― Lee F# (fsharp), Thursday, 31 March 2005 19:19 (nineteen years ago) link
― jellybean (jellybean), Thursday, 31 March 2005 19:42 (nineteen years ago) link
― Melissa W (Melissa W), Friday, 1 April 2005 00:29 (nineteen years ago) link
it's fucking horrible. and i LOVED the last one.
― cutty (mcutt), Friday, 1 April 2005 00:32 (nineteen years ago) link
― cutty (mcutt), Friday, 1 April 2005 01:16 (nineteen years ago) link
Electrelane – Axes (Too Pure)
The all-female foursome from Brighton comes armed with some big ideas for this, their third album. Recorded in Chicago with Steve Albini, it’s a record that frequently treads that fine line between ambition and pretension, but for the most part the band gets it right. The album’s sound is a dense fug of driving guitars, pounding drums, twinkling piano and, sporadically, the elfin voice of Verity Susman. Appearing in support are a male voice choir, train samples and a song heavily influenced by Eastern European folk music. It’s a heady mix, but this is clearly a band that is in full control of its sound.
The album takes a while to hit its stride, with a couple of missteps in the middle (the less said about the unlistenable ‘Business or Otherwise’, the better), but everything comes together for the last few tracks – songs merge into one another and the momentum takes you along with it, culminating in the epic closer ‘Suitcase.’ Another highlight is a furious take on the French Resistance folk song ‘The Partisan’, which was made famous by Leonard Cohen. Full of punk energy and rage (apparently directed at a certain Mr GW Bush), Susman’s wails are almost drowned in a sea of overdriven guitars.
It’s a record that finds equal value in noise and beauty. Fans of Mogwai, PJ Harvey and especially Sonic Youth will find plenty to sink their teeth into here.
7/10
― Crackity (Crackity Jones), Saturday, 30 April 2005 10:50 (eighteen years ago) link
― Raymond Cummings (Raymond Cummings), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 14:32 (eighteen years ago) link
― Raymond Cummings (Raymond Cummings), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 14:38 (eighteen years ago) link
― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 14:49 (eighteen years ago) link
this:it's odd that I've lost interest in every other band with this sound I used to like, but Electrelane are still so compelling.
is OTM inna OTM stylee.
― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Saturday, 14 May 2005 11:03 (eighteen years ago) link
"two for joy" is the pinnacle of the whole post-krautrock thang. what's it reminding me of? the "aaaaAAAaaaaaAAAAaaaaAAAAAAaaaaahhhh" thing? probably just stereolab, but there's something else.
o wow, the big organ at the end. god, i love this song.
― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Saturday, 14 May 2005 11:45 (eighteen years ago) link
I feel I am the only who not only loves "Business or Otherwise," but finds it totally hilarious.
― Michael F Gill (Michael F Gill), Saturday, 14 May 2005 12:21 (eighteen years ago) link
― Alba (Alba), Saturday, 14 May 2005 12:35 (eighteen years ago) link
― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Saturday, 14 May 2005 12:48 (eighteen years ago) link
― Alba (Alba), Saturday, 14 May 2005 12:50 (eighteen years ago) link
― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Saturday, 14 May 2005 12:54 (eighteen years ago) link
― cozen (Cozen), Saturday, 14 May 2005 13:16 (eighteen years ago) link
― Alba (Alba), Saturday, 14 May 2005 13:19 (eighteen years ago) link
― The Lex (The Lex), Saturday, 14 May 2005 13:22 (eighteen years ago) link
― breezy, Saturday, 14 May 2005 17:16 (eighteen years ago) link
― Aerodynamic (Aerodynamic), Saturday, 14 May 2005 17:59 (eighteen years ago) link
― Aerodynamic (Aerodynamic), Saturday, 21 May 2005 20:24 (eighteen years ago) link
― Michael F Gill (Michael F Gill), Saturday, 21 May 2005 22:14 (eighteen years ago) link
― Aerodynamic (Aerodynamic), Saturday, 21 May 2005 22:53 (eighteen years ago) link
― Roger Fidelity (Roger Fidelity), Sunday, 22 May 2005 17:57 (eighteen years ago) link
― Aerodynamic (Aerodynamic), Sunday, 22 May 2005 18:09 (eighteen years ago) link
― Michael F Gill (Michael F Gill), Monday, 23 May 2005 01:25 (eighteen years ago) link
― Aerodynamic (Aerodynamic), Monday, 23 May 2005 01:30 (eighteen years ago) link
― dog latin (dog latin), Monday, 23 May 2005 16:17 (eighteen years ago) link
so. that's what i think of the album. frustratingly inconsistant, but worth it for the majority of the tracks, which are for the most part excellent. electrelane is a band that seems to consistantly put out music that is proegressive, interesting, and compelleing. and it's pretty and kicks ass alot too.
