GIG REVIEW: Six Organs of Admittance, Belfast Pavilion, 28th November 2006
I had been looking forward to this gig for a while, especially since I missed Comets on Fire last month. It was a bit of a shame that this had to clash with the best free local acts showcase as part of Belfest as the attendance did suffer.
Six Organs is guitarist Ben Chasny's full time group, sometimes it even serves as a handle for Ben's solo guitar work. Tonight Six Organs is a three-piece and I'm assuming the two guys with him are the bass player and drummer from Sunburned Hand of the Man. Recent tour footage showed Ben with the improvising drummer Chris Corsano, but this line-up is more about psychedelic rock than improv and the set mainly features material from the latest Six Organs album 'The Sun Awakens'. The trio are surprisingly close to straightforward rock and at times you could almost believe they were playing some lost music by Crazy Horse. Due to the lack of atmosphere (not helped by a poor support -sorry mate!) it took a while for the guys to really get going, but they start to loosen up after 3 or 4 songs and it is pretty special from there on. The bass player actually sings on a couple of tunes later on, just to reiterate that this is a band and not a Ben Chasny solo show. Having said that, I would also have loved to hear Ben solo, doing gentler material in the vein of 'School of the Flower' or his recent, very significant, contribution to Current 93's 'Black Ships' as a contrast to the rockier stuff.
I'm sure this guy will be around and collaborating with interesting people for a long time, so check him out next time he pays us a visit.
GIG REPORT: The Publicist, Belfast Pavilion 18th Nov 2006
The Publicist is Seb Thomas, former drummer with Trans Am and Weird War, and his set is basically him playing drums along with an electro-funk backing tape. I think this would appeal more to fans of the more electronic records by Trans Am, although really it belongs with old skool electro-funk like ESG and co. This was pretty much a non-stop 40 minute set, and I think a larger more 'up-for-it' crowd would have helped make this into a really good night. Still fun though.
The Publicist is Seb Thomas, former drummer with Trans Am and Weird War, and his set is basically him playing drums along with an electro-funk backing tape. I think this would appeal more to fans of the more electronic records by Trans Am, although really it belongs with old skool electro-funk like ESG and co. This was pretty much a non-stop 40 minute set, and I think a larger more 'up-for-it' crowd would have helped make this into a really good night. Still fun though.
GIG REVIEW: Acid Mothers Temple, Belfast Auntie Annies, 13th Nov 2006
Their last visit here a couple of years ago was the triple bill of the Acid Mothers Soul Collective, tonight is very different and features one set by the more familiar Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. I should add at this point that they were ably supported by the local act Schreinin, whom I didn't catch enough to comment at length, but what I heard sounded pretty interesting and I will definitely check them out in the future.
On with the main act, and in case you don't know, this incarnation of AMT is the full-on classic prog rock version with guitar solos and improv passages galore. I don't listen to a lot of music like this anymore, so although they obviously sound like a 70s prog blow-out I was amazed how exciting it all felt. They weren't as eccentric as their Soul Collective, although we did get some comments about the audience being 'George Best's children', and their centrepiece 'Pink Lady Lemonade' had a meandering recorder intro which caused the poor guy in front of me to nearly wet himself laughing. There were some inspired vocal interludes as well.
Basically, everything from 'Pink Lady Lemonade' onwards is extraordinary. It lasts for half the set anyway, but that riff is so good it deserves it. The other nearly as epic piece ('La Novia'?) starts with folky vocal chants and then goes all classic prog again and they finish with a fantastic Krautrock thrash ('In E'?) which is just the icing on the cake. Kawabata Makoto starts looking ominously at the ceiling towards the end of his solo and you just know he wants something more but rather than smashing his strat into the rafters he settles for looping his tremelo arm over a slung cable and leaves it hanging there, howling as the band leave the stage. A great image and a shame that I am such a crap photographer that I only got this pic.
Luckliy, some kind soul has uploaded a minute from the gig on youtube, so have a look here.
