Break Stuff - Vijay Iyer Trio

Track list:

1. Starlings
2. Chorale
3. Diptych
4. Hood
5. Work
6. Taking Flight
7. Blood Count
8. Break Stuff
9. Mystery Woman
10. Geese
11. Countdown
12. Wrens

Running time: 70 minutes
Released: 2015

So much for momentum. A busy and varied week back at work, a bunch of evening engagements and a full day of boardgaming on Saturday mean that another week has passed with no post. This purchase was directly related to a positive opinion of Accelerando back in 2014. Like many new buys, I am not sure if I ever gave it a listen before now... possibly thinking "it's a B, it'll surface soon" at the time. Over a year later (there are a lot of Bs it turns out), its time to finally give it a go.

It has been a mild winter until the last couple of weeks, and I find myself shivering along to the trembling high notes that open Starlings. It's a strange piece that never really seems to get going, and yet disappears in no time... so I have to check and I find that somehow I started it playing in the lead out. What the hell? Starting again (how I didn't want to have to do that on a disc that runs over an hour already), there is a much more rounded track here. Heavy percussion (all relative) and a sparse, much lighter piano, though the tones are not as flighty as the volume setting, a little disturbing in places... unsettling. It wouldn't feel out of place soundtracking some dark night scene. The piano fades into the shivering notes that I first heard as the piece closes and this time I let it run on into Chorale, which has a much more stately air.

Slow, piano alone to begin with before the bass and drums are added as soft undertones. The character of the track changes a minute or more in, the volume rising the support growing in strength and the playing more statement like. An almost funereal tone jettisoned for a more recognisably jazzy approach. It is still a little tempestuous though, not easy listening and not a relax back into things tune, notes roiling around with beats and crashes. I am not sure why but I am picturing someone struggling to stay afloat on a troubled sea, cast overboard. Like with Starlings, the ending has a different character - it almost immediately quietens, stills, then stops. Neither of these pieces have really conformed to my hopes for piano-led jazz, which I really want to have soothe and relax me, even when it has a stronger or more energetic presentation.

It might be the cold (it's not that cold really!) but I find myself struggling to type today. Fingers going over all the wrong keys, mind ahead of hands, gobbledygook arising from my digits and a lot of backspace delete. Diptych is also somewhat edgy. There is no pattern here to sink into and it feels broken, pieces put together every which way. It works, in a sense, but it feels like graft to get through it. Hood is staccato to a fault, disjointed, disembodied sounds somehow wound together in a way that  nevertheless manages to offer something more. It has an intensity about it, mostly created by hammering the same notes a lot. The effect is like a mash-up, snippets of other tunes looped several times each and cut in and amongst each other. There are points where those loops are left to go too long and too many cycles, but generally they make a good fist of moving the pattern along before each segment gets unbearably repetitive.

This is, I feel an album that - if played to a non-jazz enthusiast - would confirm several stereotypes about the genre. Its a little all over the place, unstructured and giving the impression that there was no goal, or that the group didn't know what they were trying to achieve when they set out on any given track. I suppose that if you take the album title as ethos it makes a bit more sense; break the rules, break with tradition, break the mould... yet all whilst conforming to the outside viewpoint. There are elements of... reggae or dub rhythms in places, which gave my ear a prod, there is a lot going on. There is a swirl of sounds, short and quick transitions, no one theme getting a long play treatment. Its all a little much; I must still be tuckered out from yesterday's mental exertions. There are elements here I like, and I think this album enriches others by its presence. For each prematurely killed theme, I value Esbjörn Svensson's best works more. Break Stuff provides a contrast, and that is valuable in itself, not that there aren't other merits here.

Blood Count is a softer, piano-centric tune, an oasis of calm amidst the calamitous crashings and ever-shifting sands of the other pieces. It feels a little out of place, lonely and lost. I very much like it for itself and for providing contrast within the context of the work, so I don't have to look outside the disc for reference. The title track picks up this baton, too. Whilst it returns to a busier sound, it provides a tune with a sense of continuity that I found missing in the earlier tracks, then breaks itself as if to make a point. Its effective, though when it gets stuck in a rut of repeating short phrases soon thereafter the magic of the effect is quick to wear off. I find myself rather confused, not sure whether I really like this or cannot stand it for itself. I then find myself wondering whether that has something with the ossification of taste with age. I have definitely been buying less new music in the past year or two, and keeping up with new releases has gone out the window entirely. In my mind's eye I still crave novelty, but how true is that really?

Some of the brasher sounds here are novel, and some of the combinations - the playing really is exceptional in its meshing of the three instruments - are delightful. I still seem to be wavering on whether much of it is enjoyable though. Constantly wondering about how this doesn't seem to stack up to favourites rather than appreciating what it is. There is always a line somewhere; is Break Stuff crossing one? 

The opening sounds of Geese could, if you squint, be taken as the honking those animals make. This beginning is trying - sparse to the point that I am confused as to whether some of the softer sounds I hear are on the record or background noise coming in from outside. Certainly that emergency siren is the road, but other more subtle squeaks and susurrations? By the half-way mark the tune has picked up and is offering more. I was about to say some consistent theme again, but it abruptly broke and changed on me, turning into a plodding yet irregular, disconnected stroll. That pattern is interesting, though I don't like how they implemented the switch, and it develops into a more easily followed strand again.

