Why Me? Why Not. Liam Gallagher

'Rock And Roll Star' was a game changer. If this song had been the only Oasis song ever, it would have been enough. I could have lived with it. 'Shockwave' is not such a game changer. It can't be from this singer. The intention is clearly meant to have the same effect.

The shocking thing is that 'Shockwave' is so close to plagiarism that I can't help but wonder that nobody noticed. Whole parts of the verses is the chorus of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's 'Spread Your Love'. In short an extremely strong song that kicks off Why Me? Why Not. like a storm. The rest is for lawyers should it come to that.

Liam Gallagher's solo career is doing nicely it seems. After the fairly nice 'As You Were', the youngest Gallagher brother returns with an even stronger album where he emulates with his old band here and there; he is the voice so why not?, but also puts his own accents in the right places. Working with different producers/co-writers did Liam a wealth of good. I am inclined to write that Why Me? Why Not. is better than Noel's latest solo effort. Especially because Liam finds the nuance in several songs and excels in mid-tempo violin laden ballad rockers and true rockers. In fact he has found his old voice again, full of arrogance and brawniness.

Of course I am still in the stage of getting myself truly acquainted with the album, the fact that the LP is already in the home tells something of my first impressions. (In fact I was the first to buy it last Friday at my local retailer, so went home with the only bag, ha!) One of the things I noticed immediately is that slacker lazy Liam, who always says in interviews he'll quite music if a record is not successful, is working here with an urgency I haven't heard in any of Beady Eye's nor his solo record. Not speak of at least some of the last set of Oasis albums. He even seems to be having real fun with these songs. Just listen to the rock and roll banging piano in 'Halo'. This is a stellar song. In fact a song that would have fitted perfectly on either of Oasis' first albums. It is a long time ago that I dared comparing a release by the band and solo efforts to 'Definitely Maybe' or 'What's The Story (Morning Glory)'. Things never became that good again. And then here's Why Me? Why Not.

No, let's not overdo it, let's not. Certainly not. But I can't help myself, I just really like Liam's LP. There's so much happening. Of course, he ought to write a check to his brother, not to mention BRMC, John Lennon's and George Harrison's ('Meadow') ghosts are hovering over parts of the album, but who cares. The result is an album that matters. Greg Kurstin, Simon Aldred, Adam Noble and especially Andrew Wyatt have given Liam Gallagher that little extra. He even co-wrote two songs with Jeff Buckley's guitarist, Michael Tighe. It is that extra that puts him on top. Apparently 'As You Were' outsold the rest of the top 10 when it entered the English charts as number one two years ago. This album should outsell the whole list as it is so much better.

As I wrote, the real verdict will come later. The first impression is abundantly clear. Let's Rock some more, to quote the title of that other fine album released this year.

Wo.


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Maps And Territory. Juju

Interesting artwork. The kind that in a museum I would stop to look at and try to discern the deeper meaning of. Not that it has anything to do with maps nor territories at first sight.

During the spring I was alerted to Juju's mini album, but somehow it remained on my list of albums to check out. Mainly because the release date lay behind my working date, with a host of albums being released. So it was left behind. I decided to return to the album as remembered liking what I had heard in the first place.

Juju is Gioele Valenti, an Italian musician who works on the brink of modern folk, rock, African music and psychedelia. Everything that sort of washes up on Italy's long shore line. These rather wide and apart influences in Juju's music come together in a way that surprises as well as hypnotises. A groove can go on for quite a while the lead instruments may go off on a detour, sometimes even startling me out of my meditative state. Take 'If You Will Fall', the fourth song on the six song album. Over seven minutes long. A groove is kept up for a long time, not unlike the one in the second part of Soup's 'Sleeper' from the 'Remedies album (13 minutes long). It is the changes of course that make it so interesting and good listening. Given the fact that another song starts with an African melody and chant before taking a sharp turn (or two) later on in the song makes Maps And Territory intriguing and fun. Within the songs and as a whole. It is not a given for an artist to achieve this combination when experimenting with the listener's mood.

This combination works even better in 'Motherfucker Core'. The music is rock based. The singing psychedelic, the groove trans inducing. Again the song is long, 7 1/2 minute. The variations take care of capturing and keeping my attention. Juju is working towards a climax and dares to drop away before exploding, only to start building again.

Photo: Vicenzo Lo Piccolo

In a way it is a shame that Giole Valenti isn't a better singer (or hires one). Now the voice is hidden behind electronic effects. I can only wonder whether a "real" singer would have made the album better. My guess is yes, while at the same time this combination works for Maps And Territory and not only as a psychedelic effect. The benefit would lie in a better overall sound. There's no way of knowing of course.

'God Is A Rover' presents the hectic that is always present in Clinic's best songs. The driving, pounded piano and the high sounding cymbal are giveaways here. A lead guitar plays a strong role in the song.

