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| Track List: 1. The Twilight Sad - And She Would Darken the Memory 2. Monkey Swallows the Universe - Little Polveir 3. The Broken Family Band - Love Your Man, Love Your Woman 4. Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton - Our Hell 5. Malcolm Middleton - A Brighter Beat 6. Pop Levi - Sugar Assault Me Now 7. Frightened Rabbit - Be Less Rude 8. Grand Drive - Talking in Your Sleep 9. Mother & the Addicts - Watch the Lines 10. Sister Vanilla - Can't Stop the Rock 11. Poppy & the Jezebels - Electro Bitch 12. Dinosaur Jr. - Been There All the Time Running time: 47 minutes Released: 2007 |
So this is an odd little collection of stuff I know well and have on albums, stuff by bands I recognise but never got into, and stuff that means absolutely nothing to me at all.
It has a degree of diversity about it, as Monkey Swallows the Universe, Grand Drive and Malcolm Middleton are not necessarily the easiest of bedfellows, but there is enough there that I can guess at the general tone. This may well be a case where I end up deleting the stuff I like because I have it elsewhere. I would not be surprised if this whole album goes as a result.
I have seen The Twilight Sad live, supporting Mogwai; I was not impressed. Their effort here is lacklustre; bland and one-note musically. I cannot get enthused, and as it drones on towards the 6 minute mark I would rather poke myself in the eye than listen again. The tone changes completely with the switch to Monkey Swallows the Universe who peddled twee indiepop. I have The Casket Letters from which Little Polveir is taken so I do not need a second version, but I do like this breezy number. There is something lazily accessible about it.
The same cannot be said for Love Your Man, Love Your Woman; dull is the word, plodding works too. One tempo chord striking does not make for a great tune and generally it does not hurt groups if their vocalist can sing. This was one of the songs I had no idea about before tonight; it is so gone! Another such follows. Our Hell is much more interesting though, I like the singing voice and the music is light, not guitar driven and... OK, its pretty bland, but its bland in a pretty way. I guess the whole album is not for the chop, then.
I feel confident in saying that A Brighter Beat is the best song in this collection even before I hear it all. It is one of my favourite Malcolm Middleton tracks - catchy, tight, more intricate than you think at first, laced with his trademark self-deprecation and with more than a slight echo of depression. The delivery is at odds with that illness, but the message rings true. Seeing this played live by one man with an acoustic is pretty ace, picking hook and melody together. I do not need the recorded version twice over though.
The Pop Levi track washes past, unremarkable in its nothingness, before Frightened Rabbit pop up. They are a name I have been aware of without ever really listening to. I bought an album in the last couple of years, but it got lost in the library and familiarity is low. I find that although this tune is pretty generic Scottish guitar pop I am nodding my head along with it. I like the vocal, and the tempo is high enough that I can stomach the overdone guitar twanging. Nothing special, but it is nice enough. Actually, that is probably a fair description of Talking in Your Sleep too; I like Grand Drive a lot, but in all honesty this is not one of their more interesting tunes and again, the second copy is superfluous.
Bland and generic are interesting words when it comes to music. They carry obvious negative connotations but there is definitely a market for bland application of styles - very few people want to be switched on all the time - and generic/formulaic means that you can settle in and enjoy repeating patterns and familiar forms, so I am not using either as wholly pejorative.
Watch the Lines is interesting, a little bit of a sonic mess. It is never particularly tuneful or well sung and does not have anything particularly stand out, with repetitive baselines and higher notes, but it works. I would not want to listen to it too often, but it hangs together greater than the sum of its parts. I cannot say the same for Sister Vanilla's track, which just rubs me up the wrong way, its harmonies and melodies both found lacking. There is something quirky about Electro Bitch - which it turns out is probably down to the age of the artists (16 at the time of recording); school girl electro-pop. Not interesting enough to keep, but not something I am sorry to have heard.
I do not have a physical copy of this album; I buy a few download albums here and there, even if I still get the vast majority of my music in hardcopy. The preference for CD is partly collector instinct and partly the fact I listen to more in the car than at home, and if I like an album I will want it on my commute. The digital-only ownership is relevant because once I delete, this material is gone; I probably won't get it back from anywhere because I do not remember where I bought it from. Still, that will not stop me cutting: I wont even notice that which is gone.
Dinosaur Jr. close the album. Too much indulgence in the guitar for my tastes, another one for the scrap heap. So only three tracks to keep; slimming!
I have seen The Twilight Sad live, supporting Mogwai; I was not impressed. Their effort here is lacklustre; bland and one-note musically. I cannot get enthused, and as it drones on towards the 6 minute mark I would rather poke myself in the eye than listen again. The tone changes completely with the switch to Monkey Swallows the Universe who peddled twee indiepop. I have The Casket Letters from which Little Polveir is taken so I do not need a second version, but I do like this breezy number. There is something lazily accessible about it.
The same cannot be said for Love Your Man, Love Your Woman; dull is the word, plodding works too. One tempo chord striking does not make for a great tune and generally it does not hurt groups if their vocalist can sing. This was one of the songs I had no idea about before tonight; it is so gone! Another such follows. Our Hell is much more interesting though, I like the singing voice and the music is light, not guitar driven and... OK, its pretty bland, but its bland in a pretty way. I guess the whole album is not for the chop, then.
I feel confident in saying that A Brighter Beat is the best song in this collection even before I hear it all. It is one of my favourite Malcolm Middleton tracks - catchy, tight, more intricate than you think at first, laced with his trademark self-deprecation and with more than a slight echo of depression. The delivery is at odds with that illness, but the message rings true. Seeing this played live by one man with an acoustic is pretty ace, picking hook and melody together. I do not need the recorded version twice over though.
The Pop Levi track washes past, unremarkable in its nothingness, before Frightened Rabbit pop up. They are a name I have been aware of without ever really listening to. I bought an album in the last couple of years, but it got lost in the library and familiarity is low. I find that although this tune is pretty generic Scottish guitar pop I am nodding my head along with it. I like the vocal, and the tempo is high enough that I can stomach the overdone guitar twanging. Nothing special, but it is nice enough. Actually, that is probably a fair description of Talking in Your Sleep too; I like Grand Drive a lot, but in all honesty this is not one of their more interesting tunes and again, the second copy is superfluous.
Bland and generic are interesting words when it comes to music. They carry obvious negative connotations but there is definitely a market for bland application of styles - very few people want to be switched on all the time - and generic/formulaic means that you can settle in and enjoy repeating patterns and familiar forms, so I am not using either as wholly pejorative.
Watch the Lines is interesting, a little bit of a sonic mess. It is never particularly tuneful or well sung and does not have anything particularly stand out, with repetitive baselines and higher notes, but it works. I would not want to listen to it too often, but it hangs together greater than the sum of its parts. I cannot say the same for Sister Vanilla's track, which just rubs me up the wrong way, its harmonies and melodies both found lacking. There is something quirky about Electro Bitch - which it turns out is probably down to the age of the artists (16 at the time of recording); school girl electro-pop. Not interesting enough to keep, but not something I am sorry to have heard.
I do not have a physical copy of this album; I buy a few download albums here and there, even if I still get the vast majority of my music in hardcopy. The preference for CD is partly collector instinct and partly the fact I listen to more in the car than at home, and if I like an album I will want it on my commute. The digital-only ownership is relevant because once I delete, this material is gone; I probably won't get it back from anywhere because I do not remember where I bought it from. Still, that will not stop me cutting: I wont even notice that which is gone.
Dinosaur Jr. close the album. Too much indulgence in the guitar for my tastes, another one for the scrap heap. So only three tracks to keep; slimming!
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