One thing I will say for certain... this is not Sunday lunchtime music. This time of the week should be about many things, but not hard work, and simply keeping up with Iyer's piano at times is exhausting. He can certainly rattle those keys apace when he wants to, and the breakneck speed at which ideas are picked up, explored and discarded over the course of this album means you are racing to keep up. That's why I liked Blood Count so much - it was an opportunity to switch off a bit whilst still paying attention. Many of the other tracks are dense with either sheer note count or a multitude of different sub-clauses which are picked up and then dumped in short order. As we head into the final piece and the final few minutes, the one sentence summation is "all over the shop." Yet for all that I am disinclined to start cutting pieces out, as if doing so would somehow diminish what was left. Part of that may be the problems that I would have in identifying which tunes to drop, but much is that sense of worth, of difference, and the perspective they offer on music beyond the limits of this disc. Whilst I am waffling on, Wrens is actually proving a much more accessible closer, a more tuneful use of the piano, and the bass and drums supporting in a more traditional manner. I wonder if there is any significance to the fact that first and last tracks are both named for birds, which is probably a suitably random question on which to close.

Break it Yourself - Andrew Bird

Track list:

1. Desperation Breeds
2. Polynation
3. Danse Carribe
4. Give It Away
5. Eyeoneye
6. Lazy Projector
7. Near Death Expereince Expereince
8. Things Behind The Barn
9. Lusitania
10. Oprheo Looks Back
11. Sifters
12. Fatal Shore
13. Hole In The Ocean Floor
14. Belles

Running time: 60 minutes
Released: 2012

Whistling man time. That's how I think of Andrew Bird, even if it doesn't necessarily reflect in all of his works. My introduction to him was a track that had a lot of him whistling and so he is forever described.

This album starts with a jolt - a discordant noise startles me as I press play, before it settles into the sort of soft acoustic fare I would expect from Bird, his voice lying above a simple little melody. Arguably his pieces are better in the bridges, away from the vocal. There those simple ditties become more elaborate tapestries of a variety of sounds, all of which are fairly relaxing, fairly straightforward, but which mesh really well. That said, Desperation Breeds has a couple of really sharp tones and warbles which are a little too high and too acute for my taste. It is the end of a week off and I have come over all tired and despondent about going back to work tomorrow. Or rather about not having really managed to achieve enough whilst off. I completed and checked off a number of tasks, but some key goals for the week remain unmet even whilst unconsidered items got tackled. This post is me running away from any more, into something I promised myself I would find time for.

Polynation is a weird little interlude before the third track. Danse Carribe has a nice gentle flow to it, strings and guitar with drums. It has a pastoral air to begin with before sounds that I guess approximate steel drums with other instruments and lend the name pop up, along with our first instance of whistling on the record. It then morphs into a folky dance number. Overall it is a bit of a hodge-podge of a tune, but a very pleasantly diverting one. This sort of meandering number is typical of what drew me to Bird's music. This is, of course, not the first time he has appeared on this page. Bird's style is idiosyncratic, I can't really say I have anything else quite like this - wandering all over the place. Give It Away is staccato to the point of obnoxiousness for a large part of its run, but it is tailed by a lovely little tune and duet.

There is another different tone at the start of the oddly-named Eyeoneye, a more standard structure in some ways. This is the track that gives the album its name, a song about self-heartbreak? More whistles in the middle of it, but that quirk aside the form of the song could easily be any number of other artists, but the style... I can't quite decide whether I like it a lot or whether I am bored by it. It wavers between brilliance and a flatness that I can't quite describe.

My challenge for the coming week is to keep up the momentum of these listens that I have, largely, been able to establish over my holiday. Sure, I missed a couple of days but I broke the habit of mooching instead of addressing the task, albeit one I set myself and only I care about whether I continue (let alone complete). It's one thing to pick these up when I am free and haven't expended mental energy by doing a day's work; it's another to find evening time during working weeks and amidst other plans. Lazy Projector is a nice Birdian number, it has passed by whilst I mull my immediate future, and then we get another oddly titled track. I'm not sure I want to experience the Near Death Experience Experience, but here it is. It has a nice motion to it, a roll, muted strings and percussion carrying the tune effortlessly, jauntily, along. Odder sounds appear in and around this core, but the song's charm is in the basic pairing,

Ugh, mental tiredness is making finding anything interesting a chore to type. Another little interlude has sailed by before we land on Lusitania. Sinking ships indeed. I mentioned on Armchair Apocrypha that I like Andrew Bird's voice. It isn't just the timbre, its not necessarily pitch perfect delivery. Its just a homely, welcome sound. On this album he seems to be sharing vocal with a female voice, and there is a particularly nice harmony on this track. The jauntiness is back, with distinct echoes of... I guess Penguin Cafe Orchestra; Orpheo Looks Back is probably the nicest track on the album thus far. There is a real sense of... something to it. A folky edge? I dunno... hard to articulate, too tired.

Some of the sounds on Sifters are a little too flat for me, but the song itself is pleasant; when Bird isn't singing, it feels a bit pointless, lifeless. When his emotion-infused vocal is applied it gives the track that second layer that it needs to really click. This latter part of the album seems to lean toward the sparse which is a shame, not where I think the artist's strengths lie. He builds and intertwines sounds very well, and so when stripped right back to a melody and some percussion as is the case on Fatal Shore my interest suffers. This tune is also soporifically slow, relaxed, chilled... not helping! It's far too early to go to bed yet, though an early night (and a chance to read a couple of chapters before getting it) are the only other things on my to do list for this evening other than dinner.

Hole in the Ocean Floor is 8 minutes long; I really hope that it has something to it to justify the length, some heft and weight to sustain it that far. It does not start well from that point of view... too slow and sparse, but a nice enough little melody. It continues stumbling on this route for 4 minutes, at which point I start to lose interest. It's not that the tune is unpleasant, it's just a bit of a wander - which allows my mind to do the same. At which point it loses my attention and offers little by way of an attempt to draw me back.

