Fleet Foxes @ The Junction 11/11/08

Fleet Foxes played to a sell-out crowd at the Junction on Tuesday night. Their self-titled LP needs little introduction, but any fear that it might translate into anything less than an entrancing live experience was utterly quashed on a night where the band gave about as generous and memorable live set as a band with such a slim discography could possibly give.

It’s unfortunate that I can’t really say the same for the support act J Tillman, who is in fact the Fleet Foxes drummer. The guy’s not short of charisma or humour, but it’s a shame that he couldn’t purvey that in his music: just one man playing fairly sparse acoustic guitar to the same plodding tempo over and over. At least he may have a future career in comedy. Oh yeah, and possibly in Fleet Foxes too.

Fleet Foxes were a marvel. Opening seamlessly with the intro of Sun Giant bleeding into Sun It Rises and a rollicking Ragged Wood, the band instantly portrayed a great understanding of how to provide their songs with enough instrumental, vocal and percussive flourishes to distinguish them from their album counterparts. The sound balance between Robin Pecknold’s acoustic pickings and Skye Skjelset’s sinewy guitar lines was perfect throughout. And then of course there was those vocal harmonies, those wonderful vocal harmonies.

Not that Robin Pecknold is incapable of holding things up by himself. Halfway through the set, the rest of the band left the stage, allowing Pecknold to shine with the stunning Oliver James. Its intricate pickings followed by the way those final vocals seem to hang there forever were a reminder after J Tillman’s deathly dull ramblings of what one man and an acoustic guitar can achieve. A similar sense of awe was achieved during the encore with Tiger Mountain Peasant Song.

When the band rejoined the stage for the main set, Skye Skjelset awkwardly announced a marriage proposal for one lucky(?) member of the audience. It was a night of considerable interaction with the crowd, not all of it good, owing to certain members of the crowd insisting on making idiots of themselves. The band handled it all admirably, however, and not without a fair share of humour. As they closed out the night with a personal fave Blue Ridge Mountains, I took heart from knowing this was just one of many sold-out nights they had played on this tour. That a band that plays music this blissful and distinctive can attract the commercial attention to match the critical acclaim gives me some faith in the human race in general. It’s just a shame that lewd, heckling comments such as “did you f*ck him?” go some way towards erasing that good vibe.

Time to grow up: Black Kids@ the Junction 28/10/08

Before anything else, apologies go to Ladyhawke. Due to other commitments, I ended up stumbling into the gig as Black Kids opened their set, and missed the entire support set. I gathered though from the general murmur of the crowd, that Ladyhawke were pretty good. Possibly better than Black Kids.

Not that Black Kids were especially bad, but just that in spite of all their polish and sheen on record, Black Kids are decidedly rough around the edges live, and not in a good way. The energy was there, right from early highlight Hit The Heartbreaks, but the execution was a little lacking. The biggest culprit was Reggie Youngblood, his tone-deaf yelping at times painful, and even threatening to derail I've Underestimated My Charm before its inspired coda came to the rescue.

The real issue though, is that a band which initially showed so much potential seem to already have hit a wall. Towards the end of last year, the band released the quite fabulous (not to mention free) 4-song EP The Wizard Of Ahhhs, which sounded like the Cure at their happy-clappiest mixed with boy-girl vocals and doo-wop melodies. One successful album later and there's no sense that the band have moved on: tellingly, all four songs were included on Partie Traumatic, as though the band were admitting they were playing their strongest hand right from the off. Over four songs, the formula works a treat, but over the course of an album, or indeed a live set, their glitzy, technicolour indie-pop runs pretty thin pretty quickly. They introduce one song as a ballad, but after about 8 bars, the song reverts to type, pinching the plinky-plonk keyboard from the Cure's Close To Me whilst it's at it. A new song and (supposedly) a Magnetic Fields cover whizz by without making any lasting impression.

The set wasn't without its highpoints: even a lowly one-song encore was sweetened considerably by the bitter-sweet drama of Hurricane Jane, and was probably the best performance of the night, and what the band deliver remains a cut above the exasperatingly dull and generic pap which seems to spawn from our shores. The crowd certainly got into parts of the set, with crowd-surfing aplenty from very early on, but when the band left the stage after Hurricane Jane, there was a general feeling of disillusionment. The band need to find more dimensions, and quickly, if they want to avoid being (an admittedly very colourful) flash in the pan.

I'll See You On The Dark Side Of The Moon

Cambridge will perhaps never be thought as being one of the great musical hubs like, say, Liverpool, London or Manchester, but it did spark one of the most striking and enduring unions between music and art to be found anywhere in the world. The artwork of Storm Thorgerson has become synonymous with the albums of Pink Floyd. Starting with 1968’s A Saucerful Of Secrets, Thorgerson has subsequently provided the artwork to pretty much every Pink Floyd release, creating some of the most iconic album covers of all time.

As part of The City Wakes, a week of events in homage to the life of Syd Barrett, Cambridge is holding an exhibition of Thorgerson’s Floyd-related artwork, entitled Mind Over Matter. Go see it on the second floor of the Grand Arcade shopping centre. Be inspired.

More on The City Wakes project, which is running from October 22nd until November 1st, can be found here, whilst Thorgerson’s work can be viewed here.

Something Old, Something New, Something To Look Forward To: October

October’s trio of recommendations:

Something Old: Built To Spill - Perfect From Now On (1997)

How Built To Spill aren’t more of a big deal is a mystery to me. Fairly popular in the U.S. but something of an anomaly on these shores, Doug Martsch and his pals have been crafting intricate and muscular, yet melodic and uplifting (Martsch uses the word “sun” more than any lyricist since Brian Wilson) guitar music for 15 years now. The high watermark is ‘97’s Perfect From Now On, a sprawling 8-song 54-minute epic, whose impeccable craft and attention to detail is second to none. Martsch is a true guitar hero and knows how his effects pedals to their fullest, but it’s his ability to arrange so many guitar parts so expertly and create mighty walls of guitar sound that make him so unique. The deployment of mellontrons and cellos are significant, lifting the climax of Made Up Dreams to impossible levels of loveliness, and giving album centrepiece Velvet Waltz real gravitas even before it moves into it’s phenomenal coda of layered guitar noise and crashing drums. Add to that Martsch’s endearing vocals and starry eyed lyrics contemplating the afterlife (Randy Describes Eternity) and, of course, the sun (Kicked It In The Sun), and you have one of the finest guitar albums of the 90’s. See it played in its entirety at the London Koko on November 4^th: I bought my ticket almost 6 months ago!

