Ian Britt new noise
Readers of High Voltage will probably be aware of Ian Britt already as he was a North-west native for a good few years before recently returning back to his homeland of Sheffield. After a debut album that was kept off the top of the iTunes alternative folk chart (niche, I’ll give you that) by laugh a minute combo David Gray and Damien Rice, Ian self released his next EP ‘Big Light’ a couple of months ago which has gone down incredibly well in Holland of all places. The Dutch obviously know a good acoustic singer-songwriter when they hear it as songs such as ‘Let Me In It’ and the timeless ‘The Shape Of Us’ are bloody lovely ditty’s to say the least. In a genre that is saturated with a helluva lot of tripe, isn’t it nice to find a bloke with a guitar you don’t mind listening to several times over? Get on him now before he buggers off to the Netherlands and we never see him again.
Myspace: www.myspace.com/ianbritt
Key Track: The Shape Of Us
Vampire Weekend album review
Artist: Vampire Weekend
Album: ‘Vampire Weekend’
Label: XL Recordings
Rating 2.5/5
After trawling through the massive and quite frankly unexciting biography that we were supplied with in accompaniment with this release, I finally put my finger on how the in house PR team could describe Vampire Weekend’s debut album in a more concise and efficient manner: ‘Hit and Miss’.
Those little words, sitting next to each other in perfect harmony, are the only 2 words anyone will ever need to describe this self titled album. In fact, I’m in half a mind to finish writing this review now as nothing more genuinely needs to be said. I could just give you some more words; reasonable, satisfactory, passable, OK etc.
But as that could be described as ‘lazy journalism’ let us dissect this album a little more shall we?
UK debut release ‘Mansford Roof’ is a pleasant enough opening with its jaunty rhythm and catchy hook but it’s the 2nd track ‘Oxford Comma’ where the album prematurely peaks. With the attention grabbing opening line of “Who gives a fuck about an Oxford comma?” to the memorable chorus hook of “Why would you lie about how much coal you have?” it leaves you expecting a lot more then the album eventually delivers.
I first discovered the albums other highlight ‘Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa’ when a friend of mine game me an mix album which had a theme of ‘Adorable Dittys’ and the song fits that description rather well. Apart from the rather bizarre repetition of the lyric of “It feels so natural, Peter Gabriel too” it is a song which could very well feature on ‘it’s-getting-warmer-so-lets-get-in-a-summery-mood’ playlists all around the country pretty soon. The album then goes from weak, to a bit strange to damn right awful at times. I can only assume they recorded ‘One (Blakes Got A New Face)’ as some kind of dare or bet as I can’t find a positive thing to say about it.
All in all its an album that is quite simply: alright. Not one you’ll tell all your mates to go and buy but at the same time you’ll not be angry at it for stealing 40 minutes of your life.
Quartershade New Noise
Potentially the best thing to come from Loughborough since, erm, Lawrie Sanchez, Quartershade are one of those indie bands that everyone uses the word ‘Epic’ to describe. And they’d be right in all fairness, but not that “We’re trying to sound like the Editors” kind of epic. Actually decent music Epic. HV first witnessed them when they played a shit hole of a venue in Liverpool, bringing with them gear that was better then what the venue already had. They played a blinding set and we’d argue they are one of the top unsigned live acts on the current scene. Setting up their own label and self releasing a number of tracks over 2007, they will self confess that they didn’t make as much noise as they would have hoped to, but with songs as good as theirs; It’s only a matter of time. Oh, also they’re also really tall. All of them. It’s quite weird actually.
Clipe Sexo Amador – New Noise
CLIPE SEXO AMADOR is something a bit left of centre, a bit quirky, curious and intriguing. Under the pseudonym of CLIPE, Jamie Dodd; a sound technology graduate creates his electro music with vintage Casio keyboards and modified children’s toys, but he is not like Bristol’s infamous Kid Carpet, he is, well, I’ll let the man himself tell you what you need to know:
“CLIPE SEXO AMADOR is the creative outcome of a pound keyboard and too much time that could have been spent on doing something productive.
Lyrically deep and grammatically incorrect, CLIPE SEXO AMADOR is for anyone who has ever been to Poundland and seen the potential of what just one pound can get you.”
The self confessed ‘Rick Wakeman of the Casio generation’ originally started CLIPE as a hobby, but after constant pestering from a whole gallimaufry of different sources and a conversation with his flatmate after too much ‘buy one get one free beer’ he decided to show the world that there is such a genre as ‘Poundland funk’.