53 days left in 2006...
it's really time to be thinking about highlights of the year. Have I heard 50 albums this year? Probably. I will try and post a reviews/ summaries every few days until the end of the year. Meanwhile, Uncut have weighed in with the first magazine top 50 of the year, not a great list by any means but some interesting stuff. I have 18 of them so I'm more in touch with Uncut than I thought I would be connsidering I never buy it. The list has been formatted over at Rate Your Music (Uncut top 50 2006)
it's really time to be thinking about highlights of the year. Have I heard 50 albums this year? Probably. I will try and post a reviews/ summaries every few days until the end of the year. Meanwhile, Uncut have weighed in with the first magazine top 50 of the year, not a great list by any means but some interesting stuff. I have 18 of them so I'm more in touch with Uncut than I thought I would be connsidering I never buy it. The list has been formatted over at Rate Your Music (Uncut top 50 2006)
Young@Heart do Sonic Youth!
I wasn't really paying attention to the More4 documentary 'Young@Heart' tonight, it was on in the background as I was doing the dishes (!) but my ears pricked up at a song I recognised - 'Schizophrenia' by Sonic Youth! To see these ocotgenarians belting out Sonic Youth with, it has to be said, quite a clever arrangement just floored. I will be taping the repeat of this on Saturday for sure.
I wasn't really paying attention to the More4 documentary 'Young@Heart' tonight, it was on in the background as I was doing the dishes (!) but my ears pricked up at a song I recognised - 'Schizophrenia' by Sonic Youth! To see these ocotgenarians belting out Sonic Youth with, it has to be said, quite a clever arrangement just floored. I will be taping the repeat of this on Saturday for sure.
GIG REVIEW: Tunng + Jill Barber, Belfast Festival Spiegeltent 3rd Nov 2006
It was a bit of a highlight of the Queen's Festival to bring the Spiegeltent to Belfast for the full 3 weeks. Although tonight was my first time here, I gather that a lot of people have been impressed with it and the wide variety of acts it has played host to. It is completely circular with mirrors on the walls, tables and chairs in the centre and snugs around the sides. Not only is it visually impressive, the music sounded great too.
Jill Barber is up first. She is a singer-songwriter from Canada with a lot of folk and jazz influences, she has a neat line in between song chat and she soon wins the crowd over. Comparisons with Madeline Peyroux are inevitable, but I have to say that she has enough originality to rise above that and forge her own identity.
I only really know Tunng from some tunes that Rob Da Bank has played on his prog over the last 18 months, and their live show confirmed that they are a bit of a weird bunch. They kinda remind me of a strange hybrid of the Beta Band, Lemon Jelly and the Incredible String Band. They have three acoustic guitars, lots of electronics and some unusual percussion, and their bizarre mix suits the exotic feel of the venue. I wouldn't have been surprised if they had made use of the trapeze attachment in the centre of the roof. The only song I knew well was 'Tale From Black' (the first single apparently) and it is probably the strangest song they play - all electronics and trippy 'Who's Sorry Now' samples. I was surprised by how catchy some of the other songs were, to be honest they didn't really fit in with this whole 'neo-folk' movement they've been associated with.
Enjoyable enough though, and it would be great to see this venue making a return here next time.
Of course, that depends if there is a next time. I had momentarily forgotten that universities are such money making machines these days. Go on, email them!
It was a bit of a highlight of the Queen's Festival to bring the Spiegeltent to Belfast for the full 3 weeks. Although tonight was my first time here, I gather that a lot of people have been impressed with it and the wide variety of acts it has played host to. It is completely circular with mirrors on the walls, tables and chairs in the centre and snugs around the sides. Not only is it visually impressive, the music sounded great too.
Jill Barber is up first. She is a singer-songwriter from Canada with a lot of folk and jazz influences, she has a neat line in between song chat and she soon wins the crowd over. Comparisons with Madeline Peyroux are inevitable, but I have to say that she has enough originality to rise above that and forge her own identity.
