Posts Tagged ‘mp3’

Review, Robyn Hitchcock at the Komedia

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Posted 07 Jun 2011 — by Jonathan
Category Music, Reviews

Needless to say, Robyn Hitchcock at the Komedia last week was an utter delight. I have to confess – in the interests of transparency – that the prospect of going straight back out to a gig, once I arrive home from work, increasingly defeats me, so on this occasion I sacrificed the supporting Terry Edwards set for a half-hour snooze on the sofa, which is, I regret, further evidence of a real trend. I’m getting old. Actually, half way through Hitchcock’s set, someone in the audience saw fit to heckle the 58 year old singer – albeit affectionately – about his age. He looked slightly wounded, I thought, as if it was a comment he found, rightly, a bit gratuitous.

Robyn Hitchcock, stage chatter #1 by assistantblog

Besides, I didn’t think the audience itself was a great deal younger than Hitchcock- this was very much a sit-down show, with rows of middle-aged Guardian readers settled along benches, doubled up with pints of Guinness. I removed my camera gingerly from my bag, looked around me, and put it back again; this felt like the sort of show where I’d feel a gentle hand upon my shoulder. To get in, I’d had to push past a large, silver haired man stood at the door, and only realised as I glanced up at him it was Robyn Hitchcock himself. Five minutes later he was on stage.

Robyn Hitchcock, stage chatter #2 by assistantblog

Robyn Hitchcock, stage chatter #3 by assistantblog

And from there he delivered a set of exquisitely dry, off-kilter psychedelic pop, accompanied only by his guitar and a harmonica, through a wandering, rambling potted history of his extraordinary back catalogue; songs about jellyfish palpitating on dishes, Victorian squids, fluttering moths, taxidermists, ovulating girls and three-legged chinchillas. Between songs he digressed, hilariously – long improvised introductions which demonstrated casually the linguistic genius so familiar from his songs. Between these paragraphs are short clips of his on-stage banter. Below is his rendition of ‘Queen Elvis’ from the (wonderful) night.

Robyn Hitchcock – Queen Elvis (live in Brighton) by assistantblog

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Charlie Gillett and Damon Albarn

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Posted 28 Mar 2010 — by Jonathan
Category Music


I remember quite clearly when I first had access to the internet; it was in my first year of university. I didn’t really know what it was for. I had an email address and subscribed to various mailing lists, and used the web itself infrequently – this was back in the day when it would never have occurred to me to get my news from anywhere except Radio 4 and newspapers. I’d fallen out of love with music, too, and think I mainly used it for that most prosaic of reasons – to look up essays about James Joyce that I could plagiarise. It had no role as a communication tool at all – I didn’t send an email to a friend ’til after I graduated.

But I remember quite clearly an incident one weekend in the late 90s, when I was back in London to stay with my parents and get a home-cooked meal. We had the radio on, and were listening to a show presented by Charlie Gillett, who I had listened to, occasionally, all my life. My loyalties at the time lay with John Peel, Mark Radcliffe and Gary Crowley, and I found Gillett – who, like Andy Kershaw, played a lot of strange, exotic world music – a bit too ‘grown up’ and sophisticated for my tastes. But my parents used to play African music a lot at home, and I was powerless to deny the immediate, propulsive thrill of the music he played.

That weekend, back at home and enjoying my mother’s cooking, and well into the second bottle of wine of the evening, Charlie Gillett played a song which sounded truly wonderful. If you’re at all interested in music or British radio, you’ll know that Charlie died last week, and I hope you know what an enormous loss that was. I’m going to dig into my blog archive now, and quote myself, telling this exact same story, back in 2006, when I first learned that Charlie’s health was poor.

When I was a student, home from university one week, I sat in my parent’s kitchen, eating dinner and talking to my mum and dad, when a song from the radio behind us stopped us all in our tracks; it was the kind of song which you only hear every few years, something dynamic and surprising and new, and though I can’t now remember what the song was, I remember how I came to hear it and who was playing it. It was a song played by Charlie Gillett, world music specialist on what was then called GLR and is now BBC London 94.9. I remember particularly because although I missed him saying what the track was, I did notice him reading out an email address towards the end of the show. So I wrote a quick and fairly hopeful email asking if the song could be identified. I suppose I imagined some producer or tea-boy receiving it and digging through the playlists to answer my question.

