Tag Archives: London

09.26.14
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Roxanne De Bastion – Seeing You

Roxanne De Bastion writes a beautiful blog when she’s touring. She tends to travel by public transport and so you get tales of train travel and blogs from buses. She’ll walk to venues with her luggage and musical gear weighing her down. But, the observations that she makes en route make for compelling reading.

A few weeks ago, I heard the lead single from Roxanne De Bastion’s new EP. ‘Seeing You’ harks back to those halcyon days when the grass was greener, when birds whistled in harmony and hippies ran around London with flowers in their hair… Perhaps…

Regardless, I was drawn towards the song. There’s a clarity and innocence about Roxanne’s vocal delivery on this track that appeals. The melody feels clean and organic. It’s a tune that’s on one hand familiar and yet on the other so fresh.

‘Seeing You’ has one of those lyrics that critics might call personal, beguiling or introspective. I suspect when they attach such labels to things what they actually mean is that they don’t have a frigging clue what the song is about. These are words that might have marked significance for the songwriter but the listener is left dangling within a mystery of meaning. It might or might not be be about having a ‘lightbulb’ moment, finding happiness or dying.

Ultimately though, such ‘introspection’ never harmed Mitchell, Mclean, Dylan or Drake. And when the melody flows as well as it does within ‘Seeing You’, it’s probably best to make no attempt to decipher.

Yesterday, Roxanne released a video of her and a bass player performing a stripped back version of ‘Seeing You’. The track itself was hardly cluttered before.

 

 

 

05.11.14
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Claudia Kane – Hungry

I had a fantastic roast dinner today – and this was after three croissants for breakfast. Suffice to say, I’m not particularly hungry. 

And, even though that’s the title of this track from London based, Claudia Kane, I very much doubt that she’s singing about a lack of food either.  

Instead, what we have here is a tune in which Ms.Kane is hungry for revenge. I sense that somebody’s hurt her and played with her feelings once too often and now she’s going to make that somebody pay. 

Over the top of a smoky lush, lounge based orchestration, CK evokes memories of 1960’s scandals that we’re all too young to remember. It’s surely pure accident that the initials are shared. 

‘I will haunt you in the night’, sings Claudia. Her Del-Ray voice, seductive and sexy draws you in to her schemes for getting even. ‘You’ll be happy, I’ll be rich‘, she adds and you realise that the food she wants is financial.

I love the decadent beauty that’s bubble and squeaking under the surface on this platter. I hope you do to…

 

 

And just in case you’re feeling starved and want an extra portion of Claudia Kane (I sense you might) here’s a video to a track, Residents Of Darkness. There’s much that delights. 

 

04.21.14
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Vienna Ditto – Feeling Good

Let’s continue with the theme of posting songs from bands with cities in their name! A few days ago (before Eurovision got in the way), I wrote about the wonderful ‘Oxford Drama‘ from Poland. And for today’s treat with your toast, I’m giving you the lowdown on Vienna Ditto, a duo from Reading, London and possibly Oxford.

 

Vienna Ditto first came onto my radar a few months back when a PR company sent me a link to an earlier EP. If Sonic Breakfast had been running then, I would have probably featured them. I was drawn to the theatre in their music and the sound bites in their reviews. Like the B-52’s with added smokey grunge or a more chaotic, punked up Portishead, the duo of Hatty Taylor and Nigel Firth were producing a type of mutant madness that refused to be pinned down. A dabble with Psychedelic lounge blues gave way to a Motown murder ballad. I am probably making up genres.

Their new single, Feeling Good is up for release on June 9th. After a four day Easter break, this is an aural equivalent of a lock-in that should help to keep the party going until the next bank holiday. It’s a real wild child of a number, suggestively encouraging us to slip into a sexy stupor and to stay there until the summer ends.

It’s backed by the intriguingly titled ‘Opium Boys’. I bet that’s got an addictive chorus with an injection of fuzz. The CD is completed by a further 4 tracks – covers of Vienna Ditto’s favourite ’19th century gospel bangers’. I can’t wait to hear what they might sound like.

 

Coming up tomorrow – the new track by Bristol Ballet…. 

 

 

04.17.14
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Movie. – Ads

Let’s play a google game? In this game, you have to come up with a band name that it’s nigh on impossible to find via an internet search. If Tom Verlaine hadn’t got in there first ‘Television’ would be a great candidate. Calling your band ‘The BBC’ might be similarly wilful. Perhaps you could call yourselves ‘porn’, ‘dating site’ or ‘classical? Would it be too arrogant to simply call your band ‘music’?

I find myself wondering if ‘Movie.’, a new band from London, were playing this very game when they came up with their name. And then decided to add to the search complexities by calling their first single, ‘Ads’. Just because they can.

Fortunately for Movie., they appear to be well connected. Friends in high places appear to have taken them under their wings and so this tune doesn’t look like it’s going to get lost amidst the IMDB. The first release on Skelly Records, an offshoot of the blog, Skeletory, this is no rotten tomato.

Indeed, Ads is one of those tunes that gets under your skin. It’s bouncy, happy, shiny pop that could make you look great on the dance floor. “If you really love me, why do I feel so lousy?” asks the singer in a studied concession to self-pity. Neon lights and mosquito bites simply compound his problems. This is disco glam pink punk with a Britpop shot that demands to be played at barbecues beneath billboards. 

 I have a winner in the ‘google game’. Tomorrow, I am forming a band called ‘Google’. Our first single ‘Yahoo’ is a surefire hit. 

04.11.14
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Ward Thomas – Footnotes (Happy Ending)

 

Yee-haw.

I’d had a hard day in London. I probably should have headed straight home on the train. But there was an ‘industry’ showcase to go to, wine to drink and nibbles to munch on. There might even be some music to enjoy but that would simply be a bonus. 

This was a showcase for Ward Thomas, 19 year old, Country singing, twin sisters from Hampshire. I was ushered down into a cosy basement of an Italian restaurant. I realised that I’m not really a fan of these showcases. But it was buzzing, the red wine was flowing and the pizza was good. 

You couldn’t get away from the fact that there was money at play here. Catherine and Lizzie are probably out of the public school system and you sense that there’s dosh behind them. But, it’s not as if their opportunity is based upon zilch talent so who am I to begrudge them their privilege?

The twins took to the stage. They had a small band with them. This showcase was a short set but, aided by more wine, my enjoyment heightened. This was firmly in Radio 2 territory but the close harmonies, vocal flexes and charming delivery just about converted me. Smiles go a long way and Catherine and Lizzie are full of them.

I picked up an advanced copy of their ‘Footnotes’ EP. It mightn’t be cool to confess to a love of country but I find it’s good driving music for the car. 

On getting back to Leicester, I spied Ian Magic Teapot having a beer in the Criterion. Ian Magic Teapot is quite possibly the best promoter of live music in Leicester. For years now, he’s bought a range of quality acts to this city. He deserves a medal. It was good to see Ian because he’d recently had a nasty bike accident. Still buzzing from the wine, I spoke about the charms of Ward Thomas. Ian took my CD. I have others in my car.

I note that Ward Thomas are now listed as support for The Webb Sisters at a Teapot gig on July 10th. That’s shaping up to be quite a show.

Anyway, since that evening in London, the ‘Footnotes’ EP has had a physical release. Ward Thomas seem to be doing lots of radio interviews in the US. And this week, one of the tunes from the EP, The good and the right, was Radio 2’s track of the day. Here’s the title track from their EP.

And here’s the video, released this week, for The good and the right.