Gig Review: Just Kissaway It All

The Kissaway Trail, The Hope in Brighton, 29th September 2010

The Freebutt has been told off for being too noisy. Ya boo sucks to sound leakage. While I signed The Freebutt petition and wish it well, The Kissaway Trail's gig relocation was bloody brilliant. The Hope is now a fabulous live venue. They've spent some cash on a real stage, have a proper lighting rig and even offer ear plugs for all at the bar. I have missed having a small homely gig venue in Brighton since The Freebutt’s terrible refurbishment. Yes, I bleated on about that back in 2008. The Hope now fills that gap. The 2010 setup completes it superbly.

Six musicians filled the stage, with room to dance, in the form of The Kissaway Trail. Perfect songs performed with heartfelt accuracy filled the room. Having spent two weeks in the chaos of moving and in fear of evil landlords, going out to a gig was a big effort for me. In exchange for effort, The Kissaway Trail played a wonderful soul cleansing set. I can quite honestly say they healed me. As I rode my bicycle in relentless rain, a happy contentment carried me home. My soul was blighted no more.

The Kissaway Trail played a number of tracks from the lovely album Sleep Mountain and it was with these they enchanted the room. Their cover of The Pixies 'Where is my Mind' was so sensitively delivered it added further beauty. The strain of vulnerability stole the room.

Don't let me mislead you, for far from being dour, The Kissaway Trail had a ball. They laughed, smiled and let themselves get carried away with their own fierce attention to detail and the great output it creates.

I particularly admire a man that makes it enviable to play two tambourines for an entire set. He played them amazingly well and was so full of life. The bassist was equally expressive. His face said it all. And what does a small homely gig offer? The chance to say "Thanks mate, great gig". To say thanks to the boys from Odense, Denmark, as they walked off the stage, down the stairs and then outside. We were all very thankful.

Fabpants Recommends:

Download MP3: The Kissaway Trail - Beat Your Heartbeat (courtesy of loftandlost)




Download MP3: The Kissaway Trail - SDP (courtesy of box.net)

Ten Thousand Things

Ten Thousand Things: the simultaneous connection and independence of everything.

When I said 'wig out' in the office the other day, the music lover I was gabbing to questioned me. "Wig out! Never heard of it, what does it mean?" I explained to the best of my ability. Then I enjoyed the paranoia of doubt.

Later, I checked online. I was wrong. There was an Emily-ism, so to speak. But damn, if I hadn't had to become an inept dictionary, I could have got away with it. At the exact point of the gig I was championing, the musician did wig out.

If you think that's the kind of coincidence that could blow an ant's arse off (yeah, right), since then I've read the term 'wig out' three times; twice in the NME magazine (one issue) and once on the Resonance FM website. Perhaps I'm the source of a word renaissance, or did I respond to a collective thought?

If there was a collective thought, I was a conduit, unaware of true meaning. I may have altered true meaning forever. Perhaps that's my role in my karass.

* A karass is "a team that do[es] God's Will without ever discovering what they are doing." [Kurt Vonnegut, Cat’s Cradle, 1963]

Gig Review: The Formidable, The Joy Formidable

The Joy Formidable and Chapel Club, Brighton's Concorde2, 11th October 2010

Oh Rapture! Oh Joy! Formidable!

The Joy Formidable ARE one of THE best live bands on the circuit. Of this, I have no doubt. They tour and they tour and they tour. What are they like? In one word: Magic! They have earned the right to so much more than headline the NME Radar Tour. Kudos to NME though. One gets the feeling that The Joy Formidable have been on the cusp of breaking through for a long time, but they're just too fond of small venues.

Just listen to The Joy Formidable's live album: First You Have to Get Mad. Live albums usually suck. First You Have to Get Mad does not suck. That's pretty big news. Recorded in September 2009 at The Garage in London Town, it sparkles, it inspires and it's like every TJF gig I've ever seen. One year on and they haven't lost the fervour. They love playing as much as I like watching – it's clear to see - and that's mind blowing.

