In praise of CD singles…

It’s a sad fact that I love buying CDs. In my youth, even when I didn’t have that much disposable income, I’d buy as many CDs as possible, and I’d go on a heavy splurge at the turn of the year, with Christmas and my birthday within a fortnight of each other. I’d often get some CDs at Christmas, and any I didn’t receive I’d buy with money or gift tokens. As I grew older and got those job type things, I bought more and more. In my first two months of college I spent an obscene amount of money on CDs, some of which I still, to this day, have not listened to in full. As I’ve grown older, with downloading tempering my purchases more and more – wait until you’ve had a listen to see if you really need it Aidan – I’ve calmed down a little bit, but I still love that moment when I wander into a shop and see something makes me want to buy it.

Just today I was in HMV, not expecting to see anything, but there was the new Bloc Party single, Talons. Now I’m not their biggest fan, but they’ve a lot of great songs and every now and then these tracks have been the starting points for some even greater remixes, as in the case of Banquet (Phones), The Prayer (Para One), and Where Is Home (Diplo). They’ve also “taken over” The Guardian this week, so there’s no escaping them. Talons has been remixed by the aforementioned Phones (Paul Epworth, who also produced the original track, along with many other Bloc Party tracks), The Moody Boyz and XXXChange. Over the past year or so I’ve been enamoured with more and more of XXXChange’s remixes, as they cross boundaries between bmore, dub and straight up rave. This definitely fits into the latter category, not unlike his remixes of Panda Bear and Sunny Day Sets Fire. As most of his tracks end up on vinyl (and my expenditure on vinyl remains minimal) it’s rare that I get the chance to properly “own” any of his tracks. This dedication takes a special commitment, the kind that involves buying an awful collection of tracks such as Best Fwends‘ Alphabetically Arranged just for XXXChange’s remix of Myself. So when a handy four track CD appears with the XXX seal of approval, it’s much easier to part with a few quid. Heck, I even double take every time I see Elvis Presley Vs Spankox because I think I see Spank Rock, the name of the rapper whose first album was produced by XXXChange.

That said, it’s becoming more and more difficult to find such discs, as the CD single market dwindles. Before I left Dublin last month I was devastated to discover that HMV in Grafton Street had dispensed with their A-Z single section, opting to sell only CDs that chart. This seems to be the case across the board I have discovered, in both Ireland and the UK, with the exception of the HMV on Henry Street. Trainspotters take note. I’m not going to get into the whole legal download vs CD-purchasing debate, this isn’t that kind of post. But I do think there is something special about holding something in your hands, tearing off the cellophane, popping it into your CD player of choice, even if that is your laptop, and the CD is going to be ripped and left to gather dust. It still exists in the real world, rather than floating about in abstract form. I like that. So, while I have become a little bit more ruthless with my hard-earned cash, I don’t ever think there wil be a time when I won’t want to pop into HMV for an impulse purchase like today. As long as musicians keep putting out good music, I’ll keep buying it.

The Long Blondes Break Up

One of my favourite British bands of the 21st century, the wittily literate, stylishly kitted and Cocker-approved Long Blondes have announced their break-up. Straight from a bulletin on Myspace:

“We have decided to call it a day.

The main reason for this is that I suffered from a stroke in June and unfortunately I do not know when / if I will be well enough to play guitar again.

On behalf of the band I’d like to say a big thank you to anyone who ever came to one of our shows, bought one of our records or danced to one of our songs in a club. Thank you, if it wasn’t for you the whole thing would have been pointless.

Finally on a personal note, thanks for all your well wishing messages.

Dorian xxx”

Dorian, for those not in the know, was the chief songwriter and guitarist of the band. Once me and sometime Analogue photographer Cait bumped into him on Oxford Street mere minutes after buying an LB’s 12 inch and frightened the poor man by jumping on him with our groupie-like love.

Singer and siren Kate Jackson recently played a DJ set in Antics, which I, retrospectively, idiotically sat out. Anybody with a time machine please drop us a comment here in the box and sort me out.

