Shearwater - The Golden Archipelago

Jonathon Meiburg's keening, rich voice is something I never tire of particularly on 2008's Rook, Shearwater's previous album, where he effortlessly transported you to another otherworldly place. A dreamily strange world. With a sad joy at it's heart.

So obviously in light of the fact that great songs like 'Rooks' and 'Snow Leopard' are now a dim and distant 18 months old there's a real excitement to hear the new songs. Feel the new mood.

The Golden Archipelago begins in suitably incongruous mood setting up the castaway islander theme with the restrained, delicate Meridian which in turn gives way to the stunning Black Eyes. We're on familiar ground but it's not a case of more of the same this is songwriting of great craft and wide imagination deserving of all the praise they receive.

It's not all plain sailing around the Shearwater island, it must be said, the album hits a bit of a brick wall with God Made Me slap bang at its centre and the couple of songs bringing it to a close, Uniforms (like an even more experimental Arcade Fire)and Missing Islands sit uneasily with the honed, thematic notions of earlier but they remain stand out tracks in isolation.

If this were Desert Island Discs and only one album accompanied you in your shipwrecked paradise, you could do a lot worse than clinging on to The Golden Archipelago when you head overboard.

http://www.myspace.com/shearwater
www.mekongdelta.co.uk

Errors - Come Down With Me

Wow! There's a good chance that some of you may have already heard Errors. They formed in 2004 after all. But they've been pretty niche and somewhat low key despite releasing their debut album and a host of Eps and singles. That is very likely to change soon.

So you might have heard the single 'A Rumour in Africa' which came out this week and proceeds the album's release. All bouncy prog-rhythmic it is. I'd like to say that 'Come Down With Me' is the first album of the year which has got my heart racing. But as Hidden by These New Puritans beat them too it I can't. Errors sophomore release does take it's rightful spot as the second album of the year to give me a rush.

There's a lighter tone at work here. The aforementioned Africa and Gallic infused Supertribe being key examples but the traces of Kraut-rawk and gloom still loom with welcome intent.

The Glasgow quartet have managed to embue these songs with an organic fairy dust which tempers the harsh but (mostly) melodic artifice of electronic jabs and stabs. At times this is like listening to "Post-Rock: The Bontempi Years" and I say this as a fan and someone who considers this a compliment even if it doesn't sound like one!

It's obviously very early days yet but this could be a contender for album of the year come December. Yeah you heard.

http://www.myspace.com/weareerrors
www.mekongdelta.co.uk

The Knife, Planningtorock, Mt. Sims - Tomorrow, In A Year

It's not like I expect a rehash of Heartbeats or anything. But I know that left field and experimental can still yield melody and chorus in the form of Fever Ray (The Knife's own Karin Andersson no less). But when it comes to giving hugely experimental opera on an ambitious scale a fair crack of the whip I'm pretty limited in the goodwill department.

It's probably a matter of context. The point of this collaborative operatic effort - telling the story of Charles Darwin's Origin of Species - wasn't really meant for the confines of the MP3 player or the stereo. And listening to it, no matter how intently, feels like only part of the story - there's a whole mass of accompanying visual data missing.

You can argue the merits of Olaf's forays into the rain forest to collect sounds. Or the fascination premise whether you think it's a successful endeavor or not. But ultimately it's a difficult listen at the best of times. Impenetrable occasionally.

There are perhaps a working narrative and the drama plays out in a semi-traditional opera format whilst the music and vocals shift around this with a life of their own. Trouble is you have to listen a few times to make these connections and I just haven't got the stamina to go that route.


http://www.theknife.net
www.mekongdelta.co.uk

Marina & The Diamonds - Live: 18th Feb 2010

Synth-based pop with a confident front woman is just what the record buying public want at the minute right? Well, okay we are spoiled for choice actually – Florence, Little Boots and La Roux being the most visible and newcomers including Ellie Goulding in the wings, so how does Marina differ?
 
There’s a lot of wordy, sarcastic flexing of personality for starters – like Kate Nash if she grew a pair and wasn’t so passive. Marina wants to be the star, thrives on the attention and the adoration.
 
With a sold out crowd to please and adorned in a faux-fur oversized green cardigan complete with frog eyes she’s certainly not hiding any lights under bushels – probably doesn’t even know where the bushels are. Appearances on numerous Big Things for 2010 lists have helped draw in the crowd, a previous visit bringing only a couple of dozen souls as she notes mid-set.
 
It’s a confident show then, belting out the shiny pop nuggets of 'Girls', ‘I Am Not A Robot’, ‘Are You Satisfied?’ and ‘Seventeen’ with determined energy and unbridled glee. However, once these fade into the ether there are few reasons to get excited and I’m left questioning whether Marina really has the depth to give her crossover appeal.

www.marinaandthediamonds.com
www.mekongdelta.co.uk

These New Puritans - Live: 5th Feb 2010

Capturing live the glacial sounds and rib-shattering rhythms of their new album ‘Hidden’, might have seemed a daunting prospect for These New Puritans. Having stitched together a series of vaguely militaristic songs in the studio which by turns flay the skin off your bones and then wrap warm brass around everything to soothe the pain they could be forgiven for failing to quite live up to expectation and the praise which the album has had heaped on it since it’s release.
 
But these fears aren’t justified. With Jack Barnett, rake thin and inherently serious, firmly the focus of tonight’s proceedings – the eye at the centre of this particular storm – These New Puritans rip things up with a maelstrom of angular threat, ‘Attack Music’ and ‘Fire Power’ particularly. Barnett’s brother George drives the rhythms forward seemingly with the focus of an autistic savant, completely oblivious to anything but the beats.
 
Whether evangelising their messages or intent on drilling the tribal, insistent beats into the crowd These New Puritans have managed to bottle something really special here which more and more people deserve to hear for themselves. Rally the troops and spread the word.
 
www.myspace.com/thesenewpuritans
www.mekongdelta.co.uk