FEATURE: CUBS

*Originally published for The Generator's 'Tipping Point' blog (3/10/12)

Well, well, well, what have we got here? Another bedroom musician using the great ploy of mystery to receive gratuitous attention? It’s not going to work, CUBS, I won’t let it. Those simmering synths and delicate wind chimes...they won’t get me...that organic lo-fi production...no, that won’t do... those stunning, frost-bitten vocals and those surprising tempo changes? That’s it, I can’t resist. CUBS, you’ve won me over to your charming minimalist synth-pop.

There really isn’t much to tell about CUBS except that Amber Bain is the creator of the lovely sounds found on ‘Anthra.’ Imagine Bon Iver’s Emma writing back to him from a lonely English bedroom and you’re kind of there. Her sound isn’t as refined as the American melancholic’s, but it’s certainly impressive for such early material.



CUBS’ crisp-cold vocal quality and multi-layered harmonising is similar to the Scandinavian synth goddesses that have graced the blogosphere over the last two years, but she has her own style that playfully jumps across heart-tugging bass notes and dreamy reverb. 

CUBS' chilling lo-fi sound on ‘Anthra’ is surely going to cause a stir on the internet, especially with the impending winter months. Hibernating will continue to do her well. 

*The Generator tip comes courtesy of Tom Cotton (Amazing Radio).

REVIEW: Jonathan Boulet - We Keep The Beat, Found The Sound, See The Need, Start The Heart

*Originally published for the Oxford Music Blog (1/10/12)

"Oh my god, you’re dead, oh my god, you’re not dead"/"It’s all real, you’re a fake.”

These are just a few of the paradoxical lyrics etched into multi-instrumentalist Jonathan Boulet’s sophomore effort, We Keep The Beat, Found The Sound, See The Need, Start The Heart, which paint pictures of a somewhat troubled 24-year-old. But the fickle nature of Boulet’s lyrics is unfalteringly swamped with vibrant tribal percussion and choral chants that actually work to juxtapose Boulet’s oft-melancholic stories. This to-ing and fro-ing between bright music and heavy wordplay immediately presents something a bit different and perhaps worth lending your ears to.

Opener ‘You’re A Animal’ (Boulet’s grammar) acts as a one-song montage for the entire album. Ferocious primal drums, dissonant brass and cock-sure power chords make a premature statement that this album is all about relentless ENERGY. 

Not one to hush for long, Boulet leads us straight from the plummeting, ‘You’re A Animal’, into the startling marimba-pop of ‘This Song Is Called Ragged.’ Excusing the incorrect musical ethnicity, but imagine an Indonesian gamelan on steroids and you’re there. Attention has clearly been paid to penning the vast, unyielding rhythm section; it seems Boulet has hardcore in his blood or a similar high-energy rock genre.

The first few songs on the record stage a tedious saga of pounding drums, but ‘Dread Is This Place’ and ‘Hallowed Hag’ offer much deeper, and different, textures. ‘Dread Is This Place’ goes all Animal Collective with soaring multi-layered harmonies and mashed-up psychedelic melodies, but ‘Hallowed Hag’ one-ups it with goose bump-inducing melodies, flamenco rhythms and spindly guitar chords that crawl over Boulet’s rasping vocals.

‘Mangle Trang’ and ‘FM AM CB TV’ are strong examples of Boulet overdoing it on the percussion front, with trigger-sharp drums spewing all over melodies that would have, at the very most, benefited from light rhythms. Chamber-pop melodies lie at the heart of ‘Piao Voca Slung’ and album-closer ‘Cent Voix’, which thankfully deviate from Boulet’s obsession with crashes, bangs and wallops. Unfortunately, the former doesn’t promise a complete recess from drilling percussion, but he clearly is a rhythms man and lets that remain at the centre of his songwriting.

We Keep The Beat, Found The Sound, See The Need, Start The Heart is sometimes wonderful and sometimes not. Wisps of ingenuity flutter about the songs’ surfaces, penetrating intermittently into deeper, emotional depths.  The clattering of drums, however, is always thumping at the back of your head, and regardless of the Boulet’s remarkable musical talent, you begin to get a bit of a headache.

FEATURE: Richard Walters

*Originally published for The Generator's Tipping Point blog (19/9/12)

Oxford singer-songwriter Richard Walters is one of those musicians with the ‘that voice’ effect; it has warm familiarity, ecclesiastical clarity and a gravity of tone that you cannot help but completely resign to. This autumn sees the release of his second album, Regret Less, following widespread praise from The Guardian, The Fly and Uncut for his debut LP, The Animal (2009).

The lead single from Walter’s new fan-funded album, ‘The Escape Artist’, shows off the workings of a classic songwriter, blessed as he is with a vocal range as agile as fellow Oxfordian Thom Yorke’s. Walters may not favour the forthcoming comparison, but the crystal-clear quality of his voice is also not unlike Tom Chaplin’s of Keane.

