Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Family Cactus - Come Howling

Review for Nexus Magazine (www.nexusmag.co.nz)

It has been several months since I was lucky enough to see Family Cactus while I was down in Wellington, and ever since I have been eagerly waiting for their debut album to come out. With such high expectations, I was unsure if this album would achieve the high standard I had been hoping for. Turns out I had nothing to worry about!

Come Howling, the first release from the seven piece Wellington band, features a rich, warm reverberant sound similar to Canadian indie-rock band Arcade Fire. The album starts with Kingmaker that is, in my opinion, not the greatest song from the record to choose as a single, given the outstanding tracks that follow. Although it is written and arranged in a similar anthemic style to Arcade Fire, I feel it falls a bit short as the rousing opening track they were probably hoping for.

Next up is In Transit, which is undoubtedly my favourite track on the album, featuring some fantastic synth and Rhodes piano arrangements. The densely layered production on the album sounds gorgeous on this song in particular. One of the most enjoyable songs from a New Zealand band I’ve heard in quite a while.

The album hits a completely different tone for track number three, diving straight in E Street Band territory with No Magic and Coal Town. While No Magic is a brooding, dark track reminiscent of a few songs from the Springsteen album Darkness on the Edge of Town, the optimistic working class ballad of Coal Town has the uplifting quality of the Born to Run era.

A Running Mystery is a beautifully simple song, with singer/guitarist Adam Ladley sounding incredibly Thom Yorke-ish. The song acts nicely as the quiet before the storm that is Barbed Tongue, the loud and furious start to the second part of the album. Another album highlight is the track Mariachi Stomper towards the end of the album, in particular the tremolo guitar solo leading into a fantastic outro. Title track Come Howling has a rousing crescendo that reminded me a lot of Hoppipolla by Sigur Ros.

My only other criticism of the album is that it feels like it should have concluded at that point, but instead it continues on with the Beirut-sounding A Giant Flash in the Pan. While I imagine this is a great song live, or maybe somewhere else on the record, it seems a little bit out of place as the final song on the album.

But a few criticisms aside, this is an extremely exciting debut album from a very promising band. The strong songwriting and beautiful arrangements make this album a truly memorable experience. I am looking forward to hearing the tracks they have since recorded in Neil Finn’s Roundhead Studios. Go out to your local CD store or visit iTunes and grab yourself a copy! I doubt you’ll be disappointed.

4.5/5

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Fat Freddy’s Drop – Dr Boondigga & The Big BW

Review for Nexus Magazine (www.nexusmag.co.nz)

Almost four years after releasing their 7x platinum debut album, Wellington six-piece Fat Freddy’s Drop return with their next offering: Dr Boondigga & The Big BW. I have thought for a long time that dub music in general is overhyped and overexposed in New Zealand, and it is always a pleasant surprise to find something fresh once in a while. I felt that way when I first checked out Kora’s self-titled debut, and I feel the same way about this album.

To be honest, I was not expecting to enjoy this album. I never got into their first album Based on a True Story, and I was thoroughly sick of Wandering Eye when it was being played on TV and radio constantly. The strength of Dr Boondigga & The Big BW is its variation. Whereas Kora draws its strength from its genre-crossing rock fusion, Fat Freddy’s Drop seems to have found fresh sounding material in a very familiar genre. No easy feat!

The album kicks off with a chilling synthesisor riff on Big BW. Their brass section sounds fantastic in this song and is definitely one of the highlights throughout the entire album. It is a track that seems well suited to its winter release date. Usually I would groan at the thought of listening to a 10 minute long dub jam, but Shiverman is enjoyable from start to finish, moving along at a lively pace. It is on the track Boondigga that Fat Freddy’s Drop really hit their stride. This soulful song is, in my opinion, a career highpoint for the band; infinitely more catchy, tuneful and enjoyable than their breakthrough single Wandering Eye. The beautifully washed out end to the song is a great end to the first part of the album.

Admittedly I cringed at the start of The Raft, as the refreshing album reverted back into familiar dub territory that could have come from any dub band around New Zealand. Pull the Catch continues this trend, and while it is better than The Raft, is certainly doesn’t strive to get out of its comfort zone.

It gets a bit more interesting with the song The Camel, with a guest appearance from soul singer Alice Russell. There is much more variation in this track, and, dare I say it, a guitar solo! The Nod is another great showcase for their brass players, delivering some great brass hooks that makes latter-day Black Seeds tracks seem rather weak in comparison.

The sparse electronic beats of Wild Wind suit the mood of the track perfectly, accompanied almost completely by synthesisor. This stripped back track sounds rather eerie without the heavy brass featured earlier in the album. Breakthrough, the final track on the album ends the album on a high note. Its gloriously cheerful organ outro is a great way to end the record.

This is a must own album for anyone who has had an interest in the band previously. There are plenty of great instrumental moments on this album to appeal beyond the usual dub crowd. Not a perfect album, as it does feature a few dull tracks in the middle, but on the whole it is a very enjoyable experience. If you’re looking at getting this album, grab a CD copy. It has fantastic album artwork!

