Ben Norcombe @ Whimple Front Row Club, Saturday 19th March 2016

How many other cinemas (pop up or otherwise) lay on some live music eh? So a hearty slap on the back to the Whimple Front Row Club massive for enticing Ben Norcombe along for a little pre Selma warm up slot. I’ve seen a lot of acoustic guitarists in my time but few make more inventive use of their instrument than Ben, everything from singing into the pick up, looping sounds to build up tracks, flicking the body of the guitar to create a rather bongo-tastic sound and slapping the strings with his fingers...in short if there’s a sound to be coaxed out of the thing Ben’s probably found a way to do it. Vocally there’s a bit of a Bon Iver thang going on but more emotionally intense (yep, seriously) with a throaty quaver that hints at a real vulnerability, something backed up by his admission that these days he mostly plays in front of the telly after getting fed up with just being background music in bars (it never fails to amaze me how little respect talented musicians get these days). Well, telly’s loss was our gain this evening, a beautiful set from someone with more to offer than he possibly knows. Well worth a listen.     

We’ve been here B4...

Waking up from a prolonged period of hibernation one of Brum’s great ‘lost’ bands The Bourgeois Four are back, back, BACK with this slow burning gem of a track that lulls you gently into dreamy reverie before ripping off your ears and mincing ‘em to a pulp in a guitar shaped blender. Yep...a guitar shaped blender...now there’s an idea for Dragon’s Den. Anyway, it’s ruddy great to have them back, I had high hopes for them a few years back and on the strength of this comeback it wasn’t misplaced. Play it loud. Play it often.  

Weaves a spell...

Flip me, yes, this is more like it.  I kind of hate to make sweeping generalisations but a lot of music these days quite frankly sucks balls. Not all...by a long shot...I ain’t one of those things were better in the 60s/70s/80s (...oh shit, maybe I am when it comes to the 80s...) kind of chaps, but there’s far too much wishy washy background music being made right now. That ain’t something you could accuse Weaves of. A Toronto four piece they’ve been around a few years and this little gem One More, has been plucked a-kickin’ and a-screamin’ from their debut album due out on June 17^th. Blending pop punk and garage rock (with perhaps just a touch of grunge nihilism for good measure) it’s an eargasm of a track practically genetically modified to have you pogoing round in yer pants frightening the neighbours. I frickin’ loves it. 

Richard Alston Dance Company @ Exeter Northcott Theatre, Tuesday March 8th 2016

“Dancing is a very inspiring thing that humans do. I really want to celebrate that”. This thought, mulled over by Richard Alston himself during an intimate post show discussion, perfectly sums up a beautiful evening of music and dance from his self titled company of frankly gravity defying dancers. 

Now approaching almost 50 years as a choreographer Alston’s been hailed as one of the most visionary figures in contemporary dance with a string of awards under his hat and five star reviews in his pocket (he must’ve run out of room under his hat). Tonight saw three (four if you count a brief glimpse of his current work in progress) separate performances, Stronghold (expertly choreographed by Associate Choreographer Martin Lawrence), Mazur and Brisk Singing.

First up Stronghold and if real life ever needed a pause button this was that moment. There’s so much movement and energy you quite frankly don’t know where to look. Inspired, Martin revealed later, by the idea of people supporting each other, the 10 dancers frequently performed in unison before breaking off into smaller groups then coming back together almost as a flock of swallows in flight. At other times bodies seem to melt into each other forming single organisms before moments of Matrix like contortions that would leave mere mortals needing traction for six months. Visually stunning and with a memorably powerful double bass driven score from Julie Wolfe the whole thing leaves you breathless...even if, remarkably, the dancers, weren’t.

Next up Mazur, Alston’s latest piece, a tribute to Chopin’s music and in particular focussing on his longing for his Polish homeland (history buffs will note that Russia and Poland had a bit of a bust up in 1830 whilst poor Fred was in Vienna, once the Russians crushed the native uprising he settled in Paris vowing never to return, sadly failing health meant he never did). Performed by two male dancers with a live piano accompaniment the piece saw them dancing together at first, then apart, then back as duo, no doubt reflecting Chopin’s own experience and his unfulfilled wish to return a free Poland. 

The climax, in which the two dancers reunited, really stirred the emotions and it’s a beautifully balanced and constructed piece that rather brilliantly brings the music, and it’s somewhat tortured inspiration, to life.  

Finally Brisk Singing, based on the music of baroque composer Jean Phillippe Rameau, was first performed way back in 1997 and still dazzles (well, you know what they say...if it ain’t baroque, don’t fix it). The most classically balletic of the trio it was a joyous performance liberally sprinkled with elegant leaps and impressive lifts that once again seem to suggest that the human form is indeed a heavenly body. With little touches and flourishes every bit as ornate at the music and some wonderfully expressive movements from the dancers it was a suitably magical ending to a soul stirring evening. Except there was more! Not sure how often they do this but Richard and Martin were joined by a couple of the dancers (again looking as fresh as daises) and a lady from Exeter Uni who teaches dance for a bit of a question and answer sesh. Listening to how each piece develops and hearing Richard’s endless enthusiasm for his craft was almost as enjoyable as the pieces themselves. In particular his description of the dancers as “huge human sparklers” (said with a theatrical flourish of the arms) was particularly apt. Magical stuff.

You can catch the Richard Alston Dance Company TONIGHT at Exeter Northcott Theatre, the last few tickets were still available yesterday evening. Highly recommended. 

