BLIND ATLAS "Take A While" Single + Interview

The debut single from 'Mancunian Americana' five-piece Blind Atlas has been out for a couple of months now. Limited edition CD copies are still available in Piccadilly Records (including by mail order) and in Kingbee Records. And last month it was finally released on iTunes too. 'Take A While' is a great woozy slice of classic alt-country "designed to soundtrack long, whisky-addled nights of anguished soul-searching". But in a good way; a very good way.



But this song is only part of the Blind Atlas story. The last live performance I saw of theirs (supporting The Acorn), they finished with an extraordinary song called 'Ironwall' featuring tribal drums, dark incantations and bowed electric bass - spooky-as-hell and a world away from the laconic country-rock of other songs. So to get more of an insight into the influences and workings of Blind Atlas I threw a few questions in the direction of Ross, Cam, Pete, Crhis and Adam:

“Hailing from Denver, Colorado and disparate points around the UK” How did you all come to be making music in Manchester?

Cam Ross was living in Boston and getting disillusioned with the 'Boston scene'. He had some friends living in Manchester who recommended for him to come over to Manchester as it has such a great reputation for making good music. After a few months checking out bands, he met Adam and myself in 'The Bar' in Chorlton. Adam was wearing his Flying Burrito Brothers T-Shirt and we got talking...

Ross We got together for some jam sessions and really liked what we were doing.

Adam So we decided we had to start a band. We find Chris a little while later, he was looking for a band and was checking out the notice board where Cam and I worked. He fitted in straight away.

Ross Pete was next. He was in Walton Hesse who we all liked and we invited him to play on a track, and again, it was great because we just clicked. So he had no choice but to join us.

“Ryan Adams fronting The Black Keys” is one of many comparisons thrown around. Who are your real musical influences? And do they differ amongst the band?

Chris The Doors, Radiohead and the Terminator theme have really influenced me. I'm into a wide range of music and really enjoy a lot of classical music like Stravinsky.

Pete I come from a more blues rock background. I really enjoy exploring the great bands from the '68 to '74 period like The Stones, Floyd and Zeppelin.

Ross Neil Young, Creedence and the Grateful Dead. There are more I like but I also enjoy contemporary artists like Modest Mouse.

Cam Calexico, Nirvana and Captain Beefheart. I do enjoy the mixing of styles in the band as it means we always find something fresh.

Adam I do believe that every band has one good song no matter what genre. But if I had to chose a few that really influenced me they'd be The Velvet Underground, Fairport Convention and Ride.

How did the hook-up with Christian Madden of The Earlies come about for recording the single?

Ross A lot of people had stated that we're like The Earlies, and we were introduced to their management who setup a meeting with Christian. We really enjoyed working with Christian and his brother Nicky. We're going to record the whole album with them.

Adam They bring out the best in us.

Chris They have a fantastic range of instruments for us to use, like vintage organs.

What should we expect from the debut Blind Atlas album? And how are you financing it?

Adam With our wages, we don't eat much. You do have to make sacrifices to do music. It's hard but hopefully it'll be worth it.

Pete I think people will be surprised by the album. We want it to be the next step.

Ross It's our calling card. You'll hear it, hopefully connect with it and then want to see us live. Because live is where music is at its best. But we do want the album to be of its self and not a direct copy of the live performance.

Cam Hopefully the album will be out early next year. We have to record a little bit each month. This is a process started in October last year.

And what’s the most important lesson being in a band has taught you?

Ross You're only as good as your last gig.

So as well as investing in the single, I'd recommend seeing the band live to really appreciate the breadth and depth of Blind Atlas.

The band play the Baker’s Vaults Stockport on 5 November, are on the bill for the Francis House Benefit night at Sound Control on 19 September and have a couple of tasty support slots coming up too: The Travelling Band at Sound Control on 21 September and Blitzen Trapper at Ruby Lounge on 23 November.

JENS LEKMAN @ DEAF INSTITUTE 2 August 2010

Jens Lekman tours are infrequent but always special. Tonight’s sold out gig at the Deaf Institute was one of only two UK dates from the Swede now living in Australia. Jens with seven-piece backing band including Scots pianist Bill Wells played a 90 minute set to a reverential audience including five new songs. Then after the show he played another five songs in the unlikely setting of Sand Bar. Both were magical experiences and I could wax lyrical about either, or both, at great length. Instead I’m just going to write about two songs, one from each set.

Following the opening new song ('The Golden Key'?), Jens and (at this point) five-piece band neatly segued into 'The Opposite of Hallelujah' from 2007’s “Nightfall Over Kortedala”. Jens moved from centre stage to play piano – but a cable wasn’t working. So whilst the band continued to play the intro he picked up acoustic guitar and returned back to the mic now at the wrong height. Such technical malfunctions so early in a song might have floored many but this was handled with such unflappable cool I’m not sure many people watching even noticed. But this was not the most remarkable thing about this performance however.

The clever rhythms and lush string effects were delivered beautifully – a gorgeous mix of swoon and swing as on record – but with the band coming across like an all star soul revue band (two saxophones!). Jens passed out a tambourine into the audience at one point but true theatrics were to follow. The playing stopped mid-song and Jens and Viktor (laptop/samples) mimed a synchronised dance to a recorded snatch of 'Gimme Just A Little More Time' by Chairmen of The Board before the song effortlessly blended back to live playing. Then the whole song finished with a beautiful vignette as the musicians stopped playing and left Jens to reach out and upwards and mime playing chimes above the heads of the front row. All this was just the second song. It was magical, romantic, theatrical, soulful.

