Jefferson Airplane - surrealistic pillow

So Jefferson Airplane's second album from 1967 and a key release of early psychedelia and folk rock. Really it is good fun and unlike some "classics" lives up to the bill and still sounds fresh. "Somebody to love" and "White rabbit" are of course famous songs heavily played to this day, but still retain their urgency and invention.


Moving beyond these tracks "She has funny cars" is an enjoyable stomp, pretty garage-y. "Come back to me" is mellowness personified. "Today" is so beautiful and atmospheric. It was a hugely popular song during the Summer of Love and you can hear why. It sounds real. Man.

Review of 2016

Well that was the year everything died, including our hopes and this blog. But we have returned for the traditional end of year lists...

Top 10 Artists of 2016

1: Mary Chapin Carpenter
2: St Lucia
3: Ladyhawke
4: Phases
5: Wolf Alice
6: Scarlet Soho
7: Flyying Colours
8: Lycia
9: Leitbur
10: Le Cassette

Top 10 Songs of 2016

1: solo KO - Scarlet Soho
2: wavy gravy - Flyying Colours
3: i need you - Leitbur
4: unprepared - The Ice Choir
5: long goodbye - Basia Bulat
6: physical - St Lucia
7: sweet fascination - Ladyhawke
8: run - The Northern Lights
9: a ghost ascends - Lycia
10: one eyed butterfly - Mood Robot

In case you don't know who these people are, well check out the A-Z of 2016 playlist. Happy New Year!

MV : "Lipslap" by Kero Kero Bonito

The end of year review is coming, and will include...

The Salient Braves - guilty until proven innocent EP

We're back (like ballroom dancing)! Also back are The Salient Braves with another EP of jangly pop goodness. Truthfully i listened to this while pretty flu-ed up, so this was some welcome medication. Did more good than paracetamol anyway.

While the title track is a highly enjoyable pop track my favourite is the slightly more off the wall "My alter ego" with lovely dual vocal interplay. Also to be commended is "Cynical old bastard" which for a start has a great title and also some great lyrics, for example rhyming "believe it" with "fleapit" and "Dick Dastard[ly]" with "old bastard"!

Its a great EP, its just what you need when you have a cold, or just anytime right now in this crazy world.

Mary Chapin Carpenter - state of the heart

What is your favourite album ever? Its a common question to ask in musical circles, and it is a very difficult one to answer correctly. Its easy to throw in answers like the White Album or a Birdy Song Megamix but to truly say what is your favourite album EVAH and not just what is the current flavour of the month takes some thought. And i have given it a lot of thought, and this is it.

So why is it so good? The songs for a start. Accomplished and polished songs like "Quitting time", "Never had it so good", "This shirt". Great song writing and great production. The more you listen to it the more you find to enjoy about the album. Especially Carpenter's voice, to this day i've yet to find a singer whose vocals i like as much. I guess it also reminds me of my late teens when i first bought the album on vinyl back in 1989. And i've loved it, and her, ever since.

MV : "Back to you" by Jacob Bellens

This is great pop!

Tiffany

Tiffany's debut from 1987, and a lovely pop album it was too. I never really got into Tiffany at the time, though if i had realised back then that we were almost born on the same day maybe i would (lets face it there are far dafter reasons to like a singer). Many years later Tiffany is still releasing records and i am writing this nonsense. So thats all turned out well then.

The hits are here, "I think we're alone now" and so on. They are fine if verging on cheese sometimes and over familiarity makes it hard to be objective sometimes. The best song is "Danny" which is a perfect slice of pop with some lovely melodies overlaid with Tiffany's great voice. Its unashamedly bubblegum pop but with a bit of a country underpinning and that gives the album some staying power.

Let Em Riot - slashwave EP

Neo-synth pop that sounds like its come straight from an 80s dungeon, well i can't get enough of it these days and Let Em Riot produce some great digital beats. "Don't stop running" is underpinned by a ruthless electronic beat but enlivened by waves of synth noise. "Foreigners" is a great lost early 80s pop classic though made in the 2010s.

