Post-Rock

Live Review: Mogwai at James Cabaret, Wellington

Mogwai James Cabaret Wellington Poster
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Mogwai

w/ Mick Turner
James Cabaret, Wellington
Friday 6 March 2015

The term “post-rock” suggests that the genre of music has evolved beyond standard rock. And for Glaswegian act Mogwai, this appears accurate. They have gone past the standard band formula of guitar, bass, drums and vocals, expanding their sound with the use of synths, 12 string guitars, multiple drums (both electric and acoustic), vocoder and violin. Electric and analogue sounds marry to create something unique.

For the most part there were five musicians on stage. Sometimes the keyboard player would play a third guitar. Touring member Luke Sutherland made an appearance for a handful of songs, fleshing out the sound more with his violin, or by singing, or playing some secondary drums.

The lights were an integrated part of the experience. There were three neon looking hexagons from the cover of Rave Tapes that pulsated and flickered. Backlights synchronised with the music cast the band members as dramatic silhouettes.

Mogwai songs have very gradual growth. They slowly build up with layers. A steady drumbeat, a repeated riff, another guitar fills the space and the keys take over the high-end. The wash and hum lingers and sweeps through.

Like the songs that gradually build up, the set got better as it progressed. People started to sway and dance as the songs became more interesting. Better recognised songs were received with whistles and cries of delight.

Image: Bradley Garner Photography.

Image: Bradley Garner Photography.

One of the more memorable parts was the set closing song, “Mogwai Fear Satan”. After six minutes of building up the song pulls back to light swells and an undercurrent drum beat. This lull in the song continues for a few minutes, before the band suddenly launches back into a frenzied feedback explosion. Many people jumped back in fright, just to laugh at themselves moments later.

One criticism is that the set was loud. I always wear earplugs at gigs to protect my hearing, but even so, it was excessive. Many people had fingers stuck in their ears, and I heard later that people had left because they couldn’t handle the volume.

Mogwai last came to New Zealand 16 years ago. This was their first time in Wellington. The venue was close to full, but not packed enough to make the place as stifling hot as it has been last few times I’d been there. Tonight was quite mixed, predominantly an older crowd (30+). They played for around 90 minutes, including a two song encore.

The set was loud and varied. The visuals were simple yet dramatic. There were quiet, drawn out sections and explosive, euphoric moments. The use of unconventional instruments made it more interesting.

After most songs guitarist Stuart Braithwaite would step forward to his microphone and meekly offer “Thank you, cheers” in his Scottish accent. On behalf of the audience, right back at you, Stuart.

 

Joseph James

The setlist

The set list

Album Review: Platonick Dive – Overflow

PLATONICK DIVE - OVERFLOW COVER
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As much as I love post-rock and associated instrumental music, I seldom venture into digital based music. I’m a purist that likes to listen to music played on instruments instead of computers. I know that some post-rock bands and lots of hip-hop artists I listen to are quite sample heavy, but I always prefer live instrumentation. For example, I’ve enjoyed seeing some hip-hop bands like The Roots and David Dallas (with his backing band The Daylight Robbery) far more than seeing other rappers that have DJs or backing tracks.

Maybe I need to get with the times. Many of New Zealand’s major current music exports (Kimbra, Lorde, Broods, Brooke Fraser) are all headed in that direction, but I’m not really interested most of that stuff.

So when I listened to Overflow, the forthcoming album from Italian four piece Platonick Dive, my opinion was quite divided. A lot of it sounds like 65daysofstatic to me – post-rock with a heavy electronic element. I don’t mind music like that, but it’s certainly not my preference. That said, sections of Overflow were really striking and caught my attention.

platonick dive promo 1

I’ve previously listened to the song “Træ” from Platonick Dive that featured on a Nothing But Hope and Passion compilation. This was off Platonick Dive’s first album “Therapeutic Portrait”. I liked the song but it isn’t a fair introduction to Overflow, because the second album is a change of direction for the band. This is a deliberate move. “We are in a continuous artistic movement”, their press release says, “the most dangerous thing you can do is to stay still”. This is a band that is ever changing, and always experimenting. Trying to push the envelope is one thing, but does it make the music convoluted when it’s heading in too many directions?

