Errors review

Errors - It's Not Something, But it is Like Whatever (Originally posted at www.thesilentballet.com)

Score: 7/10

Most instrumental music fans seem to know the following about Errors; they are signed to Mogwai’s Rock Action label. Of course, I am not going to pretend that I know what their favourite flavour of ice cream is, or what socks they wear on a Saturday, as this is not Smash Hits, and I don’t know anyway. The point I’m trying to make is that Errors seem to have caused quite a stir in the instrumental world, but no one has yet discerned whether this is because of their own musical merits, or whether Stuart Braithwaite has been secretly pulling the media’s strings behind the scenes, like some sort of Scottish post-rock puppet master, or whatever. The second “danger,” if you like, of signing to a band-created record label is becoming a carbon copy of your boss. You need only have a listen to Hotel 2 Tango’s/Constellation’s recent output to realise that it has A Silver Mt. Zion stamped all over it, and although you could argue that this has worked positively for certain bands (for example, British Sea Power), from a listeners point of view, you wonder if the bands in question have put their creative vision on hold in order to accommodate their sound engineer’s or boss’s own ideas. Thankfully, Mogwai don’t seem to be as, dare I say it, narcissistic as this and Errors’ debut, It's Not Something But It is Like Whatever, stings of individuality and a direct creative vision.

What is particularly interesting about this debut is how effortlessly it moves between genres; opener “Dance Music” cherry picks key ideas from electronica, math-rock, and unsurprisingly, dance, to create a song that is, in some respects similar to 65daysofstatic’s recent dance venture “Dance Parties [Distant/Mechanised]” but then at the same time completely different. I apologise now that my review can’t be as clear as I would like it to be, it is just that Errors are somewhat indescribable. In my last review, I picked on Soulwire’s A Radiant Nothing for essentially cherry picking trademark sounds from certain genres and splicing them together, but please don’t be mistaken that Errors are doing the same. Instead, they cut and paste together the best bits of their favourite music in order to create “something” new entirely. Or maybe it is not "something…"

There are moments though when this cut and paste attitude can become slightly worn, such as “Cutlery Drawer,” which starts with some promising Matmos-style rattling of cutlery, but then quickly declines with the introduction of George Pringle, an Oxford based spoken word artist, who comes off as more Mandy “bad to have a bad uncle” from Nathan Barley as opposed to fellow Oxfordshire residents Meanwhile…Back in Communist Russia. Still, Pringle only makes an appearance on one track and although the song is weakened by her interspersed ramblings, Errors soon make up for it with seven minute beauty “Pump,” an irresistibly danceable number that puts on hold guitar based melodies and gives synth its time to shine.

Whether Errors’ first EP, How Clean is Your Acid House would have become The Independent’s EP of the week if the band didn’t have such strong links with Mogwai remains to be seen, but It's Not Something But It is Like Whatever is an album that refuses to be classified, nor is it content to be pigeonholed. Perhaps this is the reasoning behind the album title, as after listening I know “it’s not something, but it is like” pretty good, anyway, “whatever.”

Explosions in the Sky interview

Explosions in the Sky interview (ATP series, originally posted at www.thesilentballet.com)


So how was your breakfast? You mentioned that it was a bit nasty?

Chris Hrasky: No it was good, but you know, not that American breakfasts are particularly healthy, but somehow English breakfasts seem even unhealthier than American ones, which is a pretty tall order.

I’m always amazed that you have pancakes for your breakfast.
CH: I’m always amazed that you don’t!
Matthew Cooper (Eluvium): I don’t like the sweets for breakfast either. I usually just move straight to lunch.
CH: But English breakfast is like baked beans for breakfast!

Do you not have that?
CH: No, that’s crazy! We have eggs, sausage, toast, bagels...
MC: Pancakes, waffles, cereal...

What, all at once?
CH: If you want, you can do it all at once.

So is your food free then? We saw one of the PR people last night incredibly stressed out because someone wasn’t eating the catering…
CH: Well, all the bands get it catered.

Any idea who might not be eating it then?
CH: No, I don’t know, I mean today was actually really busy, Ghostface was over there this morning, The National were over there, Constantines, Beach House, Animal Collective, Jens Lekman. This was the first time I haven’t seen Dinosaur Jr. over there eating, so they’re enjoying it. I don’t know, I would think maybe Ghostface…
MC: But he was over there, enjoying it.

Anyway, this interview isn’t just about breakfast…
CH: It could be, I could go on and on about breakfast…

I am quite hungry, so best not, but how did the idea come about for you to curate All Tomorrow’s Parties then? In the ATP passport you compared yourself to janitors?
CH: We just feel very surprised that they asked us to do this, we’re excited by it but like it says in the passport, we’d kind of talked to Barry [Hogan, the man who started ATP] every time we saw him, just like “maybe er, if you’re looking for anybody to curate…” and he was like “yeah, yeah, really you guys wanna do it?”, and that’s been going on for years. Finally, he just called us last fall and asked if we wanted to do it, we obviously said yes and just gave him the list.

So you handpicked all the bands then, how did you choose who to play? Was it a mixture of bands that you wanted to see live and bands you were friends with?
CH: Kind of a mixture of both, but the bands we’re friends with are also bands that we also liked, but yeah the four of us just made our each individual list and a lot of the stuff was the same, so we just whittled it down, then ATP will go and ask people and say “okay, we need a second list, or we need to shorten the list or lengthen the list”. It was trial and error really, just this process where you have to get forty to forty-five bands.

Was there anyone that you wanted to play that was unable to?
CH: Yeah, we wanted to get a Neutral Milk Hotel reunion, but that didn’t happen, Bedhead reunion, Jawbreaker reunion, Unwound reunion, none of those happened, but we got Polvo which is pretty exciting.

And Dinosaur Jr as well.
CH: Yeah, but they’ve been doing their whole thing.
Chris is interrupted by an hungry seagull, which he compares to the ducks he has been feeding cookies to in his chalet…
CH: These guys are not like the ducks! Look how nice those ducks are! There are a few bands we asked that couldn’t do it for various reasons, but most of the bands we asked said yes. I think bands have either played ATP before and enjoyed it, or heard about it and want to play it.

I think most people try for Bob Dylan…
CH: We were at one point thinking “shall we try and ask for Neil Young?”, but they couldn’t get Neil Young, maybe they could, I don’t know.

Maybe in a few years you can come back.
CH: Yeah, and get Neil Young, maybe he’ll take a lower fee or something.


I was interested in the remix EP for All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone, where did the idea for that spring from?
CH: Well, it was more…
Chris is again interrupted by the now angry seagull…
CH: You gotta get out of here! Go to your nest!
MC: Should I scare him off? (Matthew flails towards the seagull, Chris continues…)
CH: Actually, it was our U.S label’s idea, because we had been approached about doing remix records before and never wanted to, we’ve never really liked remix records. When a band has a remix record I’ve always never really listened to those, and I think the whole idea was they wanted to make this to maybe counter downloads, put out something so that you have to buy the CD or whatever. So we were like “ahh, okay” and he let us pick people to do the remixes, and I kind of like the remix record better than the actual record. So it turned out really well, we were expecting kind of “ahh, whatever”, but we were really pleased with it actually. (Addressing Matthew Cooper) Good work, Coops.

