Airship - Stuck in this ocean

Year: 2011
Genre: Rock / alternative
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/airshiptheband
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~258]
Scene release: Airship-Stuck_In_This_Ocean-(Advance)-2011-404
File size: 97 MB

Track listing:
01. Algebra 4:27
02. Invertebrate 4:45
03. Kids 3:00
04. Gold watches 4:20
05. Spirit party 3:34
06. The trial of Mr. Riddle 8:20
07. Organ 4:44
08. Test 4:08
09. Vampires 4:52
10. This is hell 5:01
11. Stuck in this ocean 5:07





Review:
Maybe it’s the weather, but whatever the reason there’s no escaping the fact that most guitar groups hailing from Manchester and its immediate vicinity sound, well, rather miserable. From the funereal post-punk of Joy Division and the bittersweet kitchen sink drama of The Smiths to the glum widescreen anthems of Elbow, bands from the city and its surrounds seem to effortlessly evoke a sense of rain-swept urban ennui that is rarely emulated elsewhere. Things briefly lightened up during the ‘Madchester’ era as Shaun Ryder and friends bounced gleefully around in a state of substance-fuelled abandon, but the likes of Airship prove the downbeat tradition is still as strong as ever.
Recording of the Macclesfield/Stockport four-piece’s debut album was overseen by Doves producer Dan Austin, and boy does it show. Stuck in This Ocean is full of slow-building atmospherics, chiming guitar riffs and soaring, melancholy choruses.
Their debut begins with something that might be familiar: 'Algebra', the title track from their EP released last year. The song starts with a swelling of sound before guitars jangle away and Williams' voice joins the fray. Listen to this track and as you take into account all the parts that Airship decided to put into it, including the echoes on both the main and backing vocals, you come to the conclusion that they picked the right pieces to make this track sound uplifting and grand. More driving is recent single and BBC 6Music, XFM, and Radio1 favourite 'Kids', with a similar uplifting tone but with a faster tempo that will likely appeal to the kids that pogo at gigs. ‘Spirit Party’, another track from the previous EP, thunders along with a heavy bass line and memorable guitar hook. This album is chock full of fun tunes like 'Invertebrate', not a science lesson but a pop meets psych rock tune that bops along pleasingly, and 'Vampires', using rockier instrumentation and a Lykke Li-styled megaphone effect for a sultrier end product.
But what leaves an even more lasting impression are tracks like ‘The Trial Of Mr Riddle’, 'Organ' and ‘This Is Hell’, both of which make it seem like Airship is channelling the sound of the heavens. It’s easy to get swept up in the sonic grandeur, building and building in beauty and scale with the swirling guitars. In this debut album, the Glossop-bred quartet prove that even at their young age, it's possible to create complex songs that are accessible to all and music to the ears.

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Good Luck Mountain - Good Luck Mountain

Year: 2011
Genre: Americana / alt. country
Listen: search on soundcloud.com
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~221]
Scene release: no
File size: 63 MB

Track listing:
01. Softly tonight 2:43
02. The seven sisters 3:51
03. More than a feeling 5:42
04. Requiem for Andrew 3:47
05. On faith 2:43
06. Heaven in the haze 6:13
07. On returning 5:00
08. Wayward blues 2:56
09. The perfect circle 6:14

Review:
Good Luck Mountain is the new project from Tandy frontman Mike Ferrio. The self titled release is essentially a project to commemorate Tandy member Drew Glackin, who passed away suddenly in 2008. As a musical mix it covers a vast spread of genres from complex rock to soul and minimal ambiance; a mix as vast and varied as the musical talents it employs: from Konrad Meissner (The Silos, Matt Nathanson) to Jason Mercer (Ron Sexsmith, Ani DiFranco), Pavement’s Sibel Firat and The Damnwell’s, and finally violinist Eleanor Whitmore and Lucy Hollier on viola, who provide Good Luck Mountain with its very heart via solemn country refrains.
Recurring notions of loss, remembrance, questionings of “what next?” and imaginings of meeting his maker, Ferrio – vocals somewhere between a Springsteen and a Petty – eulogizes in a way that is both universal and yet wholly personal given the story at the core.
Given the nod by the likes of Steve Earle and Jim White this is a contemporary and fresh approach to the alt-country genre, with its outlook given a timeless quality and production: understated guitar, harmonica and string arrangements lighting much of the way for the dark topic at its root; finally allowing it to branch out into something pure and positive. Certainly a record that while immediate on numbers such as ‘The Seven Sisters’, exudes small wisdom and stirring instrumentation in many of its more portentous numbers. Well worth a listen.

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Jape - Ocean of frequency

Year: 2011
Genre: Electronic / indie / pop
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/richiejape
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~238]
Scene release: no
File size: 78 MB

Track listing:
01. An hallucination 0:54
02. Please don't turn the record off 3:22
03. The oldest mind 4:58
04. Too many people 3:55
05. One of those days that just feels so long 3:26
06. Borrowed time with peace 4:57
07. Scorpio 3:46
08. You make the love 3:14
09. Internal machine 3:48
10. Its shadow won't make noise 5:16
11. Nanoitanicullah 0:53
12. Ocean of frequency 4:55




Review:
Since picking up the Choice Award for their 2008 album, Ritual, Jape have seen a massive rise in their popularity both home and abroad. They’ve spent the last three years playing national and international tours as well as several high profile festival spots at Glastonbury, Electric Picnic and many more. Now the band is back with their fourth studio album, Ocean of Frequency and they’re in prime position to make the most of their celebrity as one of Ireland’s leading electro-pioneering pop groups and go all the way.
But do they want to? Ocean of Frequency is the album Tickets There was anticipating a year ago when the band performed a mini-studio break show in the Button Factory. Sparse, quiet and extremely subdued in almost every way. All in all, a re-design of their classic tranquil sound with little or no attempts made to compete against live classics like ’I Was A Man’, ‘Strike Me Down’ and ‘Floating’ while at the same time it also lacks standout quieter moments like ‘At The Heart of all This Strangeness’, ‘Phil Lynott’ or ‘The Hardest Thing To Do’.
Oddly enough, Jape have chosen not include well received tasters ‘Hands of Fire’ and ‘Lying on a Deathbed’, which surfaced at the start of the summer or ‘The Worry Fades’ that was previewed last year and instead gone all out with a fresh spread for fans to enjoy. The new sound works well on tracks like ‘Please Don’t Turn the Record Off’, ’The Oldest Mind’ and ‘Too Many People’ – the albums opening tracks. However, as the record rolls on it becomes harder and harder to pull real excitement out of it and anyone hoping for a perfect musical assault, like that seen on Ritual, may be in for a let-down. Fans of the older sound will find a lot more to enjoy with songs like ‘You Make The Love’, ‘Scorpio’ and ‘Its Shadow Won’t Make Noise’ adding Jape’s signature writing style to the mix.
Ocean of Frequency is by no means an objectionable record, in fact it perfectly sits in line with the direction Jape initially started off on, but veered away from when Floating became such a hit. Unfortunately though, it lacks a definitive flag ship song to rally around, enjoy and sell it. The band has proven they can go all the way if they want but with Richie Egan’s tendency to keep all eyes focused on the music– maybe this is his way of reverting back to his roots and keep Jape the way he wants it, rather than let fans and popularity dictate the direction his creation should go in. At the end of the day, there’s no arguing with that.

