World Atlas / Brilliant Mind / Cattle & Cane – The Cumberland Arms, Newcastle.

Given that the Cumberland Arms is such a small venue, the fact that the elephant in the room escapes notice for the first half of World Atlas’ set is a remarkable thing. You see World Atlas sound like Belle & Sebastian. Not a bit like them, exactly like them and that, quite naturally raises some difficult questions that the band will need to have answers for. How far a band should take an influence is a difficult line to tread.

Brian Groux manages to nail the early Belle and Sebastian sound both vocally, melodically and even in the construction of his songs, their rise and fall matching those found on If You’re Feeling Sinister with the precision of a master forger. The similarity of sound has already sparked a flurry of discussion on internet discussion boards and it doesn’t go down well with everybody here tonight as sarcastic calls from the audience for B&S classics Fox In The Snow and Boy With The Arab Strap cause Groux to wince, and finally drag that elephant out from the shadows. But let’s cut Groux and his band some slack. The EP they are promoting tonight is their first, so there’s plenty of time for them to grow and find their feet musically; they have grown up on a different continent to Belle & Sebastian and a quick skim through their MySpace page reveals a clear obsession with mid to late 80s British jangle-pop, be that the original bands or revivalists like The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart. Most importantly however, given their ability to nail that sound, they could easily have opted to form a B&S tribute band but they didn’t. God knows we don’t need any more tribute bands in the world, so applaud them for at least writing their own songs, give them time and space to develop their sound and in the meantime, let’s not forget how great that sound actually is. World Atlas write great pop songs and ultimately, that should be enough.

Brilliant Mind fit neatly into the rehabilitation of C86 jangly indie pop movement with a handful of sparking guitar riffs, lyrics which are lovelorn but not drippy and a front man who has clearly been putting in the hours on YouTube watching early Smiths performances.

Cattle & Cane will not be opening shows for much longer. Their reputation is spreading as quickly as the contents of a damaged canister of deadly microbes in a 1960s B-Movie, and in true epidemic fashion, it’s going to be very difficult to avoid them in the near future.  The only danger they face are the circling sharks of the music industry who may well see them as the next Mumford & Sons and try to manipulate them in that direction. This mustn’t be allowed to happen. Cattle & Cane have the potential to be the band Mumford & Sons could have been if they’d had more than one song and ten different ways of singing it.

World Atlas are here.

Brilliant Mind are here.

Cattle & Cane are here.

J. Tillman takes a break from his Fleet Foxes duties to announce his forthcoming 7th album,  Singing Ax. The album was recorded in just three days by the somewhat legendary Steve Albini. Predominantly just Tilman and a guitar,  a few tracks include mellotron and drum machine such as the stark and haunting Three Sisters which you can listen to below. Singing Ax will be released through Western Vinyl on September 14th.

Meanwhile, J.Tillman will be playing the following US dates with Phosphorescent.

Jul 28  – Bottom of the Hill – San Francisco, CA
Jul 30 – Doug Fir Lounge – Portland, OR
Jul 31 – The Crocodile – Seattle, WA
Aug 3 – Cedar Cultural Centre – Minneapolis, MN
Aug 4 – Mad Planet – Milwaukee, WI
Aug 5 – Empty Bottle – Chicago, IL
Aug 6 – Radio Radio – Indianapolis, IN
Aug 7 – Grog Shop – Cleveland Heights, OH
Aug 9 – Black Cat – Washington DC
Aug 10 – Sonar – Baltimore, MD
Aug 14 – Club Hell – Providence, RI
Aug 15 – Middle East Downstairs – Cambridge, MA

Click to listen to Three Sisters by J. Tillman

Jim Noir returns to planet Earth with a new four-track EP, which he will be giving away free on his website and news of a new six-track EP, Zooper Dooper.

Rather than release all ten tracks as an album, he has decided to split them into two distinct EPs, as he explains. “The 4 track is the remnants of an album that got dropped on the floor and couldn’t be worked on anymore. As I started writing more new stuff it seemed to not really sound like what I was doing last year.”

Noir has been missing presumed in bed for a while now, though that hiatus in turns out was not by choice. “Most of the work I did for my 3rd album became lost in the great hard drive disaster of 2009 and all I have left of it is a few mp3s I sent to friends,” he says. “I now have to download my own music from myself to hear what it could have been.”

Packed with customary catchy hooks and playfulness, the EP serves as a timely reminder of Noir’s ear for a timeless melody, a Wisonesque harmony and some frankly absurd observations about life.

The EP is available for free download from jimnoir.com

Ahead of the debut album, and following the release of the Haunting Through E.P. we get under the covers with Neil Insh of The Douglas Firs.

If I were to play just one of your songs to someone who hasn’t heard your music, which would it be and why?

I would love to play the new material, but that’s not going to be ready for a while… of the material that is available, I would play “soporific”. Granted, I would say it is not the most popular song (of the handful I have made available) but for me it encompasses the central theme of the album, and it was recorded was over a great period in my life. The first section was recorded, literally, under covers, appropriate because it is a song about sleep/ennui/lethargy. But it was also so my flatmates wouldn’t hear me sing.
The second section was recorded in three separate churches who let me use their space for free. One of these had a horrible, oppressive atmosphere, and I hope it comes across on the recording.
You are being sent to the moon. You’re allowed to take 1 album. What is it?

“Murmur” by REM is probably my favourite album. However, I’m absolutely terrified of the idea of space, so I’d probably deliberately upset myself by taking the 2001 space odyssey soundtrack.
On the subject of being sent to the moon, what 3 things would definitely be in your suitcase?

