The Collection - Runrig

Track list:

1. The Greatest Flame
2. Wonderful
3. Dance Called America (Live)
4. Skye (Live)
5. Only The Brave
6. Small Town
7. The Cutter
8. Pride Of The Summer
9. Harvest Moon (Live)
10. Alba (Live)
11. Meadhan Oldhche Air An Acairseid
12. Lighthouse

Running time: 57 minutes
Released: 2009

This was an ill-conceived purchase insofar as it was blind, and I don't think I've ever sat down and listened to it. I bought it at a time when I was picking up Celtic music, having just discovered and fallen in love with Julie Fowlis' songs. I cannot recall what drew me to this specific disc - not why Runrig, not why The Collection (which doesn't seem to be listed in their Wikipedia discography). This isn't meant as a pre-emptive strike against the album, so much as against my purchasing habits, and resulting lack of enthusiasm for a post.

I have it, so I'll hear it.

An odd artefact as I start, the first song came in at the 2 minute mark, in mid flow. After a reset, the same structure actually fires up from a base. It gives me an 80s chart rock vibe more than a folksy (or even folk-rock) one. Oh so forgettable, like it is going out of its way to be bland in order to not be actively disliked by anyone. It just is, there in the background, with no real appeal but no real repulsion. The voices aside, I would have pegged this as American radio fare, perhaps with even less edge. Not a strong start, then.

Wonderful has a bit more life to it, whilst still having the same overall sense of characterlessness - like a cheap knockoff U2. Two tracks in and I can honestly say that not only was this purchase blind, it was off target by several genres; yes, I am regretting it... I have better things to do with an hour of a day off, really I do. Having said that, I did catch myself involuntarily tapping my toe with the rhythm here.

It somewhat beggars belief for me that on the first of four live tracks on the album you can hear a throng of an audience singing along with gusto. Not because there is an audience for this, but because there is an enthusiastic audience for it. I can just about, if I squint, make out the appeal of inoffensive and characterless music. Pleasant enough sound to fill a hole in the background of a busy life and all that. What I find harder to pin down is what would get people excited, rather than, say, comfortable.

There is a brighter sound on Skye that actually in places makes me think more charitable and positive thoughts. Little intricacies in the guitar that remind me of indie-pop; that can be a bit Marmite, something that risks being disliked to deliver.

This has turned into both a blow-by-blow and a rag-fest. Neither of which is a positive direction for the post, so I will digress a bit for a moment. Last week was an odd one, finalising plans for some business travel, an unexpected request and some potentially exciting news on the job front. It was a bit of a whirlwind week all told, and it feels odd to go from that into a week's vacation, booked well before hand. I have a long list of tasks that I want to achieve in this time off - including posting some more here - and whilst I crossed through a number of them yesterday the problem with having that list is that it doesn't really feel like having a week off. The other side of that coin is that if I hadn't listed them out, I wouldn't get anything done and whilst I would end the week rested, I'd feel annoyed with myself for not being productive. #LifesLittleFrustrations or something.

In the meantime Runrig have got through one more number. These tracks average out at just under 5 minutes each, which feels too long to me. But then as we've established above, I am not really falling for this sound, and the extra runtime on each track simply hammers that home.

Here and there the Celtic roots are shown. I can't help but think if the balance between that and the generic rock sound was re-calibrated then these tunes would have more personality and more appeal. In places it feels like they are consciously mimicking traditional instruments and arrangements with their rock band tools. For me, I would much rather they just used those traditions straight up, but at least songs like Pride of Summer have more personality about them.

My chain of thought has pretty much come to a halt with regards to this disc; I cannot come up with interesting ways to rephrase and repeat the same points that stand between me and enjoyment of this music. I feel bad for that in a couple of ways. First, I am not so sure that Runrig really deserve the scorn. Their output here is not for me but it isn't tacky or crass or even bad, really. They sound earnest - particularly on the live tracks - but ultimately they are peddling a style that is a little too flat and open to all for me to get excited about. This isn't a case where I hate the sound, tone or direction so much that I could happily spew indictments and not feel bad about it. I just have to leave it as not my bag.

The penultimate track is Gaelic lyrics and theme crossed with the orient in terms of certain sounds in the arrangement. I cannot accuse this of not having some personality. I'm not a fan of the guitar work on the track, which becomes more prominent as it goes, but up to that point it has been by far the most interesting number on the disc. Not enough at this point to salvage anything but a nice note of difference and of positivity that was unexpected.

When it comes, the end is sudden. No long lead out here, just a final trill. I will not miss this.

Checkmate Savage - The Phantom Band

Track list:

1. The Howling
2. Burial Sounds
3. Folk Song Oblivion
4. Crocodile
5. Halfhound
6. Left Hand Wave
7. Island
8. Throwing Bones
9. The Whole Is on My Side

Running time: 54 minutes
Released: 2009

This album really struck a chord with me when I first heard it. I discovered it, I believe, through LastFM - probably a Scottish tag radio or something like that. The thing that stands out is the way it veers from dark and brooding to happy-clappy or jaunty. It's a little bit unique.

Opening track The Howling was my introduction, a six minute work, with a sort of growling threat in the snappy drums and growling, electronic bass. There is more light in the clear, accented vocal. When the lead guitars come in, that light gets happy and bright, even as the lyrics get darker. The song, with its talks o ghosts, and the album as a whole (Halfhound is strongly suggestive of Werewolves) have an undertone of urban fantasy about them. As that is one of my favourite gaming genres, its fair to say I rather like this. So much so I bought the t-shirt; I still have it, but rarely wear it any more - a bit tight and a little faded, it had the classic "vase or two faces?" image in pink on a black field. 

 

The pace of the track drops for the final choruses, this has a more nervous atmosphere to it, the stately pace finding room for the darker tones in the music to prey on worries. I prefer the "full speed" pieces though, and find this a little tacked on. We dive into Burial Sounds, which suprirses me by reminding me of the Bastion soundtrack, with stark beats and a twang that evokes the wild west in places. In a similar vein, it sounds a bit like it could be a Borderlands soundtrack piece. Spoken works muttered over the evocative bass, top end with that sway and reverberating quality to evoke exoticism. There is, again, a snap to the drums that I find works really well, and the almost choral nature to the low end vocals - oohs, or ohs between the drums, bass and twangy top end - is very atmospheric.

