Tuesday, January 11, 2005

The First Reviews of 2005!

The new year is certainly beginning with a bang. Indeed, so many of the key releases of the year for me seem to be being released on January 24th that I may well be bankrupted before the year's even got into swing. Anyway, here are the first handful of albums that I've managed to hear...

Mercury Rev - The Secret Migration

The ethereal beauty of 'Deserter's Songs' allowed Mercury Rev belated but hard-earned critical garlands, but also ushered many writers into swathes of hyperbole that have yet to wear off. 'All Is Dream' was branded a continuation of the good work of 'Deserter's Songs', whereas actually it was stodgy, portentous and mostly quite dull. Arguably the best element of 'Deserter's Songs' (and indeed its equally excellent predecessor 'See You On The Other Side' was its consummate engagement with great American musical traditions, from Appalachian folk through to improvised jazz. For 'All Is Dream', the band seemed to have forgotten that this was their great strength, instead opting to create an alternative fairytale reality, with music overburdened with distorted guitars and big drums, the results being depressingly ordinary. There is, unsurprisingly, both good news and bad news with the highly anticipated 'The Secret Migration'.

The good news is that it is another sidestep in a slightly different direction. It is much more 'pop' than its predecessor, and doesn't neglect memorable melodies to quite the same extent (although they are arguably still in much shorter supply than I had hoped). It also has a luscious, richly cinematic quality that may endow it with some appeal. At its best, it is simple and effective, particularly on the loose-limbed and rhythmic 'Across Yer Ocean', a song which benefits from being uncharacteristically understated, and is bolstered by some irresistible twangy guitar lines in the tradition of Jimmy Webb songs. Equally endearing is the undeniably pretty 'My Love', which has a lovely Roger McGuinn-esque guitar solo and remains quietly mournful throughout. 'Secret for a Song' is the big opening statement, and the one moment where the great drive to achieve a 'big sound' actually results in something engaging. The short and sweet 'Moving On', with its Beach Boys-inspired harmonies is also an unexpected twist in proceedings.

The bad news is that much of 'The Secret Migration' is again incredibly mundane. The elaborate and dense arrangements of 'Deserter's Songs' remained sidelined in favour of great swathes of synth and keyboard orchestrations that fail to add very much beyond the merely impressionistic. They certainly don't have the verve or imagination of the synth stylings of the recent Destroyer album. That these bland sustained chords and studio effects are piled on to pretty much every song also makes for a irritatingly homogenous collection. Very few of the songs actually have either the energy or the emotional appeal to linger much in the mind. Lyrically, Jonathan Donohue remains committed to all things mythical and mystical, clearly striving to transcend ordinary reality, but frequently ending up sounding crass and unconvincing. When we get totally awful song titles like 'Black Forest (Lorelei)' and 'First Time Mother's Joy (Flying)', it's very hard to banish thoughts of 'Tales From Topographic Oceans' from the mind. There is a sense with recent Mercury Rev material that they have started to take themselves far too seriously, convinced that they are making hugely significant musical statements when they are in fact merely drifting without many useful ideas.

Unsurprisingly, 'The Secret Migration' has already been highly acclaimed by a British Music Press afraid to criticise a pantheon it helped to create. Mercury Rev seen to have inadvertently become one of the untouchable giants of modern rock music. Some seem enthralled by the band's romantic quality, but a much better example of shameless romanticism would be the outstanding debut from Canada's Arcade Fire (see my albums of 2004 list and previous review). 'The Secret Migration' has a handful of charming moments, which is better than a kick in the teeth, but mostly it fails to ignite.

Lou Barlow - Emoh

Well you either know Lou Barlow's songwriting intimately and love it with all your heart, or you don't. It seems unlikely that this first 'official' solo album from Barlow (at least it's the first released under his own name) will bring Barlow any wider recognition. For those that know, however, this may be what we've been waiting for for years. It's still faithfully lo-fi, mostly built over unfussy acoustic guitar strums, and occasionally bolstered by silly toy keyboards. What makes it stand out from other Barlow projects is its consistency of purpose and quality, as well as it's relative lack of arsing about. With Sebadoh, Barlow wrote some of the most elegantly moving, lovesick indie songs ever penned ('Soul and Fire', 'Rebound', 'Together Or Alone', 'Willing to Wait' and 'The Beauty Of the Ride' would easily all make it into my favourite songs of the nineties list), and with the Folk Implosion he crafted a number of excellent albums, most notably 'One Part Lullaby', a putative attempt to engage more with modern technology. 'Emoh' strips Barlow's songwriting back to its bare essentials, sometimes with melodies so simplistic, they sound like nursery rhymes.

There's an innocence and naivety here that manages to be touching rather than twee. It treads a fine line for sure, but it stays exactly on the right side of it because, as ever, Barlow's perenially adolescent takes on human relationships end up being surprisingly perceptive. There are plenty of platitudes, but Barlow sings them with such underplayed sincerity that it's hard not to feel a tug on the heartstrings. The two highlights are a pair of beautiful songs, as good as any he has ever written. 'Legendary' and 'Puzzle' are among his most perfectly concise, and deeply affecting compositions. On the latter, he seems genuinely bewildered, confessing, 'in between my shadow and your light, I did lose you', whilst on the former, he is simply devastated. Elsewhere, the arrangements are slightly more playful, such as on 'Caterpillar Girl', an obvious choice of single should Domino want to release one, or on 'Monkey Begun', which is almost upbeat. On 'Home', the rudimentary drum machine is reminiscent of Barlow/Davis incarnation of Folk Implosion. There's very little of the angsty, grumpy Lou that has blighted his chances of success in the past, and 'Emoh' does seem like a concerted attempt to produce a consistently powerful collection of deceptively simple songs. With me, Barlow is certainly preaching to the converted, but if you want a way in to understanding the Barlow mindset, this may be the best place to come.