The Set List:

“The Golden Key”
The Opposite of Hallelujah
“Argument with Myself”
The End of The World Is Bigger Than Love
And I Remember Every Kiss
Your Arms Around Me
“Nothing At All”
Black Cab
“A song about Google street maps”
A Sweet Summer’s Night on Hammer Hill
You In My Arms
Sipping on the Sweet Nectar
A Postcard To Nina
---
“Open Door”
Maple Leaves
---
Pocketful of Money

Fast forward to 11.30pm. About 30-40 hardy souls are on street waiting for the promised ‘open air’ set. Jens came out and the faithful trooped after him into Sand Bar. Ashley the manager provided one of the back-rooms and as people grabbed seats, benches and spots on the floor, Jens played five songs on acoustic guitar.

The fourth of these was ‘Silvia’. He started strumming but over this told the story of how he had a poster on his teenage bedroom wall of said Queen of Sweden – but when he grew up he realised she was just an “old conservative bitch”. Having set the scene of this innocent but doomed infatuation he recommenced the song. Only to interrupt it later to tell the tale of how his mother broke it to him that his childhood memory of meeting Silvia was false - but he kept it in song anyway (“do you know what they do to celebrities who lie?”). In a quietly intimate way it was as theatrical as the earlier song – but also witty, touching and utterly heart-breaking.



The Set List @ Sand Bar:

Shirin
You Are The Light
Tram Number Seven to Heaven
Silvia
Kanske Ar Jag Kar i Dig

A lock-in with Jens then followed. But by this point I was heady on the music alone and made my way home. I hope this tells you all need to know: if you ever get the chance to see Jens Lekman live, do not miss it. A poet of heart-break, an amusing story-teller and an exceptional performer.

MAZES + BROWN BROGUES @ CAFE SAKI, MANCHESTER 31 July 2010

Underachievers Please Try Harder have been putting on club and band nights at Café Saki for several years now – and at each visit I’m reminded how well this small student bar works for gigs. Watching bands play in the windowed alcove whilst police vans or the 15 bus to Flixton shoot past behind them is one its many little quirks. Shame then the venue's licnese has been under threat. Tonight’s line-up was heavily-leaning to the DIY garage end of the Underachievers indie-pop spectrum.

Second on the bill and first band I saw were Boy Or Bison. The trio play with familiar elements of 60s West Coast music before the drugs put a cloud over the youthful innocence and summer fun. So snatches of cartoon themes or surf riffs mix with bubblegum heartbreakers called ‘The Fog Of Love’, all drenched in a so-retro-its-now reverb-heavy sound. They had an enjoyable, easy-going vibe but when the songs got too familiar or clichéd or slack it was easy for the attention to wander.

Next up were Brown Brogues who seem intent to make sure your attention doesn’t wander. One or two songs into the set lead singer Mark beckoned the crowd forward so the front row were in the alcove right on top of the band. And in short: Brown Brogues are even better when you are closer.

One thing that was emphasised for me tonight following their June slot at the Deaf Institute was how the contrasting physiques of the duo match their playing. The drumming of Ben is solid, immovable and primal. The guitars and vocals of Mark are as distorted and unpredictable as his swivel-hipped gyrations. Sometimes his guitar neck points upwards, sometimes downwards, even out into the beer garden – but it is rarely still. But throughout such jerky contortions the drums keep pounding. For all its primitive visceral appeal, this is sophisticated garage rock par excellence in which the duo appear to work by telepathic communication (no set-lists, improvised or unplanned song endings).



Mazes I last saw in the sunshine of an early afternoon Deerhunter show. This nocturnal setting with its rough plasterwork and dressed-down interior better suited their brand of melodic fuzz-pop.

Earlier in the evening ‘Box Elder’ was on the PA – and this song reminds me of Mazes: not the cryptic and arch later Pavement stuff but the practising-in-the-garage joyful abandon of knocking out great tunes. Tonight the melody and fuzz competed with general noisiness. I was sometimes frustrated that the vocals became lost in the mix and the band were plagued technical problems which made the early part of the set seem a bit stop-and-start. But when it all came good and with songs as strong as ‘Bowie Knives’ and ‘Cenetaph’, it was hard to resist.



Tonight was £3 on the door before 10.30pm. That’s for four bands. I only saw three of them – that’s a pound per band (or fifty pence per Brown Brogue). It’s shockingly good value that deserves regular support (and makes any quibbles here look plain mean-spirited). So please support future Underachievers Please Try Harder nights, buy stuff from these bands and sign the petition to help to keep Café Saki as a licensed venue.

MANCHESTER GIGS IN MUSIC: August 2010 Pt. 1

Summer holidays and festival season mean that August tends to be as quiet as January for gigs. But there's still plenty to see - including five excellent gigs all on one day. On Tuesday 3 August Manchester plays host to Wu-Tang Clan, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, World Atlas, Grand Archives and Pantha du Prince - any two of these would be an impressive clash. But all five?!

This month's mixtape [40 mins /46 MB] is quite a hushed affair - probably down to the effects of the languid August heat rather than my predilections? Download link is in the post following this one.

Manchester Gigs in Music: August 2010 [40 mins /46 MB]

World Atlas The Winter Stories [4.11] (3 Aug Café Saki BUY TICKETS)
The ABC Club Get Set Go [8.13] (14 Aug Café Saki BUY TICKETS)
C W Stoneking Goin’ To The Country [11.15] (2 Aug Ruby Lounge BUY TICKETS)
Caitlin Rose Shotgun Wedding [13.20] (25 Aug Night & Day BUY TICKETS)
Grand Archives Torn Blue Foam Couch [16.42] (3 Aug Deaf Institute BUY TICKETS)
The Besnard Lakes And This Is What We Call Progress [21.45] (16 Aug Ruby Lounge BUY TICKETS)
Trembling Bells When I Was Young [26.32] (3 Aug Manchester Cathedral BUY TICKETS)
Laura Veirs + The Hall of Flames July Flame [30.14] (13 Aug Ruby Lounge BUY TICKETS)
Her Name Is Calla With Eyes So Full Of Sparks Of Love [31.42] (30 Aug Night & Day BUY TICKETS) Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy + The Cairo Gang With Cornstalks or Among Them [34.42] (3 Aug Manchester Cathedral BUY TICKETS)
Jens Lekman The End Of The World Is Bigger Than Love [39.23] (2 Aug Deaf Institute BUY TICKETS)

