Lorn's new album 'Nothing Else' is available now

Lorn is instrumental hip-hop for outsiders. While clearly influenced by Flying Lotus (Lorn is on Lotus’ Brainfeeder imprint) Lorn walks the shady side of the wonky hip-hop street. Gothic might be a touch excessive but there is something grand in the scale of Lorn’s songwriting. Straight up beats and minimal FX compliment the strong melodic aspects of this album, and it doesn’t take me long to realize that this doesn’t sound quite like anything else. Part electronica, part backpack hip-hop and part dubstep this is an experimental album in the best sense of the word. “Automaton” and “Void 1 and 2” are particularly fine and will be among a number of tracks getting hammered by DJ’s when the album is released in June.

http://www.myspace.com/lornnn

http://ninjatune.net

Alba Lua - The Ballad of Joseph Merrick

The Ballad of Joseph Merrick should involve the following; a group of musicians dressed in Victorian garb with sacks over their heads, topped by bowler hats. They would play atonal circus jazz and speed metal, but with trombones and egg maracas and old fashioned bike horns. At the climax of the show, the group would remove the sacks from their heads and the audience would laugh and throw rotting vegetables at their hideous features until the band leave the stage.

Sadly, Alba Lua do not seem to be aware if this and have instead chosen to jump on the increasingly irritating alt-folk bandwagon to produce an EP that is maudlin, humorless and uninspired.

Kim Monaghan

http://www.myspace.com/permanentvacation08

http://satelliteoflove.net/

Another mini release from the consistently professional duo sees two new tracks (“Conquering Echo” and “Dreamer”) backed up by two remixes from Alrealon stable mates Fluid and Restless.

Black Saturn is a talented vocalist and always comes up with something intriguing to lay over subduxtion’s industrial space hip hop, but his performance is a little anaemic on “Conquering Echo” which makes “Dreamer”(with its glitchy neurosis and slightly hostile paranoia ) the best original track on here.

That said FluiD (“Conquering Echo dancehall mix”) and Restless (“Legacy of the Ledger remix”) have both done great work on the remixes, with Restless just edging out FluiD to take the winners podium. Another strong release from Alrealon…and another free one that can be got from http://www.alrealon.co.uk/

Kim Monaghan

Grasscut – 1 Inch / ½ Mile (Ninja Tune)

Opening tune “High Down” should be enough to win anyone over to Grasscut’s way of thinking. An intelligently combined chimera of jazz, glitchy electronica and indie-rock with a healthy regard for both those who like to stroke their beard sand those who like a tune. This is a rare combination indeed and I already love this band / man / act after one song. “Old Machines” is next up, and it’s a little like the bastard offspring of some sprightly chip tune exploits and Thom Yorke’s Eraser but with some UK garage style pizzicato and just a hint of a marching band wafting in on the breeze. As you may already have guessed, it’s probably easier for you to just listen to this than read any of my bizarre and confusing proselytizing. But that’s what I’m here for, so…

Strange archaic samples appear throughout the first two songs and “Melwater” uses the same to tantalizing effect, and the lyrics (even though affected in what seems to be becoming the standard singing voice of UK bands/artists ; a kind of drawling pseudo cockney accent ) are obtuse and poetic enough to keep you fascinated. Imagine Clark but less mental and with a singer and you’re sort of starting to get what Grasscut sound like. A near perfect fusion of electronica, jazz and indie that is melancholy, uplifting, inventive and intelligent. How fucking awesome is that ?

Kim Monaghan

They are Dios

Opening with a forbidding drone, I was expecting something sinister, but muted acoustic guitar and blissed out vocals fade in to create a sound that is unique. Well, it would be unique if it hadn’t already been done by Fleet Foxes, which is pretty much what the first song sounds like. However, “Ojay” sounds like a cross between John Lennon and Oasis in an echo chamber. This may or may not be a good thing for you, but it left me unmoved.

“Noone Is Wrong” (which sort of reminds me of the Dears) with its almost ad-hoc riffing and charmingly out of tune vocals has me warming to this band. They have a psychedelic edge and a love of weird noises and slightly broken songs (see “Toss My Cookies”) that doesn’t resemble any of the influences I have spotted so far, but most closely resembles the aesthetic of the Flaming Lips, with a dash of Animal Collective thrown in.

That said they are canny enough to write songs that are catchy and simple ( such as “Stare At Wheel” or “Tell Me Thing” ) and absolutely suitable for large radio audiences. This may be both a strength and a weakness though, as the switch between the band’s weird and normal modes could end up alienating everyone. I don’t know.

I do know that while my brain enjoyed most of this album, I was left with no real desire to rush out and buy it.

Kim Monaghan

At last an official Dissolved primer ! For those of you who don’t know, Dissolved is a prolific producer of electronica on the serene and thought-provoking end of the spectrum. Frazzled synths, warped tape samples and an off-kilter ear for melodies all coalesce in this, the first official Dissolved compilation album.

Comprised mostly of old tracks but with a few new tracks thrown in for fans, this is an intriguing selection, focus-ing on the more reflective side of Dissolved. As a hopeless fan-boy I put together a Dissolved “best of” a couple of years ago, and I don’t think there is a single track in common with this album, but I still think it’s a very successful compilation.

For more information you can check one of the other album reviews or podcasts on the site, but the easiest thing to do is get over to Binkcrsh records and buy a copy. There is yet another new Dissolved release on the horizon so consider this a chance to do your homework.

