Something for the weekend

We all look forward to the weekend, right? And after five days of screen staring, strip lighting and decidedly below-par coffee who can blame us. Those last few hours of keyboard bashing can really feel like they last forever (no offence intended workmates). Well. Here are three of the very twinkliest indie pop records to ease us all through that difficult transition period between work and weekend. Nothing particularly new or challenging on the ears - just what the music doctor ordered for a Friday afternoon...

Live review - Bombay Bicycle Club, Brixton Academy, 19/10/11

Written for and published by the wonderful For Folk's Sake

Bombay Bicycle Club gave the crowd at Brixton a real treat, rattling through the best of their material from the last couple of years as seamlessly as a band that has been together for decades.

They opened with ‘Shuffle’ a track from new album A Different Kind of Fix, and immediately the energy was through the roof. ‘Your Eyes’, a standout from the album, was next and heralded the entrance of Lucy Rose (onstage for the second time that night after playing as support as well as band Dry The River). If, at this point, the crowd thought they were in for a ‘new stuff only’ type of gig, they were swiftly proved wrong.  Jack Steadman and his pals then embarked on ‘Dust On The Ground’ from first album I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose. Given that this song is a quieter offering than many of the tracks on that album, the boys really rocked it on the night.

They revisited a lot of their much-loved older material throughout the set, even stopping to admit just before launching into the raucous ‘Open House’, “We haven’t played this for a couple of years.” This bit of communication was unusual in itself as the band barely stopped for breath between songs (which kept the energy rising relentlessly).  By the time we made a return to the most current album with ‘Leave It’ the crowd was well and truly warmed up. ‘Lights Out, Words Gone’ got perhaps the biggest reaction of the night, indicating that a large proportion of the crowd were recent converts.

‘Always Like This’ was a true highlight and made us wonder whether the band hadn’t taken a (small) leaf out of Beirut’s book – the addition of some brass gave the track an almost Latin vibe.

Jack took to the stage alone for the first song of the encore and sang a beautiful, more than faintly Thom Yorke-tinged, version of ‘Still’ – the last track on ‘A Different Kind of Fix’. Just Steadman’s powerful yet vulnerable voice and the piano echoed through the Academy, bringing everyone down to earth a bit before ending on a storming version of ‘What If’. The contrast between these two tracks provided a great example of what Bombay Bicycle Club can do: in one instant write beautiful music that, at its best, rivals the likes of Radiohead, and in the next make a venue full of people jump around to what has become an indie rock standard.

Album Review - I Want That You Are Always Happy, The Middle East

Written for and published by The 405.

In places this album hints at a change of track for Australian band The Middle East, and certainly there are more experimental sounds and sometimes just the bare bones of songs on I Want That You Are Always Happy, but just beneath the surface is a collection of achingly beautiful tracks. The sound might be simpler than their debut The Recordings of the Middle East, but this album will not disappoint fans of their previously more intricate acoustic sound.

First up and Black Death 1349 is a downbeat start but it’s a perfect introduction to Jordan Ireland’s voice, which is as bewitching a voice as I’ve heard in a long time and it’s this voice that still draws me to listen to Blood, perhaps their most well-known track to date, again and again.

The decidedly more chart-friendly Jesus Came To My Birthday Party is a standard in indie pop. I don’t know if the inclusion of songs like Jesus is a deliberate attempt at creating something more commercial or just a new direction the band wanted to explore? But it works – the song topped the charts in Australia as soon as it was released.

However, this is one of those albums that takes a few listens, perhaps because listened to together the tracks appear bitty and disconnected. At 14 songs, it’s quite a long album, which makes me think we could do without the more experimental tracks on the album – Mount Morgan and Sydney to Newcastle – that detract from the wonderful simplicity of the other tracks.

For those who are gagging for more of the pretty ditties that we heard on the first record, and it can’t be denied that this band can come up with the prettiest of ditties, there are plenty to choose from, including Land Of The Bloody Unknown, Dan’s Silverleaf, Months and the countrified Hunger Song and As I Go To See Janey.

The move away from the more complex, multi-instrumental arrangements of their first album has definitely landed The Middle East with more of a country vibe and they pull it off well. Americana is a common thread – Deep Water with its slide guitar and Ninth Avenue Revenue brings to mind the bluesy Ray LaMontagne – with their lyrics, “You say you can’t stop crying/ it’s just the power of the song/ riding along the midnight grass again”, it’s a potent combination and may well move you with the power of the song.

I hope The Middle East will find new fans with this release. Afterall since their debut in 2008 the folk scene has really exploded worldwide and anyone who is a fan of the likes of Fleet Foxes and their banjo touting and ethereal-voiced contemporaries should certainly feel happy that they’ve discovered The Middle East.

I Want That You Are Always Happy is released on May 30.

Album Review - Skin & Bones, David J Roch

City Sessions_Film Two_David J Roch from City Sessions on Vimeo.

