Friday 29th January: As with last year, it seems to be taking a while for both live music in York to get started and the Friday Nighters to synchronise their calendars. I haven't seen Roj since we all went out for a meal before Christmas and tonight he had a prior engagement with Berwick Kaler's latest pantomime, Humpty Dumpty. (I saw it before Christmas and laughed until I cried.)So, it's just myself and Andy attending Fibbers for a bit of metal.
First to take the stage are Stealer. I failed to blog a review when we saw them at our last get-together of 2009 so they are obviously giving me a second chance fairly quickly. (There's very few other reasons why we would pay to see a covers band.) I've said before that I can take or leave Stealer. It's not that they aren't very good, just that there is too much in their set that I don't like. I'm not a big fan of the AC/DC style of heavy metal (all power and no style in my opinion) and in their usual two-hour set, there is too much of that for me. However, tonight, with cut down set, there was more to keep me interested, although the rendition of Whole Lot Of Rosie, with accompanying stage act, still did nothing for me. Stealer also manage to confound me by playing songs which I suspect I should know (and certainly like) but can't work out who sang them originally.
There seemed to me to be a slight emphasis towards Southern Blues-Rock in tonight's set, which is not surprise considering the links with Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute Aynt Skynyrd and there was a fair few songs that I didn't recognise sprinkled in amongst the likes of Rocking In The Free World (Neil Young), Black Knight (Deep Purple) and personal favourite Won't Get Fooled Again (The Who). It may have been the shorter set or, possibly, the fact that the venue allowed the band to open up a bit more but I enjoyed tonight's performance more than any other time that I've seen the band.
An increased venue size is something that tonight's headline band could do with, as well. In a similar way that Stealer sounded better (to me) after stepping up from pub to dedicated music venue, Morpheus Rising deserve to be playing bigger venues than we have in York in the near future. Their brand of original Heavy Metal reminds me of the days when I travelled over to Queen's Hall in Leeds to see the likes of Ozzy, Whitesnake and Dio. This was the first time I have managed to see the band's full set and it only confirms my suspicion that they could end up being one of my favourite local live acts.
Pete Harwood and Damien Sweeting's twin guitar-playing is nothing short of superb, although it struck me tonight that it is Sweeting's "extra" little harmonies (noticeable on the Original Demos EP but not picked up by me until tonight) that make some of the music that little bit special. Andy Smith's bass-lines are strong enough to effectively punch through the soaring guitars and, while I couldn't see him clearly, I'd be surprised if Paul Gibbons didn't wear out a few drumsticks during the set.
Sadly, tonight, Graeme Tennick's vocals didn't seem to be mixed correctly and both Andy and I struggled to hear them. This may have been the old chestnut of not being overly familiar with the lyrics so failing to "hear" them but unless my memory fails me (and it sometimes does) they were a lot clearer at The Duchess last year. What Graeme did excel at tonight, however, was commanding the stage. Whether wielding the microphone, air-guitaring alongside Pete and Damien or conducting the rest of the band, his performance was immense. For some reason, tonight's audience seemed a little reticent to move up to the stage - I was probably standing no further forward than I usually do at Fibbers but was pretty much at the front of the crowd (except for the Morphettes dancing at the very front). Obviously aware of this fact (the distance to the crowd, not that I was at the front) Graeme took it upon himself to bring his performance to the audience. Not that he left the stage (well, actually, he did vault the barrier at the start of Fighting Man) but he did spend a lot of time at the very periphery.
Vocals apart, this was a superb performance. Songs I had heard before, such as Lord Of The North, Brave New World, Save The Day, Fighting Man and (personal favourite) Those Who Watch mixed with lesser-known ones such as Quench Your Thirst (and with that my memory does indeed fail me...) I couldn't help but raise a wry smile when, at the beginning of Fighting Man, Damien struck the same pose as he does on the song's video - I wonder whether that will be seen as an iconic Morpheus Rising pose.
(Hmm, just had another thought... Given that we started the evening with a covers band, I wonder whether one day there will be bands performing cover versions of Morpheus Rising songs...?)
