Music Spectrum

The Music Spectrum Notebook Series digs into my handwritten notes and reviews on older releases still getting my attention from 2010.

What caught my attention originally wasn’t the Mercury Prize-winning The Hour of the Bewilderbeast. It was the soundtrack to About a Boy. Those hooky beats set to 70’s folk pop gems are what drew me to Badly Drawn Boy.

2010’s It’s What I’m Thinking (Part One – Photographing Snowflakes) doesn’t have those hooks, beats, pop, or gems. Billed as Damon Gough’s return to recording after a hiatus since 2006, it lives up to the album’s title: a stream of consciousness type of record, catching Gough as the notes and thoughts form. Because of that immediate, unedited quality, it’s an album best taken when you’re ready for introspection, daydreaming, and staring at grey clouds pushed by the wind past your windows while drinking a cup of tea.

What strikes me, though, is the connection to the Smiths that you don’t necessarily hear on the About a Boy soundtrack, the moments when Badly Drawn Boy is saturated in 70’s melodrama romanticism. Here on It’s What I’m Thinking you can hear how Gough is indebted to the balladry of Morrissey and Marr. This is especially true on the oscillating calmly sound of “I Saw You Walk Away,” hearkening right back to “There is a Light That Never Goes Out” (The Queen is Dead) and even contains the very Moz-like lyric, “If I don’t crucify myself, somebody will.”

It’s What I’m Thinking doesn’t have Marr’s charged guitars, but it does have the sweeping guitar, the chiming bass and drums, and the faux strings drawing out the melancholy. When you lock in on that approach to listening to the album, you realize you needed Badly Drawn Boy back in the studio, sharing his thoughts and melodies with your Everyday Sunday loneliness.

Badly Drawn Boy
The End Records

The Holloways have written the anthem for the High Fidelity crowd, for all of us who find that music brings more than entertainment and actually somehow saves us from dreary feelings of inadequacy, meaninglessness, and malaise. “Generator” is an Irish jig disco where Alfie Jackson and Rob Skipper’s doubled-vocals say, “I can get a record player, and a generator./Generate the music that makes you feel better.” It calls to mind all of the times when music—recorded or live—served to completely shift my mood and life trajectory.

The Holloways’ So This is Great Britain? floats on a buoy of Irish jig-like rhythms while landing much more within rock/pop docks. The title track punks up the jig while also bringing out Carter USM’s novelty hooks to produce a 2007 versions of “London Calling.” Elsewhere, the novelty comes through a wittiness akin to Ted Leo and Too Much Joy where the silliness hides deeper themes. “Malcontented One” has the harmonica of the Housemartins for a ditty like A House while certain lyrical couplets sound like They Might Be Giants.

Even though the basic rhythm of the Holloways is a jig, that jig is far from the traditional. “Fit for a Fortnight” takes the jig out to the country with some good ol’ backbeat. “Re-invent Myself?” finds a Lynyrd Skynyrd-like guitar alongside the punk sounding British accents meaning the Holloways could be called AltBritTradCountry.

The Holloways, then, are able to combine all of this rhythmic silliness while still delivering poignant words. I used “Generator” for a youth retreat this past fall. We got everyone dancing while also thinking about how it is the music of God’s Word that can really save.

Then there’s “Nothing for the Kids,” appropriate for a discussion I led with community leaders about the complaint of teens that “there’s nothing for the kids to do today.” As the song says, because there’s nothing for them to do, it leads to the lowest common denominator activities which all lead toward delinquency and a future with nothing to do in jail. Of course, when the Holloways sing about it, it is much less pedantic—which brings us back to how music can save us by getting us thinking and talking about things we might otherwise leave in textbooks.

