Review: Data Select Party - Hanging Out With Humans

Data Select Party came to my attention on 50 Not Out, a (hit and miss) compilation released by Big Scary Monsters, an exhaustive selection of 50 tracks from artists on the label and various friends amassed over the years. Data Select Party stood out on 50 Not Out with a quite heavily electronic song 'So Long Sweet Lime', a quite straightforward indie affair, albeit with prominent keyboards and jerky moments (although not as similar to The Killers as it might sound here), combining some great 'oooooh'ing that is, as always, tempting to join in on.

After this I heard 'No Girls Allowed', an interesting prospect of mixing 'math rock' sounds (meaning 'sounded a bit like Foals in places') and the likeable sing a long factor that they had before. It worked though, the repeated line of "youuu should take caaaaare of/youuuur treeeeehouuuse". Data Select Party don't push the envelope here, sticking with a 'No Girls Allowed' kind of sound for the first few songs on the mini album, interesting drumming often providing a break from the fiddly guitar lines that can irritate after a while (no offence meant to This Town Needs Guns, despite their album being too 'fiddly'). The bass on the mini album is also worthy of note, really filling out the sound beneath, often very noticeable, especially on heavier songs such as highlight 'The Woot The Hot The Hotness', ending the CD in the closest moment to rock that DSP can manage, packing in some chords that offset the twiddly fretwork above it. However, despite any claims, the time signatures barely change and are, at best, unnoticeable, Minus the Bear this isn't.

The problem with lumping them in with This Town Needs Guns et al is that there are endless comparisons of riffs and time signatures, there are always going to be preferences between angular chords and intricacy, it's personal taste as to whether you enjoy the balance of these, and I happen to think that DSP have a good balance here, never verging on being too hedonistic through bypassing the songs themselves. It's a good sign that Data Select Party know when to let up on this and stick to belting out chords and choruses instead, something which separates them from some of their peers and is a real positive in this mini album. Certainly there is an identity problem with some of the tracks, there perhaps not enough variation on the formula of guitar hook-jerky chord sequence-chorus but the formula works and there's variation in the sounds of each chorus, enough to separate them in to a sub 30 minute blast of excitement.

7/10

You can get a free (FREE!!) download of my favourite from the album, 'The Woot The Hot The Hotness', along with a download of an acoustic version of 'Unicorns' by quite fun band Colour, who are on tour together from Sunday 22nd Feb onwards together, right here.
You can also pre-order Hanging Out With Humans from there too.

Review: Rival Consoles - Helvetica

Written by Tom Carstairs
An introduction to Erased Tapes firstly before I get on to Rival Consoles' 7". Robert Raths puts out diverse styles of music as 7"s with a redeemable download code, all beautifully packaged, marking what's underneath as quality. Rightly so too, with Ólafur Arnalds, The British Expeditionary Force and Codes In The Clouds already on the label, Raths clearly has an ear for good music of any genre.

On to this release though. Rival Consoles is one man classical IDM producer Ryan Lee West who, on his debut release for Erased Tapes the 'Decadent EP', crafted some fine, if slightly disjointed IDM (is that the point anyway?). Here however, West seems to have chosen a more sedate listening experience, toning down the acidic drum machine sounds and adding in more strings and pianos. It works a treat too on this EP. Title track 'Helvetica' may have all the snaps and synths of his older work but it feels more like a complete song than an experimental piece of music. 'Indie Is Dead' could well be taken from the next Ólafur Arnalds record with me none the wiser (high praise indeed) and 'Holste' retains the spirit of 'Helvetica' with it's string accompaniment, rumbling synths and electronic bleeps and whooshes.

The closing track, 'Seventeen (IO RMX)' is a contrast to the other songs on the release and, while it didn't immediately impress me compared to the other tracks on the release, it's worthy of note, sounding like an uptempo Mr. Oizo remix (a compliment from me, but this depends on someones liking for Mr. Oizo I suppose).

Overall, a solid release from Rival Consoles and Erased Tapes, certainly a step forward for West and easily one of the most interesting releases of 2009 so far. There are definitely improvements that can be made here, of course being me I'm not too keen on all of the production, but I'm the first to admit that I'm no IDM expert so I may well be wrong anyway. Nonetheless, highly recommended listening and buying.