Pete Williams – songs in the quay (of life)

Wonderful to see Pete Williams getting the kind of acclaim and coverage he deserves. Not only is a great lyricist and passionate powerful potent performer but (as I’m pretty sure I’ve said before) he’s a ruddy nice bloke from his head to his toes too. Just cop a load of this performance from a recent BBC Radio Scotland show. A-mazing. 

PS: Grab copies of his albums right here right now. 

Field Music / The Drink @ The Phoenix, Friday March 4th 2016

Bands are a bit like wine. Bear with me here. Some are best consumed fresh, right at the very start of their career, others just get better with age. And some...well some just make you want to vomit like that girl in The Exorcist but we’ll gloss over that for now. Field Music fit firmly in the second category with recent singles Noisy Days Are Over and Disappointed and new album Commontime coming across as a particularly strong vintage. A string of sold out tour dates backs this up and they’ve just announced a trio of big venue headline shows for October that seem set to do likewise.

First up tonight though, and carrying on the booze theme, it’s The Drink. Not sure what kind of drink, judging by the band’s ‘68 pysch meets C86 ‘dark folk’ it’s probably spiked with LSD though. Set highlight The Coming Rain has a bewitching Broadcast/Stereolab vibe to it, with a neat motoric groove to drive things along nicely. Well worth imbibing.

Onto Field Music then who kicked things off with a track, Noisy Days Are Over, that belies tonight’s impressively meaty beaty version. Keyboardist Liz in particular seemed intent on doing a little GKH (that’s Grievous Keyboard Harm) to her instrument. Now that’s how to start a gig.

A couple of tracks in David Brewis steps out from behind the drums and announces, slightly huskily, that’s he’s lost his voice. Awwww bless. When it comes to hitting the high notes on Disappointed that sounds like a recipe for...well...disappointment but, trooper that he is, somehow he manages to defy all medical science and remarkably pull off a bit of a blinder.

Throughout the set the influences come thick and fast, a little XTC here, a bit of early Genesis there, a healthy dose of Hall and Oates (especially on the new stuff), some Let’s Dance era Bowie, a little Zappa and just the merest hint of Pink Floyd. But like all great bands – and let’s make this clear, right now Field Music is a ruddy great band – they manage to whip all this up and somehow make it their own. They do a neat line in banter too, in fact throughout the night they covered everything from sounding like Kathleen Turner and the perils of playing drums in a cardie through to work place pension plans and, prompted by some of the audience who seemed to like shouting out “Haway the lads” and “Haddaway and shite” at frequent intervals, the genius or otherwise of Chris Rea.

Looking back at pre Liz era footage it’s clear that she adds a heck of a lot of oomph to the band’s live sound, musically and vocally, and if it’s been a while since you last saw ‘em, now’s definitely the time to get reacquainted. They all seem musically sharper though with early tracks like the art-prog of If Only The Moon Were Up given a sophistication and sheen that the original perhaps lacked.

Encore Give It Lose It Take It (“We’re only playing one song because it’s two songs in one...sort of!”), another oldie, is a suitably epic climax, from the opening Exorcist theme tune style motif right through to the proggier than thou second half, which once again saw brothers Peter and David make trading instruments seem absolutely effortless, even with a bit of man flu.

At their best Field Music is pop with a twist, clever enough to appeal to the musos but with the kind of hooky choruses and riffs that Kanye West would give his left...and quite possibly right...testicle for. And, with new album Commontime’s sophisticated 80s transatlantic soul pop leanings he may well be tempted to do just that.  In fact in this particular Field right now frankly everything’s coming up roses.  

Mutual Benefit – Not For Nothing

If the hustle and bustle of the big wide world is well and truly getting on your wick cop a load of this slice of laid back chamber pop tinged loveliness from Mutual Benefit (AKA Jordan Lee and an ever changing collective of his buddies). It’s taken from brand new album Skip A Sinking Stone out on reliably excellent Transgressive Records on May 20^th and there’s an all too rare UK show at Bush Hall, London on April 28^th.  Ahhhhhh, now isn't that better eh? 

The Day Ends - Ripples

Yet another new track spews out from The Day Ends and this is their best yet, a visceral slap round the chops from Miles Perhower and co replete with suitably trippy video that, together with the music, is probably a pretty fair representation of what's going on inside his head. I've just been playing it on repeat for an hour or so and it's a frickin' belter...literally no one sounds like them right now and that's a very rare thing indeed my friends. Unique, uncompromising rant 'n' roll at it's very finest. Catch them live for FREE at the next instalment of Sunday Xpress, March 20th, Friction Arts, The Edge. Details right here.  

Field Music hit the road!

Somehow 12 years and six albums into their career Sunderland’s Field Music have hit the form of their lives with a brace of classic singles - The Noisy Days Are Over and the Hall and Oates-tastic Disappointed - and a critically acclaimed new album, Commontime. They’re out on tour right now too (details below), although most dates have unsurprisingly sold out (you might just squeeze in to the Exeter, Nottingham or Southampton gigs if you’re super speedy), and they’ve just announced their biggest headline shows so far with a trio of gigs in October. Buy now or end up paying £200 to some dodgy geezer on eBay.   

