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Night of the Loving Dead

Dear God, I Hate Myself by Xiu Xiu (Album Review by Erol Sabadosh)

Xiu Xiu's latest outing is by far their most pop-influenced album, but while it may be more sonically palatable than previous releases the lyrical subject matter is typically dark and morbid, with songs about eating disorders, self-mutilation and serial killers making up the twelve tracks on offer. As per usual, lead singer Jamie Stewart imbues his work with a sense of pathos, mixing self-deprecating humour with elements of tragedy and horror. Stewart's aesthetic approach is perhaps more consistently maximalist here, displaying less dynamic and textural range, and certainly the album is a far cry from the more foreboding and quietly unsettling La Forêt and lacking the variety of career-peak Fabulous Muscles, but this lends the songs, and therefore the album as a whole, a confidant momentum that carries the listener along a brief but extremely dense half hour.

With Dear God Stewart seems less preoccupied with confrontational and jarring compositions, though there still remains trace elements of these qualities, instead the music is characterized by a more rousing and upbeat sound this time around. According to the press release one of the instruments used in the making of the album was a Nintendo DS, and one track even makes prominent use of a children's choir; it is details such as this that belie the bleak title and make the album fun to listen to. There are also moments of tenderness, such as in the lament of Hyunhye's Theme, about a law student working hard to please their parents, and on This Too Shall Pass Away (For Freddy) where consolation comes in the assurance that "at least you are not alone" in feeling pain and that it is, like all things, transient. The title track, an ode to self-loathing and dysfunctional behaviour as well as a plea for spiritual love, is a definite highlight. Stewart also manages to squeeze in an unexpected cover of Cumberland Gap, a 19th century Appalachian folk song. Dear God, I Hate Myself is an odd but assured juxtaposition of dark subject matter and dense yet melodious music that works brilliantly and makes for one of Xiu Xiu's most exciting releases to date.

The album is released on 23rd February through Kill All Rock Stars, preceded by the release of the title track as lead single on iTunes on January 19th.

Listen to Xiu Xiu

Former Ghosts - Fleurs [Album Review by Erol Sabadosh]

Former Ghosts are a collaboration between Freddy Ruppert (previously of This Song Is A Mess But So Am I), Jamie Stewart (Xiu Xiu) and Nika Roza (Zola Jesus), and their debut album Fleurs does indeed sound like what one would expect from such a collaboration; emotive and introspective songwriting with an aesthetic that blends synthpop sensibilities with industrial influences.

What is perhaps most striking about the album is the consistant balance between beauty and ugliness/tenderness and violence that characterizes not only the lyrical content but the sound of the album as well. The title, the French word for 'flowers', is foremoest suggestive of affection and romance yet flowers can also signify death and mourning, and while the majority of the songs here are overtly about love and desire there is an undercurrent of sadness and nostalgia throughout. On album opener 'Us And Now,' as well as the title track, Ruppert expresses feelings of extreme happiness and yearning, while acknowledging the transience of human emotion and, ultimately, life itself, singing "if I could stretch out these moments/I would make them last a lifetime." He exhibits a clear talent for mining romance from melancholia, following a statement such as "it is ok/everything dies" by having Roza sing "who will love you like I do?"; the cathartic elements of the music shine through the darkest depths of despair.

The reverb-soaked and distorted vocals are accompanied by equally reverb-soaked and distorted synths, at times sounding like hissing power tools or bleeping dialysis machines, pounding bass drums and all manner of clicks and crackling sounds. Nonetheless, the harsh timbre and texture of the instrumentation and production is offset by the strong and gorgeous melodies. Roza's voice lends the album a feminine touch, soaring high above the mix with an intense passion on the tracks where she takes lead vocal duty.

Fleurs offers a collection of dense and unconventional love songs that mix celebratory and rousing sentiment with existential awareness to potent results; easy to recommend to anyone who appreciates emotionally charged music with a twist.

Former Ghosts on Myspace

Jasiminne Yip [35mm] by Erol Sabadosh

Me and MOWGLI DJing @ Star of Bethnal Green

The Life of the World to Come - The Mountain Goats; a positive review by Erol Sabadosh

Three tracks into The Life of the World to Come, the new album from The Mountain Goats, and you may be wondering where exactly it is that songwriter John Darnielle is taking us. Over the course of fifteen full length LPs (The Life of the World to Come being the sixteenth overall and the sixth since signing to label 4AD and moving away from the ultra lo-fi aesthetic of early releases to a more polished studio sound) Darnielle has explored issues ranging from drug addiction to domestic abuse, occasionally from an autobiographical perspective, and has proven to be consistently engaging and prolific in his efforts. While previous album Heretic Pride lacked a strong overarching theme, but was still a great album, Darnielle has opted to place focus on faith this time, or more specifically Christianity (although it is certainly not an album written about the Bible).

Heretic Pride opened with the immediately likeable and rousing “Sax Rohmer #1,” whereas here the listener is treated with the brooding and sparse “1 Samuel 15:23” where Darnielle embodies the character of a crystal healer who believes he is helping people with his supposed healing powers while selling self-help tapes and sewing cloaks. Each song on the album is named after a Bible verse which somehow relates to it and in this instance the chosen passage reflects judgement on the character within the song for rejecting the word of God. Rather than preaching the Bible Darnielle juxtaposes the fictional and autobiographical narratives within his songs with Biblical references in a variety of ways that add extra depth to his characters and narratives; he is not trying to convert people to Christianity, nor is he entirely challenging the Christian faith, he is simply writing songs the way that he always has but with an emphasis on religion or faith as an overarching theme or reference.

The second track is a raucous one compared to the muted opener, recalling the wild strumming and wailing evident in Darnielle’s earlier work, and it’s oddly followed by the most radio-friendly pop song on the album, “Philippians 3:20-21,” which could have just as easily appeared on Heretic Pride. The extreme variation in style of these first three songs proves to be rather jarring, but thereafter the album settles into a predominantly down-tempo and introspective balladry that tends to favour piano and the violin arrangements of Owen Pallett (Arcade Fire/Final Fantasy) over Darnielle’s distinctly rough guitar playing. This places the album in a similar category to his low-key and greatly underrated 2002 effort Tallahassee and the more recent Get Lonely, which may indicate that it won’t be quite as instantly well-received as its predecessor.

Darnielle has made a surprising album, choosing not to pursue the more commercial and accessible pop-potential that marked his last LP while focusing on a theme that may split fan opinions, but regardless of expectations the fact is that there are songs here that will sit comfortably alongside some of his most beautiful and subtle work ("Genesis 30:3" is an instant classic, and "1 John 4:16" is similarly gorgeous). On “Matthew 25:21” Darnielle describes the day he left his tour to visit his dying mother-in-law in hospital, and it is surely one of the most raw and affecting songs he has written, reminding of his ability to convey complicated human emotions through bold and vivid imagery. The album also ends with one of the darkest Mountain Goats songs ever, “Ezekiel 7 and the Permanent Efficacy of Grace,” which features a particularly haunting piano arrangement that glides over ominous bass drones with lyrics that depict the journey of a murdering drug addict who is driving to Mexico through a seemingly apocalyptic storm. The Life of the World to Come is a mature and complex album by an incredibly talented songwriter who doesn’t seem to be running out of steam any time soon. God bless you John Darnielle.

Listen to The Mountain Goats on Myspace