Album Review - Bloc Party

Bloc Party
Intimacy

Coming off of the back of the most successful year of the bands career that ended with the release of one of the year’s biggest indie dance tracks and the bands biggest UK tour to date, Bloc Party entered into 2008 as one of the biggest rising bands in the world – their Last.FM stats tell the true story; you don’t achieve over 36 million plays just by a stroke of luck.If this album does not surpass the feats of the previous two and scale to the top spot in the charts, then I will give up my attempts to become an established music journalist here and now.

‘Intimacy’ is a hugely experimental third release for the London based foursome who produced the performances of their lives at Reading and Leeds, minus Gordon.Prior to this performance, the album was released unto the world via their official website as a download for the mere price of £5, and £10 if you wished to pre order the physical release CD scheduled for October 24th, on top of the download. You’d think that it be a coincidence the album was released prior to their Reading and Leeds performances, and for that you may now accept the award for ‘The Most Gullible Individual in World History’.

Also described by Kele as ‘The Break-Up Album’ of their releases so far, he said that he wrote many of the songs about a bad break-up he had at the end of last year. Some of the best indie music has been written about break-ups in recent years – Arctics’ 505, Killers Mr. Brightside, Hard-Fi Better Do Better, I could go on – but the point is, Kele’s trying to move the band in a seriously positive direction. Yes, music has been moving towards a more dance driven state for a few years now, but the fact that Kele also supplied vocals for The Chemical Brothers Believe would explain he’d have to have some passion for dance music even before he’d begun to write ‘A Weekend in the City’, or maybe that’s just a coincidence as well.

“Now let’s get this party started”, is what should have been the first words ushered by Kele on the opening track Ares, however they were in fact “War, war, war ,war”, exactly the same words being subconsciously screamed by the new hate fad surrounding the band post-Mercury. However, what is certain about this new experimental sound, is that it’s truly explosive, endlessly dynamic and ultimately, fucking brilliant.
Next up is new single Mercury whose characteristic looping introduction is what all the fuss is about. Kele has said that this new release isn’t meant to be listened to sitting down and immersed in, but to be danced to. So with that spirit in mind, I’ve cracked a few glow sticks and am sitting in the dark with my 150mW green laser pumping sonic juice around my bedroom; now things are starting to really make sense. Yes ok, Nu Rave is deader than most of Michael Barrymore’s guests but if I’m to really experience this first hand, then it has to be done.

Moving deeper into the LP, there is a thunderous drive in the bass-line and riffs of Halo, that’s easily the most experimental track on the release, there’s a sister track to Song for Clay within Biko and attempts as recreating the grimy rock of ‘Silent Alarm’ with One Month Off. However, the real power of this album is locked inside eighth track Zephyrus; as the Greek god of the west wind you expect it to be a mellow track, however it doesn’t live up to the idea of being gentle, on the contrary it mimics the god’s greed and lust. “So let's take this from the start, you'll be me and I'll be you”, think of The Prayer being turned up to the max, but spliced with the passion and core of Like Eating Glass and you’re about a 1/3 of the way there. I went through a break up last year as well so I can sympathise with how Kele felt when he wrote this song. Along with Positive Tension from the debut, I can tell this track will become one of my favourite Bloc Party songs.

The only thing that is starting to worry me is that even after the third album release, they still haven’t been able to compose a band defining, set closing monster track that will cement them as one of the best live bands in the country. The Arctics’ managed this at the first (A Certain Romance) and second (If You Were There, Beware) attempts. Many would suggest the soulful entity of This Modern Love would suffice, yet songs of that nature are wrote and engineered as set intervals, that break up the performance.

Bloc Party have truly jumped into the big league and are ready to become the band they always promised to be. Come 2010 and album number four should be a decade defining masterpiece, touching the Amazon rain forest of course though.

8/10

Album Review: Hawnay Troof

Hawnay Troof
Islands of Ayle

I’m sure all of you understanding people out there will appreciate how I feel right now. Waking up from a heavy night of drinking in London, with the biggest hangover of my life with an imminent 4pm-2am shift at work starting in a few hours, to find that my first promos through the post from SonicDice includes this artist. Hawney Troof – the hitchhiker’s definition of flamboyant Electro-Pop. The hairs on my skin stood up in what felt like the most intense braingasm ever experienced by a human being, I do think not matron.I’d once heard of the artist through the acclaimed EP Community released in between his first two LPs that the internet had a bit of a generation-wank to. I wasn’t much impressed back then, however, time is a healer.

Islands of Ayle is the third LP released by the solo project of 24 year-old California based producer Vice Cooler, a multi talented musician, photographer and writer who outside of his music commitments has written books and makes regular contributions to magazines such as Rolling Stone and The Wire. His other past and recent commitments include punk band XBXRX, who in 10 years have knocked out 6 full albums and 13 singles & EPs; and this is whilst keeping up with Hawney Troof, his writing and a host of other artists that he makes contributions for. Quite a busy man most of you will agree.

The album opens to the screeching sound of Suspension and Conclusion, it’s not clear whether Vice is trying to imitate MIA or convulse in a daring attempt at making a psychedelic mockery of Muse.Then what greets you is possibly the strangest track that I have ever heard in my life, Front My Hope which should be re-titled Can You Cope, it sounds a lot like what The Magic Roundabout would exist as in a shroom infested entity of Amy Winehouse; all accompanied with a complimentary bunny rabbit choir; tasty.Although things really begin to kick off with the next track Underneath the Ocean that fortunately does speak truly of MIA and Santogold’s work.

The only thing about this album starting to puzzle me is that clearly the only people that could ever possibly dance to it are members of the Ministry of Silly Walks or naked Playboy Bunnies covered in oil. It’s a pulsating electro rollercoaster, laden with more than a necessary quantity of synthesizers, some of the deepest bass on earth and a lyrical structure that begs for appreciation; Hawney Troof is definitely one of the most underrated artists that I’ve been fortunate enough to listen to this year. “Little dude little dude, won’t you see the floor, it will not change the rules of school” If ninth track Oblivions is anything to go by, then his live performances are guaranteed to raise a few eyebrows when he inevitably embarks on another world tour – that last time round saw him playing in such obscure places as China and Egypt, which after he wrote a book about the 20-month long tour entitled Dollar and Deed Tour that sold out over the internet within an hour.

Vice Cooler is re-defining how to be a solo artist, his passion for everything new and inventive is one of the reasons that caught Retard Disco’s eye five years ago, and he’s a massive underground inspiration for many of America’s aspiring electro/pop acts. Order a copy of this and you won’t be disappointed, unless of course you prefer to live a life consumed within your mainstream electro of Justice and Daft Punk; now there’s nothing is wrong with that really and no one else will be that bothered, but you’ll always know you were a lazy faggot when it came to musick.

This review is also posted over at SonicDice

7/10