The Postal Service is a particular love of mine: Give Up will forever be in my Top 10 albums of all time. It was the soundtrack to my teenage years and appeared on every mix CD I ever made. Needless to say, the relationships didn’t last, but the musical love affairs did. Ben Gibbard’s unique vocals and the glorious mix of electro, pop and indie rock make nearly every song on the debut album one to remember. Who, indeed, can forget Such Great Heights? A song covered by everyone from Amanda Palmer to Ben Folds to Iron and Wine. The Postal Service, with one album, inspired bands all over the world with simplicity and inventiveness. Kowalski and Two Door Cinema Club mention Gibbard and Tamborello as influences, for example.
Another love of mine is KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic. Despite being in little ol’ Belfast I discovered bands such as Rilo Kiley, Death Cab for Cutie, Elliott Smith and The Decemberists amongst others as a result of Nic Harcourt’s radio show. He may have left the show last year, but Jason Bentley continues the great tradition of playing good live music from nearly any genre. I guess it’s like a better version of Jo Whiley’s Live Lounge.
This week’s download is a combination of both of these wonderful things. Accompanied by the mesmerising Jenny Lewis, the trio play a lovely set featuring many of their hits. The idea of the Postal Service playing live is rather unusual in my eyes- I don’t like seeing a band that sound exactly the same live as they do on CD and there’s not much room for manoever in this genre of music due to the processed electronic instruments.
However, it’s a great recording- The District Sleeps Alone Tonight sounds better than it does on Give Up, due to Jenny’s harmonies and keyboard part adding a little something to the mix. The lead singer of Rilo Kiley doesn’t actually feature on the album but took part in all of the live performances: her talents clearly show through on Nothing Better as she more than adequately fills in for Jen Wood. Jenny’s voice is sultry and indeed sexy, adding a little bit more (necessary) emotion to the duet. Finally, the version of Brand New Colony sums up this band perfectly. You’ve got the catchy, upbeat tune, the genius lyrics of Gibbard and the lovely distorted guitar part in the outro of the song combining with the electro beats reminding us where Gibbard and Tamborello come from.
Belle and Sebastian have been a long running obsession of mine. Ever since the first few bars of “I’m A Cuckoo” back in the day the ever changing troupe have never been off my MP3 player- twee they may be, but without doubt they’re one of the best bands to come out of the UK in the past 20 years. Witty lyrics and ridiculously poppy melodies are all the hallmarks of Belle and Sebastian and with seven albums released they’re stalwarts of the music scene. From the techno brilliance of “Electronic Renaissance” the disco extravagansa of “Your Cover’s Blown” and the T Rex inspired “Blues Are Still Blue” there simply isn’t a genre that Stuart and the lads haven’t explored.
With the upcoming release of the God Help The Girl soundtrack (the soundtrack is scheduled to be released before the film of the same name, oddly) I thought it was time to pay homage to Belle and Sebastian. I went to see the band at the Ulster Hall the last time they played here, and to be honest I was disappointed. Musically they were excellent, but the crowd were lacking a certain something. It’s difficult to appease everyone in a crowd when you’ve been around for so long- everyone has their favourite album or favourite track and it’s pot luck whether you get your perfect setlist. However, this Washington recording of the band at the 9:30 Club shows what can happen when the crowd and the band are on form.
It’s a long ol’ concert but it doesn’t drag on- Stuart Murdoch and Stevie Jackson have this wonderful on stage chemistry with a fair bit of banter and a live “confession” from Stevie. There’s even sectarianism! Joys of joy. Old favourites like Expectations and newer tracks like Sukie in the Graveyard seamlessly mix while tracks from Tigermilk sound better than ever. Stuart even gets to fulfill the dream of every single frontman alive- he introduces his band, part by part, as an intro to White Collar Boy. Quality.
Listen and love, my dear readers. Ignore the negative connotations associated with Belle and Sebastian and enjoy.
This week I got a copy of The Nightsaver, David Kitt’s latest album, and it’s quality. It marks a return to the true lo-fi (even electro) sound that gained the Kittster such fame. Tracks like Learning How To Say Goodbye and It’s Yours are great, while I simply cannot stop listening to Alone Like That.
With David, each album release can either be a huge disappointment or unexpectedly good. Square 1 and The Black And Red Notebook were pretty poor, yet Small Moments and The Big Romance were superb. Not Fade Away, I can take or leave. It’s not a question of Kitt lacking talent as a songwriter but it’s consistency and originality that is lacking from his albums sometimes. Every album has one or two show stopping tracks that I could listen to over and over again but to stand out in the genre that’s not good enough.
However, The Nightsaver seems to be a moment of self-realisation for him. It’s a consistent album that really delivers and fulfils the potential of the Kittster. There’s no need to skip tracks on the album unlike, say, on Not Fade Away. The Nightsaver as a whole sounds beautiful with moments of electronic brilliance: I have to say, I’m in love with drum machines.
Below are three tracks: a gorgeous live version of “It’s Yours”, one of his first singles “You Know What I Wanna Know” and one of his many covers, “Me and My Love”. (Sadly there aren’t that many videos of live performances, but ah well.) Please ignore the eejit in the People’s Republic of Cork t shirt as well: it just makes me thankful we’ve got such wonderful music presenters like Rigsy up in the North.
