Monday 20 July 2009

Yim Yames - Tribute To

These collected half dozen songs seem an incongruous release right now. Particularly as Yim Yames (aka Jim James lead singer with My Morning Jacket) recorded them in the wake of George Harrison’ death in 2001. As the title suggests they are a ‘tribute to’ the ‘quiet’ Beatle, but why wait eight years?

James’ was obviously keen to mourn Harrison’s loss and celebrate his influence and as far as this goes it’s a fine EP. The sparse fragility and beauty of James’ keening vocal is supreme and at times the delivery is truly haunting. It’s a simple set up – one man and one guitar (occasional overdubs) in truly minimal, back to basics versions of familiar songs like ‘My Sweet Lord’ and ‘All Things Must Pass’ and the perhaps lesser known ones like ‘Behind That Locked Door’.

Knowing that this was recorded around the same time as My Morning Jacket’s ‘At Dawn’ – a band peak – lends an added frisson, but whilst this EP sees the light of day in aid of charity and it’s a cathartic set of songs I’m left with a desire to listen to James’ in full band mode, singing his own compositions.

www.yimyames.com
www.mekongdelta.co.uk

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Friday 17 July 2009

We Were Promised Jetpacks - These Four Walls

Standing square on to their contemporaries 'These Four Walls' is nothing less than We Were Promised Jetpacks statement of intent and no little threat, if not of physical harm (and that’s debatable) then certainly of musical superiority.

Beginning with the never-more-appropriately titled "It's Thunder and It's Lightning" WWPJ kick proceedings off with a brooding tension which builds to anthemic status effortlessly and sets the tone for the album to unfold/unravel before you in barely contained intense recollection, schizophrenic fantasy and passionate honesty.

Throughout 'These Four Walls' the songs display a euphoric purpose and if you’ve ever wished Sigur Ros had more balls and daydreamed less then you’ll hit the jackpot here. Best of all worlds.

Selecting a few songs for isolated praise seems moot but the aforementioned lead track is a thrilling opener and ‘Conductor’, a plea to be a distinct voice heard above the masses is equally glorious. ‘This Is My House, This Is My Home’ displays a brief moment of reflective levity in an otherwise pacy rush to disquiet the listener whilst upcoming single ‘Quiet Little Voices’ mixes the powerful and tuneful to brilliant effect.

To be played at battle volume. Obviously.

www.myspace.com/wewerepromisedjetpacks
www.mekongdelta.co.uk

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Wolf Am I - Lead The Way

The initial burst of ‘We’re Alive, We Are The Future’ bodes we’ll for this debut featuring former ‘Kill The Arcade’ members but throughout there’s a nagging feeling of familiarity. It takes a few minutes, and couple more tracks, to put the pieces together.

There’s an obvious debt to bands such as Panic at The Disco (ground zero is ‘A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out’). Emotional soul-baring is littered with bands like these and many, many more – My Chemical Romance, Thursday, The Get Up Kids, Fall Out Boy, Paramore, At The Drive In etc. – so you’re obviously going to land slap bang in the middle of this (SCREA)EMO mix.

That’s not a problem if there’s enough to distinguish you from the crowd. It takes the wry lyrical dexterity of PATD or the anti-emo, pop-punk, goth vamp cool of MCR to rise above the vast sea of angst-lite bands out there and Wolf Am I are at least searching for their niche, the reflective ‘Armageddon, Come’ or triumphant ‘Lex Talionis’ being the best examples. So whist it’s not nearly enough to sustain an album at a gig you’d still go batshit crazy whatever they play, if that’s your skeleton print bag.

www.myspace.com/wolfami
www.mekongdelta.co.uk

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Thursday 16 July 2009

Patrick Wolf - The Bachelor

What’s the time Mr Wolf? Time for your most revealing album yet? Time to disconnect from the self-inflicted madness of your own concocted ‘pop star’ dreamworld.

Patrick Wolf has always seemed too difficult to classify as he’s such a contradictory beast and the concept of The Bachelor and it’s companion The Conqueror – planned for release next year, rather than the double album as planned – is essentially ‘moving on’. Putting ‘things’ – an unedifyingly euphemistic term covering everything from relationships, desire, depression and ‘self’ behind him…erm, so what were his three previous album dealing with then?

I’ve never been one for cathartic, soul searching artistes bemoaning the woe-is-me world they live in – besides the very fact that such albums are such an elaborate construct of cherry picked idealogy and candour that they will never be the whole truth and hey, may not even be any of the truth at all. Maybe the intent at honesty and sharing is enough, not for me though.

There's no question that Patrick Wolf the romantic is at the forefront on The Bachelor but this time around he is perhaps more resigned than previously to life’s realities and disappointments, just like the rest of us.

www.patrickwolf.com
www.mekongdelta.co.uk

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