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| Track list: 1. Phoenix 2. Carnies 3. April Grove 4. Something to Say 5. Baby Blue 6. Shangri La 7. Snowman 8. Da Da Da Da 9. Valentine 10. Poison 11. Razor Tongue 12. Yesterday Running time: 39 minutes Released: 2008 |
I am not entirely sure what to expect from this. I have a feeling that I never really listened to it a lot, and yet I can very clearly and vividly hear two of the tracks in my mind simply by looking at the titles here. I suspect it might be a bit of a roller-coaster, with highs and lows. Should keep the listen rolling forward at least!
There is a tawdry (great word!) air to Phoenix as soon as it starts, granted by the soft edge to the keys. The vocal is close and rounded and there is just enough rhythm to be interesting but it is the atmosphere that is the immediate take home, shifty and uncertain. The track is sparse, but never feels empty, which makes it an immediate step up from last night's listen. This isn't even one of those tracks I recalled by name.
It has been a very long week, mind trapped at 100 miles an hour between work and arranging a remortgage. Friday night is welcome but not for socialising. In truth I am doing this now (9.15pm) to stop myself collapsing into bed and waking irrevocably at 2am.
Carnies picks up the thematic baton and runs with it - the music fits the title and lyrics perfectly... a sort of irregular-feeling pulse and bustle that could easily be imagined in a sideshow full of onlookers, game stands, street food etc. Topley-Bird's voice still carries the drawlish elements I remember - some sounds seeming to last an eternity or get smudged together, but others are clipped or skipped. There is a rockier feel to April Grove, a groove out of some staid rock, but made funky again by the timbre - very clear and clean - which contrasts with the other elements, noticeably the vocal which has an echo-ish volume to it. I seem to dimly remember liking this album originally, but not this much. It feels fresh somehow, though I cannot see why.
That said, we hit a track I don't like. Weirdly my point of reference for Something to Say is Arab Strap, and the bonus waffle of "Bon Voyage" on the end of Ten Years of Tears - its something to do with the staccato, deliberately cheap sounding low-fi sounds. The song never really takes off and the addition of a grungy guitar later may help but it cannot rescue it. Thankfully it finishes and the delightful Baby Blue replaces it. The vocal here is just so pleasant, like water running out of one's ear. The percussion - which I think could stand to be a little softer - and the tune are just enough to set off the song, which is not profound or anything, but it is one of the finest singing performances I can name off the top of my head in terms of sheer pleasure.
What follows is an odd minute plus instrumental intro. It has glimmers of interest, but its just a bit much, and that feeling is compounded when the vocal finally arrives, hammering the ear with an insistence that I find unpleasant. There are crackles and static in the construction, and the constant snapping sounds, combined with repeating chords, is not nice - completely overshadowing what was an interesting little melody in the quieter moments. The next track also has a long wandering intro, more musical this time and, surprisingly I find the track weakened by the vocal on an album by a singer with no regular band to back them, that's not a great thing to say. To be fair, there are other items arriving with the vocal that make Snowman less appealing, and when it fades out... just no. Da Da Da Da is the full vocal of the next track. I applaud the idea to use the voice as an instrument, but this track - and the particular syllables chosen - are just not strong enough for it to be interesting or desirable in this instance. Again elements of the piece are nice but they are subservient to the dross.
Valentine returns to a more classic song structure and the hazy effect applied to her voice on a fair few of these tracks. It lends the song an old-timey kind of air, I can picture it sung to a gothic ballroom with one of those metal stand-mics with a big corporate logo branded across it and an extravagant dress with never-ending train. For my tastes it is a little light on interest, but I reckon it probably nails exactly what it was shooting for. I am also suddenly reminded of the aesthetic of Transistor (soundtrack listen to come eventually), which is awesome - elegiac and modern rather than olde worlde (with pronounced e). The foggy picture of the past is gone as suddenly as it appeared. Poison is much more bustle, but no strut. It could probably have done with some of the latter.