And not forgetting:
3 August Wu-Tang Clan Academy 1 / 3 August Pantha du Prince Ruby Lounge / 4 August Kitty, Daisy & Lewis Night & Day / 5 August The Heartbreaks Deaf Institute / 6 August Chapel Club Ruby Lounge / 9 Aug Dwarves MoHo Live / 10 August Get Cape Wear Cape Fly Deaf Institute / 11 August The Domino State Night & Day / 13 August Deaf To Van Gogh's Ear Kro Bar / 15 August Grammatics Deaf Institute / 20 August The Crookes MoHo Live / 25 August David Dondero Dulcimer / 26 August Rolo Tomassi Night & Day / 26 August Gideon Conn Band on the Wall / 28 August Laboratory Noise Café Saki

MANCHESTER GIGS IN MUSIC: August 2010 Pt. 2

Mixtape: August 2010 [40 mins/46 MB] - download here.

THE LOST CAVALRY "Waves Freeze To Rolling Hills" EP

Mark West of The Lost Cavary was previously guitarist with indie-folksters Fanfarlo although I’m not sure at which point in time they parted company (he’s listed as one of the song-writers on "Resevoir" at Discogs). Since 2009 he has been singing and playing ukulele and concertina in The Lost Cavalry alongside Dave Roberts (drums), Oliver Whitehead (bass), Nick Goold (guitars) and Toby Atkins (glockenspiel, melodica). Now their sound is not a million miles away from Fanfarlo but no bad thing I say.

Lead track ‘Oh Sally’ is a love song to the trapeze artist of the title that brings to mind the theatrical story-telling of The Decemberists. The contrast of wheezy concertina and gentle glockenspiel and its swinging rhythms brilliantly capture that jumble of satin-spangle and saw-dust, the rough magic of the Big Top. The other three songs on this EP are more cryptic: I suspect ‘The Elephant of Castlebar Hill’ is about the last thoughts of a circus elephant before he collapses and dies based on a true-life incident from 1889 in West London (I found the reference in this curious MP profile of all places). The song is neither overly-sentimental nor oddly eccentric but as quietly moving and dignified as the animal of the title. Both ‘Secret Steps’ and ‘Only Forward’ hint at escape and new lives, of solitary beaches with ocean noise in your ears or of being far away at sea. The former is the song that for me sounds closest to West’s old band: a mid-tempo, yearning verse gives way to swelling chorus underpinned by marching drums.



August is a difficult time to release an EP (out on 2 August on their own label). Most people’s attention seems to be on festivals - and The Lost Cavalry don’t appear to be playing any this year or even leaving London. However with the summer release schedules quiet I hope this works in their favour. “Waves Freeze To Rolling Hills” is an unassuming record, it doesn’t shout for attention, but is too good to be neglected due to the distractions of the summer holidays. Pitched somewhere between the drama of Fanfarlo and the delicate poise of The Leisure Society, these finely crafted, literate and wistful songs are well worth giving your time and attention to whatever the season.

'Oh Sally' - The Lost Cavalry by FollyOfYouth

[BUY "Waves Freeze To Rolling Hills"]

ADELAIDE'S CAPE "Last Sleep in Albion" EP

Adelaide’s Cape – the folk collective centred around Edinburgh-born, Norwich-resident Sam Taylor - was first introduced to me as ‘nu-folk’. There are so many sub-divisions of folk, no longer a scorned genre, it’s difficult to know what ‘nu’ signifies other than aligning Adelaide’s Cape with the younger faces of modern folk like Johnny Flynn, Laura Marling and even the dreaded ‘false folk’ of Mercury-nominated Mumford and Sons. Adelaide’s Cape have toured with Alessi’s Ark, First Aid Kit and The Miserable Rich which further suggests what type of folk to expect whatever you label it.

The five songs on “Last Sleep in Albion” all are based around the core of intricately plucked guitar and the rusty Scots burr of Taylor; and they reference cold air, witches, sea breezes, gnarly trees and cabin windows. So far, so folky. But on the EP there’s a surprising amount of variety and activity beyond simply the solitary folk performer chewing over familiar themes. Opener ‘This Fiction’ starts in crackle and hiss leading into an emphatic twang-and-thump full-band stomper with atmospheric cymbal crashes and floating female harmonies. ‘Girl of the Land’ is a rustic love-song to the mysterious heroine – it sings of “her life with the beetles, the dirt and the moles / she answers to wind” but is never as flighty or flaky as this might sound.

By the bucolic folk-jangle of ‘Rush Hour Wind’ you realise there’s not only a precision of playing but a seriousness of purpose to Adelaide’s Cape. Fourth song ‘Stay’ is the closest to levity you get: it’s a “lost-dogs-and-odd-sods” after-dark drinking shanty. Behind the joyful, ragged hedonism there’s the occasional catch of regret which is then drowned out in the accordion, fiddle and massed drunken choir finale.

On all my early listens to the EP, I thought ‘Anchored Down’ was the first song rather than the last (I managed to put it in a playlist in alphabetical order rather running order). Wherever it is placed though it sounds magnificent: a gorgeous land-locked folk-blues, opening with lapping water and seagull squawk, and equating a relationship in trouble to the immobile ship of the title.



