7. Courtney Barnett – ‘Sometimes I sit and think, and sometimes I just sit’

Number 7!

Here’s the album I’m listening to:

This is Courtney Barnett’s new album called “Sometimes I sit and think, and sometimes I just sit.” Which is such an awesome title!
I’m listening to it because Fern did a review of it. Her first review in fact. She loved it so much and said I should listen to it and saw an opportunity to write a review!

I also really like the artwork – it’s a lot like something I’ve done in the past, draw out an idea for the artwork, and find the drawing looks pretty cool and just using that instead!

I think it speaks for itself to be honest….it’s simple, straight to the point, and relaxed.

The music however…

Starting off the album is ‘Elevator Operator’. Straight away I can tell how this album will sound. The music is brilliantly produced, and the vocals are very punky. She’s pretty much just talking with a bit of melody and the right timing to stay with the music. It’s very chilled out. It’s like she’s a rebellious teenage. She doesn’t care what you think – she’s just here to rock out! But I can imagine seeing her live would be quite awkward. I can just see her standing in the middle of the stage, barely moving, and just talking into the mic. If someone shouts out at her she very calmly tells them to F-off.

He voice reminds me of a much punkier Laura Marling. The lyrics are brilliant, and she’s very different to anyone else out at the moment, but she isn’t really singing. Not that I have a problem with that! It sounds great!

“Oliver Paul, twenty years old. Thick head of hair, worries he’s going bald. Wakes up at quarter past nine, fair evades his way down the 96 tame line. Breakfast on the run again, he’s well aware he’s dropping soy linseed Vegemite crumbs everywhere.”

I could literally copy all of her lyrics, they’re so good! She rhymes words which shouldn’t, and thinks of lines no-one else would have done in a million years. “Her heels are high and her bag is snakeskin. Hair pulled so tight you can see her skeleton.” I mean, seriously – who else could’ve thought of that line??

I can admit now, I reckon I’ll use that line a lot throughout this review.

The music is very simple. Mostly just thumping drums with a bit of organ and bass.

Next song – ‘Pedestrian at Best’

This is an awesome song! It’s so punk.
It’s very Cage the Elephant, who I absolutely love, so this scores high in my list of songs and artists that I like a lot. Like, it’s not at the very top, but it’s definitely up there!

“Put me on a pedestal and I’ll only disappoint you. Tell me I’m exceptional and I promise to exploit you. Give me all your money and I’ll make some origami, honey. I think you’re a joke but I don’t find you very funny.”

No matter who you are, you have to agree that this song is punk. It’s got the fast spoken lyrics, wailing guitar, great drums, bass and the line: “I’m a fake, I’m a phony, I’m awake, I’m alone, I’m homely, I’m a Scorpio!”
If that’s not punk then I don’t know what is.

To me this song seems a bit like a political protest. It’s very aggressive towards people who put themselves in front of people. The song puts the listener into their head, and goes through what they’re thinking. Although, as we all know, politicians are full of themselves so wouldn’t even think about not being the best.

Don’t know how many of them know origami though….and they definitely wouldn’t make it using money, considering they sniff it out like blood hounds.

‘An Illustration of Loneliness (Sleepless in New York)’ is next.

I don’t think she could decide on a title…

I know this song for a very important reason. My girlfriend covered it on her Youtube channel!
Go listen to her version here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmYB60IPwm4

It’s a great laid back song! Mostly just bass and drums doing a nice little riff with the odd little shplang (technical term) from the guitar. This is then joined by what sounds like a Theremin in the middle eight. It’s like the Klangers joined the party.

Meanwhile, throughout the song is Courtney Barnetts voice, melodically speaking the lyrics.

“Wondering what you’re doing, what you’re listening to. Which quarter of the moon you’re viewing from your bedroom. Watching all the movies, drinking all the smoothies. Swimming at the pool, I’m thinking of you too!”

She’s a lyrical genius – coming up with lines I’ve never heard before – “I lay awake at three, staring at the ceiling. It’s a kind of off-white, maybe it’s a cream. There’s oily residue seeping from the kitchen. It’s art-deco necromantic chic, all the dinner plates are kitsch with Irish wolf hounds, French baguettes wrapped loose around their necks, I think I’m hungry, I’m thinking of you too.”

Like….how does someone think of that?! It must be just an unconscious thing. Where she’s lying in bed thinking of situations and then adds extra detail that other people wouldn’t have done.
She also sings/speaks fairly quickly, so can fit a lot in to a line.

I also have a feeling that I’ll be quoting a lot of her lyrics throughout this review.

The next song is – ‘Small Poppies’

Oooo yeaaaaaah. Blues!

This is such a lazy song. (I’ve used that to describe a couple of songs in previous reviews, and I don’t mean the song’s written lazily, I mean it’s the kind of song you listen to, play or write while lying in a hammock on a summer evening (hurry up summer! – I miss laying in my hammock!). It’s just the chords and speed of the song that make it feel that way).

“I stare at the lawn, it’s Wednesday morning, it needs a cut but I leave it growing all different sizes and all shades of green. Slashing it down just seems kind of mean.”

The song starts off with drum and bass and even more shplangs from the guitar, but it’s about half the speed of the last song. It sounds like at some point it’ll just explode into noise with Barnett screaming her head off, and eventually it does! I mean, the song’s 7 minutes long, so it takes it’s time to get to that point, and then has a lot of instrumentals and guitar solos before it ends.

But it still manages to sound lazy – the guitar solos aren’t perfect. They’re in fact quite Jack White in their delivery, but not quite as aggressive, yet still a bit of a challenge to listen to the whole thing. But then what would I know? I’m no guitarist. Not yet at least! ;)

Song no.5 is ‘Depreston’

This is a nice little change going from the punky and bluesy previous songs into this. It’s very singer-songwriter-y – acoustic guitar and vocals, later joined by drums and bass….and a guitar that sounds like it’s being played in a submarine.

