A few nights ago we were stood on Seacombe promenade on the shore of the Mersey Estuary. As we watched, at about 11pm, the bright white lights that were the last visible sign of the Cunard liner Queen Elizabeth II slipped out of sight beyond Fort Perch Rock and she was gone - this time for good. We had joined the throng for the official farewell - an impressive firework display that was heralded and acknowledged by the vessel' s deep throated whistle, but it was the more personal and poignant salutes that made the event for me:
Starting with the tugs that helped pull her off Liverpool's new landing stage, each vessel in turn sounded 3 blasts, and each was echoed in turn by the departing giant as she made her way downstream for the final time. Her blast is deep and mournful, audible for miles I'm sure, and it continued as she slipped gracefully past Liverpool's docks, escorted by the 3 operation Mersey Ferries, which added their salutes as they turned back for home, as indeed did every vessel in the docks. Goodbye old friend they were calling. Goodbye.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Saturday, October 11, 2008
CD Review - Yonder
The Art of Whisper
Turn it down is what Yonder do - music at number 1 rather than 11 on the amp - if they bother with such things. Yonder hail from Stockholm and play their own slanted version of traditional er, American, Delta Blues from the old days. I've had all kinds of airy phrases go through my head whilst trying to think of how to describe the music - doily was one of them - a paper disk with so many holes in it that it hardly exists as a disk - this is the sound of music distilled into the very essence of the sound and bottled, then miked up very gently to capture the result.
That result is the kindest, gentlest blues you might hear. Slow and easy, music with spaces in it, guitar, bass and vocals, drums yes - but they often seem to be playing in the shed at the bottom of the garden. Actually Mats Qwarfordt's vocals are really strong - he has a big deep voice but even this is gentle and never really threatens to move that needle near the red line.
The songs are a mixture of spiritual/gospel and sad love songs - April Snow is just the saddest thing, expressed in an ever so slow and melancholy way, with most delightful backing from maybe a zither on top of the guitar, there is a short instrumental on just slide guitar that just feels like the player is on the verge of sleeping it is so dreamy.
In Foggy Straits we find a boat adrift and feel the depair yet in such a beautiful way that it cannot possibly hurt or harm, and there must, please be a happy ending? The music is so pure and clear it belies the foggy, dangerous waters of the song.
I don't know how Gilly does it, but she keeps on finding these gems out there and brings them home for me to be amazed at. So many of them seem to be from Scandanavia too - look out for these guys touring the UK in 2009 and prepare to be whispered at - gently.
Turn it down is what Yonder do - music at number 1 rather than 11 on the amp - if they bother with such things. Yonder hail from Stockholm and play their own slanted version of traditional er, American, Delta Blues from the old days. I've had all kinds of airy phrases go through my head whilst trying to think of how to describe the music - doily was one of them - a paper disk with so many holes in it that it hardly exists as a disk - this is the sound of music distilled into the very essence of the sound and bottled, then miked up very gently to capture the result.
That result is the kindest, gentlest blues you might hear. Slow and easy, music with spaces in it, guitar, bass and vocals, drums yes - but they often seem to be playing in the shed at the bottom of the garden. Actually Mats Qwarfordt's vocals are really strong - he has a big deep voice but even this is gentle and never really threatens to move that needle near the red line.
The songs are a mixture of spiritual/gospel and sad love songs - April Snow is just the saddest thing, expressed in an ever so slow and melancholy way, with most delightful backing from maybe a zither on top of the guitar, there is a short instrumental on just slide guitar that just feels like the player is on the verge of sleeping it is so dreamy.
In Foggy Straits we find a boat adrift and feel the depair yet in such a beautiful way that it cannot possibly hurt or harm, and there must, please be a happy ending? The music is so pure and clear it belies the foggy, dangerous waters of the song.
I don't know how Gilly does it, but she keeps on finding these gems out there and brings them home for me to be amazed at. So many of them seem to be from Scandanavia too - look out for these guys touring the UK in 2009 and prepare to be whispered at - gently.
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
CDReview: what else but love - Jon Redfern
Painful Beauty.
Jon Redfern's second album 'what else but love' has an impact that creeps up on you, you hear it for the first time and it's subtlety almost acts as self defence like a deep felt wounded soul that pushes away its warmest friends because of the pain involved. But listen to this album a second and third time and I guarantee you will find yourself having to listen repeatedly, for it repays you the effort and time with the deepest music to be found anywhere today.
Jon went through the trauma of losing his father during the gestation of this record, and the whole thing is simply dedicated "for dad" on the sleeve. This has naturally had a big impact both on Jon and on the
record - in fact "record" is a fairly apt description of the CD - it feels like it is a record of the period. The songs are littered with anxiety, fear, and the inexorable passing of time:
"so many years ago, so wrong, but how could you know,
so many miles apart, you always let me know that you loved me too"
The first track starts off in a reflective mood, Jon's voice low and getting lower, his distinctive guitar sound underpinned by co-arranger Pat Durkan's drums and piano, the song slowly builds and begins to sparkle, Jon's slide guitar and then with a heartfelt cry "Heaven - beyond the void..." Jon lets his voice go and soars with the melody before dropping back to a last unaccompanied phrase. Teaming up this time with fellow Tarras-man Joss Clapp producing, engineering and playing bass on almost everything, they have delivered a great record.
Second song "Part of you" reveals a hint of something of an aural trademark for this CD - Jon's voice is overdubbed with itself, but in the higher register, a technique repeated throughout, albeit sometimes reversed, the lower register providing the harmony, but the overall effect is rather pleasing. It returns triumphant for "play of fear" - though Joss Clapp has used his own voice for backing on this track too.
Instrumentally this is a relatively simple album, keeping to a core of instruments with a few excursions into strings, but there is still a big sound in there - the percussion remains a strong feature. Pat Durkin is also responsible for another of the strong musical themes here - a dark and sometimes threatening, grinding Wurlitzer can often be heard underpinning the whole sound - a beast in the basement determined to be heard - deserving to be heard too. The sixth track, "forever bound" is a bit of a departure with its jingle jangle dulcimer-esque sounds, a clock-like ticking and sublime organ sounds, a mighty wall of percussion that
becomes almost manic as the song wanders away into the distance. For track 8, "rowing away" there is a bit of an orchestral sound with Pete Tickell adding violins, but otherwise the core band manage to come up with a good spectrum of sound, drummer Sam Murray is key thoughout and the occasional use of Jon Redfern's harmonica adds real atmosphere to the sound.
Jon Redferns' voice reminds me rather of Robert Wyatt's at times - with a thin fragility that threatens to break, but it has a power to raise itself up a level or two when the song demands it and the passion flows,
so Jon is able to produce a good range of feeling throughout the record, with plenty of tension and emotion in the delivery.
By the end of the CD, the listener has run a gamut of emotion, so the final track is perfectly placed. A rather subdued, pained vocal over a basic piano starts almost dull, then the hint of another voice backing,
female brightens it slightly before she is given her own voice - and the voice is none other than Becky Unthank - a voice to melt the heart after all that has gone before: "I'll always love you, love you forever, how
ever long that is". Then, in chorus, the two voices conclude the song, the record and underline the title "what else but love"? It feel like Jon has finally reached that warm loving place he needs. A delightful ending to this CD that is chock full of painful beauty - of one man's pain turned, by some sort of musical alchemy, into gold.
Jon Redfern's second album 'what else but love' has an impact that creeps up on you, you hear it for the first time and it's subtlety almost acts as self defence like a deep felt wounded soul that pushes away its warmest friends because of the pain involved. But listen to this album a second and third time and I guarantee you will find yourself having to listen repeatedly, for it repays you the effort and time with the deepest music to be found anywhere today.
Jon went through the trauma of losing his father during the gestation of this record, and the whole thing is simply dedicated "for dad" on the sleeve. This has naturally had a big impact both on Jon and on the
record - in fact "record" is a fairly apt description of the CD - it feels like it is a record of the period. The songs are littered with anxiety, fear, and the inexorable passing of time:
"so many years ago, so wrong, but how could you know,
so many miles apart, you always let me know that you loved me too"
The first track starts off in a reflective mood, Jon's voice low and getting lower, his distinctive guitar sound underpinned by co-arranger Pat Durkan's drums and piano, the song slowly builds and begins to sparkle, Jon's slide guitar and then with a heartfelt cry "Heaven - beyond the void..." Jon lets his voice go and soars with the melody before dropping back to a last unaccompanied phrase. Teaming up this time with fellow Tarras-man Joss Clapp producing, engineering and playing bass on almost everything, they have delivered a great record.
Second song "Part of you" reveals a hint of something of an aural trademark for this CD - Jon's voice is overdubbed with itself, but in the higher register, a technique repeated throughout, albeit sometimes reversed, the lower register providing the harmony, but the overall effect is rather pleasing. It returns triumphant for "play of fear" - though Joss Clapp has used his own voice for backing on this track too.
Instrumentally this is a relatively simple album, keeping to a core of instruments with a few excursions into strings, but there is still a big sound in there - the percussion remains a strong feature. Pat Durkin is also responsible for another of the strong musical themes here - a dark and sometimes threatening, grinding Wurlitzer can often be heard underpinning the whole sound - a beast in the basement determined to be heard - deserving to be heard too. The sixth track, "forever bound" is a bit of a departure with its jingle jangle dulcimer-esque sounds, a clock-like ticking and sublime organ sounds, a mighty wall of percussion that
becomes almost manic as the song wanders away into the distance. For track 8, "rowing away" there is a bit of an orchestral sound with Pete Tickell adding violins, but otherwise the core band manage to come up with a good spectrum of sound, drummer Sam Murray is key thoughout and the occasional use of Jon Redfern's harmonica adds real atmosphere to the sound.
Jon Redferns' voice reminds me rather of Robert Wyatt's at times - with a thin fragility that threatens to break, but it has a power to raise itself up a level or two when the song demands it and the passion flows,
so Jon is able to produce a good range of feeling throughout the record, with plenty of tension and emotion in the delivery.
By the end of the CD, the listener has run a gamut of emotion, so the final track is perfectly placed. A rather subdued, pained vocal over a basic piano starts almost dull, then the hint of another voice backing,
female brightens it slightly before she is given her own voice - and the voice is none other than Becky Unthank - a voice to melt the heart after all that has gone before: "I'll always love you, love you forever, how
ever long that is". Then, in chorus, the two voices conclude the song, the record and underline the title "what else but love"? It feel like Jon has finally reached that warm loving place he needs. A delightful ending to this CD that is chock full of painful beauty - of one man's pain turned, by some sort of musical alchemy, into gold.
