"...tryin' to quit'll make you wish you didn't start..." Caitlin Rose - Own Side Now

Dear Reader,

I realise now that a comment I made in a previous review (namely, that of She & Him’s ‘Volume 2’) was somewhat flippant and misinformed. The comment in question came at the end of said review and read “I’ll be very surprised if I hear a pop album quite this perfect for some time.” *

Well, colour me surprised (kind of off white, with a hint of mauve perhaps. I like that word. Mauve). ‘Volume 2’, is indeed a cracking little pop record, but it has nothing on Caitlin Rose’s debut full length (her debut e.p. ‘Dead Flowers’ was released here earlier this year, the US have had it since 2008) ‘Own Side Now’,

If that title sounds vaguely familiar, it may well bring to mind the Joni Mitchell song ‘Both Sides Now’, which isn’t where the similarities between the two end. Rose’s songs, much like Mitchell’s are incredibly well crafted, their beauty often lying in their simplicity. Take the title track, which by Rose’s own admission is one the most simple and honest things she has written. The delivery of the line “who’s gonna want me when I’m just somewhere you’ve been” is so simple, so restrained, yet so full of emotion, that it never fails to bring a lump to my throat.

Caitlin Rose - Own Side Now 

Some of these songs were written, staggeringly, when she was 16/17 years of age (she’s now 23, which makes me feel very old indeed), one such song, a particular highlight, is ‘For the Rabbits’, about two high school friends and their on again/off again relationship, it has been stuck firmly in my head since the moment I heard it, as has ‘Shanghai Cigarettes’, which wouldn’t have sounded out of place on Conor Oberst’s solo, or …and the Mystic Valley Band L.P’s.

Caitlin Rose - For The Rabbits

This is not one of those records, I think, that will be listened to intensely for a month or so, only to be neglected there after, of course, only time will tell, but in the small amount of time since it popped through my letter box, it’s been there, in my noggin’ nagging at me “go on, put me on again, go on, you will” like a Nashville born Mrs Doyle (should I be worried about that, do you think? The voices, in my head?)

To pre-emptively answer your question, I’m not quite sure why I wrote this review in the form of a letter, perhaps so they don’t becoming incredibly samey. Either way, it’s a rather irritating affectation which I won’t be employing again.

Anyway, how are things with you?

Joe.

P.S. She’s supporting Megafaun at the Bandroom in Farndale at the end of the month, which will, I’d expect, own.

P.P.S  Thought I'd try using soundcloud in reviews, hopefully, it's worked!

*(I do understand there can be, by definition, no varying level of perfection, I don’t understand why I wrote that.)

Midlake & John Grant. Leadmill, Sheffield. 29.6.10

Mere miles out of York, and I had already resigned myself to missing this gig. In the sweltering early evening sun, heading towards Tadcaster, cars had stopped, their drivers and passengers hopping out to stretch their legs and avoid baking, meanwhile, no cars had driven past on the other side of the carriageway in quite some time. We were in this for the long haul. Or so I thought. Within an hour, we were moving again and soon passed the reason for our delay, a car had left the road, mounted the grassed embankment and thundered into a tree (luckily, according to York Press, the driver wasn't seriously injured).

After some fruitless searching for a particular car park, and taking a very not-short cut (despite the fact that one of our number had lived in Sheffield for 19 years) we eventually made it to the Leadmill, as we entered we were greeted by the rather powerful lungs of Mr John Grant (not literally though, which was rather rude, “oh, hello” it’s not that difficult. “Hi John” I’d reply. Tuh.) who really was the ideal support for Midlake (his label-mates, who, incidentally played on the debut solo album ‘ The Queen of Denmark’ released earlier this year) Equally Moving and funny, with a voice like a pissed off Tim Buckley and lyrics like:
"And I feel just like Sigourney Weaver. When she had to kill those aliens. And one guy tried to get them back to the earth. And she couldn't believe her ears"
(from 'Sigourney Weaver') how could I not be impressed?

A prolonged bar visit later, on to the stage ambled one drummer, one keyboardist/flutist, one bassist, and four guitarists and many beards, it’s a good thing that the Leadmill stage is as wide as it is (which is quite wide).

Whilst Midlake’s two most recent records, 2006’s ‘The Trials of Van Occupanther’ and this years ‘The Courage of Others’ are on the surface, very different, the former referencing 1970’s American rock, and the later, English folk, they are both resolutely mid temp records. Which would have not been a problem if they had perhaps played something from the considerably livelier; The Flaming Lips influenced ‘Bamnan & Silvercork’. But they didn’t. So it was.

All seven of them are clearly incredibly accomplished musicians, and are very tight as a unit, but their set landed just on the wrong side of monotony. When they did let rip, such as the extended jam prior to the utterly brilliant ‘Roscoe’, and on the similarly magnificent ‘Head Home’ (which I just mistyped as ‘Head Gnome’ hehe.) they are simply captivating.

I’m under no illusions that the fact I didn’t enjoy the gig as much as I’d expected was in no small part down to my mood. I’d been on edge since we passed that car. A weird night.

