Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse - Dark Night of the Soul

MINE

Mmph.  I really thought I was going to love this, given my previous delight at anything Dangermousy in the world.  I'll admit the songs are prettily composed and well played and everything, but it just didn't grab me.

I'd recommend it for dinner party music, though - there's lots of inoffensive melodies beautifully done.  I just didn't find it compelling.

VERDICT: TURN IT DOWN and pass the hors d'oeuvres 

YOURZ

It seems as though anything Brian Burton, aka Dangermouse, touches has an undeniable appeal to me.  His work with everyone from Damon Albarn, Beck and The Black Keys have become firm favourites.  Then he teamed up with Sparklehorse's Mark Linkous and an eclectic roster of singers and contributors, including film producer David Lynch.

The opening track Revenge, featuring the beautifully strained vocals of Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne, sets a great benchmark for the rest of the album but only for the first three tracks.  It leads a trio of gorgeous alt-pop before changing gears with Julian Casablancas taking the lead in Little Girl, a bouncing dubby track complete with bass drops.

The following two tracks, the chugging Angel's Harp featuring Black Francis and Pain with vocals by somewhat subdued Mr Iggy Pop, add the rock quotient to the track listing.  After what could only be described as a Lynchian hommage to the psychedelic pop of everyone from The Beatles and Beach Boys to the Lips in Star Eyes (I Can't Catch It), is my favourite track of the album, Everytime I'm With You, voiced by Jason Lytle, formerly of Grandaddy.

However, I can't help feeling a sense of loss.  The death of Linkous prior to its release was a tragic blow.  If only as a testament to his abilities, Dark Night Of The Soul is as fine a document as any.  Vale Sparklehorse...

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

For more information: http://www.dnots.com/

Evil Tordivel - A Fine Young Man

YOURZ

Some years ago, a friend suggested I might listen to this album.  But he could tell me very little about the band behind this truly underground pop classic except that they were from Norway.  I did as much research as I could and found out the 'they' was actually a single individual.

According to extremely limited sources, A Fine Young Man was apparently recorded to cassettes in the unnamed individual's bedroom during his downtime as a psychologist.  No, seriously...  Internet searches reveal very little, something I find in this day and age to be quite compelling.  It means that all I can write about is the music, which is really what we're here for, isn't it?

Regardless of the enigma, this album is a pop gem.  It swells with so much joie de vivre, it is hard not to feel good after listening to it.  Nestled somewhere between the plumbed pop depths of Brian Wilson, the captivating psychedelia of The Flaming Lips and the pop electronica of Bran Van 3000, Evil Tordivel is also very much his own creation, a character not unlike the figurine on the front cover of this album, made of something other than flesh and blood but more alive because of it.

Opening with the 3/4 instrumental, Incipit Tordivel sets the tone for rest of the album.  Let's Go Beach highlights Tordivel's obvious love of Brian Wilson-inspired melody and harmonies as well as quirky sounds, while the title track, again in 3/4 time, also brings to bear a captivating array of clicks and whistles to accompany the calliope melody.  The acoustic guitar-driven minor gem of Psychic Chaos also utilises a range of whistles, pops and clicks that could be distracting but instead only add to the tone of the track.

You're In Love surprises with its dirty rock and double-tracked asynchronous vocals, while I'm In Love uses the addition of an accompanying female vocal track to build the melody of the song.  But this is only a taste of the treats this album has in store for the listener.  If you are a fan of great, quirky pop, then A Fine Young Man is an absolute necessity.  

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

MINE 

I know he can speak English, because the songs are in English.  So why did he think that Evil Tordivel was a good name for a band?  A band that's not a heavy metal Satanist thrash band, that is?  Seriously, if YourZ hadn't brought this into the house I'd never have picked it up.  It's a bit like Ford Prefect thinking his name was ideal to blend into Earth society in Hitch-hiker's Guide all those years ago.

And while I can agree about the glorious popness that is A Fine Young Man, I disagree about the opening number.  Why on earth would anyone want to listen to an album that opens with what can only be described as carousel music on speed?  

I'm glad that YourZ got me to persevere with the CD, but I sometimes wonder if people like this really want anyone to buy their music.  Which you should, if you like glorious 60s-style melodies, lovely layered production and songs that hang around your subconscious.

