In The City: Part Two
Posted: 15/10/2010 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: About, allen, chad, City, day, HEALTH, in, kimbie, lily, mount, Satan, The, two, valley, Worried, youth Leave a comment »
Where’s day one? I have a blog but it was a bit of a incoherent blur having had a minor altercation with a cocktail of flu remedies and one too many G&Ts. I’ll put it up in a couple of years when the heat’s died down with John Robb. It’s more of a Fear and Loathing In The City piece anyway, but with prescription drugs and crap writing.
So today was by far a good day. I was all over Manchester on my fixie-bike, frequently pressing my Buddy Holly bins onto my self-regarding dickhead face.
First off was Kisses at the Castle. Painfully unhurried dreamy pop from this trio of cardigan models. I liken the experience to one big safe cardigan shopping trip with your mum. Songs weren’t bad either. I prefer loud noise and sweat so it wasn’t exactly my bag, but I can see the attraction. Definitely more of a record band than a live act. Spot Lily Allen. Try to make friends with her but she’s repulsed by my snotting and tells me to fuck off. She’s so lovely.
I’m a bit weird with laptop bands. Bands such as Worried About Satan. Anyone else feel that a gig needs to be aesthetically engaging? There’s not much you can do behind a laptop before it begins to look as though you’re enjoying your own music more than the audience. Worried About Satan bop enthusiastically like that. Very long, nondescript beat music. I like it, but it’s not engaging for me in a live setting, even while coming up on Lemsip Max Strength. Again, headphones on a train band.
I forgo D/R/U/G/S. Everyone else will cover them. Not a huge fan, and I’ve heard enough unexceptional laptop music for tonight (controversial). Plus, why are playing thrice across In The City? Really? Thrice?
I see Youth at Gullivers. Excellent. Young, broody young chaps with a collection of perfectly crafted songs. However I’ve only caught the end. Will keep an eye open for any future name changes and developments. I note that Gullivers is the kind of venue where I expect I’ll see something amazing. Any tips?
The pleasantly named Chad Valley at Soup Kitchen is the best thing so far. The guy has an amazing voice atop a collection of weird, croony, dare I say wonky pop backing. I like backing bands, but consider the hassle of having to run songs by them. For this reason what he plays is quite unique, and works in filling Soup Kitchen with an engaging sound that has passers-by stopping for glimpses through the window.
Smatka are an strange cabaret-cum-pop act. They’re not bad, audience seems a little nonplussed by the whole affair. Everyone looks around in order to gauge exactly what they should be doing. I concur.
Labyrinth Ear. Brilliant cold-wave minimal from this delightfully odd looking pair. These guys really belong in an early 80s German basement/dungeon. The tall fellow hits away at a drum pad that has that satisfyingly dull snare sound. Volume’s too low and audience murmur becomes a huge pain in the ass.
Mount Kimbie. Laptop band. I duck out early to head over to HEALTH. I’m torn between them and From the Kites of San Quentin. HEALTH are predictably amazing. Played a couple of new songs that appear to focus more on a beat you can continually move to, as opposed to frequent time changes. Big mosh and lots of smiles, except the one guy who stares in disbelief at his broken Armani glasses.
In The City Trends (For next year): Those chains that old people use to keep their glasses on at HEALTH.
My nodes are like friggin golf balls. Make of that what you will.
In The City – Live
Posted: 13/10/2010 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment »
Update:
Intense. John Robb spied me from across the room and mouthed, “You!” with pointed finger before walking toward me T100 style. I ducked into the conference room before he could scalp me like he does in The Last of the Mohicans.
I’ll condense the 1-hour Blogging in the USA talk into a few sentences: One blog good, lots of blogs, bad. Be funny and shit. Don’t post MP3s without good content. All fairly standard. Was nice that (Joe?) from A New Band A Day piped up. He has a wonderful blog. Skip to the end, most bloggers are a bunch of cunts.
In The City Trends: “Buzzword” in the new buzzword.
