Review: SBTRKT - Wonder Where We Land

Wonder Where We Land is the second studio album from London-based Aaron Jerome, formally known as SBTRKT. The album maintains the distinctive experimental style recognisable in SBTRKT’s self-titled album released in 2011, and even takes the experiments a step further- with 21 songs packed into an hour long double album.

Before releasing the full studio album, SBTRKT released 3 EPs as part of his ‘Transitions’ series. The EPs, which can be found on his Soundcloud, mark a transition between the self-titled first album and Wonder Where We Land, preparing listeners for the innovative style to come.

We are eased into Wonder Where We Land with ‘Day 1’, 30 seconds of rising electronics, before being greeted with the title track of the album. The title track is a little tamer in style than others, but with a multi-layered construction of vocals and electronics – featuring SBTRKT’s frequent collaborator, Sampha – it does not falsely lull you into a sense of security. The start of the album presents an almost calculated theme of alternating between songs with vocals and those that lay bare the electronic talents of Jerome, but as it progresses this scheme falls away and listeners are introduced to the huge range of collaborators on Wonder Where We Land.

Sampha, who featured on SBTRKT’s self-titled album back in 2011, is not the only one to collaborate once more with the solo-artist. Jessie Ware, who featured previously on ‘Sanctuary’ and ‘Right Thing To Do’, works again with SBTRKT for the track ‘Problem (Solved)’. Her vocals work wonderfully against the backdrop of SBTRKT’s music on what is one of the lighter tracks of the album, and it is perfectly clear to see why the choice was made. Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig is also among those to collaborate on the album with the cleverly lyricized ‘NEW DORP. NEW YORK.’

Others to feature include Warpaint, Raury, Caroline Polachek, Koreless and A$AP Ferg. It would be all too easy to focus almost entirely on the collaborations that feature so strongly on the album, but that would dismiss the talent of SBTRKT that is the undercurrent for all of the tracks on Wonder Where We Land.

The separation of the two disks of the double LP seems to mark a slight shift in tone from the first to the second, with the latter end of the album (particularly ‘War Drums’ which features vocals from Warpaint) marking a more haunting tone to the former. The album as a whole is then brought full circle by ending on a purely electronic final track in the form of the beautifully constructed ‘Decemberist’, which presents the style we truly associate with SBTRKT.

Wonder Where We Land is, essentially, an excellent follow up to SBTRKT’s self-titled album. At the hands of a more ambitious range of collaborations and styles comes an album that is a little disjointed at times, but it is possible to get past this. You could not knock the sheer talent of Aaron Jerome and his ability to unify such a level of experimentation on one album- so let’s hope there isn’t another three-year wait before his next instalment.

Review: Manchester Orchestra - Hope

The latest instalment from Atlanta based Manchester Orchestra succeeds the band’s release ofCope, their fourth studio album, in April this year. The release, titled Hope, is a reimagining ofCope, which lays bare the intricate details (or, as frontman Andy Hull put it- “the beautiful, slow stuff”) behind the album that is perhaps a little brutal in comparison. In this reimagining we receive a beautiful new album, exposing elements that were hidden by the heavier nature of Cope.

The alternative rock band are currently on a UK tour which was kick-started at Portsmouth Pyramids, which left fans eagerly awaiting the digital release of Hope after announcing it on their Facebook page on 16th September. Checking every day after this announcement to find out when UK fans could get hold of the full album, it wasn’t until the 26th September that the band finally announced that it would be available for digital download…but not until the 29th! Along with Hopecame news of a “stripped down” tour that, much to our dismay, will sadly only be performed in the United States.

It is quite rare that a band will release a new album that is essentially an extension of a previous release (alt-J’s ‘Bloodflood Part II’ on This Is All Yours has the same principle behind it but not quite on this scale), but Manchester Orchestra pull it off beautifully and with great reason. The redevelopment of Cope takes the album full circle, and listeners get a true feeling of the bare frameworks of the band’s talent.

To really appreciate the difference between Cope and Hope, it works quite well to listen to the tracks in pairs, going between the two albums. This isn’t to say that each album cannot be appreciated without the other, it simply allows for a more interesting look at the composition of both of them. The first instalment of Hope, along with ‘Girl Harbor,’ was ‘Top Notch,’ tantalisingly published on the group’s Soundcloud before the album’s digital release. From this track alone the beautiful rawness of Hope is made apparent.

The release of a stripped down album could seem to some a discredit to the first. If what makesHope so wonderful is that it is Cope without the loudness, then what is the point of Cope’s loudness in the first place? What Manchester Orchestra have achieved, however, is to present what is underlying in Cope, whilst giving credit to the sheer talent that has gone into it.

With standout tracks such as ‘Girl Harbor’ and ‘Choose You,’ Hope achieves the same greatness at Cope without quite so much punchiness. Despite its obvious tie to the band’s previous release, I think that Hope can stand alone as an album in its own right, which is a great credit to Manchester Orchestra.

