Time for a little new(ish) album review round-up wrap-up dealie. Reviews of the new Beck album, laid-back indie folk The Fairline Parkway, and the 02 Wireless festival to come this week too (if you’re lucky)!

Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
XL Recordings

Ooh, now this is good. While those Sigur Rós have never been Smiths-level depressing, their epic sound has always had a sense of melancholy, conjuring up images of desolate Icelandic landscapes (or slow motion wildlife footage, if you watched BBC One at all last year). Their new album is a lot more upbeat, and the epic-ness has been toned down - from Lord of the Rings level to, say, Willow - with the opening track featuring some Rodrigo Y Gabriela-style foot-stomping and some just-on-the-right-side-of-good (ie not Keane) piano smacking.

We do get some of the orchestral ballads as well, mind - including the nearly ten-minute “Festival” - and the sumptuous final track “All Alright” which - get this - is actually sung in English! What a novelty.

Ratatat - LP3
XL Recordings

Well, Messrs Stroud and Mast aren’t going to get any points for originality on their thrid outing, follwing the promising-but-lacklustre self-titled debut and the rather good, but rather repetitive Classics. We’ve still got the exact same guitar sound, the little flirts with world music… and they’ve still got the hip-hop Kraftwerk thing going on (i.e they’re ultra repetitive, but it sounds kinda alright). Unfortunatley, this failure in developing their sound makes you wonder; what’s the point in buying the album, if it’s the same as the other two?

Even the fact that one of the songs - “Mirando” - has a music video of the song set to scenes from Predator can’t save the imaginitivley-titled LP3. I guess you could buy it, if you’re a big Ratatat fan; otherwise, you could just put Classics on shuffle and pretend that the altered tracklisting makes for a different album (which is pretty much what the band have done, only they’re trying to charge you for it).

Black Kids - Partie Traumatic
Mercury Records

Isn’t it nice when one of those overhyped bands actually records a half-decent record? For every MGMT-style disappointment, it seems, there’s a Black Kids-style success. Full of the dancey, falsetto-vocals, slightly eighties charm heard one those Wiazrd of Ahhhs demos - only brightened up, courtesy of producer Bernard Butler (this just about makes up for him being pretty much responsible for flash-in-the-pan Welsh “soul singer” Duffy) - with the wispy guitar, funky Talking Heads base, squelchy keyboards and Ronettes-style female backing vocals all mixing together into a damn fine album.

About time for the backlash then. I’m all set with my “I liked them before they were popular!” argument once “I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You” becomes an invetiable chart hit (it better!)

Jay-Z knows how to respond to criticism with class; rather than acting like a baby, he just sampled Noel Gallagher’s “hip-hop isn’t right for Glastonbury” sound clip, and then covered Oasis’ “Wonderwall”, before launching into a rousing, AC/DC-sampling “99 Problems”.

Oh, and reportedly he got a bigger crowd than Kings of Leon. Ha!

Watch the whole set on BBC

Where’s the love?

Tonight sees hip-hop superstar Jay-Z headline the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury. Jay-Z, real name Shawn Carter, is a man who has sold over 50 million albums worldwide, released 10 albums in 12 years, owns and runs both a record label and a clothing line, has kick started the careers of now-superstars such as Kanye West, and has most recently been devoting a large portion of his time to charity work.

And yet, because he doesn’t produce “guitar music”, Oasis frontman and famous talker of bollocks Noel Gallagher has said that poor Mr Carter isn’t “right” for the festival, and neither is any hip-hop (despite the fact many hip-hop acts, such as De la Soul, The Roots and Cypress Hill have all performed at past festivals). Which, in keeping with previous spoutings from the Gallaghers, complete shite.

I suppose Noel thinks Kings of Leon, who headlined last night, are more deserving of playing? Sure, they’re basically a flash-in-the pan, flavour-of-the-month boring indie-rock band who’ve only released two mediocre albums and contributed absolutlety nothing to their respective genre, but at least they play guitars. Same with recently-reformed, should-have-stayed-apart The Verve, who headline tomorrow. Is that the same Verve whose only good song relies on, mainly, a sample of another piece of music (a common practice in the realm of hip-hop)?

And Noel himself is known for borrowing (read: ripping off wholesale) riffs from bands such as The Beatles - a band he and his group idolise (read: rip off wholesale), and who helped pioneer the use of tape loops with songs like “Strawberry Fields Forever” which, among other things, paved the way for…well, sampling. Not to mention, as they went on, The Beatles actually used less and less the traditional drums, guitar, bass set-up.

