Here We Go Magic and the new Big Pink Single

HERE WE GO MAGIC - HERE WE GO MAGIC
If there is one thing that unites New York musicians, it's their strong and residing sense of confidence. They all display an ease that seems to be inherent, thanks to the dense and diverse history NY has for fostering the progressive and avant-garde. The city breathes with music and, unlike the hyper-aware, demographic-based market in Britain, NY incubates its sub culture, letting it grow on its own instead of exploiting it.

This inbuilt Manhattan poise is evident in Luke Temple's solo endeavour: Here We Go Magic. So too is NY's multiculturalism, shown in the range of world influences he includes (also a feature of Talking Head's Remain in Light). After opening with complex twelve-beat African rhythms played on tuneful drums, the album never falls from dreamy impressionism and soft, folky harmonies.

Apparently "developed over a two month stream-of-consciousness" the overall structure is interspersed with rich soundscapes under a canopy of improvisation. Each track crescendos and decrescendos like the evolving shapes behind your eyelids.

NY is also the home to Minimalism. The track I Just Want To See You Underwater borrows from Steve Reich's phasing and is used as a backdrop or ostinato in the piece. Tunnel Vision quickly became my favourite with its humid acoustic guitar drone accentuated by an unsettling note of B, sustained from start to finish. For the finale, Luke sings "Everything's clean/ Everything's new", like a sarcastic Kinks cover of a stupid French Chanson. A duff end to an otherwise unskippable album.

Here We Go Magic is not just a picture book of NY sensibilities, but a promising release that could see Luke Temple break from his simplistic compositional layering. The carefree mood is wonderful for a first but won’t carry any future releases. As it is, it's a natural and subtle album - as light as a leaf gliding in the wind.

*****

THE BIG PINK - STOP THE WORLD SINGLE
Whenever Radio 1 bestows its unwanted support, it's usually another hyped up mistake. Remember The Big Pink however, because everyone else will later forget them.

The Stop The World single drills home their particular style: a full and epic mix of huge, processed guitar fuzz and earnest vocal harmonies. It’s shoe gaze gone glam (a bastardisation of the rehashed genre had to happen sooner or later), and the chorus is belted out in such bombastic force they must be afraid we'll miss it somehow.

Crushed Water is a downbeat companion to the main. It starts out on a shadowy urban landscape; a glimmering guitar solo provides a small beam of light before it fades with schizophrenic (French!) chattering.

For all the noise, musically as well as in the press, this single's a bit dull - especially when put neck to neck with Velvet, their first. The eventual album will hopefully dispel all worries.

(© Copyright 2009 Brendan Morgan)