Rating: 4/5

Marilyn Manson – The High End of Low

Review for Nexus Magazine (www.nexusmag.co.nz)

“Antichrist Superstar” Marilyn Manson is back with his seventh studio album The Low End of Low. Like the Green Day album I reviewed last week, this album suffers from many of the same pitfalls. Both artists have been around since the early 1990’s and are both at the stage where they are struggling to remain relevant. It is a ‘damned if you do, damned if you don’t’ scenario: if Marilyn Manson were to change his music style, he would be heavily criticised by his fanbase, but if he sticks to the same formula, you get an album exactly like this one! It’s not terrible, but it is sorely lacking inspiration, especially in the lyrics department.

This albums marks the return of Twiggy Ramirez, songwriter and guitarist on some of Marilyn Manson’s best albums, including Mechanical Animals and Holywood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death). After having a break from the band (performing with A Perfect Circle and Nine Inch Nails), he returns to the Marilyn Manson line-up along with his signature glam-rock influenced songs. In fact, the first single ‘Arma-goddamn-motherfuckin-geddon’ could easily fit alongside ‘Rock is Dead’ and ‘I Don’t Like The Drugs’ from Mechanical Animals.

Unfortunately, it is Manson’s contributions to the songs that bring down the overall quality of the album. The lyrics are some of the worst he has ever written and the whole ‘shock rock’ theme just sounds more and more forced. Lines like “We’re from America/Where Jesus was born/We’re from America/Where they let you come on their faces” just sound like a strained attempt at finding something shocking to sing about. The lyrical themes are no different from what he has been singing about his entire career: bashing the religious right and American media culture. The sarcastic sneering remarks at both of these targets come across as very stagnant, considering the 100+ songs in his repertoire that cover this already.

It would be unfair to criticise this album without acknowledging its positive points, which there are a few. ‘Pretty as a Swastika’ is a genuinely enjoyable and catchy track as well as the second single ‘Leave a Scar’. Ignoring the painfully strained ranting on ‘Arma-goddamn-motherfuckin-geddon’, musically it is a pretty damn catchy song. It is just a pity the rest of the album is so boring. The album clocks in at 72 minutes long, at least 30 minutes longer than it needed to be. The slow 9 minute track ‘I Want to Kill You Like They Do in the Movies’ is almost unbearable by the end, and that only signals the halfway mark on the album! It is not uncommon for Marilyn Manson albums to push the 60+ minute mark, but passive fans or newcomers to the band will be watching the clock every minute after the first five or so songs on this record.

It’s got a couple of good songs, and its great to hear Twiggy back in the band, but this is an album for hardcore Marilyn Manson fans only.

Rating: 2/5

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Big Backyard on Community Radio Hamilton

For the past month now, I've been hosting the New Zealand music show, The Big Backyard, on Community Radio Hamilton. It is a show that has a strong focus on music from Hamilton, as well as great music from around the country. The show begins at 9pm on Tuesday nights.

Just to give a bit of a sample, I've listed some of the bands featured in my previous shows.

Some Hamilton bands featured:
The Shrugs
Hollow Grinders
Amy Racecar
Trucker
The Prime Numbers
4 Corners
Sora Shima
The Deadly Deaths
Mike Crook / The Gills
Dick Dynamite and the Doppelgangers
MSU

Feature artists/albums showcased on the show:
Amy Racecar - Conclusions
The Mutton Birds - career showcase
An Emerald City - Circa Scaria

To listen to the show, tune into 106.7 fm (Hamilton) or 1206 am (Waikato region) or head to www.communityradio.co.nz and listen to the live stream. Tuesday nights at 9pm!

Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown

Review for Nexus Magazine (www.nexusmag.co.nz)

Five years after their blockbuster album American Idiot, Green Day return with an even more ambitious album 21st Century Breakdown. I was always interested to see how I found this release, as five years can really change your taste in music (I rather enjoyed American Idiot when it came out). In order to review this album fairly, I had a quick listen to American Idiot first to make sure it stood the test of time for me, which it has. Unfortunately for 21st Century Breakdown, it does not have the songs or soul to support an album this grand and elaborate.

My biggest complaint is that the album is far too long. The album is divided into three ‘acts’, named “Heroes and Cons”, “Charlatans and Saints” and “Horseshoes and Hand Grenades” and while I generally don’t have any problems with pretentious album structures, it just seems completely unnecessary on this album. If there was a narrative structure like American Idiot, where you can hear a story from start to finish, this might have been more appropriate. I had to research on the internet afterwards to actually find out what the album concept was, only to discover that it is a thematic concept album. So if its just a thematically linked album, why all the different ‘acts’? They do not serve any purpose, they just give the album (as a whole) a bizarre feel and structure. It’s kind of like someone taking their first drive in a manual car, it randomly lurches forward, it randomly slams on the breaks hard, and overall it’s certainly not a very pleasant trip.

After listening to the album for the full 69 minutes, I struggled to remember any more than 3-4 of the 18 tracks. To give them a bit of credit, the memorable songs were very good and if there wasn’t so much filler, it would have raised the overall quality of the album massively. For a passive fan of the band, I’d recommend the following songs for iTunes download to save money from buying the whole thing: Christian’s Inferno, Peacemaker, ¿Viva la Gloria? (Little Girl) and American Eulogy. It is interesting to note that these songs draw a strong resemblance to some of the more quirky tracks on The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance, clearly a point of reference for this album.

