Megafaun - Gather, Form & Fly *****

 

I'd not heard of Megafaun until my wife bought their CD on a whim and when I finally got round to listening to Gather, Form & Fly I was blown away by what a refreshing and wonderful album this is.

This, the second album from the American three-piece, is a mixture of country, blues, folk, and experimental jazz all in one and the mix goes together without pretension.  This is an album with spirit and has been put together thoughtfully to give the listener a superb experience.  Listening to the album in it's entirety had me constantly trying to figure out what would come next.  The first three tracks, including the chirpy, yet wistful The Fade, hint that this could be a gem of an alt-folk album with some sweet harmonies.  But by Impressions of the Past I was whisked off down another path, by the type of instrumental that some bands may use an album closer or for an interlude.  The fact that they include it so early in the album shows what a strong, well suited and beautiful mess of a piece of music it is.

This album only allows sentimentality in small doses, there no settling on a certain genre here and although overall the album will be filed in the " folk", "country", and "blues" sections of music shops, on closer listening it is evident that there is much more going on.  The brooding The Process is driven by inventive percussion as is the start of Darkest Hour, another experimental cut of household noises that, whilst not all musical, allowed me to drift off with the storm that we hear on this track.  The sea-shanty vocals adds to a bizarre dream of a song and this is why I find this album so engaging.  It is the seemingly effortless building of atmosphere and feeling that Megafaun create that moves me.

The penultimate track, Guns, is a seven minute round the campfire singalong that has an uplifting melody which highlights the quality of the trios vocal mix.  These guys aren't the best vocalists in the world but there is a soft, characterful quality that gives them more emotion than Iron and Wine, but less grizzle than you will find on a Johnny Cash album and for me that is a solid mix.

Ya Diggin'? Then try these: Sufjan Stevens, Akron Family, The Low Anthem

Midlake - The Courage of Others **

On listening to this album through my CD player I couldn't quite get a grip on what was good or bad about The Courage of Others, the third album from Midlake.  Sure enough it was misty, olde worlde rock that combined some good harmonies with subtle guitar work - but nothing really stood out.  It wasn't until listening to the full album on my headphones that the different layers and elements of this album came to life, so I suggest a chilled evening and a comfy chair for this one.

Even with this more enhanced sonic experience I am still yet to be 100% convinced that the songs stand out from each other.  They all seem to have that epic middle-earth feel to them, striving for the better future or the true love.  Listening more closely to the album though allowed me to notice how tight Midlake are as a band.  I am a big fan of bands constantly re-inventing themselves whilst still appealing to the fans who supported them in the first place and Midlake seem keen to further their style on each album.  This time round they pay homage to the eerie folk rock of early King Crimson, and the epic mystical songs of Led Zeppelin.  Also, Midlake have a great sound, the guitar is often beautiful and delicate, the flutes add a gentle melancholy, and the impressive drumming adds depth to some songs, yet I can't help feeling that is seems a little contrived.  The fact that this album sticks so closely to the folk rock genre they have seemingly chosen for this album makes me wonder whether this was a pre-determined course or simply a coincidence.  Clearly, Midlake are all very good musicians but this does seem a bit like English folk by numbers.

Opening track Acts of Man has a noodling acoustic guitar, accompanied by lo-fi drums and the mournful harmonies that are, for me, a key part of Midlake's appeal.  The pace of the album doesn't really change and whilst that doesn't bother me too much it is dissapointing that there isn't much variation in the songs.  Whilst Winter Dies and Small Mountain are pleasant enough, it all gets a bit repetitive after that.  Standout track Children of the Grounds starts with a bit more urgency to set itself aside from the pack and the distorted wail of the guitar adds a celtic dynamic before settling back into a familiar stomp.  The Horn is also striving to be noticed and a heavier feel to this song helped engage me a bit more with its searching melody.  Title track The Courage of Others takes me back to listening to The Court of The Crimson King, but doesn't leave me with the same feeling of wanting more that King Crimson did, despite a fuzzy guitar solo to close the song.

This album is a grower though and I hope that the more I listen to it, the songs will come into their own.  In my opinion the problem with doing an album in a genre that was done so well many years ago is that you constantly put yourself up against all the people that made this sound great in the first place. Unfortunately, anything else sometimes seems like an effort to capture a vibe that was only ever about one time, place, and movement.  Midlake are no doubt going to keep making good music, but I hope that they don't feel like they have to tip their hat to all the key genres that have given us the wealth of talent we already have at our disposal today.  I think they can be better than that.

Ya Diggin'? Then try these: Wilco, Nick Drake, Fairport Convention

The Antlers - Hospice ***

Hospice is a beautifully sad concept album that lyrically deals with the breakdown of a relationship between husband and wife as the latter is suffering with terminal cancer.  To whatever extent the albums story reflects the experiences of lead member Peter Silberman, or its references to Sylvia Plath, it is the lovingly crafted story of a husband and wife that most interests.  Rather than depict a true love, until the bitter end, fairytale romance - this is the rough, raw side of love that sometimes people are too scared to talk about.  Musically this isn't an album that drifts along with convention as the songs seem to have a life of their own.  This is what I loved the first time I first listened to this album as the songs reached out and grabbed me and left me transfixed, whether it was the ghostly Thirteen or the waltzing Shiva.


The album opens with the instrumental, Prologue, a bleak soundscape that sets the tone for the story.  It is a frozen, desolate landscape that leads into Kettering and the introduction of Peter Silberman's voice, a delicate and gentle tone that sometimes disguises the dark content of his lyrics.  His fragility makes the words hit home even harder, a philosophical husband looking out at the start of the story ("I wish I had known the first minute we met, the unpayable debt that I owed you") it is enough to make the heart ache a little.  Gentle piano accompanies the vocals until a funeral march of drums kicks in with a rising wave of feedback and guitars, adding an epic feel to the end of the song.


