STACK #151 May 2017

MUSIC REVIEWS

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Feist Pleasure On her fifth album Pleasure , Leslie Feist expands upon her well-honed baroque pop, making daring leaps into previously uncharted territory while writing the strongest songs of her almost 20-year career. Opening track Pleasure creeps under your skin before erupting into a gritty guitar line that has Feist’s vocals soaring over the chaos. I Wish I Didn’t Miss You is an impassioned acoustic number that highlights Feist’s raw power, while Lost Dreams haunts with its tenderness. A Man Is Not His Song features a stunning backing choir that accentuates Feist’s grandness. Later she’s joined by none other than Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker on Century , who thrills with his distinctive vocals. If you’re a lover of well- crafted indie rock and appreciate music’s mellower moments, then prepare to fall in love with Feist. (Universal) Holly Pereira

Thrupence Ideas Of Aesthetics

Wavves You're Welcome Wavves’ Nathan Williams, once the archetype of Millennial brat rock, is alleged to have grown up in recent years. Having gone through the major label ringer and come out with his own label intact, one thing that never changed was Williams’ ability to write razor- sharp hooks with hypnotic ease. And while You’re Welcome has no shortage of no-bullsh-t fuzz-pop ( Million Enemies , No Shade , the title track), not everything’s as gloomy as it once was: Animal , Stupid In Love and Under are all different takes on a love song, and even on penultimate track Dreams Of Grandeur when Williams sings “Paradise is lost,” he follows with “Now I just pray to live long.” No longer the No Hope Kid, Williams is trying to make something that might last. (Inertia) Jake Cleland Ideas Of Aesthetics ' nine tracks travel an eclectic rollercoaster of emotions, all created by Melbourne musician/creative director/man of many talents Thrupence – AKA Jack Vanzet. The opening trio proceeds like a mini-movie score: Forest On The Sun is brimming with optimism, Rinse Repeat is an indulgent climax and Honesty is the sobering come down. There is a beautiful balance in the record's two collaborations: Vanzet’s brother Edward provides the lingering vocals to Conversations , a track entwined with heavy themes of depression and psychosis and bathed in intricate, ominous tones, while Atmos takes a sharp turn and emerges as the most upbeat track on the album; it features Future Classic label mate Wafia and a feverish beat. (Future Classic)Tim Lambert

BLONDIE

Plastic Letters (1978) As with their promising debut two years previous, here Blondie married their love of the '60s (The Beatles, girl groups) and '50s pop ballads with power pop. The hits Denis and (I'm Always Touched By Your) Presence Dear – the former a souped-up doo-wop cover – shamelessly borrowed from Buddy Holly and the British Invasion, respectively. At a time of punk, Blondie were in the vanguard of NewWave. Parallel Lines (1978) Just seven months after Plastic Letters they returned with this hit-packed outing: Harry and Stein's disco- influenced Heart Of Glass , the poppy One Way Or Another , astute covers with the bratty Hanging On The Telephone and Buddy Holly's I'm Gonna Love You Too , and Stein's pure pop on Sunday Girl. In Stein's Fade Away And Radiate – which featured guitarist Robert Fripp – they were also pushing into more challenging areas. Autoamerican (1980) Recorded in LA with a swag of session players, Autoamerican divided critics. It opened with a cinematic instrumental by Stein, but did tap again into disco ( Live It Up ), reggae (the cover of Tide Is High ) and hip hop dance ( Rapture , with Harry's idiotic but ironic rap). There's also melodramatic cabaret and faux-showtunes ( Here's Looking at You ). Two-thirds of a good album, although not for the NewWave fans. No Exit (1999) Almost 20 years after their previous album, some of the band reformed for this release, which, as always given their magpie tendencies, drew from numerous sources such as reggae, cabaret, hip hop, straight ahead pop and girl groups (the Shangri-La's Out In The Streets gets covered). Still smart enough to ping a hit ( Maria by keyboard player Jimmy Destri). And also... Because Blondie were a singles band, a best of/ greatest hits is the way to go. The Greatest Hits CD/DVD set of '06 is recommended because it also presents their sassy visual image. Check out Debbie Harry's 1989 Def, Dumb & Blonde too, where she covers Thompson Twins' I Want That Man. A commercial failure but a decent Blondie album, just one under her own name. More than four decades after their self-titled debut album, Blondie return with Pollinator , with songs written byTV OnThe Radio's David Sitek, Sia, Johnny Marr and others, including original members Debbie Harry and Chris Stein. But let's cherry-pick their back catalogue… Words Graham Reid

Blondie Pollinator

Mustering an impressive roster of collaborators, Pollinator shows Blondie have nothing left to prove. A more insecure band might feel compelled to self-assure by blocking off the outside world. Instead, Debbie Harry, Chris Stein and Clem Burke invite modern contemporaries Dev Hynes, Charli XCX, Sia and more for a record that puts the 'new' back in New Wave. Harry’s vocals still shimmer with the spunk they showed on Blondie’s self-titled debut, full of allure, mischief and mystery, and swaddled in arrangements that bring churning punk riffs and vibrating synth melodies together. Pollinator confirms Blondie are still the life of the party. (Liberation) Jake Cleland

For more overviews, interviews and reviews by Graham Reid see: www.elsewhere.co.nz

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MAY 2017

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