Papa M - A Broke Moon Rises - Album Review

Review for www.nomoreworkhorse.com

https://nomoreworkhorse.com/2018/08/10/papa-m-a-broke-moon-rises-album-review/

Will Oldham - Joya

Joya was released in 1997 under the Will Oldham name.  From the opening track O Let It Be, the album features a much fuller sound than any of the Palace material, with prominent electric guitar from David Pajo and more of a band feel.  The creeping, lurching Antagonism is muted and interesting but doesn't really go anywhere.  And so it goes for the album.  New Gypsy has a bluesy backwoods tone to it but Under What Was Oppression and Open Your Heart are more like what you'd expect from him but leave little impression.

Be Still and Know God is almost strident, with a straightforward guitar lick propelling the song along.  But for the most part this music is solipsistic and unremarkable.

Papa M - Highway Songs - Album Review

Review for www.no more workhorse.com

https://nomoreworkhorse.com/2016/11/15/papa-m-highway-songs-album-review/

Gig review: Slint at Button Factory, Dublin

Review for www.meg.ie

http://www.meg.ie/gig-review-slint-at-button-factory-dublin/

Album Review: The For Carnation - Promised Works

Promised Works is a compilation of The For Carnation's early, mid 90s material, drawn from 1995 EP Fight Songs and 1996's mini-album Marshmallows.  Grace Beneath The Pines is à quiet start, Brian McMahan's whispered vocals underpinned by vaguely threatening rising and falling guitars provided by McMahan and David Pajo.

 

After brief guitar instrumental How I Beat The Devil, we get the steadily creeping Get And Stay Get March.  On The Swing invents the higher quality end of the 'Quiet is the new Loud' troubadours of the early noughties, while Imyr, Marshmallow has a soothing, conventional melody and Salo growls moodily.

 

We also get Slint-like workouts like I Wear The Gold, Winter Lair and Preparing to Receive You which have borderline atonal guitar lines.  Interesting to see where so-called 'post-rock' sprang out of.

Album Review: Aerial M – As performed by…

David Pajo released this short album in 1997 as Aerial M.  It’s brief enough at 32 minutes, opening with the Dazed and Awake, a title which perfectly invokes the gentle guitar and drum piece.  It has a Durutti Column feel to it and is probably the highpoint of the album.   Aass flows in a similar vein, while other tracks such as Wedding Song No. 2 and Skrag Theme have a more ambient theme.  The latter has a doomy feel, not too far removed from Alice In Chains’ moodier moments. 

Skrag Theme is prefaced by Rachmaninoff, a really muted and brief track, while Compassion for M is a backwards version of the opening track Dazed and Awake, which gently messes with your head.

This lovely way to spend half an hour finishes with Always Farewell, which captures the yearning of early Smog, albeit as an instrumental.

Live Review: Interpol - Olympia, Dublin, December 1st 2010

Review for www.meg.ie

Album Review: Interpol

I was very taken with Interpol’s debut album, Turn On The Bright Lights. Sure it was very reminiscent of Joy Division and The Chameleons, but they did it so well. They distilled the essence of those bands into some snappy, soaring anthems. The album sounded fresh, and compulsive, and let’s face it most music originates from somewhere, right? However subsequent albums Antics and Our Love to Endure (ok, it was admire, but you get the point) delivered similar music with diminishing returns.

Black mark against them for the lazy self-titling of their album (see Stone Temple Pilots review: http://sacredcowpats.blogspot.com/2010/05/album-review-stone-temple-pilots.html). However, perhaps this was a sign of ‘back to basics’ style reinvention? Not so in my book.

Frankly I’m surprised it took them 3 years to come up with this. It sounds to me like Interpol have run out of steam. Paul Banks was never the most varied vocalist in the world, but here his vocal range is narrower than ever. Almost every track has him singing in the same semi-dramatic, slightly dark and slightly bored tone.

The rest of the band don’t really mine new territory, but even when they do, it’s mainly the addition of skittery keyboards which really don’t work at all. In fairness the more uptempo tracks aren’t bad (Barricades, Safe Without) but they aren’t particularly exciting. Barricades is probably the best track here as Banks sings with actual passion, as opposed to ennui. The slower ones plod like Interpol have never plodded before. Even the titles plod (Always Malaise, All of the Ways).

Apparently bassist Carlos Dengler has quit the band and has been replaced by David Pajo (Slint, Aerial M etc) which bodes well for a badly needed new direction. This musical avenue has proved to be a cul de sac. Maybe I’ve just grown tired of this band. Or maybe it’ll be better live (seeing them in December).

Album Review: Mogwai – Rock Action

This is probably one of Mogwai’s more accessible albums, as it’s less noisy and heavy than their previous albums. Released in 2001, it begins with the slightly scratchy Sine Wave before going into the epic Take Me Somewhere Nice. This song incorporates keyboards into Mogwai’s bass-heavy sound. It features vocals by David Pajo (Slint/Papa M) which work well with some beautiful music played by Stuart Braithwaite and co. I can almost feel the snow fall.

After the short interlude, O I Sleep we get another brooding song, Dial: Revenge which hangs on a simple sounding acoustic guitar figure before the keyboards come in. It features vocals sung in Welsh by Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals. You Don’t Know Jesus runs to 8 minutes and is more abrasive sounding. The band, who are pretty restrained elsewhere on this album, let loose with heavy guitars and crashing cymbals. Two Rights Make One Wrong is the longest song here at nine and a half minutes, starting out with jangly guitar but building up with guitars, strident drums, keyboards, electronics, wordless vocals before finishing off with banjo. It shouldn’t work but surprisingly it does. The final track Secret Pint is a little anti-climactic, a sparser, piano-led track with more gentle vocals.

A good entry point for checking out this band’s guitar-effect heavy post-rock.