Falling Sky

MP3 of the week: HAL!

It's been a sodding age since there's been a so-called MP3 o't'week here, but I've just recently sussed out how I can embed tracks here so they can be played without being immediately downloadable, which should allow me to share commercially available tracks without getting the legal smackdown. Hooray! Therefore, each week is likely to see me yelping about whatever band I'm especially enamoured with at that point in time, so this week's is a doddle because I've been playing this numerous times every day for the last week or two. To my shame I'm a tad late - well, almost three & a half years late - but better late than never, eh? Anyway, clicky play below and as you're being swept away on vocal harmonic gorgeousness you can read all about who's making that lovely sound... or you could just smile a big beaming grin, stick your arms in the air and wave them during the chorus just like I've been doing, so you know it's cool.

EDIT: Fixed! Buy the track at iTunes.

Ahhhh. That there is Worry About The Wind by Hal. Who Hal? Well, they're a four-piece based in Ireland and so far have just one album release to their name, the eponymous debut from 2005 on Rough Trade Records. Quite why it wasn't an absolute chart-topping playlist-stuffing everyone-owning smash hit album isn't entirely clear to me, since it's wonderfully melodic, catchier than the lurgee and really quite adorable. A bit like Teenage Fanclub at their best, Hal's songs are rich with lush vocal harmonies, cheering melodies and a genuinely sunny disposition that never feels clichéd, trite or fake. The fact that this is their debut blows me away, and one only hopes that work on the second album comes to fruition next year. Until then, if you've yet to have some Hal in your life, go get some. As the Autumn nights stretch longer and the days dissolve into cloud, this music's so chipper it could be a cure for S.A.D. - like the song says, sweet sweet harmony.

Get the album 'Hal' from: iTunes / Emusic / Amazon (less than £6!).

You Can't Do That On MP3 Volume Two and You Can Do That On MP3 Volume One

Not that this'll be much use to anyone who wants one, what with them having sold out weeks back, but the Portishead vinyl box set that I was looking forward to in March has been in my clammy paws for the last couple of months. The album, Third, was included in the set both in 2xLP and USB stick formats, the former perfect for the record player in the workroom, the latter just right for plugging into the DVD player in the living room. The USB stick is a sturdy little thing, shown to the right, and also contains a bunch of AVI files, but by containing the full album as 320kbps MP3s it handily gets passed the problem of wanting an album on vinyl but also wishing to listen to it digitally. Plus it looks nifty.

Still, the album sounds at its best on those two thick slabs of vinyl, clarity in the sound even when it's deliberately distorted. It's an excellent album, far more uncompromising and experimental than you might expect, possibly my favourite of Portishead's three studio albums so far. We Carry On is a particular treat, a wonderfully relentless beat pounding the song forward, urgent vocals bordering on the desperate, strangely ethereal backing voices cooing as percussion clatters furiously into taut guitars. Lovely stuff, it's definitely one of the highlights of this year thus far.

Also included in the box-set was a 12" of the Machine Gun single - one side contains the song itself, while the other looks like, well, look to the right. It's an intriguing etching - unlike that on the Low and Mono records, it's very linear, certainly not sourced from any scratching by hand but instead based on what looks like a photograph of a watchtower, taken between two rows of fencing. It's a suitably chilly, tense and almost mechanical image that fits the electronically distorted percussion driving the single it's backing like a glove. As with Radiohead's superb In Rainbows box-set last year, it's an excellent way to present an album yet, crucially, the presentation never overshadows the quality of the music they contain.

