Trust the Wizards would like to wish you all the very merriest of Christmases.
We have joined together with Stuart Staples from Tindersticks to record this message.
December 24, 2014
Live review: The Cure at Hammersmith Odeon 22nd December 2014 @thecure @eventimapollo
It was great for Mrs Garbanzo and me to be back in our old stamping ground of Hammersmith last night.
We missed the support band (And Also the Trees) due to catching up in the pub with old pals Emma (the goth queen of NW10) and Simon (bassplayer extraordinaire & my former bandmate in The Smyths).
But we still got our money’s worth with a a 3 hour set from The Cure.
A few thoughts on the gig:
- How come Robert Smith still looks and sounds EXACTLY the same? His voice was amazing throughout the whole gig. My theory is that the man who put the Crawley into creepy-crawly hibernates in some kind of cocoon.
- The gig opened with 2 songs from “The Top” Then Robert Smith said something about playing the same venue 30 years ago with the same support band and that tonight’s set would have a lot of tracks from “The Top”. In fact they played all 10 songs from the album over the course of the set and some of them were amongst the highlights, especially Bird Mad Girl, The Caterpillar (my favourite), Give Me It and Wailing Wall with Robert playing some kind of recorder thingy.
- Lots of hits in the early part of the set, Just Like Heaven! The Walk! In Between Days!
- The next part of the show was aimed a bit more at the hardcore fans with less of the big hits and the occasional b-side thrown in. A few people moved further back and it was easy for us to get closer to the front during this section. I’d really wanted to hear some songs from disc 2 of “Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me” so for me the highlight of this bit was the brilliant Like Cockatoos. Emma was particularly thrilled to hear one of her favourites From The Edge of The Deep Green Sea. There were 3 or 4 songs I didn’t know near the end of the main set, probably off the albums that came after “Disintegration” that I don’t really know.
- They ended the first set with 100 Years (brilliant!) and the title track from “The Top”. The best thing in that song was one particular bass note that made the whole room resonate.
- And talking of Simon Gallup, how cool does he look these days. He was dressed just like “Rude Boy” era Joe Strummer with the quiff, black shirt and red neckerchief. A great look whether it’s 1978 or 2014.
- Lots of encores including a fantastic trio of songs from “Seventeen Seconds” concluding with “A Forest” played amidst a forest of green lasers.
- The next encore was 3 songs from “Disintegration” and this was possibly my favourite bit of the night. Pictures of You followed by Lullaby followed by Fascination Street. I love those Cure songs that have a lengthy instrumental section at the start and Pictures of You is one of the best examples of this. By the time the first vocals come in, there have already been a whole host of different bass / keyboard / guitar melodies introduced.
- Lots of their best-known songs to finish with including Love Cats, Close to Me, Boys Don’t Cry and Why Can’t I Be You? before finishing with that song’s b-side Hey You (“hey you, the one who looks like Christmas, come over here and kiss me kiss me”) That was the closest they got to a Christmas song. The slow doom-rock version of “Stop the Cavalry” that I had been talking about in the pub beforehand never materialised. Probably for the best.
- So going back to my fantasy setlist from a couple of days ago, I got to hear 17 of the 40 songs I’d really hoped to hear and plenty of songs from the albums that I love the most (The Top, Head on the Door, Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me, Disintegration).
Here’s a playlist of what they actually played.
| My fantasy setlist |
The actual setlist |
-
- good old Bobby
Thanks to Mrs Garbanzo and Emma for the photos.
More videos from Mrs Garbanzo’s phone below:
Seasons Greetings, reader!! Yes, it’s time for the first of two Christmas themed musical conundrums coming your way.
This week you can blame the evil mind of Chorizo Garbanzo for finding a link between the fragrant Laura Marling and well-known camponologist, Mike Oldfield. But if you can work it out, why not let Rebel Rikkit know by sending him an unlikely-to-arrive-in-time Christmas card.
Tomorrow evening I’m off to see The Cure at the Hammersmith Odeon. (not called that anymore but we all know it’s still called the Hammersmith Odeon really)
The original announcement for these gigs promised “a 150 minute show playing songs drawn from their entire 37 year old catalogue including deep cuts, pop songs, fan favourites and surprises galore.”
So I thought I’d have a go at writing a setlist that’s about the same length and includes as many as possible of the songs I want to hear Bob & the gang play.
