My 2008: Artists and Records of Note.

‘Best of’ lists are a collective certainty in the music blogging world, and I am personally not adverse to them myself. In fact, I think it’s a great method of discovery new artists, and celebrating the lesser known genius that occasionally elude the mainstream press. Everyone enjoys spinning yarns about the aural pleasures that have popped up throughout a calendar and I’m not going to buck the trend by not doing one.

As I’ve said elsewhere before, it can take me some time to ‘discover’ acts from bygone years and I’m not going to attempt to try write an article solely devoted to my favourite new bands or records that have been released throughout 2008. Some of these relationships can be fleeting anyway. I’ll give you a concise overview of records and artists who have dominated my speakers throughout the year.

For most of the year, I’ve been on the move, traveling to several new continents. Consequently, the diverse musical tastes of fellow travellers, work pals and other new friends have facilitated my exposure to many new artists. Generally, I can sum up the year with a few bands that, while most of them I’ve heard of, I grew to appreciate. Sort of like a fine wine I guess (alternatively insert some other innocuous metaphor here).

Wilco was one band that asserted itself in my consciousness with their classic “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot” album accompanying me throughout South America (I do recall with fondness traversing the Bolivian salt flats with ‘Jesus Etc’ belting from the four-wheel drive speakers). I now curse myself for once giving up the opportunity to see the band live a few years back when I was slightly ignorant of their talent.

Ryan Adams is another artist that I grew to appreciate, particularly his most recent release “Easy Tiger”. I had cycnically assumed Adams as a petulant rock star of little talent and all hype, but now I’m a bit more forgiving. Yes, he is petulant and given to some childish behaviour but he does write some rather good little ditties such as ‘Oh My God Whatever Etc’ which is a personal favourite.

Fleet Foxes (pictured above) released their sublime self-titled debut which quickly became a personal favourite. I’m sure if you’ve listened to the radio or read the music press at any stage this year then you would have heard about some of this bands work. Trust me; they deserve all the praise they have rightfully garnered.


As you may have read, I delved into some older 80s punk/alternative music, with The Replacements and their records “Let It Be” and “Pleased to Meet Me”, along with some Husker Du. R.E.M’s “Murmur” has also undergone more than a few listens.

In terms of new releases and new records, the folk pop crooning of Chad Vaangalen and Bon Iver have been a pleasure to find their way on to my stereo. On the flip side, the doom metal of Japanese rockers Boris kept the metal monster inside of me alive and kicking. On that point, I’d never thought I’d ever say this again, but my teenage romance with Metallica was wistfully re-imagined after the released of the surprisingly good “Death Magnetic” (despite what pitch-arse might say!).

Recently, The Pains of Being Pure of Heart have shaped up as a great new prospect and I eagerly await the release of their debut record scheduled for 2009. Guided by Voices, Of Montreal, the Magnetic Fields and a dozen other regulars still provided me with a lot of joy, head banging, shower-crooning and even air-drumming.

Well, that’s a typically meandering essay of my musical adventures of 2008. I hope 2009 will provide even more fresh discoveries.

Tip Top Tunes

You want some Tip Top Tunes. Well, tune in. I recommend having a listen to some of these bands and their songs when you fancy a spot of music with your muesli.

* No Age - 'Brain Burner'. Simply sheer energy.
* Squeeze - 'Up The Junction'. Great song about impregnating your girlfriend. Presumably in or around Clapham Junction.
* The Replacements - 'Alex Chilton'. I love the intro chords on this one.
* Electric Light Orchestra - 'Mr Blue Sky'. HEEEEYEYY!
* Eurthymics - 'Thorn in My Side'. My new karaoke favourite. Also, it's chock full of sax offenses.

Quod erat demonstrandum.

Chad Vaangalen - Soft Airplane

Using the immortal words of Larry David, Chad Vangaalen’s third record “Soft Airplane” is ‘pretty good….pretty, pretty, good”. While you can hear echoes of Neil Young in the vocal delivery (particularly on “Cries of the Dead”), Chad is not simply the sum of his influences, contributing something truly worthwhile to the musical tapestry of the new century. And why? Well, the songs are all quite good.

Chad is a Canadian musician from Calgary, apparently known for his basement-recorded releases of songs compiled over the many years. I read that “Soft Airplane” differs production wise generally steering clear of the lo-fi nature of his previous work, opting for crisper more ‘serious’ production using computer recording software rather than older four-track recording devices.

