Bring the noise - Portico Quartet; Joe Goddard; Pornophonique

Isla - Portico Quartet

For weeks now I’ve swum through a sea of musical sameyness and I was starting to think it was me.  Well, in a way, I guess it is, that is, I am the problem.  I go for the same kind of music week in, week out.  And last week at the sort of apex of homogeneity, I really considered giving up on this project because, frankly, I may as well be listening to the same music I’ve listened to for the past 17 years because really it’s all the same stuff anyway and at least I know the words.  Some new music is at least reinvented, sure, possibly with shiny bits added in for effect, but still it’s all really the same.

As I have said before, I want more out of my music.  I want to be transported to a place I never knew existed.  And far too often I am only time-warped back to the late ‘90’s.  But if you’re like me, that just makes you feel a bit older than you thought you were and none the wiser.  And right now I really do need more.

On Friday, one of my oldest friends (that is the friend I’ve known the longest though he looks the youngest) came into town to see Muse at the O2.  He was travelling in Eastern Europe which is one of those things I never really got around to.  Sure I’ve been to Prague, a long and generally uninteresting story which pretty much only entertains me and may possibly interest my friend Ian who I recently connected with again after a 12 year hiatus (facebook of course) but would likely bore any other person to tears.  I also once had a booty-call in Berlin and spent literally 14 hours in the city wishing I were there for longer but possibly in different company.  I’ve never really seen anywhere else.  So in walks great friend, we’ll call him DM, en route from Berlin to Tallinn or somewhere and he, as he so often does, reminds me of years spent and of younger, chubbier-but-line-and-care-free me.  This time, of course, I’m living in my own house which I share with my husband and baby, so I guess things have moved on apace.  Anyway, usually when DM leaves, I am slightly bereft, not because he’s gone and I’ll miss him, though I invariably do.  Rather because I see that there are things that I can’t do anymore.  And worse, there are things I always thought I would do that are now no longer of interest and it shames me to admit that in mixed company.  Like admitting I don’t like Arcade Fire but a hundred times worse.

So this week, I have decided to change things up a little and go for music so far beyond my usual comfort zone that I have no bands with which I can compare the sounds or nuances.  And in doing this, I hope to shake myself out of my musical coma.

Imagine a world without whiney indie vocals; an animated film full of snowstorms and flying men, twinkly sounds that don’t irritate.  Ear-honey if such a thing exists.  Portico Quartet is this brand of musicmaker.  According to the interweb, they were nominated for the Mercury Prize in 2007 and though I paid loads of attention that year, they didn’t register. But this is not at all surprising because, if you hadn’t noticed already, my music-listening always has an agenda.  Either I’m proving how current I am or I’m proving how far my knowledge goes back.  Both of which are weird as I couldn’t tell you the last time I really put any of this knowledge to use.  Definitely not since I moved to England.  And I don’t think I’d done so for years before that even.  At any rate these guys obviously didn’t fulfil any kind of coolness criteria so I missed them altogether that year.

Portico Quartet’s second album, Isla, is just heaven to listen to.  And that’s what I’ve been doing, I’ve been listening to it.  I haven’t been comparing it.  I haven’t been trying to dissect it to understand what it means.  It’s just beautiful music that I have been absorbing and appreciating for its own sake.  The genre is jazz I guess but without the usual syncopated proof punctuating each phrase.  There’s really no need for this music to prove itself.  There are foreign noises that break in without warning, but they never jar or scrape in the process.  Each note seems to grow organically out of the one before and the result is just a soft self-losing sea. 

It’s musical sorbet, cleansing the palette for the next exciting thing.  And I mean that in the most complimentary way. The result of this foray allowed me to allow myself to have a truly enjoyable time at the Decemberists last Wednesday despite a foul mood and a lack of seating.  And I attribute that to Portico Quartet’s cool smoothness and the fact that they’ve taught me to listen.  That and the Decemberists really rocked.  But as a result of this week’s music, I didn’t feel the need to pick apart the gig as it happened.  It was incredibly liberating.