My favourite track on the album, by a mile, is Folk Song Oblivion - this has a growl to the bass in the verses, a chanting vocal, a very nice darkness to it. Then we hit the chorus and that all bleeds out to be replaced by a nice melody, a lighter vocal, and a happier tone. I have written of this before, of  how I appreciate the contrast, but I genuinely feel like this is my go-to example of how to do it (to please me). Sitting and listening to it now, the song feels like it is lacking something though - I think because the majority of my listening is done whilst driving I get by on overall theme and tone rather than specifics. Sitting still doing nothing but listening and typing out words based on what I hear, I find myself thinking that each phase of the song maybe lasts a little too long, or that the base patterns are actually a little dull in their construction. The overall effect is still great, but don't over-analyze it.

We are back to the soundtrack-like material again. Crocodile is instrumental, it has sounds that evoke crickets or cicadas to set the scene, and a driving combination of bass and drums to build upon it. Again we see the dark-light contrast, as the treble parts are very high against this thrumming backdrop, little lines of hope in the murk of the swampy sound built up by the structure. There is a nice progression to the melodies too, they start small and soft then grow into a bolder presence with greater clarity, more complexity and a stronger statement against the rigidity of the bottom end. It's a tune to get your feet tapping - it has one of those rhythms that you want to tap along to. When the driving climax appears and the bass structure changes, the tune takes off - like a camera zooming right out then panning over a forest scene, or following a break-through moment when it becomes clear everything is going to be alright. There is still a thrum in the bass at this point but it has been harnessed for the force of light. I almost forget the length of this tune, because it wraps me up so much.

This is a lazy Sunday morning, but I feel it is not really the ideal time for this album. The growl, the graphic violence of the lyrics for Halfhound... this is nighttime music. Darkness swirls around this track in particular, but there is a stridency to it, a firm, unwavering quality to some of the top end notes that give the impression of standing up to that beastliness. When I realised what the lyrics were for this tune, I guess I started looking for symbolism more in the rest of the album and noticed the running fantasy theme. It is gaming fodder, to the point that I would be quite surprised if the key creative elements of the band weren't roleplayers. The Howling has ghosts, Halfhound werewolves, Left Hand Wave references spectres... and on this listen I am finding little moments of triumph, like the soaring climax of Crocodile that fit the narrative beats of a game session. Of course, this could be me bringing my own biases to bear, but there is a layer of theme here that I haven't come across that much; I understand that is more common in some genres of Metal, but as much as I hate genre-typing, those have never really been my thing. Certainly I have found it rare in indie-rock like this (or perhaps more pertinently that I like).

Island drops the growling undertones, it goes stark - pleaful vocal and a lone lead guitar picking a loose melody. It feels more like a shipwreck than a bountiful paradise but it is a world away from what went before. There are Laika-like twangs to the strings - reminding me very much of the more Hawaiian themed tunes from Cosmopolis with respect to how out of place they sound given the origin of the band. Here it's more the context around this tune that makes it stand out, with Laika & the Cosmonauts its more of a clash of expectation (borne of lack of information on my part) against their Finnish nationality. For all that, I find this song very much the dullest of the songs on Checkmate Savage, exacerbated by its extraordinary length - almost 9 minutes. There is none of the grubby threatening drums, darkness-inspiring bass or sweet, sweet contrast here. There is little interest in the song content. There is not the tight, constrained by length, sharpness to offset the WTF feeling from the switch of tone. It feels less like a palette cleanser and more like an unwanted interlude.

Thankfully it is a single track problem. The energy comes back with Throwing Bones, and this definitely has more echoes of Laika and the Cosmonauts in the intro - less spangly, but similar energy. It also reminds me of the final track on The Good, The Bad & The Queen, with a subtle hint of a gradually building tempo, though I suspect that here it is more my mind being tricked, whilst in Albarn's masterful track it really is a picking up of pace. The similarities with that track end there, but it sets enough of a tone for this piece that even as it devolves into unwise use of nonsense vocals, the underlying structure retains the interest. I am fundamentally quite a lazy person; I love tracks like this that find a way to inject energy into my day and get me feeling like I want to be doing something.

The counterpoint to that is that when such tunes finish there is a danger that you feel enervated, drained and on a come down (with thanks to the lyrics of The Whole is On My Side). This last tune feels like an anticlimax with its slower pace and more gentle landscape. In some ways its a great thing for an outro to do - close things down in an ordered manner - but at least with the context of this morning, I would have rather ended on the high. Our closer is not a bad tune - I actually rather like the lazy rhythm it settles into around the 5 minute mark, with a drifting, loosely tethered top end and a regretful vocal, but the switch to this relaxed structure - especially with Throwing Bones snadwiched on the other side by the overlong and under-interesting Island - is a bit of a faux-pas to my mind. 

Overall though, I still really like this disc. Whilst this post became a bit too much of a blow-by-blow, I think that is actually a tribute to the group: each song provides something new or different to think about, and compelled me to pen something as a result. Even the shorter tunes had enough to support comparisons or ideas and enough interest to compel me to communicate that.

The Cage was Unlocked All Along - Zoey Van Goey

Track list:

1. The Best Treasure Stays Buried   
2. We Don't Have That Kind Of Bread   
3. Sweethearts In Disguise   
4. We All Hid In Basements   
5. Two White Ghosts   
6. Foxtrot Vandals   
7. My Persecution Complex   
8. Nae Wonder   
9. Cotton Covering   
10. City Is Exploding

Running time: 33 minutes
Released: 2009

This is a gem. Glasgow-based (but otherwise multi-national non-Scots) Zoey Van Goey are purveyors of a charming and fun indie-pop sound on this record. I think I owe LastFM a debt of thanks for bringing them to my attention. After loving this a lot, I was giddy when they released follow-up Propeller Versus Wings, but felt they couldn't re-bottle the lightning that made this so special. Lets hear why.

We open with a skittering, broken sort of sound that takes 20 seconds or so to resolve into an understated tune, and a wonderful vocal. The Best Treasure Stays Buried is a parting song, but one with the hope of reforming later. Its a story in a song, an after the event heist recount, a love song, a gorgeous little melody, a wellspring of hope. The chorus is... one of those my mind grabs onto sometimes as an embodiment of one of those things I miss out on as a perpetually single person. It's one of my favourite tunes, but I'm not sure its even my favourite on this album.