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Electric Picnic 2008 - Day 1
It almost went wrong from the very start - the roadside sign said campervans left, the policeman was intent on waving us straight ahead - a quick reminder that we were actually a campervan and we were back on the right road - into Stadbally and turn right - no queues? No queues. A lot of people on foot - assorted luggage, many wheelbarrows - and hey! There's Ultan! "See you later at the stage.." famous last words. Within minutes we are on site and choosing a space to park in - all clearly set out and plenty of room - a very pleasant change from Womad! The worst bit of the whole weekend came next - one of out must see acts was the aforementioned Ultan Conlon - due on stage very early in the afternoon - almost opening the festival. Sadly he ended up playing to the crew and "the people planting flowers around the stage" as for whatever reason we were kept waiting at the gates until about 4pm, with no real information about why, or how long we might be kept waiting, we sat on the grass in the sun and watched the hundreds of other attempts to get in being rebuffed by the security staff for a couple of hours. And that concludes the low point - as the gate opened and we streamed into the living dreamland that is the Electric Picnic.
Start from gate
X7 and keep left and you enter the Village Green - a kind of grassy main street with tented buildings either side - felt to me a bit like a surreal canvas version of the wild west. Not all canvas, the church was, er, inflatable and the "vicar" was quick to accost us and advertise the wedding service they were offering over the course of the festival. An old fire engine that looked vaguely cartoony was outside the fire station (of course!), a bandstand graces the main green, and suddenly the dream shifted and we were in an area of futuristic sculpture - metallic and jagged trees? Gas lamps? Later we would see that this was "Arcadia" a night spot where the trees belched fire, the branches all smoked and the central pinnacle had fire and water and a DJ both - oh and an MC on crutches which gave it yet another wierd twist.
Not much time to fit any more sight-seeing in - get over to the Main Stage to catch Kila. Instant mayhem!Fr
ont man Rónán Ó Snodaigh bangs away at his Bodhrán and leads this band through a multi-coloured cascade of sound and dance and airial ballet - not a phrase you usually expect to hear in relation to a band who play trad Irish music albeit with a bit of a twist, a dash of something, a hint of some of that, some of these, a few grains of this stuff, and at least half the packet of something else. They played a couple of what sounded like "skinhead reels" which seems an appropriate mix to me even if it I didn't quite hear it right! It's hard not to use an excessive number of exclamation marks when writing about the Electric Picnic, it's that kind of event - there are at least two more chances in the Kila set - the exotic troop of Brazilian dancers who paraded around for a latin infused number, and a single performer from, I think, Cirque de Soleil who climbed 2 red ribbons and performed an impressive arial ballet aloft. Did I mention the gospel choir, the stunning stage backdrop or the tick-a-tape?
Another major feature of The Picnic was also becoming apparent - there were 35000 people there - and they were all lovely! We met so many friendly people - not a word of aggression anywhere by the way - complete strangers would just ask how we were doing, whether we were enjoying ourselves, discussed the bands and everything. Any accidental collisions in the crowds were met with most profuse apologies.
Next up were favourites Tinariwen from Mali who fielded a full team and played a blinder - their set hasn't changed much for a couple of years, but the music gets into you and you enjoy the trance like rhythms every time. Well enjoyed by a big crowd.
Back to Irish music for our next choice - the legend that is Christy Moore. We arrived, after his gig had started, at a tent that was too small for the crowd that had gathered to adore their god. You could feel the love for this man as strains of "Motherland" leaked out from the tent - I say tent - it was a huge big top kind of affair and it was full of very hot people, some of whom stumbled out into the cool evening air, unable to take any more - these were instantly replaced by newcomers, keen to join the worship inside. It was quite clearly an event - the whole crowd joined in on "Ride On" - a sea of mobile phones in the air recording it from every angle. Quite a vibe.
A common aspect of any festival of this size is an anxiety about what you know you are missing while you are enjoying one event, because you have to make choices when there are so many venues running in parallel, not to mention the stuff you miss that you didn't expect to see. Conversely there are many, many good things that you see because they just happen as you are passing - and our next event was just one of these - Strange Fruit outside the Blue Room - eerie music attracted us towards a crowd that had gathered to watch ... what? Floodlit people dressed in white floating above the crowd on balloons? Closer examination revealed a group of people atop of paper spheres on bendy poles performing the most beautiful slow ballet. Every slight movement seemed to affect the balance of the dancers and the grace of the movement was impressive enough, the fact that they were all in sync with each other made it something else all together.
Many, many people turned up to watch Sigur Ros close down the main stage and who performed an impressive set, complete with a white top hatted and uniformed brass section - a loud and very full sound - maybe a little too loud to be clear? Marked vocals that soared over the impressive sonic backdrop and some powerfull electric guitar sounds made a great impression on me.
The main stage may have packed up but the rest of the site was just getting going - Arcadia was bouncing, flaming, smoking and loud - there were discos, clubs and dancing everywhere. Time Machine was playing it's updated-old-music-fayre behind the chain drapes, and in the onion domed pavilions of the Body and Soul area, Helios Jive had just taken over from S.S. Lucent Dossier and we found a phone....
A final few things before we turn in at the end of day 1 - somewhere along the way we enjoyed our first taste of festival food Ireland style - pie and mash - the pie was great, the mash was awesome! So good we went back for more. Heading back to the van there was no sign at all that it was night time. There were streams of people coming onto the site from the campsites, there were huge tents with djs and shows i
n the campsites, the cinema rolled on day and night, the giant ferris wheel just kept on turning, there were lots of people who had done their best to consume the 30-odd cans per person alcohol ration in one day, but everybody was happy and you felt like you should go on all night - we had just about settled in for the night when that phone rang ...... and we trouped back to the site to re-unite it's owner with the poor lost thing.
John .....
Start from gate
X7 and keep left and you enter the Village Green - a kind of grassy main street with tented buildings either side - felt to me a bit like a surreal canvas version of the wild west. Not all canvas, the church was, er, inflatable and the "vicar" was quick to accost us and advertise the wedding service they were offering over the course of the festival. An old fire engine that looked vaguely cartoony was outside the fire station (of course!), a bandstand graces the main green, and suddenly the dream shifted and we were in an area of futuristic sculpture - metallic and jagged trees? Gas lamps? Later we would see that this was "Arcadia" a night spot where the trees belched fire, the branches all smoked and the central pinnacle had fire and water and a DJ both - oh and an MC on crutches which gave it yet another wierd twist.Not much time to fit any more sight-seeing in - get over to the Main Stage to catch Kila. Instant mayhem!Fr
ont man Rónán Ó Snodaigh bangs away at his Bodhrán and leads this band through a multi-coloured cascade of sound and dance and airial ballet - not a phrase you usually expect to hear in relation to a band who play trad Irish music albeit with a bit of a twist, a dash of something, a hint of some of that, some of these, a few grains of this stuff, and at least half the packet of something else. They played a couple of what sounded like "skinhead reels" which seems an appropriate mix to me even if it I didn't quite hear it right! It's hard not to use an excessive number of exclamation marks when writing about the Electric Picnic, it's that kind of event - there are at least two more chances in the Kila set - the exotic troop of Brazilian dancers who paraded around for a latin infused number, and a single performer from, I think, Cirque de Soleil who climbed 2 red ribbons and performed an impressive arial ballet aloft. Did I mention the gospel choir, the stunning stage backdrop or the tick-a-tape?Another major feature of The Picnic was also becoming apparent - there were 35000 people there - and they were all lovely! We met so many friendly people - not a word of aggression anywhere by the way - complete strangers would just ask how we were doing, whether we were enjoying ourselves, discussed the bands and everything. Any accidental collisions in the crowds were met with most profuse apologies.
Next up were favourites Tinariwen from Mali who fielded a full team and played a blinder - their set hasn't changed much for a couple of years, but the music gets into you and you enjoy the trance like rhythms every time. Well enjoyed by a big crowd.
Back to Irish music for our next choice - the legend that is Christy Moore. We arrived, after his gig had started, at a tent that was too small for the crowd that had gathered to adore their god. You could feel the love for this man as strains of "Motherland" leaked out from the tent - I say tent - it was a huge big top kind of affair and it was full of very hot people, some of whom stumbled out into the cool evening air, unable to take any more - these were instantly replaced by newcomers, keen to join the worship inside. It was quite clearly an event - the whole crowd joined in on "Ride On" - a sea of mobile phones in the air recording it from every angle. Quite a vibe.
A common aspect of any festival of this size is an anxiety about what you know you are missing while you are enjoying one event, because you have to make choices when there are so many venues running in parallel, not to mention the stuff you miss that you didn't expect to see. Conversely there are many, many good things that you see because they just happen as you are passing - and our next event was just one of these - Strange Fruit outside the Blue Room - eerie music attracted us towards a crowd that had gathered to watch ... what? Floodlit people dressed in white floating above the crowd on balloons? Closer examination revealed a group of people atop of paper spheres on bendy poles performing the most beautiful slow ballet. Every slight movement seemed to affect the balance of the dancers and the grace of the movement was impressive enough, the fact that they were all in sync with each other made it something else all together.
Many, many people turned up to watch Sigur Ros close down the main stage and who performed an impressive set, complete with a white top hatted and uniformed brass section - a loud and very full sound - maybe a little too loud to be clear? Marked vocals that soared over the impressive sonic backdrop and some powerfull electric guitar sounds made a great impression on me.
The main stage may have packed up but the rest of the site was just getting going - Arcadia was bouncing, flaming, smoking and loud - there were discos, clubs and dancing everywhere. Time Machine was playing it's updated-old-music-fayre behind the chain drapes, and in the onion domed pavilions of the Body and Soul area, Helios Jive had just taken over from S.S. Lucent Dossier and we found a phone....A final few things before we turn in at the end of day 1 - somewhere along the way we enjoyed our first taste of festival food Ireland style - pie and mash - the pie was great, the mash was awesome! So good we went back for more. Heading back to the van there was no sign at all that it was night time. There were streams of people coming onto the site from the campsites, there were huge tents with djs and shows i
n the campsites, the cinema rolled on day and night, the giant ferris wheel just kept on turning, there were lots of people who had done their best to consume the 30-odd cans per person alcohol ration in one day, but everybody was happy and you felt like you should go on all night - we had just about settled in for the night when that phone rang ...... and we trouped back to the site to re-unite it's owner with the poor lost thing.John .....
Thursday, August 21, 2008
A breath of Fresh Air - Emil Brynge at GreenRoom, Manchester
A breeze of expectancy has blown across the FolkingAbout, that proverbial breath of fresh air has blown the dust off the laptop and here we are again half a year later..... It has been some time (clue!) gathering, but a number of interesting events have got me going again, starting with this young man from Sweden:
Emil Brynge is a mere 21 years old, yet he already has a confidence about him that belies his years. After some years of listening to his MySpace offering, Gilly's radar picked up on his gig at Greenroom last night and off we went. Greenroom is an Arts place built into railway arches in Manchester and the gig was part of S'Not P'Inc.'s World Music night.
Emil, tall, blond and slightly restless as he got set up to start playing, quickly became Emil, musician with something to give. Opening with a brand new song, composed only the day before with his equally new musical partner - sorry no name (yet) - Emil gave us a demonstration in the use of multi-layered repeating phrases via a box of tricks at his side - nothing new in itself, but well done with his acoustic guitar and the partner's violin building well, with additions of glockenspiel, shakers and bells adding to the effect, and both player playing over the effects it was quite a sound. Afterwards Emil confessed that suddenly having access to all these effects and instruments made him feel like a kid in a toy shop and he felt obliged to try and use all of them at least once!
