Folk? Psych-Folk? Folk-Rock? Freak-Folk? Avant-Folk? Ever since Devendra Banhart started receiving decent amounts of press attention, about the time of Rejoicing In The Hands (2004), bedroom bloggers and high circulation print journos alike have struggled in vain to package Mr Banhart into a convenient pigeonhole. Logic suggests there’s a perfectly good reason for that; he can’t and won’t fit, no matter how hard we try. Role in album number seven…

‘What Will We Be’ sees the hairy, movie star romancer return with his latest LP; a long player, in the true sense of the term. Tying up at just under an hour, back to front, this record provides a bulging example of Banhart’s extensive repertoire and demonstrates his forcible desire for a lack of boundaries.

Catchy folk song and opening number ‘Can’t Help But Smiling’, flows smoothly into second track, ‘Angelika’ which provides a neat segue into an upbeat Latin ditty, reminding of Mojitos in the summer time. This album is a real blending pot of… well, everything.

‘Baby’ plays welcome to a gentle disco beat, that one could imagine being played in funky dance halls of decades gone by. ‘Rats’, one of the albums longer tracks is an all out, 70’s rock and roll number with changing tempos, key changes and warm sounding bass licks, all sprinkled with Devendra’s own Robert Plant-esque vocal performance.

What Will We Be is a peculiar record in that it is Banhart’s first upon a major label, yet there is no clear stand out singles. The fact is, any one of these tracks could be released individually, to moderate success. A condition of release of the record through Warner’s subsidiary Reprise, one may wonder? There definitely doesn’t seem to be any of the more challenging listens that have been features of the man’s previous efforts. In personal opinion, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

This is an album of individual songs, yet somehow they all work together for this record. It is in it’s variety that it maintains interest, generating Devendra Banhart’s most capturing and listenable album to date. In it’s diversity, nothing feels out of place, the track listing is superb, throwing our ears right through the motions and our hearts as well.

If any questions remain of a ‘sell out’ over a move from indie kings XL, there’s really no bother. We’ve had Devendra’s experimental stuff (which was ace) but now heres a big juicy album of tasty, satisfying tunes, which he demonstrates to high standard and seemingly with ease.

This really is a lovely record. Sit down with it for an hour and the time will pass unnoticed. What Will We Be is exactly what I expect and want of Devendra Banhart. Challenging but not alienating, beautiful, but not quaint and certainly listenable, but not disposable.

73%

Not so long ago, a few of us from the SJ team were invited down to the very plush Kerrang Radio studio’s for the launch event of StudentBirmingham.com, a new website designed with an aim to promote Birmingham as a great city to come to for prospective students.

StudentBirmingham.com was created by the city’s marketing team, but instead of having a load of suited council workers promoting Birmingham, they’ve put it down to us. They aim to involve as many of the city’s students from all the Universities of the area and spread the word to new students about why we think Birmingham’s great! From the gigs that happen here, to the shopping, to the nightlife or even the best ways of putting the pennies from your piggy bank to best use.

The reason for the site’s launch at the Kerrang studios, was to adopt their fancy kitted out gig room for the evening and display some up and coming Birmingham talent. Student Birmingham treated us to a lovely show case from Brum locals, Max Raptor.

This four piece from Lichfield just outside of the city, clearly reveling by being offered a chance to play straight from inside Kerrang’s studios, took to their task of showing what Birmingham has got to offer like a duck to water. Max Raptor perform high energy, punchy and well-executed pop punk. Their dirty bass lines and chorus calls remind of aggressive American post-punk heroes, Billy Talent, which the band cite as one of their main inspirations. The show, leveraged by front man Wil’s hi-octane performance, coupled with all member’s down to earth attitude demonstrated by their crowd interaction, make Max Raptor one of those bands certain to generate a loyal fan base. Catchy sing-along pop punk songs, from home grown talent are always going to be a win-win amongst eager, young audiences.

Whilst Max Raptor may be given a label of not being too innovative and challenging, they are clearly not trying to be. They are performing the kind of music they love to a high standard, and it’s good to see a band with such a dedication to their music and performance. Watch out for them, I’m sure they will be around for a while yet!

3/5

In fact, we were so impressed by Max Raptor’s performance, those in the know here at Spaghetti Junction have booked the lads for the launch of our very own live night. Starting on Thursday 12th November 2009, ‘The SJ Sessions’ kicks off its first weekly band night at Bar 42 (BCU Student Union, Perry Barr Campus). Max Raptor will feature alongside The Redcaps, The Epics and The SOS all for a princely sum of 50 pence.

See you at the front!

I checked out their material from the band’s last studio album ‘Parades’, to be greeted with an ethereal and delicate mix of haunting strings, choral vocals, epic peaks and troughs and glitchy awesomeness. Need less to say, this band were right up my street, and I became irritable to catch them live.

Disappoint, they did not!

The night was opened by a superb performance from minimalistic angel, Nancy Elizabeth, quietening the audience to less than a whisper, who were clearly appreciative of her startling vocal talent and her encapsulating songs.