Patrick Wolf - Wind In The Wires (Tomlab)

Patrick Wolf's elaborate vocalising is a million miles from Lou Barlow's soft and delicate delivery. In fact, I often wish Patrick would stop sounding so serious and earnest and give his often excellent songs a little more room to breathe. Advance reports have suggested that he has done exactly that with 'Wind In The Wires'. It sounded like he was going to take the best elements of 'Lycanthropy', an album which demonstrated tremendous potential, and build them into something spectacular, with wildly abstruse arrangements combining with more restrained, folk-tinged melodies.

Given that the bulk of 'Lycanthropy' was written when Patrick was very young (and clearly also quite impressionable), it's not surprising that some of it betrayed a rather adolescent world-view. It seemed to focus closely on Patrick's pubescent experiences and confusions. 'Wind In The Wires' is based on more of Patrick's youthful experiences, this time in the form of train journeys across the West country and glimpses of the Devon coastline. It is thematically much more coherent and mature than its predecessor, and its preoccupation with Hardy-esque stories, landscape and weather lend it a lingeringly evocative quality. It is bookended by two remarkable songs which are easily the best he has recorded so far. 'The Libertine' lives up to its name by sounding reckless, carefree and wild, melding folky violin with a relentless disco beat. The concluding 'Land's End' is a carefully constructed epic that veers from the wistful to the exhuberant, and it perfectly summarises this album's many moods and feelings. Much of this album concentrates on the idea of escape and the chorus of this song states 'I'm leaving London for Land's End/ With a green tent and a violin'. It perfectly captures the thrill of leaving the crowded city for a more personal, mysterious space. It is a great journey into the unknown.

In between the two, there is also much to be encouraged by. 'Teignmouth' is spectacularly beautiful, and one of Patrick's most complex and deftly handled arrangements. That it dates back to his teenage years clearly demonstrates his precocious talent and self-confidence. 'Ghost Song' sounds distant and shimmering, whilst 'This Weather' drifts mysteriously in and out of the ether. Elsewhere, however, it's arguable that Patrick concentrates on mood, sound and theme at the expense of melody. I love the way this album sounds - it's conflagration of quaint instrumentation and modern electronics, its careful engagement with both folk music and the torch song - it's just that I struggle to recall specifics. I can remember the spirit and feel of this album - I just couldn't really hum any tunes from it. Patrick's tendency to oversing also obscures melodic gifts that are undoubtedly present, but perhaps still need to be given room to develop. Plenty of people have been seriously comparing Patrick with the young Kate Bush, whose melodies were often complex, and could also prove strangely elusive. What feels frustrating now may well make perfect sense given several more listens. I certainly want it to - because 'Wind In The Wires' is an intelligent and touching paen to the naivety and thrill of escape.

Roots Manuva - Awfully Deep (Big Dada)

What a superb record this is - not just an early contender for the best British hip hop album of the year, but simply for the best hip hop album of 2005 full stop. Much of 'Awfully Deep' builds on the enticing, hypnotic groove of his classic 'Witness' single from a few years back, and the wordplay again demonstrates a fearsome intelligence. 'Awfully Deep' is one of the few hip hop albums I've heard that demonstrate a capacity for capturing melancholy feeling. From the lyrics here, it would appear that Roots Manuva has spent much of the last couple of years in a period of depressive self-analysis, and all the scrutinising has produced spectacular results. That it is as intriguing sonically as it is lyrically helps its cause considerably - with Roots clearly aiming at resisting pigeonholing and incorporating a massive range of influences, from dub producers such as Keith Hudson through roots reggae, electro, funk and soul. On 'Colossal Insight' he claims that he doesn't give a damn about UK rap - he's a UK rapper, but he doesn't want to be categorised. 'I got love for all them scenes but the pigeonholes weren't enough to hold me!' he states. On this evidence, this would prove to be an accurate self-assessment.

Roots Manuva clearly understands the classic strategy of coupling dense, dazzling wordplay with strikingly simple and infectious choruses. Where lesser talents would have relied on straightforward sampling for these choruses, often from classic soul records, Manuva sings them himself, with a shameless energy that lightens the psychological gravity considerably. The chorus of opener 'Mind 2 Motion' is hilarious, possibly the only rap track to betray the influence of children's comedy legends Trevor and Simon, with its exhortation to 'swing your pants!'. The title track also has a similarly irresistible chorus line. When set to pared down backing tracks with their squelchy electro lines and deep, bowel rumbling basslines, the raps prove to be completely compelling. The music often sounds influenced by the uncompromising firebrand spirit and energy of Jamaican dancehall music.

Whereas I often avoid rap music because I find it difficult to engage with or remember its lyrics, 'Awfully Deep' proves to be expressive and memorable. Roots himself describes his own 'venomous eloquence', his almost savage ability to nail a lyric in simple and concise verse. 'Colossal Insight' is a brilliant song about drinking, with Roots claiming 'I walk with disaster/prefer to be plastered' and confessing 'I should cut down this drinking/Too many late nights and wayward thinking'. On 'Thinking' he gets even more bogged down in existential angst, professing to be a 'lonely soldier' fighting his own battles unaided.

