LIVE REVIEW : KEN STRINGFELLOW AT THE LEXINGTON 15/11/2012

Ken Stringfellow is touring Europe to support his new album "Danzig in the Moonlight". Since the demise of the Posies in 1998 after the release of their "Success" album, Stringfellow has been involved in a myriad of projects. First he got recruited to play keyboards with REM on their Reveal album. He stayed with them till trelease of "Around the Sun" in 2005 and the subsequent tour. In addition to his touring commitments with REM he still managed to :

- Reform The Posies with Jon Auer and release two albums (Every Kind Of Light and Blood Candy),

- Form a new band called The Disciplines with Norwegian musicians and put out 2 albums with them

- Record 4 solo albums (This Sounds Like Goodbye,Touched, Soft Commands and the recently released Danzig in the Moonlight)

- Double as a bass player and a tour manager in Big Star, which involved putting together tribute for Alex Chilton and his music after his passing.

- Be involved in a myriad of projects, wether as a musician, songwriter or producer.

How does the guy manage to find the energy to do all that, I haven't got a clue... Stringfellow usually plays solo going back and forth betweem Keyboards and electric guitar.He was playing the Lexington, a small venue that's located above a pub of the same name. For that night his opening act was a Scottish band called "The Hazey Janes" that played a fine half hour set. Stringfellow usually plays solo going back and forth betweem Keyboards and electric guitar but for this night he was due to be joined for a few songs by "The Hazey Janes". Having played solo shows for years and years, Stringfellow has mastered the art of grabbing the audience and keeping a hold of their attention. Thanks to the small size of the venue AND the very respectful audience (and bar staff), he managed to sing quite a few songs without any mic. He played almost all of the songs from his latest CD, most performed in a different way from the recorded versions. We still got some numbers from Touched and Soft Commands. "When U Find Someone" was introduced by a funny speech about Mitt Romney, Mrmons and gay rights in America. The Hazey Janes joined him on stage for three songs. First was excellent version of "Down Like Me" from Touched (Liam the lead singer and guitar player from The Hazey Janes perfectly reproduced the Pedal Steel Solo that's on the record). Following that, Stringfellow introduced 60's singer-songwriter to duet with on "Doesn'it Remind you of Something" which was followed by a rousing "Don't Die". The gid ended with a cover of the Buffy Saint Marie song "Ask Me No Questions". A really good gig by an artist who has just put out his strongest and most diverse album to date.

LIVE REVIEW : RODRIGUEZ AT THE ROUNDHOUSE 14/11/2012

Seventies Detroit singer-songwriter Rodriguez is making quite a fantastic comeback. After vanishing into obscurity for almost 30 years, he was invited to tour south-africa in the late nineties prompting a gradual comeback that culminated in the release of a documentary last year entitled "Searching For Sugar Man". In between those two events, there was live dates in the UK and the US andf the re-release of his long out of print albums by Light In the Attic in 2008. To show the effect that "Searching For Sugar Man" had on Rodriguez's popularity, you just have to compare the venue he played for his last London gig in 2009 (The Union Chapel) with the venues he was playing this year (3 nights at the Roundhouse and one night at the Royal Festival Hall). I managed to get a tickets for the 1st night at the Roundhouse. When I booked the ticket I was expecting it to be a Rodriguez solo show but discovered that he would be backed by a band from Brighton for the whole UK Tour. I had seen him on youtube playing a gig for KEXP radio in Seattle and the backing band was superb so I was hoping that the English guys would live up to that. Rodriguez arrived on stage guided by a minder, he's in good shape physically but his eyesight seems to be really bad. For the first 3 songs, he had a mic attached to his mouth but the sound coming out of it wasn't very good so it was removed and replaced by a normal mic on a stand.