There are the odd moments of radio(ish) alt-pop/rock that come in the shape of Bear, an upbeat nursery rhyme of a song that masks a very personal and distressing time for the couple.  Two is the kind of song you might see in One Tree Hill as part of a moving montage.  The song builds slowly, starting with a simple two-chord guitar until a steady beat allows the piano, synths, feedback, and percussion to create a moving background to a song that documents a husband looking back on his life and realising there is no going back.


Clocking in at 52 minutes you wouldn't want this album to be any longer.  The tone and melancholic vibe of these songs as a collective don't make it an album you would play whilst entertaining the in-laws.  Hospice is best kept for a late night with a good friend, or a frosty morning stroll.


Ya Diggin'? Then try these: Dirty Projectors, Caribou, Fanfarlo

Charlotte Gainsbourg - IRM ****

I get drawn in deeper each time I listen to this album and there are a few reasons why: Charlotte Gainsbourg intrigues me (as the daughter of one of the most famous French musicians ever (her Father was sex-pop-genre-hopper, Serge Gainsbourg) and it is interesting to hear how he has influenced her musically.  Secondly, she seems to have little confidence behind a microphone yet has an adorable charm that comes through across the board on IRM.  Finally, she doesn’t write any of the lyrics (something I have previously lambasted “singer/songwriters” for in the past) but there is a wonderful connection between Gainsbourg and the content of this album.  The supplier of ammunition on IRM is possibly the modern incarnation of Gainsbourg Senior, Beck Hansen.

With Beck in the helm as producer you know you are in for an experience, and he doesn’t disappoint, tracks like the riffing Trick Pony and melodic Heaven Can Wait would have fitted comfortably on Hansen’s 2005 album, Guero.  IRM embraces Beck’s versatility and the result is a varied, slick mix of styles and genres.  World music percussion kicks off opening track Masters Hands, and from there we experience everything from the brooding thriller of Les Chat du Café Des Artistes, to the eerie acoustic folk of Me and Jane Doe.  Gainsbourg’s delicate vocals are highlighted on the experimental IRM and the awkward Greenwich Mean Time.  To me though it doesn’t matter that Gainsbourg doesn’t have a powerful voice to carry the punchy number as what she does beautifully is the delicate, sweet, and vulnerable.  This is shown on In the End, and Time of the Assassins.  In fact, the hippy bounce of Dandelion almost see’s her come across as breathy and seductive as the subtle strings and horns help keep the loose groove moving.  The standout track for me is La Collectionneuse - a plodding mystery that beautifully combines piano, strings, and haunting melodies.  This song really feels like Gainsbourg is getting into her role and the brilliant ending sees the strings build suspense as she recites extracts of poetry in her French whisper.

After listening to IRM I can feel hints of reflection in Gainsbourg’s style that could reference her life in the shadow of her Father, one that maybe she is now feeling comfortable emerging from.  The fact that there are so many different sounds on this album suggests that this is an artist who is willing to take risks and feels comfortable doing so.  This album has made me appreciate the skill required to get inside of someone else’s songs and make them your own whilst preserving your own mystique at the same time.




Ya Diggin'? Then try these: Beach House, Lightning Dust, Francoise Hardy

First Aid Kit - The Big Black & The Blue *** (out of five)

Anyone familiar with Klara and Johanna Soderberg’s version of Fleet Foxes Tiger Mountain Peasant Song on YouTube  will probably already be in love with these Swedish sisters before hearing this, their debut album following on from the brilliant Drunken Trees EP.

Although they are both not yet twenty (born 1990 and 1993 respectively) they clearly have their heads screwed on when it comes to positioning themselves in the market.  It is refreshing to see a young group who write and perform their own songs with such belief.  The duo’s MySpace page (http://www.myspace.com/thisisfirstaidkit) clearly marks out their feelings on why they make their music: “We aim for the hearts, not the charts”.  The Big Black & The Blue is a clear example of how they intend to back up this statement. 

In all honesty , these are simple back porch songs with subtle glimpses of instruments other than the acoustic guitar: minimal percussion, mandolin, xylophone, and organ -but there is something more to these folksy ballads that conjures the cliché ‘old souls’.  If you don’t have a back porch available then put this on in the evening and just let it play, it’s an honest album that will sit well with you whether doing the washing up or if you are suffering the breakup blues.

 Lyrically the songs look at topics most young people want to know the answers to: religion, love, and politics.  It’s the delivery of these lyrics that add feeling, sorrow, and passion to this album.  The charms of their vocal harmonies greet you right from the start of In the Morning and are shimmering right through to Wills of the River.  The standout harmonies appear on Sailor Song, Heavy Storm, the mournful Ghost Town, and Winter is All Over You.  However, even the strong vocal work can’t hide the weaker tracks.  The opening chords of Hard Believer sound almost too commercial and folk-pop for this album and it was no surprise to see this pop up as a promo video months ago.  New single I Met Up With The King is a dark fairytale that feels rushed and doesn’t really go anywhere.   Reading deeper into the bored and irritated “Well Thank God” at the end of the final verse could hint at the tiring journey they have been on since posting that famous cover on YouTube two years ago. 

How the Soderberg sisters build on the stripped back feel that is on The Big Black & The Blue will be interesting.  Admirable as it is to have not compromised their style it seems more depth might be needed on future releases.   The collection of songs First Aid Kit now have is impressive but limited and if they can expand their style then they have a very bright future.


Check out their blog here: http://firstaidkitmusic.tumblr.com/

Ya Diggin'? Then try these: Fleet Foxes, Megafaun, Iron & Wine