Selfishly, I love the fact that The Joy Formidable can't fill a venue like Concorde2, even with Chapel Club double headlining. Concorde2 is a lovely venue when half full. It's a horrible sweaty hell hole when tickets sell well. I love being able to get down the front and grin straight into the eyes of my captor. I hate not being able to see their feet. One has to admit that as well as making a glorious racket, The Joy Formidable offer oodles of eye candy.

Okay, Ritzy Bryan (lead vocals, guitar), was right. Rhydian Dafydd's (bassist) lapels were a little pimp-ish, but I liked them. And to you rowdy boys that shouted 'gay' over Ritzy's coy offering of the term 'pimp-ish', me oh my, did she sweetly turn that one around for you? She undid your bad ways and didn't even point the finger.

My show highlights included:

• Ritzy's free range wig out. What a minx, entangling herself around her band mate's microphone stand and not giving a damn. Enter stage hands. The girl ain't gonna sort it out, she's too busy having fun.

• Ritzy provoking Rhydian with her axe woman guitar jives and hip to hip jostling, with Rhydian finally relenting to some joyous sparring at the final hurdle.

• The pedal board blowing and instead of leaving it to the stage hands, Ritzy dives straight in there. Her actions declared "This is my board, I know how it ticks."

• The tremendous drumming of Matt Thomas. This man is drumming his way into the earth's core. I think he might coerce the earth's polarity to swap prematurely while it attempts to dance.

• The band's pleasure that so many of us had downloaded their Christmas track last year (we must all be on their mailing list).

• The encore. Always please the audience and not the venue. Damn the curfew.

The Joy Formidable are charming, accessible, enthusiastic and amazingly talented. They charm, they smile and they banter. They create a sound, that while dark and brooding, is so intensely bright it melts my mind. They caress, they tease and they triumph. I would usually criticise any guitarist that masturbates with the strings on stage. Yes, the instrumental rock out. Yet – in my humble experience of their performances – Ritzy entered that zone more than ever. I forgive her. Why? She looked so damn good and so damn happy, and for the most part it was pretty pleasing on the ear.

As for Chapel Club, they've improved. Chapel Club's Lewis Bowman is a contradiction; perhaps quite genuinely so. This was more apparent at Glastonbury than during their 30minute NME Radar Tour set. On Tuesday, Jack-the-lad was Jack-in-the-box and a little more out of sight. Instead, of being a geezer, Lewis made middle class references to poetry. An outward character more at home with deep rich vocals and Morrissey-like posturising.

Judged against their tent in a field set, Chapel Club seem less like a wannabe broody cash cow, invented purely to claim the next dark alt.rock dollar and a tasty slice of stardom. While they appeared a little more genuine, I'm yet to be convinced. Bowman has the voice, but he doesn't appear to have the depth of character to back it. He's articulate, cocky and perhaps far too self-assured. Knowing words I can't pronounce, and enjoying a little Byron, doesn't mean his soul is deep or his lyrics poetic. But being cocksure will probably get him a long way.

Yes a bona fide geek, I picked up a The Joy Formidable set list! Here it is:

Spectrum
The Magnifying Glass
I Don't Want To See You Like This
The Greatest Light Is The Greatest Shade
Austere
Ostrich
Greyhounds In The Slips
My Beerdrunk Soul Is Sadder Than A Hundred Dead Christmas Trees
The Last Drop
Whirring

And for the encore, I believed they played:
Cradle
Anemone

Fabpants Recommends:

And we all sang along to this amazing track...

Download MP3: The Joy Formidable - Cradle (courtesy of theworldforgot.com)

Women of the World Take Over

This week is 'Fabulous Ladies Week'. Tonight I will be at the NME Radar tour for my fourth live viewing of The Joy Formidable.

Yes, I can't get enough of Ritzy Bryan!

How do I become Ritzy Bryan?
a. Play guitar like you love it, mean it and are it.
b. Fill as many pedal boards as will fit on stage and use them to create sonic delight.
c. Sing like a fallen goddess.
d. Grow a smart blond bob.
e. Be drop dead gorgeous with ease and never show you know it.
f. Take note of your audience. When they all grin at you, grin back.


