Monday, 1 February 2010
Kids Picked Last ALBUM
“Rumours”: KIDS PICKED LAST
Reviewer: MMT
First of all, how exciting is it to be able to queue up in HMV and buy an album by one of your favourite local bands? “Yes, young man. I’ll take the Ladyhawke and Animal Collective albums from your “2 for £10” deal. And the slightly disappointing latest Muse album for a reasonable enough £5 too please. Oh, and while I’m here, I do believe I’ll pick up the new release by fantastic MK synth-rock combo Kids Picked Last, if you’d be so kind…” Sweet!
Monkey Kettle-watchers will be more than familiar with KPL by now – not only did they play at both the MonKeyVision Song Contest and the Monkey Kettle Stage @ The Waterside last year, but their anthem “Never Leave Me” also graces the wonderful “Monkey Kettle & Friends Vol. 2” compilation which has recently come among the world.
At their age though, twelve months is a looong time for a band, and while “Never Leave Me” and the accompanying “Death On The Trance Floor” EP were a chirpy punk-pop treat, this is an altogether harder-edged collection. Technically I suppose you’d call it a ‘mini-album’ – its eight tracks last a mere 23 (and a half!) minutes – but it’s long enough to see a definite progression has taken place.
Overall, the synths which seem to sometimes split opinion (but that're one of the major selling points for me!) are more integrated than on previous recordings – they’re part of the whole aural cake rather than being the generous top layer of sugary icing, if you’ll allow me the metaphor… And the rest of the sound is heavier, harder, more muscular. The Kids have beefed up! For the first time it’s obvious how good the choppy metal guitars are too. I’m pretty sure this maturing of their sound’ll give them wider appeal – as their impressive gig schedule for 2010 so far would seem to bear out!
Since the last EP there has also been a line-up change, seeing Toby step out from behind the drums and join Joel (“guitar & screams”) at the front, resulting in a new Linkin Park-style dual vocal scenario, one ‘soft’, one ‘hard’ as it were. This allows KPL 2.0 to be both intense and melodic at the same time, a neat trick if you can pull it off – such as on the chugging “Kite Flying” where one vocal is Auto-Tuned pop stylee and the other vocal seems to be gargled through a broken sink full of rusty water. Not to mention the exuberant crowd-chanting too – I bet that one is a killer live!
But despite the screaming and shouting, there are still pop sensibilities in the mix too. My favourite moments are still the ones where Ashley’s synth programming is to the fore: the short instrumentals “Intro”, “Rumours (reprise)” and especially the euphoric “Luced” help break up – or regulate at least – the intensity. The confident (and brilliantly-titled) “Fat People Are Harder To Kidnap” stands out: the chunky thud of the bass & geetars complemented well by the ravey electronics and the genuinely constructed tune. “To Infinity And Beyond” is good too – as close as they get to an epic ballad. And “Pirateze” is probably my favourite track, the lyrics finally intriguing, the vocals cracking with emotion and the synths (again) colouring everything fabulously sour. There’s a great bit of weird guitar / keyboard meshing together in the middle section and outro too.
Kids Picked Last are still not the finished article, as I’m sure they would admit themselves. But with “Rumours” they’ve moved another big step closer (“One Step Closer”?) – and it’s great fun watching them evolve. Right now there’s a “blipcore” remix of “Kite Flying” on their MySpace which makes me grin like a goon. How many MK guitar bands would try something like that? Not many. Skillz.
Sunday, 10 January 2010
Dudebox "Track Of The Autumn / Christmas"
Reviewers: Brian, Grahame, Matthew, Phil
Happy New Year, Dudebox fans! We’re kicking Twenty Ten off with a gigantic beast as we reveal the long-awaited latest Dudebox Track Of The Season: for the Autumny / Festive period that was Late 2009 – but this time with the added bonus that we attempted to review a bunch of MK MySpace tracks as a communal foursome!
Phil and I decided we’d like another (perhaps less overtly enthusiastic-about-everything!) voice, so we asked Brian along to temper us – and he arrived hotfoot from the pub with Grahame in tow too! As it turned out, we couldn’t use a lot of the stuff Grahame said – he’s clearly the Simon Cowell of our panel, keen on good production, accomplished musicianship, drum machines being in time etc etc. – but it was a splendid experience nonetheless, with plenty of cups of tea and much raucous laughter. And despite plenty of arguments over such subjects as how long “potential” can last before something more needs to be delivered – and loads on what constitutes “generic”, we even almost managed to come to a consensus. Plus Phil got in his now-obligatory mention of the Smashing Pumpkins. So we’re all good.
As always, thanks to the bands – almost exclusively they haven’t asked us to review their work, we’ve just done so by picking stuff almost at random off of their MySpaces. And our main aim really is just to try and bring you something new you might love. Why not try it yourself at home? The MK Music Scene – dive in!
“Sex For Cigarettes”: TOMBSTONE BULLETS
[[70s Hard Rock coming atcha from MOST of the members of MonKeyVision winners Harassing Anna]]
Grahame: “They’re playing something that really appeals to me.”
Phil: “What I like about them is they sound really noisy and really loud. The guitar sounds loud.”
Matthew: “Did you like them at the Waterside when they played [on the Monkey Kettle stage]?”
Phil: “I did. I would say I dug them. It’s interesting to compare them to Harassing Anna.”
Grahame: “They’re very very good. All of them are incredibly good instrumental players. They’ve got a really good pop sensibility.”
Brian: “It’s good, it’s accomplished, but I listen to that and I think ‘I’ve heard that all my life’”. But I’ve seen them play live, and they’re full of energy, they can really entertain a crowd.”
Matthew: “Playing Devil’s Advocate though, is there a sense that Harassing Anna are the ‘real band’ and Tombstone Bullets are them ‘having fun’? I’d be interested to know what they think.”
“Get It / M.I.A. / Used To Be (samplers)”: LIONSEX
[[Self-professed “balls-out” rockers, one of Brian’s total favourite local bands]]
Brian: “They’ve got energy, they’ve got a different look… They’re not scared to be different. They actually try and live it. They’re scuzzy Eighties throwbacks and they love their rock n’ roll. They’re very good value for money live, they know how to work a crowd. The lead singer’s got a great voice.”
Phil: “I think they’re alright. Sounds good, but it’s not really… I was never really into that anyway. I quite like the fake name thing. They’re doing their thing.”
Grahame: “They’re very tight, they’re very accomplished. I like the design of their MySpace. They’ve actually personalised it really well. Very slick.”
Matthew: “Compared to Tombstone Bullets, musically they’re doing similar things from slightly different eras - but with a different image too, I guess. They were one of the only bands at MonKeyVision that brought their own t-shirts as well, weren’t they? Which is pretty cool.”
Brian: “I own a Lionsex t-shirt, and I wear it with pride. [NB – no pun intended, we checked!] I think I’m a bona fide fan now. I reckon I’ll go and see them on a regular basis.”
“Saving Grace”: THE BITTER SUITE
[[Dark electro-pop duo who you could almost class as local music “veterans” now, having formed in 2004.]]
Matthew: “I really liked it. I’d like to go and see them play live.”
Phil: “The first time I saw them, I was drawn to the Waterside stage three years ago on account of they were playing a Smashing Pumpkins cover. The second time I saw them in Bedford – both times as a five-piece. Cure-y, Depeche Mode-y. I like it a lot.”
Brian: “It’s very much “These Guys Wear Black”. It’s not a comfortable type of music for me.”
Grahame: “You can tell they’ve been going a while, the calibre of the actual song itself is really good. I like the sound of his voice.”
“Crystals”: THE MACHINIST
[[Hard-edged prog metal six-piece still in their early days of writing and recording. In fact I think this may even be an unfinished instrumental track, so it’s probably unfair to review it at this stage. And here goes...]]
Grahame: “Musically it’s not that appealing to me. It’s played perfectly, it’s all in tune, it’s all very very well done, really nice quality recording as well, but for me… lacked the through line of a vocal.”
Brian: “They’ve got a sound, and they’ve got it down pat.”
Phil: “It’s more a tank than a sports car.”
Brian: “I think they’re going along the right lines. They need a vocalist.” [NB – they do actually have one now]
Matthew: “What I’m really keen on, we’ve been waiting a long time to see them live, and I would like to see that.”
Phil: “The influence of Tool is massive. It’s slow… but that’s the idea. I think these guys could get really really good.”
[this section of the review descends into jokes about massive tools. Sigh.]
“The Seas / Vermillion” : BOBBY WOTNOT
[[Experienced producer of electronica as featured on National Radio!… not to mention a bona fide visual artist in his own right and of course mates with Jimi Volcano]]
Phil: “Perhaps it’s not really my thing. It feels very mathematical.”
Brian: “They’re very structured tracks… very… what’s the word?”
Grahame: “A bit of a feel of Bristol… trip-hop stuff. I don’t think it’s any of our kind of music. But I would listen to that, if someone played it in a club I’d dance for a while.”
Phil: “I think it would go well as a film soundtrack sort of thing.”
Matthew: “I like it. They’re still songs, every bit as much as the other bands. In fact, there’s more variety here than with many guitar acts. Different sounds, different vibes. Works for me.”
“Limosine”: SOCIAL RESIN
[[Kinda funky acoustic three-piece who describe themselves as “Like Engine Oil For Your Eardrums”]]
Phil: “It’s the sort of thing that goes down very well in pubs.”