My Most Memorable Concert: Foo Fighters at Milton Keynes Bowl, 2011

My most memorable concert happily coincides with my first ‘proper’ concert (that is, unless you count an 8 year old me bopping along to S Club 7). In July 2011, I was lucky enough to see Foo Fighters perform on one of two dates at Milton Keynes Bowl, at the height of their Wasting Lighttour.

The value I attribute to this concert probably has quite a lot to do with having hailed Foo Fighters as one of my favourite bands of all time- thanks to the introduction by my mum. That said, I’m not sure I had a lot of choice what with One by One being blared out in the car at any given opportunity!

I can still clearly remember my excitement when Foo Fighters took to the stage, opening with ‘Rope’. ‘Rope’, which also marked the opening of Wasting Light, was a perfect opening. I don’t think anyone there – which, at the hands of the bowl-shaped venue, had an absolutely amazing sound – could have escaped the contagious excitement. Before Foo Fighters’ slot, Tame Impala, Death Cab for Cutie and Biffy Clyro had all performed throughout the evening. Having seen Tame Impala and Biffy Clyro since, I think I definitely should have appreciated them more at the time- but I think I was just a little bit too geared up for the main event.

Highlights of Foo Fighters’ set were hard to pin down at the time, as they still are now. But, as an all-time favourite track, singing to ‘Best of You’ at the top of my lungs whilst crushed in a crowd of people twice my height was definitely up there.

It wasn’t until the Wasting Light tour that I had really been old enough to go to a concert and properly enjoy it, so I think that’s part of why this particular concert stands out so much. I’m glad to have seen Foo Fighters at the age I was, because all too often now I see bands as part of festivals which always end up a little bit hazy.

It’s probably mostly the nostalgic attachments I have to this concert that have prompted me to choose it as my most memorable one, but it truly was an amazing night of music and I hope that I get the chance to see them again soon.

WARNING

Am about to post an influx of various reviews and what not that I have (fairly) recently written for an entertainment publication at my university, The Edge. Apologies in advance anyone who may be watching this space (that I admit has been inactive for some months now) but I thought I would make some use of it.

April Goals

I was reading another blog earlier and saw that every month, the writer set herself goals for things to achieve in the forthcoming month. I thought it was a lovely idea, hence this post being here! It will be nice to carry this on throughout the year so that I can actually see that I'm doing something, and it'll be an easy way to blog more. So, here are April's goals...

1. go running

There was a stage after Christmas where I was running pretty much every other day, and I started to really enjoy it. I think I stopped when I restarted Tae Kwon Do because that was a more sociable form of exercise, but now that I'm home for Easter I'm not able to train- so I definitely need to do something! As of tomorrow I will start running every other day again, and I will hopefully carry it on once back in Southampton too...because I don't really fancy turning into a huge blob over the Easter break!

2. be motivated

I noticed that towards the end of last term (probably for the last 3 or so weeks) I've had little or no motivation for anything to do with university work, despite the fact that I was still really enjoying my modules and do want to do well. So, I'm going to get back on track this month. I've already started planning for my Stage and Screen module portfolio (which isn't due until 22nd May...gasp) and have planned out an essay that isn't due until 5th May- hopefully I will knuckle down this holiday and get some proper work done so that when I go back to Southampton I can feel a little less stressed and crazy!

3. read more books

I realised that I haven't actually read a book that I want to read, that is, outside of my university course, since reading Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (a review of which can be found here). In fairness, I haven't actually been reading all that much for university either, so I don't have any excuse not to be reading! I still have a stack of books left from my last book splurge, so I think I will get myself back into the swing of reading with either William Burrough's Junky, or Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being as I have both of those at home with me!

4. worry less

Another thing I found towards the end of last term was that I was worrying about everything. Even things that don't need worrying about. So, I think I need to concentrate on worrying about things that I can actually do something about...and instead of sitting about in an anxious mess, actually doing something productive about the things that I'm worrying about. It's definitely easier said than done, but if I manage to get my motivation back on track hopefully I'll find myself with less on my mind!

Update on...pretty much everything!

Seeing as I've just come to the end of my second term at Southampton (gasp, time please slow down) it seems fitting to do a little round up of recent happenings, especially as this term has been a pretty hectic one! I've also realised that I haven't blogged in a very long time...I spend a lot of time being busy doing nothing when I'm at university, but I'm hoping to get back on track with this blog from now on!

The last time I actually did any sort of life update was way way back in November, so five months down the line you'd think I'd have a lot to talk about- and I probably do, but I can't really remember everything I've been doing. It's probably easiest to do little sub-headings of important parts so that I can get everything down (which is probably better than plodding through month by month!).

