Fabricstate --- Hannah Peel

Fabricstate, a four song EP by Hannah Peel released 24 February, has the musical, lyrical and conceptual weight of a much longer work. While Peel has tended to work through smaller musical gestures, and doesn't eschew them here, the songs on Fabricstate are large enough to be called majestic.

Starting relatively quietly with Silk Road, the EP creates a mood that is introspective, universal, hopeful and "large". The fat, confident synth line on the last, and title track of the EP is a good marker for the way this cycle of songs builds. The lyrics are sharp and evocative. The sonic palette diverse, yet integrated and controlled, confidently mixing acoustic and electronic elements, and the arrangements absolutely elegant. As a singer, Peel manages to please while also amazing the listener.

If you already own the Peel album and Ep's,  add this one to your collection. If you have yet to have had the pleasure of encountering this artist, start with Fabricstate and work your way back. I have no doubt that we will be given the delightful opportunity to work forward through new work by Hannah Peel.

4.5/5 Stars.

Maggie and Martin --- Union

If you only have a few dollars (pounds, euros) and you want to give yourself a fulsome treat, spend them on Union by Maggie and Martin.

After a few listens I was in adjectival overdrive --- sumptuous, elegant, haunting, wise, earthy, ethereal, subtle, direct --- the songs are very easy to like but hard to characterize. Anchored by Maggie's pleasantly worn and amazingly evocative voice, the songs are timeless. While there are nods to numerous genres and influences, Maggie and Martin create and occupy their own musical universe. That is a difficult trick to manage, and that they do so effortlessly is amazing. They end by sounding only like themself. Congratulations.

My first exposure to Maggie and Martin was through polari, an online magazine of culture seen through a queer lense. Polari has commissioned various artists to cover songs by renowned LBGT artists. In this case, I was intrigued by the duo's highly original reading of Pet Shop Boys You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk; stripped of gloss and it's mid tempo euro disco veneer, the PSB song is revealed as a grainy and very moving dissection of a relationship gone static and stale. On Union, Maggie and Martin give Roxy Music's More Than This a similar treatment, making it say new things and making it their own.

Standout tracks are the bravura opening track, Night of a Thousand Stars, Union and Wu at Heart. But really, all the songs are outstanding.

Press on the group seems spotty and their online presence is low. I hope that this means that Maggie and Martin are busy working on new material. I would certainly stand on line to hear it.

5/5 Stars.

Reviews

If you know of an artist who would benefit from a bit of exposure, or if you are such yourself, I'm always happy for suggestions. I only dwell on the positive, so if I don't like material I don't write about it (which doesn't mean that everything I might say will be positive).

I love music, and I love discovering and sharing. Don't be shy. Throw your homework onto the fire.

Peter
clinepe@aol.com

Josh Savage

 Mountains in Hurricanes

This is a very good debut by a song writer of great, great potential.  

The title track is, by far, the best of the three songs included here, showcasing what seem to be key strengths for this artist --- intelligent lyrics, clear, strong arrangements, structural intelligence, and a warm voice that pleases on many levels with its suppleness and precision.  

Where there are missteps, they are forgivable and interesting, save in the case of the remix of the title track. The best one can say of the remix is that it is unnecessary, as it adds nothing of interest to the original version.

That said of the remix, it would be interesting to see what this artist might do with some elements of electronica a la early Beth Orton.

I recommend Hurricanes and Mountains with 4/5 stars.  It will be well worth your time, and well worth the minimal expense.

John Foxx/Hannah Peel/ and your music submissions

I've been working on a major piece about John Foxx and his work over the past 8 years. Please stay tuned. I hope to have it up by Thursday.

Also, Hannah Peel's new EP will be out in less than 10 days time. I will post a shorty the day it comes out, then a more nuanced take when I've had a very good listen. It will, I'm sure, merit both.

In the meantime, enjoy posts about Tenek, LoneLady, Kevin Dunn, Anna Calvi and Apt.

And if you'd like your music reviewed (or at least listened to), please let me know.

Tenek --- Another Day, On the Wire

In anticipation of the release of EP+1 by Tenek, I downloaded and listened to the above cited works. If it is difficult to counterfeit good taste, superb taste is impossible to duplicate. And Tenek demonstrate superb taste throughout both of these releases --- musically, lyrically, and production-wise. There simply isn't a false step.

What should pop music do? First, it should impart drive in a way that is relentless, should seem familiar enough to engage without being cloying, and then should take the listener somewhere new. Almost everything on the radio does the first two by some measure, but almost none achieve the third. This is where Tenek standout.  They wear their influences lightly, and always in service of twisting them. If they are a house, then once past the front room one never knows where one might be taken, and one can only dimly guess the layout. Second, a good pop song references only itself. One doesn't need the song before or after (Suede were masters of this). Tenek succeeds here. Third, one should want to hear the song that comes before or after. To here a Tenek song is to be drawn along, left satisfied but wanting.

If you had three releases to choose from and could only afford one, please put anything by Tenek at the top of your list.

LoneLady --- Nerve Up

If, as I did, you missed Nerve Up when it was released in 2010, repair the damage quickly.

LoneLady creates a beguiling sonic universe filled with spot-on musical allusions and compelling influences, many of which one would not expect from a Manchester artist of this vintage, and  some which you might --- Polyrock (80's protégés of Phillip Glass), Gang of Four, Wire, Pylon and New Order.

The songs are built around wiry, new wavish guitar and straight if edgy vocals. The instrumentation is spare and thoughtful. The lyrics, well, they reward close listening, and music, structure and lyrics all work together with a jointure that is rare in any sort of music outside opera or lieder. The songs create atmosphere without becoming "atmospheric".

I certainly hope that we see a new release from LoneLady shortly.

Hannah Peel

Hannah Peel has been getting around. And that's a good thing. With a late February release of a new EP, Fabricstate, scheduled, HP has already released significant work, and worked with significant people, not least of which are John Foxx and the increasingly present Benge.

There is an unfortunate tendency nowadays to type female artists by appearance or, in a slightly more sophisticated vein, by aesthetic. Skip those tendencies with HP, please.

Peel is firmly rooted in a cultural perspective solely because she has a genuine voice that comes from history, personal and cultural. Her music is muscular and elastic, thought filled and proactive. Melding acoustic, electronic and electric elements, the songs are well proportioned and balanced. Lyrically they do excellently what song should do --- they tell stories, melancholy and subversive. And it is gorgeous --- silky and romantic and never cloying.

I won't pinpoint standout tracks in this squib because all of the songs are excellent and worth multiple listens. It's obvious that as much care went into their inclusion and sequencing as into their composition. Give yourself pleasure and listen.