I’ve been a fan for about 30 of those 37 years, having first encountered the band doing “The Caterpillar” on Top of the Pops (still my favourite song now). Tomorrow will be the 2nd time I’ve seen them. The first time was at the Move Festival at Old Trafford Cricket Ground in 2004 but it should’ve been more times. One of my schoolmates bought me a ticket to see them at Wembley Arena on the 1987 “Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me” tour. But then about a week before the gig he tstarted going out with some girl and decided to take her instead. So let me take this opportunity 27 years on to state publically FUCK YOU JASON LEWIS and FUCK YOU LUCY WHATEVER-YOUR-NAME-WAS!! I was also at Glastonbury in 1995 when The Cure headlined and played a blinder by all accounts. But at that particular Glastonbury I got a bit too “caught up in the festival spirit” and by the time The Cure were on I was having a little recuperative lie down in a hedge.
So having not actually seen them live much before, my setlist leans heavily on the “pop songs” and “fan favourites” bit and doesn’t really delve much into the more obs-Cure recesses of their back catalogue.
Here’s hoping they play plenty of these tomorrow.
See you down the front.
It’s that time of year again when the wizards convene and pore over the records that have been released over the previous 12 months, before finally emerging, blinking in the light, with their own Best of 2014 selections.
First up this year is Kicker Of Elves, whose big bag o’ hits includes 3 Welsh bands, 2 glam rock tunes and at least a few moments of drum and bass. We also have 2014 recommendations from real musicians, a live opening of some correspondence and an exciting quiz. You can hear all that and more here and below:
As promised, we are delighted to be able to share some of our favourite artists’ top tracks of the year. Get digging!
Jet Wintzer (Schizo Fun Addict): Strange Fish, Postcards From The Deep and Astralasia – Wind On Water (all on Fruits de Mer Records) and the Small Bear Records Christmas album Never Mind The Baubles, which is available as a free download. Jet’s film ‘Towers’ can be seen in full here – worth watching for the soundtrack alone.
Here’s the video for Theme For Suspiria too, as discussed on the pod.
Benjamin Shaw: Spencer Radcliffe & RL Kelly – Brown Horse, Coolio Desgracias – Suppositories Of Wisdom, Uncle Rico – The Father, The Son & The Broken Dream, Kim Mayo – Love’s Hum and Sonotanotanpenz – 3.
Jack Pop (Alcopop! Records): The Xcerts – There Is Only You, Happyness – Weird Little Birthday, Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires – Dereconstructed and check here on Christmas Day for the 2 brand new Alcopop! tees.
In addition, we received a late note from our friends The Nightingales reminding us that music can force political change and informing us that Robert Lloyd‘s favourite song of the year is Christy&Emily – Shadow.
Many thanks to all of them for their suggestions and musical contributions.
Here’s the physicality from the show:
On our last podcast we played a song by OY called Tortoise and Hunter. This inspired the wizards, and in particular Kicker, to compile a playlist of tortoise related songs. Appropriately enough, we’ve been a bit slow in getting it up on the site but like the fella in the race we’ve got there in the end.
Only tortoises permitted mind, no other testudines allowed which means there’s no room here for this Syd Barrett tune or this Sturgill Simpson one. And most definitely not for Chorizo’s suggestion of Bonnie Tyler’s “Turtle Eclipse of the Heart”
Why not add to the all around sensual experience by listening to the playlist whilst looking at these photos of tortoises eating and looking really happy about it.
Alright then, pop pickers, sort this one out.
We’ve got spelling’s own Julee Cruise with the theme from some TV programme or other and a nugget of all-girl garage punk from The Pleasure Seekers. Now, of course, you’ll recognise Suzi Q in the latter band portrait, but that ain’t the link, so keep digging.
Let us know by writing it in lipstick on Rebel Rikkit’s rear-view mirror. (N.B. that is NOT a euphemism).
December 11, 2014
Live review: Manic Street Preachers at Albert Hall, Manchester 10th December 2014 #holybible20
An evening of culture, alienation, boredom and despair for our wizard Chorizo tonight as he went to watch the Manic Street Preachers play their “difficult third album” The Holy Bible in Manchester.
You can hear his review right here. A few technical issues with the recording so apologies for the dodgy sound quality.
Obligatory poor quality photo from Chorizo’s phone
Much better photo courtesy of @A_Susan on Twitter
“a triumph of art over logic”
Chorizo’s CD Singles Going Steady
Time to chill out in the oncoming Winter darkness this week, as we present a couple of classics of the genre with The Orb and Massive Attack doing their stuff to fine effect.
What, though, links the two? If you know, take it easy and tell the next person you see who looks like they might give a hoot.
Ignoring the ill-educated sneers of his fellow wizards, Kicker set out with fellow synthpop fan and real musician, Boykie Bogart, to see The Human League take over the refurbished Liverpool Philharmonic Hall some 28 years since he saw them last. Would that Phil Oakey buy him another drink? Er, no. Would the band put on a show that got everyone up dancing like it was 1984? Damn right they would.
