Album Review: Nights Out - Metronomy

Metronomy are fast being built up to be the new dance act it's okay for skinny jeaned kids to like and at times it has seemed that Joseph Mount is in danger of failing to live up to the hype. First album Pip Paine (Pay The £5000 You Owe) was charming in places and benefitted from a lo-fi asthetic yet it lacked direction and failed to feel distinct, stuck as it was, somewhere between Basement Jaxx and Zongamin.

With a line-up now been bolstered by the introduction of new members Oscar Cash and Gabriel Stebbing and the criticisms levelled Pip Paine do not hold true for second album Nights Out. Much more of an album proper than Metronomy's debut, Nights Out is actually in danger of being a concept album and features some proper vocals, narrating the progression and destruction of a relationship. Hear a snatch of Metronomy and it sounds disposable and meaningless and yet, within the flow of an album, it is clear there is some emotional depth.

The path from the initial heady excitement of 'Radio Ladio' (probably BlackPlastic's favourite song title this year) and 'My Heart Rate Rapid' through to the commiserations of 'Heartbreak' and the eventual soul-searching of 'On Dancefloors' plots a clear story and it is never less than totally believable. And at the same time the songs are so catchy you will be attempting to hum tiny snippets of electro for hours after the album has finished.

The frank and very British vocals combined with an eclectic and confident penchant for demolishing genre boundaries in the most radio friendly manner possible mark Metronomy as the new Streets for these wonky electro times, only better.

BP x

Tags: metronomy

Retro: Deep Kick - Red Hot Chili Peppers

BlackPlastic, as anyone that knows their real identity in real life will know, HATES the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Or rather, what they have become.

Because whilst offering a friend some advice recently - "It's better to regret something you did, than something you didn't, do" - the lyrics to this little ditty sprung to mind ("And as the Butthole Surfers always said..." prefaces my advice).  Cue some rampant digging through BlackPlastic's record collection in order to find the Chili's 1995 album, One Hot Minute (produced, tellingly, by Rick Rubin).  There are only two RHCP albums worth listening to, let alone owning.  Everything else is shit, no debate: They. Sold. Out.

They are now doomed to remake the same album over & over & over so throw out everything bar the obvious Blood Sugar Sex Magik and this gem, One Hot Minute.  Everyone raves about Blood Sugar Sex Magik and yet One Hot Minute is the most criminally overlooked album in their entire back catalogue, benefitting from an eclecticism and a level of experimentation entirely missing from the rest of their output.  Even the pop song 'Aeroplane' is head and shoulders over anything they have created since 'Scar Tissue'.

'Deep Kick' is probably the best track on One Hot Minute, sounding like places, people, events and adventures: A lifetime of misbehaviour squashed into six-and-a-half-crazy-minutes.  The transition from the first, spoken phase (with the strung-out whispered vocals beneath the main vocal track) into the second phase is goose-bump inducing, and the final conclusion (featuring THAT line) is spellbinding.

If you don't know this song and you either (a) hate the chilis as much as me; or (b) like all that shit post-2000s stuff; then press play, sit back and learn.

BP x

Album Review: Dear Science - TV On The Radio

TVOTR's last album, Return To Cookie Mountain, quickly became an all time favourite for BlackPlastic. The combination of occasional falsetto vocals, Prince style production and Pixies aggression combined to create something beautiful and at the same time cutting edge. It has been noted elsewhere that the change from the original demo of the album to the finished product saw the order of the tracks rearranged and as a result the final prpduct was no longer opened by the thrashing 'Wolf Like Me'. Instead that duty was given to the brooding 'I Was A Lover'. It was a wise decision that in one step re-focused the album into something more considered, honest and passionate. Despite the fact that 'Wolf Like Me' is without doubt an album highlight it is debatable whether the album would stand-up as the classic it is now regarded as had that change not happened.

So onto Dear Science, TVOTR are back and they are clearly more ambitious as ever. From the opening fuzz and "ba, ba, ba ba ba" vocal through to the overtly sexual album closer, 'Lovers Day', Dear Science is a grown-up and complex record.

There are moments of tenderness, even if they are somewhat doomed, in the form of the synth backed 'Crying' and the ballad (yes, ballad), that everyone is already talking about, 'Family Tree'. Yet there are also times of aggression, whether it is directed internally or externally or, quite possibly in the case of 'DLZ', both.

