Love,
hate, cherish, despise… There is rarely any fence sitting when The
Frames come up in conversation. Since their inception in the early 90s,
their relationship with the public has been distinctly two-tone.
‘Burn The Maps’ (Plateau), their fifth studio album is in
many ways their most adventurous. As they’ve always done, The Frames
have avoided any transparent formulae, and made a heartfelt and at times
unpredictable record. ‘Burn The Maps’ doesn’t reveal
its strengths immediately, but give it three or four rotations, and you
might hear The Frames best album yet.
The artists formerly known as Jon Spencer Blues Explosion are back–
now simply Blues Explosion. Soundwise, not a lot has changed– ‘Damage’
(Mute) is as insane and brilliant as any of their previous outings. As
the years go by, these crazy old men of Rock ‘N’ Roll just
seem to get more ‘out there’!
Just when you thought the world was safe from Celine Dion, back she comes
with another epic, gut-wrenching bunch of weepies. ‘Miracle’
(Columbia) finds Dion on vocal and emotional autopilot. I know you’re
probably thinking… ‘Celine Dion, what an easy target to slag
off’, but to be honest, if she keeps putting out tiresome muck like
this, she deserves all the slagging she gets.
Kasabian are one of the current crop of media darlings. However the material
on their album ‘Kasabian’ (RCA) has a lot more edge than most
of their contemporaries. There are some lad-rock tendencies, which are
a little irritating, but over all this record isn’t bad. ‘I.D’
and ‘U Boat’ are good songs that will win this band a much
bigger following.
‘Thunder Lightening Strike’ (Memphis Industries) from The
Go! Team is a serious contender for album of the year. It jumps genres,
and skips from sampled electronic tunes into what sounds like Sixties
Soul. Trying to describe this beauty is probably a waste of time–
take a listen, you won’t be disappointed!
There’s no denying that ‘Gravity’ is a fine song, but
Embrace have always left more question marks than satisfactory answers.
‘Out Of Nothing’ (Independiente) contains some catchy material,
however it all sounds too calculated and mapped out. It’s like all
the songs have been written to sit between the perimeters which FM Rock
has established - pity, Embrace have shown flashes of true class at times.
IN
BRIEF:
The Redneck Manifesto’s new album ‘I Am Brazil’ (Trust
me I’m A Thief) should be on your shopping list– it’s
their best yet, and will hopefully build on the success they found with
their previous two albums.
‘Courses’ (Brassneck) from Halite is also worth picking up.
The band’s follow-up to 2003’s ‘Head On’ album
is a heavier affair, but just as enjoyable.
If like many, you were undecided as to whether The Fiery Furnaces were
any good after hearing their debut album, their latest ‘ Blueberry
Boat’ (Rough Trade) will confirm that they are a damn good band–
pick of the album is ‘My Dog was Lost But Now He’s Found’.
DJ Krush won’t be amassing fans with ‘Jaku’ (Columbia).
This will be uneasy listening for most, but some of his trademark touches
make it worthwhile for those who are familiar with his material.
Reaction to the new U2 single has been hugely positive, and who are we
to disagree? ‘Vertigo’ (Island) is vintage U2– the countdown
to ‘How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb’ is now on!
RECOMMENDED:
Green Day ‘American Idiot’ (Reprise)
Katell Keineg ‘High July’ (Megaphone)
Jape ‘The Monkeys In The Zoo Have More Fun Than Me’
(Trust me I’m A Thief)
Tom Waits ‘Real Gone’ (Anti)
Therapy? ‘Never Apologies Never Explain’ (Spitfire)
Jesse & Layla ‘Kinetic’ (JL)
Jeff Buckley ‘Grace’ 10th Anniversary Legacy Edition
(Columbia)
Mansun ‘Kleptomania’ (Parlophone)
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds ‘Abattoir Blues/The Lyre
Of Orpheus’ (Mute)
Gavin Moore ‘Until Today’ CMR)
ESSENTIAL
LISTENING
The
Prodigy ‘Always Outnumbered Never Outgunned’ (XL)
After a six-year void ‘Always Outnumbered Never Outgunned’
had to be good. This, their fourth record is more ‘Music For The
Jilted Generation’ than ‘The Fat Of The Land’. ‘Girls’,
‘Hot Ride’, and ‘The Way It Is’ are the highlights
from an essential album.
www.theprodigy.com
Pete
Pamf ‘Prone To Abuse’ (P.A.)
