I’ve been catching up with my podcasts, such as the wonder Morning Becomes Eclectic from KCRW to discover that Joseph Arthur has a new album out – which can be downloaded directly from his website (here) and only asks for a Donation!!!!  Nice to see some brave thinking.  I’ve made an initial donation and downloaded the album, if the album is good then we’ll donate some more.

In addition to this, Joseph also released Nuclear Daydream which has been very quietly been released – I don’t think I’ve seen any reviews for it in the UK press, including the likes of Uncut, which is a shame, as I’ve been listening to a copy on and off since I found out about its release earlier in the year. Perhaps not as stunning as Our Shadows Will Remain, but still a worthy purchase (despite beingh an import).

I’ve been listening to this album on my MP3 player for the last week or so and enjoyed it, but last night I finally listened to it through the HiFi, and boy is this the mutts nuts!  I find electronca hard to write about – so here is a reasonable review for you : http://www.progressive-sounds.com/Music-Reviews/Hybrid-I-Choose-Noise.asp.

 Hybrid’s I Choose Noise at Amazon

I’ve been a little remiss in album reviews of late, so I here a quick look a new album.  In the UK, Ray Lamontagne’s first album has been relaunched four or five times (but the record company never seems to follow through). As a result Trouble has been out for sometime now and the multiple launches has delayed the release of his second album here in the UK, which is a shame as the sequel- Till The Sun Turns Black, seriously eclipses his debut Trouble, not that Trouble was a poor effort, far from it.

Till The Sun Turns Black sees Ray’s vocal delivery coming across a little sweeter and a little less dry than on Trouble, and the instrumentation is far richer, running from a Stax/Memphis Horns backing on a couple of tracks to a muted trumpet that wouldn’t sound out of place in a Northern England brass band, then there is the purest simplicity of a guitar and voice (Lesson Learned); then we have a simple string backing on the title track.  The overall effect is that the music carries you along without detracting from the Ray’s vocal performances.

This gets lots of thumbs up, you can purchase the album through Amazon – Till The Sun Turns Black.  To add to the joys Ray is touring the UK over the coming months – more information can be found on his website here.

The support to Faithless last week was a group called Kharma 45.  Prior to the gig several people where handing out EPs from Kharma 45.  I’ve finally got around to listening to the CD and I have to say its actually rather good – both in terms of production values and music.  Their live performance as support was pretty good, although the vocals weren’t high enough in the mix (certainly not in comparison to the mix of the EP).

Kharma 45 are a traditional four piece who make heavy use of sequenced synths when live.  Their recorded sound like wise has plenty of synth sounds adding a richness to the hard edged rock underpinning.  If you’d like to hear Placebo in a upbeat and slightly more melodic mode; or The Delays with an harder rock underpining then Kharma 45 is worth checking out. 

Having just checked out their MySpace website they’ve got three tracks that you can listen to and download including Ectasy which I can highly recommend from the EP.

In addition to the Faithless support slot they’ve been appearing at a lot of the major UK summer festivals, and should manage to build a good grass roots support from it.

I’m guessing here, but to be able to afford to give CDs away, get slots on a number of major festivals they’ve must have some form of backing and some music that they’ll actually sell.  But if you check out their own website or the MySpace entry they don’t have any reference to a recording contract or any material in the pipeline beyond what I’ve just downloaded or given, and a quick Amazon search doesn’t show up anything either!  So what’s happening ?

Interesting album, this is an interesting blend of sounds, perhaps not as chilled as Jem (a namely definitely worth watching for over the coming year), slighly less in your face as the chart stuff from Gwen Stefani’s first solo ofering (but also a damn sight better than Gwen which is fine as far as the singles go but after that is to put is baldly crap). The sound often comes across as ideas from the 80s pop to today thrown in a blender and the nicest results being pulled out. For example Me Plus One – sounds a bit like a Madonna singing the Human League’s Love Action, or Always Too Late could be a white Beyonce or a girl band with talent!

If you want to go light a frothy without becoming crappy (aka Girls Aloud)- then this is a good place stop.

10 Minute Review

The ever changing Elvis Costello is back again with Delivery Man having completed another classical piece this year and contributing to Mrs Costello’s latest(better known as Diana Krall) with a new album backed with the majority of the Attractions.

Time to rush out to your favourite CD shop, quickly click your way to that cheap online site you’ve found, or simply Amazon cause you they’ll have it listed?

Well the opening track suggests we’re in for something more punk/new wave than Elvis’ hayday; and hey whats the piano motif in the background that keep cropping – damn I know that but where from? Then onto something could have come from his North album (polished nudging towards something Jazz like). Then we’re off to something thats somewhere between Country and Costello’s New Wave roots. This pretty much how the album goes all the way through swinging between Country/Americana and Lounge Jazz with varying degrees of new wave infusions. As usual Costello’s song writing is strong distinctive (and you’d expect nothing less of him).

Do I like it, would I recommend it, on the first listen or two I personally am finding the strong shifting styles a little unsettling, just as I settle into the groove we’re off again. But it is growing on me, the title track, Monkey Man and Nothing Clings Like Ivy are certainly hittin home (with the lovely Emmylou Harris). I’m more than likely to be saying to be saying its a corker in a week or two, but try not not listen to it with any particular expectations.

Michael Mann films are noted for three things :
1. A decent story line
2. Amazing cinematograhy – often of LA
3. Use of music to underline or enhance the atmosphere of the film (for example the downtown shoot out sequence in Heat – which can’t have run on so long if it hadn’t been for the taught underlying music, or closing scene when De Niro is shot featuring Moby’s God Flying Over The Face Of The Water).

Many of Mann’s soundtracks are essenitally compilations with a few additional special sequences written for the film (this time contributed by James Newton Howard). Unlike a lot of main stream soundtracks that work from compilations, Mann doesn’t go for obvious or easy choices – this makes for a refreshing change, and still the soundtracks stand up in their own right as an indpendent piece of music – see The Insider for proof of this. This soundtrack continues with this form, with only one well known track which was remixed for the film (Oakenfold’s Ready Steady Go which has appeared in the Bourne films).

The soundtrack opens with some decent straight ahead rock, which happens whilst the film is introducing Max. Then the you have the fantastic Groove Armada’s Hands Of Time which has a Ritchie Valens vocal. The album is worth investigating purely on the strength of this track alone.

After Hands Of Time we have several Latin/Mexican tinged numbers which build up tempo to an Audioslave number, all of which are worthwhile. But after Audioslave we get a jaring change of style to Jazz from Miles Davis, a fine number but I’m inclined to resequence the album to avoid this jaring (the album’s running order reflects the film’s chronology).

Then we have another dramatic change of style for Paul Oakenfold’s Ready Steady Go – a pretty dramatic piece of electronica, which was brilliantly cut in the film.

The final sequence of the pieces come from James Newton Howard which provide a tremondously pensive close.

Overall, great, but not quiet as brilliant as the Heat soundtrack.