Contact Note - Jon Hopkins

Track list:

1. Circle
2. Second Sense
3. Contact Note
4. Searchlight
5. Symmetry
6. 100
7. Glasstop
8. Sleepwalker
9. Reprise
10. Nightjar
11. Black and Red
12. Luna Moth

Running time: 61 minutes
Released: 2004

OK, so I'm actually excited to give this one a listen. I don't think I've ever really given much time to Contact Note before, but I love Jon Hopkins' work (and am annoyed that my pre-order of the physical release of Singularity hasn't shown up yet; Amazon seem to be losing the plot slightly of late). My challenge to myself is to do this on a weeknight; did I?

Incidentally, I love the cover of this one. The lighting, the colours and the image all. That said, given the choice of subject I do wonder why the album wasn't named after the final track.

I did not manage to make this midweek in the end, and I found myself putting in two inserts before it after a couple of new purchases, but it feels like it could be a good album to round off a sunny weekend. Circle has a simple rhythmic loop that is easy to get sucked into whilst Hopkins weaves patterns over it. It feels optimistic, but it loses its way a bit when the structure that did so much to bring me in to the track is swapped out for another, leaving the latter part of the track feeling stale and distant. Its a perfect example of my fickleness I guess; it wasn't a seismic shift or anything, but it was enough for it to lose me.

I am rather disappointed by the opening to Second Sense too... not only do I not get on with the vocal insertions but it is a little too rhythm-led this time, and those rhythms can't sustain much on their own. It gets better when there's more melody added, or tuned up perhaps.

I discovered Jon Hopkins not through electronica, but through his production of low-fi Scottish indie peeps. Now Hopkins is well known for his collaboration with King Creosote, but it was his work on And the Racket They Made (from Bombshell) that really resonated with me, some years before Diamond Mine appeared. There it was his use of space more than anything else, the sparseness, the knowledge of when to dial back and support. I hear the roots of that sparseness here. Sure, there is always something going on, but there are passages when one element or other drops out or reduces to a low level that make you consider what was there, or what might be there.

I like, too, that Hopkins can take you on a journey, and may be specifically looking to do so if I recall discussion of a later work, Immunity, correctly. There it applied to the whole album, mirroring the structure of a night out, here I apply that more at the single track level.

I found this last night, too; putting thoughts to words to describe music dominated by electronic elements is surprisingly hard. Describing some of the sounds defies words, and you can't fall back on mentioning the instrument part either, because there's nothing there to identify in the same way that more... organic(?) music has. Don't get me wrong, I am not claiming for a second that non-electronic music has any primacy of place or anything like that, just suggesting that it is probably easier to describe.

There are some very different sounds on this disc, tonally I mean. 100 comes across bright and radio-friendly, almost "pop-y" which is a bit of a tonal jump. It's a good one though, breathing a life into the middle of the disc with its bold central theme. I am surprised to find I've only listened to it 6 times before as it is immediately familiar, the kind of track that could easily become an earworm. Tomorrow, as well as work I am expecting a delivery of English wine (it's getting better, they say...) and a man coming to fix my fence. It'll be nice to gain back a feeling of space in my back garden, especially given the fantastic bright, dry May we seem to have had this year. If I could bottle a day like today and carry it with me... warm but not too warm, bright, blue, full of life.

Enough whimsy. Except that the music seems to have gone that way, too... all plinky strings and xylophones.

Personally, I can't help but feel Hopkins is at his best when understated and downtempo. That isn't to say that he can't make some great tunes with more life in, but there are plenty of people who do that really well. Crafting truly engaging tracks that suit less full on moods and moments takes effort. It's easy to get tone in the right ballpark, but few manage to elevate that into something truly enjoyable in the way Jon Hopkins does. I know it's not on this disc, but I remember when I got Immunity and first heard the title track... I was absorbed, smitten. It probably helped that it includes a re-imagining of a King Creosote tune, again, and that it took me far too long to pin down what, so I had to listen to it over and over to confirm that it wasn't just similar to, but actually was the main lyric from Carbon Dating Agent (which I always loved, but since has become one of my all time favourite tracks).

I seem to be writing about anything except what I am hearing, but this has always been about where my mind goes from the music that I input as much as (or more than) about recording facts about what I hear.

There is a symmetry of sorts to this album, the first three and last three tracks have similar but reversed patterns of length, and as Nightjar begins it gives the impression that this will take the listener on a journey in the way that Contact Note did. I hope so, anyway because as it starts it is a little caught in between. Not super-sparse and considered, but not really enough going on to draw interest. On cue it opens up into a really nice simple piano, which in turn fades into more rhythm. It's not a high tempo journey, but it's going to some varied places.

Black and Red stands out as a complete oddity, blindsiding me with a load of found sound, a darker tone and not nearly as much coherence as I have come to expect from this artist to go with the absence of traditional tune, rhythm and structure. There must be a story behind this track - which ends with perhaps the most chilled sound of all of them - because it's so utterly out of place in other respects.

By ending as it does Black and Red dovetails nicely into the final track, a dreamy and ethereal number that I might appreciate more in another mood, or on another day. And that is all I could think of to write in those final 5 minutes... it must be time to start thinking about sleep and the week to come.

Concubine Rice - Lone Pigeon

Track list:

1. Dad's Blue Danube / Concubine Rice / Your Tie Perhaps?
2. King Creosote's Wineglass Symphony / Sally Bradwell
3. The Road Up To Harlow Square / Been So Long
4. Heaven Come Down / Ancient Hubbard Cow Of Bubbletoop
5. Beatmix Chocbar Rap / Victoria
6. Waterfall / Boats
7. Old Mr. Muncherman / Endless Ballad Of A Riccoco Moon
8. Melonbeard / Lay Me Down / Stars Won't Sleep
9. Lonely Vagabond
10. Oh Catherine
11. Bona Fide World / Johnny & Jodie / Long Way Down
12. The Rainking / Don't Look Back
13. Concubine Rice Reprise / I Am the Secret Unknown
14. I Am the Secret Unknown
15. Untitled

Running time: 60 minutes
Released: 2002

So I think this will be an odd one. Lone Pigeon, aka Gordon Anderson, one of three musical brothers in my library, the others recording as Pip Dylan and my perennial favourite boy, King Creosote.

This is a solo work, though Anderson also recorded with The Beta Band and The Aliens, and I seem to recall it being weirder than his band-based work. There also seems to be no consensus on the proper track list for this album, so I've gone with what matches the titles in my player.

I rather like the simple rhythm that we start with, even if the tinny synth keys aren't exactly musical in nature. Anderson's voice is deep here, and the lyrics are definitely odd, but at the same time there is a simple charm to it all. Is that a recording of an elephant trumpeting?

This morning I have already been thwarted by bad luck once, discovering a slow puncture on the rear wheel of my bike meant I couldn't get out for some exercise before the day got too hot; I lack the necessary bits and pieces for repair so my pathetic attempts at healthy living is stymied again for now. I can well believe that the wineglass symphony is actually what it says on the tin, because the actual sound is a horrible din in places. Thankfully it gives way to more of a tune, and some repeated Beta Band limits. Recycled material is something I see a lot with Lone Pigeon - As an example, Boats crops up here as part of track 6, has it's own place on Schoozzzmmii, and then made it on to Luna by The Aliens too.

This whole album cuts about all over the place, splicing vignettes together into longer tracks. It gives it a very tumbledown air, very random. In places this manifests as some frankly appalling sounds, in others its just slightly odd, and then here and there you get lovely little loops, melodies or vocal lines cutting in and out. Honestly, just from the 4 and a half tracks that have played by now, I half feel I should just cut the lot. But only half. The other half of me loves the oddity, enjoys the arbitrary nature, and finds real beauty hidden in those nicer, more melodic moments.

I'm pretty sure my track list is wrong. Track 6 seems to have the Ancient Hubbard Cow of Bubbletoop at the start. You would have thought in this day and age it would be easy to get a definitive listing but... no. The rest of 6 sounds like it should be Beatmix Chocbar Rap, but no list I see anywhere fuses those two half-tracks together. I think this must be deliberate. Even pausing and going to look for the physical disc and liner notes really doesn't help clear anything up because the presentation there doesn't click with the 15 tracks it ripped to. I don't like the inaccuracy, but at the same time I'm damned if I can be arsed to sort through this any further.

There's a really nice guitar part at the start of what I have as track 7. It doesn't last long before we get into a really low-fi, echoing recording all sharp sounds and over-sustained vocals obscured by fuzz. Completely random, and still no Boats.

