Archives for August 2010

Act:Sleigh Bells

Album:Treats

Recommended by:Zane Lowe, Huw Stephens, Vic Galloway, Lauren Laverne, Nick Grimshaw, Steve Lamacq, 6 Music Album of the Day

You only have to look at the above list of recommenders to realise just how loved Sleigh Bells are at the BBC right now. The Brooklyn-based duo's debut album, Treats, has been a mainstay on several stereos of late, yours truly's included. The band is Derek Miller and Alexis Krauss - his background is in hardcore rock, hers in areas rather gentler of nature. So it's perhaps inevitable that the pair's sound as Sleigh Bells is both violently raucous and melodically immediate - think your favourite pop act given the once-over by Crystal Castles or HEALTH. I sat down with them ahead of a typically boisterous headline set at London's Lexington venue for a little Album Reviews Q&A action.

Treats has just come out over here in the UK, but it's been available for a fair while now in the US. Do these different release dates confuse you guys as much as they do me?

DM: Yeah... it's just label stuff. They have their reasons. But it's not like you can't just get an album on import if you want to.

AK: I think they wanted us to be here, so that we could promote it around the album's release.

DM: I think this is the earliest we could have got here, so this makes sense. We can't be in several places at once.

Surely you've done introducing-style interviews in the States already, so is it not a little odd to go over the same ground several months' later?

DM: Well, we do get asked some of the same old questions, and we can find ourselves covering a fair amount of well-trodden territory. But we do have to do our work over here, so it's all good.

Was the album done and dusted last year, or was it not finished until more recently than that?

DM: Actually, we did only finish the record in... Well, we recorded it in January and February.

AK: So at the very beginning of this year.

DM: March 1st is when we were finished, so it's still feeling pretty fresh.

And is Treats effectively a collection of everything you had available, or is it more considered than that?

DM: There's one B side that isn't included, but for the most part this is what we have to offer. Or, rather, what we had to offer at the time. To be honest we ran out of time - there were so many more ideas that we just didn't have the chance to get to. We started touring pretty much as soon as we could, so that was that. But we're still going forward creatively, and we're always talking about the second album. I probably shouldn't think too much about that, with this one just out. But we could go right back into the studio right now. We're almost ready, I think.

AK: Yeah, there's plenty of new stuff coming together already.

DM: And all of this touring, which I love, really gets the creative juices flowing.

Were your first live steps a little awkward? The record is pretty sparse, instrumentally - in terms of as-live instrumentation, anyway.

DM: Well, it was always the intention to take this on the road, but our first few shows were certainly awkward. We were lucky to play them with friends of ours. For us, if the crowd isn't really energetic and part of the show, then I think we lose 50% of what we can offer live. We're not the kind of band that can show up and do our thing to a load of people just sitting there and watching.

AK: There aren't that many elements to our live sound, but we're really particular about all of them. And if one goes wrong, then that means the whole show is wrong. And live we make sure everything has loads of low end and bass - we're a band that's really suited to being really loud. We've had the odd complaint about it before, but most venues understand we're going to be loud.

You've been on the radar of several tastemaker blogs for some time before breaking through - what was it like being inside such a bubble of hype? Do you have to remain fairly detached from it all?

DM: We pretty much ignore everything that's written about us, because chances are everything written about us that's good I'll disagree with, and everything bad I'll agree with. So I try to stay away from it.

AK: It can be so easy to take things the wrong way.

DM: Initially there was the temptation to read what was being said about us, because if people are writing about us then that's great. But it's more important to stay focus on your own thoughts and feelings about what you're doing, rather than being distracted by another opinion.

To have emerged from this hype with an album that's proved to be more than an underground hit, though, must be very satisfying.

DM: Oh, yeah. We really care about that side of things. We want to make great records, and that's really the only reason why we're doing this. So it's amazing that people seem to understand what we're doing, and that they're into it. You never really know why something resonates, but it seems like this album is with a lot more people than we perhaps expected. It's a mystery... and we're pretty thankful.

