Kieron Hebden: An appreciation

I sometimes find myself wondering who my favourite musician of the twenty first century is. There are a few contenders - Madlib or Mos Def from the world of hip hop perhaps or Damon Albarn or Thom Yorke - men who have transcended their indie roots to produce forward thinking and original music. Ultimately though it all comes back to a man who has worked with many of these other great acts - Kieron Hebden. Over the last decade he has been at the very forefront of  modern music - always a step ahead of the pack and yet able to create beautiful melodies that are accessible to even the most casual of listeners.

Initially influenced like so many before him by Hendrix and Zeppelin (and later drum n bass) he emerged from the post-rock band Fridge in the mid 1990s having studied at the almost legendary Elliot Comprehensive (also home to Hot Chip and Burial) in South London. His first solo record, the jazz influenced Dialogue was released in 1999 but it was second album Pause in 2001 which really brought him to wider attention with his fusing of electronica and a folkier, organic style. Whereas Boards of Canada had captured a similarly emotive feel with their referencing of nature documentaries, Hebden tended towards real instrumentation and bedroom sampling and soon found himself at the forefront of the 'Folktronica' movement. This was consolidated on perhaps his best album to date Rounds in 2003. Probably my favourite album of the noughties, Rounds brilliantly builds abstract electronica around acoustic guitar hooks. Random beats and sounds are thrown over the top to combine experimentation with a distinct homeliness. First track A Joy features a 909 synth with random beats thrown over it to create a disorientating, and yes, joyful noise - quite unlike anything that has come before or since.

Rather than embrace the mainstream, Hebdon's next move was to record with legendary jazz drummer Steve Ried. I recall seeing the two of them play together in London and being blown away by what was essentially a set of just one track of about 40 minutes in length. This was more than just a current artist seeking to sit on the coat tails of a living legend, it was clearly a collaboration of mutual respect and the two men collaborated extensively until Ried's untimely death in 2010.

Next solo album Everything Ecstatic was released in 2005 and contained more magical moments as well as some excellent accompanying videos. By this stage Four Tet was a much sought after remixer and the Ringer EP in 2008 revealed a more minimal stripped back sound (Detroit techno influenced to these ears). This preceded the euphoric There Is Love In You in 2010. This album was perhaps a little patchy (and included a bizarre hidden track) but undoubtedly included some of his very best work including  the Orbital-esque Love Cry and tribute to his favourite London nightclub Plastic People.

In recent years he has worked closely with Burial and with Thom Yorke amongst others. In 2011 they dropped Ego/Mirror which was an excellent 12 inch showcasing the talents of three of the greatest musicians of recent years. Hebden regularly drops low key12 inch vinyl releases which are remarkable in their consistency (check recent release Pinnacles for just one recent example). A hotly anticipated Fabric mix is due in September 2011.

As we enter the second decade of the new millennium, Kieron Hebden is more influential than ever. Check electronica album of last year Swim by Caribou or the more esoteric sounds of perhaps the world's biggest band Radiohead for just a couple of examples of the influence of the Four tet sound. Hebden himself admits that he refuses to sit still - always seeking to be more adventurous with his sound. Its impossible to know where is sound will turn next.

What is really noticeable about Kieron Hebden is his good taste and quality control. He doesn't  compromise in any way and the attention to detail on everything from his remixes through to his artwork is immediately apparent. He somehow manages to reference  folk, free jazz and hip hop and yet couldn't really be defined by any of them. He manages to bring warmth and colour to electronic music and is undoubtedly unique - long may he continue to be so.

Interview with Spencer Hickman, UK coordinator of International Record Store Day

Its four years now since international record store day was conceptualised by a group of store owners in the USA. In that time it has changed significantly - from participation by a handful of stores through to one of the key events in the music industry’s year. The record labels increasingly recognise the day as an opportunity to open the vaults and unearth rare and unreleased tracks onto vinyl or CD and thousands of stores from around the world participate. It has its critics, many of the rarer items (most notably an unreleased Blur track last year) are soon found on eBay where they command a premium but the simple fact is that the day brings thousands of people into record stores who might otherwise shop online. For one day at least people can experience the joy of combing through the racks, chatting to fellow music lovers and buying something that they might not of otherwise discovered – a simple but profound joy.


Spencer Hickman of Rough Trade Records is the UK face of the day. Responsible for overall co-ordination plus organising some of the very best events at the Rough Trade stores in London. Last year he hosted thousands of record buyers with a number of acts instore including an excellent set by Caribou. I was lucky enough to speak to Spencer as this year’s event approaches on Saturday 16th April


So, how are preparations for the big day going?