Of course.

The very next thing that plays is Boats. At the start of track 8. Only the opening hook though, then we're on to something else.

By this point the constant switcheroo is getting tiring. The interesting bits and lovely melodies are fewer in number than the meandering dross. I have been reluctant to mention it to this point, as someone who has been through (minor) depressive episodes in the past, but I find it hard to escape the thought that this disc might reflect Gordon Anderson's struggles with the mental illness that caused him to drop out of the Betas just as they made their name. The lack of cohesion in particular gives me that impression. Between the muddled track presentation, the skipping between styles, bits of atonal or incidental recordings and frankly nonsense lyrics its a hard one to escape.

Those nice moments are now so rare, and presented in such chaotic context that I'm considering junking the lot. Lonely Vagabond has a nicer touch to it, but of course the player things I'm on Oh Catherine now; only 1 tune out by this point, but still. It's frustrating me enough that I'm seriously considering junking the listen here, and there's still 20 minutes to go, including a 9 minute epic.

Somewhere along the way I have tuned out and got distracted by other things. It seems that might be a sensible thing, but it is contrary to the intent of these listens. I'm really rather disappointed by this. I knew this disc was weird but I hadn't realised just how poor most of it actually is. That said, if it was an endeavour that got Gordon Anderson through tough times and poor mental health then for all I dislike it I am happy that it exists.

I am the Unknown foreshadows the Aliens some, that rockier sound points towards things like I am the Robot Man, and The Happy Song... or rather to itself. This appeared on Astronomy for Dogs as well. The clashing guitars are actually a really welcome change from all that went before but not enough for me to save anything from this hot mess of an album.

Concierto - Jim Hall

Track list:

1. You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To
2. Two's Blues
3. The Answer Is Yes
4. Concierto De Aranjuez
5. Rock Skippin'
6. Unfinished Business
7. You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To (Alt. Take)
8. The Answer Is Yes (Alt. Take)
9. Rock Skippin' (Alt. Take)

Running time: 65 minutes
Released: 1975

Another almost random disc now, as this came as part of a big box of jazz classics. I've never heard of Jim Hall before so don't know what to expect. Apparently he's a staple of jazz guitar and the original disc was just 4 or 5 tracks but there are 9 here so a bit more to work with. I suspect this will not be my thing, but lets plow on and see...

The opening refrains have that light, dated electric guitar sound that I associate with noodling and cheese. The melody is perfectly likeable but there is something about the timbre of the 70s jazz guitar that is instinctively off-putting. The wind/brass led section that takes over from that guitar-driven opening is more my thing, but even then the tune tends a little too much to the cheesy for my tastes, I think its the constant nature of the bass and business of the drums and keys. Too much going on.

I'm not having a great day. Yesterday I failed to get this listen in and thus missed my target of 1 a day through the point I return to work, today I have woken up with a strange burning pain in my hands - just down the sides around the knuckles of my little fingers. It's much worse on the right, which I can barely touch to anything, and I've managed to give myself a blister because my trainer socks didn't cover the tops of my trainers when walking to do some shopping. Oh well, at least the sun is out, and in lieu of the listen yesterday I got stuff done in the garden and got out on my bike for the first time in too long.

The tune has grown on me a little bit as I digressed, leading me to think that maybe its a question of accepting it on its own terms. Certainly when the second track starts, then gets into its swing, I am more favourably disposed to it, though perhaps that is something to do with it not being the awful sounds I can hear being played next door, tasteless euro-pop. Ugh.

As much as I hate track-by-track statements, here it feels appropriate to call out the change with The Answer Is Yes, too. This tune has more space, more time, and feels better crafted as a result. One thing I really like here is how the guitar lead and the keyboard seem to be playing as extensions to each other in places - one starts a line, the other finishes it. The tune as a whole feels closer to the areas of older jazz that I have been fond of.

I am struggling to find many words this morning (well, midday now). I should by rights feel massively rested by now after a week off, what with it being Sunday, but I don't. Struggle to sleep last night as my mind wouldn't shut off didn't help. After a quick break to baste the lamb I have roasting for lunch it's into the centrepiece of the disc - a 20 minute concerto. Checking on LastFM I am surprised to find that I have clocked up 20 listens to Jim Hall (including the first 3 here), and that I have apparently heard enough of the Concierto De Aranjuez to scrobble it twice before. Surprised because consciously I was not really aware of this disc at all.

I rather like the tune though, a Latin rhythm, softly delivered by the bass with a little help from the drums keeps it rolling gently along as the various other musicians give their rotating parts over the top of it all. It has a nice gentle relaxation to it. The parts swap in and out in such a way that it doesn't get repetitive, at least through the first 10 minutes, only half way I'll grant, and the flow of the tune is really spot on. I could probably do with it coming to a close sooner than another 7-8 minutes though. Without the context of a live performance, immensely long tracks can strain the attention, and any dissatisfaction with the tune as it continues is more because I am trying to be attentive rather than doing something else whilst it plays. When really giving it a close ear, the patterns that provide that nice gentle sway are the ones that strain the interest. In general relaxation I wouldn't hear them as much, the melodic parts would win out, but here it was harder to escape them.

The ending of Concierto De Aranjuez is heralded by a complete change of pace and rhythm, it becomes ploddingly slow and patchy, losing all the coherence it had for most of its run. Now I really do wish the piece concluded 5 minutes earlier.

There is one more tune of note, what looks like a 2-minute interlude, and 3 alternate takes to come.  Retakes, remixes, acoustic versions etc. are all well and good, but I do wonder about including so many on the same disc as the original cut. Yes, this was a re-issue thing, but when you only have a handful of tunes in the first place...? This kind of thing is less annoying if it's one or two tunes in 10-20; when it's 3 in 8 the ratio is all wrong. Anyhow, minor rant aside, it seems to me that Rock Skippin' is well named - the sounds are bouncy, jumping around and I can immediately relate them to skimming stones, or clambering and jumping over boulders as a kid. Having said that, I then think again; in my memory or visualisation of those activities they're solo affairs, out in the countryside, slow pace, escapism. I don't know where I am going with this thought at all, but I feel that I need to get out into the countryside more, but finding the motivation to do so alone is... eugh.

So, into the repeats we dive and I find myself less at odds with it than I expect, but without anything to say.

My overall impression of this disc is positive, actually, which surprises me - especially given my initial reaction. I still rather resent the sound of the jazz guitar as exemplified on You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To, as a lead instrument anyway, but the one instrument doesn't make or break the track, and when it is employed with a less "ringing" sound the guitar is an excellent instrument for any genre. It's the specific electric rounded note guitar sound of the 70s that irks me. It's employed a little too much here for me to be 100% on board with the album but the general flow, pace and energy of the disc makes up for that some.

I have run out of steam entirely over the last 20 minutes, so I am grateful for the end when it comes. Now to go halve the lamb and take one half off to be eaten. Yum!

Complete Peel Sessions (Disc 6) - The Wedding Present

Track list:

1. Go Go Dancer
2. Sports Car
3. Kansas
4. 2, 3, Go
5. Bewitched
6. Venus
7. Loveslave
8. Real Thing
9. Drive
10. Montreal
11. Come Play with Me
12. Brassneck
13. Crawl

Running time: 44 minutes
Released: 2007

OK, so the final part of the Peel Sessions box set now. It's been a long time since the first disc almost blew my head off since I haven't managed to maintain any consistency of posting. That makes this marathon of The Wedding Present more like a series of middle-distance ambles. Crap analogies out of the way, how does this last live stuff sound?

There is a brief introduction before the band launch into Go Go Dancer, and it is a launch. A few taps of the drum sticks and its 0-60 in an instant with insanely fast drums and guitar to keep pace with. The sound is a little muted, but the essential energy of a Wedding Present tune is there all the same, peppy and two-speed, the vocal seeming to be in a different time to the backing.

It's now May, and I started this six-disc box set in January. That's shocking, even allowing for a few insertions, but life gets in the way sometimes. This is a hobby project, but it has been relegated underneath the need to maintain some kind of equilibrium. The plaintive voice on this rendition of Sports Car reminds me of how I have felt over the last bit... on edge, at my limit. It's the Friday of a week off, and I am only just beginning to feel like I haven't been working, it's taken this long.

There is something very weird about hearing a middle-aged man sing the lyrics of Kansas. I don't want to elaborate, because I don't want to think about it any more than I have.