I'm told an album is soon to be in the works - soon after that I can guarantee it will be in my collection.
As tonight's acts finished, Andy and I wandered over to the Roman Bath to see whether anybody was playing there. The doorman and another punter told us that we would really enjoy Northern Glory. Well, that sold it to us so we went in. As we did so, these four young lads from Halifax were belting out The Lovin' Spoonful's Hot Town Summer In The City, which they followed with a set comprising of covers including This Sex On Fire (Kings of Leon) and Won't Get Fooled Again (The Who, again) and what seemed to be their own material. At least one song, No Smoke Without Fire, was introduced as being written by them, the rest could have been covers of Indie tracks that I didn't know (my knowledge of Indie really is very poor). This was a pretty good performance by a very young band and something different to the normal Bath fare. Dave Tracey on bass appeared to be a bit shy from where we were standing but lead singer Chris Owl used every inch of space available to him and sang with gusto. Northern Glory are definitely worth keeping an eye out for.
Saturday 30 January 2010
Sunday 10 January 2010
Lost in the Snow
Saturday 9th January: I'm a sucker for an album launch. The spectacular venue, the canapes, the free-flowing wine, the celebrities, the record company executives, the giveaways and the well-known artistes who have spent the last few months in a state of the art studio.
Of course, in the local music scene that I frequent, the venues are a lot smaller and darker, the alcohol and canapes are bitter or lager and crisps bought from the bar, where you can also pick up the freebies (flyers for upcoming gigs and The Fly magazine). There may be celebrities in the audience but they are likely to be members of other local bands and the chance of any executives being there are slim (the older gentlemen wandering around in shirt and tie are probably relatives of the band...) The artistes themselves are probably still well-known (throughout the audience, anyway) and have almost certainly put a lot of work into their album, albeit probably not in a state of the art studio.
Still, an album launch by any other name... and it's for that very reason that I braved the Wintery weather to meet Andy at Fibbers tonight.
Unfortunately, the weather made my bus late and I missed the first act, Tom Welbrock. A solo keyboard player. I got a text from Andy saying, "Some kid playing Bach and rag all by himself." Andy seemed to have enjoyed the performance, but I obviously can't comment.
Continuing the weather theme, it turned out that the next band, Surprise Fire had been snowed in. They had been replaced by Swimwear Juniors. A four-piece consisting mainly of two guitars, bass and drum, they played a set of bright, lively pop. Not the generic three-minute variety but more complex, longer songs. The only thing that sprung to mind as a sound-alike was the result of the The Jam changing musical direction. The music was superb, the lyrics clear and the band obviously had some fans in the audience as Fibbers was turned into a bit of a mosh-pit. This was an extremely entertaining and very assured performance. There was something about the look of lead-singer Oliver that reminded me of performers from the sixties - his haircut, the way he wore his guitar and the slight lean down toward the microphone... All he needed was a suit and tie and he could have stepped out of The Beatles. We chatted to Oliver after their set (I didn't mention the resemblance) and found out that Swimwear Juniors had actually split up in July last year, as they all went off to university. Not having had a chance to properly say goodbye to their songs, they were glad to have been asked to perform tonight. The boys have now formed a new band, Trophy Club, and Oliver says that their old music has been replaced by a more mature sound. While I'll certainly give them a try if I get the chance, I hope they retain some semblance of their old sound.
Next up were The Littlemores, a three-piece of guitar, bass and drum, joined for about half their set by Ben the trumpet-player. There was quite a mixture of styles in their performance - the trumpet added a hint of ska, there was at least one piece of something very like jazz, among others - and it was a bit of shame that the band didn't seem to have a style of their own. That's not to take anything away from the music - it was another enjoyable set, although both Andy and myself preferred the songs which featured the trumpet. Again, worth checking out if they are playing near you. Their next advertised gig is part of The Battle of the Bands on the 23rd of February.