03 Mar - Cardiff, The Globe
04 Mar - Exeter Phoenix, Exeter
05 Mar - Rescue Rooms, Nottingham
10 Mar - Brudenell Social Club, Leeds (SOLD OUT)
11 Mar - Manchester, Band on the Wall (SOLD OUT)
13 Mar - Glasgow, School Of Art (UPGRADED VENUE)
18 Mar - London, Islington Assembly Hall (SOLD OUT)
19 Mar - Southampton, Engine Rooms
20 Mar - Brighton, The Haunt (SOLD OUT)
22 Oct – Sage, Gateshead
26 Oct – Shepherds Bush Empire, London
29 Oct – Ritz, Manchester

Being the lovely folk that they no doubt are they’re sharing the love with a spanking new remix of Disappointed from super cool producer Ewan Pearson that’s 100% free to download right here right now.

Head over to The Guardian and you can stream the whole new album too! I tell you it’s like frickin’ Christmas...

Holy Pinto – Matches

Freshly signed to Soft Speak Records indie rock duo Holy Pinto celebrate with Matches their brand new single (all 90 seconds of it) that lulls you gently into pretty chilled-ville before dropping the mighty f-bomb...boom. 

A bit of a taster from their debut album, Congratulations, due out on April 8^th, pre-order it on vinyl (it’s the future) right here, right now and you’ll get a personalized jingle from the band too...and who the flip doesn’t want their own jingle?  You don’t get that from Sam Smith do you eh and he won a ruddy Oscar. 

Sunday Xpress...this Saturday! Nah...only joking...SUNDAY...

There are many things I miss about not living in Brum and Sunday Xpress is one of 'em. Possibly the most eclectic line up of music, spoken word and occasional mayhem on offer anywhere on a Sunday afternoon/evening this month's offering includes the sublime genius that is Kate Goes. If your heart doesn't melt like butter on a BBQ at the loveliness of Heartbeat then you're quite possibly dead inside. Also on the 'bill' you'll find Canard Du Jour (bill...canard...get it...eh...eh...oh never mind), Cities Prepare for Attack and Cracked Actors plus whoever else has the balls/ovaries to get up on stage to do their thang. As ever it's all ruddy free too.

Details on the suitably DIY poster above or flip on over to The Sunday Xpress Facebook page. Be there or Big Bren'll visit you in the wee small hours...

The Day Ends – The Mentality Mob

Emerging from the twisted still smoking wreckage of Miss Halliwell Miles Perhower’s new musical assault vehicle is The Day Ends and this track, The Mentality Mob, is its first missive...actually make that missile. It’s pretty fair to say that Miles’ relationship with the music ‘biz’, national or local, has been a little ‘frosty’ from time to time but The Day Ends ramps things up (or down) to absolute zero. Listing/slaughtering a series of adversaries against a blistering post punk backdrop it’s the sound of man incinerating not just burning his bridges. Like it or loath it, love him or hate him, this track’s pretty much guaranteed to provoke a reaction and ask yourself this, how often does that happen in music these days? Exactly.

PS: The Day Ends make their live debut at March’s Sunday Xpress (March 20th at The Edge...appropriately enough...in Digbeth)...light the blue touch paper and stand well back.

Taking the Mic @ Exeter Phoenix, Wednesday 17th February 2016

Second time at Taking the Mic and, if anything, an even higher standard of performances than the last one. I think we ended up with around 20 individual slots of around 5 minutes or so covering everything from Dildos to Grandmothers (insert your own Wayne Rooney gag here). Now that’s what I call variety. Plenty of regulars but a couple of very talented newbies too and a wonderfully supportive and chilled out atmosphere throughout the night. Compères Tim and Morwenna seemed genuinely knocked out by the quality on offer and quite frankly you’d need ears of cloth and a brain made of offal to disagree. The whole ruddy thing’s FREE too...two hours plus of top notch spoken word and music for FREE. What’s not to love? The next one's on Wednesday March 16th, highly recommended. 

PS: Preferred the upstairs venue (The Voodoo Lounge I think it was) rather than the bar where we were last time. Much easier to give the whole thing the attention it deserves when you haven’t got someone ordering a white wine spritzer and a packet of pork scratchings down yer ear ‘ole...

PPS: An impressive crowd too...they’re going to need a bigger venue at this rate.

PPPS: Someone should be recording this stuff for posterity.

PPPPS: I’ll stop now.

Tricot Tricot little stars...

If this doesn’t get your limbs twitching like you’ve been wired up to the mains and doused in water then you may well need to check you’re still alive. Tricot, four young ladies from Japan, play joyously jerky math rock with sugar sweet vocals that have a wonderful habit of suddenly exploding into a bit of a post-punk frenzy. 



Cop a listen, ruddy good stuff eh? Happily they’re over in the UK for a tour in March and...joy of joys...they’re playing The Cavern in Exeter. 

Tickets still available right here right now but this one should sell out. Tanoshimimasu!

The Baron’s Lucky Dip # 3 Kirsty MacColl – Walking Down Madison

Continuing the random eyes closed trawl through 35 years worth of record collecting today’s gem is Kirsty MacColl’s Walking Down Madison, perhaps the rockiest and most ‘street’ she ever got in a career tragically cut short by a complete and utter moron in a speedboat. A co-write with Johnny Marr and an all too rare hit single (number 23 no less) incredibly it celebrates its 25^th birthday this year and, well, it doesn’t sound too shabby does it eh?

Mark Chadwick / The Sweet Black Angels @ The Beehive, Honiton – Saturday February 6th 2016

The last time I saw Mark Chadwick I was surrounded by a couple of thousand other punters at the Birmingham Academy and he was surrounded by the band he formed way back in 1988, The Levellers. This evening he was flying solo and audience numbers were a more modest 200 or so, at least one of whom had travelled all the way from Cardiff to be here. What’s the Welsh for dedication...hold on...’ymroddiad’ apparently...hey, who says the internet’s just a vapid pool of porn and pictures of cats that look like Hitler eh?