Sunbear album reissued by indiecater

Following two volumes of Indiecater and the reissue of the Red Star Belgrade album, ‘Where the Sun doesn’t Shine’, Indiecater has just released a digital reissue of Sunbear’s self titled album from 1993. There was only 1000 copies of the album ever pressed so it’s nice to see it available again.

From Indicater:

This is our second reissue and this time it comes from an act much closer to home. Back in the mid-90′s Sunbear were touted as future kings but in the end it all came to naught. Wasn’t for the lack of quality output however as their debut album remains an incandescent example of a young band pulling out all the stops to dramatise what was buzzing around their heads. ‘Sunbear’ was a remarkable achievement that pushed the boundaries in an already vibrant indie scene in Dublin at the time. Sadly a miniscule marketing budget didn’t help and despite numerous replays of ‘Notebook’ on RTE’s seminal ‘No Disco’ programme ‘Sunbear’ faded from view. Of course the boys from Sunbear went on to form the very much alive and thriving Ruby Tailights so who are we to rule out a one-off ‘Sunbear’ extravaganza. Many thanks to Paddy and Martin for their efforts in making the reissue of this important record possible. The album is selling for €3.50, click here to buy it!

Lawrence of Belgravia

In the latest issue of Analogue I suggest that someone ought to make a film about Lawrence. It turns out someone just has. Lawrence of Belgravia is directed by Paul Kelly and has its premiere on November 4th. You’ll have to travel all the way to London’s South Bank to see it though.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dzdHl6nrJk]
Felt “Penelope Tree”

Lawrence was the leader of Felt who released ten albums – five for Cherry Red, four for Creation and one for él records – between 1981 and 1989. Lawrence (he tried to keep his surname a secret) hailed from Water Orton on the outskirts of Birmingham. In 1979 he released a single under the Felt moniker (“Index”) which was named Single Of The Week in Sounds. By 1981, Lawrence had relocated to Windsor where he encountered Maurice Deebank and together they made Felt’s debut LP Crumbling the Antiseptic Beauty. Felt’s music was elaborate; their early records shot through with Deebank’s classical guitar, Lawrence’s lyrics were full of religious imagery and rich in allusion to Romantic literature. Under Lawrence’s instruction, their drummer was not allowed use cymbals or high-hats. They were influenced by The Velvet Underground, Television and Patti Smith but – Lawrence’s Lou Reed-y voice aside – they had their own distinct sound. Their 1986 album Forever Breathes The Lonely Word is one of the great independent albums of the 1980s. But Lawrence was fond of shooting himself in the foot. Maurice Deebank, his songwriting collaborator quit the band in 1985, shortly after the release of the classic single “Primitive Painters” – a rather astonishing, swirling thing featuring Cocteau Twins Elizabeth Frazer and Robin Guthrie which very nearly made the proper charts. The following year Felt signed to Alan McGee’s Creation and it looked like a commercial breakthrough was on the cards. A single, “Ballad Of The Band” augured well, but Felt failed to capitalise on the momentum and decided to release an 18 minute long album of instrumentals called Let The Snakes Crinkle Their Heads To Death. This became a hallmark of how Felt would operate. In 1988, when everyone else at Creation was embracing acid house, Felt released an album of instrumentals for hammond organ and vibraphone called Train Above The City. Incredibly, Lawrence thought that this was what it took to become a bona-fide pin-up popstar. He strove to be a paragon of art-pop virtue in a world of popstars who – in Lawrence’s eyes at least – continually let their fans down. Lawrence was an oddball and he knew it. He was obssessive about hygiene to the point of not allowing visiting journalists use his toilet. He claimed that he only ate meat. He also boasted that his only hero was George Best, and the he owned a football shirt which Best had signed, but he wouldn’t allow anybody to see it. After a final introspective release in 1989 called Me and A Monkey On The Moon, Felt’s 10th album in 10 years (something Lawrence claimed was all part of some overall plan), Lawrence moved to New York for a rethink.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Cz7u5v7tH8]
Denim “Middle Of The Road”