'Awfully Deep' manages to pull off the very impressive trick of juggling a diverse array of sounds and influences whilst maintaing an admirable clarity and coherence of purpose. It never sounds boring, just thrilling and exciting stuff from start to finish.
Vera Drake (Dir: Mike Leigh, 2003)

It’s only the first week of the new year and here already is the year’s first must-see movie (with the exception of Scorsese’s opulent, Oscar-baiting The Aviator, which slipped out at the end of last year, and which, despite being a Scorsese picture, may not actually be ‘must-see’ at all). Mike Leigh’s picture comes fresh from the festival circuit, where it has won a number of awards, including the Golden Lion for best picture and the Best Actress award for Imelda Staunton at last year’s Venice Film Festival. It also provided the gala opening for the London film festival last November. It will no doubt win many more accolades in the coming months.

Leigh’s eponymous central character is a compulsive ‘do-gooder’, a woman with a heart of gold who helps infirm neighbours, invites people round to feed them ‘a proper meal’ and makes endless cups of tea for those in need of comfort. In secret, she is also a backstreet abortionist, a grisly role for which she accepts no remuneration and sincerely believes she is acting out of the goodness of her heart, performing a social duty for the needy and underprivileged who have found themselves in trouble.

The first half of the film is captivating largely because of Leigh’s extraordinary recreation of early 1950s London life. Despite a meagre budget, and a lack of feasible locations, Leigh has crafted a convincing world – where the colours are appropriately drab and muted, but where there is also considerable warmth and human sympathy. Leigh is often dismissed for working largely with ‘caricatures’, or extreme types, which he creates at first through highly unique improvisatory techniques before presenting his actors with a script. Whilst Vera may well be seen as a class stereotype, working officially as a cleaner in wealthy homes whilst sympathising with the needy and happy with her own somewhat limited stock, there is also an element of truth and compassion in Imelda Staunton’s outstanding performance. She is highly supportive and encouraging towards her family, and carries herself with a quiet dignity.

Leigh also develops a believable euphemistic language when constructing dramatic situations. Vera does not perform abortions, she ‘helps girls out’. The amiable, slightly simple Reg proposes to Vera’s daughter Ethel in an endearingly clumsy manner, at first asking her if she has ‘thought about moving out’. In fact, there is a surprising abundance of charm and humour in the first half of the film, which neatly counterbalances the inevitable grimness elsewhere, without really ever becoming uncomfortable. The scenes of the operations themselves, which Vera performs with a Higinson syringe, soapy water and disinfectant, whilst not graphically depicting the procedure, are edgy and unpleasant, and a couple of these procedures are savagely juxtaposed with Drake family members enjoying a picture show. It’s a neat trick, which Leigh pulls off with an admirable deftness of touch and control.

It is only when one of Vera’s patients becomes seriously ill and nearly dies that her crimes are brought to light and she becomes exposed. At the ‘operation’, the young girl’s mother recognises Vera from a launderette where they both used to work before the war. In a subtly devastating few seconds, her anonymity is lost and she becomes perilously vulnerable. Never one to miss the opportunity for a dramatic coup, Leigh times her arrest to coincide with a family party, where the engagement of Ethel and Reg, and the pregnancy (oh, the irony) of Stan’s sister-in-law are being celebrated.

It is here that Imelda Staunton crafts her extraordinary transformation from pillar of the community to humiliated, devastated wreck. Much has already been made of her brilliant performance, but what seems most significant to me is that she is allowed to further flourish through intelligent, sensitive direction. Much like Ken Loach, Leigh is often criticised for being too concerned with drama and script, and less concerned with the actual technicalities of film-making. Here, with considerable aplomb, he demonstrates these critical barbs to be entirely inaccurate. When the police first arrive for Vera, the camera moves from a short distance into extreme close-up, capturing Staunton’s face as it first quivers and then collapses, losing its essence and vitality in what seems like an agonisingly long take. Another staggering moment, which I feel certain will linger in my memory for some time, is when, after completing her statement for the police, Vera finally confesses to her husband Stan. Here, Dick Pope’s camera frames the two characters in exquisite close-up, as Vera whispers the terrible news into his ear, unable to repeat her confession aloud. Leigh also skilfully resists the temptation to turn the final reel of the film into a perfunctory courtroom drama, through elaborate editing that transmits the magnitude of Vera’s trial and sentence without dwelling too long on technicalities.

Given that Leigh obviously intends our sympathies to lie with Vera, some have criticised this film for taking a morally ambivalent stance on abortion. I would certainly agree that the film maintains an admirable detachment on issues of personal morality (and, perhaps strangely, religion is hardly even touched upon), but it does not seem to me to be a defence of backstreet abortions. The abortion scenes themselves are fraught with tension, and, frequently, with despair, as Vera is often confronted with the fact that her actions have not magically washed away her clients’ problems as she clearly would like. What Leigh seems to be arguing (although this film is by no means intended as polemic) is that there was an underlying hypocrisy in 1950s Britain, whereby the wealthy could afford to pay for quietly sanctioned abortions in comfortable environments, whereas the working classes were left to fend for themselves, at the mercy of others and, indeed, of perilously dangerous practices. Leigh provides class contrast by following a sub-story involving the daughter of one of the wealthy women for whom Vera provides a cleaning service (her official, gainful employment), who is raped by a potential boyfriend and forced to recourse to a private termination. Leigh also portrays Stan’s brother Frank’s quiet frustration with his socially ambitious wife Joyce, who appears to hanker for a washing machine more than she wants her unborn child. Perhaps unusually for Leigh, these points are left implied rather than imposed, which perhaps leads to these various plot strands remaining unsatisfactorily unresolved.

