Teenage Fanclub, Super Furry Animals: Ben and Jerry’s Sundae On The Common

Now this is what I call a festival: sunshine, free ice cream, just down the road from my house. Of course that wouldn’t be enough to tempt me if the bands were rubbish, but when the line up includes Teenage Fanclub and the Super Furry Animals it’s pretty close to perfection.

TFC were on good form, working up to a new album and brave enough to play some of this material, which sounded great. Otherwise they sensibly stuck to the summery pop they do so well, rather than the grungier stuff – the obligatory Scot calling for ‘Starsign!’ was disappointed, though they did end with a full run through ‘Everything Flows’. They sounded great and seemed very chirpy. Let’s hope they’re on the road again soon.

Did I Say – Teenage Fanclub – Four Thousand Seven Hundred And Sixty-Six Seconds

Ain’t That Enough – Teenage Fanclub – Songs From Northern Britain

Super Furry Animals always make the sun shine and we were treated to a good selection of old and new hits; ‘Juxtaposed with U’ suited the weather, as did ‘Crazy Naked Girls’ from the current album; the crowd – which wasn’t all old indie types, I was pleased to see – leaped up and down for ‘Inaugural Trams’ and ‘Rings Around the World’. Gruff made good use of his signs, playing the audience like an ice-cream-addled instrument. A thoroughly enjoyable afternoon.

Crazy Naked Girls – Super Furry Animals – Dark Days Light Years

Hello Sunshine – Super Furry Animals – Phantom Power

Get out and buy the best-ofs, at the very least! Official sites: TFC and SFA.

Jkneale, photos Siobhan

Black Sheep: Kiss My Sweet Apocalypse 2

Can a drone bring about a revolution? Can a monotonous hypnotic jam on the bare minimum of chords usher forth a shift in consciousness? If you layer a series of slogans and calls to protest on top of a repetitive groove of synths and acoustic guitars will their vibrations be a source of global change?

Fucked if I know. But it seems that the Arch-Drude of Wessex and his band of leather-clad anarcho-troubadours are attempting to answer these questions on Kiss My Sweet Apocalypse 2.

One thing I’m quite sure of is that this offering is one for the Cope completist only. I fully admit that half-way through the 18.15 minute opener ‘Ernesto’ I did think to myself ‘he’s taking the piss this time’ (especially during a series of improv squeals around five minutes in). However, this initial judgement has since been tempered somewhat. In particular, I had a suitably heathen and eschatological moment during one listen where one of the thunderstorms that have enveloped the house in recent days coincided with the many that litter the album. In such moments this works, but such timely juxtapositions might be rare.

Most of the tracks weigh in at over 10 minutes, so I’ll share just the one.

Underground Resistance

Search for the Ur-Drone and get ready for the end-times here.

angrybonbon

Circulus: Thought Becomes Reality

Raised as I was on vinyl, I often think that when a band starts with a track most would save for the finale it says quite a lot about their intentions. South London’s early music/wyrd folk/psych outfit Circulus begin their third album with ‘Transmuting Power’ as if they’re slapping doubters in the face with a mailed gauntlet, in an admittedly courtly and fey way. The first three and a half minutes are fairly straightforward, even if front-bard Michael Tyack seems in gloomier mood than usual. Still, as the mushroom clouds bloom over the cities, the flutes start piping away, and the UFOs arrive to take us away to a new planet. This last bit isn’t a metaphor, by the way, that’s the theme of the song, and possibly of the rest of the album too. ‘Many lightyears from here we will resettle’, promises Tyack. ‘Evacuate and colonise!’ cries an alien voice. ‘Grab the sunny spots!’

It’s songs like this that make some people really angry about Circulus. Driving through London with this album blasting through the open windows has a peculiar effect on passers-by; they start peering round, wondering what’s going on. Some smile, others grind their teeth. If you don’t like it, or think they’re not 4REAL, avoid this band like the buboes. If you’re wondering whether your cloak needs a dry clean, read on.

