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

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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

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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: Ed Rec Volume 3 - Various

You know what time it is: Ed Banger are back with another installment
of their Ed Rec series and they intend to party...

And on the whole, they succeed. There are moments that are less
exciting: Uffie seems less alluring than normal and a couple of tracks
feel dangerlously like filler (see Krazy Baldhead's 'Now Cow, No
Pow'), which really hits hard when you have only 45 minutes of record.

Yet there is plenty of attitude and innovation to keep things
interesting. For the former check Busy P's effort 'To Protect and
Entertain', a lewd, crude and downright rude hip-hop record, or Mr.
Flash's predictably Ronseal 'Over The Top' - an electro 80s hair metal
track. Offering the latter are SebAstian with 'Dog', a nasty hardcore-
metal track that stays fresh because the rhythm section is just too
funky and French to ever get used by a metal band, and DJ Mehdi, who
truly raises his game on the piano-house workout 'Pocket Piano'.

Through in a live version of Justice's 'Stress' that sounds like the
soundtrack to a shark attack and you have quite a package. Ed Rec Vol.
3 may not feel as fresh as Vol. 2 but that is probably a reflection of
their increased exposure as much as anything. They still sound like
the most innovative and exciting collective on the planet right now.

BP x

Comment: Under Pressure - Queen & David Bowie

Lately BlackPlastic has been occupied with thoughts that 'Under Pressure' just might be the perfect pop song. It's generally difficult to justify such assertions but let's try anyway:

1. That bassline. It's timeless, everyone knows it. Along with Madonna's 'Holiday' bassline this must be one of the most distinctive ever written.

2. The drums. By golly, those drums are good. They sizzle and snap, they thud. Combined with the drip drop piano part it creates something special.

3. The wandering guitar. Understated, beautiful.

4. The swell. You know the the build up bit prior to Bowie's "It's the terror" bit... Sublime. And then it collapses like a house of cards prior to:

5. The second swell. Why can't we give love that one more chance?

6. And fade to: finger clicks. Perfect.

What makes 'Under Pressure' so great is that has not just fantastic instrumentation, vocals and lyrics but also beautiful structure. In fact BlackPlastic would argue the considered pacing actually demonstrates poise.

Go have a listen.

BP x