![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
kineticfactory's journalCreate a LiveJournal Account Learn more
|
You are viewing kineticfactory's journal Create a LiveJournal Account Learn more | Explore LJ: Life Entertainment Music Culture News & Politics Technology |
 | |||||
|
I saw what will almost certainly be my last ever Lucksmiths gig last night.* And my second-last-ever one the night before. They played at the Luminaire on Tuesday night, and the Scala last night. The audience was a mixture of expatriate Australians (not the bogans you find here who consider JJJ to be "alternative", the good ones) and the usual indiepop kids from London and all over England. They played a lot of their songs, and I was chuffed to hear my favourite one, Transpontine, on Tuesday. I took my cameras, of course, and also took an audio recorder I recently bought. The nice thing about it is that it fits into a top jacket pocket with only the twin microphones unobstrusively protruding, and can get quite passable recordings. Anyway, here's a video from the Luminaire gig, with audio from the audio recorder. There was an afterparty at the Lexington (a bar/pub/venue where a lot of the twee pop kids and Upset The Rhythm lo-fi noise hipsters hang out these days); I went there, and stayed until 3am, getting home as it was getting light. Anyway, it was great to see them again, and a bit sad that a Melbourne institution is coming to an end; it's like the Punters' Club all over again. * Well, not counting the possibility of my finding myself unexpectedly in Australia in the next few months, or indeed the possibility of them reforming in 20 years' time and playing a tour for former Fitzroy/Carlton coolsies, now working as executives in publishing firms and managers at arts institutions.
|
|||||
| |||||
|
One thing you can do more easily in Britain than in Australia is hop on a train to see a band in another town later that evening; partly because Britain has trains which run at more or less reasonable frequencies and partly because there are other cities with interesting music scenes within two hours' travelling time. Anyway, this is what I did last night, going up to Derby to see The Deirdres' possibly last ever gig. (Well, last before three of their members go abroad for some months.) Having heard about it at somewhat late notice, all the cheap tickets for the direct train were long gone, and so I booked a ticket on a cheaper route, which involved catching a train going towards Carlisle, getting off at Tamworth (a small town in the Midlands where two railway lines cross each other at a split-level railway station), and catching the next train to Derby. I did this, arriving at about 20:30, and catching a cab to the B&B I was booked into. (The B&Bm, incidentally, was alright; I booked a small attic room for £20, and this was good enough. Though the wireless internet they advertised seemed to be switched off at night, and the "full English breakfast" included in the cost took so long that I ended up leaving without it to catch my train.) Anyway, the Deirdres gig was great. It was all themed around things that hibernate, and at the door, one had to name something which hibernates, which would then be drawn on one's wrist in lieu of a stamp. The band members were all in appropriately themed animal costumes; there was a caterpillar/butterfly, a hedgehog, a bear, and a few others. (One member, Keir, was out of costume; his costume was meant to be a computer, but apparently broke; he said it was because it was a Windows PC and not a Mac.) Their performance was much like the others I have seen; on the surface, it looked ramshackle and chaotic, but the musicianship holding it together was impressively tight, and, of course, there was the usual exuberantly ecstatic vibe to it, not too unlike I'm From Barcelona (only without the balloons or confetti). They also screened the debut of the video of Milk Is Politics, between the second and third support bands. The video's theme has little to do with the song title or its lyrics, instead being a somewhat twee, slightly silly adventure concerning eggs. It's pretty much what you'd expect a Deirdres video to look like, and is rather ace. Btw, Gemma and Sophie of the Deirdres are going to be in Melbourne for two months (from January to the start of March); hopefully they'll get to do some gigs then. (I could totally see them on a bill with, say, Aleks & The Ramps or The Motifs.)
|
|||||
| |||
|
This evening, I trekked out to deepest darkest Richmond to see Momus' performance at the Richmond Lending Library. (This was the second ever performance in a public library I had seen; the previous one was also by Momus, only somewhere around Balham or Tooting, in the southernmost reaches of the Northern Line.)  This performance, which I only found out about yesterday, was ostensibly about the restless spirits trapped inside books. Momus (attired all in black, including a hood) introduced himself as "Hieronymus Proctor", a Scottish spiritualist, and then invited attendees (of whom there were perhaps 10) to choose books at random and read a sentence from them, which he then would spin into a tangent, philosophical reflection or evidence of eldritch and unholy things beyond the veil between worlds. Oh, and he also performed a few songs, including Beowulf, and a new piece he's working on with one of the chaps from Gay Against You. The new piece sounded really good, btw; a bit like Talkshow Boy or something. I look forward to hearing the album. Momus will be back in London in late June, when he will be wandering the south bank of the Thames and telling tourists that they're in Tokyo or something like that. Which should be worth going along to.