Matthew: “It’s not really my sort of thing.”
Grahame: “There’s not enough of bands doing this sort of thing. I know it’s quite poppy, but I mean… I like that. They’re going for quite a soulful sort of sound there.”
“KyteFlying (GoiaGoia SuperRemix)”: KIDS PICKED LAST
[[Exuberant blipcore remix from Matthew’s favourite local punk-pop laser-toting scamps. Brian has to have “blipcore” explained to him]]
Brian: “I was a champion at Tetris when I was in my early twenties at university, and I feel like I’m on Level 17.”
Matthew: “Look… that’s a photo of their album in HMV!”
Grahame: “They’re playing with sound, which is good, because they’re experimenting… I don’t think they’re ‘There’ yet. They might well get ‘There’, because they seem quite confident to explore like, different combinations of sounds and timings.”
Phil: “The first time I saw them I was really drunk and did really dig the synth…”
Matthew: “They were one of the most exciting things I’d ever seen!”
Phil: “I like the idea, but I’m not quite as keen on the reality. Having said that, the song we just heard I loved. I just couldn’t help smiling all the way through it. This is not just great, but genius.”
“Sonny Boy”: PROJECT WOLVERINE
[[More new work by prolific young Monkey Kettle fave Project W – this time just piano & vocals]]
Grahame: “I like that. It’s a really nice sweet little folky love song.”
Brian: “I’ve always been a person who’s enjoyed loud cranking guitars rather than voices… However, this guy’s thinking about the world around him, and he’s asking you to look at the world around him with him, through his eyes. And there’s not enough of that going on, so all power to his elbow.”
Matthew: “I love him for his lyrics. This song is beautiful.”
Phil: “It’s all about his lyrics. I think it’s a great song. Good stuff.”
Brian: “He’s got… he’s got something coming out of him.”
[predictable dissolution into childish laughter again]
RUNNER UP DUDEBOX TRACK OF THE SEASON
“Rebound”: FINAL CLEARANCE
[[A rare”traditional indie” local band in amongst the metal and the teen-punks, and all the better for it]]
Brian: “From that song, they’ve got a very catchy style, um… they hooked me and they had my foot tapping.”
Phil: “While I hear their influences too, I don’t mind, because I like the bands they’re influenced by. These guys don’t smile in their photos – and I know that indie bands never do smile in their photos, but um… I think it could be something they could start doing? This song pushes my buttons.”
Matthew: “It’s much more my sort of thing. I would like to see them live.”
[checks gig list on MySpace]
DUDEBOX TRACK OF THE SEASON
“Infected Lights”: 1000 HERTZ
[[Popular MK hardcore chaps, reviewed in Kerrang and everything - about to release their second album!]]
Matthew: “I like the screaming-stroke-melody of it, I liked the melody in the chorus. They’re confident in their playing. If I saw them live I would probably be quite scared… and stand near the side. But it makes me move around.”
Grahame: “Er… yeah – it was good, it was polished, it was tight, it was all those other sort of generic blank shit words you use… they’ve ticked the most boxes in terms of what I would say is good.”
Phil: “Strong drums, strong guitars. They’ve avoided all the pitfalls, really. Other bands fall in the trap of hair metal solos. It’s a great song.”
Grahame: “Confident is about right. A well put-together song.”
Brian: “I tell you what, there is something to that. There’s an awful lot of cleverness behind it, the musicians are very very tight. They’re thinkin’ about the music, I really like that. I can see me playing that in my car first thing in the morning as I was driving out of my driveway. And that’s actually a very important decision for me in my life.”
Happy New Year, Dudebox fans! We’re kicking Twenty Ten off with a gigantic beast as we reveal the long-awaited latest Dudebox Track Of The Season: for the Autumny / Festive period that was Late 2009 – but this time with the added bonus that we attempted to review a bunch of MK MySpace tracks as a communal foursome!
Phil and I decided we’d like another (perhaps less overtly enthusiastic-about-everything!) voice, so we asked Brian along to temper us – and he arrived hotfoot from the pub with Grahame in tow too! As it turned out, we couldn’t use a lot of the stuff Grahame said – he’s clearly the Simon Cowell of our panel, keen on good production, accomplished musicianship, drum machines being in time etc etc. – but it was a splendid experience nonetheless, with plenty of cups of tea and much raucous laughter. And despite plenty of arguments over such subjects as how long “potential” can last before something more needs to be delivered – and loads on what constitutes “generic”, we even almost managed to come to a consensus. Plus Phil got in his now-obligatory mention of the Smashing Pumpkins. So we’re all good.
As always, thanks to the bands – almost exclusively they haven’t asked us to review their work, we’ve just done so by picking stuff almost at random off of their MySpaces. And our main aim really is just to try and bring you something new you might love. Why not try it yourself at home? The MK Music Scene – dive in!
“Sex For Cigarettes”: TOMBSTONE BULLETS
[[70s Hard Rock coming atcha from MOST of the members of MonKeyVision winners Harassing Anna]]
Grahame: “They’re playing something that really appeals to me.”
Phil: “What I like about them is they sound really noisy and really loud. The guitar sounds loud.”
Matthew: “Did you like them at the Waterside when they played [on the Monkey Kettle stage]?”
Phil: “I did. I would say I dug them. It’s interesting to compare them to Harassing Anna.”
Grahame: “They’re very very good. All of them are incredibly good instrumental players. They’ve got a really good pop sensibility.”
Brian: “It’s good, it’s accomplished, but I listen to that and I think ‘I’ve heard that all my life’”. But I’ve seen them play live, and they’re full of energy, they can really entertain a crowd.”
Matthew: “Playing Devil’s Advocate though, is there a sense that Harassing Anna are the ‘real band’ and Tombstone Bullets are them ‘having fun’? I’d be interested to know what they think.”
“Get It / M.I.A. / Used To Be (samplers)”: LIONSEX
[[Self-professed “balls-out” rockers, one of Brian’s total favourite local bands]]
Brian: “They’ve got energy, they’ve got a different look… They’re not scared to be different. They actually try and live it. They’re scuzzy Eighties throwbacks and they love their rock n’ roll. They’re very good value for money live, they know how to work a crowd. The lead singer’s got a great voice.”
Phil: “I think they’re alright. Sounds good, but it’s not really… I was never really into that anyway. I quite like the fake name thing. They’re doing their thing.”
Grahame: “They’re very tight, they’re very accomplished. I like the design of their MySpace. They’ve actually personalised it really well. Very slick.”
Matthew: “Compared to Tombstone Bullets, musically they’re doing similar things from slightly different eras - but with a different image too, I guess. They were one of the only bands at MonKeyVision that brought their own t-shirts as well, weren’t they? Which is pretty cool.”
Brian: “I own a Lionsex t-shirt, and I wear it with pride. [NB – no pun intended, we checked!] I think I’m a bona fide fan now. I reckon I’ll go and see them on a regular basis.”
“Saving Grace”: THE BITTER SUITE
[[Dark electro-pop duo who you could almost class as local music “veterans” now, having formed in 2004.]]
Matthew: “I really liked it. I’d like to go and see them play live.”
Phil: “The first time I saw them, I was drawn to the Waterside stage three years ago on account of they were playing a Smashing Pumpkins cover. The second time I saw them in Bedford – both times as a five-piece. Cure-y, Depeche Mode-y. I like it a lot.”
Brian: “It’s very much “These Guys Wear Black”. It’s not a comfortable type of music for me.”
Grahame: “You can tell they’ve been going a while, the calibre of the actual song itself is really good. I like the sound of his voice.”
“Crystals”: THE MACHINIST
[[Hard-edged prog metal six-piece still in their early days of writing and recording. In fact I think this may even be an unfinished instrumental track, so it’s probably unfair to review it at this stage. And here goes...]]
Grahame: “Musically it’s not that appealing to me. It’s played perfectly, it’s all in tune, it’s all very very well done, really nice quality recording as well, but for me… lacked the through line of a vocal.”
Brian: “They’ve got a sound, and they’ve got it down pat.”
Phil: “It’s more a tank than a sports car.”
Brian: “I think they’re going along the right lines. They need a vocalist.” [NB – they do actually have one now]
Matthew: “What I’m really keen on, we’ve been waiting a long time to see them live, and I would like to see that.”
Phil: “The influence of Tool is massive. It’s slow… but that’s the idea. I think these guys could get really really good.”
[this section of the review descends into jokes about massive tools. Sigh.]
“The Seas / Vermillion” : BOBBY WOTNOT
[[Experienced producer of electronica as featured on National Radio!… not to mention a bona fide visual artist in his own right and of course mates with Jimi Volcano]]
Phil: “Perhaps it’s not really my thing. It feels very mathematical.”
Brian: “They’re very structured tracks… very… what’s the word?”
Grahame: “A bit of a feel of Bristol… trip-hop stuff. I don’t think it’s any of our kind of music. But I would listen to that, if someone played it in a club I’d dance for a while.”
Phil: “I think it would go well as a film soundtrack sort of thing.”
Matthew: “I like it. They’re still songs, every bit as much as the other bands. In fact, there’s more variety here than with many guitar acts. Different sounds, different vibes. Works for me.”
“Limosine”: SOCIAL RESIN
[[Kinda funky acoustic three-piece who describe themselves as “Like Engine Oil For Your Eardrums”]]
Phil: “It’s the sort of thing that goes down very well in pubs.”
