Midlake Showcase New Album The Courage Of Others In Liverpool

Midlake

Williamson Tunnels, Liverpool, January 30 2010

Anticipation has a habit of setting you up. After releasing one of the best albums of the past few years, the triumphant The Trials Of Van Occupanther, it seems almost impossible that Midlake could live up to such high expectations on this mini-tour showcasing new material.

This gig had been sold out for months, and bears testament to the fact the Texan’s new album, The Courage Of Others, is one of the most eagerly awaited of the year so far.

Support comes from Sarah Jaffe, a fellow resident of Midlake’s hometown of Denton, Texas. She beats a noisy crowd into submission through the sheer strength of her bellowing vocals, and some lovely, yet simple, songs of heartbreak and romance.

The set is perhaps overlong for a support act, but a jaunty cover of Loudon Wainwright’s One Man Guy is a delight, and sees Jaffe accompanied amiably onstage by Midlake guitarist Eric Pulido.

The cold, dank and dripping Williamson Tunnels may not be the most comfortable of places on a snowy night in Liverpool, but the unique venue lends a sense of intimacy, occasion and excitement. Indeed, Joseph Williamson, the eccentric 19th Century tobacconist and original owner of the Tunnels, was a mysterious character who wouldn’t be out of place in a Midlake song.

As the beards and band piles on stage, having extended from a five-piece to a magnificent seven, there is a tingle in the air. Their new album is a significant departure from … Van Occupanther, with the chooglin’ keyboard-driven funk being replaced by a drone- raga take on classic English folk – although it is equally devastating.

It’s surprising how, played live, the beautiful and delicate harmonies of The Courage Of Others are given a muscular edge, by the wall-of-sound assault of the four guitars, without losing any of the original magic. This may be down to elegant use of the flute, which dominates tonight’s set.

Winter Dies opens the set, and frontman Tim Smith’s lyrics about the redemptive powers of nature and the destructive influence of man (a reoccurring theme of the night and the new album) are extremely poignant.

On the even more heartfelt Acts Of Man, Smith takes the idea to its logical apocalyptic conclusion. “When the acts of man cause the ground to break open/Oh let me inside/let me inside/not to wake,” he mourns.

Smith keeps up his morose exterior throughout the set, not once does the rapturous applause rouse a smile, and he barely utters a word, preferring to let the music speak for itself. And it certainly does that.

The level of musicianship is astounding, with every one of the seven members an integral part of the whole. Not one note is wasted. Extended jams at the end of songs threaten to break out into free-jazz odysseys. McKenzie Smith’s drumming is exquisite. His velvety percussion is reminiscent of the influential session musician Kenny Buttrey, who played memorably on Bob Dylan’s Blonde On Blonde and Neil Young’s Tonight’s The Night.

For all the brilliance of the new material it’s clear it will need a while to bed in before it commands the level of admiration of …Van Occupanther. And it is here we find the night’s true highlights. Roscoe is pure liquid music, with the playing becoming fluid and joyful, Bandits is gorgeous, the encore of Branches is a fitting end to the night and Van Occupanther is filled to the brim with pathos.

Overall, Midlake just about live up to the heights expected of them, with moments of absolute delight sprinkled throughout.

The set draws to a close with a rousing Head Home, and ensures that no one in the room could possibly go there without a spring in their step and a grin fixed firmly in place.


*Originally published on Purple Revolver website here.
*Photos courtesy of Mark England a.k.a The Eyeball Kid.

Midlake Rise To The Occasion On New Album

Midlake
The Courage Of Others

According to chaos theory, complexity can spontaneously form out of simplicity. And so Midlake spin a dense and intricate web with awe-inspiring ease on their third album. The Texans should be treasured for following the peerless The Trials Of Van Occupanther with a record that’s indebted to traditional English folk music, yet still wholly and uniquely their own. The immediate funk of Roscoe may be missing but The Courage Of Others is brimming with somnolent harmonies and inventive, yet uncomplicated, instrumentation; and, best of all, it’s built to last. The warm, enveloping, hypnotic spell it weaves may well be the perfect sound to hibernate to, but come the spring it will still be on The Idiot’s stereo. And in the summer, autumn, winter and spring again, for that matter.

4.5/5

* Originally published in the February 2010 issue of The Fly and can be viewed here.

Two Door Cinema Club Much Hyped Debut Album Reviewed

Two Door Cinema Club

Tourist History

If ever an album was aching for a bland endorsement from the Jo Whiley Edith Fearne Cotton brigade, it’s Tourist History. The lolloping rhythms, anthemic choruses, frenetic beats and spiky guitars are a Radio 1 listener’s wet dream. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. The debut from the Northern Irish trio Two Door Cinema Club – the surprise package of the BBC Sound Of 2010 longlist – is crammed with three-minute pop nuggets. And at 32 minutes it zips by enjoyably enough. However, there’s a nagging all-too-familiar feeling, with more than a nod to Foals, Bloc Party, Franz Ferdinand, Editors, Vampire Weekend and The Futureheads – and even a dash of emo. In the end it may only be a pastiche, but at least it’s a pretty decent one.

