december
feeder - comfort in sound ('spike mix')
new version of the bands title track of their forth album. the song has been dabbled with by mark 'spke' stent (hence the 'spike' mix), a man mainly known for playing around with oasis and madonna, though probably not on the same day. the track is to be sold via the bands website and on the forthcoming tour which sees off the bands year - tis a large arena tour taking in glasgow, birmingham, london and bournemouth. the song is fairly standard stuff now for feeder fans. large passionate melodies wrapped up in guitars and strings. fine fine stuff. but one does begin to wonder if feeder are the new manic street preachers ?
madonna - love profusion
backed with 'nothing fails' this is typical madonna track, though the acoustic guitar and melody is quite addictive and quite cool. still, the track doesn't set any pre-defined rules or break any new ground, just a continuation of her well defined sound which seems to combine sensuos grooves and pop senseibility, not bad.. the remix that comes on the first cd single is particularly poor ('passengerz club mix). i have to admit that given madonnas supposed desire for cutting edge sounds i was hoping for a more interesting type of club track (a bootleg type of affair - get idc on the case ..) but no, this is par for the course trance pop. nothing too special. shame.
swimmer one - come on, let's go
second release on new scottish label biphonic.
this beautifully packaged 3 track single is a supreme example of old school electro pop. not following the desire for ultra sleaze when using synths as is the current norm, the band have obviously listened a lot to the melodies and styles of erasure/depeche mode/pet shop boys. the title song is very catchy and by the third listen its completely familiar and a wonderful way to spend 4 mins. swoonsome electro backing and excellent vocal interaction makes this a very special pop track.
second track 'lake tahoe' is completely different. sweeping ambient textures, processed vocals telling a looped story about yuppie couple dave and kay. calming and fascinating at the same time. 'you know this is the kind of place i could spend the rest of my life', indeed. all set to a building wall of sound and ambience like some lost outtakes from a classic brian eno session. truly wonderful. last track 'how could something like that be love' adds female vocals to the mix, a simple but effective electro backing keeps the track in an uptempo groove. the atmospheric breakdown at 2 mins though adds a whole new dramatic element to the track recalling some of the melodrama that the pet shop boys used to add to their electro pop classics. huge fun, and very impressive.
as well as the tracks there is a short cd-rom film. this shows various forms of dance classes set to the title track. thus proving that you dont need a big budget to make an interesting pop video.
having recently experienced a nu-metal revival (linkin park) i decided to revisit this 3 tracker.
opening with a very dramatic sound lke some mummy horror movie (cover photo of sweeping desert dunes adds to this effect) this then descends into a full on rock song. spanish style acoustic guitars and vocals keep the the melody quota high, but as is the norm, the full force of the nu-metal hits and the noise button is pressed and the guitars come in all chunky and furious and the vocals rage about death and suchlike. fear not. this lot are no slipknot as they maintain the interaction of the acoustic elements with the noise and somehow rise above the norm, as this makes the track very strong.
second track 'the hole' though is a far mellower affair, predominantly acoustic guitars. sweeping melodies and large emotions are being portrayed no doubt as one vocalline is melodic and this is counteracted by a gruff deathmetal type vocal.
last track, the epic six and a half minutes of 'final prayer' - title gives it all away. sung in the bands mother tongue this has a seriously intense scary atmosphere like a soundtrack to a religious horror movie and the demons are one their way to rip out the souls of anybody who gets in their way. an interesting set of songs and despite not having a large passion for all things metal this stuff is damn fine.
hard-ons - sunny
to celebrate the band coming to these shore to support scanda rock gods turbonegro the hard ons release the best tracks off their recent punk pop monster, completely addictive and wonderful. brings a ray of welcome summer in the forthcoming winter months. more details on the lp are elsewhere. these tracks are far better than any of the current power punk pop that the radio is full of.