The Church - "Realm Of Minor Angels"

Gorgeous bonus song off the upcoming expanded version of the Aussie dream/psych pop icons' latest record The Hypnogogue.  

Jam of the Day: Ride - "End Game"

Shoegaze titans Ride return with their new album This Is Not A Safe Space. I am captivated by the moody track "End Game" that blends their ferocious guitar attack with a more contemplative, Church-esque atmosphere.

iPod Shuffle Tuesday

Continuing from yesterday, here are the first five tracks that pop up on my iPod:

1. The Church - "Night Friends"



Gorgeous and atmospheric track from 80s legends The Church off their wonderful 2002 LP After Everything Now This.

2. John Roberts - "Untitled IV"



Of his Paper Frames EP, producer John Roberts offers up this delicate piece for treated piano.

3. Gauntlet Hair - "My Christ"



Swirling and echoey guitar track from the now defunct duo.

4. Tanlines - "Green Grass"



Catchy indietronica from the Brooklyn duo.

5. Jeff Buckley - "So Real"



I had heard of him but had never actually heard his music before. Buckley opened for some band I was seeing and this first song he played was "So Real," and what was so endearing about it was that he completely fucked up the beginning of the song and made his band start over again. From that moment, Buckley got back into his groove and slashed through a brilliant 30 minute set. He was going to be such a huge star, sorry he was taken from us so soon.

Album Review: Wild Nothing - Nocturne

Wild Nothing
Nocturne
Rating: Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It

Wild Nothing's 2010 debut album Gemini wore its influences on its sleeve, drawing comparisons to 80s alt-guitar bands like Cocteau Twins, Smiths, The Church, and about any of the shoegaze titans. What set that album apart was the obvious love for those influences yet their dogged determination not to specifically ape them. There was a charming ruggedness and edge to the songs on that record, a willingness to just try something for the hell of it and see if it stuck. With follow up Nocturne, Wild Nothing, led by Jack Tatum, don't really step out on any limbs with their sound, the guitars are still shimmery and dreamy, and Tatum's vocals are firmly fixed in a state of bemused airiness. it is obvious from the opening tracks that the production budget was greatly increased, each note hanging in the air precisely and delicately. Gone, however, is that go-for-broke quality that made Gemini such a gem. Nocturne's 11 tracks float along in a hazy ether of reverb, which makes these tracks flow in and out of one another deliberately, coming together as more of a series of variations on a theme. While this isn't necessarily a bad thing, by record's end you are not really left with the distinct notion that the songs were different. But all the same, one cannot deny that these songs are beautifully produced and rendered.

The album starts off with the glossy shimmer of "Shadow," the crystalline guitars pushed along by haunting strings.



"Midnight Shadow" draws from the first album's approach, adding a echoing set of drum patterns and slightly darker guitar spin.



But from there, the album sort of gets stuck in neutral, with too many tracks sharing the same mid-tempo beat and reliance on shimmering guitar chords. "Nocturne," while gorgeous, hits its high point early before foundering in a flatline,



"Only Heather" coasts along on a chugging guitar line but doesn't really do much with it,



while "Disappear Always" draws a gorgeous picture straight from the Go-Betweens' playbook, its initially melody is disrupted too often by discordant bursts of electric guitar.



Things only pick up in the details of a few tracks. "Through The Grass" adds some delicate Fairlight CMI sounding keyboard washes throughout which adds a haunting quality to the track,



rising and falling synth washes along with a meaty bassline push forward with 80s funk guitars on "Paradise,"



and the guitars are more direct on "The Blue Dress" which adds some interesting percussion to the mix.



These types of more texturally interesting songs come few and far between to make a more distinct impact on Nocturne. The layers and layers of pristine guitar chords wash over you as you are listening to it, and lulls you into a bit of a fog. It made me long for the everything but the kitchen sink approach of Gemini. While this album is not a disaster in the least, or even a sophomore slump, it's just enough to tantalize you until the next record, when hopefully Wild Nothing with get a little more wild.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and piques one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.

Cut Off Your Hands: Hollow

Cut Off Your Hands
Hollow
Rating: Grrrr

Back in the 80s and early 90s, Sunday nights were always set aside for 120 Minutes on MTV (yes, back in the day when 90% of their programming was still videos. This was well before the Internet and easy access to music that was not Top 40. Back then, our only sources were publications, college radio stations, record stores, word of mouth, and the beloved 120 Minutes. Without that show it is unlikely I would have heard of half the bands that are now part and parcel of my being. Until developing my taste in electronic music, the music that interested me the most was from guitar-based bands like The Smiths, Chameleons, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Railway Children, House of Love, Kitchens of Distinction, R.E.M., and The Church. Loved all the ringing/chiming guitars and driving beats associated with these bands and voraciously sought out similar bands. As my taste in music has evolved and changed over the years, I still hold a fondness for simple, guitar driven bands who have a good ear for melody. New Zealand quartet Cut Off Your Hands could easily have held a second hour slot on 120 Minutes, their songs evoking those bands listed above; reverentially but not slavishly. There is a lovely energy to their songs, the guitars chiming and clear, with a dreamy backing section. Their previous album (produced by ex-Suede member Bernard Butler and Smiths producer Stephen Street) found them leaning too heavily on Britpop and post-punk angst of bands like Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party, and Maximo Park.

With Hollow, they have not completely forsaken those roots, but have focused more on melody instead of just pure energy this time. First single "Fooling No One" is a perfect mix of the two styles, rushing out the gate in a blur of drums and acoustic guitars and yelping vocals before settling into a jangly groove reminiscent of The Church in their earlier, more minimalist style.



There is a lovely mix of styles on Hollow that keep the band from sounding too one note or too indebted to one influence. From the Smithsian opener "You Should Do Better" with its shuffling drum and intricately ringing guitars and warbling, over-the-top vocal,



to the guitar rave-ups "Hollowed Out" and "Down and Out" that sound like the direction Echo and the Bunnymen should have taken before descending into bloat and excess,

Cut Off Your Hands - Hollowed Out by ology

or more gentle tracks like "Nausea" that capture that era of music so well:



But even though the album is not incredibly innovative from a style standpoint, there are moments of interesting juxtaposition, like the charming song "All It Takes" with its lovely Railway Children jangle mixed in with some odd Haircut 100 sounding background yelps and chirpy keyboards.



Hollow is not an album that announces itself as the next big thing or that is revolutionary, it is simply a good guitar, pop album. While I do have an affinity for bands that push the boundaries of what is pop music, there is something to be said sometimes for a band that just puts out a well-crafted album of just great songs. Hollow is record that reveals its charms subtly, but sticks with you for days.

Rating Guide

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.