The Year Of Our Lord, 1998

E-Bow The Letter by R.E.M
featuring Thom Yorke (singing the Patti Smith parts)



Lucky by Radiohead
featuring Michael Stipe

The Year Of Our Lord, 1994

My Curse by The Afghan Whigs

Featuring Marcy Mays

The Year Of Our Lord, 1993

Missing Link by Dinosaur Jr and Del Tha Funkee Homosapian
with help from Mike Watt & Mike D.

Rhinoceros by The Smashing Pumpkins

Taken from ‘No Nirvana’ edition of The Late Show

Hey Jane by Spiritualized

Spiritualized are preparing to release their new album 'Sweet Heart Sweet Light' on Domino Records next month. Here is the first single from the album complete with a superb video.

They also appeared on BBC 6 Music last week to celebrate of 10 years of broadcasting. Below is their setlist and a you can still see the video streaming on the BBC 6 Music website.

1. Hey Girl

2. Lord Let It Rain On Me

3. Little Girl

4. She Kissed Me (And It Felt Like A Hit)

5. I Am What I Am

6. Come Together

Ekstasis by Julia Holter

As I began to worry that I might be bored with reverb drenched avant garde pop compositions, an album like this comes along and leaves me awe struck! It has taken me weeks to get around to writing about ‘Ekstasis’ because every time I listen to it I hear something new and adjust my feelings towards it. 

Hot off the heels of her successful (though limited in release) late 2011 debut ‘Tragedy’, Julia Holter is back with another full album within 6 months. The quick turn around period has not left the material suffering and it is as exciting as her first record, and perhaps more accessible. In an interview, Julia Holter revealed that it was originally meant to be an EP that grew with each track she added until her manager suggest producing it as an LP. ‘Ekstasis’ is refreshingly different to ‘Tragedy’ (as different as this type of music can be) and feels a lot more like a collection of songs rather than a sound composition. Each album has its merits, and it seems appropriate to discuss both as they appear to have strong links. ‘Goddess Eyes’ features in some form on ‘Tragedy’ once and is revisited twice more on the new record. It is clearly the most self-contained work on her debut and has the most life as an individual song. The vocoder lyrics echo the early music of ‘Air’ with a sound that also strays into trash-indie territories. I can’t help but think of Broken Social Scene’s ‘Anthem For A Seventeen Year-Old’ when I hear it, but I’m not sure how well it sat with the overtly experimental feel of the rest of 'Tragedy'. On ‘Ekstasis’ it has found a far more comfortable home and is far better fitted to the record.

The album opens with ‘Marienbad’, an immediate and melodic song that seems to borrow ideas from classical composition as much as it does from modern music. It has an infectious pace to it that builds up and slows back down again across the duration and already the exciting detailed approach can be heard in little idiosyncratic stings and motifs embedded into the sound. The little vocal splurge that repeats through out seems distorted out of recognition and could easily be mistaken as a reed instrument in an orchestra. ‘Our Sorrows’ follows with a gentler sound and the welcome return of some field recordings, a common factor in ‘Tragedy’ and arguably the basis of the record. This time though they are weaved into a far more conventional song rather than the free and exploratory sound of its predecessor. ‘In The Same Room’ kicks in with strong percussion including a familiar sampled handclap sound that leaves this song open to comparisons to Grimes. We are quickly out of the territory though, with ‘Boy In The Moon’ a song with strained lyrics working against the melody giving an unsettling break in the record and adding new shades and textures.

‘Moni Mon Amie’ is for me the song that could have been much more (or less as the case may be). It opens with a simplistic drone and vocal that then builds across the duration into a much fuller sound. I can’t decide whether it builds too quickly or whether it should build at all, but it feels a shame to overcrowd such a delicate vocal. I think I would have liked to have it play out with little behind it in contrast with the rest of the album. Perhaps this is nit-picking but it’s not quite the song I wanted it to be.