If you like this, try: Modest Mouse – The Moon & Antarctica (2000), The Halo Benders – The Rebel’s Not In (1998)

Something New: TV On The Radio – Dear Science

As wonderful as TV On The Radio’s last album, 2006’s Return To Cookie Mountain was, it was a pretty challenging listen that was never going to float everyone’s boat. Dear Science then, is the best response the avante-garde New Yorkers could have possibly made, an album that manages to be both their most ambitious and accessible to date. As pleasingly unclassifiable as ever, the hybrid of angular guitars, buzzsaw synths, looped effects, tribal drumming mixed with clattering drum machines, and the unique soulful vocal combination of Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone all remain in place but Dear Science adds even more layers to the TVOTR sound, with horns and plucked strings in clear evidence: just check out rousing first single Golden Age. That none of the songs collapse under their own weight is thanks to the production work of the band’s own David Sitek, who makes this a less harsh sounding album than previous works, and yet crisper sounding at the same time. There’s a looser, funkier approach to many of the songs here, most notably on Red Dress and the Prince-like Crying. Then there’s the grace of the ballad Family Tree, which could so easily have been a botch-job, but is handled with due care and attention. Lyrically too, this is less opaque than on previous outings. There’s the feeling of a state-of-the-nation address when Adebimpe raps the opening lines “he's a what?/he’s a what?/he’s a newspaper man/And he gets his best ideas from a newspaper stand”. It’s often an angry album, perversely put alongside the most uplifting music they’ve made. Not only is Dear Science one of the very finest releases of the year, but it might, just might, replicate Arcade Fire’s Funeral to become an instant classic.

If you like this, try: Talking Heads - Remain In Light (1980)

Something To Look Forward To: Deerhunter - Microcastle

If you’ve kept a close eye on internet music ‘zines such as Pitchfork, you will probably be all too familiar with the skeletal figure of Brandon Cox. Revered by some, reviled by others, the man behind Deerhunter and Atlas Sound knows how to make a name for himself, whether it’s slagging somebody off, revoking said slagging, or, perhaps more endearingly, posting music on a near-daily basis on his blog. After the intermittently great first Atlas Sound album Let The Blind Lead Those Who See But Cannot Feel, my interest has shifted back to Deerhunter and their forthcoming follow-up to last year’s excellent LP Cryptograms and subsequent EP Flourescent Grey. Those two releases saw the band seemingly develop as they went along: playing them back-to-back saw the band seamlessy move from kraut-rock to ambient psychadelia to dreamy guitar pop. The first, rather tasty single, the loosely Pavement-esque Agoraphobia seems to maintain that momentum, and makes Microcastle’s release at the end of this month all the more highly anticipated.

If you like their earlier work, try: Liars – Liars (2007), {{{SUNSET}}} – Bright Blue Dream (2008)

Something Old, Something New, Something To Look Forward To: September

After a few months absence, a return for my trio of recommendations of old, new and forthcoming releases for those seeking the alternative.

Something Old: This Heat-Deceit
Very much overlooked (by me included), the influence this short-lived London-based experimental band cannot be underestimated. Released in 1981, Deceit was the band’s second and ultimately final album. It’s chilling lyrics depict a damning view of the potential devastation of the Cold War (the cover is a collage of images of mushroom clouds, Ronald Reagan, Nikita Khrushchev and the like), but musically this was light years ahead of its time, and remains remarkably fresh and unsettling. The tribal drumming and angular guitars of Sleep paves the way for the monstrous Paper Hats, whose repeated discordant outro is like a template for the current crop of experimental noise/punk bands on the other side of the Atlantic (see Liars and Oneida). Elsewhere, strange, seething tape loops (Radio Prague), metallic percussion and unlikely instrument combinations (Triumph) make this a less than compromising listen, but Deceit skilfully weaves these attributes around genuinely memorable songs. SPQR genuinely rocks with its fierce guitars, and if you only hear one This Heat song, make it the phenomenal A New Kind Of Water, a genuine anti-anthem, and lyrically the most clear-cut (“acrid stench and festering tongue/New York, Moscow, Nairobi in flames”) in its condemnation of nuclear war.
If you like this try: The Pop Group: Y (1979), Liars: Drum’s Not Dead (2006)

Something New: Ponytail-Ice Cream Spiritual
One of the most outright fun albums to come out this year, Ice Cream Spiritual is an explosive blend of sugary melodies, bulldozer guitars and insane vocals. Ponytail share many of their best traits with fellow art-rockers Deerhoof: the sweet, almost child-like innocence of the tunes contrasted with the maniacal guitars and heavyweight percussion, the breakneck speed at which they can play, the surf-rock undertones, the female vocals. On the last point, however, the two bands do in fact differ: whilst Deerhoof’s Satomi Matsuzaki sounds like a Japanese schoolgirl, Molly Siegel shrieks, growls, squeals and generally throws a fit at the mic, and never actually sings as such. This all adds to the band’s appeal of course, particularly on the head-spinning opener Beg Waves, and on Late For School, where one of the other band members pipes up with the line “Oh no, I’m late for school!” and the song aptly descends into chaos. At 34 minutes, Ice Cream Spiritual is merciful enough not to pound you into the dust, but leaves you out of breath and knowing you’ve been on a heck of an ordeal, one you won’t mind experiencing again and again.
If you like this try: Deerhoof: Reveille (2002), Melt Banana: Bambi’s Dilemma (2007)