A whole load of stuff II

So, I was planning on reviewing the new Massive Attack record 'Heligoland', but after listening to it over and over again,Ii think the review would of consisted of one, not even a word really 'meh' it's alright, a few good songs on there but...well...meh...it's a bit dull. I'm not angry, I'm just disappointed.

Further music related stuff...off to see the Grizz at the Sage in Gateshead on 8th March, which will be nothing short of spectacular, then Idlewild at Fibbers on 16th April (12 years since their last gig there!) which I'm rather excited about, then the day after is Record Store Day which I'm also rather looking forward to, a number of yet unconfirmed acts are recording/releasing limited edition singles and/or ep's, which are only available in certain indie record shops, so...we're off to Leeds to visit Crash and Jumbo, and well, have a jolly nice day really. The following Sunday will no doubt have me indulging my burgeoning love for Vinyl further, as the Duchess is holding a record fair, and then, to top it all off, a week later, Minus The Bear's new album 'OMNI' is released, excited doesn't even come close! A new Deftones album two weeks later and judging from yesterdays free download 'Rocket Skates' we're in for a treat.

2010 has been a pretty good year so far, TV wise, new, improved Heroes, the second, much darker series of Being Human, which, unfortunately, comes to an end next week. And Glee. Hmmm...Glee, the name's a bit misleading, well, a lot misleading, there's very little a cappella stuff, (and that 'very little' amounts entirely to the programs score, not the actually songs being performed) which is what glee clubs do, the production on the vast majority of the songs is so overdone it makes the new Biffy Clyro album sound like a Moldy Peaches record, the lip syncing, oh, christ the lip syncing....

And Matthew Morrison, is there a whiter man on the planet? Every time he performs one of those modern hipperty-hop numbers, i find myself hiding behind my hands, occasionally fanning out my fingers to see if it's finished, much like an England game which has gone to penalties. But I don't seem to be able to stop watching it, thanks, almost entirely to Jane Lynch, who plays coach Sue Sylvester. Evil to her very core, she softened a little in the last episode, thankfully though, by the end of the episode normal service was resumed, as she threatened to buy Morrison's character a kitten, and then punch him in the face. Nice.

And that's that. For now.

Megafaun, The Band Room, Farndale, 4.12.09

The Band Room is a very strange little venue, originally built for the valley of Farndale’s silver band; it is now used, between the occasional gigs, for jumble sales and children’s birthday parties.

Megafaun are a hirsute trio hailing from North Carolina, consisting of brothers Phil & Brad Crook and drummer Joe Westerland. Their stock in trade is a kind of folky, bluegrassy, rootsy sound with an experimental streak a mile wide, which, on record can seem a little self indulgent at times. Live, however, this is certainly not the case, the more noodily sections acting as segues between songs.

It’s safe to say that I have never been to a gig where the setting and music were so perfectly matched. For the duration, I was transported to a barn somewhere in the backwoods of North Carolina.

During ‘Worried Mind’ from this year’s ‘Gather, Form & Fly’, the three of them left the tiny stage, and played unplugged, with the “Come ease your mind” refrain inspiring a mass sing-along amongst the small (the venue has a capacity of 100, but I struggle to see how that many people could fit in it!) and incredibly diverse crowd (from toddlers to OAP’s).

The song, and one of the most enjoyable gigs I have ever been to ended with Phil Crook lying prostrate in the middle of the crowd, thrashing at the strings of his banjo.

Perfect? By no means, but that’s what made it perfect.



They did play ‘The Longest Day’ (see album review). I didn’t cry. Because I’ve got balls.

A whole load of stuff

Today has provided a mixed bag of musical news (not as in West Side Story kind of musical, you understand). Glassjaw, who I’ve adored since I was 17, has announced 3 headlining dates in January. I’ve bought tickets to see this band more times than I care to remember, but have never actually seen them live due to Daryl Palumbo’s ongoing battle with Crohn’s Disease. Excellent news, you may think. Not So! My good lady and I *hopefully* move house next month, and thus will be a little short of cash monies for a while, and I’ve got a distinct feeling, that as I can’t go and see them…they won’t cancel. Maybe if they ever get round to release their third album…

Whilst browsing the news section of NME.com, I noticed that ‘Midlake add extra dates to UK tour’, “sweeeet” I thought. Not So! These are the dates that had been announced last week, and that, in fact no new NEW dates had been added at all. Gits. NME, not Midlake, well, maybe Midlake a bit. No dates in Yorkshire? Gits. Yes, Midlake, you.

Onto the good news, Mr Mark ‘E’ Oliver Everett of Eels fame has released a new song, 'Little Bird' from their forthcoming 'End Times' album and it sounds sad, really sad, in a good way, of course.
Finally on the news front Queens of the Stone Age have announced they will be returning from their various side projects, Them Crooked Vultures (Anticipated!), We Fell To Earth (Intriguing!) and Dead Weather (Shit!), to the studio next summer. It took me roughly a year to succumb to the charms of both 'Lullabies to Paralyze' and 'Era Vulgaris', but Josh Homme’s involvement in Arctic Monkeys’ superb 'Humbug' and the aforementioned Them Crooked Vultures means I will be awaiting their sixth album with baited breath.