My guess is this song is about moving to Preston, but it’s pretty de-pres(ton)-ing! Ba dum tss! (Yes I stole that from the song title. Just making a point.)

“It’s got a lovely garden, a garage for two cars to park in, or a lot of room for storage if you’ve just got one. And it’s going pretty cheap you say? Well It’s a decreased estate. Aren’t the pressed metal ceilings great?”

Barnett has such a quirky writing style, and she still manages to make it all rhyme! It’s certainly a skill that many people would want – I just thought, what if she wrote a book? That would be an amazing book! It wouldn’t just be “the sky was blue and the grass was green” it’d be something like “the sky is like my dads old truck, with it’s endless mileage and bright blue seats. Sitting alongside the lively green grass that he used to get me to cut, I could oil the mower with my own elbow grease running down my sleeves.”

Now, I’m not saying I’m a lyrical genius or anything – that’s for you to judge.

Half way! – ‘Aqua Profonda!’

That means ‘Deep water!’ in English. That’s because the song is about her meeting a man at a swimming pool.

“I saw you in the lane next to me, you were doing freestyle, then you switched it around to a little bit of backstroke.”

It’s such a strange song story concept. But it works so well! It would only work for her, which is lucky. Because she’s her, and she wrote the song.

It’s going back to the punky sound. But it mixes with a bit of a swing vibe. It’s the same as all the other songs, just drums, guitar and bass throughout. It’s a nice simple sound. The kind of thing a band could cover quite easily and pull off really well. Although if you listen to the song on repeat, it does get quite repetitive quite quickly, with the same guitar part over and over.

Apart from that, it’s a great little song with a very cute story!

Coming in at number 7 is – ‘Dead Fox’

Lovely.

The chorus of this song sounds like it’s aimed at cyclists – “If you can’t see me, I can’t see you.”

But funnily enough, I actually do believe it’s about lorry drivers – or at least about a journey she had through Australia which involved a lorry. I can image her seeing a sign on the back of an articulated lorry which wrote “If you can’t see my mirrors then I can’t see you!” and wanting to write a song including those lines.

There’s more brilliant lines throughout the song, including “More people die on the road than they do in the ocean. Maybe we should mull over culling cars instead of sharks. Or just lock them up in parks where we can go and view them.”

I just love the idea of putting cars in zoo’s and everyone riding sharks to work. That would be a beautiful world!

The music that goes along to these great lyrics is just as good! It’s very feel good, and features even more Klangers alongside the standard set up. I don’t know what genre it would class as, so time to use my patent pending genre explainer.
Close your eyes and imagine being in an open top car with a bunch of friends and you’re having a laugh while driving round the Australian outback while the suns going down. Bliss!

‘Nobody really cares if you don’t go to the party’…

Well Courtney, I don’t care either!

Although, I think this is more ‘Nobody really cares if I don’t go to the party’ because she says “I wanna go out but I wanna stay home”.

I completely relate to this song – I always want to go out and do stuff – I’ll even stretch to being social. But then I realise I don’t really want to go out – that’s what Facebook’s for after all. But fortunately, my job choice means I’m out nearly every night of the week gigging or practicing so I have no choice in the matter!

I used to just sit at home playing video games all day. But now I can only sometimes play them all day – it sucks! (Not really – I’m a much better person now, if a bit more tired).

“You’re saying definitely maybe, I’m saying probably no. You say “you sleep when you’re dead”, I’m scared I’ll die in my sleep, I guess that’s not a bad way to go.”

The music to this is still very punky, and still the same 3 instruments. It doesn’t change much per song – just the genre adjusts a little bit and the tempo goes up or down.

‘Debbie Downer’ is the next.

For a song about someone who’s sad, this is a very happy sounding song!

“”Envy is thin because it bites but never eats”, that’s what a nice old Spanish lady once told me. “Hey Debbie-Downer turn that frown upside down and just be happy!””

It’s really upbeat, and even has an organ playing scales really quickly as well as guitar, drums and bass.

The same lines repeat over and over at the end of the song – “Don’t stop listening, I’m not finished yet. I’m not fishing for your compliments.”

I don’t know what this song is actually about. It seems like it’s as if she’s someone trying to explain their life and everything that’s gone wrong, and the person she’s talking to is losing interest or feeling sorry for her and just focusing on one problem.

It feels a lot shorter than it is – coming in at just over 3 minutes – it just comes and goes while listening to it!

Next up – ‘Kim’s Caravan’

This is a really creepy and harrowing song, but also has powerful messages.

“I see a dead seal on the beach. The old man says he’s already saved it three times this week. Guess is just wants to die. I would wanna die too, with people putting oil in my air.”

“There’s a paper on the ground, it makes my headache quite profound as I read it out aloud. It said “The Great Barrier Reef, it ain’t so great anymore. It’s been raped beyond belief, the dredgers treat it like a whore.””

The lyrics all together sound like she’s writing about herself and her songs.

As you can see from this, and all my other blogs, I like to try and work out what songs are about (as I’m doing right now), and sometimes people (myself included probably!) can get song meanings wildly wrong.
I know people who write about love lost when they’re in a happy relationship or about depression when they’re among the happiest people in the world. But the audience doesn’t know any of that, and will try to comfort them for no reason.

I can imagine it gets annoying, because you then can’t write about the things you want/can write about without someone getting the wrong end of the stick.

“Don’t ask me what I really mean, I am just a reflection of what you really wanna see. So take what you want from me.“

That line is repeated again and again at the end of the song, with guitar building behind it. I just wish she got louder and louder until she was screaming it. That would’ve made this song for me!

“So take what you want from me. So take what you want from me. SO TAKE WHAT YOU WANT FROM ME. SO TAKE WHAT YOU WANT FROM MEEEEE!!! TAKE WHAT YOU WANT FROM MEEEEEEEE!!!”

Last but no means least, ‘Boxing Day Blues’.

