Panda Su - I Begin (Peter Panda Records)

By releasing a gentle lull of a record which delights in its beautiful simplicity, Panda Su embarks on her recording career with astounding poise and sensitivity. Rising out from an over abundance of singer-songwriter acts, it might just be worth your time.

Having grown up in the Scottish Highlands, the Folk scene of the rugged north has clearly influenced her melancholy acoustic attitude. Her voice, conventional at first, later reveals a personal tone crucial to any serious minded poet. She relays dreamy and nostalgic tales of lazy days spent deep in thought: ‘I am younger then I was then’. Unlike a lot of solo artists of a similar nature, she also provides the words with the respect they deserve (I have a particular hatred for singers who force in ‘woooaaahs’, ‘ooohhs’ and other ad-lib filler clogging up the mix with self love.)

The producer, Robin Sutherland has taken special care to allow Panda Su’s guitar to shape to the song structure instead of dominating it. It leaves space for a desk-drawer collection of incidental sounds (a glockenspiel, feedback drenched waves, scratching percussion) to quietly gleam away in the background. No single element takes precedence over another and as a result, each of the four songs on I Begin feels complete, full of life and pleasantly tuneful.

‘The Bee’, along with its theme of innocence lost, samples as its opening rhythm a clock ticking and being wound back up. Gazing inwards, the EP’s title track contains a haunting guitar riff dripping like summer rain. Panda Su is Twee with backbone; wisely produced and satisfying Folk-pop perfection.

(© Copyright 2011 Brendan Morgan)

Teebs - Ardour (Brainfeeder)

Blooming with abstract colours and melodic detail, Ardour is a record cultivated out of art. A skateboarder turned painter turned musician, Mtendere Mandowa (aka Teebs) composes his music in the way he approaches his paintings. Many seemingly isolated fragments melt together in energy and expression. Ardour is a translation of his artwork to music.

The record was a project put together during two years of unemployment. While the rest of us would be groaning about job opportunities, Teebs just got busy and the freedom of electronic music seemed to suit his tastes. The production techniques like time shift and chopped sampling (possibly relayed to him under the watchful eye of Brainfeeder) are ubiquitous of folktronica and the likes of Gold Panda or Four Tet. His ethnic rhythms are off balanced and threaten to blow away if not for the weight of some hip-hop influenced beats. Acoustic samples of twinkling bells and various wind-chimes unite with cosy synths swelling in waves and pulses. It all simulates natural movement like wind gently tugging at clothes on a line.

When these fragments resolve into a more recognisable form – heard during the excellent groove of ‘Gordon’ – its drifting feel satisfyingly takes shape like a scrapbook of grainy photographs. ‘Double Fifths’ the albums first stand out track empolys a magical pitch-bending harp over wooden percussion and later on ‘Moments’ employs a cascading piano and ‘Wind Loop’ a sweetly rising chime melody.

Ultimately, Ardour’s impressionistic quality works itself into the background and into obscurity. As you begin to fall into the mood of a track it dematerialises and lurches to another. I imagine every one these 18 incidental tracks, the bubbly ‘Double Fifths’ for one swelling to a grand strings section or some kind of further elaboration. Instead they jaunt off like a shy bumble bee. Even the album’s end is flighty and inconclusive. This will either instil a sense of longing in the listener or struggle to make a mark.

Just like Modern Art, it goes for impact and for concise and polished expression. In this way Ardour is at odds with its enveloping atmosphere, though I doubt it was intentional as Teebs has allowed the record to take on its own home-made form. Ardour is definitely an experimental album; an exposés of his creativity set loose in a different medium. But it is the sights and sounds of his travels and experiences, as well as a blurring of art and music that make this a busy, beautiful record.

(© Copyright 2010 Brendan Morgan)

Sleep Whale – Houseboat

It didn’t take long to be swept up the bellowing zephyr that is Sleep Whale’s Houseboat and I don’t think I’ve come down yet. Whoever said beauty is fleeting hadn’t stayed alive long enough to hear this record.

Along with Explosions in the Sky, of which they share some post rock similarities, Sleep Whale emerge from Texas, at polar opposite musically from the local hardcore scene. The open space and grand majesty of the Southern American landscape is clearly a fundamental influence on their creative consciousness. Their mesh of collected sounds paired with colourful and melodic instrumentation feels as natural and invigorating as pissing off a cliff. The small, rhythmless passages, such as the mid album vignette ‘Dissolved’, remind me of Animal Collective’s album Feels (2006) - particularly the free, harp-like strumming in the guitars.

