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Radiohead - In Rainbows
Whatever your position
on the merits of Radiohead's decision to
release their new album In Rainbows in the
manner that they have done, one thing nobody
can deny is that it was a stroke of marketing
genius. With all the fuss about downloads
and box-sets, they have achieved something
that most PR firms would have struggled
to do. They have made 'a new Radiohead album'
a real event again. Ten years ago, OK Computer
established them as one of the biggest names
on the planet, and when they followed it
up, there was a lot of expectation, but
the radio-unfriendliness of Kid A meant
that the only interest from the general
media when Amnesiac and Hail To The Thief
came out was in finding whether they were
still arsing about or whether they had decided
to go back to making real music. Once it
was discovered that they hadn't stopped
arsing around and hadn't decided to take
on Coldplay at their own game, interest
died off. By now, only the most die-hard
fans would be getting worked up about In
Rainbows, but instead it's been splashed
all over the papers and TV news, thus ensuring
that Radiohead have been restored in their
position as one of the most important bands
in the country. But does the music justify
that? Yes, it does actually. Hail To The
Thief was a messy record that went on too
long and had few moments of interest, and
the idea of an album recorded without any
interference from record companies suggested
that they could disappear up their own pretensions
and create something that made HTTT sound
like easy listening music. Thankfully, while
In Rainbows is hardly as bright and colourful
as the name suggests, and certainly isn't
as accessible as The Bends or OK Computer,
it's probably their best and most consistent
album in the last decade. From the jerky
electronic rhythms of opener 15 Step, it's
clear that Radiohead are now a world away
from the mainstream rock of their commercial
heyday, but this album sees them seemingly
feeling a bit more comfortable about making
music that wouldn't send small children
running screaming from the room. For a start,
there is a lot of orchestration on In Rainbows,
which softens the sound a lot and makes
songs like Reckoner and Nude (two of the
real highlights) very lush and, well, beautiful.
Even more sparse tracks like House Of Cards
are impressive, with its hypnotic but understated
guitar picking and equally subtle effects
swirling around Thom Yorke's half-whispered
vocals. The key phrase for In Rainbows is
definitely 'subtle and understated', as
very few of the songs ever really burst
into life in the way Radiohead used to do,
and only Bodysnatchers really breaks that
trend, but each and every song on here is
memorable in its own way, something that
couldn't be said for Kid A, Amnesiac or
Hail To The Thief (a run of albums that
started ok, but declined with each new release).
Of course, the die-hard fans have been analysing
almost all of these songs on YouTube clips
and will have comparisons to make, with
closer Videotape having already come under
some scrutiny on forums, but the general
consensus has been positive. In Rainbows
is still hardly music for the masses, but
it is a sign that Radiohead are still capable
of producing something that is very listenable
without compromising their artistic integrity,
and that is why it is a triumph not only
in marketing, but also in terms of reestablishing
themselves as one of the best bands in the
world.
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Sugababes - Change
Seven years ago, three
little girls made one of the best pop debuts
of all time with the slick, cool and soulful
single Overload. Those girls have grown
up now, and two of them have departed, but
the brand continues with the suitably-named
Change. A lot has happened in those years
in between, and with Keisha Buchanan now
the only founder member left, you have to
ask if the Sugababes really are still the
same band that wowed us all with that excellent
and old-beyond-its-years debut album One
Touch. Certainly as the line-up has changed,
some of that early R'n'B has been replaced
by more and more pop influences, perhaps
unsurprisingly as the original sound did
better with critics than it did with the
public, leading to them being dropped by
their record label, incredible as that seems
as the singles had all done pretty well.
Siobhan and Mutya had always seemed like
the ones who gave the band its edginess,
and with the publicity photos for Change
all seemed very clean and airbrushed, does
this mean that they have made the final
slide towards being 'just another girl group'?
After all, the decidedly more 'pop' and
arguably - depending on which set of statistics
you believed when both bands released their
greatest hits last year - more successful
Girls Aloud have never pretended to be anything
but cheesy and safe. Sugababes have hardly
been cutting edge for quite a while, but
they have always been the slightly moody
and grown-up alternative to Cheryl Cole
and Co. Fortunately, Change doesn't change
that, despite song titles like 3 Spoons
Of Suga (sigh) and of course, the writing
and production skills of an entire army.
The likes of Xenomania and Dallas Austin
are involved again, with the former working
on the excellent Never Gonna Dance Again
and My Love Is Pink, two of the best tracks,
while the latter is restricted to the soppy
ballad Back When. One notable change here
is that there do seem to be less of these
'inspirational ballads' (Stronger, Ugly,
etc) than on the last couple of albums,
which could be an effect of Mutya's departure,
as most of those seemed to be her doing.
Her replacement Amelle is apparently very
fond of the quirky Backdown, with its strange
mix of reggae and Amy Winehouse-esque ragged
soul music, so maybe she will be able to
push her own identity within the group.
