Midlake tug at you, they remind you of your sadness, they force tears out of you. Soft sonically but in meaning, they have the ability to produce the most frighteningly low songs, ‘Acts of Man’ being one of them. This is melancholy’s last words; “When the acts of men cause the ground to break open, oh, let me inside, let me inside, not to wait“. This inclusive use of “men”, it speaks volumes, the idea of every ounce of strength being put towards one thing. The idea of everybody crumbling, the ground breaking open…
The first indication of next year’s follow up to ‘Trials of Van Occupanther’ really reaches in at your guts and soul. It brings out emotion, just like the last record did. Acoustic guitar upon acoustic guitar, Tim Smith’s vocals telling of fear and promise. When his bold voice sounds vulnerable, you take notice.
ALBUM REVIEW: Local Natives – Gorilla Manor words: Jamie Milton — originally scribed for gigwise.com
Who exactly are Local Natives? Well they’re certainly not Fleet Foxes, that much they want you to believe. Their faces are de-constructed and morphed into a scattering of colours and shapes on the artwork of their debut album, an album which corresponds to this by crafting an almost endless range of personas and atmospheres within the songs that are played. Local Natives can go from sounding like one band to another completely different identity in a flash and hey, whilst that’s a pretty good showcase of talent, the only band they don’t sound like is Local Natives.
‘Gorilla Manor’ has no coherent identity pushing the songs and putting a stamp on a sound that has been so neatly played with by many other bands in recent times. The rich, layered approach to the album can be discovered in the music of Grizzly Bear, Field Music and granted, although ‘Gorilla Manor’ doesn’t have the budget of ‘Veckatimest’, something needs to be done to sweep this album away from the comparisons that so obviously irritate the band. Be it an orchestra, an arrival of abstract interludes, whatever; you crave for something unique to strike out from the album but alas, it never happens.
Regular visitors come in the form of luscious vocal harmonies, warm and cuddly, giving the album a comforting autumnal feel. They work most efficiently in ‘Warning Sign’ and ‘Stranger Things’, both ambitious projects that help define the record as something more than just a dabbling in textured grandiose. ‘Warning Sign’ provides a melancholic contrast to the typically sickly approach that creeps up in the likes of ‘Airplanes’ and ‘World News’. ‘Sun Hands’ is another fine example of excavations into darker unknowns, Ryan Hahn, Taylor Rice and Kelcey Ayer all corresponding vocally to the thought that “if the morning never comes…”, but it’s the West Coast frenzied climax that separates ‘Sun Hands’ from the kids, giving it the status of the most enticing listen on the whole album.
It’s when Local Natives drift aside from the norm that they really impress. And when displaying the crafty musicianship and expert songwriting that they do on ‘Gorilla Manor’, you know perfectly well that they’re capable of evolving into something entirely more captivating and testing. But this is an album that reaches too many road-blocks, spanning for just under an hour (for an album that is simply a collection of streamlined, five minute songs, this is too much) and unable to muster up a unique personality. But be aware, very soon Local Natives will progress into an entity far more than just a sub-par version of their contemporaries. One consistent element in this scatterbrain? Potential.
It wasn’t long ago that we last wrote about Phantogram. That write-up came mere minutes after hearing the gloriously catchy ‘When I’m Small’ for the first time. Since then I’ve become accustomed to the debut ‘Eyelid Movies’ which, because of its re-release next February, looks set to class Phantogram in many “new bands” list which will no doubt arrive very soon. Said album has its limits and there are boundaries that it refuses to cross. But that only adds to the sheer catchiness and instant likability of the record.
Opener ‘Mouthful Of Diamonds’ sets the tone. Synthetics pulse behind well synchronised guitar rhythms and hip-hop beats that a fast becoming signature elements of the band’s sound. The chorus opts for a breakdown, beats settling and Sarah Barthel’s voice harmonised into something far more delicate. Quite the ride – gripping from start to finish. (JM) mp3//
‘Odd Blood’, due February 2010, has just given us a sign. ‘Ambling Alp’ is the lead single, due for release digitally this November from Secretly Canadian. You can get it with one of those awesome t-shirts and vinyl as the colourful picture above demonstrates so well.
And so the song: Well, it’s a difficult one to get your head around. Life-affirming, triumphant are the two superlatives that come to mind. It’s more balanced and streamlined than anything on ‘All Hour Cymbals’, complicated horn sections such as those you craved for TV On The Radio to unleash on ‘Dear Science’ but to no avail, come out of nowhere mid-way after an underwater-ish sounding opening gives you few clues as to where the song could go. So in summary this is unpredictable, rewarding listen and the perfect indicator signal for how ‘Odd Blood’ could turn out.
words: Jamie Milton
originally scribed for gigwise.com
When The xx first emerged, a lot of the press began to fall head over heels in love with the vocals above the beats, the minimalism, the vital components of what makes the self-titled debut so irresistibly dense and inventive. Oliver Sim and Romy Madley-Croft were the voices in question – Sim’s husky, soulful voice harmonising with Madley-Croft’s simple, retrospective tones.
