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YEAH YEAH YEAHS
It's Blitz!
ilnterscope Polydoii .0...
Show Your Bones almost broke them, but if any band could survive their self-professed darkest period and come back all cylinders firing it’s the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Snooty types have always been quick to pooh-pooh the art rock trio’s muso credibility; using frontwoman Karen O’s wicked eye for natty threads and outlandish performances to call into question their substance. But no-one can argue with It’s Blitz! - an astonishing and cleverly crafted third effort that perfectly combines the band’s trademark
frantic punk with blissful atmospheric soundscapes.
The twinned production team of Nick Launay (who worked on the 2007 released Is Is EP) and TV on the Radio’s sonic maestro Dave Sitek are largely responsible for the way this record sounds - one clearly pushing the threesome into unexplored synth-driven territory, the other charged with retaining all the sultry attack and romance that made them brilliant in the first place. Add that to some of the finest music Yeah Yeah Yeahs have ever penned and Karen 0 on top vocal form - shrieking, wailing and chirping all over the shop - and it makes for truly awesome listening.
Looking for highlights? Take your pick from any of the ten. From feisty strop pop anthems such as ‘Zero’, ‘Heads Will Roll’, ‘Dull Life’ and ‘Shame And Fortune’ to tender ballads ‘Skeletons’, ‘Runaway’, ‘Little Shadow’ and ‘Hysteric’ - the latter warmly coated in a mass of horns and whistles - there's a real sense of space and unbridled passion sparking out of these songs. It’s Blitz! finds the Yeah Yeah Yeahs experimenting and having a blast so infectious that you’ll find yourself whipped into a tizzy from the get-go. Dizzyingly good. (Camilla Pia)
(‘iUllAlt POP
LE RENO AMPS Tear It Open
iDriftl O...
This third offering from the Scottish popsters doesn't fit in with any current trends. which is all the more reason to
take them to your heart.
From Aberdeen by way of Glasgow. the Amps here deliver an unashamedly upbeat and melody-strewn rampage of aggresswe guitar pop. flecks of
rockabilly. country. mariachi. blues and punk glittering throughout and making an eclectic but engaging record.
There is a Visceral thrill to opener 'Outlaws' which runs through the whole album. blending with a mainstream pop swagger on the likes of "You Do Your Thing" to suggest this is a band worthy of greater attention. lDoug Johnstonel
ELECTRONlCA ROYKSOPP
Junior lWaIl of Soundl 0..
Royksopp are like good drugs: sweet. glistening, otherworldly and compellingly addictive.
The initial headrush for their debut Melody AM remains that rea/ly great night out for all involved and 2005's The Dreaming felt a little like there were a few too many smoky comedown moments amid the grand orchestrations. For their third. they've gone straight back to that original blissful space with mixed results. Each tracks is
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INDIE
STATE BROADCASTERS The Ship and the
Iceberg lElectric lloneyi 0..
State Broadcasters: a gentle swwl of strings. harp. l){tflj() and Scottish accents are the latest band to release an album on Stow College's student-run label. Electric Honey. The Glasgow sixpiece's debut is an innocent folkpop swoon, wrtli stories of bunk beds. grass-stained knees and autumn leaves giVing a naive wholesonieness to their Americana sound. No wheels are being reinvented here. and the lilting melancholy and whistle solos Will be too sleepy for some. but if you want to be soothed With stories of cups of tea and first love. then here's a very melodic way to do it. (Claire Sawersl
PSYCH ROCK CRYSTAL ANTLERS Tentacles
(Touch 8. Col 0...
This debut long-player from Californian psych— rock hairballs Crystal Antlers is ablaze wrth acid-fried garage. solar free-iazz. lo-fi blare and scorchio freak-pop. Yet its escapist Clarnour iS offset by an apocalyptic lyrical backdrop. Bawdily coniOining the raucous appendages of
Ct‘i'TtITE» .3" ““3. N‘ Axle. t one and M’Cft. ft”?.’.:\ 9‘?» Jimmy t‘lllli'di‘wfi llilll’lt‘ ‘ow w. "Dust‘i. .-.oo.'y prod i't‘iiat‘ier .catat‘iysmit~ oriln ruckus i'Meiiiori.‘ed'i. a'til garrulous alt lock .lisorder i'Until the Sun Diet; Part t'i Antlret‘r. ineanxmile. riianitestt. the nibbles shaggy take on il‘ilfitl soul. to searing effect
So we salute you. ()r‘ystal Antlers may your beards remain long and your doomsdays gregarious
'Nicola Meighani
iNl )lf
IT HUGS BACK Inside Your Guitar WAD) O.
Despite the terrible twee band name. there's initially something endearing about this Kent foursoriie's debut album. opener 'O' leaning heaVIIy on dreamy mid-period Wilco influences to create something eerie yet uplifting, But while Wilco's expeririientalisni hides r'a/or~sharp. soul searching ideas. this lot spend most the album looking down the back of the sofa for a meaningful phrase or a noticeable melody. Ethereal mumblings and wistful srghs do not make for an engaging band. which is a shame. because they create an intriguing atriiosphere on occaSion. it's iust crying out for some personality to lift it all out the doldrums. iDoug Johnstonei
DUBSTEP
A MADE UP SOUND (2562) Shortcuts
iA Made Up Sound) 0...
Known for his finely polished productions on Tectonic and Subsolo. Dave Huisman's has cleverly crafted a name for himself, wedging himself nicely between the worlds of Techno Soul and Dubstep. This latest MP3 only offering was put together back
ll‘. .‘t‘itl-l, .‘tl tracks of studio experiments
riulling together his loye ti .' deer) soulful tei‘hnd .iinliient soundtrack and iagiiiontedheats lt's soulful in the same vein as Kenny larkiri or tiff. but also .ihstrat‘t pushing towards l ~ . or thitko ll)it Stilt indulgent. yes but strangely absorbing at the same time
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ENRICO RAVA New York Days
if ()M Records) 0...
Italian triiriipeter l nrico Hava presents a new line up on this quintet outing, in which his protege and regular collaborator. pianist Stefano Bollani, is J()lfl(,‘(l by an American trio of saxophonist Mark lurner, b; ssist larry Grenadier and drummer Paul Motian. Hava's music has long balanced the poles of American and E-uropean Ja// styles, Just as his Miles- influenced approach is overlaid With a distinctive signature of his own. and that combination is again evrdent here.
The music is at its most ‘American' on the iip—terripo 'Outsider' or the loping "Thank You, Come Again', but much of the rest of the album reflects a slower. more spacious. characteristically 'European' lax! sensibility that Will be familiar to anyone who knows his work. Nine of the t t cornposmons are his own. wrth two group improwsations completing the disc. Turner proves an effective foil in the horn department. and the rhythm section is self- recommending.
(Kenny Mathieson)
rib Apr 2009 THE LIST 67