Interview with Just Jack - Noize Makes Enemies

“So, do want me to call you, Just Jack or just…Jack?”

Perhaps not the most professional way to begin an early telephone interview on a Monday morning with one of pop music’s most astute artists, but it soon becomes clear that Jack Allsop is as down to earth as he is musically talented. Even after the success of his previous album, Jack seems to have remained rather humbled by his whole career:

“I never really expected to be in pop music so to be in this position, even beyond selling 10 albums is quite amazing. It was all quite accidental and I had never really planned to do this and so everything is a highlight for me.”

But after almost two years out of the spotlight, Just Jack is, well…back and newly inspired by the likes of Passion Pit and MSTRKRFT, as well as a range of Dance and Electro bands from Sinden and Diplo (“and that sort of ghetto house live music or whatever the fuck they call it!”), something that undoubtedly enriches the diversity of his new album:

“A bit of an electronic thing, an orchestral thing, a folky thing and a disco thing. A bit all over the place and more of the same experimenting with different types of music really and writing about stuff that you don’t normally hear about.”

You might not believe that these are the rather nonsense descriptive ramblings of one music’s most perceptive social commentators but explaining the foundations of his new album, All Night Cinema, it seems once again, Jack has used his winning formula to enhance his music with a variety of genres, styles and character fused narratives.

And new single, ‘The Day I Died’ is no exception. Out Monday, with lyrics like: /The day I died was the best day of my life/ Tell my friends and my kids and my wife/ Everything will be alright/, Jack has characteristically embodied all the dissatisfaction that people so often feel with life and combined it with his innate overarching ability to create a sort of soberness that is almost reassuring in it’s accuracy:

“’The Day I Died’ is probably my favourite track on the album because of a combination of things. It’s the one I’m most excited by. I’m just happy to have a tune out that’s so unlike everything else that’s out there. It’s sort of sad, but all the radio stations are still playing it.”

And Jack has even enlisted the help of James Nesbitt (of Cold Feet fame) to play a family man who, in a sort of ode to Bruce Willis in ‘The Sixth Sense’, spends the duration of the video going about an unusually good day, before realising he is already dead; having been hit by a London cab earlier on:

“It’s mad! I had a friend who knows him [James Nesbitt] and I just kind of asked if he would be around and interested in doing it and he was. It was mental filming it though on the day and just seeing how a high calibre actor works and seeing people in the street just double taking. You forget just how massively famous he is”

Based on the feedback that websites like YouTube demonstrate, it would seem that Jack has struck gold with his pairing of an excellent video with a uniquely poignant summer release. Something that is perhaps also demonstrated his jam-packed next few months:

“I’m doing Bestival in September, I’m going to Switzerland the day after tomorrow, The Electric Picnic in Ireland. I’ve been doing new music in my studio just for fun and a festival in France, as well as a European tour in October and hopefully a UK tour in November. It feels good to be doing stuff”

For an artist that struggled to find his way into the limelight, it seems that London-born Jack has finally found the footing he deserves. Bridging genres and musical styles in a way that is quite welcome in an industry that thrives on pigeonholing everything about artists from hairstyles to jeans, Just Jack looks set to finally enjoy the success and recognition he’s worked so hard for.

Interview with Emmy The Great

“Poets I read growing up, my ex-boyfriend, being in love, whatever CD I’ve become obsessed with before I write a song, my guitarist Euan.”

Whilst this may read like the neurotic hit list of a scorned lover, it is, in fact, the recipe of influences that make for the goose-bump provoking Folk tales of Emma Lee Moss, or Emmy The Great, as she is better known.

With a new EP, ‘Edward’, out later this month, her inspirations will no doubt once again be laid bare to listeners and prevail in the way that makes Emmy so endearing and easy to relate to. But what can fans expect from the twenty-five year old’s latest release?

“It’s actually old tracks, so if they are fans, they probably know them. It’s supposed to be an addendum to the album so it won’t particularly differ. We recorded them because they were requested a lot on tour and I suddenly realised they’d never been recorded.”

And having received positive press reviews for her debut album “First Love”, which Emmy released on her own label, Close Harbour, Emmy’s feet appear to have remained firmly fixed to the floor of realism. Something which is refreshing in someone who has achieved so much:

“I got into music mainly by accident and mainly by chasing boys in bands. The record label happened quite naturally. At first no one wanted to put out our music, and then by the time they did, we had a pretty good system of our own.

“I’m purposefully not very aware of what other people think of the album, just cause I learned a long time ago it will never be exactly what I wanted, but the feeling I get when I speak to people or when we play shows is that it’s gone better than I could have hoped. So I’m happy.”

Not just content with her own record label and a critically acclaimed release, Emmy The Great has also collaborated with the likes of Lightspeed Champion and Fatboy Slim:

“Writing songs with anyone is worthwhile, especially if you’re used to working on your own, because they remind you not to get stuck in a particular method. I’ve really benefited from all the collaborations I’ve done.”

