Entertainment For Lively Minds
Here's to Mr Forde
I would just like to thank Eamonn Forde for inspiring me to check out The Phantom Band's Checkmate Savage album. (April issue of Word, Best Of Now article) It really is just as wonderful as he described it.
It's good to discover a new favourite band, it doesn't happen that often. As you get older it's harder and harder to get *really* excited about new stuff. Only natural, I suppose.
Anyway, as I was listening to The Phantom Band, it struck me that they're kind of similar to a pair of my other favourites of recent years, Secret Machines and British Sea Power. Good songs, enough guitars to keep a man in his late 40s happy, a little krautrock influence, and a fairly fresh way of putting it all together.
If you, too, like these bands and know of some other band that you think I would like, I would be grateful for a recommendation. It would be nice to find another new favourite.
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Little Barrie.
Terrific stuff.
Seconded.
(See, I'm feeling better after that lie down)
Not new, but
I hear a lot of Wilco and also LCD Soundsystem in this album.
You might possibly like this, Doc...
...a beautiful video for a beautiful track - a new blissed-out direction for Paul Archer formerly of the Ghears (of Krautrock-influence central). The same vid director/youtube poster Alan Gildea has a vid of the Ghears last single '4 Minute Mile' up there too, should you wish to hear a locked groove and blistering guitars...
School of Seven Bells
Sorry if this is old news (the band includes an ex-Secret Machine, so you may be aware of them) but I can't stop playing their debut album 'Alpinisms'.
Krautrock influence is there (I bought Phantom Band recently too and each of the two albums reminds me of the other), but School of Seven Bells have gorgeous female vocals. Which I think might be supplied by twins. (Note to self: check.)
Can't recommend it enough. One caveat, though - if you do get the record, make sure to buy or download the 're-release'. They brought it out again a few months after it first came out but with an extra couple of tracks.
I'm not familiar with the The Phantom Band
I assume they do shoegazer style music ie. lots of guitars dubbed into an indistinct fuzz, tepid drumming, vocals low in the mix etc.
M83 have a cracker of an album called Saturday=Youth.
Also Curve are worth a look.
Thanks, everybody
for your input. I will check out all the bands you've mentioned, promise. Have to say that the Burning Codes song grabbed me instantly, quite wonderful.
Also have to say to LOUDspeaker that The Phantom Band doesn't at all sound like you assume. Give them a listen (they're on Spotify), you might like them!
Happy to be of service, Doc!
And here, indeed, is Paul the Code-meister's krautrockish alter ego The Ghears. I believe they've toured a couple of times with Snow Patrol (old pals from Belfast/Glasgow days) in the past couple of years, but I think Paul's finally given up (after 15 years!) trying to get anywhere meaningful with the band. Burning Codes started as a totally solo, restorative, get-it-together in the country venture - just Paul and his guitar and multiple vocal harmony overdubs - but it seems to have mutated lately into an ever more unweildly (than the Ghears) occasional live band now. Not sure what the moral of that is - but he's a 100% 'soul' musician and a really lovely chap: he HAS to be creating music, no matter the success/lack of. I salute him!
Yeah!
I've been playing this on Spotify since you wrote about them! Love the barre-chord sequence that comes right before the chorus.
Wonderful
Glad you liked them. If you get the chance, go and see them live. They are a lot rawer and louder and, well, scarier live. In terms of other recommendations, the new Speck Mountain album (sadly not out for a few months but there's plenty on MySpace) is fast becoming my second favourite of the year after Checkmate Savage. Think Cat Power, Mazzy Star, Throwing Muses and PJ Harvey.
Sounds like a winning combination of influences
Anything that has some resemblance to Mazzy Star is worth checking out in my book. I'll head on over to MySpace.
(Bands with Mountain in their name... a trend?)
Edit: have now listened. Oh, it's wonderful, really, really good.
The Speck Mountain album 'Some Sweet Relief'
is out already on Emusic.
http://www.emusic.com/album/Speck-Mountain-Some-Sweet-Relief-MP3-Downloa...
How odd.
It's listed on Amazon as coming out in May. The press release that came with my review album says it's out in June. It's apparently out in the US already. And it's on eMusic here?
Maybe it's some clever "staggered release" marketing strategy. Or maybe there's just massive inconsistency in how it's being put out in different 'markets' and across different 'platforms'.
No matter, it's a lovely album.