They’ve also cranked up their production on this one, compared to their sparse early work, and it’s put it to great benefit employing everything from coffee rich cellos (provided by the talented Bruce Blay), to pan pipes and guitar harmonics, to toy box bells and cricket chirping; all bubbling and fizzing and bursting with life. Lyrics such as “The rain came down in pouring puddles, there’s magic in everything” from ‘We Were Dripping’; though simple, when put to a pretty acoustic guitar and a wash of watery effects, it projects a kaleidoscope of images in your mind.

Being prone to tendencies of hyperbole and melodrama, it may be difficult to believe me when I say that Houseboat is the tenderest, most beautiful and masterful release I’ve heard this year. No exaggeration, it sets a new standard for acoustic recording and it was love at first sight; like the first time I heard the ornamental sampling of Four Tet’s Rounds (2003). The secret ingredient must be liquid sunshine or concentrated joy or something. It’s a stirring celebration of nature and life and is certain to please, unless you don’t like music or trees, in which case you have no soul. Sorry, but the truth hurts.

(© Copyright 2009 Brendan Morgan)

New single's: Grum's Sound Reaction, Gliss' Morning Light and Gold Panda

GRUM - SOUND REACTION
With support from Pete Tong and the ever obnoxious ego of Zane Lowe, a debut album and a gig at Fabric on the way, Grum appears to be on the verge of breaking into the club elite: "[...] only a route that artists such as Daft Punk, The Chemical Brothers and The Prodigy are familiar with". Coming across as desperate for popularity, I've not read a more naff and needlessly hyped promotion than the one accompanying Sound Reaction.

The record gives the public what they want: An 'infectious' funk bass riff, pulsing volume and evolving beats. Like a coiled spring, the tension before the drop is expertly handled, even though the repeated vocal sample is totally meaningless. Included are two bonus remixes which show it's versatility and transport the track into different atmospheres.

The earnesty behind the promotion is unnecessary and clouds the main concern: Is it good to dance to? Sound Reaction, released in time for summer, has all the right euro disco ingredients to delight all you happy ravers. For me, however, it's just another disposable commodity - played once and then thrown out.



GLISS - MORNING LIGHT
My first listen of Morning Light was complimented by the tap tap of warm rain, resulting in a sort of druggy afternoon poetry. This paradox gained them an early advantage.

Yet another shoegaze band, Gliss take the genre back to its early post punk days: the beautiful noise of Jesus and the Mary Chain. Remember that simple, echoing beat at the beginning of Just like Honey? Well, it starts off Morning Light too. Original? Perhaps not, but what is these days?

If the dream pop of Asobi Seksu or the Raveonettes makes you wet, then Gliss is a necessity. There are few records that convey burning sadness as well as this one - it's almost heartbreaking. The fuzz of their stormy distortion mirrors a purifying explosion of water. At just three minutes and a half, it's over too soon.



GOLD PANDA - GOLD PANDA
The Electronic music culture has ever been made up of the hobbyist and the obsessive hoarder. As a collector turned creator, Gold Panda's triple track release is a product of the extreme archiving provided by the Internet. For some artists, the overwhelming variety is a heavy blow to their narcassism (boo hoo). For Gold Panda, it's an inspiration and a way into composition.

'Quitter's Raga', a triumphant opening of Hindi hip hop, makes full, if excessive use of the time stretch edit tool, one of Four Tet's trademarks. It's a glitchy, stuttering effect as well as beautifully imperfect. 'Fifth Ave' uses sparse sampling over a dirty viynl drone and is the serene call before the storm. Arguably, 'Police' could be a comment on the recent G20 violence. It's scuzzy, siren synths and sandpaper beats reveal a love for IDM acid and simulate a chaotic, seething riot.

More than anything else, Gold Panda's release has more in common with folktronica - The Books or Dosh - but all three tracks consistently avoid easy categorisation. The genre eugenics heard here might be strong evidence towards an era of Internet enlightenment, though I sense struggle at work. At the record's end, we are left alone, down the Internet rabbit hole, paranoid and displaced from human reality. There's trouble in paradise.

(© Copyright 2009 Brendan Morgan)

Yppah - "They Know What Ghost Know"

Successfully separating himself from other Ninja Tune artists (Amon Tobin, Bonobo, Mr Scruff), Joe Corrales (aka Yppah) grinds his own blend of folktronica from an eclectic mix of influences. From light-headed hip-hop and 60's psychedelia, to ear ringing shoegaze; the result is a seasonal release just short of perfection. The tracks are a little thrown together but the warm and hazy tone ultimately melts it into unity. Alien birds call to each other in the distance. Scratchy, insect-like distortion buzzes triumphantly. Echoing guitar melodies stroll through long grass. All of which would spin out of control if not for some precision broken beats to keep it in earth's orbit.

