4 for the weekend vol. 43 & 44:By-the-Numbers with The Postmarks

31 flavours in 3:20

Fujiya & Miyagi have left me speechless with their new single, “Knickbocker”. In just 3:20 they manage to set the most stream of conscious, nonsensical lyrics I’ve heard all year to a deep, most infectious krautrock beat. It’s not huge leaps and bounds from their last album, 2006’s Transparent Things, but all the same, the return of Fujiya & Miyagi remind you about just how fun and refreshing they Are, and how much you missed them. The greatest thing about their music is that it they don’t work the details to death; it’s as if they set out the paints and canvas and let the listener paint the picture themselves. The songs become whatever you want them to be, or whatever you need them to be in that moment, which is pretty special and unique.

Their sophomore album, Lightbulbs is available September 16th on Deaf, Dumb + Blind Records, and sees the addition of real drums on some tracks by Lee Adams. Lightbulbs is a must-hear on musical musical to-do list.

---

.: Fujiya & Miyagi :.
myspace : hype machine : elbo.ws

Back with Forth

Richard Ashcroft isn’t one to mince words. Last year he was quoted as saying that, “None of those bands who get back together ever make a record. They never put themselves on the line.” I imagine he was referring to reformed bands who charge an arm and a leg for tickets to concerts where they rehash former glories with nary a hint of new material. Ashcroft and his former band mates in The Verve have had the chance to play before the multitudes who welcomed their return with praise and admiration, but they weren’t content to a life on the greatest hits tour–they put themselves on the line and made a record.

By now you know that said record is Forth, released today. Album four sees the band producing themselves, and returning to their roots in a sense; Forth is no Urban Hymns, forgoing much of their last album’s populist leaning for the extended, experimental jams that made their debut A Storm In Heaven so beautiful. Forth sounds like it would be a better follow-up to the band’s second album–and one of my all-time favourite records–A Northern Soul. Guitarist, and perennial Ashcroft nemesis, Nick McCabe has his stamp all over Forth, coating the songs in layers of sonic paint. His signature guitar work was sadly missed on Urban Hymns and is a welcome return here.

Ashcroft is once again wearing his psychedelic shaman’s robes, achieving a lyrical spirituality that is mentally, rather than pharmaceutically induced. That means that the drugs aren’t working, although when you sit and listen to this tense, almost manic album, you’d wonder if The Verve could use some sedatives to relax. First single, “Love Is Noise”, is an anomaly among the album’s tracks; its energy and positive vibe isn’t found anywhere else. Instead, there’s a brooding storm of misery and tension, echoing the album’s cover art.

So it’s with a slight trepidation and a clear explanation that I’m declaring Forth a triumphant return for The Verve. My trepidation is that I’ll appear as if I’m bandwagon-jumping on a nostalgic ride into my more recent past, hence my explanation: Forth is a good album for all intents and purposes, but it’s not a triumphant collection of music; it is a product of a band reuniting without succumbing to the trappings of nostalgia, and the lure of playing it safe. It is triumphant because it’s not meant to appease fans and satiate their public. Forth is a new chapter in the continuing drama that is The Verve. Just getting to the point where Ashcroft and McCabe could stand to be in the same room together let alone the same band is a triumph in and of itself.

---

.: The Verve :.
facebook : hype machine : elbo.ws

Back to the future

John DeLorean isn’t an obvious choice for musical inspiration, but the man who gave us the DeLorean sports car, sporting gull-wing doors and a stainless steel body, has his place in pop culture firmly entrenched: not only did Doc Brown and Marty McFly use a DeLorean for their time travel machine in the Back To The Future movies, but Gruff Rhys (Super Furry Animals) and producer Boom Bip (aka Bryan Hollon) have collaborated as Neon Neon, releasing an album called Stainless Style inspired by DeLorean himself.

The vibe is sleek, sophisticated, synthy, and stylish of course, and absolutely addictive. Neon Neon’s techno-pop could have taken a souped up DeLorean-cum-time machine right from 1984 back to 2008. Hindsight allows the guys to avoid some of the more campy and clichéd elements from that era and stick to the good stuff: techno riffing, memorable melodies, scratchy, itchy flourishes that don’t sound out of place or overpowering, and great tunes.

The album has been available on Lex for some time now, and has recently earned the pair a Mercury Music Prize nomination.

---

.: Neon Neon :.
hype machine : elbo.ws

The beginning after the end

Did I ever tell you the story of how I first came to hear Stars? It was back about four years now, and my interest in music had hit a bit of a dry patch. I was stunted, you might say; locked in a dance with the past and not holding much interest in the future. I was listening pretty much exclusively to favourite albums of the past, and not finding a lot of new stuff that excited me. And for anyone that knows me, and knows me well, that’s saying quite a bit about my state of mind at the time. It was starting to feel like time and space were catching up to me–I was getting older, and felt like I couldn’t connect to anything new, as if I was permanently locked in a time capsule where it was always going to be 2003.

That’s when my dear friend Krista tossed my a life saver; it was round and had a hole in the middle, and shiny and encoded with digital music. It was called Heart and it was by Stars. And at first I didn’t want to know, and I resisted listening, and then I didn’t want to believe that what I was hearing was real. But I couldn’t stop listening, and I couldn’t help but fall in love with the music, and the I couldn’t help falling in love with music in general all over again. Music had heart again, you might say, and I wanted more more more. I went looking for more and I found all sorts; and I’m still looking to this day. And I’m listening and I’m loving. And to Krista, I’m ever grateful.

So this is for her, and this is for you, and this is because Stars are up for the Polaris Music Prize this year for last year’s In Our Bedroom After The War. And I’m sure you’ll agree, that this is pretty bitchin’:

---

.: Stars :.
myspace : hype machine : elbo.ws