The first Circulus album, The Lick On An Envelope Yet To Be Sent, had a strong streak of 70s/90s acid electronica running through it, and I missed this element of their sound on the more straightforward follow up, Clocks Are Like People. Thought Becomes Reality has added distorted guitar to ‘Fortunate Ones’ and ‘Trotto’, recapturing the slightly unhinged element necessary to cut through the sweetness of all the folkery. On that note, ‘Michael’s Garden’ sounds like the strangely childish folk collected on Fuzzy Felt Folk, and there is a cracking version of 13th century polyphonic banger ‘Summer Is Icumen In’. Something for everyone, then, especially if you’re looking for the sort of people Chaucer might look askance at. As my wise friend noted, Circulus have hit a purple patch recently and this is well worth tracking down. ‘Transmuting Power’ is certainly worthy of the band responsible for ‘Power To The Pixies’. My only criticism is that it’s less than forty minutes long, but in this mediocre world I’d settle for much less.

‘Transmuting Power‘ – Circulus – Thought Becomes Reality

‘Fortunate Ones‘ – Circulus – Thought Becomes Reality

Buy here. Much more on their Myspace page.

JKneale

The Duckworth Lewis Method

Not quite sure why there has been a stupidly long hiatus herein, but rest assured I’ve been to loads of gigs and bought piles of music, none of which I’m going to review here. Instead I’m going to address a significant BBO musical lacuna – namely the lack of discussion of the song-writing genius of Mr. Neil Hannon. However, his normal outfit of The Divine Comedy will have to wait as Mr. Hannon has joined forces with Thomas Walsh of Pugwash to form The Duckworth Lewis Method and usher a long-needed (well, I think so) cricket concept/themed album into the world.

Let’s get something straight first off – I bloody love cricket. I didn’t realise just how much I did until I became moist about the eyes at the sight of Flintoff kneeling to celebrate his fifth wicket at Lord’s on Monday: I think the messianic pose, looking like he was about to ascend to the great pavilion in the sky, had something to do with it. Yes, it can be cloyingingly posh and endless anecdotes about the amount of turn garnered from the pitch at Edgbaston in ‘52 can grate in rain breaks, but the sheer unpredictability of the game, ranging from being pleasantly soporific to ball crunchingly exciting, strategically fascinating to frankly dull, has always harvested my attention.

So when told of the news, by me colleague, that Neil Hannon was to do a cricket album I became unbearably euphoric. And for the most part this sense of delight has continued after repeated listens.

As would be expected the wit that has enlightened some of Divine Comedy’s most memorable moments is present here, especially on the Gatting-bating ‘Jiggery Pokery’. Yet Mr. Hannon’s other exemplary talent, beautiful and moving tenderness is also on show: taking the nightwatchman strategy and making it into a melancholic ode to giving and loyalty literally bowled me over (sorry, got this far without punning). The other half of the duo, Mr. Walsh, reveals an almost equal ability to craft handsome tunes, particularly on the sun-burnt nostalgia of ‘Flatten the Hay’.

Keener readers will have noticed that above there was a degree of hesitancy to my overall consideration of the album. This is mainly because the duo only just maintain the concept over the 12 tracks and there are some – such as the glitter stomp of ‘The Sweet Spot’- that just fall short.

Yes, a bit of cricket knowledge is useful to get some of the references and gags, but you can get away with very little and still revel in the loveliness on show.

And anyone that can get the word ‘panglossian’ (which, yes, I had to look up) into a song deserves my praise.

Jiggery Pokery

The Nightwatchman

Flatten the Hay

With requisite apparel, open the little wooden gate and stroll, with confidence of runs ahead, down here to buy it.

angrybonbon

Spokes: People Like People Like You

It’s very rare that I actually see a support band let alone enjoy them more than the main act. I saw Spokes supporting iLiKETRAiNS at the Night and Day about a month ago and they really did the business. The main act still sounded mighty fine, but whether it was the short set or the inclusion of lots of new stuff that didn’t quite grab me, Spokes eclipsed them on the night.

Foot-tapping at the bar became swaying and nodding closer up as they moved through their set. I ended by having to compliment the sweaty drummer as he smoked an extremely well earned cig outside (something along the lines of “that was great mate”) and he seemed quite chuffed for the compliment. I ended the evening by buying the CD.