He finally returned in the autumn of 1992 fronting Denim. A quick comparison of some Felt and Denim lyrics should suffice to show the scale of the artistic u-turn…

Felt:
“I like those deep-down thoughts that leave you stranded way in mid-air/ And I’d like to do something that makes somebody somewhere care” (“Hours Of Darkness Have Changed My Mind” from Forever Breathes The Lonely Word, 1986)

“Haunting the ghost of the noble crusader/ Who recalls the pellucid ice, clutching the aching twigs…” (“The Stagnant Pool” from The Splendour Of Fear, 1984)

“Primitive painters are ships floating on an empty sea, gathering in galleries we’re stallions of imagery”
(“Primitive Painters” from Ignite The Seven Cannons, 1985

Denim:
“Look in the mirror, tell me what you see/ Is it a face of beauty staring back at me or should I face the facts: I’m just an old roadie.” (“Here Is My Song for Europe” from Back In Denim, 1992)

“There’s an auction goin’ down at Christie’s and they’re selling his headband/ They say it’s gonna cost a bomb, don’t know why – the guy’s still alive/ And there’s a beermat from the Hope and Anchor in Islington/ There’s a corner chewed off, they say he ate it in ’75…” (“The Great Pub Rock Revival” from Denim On Ice, 1996)

“My mate’s got a garage and it’s full of stuffed animals/ I snuck in there once and I stole a cat/ I put it on the windowsill but if fell down the floor, babe/ The ol’ man with the lawnmover, he ran over it.” (“Brumburger” from Denim On Ice, 1996)

“We ain’t been going very long/ We’ve only written one good song/ And here it is, we will play the best song that we’ve got/ It’s called ‘Internet Curtains’.” (“Internet Curtains” from Novelty Rock, 1997)

Denim released the single “Middle Of The Road” and followed it up with the LP Back In Denim. It is 50 minutes of thumping glam rock with shoutalong choruses and a garish lollypop coloured sleeve. Where Felt were fey and heavy, Denim revelled in the downright daft. The album’s opening title track sounds like The Arrows’ (and Joan Jett’s) “I Love Rock and Roll”. Throughout the album the spirit of the early to mid 70s is constantly evoked. “a href=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JJ8I8Npjbg”>”The Osmonds” is a list song of 70s artifacts, but touchingly dwells on the Birmingham pub bombings of 1974. “I’m Against The Eighties” is a crazed rant against the decade which saw Felt confined to the fringes, obviously to Lawrence’s disgust. At one point he rants “I’ve made a new sound, this ain’t goin’ underground…” which makes it all the more poignant that Denim never had a hit. Three years passed until the release of Denim On Ice, more hit and miss than the debut but it has its moments. Around this time Denim toured in support of Pulp. Novelty Rock, an album of b-sides with some new tracks, was released in 1997 to not-very-much fanfare. However in the summer of 1997 Denim found themselves playlisted on BBC Radio 1 and were poised to finally make the charts with a novelty summer hit called “Summer Smash”. Unfortunately, two weeks before it was supposed to be released Princess Diana’s death made radio station managers think twice about playing the single and once again Lawrence was foiled. Another Denim album was recorded, but remains unreleased.

Since then Lawrence has released two albums as Go-Kart Mozart, both very much in the vein of Denim’s novelty rock and both albums really are quite demented. Lawrence has talked about releasing a solo album (his Berlin, apparently) but it has yet to emerge. Hopefully Lawrence of Belgravia will see Lawrence finally get the attention he’s craved for so long, and which he so thoroughly deserves.

Peek! An earful of Irish Underground

Side A
The High Life – Ugly Megan
Ballet Shoes – Grand Pocket Orchestra
Capogg – Supernova Scotia
The Last Bottle in the World – Dublin Duck Dispensary
Outskirts – So Cow
Glock Rock – Gran Casino
To Where is Alright – Nouveau Noise

Side B
Coat to Wear – Patrick Kelleher
Radio – Katie Kim
Breaking The Waves – Children Under Hoof
Left For Dead – Hunter-Gatherer
Typers &Trains – Colours Move

Download it.