Typically ambitious, Emmy has also dabbled in music journalism, demonstrating her innate magnetism to the partnership of music and writing. Having written for Drowned in Sound and The Stool Pigeon, she isn’t necessary ready to focus on just one career path for the time being, (which, based on her incredible song-writing ability, stirs up a slight panic for our job safety here at Noize!):

“I still think I will be a writer of some sort alongside this, the journalism is part of it. It started out as music, but now I’m branching out a bit, but it’s all on the side as I really enjoy making music right now.”

And Emmy’s writing will be further exemplified with the release of her new EP on 10^th August, which will come with a copy of her short story “The Wet and Windy Moors”.

For someone who seems to have the sort of enviable talent that makes them effortlessly brilliant at whatever they put their hand to, Emmy has the world at her fingertips. Luckily for us, she will be sticking to music and continuing to produce enchanting Folk for a while to come yet.

Interview with Charlie Waller (The Rumble Strips) - Noize Makes Enemies

/You’re not the only person to get it wrong. It’s alright/ As Charlie Waller’s vocals slide over The Rumble Strips’ trademark big band sound on their first release from their new studio album – the lyrics seem almost hypocritical of a band who appear unable to indeed, get it wrong.

But we will of course let them off. Even on the phone, Charlie is as every bit as charming as his band’s unashamedly unsubtle musical outbursts would suggest. Speaking about the highly anticipated second album, “Welcome to The Walk Home’, it seems the transition has brought out a change in tempo in the Devon hailing five-piece:

“There’s probably more orchestration on this. That’s the main big difference. This album is a bit more epic and slow burning, not as frantic as the first album. We’re getting old now, we haven’t got the energy anymore!”

Whilst the natural maturation of a band that have been blasted from their quaint South West roots to recording a follow up album in New York, may have played a big part in this audio modification, an additional helping hand from a certain Mark Ronson, is likely to have had just as much of an impact. A partnership that grew as smoothly as the band appears to have:

“We did a remix of Amy Winehouse’s ‘Back to Black’ and Mark heard it and liked it. Then he asked me to sing our version and we did a couple of gigs together [including at The Royal Albert Hall].

“Mark producing the album was quite a gradual thing really too. He said he wanted to do a couple of songs for the album and just ended up producing all of them. He has a really definite drum sound which is good; he has 3 microphones on the drums, which give a real old school sound you can hear on the album.”

The refreshingly effortless and almost accidental collaboration between Ronson and The Rumble Strips on the new album demonstrate not only the natural and real talent of the band, but their infectious take-in-their stride approach to it all. Now five years on, the band seem to have come into their own, finding a sound that truly suits them and an album they’re especially proud of:

“We did an album launch for this album at Wiltons Music Hall, this really old music hall in East London, which was really good to play. A lot of our family and people who had been there along the way were there and we played the whole album through from start to finish with a big orchestra. There was just a really nice feeling there.”

With the album out in July, the band’s plans to spend the summer doing the usual festival circuits before starting a UK tour in September, it would seem that The Rumble Strips, along with their relentless penchant for instrumental whirlwinds that strike fans like a comet with ADHD, have not only grown up but are set to well and truly secure themselves a place on the radar of music lovers on a global scale. And rightly so.

Single Review - Unseen Archives - Pulses - This is Fake DIY

At just 17 years old, Unseen Archives’ influences scan the likes of Joy Division, The Horrors and Late of the Pier and as a result, musically the band have successfully incorporated all the sombre drones of the of Ian Curtis and gothic pessimism of Faris Badwan, alongside the unpredictability of chaos pioneers Late of The Pier. However, with single ‘Pulses’ the band fail to showcase the same pizzazz as the afore mentioned artists.

Whether it’s the apathy conjured by the repetitive and uninspired lyrics or the unnecessary Libertine-esque sporadic yelling, there’s a real feeling that the band could do better and still unable to drink in the bars that their music could be played in, as the teenagers continue to grow as a band and perhaps work on the lyrical side of their production, it is likely their talents will expand further.

Album Review - Darker My Love - 2 - This is Fake DIY

Los Angeles. The largest state in California and the state responsible for bringing us some truly horrific things. From The Hills’ Spencer Pratt to box office disgrace, Crank: High Voltage. Yet, amongst the roughage of undesirable mush, does emerge some refreshing musical talent including the likes of The Airborne Toxic Event, Rage Against the Machine and The Mars Volta: to name but three of rock’s most prestigious names.

And LA band, Darker My Love find themselves very much among the latter. Combining noise rock with a dash of ambient rock, the five-piece are a sort of hybrid assortment of traditional rock meets 70s surrealism. No doubt a direct result of the variety that arises from finding their feet having left various bands including The Nerve and The Fall.

