The Drones - Wait Long By The River And The Bodies Of Your Enemies Will Float By (2005)

I recently watched Martin Scorcese’s excellent Bob Dylan documentary, “No Direction Home,” in which, a young Dylan tells a press conference that he makes music, not because he wants to, but because he has to. On their latest album, Wait Long By The River And The Bodies Of Your Enemies Will Float By, The Drones sound like a band that make music not because they want to, but because - like Dylan - they have to. There is something primal locked inside them, urgent tearing and screaming to escape, and the only way they can release it, is through their music. With two guitars, bass, drums, and front man Gareth Liddiard’s vocals, The Drones make music that sounds saturated in blood, sweat and booze. Shark Fin Blues, the album’s scorching opening track, tells the story of a ship, sinking into shark infested waters. The narrator of the story, sinking with the ship, ready to accept his grisly fate. The guitars on this track sound more like they are being fought than played. The vocals, desperate. Liddiard’s ability to alternate between quiet rumination to wild howling, are never better exemplified. Having been compared to other like-minded Australians like Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, The Drones are not afraid to explore the darker regions of the human psyche. Another standout track, is the haunting Locust, which begins with the quiet tinkling of a piano, and ends in a wash of guitar distortion and feedback. In between, the song’s narrator tells of a small Australian town, opening proceedings with the lyric “Georgie, I can’t stop drinking / Seems like everytime I do, I can’t stop thinking.” A town with a dark past, where racism, suicide and alcoholism run through the streets like a river. Wait Long By The River And The Bodies Of Your Enemies Will Float By, is a dark, ominous listen, and along with your favourite bottle of whisky, is a perfect companion for those days when life itself is dark and ominous.

Check Out: www.thedrones.com.au

Sufjan Stevens - Illinoise (2005)

Simply in its ambition and scope, Illinoise is quite an achievement. Sufjan Stevens, a relatively new player in the folk/pop genre, has set out to make 50 albums, each dedicated to one of the 50 continental United States. This album, following the first installment of Michigan, is the second of the series that could see Stevens’ recording albums for a very, very long time to come.Judging by the quality of this effort, this could only be a good thing. Even if you don’t particularly like his music, you have to respect Stevens’ talent. The album contains an extensive twenty-two tracks, all written and arranged by Stevens, with many featuring choral and orchestral parts. The subject matter ranges from Al Capone to Superman (The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts), from the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln, to The Seer’s Tower. Perhaps the strangest, and most oddly touching moment of the album, comes in the form of the song John Wayne Gacy, Jr., about the serial killer who raped, murdered and buried the bodies of more than thirty men under his house, in the Chicago area during the 1970s. Grim subject matter, indeed, however Stevens manages to paint his subject in a light that suggests he was indeed troubled, but perhaps only a little more than the average person. Towards the end of the song, Stevens sings “And in my best behaviour / I am really just like him / Look beneath the floorboards / For the secrets I have hid.” It may take you a while to get your head around this, and many of the other songs on “Illinoise,” such is the complexity of the songs that Stevens creates. I have had the album for quite some time now, and continue to find something new with each listen. I must admit, though, that it is one album that I rarely, if ever, listen to from start to finish. Perhaps, simply because of the sheer magnitude of it, it is an album that is more easily digestible in smaller doses, rather than as a whole.

Check Out: http://www.asthmatickitty.com/musicians.php?artistID=5

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Self Titled (2005)

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah have been one of the most talked about bands in music circles this year, having sold almost thirty thousand copies of this, their first album, without any record company assistance, or for that matter, any marketing or advertising. There’s has been a word-of-mouth phenomenon that began in their hometown of Brooklyn, New York, spread like wildfire across the USA, and has now reached as far afield as Australia and the UK. An awesome achievement for any band. Obviously, it was not long before the hype train was fully fired up, and with hype, comes a great deal of scepticism. Is the music any good? In our humble opinion, yes it is. Think of a half-way point between Talking Heads and New Order, with vocals that at times sound like David Byrne (who has championed the band), at others like a cat being strangled (but in a good way). It will probably be the vocals that will divide people, as the music itself is extremely catchy and very likeable. The Skin Of My Yellow Country Teeth, which has been receiving rather extensive air time both here and abroad, is one of the stand out tracks of 2005. Other noteworthy tracks on the album include Details Of The War, and the album’s closer, Upon This Tidal Wave Of Young Blood. With somewhat ambiguous lyrics, I am still yet to decipher what it is that lead singer, Alec Ounsworth, is singing about, but for the most part, it doesn’t seem to matter. Along with the guitars, drums and warm washes of synthesizer, his voice at times seems to simply be another instrument, as opposed to being the main focus of the song. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah have one of the coolest names in music at the moment, and with their infectious pop melodies and unique vocal stylings, have one of the coolest releases of 2005.

Check out: www.myspace.com/clapyourhandssayyeah