Mathrock (and other madness) Mix by Savant – Free Soundcloud Mix

Savant

As Savant prepare to unleash their math-rock madness at Blue Whale Studios under the watchful eyes and er, ears of Dom James, we asked them to put together a mix of tunes together to help us get an idea of what’s in their head and also for your listening pleasure! Enjoy x

Savant song mix by savant

Frank’s Choices:

‘Fast Canoe’ by Polvo

Polvo

After having the latest album for a while and enjoying it I decided to check the old ones out. Man, this is the first track of ‘Exploding Drawing’. It’s sort of math with a post rock feel but the melodies and drums fit perfectly. It feels like Slint but poppier and heavier. It works man. Its like bacon on pancakes with syrup which I only tried recently on tour with Green Day in America (I did go to America, but not with Green Day, infact i hate them) and it was so good!

‘I Never Liked You’ by Don Caballero

Don Caballero

Don Caballero! One of the finest bands ever. I’ve seen a lot of bands around Myspace who have these as there influences. They brought a new type on math rock to the scene and added the loops too. Drums are a big part in Don Caballero and in Savant they are too. We like the guitar to correspond with each other melody wise to create abstract melodies with a heavy at some times improvised drum sound with the bass keeping the sound full. If I was too say a band that influenced my playing and certainly Savants playing now it would be these. I have no idea what Liam, Ed or George think we sound like but I hope there gonna like my comparison.

‘Breadcrum Trail’ by Slint

Slint

Ahhhhhhhh Slint. Ohhhhhh Slint. Spiderland is like one of my all time favorites. The pioneers of modern post-rock!! The lyrics are so daunting and scarily hide behind the songs raw and powerful sound. Every fan of modern math / post / noise should listen to this album. One of Touch and Go’s finest records! Its scarily beautiful and really allows you to explore the guitar to find things that you don’t realize at first but come together and sound grand. Plus its about palm readers, which you may think isn’t interesting but surprisingly when its screamed its awesome.

Plus listen to –

Whatever Burns Never Returns – Don Caballero
Hold Your Horse Is – Hella
Mirrored – Battles
Every Polvo album
Pele – The Nudes

Liam’s Choices

‘Airplanes’ by Local Natives

Local Natives

When I first heard the relatively new album from Local Natives, I didn’t really think it was anything special. I mean, yeah it was quite a nice thing to listen to, but I wasn’t exactly overwhelmed. Well, now I’ve changed my mind. I could choose any of the first three tracks and I would be certain I’d chosen a good song. Not only do I like the guys moustache, but their songs always seem so well structured. They’re just great.

Airplanes starts off with them making stupid noises, but when you’re past that this song is perfect (although I quite like the noises). I think it’s probably everything I like about music piled together in this song (especially the strings) and I think I’ve played it every day since I got the album. Always nice to hear “I want you back” as well. It kinds of makes me wish my band wasn’t so hectic. I want to make music like this.

‘Go Long’ by Joanna Newsom

Joanna Newsom

I’m not ashamed that I love Joanna Newsom. I’m obsessed with her right now, something which is only coincidentally timed with the release of her new album. Maybe.
It’s two hours long I think, so it is hard to listen to in one go. But really my life is kind of substandard outside music so I ploughed through it. And ‘Go Long’ has only recently become my favourite song. I don’t think the rest of the band will be very happy with my choices, they’re not exactly in keeping with whatever genre we’re at right now. Plus this song is more embarrassing because of what it’s about.

Can I describe something as beautiful without anyone taking the piss? Probably not but I can try.

‘Shaking Hand’ by Women

Women

I just rediscovered this song and I’m glad I did. It’s such a good song, and I appreciate the time signature (not that I can follow it or know what it is). The guitars and the bass seem to go together perfectly, and the drums just keep clacking away. Either this or ‘Lawncare’ are my favourite songs by Women. I think that last minute or so of ‘Shaking Hand’ just wins it for me, everything just fits.
This is kind of a token song, my favourite song at the moment is actually by the best grime MC around Trim (Trimothy, Trimbal) called ‘Old School Bars’. Either that or a twenty minute piece of music by Moonface called ‘Marimbas and Shit Drum’s. It’s kind of like Steve Reich with alternative music in mind. Still, this song’s sick.

