Customer Reviews

Red Thread

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

OK, so I'm kind of new with Arab Strap, I first started listening to them with the release of Elephant Shoe and, although I enjoyed it very much, I was never pushed to research the group's earlier releases. However, seeing this new realease in stores today, I took a quick listen and was immediately taken into the Arab Starp atmosphere which, this time, is, if possible, even more bare, dark and beautiful.

Thematicely speaking, The Red Thread is very much in the same alley as Elephant Shoe. That which seperates them, something obvious from the first listen, is how much more absorbing the new release is. Please don't confuse this with accessibility, Arab Strap are not, and I doubt have ever been, an easy listen; there are no pop hooks and radio-friendly moments here. What you get is stronger material very much in line with the thoughts of artists who probably have the most serious and intersting insights on the different aspects of love and it's consequences (in rock music today at least), making it more coherent and just plain enjoyable (for those dreary) as a whole. Elephant Shoe was good, this is just incredible.

Please listen to (The Long Sea) immediately after a break-up.

arab strap is one of only a handful of bands making music today that has little patience for trends, zeitgeist, compromise, etc...things artists should notice, but be very wary of...

the scottish duo have been making music in their own universe for a few years now (much to our benefit), and although they are often harassed for having too "narrow" an "oeuvre", they have managed to squeeze an enormous amount of emotional and sonic variety out their slowed-down, bleak, self-deprecating music...

after the exquisite 'philophobia' and 'elephant shoe' LPs, which were haunting, graceful, gruff, and altogether some of the most honest "rock" music around, the strap have now released their 'red thread' LP...

the usual suspects are here: malcolm's minimalist guitar, aidan's muffled, misery-soaked verse and voice, the occasional duet with the angel-lovely (in spite of herself) adele bethel, the savvy beats that mix slo-fi and clubland, and so on...

the narratives revolve around aidan's obsession with love and sex, mostly sex it seems...still, in his spare, tender and brutal (yes, it is both of those) style of writing, the songs' ugliest subject matter pales next aidan's being a big teddy bear...a man who is jealous, horny, selfish, insensitive, sensitive, heartbroken, funny, sad, and on and on...in other words, a REAL PERSON, something that so many rockers are afraid to come across as...

musically, 'red thread' is very inventive, unsurprisingly...there are soaring strings, odd samples, blips and bleeps and scowling electronics, haunting piano...these two scotsmen have a stellar history of letting their ideas run rampant within their musical philosophy...so instead of a codeine record we get a wealth of sonic variety and emotional content...

"haunt me" features an outright gorgeous duet between aidan and bethel (aidan sings his bloody heart out!?), and is the most straightforwardly lovely thing they've done...and it's sandwiched between two other songs exploring similar themes in entirely different ways musically...

if only more of today's artists were as bold, as honest, as human, as creative, as fooking terrific as arab strap...as it stands they offer hope (in an downbeat way, admittedly) that there will be exciting music to turn to when real music fans need it...which for me, is all the damn time...

Arab Strap's unique appeal has always lain in the juxtaposition of Malcolm Middleton's elegant instrumentation with Aidan Moffat's sinisterly laddish carnal obsessions. Occasionally their songs have an upbeat and rogueish soul quality, vocals drawled in a heavy Scottish brogue over a curious Glaswegian Motown beat, but it is the slower and more spacious songs on which Arab Strap truly shine. 'The Long Sea' is easily this album's finest, showcasing chiming guitars and meandering keyboards with a Middle Eastern quality that are later overwhelmed by a wall of rich and sumptuous feedback.

Everyone felt the change when Arab Strap released "Elephant Shoe" under GO!/Jetset Records. A slight change, perhaps, one that probably wasn't all that painful. It was not a big departure from their acclamined "Philophobia" album. But it felt lacking a little bit, something just wasn't there that had made "Philophobia" such a wonderful album, perhaps the best album of 1998. But all along the way, it seemed that everyone had forgotten about their first album, "The Week Never Starts Round Here." (Which I beleive to be their best album. Period.)

Those days are long over with the new release, "The Red Thread," back under Matador Records. In a simplistic way, take the best tracks off of "The Week Never Starts Round Here," "Philophobia," and "Elephant Shoe," and you have "The Red Thread." Let's go track by track to see why this assumption can be maintained.

Amor Veneris: Could anything be closer to "Philophobia"? The simple guitar and piano is saddingly beautiful (as usual with any Arab Strap Song), and Malcom's and Aidan's voices stand out surprisingly more than ever. Perhaps one of them dated a voice instructor for some time. Not that they couldn't sing before. But, we know how these guys work.

Last Orders: AKA "The Clearing" Part two. Almost satanic in is rhythmic structure, one can only feel haunted with the passage of this song.