Something To Look Forward To: Of Montreal-Skeletal Lamping
Part of the anglophilic Elephant Six Collective (the source of cult acts such as Neutral Milk Hotel, the Olivia Tremor Control and the Apples In Stereo) so enthralled by late-60’s psychedelia, Of Montreal had churned out album after album of colourful whimsy and daft song/album titles for the best part of a decade, before they finally came of age with last year’s outstanding Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer. Following the break-up of singer Kevin Barnes’ relationship with his girlfriend, Hissing Fauna charted the bitterness and self-destruction of a clearly fragile persona. It was by far the band’s most ambitious effort, putting genuine substance behind the irrepressibly camp and chirpy nature of the band’s work (and backed up by a bizarre live show which could probably best be described as a homo-erotic take on Peter Gabriel-era Genesis). All of which makes next month’s follow-up Skeletal Lamping (for me at least) one of the most eagerly anticipated releases of the year. The album apparently continues the narrative from their last album, which sees Barnes descend into his androgynous alter-ego Georgie Fruit. Echoes of Ziggy Stardust anyone?
If you like their earlier work, try: The Beatles: Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), The Olivia Tremor Control: Dusk At Cubist Castle (1996)

Mindless Self Indulgence – Roundhouse, Camden – 11.07.08

First up on tonight’s electro-themed line-up is duo Robots in Disguise, bringing their girl punk band vocals to catchy yet silly electro-pop. With songs like “The Sex Has Made Me Stupid” and an energetic cover of The Kinks’ “You Really Got Me,” they serve as a perfect opening to the evening.

Next up, a move towards rave as IAMX and his band, dressed like true cabaret stars in glitter, heavy make-up and frills, take the stage and boom out some heavy-beat, synth-infused dark dance. Lyrics are mainly about parties, sex and sexuality – “Wanna be a sailor?” – but the audience laps it up and with surprising enthusiasm for a support band.

And then, Mindless Self Indulgence take the stage and fill all of it with their presence. Little Jimmy Urine leaps from the shadows to begin a frenzied rendition of “Shut Me Up,” complete with perfect high squeals for the phrase “knock me up.”

Any parents accompanying hyper-14 year olds would at this point be wondering just what they’ve let themselves in for. And that’s when Jimmy decides to introduce the show. “Tonight, people, we’re going to abuse you like hard drugs! What kind of drugs are you?...Love? Love?! Eugh! Get the f*** out of here, you hippy!” And welcome to the general repertoire of abuse that is to be the main part of the on-stage banter for the evening.

Mindless Self Indulgence love to insult their audience. They want a reaction. Frontman Jimmy spends an embarrassingly long time between songs informing us on just how ugly and stupid we are. At one point, the audience is “held hostage” – he refuses to play on until someone hands him a £20 note. Which some unwitting and most likely drunk fool does. A fool who is now £20 less rich.

But all of this adds to the sense of juvenile joy that Mindless Self Indulgence put into their music. Even though they play their most well-known material at the beginning, causing to a slight dip in atmosphere towards the end, their performance cannot be faulted on its raw energy. Steve Righ? swings his guitar around, mancially eyeing the audience. Drummer Kitty grins wildly. Bassist Lyn-Z arches backwards until her head almost touches the floor before springing two feet into the air. And Jimmy is like a kid having drunk 8 litres of Coca Cola.

Crazy lyrics and crazy stage antics? A gimmick? Many would think so. But then many take music far too seriously. MSI write songs that are bizarre, and quite frankly hilarious. And they just happen to be damn catchy. “Never Wanted To Dance,” a strange combo of electro-industrial-rock, is ironically one of their best dance songs. “Bitches” verges on rap, with repetitive bass and disjointed lyrics. “Faggot” gets the entire audience squealing hopelessly out of tune and chanting gleefully “I’ve been denied all the best ultra-sex.” What other band could get an audience to chant such things willingly?

And this is the essence of Mindless Self Indulgence. They’re like no other band and they’re a whole lot of fun.

Wherever you go Hugo: Urusen @ The Boathouse 01/08

Friday night saw the upcoming Urusen play at the Boathouse. Hotly tipped by the musical press, and shortlisted as one of the twenty bands vying for a Glastonbury '09 slot via the Rockstar '08 competition, they very much warrant the "one to watch" tag. But the night wasn't their's alone, as they were supported by a crop of local acoustic talent.

First off, my apologies to Lonnie Story, who I arrived too late to see. I was, however, fortunate enough to catch Cambridge-based Tallis Anne. If her quiet, fast-spoken words between songs and the occasional bum note suggested a hint of stage nerves then her incredibly powerful, emotive singing voice suggested otherwise, and I hope to see her become a regular on the Cambridge music scene, and maybe beyond. Next up was Peterborough-based Alex Hel and his mischievous guitar Timothy, which caused him no end of grief, as it went in and out of tune at the drop of a hat under his hard, fast playing. To his credit though, the charismatic Alex kept the crowd entertained at all times, and rallied well towards the end to play The Forester's Lament, which was denied from him earlier in the set by Timothy's erratic behaviour.

Finally it was the turn of the headliners. The only full band lineup of the night (although even they were a man down, missing double-bassist Jay Darwish), their rich, full sound captivated throughout. Urusen certainly boast an interesting and unique setup: the twin vocals and acoustic guitars of Ben and Peter interlink effortlessly, Nick adding another layer of sound with his cello, and Kieran providing drums and, later, keyboard. It was impressive to see the host of additional instruments which embellish Urusen's sound, most notably the Charango (imagine a twelve-string guitar in lute form). Each song seemed to have its own interesting background: Hugo ponders what it would be like to travel around with Venezualan president Hugo Chavez, whereas a long introduction to Impossibly revealed it to be the story of an embarrassing two-year teenage crush. The band was rapturously received, and returned for a one-song encore.