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Lanterns On The Lake - Gracious tide, take me home

Year: 2011
Genre: Folktronica / indie
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/lanternsonthelake
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V2 [~226]
Scene release: no
File size: 83 MB

Track listing:
01. Lungs quicken 5:35
02. If I've been unkind 4:48
03. Keep on trying 5:04
04. Ships in the rain 2:04
05. A kingdom 4:14
06. The places we call home 6:15
07. Blanket of leaves 3:28
08. Tricks 6:35
09. You're almost there 3:10
10. I love you, sleepyhead 5:41
11. Not going back to the harbour 1:13




Review:
The misty waters of the River Tyne have long exerted a gravitational pull on poets, painters and lovelorn, heartbroken bards. Even to this day in my hometown, there remains a curious sense of past, present and future as you stare across history at the ageing cranes and warehouses nestling alongside luxury apartments and modern architecture. Like many other major river cities, Newcastle may have changed, but lifeblood and heritage flows deeply within the currents, ebbs and tides of the river that once sustained its every whim and desire.
Lanterns on the Lake, one of the first bands to break out of the insular (though generally excellent) folk and nu-folk hegemony which forms the strongest pillar supporting the Newcastle scene clearly share in the same dewy-eyed romanticism that has provided so many artists with their muses across the years. Newcastle has always been a folk haven with its working-class roots but Lanterns on the Lake typify a newer, younger, more experimental and more elegant hybrid style (though it’s still immersed in heartbreak, sighs of longing and lamentations). But their sorrow brings happiness to us, for their music is generally wonderful.
The sonic breadth of the record is drawn between slow, dense waves of melancholy and atmospheric storm (as best emphasised by ‘Ships in the Rain’) and a more hopeful, sweet melodic folk-pop lilt (the perky ‘A Kingdom’ may well convert many of the assorted Mumford/Noah fans). But their most confident, expressive territory is found in the spaces between, specifically when the breathy, Elizabeth Fraser-esque vocal chimes of Hazel Wilde tangle up sensually with the gliding strings and an admirably mature reservation in not pushing for cheap thrills, but instead revelling in the sensuality of the moment. ‘The Places We Call Home’, sitting somewhere between Sufjan, Sigur Rós, Arcade Fire and a Northumberland folk troupe is absolutely beautiful: six minutes of gorgeous swelling, moving atmospherics and stark emotion. And standout track ‘I Love You, Sleepyhead’, arriving towards the end of the record is quite magnificent, especially in its rising cacophony of sound that steadily picks us up and carries us towards the horizon. Their understanding of dynamics is wonderful. But they’ve got other avenues of creativity too. ‘Tricks’ is a dark and mysterious collage of textures that actually hints more towards Portishead than anything with a folk leaning. Its simple effectiveness defines a band who have done their homework, ascertained their collective strengths and weaknesses and are now looking to establish the best way to utilise them.
Gracious Tide, Take Me Home is not without its occasional stumbles. ‘Blanket of Leaves’ doesn’t end up going anywhere meaningful despite its promise and lovely as it is, ‘Keep on Trying’ isn’t possessed of enough depth to justify a full five minutes. But these are minor quibbles and for the most part, this is a tremendous, impressive and authentically pretty debut and one which I can see having a surprisingly broad appeal (folk has never been more popular and their dynamic layering and sound construction will appeal to shoegaze and electronic advocates). It will be interesting to see how Lanterns on the Lake develop their sound over the next part of their career; you get the sense from the record that they’re only just beginning to explore their sound and their flirtations with electronica are fascinating, nodding towards a promisingly experimental future. But all this is to come. As a debut, as a mark in the sand, Gracious Tide, Take Me Home is an endearing and beautifully drawn modern folk record: its wounded heart pinned to its lacy, windswept sleeve, watching atop the harbour walls and pining for a release from its sorrows.

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School Is Cool - Entropology

Year: 2011
Genre: Rock / indie
Listen: www.soundcloud.com/schooliscool
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~257]
Scene release: School_Is_Cool_-_Entropology-CD-2011-HB
File size: 87 MB

01. The world is gonna end tonight 3:30
02. Car, backseat, parking lot 2:58
03. In want of something 2:33
04. O delusions 3:30
05. The road to Rome 3:23
06. Interlude 1:46
07. Dawn, and a newly hatched damselfly 1:32
08. On the beach of Hanalei 2:42
09. Algorithms 2:40
10. Trouble in the engine room 1:56
11. New kids in town 3:12
12. Interlude 1:13
13. The underside 3:17
14. Car, backseat, parking lot (reprise) 2:34
15. Warpaint 3:46
16. Entropology 4:45

No English review available (yet). Just listen to the songs on the soundcloud website to get an impression.

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Grouplove - Never trust a happy song

Year: 2011
Genre: Indie / pop / rock
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/groupmusic
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~257]
Scene release: Grouplove-Never_Trust_A_Happy_Song-2011-SiRE
File size: 88 MB

Track listing:
01. Itchin' on a photograph 4:20
02. Tongue tied 3:38
03. Lovely cup 4:18
04. Colours 4:18
05. Slow 3:38
06. Naked kids 3:30
07. Spun 3:26
08. Betty's bomb shell 3:35
09. Chloe 3:18
10. Love will save your soul 3:48
11. Cruel and beautiful world 4:03
12. Close your eyes and count to ten 4:49




Review:
"If it makes you happy," Sheryl Crow once mused, "then why the hell are you so sad?" It’s a question that could well be reversed and asked of California five-piece Grouplove, whose hotly anticipated debut album is finally a tangible prospect. While its songs – on their glossy, shiny, chirpy, summery surface – seem full of ebullient joy, underneath that buoyant exterior, there’s a lingering, ineluctable sense of melancholy. The first thing, however, that strikes you about these 12 songs is just how different they are. Not necessarily from other bands around today – although that’s true to an extent – but from each other; just how much, in this album’s 47 minutes, it shifts sounds.
The breezy, doe-eyed, wistful opener Itchin’ on a Photograph is redolent of their first, self-titled EP, where, like that record’s lead track, Colours, there’s more than a hint of Modest Mouse to Christian Zucconi’s vocals and the song’s soaring yet delicate melody. It’s upbeat but wistful, life-affirming yet jaded – akin, perhaps, to experiencing the hangover of a crazy night out while still downing the cocktails.
It’s a paradox that runs through the whole album. Tongue Tied is similarly caught between two polar opposites, its sentiment at beautiful odds with its bouncy tune; while the aforementioned Colours and the whimsical Lovely Cup, although seemingly nonsensical at first, soon reveal themselves as full of emotional instability. Slow – a dark, spectral song, and one of a few on which keyboardist/vocalist Hannah Hooper takes centre stage – completely shifts the musical focus of the record, something which Naked Kids, replete with its Bran Van 3000-esque slow-motion ‘rap’ takes full advantage of, while it emulates the perfect California day.
Elsewhere, Betty’s a Bombshell is a lilting story song that glides with syrupy harmonies, Love Will Save Your Soul an immediately hummable, optimistic, energetic (and wonderfully naïve) romp, and penultimate number Cruel and Beautiful World a downbeat, rain-soaked ode to the best and worst things in life, all of which is captured in its simple but powerful chorus. Then, Close Your Eyes and Count to Ten ends the album with bittersweet poignancy. Never Trust a Happy Song is far from a cohesive album, but that actually works to its advantage – because it encapsulates the ups and downs, the joys and sorrows, of this emotional rollercoaster known as life. Live it – and (Group)love it.

