I first came across this song under its original name “johnny johnny,” before listening to their album “Steve McQueen”. It stands as my favorite Prefab Sprout song, and one of my all time favorite songs.
There are many elements in this track that would later be found in the “shoegaze” genre. Slow plucked, with lots of reverb rise and fall built in, the soundscape works dynamically against the lyrics of Paddy McAllon. His ability to write about both sides of love is second to none.
The track manages to perfectly encapsulate the grieving of a young love breakup. The overblown instrumentation and vocal delivery sound almost filmic, but manage to be grounded by the lyrics, which tell a simple story in a sincere and truthful way.
It’s that ability to exaggerate the small that resonates so well with the feeling of youth, when emotions run high and everything means the world to you. Prefab Sprout capture the feeling well many times but “Goodbye Lucille #1” distills this down into four and a half minutes.
For those who haven’t heard of the “Late Night Tales” compilations, the concept is fairly simple. Artists are asked to create a late night playlist of their favorite music along with an exclusive cover of a song from the artist themselves.
This then gets released as a CD compilation album with the “Late Night Tales” moniker. It has resulted is some fantastic compilation albums, which have introduced me to many acts.
This is especially true of “This Years Floating Points” compilation, which takes you through a collection of down tempo jazz, soul and ambient electronic music. The whole album is full of gems that flow together perfectly, making it well worth a listen. I especially like the track “Chains” by “William S Ficher”.
This track blends string arrangements with jazz to create a woozy sound that is perfectly suited to a late night playlist. If you like what you hear, give the whole album a try and if you’re still interested, the other “Late Night Tales” collections are well worth a listen. A personal favourite is the Flaming Lips compilation.
Matmos have always pushed sound design and the idea of concept albums to new and unimaginable heights. Computer technology and sampling has allowed them to make whole albums out of the strangest of sources.
On their latest “Plastic Anniversary”, Every sound created on the album is made with plastic. Just like their other work they take this idea and push it to its limits. A highlight for me being the lead melody for the track “Fanfare for Polyethylene Waste Containers”. The monolithic almost brass like sound in the lower notes sounds closer to woodwind as it rises in octaves. It really stood out to me as a great piece of sound design, especially with the knowledge of its source.
Matmos continue to surprise and delight with their music. They never seem constricted by the limitations they set on themselves. Instead, it results in new creative music that keeps their style fresh from album to album:
Apparats blend of electronic dance styles with more traditional song composition has always stuck with me over the years.
As time has moved on, this style became more prevalent in popular music. But Apparat has always stood out due to his sound design. His synths sound rich and organic, blurring the line between the physical and synthetic.
This ability is displayed perfectly on my track of the week “DAWAN” the opening instrumentation sounds on its initial transient to be close to a xylophone but as the notes continue to resonate, they turn into more digital synthesized pad sounds, blending the percussive with the melodic.
The track develops, adding as a shuffling drum rhythm which creates a pace and focus for the synth pads and vocals. Slowly instrumentation increases and crescendos to the tracks conclusion. Apparat has always managed to create a strong mood in his music, with every instrument sounding complimentary, DAWAN demonstrates these qualities perfectly.
Prefab Sprout are probably best know for their kitsch single “king of rock and roll” but underneath their 80s pop aesthetics Singer/Songwriter Paddy McAloon has always been able to write poignant lyrics in a style only he can. Songs “when love breaks down” and “Johnny Johnny” being personal favorites.
This re-issue of his album “I Trawl the Megahertz” shows off his talents as a composer/arranger. Its sonic pallet is stunning, strings underpin woodwind, brass and percussive instrumentation that allows melodies to drift in and out of focus. It creates a dreamlike, cerebral world that you cant help but be immersed in.
As themes in the piece come and go throughout the album works best when listened to as a whole. But if you wanted to dip your toe into the water the track “Fall from Grace” exemplifies the quality’s in the album I love so much and would be a great starting point:
The Comet Is Coming create aggressive, groove orientated jazz that’s easy to be drawn into. They subvert a more traditional three Trio style by replacing the bass/piano player with a synth player who fills in both roles. This is blended with saxophone and drums to create a fresh direction, which they explore throughout their latest album “Trust in the Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery.”
There are many great tracks on this album but, on first listen, Super Zodiac stood out to me. The track opens with lush synth chords that become the foundations of the chorus. This drifts away, replaced with a synth bass line, intricate drum patterns and attacking, distorted saxophone. Its raucous tones build to cacophonous choruses, jammed full of energy and power:
The Flaming Lips have finally put their latest album, “The King’s Mouth,” on larger release and streaming services. This follows on from its limited edition vinyl run on record store day.
Although they have dabbled with concept albums on a more generalised thematic level up to now, “The Kings Mouth” is the first direct concept album with lyrics and spoken word elements mixing with the music. It tells an odd fairy tale that could only come from front man Wayne Coynes head.