Starting with guitar and a nice angelic whale, then joined by vocals. It’s definitely blues. But not sure what Boxing Day has to do with it, the only thing I can think is she wrote it on Boxing Day.
Which would make this the closest to a Christmas song that she has! I’d vote for it as Christmas Number One no problem. It’s so chill!

It just sticks with guitar and very subtle synth / slide guitar in the background (and possibly a bit of bass) throughout the whole song, which is a great end to a brilliant album.

“I love all of your ideas. You love the idea of me”

That’s one of less than a dozen lines – it’s still a standard length song, and vocals go throughout, but they’re sung really slowly! This is the only song on the album without drums or a books worth of lyrics spoken really quickly. She’s singing in this!

It’s like the Dead Weather album I reviewed. The last song didn’t match the album at all, and it was a really pleasant surprise! So is this.

Done!

Now I think I will sit AND think about listening to the album again before moving on to the next one.

Actually…I don’t even need to think about it! It’s a great album with unique and clever lyrics and a standout voice all backed by a great band which can play blues, punk, rock and ‘driving through the outback at sunset’ music!

Ok, now go away and let me listen to the album again.

*Presses play*

Do you agree/disagree with anything I said? Like / dislike the review? Any constructive criticisms? Please leave a comment below! Would love to hear from you. Also, if you have any recommendations of albums I should listen to and review (as long as the artwork is awesome), let me know.

Thanks for reading, keep tuned for the next blog.

I will be reviewing ‘Smoke & Mirrors’ by Imagine Dragons

Don’t forget to check out my website, Facebook, Twitter and Youtube below.

I’m doing these blogs alongside my better half; Fern Teather – she is listening to a new albums (doesn’t matter about the artwork, she’s trying to expand her musical knowledge and listen to new artists!). She’s also keeping a blog, and it’s nowhere near as long as this one, so go give it a read!!
Check it out here: 52-albums.blogspot.com

See you on the flip side!

Sam

www.bongoboy.co.uk
www.facebook.com/samthurlowpercussion 
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6. The Zutons – ‘Who Killed The Zutons’

SIX!

So I decided to go back down memory lane, and listened to an album that I knew existed, and I’m sure my dad tried to get me to listen to, but never have! I found it in a charity shop a few months ago, took it home, and completely forgot about it! So I’ve still not listened to it! (Sorry dad).

Well, better late than never – ‘Who Killed The Zutons’…I dunno, Mark Ronson? (oohh shots fired!)

For anyone who doesn’t understand that, The Zutons wrote ‘Valerie’ – the song made famous by Amy Winehouse because Mark Ronson wanted to cover it in one of his cover compilation albums – Versions.

However – Valerie isn’t on this album!

This is a great album cover! It’s a very 50’s art style, and very of that generation too. Alien invasions and zombies were quite famous around that time (I think…I don’t actually know completely considering my DAD was born mid-50’s so it’s a bit out of HIS time let alone mine).

I really like the screenprint styling of the artwork – all block colours, limited amount of colours, bright colours. Colours. Speaking of colours (any Americans reading this are probably annoyed at the spelling by now), I really like the colour choice! Sort of a pastel salmon pink.

As for the music, it’s a really familiar sound, I know The Zutons came first, but it’s quite Kaiser Chiefs-y.

The first song – ‘Zuton Fever’ definitely is.
Starting with quite a vintage / 60’s electric guitar sound, and including a trumpet and bass along with the drums (love that cowbell!), it makes for a really great sound.

Oh yeah! And vocals! After listening to Ludovico Einaudi while writing the last blog, I forgot lyrics were a thing.
His voice is very of its time. A bit rough and ready but obviously he can sing. Kinda like Lily Allen. Also like the aforementioned Kaiser Chiefs.
“Ya know I get a funny feeling, like an epidemic running through my head. Ya know I got that feeling it’s the best. Got the Zuton Fever in my head!”
It’s nice to finally have an album where the lyrics are understandable, and not full of metaphors!

I actually think this song is literally them singing about how their songs are infectious and get stuck in your head. I might be wrong though!

Ah hoo hoo hoo

‘Pressure Point’ is next!
Now, I’ve heard this song before, and absolutely love it!
It’s so simple to begin with – starting with the band singing ‘Ah hoo hoo hoo’ over and over along to a shaker, then the drums roll in bringing the bass with it.
Then the main vocals come in, cutting off the ah hoo’s.
“I can’t get this pressure point out of my head”
I will admit, it’s a bit of a weird song, but it’s different! His vocals are quite high pitched, but sound delicate. A bit like someone who changes how they talk when you tell them you have a splitting headache.
After a while though, the drums and bass are joined by guitar and the vocals start screaming.

“Doctor oh doctor, I’m willing to learn. Well all of my bones, well they toss and they turn. Mother oh mother, I’m begging you please, to rid me of madness and cure this disease”

He also manages to sing the word ’pressure’ over and over in quick succession – which isn’t an easy accomplishment!
I think this is the first ever song I’ve heard which is about a headache…

Next up – ‘You Will You Won’t’
Starting with a manically strummed guitar which is then joined by bass and drums playing the same chords and timing as the drum solo from ‘In The Air Tonight’. It then cuts out and is taken over with vocals.
Shortly after, the music kicks in again and it sounds like Wild Cherry and The Beatles had a baby. A beautiful, very weird, baby.
You need to understand, I haven’t listened to THAT many bands. So I’m just going from what I’ve heard. This song sounds a bit like ‘Play That Funky Music’ mixed with ‘Come Together’ – to other people it might not sound anything like that – but to me it does!
“You will you won’t. You do you don’t. You’re saying you will, but you know you won’t. You may you might, your chest gets tight. You say you love day, but you come out at night.”

There’s one point where it sounds exactly like ‘Love Me Do’ by The Beatles – I can sing “so pleeeeaaase” and it fits brilliantly!