Matthew: “It’s not really my sort of thing.”
Grahame: “There’s not enough of bands doing this sort of thing. I know it’s quite poppy, but I mean… I like that. They’re going for quite a soulful sort of sound there.”
“KyteFlying (GoiaGoia SuperRemix)”: KIDS PICKED LAST
[[Exuberant blipcore remix from Matthew’s favourite local punk-pop laser-toting scamps. Brian has to have “blipcore” explained to him]]
Brian: “I was a champion at Tetris when I was in my early twenties at university, and I feel like I’m on Level 17.”
Matthew: “Look… that’s a photo of their album in HMV!”
Grahame: “They’re playing with sound, which is good, because they’re experimenting… I don’t think they’re ‘There’ yet. They might well get ‘There’, because they seem quite confident to explore like, different combinations of sounds and timings.”
Phil: “The first time I saw them I was really drunk and did really dig the synth…”
Matthew: “They were one of the most exciting things I’d ever seen!”
Phil: “I like the idea, but I’m not quite as keen on the reality. Having said that, the song we just heard I loved. I just couldn’t help smiling all the way through it. This is not just great, but genius.”
“Sonny Boy”: PROJECT WOLVERINE
[[More new work by prolific young Monkey Kettle fave Project W – this time just piano & vocals]]
Grahame: “I like that. It’s a really nice sweet little folky love song.”
Brian: “I’ve always been a person who’s enjoyed loud cranking guitars rather than voices… However, this guy’s thinking about the world around him, and he’s asking you to look at the world around him with him, through his eyes. And there’s not enough of that going on, so all power to his elbow.”
Matthew: “I love him for his lyrics. This song is beautiful.”
Phil: “It’s all about his lyrics. I think it’s a great song. Good stuff.”
Brian: “He’s got… he’s got something coming out of him.”
[predictable dissolution into childish laughter again]
RUNNER UP DUDEBOX TRACK OF THE SEASON
“Rebound”: FINAL CLEARANCE
[[A rare”traditional indie” local band in amongst the metal and the teen-punks, and all the better for it]]
Brian: “From that song, they’ve got a very catchy style, um… they hooked me and they had my foot tapping.”
Phil: “While I hear their influences too, I don’t mind, because I like the bands they’re influenced by. These guys don’t smile in their photos – and I know that indie bands never do smile in their photos, but um… I think it could be something they could start doing? This song pushes my buttons.”
Matthew: “It’s much more my sort of thing. I would like to see them live.”
[checks gig list on MySpace]
DUDEBOX TRACK OF THE SEASON
“Infected Lights”: 1000 HERTZ
[[Popular MK hardcore chaps, reviewed in Kerrang and everything - about to release their second album!]]
Matthew: “I like the screaming-stroke-melody of it, I liked the melody in the chorus. They’re confident in their playing. If I saw them live I would probably be quite scared… and stand near the side. But it makes me move around.”
Grahame: “Er… yeah – it was good, it was polished, it was tight, it was all those other sort of generic blank shit words you use… they’ve ticked the most boxes in terms of what I would say is good.”
Phil: “Strong drums, strong guitars. They’ve avoided all the pitfalls, really. Other bands fall in the trap of hair metal solos. It’s a great song.”
Grahame: “Confident is about right. A well put-together song.”
Brian: “I tell you what, there is something to that. There’s an awful lot of cleverness behind it, the musicians are very very tight. They’re thinkin’ about the music, I really like that. I can see me playing that in my car first thing in the morning as I was driving out of my driveway. And that’s actually a very important decision for me in my life.”
Thursday, 26 November 2009
"The Noise Made By People": Broadcast
(SONGS FROM UNDER MY BED – Lost Classics Rediscovered)
by MMT.
#3 – “The Noise Made By People” : BROADCAST (2000)
“The Noise Made By People” was Birmingham-based Broadcast's debut, released in 2000 on the excellent indie/electronica label Warp. It didn’t even scratch the charts (there’s still relatively little about them on the internet, even now), but it did well enough critically to cement them a place in the cool fringes of Noughties alternative. I think I heard the beautiful “Papercuts” on John Peel about a year or so later, and it captivated me enough to track down the mother album – and it has stayed with me ever since, a true Lost Classic.
I was trying to think of a way of describing the whole atmosphere of the album – and absolutely truthfully I swear to God had grasped the term “Retro-Futurist” out of the air before moments later seeing the same phrase used on their Wikipedia entry! You kinda know what I (and Wikipedia!) mean by that I'm sure. It’s that envisioning from the viewpoint of the past as to what the future would be / could be / will be like. Stereolab were another excellent band who pulled off a similar sound, though never as catchily – and again the comparison is on the Wikipedia entry, I notice after making it myself! Perhaps I should read the whole Wikipedia entry before writing any more…
(does so)
Well… apparently Broadcast often use “amorphous samples” and um, “analogue dissonance” to create their “retro-futuristic sci-fi edge”. Hmm. I don’t know much about analogue dissonance, but I know what I like.
Let me try and do it in my own words, then. The crystal clarity of the vocals. That melancholic air, gazing out at both yesterday and tomorrow with equally sad and tired eyes. You can tell they listened to a lot of French Pop and movie soundtracks while they were recording it. I’m sure there’s some kind of musicology behind the chord progressions that explains how the album sounds… Though I don’t know for sure, I’ll bet a lot of them are minors.
There’s 12 tracks: opener “Long Was The Year” sets out the stall with a cold vocal from singer Trish Keenan - Broadcast’s secret weapon - laid over chiming piano and a mildly industrial set of clanks and whooshes. “Unchanging Window” is warmer – but still chilly, the Gallic influence is clearly present. “Minus One” is a bleakly regimented instrumental which feels unsettling somehow.
Then, perversely, the poppiest moment of the album arrives, with second single “Come On Let’s Go” which sounds a bit like Saint Etienne swirling down Carnaby Street in The Sixties of an alternative universe where sexy lady robots rule the world from a pod above Swingin’ London. The other single, “Echo’s Answer” lays Keenan’s deadpan vocals over an atmospheric mass of droning whirrs and glitchy strings and would surely never even be considered single-worthy by a less adventurous band. “Tower Of Our Tuning” is another instrumental, but more optimistic – deep-set percussive echoes with relentless slightly discordant music hidden way down somewhere else in the mix.
I often think a lot of great albums have a ‘centre’ though, and “The Noise Made By People”’s is just inside the second half. “Papercuts”, the song that drew me in originally is still superb – a bleeping off-kilter Sixties pop song which swoops and soars. And “You Can Fall”, which turned up on the brilliant ‘Morvern Callar’ soundtrack album (famously better than the intriguingly awkward film!) and re-invigorated my love for these songs a couple of years later on is defiantly defeatist – the vocals chiming with robotic effects, the music played by slowly dying machines. Man, I dig it.
After that, “Look Outside” is almost a change of mood into laidback retro lounge music, Keenan’s vocals approaching cheerful for a change… though further listens reveal a host of clicks and clacks under the powerful drums which hint at something more sinister. “Until Then” moves at a weary pace, backed by queasy whistles and broken electrics. “City In Progress” is akin to early 70s electro-prog like the ace Curved Air, and final track “Dead The Long Year” is a circling trip-hop groove topped with some kind of feedback and scratchy electric guitar which abruptly caves in to form a sinister ambient pulse.
I think ultimately what I love about this album is the pitch-perfect marriage between the glitch-tronica dabbled in by many of Broadcast’s label-mates on Warp (Squarepusher, Aphex Twin etc) and the ice-cool Sixties Pop vibe of much of the vocals and lyrics. There’s very few things I’ve ever heard like this. And at the end of the day, that’s what you want, innit. Groovy.
LINKS
Official website, intermittently updated
The video to Come On Let’s Go
The video to the fantastic Papercuts
by MMT.
#3 – “The Noise Made By People” : BROADCAST (2000)
“The Noise Made By People” was Birmingham-based Broadcast's debut, released in 2000 on the excellent indie/electronica label Warp. It didn’t even scratch the charts (there’s still relatively little about them on the internet, even now), but it did well enough critically to cement them a place in the cool fringes of Noughties alternative. I think I heard the beautiful “Papercuts” on John Peel about a year or so later, and it captivated me enough to track down the mother album – and it has stayed with me ever since, a true Lost Classic.
I was trying to think of a way of describing the whole atmosphere of the album – and absolutely truthfully I swear to God had grasped the term “Retro-Futurist” out of the air before moments later seeing the same phrase used on their Wikipedia entry! You kinda know what I (and Wikipedia!) mean by that I'm sure. It’s that envisioning from the viewpoint of the past as to what the future would be / could be / will be like. Stereolab were another excellent band who pulled off a similar sound, though never as catchily – and again the comparison is on the Wikipedia entry, I notice after making it myself! Perhaps I should read the whole Wikipedia entry before writing any more…
(does so)
Well… apparently Broadcast often use “amorphous samples” and um, “analogue dissonance” to create their “retro-futuristic sci-fi edge”. Hmm. I don’t know much about analogue dissonance, but I know what I like.
Let me try and do it in my own words, then. The crystal clarity of the vocals. That melancholic air, gazing out at both yesterday and tomorrow with equally sad and tired eyes. You can tell they listened to a lot of French Pop and movie soundtracks while they were recording it. I’m sure there’s some kind of musicology behind the chord progressions that explains how the album sounds… Though I don’t know for sure, I’ll bet a lot of them are minors.