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Apparat - The devil's walk

Year: 2011
Genre: Electronic / pop
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/apparat
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~244]
Scene release: Apparat-Devils_Walk-2011-FNT
File size: 91 MB

Track listing:
01. Sweet unrest 3:34
02. Song of los 4:34
03. Black water 4:43
04. Goodbye 4:17
05. Candil de la calle 4:37
06. The soft voices die 4:22
07. Escape 5:46
08. Ash / Black veil 5:44
09. A bang in the void 6:02
10. Your house is my world 3:55
Deluxe edition bonus track:
11. The world around you 4:08




Review:
Berlin-based producer Sascha Ring, aka Apparat, positioned his DJ Kicks mix, released in 2010, as a farewell to the dancefloor-focussed section of his career. His label Shitkatapult continues to release house and techno, but with The Devil’s Walk Ring appears to have abandoned tracks that aim to move bodies in favour of songs that aim to move hearts.
The sonic touchstones for The Devil’s Walk include Junior Boys, M83, the melancholic pop of Maximilian Hecker and, most obviously, Sigur Rós. The Icelandic band’s predilection for surging anthems that quiver between celebration and sorrow looms large on Song of Los and Black Water, while The Soft Voices Die is so indebted as to be pastiche.
Elsewhere Ring tends to keep on the right side of influence, but his magpie tendencies remain apparent. The richly melodic A Bang in the Void, for example, apes Steve Reich’s counterpoint works of the 1970s, as did Not a Number from his previous solo album, Walls (2007). Ring’s attention to detail is typically exquisite here: the looped bowing of a cello provides a droning bassline beneath pitch-bent chimes.
Vocally The Devil’s Walk finds Ring in lovelorn, po-faced mood. Song of Los, Black Water and Ash/Black Veil are essentially traditional power ballads given a tasteful electronic spritz: they’re catchy, melodramatic, and pretty cheesy. Candil de la Calle pulls a lot of the same moves, but the shuddering lurch of its dubstep-influenced rhythm establishes a more interesting push and pull between vocal and melody. Unfortunately, other tracks on the album just pass, almost without notice, when you play this album.
One of the best songs here is Goodbye. It resonates with the doom-laden delivery of Anja Plaschg, aka Soap&Skin, intoning above scrabbly clouds of acoustic guitar and piano chords that sink like a corpse in water. If only there was more drama of this sort here, to bolster Ring’s talent as an arranger and a producer.

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Säkert! - På engelska

Year: 2011
Genre: Indie / melancholic pop
Listen: http://soundcloud.com/dgrmusic/sets/saekert-pa-engelska/
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~231]
Scene release: Sakert-Pa_Engelska-(RAZZIA185)-CD-2011-GCP
File size: 62 MB

Track listing:
01. November 2:56
02. Honey 3:38
03. Fredrik 3:48
04. Can I 3:12
05. The lakes we skate on 3:22
06. The flu 3:56
07. Dancing, though 2:52
08. You'll be on your own 2:42
09. It's going to lead up to something bad 3:43
10. Weak is the flesh 3:28
11. Quiet 3:17





Review:
Translating songs to English will always be a difficult and tedious process, yet for Annika Norlin of Säkert! it was a task that she enthusiastically signed up for. While few foreign language crossover artists can imitate the success of let’s say Shakira, for Annika she kept thinking about how sad that her English speaking audience couldn’t have the pleasure of understanding her songs in Swedish. When it hit her that she should just translate the songs, the result was that her songs mostly from her previous album “Facit” (translates to looking back/result) did get translated and ended up being part of her first English album as Säkert! suitably named “På engelska” (In English).
While the Swedish language may be soft and fluid at times it is still undeniably harsh, for Annika switching to English has given her songs a bit more light and in essence sweetened her vocals. For the most part Annika does a commendable job translating from Swedish without losing too much lyrically or rhythmically. Whether it’s the unique storytelling in simplistic “Can I” (originally “Får jag”) a song about about watching a Sweden vs. Finland hockey game at a bar called Dovas or the rather complex rhythms of global warming-themed twee song “Isarna” (Ice) the feel and rhythms aren’t lost on its English equivalent “The Lakes We Skate On”. Translation aside På engelskais filled top to bottom with great song after another. Take “Honey” with its glistening guitar licks for example; “Dancing Though” with its fast-paced flamenco/ska beat and “The Flu” despite some awkward/clumsy anatomical terms is perfectly melancholic with its Celtic-flavored guitars and strings. All points considered, despite being a translated album, the songs perfectly stand on their own. Even without Markus Krunegård on the English version of “Det kommer bara leda till nåt ont” translated as “It’s going lead up to something bad” the song measures up perfectly to its Swedish equivalent.
There is a word in the Swedish language about the Swedish ethos that every Swede will tell you can not be directly translated. Norlin wrote this album with this ethos in mind with the songs being about working too hard, loving too much, talking too little, growing up too slow in the northern parts of Sweden, and about fearing your country’s politics is going somewhere where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Some people call it Scandinavian minimalism, some people call it the classic Swedish melancholia, but Swedes know it as lagom. It’s this lagom or Swedish ethos unfortunately that is so hard to translate. It’s the idea that the middle road is always best that applies even in music by being neither too much nor too little and being neither too happy nor too sad. While Norlin has done a phenomenal job translating all the texture and feel into “På engelska”, it’s still a matter of “lost in translation” as the prose and structure simply can’t rival that of Säkert!’s original Swedish language songs. So if you speak and understand Swedish by all means grab a copy of “Facit” and also her eponymous self-titled LP “Säkert!” but if you still haven’t gotten a firm grasp of the Swedish language, På engelska definitely won’t disappoint.

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Cloud Control - Bliss release

Year: 2011
Genre: Rock / indie / electronic / psychedelic folk
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/cloudcontrol
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~245]
Scene release: Cloud_Control-Bliss_Release-(Deluxe_Edition)-2CD-2011-TAKU
File size: 111 MB

Track listing:
01. Meditation song #2 (why, oh why) 7:03
02. There's nothing in the water we can't fight 6:31
03. Ghost story 6:43
04. Gold canary 6:04
05. This is what I said 5:54
06. Just for now 6:09
07. The Rolling Stones 7:06
08. Hollow drums 4:22
09. My fear #2 5:51
10. Beast of love 5:52






Bonus disc:
11. My fear # 1 5:22
12. Island 6:04
13. This is what yo mamma said (Fishing remix) 5:11
14. Gold canary (Seekae remix) 5:18
15. Gold canary (Djanimals remix) 3:32
16. There's nothing in the water we can't fight (Spod remix) 6:05
17. Pursuit of happiness (FBI Radio Sydney live recording) 4:03

Review:
Are other countries' equivalents of the Mercury Prize just as potentially poisonous as our version (what with the decline of Gomez, the difficult drama of Klaxons, and the recent fall from universal critical acclaim of Elbow)? If so, we probably ought to be terribly concerned for nearly-Sydney foursome Cloud Control. This record won Australia's version, which hasn't exactly led to international recognition for predecessors such as... any of them, really.
Throughout Bliss Release, Cloud Control masterfully craft their own special brand of folk-infused, psychedelic pop. Toying with looping (“Death Cloud”), soulful chanting (“Gold Canary”), and a lot of tambourine along the way, each song’s base of keys, heavy bass, and distorted guitars morphs into something greater. Opener “Meditation Song #2 (Why, Oh Why)” offers the perfect example of this, as a drone and acoustic strum swell into a triumphant cacophony of hand-claps, swirling psychedelics, and a downright grungy guitar lick. The vocal performances of Alister Wright and Heidi Lenffer are the icing on the sonic cake. Wright usually leads the way, his wails recalling James Mercer, especially on “There’s Nothing in the Water We Can’t Fight”. When they sing together, though, Cloud Control reaches a new dimension: Her lofty, breathy delivery paired with his more direct, quivering voice creates shiver-inducing harmonies (most notably on folksy “Just for Now”).
Cloud Control’s lyrics may not be revolutionary, but that isn’t the point of Bliss Release. It is a demonstration of truly versatile, fresh talent, a debut full to the brim of completely absorbing, compelling songs. In a line indicative of the album’s general sentiments, Wright and Lenffer sing, “Sometimes the world’s real hard to understand.” Fortunately, the hardest thing about Cloud Control to understand is why we’ve taken so long to find out about them.