First up though local band The Sweet Black Angels, indie country folksters with some instantly hummable tunes and a bit of an Oasis twang here and there, minus the OTT Manc swagger thankfully. Well worth catching if you get the chance.

Ambling onstage at around 8-ish Chadwick launched into what amounted to a greatest hits set that was refreshingly relaxed and informal, especially for an artist with six gold discs and a number one album in his back pocket...yep, I know...you kind of forget that don’t you? It was a timely reminder for anyone there who wasn’t a superfan (a fair portion of the crowd were judging by the enthusiastic word perfect singalongs) though just how many great tracks The Levellers have and it’s a real shame that, so far at least, they’re perhaps not held in the same esteem as, say, yer Billy Bragg, one of the few other artists for whom politics and social issues aren’t dirty words.

Despite one of the organisers encouraging him to have mid set break so he could get his merch out he played on, noting that he wasn’t “that mercantile” and that if anyone wanted anything his Skoda was parked out the back with the doors open and they could just help themselves. From anyone else this would merely sound like an amusing joke but you kind of got the feeling that he was being genuine. Bless him.

Set highlight, the truly anthemic  - and for once the word’s justified - One Way predictably went down a storm (even if it did only reach number 51 in the charts way back in 1991) and Mark even managed to inspire a mini moshpit, albeit one of the gentlest moshpits in the history of moshpits.

Gently teasing the crowd throughout the set for living in ‘Hobiton’ and having nothing to worry about apart from interior design issues (gawd knows what he’d make of Whimple...we’ll have to get him down here to find out) he blazed through the hits with the same kind of passion and oomph that he brings to the band (“I don’t know what they do in February” he mulled midset “don’t think I want to know either”) even bantering with the crowd and taking the odd request towards the end. That’s the (One) Way to do it.

Tickets for The Levellers very own Beautiful Days Festival are on sale right here, right now. 

Maurice White RIP

And so it goes on...2016 really does seem to be intent on wiping out some of the most talented souls around, this time it's Earth, Wind and Fire's founding father Maurice White, producer and lead vocalist on the utterly fabulous disco funk classic Boogie Wonderland. Now if that isn't a tune for a Friday afternoon dance in your pants then I don't know what is. RIP.

Boat to Row – Handsome Beats

Another perfect piece of post pastoral folk from Boat to Row together with a video that, now I’m living in the wilds of Devon, sparked more than the odd pang of nostalgia for dear old Brum (even if the ‘planners’ are currently doing their level best to screw it up...RIP the ‘ziggurat’).

Over the past few years Boat to Row have been quietly slipping out one gentle gem after another and Handsome Beats is another ‘string’ of beauty (and the beats), a melancholy masterpiece in fact, “we’re broken beats so scattered, some end well most of us don’t” sings lead Boatman Michael King, “so I pull open the curtain on a day when others won’t”. Coming so soon after the passing of the legend that is Mr Paul Murphy (who I believe was also an admirer of the band) that’s a line, for me at least, that comes loaded with added poignancy. Beautiful stuff.

PS: You can catch Boat to Row out on tour in February and March. Dates here!

Paul Murphy RIP

Well this year is really taking it's toll on the legends. Now one that I had the very great fortune to know personally (albeit ever so slightly), Mr Paul Murphy. Perhaps best known to many as the force of nature lead singer for The Destroyers he was also an actor, poet, novelist, playwright and, most importantly of all, a ruddy lovely human being. I had no idea he'd been ill but it seems he was diagnosed with cancer last August and very sadly passed away yesterday morning. As several people have already noted today there is indeed a hole in the universe. RIP Mr Murphy. x

The Day Ends...and begins

Okay, had enough of death already this year, time for a birth for a change...and change is clearly in the air with Miles Perhower, Rose of Bearwood and Fibass's new outfit, The Day Ends, Miss Halliwell's bastard offspring that's emerged kicking and screaming in this tantalising behind the scenes clip. Regular readers will know how much I rate Mr P and his one man mission to mess with the music 'biz', it's what the world needs right now more than ever. Coldplay awarded the NME's Godlike Genius award?! You're having a laugh right? Lester Bangs must be vomiting in his grave. Truly it's the end of days...

A Black day...RIP Colin Vearncombe

Whilst it was expected the sad news that Black aka Colin Vearncombe died yesterday after suffering serious head injuries in a car crash two weeks ago was still a shocker. Wonderful Life was an relatively early album purchase for me and the title track that spoke to me as a 17 year old still resonates today as I nudge 46. Of course there was so much more to the man than just that one song and it's well worth setting aside an hour or two to cop a listen to over 31 years worth of music making. He may have had his ups and downs but, musically at least, it really was a wonderful life. RIP.

Animal Collective - FloriDada

And the award for the most addictive track of January 2016 goes to...drum roll please...Animal Collective with FloriDada. Bonus points for the semi-pornographic seizure inducing video too, good work dudes. If you don't wake up in the wee small hours with the chorus going round and round and round...and round...in your head over and over again it'll be a miracle.

Jim Simpson on the beginning of The End...

Oh hell...if the proclamations are to be believed the next Black Sabbath tour will be the last and as the band's original manager, the lovely Mr Jim Simpson, thinks that's the case on the all too brief interview above I've no reason to doubt it. Having still not seen Sabbath live (and me a Brummie too...oh the shame) this is last chance saloon time, 2016 or bust! Just cop a load of this clip from 1970...on my.