|
|||
| |||||
|
The Pikelet gig went really well. We didn't sell out, but we filled the room comfortably, and there was a very good vibe there. People were really enjoying the music, both the support acts (Red Bulldozers and The Crisps) and Pikelet herself (the room was completely silent as she played, and when she finished each song, there was mass applause). The acts themselves: Red Bulldozers (aka local singer-songwriter Ken Chu) was pretty good, in an understated way, though played a rather brief set, not being able to get his laptop working for some of the backings and thus doing mostly guitar-based numbers. He played quite skilfully, and should be one to watch. The Crisps were pretty good, in a slightly folky sort of way. And Pikelet was amazing to behold; she would sit down in front of the microphone, grab a floor tom, tap out a rhythm, and when the loop pedal played it back, tap out something else on a snare, or add some guitar or accordion or vocal harmonies (often in several layers), thus building up a wall of sound, which she would then sing a song over. As you can imagine, all conversation had stopped as people watched what she'd do next. teamwoolf came by and did an ace job at the door/merch table; thanks. Meanwhile, I spent most of the gig in the DJ booth, spinning tunes between sets. ( here's what I played ) But yes, it was a great night. Anyway, for those who missed it, Pikelet's playing support for Darren Hanlon on Wednesday night; if you want a ticket, hurry, as it's going to sell out.
|
|||||
| |||
|
Here are details of the gig I'm putting on: ( 16/5/2007: a night of electropop in North London )
|
|||
| |||
|
This evening, I went to see the DJ/VJ duo Coldcut's tribute to Robert Anton Wilson. It was at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, a 1960s-vintage concert hall near Waterloo Station. The audience filtered into the theatre, where one of the members of the outfit (the chap who, with his shaved head and vermillion robes looked somewhat shamanic) DJing on a set of decks on stage, just playing a DJ set. Then the lights went down and the curator of the Ether series (a series of electronic-music performances of which this was a part) went on and gave an introduction. He then introduced an older gentleman with splendidly bushy eyebrows, who turned out to be Kenneth Campbell, the author/producer of the original 1977 (or so) play of Illuminatus!. He recounted a number of anecdotes: how the play came about (after another chap found the part of Liverpool which Carl Gustav Jung dreamt of, acquired a property there and established the Liverpool Science Fiction Theatre), how his old Latin master, quite a character in himself, ended up doing much of the scripting, and more. He was an entertaining raconteur. Then he left the stage and the music came on: it was a mix of ambient electronica, with elements of dub and shoegazer, and fragments of Wilson's lectures/recordings dubbed over that, along with topical visuals, processed, layered and mashed up in quintessential Coldcut fashion. The music was divided into four segments, with different themes: Wilson's life, conspiracies, reality tunnels, Timothy Leary's 8-circuit model of human consciousness, Aleister Crowley, Terence McKenna's 2012 singularity, and so on. In between the segments, Campbell came out and talked more, introducing other guests. The first was the set decorator of his play, who legendarily went out to get some Araldite and then disappeared, and who was none other than Bill Drummond. He went on, seeming perhaps a bit drunk, and talked about how Illuminatus! seems to have affected his life despite him not intending it to; he mentioned rereading it recently (after getting the commission to appear tonight), and finding it a different book than when he read it in the 70s and 80s. Then on came Alan Moore, who sat down and read a passage from Masks of the Illuminati (the drug trip at the end, where Crowley doses Joyce and Einstein with some psychoactive substance), and later a poem about Wilson and his life and work (which, I presume, he wrote for the occasion). Anyway, it was very interesting, both the talks and anecdotes and the music and visuals. Now I'm thinking I should reread my copies of Illuminatus! and Cosmic Trigger. (The fact that they're in storage in Australia doesn't help, though.)
|
|||
| |||
|
I'm From Barcelona were ace. It was much as the previous gigs, only with a few more new songs. They had the whole spectacle: the entrance to the sound of a Queen sample, the several enormous balloons inflated and thrown into the crowd, who kept them flying like a game of volleyball, the bags of confetti. The band were attired in their slightly cartoonish hipsterwear, and Emanuel was his usual charismatic self, even crowd-surfing on one occasion. The new songs were pretty good; there was one (just performed by 3 members) about making friends with grizzly bears (influenced by the film The Grizzly Man), and one inspired by The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou; and the band got up to their old tricks and broke into reggae towards the end of one song. There was lots of audience participation, with the audience being invited to sing certain words, clap, and play kazoos, as well as batting balloons around. There was a really friendly vibe. The support band, Irene, were excellent as well; somewhat smaller, and not quite as over-the-top, but in a similarly joyous indiepop vein. I want to know what they put in the water in Sweden, and where I can get some.
