A new post talking about new albums - Spiritualized, Jack White, BJM, Ty Segall & WHite Fence, Magic Castles, The Dandy Warhols

Now then now then, Blogger has gone and changed its layout which has thrown me off course. I have started very slowly with this new post as I am finding my way round the new site. It shouldn't of bothered me this much, but I couldn't stop looking at the new features which tell me how many visits the blog has had etc. Nearly 3000 views which aint to bad at all. Its probably a really small number compared to other blogs, but the only other blog I can compare it to is my movie blog, "Your tearing me apart Lisa" which has a pathetic 400 views, so based on that "Sitar" is doin very well - so cheers! Now im going to say a few things about some new albums. First of all, Spiritualizeds latest album "Sweet Heart Sweet Light" has been released. I blogged about my first listen which you can read somewhere on here. I liked it on first listen and spent the next few days rinsing the shit out of it. Unfortunately it doesn't have much staying power. The songs I liked began to grate on me and the ones that didnt hit the spot on first listen have failed to make any further impact. This is probably my own fault for playing "Hey Jane" on repeat for 5 days straight. Listening to a 10 minute song over and over again can end up sending you mad. Dont do this, show it some respect! I did this to about 4 songs on the album and im gonna have to take a break from it until I listen to it again. Its by no means a bad album, in fact its pretty good, it is however quite hit and miss and doesnt really bring anything new to the table. Its a decent enough Spiritualized album. Nothing more nothing less. I will say this though, it might be there most accessible album for newbies. There is a decent mix of massive anthems layered with strings and choirs and electric guitar freak outs that wont scare to many people away. If I was you though, go with "Ladies & Gentleman We Are Floating In Space". This is a bonafide classic and still remains Jason Pearces best bit of work. Jack White has released Blunderbus, his first solo album. Jacks body of work is something quite special. Everyone knows the White Stripes were amazing. They made blues rock'n'roll mainstream during a time when we were surrounded by auto-tune pop and guitars were looked upon with disdain. His 2 other projects, The Raconteurs and Dead Weather, have for the most part been a great success. Although neither of the two side projects scaled the same dizzying heights as The White Stripes, the tunes were there. By having the motivation and talent to front 3 bands while keeping the creative spark alive and at a consistently high level, a solo album would be a pice of piss, right? And thankfully, although it probably wasnt a peace of piss, Blunderbus is another extremely strong outing for Jack White. There are no obvious bangers on here, nothing getting close to the almighty riffs we got from The 'Stripes, but 13 extremely well crafted songs that vary from straight out blues to other worldly country. Its an extremely honest off loading of emotions that you would expect centres around the break up of The 'Stripes, and considering this is Whites 12th album, its quite an achievement that its such a pleasure to listen to. The Brian Jonestown Massacres latest album, Aufheben, was recently streamed on Spotify ahead of its release and its without question the bands best work since the early naughties. Its a sprawling apololiptic, druggy party album. It might not be everyones cup of tea (what is?), but its a fantastic realisation of someones idea. Its hard to place this album under one particular genre. Its new and old, scary and happy, rocking and chilled out, all at the same time and mixes the early blues rock sound of The BJMs earlier work with the dance groove beats that filtered into there music this century. Below is one of the more mellow tracks from the album which is currently being included in there live set. Speaking of The BJM and Anton, recently "Magic Castles" signed to his label "A records" and have released there debut as a signed band. The album is self titled and is a gorgeous listen from start to finish. Its everything you would expect from a band signed by Anton. Layers upon layers of feedback and fuzz giving the entire mix a dreamy, laid back, very '60s sound. Alot of these bands that embrace this particular sound start off sounding great but then on repeated listens it becomes obvious they are just poor imitators of not only BJM, but that entire genre. Bands like The Stevenson Ranch Davidions, The Black Ryder and Secret Machines are examples of bands that have been very much influenced by fuzzy 60's psychedlia that boarder on being imitators of the sound, rather than taking inspiration and building on it. Tame Impala, Ty Segall and Asteroid #4 are examples of how to get it right, and Magic Castles can rub shoulders with these guys. And that brings me on nicely to Ty Segalls latest bit of work. This time he has teamed up with White Fence (as in Tim Presley, lead singer/songwriter of Darker My Love - White Fence is what he goes by away from the band). Its a short but engaging slice of garage rock/60's psych that channels the likes of Donovan, George Harrison and Nuggets favourites such as The Standells. Other releases include Graham Coxon and The Dandy Warhols, neither of which I have listened to yet. I recently heard a track from The Dandys new one and was less than impressed. I think its fair to say that I enjoyed there first 3 albums but since then there musical output has gone seriously downhill. I just cant get on board with there yuppyish ways and there weird take on 60's psych and 90's rock. Sorry, but this just aint that great, is it? It might be his voice. It really grates on me thesedays, especially when its on extremely average tunes. Im so bored of this particular blog im gonna stop. Next time i might talk about something different, like how to learn the recorder in one day. Not that I know how thats possible, but I can certainly write about it. Give at least one of those albums a go, theyre all pretty decent. Do it. Do it.