Originally broadcast on Purple Radio from Dunelm House at 10:00pm on Monday 26th April 2010 with special guest James Morton. Conversation topics included James’ theatre work, the upcoming exam period of stress in Durham, the jazz selections of the host and James’ love of Lady Gaga, La Roux and Marina.

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Playlist

• Congratulations – MGMT
• I’ve Told Ev’ry Little Star – Sonny Rollins
• Bloody Well Right – Supertramp
• Fire and Rain – James Taylor
• Black Magic Woman – Santana
• Bring It On Home – Sonny Boy Williams II
• Albartross – Fleetwood Mac

A USUAL TUESDAY afternoon in early November – raining, dark and cold and I find myself sitting in a booth in the infamous Techno Cafe at the Science Site. Not for the first time that day, my mobile rang and instead of the usual Purple Radio call, it was a fellow from Sony BMG records regarding an email sent several weeks ago. 24 hours later, I was zipping down the A1 to Leeds to meet, interview and see one of the most critically acclaimed bands of 2008 hitting the Carling Academy.

On their latest jaunt around the UK, MGMT managed to miss out Newcastle (and Durham, of course) on their final tour before some relaxing time and re-entering the studio. After hanging around outside the newly-rebuilt Academy, we were granted entrance and made our way up to a deserted dressing room waiting for the band to enter. A sudden panic hit me and my friend who had tagged along – would they think we were idiots? Were we cool enough? Should I have passed on the ‘Vote Bert’ T-Shirt?

These feelings passed when an assertive but friendly American entered and introduced himself as manager, and was flanked by two men barely older than myself that were instantly recognisable as Andrew Van Wyngarden and Ben Goldwasser – the songwriters and founding members of the band. Unusually, Andrew was not sporting his typical array of bandanas and psychedelic clothing – just tight fitting jeans, duffle coat and your typical polo shirt. Ben went for a more indie look with a checkered shirt. Both were smiling and were welcoming and the chat began. Within a few minutes, it was a slight misnomer, the band didn’t seem to open up too much or expand on our questions. Maybe our credentials might have been suspect, hence why they were quite guarded with their answers – although there were a few interesting facts you may not know.

Ben uses conditioner on his hair while Andrew simply washes it – and it naturally goes frizzy for those who wonder. They have never eaten an electric eel but have eaten octopus on several occasions. Their favourite thing about this country is the weather – the depressing cold and sleet is a good thing. Maybe they should try the snow Durham has been experiencing? The original band consisted of just Ben and Andrew (who recorded the album) and they asked some of their friends to join for the tour this year to form the live line up. They are huge Pink Floyd fans and found The Piper At The Gates of Dawn to be a very influential album on their music, as well as Kraftwerk – not too surprising. They let no hints drop about their future musical direction but did reveal that the first half of their debut album was written before the band were signed and the rest was written later, with most of the hit singles on the latter half.

Ben was the quiet one while Andrew mostly picked up the answers, and disconcertingly stared at my open diary. After questioning about vintage clothing shops in Leeds, of which I had no idea and mumbling some response about turning right, we left the band in search of food. After some exploration of Leeds (which is a very nice place indeed), it was gig time. The mix of ‘indie kids’ was high in attendance and few university students like myself could be seen. Coming on stage to the sound of Funk #49, the evening kicked off with an unknown new song that no one was sure about. The frenzy caused by the arrival of the band continued but by the end, no one was really sure what was happening. Thankfully, Weekend Wars came along, sounding more lively and just as impressive as on the album and kicked everyone into shape.

The Youth managed to get a swaying audience to sing along to “and you, started to change” and lined everyone up for a great gig. However, things started to go downhill from here as the band launched into song after song of generic psychedelic-progressive hard rock; each song was almost unrecognisable from the last and the jumping and screaming subsided until people looked almost bored and only polite applause. This all changed when gentle hum and chiming guitars signalled Time To Pretend, surprisingly early in the set. It blew everyone away – just fantastic and has to be a live highlight of the year. The band just came together – the cheesy synth live, the breakdown and build up and the lyrics we know and love. As usual for a packed gig, copious amounts of beer were poured over my head, reassuring me that the T-Shirt was a good idea. The audience had time to relax until Electric Feel came literally out of nowhere – it seemed the band had given up on their song and just bashed into this to cheer us all up.