Dear Science also features a constant struggle between positivity and angst. Lead single 'Golden Age' tries to paint a picture of a utopia just around the corner yet it is difficult to tell whether it is optimism or delusion that is driving singer Tunde Adebimpe's vocals. Similarly 'Dancing Choose' is certainly upbeat and could be considered positive, if only purely in a self-serving way that recalls the principles of survival of the fittest.

So Dear Science is the perfect soundtrack to our post-millenial times. Times that see extreme weather and financial patterns that appear to simultaneously signify an end but also a new start at the same time. This is an album that pulls in multiple directions, then, yet it still makes sense as a whole.

In terms of sound this is clearly a band at the top of their game and to say David Sitek's production continues to impress would be a gross understatement. In all honesty BlackPlastic misses some of the additional electronic touches and hip-hop influences of Return To Cookie Mountain yet it is hard to argue that this is anything but great and for those first discovering the band Dear Science easily stands out as a career highlight. It says much of Return To Cookie Mountain that it continues to remain one of BlackPlastic's most-played albums despite the fact that the follow up is now here. Many are already proclaiming TV On The Radio as the new Radiohead, if only in terms of scale and ambition rather than sound. Upon hearing the sheer number of ideas packed into the space of an hour for Dear Science it is impossible to disagree.

BP x

Album Review: Random Access Memories - Floormodel

Little known fact: BlackPlastic loves to get tired and emotional to the electronic clicks and whirring of the emotionally overloaded Postal Service. This isn't a new Postal Service album, but it almost could be...

Let us make something clear: at times this albums sounds almost too much like our favourite mail delivery team (and I don't mean the Royal Mail). That is really the biggest criticism that can be levelled at Floormodel. But bear in mind that we heart the Postal Service and since they aren't set to release another album this decade that isn't really a criticism at all... More an observation.

Well the delicate vocals and an IDM backing are a check and they even make their tracks remotely (as did the Postal Service, hence their name), with Jeff Caudill providing vocals and real instrumentation guitars from LA and David Stoll the electronic backing and additional real instrumentation from Germany (thanks for the correction - BP).

So with so many similarities how are things different? Mainly through the fact that there is a greater amount of real instrumentation on display, particularly singer Caudill's guitar work. As an example look to the proper piano of 'The Reason I Still Live Here', playing against a series of clinical typewriter clicks - it's a combination that only serves to highlight the magic and warmth of the electronic backing when it kicks in proper at two minutes. From that point it is clear that this is one of the most emotional electronic albums you have heard in ages and that Floormodel have just become one of your brand new favourite acts.

Floormodel make music for journeys where your head is moving in the opposite direction to your body. The denial, whether genuine of self, of 'I Don't Care If Your Ever Say Goodbye' or the pleading 'Asleep' help make an album that wraps you up in a blanket of electronic warmth whilst the fragility of the vocals leave you exposed to the discomfort of your own memories. It is an enchanting combination that will keep you coming back for more.

Random Access Memories is self-released so skip Zavvy and head on to iTunes to have a listen and maybe think about getting a copy.  Alternatively you can buy a physical release (distrubuted worldwide) on the official Floormodel site or you can stream full tracks over at Last.fm.

BP x

Review: Part of the Weekend Never Dies - Soulwax / Radio Soulwax / 2 Many DJs

Every now and again you meet someone new and, at some point, the conversation somewhat inevitably comes to the topic of Soulwax and, somehow, you realise you have met an individual who hasn't the faintest idea who this group is. Such an event is rare but disapponting nonetheless as it is truly difficult to understand how we find ourselves in the current musical climate without our friends from Ghent.

And so BlackPlastic is going to say little but:

if you haven't seen the Soulwax documentary Part of the Weekend Never Dies yet then go and watch it because it just might be this decade's most important music documentary.

It perfectly encapsulates just why Soulwax are important:

1. They (along with a few others) helped to invent what we now know as modern dance music (call it nu-rave if you like).
2. They redefine the tired notion of band / remix artists / DJs.
3. They have lots of fans. Some are even famous.
4. They are still very, very fucking loud.

Some interesting facts you will learn:
1. Which recently huge dance crossover artists used multiple Soulwax samples on their debut album.
2. Which nu-rave band would never have got into dance music without Soulwax / 2 Many DJs.
3. Why BlackPlastic's favourite Soulwax track, 'NY Excuse', gets even more punk when you learn its origins.