It’s fairly unusual to hear such basic and raw instrumentation during an age of heavy synth/beats-driven music and excessively layered ‘nu-folk’ balladry. Clean guitar and hushed violins run alongside Walter’s metaphors about the pains of love, but he does not overindulge in superfluous crescendos like all the Mumfords and Sons of late. In fact, the track’s safe composition forces you to focus on the lyrics and the dexterity of Walter’s voice – at once fragile and powerful, discreet and arresting.

Keep your eyes peeled for him playing at some charming little venues around the country this month, as well as the expected release date of his new album Regret Less on 15 October.

*Today's Generator tip comes courtesy of Matt Marlow (KYEO.tv).

FEATURE: Spring King

                                                                                                   

*Originally published for The Generator's 'Tipping Point' blog (6/9/12)

Working under the alias Spring King since March, it seems prolific producer of Tipping Point faves Jethro Fox and Dan Croll, Tarek Musa and friends have been spending a lot of time hanging out with Ty Segall and The Black Lips, or, the more probable situation, wishing they had. Their first penned track, ‘Let’s Ride’, boasts a similar garage-punk sound but is loaded with a faster energy that has already gained attention from the likes of The 405 and Amazing Tunes.

It’s hard to believe Spring King hail from the UK when dusty, Americanized vocals shout over lo-fi riffs and tinny west coast surf solos. Bass and drum breakdowns characterise the verses, while root-note piano adds depth to latter part of their organised car crash of sound. They even manage to squeeze in a couple of whirring synth melodies before the song ends at a measly two minutes and fourteen seconds, but they have made their point and impressively stun us to silence.

Spring King’s aggression and energy on ‘Let’s Ride’ is bound to prick ears up and get people excited about guitar music again – but this time on our home turf.

Today's Generator Tipping Point comes courtesy of Rob Platts at Alan James PR

REVIEW: By Toutatis - Hero and Leander/World's Worst

*Originally published for KYEO.tv (23/8/12)

Hot on the heels from their split EP with Dressed Like Wolves, Saltburn’s By Toutatis offer us a new double A-side single full of the swashbuckling shanties of their previous efforts, but with a lot more gusto. Tectonic-sized drum rolls, stoic root notes and quivering vocal vibrato work together to throw you into the midst of ‘Hero and Leander’s’ ferocious storm.

References come thick and fast to the myth of the same title, detailing Leander’s swim against the harsh tides of Hellespont sea to consummate his love with the priestess, Hero. Staggered harmonies echo Hero’s effort to guide Leander on his journey using a beaming torch, “There’s no better way to find her”, while fraught violins and thunder-clap drums accelerate the song to a dramatic conclusion.

‘World’s Worst’ eases you in more gently. Seething, archaic Celtic strings waft over bawdy vocals and guitars throng to the beat and pulse of the rhythm section. It’s quite difficult to discern the lyrics – perhaps due to unpolished sound levels – but the band’s superb song writing more than makes up for this with an infectious chorus and a lasting cacophony of dark, chamber pop sounds. 

If the journeys on this double A-side are what By Toutatis can muster at this stage, then let’s hope for an odyssey on the next.

FEATURE: Noisestra

*Originally published for The Journal newspaper (7/8/12)


What do you get when you mix international exponents of avant garde music with 12 young turntablists in the North East? Well, quite a bit of noise. Charlotte Krol finds out what Mariam Rezaei's ambitious project Noisestra is all about.

"I feel very strongly about young people having a say in what they take part in. Music really is an identity for them and they can drive it forward in such a huge way.”

Twenty seven-year-old professional composer, improviser, performer and DJ Mariam Rezaei speaks with an old head on young shoulders.

“Turntablism is dying a death in this economy and I want to preserve it as an art form.

“The only way for it to survive is through collaboration and it is young people who are most willing to learn the skills.”

With the growing trend of DJs using laptops to create music by “simply pressing play on iTunes”, Mariam has been on a mission to keep vinyl turntablism alive by teaching DJ skills to young people based in the North East.

But rather than falling into a regressive trap of teaching DJing for the sake of tradition, Mariam has devised ways to be progressive when learning a skill that is becoming more and more outdated.

Since January, alongside weekly DJ workshops, the participants have been creating graphic scores to interpret music from.

The design work is in advance of the group’s collaborative performance with Anton Lukoszevieze’s award-winning experimental ensemble, Apartment House, at The Sage Gateshead on Friday.

“There has never been an ensemble of instrumentalists with an ensemble of turntablists before,” says Mariam. “This is groundbreaking. It will make history in music.”

The graphic scores were created from distorted photographs of Newcastle taken by the participants, including images of the Sage, the Quayside and Grey’s Monument.

“Noisestra has really allowed people to have their own voice and to develop themselves professionally.

“Some participants have used the project to not only learn a new skill, but to help them with their art work, for instance, or on their journalism by writing Noisestra blog posts for The Sage’s website.”

