Musical Notes; Let's Go Shopping

It’s a couple of months since I last discussed my musical preferences on here (http://payaso-del-mierda.blogspot.co.uk/2012_03_01_archive.html), so I thought it was about time for me to revisit the subject, by means of a rundown of the newly released albums I’ve bought this year. To be candid, I’ve also been buying stuff by Cornelius Cardew, Pecker Dunn and Godspeed You! Black Emperor, but those arcane pleasures are for another blog, dedicated to the bizarre and the obscure. However, back to the present; instead of setting myself the invidious task of rating my purchases in terms of artistic merit, I’ve decided to go with the system of addressing them in alphabetical order.

Fairport Convention – By Popular Request

I picked this little beauty up at their gig at The Sage at the end of February (see March music blog for review). It is a collection of their most popular songs, as voted for by members of the Fairport Convention internet mailing list, intended as a celebration of the band’s 45 years in the business. However, rather than just a greatest hits collection, this is a series of new recordings of established classics, though fairly predictably it doesn’t stray too far from the original spirit and style of the songs themselves. Then again, why on earth would Fairport want to do that? The running order isn’t a chronological one, but more akin to the current live set. Obviously the album ends, as every Fairport gig is contractually obliged to do, with “Meet on the Ledge” and “Matty Groves” is on there too, as well as other early gems such as “Fotheringay,”  “Sir Patrick Spens” and “Walk Awhile.” However, the ones that really do it for me are “Red and Gold” and “The Hiring Fair,” two songs that I missed out on first time round and hadn’t owned until this purchase. That said; the absolute classic on here is Chris Leslie’s version of “The Hexhamshire Lass,” which brought the house down at The Sage and is even better here. By Popular Request doesn’t break any new ground, but this tilling of well loved land is a joy to behold. One year, I will get to Cropredy!!

Lightships – Electric Cables

This release, allowing as it does the genius behind it to cloak himself in his own unassuming modesty by pretending it is a group effort rather than his own work, is the debut solo album by Gerry Love, the bassist of Teenage Fanclub. It is as beautiful as it was long awaited. Rumours of a Gerry solo album had been doing the rounds for upwards of 3 years, and with typical Fanclubesque prevarication, the release date for this was pushed back with monotonous regularity. However, early 2012 saw Domino Records finally announce its arrival and for that we must rejoice.

Rather than the more upbeat TFC numbers Gerry was responsible for (“Sparky’s Dream” and “Don’t Look Back” to name 2 of the top 5 Fanny songs of all time), Electric Cables is a more, fragile delicate album, including three bona fide classics in Two Lines, Silver & Gold and Sunlight to the Dawn, though every song is a glorious, life-affirming slice of wholesome pop beauty. If the summer holds, then get this album on, as I can’t think of a better way to celebrate warmth, sunshine and the sheer joy of being alive on a glorious June Sunday afternoon than by playing this album. Sadly, I was unable to get a ticket for their May gig in Glasgow, but everyone who made it said it was brilliant. Still, at least Percy Main won away to Murton that day. Not much consolation really is it?

Snowgoose – Harmony Springs

From the side project of one member of Teenage Fanclub, to the collaborative efforts of two others; Raymond McGinley and Dave McGowan may not be the beating heart of Snowgoose, but they are essential musical muscle to support the superb song writing of Jim McCulloch and amazing voice of Anna Sheard. In any other era, Anna would be seen as the finest female vocalist around; sadly for her, the existence of Lavinia Blackwall means poor Anna isn’t even the finest chanteuse in Glasgow. It is instructive to mention Lavinia, for if her combo Trembling Bells are the nearest thing we have to the rebirth of Sandy Denny era Fairport Convention, then Snowgoose must be Pentangle. Unlike the swirling majesty of Trembling Bells, or the luxurious effervescence of Lightships, who they supported at the aforementioned Glasgow show in May, Snowgoose are more autumnal in their wistful, melancholic tone. It isn’t depressing; it is just slightly more introspective. The album is excellent and a worthy trove of articulate early 70s post folk; I bought it on vinyl on Record Store Day, when they played a short set at Reflex in Newcastle (see http://payaso-del-mierda.blogspot.co.uk/2012_04_01_archive.html for a review). I would appreciate seeing a full show by them, especially to hear such great numbers as Crawl Out Your Window and Sycamore with the full band, though acoustic Anna’s striking voice was thrust centre stage in such an intimate setting.

