Mr Kinski's Music Shack

It’s been a week of Wilson’s for me – a wonderful Steven Wilson gig at the Royal Albert Hall on Sunday, and a new album from Jonathan Wilson this week.

The two Wilson’s were previously musically poles apart, with Jonathan’s 2011 album Gentle Spirit being a gentle updating of the LA / Laurel Canyon sound, there is now some common ground as the new album from the Wilson of the Jonathan variety has a more progressive feel, with echoes of ELO and Pink Floyd, particularly on the title track.

Fanfare has a much richer palette than Jonathan’s debut album, and this makes for a more rewarding listening experience.  The big drums, aching 70s strings, Fender Rhodes, sax and Floydian vocal line of the title track set the mood for the whole album, which if released in 1977 would have surely been a staple of FM radio for many years.

It’s that wonderful classic rock sound that I love, but with the clarity of 2013 recording techniques (albeit still analog recording). If you don’t immediately buy the album after hearing the stream of Fanfare above, then I will be deeply disappointed in you.

Her hair is Growing Long is a beautiful song, with Danny Thompson’esque bass, intricate guitar lines and harmonics, underpinned by deep pulsing strings, building to a heavily percussive ending.

Dear Friend has some of the best guitar work on the album, and a real live feel to the track, especially the bass / drum interplay in the song’s mid-section, and bears comparison at times to the other Wilson’s recent work in its experimentation with jazz rock structures.

The variety of styles explored on Fanfare is one of the album’s great strengths, and a case in point is Future Vision, featuring former Fleet Foxes member Josh Tillman, who delivers exquisite harmonies.

Starting off almost like a country song, Future Vision is one of my favourite tracks on the album, in no way influenced (coughs) by the fact that it mutates mid-way through into an almost mid-period Steely Dan sounding piece.

Another standout track is Cecil Taylor, which features David Crosby and Graham Nash, so you know the harmonies are going to be pitch-perfect.

“Completely alone, I remember the story
We all see the thunderbolt – we all feel the glory”

Phased vocals, simple percussion and layered picked acoustic guitar give the vocals a real space to breathe.

Illumination has shades of Neil Young, with a deep grungy groove, and a hint of Around The World In A Day era Prince psychedelia thrown in for good measure.

The crystal-clear mix and excellent instrument separation on Desert Trip highlights Jonathan’s production skills. Some fine backing vocals from Jackson Browne and Josh Tillman beef up the latter stages of this trip.

New Mexico conjures up a dusty, barren desert landscape, and features LA musician Omar Velasco on backing vocals.

“I couldn’t let you into my mind, I couldn’t get you out of my mind”

Lovestrong features some fine piano work from Benmont Tench (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Ryan Adams, Stevie Nicks) and a guitar solo from Jonathan that David Gilmour would surely be proud to serve up.

Album closer All The Way Down reminds me a little of my favourite Ryan Adams album, Love is Hell, specifically the powerful tracks Political Scientist and The Shadowlands.

Snatches of abstract radio chatter and background noise seep through the strings, piano and guitar that follows the loping beat.

Fanfare is one of those classic albums that just begs to be played late at night, with the lights dimmed, and no distractions – put down your iPhone for an hour, and turn the music up loud.

All The Way Down is the perfect ending to what is already shaping up to be one of my favourite albums of 2013.

Buy the album on Amazon UK

Opener The Eater of Dreams is a slow building, electronic heart beat monitor intro to the most electronic album in NIN’s eight album discography.

“I am just an echo, of an echo, of an echo…”

Copy of A gives a good taste of what lies in store – it’s an incessantly catchy track, with nagging, buzzing synths laid over a tightly tuned Blue Monday’esque drum machine.

Came Back Haunted features dark synth-lines, and a great classic NIN guitar riff halfway through the song. But you already know this, as the song has been available for over a month now.

The presence of Alan Moulder on the production side is telling with the sound of this album. Moulder  worked with Curve in the 90s, and there are some hints of the way Curve used dark electronics cut with brutal guitars on Hesitation Marks.

“Everywhere now reminding me… I am not who I used to be”

Whilst Hesitation Marks musically is a very different beast to the Nine Inch Nails of The Downward Spiral or The Fragile, lyrically its still visceral and although there are more synths than guitars, the music is still hard-hitting and atmospheric. The delivery may have changed, but there is no dumbing down or compromise on display here.

Find My Way is an early album favourite, with simple piano lines, Twin Peak’s guitar and a great Reznor vocal. Sometime’s less is more, and Find My Way is a very powerful song, different to anything I have heard from NIN before.

“Ghost’s of who we used to be. I can feel them come for me.”

All Time Low is driven by a very Talking Head’s like riff. I wonder if this is one of the tracks featuring Fleetwood Mac’s Lindsey Buckingham? I won’t know till I receive the cd on release day (this review is from the NIN website stream, so no album credits are available yet). A fairytale like synth motif bubbles away in the background as Reznor sings “We’re never gonna die, how did we get so high?”. A clever touch.

Disappointed will not leave you feeling so. Some lovely, subtle guitar playing in the background of the verses. One of the strengths of Hesitation Marks that is immediately apparent is that the tracks have layers that reveal themselves on repeated listening sessions. The last couple of minutes of Disappointed are a case in point – soaring guitars and keyboards, underpinned by nagging sequencers, drop quickly to reveal the lightly percussive melody and crisp drums. It’s like getting halfway through a really enjoyable meal and then bang, a new flavour hits your palate. And I do like a good meal!