Tracks like “Talking Words” and “Waves” show Darker My Love at their best in a psych versus classic rock frenzy. Like Animal Collective moshing alongside Kasabian as their collision spews out all their most treasured attributes from chaotic guitar riffs to an effortlessly hippy overtone.

2 is the band’s second album but first UK release and whilst they are undoubtedly difficult to pigeon hole, as a result of the band’s varied experiences and influences, their depth and ability to lure the listener in; before turning what we had come to expect on its head with atmospheric tracks like “Two Ways Out” and “All The Hurry Can Wait”, is something of an intoxicating quality and something that bodes well for the future of this diverse outfit.

Single Review - Skint and Demoralised - Red Lipstick - Noize Makes Enemies

Skint and Demoralised are made up of Matt Abbott, a twenty-year-old spoken word lyricist from Wakefield, alongside producer MiNi dOg who provides the beats to accompany Abbot’s endearing Northern twang.

Their debut single, ‘Red Lipstick’, is a quirky three minute ode to a schoolboy crush that Abbott found via his misspent social networking youth. A girl whose delightfully low maintenance attitude to life (liking no more than “Red lipstick/ Fish and chips/ Orange juice/ And trips to the seaside”) prompted Matt to put pen to paper to celebrate this seemingly rare find.

Whilst, this debut single might not have all the hard hitting erudite accuracy of partnerships such as Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip, Abbott’s innate likeability seems to gloss over that as his singing voice, not unlike Richard Archer (of Hard Fi), bounces over the upbeat chorus of ‘Red Lipstick’.

This lack of depth to the debut single is also by no means illustrative of Skint and Demoralised’s other work, which delves into the social conscious; with Abbott’s vocal disapproval of the BNP and their election in his hometown and his back catalogue of work with Love Music Hate Racism.

Having played Glastonbury and with Bestival, Latitude, Reading and Wireless all to come, as well as a debut album due in October which is likely to be a better representation of the duo’s capabilities, Skint and Demoralised look set to make their mark this year, even if ‘Red Lipstick’ does not showcase the depths of the pair as much as fans may have liked. Abbott looks set for success, and it couldn’t happen to someone anymore down-to-earth and likeable.

Single Review - Kid British - Our House is Dadless - Noize Makes Enemies

“You hold a better conversation/ When born in grimey locations/ And that’s where you'll find my crib/ In the same area where the alkies live”

Kid British, on the surface, appear to be a sort of collective Jamie T meets the Jeremy Kyle generation with this ska pop concoction of social commentary. Of course, chucking in seemingly unnecessary nouns such as “crib” and “beef” to culminate some sort of street credibility to their Five-like rapping over a Madness sample.

That is, before you look a bit deeper. The above description of a band such as The Ting Tings, which, for all of their lyrical ineptitude and lack of credence, still strive to be taken seriously as a band screeching “They call me Stacey”, but the refreshing quality of Kid British is that they understand their pigeonhole and seemingly embrace it.

Describing themselves as having the “feel good factor”, Kid British are a four-piece that aren’t taking themselves too seriously, which is something of a sought after trait as all too often musicians morph into self indulgent clichés all about the ‘vibe’ and ‘getting the message out there’ whilst losing themselves in the aura of celebrity.

Don’t get me wrong. Kid British will by no means be everyone’s cup of tea; with the very quintessential use of the “Our House” sample, no doubt irritating ‘serious’ music fans everywhere. But in a sense, the very love hate quality of this upbeat outfit highlights the underlying pretension of the music industry.

If you’re sick of the same clichés of musicians feeling hard done by and like the sound of a tongue-in-cheek Blazin’ Squad version of Jamie T, overlooking the cheesiness of Kid British’s debut single, they may be a welcome bit of variety to play lists over our dreary British Summer.

Single Review - Girls - Hellhole Ratrace - Noize Makes Enemies

/I don’t want to cry my whole life through/I want to do some laughing too/

Got your attention? This is the innate attention grabbing nature of Girls, the San Fransisco duo who are as eye-catching as there are lyrically poignant. Looking not too dissimilar to an American alternative of David Walliams and Matt Lucas, had they of entered some sort of surreal charity shopping and hair backcombing phase.

Yet, Girls are inarguably very talented.

With their debut single “Hellhole Ratrace” crying out to listeners for some TLC and revealing the very human reluctance to get stuck in the monotony of a predictable life, Girls reach out to listeners and reveal a sort of vulnerability that is unavoidably endearing. Whilst, at just under seven minutes in length, the track does lean to the more self-indulgent and unneccessarily long, the ecentric nature of the band in many ways makes it seem more of a showpiece for their creativity rather than evidence of an inability to know when to shut up.

Sounding not unlike the new work of The Horrors with the similarities to Faris’ vocals, entwined with the sort of psychedelic noise rock that The Pixies enhanced endlessly, Girls appear to be the ballsy type of different that should be welcomed with open arms.

