The Look Out Post: March 2008

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Neon Neon

First things first. It was our 1st birthday last week (27th February). Neither myself or Rich Hughes knew what we were letting ourselves in for when we started this place, and needless to say it’s become a true labor of love that wouldn’t be what it is without you, the reader and of course our ever growing team of writers who we all love equally. We thank-you. Just one thing though… Where the hell were all the cards and gifts? Tight bastards.

March has come round quick hasn’t it? Lots of decent stuff to look forward to this month. Something that has been getting us rather excited here at TLOBF Towers is the new album from Elbow. Released on 17th March, The Seldom Seen Kid has been produced entirely by the band themselves. The only outside help being from Sheffield’s finest; Richard Hawley, who adds guest vocals to ‘The Fix’. We’ve had a copy of the album for a week or so now and, as you’d expect from an Elbow album, it’s chocka block full of Guy Garvey’s wonderful evocative lyrics. The music though, is a little more mid-paced than previous anthem heavy Leaders Of The Free World. The only truly upbeat song this time round being lead single ‘Grounds For Divorce‘. Not necessarily a bad thing mind you, it just takes repeated listens to truly appreciate the record as a whole. ‘Weather To Fly’ and ‘One Day Like This’ have the potential to finally shift them into the big league. Wonderful, heart stirring music. Fantastic.

Speaking of fantastic, and I mean FANTASTIC is the new album from Neon Neon. A collaboration between SFA’s Gruff Rhys and LA dance producer Boom Bip, Stainless Style is something truly remarkable. In a nutshell its a concept record about “playboy engineer” John De Lorean that takes in disco, 80′s power-pop, cutting edge hip hop and yacht rock with a little help from Spank Rock and Yo Majesty on guest vocals. In a word, it’s fucking brilliant and is without doubt the best thing that Gruff Rhys has had his finger in since Super Furry’s 1999 masterpiece Guerilla. It’s released on 17th March via Lex. Check out some tracks via the outfits myspace page. Another decent dance record to check out is the debut from Does It Offend You, Yeah? which is also released on the 17th. Check them out here, fans of Justice, LCD Soundsystem and Spandau Ballet (seriously) will lap it up.

Been listening to a fair bit of Americana lately. Don’t know why, maybe its the time of year or something but it always seems more appealing in the early spring months. Or, The Whale hail from San Francisco and play the kind of music you’d expect Gram Parsons to be chugging out if he was still with us. They wear their influences well and truly on their sleeves; Sweetheart Of The Rodeo era Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers, The Band, Whiskeytown and The Jayhawks. Good stuff, check ‘em out here. Speaking of Jayhawks, Gary Louris has just released his new solo record Vagabonds. No great departure from the stuff the Jayhawks were doing after Marc Olson’s departure. It’s all sweet harmonies, lilting pedal steel and sprinkles of gospel. Maybe his best work since Hollywood Town Hall? You decide, you can check out the album in full here. Something that will no doubt excite fans of Ryan Adams old and new is the deluxe reissue of the Whiskeytown classic Strangers Almanac. It’s getting some well deserved double disc treatment. Alongside the original album, the 20 tracks on disc two include outtakes and alternate tracks from the Strangers Almanac recording sessions and demo sessions. Hands up who’s excited? Yup, me too. It’s pretty pricey though at £23. More info here.

Other notable music releases for the month ahead? Well, ex Arab Strap man Malcolm Middleton has a new record out on the 3rd March. A much more stripped back affair than his previous solo output. He’s still a miserable fucker though, you’ll be pleased to know. If you want disposable, no strings attached fun then look no further than The Teenagers‘ debut Reality Check. Think The Postal Service fronted by Serge Gainsbourg with Roy Chubby Brown’s opinion of the female form. Intrigued? The Black Keys release their Danger Mouse produced record Attack & Release on March 31st. Lots of folks have been pissing their pants over this, I however, am not totally convinced yet. A few more spins are needed before I form a solid opinion though. Still, it’s nice to hear them changing their sound up a little. They have a track previewing over on their myspace right now.

El Perro Del Mar is without doubt one of my favourite female artists of the past few years. Following on from the phenomenal self titled debut, she has just released From The Valley To The Stars. Now, I’m not usually this indecisive but I seriously can’t make up my mind whether this is a work of understated genius or a total let down. Wanna help me form an opinion? Listen to the album in full here and let me know what you think in the comment box below.

I won’t be leaving the house too much in March. It’s baby watch time as I tentatively await the arrival of my second child. I won’t be delivering it mind you. That’s my wifes job. I’m not sure she’s looking forward to it too much. Lucky for us then that there is some great TV on at the moment – if we get chance to watch any that is. So far, season six of Curb Your Enthusiasm has been absolute G-E-N-I-U-S. For those who have missed the four or five episodes that have already been shown, Cheryl and Larry have adopted a black family named “the Blacks” to live in their house after a hurricane destroyed home. There have of course been many, many laugh out loud moments. Most notably a scene from ‘The Anonymous Donor’ in which Larry accuses Leon Black of ‘soiling’ a bedsheet. Priceless. Season 3 of Weeds has been pretty good so far with Sky One putting on a double bill each week after Lost, which so far has been even more frustrating than ever before. When are we gonna get some answers?! Seriously, my patience is wearing thinner than John Locke’s hair.

If you’ve got any tips for the coming month or just want to share what you’re going to be buying or what bands you’re going to be seeing this month, leave us a comment below…