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Post by AubreyOasis on Dec 9, 2017 16:36:10 GMT -5
Another positive review, this time from Hotpress: www.hotpress.com/Noel-Gallagher/music/reviews/albums/Noel-Gallaghers-High-Flying-Birds-iWho-Built-the-Mooni/21491984.htmlPlod Free Platter From Gallagher, Snr. In this age of bland talent show pop stars, and ten-a-penny indie chancers, it’s a relief to have Mayo’s favourite (grand) sons, the Gallagher brothers, back doing what they do best: taking lumps out of each other in public. During their recent appearance on BBC’s Later…With Jools Holland, new High Flying Bird and Gallic lentil enthusiast, Charlotte Marionneau, was at a loss for what to do when she wasn’t singing. Noel: “I said to her, ‘can you play the tambourine?’ She said, ‘I cannot play the tambourine.’ I said, ‘Oh right. Shaker?’ ‘Non. I can play the scissors.’ A French bird in a cape playing the scissors? It doesn’t get any better than that.” In response, Liam requested someone peel spuds on stage with him, and, in Bethnal Green, a punter showed up with a potato and peeled it. You’d be a long time waiting for this kind of sport out of Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran. Yes, they’re wild craic altogether, and never boring. Never, that is, until you actually play one of their records. Liam shifted units with this year’s As You Were, but it’s contents paled significantly when pitted against the best of Oasis during his, admittedly blistering, set at the Lucan Samhain Festival. Noel has been ploughing a similar plodding furrow since the split. The solo songs all mulched into one at his recent U2-supporting Croke Park slot, the crowd only waking up when he dipped into his old band’s bag. A surprise to be able to report then that Who Built The Moon? is a different bag of meat altogether. Belfast beat begetter David Holmes’ bagging of the producer’s chair, one hoped, would address this plod problem, but don’t take my word for it, here’s Holmes himself, “ People love Noel and they’re desperate for a really big, bold, up-tempo beast of a record – a lot of Noel's music is quite mid-tempo, this one is fun." Gallagher and Holmes spent months hanging out dipping into Holmes vast and eclectic music collection, everything up to and including “obscure French fuckin’ jazz shit”, according to Gallagher. Once they pressed record, Holmes insisted Gallagher try harder when anything sounded like either Oasis or the High Flying Birds. A good example of this new approach is the opening ‘Fort Knox’ Gallagher expressed an appreciation for Kayne West, so Holmes encouraged him to pretend they were recording a track for the man himself. A chanting vocals, ringing alarm clock, big beat belter, it’s a distant relative of ‘Fucking In The Bushes’ by way of Primal Scream’s ‘Kill All Hippies’. Other highlights, amongst many, include the slithery, circular guitar riff of ‘Black And White World’, the “surely that’s Clem Burke?” Blondie style drums on ‘She Taught Me How To Fly’, and the ‘Come Together’ update of ‘Be Careful What You Wish For’. Johnny Marr props up the breezy pop of ‘If Love Is The Law’, but much more interesting are ‘Interlude’ and ‘End Credits’, Frenchy instrumentals by way of Air or Zero 7 that are so Gainsbourgy, you half expect old Serge to turn up muttering something unsavoury about school girls. Still not convinced? Have an éist to lead single ‘Holy Mountain’, a glam stomper that combines Bowie’s ‘Diamond Dogs’, The Glitter Band, Plastic Bertrand’s ‘Ça plane pour moi’ and, yes, Ricky Martin’s ‘She Bangs’. If you’re not at least slightly intrigued then you may be reading the wrong magazine. Liam’s comment, “Psychedelic music by a beige drip is like a vegetarian trying to sell you a kebab”, is amusing, but misplaced. This is the best music Noel’s made since the days they shared a stage together, and better than a lot of that too.
