Tag Archives: Cambridge

Dexys: then and now

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On Friday 20 March 2015, BBC4 are showing the film ‘Dexys: Nowhere is Home’, featuring what led up to their comeback album ‘One Day I’m Going To Soar’ and the triumphant accompanying live shows.

Formed in 1980 as ‘Dexys Midnight Runners’ by singer Kevin Rowland, the fortunes of the band have varied dramatically, starting with the critical acclaim for debut album ‘Searching For The Young Soul Rebels’ and number one single ‘Geno’. This was followed by a change of direction into the ‘celtic soul’ of 1983 album ‘Too-Rye-Aye’ with blockbusting hits ‘Jackie Wilson Said’ and of course UK and US number one ‘Come On Eileen’, destined to be included on 80s compilations for evermore. Line-up changes are well documented elsewhere, as is the status of the ‘neglected classic’ 1985 third album ‘Don’t Stand Me Down’ and the long barren years.

Then mostly it all went quiet until the rumours of a new album due for release in 2012…

… And what an album it was, the distillation of the best of all that had gone before, honed to perfection with an as-live sound (listen to those drums!) and a variety of musical styles to accompany Kevin Rowland’s impressionistic life story, his lyrics linking the songs into an inseparable whole. Themes of friendship, relationships and love, creativity, national identity, ageing, masculinity, insecurity, it was all there… delivered in Kevin’s unique vocal stylising, pulling in and engrossing the listener. Some band members from the past were back, with the addition of keyboards(hear the tide of Hammond organ on ‘Thinking Of You’) and writing from Mick Talbot, long-time collaborator with Paul Weller and most recently Wilko Johnson.

The live shows bravely started with the entire album: when I saw them at Cambridge Corn Exchange the audience were not yet familiar with the required demands of the new material on the listener, but were held rapt until the last note. The second half of the concert was more familiar, including a blistering version of ‘This Is What She’s Like’, the centrepiece of the (currently unavailable?!) third album.
Later in the tour I saw them again at Bury St Edmunds Apex, a more intimate venue and by this time the new song-cycle had really reached hearts and minds. Three of the pivotal songs are about the idealising/idolising of a woman, played brilliantly by Madeleine Hyland who suddenly appeared singing in the high seats at the back of the venue. She then joined the rest of the band on stage for the theatrical vocal duelling of getting together (‘I’m Always Going To Love You’) and an abrupt break-up (‘Incapable Of Love’), with Kevin at his tortured best.
It was the highlight of a great show and tour culminating in the nine night residency at the Duke of York’s Theatre in London, as featured in ‘Nowhere Is Home’.

Embrace and enjoy…

http://www.dexysonline.com/

Wilko Johnson, Junction, Cambridge, 6 March 2015

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This was the welcome return of Wilko Johnson to live performance with a sold-out charity benefit concert for Addenbrooke’s Hospital, after their pioneering surgery led to a cure for his cancer.
The musical atmosphere had been well set up by support band Eight Rounds Rapid, with their sharp, smart punk-fuelled R&B, reminding me what a potent instrumental combination guitar (played by Wilko’s son Simon), bass and drums can be, topped with sneering vocals from David Alexander.
Then an emotional ovation as Wilko and his band arrived on stage. Any doubts that his musical edge had been blunted were quickly dispelled. He has an electric stage presence, strutting and staring, at one with his guitar. His style of playing incorporates percussive chops with short lead lines and patterns built in, shown to good effect in ‘Sneaking Suspicion’ and of course the classic ‘Roxette’. The recent collaboration album (with Roger Daltry) was heavily featured including triumphant title track ‘Going Back Home’, with the timely opening line ‘I wanna live the way I like…’. Norman Watt-Roy was coaxing and wrenching jazzy lines from his bass and solid drumming was provided by Dylan Howe.
There was a discernible ripple of concern in the crowd when Wilko left the stage after 40 mins during ‘ Everybody’s Carrying A Gun’ but we need not have worried, he was soon back having allowed time for more bass acrobatics from Norman. A long encore of ‘Bye Bye Johnny’, heartfelt thanks to the hospital staff and he was gone (but he will be back for the Cambridge Folk Festival…)

