What does music look like?

So, I ran the...err...classic Aphex Twin tune that goes by the name of
               N
∆Mᵢ⁻¹=−α ∑ Dᵢ[η][ ∑ Fjᵢ[η−1]+Fextᵢ [η⁻¹]]
              η=1            j∈C{ᵢ}
through a spectrograph to see what it "looks" like. I read about this around the time that the track was originally released, but only now have I decided to test it out for myself.

Anyway, approximately 5:27 into the track (i.e. near the end), the visualisation of the track looks like this....

...which isn't scary at all is it?

And here's a link to the sound that makes this image... A bit of Aphex Twin's [Formula]

2012 - Half time

When did 6-monthly music reviews become acceptable? What was wrong with end of year charts? Everyone seems to be publishing a "best of the year...so far" list at the moment - damn the internet, blogging and people's obsession with having an opinion.

Anyway, I WILL NOT MISS OUT ON THIS, so I've made a non-definitive rundown of some good to great albums of the last 6 months, based on what I've heard and what mood I'm in right now.

I feel sorry for the July-December albums - when do they get a chart of their own?

So...

Where have you been?
Dexys - One Day I'm Going to Soar
To come back with possibly the best album of the year (so far) and of your career after 27 years is some feat.
Ultravox - Brilliant
This would make a great 9 track album. It's 12 tracks long. It may be patchy, but when it's good, it's very very VERY good.

Music that brings a smile to my face...
The 2 Bears - Be Strong
This has really given Hot Chip something to think about. It's just waiting for a summer to soundtrack
Orbital - Wonky
Especially for the 'arms in the air' final track. Reassuringly Orbitalesque.

So old it's new...
Can - The Lost Tapes
"but this is all old music, so it doesn't really count". It's old music that hasn't been released before, so it DOES count. It's my list.

New kids on the block...
Okay, so they're not technically new bands, but this is the first music I've heard by them. But well done to you if you heard of them before me.
Dead Mellotron - Glitter
I've only just bought this, so I may revise my opinion if I'm bored of it in 6 months time, but this post-shoegaze music sounds pretty good so far. It's released on Sonic Cathedral records and comes on clearish vinyl in a lovely glitter sleeve.
Pond - Beard, Wives, Denim
As a great DJ recently said: coming from the Flaming Lips school of Psychedelic Rock.
PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING - The War Room
Not an album, but an EP that is so good I couldn't leave it out. See my earlier blog and the rest of the internet for more details.

More ideas than most bands manage in a lifetime...
Field Music - Plumb
Along with Dexys, a contender for best album of the year. It really has to be listened to in one sitting - not in a pretentious "ooh there's a concept to this album" way, more because some of the tracks sound like three songs in one, so it's hard to tell when a new song really does begin. Also, special mention for their Actually, Nearly 7" of Pet Shop Boys Covers.

Ouch....my brain hurts...
The Flaming Lips - Heady Fwends
Reigning in the sonic experimentation of Embryonic for this round up of collaborative recordings they've made over the last year. When I say "reigning in", this is the Flaming Lips and it's all relative.

Like an old friend, someone you can rely on...
Julian Cope - Psychedelic Revolution
This would be an even better album if he didn't swear so much so I could listen to it when my daughter is about.
Barry Adamson - I Will Set You Free 
Gone are the days of making soundtracks for imaginary films (he makes his own films now and then soundtracks them). Here is an album of 21st Century Soul.
Spiritualized - Sweet Heart, Sweet Light
Exactly what you would expect from Spiritualized - i.e. like the Velvet Underground in space.

If only they were signed to Warp Records...
Mouse on Mars - Parastrophies
...then they'd get the credit and reverence that they deserve. Another astonisingly unique album from MOM.

Someone who is signed to Warp Records...
Squarepusher - Infabulum
Do you know Squarepusher? If so, you'll like this.

The "It surprised me too" album...

The Maccabees - Given To The Wild
Apparently they were "Landfill Indie" a few years ago, now they are sounding like Arcade Fire jamming with Foals. Brian Eno should produce them.

The lost blog... 2011 - 21 albums

I found this unfinished and neglected blog post saved as a draft. In the spirit of bands releasing warts'n'all archive recordings of previously unreleased material, here is the blog as I found it - no remastering, editing or remixing has taken place...