Kim Monaghan

Dissolved – Myspace - Label

Fresh from reviewing the Binkcrsh compilation on which Simple Vehicle featured, I was curious to give this album a listen. The austere packaging is a strong visual clue to the kind of music contained within, and whilst I love this kind of abstract electronica, it may not be for the casual listener.

Abstract samples and heat-haze drones create the mirage of music but when the ear tries to latch on to anything solid, it drifts away to be replaced by something else.

Autechre are clearly an influence on Simple Vehicle’s sound (with song titles such as “Tiltuu” and “Lterde 2.3”) and anyone who likes them will appreciate the level of thought that has gone into this release.

Kim Monaghan

http://c67.org/binkcrsh/

An odd one to review. In some respects this is a great record, being high energy, moody dancehall that is ludicrously exciting. Indeed, most of these tunes would be guaranteed to fill a dancefloor in seconds.

However it’s stripped down strength is also it’s Achilles Heel as you hear everything on the first listen. Depth is non-existent on this record and I’m pretty sure that most of the sounds are lifted straight from a Casio keyboard and a Roland 909, which gave me the odd sensation that I was listening to a rave in a computer game.

That said I will certainly be bashing the fuck out of crazed tunes like “Get Crazy” and “Enemies” while studiously avoiding midi rubbish like “90’s Backyard” and “Coco Drunk”.

Kim Monaghan

http://www.myspace.com/poiriersound

http://www.ninjatune.net/home/

Berry Weight keep it minimal

Berry Weight is a collaborative effort between Canadian and Swiss musicians Apewok and Stab. It is mainly instrumental hip-hop but depth and personality are added in capacious amounts by singer Astrid Engberg (whose voice is sultry and wistful) and clarinetist Kledsy Jy (bringing back the clarinet in a big way) whose contributions make an indelible impression.

The general tone is laid back and slightly melancholy while production is flawless. This is exactly the sort of album you want to play when you are either recovering from a hangover or trying to impress someone so they’ll sleep with you. In fact the only fault I can find is the mid-song rap from ASM (on “The Lotus”); which is frankly comical and disturbs an otherwise great song.

It may not feature on any of the hipster lists of albums this year (indeed at times it’s like this album has been teleported in from the early nineties) but unlike an awful lot of music that is “forward thinking” you might actually want to listen to this more than once.

Kim Monaghan

http://www.berryweight.com

http://www.myspace.com/berryweight

Mondo Cane - available May 4th

There is surely no greater joy in life than being given an advance copy of the new Mike Patton album ? If there is I don’t know what it might be. This album has arrived as a complete surprise to me,and as my finger alights on the play button I wonder which Mike Patton will it be ?

The album opens with “Il Cielo In Una Stanza” …rumbling thunder and mildly sinister strings bring portents of evil. Maybe this is another Delirium Cordia ? Oh … hang on what’s this ? Mike’s singing in Italian. And if I’m not mistaken he’s been possessed by Phil Spector. It appears from this first song that we’re getting lothario crooner Patton this time around. And on the evidence of this first song that’s not a bad thing at all.

credit - frame26.com

“Che Notte” is a slice of Sixties psychedelia meets film noir. Imagine Patton doing incidental music for the Keystone Cops… all vaudeville piano and duck whistles and bongos and trumpets … crazy but a lot of fun. “Ore D’Amore” is like the theme tune from a cheap knock-off of a Bond film, and despite not knowing a word of Italian I am fighting an urge to sing along in an overly dramatic fashion.

“Deep Down” is another short, but sweet, piece of movie music. It is actually kind of a pleasure to hear Mike just sing without a single gibber, screech or moan anywhere to be heard. Part of me is afraid to relax because I am expecting some “Adult Theme For Human Voice” -style madness to erupt at any moment. “Quello Che Conta” is spaghetti western through and through, the kind of bombastic ballad that would work nicely with footage of craggy-faced men, chewing cigars on horseback, while the women-folk weep. “Urlo Negro” finally shatters the calm with a lo-fi tribal intro that might be played by punk rock American Indians on the warpath, before turning into an aggressive and slightly sci-fi piece of surf music.

Three Patton's...I'm actually scared of this prospect

“Scalinatella” opens with footsteps and some flamenco guitar before gently taking shape as an acoustic lullaby that is mainly pretty but slightly twisted. “L’Uomo Che Non Sapeva Amare” is a little like an off-cut from the “A Perfect Place” soundtrack, which suddenly makes me realize that this album isn’t quite as unprecedented as I first thought, but is actually sort of a progression from that soundtrack, at least conceptually if not in terms of sound. “20 KM al Giorno” opens with the inimitable sound of the Jews harp leading us on the audio equivalent of a sweaty bus journey, with Mike as our gurning, salacious conductor. One of my favourite tracks on the album so far.

“Ti Offro Da Bere” is short and sweet like everything else on the album being reminiscent of a distant cousin of “To Dream The Impossible Dream”… but in the seventies with a big moustache. And so, in an impossibly short time, we come to the last track “Senza Fine” is a husky, violin-led waltz which bids farewell to the listener by grabbing your hand and kissing slowly but passionately all the way up the back of your arm…whether you want it to or not.

I don’t know if this is an album of Mike Patton originals or covers of movie themes, or what it is, but it is the first album he has ever done that you could play to your Mum or girlfriend and they would actually like it. They might even love it. A perfect summer pop record. From Mike Patton. What is going on ?

Kim Monaghan

http://www.ipecac.com/