03.07.16
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Left With Pictures – Afterlife

Afterlife, the new album from Left With Pictures, mightn’t be officially released until April 29th but I’ve had a sneak preview. It’s a laidback yet confident work; big themes of death and rebirth are considered within the gentle chamber pop on offer. The beautifully arranged strings and keyboard flourishes are often embellished with choppy bits of electronica to make this a tad special. 

I’m embarrassed to admit that I didn’t know much about Left With Pictures before listening to ‘Afterlife’. And yet, they’ve been around for ten years. Over that time, the band has won critical praise and steadily refined their craft of inventive pop music, where the acoustic and the electronic are intricately combined. Afterlife will be their first release in five years.

It opens with ‘Multiplex’, an orchestral brief instrumental that sets the stall out for what will follow. This isn’t the album’s only instrumental track. Later, perhaps at the start of side 2 if this was a vinyl release, we get ‘Who’s there’, another short piece. That sense of shadowy menace is never far from the surface. But who is there? 

Something is knocking and I don’t assume that the diagnosis is good. As early as the second track, ‘Bloody Mess’, we’re told, in a tune that could be lifted from Love’s ‘Forever Changes’, that the protagonist is ‘waiting for the moment to come when you know that you’re done’. Such starkness is hauntingly followed up in the next track, Terra Firma. ‘One day, I’ll find you at the waters edge’, they sing. 

There are moments of respite. Within the jaunty keyboard riff of ‘The Start’, Left With Pictures prove that they can write a pure pop tune if forced. “Might this be the start of everything?” is the optimistic opine. This track follows the beautiful and cinematic ‘Stage Fright’, that sad waltzing moment in any Hollywood film before it all works out in the end. 

But, when the resolution does arrive in final track, ‘The Night Watch’, it’s not complete glitz and glamour. Amidst shimmering, fizzy loops, we acknowledge that ‘all who love you will be there‘. This is the last rites; the album’s final goodbye. 

Throughout, this is an album that contrasts the positive and uplifting with the unbearable lightness of being. It’s themes are challenging but it doesn’t make it inaccessible; for, at their heart, Left With Pictures remain a band that produce clever and captivating, interesting pop.

 
03.01.16
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Axixic – Love In The Back Of A Cab

From time to time, I’m asked ‘what’s your favourite music?’ It’s a question that I always struggle to answer. I don’t have a genre and I’m not sure that I have a favourite band. Typically, when asked such a question, I begin to flounder and waffle. I might mumble something about quirky electronica, country or folk before beating myself up for failing to say very much at all.

If I’m asked about ‘favourite songs’, I fare a bit better. Ever since I was a young boy, the songs that really do it for me are ones that tell stories; they’ll be lyrically astute, often splashed with dashes of humour and poetry; they’ll often eschew the mythical for a more basic sort of kitchen-sink drama. That’s what I like. 

It’s probably why this song from Axixic appeals so much. The narrative to ‘Love In The Back Of A Cab’ is pretty linear and full of charm and romance. Bill Clarke (who is Axixic) explains that this is a true story. He shared a taxi with a beautiful woman which culminated in a kiss of magnetic proportions. They then proceeded to take different flights and, despite staying in touch on social media, being in different continents has meant that the cab passion has remained a one-off. 

Bill seems like quite a character with plenty of stories to relay. I’m drawn to the impulsiveness of his approach as much as I am by the warm and rich, velvety vocal he utilises. He told me the following by E-mail:-

“I chucked my former life in Canada and moved to a mountain village south of Guadalajara, Mexico to pursue my passion (writing). I record as Axixic (pronounced: acks-icks-ick) because googling my real name is pretty much the same as googling “John Smith”. Axixic is the original spelling of the name of the mountain village where I live (Ajijic).”

Do take a look at this. I think the tale will bring some smiles. 

03.01.16
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The Liminanas – Garden Of Love

Many years ago now, I caught a flight to Perpignan. It was a ‘make or break’ holiday for a relationship which, in truth, was already broken. There were four of us and we’d hired a large tent on a posh campsite to keep us cool for a couple of weeks. 

The South of France was sweltering under unprecedented levels of heat. My young son (for he was one of us) flagged even though he wore a hat and drank lots of water. In truth, I didn’t fare much better, although I was drinking wine and beer rather than water. It wasn’t the best holiday ever though the green of the campsite, endlessly watered grass, sticks in my memory still.

The Liminanas are from Perpignan. Marie and Lionel have just released a video for their song ‘Garden Of Love’, the first track to be released from their forthcoming album, Malamore. Significantly perhaps, this track features Peter Hook doing his bass thing. Hooky also offers up some mumbling backing vocals to add to the atmosphere. 

I love it. There’s a definite Serge Gainsbourg thing going on within. It’s got a seductive edge, a dreamy breeze and a shimmering, sunny centre. As lips, glossed with bright red lipstick, mouth the words, other images from the ‘Garden Of Love’ flicker in and out of view. 

