After Thursday I'll be one of the many hundreds claiming to have been seen the 'next big thing' down at the Cluny. It only holds a couple of hundred but give it time and that number will have swelled. Is he worth it. Tell you later.
PUNCH BROTHERS Who’s Feeling Young Now? (NONESUCH) www.punchbrothers.com Ever since the demise of the much missed Nickelcreek Chris Thile has been on my radar for everything he does. Last years duet album of traditional bluegrass with Michael Dawes was exemplary. Now he resumes his role of bandleader alongside Gabe Witcher, Noam [...]
... for no good reason other than prejudice can influence how you view a performer. And as we all know prejudices can be hard to shift. So my negative reaction to Teddy Thompson cancelling his forthcoming local show was not solely based upon disappointment but more for the reason behind it. To give up singing to his faithful band of followers he has chosen to accept the opportunity (as he will see it) to be the warm up act on the James Blunt tour. On the plus side for Teddy I estimate this will increase his nightly audience by an [...]
Slapp Happy were an Anglo/German/American trio who, not to put too fine a point on it, were as mad as a box of frogs. Henry Cow were a product of Cambridge University, had a style described as 'neo-Hiroshima' and, as Wikipedia succinctly and accurately puts it, an 'inherent anti-commercial bias'. I think you get the picture. The name of the person who thought that it would be a jolly good idea for the two bands to combine is lost to history but combine they did and Desperate Straights is one of two albums they made together. [...]
'I never travel far, without a little Big Star' as someone once said. I was, however, a little late starting the journey. I remember unsuccessfully trying to buy #1 Record in one of Virgin's early shops in Leeds. Ardent's distribution problems were legendary and I suppose that the chances of any of their records reaching West Yorkshire were slim. The dawn of the CD era saw many labels pushing their back catalogue out in the new format and one of the first CD's I ever bought was the double header of #1 Record and Radio [...]
This was the phrase that struck whilst reading an editorial by Lenny Kaye. Is it often edifying to know what someone else listens to. I certainly make assumptions about people based on their listening habits. But is Lenny right? And if so do we come to define ourselves through music. I am always perplexed by those stories from people who say ‘that song got me through my teens/divorce/hard time’ etc. How can a song do that? Unless we take a message from it and act upon that message or receive comfort/guidance. And are there really songs that do [...]
No stranger to a Dylan moment Cat Power is captured here on a 1970 recording for the BBC . At her best Ms Marshall has a way of worming herself insidiously inside a song to draw out it’s dark interior and on paper Oh, Sister possesses all the hallmarks of the kind of song that will bring out this quality. Sadly she fails to ignite sounding laboured and dull rather than careworn. Things pick up as she segues into Knockin’ on Heaven's Door with its prescient air of doom. [...]
The Waybacks have been around for a few years now but the release of Loaded on Nashville's Compass Records reveals, for the first time, a pared down, four piece line-up that seeks to offer a tighter focus to their eclectic sounds. At the band's heart is singer and guitarist James Nash and he, along with newly recruited fiddle virtuoso Warren Hood, has taken on writing responsibility for the new album. Having two independently strong writers within a band can cause problems. On Loaded however, for the most part, it works, not least because of [...]
From a much lambasted album, The Hollies Sing Dylan , this is perhaps the most reviled track. Which is obviously why I love it so. Always for the underdog us English you know. And very English it is too with Alan Clarke giving a stately performance devoid of any emotion or understanding of the songs themes. Perhaps we shouldn’t be too harsh as I consider this to be one particular Dylan song that should be left alone. It’s narrative being too wrapped up in his legacy to that point. Alongside the clueless vocal performance the [...]
I saw Uncle Tupelo play live once and was disappointed. Farrar and Tweedy seemed desperate to outdo each other and much of the set was a noisy mess. Not long after they went their separate ways. For all the melody and rich structure that Tweedy brought to Wilco my heart has always been drawn towards the Son Volt boys. Patchy, inconsistent and, at times far too introspective for their own good they may be. But when they can produce songs like this you can forgive them anything. Walking down Main Street, Getting to know the concrete [...]
It has been a hectic week spent in the captivating city of Glasgow. Hence the lack of posts. But here we are at Friday again so the show must go on. My favoured Dylan cover that I'd been contemplating only exists in the vaults of a BBC archive. A version of Forever Young performed as an entry in the Choir Of The Year competition some eight years ago. Though it failed to captivate in the way Dylans own version did on the 19th September 2000 when I heard it as if sang for my own children rather than the ageing [...]
