London album of the year 1: Bloc Party - A Weekend in the City
I'm kind of like Roy Zielger in the way that I will always give a chance to any band from my home city. Often, they turn out to be balls (not naming any names, Towers) but there have been plenty of success stories to justify my irritatingly stubborn attitude. Two great records out of the capital L this year. The first one disappointed a lot of people because it didn't go hit-hit-hit-hit-hit like their previous album did, but not unlike 'You Could Have It So Much Better', it's well worth coming back to. The first five songs are stonkers, then it lapses a bit, though 'I Still Remember' is a solid single and the last track 'SXRT' is great, check out the live version below, with a choir. Back to the first half, though...
The xylophones on 'Waiting for the 7.18', 'Hunting for Witches' and its 'Daily Mail' bashing, the COLOSSAL bit in 'The Prayer' when the bass kicks in and it sounds like a spaceship is landing on your head, 'Uniform's' transition from gentle to mental to gentle again... all good, good stuff. And that opener... it's good and all, but I really wish they'd made it sound more like the vastly superior demo version. 'Flux' is a bit gash, though, isn't it?
[download Bloc Party - Song for Clay (Demo)]
[download Bloc Party - SXRT (Live, with the Exmoor Singers)]
[Bloc Party myspace / official site]
[buy 'A Weekend in the City' US / UK]
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I don't think I have the album version of "Song for Clay" on Corney. I definitely prefer the demo. And I definitely like that album. And I definitely, definitely like the idea of spaceships landing on my head.