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Post by spaneli on Dec 29, 2017 17:25:28 GMT -5
Took forever, but Consequence of Sound finally released their album review: C+ Didn't think it'd be a good review considering how long it took for them to release it. consequenceofsound.net/2017/12/noel-gallagher-leaves-his-celebrated-past-behind-him-on-who-built-the-moon/"With each note Noel Gallagher has written since the acrimonious dissolution of Britain’s most beloved, two-headed dysfunctional rock band, the urgency he feels to leave Oasis behind has grown clearer. On his pseudo-solo, self-titled debut in 2011, the spot where Oasis ended and the High Flying Birds began was hazy at best. The energy, the boisterous guitar hooks, the catchy refrains – everything was as to be expected. While some lamented the predictable result, for many listeners it was the first taste of a beloved flavor we’d been craving since the flameout of 2008’s Dig Out Your Soul. In 2015, Noel and the flock returned with Chasing Yesterday, an album that upped the psychedelia and took more risks without fully abandoning the formula that first made Gallagher a rock star. Now, with Who Built the Moon?, the pretense is officially over. No one could mistake the third offering from the High Flying Birds as an Oasis sibling, and while that may have been the goal, the result is a record that sacrifices its identity in hopes of discovering a new one along the way. Lead single “Holy Mountain” feels perfectly crafted to one day be optioned for an Old Navy commercial. Drenched in decadent brass, the song strives for musical pyrotechnics that never dive beneath the surface. Likewise, “Keep on Reaching” tries to anchor itself on a slinky piano line and a “live in studio” vibe that never grasp onto anything of substance. Across Who Built the Moon?, Gallagher blindly dresses his music in genres in hopes of finding a fit. Much like a child tasked with picking out his own outfit, the final result is a piecemeal production that is momentarily entertaining but ultimately unsatisfying. Buried within songs like “Black and White Sunshine” are the kernels of brilliance — heard in the track’s jangly guitar and the building momentum of strings – but then the lackluster chorus arrives, and with it the cold truth that a brilliant refrain is not on its way. The questionable choices are not relegated simply to song structure, which are largely more complex — to uneven results — compared to Gallagher’s past effort. No, the head scratchers are much more specific, be it a long snippet of French dialogue on “It’s a Beautiful World” or the choice to sandwich two of the album’s best tracks between interludes that sound like a music theory student’s Garageband-created senior thesis on “atmosphere.” Indeed, as Who Built the Moon? draws to a close, Gallagher saves his best tricks for last. First is “If Love Is the Law”, which rides a rollicking guitar and chimes into a slightly off-kilter but infectious chorus. Later a bridge courtesy of some spirited harmonica playing delivers a track that showcases his best assets undiluted by excess tinkering and cleverness. Then there’s “The Man Who Built the Moon” — a standout cut that transforms the ominous foreboding of a horror film into pure rock and roll. Building off a brooding piano, the song is heavy with menace. While perhaps a touch over-the-top when paired with the largely lifeless songs that precede it, “The Man Who Built the Moon” provides a necessary infusion of blood. In a year where both Liam and Noel released new work in a span of weeks, the paths of the brothers Gallagher are now quite clear. Abandoning the aberration that was Beady Eye, Liam has opted to start down the trail first blazed by his older brother – one where Oasis remains in plain sight, masked in the guise of a solo effort. Noel, however, seems to have gotten out the excess Oasis material that may have lingered on his brain in the three years between the band’s end and his new career’s beginning. Now tasked with starting his journey anew, many have lauded Noel’s willingness to discard the coattails of his monolith predecessor in favor of the unknown. However, it seems odd that fans would clamor for something different when the familiar has given Gallagher everything he has. Were Who Built the Moon? to have been released by an up-and-coming artist, it’s doubtful anyone would have noticed. It is Noel’s legacy that keeps him current and for good reason. For all the backlash against Oasis, and the tabloid fodder of Twitter battles and bad behavior, the sound they created is untouchable. While there is something noble in wanting to prove your merit, it didn’t seem to be of concern when Noel first emerged with the High Flying Birds. There is a happy middle-ground still fertile with melodramatic melodies and soaring choruses. Let’s hope in Noel’s efforts to burn the past he hasn’t discarded the map that will take him back home. Essential Tracks: “If Love Is the Law” and “The Man Who Built the Moon”
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Post by durk on Dec 29, 2017 17:35:06 GMT -5
read this earlier today. the dude who reviewed it didn't even know Johnny Marr played harmonica on Love is the Law. how good a writer/reviewer could he be? D-
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Post by Mean Mrs. Mustard on Dec 29, 2017 20:40:12 GMT -5
"Likewise, “Keep on Reaching” tries to anchor itself on a slinky piano line and a “live in studio” vibe that never grasp onto anything of substance."
I think I've heard a different song.
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