More often a guitarist and singer, Emil Brynge is a serious Nick Drake fan and there are some obvious influences in some of his phrases and melodies, but this is no clone, his own songs are , to coin a phrase, original and genuine. Drawing on his earlier studies in art history, "Maiastra" combines mythology and an art work to produce an intimate and haunting song - the only song to survive from this early period, he professes to write mostly happy songs these days and his last song "My Farewell" is a very affirmative demand to "Give me life in time!"
Many of his songs have interesting structures, pauses long enough to draw early applause at least once, less of the verse/chorus than usual, and his guitar playing is clean and technical, with more than a nod into his other chosen instrument. This beast stood hidden in it's case until the last song, when out came the sitar - and again with a layered backing from the effects, we got a hint of what I assume to be Emil's target sound - the sitar adding another dimension over the guitar - of course he can only play one or the other (without the effects) live, but recorded, there is a lovely interplay between the 2 instruments, the sitar introducing an element of sadness into these happy "songs". Tonight the violin was used where a flute appears on his 5 track CD and the live performance was very much more confident and strident than the CD, not better or worse, just different.
We should touch on his voice too - it is deeper than his age would suggest, with an accent that has enough Swedish in it to make his very clean English attractively different, his singing clear enough to make the lyrics heard.
Emil Brynge is a man on his way - next week he plays sitar in Cardiff with Mark Fry, and he is moving over to London from his home in Sweden so there should be plenty of opportunities to catch him again before too long. We'll be paying big money for his tickets soon enough!
Stay tuned to FolkingAbout and find out what arrived in the post this morning....
Emil Brynge is a mere 21 years old, yet he already has a confidence about him that belies his years. After some years of listening to his MySpace offering, Gilly's radar picked up on his gig at Greenroom last night and off we went. Greenroom is an Arts place built into railway arches in Manchester and the gig was part of S'Not P'Inc.'s World Music night.
Emil, tall, blond and slightly restless as he got set up to start playing, quickly became Emil, musician with something to give. Opening with a brand new song, composed only the day before with his equally new musical partner - sorry no name (yet) - Emil gave us a demonstration in the use of multi-layered repeating phrases via a box of tricks at his side - nothing new in itself, but well done with his acoustic guitar and the partner's violin building well, with additions of glockenspiel, shakers and bells adding to the effect, and both player playing over the effects it was quite a sound. Afterwards Emil confessed that suddenly having access to all these effects and instruments made him feel like a kid in a toy shop and he felt obliged to try and use all of them at least once!
More often a guitarist and singer, Emil Brynge is a serious Nick Drake fan and there are some obvious influences in some of his phrases and melodies, but this is no clone, his own songs are , to coin a phrase, original and genuine. Drawing on his earlier studies in art history, "Maiastra" combines mythology and an art work to produce an intimate and haunting song - the only song to survive from this early period, he professes to write mostly happy songs these days and his last song "My Farewell" is a very affirmative demand to "Give me life in time!"
Many of his songs have interesting structures, pauses long enough to draw early applause at least once, less of the verse/chorus than usual, and his guitar playing is clean and technical, with more than a nod into his other chosen instrument. This beast stood hidden in it's case until the last song, when out came the sitar - and again with a layered backing from the effects, we got a hint of what I assume to be Emil's target sound - the sitar adding another dimension over the guitar - of course he can only play one or the other (without the effects) live, but recorded, there is a lovely interplay between the 2 instruments, the sitar introducing an element of sadness into these happy "songs". Tonight the violin was used where a flute appears on his 5 track CD and the live performance was very much more confident and strident than the CD, not better or worse, just different.
We should touch on his voice too - it is deeper than his age would suggest, with an accent that has enough Swedish in it to make his very clean English attractively different, his singing clear enough to make the lyrics heard.
Emil Brynge is a man on his way - next week he plays sitar in Cardiff with Mark Fry, and he is moving over to London from his home in Sweden so there should be plenty of opportunities to catch him again before too long. We'll be paying big money for his tickets soon enough!Stay tuned to FolkingAbout and find out what arrived in the post this morning....
Saturday, February 02, 2008
Willing to Work, but lets celebrate first!
A great feeling of positivity seems to be sweeping through the Martyn-o-sphere at the moment. John is, as I write, en route to London to collect a major accolade - The BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards Lifetime Achievement Award - and about time too! We wrote here back in August that last year's winner, Danny Thompson was leading the charge, calling for John's work to be recognised from the stage at last year's Fairport Cropredy Convention. Danny could be heard last night on BBC Radio 4's Front Row programme imploring that John be might get well: "We just want our mate John back." - he speaks for so many.
A few weeks back it seemed so unlikely that John's poor health would even allow him to attend the award ceremony, but the good news is that John will not only attend, but will perform 3 songs with the full band - highlights of the whole event on Mike Harding's show this Wednesday evening. (And let's take a moment to mention that Rachel Unthank & The Winterset are up for a clutch of awards too - good luck to them.)
After all this well deserved partying it will be back to work and recording is to continue back in Ireland with at least John, Spencer Cozens and Martin Winnings in the studio - and there is a buzz about that carries a determination to get Willing to Work finished, an enthusiasm which will hopefully carry everybody along with it and get the job done - and, there is even talk about - the next record after this.....
PS There's a rumour too that John will be visiting another old friend who is playing in London and maybe, just maybe, he'll come and play on the record...?
A few weeks back it seemed so unlikely that John's poor health would even allow him to attend the award ceremony, but the good news is that John will not only attend, but will perform 3 songs with the full band - highlights of the whole event on Mike Harding's show this Wednesday evening. (And let's take a moment to mention that Rachel Unthank & The Winterset are up for a clutch of awards too - good luck to them.)
After all this well deserved partying it will be back to work and recording is to continue back in Ireland with at least John, Spencer Cozens and Martin Winnings in the studio - and there is a buzz about that carries a determination to get Willing to Work finished, an enthusiasm which will hopefully carry everybody along with it and get the job done - and, there is even talk about - the next record after this.....
PS There's a rumour too that John will be visiting another old friend who is playing in London and maybe, just maybe, he'll come and play on the record...?
Monday, January 21, 2008
Willing to Work - at the crossroads.
The news that John Martyn is to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at the prestigious BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards on February 4th was announced recently and of course everybody agrees that it is about time. Even better news is that John is recovering from his recent bout of illness and is determined to get down to London to play at the Awards, the band is playing too so we wish John well and hope that his fitness continues to improve so that he can take his rightful place on the night.
The news on the long awaited new record - "Willing to Work" is that there is a big debate going on as to whether the keyboard layered takes of the songs should be finished for the album, or whether to go back and re-record with acoustic guitar and piano. The inevitable result is that the record is going to be a little longer in the making, but from what I've heard, it will be worth the wait. The dilemma facing the production team is a complex one - there are many voices who want to hear John Martyn playing acoustic music, yet John has been recording with the band, and they have already put down some pretty pleasing music with strong inputs from Spencer Cozens' keyboards - indeed Spencer is often in there at the outset, playing along with John as he sings the new songs for the first time, and I suspect that John likes these takes.
Personally, I would declare on the the side of the keyboard versions - although I haven't heard the acoustic tracks as such, it is the power of the music - the big sound that Spencer (or indeed Foster Patterson) and the band get in the live environment that most appeals to me about John's music, and John's electric guitar can bring me to tears. Gilly suggested putting out 2 versions of some of the songs on the same album, which would be fascinating, but the thought of having to finish 2 versions of everything might be a step too far at this stage!
Perhaps going back to pure acoustic music would be too much like a step back in time for John Martyn, who has after all been innovative throughout his career, and has never shied away from doing what he wants to do, I don't know where his heart lies, maybe he wants to return to his folk roots.
So thats my tuppence worth - I'm hoping to spark a debate because I know that the folks "Doon the Cellar" are listening and maybe John is too - any offers?
The news on the long awaited new record - "Willing to Work" is that there is a big debate going on as to whether the keyboard layered takes of the songs should be finished for the album, or whether to go back and re-record with acoustic guitar and piano. The inevitable result is that the record is going to be a little longer in the making, but from what I've heard, it will be worth the wait. The dilemma facing the production team is a complex one - there are many voices who want to hear John Martyn playing acoustic music, yet John has been recording with the band, and they have already put down some pretty pleasing music with strong inputs from Spencer Cozens' keyboards - indeed Spencer is often in there at the outset, playing along with John as he sings the new songs for the first time, and I suspect that John likes these takes.
Personally, I would declare on the the side of the keyboard versions - although I haven't heard the acoustic tracks as such, it is the power of the music - the big sound that Spencer (or indeed Foster Patterson) and the band get in the live environment that most appeals to me about John's music, and John's electric guitar can bring me to tears. Gilly suggested putting out 2 versions of some of the songs on the same album, which would be fascinating, but the thought of having to finish 2 versions of everything might be a step too far at this stage!
Perhaps going back to pure acoustic music would be too much like a step back in time for John Martyn, who has after all been innovative throughout his career, and has never shied away from doing what he wants to do, I don't know where his heart lies, maybe he wants to return to his folk roots.
So thats my tuppence worth - I'm hoping to spark a debate because I know that the folks "Doon the Cellar" are listening and maybe John is too - any offers?
Sunday, January 20, 2008
One More Thing .... Pandora Radio
"We are deeply, deeply sorry to say that due to licensing constraints, we can no longer allow access to Pandora for listeners located outside of the U.S. We will continue to work diligently to realize the vision of a truly global Pandora, but for the time being we are required to restrict its use. We are very sad to have to do this, but there is no other alternative."
This is a disgrace!
The fact that some money grabbing executives in the "music industry" think that streaming music across the globe is bad for "their" business is depriving U.K. based music lovers from using this most excellent technology.
Pandora lets you start from a given point - say a song or an artist, and will play you tracks that relate in some way to the starting point. You can add and subtract artists, change the bias towards certain styles - it is brilliant - and if I was allowed to use it, then I would most likely have spent yet more money on CDs or downloads. Now that I can't - well the "music business" will lose out because I shall continue to cut them out and wherever possible buy direct from the artists.
The "Music Business" is trying to kill Music.
Long Live Pandora!
This is a disgrace!
The fact that some money grabbing executives in the "music industry" think that streaming music across the globe is bad for "their" business is depriving U.K. based music lovers from using this most excellent technology.
Pandora lets you start from a given point - say a song or an artist, and will play you tracks that relate in some way to the starting point. You can add and subtract artists, change the bias towards certain styles - it is brilliant - and if I was allowed to use it, then I would most likely have spent yet more money on CDs or downloads. Now that I can't - well the "music business" will lose out because I shall continue to cut them out and wherever possible buy direct from the artists.
