Nastinos

Archive for the ‘Artists - Bands’ Category

It has been almost two years since angry art-noisers Heart/Yeah? – aka Warren Myles and Jack Fabian – realised they weren’t that angry anymore and decided to pack away their distortion pedals. They’ve grown up a lot since then, and from those ashes emerged the much friendlier-sounding Urgent Talk, with the addition of Roo O’Hare on viola and vocals. Having released their debut double E.P. ‘&’ and ‘&&’ last year, they now return with their first full-length album.

‘Alexander, IV’ is a natural progression for the band, retaining their trademark string and computer counterpoints, quirky alt-pop arrangements and boy/girl vocal harmonies, but presenting it in a more cohesive and polished package. They manage to convey much of the energy which marks out their live performances, but do so without the singing tipping over into ’shouting’  which it can so often do in these shows. I do feel some of the vocal parts here need to be pushed a bit more to the forefront, however, particularly O’Hare’s as the natural singer of the band. A little bit more attention to this facet in the mixing would have gone a long way to improving the overall sound, as next to the abrasive percussion and full instrumental parts, the vocals can sometimes sound a little feeble and the harmonies underwhelming. A shame, as when done properly, this is one of Urgent Talk’s most endearing features.

© Graham Shackleton

It is on track 4, ‘Owls’, where the vocals are at their best and we get a glimpse of what the band are capable of, with a dynamic theatrical performance of onomatopoeiac melodiousness that even Kate Bush would be proud of. The intricate interplay between the vocals, strings and acoustic guitar create some truly sublime moments, reminiscent at times even of Vaughan Williams’ own ornithologically-themed work, ‘The Lark Ascending’. Williams, however, had not heard My Bloody Valentine, and the song breaks into an epic ‘Loveless’-inspired outro. This particular influence is also reflected on tracks ‘Are You Going to Redbridge’, and ‘You Let Me Sleep in the Car’, though it avoids being derivative, and this development is perhaps the most ear-catching feature of Urgent Talk’s growing confidence and evolution as a band.

With this release, Urgent Talk again underline their huge potential, without fully realising it yet. I still feel that they are in need of a more organic drum arrangement. Without it, they may struggle to find the subtle dynamism needed to push their songs to the next level, though if ‘Owls’ is any indicator of the future then the signs are promising. The band still have a truly unique sound, and there is no doubting their creativity, nor their inspired genre-crossing range of motifs. They are now taking a hiatus, during which time they plan to work on their sound and live show, along with assorted solo projects. With a little fine-tuning, there is no reason why Urgent Talk can’t come back bigger and bolder than before. Perhaps this album does not befit the title ‘Alexander the Great’, but it is certainly ‘Alexander the Very Good’. 

Rating – 8/10

‘Alexander, IV’ is out now on Dear You Records and can be downloaded for free (128k version) or £2 (320k version) at: http://urgenttalk.bandcamp.com/. 

Urgent Talk – Palindromes

Urgent Talk – Owls

Urgent Talk – Untitled

Hello handsome people.

With Muse about to drop their 5th studio album “The Resistance” there are going to be a lot of people writing a lot of words about them this coming month and, in true ’sheep with a keyboard’ style, i’m going to be one of those people!

Now, to try and retain some degree of originality, rather than looking at the new album, or simply being another voice in the crowd saying how amazing their live show is (their live show is amazing by the way!), I’m going to have a bit of a look backwards at some remixes of Muse songs and  present those un/lucky few with their very own MRA! (Muse Remix Award)

Retro Remix Award

Muscle Museum – Soulwax Remix

First up is the retro remix award and the winner is the genius’ that are Soulwax. Muscle Museum from Muse’s first album Showbiz is given an uplifting errrm… uplift from the belgian mixing masters. The mix stays true to the original song’s format, but replaces guitars for electronics and ups the tempo , the result is a, blistering, very danceable 3:45 seconds, even if it does compromise on some of the epic power of the original.

The Award For Stopping A Muse Song Sound Like A Kylie Song

Uprising – Does It Offend You, Yeah? Remix

Uprising, some people like the new single, some people dislike it, others think it’s decent but sounds too much like something kylie should have released. Well, this special award for ’stopping a muse song sound like a Kylie song’ goes to Read the rest of this entry »

All work and no play makes Nastino a dull (and infrequent) blogger.

