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[Creation : 1991]
Why do I love ‘Loveless’? A friend of mine once remarked that My Bloody Valentine’s 1991 release Loveless made them feel seasick. It’s true there’s a lot of motion in the music, but for me it’s more like an obscure lullaby that rocks me to into a strange dreamlike state. It is also the album I’ve bought more copies of than any other in my lifetime. Loveless is the record you lend people and never get back - particularly boys I’ve dated, so I've always kept buying extra copies. Not that my personal investments would have helped Creation records recoup the reported 250,000 pounds the album cost - which famously (and, kind of, awesomely) almost bankrupted the label. By 1992 Creation Records was sold to Sony and not long after signed Oasis who went on to record the biggest selling British album of the decade, so you know, whatever.
Ironically, I’m not generally a fan of guitar driven music and I tend to loathe indulgent boys-with-guitars bands as much as I do pre-fabricated pop princesses. [Ed: Which definitely isn’t a consistent ethos with all AOTW staff.] I do, however, like a healthy dose of experimentation with my music; enter: ‘Loveless’. Indulgent? Yes. Guitar driven? Yes. Experimental? Absolutely.
Kevin Shields, MBV’s ‘creative force’, or ‘driven perfectionist’ created a wall of swirling guitar fuzz and added obscured hazy lyrics and sampled drum loops that - despite sounding like a recipe for inaccessible “intellectual” music - somehow creates uplifting, otherworldly, danceable guitar music. Go figure.
Two years in the making, Kevin Shields’ tenacity, vision, bloody single-mindedness, several engineers, loads of recording studios and what sounds like a whole lotta pain and (ironically) not much cash, has given me – and countless others - hours of listening pleasure and perfect solo dancing moments in my lounge room.
It also captures a very specific moment in time for me - as our favourite albums often do. I came out of a small independent cinema with my best friend late one night after seeing Wim Wenders’ “Until the End of the World”. We had both just had our minds blown wide open and, unable to form actual sentences, we just sat in the car and listened to ‘Loveless’. I think it’s an ‘end of the world’ kind of album – or maybe the soundtrack for the beginning of a new one?
Those former boyfriends of mine never returned my copies the album – nor did they hang around in my life. Do you think maybe we are what we listen to? Is it loving ‘Loveless’ that is keeping me single...
[Ed: Thanks to our super rad contributor Jen Moses for articulating the pure love of 'Loveless' that millions of peeps share]
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[Jagjaguar/Inertia : 2010]
The Besnard Lakes are a husband and wife team that make the kind of chilled out, pop-meets-classic-psychedlia, harmony-heavy indie rock that doesn’t get old quickly.
With atmospheric distortion and cosmic 70s pop vibes, The Roaring Night is a heady, layered summer trip that takes as much from Led Zeppelin and Love style prog as it does from the classic pop melodies of the Beach Boys, and Ennio Morricone’s twanging ye olde western guitar licks. Sure it’s overblown in parts – overly expansive instrumental freak outs and indulgent fuzzed out noise segments within otherwise great songs can make the album feel sluggish at times. But let’s stick to the positives: this record has a shimmering and serene beauty that deserves your attention – particularly “Chicago Train”, “Albatross” and the grungier-Band-Of-Horses sound of “And This Is What We Call Progress”.
Desert roadtrip, anyone?
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[sub pop : 2010]
Oh Beach House.
It’s the aural equivalent of a contented sigh. They’re the best thing out of Baltimore since John Waters for our money. Dreamy, deliciously warm and – dare we say it? - beachy pop tunes. Their second album ‘Devotion’ was the moment that Beach House first made us drop the morning paper and lean back, smiling vaguely. Teen Dream is just as lovely. “Silver Soul” is a standout track from an album that is pretty much laden with non-stop gorgeousness – dusky, romantic, lyrically poetic… Contented sigh. With ‘Teen Dream’ the duo of Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally have captured the hazy, sunny vibe of 1970s Californian nostalgia, mixed in with the oozing allure of Mazzy Star and the sweet harmonies of Fleet Foxes. Virtually every song is a gentle pleasure that washes over you – “Norway”, “Walk In The Park”, “Real Love” – all gently and hypnotically beautiful. Let’s take a drive along the coast and forget about the world for a while, shall we? This will be our soundtrack.