However, there is no doubt that the top
dog here is definitely Keisha, and parallels
have been made between her 'new look' on
the front cover and that of Diana Ross in
The Supremes. Her vocals dominate quite
a lot of Change, which is probably a deliberate
way to link it to all of their back catalogue,
while Heidi Range and Amelle are definitely
supporting players, but still more than
just 'the other two'. Quite how long this
current line-up will last is open to speculation,
and there's plenty of that already, but
Change is a pretty good album and certainly
a step up from the rather tepid and messy
Taller In More Ways. In a year when both
Siobhan and Mutya have released solo albums,
there was bound to be pressure on Keisha
to deliver an album that proves that the
brand lives on, and while Change isn't as
consistent as it should be and is maybe
lacking in killer tracks, there's no sign
that the Sugababes are running out of steam.
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Aled Jones - Reason To Believe
25 years ago, Aled Jones became famous as the boy who sang Walking In The Air in The Snowman. Except he didn't, he along sang it when it was released as a single, becoming famous while the kid who actually did sing it in The Snowman (Peter Auty), well he didn't become famous. Of course, every little cherub has to grow up and Aled Jones has done remarkably well as a grown-up, releasing four albums of very safe classical music and hosting Songs Of Praise to further cement his place as a slightly younger, even less controversial version of Cliff Richard. Appearing on Strictly Come Dancing and co-hosting the Radio 1 breakfast show with Chris Moyles helped him cross over to a slightly less churchy audience, and he is clearly hoping to complete that move with Reason To Believe. He's ditched the hymns mostly and replaced them with songs by the likes of Leonard Cohen, Van Morrison, Cat Stevens and Sarah McLachlan. It's hardly a massive step, as most of the songs still fit in with his overall positive and slightly religious theme, not least tracks like Angel and Hallelujah, regardless of what the originals were actually about. The latter in particular is particularly disappointing, being neither a decent over of the Cohen original nor the more latterly famous Jeff Buckley version. The way Jones delivers it is far too mannered and he doesn't so much sing the lines as politely suggest them, as well as making it sound far too much like a hymn. Mind you, that's still better than his attempt at the Drifters' tune Some Kind Of Wonderful, where he gets fellow Welsh star Cerys Matthews to join in on joyless rendition of it. The main problem with this album and all of these songs is that Jones doesn't actually have a great voice for them, and doesn't quite seem to know what to do with any of them. He hasn't stepped very far out of his comfort zone, but it's far enough for it to not work for anyone other than his fanbase, who will lap it up, but if he wants to expand that, this isn't likely to do it.
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Eric Clapton
- Complete Clapton
Having
released his autobiography earlier
this year it's a pretty good
time for Eric Clapton to bring
out a new and definitive collection
of his music. Sure, there have
been plenty of compilations
out before this, but none have
been quite as all encompassing
as this one, which goes back
to the stuff he did with Cream
and Blind Faith, as well as
including Layla and other Derek
and The Dominoes material. Of
course, there's also music from
his solo career. Of course,
Disc One is by far the best
of the two CDs here, as you'd
expect from a chronological
collection, and as well as the
music from his various bands,
it's got the best from his solo
career, with stuff like Cocaine,
I Shot The Sheriff, Knockin'
On Heaven's Door and Wonderful
Tonight. Disc Two is slightly
more patchy, with a lot less
familiar tracks coming from
his later albums, but of course
Tears In Heaven and the unplugged
version of Layla are obviously
highlights, while the prescence
of blues legend BB King on Riding
With The King is more than welcome.
Slowhand might not have had
a consistently great career,
but his guitar-playing obviously
shines through some of the more
mediocre material, and there's
more than enough classic stuff
on here to make it essential
for any music collection.
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Rock S'Cool
Rock S'Cool. Rock School. Rock's Cool. Get it? It's hardly a subtle pun, but then again the 'nun spanking sexy schoolgirl' front cover isn't either, but that's the point really. Rock music isn't about subtlety, and SPV, being a German record company devoted to heavy metal are hardly likely to deal with anything as dull as that. Being more of a promo for their bands than one of those rock compilations that get advertised on TV means that Rock S'Cool has both its strengths and weaknesses, sometimes at the same time. Of course, you can't expect to hear too many familiar songs from big names, and those that are here are represented by live versions rather the more famous studio counterparts, often recorded by line-ups far from the 'classic' ones, but the unfamiliarity of most of the material here is a bonus because who needs to listen to Bat Out Of Hell or Since You've Been Gone again? Neatly fitting into the school theme, the album is split up into 'lessons' for each section, starting off with Hard Rock, where Whitesnake, Heaven And Hell (the current touring incarnation of the Dio-era Black Sabbbath), UFO, Axel Rudi Pell and Doro (a trademark German blonde rock goddess) more than live up to that tag with a load of really good tunes, particularly the less well-known acts, with the others obviously contributing live tracks. The Heavy Metal section has Judas-Priest-but-not-the-classic-Judas-Priest, and the very rocking Need For Speed by Saxon in the 'bands you've heard of' category and impressive cuts from Metal Church, Beyond Fear and Messiah Kiss in the 'bands you wish you'd heard of' category. But my personal favourite lesson comes with Power Metal, and great, seriously OTT songs by Iced Earth, Demons And Wizards, Kamelot, Freedom's Call and Helloween. Very silly, all of them, but also a lot of fun. Unfortunately things go a bit awry on Disc Two, with lessons on Thrash Metal and Hardcore providing a load of mostly unlistenable material by the likes of Sodom, Biohazard and Type O Negative, while the Alternative lesson is better, but also a bit too straight-faced and dull compared to what had gone before. Finishing off with Finals, which is just a live version of Ace Of Spades means that the school day ends well, but it would have been nice if it hadn't dragged so much after lunch.
