The Pineapple Thief - Someone Here Is Missing

Unfortunately very few people have heard of this band, but in my mind they fill stadiums.

The Pineapple Thief, initially a vehicle for main man Bruce Soord's solo work, have been going as a band proper since around 2002 (or around 3000 days, more of which later) and have released a number of fine albums leading to this, their most compelling work to date, literally hot offf the presses! Comparisons have been made to Radiohead, but luckily they lack that band's tendency to stray into pretentiousness. Even on TPT's longer songs the basic song-writing craft is never far from the surface. You can't ever imagine TPT doing an avant jazz album without actually knowing how to play jazz for starters.

Bruce's lyrical themes are similar in a way to Thom Yorke's - there's a lot of regret, obsession, and a sprinkling of paranoia, and if you're not one for melancholic lyrics don't be put off, as the music is often of an epic scale and lifts the whole thing to another level.

This great album kicks off with Nothing At Best - welcome to the pulsebeat - it rocks! This is one of the three standout tracks for me, and should be played at neigbour annoying levels!
The next track has an almost glam-like feel to it in places, and builds to a suitably intense climax.
The most satisfying track for me at the mo', given that I've only played the cd a few times so far, is Preparation For Meltdown, an epic of great electronica programming with a very noisy scratchy guitar chaos ending. Lovely.
Barely Breathing - Lighters aloft for a slower acoustic led number following the noise fest of the previous number.
Show A Little Love is an epic song of love and regret and storms along.
Another immediate favourite is 3000 Days, which is also the title of their must have career spanning compilation of a few months ago. This song is an epically (that word again) constructed stadium sized anthem, to the point where around two minutes from the end an almost Zep like riff crashes in. The neighbours are hammering on the walls by now.
The closer, So We Row (as in boat, not argument) is a slow burner and a good ending.

Now for some theorising. Throughout the album their are lyrical pointers that seem to suggest that Bruce Soord has, after over ten years of releasing music, come to a point where he might be feeling he's had enough. Lines like "And is. Is no-one listening" (title track), "I've been running around in circles, running into the ground.....We've barely found the time to waste our precious lives" (3000 Days) "I want to say how much I need just a break" (So We Row) suggest to me this is a man who's worn out trying.

I sincerely hope I'm wrong, and possibly a little paranoid. It would be a crying shame if this great band did not find the success they sorely deserve, especially when there's bland rubbish like Coldplay, etc out there dominating festivals and making the big buck.

BUY THIS ALBUM NOW!!!!

4.5 out of 5


Here's a video montage of Someone Here Is Missing
http://www.pineapplethief.com/news/someone-here-is-missing-album-video-montage
 
Well folks, I can't do anymore! Oh, and go see them live if you get the chance....
#15

Taipuva Luotisuora - IV

Scandinavia has produced some fine prog influenced bands in recent times, Mew, Anekdoten, Hidria Spacefolk, Metrognom, Serena Maneesh, to name but five, as well as dozens of gravel throated metal bands of various genres - not my bag tho'.

From Finland, the land of the midnight sun and the world's highest suicide rate, and the pugilistic sport of naked seal thumping (I may have made that bit up) come the mighty instrumental spacerockers Taipuva Luotisuora - the band tell me the R is rolled. This, unsurprisingly, is their fourth album. The other three are near impossible to find, and indeed I have never managed to track down their third album TL II (not three!).

Their early albums contain a brand of heavy wig out space rock with quirky Finnish folk influences thrown in for good measure. TL I included the wonderfully titled "Music For Kortella Space Hood Elevators". TL IV issued in 2009 finds the band in a slightly more mellow reflective mood, and some of the tracks sound kind-of loungy, a definite shift in direction. The set opens with Kuuvuori a more traditional sounding number, dominated by a Sabbath-like chugging riff, and a modernistic Porcupine Tree influence. The Army Of Isopods has some nice synth work and some good rockin' riffing, bubbles along nicely. The intro and revisited refrain to Capricious Bonfire (they do have a great way with titles doncha think?) reminds me of The Cure. There's even a vibes break in the middle of this one - this album is definitely much more laid back than previous efforts, but I like it a lot.

Ilman Rihlan Kiertämää opens with woodwind and violin - mmmmm nice. The laid back theme continues, the moody atmosphere builds. I think they may have been listening to Anekdoten, which is no bad thing. Muting Glow - more flowing synths and some accoustic picking, leading to riffing. Imaginary Blizzard is more of the same. Kvasikonforminen Äyriäinen is more in the vein of their earlier works but not as frantic. The track Hopeful Sprout (I'm sure they don't mean an optimistic vegatable hated by children!) is classical in the way it gently builds on a theme - great stuff! The album closer Kurki is spacerock spectacular, as one would expect. Bonza!

