STACK NZ Mar #60

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48 MARCH 2015 JB Hi-Fi
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds
Chasing Yesterday
He’s damn near caught it a few times, it’s true;
but you couldn’t call Chasing Yesterday the most
backward-looking album of Noel Gallagher’s career.
Self-produced for the first time, it’s steeped in the
distinctive mega-layered cadences and explosive
chorus tricks that made Oasis some kind of monument to two-fisted classic
rock. But there’re fewer of the tiresome Beatlisms that make his brother
Liam’s band, Beady Eye, ring so hollow. There’s a progressive ‘70s vibe
to the beefy disco beats of In the Heat of the Moment and Ballad of the
Mighty I (check out Johnny Marr’s expertly understated guitar work), and
even a spot of jazz fusion horn tomfoolery in the climactic gasps of The
Right Stuff. Lyrically, Gallagher is in no hurry to rhyme above his station
when a couplet like “She shot me to the sun / Like a bullet from a gun” fits
just fine, but as a writer, singer and now producer, he’s a man in undeniable
command of his own epic soundtrack.
Michael Dwyer
Laura Marling
Short Movie
An itinerant wanderer since
her teens, Marling chose Los
Angeles as her home base for a
while and her fifth album takes
its inspiration from the sprawling,
celebrity-obsessed city. A deeply
personal song-cycle born of
self-reflection, Short Movie is an
apt title and not just because of
the spectre of Tinsel Town. It’s
cinematic: forget whispers and
delicate guitar; with her touring
band in tow, Marling has blown
her sound wide open, her voice
enriched, her phrasing bold. But
embedded in the rich imagery
and atmospheric splendour is a
beating heart overwrought by
joy and pain. A richly rewarding
album.
Jonathan Alley
Modest Mouse
Strangers to Ourselves
Those kooky cross-genre cats
are back! It’s been nigh on
eight years, but it feels like
only yesterday, particularly
after a mere ten seconds
listening to the soothing
menace of their opening title
track. Pistol dances between
Ween and Nine Inch Nails with
an infectious groove and dirty
lyrics (a highlight), while The
Ground Walks … falls squarely
into dance party slick, with a
tinge of Talking Heads. Any way
you cut it, the 14 tracks offered
here are well worth the wait;
cool kids and groovy elders,
your new favourite album of
2015 is ready and willing.
Chris Murray
Mark Knopfler
Tracker
Knopfler's eighth solo album
is up there with his best work;
this is superb musicianship from
the master guitarist and his
versatile band (bass, drums, keys,
fiddle, flute with occasional sax
and accordion) and a dazzling
collection of new songs. Favouring
subtle arrangements that give
his musicians plenty of space,
Knopfler draws on personal
experiences: playing in small
pubs in London with his old
band Dire Straits, the inspiration
of poet Basil Bunting and writer
Beryl Bainbridge, and touring with
Bob Dylan. On another song he
shares vocals with Australian Ruth
Moody, who fronts Canadian band
The Wailin' Jennys.
Billy Pinnell
British India
Nothing Touches Me
British India are Australian rock’s
quiet achievers. Their fifth album
starts on a reflective note, with
singer Declan Melia offering an
act of contrition: “I’m sorry I
arrived late again.” It could be
the story of the band’s career,
as they appeared at the end of
the 'new rock' scene. But who
cares? British India have survived.
And few bands possess such an
assured grasp of rock dynamics,
able to switch effortlessly from
sensitivity to glorious chaos. “The
years are stacking up now,” Melia
acknowledges in Angela. Call
them veterans, but British India
remain vital. Jeff Jenkins
Jose Gonzalez
Vestiges and Claws
In 2015, making a compelling
noise with voice and guitar is a
challenge, given the method’s now
over-used history. But Sweden’s
Jose Gonzalez continues to pull it
off, and Vestiges and Claws is a
case in point; his voice remains
its plaintive, distinctive self and
his guitar is used to paint singular
and hypnotic melodies, not just
chop out chords. A detached
meditation the state of humanity
and the planet Earth, this album
was recorded in his home studio
– birds can be heard cheeping
outside windows, and doors
slam in the background – and the
sparse instrumentation (voice,
guitar, some wind) suits the songs
perfectly. Jonathan Alley
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Shakey Graves
And the War Came
Alejandro Rose-Garcia is an actor
and singer-songwriter from Austin,
Texas, who performs as Shakey
Graves. Music has become his
main focus; usually performing
as a one-man band playing guitar
and stomping on a suitcase kick
drum, he has a sound all his own,
influenced by Springsteen, Waits
and Van Zandt. Described as ‘lo-fi
Americana’ and ‘hobo folk’, this is
a melting pot of alternative country
with folksy, bluesy, rockin’ soul. On
this, his second album, he’s joined
on vocals by Esme Patterson on a
few tracks. From the subtle to the
outright loud, this is a beautifully
haunting and inspiringly uplifting
release.
Denise Hylands