Playlist: the Best of Beth Orton

In exactly a month, October 1st, Beth Orton will release her new album, "Sugaring Season", after six years of hiatus. She is one of my all-time favourite artists, so here's a little homage (a personal selection, many b-sides) to her beautiful music, and a nice warm-up to start the countdown till the record arrive. If you didn't know her yet, please take a listen!

1. Stolen Car
2. The Same Day
3. Concrete Sky
4. Shadow of a Doubt
5. Wild World
6. Central Reservation (original version)
7. Conceived
8. Dolphins (with Terry Callier)
9. A Place Aside
10. Galaxy of Emptiness (Live)
11. Safety
12. Sweetest Decline
13. Pedestal
14. Sugar Boy
15. This One's Gonna Bruise
16. Ooh Child
17. Ali's Waltz
18. How Far 
19. Thinking About Tomorrow
20. Pieces of Sky
21. It's Not the Spotlight

"Your Sister's Sister", relationships & talks

Your Sister's Sister

Something had gone really wrong with cinema if an audacious, brave and laudable idea is a film where all that matters are dialogues and actors. These are the pivotal elements over which "Your Sister's Sister" is built upon to develop a tale of human relationships that, for almost all its length, looks natural and refreshing.  Let's say it clear: this is an indie film (loved the Fleet Foxes/Band of Horses reference) to make the ever-present Hollywood romantic comedies pale in their dumbness. So, sorry blockbuster's lovers, never-ending action scenes' fans, digital/animation's hooligans. Nothing much for you to watch here, I'm afraid.

Unless you like stories about people behaving like people, instead of wearing strange outfits, masks and capes, that is. That's what director Lynn Shelton wrote for "Your Sister's Sister", with a quite simple premise, and filmed in only 12 days, with almost no funding. A house on an island, almost hidden in the woods by a lake, where Iris suggests Jack, her best friend, to go for some time to "reboot" from his stuck life, as he's still paralysed because of his brother's death, a year ago. There he will met Hannah, Iris' sister.

A couple of scenes aside, there are only three characters with screen presence. The lack of external factors (no phones, internet, work issues), and the peculiar, isolated environment in which the film develops helps putting the absolute focus on the trio, their behaviours, talks, connections, and the emotions that they bring as well as they hide from the table. Some feelings are as secluded as the island where they located, ready to burst. Love, friendship, sex, family ties (magnificent pillow talks between the sisters), pasts, all around tables and beds. Shelton revealed the script had only 70 pages, so around 75% of the dialogue was improvised together with the cast. I'm seriously impressed by that. The biggest triumph of the film is building such a solid trio of characters, making them credible, likeable despite its flaws, and understandable, despite their actions. The bonds and boundaries of their relations are brilliantly and naturally exposed.

Of course, to achieve such mesmerizing and engaging results, you need a formidable trio of actors.The three performances, Mark Duplass as Jack, Rosemarie DeWitt as Hannah, and (the gorgeous) Emily Blunt as Iris are excellent, individually and collectively. They are fun, fragile and touching. All in a natural way, instead of much drama or exaggerations they are capable of condensing their emotional and revealing "voyage" in their chats, gestures and facial/physical expressions. Bravo.

With so much praise from my side, you might be thinking "Your Sister's Sister" is going to be considered as a masterpiece on this review. Unfortunately not. When tensions and revelations finally explode (as I said, kudos for not being melodramatic), the film chooses a much more predictable path. Not to say disappointing, but conventional (despite its peculiarity) and pleasing one. There's too much exposed and needed to assume to accept that end in such a little time, in my opinion. It is wonderful that love between humans can overcome everything, but with characters so well constructed, some more time for their evolution would have been recommendable. Otherwise, its final part looks like a sitcom, and the film didn't deserve that resolution.

Overall, a really remarkable, fun, refreshing and charming film, with three actors excelling in their performances, that misses a bit of their potential to be unforgettable towards the end. But nevertheless, this is an admirable  proof that all that matters in cinema is having a good story to be told, and having the courage of telling it.

SCORE: 7,25/10

Autumn 2012: agenda of concerts

September is just around the corner. So, in order to avoid the inevitable depression, and the huge VAT increase (courtesy of our beloved government who doesn't consider music as culture) in two days, is a good occasion to take a look to the forthcoming concerts that I hope to attend until the end of the year. Our provisional agenda so far (hope it grows)!

SEPTEMBER
8. Paul Heaton at Music Hall (really hoping to go, but it is a bit expensive)
23. Los Punsetes at Plaça dels Àngels (as part of BAM Festival). More to see that night, to decide...
29. Sharon Van Etten at La [2] de Apolo. My dear Sharon again...