So this isn’t the first time you’ve visited All Tomorrow’s Parties?
CH: We’ve played the Cambersands one in 2004, and we also did one in Los Angeles, the Modest Mouse one, which was very different to this kind of one. I think they stopped doing it there as it was a lot more like a normal festival, it didn’t have this kind of feeling at all. It didn’t really work that well.

Because there’s a New York one as well.
CH: Yeah I think that one’s going to be more like this.

There’s quite a good line up for that one as well
CH: Yeah, the My Bloody Valentine one, I think I’m going to go (addressing “Coops”), are you going to go?
MC: Yeah, it’s Built to Spill, My Bloody Valentine...
CH: Yo La Tengo, Mogwai, Dinosaur Jr.

Will you be heading to that one for free then, seeing as you’ve already curated one?
CH: I think I can get some tickets, I’ll talk to Barry about it, (addressing Cooper) I’ll see what I can do buddy!

See, you haven’t curated one yet, as soon as you do though…
MC: I think that’s a long way off.
CH: Oh, come on now, next year, I’ve already signed the deal for you.

Have a chat with Barry, I’m on first name terms with “Barry” now and I haven’t even met him.
CH: He’s a cool guy, he’s wandering around here every now and again, he’s very busy, frantic, but he’s put this thing together and I couldn’t put this together, it’s so complicated.

So Butlins is all shut down now then, because when we arrived we saw a very large family trying to get in…
CH: Yeah, it’s just ATP here.

We felt a bit like, “did you not realise this was going on”?
CH: Yeah, the rides are shut down and there’s going to be a lot of crazy people running around, you don’t want to bring your kids to this.

It would have been quite funny though if the kids genuinely wanted to go to ATP.
CH: They probably would have been, there aren’t any crazy jerks, are there?
MC: I don’t know, you did the list!
CH: True, that’s true, I don’t know. The ducks are here to play with though.

I’ve read in a previous interview that you’ve described a song as a “story”, what sort of stories were playing out on the last record then?
CH: We never have really specific stories. I guess it’s more that we want them to move like a story, as a kind of beginning that builds to something. Almost like a three act narrative, I guess, in terms of ever having a specific story, like “this is a story about a guy who climbs a mountain and finds treasure”, it’s never really that specific. It’s more that we want it to kind of have the movement of a story, where it’s not just a traditional song, not like a verse and a chorus and things just repeating, not that there’s anything wrong with that, that’s just not what we’re doing. It’s more like we just want it to feel like stories, as opposed to having a specific story.

I’m glad, as I read that and thought “I’m not really getting anything specific from this!”
CH: It sounds kind of goofy but we kind of like the idea of people listening to it and sort of making up their own little stories, if they care to, or they can just have it on in the background and do the dishes.

Are you working on anything new at the moment? Are there any new songs in your live set?
CH: We have a few new songs, well just little bits and pieces of new songs. We’ve been touring a lot, so once that’s done, in a couple of weeks, then we’re going to start working on new stuff, and one of the guys in the band is going to have a baby in September, well, he’s not, his wife is.

Arnold Schwarznegger style?
CH: Yeah, we’re doing Junior 2 with Mark Smith! So he’s going to be kind of busy, hopefully we’ll start work on stuff this summer, and then maybe take some time off in the fall.
A small black bird lands on the table next to us…
CH: Look, there’s a new bird!

Is it a crow?
CH: That’s something cuter than a crow; I don’t know what that thing is. I like him though. But yeah, hopefully it’ll [the new record] not take us two years, but it might.

How is touring for you?
CH: It’s a little tiring, and we can’t do any writing, there’s just no way for us to do that, and you just kind of miss home.

Am I right in thinking you’re in the middle of a world tour?
CH: For the last year and a half we’ve been touring non-stop, but we’ve been going since January with a couple of breaks in between, now we’ve just got a couple of weeks left. Then we’re done (addressing Cooper), you too buddy.
MC: Then I gotta go back out again I think.
CH (jokingly): Oh yeah, best of luck, we don’t have to do it though, so I don’t really care! No, so it’ll be nice, this has been a nice vacation break in the middle of the tour, then we just have ten or twelve shows left, it’ll be nice to be home.

Is it weird when you have a break in the middle of a tour?
CH: Yeah, we just did a five week U.S tour and we’re home for a week went to Japan for a week and we’re home for two days, and came over here for five weeks. It’s kind of like at those times at home you’re like “ahh, Christ” just counting down to when you have to leave again. Not that we hate touring, but it takes a while to get back to being at home and enjoying it. I’m probably going to start crying when I get home in a couple of weeks, it’s going to be so great, and I’m going to do nothing.


What’s your home-town like?
CH: Austin’s a real good place, that’s how I’m going to describe it. It’s really the only city in Texas that I would want to live in, just because the mindset there is not really like the rest of Texas. Most of the rest of Texas is George Bush country, but Austin’s kind of this little oasis, there’s a huge university there, but it’s bigger than a college town, there’s lots of music, lots of art, it’s a fairly calm city and a friendly place. For me it’s very comfortable and easy to live in. I don’t think I could live in New-York or London, it’s too much for me, I need a backyard and things like that.

SXSW is based in Austin, have you ever played that?
CH: Yeah, we’ve played it a few times, we haven’t played it in several years though, we kind of avoid it, at all costs at this point.

It’s turned into a bit of a media-circus…
CH: It’s sort of ridiculous, I think it’s kind of a big, I don’t know if I should say that it’s a scam or something, but it’s just the kind of thing where they convince all these bands to come play and then the bands get paid like a $100, and there’s these guys who are organising it are making tons of money off of it. There’s something about it that’s not right, but again people seem to come and enjoy it and have a good time.

Yeah, half of our bands here all go off and our newspapers go off, and they’ve all got the promise of coming back with a record deal…
CH: Yeah, I guess that can happen, but they seem to be really good at tricking people into thinking that “you’ve got to play this”, and I think that at this point in music it doesn’t really matter, you don’t have to do stuff like that to get noticed. I feel that if you’re good then someone will hear it. We kind of avoid it, but it’s nice because a lot of friends will come into town and stuff, although it’s not really that nice because then we have to chauffeur them everywhere and tell them where to go and they have to stay at our houses and stuff.

So the idea of it’s nice...
CH: Yeah, last year we were on tour, we kind of plan tours around it sometimes, we’ll start it like three days before SXSW so when that starts we’ll be gone, but again, a lot of people come and have a good time. It’s a big deal and I haven’t been down there in a few years, but it’s hard to get into shows, it’s just kind of a big nightmare really.

We have that problem here though, a few years ago there was a Raconteurs show that was meant to be a fans only thing and hardly any fans were in there, it was mainly the press.
CH: A few years ago The Flaming Lips played a show, I think the club held like 250 people, so people are waiting like two days in line to get in to a show like that, but no fans get in. It’s all the people who’ve spent two thousand dollars on the big press pass, or record companies and big magazines, so then you read in the magazine “Oh cool man, the Flaming Lips are playing this cool show for 250 people”, well not really and then they got in the magazine about it.