Of course, when play is your work, you can have as much fun as singer has Tigs has fronting her band.

After standing through a pretty awful thrash metal band at Brighton last month, my spirits needed lifting and my ears were in need of some vocal medicine. Chew Lips were next up and they were able to succeed on both fronts.

Chew Lips are a 3-piece electro-pop outfit from London who make music to dance to, not in a smack my bitch up way, it’s more of a Hot Chip vibe, or a more chilled out CSS. Infact, debut single Solo (see below) gets carried along by a wave of beeps, blips and beats much like Kylie’s Slow, only it’s much much cooler.

Of course, it’s inevitable (and probably fair) that they are compared to another female fronted 3-piece in the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s, but I don’t think that’s such a bad thing. Tigs is every bit as enthusiastic as Karen O and Chew Lips’ music has a slightly more electro sound than YYYs which suggest there’s certainly room for the both of them.

At the Brighton show singer Tigs got excited enough to climb on to a speaker set before realising she couldn’t get down without utilising the ‘jump off and fall over’ maneuver, great stuff. I then spent the latter half of the show wondering if she had an actual beauty spot or it was stuck on, it was only when I bumped into the band at a nearby chippy afterwards I realised it was a little heart drawn on her cheek.

These guys are not sneaking by too unnoticed. Steve Lamacq has already tipped them to succeed in 2009, a quick listen at their myspace should help you see why. Check out debut single Solo below.

Chew Lips – Solo

Whilst sitting about today not doing very much I stumbled across a track by St. Louis band The Pragmatic. The track, Circles (see media player below), carries you through on a wave of synth led bass and melody the likes of which I last heard on tracks from MGMT.

A quick look into the band shows that I appear to be pretty late to the game, they apparantly had a number one track on Hype Machine over a year ago. So, did they fail to live up to the hype? Maybe, or maybe they have spent the time refining their sound for an assault on the mainstream.

Andre Anjos from the band has musical pedigree after founding the Remix Artists Collective (RAC) and subsequently putting out many remix’s to an appreciative web audience. Having said that, I did not appreciate The Pragmatic’s murderring of Justice’s Phantom found on their myspace.

They have recently released a free EP which you can download from here, this EP is led by the title track Cirlces and includes 4 more tracks which show good versitility in their use of synths and loops.

In truth, although this EP is a solid listen, I’m not holding my breath that they will come over to the UK and make an MGMT sized splash anytime soon. But, if they can capture the finer points of EP tracks Circles, You Blame Me (see media player below) and Academy, and work these in to a full lenghth album, then I for one would welcome them with open arms.

The Pragmatic – Circles

The Pragmatic – You Blame Me

First, a warning. If you’re of a nervous disposition I would recommend that you stop reading here and forget the band mentioned exists, their music can only cause you pain.

For the rest of you, imagine a sound somewhere before the skittish melodies of Holy Fuck meets the chaotic mess of a sound from Sikth, that’s where you’ll find this unsigned UK 3-piece.

Their debut release is the self titled EP which contains 5 tracks simply named “untitled 1,” “untitled 2,” … and so forth. In truth, each track could be a mini album in it’s own right, moving from edgy guitar, through apprehensive synths, to hectic, agitated beats and back again, and again, and possibly again before the song is over.

Each section of the songs sounds great on their own, but that’s only half the battle, with the varying styles and tempos within each song the arrangement is the key to making an listenable experience. Great news! They’ve pulled this off with aplomb!

Their work is something that needs listening to, I wouldn’t recommend that you use it as background music while you do the washing up, my guess is that this will probably result in some broken crockery. I would, however, recommend that you purchase this EP, leave yourself free from distractions, plug in some good quality headphones and play this through with the attention it deserves.

The band itself comprises of Tom Rogerson on piano, keyboard and occasional vocals, Matt Calvert on guitar, synths and electronics and Adam Betts on drums (and a bit more electronics). As talented as they collectively are, my attention was drawn to drummer Betts when I saw them as part of this years Great Escape Festival in Brighton. The live drummer gave the guys a presence that few electronic artists I’ve witnessed can match, and Betts keeps up the pace and intensity superbly.

You can listen to the EP at their MySpace or get a feel for them with the lead track below (untitled 1).

Three Trapped Tigers – Untitled 1