14th November (Issue 1238) - The Courier

28 THE COURIER Monday November 14 2011musicreviewsSoundof theOvergroundSam Summers takes you on amagical journey through thisweek’s pop chart, finding theodd diamond in the rough, butmainly just finding the roughon his way.‘With Ur Love’ falls somewhere betweenRobert Mugabe and the Bubonic Plagueon the long list of things that are betterthan ‘Swagger Jagger’. Cher Lloyd’ssophomore effort is a frustrating listenbecause, at its heart, it is not horrible. Underneathall the ridiculous posturing andguest verses and dadadadadumdums isburied a Proper Pop Tune. ‘With Ur Love’is a beautiful creature hiding behind a veilof bad decisions, like a stripper wearinga dress made out of smaller, uglierstrippers. In the pre-chorus, for instance,Cher inally proves that she can sing, andinvests her words with heart and soul.Unfortunately, one of those words is‘swag’. Later on, just as the chorus beginsto convince you that it’s not nearly as irritatingas you irst thought, Mike ‘Who?’Posner stumbles in through the backdoor, bringing with him one of the mostill-conceived, phoned-in guest spots inrecent memory. So yes, to the surprise ofnobody, the new Cher Lloyd song is completelyunlistenable. But only just.Adequately talented schoolgirl ‘songstress’Birdy gained recognition for herunbearably saccharine cover of BonIver’s ‘Skinny Love’. Her latest track is anunbearably saccharine cover of CherryGhost’s ‘People Help The People’. Needlessto say, it’s one of the most boringthings I’ve ever heard. Here instead is amuch more exciting birdy:Is it too bold to say Ceremonials is oneof the most anticipated albums of theyear? Probably not; after all, Florence +the Machine are one of the most hypedBritish acts of recent years, masteringthe art of remaining somewhat ‘nonmainstream‘and distinctive in theirstyle (you just KNOW it‘s Flo and herMachine when you hear their songs).So due to all the pressure from the press,fans and snotty self-proclaimed musicexperts, the successor of their widely acclaimeddebut Lungs from 2009 must be afailure to be mercilessly slated by everyonewho might think themselves knowledgeableabout music. Well, we‘re all entitled toour own opinions after all, but Ceremonialscertainly doesn‘t need to fear any scorchers- it’s a compilation of very good tracks.It is different from Lungs, less rock orientated,but still full of rhythm with a strongbaroque-pop inluence heavily featuringbells, harps, organs and tambourines; suitably,considering the title of the album,almost all songs can be imagined beingplayed in a church or any other somewhatIt is differentfrom Lungs,less rockorientated,but still fullof rhythmwith a strongbaroque popinluence.sublime interior, reverberating within thewalls and creating an overwhelming wallof sound. The buzz single ‘What the WaterGave Me’, ironically reminiscent of LykkeLi‘s ‘I Follow Rivers’, gives you a good ideaof the overall album, although this conclusionhints at its slightly repetitive nature.‘Spectrum’ and ‘Heartlines’ stand out fromthe rest with their stronger bass lines andfaster paces which doesn‘t mean they‘reunpleasant to listen to. In fact, all songson Ceremonials are well made, enjoyableand won’t disappoint anyone who lovesthe dramatic, mysterious, anthemic soundof the band. Florence Welch once againproves her powerful vocal ability, singingher heart out throughout the album.Long story short: Ceremonials is a fabulousrecord and a praise-worthy follow-upto Lungs. It should satisfy critics, longtermfans and Machine-newbies alike,with an intriguing sound and great lyricalcontent which stays true to the band’sroots; if the Machine keeps on workinglike this, the future looks promising forFlorence and co.thecourieronline.co.uk/musicc2.music@ncl.ac.ukCeremonialsFlorence + the MachineRecommended download:‘Shake It Out’Lisa BernhardtAlso knocking about in the charts isenigmatic ‘banger’ ‘Danza Kuduro’. Ican’t tell you much about this song. I can’ttell you who performs it. It has variouslybeen credited to someone called Lucenzo,someone called Qwote, and someonecalled Don Omar. Pitbull may or may nothave been involved. I can’t tell you whatit sounds like, because I turned it off afterthe irst few seconds. Sufice to say it was‘clubby’. Apparently it belongs to the genresof ‘Danza’ and ‘Kuduro’. Huh. ‘Danza’ isa dance that originated in a Puerto Ricancity called Ponce. That made me laugh.Anyway, yeah, don’t listen to it.