I was lucky enough to see David J Roch at the launch of exciting film/music venture City Sessions, which has been set up by the lovely Matthew Lawes (@mattylawes if you’re on twitter.) The video I’ve included is one of the installments from Matt and co’s City Sessions, check the rest out, here. Anyway, more about that another time, what follows is my review of Roch’s album, originally written for The 405, published here.

Say what you want about David J Roch but one thing is for sure; he possesses a pretty impressive set of pipes. Pretty outstanding actually, he can switch from bluesy baritone to soaring falsetto with not so much as a second thought – making his debut album one that can’t fail to make you sit up and listen.

The first track, ‘The Lost Child’ is as good a showcase of this as any. It starts quietly, just an electric guitar and Roch’s voice residing very much at the higher end of the scales – almost piercing, but as instruments join in so Roch’s voice warms up, leading to an impassioned chorus of “all I’ve got is love.”

Roch definitely appears to have adopted the wear-your-heart-on-your-sleeve approach to songwriting. For example, in ‘Hour of Need’ he sings, “I’m so ashamed of what I’ve done and yet so afraid of what’s to come, you gave me up to be lonely with another boy” – making for a heartwarming and honest listen.

The comparisons are many and varied; Damien Rice is one, and there’s something Michael Stipe-esque about his delivery in songs like ‘Bones’. British Sea Power also come to mind, so it’s unsurprising then that Roch provided support for British Sea Power on their most recent tour and I can only imagine won himself a few fans in the process.

‘Lonely Unfinished’ is especially atmospheric mainly because of the use of a church organ, “love is splendid agony” goes the refrain, like a tortured medieval lullaby, and Roch uses his higher range to perfection on this track.

‘Dew’ is reminiscent of some of the more recent sounds of say, Zola Jesus or Hurts both of whom manage to make current music with clear 80s and 90s influences – proof that Roch has more than one string to his bow. ‘Devil Don’t Mind’ harks to a southern gospel sound and Roch has admitted he is a fan of this style of music and indeed jazz. Of course, he has put his own slightly macabre spin on proceedings here as everywhere, which results in the killer line, “there’s no point in being well behaved, when you’re stood in your own grave.”

These gothic undertones are common throughout the album and Roch is clearly a bit preoccupied by thoughts and ideas surrounding mortality – ‘Bones’, ‘Skin and Bones’, ‘Devil’ – all are darkly romantic and yet thrillingly uplifting. ‘Skin and Bones’ has single written all over it – close enough to anthemic folk to perhaps permit it some serious radio time ala Mumford & Sons.

Album Review - The King of Limbs, Radiohead

Published originally over here by The 405.

This album, to me, is one of two halves, although the use of echo, and the decision to let Thom Yorke’s lyrics almost take a back seat, creates a relationship between each and every track.

The first half of the album is characterised by its agitated rhythms – a slightly aggressive tone even, such as on second track ‘Morning Mr Blackbird’ where Yorke asserts, "you’ve got some nerve coming here.” This section of the album seems to be where the band is really stretching the limits and experimenting with their sound.

The second half, especially the last three tracks, is easier to listen to and perhaps picks up where In Rainbows left off. ‘Codex’ is my personal favourite, cool and ethereal and including a really beautiful use of brass. This mellow vibe continues on ‘Give Up The Ghost’ and on ‘Separator’. The last song on the album, ‘Separator’s’ refrain of “wake me up” is fitting because when The King of Limbs finished you almost feel as if you’ve woken up from a deep and wonderful dream.

Interview - Jamie Ley

Jamie Ley - 'Goodbye' from Tommy Leigh on Vimeo.

Written for and published by fabulous folk blog For Folk's Sake

Emerging from London’s seemingly never-ending and ever-talented pool of wonderful folksy-types, Jamie Ley has been packing out a variety of the capital’s venues with people, all eager to hear his soulful and timeless tunes. Emma Barlow caught up with him to talk about the rise and rise of folk, his inspirations, and what the future holds.

FFS: Do you describe your music as folk? Or is it a label that has been somewhat thrust on you?

JL: I guess it is folk, but I don’t really think we are this or we are that. We usually get described as folk or nu-folk, it’s always got some folk in there somewhere. I don’t consider it anything I just consider it my songs played as best as we can play them!

London has become something of a haven for up-and-coming folk acts, who do you most admire?

Most admire…I dunno. I like what’s happening with folk and it’s exciting to be in anyway involved in it. I admire how massive and how mainstream Mumford & Sons are now. Like I still cant really believe it. Usually bands takes like 5 years to get that big. I’ve played with them in Cardiff and I know them. That gig in Cardiff – about 2 years ago, there were about 20 people in a room and now they’re headlining Reading or whatever. So I admire what they’ve done for folk – the fact that they’ve made people more aware and bought this kind of music to people’s attention. And they’re great musicians, really great.

