NOW THATS WHAT I CALL HUMAN BEATBOXING…

Genius…

LIFE WITHOUT BUILDINGS

Ive always had a soft spot for reasonably shouty music that sounds like it has a deep political message (whether it has or not is neither here nor there to be honest, but the suggestion is all important!) and if it comes from Scotland, well, all the better for it…dont know why and Im not on a mission to find out, it just floats my boat and thats pretty much that.

Formed in 1999 Life Without Buildings recorded two (sort of ) cracking albums before calling it a day in 2002, one studio album Any Other City and one live album (hence the ’sort of’ and which was ,admittedly, mostly made up of live interpretations of the studio album but did also include a few that werent) entitled Live at The Annandale Hotel…the fact that a band from Glasgow released only one ‘proper’ album and four measley singles and still managed to round off their all too brief career with a stunning live album recorded in Sydney, Australia where the crowd are quite literally ‘mad for it’ and obviously ecstatic that this band have made the journey half way around the world to play before them must say something about just how darned good these guys, and gal, were. ..and they really are….erm, were!

Life Without Buildings were ,sadly, over before I was even aware of them which is a real shame as I would have loved to have seen them live …they tick all of the boxes in my slightly shouty band from scotland with songs that sound vaguely political but probably arent catergory…in places they even remind me a bit of ‘Flowered Up’ ( who are quite obviously NOT from Scotland… geeezer) …whats that all about?

Anyway, Any Other City ….buy it, download it, borrow it off a friend (but give it back again of course), hell, send me a mesage and I’ll do you a copy..just have it in your life, it wont take up much room and I just know that you’ll soon become the best of friends!

SANTOGOLD - SANTOGOLD

Im totally loving Santogold’s stunning self titled debut long player which has been on ridiculously heavy rotation round my way over the last fortnight or so.

Hailing from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Santogold has pulled in some seriously heavy back up (M.I.A, Switch, Diplo, Chuck Treece of Bad Brains, Clifford ‘Moonie’ Pusey of Steel Pulse, Freq Nasty) in order to ensure that this album kicks it as hard as it possibly can…and it does*

Santogold, or Santi White as her mum calls her, came to most peoples attention last year via Mark Ronsons Version album on which she covered The Jams Pretty Green…I only heard it once or twice myself and will be the first to admit I wasnt paying too much attention on either occasion and so it wasnt really until album opener and first single ‘proper’ L.E.S Artistes started getting some serious radioplay that I became fully aware of Santogold’s undeniable charms for myself…….and shes got plenty of charm!!

So, what can anyone who hasnt already got this cracker of an album blasting from their stereo / mp3 player expect?…well, its got a little bit of everything really, electro, M.I.A, The Go-Gos, Hip Hop, Combat Rock era Clash, Missy Elliott, post punk, new wave, 80s pop, Tegan and Sara, dub reggae, The Tom Tom Club, just for starters…..and if that little list, which truth be told barely scratches the surface of the influences burning under the surface of this gorgeous debut, doesnt whet your appetite than theres simply no telling you!!!

Anyway, the suns shining, its nearly the weekend, the word on the street is that the suns not going anywhere for a little while yet so why not pop out and support your local record shop (independent if poss) and Santogold and treat yourself to this album….I promise you it will make your month!!

* and yep..I know I was sounding frighteningly like Tim Westwood back there!!!!

BANKSY DOES IT AGAIN…

Enough said really….

THE EXPLORERS CLUB - FREEDOM WIND (Dead Oceans Records - UK Release Date 19th May)

I think it would be reasonably fair to say that there are few bands that have had their back catalogues ‘plundered’ as heavily as The Beach Boys. In-fact, with the exception of The Beatles I cant think of any other bands that have had their musical style so consistently ran-sacked by just about every genre known to man and woman alike.

From prog rock and soul right through to indie pop and present day ‘fingers down the back of the throat’ boy band garbage they’ve all had a little go, with varying degrees of success, at trying to recreate that sound of a summer that was always far too perfect to really exist in the first place that Brian Wilson and his little band of surfer boys* did such a fantastic job of conjuring up timeless images of in their listeners imaginations.