You wouldn’t have been a fool in thinking that this was just a two-piece who relied on tape players to blast out the beat-ridden backdrops when playing live. Jamie Smith and Baria Qureshi are relatively anonymous on ‘XX’ and again, you’d be forgiven for thinking that they would just be used for live shows only and not the recording. But at Brighton Audio, six months into touring, all four work as one, providing for eachother and respecting what each member gives. They look like a four-piece band, is what I’m trying to say.
Esben and the Witch on the other hand, look like they could do with a few more members. So powerful and constructed is their sound at times that it defies belief to see just three people unleashing it. What defines their set tonight is an ability to settle a sporadically placed audience into a comfortable lull, before rudely awakening them with an almost Mogwai-esque wall of noise. Stage props of owls and lit-up globes give their tracks played from accomplished debut EP ‘33‘ an identity although said ornaments would more suitably assist their recordings. The band’s myspace page is similarly decorated with old-fashioned, black-and-white images capable of giving you nightmares. The haunting base upon which their recordings rely on can be barely heard tonight, largely due to the hideous interruptions of feedback that hardly suits what the band is trying to achieve. But their performance draws in a far more tightly-packed crowd as the set progresses and the fact that you can draw parallels between the vocals and the mood of Esben and the Witch’s sound to that of the headline act, wets the appetite.
And make no mistake: This is not a night to drink Horchata or to mingle with strangers standing centimetres from you. What both of these bands produce is a claustrophobic feel, akin to the uncomfortable awareness that this venue’s ceiling is a little bit too low for your liking.
The xx’s set is tight and finely-tuned, an impressive feat considering Jamie Smith has to tap every single strained beat and fluctuating bass note on his sampler manually – there is room for error but errors are not made. The one drawback of this is that at least initially, the songs aren’t identifiable to those on record that you might as well be at home listening through some dodgy laptop speakers. But be it a gaining of confidence or a purposeful drip-drip effect, the set improves and the band venture into alternative closings of songs (‘Basic Space‘’s climax is unexpected, the highlight of the night) and Sim and Madley-Croft begin to add more energy and meaning to the lyrics they sing.
The night ends fittingly with album closer ‘Stars‘ – one of the few songs that sounds superior to its recording tonight. But that’s a terrific feat to conquer, to be able to adjust from near-perfection without sounding like you’ve lost your way. The faultlessness of ‘XX‘ could have been the stumbling point for the band that had to perform these precise songs live. But it was not to be. That’s quite an achievement – summing up a year in which this young London four-piece haven’t put a foot wrong.
photo source: Simon Filip (what a wonderful photo, might I add)
Pitchfork today announced the return of Field Music, a band of whom many expected to never return what with The Week That Was and School of Language making movements over the past two years. But a follow-up to 2007’s astoundingly good ‘Tones of Town’ is definitely going to be welcomed with baited breath and open arms.
‘Measure’, the first mp3 to be played from the self-titled album, is unlike anything the band have mustered up before. Yes, it remains busy but surrounding the subtle whimpers of David Brewis is Wild Beasts-percussion, heart-warming string sections and electrifying guitar lines, everything perfectly in sync, which is some achievement.
The affirmed highlight of ‘Kings & Queens’ arrives in technicolour, as cheeky Jamie T rides golf carts, walks the streets and just generally “hangs out”. This is a fantastic choice for a single, and hopefully the big-time DJ’s will take note and get playing.
Courtesy of Baeblemusic, this rather dimly-light performance of Wild Beasts, showcasing the finest material from this year’s ‘Two Dancers’ and the equally glorious ‘Limbo, Panto’ , is a sight (correction, sound) to behold.
All mp3s posted on Music Fan's Mic are posted after gaining the relevant permission.
Jamie Milton began Music Fan's Mic in 2006 as a means of publishing and collecting his reviews for other publications. Since then both Milton and Gareth O'Malley are co-running the blog and posting the best new music on a regular basis.
Boom-box-in':
Yeasayer - Odd Blood LP
Final Fantasy Heartland LP
Beach House - Teen Dream LP
These New Puritans - We Want War
Gigi - The Old Graveyard
jj - The xx Intro
Toro Y Moi - Causers of This LP
Liars - Sisterworld LP
Vampire Weekend - White Sky
Los Campesinos! - In Medias Res
MFM @ HYPEM