I swear these songs are turning me a little bit paranoid…I keep thinking of the lyrics and trying to decipher them, but I don’t think they actually need to. I legitimately think this song is just an argument with their partner...but that seems too simple!

‘Confusion’ is up next – to start with it sounds just like ‘Phantom Limb’ by The Shins. Just the bass line at the beginning. I could go straight into singing it (and believe me, I did). But then the guitar and vocals start, and it sounds just like another song I’ve heard before, but alas – I can’t remember who or what song!
You get away with it this time Zutons!

This is a really laid back song, mostly consisting of bass, guitar and vocals. It feels like quite a lazy song, like its dragging a bit, but it’s not – it just sounds like it’s been a long day for them. Like this is the 13^th time they’ve recorded the vocals. It started off full of enthusiasm and has withered over time.

“It’s funny how it tears me apart. Well first it breaks your head then your heart. I should’ve loved you better, from the start.”

After it gets going, a trumpet joins in (mostly just playing a stabbing note through half the song, which can get annoying!). Drums also join in on the chorus, but stay very simple.
To break the routine that continued through the song, the second half of the song is pretty much just solo’s – starting with a short trumpet solo, and followed by a lovely guitar solo.

Sticking with the more simple thinking about the songs meaning – this one is either about a man wanting to be friends with a girl but unintentionally led her on and now doesn’t know whether to stay friends or try being in a relationship together.

‘Havana Gang Brawl’ – great song title!

Also a great little drum solo to start off with, quickly chased by the guitar part from All My Life by Foo Fighters, but with a bit of trumpet.
The only reason why I keep comparing The Zutons to other bands is because parts of their songs sound like other songs – simple as that!. It also helps for the review, so people know what the music sounds like! And even though I compare them, they definitely have their own sound – it’s not a brand new, completely out there sound. But it’s obvious it’s them (as long as you know what they sound like!)

“Line the locals one by one, Fillin' bullets with their guns. Are you red or if you're blue, 'Cause tonight they’re gonna find the truth.”

This is yet another simple one! It’s about, surprisingly, 2 Havana gangs having a brawl. Nailed it!

Half way there! - ‘Railroad’

This sounds a lot like an acoustic version of ‘Big Jet Plane’ by Primal Scream. Well, the first 5 seconds do. After that it doesn’t remind me of anything else – which is good! It’s just a nice little twiddly guitar and drum piece with nursery rhyme style vocals.

“Although I’ve left you darling I’ll soon be back again. That’s what I said in China where all the work was dead. I hope you get my letters, I’ll write them every day. I’ll soon be heading eastwards. I’m hammering the nails.”

At the half way point it goes into a really nice little groove, and then dies down back to the same riff of just guitar, bass and drums. But after a little while the music begins to speed up slowly (speeding up slowly doesn’t make sense, and yet it actually does…)

“I’m working on the railroad. I dig away the time. I’m singing to the work song with memories in mind, of you!”

You guessed it – this song is about the financial depression that hit South Korea with the rise of Hitler.

Or it’s about a guy who works on the railroads but thinks about his partner all the time and send her letters….

‘Long Time Coming’ is next.

The Zutons are now starting to not sound like anyone! (Or the people who copied them didn’t get this far into the album!)

This is a great sounding song, with trashing drums, overdriven guitar and thumping bass – and what sounds like trumpets/saxophone. It’s topped off with powerful vocals. All squished into a 2 ½ min song!

“Long time coming, but no one seen it coming. Long gone then and your heart is still running.”

This is a really energetic song – and I still can’t for the life of me think of another song that this sounds like. It’s quite a stand out song, and doesn’t really match up with the other songs.

It is quite repetitive though, even though it’s so short. The music doesn’t change much, only really once towards the end of the song.

Oh! I just thought of a song that sounds a bit like it. It’s just the initial drums, nothing else, but it sounds like a song from my good friend and band mate, Al Lindsay. It’s ‘Life is a Motorbike’ – but only the first split second of drums – although I’m sure that’s been used in a number of songs, that’s the only one I can think of!

I think it’s singing about a friend whose partner left him. And it was a long time coming.

‘Nightmare Part II’ is next….even though I haven’t heard part 1. Is that what’s meant to be nightmarish about it?

There is no part 1……………………… O.O

Or it’s on a different album, I don’t know.

This is a nice groovy number – with quite swing/samba style drums and creepy sounding chords played on the guitar. The vocals are very recognisable as The Zutons. Which sounds like a strange thing to say, but his voice is different in each song – though it’s similar to ‘Railroad’, with the same kind of nursery rhyme vibe with the vocals. It’s quite Itsy Bitsy Spider.

“Last night I had a bad dream, and it blew my head away, and there was no solution, and I’ve been awake all day”.

It’s a very graphic song – mentioning vomiting priests, stabbings, dismembered limbs and strangling grandmas. (Like, grandmas being strangled – not grandmas who go around strangling people – just to clear up any confusion).

“They stabbed them in their bellies, and they ripped off arms and legs. But the demons started joking and had a drink instead. But the firemen they were on strike so they could not resolve, and the army cut the phone lines so they were not involved. And while all this was happening I was fast asleep, with a very foolish nightmare and memories I won’t keep.”

I think this is yet another predictable one regarding the subject matter. He had a bad dream.

Or did he?  OOoooOOOooOooooo spoooookyyyy

Not many to go now – ‘Not A Lot To Do’.

Gonna take a stab in the dark with this one, and say it’s him singing about not having much to do.

This song sounds like a mix of swing and blues, and I love it! It’s really relaxed with simple drums and bass accompanied by a bluesy guitar riff and the odd violin.

“Sunday afternoon, not a lot to do. Think of all the places I could be. People I could meet. Life’s so small.”

I don’t know what else to say about this song – I just want to sit here listening to it!
It’s so chill and lazy. Very Paolo Nutini – but doesn’t sound anything like him…. Bah, details.
It’s definitely the kind of song I could just lay in a hammock listening to, drifting in and out of sleep.