Adelaide’s Cape have an impressively long touring schedule of festivals and gigs this summer including a planned date at Dulcimer, Manchester on 29 July. But the promoter of that gig announced this week it had been cancelled because Sam “has decided he will no longer be pursuing music professionally”. Shame because whether you call it ‘nu’, ‘trad’ or ‘alt’, “Last Sleep in Albion” is an impressive debut - and it would be a great loss if it sadly becomes an impressive curtain-call. Use the link below to buy it direct from micro-indie Dustbowl Records.

BELLE (non-EP track)
Adelaide's Cape
Last Sleep in Albion [BUY]

KRISTIN HERSH @ O2 ACADEMY LIVERPOOL 17 July 2010

I was very worried about this gig. It was part of Liverpool Summer Pops season - also playing this year Status Quo, The Australian Pink Floyd Show and Rod Stewart!?. This particular evening was billed as ‘Bob Harris presents’ and featured a couple of youthful, local support bands who had nothing to do musically with Kristin Hersh or even Bob Harris for that matter. It all felt like a poorly thought-through, hastily assembled event put on by a commercial promoter who did not know who or what they were dealing with.

Common-sense and experience though should have steadied my nerves and made me realise there is nothing to worry about when Kristin Hersh plays - whatever the set-up. Last year I saw her play in a lending library in Burnley - it was one of the best gigs of the year. Plus luckily tonight Bob Harris never made his presence known.

The smaller room at O2 Academy Liverpool is one of the better commercial gig venues I’ve been to and if you are at the front has a surprising intimacy. But once the five-piece support band removed all their kit (and their large banner) the bare stage suddenly looked intimidatingly empty and uninviting. If you haven’t seen Kristin perform before (and tonight I was accompanied by Mr H of Merseyside who hadn't) there’s not much of a ‘stage-act’ - she plays centre-stage with one guitar, one mic, rarely moving. But there is drama and passion and intensity a-plenty in her songs.



This was an eclectic set – older and new solo songs including five from the just-released-as-a-book “Crooked” album – and old and new Throwing Muses songs – all baring very little relationship to the hand-written ‘set-list’ below (more a menu?). So early in the set we got Muses rarity ‘Fish’ from 1987 or thereabouts and then later on 'Sunray Venus', one of this year’s Muses songs still being demoed.

She may not be an animated performer but the power of those stark, emotional lyrics, the rapid switches in intensity and her powerful thousand-yard stare make a compelling presence. Kristin thanks everyone in a ‘aw-shucks’ manner, tells funny anecdotes about bugs in German hotel bedrooms or weird neighbours but when she sings these raw, moving songs it is hair-raisingly spooky.



To be fair to Liverpool Summer Pops and even to Bob Harris, the breadth of music presented at this festival was far greater than just the hoary old stadium-rockers and has-beens I mentioned above – also playing were/are Tuung, Eve Selis, Piney Gir and Lightspeed Champion. But whoever you place her alongside, Kristin Hersh stands out as a true original.

The REAL set-list:

Mississippi Kite
Gazebo Tree
Fish
Quick
Hysterical Bending
Crooked
Sno Cat
Krait
Speed and Sleep
Sunray Venus
Sand
Your Dirty Answer
Teeth
Flooding
---
Deep Wilson
Summer Salt
Snake Oil

Kristin Hersh is playing a few UK and Ireland shows including the Giant Sand 25th Anniversary event at the Barbican over the next week but will be back in the UK in January to coincide with the launch of her memoir "Paradoxical Undressing" (called "Bat Girl" for US release).

SUNRAY VENUS (Throwing Muses demo)

Kristin Hersh

"Downloads licensed with a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license. The music here is yours to download. Please consider making a one-time contribution to the artist using the form". Or BUY or BUY

RICHARD JAMES "We Went Riding"

Some artists you always associate with a certain signature song, a memorable gig or an important time in your own life. Richard James, founder Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci band member and now releasing his second solo album, I always associate with a press review. Because this quotation (from The Times on albums that should have been on the Mercury Music Prize List) is such a simple and brilliant summation of his music: "Former Gorkys man re-imagines the Velvet Underground if the ratio of Welshmen to New Yorkers were reversed".

That was in reference to 2006’s “The Seven Sleepers Den”. And if that album had a quiet church-like intimacy (the intro and outro featured recordings from inside a cathedral) this year’s “We Went Riding” is a more expansive, outdoors record, as varied and changing as the seasons. The first three songs alone illustrate this. Opener ‘Aveline’ is a quiet, romantic folk ballad; ‘When You See Me (In The Pouring Rain)’ is swooning country-rock; and ‘Faces’ is a step in another direction again – a wailing lament of densely psychedelic guitars (I cannot work out if its two, three or more guitars making those sounds).



Imagery throughout is from nature or the elements - rain, hills, horse-riding, the ocean, sunshine, roads, more rain – and is as distinctively Welsh as the strain(s) of psyche-folk on offer. Even when James taps into other genres - the banjo and fiddle of ‘Yes Her Smile’s Like A Rose’ sounds like antique Appalachian folk music; ‘Blues (Hey Hey Hey)’ is a dirty stomping blues-holler – you are in doubt which ancient land this music comes from. And if the some of the preceding eleven tracks weren’t moving enough, the album closes with the sparse heartbreak of ‘From Morning Sunshine’ sung with the chilly composure of Nico (yet more VU allusions!) by Cate Le Bon.

The assured quality of this record is such it sounds as though James has spent every moment of the four years since his last album doing nothing but crafting these romantic, haunting and timeless songs. Some parts could have been recorded in any decade since the 60s but there’s no denying this is a musical high-point of 2010. An album to be treasured by a musician who deserves greater recognition whilst making and recording music - and not after the fact like The Velvet Underground.



From Morning Sunshine by Richard James

You can listen to and download album out-takes on The Line of Best Fit and Drowned in Sound. But remember these are out-takes. Heading straight for the final cut album tracks should be your first destination.

