Villagers - Becoming a Jackall

Villagers - Becoming a Jackal
Release Date: 24th May 2010
Label: Domino

1. I Saw The Dead
2. Becoming A Jackal
3. Ship Of Promises
4. Meaning Of The Ritual
5. Home6. That Day
7. Pact (I'll Be Your Fever)
8. Set The Tigers Free
9. Twenty-Seven Strangers
10. Pieces
11. To Be Counted Among Men

This may be quite a gross generalisation but pretty much all records that are produced by Domino have a certain level of quality. 'Becoming a Jackal' is no exception from that. Domino have released a number of high quality albums over the last year; Volume Two by She & Him, Heartland by Owen Pallett and Boys Outside by Steve Mason. They are a label that can spot talent a mile off, and Conor O'Brien who is 'Villagers' most certainly is talented, playing all the instruments you hear throughout the album. His amazingly well crafted lyrics are those of someone who possesses far more experience than the young Irishman does. People have likened him to Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst but the only proof of this is the occasional acoustic number. This comparison seems pretty lazy and just based on the fact that they share a first name and make sort of folky music. If anything Conor O'Brien is far more like Arcade Fire, but in other words, he is very good. Although this album seems very layered at times with conventional indie guitars and quieter folky elements, when it is stripped down it seems the most effective. On 'Meaning of the Ritual' and 'Home' the gently strummed acoustic guitar relies and focuses on vocal harmonies, and for me this is the high point of the album.


There is no point spoiling all the images that are weaved by Conor in this album as it is much better experienced aurally. There have only been a few memorable debuts this year but 'Becoming a Jackal' has changed that, and we are left thinking how on earth do Domino do it?

Wild Nothing - Gemini

Wild Nothing - Gemini
Release Date: March 25th 2010
Label: Captured Tracks

1.  Live in Dreams
2.  Summer Holiday
3.  Drifter
4.  Pessimist
5.  O, Lilac
6.  Bored Games
7.  Confirmation
8.  My Angel Lonely
9.  The Witching Hour
10. Chinatown
11. Our Composition Book
12. Gemini


Here is the debut from Jack Tatum aka Wild Nothing. This blissed out, shoegaze, US Indie Pop record has come out just in time for summer and will leave you in awe of the mastery of it. Wild Nothing's first track was a memorable cover of Kate Bush's 'Cloudbusting'. He managed to take a forgotten 80s bubblegam track and turn it into a dreamy massage of soothing heartbreak. 


Gemini is an album that is as crushingly beautiful as it is inspiring. The trasnsparrent guitars are so washed out that they are barely audible, and they conjur up images of blurred neon lights in the rain.  Gemini starts of with 'Live in Dreams' which acts as the front of house; welcoming you in, and chances are you will find it hard to resist as Jack tells us that "our lips won't last forever". This song and the rest of the album are bursting at the seams with hovering, gorgeous sound effects. Drifter is another song that takes you off to somewhere than can only exist in your dreams, conjurring up heavenly paradise like sounds. Second to last on the album comes the song ‘Our Composition Book’, which is a glamorous, picture-perfect pop song complete with shimmering sounds and some excellent guitar playing by guess who...Jack Tatum himself.

"I've reached a point in my life where I'm expected to be an adult, but I feel the same as I did at 17. I never want to forget the things I've loved in my life, or how it feels to be young and carefree" - Jack Tatum

The album is a very refreshing listen, with all of the songs being drenched in spaced out, glamorous shoegaze-ambient sounds. This sound is fairly alike other new bands that are coming out of America at the moment, such as Warpaint and Pure Ecstasy. Another band that these guys remind me of is The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart. I really recommend this album as one to have on while your sunbathing or just sitting up in your room. It is one where you can fully immerse yourself and lose your trail of thought completely.

Freelance Whales - Weathervanes

Having formed in 2008 it has taken Freelance Whales 2 years to craft their debut album, but even on first listen you can see that the time has paid off as each song seems like a classic. The amazing arrangements of anything they could get their hands on, such as banjo, cello, synths, glockenspiel and a waterphone (whatever that is). Weathervanes seems so familiar, like the album you have been looking for for ages. Some of the lyrics are nonseniscial 'Every now and then she offers me a lemon now or later' but are still evocative enough to avoid being throwaway. Their tunes are catchy and album opener 'Generator ^ First Floor' and 'Hannah' can and will get stuck in your head. Your insulin will definitely have a hard time breaking down the excessive levels of sweetness throughout but Weathervanes still thrives as beautifully performed orchestral pop. Although this is about as cutesy and poppy as my music taste goes you still have to appreciate the consciensous songwriting craftsmenship. These guys are a great band and I expect a lot more to come. They are playing a few festivals over the summer and I am going to see them at Truck in which they will no doubt impress. I'm now off to listen to Iron Maiden for the rest of the evening to tame my soaring levels of pop and self loving.

Slaraffenland - We're On Your Side

Slaraffenland are a Danish 5-piece who mix post-rock with jazz, folk and pop elements into a sound that comes across as rather excellent in my mind. Their third album was released in the summer of 2009 but is still building momentum and only now starting to gain the recognition it deserves. They are also getting slighty more mainstream acknowledgement as theier label were interviwed on Huw Stephens' Radio 1 show two weeks ago and were spoken about a lot. What sets Slaraffenland apart from other bands of a smilar genre is that they tend to avoid easy discord and dissonance and assembles often-disjointed pieces into something downright serene, even peaceful. But it lacks the spark needed to fully ignite these ideas, to kick up the pleasantries into enlivened flames. This is only their second release to feature vocals, and 'We’re On Your Side' might have benefited from continued muteness, their chants often distracting rather than adding to the atmosphere. Nonetheless this is still an album which is soothing on the ears and altough all the songs are so diverse in instrumentation and beats they all seem to posses the same kind of feel to them. This album mixes upbeat pop beats with melancholy horns and mesmerizingly beautiful chords and lyrics not perfectly but I'm sure this band have it in them, I reckon their next album might be something special.