Funeral For A Friend - Hours (Review: Alex)

Back in 2005 I was unnecessarily stubborn. Locked firmly in a classic rock vacume; my music collection consisted of a variety of Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd albums, and not much else. This was exaggerated so much to the extent that I flatly refused to listen to this album based upon the fact that Funeral For A Friend were a pioneering band on the then growing emo scene. In other words: I was a closed-minded musical dick head. It was nice, therefore, to finally listen to this band with a truly open mind.

Funeral For A Friend are, in a sense, the band I expected them to be. They encapsulate the dark, melodic sound which became so popular a few years ago. On Hours, the band strike a nice balance between post-hardcore musical arrangements and powerful yet melodic vocals. I like Matt Davies' voice. His vocals are, I suppose, are the driving force behind the album, and provide a distinguishing factor in the bands sound.

One thing which struck me was the band's ability to contrast relatively unaggressive vocals with what is often quite a heavy musical arrangement. On 'All The Rage', for example, the guitar line is often something like what I might expect someone like Bullet For My Valentine to play, what with the drop tunings and frequent 'twiddly bits'. Yet the vocals strike a very different picture. This was odd to me, and I'm suprised it worked so well.

I do like this album. It's quite easy to listen to. But this is sort of a double-edged sword. whereas I have no trouble in listening to this album from start to finish, there is little which I found truly memorable. In fact, I had to listen to it at least three times before I began to recognise any of it. I also found certain tracks quite annoying, 'Drive' in particular. I think it was the 'feeling quite tragic' bit. But now I'm just being petty.

All in all, I certainly like this band. I can imagine that they would put on a pretty good live show and I wouldn't mind seeing them, given the chance. Thinking about it, a lot of good bands have come out of wales in recent years, and Funeral For A Friend certainly fit the category. The most important thing however, is that I am likely to listen to this album in future. I will therefore give it a commendable 3/5, based on the fact that it was good, but none of it expressely stuck in my mind.

Alex x

Elliott Smith - Roman Candle (Review: Alex)

I decided to do this album first, simply because I fancied some acoustic music. I had never heard of Elliott Smith, but Matt's description of the album made it sound quite cool.

Itunes tells me that I' have now listened to this album 10 times. That's because I genuinely love it. In terms of acoustic music, I haven't heard anything expressley similar to this. His voice isn't powerful, and so everything is kept low-key. It's the most mellow thing I've listened to in ages. There isn't an emphasis on any aspect in particular, everything is kept simple and proportional to everything else.

A lot of acoustic stuff often just makes me feel a bit depressed, people like Damien Rice and David Ford spring to mind. Although this is lyrically quite dark, I don't get the same feeling at all. I suppose it's quite cathartic really; although I appreciate that he is singing about dark things, 'I wanna hurt it' in 'Roman Candle' for example, I keep feeling slightly uplifted by the whole thing. Maybe it's the way Smith addresses his songs. His vocal melodies are quiet, and there are rarely any dynamics in the music. Also the chord progressions are played in a way which doesn't lend itself to depressing music. 'No Name #4' is an example of this.

This album is really a big old paradox. It is clearly a very dark album. I only have to listen to 'Last Call' to tell me that. The guitar overlay is gives the song a sluggish feel, which contributes strongly to the mood of the song a s a whole. Smith rarely sticks to a set chord pattern. This is reflected in a few of the songs, and to me this expresses a lingering feel to the album. Smith's voice, I have decided, sort of reminds me of Conor Oberst, the guy from Bright Eyes, in its tone. I'm not sure why, I guess they both sound a bit nasal..

I was a bit suprised by 'Kiwi Maddog 20/20'. It sounded very different to a lot of the rest fot he album. It had a sort of surf instrumental kind of feel. Something like 'Surf Rider' by The Lively Ones (which, by the way, I wouldn't know if it wasn't in Pulp Fiction. I'm not that sad...)

Anyway, I very much enjoyed this album, and it fully deserves another 5/5 from me.

Jonny Greenwood - There Will Be Blood (Review: Alex)

Somewhat naively, I was sort of expecting this to sound like a Radiohead album. Having not seen the film, this album really could have been anything. But I was glad it wasn't a Radiohead album, I like to hear something a bit different.