Can you understand that many people might not 'get' Treats instantly? There's a lot of noise atop all of those pop hooks...

AK: We always describe our music as pop.

DM: I'm not even sure what is mainstream and what isn't anymore. If you listen to Rill Rill, that's about as sugary and as pop-friendly, top 40 as it gets, to my ears.

AK: People are exposed to so much more music nowadays, music of all different kinds. We're not trying to become mainstream...

DM: I think it is mainstream!

AK: We're not ashamed of the music, so the more people that hear it, the better.

DM: I feel really comfortable describing ourselves as pop, and I hope that nobody would be really surprised if we became more accessible. I feel the way the music is going, it'll have heavier guitars but more melodic vocals. I think Tell 'Em might be a good indication of where we'll be going next.

AK: There are people who will just hear the noise, though.

What do your parents think of it?

DM: My mum loves it to death.

AK: Mine too!

DM: They tell all their friends. Like, my nephew, we're his favourite band. He's seven, and he calls his iPod his "iPi", and asks: "Put it on my iPi". I played it to him really quietly, but he kept asking me to make it louder. He sat there and loved it... I feel bad for how loud it was though.

Finally, do you have any favourite albums of the year so far?

DM: I really like the new M.I.A. record, and the new Crystal Castles one. I like the Salem record, King Night (released in the UK in September). The new LCD Soundsystem album is great, too.

AK: I really wanted to like the Janelle Monáe album more, as everyone has been going on about it. And I love her, but the record doesn't quite do it for me. But that's just me.

DM: Actually, you know what record I really love but nobody talks about? Well, they do, because the band is massive, but it's not been that brilliantly received. The new MGMT record, Congratulations. It had a quiet reception, and I listened to it a few times when it came out without giving it the chance it deserved. But I kept hearing songs from it, and then wanting to hear them again. It's a really cool record, but I guess because it doesn't have any globe-conquering mega-hits on it, it's not good somehow.

AK: When did Yeasayer's Odd Blood come out? This year? Oh good. I love that record.

DM: I'm not saying MGMT need anyone's pity. They've done pretty okay for themselves.

Read the BBC review of Treats

Visit Sleigh Bells on MySpace

Read previous Album Reviews Q&A articles:

School of Seven Bells

Big Boi

Foals

Villagers

Rolo Tomassi

Gayngs

Once a upon a time, Paolo Nutini worked in his dad's fish and chip shop in Paisley, Scotland and dreamt of playing at the big town hall.



Well, on Tuesday this week, I got to sample his fish and chips and his dream came true - we broadcast him performing at Paisley Town Hall as part of a very special Radio 2 In Concert.

It was a few months ago that we came up with the idea of taking an artist back to their hometown to perform, and bringing Paolo back to Paisley was the ideal way to kick off the series. He's the sort of artist that's tailor-made for Radio 2; his music has a timeless, melodic quality and we know that he's going to be around for many years to come.

The show was broadcast last night at 8pm within Radio 2 In Concert, our weekly 2 hour live music programme presented by Jo Whiley and executive produced by Sarah Gaston.

Throughout the day of the show Jo, producer Bequi Sheehan and our live music and interactive teams toured around Paisley, back to that family chippy, his favourite record shop and recorded a songwriting masterclass for our Great British Songbook in front of 50 music students from the University of the West of Scotland.

We got lots of extra material to reflect Paolo's home town as an accompaniment to the live show. Listeners can enjoy it all over again on BBC iPlayer and watch the full performance as well as the footage we filmed around town on the Radio 2 website.

On the same night, we worked with colleagues at BBC Introducing who helped us find potentially the next two big names in music from Scotland to support Paolo: new bands Aerials Up and Admiral Fallow . They really did us proud and delivered two blistering sets that seriously warmed up the already expectant crowd who clapped along to every song.

