Bopping with Bowie

Bowie Bar, Auld Shillelagh, 8 May 2008

In what proved to be another winning off-the-wall idea from the fertile brain of local über-impresario David Knight, the Auld Shillelagh hosted the Bowie Bar in early May.

The evening was devoted to playing the songs of the Thin White Duke between 1967 and 1984, and the pub was already packed by 7pm, with people heatedly arguing about Bowie's best song/album/single, and knocking back pint after pint of the Liffey water. Providing the ballast were the Diamond Hot Dogs and Bowie Burgers, with local celebrity chef Ethel Minogue working hard to keep up with the demand.

Bowie was a true rock eccentric and genius, and it's to David Knight's and the Shillelagh's credit that they recognized that this would appeal to Stoke Newington's musical cognoscenti. The great and good of the parish were there, including Renee, star of the international Dove soap advertising campaign and about to celebrate her 100th birthday this September. I didn't see the great man himself but, given his many identities, Bowie could well have been sitting at the table outside, humming along with Jean Genie.

It's going to be a fortnightly event, so find out dates from the pub. It's a splendidly nostalgic evening, and one not to be missed.

Rab MacWilliam

Morning Bride

Altered States at The Bassment Bar, Chelmsford, December 2006

"Where are we again?" was the roundly-said refrain on stepping from the quick train ride out from Liverpool Street Station. Chelmsford in Essex is the answer, where Mr Ian Flavill has seen it as his duty to kindly bring the good and great offerings of Americana, commonly only available to bigger cities, all the way out here to the 'made' or made-up folks of places east, o so northeast of London. Down a dark street of unremarked repute into what could easily be an office suite of small town America we enter and descend. A strange place this is, transfixed into a wood-floored, low-ceilinged venue smelling for all its no-smoking policy just like a pub. Clearly, the landlord here is music devotee of the best order. Photos adorn: The Rat Pack, The Beatles, Willie Nelson and Satchmo, John Lee Hooker and even John Coltrane. Ian calls his nights here Altered States, and indeed I do feel like I'm in an altered home.

It's been a good while since I've written about Morning Bride. The band have adjusted themselves nicely to accommodate their upcoming gleaming future. Joining the poet Mark, the muse Amity and time-keeper jesus-like-Jim are Alexa on cello and Pete on guitar. Over the intervening time MB's sound is predictably more polished and more special. The first thing I'm clear on is how much space the new guitar is giving to the often delicate, often explosive voice of Amity.

Besides a well-earned space for her there is much more blues current that greatly gives a needed underlay to that rich foundation of heartache MB represent so well. In fact, the new amount of space Pete is providing gives a lot more room to hear all of the music; even Jim's plaintive drumming is more clear, more hearable.

I spoke with Mark post-show to find out more about the new members. He tells me Pete is an old friend from the Stoke Newington scene. When MB were recently looking for a new guitarist, Pete coincidentally had some spare time and had just spent a summer in Devon playing folk festivals and perfecting his slide guitar. Mark says, "Pete became the perfect candidate from our short list of exactly one." The invitation extended to Pete to join MB seems to have been fated. Tonight the band is running through their list of what is to become the first full -ength recording, Lea Valley Delta Blues. I find myself more lost in listening than writing this review. I expect "Faith is Blind" to be my favourite song tonight. It is a perfectly simple showcase of Amity's voice and Mark's effortless twist of cliché-rendering lyrics. I also expect the the lump that arrives in the throat on cue and the burning of a would be tear for another home-hitter, "Stepping Out in Front of Cars." What I don't expect is the haunting (which stayed with me long after) of "Eleanora" and the sweetness of "Time Delay". During the latter, Mark tells the band to "make it nice and slow..." One gets the sense of his gentle leadership, but it is always remarkable how much this band works together, one for all. They have developed their own style of playing off each other perfectly and it is always this that gets spoken of, rather than there being a front person or star syndrome happening. Other bands might well have folded under the pressure of new members and sound changes. Morning Bride simply widen their arms to embrace the expansion of their developing scope.

