Monday, 16 July 2007

Riff Tiffs review

Riff Tiffs - Afflictinnitus (originally posted at www.thesilentballet.com)


Score: 2/10

Hope of the States’ successor, Troubles, titled their debut tour as Slow Down or Die. Not, as you may first think, as a reference to their rock ‘n’ roll lifestyles, but instead to their new, more agreeable, and ambient sound. Listening to Riff Tiffs opening track, “James Ralph Brown Part I,” from their second full-length release Afflictinnitus, it would be easy to believe they’d taken Sam J. Herlihy’s advice. Slow-building and not dissimilar to Romance of Young Tigers, “James Ralph Brown Part I” manages to misguide the listener into thinking the rest of the album will be this impressive. This is not the case. The unnecessarily titled “James Ralph Brown Part II” carries on from where “Part I” left off, until roughly half-way through, when Maroon 5 apparently hijack the studio. At this point, the group ditch any post-rock visions they were holding onto and instead opt to emulate Chris Martin sunning himself in the Orange County. This seven minute mash-up is followed by “Nightmare”. The title of the track is a clear indication of what’s to come. It seems the band wanted to create their very own Bends era Radiohead classic, but end up churning out a Brand New indebted, well, nightmare.

Third track, “In My Brain (There Are Waves),” is actually the Mancunian, abused love child of Oasis and The Stone Roses. This is quite clearly not a youth you’d want to be associated with. By this point, Riff Tiffs must realize how rotten they sound, as they attempt to claw back any positive parts the album had (e.g., the beginning) by mimicking their influences for the rest of the LP. This is a cue for more Radiohead worship, emo-rific breakdowns and feeble attempts at math-rock. Oh, and I’ve yet to mention the lyrics. “Cornman’s” climax contains the following vocal effort: “You’re green or blue, take off your shoes, you know it’s true,” which is delivered with a disturbing amount of self-belief, normally reserved for energetic and happy-clappy Church healing sessions.

Riff Tiffs are obviously bursting with musical love. They want to portray the adoration they have for their influences through this release, but instead of coming off as one big explosion of genre-breaking-beats, it’s a lot like the orgy scene in Eyes Wide Shut, uncomfortable and a little bit scary. Perhaps Riff Tiffs should “Slow Down and Stop-Trying-To-Reenact-Lazy-Boring-College-Rock-Alongside-Post-Hardcore-Climaxes”. Sadly, that’s not as catchy as Mr. Herlihy’s wise words though, is it?

Luff review

Luff - Blanket Ice (originally posted at www.thesilentballet.com)



Score: 7/10

In 2002 I obtained a copy of Sleater-Kinney’s One Beat. Free from the “mind-forg’d manacles” that are the internet, I was able to create my own perceptions of the album and it impressed me greatly. Admittedly, the record probably isn’t viewed as the most important release of that year, but it captured the heart of a young teenager. Five years later, it’s become a rarity to hear of a band or artist without being steadily force-fed information about the release in question beforehand from blogs, forums, and general internet types (with the exception of the almighty The Silent Ballet, of course). Now Luff's first full-length effort, Blanket Ice, has been released under the radar; my first perceptions of the album? I wish more blogs, forums and internet types were talking about it, simply because it’s a release that does deserve to be talked about, a lot.

Luff, who formed in 2002, have waited five years (readers who are even remotely paying attention will note this is spookily the same amount of time since “One Beat” was first released) to officially put out a solid selection of songs. The half-a-decade wait appears to be worth it, as from opener “Blanket Ice” to closer “Corresponding” there are no obvious flaws, except that they should have really included more songs. 35 minutes really isn’t enough time to show off the quartet’s fluent and loose take on predominately instrumental rock.

