The Tallest Man on Earth - There's No Leaving Now

For the past 5, 6 years Mr Mattson has impressed us with his albums. Albums that made your head shake in disbelief after finding out the man was from Sweden and not from the American woods. From the first, emotional debut ‘Shallow Grave’ through the second and more open ‘The Wild Hunt’ to his new album ‘There’s No Leaving Now’, The Tallest Man on Earth has steady been building a growing fanbase. TNLN shows the artistic curve he has been on the last few years. This was already visible in his live shows. Where first it was just him on small stages with only acoustic guitars slowly electric guitars creeped in and now even a band joins him once in a while on stage. The sound on TNLN is therefore more varied. More electric guitar, some piano and percussion. Underneath is still his massive talent. Cryptic lyrics of wisdom from the woods of Sweden. Playing folk songs on just an acoustic guitar can seem limiting but the songwriting has evolved. But being more refined does not mean that this album is full of songs that will become crowd favorites. It lacks a ‘Gardener’, ‘King of Spain’ of ‘Love is All’. This doesn’t at all mean The Tallest Man on Earth is on a downward spiral, the album is too good for that but it isn’t the defining work of one of the most talented songwriters around.

First Aid Kit - The Lion's Roar

Sweden. A country that offers the worst and best of mankind. A country that gives us the artificial fakeness of Abba, Ace of Base and Ikea but has people who sound as authentic as possible. We talked a lot on these pages already of the genius of The Tallest Man on Earth. A man with a sound and voice straight out of the American hinterlands and not at all from his native Scandinavian homeland. Here now is another example in the two young ladies who are First Aid Kid.
They first came into the public’s eye and ears with a beautiful woodland rendition of a Fleet Foxes’ song. The band liked it so much they invited them on stage and from there on things took off. After a good first album comes the brilliant “The Lion’s Roar”. The voices sound like they come straight from Nashville and the songwriting is equally on par. With the help from Conor Oberst they also get well deserved indie-cred on the final song. The singles ‘Lion’s Roar’ is great and the follow-up ‘Emmylou’ places them exactly where they should be, in the ranks of Harris and June Carter. It’s a beautiful ode to country music love.
Sweden, please give us more.

Dangerous Summer - War Paint

The song 'No One's Gonna Need You More' has found its way onto my playlist and it made me get the album. Good luck for me! They recorded the song 11 times in slightly different ways. OK, that was a joke but it serves a point. There is nothing wrong with the songs, the singing and the instrumentation. It's urgent, tight and it rocks but it is all sung in the same heartwrenching way in the same speed that it really makes you wonder if the singer means all of it. Any song could be a single because they are all equally well made, but it get's boring after a few songs. You keep hoping there will be more but unfortunately there is no change.

Guided By Voices - Let's Go To The Factory

Like Pavement and Sebadoh Guided By Voices was one of the bands that opened my eyes to the possibility of different music. It was a nice cool autumn night when on a Thursday night I walked over to Elpee, a store in Groningen, and bought myself the vinyl version of GbV’s “Bee Thousand”. To my surprise when I opened it a beautiful blue vinyl disc appeared. “Bee Thousand” had it all; guitars that were recorded , then lost contact for a little bit, then reappearing again. It had songs and pieces of songs, beautiful little guitar riffs and heartbreaking melodies. It was as if the Beatles had reappeared in the form of a schoolteacher from Ohio. The two albums following “Bee Thousand” still appealed but after that I lost track somewhat, just listening to the occasional single once in a while. And when the band disbanded in 2004 so did my interest.
To my big surprise here now is “Let’s Go To The Factory”. Again some beautiful melodies come to me, bringing back those great old memories. Part of the album has the same crappy but perfect sound. Apart from lofi songs this album also has some studio tracks. It’s Robert Pollard’s overall songwriting that stands out once again. Lennon and McCartney melodies, NYC style garage sound etc. Again the songs at times do not seem finished, but that leaves open more own interpretation of what the song should be. OK, it’s not like the mid-90’s albums but I still love it, if only for that fond memory of my teenage years.