I am feeling lost for words this morning. A few things to do today, not much going on upstairs as I find myself content to just hear tracks out without comment. It's a sign of comfort in one sense, and enjoyment in another. This listen is an oasis of calm before I have to rush out and shop for two people, do someone else's washing and other chores. Then, when I get home I have to home the bright morning is turning into a bright afternoon so I can motivate myself to do some essential outdoor work, else it's more spring cleaning. With that in mind there is reassurance in the constant guitar chords and familiar rhythms here, I don't need to think too hard about them.

Even the "new" (yeah, that doesn't mean much on an old live recording) songs are familiar, though apparently I have heard Venus just once before. The familiarity is by pattern, not specifics. Of course, then Loveslave starts and it breaks the rules. Slow pace that in some ways sits more easily with David Gedge's vocal style, which is expanded here to include imploring cries in the chorus. I'm not a huge fan of the track if I'm honest. The familiarity factor has been pulled away in that one track though and it doesn't immediately return which is a little disconcerting.

After a brief digression about a puppet (!) we're back onto firmer, more recognisable ground with Drive. When the pace drops I feel The Wedding Present lose their USP. It is the contrast between the busy guitars and bustling drums and the vocals that really sets them up. Having said that, Montreal creates more space and time and works really well, something about the melodics, and when it segues into Come Play With Me and maintains that lower pace I find my preconceptions challenged again until the closing of the second track brings its familiar refrains, and I think my favourite repeated loops (vocal and otherwise) in TWP's catalogue. It's over indeed.

Brassneck sounds very different, and I'm not sure if this is because they've changed the score or because it's not the song I thought it was. Probably the latter, but then songs do evolve from time to time. I really like the ringing on the guitar parts on the final number, Crawl. It's richer and lighter, and it feels like a good way to end the set on a positive sound even if the last lyrical utterance is a threat.

So, then... no more Wedding Presents for me for a while. On to other things...

Collaborative Works, Disc 2 - Ólafur Arnalds and Nils Frahm

Track list:

1. 20:17
2. 21:05
3. 23:17
4. 23:52
5. 00:26
6. 01:41
7. 03:06
8. Untitled

Running time: 40 minutes
Released: 2015

After the first disc of this collection was largely a hit, what does round two have to offer?

If the track titles for the first half of this set were odd, these are just as inscrutable. I can only assume that the titles are timestamps as the liner notes suggest these tunes were put together in a single sitting. 

The soft piano that opens us up is clear, unadorned by any electronics this time around, its melody is sweet and simple, but not really a midday kind of sound. Then, in truth, it rather meanders to a conclusion, and a very unclear track changeover. Thus far it lacks the urgency and demanding features of the companion disc. For all the beauty in the notes there is something missing here. Vibrancy, points of difference. In another mood, where I was looking for laid back light melody, I think I would value this highly, but right now - this listen being a way of kickstarting my day, far later than it should have been - it falls a little flat.

Isn't it funny how our sense of self can completely realign how we view things? It's not just appreciation of music that depends wildly on mood, I've noticed it with books too of late. One evening I read a passage and thought it was dross, that I'd jack the book in there and then. I went back to it the next night and ended up with a more charitable view. The last time I picked up that book, a couple of days ago now, I ended up back in the first camp. Now, clearly that suggests it isn't a great read, but it is also interesting the degree to which my impressions of it shifted. I think I might be done with it now but... I kinda feel like I have to give it one more chance?

Why the digression? Because thinking about that is to think, too, about this project. When I started I was itchy on the trigger finger, cutting quite a lot. I have dialed back on that some of late (I didn't excise B1 from disc 1 for example). Does that mean another chance to appreciate things, or does it mean more dross in the mix? Probably both, to different degrees.

Meanwhile the lonely piano has been joined by some other sounds. The aural tapestry is better for it, but I still don't feel that this disc is living up to yesterday's standards. It was the whirs and clicks, the obfuscation of the melodies and tunes, those subtle electronic highlights that Arnalds made a name with that made those first pieces sing. Here they are either absent or applied with more force than is required. As we approach midnight (assuming timestamps) things are darker, edgier, but rather than a coherent aesthetic evoking in me memories or thoughts of references to other mediums, 23:52 ends up presenting me with a wall of wails, not song. It's not bad but it's not what I had hoped for on the basis of yesterday evening.

Ah, now. Into the new day and there we have it. Those staccato statics, and a pulsing sound to the main instrumentation. It's more sparse than anything preceding it on this disc, but also more vital, more immediate - all because of some sonic disruption that provides a constant nagging rhythm. It reminds me a bit of Boards of Canada's Tomorrow's Harvest, which is a good thing. There is still a more urgent edge to the following piece too, though it seems to be a solo xylaphone or similar, the pace is kept up. 

Until it morphs into a recording of people moving around the studio anyway, then it mellows out and loses the urgency. Sigh.

It recovers a little in the end, through presentation of a nice central theme, but my disappointment with the piece as a whole stands, and at the moment that disappointment reflects my overall feeling on this album. As the last titled track begins, another nice key-led tune, I wonder how much today's disappointment was setup by last night's enjoyment. This is nice, but doesn't have the same wow factor, doesn't draw me in and demand my attention. It's like there's no real sell here, just a meander through some notes and sounds for the sake of it. Some of those notes and sounds are gorgeous, some less so, but on its own that isn't enough somehow. They spoiled me before.

Collaborative Works, Disc 1 - Ólafur Arnalds and Nils Frahm

Track list:

1. Four
2. Three
3. Wide Open
4. W
5. M
6. A1
7. A2
8. B1
9. Life Story
10. Love And Glory

Running time: 61 minutes
Released: 2015

OK, so another impulse purchase makes its way in before I can close out the Wedding Present box set of Peel. This time it is a collaboration between Ólafur Arnalds, of whom I am a fan, and Nils Frahm, who I don't know from Adam, but might find myself interested in after this...

These tracks are named... oddly. For the most part they say absolutely nothing about what they might contain. I find the opening notes of Four to be almost brilliantly enticing. I like the tune they play but the buzzing electro edge to them is annoying in the same way a wasp or fly in the room can be. When the tune dies out and we are left with just chimes if feels empty, unfulfilling. 

Fulfillment is something I am craving right now. April was a difficult month in a number of ways and whilst I am starting May on holiday (well, not working this week; I'm at home) I am yet to get back to a baseline where I feel truly myself, or truly human. A combination of work stress and family matters, and a growing dissatisfaction with my solitary life. I am hoping that somewhere in these swirling sounds there might be some gold dust, the touchstone to reignite my velocity on this project (I'd like to get a listen in every day between now and when I go back to work on the 8th, but...). 

Three is also very mellow and feels more complete somehow, whilst Wide Open has punching static, needle scratches, giving a staccato, radio-signal loss effect. I think this is really effective. It sounds like the tune behind these breaks would work as a fluid number but the ticks shake it up, making it sound more dense with notes than it actually is. I feel like the closest thing to this I've heard before is Jon Hopkins, not Arnalds' solo work. In places it hints at a much deeper web of sounds, but they are all inaccessible, held back behind the barrier built by the static. It could be massively frustrating and a let down, but it ends up being highly satisfying. 

W sounds like videogame music... rising tension, peaks and troughs, right out of cyberpunk. I don't mean that in a pejorative sense at all, by the by. Even listening on a sunny spring evening this piece is very effective at generating an oppressive atmosphere of dark intrigue. There isn't really that much going on in the track, and yet it is gripping for most of its length. By the end the trick has grown old, and the relaxing tension leaves me cold. 

It seems that this double-disc collection was originally 4 releases, three of which make up the one album I am listening to tonight. There has definitely been a shift in tone from the laid back sounds of that first trio of tunes to this next couple, all edgy. There is a nice rhythm to this though, more staccato, pulsing, evoking sci-fi and space. 

On the surface level this is quite a bleak sound but beneath the distant beeps and clicks and whirs there is real heart, and I find myself tapping out rhythms that aren't necessarily actually there as it plays. These two composers have created a space that invites you to hear things in it. Whether claustrophobic or wide open in tone their sounds push you to imagine others, faint echoes in their chambers, tapping time. These pieces work best when they are busy, the slower, sparser moments feel empty, if only by comparison to the main thrust of the work. 

As much as I am rather enjoying this, it is awfully samey in places, and when they hit on a theme or loop that doesn't jive with me the charm falls away fast.