OCTOBER
5. The Tallest Man On Earth at Casino l'Aliança del Poblenou
6. Veronica Falls at BeCool
14. Fanfarlo at Apolo. Yeah! Finally!
16. The Wedding Present at Sidecar

NOVEMBER
2. The Divine Comedy (An Evening with Neil Hannon) at Auditori de Girona
7. The Walkmen at Bikini or
    Allo Darlin' (supporting The Wave Pictures) at Sidecar
20. The Chameleons at Sidecar

DECEMBER
5 to 9. Primavera Club
10. Father John Misty at Sala Apolo

Many are still pending, due to "calendar issues", and the majority, due to "economic issues", but green means
confirmed: already got the tickets!

"Time Relentless EP", pop feast with The Hermit Crabs

Time Relentless EP
Each time there's an email from Matinée Recordings reaching my inbox I smile. I assume, and it's almost infallible, their music proposal is going to be great. But this time the announcement was the long awaited comeback from beloved Glaswegian band The Hermit Crabs, so I yelled (I was at work at the office, luckily quite alone, as my colleagues are still on holidays). A yelling of happiness an excitement, that is.

It had been a long time indeed, although Melanie Whittle offered a dose of her talents thanks to Baffin Island, joining forces with members of another favourite band on this site, The Very Most. But three years had passed since the glorious "Correspondence Course EP" without new songs from The Hermits, so there were questions about how the band will sound after these hiatus.

But they quickly showed there was no reason to panic. This band has always showed their cards from the very beginning, without chances for "second thoughts". With them, beauty comes straightforwardly to the ears of the listener. And their new work is no different. "On the Spectrum" is a stunning opener, a strong statement saying the world "we are back", with a mesmerizing GUITAR work (written on capital letters because they deserve it, it's that big) and a killer chorus. Mel might be talking about the blues, but the feeling the song produces are the very opposite. A jangle-pop feast. 

"Time Relentless" slows the tempo with the band's trademark orchestrations and the addition of subtle keyboards. The visual lyrics are taken from a poem, suiting the contemplative mood of the piece. All seems to flow towards the wonderful chorus were Mel's adorable voice shines, acquiring an epic nuance while guitars arise in the mix, providing the tune a fantastic climax.

"Stop This Now" is a much more joyous affair in terms of melody, upbeat and contagious. Drums splashes and guitars flourishes, sparking the tune. After the instrumental section, vocal harmonies appear and you are expecting a longer-than-life finale. But it ends abruptly, leaving you wonder for me. A perfect pop pill of two minutes!

And finally "So Blue" concludes the EP with a mid-tempo that recalls their previous releases and their similarities with Camera Obscura (will you return soon too, Tracyanne?). Fortunately, the instrumentation steps up, helping the song to grow and closing the release on a high note.

If you didn't know The Hermit Crabs (very soon we'll have a band's retrospective on the blog), this EP is a great introduction into their music. And for us, fans, is a wonderful return to form. Jangle-pop, twee-pop and indiepop lovers, we are in luck. Welcome back Hermits!

SCORE: 8/10

"The Skylab", pleasant family memories

The Skylab (Le Skylab, French original title)

All families are quite similar, and all family gatherings are horri.... just kidding. "The Skylab" uses that simple and recognisable plot to gather an impressive and diverse French Cinema cast, celebrating a family meeting in the summer of 1979, to build a comedy, with several hints of drama, that works also as a personal homage from writer, director and actress Julie Delpy to her family (in particular her mother).

"The Skylab" is built upon a flashback, so these are supposed to be the memories of the adult Albertine, remembering those days when she was 11-year-old and took part of a familiar get-together, celebrating the 67th birthday of her grandmother, matriarch of the clan. Getting picky, from a technical point of view, either the initial/closing scene and the whole premise are quite loose and obviously erroneous (young Albertine wasn't in every scene, so how can she remember them?).

But anyway, that's not really important for the film, who has one of its strongest points in the lack of pretensions and the aim to focus in a nostalgic, mostly kind and warm, take on those familiar days in the French Brittany. Delpy wants to portray her own family memories with affection, care, and a very natural sense of humour. She, thanks to the help of the ensemble cast and her talent for dialogues achieves that goal for almost the entirety of the film.

We all have been part of one of these never-ending get-together reunions, so it's no surprise to see silly/ridiculous situations, even sillier conversations (the one that involves NASA's Skylab space station that was going to fall somewhere that night gives the name of the film), some sex remarks, very different characters dealing with their own stories and trying to catch-up with the other quickly, many communication breakdowns, and the inevitable tensions, all while drinks and food are constantly served, even despite the capricious (and very funny) weather.