Touring with Los Campesinos! and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart throughout the Summer, keep an ear out for their debut LP later this year as if it’s as versatile and complex as this single; 2010 looks set to be a very exciting year for the eclectic duo and their fans.

Album Review - Fanfarlo - Reservoir - Noize Makes Enemies

Welcome to the world of Fanfarlo.

It’s a sort of understated instrumental frenzy that combines a violin, a mandolin, a glock, a sax, a trumpet, a banjo alongside, of course, the conventional instruments in a way which immediately emulates the drama and beauty of the likes of Arcade Fire and leaves the listener with no misunderstanding about how truly talented the five-piece really are.

This, underpinned with Swedish frontman Simon Balthazar’s vocals sounding like a more sedate and peaceful Win Butler (of Arcade Fire) as he cries out /Why cant they just think like us?/ in a way that is refreshingly simple yet profound. The innate beauty of Balthazar’s delicate vocals are the perfect addition to Cathy Lucas’ faultless violin playing and the lyrics which echo such honesty and a dark rawness that is reminiscent of the likes of Cold War Kids or The Maccabees.

With a headlining tour in June and having already played at SXSW and The Great Escape, Fanfarlo have already began building up a solid fanbase since forming in 2006, no doubt all equally mesmerised by the enchanting layered production of their music.

Fanfarlo has the intoxicating ability to use their charming vocals, precise lyrics and talented instrumental formation to enter the listener and accommodate their desire to be distracted and escape from reality for forty minutes; something that friends of Fanfarlo, the spine-chilling Sigur Ros and Canadian talents, Wintersleep, are similarly renowned for.

Whether it’s the Swedish romanticism, or the natural and low key dramatics, Fanfarlo have an innate beauty that is almost guaranteed to sweep you off your feet with tracks like ‘Comet’ and “Drowning Man”. Step into Fanfarlo’s world, it’s entirely worth it.

Interview with Matt Abbott (Skint and Demoralised) - Noize Makes Enemies

Twenty-year-old Matt Abbott makes up one half of the Motown influenced spoken word duo, Skint and Demoralised, and despite his newly acquired acclaim and whirlwind two months – Abbott’s young feet seem pretty firmly fixed to the ground.

For those of you who haven’t heard of Skint and Demoralised (that’s anyone who works during Edith Boman’s daily Radio One stint), Matt Abbott was fresh from the monotony of education in his hometown of Wakefield, Yorkshire, when he started looking to poetry as a way of finding his footing in a dog-eat-dog music industry (“I’m not a singer and I cant play an instrument so I didn’t have any natural path music”) but before long he found his platform alongside producer MiNI dOG:

“I was really inspired by John Cooper Clarke who used to do spoken word before bands like The Fall and The Sex Pistols. I always loved words and language but as a teenager it’s not cool to say you like poetry so I started doing spoken word in pubs and clubs.

“It was just an excuse not to do college work really but I would record it on my mobile and then upload them onto MySpace so people could hear them. Then someone got in touch with me about putting my poetry over music tracks and I thought it’d be a bit of a novelty and agreed. Within a month we had five songs, without even having met, but when we did, we just clicked and after two years, we’re still trying!”

And the trying appears to be paying off with new single ‘Red Lipstick’ out 13^th July and already earning the duo a place at some of the most prestigious music festivals around the country over the next few months. Their debut is a three minute ode to the girl next door revealing Abbott’s college penchant for more down to earth girls who apparently like no more than ‘red lipstick, fish and chips, orange juice and trips to the sea-side.’

Whilst this fresh pop track will likely win them some criticism from more ‘serious’ Indie-meets-spoken word fans when compared to the likes of The Streets and Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip, Matt’s words plummet to further depths than the quirky debut would perhaps lead you to believe; with one poem specifically targeting the errors of the BNP, warranting him a place on stage at Love Music Hate Racism:

“The racism issue has always been important to me and obviously the BNP were elected in Yorkshire and I’m a Yorkshire lad so hopefully I’ve put that point out there. Love Music Hate Racism is important and a good cause because kids don’t listen to politicians and need younger people. Racism is a social and moral issue. I can’t change the world but if I can help, I will do.”

Barely out of his teens, Matt seems to have had quite a impact with his profound words establishing him a firm following, something demonstrated with Skint and Demoralised playing their first headline tour in February earlier this year and all their plans to help them pass the time throughout the usually dubious weather of the English Summer:

We’re doing Bestival, Reading Festival, Wireless, Latitude and now Glastonbury and we’ve got the release of ‘Red Lipstick’. We’ve also got another single coming out in September, a tour around then and then the album will be out 15th October. We’re just taking it one step at a time though. We don’t want to disappear after one single and an album.”

Hopes are also high for their debut album, fusing a sort of 60s soul with Matt’s Mike Skinner-esque observations and his innate balls to be different and veer away from the mainstream:

“Our music is largely inspired by Motown and Northern Soul but we didn’t want to do an Amy Winehouse rip off but we used her band to get that real authentic sound and not a sort of Mark Ronson soul-by-numbers.