Ed’s Choices

‘1-800-Ghost-Dance’ by Hella

Hella

So when I first listened to Hella, my thoughts were mixed and I didn’t know whether to like it or not. The craziness and overall strangeness of this music overwhelmed me, but it came to grow on me; now  Hella are now one of my favorite bands. Hella have produced many albums over the years they’ve been active, but having the addition of vocals, rhythm guitar, synth and bass really cut the cord for me. Their first album Hold Your Horse Is is pure glory, I love the way it’s so simple, yet full of the most energetic and exciting ways to produce music. Hold Your Horse Is is indeed, my favorite from Hella and ‘ 1-800-Ghost-Dance’ is top of my list, I really enjoy the way Zach Hill and Spencer Siem, seem to just fit together perfectly with the twangly guitar and probably the craziest, hectic and manic drums going.

‘Every Place is a House’ by Maps & Atlases

Maps & Atlases

I’m really into Maps & Atlases. It’s kind of like, how should I put it, a more ‘full’ Hella, but hitting those major notes. They create their own distinctive sound with Dave Davison’s vocal work, a strange, rounded type of singing and hit the high-frequiencies with the bass, still bouncing around their songs. One thing I notice (and hard not to!) when listening to Trees, Swallows, Houses, is the transition between the slowly paced, relaxing ‘The Ongoing Horrible’ and quickly changing to frighten the living daylights out of you with ‘Every Place is a House’. I’m still loving the guitar tapping from both guitarists and little breaks here and there, with constant crashing of the cymbals. To cut it short – if your a fan of Hella, then you’ll most definitely like Maps & Atlases.

‘It’s Not True Rufus, Don’t Listen To The Hat’ by This Town Needs Guns

This Town Needs Guns

Veering from the Hella and Maps & Atlases genre (whatever it is, I don’t know), This Town Needs Guns are more of the ’emo’ genre (American Football, Cap’N Jazz, Owls etc) and really have changed from their split CD with Cats and Cats and Cats to Animals, which is more jolly and dancy. None the less, I’m still equally drawn to the singles and split CD, as it is a whole different This Town Needs Guns. Probably best known for ’26 Is Dancier Than 4′ (from the split CD), it’s fairly similar to It’s Not True Rufus, Don’t Listen To The Hat, but, to my despair, they don’t play most of their earlier stuff live. I’m a real big fan of twiddly, twangly guitars and pretty mad drums, so It’s Not True Rufus, Don’t Listen To The Hat pretty much sums me up, it has all the aspects I enjoy out of a good song, but most of all it’s crafted well. Very well. I’m digging the way Chris Collis seamlessly changes his beat from a ‘follow the snare, if you can’ beat to a pretty straight forward standard beat, it gives the song a ‘wow’.

‘We Want War’ by These New Puritans

These New Puritans

Their gig at the Hare & Hounds was too cool. Drowned in smoke it was a indie Sunn O))) show. Hidden is just revolutionary in my eyes in how indie can be made. Mixing minimalistic, classical and fresh indie beats just create the perfect mix. At the start it sounds like Swords of Truth but the whole depth of the song is just so much more mature than that but equally superb. I just recommend this album to any up and coming band just so they can realize experimenting works and will get you noticed. We experiment and it seems to pay off.

Free Mix by Is I Cinema

As intelli-poppers Is I Cinema enter Blue Whale Studios to record new tracks, ‘Apocrypha’ and ‘St. Nazaire’, we asked them to provide us with a mix of ten tunes that are currently offering reference points and influence for the band’s sound.

Helen, Tan, Dom, Carl and Olly give us an explanation of why these tunes are floating their collective boats:

1. ‘Drum Courts – Where Corals Lie’ by These New Puritans

These New Puritans by Harley Weir

Olly: ‘A terrifyingly talented lot. We went to see them at The Hare & Hounds and were seriously impressed. Any band that brings monastic chants to King’s Heath should be treasured. People are saying Hidden is a really bleak, almost unlistenable record but I think it’s extremely beautiful. With the brass leitmotifs there’s something undeniably British about it and percussively they are light years ahead of the rest. Dom and I plan to plagiarise all their beats.’

