To the common dark - Album Review

Ever since I heard the stunning ode to raise money for wells in impoverished countries simply titled "Water", I've been a huge fan of Luke Thompson's blend of folk, country and acoustic music into a style that is distinctly original. It was then with great pleasure, and a fair bit of surprise, that I recently found out he had a new album out and was giving it away online for free.

Now in today's digital age, where practically anything musical can be obtained both legally and illegally from over a dozen websites at once, and words like "Torrented", "ripped", and "burned" are almost built in to my generation's subconsciousness, it is rare to find artists who are actually sincere about their reasons for giving away music. Half of the time I feel it is because they're thinking "Oh, the kid's will probably rip it off somewhere anyway, so I might as well just save myself the bother." or that they're only doing it to promote something else, like a tour or something. Not that I'm complaining because, hey, free music is FREE music! But with Luke Thompson it seems like there's someone who's actually got the right perspective on it. In a little disclaimer on his website, he states (and I quote) "Lately I have come to realize that I don't make music for money... Sometimes I make money from music, but that's not the main reason why I make music.... The main reward is when someone shares with me how they connected with a song, or felt the same way as I did.... That's why this album is free."

In saying that though, after a few listens I respect that artistic decision so much more because honestly this album is worth gold. Mixed in along with Luke's amazing voice and the ever-accompanying tasteful guitar is a huge pile of great lyrics and some incredible instrumentation which just pops out at the most unexpected moments. Take for example the haunting trumpet leads at the end of "The Forever Song" and "Penny For The Boatman" or the banjo & fiddle-driven "Walls". Even though it's hard to pick a favourite from this album, as everything song brings something fresh to the forefront and takes you on another journey somewhere (like all good folk music should do!) there are a few standout tracks.  "No Redemption", though reminding me somewhat of one of his older songs (I can't pin down which one though!) is one of those tunes which is just perfect; it's rambling tune and minimalist accompaniment make it stunning enough that the beautiful harmonica solo at 3.24 is just the icing on the cake. Plus it has some of my favorite lyrics too: the lines "It's strange that even the greatest man of all could be a madman in the end" and "I can't just sit here singing, because if singing's all I ever do then I'm a fake" are just incredible.
"Green Green Grass" is another highlight, with some lovely acoustic guitar playing and a great chorus with some more tasteful harmonica thrown in there. Lyrically it's a tale of searching for something new and going onto greener pastures, which is something I can definitely relate too. 
I was also pleasantly surprised by the opening track "On A Slow Boat To China" because I'd heard it before at a show he was playing at a few years ago. Pretty stoked it made it onto this album, because it was such a good tune and it's awesome to hear it again. With a tinkling piano opening, and one of the more catchy choruses on the record (you'll have this one stuck in your head for a while, but in a good way!) this one's definitely a winner.

Overall, this album was such a good find. While the whole acoustic-folk vibe does get a tiny bit repetitive if you listen to it too much, Luke Thompson does a great job of making sure every song is fresh both lyrically and instrumentally. This is an absolutely incredible record which is awesome to chill out to, or listen to in depth so you get the full experience. But why take my word for it? Go download it at http://www.lukethompsonmusic.com/ and see for yourself.

Rating: 5/5

31 = AWESOME!

Ok, so it's not quite the 31st of October yet, but it IS only 1 day away. And besides the number 31 is totally awesome. Not only is it the date of my birthday, but I just checked the followers list and now I finally have 31 followers! Thanks Stephen!!!!! You have no idea how long I've been waiting for that "30 followers" sidebar to creep up.
But I guess in the last couple of months there hasn't really been anything much worth following. So today I thought I'd do something different for a change, and post 31 reasons why YOU should keep on reading The Falling Movement!

1. There's usually photos to look at! Like this pretty sweet picture of a whole lot of 31's. Or 13's if you read them backwards....
I'd love to say that I was the insanely creative person who took these pictures and compiled them all together, but unfortunately I have to give all the credit to Google Images this time.

2. I can make a lot of average things sound interesting when I really want to. Even just talking about my day makes for a few good yarns usually.

3. I'm from New Zealand. 'Nuff said.

4.  Blogging is so much cooler than Facebook.

5. I have a fetish for writing lists (like the one you're reading now), which always seems to work well because it means I can say a whole lot of stuff and include numbers like 31. Actually, maybe not - this has probably been my longest list to date. But some of the others have been pretty decent - this one's a particular favorite: http://thefallingmovement.blogspot.co.nz/2012/07/my-top-15-guitarists.html

6. One day I want to write for a living. And I think that's worth getting behind!!

7. I post slightly nerdy musical posts on occasion. If that's your thing, then there's another reason to stay! If not, keep scrolling and you're bound to find something you like!!!

8. On occasion I do spontaneous awesome random things, and chronicle the events Like for example I was supposed to be writing this post last night, but at 11.30 my mate messaged me on Facebook and was like "Hey, want to come to the beach?" So I ended up out at Himitangi at 1.30 under the light of a full moon walking across the sand, staring at squashed blowfish, doing the Gangam Style dance (or trying too), and almost getting "trapped" by a super big wave with 3 really good friends. It was such a good way of spending the night!!!!

9. One day soon, I'm going to post about zombies.

10. 31 followers can't be wrong!