We’re on the continent of post-rock again, but there was something qualitatively distinct about what they did on the night and on their album People Like People Like You. I think it’s the way the violin adds melody and a sense of hope (that brings to mind A Silver Mount Zion), particularly on the final two and standout tracks here (one below). Or it might be that they’re not afraid of adding a vocal here and there when needed: even the strained inaccuracy of the high note hit at the end of ‘Young People! All Together’ works after a few listens.

The usual quite-loud thing of post-rock is still in evidence, but it used timely and without a sense of crushing inevitability that has made me generally jaded with the genre of late. Plus on stage they dropped the ‘post-‘ and rocked with some physical enthusiasm.

One to seek out – I saw it in Fopp quite cheap recently – and a band to keep an eye on.

Sometimes Words Are Too Slow

Get swaying down here.

angrybonbon

Flowers of Hell: White Out

After raving about this album a while back it’s time for a slight return; download-only label Fat Ghost has released a nearly-ten-minute version of the track ‘White Out’ from Come Hell Or High Water. The extra six-plus minutes allow Greg Jarvis’ space-rock collective to really achieve lift-off. Regular readers (hello Bon) will know of my long-standing thing for Hawkwind, and I hope I am paying the Flowers a compliment when I say that there’s a moment in this version which really reminds me of ‘Space Is Deep’ from that band’s 1972 classic Doremi Fasol Latido, though it doesn’t turn into a droning motorik beast.

Anyway, this is a fine song from a great album, and I can also heartily recommend the first album, The Flowers of Hell. Siobhan says it sounds like camping near the Greenfields at Glastonbury, which is a pretty good recommendation. Here’s the track, up for a very short time, plus the Hawkwind song it reminds me of (especially around the 2:40 mark), and ‘Sympathy For Vengeance’ from that first album.

‘White Out’ – The Flowers of Hell – Single version (Fat Ghost FTS002)

‘Space Is Deep‘ – Hawkind – Doremi Fasol Latido

‘Sympathy For Vengeance‘ – The Flowers of Hell – The Flowers of Hell

The band’s myspace is here. Buy the single on iTunes or Amazon – both albums are available there and from all good indie stores.

JKneale

Saturation Point: Mechanisms

If you are thinking of holidaying off-world this summer consider this for your travelling soundtrack.

I wrote that opening gambit a while back as a reminder of my reactions to this album after a few listens. Getting on for a month later and after multiple listens I’m still inclined to take a space travel theme to this review. The problem is I’ve done that idea to death. Yet there’s no getting away from how ‘Untitled 3’ begins with a sense of weightless drifting and builds to a  heated re-entry to earth’s atmosphere and ends with a safe parachuted landing somewhere in the pacific ocean…or something along those lines.

Elsewhere, backwards guitar swirl and hypnotise on ‘Untitled 4’, sweet melodies and snares tightened to bursting drive the motorik ‘Untitled 2’ and ‘Untitled 6’ comes over all psyched Chems meets Holy Fuck. It’s all rather lovely.

The always excellent Manic Pop Thrills have covered them quite a bit – clicky here – but beyond this I know little about Saturation Point other than they’ve released a few more albums that I must track down and they need to make more effort with their track titles.

Untitled 2

Untitled 3

Develop your own listening motifs here.

angrybonbon

The Woodentops: Giant and Hypno Beat Live

A 1986 Rough Trade album made by a band who sound like an old kids programme: jangling old-school indie tweeness, surely? Well, it certainly made sense that the Woodentops were on Rough Trade, but they always had something that set them apart from their peers. Giant, their first album, was defined by an acoustic sound a bit like very enthusiastic busking, and by fast and complex percussion. With hindsight the Woodentops were making a much better fist of the ‘indie dance’ thing than most of their contemporaries, and the rhythms of Giant looked forward to house. Seeing them at the Astoria sometime in 1986 or 1987 it was obvious that the Woodentops wanted us to dance like idiots; the fantastic live album Hypno Beat Live captures the jaw-droppingly fast pace of their live set. And here’s the proof that the Woodentops were part of Ibitha in 1987.