At first I thought ‘Ekstasis’ was a collection of ideas, with each track sounding like an exploration of electronic music, but felt little tie between the tracks. With each listen, this idea disappeared and the true nature of the record became established. The unexpected flashes of free-jazz found in ‘Four Gardens’ and ‘This is Ekstasis’ at first seemed to come from nowhere and seemed out of place. Now I can’t think how or why I felt that way. All these little flourishes are what separates ‘Ekstasis’ from the crowd, and what at first seemed unexpected now feels completely necessary in creating her unique sound. All this occurs against Julia Holter’s unmistakable voice veering between ethereal and haunting. There definitely seems to be a gothic presence to this record with moments that hark back to the dark sounds that emerged in the late 80’s, but there is no doubt that this is a contemporary album with a very current sound. On first listen it would be very easy to dismiss this record as another release in the recent boom of electronic music. I immediately compared it to ‘Halfaxa’ by Grimes and Liz Harris’ Grouper. Whilst there are similarities to both, it only helps establish her name alongside them as a new sound and movement for this decade. I just hope this wave doesn’t become too oversaturated, as I would hate to get bored of these albums.

Myth by Beach House

TEXT013: Nova by Four Tet + Burial

Visions by Grimes

‘Visions’ is the first release from Grimes (Claire Boucher) for UK indie label 4AD. Grimes has been responsible for some of the most exciting new releases over the last couple of years. She has managed to carve a unique and recognisable sound layering and looping her distinct voice against constructed drum patterns and synthesisers. Her 2010 releases ‘Geidi Primes’ and ‘Halfaxa’ showed great promise but felt a little rough around the edges. In 2011 Grimes release the 12” split ‘Darkbloom’ with D’eon giving us the superb track ‘Vanessa’ and immediately her craft seemed more honed and considered, resulting in one of 2011's  finest pop records.  

After this Grimes signed to 4AD and during the writing and recording of her new album, announced that she considered it to be her first ‘real’ album. Listening to ‘Visions’ you can hear why. Immediately it feels a league ahead of her earlier releases. A step further than ‘Vanessa’ too with an exciting blend of well crafted songs and experimental interludes. These qualities provide vibrancy and texture that now seem absent from here early albums.

The two pre-release singles ‘Genesis’ and ‘Oblivion’ pick up right where she left off, jumping back into to catchy world of pop vocal loops and double tracking. This time though it’s better! Far less blatant with it’s melodies but just as infectious. The constant holding these songs together lies in the vocals. Her ethereal voice drenched in reverb pushes the Dreampop feel of the record, reminiscent of ‘Cocteau Twins’ but with added bounce, often building and looping into a swirling musical mess. In ‘Vowels = Space and Time’ they stray into delay finishes giving the sound a glitch feel whilst placing emphasis on the rhythmic qualities of the music. There is a far fuller sound to ‘Visions’ with a greater approach to control in terms of the types of samples used. The two collaborative contributions ‘Colour of Moonlight’ and ‘Nightmusic’ offer further sounds and textures with the latter delivering a more built up dance beat. This is followed up by ‘Skin’, a step down in tempo and my personal favourite moment of the album. A simplistic synth pattern works with an all together gentler and more delicate vocal to serve up a real shining moment.

The final track acts as a coda, tying off all the interlude moments across ‘Visions’ as a suite. Opening with an isolated recording of a stream, the musical qualities carry you into a gentle slow pulsating end to the record. For me, all these moments hold this together as a complete record in ways I felt Grimes’ music had lacked up until now. Her work to date has either sat deeply in pop or remained exclusively experimental, and these two worlds seem to have finally found a way to sit comfortably together. The shorter tracks offer the opportunity to try out ideas without diluting them into a four minute single.

Although the year is still young, this album is a current frontrunner along with John Talabot’s ‘ƒin’. I can find little bad to say about this record. Obviously there are moments that could be tighter and ideas that could be explored further, but I have every faith that will come on Grimes' next release. 2012 is shaping up to be an exciting year for the world of electronic music and this record plays a major part.