The first impression I had was that the band hadn't had enough time to rehearse with Rodriguez. The bass player was doing a good job but the drummer and the guitar player were stiff. They didn't seem to be able to lock with Rodriguez's groove. Despite this shotcomings Rodriguez's seemed really pleased to be there. Highpoints of his first album got the most applause ("I Wonder", "Sugar Man", "Establishment Blues"). "Sugar Man" was described by Rodriguez as a "descriptive song not a prescriptive song" followed by a "be smart, don't start" slogan that got him a few boohs from several audience members. Originals were intersped with cover songs ranging from Franck Sinatra to Elvis Presley numbers. In-between song banter give Rodriguez the opportunity to share some really awful jokes (one about minnie mouse and goofy was particularly bad), but they were told with a kind of laid back charm that made them funny in the end. Best moment of the evening was his solo version of "Learning the blues" played during the encore. Hopefully next time he'll play the whole gig like that. I encourage everybody to check out his two records (especially the first one "Cold facts"), they're really worth it.

LIVE REVIEW : THE ZOMBIES ISLINGTON ASSEMBLY HALLS 26/09/2012

This year sees The Zombies celebrating  the 50th anniversary of their 1st get together in St Albans. After touring America this summer, they did a UK tour in September followed by a short visit to Japan. A rather hearty touring schedule for a band whose members are nearing seventy !!! I had seen them in 2008 performing Odessey and Oracle in its entirety at the Hammersmith Apollo with Chris White and Hugh Bundy from the original line-up.This show at the Islington Assembly Halls featured the touring version of The Zombies that includes founding members Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent, Jim Rodford on bass guitar, Steve Rodford on Drums and Tom Toomey on guitar.

The set list featured quite a few numbers from their latest LP "Breathe Out, Breathe In" which sounded really good early sixties hits and songs of Odessey and Oracle. All the material from that album was grouped together in the middle of the show (played in that order : "A Rose for Emily", "Care of Cell 44", "This Will Be Our Year","Beachwood Park", "I Want Her She Wants Me" and finally "Time of the Season"). Songs from Argent's and Blunstone's post-Zombies material were also included in the set. It blended well with the rest on some occasions ("Old and Wise", "I Don't Believe in Miracles") and less well on others ("What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted" and the repetitive "Hold Your Head Up"). The band was genuinely pleased to be there and kept thanking the crowd for coming over to see them. The only mishap of the evening was when Rod Argent made a rather insensitive reference to original guitar player Paul Atkinson's passing while introducing new recruit Tom Toomey. The gig finished with an energetic version of "Just out of Reach" and their cover of George Gershwin's "Summertime".

SOMETHING ELSE BY THE KINKS

 

In this month issue of Mojo Magazine, you have a feature on John Cale's favourite records where he cites Something Else as one of the albums he listened to on loop with Stirling Morrisson when the Velvet Underground was playing a residency in Chicago in 1967. That album was the one that got me hooked on The Kinks. When i first heard that intro with  "This is the master ah, nice and sweet" followed by tape loop noises and fafafa's, I said that's it, I've found my favourite band. 

 

The record works as a kind of transition, linking the urban themed songs of "Face to Face" to the pastoral universe of "The Village green preservation society". It showcases the Kinks's only real dip into psychedelia with "Lazy old Sun" (even though they had slightly dabbled with it before with tracks like "Fancy"), a track that with its tempo changes and detuning of guitars mid song gives you the feeling that your witnessing autumn turning into winter. Even though the album features different musical styles (Bossa nova with "No Return", Crooning with "End of the season", R'n'b with "Situation's vacant" and "Funny face"...), it feels as a work to be taken in one piece rather than song by song. The quality of the songwriting is absolutely fantastic with songs that match melody and masterful lyrics ("David Watts", "Two Sisters", "Waterloo Sunset"). You also get

 

Brother Dave Davies is strongly featured compared to previous Kinks albums. Round 1967, Dave was being launched as a solo artist. A solo album was being planned and "Death of a clown" was put out as a solo single (followed by "Love me till the sun shines" and "Susannah's still alive"). Each single charted lower than the previous one and instead of being put out as an album, all of Dave's tracks were scattered as Bsides or ended on the "Great lost kinks album" that came out in 1973. It's amazing how many songs from 1967-1968 period were kept in the vaults, when you add them together you could have had another really good album that would have fitted in between Something Else and VGPS (most of these tracks are on the 3CD reissued version of VGPS).