Someone emerging from the cinema in front of me also clearly felt the film to be an unfair treatment of the 1950s, claiming ‘it was only the fifties, but from that you’d have thought it was the dark ages!’. This viewer clearly missed some of the more challenging and intriguing ambiguities within the film. Not all are immediately condemnatory of Vera – her son Sid claims that her actions are wrong, and that he may be unable to forgive her, but when he claims she has let the family down, Stan immediately and firmly disputes this. The reaction of the Drake family is as significant as Vera’s private devastation. In the earlier part of the film, Leigh constructs a convincing and richly detailed portrait of family life, for it to be profoundly challenged by the shocking revelations. Not only this, but the police investigation is conducted with a surprising sensitivity, They seem aware both of Vera’s humiliation and her kindness, yet they are bound by law to perform their duty. These are complex and sympathetic performances in roles that a lesser director may have made thankless.

Vera Drake is an intense, deeply moving and carefully crafted film of immense power, but it is perhaps not my favourite of Mike Leigh’s pictures. It shares some of the shocking revelations as his earlier masterpiece ‘Secrets and Lies’, but that film arguably adopted a less scholarly approach. It also lacks the mysterious allure of a film such as ‘Naked’. It is also slightly undermined by its persistent use of choral music, which, to me at least, felt slightly crass. What is Leigh trying to say with the use of this soundtrack? Is Vera supposed to be a saint or martyr, or is Leigh trying to confront fundamental positions on abortion and the sanctity of life? I suspect that Leigh has little interest in either of these notions, and that the music is simply inappropriate. Other than these small reservations though, ‘Vera Drake’ shows Leigh to be as uncompromising and confrontational as ever, and still eliciting sublime performances, both from the overwhelmingly compelling Staunton, and her talented supporting cast.

Friday, January 07, 2005

Rants 2004

Well you’ve heard what I liked in 2004, so I thought it might be fun to begin 2005 on a resoundingly negative note by having a pop at some easy targets. They are not in any ranked order or anything like that.

1) Gwen Stefani

I really feel that I should like Gwen Stefani – she looks great, and has hooked up with some of top producers to craft what should be a quirky solo album, far removed from mainstream conventions. Unfortunately, the first single ‘What You Waiting For’ firmly put me off even approaching said album. This single was frankly risible – the most horribly narcissistic, self-indulgent and infuriating lyric of the year. In a song of precious little substance, Stefani bleats about the terrible moral dilemma that is whether or not she should record a solo album. ‘Look at your watch now! You’re still a superhot female! You’ve got your million dollar contract! And they’re all waiting for your hot tracks!’ she shrieks. Get on with it then, woman – do you expect me to have any sympathy with your rather cushy position in life?

2) Tony Blair/ David Blunkett/ID Cards

I’ve combined these three for fear of repeating myself, such is my frustration with the current government. The satisfaction I felt at David Blunkett’s tragic resignation was only tempered by the fact that Blair remains in office, seemingly in a very strong position regarding the upcoming General Election. Blunkett of course should have resigned for his inability to respect the basic rule of law and the fundamental freedoms of his citizens (right to a fair trial by jury? Oh, we can scrap that as long as we nail a ‘potential terrorist’ or two). Most maddening of all was his continued insistence on the ID card scheme, persistently stressing the significance of the card itself, when anyone who knew anything about the technology involved realised pretty quickly that this amounted to the creation of a national surveillance network on all British citizens, whilst the technology may not be able to work in the way that Blunkett has suggested. Of course, we all have to pay for it ourselves. What happens if we suffer a major terrorist attack in the ten or so years it’s going to take to get this system working? Let’s invest in more intelligent, focussed security now that resists the urge to scaremonger. Blunkett should have resigned for ignoring the basic values of decency and instead helping to promote an increasingly intolerant and uncivilised society. What he did resign for – whilst worthy of considerable censure, was nothing compared to all this. It was certainly nothing compared with misleading parliament into sending troops into an illegal war on the basis of a false prospectus. Mr. Blair’s position should no longer be tenable.

3) Joss Stone

Why does everyone seem to have fallen head over heels for Joss Stone? A youthful pretty face she may be – but she is not the ‘authentic’ real deal soul sensation that the media seem to think she is. She is the sound of classic black music neatly repackaged into a white format for those listeners for whom the real thing is still not quite palatable. She overcooks every single line she sings – trying so intently to ape the vocal mannerisms of southern soul.

4) Jamie Cullum

One of the highlights of my New Year’s Eve this year was, on my tired and drunken return to my local underground station, seeing a man walk past a poster of Jamie Cullum and simply sticking his middle finger up at it. He expressed so eloquently what we all feel, without even resorting to language.

5) The Olympic Bid

We’re not ready for it. In fact, I don’t even want it, so it can go away. I’d rather see a London Grand Prix frankly, and even that probably isn’t feasible. Talking of which…

6) Bernie Ecclestone

Simply for being a money-grabbing bastard and putting his own personal wealth (and that of his trustees) well ahead of the future and energy of motorsport, to the great detriment of TV audiences, fans and even, arguably, competitors themselves. The sport relied on Bernie for a long time, and (credit where credit is due) he did transform the sport from a cult into a global phenomenon. But how much money does one man really need?

7) Arsenal FC

Can they not just stop – and take their Emirates Stadium somewhere else?

8) Motorists

They moan about petrol price rises, they moan about the eminently sensible London congestion charge, they moan about eminently sensible Controlled Parking Zones, and they have the audacity to moan about speed cameras. Which other group expects so much for so little? Which other group expects to behave dangerously, break the law and get away with it?

9) Cyclists

They need to be more aware of motorists like me :-) And some knowledge of the rules of the road would no doubt help too. Get some lights!

