Albums I Heard In January

Contra by Vampire Weekend

There seems to have been a recent backlash against Vampire Weekend, the group being vilified for being ‘preppy’ (well, it doesn’t help if the girl on the sleeve is wearing a Ralph Loren polo shirt), but overall there has been an air of snobbiness about them, which I find really annoying. They are a very good band who have made two very good records, and Contra is a fine follow up. There is nothing on the new album that feels immediate as say ‘Cape Cod…’ or ‘Oxford Comma’, but overall it’s a far more consistent record that blends a huge amount of influences (world, synth-pop, indie, folk, dance, rock n roll) into something pretty coherent. ‘


Hortacha’ starts things off with some really odd lyrics, ‘Holiday’ feels like it could be off the first album but is more complex in its arrangements. Lead off single ‘Cousins’ is an absolute belter as is the sure-to-be-next-single ‘Giving up the Ghost’ which provides the album with its most sing a long moment, and is probably my favourite here. ‘Diplomats Son’ boasts an MIA sample, but sounds light hearted and sweet and far removed from its context..


Anyway, what the critics have been pretty much spot on with Contra. It is quiet, complex yet effortless, and its superb melodies really get under your skin. Although not as immediate as the debut, it has sold well, and I have found myself listening to it the most out of these records. Basically, it’s an excellent album and doesn’t have a single weak song on it.


Heliogland by Massive Attack
Long breaks in music can be a mixed blessing. One the one hand, Massive Attacks fellow Bristolian trip hop pioneers Portishead returned from an eleven year absence with the sublime ‘Third’, which redefined their sound and managed to sound nothing like their back catalogue or anything in the charts at the moment. On the other, there are groups like my beloved New Order, who reformed after a nine year break and released two turgid albums, unworthy of their greatness, before finally calling it a day. Released almost exactly seven years after their previous and dull album, ‘100th Window’; ‘Heliogland’ is a similarly dull affair.


Of course, it is unfair to compare them to Portishead simply because they are from a similar genre, but nevertheless the break between albums has allowed for little or no change in style and no display of honing their craft. Perhaps it was the departure of Mushroom after their last great record ‘Mezzanine’ that was the key factor, allowing 3D to pretty much claim 100th Window as a solo album. Well, here the main return of Daddy G appears to have achieved little. ‘Heliogland’ recycles all of the clichés that Massive Attack helped to invent, but without any real sense of innovation. Also, the album is peppered with guest vocalists from Damon Albarn and Guy Garvey to TV On The Radio’s Tunde Adebimp. These fine artists, sadly do little to enhance the album, and it plods along with little sense of variety or direction. Still, it does have one very good track: ‘Paradise Circus’ featuring Mazzy Star singer Hope Sandoval, which his haunting and gently seductive. Still, this alone does not save the album, so my advice is to download that track and leave the rest alone, and remember how powerful, innovative and moving Massive Attack used to be. The decline continues…


Black Noise by Pantha Du Prince
Excellent third album by German producer Hendrick Weber managhes to find the correct note between the thoughtful and the hedonistic. Panda Bear, who is ‘so hot right now’ makes a guest appearance on one of the tracks but the whole album makes for a great listen. Not absorbed it enough yet, and have only listened to it twice, but it is well worth the effort.


Teen Dream by Beach House
Outstanding album from these summery American indie types. The whole record seems to be filled with a sense of dream like longing. The opening track Zebra is gorgeous, and the singles Used To Be and Norway are filled with blessed out, summery gorgeousness but it’s 10 Mile Stereo that’s near the end of the album that really does it for me. Will sound even better when the summer comes, but even so, this is a great enough listen already. Superb.




Heartland by Owen Pallett
Breakthrough release from Owen Pallett, previously known as ‘Final Fantasy’. He attanged the strings for the Last Shadow Puppets album as well as for the Arcade Fire’s two LP’s. His style is fairly quirky and idiosyncratic (his live shows however are amazing) but this album really wins you over. Well constructed and beautifully arranged, it slowly unfolds with each and every listen. Quietly wonderful.




One Life Stand by Hot Chip
For some time now Hot Chip have struck me as the sort of band who could make a really great album. Unfortunately, they have yet to do it; ‘Coming On Strong’ was solid enough but lacked inspiration, ‘The Warning’, a huge leap forward and probably their best seemed uneven at times, while ‘Made in the Dark’ was overlong, messy and haphazard switching between synth stab experimentation and tender ballads. With their fourth album ‘One Life Stand’ they have created an album that is certainly coherent, but in that coherency lies its biggest problem.


