Ke$ha - Warrior

Young American singer-songwriter and rapper Ke$ha returns with the follow up to her 2011 effort Animal. The performer who broke through singing with Flo Rida on Right Round in 2009 can now pick and choose from producers and co-writers however while she may have had help on hand from a number of musical protégés and admirers the second outing doesn’t harness the same raw power. 

From the opening dance floor prepared title track this album clangs against all the clichés of modern pop music. It isn’t just that the lyrics seem to be a call to arms for people to shout YOLO and vomit in minicabs, it’s that female pop stars across the globe are able to do this kind of thing much better and without setting ones teeth quite so much on edge. 

When NME interviewed Ke$ha earlier this year she promised an album inspired by 1970’s rock, and while there are a number of over-produced guitar licks in play, it is mixed in with the crunk of dub-ready bass notes and flange vocals that ruin any credibility the statement could have had. Even managing to rope in or wheel out car insurance salesman Iggy Pop on Dirty Love doesn’t save this Titanic of an album as it smashes into an unseen iceberg. As each track passes it seems as if we are dealing with a ‘musician’ with multiple-personality disorder. While the whining lyrics echo wild and true on each track there is little else to combine this into a state anyone could call an album. There really is no flow. It is as though some kind of record company rep has mind mapped what other female soloists are doing, and then built an album attempting to throw too many of those elements together.

I know it’s never an appropriate time to say “I think I prefer Tick Tock” but at least it served up a number of excellent covers and parody versions. If you are somehow stuck having to listen to the album I would suggest Wonderland serves up the least offence but I say that with the headache caused from a gun being pressed to my temple. I guess if you like Ke$ha then this album is for you, but if you are looking for something original, turn to the other contenders of the scene.  

3.0

Paul Schiernecker

Nordic Giants @ Green Door Store, London

Image Courtesy of Brighton Music Blog

Nordic Giants are a post-rock duo from Brighton, and I was lucky enough to catch their last show in Brighton of the year at Green Door Store, supported by Curxes and Jake Emlyn. Green Door Store is a small, dark venue, which has seen a variety of bands pass through recently including Man Like Me and Palma Violets. Located just around the corner from Brighton station, on quieter nights it's easy to miss (I spent half an hour looking for the place, although that's probably more due to my terrible navigation skills and my phone's not so decent Maps app). Having little to no background knowledge of Nordic Giants, I expected the venue to be packed, as post-rock is supposedly on the forefront of today's popular emerging music genres, but it was dead when I showed up, and after conversing with one of the bartenders, it didn't seem like a huge crowd would turn up. I bought a drink (£4.10?!), made friends and caught a couple of support acts, the first being a Curxes, a girl/boy synth pop pair somewhat reminiscent of Summer Camp. Not what I was expecting, at all.

Image Courtesy of Sideways Glance

Jake Emlyn also played, an interesting, androgynous character from London, and a rapper/singer/songwriter, in love with Eliza Doolittle. I'm still not sure whether I loved or hated him, and it was during his set that I realised my camera was definitely, definitely not up to the job of taking decent photos in poorly lit conditions of constantly moving subjects. Nevermind, I guess I have some lovely pictures of the ground outside. Finally, Nordic Giants took to the stage wearing feathers and facepaint and not much else, surrounded by instruments and video projectors.
Put simply, were mind blowing and I'm not even a fan of post-rock. They had my full attention from the beginning to end and I can only compare what I felt to something like a religious experience; it was almost cathartic. Their captivating music is accompanied by a series of short films, which embrace all manner of issues, and easily evoke whatever emotions they desire.
Switching seamlessly between a variety of instruments, the duo at one point played a guitar with a stringed bow, perhaps the influence of Sigur Rós? Powerful, evocative, and mesmerising, if you ever get a chance, get down and see these guys.
You know when you can feel that a band is about to have massive breakthrough? Yeah. That. 

Jessie Chapman

Sound Influx Albums of 2012: Numbers 50-21

It's that time of year again, where we at Sound Influx ask our writers the daunting question: "What are your favourite albums of the year?". Well, the writers answered in force, and their suggestions have been meticulously tallied up into a rather fine list of this year best and boldest. Here are the albums we loved this year, that didn't quite make our top 20 (which is coming soon,) and links to the ones we did original reviews of. Enjoy!