Local graphic and web design company, El Roboto, has guided Noisestra with the graphic scores, but it has also provided the group with vital work space in their studio.

Johan Berg, of El Roboto, says: “Even though we mainly work with multinational companies, whenever we have the opportunity to do something for someone who is really motivated, like Noisestra, it’s nice to help out.”

Mariam is more than grateful for the company’s help, saying that she doesn’t know what she would have done without them. “El Roboto has offered Noisestra unprecedented help. It’s something that I really appreciate.

“The same goes for The Sage Gateshead. Performing in such a fantastic venue adds to the professionalism of the project and it’s a brilliant example of the North East supporting its own artists.”

The project is part of NE-Generation and is funded by the Legacy Trust UK, an independent charity set up to promote a sporting and cultural legacy from the Olympic and Paralympic Games around the UK.

Mariam has performed as a DJ with ensembles in the past but felt she was a “gimmick”.

“This time, I wanted to see how the instruments in an ensemble would work with turntables – not the other way round.

“I’ve worked with Apartment House before and the experimental way in which they perform and think about music fits perfectly with Noisestra.”

“Experimental” certainly describes Noisestra’s sound. From pass-the- parcel noise compositions to minimalist pieces interpreted from graphics of trees, Mariam is very aware of the project’s unique identity.

“It’s something that people either love or hate because it’s very out there. But now there is a new group of trained turntablists in the North East. I think that’s really exciting.”

REVIEW: Micachu and the Shapes - Never

*Originally published for The 405 (23/7/12)

It's been three years since Micachu and the Shapes won critics over with their improbable pop debut, and a year since their high-brow live recordings with the London Sinfonietta, but their latest offering, Never, is where they have truly found themselves.

That said, there doesn't seem to be anything startlingly different with the music on Never. It just oozes more confidence. On 'Easy', the nasty, discordant post-punk sound of their debut, Jewellery, returns, with detuned guitars spasming over chop pop textures and homemade instruments dancing together. It's nice to hear they've still got a trusty vacuum cleaner to provide some of the drone effects, but what is really different is the assuredness that emits from every clash, bang or wallop, or how well 'Easy' and 'Never' flow into each another.

'Low Dogg', taken from their 2011 live album Chopped and Screwed, has received a new energy on Never. Menacing synths replace the original Sinfonietta's stringed instruments, which sound bizarrely similar to the twisted synth progressions on Grimes's, 'Oblivion.' It's not necessarily an improvement on the live recording, but the sound is sharper and really lifts the slightly dulled hip-hop rhythms. Lead singer Mica Levi is full of character here – her East London growl snuggled comfortably between beats.

Another track that has made its way over from Chopped and Screwed is the rather doomy and introspective, 'Fall'. It's a depressing little number with deformed jazz chords hopping between gloopy reverb and purring drum rolls. The lyrics are hard to discern, but the dark, cinematic sounds towards the end of the track seem to speak of an inconsolable situation. Whatever its meaning, 'Fall' is an immersive and enthralling listen.

Many albums are loaded with their strongest tracks at the beginning or end, but the best songs on Never are actually clustered in the middle. 'Holiday' is laced with rewound cassette tapes and light hearted chants: "I can't wait for my holiday, I've had my work cut out for me." It's catchy with ooh-and-ah harmonies and it really feels like the trio had boundless fun putting this track together.

A nostalgic, fairground tune whirls throughout 'Slick' as vocals gargle between snap-happy percussions, but the following track, 'OK', is even more attractive in sound. Keyboardist Raisa Khan and Levi sing, "Are you sure you're ok? Couldn't be better," in call-and-response over thick, industrial noise, yet the track offers an earthier, psychedelic sound with dreamy vocals and synths mimicking prog-rock guitars. Like 'Holiday', the song has conventional structures and accessible lyrics, propelling Micachu and the Shapes into their most poppy territory yet.

'You Know' and 'Glamour', sadly, fail to fit anywhere between the band's admirable experimentalism and organised chaos, falling quickly behind the overwhelming amount of solid tracks on the LP.

The definitive track of the album comes in the sonic-sized form of the oxymoron entitled, 'Nothing.' Lying somewhere between a sedated Ty Segall track and a warped 50s rock 'n' roll ballad, 'Nothing' sees gritty guitars and rich harmonies married together as handsome male vocals carry the verses. Smart lyrical arrangements ("We had everything to lose, so I stood on a cigarette, and decided we weren't finished yet") anticipate an explosion of quivering synths, choral singing and broken guitar solos, leaving your brain suitably fuzzy and warm at the close.

Micachu and the Shapes have retained their knack for producing an accomplished smorgasbord of sound on Never, but have done so without alienating listeners or sounding tired. Their new material is stronger than ever and, for better or worse, edges just that bit nearer to pop music. Who knows what they will come up with next.

8/10