http://www.wilkojohnson.com/
https://www.facebook.com/EightRoundsRapid

John Otway, Portland Arms, Cambridge, 5 March 2015

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John Otway is a true original, frequently touring and sometimes recording since his first ‘hit’ in 1977. Like John Cooper Clarke from the same era he is difficult to fully describe to the uninitiated, but he has kept the punk ethos alive, musically eccentric and with added humour and a cult performance that has an incredibly loyal following (as he joked ‘sometimes there are people in the audience who have seen me more than once…’).

Bizarre cover versions of pop classics(?) ‘You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet’, ‘Crazy Horses’, ‘Blockbuster’ mix in with his original songs ‘Really Free’, ‘Beware of The Flowers’ (7th in a national poll to find the greatest pop lyrics of all time!), ‘ Bunsen Burner’ along with a Bob Dylan parody, headbutting the microphone, failed acrobatics and one-sided banter with Deadly, his onstage roadie.’ ‘Body Talk’, as performed many years ago on ‘The Young Ones’ TV show, features percussive body sensors and the wailing sound of the theremin is pushed to its limits.

It is all hilarious, he is such a likeable, self deprecating performer that even though you have seen it all before you will be there the next time too. The humour dominates but sometimes the emotional sentiment of his songs cuts through, such as the relationship aftermaths described in ‘Middle Of Winter’ and ‘We Know What She’s Doing (She’s In Love)’. ‘Poetry And Jazz’ is a longer detailed narrative of a difficult growing up process and shows his songwriting talent.

Sometimes described as ‘Rock and Roll’s Greatest Failure’, I think his longevity proves otherwise…

http://www.johnotway.com/

Blossoms, Portland Arms, Cambridge, 18 February 2015

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The Vryll Society are an accomplished five-piece band from Liverpool, their spacious sound occupying territory from The Cure to The Stone Roses with many points inbetween. Long songs allow the mood of each to develop, no instrument pushing forward too much, as if the sound is approaching from a long distance away to gradually immerse the listener. The lead singer has an enigmatic anti-presence on stage, but he is still a hypnotic focal point. They appear to be named after a mystical energy force, which perhaps they have secretly harnessed??

Blossoms, another quintet, named after a pub in their home town of Stockport, have an unstoppable energy force all of their own, a poppy/indie/retro combination starting from the first song, the confident ‘You Pulled A Gun On Me’. Swirling organ and strong three-part harmonies add to the attractive mix and amiable frontman Tom Ogden bonds well with the audience. The stage was bathed in eerie blue light for the more acoustic and mellow ‘My Favourite Room’, then ‘Scattered Rain’ was particularly impressive, a bit different and changing direction all the time. ‘Cut Me And I’ll Bleed’ and the closing single ‘Blow’ are catchy and straight into the memory receptors. After this extensive UK tour they are off to Japan soon, on tonight’s showing I’m sure there are great things in store…

http://www.blossomsband.co.uk

Wave Pictures, Portland Arms, Cambridge, 4 February 2015

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Another strong line-up for a sold out evening at The Portland, starting with Ben Garnet, otherwise known as The Organ Grinder’s Monkey, a regular in Cambridge (and on this site) with his guitar/random sounds/voice/laptop combination. A large audience was already in the venue, reacting well to the electronica, triggered effects and manipulated vocals of hours of painstaking studio crafting being let loose to run free in the live performance. Older songs ‘Testing the Theory…’ and ‘See This Through’ sound as good as ever as does the heavy bass and denser instrumentation of new track ‘False Economy’. Apparently new experiments in stereo are pushing the capacity of the laptop (Bill) beyond its limits but it looks like this creative partnership will run and run.

