It is always a joy to get a new album by Anais Mitchell. With the recently released 'Xoa' she really gets back to basics for this is just Anais with her acoustic guitar and her unusual voice. Oh and of course her wonderful songs.
Having given birth to a daughter Ramona last year, Mitchell hooked up again with Nashville producer Gary Paczosa who also produced her collaboration with Jefferson Hamer ('Child Ballads'} and they worked through a number of songs both old and new. The album includes selections from the wonderful 'Hadestown' which can be heard for the first time on record with Mitchell's voice to the fore. There are also of course a few tracks from 'Young Man In America' and a couple which go back even further to 'The Brightness (2007)' and 'Hymns for the Exiled (2004)'.
Having seen Mitchell doing a live solo show in February this year, I am familiar with many of these arrangements so the album holds few surprises for me - though there are of course a handful of brand new songs to enjoy. Nevertheless this is a lovely album to listen to. Mitchell is a great songwriter and hearing her songs unadorned by other voices and instruments allows such songs to be heard without distractions .There is also a very intimate feel to the whole thing, the producer allowing the sound of fingers squeaking on guitar strings to remain. Listening to the album is a little like having the singer in the same room with you.
I am of course looking forward to hearing Mitchell's next album of totally new material and I would love to see her reacquainted with producer Todd Sickafoose who did such a great job on 'Young Man In America'. Meanwhile I will continue to enjoy this album which incidentally is named after the way Mitchell signs off her correspondence. Kisses, hugs, Anais (xoa).
It has been a very strange afternoon.
I recently heard the very sad news about the death of true music legend Jack Bruce and as I was at the computer I felt compelled to write of my sadness in this blog. Having done so I browsed the web to try to find a little more information and was faced with a site suggesting that the reports of his death were in fact a hoax. Sick though that is, I hoped that it was indeed the case.
I quickly deleted my original posting.
Now more and more sites are posting the news of his passing and his family have posted a message on his own website. It would appear that Jack is no longer with us.
The word legend is used all too frequently these days but in my view Jack deserves the epithet. He was a wonderful songwriter, singer and musician and he has left a legacy of superb songs behind. Why, even this blog was named in honour of one of his great compositions.
The song 'We're Going Wrong' has a relatively simple chord progression but listen to Jack play it on piano and you realise what a wonderful song it is.
Beautiful.
Click here to hear it.
Rest in Peace Jack and thank you for all of your wonderful music.
Since being swept away by the beauty of These New Puritans' 'Field of Reeds' last year, I have been eagerly awaiting some kind of follow-up album. For the time being, this has come in the form of a live performance of that same album performed at the Barbican, London in April this year. I may have been unable to attend that show but the next best thing is to have the subsequent album 'Expanded' which was released earlier this week.
It is named as such because the basic line-up was enhanced by a 35 piece band and orchestra to recreate the sounds which were painstakingly created in the studio. The results consequently are very similar to the original album and it is perhaps only when the audience applause punctuates the performance, that I remember that I am listening to the live version and not the original.
I may be biased but I think the whole thing works wonderfully well. It is difficult to define but I feel that this is the way the whole thing should have been done in the first place. The piercing brass or sweeping strings may be replicating those studio sounds but were the sounds in the studio not emulating brass and strings? This, I feel was how the album was meant to be and I hope that I get the opportunity one day to see and hear them play this album live in this expanded format.
I should add that as a bonus 'Expanded' also includes two pieces ('Three Thousand' and 'We Want War') from their 2010 album, 'Hidden'. Then, to end is a brand new song called 'Spitting Stars'. A taste of things to come perhaps?
The album is an aural triumph and personally I can't wait to hear what they do come up with next.
As a postscript, I see that These New Puritans have recently revealed their own favourite albums. Among them are 'Vespertine' by Björk, two Captain Beefheart albums ('Doc at the Radar Station' and 'Lick My Decals Off, Baby'), 'Sketches of Spain' by Miles Davis and 'Rock Bottom' by Robert Wyatt. No major surprises there I feel.
More surprisingly perhaps, the list also includes 'Pacific Ocean Blue' by Dennis Wilson and 'Down By The Jetty' by Dr. Feelgood. An interesting collection!
I first became acquainted with the author David Mitchell through his strange but fascinating novel, 'Cloud Atlas'. I say strange because at the time it was unlike any novel I had ever read, consisting of seven separate stories set in vastly different time periods, but which all connected in some way. The fact that the reader might just be getting absorbed in one of the stories only for it to end, quite literally in mid sentence, only added to the uniqueness of the book. Of course each story was subsequently later picked up from the precise point it ended. It was an unusual writing technique but one I found to be very successful.
This idea of having parts of a novel interlink with other parts is something that Mitchell extends into his other works also. For example characters that appeared in 'Cloud Atlas' re-emerged in a different time in 'Black Swan Green' and so it is with this latest work.
