Don't belive the reviews. or me.......

Reviews. Do they mean anything? Can you actually judge anything by the opinion of others on something as subjective as music? I no longer think you can.

Reading reviews has helped me discover some great music in the past. Albums such as “Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release” by Simian Mobile Disco and “Happiness” by Hurts were completely unknown to me until I read favourable reviews and decided to purchase them. There have been multiple times when music has been recommended to me and I have loved it. I now begin to wonder how many times I have missed out on hidden gems by reading negative comments.

 

These thoughts have come into my head because of the Underworld album “Barking”. Underworld are one of a few bands that I like but do not necessarily buy everything they release and their last two albums left me decidedly under whelmed. So, on deciding whether to buy “Barking”, I read a few reviews first. Admittedly I started in one of the worst places possible: Amazon. These are a few comments that struck me immediately:

Former creative giants lose their way – 1/5

Oh No! This is just not good – 2/5

I don’t know what to say to this – 2/5

Underwhelming underworld – 2/5

Meow, to me it seems such a lame collection of lightweight pieces with no real substance or elegance -1/5

Worst underworld album easily! – 1/5

Bore to the floor – 2/5

Thus, I immediately moved on to something else. A few days later I decided to google for some more opinions on “Barking”. I found some real contradictions to the notorious amazon reviews:

“this is the sound of musicians with nothing to prove and everything to give” BBC
“Barking, then, is a return to form not because it's the best album Karl Hyde and Rick Smith have put out in a while (and it is), but because this record sees the duo returning to the more beat-intensive, complicatedly beatific realm of everything from "Pearl's Girl" to "Two Months Off." RA Reviews

Hell, I thought. I’m ordering it and will make up my own mind. I am so glad I did. The naysayers are simply wrong. This is a rejuvenated Underworld, and Underworld who have found their mojo, their best album since “secondtoughestintheinfants”.

But don’t take my word for it.

The future of the Past (or something like that)

When a band re-forms and releases new material it is always a tricky affair. No matter what new music a band produces, they are fighting a losing battle. Winning over your ‘loyal’ fans is a huge challenge. It’s like re-releasing ‘Star Wars’ with lots of nasty computer generated effects and cut scenes reinstated. You’re meddling with people’s most cherished memories. Knocking off their rose tinted spectacles and sticking in a sharp stick in their eye is not advised.

So why have Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark reformed and released the horrendously titled ‘History of Modern’? Is it a sharp stick for a fans ear or is it a band reborn? Well, in truth it’s a bit of both.

The tracks included here are a mixture of previously discarded material which has been dusted down and re-polished, coupled with some album fillers of varying merit. Tracks come and go and leave little impression. A bit of Kraftwerk peeks through in some tracks; other tracks are a direct homage, others an undeviating rip off (not a bad thing you understand). ‘Sister Marie Says’ sounds just like a discarded ‘Sugar Tax’ track (it’s not but ‘The Future, The Past and Forever After’ is) and ‘New babies: New Toys’ is akin to their seminal ‘Architecture and Morality’ album.

Essentially there is a mixture of styles with a few individual moments of excellence (‘The Right Side?’), but taken as a whole, the album sounds inconsistent and rushed. Personally, I feel it sounds too much like McCluskey was sat in front of the computer holding the mouse and Paul Humphreys only got to make a contribution when McCluskey went to the loo. Given the excellence of the work of ‘OneTwo’ maybe Paul should be allowed to sit in front of the computer next time.

Yet, you can’t help but admire the fact that that they have released a new album rather than just release another ‘greatest hits’ and toured with the same old material (no matter how good it might be, Kraftwerk take note). They didn’t need to make this album. They didn’t need to spend all their time and energy finding a new label, releasing, promoting and touring new material. Rather than moan or criticise, fans should just be grateful. Ahem…..

LCD Genius

I didn’t really appreciate the eponymously titled LCD Soundsystem album until the more accessible ‘Sound of Silver’ came along a couple of years later. Seeing Mr Murphy perform live recently confirmed my suspicion that he is actually something of a musical genius.

Thus, I have looked forward to the new album ‘This is happening’ for some time; happily it does not disappoint. There are many marvellous electro tinged gems and electronic grooves to covert here. The opener ‘Dance Yrself Clean’ is a brilliant combination of analogue synths and conventional drums (who would have thought I would ever say that). The TR-808 gets a work out on the sublime ‘I Can Change’ and ‘You Wanted a Hit’ is underpinned with sublime EMS and Moog sounds. ‘One Touch’ is a particular favourite of mine with its TR-606 beat and Casiotone…. errrr tones.

Having seen the band perform live, I was intrigued as to which (obviously analogue) synths they were using. Happily the sleeve of this album tells us most of the gear used. As well as the afore mentioned TR-808 and 606 the EMS VCS3 and Polysynthi seem to have been used quite heavily, there is a smattering of CS60, Simmons Drums, Moog Rogue and the very random Moog Cordovox CDX amongst others. All in all there is a very healthy amount of synth on this album.