About the bands / songs:

Side A
Ugly Megan – The High Life
Located at the confluence of gangster rap and homemade lo-fi pop, this song sees the erstwhile twee-pop duo swapping cocaine for blowjobs and living the superstar lifestyle. Who said they were sweeter than sweet? Ugly Megan are Kathi and Orlando, recently exiled from Waterford to Dublin, and The High Life is from their second release, The Gavin, Megan and Oisín EP.

Grand Pocket Orchestra – Ballet Shoes
This contribution from Dublin’s most colourful band manages to be insidiously catchy and suprisingly touching at the same time. The four-piece make their way in life peddling frantically energetic toy-pop infused with some of the innocence of childhood and most of the fun. Ballet Shoes is the lead track off their upcoming Make Happy War EP.

Supernova Scotia – Capogg
Capogg is a fresh amble through a sweet musical syrup of bubbling keyboards, lazy-day guitar and sauntering bass. Kilkenny’s Supernova Scotia manage the perfect balance of 1980s “play-at-home” Casios and general awareness of the current climate to come up with something as original as Ireland has to offer these days.

Dublin Duck Dispensary – The Last Bottle In The World
Fuzzier than a bag of chicks, this track from Dublin Duck Dispensary’s He Do The Police In Different Voices EP is as close to a single as he is likely to get. This is a two-minute dip into the strange and wonderful world of DDD’s prolific bedroom-fi recordings. There are dozens and dozens more where this came from (free on the Rack and Ruin Records site) but few are this life-affirming.

So Cow – Outskirts
“I’m not near ingenious, yeah I’m pretty much just a stomach and penis”. So Cow, Tuam’s one contribution to world culture (with “an American accent I didn’t see coming”), possesses an unusual and startling talent for describing that modern feeling of inadequacy and boredom. He also has an ear for killer garage/surf/indie-rock guitar riffs, and this one is one of the finest. Taken from the potentially never-to-be-released Wackity Schmackity Doo album.

Gran Casino – Glock Rock
This elegant, layered baroque track is a perfect introduction to one of Dublin’s more complex propositions, the twelve-piece collective that is Gran Casino. Subjects of Analogue’s first live show documentary (search for it on the website if you haven’t seen it), they bring a chemistry and communal energy to everything they play, and Glock Rock, from the Sun Music EP, is a fitting example.

Nouveau noise – To Where Is Alright
Blissed out in a way that nods to both American indie loop-merchants and European electronic artists, Nouveaunoise’s track manages to employ an accordion and what sounds like a guitar sampled off an old 78rpm record while still sounding brand new. The West of Ireland duo’s style is intricate and unique, and they do a nice line in remixing on the side.

Side B
Patrick Kelleher – Coat To Wear
Patrick Kelleher makes cold, quiet, simple songs with frozen, empty backings. And then he attacks himself with electronics, like tormented voices shooting across the song and distracting. If you cut the tension in this song with the proverbial knife, it would probably snap up at you and cut you like a string wound too tight. Coat To Wear comes from the You Look Cold EP.

Katie Kim – Radio
“Perfect swellings, slowburns, sedated distorting chaos and tickling”. Quoted from her MySpace, it’s difficult to say it better than she says it herself. Waterford’s Katie Kim sings effortlessly treacly vocals over an almost retro, swollen noir backing. But it’s the lyrics that take this beyond chill-out. “Can I be your emotional wreck?” she half-whispers on this track, and it’s hard not to let it get you.

Children Under Hoof – Breaking The Waves
Funereally paced, carefully layered and drenched in reverb, Breaking the Waves is as refined a sensory experience as you are likely to find. Nothing happens here that doesn’t sound considered, and the amalgam is lush and full, the late-summer to member Patrick Kelleher’s solo winter. A tip: give it the volume it deserves, and sit back as the ebbs and flows wash over you.