Aaaaaanyway, back to Jay-Z. As it says above - he really is the only good headliner at this year’s Glastonbury festival, although unfortunatley most of the idiot-NME reading demographic won’t realise this. Which is a shame, as they’ll be going back to their tent with a Ting Tings CD or other such shit instead of listening to the joyous, Bobby Bland-sampling “Heart Of The City (Ain’t No Love)”, the rocking (and Rick Rubin-produced) “99 Problems”, or more recent fare from his return-to-form American Gangster album.

Sure, Hova can be arrogant, boasting, and occasionally lapses into some gangsta cliché and misogny - but it’s a hell of a lot better than what passes for modern hip-hop of a similar “style” - I’m looking at you, 50 Cent - and, unlike acts like 50 Cent, Jay-Z actually did do most of the illegal activities he sings about, for better or for worse - it isn’t just gangsta posturing; but, when the music and wordplay is so sharp, you can look over these little niggles.

Modern, young “hip” music fans need to get over their snobbery and, aruguably, latent racism over hip-hop and rap (or just black music in general); put down the (insert stupid band name here) albums, pick up some Jay-Z, some Nas, some Kanye West - you’ll find music that’s infinitley more interesting, lyrically and sonically, than the dreary guitar-based rock put out by bands like…well, Oasis, for one. Kings of Leon and The Verve for another couple.

Download “Heart Of The City (Ain’t No Love)” from The Blueprint
Download “Roc Boys (And the Winner Is)…” from American Gangster

Buy Jay-Z’s albums on Play.com

The Long Blondes guitarist/songwriter and Jarvis Cocker-lookalike Dorian Cox is “in a serious condition” in a hospital in Sheffield, according to a statement on the band’s website;

On 9th June, Dorian was rushed to hospital after falling ill, and he is still in hospital in Sheffield in a serious condition. Because of this we will regrettably be canceling all our live appearances until the end of July. Dorian is improving slowly and we will keep you updated on his condition. If you would like to leave a message on myspace, facebook, or through the website, we would be glad to pass them on to him when we visit.

Feel better soon Dors.

The Long Blondes x

Which is pretty darn bad. The band, who released their really rather good second album “Couples” only a couple of months ago (the majority of the lyrics were written by Dorian), have canceled the following tour dates:

21st June  - One Love Festival - Istanbul, Turkey
29th June - Glastonbury Festival, John Peel stage
3rd July  - O2 Arena, London (with Duran Duran)
5th July - Pop Circus - Milan, Italy
7th July - Birmingham NIA (with Duran Duran)
18th July - Summercase - Barcelona, Spain
19th July - Summercase - Madrid, Spain

Get well soon, Dorian!

Download “Round The Hairpin”

The second single from “Couples”, “Guilt”, is released on Rough Trade on June 30th.

With their third (!) self-titled album - and sixth album overall - Weezer, and lead songwriter/singer/guitarist Rivers Cuomo, seems to have shaken themselves out of the creative funk that they had during 2004’s uninspiring Make Believe. Well, for a little bit, anyway.

Weezer - Self-titled
Geffen

For one, Cuomo has gone away from the horrible po-facedness of Make Believe’s really awful tracks, like “We Are All On Drugs” and “Beverly Hills”, and has returned to the self-deprication, satire and sarcasm (the 3 “S”s) familiar on the band’s debut, which is probably the album their latest has the most in common with.

“The Red Album” is probably the poppiest, and silliest, of the band’s albums since “The Blue Album”, as evidenced by single “Pork And Beans”, which namechecks various designer brands and designer producer Timbaland, in a faux-hip-hop way, and it’s accompanying internet-meme-aping video. And it seems our hero’s finally accepting that he’s getting older; no more whining about girls he fancied in high school, now it’s worrying about losing his hair.

Opener “Troublemaker”, a short, shart shot of pop-punk, sets up the return to funny Weezer, as Cuomo recounts his rise to the top, as he plays some “heavy metal riffs and you will die”, following the statement “how’s this for arts and crafts?” with some teenage-quality noodling (which, naturally, he sings along with).

The most ambituous song on the album, meanwhile, comes along with the second track. “The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Hymn)” features police sirens, a rapped intro by Cuomo, a little piano, and some pretty-decent falsetto. The song is Weezer’s “Happiness Is A Warm Gun”; or, their “Paranoid Android”, made up of several different, distinct parts, which all fit together pleasingly.