Finally, the band we were there to see (and buy the album). Roj and I had previously seen Lost From Atlas as a support band late last year. Their highly individual sound had grabbed up immediately and we were both keen to go to the album launch in November. Sadly, that date was delayed and Roj was unable to make it tonight. So impressed was he, though, that he asked me to pick up a copy for him anyway. Thankfully, nothing went wrong this time as this weekend was the last that the band were in York before going their separate ways to university (but not splitting up). Anyway, tonight's set was pretty much the same as the last time we saw them - a fully instrumental set that could have contained one long song or could have been a number of tracks with no breaks. The intricate changes in music, along with the variety of playing styles employed by guitarist Danny Gallagher still remind me of a new style of keyboard-less prog rock, but Roj described their style as math rock. Who am I to argue?? The band certainly give it their all, with Danny alternating between standing almost still and cavorting around the stage as though he was on hot coals. Liam Ledgeway drums as though his life depends on it and bass-player Orlando Lloyd, while pretty much the quiet man of the band, still produces some excellent bass-lines. I can't remember whether there was anything different between this set and the last time saw them, but both were excellent and both over way too soon.
Danny also seemed to be continuing the lack of vocals idea of the set (perhaps a bit too far) by advertising the album on his chest. Although he did speak towards the end of the set to tell us where we could get the CD from, which helped as I had previously wandered around Fibbers unsuccessfully looking for somebody selling it. If time permits, I'll try to put a review together when I have had a chance to listen to it properly.
I may have only seen three out of the four bands on offer tonight, but rarely can four English pounds have been so well spent.
Of course, in the local music scene that I frequent, the venues are a lot smaller and darker, the alcohol and canapes are bitter or lager and crisps bought from the bar, where you can also pick up the freebies (flyers for upcoming gigs and The Fly magazine). There may be celebrities in the audience but they are likely to be members of other local bands and the chance of any executives being there are slim (the older gentlemen wandering around in shirt and tie are probably relatives of the band...) The artistes themselves are probably still well-known (throughout the audience, anyway) and have almost certainly put a lot of work into their album, albeit probably not in a state of the art studio.
Still, an album launch by any other name... and it's for that very reason that I braved the Wintery weather to meet Andy at Fibbers tonight.
Unfortunately, the weather made my bus late and I missed the first act, Tom Welbrock. A solo keyboard player. I got a text from Andy saying, "Some kid playing Bach and rag all by himself." Andy seemed to have enjoyed the performance, but I obviously can't comment.
Continuing the weather theme, it turned out that the next band, Surprise Fire had been snowed in. They had been replaced by Swimwear Juniors. A four-piece consisting mainly of two guitars, bass and drum, they played a set of bright, lively pop. Not the generic three-minute variety but more complex, longer songs. The only thing that sprung to mind as a sound-alike was the result of the The Jam changing musical direction. The music was superb, the lyrics clear and the band obviously had some fans in the audience as Fibbers was turned into a bit of a mosh-pit. This was an extremely entertaining and very assured performance. There was something about the look of lead-singer Oliver that reminded me of performers from the sixties - his haircut, the way he wore his guitar and the slight lean down toward the microphone... All he needed was a suit and tie and he could have stepped out of The Beatles. We chatted to Oliver after their set (I didn't mention the resemblance) and found out that Swimwear Juniors had actually split up in July last year, as they all went off to university. Not having had a chance to properly say goodbye to their songs, they were glad to have been asked to perform tonight. The boys have now formed a new band, Trophy Club, and Oliver says that their old music has been replaced by a more mature sound. While I'll certainly give them a try if I get the chance, I hope they retain some semblance of their old sound.
Next up were The Littlemores, a three-piece of guitar, bass and drum, joined for about half their set by Ben the trumpet-player. There was quite a mixture of styles in their performance - the trumpet added a hint of ska, there was at least one piece of something very like jazz, among others - and it was a bit of shame that the band didn't seem to have a style of their own. That's not to take anything away from the music - it was another enjoyable set, although both Andy and myself preferred the songs which featured the trumpet. Again, worth checking out if they are playing near you. Their next advertised gig is part of The Battle of the Bands on the 23rd of February.
