R.E.M. Belfast 25/02/05

Here is the set list from last nights gig. The highlight was Teenage Kicks played for Belfast, though Michael only knew the words for the chorus.

1. I took your name
2. Departure
3. Wake up bomb
4. Animal
5. Outsiders
6. So Central Rain
7. High Speed Train
8. Everybody Hurts
9. Electron Blue
10. Electrolite
11. Leaving New York
12. Orange Crush
13. I Wanted to be Wrong
14. Final Straw
15. Imitation of Life
16. The one I love
17. Walk Unafraid
18. Losing my religion


19. What's the Frequency Kenneth?
20. Country Feedback
21. The Great Beyond
22. I've Been High
23. Teenage Kicks
24. I'm gonna DJ
25. Man on the Moon
    

Ryan Adams- Cambridge Corn Exchange

Another oldie from the archives. A superb gig from early last year, first published in The Cambridge Student.

Ryan Adams Cambridge Corn Exchange 17/01/04

I have to admit, I was a little apprehensive before this gig. Which Ryan Adams would be coming? Would it be the witty, but music loving satirist of Rock N Roll, the charismatic, punk rock enthusiast who plays in The Finger? Or would it be the jaded lover we heard dwelling magnificently on heartbreak on Love Is Hell? Ryan is notoriously enigmatic. Last month in London he was at his electrifying best; head over heeling with his guitar, drumming for a bit then jumping in to the audience declaring ‘I’m gonna play all night! You’re gonna get your money’s worth, that’s for sure!’




However, a couple of weeks before that in Dublin he infuriated fans. Performing for just over an hour, NME describing the show said ‘When you’re this good, why try to fight it? It’s like watching David Beckham slowly chiselling his right foot off’. A sold out audience waited, eager to hear which Ryan had come to our fine city.

But first we had to wait. Everyone was excited, when a shadow passed the stage door a cheer went off. People whispered to each other about what we would see and clapping started to hasten the advent of the 29 year old North Carolina born troubadour. The lights eventually went down and New York born Jesse Malin took the stage with his keyboardist. Drawing mainly from last years’ The Fine Art of Self Destruction in a stripped down version, Jesse threw in two new songs and a wonderful b-side called cigarettes and violence. While new to many, he still had enough followers to sing a long to classics like Brooklyn and Queen of the Underworld. New to Cambridge he asked ‘This a college town, right?’ I didn’t go to college, I just liked playing rock and roll and getting f**ked up with my friends’. In his songs Malin casts himself as a typical outsider, a loner who ‘just doesn’t fit in’, a role he plays with powerful conviction, holding nothing back. About nine o’clock and with nine songs behind him he bids us farewell and we await Mr Adams.



Waiting is not something the audience do well. Impatiently shouting for Ryan, when he finally walks alone onto the stage the crowd go absolutely wild. You would expect him to capitalise on this and unleash an up-tempo anthem from his new record. Not a bit of it. He stands under a single white spot light with his acoustic guitar, fidgets a bit and starts finger picking. Everyone goes silent. We strain to try and recognise the first number, but this is a new song covering similar themes of rejection and heartbreak but my does he do it well. It’s always difficult playing unknown songs live and few would attempt it as an opener but we’re all wrapped up in the beautiful chorus of ‘one by one, we all fall down’. The band, the ‘Ryan Adams Killers’ gather round a mic for the last chorus and harmonise. They sit down when it’s clear Ryan’s doing this show alone. In a torn jacket, ripped jeans, thick glasses and messy dyed-orange hair he carries on solo for six more songs. Covering material from his previous band Whiskeytown, his Heartbreaker and Love is Hell records we’re eating out of his hand. So wrapped up in his own world he doesn’t even say a word to us or the band. It’s like he’s playing to no one in particular and letting us look on.

Ryan’s keen to show us all his colours. He finally lets his band join and they explode with his new single So Alive. Playing with his pedals, he squeezes every last drop of distortion out for rock out on the new album tracks. He kicks over microphone stands, staggers into band mates and solos behind his back. Then, without a word, he waves goodbye and leaves. We’re left feeling like we’ve done something wrong. We clap and cheer and shout for more. He obliges. Bottle in hand the quiet Ryan climbs atop a huge speaker stack and, playing to the crowd, sings two beautiful ballads accompanied on piano. Quiet Ryan sticks around for a bit more playing another new song and some crowd favourites. He leaves and after a ridiculously long break loud Ryan returns for more distortion and jumps into the crowd. 24 songs since he arrived, Ryan walks off the Corn Exchange stage for the last time. He doesn’t really need the band, by himself he is untouchable. However, his lack of communication tonight makes me feel like he kept us at arms length. This aside, he was a privilege to observe.