The tone shifts next, more uptempo but more kooky. Actually this whole album is kinda kitsch and geeky in terms of the imagery in the lyrics, I guess that's part of the appeal. It's not like the general subject of the songs is particularly different from most indie and pop, or indeed indie-pop, but the specifics of the implementation are a bit off-the-wall in places. It gives the album a unique selling point that, when married to the cute little compositions gives me a reason to keep coming back to it. Sweethearts in Disguise is another shift, a soft acoustic guitar leads this one. I particularly like the duet of the chorus. The female lead vocal is nice but when offset by an almost whisper-volume male underlay it really soars. I think I read somewhere that these songs were written long before the band got together or something, that the songwriter had years to work on them as a labour of love. If true, it shows; if not then some alchemy produced the same effect faster. Each song has a theme and focus, and a performance that embodies it. Musically it shifts the tone from track to track, whilst generally sticking in the light poppy genre.

We All Hid In Basements is a post-apocalyptic love song, sort of. The overall tone of the piece is fearful (of change, of lack of change, of technology, of the modern world), but the central message is a soppy love song about going through that with a loved one. The crescendo builds a nice more elaborate sound, set off by a really high pitched line singing through a wall of noisier low-end sound. It's a little post-rocky for a second; I really like that.

This is a short album, clocking in at just over half an hour for 10 tracks it means each one flies by and, given the tonal changes from song to song, that helps keep it really fresh. A bright, simple little guitar hook supports Two White Ghosts, a memory of TEFL (I guess) and finding solace in the arms of a fellow traveller. Its one of two weaker songs in the set, but it is still thoroughly listenable. Then we hit what has become my favourite ZvG song. Foxtrot Vandals is... well, what I imagine certain things I don't have to be like. It's a blitz of light, colour and overwhelming emotion wrapped up in a pacy, breathless song with an absolutely stunning little chorus:

and i just want to take you home again
so we can break the law
that keeps our feet down on the floorboards
nowhere to fall

 In context its stunning, out of context here it looks trite. Maybe its just me.

My Persecution Complex is another peppy-paced number, more of a lovers tiff in a tune. Its catchy little rhythm, lovely little vocal, emotional honesty and tempo roll together into a very enjoyable track. The bridge is a mournful little string tune, which has just enough loneliness to it to really suck me in, and whilst the lead out gets a little dull, the song's work is done. Then we get the oddest and least accessible tune on the disc. Nae Wonder is a slow piece, ethereal strings backing alternating female/male lines which are definitely sung, but at a stately, speech-like quality. It then samples an old Scottish voice talking. The music never really picks up that much and whilst the swirling, tinkling bell-like sounds are nice enough, the song feels out of place really.

Cotton Covering returns to the same kind of pace of Foxtrot Vandals and My Persecution Complex, but has yet another subtly different tone to it. It's definitely another lovers song, but this is a rolling force of personality. the energy to this is more controlled, forceful, directed than the pure outburst of FV or the regretful release of MPC. The vocal shares some of the breathlessness, as a lot is crammed into lines that aren't given that much space by the constantly rolling guitars. The only pause for breath is in the chorus, which echoes the regretful themes from other tracks on the record. It's a wonder, but Foxtrot Vandals overtook it as my favourite tune here a while back.

The final piece is a slower, lower one. This provides a nice book-ending effect. The album opens and closes with soft sounds, starts and ends with differently expressed views of (absent) loves. I've found this listen difficult; much as I love these tunes, the speed at which they ticked by did not leave me much time to think. Whilst this final track gives me that as it has a bit more space in it, I ponder on the little romantic inside of me which leads me to be charmed by songs such as these. There's no doubt that this album is one of quirky love songs; that shouldn't mean much to me, but it does.

A final note for the album cover: the picture above is only part of the sleeve, it folds out into a wonderful little cartoony scene. I found the full imagery charming, like the songs on the disc it tells its own quirky story. It is that ever-so-slightly bizarre charm that really sells this record. One of the best you've never heard.

Born Like This - DOOM

Track list:

1. Supervillain Intro
2. Gazzillion Ear
3. Ballskin
4. Yessir!
5. Absolutely
6. Rap Ambush
7. Lightworks
8. Batty Boyz
9. Angelz
10. Cellz
11. Still Dope
12. Microwave Mayo
13. More Rhymin'
14. That's That
15. Supervillainz
16. Bumpy's Message
17. Thank Yah

Running time: 40 minutes
Released: 2009

I have no inkling as to why I bought this. It's a complete left field inclusion. It may be that I stumbled over some other hip-hop around that time, found something I liked and looked for more of the same. Still, here it is, so listen I shall. 17 tracks in 40 minutes is quickfire stuff, so even if I don't get on with it (as I expect) it should fly by.

To be honest I have been putting this one off. I have had a few opportunities to listen but been turned away by what was up. Now, I feel guilty enough about my silent week to address it, and it will help cover up the god-awful noise from next door whilst I am at it.

The initial intro is utterly forgettable, then we get into it. I would never have put any "British" in the British-American tag (pilfered from Wikipedia, for what it's worth) on the basis of this track. The track is odd, Casio-tone in places, but I rather like the rhythm of the verse. I find myself enjoying it despite the concerns I had going in. Can't really comment on the lyrics as, like I have said before, I can't really follow someone else's words and write my own concurrently well enough. That said, I wasn't immediately presented with 101 troublesome elements, so call that a tick mark.

The next track slides by, unremarkable but similarly inoffensive, before Yessir! makes extensive use of the N word. Reclaimed or not, it stands out, and here there is plenty of language that makes me roll my eyes. It seems to lack the craft or charm of Gazzillion Ear too - no interest in the rhythm, the backing track means that the lyrics stand out more. That, or we're sensitive to the things we don't like and so it hit me here despite my typing.  There may be a little bit of an old and unwelcome idea in Absolutely, but the track is far more pleasant... however the overall tone seems to be sliding into a comic book evil. That is intentional, clearly. Functioning as intended. I don't much like the intent or the result though. I find the linking between tracks and the cutting between tones (like switching scene) to be a little abrupt, especially as each track is pretty short.

Content and concept aside, I rather like DOOM as an MC - insofar as his delivery is clear and there is a nice bassy tone to his voice. That said there is no excuse for the homophobic screed that is Batty Boyz; I feel dumber for having experienced it.

