A Couple of News, More Free Stuff

 Hi there,


 My idea was to make this post a round-up of the best releases from these past few weeks but I decided to save that for later (there are still a couple of albums I'd like to listen to) and instead I'll just point you in the direction of some excellent music available here and there on the web at the moment: JMascis has offered a new track from his forthcoming solo album (still a few weeks to go!) - the song is called "Is It Done" and can be downloaded over at Pitchfork. It's pretty good if you're into grungy acoustic stuff in the vein of Nirvana's famous unplugged set - well, considerably less angsty - and totally genius if, like me, you have been following Dinosaur Jr for decades. Otherwise, it probably won't do much for you.


 Personal favorites The Limiñanas have also been busy and got a lot of high profile recognition lately. Mojo gave them a 4 stars review in their march edition and seminal DJ and producer Andrew Weatherhall played "Je Ne Suis Pas Très Drogue" on his radio show (so, what do you say about The Thinking Noise's infallible radar for good stuff, mmmmh??). Let's hope this is only the beginning of greater exposure for them... A new 7" is coming out next month - meanwhile you can listen to one of the new tracks here. 


 Last but not least, don't miss the opportunity to get new italian project Dumbo Gets Mad's debut album (out on Badpanda records) in its entirety for free! All you have to do is go to this page and follow the instructions - basically just post a small advertisement for the album on your twitter or facebook profile in order to get a link to download the whole thing. Fair enough!

                
 This is the typical outsider LP seemingly coming from nowhere and slowly building devoted groups of admirers everywhere. Glowing reviews for "Elephants At The Door" won't be hard to find on the net by now so I won't bother writing a whole article about it, but if you're into vintage psychedelia echoing the likes of Zappa or Captain Beefheart-era californian bands - all in a DIY fashion - you will definitely love this record and the mind trip it takes you on. The production is warm and richly detailed, overflowing with colorful sound effects and fun ideas, stylistically all over the place but still focused and coherent overall. Impressive work since the guy behind the Dumbo Gets Mad moniker apparently recorded the whole album by himself with limited means and budget. This is great music to chill out to that falls in the "weird and wonderful" category, really out there in some places yet referencing enough classic pop and retro sounds not to be inaccessible. So don't go looking for hit singles on "Elephants At The Door": it is only great if you let it play as an experimental journey, and I guess it might work even better if you've got a lump of hash within reach and some time to kill... Haven't tried that yet, so I can't say for sure! HIGHly recommended!

Wire: forever!

 Yes, Wire. It warms my heart to think that nearly 35 years on from the legendary "Pink Flag" this band is still capable of releasing fantastic music. Make no mistake, "Red Barked Tree" may not sound as original or groundbreaking as their first record - and no, it's not up there with "Chairs Missing" or "154" either - but it's still unique, weird, idiosyncratic, all those things that made them so exciting and influential in the first place.

 This album has been very well received in general but I did notice some crappy reviews here and there. Most of them criticize the compressed sound, the glossy production and guitar effects, and some even complain about the overly intellectual lyrics. If we were talking about some new hipster band I would probably agree, but what we have here is a Wire record: more than a specific sound these guys share a vision and a long history in "subverting genres" and "confounding expectations", as stated on their website. They've been there, done that, and for anyone familiar with their back catalogue there really isn't much on "Red Barked Tree" that feels "suspicious" or strays too far from their artistical ethics.

Now Was

 Without a doubt this is classic Wire, and what makes this new album such a treat is the notion of pleasure that is palpable throughout its 11 songs: Colin Newman, Graham Lewis and Robert Grey seem to be having a great time playing together, something sadly unusual when bands have been around for so long (though it's true they split and reformed various times, and now carry on without founding guitarist Bruce Gilbert). "Red Barked Tree" is varied, exciting, definitely more concise, melodic and accessible than their previous releases, often shying away from their experimental side in favour of straighter dynamics. The wall-of-sound guitar textures are sometimes reminiscent of shoegaze or dream pop, and while there is still a very cerebral element to their songwriting they do let off some steam by rocking out ("Smash") or locking into simple, danceable pop grooves on tracks like "Bad Worn Thing". Even the quieter and more downbeat songs feature some pretty, elegiac acoustic guitars.

Bad Worn Thing

 Wire notoriously always avoided making another "Pink Flag" and made a point in evolving constantly, but on this release you can sense they are not afraid to make music that revisits their early output while simultaneously updating their sound. The result is a very good record that effortlessly balances their punk roots with their more ethereal and arty ambitions. When a band ages so well and offers such a clever perspective on the world more than three decades into their career, one can only hope they will keep recording and touring. Let's see if we feel the same about Gang Of Four later this month...                 