I think that’s what people like because it’s less of the kind of manufactured pop music and more people on stage with cool instruments like the banjo and the mandolin making honest music and that’s what appeals, that’s what appealed to me about it forever and that’s what I think people are starting to see. And I’ve always admired Johnny Flynn, he was one of my favourite artists while I was at uni and now I’ve had the privilege to like play with him. Bands like that – I always thought they were cool are suddenly much cooler, which is good for me, so I’m a bit cooler now too!

So that’s you’re more recent influences what are some of your older ones?

Bloody hell! Well, obviously The Beatles, so boring! Have you heard of the band Love? Arthur Lee, he’s a bit of a legend, Bob Dylan. But my true greatest hero of all time is Johnny Cash. Yeah I love Johnny Cash. And also songwriters like him, I kind of aspire to be like Leonard Cohen. As a lyricist he’s incredible and his poetry… even the way he sings them…he sings them as the poems they are, which really appeals.

Okay, so what about the poets that inspire you?

Well I used to be into the Romantics, you know the Shelley’s of this world and the Dylan Thomas’s but I’ve recently kind of moved away from that, just because, you know, it’s healthy! I’m into a few German poets and writers – they have a theory about pure imagery and it’s less about words and more about telling things like straight to the point. It’s all about writing in a purist way rather than using fanciful words so yeah: I’m trying to do that with my songs.

Is songwriting something that comes easily to you then or is it really hard work?

Um…sometimes I can sit there for like a week and nothing will come out! Or even a month! And I’ll just be banging my head against the wall. But other times I can write three in a day so it just depends. It’s cliché but if you’re sitting there with your guitar and you just feel you’re in the zone, you’ve got your music mojo or whatever so it just comes out. That’s the time you’ve got to sit there and make yourself keep working at it because that’s the time that’s going to be the most fruitful.

Are you more at home with a band behind you on stage these days or do you miss going it alone?

Yeah at the moment we are doing kind of a mix. So we play three songs as a band and then I’ll do a few. Because there’s something really special and intimate when you’re on your own on stage with an audience. But personally I prefer having my pals around me on stage and I get more into it. Now I feel a bit naked when they leave!

And how did the current band line-up come to be?

I played some gigs in Steeles in North London because my friend Rodney Fisher, who is an amazing musician, he runs a folk night there. We used to have lock-ins and things and I got chatting with one of the barmen, Matt. We just got playing some stuff together and he ended up becoming my bass player and then he knows Jack our drummer from a former band. So we pinched Jack from his old band. Elena Tonra – we had played a lot of gigs together and got on well so she started singing and then we’ve got Bobby on piano, who is our newest sort of musical hero. So basically we just went pilfering from other people’s bands. But in a really charming way so no one seems to mind…yeah so, don’t tell anyone that!

So what can we expect from Jamie Ley, what are the big plans?

Well expect to see a release, quite soon. I’m doing my showcase on the 20^th October at the Flowerpot. So getting a lot of people down, lots of people that haven’t seen me who want to see me um….and hopefully that will be a great night and we’ll push on from there with a tour and a release and everything that follows.

Album Review - Everybody Knows It's Gonna Happen Only Not Tonight - The Go Find

Published over at The 405, here.

The latest offering from Belgian group, The Go Find is the incongruously named ‘Everybody Knows It’s Gonna Happen Only Not Tonight’ and it happens to sound a lot like, well, a lot of other bands.

The similarities and influences are just too obvious to omit, these include Kings of Convenience, Peter Bjorn and John, a rather large dose of Phoenix and even Royksopp.

The lyrics on title track 'Everybody Knows It’s Gonna Happen Only Not Tonight’ sets the theme of wistfulness and nostalgia, “Let me take you back, back to the 90s, when we were teens…with secret desires”. They are pretty but again are reminiscent of a number of The Go Behind’s predecessors.

And unfortunately when you start comparing one band to another or others, it’s very difficult to stop and this album seems to positively egg you on in doing so. It continues with ‘Automatic’, which injects a welcome dose of energy into the mix using one of pop music’s most favoured devices, the days of the week.

Perhaps channeling The Cure - the song opens, “Monday morning, I’m not able. I don’t think it’s gonna work. Friday evening, I am ready. But sleepy I’m not going out”, but of course, it reminds without being as good as Robert Smith’s 'Friday I’m In Love’.

Then there’s ‘Cherry Pie’ and ‘One Hundred Percent’ which demonstrate that The Go Find can produce as decent an indie pop tune as Peter Bjorn and John, and although pleasant enough to listen to, it’s still nothing new.

The album finishes on pop-ballad ‘Heart of Gold’. Starting promisingly enough, ‘Heart’ boasts electric guitars, big drums and key changes – all of which appear to have been transported into your ears via 1983 and with the quiet whispered singing of front man, Dieter Sermeus, this is quite a beautiful track. But without a big chorus ‘Heart of Gold’ ends up feeling a bit like the over-emotional noise playing over the credits of a Hollywood flop.

All in all The Go Find do dreamy electro pop pretty well, but this album evokes so many comparisons with bands that actually do it better that you might be better off listening to them instead.