“And I can live on my own and stay in all day, and watch the rain falling down. I lay on my bed. I feel all left out and switch off my head.”

Like I predicted, the song IS about him not having much to do! But in a nice and artistic way!

Next up – ‘Remember Me’.

I really like the sound that The Zutons have. Guitar, bass, drums and saxophone. You don’t often hear sax – actually, that’s a lie. New music now usually always has a synthesized sax on it somewhere, but that’s not REAL. It’s usually just jabbing notes, unlike this, which is really nice and harmonising with the guitar.

The whole song is quite feel-good. But the story is quite sad. It’s about 2 men being best friends but one of them gets a girlfriend, and they stop hanging out as much. I think this is something that happens a lot – I mean, it’s happened to me. I stopped hanging out with my best friend as much because my girlfriend became my best friend and I love being with her.

“Well we used to be the best of friends and we used to hang around. Now I always see you and your new girlfriend on the sunny side of town. Oh your body is the same and your face hasn’t changed. But your mind ain’t where that’s at. You’re too busy hugging and kissing now, and for you that can’t be bad”

It starts off with the friend being annoyed that his friend doesn’t hang out with him anymore, and that they’re done as friends. But it then changes to him being there for his friend, and understands that he wants a girl in his life.

“Oh remember me when she leaves you and you come and knock on my door, well I can nurse your broken heart. Cause that’s what friends are for.”

‘Dirty Dancehall’ is in at number 11.

This starts off with an awesome guitar and drum riff. It’s very rock-y and I absolutely love it! The song then drops down to just drums and vocals – which reminds me of Radar Love by Golden Earring, especially when the bass joins in. Saxophone then makes another appearance in this song with quirky little licks.

“Well the sun grew dim and the night grew tall. Everyone’s dancing in the dirty dancehall. The chins they did wobble, the eyes did stare. There was a sense of threat in the air.”

I haven’t seen it, but I can imagine this in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. It’s a bit creepy and talks about zombies and murder.

“Down in the alley a tramp falls asleep, murdering the hookers and chops off their feet.”

It also has a very satisfying and deep ‘Oooo’ which I could imagine Frankenstein’s monster singing. Which is a really random thought. But it would fit brilliantly!
It also has a load of screams towards the end. Think the Addams Family Musical – this would be the random song in the middle where the family is dancing at a ball.

“This is just a night in the City of Culture, but everyone’s whacked and looks like vultures.”

And finally, ‘Moons and Horror Shows’.

This goes back to acoustic, quite country in fact. It even sounds like they’re using spoons! They might just be cowbells, but still – those are pretty country too! I actually find it amazing how the cowbell has become such a huge thing! It’s on so many songs – and yet, it’s a bell that goes around a cows neck. (But, ironically, without the bell part. So it’s doesn’t actually ring…so it’s more like a Chinese bell. Which are struck using a beater (or a tree, depending on the size of bell!). But then I guess it would clash with the ‘China’ cymbal – which are only called that because they look like a gong. They don’t sound anything like each other, but as long as they look the same!
All the other cymbal names kinda make sense. The crash sounds like a crash. Same with the splash. You continuously play a ride (you ride it), and hi-hats go up and down (or one of them does at least).
Personally I think I have a cymbal with the best name ever. It’s a little 8” splash called the ROCKTAGON! (it’s an octagon shape), and it sounds just as good as the name! It’s the little cymbal that could.

Anyway, moving back to the song. It’s quite short, only 2 ½ minutes. And only has a few lines of words.

“Today in a day when many fine things will come. Today is just a memory tomorrow. I know that there’s some bad things to come, but I’ll forget them all until tomorrow” – that’s 4 lines out of 10. Although there’s a little bit of humming.

Half way through the song it slows down a little bit, and goes into a nice little group sing-a-long.

I think this is definitely the final song. Not just because it actually IS the last song, but it just has that feel. It would’ve worked perfectly if the album was called ‘Moons and Horror Shows’ because the last line is: “Then I dream of moons and horror shows. And then I’ll take up fresh and new tomorrow.”

It would’ve been the cherry on top!

Well, that’s another album done and dusted. And I can officially say I’m now a fan of The Zutons.

Their sound is unique and works really well! It’s a mixture of sounds I’ve heard before (both from before and after they formed), but it’s all the best bits!

I’ll be leaving this album on my iPod, and possibly finding another one of their albums (most likely one with Valerie on)!

Do you agree/disagree with anything I said? Like / dislike the review? Any constructive criticisms? Please leave a comment below! Would love to hear from you. Also, if you have any recommendations of albums I should listen to and review (as long as the artwork is awesome), let me know.

Thanks for reading, keep tuned for the next blog.

I will be reviewing ‘Sometimes I sit and think, and sometimes I just sit’ by Courtney Barnett

Don’t forget to check out my website, Facebook, Twitter and Youtube below.

I’m doing these blogs alongside my better half; Fern Teather – she is listening to a new albums (doesn’t matter about the artwork, she’s trying to expand her musical knowledge and listen to new artists!). She’s also keeping a blog, and it’s nowhere near as long as this one, so go give it a read!!
Check it out here: 52-albums.blogspot.com

Remember me! ;)

Sam

www.bongoboy.co.uk
www.facebook.com/samthurlowpercussion 
www.twitter.com/bongoboyuk 
www.youtube.com/bongoboyuk

5. Ludovico Einaudi – ‘Elements’

Hello February!

(I was listening to an interesting discussion on the radio the other day about how people say ‘February’ – well, I say Feb-yury…)

I hope everyone has had a pleasant 2016 so far, and aren’t too bored of these blogs yet – only 47 more to go!

I’ve had a good 2016, apart from this week, because I’ve had a stinking cold, and it’s had me bed ridden. But every cloud has its silver lining – because that has allowed me to listen to this album for an entire week!