Hunter-Gatherer – Left For Dead
Starting with a peal of thunder and the sound of heavy rain, Left For Dead is a narcoleptic electronica track from the Dublin-based Hunter-Gatherer. Building gradually over the course of almost five minutes from a haunting synth pattern to a euphoric swell, the song is a dark, ambient piece from another Children Under Hoof member. Several of his EPs are available for free on last.fm.

Colours Move – Typers & Trains
This one is a banger.

Issue 6 out today

Issue 6 of Analogue is out today (pdf here). It’s our first birthday this month and to celebrate, we have put together a compilation of some of the most interesting underground Irish music. The compilation is called ‘Peek! An earful of Irish Underground’ – it features songs by Ugly Megan, Grand Pocket Orchestra, Dublin Duck Dispensary, Supernova Scotia, So Cow, Patrick Kelleher, Katie Kim, Hunter-gatherer, Gran Casino, Nouveau Noise and Colours Move.

It’s available on cd in the first 1000 copies of this issue and online as a download. In addition, in about two weeks time a limited run of 200 12” vinyl will be available in some of our favourite independent record stores. All for free.

We’re also having a party to celebrate in the Twisted Pepper on Abbey Street this Thursday, the 16th of October. Playing live on the night we have a rare appearance by Spilly Walker, with support coming from Patrick Kelleher and Villagers. Villgers is a new project by Conor O’Brien formerly of The Immediate, it’s the bands first live outing so make sure you don’t miss it. The live acts will be followed by indie tunes by Analogue DJs til late. Expect the best of the old and new from Neutral Milk Hotel, Pavement, Built To Spill, Vampire Weekend, MGMT…

It’s €8 in or €5 with a student card. There’s also some recession busting drinks deals with vodka and redbull coming in at a measly €3 and beers from €3 too. Doors are at 9m

So come along and help us celebrate!

Get your own – Open publication

New Animal Collective Album in 2009

One of our writers Dan Grey likes to joke that if you type ‘Animal Collective’ into the Analogue search bar you get about eight articles written by me. What can I say? I am a pathetic and drooling fanboy.

The super-prolific objects of my adoration will be releasing their ninth full length album next January 12th 2009. It has the rather wonderful name of “Merriweather Post Pavillion”, and contains the awesome ‘Brothersport’ which they aired on their current tour, and which for my money could be the greatest single track these guys have done. Bring it!

Here’s the Tracklist

1. In The Flowers
2. My Girls
3. Also Frightened
4. Summertime Clothes
5. Daily Routine
6. Bluish
7. Guys Eyes
8. Taste
9. Lion In A Coma
10. No More Runnin
11. Brothersport

R.S.A.G. – Organic Sampler

The first time I saw R.S.A.G (Jeremy Hickey) play live I was unexpectedly impressed by his frenetic percussive barrages and the set-up of his one-man performances. Against a backdrop of silhouetted band members all played by Hickey himself, he galloped throughout his performance seemingly uninhibited by fatigue and in fact building up to an energetic peak of an arms all-a-blur climax to his set.
So when I got his new release, Organic Sampler I was a little apprehensive as to whether I would find it as good without the visual spectacle of Hickey’s energetic performances to accompany the sound.

Hickey is at his best in this album when he is indulging in a heavy bass and dominant percussion tripping over it in the foreground. This is nicely complimented by his sometimes guttural voice which rather then acting as the leading melody in the track instead forms another layer within the song, much in the same vein as Damo Suzuki’s outlandish vocals complimented the music of Can rather then overpowering it.
This is best showed on tracks such as Bad Seed, Days Go By and Stick to your Line which unsurprisingly are the ones recognisable from his live sets. But thankfully, it’s also been instilled into a good number of the other tracks on the album.
Tracks like Its Over and The Climb though seemed to lack this subversive edge that Hickey is so great at gilding his tracks with and scooped a small lull in the album for me.
But compensation comes in the form of the two last songs on the album, building to form a great finale.
The album also comes with a bonus disc (R.S.A.G’s previous album) which although not reaching the heights of Organic Sampler, has one of my favourite tracks Moon Movin’ The Oceans on it among others that are well worth a listen.