Richard James
We Went Riding [BUY]

INVISIBLE ELEPHANT "The Lights Go Out"

This from last month's Chimp Magazine: The project of “one man and his assortment of randomly acquired instruments, ranging from frog guiros to pre-school toy drum kits”, Invisible Elephant (aka Blackpool’s Rob Blunden) delivers a collection of largely instrumental songs that teeter between psyche-folk drift, shoegaze haziness and occasional post-rock forcefulness. In this heady abstract world, found sounds and spectral vocals weave in and out of natural and synthesized instruments inspired as much by existentialist Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami as by noisemeisters like My Bloody Valentine. These are not immediate toe-tapping pop songs but for the adventurous listener with a patient ear they exert a curious and compelling attraction. Not so much a sunny stroll along Blackpool’s Golden Mile; more a spooky trip through the Hall of Mirrors, with distorted surprises hidden in each and every corner.

The 7 track “The Lights Go Out” album is available digitally via Bandcamp on a pay-what-you-want basis or as a limited edition CDr packaged in a recycled chipboard sleeve, hand numbered and hand stamped, via Sonic Reverie with two extra tracks.

SUFFERING JUKEBOX

Since it first opened it’s hard to find anyone with a bad word to say about Manchester's The Deaf Institute. Now I’m usually one of those indulging in the drooling love-in but c’mon let’s admit it – it’s far from perfect. The gents toilets are a whole two floors away from the Music Hall (and the wooden-then-stone steps are a killer for my decrepit knee-joints). And there’s no real ale on draught (true bottled ale is available and Sand Bar is only over the road) but these are serious failings.

Other than this the Deaf Institute is a model in tasteful architectural renovation, mixing period detail with effortless contemporary cool. The 300-capacity Music Hall has charm, character, a mirror-ball AND great sightlines and sound. And you can either sit OR stand. Since my first visit in summer 2008 a few months after it opened (Sweet Baboo, The Voluntary Butler Scheme and Walton Hesse) it's always struck me as "welcoming and decadent" at the same time.

Now to make good even better, The Deaf Institute has started a record label. Club night Suffering Jukebox has stealthily expanded operations into a label with recent and upcoming releases on vinyl and cassette tape (thus being as retro-futurist as its host building). The club night/label's great name alone (from a Silver Jews song) would probably deserve inclusion here. But then there’s the music.

Suffering Jukebox have made six songs available as a podcast (steam or download below) acting as part label-sampler, part statement of intent. And what fuzzy-edged lo-fi joys await: all unashamedly diy, delightfully spacey and big on melody. Excited about the new Best Coast record? Then check out Colleen Green immediately - you will not be disappointed. The VU-referencing simplicity of Milk Maid makes me melt. The initial rawness of Mazes is doused in bags of woo-hoo charm and fuzzy guitar. Former Bullies offer a subterranean field (or down a well?) recording and the previously applauded Brown Brogues finish off these seventeen and a half minutes with their primitive garage-thump. That's some statement.

I'm hooked - I hope will be too. If so, join me in investing in the (all-strictly-limited-edition) Suffering Jukebox forward catalogue.

Suffering Jukecast by Suffering Jukebox

Featuring:

1. Worship You - Colleen Green
2. Not Me - Milk Maid
3. Cenetaph (Slow Jamz Demo) - Mazes
4. Planeterium - Former Bullies
5. M&Ms - Colleen Green
6. You're Not Mine - Brown Brogues

WINDMILL "Ellen Save Our Energy" EP

Matthew Thomas Dillon (aka Windmill) claimed at the end of last year he would be taking an indefinite break from music. A live appearance at May’s Sounds From The Other City festival and news that work on a third album is scheduled for this year seems to suggest this break was shorter than I at first feared. This is a huge relief. Windmill’s second album “Epcot Starfields” was one of my top five records of last year and the thought of no more Windmill albums to join this and 2007's “Puddle City Racing Lights” had been unbearable.

And whilst waiting that new record, released today is this EP from Windmill. There’s no new music but lead track ‘Ellen Save Our Energy’ (“an anthem about our collective hopes and imperfections”) is worth admission price alone if you don’t already own it.



In addition on the EP there are three remixes of two of the other tracks from "Epcot Starfields", a 15-minute interview in which Windmill answers questions from fans and the videos for ‘Ellen Save Our Energy’ and ‘Big Boom’.

Those remixes: “New York’s Pocket adds beats and synths to 'Big Boom'; Munich-based trio Saroos bring crashing post-rock soundscapes and spare acapella vocals to album track 'IMAX Raceway'; and Finnish brothers Gentleman Losers deliver a gently flowing, rose-tinted remix of 'Big Boom'”. Nice extras to have - and the last one is the best for my money - but it’s that lead song you need - either from the EP release or from the original album.

Windmill
Ellen Save Our Energy EP [BUY]
Epcot Starfields [BUY]

MANCHESTER GIGS IN MUSIC: July 2010 Pt. 1

Here we are again - monthly mixtape time to help you choose gigs in Manchester in July. The links in the listings all lead to where you can buy tickets - even for two of this month's gigs which are free. Firstly Adelaide's Cape at Dulcimer on 29 July and then this Little Soul event:

It's on Sunday 4 July at Soup Kitchen in the Northern Quarter: 10 excellent acoustic acts all on a summer's afternoon-into-evening and it's free. Cannot argue with that. And not in the listings below but I hear rumour of an event to celebrate the life of Frank Sidebottom at Castlefield Arena on 8 July. Keep eyes peeled for more info.

As ever the download link is in the post following.