As this are Albertine's memories, childhood is a pivotal focus of the film, and Delpy proves she's got a very remarkable talent to recreate with artlessness that age, its revelations and traumas as well it provides several moments of laughs. First love (although she seems quite precocious for her age), death, arts (thanks to her bohemian parents), the transition from childhood to teenager period in particular mark Albertine's evolution throughout the movie. No, she's not a young female version of Woody Allen, although that wouldn't be the first time Delpy has the New Yorker director as a reference.

But I couldn't help thinking "The Skylab" has a couple of "issues" that harm its overall enjoyment as a whole. First, and a common one nowadays, its lack of balance, and directly linked with that, the excessive length: two hours might be necessary to present and expose such a long family and the developing situations, but there are some scenes clearly overlong (and not all of them can be justified as the film is the flashback of one person, therefore completely subjective) while other "matters" are presented just to disappear immediately. And second, when drama appears, in some selected scenes, the tone of the film gets really dark. Political discussions that could end heating-up too much are usual among families. But there's more than that here. These scenes are awkward considering the movie flows as a comedy, and with the aforementioned lack of balance, look also strangely isolated and disconnected from the rest. Maybe Delpy wanted to include too much.

Overall, a lightweight and quite pleasant film, one that you try to be even more indulgent with its flaws thanks to its undeniable charm, that works quite nicely as a nostalgic comedy.

SCORE: 6,25/10

The Indie Anthology 19: essential songs

The next song of our particular Anthology is the perfect tune for the days ahead. September is coming, so a new "natural year" arrives. It's time to think, evaluate what we have done and start again. It's it much better doing so with the help of one of the best Spanish indie bands. Hope you like it!

Song: Mi Año Natural
Artist: La Buena Vida
Year: 2006

I got angry easily when someone tries to convince lyrics don't matter. No, it's not necessary to make "high literature" references in every single verse, or to create a conceptual and dense album just for the sake of being interesting. But I do demand for lyrics that mean something, that can relate with people and people can relate with, and more specifically, to their feelings or/and state of mind. La Buena Vida were/are (it's hard to know whether the band is still active after the tragic death of Pedro San Martín) masters on that particular art. Condensing our thoughts, moods and feelings (some questions too) in the format of 3/4 minutes of  contemplative, delicate and beautiful indiepop/twee-pop. "Mi Año Natural" had all their trademarks: the whispering, sweet voice of Irantzu Valencia, gentle guitars, subtle brass and wind sections, with the accent put on the simplicity and disarming purity of an unforgettable melody. And a lyric capable of saying so much with so little. With the end of August, the time to think over, get up and mature, learning from our mistakes, has arrived...

Discoverer 38: new indie findings

New trio of wonderful bands discovered for you. Enjoy!

Echo Lake. Some hypes deserve the buzz. Formed in London only two years ago, Thom Hill and Linda Jarvis are the duo (amplified to a five piece live) responsible of the praised debut "Young Silence EP", drawing comparisons to indie totems My Bloody Valentine. Now they return with "Wild Peace", debut album out on Slumberland/No Pain in Pop since June, bound to be included among the best-of-year-lists. More polished and diverse, sometimes closer to guitar indiepop, others to Beach House's ethereal dreampop, always with Jarvis voice shining among the layers and the wall of sound Hill builds around her. The result: "Wild Peace" is a gift for the listener, moody, sonically rich, atmospheric and captivating.
  'Wild Peace' LP (No Pain In Pop/Slumberland, 2012) by Echo Lake

Anaesthetics. I usually ask for more than a couple of songs before including a band on the Discoverer series. But there are times the songs are so great that you need to share them with the world immediately. "Slow Trains/Pulse" is the debut A side single from this Mancunian quartet and both are irresistible indiepop gems. "Slow Trains" being an ultra-catchy tune full of lovely guitar lines and one chorus to die for, all with the A+++ of the boy/girl vocals, while "Pulse" is a more uptempo and rockier number, with the nice addition of an organ beat, and a knock-out closure. Already in love with the band. Want more, more, more!

slow trains by Anaesthetics pulse by Anaesthetics
The History of Apple Pie. Fuzzy, hyper-vitaminated and highly addictive noise pop is what this very young band from London offers us. Two wonderful double sided singles released on 2011, "You're So Cool" and "Mallory" plus the stunning new release of "Do It Wrong/Long Way To Go", out now, are enough to show the promise of band that could blend the best from the American college rock and the C86's spirit: crunching guitars with dazzling pop vocals (careful with the combination of  Stephanie Min and Kelly Lee Owens voices, creates addiction). Eagerly awaiting their next step.