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Son Lux - We are rising

Year: 2011
Genre: Indie / electronic / folk
Myspace: http://music.sonluxmusic.com/
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~241]
Scene release: Son_Lux-We_Are_Rising-2011-CMS
File size: 63 MB

Track listing:
01. Flickers 4:56
02. All the right things 3:52
03. Rising 4:30
04. Leave the riches 4:49
05. Flowers 2:55
06. Chase 3:01
07. Claws 4:07
08. Let go 3:22
09. Rebuild 3:55







Review:
In just one month, Ryan Lott produced a seriously strong, intensely evocative record and all because National Public Radio told him to. The man that is Son Lux spent February answering All Songs Considered’s RPM Challenge, in which an entire album must be recorded from scratch in a single month. On top of his own digital dabbling, Lott added contributions from friends in Midlake, The Antlers, and My Brightest Diamond, coming away with a fully-fleshed, well-orchestrated electronic album.
On his 2008 debut album, At War With Walls and Mazes, Lott showed his comfort with both electronic sound sources and traditional instruments, as well as the ability to blend the two. From the opening track, “Flickers”, on, it’s occasionally hard to tell what exactly is pulsing out of the speakers. Blasts of what might be low-octave melodicas or feathered synth wrap around Lott’s theatric vocals, later getting doses of broken drums and beehive strings. The whole thing comes off like the dark, operatic middle ground between Owen Pallett and In Rainbows-era Radiohead or Wild Beasts’ fantastic, operatic heights.
“It’s not your fault, no it doesn’t have to be,” Lott drones over the distorted bass drum and parade horns of “All the Right Things”. The scooped, caterwauling harmonies steal the show, though, the pack of operatic Lotts swirling and diving. The goofy, neo-tribal opening to “Rising” belies another solid, soundtrack-style piece. The slow-burning “Leave the Riches” relies on Lott’s controlled, Grizzly Bear-style vibrato and shuddering, dark-tinted percussion.
Everything sounds very narrative-focused, very dramatic. Even the simpler moments, like the low, quiet “Flowers” with its twinkling, octave-peddling xylophone and chiming church bells, shine with a writerly bravado. Lott is clearly a talent, with a rich array of tools and an advanced understanding of how to use them.

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The Fruit Tree Foundation - First edition

Year: 2011
Genre: Folk / indie / rock
Myspace: http://www.facebook.com/fruittreefoundation
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~232]
Scene release: no
File size: 84 MB

Track listing:
01. Splinter 3:09
02. Forgotten anniversary 2:39
03. Favourite son 3:31
04. I forgot the fall 3:47
05. Beware beware 4:27
06. Dead leaves and a swollen leg 3:50
07. Singing for strangers 3:00
08. Fall arch 2:56
09. All gone but one 3:37
10. After hours 3:32
11. The untrue womb 4:32
12. Tooth and claw 3:48
13. Hired help 3:40
14. Just as scared 3:32


Review:
Charity records aren’t usually that great, are they? Being honest, if you exclude Dark was the Night and some parts of Help, you’re left with a whole load of passable covers and a nagging sense that you perhaps ought to have donated some cash to a worthy cause online instead.
So it gives me great pleasure to report that the first album by The Fruit Tree Foundation is not just a great charity record, but a great record full stop.
The Fruit Tree Foundation is a new independent project in Scotland led by musicians Rod Jones (Idlewild) and Emma Pollock (the solo artist and former Delgado). They formed a group in February 2010 for five days to record a charity album for The Mental Health Foundation, comprising of the best in Scottish talent including Scott Hutchison (Frightened Rabbit), James Graham (Twilight Sad), Jill O’Sullivan (Sparrow and the Workshop), Karine Polwart, Jenny Reeve, Alasdair Roberts and James Yorkston, which was followed by a couple of high profile gigs. Now a year on, it’s being released officially with artwork by Aidan Moffat to further the good work and let those of us that missed it first time around hear what they created.
What you end up with is a collection of songs that hang together remarkably well as a whole yet were conceived by two strangers in a short period of time, giving the whole project a varied feel from song-to-song and a sense of pleasing, fresh spontaneity.
It’s one of those records where your favourite tracks vary constantly but the two founding members’ passion for the project shines through. They only work together on the penultimate ‘Hired Help’ - a rousing sing-a-long affair with some wonderful dual harmonies - but whenever their name crops up it’s fair to expect something special imminently.
Pollock teams up with Hutchison on ‘Singing for Strangers’ with fine results, but her duet with Yorkston on ‘Forgotten Anniversary’ is up there with the very best songs on either artist's previous album, featuring some wonderful lyrical interchanges: Yorkston quips “And although I’m not fucking Poirot I don’t believe you’ve read all those books / by the spiders on untroubled spines” to which Pollock retorts: “Catholics and corsets don’t interest me oh you’ll have to do better than that / I’m not impressed by your second-hand matter of fact - and your God just bores me.”
Her three way harmony with Jill O’ Sullivan and James Graham (another recurring pair of names working at the peak of their abilities) on ‘Favourite Son’ help elevate a very good song to one of the album highlights. The finale repeats over and over “Scream. And scream all you want…” and is powerful stuff.
Elsewhere Rod Jones duets with some slightly less familiar Scottish names and ends up with a collection of songs memorable for very differing reasons. 'The Untrue Womb' sees him lock voices with Alasdair Roberts on a song that feels like it should only ever be admired and not dissected, Scott Hutchison joins in on the slightly epic ‘I Forgot the Fall’ (which has heavy hints of both males’ day jobs coursing through it) and the gorgeous ‘Dead Leaves and a Swollen Leg’, a breezy and beautiful ode to a tree, finds him teaming up with Jill O’Sullivan. It feels like something that might have soundtracked a pivotal scene in O Brother, Where Art Thou? (if it was made in Scotland). His duet with Graham on ‘All Gone But One’ is a more instant album standout, with both of them repeating a series of short snappy phrases such as “When the light turns we’ll leave her there… I’ll throw you on the spire” over one another’s take.
In truth though, while the project instigators rightly deserve a lot of credit, it’s a fully conceived team effort that echoes issues surrounding mental health but never directly preaches about it. Opener ‘Splinter’ sets the tone immediately, pitched just perfectly the right side of grand and with a brooding fragility to it that Graham’s vocals suit down to the ground - vocals that reappear and couple wonderfully with Karine Polwart on the brief but bright ‘Fall Arch'.
Roberts’ heavy drawl creates a brooding atmosphere on ‘Beware Beware’, which Yorkston underpins superbly with some raw, crackling guitar sounds. ‘After Hours’ is one of those tracks which continues to unveil itself with every listen whereas ‘Tooth and Claw’ (O’Sullivan / Jenny Reeve) swells from a fairly straight-forward number into a deliberately ominous outro.
All-in-all it’s a beautifully layered listen. A few of the arrangements are impressively complex considering the album was only recorded in five days. A reminder of that arrives as Yorkston and O’Sullivan duet on the affecting closer ‘Just as Scared’, singing “I don’t have the answers / I’m just here with you / Just as lost as you / Just as scared as you”. A digital watch beeps in the background, destined to be part of the recording forever more.

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Bombay Bicycle Club - A different kind of fix

Year: 2011
Genre: Indie / folk / pop
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/bombaybicycleclub
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~244]
Scene release: Bombay_Bicycle_Club-A_Different_Kind_Of_Fix-2011-SiRE
File size: 90 MB

Track listing:
01. How can you swallow so much sleep 3:30
02. Bad timing 3:34
03. Your eyes 5:21
04. Lights out, words gone 5:01
05. Take the right one 3:35
06. Shuffle 3:55
07. Beggars 4:11
08. Leave it 3:54
09. Fracture 4:03
10. What you want 4:19
11. Favourite day 4:56
12. Still 4:25

Review:
It’s okay if you’re a little irritating if you’re also annoyingly good. Bombay Bicycle Club, young and fey when they pedalled onto the scene four years ago and now looking even younger and acting even more feyly, may still not be embraced by those who feel the post-Belle and Sebastian school of anti-rock merits a good slap rather than a hug and an exclamation of "aw, bless", but it’s getting increasingly difficult to deny their talent.
Yes, they’ve been given more encouragement, nurturing and backing than most bands receive in a lifetime, but they’ve now released three albums of bravely different styles. Their debut was dynamic indie-pop, while top-10 follow-up Flaws lurched across to soft folk territory with a perversity that only seemed opportunistic with hindsight. Now, thankfully electing not to go the full Mumford, they return with something that’s beautifully hard to categorise. A bit Italian house, a bit Animal Collective (Ben Allen is among the producers, as is 21st century tyro Jim Abbiss), a bit Talking Heads and a lot flush with giddy enthusiasm and sunshine, it’s very indie and very fey – but in a good way.
Lead single Shuffle provides pretty much a microcosm of the album’s feel. Building a gentle, hooky pop song over a looping, dance-inducing piano sample, it’s, like all the best late-summer sounds, 75% exuberant and 25% melancholy. What You Want and Bad Timing waft in on similar breezes, but with less definition, more ambivalence. Lights Out, Words Gone is as close as they come to the realms of the epic, fostering a stabby white-funk riff until it blows off science (they’re warmer than Foals) and stumbles happily onto something not a million miles away from soul.
Guitars are understated throughout, and singer/co-producer Jack Steadman’s penchant for making bedroom-electronica off duty has permeated these grooves without smothering them in ‘blub-’ or any other kind of ‘step’. Yes, the videos still display awkward, cringe-worthy naivety that could inspire the next The Inbetweeners movie, but this music is a mature mix of jaunty and jaundiced.