Manchester Gigs in Music: July 2010 [50 mins /57 MB]

Jesse Malin & the St Marks Social Burning The Bowery [3.33] (7 July Ruby Lounge BUY TICKETS)
Dum Dum Girls Jail La La [6.01] (28 July Sound Control BUY TICKETS)
The Hundred in the Hands Dressed in Dresden [9.34] (8 July Ruby Lounge BUY TICKETS)
School of Seven Bells Babelonia [14.32] (19 July Ruby Lounge BUY TICKETS)
Wild Nothing Summer Holiday [18.33] (29 July Deaf Institute BUY TICKETS)
The Sound of Arrows M.A.G.I.C [22.01] (1 July Ruby Lounge BUY TICKETS)
Toro y Moi Leave Everywhere [22.45] (30 July Deaf Institute BUY TICKETS)
First Aid Kit I Met Up With The King [27.33] (16 July Deaf Institute BUY TICKETS)
Adelaide’s Cape Belle [31.44] (29 July Dulcimer BUY TICKETS)
Shearwater Black Eyes [35.19] (31 July Deaf Institute BUY TICKETS)
Moon Duo Stumbling 22nd St. [42.09] (29 July Sacred Trinity BUY TICKETS)
Joe Galen Fish & Chips [46.27] (4 July Soup Kitchen BUY TICKETS)
Otis Gibbs Bury Me On A Rainy Day [49.46] (20 July Ruby Lounge BUY TICKETS)

And not forgetting:
1 July Ólafur Arnalds Bridgewater Hall / 2 July Working for a Nuclear Free City Sound Control / 2 July The Features + Blind Atlas Roadhouse / 2 July The Telescopes Kings Arms / 3 July Noah & the Whale Manchester Cathedral / 6 July The Black Keys Academy 1 / 6 July Dr John RNCM / 8 July Holy Ghost Deaf Institute / 13 July The Lovely Eggs + Hotpants Romance Café Saki / 15 July Kaki King Ruby Lounge / 16 July Chief Ruby Lounge / 18 July Future of the Left MoHo Live / 23 July Rook & the Ravens Academy 3 / 25 July We Are Willow Odder / 28 July Silver Apples Deaf Institute / 29 July Jah Wobble & The Nippon Dub Ensemble Ruby Lounge / 31 July Kris Kristofferson Bridgewater Hall

MANCHESTER GIGS IN MUSIC: July 2010 Pt. 2

Mixtape: July 2010 [50 mins/57 MB] - download here.

THE HOLD STEADY @ MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 26 June 2010

For several years now The Hold Steady have been consistently (persistently?) recommended to me, citing the musical influences of band leader Craig Finn as reason to like them. But my passing acquaintance with the occasional songs has not brought to mind The Replacements, The Grifters or Husker Du but instead unremarkable Springsteen bombast.

However some of those odd songs heard from around the time “Stay Positive” was released in 2008 and onwards, have slowly started to penetrate my shield of negativity. Then there are the tales of the sweat-drenched, life-affirming live shows. So the chance to see them play the relatively small Academy 2 as a Glastonbury warm-up was the perfect opportunity to finally see if The Hold Steady live lived up to these reports.

The opening three songs, mixing old and new, was a potent statement of intent: The Hold Steady are here to play loud and to rock. ‘Stuck Between Stations’, ‘Hurricane J’ and ‘Sequestered In Memphis’ are all trademark riff-laden, urgent call-to-arms anthems that had the crowd hoisting, spilling and ultimately throwing beer. And lead singer Craig Finn seemed to be inviting those beer-throwers to take pot-shots at him. Finn is not a grizzled, hard-as-nails rocker: he looks and dances like the accountant at the office Xmas party who only gets out once a year. But throughout he grins maniacally as though even after five albums and all these years of touring he still cannot believe he is actually in a band. So his was not such confrontational baiting of the crowd and more an invitation to share his good fortune.

My lack of familiarity with some sections of The Hold Steady back catalogue meant that parts of the set blurred into each other. But this was not just the fault of that unfamiliarity but a bass-heavy sound that often swamped the vocals when all three guitars kicked in together. Too often the sound became an unsubtle and relentless thud. The mosh-pit couldn’t care less though – every song old and new was greeted uproariously and sung along to loudly. ‘Chips Ahoy’ was the one that truly sent the crowd wild (I can still taste the beer on my skin and in my hair – even after showering).

The main set finished with ‘Slapped Actress’. Now this is one of the songs I am more familiar with - and hearing it I realised what was lost. The song’s dynamic tension, a slow build and fall punctuated with quiet or massed whoo-hoos was replaced with that dull thud. The encores seemed to rectify this: for ‘First Night’ electric guitars were replaced for acoustics – and hey I could hear the keyboards! Final encore ‘Killer Parties’ was the one were they nailed the quiet/loud dynamic perfectly and Finn became more theatrical than simply the clowning singer; and it was so much better for it. Now if the whole gig had been like this I might have walked away a convert.

It was still a good night but I think I will stick to listening to The Hold Steady in small doses and build up from there by degrees. And maybe then I’ll stop the petty carping and join the word-perfect singalong faithful in the mosh-pit. For most of these people, tonight was Christmas and the Second Coming rolled into one and toasted royally with Budweiser and Red Stripe. Sound mix problems? What problems??

HURRICANE J
The Hold Steady
Heaven Is Whenever [BUY]

AVI BUFFALO @ DEAF INSTITUTE 24 June 2010

The release of Avi Buffalo’s debut album in April followed last year’s blogosphere adoration of single “What’s In It For”. The self-titled album’s summery guitar-pop drew comparisons to the quirky naivety of The Shins in some quarters. For me another reference point (and I think I am maybe totally alone on this one) was Galaxie 500. Some songs share the quiet intensity of the Boston trio’s dreamy slow-motion guitar shimmer and lean, spacious drumming. But whereas Galaxie 500 have a restrained East Coast froideur and eeriness, Avi Buffalo are filled with a West Coast sunshine glow and youthful playfulness. Press attention and the label’s bio seem to focus heavily on their tender ages (forming in high school and signing to Sub Pop when three of the band including songwriter Avigdor Zahner-Isenberg were just 18/19). Setting up on stage prior to their debut Manchester gig, the casually dressed four-piece do look like slouchy US college kids getting ready for band practise but they never appear awkward or immature.

