(Audio) Simple Minds - Stars Will Lead The Way

Third track taken from the aforementioned LP, Graffiti Soul.

An example of a great melody that is complimented by sparkling guitar lines and excellent arrangment.

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Review: Simple Minds - Graffiti Soul

So Simple Minds are back with a new album, their first in twenty years. The first since they stopping making music after releasing decade defining hit, Don’t You (Forget About Me), in 1984. Right?

Well no, actually. Don’t You (Forget About Me) was released in 1984 but, after a cursory glance at one of the internet’s most reliable encyclopedias, it transpires that Simple Minds never split up or really ever stopped making albums.

Graffiti Soul is the latest offering from the Glaswegian band, their first since 2005’s Black & White 050505, and their 16th overall. That’s right, 16th.

From the moment album opener Moscow Underground swings into view, it’s clear this is group who are feeling re-invigorated and, while they may not have hit top gear yet, they’re enjoying it all the same.

What we get is a natural sounding album. It doesn’t overpower and is comfortable, clear and most of all exciting.
While some of the songs may lack the killer melodies, the guitars sparkle throughout and Jim Kerr’s familiar vocals sound as strong and engaging as they did all those years ago.

Lead single Rockets and follow up Stars Will Lead the Way are the standout tracks, and recall a sound that perhaps the band should be more recognized for.
Opening with an U2 type guitar riff, Rockets shows the band’s ability for a good pop arrangement, but also manages to keep an edge that maintains it’s rock credibility, whilst Stars Will Lead the Way has the hook that probably deserved a much higher chart placing than that which it obtained (#88 in Germany).
Light Travels is a bold song that takes us back to the mid 80s with subtle lyrics and confident drums, and is followed by Kiss and Fly, which has some of the cleverest guitar playing to be found on the album.

However, to say that this album is without fault would perhaps be rash. Tracks such as Blood Type O and This Is It are relegated towards the end of the record and despite good intentions, lack the grace and melody of other tracks. There’s a nagging feeling of incompletion that surrounds these tracks, the feeling that maybe the band were happy to make a decent album, rather than risk creating a bad one.

Nonetheless, Graffiti Soul is an excellent return and should be treated as such. It has more than enough quality to keep the older fans happy but contains the melody and grace that has Simple Minds sounding like they mean it again and deserves respect from a new generation of fans.
Despite there being over 30 years since we first heard from them, the band are showing no signs of letting up. With a newfound enthusiasm and an excellent return to form, I’m very much looking forward to next 30.

Visit them on - www.simpleminds.com

Or iTunes - http://bit.ly/3xYUmO

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(Audio) Rural Life - Yours, Eli

Third track taken from the aforementioned debut EP, It Was Me, It Was You, It Was About Saying Goodbye.

An example of simple arrangement and uncomplicated production, allowing the song to shine through


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Review: Rural Life - It Was Me, It Was You, It Was About Saying Goodbye

Rural Life is a group who have been with me for a while but about whom I’ve never succeeded in writing. I’m ashamed to say that despite being on my iTunes for a little under five months, I never really allowed them a fair portion of listening time until recent weeks.
For those of you who’ve never had the pleasure it’s about time you bucked up your ideas.

It Was Me, It Was You, It Was About Saying Goodbye is the debut EP from the duo Rural Life (chief songwriter Andrew Chu and producer Alex Beitzke), and although it doesn’t immediately grab the listener as one might hope, it soon becomes difficult to turn off.
Opening track Mid-Autumn suggests a pop edge that lines the collection and doesn’t tie it up in complex guitar sounds or chord sequences. Although perhaps one of the weaker tracks, this and subsequent track Mountain Air allow the listener to adjust themselves to the lower octave vocals and appreciate the clever arrangements, that come into their own as the EP progresses.

However, it is not until track three, Yours, Eli that It Was Me… really comes into it’s own. A devastatingly simple chord sequence underpins the first verse before the track subtly builds into a short tale of love and loss, making full use of the album’s careful and smooth production.
From here, we move through the more upbeat numbers Oh! There It Is Right There with its nod to Jack Johnson and Life On Film, giving the ukulele another run out, before we are once again drawn into the sixth track, Firstborn.

Although initially not overly different from earlier tracks, it is soon clear that Firstborn has a melody that requires the listener to…well…listen.
Following the EP’s loose themes of departure, jealously and love, it talks of a Mother with her family (and firstborn child) and the jealously of not being a part of that. At it’s core it contains no more than five or six chords but it takes more than just a cursory glance to realize that this is all there is to it.

With the dial firmly set to ‘stripped back’ we move past shortest track, Sometimes and reach the EP’s closer Saying Goodbye.
Recalling the smooth electric guitar sounds of earlier track Yours, Eli, it sums the EP up nicely. Simple and clever production compliments the feeling of resolve and relief the track evokes. Not trying to end with flurry does the album no harm and succeeds in having the memorable effect that a barrage of guitars or vocals might have done.

Needing no showy vocals, no extra guitars or no over-the-top production techniques, It Was Me… shows a maturity and simplicity that is seldom seen in the age of the Arctic Monkeys, and tips it’s hat to releases by Bon Iver and Johnny Cash, while retaining it’s own sense of identity.

It’s by no means perfect, but shows enough potential that suggests that somewhere down the line, we might get something that will be approaching just that.
While some might argue it’s nothing you’ve not heard before, I would happily bet it’s something you’d like to hear again and again.


Visit them on MySpace: http://myspace.com/clickclickbuzzbuzz

Or iTunes:
http://bit.ly/Ag8J4

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(Audio) Kate Bush - And Dream of Sheep

Taken’ from the aforementioned album, Hounds of Love.

An example of a Kate Bush song that strips away the drum machines and samples, just leaving Bush singing at her best with only a piano for accompaniment.

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