The album returns to the whimsy, and even features some sound elements of their album “Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots.” This moves away from the darker trajectory of the past couple of albums. Its a sound that The Flaming Lips and their producer Dave Fridmann have perfected over the years, and suits the albums narrative well.
The large, digital orchestration of samplers and synthesizers create a world that is bathed in optimism. Every cloud, no matter how big and dark, has a silver lining. This leads to a playful album, full of great songs and psych rock instrumentals.
For an individual track “how many times” is a great place to start. It balances the fine line between playfulness and jollity without sounding too saccharin and twee. It is a skill very few bands achieve and The Flaming Lips are masters of. Consider this track an aperitif to an album that’s well worth your time:
This week I’d like to turn my attention more to a television series than a piece of music. That’s because Neon Genesis Evangelion – probably my favorite television show of all time – is now available on Netflix.
I first watched this series and the film “End of Evangelion” in my mid teens. Back then, Anime in the UK was a niche hobby that was a difficult pursuit for a teen. It was hugely expensive, A handful of episodes would cost between £20-£30 on DVD. A full series could cost months of your part time wages, and even then, you could end up with poorly dubbed/subbed shows. This is before you even start to look at the quality of the show itself.
I came to Evangelion with little knowledge about the series other then it was a massive hit in Japan and had robots in it. I bought the box set and watched it over the course of a few days.
I remember watching the first half of the series and enjoying parts of the show but not really seeing the reason for its success in Japan. But then late one Friday evening I started the second half of the series. As the tension builds and the story line goes into a more philosophical bent, I became enraptured in a way I had never done before with a TV show. After binge watching the last 15 episodes the series left me confused and deflated with more questions then answers. Fortunately I had the solution in the film ‘end of Evangelion’ and, even thought it was nearing 1am and I was already exhausted, I decided that I had to know what happened next.
What happened next was a psychological battering from one of the hardest and yet rewarding films I’ve ever seen. In my weaker half asleep state ‘End of Evengelion’ was a psychedelic, hypnotic and then transcendent experience, which answers some of the questions I had whilst leaving me with many more. I left that night fundamentally changed. I’m not sure how, but I knew I saw the world differently.
Since then, I have been a fan of Evangelion in the same way a missionary is a fan of their religious text. Over the years, I have cherished this work and protected it; recommending and even lending it to like minded individuals to find out their response to the show. These would always be different and revealing as they picked up subtexts within the show that I hadn’t, expanding my own understanding.
Now for the first time ‘Neon Genesis Evangelion’ is available to watch easily via Netflix. This allows a show that was hard to obtain, to be watched by anyone who has a Netflix account. I would highly recommend it but with the caveat that this show is not an easy watch. It deals with subject matters that often feel traumatic to the viewer and has a plot that is hard to decipher and often abstract. But, if your willing to go through it you will be rewarded with a highly unique show that will challenge you at the very least, and it may even have the lasting affect it has on me.
The show has many highlights and the music is no exception, It blends with the show flawlessly. Providing bombast when needed, and subtlety in quieter moments. The track Rei 1 builds orchestral instrumentation around an initial piano piece, creating a wistful, romantic and slightly sinister track that works perfectly with the character and the show in general:
Sharon Van Etten’s album “Remind Me Tomorrow” is quickly becoming a highlight for the year. The tracks manage to be both versatile and have a collective vision and direction that works well as a whole.
The album opens with “I Told You Everything.” This is a slow, minimalist track with lots of low end and plenty of mood. The sparse lyrics depict a meeting between two people and, although the subject matter seems pretty normal, the weight that Sharon Van Etten adds to them indicates they are something far greater; the minutia of life that with hindsight often becomes the most important.
As the track slowly develops, it envelops you in its dark soundscapes. These continue throughout the album. It is a soft introduction to a journey that is well worth taking. “I Told You Everything” is a great start to an album that’s more than worth your time:
Max Cooper’s remixes of the Olafur Arnald tracks “partial” and “ypsilon” unearth and enhance the percussive, electronic drive of the two tracks. A sound that was only hinted at it in the original versions, on Olafur Arnald’s album “re:member.”
The partial remix is true techno with repetitive driving drums taking over the piece, whilst the melody of the original piece slowly develops, oozing its way through the cracks in the track’s percussion.
Alternatively, the ypsilon remix gives more space to the melodic elements of the original track. They open and drive the piece, whilst the percussion shuffles its way around them, seemingly shunning the limelight.
Both tracks provide a fresh take on the originals, and show the strengths of both acts; specifically Olafur Arnald’s abilities in expert sound design and Max Cooper’s percussive prowess:
partial Remix:
ypsilon Remix:
TOTW Playlist:
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.AcceptRead More
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