On a smaller scale, but still much appreciated, is Sub Pop's system of including a 'voucher' with every new LP they sell. This voucher allows the customer to download the entire album that they've just bought on vinyl as MP3s, so audio nerds like myself can listen the album on MP3 players (and burned onto CD) while still being able to enjoy it as a record and all the good points that brings, both sonically and visually. A few weeks back I bought the debut albums from Flight of the Conchords and Foals through Sub Pop (bizarrely, despite Foals being based in the UK and having a British label, it was actually cheaper to order their LP from America than through a UK store) and they both look and sound great. Flight of the Conchords have been wibbled about here before and produce the kind of comedy music that's genuinely funny and musically enjoyable (no mean feat), while Foals play a tight indie sound somewhere between Battles and Bloc Party, first catching my lugholes with the punchy Cassius earlier in the year. You can hear MP3s from both bands below c/o the Sub Pop media page, plus a suitably groovy video from the Conchords to tempt your eyes and ears. Vinyl and digital in one fell swoop - it's the best of both worlds, innit? Now if every other record company out there would follow suit...

Foals - Balloons (MP3)

Flight of the Conchords - Business Time (MP3)

Flight of the Conchords - Ladies of the World (MPEG)

And while we're on the subject of quality tunage, there's a brand new Sigur Ros track up for free in advance of their new album, Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust. You need to pop your email address in first to get the MP3, while the video for the song can be watched by anyone... but beware! The video is nothing but naked types cavorting around nature - well, some of them have got socks on, but that's about it. Both sexes are there, in all their wobbly glory, so there's something for everyone, and it's all rather Health & Efficiency if you can stop worrying about people getting caught on thorny branches in the worst way. Still, they seem happy enough, it's thoroughly exuberant and although I couldn't get into the rhythm at first, initially feeling off-kilter, once I'd latched onto it I really liked the song. Boding well for that fifth album, it's as cheerful and energetic a soundtrack as you'd want for scampering around your local nature reserve.

MP3s of the Week: SXSWX3!

The annual SXSW thingamajig down in Austin, Texas wrapped up a couple of days ago, but the music files uploaded by bands performing during said shebang continue to be available for the listening pleasure of any good soul on the face of the earth. So, what goodies are there to be found amongst the (literally) hundreds of bands and MP3s at SXSW Music? Fear not, Falling Sky's been digging about and pulled out these three shining pearls of sonic goodness with something for everyone. Well, those with good music taste anyway.

Torche: In Return (3.5MB, MP3)

Torche have only had one album and one EP out thus far, with a second album, Meanderthal, out next month on lovely lovely Hydrahead. This is the title track from last year's pounding In Return EP on Mogwai's Rock Action Records and it hits the ground charging, deep low-tuned guitar riffing at one hell of a rate as the drums pound ahead, then halfway through cranks things back to a slower, heavier grind. A great metal track, similarish to Baroness or Mastodon at a stretch, but it's pretty much unique.

British Sea Power: Waving Flags (3.8MB, MP3)

For some reason it's taken me three albums to really get British Sea Power, but their latest, Do You Like Rock Music?, is a real treat and one of the best releases so far this year. This here's the second best track on the album (after the glorious anthem of No Lucifer) and has a pleasing whiff of my beloved Godspeed You Black Emperor in the use of crescendoing jangly guitar and drawn-out climaxes that make your heart go "WOO!" It'd make a great national anthem. By the by, there's more of that echoing-epic GYBE feel in the No Lucifer Efrim Menuck Mix which I only just found out about, Efrim being one of the musicians behind GYBE and A Silver Mt Zion.

Black Helicopter: Buick Electra (5.8MB, MP3)

Any friend of Mission of Burma and Shellac is worth checking out. I'd never heard of Black Helicopter until I started digging around the SXSW list and my eye was caught by the name - good thing too. This opens with a low guitar refrain with muscle, before drums and bass kick in hard. The MoB influence is tangible without being derivative, solid momentum but never out of control, brilliant driving music. There's not many new bands that keep that guitar sound that bands like MoB and Husker Du pioneered back in the 80's, but it sounds like these guys do, keeping it fresh. They've got one album out, Invisible Jet, and once I've streamed a few of the tracks may well buy it later this month - on the strength of this song, it should be a guitar-driven goodie.

MP3 of the Week: MONKEY!