Commenting on the forthcoming album, The Liminanas say, “The main idea is a story with a start and an end, which can be linked even if they exist in different universes. Everything here is about love stories – thwarted love, aborted passions, funny or dramatic.”

The campsite could have been my garden. It wasn’t but I’m pleased to tell that story of aborted love. 

 

 

02.25.16
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MALKA – Wonder Why

So, I first heard this tune by MALKA early in January. I’m sure you’ll recognise the feeling. The Christmas and New Year break has recharged the batteries and you’re all sorts of positive for what this new beginning might hold.  And ‘Wonder Why’ did give me a lift. 

“If this is the sort of song that’s going to surface in 2016”, I said to an imaginary friend, “then 2016 could be a bumper year for music.”

I didn’t feature MALKA on Sonic Breakfast back then because I was waiting for the video to land. Yesterday, it did. It’s added a layer of complexity to something that previously, in my head at least, was a bouncy, electro-pop song skewed by some off-kilter rhythms and tribal beats. The video is a fine piece of dark art; computer generated graphics laid over the gently spinning head of MALKA. I wouldn’t recommend it should you have an aversion for insects. 

I’m told that “MALKA first made waves on the music scene as Tamara Schlesinger, the frontwoman of acclaimed alt-folk collective 6 Day Riot and also as a prolific songwriter.” I never did get to see 6 Day Riot although our paths did very nearly cross at festivals. I wish I had.

MALKA is Tamara’s new project. The optimism of January might have been dampened by the cold of February but the daffodils are beginning to appear and Spring is very nearly here. Let’s celebrate the growth of new things. 

 

 

 

 

02.23.16
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Treetop Flyers – Palamino

I’ve struggled to sleep. The itchy throat that I’ve been ignoring for the past couple of days appears to be turning into a cold. Blocked sinuses have kept me awake during those hours when everybody else sleeps. 

To pass the time, I’ve been listening to my advance copy of Palamino, the new album from Treetop Flyers that’s coming out on March 11th. It’s a fine record to listen to in these witching hours. It even has a track called ‘Sleepless Nights’.

This is a dense album that you’re able to get pretty lost in. With many of the tracks clocking in at over six minutes, it’s full to the brim with crisp guitar playing, keyboard shuffles and soulful, melancholic harmonies. There’s definite influence drawn from the late 1960’s west coast rock pop scene but rather than just breeze along, we also get slabs of prog and stabs of jazz. Here’s a band that are almost spinning right out of control.

Lyrically, much of ‘Palamino’ is about change, transition and fighting against the tough stuff of life. “Save me from this shipwreck”, sings Sam Beer, in a collaborative effort, replacing lead singer, Reid Morrison, on ‘Lady Luck’. “At the helm, the wheel is spinning“, he announces from the edge of the precipice a bit later in that song. 

The boat imagery continues in the centrepiece of the record ‘St. Andrews Cross’. Things are ‘soon to capsize’ we are told as acoustic guitars and harmonies with a gospel twinge directly deal with the impending loss of somebody near and dear. “I would give everything if I could change anything” is a line that jumps to the fore. 

I’d hate to give the impression that this is all ‘woe is me’ though. Treetop Flyers might have never been as hard on themselves as they are right now yet it’s an album with ultimately positive intent. You sense, within little refrains, that they’re beginning to emerge from their troubles to a firmer place. And nowhere is this more evident than in the uplifting, closing track, ‘Wild Winds’. This is that moment in any emotional wringer of a film when night becomes day, when the storm clouds depart and the blue skies appear. 

Outside, I can hear the early morning rumblings of another day beginning across the city. I might doze back to sleep. 

 

02.18.16
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Stealth – I don’t need your love

A few weeks ago now, I published a blog post (here) about Stealth from Birmingham. He’s just released a video for one of the songs that I previously featured as a soundcloud link.  ‘I Don’t Need Your Love’ is a cracker.

Time might be limited this week to search for new music but that doesn’t mean that I can’t bring you the tried and tested. We get a new angle on the tune from these visuals. Various people mouth along to the lyrics from the ‘comforts’ of a group therapy session. 

About the video, Stealth says, “I wanted to move away from the standard love theme, and focus on the parallels between ‘breaking up’ a relationship and ‘breaking up’ with a substance or addiction… ‘I Don’t Need Your Love’ is about a fresh start and realising that the situation you’re currently in isn’t working.”

Can’t say fairer than that. Mine’s a glass of Pinot Grigio..

 

 

 

 

02.10.16
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Fickle Friends & Clean Cut Kid – O2 Academy Leicester – February 7th & other stuff

It’s been quite a week. Some regular readers of Sonic Breakfast will know that the lack of blog posts over the past week has not been due to laziness on my part. 

