2011 – A Personal Preview

Friday 25th February: With no plans to attend a gig this weekend (never fear, though, I have one planned for Monday…), I thought I would treat my faithful reader(s) to a preview of which albums I’m looking forward to so far this year, along with one or two that I hope will see the light of day sometime in 2011.

So, in no particular order, here are my “must buys” so far…

First up is Out Of An Ancient World, by Marc Atkinson’s Riversea. I’ve seen Marc play live a couple of times and have both his solo, acoustic albums, but this has all the hallmark’s of a big project. Ex-York resident (and biggest Dr Who fan… ever!) Marc will, once again, be playing acoustic guitar and has been joined by Brendan Eyre on keyboards, along with a whole host of guest’s (from the York area and further afield) to provide the rest of the music and backing vocals. I’ve heard just the one track, played live back in December and haven’t taken advantage of any of the preview clips available on MySpace or dotted around Facebook but, with the project billed as acoustic/progressive/rock, as well as with the amount of talent to be found in the project, there’s something about this album which is calling out to me, helped in no small part by the stunning cover by Ed Unitsky. Out Of An Ancient World was due to be released around Easter time, but I think that may have slipped slightly recently.

Marc is also involved in Sangreal, the second release from the new, third version of Mandalaband. This album sounds very much a concept piece, as were the first three, and tells the story of the Holy Grail as seen in the Romano-Spanish version – the history of the cup used by Christ at the Last Supper (as opposed to the King Arthur version). Marc seems to have upped his contribution from the last album, providing lead vocals for five or six of the fourteen tracks and backing vocals for others. The album also includes the last song Woolly Wolstenholme (Barclay James Harvest) recorded before his death last year. The previous album, BC – Ancestors, was one of my favourites of recent times and the newly re-mastered re-releases of the original 70s albums may sound a little dated now compared to the prog rock being released today but that doesn’t matter to me (after all, I’ve only just discovered Camel and Caravan…)

I like to think that I’ve been a fan of Chantel McGregor from the beginning of her career but I know that, although I first saw her live while she was still playing The Roman Bath, with no entry charge, she had been performing for quite some time. On a personal note, she was the first artist to put a link to this blog on her website, an act that I was honoured by. The pocket prodigy plays guitar like nobody else I have seen and now, after completing her degree, she has had the time to concentrate on writing her own music and has recently been recording her debut album which is due for release in April. Some of the new songs have already made it into her live set and sat comfortably with the Hendrix, Cream, Trower, Fleetwood Mac, Bonamassa, etc. covers that she was known for performing. With details of the recording being blogged on a daily basis, we are promised the likes of a “13 minute epic”, a “swampy, bluesy thang” and “progging it up a bit”. The only downside is that we won’t get Chantel’s rambling monologues, usually about dresses, take-away food or equipment malfunctions, between songs. (Unless she goes down the Seasick Steve route, of course…)  If you are a fan of the blues, this is one album you must look out for.

The first and, so far, only time I saw Haze play live was back in 2003, in the Bay Horse (now Stereo) in York and they were, therefore, my initiation into the world of live prog-rock. A magazine review of a more recent gig jogged my memory and alerted me to the fact that they were still around, if only sporadically. I had a brief email conversation/trip down memory lane with bass-player and vocalist Chris McMahon before buying a copy of a double live CD from their 30th anniversary tour, only to find that some of the songs had been lodged in the back of my brain for all those intervening years. Now performing more regularly  as Treebeard, a more folky, “heavy wood” ensemble, Chris recently decided to write a new Haze album, their first studio album since 1987’s Stoat And Bottle, although an album named Haze was released in 1994 by World Turtle (Chris and his brother Paul) and contained material that would have been on Haze’s third album. A new album so soon after I get in touch? Coincidence? Almost certainly, but I’m still looking forward to it.

As the year goes on, there are bound to be other releases that I look forward to as eagerly as the ones above, they are just the ones I know that are on the horizon. I also know that Hope & Social have started work on their third album, but that’s as much detail as I have at the moment.

If I could have a wish list, however, it would probably include the following (some of which may be in the pipeline already):

A second album from Boss Caine – it’s hard to imagine a better album than last year’s The Ship That Sailed but if main man GT Turbo can put together another mix of old and new and manage to include some of my favourites from his live sets, it might just be possible.

