Mogwai - As the Love Continues

Mogwai are a 4-piece post rock band from Glasgow, Scotland and "As the Love Continues" is their 10th studio album.  I have always been a passive fan of Mogwai. I must admit the only previous records I ever got really into were "Rock Action" and "Mr Beast".  I did go and see them once at the Barrowlands and they are some live band.  The reason why I got into this album was very much because of the hype leading up to it. If you follow the bands twitter account, you will know exactly what I mean as the band pushed for number 1 in the album charts for their first time in their history and they did achieve it.  It was something to behold with many bands retweeting Mogwai's pleas to stream/buy their album.  Everyone in the rock community and beyond wanted to see them do it.  I do not know the last time an instrumental rock album got to number 1 but I think you would have to go back several years. A truly astonishing feat.

Now to get into the album itself.  On the surface and after a few listens it does give the feel of a typical Mogwai album.  Those kinds of songs which build and build then reaching crashing climax and create this wall of sound. Which if turned up loud will go right through you.  But on further inspection while I would say this is the case for most songs on the album. Not only are their exceptions; But the songs which do follow this quiet/loud formula do so by going in different directions to get to that wall of sound destination.  For example, "Here We, Here We, Here We Go Forever" has an electronic vibe throughout the song, particularly at the start.  Then that is followed by "Dry Fantasy" which uses keyboards and is a song which does not actually peak and acts as more of an interlude.  "F off money" goes along the same lines as "Dry Fantasy" to begin with but has a heavier mid and end section.

Opener "To the bin my friend..." is perhaps more what you would expect from Mogwai being this heavy and driving guitars.   "Ceiling Granny", "Drive the Nail" and "Supposedly, We Were Nightmares" also follow this pattern and are a great reminder of what made Mogwai so good in the first place.  "Pat Stains" for me is for me the weakest moment on the album.  It just feels like the build-up has this same loop going round and round which gets irritating. Then the main part or the chorus goes into another repetitive loop and those two loops go back and forward for the entire song which lasts 7 minutes. A very skippable track.  

A track which really stands out like a sore thumb on the album is "Ritchie Sacramento".  The reason being it is one of the few tracks Mogwai have ever done (and I do not know exactly how many times they have done this) that has vocals on them.  Now do not get me wrong it is a chirpy we number, which has a Teenage Fanclub sort of vibe.  It is a good song.  But does it fit on a post rock album and should it be something that a post rock band does?  To me it feels like they have broken the rules when it comes to post rock music. No singing allowed :-P.  I know rules are there to be broken but this song does feel out of place on this album and maybe should be left to a side project.  It is clear though that the vocalist can sing though.

Another track which stands out for me and is currently my favourite on the album is "Midnight Flit".  The reason for this is because they didn't have that wall of noise, I was talking about earlier so it is a bit different.  What they do have in this song is a string section which adds so much to the song.  I think when you talk about bands evolving now and doing something different. It seems like the first answer is to bring in a string section.  Look at the Foo Fighters latest album and the song "Waiting on a War".  Then there are bands like Travis, Alter Bridge and Bring me the horizon doing gigs with orchestras.  Strings seem to be in just now and are a way giving bands that extra dynamic and I have to say I love it. And I love the way Mogwai have used strings on this track as they really are in the foreground of the mix.

Overall, this album has been a slow burner for me. Initially I thought this was just a run of the mill Mogwai album with their quiet loud approach but on further inspection they have used things like electronics and strings to make things more interesting.  Even if it was just the quiet/loud approach there are not many bands that do it to quite the same level as Mogwai.  There is a reason they have been around for 25 years and have been one of the top bands in their genre all that time too.  Reaching number one was not just a triumph for post rock, it was a triumph for rock music in general.

Marc Carlton - Degrees of Freedom

 

"Degrees of Freedom" is the ninth studio album by Scottish based artist Marc Carlton.  Released in 2015, "Degrees of Freedom" is the follow up to 2012s "For Imagination".  That album I felt Marc was really pushing his own boundaries both in terms of length and complexity of the songs. While it is purely instrumental music Marc produces, it is difficult to pigeon whole Marc in a category or genre due to the range of instruments he uses on albums and the clear range of influences which can be found throughout his music.