Not really. There is a lot of influences at play here, but it seems to work. The album is well produced. Parts reminds me of one of Platonick Dives’ contemporaries – electro/ambient outfit worriedaboutsatan. The music is crisp, deliberate, moody. And plenty of it is clearly electronic. The track “From Seattle To Berlin” is full of glitches and DJ style scratches, a feel that continues throughout the album.

The instrumentation is interesting. I am a drummer, so of course the excellent drumming and percussion stood out to me. Keyboards are quite dominant. There are all sorts of other sounds and instruments utilised, many of which come from a computer. I quite liked the part in “High Tide” that sounded like marimba or xylophone.

Some songs feature singing. The vocals on “Mirror” especially stood out to me. For a predominantly instrumental band, I suggest they have a serious rethink about their style. Hiding a voice as good as that is wasteful.

And of course the album includes the obligatory samples, like Maybeshewill would use in their early material. “Geometric Lace” features a sample about marijuana, and “Back Home Boulevard”  includes a quote about junkies, so I think it’s fair to say drugs influence the band in some way.

I feel like I’m a bit out of my element here because although it’s similar to some music I listen to, it’s at the same time quite different. I could allude to genres like electronica, trip-hop, dubstep, house… but I’m really not an authority on those matters. If I had to describe the songs “Above You” and “Reverb Nation” I’d have to use the phrase “beep boop boop”. Platonick Dive’s Facebook page categorises their genre as “Electronic Therapy With Feedback Explosions”, so I guess “beep boop boop BOOOOOM” would be more apt.

This is an album that I would expect to hear in a café. Background music that is a bit unusual and ‘arty’, but not something I’d chose to listen to at home. It is well crafted, and I enjoy parts of it, but I think at the end of the day I still prefer to listen to music that is actually played by people, more so than computers.

If you like post-rock and you’re not as uptight as I am about music being ‘real’ or ‘live’, then I’m sure you will enjoy Overflow.

Overflow releases on February 17th 2015

Album Review: Lights & Motion – Chronicle

Lights and Motion Chronicle deep elm cinematic post rock cover
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Deep Elm have once again proved themselves as a vital record label at the forefront of the post-rock movement by releasing Lights & Motions’ third album, Chronicle.

Lights & Motions’ Reanimation was my favourite post-rock album of 2013. (Nuet, from Deep Elm label-mates Dorena came a close second.) Chronicle follows on and helps to build upon the legacy of a much hyped, yet relatively new band.

Unfortunately many post-rock bands fall into the trap of sounding the same. You know the same old cookie cutter recipe: start quietly and slowly build up the music with swelling guitars and inspirational keys. Many bands succeed at doing this and it’s all fine and listenable, but with very little to set them apart from the multitude of other bands who sound just the same, especially seeing as there are no vocals in most regards.

Some people would suggest that Lights & Motion are one of these bands. The music may as well be purely soundtrack. But I think that the variety and quality of instrumentation is enough to make Lights & Motion stand out. It’s enough to keep me coming back to listen to the music again, at least.

Christoffer Franzén is the man behind Lights & Motion. Everything on the record is him. He’s a modern-day Mike Oldfield, capable on a wide array of different instruments. And he’s self-taught as well. That takes some dedication. He’s more than adept on the drums, guitars, keys, violins, and all the other instruments that feature on the album.

Lights & Motion was essentially started with the attempt to capture the sound of dreams and memories. Franzén was an insomniac, so used his sleepless nights to hone his musical skills into something productive. And it worked. Franzén has captured moods and feelings and recorded them with instruments. “Reborn” sounds sinister. “Northern Lights” is a tenderly picked interlude. “Paper Wings” is a delicate piano ballad. They all sound inspiring, wondrous, the stuff of dreams.

Chronicle sounds epic, expansive, cinematic even. Watch the clip for “The Spectacular Quiet” and notice how it could have quite comfortably fit in to a film like James Cameron’s Interstellar.

