tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51246284644222830852024-03-13T14:47:45.781+11:00Frank Booth ReviewOliverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11517739456949843045noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5124628464422283085.post-40560709023571801622009-08-26T01:44:00.003+10:002009-08-26T02:07:19.900+10:00Sonic Youth- The Eternal (2009)Sonic Youth are always a tough band to review. They are one of the most consistent and inventive forces in rock music- this much we know. While their last album, Rather Ripped, was a goldmine of understated jangle-pop, bluesy rock and claustrophobic lethargy, there is always that creeping, nagging feeling (as there is with any Sonic Youth album) that it pales next to 1989’s masterpiece, Daydream Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5124628464422283085.post-20790500638546072622009-08-22T15:57:00.006+10:002009-08-26T00:48:49.070+10:00District 9 (2009)
<!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --As a genre, science fiction seems to cop a lot of flack. Time and time again, the key point that many critics seem to miss is that Star Wars isn’t science fiction. Star Trek hasn’t been science fiction for over a quarter of a century. Not in the real sense, anyway. There is a real difference between an action film featuring spaceUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5124628464422283085.post-18276073059928563182009-04-23T23:57:00.008+10:002009-04-25T23:50:50.904+10:00Jarvis Cocker - Further Complications (2009)2006’s Jarvis was a mixed bag. It is not uncommon for an album, especially a solo debut, to have a strong half and a weak one, but of these cases there are very few where the second is so clearly the one to keep. But, sure enough, after cringing one’s way through such vacuous derivative slush as “Black Magic” and “Fat Children”, respite could be found in the glorious “Big Julie” and “From Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5124628464422283085.post-35173044645192513752009-04-14T21:34:00.006+10:002009-04-21T12:29:27.928+10:00FILM: The Boat that Rocked (2009)me⋅di⋅oc⋅ri⋅ty /ˌmidiˈɒkrɪti/ [mee-dee-ok-ri-tee] –noun, plural -ties.1.the state or quality of being mediocre.2.mediocre ability or accomplishment.3.a mediocre person._______________________________________________________________Mild disappointment is a funny thing. Its like mild curry, mild weather or a mild case of dyssentry. Often, as a budding film-reviewer, I'd rather abhor a film than Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07386326294743443137noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5124628464422283085.post-90061351833928482782009-04-14T16:33:00.004+10:002009-04-14T16:46:15.337+10:00Bat For Lashes - Two Suns (2009)“I feel like I’ve been shot up into the stratosphere”, claims Natasha Khan aka Bat For Lashes. She sure is cosmic! Actually, Bat For Lashes is Bjork-lite. There’s nothing particularly amiss with Two Suns. Her second outing is just as topped with moody melodies as Fur And Gold. It’s just that a listener would only choose this record if they lacked the bravery to embark upon Bjork’s far bolder and Oliverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11517739456949843045noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5124628464422283085.post-73087102591463024682009-04-14T15:30:00.005+10:002009-04-14T15:34:52.288+10:00Mi Ami - Watersports (2009)Watersports is like an acid trip that goes terrifyingly awry. Instead of seeing a spectrum of colours, your senses are hounded by swamps of reptiles with oversized jaws, heavy and feculent. Mi Ami lie somewhere between Gang Gang Dance and Can. They create free formed music, while their vocalist barks incessantly in a high pitch. There’s scarcely any discernable time structures or melodies (until Oliverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11517739456949843045noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5124628464422283085.post-13442787815442614722009-04-14T11:39:00.013+10:002009-04-14T13:55:50.681+10:00Morrissey - Years of Refusal (2009)Morrissey blah blah legend blah blah The Smiths blah blah solo career blah blah downhill in the 90s blah blah but Vauxhall and I was quite good blah blah ambiguous sexuality blah blah comeback blah.With the obvious preface out of the way, we can take a look at Years of Refusal. Opener "Something is Squeezing my Skull" is a perfect summary of the "Angry Moz" mode, with thumping beats, Fripp-esque Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5124628464422283085.post-153195552230135802009-04-13T20:29:00.012+10:002009-04-13T22:13:04.430+10:00Wolf & Cub - Science And Sorcery (2009)Science And Sorcery is saturated in funk. After the verve of Vessels, the wolves and cubs have decided to lay back and produce a considerably looser record. “What Are They Running” has a devilish Mayhew bass and a toe tapping kick drum, it’s irresistibly racy. The production is dirtier, forests away from the power production on Vessels by Tony Doogan. The song ends with improvised percussion, Oliverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11517739456949843045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5124628464422283085.post-52214137645856791922009-04-12T18:39:00.011+10:002009-04-13T19:31:37.574+10:00Belle & Sebastian - Tigermilk (1991)Belle & Sebastian have been one of my favourite bands for years. The