I think "Degrees of Freedom" is a great name for this album and I love what Marc said on his website when describing the album - "this album is my attempt to have the best musical adventure possible on rails. Free to explore rhythm, melody and instrumentation, part of the approach was to break rules - particularly my own - and resist simplification."  For me, this really sums up the album so well. For someone who had 8 albums out up to this point; many artists often go down the route of replicating formulas which have worked for them and proved successful. But Marc is not like that. He keeps pushing his own boundaries.

What I notice about this album compared to some of his previous works is that to me the tracks on the album feel more self-contained, rather than one longer piece broken into sections.  There are still longer tracks on here with a couple sitting at around 11 minutes and one 10 minutes, but this is mixed in with shorter tracks too.  Carlton continues to bounce between guitars and synths and often the tracks are multi-layered while others one instrument is more prominent.  I think this where solo artists and particularly Marc has an advantage in terms of creativity over bands.  In bands everyone wants a role in each song which I think can often limit creative output. I am not saying this is the case for all bands but for a lot.  Whereas having a multi-instrumentalist like Marc there can be different focuses from different instruments on different tracks and there are no arguments with someone saying "I don't appear on half the album because my instrument is not involved"

I do like this album a lot. The journeys Marc takes you on, on each of his albums, is not only different each time but it is different to really what is out there now. When you think of bands doing instrumental albums out there now, there is the likes of Mogwai and Explosions in the sky.  These bands, while great bands, they always seem to go for the quite/loud approach and try to create that wall of noise as I like to call it each time.  It is like hikers wanting to climb the highest peak in their country each time.  But the thing is you do not always need to climb that hill to find adventure and beauty.  It can be a walk round a lake or through a forest.  And for me that analogy reflects Marc’s music the best, especially with this album. There are a lot of twists and turns along the way. In fact, when I listen to this, I often turn to my CD player and think to myself - this is amazing.  Then I would listen further, and it would happen again.  For example, the fantastic piano playing during track 6 "Neutral karma due to admin error" or the electric guitar parts in track 3 "Degrees of freedom".  The album is littered with magical moments.

But there is one track on this album where I think Marc really has excelled himself and that really is saying a lot as I rate his music extremely highly and that is track 10 "Persmerga Finds Yurba".  The rhythmic drumming combined with the electric guitar to start off with is bliss.  The type of drumming Carlton is doing here is like nothing I have ever heard on an album by him before, I'm not sure exactly what type of drum it is, maybe bongos of some form.  But you can see this is what he is talking about when he is giving himself that freedom to experiment and this is an explementary example of this.  One in which he has pulled off with effortless ease.  And that is just the start of the track.  This is a 11-minute rollercoaster which after 5 minutes breakdown into a more electronic synth-based vibe, which then moves on to a section which has a dramatic organ like effect before returning to the milder synths to finish.

Overall, this really is an excellent album.  In so many ways Marc has pushed himself and the results are there for your ears to hear.   This is one of my favourites by him because I think there is just so much to it, it is always off going in different directions which keeps it interesting. He is continually experimenting with new sounds and instruments while his talent for using the instruments he has used previously still shines through.

Marc is not on social media and only has one album on Spotify at time of writing but if you want to stream or buy his music go to https://www.madrigalproject.co.uk/. He does have a Bandcamp page also.

 

Pale Waves - Who am I?

 

"Who am I?" is the second album by Manchester indie rock outfit Pale Waves.  The band formed in 2014 and released their debut album "My mind makes noises in" in 2018. That album did well, peaking at 8 in the UK charts.  The band comprise of Heather Baron-Gracie on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Ciara Doran on drums, Hugo Silvani on lead guitar and keyboard and Charlie Wood on bass guitar and keyboard.

