Looking back on the blog from a few months back about The Dirty Projectors’ “Bitte Orca”, I found myself talking – like most other critics did, of course – about the contemporary R&B influence on the band, especially to the fore on “Stillness Is The Move”. Good comments on that thread, and one from Fanz stands out this morning: “Wouldn't it be great to hear ‘Stillness Is The Move’ on some mainstream R’n’B radio?” Excitingly, in an unusual bit of cross-genre back-and-forthing, we might do soon: a cover of “Stillness” has surfaced this week by Beyonce’s sister, Solange. In that last blog, I said something about the original not being materially any weirder than one of Timbaland’s productions for Aaliyah, and Solange’s terrific version proves that. In fact, if anything, it manages to sound a little straighter than something like “One In A Million”, while still remaining utterly faithful to the serpentine complexities of the original. More assiduous bloggers than I have identified the sample as the same one used by Erykah Badu on “Bag Lady”, and it’s interesting that while the Dirty Projectors seemed to be organically reconfiguring digital, futuristic R&B on the original, Solange’s version is consequently closer to the vibes of the nu-soul scene; warmer and fuzzier, maybe, rather than precision-tooled. What would be really fascinating, though, would be if she’d had a crack at one of the songs sung by Dave Longstreth on the album, because I’m increasingly unsure whether the perceived awkwardness of “Bitte Orca”, and the Dirty Projectors’ catalogue in general, is actually almost entirely down to Longstreth’s voice being a bit of a chewy proposition at times (though I think Billy Bragg’s curious comparison with Mika at the Uncut Music Awards was a bit of stretch). Maybe Solange has got her brother-in-law prepping a version of “Temecula Sunrise” for “The Blueprint 4”?

Tony Wadsworth: I loved this album, again it was one of those things where you didn’t know what was going to happen next. It mixed together styles and arrangements that were completely original and unpredictable. You hear people talk about records where the guitar sounds like it’s in another room, but there’s one song here where it sounds like the guitar is an another album. It’s completely from leftfield. But it’s also very soulful as well, it didn’t strike me as being too clever-clever. It just struck me as people who really know how to play together well, almost like jazz musicians. There’s a beautifully loose drum sound to it, in fact all the instruments sound beautiful. There’s some great melodies, the Pet Sounds thing coming back in again. It had a bit of everything for me, this album. It’s got a great mood to it, you can let it wash over you, or you can sit down and listen to it very intently. Some of these albums start with a great mood but tend to lose it about halfway through, but I think this is a phenomenal album. Billy Bragg: See, I was the opposite of that. I found myself thinking, ‘for fuck’s sake, do something else’. Some of the albums on the long list of 25 had me understanding why kids are downloading things for free. If I was buying these albums and found only one or two tracks that appealed I’d be well pissed off. I think the lack of dynamics on some of these albums, the lack of light and shade, I found that a real problem. This is a nice enough record, I just wanted it to go somewhere. Some of these records you can imagine driving on a long straight road in America or whatever where not much happens, you don’t see anything different for a long time, so when something different does come in you really notice it. But that’s not the kind of light and shade I’m looking for, I want something that turns off the road and comes back again. Tony: Don’t you think, though, as opposed to people downloading and cherry-picking individual tracks that the album format is there to create an actual mood? Billy: I think it’s becoming more like that, I think younger bands are doing that. It’s certainly the case with the Dirty Projectors album, there’s a lot of continuity there. I’ve been thinking that perhaps young bands are reacting to the whole download thing by creating a lengthy mood piece, it’s an interesting theory. I don’t think in those terms when I’m making an album, I think of what went before and how does this move the idea further along. I