This contrast - between clear style and skill and incredibly questionable choice of subject and language - is something I really struggle with when it comes to hip hop. There are elements I really like, but almost inevitably they come along with problematic elements - misogyny, violence, homophobia, drugs in the content. It is impossible to escape, and impossible to stop them influencing the impression of tracks that don't exemplify those ideas. I find it much harder to separate art and artist when the problems are endemic within the form I guess. Yet a number of these tracks have had pretty decent composition, and I like the delivery for the most part. It is just the message that falls flat, but that flatness pollutes the entire output. That is particularly frustrating in a case like this where the elements are not as all pervasive as in some (and probably some I have to come).

I find myself without many words to share as the album winds down. My ears have not disliked much of it; there are bits and pieces here and there where the combination of music and words is not at all pleasant, but for the most part the construction of the album is very solid. However my mind won't let me enjoy any of it and I find myself not wanting to engage with it again, even those tracks that I thought were put together really well, with samples that sung in combination with the gruff vocals. Ah well.

Blue Lights on the Runway - Bell X1

Track list:

1. The Ribs of a Broken Umbrella
2. How Your Heart Is Wired
3. The Great Defector
4. Blow Ins
5. Amelia
6. A Better Band
7. Breastfed
8. Light Catches Your Face
9. One Stringed Harp
10. The Curtains Are Twitchin'

Running time: 54 minutes
Released: 2009

Random insert time. No - not another videogame post (though part of me wants to write something about Cities Skylines and how... I love the game by find myself happier to watch others play than play myself), but an album from a band that I cannot for the life of me recall why I picked it up. Apparently this was Bell X1's fourth album. I'd never heard of them or heard the other three, and haven't heard or looked for anything since. Something must have linked them to other artists I was enjoying back in early 2009, that's the only possible explanation. No idea what though, so this will be a discovery listen.

It starts with a pretty dull drum pattern and an odd synth tone. Breathy vocals over an Eighties-sounding backing is not really what I was expecting - I don't know what I did expect, but it wasn't this. It's the bad synths that give it a dated sound, and additional electronics appear as the song moves forwards, whilst staying very much the same. Then it goes all dramatic, introduces handclaps and a tinny piano. Hmm this is not really for me, though I do quite like the vocal, there's a charisma to it, a purpose that seems a bad fit with the cheesy backing and the oddball lyrics.

With the songs on average over 5 minutes in length this could end up feeling like a slog unless the output improves. How Your Heart is Wired is better. Whilst it has hints of 80s rock, it does a good job of communicating a sense of loneliness in the big city that I rather like. I have heard something similar to this recently but I can't place it... perhaps shades of Talking Heads, but that wouldn't be anything that I have listened to of late. In any case this is a much better song, until it sticks in a rut and I realise that I have actually been listening to A Better Band because like a doofus I forgot to switch off shuffle. Doh! The actual second track is a low key vocal over snappy synth-sounding drums and a self-indulgent guitar noodle in places. It has flashes of pleasantries and, yes - there is a distinct hint of David Byrne in the vocal to my (admittedly unfamiliar) ear - but it's not a step up really. I am left with the distinct impression that the group don't know how or when to close out their songs as much as anything else - there are great swathes of dead space in the latter half of the track that frankly add nothing to a recorded delivery. Live, such space might give room to work the crowd, allow highlights of individuals or so on, but on disc it just drags out the tune and causes me to lose what little interest I still had at the point the vocals disappeared.

Track 3 starts with sounds reminiscent of cartridge videogames, which if anything just strengthens the 80s rock feel. The 2009 date would put this at the early end of the 80s revival of recent times, I think, so if anything this release may have been ahead of the times as weird as that seems. That said, it is truly 80s - less homage or inspired by, more direct copy that could have come out of the decade itself and been sat on for 30 years. I have perhaps rather grown into the sound, as The Great Defector is a very enjoyable track - there's a life, a vibrancy, to the chorus that is pleasingly happy and twangy.  It is mid afternoon on a Monday. I have the day off because I was up too late last night, having seen Bellowhead in Aylesbury - 25 minutes one way from me, then driving a friend back to Witney, 25 miles the other way. Good gig as ever - consolation prize for not having been quick enough (inside a couple of minutes) to get tickets for the farewell gig at Oxford Town Hall.  I am feeling lethargic today, most of what I needed to do over the weekend completed on the actual weekend, and somehow lying in this morning left me empty and lacking energy. A bit like Blow Ins, which is never unpleasant and actually has a nice piano melody, but is so bland that even amongst longer tracks its 4 and an half minutes seem to last an eternity.

I rather like the staccato construction of Amelia's main theme and the cadence of the verse but it is rather too sparse for me to want just shy of 7 minutes of it. I am really hoping that there is a change up somewhere in here to make it worthy of the length, but I won't hold my breath. It's a shame because the duration aside I like pretty much everything else about the track - the vocal is good and engaging (consistently the best part of Bell X1's repertoire on the evidence of half a disc), the backing that swells and falls away behind the main theme is sparkles in a night sky pretty, and appropriate. But the song is done at about 4 and a half minutes. Why do we need 2 and a half more of un-innovative repetition?

Speaking of repetition, I think I've heard this before... yep, back to A Better Band. I don't mind listening to the first 3 minutes of the track a second time because it really works, and could have come straight from an 80s movie soundtrack. However about half way through it devolves to boring instrumental. This is the point that I checked how long the song had to run, to realise I was listening to the wrong track earlier in the disc and, alas, the answer is another 3 minutes. Crappy guitar masturbation is not what I signed up for, and when an awful wailing is added to it I despair: end your damn songs within a minute of running out of words and your output could be so much better! I might even say you would be a better band.

The next track is dull, the vocal muted and less distinctive, the guitars much rockier and more generic for it. So bland I have nothing to offer, and I find myself reading up on Talking Heads on Wikipedia instead; bad habit but it is hard to stop the mind wandering sometimes. All sense of pace is bled out of the album now. A slow piano melody replaces the guitars of nothingness and in a different context I might enjoy this song more but here and now... it does nothing to make me love it after the previous track disengaged me from the disc quite thoroughly. The vocal at least has some character again, but not enough to elevate a featureless song and melody into anything worthwhile.

