E - the el dorado e.p, anji sami (2006) and employment, kaiser chiefs (2005)

the el dorado e.p. is one of my favourites. i'm a committed sami fan (both of anji's solo work, and with her sisters as a trio). this softly country-tinged e.p. features jaunty drums, wistful slide guitar, clever, heartfelt lyrics and that haunting, distinctive anji sami voice. secretly my favourite of the sisters, anji has a knack for well-composed, intelligent songs with real emotion to boot.

i was surprised (and frankly, a little bit cross) to read a review critiquing this album as "fragile" - i see it as nothing of the sort. i know it's naughty to do so, but compared to hannah howes' offerings on 'candy', the el dorado e.p is streets ahead in confidence, in song structure, and in identity as an artist. and it's a debut e.p. it's by no means perfect - in fact part of the beauty of the e.p. is the honesty in its flaws (such as a slightly out of time guitar strum at the beginning of one of the songs), but it showcases sami's intelligent songwriting, clever use of harmonies, and rich voice.

i am one of the fifteen people desperately awaiting the sami sisters' debut album and my only complaint with anji is that she's not exactly what we might call prolific. the upside of that is that she creates beautiful, clever music; music to be taken seriously.

i first encountered kaiser chiefs in late 2005 / early 2006, during that excellent winter of british-style indie pop. think kaiser chiefs, hard-fi, franz ferdinand (in the 'you could have it so much better' era, such a good
album), and yes, the killers circa hot fuss. i was living in europe and that indie britpop style underwent a total revolution that winter - we used to go to particular bars every wednesday and thursday for their "indie nights", we wore skinny jeans and chucks, we listened to morrissey, and yea, we were totally too cool for school. but it was 2006, and we rocked it.

i still listen to employment occasionally. "every day i love you less and less" is a great song for running - it's got a great beat and harsh motivating lyrics. when i was student president i (oh so wittily) had the deliciously chav-ish "i predict a riot" as my cellphone ringtone - and i still can't quite hear the beginning of that song without immediately putting myself in media-mode. the album maintains the effusive energy of its opening two tracks throughout, and the exuberance is contagious. it's a high-energy album, and takes a lot of energy to listen to as well - something that worked out well for me on a monday morning walk to work, but that sometimes makes it difficult to maintain an interest right throughout the album.