think when you want people to play your record as a continuous piece, when you’ve conceived it as such, you have to think more obviously about what you’re doing to stop listeners unbundling your work. That might be what’s led to this mood thing that we’re getting on a lot of albums. Allan Jones: The mood of the album is really quite consistent, it does present itself as one piece. Tony: We’re heading back to the prog era. Rachel Unthank: Howay, let’s get over the word “prog” not being cool. Music should be progressive. There’s bad prog and there’s good prog. Billy: Not to those of us who fought in the punk wars! Rachel: Can’t get over it, can you, Billy? Billy: No, we can’t! Blodwyn Pig still haunt us! Rachel: I kept thinking I wouldn’t like this album, because there’s an element of the whole thing that Fleet Foxes brought to the table, that whole kind of sound, and I kept thinking I’d find it too similar. But every time I put it on it surprised me, it actually led me into their world. I really enjoyed the arrangements, the harmonies. I was constantly surprised, I think it’s a really good album, although not as good as Dirty Projectors. In a way I think the two bands have a lot in common, but Grizzly Bear seem a lot warmer, not as angular. A bit more poppy, I suppose. They’re easier to listen to, but there’s lots of layers you can get your head into. You can listen to it as a mood, as one piece, but there’s so much going on that you can have a different experience every time you play it. Some times the harmonies reminded me of Ben Folds, that kind of joyousness. I really liked it. Bob Harris: I liked it too. A lot of the stuff I play on my programmes falls under the general heading of what people call Americana, and because I’ve become a sort of target for artists and labels to send me this sort of stuff I get to hear a lot of it. One of the problems with certain aspects of Americana is that you find yourself wanting to say to the artists “get over yourself! What’s wrong with you! Be positive!”. I find myself looking outside of all that, looking for something that has more texture. One of things that always effects me is when you sense that an artist’s lifestyle has spilled into the grooves. What Lucinda Williams always does for me is that her character, the way she is, comes across really strongly on the records. There’s no barriers. I always love it when you get that feeling off a record, and I must say I didn’t get that from Grizzly Bear. I just found it, in that respect, a bit glossed over. I don’t know why I found that, because all the raw ingredients are there for me to like this record, but again in the context of this award it’s not one of my favourites. Dave Robinson: Like all of us, I hear a lot of music, but 25 albums is a lot to listen to quickly. I did play this a lot, because I saw by the sticker on the sleeve that they were so praised for being wonderful that I was worried I might be so over-the-hill and in the departure lounge of life that I couldn’t appreciate what all these magazines think is fantastic. So I did listen to it a lot and ultimately found it to be... nice, but nothing. Mark Cooper: I’m with Tony, I think it’s a great record for virtually all the same reasons. I love the fact that it’s a whole piece of work, that it has a mood. I think the arrangements are dynamic throughout, it has great melodies that stay with me. I think there are three or four songs that are really masterful. I tend to associate a lot of Americana records with melancholia, and I love that blissed out atmosphere. It’s kind of like a Beach Boys record. Everything I don’t like about the Animal Collective record I love about this one. It takes Beach Boys references, Mercury Rev influences, and comes up with something genuinely original. I like its musicianship, its sense of surprise, it’s a really good record. Dave: Is there a hot track you’d nominate, something that I should go back to? Mark: Well, I loved “Two Weeks”, I loved “While You Wait For The Others” and “All We Ask”, those three really stand out for me. It is a big favourite of mine, I’m disappointed more of you don’t agree. Rachel: I’m really surprised it’s not more popular with the panel. I think that a lot of people of, sorry to say, my age get into it a lot quicker, but then is it sometimes just that reacting to something sensitive is seen as being cool?

