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Mellow Music¶
735 words on Music
A few notes on a couple of bands that came to attention recently. All of them make slow music, which would't give an alliteration as post title, though.
Kings of Convenience
I know this comparison has been made a million times before, but it's just so right: Kings of Convenience are for you if you liked Simon and Garfunkel but are a kid of the new millennium. They have a little bit of occasional 1980s cheerfulness and are slightly funkier in their latest album Riot on an Empty Street, though. Just dig the beginning of Love is no Big Truth, for example.
Whether you like the music or not, with albums named Quiet is the new Loud and Riot on an Empty Street, they certainly have a knack for good titles. And while the cover of their first album is stylish but lo-fi, the latest one just needs a caption à la Coduroy Sofa £5950 by xyz, Oak and pine chess board £999 by ...
to be published in glossies like Wallpaper.
Finally music that's good enough to be enjoyable without offending the people I'm having dinner with.
TV on the Radio
With an album title of Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes, TV on the Radio aren't exactly from the boring record department either. Slow but every so slightly funky with a strange a capella piece Ambulance in the middle of the record.
Again not too thrilling but again not offending guests without being boring.
Moneybrother
The good thing about Moneybrother is that they're / he's Swedish. I have a weakness for Swedish bands, as they tend to be good (cue Mando Diao, The Hives or The (International) Noise Conspiracy). In addition they've been the favourite artist of our favourite (== only acceptable) music TV show.
But I must admit I don't like it. Too much falsetto. Cheesy stuff – probably I just got used to it as I saw it on telly too often.
The Killers
The Killers' Hot Fuss is another record I didn't find convincing, despite an odd name and cool cover art (somehow reminding me of Wilco's Hotel Yankee Foxtrot). I think the review at Pitchfork Media pretty much nails it.
Some songs are fine, such as the cheerful Somebody Told Me (of music telly fame) or the odd closing track Everything will be Alright. But otherwise the album seems to be going nowhere – and drops too many Eighties sounds while doing so for my taste.
The Shins
Another friendly record is The Shins' Chutes to Narrow. Friendly cover art, friendly acoustic guitars. Nice old-fashioned summer music. But with good melodies and lyrics so it's good for more than being background music.
Snow Patrol
Snow Patrol are another band from Scotland (the other 'country' whose name starts with and S and that produces good bands). They're also the band that didn't show up for the Hurricane festival. They might be the least 'mellow' band in this collection. They've got proper guitars, sometimes with proper distortion and and the occasional fast beat between the slower bits. Their cover reminds me slightly of Sigur Rós with their gas-mask/stencil things.
Aerogramme
Aerogramme, another Scottish band, aren't actually new to me – I just re-discovered their 2002 album A Story in White. As I just learned on their website, they've had another album, Sleep and Release, since which I don't know. Aerogramme's music is cool. Intensive guitars with a little singing. A lightweight version of Mogwai with lyrics, if you wish.
I like their name as well. When I was little and we lived in South Africa, aerogrammes, those strange things mid-way between a letter and a postcard fascinated me. Today they look like relic of the old times where world-wide travel and airmail where still exciting and unusual. Where people would still know how to write letters. Not SMSes, not E-Mails, not post cards, real letters. Where as a matter of course the official language of international organisations was French.
Looper
The final Scottish contribution, pointed out to me by Dan, is Looper, (ex) Belle and Sebastian's Stuart David playing with electronics, and loops. There's a record called The Geometrid which appeals to the geometer, I guess. It contains the Modem Song which contains those funny beeps and bings coming from said machines, without being too geeky. Not too shabby.