‘Try With Me’ is the single from theupcoming re-release of Nicole Scherzinger’sKiller Love album. I was optimisticgoing into this; ‘Don’t Hold YourBreath’ is the Greatest Number One of2011 by a long way, packing more emotioninto a dance song than anyone’s managedsince Robyn perfected the art lastyear. Scherzinger’s album failed to deliveron the promise of the single, but when Iheard there was a two-disc edition on theway I decided to give her another chance.Annoyingly, ‘Try With Me’ starts off as aregular ballad, then segues into a regulardance song, totally bypassing the magicaldanceballad soft spot. There are worsesongs out there, but if you’re waiting forNicole to deliver the next crying-on-thedanceloormega-anthem... Don’t holdyour breath. BAM!HollandazeOdonis OdonisOdonis Odonis, despite being a fairly freshband, appear to have already discoveredand created a distinct style for themselvesin their debut Hollandaze. And it’s brilliant.Tzenos’ haunting, reverbed-to-thepoint-of-illegibility,powerhouse of a voicecarries the record through a whirl of discordant,eerie guitars, battered drums andKim Deal-esque bass riffs. Bloody lovely.The band’s comparisons to artists likePixies are most evident in tracks like ‘BasicTraining’; the simplistic but effectiveopening bass hook could easily have beenwritten by Deal. The lyrics too could easilyhave been written by Frank Black - adesperate stream-of-consciousness styleof writing that is so rich, so honest, thatit grabs the listener’s attention before thesong ends abruptly, leaving them dazedand a little bit weary.But Odonis Odonis are not merely an imitationband. They are seemingly focusedon the experimentation and explorationof sounds, occasionally shifting their stylefrom short, snappy, powerful songs tomore ‘melodic’, slower paced tracks suchas ‘Seedgazer’: a song that stands out withits long intro and rising vocal patterns.The album is grimy and often messy –exactly what makes it great. Not an albumfor easy listening, but deinitely worthyour attention if you like an unhealthyamount of discord.Johnny Foreigner vs.EverythingJohnny ForeignerWhile Waited Up ‘Til It Was Light was anincredibly fun, energetic label debut, aftertheir self-released proper debut, fromthe Birmingham trio, Johnny Foreignerseemed to fall to the dreaded ‘dificultsecond album’ curse with the relativelyunexciting Grace and The Bigger Picture.Luckily, Johnny Foreigner vs Everythinghas managed to capture the punky magicof Waited Up.It does fall foul of being a bit too long, asdid Grace, with Waited Up being the perfectlength. There are quite a few illertracks in here and you can get a bit wornout with energetic track after energetictrack - and the less said about the mentaltrack titles the better.But everything seems much more focusedand tighter. The back and forthshouty vocals between Alexei and bassistKelly are much more exciting and theslower tracks, such as the magniicent‘200X’, make a return, offering a nice sip ofwater among a train of whiskey shots.It does seem a bit weird to have a pianoballad in the form of ‘Johnny Foreigner vsYou’ from the band, but it deinitely showsthey’re capable of more than just rippingyour face off with mental guitar riffs. Justenough change to make something differentthat still sounds familiar.Everythingseems muchmore focusedand tighter,and the backand-forthshoutyvocalsbetweenAlexei andbassist Kellyare muchmore exciting.Stereo TypicalRizzle KicksContrary to popular belief, these boysclaim to have been going since most ofus were rolling around in mud and stillenjoying Teletubbies. Rizzle Kicks met inaround 1996 and reunited again in 1998over Sunday league football. As they say,the rest is history and the fruitful productof their relationship can be seen today inthe form of their debut album, Stereo Typical.With Fearne Cotton singing their praisesat every available opportunity, it’s hardnot to have heard at least one of theirtunes. An impressive array of instrumentshave been used, including an accordion,jazz piano, and of course, as the smashhit suggests, numerous trumpets. All collaborateto produce a fresh, jazz-infusedsound, with its roots irmly embedded inthe late 80’s hip-hop camp.Songs vary from the upbeat ‘When I WasA Youngster’, to the slower ‘Traveller’sChant’, revealing the multi-faceted talentof the twosome. ‘Mama Do The Hump’,produced by Fatboy Slim is typical of hiscrazy-carnival style while remaining lyricallyseductive. ‘Trouble’, with its relaxed,lazy bassline and lirty piano gives credibilityto their harmonious vocals. StereoTypical is well worth a listen, and will undoubtedlybrighten up the long, dark winterdays with a mixture of funky chunkybeats and lemonade-cool lyrics.Recommended download:Nicole Scherzinger- ‘Try With Me’Recommended download:‘Basic Training’Recommended download:‘200X’Recommended download:‘When I Was A Youngster’Sam SummersRachel EvansChris TaylorRory Smith and Matt Valenzia