Last couple already... it has been a while since I did so many short listens back to back and in doing so it gives the impression of progress. Alas still a shedload of Bs to get through, though there are some crackers still to come under this letter. The initial shine created by the opening trio of tunes has faded, dulled, but not gone entirely. A handful of poor numbers don't detract from the high points too much. There is perhaps a little bit too much experimentation in the production, the more lavish, rounded numbers are better for my ear than those that play about with sharper sounds. I will end up with about half an album, but it is a pretty darn good half album retained and speaks to a "what might have been" really; this could have been a stunner.
There is a tawdry (great word!) air to Phoenix as soon as it starts, granted by the soft edge to the keys. The vocal is close and rounded and there is just enough rhythm to be interesting but it is the atmosphere that is the immediate take home, shifty and uncertain. The track is sparse, but never feels empty, which makes it an immediate step up from last night's listen. This isn't even one of those tracks I recalled by name.
It has been a very long week, mind trapped at 100 miles an hour between work and arranging a remortgage. Friday night is welcome but not for socialising. In truth I am doing this now (9.15pm) to stop myself collapsing into bed and waking irrevocably at 2am.
Carnies picks up the thematic baton and runs with it - the music fits the title and lyrics perfectly... a sort of irregular-feeling pulse and bustle that could easily be imagined in a sideshow full of onlookers, game stands, street food etc. Topley-Bird's voice still carries the drawlish elements I remember - some sounds seeming to last an eternity or get smudged together, but others are clipped or skipped. There is a rockier feel to April Grove, a groove out of some staid rock, but made funky again by the timbre - very clear and clean - which contrasts with the other elements, noticeably the vocal which has an echo-ish volume to it. I seem to dimly remember liking this album originally, but not this much. It feels fresh somehow, though I cannot see why.
That said, we hit a track I don't like. Weirdly my point of reference for Something to Say is Arab Strap, and the bonus waffle of "Bon Voyage" on the end of Ten Years of Tears - its something to do with the staccato, deliberately cheap sounding low-fi sounds. The song never really takes off and the addition of a grungy guitar later may help but it cannot rescue it. Thankfully it finishes and the delightful Baby Blue replaces it. The vocal here is just so pleasant, like water running out of one's ear. The percussion - which I think could stand to be a little softer - and the tune are just enough to set off the song, which is not profound or anything, but it is one of the finest singing performances I can name off the top of my head in terms of sheer pleasure.
What follows is an odd minute plus instrumental intro. It has glimmers of interest, but its just a bit much, and that feeling is compounded when the vocal finally arrives, hammering the ear with an insistence that I find unpleasant. There are crackles and static in the construction, and the constant snapping sounds, combined with repeating chords, is not nice - completely overshadowing what was an interesting little melody in the quieter moments. The next track also has a long wandering intro, more musical this time and, surprisingly I find the track weakened by the vocal on an album by a singer with no regular band to back them, that's not a great thing to say. To be fair, there are other items arriving with the vocal that make Snowman less appealing, and when it fades out... just no. Da Da Da Da is the full vocal of the next track. I applaud the idea to use the voice as an instrument, but this track - and the particular syllables chosen - are just not strong enough for it to be interesting or desirable in this instance. Again elements of the piece are nice but they are subservient to the dross.
Valentine returns to a more classic song structure and the hazy effect applied to her voice on a fair few of these tracks. It lends the song an old-timey kind of air, I can picture it sung to a gothic ballroom with one of those metal stand-mics with a big corporate logo branded across it and an extravagant dress with never-ending train. For my tastes it is a little light on interest, but I reckon it probably nails exactly what it was shooting for. I am also suddenly reminded of the aesthetic of Transistor (soundtrack listen to come eventually), which is awesome - elegiac and modern rather than olde worlde (with pronounced e). The foggy picture of the past is gone as suddenly as it appeared. Poison is much more bustle, but no strut. It could probably have done with some of the latter.
Last couple already... it has been a while since I did so many short listens back to back and in doing so it gives the impression of progress. Alas still a shedload of Bs to get through, though there are some crackers still to come under this letter. The initial shine created by the opening trio of tunes has faded, dulled, but not gone entirely. A handful of poor numbers don't detract from the high points too much. There is perhaps a little bit too much experimentation in the production, the more lavish, rounded numbers are better for my ear than those that play about with sharper sounds. I will end up with about half an album, but it is a pretty darn good half album retained and speaks to a "what might have been" really; this could have been a stunner.
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