The latest releases reviewed.
***
The Pogues started off banging tin beer trays on their heads and ended (more or less) claiming a territory consisting of inspiring hybrid music, occasionally sent off the rails by excessive alcohol consumption. This treasure trove - more than 100 songs gathered across five discs, winningly annotated by band member Phil Chevron - is all the gubbins and more. If you want godawful live versions of The Rocky Road to Dublinand The Galway Races, they're here; if you want cracking live versions of A Pair of Brown Eyesand The Sickbed of Cuchulainn, they're here, too. That was the best thing about The Pogues: they could fall apart and come together within the space of one song at the same gig. Warts and all, they are the aural equivalent of the phrase "publish and be damned".
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TONY CLAYTON-LEA
Download tracks: Haunted, Rainy Night in Soho, Streams of Whiskey
JOHN MATTHIAS
Stories from the Watercooler
John Matthias was once a bandmate of Thom Yorke (he played violin on The Bends), so it's no coincidence that both share similar lyrical interests. Yorke lamented an innocent victim of the war on terror on Harrowdown Hill, and Matthias tackles the shooting of John Charles De Menezes on Stockwell Road.
Similarities to Eraser(Yorke's solo album) end there, largely due to Matthias's musical approach. There's a hint of experimentalism, but he adopts a less-is-more approach to melody. Folkish wisps of electronica float alongside acoustic guitars, although he ups the tempo occasionally. Amid the banjos and harmoniums, it's hard to pick out Coldcut's production; instead, they sit back and let Matthias opine on everything from Britney Spears bombs to telephone banking. Matthias is a storyteller, and sums himself up in Stocktaking, a tale of an unlikely musician who is hard to bracket.
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SINÉAD GLEESON
Download track: Stocktaking
Mikael Åkerfeldt, the presiding genius and sole constant member of this Swedish progressive death metal band, has long antagonised purists with his embrace of non-metal influences. On this, the ninth Opeth studio release, his musical ecumenism pays off like never before. Watershedis a spellbinding carnival of ideas and idioms, all executed with musicianship of the highest calibre. From Coil'sfolk poignancy to Heir Apparent'sdemented Cookie Monster vocals; from Burden'simpish detuning of an acoustic guitar to Porcelain Heart'sdark chromatic piano; from Hessian Peel'sfull-throttle shred guitar to Hex Omega'sunsettling mellotron harmonies . . . this is a riotously inventive album of Jekyll-and-Hyde extremes, with enough Lennonesque "little bitties" to keep you interested 100 years from now. Make no mistake, the world of melodeath has just delivered its very own OK Computer.
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Download tracks: Porcelain Heart, Hessian Peel
DARAGH DOWNES
Bella Union
***** Prepare to be smitten. Fleet Foxes, a bunch of twentysomethings from Seattle, make blissful sounds that don't appear to belong to this planet or this age. You'll be wowed again and again at how the vocal harmonies of Robin Pecknold and friends cascade away with charming, easy-go-lucky gusto like some lost memento of late 1960s sunshine pop.
Then, in the blink of an eye, the group are gone a-bustling up that mountain or down that valley and come back with some sun-dappled pastoral folk missive or Americana testament that appears to have lain untouched and undiscovered for centuries. Every track on this debut album is ravishing, every note perfectly placed, every sound wonderfully ethereal. Best of all, Fleet Foxes play in Whelan's in Dublin tomorrow night.
www.my space.com/fleet foxes
Download tracks: Sun It Rises, White Winter Hymnal, Meadowlarks, Oliver James
JIM CARROLL
The smiley, happy voice of Dave Browne is long associated with Picturehouse. This solo debut sees him shifting gear, elevating himself to a platform that just might have "Broadway" written on it. As well as bathing the album in the subtlest strings and horns, Browne's impeccable production values have resulted in this collection being released in an innovative credit card format as well as the standard CD.
His indomitable romanticism is still intact on Dream, a quiet observer's perspective on life's subtler, smaller-scale moments. The dozen songs here are awash in a seductive milieu of keyboards, percussion and genteel harmonies, with Browne's boyish vocals retaining their fresh-faced enthusiasm without ever erring on the side of cartoonish simplicity. Summery, shimmery music.
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Download tracks: Built to Last, Everybody Wants Love
SIOBHÁN LONG
A French couple residing in London, John and Jehn wear their hearts very much on their sleeves on this double-sided debut album. (Yep, that's right, one side for him and one side for her.) Besides cooing happily at each other across the amps, it's obvious the pair are very much in thrall to rock's classical poses, the steps and stances once taken by the Velvet Underground and their kin. Indeed, there's nothing wrong with how J&J amplify their homage by adding a dash of nonchalance, a rub of trancey guitars, a pinch of moodiness, and a few handfuls of those messy sonics where everything threatens to fall apart in the mix, but manages to hold on instead for dear life. It certainly makes for some fine rattles, especially Dom, the crackling thud of Fear Fear Fear and a voodoo-garage tension of Lady Spider. Catch them when they play Dublin's Andrew's Lane Theatre on Sunday as part of the Future Days festival.
www.myspace.com/johnjehn
Download tracks: Dom, Lady Spider
JIM CARROLL
*
It's as if they're warning us: one listen to My Morning Jacket's fifth album will cause intense evil urges. Z, the Kentucky five-piece's breakthrough effort, failed to cause much of a stir this side of the Atlantic, and this follow-up should fare no better. Taking their skewed directions from The Flaming Lips, Wilco, John Denver and any one of the many 1970s soft-rock groups, and supposedly trying to capture their live energy, Evil Urgeslacks focus, cohesion and decent songs. What is objectionable is not singer Jim James trying to get all Christian rock on us; it's more his trite, hit-over-the-head lyrics and the staid faux-country arrangements. The risible Sec Walkin', Two Halves, Librarianand Look at Youshould be committed to the Crimes Against Music sanitorium forever. For the love of God, avoid this record.
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BRIAN KEANE