There are some really dubious lyrics in the mix here too. One Stringed Harp's title line is applied to someone fiddling with their underwear... its really not very clever or interesting, a bit like the music that goes with it. I see flashes over the course of the disc that I like, but as a whole it all falls a bit flat, overrunning, taking their eye off the ball and ultimately delivering an air shot rather than a screamer into the top corner. Torturous football analogy aside, I am now into the final track and the other sin seems to be that the second half of the album loses all energy. Breastfed - the loud bland guitar rock - aside the mood has definitely been on a downswing and what that achieves is simply nullifying the best bits of the singer's style and replacing the 80s vibe I got from the early tracks with a tired and tiring downbeat direction. Couple that with songs dragging on past their prime and, well, the album as a whole is a massive disappointment. I do very much like The Great Defector though, so not a complete and utter wash out.

Beware - Bonnie 'Prince' Billy

Track list:

1. Beware Your Only Friend
2. You Can't Hurt Me Now
3. My Life's Work
4. Death Final
5. Heart's Arms
6. You Don't Love Me
7. You Are Lost
8. I Won't Ask Again
9. I Don't Belong To Anyone
10. There Is Something I Have To Say
11. I Am Goodbye
12. Without Work, You Have Nothing
13. Afraid Ain't Me

Running time: 45 minutes
Released: 2009

I have a couple of albums from Bonnie 'Prince' Billy. I am not sure what drove me to pick them up or what I made of them when I did, but it is probably connected to a brief yearning for Americana. This is more discovery than anything else, then, for I cannot have listened to many of these tracks very often.

It opens with a really appealing guitar, a fairly simple loop but it immediately taps into my buoyant morning mood. I get older today and am not working, a lazy day of listening to the cricket and writing up my last RPG session ahead of me and I am squeezing this in first thing. The song uses a harmony nicely, the combination of sounds, voices and words is slightly messy but in a compelling way that invites listening, rather than the cacophonous sense that was evident on The Beta Band. It is a much stronger, brasher start than I was expecting, as my preconception was that Bonnie 'Prince' Billy was all fairly stripped back.

More like You Can't Hurt Me Now, in fact. A somewhat trembling voice, and a sparse construction echoing the wide open spaces and big sky landscapes that typify Americana. I could imagine this refrain drifting over ranch-land in the days of the frontier. It could be soundtrack to set the scene for a game of Dogs in the Vineyard. Hard to say where my appreciation for this drifting, stylised sound came from. I am pretty sure that my first conscious exposure to "modern" Americana was Willard Grant Conspiracy but I have no clue how I stumbled across them. Anyhow, from there LastFM came into play and threw me up some other suggestions. Actually, thinking about it, I might have that the wrong way around; it may have been LastFM throwing up suggestions based on Grand Drive.

That's not important anyway. What is more important is that like an idiot I forgot to switch WMP off shuffle so actually the listen has not been in running order, aside Beware Your Only Friend. Bugger. I don't have time to reset and restart, so I am going to have to continue. I am relatively sure that a) I will still only get each track once (repeat is not on) and b) that I am unlikely to dislike anything here enough to want it out, and even if I do I can respond to that immediate dislike.

What gives me that feeling? Well for a start I am in a good mood and approaching the listen in relaxed fashion which helps, but more pertinently everything I have heard thus far - about a third through by time - has been interesting. There is a discordance in some of it, but it is very controlled and deliberate, adding an edge but held in check to make it an interesting one - this applies most consistently to the vocal harmonies between Will Oldham (the man behind the moniker) and his backing singers, but I think I hear some in the jangling guitar vs. the structural strings too.

OK, so shuffle is no good. I have a repeat. It has occurred to me that I can use LastFM to work out what I have and haven't heard though. That second paragraph refers to Without Work, You Have Nothing, by the by - though it is fair to say You Can't Hurt Me Now also conforms to the preconceptions I had of the artist now that I am directing this playthrough. The only piece that does not, perhaps, is the xylophone, which feels out of place amongst the gently swaying countrified plod. Plod - its not a positive word really is it? I think it fits here - the pace is slow to warrant it - but without the dragging, uninteresting connotations. Somehow it plods positively.

My Life's Work seems to hybrid the brasher sounds, largely delivered by the lead guitar with the general pleasantry and reservations of the album as a whole. It forms a compelling track of ups and downs, and then throws a curveball by introducing a mouth organ or other blown instrument in the more orchestrated sections - an element that has been missing to this point, or at least had passed me by. I am finding that I prefer the songs that have a bit more depth of sound to them - contrasting the typical trappings of Americana with a richer, louder centre - but still enjoying the more standard fare.

Its funny, I have a feeling that on a general library-wide shuffle then if I was at the keys I probably wouldn't let any of these tracks get started before hitting the skip. I am beginning to suspect that is a massive mistake. There is something here for any mood. As you might expect, the sparser tracks would suit quieter moods better, but there is some proper joy here too. You Don't Love Me brings a trumpet in for another new sound and this really works for me - I have been a sucker for a well used trumpet since forever.

Two tracks left to go. I am still enjoying the music, but with an eye on the clock I am willing it to end before it reasonably can as I want to get the radio on and bring up TMS. I am forgoing the first 5 minutes of build up to the 4th Ashes test for this - no play, you understand. I wouldn't have countenanced that. I Won't Ask Again is very different from the rest of the songs here. Many of the structures are similar but the overall effect has a completely different tone, in a way that I wish I could articulate, but find myself failing to.

I skip to the end now, the last track being the only one unplayed following the shuffle mix-up. It again has a different tone, a bit darker without being oppressive in the verse, bright in the chorus. A flute or similar soaring over the general tumult. It is a different sort of big sky music - this is not drifting out over open plains but appealing to the heavens in a concentrated burst and would not be out of place on a film soundtrack somehow. I think Afraid Ain't Me is probably my second favourite track here after the opener which really set the tone for this listen by breaking my expectations first up.

I'm happy about this one, finally validating a purchase of several years back. I doubt I will run out and buy more of Oldham's work - unless I am similarly impressed by Lie Down in the Light - but it is a nice little nugget to have on the shelf.

Beacons of Ancestorship - Tortoise

Track list:

2. Prepare Your Coffin

Running time: 3 minutes
Released: 2009

An odd singleton now. I have no idea where this came from, how I came across it or what to expect from it.

