11.15.14
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Sam Baker – Camden Dingwalls – November 10th

“I couldn’t remember nouns. I called knives and forks things. One day I could hear and the next day I was deaf”.

It’s in this way that Sam Baker describes the days and weeks that followed a Peruvian train bombing that he was lucky to survive. He talks about the little German boy who was sat opposite him when the bomb, placed in a luggage rack above their heads, exploded. “He wasn’t so lucky; I don’t have the right to complain.”

We’re into the second half of the set when Sam tells this life-changing tale from his past. It’s a well-honed tale now but, even if you’ve heard it before, you can’t help but be caught up in the overwhelming surge of emotion that accompanies its delivery. This show at Camden Dingwalls is in two parts and, by his own admission, “you’re going to look back at the first set and say, man, that was a happy set.” It’s all comparative of course. Sam only has one ‘love song’; the rest of his tunes are all dowsed with a downbeat Americana; these are songs about cotton production in God-fearing lands, sparsely arranged and hauntingly told.

For much of these two sets, Sam is joined on stage by Carrie Elkin and Chip Dolan. Chip is the quieter one of the three, a multi-instrumentalist who lets his skills on keyboard, guitar, accordion and vocal harmony do the talking; Carrie is more energetic in her chat. When she sings (or whistles) you get that hushed sense across the audience that only comes when witnessing something stunning. Standing metres from her mic, Carrie knows how to squeeze every drop of emotion from the purity of her vocal.

“Is anybody in the room more newly married than 16 days?“, asks Sam early in the set. Carrie raises her hand and we celebrate her newfound wedded bliss. Sam tells us that he was the wedding officiant and that Carrie’s husband, Danny, remains in the U.S. “This is the weirdest honeymoon ever,” pines Carrie. There’s an over-riding sense of friendship within the room.

This warm friendship and good-natured humour always acts as a counter-balance to the more serious song matter that’s being conveyed. Much is made of the fact that this is the 11th show of this ‘Say Grace’ tour. It’s number eleven because this is the eleventh time ever that Carrie has played the accordion. She picks it up for one tune and plays a note perfect, basic melody. We know she’s learning and the smiles are generous. Sam refers to his album that made the top ten Rolling Stone country albums of the year. “It was just behind Keith Urban – he’s now married to Nicole Kidman,” says Sam by way of comparison. You sense, though, that he’s playing at envy and he wants to be nowhere else but here, in this Monday moment, on a stage in North London.

When you’ve lived a life and experienced the extremes in the way that Sam Baker has, you probably do have a heightened sense of the need to make every moment count. Tonight, at Camden Dingwalls, the audience were given a gentle nudge towards doing the same. This show cannot fail to have a pure, positive impact. You never know what’s around the corner and how your life might change forever.

 

11.14.14
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Honey Tower – Dandy

When I was a boy, I had a weekly subscription to the ‘Dandy’ comic; for me, this was an act of wilful rebellion. Whilst my friends obsessed about Dennis The Menace and the Beano, I strove to be different.

Back then, I was oblivious to the alternative meaning of ‘Dandy’. But, student days exploring Wilde, Baudelaire, Warhol and pantomime put me right. The definition is still hard to nail. Dandyism is a much-maligned way of life but it’s hard to see beyond this text from Camus in L’homme Revolte.

“The dandy can only play a part by setting himself up in opposition. He can only be sure of his own existence by finding it in the expression of others’ faces. Other people are his mirror. A mirror that quickly becomes clouded, it’s true, since human capacity for attention is limited. It must be ceaselessly stimulated, spurred on by provocation. The dandy, therefore, is always compelled to astonish. Singularity is his vocation, excess his way to perfection.”

Many of my friends might argue that the above describes me? It’s certain that the compulsion to astonish and to place myself in opposition has been prevalent since I read the ‘Dandy’ as a boy.

German Electro artist, Honey Tower, has just released an 8-track concept album referencing literary, philosophical and historic manifestations of distinct Dandyism. She draws influence and inspiration from stories of the past, playing with musical styles in an attempt to astonish the listener.

