Slow Thrills

RELEASES: 2007 - The first quarter gone
I had the bright idea of rounding-up some of the releases from the first three months of 2007 for two reasons...
1) It gets me off the hook slightly for not reviewing them when they come out, and
2) It should make the end of year trawl a bit less painless (and a bit quicker too!)
I haven't heard everything that has been released, and real highlights like the new ones from Cornelius and the Clientele are just around the corner, but there's still plenty to write about.

PART 1: Initial disappointments and some old faves...

Deerhoof 'Friend Opportunity'
I use the word disappointment cautiously, as none of the albums in this section are bad, maybe I just exected a bit more, or something else. Deerhoof are only in here because 'Friend Opportunity' isn't as impressive as 'The Runners Four' or 'Apple O', and it still has more ideas and imagination than 99% of the music being released today. Lots of inventive arrangements as usual, '+81' has a stunning brass and marching band intro, elsewhere they hint at the skewered rock of the Magic Band. The down tempo introspective material works well too, 'Whither the Invisible' and 'The Galaxist' are definite highlights. However my initial reservations about the annoying 'Kidz are so Small' and the overlong 'Look Away' haven't shifted, but overall if you are into spiky psychedelic stuff this is still worth a listen.

The Shins 'Wincing the Night Away'
On the first few plays this struck me as very dull indeed, but somehow it stayed on my iPod and popping up on shuffle. Songs like 'Sea Legs' just end to creep into your brain and stay there. This is a more sedate (grown-up?) Shins album, it reminds me more of bands like the Chills circa 'Submarine Bells' than the usual Pavement comparisons.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah 'Some Loud Thunder'
I know a lot of people cannot stand this guy's voice but I'm actually a fan of this lot and their debut album still gets listened to regularly around here. 'Some Loud Thunder' has had a very mixed reception and for me the main problem with it is the production (by Dave Fridmann of Mercury Rev/ Flaming Lips and a lot of other people). In one respect this is successful in that it has blended the vocals better within the band so they don't great, but does he really have to overload the mix so much. The drums in particular ruin this for me in a couple of places 'Emily Jean Stock' in particular). While I like some things Fridmann has produced this is right there with Low's last album in that I would love to hear it re-recorded or maybe even have a listen to the demos. Some of the songs aren't bad although I don't think they are as strong as the debut. Again if you give them a chance they will creep up on you. 'Underwater' is probably my fave with its hints of Spector and 60s pop.

Arcade Fire 'Neon Bible'
I haven't listened to this very much so I'll keep this brief and return to it later in the year, because whether you like them or not this will be in the end of year polls. I would love to see these guys live but I haven't had the pleasure yet so I'm not familiar with the pre-album versions of these songs. This is a disappointment after 'Funeral' although I will give it more time. To my ears at least there is a heavier Springsteen influence here ('Windowsill', 'Antichrist Television Blues', 'Intervention') and some of it reminds me of ELO. I would have difficulty comparing 'Funeral' to anyone, even after 2 years of listening to it. Still 'Black Wave/ Bad Vibrations' and 'The Well and the Lighthouse' do it for me and I still hold out hope for a live encounter sometime this year.