― rockaction (rockaction), Monday, 23 May 2005 21:20 (eighteen years ago) link
― s1ocki, Thursday, 5 April 2007 19:27 (seventeen years ago) link
I'm learning "I Keep Losing Heart" on banjo!
― In a station of the metro / My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard (Leee), Friday, 7 June 2019 00:25 (four years ago) link
I like that song
all four of their albums were spectacular in my opinion
― Dan S, Friday, 7 June 2019 00:29 (four years ago) link
^ they rule
― i will never make a typo ever again (Karl Malone), Friday, 7 June 2019 00:36 (four years ago) link
I should listen to the first album again. I'd been put off of it by a middling review (probably from AMG), but recently hearing a few isolated tracks from it has been ear-opening.
― In a station of the metro / My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard (Leee), Friday, 7 June 2019 00:44 (four years ago) link
This album was always a hit whenever I played it in the bar I worked.
― Yerac, Friday, 7 June 2019 00:49 (four years ago) link
unfortunately it's the only one of theirs i own, and one of the records is warped. if i get drunk enough i can convince myself it's mildly psychedelic, but in a normal state it's nauseating to listen to.
― i will never make a typo ever again (Karl Malone), Friday, 7 June 2019 00:50 (four years ago) link
lol
― Dan S, Friday, 7 June 2019 00:51 (four years ago) link
hard to believe they were so ignored, it makes me suspicious of the whole narrative of the 2000-2009 era
― Dan S, Friday, 7 June 2019 01:09 (four years ago) link
I put The Valleys and To the East (other albums) on sooooo many mixes. I don't know why they weren't as big/bigger than Stereolab.
― Yerac, Friday, 7 June 2019 01:13 (four years ago) link
*bowing*
― Dan S, Friday, 7 June 2019 01:17 (four years ago) link
Was hoping this revive was about a reunion, I think I had a dream about that years ago.
― Eid y’self Fitr (JoeStork), Friday, 7 June 2019 01:52 (four years ago) link
You mean in 2011-2012?
― In a station of the metro / My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard (Leee), Friday, 7 June 2019 16:50 (four years ago) link
But gods I wish they'd get back together too, I missed all my chances to see them live.
Good band
― Lactose Shaolin Wanker (Raymond Cummings), Friday, 7 June 2019 21:03 (four years ago) link
I saw them early on, about 2001, but I'd love to have seen them again later - the first album isn't bad but it's my least favourite (which is unusual for me, I'm usually the early-stuff-is-better guy)
― Colonel Poo, Friday, 7 June 2019 21:09 (four years ago) link
Axes is my favourite of theirs because it's so, like, audacious in its structure
― flamboyant goon tie included, Friday, 7 June 2019 21:29 (four years ago) link
The series of instrumentals into the Cohen cover is one of my favourite sequences on a rock album
So in between "Bells" and "The Partisan"?
Serious question: is the album title supposed to be the plural for axis or ax?
― In a station of the metro / My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard (Leee), Saturday, 8 June 2019 20:23 (four years ago) link
Ya. I guess it's a lot of instrumentals! I love this approach. I think the title means both
― flamboyant goon tie included, Saturday, 8 June 2019 21:07 (four years ago) link
'business or otherwise' is one of the genuinely most out-there compositions by a uk rock band in living memory
― imago, Saturday, 8 June 2019 23:52 (four years ago) link