Charles Bradley - No Time For Dreaming

Real sixties Stax/Atlantic soul has been pronounced dead for a few decades now but with the meteoric rise of Daptone that claim can be shoved back into the ground for hopefully a long time. Charles Bradley is the latest perfect offering coming out of their studios. The man’s soulful voice seems lifted out of the Memphis studios into the cradle of the warm Dap King sound. Horns that soulfully blow on ‘Golden Rule’, a female chorus gospelling the chorus on ‘I Believe In Your Love’ or the hammond’s staccato riff on ‘Trouble in the Land’ that also features a beautiful hornriff making you wish they would have made it a 5 minute instrumental and not a 1 minute interlude. ‘Lovin’ You Baby’ is the real classic 60’s song which could have been sung by Percy Sledge. Soul is still coming back!

Pterodactyl - Spills Out

JagJaguwar’s constant stream of excellent indie records keeps flowing with the excellent Pterodactyl album “Spills Out”. These Brooklynites have fused drumdriven noise records (opener ‘School Glue’) with 60’s melodies, almost Wilco like. Even though there is a song called ‘Zombies’ on the album the legendary sixties band influenced the mellifluous ‘The Hole Night’. Little guitar riffs and breaks make the songs choppy while the drummer keeps doing his awesome profession. Multivocals add more layers of sound, especially over the distorted bass line in ‘Allergy Shots’. Pterodactyl’s name suggest something really old, but their music I assure you, though borrowing from the 60’s and 90’s is anything but.

The Beets - Let The Poison Out

I could give you a long list of things that are wrong with this album. It’s not very well played or sung, the speed of some of the songs seems to be strange to say the least. A garageband that hasn’t figured out yet that sometimes speeding up the play improves a song.
But I won’t do all of that because the Beets are just too much fun. Violent Femmes clanky acoustics played with the mental state of the Ramones. This Queens band sounds more like a lo-fi band from the early 90’s but who cares. Lyrics about mundane things and a song in Spanish: the very Pixies-like track 3. Best track is “Without You”, a future indie classic.
With the help of fan Howard Stern The Beets might just get the cult-following they deserve.

Mazes - A Thousand Heys

Manchester’s Mazes’ influences are from just across the border to the North: Teenage Fanclub and Yatsura noise-pop infiltrate their sound. Sometimes they fall back on the influence of those bands: Pavement. It is no wonder they have signed up with the briljant Fat Cat Records label that has already given us We Were Promised Jetpacks, Twilight Sad and Frightened Rabbit. Songs like ‘Most Days’ should be in all the alternative radio charts. A short powerful uptempe song including woo-hoos. ‘Boxing Clever’ doesn’t even try to not sound like a “Slanted & Enchanted” song, not even in the title but do we really care? These guys have found that hard to find gift of blending shambly pop with indie sentiments.

Brave Irene

Brave Irene. Brave indeed, unpretentiously slinging 8 new songs into the world. This is one of those fun bands that gives us absolutely nothing new but it still worth listening too. Fuzzy guitar at fast speed accompanied by organs/keyboards, and not always trained vocals harking back to Phil Spector girl groups. Future of the band seems to be uncertain, and that’s a bad thing.

Death Cab For Cutie - Codes & Keys

Death Cab for Cutie has gone through a R.E.M. type of development. From small and slightly scruffy to well crafted indie pop songs. From a mediocre post-grunge group they became one of alternative rock’s shining beacons. Codes & Keys is their New Adventures In Hi-Fi: an album that goes into a new direction but not one that’s immediately a better directions. Granted, Codes & Keys still has some songs that are instant indiedisco hits like “You Are A Tourist” with it’s incredible guitar riff. But in songs like “Doors Unlocked and Open” a certain something is missing. Were Gibbard and consorts always able to touch some emotion , the steady beat and staccato guitar leading into to a halfbaked chorus gives us nothing lasting. The aforementioned “You Are A Tourist, the steady and mellow “Monday Morning”, jumpy “Portable Televion” end closer “Stay Young, Go Dancing” fortunately lift the album slightly above the mediocre music coming out these days, but DTFC have for now lost touch with indie rock teens.