With The Rescue you made the decision not to write any riffs specifically for it, what was behind the decision for that and did the idea carry on through later records?
CH: Someone just came up, I think it was Michael’s idea, it was at a time when he was doing a lot of learning about home-recording and stuff on his computer, and he just wanted to do this experiment to challenge himself at recording. So he came up with this idea of showing up each day at noon and one of us will go in and record something, spend an hour, make something up and record it, then someone else will come in and add stuff to it. Then we would do that until 6pm or 7pm, then Michael would mix it later that night, then we’d come back the day after and do it again. It was kind of an experiment but we ended up liking it. We tried that approach with the new record and it just didn’t work for some reason, so we ended up doing the same thing where we labour over songs for weeks. We definitely want to try to get away from that with the next record and hopefully we won’t fall into the same process. It was also fun because it sounded a lot different to anything we’d done and I feel like we’re at a point now where we want to not make another record that sounds like the last four, we’ll see.

As The Rescue is available for free online, would you ever think about releasing something for free online again?
CH: I don’t know, maybe.

We hear a lot about record companies being worried by this way of releasing music, from your point of view, are they genuinely worrying?
CH: I think the big record labels are, from who I’ve talked to, Jeremy who runs our label Temporary Residence, he doesn’t seem worried about these sort of things. I think with independent labels, because people who listen to the music on them are more likely to understand that to support a band or a label means buying the record, and there are people who like to have artwork and that sort of thing. I don’t think it’s really hurting independent labels the way it is with major labels.
MC: I agree, I think it’s actually working to my advantage.
CH: I think it’s definitely worked to our advantage, more people have heard us that way, I download stuff all the time and if I like it I’ll go and buy it.
MC: I mean, I don’t want to sell the record to somebody that doesn’t want to buy it in the first place. You just have to hope that the math adds up in the end I guess.
CH: It’s gone alright for us.
Chris and Matthew are met by fellow band member, guitarist Mark Smith.
CH: Cooper’s playing the part of Mark!
Mark: Thanks, Cooper!
CH: I think it doesn’t seem to be hurting us in any way.


A lot of people counter-balance downloading with the fact that they attend the bands shows and buy merchandise, if someone isn’t going to buy a record, would you prefer them to buy tickets etc, or does it not make much difference either way?
CH: Touring for us, in terms of financial things, we make more money touring than we will from selling records. I mean we do alright selling records. I don’t know, it’s hard to say, I’m curious what things will be like in three years, if it will be that nobody is buying records anymore, who knows. It’s clearly changing; in five years no one’s probably going to have DVD’s anymore. I don’t know, I don’t know how to answer that one, I hope people keep buying records, not just for the money but we take pride in putting together a package, with the art, we put a lot of thought and effort into that. We kind of consider that part of the record, the record is not just the songs, it’s the whole presentation I guess.

How involved are you with the creation of the art-work?
CH: Our artist guy, Steven Esteban, he does all our art and sells our merch and stuff, I don’t know if you went to a merch table, he has this gigantic black beard, that’s him. He does all our art-work and we work real close with him and kind of beat him up and stuff, make him do stuff over and over again, but we kind of have these vague ideas and then we just talk with him until we get firmer ideas, then he goes and does something, he shows it to us and we make him do it over again, he gets upset, it’s pretty laborious process for him and for us. But again, it’s important for us to have artwork that we all really like, we’re very happy with what he does.

A few years ago Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Mogwai were the two main acts mentioned when discussing anything vaguely instrumental, how do feel about the fact that you’re now being mentioned as often as these two when describing instrumental music?
CH: It’s pretty crazy, without a doubt, I don’t think we’d be an instrumental band if Mogwai wasn’t around, when we formed they were definitely a band that the four of us were the most excited about at the time. So it is a little weird to be put in that world now, it’s just kind of strange. When we started we were just in Austin working our day jobs and listening to Mogwai records, and then going to practise stuff, it’s strange that now we’re doing this. We’ve been doing it for nine years but I still think we’re kind of surprised by things, and I’m hoping we stay that way, I hope we don’t ever take it for granted. It’s pretty cool.

Have you ever listened to one of the many new instrumental bands that are constantly tagged as “for fans of Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky” and thought, “they sound nothing like us”?
CH: Well that’s the thing, obviously there are similarities between us and Mogwai, but there’s a lot of differences, the easy way to describe something is to say “that sounds like Mogwai”, but people do it all the time, they do it with pop singers too, it’s weird, but to be honest we don’t listen to a huge amount of what could be considered as instrumental rock. We listen to a lot of weird ambient stuff and electronic stuff, but a lot of the stuff we listen to is just like The National, songwriters and stuff, which is strange, because we don’t write any music like that, but I feel we’re somehow more influenced by that than anything else, I don’t know how exactly. One thing I think we try to do is not just be background music, and that’s always a struggle, sometimes we succeed and sometimes we don’t. We try to look at a song as having hooks in it, having something you can sing or hum along to, that’s pretty important to us.
Chris’ friend, the duck, returns to the door his chalet
CH: there’s nothing in there for you unless I’m in there! He’s my friend, he wants more cookies. Oh look, he’s going over to his other buddies; he’s going to chase that female duck probably.

Matthew and Chris imitate David Attenborough
MC & CH: and why, remains a mystery.
CH: We’re big David Attenborough fans (continuing with his Attenborough impressions), the sleuth comes down the tree to defecate, and why, remains a mystery. I love that guy, he’s amazing. Life of Mammals is the greatest thing ever made,
MC: It gets me through the tour.
CH: Yeah it does.

We had an April fools on the BBC this year that involved footage of penguins flying and him uttering that “something amazing has happened."
CH: (more Attenborough impressions): we don’t understand it, penguins, are flying!.. He’s so awesome, yeah, I love him. (more Attenborough) The Polar bears cub needs food.

And he teaches you so much as well.
CH: I’ve learnt so much, there’s so many animals I appreciate in a new way because of that man.
MC: (looking at seagull) Aside from that jerk
CH: I don’t like the seagull, but he’s not a mammal, he does have Life of Birds though, which I’ve not seen yet.
MC: I haven’t either, or Life in the Undergrowth.
CH: I’ve not seen that either.
MC: I’ve only seen some of Blue Planet.
CH: Oh, Blue Planet is fucking great!
MC: I’ve just seen Planet Earth and the Life of Mammals

Weren’t you used for some of the music at some point? I’m sure I’ve seen a few BBC adverts where they’ve used your music
CH: Possibly, I know we’ve had stuff on some BBC commercials. God, that’s what we’ve got to get Ben Dickey on to, scoring the next Attenborough or whatever it is, that’s what I want to do, that’d be amazing.
MC: What does he have left? Life in Space?
CH: I don’t know, they’ll think of something, the vicious seagull versus man. What’s that thing hanging out of his mouth? (the seagull has what looks like a feather attached to his beak)

I think it’s part of his markings
CH: Attenborough would know, if he were here right now, “what that is, remains a mystery.”
MC: But at least then we’d know!