A quick flick through my own record / CD/ mp3 /whatever collection and immediately the influence of Messrs Wilson, Love, Jardine and Johnston is everywhere like so much magical Californian sand and Jetsom…..its there in the wonderful music of The Boo Radleys, High Llamas, Caribou, Spacemen 3, Panda Bear, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Teenage Fanclub, The Shins, Dandy Warhol’s…the list just goes on and on and on and both you and I could fill up this entire page ten times over ,and then some, with band after band after band that have stood on tippy-toes in order to reach up to the top shelf of pop and enthusiastically dip their fingers into that sticky pot marked The Beach Boys before smearing what they have retrieved from said jar all over their own compositions in an attempt to add some of them magical, mildly but unknowingly psychedelic, summery ,close-harmony vibrations to their own interpretations of classic pop.

Now, I’m a firm believer in that old adage that ‘imitation is the sincerest form of flattery’ but it is possible, to take imitation a step, or ten, too far on occasion and ,rather than flatter, the imitator actually achieves the complete opposite of what they initially set out to do and end up coming across as a bit on the desperate side with no real personal identity of their own which not only makes the imitator a rather unexciting prospect to others but can also, often, leave everyone else feeling a bit..well, creeped out by it all. And this is, in the loosest sense at least, where I find myself after spending a few days with The Explorers Club’s debut album ‘Freedom Wind’.

I’d read a couple of positively glowing reviews of The Explorers Club. One in this months edition of Uncut for Freedom Wind which tantalisingly described the album as ‘turning an obsession with everything Beach Boys into an utterly beguiling pop album’ and the other on Pitchfork from a couple of years back when they were still unsigned for their , I’m guessing, self released ‘Don’t Forget the Sun’ E.P which talked of a group that were of a ‘harmony-drenched, slightly spacey tradition spanning from The Zombies to Super Furry Animals’ and from these two reviews alone my appetite to discover more, neigh , explore more of The Explorers Club had been whetted.

What I was expecting, I guess, was a kind of sunny hybrid of the intelligent pop of The Shins and Vampire Weekend as if produced with the eye for lush arrangements that someone like Sean O’Hagan could, and often does, bring to the mix.

So, what did I get?….well, you know that cookery programme with Heston Blumenthal, Perfection I believe its called, where every week he attempts, via ‘molecular gastronomy’ , to make a scientifically perfect spaghetti Bolognese or fish and chips or whatever by way of an , I think, over-complicated series of processes that include measuring, weighing, burning, simmering, deep freezing etc etc etc with the end aim being to break down every single tiny aspect of the recipe and thereby produce a perfect example of a dish that…well , was fine to start with with the recipe that we all know and love very much already thanks very much Heston…well, that, to me is what Freedom Wind sounds like.

Let me try to explain it another way. The Explorers Club quite clearly love The Beach Boys. Infact, The Explorers Club don’t just love The Beach Boys, they really, really, really, really, really love The Beach Boys and so it wouldn’t make sense for them to just make an album that had subtle references to this band that they all clearly love so much which would make the listener think, or perhaps even, if listening with a companion say out loud ‘ Ha, that’s a cheeky little Beach Boys reference they’ve subtly slipped in there isn’t it darling/ old boy/ old girl’ etc etc .

Plenty of other bands, The Explorers Club must have said to themselves at their weekly band meeting in the local sand pit, have already done that and look where its got them!! No, The Explorers Club opted for the Heston Blumenthal approach when creating Freedom Wind and quite literally got the science kits out from under their beds and along with all of their Beach Boys albums, the crackers (Pet Sounds, Sunflower, Smiley Smile and Wild Honey) and the, well, not–so–cracking (Holland, Keepin the Summer Alive, Still Cruisin and Summer in Paradise) , quite literally it seems, dissected them, looked at them under microscopes, took them to Heston Blumenthal’s friends in white lab coats for analysis, froze them, boiled them, burnt them, took them apart and put them back together again and ,well, you get the picture.

But, whereas Heston Blumenthal’s spaghetti Bolognese , for all of his poncing about over something that already offered perfection in its initial simplicity to all but, it seems, dear old Heston himself, will still taste unique and more-ish as at the end of the day a spaghetti Bolognese is a spaghetti Bolognese, what’s happened with Freedom Wind is that The Explorers Club have produced an album that so wants to actually be a body of work by The Beach Boys as opposed to just wanting to sound a bit like them they’ve actually created something that’s actually less valid than the work of a tribute band in that at least with a tribute band you get the songs you know and love where as with The Explorers Club you get a band trying to be The Beach Boys without having the songwriting skills to actually create anything other than an almost academic exam entry piece on how to reproduce the sound of The Beach Boys so convincingly the listener would only know it wasn’t them by the fact that the songs suck.