Sculpting sounds that resemble Mogwai and Sonic Youth overdosing on diazepam but refusing to create an ambient record, Luff raise the tempo by adding a secret mix of musical-amphetamines, in the form of Youthmovie Soundtrack Strategies guitar emulation and vocals that sound like a vastly improved Meanwhile, Back in Communist Russia…. Notably, in one part of the record the Youthmovies love is verging on plagiarism, with “Mississippi” sounding strikingly similar to the Oxfordians effort “The Pitch and Yaw of Satellites." Aside from these forgivable mistakes (with Luff hailing from Brooklyn, it’s unlikely they set out to mimic British fellows Youthmovies), Blanket Ice is a brilliant debut. Although the album flows effortlessly, most tracks could be singled out for their own due merits. Particular reverie should be directed towards “Rigging Slumber,” which combines an expertly timed reversed-sample with elements of K.C. Accidental guitar-neck-sliding.

I feel it’s now fair to make one evaluation about 2002; it was, retrospectively, a good year for my ever-changing relationship with music. Sleater-Kinney started my interest in alternative music and Luff are a welcome reminder of how good music can be, or at the very least, how damn good 2002 was.

Wednesday, 4 July 2007

Arca review

Arca - On Ne Distinguait Plus Les Têtes (originally posted at www.thesilentballet.com)


Score: 6.5/10

Arca are a small collective of musicians, the core of which are duo Joan Cambon and Sylvain Chauveau. Formed in 2000, seven years later they are releasing their third album, On Ne Distinguait Plus Les Têtes, on Ici D'Ailleurs, which boasts releases from artists such as Dominique Petitgand and Yann Tiersen. In the company of such notable composers, Arca’s sound has developed into a vast sea of vocals, samples, and instrumentation, allowing them to create songs that convey their view of life and society.

Sylvain Chauveu has the role of vocalist in Arca, and for the most part, vocals are a strange feature. At their peak, the vocal effort allows Arca to sound reminiscent of a skewed, samples-friendly Bill Callahan. “Laced by the night” is a distinct example of their lyrical craft working well alongside the instrumentation. Perhaps one of the most important songs on Arca’s effort at seven tracks in, the song falls in a territory between Low and Smog, but doesn’t allow itself to be musically constrained by either. Yet, Arca’s lyrics are also the main proponent of their weakest points on the record. Weary and uninvolved, “Lonesome witness of her nudity” stumbles to find its footing in the album. Arca cite literature and film as part of their inspiration and it’s clear “Lonesome witness” was intended to mirror stream of consciousness writing. However, instead of becoming Joyceian shoe-gaze heroes, Arca sound disturbingly like they’re reading an erotic Mills & Boon novel aloud.

Having received relatively positive reviews for their previous two albums, Arca had the task of approaching their third release and singling out what they feel works and quite simply, what doesn’t. On Ne Distinguait Plus Les Têtes gives the distinct impression that Cambon and Chauveau are trying to cover as much musical ground as possible. Arca include wholly instrumental creations such as “On discernait un visage,” which, although a favourable effort, I’d hazard the guess that it’s included to suggest to the listener that they’re still capable of writing instrumental and commanding soundscapes. The openness of their sound doesn’t prove to be a negative point of the record. “Sunday negative” has such beautiful instrumentation that the song soon becomes a journey and could quickly become the soundtrack to a melancholic dream. Amongst jewels, there are some sporadically placed fillers. The albums closing track “Probléme ici / maybe London” is, to be blunt, pointless. Using the same pan effects as Set Fire to Flames album opener “I will be True,” “Probléme ici…” leaves the album with an air of ambiguity, a brave idea but perhaps not the most appropriate one when the record itself slips too often between gems and junk.

When the album has reached its final destination, and you’re left wondering where Arca are going to go next, don’t expect to find yourself in a strange new land, instead place more emphasis on the journey that’s just taken place. Approach On Ne Distinguait Plus Les Têtes as a listener not looking for an epic soundtrack that Clint Mansell would be proud of, but instead, the soundtrack to your own life, as Sylvain utters in “Laced By the Night”: “this is for you.”