'The Bone Clocks' is also a work which spans different generations (though not quite to the extent of 'Cloud Atlas'). Beginning in 1984, the story eventually takes us through to the future of 2035. Each part is narrated by a different character who may or may not have appeared earlier in the book. One such character is Hugo Lamb who originally appeared in 'Black Swan Green'. The writer Crispin Hershey had earlier appeared in 'number9dream' and so it goes on. Where Mitchell demonstrates real skill is the way in which his style of writing changes depending upon the character acting as narrator in each part. It is a very clever technique and combined with his great descriptive powers and brilliantly inventive imagination, shows Mitchell to be a first class writer. It is little wonder that all of his books now receive such great critical acclaim and are invariably included in short-lists for various literary prizes.
I will not give anything away about the plot of the book. At 600 pages it is quite involved anyway, but never once during reading it did my interest wane. In fact, I feel certain that like 'Cloud Atlas' it is a book I will read more than once and that I may then discover things I missed during my first reading.
I am loathe to recommend the works of David Mitchell to others. I did so unreservedly with 'Cloud Atlas' to friends and work colleagues with very mixed results. Some loved it while others hated it. There did not appear to be any middle ground.
All I will say is that if you love and appreciate great writing and a compelling storyline, then give it a go.
The hardback is available now, published by Sceptre.
Världens Band are a group of fifteen musicians representing seven countries spread across three continents. Having come together in Sweden, they shared their knowledge, skill and enthusiasm for their native traditional music and they have now blended that into a wonderful eclectic mix that is infectious and loads of fun.
I caught them first at a free concert at King's Hall which forms part of Newcastle University (two of the members are graduates). Here we were treated to a selection of their repertoire which included Swedish folk song, Indian classical music, a Senegalese piece sung in no fewer than three languages, and a medley that featured elements of traditional Saphardic song, Arabic folk-pop and Spanish Flamenco.
Besides the more standard acoustic guitar, mandolin, bass guitar and drums (2 sets) the band also utilise fiddles, mandolas, clarinets, flutes, Galician pipes, melodeon, African Kora and Indian mridangam and ganjira. And what a wonderful sound they create.
So much so that I willingly paid to see them perform a more complete set two days later at the Sage, Gateshead.
In this setting, the talent and energy of the band was even more impressive and the audience, most of whom had never seen the band before, were won over very quickly. It is difficult not to be as their brand of music certainly gets you moving. If it doesn't, check for a pulse!
The setlist was very similar this time round but I felt that certain individuals were given more scope to shine through. Among them were the 26 year old Senegalese Kora player Abdou Cissokho, and the Tunisian singer/dancer Navah Elbaz. From Sweden, Anna Malmstrom demonstrated what a fine clarinet player she is and birthday boy David Foley from Scotland was superb on flute. I should also pay tribute to the trio in the background who provide the wonderful rhythm for the band. They are drummers/percussionists Tobias Karlehag and Mischa Grind plus bass guitarist/vocalist Adam Grauman.
Yet mentioning those seems to do a disservice to the other band members. Arvid Rask not only plays a mean mandolin but he appears to act as an unofficial group leader - and does a wonderful job. David Gray clearly loves what he is doing as he dances aound with his accordion and French pipes and recorder player, Cassandre Balbar eventually took centre stage during the closing medley of the beautiful 'Farewell to Govan/Superfly'.
From Southern India Charu Hartharan adds her own vocals and percussion to many of the pieces including what begins as a Swedish folk song. Then of course there are the beautiful Swedish fiddle players, Anna Moller and Thea Aslund and finally the local lad returned, guitarist Matthew Jones.
While watching this band perform, one can easily forget the troubles that are going on in various parts of the world where nations, tribes and ethnic groups are in conflict with one another. On the stage are a group of young people who demonstrate how diverse cultures can come together in total harmony. In so doing, they bring joy to those who see and hear them perform. I did not see anyone leave the venue without a smile on their face.
I wish this band every success in their future careers.
Here is a link to their website which features some of their music.
The first time Neil Cowley performed on Tyneside, he was part of a tribute band called Utter Madness. Unfortunately the hostile crowd appeared to be expecting the real Madness so Cowley and his colleagues were fortunate to escape with their lives.
How times, and Cowley's fortunes, have changed. With the Neil Cowley Trio, he is now welcomed as something of a hero. On the basis of their performance at Sage Gateshead on Saturday evening, I can understand why.
I have owned their latest album 'Touch & Flee' for a few months but didn't offer my opinions then as I knew I was due to attend this leg of their tour to promote their 5th studio album. Consequently the first half of their set was a performance of pretty much the whole of the album. After a short break, they returned to the small stage in Hall 2 to run through what Cowley jokingly referred to as the "greatest hits". Throughout the whole evening there was scarcely a dull moment and the audience lapped it up.