Scenery: Something new, something......uplifting perhaps? When Malcom sings the lines "Everyone is beautiful," we either know he is stoned or, for once, happy. But alas, this is not true. Someone is no longer part of the scenery, another loss, another song about that person's loss. Yet it's set in a new tone, and the boys know exactly what they are doing with it.

The Devil-Tips, The Long Sea: Hrm. These songs haven't grown on me yet, but it makes me think of "Philophoba" a lot. Sudden crescendoes, immediately followed but a 3 second silence before an interplay of guitar strings and pianos amidst a dark rhythmic backdrop ensue.

Love Dectective: And this song is why we love Arab Strap. Let me repeat. This song is why we love Arab Strap. Who else in their right-mind can make a funkadelic-jamming out at the piano session sound so beautiful and upbeat while Aidan tells the story about how his girl boinked some guy in the park, via reading her secret sex diary?

Infared: Well, this song obviously influenced their design choice (which I think is excellent) for the cover and liner art. Par usual.

Screaming in the Trees: Definitely more "Week...Starts Here" Sounding. Once again, par usual.

Haunt Me: Strings. Classic strings. Dunk rhythms. Malcolm sounding like he's had one too many poppers while singing. Beautiful.

Turbulance: Definitley something they've toyed around with since the production of "Elephant Shoe." Their saddest sounding, most dark 'dance song' created to date. Definitley a song to play after getting groped by greasy men or women at a club, while you are driving home and thinking about the last person you slept with whose name you can't remember. (We've all had that experience, right? Right?!)

So, this album deserves in reality 4 and a half stars. But I will go ahead and give them 5. Malcolm and Aidan have definitely tried something new here, while maintaining the familiar in new and unexpected ways. So go get the album; the songs and the cutely drawn devils and well worth the investment.

One of their more acclaimed releases, though I find it weaker than many of the mopey minimalist's albums. AS excel, on occasion, when these dire constructs align properly, and rarely does it come together completely compelling here. Rather, the disc feels a little underdeveloped and underwhelming, if maintaining a serviceable consistency.

As if you were out partying and have crashed in bed and your lover is mumbling in your ear...as early morning rays seep into the room his mumbling with its cooing Scottish accent is pre-seduction slow rush and slur and crash of ocean waves against a gravelly beach. And all of this with beautiful rhythmical music in a deepfelt background, at times picking up the heartbeat and heat of the moment and other moments it subsides, always soothing as your lover's breath in your ear.

This group continues to astound me again and again, the melody, the sadness, the intertwining of both artists and how they crumble towards the end. I really like when the girl sings though, I'm not sure she's on this one. She might be. If you haven't heard the live one, you should, it'll make you like this more. It has a spiritual link with Mogwai. Kind of their companions and equals. It's hard for me to figure who I like more, I listen to more Arab Strap. They are top notch live too, if you get a chance to check them out.

Did I mention how good the drums are, this one and the one before it. I like when they turn it up a notch on the dance beats.

If you've ever woken up at three o'clock in the afternoon after a night of excess, with your stomach in your throat, and your heart and mind going in three million different directions, this is the record for you.... there is a warmer feeling in this record than in the previous one (probably due to a more dynamic production job), but don't let this fool you. Arab Strap are still as horrible and wonderful as ever. "Love Veneris" is a slow, quiet introduction to what becomes a sonic diary of self-loathing, self-loving, as well as the strangeness and beauty of feeling nothing at all. Malcolm Middleton is truly the master of buildup as his compositions flow from one extreme to the next. the best thing about Arab Strap, however, is that this record proves that they still do not take themselves too seriously, and have maintained their sense of humor. Somewhere in the mix you can feel aiden telling some really nasty joke...

It's lyrically heart-wrenching, seriously intricate, opaquely romantic, and musically daring. Hey they even figure out a way to loop a Yamaha Portasound PSS-570 keyboard drum preset within "Scenery", and I should know the sound because I have that old keyboard myself upstairs! Even the CD cover art is stunning. This album definitely isn't for the faint of heart. Nor is it for mainstream music fans looking for the all-mighty Top 40 radio hook and poppy dance melodies. 'The Red Thread' is for those who embrace the journey into the abyss of the human condition. It's one reflective side of true singer/songwriter music. So if you've gotten through the likes of Violet Indiana, The Cure's 'Bloodflowers' album, Ivy's 'Long Distance' album, even some Siouxsie and The Banshees, and Red House Painters' 'Old Ramon' album, then you're ready for 'The Read Thread'. Or are you? Take the plunge and immediately buy this album and prepare to see your world in new hues.

A great album for realistic and longing hearts everywhere.