first album I heard, The Boy with the Arab Strap became an instant favourite for me and I sought about finding all their stuff. Surprisingly, one of the last albums I heard, was actually their first. Tigermilk, like so many of their albums, sounds absolutely lovely. Cheery tunes, soft voices, twee pop in all its glory. But Philoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01336317591531759272noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5124628464422283085.post-70730814383198784272009-04-12T14:12:00.015+10:002009-04-13T21:47:55.569+10:00Liars - Drum's Not Dead (2006)Drum’s Not Dead is an album in the truest sense of the word. There are scarcely any songs on here that a cognisant individual would skip to, apart from the final track. Drum’s 12 songs are to be listened to consecutively, in their rightful and deliberate context. Separately they do not amount to more than experimental oddities, but as a whole they create an eye-opening listening odyssey.“Drum” Oliverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11517739456949843045noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5124628464422283085.post-47083540899381017962009-04-11T16:06:00.009+10:002009-04-13T20:01:24.811+10:00Various - So Frenchy So Chic (2009)It’s mother’s day soon. Vous comprenez? What are you going to bestow on your mother to illustrate your undying gratitude? She already has too many Rod Stewart Best Ofs. And what of your other anxiety? Anything which you purchase her might be inflicted on you also. A: This compilation.So Frenchy So Chic is delightful. It’s topped to the rim with sweetness and sophistication, 2 very notoriously Oliverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11517739456949843045noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5124628464422283085.post-60512636446621947092009-04-10T22:34:00.015+10:002009-04-13T14:29:11.106+10:00Graham Coxon - The Spinning Top (2009)Graham Coxon can play guitar. Graham Coxon can play guitar better than just about anyone. Graham Coxon is the Johnny Marr of the 90s. These are facts that you could almost forget on his last release, the perfectly fine Love Travels at Illegal Speeds, where Coxon hid his technical virtuosity behind power chords and straight-ahead mod-punk structures. Or further back in his solo career, when he hidUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5124628464422283085.post-18819990910648015152009-04-10T18:54:00.005+10:002009-04-11T11:23:45.391+10:00Peaches - I Feel Cream (2009)If I was the teacher of a pole dancing class, this record would soundtrack my every lesson. These beats are SAH-vere! But whereas the cover is outlandish and effervescent, the music within is actually very lifeless. The entire affair is disappointingly listless.At the beginning, it seems dangerous and sexy. It loses momentum quickly though and becomes nauseatingly repetitive. “So sexual, so Oliverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11517739456949843045noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5124628464422283085.post-28684067717753152602009-04-09T10:45:00.008+10:002009-04-13T21:03:25.531+10:00Slint - Spiderland (1991)Spiderland is a difficult record to define. At times it’s post rock, other times math rock and even grunge. It’s a bit like Sonic Youth’s Daydream Nation meets something undefinable. Some of the guitar riffs screech, fuzzy and unrefined. At other times, they’re pristine and clear. “Breadcrumb Trail” sounds like rock Rilke. “As I walked toward it I passed a crowd of people...she smiled at me, Oliverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11517739456949843045noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5124628464422283085.post-79503272177792432432009-04-08T00:04:00.006+10:002009-04-08T09:43:29.534+10:00Crystal Antlers – Tentacles (2009)Wolf Parade, Wolf&Cub, Wolf Eyes, Wolfmother, Holy Fuck, Fucked Up, Fuck Buttons, Girl Talk, Women, The Morning after Girls, not to mention the countless amount of ‘The’ bands. Now crystal is the new animal as we have: Crystal Castles, Crystal Stilts, Crystal Skulls and of course Crystal Antlers (which very strategically adds an animal part to the new band name trend).Crystal Antlers are hardSods Madmenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11043959925168448080noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5124628464422283085.post-82640579193794563272009-04-07T17:48:00.007+10:002009-04-13T14:23:34.689+10:00Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (2009)The French are perhaps the least confrontational people on Earth. Everyone who's ever tried to invade France has succeeded admirably - Bismarck, Hitler and Tina Arena all swept through Paris whilst the locals sketched each other half-naked and benefitted from universal health-care.Phoenix are no different.They're as non-threatening as Marcel Marceau at the Eurovision Song Contest. They're Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07386326294743443137noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5124628464422283085.post-58603316242353257612009-04-06T19:16:00.006+10:002009-04-13T14:21:54.990+10:00Justice - Planisphere (2008)Justice, there’s scarcely anything journalistic or profound to say about them. They’re just a pair of cool mother fuckers. The point of difference though, is that Justice are a pair of cool mother fuckers who have the chops to back their chic. Their brand of