50. Delicate Steve - Positive Force
49. The 2 Bears - Be Strong
48. Actress - RIP

47. ScHoolboy Q - Habits And Contradictions
46. David Byrne and St. Vincent - Love This Giant
45. METZ - METZ  
"The only danger they’re in is that with one record built primarily of tracks under the 3:30 mark, there’s simply not enough to satisfy the ravenous demand." Read Braden Fletcher's review. 
44. Jessie Ware - Devotion 
43. Best Coast - The Only Place 
"The return of Best Coast on the music scene is a welcome one indeed." Read Bella Roach's review.
42. Plan B - Ill Manors
41. Yeasayer - Fragrant World
40. William Boney - Good Vibes

39. How To Dress Well - Total Loss 

"‘Total Loss’ is a haunting and intelligent album that will play well with a particular type of intellectual pop fan" Read Max Sefton's review.

38. Deerhoof - Breakup Song

"Breakup Song is a great party record from a band unafraid to reclaim pop for their own ends."

Read Max Sefton's review. 

37. Bat For Lashes - The Haunted Man

36. Lone - Galaxy Garden

35. Peggy Sue - Play the Songs of Scorpio Rising

34. Dan Deacon - America

33. Lucy Rose - Like I Used To

32. Of Montreal - Paralytic Stalks

31. Sharon Van Etten - Tramp

30. The Men - Open Your Heart

29. Ty Segall Band - Slaughterhouse

"A songwriter playing with the same freedom and love of noise, melody and self-expression that his heroes did all those years before." Read Max Sefton's review

28. The Cribs - In The Belly of the Brazen Bull

"In The Belly of the Brazen Bull is by far the darkest and heaviest Cribs record to date, but also the most important. The Cribs have come to reclaim indie rock." Read Aaron Lewins' review.

27. Sigur Rós - Valtari

26. Tall Ships - Everything Touching

"Time spent with this record is indeed precious, but definitely not forgettable." Read Braden Fletcher's review.

25. Porcelain Raft -  Strange Weekend

"Strange Weekend does however manage to come away feeling like a good pop record, and whilst it may not last a life time, it is at least an enjoyable and interesting listen." Read Will Hall's review.

24. Kindness - World, You Need A Change Of Mind

"World, You Need A Change Of Mind is exactly what you would expect from this Peterborough-based pioneer who seems to be capable of reviving any genre that’s thrown his way and make it relevant." Read Aurora Mitchell's review.

23. Swans - The Seer

  

"The listen is definitely a very long and full experience, but ultimately rewarding and rich, with vast swathes of colour and atmosphere." Read Eliot Humphreys' review.

22. Killer Mike - RAP Music

21. Hot Chip - In Our Heads 

"Accomplished, dreamy and jubilant throughout." Read Holly Read-Challen's review.

That's your lot for now, stay reading for 20-1 of the list coming soon!

Compiled by Toby McCarron

Lucy Rose - Interview

Sitting down with singer-songwriter Lucy Rose for a quick interview in a dressing room in Southampton, you realise the only thing that’s missing is the cup of tea. Lucy Rose Parton has been touring the country playing small venues and flogging her homemade jam and tea to the country who most appreciate it. “It’s ginger and plum, I just wanted whatever had ginger in it and then it depends on what fruits in season so it was rhubarb over the summer.”

By the end of the night Lucy’s Builder Grey tea is long gone and only three or four jars of lumpy ginger and plum fruit preserve is sat waiting to be sold. “My friends make it, it’s a charity which half of the money goes to.” London based Rubies in the Rubble is attempting to take out two birds with one stone by using fruit which is perfectly good quality but discarded and paying a number of the rising amount of unemployed in London to create these jams and chutneys.

Whilst selling her range of eccentric products, twenty three year old Lucy also makes her own brand of beautiful indie folk with her backing band of four. “We’ve been on tour since the first of October really. Europe first and then this is a five week UK tour, it’s kind of a long one.” Selling out sixteen dates of her 24 date tour around the British Isles Lucy and co are seeing crowds which they didn’t expect. “Newcastle was especially good, the singing was just so loud, I couldn’t believe it.” Latest single Bikes has racked up over a half a million hits on YouTube and is a highlight of the set. “Bikes is the last one of the set and it has been going down the best.”

Debut album Like I Used To was released at the end of September with Columbia music but Lucy hasn’t read any critical reception. “Hopefully reaction is good for the album I don’t really know how to gauge it. The albums not even been out two months so it’s hard to know how it has gone down. It is only at the beginning of its life so hopefully people will carry on sharing it and liking it.”