The "Music Business" is trying to kill Music.
Long Live Pandora!
METROCOUSTIC - 16th January 2008
Back to Liverpool again for our first visit to the Metrocoustic night. Held in Metro, Victoria Street, this is a regular event, run by one of Liverpool's adopted daughters - Kaya. The Metro bar is in the basement of Fowlers Building - a fine example of a brick built vaulted cellar and as a result it has a big open area with no pillars and a low ceiling - result - excellent sound and a cosy atmosphere.
It's a late-ish start - 9.30 pm - and as the start time neared, the place began to fill up - Kaya started running around getting the p.a. set up and gathering people to add to the line-up, and before long she was ready to open the proceedings with a J.D. Loudermilk's good old blues - "Turn me on" which even Kaya admitted was a little rusty! No problems after that though, and her take on "These Boots Were Made For Walking" was very well received. "Follow that Kev!" went up the cry as Kev and Mally took to the stage for a short set of Kev's self-penned songs with Mally providing some very nice indeed guitar backing with Kaya's bassy Ovation(?). Kev's songs turned out to be rather good, sensitive and lyrical - sung in his restrained - possibly overly so - high register voice - very smooth. His lyrics are often dark, but his songs are well worth a listen to and I'm looking forward to hearing more.
Next up was Stuart Anthony who played a mixture of of his own songs and a couple of Nick Drake covers, then Kaya came back on with her own "Fairy Tale Blues" - a big blues song delivered in a BIG blues voice which hardly seems viable from her small frame!
The next short set was from Guitar Mal (Mally) - declaration of interest alert - we're almost related! I spent a couple of songs with my right ear next to the speaker taking pictures for him, but when I retreated to switch to video, I was better able to hear(!) and enjoyed a nice rendition of "Me about You" which Mally picked rather than strummed and came out well. "Happy Now" is another of Mally's "cheerful" songs. He's probably fed up of us saying this by now, but when Mally holds back a bit vocally, it seems to work rather well, but you see how much he is enjoying performing and that is after all what it's all about.
What happened next was a big, big performance from Kaya - calling in her friend Laura for some backing vocals, Kaya gave it everything and so good was it that I failed to write down the song! But it was bursting with colour and passion, with Laura looking a little overwhelmed by it all but she hung in there well. The next song - maybe it was called "Perfect" was equally good, but slower and less frantic. Kaya was clearly excited that the mixes had just come back for her album and they are already beginning to appear on her MySpace. If they are anything like as good as this performance tonight, the album will be a real treat.
Letters In Red are a young four piece band who where quite impressive too. With 2 acoustic guitars playing intermingled with each other, violin and female vocal, they played a competent set which produced a couple of neat musical twists - they are particularly good at endings! They use the violin as lead guitar in places and it was a nice change to hear a band without drums or keyboards. They clearly need a little practice at stagecraft - seemly a little shy of the microphone at times, but they showed lots of promise and again I look forward to hearing more from them.
That was it for us - the night rolled on and they play until about 1 a.m. but we had to leave early - it was a good night and I think we'll be paying Metrocoustic a few more visits in the near future.
It's a late-ish start - 9.30 pm - and as the start time neared, the place began to fill up - Kaya started running around getting the p.a. set up and gathering people to add to the line-up, and before long she was ready to open the proceedings with a J.D. Loudermilk's good old blues - "Turn me on" which even Kaya admitted was a little rusty! No problems after that though, and her take on "These Boots Were Made For Walking" was very well received. "Follow that Kev!" went up the cry as Kev and Mally took to the stage for a short set of Kev's self-penned songs with Mally providing some very nice indeed guitar backing with Kaya's bassy Ovation(?). Kev's songs turned out to be rather good, sensitive and lyrical - sung in his restrained - possibly overly so - high register voice - very smooth. His lyrics are often dark, but his songs are well worth a listen to and I'm looking forward to hearing more.
Next up was Stuart Anthony who played a mixture of of his own songs and a couple of Nick Drake covers, then Kaya came back on with her own "Fairy Tale Blues" - a big blues song delivered in a BIG blues voice which hardly seems viable from her small frame!
The next short set was from Guitar Mal (Mally) - declaration of interest alert - we're almost related! I spent a couple of songs with my right ear next to the speaker taking pictures for him, but when I retreated to switch to video, I was better able to hear(!) and enjoyed a nice rendition of "Me about You" which Mally picked rather than strummed and came out well. "Happy Now" is another of Mally's "cheerful" songs. He's probably fed up of us saying this by now, but when Mally holds back a bit vocally, it seems to work rather well, but you see how much he is enjoying performing and that is after all what it's all about.
What happened next was a big, big performance from Kaya - calling in her friend Laura for some backing vocals, Kaya gave it everything and so good was it that I failed to write down the song! But it was bursting with colour and passion, with Laura looking a little overwhelmed by it all but she hung in there well. The next song - maybe it was called "Perfect" was equally good, but slower and less frantic. Kaya was clearly excited that the mixes had just come back for her album and they are already beginning to appear on her MySpace. If they are anything like as good as this performance tonight, the album will be a real treat.
Letters In Red are a young four piece band who where quite impressive too. With 2 acoustic guitars playing intermingled with each other, violin and female vocal, they played a competent set which produced a couple of neat musical twists - they are particularly good at endings! They use the violin as lead guitar in places and it was a nice change to hear a band without drums or keyboards. They clearly need a little practice at stagecraft - seemly a little shy of the microphone at times, but they showed lots of promise and again I look forward to hearing more from them.
That was it for us - the night rolled on and they play until about 1 a.m. but we had to leave early - it was a good night and I think we'll be paying Metrocoustic a few more visits in the near future.
LIVERPOOL 08 - The Peoples' Opening
It has been an awful long time coming, but 2008 arrived with - a delay. I was amazed to find that Liverpool was not launching into 2008 - the year when the grand old city becomes European Capital of Culture - with a great firework display. So we had to make do with the myriad domestic displays that were visible from the top of Thurstaston Hill. We were also treated to a countdown, a piper, and some singing. The fireworks were great, and there were some really good ones over in Anfield, but one rather felt that Liverpool had missed a golden opportunity in ignoring the date, especially following on from the spectacular display they put on for the City's 800th birthday a few months back.
A fortnight later then, the official start of the Capital of Culture year began with the People's Opening - a small matter of 45-50 thousand of us gathered on St George's Plateau, and spilled over into the surrounding streets in a pleasing if rather cramped turnout for the big event. Billed as the day when Liverpool's "Big Dig" - a controversial attempt to rebuild the City in one fell swoop - turns into the "Big Gig", there were all manner of music and arts promised for this glittering launch event, and sure enough, there were indeed all sorts:
A great phalanx of rock guitarists, impressively arranged in lines atop many of the buildings around the Plateau, backlit and smoked, poured out what was probably somebody's idea of a rock anthem, but the sound didn't match the image, maybe the p.a. wasn't up to it where we were, but what looked like a great oceanic wave turned out to be more like the Mersey on a choppy day - a bit rough and very muddy.
Much more atmospheric musically was the choir which put out a rather ethereal wash of sound, and with the great visuals of local school children bringing their caskets of treasured things, each one containing a light, things improved tremendously. Even more delightful was the harp which often danced around over and above the other music. There was much play on Liverpool's links with shipping, containers flying through the air, acrobats up ropes and on frames suspended from cranes, all flagging semaphore messages in unison. We saw some film, a few celebrities came out and waved - though none were introduced and we couldn't tell who most of them were, and local popsters The Wombats came out and did a song, or maybe 2.
By now the crowd was getting the better of some of our party and we had to try and find somewhere less cramped - not easy as it turned out, so the remainder of the event was experienced in less than ideal circumstances as we tried to squeeze through layer after layer of crowd! Ringo too came on and did his Liverpool 8 song from in a box on top of St George's Hall and then that was it! I was surprised it was over so soon - but everybody seemed to have enjoyed it and it looked fab on the telly the next night. The official web site has loads of great images too if you want to see for yourself.
The next night they got the new stadium - The Echo Arena - open for "Liverpool - The Musical" which seemed to go down well too. The Arena is one of the first of a great many new buildings to open in Liverpool - a city which is in the process of taking a giant step to one side, moving the shopping centre towards the waterfront and adding The Arena to the already impressive Tate Liverpool and so on at the Albert Dock. It's a huge undertaking, and much of it remains under construction, so it may be that culture, rather than shopping, does take first place in 2008!
Stay tuned for more Culture!
A fortnight later then, the official start of the Capital of Culture year began with the People's Opening - a small matter of 45-50 thousand of us gathered on St George's Plateau, and spilled over into the surrounding streets in a pleasing if rather cramped turnout for the big event. Billed as the day when Liverpool's "Big Dig" - a controversial attempt to rebuild the City in one fell swoop - turns into the "Big Gig", there were all manner of music and arts promised for this glittering launch event, and sure enough, there were indeed all sorts:
A great phalanx of rock guitarists, impressively arranged in lines atop many of the buildings around the Plateau, backlit and smoked, poured out what was probably somebody's idea of a rock anthem, but the sound didn't match the image, maybe the p.a. wasn't up to it where we were, but what looked like a great oceanic wave turned out to be more like the Mersey on a choppy day - a bit rough and very muddy.
Much more atmospheric musically was the choir which put out a rather ethereal wash of sound, and with the great visuals of local school children bringing their caskets of treasured things, each one containing a light, things improved tremendously. Even more delightful was the harp which often danced around over and above the other music. There was much play on Liverpool's links with shipping, containers flying through the air, acrobats up ropes and on frames suspended from cranes, all flagging semaphore messages in unison. We saw some film, a few celebrities came out and waved - though none were introduced and we couldn't tell who most of them were, and local popsters The Wombats came out and did a song, or maybe 2.
By now the crowd was getting the better of some of our party and we had to try and find somewhere less cramped - not easy as it turned out, so the remainder of the event was experienced in less than ideal circumstances as we tried to squeeze through layer after layer of crowd! Ringo too came on and did his Liverpool 8 song from in a box on top of St George's Hall and then that was it! I was surprised it was over so soon - but everybody seemed to have enjoyed it and it looked fab on the telly the next night. The official web site has loads of great images too if you want to see for yourself.
The next night they got the new stadium - The Echo Arena - open for "Liverpool - The Musical" which seemed to go down well too. The Arena is one of the first of a great many new buildings to open in Liverpool - a city which is in the process of taking a giant step to one side, moving the shopping centre towards the waterfront and adding The Arena to the already impressive Tate Liverpool and so on at the Albert Dock. It's a huge undertaking, and much of it remains under construction, so it may be that culture, rather than shopping, does take first place in 2008!
Stay tuned for more Culture!
Happy New Year?
Firstly - all the best for 2008 from FolkingAbout - lets hope for lots of great music and maybe some peace and goodwill too!