The record kicks off with single ‘Willow Tree’, are brooding and morose affair, with banjo-esque melodies mixing well with lyrics that feature Arthurian inspired burial rites which include setting the subjects body on fire and pushing out to sea. These grim themes are often repeated throughout the duration of the album.

“Inside the Molecules” is probably my favourite tune off the record, with its reverbed low fidelity guitar sound over a steady beat. I really love the chord progression during the middle of the song in what you could probably call the chorus. The part where Chad sings “Heeeyyyy, my eyes aren’t working right now, but I’m going to see my baby any day” to be specific. The song is rough, bluesy and extremely interesting.

I really do enjoy listening to this album. Why? Well, in the end, what makes “Soft Airplane” good is its dynamism. It has something for everyone. You want a rock song? Listen to “Bare Feet on the Wet Griptape”. Murder ballad? Check out “Molten Light”, Perhaps you’re after an electronic song about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, with a harmonica solo? Well “TMNT Mask” should do the trick.

There are a few songs that probably don’t measure up to the quality of the many of the others. For instance, “Old Man + The Sea” sounds just a bit too, well, engineered. Too much seems to be happening in this song and the message becomes slightly muddled. It is not that it is truly awful, but stands out like a bit of sore thumb in comparison to the quality of the songs that sit adjacent to it on the track listing (feel free to disagree with me though).

Overall, three thumbs up.

The Bell Divers - June, July

I've known of The Bell Divers for a few years. In fact, you could say that I know them more than the average punter, having lived with a former member, and played with most at least two of the five piece in our local futsal competition. These facts alone don’t bode well for an objective album review, so keep that in mind as you read. But wasn’t that nice of me? Admitting my inherent bias straight up like that? I thought so.

Well, I really do like their songs, and I really do like their album. I think many other people would too.

"June, July" is their Tim Whitten produced debut album. For those not in the know, Whitten is the man responsible for twiddling the knobs for quite a few popular Australian acts such as Powderfinger , Gaslight Radio, the Go-Betweens, and many others. Stylistically, the Bell Divers are closest to the aforementioned Go-Betweens.

"June, July" features the songwriting of Clinton Toghill, tackling a variety of subjects such as love, lust and lower middle class idiosyncrasies. "Life in a Caravan" and "I Love a Man in Jail" romanticises such subjects, with uplifting melodies weaved on top of tales of pool-table fornications.

Other songs such as "Swimming in the Flood" and "As Bad as We Can Be" retell tales of youth in a whimsical and yearning fashion, tunes that are immediately accessible to the more sentimental listener such as myself. Both of these tunes make good use of the extro (or outro or however you describe it), the former utilising a Rhodes-sounding piano over a driving drum beat, the latter featuring some great use of slide guitar which melds effortlessly into sweet meandering conclusion.

All the songs on the album are neatly structured, feature a good mix of instrumentation, and never become boring, a sign of adept song writing. For instance, "Window View" has a great mix of little melodies intersecting at straight angles, guitars, vocals and keys blending seamlessly in a way that just feels right. Furthermore, this song also features some well-penned lyrics, a staple of many Bell Divers songs.

However, the highlight of the record has to be the triumphant lead single, "Fallen Down", a gem of a tune which seems over much too soon, clocking in at a brisk one minute and forty-eight seconds.

Anyway, those are my thoughts, do yourself a favour and have a look into checking the Bell Divers debut album out. These guys (and one girl) are so nice they’re even giving their debut away via their website. However, I strongly encourage you to purchase it along with the single "Fallen Down", also available at their webernet site.

Songs You Can Listen To

Well what have I been listening too of late? Well, lots and lots of stuff.

As previously mentioned I've been diving into The Replacements 1983 magnum opus "Let It Be", I've also been casually listening to the noise-rock of No Age and their pitchfork-endorsed record "Nouns" (Yeah, its OK).

While I'm currently in the UK, I still have been listening to quite a bit of local Australian music, in particular The Bell Divers debut "June, July" which was released earlier this year. The Drones have been featuring heavily on my portable music player, particularly their great 2004 release "Wait Long by the River and the Bodies of Your Enemies Will Float By", a seriously awesome Australian album.

Bon Iver is making a few waves round the globe, and I've been chillaxing to his record "For Emma, Forever Ago", and also Port O'Brien's most recent record "All We Could Do Was Sing".