Twenty journalists attended the gig, resulting in really positive media coverage for both bands. Speaking to the Evening Times ahead of the gig, Admiral Fallow's Louis Abbott said:

"It's an amazing thing that a little band like us can be given an opportunity to play with someone as widely respected at Paolo Nutini. The BBC has given us massive support of late and we're very glad to be working with them again."

It all went so well, we're already planning our next trip to take another artist back to their hometown. I just hope we can find as distinctive a venue as Paisley Town Hall and as decent a chippy as Paolo's!

Jeff Smith is Head of Music, BBC Radio 2 and BBC 6 Music

Watch Admiral Fallow and Aerials Up performing on the BBC Introducing stage at T in the Park 2010.

BBC Introducing supports unsigned, undiscovered and under the radar bands and musicians. If you're making music and want to perform at a major festival, upload songs at bbc.co.uk/introducing.

Act:School of Seven Bells

Album:Disconnect From Desire

Recommended by:Marc Riley, Lauren Laverne, 6 Music Album of the Day

School of Seven Bells is Benjamin Curtis alongside Alejandra Deheza and her twin sister Claudia. The New York-based band has attracted significant praise for their latest (second) LP, Disconnect From Desire - our own review states that they've "reached a confident, polished plateau... [but it still] heaves with all the mysticism of its predecessor". Said debut was Alpinisms, officially released in the UK in February 2009 and, like Disconnect, it was featured as an Album of the Day on 6 Music. Curtis answers our questions.

Disconnect from Desire has been well received across the critical spectrum, with many a writer noting that there's a greater mainstream slant than the debut. Is this a case of you moving into more accessible territory, or merely a sign that the mainstream has become more open to leftfield sounds since the release of Alpinisms?

I've never thought of our music in terms of leftfield or rightfield. It's all the same field to me. I'm not scared of the pop label, and honestly I feel sorry for people who do have a problem with it. It must be a tough life creating all these walls for yourself, and little boxes to live in. We just make the music we make, and SVIIB is the sound that happens when the three of us get together.

On the other hand, I can definitely see what people mean by accessible, to a certain extent. It's never been our intention to alienate anybody. It's the total opposite, actually. We've always been way more interested in the connection that music creates, and that ecstatic feeling we get when we feel a connection with music that we're listening to. So, in a way, I think the fact that people are now able to find an entry point into our music is just a testament to the fact that we're getting better at what we do.

That being said, it's not like radio blasting Windstorm every hour. I mean, I think it should, and I think people would love it. But, unfortunately, the "mainstream" is still as conservative as ever. We'll just keep on creating new music, and pushing what we do forward, and we'll see where that takes us.

The debut arrived in the US before the UK, whereas this time out Disconnect was released home and abroad (fairly) simultaneously. Have you found it easier this way, to cover all territories at once? Or was there something quite nice about working your debut at home, attaining a level of recognition, and then experiencing that process again in Europe?

That's an interesting question, actually. I'm not sure it really makes too big of a difference these days. Our record leaked weeks before it was out, which I guess is just the reality now. I think it's just more honest to put it out everywhere, because if it's not out in a certain territory, they're just going to get it anyway, right? For the kind of music we make, hoping to debut at number one isn't an option, so we might as well just give our fans a chance to hear the new music ASAP. Our label, who are amazing by the way, helped us get the record posted on our site, and a few other places, so people could hear it in its entirety about 10 days before it came out. That was really important to me, and I'm happy it happened that way.

Was the set of songs that makes up Disconnect firmly in place before the recording process began, with the three of you able to play them in full, or did the album largely come together in the studio? The band has made significant live strides since the debut, so I wonder if this album was written with performance in mind, as much as it being a studio affair.

Actually, most of the record was written on tour last year. I remember it started coming to us like a tidal wave in the spring of last year, while on tour in Europe. That was an exciting time. We never had this moment were we had to think, "Well, I guess it's time for the follow-up!" It just started happening, so it was really organic. I think the fact that we were playing every night had a huge impact on the sound. We also split up the recording between two tours, where we were able to try out a lot of what we were doing on stage. There's definitely a more visceral and exciting quality to this music, and that comes completely from playing live. We didn't realise we had this power in our music when we were making the first record. It's something we found on the road.