Trembling Bells with Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy – The Marble Downs

To be perfectly honest, I was terrified at the thought of hearing this album. From the first time I heard Trembling Bells, just after the release of “Abandoned Love,” I’ve adored them. It isn’t just Lavinia’s voice, though it has to be said she is the finest female vocalist in the entire world, it is also Alex’s brilliant, cynical, cathartic lyrics and Mike’s stunning guitar work, that allows them to effortlessly switch between Medieval Plainsong, wholesome Folk and sprawling, enthralling Prog Rock. Three albums and three live shows, with every single one leaving me utterly beguiled and inspired. I can’t hear “Willows of Carbeth” or “Just as the Rainbow” without forcing myself to gulp down hard at the lump in my throat. Music rarely gets this good.

Will Oldham, aka Bonnie “Prince” Billy is a fascinating, productive talent. What did worry me was that his hillbilly weirdo persona, which is often akin to the musical embodiment of a Cormac McCarthy novel, would not sit well with Lavinia’s classically trained English rose operatic tones. Amazingly that is not the case at all; Oldham has reined in his garbled eccentricities and the two acts fit cheek by jowl to produce an album of superbly crafted tales of lost love, alongside a decent amount of self indulgent playfulness that takes “Otley Rock  Oracle” as a starting point, then just gets weirder by the second. From the opening, hurried account of love gone wrong, “I Made a Date with an Open Vein” to the closing cover of Robin Gibb’s hysterical, anthemic “Lord Bless All” this album captivates and inspires; nowhere more so than the brutal, apocalyptic take on Oldham’s sinister “Riding.” I know I’m avoiding giving merit marks, but this is album of the year so far.

The Wedding Present – Valentina

Unlike the Trembling Bells & Bonnie “Prince” Billy release, here was an album I knew all about. Since their late 2010 Bizarro tour, The Weddoes have been previewing tracks from this album, to the extent that it didn’t so much feel like a new release, as another comfortable slice of Gedge philosophy with guitars. And bloody great it is too, with the exception of the banal “Girl from the DDR,” which must be the worst thing the band have ever done. Moving swiftly on, it’s fair to say that the opening pairing of “You’re Dead” and “You Jane” must be two of the finest post reformation WP tracks, especially the latter featuring Gedge on drums. “Meet Cute,” “524 Fidelio” and the blistering “End Credits” keep the pace and quality turned up to 11 on a thrilling, enjoyable ride through the familiar territory of break ups and bitterness that has been The Wedding Present’s stock in trade for almost 30 years now. Record Store Day saw them release the accompanying “4 Chansons” EP, which includes French language versions of “Deer Caught in the Headlights,” “End Credits” and “Mystery Date” from Valentina and a special bonus track “Metal Men.” A very fine, 10” clear vinyl accompaniment it is too. Obviously, later this year The Wedding Present are touring with Seamonsters, with me hoping to see them in Dublin, Carlisle and Newcastle, though it must not be forgotten in the midst of all this nostalgia, that this album is an excellent slice of their work.

So, apart from recorded music, what else have I been up to? Well, it’s been fairly quiet on the gig front; not only did I fail to get to see Lightships in Glasgow, but the appearance of Paul Brady at The Sage on Saturday May 5^th clean passed me by; consequently another opportunity to hear “The Lakes of Ponchartrain” has gone. Luckily, the two gigs I have been to were both fabulous occasions.

