Ed's May Music Picks
Little Eris - Molecules R Us (self produced) ****
Little Eris is a performer theSprout has wanted to keep safe in our pocket since we saw her debut live show in Clwb at last year's Swn festival. Quirky, twee, cutesy and experimental are a few words often used to describe such a performance, but they don't really capture the essence of what Bronwen Davies's alter ego wants to share with the world. Take this her debut album: completely self-produced from sequencing to packaging, with mini heart stickers and a limited edition number hand-written on each one. Love it. For a more in-depth analysis of the process, read her blog. The 13 tracks on offer range from stripped-back electro indie (Internet Really Sux) to reflective breaks (Ice Power) to pounding sing-a-longs (E.N.E.R.G.Y.). All are inspired, organic, easy to swallow slices of bedroom genius that get under your skin deeper and quicker than you realise. If you're lucky you might blag a copy by contacting Eris,?although the great disclaimer on the back of the packaging suggests other means: '(c) 2009 Please copy and share'. DIY music at its finest.
Manic Street Preachers - Journal For Plague Lovers (Sony) ****
Just to get self-indulgent stuff out the way, we are experienced Manic historians. We were at both 1992 gigs in the now defunct smaller room at Cardiff Uni, then the Manic Millennium, Phoenix / Reading and most Cardiff gigs between. We bought Generation Terrorists the day it came out. So nah. But like us, two things you're probably as sick of hearing already about this album are: 1) It features lyrics written by Richey and 2) As a result it's their best album since The Holy Bible. Both claims hold well, but then theSprout also liked Lifeblood so hold on there, Tonto. On first listen expectations are high which can often be the undoing of such hype, and if we're honest it's not until a good few plays that JFPL brings the genius. You should know the tracklist by now, courtesy of Guardian podcasts and Channel 4 documentaries, but even if you tuned out of MSP some time ago this might be the time to quietly re-engage and make out you never lost the faith. This is nothing short of the trio's finest hour sans absent member, with the fire between lyricists and musicians fully rekindled.
The Masters Series - Hernan Cattaneo (Renaissance)***
The Masters Series has pound for pound been pretty much the best regular double-disc series of chin-stroking clubbers' house for the last year or so. The likes of James Zabiela, Satoshii Tomie and now Hernan Cattaneo bring the journey with two mixes showcasing the light and heavy variance of their skills. This also happens to be Renaissance's 50th album release, so quite right that the South Americano is in the driving seat. In the tradition of such releases, disc one is an early evening-friendly offering that builds from Hakimonu's Jag House 1989 through to closer On The Moon by Danny Howells. Cattaneo's duets with John Tonks for July and Fereek are also here. Disc two is deep and driving thanks back-to-back tracks from Guy J (Bianca / Leave Me Alone) and Cattaneo and Martin Garcia's re-edit of James Zabiela's Human. You know it's going to be quality. Invest.
Sicknote - Epidemic Live Promo (Tantrum) *****
Anyone who STILL has yet to fully immerse themselves in the genius that is Sicknote is cruising dangerously close to a ruddy good punch on the bottom from theSprout. From Doghouse's soul-chasm howling and Flapsandwich's laptop abuse to Dr Conker's K-hole kilt-swinging, one live viewing is all it will take to have you hooked. We're not sure if this promo features the track listing for the forthcoming album, Epidemic, but it doesn't matter as stomping versions of Death Before Employment, Sermon On The Mount and Headshot are all present and correct. Visceral underground local techno is alive and well and shamelessly booting the wall between scuzzy and popular. If you're a stranger, do yourself and us a favour: click here and prepare to join an essential movement.
Tom Middleton - One More Tune ***
"One more... one more!" We've all been there. Well, we have. Pie-eyed at 3.50am and the club's houselights have come on. The bouncers are tapping their watches and running a finger across their throat at the DJ. Those ravers who haven't burst into flames have their arms raised and are screaming for a final track to finish the night. Then it comes. Ones that stick in my mind are from Tempus' 1st Birthday in the Emporium circa 2001, when the late leg-end of Cardiff prog Ian Dundgey played BT's Divinity, and former Lamerica resident Dale Rees ending his 3-4am slot in the same venue's main room with Robin S's Show Me Love. What we have here is a CD dedicated to the straggler's reward: the night closer. ?Humate's Love Stimulation, Derrick May's Strings Of Life and Joe Smooth's Promised Land are all here in various guises and awaiting your high volume while driving at great speed down ze autobahn and wishing it was 1999. Tom Middleton is one of the best in his game, and although the concept is slightly lazy, the music on offer is not.
1 Comment – Postiwch sylw
stellarspontaneous
Rhoddwyd sylw 36 mis yn ôl - 22nd May 2009 - 23:54pm
"As a result it's their best album since The Holy Bible." - True dat.