Lambchop -Aw Cmon

A couple of oldies from the archives now. First up is Lambchop's double album from last year. Not quite as good as Is a Woman but not bad either.



ARTIST: LAMBCHOP
ALBUM: AW CMON, NO YOU CMON
LABEL: CITY SLANG/ LABELS UK

Packaged together in one beautiful box you’d be forgiven for thinking that this is a double-album, but Kurt Wagner, the life and soul of Lambchop, is insistent that they are entirely separate identities. Like similar, but not identical twins if you will. Birthed from the same creative process, Kurt wrote a song a day for months in succession. Approached to write a live score for a 1927 silent film Sunrise, he found an outlet for his new material. Much of that score forms these two records, the playful Aw Cmon and its misbehaving brother No You Cmon. More daring and expansive than their predecessors, they feature extraordinary string arrangements, varying styles and rhythms. Aw Cmon is the more playful poppy one of the pair, which fans of Nixon will enjoy. No You Cmon is the, darker, irritable sibling with growling guitars and gruff vocals. Takes time to reveal itself, but its time well spent.

The saddest line

I was listening to Josh Rouse's great new record Nashville over the weekend and a line from My Love has Gone lodged in my head. It struck me as a particuarly sad line, Josh is recently divorced and he sings

'And I sleep with the TV on/ it's the only sound now love's gone'

Poor Josh.

Mojave 3- Spoon and Rafter

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The other morning on my way to work the sun was rising and, protecting me from the hustle and bustle of commuting life were Mojave 3. Their latest album, Spoon and Rafter is a beautiful, dreamlike piece of music, full of swirling guitars, synthesisers and rippling piano.

It carries on the theme of beautiful, inoffensive sound-scapes where Mojave 3 left off, with Excuses for Travellers and the lovely Ask Me Tomorrow. The opener, Bluebird for happiness is an epic nine-minute meandering song from someone who has had too much of the road and needs to “find a way back home”. Reoccurring themes drift in and out of the mix as gentle piano and acoustic guitar accompany Neil Halstead’s whispered mumbling, akin to Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. It sets the bar high for the rest of the album, and unfortunately it’s a bit too high. While the other songs are good, they just pass by. But I think that’s the idea, dreamlike songs that wash over you without even noticing, and at this they excel.

The album has other highlights, like Hard to miss you and She’s all up above with more fragile vocals and sparse accompaniment. If you take the album for what it is, beautiful music, you can miss possible flaws like the lack of inventiveness or hooks and enjoy it. But nobody slammed Pink Moon cause it didn’t have a rocker, and Nick Drake fans will love this.

Iron and Wine

Artist: Iron & Wine
Album: Woman King
Label: Sub-Pop

Aside from achingly beautiful melodies and soulful sincerity, the main attraction to Iron & Wine has always been the immediate and arresting intimacy of the songs. Samuel Beam and his sister created this feeling by playing very, very quietly. So the introduction of elaborate percussion, violin and electric guitar was always going to be a risky strategy. Woman King, the first of six tracks grabs your attention from the off with Celtic style rhythms and staccato acoustic guitar, reminiscent of the opening to Radiohead’s There there. The sound is noticeably different, yet unmistakably Iron & Wine. The album shows a natural progression from the threadbare debut of 2002's The Creek Drank the Cradle to a songwriter who is using new sounds and textures to add depth and variety to his musings. Thematically all six tracks focus on the various roles of a female in our lives; from idol to warrior, saint to monarch and lover to enemy. Reflecting on the mystery of attraction Beam sings ‘Thank God you see me the way you do/Strange as you are to me’ on the standout track My Lady’s House. Iron & Wine’s third offering follows the precedent set by their previous flawless records with vivid imagery and uncompromising creativity yet blossoming and maturing all the while.

A Very Long Engagement

I know I only cover music, but I went to see A Very Long Engagement at the Queen’s Film Theatre. A beautiful theatre and a fantastic film. A young couple are engaged, but separated by the First World War. He never comes back, but she (Audrey Tautou) refuses to believe he’s dead. The film follows her quest to discover the real story of what happened to her lover. Shot with all the style of French cinema, the set pieces are beautiful, the story engaging and the acting flawless. Like Amelie, there are so many delightful details, but it carries a much more serious subject matter. Go see it.