Maybe it's because I haven't seen the film however, that I don't really like this album too much. The opening track, 'Open Spaces' didn't really offer me anything as a stand-alone piece of classical music. It was really just a repeated orchestral phrase, which is by no means a bad thing. But this is only considering that it is a soundtrack. I suppose this is my point: I haven't seen There Will Be Blood. All the time I'm listening to the album, I just keep imagining what the film may or may not be like. It's actually quite annoying, picturing images in my head which undoubtedly have nothing to do with the film.

'Prospectors Arrive' is possibly one of the only tracks which I genuinely enjoyed as a piece of classical music. I didn't get the feeling that I should really be watching Daniel Day Lewis crying over the price of oil. Or somehting. It was nice. The piano intro was caming, and there was rarely anything which clashed. I know that Greenwood uses suspended chords, and other clashing sort of things to complement the feeling of the film. But again, I cannot appreciate this because I haven't seen it.

Maybe I'm being a bit harsh. Greenwood is clearly a talented musician. The album is good, as a soundtrack. But that, to me, is all that it is. I understand that it probably complements the mood and message of the film perfectly. But without the film, I cannot appreciate it. I do plan to watch There Will Be Blood, I've heard great things abouot it. Indeed, once I do I may eat these words. But for now I can't give it any more than a 2.5/5, simply because it doesn't do anything on its own.

Biffy Clyro - Puzzle (Review: Alex)

I listened to this album when it first came out, albeit briefly. I remembered liking it, but couldn't recall a single song from it. Having listened to it again, I can't remember why I didn't give it the recognition it deserves last time around.

I like this album for a number of reasons. First of all, there is an incredible depth to Biffy Clyro's sound. I have no idea how they do it; it could be down to some ridiculously high gauge guitar strings, or simply to some fantastic production. Either way, this album sounds like every note is resonating around my head long after it's been played. I'm not sure if I'm making any sense, but I can hear it most on 'Living Is a Problem...'. It makes the music sound artificially dark, and reminds me a lot of Led Zeppelin songs like 'Immigrant Song' and 'Moby Dick'. If this is a sound they can replicate live, then I would very much like to see them.

Another reason why I like this album is because I can't possibly place it into a genre. It's almost like a heavy sort of indie music. 'A Whole Child Ago' for example, has a very indie sort of riff, but is a quite heavy, quite dark song (as is the whole album, for that matter). Puzzle makes me wonder what ever happened to pure rock music. Every sort of music seems to be thrown into many millions of sub-genres (like when Roshan told me off for calling his album for this week 'classical'). It's nice to hear a band which doesn't fit into any preconcieved genre. It makes me think that they didn't set out to do anything, and landed upon their sound almost by accident.

Because there is so much I do like about this album, I find myself focussing on petty little things which I don't like. A lot of the time I just feel like they're putting things in, simply for the sake of being artistic. When, at the end of 'Saturday Superhouse' they slide out of key, I never fail to get very annoyed. I can't understand why they do it. It's almost as if they're trying to ruin the song. It's worse every time I listen to it aswell, simply because I'm expecting it. It's a shame, because it's a truly fantastic song. Similarly I can't see a need for the really long intro to 'Living is a Problem...', not because it's long, but because it lacks any sort of time signature or structure. At one point everything stops, and the drummer just hits the ride cymbal. Forgive me, but when I was in a band at the age of about 14, that's exactly the sort of thing I would have been doing. It's an unnecessary device, and doesn't make the band seem any better, or any cleverer than they are.

But like I said, this is all very petty indeed. I really like this album, and don't hesitate to give it a 4/5.

Skindred - Babylon (Review: Alex)

I'm stuck with this one. I've listened to the album a few times and I'm still not sure if I like it. Initially I thought it was quite clever. I read Roshan's review before listening to the album, and couldn't see how anyone could ever mix reggae with metal. But on listening to the album, I could hear the two genres suprisingliy clearly. On tracks such as 'Selector' I could hear distinct aspects of post-Bob Marley reggae. It was odd, to say the least, and I actually quite liked it.

There were a couple of tracks that I especially liked. 'Pressure' is a good song, and certainly the most catchy on the album. However, it is the song with the least amount of fusion between genres. This led me to think that the times when I liked the album were the times when the band wasn't trying to mess around with genres. Indeed, 'The Fear' is the least metal song on the album, and again, one of my favourites (it also sounds ridiculously like 'London Calling' by The Clash ('the rude boys are coming' onwards by comparison to 'The ice age is coming' onwards.), I'm not sure if they knew this...).