“Although a lot of people, like John McClure in Reverend and the Makers, don’t put their spoken word stuff on their albums - we’ve done spoken word interludes on the album. Not like Eminem, but like spoken word with sound affects. It’s a bit weird…but we quite like that it’s a bit strange because it shows people what it is that we do.”

As the interview with Matt comes to an end, three things resound; (1) he chats faster than I thought was humanly possible when his bubbly nature and excitement for his career take over his speech, (2) He does do mainstream, caving to Twitter (and confessing that he is ‘a bit sad’ and does all his updates in rhyme) and (3) Skint and Demoralised are really quite a refreshing addition to the music scene and clearly loving every minute.

Album Review - Regina Spektor - Far - This is Fake DIY

As charming and she is enchanting, Soviet born, Regina Spektor, is back with her fifth album “Far”, and true to form, it’s spine-chillingly beautiful.

Throughout the sixteen tracks, Regina characteristically playfully, but precisely, exudes all the words you wish you could have been the first person to articulate, if you’d have realised you felt it. She also maintains her balance of maturity, approaching issues of God and family life, but combining it with a sort of endearing naivety as she effortlessly breaks down even the most complex of emotions into a simplified, often tongue-in-cheek, lyric.

Regina’s classical influences that include the likes of Mozart and Chopin, combine with a plethora of seemingly separate genres from hip hop to jazz, to create the perfect foundation for the new album. Tracks like ‘Folding Chair’ demonstrate Regina’s prowess as a pianist as lyrics like / “I’ve got a perfect body because my eyelashes catch my sweat, yes they do/ playfully bounce along staccato piano chords. That is, before she shows off her trademark quirkiness bursting into an impromptu dolphin impression

Whilst, as with ‘Begin to Hope’ in comparison to it’s predecessor ‘Soviet Kitch’, Regina’s new album demonstrates a more produced and polished finish than her initial fans are perhaps used to. Yet, when the end product still conjures the goose bumps we come to expect of Regina’s beautiful voice juxtaposed by her Bronx twang and storybook-like lyrics that echo her influence on successors such as Kate Nash, it becomes hard to fault.

Forget what the Pogues and Kirsty MacColl tell us every Christmas, the fairytale in New York is Regina Spektor, and it’s bloody good to have her back.

Album Review - SWIMMInG - The Fireflow Trade - This is Fake DIY

“Last night I got struck by lightening/ While I was trying to swim” From the very first line of the Nottingham five-piece’s debut album, the automatic spine chills that become rather commonplace as the album progresses, are teased through the listener. Enhanced with John Sampson’s gentle vocals sounding like a darker Jack Steadman (of Bombay Bicycle Club) amidst the beautiful eeriness of the likes of The Postal Service; that is, before the first track erupts into a less impressive and more basic style of rock/electronica that also appears to characterise the album.

Yet, to the band’s credit, SWIMMInG don’t combine the two genres in the same way that bands like Head Automatica do so in a bid to reach out to the popular mainstream. Their penchant for the dark static ambience that lies like a shadow over the album’s nine tracks, quite effortlessly exudes the bands influences that include Sonic Youth, Animal Collective and Pixies.

Releasing ‘The Fireflow Trade’ on their own record label, Colourschool, in many ways the band’s album showcases its own innovative brand of post-rock noise that rivals the likes of Do Say Make Think. However, with at times rather monotonous lyrics, which includes 16 consecutive repetitions of the line /Set ablaze a fire/ in the final track and a collage of uninspiring drones, in other ways the album appears to lack the charm and subtly that the opening 30 seconds emptily promises.

However, as a debut album, SWIMMInG has seemingly established a sort of variety throughout the tracks that serves as a platform to show their diverse capabilities and, as with all debuts, will provide an unprecedented opportunity for them to grow as a band and perhaps establish a more certain sound.

Interview with Mikel Jollet (The Airborne Toxic Event) - Noize Makes Enemies

”It was the first time I slept in my own bed since last July and I woke up at like 7 in the morning, I looked around and I was like “Where the fuck am I?!” I didn’t have any idea and it took a few minutes and then I was like ‘Oh fuck, I’m home! Oh, alright.”

After nine months on the road that has propelled them all around the world, it is hardly surprising that the travelling circus that The Airborne Toxic Event have become has left lead singer and guitarist, Mikel Jollett, more disorientated than an insomniac on a Ferris Wheel.

