Album Review: Golden Void - Golden Void

Hot on the heels of Tame Impala's second album it's difficult for me to not hear their dizzy, psychedelic experimentation whenever I listen to Golden Void's new self-titled debut album..

Whilst the references are different and the approaches may vary the obsession with the past is a clear raison d'être for both bands. But Golden Void are hooked on a different beast - where Tame Impala are constantly reliving their wildest Revolver and White Album fantasies Golden Void take their lead from 70s blues rock and hard metal - traces of Deep Purple and early Hard Core.

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Golden Void - Golden Void

Tame Impala's latest album used technology to realise a vision of the musical period they love that never quite could have existed at the time but Golden Void play their dedication straight. Unlike on Lonerism, nothing here sounds like it couldn't be 35-years old - this is a raw album, still itching with a warm, fuzzy sound that harks back to the days of valves and grooves. Recorded in San Francisco, it was recorded straight to tape with limited overdubs and that purity of approach comes through.

And that is basically what Golden Void is - a celebration of doing things the old way. Having played together across various bands for years there is a tightness in the interplay between the band's members, particularly Isaiah Mitchell's vocals and the bass and drum work of Aaron Morgan and Justin Pinkerton.

That tightness is demonstrated in the album's opening tracks. 'Art Of Invading' sounds as vicious as the title implies - a wall of guitar and bass whilst Mitchell howls. 'Virtue' is similarly unsympathetic, with the kind of chunky bass melody that Death From Above 1979 hung their hats on and a rhythm section that is basically Pinkerton locked into a full, pummelling drum-solo for five-minutes.

After letting off the gas ever so slightly for the album's middle-half and gloriously gloomy 'Badlands' the band once again open up on 'The Curve'. Mitchell's guitar work here is exemplary - furiously riffing one moment before a gentle, bluesy bridge sees a tortured solo in the style of Python Lee Jackson's 'In A Broken Dream'.

Due to the straight nature in which it is played those that think Tame Impala do nothing but revisit the past-glories of other bands will have even less to like here, but put aside such concerns and it's another well played and executed album.

Golden Void is released on Monday through Thrill Jockey, available to pre-order on CD and LP from Amazon.co.uk [affiliate links].

Check out the video for 'Virtue' below:

Golden Void - Golden Void - coming in November and available for pre-order http://www.thrilljockey.com/thrill/Golden-Void/Golden-Void Video by Dyer-Green Filmed on location in at the San Francisco Botanical Garden and Japanese Tea Garden Volcano Footage from the National Archives and Records Administration and the Prelinger Archives Additional footage Filmed by Tenkai Karina and Tyler Green.

EP Review: The Inflated EP - Mr Ho

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The Inflated EP - Mr Ho

Opening with a tight four-four beat and layers of synth Mr Ho's new EP on Klasse Recordings aims but doesn't quite reach it's target.

Title track 'The Inflated' ironically remains a little flat... Beyond that initial beat it just doesn't really go anywhere. The bass line that drops mid-way through adds some colour but other than that it is a little clinical.

Much more interesting is 'No Explanation', which opens up with a tight, compact bassline and plenty of faux-vinyl crackle (presumably very annoying on actual vinyl...). This track is really made by the classic house bassline, building synths, big harsh drums and a spoken vocal. It is a track so obsessed with the past that it is difficult to take it at face value: wouldn't an actual classic be better? Still - the synth work and warm pads make it a decent box filler for DJs into this sort of proto-house sound.

The EP is rounded out with another take on 'No Explanation' - Nick Harris drops a mix that loses most of the charm of the original, leaving the vocal (fine) and bringing in a harsh, slightly bouncy bass line (less fine). Unfortunately it all feels like a bit of a missed opportunity.

The Inflated EP is out now on Klasse Recordings.

Album Review: So It Goes - David Shaw And The Beat

David Shaw's debut album opens in one of the most assured fashions I've ever heard. 'Finders Keepers' demonstrates no urgent need to make an impression: the hollow analogue synth and taught rhythm guitar build the first two minutes out to perfection, so when the beat actually drops it feels like you might be three tracks in - receptive and welcoming what follows.

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So It Goes - David Shaw And The Beat

Born and raised in Manchester but transported to Paris for his teenage years David Shaw has clearly been influenced by both sides of the pond. Having played with Black Strobe on guitars, bass and keyboard there is both a suave Parisian and a cool post-punk Mancunian itching to get out here.