 

The album is particularly consistent but compared to it,s predecessor "Face to Face", it's maybe a little less memorable. In a way it is a little bit like VGPS, you feel it's good as a whole but apart from "Waterloo Sunset", there's no "great" highlight. If you buy the album nowadays you get a couple of bomuses that weren't on the original LP. High point in them is "Autumn Almanach", fantastic song that went right up to no2 in the charts when it came out (Strangely considered by Ray Davies as a "silly song", he calls Lola "the faggot song"). You also get the flop single "Wonderboy" that was released during the recording of VGPS. A couple of Dave Davies singles complete the picture ("Susannah's still alive" and "Lincoln county") with their respective B-sides (including the rather great "There is no life without your love" that features harpsichord piano parts by Nicky Hopkins).

LIVE REVIEW : MICHAEL NESMITH AT UNION CHAPEL 30/10/2012

Another London gig, another new venue ; Union Chapel in Islington, beautiful place !!! Its a converted church that doubles as a music venue in the evenings and a place that serves food for the homeless during the day. I went there last week to see Michael Nesmith (former "wooly hat wearing" Monkee). It's looks like the passing of Davy Jones (former Monkees lead singer) made him realize that he wasn't getting any younger and that he should make the most of it while it lasted ! It was Nesmith's first solo appearance in the UK since 1975 and he hadn't here since the tour he did with the Monkees in 1997. The demand was so high for tickets that the first show at Queen Elisabeth Hall sold out and another one had to be added at Union Chapel.

I had read a short review of the Sunday night show at QEH and I must admit it put me off a little. I was expecting the shows to be just Nesmith and his 12 string but he was playing as a trio with a bass player and a keyboardist. The reviewer also explained that most tracks featured pre-recorded music played from different laptops. Going to that extent and not bringing a drummer was a weird idea.

I made it to the venue just before 7pm and the queue was already 150 meters long. The gig was due to start at 8pm and there was no opening act. Nesmith and his two musicians started with a good rendition of "Papa gene's blues" off the Monkees first album. The song was followed by a long speech about  the laptops and how they were meant to be creating a sonic landscape that coupled with a short story told before each tune would help create movies for the mind. I must admit that by this point I was thinking, this guy is going to spend the next hour and half ruining his back catalogue and I've spent 30 pounds to see him do it...

And for the most part I was right. Lots of songs figured odd backing drum tracks that didn't fit at all with the mood of the song ("Tomorrow and me" from the "And the hits just kept on comin'" album was one of the casualties). Some of them featured overblown string and keyboard that burried the song impact ("Different Drum" was a prime example of that). Some other songs that were played were simply not meant to be played in that kind of format ("Rio", "Cruisin"). As Nick Lowe explained why he never played his hit "I love the sound of breaking glass" during his shows : "it is a good record but it's not much of a song". Not all was doom and gloom though, "Tapioca Tundra" from the "Birds, Bees and Monkees" album was done pretty well and we got a really good version of "Thanks for the ride" that featured the original pedal-steel solo played by Red Rhodes on the record (played by the laptops of course but put to a good use this time). The reviewer of the Sunday night show at QEH said he found the short stories distracting. In my opinion they were more superfluous than distracting.

The gig left me with the impression that the two musicians were brought in at the eleventh hour because Nesmith wasn't confident emough in his guitar playing (wrongly in my opinion). The bass player has been playing with Nesmith since the mid-seventies but the keyboard player seemed a bit lost sometimes and there were a few fluffy notes. Playing to pre-recorded tapes just added pressure to a line-up that hadn't enough time to rehearse. Even though you can praise Nesmith for wanting to bring some freshness to his back catalogue, you can't excuse him for ruining some of the songs in the process. I'm not the only one who thinks that way guessing from the surprising lack of web reviews for an artist who was playing two sold out shows in London.