Lucy’s festival season may be long over but there are fond memories. “Reading was up there as one of my favourites. That was fun. Green Man was the first show we got an encore at so that was pretty mad, for a festival anyway. Field view was good as it was the first time I ever did a real stage dive. I had a really lucky and really fun festival season.”

Stage diving is becoming a regular occurrence of Lucy’s live set. “I did a ridiculous stage dive two nights ago in Brighton, it was completely insane. I did land on a few 15 year old girls and was worried.”

She only has nice words for the boys of Bombay Bicycle Club. “They’re five of my closest friends; we met in a pub three and a half years ago.” Lucy contributed vocal work to the albums Flaws and most recently A Different Kind Of Fix for the London four piece, but will there be more? “Who knows, if they ever ask me to work with them again in the future I will always say yes. I will just have to see what they do and what they decide to do next.”

So what’s next after the last few gigs on this tour? “Christmas, finally have a break. I’ve got gigs in Hong Kong in Shanghai and Beijing. Then next year but I’m not really sure what I’m doing yet.” Her date in Hong Kong is at Clockenflap Festival which she played last year with Bombay and now she returns to play herself. “I’ve never been to China though so Shanghai and Beijing should be really interesting.”

Adjectives are coming left right and centre to explain how much Lucy has appreciated the lovely crowd she’s received on this stint. Yet she explains the reputation of her live show is sometimes subject to a game of Chinese whispers. “Someone sent me a tweet saying I heard you give away free jam and tea at gigs, I want some.”

James Peckham

Findlay - Your Sister

Rocking an S&M themed video to match its sexually charged lyrics, Your Sister is the debut single from female-fronted rockers Findlay. Vocalist Natalie Findlay spits lines like ‘Second chance, fuck romance’ in a howl reminiscent of The Kills’ Alison Mosshart over a raw garage blues. The opening riff is basically Jean Genie by David Bowie and there’s a cheeky nod to T-Rex’s ‘Hot Love’ later on but the basic vibe is just a squalling solo and a vinyl fixation away from Elephant-era White Stripes. A swaggering first statement that buzzes and crackles with energy, the song sounds like it was designed to be belted out live. With just two tracks available to listen to online it’s hard to tell whether Findlay have the madcap creativity to make something really original but for now this is thrilling stuff.

Max Sefton

Beak> - Mono

BEAK> are a band formed by Geoff Barrow, that one from Portishead, and are not to be confused (like I did) with the bird-masked Sunderland noise-niks ‘B>E>A>K’. This track shows why, consisting of eerie, plaintive vocals over melodic bass and pulsing synths.

The song is moody and atmospheric, but also distorted which makes it a slightly disorientating listen. It is the disorientating synths which make to song so addictive, however, and the bass manages to weave it all together to prevent it from becoming too much. The wailing ‘oohhs’ of the last 30 seconds or so are really quite hypnotic, and it seems like the song is cut just a little short. Lugubrious yet somehow bright and addictive all at once.

Holly Read-Challen

California X - Pond Rot

Need a sludgy grunge fix to cope with the unbearable sleekness of the modern world? Well, once you've worn out this year's batch of Ty Segall albums, give the new California X track a whirl.

'Pond Rot', taken from the groups forthcoming eponymous debut album out on Jan 15th, is a welcome slice of American grunge, modelled in the image of Dinosaur Jr. The riffs are thumping and fuzzed up although sound much more produced and focused than previous material, while the vocals are suitably whiny and depraved ("I want a pond to rot in") What's not to like?

Toby McCarron

Bands to look out for #15

ON AN ON

It seems nigh on impossible for a new band to sound original nowadays, with an endless stream of copy-cat guitar bands coming out of the UK, and dreamy, floaty nonsense from the US. So if you can't always be original, it's best to find another way of grabbing people's attention, which ON AN ON have done by being emotive and exciting, albeit in a way that may sound familiar. 

The first song released by the Chicago three-piece, 'Ghosts' is a striking listen. It hits quite bizarrely though, like your spine-chilling first exposure to Interpol's Turn On The Bright Lights or The National's Alligator except not as instant, and infinitely more uplifting. It's quite plodding at first, but carries a depth to its body when given repeat listens. The vocal delivery sounds pained, tired and tortuously accepting of some kind of paranormal possession "There are spirits coming to find me, they're not stopping until its done". The nonchalant vocal delivery pays off well, where other bands just sound bored ON AN ON come across as weary and heartfelt, which backed with some interesting guitar progressions makes for one of the year's most beguiling listens.