The start is rocky but despite a death-threatening name, the tone seems to be more cheesy movie or TV  show theme tune than anything else. Quite reminiscent of the early days of synth in some respect, or bad side-scrolling videogames. I am not finding anything much here worthy of note. Like a lot of stuff, it is not bad but it offers nothing to suggest I should keep it, so that's an entry I can scrub.

The Awkward Recruit - Mawkin:Causley

Track list:

1. Jolly Broom Man
2. L'Homme Arme
3. Drummer Boy for Waterloo
4. Keeper of the Game
5. Cutty Wren
6. The Saucy Sailor
7. Todos Los Bienes Del Mundo
8. The Downfall of Charing Cross
9. The Cropper Lads
10. Greenlander
11. The Awkward Recruit
12. I am The Song

Running time: 48 minutes
Released: 2009

Awkward is a great work - wkw in the middle there is nice and unusual. Second album in a row with Awkward in the title and a second folk album at that. Not very familiar with this one though - I think I bought it on a punt and found myself less than enamoured with it... lets see if that holds true.

This is an album of largely traditional songs, with just a handful of new compositions, which could go either way. I have to say though, I am pleasantly surprised by the jauntiness and pace of the opening track. The singing is not great, and the song is so-so, but there is an energy and vitality about the track that somehow makes it work anyway - at least until it loses all pace at which point it cedes the interest for a moment. Then it comes back with French (?) lyrics and so interest is restored just in time for the song to end.

It is New Years Eve, and I am trying to finish A before 2014 is out. It should be easy enough, just this and a 4 track EP from Alasdair Roberts to go. I hate this evening, so funnelling my energy into something constructive instead of simply falling into a funk and an early night is a good thing. It would be an easier sell if I were feeling more positive about either set of tunes, but still.

L'Homme Arme is an instrumental piece for the first 90 seconds, a very jaunty number again, then it comes in with a vocal that is quite demanding - spoken as much as sung and a mixture of French (I am sure this time!) and English. My recollections of this album did not have its pace and tempo so high and merry so perhaps I have simply created a false image of the disc and damned it unfairly in the past? No sooner typed, than disproven (again!). The pace drops off for a much more sombre number - and yet the delivery of the song does not really carry the melancholy of the lyric as the arrangement is relatively bright and the singing strident. The fiddles of sadness do arrive, along with a note of remorse in the voice, but only as the song is closing. All in all, this is pretty good so far.

Keeper of the Game is the first non-traditional song on the album, to go by my WMP metadata, but it is definitely in a traditional style, lyrically and in line structure. The arrangement is less so - the guitar part in particular stands out as modern. On the other hand, it somehow taps into a simple chic, almost Parisian in the use of accordion, and I like the result. I am not entirely off the mark with my memory though - for as much as I have enjoyed the first 4 tracks, Cutty Wren is the track that turned me off the album. I have nothing remotely positive to say about this song - badly sung, repetitive lyrically in a way that amplifies the effect of the poor singing and offensively arranged. It is so awful that it is entirely possible that this one song caused me to classify the whole album as un-listenable.

Thankfully it is now in my past (and already deleted) so perhaps the other songs can rescue the disc. That said, The Saucy Sailor does little for me and will be joining Cutty Wren in my cutting room. It is followed by a piece of Spanish origin which is sort of OK I guess, but does not offer much demand to stay in my library, so that is the middle third laid waste.

The Downfall of Charing Cross is more promising, though - a darker song, it still has an element of the spiky playing that characterised the opening two tracks and generated a good impression. It swells and contracts nicely in volume and in arrangement and whilst the edge on the accordion playing is sharper than I would like the song works, generates a decent atmosphere before giving way to something that really fits a view of a traditional English folk song with ample fiddling and communal singing. I can fully understand why some people would find The Cropper Lads and its ilk difficult to appreciate outside of live performance, but somehow it is this sort of folk that has captured my heart in the last decade despite me not moving in any social circles where it is really appreciated. That appreciation is not universal, and songs and tunes still need to be played well generally, but my chief interest was sparked by Spiers and Boden where that was guaranteed. There is enough in most of the tracks performed on this album to meet my approval, though none of them have really made me go "wow".

There are plenty of nice touches at start and end of this record - it is just a pity about that middle. I am currently listening to the title track and this is, I think, the best so far in terms of its construction - powerful, atmospheric, tuneful and catchy all at once, it feels like everything comes together synergistically in a way that does not quite hold true for the other songs on the album. The disc ends with a fiddle-and accordion based number, a sort of slow dance tune that gives way to a faster paced song just shy of two minutes in. The lift in pace improves it, for purely as a tune it was too slow to be interesting. The song itself is pretty dull but the evolution of the tune with it keeps a nice feel to the track as a whole and it is not an unsatisfying end to the album.

I have enjoyed this a lot more than I expected to, a quarter of it disappointed significantly and has been excised as a result but the remaining 9 tracks sit quite happily amongst the gamut of folk music in my collection.

A-side B-side Seaside - Randolph's Leap

Track list:

1. Please Don't Belong   
2. What Have I Done?

Running time: 6 minutes
Released: 2009

A two-track e.p. that I believe I got free - indeed I did - I do not know what to expect from this. Randolph's Leap fit into that bracket of band names I can place but cannot put a sound to... you know, the sort of band there seem to be 1500 of in Glasgow alone. That sounds pejorative but it is not meant as such; lesser known Scottish bands feature quite heavily in my library as a whole. The truth is, though, that I only have this because it was free, and even then it was a relatively recent download. Time to see whether it should be kept.

The first track is a song sung over a very sparse and quiet background, with a harmony introduced for the chorus. It is a self-deprecating number with a certain charm to it, but not something that I would listen to through choice. What Have I Done starts similarly, though the vocal is less tuneful on this occasion. More instrumentation is added instead and this crafts a pleasant strum-along sound. In contrast to the song which seems to be about someone arseing up a relationship really badly. Ultimately there is not quite enough here to keep me interested past this listen, but two short free tracks are worth the time if you like acoustic indie Scottish stuff. It's only 6 minutes, and the price is right.