Does the bracketing of the band, as primarily a shoegaze-styled ensemble, frustrate you at all? There are certain connotations with that term, not least of all a rather pervading sense of glumness, whereas your music can (and does) soar. Or do you simply grin and bear it when reading about your own work?

I used to hate it more than I do now. The whole "genre" trap to me has always represented exclusion more than inclusion. For example, somebody would hear about a band now, and be told, "Oh, they're chillwave", or whatever the latest tag is, and think, "Oh, I don't like chillwave, so I won't like them". That's obviously ridiculous, but I think it's more common that good musicians are written off because of genres than anything else. Same goes for techno, dream-pop, noise, lo-fi, or whatever.

Now, I just see it as a fact of life. It's natural for humans to categorise things, so I guess we just accept that people are going to call it what they call it. I think creativity will always win out in the end, and it won't change what we do.

Does Disconnect..., for you, really mark the moment when the band stops being "featuring ex-members of" and becomes the group that tops your CVs (so to speak)? With the debut many a write-up seemed to start with what you did before; now, it seems, the present is very much of the utmost import.

Yeah, I've been waiting for this. I didn't realise that people would be so interested in the individual history, and I also didn't realise that some people were seeing it as some kind of one-off project. SVIIB has been our lives since the first time we played together, and it was always going to be on the top of our resumes.

I see Disconnect From Desire and Alpinisms as pieces in a puzzle, and our vision for SVIIB is much bigger than anything we've done yet. I'm looking forward to the day when all the comparisons and tags begin to fall away, one by one, and the only thing left to describe us is our name.

Finally, do you have any favourite albums of 2010 so far?

To me, this is a really exciting time for music. Matthew Dear's new one, Black City, is great. Blonde Redhead's new one (Penny Sparkle, out 13 September) is sure to be incredible. They haven't missed yet. Four Tet's There Is Love In You is beautiful, and I've already worn it out. I've been a little less than impressed with things on the buzzier end of the spectrum, but that's okay. It goes in phases, right?

Read the BBC review of Disconnect From Desire

Visit School of Seven Bells on MySpace

Read previous Album Reviews Q&A articles:

Big Boi

Foals

Villagers

Rolo Tomassi

Gayngs

Photograph by Abby Drucker

The cream of July's album crop, ripe for investigation if they're not yet on your radar (or, more importantly, on your stereo)...

- - -

Big Boi - Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty

(Def Jam, released 5 July)

Recommended by Tim Westwood, Zane Lowe; 6 Music Album of the Day

"Sir Lucious Left Foot is a potent reminder of one of the more consistently inventive forces in rap. This splendid solo adventure from the Outkast member confirms Antwan Patton as one of the best pop-leaning hip hop artists around."

Read the full review and listen to previews

Read our Album Reviews Q&A with Big Boi

Fang Island - Fang Island

(Sargent House, released 5 July)

"Come on in and enjoy the sound of a band who describe these delectably dizzying ditties as the aural equivalent of 'everyone high-fiving everyone'. A collection that screams, from its first notes: party on, and on, and on, dudes... As instantly refreshing as dunking your head in a paddling pool."

Read the full review and listen to previews

Mystery Jets - Serotonin

(Rough Trade, released 5 July)

Recommended by Steve Lamacq, Rob da Bank; 6 Music Album of the Day

"Under the watch of venerable, veteran producer Chris Thomas (whose credits include The Beatles, Sex Pistols and countless others) these west Londoners have made a varied, touching, excitable and witty third album."

Read the full review and listen to preview

The-Dream - Love King

(Def Jam, released 5 July)

"The man behind Rihanna's Umbrella and Beyoncé's Single Ladies keeps plenty of winning tunes for himself, as his third solo album of lady-chasing RnB proves. Already massive in the US, can The-Dream break the UK? Britain, it's over to you..."