Shaw performs an excellent revision of The The's 'Infected' - pulsing synth-work punctuating a deep bass line beneath Shaw's sensuous vocals. Similarly 'No More White Horses' is an unrelenting electro-funk strut - here especially Shaw feels like a European imagining of Tiga and it's hard not to love the big, reverb-drenched drums. And that is all just in the first three tracks.

Shaw is clearly caught up with cult scenes. I hoped the album was named after Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five. It turns out it isn't - at least not directly - but it comes from the next best thing, taking inspiration from Manchester icon and Factory Music creator Tony Wilson (after his TV show of the same name). And elsewhere 'Single Serving Friend', with it's robotic percussion and sleazy bass, clearly references Chuck Palaniuk's Fight Club (or at least David Fincher's movie adaptation).

It is almost all a bit much. The only real criticism to be levelled at Shaw's debut album is that it all begins to sound fairly similar towards the end. It lacks a natural flow or any real breaks in momentum beyond the very interlude in the form of 'North Wnd Does Slow' shortly before the end. This is an album without punctuation - taken in individually the material all stands repeated listening, it is only as a consistent whole that things can feel overwhelming. When it is good, as on the low-slung 'Like Swans', with its vocals placed lower in the mix and the analogue synths exuding cool, it all works perfectly.

So It Goes is out now through Her Majesty's Ship, available on CD and MP3 from Amazon.co.uk [affiliate links].

EP Review: Ain't Got The Time EP - Navid Izadi

You can tell a lot about Navid Izadi by with whom he associates - this EP on Double Standard features the soulful PillowTalk and he has recently worked with Deniz Kurtel and Soulclap.

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Ain't Got The Time EP - Navid Izadi

So much of the EP has the exactly the kind of simple yet well perfected electronic sound of someone like Kurtel but with a little more soulful flair. There is a bluesy mood through the whole EP and the vocals all play to that. The title track has a simple spongy analogue bass sound wrapped in slow moving synths and hard 808 electro rhythms together with a moody vocal. This is then followed by 'Lost In The Fold', which retains the muted tone but has a little bit of disco in its heart, the warm, soft electronic chords the perfect soundtrack to early mornings and driving through the dark. It is a well realised track and a highlight of the EP.

PillowTalk feature on two tracks - 'Too Long' and 'Follow The Leader'. Their vocal style is actually pretty similar to Navid's and so it isn't surprising to hear them here, though some vocoder work on the first of these tracks does lessen their usual impact a little. 'Too Long' is played a little more free form than much of the rest of this EP, with an extended middle-break. 'Follow The Leader' lets the vocals come through a little stronger and features a rap from Navid - it sounds like something Outkast would make with enough time locked in a Detroit nightclub, which is pretty good as far as I'm concerned. Deep, thick and strange - once again, it is a real highlight of this six track EP.

Ain't Got The Time EP is released through Double Standard on 12 November, available to pre-order on Amazon.co.uk on MP3 [affiliate link].

You can stream 'Lost In The Fold' on Soundcloud below - there are a few more tracks on Navid's Soundcloud page:

Single Review: One More Chance - Pablo Nouvelle

I've been wanting to cover Pablo Nouvelle for a few months but only just had the opportunity​ - frankly this new release was just too good to sleep on..

​Pablo Nouvelle is Fabio Friedli and this new single continues his musical experimentation with soul, pop, trip hop and house. 'One More Chance' has a real melancholy running though it, the vocals pleading with a soon-to-depart lover for that opportunity the track is named after.

The track starts with a soulful organ section, muted keys playing out a tearful melody whilst the vocals lay the emotional groundwork. The heavy bass and the riffing chords that kick in halfway through are what gives the track it's gravity though - it's pretty irresistible. Finally the track ends on a quiet, contemplative section - the musical equivalent of those closing shots in The Graduate. Does this suggests our protagonist didn't get that one more chance? Or perhaps he did, but things ended badly anyway?

​B-side 'Winter In Helsinki' applies slow, heavy beats to a carefully picked out layered piano jazz melody. It feels a little like Aim (remember them?) - a wintery instrumental that counters the high-emotion of the a-side.

One More Chance is self-released by Pablo Nouvelle on 5 November, keep an eye on his site for more. You can stream 'Winter In Helsinki' below​: