- Hot Chip - Ready For The Floor
- Sheryl Crow - Love Is Free
- Sugarush Beat Company - L.O.V.E.
- Liza Minnelli (Chat with JH)
- The Imagined Village - Cold Haily Rainy Night
- Liza Minnelli and JH - God Bless The Child
- Hot Chip - Made In The Dark
- Sheryl Crow - Out Of Our Heads
- Jacob Golden - Out Come The Wolves
- Sheryl Crow (Chat with JH)
- Sugarush Beat Company - They Said I Said
- Sheryl Crow - Everyday Is A Winding Road
- Hot Chip - Hold On
Every so often Later… throws up some real gems that leave the star acts wondering why they turned up at all. But before we get to the good stuff, we need to talk about the headliners.
Hot Chip are an enigma, a kind of geeky electro-indie band with far too many people doing too many things. What was strange about the opener Ready For The Floor was the production - we seemed to dive out of the studio and cut to some older video cut of the performance, which was a ropey version of an ok song. Showcase for the new album, Made In The Dark was dull and uninspired and Hold On was even worse. Maybe the vocal mix was wrong or their live shows are always muffled and incomprehensible. The band fail to capture the polish of the studio.
The real ’star’ of the show is Sheryl Crow despite taking second billing to Hot Chip. Now, before I start let it be known that I am a huge fan but unfortunately she is one of these artists who has made a name and never really followed up initial success. Her set proves that she has run out of songs and ideas, and her live shows just plod through the motions. New single Love Is Free is ok but nothing special but Out Of Our Heads is a real honest attempt at a return to credibility. The song, in the style of Neil Young or Bob Dylan, quickly becomes a hippie anthem which is both empty and soulless. For some reason there are a plethora of whoops and hollers from the band which adds nothing. Even more embarrassing is the VT of a past live performance shown to us at one of the ’piano’ chats with JH. It shows Crow young and dynamic and she can actually sing, unlike now. Without anything else to promote her new album, she resorts to a woeful rendition of Everyday Is A Winding Road.
The third act is a strange combination of Scandinavian indie band and two soul-funk singers. Their first song L.O.V.E. was like two songs sung as the same time but They Said I Said was much better, showing real style and substance. This was again another good reason to tune in every week and shows the skills of the researchers.
Now to the best bits…Martin and Eliza Carthy with Chris Wood, The Copper Family and Johney Kalsi all brought together by Simon Emmerson have created a wonderful English folk Bangra fusion band. Starting with Kalsi’s drumming and blending in Martin Carthy’s guitar playing, complete with Eliza’s energy and spark, it is a joy from start to finish - a band of musicians who are comfortable on any stage making music and having fun. This alone would have made me watch but again got no pre-show billing. They can even be seen sitting and bopping along to the Sugarush Beat Company, thoroughly enjoying themselves and basking in their glory.
Another great find is Jacob Golden, who sadly only gets one song Out Come The Wolves. It is a beguiling performance starting quiet and nervous and ending Conner Oberst style in a crescendo of guitar and vocal. As the song ends, the camera pulls out to reveal Sheryl Crow watching on thinking why she even got up in the morning. I hope she finds her mojo soon and starts to deliver again.
Jools’ special guest this week is Liza Minnelli who after arriving fashionably late, treats us to God Bless The Child accompanied by Jools. Like her or loathe her she certainly delivers, looking close to collapse at the end of the stage-worthy performance.
So to sum up, a weak show with only three or four decent songs and two very disappointing ‘stars’. The BBC missed an opportunity to show more of The Imagined Village who took their turn in the spotlight and their chance to impress and succeeded completely.
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