|
|||
| |||||
|
This evening, I went to the Piano Magic/July Skies/Epic45 gig at the Luminaire. It was great; all three bands are really good (if you like atmospheric shoegazey music). July Skies played some songs from The English Cold, their concept album about the shadow of war over the English countryside in 1939, as well as some new songs which will end up on a new album, due out next year (finances permitting). The new songs were pretty good, and I look forward to hearing the new album. The Piano Magic set was great. They started off with I Am The Sub-Librarian, following into No Closure, and taking it from there. Think driving grooves, vocal harmonies and the odd wall of oddly melodious howling guitar. One new song they had was titled England's Always Better (as you're pulling away), which started off sounding a bit like Black Box Recorder and then went into somewhat darker Piano Magic territory; it was basically their attempt at that classic theme, the malaise-at-the-heart-of-Englishness song. As this was their 10th anniversary gig, there was a brief interruption between songs as some members of the audience presented the band with a chocolate cake (which, after the gig, was cut into slices and made available at the bar) and sang Happy Birthday. Then the band resumed, playing Password (complete with its massive buildup of an ending).
|
|||||
| |||||
|
Ninetynine live in Reykjavík: Polar Angle, and Wöekenender. They look less blurry in real life.
|
|||||
| |||
|
I'm From Barcelona - "Treehouse" (from Thursday's gig) Enjoy. ( technical details of the YouTube conversion process )
|
|||
| |||
|
Apparently Jens Lekman is playing in Melbourne at the St. Jerome Laneway Festival on the 26th of February. Update: He's also doing a gig at the Northcote Social Club on the 11th of March.
|
|||
| |||
|
I went to the Bull and Gate last night, as a friend's band (Suzerain) were playing. I caught the last two bands: Veto Silver were pretty good; they call themselves "electro fuelled art pop" sound like something from the early 80s; Duran Duran meets Depeche Mode or somesuch, and looked like a more fashiongoth Interpol. Their songs, music and stage presence were consistently strong, with a good grasp of the (synth-)pop sensibility. Anyway, I've ordered their EP (from this label), and also ordered the "Robopop Volume 1" compilation the label has, which has among others Alpine Stars, Client and Baxendale. Suzerain were pretty good too; they're somewhere between Bowie, Duran Duran and Hot Hot Heat or something. They played mostly new songs (well, newer than the last time I saw them, which was a while ago). I took my camcorder with me to film the gig, though ran out of batteries so didn't film much of it. I have about 1 3/4 Veto Silver songs and 3/4 of the first Suzerain one, waiting to be pulled off a DV tape. I haven't looked through it properly, but the video and sound seems to have turned out remarkably well; it's good that they're putting proper microphones in camcorders (as opposed to the piece-of-shit ones they put in still cameras that do video).
|
|||
| |||
|
It looks like Stereolab are playing at Koko on the 14th of April. No word on tickets yet; it appears to be their only UK date. They're doing a lot of US dates before that, followed by Berlin and Paris. No word on Australia.
|
|||
| |||
|
I trekked down to Brixton last night to see Suburban Kids With Biblical Names. They were really good; classic indie pop with jangly guitars, trumpets, bongos, catchy melodies and harmonies, and sufficiently unusual/tricky rhythms and arrangement to keep things interesting. I picked up one of the 3 copies of their CD they had with them, and am listening to it now. (There are so many good bands coming out of Sweden these days. Let's see: SKWBN, Jens Lekman, The Radio Dept. and Sambassadeur, to name just four.) The other bands were OK too; Farfarlo were decent indiepop circa Sounds-of-Leamington-Spa, though some say they're in danger of turning Coldplay-smooth* and bland (I only saw a few of their songs, though). The Bleeding Hearts were OK though unexceptional; the most remarkable thing about them was that the frontman looked like Nosferatu crossed with Marilyn Manson, which didn't at all go with the music. Michaelmas were fun again, reminding me a bit of The Rumours. The DJ also played the new Belle & Sebastian single. To my ears, it sounds a bit like * Talking point: Are Coldplay, Keane and Badly Drawn Boy are the inevitable logical consequences of C86/Sarah Records-style twee/non-macho indiepop? Discuss.
