Nevermind The Box Sets

OMG. Are those brand new sleevenotes?!!!

For those of you who regular read any of the plethora of contemporary music blogs out there (or simply those of you who read the reviews section of the Sunday papers), the recent slew of deluxe reissues of historic and canonical albums cannot have escaped your attention. The latest objects of desire to be unleashed upon an assortment of salivating collectors and obsessives are the 20^th anniversary edition of Nirvana’s Nevermind and an extensive deluxe box set reissue of the entirety of the Pink Floyd discography. With similar sets available in the coming months covering material from U2 and The Smiths amongst others, this trend shows no signs of abating. But do these super-lush, super-detailed reissues improve the listener’s enjoyment of such albums, or are they merely expensive curiosities or status symbols for the “true fan”? Good for one listen perhaps, but ultimately consigned to collect dust, forgotten on some shelf or in some cupboard?

I must confess myself to owning a couple of these behemoth editions (the tenth anniversary set of Manic Street Preacher’s The Holy Bible and Pavement’s Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain LA’s Desert Origins Edition spring most quickly to mind), and the desire for some of the latest deluxe reissues has not bypassed me entirely. After all, everyone likes to own nice things. However, when I look back upon my purchases I somehow wonder what it was that led me to believe that I would find both the time and the will to watch the Manics perform their 1994 song Faster in four different settings. Whatever flawed logic it was, I suspect it was the very same which made me purchase both Later… with Jools Holland Louder and Later… with Jools Holland Even Louder on DVD. Have I ever watched them? Perhaps once, though it has to be said that despite its excellent showcasing ability, the “Later” format isn’t exactly one that draws inspired performances week in, week out. I bought that shit anyway.

So what is it exactly that makes us want to purchase the new 6-disc edition of Dark Side of the Moon or to own every version of Lithium or Polly ever recorded?* The motivation from the perspective of the record companies is clear; they have been losing revenue ever since the advent of the MP3 and online piracy, so making the packaging and presentation of a record itself the object of desire is an obvious way to restore sales and increase slimming profits. Some record companies have based their entire business model on it. Rhino Records, for example, has spent the best part of the last thirty years issuing excellent reprints of historic albums, often critically acclaimed cult records which were out of print and absolutely hankering for a new digital version and a few bonus tracks.

In essence, however, the record companies are now trying to reverse a downhill slide that they helped cause, primarily by introducing the cassette and the CD as standard formats. Before this, the artwork for an LP was of almost as much importance as the actual content itself. Rewind your C90s (or cue back your compact discs) to the mid 70s and there are countless stories of buyers purchasing records for the artwork alone, without ever having heard a note of the band’s music. Have you ever seen the inside of Stevie Wonder’s Innervisions, for example? The dude may have been blind but he certainly had a few mates who knew a fuckton about illustration. Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band had it’s own set of pop out figures. Dark Side of the Moon’s inside cover belongs in a gallery. I recently bought a copy of New Order’s Blue Monday/The Beach even though I knew the record it contained was too scratched to play. And these were all standard editions. Who has ever heard of a gatefold jewel case anyway?

It also brings into question the whole notion of the value of music; with millions and millions of songs and countless variety available at the click of a mouse for free, who, whether right or wrong, wants to actually buy music? Perhaps the trend in the release of beautiful new editions has something to do with this. Is it a manifestation of our subconscious desire to return value to music? The idealist in me wants to believe so.

Honestly though, what do I believe? Personally I think that it’s our generation’s equivalent of “the best silver”; a status symbol for those of us of a musical bent. Anyway, I’m going back to staring at my 25-disc vinyl box set of the sounds of John and Yoko’s primal scream sessions. Just kidding, this doesn’t exist. Yet.

*(Courtney Love must really be scraping the barrel by now so I’m pretty sure that the next Nirvana re-release will contain a swab of Kurt Cobain’s congealed blood).

The Jezabels - Prisoner

There are times as a reviewer when you just can’t write exactly what you want to about a piece of music. There are a few possible reasons for this; the publication you’re writing for might have a particular readership, you might have a personal dislike for the artist (I, for one, would never be able to give U2 a positive write up), or you might harbour an unhealthy obsession for the band you’re writing about. For me the problem I have in writing a review of The Jezabel’s debut record is entirely the latter. My objectivity has been completely clouded by my relationship with their first three EPs and my obsession with lead singer Hayley Mary, which quite frankly borders on creepy.

This is why I decided to be completely honest in this review and to give two different ratings for the album; one being as objective as possible and one for Jezabelophiles such as myself (I know they’re out there, I count several recent converts to the church of Jezabel amongst my friends). My personal preferences aside, I actually think that The Jezabels’ music lends itself well to a review of this type, as your enjoyment of their music depends largely on how wiling you are to invest in it’s drama and turmoil. The Jezabel’s do tend to go for the heartstrings, which makes them somewhat of a divisive entity.

