04.08.14
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Douglas Dare – Swim

It’s been many years since I ran away from Dorset seeking a better life. Indeed, it’s over half my life ago that I lived there. Back then, the closest any of us came to the glamorous world of pop was when Sigue Sigue Sputnik decided to stop off in Dorchester to buy some hairspray from Woolworths. From time to time, it’s lovely to head home. Things have changed; there are now new shops, cinemas and restaurants. Woolworths became Wellworths.

Billy Bragg lives in Burton Bradstock and PJ Harvey is from Beaminster. Great as they are, this hardly makes a scene. 

Admittedly, Douglas Dare no longer lives in Bridport. He’s had to head to London via Liverpool to seek his fame, fortune and glory. But us Dorset people are proud sorts and I’m still claiming him as one of us. 

Douglas has an album, ‘Whelm’, coming out on the much revered ‘Erased tapes’ label on May 12th. In advance of that, the 23 year old has released this fabulous track from it. Taken literally, ‘Swim’ is all about standing by the side of a pool and jumping in after somebody else has made some ripples. But, I don’t think this is a track that’s meant to be taken literally. 

This is a song about embarking upon a new journey. It’s a song about overcoming fears, taking risks and not holding back. It’s also a bloody beautiful, mesmeric piece of music. And it builds to a wonderful climax. 

The boy from Dorset has done good. 

04.07.14
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Dean Jackson and Kevin Hewick

Dean Jackson is a fine man. For years now, he’s been a man to influence if you’re an act from the East Midlands. Dean is the presenter of The Beat, a show that goes out across the BBC local radio network in Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire. Between 8 and 10 every Saturday evening, Dean and his team feature the very best unsigned music in the region via BBC Introducing.

Kevin Hewick is a fine man. For years now, he has been an influential and yet largely unrecognised talent on the local Leicester music scene. Spend five minutes in Kevin’s company and he’ll entertain you with one of his many rock n’roll tales. Kevin was once signed to Factory records. He was very nearly the man to replace Ian Curtis as lead vocalist in Joy Division. I reviewed one of Kevin’s recent Leicester shows here. 

Tonight, at the BBC radio studios in Leicester, Dean Jackson briefed a gaggle of interested Leicester musicians on the processes behind BBC Introducing. In an informative session, Dean and his team told all those present how they could maximise their chances of getting airplay. If you’ve got a song with a short intro that lasts no more than four minutes and if you can convey emotion whilst singing in tune you could well be onto a winner. Clearly, there’s more to it than that and there are always exceptions. 

On Kevin Hewick’s latest album, the excellent ‘Heat Of Molten Diamonds’, there are tracks that are 13 minutes in length. Kevin was listening to Dean tonight. He asked some questions and made some comments when given the opportunity to do so. Kevin’s point (I think) was that some of the rules laid down by BBC Introducing (there are always exceptions) make it harder now than it ever was to get an audience for your recordings. This wasn’t the way it was for Can. Kevin then told all how Lauren Laverne told him to ‘bog off‘ on Twitter when he complained about her playing ‘that Daft Punk tune about Giorgio Moroder that’s 9 minutes in length.’

Despite some of these differences in opinion, you could tell that both men have a healthy respect for each other. I wish I’d written the phrase down but Kevin said something like, ‘You’re a good man within an evil empire‘ about Dean. And you got a sense that, if BBC rules allowed, Dean would love to play Kevin’s 13 minute opus on a Saturday evening. It’s certainly true that both are good for the East Midlands music scene.

Here’s a track from Kevin’s latest album. If you’ve not got a copy, it can be purchased from his website. It’s worth adding to your collection.

 

 

And here’s the excellent video of the same tune. 

04.07.14
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Glastonbury ticket balance day

A very slight diversion from writing about bands and songs today.

Yesterday, I paid the balance on my Glastonbury festival ticket. I’d been lucky to get one when they went on sale back last year. Today is the last day in the week long window you’re given to turn your deposit into a real ticket. 

I’ve been to Glastonbury every year it’s happened since 2003. I’m sure that 2014 will still provide a lovely time in a field but, for me, confirming my ticket holds much less excitement than it did back then. Yes, I’m older. Yes, there are smaller festivals such as the wonderful Shambala that I look forward to even more and yes, there’s less on the initial line up announcements that is a must-must see for me (though a Sunday afternoon with Dolly Parton promises to provide lifelong memories). 