Townes Van Zandt

I name-dropped Townes Van Zandt yesterday and some people requested a little more info. So pay attention class, and soon you can impress your friends by speaking about one of the most influential fitgures in the history of alt-country.


“Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the world. And I’ll stand on Bob Dylan’s coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that!”- Steve Earle

Steve used to carry Zandt’s guitar case, just to be in his presence. Over the course of his 52-year life, Townes would have that effect on many. He was born in Texas and travelled around a bit, spending a couple of years in a military academy before ending up in College. The son of an oil businessman, his parents had high hopes for his future career. A travelling folk-singer was not one of them.

A rambler, gambler, hell-bent drunk and arguably the greatest American songwriter of his day, Zandt could throw a great party. Once he was teetering on the edge of his fourth floor balcony, leaning over for a rush.

“I wanted to see what it felt like, all the way up to lose control and fall. I realised that I’d have to fall, so I did’.

Slowly leaning over backwards he quickly landed flat on his back. People were screaming and rushing downstairs.

“I had a bottle of wine in my hand, I stood up and hadn’t spilt it. Then everybody rushing out knocked me down and that hurt more”.

In Houston Mickey Newbury, saw Townes one night and set him up with a recording gig in Nashville. These sessions yielded his debut record, For the Sake of the Song. From there Townes wrote and recorded prolifically, but it was Bob Dylans defiant anthem of the new generation, The Times They Are A-Changin that inspired Townes to take his job as a songwriter more seriously.

“That did it to me,” he exclaimed, “I realized, man, you can write songs that really do make a difference.” Suddenly Townes devoted himself to the idealistic mission of saving the world with a song.

He toured extensively and in 1994 released No Deeper Blue, his first studio album for seven years. He recorded it in Ireland with Irish musicians and sang every song, but only played guitar on one. A year and a half later he died unexpectedly, on New Year’s day, 1997, fourty-four years after Hank Williams.

He left behind a devoted following. Eric Anderson says “Townes was arguably the most important southern song-poet since Hank He had a lot of sympathy for the human condition. He wasnt interested in tryin to get rich or make money. He just wanted to play.

Reccomended listening: Live at the Old Quarter, Poncho and Lefty

Richard Buckner- Dents and Shells

Formerly of San Fransisco band, The Doubters, Richard Buckner now resides in New York, but mostly on the road. Dents and Shells follows 2002’s obtuse Impasse.



Artist Richard Buckner
Album Dents and Shells
Label Fargo

I was challenged by a friend that if I listened to Richard Buckner I’d never touch Ryan Adams again. So I bought his sixth full-length album, Dents and Shells. Buckner is claimed by his fans to be one of the most heartfelt and honest singer-songwriters around today. He’s crafted a sound built on low-key elegance and stage shows on noise-rock. Dents and Shells isn’t pared to the bone, there are some powerful full band tracks where he gets to raise his voice from mumbled whispers to make bold statements. Think Nick Drake and Townes Van Zandt, but with a more home-spun feel. It’s a grower, but I won’t be throwing out Hearbreaker for a while.

You’ll probably like Richard Buckner if you like the other artists on this page, and people like Sufjan Stevens and Damien Jurado. It’s straight up Americana, but done well. I find myself unconsciously coming back to it again and again.

Fargo Records

This weekend the fabulous French americana label Fargo sent me a package. It contained

Richard Buckner- Dents and Shells,
Shearwater- Winged Life,
Neal Casal- Leaving Traces, Songs 1994-2004,
Christian Kjellvander- Songs from a two-roomed chapel,
Andrew Bird- Sovay

The Richard Buckner album is great, but I already have it. Shearwater looks like it will turn out to be a beauty. I'll post a full review later.

Things In Herds- Everything has to end somewhere

ARTIST THINGS IN HERDS
ALBUM EVERYTHING HAS TO END SOMEWHERE
LABEL UNDECIDED RECORDS

Things In Herds are Brighton based Pete Lush and his associate, Miss Ping. Together they make music so delicate, beautiful and fragile that it should be enclosed in bubble wrap. Don’t be surprised if, while listening to it, you find yourself telling friends and strangers alike to ‘shhh!’ as you strain to pick out the understated harmonies.

