A review of the album 'Situation' by Buck 65

Review Snapshot: The tenth album by the Canadian rapper, Feist's occasional dancing partner, is an unremarkable collection of same-old-same-old beats coupled with dense social-commentary influenced by 1950s seediness. By no means a bad album, but it will only excite that small Venn diagram segment where 'Public Enemy fan' overlaps with 'James Ellroy fan'.

The Cluas Verdict? 5 out of 10

Full Review:
Not to be confused with Buckcherry, Buck Owens or Eiffel 65, Buck 65 is one of the many aliases of Canadian rapper Ricardo Terfry. If you're not well up on your Canadian rap, you may have seen him dancing romantically with Feist in the video for her breakthrough single 'One Evening'.

'Situation', Terfry's tenth album in twelve years as Buck 65, is a concept album about 1957 - according to a post by Terfry on his MySpace page, "the year that created a legacy that affects the way we live and think fifty years later". So, we have a track called '1957', with others whose words evoke the spirit of James Ellroy's sleazy paparazzi ('Shutterbuggin') and crooked policemen ('Cop Shades'), as well as Betty Page's underground starlet ('Lipstick').

Buck 65 has previously laced his rap with folk and blues sounds, but from start to finish 'Situation' is just old-school socially-conscious hip-hop. 'Old school' means that there's nothing really new or innovative about the sounds on offer here; the beats and instrumentation are fairly run-of-the-mill stuff. You're left listening to 'Situation' purely on the strength of Terfry's rapping - but his deep voice has little personality or variation. He's obviously put a lot into the lyrics in order to create his '50s demi-monde, but that's not enough to sustain interest for a whole album.

Fans of literate, thoughtful rap may like it - but they'll still find that the likes of Jurassic 5 and The Roots do this sort of thing far better.

Aidan Curran

 To buy a new or (very reasonably priced) 2nd hand copy of this album on Amazon just click here.

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Ah Christmas, the most wonderful time of the year.  That is, of course, if wonderful is defined as stress filled, panic buy inducing madness!  Luckily for this Blog, whose agoraphobia appears to increase in direct correlation to the number of people selling sheets of wrapping paper '3 for €2', Mrs. Notes takes care of most of the Christmas shopping in these parts.  There are, however, two notable exceptions; Mrs. Notes' gift and any music related gifts that need to be purchased. 

This year has been by far Key Notes' easiest year yet.  The fact that the CLUAS 'Shortlist' for the Album of the Year stretches to 40 titles is a testament to the quality of music released this year.  Personally, as your resident Irish indie music commentator, Key Notes is especially proud that Irish releases make up almost 25% of the shortlist. 

So, if you're still unsure as to what to buy your loved one this Christmas, let Key Notes guide you through its selection of this years 'can't fail'* alternative music gifts.

For Your Dad
You've seen him at weddings with his tie wrapped around his head, head-banging to AC/DC and you know that he has an inner rock god buried deep beneath his Mondeo driving exterior.  Yet, every year, without fail, you buy him socks or cufflinks because you can't think of anything else.  Not this year though.    Raising Sand, the haunting, slightly disturbing, and yet still brilliant collaboration between Robert Plant and Alison Krauss allows him to relive his youth and keep his dinner party guests happy.

For Your Mum
It would be very easy to buy Il Divo or Take That for your mum but really, she gave birth to you, therefore she deserves better.  If she was a Prefab Sprout fan in her youth why not give her Neon Bible, Arcade Fire's homage to all things Paddy McAloon.  She'll enjoy it much more than Il Divo and it's not nearly half as embarrassing as having to explain to the sales person that it's for your mum, not you.

For Your Siblings
Without a doubt Key Notes favourite album of this year; Nervousystem is the second album from the Future Kings of Spain.  Your brother will thank you in years to come for ridding him of his fascination with all things My Chemical Romance while your sister will appreciate Joey Wilsons trademark disinterested drawl; Mrs. Notes certainly does.  Alternatively, there's Cathy Davey's Tales of Silversleeve, an album as remarkable as it was unexpected.  A work of genius to pleasure the ears of siblings of all ages.

For Your Partner
Finally, the age old dilemma of what to put in his/her Christmas stocking.  It should, of course, depend on that persons musical taste.  However, you should note that it doesn't matter if they'd appreciate Wilco's Sky Blue Sky more than the Kings of Leon or if they'd prefer Interpol over The Flaming Lips.  The real key to choosing an album for your partner is to pick something you like, especially if you're living with this person.  Trust Key Notes when it tells you; they're going to make you listen to it!

*Key Notes takes no responsibility should any of these recommendations result in divorce or disownment.