On Thursday I am seeing Josie Long for my second live viewing or perhaps my fifth. I'm not sure what counts!

Yes, I can't get enough of Josie Long!

How do I become Josie Long?
a. Marvel at the amazing, and the amazing is often in front of your nose.
b. Use your stomach as a canvas, lift your top and show your art to the world.
c. Be coy about being funny.
d. Be coy about being clever.
e. Will the world to be a better place without being earnest.
f. Be the same in real life as you are on stage.

I like a gal who:

• With the morning sun, strolls along a woody pathway, snapping bracken and declaring both her ignorance and an impassioned desire to learn poetry.
• At midday performs to hundreds in the guise of a Bluewater shopper that 'goes up space', fielding questions about her ridiculously far-fetched astronautic venture.
• As the day closes, thoroughly amuses herself - on a stage full of drunken comedians - providing random backing sounds for a Killer Crabs on the Rampage reading romp. 'Wow, are we really doing this? It's amazing!' That face said it all and, yes Josie, you did.
  
  
  

Fabpants Recommends:

Smiling in the face of adversity. I'm finally free of bullying landlords. It's so bloody brilliant I can't stop tingling with full body smiles.

Download MP3: Jim O'Rourke - Prelude To 110 Or 220/Women Of The World (courtesy of helloyou.be)




Download MP3: The Joy Formidable - Whirring (courtesy of kickkicksnare.com)

Festival Review: Latitude 2009 – One Year On

I'm going to Latitude Festival tomorrow. I'm starting to get excited.

Nigel Kennedy is playing and I've been asked to push him into the lake that he's playing on. I have an honourable record for 'pushing people in' from my childhood days, and feel pleased that my talent has not gone unrecognised. SPLASH!

As much as it would be a hilarious adventure, I'm not sure if Nigel would see the funny side. Text the word YES to 66609* for me to push him in. At a count of 500 texts I'll do it. I feel confident, that due to my incredibly slow blogging pace of late (I am a manatee), I won't get one vote. BTW, if a real person is reading this and has voted YES, you may have just donated £5 to a Comic Relief account that closed in March 2009. Well done.

So, who did I see at Latitude last year? Well, a lot of really annoying 40+ drunk people that shouted through performances and wobbled in a way that gets less attractive and more aggressive with age. I hope that the 1980s flashback line up (Pet Shop Boys and Grace Jones) was to blame and this year the main offenders will stay at bay. They can shout in their living rooms. But then Nigel may draw them back! Or perhaps they go for the Radio 4 themed culture, and forget their manners after 7 ciders. Me, I prefer teenagers, wide eyed, less jaded and full of awe. They shout joyful quips to the bands and crowd surf, instead of ranting tediously to each other. I'm like a grumpy old woman that hates the generation she's heading towards! Someone save me.

Perhaps Latitude is not for me anymore, but the Sunday of 2009 was amazing. The aging rabble left early to nurse their reptilian hangovers.

I hold hope for an excellent 2010.

Stand out acts from 2009, included Jeremy Hardy who was really pissed off about it being his birthday and was as endearing as he was off form. Then there was Jeffrey Lewis who had an adventure getting to the festival, ended up arriving very late, played on his own and was bloody brilliant (more solo gigs please!). Fight Like Apes scarily bashed a big piece of wood on the crowd barrier and frightened me into adoration. Joe Gideon and The Shark were as amazing as at Glastonbury. I wonder if I could watch them every week and never lose my absolute awe. Alela Diane and Casiokids sealed my perfect Sunday.

Bring on East Anglia! Complete me with your flatlands, ragged dreams and festival finery.

Here's 2009...