Essentially this is a bedroom recording and production is sparse to say the least. Most tracks consist of Lush quietly finger-picking as an electric guitar low-down in the mix fills the resultant empty space. Pete’s voice quivers and shakes as he mumbles very sad songs very quietly. Yet it’s captivating. Feeling like you shouldn’t really be listening, Pete creates songs so personal and heartfelt that only a heart of stone could feel no empathy.

The limitations of low budget recordings surface mid-way through the album. As another song begins the same as the last, one yearns for some variety. But Lush is one step ahead of the game. ‘Like An Insect’, backed only by electronica reveals another side to Things In Herds before the whole album twists and turns in the final few tracks. Here Pete comes close to rocking out as electric guitars and even riffs rise up the mix. It feels like he’s breaking out from the claustrophobia of the first half of the album and telling it as it is.

It’s difficult to see how Things In Herds will progress on their first release signed to Scotland’s Fence Records. It could be more of the quiet first half or the more mainstream second. Whatever they decide, Everything Has To End Somewhere is a worthy investigation.

Ryan Adams news

Ryan Adams, the messy-haired, Carolina-born singer-songwriter has announced a bit of news.

He is to release three new albums in 2005 *Ryan Adams and The Cardinals*Cold Roses*4/19 *Ryan Adams*Jacksonville City Lights and *Ryan Adams*29

Opinion is divided in the music world over whether he is a self-destructive genius, or a a spoilt, whining brat. I happen to think he's rather good and eagerly await the new music.

Josh Rouse- Nashville

Josh Rouse is one of my favourite artists. He's a Nebraskan born singer-songwriter who, in his five albums, has delivered some of the best music Americana has to offer. Luckily for us, his new record is released this month.



Artist: Josh Rouse
Album: Nashville
Label: Ryko

Release: Feb 14th
Nashville, or ‘Music City USA’, is renowned for cowboy hats and fur-wearing dames with too much make-up. By naming his 5th album after his old home town, Josh Rouse is having an inside joke. This album is not ‘Nashville’ at all. Sure there’s a pedal steel and a violin somewhere, but no one’s going to line dance to it. "I wanted to show everyone that there’s some really great music coming out of Nashville’ says Josh.

The album also marks a departure. His previous two releases, Under Cold Blue Stars and the fabulous 1972 could have been dictionary definitions of a concept album. His latest release is ‘just a collection of songs’, but it feels like that, lacking the cohesion of before. They vary in style from the acoustic opener, to the guitar-pop single Winter in the Hamptons, with it’s incredibly catchy bap-ba-da’s, to the string laden streetlights, piano ballad sad eyes, and jazzy why won’t you tell me? Josh has always been his best with straightforward guitar songs, and not all styles become him. His attempts at grandeur sometimes miss the mark but other songs rank among his best. Nashville is the sound of a mature song-writer branching out and spreading his wings.

My first post

Welcome to aboutthemusic. Here I'll post all the reviews that I write for various magazines and publications. Over the next couple of weeks I'll try and put up all my archive of material including interviews, live shows and record reviews. If you can reccomend anyone to check out please contact.

I'll kick off this new site with what's rocking my ipod now, Woman King by Iron & Wine.

Artist: Iron & Wine
Album: Woman King
Label: Sub-Pop

Aside from achingly beautiful melodies and soulful sincerity, the main attraction to Iron & Wine has always been the immediate and arresting intimacy of the songs. Samuel Beam and his sister created this feeling by playing very, very quietly. So the introduction of elaborate percussion, violin and electric guitar was always going to be a risky strategy. Woman King, the first of six tracks grabs your attention from the off with Celtic style rhythms and staccato acoustic guitar, reminiscent of the opening to Radiohead’s There there. The sound is noticeably different, yet unmistakably Iron & Wine. The album shows a natural progression from the threadbare debut of 2002's The Creek Drank the Cradle to a songwriter who is using new sounds and textures to add depth and variety to his musings. Thematically all six tracks focus on the various roles of a female in our lives; from idol to warrior, saint to monarch and lover to enemy. Reflecting on the mystery of attraction Beam sings ‘Thank God you see me the way you do/Strange as you are to me’ on the standout track My Lady’s House. Iron & Wine’s third offering follows the precedent set by their previous flawless records with vivid imagery and uncompromising creativity yet blossoming and maturing all the while.