There’s 12 tracks: opener “Long Was The Year” sets out the stall with a cold vocal from singer Trish Keenan - Broadcast’s secret weapon - laid over chiming piano and a mildly industrial set of clanks and whooshes. “Unchanging Window” is warmer – but still chilly, the Gallic influence is clearly present. “Minus One” is a bleakly regimented instrumental which feels unsettling somehow.
Then, perversely, the poppiest moment of the album arrives, with second single “Come On Let’s Go” which sounds a bit like Saint Etienne swirling down Carnaby Street in The Sixties of an alternative universe where sexy lady robots rule the world from a pod above Swingin’ London. The other single, “Echo’s Answer” lays Keenan’s deadpan vocals over an atmospheric mass of droning whirrs and glitchy strings and would surely never even be considered single-worthy by a less adventurous band. “Tower Of Our Tuning” is another instrumental, but more optimistic – deep-set percussive echoes with relentless slightly discordant music hidden way down somewhere else in the mix.
I often think a lot of great albums have a ‘centre’ though, and “The Noise Made By People”’s is just inside the second half. “Papercuts”, the song that drew me in originally is still superb – a bleeping off-kilter Sixties pop song which swoops and soars. And “You Can Fall”, which turned up on the brilliant ‘Morvern Callar’ soundtrack album (famously better than the intriguingly awkward film!) and re-invigorated my love for these songs a couple of years later on is defiantly defeatist – the vocals chiming with robotic effects, the music played by slowly dying machines. Man, I dig it.
After that, “Look Outside” is almost a change of mood into laidback retro lounge music, Keenan’s vocals approaching cheerful for a change… though further listens reveal a host of clicks and clacks under the powerful drums which hint at something more sinister. “Until Then” moves at a weary pace, backed by queasy whistles and broken electrics. “City In Progress” is akin to early 70s electro-prog like the ace Curved Air, and final track “Dead The Long Year” is a circling trip-hop groove topped with some kind of feedback and scratchy electric guitar which abruptly caves in to form a sinister ambient pulse.
I think ultimately what I love about this album is the pitch-perfect marriage between the glitch-tronica dabbled in by many of Broadcast’s label-mates on Warp (Squarepusher, Aphex Twin etc) and the ice-cool Sixties Pop vibe of much of the vocals and lyrics. There’s very few things I’ve ever heard like this. And at the end of the day, that’s what you want, innit. Groovy.
LINKS
Official website, intermittently updated
The video to Come On Let’s Go
The video to the fantastic Papercuts
Tuesday, 10 November 2009
Project Wolverine / Felix ALBUMS
I’m extremely biased, of course, but I think it’s been an absolutely magnificent year for music in Milton Keynes. The always-healthy Rock n’ Metal scene has provided the sturdy bassline as ever, but there’s plenty of other stuff going on right now too – the rise of the Craufurd Arms as a national venue; a Hip-Hop presence that we’re definitely vaguely aware of; certainly the extremely wide variety of ace bands we came across through the MonKeyVision Song Contest – and also the rise of what I’m going to call the New Acoustic Generation, curated by the brilliant open mics in Newport, Wolverton and now in CMK!
So what better way to tip the salute to this superlative year than by reviewing hot new albums by two of our very favourite MK-related acts? – namely rising local singer-songwriter Project Wolverine and rising national stars Felix (one half of whom hails from these parts originally and featured in the classic MK band The Holistic Cleansing Quintet who we saw at The Pitz on more than one occasion back in’t day!). Grand!
First up Project Wolverine, who we were lucky enough to have play a set for us at the most recent Vodka Boy @ The Enigma Tavern gig in September. His new full-length demo album “Life, Love, Loss & Politics” can be picked up for £3 – contact him through his MySpace if you’re interested.
He describes himself on his MySpace as “Bargin Bucket Billy Bragg”, and you can definitely hear that influence, as well as regular touches of a thrashy acoustic Jamie T bounce – his accent is present throughout, though that’s not to say he can’t sing too, cos he can. Bragg’s present too in his subject matter - you certainly don’t hear many young singers penning attacks on the Daily Mail and Rupert Murdoch’s press empire in 2009. But considering his tender years this kind of lyrical and thematic maturity is impressive.
The production is clear and sounds “live” (you can even just about hear some other band playing way down in the mix and a long way in the distance on one or two songs!) – as befits songs which are mostly one voice one guitar, or one voice one piano. There’s an ear-catching guest vocal appearance from Philippa Moyle on “Same Old Game”, her soaring theatrics counter-pointing PW’s gruffer edge to great effect.
For me though, it’s the lyrics that do it. Like a younger Brit-cousin of the fantastic Bright Eyes, you get the sense of a real person behind the songs, that they’re acoustical snapshots of a real life being lived – the rueful “Tame”, the ramshackle busk of “Chance Encounter”, and Official Dudebox Track Of The Summer “Cold Baked Beans” the best examples of this (“It’s £3.20 to get into town… you get there and realise no-one’s around…”). And how could I not love the mournful piano track “Murder Ballad” which seems to literally be a song based on one of my favourite albums of all time?
There’s even a hint at future directions - a possible wider sound - on “Critical Stage” when an electric guitar gives a fittingly emotional backdrop to the dark urgency of the protest song underneath. And the album closes with stand-out track “The Mis-Informed”, which is genuinely touching – gentle but with a steely resolve.
So – a new voice definitely worth listening to. Plus, eleven tracks for just three quid? Where’s the catch? Get involved. And watch out for him on the local circuit too…
Meanwhile in the wider world the debut album from the wonderful Felix is finally out – and on a record label based in Chicago no less! Local girl done extremely good Lucinda should be incredibly proud of herself: “You Are The One I Pick” is not only the best thing I’ve ever heard from a musician outta MK, it’s one of the best albums I’ve heard this year by anyone. So I’ll try and review it without being too gushing. Hopefully.
To be entirely honest, it is musically right up my alley anyway – laid-back intimately recorded girl vox, dramatic yet minimalist orchestration (w/ plenty of cellos and crystalline pianos), and topped off with a light sprinkling of thump-drummy drone-rock. Yes please! And all the tracks kind of flow into each other cinematically, and it swims in effortless cool. At times it even aches with some sort of calm, sad acceptance. Simply beautiful.
It’s almost tricky to pick out favourite tracks, the whole album has a very evocative sound as a whole. But “What I Learned From TV” feels just a wee bit more intimate, more wistful – and is then followed up with Dudebox Track Of The Winter “Back In Style” with its shuffling beats and oblique Twin Peaks references. So that’s definitely a high point in this already lofty plateau.
And the intertwining of Lucinda’s vocal tracks on “Bernard St” is just lovely – the closest Felix come to some kind of mainstream sound maybe, though it’d never sit quite right there. It’s too sinister somehow. Well, not quite sinister p'raps, but something to do with the weirdness of the mundane… what’s really going on behind those nice curtains in that house down your street. And that’s brilliant. It’s not easy to create this effect well, but Felix have absolutely nailed it.
Repeated listens to the album bring the lyrics out from the mix more and more, and with them this uneasy sense of the oddness of normality hangs over proceedings. The bleak side of childhood naivety. So “Ode To The Marlboro Man” becomes a nursery rhyme sung in a round about running away with a cowboy. “I Wish I Was A Pony” becomes far darker than the gently sad little song it at first appeared. And I’m still not sure after five listens, but I think in final track “Song About Zoo” they might even kill their children and escape together from their drab lives. Outstanding.
So. Proof of just what can be achieved from this humble platform, this brilliant city. Let’s see what all you other bands have got. This is the bar, up here. You can do it. Here comes 2010.
So what better way to tip the salute to this superlative year than by reviewing hot new albums by two of our very favourite MK-related acts? – namely rising local singer-songwriter Project Wolverine and rising national stars Felix (one half of whom hails from these parts originally and featured in the classic MK band The Holistic Cleansing Quintet who we saw at The Pitz on more than one occasion back in’t day!). Grand!
First up Project Wolverine, who we were lucky enough to have play a set for us at the most recent Vodka Boy @ The Enigma Tavern gig in September. His new full-length demo album “Life, Love, Loss & Politics” can be picked up for £3 – contact him through his MySpace if you’re interested.
He describes himself on his MySpace as “Bargin Bucket Billy Bragg”, and you can definitely hear that influence, as well as regular touches of a thrashy acoustic Jamie T bounce – his accent is present throughout, though that’s not to say he can’t sing too, cos he can. Bragg’s present too in his subject matter - you certainly don’t hear many young singers penning attacks on the Daily Mail and Rupert Murdoch’s press empire in 2009. But considering his tender years this kind of lyrical and thematic maturity is impressive.
The production is clear and sounds “live” (you can even just about hear some other band playing way down in the mix and a long way in the distance on one or two songs!) – as befits songs which are mostly one voice one guitar, or one voice one piano. There’s an ear-catching guest vocal appearance from Philippa Moyle on “Same Old Game”, her soaring theatrics counter-pointing PW’s gruffer edge to great effect.