A good night of acoustic music at the Boathouse then, and there are plenty more ahead: check out here and http://www.myspace.com/acousticstage for the latest acoustic delights at The Boathouse and other local venues.

The People!!! The People!!! The Music@The Junction 26/06/08

Term-time may be over in Cambridge, but that doesn’t mean the music scene grinds to a halt, and whilst not playing to a packed-out Junction, there was, as the night progressed, a healthy turn-up for The Music. First up though were support act Exit Calm. Heavy on guitar delay and reverb effects, they proved functional, but ultimately felt detached from the audience, never achieving the big, atmospheric sound they were clearly striving for. Lacking any kind of stage presence, the singer uncomfortably mumbled “this is a brilliant song that nobody knows about”, only for the subsequent song to be largely indistinguishable from those preceding it. Sure enough after three or four songs, I was thinking less Exit Calm, and more Exit Stage Left.

Thankfully, the main act were very soon to follow. Although entering the stage in trousers baggy enough to make Madness look twice, with his now shaven head, Robert Harvey from The Music looked less like the Madchester castaway of old, but in many ways, in spite of their Leeds roots, that’s what The Music's sound still resembles: crunching riffs from Second Coming-era Stone Roses, with the shuffling beats and dance influences of the Happy Mondays. Live, however, there’s no denying that their songs, the singles in particular, pack a real clout. They wasted no time, opening with Take The Long Road And Walk It, much to the delight of an enthusiastic crowd, and whilst Exit Calm were devoid of stage presence, Rob had it in bucketloads, deftly dancing with precision timing to the music.

Showcasing material from their new album Strength In Numbers, it was clear that whilst The Music haven’t digressed very far from their initial trajectory, they’ve added a couple of strings to their bow. The fluid bass work of both Drugs and Idle both hinted at a more new-wave direction, the former reminiscent of Blondie’s Heart Of Glass, the latter, along with Human off their first album, showing a subtler but slinkier side of the band which sorely needs to be fleshed out. Other more muscular songs from Strength In Numbers, such as the title track and The Spike were business as usual.

Still, if The Music become stuck in a rut musically, it will all have been worthwhile to have written a song as good as Getaway, saved as the penultimate song of the set, and sending the crowd into a frenzy (one diminutively-sized guy next to us making a particular idiot of himself). Finishing off the night with a wondrous version of Bleed From Within, complemented with an array of additional percussion, the band left the stage in triumph, whilst we were left to trudge into the night rain, smelling, thanks to an over-zealous crowd of Strongbow cider.

The Subways - Live at The Junction June 8th

“I wanna see you go f***ing crazy, Cambridge!” screams topless frontman and guitarist Billy. He strikes a chord and eyes the audience slightly manically. It’s clear he’s pleased to be back on the road.

And The Subways are back, touring in support of their forthcoming album “All or “Nothing.” With several setbacks, including an operation on Billy’s vocal chords, it really seems an all or nothing effort. The title track itself is full of the energy which is so characteristic of The Subways: upbeat, bold rock – simple, in-your-face and above all, fun. It’s a fantastic formula – it’s reflected in the diversity of the age ranges here tonight. Sure the fourteen-year olds are bopping around but the forty-year old men are also giving it their all.

The accessibility of The Subways’ music means that the atmosphere here tonight never falters, despite many not having heard the new material. Current single “Alright” receives a few nods but by the end of new track “I Won’t Let You Down,” the chorus is on everyone’s lips. “Shake! Shake!” is so catchy that it’s frustratingly familiar from the opening bass line to the chorus during which Charlotte lends her vocals, as she does far more regularly on the new record.

It’s been three years since The Subways’ first effort “Young For Eternity”, a fact of which they’re evidently very conscious. “I don’t know if any of you remember it” says Billy. But there’s no need as the crowd goes wild. “I Want To Hear What You’ve Got To Say” invokes a mass crowd sing-along. The hyper kids at the front even attempt to mosh to “Mary,” which is jaunty enough to dance to, but with a chorus that consists of the lyrics “I’m so lonely,” it doesn’t seem to quite warrant full-scale headbanging.

It seems a short while before it’s encore time. With just a guitar, Billy walks onto stage and strums out the beginning of new track “Strawberry Blonde”, before Charlotte and drummer Josh join him for the chorus. Next up, “Girls and Boys”, a rock track with a riff to demolish buildings to, followed by the immensely popular “Rock and Roll Queen.” The crowd are left euphorically chanting the words.

The Subways gave us all the energy they could give. And Cambridge did indeed go crazy for them.

Flav for Prime Minister: Public Enemy address the nation. Cambridge Junction 24/05/08

Cambridge. A curious place for one of the most pivotal bands of all time to perform what is widely regarded as the finest album of its kind in its entirety, especially given the selectivity of the tour (Manchester, Dublin, Nottingham, Glasgow and London were the more conventional choices). But if you were to believe the rantings of the larger-than-life Flavour Flav (adorned with his equally large clock), playing in Cambridge means a lot to Public Enemy, and on the basis of this monumental night, who could disagree?

Entering the stage to the sound of air-raid sirens, Public Enemy quickly got the packed Junction crowd moving with the invincible duo of Bring The Noise and Don’t Believe The Hype, the opening tracks of the seminal It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back. The unique dynamic of Chuck D’s hard-hitting rhymes and Flav’s comic additions were every bit as exhilarating live as they are on album, and age has done nothing to tarnish their intensity or rapping abilities (Chuck D’s referral to Flav as “the world’s oldest teenager” was right on the money). Stirling support was supplied by DJ Lord, who honourably assumed the name of his predecessor Terminator X on Terminator X To The Edge Of Panic, whilst showcasing his own formidable scratching skills in a remarkable solo display towards the end of the night. The instrumental tracks meanwhile, provided the menacing looking S1W the chance to strut their moves.