If strong language offends you, run away if you spot this album in your
local record shop. On ‘Prone To Abuse’, Pamf covers a concoction
of topics (crabs, Bewley’s Menu, etc.) in a fashion that will surely
make him a hero for under-achievers.
www.petepamf.com
Jeff
Martin ‘Spoon’ (Casino Gravity)
Much like Ben Lee’s ‘Breathing Tornados’, ‘Spoons’
is a simple record. Rather than trying to be clever with layer and mixing
tracks, Martin has left each song to breathe. The one concern is that
this record might slip by without people getting the chance to hear it–
treat yourself!
www.jeffmartinmusic.com
Blink
‘Deep Inside The sound Of Sadness’ (Serene)
This is an album that’s been six years in the making. The band may
not be ‘the next big thing’ anymore, but they can still write
seamless pop tunes. ‘To Go’ and ‘Don’t You Rollerblade
In Nashville, Tennessee?’ are timeless gems that will serve the
band well in the coming years.
www.irishblink.com
MUSIC FROM ANOTHER PLACE
He’s
known by many as the man behind ‘Maniac’. Six years after
that song became one of the biggest singles in Irish chart history, Mark
McCabe has abandoned the proven formula, and re-invented himself with
a new project - Music From The 4th Place.
“Even back then when I was touring with ‘Maniac’, I
was quite shy about it,” McCabe reflects. “I used to tell
people ‘this is just a calling card’– it was more like
something to get my name known. I naturally didn’t realize how successful
the song was going to be, but it certainly gave me a good platform to
work from.”
Earlier this year Mark unveiled his latest musical outing with Music From
The 4th Place’s debut single ‘Aurora’. For many, this
may have seemed a strange path to take, but the full picture came into
view when the album ‘Version 1’ came out at the beginning
of this month.
“This is a record where any kind of music that I’ve listened
to in my life has been an influence on it. To put a finger on particular
individuals would be difficult, because I listen to all kinds of stuff–
Techno, to Singer/Songwriters, then other stuff like House, Classical,
and Rock, so I try and take influences from anything I listen to.”
McCabe drafted in a number of vocalists and musicians to record ‘Version
1’, these included Derrick Devine (of Ellison 9) and Louise Byrne
(from Delta Line). The addition of these guests brings an organic feel
to a record that hovers between styles and tempos effortlessly.
Aside from Music From The 4th Place, Mark McCabe is well known as a radio
presenter on RTE 2FM. Much like the music he makes, his current show (Mondays
from midnight to 2am), is a mixture of all sorts– as all good radio
should be.
“Being a radio presenter gives you a testing ground to find out
exactly what it is that people want to hear. Having the show is like having
a portal into people’s minds– you can throw tunes at them
and see how they respond– you can ask them questions, which they’ll
text back and answer you.
“At the end of the day, when you’re a radio presenter, you
have to know what people want. When you translate that into the recording
studio, you have a very interesting weapon– you’re used to
hearing certain things, and you almost have a sixth sense that you know
a record is going to do well.”
Modesty constantly comes to mind while talking to Mark, although he knows
that ‘Version 1’ is a good album, he’s humble about
the quality of its content. Remarkably, he’s already planning the
next phase of Music From The 4th Place, which will come our way in due
course.
“I think people realized that I wasn’t talking crap when I
said that ‘Maniac’ was a calling card, and wasn’t really
me. The stuff on this album was finished almost two years ago, and its
a small step in the direction of where I want to go, but I think there’s
enough on this album to make people realize that it’s possible that
I could go on and make a really, really good record one of these days!
‘Version 1’ was my first album, and I’ve learned an
awful lot, but I’m just looking forward to getting on with the next
one to be honest.”
‘Version 1’ by Music From The 4th Place is out now.
News •
News • News • News • News • News • News
• News • News • News
Christmas
(yes, that word already!) has come early for Virgin Prunes fans. Mute
Records re-issued the band’s back catalogue last month. ‘Over
The Rainbow’, ‘...If I Die, I Die’, ‘Heresie’,
‘The Moon Looked Down & Laughed’, and ‘A New Form
Of Beauty’ are now available on CD format for the first time. Interestingly,
rumours of a reunion haven’t been quashed yet.
Aside
from a rather rash live review recently, things keep getting better for
The Thrills. Not only did the band capture the No.1 spot with their second
album ‘Let’s Bottle Bohemia’, they were also invited
to open for The Pixies on their recent 19-date US tour. The Thrills will
play their largest Irish headline show at The Point on December 21.
Speaking of live music, there are a number of gigs coming up that you
might want to check out. Snow Patrol, Ben Folds, The Album Leaf, and others
are all Dublin bound…
Tychonaut - Crawdaddy
on October 9
Death In Vegas - Ambassador on October 12
Pony Club - Whelan’s on October 13
The Album Leaf - Whelan’s on October 17
Divine Comedy - Olympia on October 20
Amp Fiddler - Temple Bar Music Centre on October 22
Rufus Wainright - Vicar Street on October 26
The Magnetic Fields - Olympia on October 31
Future Kings Of Spain & Republic Of Loose - UCD Bar on November 4
Ben Folds - Vicar Street on November 15
Scissors Sisters - RDS on December 28
Snow Patrol - RDS on December 29
REM - The Point on February 26 & 27