Airborne Toxic Event, Aquabats, Darlings

Airborne Toxic Avent – All at Once

The first Airborne Toxic Event album is still one I regularly play and I was much looking forward to the second. ATC’s crispy indie rock has remained for the most port, but at sometimes they veer dangerously into John Mayer territory.
But let’s start with the positives: some of the songs easily fit into the ATC canon, the brilliant singles “Numb” and “Changing” or the ballad “All For A Woman”. “All I Ever Wanted” needs some time to get to you but the chorus is vintage ATC.
‘All at Once’ is a more political album than the first one. “The Kids are ready to die” is about soldiers and the war. They with strong lyrics it’s too much a Bruce Springsteen/The River song, and you know he will do a much better version. “Welcome To Your Wedding Day” is a song about a bombing at a wedding. Same goes here, strong lyrics but this time they have figured out a way to combine the Dropkicks and the Arcade Fire, unfortunately with slightly disastrous results turning the song into a mediocre Green Day song.
The music is the most disappointing aspect of the album, when they’re not busy copying others they are poorly covering themselves, “Half of Something Else” is a halfbaked attempt of re-recording “Sometime Around Midnight”. I don’t think it’s too late for the Airborne Toxic Event to get back to the refreshing songs they made and get more attention than so far, but “All At Once” is hopefully not they direction the band is going in, they are too talented for that.

Aquabats – Hi Five Soup
If you don’t like these guys you have no sense of humor. Funny but never vulgar the superheroes describe their fight against sharks, their friends, fangs, hugging and grandma’s money in very catchy punkpop songs. Nerf Herder sans the sad losers.

Darlings – Warma
This 5 song EP contains some catchy fuzzy punksongs, down to a My Bloody Valentine like front cover. Lo-fi indie rock albums keep being made of high quality and this isn’t any different. Now if they could only find a more unique sound…

Martyn's Playlist for August 8th

OK, 15 songs and a YouTube feed, deal with it.

1. Beirut - East-Harlem
2. Best Coast - Gone Again
3. Bright Eyes - Jejune Stars
4. Chase & Status - Hitz ft. Tinie Tempah
5. Cloud Control - This Is What I Said
6. Two Wounded Birds - All We Wanna Do
7. The Wombats - Techno Fan
8. Yuck - Get Away
9. Times New Viking - No Room to Live
10. The Leisure Society - This Phantom Life
11. The Black Angels - Haunting at 1300 McKinley
12. Grouplove - Naked Kids
13. The View - Grace
14. THE WoWz - Bubbles in a Bath
15. Death Letters - Temporary Frame

Braids, Herman Dune, Babies

Braids – Native Speaker (5)
Dream pop trend continues with Braids’ strong nine-song “Native Speaker”. But where other bands veer towards the organlike synthesizers Braids turned the other way into Animal Collective-like repetitions and rhythms. Layers of sound and vocals, sometimes with foul yet fitting lyrics. This album is one of the finest and most exciting to come out of Canada this year. This could turn out to be one of those albums I will be playing for a long time after the first spin.

Herman Dune – Strange Moosic (3)
This French band’s music isn’t as strange as the title might suggest. It is pretty much your average acoustic folk-pop songs. They are obviously strong songwriters as the opening song “Tell Me Something I Don’t Know” makes us know. I can’t get rid of the idea however that I am listen to BruceSpringsteen’s discarded B-sides from the 80s but stripped down. The lyrics are interesting story songs but the trick wears out, especially when it’s sung in such a nasally flat voice. Singing in English from a French band and furry animals aside, we are seeing through the trick now.

The Babies (4)
Woods’ indie melodies meet Vivian Girls’ fuzz in this collaboration of Kevin Morby of the former and Cassie Ramone of the latter. The Babies’ first record truly is a mix of both bands; 60’s sped-up harmonies sung in a Titus Andronicus style over Sonic Youth Daydream Nation and Experimental Jetset chord changes. Kevin and Cassie are ‘Partners in Crime’ in this interesting side-project that never reaches the level of the parent bands, but is still worth a few spins.