For me though, it’s the lyrics that do it. Like a younger Brit-cousin of the fantastic Bright Eyes, you get the sense of a real person behind the songs, that they’re acoustical snapshots of a real life being lived – the rueful “Tame”, the ramshackle busk of “Chance Encounter”, and Official Dudebox Track Of The Summer “Cold Baked Beans” the best examples of this (“It’s £3.20 to get into town… you get there and realise no-one’s around…”). And how could I not love the mournful piano track “Murder Ballad” which seems to literally be a song based on one of my favourite albums of all time?
There’s even a hint at future directions - a possible wider sound - on “Critical Stage” when an electric guitar gives a fittingly emotional backdrop to the dark urgency of the protest song underneath. And the album closes with stand-out track “The Mis-Informed”, which is genuinely touching – gentle but with a steely resolve.
So – a new voice definitely worth listening to. Plus, eleven tracks for just three quid? Where’s the catch? Get involved. And watch out for him on the local circuit too…
Meanwhile in the wider world the debut album from the wonderful Felix is finally out – and on a record label based in Chicago no less! Local girl done extremely good Lucinda should be incredibly proud of herself: “You Are The One I Pick” is not only the best thing I’ve ever heard from a musician outta MK, it’s one of the best albums I’ve heard this year by anyone. So I’ll try and review it without being too gushing. Hopefully.
To be entirely honest, it is musically right up my alley anyway – laid-back intimately recorded girl vox, dramatic yet minimalist orchestration (w/ plenty of cellos and crystalline pianos), and topped off with a light sprinkling of thump-drummy drone-rock. Yes please! And all the tracks kind of flow into each other cinematically, and it swims in effortless cool. At times it even aches with some sort of calm, sad acceptance. Simply beautiful.
It’s almost tricky to pick out favourite tracks, the whole album has a very evocative sound as a whole. But “What I Learned From TV” feels just a wee bit more intimate, more wistful – and is then followed up with Dudebox Track Of The Winter “Back In Style” with its shuffling beats and oblique Twin Peaks references. So that’s definitely a high point in this already lofty plateau.
And the intertwining of Lucinda’s vocal tracks on “Bernard St” is just lovely – the closest Felix come to some kind of mainstream sound maybe, though it’d never sit quite right there. It’s too sinister somehow. Well, not quite sinister p'raps, but something to do with the weirdness of the mundane… what’s really going on behind those nice curtains in that house down your street. And that’s brilliant. It’s not easy to create this effect well, but Felix have absolutely nailed it.
Repeated listens to the album bring the lyrics out from the mix more and more, and with them this uneasy sense of the oddness of normality hangs over proceedings. The bleak side of childhood naivety. So “Ode To The Marlboro Man” becomes a nursery rhyme sung in a round about running away with a cowboy. “I Wish I Was A Pony” becomes far darker than the gently sad little song it at first appeared. And I’m still not sure after five listens, but I think in final track “Song About Zoo” they might even kill their children and escape together from their drab lives. Outstanding.
So. Proof of just what can be achieved from this humble platform, this brilliant city. Let’s see what all you other bands have got. This is the bar, up here. You can do it. Here comes 2010.
Thursday, 8 October 2009
THE PIXIES
Venue: Brixton Academy
Reviewer: Phil
Sepia-toned images from 1929 burn like stubble on an autumn morning against requiem violins. A man stands among giant, rusting machines; he carefully sharpens his razor. A well groomed wife takes a seat in the next room, her face tranquil and poised. The man stands behind her, taking her face in his hand, he parts the lids around her right eye. He takes the sharpened razor and holds it at her eye level. In one clean move he slices through the eyeball. Un chien andalou - an Andalusian dog.
"Do The Manta Ray!" cries Black Francis from the centre of the stage to rapturous applause. The Pixies open with four b-sides all culled from their 1989 album Doolittle before playing the album in full and in order. Black Francis sounds better than he ever did on lead vocals as he hollers, yells, barks and screams his lyrics, one minute soothing, the next shattering. Kim Deal wears a huge grin throughout, her brief words to the audience forming the only banter from the band to the crowd, her surprisingly intricate base lines providing the melody to Black Francis's sparse chords. Joey Santiago plays a mean lead guitar, occasionally grinning, looking cool and like he hasn't aged a day since the band first split in 1991. David Lovering, drummer and magician, keeps the band together with solid yet unlikely rhythms that change fluidly with Black Francis's eccentric song structures.
The Pixies Live
To be performed on a large stage. Deal plays bass, Francis plays lead vocals and guitar, Santiago plays lead guitar and Lovering drums. Behind the band a large screen projects images that correspond with each song.
Darkness. Following a screening of Un Chien Andalou, the band take to the stage.
Dancing The Manta Ray.
DEAL:
B sides.
Weird At My School, Bailey’s Walk, Manta Ray.
The screen behind the band bursts into life, displaying the word Doolittle in huge flashing letters.
Debaser, Tame.
DEAL:
It’s started.
Wave Of Mutilation, I Bleed.
DEAL:
Is it a surprise to you what’s coming next? I mean, do you guys already know it or do you have it on shuffle? It’s a surprise to me! I know, but it’s a surprise!
Here Come’s Your Man, Dead, Monkey Gone To Heaven.
DEAL:
Okay, so we’re either at the end of side one or the beginning of side two.
Mr. Grieves, Crankity Jones.
DEAL:
The dulcet tones of Mr. David Lovering.
FRANCIS:
And Joe!!!
La, La, Love You.
DEAL:
Ok, so we’re defiantly on side two now, definitely on side two.
No. 13 Baby, There Goes My Gun, Hey, Silver, Gouge Away.
DEAL:
That’s it, its over! Yeah, its over, records over!
Pixies leave the stage. Rapturous applause. After a suitable pause the band return to the stage.
DEAL:
More b-sides.
Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf), Into The White.
During the song Into The White the band are almost entirely lost in clouds of white dry ice.
The band leaves the stage for a second time. More rapturous applause. The band returns. The house lights are brought up and the band looks out over their adoring audience and grin. The house lights are left up for their final two songs.
DEAL:
New record!
Caribou, Gigantic.
After the last song, performed with the house lights up and nothing on the giant screens behind them, the band put down their instruments and walk back and forth along the edge of the stage, smiling, waving, triumphant but humble. They just look like ordinary people doing extraordinary things, stripped of all rock n roll pretension; they seem almost surprised at the adoring crowd that came to see them play.
So, how many songs did The Pixies play? They played 25 songs. And what did they play? They played the album Doolittle in its entirety, all its b-sides, plus Caribou from Come On Pilgrim and Gigantic from Surfa Rosa, their first single. And why have you found it so hard to write this review? Because frankly The Pixies were everything I could have hoped for, seeing them live was a dream come true. I was there, on the front row, leaning on the bars, and they were just fantastic. They sounded phenomenal! Did they sound like they do on their records? Yes, they did, exactly like they sound on their records only better, only louder. Not because they perform live exactly what is on the record but because they put on record exactly what they perform live. And to see them live was to see their whole vision come together. In short, to see them live was to have a teenage dream of mine come true. Did they plan any new material? No, but that’s just not the point. This was a reunion gig, a chance to see a band you never thought you’d ever get to see, to see them play like its still 1989. And it’s just difficult to some up in words just how good they were or how much the whole experience meant to me. This was a celebration of The Pixies' music and that’s exactly how it felt. Dude, it was awesome!
Reviewer: Phil
Sepia-toned images from 1929 burn like stubble on an autumn morning against requiem violins. A man stands among giant, rusting machines; he carefully sharpens his razor. A well groomed wife takes a seat in the next room, her face tranquil and poised. The man stands behind her, taking her face in his hand, he parts the lids around her right eye. He takes the sharpened razor and holds it at her eye level. In one clean move he slices through the eyeball. Un chien andalou - an Andalusian dog.
"Do The Manta Ray!" cries Black Francis from the centre of the stage to rapturous applause. The Pixies open with four b-sides all culled from their 1989 album Doolittle before playing the album in full and in order. Black Francis sounds better than he ever did on lead vocals as he hollers, yells, barks and screams his lyrics, one minute soothing, the next shattering. Kim Deal wears a huge grin throughout, her brief words to the audience forming the only banter from the band to the crowd, her surprisingly intricate base lines providing the melody to Black Francis's sparse chords. Joey Santiago plays a mean lead guitar, occasionally grinning, looking cool and like he hasn't aged a day since the band first split in 1991. David Lovering, drummer and magician, keeps the band together with solid yet unlikely rhythms that change fluidly with Black Francis's eccentric song structures.
The Pixies Live
To be performed on a large stage. Deal plays bass, Francis plays lead vocals and guitar, Santiago plays lead guitar and Lovering drums. Behind the band a large screen projects images that correspond with each song.
Darkness. Following a screening of Un Chien Andalou, the band take to the stage.
Dancing The Manta Ray.
DEAL:
B sides.
Weird At My School, Bailey’s Walk, Manta Ray.
The screen behind the band bursts into life, displaying the word Doolittle in huge flashing letters.
Debaser, Tame.
DEAL:
It’s started.
Wave Of Mutilation, I Bleed.
DEAL:
Is it a surprise to you what’s coming next? I mean, do you guys already know it or do you have it on shuffle? It’s a surprise to me! I know, but it’s a surprise!
Here Come’s Your Man, Dead, Monkey Gone To Heaven.
DEAL:
Okay, so we’re either at the end of side one or the beginning of side two.
Mr. Grieves, Crankity Jones.
DEAL:
The dulcet tones of Mr. David Lovering.
FRANCIS:
And Joe!!!
La, La, Love You.