When Avi speaks, especially sporting beard, he comes across far more mature than his age suggests. He mixes wide-eyed appreciation for the audience’s welcoming applause and casual between-song banter with a curious intensity when playing. But even this ‘lost-in-the-moment’ seriousness never sets in for long - pulling faces at his own playing or joking with the band easily brings things back to a light-hearted informality. Ultimately their age is a red herring – yes they have a dressed-down, laidback demeanour but Avi Buffalo are also savvy musicians and Avi himself an engaging frontman.

The set opened with that single ‘What’s In It For’ (with additional guitarist brought on just for this song). It’s still such an impressively strong calling-card but I wish it had come later when the band were fully into their stride. The next two songs remained a bit tentative but thereafter the band slipped into a casual groove and a solidly faithful delivery of the songs from the album. What surprised me hearing them live was the jazzy feel to their playing particularly in the spacious drum rolls and fills plus that fluid quick-fingered guitar work.

The set was sequenced so the last third became louder and more intense particularly during the lengthy final song ‘Remember Last Time’ with Avi even slapping the neck of his guitar in one impassioned moment. The first encore was the catchy tweeness of ‘Summer Cum’ but towards the end the loose swing of the drumming changed to Mo Tucker-like primal pounding with noisy guitar and keys over the top. If the band had pushed this direction a bit further the song could easily have mutated into ‘Foggy Notion’ or something darker and more clamorous. There weren’t many other surprises to those familiar with the record which they played in its entirety except ‘One Last’ (“we left the acoustic guitar at home”) but one eyebrow-raising moment early in the set was ‘McDonalds Funk’. This was an instrumental, part-improvised funk work-out culminating in massed screaming. Another surprise post-gig was reading that the teenage object of Avi’s affections, unrequited, was the keyboard player Rebecca. Acutely ironic giving the way their vocals interweave or complement each other at key moments but impressive to have managed the switch from intense crush to singing partner successfully.



Avi Buffalo appear to have negotiated several tricky transitions such as this: from high school friends to band-mates in young adulthood, from being unsigned to Sub Pop darlings, and now to an international touring band, all in a short period of time and managing to keep their heads screwed on. Despite the wave of acclaim they are riding (and with summer festival appearances still to come), there will still be plenty for Avi Buffalo to negotiate in the future. Is it too early and unseemly to ponder the potential hurdle of the difficult second album? But on tonight’s showing the band have demonstrated plentiful nous and musical chops not only to survive these hurdles but to take Avi Buffalo in an intriguing number of future directions.

The Set List:

What’s In It For
Truth Sets In
Coaxed
Jessica
Five Little Sluts
McDonalds Funk
Where’s Your Dirty Mind
Can’t I Know
Remember Last Time
---
Summer Cum
“No-one knows how long it takes”

Support from Brown Brogues is thoroughly deserving of mention. Reports from The Pigeon Post about their scuzzy lo-fi garage-blues and then the songs on their MySpace page had me suitably excited and intrigued. And the live experience did not disappoint. If anything it surpassed the recordings because it was so thrilling to watch. The duo played on opposite sides of the stage – one half of the duo with battered electric guitar and then the drummer with only two drums placed either side of him with one cymbal and no kick drum. It was astonishing the variety of rhythms and jarring sounds Brown Brogues delivered from such a simple set-up. The musical template may have been identical with just the tempo changing from song to song but I could have listened to another 30 minutes and still been left wanting more. Brown Brogues are becoming the support band of choice for US alt-rockers visiting Manchester – make sure you arrive early and catch their primitive-modern garage-stomp soon.



WHAT'S IN IT FOR (free download via last.fm)
Avi Buffalo
Avi Buffalo [BUY]

TONIGHT IN MANCHESTER: The Middle East

Even after the briefest of time spent listening to debut UK release by The Middle East, I am quite smitten. The EP "The Recordings of the Middle East" (on Chess Club Records) is a shortened version of their 2008 debut album that the band felt needed ‘focusing’ and was abridged and re-released in 2009. Unlikely as it sounds when you realise the band is a (upto) seven-piece collective from Townsville, Australia, the main musical reference point when listening to opening song ‘The Darkest Side’ is Bon Iver. Quiet plucked guitars, hushed introspection, frail interweaving male/female voices. Townsville is clearly closer to Wisconsin than sunny Bondi Beach.

Most other songs on the EP are similar in tone, long songs (the first three are all five and a half minutes plus) delivered with quiet restraint but some go elsewhere. Both ‘Lonely’ and ‘Blood’ build to semi-orchestral finales that reminds me of Woodpigeon or even Efterklang. ‘Blood’ is one of the prettiest songs I’ve heard this year – again those fragile voices plus tinkling glockenspiel in the first half build to a sumptuous choir and trumpet crescendo.



Whereas Justin Vernon trades on heart-break, The Middle East are looking at even bleaker themes – death and even suicide seem to crop up in each song. Alongside the gentle folk and orch-pop trimmings, there are touches of post-rock and ambience but the noir-rock of the fifth song 'Beleriand' goes in another direction again. Makes me wonder what they took out of the LP?
All this promises great things for tonight’s (debut?) Manchester show at The Deaf Institute. This is part of the briefest of UK tours for the band – other stops are Brighton and London plus Glastonbury and Latitude. Given the distances involved for The Middle East to travel this could be you last time to catch them live for some time.

Advance tickets are only £7.50 or pay more on the door. Support from Delta Maid.

