Air — Le
Voyage dans la Lune (A Trip to the Moon)
(Virgin)
Best track:Seven
Stars
Worst track:Homme Lune?
Rating ****
Having
revealed their sci-fi leanings on their Moon Safari debut, Air
were the obvious choice to create the soundtrack for the newly
restored print of Georges M`E9li`E8s’ 1902 silent film, Le Voyage
dans la Lune. Built around the French duo’s respectable command
of down-tempo rhythm and psychedelic rock; mysticism of Pink Floyd and
the amusing synthesiser driven rock of the 1960s are also on full
display here. With tracks reshuffled out of narrative order and
scattered with extra-filmic material, this is an album, not just a
soundtrack. Seven Stars is shaped by a drum fill that works
surprisingly well for an album based on a 109-year-old film, with
outstanding vocal duet featuring Beach House’s Victoria Legrand.
Cosmic Trip sprinkles itself kaleidoscopically into a starry
blanket of layered keyboards while closer Lava features pensive
programmed banjo rhythm. Meanwhile, Sonic Armada is almost
laughably funky, exploring through Herbie Hancock-styled synth runs
with a dense rhythm section pulsing underneath. Astronomic Club
is a totally prog-rock track; a romantic turn of Chopin-like piano
virtuosity, that later runs into Retour Sur Terre with its
groovy, 1960s version of atmospherics. That Air can pack so much
history into their music without its feelings suppressed is
remarkable, but it’s just another facet of the care that went into
the entire Le Voyage Dans La Lune’s fascinating project.
Fionn Regan — 100
Acres of Sycamore (Heavenly Music)
Best track: Lake District
Worst track: Golden Light
Rating **
At
the age of 35 and with a Mercury Prize nomination already under his
belt for his 2006 debut The End of History, Ireland’s Fionn
Regan is an absolute old hand compared to his current competition, and
it’s this musical ripeness that stands him in good stead on his
latest record 100 Acres of Sycamore. The orchestral swells give
an impressive accompaniment to List of Distractions rather than
overpowering its fragile beauty. Sow Mare Bitch Vixen demonstrates
some winning elements with the lush string orchestration. Lake
District’s ivory key balladry is an absolute tearjerker, wailing
out a symphony of string and gentile guitar plucks. Soft and stirring,
the album sees Regan’s return as a folksy songsmith. Some of the
lyrics have a wide-eyed romantic feel. Dogwood Blossom keeps it
low-key, letting Regan’s strong voice and singular guitar run with
the song. 100 Acres of Sycamore is a positive and welcome step
for Regan, focussing once again of his innate ability to tell age-old
stories in an interesting manner.
Imperial Teen —
Feel the Sound (Merge)
Best track: All the Same
Worst track: Don’t Know How You Do It
Rating ***
Feel
the Sound, the band’s fifth LP proper, presents Imperial Teen’s
might at making cheerful, bright-spotted pop with a sardonic bent and
faintly punk ambience. The album opens with Runaway, featuring
a more conformist count-off and new-wave keyboard atmospherics that
slide along breathlessly. Following the graceful aging of 2007’s The
Hair, The TV, The Baby & The Band, Feel the Sound is an
unabashedly glossy and sleek pop record. The vocal deliveries are
sharp and controlled, to the point where you feel like you’re
listening to nursery rhymes put to music. Obsession with pure tone
seems to be the main theme. The energising vocals are swapped between
the two male and two female members of the group effortlessly,
crafting choruses that are difficult to forget. Last to Know as
well as the energetic charms of tracks like Hanging About and
the bittersweet All the Same runs the length of pop
playfulness, toying with subdued sentiment as much as they do solemn
confession. The Hibernates stretches out too far on ringing
chords that make the space around them feel thin rather than full and
lush while Out From Inside has an interesting interplay of warm
keys and jagged guitar riffs.
Album of the Month
Leonard
Cohen — Old Ideas (Columbia)
Best track:Going
HomeWorst track:Banjo
Old
Ideas is a spare, low-key album rooted in blues and gospel,
maybe the closest thing he’s made to folk music since the
early 1970s. His voice has grown deeper and has taken on
intensely etched textures that convey a sense of authority
gained from experience. The first track Going Home is a
mocking track about the very idea of the aged-master artist. On
it, Cohen sings with more strength and subtlety than he did on
2004’s Dear Heather, playing the role of inspiration
himself. The familiar Cohen themes of heartbreak, seduction and
resigned melancholy are well represented, and he’s still got a
great ear for memorable bittersweet one-liners. The songs prove
diverse and eclectic, with unexpected flourishes of sound to
distinguish them: the valedictory gospel piano on Show Me the
Place, the ethereal banjo and trumpet solo on Amen and
the lovely flamenco guitar that dances through Crazy to Love
You. The dusky cocktail jazz of Anyhow recalls the
likewise electric piano-driven The Smokey Life from 1979s
Recent Songs. Different Sides discusses the
possibility of remaining good in a tough world and fragmenting
relationships. Old Ideas excels in brief elaboration, arranging
its generous instrumentation with articulacy, simplicity and
reflecting the grace of the man himself.