I’m particularly drawn to the story of tragic dandy, Franz Reichelt, who was so convinced of the strength of his parachute-onesie that he jumped in it from the Eiffel Tower in 1912. His equipment failed and Reichelt plummeted to the floor in full glare of friends and press. Some ridicule his stupidity (and he was without doubt foolish) but I’m more impressed by his excess, his misplaced confidence and his singularity.

Across the 8-tracks on Honey Tower’s album, there’s much going on. You’d dance to this at a club without giving the subject much thought and listen to this at home whilst fully considering the content. It’s intelligently dark dance music, erudite electro and techno that teaches. It’s a perfect way in to the weekend.

I’ve got my onesie and I’m off to Paris. Who’s coming?

 

 

11.13.14
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The Unthanks – Mount The Air

I’m a little ashamed to admit this but I dismissed The Unthanks for years. “Not for me“, I’d say to myself if I saw them listed in a festival programme or heralded in a magazine review.

I don’t entirely know why or how I’d arrived at such a position. Such was my stubbornness that I’m not sure I’d ever properly listened to them. Others would tell me that they were producing the most beautifully compelling music. I would tell others that they were wrong.

In 2013, I went along to the Deershed festival (full review here). It was a Sunday afternoon and there was little else on around the site. A journalist I thoroughly respected advised me I shouldn’t miss The Unthanks. I might have gone along to be critical but ended up saying this:-

“An hour later, The Unthanks take to the Big Top stage to perform their ‘Songs From The Shipyards’ show. It’s another history lesson supplemented with film images and it tells the story of the rise and fall of the Shipbuilding industry in the North East of England. The combination of perfect harmonies and poignant images leave many in the audience grasping for their tissues to catch their tears. Images of Thatcher elicit hisses of disapproval yet no tears are shed at this point. The hour ends and those in the audience who are sat stand to their feet to offer an ovation to a truly remarkable show. This is a show not to miss.”

If anything, I remember this show being better than I describe. I could have indulged in more superlatives than I did – but I was converted to their extraordinary power.

A couple of days ago, The Unthanks released a video; the title track of their new album, Mount The Air. For a band who you’ll often find in the ‘folk’ section of your local HMV (I have no idea if such a thing still exists on two counts), this is pretty expansive stuff. They know their roots but aren’t afraid to experiment as they branch out into a sound with jazz overtones and epic pop climaxes.

Apparently, ‘Mount The Air’ is based upon a one-verse traditional ditty found in a book of Dorset songs. Regular readers will know that I grew up in Dorset so this earns the tune extra brownie points. The video is a charming animation in which the main protagonist changes form (from woman to bird to fish). I don’t think it matters whether you understand the narrative or  not. 

Whatever, I’m glad that I’m no longer in the ‘Not for me’ camp. This is too good to miss.

 

11.12.14
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Sergio Mendes – Magic

“Sean, why have you never featured anything from South America on Sonic Breakfast before?” asked an imaginary friend the other day.

I had to concede that I had no answer to this question. The friend, created just so that I could find a way to begin this blog-post, had a point.

I knew the name of Sergio Mendes, one of the most successful Brazilian musicians of all time, but couldn’t ever recall listening to any of his compositions. Jazz piano with a bossa-nova beat was never high on my list of must listens. My horizons should have been broader. The World Cup in Brazil wasn’t the best for the English team and supporters but at least we were introduced to some new sounds.

 

I was sent a copy of Sergio Mendes’ new album, ‘Magic’, alongside a pretty lengthy press release. Maybe there would be things I’d appreciate within this record; for Mendes is ‘a grand conceptualiser’, ‘a truly singular artist’ and ‘curious and intuitive’.

Mendes makes considerable use of collaboration on this album. Janelle Monae, John Legend and Seu Jorge are names I recognise but the cast also includes names that are new to me; Milton Nascimento, Carlinhos Brown and Maria Gadu. They’re all given scope to show off their talents with Mendes almost taking a back seat in proceedings.

