Hypewatch – Ida Maria
Now, I was there before Steve Lamacq. So were Dave, Jimmy, Beth and Claire at a dingy Borderline gig.
Most of us are departing more quickly than him too. That’s the thing about hype, you find it you shout about it because you beat other people to a band but then you realise the error of your ways. Now in this instance I was simply testing opinion and reserve the right to say i was never a fan.
is she good? If you sing about Stella you raise expectations. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zd1vZv6j27s&NR=1
And to be honest the line “i wanna give you the world if you just stay with me tonight” is something you say after, rather than to Stella.
Its also quite an achievement to sing the line “I like you so much better when you’re naked” in a way that actually makes you want to run away fully clothed as fast as possible holding on to your delicates for added protection. Because it’s not like she’s not got pop appeal, but she scares me when she sings. Slipknot don’t scare me, masks and all, but she does. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cySmUjQB05I&NR=1
Verdict: Only if you dare
Fleeting fancy?
Harmonies. Brian Wilson.
Hands up who likes the Beach Boys? Me too (with the exception of Cocamo “Aruba, Jamaica, ooo I wanna. take ya, Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama” – I mean, dear God, stop please stop!)
Somewhere, someone may have written a Beach Boys review without mentioning the word harmonies, although i doubt it. But that’s fine, they’ve nailed some of the most sublime ones out there.
But there are bands that haven’t. Yet lazy reviewers just can’t help themselves. Oooo a harmony, must pay homage to the great God Wilson and his band of merry and eventually beardy men.
So can I introduce Fleet Foxes, recommended to me by my friend Beth.
“While many young musicians who are admirers of The Beach Boys, Joni Mitchell, Simon & Garfunkel et al succumb to pastiche, Pecknold is able to distil such influences into something related but fresh.” - The Independent
“Of their contemporaries only the enigmatic Midlake and My Morning Jacket at their most fragile come close, but neither could have cooked up the Beach Boys spiritual of White Winter Hymnal” - Amazon
“Fleet Foxes, a five-piece from near Washington, are like The Beach Boys if they were a folk band” - The Guardian
“Fleet Foxes owe a lot to Brian Wilson” - Wireless Bollinger
In fact, sod it, just type in ‘fleet foxes beach boys’ in to Google and let the results flood in!
That most of these reviews are tied to the second track on the album ‘White Winter Hymnal’, just makes it more annoying – listen to the whole bloody thing before writing a half-arsed comparison.
To be fair, some people put a bit more effort in and avoided the obvious and names like Fleetwood Mac and Crosby Stills and Nash cropped up, but don’t let that put you off.
Because to answer the question bursting out of you right now, are they any good? Too damn right they are. If you can break through your own cynicism and give yourself up to feelings of untainted happiness.
If you do one thing today it’s this. Click on the link below:
http://www.myspace.com/fleetfoxes
then choose the track ‘Tiger Mountain Peasant Song’, close your eyes and picture yourself walking through an English wood, in the simple garments, sun through trees and all that, no one else to trouble your journey, because you’re in the wilderness and only a deer may disturb you. Ahhhh, happiness. Whisper it to yourself…the f word…
Folk.
It’s part of us all, just let go and embrace it. And once you do you’ll love the whole album.
Recommended for:
Vicki HF – You’ve got the style for it
Andrew T – Not quite accordion material, but one to play on the tour bus
Steer clear:
Paul – Not for fighter pilots, I dread to think what would happen to you if your fellow officers heard you playing this.
James F – ditto property developers