Finally, the band we were there to see (and buy the album). Roj and I had previously seen Lost From Atlas as a support band late last year. Their highly individual sound had grabbed up immediately and we were both keen to go to the album launch in November. Sadly, that date was delayed and Roj was unable to make it tonight. So impressed was he, though, that he asked me to pick up a copy for him anyway. Thankfully, nothing went wrong this time as this weekend was the last that the band were in York before going their separate ways to university (but not splitting up). Anyway, tonight's set was pretty much the same as the last time we saw them - a fully instrumental set that could have contained one long song or could have been a number of tracks with no breaks. The intricate changes in music, along with the variety of playing styles employed by guitarist Danny Gallagher still remind me of a new style of keyboard-less prog rock, but Roj described their style as math rock. Who am I to argue?? The band certainly give it their all, with Danny alternating between standing almost still and cavorting around the stage as though he was on hot coals. Liam Ledgeway drums as though his life depends on it and bass-player Orlando Lloyd, while pretty much the quiet man of the band, still produces some excellent bass-lines. I can't remember whether there was anything different between this set and the last time saw them, but both were excellent and both over way too soon.
Danny also seemed to be continuing the lack of vocals idea of the set (perhaps a bit too far) by advertising the album on his chest. Although he did speak towards the end of the set to tell us where we could get the CD from, which helped as I had previously wandered around Fibbers unsuccessfully looking for somebody selling it. If time permits, I'll try to put a review together when I have had a chance to listen to it properly.
I may have only seen three out of the four bands on offer tonight, but rarely can four English pounds have been so well spent.
Friday 8 January 2010
2009 In Review - Part 2, The CDs
Friday 8th January: Surprisingly (for me, anyway, when I came to count them up) I increased my CD collection by 66 in 2009, bursting through 500 in total. The additions include a number that were bought as birthday and Christmas presents and five EPs. Of the sixty-six, only twenty were actually released during 2009.
Earlier in the year my work location changed to one much nearer one of York's HMV stores and, I admit, I probably visited it too many times, taking advantage of their "2 for £10" offers to buy a wide variety of music, covering Gabriella Cilmi at one end of the spectrum through to Iron Maiden at the other. During these trips I managed to buy the complete back catalogues of Seasick Steve and Muse (both added to later with their respective 2009 releases) and all but one of Sigur Ros's albums. Another interesting and very cheap purchase was the first five albums from Steve Vai, in one handy slipcase. These latter show that the barriers between eccentricity, craziness and genius are very thin indeed.
I was also fortunate that one of my friends was willing to take a chance with gift purchases. She may not have realised at the time but the albums she bought me by Magenta, Galahad and Mermaid's Kiss (again, the full back catalogue of the latter) were all by bands that I had heard of but not actually heard. Magenta's Live at the Point is a superb live album. Galahad's Empires Never Last took a little bit of getting into, being a bit more prog-metal than the usual stuff in my collection, but has definitely whetted my appetite for more of this sort of music. The only thing I knew about Mermaid's Kiss was that they had supported Breathing Space a couple of times but, since, I have yet to find any band in the Mostly Autumn "family" that I didn't like, I thought they were worth a punt. Being honest, the debut album (cunningly called The Mermaid Kiss Album) is a little weak (not bad, just not brilliant) but with the Salt On Skin EP the band's sound started to take off. I enjoyed Etarlis, their second full-length album, with a concept of two girls finding a fantasy land under the Welsh hillsides, so much that I ended up playing it through three times without pause.
Sadly, none of the above are eligible for my top five of 2009. I'll come to them shortly but first a few that just missed out...
Muse's The Resistance was about as hyped as any album released in 2009 could be but, for me, it just failed to live up the hype. Yes, it showed the band in full Queen mode, which I enjoyed, but the much-anticipated three part symphony which concludes the album didn't do it for me. Maybe it will grow on me with future listening.
Hope & Social released their debut album, Architects of This Church, and The Yards their final album, Imperial Measures, in 2009. Both were the best examples of the bands' output (remember H&S were, previously, Four Day Hombre) but neither managed to make my final five. Also just outside was Working On A Dream - Bruce Springsteen's latest and, in my opinion, best release since The Rising.
