At the other end of the single-minded songwriting spectrum comes Kevin Barnes’ of Montreal. The impressive autobiographical album Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? works its way inside of me in the same way that Ultra Vivid Scene’s debut did, this time due to the dizzying array of musical styles thrown together, often within the same song.

Much of the album manically balances euphoric tunes with lyrical depression, but The Past Is a Grotesque Animal – the album’s centerpiece – breaks that pattern through a twelve minute droning spiral that matches anything that came out of Nine Inch Nails’ Pretty Hate Machine. Squealing synthesizers and other detritous hide in its corners to echo the mess that Kevin vocalises: a rampaging collection of torments.

Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? – iTunes UK
Amazon UK

Rasputina is often referred to as a ‘genre-busting’ band, that phrase inevitably combined with words such as ‘steampunk’ and ‘chamber rock’. The truth is a little more complex: breaking cellos out of their expected place in musical society by allowing them to behave as contemporary instruments – mainly guitars – whilst retaining their unique sound and inherent limitations extends the scope of Melora Creager’s songwriting. Rasputina’s latest album, the dazzling Oh Perilous World, uses historical fragments as the basis for literary and ‘dark folk’ storytelling only recently bettered by Joanna Newsom. But this isn’t an album which refers backwards to classical composition, rather it bridges and borrows the stylistic invention of the 60s and 70s rock music.

In Old Yellowcake’s contemporary punk nuances (particularly helped by Jonathon TeBeest’s drumming) make it the most immediate song on the album, combining sweet and sour melodies with Melora’s renown vocal note-hopping. That it alludes to the ruin of Fallujah, makes it even more powerful than mere imagery or ironic title can do together.

Live:

Rasputina: Oh Perilous World – iTunes UK
Amazon UK

Ellen Allien continues to tiptoe around Greatness on her fourth solo album, the just-released Sool. In this album, all obvious melodies and humanity have distanced themselves, or become buried in amongst the percussion, reverb and techno space of Chiaroscuro minimalism. If you wish: Plastikman without those wavering Devil Fish 303s. Or Robert Hood without those evolving melodies born from overlapping micro-sequences.

Caress uses its vocalised titles both as a percussive element and as a nod towards that missing warmth. But as the track evolves, additional rhythmic elements – tuned to contrast each other – fill that gap, eventually revealed to be merely subservient to a noisy omnipresent pad which finally sparkles in this darkness.

Ellen Allien: Sool – iTunes UK
Ellen Allien – Official Website

Isn’t it funny how some songs go unnoticed for sometime until one day they pop up and become remarkable? (Yes, there’s a contextual joke there, twice I think – once for the album, once for the song.) This slice of perky French electro benefits from woven selections of twisted samples, stabs and clipped vocals that work even better when attached to a lengthy concluding break as demonstrated here.

Unfortunately, you don’t get this on the album

Yelle: Pop Up – Version deluxe – iTunes UK
Yelle – Official Website

Kate Havenvik’s debut Melankton has been a contrary album for me. Although I purchased it in January this year, way after it was released, it languished wholly unlistened for close on six months on my iPhone. During that time it earned its place there by becoming a frequent iPod alarm clock – all its songs are sufficiently melodic and peaceful to awake me gently.

This past week I decided to listen to it in its entirity. And it troubles me – for this sole reason: there are too many strings, but set as the retro-chic of Travel In Time they are spellbinding, vital and glorious. Matching the sleek execution of strings, keyboards and percussion are Kate’s rich vocals. If you want a lesson on how to use orchestration in songs, check out this album. Colour me confused.

Melankton – iTunes UK
Amazon UK
Official Website
MySpace
YouTube

The most important question above all others around these parts is whether Island have thrown away the pop magic that enfuses Annie and produced something neutered and more traditional. Fortunately, these fears are unfounded. I Know UR Girlfriend Hates Me, the Richard X produced first single taken from the forthcoming second album Don’t Stop is fabulous. I won’t bother to explain why or how. Words are unimportant. (In any case, you can read what I thought of Anniemal instead.) Here’s the video:

Once witnessed you may think you’ll never hear a better pop song for the rest of the year. You’d be wrong: head over to Popjustice for a megamix of the entire album.

In the past Ladytron’s music has been a lush concoction of experimentation and disarming electronic pop. But that mix is one of their best assets, as my review of Witching Hour testifies. Now their fourth album Velocifero arrives and this time these two threads have been drawn together quite perfectly. This means that nothing is as obviously poppy as Seventeen or Playgirl, although Burning Up, Tomorrow and They Gave You a Heart, They Gave You a Name come oh-so-close, but the payoffs are numerous: for example opener Black Cat works better than their previous foreign language excursions and Predict The Day bombs speakers with its daring military minimalism before it collapses with the weight of percussion and guitars. All songs run together more evenly than they did on Witching Hour. I think I love it.

Season of Illusions wishes to be a straightforward song but ultimately slides towards dischord, with just the vocals holding everything back from destroying itself, or maybe it’s the other way around. Then, somewhere near its middle, I hear Cocteau Twins. Honestly I do.

Ladytron: Velocifero – iTunes UK
Amazon UK (available from 2 June 2008)
Official Website

Maybe it’s those El Perro Del Mar albums that entice me so much down this path of 60s girl-pop redux? Lead and written by Lisa O’Neill, this song is taken from Sing-Sing’s second album Sing-Sing And I. Inevitably, its attraction is all down to the recorded-in-a-cave-like acoustic strums, the diving strings, booming drums and horns. Underneath however, you can hear a post-Lush haze in Emma Anderson’s guitars and backing harmonies. It’s not a love song, either.

Sing-Sing And I – iTunes UK
Amazon UK
MySpace