January / February Album Reviews Roundup

Amazingly, we are already 1/6th of the way in to 2010. The evenings are getting lighter, the snows are finally receding but before we dive headlong in to spring, here’s a quick look back at some of the winter’s last few musical contributions.

Up first we have an extraordinary album accompanied by a tragic back story. ‘Luck In The Valley’ (Thrill Jockey, Feb 15) was Jack Rose’s 10th album as a solo artist, but incredibly sadly he will never see its release as at the devastatingly young age of 38 he died of a heart attack on December 5th  last year. What he has left behind is a record of some of the most unbelievably intricate, emotive and exploratory guitar playing I have ever heard. Taking in styles as diverse as bluegrass, folk, Middle Eastern drone and traditional classical the album covers a huge amount of ground yet manages to hang together as a coherent whole. Rose was a player of almost unparalleled virtuosity and ‘Luck In The Valley’ is a poignant tribute to his talent.

Also out from Thrill Jockey in February but almost literally from another planet was Pontiak’s ‘Sea Voids’. In a bid to claim the title of most prolific band on Thrill Jockey the brothers Carney have put out what they claim to be ‘an album in between albums’. Following on from  ‘Sun On Sun’ in 2008 and ‘Maker’ in 2009 it is meant to fill the gap until a ‘proper’ album gets done later in the year. It was recorded in eight evenings over the course of three weeks and as a result is perhaps somewhat patchy. The opening three tracks, ‘Suzerain’, ‘World Wide Prince’ and ‘One Ton One Kilo’, are truly jaw-dropping, massive, bass heavy and full of brooding menace but after that the standard becomes a little erratic. ‘Life And Coral’ and ‘It’s The Life’ both stand out as slightly poor attempts to do a psyche-ballad type thing, although this is totally redeemed by the megalithic title track that the album closes with. Not their greatest work but more than worth a listen. More importantly, catch their joint tour with White Hills over the next few weeks.

A couple of different takes on a post rock theme next. Flies Are Spies From Hell have been knocking around the gigging scene for a while and also have one of my favourite names from the current crop of bands. They’ve been playing with the likes of E&D faves And So I Watch You From Afar, Russian Circles and MaybeSheWill and definitely share that same penchant for massively epic tunes that descend in to heavy as hell breakdowns, great stuff. ‘Red Eyes Unravelling’ is peppered with beautifully melodic, quiet moments and soaringly uplifting climactic passages.

‘Clown Jazz’ (Gringo Records, Feb 22) is a split album from two bands who have toured together extensively in recent years, and you can see why as they take similar approachesto their music but achieve somewhat different results with them. Nottingham’s Souvaris contribute the first two tracks and their take on post rock is an offbeat math funk (I may have just made that genre up), tightly grooved and interspersed with quirky melodies and a charming exuberancy. The remaining three tunes come courtesy of Bordeaux’s Sincabeza and they come with a more muscular approach indeed. They still focus on the groove but bring a somewhat more serious and raucous noise to bear on preceedings. Individually, both bands make a great listen but I wonder if the juxtaposition of the two on to one record really works.

‘On The Wire’ (Slow Train Records, Jan 25) was recorded by Ardentjohn in a cottage on the shores of Loch Fyne and somehow that clear Scottish country air has seeped in to the very fibre of this record. This record is chock full of effortless sounding, melodic, folk tinged indie tunes, in places sort of bringing to mind a Scottish Doves and in others giving more than a nod towards the west coast of the USA. Harmonies and a gentle pastoral theme are much to the fore in this sweet debut.

Last up is another offering from across the channel. Playing jaunty power indie pop, sitting somewhere between The Primatives and The Cardigans with a dash of Metric to give it a modern twist, come Balbec and their ‘Rise And Fall Of A Decade’ (Feb 17) album which they are releasing themselves. This is a really joyous, tuneful and fresh sounding record and although it covers pretty well trodden ground is does it in a way which is both hugely engaging and invigorating.