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Bombay Bicycle Club - Flaws (2010) [V2,~182]

The Drums - Portamento

Year: 2011
Genre: Indie / pop / rock
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/thedrumsforever
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~226]
Scene release: The_Drums-Portamento-2011-SiRE
File size: 74 MB

Track listing:
01. Book of revelations 3:30
02. Days 4:30
03. What you were 3:15
04. Money 3:53
05. Hard to love 3:53
06. I don't know how to love 3:22
07. Searching for heaven 2:49
08. Please don't leave 4:12
09. If he likes it let him do it 3:51
10. I need a doctor 4:17
11. In the cold 3:30
12. How it ended 4:21





Review:
The Drums have got simplicity down to a fine art. When vocalist Jonathan Pierce and guitarist Jacob Graham first formed a band, they named it Goat Explosion. After temporarily going separate ways – Pierce fronted Elkland and Graham formed Horse Shoes – their 2006 reunion dropped the animal imagery for a name so effortlessly and obviously brilliant that you couldn’t believe nobody had beaten them to it. Suitably attired, The Drums’ newly minted blend of surf-rock and indie pop (most obviously Mancunian at heart, from The Smiths to Peter Hook basslines, with a dash of Orange Juice) was as canny as it was minimal and uncomplicated. Song titles from their self-titled debut, from Let’s Go Surfing to Best Friends, were never likely to mask socio-political treatises. As The Vaccines know, sometimes route one is the only way to go.
The use of the word Portamento – the musical term for "a gradual slide from one note to another", and used here to denote change – threatens to derail this base formula. But don’t worry. The change in question, namely last year’s departure of co-guitarist Adam Kessler, has created an even more stripped-out sound, even when electronics are sometimes thrown into the mix. And titles such as Days, Money and In the Cold reveal The Drums are still keeping it simple.
"Devastated" by Kessler’s decision, the remaining trio were clearly keen to move on, given Portamento arrives just 14 months after their debut. And it does sound rushed. Portamento is simplicity redux. They only really have one kind of song and tempo, rollicking yet melancholy. The lyrics to Money could easily be sung over the following Hard to Love. Is the backdrop to I Don’t Know How to Love much different to, say, Let’s Go Surfing? True, the difference between The Beach Boys’ first two albums is roughly the same. ‘Progress’ is perhaps overrated and The Drums write their songs very, very well. After a few plays in, I Don’t Know How to Love’s nimble, hypnotic and archly simple beauty digs in.
Yet Portamento is richer still when it changes tack. Searching for Heaven’s analogue synth burble is perfect for Pierce’s languid declaration, and If He Likes It Let Him Do It (how Morrissey would kill for that title) grows in stature when a Theremin-toned synth soars through the chorus, sounding closer to the uncanny lush pop of The Associates. I Need a Doctor isn’t far behind, either. Next to them, though, Days and In the Cold resemble throwaways. In other words, here’s to The Drums’ Pet Sounds.

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The Drums - The Drums (2010) [V2,~174]

The Rapture - In the grace of your love

Year: 2011
Genre: Indie / post-punk / electronic / rock
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/therapture
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~256]
Scene release: The_Rapture-In_The_Grace_Of_Your_Love-2011-BriBerY
File size: 92 MB

Track listing:
01. Sail away 5:22
02. Miss you 4:10
03. Blue bird 3:07
04. Come back to me 5:38
05. In the grace of your love 5:36
06. Never die again 3:59
07. Roller coaster 3:41
08. Children 3:57
09. Can you find a way 2:52
10. How deep is your love 6:28
11. It takes time to be a man 5:42





Review:
Looking back, the Rapture's legacy is as a galvanizing force for the underground, busting indie rock's standstill so mightily that we're now embarrassed to be the guy not dancing. They never seemed like a good bet to break dance music to the mainstream audiences, though. Pan-pop conspiracy theorists might note that the Rapture reached fever-pitch in New York in 2003, but if the Rapture hadn't stopped their own momentum, someone would have stopped it for them: likely labelmate/mentor/producer James Murphy, whose LCD Soundsystem offered the same funk-punk grooves and a more explosive live presence, with pathos to boot. The Rapture were too nervy and out-of-sync to ascend the ranks.
After several years of radio silence they now return with “Grace”. It’s fleshier than its predecessors, with horns, needlework guitar, and Jenner's brash voice filling the negative space the band used to gift to the dance floor. They deftly respond to choral background vocals, funky synth slabs, and tasteful guitar fills. A group that was once a combustible ball of energy is now a functioning nervous system with a keen sense of pace and texture. You can hear notes of U2's propulsive anthems ("Sail Away"), Talking Heads' agitated funk ("Can You Find a Way"), and XTC's ballast pop ("Rollercoaster"). You can forgive them for envying Cut Copy's hot-knife-through-butter crowd uniters ("Children").
Grace is the band's mature album, by their own reckoning: Press for the record has almost unanimously focused on the members' stroller-pushing benders, how frontman Luke Jenner spent time playing softball, attending church, and coping with the loss of his mother. Stability and love dominate its themes, the title cutting think-pieces off at the pass by invoking grace directly: This album is about sustained, earned love, as well as the forgiveness inherent in it.
And sure, you could argue - as many have - that The Rapture have always coasted on attitude more than, well, talent. We can also argue about the significance of the "dance-punk" movement or what Pitchfork keeps trying to call its "demise", but that argument would never be anything more than mindless pseudo-intellectualism. You've taken a course in "the social science of music"? Great. Now, assuming that academic rationale hasn't yet impeded your pleasure centers, let's dance.

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Other Lives - Tamer animals

Year: 2011
Genre: Indie / folk / rock
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/otherlives
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~243]
Scene release: no
File size: 71 MB

Track listing:
01. Dark horse 2:40
02. As I lay my head down 3:47
03. For 12 4:11
04. Tamer animals 4:08
05. Dust bowl III 4:58
06. Weather 3:50
07. Old statues 4:09
08. Woodwind 2:21
09. Desert 4:26
10. Landforms 3:18
11. Heading east 2:32