'Arcontes Takes Control', the final song, starts out with saxophones and is pure jazz at the start. Remembering all the jazz rock albums my friends played in the second half of the 70s, I have heard enough for the rest of my life. So this spacey, jazzy outing is not for me. Juju plays what it will and five out of six is a good score for an experimental album.

Wo.

You can listen to and buy Maps And Territory here:

https://fuzzclub.bandcamp.com/album/maps-and-territory


or listen to our Spotify Playlist to find out what we are writing about:

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Making Sense Of ∞. Stef Kamil Carlens

Is Zita Swoon no more? Stef Kamil Carlens is on his own and releases his second solo record. 25 Years after the debut album of dEUS and 24 after Moondog Jr's, the world is a difference place and so is the music of Carlens, just like his singing is. The other side is that my ears and mind are different as well, having been educated by the likes of 'The Ideal Crash' and 'A Band In A Box' to mention two examples from the past 20 years.

The result is Making Sense Of ∞ or infinity it is written. A lopsided 8 can be walked infinitely for sure, so okay. Despite my ears being trained, I would say this album is more down to earth and smoother than ever before. Stef Kamil Carlens' voice remains fairly strange but has aged in a pleasant way. When used like on this album it becomes a near normal voice as well. All this normalcy could have led to an album without any interesting bits or the under the skin sort of tensions. Well, believe me, it hasn't.

Carlens knows how to write a good song and how to deliver it in a way that makes it exciting to listen to. 'The Government Is No Game' is a song where the tension simply seeps from my speakers. Not much seems to happen at first, yet slowly but surely the song gets more funky and more direct in the way it addresses the listener. Carlens' voice creeps up on the listener and delivers his messages and conspiracies on governments and the likes. The tension building all the time to be released by the abrupt ending to a song that seems not to end.

Photo: Charlie de Keersmaecker

What sets Making Sense Of ∞ apart from Zita Swoon albums is the more down to earth approach to the songs. I call drummer Aarich Jespers a mathematician. Looking at him I see a mathematical precision in his approach to making his music, determining the sound and rhythm of Zita Swoon in a very specific way. Not that it is completely absent on this album, but the mood is in one way too relaxed to be so extremely precise.

Delving into the album shows that what at superficial listening appears to be relaxed easy going listening, changes when listening more intensely. Go past the joyful harmonies on the album and you will notice a kind of tension in the music. Just like life itself. We live our every day lives while major developments go on in the background, slowly but surely, near impossible to grasp the consequences of as we cannot see them clearly in the here and now. So we all just live on. This is the best way to describe the music on Making Sense of ∞.

With that Stef Kamil Carlens presents a beautiful new album with trainloads of discoveries to make, including new developments and influences in his music. If one other name needs mentioning, it is David Bowie. His ghost wanders around the album in some places. All in all this album is a tell-tale sign of a great artist who has not let himself be caught in the trick he was good at, at first. So enjoy this beautiful new album.

Wo.


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Horizon. Trash Kit

Trash Kit ontworstelt zich op haar nieuwe album aan een aantal iconen uit de jaren 70 en slaagt er in om volkomen uniek te klinken.

Trash Kit maakt op haar derde album bijzondere muziek. Onnavolgbare ritmes, gitaarlijnen uit de Afrikaanse muziek, post-punk baslijnen, wat onvaste zang en heel veel bijzondere accenten vloeien samen in een geluid dat af en toe wat doet denken aan het geluid van een aantal roemruchte jaren 70 vrouwenband, maar dat toch vooral volkomen uniek klinkt. Het is een geluid dat zonnig en exotisch klinkt, maar het is ook een geluid dat overloopt van avontuur. Het is niet altijd lichte kost die Trash Kit ons voorschotelt, maar het is absoluut kost die de smaakpapillen op alle mogelijke manieren prikkelt en betovert.

Horizon is het derde album van de uit Londen afkomstige band Trash Kit. De band rond drummer Rachel Horwood en gitarist Rachel Aggs maakte op mij tot dusver nog geen onuitwisbare indruk.
 
De eerste twee albums van de Britse band inspireerden me vooral tot het weer eens uit de kast halen van albums van jaren 70 iconen als The Au Pairs, The Raincoats en The Slits, maar bleven zelf onvoldoende hangen.
 
Horizon, het nieuwe album van het trio uit Londen, het eerste in vijf jaar tijd, bevalt me een stuk beter. Ook Horizon valt weer op door het bijzondere drumwerk van Rachel Horwood, die het uit principe vertikt om een normaal ritme te slaan. De inventieve ritmes passen uitstekend bij het gitaarwerk, dat zo lijkt weggelopen uit de Afrikaanse muziek.
 
Het gitaarwerk en drumwerk vullen elkaar prachtig aan en contrasteren met de bijzondere wijze waarop in de openingstrack strijkers worden ingezet en met de weer typisch Brits aandoende zang van de dames van Trash Kit, die overigens ook Afrikaans aandoende koortjes niet uit de weg gaan.
 
