We Are The World

Last year I went to see Fever Ray and like so many people was totally won over by the visuals of it all. Musically however I wasn't quite so keen, it felt like the power of the image wasn't backed up by anything as strong or striking in the other departments. Much like Fever Ray LA 3 piece We Are The World are a band who know how to create a world around their music. Unlike Fever Ray however their music is imbued with a sense of urgency and directness. Honestly, if you're not a fan of a band who look like this...

Then you're no friend of mine.

To sample the delights of We Are The World then there is the free download of Fight Song below and the video for future single Clay Stones.

MP3: We Are The World - Fight Song
We Are The World @Myspace

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Fever Ray @The Forum, London 05/12/09

Anyone starting a band should be forced to study Fever Ray at great length for a lesson in how to do things properly. From album artwork to music videos and appearance every corner that could have been cut by Karin Dreijer Andersson has instead been laboured over and treated with conceptual love resulting in a beautiful and awe inspiring project which, in the live arena, achieves a celebratory climax.

Unlike so many gigs you get the feeling that every second of tonight’s performance has been planned and thought over at great length. Every time one of the lamps providing light blinks in time with the music, every time a member of the band is projected into the light, every time anything happens it’s because it’s meant to and it has a purpose. Tonight’s sold out audience are hushed into a collective silence as Andersson walks on stage, concealed by a structured costume, to the chiming beats of ‘If I Had A Heart’ and then the lasers start. The whole Fever Ray performance is, quite literally, illuminated by beams of multi coloured light refracting at various angles around the stage, venue and audience. It’s a stunning sight and one that some of the more ‘spaced’ members of the crowd spend all night staring at intently.

In amongst the light the music on display varies between dark shamanic elegance to, at times, cold patience testing electronica. Playing the majority of this years self titled album Fever Ray encompass the highs and lows of the record so the dance orientated side typified by songs like ‘Triangle Walks’ and ‘When I Grow Up’ impress and engage in equal measure. However for every moment of swirling ethereal melancholy the mood is brought back down with stripped back and minimal workouts for Andersson to exercise her impressive vocals over. As a result songs like ‘Concrete Walks’ and ‘Dry and Dusty’ fall flat, adding atmosphere but no real importance.

Singing aside Andersson remains silent throughout. This is to her merit and it creates an atmosphere of theatre to an already ostentatious spectacle. Seeing Fever Ray is less like going to a gig and more like looking through a kaleidoscope at a tribal gathering. This sensual overload may not be the endorphin rush of Andersson’s main band The Knife but it’s a ritual we should bow down to and admire on an idiosyncratic, creative and inventive level.

Gigwise.com

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For The Record: March

Not a great month for albums really but a few slow burners for your consideration alongside a stack of fine singles.

Albums:

Grammatics- Grammatics
The Rakes- Klang!
Fever Ray- Fever Ray (Album of the month)

Download these

Grammatics- 'D.I.L.E.M.M.A'
The Rakes- 'The Light From Your Mac'
Fever Ray- 'Triangle Walks'

Tracks:

Friendly Fires- Skeleton Boy (Air France remix)
Casio Kids- Fot I Hose
Jack Penate- Tonight's Today (Track of the month)
Cocknbullkid- I'm Not Sorry
Hatcham Social- Murder In The Dark
Metric- Help, I'm Alive
La Roux- In For The Kill
Two Door Cinema Club- Something Good Can Work
Chew Lips- Solo
Dananananaykroyd - Black Wax

Have I missed anything off the lists? I will openly admit to disliking the Micachu, Black Lips and Pete Doherty records right away. PJ Harvey may well be a late addition given a few more spins though.

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Animal Collective and Fever Ray

Animal Collective- 'Merriweather Post Pavillion'

The Baltimore trio follow up 2007's 'Strawberry Jam' with another free wheeling collection of avant-garde musical explosions. Nmed after a music hall in Maryland the album is the bands most accomplished to date focusing the many influences that created their previous work into a streamlined and direct hit. Taking influence from folk, abrasive noise and off kilter rhythms Animal Collective are always an interesting listen and MPP is no different, from begining to end this album challenges and delights at every turn. From the electro-pop 'My Love' to the Afro tinged 'Brother Sport' the album twists and turns in every direction but the one you expect it to. A fantastic messy scramble.

Fever Ray- 'Fever Ray'

A.k.a. Karin Andersson of The Knife's side project. To call it a side project would perhaps be derogatory though as 'Fever Ray' is a deep and all encompassing journey that has clearly taken a great deal of time and invention to create. The sounds created here are more organic and less processed than those of The Knife and possibly darker too. 'If I Had A Heart', the lead single from the album is a hypnotic and dark slab of melancholic electro and much of the album follows suit. Sounding at times like a film score the quality never drops with tracks such as 'Dry and Dusty' and 'Coconut' creating a claustrophobic atmosphere in the listeners mind. Upbeat moments are here too though with 'Triangle Walks' an enjoyably breezy let up. Heavy and demanding the rewards are there for those that persevere with Fever Ray.

'If I Had A Heart'

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