It’s true love, I swear.
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[sub pop : 2003]
First listening to “Give Up” in 2003 was an eye-opening experience. It sounded like something from the future: super cold and clean and perfect… and still seven years later it is a startlingly original album. The Postal Service is the moniker for the collaboration between Death Cab For Cutie’s Ben Gibbard and the very clever indie-electro producer Jimmy Tamborello (Dntel, Figurine) who created a modern sonic world made of cut-glass-perfect programmed beats, scattered beeps and blips, and beautifully warm pop melodies. The most recognizable tracks from the album are “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight”, “Such Great Heights” and “We Will Become Silhouettes” (which have popped up in iPod commercials, movie trailers, cover recordings, and episodes of Grey’s Anatomy over the years), but the whole of “Give Up” is remarkably beautiful. Gibbard’s lyrics tell bittersweet tales of loss, longing, isolation and love – delivered with his trademark unaffected vocal style; while underneath lie meticulously layered electronic backdrops crafted by Tamborello. This album is one of the great examples of the synthesis between pop songwriting and digital production – technology with a soul.
So worth revisiting.
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[Aarght! : 2010]
After seeing the gobsmacking live show from Melbourne band Eddy Current Suppression Ring last night, we’ve been inspired to write about ‘Rush To Relax’ - their most recent full length release.
I don’t think it would be exaggerating to say ECSR is the most exciting band (and certainly the most electrifying live band) in Australia at the moment bar none. You’ve got this incredible raw punk sound - straight out of the backyard shed, a frenzy of wailing primal guitar licks from guitarist Eddy Current (“Isn’t It Nice”) and the explosive machine-gun racket from drummer Danny Current (listen to “Anxiety”) that hides the fact that these dudes are pretty amazing musicians. The garage vibe that these guys achieve is so authentic that you’re too busy moshing without a shirt on to notice any of the polished technicalities of their talents. Why waste your time doing that when you could be jumping around throwing beer on your head? Or having sex in the kitchen? Or giving yourself a homemade tattoo without anaesthesia?
Brendan Suppression is one of the most magnetic front men in rock and roll right now. His live performance balances raw sexuality, childlike joy and a disturbed intensity; and his words are like the tales of a sweet and awkward loser – “Tuning Out”, “Walked Into A Corner” the self-deprecating tales of an anti-social waster, while “Gentlemen” and “I Can Be A Jerk” are these sweet bluesy (and kind of slobbery) love songs – delivered with his trademark atonal babbling.
Having distributed the compliments, it is fair to say that this record isn’t perfect by any means. It definitely lacks the coherency and commitment of their first two albums (“Eddy Current Suppression Ring” 2006 and “Primary Colours” 2008) – it’s shambolic rock sure, but it’s just not quite as addictively listenable and impressively frenetic as the previous records.
But don’t get me wrong: we love this band. Make sure you are in the crowd the next time they come to a city near you. The Eddy Current Suppression Ring experience is one you can’t tear your eyes – or ears – from.
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[dew process : 2010]
Young Brisbane four-piece Last Dinosaurs are former band geeks whose ability to write hooks is uncanny - precocious even. The first song on their five track EP smugly titled Back From The Dead is “Honolulu”, a sunny infectious indie pop tune and a pleasure on the ears. The rest of the record moves from guitar-driven indie rock (“As Far As You’re Concerned”), rhythmically energetic electro-infused dancefloor tunes (“Saturn” – our favourite track) and melodic grooves (“Alps”). Amazingly every song is kind of a winner – if Foals, Friendly Fires, etc are your bands of choice. Who knows what kind of career longeveity a band like Last Dinosaurs will have in the crowded lounge room of indie-pop-post-punk-guitar-dance bands, but we would wager that serious radio time for these kids in the near future is a pretty safe bet. So: Last Dinosaurs? – No chance of extinction just yet.
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[Creation : 1991]