It has already been a momentous year with news reaching us of Denny Bartley's decision to quit the fantastic Last Night's Fun - typically enough their website claims it is because he cannot face sitting next to Chris any longer, before alluding more seriously to Denny's young family and we would wish every happiness to Denny, Karen and the children. (Maybe Denny will have a few spare minutes to finish his own album now....?)
More shockingly, news is breaking of Belinda O'Hooley's parting from Rachel Unthank & The Winterset. This is, on the face of it, terrible news. Belinda speaks of relief in her blog, coupled with disappointment that all fans of The Winterset must share because Belinda was an integral part of the group - her music first, her humour, her presence and for, me the care she put into the live performances, her accompaniment of Becky's singing - captured here at the Shrewsbury Folk Festival 2006 - is so sensitive and intense. Belinda will be hard, probably impossible to replace - certainly The Winterset will never be the same again. I hope they have the courage and strength to move on and find new facets rather than try to emulate Belinda's unique contributions.
Talking of which - The Winterset have been receiving many plaudits and end of year honours, and are rightfully nominated for 4 awards in the 2008 BBC Folk Awards to be announced on February 4th - I hope Belinda receives her fair share of the honours here, because she has been a major force in this act and she will be much missed.
FolkingAbout wish Belinda well in her new career, and I'm very much looking forward to seeing Rachel, Becky and The Winterset somewhere on the upcoming tour.
It's not all sad news though! Liverpool has just launched into 2008 as European Capital of Culture - FolkingAbout was there to witness the "People's Launch" - more on that and some interesting new acts coming up next.
It has already been a momentous year with news reaching us of Denny Bartley's decision to quit the fantastic Last Night's Fun - typically enough their website claims it is because he cannot face sitting next to Chris any longer, before alluding more seriously to Denny's young family and we would wish every happiness to Denny, Karen and the children. (Maybe Denny will have a few spare minutes to finish his own album now....?)
More shockingly, news is breaking of Belinda O'Hooley's parting from Rachel Unthank & The Winterset. This is, on the face of it, terrible news. Belinda speaks of relief in her blog, coupled with disappointment that all fans of The Winterset must share because Belinda was an integral part of the group - her music first, her humour, her presence and for, me the care she put into the live performances, her accompaniment of Becky's singing - captured here at the Shrewsbury Folk Festival 2006 - is so sensitive and intense. Belinda will be hard, probably impossible to replace - certainly The Winterset will never be the same again. I hope they have the courage and strength to move on and find new facets rather than try to emulate Belinda's unique contributions.Talking of which - The Winterset have been receiving many plaudits and end of year honours, and are rightfully nominated for 4 awards in the 2008 BBC Folk Awards to be announced on February 4th - I hope Belinda receives her fair share of the honours here, because she has been a major force in this act and she will be much missed.
FolkingAbout wish Belinda well in her new career, and I'm very much looking forward to seeing Rachel, Becky and The Winterset somewhere on the upcoming tour.
It's not all sad news though! Liverpool has just launched into 2008 as European Capital of Culture - FolkingAbout was there to witness the "People's Launch" - more on that and some interesting new acts coming up next.
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Folking About "Doon The Cellar" Magic in progress...
Cajun accordion? No that's Harry Potter working his keyboard magic. We're back "Doon the Cellar" listening to a track we'll call "Sitting on My Front Porch" - it's the one we mentioned in our first report. There is a real cajun lilt to the music and the accordion is really Harry Potter's keyboard - we're busy hinting that our good mate Ginger may be the man for the job but it looks like they have some other bloke in mind - sorry Ginger but it's - well I can't say - I'd be for the high "Jump!"
This brings two points to mind - the first is the dedication of the SnugL to bring in real musicians to play real instruments, as here with the accordion, it costs too much according to Big Frank, but the better sonic is worth the cost and often this wins out. Elsewhere on this album, we may well be hearing steel drums - real ones of course - played by none other than - Harry Potter!
Which brings us nicely to the second - and that is the integral part that Harry Potter plays in the process of creating the band's sound. My notes are full of quotes about how he is a "genius" and every track we heard - bare bones even though they were - featured yet more of Harry's magic with the keyboards, managing to get a feel for the groove and provide instrument parts that other people will come in and play later, if they can manage that is..... I have - I think - a recall of SnugL saying sometime in the early hours that HP & Big Frank are a genius couple - but Frank is the master and HP will always be the apprentice. Big Frank will always be the master.
The third is the quality of the core band - "hand-reared" is a favourite phrase of SnugL's when discussing them - and they have something special - that mysterious musical intimacy that is only really found amongst players who have played together for years. Frank has had more than his share of managers fall out with him, but he has kept his band - the "girls" - for years, and like Neil Young with Crazy Horse, they add up to more than the sum of the parts.
So with cajun accordion and steel drums are we seeing a return to Big Frank's "One World" era? That may depend on who is willing - and able - to work.
FolkingAbout "Doon the Cellar" is a series of short articles resulting from a series of interviews with those concerned with the making of Big Frank's next CD, and maybe from the one before and a few before that, but mostly this one. Stay tuned for more...
Get well soon Big Frank - from all at Folking About
This brings two points to mind - the first is the dedication of the SnugL to bring in real musicians to play real instruments, as here with the accordion, it costs too much according to Big Frank, but the better sonic is worth the cost and often this wins out. Elsewhere on this album, we may well be hearing steel drums - real ones of course - played by none other than - Harry Potter!
Which brings us nicely to the second - and that is the integral part that Harry Potter plays in the process of creating the band's sound. My notes are full of quotes about how he is a "genius" and every track we heard - bare bones even though they were - featured yet more of Harry's magic with the keyboards, managing to get a feel for the groove and provide instrument parts that other people will come in and play later, if they can manage that is..... I have - I think - a recall of SnugL saying sometime in the early hours that HP & Big Frank are a genius couple - but Frank is the master and HP will always be the apprentice. Big Frank will always be the master.
The third is the quality of the core band - "hand-reared" is a favourite phrase of SnugL's when discussing them - and they have something special - that mysterious musical intimacy that is only really found amongst players who have played together for years. Frank has had more than his share of managers fall out with him, but he has kept his band - the "girls" - for years, and like Neil Young with Crazy Horse, they add up to more than the sum of the parts.
So with cajun accordion and steel drums are we seeing a return to Big Frank's "One World" era? That may depend on who is willing - and able - to work.
FolkingAbout "Doon the Cellar" is a series of short articles resulting from a series of interviews with those concerned with the making of Big Frank's next CD, and maybe from the one before and a few before that, but mostly this one. Stay tuned for more...
Get well soon Big Frank - from all at Folking About
Sunday, September 16, 2007
An Evening With David Sylvian - Manchester Bridgewater Hall - 14/9/2007
It was hard to believe, but it was finally happening. We walked into the foyer at the Bridgewater, tickets in hand, and yes, sure enough - it WAS happening. After 27 years, I was indeed going to witness David Sylvian live on stage. I know he's been around occasionally before, but this time I heard about it and got the tickets in time......
The Hall was just about full - there was an almost church like hush in the auditorium and music played very quietly over the p.a. - so quietly I couldn't really hear it. Add to that a predominance of black-clothed audience, the impressive array of organ pipes and the hard chairs, and it could have been a church. This impression was broken as soon as the 5 band members strolled out onto the stage in the dim light. The crowd applauded - and applauded more- in fact we applauded for some time while things got sorted out on stage.
Sylvian himself - quickly check with the binoculars - yes it IS him - sat on a tall chrome legged stool, centre stage, feet on the rails, perched, almost hunched, cradling an electric guitar, his effects and water bottle laid out before him on a scrunched up black sheet, like a rather well presented busker might appear in fact. The whole band were dressed in black, Sylvian seemed to have a jacket on and a pair of what he would never call "drainies", and a very swish pair of white shoes that later evoked a cry from the crowd: "Where'd you get yer shoes David?"
When they started playing you knew it was going to be just fine. A grand piano, the top strewn with electronics and a further keyboard, sheet music and a laptop nearby with it's own keyboard, an alto sax, bass and a rather sparse looking drum kit with yet more keyboards and a cymbal imbalance completed the line-up behind - no repeat of the "just 4 keyboard's" we, and others we heard, had worried about beforehand. First up was "Wonderful World" - the single from the debut release from Nine Horses - "Snow Borne Sorrow". This was going to be good - the arrangement of the song for these rather more acoustic instruments was sparse and yet the sound was rich and repaid listening. David Sylvian's guitar was gentle and the Takuma Watanabe's piano was just so - the bass and drums providing a good solid base and the lovely sax seemed to weave in and out of the texture laid down by the others.
Bassist Keith Lowe alternated between electric and one of these modern body-less upright jobs - resplendent in kilt and boots and for some reason stationed on his own little plinth, Lowe was seen at one point to duck and weave as if he was - dancing - we'll have none of that here! I have not yet been able to discover who was playing the flute and sax - he is not listed in the tour brochure - (and more on that later!) - but I think it was Theo Travis.
"World Citizen" demonstrated the careful inter-weaving of the band's electronic sound, with "live" percussion from Steve Jansen mixing it with the programmed sounds which I suspect Steve was in full control off from the look of his array of black boxes mixed in with the drums.
It is David Sylvian whose name appears on the tickets - and it is David Sylvian's voice that leaves the biggest impression on the listener - not in a harsh LISTEN-TO-ME-excited kind of way, but a sweet, deep, autumnal and melancholic sound that he produces with hardly any visible effort and reminds one rather of a really good chewy pint of dark bitter. In "Ride" - a song "from the eighties" - released on the 2000 compilation "Everything and Nothing", his vocals were backed by the flute, I just noted down a sigh. I know David has been a smoker in the past, and may still be, certainly his throat sometimes has a sound that may well be a smoke induced growl, yet later he sang - in fact "Atom and cell" ended on - such a low note that came over so smoothly.....
The range of material we heard was impressive too - I had expected to hear a lot of the new Nine Horses material, and there was plenty of that - yet Steve Jansen's latest "Playground Martyrs" was included (to great applause) and we had already had "Ride", so I was delighted - nay thrilled! - when a piece that I didn't know experienced a key change and suddenly there was "Ghosts", but not as I've ever heard it before, with piano and - well it was almost going to be "Nightporter" judging by the sound of it, but "Ghosts" came out and afterwards there was rapturous applause, even my neighbour, who up till then had just been rapt, suddenly burst into clapping mode and we exchanged approval! There was more "old stuff" to come - "Waterfront" and "Mother and Child".
A word for the lighting - or the backcloth projection which was a themed display of abstract images, sometimes still, sometimes moving or slowly changing - all executed in a suitably subdued palette and sometimes overlaid with spots of light, perhaps from a camera aimed at the lighting gantries, but I couldn't be certain. It certainly fitted in well with the atmosphere of the music.