The Holloways
TVT Records

It could very well be the power of suggestion that I hear a slew of 80’s comparisons in AutoVaughn’s Space. The artwork at their Myspace site includes a line drawing of the Space Shuttle—an image that dominated our culture in the 1980’s and certainly takes me back to those days of going to junior high after watching the Shuttle take off during Good Morning America, of having Home Ec class interrupted by an announcement that the Space Shuttle Challenger had been lost. In the 80’s, I dreamt first of flying the Space Shuttle, and then I daydreamed about what music would I take with me if I was an astronaut.

AutoVaughn comes with an indie 80’s rock akin to something you would’ve found in the cut-out bin where you righteously yelled at the powers that be at their indiscriminate casting of Mighty Lemondrops into some bargain selection. Sure, you looked through the cut-out bin, because it brought more music home for your $5, but that’s where you strangely found G.W. McClennan (didn’t they know that he was a most beautiful songwriter?), Big Country, the Woodentops, This Picture, Lightning Seeds, and more.

Elsewhere, Darren Potluck’s lead vocals are accented in a way that might make you think he was once part of the Outfield and/or a protégé of Colin Hay and Men at Work. Yet, if you’re looking to bring in some more contemporary comparisons, I also hear the clear-toned voice of Dan Haseltine from Jars of Clay.

Besides those cut-out comparisons, I also hear Manchester’s Madtown music not being far away; AutoVaughn finding ways to be a satellite, sending the Smiths and the Stone Roses back down to us. Or perhaps they’re also offering a simultaneous broadcast from Liverpool with some echoes of Echo & the Bunnymen.

Yet, finally I’ve got to come back to present day (after all, the Shuttles are still flying), because AutoVaughn has some of the pop constructions of Switchfoot. There are breakdowns propelled by Andy Grooms’ drums that slam you back into the riffs of Steve Wilson’s lead guitar, but those slams don’t obliterate the tender moments that stand side-by-side.

“Rock Your Body” spins the disco ball rock, and is a fine example of why we still need Space Shuttle Rock with astronauts like drummer Grooms punching the ignition on those booster rockets.

Thanks to AutoVaughn and Onpo Entertainment for the review CD.

Ed Harcourt’s “Born in the 70’s” is my generation’s “My Generation” aimed back at our parents’ “My Generation.” The advice Ed gets from his daddy is filled with the I’m OK, You’re OK platitudes, and the song sends it back saying we’re living “up against the older generation’s wall”—a generation which doesn’t seem to really care about Generation X.

Harcourt’s Strangers thrives on his smashing piano. It’s a Jazz-influenced Rock piano which carries many of the songs, but it hearkens back to rockabilly days when the piano could be just as rebellious, the days before the electric guitar became so overwhelmingly predominant.

In addition to his piano, Harcourt’s music stands out for its orchestration. Harcourt’s arrangements are like Rufus Wainwright’s. While not tending towards the vaudevillian sound of Wainwright, both Harcourt and Wainwright use whatever instruments are at hand in order to fully develop the entire songscape, creating a multi-layered, complex sound that’s like the inside of your heart which you’re contemplating from a chair inside your home while looking out a rain-streaked window hearing the cars pass on the wet street and watching people with umbrellas rush pass on the sidewalk while trying to imagine if they ever feel the same way in their hearts as you do.

The time it all comes together—jaunty and melancholic reflections—is on the title track. The lead guitar punctures the sky with bright psychedelic grace notes, the rhythm guitar bounces in jazz dance hall beat, and then the percussion—hand drumming on the drums, tambourine, and handclaps brings it right back down to that lonely apartment. While Harcourt goes many other places on Strangers, the immediate intimacy of “Strangers” is indeed the theme throughout the album.

Thank you to Ed Harcourt and Astralwerks for the review copy.

Rainbow Quartz presents a set of artists that give you the 60’s rock sound, tending even towards Byrds psychedelia folk rock, but without ever getting too sleepy. Frontier Index fits this description, although on their self-titled debut, there’s plenty of other sounds and influences in their shopping cart.