I see that at the start of the 13 minute long epic, B1. A low warbling sound with a repeating pattern of odd sounds that I cannot put into words. It leaves me very cold and there is not enough variation in the first 3 minutes of the track to make the discomfiture abate. The track does evolve a bit over its run, but it never really breaks from the initial mould and I find it by far the weakest moment to date. There is just too much emphasis on repetition and those odd pattern-notes. I would argue the main meat of the track is the background, where the change really happens, but it is locked away behind these unpleasant blotchy sounds which simply make the piece too unapproachable for me. And then it ends in the most abrupt fashion... just odd.

Hopefully the last two numbers return to form... early signs are good, as Life Story is a nice piano melody that, whilst very different in tone from the early tracks does have the same base engagement, the underlying warmth of the sound, framed in a way as to draw you into the web. The rustling static that serves as percussion is so soft in places as to be almost imperceptible, but I guarantee you would miss it if it wasn't there... it adds a fuzz, a glow, to the sounds of the keys which otherwise might be too stark and cold.

With all that said, there is still a loneliness to the track, and it leaves me with a little lump in my throat as it closes and we tick over into Love and Glory, which has a similar structure. This piece is more hopeful, lighter. Uncertain but expected happiness, this feels much more a celebration, as befits its title.

Overall, then... a wonderful set of tunes, one outlier aside. It's a pity that outlier was almost 25% of the disc by time.

Cold Moon - Alela Diane and Ryan Francesconi

Track list:

1. Quiet Corner
2. Migration
3. The Sun Today
4. No Thought of Leaving
5. Cold Moon
6. Shapeless
7. Shift
8. Roy

Running time: 37 minutes
Released: 2015

So another insert now, and another new purchase. This one ordered last night after loving Alela Diane & Wild Divine. I'm hoping this will keep up the hit rate.

The opening sounds are rather lighter, airier. The vocal has a weightless quality, even where it goes deeper in tone, and the guitar work that forms the basis of the song is flowery, until the point where it is all cut back, a deliberate change of pace. There is something a little unreal about the sound, it too rounded, too bright. I lack suitable words to put my disquiet with this sound into text. It just feels as though it isn't quite grounded?

Not the strongest start, then, but the first little ripples of Migration are better. This is very sparse indeed, and so laid back it may as well be prone. It is softer, warmer and more grounded. They leave space aplenty in the first couple of minutes, and it becomes more like a leisurely delivered topic speech than a song in terms of tempo. Diane's voice is completely comfortable in this space though, and although some of the strings go a little stark in places I really like the overall effect on this one, especially when the sound grows in the latter half.

I am treating this as a lazy evening, though really I had hoped to get the listen done earlier in the day. To be honest if I hadn't really, really been struck by Alela Diane's music in the last couple of weeks I doubt I would have found the impetus to do a single listen this weekend, let alone two. In the grander scheme of things these two posts don't actually advance me, since both were new purchases and both slipped in before my current position.Thus far I don't find this anything like as appealing as the album I listened to last night, it's a little too stripped back, a little too reflective. What sold me on Wild Divine was the energy from the band, ditched here in place of Francesconi's guitar work. He brings definition, sure, but there is a dearth of urgency and tone.

Alela Diane doesn't half have a wonderful voice though.

I find the pace too low, the approach a little too noodling. The guitar work feels more suited to a solo bedroom exploration of the strings than a recorded performance, an exercise in self relaxation. Alas that doesn't translate well. Things pick up a little when more is added to the arrangement, but I can't help but feel this album is lacking by comparison to everything of hers that I have been enjoying of late. I think this is the problem of expectation. I bought this excited, expectant and hopeful. I bought Cusp blind, unknowing and was charmed. Each disc acquired since has been shaped in its appreciation by that charm - either failing to impress by comparison or surviving the pulling up of standards.

Perhaps in another mood this would appeal. To be clear I don't think it is bad as such, it's more that it is slow, lonely, and intimate - the stripped back sound, just guitar and vocal, the deliberate pacing, it feels a little confessional, a private conversation that we just happen to have been invited to assess but not partake in. There are times when this works and there are times when it perversely feels like it drives a wedge between me as the listener and the performance. Sometimes those different impressions are made within the same song, and I am struggling a little with the contrast between those moments.

Final track, Roy, has a return to the sounds that defied my words in the opening moments. It seems fitting that it ends as it began, with me far from sure. First listen caveats apply, but whilst last time out proved that a strong first impression can be made, this album didn't leave anything like that.

Complete Peel Sessions (Disc 5) - The Wedding Present

Track list:

1. John Peel Introduces the Wedding Present
2. Silver Shorts
3. Love Machine
4. Snake Eyes
5. Sports Car
6. Convertible
7. Click Click
8. My Favourite Dress
9. Real Thing
10. It's a Gas
11. Skin Diving
12. Sucker
13. Corduroy
14. Mini Prize Draw

Running time: 44 minutes
Released: 2007

So, with disc 4 of this box set we moved out of the studio and into live performances. This disc is a complete set from a 1996 BBC event, topped and tailed once more with John Peel himself. A few familiar tracks pop up again, but there are many here that haven't been heard on the previous 4 discs too.

After a break of three weeks I finally make the time for this one. I can't plead "too long" or "too much Wedding Present" because in the first instance this is a short gig set, and in the second I've hardly heard any of them in weeks. I managed to make myself (temporarily) sick of PJ Harvey's seminal Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea to and from work in the interim though!

John Peel introduces the set, then the first actual number has a tortuously long intro, but it sets up a peppy sound that the recording makes feel sparse, but I suspect in person it was a bit busier. The tune ends with an outro to match the intro... so the song itself is sandwiched between repetitive cycles that don't quite work for me. Thankfully Love Machine is straight into the meat of the song so the experience isn't repeated.

Clocks have gone forward, evenings have some light again. Hopefully this marks an uptick in weather, warmth and ultimately mood. I've been struggling for sleep lately and with work being full on I have been escaping my evenings in the cyclical grind of turn based strategy rather than more creative or expansive pursuits. I really like the lighter touch on the outro of Love Machine, sure the guitars come in for a final thrash but the tenor is nice. The crowd sound like a rowdy bunch; Gedge gives it a bit of chat between numbers (a line or two, no more), and then we're off again. The sound on this recording makes the guitars a little flat. I can hear the start of the spangly sound I associate with The Wedding Present, but it is strangled out rather than soaring free. Snake Eyes comes and goes in less than 2 minutes... it feels half baked.

The crowd noise is voracious between tracks but they drop to silence whilst the band are actually playing. It makes me wonder if this is natural or something engineered. Really like this version of Sports Car, even as I don't recognise the song from disc 3! Again, though, after the main vocal is done, the tune loses its interest. I've never seen the Wedding Present live; I don't think I've ever seen footage of them playing either... but I can imagine that David Gedge must be a pretty magnetic performer. His vision and person drives this vehicle and makes it work.

Oops! Click Click has a false start, with a predictable reaction from the crowd. Some kind of technical hitch... festivals! When it does get going the growl on the guitar part feels closer to the pickup for the recording. It's a glorious rumble, slightly fuzzy in shape but full of character, and as if to spite me for the last paragraph here it is the vocal that lets down the backing - though the tune is still better when both are in play.  Isn't it funny how taste goes in waves? I've been mostly listening to growling guitar based indie in the last week or two and forgoing the jazz and folk that formed my mainstay for much of the last year. I've been skipping more folk song on shuffle than in a long while, looking for something louder, brasher and something that will give that kick.

This is hitting the spot from that point of view.

A few of these songs have Gedge's voice backed up by a female singer; she sounds as if she's closer to the mic somehow, despite clearly being backing it doesn't always come across that way, especially on Real Thing and I find that quite jarring. The track lengths here are misleading with significant downtime scattered through the set. Much less annoying if you're actually in the audience... but there we go. I find I am warming to the sound on this set though, it has a warmth to it, which makes those guitar riffs comfortable.

Over the course of the box set (with one more to finish) we've definitely moved from a raw, too bright, too strong sound to a rounder, tempered one. The way the guitars are used hasn't changed that much, but the tone they impart has. They're still bright and breezy but they're also controlled, not overdone. They're not the star, and everyone has accepted that. There is room for them to be slower, not 100mph all the time. That said, right now I think I hanker for some really loud stuff... not a good desire to have this late on a Sunday, but the growl on Corduroy is perfectly aligned with that desire. As it fades back down a bit to allow the vocal to breathe the tune loses the immediate appeal it held in the moment, but finds a new happy medium.  This is the final number, after this is a recording of a prize draw, closing out the disc. Festivals!