Having
revealed their sci-fi leanings on their Moon Safari debut, Air
were the obvious choice to create the soundtrack for the newly
restored print of Georges M`E9li`E8s’ 1902 silent film, Le Voyage
dans la Lune. Built around the French duo’s respectable command
of down-tempo rhythm and psychedelic rock; mysticism of Pink Floyd and
the amusing synthesiser driven rock of the 1960s are also on full
display here. With tracks reshuffled out of narrative order and
scattered with extra-filmic material, this is an album, not just a
soundtrack. Seven Stars is shaped by a drum fill that works
surprisingly well for an album based on a 109-year-old film, with
outstanding vocal duet featuring Beach House’s Victoria Legrand.
Cosmic Trip sprinkles itself kaleidoscopically into a starry
blanket of layered keyboards while closer Lava features pensive
programmed banjo rhythm. Meanwhile, Sonic Armada is almost
laughably funky, exploring through Herbie Hancock-styled synth runs
with a dense rhythm section pulsing underneath. Astronomic Club
is a totally prog-rock track; a romantic turn of Chopin-like piano
virtuosity, that later runs into Retour Sur Terre with its
groovy, 1960s version of atmospherics. That Air can pack so much
history into their music without its feelings suppressed is
remarkable, but it’s just another facet of the care that went into
the entire Le Voyage Dans La Lune’s fascinating project.
At
the age of 35 and with a Mercury Prize nomination already under his
belt for his 2006 debut The End of History, Ireland’s Fionn
Regan is an absolute old hand compared to his current competition, and
it’s this musical ripeness that stands him in good stead on his
latest record 100 Acres of Sycamore. The orchestral swells give
an impressive accompaniment to List of Distractions rather than
overpowering its fragile beauty. Sow Mare Bitch Vixen demonstrates
some winning elements with the lush string orchestration. Lake
District’s ivory key balladry is an absolute tearjerker, wailing
out a symphony of string and gentile guitar plucks. Soft and stirring,
the album sees Regan’s return as a folksy songsmith. Some of the
lyrics have a wide-eyed romantic feel. Dogwood Blossom keeps it
low-key, letting Regan’s strong voice and singular guitar run with
the song. 100 Acres of Sycamore is a positive and welcome step
for Regan, focussing once again of his innate ability to tell age-old
stories in an interesting manner.
Feel
the Sound, the band’s fifth LP proper, presents Imperial Teen’s
might at making cheerful, bright-spotted pop with a sardonic bent and
faintly punk ambience. The album opens with Runaway, featuring
a more conformist count-off and new-wave keyboard atmospherics that
slide along breathlessly. Following the graceful aging of 2007’s The
Hair, The TV, The Baby & The Band, Feel the Sound is an
unabashedly glossy and sleek pop record. The vocal deliveries are
sharp and controlled, to the point where you feel like you’re
listening to nursery rhymes put to music. Obsession with pure tone
seems to be the main theme. The energising vocals are swapped between
the two male and two female members of the group effortlessly,
crafting choruses that are difficult to forget. Last to Know as
well as the energetic charms of tracks like Hanging About and
the bittersweet All the Same runs the length of pop
playfulness, toying with subdued sentiment as much as they do solemn
confession. The Hibernates stretches out too far on ringing
chords that make the space around them feel thin rather than full and
lush while Out From Inside has an interesting interplay of warm
keys and jagged guitar riffs.
Old
Ideas is a spare, low-key album rooted in blues and gospel,
maybe the closest thing he’s made to folk music since the
early 1970s. His voice has grown deeper and has taken on
intensely etched textures that convey a sense of authority
gained from experience. The first track Going Home is a
mocking track about the very idea of the aged-master artist. On
it, Cohen sings with more strength and subtlety than he did on
2004’s Dear Heather, playing the role of inspiration
himself. The familiar Cohen themes of heartbreak, seduction and
resigned melancholy are well represented, and he’s still got a
great ear for memorable bittersweet one-liners. The songs prove
diverse and eclectic, with unexpected flourishes of sound to
distinguish them: the valedictory gospel piano on Show Me the
Place, the ethereal banjo and trumpet solo on Amen and
the lovely flamenco guitar that dances through Crazy to Love
You. The dusky cocktail jazz of Anyhow recalls the
likewise electric piano-driven The Smokey Life from 1979s
Recent Songs. Different Sides discusses the
possibility of remaining good in a tough world and fragmenting
relationships. Old Ideas excels in brief elaboration, arranging
its generous instrumentation with articulacy, simplicity and
reflecting the grace of the man himself.