10) Busted

Busted began as an idea of absolute genius from the marketing end of the music industry. A proper boy band that play their instruments and look cool! Their early pop singles were harmless, fluffy fun – not music that I would ever buy, but they had an infectious charm and boundless energy. On attempting to crack America this year, they suddenly wanted people to take them seriously. They became a sub-Blink 182 punk band, with brattish, obnoxious and misogynistic lyrics with scant regard for their audience. That they remained so popular beggared belief. The existential dilemma of Charlie Simpson at least kept me entertained – to follow those die-hard Tory principles, stick with Busted and make a few more quick bucks, or concentrate on his ‘other’ band, Fightstar, who he hopes will be blessed with indie credibility? Watch this space in 2005….

11) McFly

I don’t really hate McFly of course (as witnessed by my audacious inclusion of ‘That Girl’ in my singles of the year list). They look good, their music is tremendous fun and they seem to have a genuine passion and understanding for pop music. They also understand exactly what they are – describing themselves not as a boy band or a serious rock band, but as a ‘band that plays pop’. They seem reasonable people, if a little stupid (maybe it’s unfair of me to expect them to engage in any way with politics or culture). It’s just that there’s something extremely nauseating about a band of under 18s being propelled to Arena filling success after just one single. Their first gig was supporting Busted for heaven’s sake! I don’t doubt that they are dedicated and hardworking – they’ve been on every pop TV show every week for basically the entire year, but I’d still like to ban them from releasing another record until they’ve played the toilet circuit of Great Britain.

12) Wine Bars and Bars that Want to be Clubs

I can’t hear anyone! It’s shit house music again! An old English teacher of mine once described the traditional Public House as ‘Britain’s last remaining great institution’. Amen to that!

13) Keane

I spotted Keane singer Tom Chaplin at a Rufus Wainwright gig towards the end of the year, and have since heard him express his admiration for the singer-songwriter. If only he possessed one ounce of Wainwright’s passion or control himself! Keane simply seem to make the ultimate wallpaper music. It’s almost offensively bland, and melodic only on the most basic level, topped off with some cynical emoting in Chaplin’s vocals. They seem like honest, decent chaps – but that doesn’t excuse them their music, nor does it justify all those critics and consumers who seem to have lost all sense entirely by making them into million sellers!

14) The Streets

A poetic genius? A man who ‘speaks for the nation’? Well, to paraphrase a greatly superior poet, recent efforts from The Streets say nothing to me about my life. It’s just either plain boring, or bafflingly infuriating, and to my mind, Mike Skinner’s attempt to adopt an everyman vernacular just comes across as embarrassing rhyming dictionary nonsense.

15) BBC TV News

Why do the presenters have to stand up all the time? Do they not realise that it looks uncomfortable and amateurish? Worse than that is the endless graphics and visual explanations. Only the new look BBC News could trivialise the devastating Tsunami by using a computer generated screen to explain what an earthquake is. I don’t need a fucking geography lesson! I just need events reported with precision, balance and some incisive commentary. These are the things at which the BBC remains excellent, despite the findings of Hutton.


16) Razorlight

The most cloyingly derivative band in the history of the world. Do we really need a new rock n’roll saviour who has merely spent far too many hours trying to ape Tom Verlaine’s vocal style. Do we need yet more wiry punk pop that fails to bring music forward beyond 1978. Do we need another arrogant fool so convinced of his own genius? Look closely and you will find that the answer to all of these questions is a resounding ‘no’.

17) Choice

Clearly the buzzword of 2004, it would appear that all three political parties became a little too convinced that offering us more ‘choice’ was best for us. It may surprise New Labour to learn that, if I fall seriously ill, I don’t want to choose which hospital I go to, I just want to feel comfortable that my nearest hospital is good enough to help me. Similarly, if I had children, I would much prefer that my local school was adequate for their needs, rather than selecting a school that was further away. The same philosophy underpins the hideously misguided creation of a ‘marketplace’ in Higher Education, where it would appear the result may well actually be less choice, as many will no longer be able to attend, and many of the crucial academic courses offered by the top universities will be forced to close due to their inability to compete. Still, with the ethos of the private sector being imposed upon our public services even further this year, it would seem that neither politicians nor executives really care that much for blanket improvement. That might mean spending some cash.

18) Woolworths Christmas ads

‘Woolworths – let’s have some fun!’ bellows a very masculine female voice. I tell you what, let’s not.

19) Religious Fundamentalists and Evangelicals
Well, you could make a case for this every year, but in this era not just of militant Islam, but also of intolerant evangelical Christianity propelling a dangerously incompetent US president into the highest seat of power for four more years, 2004 does seem to have been as influenced by the forces of religion as any other year. I don’t see religious faith as a bad thing by any means – but it is problematic if it remains static, completely removed from cultural and historical developments. It is also horrible if used as a tool for self-righteous, uncompromising discrimination. Witness the ludicrous furore over homosexuality in the Church of England – who cares what a bishop gets up to between the sheets?
A Quick Plug

Readers of In League With Paton may wish to know that my band, Unit, have a few gigs lined up. Sadly we're only gigging in London at the moment - but some gigs in other UK towns might be possible later in the year if we're lucky.

Sunday January 16th - The Windmill, Brixton, onstage 9pm
Tuesday January 18th - The Rhythm Factory, Aldgate
Sunday February 6th - Dublin Castle, Camden Town

Entry should be less than a fiver for all gigs.

Coming tomorrow: Some resoundingly cynical and twisted rants about the worst aspects of 2004 (and there are plenty of targets) and the very first reviews of 2005!