Five piece Cambridge band Violet Woods are featured elsewhere on this site and it was good to see that their live versions of tracks from the debut album have grown in stature. It was a nicely paced set, contrasting the dark mysteries of ‘Electric Fascination’ with the simpler pastoral pleasures of ‘Here’ and ‘Driftwood Royalty’. The band musically blends moody 12-string electric guitar with bold retro organ notes as second guitar, bass and drums all make a major contribution. The finale of the album and live set is ‘The River’ an epic track with a haunting vocal from Xavier Watkins, then eventually all the instruments break loose, with feedback and the drum kit flayed until it sounds like it is being thrown down the stairs…

The Wave Pictures are a likeable and unassuming trio, their sparse tight sound and onstage interplay creates a captivating and engrossing show. Having formed in 1998, they have recorded many albums as themselves or collaborations with a variety of performers, also they have covered songs by cult outsider American singer Daniel Johnston.
Complex lyrics featuring relationships, domestic trivia, assorted wildlife and name checks of Johnny Cash, Tracey Emin and The Real Slim Shady(!) are delivered mainly by guitarist Dave Tattersall with drummer Jonny Helm leading on some songs. Along with bassist Franic Rozycki the band are accomplished musicians, their trademark indie rock is clear sounding and intricate guitar solos interspersed with busy basslines and solid drums.
There are also departures in musical styles, the polyrhythmic shuffle of ‘Before This Day’ was an early highlight. At times I was reminded of the minimal relaxed sound and lyrical concerns of Jonathan Richman, another live performer with the ability to have the audience losing themselves in his unique musical world. Soon to be released album Great Big Flamingo Burning Moon featured strongly, then the show ended with requests, all warmly received by the very attentive audience.

http://www.togm.co.uk/
http://violetwoods.tumblr.com/
http://www.thewavepictures.com/

Recommendation : The Brute Chorus/James Brute

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I first saw The Brute Chorus when they were one of the many attractions at the Cambridge ‘Wish You Were Here’ one-day festival in 2010. The venue was the pre-expansion gig room at The Portland Arms, the perfect setting for the up-close intensity and involvement of a genuinely original act.

It may have been a conventional line-up of drums, guitar/keyboards and bass but somehow the treated guitar twisted and changed to counterpoint the vocal stylings of singer James Steel. Blues, rockabilly, psychedelia and indie-pop; it was all in there with the added bonus of lyrical mini-operas involving death, classical and mythological characters, somehow given a wry retelling with a musical backdrop as sharp as a flick-knife. Their debut album, recorded in a live setting at the Roundhouse was sold in a hand-made wooden sleeve and it is splendid stuff indeed (standout tracks were the opener ‘Hercules’ and the paranoid brooding of ‘Chateau’. And probably the rest of the album too).

The second CD ‘How The Caged Bird Sings’ was more introspective but equally effective, the tracks ‘Could This Be Love?’ and ‘Heaven’ were both great pop songs. ‘(This Christmas) Bury Me In Hawaii’ was a dark seasonal recording, then another single, a support slot at Shepherds Bush Empire……and suddenly they were playing a ‘final’ gig and saying goodbye to many disappointed fans.

But all is not lost, James Steel has reinvented himself as James Brute, he has new recordings (including ‘Bury Yourself’, with a video performed inside a coffin..?!) and he is playing live again……

Official Site

Psychic Lemon, The Grapes, Cambridge, 13 Dec 2014

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I saw Psychic Lemon playing recently at the Mill Road Winter Fair, an event that is one of Cambridge’s best kept secrets. It was a challenge to entertain at 11am in freezing conditions in the car park in the shade of the railway bridge but the appreciative crowd gradually grew and stayed. The Grapes on a Saturday evening was a more comfortable prospect, a welcoming pub with stage and dance floor at one end, bathed in red and green spots of light throughout.

