Single Review: King of Conspiracy

Alrighty, well the month of February has been a bit low on content, so I thought I'd post some reviews I've written recently for Scotland's premier indie website Is this music? To kick things off, here's a review of the brilliant King of Conspiracy single 'Youth Against Empire'


King of Conspiracy – ‘Youth Against The Empire’ (Catcutter)

Parisian art-punks King of Conspiracy offer-up a blistering blast of primitive energy with their debut single.

Propelled by dancefloor-baiting drums, overlaid with distressed guitars and topped-off with anguished vocals, ‘Youth Against The Empire’ is an uncompromising maelstrom of punk fury. They’re like a super-abrasive version of And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead combined with the trailblazing spirit of At the Drive-In. Comparisons can also be made with the DIY-ethic and blatant anti-commercialism of sadly departed Welsh noise mongers McLusky.

King of Conspiracy sound like they desperately want to start a revolution. What kind of revolution it is, I can’t be sure, but it sounds like fun!

Check out King of Conspiracy on myspace

EP Review: Mean Poppa Lean

Mean Poppa Lean – ‘Smash and Grab’ (self-released)

If the Red Hot Chilli Peppers had grown-up in Brighton instead of Hollywood, then they’d probably sound a lot like Mean Poppa Lean. These funky upstarts clearly don’t take themselves too seriously and after giving ‘Smash and Grab’ a spin you get the feeling they know how to have a good time.

There are some moments that make you cringe a bit, like when the singer declares ‘Poppa Time’ in homage to MC Hammer before a particularly funky breakdown. Then again, it’s hard not to smile at the same time.

Mean Poppa Lean are fun to listen to on record, but I get the feeling they really come into their own live. This is best demonstrated with a call-and-response bit on the first song which sounds a bit anaemic on the album, but would probably whip the crowd into a frenzy at gigs.

Comparisons with the Chillies are easy to make but you can also feel the spirit of the late, great James Brown being channelled as well as a strong Northern Soul influence. It seems these guys have honed their chops by listening to funk’s finest ambassadors, and it’s paid off.

Mean Poppa Lean clearly revel in their own funkiness, and when they proclaim ‘We Eat Funk For Breakfast’ I for one am not going to argue with them. If you’re after some mindless, pelvis-thrusting, crotch-grabbing, funky action, then this is your band!

In a word: funky. As funk.

Check out Mean Poppa Lean on myspace

Album Review: Will Richards

Will Richards- ‘Ready to Talk Now’ (self-released)

Will Richards wrote, produced, mixed and played most of the instruments on ‘Ready To Talk Now’ which I suppose could be considered an achievement in itself. His vocals are a bit like Jeff Buckley and stylistic comparisons can be made to the likes of Richard Ashcroft and Ed Harcourt.

There’s no doubt Will Richards is a musically talented individual- he produced and mixed ‘Ready To Talk Now’ as well as playing most of the instruments, which I suppose could be considered an achievement in itself.

His vocals are a bit like Jeff Buckley and comparisons can be made to the likes of Richard Ashcroft and Ed Harcourt. The album is very well produced, and the level of instrumental performance is of a high standard. Where things fall down for me is with the actual songs themselves. Richards has a good voice but his lyrics are often less than inspired. ‘Can’t help admitting you’re tired of praying to Jesus/And this sales pitch no longer leaves you with a self-righteous high’ he sings on ‘Good as Gold.

As well as religion, Richards sings about his dreams, relationships and money, All his songs pass by pleasantly enough but the problem with ‘Ready to Talk Now’ is that there’s nothing that really excites the imagination. Unfortunately for Richards, no amount of slick production or flashy musicianship can compensate for the fact his songs are pretty average. Don’t get me wrong, there’s some interesting moments, but ultimately its all just too well-polished and innocuous. Maybe he should spend less time multi-tasking in the studio and more time on his songs.