1988’s Wooden Foot Cops On The Highway turned out to be their last album, despite the band doing pretty well commercially. However they have reformed, all the records are on Amazon or iTunes, and they have a myspace – maybe they’re even touring again?

‘Travelling Man‘ – The Woodentops – Giant

‘Everything Breaks‘ – The Woodentops – Giant

‘Move Me‘ – The Woodentops – Hypno Beat Live

JKneale

Bronnt Industries Kapital: Hard For Justice

The first Bronnt album, Virtute et Industria, was a spectral, Lovecraftian thing that gave me the willies, and the second was the soundtrack to the Tartan DVD of legendary occult movie Häxan: Witchcraft Through The Ages. I heard Hard For Justice, the third album, in Fopp; if they’d been playing one of the others there would have been complaints, or maybe an empty shop. Or something beginning to manifest amongst the CD racks in the basement….

Which is not to say that this is underwhelming – more that Guy Bartell has mixed his usual church organ noises in with shiny 80s synths to make something like a Germanic John Carpenter soundtrack. In fact Bartell describes it as ‘Hi-NRG Kraut-Disco’, though even that sounds a bit too ordinary – it’s like the music from warped videogames or 70s crime/monster films. ‘Streets of Fury’ or ‘Threnody for the Victims of Lucio Fulci’, anyone? Highly recommended.

Knights of Vipco – Bronnt Industries Kapital – Hard For Justice

S.T.R.Y.K.E.R. – – Bronnt Industries Kapital – Hard For Justice

Buy anywhere decent – there doesn’t seem to be a link for this record on their site – or on iTunes.

Jkneale

Super Furry Animals: Dark Days/ Light Years

You’d have to be pretty confident to start your new record with nearly a minute of people mucking about in the studio, wouldn’t you? Especially if that record was called ‘Crazy Naked Girls’ and it turned into a deep-fried acid blues jam. Or if the last track included what sounds like a hidden song… which turned out to be some very very quiet electronica. Mind you, I suppose on your ninth album you can afford to take a few chances. That’s one of the many reasons I love SFA – and since I saw this in the top ten in HMV this weekend I’m obviously not the only one.

More consistent than 2007’s Hey Venus, this is a fantastic record that shows off the band’s playful side while still coming up with songs you can whistle. It’s about time for volume II of their greatest hits – in any sane world they’d be as big as U2, but in this one they’re just a band with scads of great singles – and there are a few here that I’d nominate: ‘Helium Hearts’, ‘Where Do You Wanna Go?’ and ‘Lliwiau Llachar’ for three, plus the songs showcased below. If I had to gripe it would be that the band have decided not to do any country-rock heartbreakers for a while, which I personally find deeply distressing, but… any twelve-track album with ten great songs is well worth celebrating. And, in the spirit of last Saturday’s Record Store Day, this is well worth buying in some kind of physical format – the Furries have always had an eye for great designs and this one combines work from their long-time collaborator Pete Fowler – curator of Monster Island – and Keiichi Tanaami, who designed the amazing cover for Hey Venus. The image above barely captures what it looks like – and anyway, it opens back to front compared to every other CD in my collection. You can’t see that on iTunes or after scabbing it on rapidshare, younglings.

For tasters: the song they put up to launch the album, which is obviously what Kraftwerk would have produced if they’d been bouncier and had written about the opening of a tram service in a small German city rather than continent-spanning train networks. “We have reduced emissions by 75%”, they boast, and who can blame them? And then a song with an unpromising title, which turns out to sound exactly what it feels like to suffer sunstroke, particularly when you’ve been drinking at lunchtime. This is nothing short of sonic alchemy.

‘Inaugural Trams‘ – Super Furry Animals – Dark Days/Light Years

‘Cardiff In The Sun‘ – Super Furry Animals – Dark Days/Light Years

Buy from the band’s site – I did, digital and CD for £12 – or from any decent independent store. Sister Ray’s website is down, though it looks like the business is safe and they will have it up again eventually. Phew.

JKneale