  

Taking the Mic @ The Phoenix, Exeter – Wednesday January 20th 2016

First time at Taking the Mic (see what they did there?), a monthly poetry / singer songwriter / stand up comedy event that seems to be open to all comers, although most of the performers tonight appeared to be regulars. Organised and hosted by the endlessly enthusiastic Tim King and Morwenna Alldis (whose ‘comeback’ poem was one of the highlights) we must’ve whipped through 20 or so performances over a couple of hours (including a heart melting trio of songs from headliner Anna Marie Waite), with most taking a blink and you’ll miss it 5 minute slot. That’s a pretty dizzying whirl of words and there were some wonderful pieces and performances which would take several thousand words (and probably just as many hours knowing my slack ass) to cover, but suffice to say it was a ruddy lovely way to spend a couple of hours on a nippy midweek night. Highly recommended. 

Check out the Taking the Mic Facebook page for details, I'm guessing the next one's sometime in mid February...

Mass Gothic - Every Night You've Got To Save me

Doleful meets joyful in Mass Gothic's rather splendid new single, Every Night You've Got To Save Me, plucked from the band's self titled album due out on Sub Pop on February 5th. It's a strange mix of 60s girl group style woop woop backing and sad slacker lead vocals (a bit Badly Drawn Boy here and there) replete with a suitably low key, low budget vid apparently filmed on a night out in Manhattan...much of which seemed to have consisted of sitting in a bath tub being smacked in the face with a glove. Sounds like my kind of evening...

Back to Black...

It's been a bad week for lovers of great music. First of all Bowie returns to the stars from whence he came and then Colin Vearncombe, a wonderful singer and songwriter who you may remember for the classic single Wonderful Life was critically injured in a car crash and, at the time of writing sadly remains in a coma. On top of sending him all my best it's as good an opportunity as any to revisit some of his best stuff.

Ashes to ashes...

We’ve seen a fair number of musical icons die over the years but the outpouring of grief and sheer shock resonating through the world today following Bowie’s passing is something else. For once it’s well and truly deserved too. After all who else managed to reinvent themselves so brilliantly over and over again over almost half a century? Who else managed to be both commercially and critically successful (albeit with a few slight stumbles along the way)? And who else has had such a huge influence on so many other bands and artists? It goes further than that even. No Bowie no 80s music or fashion as we knew it. Simple. No Duran Duran, Japan, Soft Cell, Human League, Spandau Ballet, Madonna, Adam and the Ants and lord knows how many other bands. Into the 90s bands like Suede based their whole careers on Bowie’s, Lady Gaga clearly owes the dude a huge debt and surely the LGBT community’s lives would be infinitely less comfortable if it hadn’t been for a man who ‘came out’ (okay so he later confessed to being bi-sexual but still, it was a damn brave move in the 70s) back when homosexuality had only recently been legalised and other artists were so far in the closet it would take a search party and six months to find ‘em. My own personal journey with Bowie probably started back in 1980 with Ashes to Ashes, although I have distant memories of his music filtering through my even earlier years. I was lucky enough to see him live at one of the definitive Glastonbury headline slots in 2000 and have a healthy collection of original albums embracing pretty much his entire career (yep...even Tin Machine). As recently as last week he was still releasing surprising and inspirational new music, perhaps the album’s title itself, Blackstar, being a thinly veiled acknowledgment of his imminent passing (certainly much of the new material now seems prophetic). Who knows? One thing’s pretty certain though. No matter who comes after him he’ll always be the ultimate star, man. 

New Year, new music...

The annual BBC Music Sound of 2016 longlist thingy has just been released and a couple of names spring out straight away, Blossoms (who were one of the many highlights at last year’s MoFolk) and Dua Lipa (from the management team that brought us Lana Del Rey) who’s apparently getting some decent airplay on Radio 1...so that’s at least three people who’ve heard her new single then. It’s not bad, a bit of a hands in the air 80s vibe to the chorus and a little smoky transatlantic tinge to the vocals, cop a listen...

Lemmy RIP

Happy New Year and all that jazz. It really wouldn't be right to let the passing of Lemmy go by without a quick tribute to a man who clearly well and truly lived the rock 'n' roll lifestyle, drinking, smoking and shagging his way through a career in the music biz that still somehow still lasted over half a century, from being a roadie for Hendrix, through to fronting Hawkwind's biggest single and then onto helming the mighty Motorhead for a mere four decades.

After meaning to go and see the band for years and years I was fortunate enough to see Lemmy and co at their last Birmingham gig in 2014 when he was briefly joined on stage by original drummer Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor who also sadly shuffled off this mortal coil last year, a month or so before Lemmy himself. At the time it kind of seemed that Lemmy was, as he noted himself recently, indestructible, but not even Mr Kilmister could beat the grim reaper forever, although he gave it a damn good shot. If there's a lesson in there somewhere I guess it's don't wait to see that band you love if the chance is right there in front of you 'cos one day all you'll be left with are some crappy You Tube clips and a bucketful of regrets. Anyway, here's a few more of Lemmy's greatest hits. If there's an afterlife let's hope the bar serves Jack Daniels eh?









And here's Lemmy's last ever interview, recorded just a few weeks ago...who knows, we may not have seen the last of him...

And so-ul this is Christmas...

Funk & Soul Christmas special by Jazzcat on Mixcloud

Nothing says Christmas like a soul and funk mix eh and in what has become something of a Christmas tradition I've trawled the internet to pluck one of the very best out for your delectation and delight. Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Feel the Love...