Read the full review and listen to previews

Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse - Dark Night of the Soul

(Parlophone, released 12 July)

Recommended by Zane Lowe; 6 Music Album of the Day

"Boasts the best in dusty, scratchy balladry, undoubtedly guided by Mark Linkous's much-missed hands. It's a complex, winding late-night soundtrack that doesn't move too fast, but never stops to question the judgement of its own unique outsider logic."

Read the full review and listen to previews

Jammer - Jahmanji

(Big Dada, released 12 July)

Recommended by MistaJam

"It's not hard to see why Jammer has remained a respected producer on the grime scene for some 10 years. Jahmanji is proof that, if left alone by the mainstream, leftfield music will evolve not only intelligently but quite spectacularly."

Read the full review and listen to previews

Janelle Monáe - The ArchAndroid

(Atlantic, released 12 July)

Recommended by Gilles Peterson, Benji B, MistaJam

"Across the breadth of the record songs and icons are recalled and reinvented, flickering like ghosts you recognise but can't quite place; Monáe's skill is to fashion them into something bordering indefinable. She is an easy, natural star."

Read the full review and listen to previews

Mount Kimbie - Crooks & Lovers

(Hotflush Recordings, released 19 July)

Recommended by Gilles Peterson, Rob da Bank

"Unmoored and out there, Mount Kimbie come across in interviews as a little startled themselves by what they've come up with, and continue to come up with, but that's all to the good. They've no idea where they're going. Go with them."

Read the full review and listen to previews

Hammock - Chasing After Shadows... Living With the Ghosts

(Hammock Music, released 19 July)

"Anybody moved by the likes of Sigur Rós or Stars of the Lid, as well as the more bombastic Mogwai and Godspeed, are encouraged to investigate a band that effortlessly transports the listener to extraordinary mind's-eye horizons."

Read the full review and listen to previews

Act:Big Boi

Album:Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty

Recommended by:Tim Westwood

Three years in the making, the debut album from Big Boi - the rap moniker of Atlanta-based artist Antwan Patton, until now best known as one half of Outkast - has proved to be one of the success stories of 2010 so far. Its critical reception has been fantastic, review collating website Metacritic currently scoring it 90%, making it the 23rd best-rated album in the site's history. Only two albums from this year have achieved a higher score (so far), Arcade Fire and Janelle Monáe. The record features guest appearances from Monáe, Gucci Mane, Jamie Foxx, George Clinton and B.o.B., but Patton's Outkast partner André '3000' Benjamin only features in a production capacity.

The sonic palette of Sir Lucious seems to be an expansion of, rather than a step away from, that of Speakerboxxx. But you started this solo record quite a while ago, right?

Yeah, it's like a time capsule, and the two records are definitely connected to some respect. Every album captures the essence of your life since the last time the listener heard you. Coming off Speakerboxxx, and then the Idlewild record, I was listening to beats - and I might start listening to beats maybe a year or two before putting anything else on them. So these records, hopefully, stand the test of time, 'cause I just get my bustle on 'em, one at a time.

The first reports of a solo record emerged back in 2007, and a number of songs appeared online between then and now which aren't on the finished album. Did these tracks simply not fit the feel of the record?

Exactly. When you're recording, you don't always know what songs are going to make the final cut. So certain songs might be right at the time, but as I was waiting for the record company to give me the green light, I was trying to quench the thirst of the fans. They wanted music, so I gave them music. You've got to get them to the polls to vote. I did Royal Flush with André 3000 (listen on YouTube) to make the fans go crazy, to let them know that this is what we still do. You've got to have that connection with the fans, to let them know you still care about them.

Would you have liked to have this album out a little sooner, given there were tracks circulating on the internet?

I would've, but I think everything's worked out correctly. I was on Jive Records, and I'm still there for Outkast, but they didn't understand my solo music. They said it was too artsy, that it was a piece of art and they didn't know how to promote that. They wanted more cookie-cutter, typical bubblegum music.