Listening to Chronicle is a transcendent experience. The listener gets transported somewhere new. Somewhere grand, on a major adventure. These songs contain a story, and the lack of vocals means that the stories are completely up to personal interpretation. My friend Ivo from Stereofox summed it up well, calling Lights & Motion “a magical and epic journey that transcends all describable feelings and sensation.”

I would be surprised if Franzén doesn’t start scoring big-budget movies anytime soon. Stylistically, he’s more like Rhian Sheehan than Hans Zimmer, but he clearly has enough talent required to write the music for any major Hollywood blockbuster.

Chronicle is available for download on bandcamp. And while you’re there, make sure to browse the rest of the Deep Elm discography

 

Joseph James

EP Review: Cloudkicker – Little Histories

Cloudkicker Little Histories cover
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I’m shocked that I haven’t heard of Cloudkicker until now because it’s exactly the sort of thing I love to listen to. The music is a combination of post-rock, metal and djent – think along the lines of Russian Circles, Dumbsaint and Oceansize.

Then again, in some ways it isn’t all that surprising that I haven’t heard of it.

Cloudkicker is a one man project run by Ben Sharp, someone who has taken the DIY ethic to heart. All his music is self-produced and available on Bandcamp for pay-what-you-want. He doesn’t tour (being a one man band) and he’s not signed to a label. He’s not out to make any money from his project either.

The liner notes for a previous album, The Discovery, say “this album was recorded for a grand total of $0, and is therefore being distributed for free.  if you paid money for this you’re a sucker.” His music is also all filed under Creative Commons license, making it available to whoever, for whatever, for free. One label, Blood Music, took advantage of this by printing physical records of releases that Sharp had neglected to make himself, and Sharp was completely cool with it.

I hadn’t heard about Cloudkicker because there is no promotion for the project. Sharp doesn’t care about profiting from his music so he’s not pushing for publicity.

But now I’ve discovered Cloudkicker and I fell like a magpie in a jewellery shop. I love the music, and I have access to a large back catalogue that I can explore to discover musical gems.

Before I discuss Little Histories, I need to mention the Live with Intronaut album. This live album is one that negates many of the points that I just made about Cloudkicker. Because Cloudkicker is a one-man project, there was never much likelihood of live performances. But Sharp befriended the band Intronaut, who in turn offered up their services to Sharp as the Cloudkicker backing band. It didn’t seem possible at first, but in April 2014 it happened: a live tour and a live recording for those who couldn’t make the shows. The live album was released on Century Media due to contractual  obligations that Intronaut were held to, making it the only Cloudkicker release that isn’t fully DIY or available for free.

Little Histories is the EP that follows, released a month after the live album.

Little Histories transcends from the floaty “Parliment”, to the cosmic “Sky Guide”, that includes vocoder, before getting heavier with “Charmeleon”. “Digital Lightening” sounds sinister and ominous, distorted and washy until the articulate riffing begins. The last track, “Hassan” builds gradually, the tension escalates before the music begins to syncopate and layer up.

“Signal/Noise” is a digital bonus track originally released years ago. It won’t be included on a physical release Sharp is planning. A busy drum tattoo propels the songs as it ascends with guitar swells. The song gets fuzzier and the cymbals wash up as song escalates and the guitars soar.

The EP phases well between songs, there is a deliberate progression throughout. Sharp is a pilot and names many of his song and album titles after plane crashes. Although Little Histories isn’t a concept album as such, I like to think of it as a soundtrack for a flight. The flight is going smoothly, until they hit a storm and have to battle turbulence.

Although Cloudkicker is very much a metal project, there is plenty of variety on offer. There are quieter post-rock moments, and chugging djenty riffs, as well. Cloudkicker covers all sides of the spectrum.

This is one man messing around and self recording at home, but most of the music could pass for live instrumentation. I wouldn’t have been able to pick that he uses a drum machine.

If you like post-rock/metal/djent give Cloudkicker a listen. It won’t cost you anything and if you like it there is an extensive discography for perusal at your pleasure.

Joseph James