3 More Revies: Dodos - Parts and Labor - Head and the Heart

The Dodos – No Color
The Dodos’ new album is just nine songs long, perhaps a result of the slightly disappointing previous album. Fortunately the good elements have remained: the strange time signatures and the percussion like strumming of Meric Long. Opener and single “Black Night” is a good example of the newer, louder style. Long’s singing is still mediocre at best bur the vocal melodies make up for a lot. They were also helped this time by Neko Case who lends here remarkable vocal talent to a few of the songs, lifting them up and giving a nice extra color. Songs that are already dominated by some great hooks, making you remember at least part of the song after only a few plays.
The new sound doesn’t always work live, where they can become too loud. It works on this album: The Dodos are back on track.

Parts and Labor – Constant Future
I first heard of Parts and Labor when they opened for Battles. Their musical style fits into the mathrocking experimental mold. Off-kilter drumming supported by guitar noise and pointy keyboard sounds. But this New York band gained some pop sensibility making their songs more transparent. They are not the next Hootie, but it has that Butthole Surfers vibe that makes it fun to listen to. Weakness remains the singing, which isn’t helped by the at times poor vocal lines. The music is powerful and exciting. This should be an able that will lead to more fans.

The Head and the Heart
Sub Pop has unearthed another gem right in their backyard. Seattle’s The Head And The Heart debut album came out in april and is yet another fine folk rock album on the label. The link with Fleet Foxes is easily made. The don’t quite reach the level of musical and lyrical strength but the multiple vocals contrast each other well. The high tones of the piano add a happy flavor.
Some of the premier folk bands of today can be heard: the aforementioned Fleet Foxes, the Avett Brothers and Mumford and Sons sans the terrific singing. But where these bands blend old time folk with their own 21st century interpretation of the genre, the Head and the Heart bring us nothing new. Every song is well written and performed but everytime I couldn’t help imagining it being performed by one of those three bands. And it always sounded better in my imagination. But even without any originality the album still stands out as one of the nicer ones of the year.

15 New Songs

Been a while, but here are 15 new songs we think you should listen to.

Paulusma - Back Of Your Car
Daryll-Ann might be gone but the singers keep producing remarkable new songs. A grayer Paulusma performs this beautiful song for Dutch National

Deerhunter - Memory Boy
psychedelic keyboards dominate in a song that could easily have been written and performed by the Zombies.

The Zombies - Breathe Out, Breathe In
While we are on the subject of The Zombies, they are back with a new record that retains some of the harmonies and sound of the majestic Odessey and Oracle.

Bon Iver - Calgary
Nightmare/dream video accompanying the first Bon Iver single of the new record.

The Dears - Blood
The new album Degeneration Street is a Tour de Force with the stress on force, an album with 'too many notes'. Blood is the exception.

Two Wounded Birds - All We Wanna Do
Wonderful sub 2 minute punkpop song. Lot of beach songs these days

Two Door Cinema Club - This Is The Life
Starting to like the sound of this band more and more, and apparently it also works live.

The Boxer Rebellion - The Runner
Somehow i doubt this video will played a lot on day time tv... They got oscar nominated directors to make the video and it shows.

Broken Records - The Motorcycle Boy Reigns
Hysterical? Nah, just emotional.

The Galacticos - Aunt Mary
Belgium's favorite youngsters strike again. funny video full of costume and scenery changes.

Fucked Up - The Other Show
Some 14yr olds with new electric guitars are trying to play the opening riff.

Birdy - Skinny Love
Doesn't reach the Bon Iver original, but we can only admire youngsters listening to great music and trying to recreate it.

Anthony David - God Said
Brilliant protest song about the absurdity of religious figures.

Young The Giant - My Body
Another great single from these guys. Let us all jump around in the heather.

Aux Raus - Oh No It's Them
Yes, you heard right, that's gabberindie.

Antlers - Burst Apart

The Antlers’ first connection with a larger audience, “Hospice” was a an album so haunting and moving that it has remained in high rotation on my iPod. A beautiful concept album about a dying cancer patient and the man who takes care of her made The Antlers a new name to be reckoned with, especially after some powerful live shows where they were able to get an entire crowd dead silent. One thing that came out of these shows and the news songs they played was that the new album could never be as dark as “Hospice”. “Burst Apart” sounds at first listen less dark, but hasn’t changed my perception of The Antlers in the least.