The last question really is then, that there’s a bit of a rumour Placebo name-check you in one of their songs, have you heard about this?
CH: I have heard about this.

We’ve got the lyrics… “The sea's evaporated/Though it comes as no surprise/These clouds we're seeing/They’re explosions in the sky/It seems it's written/But we can't read between the line.”
CH: I bet that’s not about us…it could be about us.

According to Wikipedia it is, so it must be true…
CH (pointing at Matthew): he probably wrote that. I don’t know, I had heard that because…I’m embarrassed to admit but I do check our Wikipedia page, and I was like “huh, well that’s not true! Well, I guess that’s true.” I don’t know, I wonder, can you guys ask them?

Yeah, we’ll give them a quick call later. Do you ever delve into the world of your fans and see what they’re writing about you?
CH: I don’t really know what message boards are out there, other than our Temporary Residence one, I’ll check that, but it’s like the same five dudes over and over again, writing about whatever.

I’d be far too scared to do it!
CH: I think we used to do it a lot more, but now it’s just kind of, I don’t know. It was pretty funny that when this was announced that we were curating ATP and they announced the initial line up, on the Drowned in Sound message board there were people just hating the fact that we were doing it, (writing) like “how the fuck did Explosions in the Sky (get to curate), they’re the most boring fucking band in the world!” It was just like, well, then don’t go, then don’t buy a ticket.
MC: You’re not being forced,
CH: Yeah, no one’s forcing you to come! But generally, we’ll read e-mails but I don’t go searching for stuff, I mean I wouldn’t really know where to look. Our friend Carlos, he’s a part of our crew, he’s always searching message boards, (saying) “oh look what this guy says”.
MC: Or he threatens to put strange footage of us on Youtube.
CH: Yeah, he’ll just videotape and then (say he’ll) put it on Youtube, and (I’m like), “I don’t care, most of it’s fine.” In terms of that sort of thing we read e-mails and stuff and try to respond to as many of them we can, I like talking to people about the music, but I don’t really go on the internet, because I could see myself getting obsessed with it then and I’d rather just not think about it, “What does he know about anything!...Calm down, it’s just some guy, it’s fine.”

Do you ever think about getting involved though, because you do cause a lot of “hoo-hah” on the internet, people seem to get excited or get angry?
CH: I kind of like that though, there is something I like, in some weird way, reading the stuff when people are angry, I don’t know why, it’s just like, “why are you so angry?”, we’re just a band. It’s just a rock show; it’s not really that big of a deal. There’s no need to be this angry about it, you could be directing this energy towards something else, there’s other things in the world that you could be more upset about. I kind of enjoy reading bad stuff about us; Pitchfork always makes fun of us.

Really?
CH: Well, they generally liked us, but lately they’ve been making fun of us.

It’s probably because you’re in competition now.
CH: All I know is that ours (ATP curated event) was at the bigger venue. We win! They’re weird, but whatever.

Well, Pitchfork can be funny folk, but we’ll leave it at that. I’m sad we haven’t solved the Placebo mystery though.
CH: We’ll look into it, Attenborough can solve this mystery, he’s fucking Attenborough, he’s got the resources.

Explosions in the Sky ATP review

There’s been quite a lot of reviews popping up for this little festival that Explosions in the Sky were kind enough to curate, and whilst I know that The Silent Ballet will be bringing you lucky readers something rather special regarding ATP, I hope that this review can capture just how wonderful All Tomorrow’s Parties, as an experience, is. First off, let me make it clear that this was my first ever visit to ATP and actually, my first ever visit to a “proper” (one that wasn’t hippified and involving wicker men, but that’s another story…) festival. I’ve always been put off by the usual image of festivals, you know, wellingtons that are lost in a titanic amount of mud, tents being set on fire and toilet staff despairing at how unclean some festival goers are. Oh, and then there’s the bands, not being a fan of today's mass-manufactured Radio 1 cookie-cutter outfits, it can be difficult to find a festival you actually want to attend, but this is where ATP comes in. All Tomorrow’s Parties began in 2000, when a clever fellow named Barry Hogan decided to offer punters something different, a festival curated by alternative music luminaries such as Sonic Youth, Mogwai and, erm... Matt Groening. Eight years later, Explosions in the Sky have now stepped into the role of curators and in the festival passport, Explosions had this to say, “Some legendary bands have curated in the past. So if this is a school in which the aforementioned artists reside as professors and deans, then we are the janitors or maybe the basketball coaches. And if ATP is giving the janitors and coaches a chance to bring their mix tapes to life, well then it shows their real heart.” Expect to hear more from Explosions in the Sky about their new positions as curators later on, but for now, let’s talk about the festival.

Friday



Arriving on Friday night, I was quite worse for wear and not in the usual “I’ve had too much to drink” sense either. After an exam (not related to ATP, they haven’t started testing people or anything), a train journey of death (it was physically brutal) and an hour long ride from Taunton train station to Minehead containing a confused family who seemed to think Butlins was open for business and a child who couldn’t stop throwing up, I was at the end of my proverbial tether. When we finally arrived at Butlins, it was around seven o’clock, meaning that for a start we had missed Mono and due to the fact that we had to camp outside of the event (press passes don’t cover chalets, sadly) we would also be missing Dinosaur Jr. After setting up a tent in the rain, we decided to venture two miles down this hill back to Butlins. When we did, we were treated to a rousing set from Explosions in the Sky, albeit from half-way through. Playing compositions ranging from “Magic Hours” on How Strange, Innocence to “Memorial” from The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place, we were treated to a quasi- best of Explosions in the Sky, although I can’t see that hitting the shelves any time soon. Rather than venturing to the front and attempting to get into the then already closed photo-pit, we instead headed to Finnigans for some wonderful fish and chips, with beans and curry sauce might I add.



However, after wearily treading towards Reds (home of Butlins red coats, thus meaning all the artists in there were honorary red coats, sort of) we managed to get up close and personal with The Octopus Project, who performed a glitchy masterpiece-stroke-mess of electronics and instruments and terrorised fans with black bags full of balloons, which according to the band, they didn’t know would be so hard to open, more on that later, but for now, here’s some pictures from their extraordinary set:



At around 11pm, exhaustion hit us hard and rather than sticking around for Four Tet we decided to venture back to our tiny tent on the hill, I will admit, we gave up walking up that monster quite early on, and decided that rather than slipping down the hill and ending up on some BBC S.O.S programme talking about how our mobile phones saved us from a cow’s wrath, we caught a taxi. The taxi driver treated us to a story of how he was to pick up Jens Lekman on Saturday and how last year he had picked up Sonic Youth. At that point it really hit us how much of an impact All Tomorrow’s Parties must have on Minehead, for a few days a year this sleepy sea-side town is invaded by the likes of Kim Gordon and hip kids who genuinely enjoy guitars with screwdrivers, the sound of static and the like. Perhaps this is what makes Minehead such a great choice for a festival, for a start you’re not in the middle of nowhere complaining about the lack of phone signal and the thousands that flock to the event certainly inject money into the local businesses.