What I received, very shortly afterwards, was an exquisitely polite and helpful reply from Charlie Gillett himself, expressing – absurdly, really – pleasure that I had enjoyed the show and identifying, and providing information on, the song in question. This struck me then, and now, as a surprising and generous gesture, much more so for this was well before the time when it became the norm for a radio show to interact with their listeners via email. Although I have lived for much of the time between then and now away from London, and have thus not followed his show closely, I have always had a particularly high opinion of the man, and an opinion which has heightened with each and every encounter of his show. He is, plainly, a true radical, never compromising his passion for music nor resting on his laurels when there is new music to be explored. It is plainly absurd that a DJ of his incredible originality and passion never made the leap to national radio (apart from the World Service), especially as he is a real trail-blazer in his field.

On the other hand, I have a suspicion that his charm might actually be best observed in the spartan surroundings of local radio. Unlike other DJs of his calibre, Gillett has always worked alone, producing his shows as well as curating them. He is the only radio presenter I have ever heard who played more records at the wrong speed, or failed to turn the volume up more often, than the famously shambolic John Peel. Somehow it would hard be hard to imagine him in the plush surroundings of radios 2 or 3. Like Peel he trades not on his smooth delivery or consistency, but rather on his insatiable curiosity and enthusiasm. His ‘Radio Ping Pong’, where he and a weekly guest cheerfully bat records spontaneously back and forth between the two, is a typically vibrant feature. I particularly remember Damon Albarn guesting last year and flumoxing Gillett with a series of increasingly erratic and arcane choices.

“Oh, you’ve got me confused now”, he eventually conceded.

I never expected a reply from Charlie, and I was honoured to receive one. Years later – after I wrote the paragraphs above – me and Dan went to Womad, in Reading. Charlie’s health was still precarious, and it seemed to be on everyone’s mind. Every artist seemed to mention him on stage. Little wonder.

Regular readers of this blog will associate my musical tastes much more closely with Damon Albarn than they will Charlie Gillett. But his relentless love of music and tremendously catholic taste was one of the sweetest gifts I ever encountered. He was a genuine hero. Here, by way of tribute, is the edition of Radio Ping Pong he co-hosted with Damon. Right click and ‘save target as’ to download.

Thanks, Charlie. In a small, important way, you changed my life.

Damon Albarn and Charlie Gillett, Radio Ping Pong, 2005.
1. Emmanuel Jal & Abdel Gadir Salim - Baai
2. Carol Fran - Tou' Les Jours C'Est Pas La Même / Coalishun - Thundah
3. Charlie and Damon
4. Assa'd Khoury - Ana Jar
5. Los Zafiros - Bossa Cubana
6. Oboto Sukuma - Nakatiye
7. K'naan - Hoobale
8. Miow People (field recording by Damon) / Arto Tuncboyaciyan - Dear My Friend Onno
9. Mehr Ali & Sher Ali Qawaali - Man Kunto Maula

With love.

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Graham Coxon at the Barbican, Nov 2009

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Posted 09 Mar 2010 — by Jonathan
Category Music

Last year, one of the best shows I attended was a terrific performance fron Graham Coxon, who played his ‘The Spinning Top’ LP in full at the Barbican, and revealed it in the process to be a spectacular, technicolour psych-pop masterpiece (in other words, it sounded a lot better live than it did on record – which is not to say the LP wasn’t great, too).

It was a genius show, and it also included a lovely, low-key encore where Graham played three original songs we rarely hear these days, dating as they do from his 2002 LP ‘The Kiss Of Morning’, as well as a charming cover of Elizabeth Cotton’s ‘Oh Babe, It Ain’t No Lie’, which he and his band dedicated to the memory of Davy Graham.

Here are those last four songs for your listening pleasure:
(Right click and ‘save target as’ to save)

Graham Coxon - Latte (Live at the Barbican)
Graham Coxon - Live Line (Live at the Barbican)
Graham Coxon - Baby, You're Out Of Your Mind (Live at the Barbican)
Graham Coxon - Oh, Babe It Ain't No Lie (Live at the Barbican)


Photo courtesy of Sara Amroussi-Gilissen, whose lovely website is here.

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field music at resident records

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Posted 22 Feb 2010 — by Jonathan
Category Music, Video

For my money, Sunderland’s amazing Field Music remain the best band in Britain at the moment. I can’t think of a better LP released in the 2000s than their ‘Tones of Town’ (closest competitors; PJ Harvey’s ‘Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea’, Gorillaz’ ‘Demon Days’) and their new record, ‘Measure’, is terrific too. The other day I wrote a preview for a local show over at the Bored of Brighton blog, where I described them thus:

Their sound is intensely musical; gorgeous North Eastern harmonies, abrupt tempo-changes and unusual time signatures, with orchestration which varies from lush and pastoral to aggressive and loose.

