Album Review: The National - High Violet

Album of the year, surely.

I could just leave the review there, but that would be lazy. It's simply magnificent, a slow-burning epic that reveals another layer each time I listen. Padma Newsome's orchestration, with help from the Dessner boys, is sumptuous, Matt Berninger's voice is amazing as always, and once again the drumming from Bryan Devendorf is out of this world - not in a Bonham or Grohl way, but just inventive, clever, subtle, militaristic...think Bill Berry if he was raised in Brooklyn instead of Athens, GA.

'Anyone's Ghost', 'Conversation 16' and 'England' stand out for me in an epic, romantic, sad, hopeful album. Not quite as good for me as Alligator...yet.

Anyway, I'd let the music do the talking. Head over to Youtube to watch some of a gig recently recorded in Brooklyn, with backup from Sufjan Stevens and Richard Reed Parry:

http://www.youtube.com/user/TheNationalVEVO

what the album doesn't sound like, however, is "like Joy Division hanging out in the desert." Thanks The Daily Telegraph, I nearly died laughing.

Amazing. What a band.

Gig Review - Dinosaur Jr, Built to Spill - ABC Glasgow

First things first....Dinosaur Jr were really quite dull. Loud, but a bit dull. Even 'Freak Scene' was a bit stilted, and there were only about five kids who responded with a bit of a lame mosh pit when that moment finally arrived.

Dinosaur knew it as well. Upon being forced out for an encore following half-hearted clapping, Lou Barlow turned the clock back about 20 years and baited the crowd for the slightly lame applause. Good old Lou, nice to have you back. Must be hanging around with J Mascis that brings out the vitriol....

Thank heaven then for the preceeding hour of magnificence from Built to Spill. Having loved them since Keep it Like a Secret, I was hoping it would have been worth the 15 year wait...and it just about was. Eschewing any thoughts of promoting newest record There is No Enemy, Doug Martsch and his grizzled vets cranked out a, ahem, greatest hits set heavy on riffing and bluesy soloing. Highlights for me were hearing 'Car', 'Carry the Zero', 'Strange', 'Untrustable' and 'Distopian Dream Girl'. Sadly not enough time for a 20min version of 'Broken Chairs', but always nice to hear these lines:

"My stepfather looks just like David Bowie/ But he hates David Bowie/ I think Bowie's cool/ I think Lodger rules/and my stepdad's a fool."

Brilliant stuff. A band that pays no attention to modern trends but just play like they always have played. Heroes.

Album Review: John Grant - Queen of Denmark

Former frontman of The Czars, John Grant goes solo - while teaming up with Midlake - to make an album of heartbreaking, soft-focus beauty.

That's a sentence I never thought I'd write, given my dislike for both The Czars, and Midlake, officially the most boring band in the history of rock music. Coldplay, you are off the hook (not in the cool way)...for now.

Queen of Denmark appears to have been born out of frustration, drugs, drink, a broken heart and a difficult childhood - but there's hope in there too. The lyrics are incredibly open and honest, and the music accompanying is simply beautiful.

There's plenty of 1970s touchstones - I can hear The Carpenters, Bread, Elton John, Jacksone Browne and Dennis Wilson's Pacific Ocean Blue - but the album manages to stay clear of soft-rock cheese.

If you only buy one heartbreak album this year, make it this one. If you only download one heartbreak song, make it It's Easier - all woozy synths and glorious harmonies.

Pavement - Barrowlands Ballroom, 5/5/10

This will be a short one.

Ten years on from the last time I saw them at the Barras - or 11 years as Spiral Stairs, my fact checkin' cuz, pointed out - I can safely say the following.....

Pavement are still frickin' awesome.

'Nuff said.

Megafaun

I'm a sucker for country music. I think it's because sad songs say so much, and even the cheery songs seem to have an element of regret hidden behind the smile.

Here's a list: Neil Young, Will Oldham, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, The Band, Iron & Wine, Micah P Hinson, Lissie, Neko Case, Phosphorescent.....

.....and now, I give you Megafaun. Beard, banjo, harmony and errrm....horses?

http://stereogum.com/334322/megafaun-volunteers/mp3s/

Not so much 'neigh', as 'yay'. I am terribly sorry.

Lost Gems: Richard Davies - Telegraph

This is the first in an occasional series of retrospectives called Lost Gems, in which I delve through my record collection (think 'All Back to Mine' without the po-facedness of Sean Rowley) for music by generally forgotten artists.

First in the series is Telegraph, by Richard Davies. This album was released back in 1998 by the Australian singer who's maybe (ahem) best known for cult Aussie band The Moles, or baroque pop Cardinal, whose other member was one-album-wonder Eric Matthews. It's very much in debt to The Beatles, The Kinks and other 60's pop touchstones, but Davies' crooning Aussie voice steals the show, along with his inventive lyrics.

Opening track 'Cantina' is a propulsive start, but the rest of the album has a melancholic edge, and over time the instrumentation reveals itself to be layered. It's one of those albums that with repeated listening it really does bear fruit.

It's difficult finding out much about what he's up to 12 years on, but 2009 saw him collaborate with grizzled Guided By Voices mainman Robert Pollard in a project called Cosmos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-FpLaEmrik

I'd love to post a link to a track from Telegraph here but I can't find a link to any, so here's one from his days in Cardinal:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqGHRy6Dkto

If you can track down Telegraph, do. You won't be disappointed if you're looking for some sunny pop.

Album Review: Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - The Brutalist Bricks

"I'm so sick of cynics and I want something to trust in..."

After the over-long, and rather depressing, Living With the Living, Leo returns with the hope-filled new record The Brutalist Bricks.

With no Bush in the White House to bait, Obama's stint in the Oval Office has brought Ted and the boys out fighting, but in positive mode. From the multiple false endings of 'The Mighty Sparrow' through to 'Last Days' 12 songs later, the album grabs you and doesn't let go.

This is polemical, political guitar rock, laden with hooks and riffs, and despite some reviewers claiming that Leo's lyrics are verging on the clumsy and blunt, I defy anyone not to sing along with the plea for "I still want your heart beating on mine" contained in album highpoint 'Ativan Eyes'.