The final track is humourously named "Belles" as it is all chimes. It reminds me a little of Sigur Rós for some reason - particularly warm winter scenes from the film Heima. The chiming lasts a couple of minutes then departs, without ever amounting to more. It leaves a strange silence - they felt like they should have been building to something, or at least fading out a bit more gently. I am left feeling less enthused than I expected to be before I began... I put that down to my state of mind rather than any real fault in the music.

Boys Outside - Steve Mason

Track list:

1. Understand My Heart
2. Am I Just a Man
3. The Letter
4. Yesterday
5. Lost & Found
6. I Let Her In
7. Stress Position
8. All Come Down
9. Boys Outside
10. Hound on My Heel

Running time: 40 minutes
Released: 2010

Blimey, is this really 6 years old? Time flies. I really liked this album when it was released but have listened to it a lot less frequently of late. Looking forward to this one.

Mason's multiple personalities have surfaced before on this blog (see Black Gold), but this effort apparently followed a serious depressive episode, which might be one of the reasons I connected with it. It has many, many echoes of The Beta Band, ditches the hardest edges of electro from Black Affair, and instead crafts very approachable songs. Am I Just a Man is a pretty perfect example of this - radio friendly rhythm, poppy tones, but with a darkness lurking in the bass. It fades in influence compared to the rather uplifting vocal and the overall message of the song is a pretty positive one despite the topic. Its a song I identify with on a couple of levels.

I missed out on doing this yesterday - time vanished on me - and somehow I have lost an hour or so this morning too. My week off is almost over, just the regular weekend to go now. The Letter continues the dark and light theme. This drops the electronica for percussion and strings and a more subdued tone. The vocal is muted, regretful, with a crescendo of support in the chorus. Its a break up song, and could be accused of being a little bit mopey except for the strings which impart a roundness to the sound that suggests that its not being seen as the end of the world. I have always liked a little dark undertone, particularly when it has something to contrast. The first four tracks all see Mason's vocal as insubstantial, soft and floating over the soundscapes he has created for them. They feel light in contrast to the lurking threats implicit in the construction of that support. The light mostly wins out. Yesterday is the weakest track so far, the blocky nature of the call/response in the composition feeling a bit... tacky.

Lost & Found was always a favourite, though I never clocked just quite how black the lyrics were. Blackness is everywhere here - from the album art which had no identifying content (I seem to recall that the back of the jewel case was similarly plain, but white) to the themes to the monsters lurking in threatening aural space. Again the chorus cuts through this though - the keys and that almost ethereal vocal provide a contrast. The light touch on the singing is a high point, exposing a little vulnerability and a voice that has a lived in quality - we'll see later when it is not quite so softly applied, I think.

I Let Her In strips away the percussive base that has supported most of the tracks. A guitar melody - simple and looping - is the only support for that almost disembodied voice until a roiling darkness swirls and rises from beneath in a subtle soundtrack-like way. It works better than I remember. We then hit Stress Position which I recall as the weakest track on the disc. This is back to full electro beat; its just a little dull. I thought Mason's voice was applied more forcefully on this track, and I suppose it has a little more body, a breathiness to the delivery, but not a harder edge which is what I misremembered. Actually the whole track is just toned down from my recollection of it, and it feels a little empty, all over the place and bland as a result.

Ethereal Mason is back for All Come Down, a tune which has an awful lot of empty space, like a gas expanding to fill a container at very low pressure. The composition is very sparse. There's a vocal backing, a medium paced rhythm and, until we hit a crescendo that is about it. When it does rise, there is a harmonic effect, a ringing that seems to help the sound expand more. My ear is not sure which thread to follow even though there aren't that many separate strands here. It feels like the song has built a sphere of noise around me and I am cocooned until the point a long fade-out begins. We then get the title track, which has a nice acoustic guitar riff carrying it, but lyrically it wavers a bit; it seems to be Mason drawing a line between his present and his past - the whole album in a nutshell. I have to say tough that whilst that riff is soft and soothing, the track as a whole is... lacking something.

My favourite track on this disc was always the last one; Hound on My Heel - the title says it all. The pacing of the track, the rhythm, the hushed delivery of the lyrics, the slow build of the support. The contrast in the chorus, the threat in the subject matter. It all hangs together in a way that has an immediate appeal to me. There is darkness here, but it is implicitly behind, not ahead, and the keys which lend the light are the dominant theme by the end.  As it closes, I don't think the album holds up as well as I would have liked, but the strong finish has me smiling at the end anyway. Its not bad at all, just a little flat in places. I have a less visceral connection to it these days too, which probably explains the distancing.

Boxer - The National

Track list:

1. Fake Empire
2. Mistaken For Strangers
3. Brainy
4. Squalor Victoria
5. Green Gloves
6. Slow Show
7. Apartment Story
8. Start A War
9. Guest Room
10. Racing Like A Pro
11. Ada
12. Gospel

Running time: 42 minutes
Released: 2007

I saw this around everywhere before I finally picked it up. Can't for the life of me remember why I chose to grab it though, but I seem to recall liking it, and I bought the follow-up too so I must have had an affection for the way The National went about things. I can't really remember any of their songs though (save Rains of Castermere, of course).

We begin with a bouncy piano in isolation, but as soon as the vocal starts I am reminded why I liked this. The deep resonant tones of the singer give a really nice round sound, convey a sense of distance and space and... yeah. One aspect of music that made it over the pond, which is rarer in material of these shores, is that big sky feeling. Its the same sense of openness that drew me to Willard Grant Conspiracy, Grand Drive (though they were based in Blighty) and... someone else I was going to mention specifically but who I have completely blanked on now.