elect-rock is untouchable. Planisphere is a single song, severed into four movements. It was conceived to accompany Christian Dior’s Homme Oliverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11517739456949843045noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5124628464422283085.post-90425325802225726002009-04-05T12:34:00.004+10:002009-04-05T12:46:35.693+10:00Fever Ray - Fever Ray (2009)Fever Ray is not from our solar system. Karin Dreijer Andersson is an alien with a predilection for ominous electronic music. One half of Swedish duo The Knife, she engages in vocal gymnastics that can only be gawked at. Her voice is shrill and part of that constellation whose stars include Bjork and Kate Bush. She’s a tuneful extra terrestrial looking for companionship. These inhuman impressionsOliverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11517739456949843045noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5124628464422283085.post-49824417555106022592009-04-04T23:13:00.010+11:002009-04-05T02:18:08.190+11:00Pavement - Live Europaturnén MCMXCVII (2008)From all available evidence, it appears that live Pavement shows come in two varieties: very on and very, very off. Theirs is a style that, on record, glorifies the remedial, the happy accident and the sheer joy to be found in a burst of obscene noise. This can be hard to replicate live- play it too loose and they become an unfocussed mess, play too straight and it just isn’t Pavement.Luckily forUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5124628464422283085.post-42786278358223916902009-04-04T22:30:00.007+11:002009-04-13T14:21:26.500+10:00Antony and the Johnsons - The Crying Light (2009)Antony Hegarty’s voice is awe. It’s the kind of voice that masses of music lovers gush over and justly so. It’s immaculate, achingly delicate. If other musicians were to express the lyrics strikingly sung here, it may come across as cloying or contrived. Antony however, sings with the utmost conviction and sorrowful sincerity. You only have to listen for confirmation.The Crying Light is laced Oliverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11517739456949843045noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5124628464422283085.post-75648804475165406672009-04-04T19:27:00.008+11:002009-04-13T21:02:56.586+10:00Gang of Four - Entertainment! (1979)Entertainment! spits riffs in your face. Guitars are punctuated, grainy and sparse. Sounds are cut short and snappy. The record’s post-punk preoccupation with consumerism is as relevant today as it was in 1979. “Ether” spouts lines repetitively about “Dirt behind the daydream”. “Natural’s Not In It” has enough golden lyrical nuggets to populate generations of epitaphs: “This heaven gives me Oliverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11517739456949843045noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5124628464422283085.post-85044285052177470082009-04-04T16:37:00.006+11:002009-04-13T14:20:43.774+10:00Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz! (2009)“Get your leather on”. Yeah Yeah Yeahs are playful chameleons. Its Blitz! is frankly commercial. Not necessarily in a bad way, but in a yeah-this-is-a-fun-listen-if-only-for-half-an-hour-before-I-go-and-make-myself-some-noodles kind of way. “Zero” is fashionable. “Soft Shock” hops delightfully “in your room, in my room, in your room, in my room”. It’s coloured sweetly and is not without its warm Oliverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11517739456949843045noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5124628464422283085.post-26039044420693985962009-04-04T15:24:00.005+11:002009-04-04T23:22:05.876+11:00FILM: Knowing (2009)Everyday it gets harder and harder to defend Nicholas Cage. We all know how good he was in films like Leaving Las Vegas and Adaptation, even if we haven’t seen them. To kids these days, alas, he’s Ghost Rider, he’s National Treasure (or whatever the lead character in that franchise is named). He can be great when he has something to work with, but more and more often he seems to be actively Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5124628464422283085.post-92031340682193841172009-04-04T13:17:00.007+11:002009-04-13T21:01:52.438+10:00The Horrors - Primary Colours (2009)The Horrors have undertaken a new direction. Here, they’ve channeled My Bloody Valentine, Ride and The Cure. One might dismiss Primary Colours as being derivative. However, the execution is solid. 10 songs, not a single one filler. The record was skillfully produced by Geoff Barlow of Portishead. Kid-A ambience establishes the album before it does away with such a musical nicety. Drone-y guitars Oliverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11517739456949843045noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5124628464422283085.post-29101615071294383852009-04-01T20:39:00.011+11:002009-04-13T14:20:23.100+10:00Dan Deacon - Bromst (2009)If Merriweather Post Pavillion was the album that introduced the mainstream Indie throngs to the dissonance and streaming synths of 'noise-pop' then Dan Deacon's Bromst is the album that will test if those throngs are there to stay. The album is dirty, unpredictable, wildly eclectic and yet devastatingly beautiful.A friend of mine described Deacon's style as a mixture of Animal Collective, The Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07386326294743443137noreply@blogger.com1