Record Review – Better late than never

Magik Markers – Boss LP (ecstatic peace)
In 2005, hipper-than-hip Magik Markers, – just look how they spell their name, they must be coolest band in the world? – signed to Thurston Moore’s trendy underground label Ecstatic Peace. Since then the band have nonchalantly chartered a career path between The Dead C and Lydia Lunch without having to be reverent or dismissive of links with either of them.

Renowned for their explosive live performances and the highly coveted CD-R’s of their shows, it was understood that their sound is lost in a formal recording studios. Although Boss is more diverse than their popularised noise rock, it is as articulate as anything that they’ve laid down previously. What distinguishes them from their contemporaries however, is their lack of pretence.

Axis Mundi opens the album with a defiant block of shimmering guitar Noise which isn’t revisited until much later in the album on Pat Garrett. In Empty Bottles singer, Elisa Ambrogio meanders nonchalantly in and out of key, delivered with an icy coolness that resembles Lisa Milberg of The Concretes. Two standout moments on the record are the melancholic country-tinged ambience on Bad Dream/ Heartford’s Beat Suite and the woo-ing pop on Taste.

The fluidity of the record is interrupted by the inherent search for tension between the spectrum of genres achieved on this record. Although Boss avoids being abrasive in this sense, the strain on stylistic breadth is noticeable and whilst entertaining, it could be interpreted as naïve or patronising.

However, such languid criticism –I’m sure –will not be long lasting; Magik Markers seem to be made of stronger stuff these days. Gone are the flailing vocals found on (2005 studio album) ‘I Trust My Guitar, etc’ and the cavernous drums on the live records, in its place is the sound of a band fighting.

Scout Niblett – Kiss 7″ (too pure)
Gonna keep this sweet…

Great little single from Nottingham based songsmith Emma Louise Niblett, featuring the vocals of Will Oldham. Niblett’s music sounds like she’s been sucking Everett ‘The Legend’ True’s toes all of her career and for some reason or other, it works. This record in particular could be taken from ‘Summer In The South-West’ if Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy was less egotistical. Speaking of which, although we laugh and joke about Mr. Oldham’s jaunts into the world of Hip-Hop (examples, here and here), his presence on this record isn’t a mile away from the ilk of a rapper’s cameo. Which make’s me think when is this obsession of his going to end?

Anyway, for your own amusement, here’s the Kanye video featuring the G himself: