Tag Archives: review

Wave Pictures, released February 2015

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A track by track review of Great Big Flamingo Burning Moon, the sixth studio album from Indie trio The Wave Pictures. I am a big fan of the 2013 double album ‘City Forgiveness’ and after a few listens and seeing them live this one is different, but right up there too.

1. Great Big Flamingo Burning Moon. What a great opener, driving bass and drums, surreal and evocative lyric, imagine driving through the desert at night. This track features rhythm guitar from cult artist Billy Childish, the main collaborator and co-writer on this album.
2. I Could Hear The Telephone(3 Floors Above Me). This was the first song played when I saw the band recently, now released as a single. This track highlights the trademark guitar of Dave Tattersall along with some Beatle-esque flourishes and words of minor domestic paranoia. It works its way into your head and stays there.
3. Katie. A solid bass riff from Franic Rozycki, generally a bit heavier and intense, relieved with a bit of glockenspiel. Another two animals in the lyrics, there are a lot on this album…
4. At Dusk You Took Down The Blinds. The title says it all, a quiet love song, gradually turning in on itself. Sparse guitar and light drumming, very effective.
5. All The Birds Lined Up Dot Dot Dot. A rolling bass and guitar and interlocking drum patterns from Jonny Helm. Again the lyric has a feel of (gently) impending doom.
6. Frogs Sing Loudly In The Ditches. Followed by ‘…dragonflies hover overhead’, a title inspired by a mild warning sign at a country hotel! A bit of Half Man Half Biscuit sentiment creeping in here lyrically and plenty going on musically.
7. Sinister Purpose. The first of two cover versions of Creedence Clearwater Revival songs, a rocky edge to this one.
8. Green River. More bluesy this time, with lots of harmonica added to the mood.
9. Fake Fox Fur Pillowcase. Another catchy original, one of my favourites featuring personal insecurities described over big chords and hefty bass and drums.
10. The Fire Alarm. A similar pounding feel to this track, with nightmarish images of nature and instead of the phone ringing it is now the fire-alarm that disturbs.
11. The Goldfish. A superb showcase for the bass, a strong chorus and the singer again mildly tortured, this time by a deserted room and a disquieting fish.
12. We Fell Asleep In The Blue Tent. Juju Claudius adds contrasting backing vocals to this intricate tale of growing up. A summery and nostalgic set of images.
13. Pea Green Coat. The first single from the album, harmonica and sharp chords give it a Wilko Johnson vibe and make the garment in the title sound as cool as it could possibly be.

http://thewavepictures.com/

Bob Dylan : Shadows In The Night, released February 2015

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As a long-time fan of Bob Dylan, it is always good to receive another album into the collection. But will this one join the esteemed ranks of ‘Another Side Of Bob Dylan’ (1964), ‘Blood On The Tracks’ (1975), ‘Desire’ (1976), ‘Slow Train Coming’ (1979), ‘Time Out of Mind’ (1997), ‘Love And Theft’ (2001), ‘Modern Times’ (2006) and from the Bootleg Series I would add ‘Volume 4: The ‘Royal Albert Hall’ 1966 Concert’ and ‘Volume 5: Live 1975, The Rolling Thunder Revue’ ?
Against the general opinion I am also a strong supporter of ‘Christmas In The Heart’, Bob’s charity seasonal cover versions from 2009. Christmas would not be the same without it…

That Christmas album may be some sort of starting point for his new disc, ‘Shadows In The Night’, a set of smoky, late-night versions of songs that were part of Frank Sinatra’s repertoire. I had accepted the evolution of his voice down an ever deepening gravel path but this album seems to reverse that and he is back to a more flowing, smoother singing style. Each song is a conventional statement of love or loss, though often with the lyrical twists inherent in some standards of the genre. Bob could easily have contributed his own compositions in this style, he has many examples, such as ‘Make You Feel My Love’, a low-profile but emotional highlight from 1997 (later turned into a global mega-seller by Adele), but this themed covers collection works very well.

Opener ‘I’m A Fool To Want You’ slides in gently with pedal-steel guitar and sets a subtle musical tone with minimal instrumentation that carries on through the whole disc. Cleverly titled ‘The Night We Called It A Day’ steps up the pace almost imperceptibly, followed by the more stately stride of ‘Stay With Me’, released as a single. Lose yourself in the long introduction and the unbearably sad lyric of ‘Autumn Leaves’, enjoy the relaxed mood of ‘Why Try To Change Me Now’ and the well-known ‘Some Enchanted Evening’. The evocative mystical minor chords of ‘Full Moon and Empty Arms’ and the understated desperation of ‘What’ll I Do’. And two more for you to discover…

I don’t think it will quite join my list above, but it is a fine, atmospheric, intimate and emotionally-charged album, superbly played and sung.

http://www.bobdylan.com/us

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/

The War On Drugs, released March 2014

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A retrospective track by track review of ‘Lost In The Dream’ by The War On Drugs, one of the most acclaimed albums of 2014.