When you read through the reviews of PQ’s albums, one word recurs over and over again – “shimmer.”  It’s a perfect description.  The Guardian also pointed out that their music is incredibly hooky hence its likeability.  All in all Isla is just fantastically listenable, even danceable at points and is worthy of five stars.  kkkkk

ITunes free download – “Apple Bobbing” by Joe Goddard

Well, this is that guy from Hot Chip and you know I’m not super keen on Hot Chip.  But this, on the other hand, I am interested in.  This is the one element that I have no control over each week but miraculously, this week it slid beautifully into theme with a sonorous, reverberating house single.   My only criticism is that rather than developing the track into a grander more anthemic sound, Goddard switches tact altogether causing some confusion for the listener as to what he was trying to achieve.  Despite this I like the beginning and would be interested in hearing more of his solo stuff.  kkk1/2

Recommendation from Paul – 8-bit lagerfeuer by Pornophonique

I have to say, this band takes German electronic music to a whole other level.  The opening “Sad Robot” could have come out of Super Mario 3 or Zelda but, like the rest of 8-bit lagerfeuer is oddly compelling and very fun to listen to.  The biggest surprise and possibly simultaneously the biggest letdown is the overproduced “Lemmings in Love.”  The highlight is, for me, “I want to be a machine” which I am pretty sure actually uses the rocket noise from Super Mario Brothers.  I also love that they have a song called, “Take me to the bonus level  because I need an extra life.”  And any band that puts all their music online as free downloads deserves world domination. http://www.jamendo.com/en/album/7505 kkkk

Pooplosions and other tales... Echo and the Bunnymen; The Drums

If anyone reads these posts, apologies for the delay in today’s post.  I was sidetracked by poop and screaming, a recurring theme in my days of late. 

The Fountain – Echo and the Bunnymen - 

I know, I know.  I said no more old bands making new records.  But it was a piecrust promise, made to be broken. And who can blame me when Echo and the Bunnymen, according to Ian McCulloch, have just released “the best [album they’ve] made, apart from Ocean Rain."

After a tragic autumn which saw keyboardist Jake Brockman killed in a motorcycle collision, Echo’s 11^th studio effort has been released to sweet whoops and self-indulgent wallows from their many fans.  I’ll tell you right now, I’m leading the charge on the former.

The album hooks immediately with the first track “Think I Need it Too.”  It has all the loveliness of original Echo and has the power to transport the listener to the age of John Hughes within the first few bars.  The pace is matched with “Forgotten Fields” and then the Bunnies up their game with “Do you Know Who I Am?” a track that well and truly rockets the band into the 21^st century with power chords and driven vocals worthy of the Killers thanks to guitarist Will Sergeant.  “Shroud of Turn” isn’t going to win any prizes in terms of depth, but it doesn’t need to as it’s driving music, pure and simple, the kind of music you want to listen to with the windows down. On the other hand, Chris Martin’s help on the title track lends more than name-power; it’s well-written and well-produced though by no means the highpoint of a well-rounded, primetime effort. 

Really I just think this is an excellent, listen-all-the-way-through album.  In terms of the critics, from what I’ve read, it’s been a mixed bag though I can’t see why.  The most sensible I’ve heard is that Fountain sounds like a debut album and I can really see why.  It has all the vibrancy of a new outfit but is further enhanced by a band that knows what it’s about and isn’t afraid to flaunt it.  Namely, McCulloch is back on fine vocal form, broody and full-bodied. One reviewer’s comparison of him to Richard Hawley is right on the money.  The keyboards, which one feels compelled to really pay attention to given the untimely death of Brockman, are bigger and more obviously featured on tracks “Proxy” and “The Idolness of Gods” and lend a rich, grownup feel to the proceedings.

So yes, it’s an album by a band that’s been around as long as I’ve been on the planet but this is new music at its finest.  Run to buy this album.  kkkkk

I got sidetracked this week by vintage Deathcab for Cutie and have been listening to Transatlanticism all week.  Look for a bumper reader rec next week.

ITunes free download of the week – “Let’s Go Surfing,” The Drums – 

Why isn’t there more whistling in pop music?  I mean really.  As a person who struggles to whistle in tune, I am eternally impressed by people who can not only whistle but make it a nice experience for the listener.  The Drums have heard my cry and have provided a simple little ditty with not only whistling but also a fab nod to a childhood handgame, “Down down baby, down by the rollercoaster.”  I defy anyone to listen to this song and remain grumpy. Though saying that, there’s not a lot to it and I had to repeatedly go back to the song title as I kept forgetting it as soon as I heard it.  To this I apply the dreaded phrase – it’s nice. kkk