The album’s hook is the guitar part of the bridge of the first track, “Someday.” It comes on like sweet mary sunshine of a late 80’s band looking back with sheer fondness at the 60’s dawn of rock ‘n’ roll. Then when you hit the bridge, Matt Francis’ bass bounces down a nice groove. The twin guitar licks of John Hunter and Corey Hernden enter with a picked urgency on top of that bounce, and that’s when you sense where Frontier Index finds their direction in this already explored territory of rock ‘n’ roll.

There’s plenty of re-exploring to do in that territory, and while “Someday” with Hunter and Hernden on guitar motivates my listening energy for the rest of the album, there’s some fear that this expedition will never really land on a frontier that Frontier Index can call their own. “Collide” sounds like Coldplay in a garage (it even has Coldplay’s favorite image of stars). “Feel the Sun” takes an AltCountry slow walk with a Beatles chorus. “My Secret” is a sad lovers’ waltz. “If It Didn’t Work Out” channels Joe Cocker through a Gin Blossoms frame that is helped by some Wilco soul.

Those other parts of the album wander, threatening aimlessness, but Frontier Index can avoid this if they let those guitar licks and rhythm section leads be their compass. “Silver Suns” has that 60’s gloss to it, a sleepiness that gets a No-Doz kick from Mick Jackson’s drums which build to a hollow sound like distant thunder. Hunter and Hernden arrive for the bridge with a high tone urgency guitar wash that helps this dream arrive. Frontier Index will need to make sure the dreams arrive instead of just being lost to napland.

Other recent releases from Rainbow Quartz include:

The Get Quick’s How the Story Goes
An album that starts off sounding like those bubblegummy 60’s rock dreams mixes it up with tracks like “New Plimsoles” which take all of the piss out of punk and inject it back into 60’s harmonies. Some well-placed use of horns helps to heighten the New Wave meets jazz meets pop meets punk. If Joe Jackson had followed one direction, the Get Quick may have been that story.

Outrageous Cherry’s Our Love Will Change the World
Harmonica and trumpet greet you as Outrageous Cherry’s Our Love Will Change the World echo 60’s rock down to the echo quality to the vocals on “Pretty Girls Go Insane.” The Turtles, the Byrds, the Beatles, and the Kinks can be heard in Outrageous Cherry, like the ghosting of some distant AM station breaking into your current listening. A highlight is “Detroit Blackout,” a grooving quasi-instrumental (there are some strange voiceover effects) built on blues-jam guitar and drums perfect for a black & white cinema verite documentary about the streets.

A few Rainbow Quartz releases, including Frontier Index and the Get Quick, are available in the Music Spectrum Giveaway Closet if requested. See the Sidebar for info on how to get your FREE CDs.

Thanks to Frontier Index, Rainbow Quartz, the Get Quick, and Outrageous Cherry for the review and giveaway CDs.

The door opens, and the Radio Shack door chimes gives an electronic “ding dong,” alerting the Posies that they have another customer—you, the listener, have just pressed play, walking into Every Kind of Light. Basslines walk while treble sounds make movie music of the dreamy kind. “It’s Great to Be Here Again” could be what the band says or what the customers say when they arrive.

Vocal harmonies head skyward in falsetto on “Conversations,” dropping down into a rock-on chorus. The Posies are in good form after all these years, still tapping into the Byrds psychedelic folk while never ditching the Seattle sound. “All in a Day’s Work” takes a Garage Rock riff pattern, but those vocal harmonies don’t let this be a muddy sound.

“Second Time Around” has the urgent tempo like Teenage Fanclub. This leads right into “Last Crawl” (acoustic-led jazzy ballad) and “Could He Treat You Better?” (bluesy end of the night vamp), showing again that the rock of the Posies will not be a barrage, thrown up to see what actually hits the target. Urgent rock is carefully, artfully directed harmonically with the Folk-influenced English Rock sound. (For more on why this sound inspired by the Byrds gets labels as British, please see Cerveris review).

Thanks to The Posies and Rykodisc for the review copy.

