I have a review up at The Fix of the April 2009 issue of the science fiction magazine Jupiter. I won’t say much here, as it’s all in the review; but this particular issue has stories by David Conyers; Gustavo Bondoni; Andrew Knighton; A.J. Kirby; James McCormick; and Gareth D. Jones.
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Mercury Prize: The Invisible – The Invisible
Video: ‘London Girl’
The Invisible, a trio from London, are the first really obscure act on this year’s Mercury shortlist; and the first thing I’ll say is that they don’t deserve to be obscure. Their music is quite hard to describe, but I’ll have a go: guitar-based, yes, but drawing on elements of jazz, soul, dance, and probably a few other styles as well.
Anyway, it might difficult to capture in words, but this music is certainly interesting to listen to. Some songs take unexpected turns, like the opener ‘In Retrograde’, which starts off with a minimal ‘nursery-rhyme’ backing, before bursting halfway through into something odd and spooky. Others take a particular sound — like the funk of ‘OK’ or the dance of ‘London Girl’ — and make it ‘coalesce’ into a continuous whole (I’m not sure if that truly captures what I mean, or if it will make sense to anyone else, but it’s the best description I can think of).
There are a couple of moments on The Invisible that don’t quite work for me, such as the spiky guitars on ‘Spiral’ — which I guess are meant to reflect the title of the song, but had a nails-down-blackboard effect on my ears. I think the biggest weakness of the album, though, is that Dave Okumu’s vocals tend to fade into the background a little too much. Perhaps, of course, that’s the intention, so that they become part of the texture of the record; either way, I still think the album would be stronger if the vocals were more prominent.
That said, this is a grower of an album that could be a strong contender for the Prize.
Video: ‘Monster’s Waltz’ (live)
Read my other Mercury Prize 2009 posts here.
Mercury Prize: The Horrors – Primary Colours
Video: ‘Who Can Say’
What did I know about The Horrors? I knew they were from Southend, and that Primary Colours was their second album. I’d never listened to them first time around; but there seemed to be a broad critical consensus that the new record was both very good, and a significant change in direction.
To test this out, I decided to give the début a listen first. Let’s just say that we didn’t get along. But it’s Primary Colours on the Mercury shortlist; and that album is a dark, moody, melodramatic species of rock. Perhaps that’s inevitable from a band with a name like ‘The Horrors’ and a singer like Faris Badwan, who doesn’t so much sing his vocals as intone them. But there’s more variety than you might expect (even a three-minute pop song, in the title track); and there’s a furious energy to the playing that stops it all feeling ridiculous. I can see without doubt why someone might love this record.
But I didn’t.
I don’t know why, but there’s something about this album that stops me from getting into it. Perhaps it’s the way the music seems to turn in on itself, whereas I prefer music that opens outwards (if that makes any sense at all). Whatever, the end result is the same. Don’t get me wrong, there are still moments that catch my ear — I keep humming along to ‘Mirror’s Image’, for example; and there’s the way ‘Sea Within a Sea’ transforms over its eight minutes into what sounds like an attempt to recreate the soundtrack of a ZX Spectrum game. But still, I find Primary Colours a difficult album to like.
Video: ‘Mirror’s Image’ (live)
Read my other Mercury Prize 2009 posts here.
Mercury Prize: Florence and the Machine – Lungs
Video: ‘Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)’
[vodpod id=Groupvideo.3035257&w=425&h=350&fv=m%3D57407691%26type%3Dvideo%26a%3D0]
I’m aiming to go through the Mercury shortlist in something approaching alphabetical order; and it’s interesting to be covering the album of Londoner Florence Welch straight after Bat for Lashes, because the two are in some ways the flipside of each other. Both have a kind of fairytale vibe running through their music; but if Natasha Khan’s work is ethereal and delicate, Florence and the Machine‘s is quite the opposite.
