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Peaches - The Teaches of Peaches
**** A female German electronica artist who raps about her sex life without a trace of irony? Surely that doesn't bode well.
But these songs are surprisingly good, and that's not just the feminist in me talking. I'm not the biggest fan of electronica (ie I have little basis for comparison and so you shouldn't trust my judgement  ) but I really like this. Granted, her use of dark beats and drum loops is nothing groundbreaking and she covers little new territory music-wise, but her fresh feminist perspective prevents this from seeming derivative.
(And no, she isn't a feminist per se, so don't let that put you off. If anything she may anger feminists with her relentlessly sexual vocals. But talk of empowerment and lack of respect for what girls should and shouldn't say (in my mind at least) qualifies as a feminist perspective, and so can be assigned to Peaches.)
Vocally, she's no Tori Amos, but she's not trying to be. When rapping she growls and murmurs in the appropriate places, and when singing her voice often takes on a sweet, childish quality (see choruses to "Set It Off" and "AA XXX") that one can't help but enjoy. The best thing about it is that she sounds so exceedingly bored most of the time -- which is surprisingly soothing – as well as amusing. Delivered in deadpan, such dirty lyrical content gains a further edge.
Solo female artists attempting to cover ground other than the ol' tried-and-tested "singer-songwriter" territory often don't quite pull it off (think Lennon's slightly awkward use of nu-metal on 5.30 Saturday Morning and the way in which Jewel's new, rockier style just doesn't quite gel) but Peaches manages it perfectly.
Some of her lyrics might make you cringe / laugh a little at first ("Licky licky, sucky sucky, no-one here can tell me they don't want a fucky fucky" "check out my Chrisse be-Hynde, it's fine all of the time" and "some people think I keep my self-respect hidden in my cervex" immediately spring to mind) but it's no more filthy than those of her male-counterparts, and her blatant disregard for tact and traditional female stereotypes is part of what makes this music great.
Her stylings may not be everyone's cup of tea, but The Teaches of Peaches is, in my opinion, a very good electronica album, and accessible even to non-fans of the genre like myself. As for the lyrical content, you just need to keep a very open mind.
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Manic Street Preachers - The Holy Bible
***** The Holy Bible is undoubtedly the pinnacle of the Manics' career, but ironically it's the darkest and least accessible of their works. That's not to say it's "too weird" -- much of the music is straightforward and there are enough hooks and tunes to hold any listener's attention. It's only when you properly listen to the music that you can fully appreciate the harrowing themes and desolate atmosphere that infiltrate every single track on this album.
It can't be categorised, because I've never heard another sound like it (although it's chugging terseness seems to echo Joy Division's Closer) ... not many bands have produced albums with the same beauty, darkness and powerful impact of this. James Dean Bradfield's slashing, metallic guitars; Sean Moore's militant drumming; the heaviness of the melodies and the way in which they sink into your consciousness; and Richey James Edwards' poignant yet brutal lyrics about anorexia ("4st7lb") self-mutilation ("Yes") the holocaust ("The Intense Humming of Evil") the unbearable heaviness of existence ("She is Suffering" "Of Walking Abortion") and politics ("Revol" "Ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayitsworldwouldfallapart" and just about every other song on the album.) Due to the lyricist/rhythm guitarist's disappearance and the mystery, hype and mourning that surrounded it, this album was never released in America, but believe me -should you live in the USA- it's worth paying more for an import, as this is a very underrated classic.
Someone once described this as "goth without being Goth" and I think that hits the mark pretty well -- it's heavy stuff without the musical equivilant. Here the Manics manage to find a real voice for their politics (first introduced in Generation Terrorists with quotes from Camus, Syliva Plath, Henry Miller etc appearing on the sleevenotes, incongruous against the cheesy 80s inspired pop-rock) and it can't be argued that the lyrics are far more articulate and well-structured than in their previous albums. Here the Manics drop their GnR influences in favour of something very different, granted some Clash-inspired riffs and a weary punk edginess link this with their previous releases, but their sound here is much tighter, darker and far more technical and original than previously.
This album is extremely intense, not for everyone, and a few listens to it is pretty much guaranteed to quash any good mood you might have had at the time. But it's worth it, this is a phenomenal piece of work.
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Operation Ivy - Energy
*** Operation Ivy were a little bit of a disappointment to me when I fully discovered them a few years back.
Not that this album is bad, the songs and musicianship are of very high quality, but to be honest the sound quality is pretty tinny and in general the whole thing, sounds, well... dated.
It's always the way -- I heard a few Op Ivy songs that I liked, the Green Day cover convinced me further, the fact that the band virtually developed into Rancid bode very well, and at the time it seemed that Op Ivy were something of American punk veterans – so obviously my expectations were ridiculously high. (Same thing happened with the Runaways, since they've influenced virtually every female rock band since; the Runaways and Op Ivy are both great, just not as great as I'd assumed )
But onto the actual album. The combination of ska and punk is clichéd and commercialised now, but on Energy it's heard in it's rawest form. Songs like "Unity" and "Take Warning" have a great, laid back, almost reggae-type feel, but there's enough speedy punk numbers to satisfy the enthusiasts. On the negative side, the vague political sentiments and cries for reform seemed a little pretentious and almost clueless, but that's probably just me being a grumpy old hag  Towards the end the album starts to sound a bit same-y, but the short song length prevent this from being too much of a problem.
There's a lot of positive things I could say about Energy, but to be honest, I think it's far too derivative of The Clash. Even the guy's vocals consciously echo Joe Strummer. It's a good album, the songs are fine and it's a worthwhile purchase if you're interested in looking into the influences for the current ska-punk scene – but I personally reckon that the whole thing's is a bit pointless. You wanna listen to this sorta stuff? The Clash did it better than Op Ivy back in the 70s, and Rancid do it better than Op Ivy today. Granted, Rancid churn out a more commercialised variation, but IMO it's all the better for it. Reel Big Fish and the like polish this brand of punk far too much, but Op Ivy don't polish it enough.
There's nothing wrong with this album, but the links between The Clash and Rancid are obvious enough without it, and (to my commercialised ears) London Calling and ...And Out Come The Wolves both beat this for listenablility, hand-down.
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