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Anathema
- Weather Systems
Anathema have never been a band to shy away from the grandiose. In
fact, they positively embrace it. The Liverpudlian doom-mongers haven’t
really been doom since the 90s but their epic and overblown qualities
remain as prevalent as ever in their new album, Weather Systems.
Unsurprisingly, this record is a natural progression for Anathema
as they continue to shift towards the mawkish, employing complex finger
pickings and swooning string sections to express their forever earnest
outpourings, relying on the trusted distortion pedal less than ever
before.
On first listen this behemoth seems to struggle under its own enormity.
The songs are excessively bloated, vocals are frequently swapped between
male and female singers, layers upon layers of sound are heaped upon
each other, song structures seem lost in frantic and noisy crescendos
or swapped in favour of maudlin musical monologues that wallow in
romantic defeatism. With such choices, Weather Systems could make
fans nostalgic for the bite Anathema once had in their early work,
or for the giant sing along choruses of their mid-career output.
Yet in Anathema we trust. Or at least we should. These seasoned pros
may have an army of loyal fans but thank goodness they’ve never reached
the levels of success that meant they could simply phone an album
in. Weather Systems is in every way a grower. An enormous, garish,
unsubtle grower that is as honest as a record can get. An epic, free
spirited record that bares its soul way beyond the boundaries of class
or acceptability. Indeed, it takes an uncynical ear and a whole lot
of patience to wade through the theatrical embellishments of this
record but underneath is a rewarding collection of songs that handsomely
rewards those who dare to persevere. 7/10
Moker |
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Sandy
Denny - Rendezvous (Deluxe Edition)
Universal are re-issuing Sandy Denny's last 3 solo albums on Island
Records in the 70s, each a deluxe 2-cd package with bonus tracks from
demos, outtakes and live performances on radio and TV at the time,
along with various other bits of memorabilia and sleeve notes supplied
by the great rock biographer Patrick Humphries. Rendezvous was the
third of these, released in 1977, after Sandy in 1972 and 1974's Like
An Old-Fashioned Waltz. They constitute a major body of her work post-Fairport
Convention, and today the Sandy Denny legacy is still very much intact
thanks to the legions of dedicated supporters who among their number
include many modern-day artists taking up the Sandy mantle. The 40
year anniversary since the first of the Island recordings coincided
with an homage tour around the UK in May entitled 'The Lady', with
both contemporaries of Denny and artists like Thea Gilmore (who recently
recorded an album of Denny's lyrics entitled Don't Stop Singing last
year), Joan As Policewoman and Green Gartside all paying tribute to
this British folk legend who died so tragically in 1978.
The Denny entourage have created something of a 'protective shell'
around the fragile artist, sometimes making it difficult to comment
honestly about her work without ruffling a few feathers. That said,
her last album Rendezvous could never really be described as her best,
beset by a background of personal troubles, but also suffering as
it does from Trevor Lucas's rather overblown production and bland
70's big rock band sound. It always smacked of some desperate move
by the record company to pitch Denny into the mainstream, and therefore
the album lacked the integrity and character of her earlier material.
Sandy is widely considered to be her best, or even the album prior
to that, The North Star Grassman And The Ravens, released in 1971,
with its songs about the sea and Denny's heartfelt tribute to Jackson
C. Franks. A lot of the inspiration had dried up by 1976, and the
voice while still holding up had been battered by drugs and alcohol,
so no surprises that Rendezvous features a whole string of covers,
unfortunately including the Bernie Taupin-Elton John song 'Candle
In The Wind' (a step too far for this particular reviewer, I'm afraid!).
Rather than showing off Denny's versatility as a singer, moves like
this just distract us from her songwriting abilities not to mention
routinely dulling the senses.
The album isn't without merit, however; one of its more interesting
features is the trio of songs recorded live with the London Symphony
Orchestra and Choir on April 25th 1976 (the album was actually finished
the same year in October, but frustratingly Island delayed its release
until May 1977). 'I'm A Dreamer', 'No More Sad Refrains', and 'Full
Moon', the latter recorded with the fiddle of Dave Swarbrick of Fairport
Convention, are all beautiful recordings. Swarb's playing soars and
with Denny's uplifting voice they take the song to a higher plane
altogether. This, along with 7-minute opus 'All Our Days', inspired
by Vaughan Williams' Pastoral Symphony, also an orchestral collaboration,
are standout tracks on the album and certainly worthy of Denny's great
canon of work. And there's nothing bland about a singer urging us
to put a bet on a horse in Kentucky something irresistible about the
way she sings:
I'm a dreamer and you know
I'm a schemer with an eye for a show
It's my imagination whenn I get low
And the truth is I don't think I'll ever go
The Richard Thompson song 'I Wish I Was A Fool For You' which opens
the album harks back to the early days of Fairport. It also features
Thompson on guitar and again gives us flashes of Sandy's brilliance
as a singer, while her own composition 'Take Me Away' also sets the
pulse racing. The rest though struggle to get out of the low gears.
Does anybody remember what happened in the late 70's … punk rock!
