Kieron Tyler worlds of music

REVIEW- BIRDY NAM NAM: DEFIANT ORDER

2012-02-01T11:11:00.001Z

Battered into (almost) submission about sums it up. Pass the ibuprofen.

Review here: Rockfort Birdy Nam Nam Defiant Order

MOJO FEBRUARY 2012 REVIEWS - NOUVELLE VAGUE VERSION FRANÇAISE, FLAVIOLA E O BANDO DO SOL

2012-02-01T10:45:00.002Z

France and Brazil.

REVIEW – LANA DEL REY: BORN TO DIE

2012-02-01T10:31:00.000Z

Too little focus, too many cooks?

Review here: The Arts Desk Lana Del Rey Born To Die

REVIEW – CASIOKIDS, CARGO, LONDON

2012-01-29T11:22:00.000Z

Tunes linger longest, longer than a video game even.

Review here: The Arts Desk Casiokids Cargo

TV/FILM REVIEWS – HOW THE BRITS ROCKED AMERICA, WE'LL TAKE MANHATTAN, THE SWEDISH EROTICA COLLECTION, THE STORY OF MUSICALS, THE SLAP

2012-01-29T11:10:00.002Z

How the Brits Rocked America: Go West: The Arts Desk How The Brits Rocked America Go West

We'll Take Manhattan: The Arts Desk Well Take Manhattan

The Swedish Erotica Collection: The Arts Desk The Swedish Erotica Collection

The Story of Musicals: The Arts Desk The Story Of Musicals

The Slap: The Arts Desk The Slap

REVIEW - PORTICO QUARTET: PORTICO QUARTET

2012-01-29T11:01:00.001Z

Moving further away from what attracted attention, pushing towards the generic.

Review here: The Arts Desk Portico Quartet Portico Quartet

REVIEW - EAST OF UNDERGROUND HELL BELOW

2012-01-22T17:25:00.003Z

More than essential, an eye-opener too.

Review here: The Arts Desk East Of Underground

REVIEW - FRÀNÇOIS & THE ATLAS MOUNTAINS: E VOLO LOVE

2012-01-19T13:45:00.002Z

Good that this doesn’t follow existing French templates, but otherwise it’s so unsure of itself, of what it is.

Review here: Rockfort Frànçois & The Atlas Mountains: E Volo Love

REVIEW – TAZIO AND BOY: WINTER IN THE ROOM

2012-01-17T14:05:00.004Z

Would be good if this got heard widely.

Review here: Rockfort Tazio and Boy

Tazio & Boy - 03 When The Summer Ends by humptydumptyrecords

REVIEW - A WINGED VICTORY FOR THE SULLEN, CECIL SHARP HOUSE LONDON

2012-01-17T14:03:00.001Z

Loads added live, even without the huge pianos used for the album

Review here: The Arts Desk A Winged Victory For The Sullen Cecil Sharp House

Here’s a piece of speediness.

REVIEW – MILAGRES: GLOWING MOUTH

2012-01-16T10:07:00.000Z

Doesn’t matter that this has been knocked a bit, especially as so much stuff echoes so much other stuff. It’s good.

Review here: The Arts Desk Milagres Glowing Mouth

8 Gone by Sainted PR

REVIEW - LANTERNS ON THE LAKE, CARGO, LONDON

2012-01-14T17:43:00.000Z

Great show, where it all came together. More so, even, than on the album.

Review here: The Arts Desk Lanterns on the Lake Cargo

REVIEW – CASIOKIDS: AABENBARINGEN OVER AASKAMMEN

2012-01-12T09:56:00.000Z

Loads to like, but some of of Montreal appearing on one track doesn’t push them as far forward as they might have gone.

Review here: The Arts Desk Casiokids Aabenbaringen Over Aaskammen

TV/FILM REVIEWS – BORGEN, BOARDWALK EMPIRE

2012-01-11T16:24:00.001Z

Borgen: The Arts Desk Borgen

Boardwalk Empire The Complete First Season: The Arts Desk Boardwalk Empire

REVIEW – PAPER DOLLHOUSE: A BOX PAINTED BLACK

2012-01-10T12:39:00.000Z

Terrific album, needs to be heard,

Review here: The Arts Desk Paper Dollhouse A Box Painted Black

And here is more on Rayographs.