Hayley Mary’s voice could be either shrill and melodramatic or intense and emotive depending upon your perspective. The music itself is much the same – the melodies will seem basic to detractors, yet to converts the songs will feel layered and lush, the rumbling verses brimming with tension and the choruses a mile wide. This is mirrored in the one-two punch of the first pair of tracks, with the brooding title track leading into bittersweet lead single “Endless Summer”, which channels thick synthesizers through Buckingham-Nicks era Fleetwood Mac, without sounding like Tango in the Night. In fact, this comparison rings true for much of the whole album; only two or three tracks fall far enough from the (closely adhered to, yet charming) template to escape it.

The smooth production sheen is something that will have not escaped those who have heard either of the band’s first two EPs, but for once an increase in production values has not led to overproduction, and it’s not as if the band have had to bow to any major label pressure to distil their sound, as they are still currently signed to an indie. In this sense, the change could easily compared to the one PJ Harvey undertook when she produced the glossy, lush Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea after years of punky blues highjinks.

In essence, this is the album that many will have expected it to be. It’s obvious that The Jezabels are going for a big audience here – they want to be filling arenas. The admirable thing is that they have retained their charm whilst losing their amateurishness. The band are sure to retain most of their fans, though it remains to be seen whether the record will draw in many who have not already been enticed by the supreme drama of last year’s Dark Storm EP.

Devotees: 4

Detractors: 3

New Music: Benoit & Sergio

Just over a week ago Washington-birthed electronica duo Benoit and Sergio had what may yet prove to be their decisive break with a guest slot on Radio One’s populist Friday night dance show, headed by Pete Tong. Pleasingly, instead of choosing to play a set of crowd-pleasing floor-filler “anthems”, the duo that now split their time between the US capital and Berlin plumped for several left of field tunes including a gorgeously restrained cover of The Replacement’s Swingin’ Party performed by London’s Kindness.

The choice of track says a lot about the sensibility of Benoit and Sergio’s own music. The Replacements were notorious punk hedonists who partied with abandon and would more often than not perform live on a cocktail of drugs, but their songs always suggested an emotional depth belied by their drunken antics, and in a different way the duo’s warm, danceable tunes display the same aesthetic. Whilst they would not be out of place on any discerning clubber’s dance floor, Benoit and Sergio claim that their songs are designed to tell stories from different characters perspectives; these stories more often than not carry a level of melancholy not displayed by the actual music. The beautiful refrain on What I’ve Lost, perhaps their best track yet, is a case in point, but deserves hearing in it’s own right, rather than having me spoil it for you.

After putting out a spattering of releases on Vision Quest, the pair now find themselves at home on James Murphy’s (whose own work with LCD Soundsystem suggests the same hedonism/sensitivity conundrum) DFA label, with their latest release being a double a-side, Principles/Everybody. Of the two tracks, Everybody is by far the strongest, displaying a funkiness previously suggested by their cover of Daft Punk’s Around The World.

With each successive release so far, Benoit and Sergio seem to have taken a step forward in producing intelligent but club-friendly music. Hopefully the guiding hand of James Murphy will now steer the duo towards similarly exciting pastures.

a

The Strokes - Angles

The Strokes have a lot to answer for. Back in 2001 it was them who really kick-started the rock revivalist bandwagon, and as such they are at least partly responsible for the slew of second rate indie bands that have somehow found success in the ensuing ten years. They’ve inspired some pretty great stuff too, but for every charmingly ramshackle band of Libertines the New Yorkers have paved the way for, a group of substanceless bores like Razorlight have sneaked their way through the door too. Nevertheless, this doesn’t take away from what the group achieved on Is This It and its criminally underrated follow-up, Room On Fire.

We now find ourselves five years from the band’s last record, the slightly disappointing but nevertheless solid First Impressions of Earth, and with the dust well and truly settled on the members’ debut solo efforts, anticipation for their fourth long-player is high. This has only been heightened by the tremulous relationship that Julian Casablancas, Nick Valensi et al are said to have endured during the recording process, with Casablancas being so wound up by the whole affair as to have submitted his vocals to the rest of the band via computer, rather than collaborating with the rest of the group in the studio. No matter, plenty of masterful works of art have been completed under tortuous circumstances; Fleetwood Mac, My Bloody Valentine, The Smashing Pumpkins and The Rolling Stones are just a few of the groups to have completed their magnum opuses whilst at each others’ throats and in each others’ beds.

The sound of opener “Macchu Picchu” does little to suggest any trying circumstances in the band’s camp, bouncing along quite happily with a cod-reggae melody. But listen a little closer. What’s that Casablancas is singing? “I'm putting your patience to the test, I'm putting your body on the line, for less.” Hardly the words of a contented man. Similar lyrical themes are found throughout the album, Casablancas expressing a nagging frustration whilst the band stamps out a high-pitched, jangly sound beneath. This is essentially what they’ve been doing since 2003, but back then they did it far better. Sonically, there’s little to tell between this and Room on Fire, perhaps the drumming is a little more ‘motorik’ and there’s a tad more synth here and there, but these songs could quite easily be cast-offs from those sessions eight years ago. This is entirely the problem; the songs seem to lack any of the inspiration The Strokes tapped into previously. It’s almost as if the band worked on the album whilst their minds were elsewhere, perhaps on the next solo record. It’s surprising then that they have already stated that work on even more new material has begun, and that there is plenty more music left over from the sessions that gave a difficult birth to this record.

