Best Songs of 2012 So Far

Beach House - 'Myth'
From Bloom

Frank Ocean - 'Thinkin Bout You'

From channel ORANGE

The xx - 'Angels'
From Coexist

Grimes - 'Oblivion'
From Visions

The Shins - 'Simple Song'
From Port of Morrow

Chairlift - 'I Belong In Your Arms'

From Something

Grizzly Bear - 'Yet Again'

From Shields

Keaton Henson - 'Small Hands'

From Dear...

Fiona Apple - 'Valentine'

From The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do

Japandroids - 'The House That Heaven Built'

From Celebration Rock

Bloc Party - 'Day Four'

From Four

http://soundcloud.com/blocparty/day-four

Alt-J - 'Tessellate'

From An Awesome Wave

Django Django - 'Hail Bop'

From Django Django

Sharon Van Etten - 'Serpents'
From Tramp

Perfume Genius - 'Hood'

From Put Your Back N 2 It

Yuck - 'Chew'

2:54 - 'Scarlet'

From 2:54

John Talabot - 'Destiny feat. Pional'

From ƒin

Alabama Shakes - 'Hold On'

From Boys & Girls

First Aid Kit - 'The Lion's Roar'

From The Lion's Roar

Best Coast - 'The Only Place'

From The Only Place

Frankie Rose - 'Night Swim'

From Interstellar

Trailer Trash Tracys - 'You Wish You Were Red'
From Ester

Passion Pit - 'Take A Walk'
From Gossamer

Tame Impala - 'Elephant'

From Lonerism

Purity Ring - 'Crawlersout'
From Shrines

Great Lake Swimmers - 'New Wild Everywhere'
From New Wild Everywhere

School of Seven Bells - 'Lafaye'
From Ghostory

DIIV - 'Human'
From Oshin

Lucy Rose - 'Lines'

Live Review - Alabama Shakes

Alabama Shakes
HMV Institute
Birmingham
Friday 11th May


Alabama Shakes have had much hype around them, but the fact they are already playing this size of venue outside London is still impressive - especially as their first UK shows were two nights at London's Boston Arms pub back in February. The amount of excitement this band has provoked, with celebrity followers such as Russell Crowe, Jack White and Bon Iver, alongside regular radio air play of single ‘Hold On’, is evident in the upgrading of this venue. The show was promoted to the sold out main room of the HMV Institute, but the band do not look too shy, nor small, for the stage, with the presence of Brittany Howard drawing all the eyes of the room towards her.

With Alabama Shakes receiving such rave reviews, particularly with their first London performances, it was a surprise then how relatively poorly their debut album, Boys & Girls, was reviewed. Its opening three songs ‘Hold On’, ‘I Found You’ and 'Hang Loose’ are played early in tonight's set, with the first provoking the crowd to sing along to its simple chorus. The driving rhythm of ‘Hang Loose’ is next, propelled by its simple, pulsating bass line with Zac Cockrell, grimacing slightly as he nods his head up and down, right in the pocket with drummer Steve Johnson.

The songs they play next however, such as 'Heartbreaker' and 'Rise to the Sun' result in a drop in pace and suddenly Howard’s incredible voice doesn’t have a driving rhythm for it to bounce off. Where the album often lacks momentum and loses its way in slower songs, their live performance is invigorated by Howard when she drops her guitar and roams the stage with the shortcomings of their material forgotten. It's a shame the flawless performance on Later with Jools Holland of ‘Be Mine’ is not replicated tonight, with Howard clearly distracted by a dysfunctional microphone.

The Alabama Shakes singer is a tremendously intense performer, and prefaces the song ‘Boys & Girls’ with a story of when she was a child her best friend was a boy, and that they spent everyday together before they were told they weren’t permitted to be friends as they grew older. This clearly means a lot to her, and her performance is outstanding and true, her eyes popping with intensity and passion. Yet overall, the material is just too linear and lacking in varied dynamics - they feel stuck in a comfortable form. It relies too much on Howard’s voice, and often not enough is going on behind it. Their amount of material is also thin, and the always awkward proposition of a band headlining their own tour when they have just one album released is not entirely negated by Alabama Shakes filling at least a third of the set with covers and one new song, which at least is to date their most up tempo track.

Still, the crowd crave more from the band, and beg them to return for by stamping their feet to the floor, but I can't think of a song remaining from the album that they could play. Their selection to close is ultimately utterly contrived, with Howard insisting that ‘we came to see you!’ which the crowd laps up before giving the band a standing ovation. After I had listened to their album more, I was disappointed that they clearly weren't as great as was promised. Their performance on Jools Holland gave me hope that they may just be a great live band, unable to be captured on record. But their performance, at 70 minutes, in truth suffers from the same problem. They start strong, but fall away due to their slower material, but also the overall lack of quality and variety. It strikes me that the audience here is trying to hold on to the idea that they are still the astonishing new band that they were led to believe in.

Live Review - Thrice UK Farewell Show

Thrice
HMV Forum
London
Monday 30th April

As Thrice return for their last encore of a show in the UK, they do so to a chorus of ‘Thank you Thrice’, with Dustin Kensrue acknowledging that it ‘is the best chant I’ve ever heard’. Tonight Thrice have invited their fans to say farewell, but this is not a morose affair, rather a celebration of a band choosing to leave on their own terms, at the peak of a career spanning fourteen years. They spend the evening swaying and spend the night often jumping around the stage, as far from a phoned in performance as possible. When Kensure screams during the conclusion to 'Beggars', he does so until his voice cannot give any more.