Yeah, good though a bit hectic. There are so many releases this year – over 200. We’ve got about 170 announced and another 60 to be listed in the next week or two. We’re finding it easy to get bands and labels on board. The first year we just persuaded Piccadilly Records, Spillers and a few others to sign up and we didn’t have any special product. We just got a band in to play and had a bit of a celebration. This year, in the UK alone we’ve got 177 stores involved already – more than ever before. I’m already doing lots of interviews and hopefully we’ll get some TV coverage set up this year.


My only worry is overkill. We have no control over what the labels put out on the day. It’ll be interesting to see what sells and what doesn’t. For small stores it’s such an outlay on product which they might then not sell.


What are the notable vinyl releases you’ve got lined up?


The Queen one is the big one – two unreleased demos. We’ve already got Queen fans emailing us. We’ll be limiting that one to one per customer. The Vaccines are releasing a live bootleg. There’s a sort of New York legends tribute to Franz Ferdinand with LCD Soundsystem, Debbie Harry and ESG doing covers of Franz tracks. The first track on the Wild Beasts album comes out on the day too.


Why is the day so important?


The whole point is that I know that once you get someone inside a record shop and give them that experience they’ll come back. We all use blogs to find new music but you can’t have that real interaction – a chat.


What have you got lined up in the stores on the day?


At Rough Trade West we’ve got Pete and the Pirates. At East we’ve 90% confirmed Soundtrack of our Lives, Wild Beasts and a Chilly Gonzales piano recital! We’re actually having less in-store appearances this year. We’ve learnt a lot from last year and we want to make it a more pleasant shopping experience. Instead, when the store closes at 8pm we’re having a free party at 93 Feet East with Gyratory System, The Mazes and Soundtrack of our Lives.


We had people almost fighting over releases when the store opened last year and we’ve learnt a lot since then. We’ll have a street party outside and face painting and that sort of thing to entertain people in the queue.


How does a record store survive in these days of digitalisation and internet shopping?


You need to widen your horizons. Gone are the days when you could expect people just to walk in and buy. We hold film nights, screen painting classes, in-store signings the list goes on. It’s important not to be afraid to fail sometimes. We did a Saturday morning kids club to enable parents to shop in the store but it simply didn’t work.


Also, concentrate on stocking great music and provide great service. People don’t mind paying a bit extra for that experience. One of the great things about the day is that it gets the stores enthused as well. One owner said that last year he had queues like he hadn’t had for 15 years. It gets stores thinking about things they can do the rest of the year too.


How do you feel about people buying rare stock and then sticking it on eBay at a profit?


Its really unfortunate and no-one dislikes it more than me. We had a situation last year where we looked on eBay at 8am on the day and there were already people posting up the Blur single with our sticker on it. The thing is though that short of questioning everyone who comes in you can’t really stop it- it’s just another example of how people use eBay . We’ll be limiting sales of the rarer items to one per person.


Can you see vinyl surviving?


Well its only a small part of the market but vinyl sales have increased in the last four years and it’s still growing. Bands like the Mystery Jets will release a song on 7 and 12 inch and 12 and 13 year old kids will buy it, see the band play and get it signed. People still want a physical product.


Well, I’m really looking forward to the day. I wish you all the best of luck and keep the dream alive!


Cheers man.


To find out where your nearest Record Store event is and to find out more about the day go to http://www.recordstoreday.com/Home

The very best records of 2010

Its been a great year for music whether it be electronic, hip hop, guitar or singer songwriter. Here are my favourites below complete with videos for you to have a look and listen - I've also linked to my original full reviews where appropriate. Disagree with my choices? Leave yours at the end of the article!

The top 10 albums
10. Skit I Allt – Dungen

Anyone for some Swedish prog folk? What I love about this record is its complete disregard for the mainstream. Like the early krautrock releases they want to take the listener on a sonic journey but they also achieve great subtlety and beauty. This is a record that most obviously (to these ears) recalls Super Furry Animals but also has hints of early Kraftwerk, Thin Lizzy and psychedelic folk.

9. There is Love in You – Four Tet

This isn’t a great album – it’s patchy and it also has a bizarre final track where Mr Hebdon sings to us over acoustic guitar (stick to the day job!). Having said that, it contains three tracks which stand up against anything else released this year. The first two tracks on first listen created an expectation that this would be the record of the year but only Plastic People matched these dizzy heights. Four Tet is still one of (if not) the most relevant musician in Britain today.


