Malcolm Middleton is the other half of Arab Strap, and like Aidan Moffat, he's got a solo album out this year, which is dark, funny and moving -- altogether worth listening. Here's a bit from my Dusted review, which went up today.
Malcolm Middleton’s fifth (and, according to some interviews, last) solo album revisits A Brighter Beat’s vertiginous juxtapositions of self-doubt and synthesizer pop, of jangling indie rock and foul-mouthed depression. This is, after all, the songwriter that hitched one of his jauntiest hooks to a chorus of “We’re all going to die now,” and made some want to dance to it. With Waxing Gibbous, he’s back at it, sitting morosely, like a poison spider, at the center of tweener-pink concoctions of pop, electro, folk and rock. And he’s so good at the bitter-sweet, happy-sad connection that it may take a spin or two before you hear much beyond good-time pop.
More
"Carry Me"
"Subset of the World" my favorite from Waxing Gibbous can be found towards the end of my august mix.
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2 comments:
Nice review Jenny. I thought it sounded pretty pedestrian on first listen but it's starting to really grow on me. His first album is still my favourite though. I wonder what he'll do next.
I know what you mean, Simon. The first time I listened to it, I thought it was way too pop, but then I remembered that a) he's done that before and b) the pop often hides real darkness, which you don't hear the first time or two. He's got a message on his blog about how he's going to continue to make music, but in some other context, like maybe with a band or maybe more electronic.
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