Moon by Paper Dollhouse

MOJO JANUARY 2012 REVIEWS – JEAN-LOUIS MURAT GRAND LIÈVRE

2012-01-03T11:59:00.002Z

France.

TV/FILM REVIEWS – ATTENBERG, TEMPEST, THE BORROWERS, DOCTOR WHO CHRISTMAS SPECIAL THE DOCTOR, THE WIDOW AND THE WARDROBE

2012-01-03T11:57:00.002Z

Attenberg: The Arts Desk Attenberg

Tempest: The Arts Desk Tempest

The Borrowers: The Arts Desk The Borrowers

Doctor Who Christmas Special The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe: The Arts Desk The Doctor The Widow and The Wardrobe

SUSANNE SUNDFØR: A NIGHT AT SALLE PLEYEL

2011-12-30T15:47:00.008Z

The release of the extraordinary The Brothel in 2010 marked Susanne Sundfør as important, someone to keep a close eye on. It also raised the question of how she’d follow this landmark. Now, with A Night At Salle Pleyel, the question is (partially) answered with an album that’s just as much a departure from The Brothel as that was from her the two versions of her debut.

A Night at Salle Pleyel is a double album – or rather, three sides of two albums in a gatefold sleeve. Pressed on see-through, mottled purpley reddish vinyl, it’s a handsome thing. The sleeve gives nothing away and is even more abstract than that of The Brothel. The front cover of dark orange and aubergine clouds bleeding into each other evokes oil wheel images. Beyond that, there’s her name and the album’s title. The back and inside of the gatefold sleeve bear similar images, credited as by MVM. As well as the records, the sleeve houses an eight-page book with more of these unreadable images.

It's clear, however, that A Night At Salle Pleyel is as much an artefact as it is an album. The vinyl edition is limited to 600 copies. There's no CD release, although it is available on iTunes. It seems to be an interregnum, rather than The Brothel’s follow up. But, then again, it might not be either.

Whatever its status, it's designed to intrigue. The three sides each have two tracks: Movement 1 and Movement 2 on side one and so on, side by side. Six movements in all. All instrumental, it’s all played on analogue (mainly Blofeld) synthesisers. The album was recorded in one session, live at the Oslo city centre venue Sentrum Scene on 18 August 2011. Susanne Sundfør is credited as composer, and she also plays two synthesisers. The other players are Ådne Meisfjord, Øystein Moen, Morten Qvenild and Christian Wallumrød. They're drawn from bands like 120 Days, Jaga Jazzist, Susanna & The Magical Orchestra. Wallumrød records for ECM. Whatever the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it nature of A Night At Salle Pleyel, this is a serious line up.

The music is equally serious in conception and was inspired a concert of Rachmaninoff and Stravinsky’s music seen by Sundfør at Paris’s Salle Pleyel. The composition was commissioned specifically for 2011’s 25th-anniversary Oslo Jazz Festival. Although recorded live, there’s no sonic evidence of either an audience or – for that matter - the music actually being played live. It sounds like a studio recording. Whether the recording process was digital or analogue isn’t noted.

A Night At Salle Pleyel is a jolt, but it isn’t quite the musical non sequiteur it initially seems. Obviously, The Brothel was orchestrated. More specifically, the swoops which open Movement 1 can be traced from the closing parts of The Brothel’s Black Widow. Elsewhere, the opening section of It's All Gone Tomorrow and the patterns which bed Lullaby are lightly echoed elsewhere in A Night At Salle Pleyel.