And a look…

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vl_SZL4UGoM&feature=related]

Bo Selecta!

Hot Chip, Air and We Are Scientists are among a host of acts remixing Au Revoir Simone’s first album- ”The Bird of Music”. The record will be called ‘Reverse Migration’ and be released next month. I’ve written about remixes- before, but it’s worth considering a couple of factors inherent in a remix album again.

1. Is ‘Reverse Migration’ going to adhere to the structure of ‘The Bird of Music’? What I mean by this, is whether or not it’s going to attempt to be an actual album, rather than a series of straight remixes. By the looks of things, it’s veering towards being a disparate group of remixed tracks, which could, naturally, lead to swooping dips in quality.

2. Secondly, will the remixes reflect Au Revoir Simone’s sound, or that of the remixer? A.R.S.’s songs are pretty melodic and piano- based, and the remixers are of the same ilk. That said, The Teenagers are also on board, and they did a pretty good remix of ‘Fallen Snow’ a while ago:

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lREMYDIPFLc]

3. Finally, will the record stand alone as a cd (like Horn of Plenty: Remixed) or is it just a nifty filler while A.R.S. write and record their new record?

Only time will tell, I suppose, but if it’s all the same, I would have liked to have seen a more varied group of remixers. Dntel, Lykke Li and The Mae-Shi are all on Moshi Moshi (home to Au Revoir Simone, and all the other acts mentioned so far)- and could have contributed more interesting ideas than the ones my speculative imagination is making up as I type.

In the meantime, let’s have a look at some vintage Au Revvy Simmy, as they walk through Brooklyn and confuse locals:

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHEkP2oqD7M]

Incoming

I’ve been a fan of the Fabric and FABRICLIVE mixes for a number of years. A new mix in each series appears in alternate months, representing the sound of the DJs who play the London club on Fridays and Saturdays. The FABRICLIVE mixes are often riotous affairs, taking in everything from hip-hop, grime, drum and bass and electro, while the Fabric CDs are deeper treads through the dark alleys of techno. Personal favourites include Diplo‘s FABRICLIVE (my introduction to the man) as well as those of Spank Rock and Cut Copy, while on the Fabric end of things, I have been most impressed by the contributions of Carl Craig, Ewan Pearson and Global Communication.

Sometimes the DJs revel in the obvious: Spinbad’s mix is peppered with hip-hop classics such as Rapper’s Delight and Sound of Da Police; The Herbaliser dropped James Brown and the Jackson 5; Yoda even played Blister In The Sun. Going against the grain, James Murphy and Pat Mahoney wove a delightful selection of disco, where artists from Murphy’s DFA label sat right at home alongside the likes of Chic and Donald Byrd.

The latest tracklist to be announced was that of the upcoming Fabric mix from Metro Area, and it seems very much to sit at the Murphy/Mahoney end of things. Metro Area (Morgan Geist and Darshan Jesrani) was “born out of the duo’s dichotomous love of both the old moods of R&B, disco and boogie and the more cutting-edge sound of innovative house and techno.” My limited knowledge of Geist’s work leads me to believe that this will be an interesting compilation, to say the least. On his 2004 compilation, Unclassics, he wades through a selection of supposedly forgotten 80s electro and italo-disco, and it is a marvellous listen. A-Trak even borrowed a track directly from the mix for his Dirty South Dance release.

At first glance, I recognise just four artists on this mix’s tracklisting, among them Gary’s Gang, whose Do It At The Disco was reworked by Mr Oizo last year for his mind-bending Patrick122 last year. As for the rest, I remain entirely ignorant, at least until I get my hands on the mix. With any luck, I’ll be introduced to a host of new sounds, along with all the other lucky souls who see fit to add this to their collection next month.

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