QED! The extra CD is probably more for the Sandy completist, although
trawl carefully and you'll discover a few 'treasures', like the choral
version of 'All Our Days' which is truly heart-stopping, plus the
live versions of the Thompson song along with 'No More Sad Refrains',
revealing Denny in full flow, surely both a sight and sound to behold!
So interest in Sandy Denny's music never really went away, and with
the recent upsurge generated by artists like Thea Gilmore more and
more people should discover her music. It's probably crass, unfair
and simplistic to say … but c'mon, she's our Emmylou! Her official
website is lovingly tendered by loyal fans, but for the uninitiated
Rendezvous would in my view be the wrong place to start. Better to
listen to one of Denny's earlier solo albums, or even the 1972-released
compilation The History Of Fairport Convention, which highlights her
crucial role in the early development of the band. If I really can't
dissuade you, then try downloading from iTunes some of the gems she
recorded with the LSO, along with the Richard Thompson song and 'Take
Me Away'.
Matthew Haddrill
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AU
– Both Lights (Leaf Records)
There are sentences which can strike fear in the heart of a reviewer.
“Songs mostly written from jams” is one of them. AU have not lived
up to those fears, they have provided me with a very pretty album
of coherent songs with varied ideas. That alone is a rare feat. What's
more, as well as being very pretty, there is an overwhelming sense
of fun, this is an album that is easy to listen to as well as being
pretty, it is inventive and beautiful without being tiring. Another
thing it seems to be is beautiful while not really particularly melancholy
or sad. The successful achievement of this merits further praise.
There is something intensely satisfying about listening to a successful
culmination of an adventurous and risky endeavour. I can recommend
listening to Both Lights without trepidation, even if it does contain
an awful lot of saxophone. A rare time where I am happy to quote without
derision phrases from the press release. “AU have never sounded more
alive, more vibrant and more human.” The word human seeming particularly
apt as the entire album seems to be personal and also compelling,
very much an outward call for closeness. To say that there is joy
very-much present in the album is admitted hyperbole, but only slightly.
I am happy to have heard this and happy to note how much I listened
to it while reviewing.
Christopher Carney |
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Appaloosa
- The Worst of Saturday Night
It really doesn't matter what size your band is. It really doesn't
matter what type of music you play. Sometimes it doesn't matter if
you can actually play, in fact I've often been least impressed by
virtuoso dullness. Genuinely interesting music will get you through.
Hard work, by the talented will beat everything though. Never mistake
having a ton of different instruments for being clever!
I've often found that instrumental music is incredibly hard to create.
It can bore so quickly and to have anything not sound like a jam but
also not sound like a song that is missing a singer is a feat indeed.
I mean a high compliment when I say that Appaloosa can pull off instrumentals.
They also score heavy points for noting that Saturday Night is often
a terrible idea. Friday is where it's at (Sunday, Bloody Sunday eh?
Lawn to be mown etc etc)
I find myself, happily waiting to have my life changed by music.
In the way that Refused and At The Drive-in did, and others before
them. I haven't lost faith because that kind of thing is rare, and
sometimes happens completely by chance. It is not damning with faint
praise to say that I don't mind listening to this album while I wait
to have my world changed. Hard work and talent, together as it so
rarely is. I'm happy to concede that I imagine this music was hard
work, but only because it impresses me. Curse Appaloosa if they just
trotted this out by looking at each other.
I feel I should point out that the CD I received was broken so have
not had chance to hear the final three tracks on the album. I should
only point this out because it doesn't matter. I find this album to
be something genuinely fun, while also being musically thoughtful.
Thoughtful, here, does not suggest a lack of spontaneity either. Perhaps
what I really mean, in the true sense and the sense attributed in
my primary school, is Skill.
Christopher Carney |
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Ghosts
– The End
I think if I hadn't just got back from Primavera Sound, I would
have thought much less of this band. As it is, I think the first song
sounds an awful lot like Hot Chip, who I don't really like and also
uses the band's name in the chorus in the first song. I am not a fan
of any of that.
It turns out I'm not really into any of this. There is a simplicity
to things which just makes me bored rather than instantly engaged.
I think I only really use comparisons to other bands when I mean to
point out that the comparison itself has been made obvious and is,
therefore, unfavourable. So far I feel pretty certain in pointing
out that I have noticed that Ghosts have come up short against a couple
of bands they seem to be trying very hard to sound like. I will say
that they do have a knack of improving some pretty ordinary songs
with a good chorus, but that never means that songs are improved enough.
Once again, I feel obliged to point out that a band is not actually
terrible, just not good enough and once again I must also point out
that I don't think that is good enough.
Hot Chip, The Rapture, New Order, The Pet Shop Boys, The Lightening
Seeds... a lot of other indie rock bands with a synth: All these bands
exist and for some of them at least, there doesn't really need to
be any more examples of that type and very certainly not lesser examples.
Please don't misunderstand, I am very much not putting Ghosts in the
same esteemed company as some of those bands, I am merely pointing
out that I can see who they aren't as good as and who you should probably
listen to instead as it would be a much better use of your time. I
would like to point out that I have not made any negative use of the
song called Underachiever nor brought no negative attention to the
last song being called The End.
Christopher Carney |