Christy Moore at the City Hall on Easter Sunday was exactly as you’d expect a Christy Moore gig to be. However, it didn’t start so promisingly, when I was moved from Row A to Row F, basically as there was no way you could see the fella from Row A, because of the lip of the stage; no matter, it was a wonderful night, and this was the set he played -:

1. Little Musgrave
2. Butterfly
3. Matty
4. Morecambe Bay
5. North & South
6. Burning Times
7. Barrowlands
8. Companeros
9. Veronica
10. D. T.s
11. Mc Illhatton
12. Tyrone Boys
13. Nancy Spain
14. Listen
15. Ordinary Man
16. Sun Shine In
17. Missing You
18. Quiet Desperation
19. Smoke & Strong Whiskey
20. Voyage
21. Ride On
22. Lisdoonvarna
23. John O ‘ Dreams ( in memory of Barney Mc Kenna)
Encore
24. Shovel
I hour 48 mins

The opener of “Little Musgrave” was a total surprise; the Irish version of “Matty Groves,” for those who don’t know and it fair took your breath away. Of the rest, “Morecambe Bay,” “Tyrone Boys,” “Ordinary Man” and “Smoke & Strong Whiskey” really hit the spot. However, without wishing to quibble, Liverpool the night before had 6 more songs and 20 more minutes, including “Cliffs of Doneen” and “Farmer Michael Hayes.”  Still, as part of this weekend’s jaunt to Ireland, I’ve not, as yet, ruled out the possibility of a dodge up to Derry to see him on Saturday night.

Finally, I must mention The Lady; an Homage to Sandy Denny at The Sage on Sunday. What a wonderful, ensemble show this was; a dozen and a half musicians combining together to celebrate the life and works of the finest female singer, other than Lavinia Blackwall, that English folk music has produced. Arriving fashionably late, we missed “A Sailor’s Life,” which was the introduction, or overture I suppose, including Dave Swarbrick and Jerry Donaghue, who’d last been on Tyneside with Ray Jackson’s Acoustic Gathering at the Cluny in March; both of those were the only musicians who’d actually played with Sandy back in the day. However, next up was Lavinia producing a stunning, authentic take on “North Star and the Grassmen,” which was so perfect as to equal the original.

Obviously, Sandy’s songs were not all that Fairport did, so there were moments when the quality dipped; possibly because of the material, but possibly because of the performer. I had no prior knowledge of Joan Wasser, but I will make no attempt to seek out her band Joan As Police Woman; it was dangerously close to power balladry when she took the stage. Maddy Prior has been around the block and it’s fair to say I doubt she’d do Steeleye Span’s back catalogue justice these days, though her version of “Fotheringay” was almost sublime, even if her attempt at dancing looked like an out take from Edna The Inebriate Woman; The Musical.

Thea Gilmore is a decent singer and has added music to Sandy’s lost lyrics; all pleasant enough, but not brilliant. PP Arnold was brilliant; her soulful, gospel voice shouldn’t have worked in a folk setting, but it did. Her healthy demeanour certainly acted as a decent counterpoint to Dave Swarbrick, famously announced as dead by The Telegraph in 1999, though his fiddle playing is still awesome at the least. Green Gartside has travelled a long way from Skank Bloc Bologna to Next Time Around, but he didn’t do a bad job. The best laugh was double bass player Ben Nicholls strapping on a 5 string banjo and doing a rockabilly version of Matty Groves; Fairport absolutists would have been aghast!!

Unsurprisingly, Lavinia was the star of the show; her take on Late November was almost as much of a highlight as the whole cast on stage doing a closing Who Knows Where The Time Goes? It was joyful, it was brilliant and it made up for the uneven quality of material and performers. In short, it was a brave night and a brilliant idea that served as a fitting tribute to the late Sandy Denny.

So , there we go; other than Euros Childs in September, the Weddoes in November and possibly Christy Moore on Saturday, this is where the music stops… until I tell you about Cornelius Cardew, Pecker Dunn or Godspeed You! Black Emperor.