Smith Westerns: hype over substance

 Not much Thinking has been going on here lately, and very little Noise has been heard to say the least. I must admit it is kind of shameful and slightly embarrassing coming from a new blogger who promised to keep things exciting... but you know, let's stay positive. Let's go ahead and pretend that nothing happened (hey, that's actually true!). I just didn't feel like writing about anything, so why try so hard? You probably also noticed that 2011 is not what you would call a musical explosion so far. Even the NME is busy reviewing stuff that came out three months ago.

 But things should pick up very soon. For now, the Smith Westerns album is finally out after weeks of non-stop propaganda from just about every indie blog out there. So, is it any good? Well, yes and no. Like many over-hyped records it is rather underwhelming at first but to be fair there are some fine songs on "Dye It Blonde". Their fuzzy 70's riffing pleasantly recalls the classic T-Rex sound, although it does turn into a gimmick at times and gets a little bit irritating in places - especially when the songwriting isn't as good as on lead single "Weekend". But it's easy to see why kids all love that band: they're young enough to speak for a new generation, their first effort was original, raw and catchy and now they're coming back with a "bigger" record filled with jangly guitars and sweet pop hooks. Everything a teenage alternative rock fan could want, like The Strokes, The Libertines or Arctic Monkeys in the past decade. That said, I seriously doubt "Dye It Blonde" will end up being regarded as the new "Is This It?", mainly because there are too many weak points on the album. They do recycle sounds from the past with a youthful and entertaining modern twist, but their music feels too juvenile and superficial overall to be remembered as classic material. Still, it's a pleasant listen - nothing more, nothing less.    

Weekend

 Now that I have bitched about the young and pretty it's time to praise the work of veterans like Wire, who just recently put out their best effort in years, "Red Barked Tree". I wasn't particularly looking forward to that release but it truly is great... more about it in the next post.

New Year Mixtape From Last Year (yeah I know, confusing!)

 Hello friends,


 First I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year, lots of happiness, health and success - anything that can help to make your 2011 a fun and memorable year! Don't we all deserve a good time in this age of economical mayhem and freedom-annihilating new laws? Of course we fucking do!


 Wherever you live, I think you might agree the last decade saw things go from bad to worse on many levels. Politically, it has been a spectacularly awful time. We are all walking around with iPhones now, and loving it, but are we better off than ten years ago? Any satisfaction these days has to be strictly personal, while our sense of community is slowly disappearing. In other words: everyone has gone solo. Like Bill Wyman, or something. So, here's to a new era - hopefully we can go somewhere more interesting very soon... And I hear Mr Wyman is reuniting with the Stones to record a song, so there you go.


 Now that we have kissed 2010 goodbye, I indulged in preparing a mixtape with some of my favorite songs from this past year. Please note that "I'm Dead" or any of the songs on The Limiñanas debut album should have been included, but I strongly encourage you to support them and buy their music instead. Not that I'm "against" illegal downloading: that topic is getting old by now and I couldn't care less if the music industry is in trouble. Small record companies and artists have historically always been struggling, and illegal copies existed long before the days of internet. Why feel guilty because you fail to be a perfect consumerist?... Personally, I probably could buy a house with all the money I spent on records in my life! So screw them if they can't adapt. Laws and systems like the french "Hadopi" are the most ridiculous and useless measures ever taken, and everyone seems to know that but the moronic people who run cultural matters. If a business doesn't work, incriminating and pissing off the potential buyers is no solution. On top of that, whether they can afford to buy something or not, most music fans are conscious that there are bands and labels who truly deserve to be helped commercially. When they go platinum, however, feel free to steal anything they release (just kidding!).


 So, this is how it goes:


 THINKING NOISE #1

   SIDE A
   1. Saying Goodbye - The Greenhornes
   2. Bootstraps - Drew Grow And The Pastors' Wives
   3. Tighten  Up - The Black Keys
   4. Solitude Is Bliss - Tame Impala
   5. Mexico - The Soft Pack
   6. Oh So Protective One - Girls
   7. In The Sun - She & Him
   8. Winter Rose - The Bees


   SIDE B
   1. Telephone - The Black Angels
   2. Come On - Mujeres
   3. The Way to Gone - Black Mountain
   4. 1000 Years - The Coral
   5. Eyesore - Women
   6. Sweetest Kill - Broken Social Scene
   7. Revival - Deerhunter
   8. Round and Round - Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti




 This is not meant to be the ultimate 2010 playlist or anything along those lines. Just a bunch of cool songs that caught my attention last year. I'd rather upload a few songs every now and then than drop one mp3 at a time over several scattered posts. Hope you will enjoy the mix!