Saturday

Anyway, on rolls Saturday and due to reasons as yet unsaid, we sadly miss World’s End Girlfriend, who, if popular opinion is to be trusted, performed a set that will go down in musical history, I think one word describes our thoughts on missing this; “bugger”. We returned back to the “pavilion stage”, essentially a stage surrounded by, amongst other things, a Burger King, an amusement arcade and a fish and chip shop to catch A Hawk and A Hacksaw kicking things off. As pleasant as the trio were, I’ll have to admit I did find myself nodding off so we ventured over to catch Saul Williams do his thing on the centre stage, and my, did he keep us awake. Opening with a snarled soliloquy of name-dropping and buckets of “fuck you” attitude, Saul Williams and his band of robotic and cape wearing DJ’s, as well as a smartly attired guitarist, were possibly the most theatrical and terrifying act at ATP. Performing songs such as “Black Stacey”, which includes the lyrics “Even though I always told you not to brag about the fact that your great grandmother was raped by her slave master” and the chant “I’m too black” It was an amazing show, but the content was perhaps a bit too uncomfortable for some. Having only heard of Saul Williams due to his work with Trent Reznor and the album that caused a stir in the music industry, The Inevitable Rise And Liberation Of Niggy Tardust, for me he was one of the most surprising acts of the day.




After venturing off to acquire some interesting material for TSB, we returned to the centre stage to catch the rest of Ghostface Killah’s set, complete with various Wu-Tang members, including the chef himself, Raekwon. The highlight of this show for me, and others I’m sure, was the moment Ghostface invited attractive female members of the audience to dance with him onstage, only to launch into a rousing rendition of “Greedy Bitches”, I can assure you all now, that the irony there was not lost on anyone, and unsurprisingly, “Greedy Bitches” soon became the anthem of ATP, with yelps of it being heard constantly. The culmination of this was when one young man was chanting it, then suggested to the young ladies near him “I didn’t mean you, this is the problem with gangster rap you see, I’m off to stab someone later”, before wandering off into the melee of people again.



Taking a break from the constant barrage of noise our ears were receiving throughout the day, we decided to take a wander around the festival grounds and spotted Raekwon selling CD’s out of a plastic bag, Avey Tare of Animal Collective fame tucking into a burger, and Tyondai Braxton of Battles employing, who we presume to be his girlfriend, legs as machine guns and pretending to blow up his chalet. It’s moments like these when you realise how different ATP is when compared to other UK festivals like Reading and Leeds. When reading about how The Kooks went mad back stage and drank a whole shandy between them, you notice there is a real separation between the bands and the fans, apart from a forty-five minute live show, the two are kept apart at all times. At All Tomorrow’s Parties though, this idea is thrown out of the window, the bands mingle with the fans and vice versa, the only difference between the two that we could spot is that the bands get nicer chalets.


We soon returned back into the land of loud music though, and after watching Eluvium sound-check, we returned back to the pavilion area to soak-up The National tell us their stories of melancholic Americana. Having heard many of their recorded works, we wondered if their distinct lo-fi yet fully formed songs could translate on such a huge stage. Turns out, the very opposite was true. Brimming with intensity, Matt Berninger cut a figure that the influential Bruce “The Boss” Springsteen would have been proud of. Frantic violining and some of the weekend’s biggest crowd sing-a-longs accompanied a career spanning set; highlights included a furious “Mr. November” and a heartbreakingly solemn “Slow Show”.


After The National had finished plucking on our tender heart strings, it was time to watch Matthew Cooper aka Eluvium showcase his sounds for real and moving between material from Copia and An Accidental Memory in Case of Death amongst others, the audience were treated to again, what felt like a best-of selection. The only problem we could surmise with Cooper’s set was that it was on too late and that his textural brand of ambient sounds weren’t best received in the land of red coats, although he did inspire one woman to take up interpretive dance with her pint glass.




If Eluvium wasn’t enough to fulfil the needs of your ambient palette, Stars of the Lid soon followed at midnight, with a set that again, wasn’t suited to what the audience seemed to want. Stars of the Lid were aware of this, as they introduced themselves by saying “you all know who we are?” then following this with suggesting that they’re “a classic rock band”. It seems that the audience weren’t really fazed either way, with some then shouting “Pearl Jam!” as if in agreement. We stayed for around twenty minutes of their set, but with tiredness kicking in, a crowd that were perhaps too rowdy, alongside our fear of being left to walk the big hill in the dark, we retired back to our tent.



Sunday

Come Sunday morning we were up and about at an unnaturally early time, and envious of all the normal ATP visitors in their warm chalets and their freedom to get up around midday, as they don’t have to bring you readers something extra-special. So away we went, and while I can’t suggest just what it was we were doing yet, I can let you know that it will provide an interesting read. Heading back to the stuff I can tell you about, at five pm we settled down at the centre stage to watch Atlas Sound and hear his dreamy collages of sound. Bradford was joined by the now-duo Broadcast, and performed songs such as “River Card” and a cover of Broadcast’s “Corporeal”, with Trish Keegan taking lead vocals and Cox backing. What’s interesting about Cox is that, aside from an album release Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See but Cannot Feel and a string of EPs, the majority of his creations are made available online for free, meaning that like Saul Williams, he’s one of the first artists at this particular ATP to move against the traditional realms of releasing music.



After Atlas Sound came Animal Collective, a band that I seem to have a love/hate relationship with, but it was now an opportunity for Avey and co to make amends with me and I’m happy to say they did, playing a variety of songs ranging from “Essplode” on very early album Danse Manatee to “Fireworks” from 2007 effort Strawberry Jam and a whole set of tropical-themed, harmony filled pop songs which are tipped to appear on the collective’s next LP. The trio provided a much needed dancey atmosphere on that early Sunday evening, blurring the gaps between songs with beautiful transitions and early ‘90s rave-esque, dub influenced beats that made your nose hurt. The only problem with their set was the sound, which came across as a bit too distorted and after the dreamy loveliness of Atlas Sound, was a bit of a shock to the system.





Still, on we venture and around eight thirty we headed towards the pavilion stage, only to find that De La Soul were still going strong. After De La Soul finally left the stage, we did a brief bit of snooping at one of the few back stage areas of ATP, and noticed that Dinosaur Jr., complete with guitars, were in vivid discussion with Kevin Drew and Amy Millan. I was a bit uncertain of how well Broken Social Scene’s set would go, as I’m a huge fan of their work as a collective, but Kevin Drew’s album didn’t really do it for me. However, all worries were soon hushed when the band opened with a chaotic “7/4 Shoreline” with “the” Millan sharing vocal duties and spending her time rousing the already hyped-up audience This was soon followed by “KC Accidental” and once the audience were sufficiently pumped to the point of explosion, Kevin launched into his own material, which was surprisingly equally favourable. Soon after, the band introduced Explosions in the Sky, Dinosaur Jr, and Constantines on stage, to share vocals for Drew song “Back out on the…”, which for me, was the overall highlight of the festival. Some have described this set as a religious experience, or an emotional rollercoaster, but I’d stick with the idea that it was bloody marvellous.







