Codes In The Clouds

Tell us, where are you from?

We’re all from Kent in England.

Can you tell us how the band was formed?

We formed out of the remnants of an old band and added rob and jack on guitar and drums. We all know each from around and about anyway.

For someone who hasn’t heard the band how would you describe your sound?

Instrumental post rock. We’re a pretty pure form of post rock. We try and let people who hear it draw their own meanings and moods from it. Each song should be different and unique to every person who hears it.

What are some of the influences on the band?

Mono, Explosions in the Sky, Oceansize, Hope of the States. We’re influenced by a lot of small parts in loads of different songs. We’re into different types of stuff.

How are most of the songs written?

One person has the basic idea and then we all add our own parts to it. That’s pretty much how we write everything. We try and let it evolve naturally.

Is there an album in the works because we simply want more?

Cheers. Yeah, we have a rough plan for an album. We know how we want it to come out and we have an album title pretty much sorted. It’s a slow process though because of money and stuff.

Any other bands out there the people should be listening to?

FROM THE SKY, they’re amazing! Rival Consoles and The British Expeditionary Force are both on Erased Tapes and are really cool. There’s some really good stuff on the label that we’re all into.

What hopes or goals do you have for the band in the short/long run?

Short term we want the single to do well enough to merit an album. Long term we want to see how the sound changes and want to just keep on writing new stuff and hope people will still want to hear it. Thanks

By John Siwicki

Athlete – Beyond the Neighbourhood

This band is possibly a snappier version of The Rakes. With the best album cover artwork I’ve seen this year,I can endorse this album wholeheartedly and would hope that it would reach No 1 pretty soon in the UK,and,on its release in the US on 25/9 it should achieve high chart status there also. These are a London-based band and they already have one Ivor Novello award under their belt from 2006 for their single “Wires.”

My favourite,”The Outsiders” is beautifully produced,with a polished intro and a nice languid vocal.
A high quality song on an album full of quality songs.

The single “Hurricane”,as the title suggests,focuses on the dramatic increase in hurricanes on the
East Coast of America. A big issue indeed and one which is beyond mankind’s control.

“Tokyo” and “Best Not To Think About It” are both good “pop” songs,especially the latter,which has a kind message  “It’s best not to think about it,just put your arms around me”.

My overall verdict?An extremely classy piece of work. The Rakes with a cocktail stick.

By Juliet Robertson

Emma Pollock – Watch The Fireworks

This young Scottish/American singer could be forgiven for sounding a little like Avril Lavigne,as this album,released on 17th September,is an intelligent listen. I liked this album a lot and enjoyed Emma’s lightweight singing with a pleasant harmonious backing band.

This album  was begun in 2005 after Emma Pollock went solo after leaving The Delgados. There is a lot more to her than her voice would suggest and she delivers a very compact sound. All songs are self-penned. The song Here Comes The Heartbreak is a nice little tune; a bit formulaic but it works,with this singer. On This Rope’s Getting Tighter,Emma’s voice sounds a little like Doris Day. It’s a tuneful song and I found it struck a chord.

Every song on this album is intelligent and delivers the goods in a satisfactory way. Adrenaline,released as a single recently,should have made its mark .Emma’s voice also has strong shades of Natalie Imbruglia and this song suits her vocal style. Too highbrow for the singles charts?This song has been given a place on my myspace profile,and I’m pretty choosy about my music!

Acid Test,the second single released in August,failed to make much impact on the charts either,but then what good music does, these days?The song is lightly commercial without being too much so,and has a good chorus. I also liked The Optimist very much- and Limbs has Joni Mitchell’s creative influence stamped all over it.

All of the songs on the album have depth and much careful thought has gone into making this album. Go and buy it. I will,as soon as possible.

By Juliet Robertson

Broken Social Scene Presents Kevin Drew – Spirt if….

This artist is new to me-I knew nothing about him before I heard this album,which is a blend of indie,country,rock,folk.A bit of a melting pot,putting it mildly-this is Kevin Drew’s first solo album after Broken Social Scene.

Backed Out On The… is a track with a very 70s sound and I can sense a whiff of Lennon’s  Give Peace A Chance in there somewhere.This one should be released as a single – it would do pretty well I feel. It’s very dancey and would grace any party.
When It Begins reminds me of  that old song She’ll Be Coming Round The Mountain ! Again,a bit of Lennon influence underlying this pleasant little song.You could sing this one round the campfire of an evening and then fall into a blissful sleep in your tent under the stars.

The oddly named Bodhi Sappy Weekend could be classed as “easy listening”. It’s as light as a souffle and very pleasant to listen to. Spirit If…is turning out to be an intriguing album and more melodic than I thought.

Another incredibly laid back song is Ageing Faces/Losing Places. My eyes were closing listening to it. Soothing and ever so slightly jazzy.

