OK, this opening bit has been added post event but just to let you know, everything below was typed up live whilst listening to the tracks, quite drunk and very tired, with no post-editing. I'm not trying to defend anything I've written, I just though you might be interested in my gonzo approach to this reviewing task. more to follow tomorrow. OK let's go back in time and get drunk together...
AUTUMN BLUFF - Lovesick Lullaby
Lovesick Lullaby
Lovely beats, very smooth voice. Nice to hear an organ as well, we don't hear enough organs these days. Sweet production.
Round about 1 minute in, that's some fast talkin', and was it really one take? Impressive stuff. Lotsa fun. Great production, I know I said earlier it was sweet (ie great), it's also great (as in great).
Five Minute Fanclub - TONGUE-TIED & TWISTED AND OTHER FAVOURITES
Mary-Ann Is Having A Baby
I love this opener, love the live sound, and the spirit of the lyrics and performance. Yee ha so far. 1:54 key change, bring it on. I want to dance. I really want to dance. I love it. I want to kick my heels in the air and dance. 2:51 I'm at the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance, good work. Great work!
Tounge-Tied & Twisted
I always dig a track that starts with a loose jangling groove, great. By this stage I know that I'm in safe hands, the style is locked, and the tunes are cocked (like a gun that is). This a lame ear-based observation, and I don't mean to take anything away from this great music, but it would have put the icing on the MP3 to hear some violin. At this stage I also want to know of this is a single multi-instrumentalist or a collection of instrumenters. This would be good live.
The Sun Is Only Shining At Me From The Bottom Of A Whiskey Bottle
"I woke up in the afternoon today", this is a lyric which I adore. I wish though that the next line had been "I tried to push the choke and PULL the throttle". But then I'm a dad, which gives me the licence to tell dad jokes (which in the UK means bad, lame, pun-based jokes). There's this thing in these tracks which I'm starting to adore, the punch in click between sections, I genuinely love them, this is soulful stuff. Get in, record, get out. That kind of technical thing really captures that. Is this intentional crackle on this track? Whether yes or no, it's got it going on. Viva la difference.
Cold Ground Blues
Hi piano. Good to meet you. 0:50 this is a lovely sonic cocktail, I'm a big fan of the building .... hang on 1:20 there's more, this is smashing, FILL MY EARS! This reminds me a bit of Cake, though with less compression. Also, I've got a banjo upstairs, I'd be interested to know how this banjo was mic'd, I like it. I think this track sounds sonically wider/bigger than the others and that's great, I love albums with lots of different sh*t going on.
No No No
Yeah! More different sh*t! Rocking. You've got a fantastic voice, it's really working beautifully with this whole line up. I've just taken a look at the cover art whilst reviewing, it all fits. This is the complete package for sure. But I'm scared, the artwork implies a copyright of 2010? Is that right? Can that be right? Get in with the rim shot and the badda da badda da floor tom, nicely done. Did you double track the drumming or just pan/mix it really well? Good effort anyway to get live drums on the track. Great ending as well.
The Secrets That They Keep
YEAAAAAAHHHHHHHH, there IS some violin! I've got a big smiling face right now. What a great way to finish. Your lyrics are grand. This song is incredible, I love the sentiment. It's all over, bravo. I really enjoyed that.
Lobster Shanty & the Crab Rangoons - TREMENDOUS
Funky Express
Ha ha. Fantastic to name check Record Time, we should do that more often. This is some tight shizzle. Oooh, digging the groove. You should check out the Craig Charles Funk and Soul Show on 6 Music in the UK. I love the intermittent ring tone that pops in. I am now sitting on the funky express, and I feel like I'm being treated to a first class journey courtesy of LSATCR. 2:30 I like this potted history of funk via a train journey, I'm excited to hear this metaphor extended ... IT HAS BEEN EXTENDED. Good work mofos! Yes. 3:47 HA HA, I love this end.
Mr. Porcupine
Mein Gott, this music reminds me of being 17 and wearing a blue safari suit whilst performing live in an acid jazz band with fellow IMLers Jim Smith, Greg Dean and Rob Fisher. Man, happy days. It's good that this track explores a recurrent question of scientists of the natural world, how does an individual with external spikes place a specific wider spike inside a consenting individual's wider spike station?
Gimme A Sign
Oh shit. Those bongos (or congas), my hands used to actually bleed. In fact Jim Smith (who has my congas at the moment) can vouch that to this day the skins are stained with my blood. My hands used to bruise so bad from bad conga technique that the bruise would travel up from the palm to the topside of my hands. Anyway, great to hear some skins being slapped. "Don't deny your heart's pulse" good stuff comapdre (sic).
Logan Bradley - HzlHrst
The Bathing of Pallas
I'm into this. I've been listning to lots of Jim Guthrie recently and this is putting my in this vibe, or more specifically, Swords and Sworcery. Nice mix of spoken word and synths. It's over, nice way to intro. Good stuff.
From The Coast.
Cracking drums. I'm nodding my head a lot. 0:40 I love the percussive nature of the full mix. 1:08 synths? brass? it's a great addition. At the risk of being a lame music journalist, I'm thinking TV On The Radio, with bigger balls. 1:55 WICKED! JUST WICKED! 2:06 YESS. this is the real shit. Fantastic. Right, I have to confess, though this is a live blogging drunken review, this is the point when I pressed pause (and by this I mean, I had to pause because I wanted to write so much about THIS bit of THIS track that I wouldn't have time otherwise). That was a fantastic journey, and I am an absolute sucker for that style of cutting, beats etc. Brilliantly done. And great to hear it with real vocals and guitars. Excellent. Right, I'm unpausing and going back in.
Tinned Hide
Nice switch to acoustics. Like I said earlier, I'm a sucker for albums with variance. 1:06 OK, it's clear that this is some really great production, it's really all sitting together really nicely. I really like the drum (programming?) on this track, some really nice unpredictable rhythm patterns.2:15 great drop.
At this point, I really need to go to the toilet, and I was out very late last night so I need to go to bed. Logan, I can't wait to hear the rest of this. It's possible that the next segment of my review will be performed sober.
Dear lord Barney...you're reviewing every track?! Drunk? At 4 in the afternoon, California time?
ReplyDeleteI don't think these reviews could get done without a whole lot of skimming...but maybe I'm just a jerk?
(That said, please review mine before you inevitably give up the gonzo treatment)
ReplyDeleteIt's the next morning now. No skimming was done at all. This is going to take a while to complete. I think I'll stick with the gonzo, but not with the booze.
ReplyDeleteHaha, I phrased that a little weird... I meant I couldn't do it without skimming...I have total faith in you.
ReplyDeleteAnd speaking of booze, I completely forgot I was going to try composing after a few drinks...guess it'll have to wait for the IML Drunks album.