The bands whirlwind existence was perhaps paved by its formation and the romantically alternative way that Mikel turned to music. With his DNA undoubtedly laced with an innate creativity, Jollett began with dreams of being a writer. With his dedication to achieve his ambition set in stone, it wasn’t until an unfortunate turn of fate that led Mikel to find escapism and solace within music and song-writing:

“I’d been kind of locked in a room for five years just reading and writing and I never had anywhere to be. Like, ever. I would go a week or two without seeing another person. My gas had been turned off most the year and I had to do all this weird shit to try and afford groceries. I hadn’t paid taxes in like 7 years, I defaulted on my student loan, my credit was shot to hell and I just didn’t care.

“I was just writing all the time and I suddenly picked up a guitar, I had no ambition to be a musician, I just wanted to be a writer. I started playing music, I think almost just cause I couldn’t write for a while. I’d gone through some shit and it was hard to concentrate, so I would just play guitar every day and one day became a week, and one week became a month, and a month became a year. And I’d taken this year out to write a novel and after about a year id written about 100 songs, but only about 1500 words of the novel. So at that point I was like ‘Well I guess I’d better form a band, it’s all I’m ever gonna do.’”

This dark time that forced Mikel to re-evaluate his passions (the news that his mother had been diagnosed with cancer and that Jollett himself had developed two genetic diseases) appears to have almost honed his talent for writing lyrics that speak the words you’d wanted to say but had not known how to articulate.

And it seems to have paid off; the band’s new album came out early this year and has already received prestigious reviews from some of the most renowned music press. Yet the album, largely inspired by a bad break up and ex-novelist Mikel’s love of all things erudite, is as genuine and close to the bone as the thirteen tracks of refreshingly un-self indulgent rock would lead you to believe:

“A lot of the stuff I was thinking about was stuff I guess I learnt as a writer. I think if you’re any kind of writer, your job is to write stuff that is unpopular but is true - whereas a politician’s job is to say things that are popular but untrue. So for me, I kinda got off on saying things from the perspective of what was actually real or what was actually true. ‘Cause I’d always felt relieved reading about that. I’d actually feel relief when I was reading Phillip Roth or something, and be like ‘Wow look how depraved this is’ it made me feel like ‘Oh good, it’s not just me.’

So having toured all over the world (“We’re like a group of gypsies or something. We just write songs, travel around and play them.”), The Airborne Toxic Event are beginning to taste the rewards of their hard work, particularly over the last year. This is something truly embodied by the difference in experiences at 2008’s SXSW, to this year’s:

“Last year [at SXSW] we played a few shows, I think we were what was called a ‘buzz band’, you know like a lot of industry people with their fucking arms crossed watching from the back of the room, trying to figure out whether or not they should write about us. With the press, I think for us in particular they didn’t really understand us at first because every band is supposed to be trying to do a ‘thing’ and there’s just no fucking irony in our band.

”This year, we played in a place that held about 500 and they turned away 1500 people. The show was crazy, loud and fun; we were up dancing on the bar and jumping around. I stole some vodka and I was pouring people drinks and stuff during the show. After the show I saw the bouncer in the hallway and he had his head in his lap, and I was like ‘You alright, man?’ and he was like ‘That was the worst fucking show I’ve ever worked in my whole life!’ So yeah, it was pretty different from last year.”

Having taken their name from a section of ‘White Noise’, a Don Delillo novel, it was clear from the outset that The Airborne Toxic Event were not just another band. They personify a refreshing sort of 60’s ethos to rock and roll, not one that has become so self indulgent and refined by skinny jeans, a side parting and wearing your little brothers t-shirts. They appear to have a depth that in many ways set them apart from a lot of modern-day alternative bands and without a doubt, echoes the reality that they are destined for great things.

“It’s definitely fun to play shows and it’s good that people kinda know who we are. But we haven’t really done anything yet….”

Single Review - Fanfarlo - Drowning Man - Noize Makes Enemies

London-based, Fanfarlo, are as charming as they are musically creative. A combination that is impossible not to melt for, as their musical delights alleviate any previous priorities.

The quirky five-piece embody all the understated dramatics of a British Arcade Fire, chucking in drums & percussion, a violin, a mandolin, a glock, a sax, a bass, a guitar, a trumpet, oh and a banjo. All for good measure.

This, alongside the way that lead singer, Amo’s vocals creep into the hearts of the listener as he pleads /Don’t be cross about it/ allows Amo to distract you from what you thought was important and passively demand your attention, bearing much similarity to that of Orlando Weeks (of The Maccabees).

The bands first single release “Drowning Man”/ “Sand and Ice” embody all the previous descriptions which are perfectly complimented by Fanfarlo’s choice of instruments, with Cathy’s violin expertise seeming to carry the listener to somewhere different; something the afore mentioned Arcade Fire, and band friends, Sigur Ros, have down to a fine art.

Fanfarlo look set for success with a UK tour in June, including a number of festivals, to seal the deal.

Album Review - Speck Mountain - Some Sweet Relief - Noize Makes Enemies

Pigeon-holing itself as “ambient soul”, Speck Mountain consists of Karl Briedrick and Marie-Claire Balabanian, who have also enlisted the help of an array of other musicians for their second album.

