So another year, another Cambridge Folk Festival.
Mountain Meadows is the second album from Canadian alternative country trio Elliott Brood. Following 2005's impressive, but largely unnoticed debut Ambassador, the band have developed their sound while staying close to their traditional roots. The album has been described as 'hardcore country', conjuring up images of Hayseed Dixie and their obsession with Motorhead. That is something of a misnomer as Elliott Brood's music is much more interesting.
Looking at the line-up for this weeks Live From Abbey Road show, I wasn't hopeful. The Hoosiers are one of my least favourite bands of the moment and I have only heard a few Manu Chao songs and I didn't like any of them. The Black Keys however are incredible. But you have to take the rough with the smooth and unfortunately the warning signs proved correct yet again.
The Hoosiers talked about the origin of their name and how they formed, and how their natural sound often gets mistaken for chirpy pop. After a confusing intro attempting to explain the song, they performed their biggest hit Goodbye Mr. A - a decent enough chirpy pop (sorry) song. Then, after another explanation it was Run Rabbit Run, a well meaning song about women how always fall for the wrong men. The meaning was lost under horrible falsetto vocals and then wailing at the end. But the biggest let down of all was the third song choice - a cover of Billy Joel's We Didn't Light The Fire. Lead singer Sparkes tried to ease us into the song gently by reminding us that when dealing with cover versions, always give the song what it needs, which in most cases doesn't mean an eight minute guitar solo. So instead they add a huge over the top brass section to the end of what starts off as a decent cover. It promises to be a great reinterpretation with softer vocals but lacking the urgency of the original. And then it quickly goes wrong. Even a clever attempt to get political by changing the word 'Russians' to 'we are' in 'Russians in Afghanistan' doesn't help. Overall a dull and pointless set.
The Black Keys on the other hand were astonishing. Like Ray Lamontagne merged with The White Stripes, the duo pump out guitars and drums like no one else (except The White Stripes of course). Starting with the blistering I Got Mine and then the Captain Beefheart cover Here I Am I Always Am, given a striped down treatment. Same Old Thing was just as good - brimming with energy and showing the dynamic between the two musicians. There is a great interview conducted in the Abbey Road echo chamber. Dan Auerbach tells us that it is where The Beatles came to smoke joints. Patrick Carney, unsure if they can say that, corrects it and says it is where they came to east ham sandwiches because the sound of chewing was much better. An incite into a band's mentality if every there was one.
French-Spanish singer and activist Manu Chao is an acquired taste but a legend in world music. He thinks that bars are the best place to try new songs and doesn't like the concept of rehearsal because his memory has been destroyed by cigarettes . Improvisation is the key. THat would explain the mistimed ending of the horrible Bongo Bong / Mr. Bobby - sounding like Jack Johnson rapping. Bienvenida A Tijuana is much better - a more traditional Spanish song, but still a bit dull. The big political number was the nauseating Politik Kills / Rainin In Paradize. You cannot deny that his heart is in the right place but it is an awful song, badly arranged with obvious heavy lyrics. Shame.I cannot believe that this guy thinks he is some kind of music vigilante in some well deserved fight against artists. And he really doesn't know the answer to the last question? It is quite simple, if you buy a CD, it is yours to own and listen to. Every CD you buy (typically) has the following text stamped on it: "Unauthorised copying, broadcasting, public performance , hiring or rental is prohibited". Okay so some of that is open to interpretation if you get picky but since 'rental' can take place without any fee, the answer to the question is most definitely "No, it is ALREADY illegal". One copy, one person. It is that simple. If he plays it in his garden and his neighbour hears it, it is illegal. You can't even copy your own CD and put it on your mp3 player! I am constantly amazed at this law and the fact that most people don't know it.One BBC News website user Mark, from Hampshire, said he downloaded and shared files illegally and argued customers were "getting their own back".
In an e-mail, he said: "I used to run half a dozen record shops in the 80s and saw how far the fat cats of the record industry would go, in milking customers and retailers dry with more hyped rubbish."
"Why should I yet again pay for, say, the Beatles' White Album at full whack? I already bought it on LP, eight-track, cassette, and CD! This is those customers getting their own back."
"So will this make me sharing a CD with my next-door neighbour over the fence illegal?" he added.
The title says it all really. The Pitchfork review of the new Black Kids album Partie Traumatic, which I am avoiding for now, has been replaced with two adorable pug dogs saying sorry.
This week was Panic At The Disco, David Gray and Suzanne Vega. Mixed feelings about this weeks show. About half way through it was looking like the best of the series so far but then a strange thing happened. I was really looking forward to Suzanne Vega who is one of the most important musicians of my generation (thirty somethings) and for reasons I don't understand, the best artist to feature turned into a real disappointment. I guess the weight of expectation was too much.
Panic At The Disco were very good. Unlike some of the other young bands they had more of a natural demeanour instead of arrogance. Again they looked like a proper live band in a studio environment and they were not overwhelmed by the location. Apparently they mixed their last album at Abbey Road. Anyway the young American band gave two decent renditions: the warbley vocals and emo-pop of Nine In The Afternoon then the superb I Write Sins Not Tragedies - a great vocal arrangement like Coheed & Cambria without the ferocious intensity. The band talked openly about their current learning process and how mistakes are made because they are still learning. Bands these days are expected to be as perfect as much earlier bands who were successful later in life. Their third song, curiously, was a cover of The Weight. As the singer says at the end, it felt a bit slow and clunky. The vocals were excellent though.
I have a soft spot for David Gray thanks to a Glastonbury festival experience I had. It was just one of the perfect moments when the rain stopped, the sun was setting and time stood still. I have been a fan ever since. He is very honest and has been unfairly criticised for moaning about how one album and one song can make your career. So it was too much to ask for a Babylon. He talked about life after White Ladder and how having a hit record doesn't mean you can do it again. You have to work for it all the time. Instead Gray kicked off with the excellent You're The World To Me. The band positioning was interesting, all facing in to each other. Gray performed standing on a tartan rug presumably so that his stomping feet wouldn't mess up the amps. The more intimate Breathe was amazing - again Gray faced two other band members and the dynamic deep guitars worked well. He gave a quick explanation of the song conception beforehand: of two Iranians who came to his house to talk about human injustice and the torture and murder of dissidents. It worked brilliantly. Gray finished with The Other Side, from simple piano to full band and frantic ending. He says that his lack of belief turns the song into a desperate plea.
Now to Suzanne Vega. She talked about how she considers herself a writer above anything else, a writer of poetry but not a poet. She introduced Tom's Diner as the song which invented the mp3 - the guys perfecting the technology used the original a cappela version to test the mp3 format. So she performed a more modern arrangement with full band - it has quite a strange dub / electronic feel. Then she performed Luka, a classic song. Vega explained that it was designed not be be dour or cheerful but matter-of-fact, like a child would regard the experience of being abused. The song was recorded and refined many times before they got it right. And then...the show ends.
Church Bell Blues is the second album from Canadian roots singer and guitarist Catherine MacLellan. Lying somewhere between folk and country but staying firmly on the right side of both, it is a stirring collection of songs with seemingly sparse arrangements and delicate instrumentation. Everything is held together by MacLellan's astonishing voice, piercing through the music. The smart but simple production is added by co-musician James Phillips. This is a perfect example of how artist and producer have developed a relationship and understanding over time - Phillips was in MacLellan's former band The New Drifts and worked on her solo debut Dark Dream Midnight. It is this dynamic that forms the core of the album. The guitars are turned up a notch so that every rasp and vibration is retained, adding a stark reality like recapturing every subsequent live performance. But MacLellan's gorgeous voice is left to glide unhindered with crisp clarity. The mark of a great producer is the ability to give the music space to breathe.
A very interesting and much better Live From Abbey Road show this week featuring Welsh indie-rock stalwarts Stereophonics, pop songstress Colbie Caillat and the legend that is Joan Armatrading. So I was expecting great things from everyone involved.
Colbie Caillat is a bit of an enigma. She talked about her fame and stardom (even though most people have never heard of her) and influences including Lauren Hill and Bob Marley, but also predictably John Mayer (quoted by every up and coming singer anywhere). Then about having to learn the guitar to write songs and changing her attitude to make things happen instead of just waiting for fame to find her. She looked very uneasy and nervous during the guitar led Bubbly, a great pop tune, before losing the guitar for Realize. It did nothing for her fragile credibility to hold her headphones on with both hands as if she was crooning a verse for We Are The World. That aside, the whimsical ballad was pleasant enough. Her very good band looked far more at ease than she did. The guitar solo at the end of Battle was the best thing about it.
The best was saved for last with the mighty Joan Armatrading. I was expecting a set of new songs from a new album (you can't blame me after last week - thanks Crow) but she started with the dramatic blues fuelled Tall In The Saddle. Her voice is amazing and as she says in her interview, she also considers herself a fine guitarist. This was highly evident here. As the song turned into a frantic jam session, there was a bizarre moment of voice over and interview right in the middle of the song, focusing on her guitar! It spoiled the song somewhat but broke the formula nicely. A Woman In Love sounded more conventional but was the most modern song, from 2007, before an incredible semi-acoustic Love And Affection complete with sax break. It's a shame there wasn't enough time for Drop The Pilot but this was a rare treat. Armatrading says she still loves singing the song and wouldn't deny fans in a gig. Highlight of the series so far.
America has a great tradition of piano playing singer songwriters. Sarah Perrotta definitely fits this stereotype - earnest and passionate lyrics set to emotional piano-led music with added strings. On paper it has all been done before so the key is to mix things up to generate new and interesting directions. 'The Well' is Perrotta's first solo release and the album is a mixed bag of sounds, themes and ideas, not just across the album but usually within each song.
A review for The Music Magazine of Set Lakeman's new album. More consistent than Freedom Fields but just as predictable and safe. This time with added maritime disasters and redness.
The second show in the series features Sheryl Crow, Hard-Fi and Diana Krall. Again not an inspiring line-up but I watched with an open objective mind. But ultimately I was disappointed simply because most of the music was just so dull.
Sheryl Crow was blatantly plugging her new album. All three of her songs were from 'Detours' and nowhere near the best thing she has done. Her heart might now be in the right place but the music is empty and predictable. She talked before about her initial stardom and how it was a dismal time for music (she quotes Madonna and Paula Abdul in this claim). How ironic. The only song that impressed was the upbeat Love Is Free - the first song to really feel live despite high vocal production. The big boring chorus and meaningful, yet predictable, lyrics of Shine Over Babylon and the wobbly Now That You're Gone were uninspired.
Diana Krall was very good. She is an amazing pianist and singer even if she does sing other people's songs. Her philosophy of 'try first, then listen back' may seem basic but is great advice. Her clean music works much better in the clean studio format and remains 'live' through the production. The rework of 'Let's Face The Music And Dance' was expected but also brilliant. She is not entirely my cup of tea but a nice surprise in an otherwise dull show.
I was sent a very interesting album to review for The Music Magazine. 'The Lines' are (or were) a post-punk guitar band from London in the last seventies and early eighties. They released a few singles and EPs and only two albums as their sound developed from punchy punk to goth-dub. It is a strange and compelling transition. I really like the whole of the Cold Snap! EP which captures the band at their early best but later songs like 'Part II' and 'House Of Cracks' are just as good."Follow you, follow me. Build a library, make history, solve a mystery", sings Rico Conning on 'Don't Need Surgery'. It is prophetic song writing as 'The Lines' are a real mystery. One of these bands with a cult following and fans desperately hoping that no one else discovers their big secret. 'Memory Span' is a huge compilation of everything 'The Lines' released plus a few unreleased demos. The album shows the development of the band through several line-up changes and an evolving sound from 1978 to 1983. At times they have an incredible dynamic - the fusion of Forty's bass and a myriad of guitar sounds from Conning, later joined by Linehan, and Cash's seemingly random drumming. Singer Conning occasionally sounds like Peter Perritt ('The Only Ones') which is no bad thing.
The highlights of the first part of the compilation are the disjointed guitars and sultry vocals of first single 'White Night' and the driving bass and drums of 'Not Through Windows'. The playful vocals of the 'Blisstability' demo concluding with Conning asking "Where's my Aspirin? Where's it happening?" is the best unreleased track.
The 'Cool Snap! EP' forms the middle of 'Memory Span' and is home to the best songs. 'Don't Need Surgery' is the first sign of real song writing ability. Wonderful guitars and vocals very reminiscent of early R.E.M. '2 Split Seconds' has the same intertwine of guitars with added drums, as is the more upbeat gothic-punk of 'False Alarm'. 'Background' is a poetic bass driven ramble about alienation and change: "It's a new situation in a given space. All the old preparations for a different race", topped with a jangly ending. 'Cool Snap' could be an early 'Cure' instrumental with spurious percussion and a great guitar melody. The trombone mid section and outro is a bit mad but the whole thing works brilliantly. The EP captures the changing times of the summer of 1980 and a changing band.
Moving further into the 1980s, the single 'Nerve Pylon' is the first sign of a new sound with added electronic production and has Conning trying, with limited success, Ian Brown style 'big vocals'. Likewise 'Over The Brow' is an interesting song, less punchy punk and more dub influenced with brass and huge expansive vocals. 'Transit' continues the same approach and at nearly six minutes 'Part II' is a sprawling trippy semi-instrumental. Conning's vocals add to the haze like Ian Curtis on a bad day.
Instead of sounding like a band in decline, the gargantuan 'House Of Cracks' tries to capture the earlier sound. Conning's lyrics would suggest otherwise: "I say listen to the wailing. This train is derailing. Oh my, the brakes are failing..." before screaming incoherently. The song finally settles down after an explosive opening and a protracted sample of rainfall. It is a beguiling mix. Conning is particularly dour: "What shall we do with the drunken sailor? Slap him around and tell him he's a failure", echoed by the desperate horror-movie ending. Conversely 'Old Town' is a spacious collection of noises and shouting set to a bass line - less of a song and more an idea.
'Barbican' takes the band full circle and it is early guitarist Phillips who takes centre stage. Strangely it is the album closer instead of being coupled with 'White Night', reminding us of where the band started.
Why 'The Lines' did not find the same commercial success as their contemporaries is the big mystery. It is claimed that the band never went on tour or did interviews; a very different musical world back in the early 80s without the glare of the media spotlight, thousands of television and radio channels and the internet. Although 'Memory Span' is definitely music of its time, it works today as a complete history of an evolving band who deserved more than cult status. In the current climate of trying to sound retro yet different, many of the songs would be comfortable along side the likes of 'The Pigeon Detectives' and 'Massive Attack'. After twenty five years, the secret is finally out.
8/10
On Friday 4th July, BBC Four dedicated a night of music programmes to Nick Cave and his band The Bad Seeds. They performed a lively set as LSO St. Lukes in London to a small audience in the intimate setting.
With the temporary demise of the only decent music show on television, Later…with Jools Holland, I thought I would write about another. Live From Abbey Road is now back on More4 (one of Channel 4’s more artsy siblings) for a second series. I must admit that I missed the first shows which showcased the likes of Paul Simon, Massive Attack, Primal Scream, Kasabian and The Zutons.
