Dots & Dashes

‘Love is The Devil is his pièce de résistance thus far,...

Thu, 23 May 2013 11:37:14 +0100

‘Love is The Devil is his pièce de résistance thus far, and one which is so purposefully affecting so as to perturb.’

Dots & Dashes review the two faces to Dirty Beaches’ latest sonic experimentation, Drifters / Love is The Devil.

‘It’s not for fear of getting all but absolutely...

Wed, 22 May 2013 21:55:42 +0100

‘It’s not for fear of getting all but absolutely swept away by Blue Hawaii that we’re back extolling the virtues of the Montréal-based duo comprising Agor Cowan and Raphaelle Standell-Preston, for to paraphrase Mykki Blanco everything they touch turns to motherfuckin’ gold. And live, whether that aptly be at Club Motherfucker’s 10th anniversary celebrations or at last weekend’s The Great Escape, is when they really come into their own: they cut loose and positively lacerate the itself sublime Untogether LP of earlier on in the year, only to recompose it as the globular techno gargantua it at first only faintly menaced to become. Pinpointing similarities between this recording of The Other Day from L.A.’s El Rey Theatre last month where they of course supported Purity Ring on a jaunt during which they honed their craft and carved out a niche, and its immortalised counterpart is easier conceived of than it is successfully completed as Standell-Preston constructs a blizzard of erratic vocal harmonies which she floats high atop Agor’s unprecedentedly deep house beats. But make no mistake: we were in need of an alternative to a version we’ve slaughtered of late with needle and laser alike and if you neglected to indulge in their live show while they were over in London these past few weeks, well, you can vicariously experience a brief snippet of magnificence below.’

Untogether is out now on Arbutus Records.

‘To call Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories a mixed...

Wed, 22 May 2013 16:56:31 +0100

‘To call Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories a mixed bag is to gravely underestimate its volatility and capricious whimsy, for it’s about as up and down as a SoundCloud stream visualisation. Which is a reality that appears all the more perplexing when Horizon, a flighty bonus tacked onto the Japanese edition of the album, can be taken to contextualise the inconsistency of the record: perhaps lightly proggy, there’s a Pink Floydian feel to its expansive guile as it sprawls like a Mediterranean skyline, only to eventually erupt in a majestic kind of melancholy. It’s far more of an outlier than some of the fake takes that were kicking about the place prior to the release of the LP, although its exceptional quality is, ultimately, thoroughly undeniable.’

‘As rabble-rousers universally revered by self-proclaimed...

Wed, 22 May 2013 16:16:30 +0100

‘As rabble-rousers universally revered by self-proclaimed musicologists the world wide web over, it’s kind of a big deal whenever Liars deign to do anything aurally digestible. That they chose to unleash this one in such impromptu fashion whilst all those supposed connoisseurs were congregated down beside the seaside for last week’s The Great Escape could be deemed a subversive swipe at the quick-fire journalism which so tediously dominates all strands of new media, and in that same manner here we are extolling its indubitable virtues some six days after news of its immediate release first broke. Neither eventuality can really be considered one of revolutionary sedition I don’t sense, but instead both reactions feel entirely impulsive: Angus Andrew et al. evidently had a couple tracks there for the unravelling, while I’ve been a bit busy with other things of late and although there’s no excusing the hold up on my behalf, I Saw You From The Lifeboat is unquestionably worthy of undivided attention. Primordial rhythms meet with acerbic blurts of mangled synth in grim matrimony, Andrew drooling his inimitably unintelligible drawl all over glitchy blippery which instantly suggests this one’s a still raw WIXIW offcut. Akin to an attic-engaged evil sibling, there’s another out there – entitled Perfume Tear – which is better yet, although that one may well cost you an email address…’

‘I’m about as sceptical of the remix as...