There is a little scratch at the back of Amity's pure voice tonight that ends every last word like an etching of a dream. There are new songs and I'm damned if I know how Mark writes these tales so purely that they stay on repeat in the brain for weeks without hearing the actual songs again. When I asked Mark where the songs come from he said, "None of the songs are about one particular person or experience, rather they are a conglomeration of learned tales and I kind of magpie other peoples' embellished personal histories and my own experiences and put them together until the meanings are a bit blurred." I want to know why the songs are so beautifully sad and Mark tells me, "I gravitate towards sadness because people can relate to sad songs more easily but there's always the thing where conflict and loss lead to hope in the end. You have to be quite happy to immerse yourself in memories of your own or someone else's tragedies and write about those less than happy things."

On reflection I realize that empathy may be a particular key to Mark's amazing song writing. His songs belie the contagion that pain is and draw forth one's own heartbreaks and they are elevated by the beauty which only music in its darkest lower chords can express. Still, we wouldn't be able to stand that much effusion if it weren't tempered by a promise of a reckoning, a light at the end. So Morning Bride gives it all with that shaded poetry sweetened by the delivery of Amity and her voice that sparkles purely with a white, radiating salvation. The other voice that has been added recently to MB is Alexa with her sublime cello. She pulls the strings of a newer sophistication for the band.

The smoothness of the cello dropped in below Amity's voice creates a velvetizing harmony which is broad and brave. Alexa's unbridled joy in playing is obvious in her smile and I always love to see a band enjoying themselves. Alexa joined the band only weeks ago after a chance meeting of acquaintances. Her classical training and sought-after performance skills left her with RSI that could have broken her spirit but instead inspired her to seek out something more contemporary. MB's best friend Fate stepped in again as Mark had four songs in mind that he wanted a cello on. Alexa tried out, and became a full time member. Amity tells me, "Singing with the cello is challenging as it's the most melodic and vocal instrument. I can do more creating as Alexa is coming up with counter melodies. Sometimes they clash and we have to work it out to get the right harmonies." With all the new enthusiasm and creating going on, one marvels at the future for Morning Bride.

I always study the audience as well as the band when I'm after a review. Morning Bride's audience tonight do them proud with their rapt attention. It's touching to see people obviously moved by what they're hearing. The faces reflect the hurt and the hope MB are soundtracking. Folks become reverent and their eyes close and their mouths move. Their drinks go untouched, watery as their eyes; ice melts and so do hearts. It's so awfully easy to imagine yourself on the highway, hearing this broadcast to everyone but believing it's your's alone. Driving out through the desert, or maybe just down to Morning Bride's next gig. Even better, come springtime you can drive to your local independent fair play record store and get a copy of Lea Valley Delta Blues all for yourself.

www.americana.com

THE CESARIANS

Birdcage, Stoke Newington

Are the Cesarians High Culture for Low Brows, or low culture for high brows? Either way, you could be forgiven for feeling decidedly underdressed at a gig, which is theatrical to the point of feeling the need to fish around in your hand bag, (or man bag, for those Metrosexuals) for your long gloves and binoculars, to shout ‘Bravo!' at the end of songs, and then crumple delicately to the ground in a lady-like faint when it is all over, quite overcome by the range of emotions and spectacle you have just been privileged to witness. Or is it just me?

The Cesarians are less a band, more a musical in progress. Pre-war Berlin and Cabaret come to mind, but it seems a lazy comparison. There is an air of grandeur and old-fashioned show business about their, in turn, immaculate and raucously dirty performance. The musicianship is flawless, with dramatic swoops of keyboard and assured drumming punctuated by cheeky musical asides from the horn section, where Ally Conder's witty Clarinet runs and Suzy Speedmaster's understated Trombone style add a final flourish, a sense of ‘to be continued' to every song. The songs have a strong narrative voice, with singer/ maestro and master of ceremonies Charlie Finke going from ‘I'm trying not to look drunk' faux composure to magnificent, deranged hysteria within the range of one song. Indeed, when he lopes about the small stage area, screaming ‘Where can I get a fucking drink around here?' in such an accusatory way, you feel as if you have stumbled inadvertently into a very private moment: say, the one before a well-meaning friend carts him off to rehab. But beneath the frenzied No Wave exterior (think James White and the Blacks, or if you don't know who they are , think discordant , sexy jazz funk) there lies a big band crooner,(in a rather smaller band,) who knows what to do with a good tune. Audrey Hepburn look-a-like Justine Armatage plays the keyboards in a literally high-handed, elegant manner, as much a feast for the eyes as for the ears. Yet her twisted melodies nod curtly, no, primly, in the direction of Nick Cave's Murder Ballads. Drummer Jan Noble treads the fat line between workmanship precision and complete loss of mental, though never artistic, control.