If you are not familiar with the Neil Cowley Trio, they are from left to right as they line up on stage, Cowley on Steinway grand piano, the impressively bearded Rex Horan on upright bass and Evan Jenkins on drums. They play self composed jazz but not as you may know it. There is no piano solo, applause, bass solo, applause, drum solo etc etc. Instead they perform tight, melodic compositions with little or no improvisation and no solos to speak of. Rather there are some numbers where certain individuals are allowed to stretch out shall we say. In many ways I regard their sound as close to a local band, the Slowlight Quartet who do similar things but with the addition of saxophone. I assume that they are fans of Cowley as two of their members were spotted a few seats away from me.
Aside from the current album, I recognised 'Rooster Was a Witness' from 'The Face of Mount Molehill', 'Degree in Intuition' from their first album, 'Displaced' and 'Box Lily' a song dedicated to Cowley's daughter, which only appeared on 'Live at Montreaux 2012'. There were others I half recognised but was unable to recall the titles - one of the drawbacks of instrumental music I fear. Switching effortlessly between gorgeous ballads and numbers that bordered on 'rock' music, interspersed with Cowley's raps with the audience about Tony Hadley (who was playing in Hall 1 next door), and Peter Andre who stole Cowley's parking space in Bristol, the two hours just sped by. I hope it will not be too long before we see them back in these parts again. Catch them live if you can.
As a taster I will leave you with a video of 'Rooster Was a Witness'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mw2apVXsFXM
On 17th April 2014, These New Puritans performed 'Field of Reeds' in it's entirity at the Barbican in London. For the occasion, the usual line-up was expanded by a 35 piece band made up of brass, strings, percussion, voices, electronics, glass and magnetic resonator piano. Sadly I was unable to attend.
I am therefore very excited by the forthcoming release of a recording of this performance which is to be called 'EXPANDED'. Courtesy of Pitchfork TV, part of this recording is now available for our viewing pleasure. So stick on the headphones and give this a listen.
http://www.thesenewpuritans.com/expanded/
The release date is 20th October. Personally I can't wait.
It would appear that Lucinda Williams is being becoming more prolific as a writer as she ages. Hence at the age of 61 she has delivered for her 11th studio album, a double CD containing no fewer than 20 tracks. And most of them are self-composed.
Now I must confess that I generally have a bit of an issue with double albums and it is not a positive thing. Perhaps this should be a subject for a future post on this blog.
Having got that out of the way, I feel that Ms Williams deserves a great deal of credit that this album pretty much sustains my interest throughout. And that has to be down to the quality and variety of the songs as much as the performances. Besides the usual dosage of country rock, we also get plenty of blues and soul. The opening track 'Compassion' is a reworking of a poem written by her father Miller Williams. Featuring just Lucinda on acoustic guitar, it is very different musically to anything else on these two discs. Lyrically however it sets the tone for the rest of the album , which is I feel as lyrically strong (if not more so) than anything she has ever done. Take for example, 'Foolishness' in which she warns all who would seek to intrude into her private domain, "What I do in my own time is none of your business and all of mine". Knowing the heartbreak and stormy relationships she has had in the past, can she possibly have sung anything that has come more from the heart?
The album is stacked with great songs, though in a collection of 20, we are bound to come across some that do not quite hit the heights of others. For me, 'West Memphis' and 'Wrong Number' fall into that category but overall this is a hell of a good album and if her prolific songwriting continues, I am sure that we have more great albums to look forward to.
I found 'Old Ideas' (2012) to be something of a return to form for Cohen and 'Popular Problems' continues that trend. If you are familiar with his last album then this will present no surprises. Cohen surrounds himself with wonderful musicians who flesh out the sound and develop the melodies that Cohen's voice is no longer able to quite manage. Well, he can be excused that as he turned 80 a couple of weeks ago so it is something of a wonder that he is still creating music at all, let alone stuff this good. The real singing is now left to the female backing vocalists who do a wonderful job of complementing Cohen's whispered growl.
Of course there are those who feel that like Dylan, Cohen could never really sing anyway. I understand such views but don't subscribe to them. I do however feel that Cohen has adapted better to the advancing years. Perhaps Dylan needs to take a leaf out of his book regarding the fine musicians and backing singers.
Despite the support Cohen receives, it is to his voice that we listen. He began as a poet and although his words have long been set to music, it is those words that demand our attention. He rarely wastes one. The themes may not have changed all that much, hence the subjects of sex and death recur as on the album opener 'Slow'. Not that all of these songs are entirely new. 'Born in Chains', 'Nevermind', 'A Street' and 'My Oh My' have all existed, as poems at least. for a number of years.
With Cohen's first albums, I loved the bare stripped down feel which was at odds with almost everything else that was around in the late 1960's. Now I believe he needs the support of those musicians who provide subtle organ and piano riffs or soulful horns, but his words and images are as powerful and as relevant now as they were back then. With the wisdom of age, perhaps even more so. Of course everything doesn't work. In my view the upbeat country sections that fill the gaps between Cohen's more sombre verses in 'Did I Ever Love You?' are superfluous to the song. I can't clear my mind of images of stetson wearing line dancers which detract from the song lyrics. That's just a personal view though and it hardly spoils my enjoyment of this wonderful album.
There's clearly life in the old dog yet.