Lungs is a pretty appropriate album title, because Florence has a very powerful voice; unfortunately, she hasn’t yet figured out how to use it to best effect. Her songs build and build – but sometimes build too much, and it’s a fine line to tread. When she gets it right, the results are fabulous, as on ‘Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)’, which captures the epic atmosphere I think Florence is aiming for most of the time. Or ‘Between Two Lungs’, which is about as close as the album gets to a ballad, and has a similar widescreen feel, but more held in.
The problem, though, is that Florence has a tendency to overdo it. So we get songs like the swing-style ‘Girl With One Eye’, which is oversung to the extent that it’s quite a trial to listen to; or ‘Kiss With a Fist’, which cranks up the noise in an attempt at straightforward punk-pop but ends up sounding pretty drab compared to the rest of the album. In sum, Lungs is promising, but it could have done with more subtlelty.
Video: ‘Dog Days Are Over’ (live)
Read my other Mercury Prize 2009 posts here.
The Duckworth Lewis Method – The Duckworth Lewis Method
Audio: ‘The Nightwatchman’
One of my favourite musicians is Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy. It’s been a while since he last released any new material, but it seems we can expect a couple of albums from him this year: a new Divine Comedy record later, and first this — a concept album about cricket, made with his friend Thomas Walsh (of a band called Pugwash, whom I know nothing about, but will have to look up, if the present album is anything to go by).
Of course, the concern with any album of this nature is that it’s going to be a novelty, or only of interest to fans of the subject matter. Well, there’s no danger of that with The Duckworth Lewis Method. Which is not to say that the album pays lip-service to being about cricket (some, though by no means all, of the songs go into minute detail about the sport), or that it lacks a sense of humour (it certainly doesn’t) — just that it was a made by a pair whose ears fro a good tune are clearly as great as their love of cricket.
What of the actual songs, then? They’re (perhaps surprisingly) quite a diverse bunch. There’s the terribly civilised ‘Gentlemen and Players’, about the Victorian game; and the tongue-twisting ‘Jiggery Pokery’, about Shane Warne in the 1993 Ashes. There’s ‘The Age of Revolution’, a funky number celebrating the spread of cricket around the world; and the gentle ballad ‘Flatten the Hay’, where Walsh recalls playing cricket in his childhood.
All in all, The Duckworth Lewis Method is a lovely set of songs that deserves a listen, whether you’re into cricket or not.
Video: ‘The Age of Revolution’ (live)
Quiz time!
Whoever guesses correctly will win… er, the satisfaction of knowing they got it right.
What was the only Diana Wynne Jones book I owned as a child?
Quoted!
After five years and 100+ pieces, I’ve reached a personal reviewing milestrone — one of my reviews has been quoted in a book from a mass-market publisher! The quote is inside the Virgin Books edition of Conrad Williams’ new novel, One, and is from my review of The Unblemished: “Williams’ threat emerges from the world like an optical illusion being revealed, then you find that society fell apart while you were looking somewhere else.” Unfortunately, this quote is not attributed to me by name (just to “SF Site” — but that can be the next milestone!
I’m particularly pleased to see this quote because I’ve often had the impression that my reviews don’t lend themselves easily to quotable soundbites (“A heart-stopping tour de force!” etc.) — and I think what the publishers have quoted bears this out. It’s not immediately apparent what it means, and the quote probably only makes full sense once you’ve read the book — yet it gets to the heart of how I think The Unblemished works.
Anyway, as you can imagine, I’m in a good mood.
The Codex Embrace by Lawrence and Mary-Sue Pimms (2009)
This book bravely combines two of today’s most popular (and therefore best) genres of fiction: paranormal romance and historical-investiagtory-conspiracy-thriller. This is such a fabarooney idea, I have no idea why nobody thought of it before. I am glad that the publishers came up with such an original cover design, because slight variations on it are sure to appear on the many (no doubt equally fabarooney) imitators that are sure to be released over the next few years and maybe longer.