Het is nog altijd muziek die allerlei associaties oproept met de muziek van de eerder genoemde vrouwenbands uit de jaren 70, maar Trash Kit heeft op haar derde album ook een nadrukkelijker eigen geluid en het is een geluid dat me wel bevalt.
 
Horizon wordt gedomineerd door onnavolgbaar drumwerk, Afrikaans aandoende gitaarlijnen en wat onvaste zang en koortjes, maar Trash Kit voegt naast strijkers ook blazers en piano toe aan haar geluid, waardoor de band steeds weer net iets anders klinkt.
 
Door de ritmes doet Horizon ook wel wat denken aan de beste momenten van het zwaar onderschatte Bow Wow Wow, dat ik ooit eens in het voorprogramma van Queen de sterren van de hemel zag spelen; iets wat overigens totaal niet werd gewaardeerd door de fanatieke Queen fans, die de band met bierblikjes van het podium kegelden.
 
Voor een ieder die aan het einde van de jaren 70 niet onder de indruk was van de eerder genoemde bands, doet de muziek van Trash Kit waarschijnlijk wat chaotisch aan, maar ik vond het, in tegenstelling tot bij beluistering van de vorige albums van de band, direct prachtig.
 
Door de aan de Afrikaanse muziek ontleende gitaarlijnen klinkt de muziek van Trash Kit zonnig en zomers en ook de ritmes dragen bij aan een zomergevoel. Aan de andere kant klinkt de muziek van de band uit Londen ook typisch Brits, wat zorgt voor wat donkere wolken en een regenbuitje op Horizon, wat nog eens wordt versterkt door de donkere baslijnen op het album, waarvoor Gill Partington tekent.
 
Zeker bij beluistering met de koptelefoon viel me op dat Trash Kit haar best heeft gedaan om de instrumentatie op Horizon te versieren met subtiele details, waardoor de muziek van de band verder aan kracht wint. Helemaal nieuw is de combinatie van Britse new wave en post-punk en exotische gitaarklanken en ritmes natuurlijk niet, maar in het aanbod van het moment klinkt Trash Kit wat mij betreft fris en avontuurlijk en hoe vaker ik naar het album luister, hoe leuker het wordt.

Erwin Zijleman


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Borka Balogh. Borka Balogh

An album by an artist/band I had never heard from before. Borka Balogh is a singer with Hungarian roots living in Amsterdam. On the self-titled album she explores a dreamy side of the pop and soft rock segment. Music and singing bring one band to mind immediately. Not from Amsterdam but The Hague, Earth & Fire and its singer Jerney Kaagman. It's here the similarities also stop as Borka Balogh does not hold any symphonic rock antics.

The music serves the singer at all times on this album. My impression is that the vocal melodies are always leading. It is the music that follows. Together they create a sort of musical dream world. What sticks out though, this is not a rosy dream world driven by an urge for escapism. For that this world is too dark. Unpleasantness and uncomfortability is a part of this dream world. Confrontation is a part of the whole as well. Here I hear similarities with the music Elene May has made on its latest album, 'Veggie Patch In The Desert'. Borka Balogh and Elenne Klok share the same way of vocal delivery as well (not to speak of the covers of "Veggie Patch" and Borka Balogh's first album 'Traces Of You').

All together 'Borka Balogh' has led to almost irresistible listening in the past weeks. I'm not writing that I'm listening to brilliance, what I am writing is this album is simply beautiful. Without a need to force her music in any way, it stands it ground. The only exotic element is the Hungarian (at least I assume it is) singing/chanting in the opening song, 'Gone'. Also one of the songs with a full band sound. Very often the music catches me simply by an acoustic guitar and atmospherics around the voice. When the band joins, the guitar riff in 'Gone' is attractive immediately, it adds to the quality of the song and album.

The strong point of 'Borka Balogh' is that the songs do not need the force of drums and a firm bass to stand their ground. A few notes on an organ carry the intro of 'Nostalgia'. They may sound familiar, but do the job. The song could have found a place on Para Lia's debut album 'Soup Bubble Dreams', the outcome would have been so much different. The difference between what more can I add to impress versus what more does this song need to be complete? Both excel in their own way.

'Borka Balogh' is an album that has found a fine balance between atmosphere and force. Where the force mostly is something one can imagine being added, while the songs are more than good as they are. An album for the young and the old dream rockers.

Wo.

You can listen to and buy 'Borka Balogh' here:

https://borkabalogh.bandcamp.com/


or listen to our Spotify Playlist to find out what we are writing about:

https://open.spotify.com/user/glazu53/playlist/6R9FgPd2btrMuMaIrYeCh6?si=KI6LzLaAS5K-wsez5oSO2g