicide was the best method, rather than more mellow tram noises and Billie Holliday impressions, so started their album with Cowboys which is all half-tone key changes and dissonance. Try shagging to that, Anna off This Life, they seemed to sneer. This particular one, though, Half Day Closing, which my Zen landed on today, however, is pretty horrible, to be honest. I always press skip, because it makes me feel a bit sick. In fact, if I was given to writing about music in terms of what this song sounds like, it sounds almost exactly like a Led Zeppelin frenzy at half or maybe even quarter speed. You don’t believe me? Speed it up. It really does. Who knew? No-one said that when they were looking for Satanic messages, did they? All that backwards stuff may reveal the devil telling you to put heroin in your ear but slowing it to half speed reveals the sound of Bristol, 1997.

And so they played in New York with an orchestra, then disappeared again. Armando had a point, but I think if you’re going to lay into anyone from that era for being surplus to requirements, it should be bloody Morcheeba, with their car advert cod-blues toss, not this lot - at least Portishead were trying. But that’s for another post.

Buy.