Wed, 22 May 2013 13:49:33 +0100

‘I’m about as sceptical of the remix as Anika’s musical outpour is ceaselessly claustrophobic, though that said I can appreciate it has a couple core values: 1) it has an inevitable capacity to introduce acolytes of any one artist to whoever it may be that embarks upon any which reconstruction, and 2) were a bigger name to chip in a reconsideration, then it can serve as an indisputable platform for a potentially underestimated, or rather undervalued cultural understudy. I guess the idiosyncratic originality of Suuns is more widely renowned than the psychotic covers of the Invada industrialist aforesaid in this instance and although no less schizoid, the Canucks’ sophomore full-length Images Du Futur was, alas, never decorated with the accolades it so indubitably merited. Nonetheless, 2020 was an instand standout, and it’s here given an unremittingly gloomy makeover by the onetime journo who interchanges Ben Shemie’s grim snivelling for an ethereal snarl underpinned by snappy breaks, ominous swells and what sounds the lurching ooze of blackened intestinal goo. A futuristic image refracted through the gaze of a 2020 visionary, whatever may be your motive please do peer into the above…’

‘“Like the legend of the phoenix/ All ends with...

Wed, 22 May 2013 12:23:19 +0100

‘“Like the legend of the phoenix/ All ends with beginnings” sings Williams as another chapter in the perennial annals of Daft Punk is writ, but never has it sounded more vibrant nor vital than it does here when, uncut, it cuts loose.’

Dots & Dashes review Random Access Memories – a record ‘within which the only real consistency is its inconsistency’.

“Us breaking up has in fact had a really positive impact...

Tue, 21 May 2013 17:48:00 +0100

“Us breaking up has in fact had a really positive impact on the music, and I feel like I can give a lot more now.”

Dots & Dashes discuss the dichotomy between unity and the intimacy it entails, and the dislocation distance brings with Blue Hawaii.

“Everything looks perfect from far away…” Dots...

Tue, 21 May 2013 13:18:02 +0100

“Everything looks perfect from far away…”

Dots & Dashes review the live return of The Postal Service at O2 Academy Brixton.

‘The littoral British retreat that is Brighton may be...

Mon, 20 May 2013 17:22:00 +0100

‘The littoral British retreat that is Brighton may be better renowned for saccharine tat and chish and fips still swimming in gristle and grime than it may be for musics and the manic frenzy their festivals so often entail, although the city becomes a bloody hive of hype for the one weekend of the year. That is this, and this is the 2013 edition of The Great Escape. So let the buzz begin!’

Review: Thursday, 16th May / Friday, 17th May / Saturday, 18th May.
Gallery: Thursday, 16th May / Friday, 17th May / Saturday, 18th May.

‘With lyrics of snapped rachides and cameos from hip hop...

Mon, 20 May 2013 10:16:46 +0100

‘With lyrics of snapped rachides and cameos from hip hop heavyweights, you’d be forgiven for fearing a seismic shift in focus as they retract their toes from the avant-garde to embrace a rather more accessible aesthetic. Flashes of the wilfully outré remain, not least in Vonsild’s voice itself – a slippery falsetto that’s tricky to pin down and harder still to comprehend – but even from an external perspective, they’ve been gravely undervalued for all too long already.’

Dots & Dashes review Infinity Pool – the third full-length from the ‘glorious irregularities in an increasingly regular musical landscape’ that are When Saints Go Machine.

‘Now warming up for the release of their fifth full-length...

Thu, 16 May 2013 11:00:39 +0100

‘Now warming up for the release of their fifth full-length in seven years, San Francisco duo The Dodos haven’t exactly held us forever rapt over the course of their discography. Sophomore recording Visiter was a personal fave, although elsewhere they’ve faltered for want of a more tender term as Meric Long and Logan Kroeber have often fallen for the predictable, or worse still the plainly soporific. Though if a perfunctory peek into the inner workings of the forthcoming Carrier should be any genuine yardstick, then they’ve set their sights far higher than they have of late, and Confidence restores just that. A bristly opus of sorts that harnesses the emotivity of Local Natives and stitches that vulnerable underbelly into a rhythmic workout thunderous enough to send a ball of dense pigskin right out into touch, it’s a ruddy potent maelstrom of swirling guitars and swollen toms. A recording approaching perfection, as Long avows: “Who has it all, has nothing” one senses that so much could yet be theirs if Carrier carries on in a similarly vivifying vein of form.’