They opened with ‘Dilator’, a strong statement of dual guitar, pulsing bass and drums (interesting to see an electronic drum kit). As in many of the songs tonight, the vocals are often short and to the point, the sound is dominated by a compendium of guitar effects recreating and updating the psychedelic vibe, usually establishing longer instrumental passages.

‘Good Cop/Bad Cop’ and ‘Skin’ strayed into dance funk territory with some shades of Talking Heads, the amiable Grapes audience responded by being far more animated than Cambridge audiences can tend to be. Some songs showed darker, claustrophobic edges, the bass becoming more anguished and prominent in the mix as the set proceeded. Final song was TiCkToC, already released as a single and blending many of the elements from the other songs into a satisfying whole.

To quote from Psychic Lemon themselves….

‘The band got together at the end of 2013, everyone looking for a new musical challenge — to write and play the music they want to play, and not be held back by the expectations of others. However, if other people like it too, then that’s great: The band’s goal is to entertain without compromise.’

On the evidence so far, this seems to be happening…

http://psychiclemon.flavors.me/#soundcloud
https://www.facebook.com/psychiclemon?fref=ts

Fat Cat Records 2014 Compilation

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End of year sampler CD from Brighton based record label Fat Cat Records….

1. Traams ‘Selma’ Good opener, punchy drumming, spiky guitar and forlorn vocal giving way to a singalong chorus. The lyric is a bit deranged, the sound a bit retro and all over too quickly.
2. Mazes ‘Astigmatism’ My favourite track on this disc, the lead song from the third Mazes album. A rolling riff, punctuated with some strange backward sounding guitar lines and intriguing words about obscured vision and devotion. ‘You are a winning quiz team, you are a morning sun…..beam’
3.The Growlers ‘Big Toe’ A 5-piece band from California, describing their sound as ‘beach goth’. This is a jaunty pop song, jangling guitar belying a lyric of post-relationship dislike. Quite intense dislike really. ‘Her love’s so uncomfortable, she strikes down like a hammer on your big toe’ and plenty more…
4. Paws ‘Owl Talons Clenching My Heart’ A great title from this Glasgow trio and another difficult relationship in the lyrics. Super-low thumping bass and fuzzy distorted vocal with a frequent chorus line packs a strong punch. It reminds me of The Wytches, another dark but sensitive trio.
5. The Twilight Sad ‘There’s a Girl in the Corner’ Formed in 2003 and described by one reviewer as ‘perennially unhappy Scottish indie band’ this is another tale of love gone wrong, with the repeated phrase ‘she’s not coming back’ over layers of stadium keyboards and booming drums. Quite addictive in an unrelenting way.
6. C Duncan ‘Silence and Air’ New Scottish talent Chris Duncan with a meld of vocal and distant choral effects over a soothing multi-layered instrumental background.
7. Vashti Bunyan ‘Across the Water’ Recording her first album in 1970, influential folk legend Vashti Bunyan restarted her music career 35 years later. This new release from her 2014 album Heartleap is a lovely song. Gentle acoustic guitar, flute sounds and strings float by, blended with her ethereal voice, taking the listener to another place and time.
8. Tlaotlon ‘Myriade’ A contrast to what has come before, this is frenetic electronica samples and loops. A challenging listen, any logical patterns or structure dismantled as quickly as they arrive.
9. Gentle Friendly ‘Shake Up’. Not sure about this one, some electronic drones, drums and vocal from this London-based duo. Claustrophobic and a bit relentless, I may have to listen to a few more of their recordings.
10. Honeyblood ‘Super Rat’. This is more like it, Number 20 in the NME Top 50 tracks of 2014 and not even the best track on their album. The two members of Honeyblood make a rich dense sound with just guitar and drums and certainly do not hold back on the lyrical vitriol, ending with ‘I will hate you forever, you really do disgust me’. For the brighter side of HB, see my live review on this site…
11. We Were Promised Jetpacks ‘Safety in Numbers’. Nostalgic band name, sound and song. So many influences here, it starts with a pure voice and keyboard weaving around then bursts into life with a big Indie rock flourish, well honed since their debut album in 2009.

http://www.fat-cat.co.uk/

Violet Woods, released Nov 2014

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Track by track review of the recent self-titled LP/CD from Cambridge band Violet Woods. An adventure in indie psychedelia…..