8.5/10

Rival Consoles Myspace
Buy Helvetica from Erased Tapes here.

2008

By Tom CarstairsSo everyone does these reviews of 2008. With no updates for about 2 months this is what happened in between:

Anastacia's new album was #1 all over the world.
The 'Credit Crunch' worsened (probably).
Britney's comeback was welcomed by everyone until she was on The X Factor and people got snooty.
Hallelujah became popular: "I've got goosebumps after hearing that" - Fearne Cotton.

2008 was the year of the cover version (A made up fact to make the following seem relevant) with everyone getting in on the act, from Radio 1 releasing yet another Live Lounge CD, Little Boots doing vaguely ironic covers of Wham! et al with her Tenori-On (unavailable to most people until they get a record contract with Warners and have money to burn), and people from the X factor doing some 'modern classics' and rocketing to #1.

Downloads:
Absentee - Hallelujah (Jeff Buckley cover)
Emmy The Great - Burn Baby Burn (Ash cover)

In between not updating ZA and watching House online, I managed to cough up a few words for MFM about some of my favourite tracks of '08 which you can read here. I did put other songs in and did some short reviews but they weren't included so here they are, in no particular order:

Larsen B – Marilyn (Marilyn EP 7”)
Military style drumming and one of the most sublime tunes I’ve heard in a long while are all contributing factors to this beautiful, controlled, melodic slice of perfection. To think that this is their debut release is worrying; how’re they going to top this in the future is beyond me. This is the classiest song I’ve heard this year by far.

Lykke Li – I’m Good I’m Gone (Youth Novels)
This is probably in my opinion the best pop song of 2008; it has everything from Lykke Li’s altered robotic voice, handclaps, a catchy piano hook and pop chorus amazing-ness are always a cause for celebration. Seductive, classy, perfect.

Outputmessage – Rise (Resurface EP)
My firs t foray in to an IDM album was clearly a good move this year, my first listening experience being of Bernard Farley, aka Outputmessage, composing this master piece of glitchy beats and intertwining synth lines. This song is so easy to get lost in, it’s a perfect slice of classy dance music and is what people should be buying instead of ‘Clubland/Ministry Of Sound Presents Bangin’ Ibiza Tunes 09’ or their counterparts.

Sennen – Blackout (Where The Light Gets In)
A complete breath of fresh air since it was first released last year (featuring on Sennen’s 2008 album ‘When The Light Gets In’ however, earning it a place here) and it still is, grungy production, strings and oddly graceful vocals somehow combining in an effortless post rock sleeper hit.

Johnny Foreigner – Salt Pepper & Spinderella (Waited Up Til It Was Light)
I don’t care that some people claim Alexei can’t sing because this song is a tune and a half. The synthesized drum beats running through most of the song are just there to lull you in to a false sense of security before all hell breaks loose (or as much as it can in an indie pop song) with a super sing-a-long that, let’s face it, makes me want to dance around the room every time. That’s the hallmark of a great song if ever I’ve heard one.

Los Campesinos! – My Year In Lists (Hold On Now, Youngster...)
Yes, they’re pretentious as anything, but they believe that they’re not and slag off pretentious bands in a vicious circle of coloured skinny jeans and cardigans. My Year In Lists was undoubtedly their most twee song on their debut (see line “Nothing says 'I miss you' quite like war poetry carved in your door with a Stanley knife” for proof of this) but it’s generally amazing, taking advantage of their male/female vocals and having a violinist all the while cramming it in to a sub 2 minute song.

Disappointments in 08:
There is a new band made up of 4 ex Hope of the States members (and one from The Open) that have recorded an album but there hasn't been any news for months about what they're called, if they'll be plaing gigs soon or even what the music sounds like, other than being 'amazing' and 'rawk'. I am anxious about hearing this record now but disappointed that the buzz I had for this band is dwinding.

Redjetson split but not before recording a second album, in its final stages of mastering, already sounding pretty epic by the 4 songs on their myspace.

This Town Needs Guns' album Animals didn't have enough songs on it and was a little bit full of fancy fretwork.
Download from TTNG's 'glory days' : This Town Needs Guns - Wanna Come Back To My Room And Listen To Some Belle & Sebastian?