However, it’s after this point that things drop of slightly. “Heart Songs” is a pretty standard, slightly dreary ballad, with some pretty bad lyrics, and would seem more fitting on the already-blasted last album, while “Everybody Get Dangerous” sounds like…well, Sum 41. Eww. They even say “boo-yah”, and there’s more rapping - which adds to the nasty nu-metal taste. Who ever knew Rivers spent his time at Harvard following John Belushi’s Animal House frat-boy example?

“Dreamin’” is similarly uninspiring; “Thought I Knew”’s Grandaddy-esque mix of electronic and folk elements is interesting, but somewhat forgettable, which may be due to the rather un-unique vocals provided by guitarist Brian Bell, who also wrote the song. “Automatic”, the other song on the album not written and sung by old man Rivers - this time the culprit is drummer Patrick Wilson - is a rubbishy second-grade Foo Fighters knock-off.

Bascially, the album devolves into dull, mid-tempo, radio-friendly (and not in the good way) rock songs “Pork and Beans”-onwards, with some inoffensive electronic elements here and there. What the band need to do to progress further out of their rut, is to stop holding back - why make an album half of great, new, different stuff, and half of the same boring, safe stuff you’ve been peddling for years?

To make another genuinely great album, Weezer need to…well, make an album of “Pork and Beans”s and “The Greatest Man…”s. That would be a massive leap forward, and a heck of a lot better than this album which is, frankly, mediocre. Get the “Pork and Beans”, get “The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived” when that is inevitably released as a single, and download “Troublemaker” off here (or on iTunes). And let’s leave it at that.

Download “Troublemaker”

Guillemots
Nottingham Rock City, 3rd June
Support: Royworld (zzzzzzz)

For better or for worse, no pics for this one. Sorry! (Above pic is from some other show - hence Fyfe’s long flowing locks, rather than the messy Dylan-esque mop he sports nowadays)

The Guillemots have been famed for their weird and wacky live shows - improvising songs based off topics suggested by the audience, running through the crowd banging dust bins etc. Tonight, as the foursome play in support of new(ish) album Red, there is none of the quirky theatrics - just a tight, well-played set.

Before I get ahead of myself, I should probably talk about the support act, Royworld.

…

Do I really have to?

I guess so.

Okay. Royworld are very dull. They are, to paraphrase a Monty Python sketch, extremely dull. An appallingly dull band, unimaginative, timid, lacking in initiative, spineless, easily dominated, no sense of humour, tedious company and irrepressibly drab and awful. The singer looks like Elbow’s Guy Garvey, with none of the songwriting talent, wit or distinctive voice; the band itself sounds like a second-rate Coldplay-knock-off; the kind of inoffensive rubbish that gets played on Radio 2 (them again) and mobile phone adverts.

Christ, they even look dull

All the songs slowly seemed to dissolve into one - a fact not helped by the lack of any in-between song banter, charming or otherwise (which is rather essential when you’re a support act - especially one with such turgid music) - the supposedly “epic” and the “ballads” all sounding the same. I drifted off for a bit - luckily, I was sitting down at this point - and instead started to compile a mix CD for a girl who was at the gig with me, whom I didn’t really know - although I quickly found she had a pretty bad, and limited, taste in music (no, she didn’t like Royworld - although that would have tied in nicely - but she expressed interest in both Genesis and Travis).

Eventually, after what seemed like a lifetime (that’s an exagerration, but not by much), the boring foursome (I assume) got bored of themselves too, and sodded off backstage.

Download “Man in the Machine” (if you need proof of how boring they are)
Buy their album (if you’re having trouble sleeping)
Royworld on MySpace

After the roadies spend the better part of half an hour setting everything up (want a fun way to pass the time at this part of the gig? Assign one of the roadies a name, and then give them a varied and interesting backstory, including bands they’ve worked with, and roadie-based awards they’ve won - although this may only be “fun” if you’re as easily amused as my friends and I).

Fyfe and co take to the stage with Mr Dangerfield (please, Lord, let that be his real name) accompanying himself with slightly-pants cheap-ass Casio keyboard on “Made-up Lovesong #43″ (only for a couple of verses, then the full band came in), and the band went through some sterling renditions of *deep breath* “Clarion”, “Through the Windowpane”, “Falling out of Reach”, “Last Kiss”, “Standing on the Last Star”, “Words”,
“Don’t Look Down”, “If The World Ends” - a few slow ballads in the middle here threaten to make the set sag, until a positivley dance-able version of “Annie, Let’s Not Wait” (although the pretty muted crowd didn’t actually, err, dance) makes an appearance.