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Review Snapshot:   At many points throughout 'The Sentinel' Swedish post rock merchants Aerial threaten to join the heirarchy of post rock, yet a lack of clarity and the vision to take a song to the next level leave them floundering in the 'what might have been' category. There are plenty of great moments for sure, but it becomes clearer as each track goes by that no song will take the necessary step that will mark them out as extraordinary. Instead the majority of the songs fizzle out with endings that are interchangeable with any other song on the album.  

The CLUAS Verdict?  6.5 out of 10 

Full Review:
In the last decade or so 'post rock' has become the most critically lauded musical genre of them all. Certainly, it has been the most uber-hip outpost on the musical landscape, with many of the major players enjoying as much success as is possible for groups who play, for the most part, awkward, mostly instrumental, lengthy pieces.

However, as with any other area of music there are those who excel and others who are content to plod along. Any band looking for direction in terms of post rock can go down either of two roads; set out your stall and continually build upon it ( see Isis from 'Celestial' to 'In The Absence Of Truth' ), or become creatively stagnant , as Explosions In The Sky have proven by turning out basically the same record for the last few releases. Can Swedish post rock merchants Aerial avoid the pitfalls on their new record?

Well...not entirely. Sure, there are plenty of moments which make 'The Sentinel' a worthwhile listening experience. 'My God It's Full Of Stars' sets the ball rolling, with sweet vocals, a lovely melody and Explosions style guitar work that dissolves into a crashing crescendo. 'You Will All Die, All Things Will', meanwhile, is perhaps the standout track on the album. It opens with liquid guitar lines and a fantastic, shoegazing type vocal. There's a lull in the middle of proceedings before a furious flurry of feedback that wouldn't be out of place on a Sonic Youth record. Aerial don't just deal in sweetness and light though. '46th Street' contains the kind of gargantuan riff that Isis or Cult Of Luna wouldn't turn their noses up at.

However, despite these positives 'The Sentinel' lacks a certain cohesion which would pull the whole record together. Though the bands use of vocals ensures that things never get too predictable, there is a definite feeling of deja vu at plenty of junctures. Sure, each song by itself is very pretty and lovely, but on 'Walk With Me' they get a bit too close to post rock-by-numbers, while 'The Youth Star Deleters' and 'Secret Godess' are interchangeable with each other. The link tracks only serve to make the record feel even more disjointed.

There is definitely enough going on to suggest that Aerial will make their 'Oceanic' or 'Spiderland' at some stage, but they will need to add something to the mix to avoid joining the list of instrumental also rans.

Alan Morrissey

 To buy a new or (very reasonably priced) 2nd hand copy of this album on Amazon just click here.

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A review of the album Yesterday Is No Tomorrow by Stalkers

Review Snapshot:It is almost a prerequisite in listening to this album that you not have a problem with uncomplicated music. Stalkers are a straightforward hard rocking band who write fantastically singable rock songs: this album may not change the face of music as we know it, but it’s a lot of fun.

The Cluas Verdict? 6 out of 10

Full Review:

The most remarkable thing about this album is its sheer relentlessness. Stalkers don’t concern themselves too much with the finer points of harmony, melody or subtlety, but they do hammer out rough rhythms and roars of vocals, tripping over their own squealing guitar solos, chunky riffs and remarkably hooky choruses in an effort to push it through the speakers with as much power as possible. Wasting no time, the band launch into opening track Yesterday Is No Tomorrow as if there’s a giant hand pushing forward from behind, and they simply can’t help being forced forward.

What follows typifies each track on the album: you have your early rock/12-bar-blues-based riffs piled high with simple, innocent overdrive, your half-shouted vocals, and your standard driving backbeat, low in the mix but pinning everything down. Through songs like I’m Feeling Alright and Sun’s Coming Up, Stalkers create an irresistible atmosphere of joyous abandon and carefree fun with an edge of nostalgia, both lyrically with their honest and unassuming stories, and musically with some pleasantly surprising references to the guitar solos of early rockers and even the melodies of the Beach Boys. There’s even a little Frank Black in there somewhere.

Every song, whether it’s about stalking someone, having a great time, circus girls, or wanting to ‘do as we may!’ in what must be one of the most strangely grammatically correct choruses ever written, is utterly singable – albeit a little manic – and totally infectious. However, the album fails to stand up to repeated listening: there’s only so much happy, carefree rock you can listen to, without feeling a little manic yourself. This is an album for specific occasions, rather than regular rotations. With such frothy –light-hearted tunes and subjects, it’s more suited to sunny afternoons than the rain and wind of a November release. 

Anna Murray

 To buy a new or (very reasonably priced) 2nd hand copy of this album on Amazon just click here.

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John Carney's 'Once' was released in France on 14 November - and it has enjoyed reasonable success.

With only 54 copies distributed (compared to 364 for 'American Gangster', released on the same day), the low-budget Irish film has attracted an impressive 47,343 cinema-goers in its first two weeks, putting it at no. 20 in the French box office chart (American Gangster, third in the table behind Saw IV, has almost 730,000 punters).