Thanks to the joys of a) downloading more MP3s from assorted blogs than I get to hear on a daily basis and b) having an iPod Shuffle that I autofill every morning, there's times I'll be walking to or from work and suddenly a song plays that I've never heard before, a song so good I can't wait to get home and find out who the deuce it was and how it had escaped my notice for so long. Such a happy burst of randomness happened yesterday evening as I trudged back from work and the Shuffle popped on a lovely sparse track, all female vocals and guitar, sweet but not kooky, wistful lyrics about Sheffield (one of the Lass's old stomping grounds) and an all-round sense of gorgeousness. Once I got home (having played it three times back-to-back on the way) I found out it was by a Sheffield band, Monkey Swallows The Universe, and most likely I'd downloaded it from Indie MP3 back in January 2006 - and then it had sat in iTunes for over two years before I actually got to listen to it! This is the kind of thing that makes me worry about all the potentially wonderful music that could still be sitting on the computer waiting to be heard - but who can worry when a song like this is playing? No-one! So go ahead, read about the band, download the song below and do try to listen to it before 2010. You'll be glad you did.

Sheffield Shanty (MP3, 3.3MB)

MP3 of the week: RED!

Good lord, isn't this a bit early in the day for blogging? Sadly I've been up since 5am thanks to a resurgent cold mucking up my sinuses and generally bunging my noggin up. I'm on holiday for goodness sake, I shouldn't be up until it's time for elevenses. Ah well, since I'm here I may as well make up for yesterday's non-freebie of musical joy with some proper legit MP3 goodness...

One of the last albums I got to hear last year was by a group called Baroness, who I only knew of thanks to Amazon and their pesky recommendations. Signed to ear-batterers-par-excellence Relapse Records (home of previous MP3OTW stars High on Fire and Pig Destroyer), what really caught my eye when they cropped up on Amazon was the artwork for their debut album, notably different to the monochrome covers of doom usually found in metalworld. Curiously, it reminds me a wee bit of some of the Glasgow Style artwork at Kelvingrove, and their previous three releases (all EPs) feature a colourful and distinct style that really stands out nicely. Lookee!

Turns out they're the work of John Baizley, clearly a thoroughly talented graphic artist (check out these two t-shirt designs). But that's not enough, ohhh no, he has to go and be a bloody good singer/guitarist as well, because that's him hollering away in Baroness. The scamp! Baroness's debut album, Red Album, came out in September last year and there's a couple of tracks from it available for your listening pleasure on the Relapse site. It's good melodic heavy stuff, in the same vein as Isis, Pelican and Mastodon rather than the veritable sonic onslaught of Pig Destroyer, thick powerful riffs and rhythms that move all over the shop. If you've ever enjoyed the sound of an electric guitar chugging hard, you really should check out The Birthing, which starts steady, pulls a nifty false-stop, then mid-way goes into an utterly glorious rock-out reminiscent of Iron Maiden's The Number Of The Beast. Of course, the other track's a smasher too.

The Birthing (MP3, 4.6MB)
O'Appalachia (MP3, 2.4MB)

(If the links don't work, go here and scroll down to Baroness) It's an excellent album, one of the best of 2007, remarkably confident and solid considering it's their first full-length album, and at $12 from Relapse in America it's a veritable steal. I bought it via Emusic (and most likely will get it on vinyl later in the year), while Amazon UK has it for a tenner They're on tour in Europe over the next couple of months and will be at Glasgow's NicenSleazy at the end of January with Kylesa (who I'd never heard until this morning, but like what I'm hearing) - getting to & from gigs in Glasgow is quite a hassle, so I'm not sure if I'll go, but their live reputation is mighty (nice wee review in the Bostonist last month) and this footage from a show in New York looks and sounds cracking.

MP3s of the Week: FOUR FOR THE PRICE OF NONE!

Or, fruits from the devious pit of temptation that is Amazon's recommendations.  It is a dangerous pit, offering bands that you've never heard before but, with the briefest of Googlings, suddenly become necessary to the continued happiness of your ears.  Be warned, my friends!  Last night's dip into the murky waters of Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought brought up these bands who I'd never heard of before.  And now I must own them.  Curses!  Ignorance may not be bliss, but it is cheaper.