The audience, by and large were enjoying the music and there was a real sense of respect for what was going down here, although a number choose to ignore the requests to stay seated except between songs and to disturb everybody while they edged along the rows to get out - then back in again. Gilly and I agreed later that at the very least we would have preferred a cozy sofa for this gig - even better if it had been in our front room - it was that kind of night - and then they stepped things up a bit in "History of Holes" which built up very nicely with Steve Jansen giving a very sharp beat indeed. Things calmed down again with a return to more historical material - the long flute notes that introduced "Before the Bullfight" producing welcoming applause, and there was "Nostalgia" in there too, both from "Gone to Earth" before the end came (so soon?) with the clock like lilt of "The Librarian" and finally David got down off that stool and gave a slight bow before waving and leaving the stage.
By now the brain was ticking and while we clapped and clapped for more, I wondered what the encore might bring - no need to guess for long as the distinctive opening notes of "Any Colour You Are" drifted up from the stage - it was a beautiful, haunting rendition of this dreadfully sad song, aided by the flute and then to heap sugar onto the pie, there was a verse or two of "Riverman". We demanded - and got - a second encore - after some considerable time and the band rounded the night off with the apt "Wanderlust" which contains the lyric:
And we’re out on the road again
It’s given us this wonderful wanderlust
It’s given us this wonderful wanderlust
It’s given us this wonderful wanderlust
I don’t doubt it, I feel it
I no longer doubted either - I had felt it, heard it, seen it and bought the tour brochure - at 20 quid maybe a bit steep - but with a hard cover and a CD with collectible cuts it seemed a fitting souvenir. Come back soon David.
The Hall was just about full - there was an almost church like hush in the auditorium and music played very quietly over the p.a. - so quietly I couldn't really hear it. Add to that a predominance of black-clothed audience, the impressive array of organ pipes and the hard chairs, and it could have been a church. This impression was broken as soon as the 5 band members strolled out onto the stage in the dim light. The crowd applauded - and applauded more- in fact we applauded for some time while things got sorted out on stage.
Sylvian himself - quickly check with the binoculars - yes it IS him - sat on a tall chrome legged stool, centre stage, feet on the rails, perched, almost hunched, cradling an electric guitar, his effects and water bottle laid out before him on a scrunched up black sheet, like a rather well presented busker might appear in fact. The whole band were dressed in black, Sylvian seemed to have a jacket on and a pair of what he would never call "drainies", and a very swish pair of white shoes that later evoked a cry from the crowd: "Where'd you get yer shoes David?"
When they started playing you knew it was going to be just fine. A grand piano, the top strewn with electronics and a further keyboard, sheet music and a laptop nearby with it's own keyboard, an alto sax, bass and a rather sparse looking drum kit with yet more keyboards and a cymbal imbalance completed the line-up behind - no repeat of the "just 4 keyboard's" we, and others we heard, had worried about beforehand. First up was "Wonderful World" - the single from the debut release from Nine Horses - "Snow Borne Sorrow". This was going to be good - the arrangement of the song for these rather more acoustic instruments was sparse and yet the sound was rich and repaid listening. David Sylvian's guitar was gentle and the Takuma Watanabe's piano was just so - the bass and drums providing a good solid base and the lovely sax seemed to weave in and out of the texture laid down by the others.
Bassist Keith Lowe alternated between electric and one of these modern body-less upright jobs - resplendent in kilt and boots and for some reason stationed on his own little plinth, Lowe was seen at one point to duck and weave as if he was - dancing - we'll have none of that here! I have not yet been able to discover who was playing the flute and sax - he is not listed in the tour brochure - (and more on that later!) - but I think it was Theo Travis.
"World Citizen" demonstrated the careful inter-weaving of the band's electronic sound, with "live" percussion from Steve Jansen mixing it with the programmed sounds which I suspect Steve was in full control off from the look of his array of black boxes mixed in with the drums.
It is David Sylvian whose name appears on the tickets - and it is David Sylvian's voice that leaves the biggest impression on the listener - not in a harsh LISTEN-TO-ME-excited kind of way, but a sweet, deep, autumnal and melancholic sound that he produces with hardly any visible effort and reminds one rather of a really good chewy pint of dark bitter. In "Ride" - a song "from the eighties" - released on the 2000 compilation "Everything and Nothing", his vocals were backed by the flute, I just noted down a sigh. I know David has been a smoker in the past, and may still be, certainly his throat sometimes has a sound that may well be a smoke induced growl, yet later he sang - in fact "Atom and cell" ended on - such a low note that came over so smoothly.....
The range of material we heard was impressive too - I had expected to hear a lot of the new Nine Horses material, and there was plenty of that - yet Steve Jansen's latest "Playground Martyrs" was included (to great applause) and we had already had "Ride", so I was delighted - nay thrilled! - when a piece that I didn't know experienced a key change and suddenly there was "Ghosts", but not as I've ever heard it before, with piano and - well it was almost going to be "Nightporter" judging by the sound of it, but "Ghosts" came out and afterwards there was rapturous applause, even my neighbour, who up till then had just been rapt, suddenly burst into clapping mode and we exchanged approval! There was more "old stuff" to come - "Waterfront" and "Mother and Child".
A word for the lighting - or the backcloth projection which was a themed display of abstract images, sometimes still, sometimes moving or slowly changing - all executed in a suitably subdued palette and sometimes overlaid with spots of light, perhaps from a camera aimed at the lighting gantries, but I couldn't be certain. It certainly fitted in well with the atmosphere of the music.
The audience, by and large were enjoying the music and there was a real sense of respect for what was going down here, although a number choose to ignore the requests to stay seated except between songs and to disturb everybody while they edged along the rows to get out - then back in again. Gilly and I agreed later that at the very least we would have preferred a cozy sofa for this gig - even better if it had been in our front room - it was that kind of night - and then they stepped things up a bit in "History of Holes" which built up very nicely with Steve Jansen giving a very sharp beat indeed. Things calmed down again with a return to more historical material - the long flute notes that introduced "Before the Bullfight" producing welcoming applause, and there was "Nostalgia" in there too, both from "Gone to Earth" before the end came (so soon?) with the clock like lilt of "The Librarian" and finally David got down off that stool and gave a slight bow before waving and leaving the stage.
By now the brain was ticking and while we clapped and clapped for more, I wondered what the encore might bring - no need to guess for long as the distinctive opening notes of "Any Colour You Are" drifted up from the stage - it was a beautiful, haunting rendition of this dreadfully sad song, aided by the flute and then to heap sugar onto the pie, there was a verse or two of "Riverman". We demanded - and got - a second encore - after some considerable time and the band rounded the night off with the apt "Wanderlust" which contains the lyric:
And we’re out on the road again
It’s given us this wonderful wanderlust
It’s given us this wonderful wanderlust
It’s given us this wonderful wanderlust
I don’t doubt it, I feel it
I no longer doubted either - I had felt it, heard it, seen it and bought the tour brochure - at 20 quid maybe a bit steep - but with a hard cover and a CD with collectible cuts it seemed a fitting souvenir. Come back soon David.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Folking About "Doon The Cellar" - The Missing Earl?
There's at least one name missing from the credits listed on the album sleeve of "On the Cobbles". James Hooker no less, a keyboard player and singer who "has a very famous history in his own right" according to Nanci Griffith in Dirty Linen - and she should know! The story goes that Big Frank was at a party one night where he ran into Hooker and got reminiscing about their early days and before long had SnugL ordered out of the party (despite loud and persistent protests) and into the studio to record some keyboards. Some of them ended up on "Cobbles" - but - according to SnugL - Tools missed him off the credits.....
Hopefully though Hooker will get his just desserts for his contribution to "the new album". On "Sugar & Spice" he plays a deep, dark clavichord part under the vocals - and they are another story in themselves. Harry Potter recorded the clav on his trusty laptop.
James Hooker in Nanci Griffith's studio 2004
FolkingAbout "Doon the Cellar" is a series of short articles resulting from a series of interviews with those concerned with the making of Big Frank's next CD, and maybe from the one before and a few before that, but mostly this one. Stay tuned for more...
Hopefully though Hooker will get his just desserts for his contribution to "the new album". On "Sugar & Spice" he plays a deep, dark clavichord part under the vocals - and they are another story in themselves. Harry Potter recorded the clav on his trusty laptop.
James Hooker in Nanci Griffith's studio 2004
FolkingAbout "Doon the Cellar" is a series of short articles resulting from a series of interviews with those concerned with the making of Big Frank's next CD, and maybe from the one before and a few before that, but mostly this one. Stay tuned for more...
Monday, August 27, 2007
Folking About "Doon The Cellar" - Saved!
Ireland is the setting for the next tale from our visit to "Doon The Cellar" and illustrates the trials of recording and getting that all important track down:
SnugL had the studio set up in Theresa's sitting room and is getting the beats going, he and Big Frank had already started on the port, and when they found a bottle of potent Wray & Nephew White Rum, they did that too. There was much banging into things and falling about, but Frank started to sing somewhere along the way, the vocal was good and has to be recorded. More chaos ensued throughout the session and finally, after SnugL fell over and banged his head, sleep followed....
.... the next morning, checking the studio revealed the good news - the vocals were saved, despite everything!
"Stand by me" is one of Frank's pain songs - you can feel it in the music, the vocal, no doubt fuelled by the energetic consumption of port and rum, has a mournful edge to it, the lyrics speak of loss and grieving.
Later additions to the song, recorded at Liverpool's Parr Street Studio, include John Giblin on bowed double-bass giving further depth to the mourning, and a "genius" contribution from Harry Potter, who manages to play a soul-rendering sad electric guitar anguish-howl part over strings - ALL on keyboards.
"That," exclaims our host, "is pure SnugL!" he means the sound - it's all done on his terms, the sonic is as he wants it. The apparent comedic interlude with the falling down water masks a genuine commitment to getting it all down as it should be, and this is a good'un.
SnugL had the studio set up in Theresa's sitting room and is getting the beats going, he and Big Frank had already started on the port, and when they found a bottle of potent Wray & Nephew White Rum, they did that too. There was much banging into things and falling about, but Frank started to sing somewhere along the way, the vocal was good and has to be recorded. More chaos ensued throughout the session and finally, after SnugL fell over and banged his head, sleep followed....
.... the next morning, checking the studio revealed the good news - the vocals were saved, despite everything!
"Stand by me" is one of Frank's pain songs - you can feel it in the music, the vocal, no doubt fuelled by the energetic consumption of port and rum, has a mournful edge to it, the lyrics speak of loss and grieving.
Later additions to the song, recorded at Liverpool's Parr Street Studio, include John Giblin on bowed double-bass giving further depth to the mourning, and a "genius" contribution from Harry Potter, who manages to play a soul-rendering sad electric guitar anguish-howl part over strings - ALL on keyboards.
"That," exclaims our host, "is pure SnugL!" he means the sound - it's all done on his terms, the sonic is as he wants it. The apparent comedic interlude with the falling down water masks a genuine commitment to getting it all down as it should be, and this is a good'un.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Folking About "Doon The Cellar" - The Prophet in the Church With One Bell.
Not long into our visit to "Doon the Cellar" in Birkenhead, producer SnugL underlined his policy on sound recording - "I try to record what's there - I go for the purity" he said, and later we would get to hear some of the results.