Everything is almost NIN goes late 70s powerpop – NIN do The Knack! The heaviest and most uptempo track on the album, it’s short, sharp and to the point. It’s also the perfect length for a classic single, at 3.19.

Satellite and Various Methods of Escape have a mid-80s Peter Gabriel feel to the music (yes, I really did just write that), with the latter track having a very strong, addictive chorus that counteracts the world weary lyrics.

Another reference to the 1980s is the appearance of bassist Pino Palladino on the album. I can’t hear any Wherever I lay My Hat type basslines here, but his touring with The Who (or his Tears For Fears work) was probably more of a reference point for his inclusion by Reznor.

The outro to Running, if included on a previous NIN album, would be awash with heavy wall-of-sound guitars, whereas the 2013 Reznor has a singular guitar line, backed by scraping keys and insistent beats.

The scent of Bowie can also be found on Hesitation Marks. I Would for You would not have sounded out of place on Bowie’s Earthling (and we know Reznor loves I’m Afraid of Americans from that album).

In Two is another album highlight – with shades of the breakdown in March of the Pigs, though the rest of the song bears no resemblance to The Downward Spiral track. I think In Two may contain one of the Lindsey Buckingham appearances, it certainly sounds like his playing in the background as the song builds to it’s (very) abrupt climax.

While I’m Still Here brings the album full circle, back to the electronica of the opening salvo, although at a slower pace. I love the keyboard work in this track, and the sax riff at the end. Sax on a NIN album? Heresy. It seems as if the experience of the soundtrack work with Atticus Ross is being utilised to give the band more colours to choose from, which can only be a positive thing.

“Yesterday I found out the world was ending.”

Album closer Black Noise is an instrumental continuation of the previous track, and presumably is a play-on-words on white noise, with the album ending in an explosion of sound.

Hesitation Marks has the potential to become my favourite NIN album. It lacks the rage of early albums, but what is the point of repeating what’s gone before? There is so much depth revealed on repeated listening, and I think over time this will surpass Year Zero for me. One of the best releases of 2013, I certainly think so.

Order Hesitation Marks (Deluxe Edition) from Amazon UK

Joseph Arthur’s 10th studio album was originally available via Pledgemusic, and will be released more widely via Lonely Astronaut Records on June 11 2013.

Album opener Currency of Love is a 50’s sounding track, that would not sound out of place in a David Lynch movie or as a song on a long-lost Roy Orbison album.

Saint of Impossible Causes has an incredibly addictive and uplifting chorus, and a move forward to the 1960’s with the sitars on the verses.

The title track is very New York sounding, complete with Lou Reed Transformer referencing backing vocals and is an essay on a modern-day messiah.

“Christ would love hip-hop, metal and soul”

What is noticeable on this album is the more expansive backing than recent Arthur releases – lush strings, horn sections and a real widescreen production are very much the order of the day.  The album’s first ballad I Used to Know How To Walk on Water is an album highlight, with a vibrant, deep bassline and jazzy piano and drums.

Wait for Your Lights is simply classic Joseph Arthur. A tight, simple beat and descending piano lines, Wait for your Lights is an instant favourite and one of the best tracks on the album.

I Miss the Zoo is a more fully-realised take of the track that appeared on 2012’s Redemption City. An brutally honest tale of missing the high’s of a former lifestyle, to quote the lyrics “Even tho life is much better now”. A simple backing of heavily pounded acoustic guitar, bass, piano and organ let the powerful lyrics and increasingly impassioned vocal tell the story.

“I miss salvation in syringes and angels of mercy, in blooms of smoke numbing rain”

It’s OK to Be Young / Gone would not have sounded out-of-place on my favourite Joseph Arthur album, Our Shadows Will Remain. Some lovely Frippesque guitar textures layer this song.

Still Life Honey Rose has a scent of the desert, and a real late 70’s Fleetwood Mac vibe. It’s one of my favourite songs on the album.

Black Flowers is the shortest song in the collection, and zips along at a furious pace, with some crazy percussion under-pinning the one-line chorus, and what sounds like Herb Alpert smuggling his Tijuana Brass into the studio towards the end of the song

King of Cleveland reminds me a little of the mood of Arcade Fire‘s The Suburbs album – an America long-gone, and the song seems to point to a personal history in Ohio that is also consigned to memory.

“And she cut you”

Album closer All the Old Heroes is the longest track on the album, clocking in at just over 7 minutes, and appears to be another of the albums songs about escaping addiction.

“All the old heroes are like children to me now.
As I come to burn your shame away, without knowing exactly how.”

The Ballad of Boogie Christ was apparently put together over a period of 10 years, in between other album releases and with a mixture of old and new songs recorded with a wide cast of musicians in a variety of studios across America. Yet surprisingly for such a potentially haphazard collection of songs and styles, the album comes across as Arthur’s most focused and coherent release to date, and it may well be the album that finally leads to greater recognition beyond his existing audience.

The Ballad of Boogie Christ

Currency of Love
Saint of Impossible Causes
The Ballad of Boogie Christ
I Used to Know How To Walk on Water
Wait for Your Lights
I Miss the Zoo
It’s OK to Be Young / Gone
Still Life Honey Rose
Black Flowers
King of Cleveland
Famous Friends along the Coast
All the Old Heroes

Buy Joseph Arthur albums from Amazon UK

The Ballad of Boogie Christ

Our Shadows Will Remain

Visit the Joseph Arthur website.