You can find the best-of year-end lists in most music publications. Rather than rehashing what was already reviewed and discussed this year, Music Spectrum is going deep into the stacks of CDs received this year to take a look at some of the ones that got missed.

The Afternoons have that Teenage Fanclub approach to the Byrds sound that lands in the Folk-influenced IRE/UK Rock section. There’s harmonies; there’s pop; there’s rock taking over the world. Yet, while tracks like “See You Again” on My Lost City have that dreamy feel, others have that indie rock hook for small venue sing alongs, like “Make You Happen.” These are short tracks, just right for 7 inch singles to listen to on your little record player on your bedroom floor, daydreaming about love (“Gonna Stay Together”) and then flipping to the B-side thinking about how “You Can Change to World.” My Lost City is released by Recordiau Dockrad Records.

Zip Records, together with Yesterday Girl Records, released Pop Under the Surface, Volume 4 in 2002, a tremendous collection of popped-up 60’s Byrds rock done by artists from all around the world at the beginning of this new century. It’s like turning on a shortwave radio, going through the frequencies, and finding long-range stations from many nations playing great pop songs. It’s like going to Coca-Cola World in Atlanta, tasting the Coke from other places in the world. It’s all called Coca-Cola, but the formula subtly changes to suit the tastes of certain countries. Zip Records lets you step up to the drink dispenser to taste rock in its subtle variations around the world. While the sounds on this compilation move beyond the Folk-influenced IRE/UK Rock into College Rock and Garage Rock, even so the bands often sounds like College Rock or Garage Rock bands doing a Britpop/Byrds-inspired pop song. New Jersey’s Evelyn Forever have Relient K’s skate-punk-pop approach. The UK’s Western Electric lives up to their name with Western 12-strings adding twang to the pop. Cue up the Kinks comparisons for the Netherlands’ Waistcoats. Japan’s the Oranges crank up the pop with the punk foreshadowing of the Who. Finally, travel back to the States with many underground pop bands from coast to coast, including Peter Marston’s Beatle-pop which draws you right in to the earnestness of love.

A step past the 60’s folky harmonies of the Byrds—Calfornian pop which finds more affinity in the Folk-influenced IRE/UK Rock section—comes psychedelic rock. While acid rock goes well beyond folk music, there seems to be that foundation of a singer and a guitar trying to describe whatever trip they’re on. Those dreamy landscapes often spilled into excess, but certain artists today have been able to rescue the dreams from the nightmares, the travels from the aimlessness. The Delays do this with Faded Seaside Glamour. A world opens up through these sparkling pop songs made as if accompaniment for pictures of sunlit fields blowing in the wind. Greg Gilbert’s falsetto vocals float into the ether, but his guitar, Colin Fox’s bass, Rowly’s drums, and Aaron Gilbert’s keys/programming tethers the music. Should it be only about floating in the atmosphere, the Delays would be lost. Beats like on “Long Time Coming” make the dreams danceable and anthemic at the same time. Faded Seaside Glamour is released by Rough Trade.

Featured Year-End Folk-influenced IRE/UK List Title



Where you have to search a little for the tether to keep the Delays from floating away into the ether, the High Dials pack the beats right up front. Here’s where psychedelic overtones meet dance funk, rocked out Byrds stuff, and Kinks charging guitars. Their Fields in Glass EP shakes the tambourine, sending the swirling psychedelic tunes into overdrive. The jamming keyboard break on “City Rivers” only comes to show there’s more to come. “Things Are Getting Better” features Beatle-esque sitar soloing work, a horn section on power chords, and a breakdown marching section like you might find in the Polyphonic Spree or the Beta Band. “Fields in Glass” itself gets two remixes including the Stained Glass Mix by the Pirates of the North Atlantic, which makes it even more crunchy, drumline rhythm ready. Fields in Glass EP is released by Rainbow Quartz.

Thanks to all of the labels for the review copies.