I was last at this venue two years prior to see City and Colour, but the polite applause that greeted Dallas Green to the stage is outdone by the thunderous reception with which Thrice are welcomed. These are 2000 of the most dedicated fans with the show sold out long ago, and even where I am standing, at the furthest possible point away from the stage on the highest point of the balcony, there are still people singing along, with the gentleman below me one level lower jumping and lifting his arms. Where Thrice are widely unrecognised and under-rated, the fans they do attract have stayed with them and fiercely appreciate the band. Moreover, also on the balcony are Oli Sykes and Matt Nicholls from Bring Me The Horizon, Mike Duce from Lower Than Atlantis, as well as members of Architects and While She Sleeps, demonstrating how appreciated Thrice are among peers, as well as fans.

After opening with the first track from their latest album Major/Minor in the intense, hard hitting and grooving ‘Yellow Belly’, Thrice go straight back to 2005 with ‘The Image of the Invisible’ from their album Vheissu. Tonight isn't a promotion for their newest release, with the selection of a song that has been absent from setlists over recent years an indication that they have carefully paid attention to a poll they posted on their website, asking fans to vote for the songs they want to hear on this last tour. The song invites the audience to sing along with the title, and when the song drops and rests before entering into the final chorus, 2000 people scream back ‘we are the image of the invisible’ with their arms aloft.

The setlist takes us through Thrice’s early albums, with the hit title track from 2003’s Artist in the Ambulance surprisingly deployed only third in the set. This again encourages more singing from the crowd, but Thrice prove they have far from peaked too early, and display the depth of their back catalogue, which becomes stronger as their career progressed. It takes three more songs before they play another song from their latest album with bassist Ed Breckenridge laughing as he repeats a shout he heard from the crowd: ‘play more new songs’.

When they do, they select one of their strongest with ‘Promises’. While they are choosing to split, the band are ostensibly far from short of ideas, with Major/Minor arguably their most complete album, at least in terms of an overall level maintained quality not yet reached in their previous releases. Although this is difficult in the case of 24 song opus The Alchemy Index, which will ultimately go down as their greatest work. The band do not mind indulging fans in their old favourites either, such as ‘Deadbolt’ from The Illusion of Safety. Where Major/Minor and Beggars feature stripped down arrangements and stratchy guitars with chord based riffs, here Dustin and Teppei’s riffs have a more metal edge, with ‘Stare at the Sun’ again leaning towards a more simple structure. But whichever style they write in, they succeed in composing incredibly catchy songs, with this song's chorus highlighting that I need to listen to it again as soon as I have the chance.

Thrice make sure their songs are the focal point of the night, with the talking in-between kept to a minimum. They fit in as much as possible with the allotted time, and even find room for a smashing Beatles cover in ‘Helter Skelter’. The stage features no banner, only their amps and drum set which is all they need when songs such as ‘Red Sky’ feature choruses as shattering as its first, which has all the more impact following an extended, quiet first verse. Its expansive outro, with the four members swaying to its beat is enough of a spectacle by itself.

As the set comes to a close, they thank the fans and play a newer song, 'Anthology', from 2011’s Major Minor. The song acts as a reflection of their entire career and it captures the mood and relationship between the band and fans in the chorus' lyrics 'You know me / And I know you'. Further, it also represents a creative peak with its warm verses and Dustin singing the longest and highest notes he has managed yet. This would have been a perfect ending, a celebration and acknowledgement of their work before bowing out if it wasn't for what followed. The band relent to the crowd's demands and return to the stage for, as Dustin explains, the 'first second encore in the history of Thrice'. The band's last song is 'T & C', from their first e.p First Impressions, released in 1998. The song sounds primitive and immature juxtaposed against 'Anthology' and features a long dual guitar harmony between Dustin and Teppei Teranishi that reminds of Iron Maiden, but shows how accomplished this band have become. Dustin even admits they feel silly for playing it, and the verse is a little shaky before the harmony is impressively and perfectly executed, but it reinforces the night as a celebration of their entire career, 7 albums spanning 13 years, all by the same four men from Irvine, California. As the two hour show is drawn to a close, and Thrice leave a UK stage for the final time, the onlooking members from other bands would have been given plenty from which to learn.

Setlist:


Yellow Belly
Image of the Invisible
The Artist in the Ambulance
Silhouette
The Weight
Identity Crisis
Promises
In Exile
Red Sky
Firebreather
The Messenger
Broken Lungs
Words in the Water
Stare at the Sun
Deadbolt
To Awake and Avenge the Dead
All the World is Mad
Helter Skelter (Beatles Cover)
Beggars


Encore:
Come All You Weary
Phoenix Ignition
The Earth Will Shake
Anthology


Second Encore:
T & C

Song of the Day - Saturday 12th May

Field Music - 'Start The Day Right'

From Plumb

Song of the Day - Friday 11th May

Trailer Trash Tracys - 'You Wish You Were Red'

From Ester

Song of the Day - Thursday 10th May

The War On Drugs - 'Best Night'
From Slave Ambient

Song of the Day - Wednesday 8th May

The Shins - 'It's Only Life'

From Port of Morrow