Not at all surprisingly, their set – they played an instore at Brighton’s Resident Records – was every bit as brilliant as I thought it would be. I didn’t exactly have the best position in the world, for the shop was crowded, but the following video does I hope do justice to their wonderful sound, if not their stage presence.

Here’s the entire set in mp3 form. Hope no-one minds me posting these.

Field Music
live at Resident Records, Brighton
Friday 19th February, 2010
(right click and ‘save target as’ to download)

1. Measure
2. Them That Do Nothing
3. Pieces
4. Rockist
5. Clear Water
6. Tones of Town
7. If Only The Moon Were Up
8. Effortlessly
9. Tell Me Keep Me

If anyone from Resident, or anyone associated with Field Music, minds me sharing this, let me know.

[edited for geographical accuracy; see comments]

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tristram; complete live set in mp3, brighton

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Posted 18 Nov 2009 — by Jonathan
Category Music, Reviews, Video

Although I’d never heard of him before, Tristram Bawtree, who plays his beautiful, tender folk songs as Tristram, has a Brighton connection; he studied Painting here a few years back (and his paintings, which you can find if you google him, are rather nice – abstract but detailed, mural-like), so it’s appropriate that I should discover him by chance here, rather than in his native London. His songs – although the videos below are in black and white – are similarly colourful – tender, imaginative meditations fleshed out with sumptuous orchestration. The six songs he played in support of Peggy Sue at the Freebutt last month were uniformly fantastic.

On the night, he arrives on stage looking thoughtful, slightly nervous. From the first note, though, I am hooked – both by his beautiful voice and wonderful way with words. His songs are funny, critical and very intelligent. He is sardonic for someone so young (“When I hear the word culture I pull out my wallet / and peel off a banknote or two”), playful (in Zombie Holocaust he muses that “I’d only waste my life, so better I use it well / to stop the monsters, from taking my loved one”) and he is ambitious, too – Isolde, the closing track, is inspired by a Wagner opera that he has not yet seen.

Musically, there is incredible richness in his soft, delicate folk. And where he seemed a touch uncertain arriving on stage, a natural ease and confidence is quickly evident. He’s able to demonstrate nimble touches that endear him to the audience (such as the arch Abba reference in Place In The Sea), and writes intelligently – only occasionally slipping up (the same song’s “well, we’re all going to die someday” reveals him to be a man with too many Jeff Lewis records in his collection). I’m pretty sure, however, by the end of the first song, that I’m watching the best live performance from a new band or songwriter I’ve encountered in 2009 – or longer.

It’s clearly early days for Tristram – his debut single isn’t out ’til February – but on the evidence of this short, artful set, he is absolutely brimming with promise. I await that single with baited breath.

In the meantime, here is a complete recording of the set – good enough, I think, to demonstrate just how brilliant he is – and a couple of videos made by Dan (who came away just as convinced as me that we’ll be hearing lots more from him soon).

Tristram
live at The Freebutt, Brighton
Weds 4th November, 2009

(right click and ‘save target as’ to download)
1. Someone Told Me A Poem
2. Ballad Of A Stolen Bicycle
3. Zombie Holocaust
4. Rhyme or Reason
5. Place In The Sea
6. Isolde

Here’s where you go to track down Tristram on Facebook and myspace. He’s also playing a bunch of gigs over the next month or so. Not to go to at least one of them (assuming you live in, or can get to London) would be to really miss out.

Dates
17 Nov 2009 Love & Milk @ Jamboree w/Jack Cheshire, London
26 Nov 2009 @ Soapbox with Derek Meins, London
1 Dec 2009 The Allotment @ Betsy Trotwood w/Caitlin Rose, London
6 Dec 2009 Moonshine Jamboree Xmas Party @ The Slaughtered Lamb w/ Left With Pictures, Jake Bellows and more, London
15 Dec 2009 The Tamesis Dock w/Peggy Sue & Curly Hair, London

The single is out on February 15th on Oh! Inverted World records, and will feature Someone Told me a Poem, Ballad of a Stolen Bicycle, Me and James Dean and Zombie Holocaust. As soon as a link to pre-order it is available, I’ll be posting it here.