The second track is pacier, more constrained and percussion led. It sort of works, but I feel that it probably is not playing to their strengths as I perceive them; there are better proponents of this kind of song though again I fail to bring any to mind at the point where that would be helpful! I am taking a quick (well... 45 minute I guess!) break from cleaning - a chore that was very desperate and will carry on into tomorrow; part of the need for a week off, and it is nice to have a relatively bite-sized album to dive into. The tune has grown on me whilst I have been digressing and I find myself enjoying it more as it fades. Brainy keeps a similar pace and percussive bent, but lets the vocal free again. It is like Mistaken For Strangers was stuck in a tunnel whilst before and after the songs have clear sky above. My problem with tracks that are driven by rhythm like this one is that the beat pattern becomes so front and centre that my mind can't tear away from it. This poses me issues in true enjoyment because I then inevitably latch on to how repetitive that sound is (let alone that that is the point of rhythm) and grow tired of the track because I followed the wrong thread. This is my issue, not the song's.

I like the interplay between forceful drums and soft, understated keys - but I would, ideally, favour the keys more than the drums in the balancing. Not so the production on Squalor Victoria, or maybe that is me grabbing the wrong straw again; either way the track breezes by and we get a very different feel on Green Gloves. The percussion is noticeably missing or stripped right back early on, nice little riffs replacing it, it gives a much more relaxed air to the piece.

The vocals really are the star though. Drawl. Tone. Atmosphere. In the right place and right time... I wouldn't want to listen to this style all the time but when paired well with sounds to support it, that easy, lazy sound of a throat I imagine wetted with whisky and parched by tobacco (whether that applies to this frontman or not) has an appeal. I think The National do a pretty decent job of fitting their music around the distinctive voice and approach. One thing that surprises me a little - but shouldn't do when looking at the number of tracks and total running time - is that each song is over very fast. I tend to associate Americana like this with longer tracks, more time to go with the sense of space. Not so here. Unlike Lambchop (they were whom I was to reference earlier and forgot), here that openness is conveyed whilst still sticking pretty closely to a radio-friendly song structure. I find this to be a plus point, because it takes a fair amount of craft to create time and space when so limited, and I find myself appreciating that. Limits are good for creativity, not bad for it. They may be bad for vision, mind.

Start a War is more subdued, tired, and it enervates me. Suddenly I just want to sleep. That unfortunate effect aside I like the tune, but my heavy eyelids disagree. It's the middle of the day for hell's sake. Guest Room returns to the previously established standard and I find myself wondering if a whole album isn't a little too much of a good thing. There is a touch of samey-ness about it that builds a sense of ennui - or perhaps that ennervation just switched me off their wavelength.

It was a choice between listening or shaving as a break from the cleaning (bathroom next - joy), and this won out. I do desperately need both shave and haircut though; I'm feeling decidedly unkempt. Hopefully the half term haircuts are mostly out of the way by now and Friday wont see a massive queue at the barbers. Find out tomorrow. On the record, we have another softer, percussion-light piece and I am not really engaged. Perhaps it is just the repeated lyric "You're dumbstruck baby" grating; I am anything but. I suspect on its own it would have come across better. That said, I really like the tune on Ada, and when the piano, and horns join the appeal reaches peak. This is a really nicely crafted song, though the vocal is less appealing here than it was on the first few tracks of the disc. Some of that might be the clarity of the lyrics and how trite I find them, so I try to tune out the singing and just follow the flow of the track. I enjoy it more that way.

Final number now. Gospel is slower, voice and guitar base, support added. It feels a little weak compared to what I was hearing half an hour ago. This just makes me appreciate the short songs more, though; shuffle isn't so different to radio, and these feel radio-friendly. I don't really begrudge these last tracks even though I have found them less engaging than the early ones and I can see them being more enjoyable in a different context. So, silence falls and I must depart to get the rubber gloves on...

Bottle - Eliza Carthy & Tim Eriksen

Track list:

1. Buffalo
2. Logan's Lament
3. Castle by the Sea
4. Cats and Dogs (You Seamen Bold)
5. May Song
6. Prodigal Son
7. Sweet Susan
8. Bottle
9. 10,000 Miles
10. Whitby Lad (Botany Bay)
11. Sailors Wedding/The Swiss Boy
12. Traveler
13. Love Farewell

Running time: 53 minutes
Released: 2015

More folk. A trans-Atlantic collaboration now. This only came out last year, but it seems longer ago. I recall not liking it much on first listen and not paying it any heed since. When Carthy is good, though, she is very good so I keep giving her slack and picking up releases. Eriksen I did not know, and have not felt compelled to investigate further. So - poor first impression, what does the second chance bring?

The combination of fiddle and a really fuzzy-sounding electric guitar opens us up. I find it discordant, the fuzz, growl and resultant lack of clarity on the guitar part creates an aggravation that I can't get past. The actual fiddling and the cadence of the tune are nice, and the duet works well, but that guitar buzz just blares out over the top of everything. Such a shame. Thankfully the start of Logan's Lament has a cleaner sound, though not crystal; Eriksen clearly likes a little distortion, a bit of grunt and growl, on his strings. Carthy is singing solo here, at least for much of it, but it feels a little like she is competing with the guitar rather than being supported by it. There is something basic and appealing about the guitar part when it crescendos though and the roll of the song is an interesting and engaging one.

The fact that a single guitar, the odd tapping as percussion and one and a half voices (Eriksen's voice is added in places) can hold the interest for the whole long run is a positive thing, and actually although the third track is more traditionally arranged (i.e. losing the electrics for a nice lyrical acoustic) the track is not as arresting. It is a short variation on The Outlandish Knight (a Bellowhead/Spiers & Boden favourite of mine), and frankly not anywhere near as engaging as the other versions I have. It is, however, a good example of how the tracks of this album are infused with American roots - the structure of the playing is noticeably different from the more British traditional playing, and it is in the meeting of these two styles that I guess this album was conceived.