2. ‘Jumpers’ by Sleater-Kinney

Sleater-Kinney

Helen: ‘Sleater-Kinney is the second best defunct lesbian rock band in the world. I’ve been listening to a lot of them this winter and this is my favourite song from their last album, “The Woods”. It has a great groove and is really well crafted.’

3. ‘Arc-Lite’ by Loop

Carl: ‘Late 80’s hypnotic drone rock. Driving repetitive riffs, gorgeous stereo, delayed ambient vocals. Honey dripped distortion.’

4. ‘Waiting for You’ by King Midas Sound

Waiting for You by King Midas Sound

Dom: ‘The KMS album was getting played to death (by me at least) when we were writing ‘Apocrypha’. It’s where all the dubby elements of the song were coming from. The lyric from Apocrypha is based on a lesser character from Neil Gaiman’s Sandman. I think that if Sandman were being written now there would definitely be references to dubstep. I could imagine Dream would be a big fan of this kind of dark breezy sound.’

5. ‘Song to the Siren’ by This Mortal Coil

This Mortal Coil

Tan: ‘This has to be one of the greatest covers ever recorded.  This Mortals Coil’s version of Tim Buckley’s ‘Song to the Siren’ features Elizabeth Fraser of Cocteau Twins, as stunningly as ever, on vocals. Liz was the girlfriend of Jeff Buckley before he died (her lyric and vocal on ‘Teardrop’ by Massive Attack is about his death).  Jeff loved Liz before they even met, (he owned all her records), and, infatuated with her voice, an intense relationship ensued.  Liz, as well as being equally enamoured with Jeff’s, was also a huge Tim Buckley fan (hence this cover of Siren).There’s no one quite like Liz Fraser and I defy anyone who hears this song not to be moved by it; it’s as beautiful as it is heartbreaking.  One for the lovelorn.’

6. ‘Dramamine’ by Modest Mouse

Modest Mouse

Dom: ‘There is a moment in ‘St. Nazaire’ that is me trying to emulate the tumbling riff of this song. A bloody great number this, first track, first album, I’m not sure if they have penned a better song than this one. Lyrically similar to ‘St. Nazaire as well thinking about it’ — does travelling vast distances construct or de-construct us?’

7. ‘April’ by PJ Harvey & John Parish

PJ Harvey & John Parish

Tan: ‘PJ Harvey remains one of my all time favourite artists. Inventive, compelling, bold in her approach; creatively, she’s mindful not to tread the same ground twice. Taken from last year’s joint effort with long-time collaborator John Parish, ‘April’ is an adventurous record in which she immerses herself in the characters she writes, both vocally and lyrically. I love her exploration of the word – in one instance referring to April as if a person, inferring the month of April in another.  One thing’s for certain, what she sings of here is loneliness. Set to the stark, sorrowful waltz composed by Parish, this is Polly at her most emotive.’

8. ‘Out Of Sight’ by Spiritualized

Spirtiualized's Jason Pierce

Carl: ‘I could pick one of many Spiritualized tracks. They’re probably the band that has influenced me more than any other. ‘Out Of Sight’ however has beautiful blues / gospel tinged verses coupled with huge, instrumental choruses. Simple melodies / complex arrangements. Horns, strings, guitars, drums, a soaring crescendo and an ambiguous lyric about drugs abuse. There’s a great live version on Jools Holland if you can track it down. And check this out: http://shoegazeralive4.blogspot.com/‘

9. ‘Washer’ by Slint

Slint

Helen: ‘We’re just the latest of a long line of bands that are influenced by Slint. This is a beautiful song, both musically and lyrically. It’s devilishly hypnotic until it comes out and hits you in the face. And it doesn’t feel like it’s nine minutes long.’

10. ‘Just Dance’ by Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga

Olly: ‘Essential postmodern pop. I caught her Glasto performance on New Year’s Eve and was blown away. I love the fact that she’s followed around by an entourage of creatives, The Haus of Gaga. Brilliantly Warholian. You can’t deny the synths on this nor the ‘da da doo doos’, it’s a tune and it would go down in a treat in one of those Ballardian, out-of-town bowling alleys.’