1. Under The Pressure. Distant percussion, guitars fade in and out then suddenly it kicks off with piano and the full band sound. We are in for a long opener, as with so many tracks on this album there is plenty of time and space to develop the ideas. Adam Granduciel adds a Dylanesque vocal to a simple chord structure and over the nearly nine minutes there are instrumental twists galore.

2. Red Eyes. The first single when the album was released. A bit more up tempo and sparse, romping along over a pulsing drum then bursting into extra life.

3. Suffering. A haunting but simple statement of love or acceptance, again the length of track allows time for a heavily treated guitar line to bookend the wistful vocal, all reminiscent of late-period Roxy Music.

4. An Ocean In Between The Waves. The musical centrepiece of the album, the singer travelling on musically and lyrically as the cryptically described relationship turns sour over a driving beat and gradual introduction of walls of synthesiser and unrelenting guitar solos.

5. Disappearing. A more relaxing feel to this one, the distant sentiment in the words somehow captured by the floating guitar and repeating piano motif. This whole album sounds so lovingly crafted, every instrumental cameo perfectly placed.

6. Eyes To The Wind. A Waterboys-style big sound pervades this story of moving on, it is energetic and lyrically dense, before playing out gracefully with a saxophone break.

7. The Haunting Idle. An echoing guitar instrumental interlude, could almost be Pink Floyd in 1975, effectively acting as an introduction to….

8. Burning. A recurring repeated piano note, wide-sweeping lyrics and a neat structure with chorus sections make this one of the most accessible songs on the album.

9. Lost In The Dream. A quieter contemplative track, gentle chords and nostalgic imagery.

10. In Reverse. The epic finale, vocal lines over free-form guitar textures, then the band maintain a solid calm backing for the words of regret and impending darkness. The song ends quietly as it began and fades away into the waves…

http://www.thewarondrugs.net/

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

Alvvays, debut album released July 2014

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One of the best albums of 2014, the self-titled debut by Canadian five-piece Indie-rock band Alvvays. An end of the year track by track review…

1. Adult Diversion. A sliding bass and drums introduces this carefully crafted gem, quickly followed by shimmering guitar then singer Molly Rankin’s opening line ‘How do I get close to you…?’ There are so many clever goings-on in this song, short guitar tricks, drum rolls, there is something new in every listen.

2. Archie, Marry Me. Distant bird song, a simple guitar figure hanging in the air and we are into the best-known track on the album. The lyric is open to interpretation but the title/hook line is very strong. Underneath the band blend guitar and some solid keyboard into a perfect pop single, hopefully destined to be played as the couple walk down the aisle at alternative weddings…

3. Ones Who Love You. The opening song when I saw the band live, this is a grower. Deep keyboards to the fore, under lots of constant and non-repeating guitar lines. Molly’s voice with echo, dreamy and restrained in the mix,’When the wheels come off, I’ll be an astronaut, I’ll be lost in space…’

4. Next of Kin. Another brilliant single from the album, on the surface the unusual ‘controversial’ subject matter is warning against taking drugs before swimming…. When Molly sings ‘I left my love in the river’, never has a song about accidental drowning sounded so good. It is all sung over a busy background of jaunty guitar, driven along like a classic Blondie song. ‘No colour to his skin, inform the next of kin’, a dire warning indeed…

5. Party Police. A change of tempo, slabs of keyboard underpin a plaintive and at times desperate lyric about an unbalanced relationship. Or is it?

6. The Agency Group. Another mid-tempo song, another ambiguous relationship. It is a strong melody with a lovely hook line ‘When you whisper you don’t think of me that way, when I mention you don’t mean that much to me…’

7. Dives. An intriguing lyric over an immersive electronic sound with chiming guitar make this one of the more experimental tracks, with rewards each time you hear it.

8. Atop a Cake. This song forms a nice triptych with the opening two tracks, a pure confection of quick moving summer guitar pop, but again with the dark lyrical undertone of relationship difficulties.

9. Red Planet. A surprise closing song with electronic instrumental sound only, the haunting vocal performance and impressionistic lyrics drift into your consciousness and stay there.

As does the rest of the album..

http://alvvays.com/

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/