Altered Images / Vanity Fairy @ Exeter Phoenix – Friday October 25th 2024

 

After waiting roughly 40 years to see Altered Images this was the third time we’d seen them since 2022. At this rate they’ll be taking out a restraining order against us.

First up though, Vanity Fairy, a one woman disco extravaganza (check out her outifits) with an equally delicious sideline in witty between song banter. Hot on the high heels of supporting Last Dinner Party she dazzled the early birds with an album's worth of instant classics. 

If Kate Bush had grown up in Studio 54...

Playing the whole of fourth album, Bite, Altered Images (although only Clare Grogan remains from the original band) kicked off with a particularly groovy Bring Me Closer which was only narrowly beaten by a sublime purr through classic Don’t Talk To Me About Love for first set highlight. Grogan’s in fine voice and form and it’s clear that she’s loving this phase of a career that started waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in 1979. Yes, really. 

After a quick break they returned for bangers old...I Could Be Happy and Dead Pop Stars...and new, courtesy of 2022's top notch comeback single Mascara Streakz. GWR cancelling the last train home stopped us from staying right to the end...oh the joys of relying on public transport...but too much pop perfection may well have proved fatal at our age. 

Mum Does The Washing - Joshua Idehen

 Just heard this on 6 Music for the first time. Clever stuff. 

In The Modern World - Fontaines D.C.

This track's been growing on me recently and the vid adds a little extra shaboom to it. The media covered a story yesterday about there being no nightclubs by 2030. Presumably pubs and small to medium sized gig venues face an equally uncertain future as prices rise, incomes fall and the threat of getting shanked up by a 12 year old off its bonce on cherry flavoured vapes makes people retreat to the safety of their own homes, keeping the real world at bay through video games, celebrity brain surgery shows and box set binges. Interesting times eh?  

Speed Reading - Maceo Parker

Here's a cut from the pick of this weekend's 10p CDs, Maceo Parker's 2005 album School's In. Yep...10p! What a time to be alive eh?  

Yo Yo - Rose Royce

Picked up a cheapo Rose Royce compilation from a charity shop over the weekend and came across this funktastic cut from the iconic Car Wash movie and soundtrack. Hot on its heels came this one...

With another 13 tracks it's not too bad for 50p eh? 

PS: Having hoovered up thousands of CDs over the past few years I've noticed that the volume and quality available in charity shops has dwindled pretty dramatically recently. It's not surprising, most people who had 'em in a box under the bed have got rid of 'em now....just as they did when vinyl fell out of favour. The majority of my fellow CD buyers still tend to be middle aged men (bless 'em) but over the weekend I was rifling through the racks next to a couple of trendy students who seemed besotted with the format. And who can blame them? You Tube seems to be fighting off the ad blocking software that's worked so well over the years and I daresay that you get ads every 30 seconds on Spotify too unless you spunk up a monthly subscription fee. Why subscribe when you can buy, own and play (in much better sound quality) CDs though? If you buy from charity shops, you're supporting good causes too. And, as I've probably banged on about before, CDs seem to be both retro and futuristic making it the ideal format for hipsters and hip replacement-ers. It's probably too late to accumulate a big collection for little money now but if you're passing a charity shop or car boot sale it's well worth a look. Happy hunting! 

Good Tradition - Tanita Tikaram

Following on from the last post here's another Helen O'Hara related track, this time from Tanita Tikaram who's first album, Ancient Heart, sold a piggy bank busting 4 million copies back in 1988/89. Helen played on the album and toured with Tanita back then and it seems as though she's still playing with her a mere 35 years later. 

If you're new to TT give this one a spin too...worthy of Leonard Cohen at his best. 

This Is What She's Like - Dexys Midnight Runners

Greatly enjoying Helen O'Hara's memoir, What's She Like, at the moment and if you have even a passing interest in Dexys it's an essential read. It's reminded me of just what a classic album Don't Stand Me Down is and its lack of success or critical appreciation on its original release (barring a few wise souls) remains one of the great musical mysteries of the 80s. 