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Review – These New Puritans @HareandHounds

These New Puritans
The Hare and Hounds
Birmingham Promoters
2nd February 2010

A hurried 9pm taxi ride to Kings Heath is a welcome surprise as opposed to another quiet night in Edgbaston on what could be any other Tuesday night. Bundling into The Hare and Hounds however defies expectations as the regulars scarcely notice an out of breath gig-goer scurry past.

Managing to dodge the perils of the stairs, it soon becomes clear why it is so quiet downstairs as Room 1 is absolutely packed with a diverse crowd. In fact the one thing that all these people have in common is that they are all staring intently towards the stage as many appear to be curious types having heard all about this throwaway indie band who came out of nowhere with an incredible second album; no, it’s not The Horrors. There’s no support band tonight as Trailer Trash Tracy’s pulled out leaving Superstore DJs to command the floor who relish the opportunity with effortless confidence.

A brief encounter with promoter extraordinaire and mastermind behind Birmingham Promoters, Carlo Solazzo, all but tells us that These New Puritans aren’t in need of any support act, but all the same it’s a bit of a shame that a local band couldn’t have jumped into such a tasty slot last minute.

The room is so full that only the first few rows seem to notice that four people are on stage and by the time Sophie Sleigh-Johnson and Thomas Hein begin to fire out samples and start to articulate the throbbing brass stabs of ‘We Want War,’ expectation is running high.

This swirling of samples in the dark creates a tense and spikey ambiance that instantly sucks everyone in which just makes the first hits on the drums by George Barnett even more earth shattering. The sound tonight seems to be particularly huge and in retrospect many attendees instantly remarked on how huge the drums sounded – this proves to be an integral part of TNP’s set tonight as sludgy sawtooth lines, pounding loops dominate the next forty minutes. It’s the sound of titans marching across mountains and causes twice the damage on tonight’s audience. This is incredible to try and take in as the room shakes and people can do nothing more except simply stand there, mouths aghast and eyes rolling in a religious trance as frontman George Barnett sermons from the middle of the stage.

Sadly, this effect wears off after about four songs and you start to think this might not actually be the most incredible thing ever. Gauging the reaction of several other members of the crowd seems to suggest that the feeling is starting to spread though as people start to get fidgety and start to expect something a little more special – but from our perspective there simply isn’t any room to tack on a lead guitar or a little keyboard ditty as TNPs’ seem to box themselves into a corner with their brilliantly difficult, angular and dark sound.

The quality is still extremely high and considering how much is going on it’s nothing short of a miracle that the Southend-on-Sea quartet can keep it as tight as they do as they are nothing short of perfect. So in short it seems to us like a Catch 22: a cute, upbeat song at this point, while providing some light relief, would be too obvious an attempt to break up the set and would obviously stick two fingers up to the first half that has worked so hard at building the atmosphere that pervades through the whole set.

Towards the end the band disappear amongst the smoke that has been pouring out through the entire set and through a blue fog Barnett shouts, ‘We’re invisible!’ It is a rare flash of personality from the quiet and brooding indie prodigy and something that is sadly too infrequent – his rhythmic vocal delivery adds very little to the overall performance and is simply lost in the sea of tribal drums, loop bleeping and synth noodling.

This is of course just a predictable symptom of such a huge amount of hype that TNP can easily live up to – their massive strengths lay in their monumental togetherness and their huge sound that sucks everything into it like a blissfully heavy black hole. It just appears at the moment that the quartet are simply pushing too much of a good thing, but it isn’t difficult to understand why they can make a whole set out of their mighty soundscapes as it is utterly heart stopping.

After getting back downstairs there are countless people stood outside debating the set, some people have a similar idea to this humble blog, whereas many others think the whole thing is sublime. Arguments aside, it’s massively uplifting to see a music venue buzzing with interested and active people old and young and is another one of Birmingham Promoter’s achievements over such a short period of time. Where we can all moan about less and less people going to gigs and independent record stores and ultimately supporting their local music scene, tonight has proved that there is a huge glut of enthusiastic people out there ready to be blown away.

Tim Mobbs

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