Tears for Fears – Nocturne Live, Blenheim Palace – 26th June 2019
Category Archives: Single reviews
Low Island – In Person single
Released 31st January 2019
Low Island have been banging out interesting electronica for a while now. A repeating melody and busy ostinato bassline (think a more frantic Talk Talk’s “Life’s What You Make It”) makes “In Person”, the latest instalment, perhaps more commercially accessible than their other, more atmospheric and disorientating electro-pop stuff; saying that, the way it builds on this repetition – initial bare voice and bass, to which their now trademark double-track octave vocals and plinky synth chords are introduced, only to drop out periodically before the fraught electro-jam climax – is still unsettling. The whole thing exudes Friendly Fires-esque nonchalance, but controlled rather than extravagant. The lyrical argument about people feeling decreasingly connected to each other in a world of increasing digital connectedness is emphasised by the tension between the retro analogue-sounding synthesisers and modern production techniques; somewhere between the advent of popular electronic music and now, bonds have been loosened and relationships skewed.
If Low Island’s output continues in this poppier vein, they might find themselves reaching Years & Years-type heights, though their back catalogue suggests a formulaic path is unlikely. Whichever way they’re producing all this lovely stuff, they must keep it up.
Sal Para – Her single
Released 6th January 2017
Sal Para started as a solo project by Ted Mair, but has now apparently expanded to a four-piece live band – which is a little surprising, given the claustrophobic nature of Her, the lead song of their debut single, which has been released by new local independent label Tremor Recordings. This almost six-minute-long track presents itself quite neatly in three parts. In the first, a sparse, stuttery beat is overlaid by soft synth chords before the quiet, hesitant vocals float in and out. The second part fades in around a third of the way through as the tempo is doubled by a fuller set of drums; these depart two thirds in, leaving a single beat with a rather beautiful Jean Michel Jarre-esque arpeggiated sparkly synth melody for a while, before the pulsating chords return.
The vocals seem incongruously and disingenuously off-kilter and detached to begin with, but insinuate themselves subtly via Arcade Fire-like octave double-tracking and repetition; the apparently strophic single-line lyrics are given a slightly different character each time by what’s going on underneath, and the more you hear the refrain “I only think of you”, the more earnest – yet still mysterious – it comes across.
Oddly, when heard as a complement to the main event rather than an alternative, the Rancid Jazz remix of Her seems to work better; at least to begin with, it presents the vocals – and sentiment – at the distance from the listener they feel they are intended to be, more hidden and lost than in the original.
2017
Reviews
Low Island – The Jericho Tavern, Oxford – 3rd September 2021
Tears for Fears – Nocturne Live, Blenheim Palace – 26th June 2019
Tiger Mendoza – New Ideas album – April 2019
Low Island – In Person single – February 2019
Common People 2018: Boney M, Morcheeba and the Jacksons – South Park, Oxford – 26th May 2018
Paul Draper – O2 Academy 2, Oxford – 7th March 2018
Jorja Smith – O2 Academy, Oxford – 11th February 2018
Nathassia – The Bullingdon, Oxford – 14th July 2017
Soulwax – Electric Brixton, London – 8th April 2017
Goldfrapp – O2 Academy, Oxford – 20th March 2017
Sal Para – Her single – February 2017
Vienna Ditto – Ticks EP – May 2016
Wild Swim – Untitled EP – January 2016
Esther Joy Lane – Esther Joy Lane – October 2015
Charli XCX – O2 Academy, Oxford – 30th March 2015
Rae Morris – O2 Academy 2, Oxford – 8th February 2015
Hozier – O2 Academy, Oxford – 21st January 2015