Didn't Do That - John Martyn

Super cool, jazzy cut from John Martyn's 1981 album Glorious Fool, produced and drummed on by none other than Phil Collins. Another recent addition to the old CD mountain... 

Life Is What You Make It - Weezer

Slightly scuzzier version of the classic Talk Talk track that I heard for the first time on my recently acquired copy of Weezer's 'red album'...10p from a local charity shop. Yep, 10p. Good grief. 

Unloving Plum - Haircut 100

Well, it's only taken 40 years but at last Haircut 100 are back with a brand new track! Nice to hear some proper brass in a pop track again.  

Some Days I Drink My Coffee By The Grave Of William Blake - The The

More than 40 years into his career and a mere 26 since the last album Matt Johnson and The The are back to soundtrack England's seemingly inevitable decline. As you'd expect the anger's simmering away rather than being rammed down your throats, but that makes it all the more powerful. 

Nitty Gritty - Ricardo Ray

Classic slice of Nu Yourican funk that I came across on a compilation CD I picked up last weekend. If this doesn't put a wiggle in your walk nothing will...

T.V. Smith @ Exeter Corn Exchange - Saturday September 14th

Had the great pleasure of seeing punk legend T.V. Smith play a selection of tracks from The Adverts and his solo career at Exeter Record Fair last weekend. Picked up a copy of his brand new album, Handwriting, too. 

Highly recommended, especially the title track, a vision of the distinctly dystopian future that we seem to be rapidly stumbling towards...

Solar Powered - Ellie Finnerty

Love the new video and track from Ellie Finnerty and if you're anywhere near London TONIGHT you can catch her first ever show in the capital at The Sindercombe Social! It's FREE entry too, unlike her show at Wembley Stadium in 2027 when tickets will probably cost £300 a pop...

Moseley Folk Festival Friday August 30th – Sunday September 1st 2024

 

18 years since our first (and their first) Moseley Folk we’re back after a couple of years away (not even the number 11 goes as far as Devon, so popping to Mo Folk is a bit more of a mission these days than when we lived in Bearwood). No idea who these two lovely chaps either side of me were but they had fine taches.  

That special vibe (vibe…what is this…1990?) is still there and entering the site from bustling Moseley village still feels a little like stepping into Narnia. All three days contained enough gems to warrant the ticket price for the whole shebang but here’s my personal pick of the pops...oh dear:

Friday

The Black Country Cowboy film…with a live performance from the man himself, Mr Pete Boddis.

The Scratch – one of the rocking-est bands around right now dished up the latest anthem to going on the lash, Another Round, and, appropriately enough (given the resulting hangover), a powerfully funereal cover of The Pogues’ Sally MacLennane.

Flogging Molly – Another of Ireland’s finest – although apparently founded in Los Angeles (who knew eh?) – kept up the energy as the post work crew arrived bearing pints of ale and a burning desire to bounce the office out of their hair.

Beans On Toast – Love this dude. He just seems so genuine, nice and honest, freely admitting that he doesn’t have all the answers but making a strong case for a world that’s based on music festivals like Mo Folk. He gets my vote.

The Levellers – Despite going to The Lev’s own festival, Beautiful Days, every year I’m normally up at the Tiny Tea tent when they’re playing silently mulling over the dreadful prospect of packing up our tent at 7am on Monday morning. Oh the horror. So it was great to see their whole show up close and personal, including rousing romps through One Way and Beautiful Day. It was, too.

Saturday

Katherine Priddy – Ahhhh, KP, Mo Fo’s very homegrown folk f-henomenon. Always a joy to hear her play and not even swallowing a fly during the last number could stop her from delivering one of the most bewitching sets of the weekend. Full marks for George Boomsma (also pictured) for stepping in at the end to sings the last few verses. 

Vashti Bunyan in conversation with Lyle Bignon – Folk legend who made me want to pack up my bags and recreate her 18 month wander up to the Outer Hebrides, although she and I suspect that it wouldn’t be quite as idyllic as it was back in the 70s.

The Staves – Sisters still doing it for themselves, folk doesn’t get much poppier than this. That’s a great thing by the way. Despite the world outside Moseley Park turning to shit All Now still manages to make you feel optimistic.

Jon Muq – He’s from Uganda but now living in Austin, Texas…as he was very fond of telling us. The songs may be simple but some of the best ones are and Muq’s beaming smile sold the set to me.

CMAT – Quite possibly set of the weekend as Ciara (Mary-Alice Thompson…see what she did there?) literally threw herself into her performance with some top notch banter in between songs that blend such disparate influences as Country and Western and Kate Bush. Bonkers pop has its new princess. A Cyndi Lauper for the 21^st Century anyone?

Brian Lightning – Missed the start if this dude’s set but if I was still living in Brum I’d be there at every single show. A bit of Bowie, a bit of Jobriath, a bit of Scott Walker…it’s all a bit brilliant. One to watch.

Dexys – “Been down Bearwood…The Little Nibble?”. Sadly they missed out this bit at the start of This Is What She’s Like but they included pretty much everything else in a joyous hit (and should’ve been hits) packed set. Kev seemed pretty happy too and, at 71, that distinctive voice of his is still in fine fettle.

Sunday

George Boomsma – Last seen backing Katherine Priddy this was the first time we’d caught George solo and it was the perfect start to the final day of Mo Fo. By George’s own admission there’s a gentle melancholy to many of his songs but his vocal and odd bout of remarkably tuneful whistling casts a soft and reassuring light across every word.  

Niall Macnamee – Top notch between song banter from actor, singer/songwriter and all round great bloke. He wins the best song title of the weekend award too courtesy of the rousing Magpie With A Mullet.

Helen O’Hara in conversation with Lyle Bignon – Ah, so this is what she’s like. Dexy’s original fiddle maestro reveals some surprising myth busting facts about joining the band. Got to meet her and buy a copy of her autobiography afterwards too. Teen me would be beside himself.

Kate Rusby – Folk’s own Bubble from Ab Fab (and I mean that in the loveliest way…she really is a sweetie) Kate delivered one of the festival highlights with a crowd cheering romp through The Bangle’s Manic Monday.

Belle & Sebastian – Almost 30 years after falling in love with ‘em I finally got to see Belle and Sebastian live…and boy (with the arab strap) was it worth the wait. A much meatier proposition than in their earliest incarnations they dished up a masterclass in witty pop perfection and rocked the roof off the place. Yep, seriously. Stuart even pulled off a death defying mid set walk/wobble along the safety barrier and after 90 minutes they barely scratched the surface of a body of work that few bands get within sniffing distance of. A folking amazing end to the weekend.   

Beautiful Days 2024 – August 16th – 18th, Escot Park, Devon

I think this was our seventh Beautiful Days and…miracle of miracles…it actually stayed dry. Apart from a slight drizzle on Thursday night but we’ll ignore that.

Perhaps this wasn’t the strongest line up ever but all three days produced more than their fair share of musical treats, new and not so new. Here’s what we caught (as the loos were particularly clean this year hopefully we didn’t catch anything else…ahem).

Friday August 16^th

Our 28^th wedding anniversary. Yes, I know, I don’t look old enough do I eh?

Hotwax – Spunky, punky teen trio fronted by two girls of the female variety (can you still say that these days)...

...which was something of a rarity on the main stage in particular.

David Wax Museum – Lordy I loved this lot. 

One of my festival highlights. Imagine Paul Simon and Vampire Weekend on a day trip to Mexico and that’ll give you a tiny idea of how some of their tracks sound. I bought five of their CDs so they must’ve been good.

The Scratch – Another highlight! Irish rock, roll and soul with a percussionist who appears to be playing a box with a pair of greyhound’s legs. I may have had some cider by then though.

Lottery Winners – Indie rock with a dash of stand up. Played ‘our’ song, ‘It Must Be Love’...and on our wedding anniversary too. They must've known.