Dave’s Leicester Comedy Festival is running and I’ve committed to a pretty hefty amount of show reviews for the Leicester Mercury. To date, 5 of my comedy reviews have gone to print.  There’s links to them here.. 

(1) George Egg at the Western

(2) Bruce Edhouse at the Cookie

(3) Ian Hall at the Cookie

(4) Ed Aczel at the Criterion

(5) Sarah Kendall at the Cookie

On Sunday night, I took a break from the laughs to go and see Fickle Friends and Clean Cut Kid at the O2 academy (Mercury review here). I last saw Fickle Friends at Liverpool Sound City a couple of years back. That was towards the end of a long, crazy day of live music and I might have been a bit jaded then. They were better on Sunday.

Clean Cut Kid clearly have quite a bit of backing behind them. I think I could see why. But my motivation for wanting to see them was a bit different. My younger brother, James, told me recently that him and his wife, Saf, had once had members of Clean Cut Kid around to their house for dinner. James and Saf are fine, sensible people and the thought of them having a rock n’roll band around for dinner felt a little odd.

 

It still does feels odd. Clean Cut Kid swore on stage, had masses of facial hair and wanted us to dance like our lives depended upon it. 

Sometimes though (and this is a theme that’s been repeated time and time again in the comedy shows I’ve seen), things aren’t always worth trying to understand too much.

 

 

02.03.16
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Sweet Baboo – Tuesday February 2nd – Leicester Musician

I’m pretty sure that I’d never want to be a gig promoter. It’s all a bit easy sitting behind this keypad saying that ‘I love X’ and ‘I want to be Y’ but these promoter types are the sort that really put their livelihoods on the line. 

The best promoter that we have in Leicester is Ian Magic Teapot. I’m not entirely sure how he still does it. For the ten years plus that I’ve been in this ‘top of the league’ city, Ian has worked incredibly hard to bring some of the best to our venues. 

Sometimes, he has a win. I think that all who know Ian don’t begrudge him those paydays when he sells enough tickets to break even.. Because, so often, for a reason I don’t really understand, we try our damnedest to avoid supporting live music. 

Tonight Magic Teapot put on a show by Sweet Baboo. Here’s an act that I’ve barely been able to see in some festival tents, such is the push and the popularity. Tonight, it was hard to keep a low profile at the Musician. The room was perhaps half full. If this was a gig in Nottingham, thirty miles up the road, I doubt that I would have been able to swing my cat whilst I danced yet here I could. 

Stephen Black is his usual self-deprecating self. This is the first night of the tour and he plays with us that his band might be a tad under-rehearsed. Epic and long, indulgent prog-rock endings to bouncy pop tunes are threatened but hardly materialise. Instead, this show stays on the right side of sweet. Sometimes, there are dips further back into the Sweet Baboo catalogue and sometimes we’re thrust bang up to date with notes from the recent ‘Dennis’ EP but mostly this is a setlist made up with tunes from last years fabulous Boombox Ballads record. 

Charles from Slow Club plays guitar tonight in Stephen’s band. The last time that Slow Club were in Leicester I wrote about it here. It’s fair to say that was a much busier gig. 

But, in terms of quality, both were on a par. Both were excellent nights out. I wish you were there to see this one for yourself. 

But not half as much as Ian Magic Teapot probably does. 

 

 

02.02.16
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The Dowling Poole – Rebecca Receiving

 Mark sent me a tweet. 

Mark likes his rock music though I was pretty sure that this tweet wouldn’t be recommending a band bursting with guitars. Mark knows that our musical tastes converge slightly but that the nearer he moves towards Download territory the more I move away.

The tweet recommended this new song and video from The Dowling Poole. I listened and watched whilst on a train journey. The signal wasn’t wonderful even though the single was. I had to press play again and again.

In truth I didn’t mind.

‘Rebecca Receiving’ is exactly the sort of tune that’s up my street. It’s got an undeniably quirky edge that reminds me of XTC or some of Blur’s better Brit Pop moments. 

The theme is undeniably sad. Rebecca appears to be clinging to her youthful dreams even though her years are advancing. Like many of us, growing old gracefully is not an option for Rebecca and so we fight the wrinkles with withering weariness. 

The theme might be sad – but it’s approached with fun and an upbeat humour. Like some of the very best writing of Ray Davies, it evokes a certain joy from its character based derision. 

Wikipedia tells me that “The Dowling Poole are a British psychedelic Power Pop duo made up of multi instrumentalists Willie Dowling (formerly of Jackdaw4 and Honeycrack) and Jon Poole (formerly of Cardiacs).” This is the first releases from their forthcoming second album, One Hyde Park. 

It was making more sense now. I’ve still got lots of vinyl in my back room from the late 1980’s when I bought every Cardiacs record going. I really ought to head back there. 

I’m glad that Mark sent me a tweet.