1. Electric Fascination. A strong, brooding opening track. The shimmering 12-string guitar figure opens the song then persists through variations as the echoing vocal competes. It is a walk through the trees (woods) on the LP sleeve with occasional glimpses of the brighter sky.
2. Over the Ground. A companion piece to track 1, again with a sinister guitar phrase dominating, backed with descending organ and vocal layers. A fuzzed electric guitar solo takes us to an abrupt end.
3. Here. A resolution to the first two songs, an optimistic pop song with a heartfelt statement of contentment. A simple and affecting lyric, the title barely mentioned but the sentiment very clear. Uplifting guitar lines and well judged sustained keyboards.
4. The Dancer. Appropriately titled, a bit funky this one, when played live it is an energetic high point of the show. Skips around at first, light touch on the bass, then from nowhere a big noisy finale.
5. Take Your Time. A low key ballad, but definitely a grower. Singer Xavier Watkins delivers one of his best vocals on the album, plaintive and subtle. Guitar, drums and organ given plenty of time to build on a repeated phrase at the end.
6. What I Need. Mid-tempo compact structure based around a staccato drum pattern, passes along nicely but not quite the same immersing ambience of the other songs.
7. Raw Love. The band’s debut single from late 2012. A carefully crafted catchy pop song, radio-friendly hook line, if only all radio was as good as 6 Music.
8. Driftwood Royalty. I really like this one, so laid back, could be from the sixties or eighties, it floats in and out again like some sort of impressionist reverie.
9. The River. The rest of the album paves the way for this track, it draws on all the others to create a complex epic, musically driven by military precision drumming, punctuated by restful passages with underlying tension. The last two minutes of the song goes into drumming and guitar overdrive before the final sustained note, tempting us back to track 1…

Overall an accomplished debut, excellent production and deserving of repeated listens (it sounds good live too!)

http://violetwoods.tumblr.com/

http://violetwoods.bandcamp.com/

Robert Plant, Corn Exchange, Cambridge, 20 Nov 2014

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The crowd were in early for the sold out show with Robert Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters, the latest of the many performing incarnations of the former Led Zeppelin frontman.

Support trio The Last Internationale played American blues rock, underpinned by folk and protest roots, a sort of Billy Bragg with louder guitars. Delila Paz opened the show with solo acoustic guitar and a soaring powerful voice, singing ‘Workers of the World Unite’. The rest of the set was electric and punchy, showing how sometimes the basic combination of guitar bass and drums is all you need for a satisfying sound. ‘Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Indian Blood’ was the standout track and their covers of an Elmore James blues and Neil Young’s ‘My My, Hey Hey(Out of the Blue)’ went down very well with the audience too.

Robert Plant is a legend in rock music, his modest and relaxed stage presence and still stunning vocal talents deliver a superior show, a mixture of material from the latest album ‘Lullaby and…The Ceaseless Roar’, blues standards and reworked Zeppelin classics. The band is superb, all given individual personalities by Robert’s jokey asides and having many opportunities to bring their musicianship into the spotlight. Liam ‘Skin’ Tyson’s prowess on the acoustic guitar duetting with Justin Adams on mandolin and the eerie sounds produced by Juldeh Camara playing a ritti (one-stringed fiddle) were among the many highlights. Other eccentric stringed instruments add variety to the harder-edged sound that showcases Robert’s distinctive voice to perfection.

When an emotionally draining ‘I Just Want to Make Love to You’ gives way to the opening riff of ‘Whole Lotta Love’ the audience go crazy and we know we will leave the show happy. Then the icing on the cake, an encore of ‘Rock and Roll’….

http://www.robertplant.com/
http://www.thelastinternationale.com/