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Odawas – In Blue Depths
[Inertia: 2009]
Like a lot of people, one of the main reasons I am such a fan of listening to music can be traced back to sifting through my parents’ record collection as a kid.
Putting on record after record (usually based on how cool the cover looked) introduced me to the sunny Californian sounds of the Beach Boys and the metal wailing of Black Sabbath, and for that I thank my parents. What I don’t thank them for is introducing me to “Relaxation Music”. Every night for years I could hear it down the hall: the whip bird, the water fall, and the eerie cry of the humpback whale. You remember those Rainforest whales…
If only I had ‘In Blue Depths’ back then.
Filled with slow building ambient layers that accompany the haunting and beautiful vocals of Michael Tapscott, this record could be mistaken for the alternative soundtrack to Twin Peaks. There is definitely a lot of synthesized sound throughout, but there is also a strong presence of stripped-back strings and acoustic guitar melodies that are heavily laced with the folk sound of the 1960s. Let me put it this way: if Fleet Foxes got together with M83 and made an album produced by Sigor Ros you would have something very similar to what Odawas has created with ‘In Blue Depths’.
It’s subtle, lush and very effective; and without having to summons the cry of a whale ‘In Blue Depths’ is the closest version of “Relaxation Music” it gets.
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Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz!
[Interscope: 2009]
Brooklyn band Yeah Yeah Yeahs have been one of the best-dressed and coolest three-piece bands around in the last decade, and leading lady Karen O is one of the sexiest, most empowered female rock n roll personalities since Chrissie Hynde. Needless to say, the expectations were high for It’s Blitz! their latest release. Compared to their first two albums they have noticeably pulled back from the confronting dirty garage-punk sound and have introduced a heavier use of synthesizers and a more ambient brand of Brooklyn rock. Karen’s voice is put on display as an instrument rather than a howling force of nature – creating a much less hard-hitting sound than what we have become accustomed to. With this new record the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are getting out of your face and into your head. This album washes over you, so save water and soak it up.
listen to yeah yeah yeahs
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Splendour in the Grass 2009
Dust off your gumboots! Byron Bay’s infamously wet weekend of music, mud and merriment will be returning to its original home at Belongil Fields this year – despite rumours of it relocating.
Dates: Saturday 25 & Sunday 26 July.
Tickets go on sale sometime in May, so in the meantime keep your eye on the Splendour in the Grass website. Album of The Week will keep you updated of more Splendour news and announcements very very soon.
The Splendour line up usually features a pretty diverse mix of bands so it’s almost impossible to guess who will be on the bill, but a few exciting names running rife on the rumour mill at the moment include: Sonic Youth, the Flaming Lips, Blur, Animal Collective, the National
*Please note that the acts listed above have been suggested by unreliable sources (i.e. us).
And this just in, the 2009 line up:
bloc party, the flaming lips, janes addiction, MGMT, hilltop hoods, grinspoon, midnight juggernauts, the specials, augie march, sarah blasko, friendly fires, white lies, little birdy, josh yke, the gutter twins, birds of tokyo, manchester orchestra, decoder ring, lost valentinos, bob evans, yuksek, kram,yves klein blue, leader cheetah, jack ladder the middle east, polaroid frame, glass towers.
more info on the splendour website
Glastonbury headliners announced
Glastonbury sells out faster than you can say “my PayPal’s not working!” and this year’s event has proven no exception. Glastonbury always has a line up including both hot new bands and prolific artists from the last 50 years, and it never fails to deliver some unforgettable performances (Jay-Z opening his set with ‘Wonderwall’, Amy Winehouse punching a heckler, etc).
So far the festival organisers have confirmed only a small number of acts for 2009, but they are pretty freaking exciting: Fleet Foxes, Echo and The Bunnymen, Emiliana Torrini, Lily Allen and Bruce Springsteen - the Boss!
glastonbury website
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Air France - No Way Down
[Sincerely Yours: 2008]
This is a band that is really hard to categorise. Their sound has been described as “post-rave bliss”, “beach foam pop” and “kind of like The Avalanches”. Whatever you want to call it, Air France create music that will make you wish No Way Down was a full length album because six songs is not nearly enough.
From the opening track Maundy Thursday, the eerie electronic-dub draws you in and sets the mood for the very beautiful and very addictive dreamy and sample-filled goodness of Collapsing at Your Doorstep (where you can definitely pick up on the comparisons to The Avalanches). With an understated and charming approach to dance music, you can easily put this Swedish duo alongside other world renowned, melodic electronic acts such as Royksopp, Boards of Canada and Saint Etienne.