But A Night At Salle Pleyel isn’t a song cycle, or even a symphonic-style series of related melodies. Each movement has its stated themes, restated, built upon and woven around. Bach’s organ music comes to mind. Movement 2 edges towards serial music. Overall, this feels (wordlessly) liturgical. Doomy too. However it’s heard, this isn’t rock as classical music, or vice versa. Equally, it’s not a Walter/Wendy Carlos take on contextualising classical music. It’s barely possible to place A Night At Salle Pleyel. So far apart from anything else, it isn’t measurable. Wherever it does or doesn’t sit, it’s a significant work.

ALBUMS OF THE YEAR 2011

2011-12-25T17:45:00.010Z

Again, the volume of great new things released this year is astounding. Music shows no sign failing to excite.

A couple here are a wee bit cheeky as they were released in 2010: Imandra Lake and Mari Kalkun . But I only heard them this year – and there was no way I could have been aware of them last year. So there, they’re in here.

As for the order, it could change tomorrow. But there had to be one, and one at the top.

Lykke Li: Wounded Rhymes (Atlantic)
L: Initiale (tôt Ou tard)
Rayographs: Rayographs (Desire Records)
Papercuts: Fading Parade (Sub Pop)
Imandra Lake: Seesamseesam (Seksound)
Jenny Hval: Viscera (Rune Grammofon)
Huntsville: For Flowers, Cars and Merry Wars (Hubro)
Daphné: Bleu Venise (V2/Universal)
Mari Kalkun: Vihmakõnõ (Õunaviks)
I Break Horses: Hearts (Bella Union)
Susanne Sundfør: A Night At Salle Pleyel (EMI)
Ane Brun: It All Starts With One (Balloon Ranger)
Fleet Foxes: Helplessness Blues (Bella Union)
The War on Drugs: Slave Ambient (Secretly Canadian)
Freja Loeb: Odyssey (EMI)
Camille: Ilo Veyou (EMI)
Alina Orlova: Mutabor (Kartel Kreative)
Neon Indian: Era Extraña (Transgressive)
Paper Dollhouse: A Box Painted Black (Bird)
Spotlight Kid: Disaster Tourist (Tri-Tone/Pias)
Keren Ann: 101 (EMI)
Mara Carlyle: Floreat (Ancient & Modern)
Thurston Moore: Demolished Thoughts (Matador)
The Go! Team: Rolling Blackouts (Memphis Industries)
Toro Y Moi: Underneath the Pine (carpark)
Moddi: Floriography (Propeller Recordings)
Tiger Baby: Open Windows Open Hills (Gunhero Music)
Gyratory System: New Harmony (Angular Recording Corporation)
Various: Bécaud Et Maintenant (WEA)
A Winged Victory for the Sullen: A Winged Victory for the Sullen (Erased Tapes)

REVIEW: BÉCAUD, ET MAINTENANT

2011-12-24T12:40:00.001Z

A great surprise, outstripping anything that might be expected. With no clunkers, it’s out there on its own.

Review here: The Arts Desk Et Maintenant

TV/FILM REVIEWS – Q, MADEMOISELLE CHAMBON, IMAGINE: BOOKS – THE LAST CHAPTER?, THE NATION'S FAVOURITE BEE GEES SONG

2011-12-20T13:08:00.003Z

Q and Mademoiselle Chambon: The Arts Desk Q Mademoiselle Chambon

Imagine: Books – the Last Chapter?: The Arts Desk Imagine Books The Last Chapter?

The Nation's Favourite Bee Gees Song: The Arts Desk The Nations Favourite Bee Gees Song

REVIEW - LULU GAINSBOURG: FROM GAINSBOURG TO LULU

2011-12-12T10:33:00.002Z

Oh boy.

Review here: The Arts Desk Lulu Gainsbourg From Gainsbourg To Lulu

REVIEW - TRANS MUSICALES DE RENNES 2011 / BARS EN TRANS

2011-12-10T16:36:00.014Z

So much going that the words are an edit, more so than before even.

The Arts Desk here: The Arts Desk Trans Musicales 2011

MOJO here: MOJO Trans Musicales 2011

Billboard here: Billboard Trans Musicales 2011 Above: Vinnie Who (Mikael Ngo)

Above: Haight Ashbury (Ren Photographie)