I only really know Tunng from some tunes that Rob Da Bank has played on his prog over the last 18 months, and their live show confirmed that they are a bit of a weird bunch. They kinda remind me of a strange hybrid of the Beta Band, Lemon Jelly and the Incredible String Band. They have three acoustic guitars, lots of electronics and some unusual percussion, and their bizarre mix suits the exotic feel of the venue. I wouldn't have been surprised if they had made use of the trapeze attachment in the centre of the roof. The only song I knew well was 'Tale From Black' (the first single apparently) and it is probably the strangest song they play - all electronics and trippy 'Who's Sorry Now' samples. I was surprised by how catchy some of the other songs were, to be honest they didn't really fit in with this whole 'neo-folk' movement they've been associated with.
Enjoyable enough though, and it would be great to see this venue making a return here next time.
Of course, that depends if there is a next time. I had momentarily forgotten that universities are such money making machines these days. Go on, email them!
It's my birthday today...
.. and I feel pretty old, though if Duke Special is 28, then I'll be 29, I think (!) I didn't see the Jools show myself, but it is great to see him doing so well.
.. and I feel pretty old, though if Duke Special is 28, then I'll be 29, I think (!) I didn't see the Jools show myself, but it is great to see him doing so well.
What I'm Listening To: The Make-Up
Why was I listening to them today: Another band i revisited whilst rebuilding iTunes, I haven't listened to them in ages.
What tracks did I listen to: ALL of Destination Love: Live! at Cold Rice. I was amazed this is ten years old now! One of the best live albums I own, packaged and performed like it's a Live at the Apollo from the 60s, and it contains some of their very best material. Useless trivai: The MC that announces the band is Dale Shaw who was in the never-popular Wiiija act Blood Sausage.
First encountered: John Peel show 1996 I think, whenever he was on Saturday afternoons anyway, and a few of us listening in the living room, perhaps the worse for wear, convinced he was playing Can. Not a band the Make-up are often compared but I can still kinda see it (!)
First (and only) live encounter: the cramped and very intimate surroundings of the Duke of York downstairs bar in Belfast, May 1997, an astonishing show and my favourite of that year. My mate Iain interviewed them that day and the chat is here.
Why was I listening to them today: Another band i revisited whilst rebuilding iTunes, I haven't listened to them in ages.
What tracks did I listen to: ALL of Destination Love: Live! at Cold Rice. I was amazed this is ten years old now! One of the best live albums I own, packaged and performed like it's a Live at the Apollo from the 60s, and it contains some of their very best material. Useless trivai: The MC that announces the band is Dale Shaw who was in the never-popular Wiiija act Blood Sausage.
First encountered: John Peel show 1996 I think, whenever he was on Saturday afternoons anyway, and a few of us listening in the living room, perhaps the worse for wear, convinced he was playing Can. Not a band the Make-up are often compared but I can still kinda see it (!)
First (and only) live encounter: the cramped and very intimate surroundings of the Duke of York downstairs bar in Belfast, May 1997, an astonishing show and my favourite of that year. My mate Iain interviewed them that day and the chat is here.
What I'm Listening To: The Flaming Lips
Why was I listening to them today: I heard an evil rumour that some extra tickets had been released for their long sold-out Dublin shows at Vicar St (mid-Nov). Too late for tickets but I put on some old and new tunes by them.
What tracks did I listen to: My iTunes screwed up a while ago so I am gradually reloading material in from CD. I listened to the most recent album 'At War with the Mystics', which I actually like, bits of 'The Soft Bulletin', which is my fave from recent years, and the first few tracks from 'Hit to Death in the Future Head' from '92 which I had completely forgotten about. One advantage in recreating your entire library is that you stumble on material you put to the back of the pile. I still can't get to grips with 'Yoshimi' though, that Cat Stevens thing at the start annoys me, and I skipped a lot of the rest.