Not sure what to look for in my library to pick up from there. The prize draw recording by the way has Peel and Gedge talking for 3 minutes, complete with Fast Show references and farce. The two clearly got on very well.

One to go.

Complete Peel Sessions (Disc 4) - The Wedding Present

Track list:

1. What Have I Said Now?
2. Crushed
3. Kennedy
4. Thanks
5. Bewitched
6. Granadaland
7. John Peel Interviews David Gedge, Part 1
8. Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah
9. Kennedy
10. Swimming Pools, Movie Stars
11. Click Click
12. It's a Gas
13. Spangle (Acoustic)
14. Gazebo (Acoustic)
15. Fleshworld
16. Sucker
17. The Queen of Outer Space
18. John Peel Interviews David Gedge, Part 2

Running time: 59 minutes
Released: 2007

I've made it half-way through The Wedding Present's assembled Peel Sessions. What lies ahead now? We have the first repeats that I can spot - Kennedy appearing twice, and acoustic renditions of Gazebo and Spangle from disc 3.

This disc is kicked off with an intro espousing the continuation of "fabness" (or so I hear). How very British. I guess this must be a festival recording or something because the voice was not Peel's and there is a background noise on the track that sounds a bit like general crowd sounds though it is not very distinct and could be the rough edges around the instrument parts. This doesn't sound like a very clean recording. The song, for what it's worth, is a sort of plodding but pleasant indie cycle, one very prominent guitar line and some very structural drumming. There's no sense of real interest, but neither is there anything pushing me away. It's a gently enjoyable tune, but far too long for the lack of any real hook.

Yep, definitely in front of an audience. The applause is a giveaway!

OK, so I think all of these 6 discs are live anyway (as part of the conceit of the Peel Session), but these tracks being in front of an audience not just live in a studio  it lends a different interpretation. The sounds here hark back to the first disc, the tinniness of the guitars, a flatness to the overall sound and a distance in the vocal. I am sure I have a better version of  Crushed, though ironically it's on another live album; I didn't go back and buy the studio output.

There's definitely a dullness in these recordings which lends a distance to the music. It is as if the recording was incidental and unplanned. The richness that I had become used to over the latter parts of disc 2 and all of disc 3 is absent, and with it some of the engagement. That said, Crushed and Kennedy - which here both suffer by the measures mentioned - are both tunes that showcase the energy of The Wedding Present really well. The breakneck pace is evident and a key part of their makeup, it is just a shame that the sound is a little flat.

The paciness of these first few tunes is really welcome, a good jolt to what has been a lethargic Sunday so far. I've been playing Pyre, finally, and finding it a little bit of a chore in terms of the UI and the amount of clicking it appears to take to get anywhere. It sucked up most of my morning - the characterisation is great, but I wish you could move through the story a bit faster. Now this listen is serving as a break point; this afternoon is cooking and other productive pursuits, at least it is per plan.

I don't know what it says that I find myself half loving and half loathing the tuneset so far. I love the energy and pace, the solid structure and the general tone but I am massively frustrated by the distance of the sound. A few tracks in and this is not the disc 1 scenario of guitars so spangly I had to go lie down with my eyes closed to clear my head; the harsher edge to the instruments is there, but the level of the recording neuters that effect. I'm not sure which is worse... being affected to the extent of headaches or not really feeling the effect at all because of the distance. I've looked it up in the meantime and the live event covering the first 6 tracks, which all flow together well, is the occasion of John Peel's 50th birthday. The subsequent 12 tracks, including both interviews to bookend the show, are another festival performance from the mid 90s. This disc, then, has a distinctly different flavour for those crowd dynamics.

Hearing John Peel's voice, even many years after his death (14 years ago now... how time flies) is still massively evocative, oh so familiar. I have never been the biggest listener of the radio - too much guff to put up with - but somehow Peel's style and tone made it through to me. He was a giant presence, a huge influence. For those of my generation and the one before, a true legend.

The second rendition of Kennedy loses something for being included here so soon after the first. Of course when this was originally broadcast it wouldn't have had the proximity, but here only 5 tracks have passed since it concluded last. Sound quality here is better though. Oh, but I really like the opening of Swimming Pools, Movie Stars. The peppiness here is balanced perfectly by the dryness of the vocal, the pace is positive, the sound rounded. The track loses some lustre as is goes as the pattern is set and becomes familiar, but the opening is really strong. It's dragged back, too - the lull is fought off by more guitars, a little acoustic twang then an overdriven fuzz. Nice.

Isn't our mood and appreciation fickle? Suddenly I am not feeling all that engaged, in the space of two tracks I've gone from stoked to burnt out as my mind wandered. Sure, the over-long Click Click wasn't the best thing ever but neither was it that bad, so why do I now feel nothing but a desire for the listen to close out? So frustrating (as Gedge sings on It's a Gas). That frustration and ending-wish is intensified as the acoustic delivery of Spangle kicks in. Here everything feels off, its almost like a spoiler of an insert - the sound balancing is really weird. All the focus is on Gedge's vocal and the predominant instrumentation is a really shonky piano sound from some form of keyboard. The keys sound so wrong... part out of tune, part utterly incompetent rendering of an actual piano sound.

Thankfully Gazebo seems to drop the keyboard into the background more, and here the softer sound of the amped-up acoustic guitar is nice. The focus on the vocal is still a bit too strong, and the backing becomes a mess as the bonkers keyboard asserts itself some more towards the end of the track, so overall I think I can do without these acoustic interludes.

I am struggling to reconnect, and with only two short tunes and a 30 second interview clip left to go I am not sure I will. Sucker is not an easy tune to like, but I do appreciate how it plays with the formula, particularly in the rhythm. The chorus, which involves repeating the title a few times with some vocalisations before each one, is weak, but the rhythmic structure of the verses makes up for that. It hasn't drawn me back in, but it has rather arrested the slide.

I think disc 3 is likely to remain my favourite of the set. 5 and 6 follow similar patterns to this one - live performances captured and broadcast rather than true session recordings. Still I'll make my way through them soon enough.

Complete Peel Sessions (Disc 3) - The Wedding Present

Track List:

1. California
2. Flying Saucer
3. Softly Softly
4. Come Play with Me
5. Gazebo
6. So Long, Baby
7. Spangle
8. Him or Me (What's it Gonna Be?)
9. Drive
10. Love Machine
11. Sports Car
12. Go, Man, Go
13. Blue Eyes
14. Ringway to Seatac
15. Shivers
16. Queen Anne
17. White Horses

Running time: 54 Minutes
Released: 2007

On to the third disc. After this one I'll be half way through John Peel's obsession with The Wedding Present. The first disc gave me headaches, the second gave me warm fuzzies, what will the third disc bring?

The first strains suggest this will be more like 2 than 1. The guitars are muted, relaxed even, giving more space to the voice, which feels for a change to be layered over the backing rather than embedded in it. There is a nice cadence to California, and an airiness which makes it both highly enjoyable and instantly forgettable, which is an odd combination but reflective of convergence with a more general trend in guitar music. It feels less clearly like a Wedding Present track is what I'm saying.

Flying Saucer disabuses me of the notion that they have lost their personality though. The guitar pattern has filled in again, and whilst there is still a certain distance in the vocal it isn't as far removed. A long bridge with just the wailing guitars reminds us where they came from - a more controlled snarl than anything from the early days, it feels a little dad-rock-ish, but it is also a lot more, dare I say, musical than those earlier energy filled blasts.

When the pace does rise, it maintains that extra musicality, and some added depths through a changes of tone. It's the natural rhythm of the pieces that carries you along though. No longer a youthful energy, but there all the same. When the pace is removed, such as on Come Play With Me, there is now a real character about the cocoon built by those slower strummings. That said, I am not sure the atmosphere created is quite enough to sustain the song as long as it does, and I am very grateful for the change up for the second half of the track even if it is just a loop.

It has been a long couple of weeks since I managed the last disc in this set. Life has been a bit too busy for my liking, so I have taken a couple of days off and eventually found time to do  this one, but not the two I was hoping for. Still have a tone of boring household admin to fit in today, too. Days off are just for a different type of work these days.

There is a significantly different feel to So Long, Baby. A relaxation, a "Parklife-esque" insouciance, a change of pace. Then for a track called Spangle, the sound is more of a dull growl than the titular bright sound. Ironically the next track has that very clearly, albeit wrapped in the deeper, gurning sounds. The tracks are flying by and I am only barely finding thoughts to commit to type. I am rather enjoying it though as a form of procrastination. I could do with some of the energy that has gone into thrashing those guitars; getting started on anything is causing me some issues of late.