A couple of weeks ago I saw this album in HMV (other music shops avail….actually, are there?!), anyway, I saw it and immediately got it. I’ve heard Ludovico Einaudi in the past, and have his other 2 albums – and honest to God, they’re 2 of my top 10 albums.
They’re my ‘tired of hearing drums’ albums. It’s just piano. Just one man and a grand piano. Sometimes a little cello or violin might creep in, but it’s just very simple piano.
Strangely, the stuff he plays doesn’t sound very complicated – but that’s the beauty of it. It’s simple, but still manages to pack a huge amount of emotion.

And his new albums just as good!

The artwork is great! I spent a good 15 minutes staring at it, following the lines, making out the shapes and letters and trees and stuff!
He drew it all himself, so it must have a meaning personally. But to an outsider it looks like the scribblings of a mad-man. Though, very enchanting scribbles. It looks like a world map from some indie game that the developer drew himself to add that little quirky touch, or something you’d see on Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones.

But the important thing is it works really well with the music! I could imagine listening to this album, and all the illustrations start moving around the page – the trees swaying in the wind, following the music, then little animals start to appear and run around, chasing each other. Kinda reminds me of ‘Don’t Starve’ – a game set in a wooded area, and the trees and grass move together. The worlds full of cute little animals as well as scary as F big animals that will kill and eat your little man as you try to run around collecting berries.

The music probably wouldn’t work with the game too well though…It’s a lot more civilised!

Kicking off the album is ‘Petricor’.
This starts off as classic Einaudi – just piano playing simple notes. But then a violin joins in followed closely by a cello – and it gave me chills.
Sitting in silence with this turned up in both ears really adds to the whole experience. While the piano is playing the same 8 notes over and over, the violin and cello are dancing around in the foreground – this isn’t just music like the other albums I’ve listened to so far. This is art. It’s emotion. It’s causing me to think a lot deeper than I have in past reviews. It’s making me think I won’t be able to make this blog as funny as past ones!
Once the song gets moving the piano does too, getting more complex, and building until the song is in full swing and 10x louder than it started.

As for the title – I don’t know what it means, but Einaudi, being Italian, titles most of his songs in his native language. Although, even with the help of Google Translate (other translating tools are available) I still don’t know what it stands for!
This is a brilliant way to start the album – not with a fizz, but with an explosion of emotions!

Next up – ‘Night’

This one isn’t classic Einaudi. It starts off with what sounds like an electronic piano – kinda like a fancy doorbell. Muted, rhythmic, subtle. It’s then accompanied by proper piano.
You know how you can listen to a song, and without knowing who sung it, you can just tell because of their style and voice. It’s like that with Einaudi. It could be anyone playing piano, but it’s played in his style, with his feel. Even with other instruments layered on top, the chord changes, speed and feel of the songs are just shouting Einaudi. It’s nice that he hasn’t changed, he’s evolved and expanded – but the music is still very much his.

For instance, in this song, the electronic doorbell keeps going throughout, with a string orchestra playing over the top of that and the piano. There’s a few violins, cellos, double basses, god knows what else! But it sounds epic!
If I was to go back to my previous review and close my eyes and explain the genre that way, I’d say “Imagine you’re looking up at the night sky, but it’s not the sky we see – this one is completely black, and always has been. Then suddenly stars start to form. Not just appear – form. They come exploding into life in an array of celestial fireworks that fill the once black sky with light and colour. Right up until our Sun is formed. Filling the world with light.” – see what I mean. I would never have been able to come up with something as poetic as that if I wasn’t listening to Ludovico Einaudi!
It’s just something that comes with listening to his music!

Song #3: ‘Drop’.
This has a very chilling start – very slow single notes. Followed by plucked violin. It’s all very creepy sounds. But still manages to be beautiful I can imagine this being the music to a scene in a film where someone is getting drunk at home on their own, being very violent, trashing the place. But the scene has no sound, and it’s just this music.
It just has that ‘quiet destructiveness’ about it. Like how there’s some songs that could easily play over the top of a nuclear bomb going off, and turn it into something beautiful and almost graceful. It’s adding a new dimension to the scene. Instead of the song being ‘Here Comes the Boom’ – which would be funny, but this album is very serious. After all, Einaudi is one of, if not THE biggest classical artist alive today. He’s sold millions of CDs, done world tours. And I bet, some of you reading this right now have never heard of him.
Search for ‘Nuvole Bianche’ – it’s off one of his most well known albums, and is the first song I heard of his. I remember listening to it over and over again until realising that he probably has other stuff just as good, so went and bought the album. Quickly followed by buying another one. (A different one – not the same one….I like him, but not so much that I’d buy the same album twice. Unless I lost it, then I’d buy it again. But I bought it through iTunes, so you can’t lose it….even if I deleted it I could contact Apple and ask them to kindly let me redownload it. And I’d definitely go through all that to listen to him again!

That song was the most beautiful song I’d ever heard – and I wasn’t young, that was about 4 or 5 years ago. I’d been listening to music all my life, and after 18 years of songs, I still hadn’t heard anything as beautiful as that.

Next up – ‘Four Dimensions’.

Now, I’ve been playing Lego Dimensions a lot recently after my wonderful girlfriend bought it for me for Christmas (and the fact I love Lego and it makes me very happy to run around the Land of Oz as Gandalf while shooting flying monkeys with the Batmobile), and this song instantly made me want to play it now – but I will try to resolve the temptation and continue with the review!

It appears that most of these tracks start with just piano – which takes me back to the 2 previous albums I have of his. Which are mostly just piano. This album however has introduced more instruments – it’s now gone from being a ‘live lounge’ set-up to an ‘opera-house’ set-up. Bigger stage. Big orchestra behind him.
But it’s still just 1 man sitting behind his shiny black piano playing songs he wrote while he has his eyes closed, and just feeling the music instead of reading it.

This song has that feeling. It’s not a duet between a piano and violin – it’s a piano accompanied by a string quartet. It’s more of an opera than a gig.

Coming in 5^th is the album title track – ‘Elements’.