The DVD also comes with a live performance on DVD and CD. Value, hey?

BP x

Album Review: Fantasy Black Channel - Late Of The Pier

Erol Alkan's 2008 production 'Holy Trinity' draws to a close, with Late Of The Pier's Fantasy Black Channel following on from first the Mystery Jet's Twenty One and the Long Blonde's Couples.

The fact that a band like Late Of The Pier are getting the kind of mainstream attention they are really is a sign of the times and a testiment to their forebears. The sound of earlier pioneers such as Soulwax (more of whom soon) and the initial post-electroclash wave are all over this. And that is a good thing because it gives those that know more great music but it also further blows open the whole scene.

But enough chat. Fantasy Black Channel delivers, just as that recenty reviewed album by another band in the third wave of the dance / rock crossover does. In fucking spades.

Fantasy Black Channel is the air raid siren that signifies the end of the beginning for an entire genre: check out the opening synths of 'Space of the Woods'. They're so thick you can chew on those bastards as the ooze out of your speakers. When singer Samuel Eastgate indicates it's time to don a radiation suit you just might begin to worry there is something toxic in those basslines. The previously released single 'The Bears Are Coming' still fidgets and scratches like a bed of itching powder - warbling basslines and squelching drums contrasting beautifully to a the yelp of the bridge - whilst 'Random Firl' shows a more playful, sexy side.

And there is plenty of play and drama here - check out 'Whitesnake' and you can hear references to not just punk but maybe even some Deep Purple (deliberate given the name?) in the chugging bass and some Queen in the sheer over-the-top-ness of it all.

Overall Fantasy Black Channel sounds post-apocalyptic whilst managing to take this cliché and make it fresh. There are references throughout the lyrics but it is also in the music itself, in the dischordant and self-destructive melodies of 'VW' and 'Focker' for example, that this determinism shines through.

Some may try and call this album derivative - it is certainly more evolution than revolution - but there is no doubt that Late Of The Pier push harder, better, faster, stronger than their peers. The Klaxons have there work cut out for them if they are going to top the sheer spirit here. By the time the frenetic coupling of "get your hands on your waistline / and move your body to the bassline" arrives in the glam-opera closer (and past single) 'Bathroom Gurgle' and you progress to the subsequent ghost track that follows BlackPlastic's money is on you agreeing on this one.

BP x

Album Reviews: Friendly Fires - Friendly Fires

Some records tingle as they slip down your spine. Some records sound like every great summer of your youth squeezed into four minutes. Some records sound like quitting your job forever and moving to Spain. Mostly these records feature on an album called Friendly Fires by, you guessed it, St. Alban's hottest: Friendly Fires.

Album opener and first official single 'Jump In The Pool' defies words: take how gorgeous 'Paris' (previously out on Moshi Moshi as a limited release) sounds, add some sparkling Latino rhythms and literally submerge the whole thing in the pool from the opening scene of A Life Less Ordinary (Diaz optional) and you still haven't quite got some lush enough. It's the only track that isn't self-produced (Paul Epworth got in touch after hearing their earlier efforts) and as such you would be forgiven for thinking nothing else sounds as good. But you would be dead wrong...

If you are still reading this and you haven't actually heard 'Paris' (previuosly featured on BlackPlastic here) then, in all honesty, stop wasting your time because you should be checking it out on YouTube rather than reading BlackPlastic's futile attempts to describe how good this sounds. Retooled with vocals from Au Revoir Simone (yes, BlackPlastic loves you too girls) it is as unstoppably optimistically full of glamour and hope and lust as ever. And it proves something the is reconfirmed over and over during the 38 minutes of music here: not only can Friendly Fires write a good tune but they can work the spit and polish too. Despite the fact it was recorded on a laptop with an old microphone this album has a staggering amount of detail and shines even if you don't know of it's humble origins. Electronic warmth and techno stabs make this one of the most distinctive records you will hear this year. No other band captures dance music in it's rawest form quite like Friendly Fires.

The only criticism that can be levelled at this record is that, if you've been paying attention, you'll already know six of ten tracks. Trouble is, they're six of the best songs you've heard in ages and the others are just as good.

