Albums of the year # 1 - Four Tet "There Is Love In You"

Time for a review of some of my favourite albums from 2009. I already mentioned Dungen as being possibly my favourite album of the year, but we'll wait and see...

But for now I'll review a couple I really liked (not that there were too many). Starting with this one, Four Tet's "There Is Love In You".

I bought this pretty much on the fly one day in Tower, I had read about it, it was for sale, I had money - one thing led to another. I really had no expectations about it and I was really pleasantly surprised to find a real gem, a real grower, and something I will love for a long time.

Four Tet is one man, Kieran Hebden, from the UK. He's been putting out records since 1999 as well as DJing, remixing, and working with people like Radiohead and David Arnold. I wasn't really familiar with his work before this album so I had little to base it on - for me this was just a great album out of the blue.

Its old style, fairly simple, chill out electronic music - "dance" for want of a better word. It reminds me of Orbital, the Orb, Susumu Yokota, and lots and lots of other albums I like - it almost takes the best bits from all of them and puts them all together in a new way. A liberal use of female vocal samples gives it a very relaxed ambience; "Love Cry" gallops along for 9 minutes but never gets boring as you find yourself becoming wrapped up in this music, like a warm, comforting blanket, bringing you to a near-trance like state (if you're lucky).

The mood doesn't really change, there are no jarring moments to pull you out of this state. And that's what electronic albums should be - mood albums. Change of pace, sure; but don't shock me with anything while I'm enjoying the mood! Anyway I'm babbling - back to the music. Songs to check out are "Angel Cry", "Sing", and "Circling".

This album is never cold. "Hypnotic warmth" would be a good way to describe it.

Tosca - No Hassle

Time to chill out.

Tosca is an electronic act from Austria, headed by Richard Dorfmeister, familiar to many as one half of Kruder & Dorfmeister. K&D were one of the biggest names in dance music in the last decade or so; their "K&D Sessions" album was a seminal release.

Apparently Kruder & Dorfmeister aren't working together anymore, so D has turned his attention back to Tosca, who actually released their first album in 1994. No Hassle is their fifth album, and that name certainly suits it.

Released in 2009, I only heard of it the other day but was instantly smitten by its sound and approach. I've always liked "chill out" music (but I hate that term), downtempo, laid back - whatever you want to call it. Everything from Air onwards is good for me, even such Air-alikes as Zero 7. It is wallpaper music basically; just there to fill the air as you settle into a big couch or bean bag, light up, and relax. It warms you up from the inside out.

Nowadays I mostly listen to "chill out" music in my car in the mornings - not the best place to lie back and relax let it be said, but morning time for me is one for ambient vibes, electric pianos, slow beats, strings, hushed female vocals, and nothing that's going to upset my brain. And this album has all of this on offer.

Really, its hard to point anything in particular out as each track blends into the next; a hazy mix of sound, sometimes jazzy, always expertly made and performed. The first three tracks offer no surprises at all, which is exactly what you want from a chill out album; the acoustic guitars on "Elektra Bregenz" remind me of Lemon Jelly, and there was something of note about "Joe Si Ha" but I can't really remember what it is.

But it doesn't really mattter. No hassle, remember?

Malachai - Ugly Side Of Love

Finally I remember to post about this fascinating, crazy record. Malachai (or Malakai as you'll sometimes see it written) are a duo from Bristol fronted by a vocalist with penchant for wearing gorilla masks onstage (and on video). They were discovered by Geoff Barlow from Portishead (also being from Bristol), released a few indie EPs, put out this album in 2009, and then re-released it in 2010 on the now rather large Domino indie label. I first heard it in the middle of last year and it blew me away.

So why is it so crazy? Its pretty hard to put my finger on it, but mostly it just sounds like no other record I've ever heard. Its like it was beemed out the late '60s but somewhere along the way picked up bits of mid-90s trip hop and made it to 2009 with both those influences intact. Its mostly in mono, for a start (at least the version I have is); first track "Warriors" is a good example of what's in store; funky riff, loose hip hop drums, strange otherworldly vocals: You don't know whether you are listening to something old, new, sampled, performed, original, ripped off...but it sounds great. And it contains snatches from the movie "The Warriors", which is fine by me.

