Music Reviews / Previews

Last year was a good one for the comeback. Everyone pined for the 90s as Brit behemoths Take That returned, everyone invested in earplugs as the Spice Girls reformed, and a lot less people were excited by Shed 7’s reunion.

It’s a shame really, because the largely-forgotten indie stalwarts performed a string of sold out dates, taking them (and us) back to a time when they toured with everlasting dad-rock purveyors Oasis and the girls screamed their names.  Also on that long lost 1994 tour were pop rock scousers Cast led by ex-Las bassist John Power, who went on to give us Britpop favourites such as Sandstorm and Walkaway before taste got the better of them and they went their separate ways.

Now John Power is back, but in the paraphrased words of LL Cool J, don’t call it a comeback, because he’s actually been here for years.

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Like most heterosexual males, seeing Take That in concert is not at the top of this writer's life experiences, but last week that exactly thing happened when a girlfriend situation forced us to attend their latest concert on their Beautiful World tour.

We found ourselves surrounded by thousands of women, baying for the blood of the objects of their desires. The gig began with support coming from an unnamed woman, whose talent with a saxophone and vocals proved far superior than the other supporting act; Sophie Ellis Bextor (yes, she is still trying to give this singing lark a go) who was living off past glories for duration of her set, the only song garnering any kind of crowd reaction was the 2000 summer hit Groovejet, a collaboration with that household name DJ Spiller.  

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This is one of the few gigs where, days before it started, the emotions of giddiness and excitement were already awash in just about every lucky ticket-holder. Underworld have been performing in various band set-ups for the last 20 years or so. As they have grown up and evolved, so has their performance.

Always known as the “Lager lager lager” band, tonight was a chance for Underworld to show they have more material that should really cement them as a UK dance heavyweight act like The Prodigy, Chemical Brothers and Massive Attack. Tonight was the planned first night of a three-night residency at the newly-renovated Roundhouse venue in Camden. Unlike a lot of conventional bands, Underworld do not use setlists. Each performance on any given night is unique and thus makes it a little bit more special. While maybe some of the songs may be played on different nights, even the length and structure may be different. Who knows, one night may see hits such as King of Snake begin with the main piano chord before the full weight of the pounding drums and Karl Hyde’s voice are added for the entire package. 

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All Done In Good Time: The Life And Times Of Polly Shields by Greg Summerlin is a concept-y rock opera. No, come back - we didn't mean to scare you off. It's good. Promise.

How good? Good enough for us to assure you that All Done In Good Time: The Life And Times Of Polly Shields by Greg Summerlin is the best The Who and New Order-influenced concept album about a rebellious young girl and someone called The Paintaker of the year, and maybe ever.

No, come back, It is really good, honest.

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You know what's better than a band listing their songs by Roman numerals on their album sleeve? A band who looked as if they'd broken up years ago listing their songs by Roman numerals on their album sleeve, that's what.

By chance, that's what Let's Stay Friends by Les Savy Fav is. Having spent six long years waiting patiently for Les Savy Fav to release an album of new material since 2001's Go Forth, the pressure must have been huge on the band to deliver something new that lived up to their proud, fiercely independent blueprint and satisfied their slavering fans at the same time. And we'll be buggered if Let's Be Friends isn't exactly that.

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Bloody hell, Mr Huw doesn't want to make things easy for himself, does he? On Monday, wonked-out Welsh genius Mr Huw releases his shonky glam-pop album Llond Lle Hwrs A Lladron to an unsuspecting world; just don't expect to hear Llond Lle Hwrs A Lladron being played in your local branch of JD Sports.

Not that Llond Lle Hwrs A Lladron doesn't deserve to be played in public, you understand - in fact, the album showcases Mr Huw's extraordinary way around a melody to such an extent that we'd happily employ him to compose new national anthems for every country on earth - it's just that, well, Mr Huw sings in Welsh.

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Kids, eh - what are they like? Ever since the reemergence of indie and Britpop, it seems that almost every youngish band wants to churn out guitar anthems based on pissed-up nights or how they fucked it all up.

When the indie scene did begin to big up again with artists like Kaiser Chiefs and Kasabian leading the way, too many people have followed. The constantly-repeated formula must be soon to implode as the genre becomes as laughable as Britney Spears. Slowly but surely, attention is being drawn away from guitar bands and the rise of the singer-songwriter is emerging. Good, if you like that sort of thing. But what else is there? Well, it involves a bit of a search but looking for quality stuff is worth the wait. And we did this, by accident of course, on a night out. A club night with a band is usually a bit wank and we tend to ignore them. But Guarded By Robots captured our attention. So much so, that we bought a copy of their EP Fashion Tips From Myra.

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In this instant digital world, it's rare for a buzz about someone to trickle around the world at a snail's pace any more. And that's where Siren Songs by Gretchen Lieberum comes into play.

Americans have known about Gretchen Lieberum for some time now, and Siren Songs has been available to buy there for a couple of years. But, like skateboards and childhood obesity, Siren Songs has taken its time to cross the moment. And not a moment too soon, either, because listening to Siren Songs by Gretchen Lieberum is like listening to slowly melting chocolate.

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Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga? Jesus Christ Spoon, what kind of an album title is Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga? With a name like that you'd better hope that the music inside is pretty bloody spectacular, because people are going to really really have to want it to go into a shop and ask for something called Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga.

But come on, this is Spoon we're talking about, and you'd need to be a fool to accuse Spoon of being anything less than spectacular. And Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is just what you'd expect it to be - 36 minutes and ten tracks of driving, groove-based rock that gets all the more impressive with each listen. With a really stupid title.

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The three albums that Nick Drake produced in his short lifetime are all near-perfect, haunting gems of beauty and brevity - but haven't Nick Drake fans long craved an over-long album of hissy demos where Nick Drake's Mum gets to sing?

Because, make no mistake, that's what Family Tree is - a 23-track slog of home-recorded demos that Nick Drake doodled out before the release of his first album. Family Tree could almost be the dictionary definition of hit and miss, but for anyone who wants to listen to the gradual solidification of a rare songwriting talent, Family Tree is a fascinating, damn near essential album.

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We thought we had Soft Hearted Scientists pegged you know. The band's last album, Uncanny Tales From The Everyday Undergrowth was a diverting listen bogged down by useless production and self-conscious dope-addled wackiness.

So it was reasonable for us to assume that Take Time To Wonder In A Whirling World would be more of the same. Not in the slightest, though - for Take Time To Wonder In A Whirling World, Soft Hearted Scientists have reigned in some of their more tiresomely studentish instincts and come up with an ambitious, spaced-out collection of songs that put them in line for the title of the British Flaming Lips.

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Certain things we know to be true. For instance, a CD with a picture of a monkey dressed up as a jockey riding a horse on it is bound to be brilliant. However, a CD with a winged dolphin having sex with a winged horse with a snake coming out of its mouth? That's just confusing.

Since its artwork contains both of these things, Life By Misadventure by British electro-rock quartet Bee Stings could feasibly sound like anything. And, by and large, it does. Equal parts Blondie and The Prodigy, Life By Misadventure by Bee Stings is a sumptuous record that inexplicably manages to sound flawlessly pristine and utterly filthy all at once.

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