Of all the Dylan covers I am familiar with perhaps this is the most enigmatic. To what purpose did Todd Rundgren record this and the other covers that went to make up half of 1976’s Faithful ? His recording and producing schedule had been punishing with 11 albums in 7 years so perhaps he just wanted to kick back and enjoy. Certainly side 2 would suggest that the muse had not left him as, although they are far simpler than the previous years Initiation , his own material was to a high standard (with the exception [...]
Subtitled ‘…with your host Bob Dylan’ this fifty song collection would have been far more engaging if it did what it says on the tin. As it lacks Dylan’s laconic intros and asides that illuminate his unique programme the central point is somewhat missed. Furthermore, being drawn from across the 828 tracks played in the first series there is no unifying theme here. Instead we have a hotchpotch of diverse songs that, when played together, fail to give any sense of the show in which they appeared. Missing also are the old station jingles, recipes, letters, cleaning tips, poetry [...]
Previously Caesaria Evora was the voice most readily associated with Cape Verde despite Titina (real name Albertina Rodrigues Almeida) having a recording career that goes back to her teens. Now in her more mature years hopefully she will achieve some belated success on a broader stage. Drawn from some of Cape Verde’s most popular writers her exquisite renditions of these beautiful poems ooze romance in all its guises. Although hurt seems to feature regularly too. “Passion is a hardship” she proclaims, though ‘sadder still is the suffering of a hidden tear surrounded by regret’. Later, with ‘A Heavy Heart’ we [...]
Placing a prominent sticker on the front of your new release that lists the bands that have influenced the recording does you no favours at all. It practically invites the listener to spend their time spotting the references rather than actually listening to the music. A particular shame in the case of Antiqcool for Songs Of Hope And Despair is anything but a lazy re-tread of already familiar sounds. The driving force behind Antiqcool is singer, song writer and guitarist Pete Smith - further details are hard to come by - but, as the album [...]
I’m sure someone will put me right but this is the only cover version I’m aware of for Dylan’s ode to Jim 'Catfish' Hunter , the US baseball player. On this side of the pond Baseball is really rounders and is a game mostly played by girls at school. Odd then that a boy from a steel town with two professional football teams should breathe so much life into this eulogy as to make Catfish’s exploits seem interesting to those of us have no interest whatsoever in the game. [...]
Chuck Prophet emerged from the occasional brilliance and frequent mayhem of Green On Red to pursue a solo career that, though admirable in its longevity and quality, has been largely ignored by the wider world. That's a shame for I am yet to hear a Chuck Prophet song that I didn't like. What I admire most about Chuck and his songs is the obvious care, attention and affection that he brings to his music. He gets a beautifully relaxed feel on his records - you just know that here is a guy who loves his music and wants it to [...]
Less focused on Americana than 2004’s Low Story the Brighton based duo of Richard Scott and Joe Doveton have concentrated their efforts on making a very British album. Elements from over the pond do creep in, especially when BJ Cole contributes his characteristic pedal steel, and the lush orchestration, brass solos, break beats and occasional retro groove do lend a more universal sound. But it’s the storytelling that roots it so firmly in their own backyard. Opener ‘Girl With The Marketing Eyes’ is a heavy handed and clumsy piece telling of desire in the [...]
The last time I went to see a band that was No. 1 in the singles chart at the time was way back in the mid seventies at St Georges Hall, Bradford when Slade were riding high with their Xmas hit. Yet it wasn’t that commonality that I was thinking about as Duffy ploughed through her short performance last night. It was 1976 in the back streets of Leeds watching the Sex Pistols perform Stepping Stone. Ms Duffy has penned a song that not only goes by the same title as the Monkees number but it shares a distinct lyrical [...]
One of Dylan’s most covered pieces has become a modern template for protest songs. David Rovics has made a whole career out of it for goodness sake. You might therefore think it was something of an old warhorse that has outstayed its welcome. Certainly in the wrong hands it can sound tired and lame. It’s all too easy to switch off when you think you know what’s coming next. This makes the task of injecting something new into the mix, making us listen anew to something we were previously comfortable with, very challenging. I am undecided [...]
one lonely horn
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