There was plenty of in-between-song banter, with Chuck D promising the Cambridge crowd that they were receiving their own unique rendition of It Takes A Nation…: certainly, this was not simply a by-numbers performance, and a good deal of improv was evident. The bruising metal underpinnings of She Watch Channel Zero?! was arguably the highlight of the set, and even as the album’s finale Party For Your Right To Fight came to a close, PE were far from finished, launching into a range of hits both new and old. Finally bringing the set to a close with a brilliant rendition of Fight The Power, Flavour Flav clearly felt that Public Enemy’s political agenda wasn’t clear enough, with an impassioned rant to the crowd ensuing, and some rather unflattering comments on certain political figures made. Few bands are capable of pulling off such preaching with dignity, but Public Enemy are certainly one of them. Rant over, and the time 11:30pm: a full 30 minutes after curfew time. Perhaps the powers that be were looking at the hands on the stationary clock around Flav’s neck. But then who would want to bring a night like this to a close?

The Big Bang: Explosions In The Sky curate All Tomorrow’s Parties 16/05/08-18/05/08

ATP festivals and life as a Cambridge student are two things that generally don’t go hand in hand: after all, deciding to hold your festivals in the middle of May doesn’t tend to fit too well into anyone’s exam schedule. Fortunately, having dealt once and for all with exams (apologies, I don’t wish to rub it in), I was in the fortunate position of being able to attend the Explosions In The Sky-curated ATP festival (apologies again). With just 6,000 attendees, chalet accommodation next to a seaside resort, and three indoor stages, this is far from your ordinary festival, as one look at the lineup would also confirm. Here’s a roundup of the best of the three days:

FRIDAY

Papiere Tigre: Whilst their music has its limitations, French art-punk three-piece Papiere Tigre delivered a ferocious and highly convincing set of dischord and punishing (in a good way) percussion.
Sunset Rubdown: In spite of multiple broken guitar string moments (why didn’t you bring spare guitars guys?), Spencer Krug’s wonky indie-prog parade triumphed with an energetic set capturing all the best moments from last year’s superb Random Spirit Lover.
Explosions In The Sky: The hosts were no disappointment, bringing their tense mix of pretty guitar shimmers and earth-shattering freak-outs to a rapturous audience. Whilst consistently falling just short of greatness on album, live they a different (and very loud) proposition.
The Octopus Project (left): The most fun set of the festival came from the instrumental/noise/pop/electronic collective The Octopus Project and their strange ghost/cat things. Plus a load of illuminated balloons. And a theremin.

SATURDAY

World’s End Girlfriend: An unexpected highlight of the festival, Japanese act World’s End Girlfriend is just one guy (Katsuhiko Maeda) and his thunderous touring drummer. Somehow encapsulating serene oriental beauty, crushing guitar noise, jazz and electronica into the space of one 45 minute set, World’s End Girlfriend proved a revelation
A Hawk And A Hacksaw (right): Ex-Neutral Milk Hotel drummer Jeremy Barnes fronts the Balkan-infused trio AHAAH with some lavish accordion skills, and equally accomplished violin and mandolin accompaniment. Limited in scope, perhaps, but highly enjoyable over 45 minutes nonetheless.
Okkervil River: Contrary to my prior worries over Will Sheff’s supposed vocal fragilities, OR delivered a superb set of their brand of literate folk indie-rock, with Sheff himself in particularly good form.
The National: As with Okkervil River, I had heard somewhat discouraging accounts of The National as a live act. Thankfully, these proved completely unfounded, with the National injecting a lot of extra oomph factor to expand the songs from last year’s stately Boxer. The highlight came with the set-closing Abel.

SUNDAY

Animal Collective: After a slow start to the day (admittedly I’d missed Jens Lekman earlier, which might have changed matters), AC laid down a bewildering hour of electronics, flashing lights, screams and tribal percussion which the acoustics of the centre stage could barely cope with. With just two songs taken from last year’s Strawberry Jam, the set suggested yet another new musical direction for this ever-evolving band.
Broken Social Scene (left): Headlining the Pavilion stage on the final night, BSS fittingly provided the highlight of the festival. As if their own numbers weren’t enough, the band were joined by Explosions In The Sky, The Constantines and J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. At the same time. Bolstered by lots of trumpets and the irrepressible charisma of Kevin Drew, this was a performance of true greatness.
Lichens: Robert Lowe a.k.a. Lichens used just a guitar, some strange vocal effects and a handful of electronic sounds to build up his 30-minute set from scratch. With just enough variation to keep it fresh, this was a strangely compelling performance.
Battles: In spite of playing two sets across the weekend, the queue into Battles was enormous, and subsequently we missed the first half of the set. What we did catch though, was a band of ever increasing powers in fine form, turning the hitherto difficult genre of math rock into something altogether cooler. Worth the hype
Envy: The final set we saw of the festival was also the loudest, with the Japanese post-rock-metallers throwing everything into their ferocious set in front an impressively packed out Reds stage. A most satisfying end to a most satisfying festival.

Sure, with festivals like this, you’ll always have the odd pretentious and horribly self-indulgent performance (Atlas Sound, much to my horror, definitely fell into this category), but the array of genre-pushing sounds and the general sense of community between both festival goers and the bands/artists are not to be missed. Unless you have exams. But hey, there’s always the Nightmare Before Christmas ATP in December: beach shorts are not a recommendation.

CUR1350 interviews Operahouse

Emerging talent Operahouse played the Cambridge Portland Arms on May 6 – CUR1350's Chiara headed over there armed with a recorder & mic to get some words from the boys; here's a transcript of the interview:

---

Chiara: All right, just to begin with, do you want to give a quick introduction to who you are and what sort of music you make?

Johnny: My name’s Johnny, I play guitar in Operahouse and sing.

Jim: Hi, my name’s Jim, I play bass... and do a bit of singing myself – but not as importantly as Johnny.

Johnny: Not as much as me.

Jim: I’m second frontman, really.