BLOOD
The Middle East
Recordings of the Middle East [BUY or BUY]

TONIGHT IN MANCHESTER: Mountain Man

Mountain Man, newly signed to Bella Union, play the Deaf Institute tonight as part of a short UK tour – and it promises to be a special evening. The Vermont trio of Molly Erin Sarle, Alexandra Sauser-Monnig, and Amelia Randall Meath are attracting some great praise for their antique lullabies and (largely) acappella folk: "They sound as old as the hills and as current as some micro-genre that doesn't have a stupid name yet. With woodsy acoustic guitars and lilting, reverbed harmonies, [Mountain Man] set up camp between the old-timey lilt of Alela Diane or Fleet Foxes and the laid-back lo-fi vibes of pals like Real Estate" (Pitchfork).

Bella Union are on a roll this year (see cracking albums from John Grant and The Acorn for starters) and the Mountain Man album "Made The Harbor" seems to join this bandwagon:

"If Mountain Man were to pack any more nature into the half-hour of music on their rather beautiful debut album, they'd need a cannery. Buffalo, herons, moths, dogs and honeybees are just a fraction of the dramatis personae. The setting is, in part, Vermont, where the three members of the band – all female, contrary to the name – met at college. Appalachian folk informs the sparse instrumentation (usually a lone, slow-plucked acoustic guitar), the complex harmonies and the lyrics, which also invoke black hills and Mississippi swells. The sound is austere but there are riches here, yielded over time". (The Observer)



Support comes from Kait Devoy (ex-John-Peel-favourites Ella Guru). Advance tickets are just £6

Mountain Man - Soft Skin by Bella Union

Mountain Man - Animal Tracks by Bella Union

Mountain Man
Made The Harbor [BUY]

CLOGS "The Creatures In The Garden of Lady Walton"

Anyone seeking out “The Creatures In The Garden of Lady Walton” as a ‘side project’ of The National will find themselves checking that are not listening to a mis-labelled CD or wrongly tagged digital file. The four-piece Clogs does indeed feature The National’s guitarist Bryce Dessner alongside Rachael Elliot (bassoon), Thomas Kozumplik (percussion) and Padma Newsome (viola). However that instrumentation, the presence of Australian contemporary classical composer Newsome in the line-up plus song titles like ‘Adages of Cleansing’ should be sending some clear signals that this record is not daughter of “High Violet”. Or even cousin twice-removed.

The opening trio of songs make this abundantly clear. “Cocodrillo” is a formal singing round, with interwoven highly mannered voices and chants - more Tallis Scholars than ‘Terrible Love’. The choppy rhythms and tense interplay of acoustic guitars, woodwind and percussion on the instrumental ‘I Used To’ comes across as over-caffeinated Penguin Café Orchestra. Then for ‘On the Edge’, harp strings and bassoon are paired with the operatic, floating vocals from Shara Worden (of My Brightest Diamond). When Worden sings “at the edge of the world / I will imitate a lyre bird” I cannot think a better description of her voice – extravagant plumage, ornate detail and utterly other-worldy. The startling variety in these three songs alone makes you feel as though you have travelled centuries and continents in just under ten minutes.

The album continues to weave a curious path, treading a line between contemporary classical composition, medieval madrigal and faerie-folk. Calming and graceful there is also a sense of questing, of seeking out something higher, something elusive and transcendental. Most songs were written during a residency by Newsome at the garden of the title, a rich botanical paradise on the island of Ischia in the Bay of Naples created by the widow of composer William Walton. Listening feels like being carried on a magical journey through that midnight garden: peaceful contemplation, wide-eyed awe at the wonders of nature but also occasionally feeling disoriented or unsettled in this mysterious, now-unfamiliar world.

'The Owl of Love' is one of those curious, unsettling moments. When Worden sings in the character of the nocturnal bird of the title (“at night I suck it in / I suck it in”) it is unexpected, peculiar and intensely spooky. It remains one of the most curious songs I’ve heard all year but also one I’m magnetically drawn to. When the album reaches ‘Last Song’ with vocals from The National's Matt Berninger it’s a different kind of shock: his world-weary baritone is so familiar, so here-and-now, it feels earth-bound and leaden compared to the rest of the album. Not a mis-fire but another unforeseen turn in the crooked path.

This is a complex record but never challenging or purely cerebral. For many listeners it will be entering strange, uncharted territories but there are rich rewards in its mysterious depths. It doesn’t feel disjointed (despite a four year period to write, record and mix with band members living on two continents) but it is constantly shifting, elusive and at times disconcerting. Without doubt an odd record it is also a deeply seductive one. Chamber music purists and blinkered fans of The National may dislike its border incursions across genres and forms but others should be charmed by its timeless, sublime music and its indefinable mysteries.

ON THE EDGE

Clogs

The Creatures In The Garden of Lady Walton [BUY or BUY]

TONIGHT IN MANCHESTER: Harlem

Released in April this year on Matador Records, “Hippies” the second album from Austin, Texas trio Harlem is the follow-up to their self-released debut “Free Drugs” (can you see a theme there?). The song-writing and vocal duties on “Hippies” are evenly shared by Michael Coomer and Curtis O'Mara switching between guitar, vocals and drums on stage (and off) alongside recently-added bassist Jose Boyer.

There’s a loose kinship with label-mates Times New Viking but if the Ohio trio favour the noisy lofi end of the garage-rock spectrum, Harlem dwell at the pure pop end. The sixteen short ramshackle tunes on “Hippies” are infectiously joyous listening. By all accounts (well their record label’s at least) Harlem have a reputation of “making club gigs seem like living room shows” so it will be interesting to see how they fare with Fallowfield bar-the-size-of-a-living-room The Corner tonight.



With excellent support from Books, Hyacinth Girl and Brown Brogues. Advance tickets just £6 - don't rely on there being tickets on the door.

FRIENDLY GHOST
Harlem
Hippies [BUY]