“I think this band will be hugely influential,” suggested Billy Bragg during the judging sessions for this year’s Uncut Music Award. “In the next couple of years we’ll be hearing young bands lifting the tensions and the rhythms of Tinariwen.” Rash prophecy, maybe? Well, it took about a week. Just the other day, the debut album from Fool’s Gold arrived, and when “Ha Dvash” began rolling, all orbital twang, syncopated handclaps and chants, Bragg seemed to have been proved right. A sprawling collective of LA hipsters were, it seemed, making a pretty decent fist of playing Touareg. Not necessarily what you’d expect from a bunch who apparently include deep in their ranks the ex-drummer of We Are Scientists, plus Orpheo McCord, the drummer who figured in that brief, weird-even-by-Mark-E-Smith’s-standards, Transatlantic configuration of The Fall a few years ago. But Fool’s Gold, helmed by a singer/bassist called Luke Top and a superb guitarist called Lewis Pesacov, manage to pull it off, along with a few more off-the-peg African music selections, on this very lively, self-titled debut. When the opening track, “Surprise Hotel”, drifted in from the NME office next door last week, we initially thought it may be the new Vampire Weekend album. But actually, “Surprise Hotel”, not least thanks to Top’s quizzical drawl, is closer to the zinging ersatz hi-life of Talking Heads circa “Naked”, maybe “Nothing But Flowers” in particular. After that, Fool’s Gold zips fairly brazenly, but effectively, through a variety of styles that seem familiar even to an African music dilettante like myself. So “Nadine” co-opts the svelte Addis big band horns and eastern scales familiar from the Éthiopiques comps, while “Night Dancing” and “Momentary Shelter” have the frantic, ringing percolations of Konono No 1, albeit re-scored for different instruments (see also Vampire Weekend’s “Horchata”), plus some galloping Africa ’70 horns on the former. There’s a sense that, unlike Vampire Weekend, influences are being regurgitated rather than fully digested, and doubtless “Fool’s Gold” will be seen as a purist’s nightmare, a hipster appropriation, or whatever. Nevertheless, it succeeds: here’s a band with a certain ricocheting virtuosity, and a critical understanding of the exuberant possibilities presented by these musics.

Today: the judges discuss Bob Dylan's "Together Through Life". Tony Wadsworth: I love it, Bob Dylan is my default setting at the best of times. I love the sound of it, what David Hidalgo’s accordion brings to it. Mark Cooper: I know what Tony means about the sound of it, Dylan’s always been very good at creating a whole sound for an album, in the way that Desire has its own sound, or John Wesley Harding has its own sound. Having said that, it’s what I both love about the album and slightly miss about it. I love it, but maybe it won’t stand up alongside the great Dylan records. It’s very hard to judge Dylan in a field like this, because Dylan is Dylan. I think it being in the final eight for this award made me realise how much I like it, and I enjoyed listening to it more than I might have done otherwise. Rachel Unthank: With it being in the final eight, I probably gave it more attention than I would have any other new Dylan record, and it did grow on me. I agree with Mark, in that I really enjoyed it but I don’t think it brought me anything new in my appreciation of Dylan. I would want to listen to it again, but I wouldn’t want it to win. Bob Harris: It’s funny, because I really loved the last Dylan album, Modern Times, but for me, for some reason, this one just got lost on the conveyor belt. I don’t know why, but it seems like this album has just come alongside everything without really breaking through into my consciousness. I’ve always started listening to it and then thought I’d better get on to listening to other stuff. Tony: Maybe you were enjoying yourself too much! Bob Harris: I’m really going along with both Mark and Rachel by saying, yep it’s great, it’s Bob Dylan, I didn’t not like it, but in terms of what we’re doing here and picking out something really outstanding, it doesn’t strike me as being the great album of 2009. Dave Robinson: Bob Dylan is probably the singlemost thing that I got off on at a very young age. I remember trying to play his early records to Irish showbands and influencing them into changing their entire outlook, and them thinking I was a complete nutter. I just think he’s phenomenal, I love everything about him, but I think this record is completely naff. It’s fine, but it’s a kind of a 12-bar outing that any number of people could have trotted out. I’ve spoken to several musicians who’ve played with him in the past, people I’ve got out of retirement homes in Nashville to play on sessions for records I’ve been involved with, and they all say that the thing with Bob was that they’d do a rehearsal and then two days later the recording would start, by which time Bob would have changed the rhythm, he would have changed the timing, he’d have changed the whole ethos of the song. Basically, he wanted them to make it up, he