Tame Impala, Hammersmith Apollo, June 25th.

Tame Impala’s conquest of Britain has been more evolution than revolution. Prior to tonight’s sold out Hammersmith Apollo show, Kevin Parker and his cohorts have filtered through London’s smaller venues with a sort of blissful acquiescence, quietly assured that bigger and better venues would inevitably fall to their soaring, modernist take on psych rock.

Despite having recently conquered the Brixton Academy, tonight’s venue is a marked step-up and even Parker sounds slightly overwhelmed (if not abashed) as he thanks fans ‘‘all the way up in the back’’.The leap in crowd numbers apart, little has changed in the last 12 months, with new bassist Cam Avery’s arrival the only notable exception. Opening with an abridged version of Lonerism bonus track, Led Zeppelin, the band quickly storm into Innerspeak favourite Solitude is Bliss, in which Parker’s lyrical astral projections are only slightly marred by some volume issues. A new track, Auto-Prog, organ-heavy and reminiscent of the ’60s-inspired outings of Lonerism, sounds unrealized and nascent.


Despite the frenzy of sounds and effects, one of the most fascinating aspects of Tame Impala’s live show is their use of the oscilloscope, a box hooked up to the band’s instruments that translates the sound into a back-projected 90’s rave visuals. When paired with phased-out monoliths such as Enders Toi and Alter Ego, the end result is a quite stunning congruity of sound and vision.


Parker, pleading apathy, claims to have spared little thought to Lonerism’s follow up, far less what it might sound like, but on this evidence it can be whatever he wants it to be. On the ascent to a venue of this size, Tame Impala prove they can still prog out (Nothing That has Happened So Far Has Been Anything We Could Control), make crowds dance (Elephant/Half Full Glass of Wine) and sing along (Feels like We Only Go Backwards). Roundhouse, Brixton, Hammersmith, Glastonbury... Arenas next, for better or for worse? Tame Impala’s march to the top is seemingly inexorable.

Time is short. Japan can ill afford any further delay in preparing for the inevitable. In the next year or two, Japan will enter a phase of irreversible population decline. The time to act is now. (Matsutani)

Outside Tokyo and its other metropolises, Japan is dying a strange death. It's due to demographics. First: advances in medicine and a diet high in raw squid have helped to make Japan the oldest society that has ever existed in the long history of human societies. Second, because of its ridiculously low birth rate and frosty attitude to immigrants, Japan is now the first large industrialised country to experience a population decrease as a result of natural causes. In short, as its oldsters get even older, and its youngsters spend all their time commuting on packed trains in identical black suits instead of having wild unprotected sex, Japan's population is shrinking.

Richard Hendy was based in Tokyo for 10 years before deciding to up sticks into the Japanese hinterland to fulfill his 'lust for rust'. He documents and photographs the derelict and neglected sights of the country, offering up a blog that is a deeply melancholic yet wry read that gives a sometimes sad, sometimes eerie and sometimes hilarious insight into real life, contemporary Japan. His economically informed commentary married to his images turns the journal into a procrastinators best friend. I've killed hours on it already. Check it out below.

http://spikejapan.wordpress.com/

A few albums

Wire - Pink Flag (1977).

Punk/post punk/experimental
Recommended if you like; The Fall, Gang of Four, Television, Minutemen.

If i were to compile a list of my top 10 British albums, Pink Flag would effortlessly make the cut. This is one of the most influential post punk albums ever that's influenced everyone from the likes of MBV and REM to Blur, the Manic Street Preachers and Bloc Party. The album itself is a blitzkrieg attack that doesn't relent until the end, coming in at just over 35 minutes. The guitar tone throughout is outrageously good - single coils and fuzz boxes!

Edan - Beauty And The Beat (2005).

Hip hop/psychadelic
Recommended if you like; Kool Keith, Madlib, Percee P, Mr. Lif.

This record will only be 5 years old come the end of the month, but already it's a certifiable hip hop classic. Edan's intention when making it was to give the listener an LSD like, ethereal experience and with his 60's psych infused samples and spiritual style of lyric, he certainly delivers. It marries 60's psychadelica with underground hip hop and the result is a left of center classic. The man himself once expressed his musical goal to put Syd Barret's face on Biz Markie's body with Kool G's brain, and it's eclecticism like this which sets Edan apart from the rest.

Tangerine Dream - Phadera (1974).

Electronic/krautrock/ambient.
Recommended if you like; Popol Vuh, Brian Eno, Ash Ra Temple/Manuel Göttsching, Kraftwerk.

Brooklyn band Yeasayer are riding on the crest of a wave at the minute and are blowing up everywhere. I'm a massive fan of the 3-piece myself and so i thought it'd be cool to upload a record that left an indelible mark on the band when they were in their seminal stages. Phadera is a stunning record of (often) improvised cosmic rock and rich soundscapes that is soaked with emotion. The record never enjoyed commercial success in Germany (although attained a cult following internationally) on it's initial release, but thankfully it was never lost and it's influence can still be felt today. I have no idea why I didn't include this on my list of Krautrock records. 

Jaga Jazzist - A Livingroom Hush (2001).

Experimental/jazz/post rock.
Recommended if you like; Squarepusher, Tortoise, Herbie Hancock, Aphex Twin, Duke Ellington.

One of my personal favourites of the 00's. Jaga Jazzist's influences range from Mingus to more contemporary electronica stuff. They've come to be the posterboys of the early millenium Scandanavian 'nu jazz' movement, but i'd say they aren't necessarily genre specific. Their music is hardly inaccessible, but I once read that the band command a massive mainstream radio appeal in their native Norway, compare and contrast that with the Radio 1 bullshit we're subject to over here.