DEAL:
Ok, so we’re defiantly on side two now, definitely on side two.
No. 13 Baby, There Goes My Gun, Hey, Silver, Gouge Away.
DEAL:
That’s it, its over! Yeah, its over, records over!
Pixies leave the stage. Rapturous applause. After a suitable pause the band return to the stage.
DEAL:
More b-sides.
Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf), Into The White.
During the song Into The White the band are almost entirely lost in clouds of white dry ice.
The band leaves the stage for a second time. More rapturous applause. The band returns. The house lights are brought up and the band looks out over their adoring audience and grin. The house lights are left up for their final two songs.
DEAL:
New record!
Caribou, Gigantic.
After the last song, performed with the house lights up and nothing on the giant screens behind them, the band put down their instruments and walk back and forth along the edge of the stage, smiling, waving, triumphant but humble. They just look like ordinary people doing extraordinary things, stripped of all rock n roll pretension; they seem almost surprised at the adoring crowd that came to see them play.
So, how many songs did The Pixies play? They played 25 songs. And what did they play? They played the album Doolittle in its entirety, all its b-sides, plus Caribou from Come On Pilgrim and Gigantic from Surfa Rosa, their first single. And why have you found it so hard to write this review? Because frankly The Pixies were everything I could have hoped for, seeing them live was a dream come true. I was there, on the front row, leaning on the bars, and they were just fantastic. They sounded phenomenal! Did they sound like they do on their records? Yes, they did, exactly like they sound on their records only better, only louder. Not because they perform live exactly what is on the record but because they put on record exactly what they perform live. And to see them live was to see their whole vision come together. In short, to see them live was to have a teenage dream of mine come true. Did they plan any new material? No, but that’s just not the point. This was a reunion gig, a chance to see a band you never thought you’d ever get to see, to see them play like its still 1989. And it’s just difficult to some up in words just how good they were or how much the whole experience meant to me. This was a celebration of The Pixies' music and that’s exactly how it felt. Dude, it was awesome!
Friday, 11 September 2009
AMANDA PALMER
Venue: Union Chapel, London
Support: Polly Scattergood
Reviewer: Phil
Prologos
“Ok, so this is really weird!” confessed Miss Palmer, two songs into her solo set. “I don’t really know what I’m doing here! I mean, I’m not on tour. I just decided to do this show tomorrow and then I added this one. And like, I’m in a church which is really amazing, but also really intimidating!”
If you’re going to go Gothic, go Gothic! The Union Chapel in Islington, built in 1874, is a breathtaking example of Victorian Gothic architecture. From the outside the Gothic facade is a mass of compromised red brick but inside the hexagonal interior is stunning, a vast monument of carved wood and stone groping for the sky. That night it was lit in soft reds and deep purples, there is a large font in the centre of a stage, a backdrop of carved lattices finishes the dark illusion. Complete with fairy lights and candles arranged around the balcony ledge, it is easy to imagine we are really in some baroque romance.
“It’s just so quiet!” continued Amanda, centre stage from behind her electronic piano. And it was, the cavernous room barely filled by little Amanda in corset and boots. “I had this whole set planned but I think I’m just going to throw it all away and make it up as I go. Does anyone have any requests?”
Behind Amanda, an artist has started work on a large canvas leaned up against the font. We can’t quite see what he’s painting but he continues to work as if not on a stage at all. After a sea of hands, someone suggests Blake Says and Amanda agrees; “Ok, yeah, I’d forgotten about that song! Yeah, I’ll give that a go!”
Strophe
A subdued atmosphere hung over the early evening throng of black clad parishioners queued up outside the Union Chapel. It was early September and wind rustled through dry leaves in lazy trees whispering the secrets of the coming autumn in shades of ochre and gold along the broad street. There were hushed whispers between unlikely revellers; subdued excitement for tonight’s dark mass. A girl in black dress with face of painted white held up a sign and looked up with mournful, lonely gaze; “Free Hugs!” A man with a black hat and a serene and playful smirk operated a Miss Palmer hand puppet - he moved along the crowd seeing that everyone got the briefest kiss. A girl dressed as Alice from Wonderland gave out small, hand crafted envelopes of red and purple, full of stars and hearts and each one accompanied by a wooden rose. As the light dimmed, a man on a piano bicycle machine rode along the crowd and played to us while a girl in a heavy dress sang.
Once inside the cavernous church, we moved quickly for spaces near the front along the pews – it was seating room only in this house of worship. The last remaining rays of the day still shone through stained glass, the atmosphere was light and celebratory. We didn’t “get” Polly Scattergood, not during her support act, and not when she accompanied Amanda with a cover of Puff The Magic Dragon. Her support set was downbeat synth-pop which could have been great but just wasn’t really, while her backing band looked bored and vaguely embarrassed. Polly’s delicate heart was broken and she let us know it repeatedly with her clumsy, humourless lyrics. We’re sorry Polly, maybe he’s just not worth it!?
Then a slender man in dark suit and sporting impressive mutton-chops announced from the stage that a talented young organist from Hereford would now be joining us and what then came to pass proved a far better interlude than Polly Scattergood was a support. His pipe organ playing sent spirals of twisting sound crawling high in the domed Gothic interior with angel wings and devilish hooves. Then Miss Palmer appeared briefly on stage before disappearing behind the font to perform her first song, a very dark and sombre number, from inside the organ console.
Antistrophe
“That was supposed to be completely seamless!” laughed Miss Palmer from her piano stool. She’d played the opened bars to Missed Me on the pipe organ before leaping from the organ console hidden behind the font, diving across the stage, stumbling, reaching behind the keyboard, and attempting to pick up the song again. She went on to play one of the standout tracks from the Dresden Dolls’ self-titled debut and followed it with Astronaut from her latest album Who Killed Amanda Palmer?. Following her performance of Blake Says, a sea of hands reappeared and she had to say “it’s ok, I have an idea.” Looking about herself with glee, at the surroundings of the church, she broke into a riotous performance of Sex Changes.
“Ok, so this is a song written by my wonderful boyfriend Mr. Neil Gaiman. He’s actually a really great songwriter!” she announced before a beautiful and amusing performance of I Google You. “So I’ve just realised, it’s September 11th and I’m in a church so I have to play this song,” she said and then broke into a heart-wrenching performance of Truce. Halfway through, she suddenly stopped playing. “Oh no…. does anyone know the next line?” She laughs and looks genuinely stumped until someone cries out “we can split Germany!” The performance becomes typical of Amanda’s easy going style tonight, performing unrehearsed songs barely remembered just as she thinks of them. It’s intimate, it’s personal, this is a naked Amanda caught in the eye of a magnifying glass but also an Amanda full of humour and optimism and magnetic personality and oozing talent and stagecraft. “This is something I’ve meant to do for a while,” she explained. “I can’t read music you see, not well, but I’ve challenged myself to play some classical piano - and if I fail, well, at least I’ll come away from this with a genuine Catholic guilt!” What came next was full of mistakes but was also a dizzying array of piano skills.
At the end of the set she was joined on stage by Polly Scattergood’s band. Amanda looks about again at the interior of the church, smiles; “we’re all going to hell!” With wild delight the band breaks into Oasis and Amanda rolls out the line “when I got my abortion!” deliciously with all the wielding pleasure of a sledge hammer to the Berlin Wall.
Epode
Miss Palmer straddled the balcony above the stage; cradling a red ukulele she dedicated a cover to Neil Gaiman. “Just to make it clear,” she interrupted half way through, “it’s just because he taught me the song.”
“Ok, so can you see this guy painting behind me?” Amanda indicated to the artist at work behind her on the stage. “It’s a two night painting!” she continued. “I think at the end of the night tomorrow we’re going to auction it off or something.” Back behind her piano, she finished her encore with a spine tingling performance of Point Of It All followed by a final punk burst of Runs In The Family. As she left the stage for a final time, after two hours of music, the audience collectively sighed and wished she didn’t have to go.
Outside the Union Chapel, a huge low moon hung in the night sky. Revelers had their photos taken beside the piano bicycle machine while others moved quickly toward buses and railway stations, disappearing back into the throng of London streets. And so we bid our goodbyes once more, farewell and good evening, until we meet again.
Support: Polly Scattergood
Reviewer: Phil
Prologos
“Ok, so this is really weird!” confessed Miss Palmer, two songs into her solo set. “I don’t really know what I’m doing here! I mean, I’m not on tour. I just decided to do this show tomorrow and then I added this one. And like, I’m in a church which is really amazing, but also really intimidating!”
If you’re going to go Gothic, go Gothic! The Union Chapel in Islington, built in 1874, is a breathtaking example of Victorian Gothic architecture. From the outside the Gothic facade is a mass of compromised red brick but inside the hexagonal interior is stunning, a vast monument of carved wood and stone groping for the sky. That night it was lit in soft reds and deep purples, there is a large font in the centre of a stage, a backdrop of carved lattices finishes the dark illusion. Complete with fairy lights and candles arranged around the balcony ledge, it is easy to imagine we are really in some baroque romance.
“It’s just so quiet!” continued Amanda, centre stage from behind her electronic piano. And it was, the cavernous room barely filled by little Amanda in corset and boots. “I had this whole set planned but I think I’m just going to throw it all away and make it up as I go. Does anyone have any requests?”