Fed up with Christmas songs yet? Check out this great new track from The Assist (fresh from supporting Slade a few nights back) with the kind of instantly catchy laid back baggy groove that would give the Happy Mondays or the late lamented Flowered Up a run for their money. Love it!

Rich pickings...

Look, it's tough enough for a lot of musicians to keep body and soul together so the last thing you need is some numbnuts nicking the tools of your trade. It seems to be happening far too often these days, obviously this stuff must be fairly easy to move on in exchange for a quick fix of something but come on...musicians are (generally) the good guys, they're the ones that make you feel better without having to shove a needle in your arm or snort the entire Bolivian cocaine crop up your hooter. Nick something else if you have to...or better still get a life.

Anyway, the latest unfortunate victim of instrument theft is Richard March, member of Bentley Rhythm Ace and numerous other bands including Rhino and the Ranters and The Peaky Blinders. Some scuzzball nicked his double bass (good grief...have you seen the size of those things? You can see him plucking the hell out of it on the vid above) the other night and it's no doubt leaning up against the wall of a pawn shop right now. There's a positive to this story though and the good people of Brum (and beyond) have started one of those Crowdfunding jobbies which has already raised £785 of the £850 needed to get Rich back up and running (well, playing) again. Hopefully if there's any money left they can buy a pair of concrete boots for the thief if he or she is ever caught. Grrrrrrrr...

The Baron's Lucky Dip # 2

Okay, singles this time and a neglected glam synth classic from Sheffield's Pink Grease, one of a squillion bands from the incredibly fertile mid noughties who sadly fell by the wayside (see also Rumble Strips...I'm still mystified about that one). They split in 2007 leaving behind a dozen or so singles, an album, some memorably messy gigs (anyone remember the one at the Bar Academy?) and an unreleased follow up from which this little beauty was plucked. One to dance in your pants to.

PS: Pink Grease's lead singer Rory was last spotted in goth glamsters White Witches. Here's the only offering I can find on t'You Tube.

Howard Marks - Live in Exeter this Wednesday!

Howard Marks may have become (in)famous for smuggling brain melting quantities of cannabis back in the 70s and 80s but he's spent much of the last 20 years or so touring his one man shows, writing hugely entertaining books and generally living up to his legendary nickname, Mr Nice. Yep, as drug smugglers go Howard's up there with the very best (and nicest) of 'em, an incredibly articulate and gentle man he's got an informed opinion on most things, all delivered with the kind of lush, laid back Welsh accented voice that could soothe the very hounds of hell.

It's fair to say that life hasn't exactly been a bowl of cherries for him over the years, getting caught for smuggling hundreds of tons of weed will tend to do that to a chap, but he's always accepted his fate...an attitude that's standing him in good stead right now as he's being mercilessly pursued by a certain Mr G. Reaper Esq. Whilst others might, quite naturally, retreat to their beds somewhat incredibly Howard's still touring, no doubt sharing words of wisdom that, given his impending ending, will be even more thought provoking and moving than his previous shows. And tomorrow night he's right here in Exeter at the Phoenix, tickets still available...something that very sadly he might not be for much longer. Frankly unmissable.

The Baron’s Lucky Dip # 1

One of the twisted benefits of moving house after 20 odd years in the same place is the discovery of stuff you’d stashed away sometime in the 90s and kind of forgotten about. In my case that includes a bit of vinyl...okay a lot of vinyl...and CDs (oh so many CDs), all of which seemed to become a little obsolete once the internet became a viable way of listening to music. Moving forced me to confront this mountain of music and carry out some pretty brutal (to me at least...bearing in mind that I struggle to throw anything away) editing. I’m pretty sure I’ve given away some gems but it all went to charidee so hopefully someone did well out of it. The upside of course is that now I can see stuff and get to it (NB: after mulling over having bespoke shelves made or going down the Ikea route I plumped for some rugged industrial Big Dug jobbies which...er...seem to be doing the job).

Now I can get to it through I should listen to it all, right? Hence...drum roll...The Baron’s Lucky Dip, a semi regular feature in which I randomly select a record and share it with you for your delectation and delight. Of course this could do wonders for my street cred (stop sniggering) or, conversely, reveal my strange addition to Hi NRG tunes. Ready...ok...blindfold on...

Space – Money

Hmmm, don’t remember buying this (on 12 inch yellow vinyl no less) but do recall seeing them play a few times, notably at The Flapper (and Firkin as it was then) supporting another little known outfit called Catatonia. Space were a much more interesting proposition than history perhaps gives them credit for, what with lead singer Tommy Scott’s gloriously OTT vaudevillian delivery and the band's obsession with weirdos (see Mister Psycho and Neighbourhood) but c'est la vie. After splitting up in 2005 they reformed in 2011 and actually have a new album out in 2016 so happy endings and all that jazz. Here’s a taster:

  

Semi-Toned / Orchard Harmony @ St Mary’s Church, Whimple, Saturday December 4th 2015

There’s a fair chance that St Mary’s Church has witnessed some jolly fine voices over the generations but perhaps tonight was the first time that 15 of them performed the Macarena complete with the obligatory dance moves. The group in question, Exeter University’s a capella fellas Semi-Toned, are having one hell (or maybe heaven in this case) of a year having come second in the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella competition before going on to win The Voice Festival UK, touring the US, playing the Edinburgh Festival and releasing a BuzzFeed bigged up video mash-up of If I Were a Rich man from Fiddler on the Roof and Rich Girl by Gwen Stefani. How’s that as an excuse for getting your dissertation in late eh?