Monday, January 03, 2005

Fun for 2005!

Here are some albums expected in 2005 that I am looking forward to immensely…

Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy and Matt Sweeney – Superwolf: This collaboration between Will Oldham and the former Chavez and Zwan member should be an absolute gem.

Magnolia Electric Co. – Trials and Errors: This is a live recording featuring previously released material alongside new songs. There will also be a new Steve Albini-produced studio set later in the year.

Shivaree – Who’s Got Trouble?: The third album from the tragically underrated Shivaree looks set to slip out with no fanfare whatsoever in mid-January. Not even the patronage of Quentin Tarantino seems to have helped the publicity machine.

Rufus Wainwright – Want Two: This should finally be released in the UK in March. There are lavish extras with the US edition, including a full concert DVD. Will the record company pull out the stops for the UK fans who have been waiting months for this?

Lou Barlow – Emoh – The first Lou Barlow album released without an alias, this promises to be a collection of sweet, sad pop songs with minimal self-indulgence.

Laurent Garnier – The Cloud Making Machine: The techno legend has taken five years to record the follow-up to ‘Unreasonable Behaviour’. It had better be good!

Doves – Some Cities: The word, once again, will no doubt be ‘epic’.

Patrick Wolf – Wind In The Wires: Will this suffer second album syndrome, or will it take the best bits from ‘Lycanthropy’ to new heights?

Broken Social Scene – Windsurfing Nation: One of the big ones. A top 10 contender if it fulfils the promise of ‘You Forgot It In People’.

Kate Bush! No title yet – but 12 years after ‘The Red Shoes’, Kate Bush will return with a new album in 2005. There is really no predicting what this will sound like, although I’m confident that, like everything else she has recorded, it will be completely divorced from all current fads and trends.

AC/DC – Strap It On: Well, if this doesn’t sound exactly the same as the last one, I’ll eat my hat. If there’s another world tour – I’ll be there!

Depeche Mode – No title or song details as yet, but news has been posted on their website stating that they are recording a new album. So much for splitting up then! There had supposedly been a big dispute in the Mode camp about songwriting – will this be resolved in Dave Gahan’s favour or will all the songs still be Martin Gore compositions?

Bruce Springsteen – He’s been at work in Brendan O’Brien’s studio sporadically over the past four or five months. No clues as to whether it’s a solo record or another E Street Band affair though, or indeed whether it will actually see light of day in 2005.

Bob Dylan – The second volume of his autobiography is rumoured to coincide with his first studio album since 2001’s ‘Love and Theft’, although with all the writing and the incessant touring, it’s hard to see how he’s managed to record anything.

Hot Chip – Working on new material already to keep the momentum going.

Low – The Great Destroyer: Coming in January so not long to wait – supposedly heavier and more melodic than the usual slowcore stuff.

Mercury Rev – The Secret Migration: Can Mercury Rev stall the decline following the stodgy and disappointing ‘All Is Dream’?

Teenage Fanclub – The TFC camp have been relatively quiet on this of late. They recorded the songs last spring and summer with John McEntire from Tortoise producing, and it initially looked like the new album would emerge in the Autumn. Needless to say, it didn’t appear – and it doesn’t even seem to be clear now which record label, if any, plans to put this record out. This band are too good to be left floundering yet again by a cynical record industry that neglects its greatest songwriters. It’s also been two years since the greatest hits collection now, and five years since ‘Howdy!’. The cognoscenti have been waiting patiently, but we’re starting to get a little frustrated now!

Television – Have recorded a brand new album!

Elbow – Station Approach: I’m not sure that title is final but I’ve seen it on a number of different sources. Promises to be another step forward from a band moving towards greatness.

Boards of Canada – They are notoriously elusive, so there’s not much info on this one, but it’s certainly about time they followed up Geogaddi.

Scott Walker – Now signed to 4AD. Will it be as challenging as ‘Tilt’?

Pat Metheney – The Way Up: Breaks with Metheney’s established formula by virtue of being one extended composition. Promises to be fascinating.

Esbjorn Svensson Trio – Viaticum: New album from Europe’s premier jazz group.

Flaming Lips – At War With The Mystics: Promises less bleeps and trickery, more emphasis on melody. Yay!

Daft Punk – Human After All: Great title – but can their kitsch disco revivalism stand up to a third album?

Cannibal Ox – Despite announcing their own split on stage in London a couple of years ago, the astounding rap duo appear to have been working on new material. If El-P is back in the production seat, it’s a guaranteed must-have album.

The Magic Numbers – There’s a big buzz building around this band. I saw them live at The Birthday Party club with Hot Chip a few months ago and they sounded gorgeously melodic.

Roots Manuva – Awfully Deep: Quite simply, the most significant figure in UK hip-hop right now. I’ve heard this and it’s thrilling.

British Sea Power – I really hope this exciting band realise their potential on this second album.

The Tears – The reunion of Brett Anderson and Bernard Butler could be brilliant, or it could be painfully embarrassing. I’m hoping that Butler has reinvigorated Anderson’s inspiration, which has been sorely lacking over the past couple of Suede albums.

Mu – More Japanese beats and screeching. This should be great – especially if the wonderful ‘Paris Hilton’ is on it.

M83 – Before The Dawn Heels Us – More My Bloody Valentine-inspired electronica. One of the key releases of the first half of the year for me.

Grandaddy – but they have to veer away from the chugachugachuga sound this time!

Jamie Lidell – Warp signing, maverick electronic genius and occasional vocalist for Matthew Herbert plans his second solo LP.