It was the main attraction of the evening however, that the crowd were here to see. The band, consisting of the four core members and a fine selection of musicians that completed the current touring line up, took to the stage with big smiles. Clearly still on a high from a previous nights performance at London’s Barbican accompanied by the Britten Sinfonia Chamber Orchestra. The band looked eager to perform.

Tonight’s show however, whilst lacking in a full orchestra, didn’t compromise in the performance at all. It in itself was almost orchestral in it’s qualities. Every person on that stage was their to play at the peak of their abilities; every instrument pitch perfect, every note hit, every cue met precisely. No matter how insignificant the contribution, it all mattered. Front man, Casper Clausen, in between entertaining the audience with amusing Danish/English translations and culture clashes, almost acted as a conductor for the group as well as managing his own slice of the beautiful sounds that were being made. Keen to make sure his bands performance was the best it could be.

The Asylum, the venue for tonight’s show, is arguably more well known in Birmingham as a venue for Metal bands and would not normally play host to a band such as Efterklang, a rare treat some may say, yet they made the place their own. Owning the stage and of course the music, as well as the crowd.

The set was full of songs that were able to transport you to other worlds (Mirador) and others that were so delicate they could send shivers down your spine (Cutting Ice To Snow). An amazing performance left a relatively small crowd, cheering and applauding to a volume normally expected of much larger venues.

Efterklang are a truly phenomenal band and for me, it is not difficult to say they are one of the best live bands I have ever seen, and one of the friendliest to boot.

The band are currently touring promoting their latest LP, a recording entitled ‘Performing Parades’. A live recording that sees the band performing their last studio album accompanied by the Danish National Chamber Orchestra. I purchased my copy on the night, and it hasn’t been off the turntable since.

5/5

All photos courtesy of Pete Ashton.

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It appears Muse have become one of those bands that seem to be riding the wave of their own success. No doubt this album will go on to be a big seller and they will continue to sell out arenas and stadia around the world on the back of it. But for me, this album doesn’t cut it. Muse have generated an image of the biggest ‘progressive rock band’ of our generation, yet somehow they seem to fail at being progressive. Distortion and classical piano doesn’t quite live up to their fore fathers, the likes of Yes and E.L.O.

There are a couple of highlights on The Resistance, the rip roaring ‘Unnatural Selection’ has feels of the golden days during Origin Of Symmetry. The rest of the album however, sounds like a blending pot of bad Queen songs (see; United States of Eurasia) and music that wouldn’t sound out of place backing a cheap West End production. By time the album ends we are presented with a so called ‘symphony’? Buck up Bellamy, we just want Plug in Baby Vol. II.

2/5

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Fans of Quentin Tarantino, and film buffs alike, will love this flick. Tarantino adds another badge to his lapel, this time, tackling the ever loved, WWII action thriller… but as with all of Quentin’s films, there’s a quirky twist. The ever ‘tongue in cheek’ producer/writer/director extraordinaire, manages to deliver a film packed to the brim of war film conventions whilst screening an entirely fictional story and yet, it still works. The cheesy bits, the gory bits, the caricatures of Hitler and Churchill are still funny and are what makes this film incredibly entertaining. Tarantino has an uncanny ability to turn often frowned upon conventions and stylistic filming into moments of cinematic greatness and it shows no more than in Inglourious.

The basic plot follows a small group of Jewish/American ‘Nazi Killers’, The Basterds. Led by Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt), the group are specifically chosen with the sole task of killing as many Nazi Soldiers as possible and their infamy soon spreads throughout occupied France. A chance arises for the brutal, Nazi scalping killers when they are presented with the opportunity to get to Hitler in a local cinema. The films various plot lines and key characters all find themselves in a typically, Tarantino, bloody mess at the films finale.

Pitt adds to his repertoire of quirky, sarcastic roles in this film, adopting an overblown swagger and a thick military accent. It’s great to see Pitt lighten up and broaden the type of roles he’s playing. This role follows nicely from that of ‘Burn After Reading’ (Coen Brothers, 2008).

Go and see this film, there’s something eerie yet thrilling about watching a film about cinema exploding, whilst inside a cinema. Also, listen out for Sam L. Jackson’s cameo as a narrator.

5/5

Last week, I received all of my second year University results courtesy of the royal mail. Didn’t too badly overall, in fact I was rather pleased. One of the pieces (and results) I was most pleased with was the report I constructed for a module called ‘The Music Business’. I focused my report on Birmingham’s Jibbering. I ended up with a first for the report in the end and big thanks need to be given to Oli at Jibbering, for all the information he allowed me to dig out of him.

Anyway, I quite pleased with it, so I thought I’d share…

CLICK HERE to see the report.

DB

Please, throw away your outdated and disillusioned preconceptions of Jazz: Smoky clubs filled with sophisticated musos, sipping fine wine and silently admiring the works of a selected quartet. Drums, Double Bass and a Piano playing underneath an Alto Sax solo. Stop! They are all wrong and if there is one band to help dispel such a myth, it is ZU.

