Posts Tagged ‘duncan mcewan’

As demonstrated by the debut album ‘Becoming A Jackal’, Villagers’ Conor O’Brien has a real talent for stitching strong melodies to a foreboding lyric; his ominous words cosseted by a saccharine coat.

In 2010 this was rewarded with a Mercury Prize nomination and an Ivor Novello Award for ‘Best Original Song’ – two of the UK music industry’s most prodigious awards.

Yet Villagers seem to have taken the pressure and anticipation for ‘the difficult second album’ in their stride. Whereas many artists would be tempted (or pressured) to repeat the formula of their success ‘{Awayland}‘ is a progressive affair. Indeed, O’Brien seems to have tired a little of his more traditional songwriter approach and adopted other influences to keep things fresh.

Somehow I Am Kloot have always remained on the periphery of ‘commercial’ success; smouldering like a dormant volcano waiting to erupt. But, intentionally or not, ‘Let It All In’ is the game changer.

With Guy Garvey and Craig Potter on board as co-producers once more, Kloot’s eighth album has a touch more polish than, say, the 2010 Mercury Prize nominated ‘Sky At Night’. And although Garvey’s influence is inevitable, I Am Kloot are definitely not clinging onto Elbow’s coattails.

There’s plenty of new talent out there to get excited about this year. The likes of Palma Violets, Haim, Tom Odell and Savages have already caused a gaggle of eager music publications to pin their colours firmly to the mast, and should at least spark the usual ‘Next Big Thing’/'Hyped Up Bollocks’ debate when they release new albums in 2013. Here, some of Live4ever’s writers reveal what they’re hoping for from some of the more established acts out there, including the latest project from Thom Yorke and the plans of a few Manchester legends.

Let us know what you’re hoping 2013 will bring by leaving a comment below.

Now you’ve been through our extensive Essential Listening 2012 series, which includes all our top choices from a past twelve months of albums, gigs and tracks, here some of our frankly super talented band of writers pick out their own favourite album of 2012, each making a convincing argument for the selected records in the process.

In the second part of our exclusive I Am Kloot interview, Pete Jobson discusses the band’s life on the road, the importance of local support before their Mercury Prize breakthrough, while he also goes into more detail on the new album.

In between their busy touring schedule I Am Kloot’s Pete Jobson finds time to catch up with Live4ever to discuss their new album, working with Elbow’s Guy Garvey and Craig Potter and being in a band with the seldom seen kid…

The sad demise of Supergrass in 2010 was inevitable really; the band had run its course after 17 years in each others pockets. Fortunately that time produced music that for many will remain a soundtrack to their lives, a permanent tattoo.

With a talent for infectious melodies and exuberant performances, Supergrass’ humour was never far from the surface, which amplified their appeal and charm. And unlike their contemporaries they never seemed to take themselves too seriously, despite being every bit as much their equals, and in many instances better. It comes as a great relief then that 2012 see a series of solo projects to fill the ‘grassless void.

Situated in a basement with a character not dissimilar to the Industrial Zone in The Crystal Maze (with a bar), London’s XOYO is a relatively small venue for a man of Gaz Coombes’ status. Usually associated with festival top lining, Coombes’ solo tour is like a personal encounter with the former Supergrass frontman and all the more rewarding for it.

Folk is currently enjoying a commercial resurgence which, in part, can be attributed to the success of a certain London band – “They-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named”.

But folk is a multifaceted beast; its evolution the foundation of sub-genres that are now genres in their own right. Unlike the threadbare shades of recent manufactured country-folk though, Bellowhead’s sound, while still folk, is thrillingly hard to define.

Incorporating an intricate mix of the old and the new, Bellowhead are an 11-piece powerhouse that fuse redundant folk tunes with extraordinarily ambitious and highly original arrangements. While their closest musical comparison is the Celtic punk-folk of The Pogues, Bellowhead’s instrumental range is far greater, their palette of textures and tones far wider, and unlike The Pogues’ frontman Jon Boden isn’t perpetually pissed.

Traditional sounds of mandolins, whistles, fiddles and concertina are still present, but Bellowhead embroider these with bouzouki, sousaphone, oboe and tuba. It’s a stimulating combination. With producer credits going to the legendary John Leckie (Stone Roses, Radiohead, Muse), ‘Broadside’ sparkles with vivacity and captures the exhilarating sound Bellowhead bring to stage.

Thirteen years ago Ben Folds Five released their ambitious third album ‘The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner‘ which seemed to suggest a new musical direction for the group; bold, imposing, orchestrated and lacking in obvious ‘commercial’ singles.

It came as some surprise then that 18 months later they chose to break up, albeit amicably, stating that everything musically they could do together as a band had been done.

Since then, Ben Folds has released a steady stream of successful solo albums dusted with Ben Folds Five character but lacking some of the raw, ferocious edge that his old band produced. Like Paul McCartney, Folds is a clever melodicist with an innate ability to play any instrument expertly. But also like Macca, some of his best work materialises when bouncing ideas off equally proficient musicians.

With the exception of 2008’s one-off concert for the Myspace ‘Front to Back’ series, it was not until last year that BFF chose to reconvene in the studio to record three new tracks for inclusion of their career retrospective. This reunion seems to have stoked their collective furnace and the end result is the eagerly awaited ‘The Sound Of The Life Of The Mind‘.

Whatever anyone’s opinion, cynic or not, Mumford & Sons will always create a very specific divide; you like it or you hate it.

There does not appear to be any middle ground.

This distinct split clearly stems from the Mumford & Sons sound which, when considered objectively, is unique in today’s commercial market. How many other bands, for instance, have had huge success both in the UK and the US with a sound like Mumford & Sons?

They are something of a musical anomaly and succeeding under these circumstances does not deserve criticism.

In this context ‘Babel‘ is, in fact, an interesting album. There are no real contemporary comparisons other than to its predecessor, 2009’s ‘Sigh No More’. Unfortunately comparisons to their début are also ‘Babel’s Achilles’ heel as it follows that now familiar path.