So, after much waffle, here are my favourite albums from the last twelve months.
Fifth place goes to Below The Radar, the second album from Breathing Space (OK, third if you count Breathing Space by Iain Jennings). Although much more guitar-driven than I was expecting and without the diversions of John Hart's wind instruments this has turned out to be Breathing Space's best release to date. The usual heartfelt and emotion-filled lyrics vie with some superb instrumental sections to produce a very strong album.
At number four we have Porcupine Tree's The Incident. This is not an easy album to get into and I only bought it because of the hype surrounding it and the very cheap price I managed to get it for. In this case, however, the hype was worth it. While I haven't listened too much to the handful of tracks on the second CD, the 55 minute concept of The Incident itself is strangely enjoyable in a twisted sort of way (after all, it is about the effects of a traffic accident...) This is the first Porcupine Tree album in my collection and I can safely say that it will soon be joined by others.
Third in line is Parade's debut album, The Fabric. Almost certainly one of the best debut albums I have come across, I had no hesitation in buying this after seeing Parade live in December. Not quite prog, not quite pop and not quite a mixture of the two, The Fabric is very enjoyable and much easier listening than The Incident. Chris Johnson has pulled together a talented group of musicians and written, produced and released a stunning album that shows just how talented he is himself. Brilliant vocals and superb music with a great variety of styles almost made this my top album of the year. It was only let down by some strange noises on one of the tracks, which put me off slightly as they sound too much like distortion. (The first time I heard them was in the car and I thought I had a problem with one of my speakers...) Well, that and a couple of even more stunning albums...
Last year, Visionary Position by Panic Room topped my list. This year they released the equally as good Satellite. Another mixture of superbly written and excellently performed songs, from the crazy-old-woman story of I Am The Cat to the SFnal Dark Star through the brilliance of the title track (well, OK, there is one slightly duff lyric in that song) and Freedom To Breathe (a song which may well make me think twice before attempting to chat with Anne-Marie Helder again...) this is an album that was only enhanced by hearing many of the tracks live during the band's first ever gig in York. Panic Room remain one of my favourite bands and were within a whisker of being in top spot again. Then, very late in the year, along came....
The Whirlwind, third album by prog super-group Transatlantic (Mike Portnoy from Dream Theatre, Neil Morse from Spock's Beard, Pete Trewavas from Marillion and Roine Stolt from The Flower Kings). Again this was an on-spec request and was, surprisingly, bought for me by my Mum (which means it must have been stocked by HMV...) It sounds so much like a concept album but I can't work out what the concept is, nor could I find out when I tried internet searches. At various times it sounds like Pink Floyd, Deep Purple and Yes but at the same time it is very fresh and original. This is the closest thing I have heard for a long time to the classic version of progressive rock from the seventies. Shared vocals and some incredible musicianship instantly propelled this to the top of my CD acquisitions of last year and means that this album is very highly recommended.
Earlier in the year my work location changed to one much nearer one of York's HMV stores and, I admit, I probably visited it too many times, taking advantage of their "2 for £10" offers to buy a wide variety of music, covering Gabriella Cilmi at one end of the spectrum through to Iron Maiden at the other. During these trips I managed to buy the complete back catalogues of Seasick Steve and Muse (both added to later with their respective 2009 releases) and all but one of Sigur Ros's albums. Another interesting and very cheap purchase was the first five albums from Steve Vai, in one handy slipcase. These latter show that the barriers between eccentricity, craziness and genius are very thin indeed.
I was also fortunate that one of my friends was willing to take a chance with gift purchases. She may not have realised at the time but the albums she bought me by Magenta, Galahad and Mermaid's Kiss (again, the full back catalogue of the latter) were all by bands that I had heard of but not actually heard. Magenta's Live at the Point is a superb live album. Galahad's Empires Never Last took a little bit of getting into, being a bit more prog-metal than the usual stuff in my collection, but has definitely whetted my appetite for more of this sort of music. The only thing I knew about Mermaid's Kiss was that they had supported Breathing Space a couple of times but, since, I have yet to find any band in the Mostly Autumn "family" that I didn't like, I thought they were worth a punt. Being honest, the debut album (cunningly called The Mermaid Kiss Album) is a little weak (not bad, just not brilliant) but with the Salt On Skin EP the band's sound started to take off. I enjoyed Etarlis, their second full-length album, with a concept of two girls finding a fantasy land under the Welsh hillsides, so much that I ended up playing it through three times without pause.