I'll start with University:

Work-wise, everything seems to be going pretty much okay. I managed to bag myself a couple of firsts on some of the assignments that I was completing over the Christmas holidays, and a first in my Old English exam, so that stuff was good. A new semester meant new modules, and I think almost everyone taking the Old English module last semester was extremely happy to say goodbye to it! My modules this semester have been far better than the ones I was formerly taking- but I have to say that I really miss doing a proper Film module. My favourite at the moment is Stage and Screen, which as the name would suggest is about as close to a Film module as English can get. We've been looking specifically at the Classic Hollywood period, along with looking at theatre too- and it was this module that bagged us all a free ticket to see Caryl Churchill's A Number at the Nuffield Theatre (my little write up can be found here). Surprisingly, I've really enjoyed Critical Theory too- even though after most of the lectures I exit questioning almost everything about my life and literature! The last part of this year, when I go back to Southampton after Easter, is probably going to be the most important part of the year. I haven't got any exams (high five to English degrees) but I do have two 'take away' essays (that unfortunately do not include take aways, though I'm sure my flatmate Becca and I will reaching for the late night Dominos when writing them), and two portfolios...so I think things will be pretty hectic once I'm back. My only worry is the horrible lack of motivation I've had for the last few weeks or so, I found myself submitting work that I knew could probably be better whilst saying that I didn't care- which for anyone who knows me, is really, really unlike me. I'm hoping that a little time off and a break will help get me back on track and that once I'm back in Southampton I will get my bum back into gear and finish this year well!

Whilst writing that, I've kind of realised that I'm going to bore anyone who reads this to death if I carry on rambling, so for the rest I'll just do a little summation of good stuff that has happened! Nick coming to stay in February was ace, as you will know if you've read my blogpost about it! It was really cool being touristy in a place I've lived in for about 7 months now, and was great fun showing Nick around. The lovely Georgia also came to stay at the end of term, and it's fair to say we remember very little of it...but I think two great nights out were what we needed! In March, I went to see Joanna,  a friend from a module last semester, in a play called The God of Carnage (which I didn't review and I feel a little bad about) and it was hands down the funniest play I have ever seen, and it was only composed of one scene with four cast members. I need to carry on doing nice little things like going to the theatre, and I think after I've finished my assignments for this semester I may have to treat myself to another trip. In March I was also lucky enough to go to the Student Tae Kwon Do Nationals (yep, after six years I have started Tae Kwon Do again) with Southampton's club which was an amazing experience- not only because we won overall, but being part of such a great team was incredible. A more recent cool thing was seeing Wild Beasts in Cambridge on Monday, which was absolutely amazing (...and another thing I haven't reviewed but should have done). They were supported by a really cool guy called East India Youth, who is very temptingly playing at Wedgewood Rooms in Portsmouth soon- so I might have to go to that. Looking at all of the good things that have happened over the term show how great it's been, and I have lots more to look forward to! On 2nd May I have the Athletics Union Ball with Tae Kwon Do, on 6th I'm finally seeing Arcade Fire with Georgia and Bradley, and I've also put the deposit down on my Reading ticket for this year- so things are looking good!

Georgia in Southampton feat. most of my flatmates!

SUTKD!

Sorry for such a heavy text based post, I will hopefully have some more interesting stuff to come soon! (watch out for a denim jacket post feat. Ladybird Likes, more book reviews when I get myself back into reading, and probably a post about the AU Ball!)

Gallivanting...in Portsmouth with Fhionna and Owen

After hearing about Pie and Vinyl in Portsmouth a little while ago, I've been itching to take a trip- and today we finally got around to it! Despite having lived in Southampton for near enough six months now, we haven't done a whole lot of exploring, so today was an ace opportunity for me and two of my flatmates (Owen and Fhionna) to be a little bit touristy and venture further afield than Southampton town centre. Apologies again for the slightly rubbishy photos- I made use of my film camera rather than using a digital one, so will of course have to wait to get them developed! The best way to go about this post is probably a simple picture-and-caption affair, so here we go...

Thanks to Fhionna's (ahem, Fhionna's phone's) navigation, we made it safely and swiftly to Southsea's Pie & Vinyl after a nice little train journey from Southampton. I didn't realise how nice it would be to escape Southampton for a bit, it was ace to be in a new place and be able to look around and new things- and Portsmouth is so damn pretty! 

I absolutely loved the little dividers between the records that were used, and that the vinyl was all kept in old suitcases. The vinyl room was a little smaller than we expected but it was so full up that it made up for it in content! I don't have any pictures of the room as a whole, but it was so, so cool and I'd quite like to set up camp there and live there for forever. I somehow managed not to buy any vinyl (well done me and my self-control) but instead treated myself to a baseball-style top with the shop's logo on, which I am very happy with!

After spending quite a while browsing the vinyl, we decided to sit down for some pie- and it was possibly the best decision we've ever made! As you can see from the pictures, the whole place is really ace and the atmosphere was so lovely. We had a chat with one of the staff members and he made us feel very welcome, and we have promised to return at some point.

I had a chicken/bacon/garlic/all things wonderful pie. It was the best pie I have ever eaten.

Owen and Fhi looking lovely post-pie

After leaving Pie & Vinyl we headed towards the sea and walked along the wall. It was lovely to be by the sea but at the same time it made us a little bit jealous- I really wish we had a beach in Southampton!

Lots of stone-skimming happened. Owen was crowned King of Stone-Skimming.

Wall-walking shenanigans

We had a great day, even though we managed to miss the stop at Southampton and ended up in Romsey for half an hour. We found out in that half an hour that there isn't a lot to do in Romsey. I think we will definitely be visiting Portsmouth again, it'll be lovely in the Summer!