Telepathe - Dance Mother (2009).

Indie/electronica/synthpop
Recommended if you like; TV on the Radio, Gang Gang Dance, Julian Casablancas, Liars, Dirty Projectors.

Nice little indie debut from Brooklyn duo Telepathe with TV on the Radio's mad scientist Dave Sitek overseeing production. This is synth heavy avant-pop that features guest vocals from Sitek himself, fellow TVOTR bandmate (and majestically beareded) Kyp Malone and !!!'s Shannon Funchess.

Busdriver - Temporary Forever (2002).

Hip hop/alternative hip hop/abstract

Recommended if you like; Q Tip, Black Star, Kid Kudi, MF DOOM, The Cool Kids.Temporary Forever was Busdriver's sophomore release and for me, his magnum opus. It amalgamates everything he does so well, from abstract and non sequitur lyrics to hilarious freestyling (one track features BD rhyming off improv at the booth of a fast food drive-thru and another delivers a sardonic twit on the problems of spontaneous human combustion), all packaged in his own hyperactive idiosyncratic delivery.

The Foundry, RIP.

Was absolutely gutted when i read the news that Hackney council had finally went ahead with plans to demolish The Foundry. I only visited a couple of times but i adored this place and it was so much more than a pub - it was a fundamental component in the London underground art and poetry scene. Oh well, at least it's got the Astoria for company in building heaven.

FATE

Sometimes you have to go halfway around the world to come full circle.

PARIS

'Parting they seemed to tread upon the air, twin roses by the zephyr blown apart, only to meet again more close, and share the inward fragrance of each other's heart.'

- John Keats.

The Beauty of 5: Krautrock Albums

5.

Einsjäger Und Siebenjäger - Popol Vuh (1974).

This record is what i'd imagine Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Mott the Hoople would sound like if they had an impromptu jam session. The band inspired modern day acts such as Yeasayer and Girls in that they were one of the first to use African and South American instrumentation to create soundscapes and noise – a feat which is made even more unusual given the inherent links between Krautrock and electronica. Peculiarly, the band settled on the ethno acoustic path after becoming disenfranchised with their MOOG synthesisers; almost paradoxically returning to acoustic instruments to free their experimental inhibitions. The great Werner Herzog is a Popol Vuh aficionado and the bands music  has become a feature in many of his films.

4.

Neu! 2 - Neu! (1973).

A controversial choice considering everything that could have went wrong with this record did just exactly that. Side 2 is a write off which I won't even try to defend  (Neu! ran out of money and fell out with their label when making the album and so released slightly edited, previous singles for filler). Luckily, the first half is a 30 minute blitzkrieg of manic joy. "Lila Engel" is like the musical equivalent of cocaine and the opener, "Für Immer", is the bands most critically acclaimed track. The previous eponymous title, “Neu”, is considered the bands magnum opus, but this is the record that perfectly encapsulates their desultory genius.

3.

Zuckerzeit - Cluster (1974)

I was led onto this album after hearing Brian Eno namedrop it in interview and was blown away instantly. Aesthetically, Cluster contradicted the Krautrock scene at the time in that they were two completely normal  looking Germans who appeared to eschew the Teutonic cool and experimentalism which had become a by-product of the scene. The albums second track, Caramel, was one of the first tracks to explore stripped back synth pop and would go on to influence 80’s new-wave bands such as the Human League and Soft Cell. Although not usually viewed as a Krautrock necessity, it’s a more accessible album which acts as a nice bridge end to some of the genres more heavier stuff.

2.

Yeti - Amon Düül II (1970).

Amon Düül II were the offsprings of Amon Düül, a political art commune of German freethinkers who formed in the late 60's and were, well, not very good. Amon Düül II were though, and as an overall outfit far more disciplined, picking up live experience with bands such as Tangerine Dream. As a ‘band’ (I use the word loosely considering they were a commune) they were probably too weird for even the Krautrock scene back then, which is indicative of how their material isn't the easiest to 'get'. Although featuring an 18 minute track bearing the album title, the material in Yeti is shorter and more abridged than most of the bands other material. Fascinatingly, the album cover bears the image of and serves as a tribute to ex soundman, Wolfgang Krischke, who passed after overdosing on LSD prior to the albums completion. 

1.

Tago Mago - Can (1971).

Can are the daddies of Krautrock. They are to the genre what Walter Grobius was to architecture or Karl Benz to automobiles, and given Tago Mago is their most out there and extreme record, it had to take the top spot. This record was the first to feature then unknown Japanese busker, Damo Suzuki; an eccentric vagabond who traipsed throughout Europe erroneously strumming his guitar to anyone who would listen. On the lookout for a new frontman after original vocalist Malcolm Mooney’s nervous breakdown, drummer Jaki Liebezeit and bassist Holger Czukay spotted Suzuki outside a Munich café and convinced him to take up the position as singer. The results were like no one could have predicted. This is the coolest album in the history of music. 'Paperhouse' is my favourite opening track ever and is absolutely timeless, with its dense arpeggio of chords suddenly evolving into 'Mushroom' never failing to take the breath away (the congruity of Damo Suzuki's ad-lib vocal with the music is bizarrely gorgeous). Despite little previous experience, Suzuki’s minimalist vocal flutters in and out of the record perfectly and gives off the impression of a sort of proselytism. The albums zenith comes in the form of 16 minute ''Halleluhwah" which is a transcendental piece, written to affect the listener spiritually as much as it does sonically. I struggle to comprehend how this record was made at times, rhythmically it is just relentless and dreadfully complicated to the point it makes my head want to explode, yet at the same time it possesses an endearing accessibility and can take you through just about every emotion.