There are some beautiful moments. Halfway through the title track, someone opens a window to let in a refreshing breeze of rock organ, reminiscent of The Doors or The Misunderstood. It even goes a bit Aphex Twin in the middle of The Tingling. Besides variation, this feeling of reflection and deja vu is Corrales initial attraction. He pits a harmonic balance between what we know and recognise, against an education of compelling sonic oddity. The promotional review calls it "music which is epic and intimate all at once". I call it stealth experimentation with enough variation to occupy the shortest of attention spans. They Know What Ghost Know is an organic album that grows with each listen and is an essential for the summer.

(© Copyright 2009 Brendan Morgan)

MIA - "Do Something Pretty" Fanzine

The internet has made gigantic nerds of us all. Every single one of us now is plugged in, discussing bandwith, sharing in petty conversation. The stereotype of the computer saddo is gone and has been inverted. Unconnected, you're seen as a fool, backward or a second rate citizen.

A term sounding almost dated today, 'surfing', is in need of a replacement. The word implies purposeless exploration, casually clicking here and there, letting your impulses dictate what you view. These days, we hardly 'surf', no way, we hunt! We stalk the cyber wilderness, red eyed and hungry with intent. We check our bankstatements, we spend hours on wikipedia references, we look intensively on blogs and disographies for unreleased material. It's our livelyhood. We track the rare, unseen beasts and the more we hunt, the better we get and the better we get, the bigger the game we bag. But the cyber forest is also getting older, more dense and perhaps a little darker too. Some creatures go unnoticed and lurk quietly in the shadows. It takes skill or fluke to locate them.

A couple weeks ago I decided to spend a free afternoon racking up as many fanzines and online music magazines as possible. I settled down with a mug of tea, a few vanilla cigarettes and an assorted selection of chocolate bisuits. Simon Reynolds from The Guardian appeared to share in my quest and published an article several days later (Christ! Sometimes these beasts you track are actually tracking you). In it, he discusses the comeback of the traditional, hand made fazine. It was inspiring, but right before I zoomed off to get my crayons and glue stick I discovered something - an example of the fore mentioned fluke. It was an online fanzine called 'Do Something Pretty' that hadn't been updated since the 20th of June 2005. Typical of many fanzines, due to one reason or another, it no longer functions. An internet mystery, now gathering dust in the Lost and Found. I attempted to speak with those involved but it's impossible to contact anyone who ran it due to an unfortunate script error. I can only guess from the live reviews list that the 'zine was centralised around Manchester.

It's a damn shame, but as Echo and the Bunnymen taught us, "Nothing Ever Lasts Forever". Some of the signed and unsigned bands they included are worth listening to. Some of them are still going, some are not. 'Do Something Pretty' claims in its underscore to be "dedicated to all things pretty in alternative, independent music & D.I.Y Culture". According to its own copyright dates, the site was set up in 2001. Therefore, it would have beared witness to a huge evolution in indie culture; the return of everything we loved about music, the movement from our brief flirtation with retro in the early decade to the foundations of our current experimental and arty pop scene. In retrospect, we can also see how the fanzine concluded on what was just starting up at the time: Folktronica. Four Tet's Everything is Elastic was one of the final albums to be reviewed and the other bands featured in 2005 share a similar style. There's a short news alert heralding the Arcade Fire debut Funeral which has become somewhat of a landmark as well as a review of the searing and insane The New Fellas by The Cribs. Even the fanzine title hints towards self impossed naivity and DIY expression, with perhaps with just a pinch of sarcasm. In all this, Beat Happening would be pleased.

'Do Something Prettys' last ever album review is of a band called Super Reverb with the halariously named title 'Avant Garde Is The French Word For Shit'. With swaggering confidence and a highly varied approach, it's quite a find. They balance perfectly between low-fi punk and jingly jangly psychadelia; but this is only the begninning. An extended viewing of the archives brings many other unknown bands into light and a few interviews with The Longcut and The Secret Machines feel very old indeed. There's a pre-mainstream-fame interview with the Kaiser Chiefs sporting a stupidly aimless quote from Ricky Wilson: "...who wants to see a band onstage anymore that think they’re cooler than you?" True words, Ricky. Too bad that attitude didn't stick. Hanging out with Girls Aloud proves they no longer relate to their audience on the level they once did.

Personified, 'Do Something Pretty' is like your best friends little sister, who's a fan of Belle and Sabastian, does arts and crafts and wears colourful querky clothes. Except reading it four years on feels like that little girl has all grown up and moved far away. Left as it is, in silent and untouched charm, it's a small piece of nostalgia.