This starts off like an ancient arcade game – sort of like an organ mixed with a piano. If it was slightly 8-bit, it’d fit perfectly! After a while though, the violins join in.
Like the other songs on this album, this one is 6 minutes long. It’s a VERY long album – a total of just over 100 minutes. Which for 15 tracks, which are usually about 60 minutes, is rather impressive! And because the songs are all very similar (you might see a pattern emerging in this review – ‘starts with just piano, and oh – there’s the violin’) – but each song has it’s very own personality and they all feel different.
This song I think might be an exception – it’s quite repetitive. The same couple of arcade-esk notes played over and over in succession.

Something that also makes the songs seem somewhat the same and repetitive is the lack of lyrics or any kind of vocals. It’s all purely instrumental, and only 3 or 4 instruments at any one time – mostly only 1 – piano. But then if I was a world class pianist, I’d absolutely have most of my album just piano.
(This is a secret, so if you’re one of the few people who read my reviews and actually know me, this is for you!) I’ve actually been thinking of releasing my own album, and because percussion is what I play, and what I enjoy playing, the album would be very drum and rhythm heavy. Because I’m not a good guitarist or singer, so wouldn’t want much, if any of that on the album. I’d just pay others…if I had the money! Of course it’s all just a concept at the moment as I still need to actually WRITE the music and work out how to create songs. But in due course, maybe one day I will have my very own album! :o

Next song – ‘Whirling Winds’

Starting off with quite a creepy piece of piano playing. Makes me feel cold and a bit like I should be in a haunted house with cheesy eerie squeaks and rattles. This goes on for over half the song (and bearing in mind the song is 6 minutes long, it basically goes on for the length of a normal song) until it picks up a bit and goes into triplets on the piano – this I feel is when the music changes from walking around the spooky house to having a Fantasia feel to it, when the room is filling with water – I can imagine Mr Mouse running around trying to scoop it all up in buckets, but being betrayed by the angry mops. It even has a similar ending to the actual song over that scene in the film, where the pianist collapses on the piano in a melodic thud – hitting a bunch of keys at the same time.

‘Twice’ is next up – the title of this immediately made me think of the aforementioned ‘Nuvelo Bianche’ because the whole song is pretty much played twice through in the one recording. Only with a couple of changes.
But that’s something that makes it special – you think it’s ended and just playing from the start again, but it’s actually just got to the half way point.
This song however, doesn’t play round Twice. Just the once.
It start like the other songs – just piano, but with what sounds a bit like an udu in the background – it’s traditionally a clay pot that you can fill with water, and play by tapping the sides and playing surfaces as well as hitting a hole in the body to create a whooob-ing sound. It’s a beautiful instrument – I actually have a modern one made from fibreglass (which is why I think it’s an udu, or something similar in the recording).
There sounds like a lot of subtle noises are happening in the background – including dripping. Which is a noise not used very often in music! But it works really well with this kind of music. It might be on an actual instrument, in which case I want one. But even so – it’s just a nice little addition.

‘ABC’ is next – and I feel like I’ve heard this song before on one of his other albums. But it could be possible that it’s just the same chords as another one of his songs. Because after writing 100 songs, it’s difficult to not use the same chord sequence. I know songwriters who use the same chords all the time – it’s just preference! Personally, I like A-minor. It’s the old work boot of the chord world. It might be a bit over used, but it’s simple and reliable!

ABC is the shortest song on the album, at a measly 3 minutes! Which caught me out a bit, and I actually got half way through the next song before I realised it had finished – I just thought Einaudi really changed it up half way through.
But alas, this song, quite like A-minor, is simple and reliable – it’s just piano. Nothing else – short and sweet.

The next song – ‘Numbers’, sounds like it came right out of Ocarina of Time. It’s very beautiful and picturesque, which is quite a strange way to describe a song. But it’s very happy and ‘sunny’ – going back to my patented genre describing technique – close your eyes and imagine running through a grass meadow full of flowers on a beautiful sunny day. Dandelion seeds floating all around you. And the whole time you’re smiling from ear to ear because you’re so damn happy!.....and then you run into a bell.

It eventually builds to quite an epic song – it really builds towards the end, with the string section taking over and a timpani thumping along.
So far, this is my favourite song off this album – it’s just full of joy and celebration! And, strangely, not a lot of piano. It starts off with really nice piano – I could actually listen to that little tune for the length of a full song, but then from the half way mark it sounds like a glockenspiel replaces it.
There’s also a few little bells in there too, which make it even happier! (and one big one which ends the song….which also ends your joyful run through the meadows. Unharmed, of course!).

‘Mountain’ is the next hill we have to climb (ba dum tss! Getting good at these!).

I think this song teams up with Numbers really nicely. It’s a lot darker and colder – but they reflect each other beautifully.
This is another song which is just piano the whole way through – apart from a tiny bit of ambient noise (just held keyboard notes as an underlay), and that really adds to it. It thickens the sound and makes it more interesting. It’s the cornstarch to the runny gravy. The whisk to the cream. The head-height coffee table to the infant’s head.
This is one of the longest songs on the album, at 6:33 – but the time passes by so quickly – or it does for me at least! It is also full of emotions. Mostly of sadness and depression, through the notes played. Also with the title being ‘Mountain’ – it might be about the mountain you have to climb to conquer those emotions. But that’s a massive guess from me, because the lack of lyrics makes it hard to decipher what the writer was thinking about when they wrote that particular track. It also means I can’t quote any lyrics like I have been doing in my reviews.
I could try and find the piano chords, and write those.
Unfortunately, there’s no chords online for any of these songs. But I did find them for my favourite song – Nuvelo Bianche. The chords are Em, C/E, G, D/F#. Though I think that’s on guitar. But you get the idea – it doesn’t work as well.

