Tuesday 16 October 2012

Lonerism


The second album from Aussie group Tame Impala is one of the finest albums i've heard in a long while. It's space rock, very psychadelic and sonically brilliant.

The breathless big beat intro of Be Above It sets the scene, as amongst the rough synth sounds Kevin Parker sings 'I know i've got to be above it now' with plenty of reverb applied. The spaceage stuff really gets underway with Endors Toi, a trippy instrumental before the more poppy Apocalypse Dreams ' which has a basstastic bridge, reminiscent of John Lennon. The filter heavy swirl during Mind Mischief reveals Parkers higher range in which he confirms 'she remembers my name', a small victory for any boy wishing to court a girl.  Keep On Lying is my choice on this album and sounds a little bit like Serge Gainborough, with the punctuating laughs evoking his song 'En Melody' . A nice guitar solo, heavily distorted as many instruments are on this album, is propped up a sweet organ similar to the one the Doors used in their classic Light My Fire. 

As the album reaches its final quarter, the stomp of Elephant is about as far as these Aussies ventue towards 70's glam rock territory, but it sounds authentic and they're not wearing star rimmed glasses either (yet). Before the albums out we're treated to another highlight with the more electronic 'Nothing Has Happened So Far..' then the finale 'Sun Comes Up' in which they tell us the sun has come up and it's over, followed by some nice end sounds courtesy of guitar pedals and plenty of reverb where it sounds a little like Sun Araw's latest effort.

Lonerism is as complete an album, a piece of art, as you're likely to hear this year, maybe this decade. So make sure whatever music you're into you have a listen.

No surprise that it's been added to my approved albums of the year so far, check it out and subscribe to receive new album updates below :)

Tuesday 9 October 2012

Drift


Recently I visited Totnes, a small Devon town that has a railway station,  one high street, lots of independent shops, at least 3 churches, more bars and plenty of tea rooms and coffee shops. It's also on the river Dart which makes for some picturesque scenery. There's a kooky-ness to it and in a Napoleon dynamite way they have a shop that just sells 'crystals', reminding me of the line in the film when Napoleons uncle buys a 'time machine' off the internet and Napoleon quips "have you put crystals in it yet?" .

No sooner had I arrived by train that i set out on my mission to visit the only indie record store within ten square miles - Drift. The store itself has also meandered up from it's previous location of left of the high street, to more left of the high street and across the road on the right.

As you walk up the high street there's a Morrisons, Holland & Barratt, whs and a Spar, 'nothing unusual there' you might say, but that's as far as locals will allow the big brands to invade as recently they have protested against a Costa opening there. Morrisons, whs, Spar and the other chains must be chuffed they got in when they did. 

Inside the shop everything is neatly laid out and categorised by genre including plenty of new release titles and there was a good selection of vinyl and dvds. There are write ups next to releases both old and new- good for discovery- and local artists such as Metronomy were afforded decent displays.

I had a good time chatting with Jenny who was behind the counter and a local called Jez who walked in. We had discussion about the Tame Impala listening party that night, van dyke parks, dylan and local musical luminary Ben Howard involving a little bit of controversy over selling his record a couple of days early because he signed the copies and people wanted to buy it. (Apparently EMI rang them up to tell them off for selling a handful of copies a couple of days early, prompting Howard to ring his label to plead their cause). They also played the Seapony album over the speakers which was a bonus point.

Heading back for the album playback that evening the counter doubled up as a bar with the options of hot drinks (tea or coffee, or coffee with a dash of whisky) or bottled beers. I arrived halfway through the Metz album (via Sub Pop) and stayed all the way through the excellent Tame Impala. I had a good chat with the store owner, Rupert, and we exchanged stories across all manor of subjects from the state of the music industry to fantasy football, writing for music press and where the nearest chip shop might be. Rupert has a big passion for music and for the record business so no surprise that the shop is as good as it is. He spoke about the constant tinkering including questions like 'are those blue lights right for the shop?' and all the changes he'd brought in plus the challenges of running a small business on a tight P&L basis, plus the visits to SXSW to promote new artists and running his own label too.

All in all a very worthwhile visit and a shop well worth checking out if you're in the South West.

Check out their website here (and buy something you like!): http://thedriftrecordshop.net

Flyer for the Listening Party

Bag for CDs to go in