REVIEWS

smilingWhat makes you laugh? Really chuckle. A belly wobbling, tear producing, raucus of a laugh. Music often initiates strong emotions. Tears and melancholy often arise during many a concert and uplifting beats can bring pride and joy. But does music ever give you a really good chorkle? This record sets out to explore the answer to that question. The 32 tracks are each a testament of the differing homours which lie within us. Don't expect to laugh with each of them, as you don't laugh at every joke. However, there are rhythmical, vocal, tonal, instrumental or random anamolies which will reach someone's giggle button. Some tracks are giggle worthy, some are slap-stick, some tasteless, and some down-right hilarious. I expect track four (Leif Elggren & Thomas Liljenberg), in particular, will push most people towards a snigger - I dare you to try not to smirk just a little. Experiment, research, art, joke - however you want to put it, this record is a worthwhile look at something we don't often hear: humour within music. Humour within music is "a tradition that goes back centuries" and often includes the "strange and unexpected" to create something funny from what has been produced before. There is a belief that "the release of laughter stems from the need to release physical tension" and that much of what makes this happen comes from a "superiority theory". These quotes are taken from the essay written by Vicki Bennett which appears on the CD cover. The notion of "may sparks fly when you press play" is a good insight. It's a good listen and a good conversation starter with some unusual twists on some well known, and loved, tracks from people like Christian Marclay, Nurse With Wound, Runzelstirn & Gurgelstock, Nihilist Spasm Band, People Like Us & Ergo Phizmiz.

:: Smiling Through My Teeth/Sonic Arts Network (sonicartsnetwork.org).

megasWhen Megas first appeared in the early 70’s, he was the first artist to attempt writing intelligent lyrics in Icelandic within the context of rock music, at which he remains unsurpassed. His 1977 collaboration with Spilverkið, "Á Bleikum Náttkjólum", has been named the best Icelandic album of all time. But for me, "Loftmynd", released in 1987 on the 201 year anniversary of the founding of the city, remains his masterpiece and the definitive Reykjavik album. Much as Johnny Cash documented the history of the true west on his early 60’s concept albums, Megas here writes about the history of Reykjavik, from the tragicomic story of professional pessimist "Birkiland", to town founder Skúli Fógeti and the true story murder ballad "Ástarsaga" (Love Story). But the best songs are those that deal with his own period like  "Reykjavíkurnætur", about growing up in the post war era, and "Björt ljós Borgarljós", about immigration from the countryside as seen through the eyes of a drag queen. Some of these songs have been rediscovered on Magga Stína’s excellent cover album of Megas songs, but the originals remain the best. And they even boast Björk with sister Inga on backing vocals to boot.
:: Megas/Loftmynd - Skífan (Iceland).