What follows is the first of a number of reports stemming from this visit, and a number of interviews and other visits relating to the music of John Martyn today. John has very kindly allowed us a preview of many of the rough mixes from the new album, and we will be telling some of the stories behind the tracks, talking to the musicians, engineers and producers involved and telling their stories too. Some of the names used are the familiar names used by the protagonists.
"This is my gaff." said SnugL leading us into his studio - "more of a cutting suite really.", but this is where it happens. This is where many of John Martyn's songs are assembled; some of the tracks have even been recorded here.
We hope to be able to bring a complete technical description of the rig, and describe some of the processes involved in recording an album in the not too distant future, but for the time being lets just say that the editing is done on one of an ever growing collection of PC's - currently an AMD Dual Core with 8Gb RAM - a significant step up from what SnugL dismissively described as a Pentium II word processor that they used to use. Next in line may well be an anonymous laptop lurking near the desk - "I can do everything on that now - may as well flog this lot." In fact SnugL reports that John has been very keen on using the laptop himself and suggests that HE will produce the next CD, SnugL is fired and Tools can be the tea-boy if he is lucky.....!
We'll start our stories with a trip back in time, 5 years or so when John still had the "Church With One Bell" studio up in Scotland. Big Frank is sleeping up in the church gallery, but is awakened by SnugL and Harry Potter getting a new groove going down in the studio, the air is heady with incense from Scratch Perry's burner as Frank thunders downstairs to find out what all the row is about. Anger soon melts as the incense and the music combine to inspire Frank into a creative mood, and he is soon stood naked and fired up at the ever ready microphone, lyrics tumbling out, Spencer playing along. Some of the lyrics would prove to be prophetic - "How can you stand when you're sitting?" and "Sitting on the porch, me and my little dog."
Events would soon see these premonitions materialise, within months John had part of a leg amputated and now spends most of his time sat down, and he now has Gizmo - his own little dog.
There's more to say here, we fast forward to 2007 and a day's recording in Parr Street, Liverpool. Arran Ahmun and Alan Thompson are laying down drum and bass tracks to this vocal - John is sat there, encouraging, conducting, "master of ceremonies" and "much more like his old self." This is the on day after the band's amazing performance at John's Liverpool's Philharmonic Hall appearance - click here for our review. The results are terrific, soulful vocals follow the groove, the bass impassioned. SnugL suddenly stops it, winds the track back a few bars and laughs - "Listen to that, that's Harry Potter taking the p*ss with his da da daaa, da da daaa... on the keyboard."
It's a small insight into the way a song is born - others follow - some can be told here - stay tuned for more tales from Folking About "Doon the Cellar"
What follows is the first of a number of reports stemming from this visit, and a number of interviews and other visits relating to the music of John Martyn today. John has very kindly allowed us a preview of many of the rough mixes from the new album, and we will be telling some of the stories behind the tracks, talking to the musicians, engineers and producers involved and telling their stories too. Some of the names used are the familiar names used by the protagonists.
"This is my gaff." said SnugL leading us into his studio - "more of a cutting suite really.", but this is where it happens. This is where many of John Martyn's songs are assembled; some of the tracks have even been recorded here.
We hope to be able to bring a complete technical description of the rig, and describe some of the processes involved in recording an album in the not too distant future, but for the time being lets just say that the editing is done on one of an ever growing collection of PC's - currently an AMD Dual Core with 8Gb RAM - a significant step up from what SnugL dismissively described as a Pentium II word processor that they used to use. Next in line may well be an anonymous laptop lurking near the desk - "I can do everything on that now - may as well flog this lot." In fact SnugL reports that John has been very keen on using the laptop himself and suggests that HE will produce the next CD, SnugL is fired and Tools can be the tea-boy if he is lucky.....!
We'll start our stories with a trip back in time, 5 years or so when John still had the "Church With One Bell" studio up in Scotland. Big Frank is sleeping up in the church gallery, but is awakened by SnugL and Harry Potter getting a new groove going down in the studio, the air is heady with incense from Scratch Perry's burner as Frank thunders downstairs to find out what all the row is about. Anger soon melts as the incense and the music combine to inspire Frank into a creative mood, and he is soon stood naked and fired up at the ever ready microphone, lyrics tumbling out, Spencer playing along. Some of the lyrics would prove to be prophetic - "How can you stand when you're sitting?" and "Sitting on the porch, me and my little dog."
Events would soon see these premonitions materialise, within months John had part of a leg amputated and now spends most of his time sat down, and he now has Gizmo - his own little dog.
There's more to say here, we fast forward to 2007 and a day's recording in Parr Street, Liverpool. Arran Ahmun and Alan Thompson are laying down drum and bass tracks to this vocal - John is sat there, encouraging, conducting, "master of ceremonies" and "much more like his old self." This is the on day after the band's amazing performance at John's Liverpool's Philharmonic Hall appearance - click here for our review. The results are terrific, soulful vocals follow the groove, the bass impassioned. SnugL suddenly stops it, winds the track back a few bars and laughs - "Listen to that, that's Harry Potter taking the p*ss with his da da daaa, da da daaa... on the keyboard."
It's a small insight into the way a song is born - others follow - some can be told here - stay tuned for more tales from Folking About "Doon the Cellar"
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Danny Thompson lights a fire at Cropredy?
A lovely, warm summer's day and the audience at Fairport Cropredy Convention are gathering for a third and final day of this 40th anniversary celebration. The sound crew have relented from playing their compilation CD over and over again and we are being treated to John Martyn's soulful "Rock salt and nails" over the PA. A inner feeling of warmth joins the outer sunshine as we recall that today it is 12 months since John's magnificent gig on this very stage.
"Big Muff" follows and today's compere, Danny Thompson strides out onto the stage to greet the crowd; "Wotcha Cropredy! - How good is it to hear the great John Martyn?" Danny, long time musical partner, drinking partner and frequent sparing partner with John Martyn delighted us with yet more: "I love that man. You know in these days of awards and knighthoods and all that, isn't it time that John Martyn was recognised for his remarkable musical contribution? How many people agree that John Martyn should be rewarded in some way?" A huge cheer rose up from the ever growing crowd - the campaign for Sir John Martyn has started!
"Big Muff" follows and today's compere, Danny Thompson strides out onto the stage to greet the crowd; "Wotcha Cropredy! - How good is it to hear the great John Martyn?" Danny, long time musical partner, drinking partner and frequent sparing partner with John Martyn delighted us with yet more: "I love that man. You know in these days of awards and knighthoods and all that, isn't it time that John Martyn was recognised for his remarkable musical contribution? How many people agree that John Martyn should be rewarded in some way?" A huge cheer rose up from the ever growing crowd - the campaign for Sir John Martyn has started!
Sunday, June 03, 2007
John Martyn & John Smith at the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Hall - Liverpool - 1/6/2007
It was always going to be a good night - the last date of the tour, in Liverpool on the first day of flaming June. It proved to be a very good night - meeting a couple of very old friends, making new friends and some very good music.
John Smith sauntered onto the large Philharmonic stage, hands in his suit (!) pockets and harumphed into the mike - there was a pleasingly good sized crowd even at this stage and John got a rousing cheer just for coming on - not bad for a support act - but them he is on his adopted home turf and we have had the pleasure of his playing several times of late, so his following is growing fast. His opening song is the stunning ballad "Cut throat Mountain?". John rips this song out of himself with every performance - such is the venom, angst and regret contained therein, his voice not just raw but seriously grazed sounding, his guitar stroked, stummed, stressed and finally warped to get the sounds he needs. It is a tour de force and deserves to become a folk standard with it's high body count, extreme weaponary, serious love and absolute revenge. He continued with a good variety of songs interspersed with ever more confident banter with the crowd, he comes over quite natural and quietly comfortable on stage, his soft voice and hushed tones giving no hint of the storms in his songs.
The songs themselves are a varied lot, a notable cover in Tim Buckley's "Song to the Siren" sung with gentle bottleneck guitar, Smith's own "The Green Man" with the bass string being constantly re-tuned to drag out some marvelous sonic effects and ending in a great slap happy descending twang. "Winter" completes many sets with the guitar becoming a percussion instrument and a hammered dulcimer as it is swung onto his lap. John's style is unique, his voice a powerhouse, yet he manages such delicate passages too, and often sighs to himself mid-song.
At the end, to a big cheer, he saunters back off the stage, job done.
A short interval and we are back in our seats, the hall is full, just about sold out I think - we are promised a good night and a few surprises by one who knows and here come the band, and John Martyn wheeled on as ever with his wing arms out, BUT he is clearly in a good mood, "It's a lovely day" he sings as things get plugged in around him, Fender on let's go. "Cooltide". It's the end of tour end of term feeling, things seem well and good, the crowd in good voice give John a good Liverpool welcome, lots of shouting, just like John Martyn crowds used to be, "Come on fatso!" being met with a smile and an admission - "That's more like it!" It's going well, Martin is blowing well on the Sax, Foss Patterson has his eyes closed and head back as "Lookin' On" progresses, Arran Ahmun keeping an almost continuous hi-hat beat with one stick throughout the song, and each of the band took a solo - all well received. The sound was pretty good too, the instruments well separated, although the bass was a bit boomy and the sax a bit quiet - it was good to be able to hear all the instruments even at full tilt.
John's speaking voice seemed clearer than usual too - he even joked about it himself, breaking into complete incomprehensible mumbling deliberately at one point. Introducing the Solid Air section John claimed never to have "stickled" and therefore the album would all be played, but not in the original order. And played it was, in fine style too, with some nice touches including "May you Never" which started out with just John singing with his acoustic guitar and ended up being almost anthemic with the full band joining in as it went along.
The highlights for me were probably "I' d rather be the Devil" which had the full echo effects on and it all sounded just spot on, and "Go down easy" which had a sublime bass part from Alan Thompson and was very gently handled with Martin Winnings playing his surprise "secret weapon" - the clarinet - very sympathetically.
After the title track "Solid Air" John stopped playing any guitars and just sat and sang his heart out on "Rock Salt and Nails" and then "Never Let Me Go" closed the night, John being wheeled off well before the band had finished playing - and with much of the audience on it's feet to bring the tour to an end properly. It was we agreed afterwards a very subtle, melancholic reading of the set tonight, and we were, as is always the case, feeling the loss as the crowd dispersed.
We learned later that the band had been playing under the shadow of tragedy and frankly it was a wonder they played at all, and a credit to them that they pulled off such a good gig in the circumstances.
And so endeth the Solid Air Tour 2007 - the original London gig being extended to an 11 date tour, and then a further 8 being added on as the powers that be came to realise how popular the Great Man still is. More tours are being mooted - lets hope so - John Martyn is a living legend and his music seems timelessly fresh - Solid Air was released in 1973 and can still fill concert halls today - long may he run.