Ok, a title like ‘I Don’t Want Love’ doesn’t particularly sound upbeat. Peter Silberman’ falsetto voice is however much more clear and stretched and really shows the big steps they made into a much more professional band.

The keyboards are a little more 80ish and the drums slightly muffled but still the songs make you listen intensely so you cannot but get overwhelmed and get in a trance induced by the layers of keyboards, guitars and Silberman’s hovering high voice. A good example of this is the dubby ‘Parantheses’ or the hypnothic ‘Rolled Together’.

“Burst Apart” has less layers of sound than “Hospice”, it has less to hide. The final two songs are for Antlers standards quite clear. The overall quality of the songs remains high but never reaches the heights of “Hospice”. But this wasn’t to be suspected and cannot be a blemish on the Antler’s body of work, if anything they show they remain a quality indie band who will give us much more unique stuff.

3 Reviews: Strokes, Shannon & The Clams, Tune-Yards

The Strokes - Angles
With “Is This It?” the Strokes made one of the best records of the new century. Following albums were good but got gradually worse. After a long hiatus “Angles” came out and unfortunately it fits neatly into that line.
Opener ‘Machu Picchu’ can only endear in the chorus, but the empty 80’s pop sound is annoying. This hollow sound is continued in ‘Two Kinds of Happiness’ and basically throughout the album

It’s not all bad. The single ‘Under Cover of Darkness’ makes up a lot. It’s a vintage Strokes song with both strong verses and chorus and where every instrument sounds great. ‘Taken for a Fool’ has a great chorus as well but these are sparse highlight on a disappointing album.



Shannon and the Clams – Sleep Talk
Unknown Shannon and the Clams caught my ears with their 2009 album “I Wanna Go Home”. Their music is 60’s garage rock powered by the singer’s powerful voice. Their raw sound must sound great live. The energy is again at a very high level, sometimes distorting the amps. A more raw version of the Ramones, sometimes even nearing The Stooges. With just 36 minutes of playing time it is also the right length before become too monotone.



Tune-Yards - w h o k i l l
Go see her (them) if you have a chance because of their originality. Overlapping vocals and exotic beats give you an interesting musical experience. “w h o k i l l” is a breakthrough album. The vocals are varied, though at times varied, but they color the songs like no other instrument, like in the jumpy/jazzy ‘Gangsta’ or the single ‘Bizness’. 10 songs that are guaranteed to make your ears perk up.

It Has Melodies! : Battles - Gloss Drop

Battles’ musical style is such that losing a member means losing all the songs he played on, which was shown at their show in the Melkweg not too long ago. No Atlas or Tonto were played, but it was still easily one of the best concerts of the year so far. The departure of Tyondai Braxton left some, including me, wondering what would become of the Battles sound. “Gloss Drop” provides the answer, and a surprising one. Some elements are still intact; John Stanier’s drumming is still some of the best in the alternative music scene. It takes about a minute in opener ‘Africastle’ but the pounding is relentless and tight, like it was on “Mirrored” but it does not dominate the album.

What has changed is the overall mood. “Mirrored” could be dark and brooding at times, “Gloss Drop” is at times almost upbeat. This is in part because of the high pitched keyboards, which Ian Williams has more space for now. It even has melodies! The drumming and beats are almost more towards hiphop where the funky beats have replaced the really weird solid beats on “Mirrored”.

Dave Konopko still provides the rumbling background sound with bass and lowtuned guitar.
Braxton was the singer but has been replaced with a score of guest vocalists. How do they do this live you ask? Well, two screens show images of the singer singing the vocals, and this can be manipulated. The brilliant ‘Ice Cream’ vocals are provided by Chilean/German Matias Aguayo, and even Gary Numan shows up in the drum-heavy ‘My Machines’.