M. Ward – Transistor Radio: Another collection from this outstanding American songsmith.

Prefuse 73 – Surrounded By Silence: We can usually rely on Mike Herren to deliver the goods, and this should be one of Warp’s key releases for 2005. Expect more stuttering beats and plenty of guest rappers.

Solomon Burke – Make Do With What You’ve Got: Not sure what to make of this. Following up his brilliant Joe Henry produced mainstream comeback from a couple of years ago, Solomon Burke has gone into the studio with Don Was. I don’t think anyone, least of all Burke himself, was really expecting another album so soon, and Was’ involvement could be a blessing or a curse. Was made a muddy job of Dylan’s already underwhelming ‘Under The Red Sky’ in 1990 (probably the last time he produced a major legend), but has produced engaging and infectious pop music of his own for Was (Not Was). Will it mean a more ‘modern’ sound? Who has written the material?

Al Green – Everything’s OK: Another Willie Mitchell produced set to follow the surprisingly good ‘I Can’t Stop’. Expect more classic soul nostalgia.

Bright Eyes – Digital Ash In A Digital Urn and I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning: Two new albums from the billboard chart topping and Vote for Change star Conor Oberst. He started to veer away from grandiose oversinging and heavy emoting on ‘Lifted…’ – let’s hope he continues to follow this trajectory.

Erin McKeown – Expected to return with new material in the summer!

Sleater Kinney – Working on new album with Mercury Rev, Flaming Lips, Mogwai and Delgados producer Dave Fridmann!

Chemical Brothers – Push the Button: Apparently the best thing they’ve done in ages. To be honest, that wouldn’t be hard, would it?

REM? – There were plenty of songs left over from the ‘Around The Sun’ sessions (all the upbeat ones for a start) – will they be released?
Bjork – There are rumours of another new album to quickly follow Medulla
The In League With Paton Singles Of The Year 2004

The single format may well be dying – but, not usually being that regular a single purchaser, I actually picked up more singles this year than in the past couple of years. Here are some of my favourites….

1) TV On The Radio – New Health Rock EP

A bit of a bonus for fans of this band’s audacious polyglot sound – two tracks not included on the debut album, plus the jazz-inflected madness of ‘The Wrong Way’, one of the album’s real highlights. On the title track, they further their pursuit of excellence with vigour, with inventive production and inspired vocal arrangements.

2) Fiery Furnaces – Single Again

Not on the ‘Blueberry Boat’ album – and, indeed, it’s hard to see how a song this structurally simple could have found a place on that maverick work. Simple this song may be – but it’s still a delight – tinged with irony and malice, and utterly infectious.

3) Franz Ferdinand – Take Me Out

Derivative maybe – but sprightly, hook-laden and irresistible as well. Looking arty and smart, Franz Ferdinand were a breath of fresh air at the start of 2004, even if they ended it being a bit too ubiquitous for their own good. It’s hard to see where they can take this sound now – especially when this seems to be the perfect three minute encapsulation of their ethos.

4) Morrissey – First Of The Gang To Die

Irish Blood, English Heart may have been the bold returning statement – but this was marginally the better song, romanticising criminality as only Morrissey can, with some crunchy guitar riffing and a stadium-filling singalong chorus. Fantastic.

5) The Libertines – Can’t Stand Me Now

Don’t believe the hype – except that it’s all laid out in this wonderful single – the fraught tension between Pete Doherty and Carl Barat is played out here with disarming honesty (or, if you’re more cynical, is perfectly mythologised for a big audience), but also with a deftly humorous touch. The duelling guitars, still seemingly as much influenced by Chuck Berry as The Jam sound fantastic, and the rhythm section lends this a relentless driving pulse.

6) J Kwon – Tipsy

What a track! Made of not much more than a drum beat and some squelchy synth beats – over which J Kwon delivers silly rhymes about a club party. That such bare simplicity works is inspiring (it’s so easy to make a record these days), and this was the party tune of the year.



7) Destiny’s Child – Lose My Breath

Many people were left disappointed by the Destiny’s Fulfilled album, with its soppy ballad template – but clearly Destiny’s Child have never been an album band. This ranks with their best singles, with its military march drum beat and razor sharp keyboard stabs sounding brilliantly futuristic. It’s also superbly dirty, which is a bonus.

8) Scout Niblett – Uptown Top Ranking

A brilliant reworking of a classic reggae party anthem, morphing into something more mournful and lingering. Scout Niblett’s voice is alternately delicate and harsh, and the stripped back sound lends this recording a distinctive intimacy.

9) Kelis ft. Andre 3000 – Millionaire

A superb piece of electronic music that can’t really be categorised within the current R&B/hip hop conventions.

10) Hot Chip – Down With Prince EP

Proving that they have numerous tricks up their sleeve, Hot Chip released a whole EP characterised by their inventive take on lo-fi DIY recording and self-mocking humour. The title track bemoaned the constant namedropping of Prince from ignorant celebs, whilst The Ass Attack gave plenty of detail on one of Joe Goddard’s biggest passions (eating), with some outrageous rhyming to boot.

11) Outkast – Ghettomusick/Prototype

They continued to milk the Speakerboxx/Love Below goldmine for the entire year, and who could complain when double A sides as brilliant as this were the result? One side was the most audacious track on the whole double set, cluttered, frantic and somehow making weird sense. The other was a slow burning futurist love ballad from Andre 3000.

12) Brooks – Do The Math

Brillaint hi-NRG disco house, with some silky smooth vocals adding to the seductive pulse of its chorus.