After a while, I began to find the vocals slightly annoying. The album began to sound like a collection of incoherent drivvle. A lot of the time it just sounded like a fight between metal and reggae, and I wanted it to decide what it wanted to be.

Like I said, I'm confused by this abum. I think I like it, but at the same time it annoyed me. I will therefore have to strike a happy medium at 2.5/5 (don't judge the 2 sig figs)

Radiohead - Ok Computer (Review: Alex)

This was another album on my already extensive list. It worked well for me, therefore, that Matt put it up. Never have I disliked a Radiohead song that I've heard, and The Bends is one of my favourite albums. It was therefore looking good for Ok Computer.

This album is fantastic, really it is. From the word go it had me hooked, with the interesting opening to 'Airbag', which sounds like it shouldn't really work as a guitar line. Radohead seem to have a knack for creating songs which sound initially weird, but are paradoxically so perfect. Everything works, everything fits perfectly.
Thom Yorke's voice is truly brilliant, as are his self reflective lyrics, exploring the notion of a rigid structure of life; 'Ambition makes you look pretty ugly', he says in 'Paranoid Android'. In fact, every track on this album has a quality which makes me think about things: it's what I liked so much about the Damien Rice album (back to the depressing music, probably).

Radiohead seem to know each other perfectly, and can play off each other's musical talent to create the perfect sound. Everything is subtle: the guitar lines complement Yorke's vioce to the extent where you don't even notice them being there. Even the slightly odd track 'Fitter Happier', which I suppose is a sort of interlude, compells me to listen. In fact, it took me a while to realise the Stephen Hawking-esque voice emmitting from my speakers. I suppose this carries on from the idea of computers underpinning humanity. Ordinarily I would have thought this quite unoriginal. Perhaps it was the, I suppose, 'lyrics' which dictated otherwise. I don't usually pay too much attention to lyrics (by this I mean they aren't the first thing I notice), but Radiohead have taught me otherwise;
'healthier and more productive
a pig in a cage on antibiotics.'

I don't know why, but I always expect Radiohead to be a lot heavier than they are. I suppose that, at some early stage in my musical development, I somehow attributed Radiohead to grunge music. Since then, I have always been pleased every time I realise that they offer far more than this. Their music is so well crafted that I don't think I could honestly put it into any genre. It's no wonder they have such immense global success. I genuinely love this album, and for the second time in two weeks, I'm awarding a 5/5.

It looks like a good week for Album Swap.

We Are Scienists - With Love And Squalor (Review: Alex)

We Are Scientists are a band I've always meant to listen to; the sort of band which I thought I would like, and which I could find no reason why I hadn't listened to yet. This album truly reaffirmed this suspicion, and I am now slightly ashamed that I haven't listened to them before.

Of course this is the only album I have to go on, but With Love And Squalor has led me to think that We Are Scientists are possibly the best indie band out there. 'Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt' is a fantastic opener, and is a prime example of the band's ability, as Ben said, to write a catchy riff, and follow it up with a great song. All too often I find a good riff spoiled by a mediocre song. We Are Scientists seem incapable of this.

Kieth Murray isn't a great vocalist, but I'm not sure he needs to be. The catchy, upbeat nature of the album doesn't lend itself to a reliance on a powerful voice. In fact, there is nothing technically brilliant about anything on this album. However I don't think this matters. I'm certainly not listening in the hope of hearing an ear-blistering guitar solo. It's great for every other reason imaginable. It's what we all look for in a great indie band: an ability to do as much as they can with as little as possible. We Are Scientists have a fantastic talent for this. Most of the songs on this album are just 3 or 4 chords, but that is by no means a hindrance.

I have to congratulate We Are Scientists on a brilliantly easy-listening album. Even the more mellow songs on the album, 'Textbook' in particular, seem strangely uplifting. As a result, I have little choice but to give With Love And Squalor 4/5, simply for doing exactly what was expected of it: nothing brilliant, but nothing at all bad.

Damien Rice - O (Review: Alex)

Possibly against Album Swap rules, I had already heard this album. But this didn't bother me in the slightest, because I was very pleased about the prospect of reviewing it.

This is one of my favourite albums to just sit and listen to. The ammount of essays it's helped me write is totally unimaginable. This is probably because of Rice's most distinguishable quality: his voice. It's perfectly suited to the mellow, reflective vibe which this album gives out, and is subtly powerful. This is often seen at the ending of many songs. 'Delicate', the opening track, is beautifully simple. I suppose it will become apparent as I review more albums that my favourite songs are often the simplest. 'Delicate' is the epitomy of this. The two chord structure works brilliantly, largely because of the variation Rice adds throughout, and complements his voice fantastically.