All the right ingredients are here: laid back almost dead pan vocals, electric beats, synth flourishes. Everything that made early 80s synth pop so wonderful. The sound has been recreated perfectly. Maybe it is a pastiche but who cares when it sounds so good? It may not be "now" 2016 (though 1983 might qualify) but its the now i want to live in. Now.

MV : "Livin' in a studio" by Freeweights

Great new single.

The Salient Braves - they must have seen me coming EP

We haven't covered indie pop on this website for some time... so here is the return of the Salient Braves. Classic guitar pop that is as fun to listen to as it obviously was to make. The title track is lovely jingly jangle. "The great unwashed" has a deeper tone, and surprise instruments! I like this track a lot, the tones are quite country rock at times.

The cover of "Losing my religion". You know the original is one of those overplayed songs that i'm not sure i can stand much anymore (and i love REM) but this cover has an organic urgency and immediacy that brings new life to the worn out track. Its my highlight of the EP which is very enjoyable, and out now on Broken Down Records.

MV : "The words" by Dragonborn feat. Jacob Bellens

Not a new song but we're only just now seeing "Dicte" over here of which this is the theme.

Top 5 Records (May)

1: ST LUCIA - matter
2: LE CASSETTE - left to our own devices
3: MARY CHAPIN CARPENTER - the things we are made of
4: NEW ORDER - music complete
5: SCARLET SOHO - in cold blood

C Duncan - architect

Dreampop, classical music soundscapes... well there are many similarities and blending both is C Duncan. The music is beautiful, multi-layered and textured and full of interesting sounds. "She" for example wafts along with a shuffle that sounds a bit like a mangled hand-clap. The title track is wonderful, multi-layered melody including use of that very versatile instrument the human voice.

MV : "Only child" by Shearwater

Another fine track.

Plu

With their new album now out it was about time we reviewed the previous one by this Welsh alt-folk sibling trio. Its sublime, atmospheric (well they are from Snowdonia after all) and beautifully warm. Highlight is the wonderful "Tyrd yn ol" is melancholic, sweet harmonies and then a look back over the shoulder. Your heart melts.

"Hiraeth" is sparse, the backing cut back almost to nothing as the vocals cut through so clearly. "Glaw du" builds a compelling soundscape. "Yr ysfa" simple and warm, you might turn around when you listen to it because you'll feel like the band is right behind you.

Movie : Young and Dangerous (1996)

Well we reviewed the prequel a few weeks ago, what about the original? How is a film about a bunch of swaggering gangsters getting into criminal scrapes? Well its brilliant of course as well as being total tosh, but tosh thats so well made.

You can see why so many people, especially in HK, loved this film. The heroes are cool bad guys, criminals for sure but also with a code of honour. Thats unlike the other criminals who are pretty evil. Theres lots of fast cars, faster chicks and violence, lots and lots of violence.

The swagger is what makes this, and makes the main characters played by Ekin Cheng and Jordan Chan so likeable. They might be the bad guys, but you want to be in their gang.

MV : "Genius of crack" by Tsunami

Lets go back to a tune i loved back in the early 90s.

Movie : PTU Files : Death Trap (2005)

Firmly in the B movie camp, this HK action film is so poor in many ways. It looks like it was recorded on an ancient camera found in a skip and the sound recorded on a dictaphone. The plot and acting are also very suspect with many tangents and diversions into character relationships while the main crime plots are fairly incomprehensible. The dialogue also weirdly switches from cantonese to english at random.

The film's set piece is a hostage drama which is shown at the start then the film backtracks a couple of days to show the lead up to the drama before proceeding to the conclusion which involves a lot of shooting though not exactly the most amazing action scenes ever to be honest.

Despite all this negativity the film isn't that bad (but by no stretch of the imagination can it be called good), maybe its the awfulness that keeps you watching and there are some high points and even a bit of humour. You probably won't know whats going on though, even after its finished.

Shearwater - jet plane and oxbow

A fine album, music with a message. The message is one of protest, railing against the world and its so many problems. The music matches the message for power, so often atmospheric and mesmeric. Key track is "Quiet Americans" with its electric menace but "Only child" also wins. The sound is big but in an 80s style not noise for the sake of it. Big sound big ideas? Well its very enjoyable thats what it is.

MV : "I need you" by Leitbur

Well this is our current fave.