On Big Love,a song which sounds like it has more substance to it,the mood suddenly switches to a similarity to the Plastic Ono Band,with a distant Yoko Ono vocal going on,although this song is pleasant enough. Rather an eccentric track,it stops and starts again with a discordant instrumental break, incorporating harsh keyboards and thumpy drums. A little hard to digest,is my summing-up of this song. It could touch on the pretentious.

Roughly a minute of “ooh-ahs”, and a dreamy instrumental on  Underneath The Skin,sounds like the waves of the sea-very soothing.

Everyone knows The Rakes’ The World Was A Mess But His Hair Was Perfect,yes? Well,Frightening Lives sounds exactly like it.Enough said!

This is an album of jams-laidback, gentle, shoe-gazing,it will be a successful autumn release.

Recommended.

Film School – Hideout

Consistency is the keyword on this very fine album,along with precision and a very alternative approach .Plenty of moods and substance here,this has turned out to be one of the more intriguing albums I’ve reviewed recently. Thirteen tracks of brilliance,with influences such as Yes,Genesis and Editors. On Sick Hipster Nursed By Suicide Girl,there’s quite a dark thread running through,with a late 70s and very early 80s feel to the song. It’s a little bit Kraftwerk,but only a bit. I particularly like the middle section,with its hypnotic drums and keys.

All tracks are individual,yet similar .On Blizzard Scout,there’s a Disneyish soundtrack feel to the start of the track,all cello and echoey effects,a pleasant two minutes’ worth of song.
When listening to Go Down Together,I wondered-why isn’t this album purely instrumental?This one’s nice,though,with its atmospheric guitars,drums and sudden flourishing ending with just a
hint of hi-hat.

Capitalized I has a strong opening, chuggy drums and a swirling synth and gentle guitar-quite haunting-building up with those angel choir vocals .Lovely and obscure.
My favourite track is Two Kinds.It has a beginning,a middle and an end.”There’s two kinds of love…and one we used to know.”Can we have this one released as a single please?
Its a solid song and rather addictive. Less is more.

This album is released on 11th September. I predict a rush of interest in it so give it a listen.

By Juliet Robertson

Devastations – Yes, U

Always nicely dressed Devastations are back with their third album “Yes,U.” This is my first Devastations album but the band is signed on Beggars Banquet so that was able to help shape my expectations and you know the record is going to be solid with the track record. But, this Australian three piece is a very peculiar bunch. Vocally, the band have a very heavy and dark undertones to the vocals a lot in the likeness of say a Nick Cave. Musically the band are quite different from what you would expect. There are elements of your post-rock with the heavy distortions and epic sounds. The band also bring a element of programmed beats to the music. The one thing is this constant in the album is that they like to get loud.

“Black Ice” starts off with a slow beat that you think you are about to listen to some early 90s R&B, but then the vocals slowly kick in. The vocals are very soft and with a distant piano in their combined with the R&B beat makes for a special start. “Oh Me, Oh My” starts to get their inner noise kings out of them. The song has a strange soothing vibe to it with the giant wave of sound hitting you. “Rosa” is the track that made me fall in love with the band. The song starts off with a strong vocal and slowly starts building and the progression is fierce and noisy. The last two minutes is as frightening and chaotic as I have heard in a long time. I think you can hear some screams in the background of this sound collage that is just as huge as can be. “As Sparks Fly Upwards” sounds really nice at times but the song never seems to really go anywhere. “The Face Of Love” is a very heartfelt acoustic song. The “sha-la” sounds a little weird at first but they fit in with the song.

“Yes, U” is a charming record, there is a lot to like about this band. They take risks in some of their songs but they always seem to pay off. Aside, from a few minor slip up this is quite a rich and deep album worthy of your dollar.

By John Siwicki

Juviley – How To Miss the Ground

Israeli Singer/Songwriter Zubalsky or his pseudonym Juviley has crafted one beautiful debut album. He has written arranged produced and played nearly every instrument on the album. Having recently relocated to New York Juviley is ready. The album displays a very delicate beauty on the record. Some of Juviley’s influences are clearly Yo La Tengo, Nick Drake and Belle & Sebastian. His sweet melodies are heartbreaking as you listen to this very simply but well crafted songs. On the first track “Fallen Leaves,” you really feel like Juviley is sitting in the the room with you singing to you. It has that very simply and charismatic type charm all over it. “Two Small Wonder” is a perfect song for a seaside. “Annie” is a sweet and tender love song. While, “A Lovely Dream” auctually caused me to fall asleep while writing this. The horn section really brings a lot to the song and gives it a strong finish. Juviley’s debut album was a very charming listen. He has that sweet type of voice like the Belle & Sebastian gentlemen that can just let you listen to him over and over again.

By John Siwicki