Johnny: I wouldn’t even…

Jim: ...say that.

[laughter]

Jim: I try, I try and get closer to the front than him.

Johnny: He’s not though, ‘cause I stand in the middle. You stand on the left, makes you less important than me.

Jim: Okay.

[more laughter]

C: So you guys are from London originally, or are you just hanging out there for the time being?

Johnny: We’re just hanging out there for the time being...

C: Is that because it influences you as a place or is there something that really speaks to you about London, or is it just kind of the thing that upcoming bands do nowadays?

Johnny: I don’t know, I went there before we started the band.

Jim: Yeah, I moved down about five years ago to go to art school and uh -

Johnny: ...about four?

Jim: Yeah, we grew up together in the midlands. And then you uh – you needed a bass player or something.

Johnny: Yeah and I asked Jimmy. And he said yes.

Jim: Yeah. As a temporary, but I stuck around.

Johnny: ...and now he’s frontman.

[laughter]

C: So, you guys are signed to Marrakesh Records and the label kind of prides itself on having once upon a time signed the Killers. Do you ever feel that people because of that get a preconception of you like ‘Oh, it’s just another indie band’ – is that in any way limiting, or did you purposely sign to Marrakesh Records or do you not really feel that at all?

Johnny: Don’t really feel any presence from the Killers at all.

Jim: I think some areas of press sometimes say that as their first thing, like instantly so that people can compare you to someone else just because you’re an indie band, so therefore we must -

Johnny: I don’t think we sound anything like the Killers.

Jim: No, I don’t think we do either. I think my mom does.

Johnny: Yeah, so does my mine, but I mean uh -

Jim: She also says we sound like the Magic Numbers, so…

Johnny: It’s very difficult.

[laughter]

C: So who are some of your influences then?

Johnny: Velvet Underground, David Bowie -

Jim: I used to listen to a lot of Led Zeppelin.

Johnny: Led Zeppelin. The new Management album. [MGMT?]

Jim: Yeah, that’s good.

Johnny: I don’t know. Radiohead.

Jim: Yeah.

Johnny: Everybody but the Killers, pretty much.

Jim: That’s the one album I’ve got that I’ve never listened to.

Johnny: I don’t think I’ve heard it, either.

Jim: Got about three copies, cause of the label...

[laughter]

C: Is there anything in particular that you want to do with your music?

Jim: We just want to get into a position where we can get the album out. We know that’s going to happen, but it’s always just worry that it... wouldn’t... that it’s not gonna -

Johnny: I think we just want to get the record out and build up our live presence and get more people, play bigger venues.

C: So what are your immediate plans for the future then?

Johnny: This tour finishes tomorrow, then we’re doing a load of festivals in May –

Jim: ...and July, and stuff.

Johnny: We’re recording the album in June and then yeah, doing stuff in July, then might go to Ibiza to do some stuff.

Jim: Yeah that’d be good.

C: Is that going to be productive in any way?

Johnny: Probably not.

Jim: I think if we do go, it’s like we’ll be there for a week and we’ll do six gigs, in the same place every night. Should be good. So yeah, we gotta remain professional.

[laughter]

C: So you guys are an up and coming talent – do you know any other bands that maybe we should be watching out for?

Johnny: I don’t know. It’s really hard because you don’t really see any of the other bands who are sort of in your own position because they’re doing their own shows.

Jimmy: There’s a band called the Brute Chorus from London, they’re doing quite well anyway I think – getting a bit of momentum anyway. They’re really good.

Johnny: We’re just really concentrating on what we’re doing at the moment... [laughter] ... we’ve played in front of like four people on this tour in different towns, so you just gotta keep going at it. These are all the towns we’d never done before, so we knew it was going to be really hard. Some of them have been great, but some of them have been... disastrous. So we’re just focusing on what we’re doing at the moment.

C: So this is your second UK tour?

Johnny: Yeah.

Jim: Yeah.

Johnny: Second as headliners. It’s a bit early for us to be headlining, I think.

Jim: Yeah – we did a few good support tours back at the beginning of the year and we sort of think that’s the way and we want to go back to that. It’s a bit more fun. You’re not responsible for the amount of people in the room.

Johnny: Yeah – there’s a lot of pressure on us to sell tickets and stuff. And obviously various towns had never heard of us, and they wouldn’t have done ‘cause we’re not on the right radio stations or haven’t had the right press there or whatever. It’s tough.

C: Do you have anything you want to add to that?

Johnny: Diane [single] came out yesterday, May 5th – it’s available on itunes.

--

Check them out - www.myspace.com/operahousehq

--

Black Lips @ the Junction 2 (the Shed), Cambridge, 11.05.08

Openers White Williams sound and look as if they've been asked to perform at one of their parents' wedding anniversaries. Their music is lustreless, their performance listless. Attempts at spicing up the dull glam-pop with randomly thrown in digital sound effects are ill-advised and the entire performance falls flat on its face as everyone in the room and on stage, including Williams himself, simply looks bored. In short: a spectacularly strange and failed choice of opening band.

It's a good thing, then, that garage punks Black Lips are more than ready to bring some buzz into the Shed – expectations are running high as these boys have gained quite a reputation for themselves with their often rather raucous live shows and stage antics.

As the opening notes to I Saw A Ghost (Lean) sound out the air is suddenly crackling with energy and it doesn't take long for the first drink to get thrown (in a positive sense). From scenester stillness to head-bopping and foot-tapping, from swing dancing to the obligatory group of crazy teenage boys jumping around and taking down anything in their way: every possible audience reaction is represented – the common denominator being enjoyment of the show.

Slight technical problems involving the bass drum somewhat interrupt the performance early on, but the Lips have brought along a repertoire of samples, jams, and witty banter to seamlessly patch over the bumps (good thing, too – read on!).