After all that excitement, we felt it necessary to calm our nerves and relax, so we soon headed over to watch Robert Lowe, under the moniker Lichens perform. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this set, as having heard Lowe’s albums I was aware that they were all (well, mostly) one-time improvisations, but how this would translate into a live show was a mystery to me. This mystery was soon solved, as Lowe carefully composed and layered an improvised piece to the point of perfection. Starting with what can be rudimentarily described as whistling into a microphone, then moving on to various guitar sounds and finally ending with other-worldly vocals, Lowe’s set was beautiful, and from my experiences earlier on in the day, if you think his music is hypnotic, you should hear him talk.



All Tomorrow’s Parties had so far been a monumental experience, probably one of the best of my life and exhaustion aside, nothing felt like it could go wrong, and not to sound over-dramatic, it did. After strolling out of the Centre stage, we were greeted with the mother of all queues for Battles, seriously: this was truly a “facepalm” moment, and when we realised the odds of us getting in to the show within the next hour were stacked against us, as the security had some wristband system that we weren’t a part of, we headed back to our tent, quite dismayed but still ecstatic about Broken Social Scene’s and Lichens set. It was only when we were at the top of the hill in our little tent that we could hear Battles, and we were even able to pick out what sounded like “Leyendecker” being played. Still, don’t let this deter you from attending ATP, the security and staff tried the best they could to get everyone in, and they did, just a lot later than planned. It was just a case of everyone wanting to see Battles at the same time, and really, who can blame them?

Originally posted at www.thesilentballet.com
Full Flickr set here.

Soulwire review

Soulwire - A Radiant Nothing review (originally posted at www.thesilentballet.com)

Score: 4/10

Soulwire’s last.fm opens with a quote from the artist in question, Mr. Ken Hill. Hill submits that his “one-man project” aims to “to artistically interpret the life we live into shades of melancholic and introspective tones” - err, right. To take on such an endeavour seems particularly foolhardy, but Hill chooses his words carefully: he doesn’t promise to write an album about the economic factors involved in the U.K/U.S “credit-crunch” (if everyone else is namedropping it these days, I can too) or the war on terror (freedom isn’t free, et cetera). No, Ken is writing about the “life we live,” and after listening to A Radiant Nothing, he seems to live a tired, cluttered collage of a life. Even though Soulwire lends itself towards “introspection,” Hill does attempt to include the listener, even down to his use of “we” in this small quotation snagged from last.fm. The problem is, while Hill may be able to “introspectively” feast on the palette of sounds available on this album, it leaves the listener hungry for an actual theme, or main idea behind the compositions.

A Radiant Nothing is an odd work, one that is hard to pin down. Of course, this could be taken as a positive statement, but Hill’s work isn’t innovative, it’s just messy. The problem can be traced down to this; Hill shovels into the work every single idea or genre trademark he can think of, and not in a wonderful, “pomo” Atlas Sound way. Instead, the album moves between moments of Eluvium inspired, but tedious, chugging piano pieces, vague stabs at Grails-esque acoustic guitar moments and ends with what sounds like backing tracks for Natalie Imbruglia. The album does have its better points though: opener “A Radiant Nothing” and the immediate tracks that follow do have a certain charm about them, but they are nothing more than rehashes of tired ideas. The mix of piano, guitar and snare-heavy drums is pleasing to the ear, but nothing that you’d purposely go out of your way to hear.

Returning to Hill’s idea of “introspection” - the way that the majority of his compositions pass over the listener left me wondering whether the album would be suited for more meditative purposes, but A Radiant Nothing seems to fill the strange void between meditation and active listening. For a start, there’s too much in the record for it to fall into the former camp and relax the listener, but then again, there are barely any interesting ideas within the album for it to fall into the latter camp. Still, whether this worries Hill is another matter, as if he’s anything like his music, the life he lives is no doubt somewhere between meditation and activity. It’s a shame, however, that his listeners may diversify and lose out.

37500 Yens review

37500 Yens - Astero (originally posted at www.thesilentballet.com)

Score: 3.5/10

37500 Yens are, to be brief, two blokes from France. To expand on this, 37500 Yens are comprised of two young men from Reims. Excuse the stereotyping now, but whenever I think of instrumentalists from France, I still think of the slightly dandyish but ever so arty image of Parisians Arca, you know, the two young men who are “inspired by music, cinema, literature, photographs, daily occidental sounds,” so imagine my surprise when I was met with the image of two metal-esque chaps, one even had dreadlocks, yes dreadlocks, like that fellow out of P.O.D, or Newton Faulkner, if you’re looking for a pop-friendly approach to the hair style.

Now, I usually refrain from embarking on linking seemingly “random” thoughts about a band to other bands. In fact, I do not think I have ever mentioned a band member’s hair in a review. This isn’t something I’m proud of, I’ll admit it, but all of this “filler” basically comes down to the fact that I don’t have much to say about 37500 Yens, and I’ve noticed that other reviewers have fallen into this trap as well. Admittedly, there is absolutely nothing wrong with their music, they’re clearly very talented young men, it’s just that Astero is inexplicably dull. Sure, it ticks the right boxes, if you like your math rock to have a heavy foundation (think Russian Circles) then you may be interested in hearing this, but the problem I have is this: it’d be far more fruitful to just slip a Russian Circles disc into your CD player (or CD drive, if that’s how you roll) than to really bother with this thing. I’m not suggesting that I dislike the record, parts of it are okay and it provides a decent mix of the aforementioned math-rock archetypes with elements of jazzy Acoustic Ladyland madness and even the intensity of At The Drive-In, but it is not a record I would specifically recommend to anyone, nor is it something I would listen to if I wasn't reviewing it. This does seem incredibly close-minded, I realize, that to deny listening to a piece of music may seem that I have a somewhat blinkered vision towards 37500 Yens and their style, but it’s just that their music could easily be heard on other, better records, by better artists.

The sheer amount of “I’s” I’ve employed in this review means I’m verging (there we go again) on making this piece more about myself than the French duo I’m attempting to write and I admit I’ve failed in taking a rather French point of view in this album -- I think it was Baudelaire who suggested that “the man of the world” is an ‘I’ with an insatiable interest with the ‘non-I’, I’m paraphrasing here, but anyway. Rather than closing this review with a witty remark about how 37500 yens is a real bargain for what this duo are offering, I will just leave you with this; if you feel you disagree with my comments, you may well be right, if you really feel the urge to check this record out then do it and if a friend informs you that 37500 Yens are the greatest band they have ever heard, take what they say with a pinch of salt, just as you should do with my opinion.

65Daysofstatic review

65daysofstatic - The Distant and Mechanised Glow of Eastern European Dance Parties (originally posted at www.thesilentballet.com)

Score: 7.5/10

Like most correspondence in our epoch, the news of 65daysofstatic’s fascination with Eastern European dance parties broke through e-mail. A rather oddly worded note from Iryna Berliawsky was sent out members of the Sheffield foursome's mailing list, containing the following utterances:

“I have been to CEE both nights now, even if this cold must grow always like a great fist… they have broken through a new dance hall in the old train tunnels without his help…Spring soon I count, and then we will have a party like before, and dance, dance, dance.”