13) Modest Mouse – Float On

In it’s own way as groovy as Franz Ferdinand, if perhaps slightly more abstruse, this was one of the surprise quirky hits of the year. With major label force behind them, it looked briefly like Modest Mouse were going to become massive in 2004. That wasn’t quite to be – but this was still their biggest hit by some distance, and in its punchy, crisp definition, deservedly so.



14) Aberfeldy – Heliopolis By Night

Indie-tastic! This brilliant tune relating a classic story of alien abduction was one of the most immediate and charming singles of 2004. Extremely catchy, and with girl backing vocals to die for.

15) Britney Spears – Toxic

The first of the ‘really, I’m not joking’ choices. In which Britney’s producers finally create a mechanical backing that suits her deconstructed, quasi-constipated vocal style and in the process – they create a genuinely intelligent, masterfully constructed slice of pop perfection. Sexy, edgy and impossible to ignore.

16) Hot Chip – Hittin’ Skittles/Back To The Future

Luddites meet The Ballad of Dorothy Parker in a scorching limited edition A-side from the bedroom funkers.

17) Morrissey – Irish Blood, English Heart

We couldn’t have hoped for a better comeback record – literate (except for the slight confusion of historical detail in the final verse), punchy, provocative and serious. One example of where the heightened production sense improved an already superb song.

18) Jamelia – See It In A Boy’s Eyes

Even with Coldplay on hiatus, Chris Martin still proved to be omnipresent in 2004. He penned the excruciatingly awful ‘Gravity’ for Embrace, and somehow managed to also compose this wonderful slice of pure pop heaven. With an electronic production sheen replacing the stolid, perfunctory performances of Coldplay or Embrace’s terminally turgid rhythm sections, Martin’s songwriting was at last brought to life. Add to this a sultry and nicely underplayed performance from Jamelia herself and you have one of the year’s very best pop songs.

19) Jay Z – 99 Problems

It sounded terrifying and apocalyptic and featured one of Jay Z’s most fearsomely eloquent rants.

20) Kelis – Milkshake

Infuriating, but utterly brilliant – this was almost taking the minimalist aesthetic of R&B to ridiculous extremes – but it worked, revitalising a career that looked dead in the water after the appalling sales figures of her last album.

21) Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds – There She Goes My Beautiful World/ Breathless

Of all the superb double A sided singles of the year, this may have made for the most effective contrast. The full-on gospel rush of ‘There She Goes..’, with its deliciously witty lyrics, coupled neatly with the unrestrained romanticism of ‘Breathless’.

22) Kevin Mark Trail – Perspective

Could we now have a distinctively British take on R&B. As much influenced by classic Jamaican roots music as The Neptunes, former singer with The Streets Kevin Trail produced a fresh and distinctive debut that felt celebratory and expressive. There’s the bonus of a faithful Hot Chip remix as well.


23) REM – Leaving New York

What a shame that after so much promise on last year’s awesome tour, ‘Around The Sun’ turned out to be such a turgid album. At least it included a handful of gems, even though they were all taken at a snail’s pace. When I first heard this – I was not expecting it to be the best track on the album – but it is, and it’s also a considerable grower, taking time to weave its mournful, enticing magic. Buck’s arpeggiated guitar-work remains as potent as ever, above which Stipe conjures one of his more straightforward and affecting lyrics.

24) Prince – Cinnamon Girl

Prince’s first fully-fledged pop single for years, and it seems quite wrong that it didn’t even trouble the top 40. This took in the war on terror, amongst other contemporary issues, but threaded it through a nostalgic eighties production with a brilliant chorus.

25) Beastie Boys – Ch-Check It Out

Marvellous! A surefire hit with some of their silliest rhymes in ages – and the interplay between the three remains as quickfire and thrilling as ever.

26) McFly – That Girl

The ‘no, I’m really not joking’ choice number two. It seemed totally unfair that McFly were routinely dismissed as a mini-Busted. Sure, they were manufactured by the same management company and co-wrote their songs together, but the McFly sound seemed more in tune with the rich history of popular music (taking in rock n’ roll, early Beatles, surf guitar and a sanitised sprinkling of punk) and also a good deal more fun. Whilst Busted started to take themselves far too seriously, and began to sound brattish, obnoxious and even slightly misogynistic, McFly sounded naïve and effervescent, and had boundless energy. This was the best of their four singles – expertly produced and crafted by whoever does all the behind the scenes work, and with some wonderfully cheesy backing vocals. The youthful zest of the central narrative – boy sees unattainable girl, gets unattainable girl and loses her again, was a shameless reiteration of the great theme of throwaway pop.

27) Animal Collective – Who Could Win A Rabbit?

Probably the least commercial single in this list – this crazy slice of modern psychedelia threw in a whole range of ideas. It sounded ragged in the best possible way, with a confidence and audacity that belied the pop sensibilities underneath.

28) Mark Lanegan Band – Hit The City

Lanegan joins forces with PJ Harvey to craft a gritty, gutsy piece of overdriven blues-rock.

29) PJ Harvey – Shame

Stripped bare, but benefiting from one of Harvey’s subtle and impressive vocal delivery, this was a sensuous, minimal treat.

30) Charlotte Hatherley – Kim Wilde
I was guesting on a radio show in the week that this was released. First everyone looked at it and said – ‘Kim Wilde? She’s come back – but I thought she was a gardener now’. Are we getting too old? It wasn’t in fact a Kim Wilde record, nor did it really seem to have all that much to do with her – but it was a pleasant surprise. A solo record from Charlotte from Ash with infinitely more poise and ambition than her band have displayed over their last few albums, which have veered towards generic. By contrast, this is a stuttering stop-start, structurally baffling sugar rush of a single.