Apart from opening single “Under Cover of Darkness”, the main highlight is the spiralling “Metabolism”, which possesses a yearning riff and keyboards that sound like a choir. The sentiment of the vocal matches that of the riff, Casablancas confessing that he’s “searching for the perfect life.” You begin to almost feel sorry for the guy, but then the track ends and you’re left bored once again.

There’s nothing particularly terrible or annoying about any these songs (and you’ll probably have a better time listening to it than it sounds like they had making it), but then again there’s almost absolutely nothing interesting either. There’s maybe two or three great moments on this album, but you’re left wanting when you contrast this with the band’s debut, which consisted of 36 minutes of unrelenting brilliance. Sadly it seems that the reverse to that old adage “no great art was ever created without suffering” does not hold here, and that, in The Strokes case, suffering does not necessarily beget great art.

2.5/5

Download: Metabolism

James Blake - James Blake

James Blake – James Blake 2.5/5

It’s only February and James Blake has already released what will probably shape up to be the most frustrating album of the year. The record continues on the trajectory set by his first three EPs, moving away from the thick, sample-heavy dubstep of his first two releases towards a very minimal, piano and vocal based sound. The transition has been kind to Blake’s commercial prospects, earning him a high placing on the influential BBC “Sound of” poll. The problem is that he has left himself too little to work with, resulting in a record that is so sparse it almost disappears.

His approach works well on tracks like “Measurements” and his brilliant cover of Feist’s Limit to Your Love, but too often it just comes off flat. Take the two track mini-suite of Lindisfarne I & II, for example; the two songs sound like a particularly poor cast-off from Kanye’s 808s and Heartbreak sessions. Album highlight is undoubtedly recent single Wilhelm’s Scream, which builds to a triumphant murky climax, with Blake’s voice retaining a beautiful vulnerability despite its obvious strength.

As a long time fan (as much as you can be a long time fan of someone who has been releasing records for less than 18 months), I was really hoping that the finished record would not be the same as the version that leaked onto the net in early December. Unfortunately it seems that the final product is exactly as it was two months ago, an album possessing moments of real beauty but somehow not sounding quite finished.

Download: “Wilhelm’s Scream”.

Mogwai - Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will

Mogwai - Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will 3.5/5


With the band sixteen years and seven studio albums into their career, it’s fair to say that we know largely what a new Mogwai release will sound like - searing guitars, repeating rhythms and, on most songs, a complete lack of vocals are all par for the course. That’s not to say that the band have been making the same record for the best part of the last two decades; every successive album has seen the group tweak and adjust their formula, giving each one its own distinctive sound.
This latest effort sees them using more electronic instrumentation than most previous efforts, as well as utilising the keyboard more often than might be expected of a group like Mogwai. Case in point is “Mexican Grand Prix”, which is driven by a high-tempo krautrock-esque pulse, but unfortunately includes superfluous vocoder-treated vocals that fail to sit well with the track. The rest of the album fares better, with “How To Be A Werewolf” in particular soaring as beautifully as anything they’ve ever done. Other highlights include slow lament “Letters To The Metro” and “George Square Thatcher Death Party”, which recalls the lofty tones of Young Team’s “Mogwai Fear Satan”, and serves as a more appropriate home for those computerised vocals.
The rest is standard Mogwai fare; solid post-rock played by men with their guitar pedals set to ‘epic’. Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will probably won’t win the band many new fans, but it will almost certainly satisfy those that they already have.

Download: How To Be A Werewolf

J Mascis - Several Shades of Why

J Mascis - Several Shades of Why 3/5


J Mascis has always been know as more of an axe-wielder than an acoustic troubadour, his guitar chops more than making up for the lack of power in his mumbled vocals. So it comes as some surprise to see the Dinosaur Jr frontman picking up the acoustic for his third “official” solo effort. I say “official” because Mascis pretty much kicked everyone else out of Dinosaur Jr in 1991, and didn’t reunite with them for almost fifteen years. During that time, the “band” continued to produce loud tunes with reams of distortion, a world away from the folky string-embellished songs found here.
This change might lead some to question whether Mascis has finally come to feel more comfortable in his own skin, perhaps finally leaving behind the angst that has always seemed to permeate his records. One look at the lyrics sheet proves otherwise: “Hope has left me here” he sings/mumbles on ‘Very Nervous and Love’. We also find him addressing his relationship with his mother, and elsewhere pleading for someone to “make things right”. Unplugged, but still the same Mascis then.
All of the work on this album is competent, as would be expected from a virtuoso such as J, but it’s telling that the best moments come on the occasions when he cracks out the electric guitar and throws out a solo. The record certainly has its moments, but leaves you yearning for the excellence of Dinosaur Jr’s post-reunion collaborative efforts. A nice detour perhaps, but hopefully not an indicator of another acrimonious split in the Dinosaur camp.

Download: Is It Done