Before all that the sell out audience...sorry...congregation witnessed a series of beautiful performances from Orchard Harmony (an all female a cappela group with its creative heart right here in Whimple) the absolute highlight being a candle lit Ava Maria sound-tracked procession through the church. Spines well and truly tingled. In fact, helmed by musical director Julia Green, the arrangements and staging of Orchard Harmony’s two sets were simply pitch perfect from start to finish.

Well and truly putting the fun in funky Semi-Toned practically blew the roof off the place with one of the liveliest and imaginative a capella sets this side of...well anywhere really.  

Boy these dudes can sing (they’re not bad little movers either) and their choice of material was every bit as impressive ranging from a fresh take on Fleetwood Mac’s epic The Chain through to a haunting rendition of Regina Spector’s Samson (which apparently also won the Outstanding Soloist award for the group’s Michael Luya in The Voice Festival’s Semi-Final) and on to the aforementioned Fiddler mash up. A sensationally seasonal Santa Baby, with Julia channelling her inner Eartha up in the pulpit on lead vocals and the combined might of the rest of Orchard Harmony and all of Semi-Toned providing the backing, was the metaphorical sixpence in the pudding of a truly wonderful Whimple evening. 

A tale of two cities (well, one City and one village)

Not for the first time in life I wish I could be in at least two places at once this Saturday. Whimple based peeps should head to the church to see the award winning all male a capella group Semi-Toned, well at least you should if you’ve already got a ticket ‘cos it’s Sold Out (wonder if some of any my ticket tout buddies from Brum will be outside doing their thing?). 

Brum based folk should head off to St Paul’s Church to see the bewitching double bill of Katherine Priddy and Michael King. Last minute tickets here!

PS: My gig going has been pitiful this year for various reasons and I’m still mulling over the dilemma of getting to and from Exeter after 11pm (which is when the trains all seemingly turn into pumpkins) – at the moment kipping on a park bench is the most attractive (for that read ‘cheapest’) option but maybe Winter isn’t the best time to try that one out eh? Anyway, whatever you’re up to enjoy!     

Sunday Xpress's end of the year bash!

Awwwwwwwwwwwwww, going to miss this one now I'm in deepest Devon but if you're in or around Brum there's frankly no excuse. Yet another awesome line up with one of the first ever live outings for noise rockers The CPM Connection (with added Miles Perhower) and Hearing Aid favourites The Courtesy Group. And it's all ruddy free. Kick off's at 4pm with open mic slots (which are always hugely entertaining). Pop along and Xpress yourself!

The Mercury’s rising...

Almost time for this year’s Mercury Prize winner to be announced (one of the few awards I pay any attention to these days) and I’ve certainly got my favourites, in no particular order they are (along with the pick of their respective albums):

Eska

Gaz Coombes  

Soak

I rarely back the winner, although sacrificing that goat to ensure Anthony and the Johnsons won a few years back seemed to work, but who knows, fingers crossed for one of the three listed above. Needless to say in the spirit of friendly competition  good luck to all the rest of those on the shortlist, just in case I happen to end up sat next to them on a plane...who am I trying to kid...train...oh, alright then...bus. 

Aimless Comet - Roscoe Balaban

It's always a treat to have a cool new track spurt out of whatever social media nipple you happen to be suckling on and today's (via Facebook...who sadly seemed to have banned nipples...lady ones at least...naughty nipples) comes from Roscoe Balaban who, for many years, has figured in the ever shifting line up of Hearing Aid favourites Miss Halliwell. Young Roscoe's solo offering is as raw as a papercut drenched in vinegar, a '4 real' cry from the gut underpinned by some rather fine and atmospheric guitar work. The boy can sing too, pleasingly retaining a little Black Country twang for good measure. Aimless it certainly ain't. Highly recommended.  

In these shoes...

It's been a difficult old week for reasons that are too personal for this humble little blog, but suffice to say I have my reasons for posting up this vid...and not just because it's a cracking tune. Enjoy.

Jim Causley @ The Beehive, Honiton – Saturday 7th November 2015

“It’s great to ‘bee’ here”, as far as opening lines are concerned playing a venue like The Beehive is pretty much a pun lover’s gift. Somehow though Jim Causley resisted overdoing it (I’d have gone on about the place having a nice buzz and why doesn’t Sting play here etc etc...which is probably why I’m not allowed on a stage anymore) before playing a two hour solo set showcasing one of folk’s finest talents singing an equally fine selection of self penned, adapted (in the case of setting ancestor Charles Causeley’s poems to music) traditional tracks and covers (one particular highlight being a suitably wry rendition of Chris Wood’s version of Frank Mansell’s poem The Cottager’s Reply). Causley’s an utter delight from start to finish. A natural and instantly engaging performer, peppering his two sets with anecdotes and local history (like fellow young folkie Sam Lee Jim has a clear passion for preserving the material he sings and hopefully passing it on to future generations) you get the distinct impression that he could’ve played all night and most of the following day for that matter if he’d been allowed. With songs like the moving Honiton Lace and In The Sidings, plus a more Rambling Syd Rumpo style tune about some bloke mowing a young lady’s ‘field’ (ahem...), I’d have happily listened to him too. Jim-ply the best.

PS: As regular readers might know I’ve recently moved to an East Devon village called Whimple which, until recently, Jim called home and it was nice to be able to whoop and holler like loons whenever he mentioned the place (even if we’ve only been here for 5 minutes). Hopefully Jim’ll be back for the legendary Whimple Wassail (huge fun) on January 17^th.   

