May: A Summary
MAY: A Summary
words: Gareth O’Malley // Jamie Milton
The rise of Susan Boyle, the low of being a politician, the return of music at its best. April was a lapse in concentration, a mere slip in the mud, whereas May provided all with a slap in the face, a quick reminder that 2009 had plenty to offer and wouldn’t go down as a below par twelve months without a fight. Hitting every well-stocked record store was a whole host of impressive albums, one signifying the making of a rejuvenated new band, defying all critics. Then came the return of one of the greatest lyricists of all time, words met with surprisingly impressive musical connection. Elsewhere was the release of two of the most “hyped” albums of the year, one a startling debut, the other a life-affirming return celebrating an isolated island off of Massachusetts for the wealthy. And then some…
Things got off to an excellent start with the return of the finest British bands: The Maccabees in particular, whose second record is quite special: immediate it may be, but still manages to grow on you. Also back were Gallows, whose ‘Grey Britain’ presented a bleak vision of the U.K., aided by a thundering musical backdrop. It is not an easy listen, to say the least, but it is quite a rewarding one. Oh yes, and Primary Colours was released too. As you can see, it blew us away.
There were more difficult albums to come though, one a major disappointment, the other quite an exhausting listen: Bloc Party’s ‘Intimacy Remixed’, and British Sea Power’s ‘Man of Aran’. The former is a particularly disjointed record. “But it’s a fucking remix album!,” we hear you cry. Well, ‘Silent Alarm’’s remix album seemed to have quite a good flow to it; by contrast, ‘Intimacy Remixed’ is all over the place, not to mention quite a few remixes are sub-par. The latter, meanwhile, isn’t something you can dip in and out of at will. With its segues and transitions, it demands to be listened to in one sitting each time you press play. It is a difficult record to get into at first, yet we feel that it is something that you just keep coming back to. There is so much to explore. A grower if ever there was one.
And speaking of which, one of the most highly anticipated albums of the year fell into that category too. Grizzly Bear’s expansive third album ‘Veckatimest’ was underwhelming at first listen. In fact, we’d even go so far as to say it was a crushing disappointment after the majesty of ‘Yellow House’, but, given time, it revealed itself to us. Far away from the accessibility of ‘Two Weeks’ and ‘While You Wait For The Others’, an understated beauty soon came to the fore, a beauty evident on such songs as album highlight ‘Ready, Able’ and closer ‘Foreground’.
Manic Street Preachers delivered the goods with ‘Journal For Plague Lovers’, with lyrics by Richard James Edwards (albeit in edited form). The musicianship was remarkable too, with drummer Sean Moore turning in his best performance since ‘The Holy Bible’, and frontman James Dean Bradfield on fine form throughout. Nicky Wire even took lead vocals on the moving closer ‘William’s Last Words’. The album is even better when performed live, and in its entirety to boot.
French group Phoenix showed that they can do synth-pop better than most, mewithoutYou’s change in direction yielded breathtaking results, Passion Pit’s ‘Manners’ greatly impressed us (although perhaps a more fitting title would have been ‘Marmite’ – you don’t need to go too far to see why), St. Vincent’s return through ‘Actor’ exemplified her simplistic yet breathtaking songwriting and, above all, May showed us that while 2009 yet may not prove to be on a par with last year, it is damn well going to try.
MAY’S RELEASES – IN SCORE ORDER (not necessarily original review score):
The Horrors – Primary Colours [9.6]
[mp3: Scarlet Fields] [alt]
mewithoutYou – It’s All Crazy!… [9.2]
St. Vincent – Actor [9.0]
Manic Street Preachers – Journal For Plague Lovers [9.0]
[mp3: Jackie Collins Existential Question Time] [alt]
Passion Pit – Manners [8.8]
Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix [8.6]
[mp3: Lisztomania] [alt]
Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest [8.5]
[mp3: While You Wait For The Others] [alt]
The Maccabees – Wall Of Arms [8.4]
Gallows – Grey Britain [8.2]
The Field – Yesterday and Today [8.0]
Green Day – 21st Century Breakdown [7.9]
British Sea Power – Man Of Aran [7.7]
Maximo Park – Quicken The Heart [7.7]
Graham Coxon – The Spinning Top [7.5]
Kitsune Maison Compilation 7 [7.4]
The Wave Pictures – If You Leave It Alone [7.2]
House Of Brothers – Document 1 EP [5.9]
Bloc Party – Intimacy Remixed [5.0]
Mika Miko – We Be Xuxa [4.7]
MFM @ HYPEM
