Music

Welcome to music reviews, this update has reviews of Super Furry Animals, Athlete, Streets and Roots Manuva... like bollocks it does!

THE STREETS - ORIGINAL PIRATE MATERIAL...

Mike Skinner has become a legend in Britiain. His album provides a lyrical snapshot of Britain today. Some people have claimed Skinner has been overhyped, but his ability to provide a snap shot of his life is pretty unique, comparisons with Jarvis Cocker are inevitable. But Skinner provides a more accesible record than pulp, not musically but topically. He touches a lot of areas of modern culture, covering going down the pub, taking E, drinking too much, women problems, students, and some clever political commentary, but he never takes on any pretentions. Like Roots Manuva he keeps it very british, Americans just wouldn't get this record, theres lots estoric london lyrics "london bridge is burning down, but brixton is burning up " and skinner at one point shouts "down the dogstar". Infact this is a very london orientated album despite Skinner not actually being from my Thames neck of the woods.  A classic moment is the argument between the Larger wideboy and the student dope head, skinner doesn't take sides but takes the piss out of both "down 8 pints and run all over the place"/"I home make bongs using my engineering degree".

THE BEATLES - REVOLVER

My first Beatles album and shamefully I bought it very recently (2001). I bought this after a completely different album "Mellon Collie and the infinite sadness" by the pumpkins, so it proved quite a contrast.

As everyone knows the Beatles produced wonderful pop music, in fact probably the best pop music ever. They were similar to the kinks in producing vignettes that were uniquely British and often very self-contained. Later their work became more introspective, but Revolver is not so. It marks their break away from songs that were principally about love, and a large number of tracks here have references to drugs.

'Taxman' the first track is very straightforward, but a brilliant pop song. Its quite amusing that Harrison the hippy, peace loving, Hare krshna would write a song complaining about being taxed. "Let me tell you how it will be/ there's one for you/nineteen for me" lyrics can't get simpler than this. The song is driven along by the bass with occasional squealing solos on lead, with jangly drumming from Ringo.

The Album contains a number of other and certainly greater hits. 'Eleanor Rigby' is a downbeat favourite; I like it but find it a bit sombre really. 'Love you to' is much more Harrison than taxman, but nowhere near as memorable.

'Here There and Everywhere' is rather nice and sweet. Frankly though it smacks of 'Pet Sounds' era Beach Boys, not surprising due to the two albums proximity. A comparison to 'Pet Sounds' is hardly an insult anyway, just don't expect this track to convert your 14 year old Linkin Park luvin' cousin to Beatles.

Now 'Yellow Submarine' this is where it's at. First time you hear it you will be reduced to a cringing mass, remembering your primary school sing-a-longs. Then you realise its catchy and quite amusing, 'what with all the sound effects and that'. I'm really not too sure what this is about, though it seems pretty druggy to me. Maybe about a hippy commune? Answers on a postcard…

Classic pop now with 'She Said' which has excellent guitar work and some rather nifty drumming from Ringo, though at times he sounds like he's abusing the pots and pans with a ladle. Yeah okay ringo sucks...

Now for one of my favourite tracks - 'Good Day Sunshine', is just a perfect day really, without the Louis Reed blatant smack head lyrics. Skipping along with simple yet incredibly beautiful piano work. Lennon does the vocals with an effective chorus with McCartney. The most up-beat track the Beatles have produced, the track slips at the end and spirals on forever, giving the impression of permanence

'For No One' is a bit sad really and should probably be the accompaniment to 'Hi-Fidelity' by Nick Hornby. This will have you on your knees if you've just had a break-up.

Dr Robert… now this is about getting a fix isn't… it must be. How could Lucy in the Sky cause a storm if they had already done this? How blatant is this:
'You're a new and better man / he helps you to understand…

Well, well, well, your feeling fine… Dr Robert'

God people were naïve.

'Got to Get You into My Life' starts like something from a bad 70s TV show. But it rapidly improves. Another rather touching and true song shows a bit of Lennon more cocky, womanising side, if you think about the chorus. The key to this track is waiting with so much anticipation for Lennon to blurt 'Got To Get You Into My Life'.

The last track, 'Tomorrow Never Knows' is frankly amazing and very scary if you've listened to a lot of old and new pop and dance music. This track was 30 years ahead of the music scene. It has strong elements present in bands like the Prodigy and Chemical brothers. It can be rather disorientating and weird as well if you listen to it while in a state. Ringo should be very proud for drumming out a rhythm that would become it seems the base for future dance music.

So as you can see I rather like this album. It catches the Beatles as they start to get more experimental,, and yet still producing very pop records. Only 'Tomorrow Never Knows' seems like an Alt track. So you get catchy tunes, with excellent song craft and some sonic experiments. The result is many parts of your mind that love music in very different ways are being stimulated at once, making this not just an excellent album but a very enjoyable album… maybe listening to it after the smashing pumpkins helped too!

ELECTRIC SOFT PARADE

One of a huge number of talented bands emerging from the Brighton music scene, ESP were forced to change their name after a legal case with a Doors tribute band in the US called 'The Soft Parade'. The brothers Tom and Alex have produced the ultimate hangover cure for those who overindulged in Britpop and then woke to the nasty after-effects. ESP produce a great mixture of sounds, becoming well known and critically acclaimed for the first single "Silent to the Dark", they took a very good indie song and then twisted it around halfway through, adding a dark distorted side halfway through this ambitious and long song. The Fact that they have the nerve to do this on the first single and throughout their album is surely a good sign and brings up comparisons with the Stone Roses. Indeed while they produce great complex tracks like "Silent to the Dark" they also produce much more punchy songs like "Holes in the wall", which again boasts a weird section - variations on a theme. They also produce bouncy pop songs like "Empty at the End" and "There's a Silence", while producing sad songs like "it's wasting me away". The amazing "Red Balloon For Me" shows amazing maturity considering they were 17 and 19 when they wrote this. ESP have the potential to, with the release of their next album, become one of the greatest indie bands in Britain. They have already found the type of music that Supergrass produced on "in it for the money" and the Charlatans occasionally managed on "tellin' stories".