Behind Amanda, an artist has started work on a large canvas leaned up against the font. We can’t quite see what he’s painting but he continues to work as if not on a stage at all. After a sea of hands, someone suggests Blake Says and Amanda agrees; “Ok, yeah, I’d forgotten about that song! Yeah, I’ll give that a go!”
Strophe
A subdued atmosphere hung over the early evening throng of black clad parishioners queued up outside the Union Chapel. It was early September and wind rustled through dry leaves in lazy trees whispering the secrets of the coming autumn in shades of ochre and gold along the broad street. There were hushed whispers between unlikely revellers; subdued excitement for tonight’s dark mass. A girl in black dress with face of painted white held up a sign and looked up with mournful, lonely gaze; “Free Hugs!” A man with a black hat and a serene and playful smirk operated a Miss Palmer hand puppet - he moved along the crowd seeing that everyone got the briefest kiss. A girl dressed as Alice from Wonderland gave out small, hand crafted envelopes of red and purple, full of stars and hearts and each one accompanied by a wooden rose. As the light dimmed, a man on a piano bicycle machine rode along the crowd and played to us while a girl in a heavy dress sang.
Once inside the cavernous church, we moved quickly for spaces near the front along the pews – it was seating room only in this house of worship. The last remaining rays of the day still shone through stained glass, the atmosphere was light and celebratory. We didn’t “get” Polly Scattergood, not during her support act, and not when she accompanied Amanda with a cover of Puff The Magic Dragon. Her support set was downbeat synth-pop which could have been great but just wasn’t really, while her backing band looked bored and vaguely embarrassed. Polly’s delicate heart was broken and she let us know it repeatedly with her clumsy, humourless lyrics. We’re sorry Polly, maybe he’s just not worth it!?
Then a slender man in dark suit and sporting impressive mutton-chops announced from the stage that a talented young organist from Hereford would now be joining us and what then came to pass proved a far better interlude than Polly Scattergood was a support. His pipe organ playing sent spirals of twisting sound crawling high in the domed Gothic interior with angel wings and devilish hooves. Then Miss Palmer appeared briefly on stage before disappearing behind the font to perform her first song, a very dark and sombre number, from inside the organ console.
Antistrophe
“That was supposed to be completely seamless!” laughed Miss Palmer from her piano stool. She’d played the opened bars to Missed Me on the pipe organ before leaping from the organ console hidden behind the font, diving across the stage, stumbling, reaching behind the keyboard, and attempting to pick up the song again. She went on to play one of the standout tracks from the Dresden Dolls’ self-titled debut and followed it with Astronaut from her latest album Who Killed Amanda Palmer?. Following her performance of Blake Says, a sea of hands reappeared and she had to say “it’s ok, I have an idea.” Looking about herself with glee, at the surroundings of the church, she broke into a riotous performance of Sex Changes.
“Ok, so this is a song written by my wonderful boyfriend Mr. Neil Gaiman. He’s actually a really great songwriter!” she announced before a beautiful and amusing performance of I Google You. “So I’ve just realised, it’s September 11th and I’m in a church so I have to play this song,” she said and then broke into a heart-wrenching performance of Truce. Halfway through, she suddenly stopped playing. “Oh no…. does anyone know the next line?” She laughs and looks genuinely stumped until someone cries out “we can split Germany!” The performance becomes typical of Amanda’s easy going style tonight, performing unrehearsed songs barely remembered just as she thinks of them. It’s intimate, it’s personal, this is a naked Amanda caught in the eye of a magnifying glass but also an Amanda full of humour and optimism and magnetic personality and oozing talent and stagecraft. “This is something I’ve meant to do for a while,” she explained. “I can’t read music you see, not well, but I’ve challenged myself to play some classical piano - and if I fail, well, at least I’ll come away from this with a genuine Catholic guilt!” What came next was full of mistakes but was also a dizzying array of piano skills.
At the end of the set she was joined on stage by Polly Scattergood’s band. Amanda looks about again at the interior of the church, smiles; “we’re all going to hell!” With wild delight the band breaks into Oasis and Amanda rolls out the line “when I got my abortion!” deliciously with all the wielding pleasure of a sledge hammer to the Berlin Wall.
Epode
Miss Palmer straddled the balcony above the stage; cradling a red ukulele she dedicated a cover to Neil Gaiman. “Just to make it clear,” she interrupted half way through, “it’s just because he taught me the song.”
“Ok, so can you see this guy painting behind me?” Amanda indicated to the artist at work behind her on the stage. “It’s a two night painting!” she continued. “I think at the end of the night tomorrow we’re going to auction it off or something.” Back behind her piano, she finished her encore with a spine tingling performance of Point Of It All followed by a final punk burst of Runs In The Family. As she left the stage for a final time, after two hours of music, the audience collectively sighed and wished she didn’t have to go.
Outside the Union Chapel, a huge low moon hung in the night sky. Revelers had their photos taken beside the piano bicycle machine while others moved quickly toward buses and railway stations, disappearing back into the throng of London streets. And so we bid our goodbyes once more, farewell and good evening, until we meet again.
Saturday, 29 August 2009
Dudebox "Track Of The Summer"
Reviewers: MMT & Phil.
Well, it’s been a quiet old Summer here on The Dudebox, but we’re back now – and planning on having a busy Autumn! Phil’s got tickets to plenty of national gigs, we’re hoping to get to far more local bands’ stuff, and there’ll be more reviews from under my bed too! So… what better way to kick things off than to have another of our regular looks at the best new(ish) tracks from the MySpaces of the Milton Keynes talent!
Sadly Re-Writing Destiny - who we dished out the coveted Dudebox Runner-Up Track Of The Winter gong to just a few short months ago – have split up, brilliantly citing “musical indifferences” as one of the reasons. Still, they were one of the better bands we’ve heard this year, so we listened to newish track “Coming Home” in tribute.
P: “I think they’re great.”
M: “Although we never saw them live, sadly. There’s a pattern to when bands break up, isn’t there? There’s a peak in the likelihood when I guess they’re 17, 18 and University calls, that’s the biggest peak. Then there’s probably a peak in their early 20s when they’ve all decided they don’t wanna do it any more, there’s probably another peak when people start getting married and having kids. And then if you get past all those hurdles, you’re good for life! And you can just carry on until you’re old.”
P: “My opinion of the song is clouded a bit by the fact I know it’s a bit like their swansong.”
Then we kicked on with some more local bands who haven't split up yet. Some have been on our radar a while thanks to the MonKeyVision Song Contest and/or the Monkey Kettle Stage at the Waterside Festival, some are totally new to us. Hope you might find something you like…
“HMW” by Dusque
M: “They were so great at the Waterside, that was one of the best sets of the weekend.”
P: "They were. It was an early set, so there wasn’t really anyone to watch them. But they were SO good. And I’m enjoying this now, but I preferred it live.”
M: “It’s good outdoors… festival… it’s mellow, and it’s…”
P: “They’re seasoned musicians.”
M: “This bit now is the kind of stuff I like… like ravey keyboard. I’m at a Trance Tent in Ibiza. And the sun’s rising. I’m in the Chill Zone.”
“No Place Like Rome” by Embrace The Tide
M: “Their singer is Chris Weaver who was in one of our Ludamus plays a few years ago (‘Zombies The Musical’). He’s got a few more tattoos in the meantime, of course.”
P: “Maybe if he’d never done ‘Zombies’ he’d never have ended up here.”
M: “Yeah, I did him a ‘Lead Singer Workshop’ as part of the rehearsals for that.”
P: “Some of these MySpaces look so professional…”
M: “And again, they’re really tight musically when you think of how young they still are.”
“Tap Out” by The Kranx
P: “He’s got a really good voice.”
M: “I know a lot of our mates really liked them at MonKeyVision, didn’t they? (reads from their MySpace) ‘it’d be sick to see you at one of our gigs’. I’m guessing sick means good in the young person’s vernacular…”
P: “They went down really well. A really energetic performance.”
“Recluse” (demo version) by Joshua Timmins & The Newborns
M: “What I… like about him is he seems to still embody that ‘I’ll just take my guitar and do a gig anywhere’ kind of spirit. You can imagine him with his guitar just going anywhere.”
P: “I like that, definitely. He’s got a nice easiness in front of the audience that I kind of envy. And there’s something about this song, and his songs… that he’s always REACHING for something.”
M: “There’s a crack in his voice a bit like Conor Oberst from Bright Eyes, but it’s kind of what makes what he’s singing work. And cos he’s young he’s good at all this technical stuff, look… he’s got a Twitter built into his MySpace.”
“Scar On An Empty Crusade” by Stabbed By Paranoia
M: “What really touched me about them was… not only have they got embedded YouTube footage of them practicing at school, but their Blog from July says ‘we’re still working on new material to complete our set. We have 3 songs and a 4th one nearly finished. We plan to make a 5th song after which will complete our set. so we can go book gigs!’”
P: “I like it. I like the complicated solo, they’re very technically proficient.”
M: “Fair play to ‘em. We should re-visit them when they’ve finished their 5th song.”
“Missing Helstone (Economy Groove)” by Harassing Anna
P: “I thought they played really well at MonKeyVision.”
M: “I think I like the spin-off acts (Tombstone Bullets and Bine The Peg) just as much though. But I like this track particularly, where they sound a little bit bluesy.”
P: “There’s something very retro about it. But I’d like it in a pub atmosphere, after a few pints.”
