Rilo Kiley LIVE

Funniest line of the night? The old geezer next to me expressing his disappointment at Jenny Lewis' attire with the words "bloody hell, she's wearing trousers." Least funniest line of the night? Well take your pick from the four ignorant bastards stood in front of us.

Still, nothing can take away the magic of what was a brilliant night's entertainment (including the £5 win on Deal or No Deal).

Shortly after half past nine on Sunday 18th November I saw the most adorable thing I have ever seen in my life. It's no secret that I'm in love with Jenny Lewis, but on this particular occasion she quite simply took my breath away. There's just something about a woman in a hat.

I could go on, but I'll comment on the music instead . This was fantastic. Even better than earlier in the year. The band were on top notch form and every song was a delight.

Seriously, there's little else I can say. EVERYTHING was fantastic. I hope it's not too long before I see them again.

Silver Lining

Jenny Lewis. As a bride. Jilting the groom at the wedding. I'm sure they've nicked this plot idea from one of my dreams...

Thanks to dkimster.

Rilo Kiley LIVE

Ok, so there was no restaurant meeting with Jenny Lewis this time around although we did have to put up with two South Africans in the pub who were cheering for India in the cricket. Jimmy Anderson soon put pay to that though.

Manchester Academy 3 was packed to the rafters which naturally offered us no protection from the tossers. Highlight of the evening from that point of view was probably the girl who about three or four songs into the set stood right in front of me then complaining to her fella that the person she'd stood behind was blocking her view. Don't mind me love.

Anyway, onto Rilo Kiley. Some fans have been terribly upset with the new album but all clinged to some hope that in the live arena, the songs would still kick ass. Well I like the album anyway, but it is safe to say that live, the majority of the new songs do indeed kick ass.

They started off with It's A Hit mind you, and tossed in Portions For Foxes and Paint's Peeling within the first four songs.

Of the new songs, Close Call was particularly good (but then again it is probably my favourite off the album) as was Under The Blacklight. I also thoroughly enjoyed Smoke Detector and Breakin' Up.

Blake Sennett took over for two songs; Ripchord was better than I remember the More Adventurous version ever being but Dreamworld was as dull as it's album counterpart.

The "Crazy Cover Version" of the evening was a version of Jenny Lewis' own Rise Up With Fists; it was funked up and, in all honesty, fairly perfunctory as well. Most bizarre moment of the evening had to be when Lewis preceded 15 with a "warning" to a 15 year old girl down the front which prompted some wag in the crowd to shout out "Jenny's going to piss on you." Quite.

The encore saw a sneak peak of Fergie's new single, no sorry, it was Give A Little Love, and they finished off with a spine tingling version of Does He Love You?

Anyway, it was a quality concert all around. Being quite taken with the new album I enjoyed the new stuff and the old stuff and the band were certainly on form. And as much as some long-standing fans may disagree, Jenny Lewis' attempts to "sex" things up are alright in my book.

Under The Blacklight - Rilo Kiley

Well Moneymaker certainly "divided" the fans and pre-release reviews of this album seem to have been similarly divided.

For the record, I like Rilo Kiley and the "shocking news" that they'd somehow gone "pop" on their 4th album was never going to upset me that much was it? Neither was the proclamation from some sources that RK had "sold out" by making a catchy album with one eye on actually selling a few copies.

If anything my "fear" was perhaps that Jenny Lewis' solo album Rabbit Fur Coat had somewhat raised the bar. It was a sublime record that was perhaps better than anything Rilo Kiley had ever come up with; which is high praise indeed.

The album starts on a pair of very high notes indeed. Silver Lining, which had been previewed online in the weeks leading up to the album release, is in many ways a typical Rilo Kiley song. It's message seems to concern the collapse of a close relationship, not that you'd particularly tell by the upbeat and catchy tune, and the only thing different is an added sheen (which some fans labelled an "over production"). Close Call is just as good.

Moneymaker turns out not to be typical of the album, and as such does reveal itself as a rather strange lead single, but if long term fans were apoplectic at that change of sound, Breaking Up, with its disco stylings, may well give them a heart attack.

The album's title track in some ways sums up the whole album; the beginning sets it up as something akin to a hip hop track, yet it soon dissolves into a typical guitar led track. For all the hype that this is a "new" Rilo Kiley, there is a distinct impression that it's a moving forward from what's gone before, rather than starting from scratch.

I've never seen the point of giving Blake Sennett vocals on a Rilo Kiley album (perhaps that's just me being biased mind you) so we'll somewhat skip over Dreamworld. It's better than Ripchord from More Adventurous mind you. (I'm aware I'm being a little harsh there, but I can't imagine anyone listening to Dreamworld and not thinking "this would sound better with Jenny Lewis singing it").

Dejalo sounds something like Gwen Stefani would come up and is no doubt another track that will send the rabid fans scuttling to the corner with their heads in their hands. Those with an open mind however might just find it difficult to resist.

15 shows that RK have lost none of their lyrical bite (concerning as it does an older man grooming a 15 year old girl on the internet); it's brass fuelled chorus is delightful and will have you singing along with scant recognition of what you're actually singing!

Smoke Detector is reminiscent of early Rilo Kiley, and indeed whilst catchy never really seems to go anywhere; it's saved by a criminally catchy chorus though. The Angels Hung Around is the most "Rabbit Fur Coat" esque song on the album before we close with the electro pop gem Give A Little Love which once again marries an extremely catchy tune with sentiments that are quite literally heartbreaking.

So all in all it's a triumph. Some, perhaps wishing to sentence Rilo Kiley to life-long "cult" (i.e. not selling many records) status will try and tell you that the album strips away everything that made them great in the first place but that is absolute nonsense. This is the sound of a band stepping up their game.

It's everything you loved about Rilo Kiley...and more.

Single Releases 13/08/07

You know, I like Kanye West's songs, but you cannot change the fact that he simply isn't a Grade A rapper. In fact he's a long way down the list. He gains marks for the Daft Punk sample in Stronger, but still, he's not a good rapper. If only he'd added "I's only got's four minutes to sing this song" intro, this would have been superb.

Feelings seem mixed in the world of Rilo Kiley fans about new single Moneymaker but I'm starting to like it. Ok, so it's not what you would expect from the band, but since when has that ever been a crime?

Amy Winehouse stayed out of the crack house for long enough to release a new single, Tears Dry On Their Own. I've never been totally convinced by the Winehouse; catchy though some of her tunes may be, I always wonder just how much she had to do with the Mowtown direction herslef. Still, I think I would speak for us all when I say I just hope she can get her life sorted out.

So Do I Say Sorry First? Well, Stephanie McIntosh, I think you bloody well should. Dreadful, abysmal etc.

David Guetta proves the law of diminishing returns with Love Is Gone. No, it's not bad, but no, it's nowhere near as good as his last car advertisement, sorry, single. Close your eyes and it could very well just be a bad remix of the song you already know.

Will MIA break out with Jimmy? Probably not in the huge chart scaling sense but she deserves a wider audience and this may well give her the chance to speak out to them.

I like Calvin Harris. And I like Merrymaking At My Place. Not that that is a myspace style invitation to come around to my house and party.

And that's me done for another week. Apologies to the likes of Ross Copperman, Polyphonic Spree and Ben’s Brother but I just can't be arsed getting around to you this week.

New Rilo Kiley Video

Hmm. I love Jenny Lewis. This new video on the other hand...well it's a little weird. If I could I wouldn't link to the twelve minute version (it's for the over 18's only shall we say) but the three minute version is worth a viewing.

Jenny Lewis is lovely isn't she?