Not Many Experts

These days you need to be wearing at least 3 pairs of headphones at any given time to keep up with all of the top-notch music piling out of Liverpool, and All We Are are the latest band to prove this probably-watertight theory. They craft devastating, emotionally-involved folk that belies their age; they haven’t even been together for a year. Far more impressively for such a young band, they’ve already got an incredibly well-defined identity, and one that doesn’t feel worn out or clichéd, but organic and absolutely genuine.

And although tracks like “Red Sky” have the sort of melodic credentials to make even Mr McCartney blush, they also manage to encompass an unconventional spirit; bits fit into bits that you might think they shouldn’t really do, and the result is something that is very uniquely All We Are. There’s also something very magnetic about the  sparse, threatening mood of “Cardhouses”, and when it explodes into its cathartic final third, you won’t be able to keep eyes or ears off them.

Payper Tiger Records will be releasing the “We Hunt” EP on May 1st, and there’s a launch show on 28th April at St. Brides Church, Liverpool.

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Is there any other way to return from a planned absence than with a controversial defamation of one of indie’s most admired bands? No. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not about to criticise the critically unassailable Dirty Projectors simply for the sake of it; they’ve always been a very impressive band owing mostly to Amber Coffman’s ethereal vocals, but I’ve never been able to get past a feeling of emotional disconnection beyond that. In other words, they’ve always seemed brilliant in a far too ordered and sterile way; always something to admire as a thing of beauty but never to get lost in.

But now, on “Get Free”,  Major Lazer have bridged the gap with a tender and understated production that brings an originality to proceedings and suits Amber’s voice perfectly. All I’m going to say is that if I were Prime Minister, I would pass a law to make sure that Amber Coffman is legally obliged to work with Major Lazer for the unforeseeable future… Just saying, so when you see my name on that ballot paper you know which way to vote.*

In other new music news today… Outfit quietly slipped in a new track, “Drakes”. I won’t say much more, because if truth be told, I’m actually quite embarrassed by how much I like them; the entire store of second-hand superlatives has been used up in attempting to describe them so, instead, here’s a small, unsubstantiated note of further support; I think this might be my favourite Outfit song yet. If you’re wondering why I’m writing about a high street fashion conglomerate like an excited teenage girl, see here, here and here.

*Of course, you’d only actually be able to see my name if you happened to live in the constituency that I would be hypothetically running for. Chill out politics nerds.

Unfortunately, for the next two weeks I am being a horrible bastard and leaving the whole reality thing, meaning that blogging is very unlikely to happen. So here’s what I can just tell is going to be going down in the next two weeks:

The GIT Award

It has been presented as the Scouse Mercury award but, having seen the shortlist, that’s probably a bit of an insult to the artists that have made it – and the Mercuries aren’t even that disastrous, the current crop of Liverpuddlian artists are just that good. Most encouragingly, there’s barely any Beatles/Oasis aping in sight; these artists are original, creative and brilliantly diverse. Check out the shortlist if it’s the only thing you do today. You’ll have heard of Outfit, Loved Ones and Forest Swords but Ninetails, Stealing Sheep and Ex-Easter Island Head are also favourites of mine. Listen to them all here.

Kindness

The Kindness album “World You Need A Change Of Mind” was released earlier this month and it’s the kind of psych-funk-pop crossover masterpiece that literally nobody would have thought was a good idea apart from Adam Bainbridge himself. To be fair, there are a few points where the mark is slightly overstepped – “Anyone Can Fall In Love” is just about forgivably cringe-worthy – but as an album the whole thing runs into itself very well. Definitely get involved.

Beach House

I have already irrationally decided that Beach House’s “Bloom” is the record of the year. That decision may seem somewhat premature in March, but after the way that it has continually bludgeoned me very gently but very insistently with its own obvious perfection over the past couple of weeks, I just can’t help it. It is out on May 15th via Sub Pop so, even if it’s not your album of the year, you won’t be able to stop it soundtracking your summer.

NZCA Lines

The Quietus are grumpy, intellectual bastards, so when they start popping out superlatives over pop records, it’s probably an indication that said pop record is something out of the ordinary. And NZCA Lines’ debut is just that; unusual. Yet it avoids being obtuse, and gives us a couple of the years’ best pop songs in “Compass Points” and “Okinawa Channels”.

Fort Romeau

The “Kingdoms” EP from this London-based producer Fort Romeau who used to play synths for La Roux pitches itself between subtlety and drive and is absolutely better than anything that La Roux ever did or will do (let’s hope there’s nothing more to come, anyway). Definitely an exciting prospect.

2:54

One of the most obvious evils of the internet and its merciless spreading of music, regardless of quality, is the lengths it drives people to to avoid shit music. For instance, last year I heard a 2:54 song. I thought it was a bit ok but not much more. And as a result I dismissed them and refused to listen to anything more until I heard “You’re Early”. Strangely, it has always been argued that record labels no longer give bands the chance to grow anymore which is why the internet is so useful in providing an early step up for bands – but in exactly the same way, we discard bands immediately if they don’t live up to expectations. Anyway, I don’t mind admitting that I was wrong and 2:54 are bloody brilliant. They’re currently on tour, so go and give their seething maudlin creations a chance, or read more about them here.