11. I really, really, really like music. And I post about it heaps!!! In fact, it would be an interesting challenge to sift through my blog and find how many posts don't talk about/include the word music. Bet it would be a very small percentage!!!
Any takers?

12. Speaking of music, I've written some pretty rad music reviews about artists/albums. Here's a few of my best: Four, The xx, Valtari.

13. I get really excited about this cool band Imagine Dragons who are making a few waves in the music scene at the moment.... http://thefallingmovement.blogspot.co.nz/2012/09/album-review-night-visions.html

14. Spontaneous rhyming: http://thefallingmovement.blogspot.co.nz/2011/04/mumerings-of-assent.html

15. One day I might just post up some short fictional tales. And that could be interesting.

16. Sometimes I start getting a bit deep and it's interesting to see what topics come out: love, running, other things....

17. God totally makes my life! And that's worth raving about in multiple posts.

18. There's totally enough links in this post alone for you to be reading for ages. And we're not even up to number 20 yet!!!

19. My blog is kind of like a "Message in a Bottle".
(Actually I only said that because I'm listening to The Police right now...)

20. If you don't keep reading, then this guys coming to get you!!
Haha I joke, I joke....

21.  As noted in the previous reason, I have quite a good sense of humour :D

22. I write songs and usually some, if not all, of the lyrics get posted up here. I love getting feedback from other bloggers about them, and it's just awesome being able to share my words and music with people in this extremely personal way. My best (so far) have been Symphony Of The Heart, Love is More Than This, and Breathe. For more, go into the LYRICS list in the sidebar! Check it out!

23. Speaking of songwriting, I wrote this awesome as BRAND NEW song last weekend, and the lyrics are definitely going to be posted up here in the next couple of days. Get excited!!!

24. The 25th reason is simply because this blog is awesome!

25. This blog is awesome!

26. The whole reason I changed my blog to it's current, awesome name is to promote this on-off side project I've got going called The Falling Movement music. The reason behind the title is because the words "falling" and "movement" have so much meaning and have been themes which run through both my life and my music.

27. And on occasion, music does get released! So far just one instrumental track has been put out onto the world wide web, the song in question found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdxOGFh67Ss&feature=g-user-lik. But rest assured, there's more coming your way!



28. People from Alaska have read my blog! :O

29. I do try to dish up healthy servings of inspiration and meaning. Not just always blog about random stuff. Though that's always fun.

30. I stayed up till 12.12 writing this (wow what an exact time!) Now that's got to be worth at least one comment, if not three or four! Pleeeeeeeeaaaaaseeee? :)

31. 31 reasons weren't actually to hard to find (though I do apologize for 24 & 25, I got a bit tired there sorry) and that must mean we've got something good going on here!

Cheers for reading/ following guys!!!

Album Review: "Four"

"Four" - Bloc Party

I'm sort of a loss to know where to start with this album. So I'll attempt to draw a deep analogy: it's not that I have nothing to say about it. It's just my thoughts about it are all over the place and have no consistent beginning and end. So, much like this album then.
Even though Brit-pop band Bloc Party seem to be one of the better artists out there in the English music scene at the moment, and they certainly serve up originality in spades in this album, there's just something about it which just doesn't seem to work.
Yet at first glance it seems to have all the right ingredients. Fantastic artwork, the promise of Bloc Party getting back to their rock roots, and the great sounding single "Octopus" with it's faltering guitar leads and punchy chorus. So what went wrong?
Well, it might be that only four or five of the tracks on this album actually sound like songs. Don't get me wrong, the rest of the album is not a complete write-off. Musically the other tracks sound incredible: like the blues-based riffing in "Coliseum", the non-stop rhythm of "So He Begins To Lie" and the construction of songs like "Team A" which are just interesting to listen too. But at times this sudden interest in song/riff construction actually starts to drag the song down - for example in the metal-esque "We Are Not Good People" and the previously mentioned "Coliseum", the vocals are so quiet in the mix you can't help but listen to the guitar. Which is totally excusable, because it sounds like that's all the singer is doing too.
On top of that, the cd is punctuated with the most annoying little interludes EVER. Sometimes it's quite cool hearing these little snippets of dialogue (in fact I'd venture to suggest it makes a couple of songs on Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" that much better), but here it just doesn't work. Seriously I have no idea why the band decided to keep these in - they're not funny, well-placed, or meaningful at all.

That aside, the songs "Four" has which actually work almost make up for the lack of filler on this album. "V.A.L.I.S" (despite featuring some of the worst lyrics ever with the nonsensical line "Talks in circles and Greek") is actually a really good song with one of the catchiest choruses you'll find on this album, and in fact in Bloc Party's discography altogether. "Day Four" is another standout track which slows the mood (and the tempo) down a bit, which is where this band finally really shines. Another one definitely worth mentioning is "Kettling" with it's decent vocal performance, incredible riffing and one of the coolest guitar solos I've heard in a while. If only the rest of the album had stuck to this format, I would probably be shouting it's accolades from the bottom to the top of the blogging world.
Still, "Four", though not quite as impressive an album as I had thought, definitely has it's merits and Bloc Party is a band worth checking out.

Rating: 3.5/5 All up a rather medicore offering, but saved somewhat by a couple of really good songs, fantastic musicianship and some incredibly tasty guitar lines.