PPS: What a great venue The Beehive is! Thoroughly recommended for performers and punters alike. 

Holy Pinto - Best Pals

The world's run by lizards you know, well at least it is if you believe some of the odder theories out there...giant lizards pretending to be people...the Queen...lizard...Dave Cameron...lizard...Cheryl Cole (or whatever's she's called this week)...lizard...well, you can kind of see the last one. Anyway, to kick off the new week here's a new track from Canterbury's finest Holy Pinto featuring a giant lizard (see, there was a link in there somewhere). Whether you're a lizard or not it's a darn fine slice of indie punk that starts off all gentle and lullaby-ish (albeit a pretty twisted lullaby if you listen to the lyrics) before exploding into a bit of a Creep era Radiohead chorus and then onto a bonkers Latin interlude, "there are no rules" indeed. Ace! (fun vid too). Gecko and see 'em live if you get the chance...sorry, it had to be done.

Shit Present / Young Adventurers / Will Rene / Honey Pot @ The Cavern, Exeter – Thursday 5th November 2015

First gig in months and first gig in Exeter too and we picked a cracker (although rather boringly public transport cocked up the end of the night and we had to miss pretty much all of Shit Present’s set to catch the last ruddy train at 11.00...that’s barely tea time...boo hiss etc).

If you’ve not been to The Cavern it’s a great little venue, not dissimilar to the Liverpudlian version (or at least the one they ‘created’ after the council turned the real one into a...er...car park...genius) and the kind of place you instantly feel at home at (or maybe that’s just because I feel at home in a cellar, who knows?). The booze is reasonable (£3.50 for a pint of Thatchers), the sound’s pretty decent and there are plenty of cool nooks and crannies to lurk about in if you want to have a natter (n between sets of course...chatting during a band's set should be punishable by death) or cop off with someone.

Okay, tourist information over with, on with the bands and first up self confessed lo-fi miserablists Honey Pot whose emotionally raw lyrics and downcast vocal delivery could well induce wrist slitting in even the most upbeat personality, but if you subscribe to the old adage that misery loves company there’s something strangely comforting about it all too. I’ve not been a teenager for, ooooh, over a quarter of a century or so but for many of us it’s both the best and worst of times and Honey Pot’s music bravely captures that sense of isolation and confusion (actually it doesn’t get much better as you get older but we’ll gloss over that) which takes real guts. Loved the Vini Reilly-ish guitar sounds too, ace.

Next up, with a song about ear wax amongst other subjects, Will Rene, who could well become a Hearing Aid favourite. Imagine Buddy Holly’s great, great, great grandchild crossed with Jeffrey Lewis, early Elvis (Costello that is) and then add a little dash of Adam Green and Jacques Brel (kudos to Will for his pacey cover of Brel's Le Moribond) into the pot and you might just end up with Will (now there’s one for the geneticists to try). Pick of the set, The Trigger’s Broom Paradox (presumably named after the classic Only Fools and Horses sketch where Trigger get’s an award for using the same broom for 20 odd years before proudly revealing that it’s only had 14 new handles and 17 new heads...) is typical of Will’s material (and, quite possibly personality), cramming in more words and thoughts than normal but somehow creating something rather wonderful. If you’re ever lucky enough to see him live (highly recommended by the way) ask him how many official Bond themes there have been...

I was watching a programme about girls/women in bands the other night and there was some debate about whether you should even mention the fact that a band is all female or not. Of course it really shouldn’t be notable in this day and age but the sad and confusing truth is that, out of the hundreds of bands I’ve seen far over the years, far less than half of them are all female or even have a woman in the line up. I’ve always thought this was an odd thing and no one’s properly explained it to me so I’ll carry on banging on about it until we have more girl/woman/female (delete as applicable) bands like (hence this rambling bit) Young Adventurers.  Riot Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrl meets indie pop and with a lead singer who’s clearly put in the hours in a tattoo parlour Young Adventurers made a glorious racket tonight with Pix(ies) of the bunch Song 4 brilliantly blending punky guitars with more melodic vocals. Ladies of the world pick up thy guitars and play! 

That should have warmed us up neatly for ShitPresent but sadly the last train back to the wonderful wibbly world of Whimple is 11.01 and it’s a 9 mile walk or a mortgage-tastic taxi ride back so we had to leave just as they were getting going which was a bit of a, well, shitter to be honest. I guess that’s what you get for choosing to live in the countryside (to be honest public transport in Brum’s not a huge amount better though). Anyone know of any cheap rooms we can rent for the night to avoid this catastrophe in the future?! Answers on a Shit Present 12 inch single to The Baron, Whimple, Under a Barrel of Cider.   

Shit Present...great line up!

Exeter's very own pop punksters Shit Present launch their brand new record this Thursday (November 5th) at The Cavern with support from Young Adventurers, Will Rene and Honey Pot (hmmm, wonder if they've ever played The Beehive...see, I'm all over this Devon gig lark already). Tickets are a ridonkuously cheap £5 or £8 with a shiny 12 inch copy of the new single (vinyl, it's the future).

Jim Causley...live at the Beehive!

Multi Folk Award nominee Jim Causely plays The Beehive in Honiton this Saturday, November 7th, quite possibly performing tracks from his forthcoming new album (Forgotten Kingdom) plus a smattering (at the very least) of traditional tunes to boot. Tickets are just £8 in advance or a tenner on the door...discounts for OABees perhaps? Sorry, couldn't resist that.