A debut from Stolen Earth – formed from the ashes of the recently disbanded Breathing Space and featuring the writers of the new songs we heard live during that band’s final gig back in December Stolen Earth are, arguably, the most exciting new band in York at the moment. I don’t know whether the band has enough output for an album yet, but they are trying to get on the bill for this Summer’s Cambridge Rock Festival and, I’m told, are aiming to put together some demo material to help promote the band.

A second album from Parade, or whatever they are going to call themselves to avoid confusion with the same-named pop band. New material is being written, but a release date (and new name) has yet to be announced.

A second release from blues-rockers 98Pages – they will almost certainly always be better to see live than listen to recorded but the new songs performed recently are part of a batch that have been written with an eye to either release a second album or a series of EPs. My vote goes to the album format.

There’s bound to be more. I’ve concentrated on smaller and, for the most part, local bands, most of whom I have seen perform and some of whom I have become friends with (if only through social networking). Bigger, more “established” bands that I like are bound to be working on new albums and, when they arrive, there is a very good chance that they will be added to my collection, but the ones I have listed are, in my opinion, bands that deserve supporting. I realise I’ve leaned somewhat in the direction of progressive rock but, given my tastes, that’s to be expected. I doubt that any of the albums will be inaccessible to general music fans, though. So, if you like music why not keep an eye out for one (or more) of the albums and try something a bit different?

Spikes and Tears

Saturday 19th February: Another weekend, another trip to Fibbers. This time the bill is two bands that I last saw play (on the same bill again) back in 2007. Unfortunately, I had only just started blogging these reviews back then so details of that gig are a little sparse.

Last time around, The Falling Spikes were second on the bill. Tonight they are openers. I don’t quite remember there being so many people on stage last time. Starting off with six people on stage (I assume the six listed on the above link) they were soon joined by a seventh, mystery man who accompanied Maria Tjader on percussion as well as seeming to take the lion’s share of backing vocals.

Last time around, I wasn’t overly impressed with the music. I don’t know whether it’s my tastes or the band’s output that has changed, but I found myself enjoying it a lot more tonight. Perhaps best described as danceable psychedelia, there were hints of Hawkind and Engineers but with a lighter touch permeating the music due to the tambourines and maracas. The vocals were subjected to a fair amount of reverb and were still a little droney and monotonous, but in a way that I have now come to expect from shoegazers. Standout song was Midnight Train, the twin vocals for which provided a soaring end to the set.

The band also tried to utilise visuals in their set, with a black and white film on loop behind them. Unfortunately, the low ceiling at Fibbers meant that much of it was obscured by the shadows of the musicians.

It can’t have been too long after I saw Ishtar that the band split up (amicably). Last year, it was reformed as Tears of Ishtar and, from speaking to drummer Greg Parsons (also of RSJ), there are big plans for the new version of this post-rock/experimental/progressive band. Tonight was, I believe, only their second live performance (after last year’s appearance at the Galtres Festival) and there was high expectation from my party at least.

Tonight we were treated to a forty-five minute version of Trials of Descent, a shorter version of which can be found on the page linked above. Well, I say forty-five minutes, it turns out that the band played it slightly too fast in places (I saw one of them motioning to the others to slow down) and it eventually came in at a little over forty minutes. The performance is also split by very brief pauses, almost as though the music is split into suites, which give the audience a chance to show their appreciation throughout the music. And appreciative we were, fervently applauding music that varied so much that you could almost have been listening to a Pink Floyd/Metallica mash-up. (I’m not knowledgeable enough about the new bands that are listed as influences and have to revert back to “dinosaur rock for my references…)

The music was tight and any mistakes (I was told there was a few) weren’t noticeable by us. It was a shame that the cries for “More” weren’t answered. Who knows how long an encore we could have been treated to. If this was just a taster of things to come from the revitalised Tears of Ishtar, then I personally can’t wait.

Spotlight On: Miniature Dinosaurs

Monday 14th February: I can't think of many bands who hail from Stirling, Scotland. In fact, Miniature Dinosaurs are the only one I know of, and that's probably only because they are about to play a gig in York.