It is clear that Green Day intended this to be their masterpiece, discarding their American Idiot producer Rob Cavallo for someone with a bit more cred on their CV: Butch Vig (produced Nirvana – Nevermind and Smashing Pumpkins – Siamese Dream to name a few). The change in personnel behind the mixing desk has not changed a single element of their sound. The single Know Your Enemy sounds like it could have been recorded at the same time as their 1990’s hit album Dookie.

The weakest point on the album is the second single soon to hit the airwaves: 21 Guns, a song an MTV news reporter described as a “cell-phones-in-the-air anthem”. No doubt this total lacklustre song will get drilled into our brains on C4 for the next few months! For some reason, bad R&B and hip-hop does not bother me as much as bad rock, and I’d listen to bad hip-hip any day over this song.

Credit needs to be given to the couple of genuinely good songs on this album. If they had channelled the more creative and quirky sound featured in those songs, instead of falling back on their standard 3 chord anthems, this album could have been much greater than the finished product. American Idiot showed the world that Green Day were no one trick pony. 21st Century Breakdown shows that it might have just been a fluke.

Rating: 2/5

Manic Street Preachers - Journal for Plague Lovers

Review for Nexus Magazine (www.nexusmag.co.nz)

I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for the Manic Street Preachers, in particular their first three albums. But with the exception of 2007’s Send Away the Tigers, it has not been a great decade for the Manics. But all is forgiven with this fantastic album Journal for Plague Lovers. Featuring the lyrics of deceased band member Richie Edwards, the band sounds energised for the first time in over ten years.

The most immediate change notable in Journal for Plague Lovers is the excellent production from Steve Albini. This album does not quite feature the raw unpolished feel of his most famous productions (Pixies – Surfer Rosa & Nirvana – In Utero); it is more restrained but it fits the Manics perfectly. The songs are lean and extremely well written musically, mostly clocking in at 2:30-3 minutes long. The lyrics are complex, witty, hilarious and tragic, often within the same song, and it must have been quite a mission for James Dean Bradfield to come up with a tune to match it.

The album starts off with the fantastic Peeled Apples, easily one of the best songs of 2009 so far. Musically, it’s a fine tribute to Richie Edwards’ adoration of In Utero. Another highlight is the title track Journal for Plague Lovers, which really showcases the bands musical prowess and how well it works with the Albini production.

It is May and we have a contender already for one of 2009’s finest rock albums. The Manic Street Preachers have got their mojo back, and the music has never sounded better. Arguably this album is one of their best, even possibly surpassing The Holy Bible. A breathtaking album and a fitting tribute to their fallen bandmate.

Rating: 4.5/5

U2 - No Line on the Horizon

Review for Nexus Magazine (www.nexusmag.co.nz)

The public opinion of U2 in this decade seems to be sharply divided. Even though they are still one of the world’s most popular bands in terms of sales, Bono’s overexposure in the media and his outspoken personality has left a lot of people completely sick of the band. It certainly does not help their case when they release songs like Elevation, with awful lyrical passages like “a mole, living in a hole, digging up my soul, going down, excavation”. Luckily for No Line on the Horizon, it is far more musically ambitious than the painfully mindnumbing All That You Can Leave Behind and the flawed How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.

This is the first U2 release I’ve heard in a very long time that sounds like a proper album as opposed to a collection of adult-contemporary FM singles slapped together. The real star of the show right from the beginning to the very end is Brian Eno. The textual use of subtle synthesisors and organs give the whole album an epic, sweeping feel that was sorely missing from the last few releases. Presumably these great mixes will not hold up so well on radio or through laptop speakers, but this album sounds fantastic through a good stereo system or headphones.

This album is weighted very differently to your typical U2 record. Generally the first half is single heavy (The Joshua Tree, How to Dismantle.. have their singles as tracks 1, 2 & 3), and then gets to the more subtle moodier songs for the remainder of the album. No Line on the Horizon starts with the more subtle tracks before really hitting its stride half way through. The more energetic songs seem to be musical tributes to Muse (Get On Your Boots), Led Zeppelin (Stand Up Comedy) to The White Stripes (Breathe). The Edge recently collaborated with Jack White and Jimmy Page on the documentary It Might Get Loud, and the influence of this encounter can be heard throughout the later tracks of the album.

Two highlights of the album for me have to be Fez – Being Born and White as Snow. Both seem to capture a cold atmosphere that is also displayed in the bleak album art. But the best is saved for last: Cedars of Lebanon is a beautifully brittle epilogue to the album and one of the best songs that they have written and produced in a very long time.

Far more daring than its weak predecessors, this album shows that U2 still remains an important band capable of writing good music. Despite being rather unpopular with just about everyone under the age of 30 or so, a lot of people might end up liking this album if they actually tried it. It is patchy at the beginning but the second half is arguably the strongest collection of songs U2 have written since The Joshua Tree.

Rating: 3.5/5