Lastly, many thanks to Tristram and his lovely manager Anthony for giving me permission to post these tracks. Much appreciated. Thanks also to Brad over at Bradley’s Almanac, who’s been posting this sort of stuff for years and inspired me to start chronicling and posting live recordings of shows I go to. Following his lead, I recorded these songs with a (borrowed) MD player (thanks Dan) and a Sony ECM-719 mic. Hope you like them – any comments much appreciated.

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exlovers, complete live set in mp3, brighton

3 Comments
Posted 04 Nov 2009 — by Jonathan
Category Music, Reviews, Video

I first saw Exlovers in the spring of this year, playing with Younghusband and Emmy The Great, and noted then that they were a band worth keeping an eye on. In many ways their influences evident that night – ranging from Postcard pop to shoegaze – suit my tastes exactly, but my conclusion then was ultimately cautious – they looked and sounded, I thought, a touch under-nourished, lacking authority and only sporadically hitting full throttle. I know now that I caught them early in their career, so with that in mind I went to see them at The Hope, in Brighton, a couple of weeks ago, wondering if they’d improved.

My god, they absolutely have. From the first note their sound was more forceful, evocative and compelling. The influence of My Bloody Valentine is increasingly evident, rushing through the tender, melodic pop and creating a kind of coursing, joyful reverberation, a clashing of air. I always felt that this heavily emotional, yearning sound was very physical. Displacement music. They don’t (that often) create a racket, and in fact much of the set is delicate, recalling Elliot Smith (although I later find out the band are Lemonheads fans – no wonder I love them), but the way they move up the registers, gliding through different volumes, hints at an instinctiveness which masks expertise.

Pete, their singer, is charismatic, gangly and ever-so-slightly detached, simultaneously towering and effeminate – and as such inevitably draws comparisons with that other famous Peter – Doherty. Laurel, who played glockenspiel last time I saw the band, has shorn her hair and stands instrumentless for the duration, acting as a second vocalist. Men seem to find it hard to drag their gaze away from her and back to her bandmates. All of whom, meanwhile, give a whole-hearted, animated showing – their lead guitarist taking every opportunity to hook his guitar sideways and reach down for a mouthful of beer. It’s a well-judged, noisy, beautiful set – and I’m very glad to say that I took the opportunity to record it.

What follows, then, is a complete live recording of the band’s performance. Right click and ‘save target as’ to save each song individually, or click here to download a zipped up folder of all eight tracks (which saves me bandwidth, so it’s the preferred option – but it’s up to you).

Eagle-eyed readers will spot there’s a songs I don’t know the name of. If you can help me fill in the blank it’d be much appreciated.

Exlovers
live at the Hope, Brighton
24th October 2009

1. A Moment That Keeps Repeating
2. Photobooth
3. You Forget So Easily
4. In The Woods With The Werewolf
5. Just A Silhouette
6. Unknown Title #2
7. You’re So Quiet
8. Weightless

Here’s a clip of the band playing ‘You’re So Quiet’ on the same night – video by Dan (whose Youtube channel is here) and audio by me.

Some links:
- Exlovers on Myspace, on Facebook, and on Twitter.
- Read the lovely Emmy The Great interviewing the band, for Drowned in Sound.
- An Exlovers interview at Music Mule
- Another recent interview, courtesy of Comfort Comes.
- Exlovers interviewed for Female First
- And Thom Morgan interviews the band for There Goes The Fear.

And a bunch of reviews of ‘You Forget So Easily’:
(Sounds XP) (AtSounds) (Sound Junkie) (Noize) (Call Upon The Author) (TGTF) (Idiomag) (Glasswerk) (Breaking More Waves)

Forthcoming gigs
4th Nov 2009 Bodega, Nottingham
5th Nov 2009 Hare and Hounds, Birmingham
6th Nov 2009 Portland Arms, Cambridge
14th Nov 2009 Luminaire, London
29th Nov 2009 Lock Tavern, Camden, London

Discography
You Forget So Easily, 14 September 2009
Photobooth / Weightless 7″, 06 April 2009
Just a Silhouette 7″, 08 December 2008

Buy Exlovers records here, at Rough Trade.

Lastly – many thanks to the band and their manager Simon for giving me permission to post these tracks. Much appreciated. Thanks also to Brad over at Bradley’s Almanac, who’s been posting this sort of stuff for years and inspired me to start chronicling and posting live recordings of shows I go to. Following his lead, I recorded these songs with a (borrowed) MD player (thanks Dan) and a Sony ECM-719 mic. Hope you like them – any comments much appreciated.

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