What is the difference? It's really hard to articulate, and now the music has moved on I struggle to find a description that will work; the next song doesn't contain such passages as to shine a light on the differences. It is, again, quite stripped back and here I don't find the two voices meshing well. As with Logan's Lament, my impression is that the guitar part is not really well placed to support Eliza Carthy's vocals. The two threads seem to cut across each other too often. Happily, therefore, May Song is a cappella and (apparently) live. This last bit is given away by the applause as it closes. Carthy has a very distinctive voice and, as a fan, I would much rather it was given room to fill the recording as much as possible.

There is a sharpness to the fiddling in the American style I think, a particular edge and a particular rhythm to the tune and vocal pitch, but the distorted guitar baseline is back on Prodigal Son and disturbing my thoughts once more. This duo are better when that particular trick is kept in the locker. The other stark difference, I guess, is that the folk from across the pond tend to fill in space more, more notes, not that the Brits are always sparse with them, but there is often a smoother feel when fewer notes are bowed, and that appears to be embraced more in the British tradition. I'm typing out of my arse again, aren't I?

In truth I am finding this mostly disappointing - some of the tunes are too long, others too short. What they largely seem to share is a harshness to the tones - be it the buzz on that guitar or long drawn out fiddle notes. Its not a characteristic that endears the tunes to me. I do rather like the very sparse nature of the title track though - some tapping percussion and a tune mostly carried in the vocal, what sounds like tight strings clipping notes in support of a catchy progression. Best so far. 10,000 Miles I was expecting to be another Bellowhead crossover but the styling of the song is completely different and it is a separate tune entirely. The style of the guitar here reminds me of Martin Simpson, though I only have one of Simpson's albums, and that was one with a deliberate nod to the American traditions so perhaps that is not much of a surprise. I find this track too slow to be interesting, the vocal subdued along with the low pace.

A jauntiness is back with the fiddle on Whitby Lad, and a tinny guitar or banjo beneath it, muted and straining to produce notes at points, combines to give us a backbone to the song. The vocal here is much improved and the familiar roll of the stresses and relaxed notes is weclome. There are nice moments where the fiddle seems to be aping a melodeon or similar, short sharp breathy notes - its a real gem of a sound. There is a traditional feel to the opening of the next couplet too, the lyrics flow fast and the fiddle keeps them company. Part dance tune, part song it feels - the instruments could be let loose to encourage movement in the audience, but they hum fast enough simply supporting those words. As half expected though the second half loses the lyrics and lets the tune flow.

Winding down now, with the return of the growling guitar. Here it seems more fitting, combining better with the fiddle, but again I find the music at odds with the vocal. I really like the punchy rhythm, employing that dirty sound in a way that lets it shine rather than annoy. Suddenly I reach the final farewell, an unaccompanied duet that I find a little distant, slow and forgettable. Its three minutes feel more like five and close the disc on an unfortunate down note as it breaks a run of more enjoyable tunes. I think I end up keeping about half of this and lamenting what could have been - there were some clear moments of brilliance but overall the combination has missed as much as it hit.

Both Sides - Moonrakers

Track list

1. Sweetheart Reel
2. Both Sides the Tweed
3. Blind Mary
4. Carolan's Welcome
5. Maid of Culmore
6. Castle Kelly
7. Northern Coast
8. Sheebeg and Shemore
9. Never Be the Sun
10. Delbury Revisited
11. Swallow Song/King of the Faeries
12. Jock O'Hazeldean
13. Kathleen Ashore

Running time: 42 minutes
Released: 2005

This was a gift - the sort of well-meaning gift you get if someone knows you like folk music, but knows nothing about the folk music scene, or what about it appeals. Moonrakers are, apparently, an Oxford-based group, and this local aspect probably plays in to that somewhere.  I have never really given it a chance so now it gets its moment in the limelight, to suggest to me why I was wrong to ignore it until now. I expect it to be fairly twee and cliched, but to probably enjoy it despite that. My suspicion is that it would be better experienced live than recorded however.

It certainly starts to expectation, flutes and harps - no great surprise, they are right there on the cover. It is very different in feel because of that though, the other reels I have amongst my library are almost all pipe and fiddle jobs and this combination has a distinct sound. It sounds... older, but no more authentic. There is an echo on the piece I guess from the harp which makes me think of medieval TV show music. We drop into a song next and the vocalist has a much more pleasant voice than I was expecting, and a nice harmony. I think it is fair to say that - albeit just two tracks in - my expectations were pretty much spot on.

So despite being off work, I failed to fit a listen in on Monday - time just vanished somehow. I am not letting two days pass like that though. The third track is much pared down, harp and another stringed instrument - I'd guess that thing (bouzouki?) the bloke on the right is holding on the cover. The flute only arrives later, but it is a welcome arrival, lifting the tune from dull to gently enjoyable, whilst still skirting with the limits of what is acceptably twee. Thus far the tempo has been lower than I expected, more chamber performance, and I think it is that angle of this piece that grates on me a little. Folk is more interesting when it has a bit of spice somewhere and this is all a little stately and staid. It might be good soundtrack material though.

Maid of Culmore I think I have other versions of. Looking it up, indeed I do: Cara Dillon. I prefer Dillon's version, a little richer in sound and a more polished voice. When this song draws down Castle Kelly has a bit more percussion and a higher pace, making it immediately more interesting. It is not a world-beating tune or anything, but there is life and energy in the playing - the harp included - and it makes for a nice little insert. Replaced by something that sounds more modern - by which I mean 70s popular folk... definitely twee but again the voices work well and the simple melodies are pleasant enough. It is more palatable than most of the fare on The Best of British Folk [Castle] - Various Artists whilst treading similar ground.

