High Above The Storm
‘Post-rock’ is a term coined by Simon Reynolds in order to describe the work of musicians prone to “using rock instrumentation for non-rock purposes, using guitars as facilitators of timbre and textures rather than riffs and power chords.”
Wild Beasts
Wild Beasts have always been a fascinating, if disorienting, proposition. Their yelping falsetto vocals, oddly archaic vocabulary and pingpong instrumentation have grated on as many as they have charmed, but the originality and quality of debut Limbo, Panto was hard to deny. However, the problem with laying down such a distinct and unmistakable manifesto is that following it up is a dangerous game. How is it possible to progress and grow as a band when you’ve made such a unique niche for yourself? And without losing the aspects of your sound that people fell in love with in the first place? Second Album Syndrome indeed.
Bombay Bicycle Club
Generally, I try to avoid considerations of age when listening to a record. I’ve always thought there was something a little perverse about the idea that age somehow helps or hinders the creative process when, technical proficiency aside, a ten-year-old should have just as much to express as a 90-year-old or, indeed, a 20-year-old. Perhaps this is due to my own position as a young musician; I certainly wouldn’t appreciate reading a review along the lines of; “Wow, this is great, it’s a wonder someone so young managed to create it!” It’s patronising, blinkered and disrespectful.
Kleerup
Swedish super-producer Kleerup was last heard sprinkling sombre strings and bubbling analogue synths on fellow Swede Robyn’s bittersweet indiepop hit of summer ’07, ‘With Every Heartbeat’.
Bloc Party, then. Forever eager to expand the conventions of their post-punk roots, last year’s Intimacy spliced their musical genome with big-beat echoes, ghostly dub and vocal cut-ups abandon. They also recently became part of the increasing school of artists to release remix stems of tracks online (see also: Nine Inch Nails, Radiohead) for fans to download and rework how they please. A full album of big-name remixes in the form of Intimacy Remixed, therefore, comes as little surprise; indeed, it’s a path they have walked before, with 2005′s Silent Alarm Remixed.
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