Originally written December 2011:

A non-definitive list of recommended albums from 2011. I've deliberately omitted PJ Harvey from the list because you're probably sick of everyone telling you how good the album is.

Anyway, here it is, in alphabetical order as usual. Maybe you'll like some of them...

Arctic Monkeys – Suck It And See
AM go "pop"? Their best album yet? A return to form? (answers: "not quite", "possibly" and "no, they never lost it - Humbug was a great album"). Whatever the critics might have said, this is certainly more accessible than previous efforts and the influence of Richard Hawley and the 60s is apparent on a number of these tracks.

Beastie Boys – Hot Sauce Committee Part 2
or "Hot Sauce Committee with a slightly amended tracklisting". This covers pretty much all bases for the Beastie Boys, from the punk-hop of "Lee Majors Comes Again" to the classic BB sound of "Make Some Noise", via the smoker's delight that is "Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament".

Bibio – Mind Bokeh
Bibio makes "lovely" music don't you think? Even when he's doing his best Phil Lynott impression on "Take Off Your Shirt". Get the limited edition packaging, get your cameras out and make your own Bokeh. Eh?

James Blake – James Blake
Seen as a disappointment by those who thought it was uncool for James Blake to be good looking and to start singing on his records. The rest of it thought it was a beautiful, bold, sparse effort. And as for the bass when I saw him live at the Green Man Festival....

Bon Iver – Bon Iver
Adding a couple of layers of keyboards and effects to his sound was a brave move, but it works - I guess that's what happens when you hang out with Kanye West for too long. "Beth/Rest" in particular is stunning, sounding like the sort of tune you'd listen late on a summers evening.

Euros Childs – Ends
The seventh solo album in 6 years from Euros was a stripped back affair, featuring just vocals and piano on the majority of tracks. He's reigned in his "messing about as if no one is going to hear the results" approach to songwriting to put together his second fully coherent set of tunes of the year.

Julian Cope – The JEHOVAHCOAT Demos
A set of (previously) unreleased material from the Autogeddon era. Mostly instrumental, this could have easily fallen into his classic "Rite" series of albums - sounding like a threeway fight between Funkadelic, Can and Hawkwind.

Destroyer – Kaputt
Those lazy comparisons with Sade from some corners of the music press didn't really do anyone any favours did they? I can't imagine many Sade fans liking this album. Yeah, it's got saxophones on it and it sounds "a bit 80s", but it's probably got more in common with Leonard Cohen's classic "I'm Your Man" than Diamond Life. Here's what I said about it earlier this year: Destroyer - Kaputt

Baxter Dury – Happy Soup
Sounding more and more like his dad, this is a collection of three minute new wave pop nuggets.

The Field - Looping State of Mind
Is this as good as 2009's "Yesterday and Today"? I've not listened to it enough yet, but the early signs are promising...

Ford and Lopatin – Channel Pressure
I remember being laughed at for buying the first Zoot Woman album in 2001 - it (and me) being seen as taking irony a step too far with that whole 80s sound. But that album now seems so ahead of it's time with 80's sound. Anyway, this album doesn't really sound like Zoot Woman other than the dreamy vocals

Holy Ghost! – Holy Ghost!
Didn't really have a lot to say about this at the time, other than I liked it. This review seems to sum it up... Holy Ghost

Jonny – Jonny
Euros Childs (Gorky's Zygotic Mynci) and Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub). Sadly their ode to Gloria Estefan didn't make it onto the album

Junior Boys – It’s All True

Low – C’Mon

Mogwai - Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will
The great forgotton album of 2011? I don't think I've seen this in any "best of the year" lists yet, which is a massive oversight because this is one of Mogwai's finest yet. "limited" copies included the stunningly beautiful 23-minute "Music for a forgotten future".

Oneohtrix Point Never – Replica
What he said: Oneohtrix Point Never - Replica

Peaking Lights – 936
The aural equivalent of a half forgotten memory of a summer spent listing to a radio station playing dub, post punk and Saint Etienne.

Gruff Rhys – Hotel Shampoo
Sounds just as you would expect from Gruff Rhys.

Ulrich Schnauss & Jonas Munk – Ulrich Schnauss & Jonas Munk
After the disappointing (to me) "Goodbye" album, it was nice to find Mr Schnauss returning to his classic Slowdive vs OMD sound.

