Sunday CD Project

Guys, I am so sorry I suck at deadlines so much. Another digital-only release this week (so not actually a CD, but it was this or nothing):

rude_NHS – A Hundred Sides

It's the debut album from Southampton's one-man DJ-producer-electroking rude_NHS and my oh my is it superb. There's a single glitch track in the middle that I can't say I've enjoyed so far, but I've only listened to it twice, so there's room to be brought round.

The high points for me are the second and final tracks ('Speak To One Another' and 'Van Jealous' respectively), the first of which is a handy revision tool for A-level Music Tech students as it tells you what MIDI stands for so many times that if you can't remember it, you frankly don't deserve the A-level.

The lovely people at Sotones are the only (I think) retailers currently selling the album, so I guess you'd better mosey on over to http://sotones.co.uk/?page_id=1293 and buy it. It's a mere £7 which is a bargain for an album of this calibre. I'm not sure what Sotones' policy is, but I imagine DJs could (and should) use this material in their sets as well.

Edit: Ooh, and great news! It's on Spotify! Hurrah!

j.r.

Sunday CD Project

This album is digital-only, so is not strictly a CD, however if it were a CD, I wouldn't have bought it until a fortnight's time, so that's a good thing I suppose. Edit: So, I had difficulty posting this last night, so here it is very late indeed!

On Joyful Wings - Seven Swans Reimagined

"Oh no!" I hear you cry, "it's a compilation!" But fear not, dear readers! I would not have purchased a compilation/cover album unless I thought it was fully necessary. So basically, this is a load of artists re-hashing Sufjan Steven's first album Seven Swans.

The track that really stands out for me is (as with the original album) The Transfiguration, the covering artist for this song being David Crowder and his band - of whom I have previously openly felt little love for. But as well that one, there are some other extremely well.

Two other quick additions to a list of reasons to buy this album: it's for charity (yay), and the front cover is one of the most beautiful pieces of album artwork I've seen in a while. On that front, I actually wish it was a physical release as well, just to see what else the artist has come up with. That's just by the way.

A final reason to listen to it, which leads to my conclusion, is that this album is free to stream (as well as buy and download as MP3, FLAC, or whatever else) here: http://onjoyfulwings.bandcamp.com/album/seven-swans-reimagined

Sunday CD Project

Oh my gosh, I forgot! Sorrrrrrrrrry! This will be the last Sunday CD for a while, as I am on holiday and moving around a bit. The next will be when I am back in Guildford again.

Radiohead - The King Of Limbs

The latest offering from the English experimentalists has been four years in the waiting since the absolute stonker that was 2007's In Rainbows. Sound-wise, I'm putting it somewhere between In Rainbows (for structured beats and stuff) and Kid A (for weird noises that make me happy). Both of those albums are great, and this one is pretty good too. However, it lacks the little touches that would make it great. There are no instantly-recognisable riffs, beats, or sounds, and nothing that makes me want to go "I flipping love Radiohead" in the same way that tracks like Reckoner, Pyramid Song, and Everything In Its Right Place do.

In short, it's worth a listen, probably worth buying in fact, but if you're considering the forthcoming newspaper edition, I'd save your cash. Buying those super-awesome boxsets is only cool when the album is awesome (trust me; I bought the pricey edition of Biffy Clyro's average-at-best Only Revolutions and while I still like it, I wish I hadn't spent £30 on it.)

j.r.

Sunday CD Project

Sorry it's so late, gang! [[Edit: Warning! This is a really boring review. Sorry about that]]

PJ Harvey - Let England Shake

I only got into PJ Harvey within the last year or so. If you're not aware of her work, she is neither an American man, nor a rapper, as her very male-American-rapper-sounding name would suggest. Some of her past albums are superb, others are a bit meh (in my opinion).

I'm glad to say that this new record is one of the better ones. The album operates as a sort of concept album about England (as the title would suggest); not a Sgt Pepper-epic sort of concept album, mind you, but literally an album where all the songs about England or being English.

Don't worry, it's not pro-BNP or anything! To me, it's just a woman who's good at writing songs, and who is proud of being English, and has put the two together with pretty good results.

It's nothing mind-blowing, if I'm honest, but it's a good, solid album, and it makes me very happy to be English (which is something I don't feel for a fair portion of the time).

I'm no longer doing the 1-5 rating, as I can't objectify well enough. Sorry @lucytrew!

j.r.

Sunday CD Project

So, my feet have barely touched the ground over the last few days, so finding time to write this review has been a challenge. As such it will be concise.

J Mascis - Several Shades Of Why

J was the frontman of indie band Dinosaur Jr. a few years back, and also headed up J Mascis And The Fog (whom I thoroughly recommend - they're on Spotify so there's no excuse). He's been doing some more folky solo stuff for a while as well, but this is his first full-length album of solo material. I got one song, Is It Done?, for free from Pitchfork (online music magazine - read it, it makes NME look like all kinds of lame) and was vaguely interested, so bought the album when it came out a week or three ago.

Genuinely, one of the most lovely, chilled-out-but-not-boring albums I've heard in a while. There's a weird but rather cheerful video as well, which I will embed below.

Definitely worth a listen I think.

Julez's enjoyment rating of: 4/5

j.r.

I've been asked about prayer a few times recently. Obviously there are lots of ins and outs to it, and many a good book have been written on the subject (Pete Greig's God On Mute is a masterpiece in my opinion), but for a simple explanation, I think this is rather lovely:

j.r.

Clarity

I've been going to church as long as I can remember. I use 'church' as a collective and generic term encompassing all manner of congregations, from faux-High Anglican in Bishop's Waltham as I was growing up, to a Baptist fellowship in New Delhi; from eating doughnuts and playing Weezer covers in a smelly school gym in Fair Oak, to sitting in a converted bowls hut in Guildford discussing apologetics (and/or cinema).

The one thing I've noticed, though, is that in all Western Church services (encompassing all the above and many more besides), there is almost always someone preaching/teaching/guiding the discussion and sharing their ideas. What I've also noticed, especially after attending the less sit-and-listen type meetings, is that quite often we over-complicate stuff.

Earlier I was reading Romans 7, which is all about sin, why sin is so attractive, and why we struggle to stick to God's laws. I'm not going to lie, I think it's a flipping hard passage to get a grip on, and I struggled to get my head around what Paul is saying. More to the point, I've heard a fair few talks over the years on this same issue, but none of them have summed up a reason in even a short paragraph, let alone a single sentence. This is where we come back to my earlier comment about over-complicating things.

At the end of that passage, however, Paul/God does a pretty good job (I think) of explaining it, in this simple wording:

". . . I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature, a slave to the law of sin."
– Romans 7:25b

For me, that one verse has summed up a concept that I have struggled and wrestled with for most (if not all) of my Christian life.

I think it goes to show that no matter how good preachers/church leaders are (and please don't get me wrong, I think teaching is a valid and necessary part of church life), it is always always ALWAYS worth looking through God's Word before trying to explain a concept through our own power.

j.r.