A Gun Called Tension - A Gun Called Tension

MINE

Sometimes I feel sorry for the bands I've never heard of, when they get to pass my ears in this relentless pursuit of CDs I'll applaud, be bored with or scorn.  Particularly when I have a headache, as A Gun Called Tension found recently.

I'll have to admit the band's name made me view them with suspicion even before I'd heard a note.  Band names are a tricky business.  When I was young, I was very fond of a group called Penguins on Safari (not that I ever saw or heard them) because the name made me smile.  And for ridiculous names, AGCT has a long way to go before challenging my special favourite, People With Chairs Up Their Noses (not that I ever saw or heard them either).

Anyway, I pressed play, and heard - some interesting music.  There's some annoying monotonal rap, not shouty but with that next-to-nothing background that eventually makes it akin to the water torture.  There's some cool electronica and some next-to-rock (you know, it's kind of rocky but not quite) along with some OK lyrics in some songs.  And ordinarily I'd welcome this sort of genre-shifting, but in this case it just doesn't seem cohesive.  Although I only skipped two or three tracks after listening to about 30 seconds' worth, there wasn't anything here that made my ears prick up.  Not one song.  And nothing that made me want to look up who these people are.

VERDICT: THROW IT OUT

YOURZ

I'm not surprised Mine doesn't like this.  I completely agree with her about the cohesiveness of this self-titled debut.  The band, made up of members of various other bands including Modest Mouse, The Beta Band and others, have put together a challenging album (which, as we all know, either means difficult to listen to or a bunch of crap).  It sounds more like a hastily drawn-together compilation album than a cohesive band effort.  That they use various MCs probably doesn't help either. 

There are a few tracks on this album that are actually worth it, although a few tracks hardly makes an album.  Gold Fronts sounds like a long lost Moby track (in fact, it sounds better than most Moby tracks, as far as I'm concerned).  Treason comes out of nowhere, sounding more like a post-rock track from a New York band, with screamo vocals and a fat, indie bass line.  Foundation, featuring Roots Manuva, is probably a better example of his work than mostly anything he has done for himself.

This is another of those CDs I got thinking I might learn something about production as it is produced by Phil Ek, one of the best indie producers around and came with a glowing recommendation from a source I usually trust.  I have since learnt to be more discerning (at least I like to think I have, anyway).  The only track I'd bother keeping or listening to with any regularity would be Gold Fronts (the video is great).  The rest won't be missed, not in the slightest.

VERDICT: THROW IT OUT

For more information: http://www.myspace.com/agct

Roots Manuva - Awfully Deep

MINE

Ermph.  Reasonable.  Not Tricky.

I can't figure why YourZ thinks I'll like this, there's too much rappin' and not enough melody.  It just made me want to play Blue Lines full bore to remind myself what good Sarf London dubby-stuff is like, especially when you mix it with good melodic lines sung by great-voiced girls.

I liked the lyrics on some of it.

VERDICT: TURN IT DOWN/THROW IT OUT (can't raise enough interest to decide) (YourZ sez: c'mon, you have to pick one or the other) (Mine says: whatever YOU say we should do, darling)


YOURZ

I went through a phase where I brought a lot of hip hop, mainly because I was working with a young MC, writing and producing backing tracks for him.  I saw this as a way of educating myself about the variety of sounds and production techniques used by various artists around the world.  I knew I wasn't interested in any of the established black American artists mostly because I didn't (and don't) like their misogynistic attitudes and conspicuous consumption - bling culture has never interested me.

But there are artists making great, interesting music in the genre.  Artists like Handsome Boy Modelling School, The Roots and Mos Def make truly intelligent and innovative music.  While I get what he does and enjoy some of the tracks, for me Roots Manuva, unfortunately, can't be included in this group. 

While named by some as the one of the innovators of the British grime movement, Rodney Smith aka Roots Manuva, makes music that is almost Tom Waits-ian in its production with literate, intelligent lyrics and lots of deep overdubbed voices.  There is also a bit of a nod to his Jamaican roots in some of the beats and use of horns.  But it is not particularly joyous music.  It is dark and challenging and often depressing in it lyrical content.

To be honest with you, hitting on this merely reminded me of how much crap I've added to the collection over the last half dozen years or so.  It actually kind of annoys me because I could've used my hard earned dollars to buy a lot of music we both like as opposed to music I considered necessary to have at the time. Damn it, I should've been more selfish.

Anyway, not to beat that puppy to death, while Mine and YourZ (truly) regularly go through our various collections (believe me, the music one is nothing compared to the book one), a lot of that stuff has managed to avoid the Great Axe of Disinterest (patent pending).  But not any more.

VERDICT: THROW IT OUT (can you believe it, Mine, huh?)


For more information: http://www.rootsmanuva.co.uk/

In our collection we also have Run Come Save Me and Slime And Reason