Comprising of Barry Mclean (vocals, guitar), Alban Dickson (bass), Craig Ferrie, (guitar, keyboards) and Sam Waller (drums), Miniature Dinosaurs play indie pop that has been compared to the likes of The Killers, with vocals that are reminiscent of David Bowie mixed with tones of 80's electro-pop (opinion is split in this household as to whether Mclean sounds more like Gary Numan or Phil Oakey...)

The band's first single, (I Want To Watch) Top Gear, was played on Radio One three months before they played their first gig. Since then, two EPs have been produced - 2010's Chatterbox and Off The Radio, which the band are currently promoting on tour and which includes their latest single, Fight Or Flight.

The music is bright, bouncy and a world away from some of the dreary stuff currently being touted as the next best thing. Songs such as Write Back and Showgirl, both of which featured in MTV's teen drama, Being Victor, are ripe for live performances and show a maturity that belies the band's relative youth, having been formed less than two years ago.

As well as music, the band love football and will be appearing in May at a charity dinner in tribute to Scottish (and Leeds United, obviously) footballer, Billy Bremner, as well as hosting their own 5-a-side football event in their hometown.

As well as the current UK tour, there are also plans for a European tour later in the year.

Miniature Dinosaurs play Stereo, York on Tuesday 1st of March, supported by The Blueprints and Idiophonic. Other dates are available on the links below:

Band Website
MySpace
Soundcloud

Panicking Folk

Friday 11th February: Once again, there's three of us out. This time it's Fibbers to see one of my favourite bands on the first date of their 2011 Satellite Tour.

First, though, we have Marck "Marbled" Whiley taking the stage with his acoustic guitar to play us some "folky" songs (his description). This is the third time I've seen Marck and, I have to admit, I find him a bit of a mixed bag. I enjoy some of his songs and dislike others, but none really engage me. There is no denying that he is much more than competent on the guitar, using a mixture of techniques (no finger picking tonight, though) and that he has a good voice, although it can be a little too piercing when he hits the high notes. What he does do very well, is engage the audience - after renditions of Licking Electricity, Birds And Bee (with its repeated picturesque line of "White swan on an ink black lake"), Mary Poppins Blood Line with its minimal guitars starkly contrasting with the more powerful Spider In The Bath, during which most of the audience were pretty apathetic, he asked whether we wanted something more up-tempo or something slower. "Up-tempo!" shouted Roj, which prompted Marck to leave the stage, gather the audience around him and play The Beat Goes On completely unplugged, much has he did last time we saw him. I even spotted members of the headline band peering through the green room window in what appeared to be incredulous amusement as he did so. He followed this with another unplugged song, A Pony That (if I remember correctly...), which is his "Valentine's Day" song and was duly sung directly to a lady from the audience. Returning to the stage, the set ended with the quiet Notre Dame which segued into the much faster, almost rockier, Run Rabbit Run, which is one of my favourites. Once again a mixed set from a very confident artist. I just wish his songs did more for me than they actually do.

I guess it's something to do with the size of both the city itself and, perhaps, its venues, that means that York doesn't get too many of the current crop of UK progressive rock bands playing here. Panic Room, however, with their obvious links to the city's own Mostly Autumn, have a reasonably sized York-based following and are playing their fourth gig here tonight at Fibbers. The venue itself has had its detractors since the refit last year, but it does seem to be ironing out some of the problems and is certainly attracting some decent bands. Panic Room themselves are a band most definitely on the up. Lead singer Anne-Marie Helder was recently voted best female singer by Classic Rock Presents Prog magazine, while the band's 2010 album, Satellite, featured as a top ten entry in end of years polls in both that magazine and Classic Rock itself.

