Okay, so: I've been horrendously lax in updating this (not that anyone's noticed) but I'll try and be more assiduous in future. "Try" probably being the key word. We have: pans/reviews, tunes, books and films to discuss. So much to talk about, so few keyboardwords.
MUSIC.
First, a selection of recent reviews (there's a full feature on Sarah Records and an interview w/Elizabeth from Allo Darlin' to be added later):
Chapel Club// Palace
In assessing Chapel Club's début LP, the only analogy that seems halfway appropriate is this: the album evokes those oppressive background drones one only notices when they end- the grinding hum of an extractor fan, say, or a particularly noisy heater. And as far as listening experiences are concerned, it does mean Palace is nothing if not consistent. But it's this numbing consistency that's the problem: obvious influences (Joy Division; Loveless-era My Bloody Valentine; the early 00's post-punk revival) are chewed up and spat out into a final product that's about as exciting as wallpaper paste.
From the mumbled, sub-sub-Ian Curtis vocals that employ an arsenal of clichés with all the subtlety and wit of a truncheon to the face ("All The Eastern Girls'" mind-bending refrain of: "This is a love song/This is a love song..." being one of many, many crimes) to production so relentlessly energy-sapping that it almost feels like the band themselves are physically slumped over the listener, Palace seems to be an exercise in controlled monotony. Sort of like a do-it-yourself solitary confinement kit, really: maddening and utterly, utterly pointless. Avoid.
Yuck// Yuck
For a band with a moniker rich in negative gustatory associations, London five-piece Yuck make surprisingly palatable indie-rawk. If we were to push the overwrought food/music metaphor a little further, you could say their self-titled debut LP is a largely hale and generally pretty healthy stew of deeply Pavement-indebted, fuzzed-out tunes. And it's pretty telling that the only times things get slightly synaesthetically icky are when the band deviate from the aeons-old formula of up-tempo wigouts channelling every instrument through a distortion pedal- a fact attested to by the decidedly stodgy seven-minute album closer, "Rubber". Lyrically, they're so straightforward as to almost be deceptive; there's none of (huge influences) Sonic Youth's playfulness, or Malkmus' laconic wryness. Instead, we have songs about 'making it through the wa-a-a-aaaall' or girls that previously 'got me high' ("Sunday"). Not exactly world-changing, but for a band that so clearly idolise slacker-rock, what do you expect? They're fun enough to be pretty unobtrusive- and certainly aren't gonna trigger any gag reflexes. Unfortunately, however, that's about it: they just don't generate enough excitement to trigger the dopamine-overload rush of their heroes.
Now, onto the actual recommendations. Despite being somewhat hit'n'miss (and that awful, awful genre tag!) Toro Y Moi's recent FACT mix is so consistently lovely as to bend the mind a little. Disco bloody disco, innit.
FACT mix 219 - Toro y Moi (Feb '11) by factmag
In other news: I've been hammering LA Vampires' stuff for a while now (well, a few days...)- especially the collaboration with Zola Jesus. To wit: the beat/vocal-stew heaviness of No No No. On the imaginitively titled EP LA Vampires & Zola Jesus. Also worthy of your attention: everything else LA Vampires have done. I kiddeth you not.
Finally, for the music: a God Help The Girl track that's been kicking around in the back of my head for a while now. Witness: the Be My Baby drumbeat/laaaavely female vocals/ridiculous, almost Shangri-Las esque melodrama in the middle eight. Incredible.
FILMS & BOOKS.
Exhaustive lists of everything watched/read recently probably don't say a great deal (and besides, I can't remember half of it) but here goes:
FILMS: Elephant Man (good, not mindblowing)/ Inland Empire (utterly infuriating; avoid)/A Bout De Souffle (incredible)/ Alphaville (simultaneously hilarious in its depiction of the future, and pretty good. Plus: Anna Karina. Oh me oh my)/ Blue Valentine (stunning. Plus: Grizzly Bear doing the soundtrack!)/ Mulholland Drive (pretty bloody good, I have to say)/ Ma Vie Sexuelle (far, far too long- although I'll probably always be a sucker for people smoking and talking French)/ The Big Sleep (stunning)/ Nausiscaa of The Valley of The Winds (pretty consistent, if a touch overlong)/ There Will Be Blood (fantastic- and what a score! Oh, Jonny...)/ Slacker (really rather excellent, and an absolute steal at just three measly pounds). Oh, and a selection of shorts by Chaplin, Laurel & Hardy, Keaton and someone else whose name escapes me temporarily. Keaton was by far the best, if you were wondering.
I'll do books another time. There's too many and it's just ticked past one.