Good Things in 08:
Mogwai's most recent album The Hawk Is Howling was a belter regardless of what some publications say.

Eugene McGuinness' album. Just wow.

Grammatics released a string of stupidly brilliant singles and recorded and album which sounds huge so far.
EXCLUSIVE DOWNLOAD: Grammatics - Rosa Flood (from their forthcoming album)

ZA's first year has also been brilliant, the pinnacles of journalism are chronicled below:
Outputmessage Interview!
Tellison Interview!
Cats In Paris Interview!
Adam Gnade Feature!
When ZA came 68th in the BT Digital Music Awards!

Label Profile: Moshi Moshi! Which also featured in XOX Zine!

Label Profile: Motive Sounds!

2008 was a good year and hopefully so will 2009. Expect more end of year stuff from Matt Baxter and Jenny Cooper to round off a kickass 08.

2 downloads to round off this summing up of the year:
Tim and Sam's Tim and the Sam Band With Tim and Sam - Jingle Bells (from Christmas 2007)
Hope of the States - Shalom (from Christmas 2005)

Review: Anastacia - Heavy Rotation

Written by Tom Carstairs

Looking over Anastacia's 'Pieces Of A Dream: Greatest Hits' CD, it's clear that she's notched up a fair few hits, most of them famed for her throaty pop rock style. 'Heavy Rotation' is fitting in with the times however, much like say Ashlee Simpson, making a change to R'n'B synth songs, albeit not on the Jim Beanz scale. Yet.

Anastacia made her comeback with a "massive hit" (according to the packaging) in 'I Can Feel You', a mainstay of Terry Wogan's playlist, guaranteeing it 8 million listeners a day, her reputation and label (Mercury) giving her enough exposure to push her music back in to the subconscious of middle aged people once again.

Musically the album's not in groundbreaking territory though, modern touches on many tracks allowing a fresh set of listeners to cotton on to her bandwagon, but the album never particularly chooses what style it wants to be classed as; Ronson/Winhouse 60s style pop ('The Way I See It'), piano ballads with electronic bleeps ('Defeated'), Pussycat Dolls jerky synth pop ('Heavy Rotation), or the now traditional R'n'B Ne-Yo style ballad ('You'll Be Fine'). It's a shame really because many of these tracks can hold their own against their contemporaries and even better some of them, Heavy Rotation may just want to appeal to everyone, all of the time, which simply isn't possible.

'I Can Feel You' is a bit of a belter and is a great reminder of Anastacia's unique voice, still unparallelled even with a new wave of pop stars (eat your heart out Diana Vickers), and while it was the leading single it still didn't make an impact on the charts at #67 while who was at #1? Diana Vickers and the rest of the X Factor Finalists. Pop(in)justice.

Anastacia's voice and lung capacity mark many of these songs out as special solely due to her singing them, Absolutely Positively and Defeated would most likely be average given to many modern singers but under Anastacia's steam they've been made interesting and combined with good production they somehow become more heartfelt and better.

There are moments when you can question Heavy Rotation's style though, 'Absolutely Positively' is more a concerted effort to make a soul funk pop song than is necessary here but the chorus with Ne-Yo on backing vocals and a decent melody can make up for the dated cheesy sounding verses. Another downfall is on 'Never Gonna Love Again', it's not as clever and atmospheric as it thinks it is and doesn't take advantage of Anastacia's vocals quite as much as it should either.

Lets be fair though, this album is more hit than miss, none more so than 'Heavy Rotation', a song that could easily be lifted from a Pussycat Dolls' album, produced by Rodney 'When I Grow Up' Jenkins himself. However, the bonus of knowing that Anastacia has more vocal power than all five members of Pussycat Dolls put together makes listening that much sweeter, even if Nicole ChickenZinger is the only member that sings anyway, the others simply peppering their songs with whispered "Don't cha's".

Heavy Rotation isn't going to change the world or storm the charts but it's a testament to Anastacia's lungs and diversity that she's come back with an album that is mildly adventurous and works well.

7.5/10

Slipknot - 'Under The Mask'

Question: Who is under this Slipknot mask in the new video for 'Dead Memories'?













Answer: Paul Mullen from Yourcodenameis:milo/The Automatic

Remember, you heard it here first.