The layering of such a variety of polished and mood-affecting instrumentals mixed with an almost psychedelic overtone, conjures associations with the likes of a mellow, slightly pissed off, Animal Collective. This teamed with an overwhelming sense of sombreness and Marie-Claire’s vocals similarity to Lali Puna and Portishead’s Beth Gibbons, adds an even deeper element of blues.

The solemn mood to the album seems to smother the eleven tracks as they progress over the course of forty minutes. This is undoubtedly the result of the emotional place that the band were at the time of recording, with both Marie-Claire and Karl using the opportunity as a sort of cathartic output of self expression. Admittedly this can work, but unlike the enchantingly chill of Bon Iver productions, the chokehold of moroseness appears to stifle all the necessary charm needed to make the album similarly endearing.

Whilst, the musical talent of the duo and the flawless vocals of Marie-Claire are undisputable, the relevance in today’s music scene may be too populated to recognise such subtleties and indeed, ambience.

Album Review - Telegraphs - We Were Ghosts - Noize Makes Enemies

Telegraphs are a five-piece from Brighton. Yes, another one. But despite emerging from the sea-side town that appears to distribute an inordinate amount of music scene hopefuls from its Lanes, Telegraphs are dead-set on making a different noise. And a very loud one.

The band formed in late 2005, with their album ‘We Were Ghosts’ out later this month. The Rock/Emo style hybrid laces the bands debut, with their influences of Billy Talent and Biffy Clyro, noticeable not only in terms of intoxicating guitar riffs that pulsate through the listener, but also in Darcy Harrison’s vocals which emulate Ben Kowalewicz (of Billy Talent) meets Taking Back Sunday’s Adam Lazzara.

The angst and passion felt in lyrics like /How could you know, I could be so, I could be so cold?/ is forced in way that derives from genuine feeling and difficult experiences. None more difficult than the break-up of a relationship, let alone between two of the band’s founding members. Much like the work of The Subways’ Billy Lunn and Charlotte Hooper, the inevitable agony that derives from the final days of being together, was what Darcy Harrison and fiery bassist Hattie Williams transformed into the relatable intensity of the band’s debut album. It is fair to say the turbulence has even enhanced “We Were Ghosts” with Darcy’s chants of /Tell me what’s so good about goodbye/ Give it up son/ She’s gone/, making it nigh on impossible not to be drawn in by the refreshingly truthful vulnerability of Telegraphs.

Whilst at times, the album does lean into a borderline self-indulgence, the genres the eleven tracks find themselves edged into no doubt forgive, and at times even embrace this. It would perhaps be unexpected for Telegraphs to reach the level of their Brighton peers The Maccabees, but with a strong fan-base forming behind them and a wide range of live gigs to go this Summer, the future looks set to steer Telegraphs along similar paths of success.

Gig Review - HMV Hammersmith Apollo - 5th March 2009

Jason Mraz

HMV Hammersmith Apollo

5^th March 2009

It’s the tour that all ‘original’ fans begin to dread. The tour that fans fear will see the set list become inaudible because of some screaming nineteen-year old in the crowd behind them shouting the only lyric she knows. It’s the tour where tickets sell out faster than they’ve known because of the success of ‘that song’.

‘That song’ is of course, ‘I’m Yours’, and in the same way that Radio One’s repetition of ‘Sex on Fire’ left Kings of Leon’s long-standing fans feeling like a wife who’s husband suddenly starts getting a lot of female attention, Mraz’s fans seem to mourn the days of intimate gigs when he was their best kept secret.

Yet in Hammersmith, on this uncharacteristically pleasant Sunday evening in April, his audience, both new and long-standing, seem as ready to fall in love with him as ever as Jason starts off his ninety minute set with ‘Song for a Friend’ and intoxicatingly cheerful ‘Dynamo of Volition’.

Amongst a crowd of Jason-inspired-hat toting males, all of course craftily tilted to the side, the atmosphere exudes such adoration for Mraz that the walls seem to bow, or perhaps that’s the floor as a result of the full capacity of the standing area now involved in a mass dance routine to ‘Mary Jane’, choreographed by Jason himself with the hope it’ll continue on London’s streets after the Apollo’s doors have closed.

As soulful as he is charming, Mraz brings on support act, the adorable Norwegian, Marit Larson, to sing with him on ‘Lucky’ before a simplistic and beautiful rendition of ‘Beautiful Mess’ that sees even the audience members who had seemed more interested in watching the gig through the lens of their camera, stop in their tracks.

Jason’s super-band, Sensatious, elevate his second night in Hammersmith to the next level, quite literally during the brass solo of ‘Live High’ which sees the brass section serenade the standing audience from the seated area under spotlight. It is exactly moments like this that demonstrate Mraz’s effortless showmanship and embody what makes Jason so endearing to his his fans.