LIVE REVIEW : RICHARD HAWLEY AT BRIXTON ACADEMY 03/10/2012

The gig thas almost wasn't meant to be. I had for some reason persuaded myself that he was playing the Shepherd's Bush Empire. When I arrived there I noticed immediatly that something was wrong as there was nobody around the venue and all the doors was called. Phone call to my girlfriend revealed that gig was in a fact at Brixton Academy (thankfully not on the other side of town !!!). I managed to make it there just 5 minutes before Hawley was due to sart.  The venue was almost full which shows that his profile is becoming bigger and bigger in the UK (especially when he played The forum a couple of months ago). Hawley was promoting his latest offering "Standing at the sky's edge" that is quite a departure from his usual style. Maybe as a reaction to the very orchestrated "Truelove's gutter", the new album is very guitar heavy with plenty of noise and feedback (you could almost call it shoegaze at some points). The stage was very nicely lit in colours that remind of the CD sleeve with half a dozen potted trees in the back (looked better than it sounds...)

 

Set-list relied heavily on new tracks and while the songs are good, you tended to get distracted by all the lenghty guitar workouts that close most of the songs. Hawley was im good spirits, bantering with the crowd and thanking us from coming to the gig and complaining about the people chatting at the bar "why would you want to pay 30 quid to chat for the whole night, they must be on the guest list). In the midst of the new songs, we got a couple of classics from the three previous albums ("Tonight the street are ours", "Hotel room", "Open up your door"). Hawley changed guitar for almost every song displaying models for virtually all manufacturers (Rickenbacker, Fender, Gretsch, Gibson...). The band was immaculate (they've been playing with Hawley since the beginning of his solo career) and they adpated perfectly to Hawley's "new style". For the gig at Brixton there was 2 backing vocalists but they didn't add much to the whole sound.

 

As special thanks we got a cover of an old blues song called "Waterboy" that Hawley introduced in a lenghty way, saying the song had been passed over to him by his granfather who had heard it played by an american singer during a strike in Sheffield in the 1920's. The gig ended with a triumphant version of "The Ocean".

LIVE REVIEW : 10CC AT THE ORCHARD THEATRE DARTFORD 13/10/2012

Second step in my discovery of the most beautiful cities of the greater London (after Croydon) : Dartford. I went there a couple of weeks ago to see 10CC perform at the Orchard theatre. The touring version of 10CC nowadays contains only one original member : bass player Graham Gouldman. The only thing that justifies the 10CC moniker is the presence of longlasting 10CC sidemen Rick Fenn on guitar (since 1977) and Paul Burgess on drums (since 1973). In addition to these you get new recruits Mick Wilson (singing Lol Creme's vocal parts and playing guitars, keyboards and vibraphone) and Mike Stevens (keyboards and saxophone). This line-up has been touring as 10CC and Graham Gouldman and Friends over the past 13 years.

As an opening act for the tour you get a mini acoustic set featuring several hits written by Graham Gouldman for other bands. Unfortunately they started playing at 7.30 pm so I missed part of it and only got a couple of songs ("For your love", "Look through any window" and a song off Graham Gouldman's new album called "Memory Lane"). After a short break the band came back to play the 10CC set opening the gig with "Second sitting for the last supper" from the "Original Soundtrack album" then proceeding to play one good song after the other : "The wall street shuffle", "The things we do for love", "Good morning judge", "Life is a minestrone"...). The real treat was seeing 12 minute epic "Feel for the benefit" from 1977's "Deceptive Bends" played live. We got a couple of lesser know songs too ("Sand on my face" and "From Rochdale to Ocho Rios"). Donna from the 1st album was performed twice, first as played on the recorded version and then A capella that was truly excellent (introduced by a short speech by Graham Gouldman where his tongue slipped : "we're selling, err no celebrating 10CC's 40th anniversary). The gig ended with an extended version of "Rubber Bullets" that included a somewhat out of place sax solo from Mike Stevens. The show was really good overall but you get a feeling that by billing themselves as 10CC and playing Oldies act venues like the Orchard, they're diluting the legacy of the band. I would still recommend it though.