8. Queen of Denmark – John Grant
A genre I don’t particularly go for is gay torch songs – Rufus Wainwright leaves me cold. This really caught my ear though – the darkness and bitterness of the lyrics draw you in even though the songs themselves are often candy coated. Midlake guest and their ability to recall American album rock (Chicago, Supertramp, Heart) situates this record in a place that makes it a real guilty pleasure. I was a bit disappointed when Mojo made this their album of the year as I thought this was my discovery (although to be fair to them I got it off the back of their original review!).

7. I’m new here – Gil Scott Heron

Who would have expected a sixty plus year old drug addled soul singer would make one of the most forward thinking and emotional albums of the year? Making use of modern beats to underpin Heron’s tales of childhood abandonment was a masterstroke. He is a true one off...
6. Crooks and Lovers – Mount Kimbie

For all that I love dubstep there are few albums from the genre that I would actually want to listen to from start to finish. Mount Kimbie, like James Blake and Darkstar, recognise the limitations of the genre and so fuse it with other more abstract electronic sounds to create a sloppy-slippy sound that moves things forward again (Slopstep?) Hints of two-step, techno and broken beat keep things interesting while the use of human sounds (vocals, handclaps) creates a connection that few electronic acts achieve. The sound of young London. Love the artwork as well.

http://monobrow73.blogspot.com/2010/07/album-review-crooks-and-lovers-mount.html
5. Archandriod – Janelle Monae
I was expecting neo soul. Instead I got one of the most inventive female fronted albums of recent years. Janelle brought to mind the afro-exentricity of Parliament, Prince and Outkast but also Karen Carpenter and Debbie Harry. This was a proper album starting with a classical suite and packed with highlights throughout - wildly ambitious for a debut. Expect her to be huge.

http://monobrow73.blogspot.com/2010/09/album-review-archandroid-janelle-monae.html
4. Hidden – These New Puritans

I spent most of the year bemoaning the lack of decent guitar music and then heard this via Paul Morley and a friend. To call it a guitar album is a bit unfair as there is little guitar on it but its undoubtedly an ‘indie’ album bringing to mind Radiohead in particular. Like Radiohead though they realise the limitations of the guitar and focus as much on samurai drums, brass bands, children’s choirs and synths while never forgetting the value of a good hook. Best post modern, art-rock, concept album of the year.

3. A Sufi and a Killer – Gonjasufi

Like Flying Lotus, a true one off. Gonjasufi takes acid rock as his template rather than futuristic beats (although they are there in the mix on some songs) and somehow manages to tell the whole story of modern music over his debut album without ever sounding retro. This record calls to mind the Stooges, Turkish psych, Issac Hayes and Monster Magnet and many many more. An excellent remix package (The Caliph’s Tea Party) was released off the back of it. For those who just want to hear something, well, different.

http://monobrow73.blogspot.com/2010/03/album-review-sufi-and-killer-gonja-sufi.html
2. Swim - Caribou

The most blatantly enjoyable album of the year (the record I actually enjoy listening to most often comes second in these polls while I reserve first place for the one I consider the most ‘important’!). This record sounded good whenever I played it – on the train on Ipod, on a barge radio travelling through Holland, eating dinner in an Italian villa, live in Rough Trade records in East London... At least three euphoric singles (Odyssey, Sun, Bowls) but dig beneath and there is great experimentation here – Arthur Russell is an obvious reference point as is Four tet but Dan Snaith is continuing to plough his own furrow.

http://monobrow73.blogspot.com/2010/03/album-review-swim-caribou-city-slang.html
1. Cosmogramma – Flying Lotus

I suspect I might get some flak for picking this as my album of the year. It’s a muso’s album – deliberately difficult and ‘clever’ and it barely contains anything you might regard as a song. This though is a record that is all about texture and mood. Closer to 70’s free jazz than the post dubstep sound it is often associated with, Ellison is able to create a connection with his listener through snatches of harp, piano and vocal. The beats are sparse and harsh but from within them comes great beauty. It’s a record that is quite unique and I can envisage listening to it in ten years time by which time the rest of the pretenders might just have caught up (by which time Fly Lo will have moved on!).. I fully accept that this choice says more about where I am on my own musical journey than what might be regarded as the popular choice of a defining record but I was amazed at how little this was picked upon in the end of year magazine and web polls which shows that I’m not entirely in thrall to the critics!

http://monobrow73.blogspot.com/2010/05/album-review-cosmogramma-flying-lotus.html
The top 3 singles
3. Katie’s on a mission – Katie B



This category should contain at least one out and out pop single. This really caught my ear when I saw Katie supporting Magnetic Men. A great hook but rooted in credibility – like a modern Nenah Cherry singing along to Benga perhaps (he did produce it after all). Simple fun.