"Shit Kicker" and "Snowflake" continue this trend, this weird hybrid of rock, trip hop, funk, reggae, folk, 60s garage, and god knows what else. The organ-driven "Blackbird" was the first track I heard, and I honestly believed it was some lost classic from the early '70s (at the time I was listening to an album by Arzachel, which was a lost classic from the '70s, and it reminded me of them). But that's the charm of this record - it is like a music history lesson, but because it's all mixed the same - in this really lo-fi way - it hangs together. Plus there is the charm of singer Gee and his unsettling yet also strangely familiar vocal 'stylings' - it's a distinctive voice for sure, yet relaxes a bit on "Moonsurfin'", which sounds like it could've been from some early '60s beach movie.

"Only For You" steers us more towards trip-hop and Portishead territory, but still doesn't sound like Portishead, which is good; this particular song I believe was co-written with Geoff Barlow, and is smokey and cinematic. The album finishes up with "Fading World" and "Simple Song", both of which are relatively straight forward tracks but with little odd moments that jump out and remind you that this is no ordinary record.

Overall I love the whole thing - this is an album that creates its own world (as every good album should) and draws you in; once you're in, you want to keep going to see where you end up. There's no answers here, no clues as to where this music comes from or what it all means. But that's part of the charm. Pretend its an ancient record you found lying around and dive right in. Surf is up!

Metallica - St Anger

So over the holidays I sat down and watched Metallica's documentary, "Some Kind of Monster", which has become somewhat notorious for its depiction of a band so unable to communicate, they have to hire a "performance coach" / therapist to do it for them. This film is excellent, and worth a watch for anyone who has seen movies like "Anvil - The Story of Anvil", or has any interest in how major bands keep themselves together.

The album they were making during this time was released in 2003 as St Anger, and to say it polarised critics is an understatement. Q Magazine actually included it in one of their "worst albums ever" articles, but it is far from that. In fact, you could say it is the most daring, exciting, and experimental album Metallica ever released.

For a start - the sound. In particular, the drum sound. Many critics gave out about the sound of the snare drum, likening it to the sound of someone hitting a metal sheet in a garage. This was never a problem for me, being a fan of King Crimson's Red album, on which the drummer actually did hit a metal sheet in a garage. And funnily enough, the modus operandi behind this album was summed up by producer (and stand in bassist) Bob Rock, who stated that on St Anger, the band should be approached as a "garage band, only the garage band is Metallica". So the sound is rough, ready, instant, and quite avant garde under the circumstances. Vocally, there's no messing around, its one-take stuff, and if James Hetfield's pitch wavers somewhat, hey - this is heavy metal, not X Factor. Deal with it.

The guitars sound GREAT. And there's no guitar solos. Not one. For a band known for their guitar wig outs, and featuring one of the "best all time guitarists" in their line up (Kirk Hammett), this is a stylistic departure as radical as when they all cut their hair short for the first time. Still though, it doesn't matter, its not the kind of album that necessarily needs anything other than punishing riffs and those rattling, pinging drums. Garage bands just jam, they don't fiddle about with solos.

After taking all this into consideration, are the songs any good? In many ways, it doesn't really matter. Its Metallica. They rock. They thrash. They hurt your ears. However... I would answer yes, the songs are good. "Frantic", "Some Kind Of Monster", "Sweet Amber" and the title track are all highlights. Its a bloody long album though, 75 minutes over eleven tracks. That's LONG (Metallica seem to think that they should fill every second available to them on CD; their most recent album is 74 minutes long, and previous ones have been 76, 78, 62, and 65 minutes long. Master Of Puppets, their 1987 breakthrough, is a brisk 54 minutes by comparison).

For fans of "Enter Sandman" and "One", you probably won't like this album. And for non-metal fans, or those with a delicate disposition, avoid this album at all costs. However, if you're like me and you get excited by really powerful, fast, noisy and in your face music, then this album is worth the effort. And if you watch the movie first, you'll be amazed it got made at all.

Finley Quaye - Vanguard

Now that the snow is here (again), it reminded me of this album, which I "dug out" (read: scrolled to with iPod wheel) and listened to in its entirety while trying to get out of Blanchardstown shopping centre. Why does it remind me of snow? When I first got it (in late 2000) I went snowboarding in Lake Tahoe (cool) and it was the soundtrack of that trip. So for me, snow = Vanguard.

Bit of background first. FQ first came on the scene in '97 with the album Maverick A Strike, and its lead single "Sunday Shining", which was a hit single. As were the follow ups, "Even After All" and "Your Love Gets Sweeter": Nice, laid-back reggae for the summer. Poised for a big career, he didn't capitalise on the opportunity (and had some personal problems) and by the time Vanguard appeared in '00, he had lost his momentum. Bad reviews didn't help, and lead single "Spiritualized" only went to number 26 on the UK charts. The album itself only went to number 35 (Maverick A Strike went to number 3). 