Perhaps, this’ll be the year when I finally allow myself time to breathe at Glastonbury. Perhaps, I’ll no longer feel the need to rush from stage to stage to watch the next big thing who by the next year is a second album flop. Perhaps, I’ll come home again saying that it was ‘the best I’ve ever been to’. (My standard recourse save for 2007 when a flagpole thrust in my eye by a drunken teen just compounded the misery brought on by five days of rain).

This song by the fabulous Cosmic Rough Riders really does sum up what it used to be like. It’s my favourite song mentioning Glastonbury. I couldn’t find it on soundcloud so we’ll have to listen via youtube. Have a happy Monday all.

04.06.14
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The Good Graces – Before You Go

Long term relationships are complicated. I suspect that to ‘do’ them successfully you need to find beauty in the mundane and the routine. For many couples that I observe, those patterns that form over time (the ‘doing the washing up’ together moments) become central to their happiness.

That’s why this song by The Good Graces from Atlanta is so utterly charming. Love isn’t all about buying flowers and shagging all night on a rug in front of a fire whilst toasting marshmallows (though I’m sure this does no harm either). For lead singer and main songwriter, Kim Ware, it’s much more about taking the bins out.  

 The Good Graces describe themselves as providing ‘minimalist, catchy folk pop of heartbreak and hope.’ They’ve been going since 2007 and have a few, tender and lo-fi records to their name. Initial album, ‘Sunset over Saxapahaw’ has been labelled a post-divorce record which a quick listen on Spotify confirms. ‘Before You Go’ comes (I think) from a much happier place with Kim now able to appreciate the minutiae that leads to happy relations. 

I’ve got a general weakness for the twee and I spent a good few years in Bristol appreciating ‘Sarah Records’ so it’s no surprise that The Good Graces are floating my Sunday morning boat. 

04.05.14
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Low Leaf – Rise Up

This is a blog that’ll never become a jazz mag. 

Just to clarify that, this is a blog that’ll rarely focus upon tunes with a jazz tinge. Largely, that’s because I don’t get it. It would be like Beatrix Potter writing about Quantum Mechanics. 

But I concede that there’s more than a jazz tinge to Rise Up by Low Leaf. It’s jazz of the tropical variety though, a very worldly jazz. It’s a track that with slightly different production wouldn’t look out of place on a new Noisettes album. It could quite easily sit on an MIA album. There’s something about the crackle and hiss that’s within this track that gives it oomph. And I’m quite captivated by it.

It’s got a simple, uncomplicated positive message of peace. “People, how we gonna rise up?” Sings Low Leaf, rhetorically. She doesn’t leave us thinking long before suggesting that we “be a peaceful people”. Nothing wrong with that sentiment.

I guess what I’m saying is that this definitely isn’t jazz wank.

 

Low Leaf has her roots in the Phillipines but is now living in Los Angeles. Rise Up is a track from her forthcoming album, Akashaalay. I’ve no doubt that it’ll deal with some serious themes and awakenings. She’s quite a multi-instrumentalist, citing piano, harp, machine and voice on her Facebook page. This video of her playing the harp live is pretty wonderful. One for Womad? 

04.04.14
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Coronation Ball – God Be Careful

I once spent a safe, Spring morning walking around Tunbridge Wells. I picked up a town guide from the tourist information office and followed the route within. The Georgian houses were pretty remarkable. There were a lot of trees. A dog chased after me in one of the many green spaces. I stood my ground and growled back at the dog. It wasn’t a dangerous breed. 

To the best of my knowledge, I didn’t bump into any of the members of Coronation Ball on that morning in Tunbridge Wells. But I could have. For that is where this new, colourful pop band, who have just added a second track, God Be Careful, to Soundcloud hail from. 

This is a tune that’s made for these bright spring days. “Today is mine and tomorrow too“, sings frontman Dominic Scott. It’s an uplifting, optimistic message that’s amplified by a melody with bounce. Amidst fiddles, harmonies and energetic drumming, we’re urged to rebel in whatever devilish way we like as long as we’re careful doing it. Thanks Mum. 

At times, Coronation Ball sound a bit too Keane-like for comfort. But, ultimately this is a tune that refuses to be pinned down by references. It’s a safe, Spring song to make you smile. And that’s good enough for me. 

