March 1st will see the release of a new Tunng album, …And Then We Saw Land, an apt title for the disembarkation of a band who had recently been on a journey of musical discovery with African musicians Tinariwen, as well as seeing their guitarist aid the writing on Speech Debelle’s Mercury Music Prize winning garage album Speech Therapy, projects that saw them both acclaimed and defamed.
Tunng, however, have always been representative of something like a reliable core at the heart of the movement bringing folk tradition into the 21st century. Both hugely talented in their musicianship and in the craft of songwriting (this time without Sam Genders), they are unlike so many who lean dangerously to one side of this knife’s edge. Similarly balanced is their ability to develop the folk tradition whilst retaining so many of its crucial elements.
So does the billed Four Tet post-Steve Reid or George Harrison post-India transformation occur as predicted? No, quite frankly, and this only strengthens their position.
In fact, could songs like ‘October’, ‘Don’t Look Down Or Back’ or ‘These Winds’ , sound any more assured in their English traditions? It is as though the tour, where Tinariwen and Tunng cut and pasted their songs together was like an argument that makes each party’s resolve all the stronger. …And Then We Saw Land is a return home stronger and more assured. It is the warmth of a fire in the English winter or the soaring emotions of a clear blue English sky.
‘Hustle’, despite the somewhat forced used of a verb with far too many connotations to ever sound quite reassured when it lands, bounces through its falling guitar runs, and becomes …And Then We Saw Land’s ‘Bricks’ or ‘Bullets’, the modern, upbeat and more outspoken Tunng. This is no bad thing, though there are a welcome nods to the group’s peak of ‘Jenny Again’, in ‘With Whiskey’.
Critics of Tunng find the electronic additions rather forced in their music. It is something that they have been doing for so long now and something that is so integral to their sound that one can no longer doubt the authenticity. What is more, this album, an attempted capture of the live experience, shows their importance to the Tunng sound.
There are very few poor moments on …And Then We Saw Land. Becky Jacobs’ new role as co-lead singer is successful and the loss of the brilliant Sam Genders (also of The Accidental) doesn’t seem to detract from the overall product.
It is also an undoubted improvement on the slightly overstated Good Arrows, and whilst it is doubtful that Comments Of The Inner Chorus shall ever be bettered, …And Then We Saw Land demonstrates the group’s assuredness whilst never tipping into brash exuberance.
Erland and the Carneval’s self-titled debut has been described by Simon Tong (formerly of The Verve, The Good, The Bad & The Queen and The Shining (anyone remember them?)) as a blend of Pentangle, Ennio Morricon, Love, 13th Floor Elevators and Joe Meek. Quite a blend of psychedelic folk then, it seems.
And with song titles like ‘Was You Ever See’, ‘Gentle Gwen’ and ‘One Morning Fair’ you can certainly see the lambswool-jumpered, muddy-peasanted, 60s folk-rock psychedelia that the group, who are led by guitarist and singer Erland Cooper, are trying to promote.
In these cases, where groups are revisiting a past genre without the basis of a ‘scene’ behind them, success depends almost entirely upon whether the project comes across as natural and sincere.
It is hard to fault the group for sincerity. With ‘Love Is A Killing Thing’ (based, apparently, upon a traditional folk song and a Seeger/MacColl chorus), the candid and unpretentious lyrics are laced with a darkness and nicely underpinned by dynamical shifts and interesting synthetic sounds.
The darkness – a sort of deserted-fairground or empty-cinema darkness – is a prevailing theme on the album. Much like The Coral before them, they take the more haunting side of The Doors’ soul and The Beatles’ LSD trips – the racing heart, the warped visions and the feelings of isolation – and turn them into pop songs, such as on the great ‘My Name Is Carnival or on ‘Gentle Gwen’.
For Cooper, who grew up on the fiddle, acoustic guitar and Bert Jansch, the sound is a lot thicker than you might expect. The group sound really tight and the compositions sound very natural.