Taking to the stage through a haze of blue smoke, the band make an entrance worthy of a bigger venue, before bursting into a rendition of Freedom To Breathe, following that with Picking Up Knives, Yasuni, The Fall and Black Noise, all from Satellite. Switching to their debut album, Visionary Position, the band seem to have tweaked Elektra City a little, using new vocal effects and making it a bit darker towards the end. Reborn is followed by a return to Satellite and a welcome return to the live set for Into The Fire. This is followed by Song For Tomorrow, a new song the lyrics for which were reportedly being written in the van on the way up to the gig. It opens with just keyboards before bursting into life with some of the band's heaviest guitar work and a middle piano section leads to a simple drums and vocal section before it bursts into life again - a fantastic new song. next up comes 5th Amendment, from Little Satellite (the bonus disk that shipped with last year's album), then it's back to the debut for Apocalypstick, with it's haunting Eastern tones. There's a brief departure from their own material as the cover version of ELP's Bitches Crystal, originally recorded for a Prog cover CD that is now very unlikely to ever see the light of day, is performed. Dark Star and Satellite, the latter with a very interesting if somewhat brief spacey bass section from, end the main set.

Unsurprisingly, Anne-Marie et al return to the stage for an encore, this time of another new song, again being completed on the way up. "I think this one is going to be called Promises," states Anne-Marie, perhaps to the surprise of the rest of the band. It's a bit funkier than the rest of their output but, like Song For Tomorrow, remains unmistakeably a Panic Room song.

I've seen Panic Room every time they have played York and this is by far the best performance they have put on in the city, helped in no small part by a very good light show and, for the most part, unusually clear sound which meant that Anne-Marie's vocals could be heard above the music for most of the set. Clearly enjoying themselves and singing the venue's praises, the band played a superb nearly two-hour set, mixing it up just enough from the tour last year. The addition of the new songs must surely promise that work on a new album is around the corner and, if they can come up with songs anywhere near as good as tonight's it's going to be a cracker. Finally a word about Paul Davies - I love watching him play guitar. His facial expressions convey everything from the ease with which he plays to the fact that he seems to live every note.

It may only be mid-way through February but tonight is an early contender for best live performance in my round up of the year.

Images Of Dorien Behind Glass

Friday 4th February: With Lynn on a girlie night out, it's just the three of us attending the Duchess for the second week running, this time to see a mixture of familiar and unfamiliar bands.

First, one of the new ones. The Bitter Image are a four-piece rock band from York. They came across as a bit grungy, a lot heavy, very loud but still melodic. Powerful drumming provided the backbone to songs which also included some very nice guitar pieces and some surprisingly clear vocals (for a rock band at the Duchess). I didn't catch many song titles, but did note down that the fourth song of the set was a lot slower than the rest, almost ballad-like, with more metallic sounding guitars and that the sixth was a new song. The one title I did get, Forget Me Not, turned out to be, along with the previously mentioned slower number, the best of what was a pretty good set. A band to look out for.

I last saw Dorien Starre back in 2008. Since then, they have won Hive Live (a competition for local bands) in March 2010 and blown Roj's socks off in November of the same year. Their extended indie rock songs are, quite frankly, superb. Fast paced, with great music and vocals which still remind me a little of The Divine Comedy. Last time out I singled out drummer Andrew Ackroyd for special mention. I still think he is one of the best local drummers around at the moment, but there is no singling out this time as the rest of the band are equally as good. Don't let the brevity and lack of detail regarding their set fool you - I was simply so enthralled by the music that I forgot to make any notes. Dorien Starre are highly recommended. I just wish I'd picked up a copy of their EP on the night. (Previous comments about EPs notwithstanding...)