Moon Hooch – Highlight #3 of day #1, two scronkingly brilliant sax players and a drummer that must’ve been powered by at least a dozen Duracell batteries. It’s jazz Jim, but not as we know it.

The Saw Doctors – Second Irish band of the day, this lot are 40 years into their career though, as the crowd’s lusty singalongs proved.

Saturday

Holy Youth Movement – Despite an 11am start (what madness is this?) HYM attracted an impressive audience for their rock-tronica 

Yep, I’ve just made that one up. You’re welcome.

Pet Needs – The crowd swelled for this lot and I’m not surprised. Perfect pop punk singalongs with some slightly mellower moments to help you catch your breath back.

Up, Bustle and Out – Global dance music that deserved a much bigger audience than they got. So much on though and so little time to see it all.

Cast – First saw this bad supporting The Lightening Seeds back in 1894…possibly…and here we are 130 years later enjoying some of Brit Pops finest moments again. A Finetime was had by all…see what I did there?

Inspiral Carpets – Loved this set. Cool As Fuck. Particularly enjoyed the ghostly voice – no doubt recorded on a beer and baccy stained cassette found on a bus in Manchester – of Mark E. Smith on I Want You.

Mr Bruce – How does this man not explode? How can anyone dance with such energy and still carry on breathing let alone singing. This was one of the three seconds of his set when he wasn't leaping around.

One of the nine wonders of the world.

A bit of Richard Ashcroft – Clearly the drugs are still working.

Toyah and Robert – 

Mr and Mrs Fripp cover everything from Metallica to Bowie in one of the most fun sets I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen The Darkness play an 11am set at Glasto after a night on the pop.

Sunday

The Gulls – Why weren't these guys on later? Hell, why weren’t they headlining? 

Shut yer eyes and you could be at Woodstock in 1969…open yer eyes and, well, as you can see they look the part too.

3 Daft Monkeys – Legendary folk punksters play their first BD set for 12 years.

Kathryn Priddy – One of folk’s most beautiful voices with a mesmerising and maturing song book of current and future classics. 

You could have heard a pin drop in the Big Top, which is particularly impressive given the fact that we were standing on grass.

Pop Will Eat Itself – Almost 40 years after they formed the Poppies are back and sounding as rad as ever. Great to hear Touched By The Hand Of Cicciolina for the first time since 1990.

A bit of Stornaway and Hard-Fi…sadly not on the same stage though.

The Damned – Punk godfathers (and grandfathers probably) dished out the hits and camped it up a bit too, at least Vanian did. Highlight? A shout out to the “Dawlish massive” from Captain Sensible himself.

We heard some of The Levs set and bits and pieces of other stuff but spent many a happy hour chatting to some of the many lovely peeps that make up the BD crowd, which is one of the joys of a festival like this one. If I'm still alive and kicking I'll be back next year. 

You Must Change Your Life - David Wax Museum

Just back from our seventh (I think) Beautiful Days festival and it was a cracker. I may pop up a bigger post about some of the best acts but for now enjoy one of the highlights, David Wax Museum. Trust me, they're well worth a listen. 

I Want You - Inspiral Carpets ft Mark E Smith

The only track to have featured in John Peel's Festive 50 for two years in a row. I've not listened to this for a while but I used to have it on a self compiled tape in the car that got a right hammering every Friday night on the way home from work. One to play LOUD. 

Doctor Jazz - George Lewis

Jazz may be having a bit of a revival right now but, as far as I can tell, the Trad stuff couldn't be less fashionable. I could be wrong, there may some kind of super cool underground Trad Jazz scene in Hoxton but I doubt it. That's a shame when it sounds at good as this, a mere 71 years after it was recorded (and almost 30 years after it was written by King Oliver). Picked up this CD at the weekend along with a bunch of even older stuff. Jelly Roll Morton anyone? No? Oh well, just me then. 

Bells and Whistles - Bright Eyes

If Springsteen and Dylan had got it on in the late 70s I reckon their lovechild may well have been Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst. Check out their latest track and tell me I'm wrong.