While Graham Nash's songwriting has never been as great as his ego, the man did write a number of classic pop songs in his time ("King Midas In Reverse", "Military Madness", "Cathedral"). His new album, Now (★★★), is a humble little collection of singer-songwriter pop rock that is moderately catchy, pleasant and safe. The standout is the heavily orchestrated ballad titled "I Watched It All Come Down" which manages to be both subtle and absolutely majestic.
Another notable songwriter from the 60s, Paul Simon, has released a religious 33-minute folk-opus named Seven Psalms (★★★) this month. While that may not sound like a mouth-watering proposition, it is actually a surprisingly intriguing experience that may lack catharsis but does have plenty of taste. There is, however, a certain subversive folk rock catharsis in the music of Band Of Holy Joy. Their new album, Fated Beautiful Mistakes (★★★½), is not quite More Tales From The City, but in between intricate arrangements and pleasantly unsettling vocals - there is so much beauty and style.
Staying with folk music for a while, Kevin Morby's More Photographs (★★★½) is a welcome continuation of his excellent LP from last year. In addition to the new versions of three of that album's best songs ("This Is A Photograph", "Bittersweet, TN", "Five Easy Pieces"), More Photographs features a few more stylish highlights including the quietly intense and cathartic mini-epic "Triumph".
Pere Ubu's new album Trouble On Big Beat Street (★★★★) should crumble and fall apart, but that never really happens. As a matter of fact, it all works - despite the dissonance and the sheer experimentation. Take the very first song, the very unwelcoming "Love Is Like Gravity": if you do not like it, you do not stand a chance with this band. Circus noises ("Nyah Nyah Nyah"), piercing guitars that could be described as either grating or ringing (maybe both), David Thomas's idiosyncratic vocals (if ever there was a man worthy of that adjective)... This is so wrong, and yet so oddly well-written. Pere Ubu's best album in decades. Oh and just to disturb the listener even more: "Crazy Horses" almost sounds like a straight-up rock song.
As I have already said earlier this month, one of my albums of May was Johnny Tchekhova's Bleu Collapse (★★★★) which sounded a bit like if 80s Cocteau Twins were actually French and slightly more approachable. Speaking of approachable, I had not been pinning too much hope on Silver Haze (★★★½) by Jim Jarmusch's band called SQÜRL. But it was somewhat of a revelation. The noise is colourful and the drones are eventful - this is real music that has something to say, and there are moments of Godspeed You!-styled beauty and intensity. I could listen to the story of "The End Of The World" for days.
Finally, there has been lots of praise for The Lemon Twigs's new album Everything Harmony (★★★). And it is a lovely pastiche of 60s/70s power pop and made me think of bands like Todd Rundgren's Nazz whose music suffered from a desperate lack of charisma. Not much identity here, either, but the harmonies are rather lovely (especially on "Every Day Is The Worst Day Of My Life").
Songs of the Month:
Grian Chatten - "Fairlies"
Blur - "The Narcissist"
Sparks - "It's Sunny Today"
Johnny Tchekhova - "Ceci n'est pas une chanson française"
Kevin Morby - "Triumph"
Graham Nash - "I Watched It All Come Down"
The Lemon Twigs - "Every Day Is The Worst Day Of My Life"