Review:
Tamer Animals, the sophomore release from the Stillwater, Okla., five-piece Other Lives, is meticulously written and arranged and, at times, vividly cinematic. In the wrong hands, this music could feel labored or overstuffed, but thanks to the makeshift orchestra's shaggy ringleader, Jesse Tabish, these wistful Americana-styled tracks (influenced by Tabish favorites Sigur Rós and Godspeed You! Black Emperor) rarely feel forced. Instead of the big studio sound of their self-titled debut, Tamer Animals feels organic and lovingly crafted, a record whose lushness often invites you to simply collapse into it.
Other Lives fits nicely with the pastoral richness of Fleet Foxes (whose influence is felt in the vocal harmony arrangements here) and the elegantly wasted music of Kurt Vile. On "Landforms", crestfallen strings swell with Tabish singing about the "oceans and plains," and you can almost taste the salted air. The dark, hymn-like "Weather" is similarly visual, but prophetic and baleful. "The sun is getting closer to the world," sings Tabish, clearly not talking about soaking up rays.
Tabish has enlisted a group of players that holds these intricate pieces in place. It's not as if the songs here feel heavy or overloaded-- in fact, most of them are positively buoyant, thanks to the richly colored interplay of all the instruments and the spacious production. Nearly every member pulls double and triple duty on cellos, violins, clarinets, keys, trumpets, and drums, and in a live setting, the band constantly shifts and repositions to hit every mark. On record, these professional assets come through even stronger.
Still, Tamer Animals isn't without its flaws, the quality of the vocals chief among them. For something so painstakingly made, it's strange that most vocal takes-- including some of those terrific harmonies-- sound oddly flattened. On an album about leaving behind the things you love, this seems like one element Other Lives should've made more of an effort with, as the pained stoicism in Tabish's voice doesn't always match the grandiosity of the music.
But that grandiosity makes it feel as if Other Lives are coming from a million different directions at once. "Old Statues" has the whispery endlessness of a spaghetti western soundtrack; the string draws nicked from Radiohead's "How to Disappear Completely" impart a deeply haunted vibe to the provincial lope of "For 12"; "Woodwind" channels the magical spook of a Grimm fairytale. Even if the emotional intent often feels recycled from other records, Tamer Animals is a record that takes you places.

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Fool's Gold - Leave no trace

Year: 2011
Genre: Indie / pop / exotical
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/foolsgold
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~266]
Scene release: no
File size: 85 MB

Track listing:
01. The dive 4:01
02. Wild window 2:56
03. Street clothes 5:00
04. Leave no trace 3:28
05. Balmy 4:46
06. Narrow sun 4:13
07. Tel Aviv 5:04
08. Mammal 4:21
09. Bark and bite 4:56
10. Lantern 4:33






Review:
If Robert Smith, the Cure’s lead singer, wrote songs from his happy place, the result might sound something like L.A.-based Fool’s Gold’s sophomore album, Leave No Trace: outwardly sunny guitar licks, the occasional detour into instrumental segments, a noticeable synth presence and that deep-but-nasal quality of Smith’s vocals. But Smith’s happy music would lack that which fuels so much of Fool’s Gold’s sound and personality: the global span of its influences, from African drum music to L.A. indie rock to a whole resumé of international genres on which co-frontman Lewis Pesacov studied and was raised. The band has both nurtured and fought the associations that come with Afro-indie-pop; Smith-like lead singer Luke Top draws attention to the band’s global perspective by singing both in Hebrew and in English, and he’s quick to reference obscure musical genres like soukous music and Touareg desert blues when citing influences, but the band bemoans comparisons to other African-inspired indie rock groups, most notably Vampire Weekend.
The way Pesacov and Top see it, similarities between Fool’s Gold and Vampire Weekend are purely coincidental and not entirely accurate. Raised on world music and—at least in Pesacov’s case—learned in classical theory and composition, the frontmen see their blend of American indie rock with global sounds as a natural expression of their roots and tastes. But Fool’s Gold does sound like Vampire Weekend. The similarities are maybe shallow but also glaring from the first track on Leave No Trace, “The Dive,” which opens with a jangle of drums and bells alongside a chirpy guitar lick—general but applicable qualities of Vampire Weekend tunes. Maybe Vampire Weekend is African-inspired indie rock and Fool’s Gold is indie rock-inspired Afro-pop, but it’s hard to deny their similarities.
To Fool’s Gold’s credit, the bandmates are accomplished musicians capable of cohesively fusing a host of different sounds into air-tight drum beats, quick and clean guitar melodies, and woozy synth blips. They have a tendency to lapse into jam band-style organized chaos, allowing the instrumentalists to take center stage in songs like “Bark And Bite.” While Top wails a refrain, the guitar picks up speed and noodles away in sync with a saxophone, allowing the drummers to patter a collection of different drums in upbeat harmony. Since Fool’s Gold’s 2009 debut LP, the band has whittled down its membership from around a dozen musicians to just five, allowing the band to maintain tight control and unity over instrumental digressions.
While Fool’s Gold’s debut featured lots of Hebrew lyrics, on Leave No Trace Top scales back the use of his native tongue, occasionally gliding between languages on songs like “Tel Aviv.” Even so, Top isn’t one for articulation, so often his lyrics are hard to decipher; however, the sunny melodic mood is more important than the words on this late summer release.

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Foster The People - Torches

Year: 2011
Genre: Pop / indie / rock
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/fosterthepeople
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~257]
Scene release: Foster_The_People-Torches-2011-CaHeSo
File size: 85 MB

Track listing:
01. Helena beat 4:36
02. Pumped up kicks 3:59
03. Call it what you want 4:01
04. Don't stop (color on the walls) 2:56
05. Waste 3:25
06. I would do anything for you 3:35
07. Houdini 3:23
08. Life on the nickel 3:37
09. Miss you 3:36
10. Warrant 5:23
11. Love (Best Buy edition bonus track) 3:40
12. Chin music for the unsuspecting hero (Best Buy edition bonus track) 3:25




Review:
Indie rock is undergoing a much-needed regeneration of late. Reedy guitars hold less sway, funk punk is finally packing up its cowbell and the glum cells of black-clad doom-mongers imitating Ian Curtis because they can’t actually sing are headed for the shadowy obscurity to which they so tediously aspired. In their place comes a disco nous, hints of Afrobeat and MGMT psychedelia. LA-based Foster the People are the culmination of that transformation; the Matt Smith of the new indie.
Envisioning themselves as a more populist and accessible Animal Collective, they adapt AC’s art-tronic adventurousness to incorporate the funky danceability of Scissor Sisters, the fuzzy pop catchiness of Kids and the knack of throwing in deceptively downbeat twists akin to Girls, Sleigh Bells or Smith Westerns. Current single Pumped Up Kicks is a prime example, with singer Mark Foster trilling "You’d better run / Faster than my bullet" to a psychedelic block party skipping tune that seems to have dropped off the end of Oracular Spectacular, giving the impression of the cheeriest schoolyard gunman ever.
That’s the darkest corner of Foster’s psyche illuminated by Torches; elsewhere, there’s considerably more levity. Call It What You Want is full-on trance pop complete with disco piano and hip hop squiggles, and Don’t Stop (Color on the Walls) is peak-era Dandy Warhols right down to the clap-along guitars and jubilant disregard for the laws of the land. By the time I Would Do Anything for You rolls around with its sunny, Auto-Tuned ode to blossoming romance you’d be forgiven for deciding FTP are the MGMT who’ll never prog-out on you.
After Houdini sees Torches deliver its own sparking Electric Feel, however, the latter section of the album reveals them as a far more promising and intriguing proposition. Life on the Nickel is a falsetto pop chant swathed in grime clicks and crunches, and Miss You sounds like Chris Martin lost and alone at a pagan rave; both suggest that FTP might soon pioneer a transatlantic fusion of dance and indie aesthetics that threatens to merge and rejuvenate both genres like no act since The Rapture. Time will tell, but this opening salvo will certainly leave you pumped up for further Foster kicks.