'On Board' still adds post-punk magic you the synth line from Jamie Principle's 'Your Love'. 'Lovesick' is an 80s catwalk of a record that switches from eyelinered vocals in the verse to to a minimal-inspired chorus and back again before a tech-house closer, whilst 'Ex Lover' oozes enough magic to finish things off on a high.

Friendly Fires have gone and put every good idea most bands have in their whole careers into one album and, staggeringly, it works. James Murphy had better watch out: not since LCD Soundsystem's Sound of Silver has a band quite so confidently pushed the envelope concerning what a band can be.

BP x

Album Review: The History of Science and How to Mend a Broken Heart - The Wonderland Project

"Traditional distribution and payment models for music are broken!"

We all hear it everyday, and yet the labels seem intent to do everything they can to repeatedly stab their customers in the eye and treat them like morons rather than give them the choices they want. The Wonderland Project neatly sidestep this issue with their album The History of Science and How to Mend a Broken Heart by, erm, not really distributing or charging for it. Sort of.

So whilst it may be available in iTunes and on Amazon (which is good for you as it means you might stand a better chance of hearing a copy) the 'primary' method of distribution is the listener. Imagine peer-to-peer constrained to the physical world: the idea is that there are a number of CD copies of the album out in the wild right now, waiting to be found in places, each accompanied with a note instructing the finder: You can listen to it and stick it on your iPod but then you must leave it somewhere else for someone to find and put the details on The Wonderland Project website so they can track the album's movements.

It's a captivating and magical idea and, frankly, the majors should be kicking themselves for not thinking of using this as a method of promotion for a major artist.

So how does it actually sound? The History of Science and How to Mend a Broken Heart is a blend of country-tinged electronic music that most closely resembles Nowergian alt-acoustic musician Magnet. There are also hints of The Postal Service / Dntel in the bleeps and clicks of the sparkly 'You Look Prettier When I'm Happy' and Radiohead on some of the darker tracks like 'A Sense of Community'.

For the most part it works: The History of Science... is an enchanting record that sounds like it was made to drag you through a dreary Monday morning and with such an innocent distribution model it's hard not to be charmed. It attempts to capture the magic of those moment in life that stay with you: helping a beautiful girl get fuel for her car, meeting a stranger on the train; and, just occasionally, it captures it.

BP x

Album Review: Cosmic Disco?! Cosmic Rock!!! - various mixed by Daneile Baldelli & Marco Dionig

Any long time readers will know that if there is one series of compilations that sets BlackPlastic's heart aflutter more than all others then N.E.W.S offshoot Eskimo Recordings' compilations would it. With a blatant disregard for anything other than the best, most obscure, dug-through-crates-to-get, rare-as-hens'-teeth records and extremely high levels of quality control BlackPlastic dares you to name one release that isn't superb, if not even game changing.

The fabulously titled Cosmic Disco?! Cosmic Rock!!! introduces new talent (for which read rather old, or rather vintage, talent) in the form of Daniele Baldelli and his cohort Marco Dionig. Baldelli made his name in Italy in the late 70s / early 80s by plying a trade in mainly black American and white European records, combining them to create the foundations of dance music. Whilst everyone whips themselves into a frenzy over Italo house and cosmic disco this compilation takes a neat sidestep to portray an alternative history.

Baldelli's talent is in combining records that have no real relationship with each other and, somehow, making it work. With plenty of re-edits to emphasize the bits he likes, Baldelli is able to create a coherent message through a diversity of sounds. There are moments of wonky techno, for example Torch Song's 'Prepare To Energize' or the political 'Ulster Defence' by Bronx Irish Catholics, but there are also moments of pop genius - just check out Fra Lippo Lippi's glorious 'Say Something', all mechanical robot-sex rhythms and a killer pop vocal.

And so that's what Cosmic Rock is. It's freaky techno tracks jostling with dirty guitar licks and a diva or two. It's The Thompson Twins getting evil on your ass with the stuttering beat and full-on Run DMC / Jason Nevins basslines of 'Beach Culture'. It's La Bionda's race-to-get-naked-first come-on of a record, 'I Got Your Number'. But most of all Cosmic Rock is the lighters-in-the-air pop perfection of Spyder's 'Better Be Good To Me', a pure sunshine-on-a-rainy-day of a record, a record that sounds like waking up with a supermodel that loves you more than you her, a record so good that frankly it deserves an album all to itself.

BP x