object 47Lang, lang, lang ists her, Wire, die Punk Band der Stunde 77, und lang, lang, lang liegt ihr neuestes Album hier auf dem Tisch, Sommer 2008 war der Street Date, wir brauchen, halt, Zeit; wir, beide. 47 Objekte haben Wire in 30 Jahren abgeliefert, mal waren sie obenauf, mal unten, dann ganz unten, wieder oben oder meistens auch nur mittig, wie in den 8oern, nach dem ersten Bandsplit, 1985 in der Zeit der ersten Reunion, deren Basis und Motiv aber irgendwie unklar schien damals, weil nicht so recht Kurs genommen werden konnte, auf total experimentelles Zeugs entweder, oder doch eher auf die pop-eske Seite von Wire, wie in "The 15th" oder  bei "Outdoor Minor". Heute, 30 Jahre später, spielt dies alles keine Rolle. Auch Wire, das Konstrukt als Band, spielt keine Rolle, so scheint es,  im total obsessiv kommerziell operierenden Marketingfeld, young, stylish, sexy. Was machen Wire neben Amy Winehouse, neben Casiotones For The Painfully Alones, neben Crystal Castles, neben Battles und Fuck Buttons. Da kracht einem doch der Riss durch die Gesichtshälfte. Eine Band wie Wire aber neben Neil Young oder J. Mascis stellen in den Kontext bringt ja auch nix, weil da ja wohl eine Hirnhälfte fehlt, und die Historie ist eh am Arsch. Wohin damit, wohin nun mit einer Scheibe wie Object 47, die im Wesentlichen nicht viel schlechter ist als vieles, was nach 1980 von den Mitgliedern dieser  Band kam. Ok, Colin Newmans A-Z Album klingt auch heute noch sauber, aber die beiden post-Wire comps brachten und bringen es auch heute nicht - weder "Turns & Strokes" noch "Document & Eyewitness". Sollte eine Band wie Wire nun einfach die Klappe halten und statt musikemachen designen wie ein jeder und exzentrische Stühle bauen und verkaufen? Nein, das wäre impertinent zu verlangen, wobei Wire schon 1978 die Frage aufwerfen durften, ob nicht Stühle fehlen irgendwo, irgendwann, irgendwem. Object 47 fragt nach der Legitimierung, schon im Opener "One Of Us", midtempo, aber mit ruppigem Beat, der Colin Newman typischen Bratzgitarre, fragen Wire "what happened to our plan, the one we began, are u an also-ran, finished-inconsequential? declining, divining, breaching, over-reaching". Tja, da fühlt man sich wie angebettelt auf der Strasse, besser gleich mal den Hals verrenken Richtung Schönwetter. Bruce Gilbert, der zweite Gitarrist bei Wire, hat die Band vor Object 47 verlassen. Wire, ein Trio nun, 30 Jahre nach der Revolution, 30 Jahre nach dem Punk Urknall. Und nun? Chris Douglas meint, Wire Object 47 klingt nach Midnight Oil, das ist weniger als nett. Und trifft auch nicht zu. Midnight Oil, INXS, Bob Geldof, Paula Yates..... wo kommen wir da hin. Nein, nein, Wire 2008 klingen immer noch nach Wire, Wire 1981 vielleicht, und das, so scheint es, ist die Katastrophe. Wohin damit in Zeiten wie diesen? Der Song "Four Long Years" kann die Lage ein wenig (auf)klären. "Collapse of concentration, a futility of words, a loss of false sensation, too fast, too slow, the operater does not know, with luck, with charme, the operator may succeed, impact, in fact, todays inspection may proceed". Der Operator, das ist nicht etwa die Band selbst, oder das Label, und auch nicht die Presse, oder etwa der Betrachter. Der Operator ist die Zeit, die da über uns hängt, die uns verschnurzt und somit ihren eigenen Regeln folgt. Vor 150 Jahren, schneidet sich ein Van Gogh ein Ohr ab, Edgar Allen Poe ertränkt sein "Misserfolg" in Rotwein, heute aber sitzen all die Schlaumeier auf vergoldeten abgeschnittenen Ohren. Wire  2008 sind Wire 1981, nicht mehr und auch nicht weniger. Unsere Dekade heute, die echt Echte jetze aber, dreht sich selbst besoffen im Kreisel, aber da heute ja ein jeder ein Schlaumeier sein will und muss, macht ein Kreisel mehr oder weniger doch nullkommanix an Rolle aus. 

:: Wire/Object 47 - Pink Flag/Cargo.  

GrowingWhat should we expect, clean drones, usual fun, endless sonority? It's all there and proudly recorded in excellent quality. 6 tracks, that, in all honesty could have been without the slightly predictable fades and a little bit more work, a one track CD. The swellings and rhythmic river sometimes unbalanced me, like a loss of liquid from the ear. However, one quick negative, i found in some places the sound to be a bit dated, to say these guys have been rolling for at least 7 years. The guitar drones are great, great big thick deep textures sliced into manageable beat cakes. But the twinkly shooting star electro-ness (on track 3, "Rave Pie Only" for example) are a bit, well, camp. I think my favourite track was "Reconstruction", it had the funk feel to it, and also was quite visually creative, a slight soundscape, Straßenverkehr of the future. I liked this CD although wasn't really so challenging as i would have expected from Growing.
:: Growing /All the Way - The Social Registry/Cargo.