Matching the previous single, the crowd went wild and the band obviously enjoyed the stimulation of the audience but it went downhill once again. Pieces, Of What was thrown in somewhere down the line to provide the usual acoustic diversion. Eventually, the band went off stage and cheering for the encore ensued – but was this for the band After The Handshake, the distinctive drum beat of Kids began and it went mad. Crushing, bouncing, dancing and more beer throwing made this the highlight of the set but for some inexplicable reason – there were no instruments played, minus one guitar solo! Their drummer sat, looking impatient but didn’t play anything. Ben left his keyboard station to sing with Andrew. Their bassist was nowhere to be seen. Ironic that the best song of the gig was not even played with instruments? For the audience, they didn’t mind because it was what most had come to hear. Why pay £22.50 to listen to a recording that you can hear in most clubs up and down the country every week.

This may all sound rather negative – it wasn’t a bad gig – the atmosphere was electric. On the way out, the banter was “fantastic… that was raving” but I’d have to say that MGMT are a singles band. They didn’t manage to bring alive their other songs and (unusually) for a band with one album, they didn’t throw a cover in. Both The Feeling and The Last Shadow Puppets have done this in their shows and it helps to showcase their musical prowess, which leads me on to another point – their sound.

My friend commented that the ‘sound’ is very important to enjoying their music and this struck me as the main problem with the night’s entertainment. The additional members of the band are simply too heavy, with overdriven sounds that don’t suit the songs on Oracular Spectacular. Hard rock certainly isn’t what MGMT is about – their next album may expand in this direction to a new audience but it was not what I expected.

If you are thinking about making a trip to see them, wait till they gather more songs and more experience before shelling out the cash. MGMT may still prove to be one of the biggest bands of the decade, or might fade away with a poor sophomore album and mediocre live shows. Only time will tell, and hopefully they will prove us wrong and not be fated to pretend.

Originally published in Palatinate Issue 702

REM: Accelerate
Every R.E.M. release that comes out is claimed as a return to form but Accelerate might have turned the band’s fortunes around. After loosing founding drummer Bill Berry in 1997, the band haven’t produced anything as hard rocking or compressed in years. Recorded in only a few months, you won’t find anything like Loosing My Religion here but songs such as Supernatural Superserious, Sing For The Submarine and the title track make up for this with fast paced overdriven riffs that remind us R.E.M. are still as important and independent as ever.

Last Shadow Puppets: The Age of the Understated
Full of edgy indie rock music with symphonic twist, the combination of Miles Kane (of The Rascals) and Alex Turner (of the Arctic Monkeys) has produced one of the most popular albums of the year. Lots of influences from both bands and numerous James Bond soundtracks make this a youthful yet killer album, right for any mood of the day. Highlights include the title track, Calm Like You and In My Room.

Coldplay: Viva La Vida
Talk of Coldplay loosing their edge was completely unfounded. Taking a new edge with a more experimental nature but with the pop sound you know and love from their previous work. The input of super producer Brain Eno managed to let the guys expand their sonic map. Highlights include the anthemic Viva La Vida, the thumpy movements of Violet Hill and the foot stomping Lost!.

Although Chris Martin says Coldplay will disband in the near future, you haven’t seen the last of them just yet, with the recently released Prospekt March and a round of stadium gigs coming up next September.

Oasis: Dig Out Your Soul
It has been several weeks and more listening time from my initial review and my opinion has not changed in the slightest, this is their strongest offering in years and the 60s hard rock influences have worked and the translation to live performances has been made successfully, according to YouTube at least. Take a look at the current single I’m Outta Time and Bag It Up to get a taste of where Gallagher and company are headed with the latest reason.