Check out Will Richards on myspace

Album Review: The Bubble Project

The Bubble Project- ‘The Technicolor Dream Machine’ (Stop Looking)

Judging by the psychedelic collage on the front of the Bubble Project’s album you’d expect a strange ride. And you’d be right.

The deranged stomp of ‘Saturn 5 Death Squad’ is a ferocious way to open the album, but isn’t representative of the more melodic treats that lie within. ‘I Only Fall in Love With Scientists’ is a lo-fi monster of a pop song, reminiscent of early Ash only with an eccentric, space-age vibe. The Sunderland outfit describe themselves as ‘Pop Scientists’ which seems like a good description given the weird samples and sci-fi sound effects which pepper their songs.

The Spectacle of Magic Dan is a nifty wee tune with a cool bassline, some nice piano flourishes, and a sing-a-long chorus. The song then blends seamlessly into ‘Mr X and The Girl with No Face’ which features woozy synths and a spoken-word outro by a Stephen Hawking-esque computerised voice. It’s pretty bizarre, but with lines like ‘She was the most perfect female specimen he had ever known/Even though she had no face’ also strangely touching!

‘M.P.O.G;’ or the ‘Mystic Pigs of Genocide’ offers-up more scuzzed-up pop before a respite from all that madness comes in the form of the instrumental surf guitar of ‘Planet Thunderfuck’ and Beach Boy harmonies of ‘Bring Back All My Smiles’

Like most of the album, ‘Oh!!! Her Joyous Brains’ is basically an other-worldly love song and boasts a cool lo-fi drum sound. Last track ‘Will You Marry Me Astro Girl’, has similar romantic sentiments, with poetic lines like ‘When we get married/I’ll give you one of Saturn’s rings/To show you how much I care’.

The Bubble Project create imaginative, slightly demented pop that seems to exist in its own little universe. Take it from me, its worth paying a visit!

Check out the Bubble Project on myspace

Rapal

Rapal is a music TV show based in Stornoway, and if you haven't caught it yet then I'd highly recommend giving it a look. I guess you could say its like a Gaelic version of Later With Jools Holland featuring some of Scotland's best young bands and musicians. I first came across it last year when it was airing on terrestrial tv as part of the BBC's Gaelic programming slot and was delighted to see acts like Strike the Colours, Broken Records and Crash My Model Car doing their thing.

Nowadays it airs on the new digital station BBC Alba on Wednesdays at 10pm, with the last episode featuring a superb set from Endor and a song from Lewis singer-songwriter Iain Mackinnon. Tomorrow night's show looks like being another corker, with the Americana-tinged folk of The State Broadcasters and a look at There Will Be Fireworks' new video.

Don't worry if you can't get BBC Alba- you can check out the show on the BBC's iplayer,which also features a rather nifty archive of performances from the likes of Frightened Rabbit and Attic Lights.

Spokes

Spokes are an exciting new band who I first came across when I reviewed their album 'People Like People Like You' for Is this music? I chatted to them about their plans for 2009......

Hailing from Manchester, Spokes offer up sweeping, instrumental soundscapes that leave you with a warm glow inside. They may be little-known at the moment but if there’s any justice 2009 should be a good year for the five piece, who are responsible for the rather magnificent ‘People Like People Like You’ , an elegiac album of orchestral indie beauty.

As I speak to the band they are ensconced in their rehearsal space, preparing material for their new album. Their first , ‘People Like People Like You’ was released on their own label ‘Everyone’ last year and since then their fanbase has grown from strength to strength, attracting the interest of Ninja Tune Records in the process. The label, which is home to the Cinematic Orchestra and Mr Scruff, signed the band at the beginning of this year and now plans to re-release ‘People Like People Like You’ in March before an album of brand new material in the Autumn.