HildeMarieKjersemGliding into the consciousness like expensive ice cream, this is an ache of the most sophisticated kind. Hilde Marie Kjersem's voice is sweet, cool and yielding, occasionally molded and occasionally lifted by the accompanying instrumentation. Like certain manufacturers attempting to justify a premium price for their tub of frozen diary product, Kjersem seems to have thrown every ingredient she could think of into the mixer. Dreamy autoharp, strings, electric and acoustic guitars, trumpets, clarinets, electronic bleeps and burps, angelic-sounding harmony vocals, and even an unfortunate instance of trip-hop-style beats are stirred into this sugary confection. Unfortunately here, as is so often the case in matters culinary or musical, the confusion of flavoursome ingredients results in an over-rich mixture that fails achieve distinctiveness. This is a pity as some individual tracks on "A Killer for that Ache" achieve a kind of translucent beauty. 'Mary Full of Grace' combines nursery-rhyme-influenced lyrics with a dark undertow of melancholy. Underneath a gently-strummed acoustic guitar, waves of feedback deep in the mix add a touch of bite while an electric keyboard states an understated jazzy melody. Kjersem's vocal is assured with just a hint of threat beneath its softness. Elsewhere perhaps the temptation to tinker in the studio has been overindulged and promising songs are smothered with unsympathetic detail. A whole host of influences pop up,  but once again the whole ends up being considerably less than the sum of its parts. Weirdly, the chorus of 'Fantasy' is reminiscent of early Super Furry Animals; it is an incongruous (although not entirely unwelcome) burst of day-glow colour when compared to the muted shading across the majority of the disc. Kjersem's voice is an affecting instrument when allowed to work its magic in an uncluttered setting and "A Killer for that Ache" achieves magic, but only sporadically. Just like expensive ice cream, Kjersem's 'more is more' approach might just hit the spot if you're feeling indulgent.

:: Hilde Marie Kjersem/A Killer for that Ache - rune grammofon/cargo. 

deathvesselIts hard to decide whether the title of "Nothing is Precious Enough for Us" is a intended as a challenge, a defensive employment of irony or a simple statement of intent. The combination of high falsetto vocals, fingerpicked acoustic guitars, banjos, rhythms slapped on thighs and lyrics that storm past the boundaries of whimsical to come to rest in a field of meaningless nonsense, do open this disc up to charges of 'preciousness' beyond the call of duty, even for music that fits alongside the likes of Devandra Bernhart and Joanna Newsom. Thankfully proceedings are rescued by the warmth of the instrumentation and the arrival in 'Bruno's Torso' of some unexpectedly full-bodied electric guitars. The grind and gristle of some judiciously-battered guitar, amplified by hot vacuum tubes, adds an essential savoriness to the sweet tones of Joel Thibodeau's vocals. Closer listening reveals that (gasp) synthesizers have been tastefully layered alongside the acoustic instruments. This music is informed by 60s 'folk revival' and country acts, but it doesn't attempt to recreate the sounds of an earlier era. The host of musicians and truckload of instruments involved in "Nothing is Precious Enough for Us" never becomes unwieldy, Musicianship is uniformly both understated and the music looks tastefully arranged. This disc never strays from sounding like a bunch of people playing and singing together in a room. Those who can tolerate a degree of 'preciousness' and a lyrical approach that pays more attention to the sound of a word than its meaning will find "Nothing is Precious Enough for Us" to be a warm and appealing listen.

:: Death Vessel/Nothing is Precious Enough for Us - Sub Pop/cargo. 

navigationThomas Lehn and Marcus Schmickler have been touring together since 2000. In "Navigaion im Hypertext", we can hear some of their best performances recorded in 15 concerts. Lehn, who has worked with Tom and Gerry, Konk Pack and e-rax, and Schmickler, who is known for Wabi Sabi and Param, here create a vivid combustion of sound. "Navigations im Hypertext" is a collection of obscure tones, flickering beats and silence combined to create a sound dimension of outer wolrdliness. The special Edition "Kölner Kranz" is two long tracks of intense, gravity defying electronic sound which aptly combine elements of the impulsive and the composed. It reveals more of itself on each playing and no doubt to each listener. Track one builds from nothing, as if a new creation is in progress through a black hole, the vacum taking more sounds and giving more power as it grows. Track two nicely develops through screams and chirps into a distressed sonic rainforest. A sense of destuction ensues through digital waves, winds and cracks. One listening, however, only provides a glimmer of this world provided by Lehn and Schmickler. It is intense and heavy, but very interesting and becons for another listen, and then maybe another, to find out what else is in there.
:: Lehn/Schmickler - Navigation im Hypertext cd/Kölner Kranz ltd vinyl - A-Musik/a-musik.com.