This said, the songs on this album aren't always as rhythmically simple as they first seem. 'The Blower's Daughter', for example, uses a very large number of chords, and rarely sticks to a set chord pattern. This seems odd in reflection, however it works. Similarly the key change at the end, I didn't even notice untill I found myself playing along one day (a very sad thing to be doing, and something I rarely admit to). I hate key changes, but this is brilliantly done.

I also enjoy the many appearences of Lisa Hannigan on the album. Her voice is great in a similar way to Damen Rice's is. I especially like the duet on 'Cold Water'. The change from singer to singer works really well.

I struggle to find a favourite track on this album, simply because I can't fault it. I probably like it because I have historically found a liking for reflective music (or depressing, as Tomb once pointed out). I suppose this album is slightly depressing, but that doesn't bother me. It's far too brilliant for that.

I promised myself I wouldn't do this. But I think this could well be the perfect album. Therefore I struggle to give it anything other than 5/5. Well done Damien Rice.

Proudentall - What's Happening Here (Review: Alex)

I'd heard of the word 'emo' in the context of the 1990s a while ago, and always meant to look into it. I was, therefore, pleased when Matt uploaded this album. Having listened to it a number of times, I have to contrast Roshan's review entirely.

I think this album is genuinely fantastic. True, the opening track has a slightly conspicuous name ('Kill Myself') and really offers very little as an album opener, but there is something I like about it. It's angry, but manages to do it without being excessively heavy. The second track, 'Instrumental Like a Compass', flowed really well from the previous song, almost like an extended outro. I really enjoyed it as an instrumental. There was a repeated guitar phrase which I thought was ridiculously catchy, though it is hard to describe in an instrumental song.

every song has a sound, simple structure. This is a fundamental feature I think. It's often the most simple of songs which catch my attention. However throughout the album I was pleased to hear subtle influences from other genres (notably the jazz theme in 'Live Drawing Dead Winter'). Similarly the violins in 'Untitled With Mike and Breeze' came as a very welcome suprise and complemented the rest of the music brilliantly.

This isn't to say there wasn't things I didn't like. Though I thought 'Live Drawing Dead Winter' was good in that it moved away from a set style, the two chord backing felt to me like it should be moving through sections, and was sticking in the same place. This is fine for a while, but seven and a half minutes later and I was getting a bit bored.

The final track 'Winter Dead Drawing Line' was odd, and at first I wasn't sure if i liked it. It gave off the same sort of demonic vibe as The Stranglers' 'Waltzinblack', but far more minimalistic. In the end I decided that this was a nice end to an oddly enjoyable album. I think I'll give this album 4/5.

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion (Review: Alex)

I really wanted to like this album. Being the pretentious loser I am, I like to think of myself as one of those people who appreciates the slightly out-there, slightly experimantal stuff which no one really listens to. I'd never heard of Animal Collective before, and when Matt told me that they were nothing like he's ever heard before, things were looking up.

The reality is however, that no matter how much I wanted to like this album (and believe me, I tried), I really struggled to find anything I distinctly enjoyed. Sure, it's different. The intro to the opening track, 'In The Flowers', felt like it was leading me into something new, something interesting. Even the interestingly out of key vocals initially caught my attention in what I'm sure was a good way. However, within about a minute is was already bored. This contradicts what I said to Matt earlier this week; that I rarely find myself bored by songs. However this album gave me the feeling throughout that it should be leading me in a direction, and was failing to deliver.

This said, there were aspects I enjoyed. I don't really know what it was, but I did like 'Summertime Clothes'. It seemed to offer a bit more than the rest of the album.

All in all however, it reminded me of bands like The Polyphonic Spree, and Arcade Fire, both of whom I have a strong distaste for. It felt to me that they were simply trying too hard. I'd like to see this band sit down and just write a song, without the intention of being anything new or radical. That way, I think they might actually be quite good. As it stands, they seem to be striving for something new. If I want this sort of music, I'll listen to MGMT, who give off the same vibe, but manage to do it in a way which is pleasing to my tender little ears.

Sorry guys, but this time I'm going for a 2/5.

Jimmy Eat World - Futures (Review: Alex)

I've Listened to two Jimmy Eat World albums previous to this one: Bleed American and Chase This Light (purely for their respective singles, somewhat shamefully). Whereas I was very impressed by Bleed American, my opinion on Chase This Light was that it didn't live up to quite the same standard. I was, therefore, interested to see what I would think of Futures.