This album is no headbanger like earlier efforts but is a more mature work and has some good melodic ideas running through it. A definite grower.

Line up:

Esko Grundstrom - keyboards & kantele & woodwinds
Ville Eriksson - guitars
Juha Eriksson - bass
Taneli Korpinen - drums
Tero Pajunen - violin,percussion,voice
Jani Puistovaara - guitars

4 out of 5
#14

The Mars Volta - Octahedron

If you read my review of their previous effort The Bedlam In Goliath, you'll know that I must have scratched the scab again - but I'm glad I did. Last year's Octahedron, their latest and 5th studio album is by far their most accessible to date. There's still enough of a smattering of weirdness around to keep original fans happy, but not enough to put off the more mainstream inclined nu-prog fan.

If you're new to this band a word of warning - Cedric Bixler-Zavala's voice is an acquired taste. He sings in a high pitched nasal fashion, and although that description sounds awful, I actually find it fits with the weird angles this band throw at you. Imagine a more agressive Geddy Lee but without the nails down a blackboard effect and you about halfway there!

Like all their albums this one reveals hidden layers after repeated listens, but unlike their later more experimental (emphasis on the mental) works also has an immediacy previously lacking. Maiman Omar Rodriguez-Lopez has been quoted as saying this is the band's "acoustic" album, and it is, not so much in instrumentation, but in the stripped down production and very tight ensemble playing

The album opens with a simple but rather fine ballad Since We've Been Wrong (see what they've done there?) well crafted by the band and a good vocal from Sr. BZ. Ballads like this are a definite development for MV and there are other examples on the cd, notably Copernicus and With Twilight As My Guide. The album ends with the barking mad Luciforms, just to show they've not lost the keys to the lunatic asylum.

I reckon this is their best album since their debut De-Loused In The Comatorium (I kid you not), and by far their most "pop".

4.5 out of 5 
#13

The Mars Volta - The Bedlam In Goliath

This band, on the evidence of their amazing first album released in 2003, De-Loused In The Comatorium, should have gone on to be the most creative force in modern prog. I gave up on them after the 3rd album Amputechture, as they seemed to be suffering badly from the law of diminishing returns. This sense of disappointment was compounded by seeing them live in a sweaty pit somewhere in England. Never in my 36 years of gig going had I seen such a bunch of self-absorbed pretentiousness at work, disappearing up their own fretboards. Not once in 2 hours did any band member acknowledge the audience.

However, rather like a scab, I can't leave them alone, so we turn to the 4th album, 2008's The Bedlam In Goliath. If you're in the mood to be battered by relentless noise, this album ain't bad at all, although I can't imagine I'll play it as much as the brilliant first album.

Analysing each track is pointless, as they meld into one noisy beast complete with semi-screeched impenetrable lyrics, but for some unfathomable reason I quite like it. The horns seem more to the fore than before, which is no bad thing. "Agadez" stands out because I can actually tell what he's singing about, and it's played at 150 mph intead of 200!

The only constant annoyance on the album is the over fussy drummer, who could do with a few "less is more" lessons.

Overall, almost a return to form. I won't be seeing them live again though!
 
3 out of 5
#12

Five Horse Johnson - The Mystery Spot

I knew nothing about this band until by chance I stumbled across their YouTube videos, then I just had to get this album! An apt description maybe - Stray Cats get mugged by Led Zeppelin in a dark alley and emerge as a mutant psychobilly metal monster, with choons ya can dance to. This band know how to ROCK and they know how to ROLL. PLAY LOUD!

4 out of 5
#11

Paul Cusick - Focal Point

Came across Paul Cusick via a rather clever link on Facebook along the lines of "If you like Porcupine Tree, try this". Now I always pride myself on not falling for ads, however well made they might be, but this intrigued me. On visiting Cusick's website I found to my surprise he was offering a download of the album for free.

Having downloaded and listened to the album a couple of times I took the plunge and bought the much higher quality cd. Those of you old enough will remember things called hi-fis and the appreciable increase in quality on one of those compared to the download is immeasurable.