On the down side, ‘All I Want’ sounds like an annoying pastiche of Bowie’s ‘Heroes’ and ‘Somebody’s Calling Me’ qualifies as the most annoying song of 2010 (no, it really is very very irritating). The cover art is dire and a couple more tracks would not have gone amiss.

Furthermore Murphy has hinted that this may well be his last LCD Soundsystem album. The cynicism of ‘You Wanted a Hit’ coupled with Murphy’s recent pleadings to fans not to leak the album before its release date smack of an irreversible disenchantment with the recording industry. This is both a sad and rather disturbing position that I sincerely hope Murphy does not stick to.

Yes, kill off the LCD Soundsystem moniker if you must, but don’t stop recording and releasing material. I beg you James; your moments of genius are beyond my comprehension.

Way Out West: Way good

I have never been able to pin point quite why I love the music of Way Out West. Ever since I first heard ‘Domination’ in 1996, I have been entranced by the band’s output. Album tracks such as ‘Sequoia’, ‘Activity’, ‘Call Me’ and ‘Ultraviolet’ are amongst the best pieces of electronic music ever composed.
Whilst their music is heavily influenced by the pounding beats demanded of the dance floor, there is always something far more intelligent in the work of Messers Warren and Wisternoff. Their best tracks do not rely on melody in the same way that Jarre or Vangelis might and yet they are far far more than just ‘grooves’.

I also strongly admire the fact that they do not feel the need to ‘mix it up’ and include slow or ambient tracks in order to create a ‘balanced’ album. It’s as if they are saying ‘we are an electronic dance group, so that is what you’re going to get from start to finish’. This is an idea I love and wish other artists had the courage to pursue.

I have become obsessed with the idea of Way Out West producing tracks for Pet Shop Boys. That would be a dream combination for me. Even a remix would do. Look into in someone and make it so. Thank you.

Oh but 'Don't Look Now' should be avoided. No really. Don't.

Live drumming

In case anyone should be interested, this is how I feel ALL electronic musicians should work. Yes, using a real drummer creates an energy and a vibe that programming just can not match. But it's seriously lame when your original work was purely electronic.

Forget an acoustic kit for your drummer. Do this:

Vinyl Factory

OK, so they are only trying to sell me stuff. But boy do I like what they are trying to sell me. The Vinyl Factory send me an e-mail every now and then letting me know how good their latest product is. Trouble is, I get tempted far too often.

I've sung the merits of vinyl before on this blog, and my love of the 'Ultimate Edition' of the Pet Shop Boys album 'Yes' should be familiar. So my affinity with the products provided by The Vinyl Factory makes perfect sense. The quality of both the vinyl and the artwork produced by this company are second to none and it is no wonder an increasing number of artists are turning to them to manufacture their limited editions or vinyl pressings. So do yourself (and your ears) a favour and order your next purchase from them.

And this should come as no suprise to anyone.

Kraftwerk sell me a box

“Without them there would be no hip hop, no house, no ambient music, no electro.” Q Magazine

Like them or not, you cannot deny the influence of Kraftwerk on electronic music and a whole generation of musicians. Personally, I find a large part of their work cold and impenetrable. Whilst “Computer World” and “The Man-Machine” are two of my favourite albums of all time, little of the rest of their back catalogue sounds nearly as good to me. Part of my ambiguity towards Kraftwerk is as a result of their attitude towards the press, their fans and the world in general. I hate it when people are aloof ‘just to be interesting’ or ‘arty’. It’s wank. Grow up and get on with life. Yet, I am constantly drawn back to Kraftwerk and their music as if it were some irresistible force.

In order to appreciate their music more I felt I needed to know more about the band. Thus, a few years ago I purchased the book “Man, Machine and Music” by Pascal Bussy. I purchased the second edition of the book in 2001 when Flür and Bartos had departed, but the integral duo of Hütter and Schneider remained intact. Reading the book did give me a greater insight into the band and also an appreciation of the experimental nature of albums I did not like such as “Radioactivity” and “Autobahn”. Yet I still had limited admiration for people I could not connect or associate with in any way.

Consequently, I decided not to purchase any of the remastered albums or the box set ‘The Catalogue’ when it was released last year and was content with my motley collection of original releases and imports. Yet something has drawn me back to ‘The Catalogue’ and during one late night shopping trip on amazon, that irresistible force acted once again. Almost before I knew what was happening I had ordered ‘The Catalogue’ on CD and was contemplating the vinyl versions of my favourite albums.

I really didn’t think too much about what the package would actually look like or consist of and thus when my box set did arrive, I was very impressed indeed. You see, like the ultimate edition of the Pet Shop Boys album ‘Yes’, ‘The Catalogue’ is as much a thing of beauty, as it is a collection of music. As an item it is very nice to own.

But the music: the remastered audio. You will read contradictory reports about the audio on the internet. This is with good reason. Some of the albums sound better thanks to their digitalisation and some sound worse. Personally I like the dynamic range of the new ‘Computer World’ and the noise reduction on ‘Radioactivity’ makes it a more pleasurable experience for me. Yet some bemoan the lack of background noise and dislike the new mixes and reconstructed tracks. Its all a matter of taste. For some albums I will revert to my old versions, for others I will go to the remastered ones.