Having read Dan's review before listening to the album, the opening track provoked thoughts that my review would end up going in much the same direction. The guitar riff to 'Futures', I thought, was pretty awful. In fact, I didn't really enjoy much of this track on first listening. It's the sort of thing which I'm sure I could have written myself, and I'm Not even close to being in a globally successful band.

However, 'Just Tonight', by total contrast, is a great song. It's catchy (especially in the chorus, which is always important), and something about it shows me a new side to Jimmy Eat World which I can't exactly place. Had I the authority to do so, I would certainly have chosen this as the opening track.

I'm in danger of going through the album track by track, but 'Work' is one of the best things I have heard Jimmy Eat World do. In fact, I've never noticed a Jimmy Eat world album in which the band moves so freely and easily into drop tunings. The album, and this song in particular, shows me something new, dark and interesting about the band which I have never noticed before. It reminds me a lot of 'Hear You Me' from Bleed American, but offers so much more.

From the second track onwards, this album moved up and up in my perception. They offer something soothing, but paradoxically with a lot of 'grunt' (much as I hate that word, it's the most fitting one). It's subtle and simple, but throughout there is an underlying feeling that there is something more. I get this sense most while listening to 'The World You Love'; something that I just can't place. This is a very clever trick to have pulled off and is a testament to the band's songwriting, if not technical, talent.

I'm not sure how they managed it, but with Futures, Jimmy Eat World managed to pull off something ever so slightly different. I think this easily deserves a 3.5/5, though I feel I really should be giving it more.

Metallica - Master of Puppets (Review: Alex)

I've never listened to an entire Metallica album before, so I have no frame of reference. I've never liked the few Metallica songs which I've heard over the years, and was therefore quite sceptical about this album. Saying this, I was hoping to be proven wrong. The reality is, that this album was everything I expected it to be: pure thrash metal.

This isn't to say I didn't enjoy it though. I know I'm contradicting everything I have just said, but there are aspects of this album which I very much enjoy. There is a lot of power behind it, which is to be expected from a band with such credibility in the metal genre, and I think this works well on all levels. This album isn't proving anything, and it doesn't need to; it's thrash at its best, and Metallica know exactly what they're doing. The harmonised guitar solos work wonders as a contrast to the anger which drives the album.

One thing I don't like is, somewhat controversially, Ulrich's drumming. Throughout the album I can't help but think he's just being plain lazy. Moments in 'Welcome Home' and 'Disposable Heroes' tell me that he is a great drummer, but this isn't consistent enough for me. Similarly, and I echo Dan's sentiment here when I say, Hetfield's vocals often do nothing other than to get on my nerves.

Possibly a reflection upon my general dislike for thrash metal, the best aspects for me are when the band breaks down into some slow, melodic, often harmonised guitar lines, heard midway through 'The Thing That Should Not Be' and in 'Orion'. It shows to me that Metallica are far more than the average thrash band. I genuinely believe that it is this which Metallica can trace their immense global success to.

I do quite like this album. It's no nonsense, which is undoubtedly its strength. It has put Metallica slightly up in my expectations, and warrants I think, a 3/5.

Audioslave - Audioslave (Review: Alex)

The initial problem I have with Audioslave is that they are neither Soundgarden or Rage Against the Machine, two of my favourite bands. I have always been sceptical about whether or not Cornell and Morello could pull it off. I have to say that, with the opening track to this album, it wasn't off to a great start. The guitar riff to Cochise harbours an uncanny resemblance to Pantera's I'm Broken. Nevertheless I do enjoy the song. Audioslave do it better, but Pantera did it first.

I am suprised, therefore, at how much I actually enjoyed this album. I was especially impressed by the tracks; 'Like a Stone', 'I am the Highway' and 'Set it off'. A lot of it proved to me that Morello's trademark guitar riffs do, indeed, work without Zach De La Rocha's anger fuled rapping. However this probably owes a great deal to the power of Cornell's voice, which is able to keep up with the power of Morello's guitar. My favourite aspects of this album, however, are the moments when the band manages to forget the supergroups they came from. It shows me something different about the diversity of Morello in particular, something he later recaptured with his side project, The Nightwatchman.

All in all, I am very impressed. It certainly isn't something I will now stop listening to. I will therefore give it a very respectable 4/5.