The Mandelbrot Set - Constellation of Rings (MP3, 12.2 MB)
A good big long 'un - over 13 minutes! - with a refrain that builds up little by little from the gentlest of strums to a roaring crescendo, like Explosions In The Sky or a less intense Mono.  Nice.

Lymbyc Systym - Truth Skull (MP3, 3.9MB)
Nicely reminiscent of Errors or Mogwai's quieter numbers on Happy Music For Happy People, somewhere between electronica and sparse guitars.

Blueneck - Oig (MP3, 5.6MB)
Reminds me of The Great Depression and M83, initially timid before ramping things up halfway through to a lovely climax.

Russian Circles - Death Rides A Horse (MP3, 5MB)
Oh, the metal!  This has a good old-school sound to it, much like Mastodon, and this instrumental track hits the ground running, leather-jacketed and chugging furiously.

MP3s of the Week: RELAPSE!

Because even mild-mannered servants of Her Majesty's Government need to sup from the obsidian cup of MEH-TAAAAL!!! now and then. Thankfully, being chums with one of the - if not the - finest reviewers of metal doing the rounds (the thoroughly nice Dan Slessor, shown here a couple of years ago as the shadowy yin to my eye-bulging yang, whose work can be found in Kerrang, Outburn and therefore numerous band websites) can give one a much-needed pointer towards quality heavy music that would otherwise completely pass me by. Current case in point is High On Fire, rocking my fluffy little world since hearing their 2005 Albini-produced album Blessed Black Wings for the first time on Thursday following Dan's recommendation. Heavy as almighty fuck, it's like Mastodon gone much further, quite splendidly relentless and generally ace if you like your music loud, very loud, louder still and pretty much going AAAARRRRRRGHHHH in your face, getting spittle all over your glasses. Here's the first track off the aforementioned Blessed Black Wings...

Devilution (MP3, 4.4MB)

And here's the video for Rumors Of War from their latest album, Death Is This Communion, unlikely to be heard in your nearest coffee shop any time soon...

Lawks! They're touring with Falling-Sky-faves Pelican in the next couple of months and I'm yet again faced with the dilemma of squaring a night of awesome ear-pounding metal in Glasgow with the need to get back to Edinburgh and be able to hear at work the following day (this predicament stopped me from catching Envy at the Arches last week, which I suspect would've been an absolutely stunning show). They're on Relapse records, home to a whole wodge of girlfriend-repelling music with splendidly catchy band names (eg Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Alabama Thunderpussy, Cephalic Carnage, Dekapitator, Rumpelstiltskin Grinder, Necrophagist, etc), including Pig Destroyer. Mr Dan has been recommending this band to me for about as long as they've existed, but I've only just got my feeble arse round to giving them a listen. And now you can too!

Loathsome (MP3, 3.7MB)

Like being pummelled repeatedly round the head with an armoured tank. Only, y'know, good. Here's the video for the above song, a decent piece of work with a spooky narrative of a jogging bloke's trail of destruction and some downright freaky imagery amongst all the lurching camerawork and headbanging.

There's plenty more MP3s to be found on Relapse's website, plus a bloody fistful of videos from them on YouTube. Whenever you're in need of some cranium-rattling riffs, wide-eyed bellowing and drums that can pound atoms - and, let's face it, who isn't? - those'll be the best places to start. And Dan's next recommendation, the soundtrack to my walk to work tomorrow? The Abominable Iron Sloth. Lovely!

MP3 of the week: MAGICAL!