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Chris Bathgate - Salt year

Year: 2011
Genre: Folk / alt. country / acoustic / indie
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/chrisbathgate
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~233]
Scene release: no
File size: 70 MB

Track listing:
01. Eliza (Hue) 4:51
02. No silver 2:54
03. Poor Eliza 4:04
04. Levee 2:34
05. Fur curled on the sad road 4:20
06. Borders 3:44
07. In the city 2:44
08. Own design 3:10
09. Salt year 4:38
10. Time 2:44
11. Everything (overture) 6:14





Review:
It’s hard to believe that Chris Bathgate is a young man. The voice and the emotions that pour out of him on his new release, Salt Year, seem to belong to someone much older. But if the internet is to believed, perhaps Bathgate is simply an old soul. Salt Year is a beautiful album from a folk-rock prodigy truly coming into his own.
Bathgate’s music is dreamy, whiskey-colored folk floating above a careful arrangement of guitar and piano, used only to augment the songs rather than lead them. Bathgate playing acoustic must sound pretty much like this album; everything is designed to show off his voice, and his voice is in fine form here. He’s distinctive enough to admire but subtle enough to allow your mind to wander through his songs.
“No Silver” is catchy and casual, loping at an easy pace through country-style guitar and some gentle percussion. “Poor Eliza” is a darkly quiet meditation on relationships: “It is what it is/what it is.” Its apparent companion, “Eliza (hue)”, sounds like Dispatch would if that band had a greater depth of emotion. Title track “Salt Year” is dreamy and sad, reflecting on lost loves in a melody that showcases the velvety texture of Bathgate’s voice. Album closer “Everything (Overture)” is a lovely, six-minute dalliance through a bare soundscape colored at first only by a lone guitar and Bathgate’s voice, featured in a quiet harmony that brings to mind the Once soundtrack. Gradually, horns and percussion flesh out the song into a fully loaded rambler. It’s startling when the music ends; you expect it to just keep going on into the sunset.
Chris Bathgate owns the voice and the melancholy of someone twice his age, and Salt Year packages enough charm to spare. This is the perfect background music for writing, drawing, or maybe just dreaming away the afternoon.

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Beirut - The rip tide

Year: 2011
Genre: Indie / (Balkan) folk
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/beruit
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~231]
Scene release: no
File size: 56 MB

Track listing:
01. A candle's fire 3:20
02. Santa Fe 4:14
03. East Harlem 3:59
04. Coshen 3:20
05. Payne's Bay 3:48
06. The rip tide 4:26
07. Vagabond 3:19
08. The peacock 2:27
09. Port of call 4:21

Review:
"I may drift a while," sings Zach Condon on Port of Call, The Rip Tide’s closing song, one of a number of references to feeling lost, alone or swept up by something not entirely fathomable that appear on Beirut’s third album.
Having assimilated and channelled Eastern European folk styles into his startling 2006 debut, Gulag Orkestar, before sprinkling the sound of chanson française throughout The Flying Club Cup the following year, Condon’s most recent output as Beirut found him collaborating with a Mexican marching band on 2009’s March of the Zapotec. The slower pace and darker tones of that EP are immediately cast aside here in favour of a cleaner, brighter aesthetic that informs each of these nine songs.
Unlike those previous works, The Rip Tide doesn’t offer up a geographical postcode, and it also comes off a little slight at first. This is partly because of its length (its 33 minutes fairly fly by), but mostly due to the high benchmark Condon has set himself. The urgent melodies of earlier songs like Elephant Gun and Nantes are nothing if not instantly memorable, and while this may be Beirut’s out-and-out ‘poppiest’ work yet, it does benefit from a little time to breathe – allowing its horns, strings and vocals to distinguish themselves from each other; its charms to ensnare you.
Because it is a lovely (albeit little) record. Full of sweeping flourishes and the kind of weary romanticism Condon could probably patent by now, tunes like East Harlem and A Candle’s Fire eddy and swirl into unexpected breaks with all the confidence of anything the band have released to date (look out for Sharon Van Etten’s brief, smouldering turn on the latter). Goshen is intimate and subdued, Payne’s Bay sweet and propulsive, and Port of Call, with its rich arrangements and driving, persistent chord pattern, is one of Condon’s very best to date.
The Rip Tide’s refined title-track is the longest on here at four-and-a-half minutes, yet lyrically it consists of little more than a pair of repeated lines concerning a house, a rolling tide, and loneliness. The pleasure in Beirut’s music has always largely been in what it evokes – a kind of melancholy tempered with optimism and sometimes celebration. And it evokes marvellously here: whatever current Condon found himself caught up in that led to the creation of these songs, it’s one you feel he’s happy to coast a while yet.

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SBTRKT - SBTRKT

Year: 2011
Genre: Electronic / pop / dubstep
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/subtractone
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~232]
Scene release: SBTRKT-SBTRKT-(Advance)-2011-SiRE
File size: 63 MB

Track listing:
01. Heatwave 2:58
02. Hold on 3:31
03. Wildfire 3:25
04. Sanctuary 3:56
05. Trials of the past 4:28
06. Right thing to do 3:27
07. Something goes right 5:04
08. Pharaohs 3:43
09. Ready set loop 3:11
10. Never never 4:02
11. Go bang 3:38





Review:
The debut full-length from UK producer SBTRKT (pronounce “subtract”) comes as a bit of a surprise. Up until now we knew him mostly for some high-profile remixes and his original, instrumental tracks, which were solid but nothing to flip out over. He was loosely dubstep in the way, say, Floating Points is, using the genre as a rough guide but also weaving in several other strains of contemporary bass music. But with this self-titled LP, SBTRKT is something different: Recruiting guest vocalists to sing over his arrangements, he's working more as a traditional producer, and his music, while still grounded in experimental bass, is inching much closer toward pop.
You might call what SBTRKT is doing here "post-dubstep". That's not a totally accurate term (for one, he's building off more than just that one genre), but his approach is certainly similar to what guys like James Blake and Jamie Woon have been up to in the last year or so. The central differences here are that a) SBTRKT doesn't sing himself (he's brought in vocalists Sampha, Jessie Ware, Roses Gabor, and Little Dragon's Yukimi Nagano for that); and b) his music is more immediate than both Blake's and Woon's. Rather than go for showy, scene-stealing productions, he keeps things tight and purposeful: The focus is on the overall song and the vocal, and beats are just one part of that equation.
The record pits some emotive and occasionally downcast singing against arrangements that throb nicely, and there's a good sense of balance and variety throughout. First single "Wildfire", for example, is a squelchy, Timbaland-like pop moment, where "Trials of the Past" is spooky and slower-paced. The reason the tracks work individually and as a whole is that SBTRKT has a keen sense of how to draw the most out of his guest vocalists. UK singer Sampha, who is featured heavily on the LP, has a warm, higher-range croon that seems built for R&B, and SBTRKT arranges accordingly, giving him stuttery tracks that draw from American urban pop and smoothed-out drum'n'bass.
Importantly this makes the album greater than the sum of its parts. "Dubstep dude with a bunch of singers" becomes something much more collaborative and cohesive. SBTRKT is ultimately a colorful and highly enjoyable future-pop record, an extension of bass culture but not indebted to it. The other crucial thing is that the album is actually quite accessible, which is something that's eluded similar post-bass projects. Those other guys-- Blake, Woon-- might have a purer artistic vision, but of the three, SBTRKT has arguably assembled the broadest and most listenable collection of songs. And in a field where approachability isn't always given a ton of weight, it feels brave to take this more song-oriented path and pull it off.

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Mechanical Bride - Living with ants

Year: 2011
Genre: Folk / indie
Listen: http://www.myspace.com/mechanicalbride
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~219]
Scene release: no
File size: 58 MB

Track listing:
01. Magpie 4:24
02. Young gold (you stole my heart) 3:23
03. Colour of fire 4:18
04. Peach wolves 4:02
05. By night 5:01
06. Lakes 4:10
07. To the fight 2:45
08. Walk into the forest 1:34
09. Demons 3:36
10. Boom! (shine a light) 3:25






Review:
At a time when artists are pioneering formats and technologies for music consumption, new genres emerge and transform and styles evolve, sometimes it’s nice to take a step back and remind yourself how equally powerful and emotive just a single voice still can be.
Mechanical Bride is the solo project of Brighton resident Lauren Doss. Living With Ants marks her debut album, but it’s an effort mature beyond its freshman status.
Her vocals are the key pull: close, intimate, and delicate across the melodies of these tracks. They blend with glowing piano lines before disappearing into a breathy whisper. There’s a Beach House-like husk to her voice that plays against Laura Marling-recalling arrangements, but this isn’t a straight comparison. Mechanical Bride follows the new folk trend, but tailored to a more traditional ear.
Her elegant song construction can be handed in part to the production, which plays a large role in the record, gracing Living With Ants with a wonderful amount of space inside each track. Every instrument is allowed to come to the fore, but never overshadows Doss’ delivery.
At times proceedings embark on a tangent, leaving the calming and touchingly honest tones of songs such as Colour of Fire and Lakes, expanding into foreign genres. By Night has a strong air of Bat for Lashes to it, Demons takes a jazz turn and Walk Into the Forest marks a bizarre and almost Fiery Furnaces twist that’s far too short-lived. Living With Ants proves itself a pioneering showcase for the talents of Doss, and promises that great things are still to come from this young artist.

