SEVEN NOISES

Back in June I reviewed Edsel & Ruby, the EP that included Cold Cave's most pop and radio friendly song: Love Comes Close. And thanks to that song and what has come afterwards, his first proper LP named after this song and the signed up to Matador, the status of this band has changed from hardly known to one of the most talked about discoveries of the year. And as they know this is so far their "Smells Like Teen Spirit" they released a limited 12" record called Death Comes Close that, for what the name implies, should work as a dark side reverse of the album. Nevertheless, this couldn't be more wrong. To start with, they include (again, and counting 3 times so far) their capital song in the very same version to squeeze a bit more its achievements now that they can be introduced to the larger amount of people that the Matador imprint can reach. Anyway, the interesting part of this EP comes with the other three songs here not included anywhere else and that should be the reason to get this new release. As a companion to the main track, the A side also includes Double Lives in Single Beds, another reason to think this is not the evil dark little brother of the album as it is one of the most accessible and less obscure sounding tracks. On the B side they deliver another hit track with Theme From Tomorrowland that, although the voice is kind of filtered and creepy, the melody and beats are sing-along friendly. With the last track Now That I'm in the Future they finally get a bit darker although far from the noisy tracks from the Cold Cave beginnings.
Imagine this EP as a complement to the record, a collection of extra tracks that could have make it to the album or formed part of one of those deluxe editions with bonus disc so common before Christmas. Anyway, you have them download free with the coupon they give you when you buy the vinyl version of the album.

Released 20/10/09

Cold Cave - Double Lives in Single Beds.mp3

Most of the products we can buy on a daily basis are subjected to the possibility of a refund if we are not satisfied with the quality of the item and we are used to it and find it normal and a right. No doubt we would complain if after buying a lousy T-shirt at H&M we get home, realise we don't particularly like it anymore and when taking it back to the store they don't refund us. But there are some items that are not refundable and we would never expect them to be or complain about it. That's the case of a gig: if we go to a gig and we don't particularly enjoy it there's no way we would expect the people at the venue pay any kind of attention to a formal complain from a customer, even less the label of the band. Fair or not, anyway, until we don't invent a machine that measures enjoyment when applying it to someones brain or fingertip, there's not way to prove if we are saying the truth or we just want our money back for the sake of it. I actually remember a Cat Power gig, back at the days she was good on record but a disaster on stage, that I wouldn't have mind to have my money back and walk away.
But there's one guy in Brooklyn that doesn't think the same and wrote a letter not to the band but to the label explaining his disappointment and criticising the lack of professionalism Times New Viking showed at one of their gigs in the area where Lo-Fi has been reinvented. And the band, I suppose that astonished after reading the attack he does to the band and also to Matador, were happy enough to include the letter in their latest single, the noisy and fun Move To California, that comes with three more tracks, two of them not included in their latest record Born Again Revisited.
So, is this guy right to complain if the event was not up to his expectations? Whatever it is your opinion about it you can't do anything but laugh at the naivety of that guy who also complains to Matador about their recent choice when signing bands (really??, I thought Matador was really cool again?).
Anyway, to expect a band like Times New Viking sound "profesional" live after listening to one of their records is like expecting Kenny G not to be dull. And actually, I think that if there's one thing TNV don't want to sound is professional.

Released 08/09/09

Some things have changed for Kurt Vile since I published a generic post about him some months ago. He's becoming more popular with his non-stop touring and he's signed to Matador and will publish a new album in a couple of months that will probably increase even more his popularity. This new record will include members of The Violators so I would expect a similar production and style to his Hunchback EP. I rather prefer the more intimate and under produced stuff of his record Constant Hitmaker, but we better wait and see when it sees the light. Meanwhile, while we wait, he's released a 7" single of old homemade songs called Fall Demons of a limited edition of just 375 through Skulltones. I managed to get a copy some days ago so maybe you are still on time to get yours. The single contains 5 songs, three of them instrumental, recorded between 2002 and 2008 and maybe it will be the last time we can listen to unreleased stuff with that lo-fi sound that has been his trademark until now.

This 10 inch is the first official Girls release in the UK, even the main track was first published last year as a 7 inch single in the USA and it's been sold out for ages. Since its first release they have been getting more and more popular thanks to the internet blogging effect and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart recommendation in every single interview they've offered for the last 7 months. They've also toured Europe and played popular festivals all around. Everything with just two really limited sold out singles that have never been available in Europe. This is the power of the media and internet these days. Two good singles, some good words, and you are the next big thing. And to celebrate it, Girls release this song again, one of their best, with a new B-side, the expendable Solitude. They still have not recorded their first record yet, or at least that's what they said to a friend of mine after one of their London gigs, but they have plenty of songs to do it so judging for what you can hear in their concerts. The only doubt is if they are going to be up to the expectations.

Released 06/08/09

One of the main regrets this new wave of lo-fi post-punk bands like, to mention some, Blank Dogs, Blessure Grave, Gary War or Zola Jesus, is their extreme overproduction of releases together with a lack of evolution. They are accused of putting out everything they have ever recorded in a broken 80s Walkman with no particular consistency in the selection of the tracks leaving you the possibility of making a mix tape with some of their tracks and forget afterwards which songs are the oldest ones or the ones that have just been released. I particularly don't agree with this statement for some of these bands and if there's one that can prove this wrong that is Cold Cave. For those who don't know them, Cold Cave started as a one man's project, Wes Eisold, to end up being a full band. After a first single, the still available Painted Nails EP, some splits, a cassette and a self released LP, all of them compiled in the recently published Cremations compilation, you can see just a part of how this project has changed. I particularly prefer the stuff in the first EP, more noisy and ambient than the stuff on the cassette or the LP, much more industrial, hard and gothic. But I definitely got into them after the release of The Trees Grew Emotions and Died EP, published late last year. The songs on that EP found them in a more kind and poppy disguise. They even try to move into a candid dance pop in the main track and this is the point where their new EP departures from. In Edsel and Ruby, and advance of three songs from their forthcoming new album, they polish their sound into new territories with choruses and synth-pop influences. Love Comes Close sounds like New Order meets Magnetic Fields while the other two tracks are a bit closer to their own past, with darker synths and melodies. The versions of the songs in the EP are supposed to be different from the ones that will appear on the LP, suspecting they are moving into a more Hi-Fi and pop sound that I personally think that it suits them so far. I can't wait to hear it.

I mentioned Kurt Vile in a previous post but I had to dedicate a full post to him as it looks 2009 is going to be his year. He was first known for his work with The War On Drugs, his band published by Secretly Canadian. Last year he published what we can consider was his first proper solo LP, the magnificent Constant Hitmaker, but it's just been released on vinyl by Woodists. Another two EPs, The Hunchback and God is Saying This to You have been published this year but, as far as I know, they are already sold out. And a 7' single, Fall Demons, is on the way via Skulltones, no release date or pre-orders taken yet. It also has been announced that the following LP to be released later this year, is going to be through Matador, which will probably favor his break-through.

And what about the music? Most of it is played solo, with acoustic guitar and a drum kit, exploring different styles, from free-folk, to a more traditional folk-rock or pop using the drone as a beautiful background, putting emphasis in the melodies and making accessible what it should be weird.