Rating system (from very best to very worst):
Fucking Awesome, Ear Candy, Thumbs Up, Not for Me Thanks, Hideously Awful


*** Thursday, 16th July 2009 ***

National Student Drama: Touched
Theatre Stage
Ear Candy

Nobokov: Is Everyone Ok?
Theatre Stage
Ear Candy

The Now Show
Radio 4 Tent
Thumbs Up


*** Friday, 17th July 2009 ***

Marcus Brigstocke and The Early Edition
Comedy Tent
Thumbs Up

Kurran and the Wolfnotes
Sunrise Arena
Thumbs Up

Dan Rhodes/Dan Bird – Anthropology
Literary Arena
Not for Me Thanks

The Mummers
Uncut Arena
Ear Candy

1990s
Sunrise Arena
Not for Me Thanks

The Brownies
The Lake Stage
Ear Candy

Indie Ghetto: Various
Film and Music Tent
Thumbs Up

Posters Came from the Wall
Film and Music Tent
Ear Candy

The Duckworth Method
Uncut Arena
Thumbs Up

Bishi
The Lake Stage
Ear Candy

Kap Bambino
Sunrise Arena
Ear Candy

Jeremy Hardy
Literary Arena
Thumbs Up

Brain Patterson
Poetry Tent
Thumbs Up

Bat for Lashes
Uncut Arena
Thumbs Up


*** Saturday, 18th July 2009 ***

Alan Pownell
Sunrise Arena
Ear Candy

Dear Reader
Sunrise Arena
Thumbs Up

The Chakras
Obelisk Arena
Thumbs Up

The Boy Who Trapped the Sun
Sunrise Arena
Ear Candy

Joe Gideon and The Shark
The Lake Stage
Fucking Awesome

Emmy the Great
Uncut Arena
Ear Candy

Pulled Apart by Horses
The Lake Stage
Thumbs Up

The Asteroids Galaxy Tour
Film and Music
Not for Me Thanks

Le Donk
Film and Music
Fucking Awesome

Jessica Delfino
Cabaret Arena
Ear Candy

Spiritualized
Uncut Arena
Ear Candy

Jeffrey Lewis
Poetry Tent
Fucking Awesome


*** Sunday, 19th July 2009 ***

Marcus Brigstocke and The Early Edition
Comedy Tent
Thumbs Up

Thom Yorke
Obelisk Arena
Thumbs Up

Fight Like Apes
Sunrise Arena
Fucking Awesome

Alela Diane
Uncut Arena
Fucking Awesome

Casiokids
The Lake Stage
Fucking Awesome

Cape Farewell, with Marcus Marcus Brigstocke, Jarvis Cocker and Schlomo
Film and Music Tent
Fucking Awesome for inspiration if not for music

Slow Club
The Lake Stage
Fucking Awesome

Nick Cave
Obelisk Arena
Ear Candy

Childrens Book at Bedtime with Robin Ince
Literary Tent
Fucking Awesome

Faber: Pop Culture - Willy Vlautin & Kevin Cummins
Literary Tent
Ear Candy

Samphire Band playing Film Music
Film and Music
Ear Candy

Fabpants Recommends:

It has been brought to my attention that an Alela Diane track has never appeared on this blog. I will rectify this terrible error now.

Download MP3: Alela Diane - The Rifle (courtesy of pampelmoose.com)




Download MP3: Alela Diane - White As Diamonds (courtesy of naturalismo.us)




Download MP3: Alela Diane - The Pirate's Gospel (courtesy of agron.ntu.edu.tw)

Gig Review: She Wears a Paper House on Her Head

Men, Brighton’s The Freebutt, 16th January 2010

Oh, you New York hipsters. I stare in awe before you, as you bounce me up and down on your knee and say ‘Tonight, you can join our world’. Sometimes being in the right place at the right time makes you cool. Make the most of it, because it only lasts as long as that moment. On 16th January 2010, I was cool for as long as there were Men on stage.

Most of Le Tigre became Men. It was inevitable really. JD Samson (Jocelyn Samson) had grown a hard earned moustache and was all set to go. And what do girls do when they become men? They make brilliant upbeat tunes, encouraging radical freedom and a lot of bouncing. Locals hold boards up on stage offering useful instructions, like: ‘Fuck Your Friends’ and ‘SILENCE=DEATH’. We bop, we grin and then all week we imagine that we’re part of the scene that Men made. Can Brits ever be that hip?