1. A rucksack
2. A mouse
3. A bowling ball
What film would you be a character in?

Eraserhead.
Tell us an interesting fact.

I once found “jump” by Kriss Kross in a box in my loft. I took it down to my brother to play it to him, as a bit of a memory trip, over 10 years on. At the same second the song started on the stereo, the video came on the television on MTV. Eerie.
Tell us about a band or singer we might not have heard about who should be featured on Suitcase Orchestra.

I’d recommend Green Gerry, a songwriter who records using the internal mic on his laptop, really ethereal and hypnotic.

Recommend a book.

Henry Miller changed my life, and ‘tropic of cancer’ is a good starting point.

Which literary character would play you in the book of your life?

Humbert Humbert.
What’s the worst record in your collection?

I went through a pretty terrible Kiss phase. I bought loads of their stuff on vinyl, then regretted it.
What question should I always ask in a Q & A? And answer it please.

“At sea, what kind of ship would thou sail?”

Everyone wants to be a galleon. But I’m going to go for a sloop – I’d beat you with speed.

Haunting Through, the debut E.P. from The Douglas Firs is available now. Click here for more information.

The problem with Department of Eagles debut album, The Cold Nose, is that if you come to it after hearing its follow up In Ear Park, as I did, it will have already have been rendered redundant. While it does have its moments, it doesn’t even hint at what was to follow on In Ear Park, Suitcase Orchestra’s album of the decade at the end of last year. The Department’s second album contained songs of almost suffocating ingenuity and staggering beauty. A Forever Changes for our time, it is surely an album which will grow and grow in reputation and influence.

So what of The Cold Nose? Well, such is the shadow cast over it by its successor that it remains an unloved and seldom listened to record, its only purpose being to cause you to wonder how the hell Fred Nicolaus and Daniel Rossen made the leap from the knock-about collection of ideas that formed the basis of their first outing to the majesty of their second. That’s where Archives 2003-2006 comes in. Unmistakably a Department of Eagles album, this collection of songs documents the seismic shift the pair made in their song writing.

A collection of full songs and practice room sketches, the listener can trace the confidence and assurance growing in the band. While the songs aren’t arranged and orchestrated as completely as on In Ear Park and are a little rough around the edges, you can hear the light bulb switching on inside the band’s mind. By the time we reach Golden Apple, the journey is complete and while these sessions were ultimately abandoned, they are vital to any fan of the Department as they clearly form the springboard for what was to follow and serve as a reminder of what we might be in store for the next time Rossen and Nicolaus emerge from a studio together.

Archive 2003 – 2006 is available now. Click here for more information.

The Douglas Firs is an unlikely contender for the most contested name in pop but MySpace alone  boasts four Douglas Firs – one in Bournemouth, England, one in Boston, America, one in Gent, Belgium and this one, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.

I’m unable to offer an opinion about the other three, but the Scottish holders of the name are well worth investigating.

Essentially, The Douglas Firs is the solo project of Neil Insh, who describes his music as the result of ‘years of painful obsessing’. Those years have now resulted in enough material to form into the Haunting Through e.p. and it isn’t difficult to identify with Insh’s sentiments. It’s clear from the off that the attention to detail here has been exacting to say the least. This record has clearly been pieced together precisely and delicately, following the detailed blue-print in the mind of its creator.

Opening track The Quickening rattles along to a rhythm which is in stark contrast to Future State which follows it, a hypnotic instrumental piece which sounds like the ghost of a Beach Boys tune.  Elsewhere, Insh pitches shoe-gaze up against minimalist and experimental pop and woven through it all are fragments of catchy pop songs. It’s a blend which is innovative and arresting.

Right across the e.p. Insh develops his ability to mesh together different styles and feels, creating a richly diverse and textured tapestry of sound. Haunting Through lays down a marker which bodes very well for the album which is due to follow in the autumn. On this evidence, the other Douglas Firs have got their work cut out if they wish to make the name their own.

Further information about the Haunting Through e.p. can be found here.

Tucked inside the cellophane wrap that contained this CD was a small index card. The message on it read ‘Dear Jon, This is our first record. It is filled with memories. We hope you like it. Sincerely, The brokenmusicbox.’ The message had been produced on an old manual typewriter; the indentations of the letters on the reverse of the card, when running a finger over them, feeling strangely comforting.

Somehow this card, a product of a way of doing things which although relatively recent seems unbelievably antiquated, neatly encapsulates everything good about The brokenmusicbox. Amidst all of the ingenuity in modern music; the production tricks; the difficult to penetrate poetic lyrics and the eclectic mixing of genres and styles, sometimes all you need is a simple and beautiful melody and a sweetly sung song. Waking The Sound has ten such songs.

From the opening strum of Time through to the final hanging chord of Goodbye Roses, this album does nothing but delight. On the way through the album there are various touch-stones which hint at the band’s record collection; and I’m pretty certain, given their outlook, that it will be a record collection, rich in vinyl and slightly dog-eared sleeves. Abandoned Thoughts could have been lifted straight from Nick Drake’s Bryter Layter, such is the similarity of both the piano and the guitar sounds to those found on Drake’s second album. It would be easy to pick out Belle And Sebastian as an influence too but that would probably to miss the point. It’s far more likely that The Brokenmusicbox have gained their inspiration from the same records that Stuart Murdoch listened to, and not his interpretations of them.

This is an obviously and unashamedly nostalgic record and one which is both reverential and referential. It evokes so many records from the past 30 or 40 years and yet still finds its own space and its own relevance and it deserves a place in any discerningly put together record collection.

Waking The Sound is available now. For more details click here.

In the meantime, take a peep at  The brokenmusibox’s video for Faster Disaster which is taken  from the album.