2. CMYK – James Blake

A sound of where British music goes next. Using cut up R&B vocals over modern electronic sounds from the London underground – rolling back and forth with shifting tempos to create a slightly disorientating experience. Expecting a great debut from this man in 2011.

1. Exhibit A/C – Jay Electronica
As one gets older it becomes so much harder for music to really blow you away – think about the first time you heard Public Enemy, Guns N Roses or the Arctic Monkeys...I had the same feeling when I heard Exhibit A which namechecks Barack Obama, Etta James and Kurt Voneggut (this was actually released in 2009 so I've chosen Exhibit C which is a little more soulful and equally as good). So far ahead of the rest of the hip hop field it’s scary. Calling to mind J Dilla, Wu and Nas with futuristic production and a voice to kill for – hip hop is back big style with Jay Electronica. All together now 'As we proceed....with what you need.....'


Merry Christmas and happy new year everyone - see you in 2011!

Album review: Swim – Caribou (City Slang)

The name change for a musician seeking to signify a change in their sound is so common that its become a cliché in itself. Think Eminem becoming Marshall Mathers, David Bowie adopting Ziggy Stardust or most infamously Prince changing his name to symbol in a vain attempt to reinvent himself.

In the case of Canadian Dan Snaith the change (actually brought about by a legal challenge from another musician) has been more incremental. True, there has been a shift in his sound since changing his moniker from Manitoba to Caribou but fundamentally he’s still making music that, while laptop cased, has at its heart both melody and human empathy.

His latest album Swim is certainly his most fully realised (and perhaps accessible)release to date. Like Animal Collective’s recent Merriwater Post Pavillion, he takes a vocal and incorporates it deep into a heady mix. The listener has to actively search out the melody but once located can’t help but feel a sense of smug satisfaction on ‘getting it’. This is music for those who need to persevere up to a point but not for those who want something resolutely underground.

Opening track Odessa is, by the rest of the albums standards, a fairly straightforward vocal number and not entirely representative. It wouldn’t be too great a leap to imagine this sung on Top of the Tops circa 1982 were it not for the nagging housy bassline and wierd sound effects, for the vocal is reminiscent of the Human League, early Dépêche Mode or even the Pet Shop Boys. None of these are bands I particularly like but this track is a wonderful combination of all sorts of sounds and utterly infectious.

Momentum is sustained with second track Sun which again has a housy feel. Where it differs from most house music though is that it doesn’t get trapped in repetitive drum 4/4 beats so common of the genre. The bass is allowed to breathe much more than in much electronic music while the vocal is used as a sound effect in itself to help drive the song along. About 4 minutes in trippy synths kick in and you can’t help but think that you want to hear it in a 10,000 strong dance tent at a festival.

Kaili builds and builds without the need for the sort of breakdowns so beloved of Daft Punk or Bassment Jaxx and is again built almost entirely around a vocal sample. To describe this as dance music as such would be misleading for it has more in common with the aforementioned Animal Collective or even Aphex Twin than it does the Chemical Brothers or typical Ibiza fare. What it does share with dance music though is tempo and energy which is so often lacking in much electronic music.

Found Out and Hannibal both picks up on themes that focus on the female mindset. In the case of Hannibal the vocal doesn’t actually come in for four and a half minutes - 'the thing that she says she can fall for she knows she’ll be there on her own' he sings. The dreamy, spaced out vocal adding to the sense of loneliness that the lyrics evoke.

Bowls meanwhile is an opportunity to introduce Tibetan instruments into the mix (not something you could imagine Calvin Harris doing any time soon). Snaith again uses the basic sound to create an infectious groove. Similar in pace to Hot Chip’s Over and Over this climaxes with eastern harps over piano riffs and various sound effects brought into the mix. It should sound cluttered but it never does. Like Four tet and Madlib, Caribou understands the importance of what is not there as what is.

Final tracks Lalibela and Jamelia are perhaps the most avant garde of all – backward masking, snatches of string instruments, steel drums and whispered vocals are weaved into the mix to create something both disorientating and homely.

This is a fantastic album. It manages to be both electronic but organic, is rooted in classic song writing but very original, speaking from both a male and female perspective and ideal for dancing too or for home listening. Contradictory perhaps, but aren’t we all? I urge you to seek it out.