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Tape The Radio - Heartache and fear

Year: 2011
Genre: Alternative / rock / pop
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/tapetheradio
Format: mp3
Bitrate: 256cbr
Scene release: no
File size: 72 MB

Track listing:
01. Our love is a broken heart 4:35
02. A desert track 3:05
03. Heartache and fear 3:18
04. Shaking hearts 4:09
05. Save a life 4:35
06. 1989 3:52
07. Stay inside 2:53
08. The message 4:10
09. Horses 3:45
10. Suffer me suffer you 4:35






Review:
Indie newcomers Tape The Radio release their debut album ‘Heartache & Fear’, which they spent 3 years on, recording to perfection. The album stays true to its name and is full of songs really about heartache and fear, which listeners of all kinds will be able to relate to.
The album has a mellow sound to it, and the opening track ‘Heartache & Fear’ starts off slowly with an eerie piano solo and, lead singer, Malcolm Carson’s beautiful and soft vocals. The album does pick up after the opener and has its faster moments throughout. ‘Shaking Hearts’ is the next track on the album and is the one that actually sets the pace for the rest of the album and is followed by ‘Save A Life’, which is the fastest track on the album.
‘Heartache and Fear’ takes a step back midway, and returns to the initial, darker, feel with ‘Suffer Me Suffer You’. A rockier song, it starts off with some epic drumming and also contains the emotional lyrics that are present throughout the album. With lyrics such as ‘Here she comes again, stepping on my heart since I don’t know when’ the band really shows their song writing ability.
‘Stay Inside’ is probably the most poppy track on the album, with an upbeat sound throughout and is livelier than the rest of the album. It is a fun song to listen to and leads the way for ‘Our Love Is A Broken Heart’, which is another upbeat, poppy song.
The album ends as it starts, with a slow, almost gothic, sound with ‘A Desert Track’. Once again, Tape The Radio shows that they can go a lot darker than expected. It has an epic sound and ends ‘Heartache and Fear’ on a high.
Overall the band has a very melodic sound and is perfect for easy listening. Tape The Radio have made an exceptional debut album and are a band worth keeping an ear open for.

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Laki Mera - The proximity effect

Year: 2011
Genre: Indie / pop / folk / electronic
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/lakimera
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~237]
Scene release: no
File size: 91 MB

Track listing:
01. The beginning of the end 3:24
02. More than you 3:31
03. Fingertips 5:50
04. Double back 4:39
05. Onion machine 3:47
06. How dare you 3:47
07. Crater 3:52
08. Solstice 6:02
09. Pollok Park 5:55
10. Fool 4:21
11. Reverberation 6:06
12. The end of the beginning 2:15

Review:
The debut album from Glaswegian quartet Laki Mera follows Clutter the 2010 EP which earned them comparisons to the likes of the Cocteau Twins, Portishead, Blue Nile, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Radiohead.
The debut album shows little sign of immaturity as the band have been playing together since 2004 when Laura Donnelly, formerly of God’s Boyfriend, teamed up with Italian-born producer and multi-instrumentalist Andrea Gobbi, both of whom were in search of new musical horizons.
Gobbi’s addition of rich electronica to Donnelly’s simple vocal/guitar recordings set the tone for things to come. The recruitment of drummer and percussionist Tim Harbinson who had an electronic background and Keir Long (piano/synth), who is classically trained, only added further dimensions to the already unique sound.
The Proximity Effect showcases the foursome’s eclectic range well while flowing seamlessly from track to track.
Opening with The Beginning of the End, the track launches the listener into Laki Mera’s unique sound with an unsubtle mix of electro coupled with a haunting and distorted vocals of Donnelly.
More Than You is a catchy dance track with an upbeat pop vocal which echoes the style of current pop artists such as Ellie Goulding while maintaining a still heavily electronic backdrop.
The track demonstrates how easily Laki Mera could cross into the mainstream. Donnelly’s fragile folk influence is largely apparent on Fingertips and makes the album more digestible than if it had been a 12-track whirlwind of synths and effects.
Moreover Fingertips demonstrate how the various members are allowed to explore their musical passions within the band which can only point towards longevity. These subtle folk influences meet ethereal eeriness with the likes of Solstice while Onion Machine employs a retro-futuristic synth riff, an emotive layer of cello and stabs of grinding guitar.
Tender vocals from Donnelly, the lone female in Laki Mera, echo the style of Imogen Heap and provide a gentle approach to the at times heavily layered electronica. The incorporation of strings on tracks such as Fool offer a further dimension to the debut album and draws comparisons to the likes of Massive Attack or Zero Seven.
The original mix of acoustics and reverb on Donnelly’s vocal on the aptly titled Reverberation demonstrates well the collision of genres the band have created and what is perhaps Laki Mera’s real feat with this album, they manage to combine these genres and styles in a fluid way that doesn’t create an uncomfortable partnership, but rather an atmospheric fuzziness that will transport your spirit and seduce your soul.

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Benjamin Francis Leftwich - Last smoke before the snowstorm

Year: 2011
Genre: Folk / acoustic / indie
Listen: http://www.myspace.com/benjaminfrancisleftwich
ormat: mp3
Bitrate: V0 [~225]
Scene release: Benjamin_Francis_Leftwich-Last_Smoke_Before_The_Snowstorm-(Advance)-2011-SiRE
File size: 51 MB

Track listing:
01. Pictures 2:58
02. Box of stones 2:41
03. 1904 4:04
04. Butterfly culture 2:57
05. Atlas hands 2:54
06. Stole you away 3:37
07. Shine 2:59
08. Snowship 2:15
09. Last smoke before the snowstorm 3:08
10. Don't go slow 3:54

Review:
Benjamin Francis Leftwich is a young British singer songwriter, this is his first album following on from last year's “A Million Miles Out” EP and the “Pictures” EP from earlier this year. If you're unfamiliar with those records you may remember him covering Arcade Fire's “Rebellion” on Demot O'Leary's Live Sessions.
He's loosely affiliated with the whole London based nu-folk school based around Communion Records and their live showcase gig nights at the Notting Hill Arts Centre. Think Noah And The Whale, Laura Marling, Mumford And Sons and you get the picture. “Last Smoke Before The Snowstorm” is his fine debut of dreamy, soft focus folk. The songs don't demand your attention, they don't reach out to grab you, (I get the impression there's not a lot of AC/DC or Extreme Noise Terror currently on his turntable!) but that's missing the point. There's a subtlety that draws you in, more of a whisper in the ear rather than shouting from the rooftops.
Similarly there's nothing overtly political or preachy which can be potentially embarrassing for a young, white, western male with an acoustic guitar. What you do get though is a collection of simple, heartfelt, understated songs that deal with the personal rather than the political. And it's done well too. The instrumentation is kept simple, nothing overly virtuoso, all tastefully arranged to suit the songs. Mostly it's simply strummed or finger picked acoustic guitar, reverbed vocal harmonies, with minimal drums, occasional violin and piano, giving the whole collection a continuity of sound that a lot of artists seem to dispense with when making albums these days.
He has a nice way with lyrics too, like the music they're not overly busy but well thought out, usually intimate, thoughtful and contemplative. Occasionally humorous too, as best demonstrated on “Snowship”.
With only 10 tracks and clocking in at just over half an hour, the album doesn't outstay its welcome, and could have done to be slightly longer. The fact that you're left wanting to hear more can only be a good thing though.

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