Other recently surfaced track 'The Hunter' too is an interesting listen, employing electronically distorted vocals and carrying a much heavier weight to it. Instead of the emotive trudge of 'Ghosts' however, this time ON AN ON reach for the blueprint named 'M83 style huge epic song' and appropriate accordingly. Both tracks are just hints at what's to come from ON AN ON, but if their forthcoming debut album is anywhere near as exciting as the current cuts, 2013 could be their year.

The band's debut album Give In is released on January 29th via Roll Call Records. 
http://www.itsonanon.com/

Toby McCarron

Crystal Castles - iii

Crystal Castles have had a relatively painless career to date. Since the wave of popularity swept in whilst all the kids watched Skins on E4, Ethan Kath and Alice Glass have been riding the top like a schizophrenic Poseidon. Their 2008 debut album sits pretty comfortably with a Metacritic rating of 73 whilst their second effort two years on had an equally comfortable surf into shore; but as the Canadian duo enter their third record, will more of the same suffice?

Well if the first track we heard from the imaginatively titled iii, Plague was anything to go by; possibly. Whilst the howling Alice Glass that we’ve grown to love over the years is present, Kath’s more reserved pulse signals some distance from the more reckless days of Castles. What it builds into is a frenzy of beautifully produced synthesia that proves to be a standout from their entire catalogue to date. The confidence in reservation doesn’t hold up either as you power through the record. Kerosene sees the video-game samples that made the likes of Crimewave so enticing take a backseat role as Glass presents a more delicate version of herself. “I’ll protect you from all the things I’ve seen” she sings, recognisably.

The attention to aggressive soundscapes that found its way through the first two records has been all but replaced by attention to slow crescendos and a refinement of a sound that could fill more grandiose scenes than perhaps they’ve been used to before. If Crystal Castles had written Pale Flesh, Transgender or even Telepath three years ago, they would have been a (more than welcome) assault to the senses. You’d have a hugely increased pulse from the raw energy Glass demanded from you whilst Kath would stand behind, sulkily forcing wave after wave of computerised sound into your nervous system. Now however, they sit, delicately placed in the Crystal Castles roster, comfortable in their maturity. That’s not to say that they’re not enjoyable, nor is it true that there’s not still some of these tracks left. Sad Eyes, whilst the smoke is Glass’ echoed voice, the smoke at the bottom of it is a throbbing beat as full of impending doom as Baptism. Insulin too has a bass sound that will make your ears tremor.

In their third record then; Crystal Castles haven’t taken their ripped clothing and sent it out for another lap, nor have they burnt it in favour of new clothes all together. No, in iii, the Toronto duo have simply taken those clothes, cleaned them up and added a jacket. At their core, they’re still the band that played to Tony and the Skins gang, only now they’ve grown up and that’s fine with me.

7.8

Braden Fletcher

Ninetails - Slept And Did Not Sleep

Ninetails are a Manchester based quartet, playing “experimental prog-rock” with considerably less 14 minute keyboard solos and lyrics about wizards than that genre usually entails, though they do gain a bit of love from this reviewer for featuring a Pokémon reference as their moniker. ‘Slept and Did Not Sleep’ is the minimal follow-up to their Ghost Rides the Whip EP and features five new tracks of drifting post-rock and spacey, echo-laden math-rock.

Opener ‘Maybe We’ shimmers for its first three minutes before an ominous voice ushers in some Pink Floyd style crashes though unfortunately they fail to resolve themselves into anything particular, instead giving way to the more instant ‘Body Clock’ which rocks a more conventional rhythm. The guitar line through the verse could almost come from an eighties pop record and the ‘na-na-na-na-naa’s wouldn’t seem that out of place with Alt J. The chorus, ‘My body clock cocked up enough to break me,’ is an interesting fusion of northern colloquialism and extra-terrestrial grooviness but the lengthy almost silent sections indicate a band keener on downbeat minimalism than catchy choruses.

The funky ‘Rawdon Fever’ comes closer to conventional indie fare with angular jabs of one guitar contrasting nicely with the bouncy indie riffing of the other while closer ‘Mama Aniseed’ sounds like Friendly Fires if they got stuck on a loop, forced to play until they fell down from exhaustion. The gloomy eight minute drone of ‘Boxed’ feels like its making up the numbers but otherwise there’s a surfeit of thought-provoking material here. ‘Slept and Did Not Sleep’ is interesting, moderately experimental stuff though it probably won’t keep you up at night.

7.0

Max Sefton