Anyone who has ever been to the Shed knows that it's not usually a space made for rock gigs. Yes, the central area of seating has been removed and turned into a standing area, yes, a stage has been erected, but no, no barriers have been put up. During the initial stages of the show, a lonely Junction employee stands on his own against the knot of bodies moshing around and slamming against the front monitors (there are even some attempts at crowd-surfing in a 'crowd' hardly dense enough to be called such).

The situation escalates as the Black Lips launch into their new single Bad Kids and a full-blown stage invasion runs its course. The Junction security man doesn't even attempt to get the dozen or more young boys off the stage, realizing that his endeavours would most likely be fruitless. There is much jumping about, dancing, and getting tangled in leads but the Lips play on bravely – even as half the drum kit (including the bass drum) ends up being thrown into the audience (I know. Wow.) and only cease when the PA system is cut in an attempt to restore some order amidst the madness. The above-mentioned filler is put to good use as kids are unceremoniously returned to the audience, equipment is returned to the stage, a short search for the bass drum pedal is undertaken, and the drum kit is reassembled. Everyone always says the Black Lips go crazy on stage, but there's just the slightest possibility that the Lips have been beaten at their own game tonight. As singer/guitarist Cole Alexander would later say - “Man, we were singing a song called Bad Kids, we couldn't really turn around and tell them to stop.” Some of these crazy kids even showed up in a big white limo.

The show must go on, and after what seems to be every Junction staff member on duty that night is called in to act as a human barrier the Lips resume their performance. Despite some of the audience members' most valiant attempts, the Junction staff manage to prevent any further major stage invasions (though once or twice a particularly resourceful individual manages a victorious few skips on the stage). Even a rather small and frail looking girl complete with flower in her hair is among the Junction employees now standing in front of the stage, but the kids are respectful enough not to slam into her – instead Cole takes the opportunity to crouch down behind her mid-performance and give her a kiss on the cheek.

Other stand-outs of the show include a smashing performance of Cold Hands, as well as the fantastic Hippie Hippie Hurrah whose whooshing noises are always good fun, particularly as the boys like accompanying them with ominous arm motions and finger-waving almost as if attempting to cast a spell over the crowd (which they do).

Drummer Joe Bradley’s faces are a sight to behold, guitarist Ian St.Pé's trademark gold teeth glint in the stage lights, bassist Jared Swilley's moustache is reaching impressive proportions, and Cole enjoys pulling his spit-in-the-air-and-try-to-catch-it stunt – basically, the Lips are on top form. Sharing vocal duties they seem to be having a blast on stage, and the fun is infectious.

What is remarkable about their performance is that despite their (admittedly recently toned-down) antics, they manage to pull together and slam home a set that is musically impressive and instrumentally quasi-flawless (disregarding technical issues). In short, the Black Lips are definitely a band to be seen should the opportunity ever present itself – you'll be sure to get a memorable night all around.

---

The (improvised) set list was comprised mostly of material of the two most recent studio albums (Let It Bloom 2005, Good Bad Not Evil 2007) with a few other tracks thrown in.

(Not complete, and definitely not in order):

Hippie Hippie Hurrah
Cold Hands
I Saw A Ghost (Lean)
O Katrina
Buried Alive
Juvenile
Boomerang
Bad Kids

---

(left to right: Cole, Jared, Joe, Ian)

---

(the reviewer apologizes for any mistakes that may have inadvertently been made courtesy of useless memory, esp. re. setlist)

Something Old, Something New, Something To Look Forward To (May)

The second of my regular installments to this blog: in turn, a golden oldie, a recent release and a forthcoming work worth getting your teeth into.

Something Old: Wire-Pink Flag

Released in 1977, and like last month’s recommendation, Guided By Voices’ Alien Lanes, Wire’s debut is an example of how the saying “less is more” doesn’t always ring true, at least in terms of the number of songs: Pink Flag packs 21 into 36 minutes. Unlike the gleeful mess of Alien Lanes however, Pink Flag is a lesson in economy: songs are short, sharp and very much to the point, never stretching an idea beyond its worth, and every bit as minimalist as its cover art might suggest. A post-punk monument (and the first of a stunning trio of albums which would include Chairs Missing and 154 within just two years), this was/is a massive influence to so many artists, with Elastica being the most famously indebted band to Wire’s work (listen to Connection next to Pink Flag’s Three Girl Rhumba. Hmmmm, similar, non?).

If you like this try: Mission Of Burma: Signals, Calls, and Marches EP (1981), Elastica: Elastica (1995)

Something New: {{{ SUNSET }}}-Bright Blue Dream

I’m not quite sure where this band has arisen from, and bar their myspace, there seems to be precious little information available on them. What I do know is that with Bright Blue Dream, they’ve put together what will remain one of the most beautiful, albeit unsettling, albums of the year. The collection of sounds is wide-ranging, from the funereal drones of Moebius, the melancholy piano of Golden Reverie, the krautrock influences of Diamond Studded Caskets, to the oddly affecting country of Old Sandy Bull Lee: every track throws up something different, and yet the album works best as a near-seamless whole. The centrepiece is the stately 14-minute title track, which evokes the comparison of Pink Floyd at their most human. Perhaps not to be listened to if you’re down in the dumps, but listen to this sombre masterpiece late at night (or at sunset perhaps?) with headphones, and it will really get underneath your skin.

If you like this try: Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here (1975), Deerhunter: Cryptograms (2007)

Something To Look Forward To: My Morning Jacket-Evil Urges

The Arcade Fire’s Funeral aside, Z, My Morning Jacket’s masterpiece-to-date was my favourite album of 2005 (Funeral really came out in 2004 in any case). Z expanded their reverb-drenched (the stock phrase for describing MMJ) alt-country rock and folk and took it successfully in a wide range of directions. Evil Urges, scheduled for release in early June, should see the band expand their sound further, with several new tracks played at their recent SXSW performance taking a more R’n’B and soul slant, allowing Jim James’ already wonderful voice to hit new heights. The band are playing a number of UK dates in the summer, including a performance at Glasto: I hope to catch them in July at the London Forum. You’d be mad to miss them: one check of their performances from their Okonokos set should confirm MMJ as one of the finest live acts around, and up to now they’ve certainly delivered on CD too.