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Archive
- Live At The Zenith
Archive
have been around
for a long time
(13 years to be
exact), but have
never managed to
even get near to
the mainstream,
or the sub-mainstream.
Having started out
as a trip-hop act
from London, formed
by Darius Keeler
and Danny Griffiths,
they have gradually
turned into more
of a prog-rock band,
strongly influenced
by the likes of
Mogwai and The Secret
Machines. Their
last album Lights
was certainly their
best so far, and
the subsequent tour
also went down very
well. So much so
that this live album,
recorded in Paris,
has come out, and
not many bands as
little-known or
appreciated as Archive
have managed to
last this long and
still be able to
release a live album.
Listening to Live
At The Zenith, their
resilience has certainly
be worth it, with
the title track
from Lights opening
things up really
well with its hypnotic
keyboard riffs and
softly-softly build-up
that means that
it takes over nine
minutes to get to
the song itself.
The band Archive
resemble most on
this album has to
be My Morning Jacket,
with Live At The
Zenith so similar
in structure and
quality to their
Okonokos live album,
released last year.
The vocals, particularly
on the newer tracks
have that kind of
ethereal shimmer
to them, and the
songs are just as
understated and
impressive, even
slightly older and
less subtle ones
like Fuck U (which
is about as subtle
as the title suggests).
With two songs going
over the 15 minute
mark, Live At The
Zenith could have
been a bit overlong,
but it's such a
great performance
that it never gets
dull and leaves
you wondering just
how Archive aren't
one of the biggest
bands on the planet...
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Kennedy - Kennedy For President
Has there ever been someone as simultaneously entertaining, impressive, irritating and pointless as Kennedy? Having apparently (according to himself at least, though we're not sure we even believe that his name is Kennedy) been kicked out of Silversun Pickups for setting fire to Brian Aubert's sweater, he formed an indie rock trio in his name and released some stuff with them, but now is on his own and making seemingly whatever music he feels like at any particular time. Kennedy For President comes out off the back of the success online of the video for trancey electro-pop song Who's Lovin' Your Mama. It pretty much sums up his appeal, with the very studenty 'humourous' lyrics mixing with the music, which is actually pretty decent. Unfortunately, he seems to have the attention span of a four-year-old and the album flies through the genres with gay abandon, from swampy country-rock on Hillbilly Witchcraft to disco funk on Mama Made Me A Pimp. His lyrics and vocals are an acquired taste, and quite a lot of the tracks are just far too irritating to be enjoyable, but he's capable of some good dance music, if only he'd shut up long enough for anyone to enjoy it. Kennedy For President? Well, if Bush can manage it, anyone can, but there's no evidence here that anyone would put up with this guy in charge of anything more than a beer keg at a party, and you'd have to be pretty drunk to get more than five minutes' entertainment out of this.
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Augie
March
- Moo
You
Bloody
Choir
Moo
You
Bloody
Choir?
Could
Augie
March
have
come
up with
a more
nonsensical
album
title?
Moo?
Anyway,
thankfully
the
music
contained
within
more
than
makes
up for
it,
with
the
Aussies'
third
album
definitely
worth
the
long
wait
that
we have
had
for
it since
it was
put
together
and
originally
due
to be
released
way
back
in 2005.
It eventually
came
out
at home
in March
2006,
but
a UK
release
has
only
just
arrived,
though
nowadays
there's
plenty
of ways
for
die-hard
fans
to get
hold
of something
that
hasn't
come
out
in their
country
yet.
Not
that
Augie
March
can
really
be said
to have
that
many
die-hard
fans
over
here,
but
they
should
have,
on the
basis
of this
album.
Tracks
like
One
Crowded
Hour
and
Just
Passing
Through
display
their
talents
for
both
slow-burning
folky
tunes
and
more
up-tempo
indie
pop,
but
the
clear
highlight
is the
divine
The
Cold
Acre
with
its
excellent
production
and
memorable
refrain.
If there
is a
complaint
to be
made
about
this
album,
it's
that
it does
drag
a bit
towards
the
end,
and
it's
a shame
that
Augie
March
(they
are
a band,
not
a person,
the
name
is taken
from
a Saul
Bellow
story)
couldn't
edit
it down
a bit.
They
could
have
also
picked
a more
suitable
name,
because
Moo
You
Bloody
Choir
doesn't
reflect
the
kind
of music
contained
within
at all,
but
that's
Aussies
for
you,
eh?
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