Analogue Catalogue Sessions - James Yorkston and the Big Eyes Family Players

Track list:

1. Old Maid
2. I Know My Love
3. Blue Bleezin' Blind Drunk
4. Cornfield
5. Mary Connaught & James O'Donnell
6. Thorneymoor Woods
7. Just As the Tide Was Flowing
8. I Went to Visit the Roses
9. The Snow it Melts The Soonest
10. Lowlands Away
11. Martinmas Time

Running time: 38 minutes
Released: 2009

This was, I believe, a bonus disc in the purchase of Folk Songs, a James Yorkston project that I picked up because, well... James Yorkston is one of my enduring favourite artists. Even if I think his best work is a decade or more old, he has built up enough good will for me to follow all his projects with interest. That explains the image here, which will get reused again later.

A few of the songs here are those from Folk Songs but others are JY staples or additional material. To be honest I do not know how similar these renditions are to the others I have elsewhere and this listen will probably not clarify enough there to decide whether to cut on grounds of duplication. Still, it starts with a unique track that I have nowhere else.

I love the chorus of Old Maid, a duet between Yorskton and Nancy Elizabeth, who sings the verses. It is a sad song, and horribly reflective of gender roles and expectations but the performance is really good. It finishes then drops into I Know My Love - a very different version from the one that closes Moving Up Country (a favourite if ever there was one). The timbre of the vocal is similar, as is the tempo, but the arrangement here is very staccato, very repetitive. I do not think it a particularly strong version and I am toying with the idea of getting rid.

Third up is another Yorkston staple about an unhappy wife drinking herself through a horrible violent marriage; it is really quite uncomfortable listening - tale told from the wife's perspective; Elizabeth again provides a co-pilot and the harmonies, whilst not perfect, are interesting. We then get Cornfield, a Lal Waterson song that Elizabeth did for the tribute album Migrating Bird. I guess JY is playing the guitar here, but this song possibly should not be giving "James Yorkston and the Big Eyes Family Players" as the artist, and given I have Migrating Bird, I am not certain I need this too. Keep for now though.

These are session tracks, and the backing harmony on Mary Connaught & James O'Donnell is awesome, goosebumps awesome. This album (well, Folk Songs) is one I managed to pre-order two copies of, getting myself listed twice in the liner notes in the "thank yous" in the process; internet shopping whilst tipsy folks: don't do it! I regretted the mistake for about 5 minutes; the second copy became a present for my dad, and I remember watching the included DVD on their couch in Greece.

Thorneymoor Woods is an a cappella duet on this disc. It is not a style I am particularly fond of as I do not feel most vocalists are good enough to electrify the air alone - sparks need to fly somewhere to catch. However I am continuing to enjoy the intertwining of voices between our two lead singers: him gruff, rough around the edges, her light and soft, distant, floaty. The two synergise; greater than the sum of the parts. As much as I love Yorkston's music and enjoy his delivery I would never call him a great singer - he does not need to be, his songs do the heavy lifting so his voice does not have to carry the listener: you are already engaged in other ways.

There are some really nice strings used on I Went to Visit Roses, and a couple of moments where they are on the edge of falling over. It makes for a topsy-turvy listen, then we get a rendition of The Snow it Melts the Soonest - almost another a cappella number. This is my favourite traditional song, entirely down to Yorkston's version on Just Beyond the River which has a higher tempo and a nice arrangement. This is a slow, dark telling, almost steeped in sorrow, with a backing hum from the assembled and very sparse instrumentation. It is a sombre take. Lowlands Away is a very JY song in style and delivery and it slides by before I even realise it was playing, and then we are on Martinmas Time to close. I am not a great fan of this one, the main refrains having harmonics that just disagree with my ears. I am tempted to cut this, especially since it is also on the main disc of Folk Songs but I find myself unwilling to commit for the same sentimental reasons that left Amnesiac intact. It is one of only 3 longer tracks on the album, which I think makes the fact it is not a favourite stand out more. Most of the songs breeze past at a rate of knots and I am coming to really appreciate that when listening for the purposes of this project: plentiful song changes keep me more engaged with the listen and less inclined to drift off to do other things whilst they play. It is not always good for generating output though as songs are gone before I can crystalise my thoughts on them. Typical of my lot: I am never happy.

Alone E.P. - Moist

Track List:

6. I Am (Red Snapper Remix)

Running time: 5 minutes
Released: 2009

I do not know where I picked this up. The "why" is easy enough - Red Snapper. Moist is an... unfortunate name. I know several people who recoil reflexively from the word. In this instance it would seem to refer to a Swedish guy who seems to do a bit of everything.

I only have the one track, which must have been made free somewhere, or distributed through Red Snapper somehow for me to have it.

I can hear the RS influence in the bass (I believe it is a stand-up). The track has a reasonable progression, but nothing outstanding and there is no real melody to speak of which is disappointing. It keeps threatening to get good, but never quite fulfilling on its promise. Decent track, I see no reason to cut it, but neither do I feel like getting all Moist over it.

Adoon Winding Nith - Emily Smith and Jamie McClennan

Track List:

1. Adoon Winding Nith
2. Silver Tassie
3. The Soldier's Return
4. Craigieburn Wood
5. Gowden Locks O Anna
6. Soldier Laddie
7. Gala Water
8. Whistle Ower The Lave O It
9. Lassie Lie Near Me
10. The Plooman
11. A Man's A Man For A' That

Running time: 42 minutes
Released: 2009

Chalk and cheese. From hardcore punk, to folksiness in one step (though admittedly a couple of days in between). I bought this because I had a couple of Emily Smith albums, which I picked up after seeing the BBC's Transatlantic Sessions and falling head over heels with Julie Fowlis' Gaelic folk. Smith sings in English, alas (Gaelic is so musical, even if I cannot understand it), but had a decent enough voice for me to be interested in picking this up.
 
I  am immediately struck by the dialect used for the titles. Phonetic Scottish, matched in the vocal. Singing in accents - I approve. It may make things a little more incomprehensible to some, but I generally much prefer natural accents over the put on neutral Americanised accents that predominate in pop.

This is clearly folk, but the arrangement is less twee than I had anticipated, perhaps because - as per the cover image - the main accompaniment is guitar not fiddle. The twee side of folk only really arrives with the accordion on The Soldier's Return. However I find myself less than enchanted so far. Smith can sing nicely, no doubt, and the music seems to be reasonably competent but it just feels as though the album is missing something.