Carrier is anticipated August 27th via Polyvinyl Record Co.

‘No sooner have we looked to northwestern Spain and to...

Thu, 16 May 2013 10:38:00 +0100

‘No sooner have we looked to northwestern Spain and to next month’s Primavera Sound than we’re back in Barcelona – at least musically speaking – as we turn to next month’s Sónar. The one and indeed only International Festival of Advanced Music and New Media Art this year commemorates its 20th anniversary, and to celebrate it boasts a line up of utmost refinement pooled from the spheres of electronica and organica alike. As with our every Fest Bests feature, we were unable to include everyone we’re restively awaiting over in Cataluña and as such the likes of Major Lazer & Mykki Blanco & Liars & Bat For Lashes have, alas, fallen by the wayside although below be our presupposed highlights for the city-spanning, premium lager-swilling throwdown…’

Fest Bests: Sónar 2013.

‘As instructed in song format, Dan Snaith decelerates...

Wed, 15 May 2013 15:30:28 +0100

‘As instructed in song format, Dan Snaith decelerates James Holden’s Renata as he strips away at its unrelenting drive to allow for the Daphni rework below to thrive as an Afro-affected redux more than ready for the floor. Euphoria unceremoniously dumped in favour of enigma and mystique, ominous vocal drones shadow tempestuous rhythms which feel instantly exotic, though with that inviting as the skiffle shuffles to a standstill across seven, twenty-seven of prime revitalisation. We don’t readily give in to the remix, though this one’s radical, and rabid, and so readily accessible that it’s almost impossible to not submit to its wildly propulsive charm…’

The Inheritors is expected June 17th on Holden’s very own Border Community label.

‘For all the furore surrounding début shows these days,...

Wed, 15 May 2013 15:00:34 +0100

‘For all the furore surrounding début shows these days, few would surely come close in terms of impatient anticipation to that of L.A. lark Banks when, rather than if it comes to be for having accrued a staggering 65,735 SoundCloud plays on this, her latest in only two days, you’d have a task on your hands arguing against her being among the hottest of musical properties these days. And indeed you’d be foolhardy to write off her latest, Warm Water, as anything other than a sultry beauty of utmost potency. A smouldering plea masterfully produced by a certain Orlando Higginbottom, the Californian keens: “I think I may love you/ If you give me some time/ Maybe you’ll love me too” and although not yet mutual, Warm Water rekindles the simmering intrigue as much as it requites the infatuation. For make no mistake: she’s bubbling over into the realms of the truly special with her every endeavour. We’ve a thing for her, and to paraphrase Mark E. Smith et al. 65,734 other SoundCloud listeners can’t be wrong.’

‘It’s all ears on Homme at the minute as the,...

Wed, 15 May 2013 14:31:00 +0100

‘It’s all ears on Homme at the minute as the, well, homme and his fellow rabble-rousers continue to unleash bits and pieces from Queens of the Stone Age’s forthcoming sixth full-length recording …Like Clockwork and having already bestowed My God Is The Sun, and both I Sat By The Ocean and If I Had A Tail upon ye we’ve now another from that infamous Studio Brussel session in the form of ruinous chugger Keep Your Eyes Peeled. An appositely disquieting listen, the clodhopping thud of a superbly guttural guitar forms the bed of nails upon which Josh’s semi-operatic vocal sadistically boogies, wondrously effeminate harmonies later swirling giddily about astonishingly low fidelity production values and thundering drums. Rargh, and whatnot…’

…Like Clockwork is anticipated June 3rd on Ma t ador Records.