VERDICT:TURN IT UP

For more information go to: http://www.myspace.com/eviltordivel

The Flaming Lips - LateNightTales (compilation)

MINE

A lovely compilation to round out the month, and one of several LateNightTales we have in our collection.  I'll admit I voted for this particular one because it contains the beautiful River Man from Nick Drake, but I'm also loving 10CC's I'm Not In Love, 2HB from Roxy Music and of course the Lips' special version of The White Stripes' Seven Nation Army.  Gorgeous.  We loved this CD so much we bought it twice (seriously, we forgot we already had it and bought it twice. D'oh!)

In fact the only thing that spoils this CD is that damn Radiohead song.  SKIP!

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

YOURZ

The LateNightTales series and its predecessor series, Another Late Night, are a fucking great idea well-executed, so good, in fact, we have a few of them and will most certainly be adding more as we can.  As Mine points out, we liked this particular one, we had to buy it twice to show our love.  One of my brothers was the lucky recipient of the second copy, although his recent behaviour has me regretting this decision (a little in-joke, dear readers - I'm not serious).

The Flaming Lips are one of Mine and YourZ (truly)'s favourite bands so owning this was a no-brainer.  I love that we get a glimpse into the minds of our favourite acts via these collections - it is just fascinating what they pick as being influential and often completely defies the band's public persona. 

Every track on this is a winner but my favourite picks off this, aside Nick Drake, include Bjork's Unravel, People by Alfie, the Radiohead track Pyramids (yes Mine, it IS a classic), Chris Bell's Speed Of Sound and Sebadoh's On Fire.  And despite my avid dislike of most jazz, the Miles Davis track, My Ship, has me wanting to hear more of this genius' work.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP,


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

In our collection, we also have: Air - LateNightTales, Fatboy Slim - LateNightTales and Kid Loco - Another Late Night

The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots

MINE

Her name is Yoshimi/ She's a black belt in karate...

If you know the song, I'm betting you're smiling right about now.  Wayne and the Lips gave the most far-out performance (and truly deserving of that term) I've ever seen.  Made even more special after the fact, when I learned that they were sharing a stage with Drew Barrymore in an animal suit (she was dating Strokes drummer Fabrizio Moretti at the time and they were playing the same festival).

These guys are fun and far-out and happy and sad and just gosh-darn GOOD to listen to.  I know I've mentioned funeral songs before, and I guess Do You Realise? would be a really good one to add to the list. (YourZ sez: yeah, thanks, I'll have that one too, babe)   But I'm trying to keep it short, geez, no-one wants to hang around for hours at a memorial!,

This is definitely on the list of CDs to replace right away if disaster strikes.  It doesn't come out often enough these days and I'm glad the pointy stick made me re-listen.

It's just an illusion caused by the world spinning round

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

YOURZ:

She uses va-a-a-a-aseline...

I thought I'd take a leaf out of Mine's book and start with a Flaming Lips lyric.  Oh sure, this lyric isn't from a song on Yoshimi but it was the first song of theirs I heard and loved, way back in the dim dark early 90s.  I remember is was accompanied by a wigged out, nutso video.  The song epitomised every thing great about DIY and slacker rock of the time.  I absolutely loved it.  But a lot of the world didn't.  In fact, I remember Beavis and Butthead slagging it off good and proper.

Fast forward to 2002 and the release of Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots and all of a sudden, The Flaming Lips found their place in the hot light of international fame.  As Mine mentions, we were blown away when we saw them at a Big Day Out a number of years ago.  They were the last band on the bill, and a perfect way to end a wonderful day of music.  Their blissed out, effects-laden live show was simply wonderful. 

In a lot of ways, I think festivals saved this band from slipping into obscurity as they perfectly suit the communal atmosphere often found there.  That they also definitely enhance any, erm, chemical experiences the audience might be having works very well in their favour.

While every track on the album is a winner for me, I don't quite know how to put into words what I feel about Do You Realise?  Aside from its simple profundity and the beauty of its melody, Wayne Coyne's vocals and lyrics resonate with me like very few artists do (I can count 'em on one hand).  It's a beautiful, melancholic inspired piece and definitely one of the tracks in my Top Ten favourite songs of all time.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP, turn off the lights, turn on the lava lamps and float away on purple clouds of pleasure, man.

For more information: http://www.flaminglips.com/

In our collection we also have At War With the Mystics, Ego Tripping At The Gates Of Hell, The Soft Bulletin and Fight Test