It soon emerged that Iryna was actually a central figure in an Eastern European themed ARG (alternate reality game) that players followed over the space of four months, which led onto, amongst other things, a do it yourself remix of 65dos’ The Distant & Mechanised Glow Of Eastern European Dance Parties title track “Dance Parties” (the remix can still be found here). Some may already be familiar with 65dos’ previous dabblings with “Dance Parties,” the track from which the EP takes its title appeared on 2007’s The Destruction of Small Ideas and retrospectively, it now seems obvious that the group would have wished to expand on this “stand-out” (as colleague Alex Bradshaw termed it last year) track.

The EP sees the group “creating a 16 strong choir from their own under rehearsed voices” on opening track “Dance Parties [Distant],” which due to the dominant use of synth and enthralling closing chant; “All hold on the day is young/All wake up the future’s here/The schools all closed/The roads are clear” makes this variation on a theme an explosive high-point of the record. The EP includes a second re-working of the dance party variety in the form of “Dance Parties [Mechanised].” This song develops into a heavier rave-rendition, featuring the electronic undercurrent of the track now fighting eagerly with the more noticeable guitar section and stuttering drum beats. The closing sample of the song which observes that “the radio stations are afraid of this stuff” even seems to be a subtle reference to Mogwai’s “Punk Rock” from the seminal Come On Die Young.

Interestingly, the connotations between the dance party theme and the last two tracks on the EP are not as evident. Although “Goodbye, 2007” often acts as a prelude to “Dance Parties” in the live setting, here the order is rearranged. Unlike the plethora of new directions previously heard on the EP, the aforementioned effort harks back to Fall of Math-era compositions. This slight moment of recession can be easily forgiven though, partly because of the wealth of new material the listener is offered with both variations of “Dance Parties” and also due to album closer “Antique Hyper Mall,” which is quite possibly one of the most down-tempo and laid back efforts the group have created.

As 65dos’ Eastern European ARG escapades came to a close, players were treated to an essay on music, life, and social networking from wily protagonist Oscar Thompson. Thompson submitted that what society needed was a “LAST DANCE, the actual culmination of an entire history of fights and parties…One final underground movement before the entire fucking concept is swallowed up by this My-fucking-space-based hegemony and commodifying of an alternative idea of how we are supposed to live”. Whether 65dos are now set on changing the world with their music is uncertain, but The Distant & Mechanised Glow Of Eastern European Dance Parties seems a fine place to start.

Jess Lipworth review

Jess Lipworth - Meandering Through (originally posted at www.thesilentballet.com)

Score: 3/10

Part of Jess Lipworth’s “blurb” on MySpace reads “more spaces less clutter.” Whether he just really digs Feng-Shui room arrangements is yet to be seen, but his sentiments about “space” seem to permeate through his debut album, Meandering Through. The album is a collection of beats, glitches, and field noises, which, I’ll be honest, seems to induce lethargy upon listening. Lipworth’s record label, VU-US is also home to Library Tapes side-project Forestflies, and the parallels between the two are uncanny. Like Forestflies, this album “stretches thin,” in fact, and it’s one of the few records that, after listening to it thoroughly over the past few weeks, I find it hard to remember what actually happens in it.

The beats appear to be recycled liberally, as while browsing Lipworth’s MysSpace and listening to “The Bird Sanctuary,” I was amazed to find that the track in question was actually far more interesting than I remembered it to be. I was soon disheartened when I realised I was playing two tracks at once. “The Bird Sanctuary” played in perfect time with Lipworth’s 'new' track on Myspace, “Summer Storm [edit].” Of course, this could just be coincidence, but if the beats are, as I suspect, at least similar, it hardly grants the listener with either change and to be honest, insulting, that this record barely develops from the following elements: slow ambience, glitchy beats, “meandering” synth noises, another layer of drum beats, “melodic” breakdowns, and occasionally Lipworth will employ a sample (though bear in mind when this happens, it won’t really add much to the music, it’s more of a case of “Oh, here’s a pointless sample”).

I will resist the urge to end that list with “Profit!”, because to be frank, neither the listener nor Lipworth can gain from this regurgitation of same-old ideas. Lipworth influences include Boards of Canada and Prefuse 73, obviously it isn’t fair on Lipworth if I compare him to these luminaries, but let’s pretend I’m a heartless, unfair reviewer (no doubt Lipworth fans will already think I am, but bear with me). Prefuse 73’s 2003 “outtakes” album, Extinguished: Outtakes, provides a far more fruitful listen, and considering the album is almost a collage of scrappy ideas, not all of which were worked into the final record, One Word Extinguisher, if Lipworth is really influenced by Herren, he should already know that innovation is key, as opposed to repetitive and droll beats with the odd sample thrown in. However, if this idea has really passed him by, as Meandering Through suggests, I’ll reiterate it here:

No one likes a bore.

After several listens of Lipworth’s album, I’ve come away thinking that Henri Bergson was right when he proposed the idea of “durée,” as I feel like I have wasted a good chunk of my life on this record, when in actuality I’ve probably only wasted a few hours. Although I don’t intentionally mean to insult Lipworth, or anyone that enjoys his music, I genuinely can’t see anything of interest in this album; it’s dull, drippy, dire and any other words you can think of that begin with “d” and suggest boredom.

Eaten by Tigers review

Eaten by Tigers - Solstice (Originally posted at www.thesilentballet.com)

Score: 7/10

Eaten By Tigers' debut EP, 2007’s Entropy, scored rather favourably with The Silent Ballet last year. As an assurance that said EP is “really good,” the only criticism reviewer, James Ould, could offer up was that “During each track a concurrent melody is played throughout that almost acts as the missing vocals… it’s this method that could cause tedium on a longer time span.” Having been handed EBT's 2008 release, Solstice, I hope to evaluate whether the band has progressed musically and if Ould’s concerns of tediousness are beginning to show in the sophomore release. So, let’s carry on and avoid the usual introduction of basic biography, as to reiterate my point about The Silent Ballet’s readership skills on the internet; I’m sure you know you how to use the search button if you really, really want to know Eaten by Tigers' backstory.

So, how does Solstice differ to Entropy? Well, for a start the tracks are no longer as fleeting. The EP opens with a definite starting point, aptly named “Prelude,” which encompasses Eno ambience and glitchy beats; on first listen, it’s not dissimilar to cLOUDDEAD album opener “Apt. A, Pt.1.” The transition between “Prelude” and “Solstice” is seamless, and when compared to Entropy, the EP functions a lot less like a collection of demos and more like a regimented and solid piece. The addition of vocals is welcome, with Ould’s criticism seemingly quelled as both “Prelude” and “Solstice” feature hushed utterances. However, the quartet seem to slip back into old habits with third track “Reflections at 40,000 Ft.” While I can’t fault this composition in terms of its clear display of musical skill, it feels like a pale revival of ideas already executed in Entropy. Thankfully, EP closer “Dedicious” hints that Eaten By Tigers can progress even further, with an excellent ensemble of those glitchy computer noises everyone seems to love, acoustic guitar, and violin.