Back to more traditional-sounding material, then for a quiet piece that evokes memories of some of the soundtrack to the Lord of the Rings movies - particularly scenes in The Shire. This is less polished than my memories of those soundtracks (which I don't have) but there is a definite similarity in how the flute is applied in particular. This is followed by another 70's-sounding number which again just manages to stay the right side of trite so as to remain pleasant. The vocal combination - one guy, one gal - is really a high point for this group and I am a little disappointed that it isn't employed more often (half the tunes are instrumental) or with less cliched tunes to back them up.

All that said, I find it rather soothing. I suddenly really feel like I am on holiday today because whilst I prefer punchier, livelier folk music the use of the flute in particular sets a quiet tone that translates to a calm frame of mind and the harp in place of a fiddle at least sets this group aside from the rest of the folk artists that I have. So I gripe, but as I predicted before I began I am rather enjoying it. I would prefer not to simply be listening to this, though - it is not really arresting enough to demand and keep my full attention... so much so that I look up and suddenly I am on the last track. The sounds all blurring together as one, pleasing but easy to tune out to.

Overall, actually I find myself coming away from this more positive than I expected to be. My predictions were largely right but the disc has delivered a little more - largely because of the great harmonies on the vocal numbers and because the flautist and the harp offer something different to the rest of my folk stable. A pleasant surprise.

Blues and Bullets - Damian Sanchez

Track list:

1. Blues and Bullets feat. Izä
2. Lost Children
3. Main Theme
4. The Diner
5. Investigation
6. Garrison , O'Reilly, Di Pietro, Dockers
7. Capone's Mansion
8. Entrance Cleared
9. Capone
10. O.B.
11. Reconstruction
12. The Guest
13. Delphine
14. Nikolai Ivankov
15. Blues and Bullets intimate

Running time: 31 minutes
Released: 2015

Long time no post, and I return with a videogame soundtrack. I picked up Blues and Bullets in a Steam sale; needless to say I have yet to play it, but it's an episodic, noir themed adventure game so I'm pretty much the target audience. Wonder how well the soundtrack supports that mood.

Slow thematic keys, an attempt at a femme fatale vocal... yeah. There is a bit too much light and depth in this though, it's not raunchy enough and its sensibilities are too modern, with layers of stings and orchestral percussion. It's more movie-song than shot at a period piece, which is a little bit of a disappointment. It makes me think Bond theme, not noir. The song itself is alright I guess, but it seems misplaced for theme.

It was a proper theme song for the series, though, and now we're into the incidental music, which I presume is the background to actual scenes. I really should dive into the game to find out, but I've been sidetracked by other things (and Darkest Dungeon, which leaped ahead in the "I must play this now" queue). Finding the time, and right mental space to make these posts has been tough of late - busy weekends, plans during the weeks, and a raft of things I had intended to do but never found the time for. A week off is just what I need, and what I will be having, so I hope to get back into the swing of things.

The Main Theme is much more noir-appropriate, hinting at secrets, lies and darkness. Most of these pieces are over before they really establish themselves though, but now I've hit Investigation it seems to last long enough to get a real sense for it... and I think it's pretty good. Perhaps it is still erring on the side of too modern, but the timbre is right this time, and a low sax is a good call, whilst the pacing of the tune is totally in keeping with the genre. Man, I feel like I should be necking a straight bourbon now (ugh, give me a proper Scots or Irish Whisk(e)y any day).

I am not sure the shorter pieces really work or belong on a released soundtrack - however much effort and skill goes into composing vignettes for short cutscenes or similar, the pieces lose their punch when devoid of context, but thankfully there are a couple of longer tracks here too. Capone's Mansion has me thinking James Bond again, though. Rattling drums give it a strong pace and the soaring strings combined with them lend a very Craig-era 007 dark action tone. I can see that particular piece of story being quite... fraught, but action in adventure games? Hmm... perhaps it gets caught between two stools. Another vignette suggests a victorious debrief, then Capone... singularly fails to bring a mob boss to mind. It's a reasonable piano melody, but incredibly tinny of sound.

This coming week, carried over from last year, is a much needed de-stresser in purpose. Too many busy weekends to now have worn me down. A slow week - whilst getting stuff accomplished - is a much needed recovery period. I find myself drifting and my eyes wanting to close during O.B., the soft melody nicely evoking a late night. It's only 21.30 but it feels later. Reconstruction is generic tension, and my plans to tag it as such on LastFM were foiled by UI changes that seem to have removed the ability to easily find and apply tags one has used previously. I'm sure I coined a "generic movie tension" tag after a prior listen, but can't seem to find it to confirm. Ah, sod you LastFM. Not the same since it became a glorified front end for Spotify.

Overall I think Sanchez has done a reasonable job. Nothing groundbreaking, nothing egregiously out of place, and very movie score appropriate, which you might expect. I can totally see the penultimate track as fitting for The Untouchables, for instance... a good touch point since this game I've not played centres on an older, out of retirement Elliot Ness. We end with a reprise of the first song, a more intimate rendition - a better rendition. Still too modern in sound somehow - something to do with how the vocal was recorded perhaps? - but stripped back to keys and voice it has a connection to the source ideas that the more lushly orchestrated version did not. A perfectly serviceable and quick-to-play soundtrack then.

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.