The Replacements - Let It Be

Many people have written about The Replacement's third long-player Let It Be. I feel a bit sheepish, but I must admit, I'd never even heard of the album prior to perusing the 33 1/3 Wikipedia article (a series of books devoted to inspirational albums over the past thirty to forty years). So much for my supposed musicology credentials.
Well, times have changed. Previously, I had managed to listened to their 1987 record, "Pleased to Meet Me" (containing the great little punk-pop tune "Alex Chilton") and actually quite enjoyed it. After a few listens to "Let It Be", I have concluded that it is a superior album. Essentially it is an alternative album combining elements of early hardcore, punk and pop into what, I'm sure, was quite unique for 1983, the year in which is released.

All the songs are more than listenable. I am particularly fond of the poppy "I Will Dare" which features a great swinging bass line throughout the verses and blends comfortably with the lead vocal and lead melody as it moves into the chorus. The mellow piano driven ballad "Androgynous" sounds like the kind of song you’d hear a lounge pianist to belt out as you sit alone sipping whiskey on the rocks in the foyer of a Japanese four star hotel. The more punk flavoured tracks of "Favorite Thing" and "Tommy Gets his Tonsils Out" are great little tunes that give the record a truly diverse and dynamic feel.

In the end, is it as good as the make it out to be? I'm not quite sure. It is the kind of record I wish I had discovered when I was a teenager, when I was a bit less cynical about music. Nowadays it takes some convincing to get me signed up as an official fan, and while I do actually like the record, I don't yet consider it in the league of say "London Calling" by the Clash. While I doubt it will, don't let that comparison put you off, "Let It Be" is worthy of your hard earned cash, and gives an exciting insight into the early 1980's underground American alternative scene.

Why, hello there!

Like about a billion others have done, I'm going to put up some bits and peices, opinions, and so forth, on modern music appreciation. I guess I have I consider a somewhat eclectic taste in music, and generally appreciate anything with a good melody. I'm not the biggest fan of modern pop music, at least of the top 40 variety, but .

I'd like to talk about songs and albums I like and the reasons why I like them. I'm not going to generally talk about what other people should or should not like. I'm also going to attempt to stay away from the pseudo-intellectual bullshit that places like Pitchfork serves up. I'm probably not going to concentrate on songs I don't like. It seems a waste of energy to expunge large sentences of vitriol on these kind of tunes. 

In case you're wondering, the title of the blog is lifted from some lyrics, specifically from the song "Tractor Rape Chain" by Guided by Voices, off their "Bee Thousand" record. I'm a pretty big fan of this record and probably will go on and on about how good it is ad nauseum. Apologies in advance..

This is not much of a introductory post, but it will do for the time being. I'm also going to add a few older posts from my other blog concerning music....which now have been added hence the backdated posts

The Glastonbury '08 Report

Well, well. I’m well behind on my travel blogging, but I’ve decided to skip ahead and report some of the details of my recent adventure to the Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Arts which I experienced for the first time during the past week.

Glasto has the reputation for being a muddy and patience-trying experience. Luckily for me and my partner in crime, J-Kay ‘Janderson’ Anderson, we were fortunate to experience nearly perfect weather. I’ll quickly give a run down to which performances I thought was good, OK, and not worth the hype. Please note that for some (most) of the days I missed some of the main bands due to being intoxicated or asleep!

The Good!
There were many really good acts. As usual, at least according to my festival theory, these acts were nearly all confined to the side stages. The pick of Friday was the simon-and-garfunkel-esque Vampire Weekend who put smiles on everyone’s faces with their afro-beat pop songs. You have to love a band you can dance too!



To my surprise, one of the other great acts of Glastonbury was gold coast locals Operator Please. I had always heard these guys on the radio back home and thought ‘argh, just another one of these gimmick bands’ but this was the first time I saw them perform, and I must say, I was hugely impressed. Also, their cover of Salt’n’Pepa’s ‘Push It’ has to go down as one of the best covers I’ve seen. Also, I had no idea that lead vocalist and guitarist Amandah Wilkinson had so much guitar credentials – she was busting out the riffs like there was no tomorrow.



Eventually coming out as my second favourite performance of the entire festival was Crowded House’s Saturday afternoon set. I knew all the word’s to most of their song, and there is nothing better than a giant crowd sing-a-long on a warm Saturday afternoon. Most of their obvious hits were played (they finished with my personal favourite ‘Four Season in One Day’) and a few newer Neil Finn numbers placed in between.



The Hoodoo Gurus played an early slot on Sunday at around noon. Much like the Crowded House set of the previous day, it was littered with old classics. Dave Faulkner did talk a lot of shite at times, but generally the set was enjoyable with the band members indulging in some rock and roll showmanship.