Sadly, none of the above are eligible for my top five of 2009. I'll come to them shortly but first a few that just missed out...
Muse's The Resistance was about as hyped as any album released in 2009 could be but, for me, it just failed to live up the hype. Yes, it showed the band in full Queen mode, which I enjoyed, but the much-anticipated three part symphony which concludes the album didn't do it for me. Maybe it will grow on me with future listening.
Hope & Social released their debut album, Architects of This Church, and The Yards their final album, Imperial Measures, in 2009. Both were the best examples of the bands' output (remember H&S were, previously, Four Day Hombre) but neither managed to make my final five. Also just outside was Working On A Dream - Bruce Springsteen's latest and, in my opinion, best release since The Rising.
So, after much waffle, here are my favourite albums from the last twelve months.
Fifth place goes to Below The Radar, the second album from Breathing Space (OK, third if you count Breathing Space by Iain Jennings). Although much more guitar-driven than I was expecting and without the diversions of John Hart's wind instruments this has turned out to be Breathing Space's best release to date. The usual heartfelt and emotion-filled lyrics vie with some superb instrumental sections to produce a very strong album.
At number four we have Porcupine Tree's The Incident. This is not an easy album to get into and I only bought it because of the hype surrounding it and the very cheap price I managed to get it for. In this case, however, the hype was worth it. While I haven't listened too much to the handful of tracks on the second CD, the 55 minute concept of The Incident itself is strangely enjoyable in a twisted sort of way (after all, it is about the effects of a traffic accident...) This is the first Porcupine Tree album in my collection and I can safely say that it will soon be joined by others.
Third in line is Parade's debut album, The Fabric. Almost certainly one of the best debut albums I have come across, I had no hesitation in buying this after seeing Parade live in December. Not quite prog, not quite pop and not quite a mixture of the two, The Fabric is very enjoyable and much easier listening than The Incident. Chris Johnson has pulled together a talented group of musicians and written, produced and released a stunning album that shows just how talented he is himself. Brilliant vocals and superb music with a great variety of styles almost made this my top album of the year. It was only let down by some strange noises on one of the tracks, which put me off slightly as they sound too much like distortion. (The first time I heard them was in the car and I thought I had a problem with one of my speakers...) Well, that and a couple of even more stunning albums...
Last year, Visionary Position by Panic Room topped my list. This year they released the equally as good Satellite. Another mixture of superbly written and excellently performed songs, from the crazy-old-woman story of I Am The Cat to the SFnal Dark Star through the brilliance of the title track (well, OK, there is one slightly duff lyric in that song) and Freedom To Breathe (a song which may well make me think twice before attempting to chat with Anne-Marie Helder again...) this is an album that was only enhanced by hearing many of the tracks live during the band's first ever gig in York. Panic Room remain one of my favourite bands and were within a whisker of being in top spot again. Then, very late in the year, along came....
The Whirlwind, third album by prog super-group Transatlantic (Mike Portnoy from Dream Theatre, Neil Morse from Spock's Beard, Pete Trewavas from Marillion and Roine Stolt from The Flower Kings). Again this was an on-spec request and was, surprisingly, bought for me by my Mum (which means it must have been stocked by HMV...) It sounds so much like a concept album but I can't work out what the concept is, nor could I find out when I tried internet searches. At various times it sounds like Pink Floyd, Deep Purple and Yes but at the same time it is very fresh and original. This is the closest thing I have heard for a long time to the classic version of progressive rock from the seventies. Shared vocals and some incredible musicianship instantly propelled this to the top of my CD acquisitions of last year and means that this album is very highly recommended.
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