Aux SolitudesAux Solitudes is Jean-Philippe Goude's first record since "Rock de Chambre" in 2001. This fine album beautifully blends strings, wind, piano, Martenon wave, mandolin and voice with outstanding grace. Any fans of Faure, Satie or Nyman will be enchanted from start to finish. The music is modern and unique with a twist of Baroque. Each track stands independently while keeping close to a common theme which takes us through melancholic contemplation and rhythmic persistence. The airy organic tones of 'Prolégomènes I' unexpectedly take us to the 'Market Diktat Song' which has a wonderfully rhythmic melody on strings and turns and sways with all the grace of Marie Antoinette's court ladies. Throughout the album, the urge to move is hard to restrain as the beat and rhythm carry you through the miasma of texture. The clear resounding acoustic piano and warm clarinet will please many ears as will the electronic sounds within. Three Prolégomènes divide the album into three sections and contrast the subtle maze of sound found in the other tracks. The voices of Isaure Equilbey and Paulin Bundgen add an exquisite gleam, the sound of gold, to the captivating elegance of Aux Solitudes.

:: Jean-Philippe Goude/Aux Solitudes - Ici D`Ailleurs/Cargo. 

larry jon wilsonLarry Jon Wilson's deep rumble of a voice, accompanied by his own guitar playing and the occasional accordion or backing vocal, soothes like a shot of neat bourbon. You could put this laid back disc on in the early morning after a long and messy night, perhaps slipping it between "It's a Riot Goin' On" and John Lee Hooker's "Live at Café au au Go-Go". Alternatively the understated instrumentation might help a sore head when you wake up hurting the next day. This is drinking music without a question, the lyrics mention gin, beer and bourbon and the topic of most songs is the love-lorn soul. This is a deep, serious kind of country music with none of the flash or glibness of much of the music now coming out of Nashville. In between songs are one or two slices of studio banter as Wilson comments on his performance or makes jokes, giving the set the intimate feel of a relaxed strum with a few friends or a blues recording made in the 50s. In other hands the style and subject matter could be considered a cliché, for Larry Jon Wilson though, it just fits.

:: Larry John Wilson/Larry John Wilson - 1965records.com/Alive.

high placesThe last gasps of summer escape and the bloom fades from her once rosy lips, when better to discover this ray of sunshine to remind us of green leaves and blooming flowers as the nights begin to draw in? Electronic chirps, tweets and twitters flit gently, while Mary Pearson's dazed-sounding vocals murmur about lost ducks and other wonders. This record could create a soothing background wash to mediate to, or soundtrack a dinner party if you like that sort of thing. However, deeper listening is needed to unlock this recording's real beauty: the layers of percussion and toy-like synthesizers form a web of finely-wrought rhythms which hint at, without explicitly referencing, diverse kinds of non-Western music from gamelan to African percussion. Their child-like lyrical conceits and generally stoned-sounding sonics would be easy to parody, but the kind of balance and craft displayed by High Places hints at a steely discipline underneath the fluffy exterior. For all the apparent meandering, there is a crispness to the production and a elegance to the melodies that mark this music out as being entirely free from muddle-headed self-indulgence. This collection of  ranks with Donovan's 1967 masterpiece "A Gift from a Flower to a Garden" as one of the few records that manage to capture a sense of idealism and innocence without being entirely unworldly and that achieves gentleness without a trace of weakness. Let's hope the dinner party set don't find out about this one.
:: High Places/03/07–09/07 - Thrill Jockey Records, thrilljockey.com.