Fabpants Recommends:

Download MP3: Men – Simultaneously (courtesy of theburningear.com)




Download MP3: Men - Credit Card Babie$ (courtesy of audiodrums.com)




Download MP3: Le Tigre – Deceptacon (courtesy of nightlife.moskva.com)

Gig Review: Er war ein Punker

Future of the Left, Brighton’s The Freebutt, 4th December 2010

Seeing Future of the Left was amazing. It’s always amazing. I was down the front, holding an idiot’s elbow out of my face. I sang along when they all sang along. My eyes popped in wonder while Falco’s eyes popped with effort.

Andrew Falkous is the singer and guitarist of Future of the Left. He should not be confused with the ‘Rock Me Amadeus’ Falco. That would be very wrong.

Where do Future of the Left find the energy? For some bands, a gig is more than a gig. It’s a chance to sweat, shine and almost shit with effort. Performing with great, unpretentious ferocity is an art. Future of the Left doesn’t entertain shouting or screaming. Ferocious singing sets them apart. It’s impossible not to be sucked in by the force of their delivery.

This is a band that uses footnotes on their MySpace blog. Acerbic wit is a wonderful thing. They are damn, damn funny. No one can deny warmth of character, when they have a song about a pussy cat, a very pretty pussy cat. The crowd bait the band and the band baits them back. Did I say they are damn funny, no sorry, damn, damn funny?

Support act Tubelord are evidently quite popular or they paid people to see them. It was a bit too post-Nirvana fallout for me, a bit too been there, and decided 'no' first time round. It’s a shame that their audience didn’t stick about. They might have learnt something about innovation.

Future of the Left lost a member this month. They say "How do we(*1) feel about it, as a band? Well, sad, happy, annoyed and relieved at the same time. Like human beings, all told." "(*1) Jack and I."

I feel sad. I feel happy because I saw them all having a great time together. When all three of them joined in with the crowd banter, it was at its best. They made each other funny.

SETLIST - as taken from the stage - gaffer tape an' all!:
Eritrea
Chin
Wrigley
Bones
Plague / Fingers
Manchasm
Satan (intro)
Manatee
Formers
Yin/Post Yin
Gygm
Dead
Hope
Cloak

Fabpants Recommends: The new MGMT album is fucking ace. I like to so much, I had to listen to it again, and then again. Would it be wrong to listen to an album four times in a row? Fuck the naysayers. Don’t believe the tripe. ‘Congratulations’ has made me wish I had balls for it to grab.

Festival Review: She'll Turn Once More to Sunday's Clown

I spent the weekend having the absolutely best time. How about you? I got stuck in a black hole, lost at 10-pin bowling, played pool like a bat and got pissed on by God. Butlins! It’s the best. Matt Groening, it turns out, is an affable bearded genius. He played the part of Mickey Mouse.

This all took place at All Tomorrow’s Parties in Minehead. The festival has my absolute seal of approval. Mr Groening it turns out is the curator of all curators. He offered his art work to limited edition tee-shirts and posters, introduced his favourite bands and signed bits of anything that anyone close to him could lay their hands on. The ‘get a doodle of Bart Simpson by his creator’ queue grew so long, they had to stop it. Matt would have gone on forever.

Matt Groening knows how to entertain. He provided two old clowns (The Residents and The Tiger Lillies) for cabaret, a band with seven drum-kits or more (The Boredoms), a heavily medicated manic depressive (Daniel Johnston and what I guess must be Tardive Dyskinesia tremors from anti-psychotics) and some fucking awesome ear candy (Hello Saferide, Hope Sandoval and Spiritualized). He also decided on the cinema listings and a whole TV Channel. If only I could be everywhere at once!

Minehead is a lovely little seaside town set in the hills, with quaint tacky offerings, a small harbour, and a welcoming array of shops. The beach is lovely. Butlins looms a little large, with its great white canopy, but it could be worse, far worse. All in all, it was quite perfect.

Rating system (from very best to very worst):
Fucking Awesome, Ear Candy, Thumbs Up, Not for Me Thanks, Hideously Awful

Friday, 7th May 2010

Broadcast, Centre Stage
Ear Candy
At times Broadcast were fucking awesome. This was an unexpectedly impressive set. They’ve come a long way since I saw them in London and John Peel was still alive.