Yesterday was Wednesday, and that meant a trip to City Screen to watch ‘The Men That Stare At Goats’, based on the book of the same name by reporter Jon Ronson. The film start’s with the words “More of this is true than you might think” followed by footage of the US’s ‘shock and awe’ attacks on Iraq, soundtracked, rather bizarrely by Supergrass’ ‘We’re Alright’. The title of that song summing up, rather succinctly, the rest of the film, it wasn’t without it’s moments, George Clooney, as usual, was very very good indeed, Jeff Bridges played the dude-i-est role he’s played, since he played the dude (check out http://www.dudeism.com/ for all your Lebowski related spiritual needs) and was cleary cast in that role for that very reason. Ewan Mcgregor is…ok…as ever (surely a new trip with Mr Boorman is due soon?) but his American accent was pretty dire. The multiple reference's to "Jedi Warriors" are funny initially, but soon start to wear a little thin (and perhaps had some bearing on his casting in that role). The fact that they turned the story into a journey of self discovery for his character grated a little, and the ending! The ending was unspeakably bad. Fun enough film, but I’d suggest renting it, rather than buying.

Of the plethora of trailers shown beforehand, one stuck out as looking particually awful, Guy Ritchie’s 'Sherlock Holmes'. The clue to why it looks so cack is in that last sentence.

There a quite a few impending releases that I’m looking forward to; James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’, the Coen brothers’ ‘A Serious Man’, Ang Lee’s ‘Taking Woodstock’ and Spike Jonze’s ‘Where the Wild Things are’ being amongst them…or being them, more to the point.
Whether we’ll get to see them all or not remains to be seen, what with the impending *fingers crossed* move.

Wow…two blogs in a day.

Hopefully within the week I shall have a review of Biffy Clyro’s ‘Only Revolutions’ posted. Hmm…

Grizzly Bear & St. Vincent, Leeds Met, 5.11.09

I wouldn’t usually bother mentioning supports, but tonight’s was more than deserving of a few words. Equal parts electronica and fuzzy garage rock with a touch of folky wistfulness thrown in for good measure. St. Vincent (otherwise know as Annie Clark, sometime member of Sufjan Stevens’ touring band, and The Polyphonic Spree) fidgets continually throughout her 30 minute slot, which just adds to her charm, and any scepticism the crowd may have soon dissipates.

Grizzly Bear open tonight, as this year’s ‘Veckatimest’ does, with ‘Southern Point’, jazzed up, it’s clear from the outset that anyone expecting a replication of how they sound on record will be sorely disappointed.

Drenched in blue and green light for much of the set, with lanterns scattered around the stage, the reverb laden vocal harmonies take on an otherworldly, almost ghostly quality. On record, Grizzly Bear occasionally sound a little fragile, but live, they pack much more of a punch.

‘While You Wait For The Others’ (find the Michael Mcdonald! cover here) is utterly triumphant and would have been a fitting way to end the night, however...

They save the only song from the debut ‘Horn of Plenty’ until last, which at times recalls The Beatles’ ‘drugs and weird shit’ phase, only much, much heavier.

It took a good few minutes to find any, let alone the right words to even remotely describe how good Grizzly Bear are live…still not sure I've found them, so I’ll keep it simple… I cannot speak highly enough of this band.

Baby's first blog

So, this is my blog, I am blogging, and now a blogger, by the time I have posted this I will have blogged.
Quite.

I decided to set this up partially to spur me on to start reviewing gigs and albums again, but it'll also be somewhere for me to rant, witter and harp on about various bits and pieces.

The lovely Mac and I have membership at the local Picturehouse cinema, which, coupled with orange Wednesdays means that it costs all of £3.50 for both of us to watch summat there and as a result, we've seen some film that perhaps we wouldn't have otherwise. Last night was one of those instances, the Nick Hornby scripted 'An Education' based on the memoir's of the same name by Lynn Barber is not a film, I think, that either of us would have usually taken any notice of. But I'm incredibly glad we did. 'An Education' is both tremendously funny and incredibly poignant, a master class in independent British film making
I don't want to go into full blown review mode, suffice to say this film is incredibly well written (would you expect anything less from Nick Hornby?) the setting (early 60's, in the outskirts of London) is spot on, and the acting throughout is excellent, particularly Carey Mulligan, who plays Jenny (who I've just found out was in one of my favourite episodes of Doctor Who; 'Blink').

Which leads me neatly onto…

The next Doctor Who special ('The Waters of Mars') looks a bit special, it's the start of the end for David Tennant's Doctor, and that makes me a little bit sad.

Tonight it's off to Leeds Met to see Grizzly Bear, who's third album 'Veckatimest' is one of the most charmingly odd and rewarding (if not immediately so) records that I've heard in the past year. So I'm rather excited. A review should hopefully follow shortly thereafter.

Then a month until the next gig, Megafaun in the Band Room in Farndale out in t'moors, who's album I'll be reviewing, well, when I've bought it.