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Gold Coast - 2009
The Do
We missed catching Duffy and the Howling Bells because we hadn’t realised there was NO ONSITE PARKING and we had to leave the car several kilometres (okay, maybe two) away from the entry gates. Grrrr. Our rage wavered, slowly subsided and then quickly turned to joy watching our first band of the day French/Finnish/English duo The Do. With a drummer in tow, they performed a very cool, diverse set of sweet folky pop songs, indie guitar freak outs and hip hop jams. Front lady Olivia Merilahti is smoking hot and had everyone swooning over her adorableness whether she was busting raps on 'Queen Dot Kong', accompanying herself on acoustic guitar to the gorgeously winsome ‘Stay (Just a Little Bit More)’ or rocking out next to bandmate Dan Levy - a bass-wielding vision in aqua. The set was a revelation and I came away with a New Favourite Band. Their caped roadie was cool too.
Elbow
Mercury Prize winners Elbow broke into a ringing trumpet fanfare of ‘Starling’ to kick off their set to rapturous applause. For an unremarkable looking man, Guy Garvey is truly riveting on stage. His stunning voice had the crowd utterly captivated and in complete silence - something you so rarely see at a festival, and he charmed everyone with his easygoing manner and eye contact (“oh my god – is he looking at me?”). ‘Mirror ball’ and ‘Grounds for Divorce’ showed off the amazing musicianship of a band that deserves every bit of praise they’ve received. Unfortunately we left before the end of the set, but it was time to grab a free sample of LYPTON ICE TEA (insert trademark here) and run to M83.
M83
Thanks to some inconvenient scheduling M83 were competing against Elbow, Jenny Lewis and the Temper Trap, so understandably the crowd was a tad scarce, but those of us huddled enthusiastically against the barricades were treated to the most compelling set of the day. Opening with beautiful ambient atmospherics from central band member Anthony Gonzalez on synthesizer, M83 created an amazing live sound – very loud and melodic with everbuilding lush layers of rhythms, noise and the overlaying vocals of Anthony and keyboardist Morgan. Set highlights were ‘Couleurs’, the awesome Tears For Fears-inspired single ‘Kim & Jessie’, and the fact that in real life Anthony looks quite like Knickie from Grease. Je fantastique!
Razorlight
I had thought Razorlight’s fleeting moment in the spotlight was over, but their enormous crowd turnout suggested otherwise. Johnny Borrell is a very enthusiastic front man and rampaged energetically across every inch of the stage, but it wasn’t enough to stop us from snickering that he is more famous for dating Harry Potter’s female sidekick. The big singles like ‘Stumble and Fall’ and ‘In the Morning’ sounded excellent, but the awful ballad ‘Hostage of Love’ made us bail pretty quickly. “Say hi to Hermione for us!” Tee hee.
The Kills
Jamie Hince and Alison Mosshart swaggered onstage to ear-bleeding screams from a swarm of indie hipsters. They basically plugged in their amps and burst straight into the pounding punk riffs of ‘I am the Fever’. Alison was looking very Aerosmith in leopard print shirt and gold snakeskin boots, and Jamie Hince was channelling classic British rock ‘n’ rollers in a polka dot scarf and waistcoat. We weren’t there for the fashion though. Both of them thrashed and stomped and hammed it up for the biggest group of photographers I saw in any pit throughout the day. While she loved playing up for the cameras, Alison wasn’t as keen on the lighting crew: “Turn the f@#king lights down! I feel like a f#%king science project.” You can tell she’s a mad bitch, but she is so rock ‘n’ roll and beautiful she manages to get away with it. I admit I kind of tuned out halfway while looking for Kate (Moss) in the wings. Alas, no Kate but I did spot Vanilla Ice watching from the back of the stage. I attempted to make some sort of nineties-hiphop peace sign to him and he nodded his head at me. VANILLA!
The Human League
The chance to see the Human League perform their seminal 1980s synth-pop album ‘Dare’ in its entirety was like a fantastical dream come true. Dare was released the year before I was born, so I wasn’t surprised to see that the majority of the crowd were probably in their teenage prime when Phil Oakey was still wearing a full face of makeup. I felt a bit like the naive little sister trying to hang out with the cool older kids. In a puff of smoke* backup singers Joanne Catherall and Susan Ann Sulley came on stage to the robotic synthesiser opening of ‘The Things That Dreams Are Made Of’ and the keytar player cut ten types of sick. Keytar is awesome. Phil emerged, cool beyond words, and every female in the audience (and - I suspect - several males) felled a collective swoon. As the drum machine kicked out the first few beats of their glorious, phenomenal hit ‘Don’t You Want Me’ a sea of people came swarming down upon the stage, triggering a massive dance party / sing along to one of the most awesome pop songs of all time. I almost cried.
* I may have invented the puff of smoke
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The Killers
Brandon Flowers is totally dreamy... and the Killers really did sound great. They had an amazing stage setup that included an illuminated K, several fake palm trees, an amazing backdrop of choreographed lighting, and a giant bowl of flowers. They opened with a bang and pumped out a few of their recent hits and then, as if they had planned it all along, the heavens opened and it pissed down… just as they ripped into what is arguably their best song ‘Mr Brightside’. And the saturated crowd went ballistic.
All in all, the V Festival put on another well-run show with a great mix of artists. Til next year…
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Odawas – In Blue Depths