I randomly went and saw a UK band called Friendly Fires at the John Peel tent (coincidently, the tent closest to my campsite). They were enjoyable enough to warrant a place amongst my favourite sets of the festival. They had wisps of the cure mixed with a lot of electronic backing tracks, and reminded me in some ways of Australia’s own Seabellies, albeit with less members. Also, I think the guitarist might have thought he was Johnny Greenwood reincarnate, though clearly he wasn’t.

My pick of the festival was without a doubt Caribou. Playing a lot of songs off their great album ‘Andorra’, Daniel Snaith a co really showed an initially unsure crowd what it was like to mix 60’s-esque melodies with an dab of electronic beats and effects. ‘She’s the One’ was a festival highlight. I also loved their stage setup, with Snaith and his drummer setting up their separate drumkits directly opposite each other, so when they manically smashed their kits it looked like the were entangled in a drum battle of gargantuan proportions.

Spiritualized also played a great set at the John Peel Stage early on Sunday evening. Never listened to any of their music before, apart from the song 'Come Together', but I might have to check out some more of their tunes.

Much to my surprise, My Morning Jacket, who closed off the Park stage on the Sunday night, absolutely rocked. I have a few of their albums, and I always thought they were OK, but I had no idea that Jim James, their lead singer and guitarist, was such a rock god. They mixed rock and country music songs interchangeably, and jumped round the stage like men possessed. It was a delight to watch. Their drummer looks like Animal from the muppets, and indeed, drums like him as well.

I’m told on good authority by Janderson that Hot Chip were brilliant and ‘boyfriend material’. Unfortunately, I missed out due to being passed out drunk in my tent.

The Yeah-They-Were-OK.
I won’t go into much detail, but the Raconteurs were OK. John Mayer was OK (he can play some mighty fine guitar), The Kills would have been more enjoyable had their sound been better (I frequently noticed that the John Peel Stage had a really bad sound mix), Stars suffered from the same sound quality issues as the aforementioned Kills, and their lead singer’s choice of performance outfit left me feel slightly ill. I didn't really mind the sounds of The Rascals, who played a mixture of punk and surf music.

The Over-hyped and Awful.
Actually, I didn’t see many bands that were that awful. Some that I thought weren’t all that good were Canadian stoner rock group Black Mountain. Their 8 minute plus medleys were just drawn out and boring. Maybe I had to be ‘under the influence’ to appreciate, but I wasn’t, so therefore, I didn’t. The hyped up Crystal Castles probably were good. However, they only played for half an hour, despite having an hour set time, much to the extreme displeasure of the audience who rightly booed them off the stage. MGMT were also another band for which I couldn’t even been bothered to stand through their entire set for, such was the quality of their set. They didn’t look interested in playing at all, despite a full house at the John Peel stage. Furthermore, their songs were uninspired and bland. Don’t believe the hype. Janderson mentioned to me that by far the worst band she saw was the Brian Jonestown Massacre. I’m not surprised at all.

Well, that sums up what I thought was good and bad about the performances of certain acts at the festival. Overall, it was a good few days, though extremely tiring. Unsure if I will do it next year.

Guided By Voices - Bee Thousand

You know how freakin' hard it is to find albums that you enjoy in entirety? Pretty damn hard, at least for someone with as fastidious taste as mine (I was about to say refined taste, but then again I'm a big fan of Phil Collins). Well, I guess I'm in luck. I've finally found out about Guided By Voices through their somewhat acclaimed lo-fi recording, "Bee Thousand" (though this is not entirely true, I have heard GbV before, I had a copy of the song "Teenage FBI" from their 1999 album "Do the Collapse" lying around on my computer somewhere, and it didn't really do anything for me).

"Bee Thousand" is notable for being extremely lo-fi, the album being recorded on poor quality equipment with little editing, and presumably with very little takes and no layering of instruments. Many people presume lo-fi will result in terrible songs, but oh contraire; there are some absolute gems on this album, with my three favourites being "Tractor Rape Chain", "Echos Myron" and "I am a Scientist" (this one being the closest to a radio-friendly single as you'd get on this album).

With the longest song being slightly over three minutes and each song is suitably different; it's pretty difficult to get bored of listening to this record. I think it is the beautiful simplicity of both the music and the lyrics that make this album such a work of genius. The best songs are the songs where you can catch on to a melody as easy as catching a cold, and where the lyrics convey meaning without having to resort to meaningless melange of polysyllables that don't demonstrate a thing except that one's vocabulary has spun out of control.

I suggest you seriously consider look in to giving it a twirl on the ol’ cassette deck.