A couple of days ago I walked to the train station. It’s a forty minute walk from my house. There was a spit of rain but no downpour. I thought I’d put my headphones on and listen to ‘Magic’ as I walked. I was transported back to the summer. There’s such a sunny warmth within this music that it can’t fail to energise, even if the weather is dismal. Thirty minutes later, I was at the train station.

‘Magic’ – it’ll give you a spring in your step and put a smile on your face.

11.06.14
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Twin Hidden – Join Hands

Hmmm…A freezing Friday. I sense that we’re all going to need something bouncy and quirky to get us through to the weekend.

Enter Twin Hidden, a new duo to me, who might be from Manchester or might be from London. Matthew Shribman and Sam Lea have just released ‘Join Hands’ and I think it’s blooming exciting.

After an intro that sounds just like the opening chimes to an episode of Skins, a falsetto vocal urges us to ‘come step outside, the world has changed.‘ Amidst a piano that builds and falls and an assortment of percussive, positive beats, we’re almost charmed into thinking that love is in the air and that we’re about to witness a couple taking their first steps together. “Come, lead me away to your favourite place. I’ve been waiting for us to join hands” sing Twin Hidden as the chorus crescendo’s and the hardest of hearts almost defrosts…

Almost defrosts but such sweetness is snatched away as the song takes a sinister tumble…

“Pick up my calls, I’ve penned a pile of letters many metres tall for you”, they sing and you bump back down to earth realising that the joyful companionship initially described is perhaps little more than an obsession; an unrequited love that will never bear fruit…

Inevitable comparisons will be drawn to Alt-J and Everything Everything. You can see why but there’s a quirky sense of humour coming from Twin Hidden not always evident in the earnestness of the aforementioned.

I hope you’re feeling warmer now.

 

 

11.06.14
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Billy Lockett – Nottingham Bodega – Sunday November 2nd

Billy Lockett has a cheeky charm that it’s hard not to warm towards. He might be one step away from super-stardom or he might have already peaked, safe in the knowledge that his latest EP has touched the I-tunes top 40. Either way, the audience on this Sunday night at Nottingham’s Bodega are caught up in the infectious wide-eyed enthusiasm with which he goes about his craft. Interspersed throughout the set, he plays three new songs, all of which he has a good feeling about. “I think this is going to be the big one but then I say that about every song I’ve written”, he repeats until funny.

For much of this set, Billy is content to sit behind a white electric piano and allow us to relax into this. A roaming, orange spotlight threatens to give us all migraines in the initial parts but this is quickly faded to a more Sunday appropriate and less frantic blue. Support act, Karima Francis, has already observed in one of her chatty, smiley diversions in between songs that “Sunday gigs are for people coming down from drugs.” Billy briefly leaves the comfort of his piano to show off his impressive guitar skills but it’s the keyboard, backing tape and his soulful, clean voice that take most prominence.

He’s at his best when he’s dealing with raw and tender emotional stuff. Songs and stories about and for his Dad who passed away earlier this year loom large. ‘Your Love Hurts’ was Dad’s favourite Billy song and you can tell that it means a lot to Billy when he sings it. Plenty of reverb and echo on the voice add to the emotional effect. He saves the single from the top 40, Radio 1 backed EP to last but the quirky, jaunty tune about his relationship with his ‘Old Man’ is lapped up by the audience.

As popular as Coldplay might be (they’re not in these quarters), I wish that Billy’s one cover of the night (Magic by Codplay) was left out of the set for an extra one of his own. Billy tells us all a story of how he was involved in a marriage proposal set-up whilst busking in London and then ponders what it must be like to be married whilst falling in love with a serving soldier. Mostly, the sentiment within the set stays on the right side of a heartstring tug but there are moments that are a bit too much for this cynical, cold, hack.