At times they slip a little into the Franz Ferdinand mode – repeating hackneyed lines for little poetic purpose, such as on ‘You Don’t Have To Be Lonely’ or ‘Trouble In Mind’, but using words from Leonard Cohen (on ‘This Disturbed Morning’) and William Blake (‘The Echoing Green’) turns out to be a masterstroke. Cooper delivers them well and the musical background onto which they are projected is original without being corruptive.
This is a lovely release from Static Caravan / Full Time Hobby, one well worth listening to. Thank goodness Simon Tong left The Shining, right?
Baltimore trio Double Dagger make a cacophonous wall of sound
Using deceptively simple instrumentation (bass, drums, vocals), Baltimore trio Double Dagger make a cacophonous wall of sound that has been occasionally described as ‘very loud’ or ‘angry’ pop.
Part Fugazi, part No Age, part Shellac, their sound is aggressive, minimalist punk, that still maintains an underlying pop melodiousness.
You can catch one of their intense live shows at the following UK venues in May….
Wed 12th May 2010
Reading
Oakford Social Club
Thur 13th May 2010
London
Nation Full of Shop Keepers
Paper Tongues embrace elements of rock, funk, rap and soul with fiery hip hop beats. This summer they will release their debut album, Octone.
The band was formed in 2007 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Their infectious music is described as a soundtrack for dancing, crying, loving and living.
Paper Tongues are Aswan North, Devin Forbes, Cody Blackler, Joey Signa, Clayton Simon, Jordan Hardee and Danny Santell—and see themselves as a collective of artists more than a band per se.
A wide variety of influences inform Aswan’s vibrant, vivacious vocal style, which falls somewhere between Al Green’s Sultry falsetto and Steve Perry’s uplifting bravado. “Kool and the Gang and Grandmaster Flash were hugely influential. Anything out there with a great hook grabs my attention. As a kid, there was a ton of country music around me—Ricky Skaggs, Kenny Rogers, Hank Williams Jr., Loretta Lyn, and Conway Twitty. I took all that in too, and it helped me write lyrics.”
Working with producers Brian West (Nelly Furtado, K’Naan, Bela Fleck), Mark Endert (Maroon 5, Gavin DeGraw, Madonna), John Fields (Switchfoot, Jimmy Eat World), Paper Tongues crafted an album that’s bustling with energy. However, there’s a deeper purpose for the band. Keyboardist Cody Blackler explains, “It’s rock music for sure, but we also want to bring something new.”
Paper Tongues have been tipped for big things in 2010. Watch their new video ‘Ride To California’
Another in our festive series of posts asking a few friends in the music industry to submit their own ‘Best Albums of 2009‘.
Best Albums of 2009 according to … Woodcraft Folk
Favourite albums of 2009 compiled by Alan Outram.
1: Bill callaghan: Sometimes I wish we were An Eagle
2: Beak-Beak
3: Broadcast and Focus Group- Investigate Witch Cults Of The Radio Age
4: Euros Childs: Son Of Euros Child
5: Shogun Kunitoki- Vinonaamakasio
6: Withered Hand- Good News
7: Jim O’Rourke- The Visitor
8: Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavillion
9: Flaming Lips: Embryonic
10: Wooden Shjips- Dos
11: Grizzly Bear
“The Woodcraft Folk debut album, Trough Of Bowland is a perfect blend of electronica doodling and folk inspiration. Banjo, organ, xylophone and glockenspiel are some of the instruments that effortlessly merge with melodica, synthesizers, electric bass, field recordings and the occassional drum machine to create relaxing technicolour sounds that bring a smile to my face and a warmth to my soul.” – read the whole album review
March 1st will see the release of a new Tunng album, …And Then We Saw Land, an apt title for the disembarkation of a band who had recently been on a journey of musical discovery with African musicians Tinariwen, as well as seeing their guitarist aid the writing on Speech Debelle’s Mercury Music Prize winning garage album Speech Therapy, projects that saw them both acclaimed and defamed.