The Codex Embrace stars Larry Pimple, a dashing hunk of a man working as an ordinary junior executive in the offices of ArchaeoCorp, a giant multinational archaeology corporation (I think Mr. and Ms. Pimms have a really clever way with names). One night, there is a break in, and an ancient book is stolen from the company vaults. Larry (who is a really admirable guy because he had to overcome such misery in his childhood caused by people making fun of his name) discovers that the stolen book is the magical Codex of Hi-Falutin, which in the wrong hands could spell the end of the world! he decides to get it back. He is aided in his quest by Susie-May Pimander, a super-hot chick who is a historian, but not one of those old fuddy-duddy ones, oh no; and Professor Jack, who is a really wise old guy and really helpful in telling Larry and Susie-May what to do next when they get stuck.
Oh yeah, and there is a great twist about halfway through that I don’t want to spoil for you, but it has something to do with ArchaeoCorp and how it might not be as benevolent as it seems. But I had better not say any more in case you figure it out.
Anyway, the really neat thing that the Pimms’ have done is that Susie-May is half vampire. She keeps this a secret by doing some really clever things, like insisting that the curtains are drawn whenever she gives lectures, and telling people that she has to work late into the night. Although sunlight is dangerous to Susie-May, she doesn’t have all the weaknesses of a full vampire. For one, she doesn’t have to drink blood to survive, which is handy for the plot because that would just be icky. But she does still have moments when she lusts after blood, and has to control herself. Another thing her half vampire nature has given her is an insatiable sex drive, and she has been so unlucky in love because no man can keep up with her.
But what is great is that Larry can! You see, actually he is half werewolf, except he was thrown out of his clan for being more like a puppy dog. Larry has real problems getting insurance because his bathroom keeps getting flooded because of all the hair he leaves jammed in the plughole. This has made him really sad, so when he meets Susie-May, he gets down on all fours and goes and digs up a bone (which turns out to belong to some previously unknown animal, that rewrites all the biology textbooks). Susie-May has to put up with some odd behaviour by Larry, such as him using his foot to scratch behind his ear, chasing the mailman, and widdling against lamp-posts (I am stunned at how the Pimms come up with their ideas!).
What is cool is the journey these characters go on, that takes them to a whole other place. (I think it is Peru, or maybe Kettering.) Larry was never a strong child, having to put up with bullies who kicked sand in his face and dangled sticks just out of his reach. But now he discovers a whole new side to himself, and that he can whup the bad guy’s ass (which is a shifty-looking seaside donkey). Susie-May, in contrast, is super-strong as well as super-hot and has always been able to handle herself in a fight. It’s not until she’s lying helpless, tied to rail tracks whilst a train with wooden stakes attached to its underside thunders towards her, and the sun is about to rise, that she realises just how much she needs a man — and that man is Larry!
Can Larry save Susie-May, and then the world? I’m not telling. But I can’t wait to read about their further adventures in the sequel!
Arthur C. Clarke Award 2009 shortlist
The shortlist for the 2009 Arthur C.Clarke Award (given to a science fiction novel published in the UK during the previous year) has been announced:
Ian R. MacLeod, Song of Time
Paul McAuley, The Quiet War
Alastair Reynolds, House of Suns
Neal Stephenson, Anathem
Sheri S. Tepper, The Margarets
Mark Wernham, Martin Martin’s on the Other Side
I had it in mind to blog about this year’s shortlist, though I’m a little put off by the great length of some of these tomes. I’ll see how far I get, and the titles above will turn into links as I post about the books.
I am not widely read enough to be able to jusge whether these six novels represent the best science fiction of 2008 (though I have read two books from last year — one of which I have yet to post about — that I felt would be good nominees, and both are absent), and have read precisely none of the shortlisted books. But this strikes me as a shortlist which is very much weighted towards the ‘traditional’ end of the SF spectrum, in the sense that five of the books are by ‘name’ SF authors, with only the Werhnam a ‘non-genre’ choice. (The novels themselves may be far from ‘traditional’ SF; I haven’t read them yet, so I don’t know.)
The winner of the Clarke Award will be announced on 29 April. I may not get all six read by then, but I’ll have a good go at it. Stay tuned!
What the..?
Spotted on Ellen Datlow’s blog:
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