Or I am just not in the mood for folk. To be honest, I have had a feeling this would not be a positive listen since Action Image Exchange blew me away. I have not had time to listen to anything in between save in the car on the way to work, where I have been giving first listens to recent purchases, and I am wanting innovation at this point. This album is not suitable for that, so it was never likely to strike a chord. The tunes thus far are nice (faint praise intended) but do not have much to compel the listener.

Gowden Locks O Anna changes things up a bit; this one is vocal and piano. There is more space, there is more expression. Even when strings join in, it feels like a step up. It does not last though. It is late afternoon/early evening, very bright out, but I have started to yawn as I listen. That could be interpreted as positive (I am relaxing!) but I think on balance it is not a good sign. There is not enough here to keep my ear's attention and so my mind wanders and I am giving in to tiredness as I contemplate cleaning up in the kitchen and cooking for tonight. Sausage and chorizo casserole is on the cards, with butter beans, peppers and potentially Hooky Double Stout - though I worry that the stout will clash with the spice in the chorizo so I think I shall leave it out on this occasion.

This diversionary direction is not indicative of dislike. If I genuinely did not like what I was hearing then I am sure I would have more opinion to note here. Instead it is indicative of a bland "pleasantness"; I have a feeling these songs might be very engaging performed live in a nice fire-warmed bar in the highlands of Scotland. In my living room out of my speakers whilst sat at a laptop they probably do not have the same power. Lassie Lie Near Me is another tune that gives the vocal space; unfortunately there is too much repetition of the song title in the vocal and it ruins that space - like a vandal running into a freshly painted room and leaving grubby hand prints on the walls.

I did not know any of the tunes on this album bar A Man's a Man for A' That - which I have another version of (by Ballboy) - and whilst one or two have been familiar, like The Plooman, from previous plays most have been new to me. And still I have not been drawn in. This version of A Man's a Man for A' That starts a cappella, but alas does not stay so. A fiddle comes in and the interest of the recording goes down immediately. It is a classic song, though and it makes for a good closer, being much more engaging than most of what went before.

This post has been so negative that I wonder if I should be removing this album from my library. However is that fair on the work? It is not bad. It just is not the demanding, engaging album I think I needed to listen to next and under other circumstances I might have enjoyed it a lot more. I do have better folk than this though, and given a choice would I listen again? Food for thought.

11:11 - Rodrigo y Gabriela

Track List:

1. Hanuman
2. Buster Voodoo
3. Triveni
4. Logos
5. Santo Domingo
6. Master Maqui
7. Savitri
8. Hora Zero
9. Chac Mool
10. Atman
11. 11:11

Running time: 45 minutes
Released: 2009

So apparently dedications are their thing, since this album has one for each track, too. Rodrigo y Gabriela get to be the first to appear twice in this list (before I began I expected that to be Sigur Rós) by virtue of using numbers. Woo.

Actually the dedications are the point here. 11 songs dedicated to 11 artists that inspired them. Cool idea for a theme, though I do not recognise most of the artists concerned (Pink Floyd and Hendrix are the exceptions).

It is quite a big, brash start. Hanuman dives right into a bigger sound than I recall from 9 Dead Alive but then again, that's probably because my speaker was not connected properly and it was using the brassier laptop speakers instead. Still, right from the first note there is a lot going on. Again. I am expecting not to like this as much to be honest;  the liner notes make it seem much more of a love letter to heavy metal from two fans, which means it is more divergent from my interest. However it remains mostly acoustic and intricate and interesting... just a little less so.

I never cease to be amazed by how much sound duos can produce, and how two musicians can appear to be playing 4 or 5 parts if they are really good. I first noticed this in a completely different genre and style with Jon Spiers and Jon Boden's combination of fiddle and melodion (with foot stamps for percussion) but it is present here too. Less noticeable for me because of the similarities in the instruments each is playing but definitely there. I guess it appears in larger groups too, but the impression is stronger the fewer people there are to contribute.

Logos is an interesting departure in sound, one I was not expecting. Much more open, free, melodic and less busy. It is also shorter, and a transition I thought was a bait and switch was actually WMP ticking over to the next track. This makes for an interesting section, but frankly a less enjoyable one. I am not sure whether that is because I have preselected what I want from this pair and this feels like a departure from that, or just a lesser appreciation for these tracks without a bias. I am also in a strange mood this evening, which does not help. Dog tired, I would be in bed if I thought I would sleep through - but it is only 21.40 and the last two nights have been a perfect illustration of going to bed early making me wake early (03.30 this morning). For that reason, I suggest, my opinions may not be fair tonight.

Master Maqui starts differently again, the balance lying with the percussive, before sliding back into more familiar weighting. It is more staccato in effect, and until the sections where that fades into the background, I do not enjoy the track. I am rather relieved when it ends, as my ears feel like they have been boxed.

When Savitri starts and my subconscious immediately goes "same; bored now" I know that I am not being fair. If fair reviews were the point of this exercise I would stop at this point, but that is not what these Listens are about, so I plough on, forcing myself though another 15 minutes or so and trying to bite back on harsh and unwarranted words. From an intellectual standpoint this is probably my favourite track on the disc so far despite that initial reaction.

I feel like I should have a glass of wine and be sitting back curled up, feet under me, not leaning forward at a keyboard though when Hora Zero reaches the two minute mark, had I been so positioned my sofa would likely now be stained. The elements of 9DA that had me purring are still here, but I have mostly been missing them. Most tracks do generally still contain multiple sub-tracks and variations that almost feel like distinct pieces joined in seamless medley.

Not so much Chac Mool - short, sparse; like Logos an odditiy amongst the larger sounds that surround it. Atman, which follows, I was expecting to be the most Metal on the disc (a result of the guest musician and dedication) and the least enjoyable as a result, but in practice I am pleasantly surprised and actually it may be my favourite... for the first 4 minutes at least. Then the (I guess) guest electrics come in and I am bored immediately (see the comments on 9DA re guitar heroes). When they fade there is an interesting echo, but the attention is long lost.

11:11 is the Pink Floyd dedication. Floyd will show up a fair bit later on so this should be interesting, but I cannot help but feel that the track is not long enough to be dedicated to prog! The tune turns out to be interesting enough. I can hear hints of the space present in a lot of David Gilmour's playing and there are echoes of High Hopes. Oddly it fades to keys, that feels somewhat out of place - for the track, for the album and for the dedication - but actually it brings a pleasant curtain down on the album, and my efforts to be productive this evening along with it.