The Cesarians is a wonderful play. So imagine my dismay when I went out for ice cream at the interval, only to find the pub was shut and the band had gone home. Encore!

M.K.

Morning Bride

Ryan's Bar, Stoke Newington

Braving icy winds and frost-coated streets more reminiscent of November in Stockholm, the over-capacity audience politely jostling for space here in Ryan's Bar, Stoke Newington - London's answer to Williamsburg, or so it's said - soon warm through in this smoky, fairy light-strewn basement in bright-eyed anticipation of the north London music scene's best kept secret.

Less than a year old but already the darlings of this scruffily-hip neighbourhood, Morning Bride are a very different proposition to the endless production line of garage rock clones currently boring the crap out of local audiences. This is a quartet with an altogether more seductive message, who manage to defy genre pigeon-holing; part americana, part post-rock, part melancholy lo-fi, part warm blues... and yet resolutely indefinable.

Tonight sees the band playing an intimate semi-acoustic set (apparently for the first time), allowing the vulnerability of these often heartbreaking, always impacting songs to come to the fore. The more subtle elements shine, with acoustic and slide guitars, melodica and glockenspiel all playing their part in supplementing Morning Bride's most heart-stopping, stealthily powerful weapon - lead singer Amity's voice.

I read a live review recently which described it as 'the girl voice in all your best dreams', which to be honest is hard to beat. To that, I'd add - the most potent elements of Kate Bush, Catpower, and even Stevie Nicks circa 'Rumours', singing songs that hit you straight in the heart and stay there for days.

If you think it can't get any better, go and see them, and let your cynicism melt faster than the rocks in your scotch.

Six songs later, politely ignoring the squeals for an encore, and the band exits. I buy two CD singles (their debut release - an absolute killer) and wonder how long I'll be able to see them in such intimate settings; but for now at least, Morning Bride are ours and ours alone - a highly personalised, emotionally charged, overwhelmingly beautiful soundtrack to the dullest of urban lives.

Review by April Servantito

TRUST IN THE LORD

JOHN PAUL HOLT THE THIRD

A classic mix of every musical genre going, pure power and a master class of melody.   The vocals range from Ian Dury to Iggy Pop and take in everything in-between.   Also guesting on vocals is the Mental Oriental covering the Pop classic ‘I wanna be your Dog' and the Denver persecution of ‘Leaving on a Jet Plane', Domino singing the rock rap mania of Gun and doesn't it rock!   Quite an Eighties feel to this; Cramps, Killing Joke, Stranglers, Joy Division etc.   An eclectic mix of the lot with lashings of hallucinogenic guitar.   Spot on, ten out of ten. With sixteen tracks on this ground-breaking and innovative slab of rock, and not one duff track.   A must for your CD collection unless you're a big fan of Boyzone or Westlife.

Review by Tony Parsonip. BSc. HGV. RSJ.I.O.U.

Katina Kangaris

Shine EP

Shine is the first EP by Stoke Newington-based singer/songwriter Katina Kangaris released in association with the F-IRE Collective. These five haunting and menacingly beautiful acoustic pop songs are written, played, arranged and produced by Katina. Lyrically polished and brooding with experience, the songs are driven by her unique voice: subtle and insinuating one moment, soaring and expansive the next. From the tender minimalism of Not Especially to the PJ Harvey-esque grunginess of Miracle and the epic malice of Shine , this is a mature and assured debut.