“Nottingham, that’s the best it’s gone on this tour,” beams Billy as ‘Winning Team’, his audience participation, clapping and singing ode to his manager draws to a close. As a song, it charts the progress made and friendship built on his career to date. The audience seem to appreciate the honest focus that Billy brings to songs such as this and ‘Pathways’, comments on how tough and how persistent you have to be as an unsigned artist in these days of Instant yet fleeting fame from TV talent contests.

Billy tells us that he won’t be playing live for some time now that this tour is coming to an end. He’s clearly a very talented, hard-working performer and few in the audience would deny him the chance to grace stages larger than this in future years. Those who take a stance against the popular and the derivative might disagree. It remains to be seen if his 15 minutes of fame have already passed or if in 2015, one of his ‘new songs’ propels him further forward. I think, on balance, I’m hoping for the latter.

 

11.05.14
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Elliot Moss – Slip (Hippie Sabotage remix)

Earlier this year, I blogged about Elliot Moss, the 20 year old Neo-crooner from New York. His song, Slip, made quite an impression on me and I simply had to feature it (link here).

I’d had no prior contact with Elliot so I was delighted that he seemed genuinely happy with my little post – so happy that he insisted on sending me a beautifully designed digi-pak CD of his album, Highspeeds, across the ocean. Shipping costs were considerable but Elliot, to his absolute credit, was insistent.

I tend to listen to CD’s whilst driving in my car. Highspeeds has been one that has been on regular rotation over the summer. I’ve made a point of playing it to passengers and it’s rarely failed to grab attention.

Thus, I’m chuffed that Elliot’s career really seems to now be picking up momentum.

I’m hardly an authority on notable remixers but judging by their Facebook and Twitter profiles, Hippie Sabotage, two brothers from Sacromento, are at the top of their game. The fact that they’ve chosen to remix ‘Slip’ gives me hope that tunes of real quality might eventually get the profile they deserve.

When the starting point is as strong as ‘Slip’, it would need some excessively clumsy hands to mess the mix up. Hippie Sabotage are too good at their craft for such an eventuality. The lovely original, laced with a lingering, laidback soul-filled feel is given an extra fizz and energy. We’re still in the realms of chill but it’s a bit earlier in the evening now.

Elliot Moss has also been announced as the main support on a Cold War Kids U.S. tour in 2015. An unlikely alliance on the surface perhaps but a fine opportunity all the same. I once saw Cold War Kids at Glastonbury. I also saw them at Summer Sundae.. But, those are tales for other days. I hope it’s not long before Elliot’s growing stature means that some U.K. dates are announced.

For now, enjoy the Hippie Sabotage remix of Slip.

 

11.04.14
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The Mazarines – Summer Wine

I didn’t know what Mazarine was.

But the power of the internet soon put me right.

Maybe if I had paid more attention in French history classes I would have appreciated that Cardinal Mazarin was a Prime Minister in France in the 1600’s. And the term, Mazarine, pertains to him. He has a good Movember look.

The Mazarine Library is the oldest public library in France. It houses the Mazarine Bible.

Mazarine Blue is a deep blue colour. It’s also the name of a butterfly, extinct in these parts. I guess this butterfly was deep blue in colour.

A couple of weeks ago, I stumbled upon this charming video by The Mazarines, a duo from Los Angeles. It won the International I phone film festival, an award I didn’t even know existed until discovering that The Mazarines had won it. The Mazarines shoot all of their videos with a simple I phone. Can you imagine how complicated that might be? Sometimes, admittedly in states of inebriation, I struggle to send a text on mine.

Summer Wine is a stunner. The Mazarines know their history as they update a Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood classic. They add a Gallic fuzzy glamour to this 1960’s gem; a deep blue to the innocence of the original.

Renee Faia, female singer within The Mazarines, is no stranger to these 1960’s tributes having previously played Cher in an ABC biopic about Sonny And Cher. Such quality on display is perhaps no surprise with such pedigree.

Summer Wine – worthy of a Tuesday morning winter sip.