3/5
* Originally published in March 2010 issue of The Fly, out now.

Mastodon: For Those About To Rock We Salute You

Mastodon

Academy 1, Manchester, February 20, 2010

Duke Ellington said there are only two genres of music: good, and the other kind. He wasn’t wrong. Mastodon aren’t merely a metal band, they’re simply one of the best rock ’n’ roll bands around today.

The slow grinding chords of Oblivion, the first song of the set, and the opening track of Crack The Skye, their most recent album, are greeted with an orgasmic cheer. Brann Dailor’s drumming getting gradually more intense, building a sense of impending doom, before the eventual release when the track bursts into glorious life. The all-consuming noise is so mesmerising that only a small mosh pit forms, with everyone else left slack-jawed in awe.

The rest of the record follows in its entirety. It’s heavy, daring, progressive and downright adventurous music. The songs are complex and densely layered, but what stands out is they are, ultimately, wholly listenable, accessible and deeply satisfying. As well as being aurally sating the night is a visual feast, with the eyes greedily gobbling up everything on offer. Brent Hinds’ playing is stunning; mixing dizzying picking and soaring melodies, as his and Bill Kelliher’s dual guitars unleash hell. Troy Sanders vocals are guttural, yet crystal clear, but it’s Dailor’s propulsive, polyrhythmic percussion that is the blazing highlight, keeping the whole performance watertight, and ballasted.

Above all this, a huge screen shows a bizarre film telling the story of Crack The Skye. You know, it’s the classic tale: paraplegic boy has an out-of body experience, flies too close to the sun, his spirit being summoned to Tsarist Russia by Rasputin before he’s assassinated (Rasputin, not the boy), leaving him to find his way back home.

The Last Baron is insane; the high point in a gig full of them. It closes the set with a 15-minute odyssey that changes tempo and time signatures with abandon.

After a couple of minutes Mastodon return to the stage and plough through their back catalogue, with songs from Blood Mountain and Leviathan rattling by at break-neck speed. As nerve shattering as they are, it also shows how far the band has progressed, and hints at the future. The possibilities are frightening.



*Photographs courtesy of Frank Ralph, used with permission
*Review originally for The Fly and can be viewed here.

Gil Scott-Heron Returns: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised But It Will Be Streamed

After a grim decade of addiction and prison, the man who is said to have influenced a whole generation of hip-hop artists is back with a new album of covers, samples and fresh material.

It's quite slight at just under 30 minutes, but is extremely accesible after only one listen. I'm New Here is a collection of poems, spoken-word pieces and songs, with some grimy, minmalist beats.

Best known for political themes that tried to get under the skin of '70s and '80s America, such as The Revolution Will Not Be Televised and B Movie. I'm New Here (the song of the same name, an interesting Smog cover) concentrates on Scott-Heron's personal demons rather than anything overtly political.

Initial highlights are: Me And The Devil, an electronic soundscape is an modern reworking of Robert Johnson's Faustian pact; and New York Is Killing Me, a new Scott-Heron composition with some complex handclaps.

Battling a crack-cocaine addiction Scott-Heron was approached, while in New York's Rikers Island Prison, by XL record label boss Richard Russell in 2006. I'm New Here is the result and can be streamed in full at Scott-Heron's website, or just below the break. And below that is an interesting interview with Scott-Heron by Mark Coles on the BBC World Service.

Jay Reatard Died Of An Overdose

Breaking news from America where the Memphis musician Jay Reatard's autopsy results have been released. From the Memphis Commercial Appeal: "Autopsy results released this morning in the death of Memphis musician Jay Reatard reveal that he died from 'cocaine toxicity, and that alcohol was a contributing factor in his death,' according to Shelby County Medical Examiner Karen E. Chancellor."

The 29-year-old Reatard - real name Jimmy Lee Lindsey Jr. - was found dead January 13 in his home.

Here is an excellent, short documentary about Jay Reatard directed by Alex Ham­mond and Ian Markiewicz. The scene where he talks about why he makes album is especially poignant given the circumstances.

Waiting For Something - a short documentary about Jay Reatard

Jay Reatard | MySpace Music Videos

Fever Ray Gives A Lesson On Acceptance Speeches

You can't beat the Scandinavians for straight-up weirdness. Here is Swedish nutter Karin Elisabeth Dreijer Andersson (a.k.a Fever Ray and one half of The Knife) accepting an award. What for is anybody's guess? Answers on a postcard please.