I wanna see some bands already.
—
So I’m here. I’m an In The City virgin, apparently it’s been crap for a few years so there’s not much to live up to. Which thus far is just as well. Everyone’s talking to each other with very sincere looks on their faces. There goes John Robb, Mohawk cutting through the crowd like a scene from Jaws.
Saw a band while everyone else was too busy mulling away in conference rooms over what kind of underpants Guy Garvey wore while they recorded Elbow’s new album (I’m told a Jersey Brief). Lisbon duo Youthless were great. Of course if I say otherwise I’m likely due a beating from said band as they’re currently kipping on my floor. They play at the Umbro Design Studio at 9.30 on Friday. Plug over, honest, they’re well worth watching though.
In The City Trends: Those with lanyards, have front of pass facing you. That way someone might think you’re famous. They’re giving out some cool bags full of stuff. Apparently you should “totally go for the lemon flavoured energy drink!” It’s no “beware of the brown acid” but it’s a mantra I’ll certainly take heed of. Off for some blogging talk.
Joanna Newsom – Saturday September 18th @ The Palace
Posted: 12/10/2010 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment »
I’m in the heavens, and every time someone sheepishly walks past to go for yet another piss the stairs creak like grandma’s house in the dead of night. Where I am it’s a disparate rabble of audience. A large frequency of beards, but other than that there’s no discernible character trait of a Newsom fan. This is of course irrelevant; I suppose other reviewers might allude to it as being ‘all part of the magic of the evening’.
Lights dim and a voice emerges from the shadows: “I can see in the dark!” I don’t think many here know who Roy Harper is, judging by the quantity of people who get up two songs into his set to go and get more beer, or piss. Harper’s warm, homely, and frequently breaks off the start of songs to voice his opinions on visiting pontiffs. I’ll admit I’m more aware of his legend than I am of his work, but he reminds me of someone somewhere between John Renbourn and Bill Bailey. The talent and the whimsy. He’s a great choice for support, and I chuckle at gung-ho members of the audience that let out a sole clap having assumed his last song’s done.
First band, and then the Newsom are met to a predictably rapturous applause. As she delicately plucks the first chords of ‘Bridges and Balloons’ a change of tone is noticeable in her voice (I’ll omit the node story. Google it). Those who struggled with the Lisa Simpson shrill of her earlier work would find no qualms with a softer, rounded and more mature colour that her voice has this evening. The sparse track tonight benefits from her Ys Street band, as they stir what were still moments of a wonderful reworking.
‘Have One On Me’ then ‘Easy’ are perfectly conducted. With the band live you appreciate the imperative role they play on HOOM (Crap acronym), elsewhere making up for a full orchestra brilliantly on ‘Cosmia’. One of many highlights is a striking rendition of ‘Inflammatory Writ’. Tonight there’s a greater air of drunken, hazy bar room, with trombone being played to marvellous effect on ‘Good Intentions Paving Company’. Newsom’s fingers play arachnid across the strings and you get the feeling you’re watching her at the top of her game. She oozes confidence and appears in good spirits, thankfully addressing audience members who insist on being David Bailey throughout the early part of the gig. She graces them a few moments to grab their grainy pictures before settling into a superb, albeit far too brief set.
However, such is the duration of Ys and Have One On Me, when you see Newsom live you feel cheated that you’ve not been graced with an epic night. There’s curfews afoot and she returns for a superb and enchanting encore of ‘Peach, Plum, Pear’ and ‘Jackrabbits’ before disappearing into the Manchester rain.
(Photo courtesy of Phil King)
Interview: Gideon Conn
Posted: 04/10/2010 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment »
Just look at him! You’d be forgiven for thinking Gideon Conn is a slightly eccentric and difficult artist. In reality, he’s softly spoken, pensive and delightfully affable. He’s dressed like Graham Coxon and later alludes to his fondness for Blur over Oasis, although I’m unsure if this is what’s informed his geeky attire today.