(Review Courtesy of Little Man Records)

BLACK TIME

BlackOut album review

This debut album was recorded, mixed & mastered entirely in analogue & pressed on black-dyed virgin heavy vinyl only in a small edition. The band claim to hate CDs, but we've been granted permission to re-release this fantastic album on that very format anyway.

Black Time only currently play live at one of the regular blues parties that take place in their basement hideout. The select few who have been initiated into this cult of sound have reported loss of speech, hair falling out, physical incapacity & loss of bowel control after a performance. The Black Time plan to tour the deep south of America in 2005 with a revue featuring motorcycle leather boys, wall-projected homemade slasher films, whip-cracking tiger girls & media professionals eating their own shit LIVE ON STAGE. Records on the dansette prior to the weekend long recording session that produced the BLACKOUT long player included: ELECTRIC EELS, RIP-OFFS, THE FALL, PUSSY GALORE, HUGGY BEAR, WARSAW, HOUND DOG TAYLOR, BIRTHDAY PARTY, CRIME, GOSSIP, KING TUBBY, HUNCHES, GERMS, RITES OF SPRING, GUITAR WOLF, BIKINI KILL, PAGANS, SUICIDE, MONORCHID, BO DIDDLEY, NATION OF ULYSEES, FLEASH EATERS, PRINCE, MUMMIES, BLACK FLAG, LINK WRAY and THE PHANTOM.. that should give you an idea where these cats are coming from... or maybe not.

This is the heavy vampire sound. Fuck & Rage. They are the undead stumbling into twilight feeding off broken youthful dreams unable to stop our endless march. Blind & deaf neutered howling. The inescapable magnet pull of American rock n roll records: modern girls & modern rock n roll. The cheap tobacco, tea, beer, movies & radio palliative that George warned us about, standing between us & revolution.

(Review courtesy of In The Red )

THE CHINESE LUNGS

This new north London band only just got together a few months ago, but believe me, they sound like they've been playing their undiluted toothless kick ass '77 punk rock racket for years! The songs are fast, loud, nasty, snotty, catchy and sweaty simple chord tight style tunes that will stick to your head like cheap super glue! You can tell those guys have heard Slaughter & the Dogs, the Kids or early GG Allin... They manage to combine elements of early punk rock with the sound and attitude of the most obnoxious of garage punk bands. But hey, these guys are no strangers to the London punk rock scene (if there is such a "scene" here!). In fact,the Chinese Lungs are the new London supergroup, featuring Jasper Hood ('Shakin' Nasties, Moorat Fingers) on vocals, Johnny Moses from the legendary '77 band Menace on guitar; Doc U.T. from Speedstars on bass; plus Eric Baconstrip from the Parkinsons and the Ulcers on drums! Got it? Don't miss it!

So, in other words, don't miss the CHINESE LUNGS show, baby, because IT FUCKIN' SMOKES!

www.chineselungs.com
(Review courtesy of the Dirty Water Club)

Martin Simpson

Vortex, 24 October

It takes a special kind of performer to pack the new Vortex on a wet Monday night, but Martin Simpson is certainly special. Described in the Daily Telegraph as ‘a splendid guitarist who attracts more hero worship than any musician on the British folk circuit' and by Folk Roots as possessing ‘an eloquence that need recognise few peers', Martin is one of the world's finest singers/finger-picking guitarists.

I first heard him at a mutual friend's flat in Hampstead in (I think – they were strange times) 1978, and even then it was obvious that he had the voice and musical talent to make it big in the folk world. His incredible dexterity on the acoustic guitar – his pacing and dynamic control of the instrument making every expertly applied note count – and his rich, expressive voice combine to produce an often spell-binding atmosphere. His range of material – including traditional ballads, hymns, self-penned instrumentals, delta blues and songs from a variety of other sources – is impressive in its eclecticism, and he delivers them with a passion and tenderness which few other singers can approach.