This disc feels very different from the previous two in a couple of notable ways. Most obviously there are no Ukrainian folk songs to chunk up the indie tracks, but I think the second difference is actually the more impactful one and that is the changes of tempo. Disc 3 is for the most part significantly slower than the previous two. This drop in tempo comes with the consideration and the sophistication of the compositions; it is a more mature collection of performances of more mature songs, and probably my favourite of the three so far (remember this is just the half way mark of the collected Peel Sessions).

Go, Man, Go has a really nice melancholy to it, and that is part of the overall theme. I think these slower, broader songs suit the mood of their pieces better. Whilst the fast pace creates a nice contrast with the lyrical content on the earlier tracks, here the two feel in sync, building a more coherent song set.

I am falling into repetition; the only thoughts I have to share are the ones already written. On that basis I might just relax through the... oh wait. What the hell is that? Shivers is really odd, a complete change of tone and instrumentation. All muffled, old-timey strings and off-key piano. I find the whole thing rather unsettling and unpleasant. In another context it might work but here it feels off and I am not sure I want to maintain it. Thankfully a more familiar sound is back for Queen Anne - though it has a consistency of vocal approach with Shivers. There is a little more of an edge to the guitar parts here too, a nice ringing sound that fleshes out the sound on the track.

The final number is slow, percussion given prominence, the voice given a wide crucible. It is a bit slow and low for a finale and doesn't really work in its positioning here; it is a rather nice track but a huge let down on the end of the disc.

Complete Peel Sessions (Disc 2) - The Wedding Present

Track List:

1. Davni Chasy
2. Vasya Vasyliok
3. Zadumav Didochok
4. Verkhovyno
5. Why Are You Being So Reasonable Now?
6. Unfaithful
7. Take Me!
8. Happy Birthday
9. Zavtra
10. Sertsem I Dusheyu
11. Cherez Richku, Cherez Hai
12. Dalliance
13. Heather
14. Blonde
15. Niagara

Running time: 57 Minutes
Released: 2007

So, after part 1 of this set underwhelmed me, before picking up towards the back end, what of part 2? There are two more sets of Ukrainian folk songs here, which bodes well, and an overall longer runtime which I hope means that things will be slightly less frantic.

We start where the first disc left off, in the middle of sessions dedicated to Ukrainian folk songs. Davni Chasy actually reminds me of Greek music a little, but I think that is because this sort of structure is common to a lot of different folk cultures in parts of Europe east of here. It's the slower moments that give me that link, when it speeds up, or when the vocal is present there is much less of a Grecian feel. It's nice enough, but really not likely to sell anyone on the concept.

Sunday evening. I have just about recovered from last week, and am using this as my lead in to a wind-down, knowing I have a busy couple of days, at least, to start the week. Fitting this listen in feels a little forced, and I find myself a bit distant from it in these early stages as a result. If I had more energy or people about, this high tempo, high flux folk would be much more appealing. As it is, I can't relax into it because it is unfamiliar, and I cannot share in the motion with anyone. The third track is slower, darker, and more immediately relevant to how I feel, I find myself getting swept up a little in its melodies, the big brooding vocal carrying me along.

I find this fascinating, the cultural crossover. It's not as if The Wedding Present were a folk band in Blighty, so for them to go to the other edge of Europe to get these tunes and faithfully capture them is a stretch. I'm glad they did, making them more accessible to ears such as mine. Sure - you could argue that there are plenty of traditional artists who could do with the custom instead, but without being in the region how likely was I to ever stumble across their fare?

When the true British indie returns, it is with a far more muted sound than on disc 1. There isn't anything like the harsh edge to the guitar part, freeing me up to enjoy the tempo, the growl and the peppy backing. Here the guitars are freed to sing without that really tinny, metallic ring. Yes, they get repetitive, but that structure is what carries the track forwards, gives it the momentum it needs to support the characteristic vocal.

There's something reassuring about this.

I wonder how Take Me! is going to work as an 8 minute epic at the breakneck pace that the guitars and drums go at. Chords strummed so fast they're just structure. It works though - because all the character comes from David Gedge. I suppose the energy output must've kept everyone warm; it's shaping up to be sub-zero here in the coming week, lots of boring scraping ice off the car in the mornings. Must remember that and get an early night, and hit snooze less first thing. I realise this will sound odd, but the lack of a fine melody in these tracks helps. You can sort of tune out the higher functions and get swept away on the rush of energy without losing too much. It carries you along, unworried, imparting a sense and tone rather than specific notation. The song never drags, despite never seeming to vary all that much, it just is, and that works really, really, well.

We then get an audio sample of Marilyn Monroe's presidential Happy Birthday before the guitars launch back in. I have to say I am enjoying this disc way more than the last one.

We dive back into foreign roots music again next. Three more tunes, the first of which starts very slow and dark before a crescendo starts to up the pace... then it stops, resets. Frustration, in a good way. I love things like this - the start slow, build up approach. Here we get it a few times over in the one track, though on balance the energy is killed slightly too soon on the first couple. The third is given a good run at speed to take us through and out the other end of the track.

Oh, nice. The third track of this trio is the first time the spangly Wedding Present guitar sound has felt so prevalent in the folk-inspired material, the drums are modern and snappy too, making this a really effective hybrid. It all bottoms out midway through and you hear snatches of what I guess is a more traditional sound for the second half of the track, but the synergy in style really works well.

The last four tracks are firmly back in northern England, though Dalliance is slower, with far more space than I have become used to. Busier sounds creep in as it goes and it builds up to a big sound, driven again by those guitars - harsher again, but that edge welcome as they fill in the hole that was left for them. There is a really satisfying growl to the track by the time it closes rather suddenly. I get the feeling that these are tracks from a matured band - more space, more assurance in their sound, less need for the big noise for the sake of it, but the nous to use it for effect.

I like this more considered Wedding Present, and as with the first disc I am ending the listen with more of a connection to the music than in the early stages of the album. There it was a switch to the folk songs, here it is the mellowing, the slowing, and the rounding out of the sounds winning me over. There are still big rich noises here, but they are more immediately inviting ones, encouraging that gentle head nod, or slight sway. I'm smiling as Niagara progresses. I know it will all close out soon but it has mellowed me out well. This is why I didn't cut anything from disc one... it was all too much in order, but I know this band can do good things for me; right place, right time this time. It was less frantic, it was more mature, it was more me. I liked this one a lot.

Complete Peel Sessions (Disc 1) - The Wedding Present

Track list:

1. You Should Always Keep in Touch With Your Friends
2. It's What You Want That Matters
3. This Boy Can Wait
4. Felicity
5. All About Eve
6. Don't Laugh
7. Never Said
8. Don't Be So Hard
9. Hopak
10. Give My Love to Kevin
11. Something and Nothing
12. A Million Miles
13. Getting Nowhere Fast
14. Katrusya
15. Svitit Misyats
16. Tiutiunyk
17. Yikhav Kozak Za Dunai
18. Hude Dnipro Hude

Running time: 46 minutes
Released: 2007

The first of a big box set now. A former friend got me into The Wedding Present, a big favourite of the late legendary DJ John Peel, and as a result I picked up this compilation of sessions the band recorded for Peel's show. There are 6 discs in total... that could take me a while.

Thankfully this first disc is a packed one, 16 in 46, and it kicks us off with a number which sets a tone I expect to be kept. All frantic guitars, northern vocals and pacy tempo. The title is a little rebuke, too. I'm not good at keeping in touch with anyone, friend or otherwise.

I feel a little like there is a time and a place for this sort of guitar band, and that time and place doesn't really feel like mid-afternoon on a Sunday in January when I have other things to do, but I am squeezing this in to try to keep some kind of rhythm up. My weeks have been so tiring that finding space for more than one listen in 7 days is unlikely at the moment. If I can stick to one a week I'll be doing alright in general. That aside, I am dissing the music a bit that sentiment... I have never been a big fan of guitar for the sake of guitar, which is what a whole load of indie bands feel like to me. There is more to The Wedding Present than that - David Gedge's lyrics and vocals are a real touchpoint - but when crunching a lot of these tunes into a short period of time it does get a little overbearing.

The super-fast nature of the playing gives a level of intricacy that I struggle to follow, so I am left with a more generic sense of tone and pace that becomes a bit wearing after a while. There is a sort of similarity with the hardcore of, say, the Minor Threat discography I listened to recently in terms of the dominant feeling, but there are a couple of key differences. One, these tracks go on a little longer, and two the edge is a little less. This means that each track has a less powerful impact and also has just long enough to tick over into trying. This makes a complete works like this quite punishing.

