Facebook Slider

The Hot Five - July #2

  • Published in Columns

 

The Hot Five – My favourite new tracks of the week, usually rounded off with a classic, obscure or alternate track from my music collection.

Anna Calvi – ‘Papi Pacify’

Gaining admirers all the time, Mercury Music Prize judge and nominee Anna Calvi has followed up her 2012 album One Breath with a new EP of covers entitled Strange Weather. This track, the album’s opener, is a spacious version of the FKA Twigs original, which builds throughout in typical Anna Calvi fashion. ‘Papi Pacify’ may not necessarily have some of the intensity heard in her two existing studio albums, but nonetheless Anna Calvi develops and arranges this entire EP of covers very well, impressively showing off her original and distinctive style.

Note: If you can play this song loudly, I’d recommend it.

The Family Rain – ‘We Are In Love’

Following the release of debut album Under The Volcano in January, The Family Rain are set to release of a new EP, Hunger Sauce, at the end of this month on Kobalt Music Group label service AWAL. ‘We Are In Love’ maintains that typical blues-y edge to the Walter brothers’ music; there’s some great, distorted guitar work in this tight arrangement, and Will Walter’s lead vocal always adds plenty of character to The Family Rain’s music. Check out the video below, which oddly features Will and a sex doll named Carla.

Morrissey – ‘World Peace Is None Of Your Business’

Morrissey’s lyrical outlook on life was always bleak, and it seems that in becoming a grumpy old man his controversial and somewhat saddening style has only been encouraged. Exclaiming the lines “World peace is none of your business / So would you kindly keep your nose out / The rich must profit and get richer / And the poor must stay poor”, it’s clear that Morrissey has a bee in his bonnet, but he executes his point in style. The track is well written, well produced, and the album of the same name is receiving consistently good reviews. World Peace Is None Of Your Business is out now.

Lowlakes – ‘Now, She Said’

Australian post-rock outfit Lowlakes are currently spending time writing for their new album in the Austrian Alps, as well as playing a handful of European tour dates this summer. ‘Now, She Said’ is a highly atmospheric piece, heavy on the reverb to create a dense background to a lamenting and unique vocal performance that compliments only too well. It’s certainly fitting of the alpine surrounds that are inspiring the band currently, and the track shows great potential for their debut album Iceberg Nerves, which is released on September 1.

 

Hidden track of the week: Radiohead – ‘Seperator

Have you heard the news? Radiohead are getting together in September to begin rehearsals for a potential new album after an extended break that has seen the emergence of Thom Yorke’s Atoms For Peace, Jonny Greenwood’s orchestral works and a second solo album from Phil Selway. To celebrate this news, here’s a taste of what I’ve been listening to this week, the final track from 2011’s The King of Limbs.

You can follow Tom on twitter @tom_fake

Read more...

Album Review: Morrissey - Years Of Refusal

  • Published in Albums

Ah, Morrissey. You and I have never really got on, have we? Well, that I mean I've never really been a fan. One thing it's impossible to deny though, Stephen Patrick Morrissey is most certainly an interesting character. The man a certain music publication once described as the "most influential artist of all time" has inspired more bands and vegetarians than you could shake a lettuce leaf at. This, his ninth solo album, has been described by the man himself as his strongest work to date, a big claim, when you consider the large back catalogue he possesses.

It's fitting then, that album number nine, titled Years of Refusal should be the album in which I realise how wrong I've been. It kicks off with pace in the upbeat 'Something Is Squeezing My Skull.' First single 'I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris' may come across as optimistic and full of joy, but beneath that melody, lies a dark, unloved heart. Here Morrissey claims he can only find love in the stone and steel of Paris. As throughout the album, and his career, the imagery in the lyrics is dark, gloomy but always striking.

Fans may well recognise 'That's How People Grow Up' as the lead single from 2008's Greatest Hits collection. The decision to include this track, as well as 'All You Need Is Me', which also featured, could easily have come across as lazy, but luckily it still sounds as fresh, and as strong as it did the first time round.

The album highlight is also its bleakest moment, but since it is Morrissey that comes as no real surprise. The stunning 'It's Not Your Birthday Anymore' is an angry, yet beautiful ballad. The power in his voice throughout the song's chorus, combined with the gentle, loving delivery of the lines "all the gifts that they gave can't compare in anyway/to the love I am now giving to you/ right here right now on the floor" make it genuinely difficult not to feel moved. The track is an instant classic, and can stand proudly alongside anything from his previous releases.

Nearly thirty years after the formation of The Smiths, Morrissey still remains one of the most prolific and exciting musicians the country has to offer, just as long as he stays miserable. I'm only sorry it has taken me so long to discover that. Heaven knows I'll be miserable soon.

Read more...
Subscribe to this RSS feed