Born in the U.K. - Badly Drawn Boy

Track list:

1. Swimming Pool
2. Born in the U.K.
3. Degrees of Separation
4. Welcome to the Overground
5. A Journey From A to B
6. Nothing's Gonna Change Your Mind
7. Promises
8. The Way Things Used to Be
9. Without a Kiss
10. The Long Way Round / Swimming Pool
11. Walk You Home Tonight
12. The Time of Times
13. One Last Dance

Running time: 53 minutes
Released: 2006

As the image to the left suggests, I have the faux-passport edition of this album, an annoyingly sized package that does not fit nicely on my shelves, but does house a second disc (a DVD I've never looked at) and provide a physical object to make still owning the product more of a thing. I got into Badly Drawn Boy after Hour of the Bewilderbeast was Mercury nodded, although I think it may be more correct to say that I got into about 4 tracks, enough for me to have bought more since and not really listen to any of it much. I recognise a few track titles here fondly though, so I don't think it was necessarily that much of a misstep. 

We start with an intro, light piano and a spoken spiel that gives way to an odd little sung song about a swimming pool, for a back garden I guess. It feels longer than its 1 and a half minutes before it gives way to the title track, which interpolates Land of Hope and Glory to start with before becoming a fairly dull and repetitive guitar beat. The vocal is more interesting, and the rhythm of the lyrics is a joy, by far the most interesting thing in the song. I don't much like the final effect because I find the guitar overpowering, and the addition of chimes distracting.

I am finally getting around to another listen, almost 2 weeks after the last. Not quite the first of 2016, but near as damn it on the 14th. I have been a mixture of too busy and distracted by Fallout. Bolt on insufficient sleep, boundary issues and niggling little car tasks and the year hasn't started with me in the best frame of mind. I was all set to waste this evening, too, before a lucky last second goal in Rocket League picked me up, gave me the energy to cook a nice meal and tackle this listen. Degrees of Separation (I had to re-type that four times not to start spearing) is a much more accessible song, more of a melody, a bit of variation in the themes, but it has mostly passed as I bemoaned the beginning of this year. I seem to be sighting almighty alliteration a little tonight. Oh well, smile at the little things, eh? Welcome to the Overground keeps a peppier feel to it, drums and keys meshing nicely. It feels like a feelgood number, uplifting. It also feels... shallow somehow, like there isn't really that much to prop it up. I don't mind that though as it breezes by fast enough.

I get a strange Half Man Half Biscuit feel from the next track, I guess because the lead melody is weirdly whimsical because I lose it fairly quickly as the song progresses, and I find myself getting bored of the little piano loop and a flat-feeling ride. He tries to inject some life here and there, but I find it lacking in heart and, ultimately, in appeal. If that was a low point, we move on to a high. Nothing's Gonna Change Your Mind is the track I remember from this album. It begins as a basic piano ballad, a slightly strained voice over a spare melody. We then get a change up, drums enter and the piano goes from sparse to more energetic. Just a bridge before a return to still fairly ballad-like mode... but its a sign of what is to come. We hit the chorus and there is a gentle, but noticeable impulse and energy to the singing and there is more passion and heart in the next stanza. It never really reaches a proper crescendo, teetering on the edge of bombast, held back, reserved, but hinting at a good idea, a solid heart... its just a very pleasant tune, despite never quite reaching the potential it hints at. I find it fascinating that a tune that disappoints me by not being all it can be nevertheless manages to be a real gem. That gentle energy a loving touch, enough for it to shine. That paragraph is a mess, but seriously - there is just enough promise in the song to help it stand out, even as it fails to deliver on everything it set out.

Gee am I tired. I started this feeling resigned but determined to get back on track. Half way through I am feeling washed out. Part of that might be the uniformity of these tracks. The timbre and tone is generally the same, Gough's voice is slightly one-note and musically the constructions seem to share more than they might. Its all very... wallpapery. Background sound, rather than engaging earworms. Nice rather than good. I think this last one is part of what makes Nothing's Gonna Change Your Mind stand out - its a genuine push towards a great tune, even if it just ends up good. It offers something more than a musical backdrop to some other activity. I am kicking myself, because I seem to have lost a sheet of paper where I had recorded birthdays of extended family. I may be good at some things, but I can't keep birthdays in mind at all, and January is lousy with them. Guess what I am doing this weekend?

These numbers in the heart of the album are longer and it feels it. Not massively so, but enough to notice. I have reached the lower key Without a Kiss. I rather like the chorus of this, where the piano actually shows some development, but the verses basically have a loop accompaniment and it is too obvious to enjoy. An attempt at pattern breaking also doesn't work, the odd jaunty rhythm - a heartbeat effect? - feeling at odds with the overall tone of the song as it becomes more evident. The whole song suffers for it, but it does have the bonus of making the opening of the next track seem pretty darn good. It is light and cheesy - almost muzak like in some senses, the brass has a cheesy, lounging edge to it - and more positive which is welcome. It is still wallpaper music but it is pitched at the right tone for me now. Slightly subdued, but definitely more happy than sad. Until the Swimming Pool reprise, at least. Could do without that.

My mind is definitely starting to wander; I am out of the habit of this and it is proving hard to keep focus. The radio-bland nature of the compositions here probably doesn't help that. The sounds are perfectly enjoyable, but they feel perfunctory and rote rather than played with passion to my ear - mostly because the repetition of the loops is just a little too front and centre. If those loops were slightly weaker and didn't stand out from the backing so clearly I might not have picked up on just how much the songs rely on them. There is nothing wrong with a little repetition, but here the variations are too soft, relegated to the background so, rather than support a tune that weaves around their framework, the repeated hooks become the tracks. The melodies that one would normally follow to break up the cycle are hidden, inaccessible. They are there if you lean in, look for them, but they go missing too easily behind the din.

