Garage Land

It seems strange to want to get into writing about music when all the music magazines you see on the shelves feel they have to reminisce on the past to get a decent front cover. Every new issue: “The Queen Is Dead 25 Years On”, “The Doors 40 years on”, “Hey Remember The ‘90s?” “Bob Dylan Used To Be Good Didn’t He” – it’s like there’s nothing new happening at all. Flicking through the pages of the “NEW MUSIC express” to find nothing besides your guaranteed Gallagher but articles about 40 years ago.

Oh, and The Vaccines.

But it’s true! There is nothing happening. There’s nothing in this generation but “hipsters”, also affectionately known as “dickheads”. I don’t know the cause for this. Maybe it’s that culture snowballs and feeds off of itself and there was nothing left to snowball at the end of the century. There was emo for a while, but everyone was aware of how shit that was at the time.

Maybe we were all too lazy to think of anything. Everyone just went to Topshop and bought their wardrobes there. People got cameras and took coy photographs of tea and parts of the sea and their shoes. This is the most empty generation I know of for over a hundred years. We apparently have nothing to say, or change, or create.

What are you looking at me for, there’s no conclusion here. I’m off to take a picture of my feet. 

Many have named Colour Of The Trap as Miles Kane’s make-or-break career album. I dunno how much I agree with this but it has been hotly awaited anyway SO

Some tracks on this album have been badly produced. You know the whole thing Kane is trynna get at is the 1960s suaveness and some mod rock credability. Sadly this has been misinterpreted as just plain cheesiness, which is in abundance on such songs as Happenstance, which tried to incorporate a wavery woman into the sound to duet with Kane, as some attempt at a sexy back-and-forth. Unfortunately it comes off a lot more like an embarrassing family karaoke between a teen and his overtly sexual aunt. 

Let’s not ignore the fact, though, that Miles Kane is a fantastic songwriter (and an incredible presence on the stage I should add, though it counts for nothing on an album) and some of his songs have made it onto the cut with some justice given to them. Telepathy is shrouded in atmosphere and excitement, My Fantasy has some real substance and feeling put into it, with the help of some added bass line and violins. Ye, violins.

But he needs to work on his voice a bit. It sounds slightly self conscious in a lot of the recordings, which it doesn’t have to, as reflected in some performances like this one on Fly TV. He’s got promise. Give him some more confidence and take away the wavering women and you’ve got a fucking great artist (and a much better album). ****

I’m not going to get into the whole ~this band is important to me I was listening to them in the womb~ shit but whether they get you right away or they are a grower you will eventually recognise that Pavement are the greatest band. The greatest band. Yes they are.

Crooked Rain opens with the classic Silence Kit, which has the traditional crashes and pauses and build up that make up Pavement’s known style, and it’s got a real energy behind the chorus that lifts you up with it. Definitely one of the most important on the album. It’s a staple Pavement song that would go on any “best of”.

It then cuts into a favourite of mine called “Elevate Me Later” which has a unique feel to it very apt to the title. There’s a sort of building of guitars that move you upwards as you listen to it. Obviously I have a lot to say about this album so I’ll just point out the best songs:

• Stop Breathin’ - a hushed and moving song where the usually lazy guitar seems more sluggish for emotional reasons than any sort of teen indie boy aloofness. 
• The classic pop song Cut Your Hair. Catchy and humorous, one of the more well-known ones. Not one of their best, but it’s instantly accessible. (and look they made a video for it)
• Unfair is another ball of energy with Stephen Malkmus’s trademark playful riddles about North California’s superiority to the South, and a fair bit of shouting. It’s got a great atmosphere to it. Wherever you’re from you seem to want to get behind what Malkmus is saying, whatever it is.
• Gold Soundz. This is another Pavement classic. Strange as it might be to use that word for a band that’s widely ignored. If you’ve got cool parents or a thing for 90s MTV you might have seen this music video, in which the band jump around in Santa costumes near some palm trees. It’s a song that makes you feel nostalgia even if there’s nothing to feel sentimental about. Aw I’m getting soppy again
• Range Life. Rolling guitar, fantastic timing, lazy summer imagery, and Malkmus’ sharp tongue poking a couple of jabs at the Smashing Pumpkins. 
• Filmore Jive is one of the greatest songs ever written. But I’ve written too much already so you’ll just have to listen to it to find out why