First encountered: John Peel Show very early 1991 - the track was 'Five Stop Mother Superior Rain'. I subsequently bought the vinyl LP of 'In a Priest Driven Ambulance' in the Rough Trade shop in March 1991. It's probably still my favourite of their records.
First live encounter: Reading Festival on the second stage, 1993, I'm pretty sure they only did four songs but memories are hazy. It was certainly quite early in the day. (I may actually have reviewed this in print, I will have a look.)
Best live encounter: City Slang Records 10th birthday concert at the Royal Festival Hall, London, they headlined and were fantastic. I reviewed it here.
Why was I listening to them today: I heard an evil rumour that some extra tickets had been released for their long sold-out Dublin shows at Vicar St (mid-Nov). Too late for tickets but I put on some old and new tunes by them.
What tracks did I listen to: My iTunes screwed up a while ago so I am gradually reloading material in from CD. I listened to the most recent album 'At War with the Mystics', which I actually like, bits of 'The Soft Bulletin', which is my fave from recent years, and the first few tracks from 'Hit to Death in the Future Head' from '92 which I had completely forgotten about. One advantage in recreating your entire library is that you stumble on material you put to the back of the pile. I still can't get to grips with 'Yoshimi' though, that Cat Stevens thing at the start annoys me, and I skipped a lot of the rest.
First encountered: John Peel Show very early 1991 - the track was 'Five Stop Mother Superior Rain'. I subsequently bought the vinyl LP of 'In a Priest Driven Ambulance' in the Rough Trade shop in March 1991. It's probably still my favourite of their records.
First live encounter: Reading Festival on the second stage, 1993, I'm pretty sure they only did four songs but memories are hazy. It was certainly quite early in the day. (I may actually have reviewed this in print, I will have a look.)
Best live encounter: City Slang Records 10th birthday concert at the Royal Festival Hall, London, they headlined and were fantastic. I reviewed it here.
Six months off
Well yes, six months off, nearly seven if you count the lack of activity in April. Most of the time I've spent taking in stuff like this rather than stuff like this!
I would like to have a major site overhaul before the New Year but it is hard to find the time at the moment. The main reason that I am posting again is to make anyone who is still with us aware that I am unlikely to renew the domain name in mid-November. As most things will be hosted on blogspot, myspace and last.fm which are all free, I just cannot justify the cost of the domain anymore.
So what's been goin on the last few months? Well, fatherhood obviously which is great! A lot of proper work too, and precious little gig going, the best of which (by a long way!) was Boredoms in Dublin at the end of May.
As far as releases are concerned the most played new albums this year have been Casiotone For the Painfully Alone's 'Etiquette' and Midlake's 'Trials of Van Occupanther', although my iTunes went funny last month and I've been rebuilding it ever since, consequently listening to lots of old stuff, most of it in alpahbetical thanks to the computer file management!
So yeah, there will be a change of plan regarding hosting in November, and hopefully a post a day throughout the month to try and raise the profile again. Thanks!
Well yes, six months off, nearly seven if you count the lack of activity in April. Most of the time I've spent taking in stuff like this rather than stuff like this!
I would like to have a major site overhaul before the New Year but it is hard to find the time at the moment. The main reason that I am posting again is to make anyone who is still with us aware that I am unlikely to renew the domain name in mid-November. As most things will be hosted on blogspot, myspace and last.fm which are all free, I just cannot justify the cost of the domain anymore.
So what's been goin on the last few months? Well, fatherhood obviously which is great! A lot of proper work too, and precious little gig going, the best of which (by a long way!) was Boredoms in Dublin at the end of May.
As far as releases are concerned the most played new albums this year have been Casiotone For the Painfully Alone's 'Etiquette' and Midlake's 'Trials of Van Occupanther', although my iTunes went funny last month and I've been rebuilding it ever since, consequently listening to lots of old stuff, most of it in alpahbetical thanks to the computer file management!
So yeah, there will be a change of plan regarding hosting in November, and hopefully a post a day throughout the month to try and raise the profile again. Thanks!
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