Formed in Rome, ZU have been playing together for the best part of 12 years. Members Jacopo Battaglia (Drums), Luca T. Mai (Saxophone), and Massimo Pupillo (Bass) have notched up a respectable 14 album back catalogue of their unique brand of instrumental music. Their sound is often described as… well, many things depending on where your hearing it from, ‘Futuristic Avant Jazz, Math Rock, Metal, Punk, Jazz Punk, Noise Rock’, the list goes on. When understanding Jazz, the term ‘Jazz-Fusion’ is another term often put aside as something no-one really understands, yet in Zu’s case maybe it is the best way to describe the trio, because the truth is, their uniqueness cannot really be pigeonholed into any convenient subcategory of genre.

Their latest effort ‘Carboniferous’, released back in February on Ipecac Recordings, is an amazing collection of music, providing examples of all the above genres in a seamless moving flow. A record that, depending on your mood, changes with every listen, grasping qualities from every angle conceivable. From the aggression of Punk, the darkness of Metal, the subtleties of Free Jazz improvisation and the phenomenal technical abilities of Math Rock, it’s all there. It even has a cameo appearance from Faith No More front man, Mike Patton. It is difficult to describe the vast spectrum in which this album operates, to say it could be used as the soundtrack to a gritty, dark horror B-Movie or in parts it could be sampled as a beat for any of the latest west coast Hip-Hop sensations.

So, ‘is that Jazz?’, well, there’s a saxophone in it, surely it is, right?
Either way, if your a punk rocker or a metal head, or anyone else for that matter, and always thought Jazz was exclusive to middle aged cigar smokers, think again and definitely check out ZU.

Album, ‘Carboniferous’ is out now and you can catch the band live at currently their only UK performance this summer as part of Birmingham’s Supersonic Festival.

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Naturally, this film has been awaited for a long time with somewhat bated breath, particularly by all the worlds self confessed Trekkies (myself included). Will it stay true to the famed 40 year old, Gene Roddenberry original? Will it be a complete travesty and ruin the magic of the Sci-Fi smash series? Or, will it completely supersede all expectations and be one of the films of the year?

It turns out the result was definitely on the better side of all the potential outcomes. We sort of always knew it wasn’t going to be bad film anyway, with the directing left in the more than capable hands of J.J. Abrams (Lost, Fringe, Cloverfield) coupled with a neigh on perfect casting for every role, this film really is a top quality re-envisioning using modern production techniques. This 2009 continuation of the huge Star Trek saga, provides a prequel to the original 1960’s Star Trek series, telling the story of how all the famed Star Fleet cadets, including Caption Kirk and Commander Spock, begin their lives aboard the Star Ship Enterprise.

The story line follows a typical, goodies vs. baddies route as expected, yet the plot manages to tie in exciting twists drawing on Star Trek’s immense history. What really makes this film though is the superb performances. Chris Pine more than fills the boots left by William Shatner as Kirk, and fresh from his success as Sylar in Heroes, Zachary Quinto makes for an excellent young Spock. The appearance of original Star Trek cast member Leonard Nimoy as an aging Spock also adds a seal of approval to whole superb film.

Star Trek has succeeded everywhere it could have failed and remains exciting for seasoned Trekkies and newcomers alike. Star Trek is sure to ‘Live Long and Prosper’!

4/5

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With the release of Quicken The Heart, Maximo Park’s third studio album, these boys from the North East, have well and truly cemented their place in todays fierce rotation of British indie bands. Whether or not that is a good thing remains down to personal opinion, but the radio and pop mags like them enough, so they must be doing something right.

When Maximo Park first burst into our ear drums back in 2005 with fun tunes like ‘Graffiti’ and ‘Apply Some Pressure’, the band got our juices flowing with these fresh, exciting and energetic songs. Three albums later, I can’t help but feel that excitement has left the room. Truth be told, this album is good with some signs of natural progression, yet I hate to say it, we’ve heard it all before. Quicken The Heart really is just another collection of bouncy indie pop songs just like its two predecessors. This is great if your a Maximo Park fan or just want something to sing along to at this summers festivals. However is another album of throwaway singles really what is needed in order to keep bands like Maximo Park sounding fresh? Maybe Not.

3/5

Here’s an little album review written for May’s issue of Spaghetti Junction Magazine.

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Her debut single ‘Secret Circus’, released back in 2006 propelled Emmy to the forefront of London based singer-songwriters, yet we were made to sit patiently until now for her full length, long player debut… But hey – I think it was worth the wait!

‘First Love’ provides just over 45 minutes of witty, moving and at points heartbreakingly honest songwriting, which Emmy delivers with an incredibly gentle and innocent, yet strikingly confident vocal. Quirky references to pop culture notable in ’24’ and ‘MIA’ make this record accessible to young and old by shying away from the usual preconceptions of folk music.

Emma-Lee Moss (a.k.a Emmy The Great) spawns from the same collective of London based ‘Nu-Folk’ musicians that have brought us the spine chilling delights of artists such as Laura Marling, to the jingle jangle of rising indie stars, Noah & The Whale. The front man of which, Charlie Fink, can also be credited with the superb production on this record.

4/5