It was around the time that the group launched into a punk-rocky version of single “Get Over It” - Fyfe replete in Hoxton-tosspot style glasses - that I realised why Guillemots were a different band live than any other I’ve seen - they’re a proper band. Drummer Greig Stewart and (double) bassist Aristazabal Hawkes‘ murky jazz pasts have gave them the ability to play, and improvise, fairly flawlessly; guitarist MC Lord Magrão (even less likely to be a real name)’s interest in noise-rock and experimental music (such as Sonic Youth and Butthole Surfers) has left him similarly skilled in good playing (or at least, okay playing masked by lots of distortion) and improvising; finally, singer Fyfe Dangerfield has composed classical pieces, and has perfect freakin’ pitch.

No wonder they’re so Goddamn flawless throughout. These guys are proper musicians.

The group end their set with “We’re Here” and “Kriss Kross”, bringing things full circle with the lead-off track from the new album. And what a song it is, as Magrão pounds the keyboard and the crowd actually start to dance. A little.

After a quick break, the band return for the encore - starting with a little jam (Fyfe playing drums, lots of people dancing and shouting - including the aformentioned character-developed roadies - and drummer Grieg waving a town crier’s bell about), and moving onto a wonderful version of debut album Through The Windowpane’s “Trains To Brazil” (Hawkes’ vocal “doot-doot-doodoodoodoo-doo”s just-about succesfully filling in for the trumpets) - a song which Fyfe afterwards admits to nearly cracking up in, due to looking at the face crudely drawn on his drummer’s large, topless torso - complete with nipples as pupils. I forgot to mention - along with the songs, the muso chops and general originality, Guillemots can also handle stage banter - take that, whats-yer-names (Royworld - Ed)!

It all culminates with “São Paulo”, which is pretty long but, thankfully, didn’t run on for the 11 minutes it does on record - just as well, as my little wussy legs were starting to hurt (thank God Royworld were so dull I sat down, and nobody danced during Guillemots, then). But overall? Despite a pants support band, a-ok.

Download “Kriss Kross”
Buy Red
Guillemots on MySpace

Or; Lightspeed Champion performing the recently re-released single “Galaxy Of The Lost” on Late Night With Conan O’ Brien, with We Are Scientists‘ Keith Murray on acoustic guitar. AWESOME. Buy the album, buy the single, see Dev and co live!

Just a little (well actually, kinda big) addition to the first Unreleased Cutz from a bit ago, concerning Weezer’s unreleased Songs From The Blackhole Album; a guy has edited together various demos, alternate takes and rarities, as well as a couple of recordings by other musicians, to put together a completed version of the long-clamoured-after record. It even has that “seamless flow from one song to the next” thing than Cuomo was aiming for when prepping the album. Here’s Kyle K, the genius (or, well, quite smart guy) behind the whole thing,’s comments on the project;

aAcouple weeks ago I got inspired to create my own mix of SFTBH after hearing Pork and Beans on the radio and finally purchasing Rivers’ Alone demos. I worked pretty hard on it, and I think it turned out really well. I mean, I’m not even bragging or anything, it just sounds really, really awesome.

Kyle K

The album is available to download from the above page, or directly from this link. And it does indeed sound freakin’ sweet.

I’ve enjoyed London anti-folkster Emmy the Great’s music for a while now; she writes good songs, and occasionally does covers of good songs too. Plus, she sang on Lightspeed Champion’s album, which is one of my favourite albums of the year.

But anyway, as if she hadn’t already done enough to endear me to her, do you know what she’s done now? only gone and wrote a song about 24. Yes, 24, the best TV show ever, starring my idol, Jack Bauer. Really, it seems that she seems to be basing her choice of songs entirley on me. And I gotta tell you, if that’s true, I’m looking forward to the song that uses Rambo as a metaphor for relationships, too.

Download “24″ (live on WTOTS) (Courtesy of last.fm)

Speaking of Jack Bauer (known in his civilian alias as Keifer Sutherland), did you know that, as well as being a crack anti-terrorist goverment agent, he is also a pirate? It explains everything, apparently.

A (couple of) day(s) late, and a dollar short, it’s the weekend monthly mix for the end of May. This month, in celebration/mourning of the fact that I have a job (and heaven knows I’m miserable now), the songs are all about work! Most of them bemoaning it. Oh well.

Tracklisting
1.The Rakes - 22 Grand Job
2.Elvis Costello - Welcome to the Working Week
3.Pet Shop Boys - Opportunities
4.Stephen Malkmus & The Million Dollar Bashers - Maggie’s Farm
5.The Bangles - Manic Monday
6.Belle & Sebastian - Step Into My Office Baby
7.The Beatles - A Hard Day’s Night
8.Lady Sovereign - 9 to 5

Download it!