Which seems odd, given Outkast have never really stood for that sort of clichéd, mass-produced music.

Never. But here's what people have to understand: Jive has absolutely nothing to do with our career. We didn't go to Jive because they requested us, or we wanted to go there; we got caught up in a label merger, so really we got forced over to Jive. It was LaFace/Arista, and then there was a merger. So here we are, on a label where nobody knows us, and they don't know how we do music or anything. Trying to get them to understand was hard to do. But they did the honourable thing and let me go, and I'm back with L.A. Reid at Def Jam. He gives me the creative control and freedom to make exactly the kind of music that I want to, and I have to thank Jive for letting me go.

But it's because of the label switch that André can't appear on Sir Lucious, save for a single producer credit?

Yes. There's red tape stopping him from appearing on the record. I don't agree with it, but that's the nature of contracts sometimes. It doesn't feel fair for the fans, for him to not be able to appear as a lyricist on the album, as the producer role isn't the same. But the album's still great, and people now get the chance to experience more of me.

A more collaborative affair with André might have resulted in the opinion that it was another Outkast record in all but name.

That's right, for sure. It definitely reinforces that this is my own vision.

Not that the record's without its share of guests. We've got to mention Janelle Monáe - she's on your album, you're on hers...

She's incredible. She's a true talent, really into her craft. Being able to groom someone like that, and watch them grow - I've been working with her for years - it makes me feel really proud. I feel like the big brother that introduced her to the world. She's going to be around for a long time. I just like to work with people who are that serious about music, and she's very serious about it.

She may have only just released her debut album proper this year, but she's been around a while, earning respect below the mainstream radar. It could be said the same was true of Outkast - you didn't break the UK until your fourth album, Stankonia.

It's all about the hunger - if you're jumping, trying to reach something, for a really long time, then it's going to make your legs stronger. I think it's good for Janelle to have done things the way she has - to drop an EP at first, and then be on my record at the same time her own one is out. There is definitely something risky about new artists breaking through quickly, as a lot of the time they can burn out simply because they lack that experience of working their way up, of reaching for that goal.

Any chance Janelle and yourself might do some dates together?

Well, we just might!

Speaking of the live arena, this October marks the tenth anniversary of Stankonia's release. Any chance you might do some shows to celebrate?

We surely could do it. If André wants to get on stage, we can do just about anything we want to do. So it's all on Mr 3000 - I'm gonna be out here touring Sir Lucious Left Foot, but whenever he gives the word we'll be on that.

Back to the album: it's not particularly overloaded with profanity, although there's no doubt it warrants the parental guidance warning on the cover. How do you balance the language used in your music with being a father of young kids? Do they ever hear dad's work?

I'm open about all of that. When I was coming up, I had a lot of my family around me - my grandmother, my mother, my dad, my uncles. Even as kids, they spoke to us as adults. What kids are exposed to now, through television, video games and movies, is a lot worse than what we're doing in music. So I don't think it's a bad thing that they hear my albums, as if they're raised right they'll respect right from wrong, and when this sort of language is appropriate and when it isn't. I'm a very hands-on father - I take my kids to soccer, to piano lessons. I go to recitals, the whole nine yards; I'm always in their lives. So music cannot raise my child.

Finally, any favourite albums of the year so far?

Well, Janelle's album. But my favourite record for the last three weeks is Usher's OMG (from the album Raymond v. Raymond). The thing about music is it's supposed to make you feel a certain way, and the synthesisers alone in that, with the chant, it makes me feel a certain way. I jog two or three miles a day to that music, it gets me so amped up. I know that's just a song, not an album, but that's all I need. But OMG... I dig that.

Read the BBC review of Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty

Visit Big Boi on MySpace

Read previous Album Reviews Q&A articles:

Foals (Mercury nominee)

Villagers (Mercury nominee)

Rolo Tomassi

Gayngs