I’m sure you’ve all been holding your breath waiting to hear Solstice to see if Ould’s premonition of tediousness may be correct, so hopefully I can put an end to your sleepless nights, irritable behaviour, and general on-edge lifestyle by letting you know that Solstice does not slip into tedium. Eaten by Tigers have clearly upped their creative output, and they have offered the listener an exquisite array of sounds specifically suited to sooth your worried palette. Worry not, reader, Eaten by Tigers are obviously improving all the time.

Morr Music review

Morr Music - A Number of Small Things (originally posted at www.thesilentballet.com)

Score: 7/10

Morr Music are clearly in the mood for celebrating. Six years from the creation of their offshoot label, A Number of Small Things, which specializes in seven inch releases, comes this compilation, a chronological compact disc release of the great (and not so great) artists that they have let loose on vinyl. The record features a plethora of artists, ranging from established acts such as Styrofoam to smaller ones such as Butcher the Bar, which leads rather nicely into a discussion on the first few tracks on the record, the latter artist’s 2007 tracks “Get Away” and “Leave this Town”.

Butcher the Bar, although a rather obscure artist, is unquestionably the strongest way to open this compilation, so it is lucky that he’s also the most recent artist to be released on the label. “Get Away” hammers out a perky Death Cab for Cutie styled tune, which although sounds like quite a bleak description, really sets the trend for the rest of the record. With vocals that aren’t as nasally as Ben Gibbard’s and a hushed guitar, “Get Away” features thoughtful lyrics such as “I may be over-reacting… but I swear this town is dead” and a Bob Dylan harmonica outro. All in all, it’s lovely stuff.

The compilation then follows with Benni Hemm Hemm who seamlessly fuse an interesting array of horns with an equally upbeat and energetic chorus. The track “Aldrei” is a sentimental work of delicately strummed guitar and gentle horns, with vocal duties handed to Jens Lekman. Benni Hemm Hemm also appear later on the record, but you can’t help but feel that this is to combat the slump the listener feels after working through the bland alt-country efforts of Mash Qrella.

Covers pop up across the compilation. Seavault re-work “Mercy Seat” by Ultra Vivid Scene, but it’s their cover of “I Could be Happy” by Altered Images that really makes an impact on the listener. Seavault excellently deconstruct the song and come off with something that’s a lot more melancholic and shoegaze than the original. Seabear also offer up an interesting re-working of a classic, with their rambling rendition of The Undertones’ “Teenage Kicks.”

Electric President and John Yoko/Lali Puna occupy the last section of part one of this compilation, but instead of tempting the listener with songs that will make them continue to part two, both bands offer up lacklustre efforts. Ben Cooper, lead singer of Electric President, has described his vocal style as “an intimate, slightly nasal vocal style that vaguely recalls Gibbard,” furthermore, “Electric President actually contains a modest number of moping moments, the duo is more interested in generating an elephantine roar.” Unlike Butcher the Bar, who professes to being an artist who “carves out vibes in my bedroom,” Electric President give themselves too much credit. The songs meander, have no real presence or force to them, and, as opposed to similarities to The Postal Service or Death Cab, they sound more like Wheetus. In “Good Ol’ Boys,” Cooper warbles that “music in my head never sounded right on paper/I’ll write myself a note and turn that note into a song,” which is a fair estimation of how Electric President sound; scrappy, half-completed pop songs. Not much can be said about John Yoko/Lali Puna either, they offer up twee and sickly-sweet pop songs in the vein of Rilo Kiley and Stars, but, excuse this crude statement; without all the good bits.

So, that was part one, as we’re working backwards, we’re now approaching earlier releases from the label, hopefully they’ll be as many gems as part one, but from the efforts of Electric President and John Yoko, they suggest a definite slide in standards.

Sadly, Populous open part two with their dreary Stars styled song “Breathes th Best,” with Torquil vocals and uncanny yet inferior similarities in composition. However, their second effort “Bon Bon Pour Les Rappers” adds something new to the mix, it’s a Gonzales-esque, wholly instrumental track and it definitely makes a refreshing change from their earlier contribution.

The peak of part two comes in the form of B. Fleischmann, who contributes four tracks to the compilation. “Frisky He Said” offers some welcome depth and melancholy (trust me, after all that twee, even noise is welcome) that compliments the earlier effort of Seavault.

Styrofoam are probably one of the most recognizable names on the record, which is no doubt down to their excessive output of remixes. Unsurprisingly, the two tracks that feature on this compilation are exactly what you’d expect from them; ethereal slices of electronica with eerily echoed vocals, essentially, it sounds like a lot of “E” (pun intended).

Now just a brief word about the two artists that close the compilation (excluding B. Fleischmann who’s already had his praises thoroughly sung): Team Forest and Other People’s Children offer up indie-electronica love songs, and chances are you’re thinking “that genre sounds familiar.” Instead of name-checking Ben Gibbard again (whoops), I’ll just leave you to fill in the gaps.

So, at the end of all of that, I’m sure you’re wondering whether this compilation is worth the CD it’s imprinted on. Well, although A Number of Small Things clearly started with an infatuation for all things cute and Gibbard, they have definitely provided the listener with an array of cross-genre listens in 2007. The compilation allows the listener a glimpse at both this label’s and Morr Music’s history, what they like and even their own influences, they have also allowed us to take a look at their weaker points and certain things that need refining (clue: more Icelandic acts, less moping young men). This is a record definitely worth listening to, as judging from their 2006-07 output, the label’s future is certainly looking bright, even if they do have a bit of a checkered past.

Not to Reason Why review

Not to Reason Why - Who Wants Flowers When They're Dead? (Originally posted at www.thesilentballet.com)

Score: 6/10

Not to Reason Why hail from California. Now, please resist the urge to yell “Caaaallliforniaaa” (a la The O.C) as they are not from the Orange County (home of perfect tans and apparently, rich teenagers handy with guns who seem to love mopey Imogen Heap tunes), they are actually based in Petaluma. Now that we have that pop culture reference out of the way, I can tell you all about their EP, Who Wants Flowers When They’re Dead?. A rather ambiguous title (do they mean dead flowers or dead folks?) fitting for a band that consciously genre hop and would definitely not cause Ryan and Seth to get their groove on.

The group seem to be fond of clear cut timing, but instead of taking the usual Don Caballero/Battles route and channeling this into a creation of math-rock intensity, they slow things down and instead create an EP that effortlessly weaves between instruments and styles. Ample examples of this are the tracks “Mightiest Monster In All Creation Ravaging A Universe For Love” and “1.21 JiggaWatts!?” with the latter including pulsing melodic piano repetition which provides the backdrop for Explosions in The Sky-esque guitar reverb. Although this EP does draw upon the staples of instrumental rock, it also packs in plenty of unique moments, such as the rather ineffable (basically, problematic for me to describe) drums that crash and soar throughout the record; in short, the percussion is along the lines of the drumming of Hangedup, if it were a little bassier and less claustrophobic.

Moving between moments of ambience and clattering reverb-heavy climaxes, the quartet have created an EP that packs quite a punch. With six tracks totaling in at 30 minutes in total, the EP contains fair amount of material to work through, and although a sizable portion of it seems to be a nod to the usual names within instrumental music, there is enough here to suggest that Not to Reason Why may provide us with something more imaginative next time around.