I got into Pale Waves last year as they started to drip feed singles from "Who am I?" which was released in February 2021.  The likes of "Changes" and "She's my Religion" are extremely catchy pop rock tunes which will get stuck in your head for days. There is no doubt Heather has an incredible voice and these songs really do show the best of it.  From listening to the album "Tomorrow" is probably my favourite track as it rocks slightly harder than the others.

The songs on the album kind of sway about between keyboards and guitars.  At the same time, they keep things simple with song structures and go about their business in a way which will appeal to many people, keeping things short, snappy and to the point.  When I listen to the kind of vibe, they give off I do think of The 1975.  Well, The 1975's more accessible pop songs. And I wasn't surprised to learn they have already toured together.

Overall, this is a nice indie rock, synth pop release by Pale Waves and will do them no harm at all in bringing in new fans to their already decent sized fanbase.  I will be interested to see where they go from here.  Whether they stick to this tried and tested, formulaic pop rock songs or do what The 1975 did and really experiment and push the boundaries a little.  It does seem they have the talent to at least try. I look forward to the next chapter, nevertheless.

Blue October - This is What I Live For

 "This is What I Live For" is the 10th studio album by Texan alternative rockers Blue October.  Although this band formed in 1995, thus in their 26th year of existence, this band is my first discovery of 2021.  With this album coming out appropriately in October last year.  The band consists of Justin Furstenfeld on lead guitar and vocals, Ryan Delahoussaye on violin, mandolin, piano and backing vocals, Matt Noveskey on bass guitar and backing vocals, Will Knaak on lead guitar and Jeremy Fursrtenfeld on drums and percussion. Justin, Jeremy and Ryan have been in the band right from the start. While Matt has been in the band for a fair part of the time and Will is new, only joining the band in 2018.

When I first heard Blue October I did find it quite hard to pigeon hole them into a genre.  Being a predominantly guitar driven band sometimes people would just instantly think rock.  But things aren't quite as simple with Blue October due to the diversity of their music.  Also, they just don't feel like a cliched rock band either. When I saw in Wikipedia them being described as an alternative rock band, I did think that yes that probably is the description to me kind of cleans up all the bands who do things differently to conventional rock bands.

I must admit that being so new to Blue October I haven't gone and investigated their back catalogue apart from this album "This is What I live for".  But what I have noticed is that this band does seem to have had a fair amount of recognition. For instance, from their Spotify I can see that their top songs have had 35 million streams. So, they have a decent fan base.  I am surprised I hadn't heard of them before now because of this and also the fact they have toured in the UK.

In terms of this album when I go through each track, I do think to myself, "Oh this is a good track", then the next track comes along "oh this is solid", "oh here's another good one".  Combined it makes this album a very good listen.  And what makes it so good is that the tracks do go off in different directions and there would always be moments in tracks that I would be drawn in by them and each of those reasons would be different.  For example, the opening track "I laugh at myself", the slow, brooding intro and then the powerful, slow vocals come in.  The second track, "This Way I used to love you" has this amazingly heavy baseline which I imagine at gigs would just go straight through you.  It’s just so deep and combine this with the guitar riff and its infectious.  The upbeat, poppy song "Moving on (So long). about being hurt but moving on with life and looking for positives.

One thing which Blue October did with this album, is release the album normally, then release the album again but with commentary which can be found on streaming services.  It is basically the album playing with one of the band members talking over it giving stories to the various songs.  I know bands do interviews, track by track videos when albums come out, but I thought this way of doing it is quite unique.  From this Justin (I think its him) explains that this album is all about depression.  There are so many different emotions on the album though, to the causal listener it’s hard to think that this is a in effect a concept album about depression.  If you listen to the commentary version of this album Justin does talk about this in more depth though. 

But there are songs on here which are sad and moving, particularly towards the end, "Stay with me" being a prime example.  Again, Justin takes a different approach to this song by having spoken word in the intro to the song till moving into singing "Stay with me".  This is so impactful and is about the singer finding out that his Dad's cancer had come back.  He had such wise words about song writing to as he talks about how if you sing about things which directly related to you it makes the songs so much more authentic and genuine.  It's something I had never really thought about but when you hear "Stay with me" you can really hear the emotion in his voice, and you know exactly what he is think about when he is singing it.  As the listener you feel connected and it’s an incredibly sad and moving song.  I must mention “Who do you run from” here too, another incredibly moving, slow piano driven track which is absolutely stunning.