In at number 11, ‘Logos’.
This is again, very similar to a couple of past tracks. But this time, it’s similar to tracks on this album.
Starting with quiet piano, which is then joined by a weird deep ‘wubbing’ sound. Not quite dubstep – I don’t think that’s Einaudi’s style, but it’s too deep for cello or even double bass.

After a while the wubbing stops, and the string section comes in again, perfectly harmonising with the piano. Then suddenly, what’s that I hear? Drums? In a Ludovico Einaudi song?! Yes, ok, it’s not a full kit, but there’s definitely orchestral drums in there – helping the sound build more and more until it’s about 10x louder than it was at the beginning, but keeping the same chord progression.

This is definitely the most dynamic song. Going from just piano on its own, then joined by subtle dubstep, followed by a string quartet, then back down to just piano, strings, then right up to an orchestra. Including drums. The end actually reminds me a bit of the band Stateless – it’s atmospheric and almost tribal. You’ll find out more about Stateless at some point when I review one of their albums.

Next is ‘Song for Gavin’ – which is a song written for a bloke called Gavin...I presume.
It’s yet again a short one, in at just over 3 minutes.
This one however, unlike any of the other songs, I could hear being written as an actual song, with lyrics and everything! Although, as I mentioned previously, none of these songs have lyrics on. So it’s up to me to imagine what they’d be. I won’t make any up. It would be funny to, and might have got some cheap laughs. But if this song is written about someone who passed away or for someone dear to Einaudi, I don’t want to take from that. Because this song is beautiful, and it doesn’t need any stupid made up lyrics.
I think piano is the only instrument that can actually sound like a voice. It can be made to sound like an angelic vocalist singing with all their emotion, and can sometimes actually be more impacting that if there was any lyrics being sung.

The next song – almost there – is ‘Drop Variation’.

For those of you with a sharp eye and good memory, you might remember a song from earlier in the review called ‘Drop’ – well, this is a variation on it! Hence the title! It seems like it’s just a stripped back version of it. Starting with piano on its own, though this one continues as it started – staying with piano, and only piano throughout the entire song – which is now shorter than the un-variated one. Coming in at a generally normal time of 3 ½ minutes.
I honestly don’t see how music like this isn’t more popular that charts music, which is just 3 ½ minutes of electronic sounds pinched from another song, and then with the same 13 words repeated over and over again. It probably took a team of people 2 hours to write that song from start to finish. Whereas Einaudi probably takes months working on 1 piece just to get it perfect. On 1 instrument, no prerecorded jargon. 1 man, 1 piano. 1 dream. (Too much?)

It just annoys me when people like Kanye West are getting number ones because they have enough money to pay other people to write their songs, and then there’s songwriters all around the world who can’t even get their songs heard because the big names are stealing all the limelight that they don’t need or deserve. I will admit, I don’t mean everyone in the charts – to be honest, most of them are great! But there’s a select few who really need to be replaced by someone with actual talent.
I just watched the Superbowl half time show with Beyonce and Bruno Mars (not with them. They were performing – I was sitting in my dark office on my own). After watching them 2 perform, it’s obvious that they have talent and a love for what they do. But thinking back to Kanye West at Glastonbury ‘singing’ Bohemian Rhapsody, it makes me hate the music industry. Did you know Kanye West has his own clothing line? Yeah, he ‘designed’ (aka found) a jumper. Just a standard jumper, and then torn some holes in it, and then is selling it for £1,500! Even a homeless person would throw it away. I’m tempted to start up my own knock off company, buy jumpers from charity shops for 50p, tear even more holes in them, and sell them for £500.

Unfortunately, as they say, any publicity is good publicity. So I think that means now I’ve moaned about Kanye West and his ‘fashion’ – you all have to go and buy one of his jumpers. I think that’s how it works, I might be wrong though.
(I’m also looking forward to someone buying one of Kanyes jumpers and patching the holes up, then sending him a photo of it on Twitter saying they fixed his design problem.)

Moving on….

Second to last – ‘Elements Variation’

Yet another variation on a song previously on this album. Just like the last song, this is also just piano. It’s kind of like an acoustic version of it – you know how on some special edition albums you get the original track and then an acoustic version of it too – this is like that.
And it sounds just as good! This is more like the Einaudi I’m used to hearing – and it’s great!

Finally, yet another variation – ‘Twice Variation’.
It’s the same story again – a stripped back version of a song previously on the album. But in this version, they’ve fixed the plumbing in the background.

And on that note – I think it’s done!
The last 3 were very short because I’d summed up what I felt about the song previously, and those 3 were just cut back versions.

I’ve really enjoyed listening to this album – Ludovico Einaudi is one of my favourite musicians, and definitely my favourite classical musician (and not just because he’s the only classical musician I listen to!)

I will definitely continue to listen to this album in the future, alongside the other 2 I have of his.

As for the review, I know I kept using the word ‘beautiful’ throughout – but that word sums it up perfectly. It’s not amazing because it’s quite simple in theory. Nor is it wonderful, for the same reason.

It’s like a flower or a rainy summers day. It’s simple, underrated, over-seen. But all in all - just absolutely beautiful!

Do you agree/disagree with anything I said? Like / dislike the review? Any constructive criticisms? Please leave a comment below! Would love to hear from you. Also, if you have any recommendations of albums I should listen to and review (as long as the artwork is awesome), let me know.

Thanks for reading, keep tuned for the next blog.

I will be reviewing ‘Who Killed The Zutons’ – The Zutons

Don’t forget to check out my website, Facebook, Twitter and Youtube below.

I’m doing these blogs alongside my better half; Fern Teather – she is listening to a new albums (doesn’t matter about the artwork, she’s trying to expand her musical knowledge and listen to new artists!). She’s also keeping a blog, and it’s nowhere near as long as this one, so go give it a read!!
Check it out here: 52-albums.blogspot.com

Arrivederci!

Sam

www.bongoboy.co.uk
www.facebook.com/samthurlowpercussion 
www.twitter.com/bongoboyuk 
www.youtube.com/bongoboyuk