wanted that kind of vibe, but on this record I don’t think he did that. I think everyone just played what the songs were. They’re fine, there’s nothing wrong with them, but there’s nothing spectacular about them, and in this particular context of an award for the best record of the year it doesn’t really hold up. I’ve never given Dylan a two out of five in my life, but this is a two. Billy Bragg: When you make as many albums as Bob Dylan does, every now and then you’re gonna make one that’s a bit pedestrian. I have nothing but respect for him, whatever it was that drove him to make those incredible albums, those incredible bursts of inspiration in the 60s still drives him. You can’t expect him to reach those heights time and time again, but the very fact that he’s out there, still making records, still engaged, is great. His radio shows prove that, and (to Bob Harris) he’s totally stolen your presentation style – another Whispering Bob! I always like to listen to Bob Dylan, but where he is and what he’s doing doesn’t really fit into this company. Where he was and what he did do is great, but that’s not what we’re judging here. I don’t think this particular Dylan album really does it. Allan Jones: In comparison to some of Dylan’s latterday work this album has a really kind of stoic feel to it, it’s like ‘we’re all gonna fucking die, so let’s have a good time’. It has a rambuctious feel to it. He wrote the songs in ten days, went in and knocked the album out very quickly. Billy: It’s an incredible way to work, nobody else does it. He’s keeping a flame alive that the rest of our industry has lost, and he deserves our respect for that. It doesn’t make it record of the year, though. Mark: What I think is incredible about this record is that there’s probably one song here that’s got more chance of becoming a standard than anything on any of the other albums. It’s incredible how he can come up with something like “Life Is Hard” that almost any other singer can sing. I don’t think there’s another song on all these records that somebody else will sing in about ten years. Billy: I was watching Smokey Robinson at the Electric Proms the other night, and there’s an artist of a similar stature who wants you to love him. It’s all about love, I felt really connected to him. Dylan dares you to hate him. How many young bands would go out there after you’ve paid your money and more or less tell you to fuck off? Nobody else does that, he’s still got that edge. He pisses you off, just like the Pistols. Mark: Well, there’s a difference between pissing somebody off and bad art.

Today: the Uncut Music Award judges on Dirty Projectors' "Bitte Orca". Rachel Unthank: I absolutely love Dirty Projectors, I find it really exciting. Every time I put it on it sets my pulse racing. It’s just so bold and strident and fearless. They must be very influenced my African music, their harmonies are so powerful, they really go for it. It’s full of humour, as well, the singer’s got a bit of a ridiculous voice, almost like The B52’s, but he seems to enjoy being larger than life. It took me to different places; I love the hi-energy stuff and I love the song that the girl sings on her own [“Two Doves”], I think it’s really beautiful. I was playing the album on the tour bus last night and someone said it sounded like they were making it up as they go along but were still all playing the same thing. I liked that sense of anarchy, the feeling that you never know what’s going to happen next. Bob Harris: Again, I’m virtually echoing what Rachel is saying. It’s a very, very exciting album, I think, and one of the aspects of that is the variety. It doesn’t settle into any particular pattern, and I like the counterpoint of the different voices. Rachel: It’s very angular, isn’t it? Bob: Yeah, it’s a very brave album... Allan Jones: ...and as Rachel says, you can’t tell where it’s going to go next. Billy Bragg: It was where it was gonna go next that worried me, I was expecting that sooner or later he was gonna ask if Scaramouche could do the fandango. I’m sorry, but I just couldn’t get past his voice, and I say this as someone who has that criticism levelled at them all the time. When the girl sang I really connected with it, I could understand the vocal, but matey boy was a bit too much for me, I do apologise. Allan: I think that’s a widespread problem people have had with it. Billy: I think Mika has queered that pitch for me, unfortunately. Tony Wadsworth: What, the poncey vocal thing? Billy: Nah, it’s not that. I’m a huge Smokey Robinson fan, I’m happy with a poncey vocal, but when the vocal is relied upon to add most of the energy to the song, that sort of over-excited thing like these guys are leading with, it makes me think of Mika. It’s unfortunate for them. I don’t think they’re anything like Mika, though. Rachel: For me, though, even though the vocal is a bit histrionical – don’t know if that’s a proper word, in Newcastle it is – I didn’t feel like it was dishonest. Billy: Oh, I’m not saying it’s dishonest, it was just me who couldn’t get past it. Dave Robinson: I didn’t really get