Cold Cave, Centre Stage
Fucking Awesome
I didn’t stop dancing. The Cold Cave live show packs more punch than the school bully. Bleak vocals and lively tunes rule. I couldn’t ask for more.

Shonen Knife, Centre Stage
Not for Me Thanks
Shonen Knife are loved for their Japanese glam worship of our rock culture. It was cabaret with a hint of Raffi.


Saturday, 8th May 2010

Hello Saferide, Reds
Fucking Awesome
Two acts made my spine tingle at ATP and this was one of them. This is the second time that I’ve seen Hello Saferide. They were everything I remembered and more. Heart-warming songs performed with passion, belief and melody = non-stop smiling.

The Boredoms, Centre Stage
Fucking Awesome???
Blimey, what an impressive row! One drummer was carried to the stage on a litter, whilst bashing his kit in time with his pals. It got so intense, I had to leave. It’s no insult to the band that I couldn’t commit to the long haul. In this case, more of a hats off. Yes, blimey!

Danielson, Pavillion
Not for Me Thanks
They seemed nice enough, but I just wasn’t into them.

Lightening Dust, Centre Stage
Ear Candy
Lightening Dust make lovely music, and for once a female warble proves it’s worth. If only they’d held the warble back a bit, reserving it as a treat. Then, I might have stood in awe.

Konono No.1, Centre Stage
Ear Candy
I was transported to warm and humid African climes and it was delectable.

The Residents, Centre Stage
Thumbs Up
A madcap cabaret clown and some silly dark pantomime from an age old band.

Amadou and Mariam, Pavilion
Ear Candy
Welcome to Mali indeed. Mellow Mali tunes are good for the soul.

Thee Oh Sees, Reds
Ear Candy
Thee Oh Sees are jolly, enthusiastic and yelp a lot. San Francisco visited Butlins and Butlins said ‘Hello’.

Ponytail, Centre Stage
Thumbs Up
If Thee Oh Sees yelp, what do Ponytail do? They bark like a puppy with a foot caught in two jawed trap. For two tracks, the puppy’s ‘developmental disability’ status was on my mind. Then I heard a coherent sentence. After five tracks, I wanted to put the puppy down. I may have walked away, but I won’t forget it soon.

The XX, Centre Stage
Thumbs Up
I would love to say that The XX were fucking awesome, but they seemed tired and a little clumsy in their musicianship. Next time...


Sunday 9th May 2010

The Tiger Lillies, Centre Stage
Ear Candy
Fun, dark and dirty cabaret and clown number two for the ATP weekend.

Juana Molina, Centre Stage
Thumbs Up
A lovely sound, that was slightly lacking in inspiration. I enjoyed nearly nodding off to the sweet soft vocals.

Daniel Johnston, Pavilion
Fucking Awesome
We watched the Daniel Johnston documentary on Friday night, and it was very special to see him live. He’s a charming song-smith, and brave to boot. He melted the communal heart of ATP.

Hope Sandoval and the Warm Inventions, Centre Stage
Ear Candy
It was almost fucking awesome. When everyone left to see Spiritualized, I was rooted to the spot. The Mazzy Star veteran still looks 22 and has a bloody brilliant voice.

Spiritualized Performing Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space, Pavilion
Fucking Awesome PLUS
I soared. I soared. I soared. The album is a masterpiece and the performance was amazing. I’ve seen this band many times, but the last time I saw such a great Spiritualized show was at Hackney Empire in 1993. Hoorah.


Okay, I have one old lady style complaint about ATP. Some great acts were on really late, so I missed the likes of Liars, Panda Bear and The Raincoats. Next time...

Fabpants Recommends: My three favourite performances of ATP in ‘once upon a time ago’ recorded format...

Download MP3: Cold Cave – Life Magazine (courtesy of matadorrecords.com)



Download MP3: Hello Saferide - Long Lost Penpal (courtesy of itsatrap.com)



Download MP3: Spiritualized – Broken Heart (courtesy of achtungbaby.org)