“Wolves” by Acacia Close
(during the first thirty seconds: Phil laughs in immediate response at the intensity of these 2008 Pitz Band Blitz winners, then both are silent. Then they read the advert for a new guitarist / singer. Phil decides not to apply. Then the song changes, gets less screamy, and they start enjoying it)
M: “It’s really well produced actually, innit.”
P: “It’s a real professional demo. I’m liking it now, actually. I think I’d really like them live.”
M: “There’s more levels to it than it seemed from the start. I like how from their Biog they seem keen to expand, not be ‘just’ a ‘Pitz Band’.”
P: “I can hear where the new guitarist / singer would fit in there.”
“First Light After” by Altersketch
P: “I thought their song at MonKeyVision was one of the best songs of the night, and it still gets stuck in my head.”
M: “I like this one. It’s more sort of… ‘Dark Indie’.”
P: “It’s Indie but it Rocks.”
“The Disappointment” by Rozism
M: “I’m not sure we can allow this to be track of the season, though it is excellent. But cos she’s from Northampton I don’t think she can ‘count’. Shona recommended her to me, and I think she sounds really impressive.”
P: “I always… when I meet people who are really really good musicians, I just want to hear something that makes me go ‘Wow! Where did that come from?’.”
M: “I love a world where people can make this sort of stuff in their bedrooms. That all across the world, people could be making this sort of stuff in their bedrooms.”
(Phil nods enthusiastically)
RUNNER-UP DUDEBOX TRACK OF THE SEASON
“Find And Replace” by Equinox
M: “They really really impressed me at the Waterside. They’re still really young, but I think their songwriting is deceptively mature. I mean, they’re clearly influenced by, like… Muse… Franz Ferdinand… The Killers…”
P: “They are, but there’s more than that. Seeing them live, I thought there was a lot of different stuff going on.”
M: “Their demo CD which was being handed round at the Waterside is one of the best local demos I’ve heard in the last couple of years, for definite. And they brought the biggest audience too, that was really impressive. Made us look good.”
P: “I like this a lot.”
DUDEBOX TRACK OF THE SEASON
“Cold Baked Beans” by Project Wolverine
M: “Describes himself here as… ‘the Bargain Bucket Billy Bragg’.”
P: “I really like this an awful lot. I think it’s great. It’s funny… I like the guitar work… the vocals are really good.”
M: “I like the lyrics. I can see the Billy Bragg comparison. I’d love to see him at The Cannon on a Thursday night. I think he’d go down really well. “Pub Politics” is a good song as well.”
P: “I like the fact it’s all a little bit punky too.”
M: "Good skills. He's the winner."
Well, it’s been a quiet old Summer here on The Dudebox, but we’re back now – and planning on having a busy Autumn! Phil’s got tickets to plenty of national gigs, we’re hoping to get to far more local bands’ stuff, and there’ll be more reviews from under my bed too! So… what better way to kick things off than to have another of our regular looks at the best new(ish) tracks from the MySpaces of the Milton Keynes talent!
Sadly Re-Writing Destiny - who we dished out the coveted Dudebox Runner-Up Track Of The Winter gong to just a few short months ago – have split up, brilliantly citing “musical indifferences” as one of the reasons. Still, they were one of the better bands we’ve heard this year, so we listened to newish track “Coming Home” in tribute.
P: “I think they’re great.”
M: “Although we never saw them live, sadly. There’s a pattern to when bands break up, isn’t there? There’s a peak in the likelihood when I guess they’re 17, 18 and University calls, that’s the biggest peak. Then there’s probably a peak in their early 20s when they’ve all decided they don’t wanna do it any more, there’s probably another peak when people start getting married and having kids. And then if you get past all those hurdles, you’re good for life! And you can just carry on until you’re old.”
P: “My opinion of the song is clouded a bit by the fact I know it’s a bit like their swansong.”
Then we kicked on with some more local bands who haven't split up yet. Some have been on our radar a while thanks to the MonKeyVision Song Contest and/or the Monkey Kettle Stage at the Waterside Festival, some are totally new to us. Hope you might find something you like…
“HMW” by Dusque
M: “They were so great at the Waterside, that was one of the best sets of the weekend.”
P: "They were. It was an early set, so there wasn’t really anyone to watch them. But they were SO good. And I’m enjoying this now, but I preferred it live.”
M: “It’s good outdoors… festival… it’s mellow, and it’s…”
P: “They’re seasoned musicians.”
M: “This bit now is the kind of stuff I like… like ravey keyboard. I’m at a Trance Tent in Ibiza. And the sun’s rising. I’m in the Chill Zone.”
“No Place Like Rome” by Embrace The Tide
M: “Their singer is Chris Weaver who was in one of our Ludamus plays a few years ago (‘Zombies The Musical’). He’s got a few more tattoos in the meantime, of course.”
P: “Maybe if he’d never done ‘Zombies’ he’d never have ended up here.”
M: “Yeah, I did him a ‘Lead Singer Workshop’ as part of the rehearsals for that.”
P: “Some of these MySpaces look so professional…”
M: “And again, they’re really tight musically when you think of how young they still are.”
“Tap Out” by The Kranx
P: “He’s got a really good voice.”
M: “I know a lot of our mates really liked them at MonKeyVision, didn’t they? (reads from their MySpace) ‘it’d be sick to see you at one of our gigs’. I’m guessing sick means good in the young person’s vernacular…”
P: “They went down really well. A really energetic performance.”
“Recluse” (demo version) by Joshua Timmins & The Newborns
M: “What I… like about him is he seems to still embody that ‘I’ll just take my guitar and do a gig anywhere’ kind of spirit. You can imagine him with his guitar just going anywhere.”
P: “I like that, definitely. He’s got a nice easiness in front of the audience that I kind of envy. And there’s something about this song, and his songs… that he’s always REACHING for something.”
M: “There’s a crack in his voice a bit like Conor Oberst from Bright Eyes, but it’s kind of what makes what he’s singing work. And cos he’s young he’s good at all this technical stuff, look… he’s got a Twitter built into his MySpace.”
“Scar On An Empty Crusade” by Stabbed By Paranoia
M: “What really touched me about them was… not only have they got embedded YouTube footage of them practicing at school, but their Blog from July says ‘we’re still working on new material to complete our set. We have 3 songs and a 4th one nearly finished. We plan to make a 5th song after which will complete our set. so we can go book gigs!’”
P: “I like it. I like the complicated solo, they’re very technically proficient.”
M: “Fair play to ‘em. We should re-visit them when they’ve finished their 5th song.”
“Missing Helstone (Economy Groove)” by Harassing Anna
P: “I thought they played really well at MonKeyVision.”
M: “I think I like the spin-off acts (Tombstone Bullets and Bine The Peg) just as much though. But I like this track particularly, where they sound a little bit bluesy.”
P: “There’s something very retro about it. But I’d like it in a pub atmosphere, after a few pints.”
“Wolves” by Acacia Close
(during the first thirty seconds: Phil laughs in immediate response at the intensity of these 2008 Pitz Band Blitz winners, then both are silent. Then they read the advert for a new guitarist / singer. Phil decides not to apply. Then the song changes, gets less screamy, and they start enjoying it)
M: “It’s really well produced actually, innit.”
P: “It’s a real professional demo. I’m liking it now, actually. I think I’d really like them live.”
M: “There’s more levels to it than it seemed from the start. I like how from their Biog they seem keen to expand, not be ‘just’ a ‘Pitz Band’.”
P: “I can hear where the new guitarist / singer would fit in there.”
“First Light After” by Altersketch
P: “I thought their song at MonKeyVision was one of the best songs of the night, and it still gets stuck in my head.”
M: “I like this one. It’s more sort of… ‘Dark Indie’.”
P: “It’s Indie but it Rocks.”
“The Disappointment” by Rozism
M: “I’m not sure we can allow this to be track of the season, though it is excellent. But cos she’s from Northampton I don’t think she can ‘count’. Shona recommended her to me, and I think she sounds really impressive.”
P: “I always… when I meet people who are really really good musicians, I just want to hear something that makes me go ‘Wow! Where did that come from?’.”
M: “I love a world where people can make this sort of stuff in their bedrooms. That all across the world, people could be making this sort of stuff in their bedrooms.”
(Phil nods enthusiastically)
RUNNER-UP DUDEBOX TRACK OF THE SEASON
“Find And Replace” by Equinox
M: “They really really impressed me at the Waterside. They’re still really young, but I think their songwriting is deceptively mature. I mean, they’re clearly influenced by, like… Muse… Franz Ferdinand… The Killers…”
P: “They are, but there’s more than that. Seeing them live, I thought there was a lot of different stuff going on.”
M: “Their demo CD which was being handed round at the Waterside is one of the best local demos I’ve heard in the last couple of years, for definite. And they brought the biggest audience too, that was really impressive. Made us look good.”
P: “I like this a lot.”
DUDEBOX TRACK OF THE SEASON
“Cold Baked Beans” by Project Wolverine
M: “Describes himself here as… ‘the Bargain Bucket Billy Bragg’.”
P: “I really like this an awful lot. I think it’s great. It’s funny… I like the guitar work… the vocals are really good.”
M: “I like the lyrics. I can see the Billy Bragg comparison. I’d love to see him at The Cannon on a Thursday night. I think he’d go down really well. “Pub Politics” is a good song as well.”
P: “I like the fact it’s all a little bit punky too.”
M: "Good skills. He's the winner."
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