I suspect that, too, it catches me in a bad frame of mind for this up-tempo, slightly downtrodden but spangly combo. I really feel like I need space and time right now, and these claustrophobic guitars are a polar opposite of that. I like the songs better when the guitar work recedes to play second fiddle to the vocal, it feels a little as though the balance isn't quite right elsewhere. Part of it is that the guitars are really stark and harsh, a metallic spangle that rattles around in my head, echoing off the inside of my skull and causing my temples to flare. I suspect this might be something that is less of an obstacle on their studio albums, when post-production may have toned down some of the rougher edges. At points here and there I find snatches of more refined sound that I really like, but that burning itch of annoyance at the harsher sounds is not going away.

It must sound like I hate this, right?

Well, that's not entirely true. I think it's fair to say that I don't like consuming it like this - my problem is the concentration of tracks not the songs themselves. I would never choose to take this disc and play it in a scenario like this one, where I have to listen to the tracks in order again, but remove the persistence and things look a lot nicer. A single track or really fast and busy guitars supporting that distinctive melancholic half-spoken vocal? Much more appealing. Likewise the rhythms - it's all a little one-paced (express!) to be consumed like this.

Every time the guitar is toned down a bit - its harsher edge tempered or the volume lowered, either one - the songs come alive for me. A Million Miles (yeah, we've got that far without a single tune being called out by name after the first) is a really nice track, the guitars are still urgent, fast and incessant, but they are flattened so that they don't feel like someone is rattling my head around. That carries over to Getting Nowhere Fast, too. These tracks have all the energy and attitude of the earlier numbers but tempered, the instrumentation lacking the piercing qualities that have made enjoying this tough.

We then dive into the Ukrainian folk songs. I don't really know anything of the story about how a northern English indie band ended up playing folk tunes from the eastern edge of Europe. I suppose I could and should Google it. I immediately find myself relating to this though. Sure, it's a little cheesy and conforming to stereotypes in places, but there is a sense of fun and joy in these tunes that the original Wedding Present material didn't quite share, despite some common characteristics. These tunes also lack the vocals (for the most part), not surprisingly.  I am as surprised as anyone else at how when you take away the bit I most enjoyed from the earlier tracks you end up with tunes I enjoy more... but of course there are other changes. Here the forms that are being followed are more respectful of space and time than the frenetic indie tracks, the sounds are more dictated by tradition than individual vision.

As the final number begins, starting at a stately pace, but promising to speed up - quickly delivered - I am left wondering what to make of this disc. It is just one sixth of the peel sessions. It was tough going for me to being with - the latter half has been very pleasing. I do like the combination of high energy and blue emotion that characterize the band, but those strings need tempering to become something I can truly appreciate. Tempted to scrap a large part of this, but I will hold off for now to see how the rest of the box set goes.

Complete Madness - Madness

Track list:

1. Embarrassment
2. Shut Up
3. My Girl
4. Baggy Trousers
5. It Must Be Love
6. The Prince
7. Bed and Breakfast Man
8. Night Boat to Cairo
9. House of Fun
10. One Step Beyond
11. Cardiac Arrest
12. Grey Day
13. Take It or Leave It
14. In the City
15. Madness
16. The Return of the Los Palmas 7

Running time: 45 minutes
Released: 1982

Why did I buy this? I'm not sure.

I am shocked at the release date. I remember a number of these tunes from my childhood, yet this best-of was released when I wasn't yet two. They were clearly baked into the British psyche of the 80s.

OK, so that opening line is a little unfair. The very first chords of Embarassment remind me why I picked this up... there's a grubby but honest charm about Madness' upbeat tones. It's never ever going to touch "favourite" levels, but its good for injecting a simple small smile into a grey day. It's been trying pathetically to snow outside, so the warm brassy sounds are a nice antidote.

That these 16 old tunes are crammed into 45 minutes like sardines in a tin means the listen will fly by fast and I can move on to more considered musical selections. There is a definite element of lowest common denominator about these lads, but popular does not have to mean bad. I am actually surprised at the amount of space and time there has been in the first two songs given the sub-3 minute average running.

I don't find these tunes to be very provoking of thought or words. There's something too familiar about them I guess... a sort of comfort space that has my mind switched off. That said, as Baggy Trousers starts, I am reminded that this song formed part of my English lessons at school, some 25 years ago. OK, only one lesson, but it came out of the blue, and unfortunately I can't remember the explanation or outcomes that would make that odd anecdote more interesting. I guess with the state of my music library now, this era of Madness is the equivalent of a palette cleanser between courses of a posh meal, though one that can throw occasional surprises.

It Must Be Love is one of those tunes that is so heavily scorched into my mind through over-saturation, and cheesy though it undoubtedly is, I think it holds up pretty well. That doesn't mean an awful lot since we can be frighteningly uncritical of things that have become second nature in this way, however for my purposes this un-self-conscious and mushy track manages to bring a smile.  This ballad is followed by a bouncy number that has me thinking of The Beatles over and above the other influences, one song in particular which I cannot recall the name of (as I have never been a Beatles fan).

I have made that admission on this blog before. It's almost a crime in the UK to be a music snob but not see the Beatles as the best thing ever, though I somehow suspect that is not so true for the generation behind me in snobbery. Wait, did I just call myself a music snob whilst listening to Madness? Something doesn't add up there.

Snob cannot be the right word.

I try to avoid the term "fan" as far as possible, because fandom is not something I identify with at all. Sure, the point of this blog is to go through my music, calling out what I like, what I don't like, what surprises me, etc., and in the course of that we'll encounter several artists I value very highly, but fan carries connotations that go beyond any level of devotion that I have been able to find.

I remain surprised by how much space and time these tunes seem to have, by the by. They pack a fair bit into short runs, perhaps because the general tempo is high. The other side of that is that yes, I am finding my thoughts riffing off general themes and trends rather than specific cues in the songs, which, thinking about it, might come back to the level of subconscious familiarity, not the conscious one. What do I mean by that? I think with the tunes that I am consciously familiar with - those that I have sought out and played to death, I would be more inclined to spout off about why I am so attached to them. Here the patterns are kind of ingrained, rote, unthinking. I am not following the grooves, the melodies, the beats of the tracks, rather I am letting my mind wander off whilst old patterns unwind around me.

Yet in doing so, this is turning out to produce more words than most listens, even if fewer of them directly relate to the sounds playing out. There has been no comment on the style, little consideration of the instrumentation etc. Perhaps that is because I rather expect everyone else to have had Madness baked into them too, which will not be true for children of the 90s, or anyone not British. It seems to me that there is no point me typing out a summary though since I can link to one instead.

Ugh, I got distracted by reading the Wiki link, bad form. I pull myself away as some less familiar songs hit. Sure, the same old patterns are evident in the music but I am not sure where they are going this time. It's nice to be mildly surprised for a change though. There are some odd, but effective vocalisations on In the City, for example, that make me think of old videogame sound effects.

My typing has run out of steam, my brain run out of words. The denouement is in effect, this Madness is over. I think I will cut a couple off the end in the final reckoning, as the fun quotient dipped sufficiently to not make the tracks interesting.

The Complete Kismet Acoustic - Jesca Hoop

Track list:

1. Silverscreen
2. Summertime
3. Out the Back Door
4. Seed of Wonder
5. Enemy
6. Love Is All We Have
7. Intelligentactile101
8. Havoc in Heaven
9. Reves dans le creux
10. Money
11. Love and Love Again
12. Paradise
13. Worried Mind

Running time: 56 minutes
Released: 2012

I don't recall what got me into Jesca Hoop. I mean, I remember that it was Undress, but not the whys of picking up that album. I loved it though, and still do, although to be fair my epiphany wasn't that long ago... maybe 2 years tops? It wasn't until late last year I got around to ordering more older material though, including this one; I haven't received the physical disc yet - sourcing is apparently an issue - but the digital auto-rip will do!  It is a first listen for me too... digital buys not usually getting dedicated play when they are grabbed.

The opening guitar is not quite what I was expecting... a touch classical. The vocal reminds me of Lisa Hannigan, and someone else I cannot immediately place, in its tone, breathy and close. When the chorus hits, it is more reminiscent of the Jesca Hoop tunes that first engaged me, and overall its a gentle start, but Silverscreen feels like it goes on too long at least twice; it fakes an end then finds a continuation.