into it, unfortunately. I thought it was kind of don’t-give-up-your-day-job music, I have a note next to it on my list that says “hobby music”. I thought the guy’s voice was strange, but the whole ambience of it went it one ear and out the other. Mark Cooper: It was one of my big discoveries on the list, I really liked it. I thought it was very fresh, very brave. I know what Dave means, because it’s got a kind of hermetic, not bothered with the world and blissed out quality to it. It does what it does in its own musical landscape, and it seemed to me to be very fresh in that approach. I think some of the arrangements are very interesting, I love the soul ballad [“Fluourescent Half Dome”] where the drums keeping coming in and out at the end. I like this record. Tony: I’ve not got very much to say on this one. I agree with Billy, I couldn’t get beyond the voice. I was really intrigued that they’re from Portland, because I love The Decemberists, and after hearing what Rachel had to say it made me want to go and listen to it again. Rachel: Do! Do! Tony: Some of it sounded like David Byrne, which is not a bad thing, but it didn’t really do it for me. Allan: Again, it’s one of those records that I heard in the office a lot. I liked the story-telling element to a lot of it, which seems quite buried at first but becomes more apparent the more you listen to it. I can understand why a lot people might not like it. Rachel: But it’s so good, though! Mark: It’s one of those rare records, in the arrangements, where you have absolutely no sense a lot of time of what the fuck’s coming next, but it works! A lot of music works within a genre and you kind of know the rules, but this doesn’t seem to have rules and I like that about it. Bob: It does constantly take you by surprise. Allan: I agree that there is that sense that they’re making it up as they go along... Billy: ...which is not a bad way to make a record. Allan: It sounds like that, although I do think the truth is that it’s been very carefully conceived. Billy: Yeah, to sound like the whole thing is falling apart you have to be absolutely brilliant. You have to be really precise so that you can have those gaps.

Following on from yesterday's post about Tinariwen, here's a transcript of the Uncut Music Award judges discussing Animal Collective's "Merriweather Post Pavilion". Billy Bragg: There seems to be a lot of stuff out there, and in this award’s long list, where the ghost of Brian Wilson is strongly represented. It’s as if they’ve all invested in a Brian Wilson fader switch that they turn up and turn down at will; some put it to good use and others to not so good use, but I think Animal Collective put it to better use than most. Although I have to say that I’d already bought four of the eight albums that made the short list and Animal Collective wasn’t one of them. Tony Wadsworth: Yeah, the Pet Sounds/Smile influence was really clear. I thought it was really absorbing album, and I wish I’d been able to spend more time with it. I wasn’t aware of it before it made this list, but I think I’m gonna end up falling in love with it in a big way. At the moment I’ve not quite got beyond how clever it is, so it hasn’t had a chance to get to me as emotionally as, say, the Grizzly Bear album has. They’ve got similar influences, but I think Grizzly Bear do it in a much more intuitive way. Rachel Unthank: I found it quite difficult to get into, actually. It’s clever and creative, but I couldn’t find a way in, I couldn’t get any emotional interaction with it. Some of the others held my interest more, but I found myself falling asleep while listening to this. Dave Robinson: An album that puts you to sleep can be quite useful! I must admit that I didn’t really have any great opinion about it, I hadn’t heard them before. In going through the list generally I was looking for an album that had mood swings. I find it really odd listening to records where people have hidden their best track right down at the very bottom, and getting there can be a bit of an uphill struggle. It didn’t make a huge impression on me, I thought it was quite derivative, but in a nice kind of way. Bob Harris: I must convess that I had problems getting it out of its sleeve, not that we should be judging the packaging. Just getting through the folding box to the CD itself was a bit of a chore. However, when I finally managed to put it on my immediate reaction was that I was really gonna like it, but the more I’ve listened to it the less connected I’ve become to it. It’s really quite an odd thing. I’m always on the look-out for new things I haven’t heard before that I can play on my radio show, but I just found this album to be a bit cold. I was amazed that I did, because I’m a big fan of what are clearly Animal Collective’s own influences. Ultimately, it didn’t engage me, I think Rachel’s exactly right in her take on it. Allan Jones: I really like it. When I first played it, like several of you, I thought it was a bit cold but really clever, I could appreciate the technique behind it. But listening to it more I’ve really grown into it.