This album is under-appreciated, as it has some fine moments, and is more consistently enjoyable than his debut. It opens well with "Broadcast" and "Spiritualized"  (a track which manages to rock and be laid back at the same time), and the trio of early tracks ("Burning", "Everybody Knows", and "Feeling Blue") are as commercial as anything he's done before. There's the right amount of nice electronic touches ("The Emperor", "Chad Valley"), and also one of his best songs, certainly my favourite, "When I Burn Off Into The Distance" (video link below). This is a fantastic track, a true hidden gem that has swagger and charm at the same time.

Where the album does go slightly off the rails are around the lyrics (which are mostly barmy), and a couple of sketchy tracks (like "British Air Rage") but it all comes back together with the plaintive "Hey Now". 

There, see I've just described the whole album from memory. You can't do that with the first one. That album was single / single / filler / filler / filler / single / filler etc. This album has an eclectic mix of songs and each one has its own personality.

For some reason I never explored any further FQ albums, but will now. There's two more I think so I'll probably blog about them once I've had a listen! For now though I'd recommend this, and check out the video link below.

Röyksopp - Senior

I, like many people, am a big fan of Röyksopp's debut album "Melody AM". Released during the height of the "chill out" craze, it struck a perfect balance between laid back trip-hop beats, Air-inspired vintage keyboards, inspired guest vocalists, and all underpinned with a very Scandinavian sense of style. Since then, however, their last few records have been a disappointment as they largely abandoned the "chill out" style for a more upbeat, Euro-dance style which I really wasn't into at all.

Their 2009 album "Junior" was a success around the world, and did contain one great track, "Happy Up Here". However the rest was very middle of the road dance music. I mean, the singer Robyn appeared on one track! Not good.

"Senior" is a different story however. Released in September of 2010, it was everything its predecessor wasn't - ambient, dark, introspective, and entirely instrumental. And you know what? It's great. Far and away the best thing they've done since that debut all those years ago.

The album takes little for granted and doesn't pander to an audience expecting a front-loaded record: Indeed, the opening track "....And the Forest Began to Sing" is just a short scene-setting piece before the first track kicks in, the jittery "Tricky Two". The band themselves describe the album as having "an autumn mood", and this is evident on probably the best track, "Senior Living". To me this sounds like a mid-90s U2 outtake - it could easily have served as a backing track for a Pop or Passengers album track. Containing some woozy Edge-like guitar, I keep expecting a gravelly voiced Bono to make an appearance. Second to best is "The Drug", which is a very close approximation of early Aphex Twin. This was actually released as a single and I've linked to the video for it.

Its an album that almost slips under your radar, until you realise how much you are loving it. Definitely worth checking out, good listening for these long cold winter nights. Settle in a bean bag with a roaring fire and cup of hot chocolate and stick this on!

Daft Punk - Tron Soundtrack

Daft Punk. Tron. In 3D. How could it not work? Well it didn't - to a degree I suppose.

All about managing expectations, this one. This is not "the next Daft Punk" album, it is what it says on the cover - a soundtrack album (although having the word "Disney" in the same space as "Daft Punk" is a bit disconcerting). Now, in fairness, one would expect a soundtrack album made by Daft Punk, for TRON of all things, to be the coolest, danciest, crazy robotic sounding album ever - full of deep house beats, vocoders, resonant basslines, etc. All the things we expect from the French duo. And on "Derezzed", that's exactly what we get. But that's only one track. The rest is slow, ponderous, orchestral, and pretty generic-blockbuster sounding.

With a few exceptions of course - "The Son Of Flynn" sounds a bit like Air (funnily enough), "Armory" wouldn't sound out of place on the Terminator soundtrack, and "Adagio For Tron" is just a cool (and funny) name for a track. Not all bad then.

All in all though its a bit of a let down - although I'm sure it'll all sound great in the context of the movie (which I hope to see next week). But unlike the "Moon" soundtrack by Clint Mansell, this doesn't really stand up to repeated listens as an album on its own. Which its probably not supposed to. Anyway hats off to the guys for pushing it out a little bit and scoring a whole, proper soundtrack. But I'll be waiting for the next Daft Punk album.