I am hoping this listen will put an end to my listlessness. The past few evenings, and all day today (it's Saturday) I have done nothing of note, not feeling like I want to do anything. Brain won't countenance thinky things, body (and the woeful winter weather) not supporting ideas of doing anything more active. I pine for what Hoop is singing about now... summer; I would take spring. I dislike the dark, I care not for the cold.

So far there hasn't been any of the really cool use of rhythm that sold Undress to me utterly. Instead these seem more traditional songs, less creative, less sure. The guitar has a nice snap to it, and there is a lively beat to Out the Back Door, but it feels... young? Uncertain, following more than leading... this tune is a step up from the first two though in terms of more than a passing interest. Hoop's voice here is light, also reinforcing the feeling of youth - though I'm pretty sure she was not that young when this was recorded.

I start to hear some themes and tells that tie this to the other material I am familiar with. Nice use of lyrics outside of traditional line structures, for instance, was one of the features that made me fall in thrall of Hoop's songs, and her vocal style really supports this approach, apparent sharp short breaths punctuating long stretches with constant vocal, hold-overs with long notes as the tune catches up. I like the way it draws my ear in, I like the way it stands out, and the sense of falling forward, onward ever after.

I have had an odd start to the year one way or another, and I feel a little all at sea with 2018. I have been finding it hard to focus my mind right outside of work, which has eaten up the odd evening too. Sleep has been hard to come by, waking early regardless of what time I bed down, not wanting to crawl out into cold mornings. I have been more or less constantly tired... except when I was ill, when I felt sparkier than I had been for a while. Life is odd, as I say. I am finding this album soothing and a little soporific. I don't mean that it is boring me, but that it is relaxing. The single guitar is clear and tuneful, but also soft and repetitive. The lone female voice not always urgent... those long lines absent from some songs, lapsing into repeated choruses.

Looking down the track list at the start of this listen - which is a nice break from "Complete" works - I had hopes for Intelligentactile101. Based on the name alone I figured this would be one of the less conventional tracks. There is a child-like aspect to it, a playfulness to the simple melody. That said it also feels a little underdone, like the structure really needed a bit more (most noticeably percussion) to make it work. I suspect I might prefer the original version. Like Undress, The Complete Kismet Acoustic is a re-take of another album. I don't (currently) own Kismet but I think its fair to say that I will soon. I didn't own Hunting My Dress first either.

This line here to break up the sadly uniform paragraph structures.

Sad that I had to do that, but I haven't been flowing with ideas for short, snappy insights relating to the music. It feels like I have been listening to this for a very long time, but I am only just over half way through. I think this is probably more a statement on how restless and unsettled I have been feeling more than a stick to beat the album with though. Anyone who has read one of these posts before will be aware that I am never keen to over-criticise first listens - not that those people exist.

Ooh, Hoop has gone for French. I think I have another version of Reves dans le Creux on another disc, I vaguely remember having to rip it from physical media. Yeah. Snowglobe. I really like the effect that songs in foreign tongues can elicit, I am reminded of Julie Fowlis' Gaelic, or Regina Spektor lapsing into Russian. I don't think its pure exoticism, I think it is more the change up.

Money has more to it, there is a little more instrumentation here, another layer, and more interest as a result. This has the air of a track that could grow into a favourite, even if at the same time it seems to flout the premise (I doubt that all these extra sounds are acoustic). There is a hint here of the playing with rhythm that sucks me in every time I hear the undressed version of Tulip, for example. It's not as pronounced here, but there's a cool to it all the same.

As the music falls back into a more sparse and less immediately engaging pattern, I find myself thinking this doesn't really work as an album. Tonally something like Money, but to a lesser extent things like Out the Back Door and Intelligentactile101 too, don't sit well alongside noodle-y little songs over classical-style guitar sounds. I find myself wondering whether the same applies to the non-acoustic original. I will be able to hear in due course.

Complete Discography - Minor Threat

Track list:
  
1. Filler
2. I Don't Wanna Hear It
3. Seeing Red
4. Straight Edge
5. Small Man, Big Mouth
6. Screaming at a Wall
7. Bottled Violence
8. Minor Threat
9. Stand Up
10. 12XU
11. In My Eyes
12. Out of Step (With the World)
13. Guilty of Being White
14. Steppin' Stone
15. Betray
16. It Follows
17. Think Again
18. Look Back and Laugh
19. Sob Story
20. No Reason
21. Little Friend
22. Out of Step
23. Cashing In
24. Stumped
25. Good Guys (Don't Wear White)
26. Salad Days

Running time: 47 minutes
Released: 1989

I am hoping this ends up being another Action Image Exchange, a surprising and intense experience but one well worth stepping outside of my normal boundaries for. Similar crunching of tracks into a small run time, similar provenance (I believe I received both together)... similar outcome? We shall see.

It is pretty amazing how short songs can begin with long notes. I suspect it might be perceptions - they seem long in hindsight because everything that follows is so short and sharp - but nonetheless you can pack a lot into a sub-2 minute runtime if you try. 

The opening exchanges are not as full on or utterly mind blowing as after-impression of Fig 4.0 that comes to my mind, but the pace is vital and the sound is constantly shifting. I guess this form of punk is music's equivalent of sprinters... go all out for a short while, burn out and recover to go again. All action, all mouth, all strut. A million miles from my normal fare, but totally relate-able and enjoyable. I write that with a knowing smirk, because I don't really feel that in the moment. 

I am feeling a detachment from myself, a tiredness and ennui that made starting this listen harder than it should have been and has led to finding ways around doing other things today, too. I am self-aware enough to put the detachment on me though, not the sound. 

I am still tapping along, head bobbing, slight side sway. I am appreciating, but not really feeling it. 

Looking down the track list, the tempo of the album might slow down - the tracks trend longer later, and this concerns me because I can't see these rough edges supporting a more traditional length of piece. Not only that, but it is the constant cutting from one riff to another, one screed to a second, one pulsing, hammering beat to a facsimile, that gives the form its pulse, its lifeblood. Sure the band could write decent tracks, produce skilled output, but the really sweet piece about the short but intense track is that... it doesn't last long enough for its violence, its abrasiveness, to really hit home. It's like the classic trope of being dazed, shocked and surprised by an attack and not realizing the actual physical damage.

Sure enough, as I hit the second half, and the longer tracks (meaning those over 2 minutes - it's not like these are epics) I feel a little bit of the magic wearing off. The repetitions become too frequent, the impact lost by their familiarity. The same tricks have been employed all the way through, but they are seen and heard now, the wow factor is gone. I suppose I can point to my ears starting to feel like they have been assaulted to illustrate that the tone and pace hasn't all gone, but my ethereal detachment has vanished and now I am a glum guy giving less shits. 

You know what though? I would quite like more of this really fast, visceral material. My attempts to find more in the punk field that gels with me have not worked out that well. Steps taken away from the groups or albums I received together as a package have resulted in anemic, impact-less finds. Yet I am loathed to stick my toe in deeper for fear of the bad and the bile that can sometimes swill around counter-cultures. Basically I don't trust myself to find the good stuff and don't want to wade through the shit, which is likely to be actively un-enjoyable. Bad buys in other genres might be boring or bland, but they are less likely to be offensive. 

That same ability to polarise though... that is absolutely critical to the impact. Without it, if these tracks were anodyne, there would be nothing. 

I should be glad for what I have. Isn't that kind of the point of this site?

As ever with these inserts that lie outside the majority direction of these pages, which I guess I would characterise as Folk/Jazz/Singer-Songwriter... cue loss of train of thought. I don't know where I was going with that. It might have been "good to expand horizons", it might have been "quality wins out" it might have been "music has more in common..." or any number of other half-baked or half-formed thoughts.  I am glad for these little inserts though... the harder edge to the guitars, the driving riffs, the shouted lyrics, the additional personality. 

The longest track on the album is Cashing In, at 3:44. Actually I really like this one; there is something cathartic about the commonly repeated chorus. I get the sense that this track has a story behind it and the softer sound on the track is part of a deliberate sell out narrative - but that the band have still managed to make their deliberately half-assed effort sound and feel like them. If you're in, you're in, or something. I'm probably way off base here, but it felt like a statement, and not a face value one. 

The disc meanders to a close really, Good Guys doesn't have the heart, and Salad Days is Minor Threat Lite, not full fat. Overall I am less astounded and enraptured by this than I was hoping to be, but still pretty pleased in the end. Fig 4.0 made more of an impression, And None Of Them Knew They Were Robots stick with me more, but I am pleased to have heard all Minor Threat chose to offer.