La Roux – O2 Academy, Oxford – 15th November 2014
Tiger Mendoza and David Griffiths – Along Dangerous Roads EP – November 2014
Amy Simpson – Fairy Tales, Stories & Myths EP – July 2014
Banks – O2 Academy 2, Oxford – 28th March 2014
Katy B – O2 Academy, Oxford – 27th March 2014
Foxes – O2 Academy 2, Oxford – 28th February 2014
Vienna Ditto – Ugly EP – November 2013
Blue – O2 Academy, Oxford – 25th October 2013
Major Lazer – O2 Academy, Oxford – 2nd May 2013
Secret Rivals – Just Fall album – May 2013
Jessie Ware – O2 Academy, Oxford – 11th March 2013
Space – O2 Academy, Oxford – 9th March 2013
Kodaline – The Jericho Tavern, Oxford – 13th February 2013
Bright Light Bright Light – The Jericho Tavern, Oxford – 27th October 2012
Marina and the Diamonds – O2 Academy, Oxford – 15th October 2012
Errors – The Jericho Tavern, Oxford – 8th May 2012
Lianne La Havas – O2 Academy 2, Oxford – 9th March 2012
Rizzle Kicks – O2 Academy, Oxford – 8th March 2012
Babybird – O2 Academy 2, Oxford – 29th January 2012
Professor Green – O2 Academy, Oxford – 1st November 2011
East 17 – O2 Academy, Oxford – 2nd September 2011
N-Dubz – O2 Academy, Oxford – 20th July 2011
Sparkadia, A.Human and La Shark – The Jericho Tavern, Oxford – 24th February 2011
Emiliana Torrini – O2 Academy, Oxford – 9th September 2009
2manydjs – O2 Academy, Oxford – 5th June 2009
Rosalita and Off The Radar – The Jericho Tavern, Oxford – 4th March 2009
The Subways – Carling Academy, Oxford – 2nd October 2008
Wakestock – Blenheim Palace – 29th June 2008
Alphabeat and Palladium – Carling Academy, Oxford – 28th January 2008
Erasure – New Theatre, Oxford – 3rd September 2007
The Sounds – The Zodiac, Oxford – 24th March 2007
The Noisettes and The Victorian English Gentlemens Club – The Zodiac, Oxford – 22nd January 2007
White Rose Movement – The Zodiac, Oxford – 27th November 2006
Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly – The Zodiac, Oxford – 15th October 2006
Nizlopi – The Zodiac, Oxford – 8th September 2006
The Lightning Seeds – The Zodiac, Oxford – 5th June 2006
Kula Shaker – The Zodiac, Oxford – 18th May 2006
The Go! Team and Smoosh – Oxford Brookes University – 5th March 2006
Idiot Pilot and The Seal Cub Clubbing Club – The Zodiac, Oxford – 6th February 2006
Eskimo Disco, Trademark and Script – The Exeter Hall, Oxford – 2nd December 2005
King Biscuit Time – The Zodiac, Oxford – 25th September 2005
The Mission – The Zodiac, Oxford – 8th September 2005
Josh Rouse – The Zodiac, Oxford – 17th July 2005
Big Speakers, Flooded Hallways and Capsky – The Cellar, Oxford – 3rd June 2005
Melanie C – The Zodiac, Oxford – 2nd May 2005
I Am Kloot – The Zodiac, Oxford – 16th April 2005
Thirteen Senses – The Zodiac, Oxford – 8th March 2005
The Others – The Zodiac, Oxford – 25th October 2004
The Ordinary Boys and Dive Dive – The Zodiac – 15th October 2004
Polysics – The Zodiac, Oxford – 16th September 2004
The (International) Noise Conspiracy – The Zodiac, Oxford – 8th June 2004
Simple Kid – The Zodiac, Oxford – 18th April 2004
Ulrich Schnauss – The Bullingdon Arms, Oxford – 28th February 2004
Dogs Die In Hot Cars – The Zodiac, Oxford – 11th February 2004
Cayto – The Cellar, Oxford – 16th December 2003
The Futureheads – The Zodiac, Oxford – 13th October 2003
Longview – The Zodiac, Oxford – 2nd July 2003
Fiel Garvie, Roquphane and The Epstein-Barr Virus Band – The Cellar, Oxford – 17th June 2003
Scratch Perverts – Po Na Na, Oxford – 6th February 2003
Zoe Bicat, Spygirl and Joe Hughes – The Cellar, Oxford – 4th November 2002
British Sea Power – The Zodiac, Oxford – 15th October 2002
Trademark – The Jericho Tavern, Oxford – 29th August 2002
Cumulonimbus, Nervous Testpilot and Blunt Instruments – The Cellar, Oxford – 12th August 2002
a-ha – Royal Albert Hall, London – 25th June 2002
Fischerspooner – The Bridge, London – 30th May 2002
Mansun – The Zodiac, Oxford – 19th May 2002
The Soundtrack of our Lives and Sahara Hotnights – The Zodiac, Oxford – 11th May 2002