Overall, I must admit I think this is a wonderful album.  Full of highs and lows and real variation in the songs.  I really like how they did a commentary version of the album as talking about it really makes you understand the album more.  There is a lot of albums due out this year that I am really looking forward to but hopefully I will find time to sift through Blue October's extensive back catalogue.

Foo Fighters - Medicine at Midnight

 

"Medicine at Midnight" is the 10th album by American stadium rockers the Foo Fighters.  They are so well known across the globe that everyone knows what they are about and know exactly how they go about their business.  Personally, I got into them during the 3rd album "There's nothing left to lose" era and went to see them during that touring cycle.  As well as seeing them more recently on their "Concrete and Gold" tour.   To me they have always made good albums and have always had songs on these albums which are classic rock anthems.  But three albums stood out to me above all as being classic albums and they are "Colour and the Shape", "There's nothing left to lose" and "Wasting light".  But how does "Medicine at midnight" stack up? Well, let us dive in...,.,

When they released the first single "Shame, Shame" from the album in the run up to release I was disappointed, and I do not think I was the only one.  Normally a first single from a Foo Fighters album is released its a bombastic, singalong rock anthem.  And this, well, it just is not.  Instead of going into a soaring chorus, it is like when Dave Grohl sings "Shame, Shame" the song goes the other direction and makes it the low point of the song.  I know touring is far off now but if this is playing at a gig instead of jumping and singing along during the chorus, you would almost be turning round to your mate and shrugging "Shame, Shame".  

But I this song is perhaps getting in the spotlight because it was released first.  I think if this were not released as a single and put on the album as an album track this would be received differently.  As it has got this slower, deep groove bassline that's actually quite a bit different than the Foo Fighters would normally do.  And this is not the only song on the album which does this, title track "Medicine at Midnight" also has this slower approach.  Now with this album it is by no means an experimental album, it is still a rock record.  But what it does show to me is that Foo Fighters are still a creative force still, after all this time.  "Waiting on a War" is another song which shows this and personally I feel this was rightfully released as a single.  While this is a build-up song and arguably, they have done better in the past with this song with the likes of "Come Alive" and "Something from nothing"; they have introduced strings as the song progresses to keep things fresh and original at least for them.

"No Son of Mine" is more straight up and sounds more like what they have come up with before. While "Holding Poison" is just ok for the most part but is saved by the best guitar solo which has appeared on a Foos record for a while.  Opening track "Making a Fire" is another track they try something different with the "Na, na, na, na, na" approach.  While many will be thinking that there will never be a song with "Na, na, na, na" as good as Blink 182's "All the small things".  You really should go listen to the Mooney Suziki's "Alive and Amplified" because it is just an audacious and wild, all out rocker of a track that "Making a Fire" can only dream of being.  

"Love dies young" is an upbeat finish and concludes the album nicely. It is not an epic by any means, but it has the feel of an album closer which is important.  But the best track of the album in my opinion is the penultimate track "Chasing birds".  It is a downbeat, low key, predominantly acoustic number which for me brings out the best of Dave Grohl's vocals.  I am not sure if I detect Rami Jaffee's keyboards on this, if it is, for me, it is a bit lost in the mix and to be honest it feels like his keyboards are for the whole album.  I am not sure what he adds to the sound which to me is quite unfortunate.  For a band that is clearly looking to keep things fresh and try new things. They have a resource right there in the band to allow them to be more creative and they just do not seem to be using him.

Overall, I would say this is an ok album. By no means, a classic but there are songs which I think could fit in their setlist. When you consider the choice, they have now is no mean feat.  Sitting at 9 tracks and 36 minutes I think it was wise to stick to this as there are a few duds on this album too so at least by having less tracks they did not reduce the quality anymore by putting more weaker songs on the album.