It’s hard to pin-down Spoke’s influences by listening to them, so what do they get inspired by? “I was brought up on Tubular Bells, man” says guitarist Owain, to guffaws from the rest of the band. It seems that Owain is keener to talk about the musical tastes of the band’s other guitarist, Liam, who’s not present at the interview. “He loves Papa Roach and all that” he says, to more laughter. Despite Owain’s insistence that “he’s a bit of an emo kid” it turns out Liam prefers electronic music rather than dodgy nu-metal. The band are also fans of Radiohead and Sigur Ros, as well their cohorts on the Manchester scene, which include post-rockers Arficeden and Charlie’s Hero .

They describe their writing process as a collaborative effort, with each member having input. “Maybe someone will have a four-bar idea, and then the rest of us join in and we go from there” says Owain. He says that for the new album the band have had more time to work through their ideas than before. “People Like People Like You started off as a demo we made to get gigs and stuff, so we just used the songs we already had” he says. “Now we’ve got a good few months to write the songs, so we’ve got the luxury of scrapping ideas and trying out different things.” So how are the new songs shaping up? “It still sounds big, upbeat and melodic” says violinist Ruth. “There are quieter moments as well as loud, euphoric bits.” She adds that more vocals will feature than last time, but they’ll be “like another instrument”.

Having completed two jaunts round the UK, Spokes have found the touring lifestyle to their liking. “I’m quite a shy person really but its easy to meet loads of people when you tour. You get talking to other bands and get inspired by each other” says Owain. “ There ‘s a band from Leeds called Worried About Satan who we’ve become friends with and we’ve ended-up touring with them. It’s good craic, definitely better than working!”

Spokes are embarking on a third tour in March and are close to confirming venues for the 20^th in Edinburgh and the 21^st in Glasgow. Life on the road doesn’t always go smoothly, however. “Everytime we come up to Glasgow, Johnny’s bass breaks” says Ruth, “we call it the ‘Glasgow Curse’”. The band hopes to defy the curse when they return, however. “Glasgow’s a great place to gig” she says. “We’ve played the Captain’s Rest and the 13^th Note and they’re both great little venues.”

As for the rest of the year, Spokes plan to tour extensively round the UK when they release their new album in the autumn. “Hopefully we can get to some festivals as well, and it would be great to do some dates around Europe” says Owain. “It sort of feels like a dream talking about what we might be doing a few months from now, but we’ll see what happens.”

Check out Spokes on their myspace

Heavy Metal in Baghdad

Ok, I'm a little bit behind the times on this one, but I thought it would be worth posting about anyway. For those who haven't seen it yet, Heavy Metal in Baghdad tells the story of an Iraqi heavy metal band's fight for survival during the Allied invasion and occupation of their country. It was originally released in 2007 and was selected for the Toronto International Film Festival that year, before being selected for the Berlin International Film Festival in 2008. I first came across it when an hour long cut-down version of the film was shown as part of the BBC's arts strand Imagine in December and it blew me away.

Acrassicauda, the subjects of the film, embody the spirit of rock n' roll like no other band. Heavy Metal music is frowned upon by Muslim culture, but with the fall of Saddam the band saw an opportunity. Baghdad has a very small, but devoted metal following, and the band started staging gigs for their fans. However, as the insurgency started to rage, the band found it impossible to even practice together.


Heavy Metal in Baghdad- Trailer






Despite this the band continued to pursue their metal dreams as they fled to Syria, before becoming refugees in Turkey. What comes across in this film more than anything is the band's love for music, which endures despite the extreme socio-political circumstances they find themselves in. Truly inspiring stuff.

Many generous donations have been made to the band since the film's release, but they are still facing uncertain and challenging times as they remain refugees in Turkey. The film-makers help the band record a 14-minute demo of their music, and there are hopes of one day recording an album, but for now the band's main priority is their battle with the authorities to obtain visas.

Acrassicauda are extremely talented musicians and I honestly think they're one of the best metal bands I've heard in ages, so I hope they get the chance to rock-out in the studio. The film has given them an international fanbase, so now all they need is the opportunity.

Check out Acrassicauda's myspace and the Heavy Metal in Baghdad website, the DVD is out now