I am more positive about the final track. Some bum notes here and there it seems, but the cadence of the vocal is back to its best. The drums are still a little too strong for my taste and... actually no. 3 minutes in the structure of this tune has got to me too. I think I have no patience tonight, and my ear seems to be latching onto the worst things in each track. Ugh - I don't like being this negative; I don't think it is wholly deserved. I think I need to give this album another chance, but I am not about to do a repeat listen, so I will settle on leaving the tracks in my library for the time being. Another mess at the start of 2016; they are stacking up.

Boots Met My Face - Admiral Fallow

Track list:

1. Dead Against Smoking
2. Squealing Pigs
3. Subbuteo
4. Delivered
5. These Barren Years
6. Old Balloons
7. Bomb Through The Town
8. Four Bulbs
9. Taste The Coast
10. Dead Leg
11. The Sad Clown Cast

Running time: 48 minutes
Released: 2010

I can't remember which festival I saw Admiral Fallow at, I suspect it might have been End of the Road. I was immediately struck by their set and their similarities in origin, demeanor and sound to King Creosote. This of course meant I had to buy up their album when I got home. So I did, and here we are. I don't listen to it much, but I occasionally use Subbuteo to kick off a shuffled playlist; it is the one song I can put any sound to now. I didn't really get on with the follow up album but I am hoping that this will be going back and enjoying a gem that I have overlooked too long.

A wistful clarinet starts us off with a sadness-tinged tune supported by one-note strumming. A strong Scottish accent adorns the voice of our vocalist when he enters the piece, along with drums. The track has built nicely - keys, drums and guitars replacing the woodwind carrying most of the tune. Its a slow, downbeat number, but not overwhelmingly so - there is hope in some of the brighter notes; hope in the context of sadness. I really like the effect, even though the melodies are just recycling by this point.

It is 10.30am on 1 January 2016. I suppose I should say Happy New Year. Replacing the lush sounds of Dead Against Smoking is a lone acoustic guitar rambling through a melody with vocal accompaniment. The pace is higher, emphasised when the drums join in. I am less taken with this tune; the central hook is fine and the execution is alright but it feels as though it is lacking something relative to what went before. A great screech and crescendo adds nothing. Hah, screech is in the lyrics; funny how we pick things up subconsciously - I only noticed after using the term myself. I am so glad when it ticks over to Subbuteo - this song has a real attraction to me. Light guitar hook, wistful air, soft vocal and a less than pretty picture painted by the lyrics - it feels heartfelt and personal, a portrait of a childhood. The structure, spread out single beats below the busy guitar and supported by a background quietly laid behind it all but managing to lift it up all the same, gives a really solid core. It builds suddenly into a crashing, cry for help of an outro; I thought there was a more impassioned plea in the vocal to go with that - maybe I missed it this time, but more likely I misremembered it.

We drop back to guitar and voice for Delivered. I don't think the group are as good when stripping out the depth of sound that we have had from woodwind, strings, keys and drums. This is noodly nothingness. There is, however a great musicality in the vocal... and of course as I type that he goes for notes that don't quite work, giving a jarring sound. Not a great track, but a brief one. The larger sound is back for These Barren Years. I am not taken with what lyrics I pick up here, but there is a nice rounded rumble to the progression of the tune up until the point they start repeating the chorus when I feel that it all falls apart. It isn't interesting enough to support heavy repetition.

The album seems to alternate between big sounds and smaller ones. Old Balloons is stripped back again, a rapid looping guitar hook and piano tune. It threatens to explode into a larger number at moments but has yet to quite manage it. Eventually the electric pickup arrives with drums and it is a relief - not that the opening was bad, but that the promise to expand was not an empty one. The keys become grander in scale with it, carrying the bulk of the tune, and the keys are all that is left once the crescendo has passed and the track begins to build again. I find myself enjoying the piece despite myself when it goes all mental for the last minute. A chorus played with extra intensity, pace and volume and repeated twice is the end of the vocal and the end of the track. The build felt like it deserved that end, rather than in some cases where the explosion of activity feels unmerited.

We have a female lead vocal on Bomb Through the Town, a floating voice over a backing that grows on me as she starts holding notes for longer. The harmony when the regular lead singer joins in is an odd one. It doesn't always work, but when it does it is really sublime. The thing is their disparate voices handle some notes very differently - strain against natural inclinations - but where they are both in range they offset each other nicely, not competing for space. The tune is actually dull as anything. A plodding drone, the only good thing to say is that I only really noticed how boring it is once the vocal was no longer present. I don't know about rediscovering a gem, but this listen is interesting - a bit more thought provoking for me than some recently. For instance, I find myself wondering to what extent ones surroundings influence the creations we make, with this album clearly identifiable as Scottish even without the accents.

Taste the Coast is pleasantly happier, pacier and catchier. Harmonies again in the chorus, a homecoming tale. There is a moment in the middle of the song where the busier elements of the backing drop out and we get a simple chorus with that harmony and it is a lovely little moment. The happy buzz disappears for the lead out. Vocals start repeating a line that had not appeared to date, pace drops, a subdued piano wandering comes in... it all works much better than it should in truth. The same cannot be said of the penultimate track, a 7 minute long oeuvre, the first half of which is disappointingly barren, not much music and a vocal that doesn't inspire. We get a bit more development past the half way mark but it is still staid and plodding. The development is limited, too - I kept expecting it to build further and do a little more to replace the vocal, which has vanished, but we just repeat the same phrase over and over. This one is for the scrap heap.

The bonus track on the end (I don't think it was on the original 2010 release; the album was re-issued in 2011) uses electronics that immediately make me think of Mogwai, specifically tracks from Hardcore Will Never Die But You Will - this album being produced by Paul Savage, who has a hand in producing that record, and many others I own. I miss the rest of the tune whilst confirming that, but while it is a low key ending, it is a far more fitting one that Dead Leg's disappointment.