 

10.31.14
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Ben Watt – Bristol Fiddlers – Friday October 24th

It is never good form to turn up late to a gig. Aside from being rude, you’re never quite able to fully enjoy what’s going on. When punctual audience members laugh at jokes that are clear callbacks to something that has gone before you smile and nod in a pretence of understanding, hoping to not be exposed for the fraud you most certainly are. You resist the urge to shout out when prompted for ‘any requests’ for fear of requesting a song that’s already been played. You are on the outside looking in.

But, sometimes late arrival is impossible to avoid. Such is the situation I find myself in on this Friday night in Bristol; a combination of terrible traffic and the need to eat means that the Ben Watt Trio have already been playing for half an hour or so when I walk into Bristol’s Fiddlers. I’ve completely missed support act, Meadowlark – a shame for I have previously blogged about them here.

Ben Watt’s new album, ‘Hendra’, has been a late-night listen in my house over the past months. The man who takes the back seat in ‘Everything But The Girl’ comes into the limelight thirty years after releasing his only other solo album and shows that he shouldn’t be in the shadows. ‘Hendra’ is a spirited album about grievance and loss. Written and recorded whilst reflecting upon the sudden death of his sister, Jennie, it’s at times an emotionally wrought listen – but it’s also a positive statement about hope and resilience.

It’s a state of relaxed contemplation that we find Watt in tonight; at times, it’s just him behind electric piano; at other times, it’s a full trio with Bernard Butler on guitar (Suede) and Martin Ditcham (Talk Talk) on drums and percussion. Whatever the musical combo, we rarely get more than a pedestrian shuffle, the slightest of peaks before a return to the downbeat, dark and morose that permeates throughout. There are strained smiles from Watt, Butler and Ditcham but you suspect they’d feel more comfortable if they didn’t have to.

And for many of the audience gathered this is exactly what they want from a Friday night in Bristol. I’d guess at an average age of 45. These are people who are perhaps on their second or third marriages. They cling to Watt’s words because his poetry means something to them. Since the EBTG days, he has written the soundtrack to their lives. Yes, there are a few Friday night revellers expecting Butler to break out into a ‘suede classic’ but mostly the people here don’t want any surprises. “Who am I fooling when I say I have no regrets?” sings Watt on current single, ‘Forget’, and the audience tap their toes and nod their heads in recognition of the emotion on display.

“I always think I write songs about some form of resilience. There is some form of hope, even in the darker moments,” explained Watt in a recent interview. There are few here tonight, even those who arrived late, who will disagree that this has been a pretty brilliant exercise in subdued positivity.

 

10.29.14
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Sam Baker – Dingwalls – Broken Fingers

“Life is a gift. I went through a lot of bitterness- a lot of anger. But those things are toxic. Gratitude for what remains is more helpful than resentment for what was lost.” Sam Baker

I’ve mentioned this before but one of the many benefits of working out of London so much recently is that I’ve been able to schedule in some gigs for acts that aren’t heading to the East Midlands when they tour.

I have a nagging certainty that I might have once been hastily ejected from Camden Dingwalls. I can no longer recall my crime but I almost certainly will have felt aggrieved and victimised as a result. Huffing and puffing, bursting vessels in my head, I will have argued the toss about my heavy-handed treatment at the hands of over-efficient security jobsworths. Goodness, I was unpleasant back then.

I seriously hope that the security personnel haven’t marked my card for life because I’m quite looking forward to seeing Sam Baker on November 10th, a couple of Mondays from now. Sam’s a relatively new addition to my list of must-see acts. It’s difficult not to be drawn into the sparse musical narratives that he creates. Here is a live performer who makes every word count, every guitar note resonate and every space between sound vital. His is quite a story.

A Peruvian train bombing almost killed Baker in 1986. Others on the train weren’t quite so lucky and you can only imagine the psychological and physical distress this must have caused. Baker turned inward, to relearn the use of his body and brain.

This video shows what incredible progress he’s made.

I hope they let me into the venue…