At the Vortex, even Martin's warm-up gathered applause, and he went on to produce two stunning sets which, as well as ballads, blues and instrumentals, contained several homages to His Bobness, including a moving version of ‘Spanish Boots of Spanish Leather'. As an ex-resident of New Orleans, he was scathing about the Bush administration's response to Katrina, and he covered Randy Newman's ‘Louisana', the great songwriter's observation on the 1928 flooding of the city and its particular devastation of the rural and urban poor. As Martin cascaded into yet another brilliant piece of finger-picking, my wife looked at me pityingly (I used to have some small expertise in the technique, alas long gone). I was too engrossed in Martin's performance, however, to reflect on my shortcomings.

If you ever get a chance to watch this man play live, just don't miss it. In the meanwhile, you can pick up his back catalogue in the larger record stores or buy his latest album, ‘Kind Letters' (out on Topic Records, www.topicrecords.co.uk). Visit his website on www.martinsimpson.com.

The Vortex also deserves a pat on the back for the apparent broadening of its music policy. Bert Jansch or Dick Gaughan next, please.

Rab MacWilliam

Monkey Island

Some of what you need and don't need to know

From the very first riff of this, their third album release to date, you can tell that MONKEY ISLAND haven't really got anything to prove. It's all there, in your face and carries on no matter how hard you would want to try to shake it off. ‘Do the Lipsync' and ‘Soulfastfood' epitomises why the words ‘punk' and ‘rock' are used together. ‘This is not' shows the ease, confidence and dynamic of writing which enables the song to go from snarling poetic vocals over bluesy guitar to full-on rock, then back again. The storytelling of Zeppelin by No Means No. But different. Each song has both urgency and restraint - but not always in equal measure. The songs have enough dynamic to support either three different vocals or instrumental and up-front harmonica. 
The single ‘Mussolini’s Teaspoons' is a six-minute epic and live favourite, while ‘Gallileo' is like watching a Tarrantino movie: moves along quite nicely. Until you get your head blown off. 

Warren Neill

Available from www.monkey-island.demon.co.uk

Morning Bride

Isabelline/Replica

The long-awaited debut single from local favourites Morning Bride delivers just what has been anticipated, and more. Recorded at the all-analogue Gizzard studio, owned and engineered by Ed Deegan - of White Stripes and Holly Golightly fame - and sounding just that little bit warmer as a result, the two tracks here are a perfect taste of the Bride's live sound, duplicated richly on disc at last.

‘Isabelline' is sprinkled with delicious alt.country slide guitar, which of itself is enough to get the pulse racing. By the time Amity's hauntingly sensual voice tells the bittersweet story of a damaged girl with her heart bent in all the wrong places, things are getting seriously emotional, soon soaring away blissfully on a rock-solid chorus and Fabio's frazzled fretwork.

There's more spine-tingling faded beauty on offer in ‘Replica' and thanks to some perfectly harmonised vocal interplay between Mark and Amity as he promises ‘I can get you into places where the sun never shines/I can get you out of places where the law don't apply' it's obvious there's something sinister and manipulative occurring behind the scenes of their drama.

Like raw whiskey and cola, Morning Bride are the perfect accompaniment to love-lorn melancholy cut through with shard of soul-struck ecstasy, at once soothing and stimulating. Their songs are just as likely to bring tears of recognition to the eyes; and of course the only solution is to pour another shot and hit ‘play' again.

Richard Fontenoy

(Debut single to be released at The Others on 12 November. It can also be ordered from www.morningbride.co.uk)

The Venom Seeds

Ryan’s Bar, Stoke Newington

With two gorgeous women in tight Chinese dresses, a hard and fast drummer, The Venom Seeds are injecting a new level of rawness into the London live music scene.

Slideling’s gusty slide guitar and Riotmilloos’s unhinged vocal performance combined with The Cave Man Machine’s unpredictable rhythms ensures their music is never gentle or boring. This is uncompromising hard fast punk rock.

