Albums
Opening with the sounds of a party, like 'What's Going On,' this bewildering and beguiling debut album progresses less as a series of individual tracks, more a piece of continuous cut-and-paste composition. Marvin Gaye is not the only reference point. Like Daft Punk, the Avalanches have a genuine revisionist enthusiasm for gloriously unfashionable musical styles and artists; the Osmonds are sampled. So are Boney M. It's not a joke, either ' they mean it. Like British producers Aim or the Wiseguys, there lurks under the surface of this music the suspicion that their beat-literacy masks a less than real background, if you catch my drift. ...
Music: Singles
A double whammy of 80s greats. Musically, the Echo & the Bunnymen single banged in my face: a return to the sparse, jagged guitar sound that characterised their early work. Sadly, though, McCulloch seems to have lost his lyrical touch - the man who once sung "Am I the 'shall' in 'po-ten-shall'?" is now reduced to sub-Oasis triteness. ...
Music: Live
Although they look the part, tonight's post-rock wannabe openers Vibracathedralorchestra seem to have overlooked the fact that dynamics and emotion are vital to their genre. After 20 minutes, the sole track of the set is still going nowhere. Much like the band themselves.