If you like their earlier work, try: Fleet Foxes: Sun Giant EP (2008)

CUR1350 meets Does It Offend You, Yeah?

Does It Offend You, Yeah?, fresh off the NME tour, are one of the hottest new bands. CUR1350 chats to Morgan Quaintance, guitarist and singer to find out more about them and what they’ve been up to…

The Klaxons were said to have invented new rave, a term they disavow. Electro-meets-punk-meets-indie-meets-rock outfit, DIOYY? are also not too fond of the label. Comment on guitarist/singer Morgan Quaintance’s multicoloured shoes as “very new rave” and he’ll tell you off, and that wearing colours does not amount to “new rave.”

As for the music? The label “new rave” works in terms of covering the repetitive aspect of DIOYY?’s more electronic-sounding songs, such as “Let’s Make Out” and “With A Heavy Heart.” But it doesn’t explain how live this is music which people can mosh to as much as rave, as the sweaty, heaving crowd, spilling over onto stage only too well demonstrated this evening at Bournemouth ibar. As Morgan explains after much deliberating in response to “define yourselves”, they make electronic music with guitars.

After the show, CUR1350 catches up with Morgan Quaintance to find out a bit more about the band…

CUR1350: Tell me briefly how it all started.

Morgan: Basically Dan [synths] and James [bass/vocals] started the band in their bedrooms and decided to make some sort of electro music. And then bizarrely, they got signed. It’s like some sort of Pinnochio-fairytale existence. They got signed straight away…About a few weeks after that, I met them in a club, and we were talking – “We got signed” “Oh that’s cool” – and then we just hung around for about year. And then they were like “We’re gonna do a band, and we need people to join.” So I decided to join. Basically, Dan and James started it first, and then me and Rob [drums] came in and got involved.

So do you have a main songwriter or do you share songwriting duties?

The main songwriter for this project [Does It Offend You, Yeah?] is James, really. My main focus is arranging and organising the live setup. So when you see us live….I sorta coordinate the show and direct it. It sounds so like a production of The Lion King or something – I direct how it’s supposed to go!

So where does the name Does It Offend You, Yeah? come from?

The name of the band comes from, they were watching the Office or something, and they were looking for a name for the band, and then Ricky Gervais said “Does it offend you, yeah? My drinking?” so they were like “OK, put “Does it offend you, yeah?” and cut out “My drinking?” It’s really strange cos loads of magazines are having a go at us for being pretentious.


Ricky Gervais is from Reading and you’re from Reading, so there’s a connection there.

I’m not personally from Reading – I live in London. But the other three are from Reading.

So are you the oddball?

Oh no, I’m just the coolest one out of them.

London tops Reading, doesn’t it?

Of course, yeah! Sorry Reading people!

How is your throat after that gig?

It’s all right, not bad, it’s holding up. Basically, what happened, when we played South By South West, we played six gigs in three days, I think.


That must have been intense. How did it feel to play it though? Was it an achievement to go out there?

Yeah it was amazing. But kinda annoying. Cos we f***ing smashed South By South West. We f***ing smashed it, man! But there were no f***ing camera crews, nobody checked us out, nobody was like “does it offend you?” And it was just sometimes – oh I don’t wanna get on my high horse – but, yeah, it did offend me. We f***ing worked our f***ing arses off, man. We went to a lot of shows and people were just f***ing standing there. We did shows like that every day but more intense than that, but I dunno. Whatever though. Cos the people who were there saw it, and that’s what counts.

So how did it feel to play the NME tour? Was that like a landmark moment?

Yeah, it was like a landmark. It was like our first big, mature step into professionality or whatever. We did a month’s worth of gigs. We got better at playing as a band, and we got better at handling hangovers!

How have you found the reactions to your album? Have you read a lot of reviews?

We’ve read a lot of reviews. And they’re split really. Some say it’s good, some say it’s shit. To be fair, I don’t really give a f***.

Isn’t it good to get a reaction?

Yeah, it’s good to get a reaction. And also it doesn’t really matter what journalists say. It just matters that people turn up to see what you do and see what you play. I think journalists have their own kind of agenda which is outside the arena of music. Which is like when you read a review, they’re really communicating with other journalists, and perhaps their employers and perhaps – I’m going to get in a lot of trouble [laughs] – and perhaps, it’s a dialogue with other journalists to show how much they know and how much better they are and how much they need to keep their job. Music is really something you come to see and experience, it’s not something you read about. I’m guilty of reading about it though; I buy the NME, I buy Mojo. I love those magazines… I don’t think we’re too fussed about reviews. Obviously, if they’re really bad…I don’t mind what anyone says but if they’re personal, it’s not very nice.

Yeah, when it goes beyond the music. Just to conclude – plans for the future? What’s happening the next two months? Busy schedule? You’re playing a few festivals, aren’t you?

We’re touring, touring constantly. We’re finishing here, then we tour Europe, then we tour America with Yo Majesty. Then we come back, we do Coachella festival, Reading festival, Glastonbury , Lollapalooza, Summersonic in Japan. Just constant touring. Gatecrasher Summer Soundsystem. We’re just trying to play as many shows as we can.

Last question. What is with the anime theme on your drum kit and the Pikachu on your guitar?

Basically, I bought that Pikachu on my guitar about 8 years ago. I don’t know if that’s good or not, but I bought it before Pikachu was famous…

That’s good. It makes you the trendsetter…

…or the weird guy who likes anime. The Japanese thing on our kickdrum is….we went to Japan a few weeks ago to do a couple of shows out there, and our record company in Japan designed the Does It Offend You logo in Japanese. And we were like “Wow, amazing!” so we got it printed. It’s awesome.

Thanks for chatting to CUR1350.