The music is indeed for those who like Porcupine Tree, later Floyd, even Radiohead. A good variety of music is contained in the album and the songs are well structured. The whole thing flows together seamlessly. It won't win any awards for originality, and if it's edgy prog you're after, this ain't it, but for a debut produced on a no doubt tight budget it's well worth a listen.

http://music.paulcusick.co.uk/


3 out of 5
#10

Jerry Dammers' Spatial A.K.A. Orchestra - Northampton Derngate, 9th April 2010

Last night a mate & I trouped off to the somewhat antiseptic albeit convenient setting of Northampton's Derngate theatre to see Jerry Dammers' Spatial A.K.A. Orchestra. I had deliberately avoided watching anything on YouTube or anywhere else, so I did not know what to expect, and in fact had no expectations at all. I liked some of the Specials' music, but wasn't a fan in any sense of the word.
First surprise - the stage is set for an actual orchestra, with Dammers' bank of largely analogue keyboards and synths front of stage right. The stage is flanked by shop dummies attired in space gear, and "playing" guitars and shoulder strung keyboards. There is also a 1970s black three wheeler suspended from the ceiling lit from the inside with an eerire green glow. It's the one that was shaped like a door wedge, for those of you old enough to remember these things.
The lights dim, and Mr Dammers' wanders on to the stage wearing a cape and an Egyptian headdress. He starts proceedings by waving two sticks through a theramin styled device that sets off swathes of synth noise. After a while he turns to his keyboards and produces all manner of bleeps, squiggles and swooshes - could've been an intro for Hawkwind circa 1973! I'm going to like this, methinks.
We were sat eight rows from the front in the stalls by the aisle stage left. After a few minutes of said squiggles, we hear percussive noises from behind us, and the entire band, all 19 (!) of them file down our aisle and onto the stage. They are all attired like extra's from a 1950s sci-fi movie, lots of capes, glitter, sequins, more Egyptian and other headgear. They take their places and a rhythmic swell has built to be accompanied by a never ending chant of "It's after the end of the world". The band consisted of an electric piano, 5 saxophones, a trombone, a trumpet, a flute, classical percussion, African percussion, vibes, electric double bass, bass guitar, 2 electric guitars, and drums, 2 singers! A joyous noise was made. The back screen is showing slides of planets, moons, suns, Egyptian symbols, and shots of a strange man, again with the ubiquitous cape and Egyptian headdgear with his similarly attired jazz band. This would turn out to be Sun Ra & His Arkestra.
At the end of the gig JD thanked numerous people as this was the last gig of a short 11 date tour. One of the people he thanked then, and played numerous tunes by during the night, was Sun Ra. He said that if it wasn't for this somewhat eccentric American who thought he was from Venus - my words not his, he (JD) would never have returned to live performing. That first song and the entire set up of the orchestra was all Sun Ra, who was heavily into sci-fi and Egyptian mythology. Now, I knew nothing about Sun Ra before tonight, but if his concerts were anything like as joyous and uplifting as this then I may well be investigating his huge discography - however I have been warned that some of it is sprawling free jazz and can be a painful experience!
The gig continued with songs by Eric Satie, Alice Coltrane, sundry Jamaican ska and jazz people I had never heard of, and JD himself (International Jet Set, here renamed Intergalactical Jet Set to tie in with the theme, Man At C&A, here spliced with an anti nukes song by Sun Ra that worked a treat, the inevitable Ghost Town, now Ghost Planet with new and fitting lyrics, and a new tune over which two rappers did their thang). There was also a tune introduced as "some exotica" - now I've heard of this genre but never heard it. It turned out to be a long funky jazz groove over which the exceptionally well tonsilled girl singer did various jungle animal impressions, later being joined in this by one of the male band members. Written down that sounds terrible, but it was actually so wacky it worked. you were laughing with the band not at them.
After nearly two and a half hours without a break that whizzed by the gig ended with a song called Space Is The Place, which was the title of a 1974 sci-fi film by Sun Ra the plot of which is too weird to go into here - see Wikipedia! This song ended in the same rhythmic chant and sax squawking fashion as the first song had started, and the band danced back up our aisle, JD did some more Hawkwind impressions and disappeared backstage. Everybody gets up to leave, but wait, what's that we hear as we file out into the foyer? Some of the band, minus JD, are still playing in the space in front of the bar, dancing around and having a ball. The audience join in - mobile phone video cameras come out all over the place, mine included.

After seeing this band, obviously a labour of love for JD, it's no wonder he did not want to join the reformed Specials for their pension plan tour. Why would he when he has this much musical ambition?
A great gig, and why this band has yet to record a live album is a mystery. Somebody sign them up now!