It’s almost as if the band have taken a look at ‘Made in the Dark’ and felt that they had to make a decision as to who they were, and have gone for the ballads over the dancefloor and experimentation. At times if feels like Hot Chip are trying to sound like Robert Wyatt, the record is made up of soulful synth driven ballads, and is relatively light on dancefloor fodder. Still, it is by no means a bad album; the opening track ‘Thieves in the Night’ manages to straddle both camps and is one of their best songs; ‘I Feel Better’ is one of the best tracks on the album and one of my favourite by the group, it has to be the next single. The title track ‘One Life Stand’ is a fine, catchy number, but when you consider that the previous two albums opening singles were ‘Ready for the Floor’ and ‘Over and Over’ it can’t help but feel a little slight. After this the album sticks pretty much all of its ballads together, and while they are decent, well crafted and with good melodies, there just isn’t much to make you want to return to them, although ‘Brothers’ is quite decent. When the album returns to the dancefloor with ‘We Have Love’, it is a welcome break, though still does not realise the potential I know they have. The closing track, ‘Take it in’ ends things on a fine note though, a sleek stomper of a song that has the group finding its feet again.


‘One Life Stand’ does appear to have earned good reviews, with many people calling this their best album. Although, as I have said, I still don’t think they have made a great album I cannot agree. Perhaps I want something different from them, but even though ‘Made in the Dark’ was all over the place, it still had ‘Shake a Fist’, ‘Bendable Poseable’ and ‘Ready for the Floor’, three tracks better than anything here. In the final analysis, this album is competent, professional but not very impressive. You’ll enjoy it while it’s on, but not really feel the need to return to it in the years ahead. I feel that Hot Chip are destined to become like The Buzzcocks and Duran Duran: a singles band. When they get round to a greatest hits it will be a terrific listen from start to finish and that’s probably all you’ll need.


Acolyte by Delphic
Fortunately released right at the start of the year before they can be engulfed in the hype that is already surrounding them, this Manchunian indie/dance outfit have been slowly gathering momentum since the summer. The New Order comparisons are inevitable and for once justified. The best thing about Delphic is that unlike most similar bands they have perfected their technique in both indie and dance. ‘Doubt’ and ‘Counterpoint’ both have strong choruses typical of a decent indie/pop song and sonically the programming and beats on the album make it worthy of any all out dance producer at the same time.


A lions share of the credit must surely go to Berlin based DJ Ewan Pearson for his work here. The opening ‘side’ of the album gets things off to a great start. ‘Clarion Call’ is a fine, almost melancholic opener before moving into the terrific lead off single ‘Doubt’. ‘This Momentary’ has probably the catchy chorus of all though, and probably deserves a re-issue after becoming a small hit last year. The title track and centrepiece is moodily evocative and keeps the band firmly grounded in the dance camp.


Best of all though is probably ‘Counterpoint’ where they make as good an indie/dance song as I’ve heard in quite a while. It is huge, epic and powerful like Chemical Brothers meets Bloc Party. It stumbles a little in the middle, but overall it is a very well paced album nicely timed to catch the hype brigade off guard.


Hidden by These New Puritans
Already being heralded as a strong contender for album of 2010 in the same way that Merriweather… was early on last year. ‘Hidden’ is completely different in tone from that record, but it shares a bold sense of purpose with that record, and sounds completely original. ‘Hidden’ is a very dark, ominous record, it is the sort of album that more than deserves words like ‘apocalyptic’ and ‘gargantuan’ to describe it.


Almost every track has a looming, cinematic sense of dread to it. Single ‘We Want War’ thunders in early on with a minimalistic but earth shattering drumbeat typical of the rest of the album. ‘Attack Music’ sounds equally threatening with the sharpening of knives adding to various sound effects. ‘Orion’ builds up the strings and sounds positively Wagnerian. The production throughout the entire album is phenomenal, making perfect use of space to provide sheer menace, in the same way the XX use it to convey melancholic lust.


If there is a criticism of the album, its that it may be a bit samey to some, with its robotic drum beats, breathy vocals and near total absence of guitars. Also, is peppered with too many interludes and non-songs. But this is really clutching at straws, this is a wholly original art rock album, sounding like the sort of thing Muse should be making right now. It is a cliché, but play this record loud and terrify everyone in your house with it. Outstanding.