Elbow: The Seldom Seen Kid
Rivalling Coldplay with several stadium gigs in 2009, it is good to have Britain’s favourite Britpop band back in action. The more I listen to Elbow’s back catalogue, I wonder why they have not been heard of before now. Their music is so unique and they’ve been kicking around since 1990 apparently, missing out on Britpop, becoming critics choice before hitting it big time and winning the Mercury Prize this year. Grounds For Divorce has become the most popular song with continual build ups and break downs with yet another stomping beat. On Day Like This has traces of U2 but with a less commercial sound and simply down to earth. Elbow are heading out to the academies next year so catch them live if you can, the rumour goes they are phenomenal.

AC/DC: Black Ice
AC/DC are like comfort food for listeners, providing reassuring and consistent hard rock and Black Ice is no different. Stomping rock with a modern production makes this an album of bliss for any music lover. Brian Johnson’s singing may not be as high pitched as in the past but it’s lost none of its passion and Angus Young brings out those solos as viciously as ever. A short tour of UK arenas next year has sold out, too quickly for this reviewer.

Randy Newman: Harps and Angels
Most will recognise the odd voice from the soundtrack of Toy Story. Growing up to the sounds of You’ve Got A Friend In Me often makes people forget Newman is a real artist who was writing songs 20 years before the release of the ground-breaking Disney-Pixar film. Musically out of tune with the times (and only reaching #48 on the UK charts), the album is based around rather old school beats and piano heard in New Orleans records of the past, like those of Fats Domino. Potholes discusses the inevitable memory lapses of old age while A Few Words In The Defense Of Our Country reassures the rest of the world that some Americans dislike their government too. For something totally different to everything else this year, try this.

The Verve: Forth
Far surpassing anything Richard Ashcroft has done since Urban Hymns, Fourth shows the band have made a triumphant return, firing on all cylinders with their mix of rock with sampling and acoustic ballads. A headlining performance at Glastonbury brought them back to household name status, and showed they have lost none of their magic. No doubt you will have heard first single Love Is Noise, but looking at Valium Skies and Sit And Wonder shows you just how flexible they can still be.

Kings of Leon: Only by the Night
The UK’s favourite import from across the seas (apart from Kopparberg of course) have solidified their sound into plain old sound rock with their southern indie edge. Adding to their string of popular albums, the Kings are no doubt en route to the heights of super stardom over the next few years. They might have lost some of their experimentalism since the previous album, but have filled in for this with better tunes and inspiring lyrics. A testament to this is how much Use Somebody is still being played weeks later. Don’t forget the hit single Sex on Fire too.

MGMT: Oracular Spectacular
The underwhelming live experience with this band have not tainted how wonderful the album is – strong songwriting, catchy riffs and music that would not be out of place in 1975, MGMT have hit the music scene in the face and remind everyone not to take the world too seriously. Time To Pretend has been an anthem for our generation while Kids and Electric Feel have provided bouncing fun songs that everyone can enjoy. Where they can go from here is anyone’s guess, but enjoying this music is certainly not hard. Their dream producer of Barack Obama may yet happen.

David Byrne and Brian Eno: Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
Their first collaboration in over 20 years is an album in tune with the times – featuring plenty of crazy sound effects, acoustic strumming and precise singing – everything you would expect from the ex-Talking Heads man and the super-producer, who gets a second mention here.
Apparently, it has gospel and electronic stylings, but you’ll have to judge this for yourself. Not getting a physical release, you can stream the album free from everythingthathappens.com to hear one of the best collaborations of the year, and one of the strongest albums Byrne has produced in a while.

Maybe the best thing from the album is the Songs of David Byrne and Brian Eno tour that is crisscrossing around the world as we speak, hitting the Sage, Gateshead next year. It is unfortunately without Eno, but features modern dancers and setlists ranging the 30 year career of Byrne, making it one not one to be missed

Summary
Honourable Mentions must go Duffy for Rockferry, with some of the years biggest singles from Wales’ newest hero, The Killers for another strong offering with Day & Age, The Feeling for producing more Queen-Supertramp infused pop with Join With Us and Guns’n’Roses for finally releasing Chinese Democracy, layered with guitar solos, each one out-doing the last. Over the Christmas break, why not indulge in what this year has offered in music? Happy listening!

Originally published in Palatinate Issue 702