The Chap - Mega Breakfast

Third album by the London quintet The Chap, Mega Breakfast, contains a single that proves the possibility of a strings-driven indie rock to sound, as the title implies, fun and interesting! Not just deliver the last one at best. There's no Arcade Fire type somberness and po-faced drear to be found on "Fun and Interesting". Overall The Chap performs dance-oriented indie rock that distinguishes itself from other fare by multilayered arrangements, strong sense of melody as well as dadaist humor and attitude. And then there are choral arrangements! All five members (some of them multi-instrumentalists) sing and when they belt out vocals together, they sound very choral. Vocals, instrumentation, grooves and humorous lyrics result in a record that makes all other indie/dance efforts seem stale by comparison. A truly talented band from whom you'll no doubt hear more about.

*This review was published in Estonian in a journal called Postimees. This is the English translation

Kayo Dot - Blue Lambency Downward

New York avant-rockers Kayo Dot are nowadays distancing themselves from both metal as well as the traditional post-rock quiet-loud structures which have seriously devalued today. Although it could be said that the earlier rockier references in Kayo Dot's work have served as an obligatory blandishments for listeners used to expect the chamber-like introspection pay off with a massive cathartic wall of sound. On Blue Lambency Downward, their third album, KD ups their ante on fluidity of free-jazz and the chamber arrangements. Instead of aimless noodling, even though the line is exceedingly thin, Toby Driver treats us to his compositions that are structurally fluid, floating and unpredictable, almost like dreams. Arrangements featuring even more prominent reed (sax, clarinet) instrumentation only help along the surrealist atmosphere of this record. It's telling that Toby Driver has polished his skills in the area of cerebral avant-rock. The result is at times remarkably similar to Tim Buckley's free-rock opus Starsailor (1970). It also confirms that Kayo Dot is nowadays perhaps the best modern equivalent to avant-prog legends Henry Cow.

*This review was published in Estonian in a journal called Postimees. This is the English translation

Clinic - Do It

Known for their image presentation based on wearing surgery masks on one hand and their combination of psychedelia and garage-rock on the other, Clinic from Liverpool integrated Silver Apples and Spacemen 3 type influences into a sound that was more punk than legions of neo-garage rockers to follow; on their debut album Internal Wrangler. Fifth album Do It takes a slower and calmer approach. With the exception of heavy punk of "Shopping Bag" with its shrill dissonant clarinet on the fore, the album contains songs that generally are slow to mid tempo. Outstanding single "Free Not Free" even flirts with lounge music, although to be fair, they still inject their trademark fuzztone riff diversions into that. Some of the songs are clearly influenced by 1967 era hippie music, with even touches of folk rock here and there. The weakest aspect about this album is that musically there's little that Clinic or other bands have not already done. One gets the impression as if Clinic's sound has not substantially progressed throughout the years. Still a good record and in the good old Clinic tradition, only half an hour long.

*This review was published in Estonian in a journal called Postimees. This is the English translation

M83 - Saturdays = Youth

French indietronica artist M83, that originally was a duo, but was reduced to one-man project of Anthony Gonzalez in 2005, flirts with synth pop and new-wave influences on the fourth album Saturdays = Youth. Compared to early records that focused on instrumental textures and melodramatic atmosphere, Saturdays is more song-oriented. The album even features input from a female vocalist with a voice very much akin to Kate Bush. In terms of mood and music the album is filled with nostalgia as it's a throwback to the artist's youth that he remembers brightly. The album is well realized, as M83 has managed to adopt the trademark 80s synth and drum sounds into his own style without sounding banal or tasteless. Gonzalez has aimed at more focused songwriting and sometimes the results yield a few melodic gems (like "Up"). Gonzales however does have room for development in terms of conventional songwriting. He's still impeccable at establishing the mood and atmosphere, as proved by the standout track "Couleurs".

*This review was published in Estonian in a journal called Postimees. This is the English translation