 

 

04.02.14
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George Bennett – Calling You

I bet we’ve all been there? Sat in a pub or dancing in a nightclub (I just about recall those days) and you bump into somebody that you know. You’ve been keen on them for some time but would never confess to such feelings for fear of rejection. There’s an awkward chat, populated with pauses. You’re wondering if the interest might be shared back but you’re rubbish at picking up the signs. So you mumble clumsily, amble away and wonder how shyness can ever be nice… 

This (I think) is where George Bennett is at in his track, “Calling You”. He’s walking home, regretting not making that move, wondering if the moment is gone and whether it’s too late to call. 

My guess is, in this instance, that it’s probably not. 

There’s not a great deal of information on the web that I can find about young George. BBC Introducing in Sheffield have played this track which probably places him somewhere in the Steel city. I’ve just become his 18th follower on Twitter. I think he might also sing in a classy soul/funk band called The Tempertons.

What we do know though is that “Calling you” is an effective exercise in R&B simplicity. A sweet vocal that stays the right side of falsetto and some glitchy background vocals that sound like they are recorded over the very phone line that George wonders if he should be using. 

I can’t wait for the next instalment. What happened when George chickened out and sent a text instead? 

 

04.02.14
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The Strangler Figs

Tonight, I’ve been to another showcase night. 

But, this wasn’t at the Musician in Leicester, a venue where I feel so comfortable. This was downstairs in the Exchange bar. The Exchange has been open for a few years now and I’ve never really warmed to it. It’s at the heart of Leicester’s cultural quarter, over the road from the expensive and soulless Curve Theatre. 

This ‘cultural quarter’ was something imposed upon Leicester people by Local Authority types and Arts Council executives. I must be lacking in culture because for me the whole area feels unwelcoming, divisive and as devoid of creative excitement as can be. 

I bought a lime and soda for £2.20. I then bought a designer bag of pork scratchings for £2.50. I never knew that you could buy designer pork scratchings. They saw me coming eh? 

I digress. There were 4 acts on tonight and The Strangler Figs played last. I’ve seen them once before and their brand of pop swing is creating a buzz around town. Think smoky Parisienne bars, cultured cabaret and witty wordplay and you won’t be too far wide of the mark.

 I wrote about Birmingham based, Steady Hands, in an earlier blog and The Strangler Figs occupy a similar space. It’s music laden with quirks and charm and they might be influenced by The Real Tuesday Weld. They also might never have heard of Stephen Coates and his brand of Antique Beat. 

Here’s a track that The Strangler Figs released in January. Tonight, they put the cultural into the quarter. 

04.01.14
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Son Little – Your love will blow me away when my heart aches

“When my heart aches I’m drowning, pain won’t go away”, rasps Son Little in the opening line of his new tune. The listener is left in no doubt that this is a man who’s in one mightily dark place. He’s got the blues to beat all blues and he wants us to know about his gut-wrenching anguish. 

This timeless track works with the sparsest of arrangements. A single drum fires like a gun to the head; a guitar twangs reluctantly and a chorus of ghostly angels sing fragments of gospel but offer little relief or release. The soulful voice of Son takes centre stage.

Son Little was born Aaron Livingston. Before hitting the depths of despair with this tune, he’s appeared with The Roots and RJD2 so he’s clearly a vocalist with pedigree.  It is pure chance that the video that accompanies this tune has things in common with the Timber Timbre video I posted last week. Honest.. 

03.31.14
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Dan Amor – Sister Anne

Let’s head on over to North Wales and relax with this charming dose of romantic wistfulness from Dan Amor, the opening track from his album ‘Rainhill Trials’. That album was released as a digital download a couple of months ago but I’m led to believe things are building up towards a physical release in May. 

On ‘Rainhill Trials’, Dan sings in both Welsh and English. My knowledge of the Welsh language is limited (some would say my knowledge of English is similarly hampered) but it doesn’t affect the yearnful, nostalgic impact that these songs create. “Sister Anne” could be a distant relation of Eleanor Rigby and she might live in the same village as Grocer Jack. 

With poetry as stirring as,  ‘The beaten up old gate in red cracked paint / distant lights that flicker out to sea / windswept promenades, adorning old postcards / Birdsong, braying dogs and bumblebees’, this is a song that the Lilac Time could have recorded. 

 

 

 For those who are having an extra croissant this morning, here’s the digital download of ‘Rainhill Trials’. Don’t you just love Dan Amor?