Album Review: Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust - Sigur Rós

It's like jumping off the crest of a waterfall into beautifully cool crystal-clear water.

From track one, 'Gobbledigook', Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust is already a grand departure: Sigur Rós used to make cold and wintery sound scapes. Yet the pounding drums of the opening track are pure summer and it runs down your spine like tingling sweat on a hot
summer's day. Even the grandious 'Festival' is unshackled from the band's cold homeland... Aptly named it feels like a walk through a summery field.

This is the sound of a band that made no compromises. One track here even has English lyrics, yet the massive sales figures of Takk showed that a band doesn't need catchy lyrics to break into Tesco so there is no air of catering to a market here... All Sigur Rós had to do was keep playing their hearts out and wait for the world to catch-up.

The brass on 'Inní Mér Syngur Vitleysingur' may have you crying into your pint but with picnics soundtracked by this you are going to have one hell of a summer.

BP x

Album Review: The Sun & The Neon Light - Booka Shade

Everybody is saying the same two things about this album: it sounds like Depeche Mode in places and it doesn't have any of the big room anthems that the previous album, Movements, had.

BlackPlastic hates to agree but as statements these are both true. There is nothing quite like 'Mandarine Girl' on The Sun & The Neon Light and certain parts, notably 'Control Me', DO sound like Depeche Mode. What most are wrong about is what these facts mean.

The Sun & The Neon Light doesn't just sound like Depeche Mode. It also sounds like the meloncholic Joy Division of 'Atmosphere' on 'Sweet Lies' and the swirling bass / cowboy twang of 'Dusty Boots' is very Underworld. Yet most of all this album sounds like Booka Shade: Even
when their forebearer's inspiration is notable everything is still distinctly Get Physical and meticulously put together.

So there are no 'bangers' here. If you want those BlackPlastic suggests you a) stop reading; and b) pick up the limited version which features a continuous bonus CD of club versions. The Underworld comparison above is important because The Sun & The Neon Light as an album picks up where Dubnobasswithmyheadman and Beaucoup Fish left off: this is a mature electronic album that has been crafted into a cohesive body of work. To complain that this album lacks club hits is like complaining your car moves too slowly underwater: that is not what it was designed to do.

Booka Shade will doubtless have more work in the future that caters to your ass. This one... This one is for your head. Don't be stupid enough to miss the point.

BP x

Album Review: Apocalypso - The Presets

Could this really be yet more Australian goodness?

The Presets always struck BlackPlastic as somewhat also-rans. Sure, Beams had its moments but it never felt right for the dancefloor and it certainly lacked the depth needed for continued home listening.

Apocalypso isn't a departure, it is a refinement. Fans of Beams have nothing to fear... Whilst here is more melody there is also more bass and by stretching things in every direction The resets have been able to do more whilst retaining what made them different.

The result is an album that definately removes them from the 'also-ran' category. You should lready know 'My People'. It's a devastating migraine of a track, a true call to arms that gets better the more you hear it... Basslines chew you up and spit you out without pausing for thought whilst a chorus aches to be heard all over the radio, pop skills dripping from the pores.

If 'My People' is rewards repeat listens then Apocalypso digs itself into your heart like a series Nandos habit. Soon you can't help but life the fired-up fury and the easy entrance and exit policy. Apocalypso doesn't take itself overly seriously but doesn't undermine what it is either.

So 'This Boy's In Love' mixes tranced-up glow sticks and hands-aloft melodies with 80s lyrics and teenage rebellion, the soundtrack to a modern day Breakfast Club. 'Talk Like That' is gothic-opera-pomp and bassline-grimein turns with a chorus made of stiched-up vocals and melodic harmonies, proof that what Apocalypso does best is blend.

And what a melting-pot it turns out to be. 'Eucalyptus' is all kraut-rock, speedy punk drums until a gentle vocal tried to overpower the backing for the chorus and it all twists up into a climatic post-punk freak-out. 'If I Know You' mixes Spandau Ballet vocals with minimal-house and live keys, it's almost a ballad and, frankly, it's great.

All this and the album highlight hasn't even been mentioned. 'Together', grinding and stuttering its way to a shout out chorus, screams for end-of-night, open-air-anthem status.

The Modular collective are rapidly rendering Ed Banger redudant they have not just the remixes, but the singles and, more importantly, the albums. And there is more to come Enough has been said: Apocalypso is another great record for 2008.

BP x

Album Review: Couples - The Long Blondes

Following a set of remixes last year Erol Alkan returns to production duties for The Long Blondes and unleashes another great album for 2008.

BlackPlastic was a little slow off of the mark on this one. The Long Blondes are from Sheffield and whilst their first album lacked a certain something, coming off a bit like No Doubt in places (and who needs that?), Couples is a refinement of the band's sound.

Opener "Century" is a perfect example of what has changed: this is a track Ladytron would sell there white foundation and black mascara for. With icy synths but a live band backing them up Erol's influence is clear.

This is an album that wears its roots on its sleeve. The aformentioned "Century" sounds like early Human League, particularly when it is cut up by some nasty electronic stabs in the closing minutes. Harking back to the sounds of Sheffield's best bands (there are elements of Pulp here, not to mention the usual post-punk suspects) not only gives the band something on which to define themselves and gives Couples a cohesive feeling.

Within the cohesive whole there is plenty of variation to keep things interesting. "Guilt" combines electronic rhythm together with vocals that veer from pop to icy cold. The vocal whispers at the beginning and the deadpan delivery of "You know what it's like, it's happened to everybody once or twice..." give way to a swagger that could only exist a pop record. "Here Comes The Serious Bit" punks things up with a rapid join-in chorus and bags of attitude and "Too Clever By Half" goes for a minimal approach, setting up vocals against just a rhythm section to create a raw but sassy atmosphere.

Couples single-handedly makes The Long Blondes ones to watch, a mish-mash of differing takes on the same town it is as quintessentially 'Sheffield' as taking the bus up to Crookes or taking a stroll down Eccleshall Road. Much more than their considerably more successful peers, The Artic Monkeys, The Long Blondes capture what is great about their home town.

BP x

Single Review: Drive Your Car - Grovesnor

What would happen if one of Hot Chip broke away to focus on making kitsch 80s pop songs?

This would...

As far as BlackPlastic can tell this is the first debut single, proper. A cut and shut affair, it chops like a switch-blade from the melancholic and more delicate verses to a chorus that demonstrates a determination to drive (pardon the pun) away the blues. What makes this so catchy is that the chorus manages to sound like the theme tune to a TV quiz from the 80s where the taking part is more important than the prizes. Personally BlackPlastic is feeling Going For Gold.

Just when you thought the fun was over you discover you get a consolation prize of four remixes. The remix from Grovesnor himself ups the camp and kitsch and almost feels like it should be the main mix, boasting a nice samba sway and live instrumentation. A Hot Chip dub ups the darkness and them slams on the disco breaks for a ramped up disco quiz show breakdown - and it is lush. Meanwhile both Oliver $ and Bird Peterson's mixes turn it into squelchy tech-house murder of a song that seems to lack any respect for the original but if murder is your thing then here they are.

A whole album of this may well be too much but BlackPlastic would enjoy finding out.

BP x