‘We’ve been away for a bit. Call it what you will –...

Wed, 15 May 2013 14:01:47 +0100

‘We’ve been away for a bit. Call it what you will – compassionate leave, or whatever else – but it felt good to escape the internet, if only for a brief while. Don’t get me wrong – I find music to be the best method of utmost escapism, though there comes a point at which another extraneous tweet re: Random Access Memories accompanied by a panoramic iPhone shot taken from the apex of The Shard may just prick your rage, tip you over the edge and condemn you to the murky dregs of madness. I was getting there on Monday, although here to allow for all the irritation to ebb away pacifically is Tokyo teen Left Right Arms, whose infantile vocal ambiguity recalls Jónsi on a dewy morn as xylophonic vulnerability and plush acoustic strums cocoon such sublime unintelligibility on the gently epic Outer Space. Subtly cinematic and yet simultaneously introspective, it’s the emotive denouement to his newly fashioned Bear EP and it positively soars. Almost like a certain construction down around SE1…’

‘There’s an inimitable off-kilt pop dexterity to all...

Wed, 15 May 2013 13:29:34 +0100

‘There’s an inimitable off-kilt pop dexterity to all that Nikolaj Manuel Vonsild’s When Saints Go Machine contrive to fabric, and no longer is Iodine merely ‘a chemical element with symbol I and atomic number 53’ but instead also a massive splash from the Danes’ forthcoming third, Infinity Pool. It’s a record which, released in conjunction with EMI, may see the Scandinavian eccentrics enter into a more widespread cognisance and along with the Killer Mike-featuring Love And Respect, Iodine is an incontrovertible highlight that serves as a nebulous billow of avant-garde suavity pumped out of the experimental and into an all the more mainstream aesthetic – its chorus a deferential, if perhaps indirect homage to Kate Bush’s inexhaustible Running Up That Hill. And tirelessly excellent this one is, as well.’

Infinity Pool is released May 20th on EMI / !K7.

‘By this time next week, we’ll already have (albeit...

Wed, 15 May 2013 12:22:17 +0100

‘By this time next week, we’ll already have (albeit only ephemerally) relocated to Barcelona for day upon day of decadent overindulgence and musical extravagance, for this year’s edition of the quintessential left field festival, Primavera Sound, is now upon us. I can practically taste the Estrella Heineken fizzling away at the rear of my palette and, truth be known, the way this British springtime’s currently panning, out I’m almost relishing the prospect of inevitable sunburn. Almost… Storms are currently forecast for the week though that can’t be right, right..? Anyhow – as is so often our wont with these sorts of aestival shenanigans, below can be found a rundown of who we’re itching to get over and see most impatiently, as we tick through our Fest Bests in a purely alphabetical order. That said list neglects to comprise our beloved likes of Daniel Johnston, Parquet Courts, Allah-Las, Sean Nicholas Savage, etcetera ad infinitum attests to the strength of this edition’s ineffable billing, and there’s even an opportunity to witness whether or not The Knife can rectify the heinous wrongs of last week. Just don’t pin too much hope on that one, and instead affix all optimism to the following…’

Fest Bests: Primavera Sound 2013.

‘It’s their most politically engaged, and with that...

Mon, 13 May 2013 15:14:53 +0100

‘It’s their most politically engaged, and with that engaging rhetoric for quite some while and although Bobby may here be guilty of explicit sloganeering, he carries it off with both panache and aplomb. And were the revolution to indeed be televised during 2013, with this its anthem I’d duly oblige to his every demand…’

Dots & Dashes review Primal Scream’s frequently enlightening More Light.

“All good music starts from nothing! It starts from...

Mon, 13 May 2013 14:40:29 +0100

“All good music starts from nothing! It starts from silence! Let’s be here; let’s be together. So shush!”

Dots & Dashes review Blue Hawaii’s UK début at the 10th anniversary celebrations of Club Motherfucker.