At the end of the day The Explorers Club are very clever and knowing and should be proud of themselves for not only capturing, at least to an extent, the essence of what The Beach Boys were sort of about ,at least sonically, which may in some strange way encourage some of their younger fans to check out some of the real deals works (which Im sure they will still be playing long after their Explorers Club support tour T-shirt fades) but also for receiving a thumbs up from the wonderfully hard to please Pitchfork for such a mediocre set of songs.

Anyway why take a sun bed when you can hang out down the beach?………..

THE BEACH BOYS - GOOD VIBRATIONS

* that didn’t…like..really…surf that much, well, with the exception of Carl…or was it Dennis?

I JUST DON’T GET WHAT ALL THE FUSS IS ABOUT #2 – CAPTAIN BEEFHEART & HIS MAGIC BAND – TROUT MASK REPLICA

I’ve owned a CD copy of Trout Mask Replica for about 9 years. I’ve played it half way through….once…..I think.

Ive also been forced to listen to it by other people on a couple of occasions……painful memories.

To say Captain Beefheart, or his music at least, is capable of dividing opinion is something of an understatement , in-fact it’s a bit like saying that Ocean Colour Scene aren’t very good or that The Manic Street Preachers take themselves a little too seriously on occasion.

Talk to any old ‘muso’ about the, come on lets be honest here , truly awful Trout Mask Replica and they’ll always jump straight to the Captains defence and attempt to steer you towards either his debut offering Safe as Milk or the later release Clear Spot assuring you all the time that once you’ve got them two babies under your belt you’ll be better prepared to appreciate Trout Mask Replicas ‘more challenging’sound. And OK, maybe that’s true, maybe you will be better prepared but theres no way on earth your going to appreciate it…. Its like saying a pat on the back will help better prepare you to appreciate a boot in the bollocks.

Seriously, I wouldn’t wish a Trout Mask Replica listening party on my worst enemy.

If its battered and bruised blues complimented by a junk shop jug band topped off with a big juicy dollop of unique weirdness that your craving than heres a man who does it better than most could ever even dream of……

TOM WAITS - CHOCOLATE JESUS

TO CUT A SHORT STORY LONG

When compact discs first arrived (well, actually, not when they first arrived as obviously being , like a purist maaan , I blatantly ignored them for the first few years hoping they’d go away) it seemed that many artists felt obliged, probably as much by the dramatic rise in cost to the fan as by the extra-time this latest ‘cutting edge’ technology had afforded them, to fill up the additional ‘space’ compact discs now offered and before too long albums seemed to start getting longer and longer and longer.

It’s strange really because at the time that seemed like a good thing but now, at least most of the time, it’s really not.

I’ll happily admit that when I did finally give in and start buying CDs I’d feel completely cheated if, after inserting the disc into the CD player, the LED didn’t display a run time of something at least vaguely resembling 70m.05s. After all, these stupid, little silver things weren’t exactly cheap (most of the stuff I was buying at the time, just like now, wasn’t chart and if it was actually even available on compact disc it would always be at least ten quid more than its vinyl equivalent) and now there was the room to put extra songs on to the album wasn’t it the bands duty to make sure they filled every…single….second….up and give the fans their moneys worth?*

Of course that was, as ABC’s Martin Fry once crooned, then but this is now and my opinions have changed considerably since then on a number of things which, funnily enough, includes, what I consider to be the ideal album time length.

I listen to a lot of music…probably too much on occasion and one thing that I notice more and more these days is that albums are once again , more often than not, just too damned long for their own good. Albums that start out promising and punchy go on to become bloated and repetitive and have proved to me once and for all that in regards to ‘long’ playing records at least, less is, mostly, more!

So what, in my opinion, is the perfect length for an album to be?

Nothing over 40 minutes I say, if you can find things in an album of that length that your , after a couple of listens, not fond of you can probably rest assured that you wont be playing that album in a few weeks time. 40 minutes is enough room for perfection, in fact many can achieve it in less, but should be a brief enough time period to not require the band to sit around working out how to fill up what’s left of the run time with the scraps of ideas on the cutting room floor.