It's a typically rock'n'roll night in Castle Von Naggle (twinned with Chatiryworld) with online food shopping at Waitrose, a nice cold glass of water to drink, listening to some supremely sparse sounds.  Those sounds in question are coming from Susanna and the Magical Orchestra, a Norwegian duo I first heard thanks to the Rough Trade Counter Culture 2004 compilation which opened with the jaw-droppingly beautiful Believer, a song for every atheist who's ever dated someone with strong religious beliefs.  Ever since I've wanted to get the album it was from, List of Lights and Buoys, but it was always about £14 on Amazon, a bit on the pricey side.  But then - joys! - both that and last year's cover album Melody Mountain just became available on Emusic.  A couple of clicks later, and they were both in my clammy digital hands.

Both albums are absolutely lovely, so I should make a vague attempt to explain why.  It's very... bare music, the voice of singer Susanna Wallumrod gently backed with little electronica noises and chords from Morton Qvenlid.  And what a voice - you listen and feel as though you should be holding your breath, like the slightest movement could break that voice into pieces.  Her voice is clear, crisp and fragile, though not weak or feeble, and is reminiscent of Cat Power and Stina Nordenstam if they were standing next to you in the dark, singing quietly into your ear.  In fact, just listen for yourself - this track's off Melody Mountain and brings on so many chills it should come with a free jumper.

Love Will Tear Us Apart (MP3, 5.9MB)

Best enjoyed late at night with low lighting, a glass of wine and a handy beau/pet/cushion to hug.

MP3 of the Week: SERENE!

Lurching upright again after weeks and weeks and weeks of inactivity, it's the terrifying return of the MP3 of the week!  Gasp!  Zoinks!  Etc!  How long it'll last before toppling back into the limbo of my fecklessness is anyones guess, but in the meantime here's a real beauty to get your lugholes around.  It's a song by a group I'd never heard of before, The Most Serene Republic, and was brought to my attention by the Scatterbrain music blog a few weeks back.

Sherry And Her Butterfly Net (MP3, 7.1MB, 05:10)

It's an advance track off their next album - Population, out 2nd October - and it's the loveliest thing, energetic and thrilling.  It's got upbeat echoes of Architecture In Helsinki, Sufjan Stevens, the Delgados, Arcade Fire, with vocal duties bouncing nicely between the two singers while indie rock and piano pounds along.  It's the kind of song that escalates and, crucially, doesn't stop too soon (something the aforementioned Arcade Fire are often guilty of) when it hits its stride, instead bounding along that bit further.  Really good stuff, I'd recommend this to Steve, Stu N, Burge, the Lass, and anyone else who appreciates a perky slice of melodic indie.

MP3 of the Week: MINOTAUR!

In this world of ours, there is the metal, and there is THUH MEH-TAARRRGHHHLLLLL!  Lair of the Minotaur are very much the latter, as the following lughole clobberer demonstrates:

The Wolf (MP3, 3.5MB or M4A, 2.4MB)

WURRRRRGH!  Proper old-fashioned noisy nastiness in the pulsating vein of bands like Celtic Frost and Venom, their aim being "to make crushing heavy metal, each song telling a different tale from Greek mythology"  No whiny nonsense about life being unfair here and having no girlfriend, pal, this is the serious shit - gorgons, minotaurs, great buckets of bloody splatter.  Their most recent album, the fucking brilliant The Ultimate Destroyer, has marvelous song titles like 'Behead The Gorgon', 'Grisly Hound Of The Pit' and the charming 'Engorged With Unborn Gore'.  Interviewed on the Southern Records site, Steven Rathbone explains that "[w]e wanted LOTM to be everything we've ever liked about metal. Stories about monsters and death, and music filled with killer-chug riffs that you can bang your head to."  Too right!  Listen and feel the testosterone within you throb, surge and rage, just like in those teenage metal days of yore, as your head instinctively lurches forward, back, forward, back, your brows furrowed with the focused concentration of ROCK.

And if you like that, feast yourself on the video for the above song, a mess of red and black, frowny heads a-banging-a-plenty.  Bodes bloody well for their upcoming tour with the equally good Capricorns which I'm thinking about catching at Nice N Sleazy... only prob being it's a couple of days before our Skye holiday.  Ah well, I can always lip-read for the week.