French reviewers have been quite positive too. The general consensus is along the lines of 'the songs and the charm make up for its faults'. Widely-read cultural weekly Telerama's opinion was typical: its review emphasised the key role of the 'glum rock' songs in the storytelling, and praised Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova for their performances.

Your blogger saw 'Once' in a Paris arthouse cinema this weekend. The film certainly has its charms, most of all Hansard as the likeable hero (we were about to write 'likeable busker', but that'd be going too far with the suspension of disbelief). But Irglova's part was seriously underwritten; her lines were not so much dialogue as stage directions ("I have to go now" umpteen times) and plot markers, with no sense of her character having any emotional depth or development. Perhaps Carney, maker of the brilliant 'Bachelors Walk', just can't write a convincing female role; there was Marcella Plunkett being the dreamy two-dimensional love interest, just like in the TV series.

And the songs aren't really good enough to win over Frames-doubters the way they do in the film; bland, generic love-and-angst lyrics delivered in Hansard's trademark quiet-to-loud style. But his melodies - especially 'Falling Slowly' - are strong and memorable, like the best of his songs. The more adventurous James Blunt fan may be swayed by them, though we know that's damning Hansard and Irglova with faint praise.

We were curious as to how French people would react to 'Once'. Street buskers aren't so common here - most musical begging is done on the metro (though there's a regular pitch at one corner of Place Saint Michel). And would not knowing The Frames be a help or a hindrance?

Well, we gained one telling insight thanks to a certain French audience reaction. Early in the film, just before the girl appears, the guy is singing 'Say It To Me Now'. At the moment that Hansard launches into the song's histrionic section, some people in the cinema started laughing - they clearly found him ridiculous and thought it was meant as a joke. But the laughter died away when the French viewers realised that the busker's OTT performance was to be taken seriously.

Apart from the cultural shock of experiencing a real Grafton Street busker (though not singing 'Hallelujah'), here are some other Things That French People Learned About Dublin Thanks To 'Once':

• No one in Dublin (except rich studio engineers) owns a mobile phone. All calls must be made from public phones just off Grafton Street.
• It's normal to go to the shop at night in your pyjamas. You won't be mugged or arrested.
• Dublin thieves are perfectly nice once you've caught them and shown them your compassionate side. But watch out for that second door out of HMV!
• Young Dubliners don't go to the pub; they organise sing-songs at home where everyone eats plain spaghetti and listens to someone's ma* singing come-all-ye rebel ballads.
• Immigrants to Dublin have no worries except for neighbours barging in to watch 'Fair City'.
• It doesn't rain in Dublin.

As for your blogger, three years out of Dublin, it seems that Mountjoy Square is going to become the new Stoneybatter. But are there more buskers there now because of 'Once'? We think we'll be staying in Paris a while longer...

(*Mrs Hansard, we believe)

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November was a bumper month for Irish acts playing in Paris, and the trend looks set to continue into December.

Tonight (1 December) The Thrills (right) are playing in the Maroquinerie, one of our favourite indie venues here. The Brian Wilson worshippers are currently on a European tour in support of their latest album, 'Teenager'.

Next stop for the lads is Amsterdam, followed by Germany, Spain and Scandinavia, all in the next two weeks. Let's hope Conor Deasy's voice can hold up under that busy schedule.

Those madcap Cork boys The Frank And Walters (below left) are playing two Paris shows this week. First, they're at La Flèche d'Or (this blogger's home from home) tomorrow night (2 December), and they'll also be at the Club Le Baron on the swanky Avenue Marceau just off the Champs-Elysées on Tuesday 4 December.

That leaves them all of Monday free for a bit of sightseeing. Oh, and some promoting business; their last album 'A Renewed Interest In Happiness' was released in Europe earlier this year.

After their Paris shows, The Frank And Walters will be touring around Ireland during December to play for you their new single 'City Lights' and their fine back-catalogue of colourful guitar-pop.

The Frank And Walters gig tomorrow night is part of a fantastic line-up at La Flèche d'Or this week. Last night we saw The Posies there: guitarist Ken Stringfellow now lives in Paris, and last night he and singer Jon Auer put on a stripped-down, guitars-only show of the band's power-pop classics. They played 'Flavor Of The Month'; it made our weekend.

Then on Monday there'll be a mad dash from the day-job to see more cult indie-pop, this time from Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips of Galaxie 500 and Luna fame. Support comes from much-fancied French singer Bo.

In his role as CLUAS Foreign Correspondent (Paris), your blogger will have a gig review of the Frank And Walters show as soon as possible. As a nod to the non-striking transport workers of France, perhaps they might play 'Happy Busman':

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