|
|||
| |||
|
It looks like both Camera Obscura and Broken Social Scene are sold out for tomorrow night. There are still tickets for LCD Soundsystem on the 7th. Are they worth seeing live? In particular, are they worth £17.50 and a trip to Brixton? And the following night, Suburban Kids With Biblical Names are playing at the Windmill.
|
|||
| |||
 Last night, I rounded off the frantic week of gig-going with a visit to a night named Don't Look Down, at Barfly, to see Robots In Disguise. They were enjoyable, dancing around, mock-fighting, playing guitar and bass and singing over a backing track and visuals coming off a DVD. They were not unlike Chicks On Speed, or perhaps Le Tigre, in concept; one part crunchy rock riffs, one part danceable electronic sequences, and deliberately rough and unpolished vocals.I can think of about 3 or 4 Melbourne bands I could see them on a bill with.
|
|||
| |||
|
Tonight, I went to the Marquee Club and saw Client and Sing-Sing. Sing-Sing, aka Emma Lush's new band, played an acoustic set. They have now grown to four members (Lisa on vocals, Emma on guitar/backing vocals, another guitarist and a cellist). They did an acoustic set only tonight, and were quite enjoyable. They reminded me a bit of Wendy Rule gigs I've seen, except without the mythology/gothy bits. Client were the headline band. For those not in the know, they're Sarah from Dubstar's most recent band, and are roughly to Adult what Dubstar were to Saint Etienne. There were three of them. One playing bass (which was mostly inaudible over the prerecorded synth backing), one playing keyboards (on a Novation K-Station synth), and one (presumably Sarah) fronting the group. She was attired in a sharp office dress, her hair immaculately arranged, and was wearing black leather gloves to finish off the look; she looked beautiful and cold, like a replicant from Blade Runner, or possibly the computer-generated avatar of a vast, casually murderous yet PR-savvy megacorporation. Anyway, she sang into a microphone, and danced around, striking electroclash-noir-ice-queen poses and occasionally writhing against the other members of the group in a casually predatory fashion evocative of the mating habits of spiders, and occasionally flashing an almost warm smile at the audience. As mentioned, much of the music was prerecorded, though the vocals and keyboards were live; it was much like Schmoof, only with the cold electroclash aesthetic (or, as Dickon Edwards said, like a band of gay German guys only they were women). The music itself is basically the pop side of electroclash (i.e., no aimless Miss Kittin/Ellen Allien-style stream-of-consciousness rants about doing cocaine with movie stars in East Germany or whatever), done very well. Anyway, it was a most entertaining show. At the start was one of Club AC30's regular shoegazer acts, Oppressed By The Line, a.k.a. one of the members of Sleepless doing a solo guitar/pedals/laptop/vocal performance, which had overtones of Slowdive and Ulrich Schnauss. There are photos at my Flickr page.
|
|||
| |
|
|
| |
|
A package arrived in the mail today for me, containing the new EP from BAM BAM. (They're that really tight pop/rock band (they call themselves "Swank Rock") from Melbourne, who sound somewhere between Transvision Vamp, 1960s garage rock and a bit of Lush; they're fronted by Kristie Montagu, who wrote a best-selling book about op shops in Melbourne and does other cool things.) I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet, though look forward to doing so. Tonight, I went to Bethnal Green, and caught most of a band called The Kissing Time. They were enjoyable, in a post-C86/Library Records sort of way; they sounded a bit like Tugboat (mostly the vocal harmonies). A few of their songs were a bit bland and AOR-ballady; one of them sounded not unlike 1927. I'm told that this is because one of them is into Coldplay. |
|
| |||
|
Last night, I went with hazyjayne to see Belle & Sebastian play If You're Feeling Sinister at the Barbican (an oddly humanistic brutalist concrete ziggurat in the centre of London). It was brilliant; they played for almost two hours, and also played a lot of songs not on the album (including a rare live version of Electronic Renaissance). The support band was Broadcast, who were also really good, in a stylish, krautrocky and retrofuturistic vein; I'm going to see them again on Wednesday night. Anyway, there's a more detailed writeup here.I went home with a bag full of Belle & Sebastian merch. I'm currently drinking chai out of a new "Belle & Sebastian Play If You're Feeling Sinister" mug; I also picked up the T-shirt, poster and keyring. I didn't get the book, though will get it in my next Amazon order.
|
|||