The venue for their fourth gig - the basement at Ryan’s Bar, Stoke Newington, is the natural habitat for The Venom Seeds. It’s hot and smoky down there, much like their music. Opening with ‘Get Out! Right Now!' The Venom Seeds grab the audience by the genitals right from the first chords. There’s no bass to be found, but Slideling’s slide guitar fuzz has all the buzz to deliver a sound that covers the lower end with panache and grace that most guitarists only aspire to. Echoes of Led Zeppelin, The Gossip and The Two Tears spring to mind. The obvious comparisons would be the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s, but this three-piece thrash out a much rawer bluesy sound of their own.

This is no-holds barred stuff. By the time they’re onto ‘Going Down' that’s exactly what Riotmiloo’s doing. Launching herself onto the ground, several at times, showing a commitment to the music which nearly removes her black silk dress. And before the last strains of feedback, a naked streaker joins them on stage, making for an unforgettable set. Go Geisha girls!

Isabelle Bass

(courtesy of Artrocker)

MEDIAEVAL BAEBES 

Mirabilis

Stoke Newington's own inimitable, chart-topping Mediaeval Baebes return with 'Mirabilis', their most exquisite and accomplished album to date. 

The Mediaeval Baebes have established a legendary reputation for themselves by reviving ancient text and song and turning historical fantasy into reality for the pleasure of a modern audience. Their first album, 'Salva Nos', released in 1997 was certified Silver within weeks of release and was Virgin Classics' fastest selling debut album. The band's 1998 follow-up, 'Worldes Bylsse', blazed into the Classical Charts at No.1 to widespread, critical acclaim. This July sees them return with a brand new studio album, 'Mirabilis', which is already considered by some to be their finest work to date. 

Recognised as the originators of a new breed of acts responsible for spicing up the classical world, the Mediaeval Baebes have always pushed the boundaries in terms of attitude and musical approach. A provocative collective of beautiful maidens, the Baebes comprise of eight young women - vocalists, composers and instrumentalists - from all corners of the globe, who delight in their reputation for wantonness whilst singing songs from an age of innocence. 

Despite the odd suggestion that the sex might take precedence over the song, it's the vocal ability and compositional capabilities of this ensemble that have ensured their longevity. The Baebes arrange traditional mediaeval material but the majority of their songs are mediaeval poems that they have set to their own musical scores, evoking the fervour and fascinations of a people past whilst stirring up audiences present. 

'Mirabilis', their fifth studio album, sees the band build upon their unique sound by honing complex, vocal arrangements and inspirational compositions that are complemented by a polished, filmic production. Mirabilis is a Latin word, of Pagan origin, that was used in mediaeval times to describe a supernatural force on the fringes of this world. It's a word that describes their latest work perfectly. Where previous albums explored man's relationship with mortality and matched this with an appropriately raw and earthy sound; 'Mirabilis' develops the dramatic theme of enchantment and pairs it with crisp, ethereal harmonies and the menacing sounds of the underworld. According to Katherine Blake, the band's founder and musical director: "'Mirabilis' is our most sophisticated album yet. It's very multi-layered: full of rich, luxurious textures and evocative sounds, and illustrates how reality, history and myth intertwine." 

Written over the course of 2004 and recorded in London's Konk Studios at the close of that year, 'Mirabilis' features 18 tracks sung in a vast array of languages ranging from Latin and Middle English to Cornish and 18th Century Swedish. The record also features a variety of instruments including recorders, dulcimer and hurdy-gurdy, as well as an Indian harmonium, Arabian Ude and Turkish Saz. 'Mirabilis' has been superbly produced by Dru Masters (Bond, Holly Valance) who brings a commercial gloss to the album whilst retaining the band's trademark mediaeval sensibilities. Both he and the band are delighted with the results of the collaboration. "Working with artists as unique as the Mediaeval Baebes was a great opportunity for me, and I think I have made my best record yet," comments Masters. 

www.mediaevalbaebes.com   

"...a remarkable twelve piece." The Times; "...bright, funny, gutsy women - good looking too... as close to heaven as you can get." The Express; "...mediaeval poetry and early music in upbeat anglo sex-on-legs style." Classic FM Magazine; "...the raunchiest bunch of songbirds ever." News Of The World; "...the Baebes know how to take a middle ages ditty and make it rock." What's On.