You’ve gotta hand it to Oasis. Nowadays critics and fans wouldn’t let a band get away with lyrics like “I’ve been driving in my car with my friend Mr. Soft” or ““I got my hee-bee-jee-bees in a hidden bag” but for Oasis we’ve always cut them slack as their strength lies in the music itself. After giving their latest release “Dig Out Your Soul” a spin, I think Noel G. and Co. have also come to realize this.

Lyrically DOYS is what we’ve come to expect: Simple enough to memorize so you’ll be able to belt out every track word for word the next time Oasis hits your city. Liam does sing about ‘the rapture’ on more than one track and it makes me wonder if he knows something we don’t. But let’s focus on the music here. From the beginning Oasis has been known to have a Beatles influence and with ‘Definitely, Maybe’ being released in Madchesters heyday, they will always have the Britpop stigma attached to them. But since 2000’s Standing on the Shoulders of Giants, Oasis seems to have been leaning towards more of a psychedelic rock sound and Dig Out Your Soul feels like a culmination of this.

The album starts with ‘Bag it Up’, a typical sounding Oasis track, which makes sense as the lead-in. Keep the listener intrigued. As the album progresses, influences become more relevant. The dirty bass on ‘The Nature Of Reality’ and bluesy stomp-and-clap of ‘(Get Off Your) High Horse Lady’ sound like they took notice of 2002 tour mates Black Rebel Motorcycle Club where ‘The Shock of the Lightning’ sounds like Kasabian had thier hands in it. Of course The Beatles influences are ever-present throught - the closing of ‘The Turning’ sounds exactly like ‘Dear Prudence’ and Liams’ ‘I’m Outta Time’ is the usual Lennon-esque plink, plink on the piano and La, La La, La, La vocals. Although Liam is usually hailed as a great songwriter I feel that all of songs sound exactly like ‘Little James’. Stick to vocals Liam, thats where you really sheeeeeiiiiiinnnne. If I had to name the defining track for DOYS it would have to be the Gem penned ‘To Be Where There’s Life’. Complete with sitar, groovy bass, thumping beat and Liam belting ‘dig out your sooouuul, cos here we go’ it makes you want to get your Mancunian swagger on. This song is ripe for a proper remix. Take note Chemical Brothers.

It’s been almost 6 years of experimenting and tweaking but I think Oasis has finally the sound they’ve been searching for. Former Oasis manager Alan McGee sums things up perfectly by saying “…the notorious Oasis brothers have found their mojo. It’s back, without a doubt.”

4.5/5

Here’s a preview taken from the ‘Gold & Silver & Sunshine’ documentary, a look behind the scenes of the recording of the new album, the full-version will be available on DVD with the Limited Edition album.

 

 Oasis - To Be Where There's Life: Play Now

Ahh sweet Northern Soul. There’s such an abundance of great songs from that it seems like I come across a song I deem as my new favorite on a bi-weekly basis. As I was driving home yesterday I tuned into the local ‘Superhits’ station 650 CISL and heard a gem of a song called ‘Soulful Strut’ by 60’s soul and jazz instrumental ensemble Young Holt Unlimited. The tune was stuck in my head the entire evening so I had to investigate further. Turns out this was a very popular song back in the day, hitting #3 on 1968’s Hot 100 and subsequently re-recorded (with vocals) by quite a few artists, some notable (Dusty Springfield) and others not so much (Joss Stone). I’ve posted 4 different versions at the break for your soulful strutting pleasure.

» Read the rest of the entry..

Three albums in and it feels like The Legends are still trying to define their sound. Being tied to a leading indie pop label isn’t doing them any favors either as it seems to be limiting them to sound poppy whilst trying to incorporate different styles like 80’s electro or shoegazey feedback. Their latest single ‘Seconds Away’ seems to be yet another victim of their attempts at ‘innovation’.

Now I’ve never been one to poo-poo an entire album based on hearing one song, but from what I’ve read on the press release for the single, I don’t expect Johan and Co. to reproduce the success they had with 2004’s ‘Up Against the Legends’:

“Right now Johan is in the famous Summersound studios together with a large number of distortion pedals and broken amplifiers to record a fourth The Legends album.”

 

 The Legends - Seconds Away: Play Now

If any of you are like me and visit Bungie.net or check your Halo 3 achievements on a regular basis you would have noticed a lot of changes have been afoot. In addition to increasing the achievements by another 750 points, Bungie has been counting down to something big. Well this morning they released a teaser giving little in terms of any revelations but causing us geeks to wipe the drool from our mouths at the same time.

The interweb is fairly scarce on detail at the moment so this is the most info I could find: “High action and deep mystery await players in this new Halo 3 campaign experience. Prepare to drop.”

Not to be confused with 60’s British folk act The Young Tradition. Which is exactly what happened to me when I first listened to their debut album Northern Drive. From the first track I immediately thought they sounded like a cross Belle & Sebastian, The Ladybug Transistor and Stereolab. Then it hit me, ‘holy crap’ I thought, ‘The Young Tradition is probably some 60’s folk group that inspired all these Twee bands. How could I have missed it?’…Turns out I was way off. After digging a little deeper on the interwebs I found out The Young Tradition we’re talking about today is a collaboration between Swedish multi-instrumentalist Erik Hanspers and Japanese-American vocalist Brent Kenji (formerly of The Fairways) and their album Northern Drive was actually released in 2005. When you listen to the album you’ll probably understand my confusion. It’s sixties pop pastiche man. Jangling guitar, great orchestral arrangements (complete with xylophone and organ) and whispering like vocals sound like they were transported from the era of Simon & Garfunkel and The Byrds.

 

 The Young Tradition - Gone are the days: Play Now

 

 The Young Tradition - California Morning: Play Now

I enjoy a good shuffle. Be it feet (and administering subsequent shock), paper or upper management. I especially like songs with a good shuffling beat. They always remind me of a train chugging along at a steady pace through rolling hills and lush meadows. I wish I could equate this to sitting on the Skytrain, watching Vancouver’s bland cityscape streak by…sigh.

 

 Gene - Still Can't Find The Phone: Play Now

 

 Camera Obscura - Marathon Not A Sprint: Play Now

 

 Belle & Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister: Play Now

 

 The Coral - Cobwebs: Play Now