Bon Iver's 'Bon Iver'

Article originally on Alternative Spotlight.

Bon Iver‘s first album was a triumph. At least that’s what the crazy A.I. from Portal claimed in her final song. That’s right. She wasn’t taking about the epic events of the game. She was referring to the ground-breaking debut album by Justin Vernon, oddly entitled For Emma, Long Ago. The album was a somber and beautiful as the title implies, and the sequel has been highly anticipated by humans and robots alike.

The majority of the new album, Bon Iver, isn’t a disappointment. The first few bars of opening track Perth will send shivers down spines. Simplistic and haunting guitar. Images of teenagers lying in darkened rooms with lava-lamps a-glow spring to mind. There’s a little experimentation in the first couple of tracks, but after a few listens, fans of the previous album will settle in nicely. Vernon’s voice floats around beautifully whilst the instruments meander along, carrying him where ever he’s planning to go. Holocene really sets the album on it’s path, and really emphasises why Vernon has a band behind him now, rather than locking himself away in the mountains alone this time.

This album really would be wonderful, if not for the final track. Beth/Rest is an anomaly on this outing. It has hints of the classic Bon Iver sound, but sounds out of it’s time. More like something that would be found on a Phil Collins album than should be bring what is a five star album to a close. Ignore the final track, and Vernon may have just released a contender for album of the year.

City and Colour's 'Little Hell'

Article originally on Alternative Spotlight.

Dallas Green is a beautiful man. Not necessarily physically (though there are several woman who will surely vouch for him in that respect), but with his musical skill and soaring, majestic vocals, he makes many a man and woman envy and love him at the same time.

Recently Dallas Green was on the verge of selling out the Royal Albert Hall. There were only one or two seats not occupied by awe-inspired individuals who, from the wealth of tattoos and piercings on show, had a solid background in the heavier side of alternative music. Yet they were in one of the country's most prestigious venues to enjoy one of hardcore's heroes venting his folk and country desires. Something that many would argue has brought him more success and recognition than his time inAlexisonfire ever could have.

Today saw the released of Dallas Green's third solo album, under his usual guise of City and Colour. The audience at the Royal Albert Hall were given a sneak preview of some of the songs from the morbidly titled Little Hell, something that's not always received warmly, but this proved to be the exception. The taster did exactly that, wetted appetites with over a month before the album's release.

With such an album, it's difficult to pick out stand-out tracks. The magic comes when they're played together. What is easier of course is to pick the tracks that cause the record to stumble in the road. 'Fragile Bird' is a little out of place, and maybe would have been better rocked up and used on an Alexis album. In turn, 'Weightless' feels a little forced at first, but eases into itself towards the end.

Yet such hiccups are easily forgiven when there are gems such as 'Northern Wind' with Dallas' vocals floating hauntingly and the wonderfully honest and personal 'O' Sister' rising above many of the other tracks. Yet, when even the weakest songs are something beyond which most could ever write, it's difficult to find fault. Needless to say though, if hardcore's ventures into folk and country aren't your thing (listen toThrice's The Alchemy Index and Beggars for a comprehensive lesson in how to change your sound for the better) then City and Colour won't be for you. However, if it's right up your street, then Little Hell is a another step forward for Dallas Green, a man who has managed to progress with every album he's released. This is a magic third album, a time when many a band falls flat and fails to impress. Gone is the feeling that Dallas Green sits in his room alone with his guitar. He has friends now. Little Hell is proof that City and Colour deserve the sell-out shows that they're achieving. The sound is fuller, and Dallas' vocals will haunt me for weeks to come...

Funeral for a Friend?

I am a massive Funeral for a Friend fan. I have been since Casually Dress and Deep in Conversation. I'm sure there are people out there who will claim that 'doesn't count as being a fan' because I don't know every word to 'The Art of American Football', but what can you do? There's no pleasing some people...

Funeral have never made a bad album. They've made different and varying albums, that's for sure, but bands such as Thrice have proven that's not a bad thing. But Funeral seem to be back-tracking a little...

Casually Dressed and the music they wrote around then was heavy but melodic. You could sing and scream to your hearts content. Hours followed and the melodies were out in full force. There are some amazing songs on that album. At their pop peak, Funeral wrote Tales Don't Tell Themselves and you could tell they were slightly unhappy with the result. Or maybe just some of their fans were. Once again, it wasn't a bad album, and there's some excellent songs on there. It's not my favourite though (that award is closely fought between Casually Dressed and Hours. Oh? Didn't you know? There are Simon Lee awards now...)

At that point the band did an about-turn and started getting heavier again. Memory and Humanity ensued and it was pretty good. Better than Tales but no Hours. Members started leaving, to be replaced by members of Hondo Maclean. Hondo are, I am assured by my very Welsh friend, a hardcore band from Wales. And this is where Welcome Home Armageddon comes in...

Welcome Home is a heavy album. It's not so heavy that I'm fleeing into cupboards to escape the growls (which has happened. I saw Cancer Bats and Parkway Drive on the same night one. I was recovering for weeks.) My alarm-bells went off when I heard the first track that was released from this album a couple of months ago. 'Front Row Seats to the End of the World' bored me. It's as simple as that, and I was hoping that the rest of the album wouldn't follow in it's footsteps. Unfortunately it did.

Funeral for a Friend are meant to move you. Damn that sounds gay. But you know what I mean. Their music works because it's passionate and aggressive, followed by swells (yes, that's the best word) of melody that lift you up, soar and then plummet back down into that pit of angst. They've had the word emo attached to them in the past for a reason, and not in the bad way.

Armageddon lacks this soaring. The melodies full flat. Sit me down and ask me to sing a song from any of Funeral's previous albums and I could. Complete with guitar parts and bass lines. Not all at the same time. I'm listening to Armageddon now, and if I turned it off, I don't think I could sing a single bit back at you. It's just not that memorable.

But I don't want to end on a downer. Jumping back two sentences, there's an important point. I'm now on my fifth or sixth play through of this album. That means it can't be bad. I can guarantee I'll listen to it a lot more after this as well. Maybe Funeral have just changed. Maybe they've moved on. I'm not sure what we expected when half of the band has changed. But they're still making good music. Maybe it's just not the music we knew once upon a time.