Bringing the show to a close with ‘Im Yours’, causing as much hysteria as suspected but ever-keen to accommodate for his devoted fans, Jason removes any monotony by turning it into a medley with ‘3 Little Birds’ and ‘Every Little Ending’, to compliment his number one hit. Mraz’s appreciation of his fans is a massively welcomed attribute and something of a seemingly dying out quality in modern music. It is also something further exemplified by the fact that the set list for Sunday’s sold out show is completely different to his previous night in the same venue.

Consequential to the audience’s relentless chanting, on returning to the stage for a four song encore, the band show off their instrumental prowess and the good mood radiates from the stage to the audience and back again. Typically light hearted and tongue-in-cheek, Jason treats his very bewildered but completely impressed audience to a soprano solo during ‘Mr Curiosity’, before ‘Tonight, Not Again’, ‘No Stopping Us’ and ‘Buh Buh Bye (You’ve Got It All)’.

Whilst the secret of Jason Mraz might be out to the possessive regret of some of his long-time fans, the world, or at least Hammersmith on this Sunday night, is undoubtedly a much better place for it.

Single Review- Marina and The Diamonds - Obsessions

Welsh or Greek. Whatever her origins, Marina and the Diamonds is the latest in a host of female fronted Indie outfits that are fearlessly infiltrating the alternative music scene and being greeted with much excitement.

Marina, the one-woman band, could have been the implausible love child of Florence Welsh and Kate Bush with her intoxicating vocal prowess and eccentric musical structure.

Obsessions, her debut single, is a three minute ode to the intensity of being in love with someone who is as temperamental as they are bad for you. Lyrics like /Wont you quit your crying I can’t sleep/ one minute I’m little sweetheart and next minute you are an absolute creep/ make lyrical comparisons to the likes of Kate Nash unavoidable as her “realness” makes her similarly endearing.

With her hopes already set on America and MTV Awards, the 23 year old is refreshingly open about her ambitions and determination. This self belief teamed with the topicality and relevance that Marina exudes, means that as with her label mates, Passion Pit, 2009 looks set to be an exciting year for our new favourite female songstress.

Album Review - Boy Least Likely To - The Law of the Playground

/I sit around in my pyjamas/ Eating pear drops and stringing up conkers/ And if I want to feel something I stick pencils up my nose/ I just want to change the world in whatever little way that I can/ With lyrics like this, The Boy Least Likely To seem to be the men most likely to melt the hearts of Indie scenesters all over the country, with their second album release entitled ‘The Law of the Playground’.

Combining instrumentals that are reminiscent of the likes of Badly Drawn Boy had the beanie-toting band had all the endearing zest for life and upbeat ethos’ of The Beatles. Whilst far from as classic as the latter, their chirpy melodies and cheerful harmonies make summertime toe-tapping an unavoidable inevitability of the band’s newest album.

Combining pop, indie and folk, the two-piece consisting of Jof Owen and Pete Hobbs, have endured a pretty bumpy ride to before the release of this thirteen-track treat. With it initially due out in the summer, Owen and Hobbs took their finished album to their record label last year, only to find it was no longer in existence. The band then spent the next few months writing new songs and tweaking their album before its release early this month.

The result; an album with more real depth and emotion than may have prevailed, had the band not hit such walls along the way. Having already toured with Razorlight, fans of the likes of The Shins and afore mentioned should definitely step into the world of The Boy Least Likely To, it looks set to get rather crowded.

Album Review - Bonny 'Prince' Billy - Beware - Noize Makes Enemies

Don’t let the adjective fool you, Bonnie Prince Billy really isn’t very bonnie, but he is pretty bloody good. Infusing folk, country and rock, Will Oldham, the mastermind behind the outfit, brings his established fan base a fourth album.

The album mirrors an array of emotions that don’t always translate into vocabulary as easily for the rest of us as they seem to for Oldham, something that is no doubt a result of an innate talent and years of musical experience.

Traditional country tracks such as “Beware Your Only Friend” emulate provocative lyrics like /Watch out for these empty thoughts/ that’s where the seeds of soul sucking grows/ in a way that interrupts and penetrates the listener’s deepest thoughts.

Similarly, tracks like “There is Something I Have to Say” have a more unique blues style and in turn make Bonnie Prince Billy’s heart felt lyrical pleas pluck at the heart strings of anyone who has ever had their heart broken. This combination makes a rather niche genre accessible and refreshingly enjoyable for a more extensive audience.

Though, throughout the course of the thirteen tracks, the average non-country music fan may start to find the tales of loss and depravation a tad draining, Oldham’s musical ability is far from disputable.

Admittedly, Bonnie Prince Billy’s new album will not be the next must-have for fans of mainsteam Ting Tings and whatever else is deemed ‘alternative’ this month, but a refreshing step back from computer-manipulated music and encouraging the broadening of musical tastes is far from a bad thing and something that Oldham effortlessly advocates.