There are so many examples of how it can be done perfectly in 40 minutes or under…The La’s – The La’s (35m.09s), The Lemonheads – It’s a Shame About Ray (29m.16s), The Beatles – Revolver (34m.52s), The Smiths – The Queen is Dead (37m.02s), Cocteau Twins – Heaven or Las Vegas (37m. 40s), David Bowie – Low (38m 44s), Dexys Midnight Runners – Searching for the Young Soul Rebel (39.05) and more recently Arctic Monkeys – Favourite Worst Nightmare (37m.34s), Band of Horses – Cease to Begin (35m. 08s) and Cat Power – Jukebox** (38.24) without forgetting, as with any rule, there are exceptions, Bardo Pond – Ticket Crystals (1h .17m),Daft Punk – Homework (1h 13m) Badly Drawn Boy – The Hour of Bewilderbeast (1h. 03m), The Beatles – White Album (1h. 33m), Spiritualized – Ladies & Gentlemen We are Floating in Space (1h. 09m) and, of course, it goes without saying Bob Dylan – Blonde on Blonde (1h. 15m) to name just a few that all ‘rock over the hour but dont grow sour’, but, overall I’m firmly of the opinion that 40 minutes is usually enough time to do the job, hit the spot, make the point, rock my world and still manage to leave me wanting more without feeling deprived by what Ive recieved…

Your thoughts , as always, are most welcome….

*Years later I can remember buying Mogwai’s Rock Action and being completely pissed off at the fact that it actually had the nerve to be only 38 minutes 28 seconds in length!!! Christ some of their songs used to last longer than that in the old days!!

**obviously if you purchased the ‘deluxe’ version of Cat Powers – Jukebox you would find yourself with an additional five tracks and a heap of extra time that I don’t due to having purchased the old fashioned ‘standard’ version.

THE FEELIES - DOIN’ IT AGAIN

I’ll put my hand up straight away and admit to being a bit of a late starter with The Feelies but now Ive finally let them into my life (at long last) I cant imagine my record collection without them and as far as classic three minute (ish) pop songs go things dont really get much better than Doin’ it Again from 1991’s long playing swan song (for now at least!) Time for a Witness and I could quite happily listen to that instrumental break from 1.38 - 2.36 on loop pretty much until the end of time…

THE PINKEES - HOLDING ME TIGHT

You cant beat a bit of The Pinkees.

They came from my hometown of Basildon, my sister was one of their biggest fans (they were her second favourite group after The Beatles), they’re listed under One Hit Wonders of the 80s on Wikipedia and Andy Price (the shorter of the two singers) is one of my best friends dads and an all round top fella to boot.

Heres a gem from an appearance on Swedish TV in the eighties…..bring on The Pinkees reunion I say!!!

THE STYLE COUNCIL - THE COST OF LOVING

The Cost of Loving (or as some might refer to it ‘the one with the orange cover that really confused the beer boys who had already turned a blind eye to Mr. Wellers constant flirtations with homo eroticism both in videos and in interviews) was pretty much panned by critics and fans alike on its release in 1987 even if it did make it to number two in the British album charts.

Paul Weller had been mixing things up and keeping fans guessing on what musical direction he’d head off into next with every release and The Cost of Loving was no different. Two years after The Style Council had given their fans what many of them would later consider to be their masterpiece in Our Favourite Shop they were back and this time around it was all about white denim, blonde highlights, synthesisers, drum machines, Anita Baker covers and slick American R & B productions.

Its a fair comment that The Cost of Loving contained a few howlers ; Right to Go’s an awful, and pretty unforgivable, attempt at a ‘funk-rap?’ which sounds less authentically hip hop than Roland Rats early eighties smash-e-roonie ‘Rat Rapping‘ and Dee C Lee’s clumsy ‘ A Womans Song‘ means well but goes nowhere but there are songs on that album that still stand up ‘Heavens Above, It Didnt Matter, Fairy Tales and Waiting still sound good over twenty years on.

Its been a while since Paul Weller’s deserved anything even closely resembling praise (well, with the exception of him spitting on a picture of sting at the Q awards) but there was a time, many, many years ago when he couldnt put a foot wrong…..some, infact many, would say the clip below doesnt represent this period of time as effectively as other clips could have but I dont give a hoot as its my blog and I make the rules…..