It is unfair to compare “Mirrored” with “Gloss Drop”. The moods of the album are different, mostly because of the changing musical dynamics. “Gloss Drop” is stronger overall. While lacking some of the top tracks like the monumental Atlas (maybe the best piece of alternative music recorded in the first decade of this century) it is easier to access and a more pleasant listening experience. One thing is still certain, Battles is still as unique as ever and is as 21st century as music can get.

Explorer 15, May 30th

Vacation time so it took me a little longer than usual, but here are 15 new songs

Young The Giant - Apartment
Music: Well manufactured indie rock
Video: Band playing in a cozy environment

Little Red - All Mine
Music: Getting a little too Coldplay-y at times, but another fine Ozzie band.
Video: Skateboarding lonely through the streets of Melbourne

San Cisco - Golden Revolver
Music: Reverb on high, you gotta love Australia
Video: Old home movies

British India - March Into The Ocean
Music: Heavier Stuff, anthem?, third Oz band on the list
Video: Guys on speed playing scrabble

Fleet Foxes - Grown Ocean
Music: Fleet Foxes
Video: Road movie

Deep Sea Arcade - Lonely In Your Arms
Music: They made the list before with the Zombies like Don't You Worry, similar style but more modern
Video: Don't adjust your television set.

Husky - History's Door
Music: Australia's Fleet Foxes?
Video: Band playing

Last Dinosaurs - Time & Place
Music: Really, I can't help so many Australian bands made the list, and yes 2:48 is a brilliant break
Video: Guys in nature.

Two Door Cinema Club - What You Know
Music: Starts very Darwin Deezy
Video: Young guys and gymnasts

Maps & Atlases - Living Decorations
Music: Old video, but the music is too good not to share
Video: Fake band playing

Herman Dune - Tell Me Something I Don't Know
Music: Vintage Herman
Video: By far the coolest video of today, also great that it's on Funnyordie, hitchhiking with a yeti! And yes, that's Jon Hamm.

Joy Formidable - Whirring
Music: Melodic noise is possible
Video: Let's move into a strange house

Beastie Boys - Make Some Noisehttp:
Music: Beastie Boys
Video: A legendary video already: Seth Rogan, Danny McBride and Frodo playing the Beasties, can you count the celebs?

The King Blues - Set The World On Fire
Music: Skarockpoprappunkpolitical
Video: Band playing and other stuff

The National - Think You Can Wait
Music: if you don't know the National there's something wrong with you
Video: For a movie, with funny bits

Quarterlife Crisis

Around the age of 25 men start to look at their life and start wondering where they stand. Comparisons come with other people of their age and with their parents at that age. Children, work, still studying, it’s all different but you can’t help comparing. Robin Pecknold is like all of us, realizing in the first line of the new album “Helplessness Blues” that his parents already had a kid. He is just back with his girlfriend and finally released the long awaited follow-up to the eponymous debut.

The beautiful title track explains a lot of his thinking of his place in the world, as a ‘cog’. A song with questions that everyone has at one point in their life. Who am I and what is that world outside really like. Realization comes in ‘Lorelai’: “so, guess I got old, I was like trash on the sidewalk”. “Helplessness Blues” is an album with more questions than clearcut answers, or as Pecknold sings in ‘Blue Spotted Tail’: “Why is life made only for to end?”.

Musically the album gives us nothing new. Expanding on the sound of the debut along the lines of all the great westcoast folkies from the 60’s and 70’s: Byrds, Beach Boys (the opening bars of ‘Lorelai’, Neil Young etc. The focus is on his vocals, harmony background vocals and acoustic instruments. While lacking the radio “hits” it features some future classics in “Battery Kinzie”, the title track and “Someone You’d Amire” which should be able to silence a crowd of 80.000. The sound worked on the first one, it does so again on the second.

The real strides have been taken in Pecknold’s songwriting. “Helplessness Blues” is a much more personal and mature record that for people in the same age group might be at times confronting but also rewarding. So I wasn’t alone when I thought those things that spun around in my head.

I was still mucking about at university at the age Pecknold and his Fleet Foxes made an impressive second album. Best album of 2011 so far. It’s been worth the wait and questions.