John Smith sauntered onto the large Philharmonic stage, hands in his suit (!) pockets and harumphed into the mike - there was a pleasingly good sized crowd even at this stage and John got a rousing cheer just for coming on - not bad for a support act - but them he is on his adopted home turf and we have had the pleasure of his playing several times of late, so his following is growing fast. His opening song is the stunning ballad "Cut throat Mountain?". John rips this song out of himself with every performance - such is the venom, angst and regret contained therein, his voice not just raw but seriously grazed sounding, his guitar stroked, stummed, stressed and finally warped to get the sounds he needs. It is a tour de force and deserves to become a folk standard with it's high body count, extreme weaponary, serious love and absolute revenge. He continued with a good variety of songs interspersed with ever more confident banter with the crowd, he comes over quite natural and quietly comfortable on stage, his soft voice and hushed tones giving no hint of the storms in his songs.
The songs themselves are a varied lot, a notable cover in Tim Buckley's "Song to the Siren" sung with gentle bottleneck guitar, Smith's own "The Green Man" with the bass string being constantly re-tuned to drag out some marvelous sonic effects and ending in a great slap happy descending twang. "Winter" completes many sets with the guitar becoming a percussion instrument and a hammered dulcimer as it is swung onto his lap. John's style is unique, his voice a powerhouse, yet he manages such delicate passages too, and often sighs to himself mid-song.
At the end, to a big cheer, he saunters back off the stage, job done.
A short interval and we are back in our seats, the hall is full, just about sold out I think - we are promised a good night and a few surprises by one who knows and here come the band, and John Martyn wheeled on as ever with his wing arms out, BUT he is clearly in a good mood, "It's a lovely day" he sings as things get plugged in around him, Fender on let's go. "Cooltide". It's the end of tour end of term feeling, things seem well and good, the crowd in good voice give John a good Liverpool welcome, lots of shouting, just like John Martyn crowds used to be, "Come on fatso!" being met with a smile and an admission - "That's more like it!" It's going well, Martin is blowing well on the Sax, Foss Patterson has his eyes closed and head back as "Lookin' On" progresses, Arran Ahmun keeping an almost continuous hi-hat beat with one stick throughout the song, and each of the band took a solo - all well received. The sound was pretty good too, the instruments well separated, although the bass was a bit boomy and the sax a bit quiet - it was good to be able to hear all the instruments even at full tilt.
John's speaking voice seemed clearer than usual too - he even joked about it himself, breaking into complete incomprehensible mumbling deliberately at one point. Introducing the Solid Air section John claimed never to have "stickled" and therefore the album would all be played, but not in the original order. And played it was, in fine style too, with some nice touches including "May you Never" which started out with just John singing with his acoustic guitar and ended up being almost anthemic with the full band joining in as it went along.
The highlights for me were probably "I' d rather be the Devil" which had the full echo effects on and it all sounded just spot on, and "Go down easy" which had a sublime bass part from Alan Thompson and was very gently handled with Martin Winnings playing his surprise "secret weapon" - the clarinet - very sympathetically.
After the title track "Solid Air" John stopped playing any guitars and just sat and sang his heart out on "Rock Salt and Nails" and then "Never Let Me Go" closed the night, John being wheeled off well before the band had finished playing - and with much of the audience on it's feet to bring the tour to an end properly. It was we agreed afterwards a very subtle, melancholic reading of the set tonight, and we were, as is always the case, feeling the loss as the crowd dispersed.
We learned later that the band had been playing under the shadow of tragedy and frankly it was a wonder they played at all, and a credit to them that they pulled off such a good gig in the circumstances.
And so endeth the Solid Air Tour 2007 - the original London gig being extended to an 11 date tour, and then a further 8 being added on as the powers that be came to realise how popular the Great Man still is. More tours are being mooted - lets hope so - John Martyn is a living legend and his music seems timelessly fresh - Solid Air was released in 1973 and can still fill concert halls today - long may he run.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
The Cafe with the best view in the country - The search is on!
For some years, it has been a strongly held view in my head at least, that the cafe at the Minack Theatre in Cornwall has the best view in the country - with a fantastic cove, blue or stormy sea, seals, dolphins, the theatre behind - you need to go some to beat it.
However, a late decision saw Gilly and I drive down the road from Broadford to Elgol on the Isle of Skye last week and as a result, the Minack has lost it's crown. The Cuillin View Gallery & Coffee Shop at Elgol has got all of those things, but it also has the magnificent Cuillin and that does it for me! Not only that but John and Gail serve good coffee, play fantastic music and have a warm welcome for their customers. I expect the cakes are good too, but my diet forbade me to try them that day!
Contenders to top all this are welcome to put in a bid, but I don't expect a flood.....
However, a late decision saw Gilly and I drive down the road from Broadford to Elgol on the Isle of Skye last week and as a result, the Minack has lost it's crown. The Cuillin View Gallery & Coffee Shop at Elgol has got all of those things, but it also has the magnificent Cuillin and that does it for me! Not only that but John and Gail serve good coffee, play fantastic music and have a warm welcome for their customers. I expect the cakes are good too, but my diet forbade me to try them that day!
Contenders to top all this are welcome to put in a bid, but I don't expect a flood.....
The Isle of Skye Music Festival 2007 - Day 3
The second day of the festival was brighter and less wet, and with a lunchtime start following a 4am-ish finish the night before, we arrived to find a fairly subdued crowd, many probably recovering from the night before. This sad state of affairs meant that lots of punters missed the great set that The Low Miffs put out on the Mainstage in the early afternoon. You have possibly guessed by now that I hadn't done much homework for this festival, in fact I can honestly say that with one or two exceptions I had no clue at all about who the acts were, so it was all a bit pot luck as to who we saw, but this lack of forethought provided a day full of surprises - and this was the first. The Low Miffs are 5 young men, fronted by the diminutive but marvelous Leo Condie from Glasgow, played song after song of energetic music, performed with passion and showmanship, Condie first sitting on the edge of the stage with his silver topped cane, then racing around the stage, next leaping the fence to sing his impassioned appeals to the audience before returning to have guitar duels with his sidesman. Special mention to Thomas Brogan whose saxophone adds major extra dimension to the guitar heavy sound. Besuited and rather like a mini Llewelyn-Bowen, Leo Condie is a star on the rise - his voice is unaccountably large for such a small frame, goodness knows where he gets his energy from, but I hope to see lots more of these Low Miffs and I hope nobody ever tells them to slow down!
From the sublime to the ridiculous - Barry Peters - DJ extraordinaire with his "son" Kevin and partner in dance Derek Japan were pulling in an excited crowd in the non-stop stage tent. Side-splitting humour from Barry ("I've never been on stage this f@@@g early in the afternoon before" ) - who knew everybody and had been everywhere, and amazing dance routines from "Double Penetration" to the very best in disco music kept us rooted as the act unfolded to include a roller skate dance routine, break dancing and finally Barry's return from retirement to dance again as a trio - off came the pants to reveal sparkly gold tights and away they went - you really had to be there, we were, enjoyed a real feast.
After a break to recover from all that excitement we took up position in the Non Stop Stage tent to see the main event. But first ther
e was Mark Olson, a man in an un-enviable position. Mark's music is mostly "acoustic" - guitar, fiddle and a little percussion or piano - and he was in a tent between Mungo's booming bass and the Union of Knives on the Mainstage, plus the crew was busy putting the gear together for the next act, so it was quite a triumph that we could hear and enjoy this lovely set from a man who sings American country style music with heart and soul, and to me he has more than a hint of favourite Dave Mallet in both music and lyric - check out his stuff on MySpace - it really hits a spot for me.
And so to the main event - at 5:45 pm in a side tent, the legend that is John Martyn was wheeled onto stage and set to for an hour - yes we had come some 400 odd miles and spent a small fortune on getting to this place for just this moment... John is nearing the end (Liverpool, Friday, we will be there!) of a hugely extended UK tour performing the album Solid Air in full, topped and tailed by other favourites, and having been to a few of the gigs, we thought we knew what might be coming. First change for this leg of the tour though was the inclusion of Foss Patterson in place of Spencer Cozens on keyboards, Spencer is currently on tour with Joan Armatrading. Foss is an old hand having played with John Martyn off and on for years,so it was good for us newcomers to see him live as well.
Martin Winnings is still doing sax duty, and while he has his detractors amongst some of the cognoscenti, but I like the way he watches John like a hawk and plays to his signals. Martin plays with a real passion too and has been a real asset to the lineup.
John was on great form and started out as expected, exhorting the band "Come on girls, hurry up!" before launching into "Cooltide" but was soon ripping up the running order, sending back his acoustic guitar so that he could hang onto the Fender to play "Lookin' On" and later "Big Muff". From our vantage point we could see everything going on between John and the band and see the joy and pain in his face, and I hope he saw the tears that he put in my eye's too - tears of joy and wonder - John's music always invokes something in me that is more powerful than the sum of the notes and words alone - and the distance, cost and time were well worth every last bit as far as I'm concerned.
AlanThompson's bass and Arran Ahmun's drumming where as impeccable as ever and after a delighted crowd sang along with "May You Never" it was the passionate, electric, growling "Rock Salt & Nails" that closed this all too short set and left us once again bereft of the great man - at least 'till Friday.
The small tent was packed and the crowd keen and vocal - the sound from where we were - right at the front under John's nose - was less than hifi but good enough considering how everything is put together in the wings and wheeled on without there being time for a real soundcheck, and the reception for John was as huge as ever, we cheered and hollered and we nearly got an encore, but it was just too late for the schedule to be held up.
After all that there was nothing for it but to recover, eat and head back to the Shipping Forecast for some dancing - oh and Seth Lakeman - Folk's new superstar who we have managed to miss up to now - not by design you understand, just never been in the right place. This year though he is following us around the festivals! There was one of those interminable delays while they got the kit sorted out, then suddenly out rushes Seth from behind the stage and they're off on a musical romp with violins guitars and mandolins everywhere, horse hair shredded from his bow, earnest, solid looking and ever so confident, Seth took the big crowd for a white knuckle ride and wore us all out jumping and dancing. I have to confess to being slightly pre-occupied with trying to get the perfect Seth Portrait having found a new setting on the camera (judge for yourselves.....) but Gilly loved it and I promise to pay more attention at the next gig honest.
What did grab me and hold my attention though was the stunning set played next by Session A9 - four fiddles, keyboard, guitar and new drum hero Iain Copeland on snare - Iain's playing was so laid back yet en pointe - I was captivated - the rest were pretty good too!! Dougie Maclean apparently said they are "the best band to come out of Scotland in a hundred years" - so there!And that was it - well there was more, but we had peaked and it was time to go wake the campers again back at base. A quick word about catering - there wasn't much, but there was a refreshing mix of decent fast food available, including fresh fruit smoothies, salads, chips, falafel, porridge and baked potatoes - a welcome change from burgers and more burgers! A good day indeed - special thanks to new friend John for the coffee and the special stageside access for Seth Lakeman. We'll be back to the paradise that is Skye for sure, the festival will have to try a little harder though.
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