Review: Larsen B- Marilyn EP

Written by Jenny Cooper

One word comes to mind when listening to Larsen B’s new EP “Marilyn”: sublime. These four tracks aren’t far short of otherworldly in their rich, incandescent textures and glorious vocal harmonies. The title track and closer “Tailgate” both pulse with movement and energy; the former is also insanely catchy- the best pop song I’ve heard in an age by a long, long way. “Year of the Rat” is all luscious swell and quiet grandeur with a swoon-worthy French sung chorus and an eastern sounding glockenspiel melody. More earthly than the other songs is the short burst of “If I Know You”- a playful track dominated by acoustic guitars and scraping percussion that bounces around the stereo field. Simply a work of beauty that rewards repeated listening by revealing greater depths with each spin. I’m only abstaining from giving Marilyn a 10/10 rating because the first few seconds of “Year of the Rat” are perhaps just a little below perfect.

9.5/10

http://www.myspace.com/wearelarsenb

Feature: Adam Gnade

Written by Jenny Cooper

“This is a confession. This is an admittance of ignorance, and who wants to cop to that? I will give you no answers — because I have none — but I’m going to talk. At you. To you. About you. And by talking about you and about me, maybe some of this goofball world-dream nightmare nonsense will make sense. Or maybe it won’t. It's a slippery thing to guess at — no hard and fast rules, nothing but questions and incalculables, big and daunting like great thunderheads moving like boxcars to rain down on us.”
Adam Gnade, Chapter 16, Hymn California
Adam Gnade is not a poet. Nor would it seem right to characterise him as a spoken word artist. His music is of his own genre: ‘talking songs’, where he ‘talks’ prose lyrics over musical backdrops covering a huge range of styles from folk to psych-rock. As well as being a musician, Adam is also a writer and has recently released his excellent debut novel 'Hymn California' (from which the above quote is taken), as well as two novella- the now out of print 'Seasons Loving Nothing' and the soon to be released 'The Darkness to the West'.

His songs and writing share common characters and plots, but more than this they share a common vitality and feeling that make his work stand far above that of so many others. The music (and indeed the writing) feels important, as music should do but so rarely does. Albums 'Run Hide Retreat Surrender' and 'We Are Ghosts and Bones Down Dry Stone Walled Wells' feel raw and uncensored in their emotion and as though they are acting as vehicles of catharsis. Similarly, the rest of Adam’s body of work has this feeling of authenticity, without anything being at all held back or sensationalised: there’s everything here from the previously mentioned catharsis to the rousing “pep talks” of songs like 'Cousin Be Strong' and 'We Live Nowhere and Know No One'.

Those two tracks are to me the embodiment of all that is great about Adam Gnade: coming from a dark place, they build to stirring calls into action for making changes to whatever needs to be done to help you live: “We’re afraid we’ve been down to long to change/but as survivors we transcend/as fighters we climb higher/Cousin be strong.”

I’ve been agonising over what else I could add to make this feature a better length, and I’ve been coming up blank... in truth, there’s not much more that I can say about Adam Gnade with my limited journalistic skills that will give you a real idea of what his music and writing is really about. Adam’s words will say immeasurably more than mine ever will, so go find yourself some of his music and listen, then you’ll see what I mean.

Adam Gnade's Myspace
Adam is on tour throughout the UK in November with Youthmovies in support of his new album 'Trailerparks', novella 'The Darkness to the West' and Youthmovies’ new EP, 'Polyp', to which Adam has made vocal contributions on two tracks.

NEWS: BT DMA Awards

Thanks to the surprising number of people that must have voted for us we managed to come 68th (we have no idea either), managing to beat the (ex) partly owned by Rupert Murdoch site 'Thrash Hits' (just 90th) that's run by Drowned In Sound. Sadly we were beaten by The Lipster (62nd) and DiS itself (12th), but we're happy with a 1/3 conquering of large music sites.

In your face 'mundothalia'. Damn you 'caroline272'!

Does this make us the 68th best music blog in the world? Yes, it does actually.

You can see the full list of 'winners' here. Somehow an Oasis fansite won but we know who the moral winners are in this competition.

We won't be sharing the excessive prize money because we want a large office in London for 'networking', but a large round of applause to everyone who voted will have to do instead.