Deerhunter - Rainwater Cassette Exchange

Deerhunter are a pretty rad band from Atlanta, Georgia in the USA and after watching them twice in one day a few weeks ago at the Deaf Institute in Manchester, I feel compelled to talk about them. Handily, they've just released a new E.P too so what better time than now to show them some love?

People like to label Deerhunter a 'shoegaze' band. Calling a band's music 'shoegaze' usually implies that said band employ a lot of fairly unnecessary noise as a substitute for good songs (My Bloody Valentine - you're rubbish). I guess I can see why Deerhunter might be subjected to such lazy categorisation, there are some noisy elements to their sound and the whispered vocals and weird sound effects on 'Rainwater Cassette Exchange' are reminiscent of 'shoegaze' bands. The main difference is that Deerhunter's music is rooted in 1960s pop music and krautrock and thus the noise elements, rather than act as the basis of the song, make the music sound modern and thrilling.

When I saw them in Manchester they were much rockier than I expected. It made me think about how cool it is to build upon what has been committed to record and not just recreate its sound perfectly when performing live. There's a real pace to Deerhunter's songs when performed live and the more rocky elements of their songs emerge. Their bass player is great. It's the contrast between the two different settings for their music that makes them such an interesting band.

'We are a Romanian sound collage' is a great lyric, sung by one of the guys from the Black Lips on Deerhunter's last album. Other than that, I don't really know what they sing about. I think the singer is into introspection and stuff, it doesn't really matter to be honest.

Deerhunter's myspace is here. Currently there are no 'Rainwater...' songs there but 'Never Stops' is a great song to start with. 'Rainwater Cassette Exchange' can be downloaded here.

Future Of The Left - Travels With Myself And Another

It is probably a good thing to start this blog with something contemporary and this album isn't even out for a couple of weeks, is that new enough for you?

Future Of The Left are a very funny, noisy Welsh band. They're funny in the sense that they don't take themselves or the world around them very seriously - I've heard people complain that they're something of a joke band because of this, but who cares? Who wants to take music that seriously anyway? Song titles such as 'Stand By Your Manatee' and lyrics such as 'what kind of orgy leaves a sense of deeper love?' and 'Morgan Freeman would roll in his grave if he were dead' suggests a worldview far removed from such 'serious' lyrics you can find on an album by Coldplay. Indeed, as most things have been written or sung about the world we live in, such lyrics almost celebrate this fact by singing about the ridiculous. A great deal of music lacks a sense of humour - why should this be the case?

I feel that my description of the style of music this blog will cover in my last post was a little too vague. A person's appreciation of music will change over time, and I want this blog to reflect my own current outlook, one that is influenced by my situation and surroundings. As a recent graduate and one that that is currently about to (hopefully) enter the world of work I like my music to reflect how I feel about this. Future Of The Left are a great example of this.

Back to the music, I was told that the bass was so loud during the recording of this new album 'Travels With Myself And Another' that crockery rattled on the other side of the building. The bass is indeed one of the many great elements holding this album together. The music is vicious but clever and clocking in at just over 33 minutes long it is a very concise piece of work. Everything seems considered and well thought out, there is very little filler on this album. It makes you realise that most albums should end at around the half hour mark.

Judging by this blog post, singer Andy Falkous would personally come and give me a good hiding if I posted a download link to 'Travels With Myself...' on here - it's not really fair to either. The album's out on June 22nd, go buy.

If you need any further persuasion, check out the band's myspace page here.

'Arming Eritrea' and 'you need satan more than he needs you' are personal favourites.