Soft Metals - Soft Metals
I wish this had been the new Human League album, rather than the it-has-it's-moments-but-note-enough-of-them album they did release.

Suuns – Zeroes QC

Wilco – The Whole Love
Containing some of their poppiest tunes since "Summerteeth" and most out there moments since "A Ghost Is Born"

Wooden Shjips - West
More of the same, but different. There's a grand total of two chords on this album - both of 'em good uns.

Can - The Lost Tapes

Most "previously unreleased" compilations, although worthy, rarely amount to much more than a fans-only selection of variable quality. This, on the other hand, is astounding - three CDs of previously unreleased songs, works in progress and live tracks, spanning from 1968 to 1977.

I was intending to review this album, but I've just realised that I simply don't have sufficient grasp on the English language, or know enough adjectives, to do justice to this release. All I will say is that The Lost Tapes is up there with the greatest music that Can have ever made, which happens to be some of the greatest and most influential music of all time - just ask John Lydon or Kanye West - and still no one has ever come close to sounding like Can. They are one of the few truly unique bands in the history of music. 

Having said that, I'm sure a lot of people will moan that there's not enough choruses.

Here's one of my current favourites from the release...

PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING - The War Room EP

Whilst I'm waiting for the vinyl version to arrive in the post, here's my thoughts on the digital version...

You'd think I'd get bored of that whole 40 year old Neu! Motorik groove that bands keep peddling (see my future blog for how Neu! have become one of the most important bands in rock ever), but once in a while something comes along that reinvigorates the sound and takes the music somewhere new. Spitfire by PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING (always in capitals - it's important!) is one of such moment.

6 Music have already fallen in love with the track, with a number of their DJs fighting to claim bragging rights to who is their biggest fan (the prize goes to Tom Robinson for getting in there first back in 2009, whilst we were all oblivious to the band's charms) and now it seems as though the rest of the sane world is following suit.

If you haven't heard the song yet, then you can give it a listen , and watch the remarkable video here...



But one song does not maketh a great band, so what are the other tracks on the EP like? Well, like all their stuff (check out the equally excellent EP One and Roygbiv), the tracks lean heavily on the use of public information and WWII propaganda films - as the band say, they "teach the lessons of the past with the music of the future". There's nothing as instant or uptempo as Spitfire on the EP - it's more head nodding rocktronica (sorry!) with banjos than all out assault on the senses - but it's still pretty fantastic. The thing plays out like a concept EP starting with the outbreak of war and made all the more moving by sampled speech throughout, culminating in the touching Waltz for George (the EP is dedicated to J Willgoose Esquire's great uncle George, who was killed in Dunkirk during WWII, and the track is played on his old banjolele).

Ultravox's Brilliant - A Two Dimensional Review Graph

A rather crude diagram to show my initial impressions of the new Ultravox album.

Squarepusher - Ufabulum

The new Squarepusher album sounds a lot like, umm, err, Squarepusher.

Well, what did you expect?

Okay, to be more explicit - gone (or toned down at least) is the fusion sound of Just a Souvenir and the Daft-Punk-Go-R'n'B of the Shobaleader One album, and for those who often felt that some Squarepusher tracks were "a bit much", you'll be reassured to know that the kitchen sink approach (see the brilliantly bonkers "The Modern Bass Guitar" from 2006's Hello Everything) has been toned down...a bit. Even his bass guitar has taken a back seat for now.

What you get instead is the sound of classic Squarepusher - rich but complex rhythms and melodies, and frequent use of highly synth-etic orchestral sounds that he loves so much. It's also remarkably accessible (for him). There's not much point in me doing a track by track review, but I will say that right now I'm listening to Dark Steering, which manages to be funky, heavy as hell and playful at the same time.

The artwork and packaging is another Warp records masterpiece. Two discs in individual sleeves, a CD EP and a 12" booklet of photos, which are all finished off with a nice high gloss - you know, the type that immediately shows up ALL your fingerprints when you touch it.

Best of all the box that holds it all together, which printed phosphorescent ink so it goes from looking like this during the day...

To something like this at night...

If I had a better camera / grasp of Photoshop, then this would look even more impressive, but you'll just have to go out and buy the album instead...