It's not that I had deliberately avoided Glass, tonight's headliners, but the description of the band from front man Alexander King's YorkMusicForum signature ("Dark, gripping, post-punk influenced rock") somehow put me off, despite not actually knowing what it meant. I suspect it was the word "punk" in there that did it - I've never been a fan of that particular genre. So, when tonight's gig was put forward as an option, I asked a friend what sort of music they actually played. "A bit Gothic," was the somewhat vague response. So, it was a bit of a surprise to see the stage festooned with fairy lights and King himself decked out in vest and trilby, in a very un-Goth way. Next surprise was the lack of instruments on stage - we could hear keyboards, but we couldn't see any... Shock, horror! A backing track was in use. More to the point, the music was a bit light and airy, at least at the beginning of the set. It got a bit more edgy and heavier as the set went on, but I would struggle to describe it as dark. (Although, in hindsight, I suppose that could be a relative term.) Overall, it was a slick and, for me anyway, enjoyable performance which seemed to mix New Wave and generic rock in a pretty successful way. I even managed to put the backing track to the back of my mind after a while - to begin with you can't help but wonder how much of what you are hearing is part of the track and how much is being played live but it seemed obvious later on that the band is comprised of some very talented musicians (including another superb drummer in Dan Whiting). Unfortunately, as the backing track seemed to be one long recording, rather than something that was started at the beginning of each song, there was little room left for introducing the songs or other interaction with the crowd. From what I can remember a quick "This is the new single" was all we got. It impressed me enough to buy the band's debut album, The Sound Of Glass, which I've only had the chance to listen through once so far but which does come across as bit darker than tonight's performance. The concept of the music being transmitted through time from Victorian times via a steam-driven machine, conveyed by text in the CD "case" and by the band's wonderfully intriguing web-site is original and adds a different dimension to the band as a whole.

I have since found out, via the same friend, that Glass have in the past performed with a keyboard player (Andy Curry is credited on the album) and that King has talked about a change in direction for the band, perhaps more in the use of electronics. On the basis of tonight's performance and the brief listen to the album I have learned one thing - not to judge a band by a few words of description or an attempt to label it.

Club For Sombre Kids

Friday 28th January: For the first time in months we manage a full turn-out, this time to see three new bands at a slightly tweaked Duchess. There's new speaker stacks, the games tables have been removed and the venue has been made slightly smaller by bricking up the area to the far right of the stage (which always seemed a bit of a waste of space anyway).

First up were Sombre, listed on the link as Luke Saxton and Robert Green but tonight a threesome, presumably joined by an unnamed drummer. Sounding like a cross between Sigur Ros and the more introspective bits of Pink Floyd, Sombre are one of the most interesting new bands I've come across recently. Three of the four extended songs that they filled their half hour set with had the same basic structure - quiet start, building to a louder middle section before fading away again - and some of the lyrics were a bit repetitive, but the shared vocals were nice and the fourth and final song was much bouncier and emotional. Overall a highly enjoyable thirty minutes which turned out to be the highlight of the evening.

I was, indirectly, recommended Missing Kids by somebody who has, before tonight, not steered me wrong and it was partly that recommendation that saw me going out tonight. A kind of reverse Ting Tings, the band comprise solely of D'Mudie on guitars and vocals and S'Anderson on drums and whispers (and other sounds). Unfortunately, their very short punchy songs failed to engage tonight's audience, which was strange given the number of people who seemed to be attending with flyers from the band. Quite a large number of the people who had stood at the front for Sombre had retreated to the back of the venue, where they inevitably tried to talk over the band who, in turn, seemed to take a long time between songs and came across as just a little too moody (excuse the pun...) and disjointed, not helped by some muddy (again, forgive the pun) vocals. There was some effortless yet effective drumming and, it has to be said, I thought the set took off during its second half. However, I can't help but think that a slicker performance to a more receptive audience would showcase Missing Kids more than tonight's outing did.

The ABC Club are pretty much being touted as one of the next big thing, with plaudits coming from the likes of NME. A five-piece from Leeds, it seemed strange that on stage only the lead guitarist and drummer actually seemed to want to be in a band - the rest just sort of stood around, playing their instruments without any conviction or, in the case of vocalist Zandra Kleivins, staring into space (or at the floor) with her hands firmly clasped behind her back. A shame, really, as she probably had a good voice but her slightly nasal tones failed to make an impact above the slightly too loud music. The music itself reminded me a little of the Killers, except that none of the songs really stood out for me. And then, just two thirds through what should have been a forty-five minute set (and while Roj was, shall we say, otherwise disposed), something strange happened... The rhythm guitarist simply stood his guitar against a speaker, the lead guitarist literally threw his to the floor (and his plectrum in the air) and both walked off stage. I might be wrong, but it seemed to me that the drummer looked a bit shocked and, shortly afterwards, the stage was empty. Nobody shouted for an encore and we were left wondering whether the whole thing was part of the act, an outburst of petulance or, perhaps, an indication of turmoil within the band.

Whatever the reason, it was a strange end to a mostly underwhelming evening.