Have a listen to Kicker and Boykie discussing their expectations for the gig and their reactions* to it right here and there:
Some of the sights:
Some of the sounds:
* with apologies from Kicker for consistently getting song titles wrong in our now traditional style.
Related stuff:
The Human League Official Website
You can find out all about Boykie’s band, Stereo Electric Mistress, on the link below. If you like The Human League, you’re sure to like them too.
We recently played the magnificent track Robot Escape Bid by Adam Leonard on our podcast #30 and as we mentioned, Mr Leonard kindly agreed to answer a few of our questions through the medium of writing down answers. So, here is that full Q&A for your enjoyment.
Hello Adam. How the hell are you?
I’m very well, thanks for asking.
We have to admit to being newcomers to your music, can you tell us a bit about your back catalogue?
I’ll try to. I’m a bit confused by it myself. There have been 4 albums, one of which (‘How Real Is Real?’) is unreleased. The 3 which are out there are ‘How Music Sounds’ (2003), ‘Leonardism’ (2007) and ‘Nature Recordings’ (2010 vinyl & 2012 CD box). There’s countless other little releases and appearances which I’ve attempted to document on my website, The Message Tapes.com
Kicker has got your Nature Recordings LP on order, which seems to be one of the few vinyl releases still available. Is this a good place to start?
That’s the release I’m most proud of, so yes – the perfect place. Enjoy the trip.
nature recordings have landed
Octopus is your current project that is described as an ‘audio retrospective of your recorded work’. Can you tell us about why you have chosen to release 8 songs a month for 8 months and how you have chosen the tracks?
Originally I was planning on putting out a collection of previously unreleased stuff called ‘Anomalous’, but when I looked into it I realised there was a lot more of it than I’d remembered, and also there were a fair number of tracks which have had a very limited release anyway, so I expanded the idea to be more “unreleased and hard-to-get”. I ended up with about 70 tracks, but a release of all those in one go would be too much. So I came up with the 8 x 8 idea to spread it out, and then all I had to do was decide whether to call it ‘Spider’ or ‘Octopus’!
We are going to play one of the tracks from the Octopus project on our podcast, which one should we play? Why?
Ooooo, you choose.
The wide range of styles and sounds employed across the tracks on Octopus make you pretty unpigeonholeable in our view, but you are often likened to Robyn Hitchcock and Andy Partridge. What do you make of these comparisons?
Unpigeonholeable is a good word. But yes, Robyn Hitchcock is a massively flattering comparison – one that I can’t even begin to live up to. He’s an astonishing performer and songwriter. When I started writing songs I had not heard of Hitchcock, and upon finally discovered his stuff it was a total revelation and like “This is exactly what I’m trying to do”. I love his stuff. As for Andy Partridge, I obviously know who he is, but I’ve not heard much apart from the XTC singles. I liked his Dukes Of Stratosphere stuff (if that was him!?).
The first song we heard of yours was the tremendous I’m Gonna Sleep With Myself (Tonight) which naturally begs the question: marmite or moth – which is worse?
A moth in your Marmite, surely.
Your songs have loads of different instrumentation on them, ranging from church organ to lo-fi acoustic guitar to squelchy 80s synth, but what’s the most obscure sound you have incorporated into song?
I do a garage door solo on a song released by my mate Pulco (Ash Cooke). [Is it on this? – TTW Ed.]
The Human League or OMD?
I’m offended by OMD. There’s your answer.
Some of your more lo-fi acoustic songs remind Kicker of his favourite band, Guided By Voices – are you aware of their work?
I’m afraid not, no. Great band name though!
There are a couple of Beatles’ songs (covered in very different styles) on the Octopus Parts 1-3, which we presume relate to the Sgt Pepper remake project you were involved in and we’ve also found a video of you covering Ultravox. What other songs would you like to cover and what makes a good cover version?
A verbatim cover is obviously pointless. You need to come at it from a different angle, and hopefully make people think about the song in a different way. They don’t know it yet, but I want to do a live version of Slade’s ‘Gudbye Gudbye’ with Invaderband. I’m not sure I can hit those Noddy notes though!
I think Pixies would do fine things with UFO Over Bidston and Soft Hearted Scientists could take on The Place You Hid, but who would you like to cover one of your songs? Which one and why?
Great question, and one which I’m struggling to answer. Today the best I can come up with is ‘The Eighth Tower pt. 2’ covered by Jean Michel Jarre, with Vivian Stanshall on vocals.
What moves you to write a song more – love or nature or something else?
Lots of things. I’m all over the place. My two most recent songs are about 1) my baby daughter and 2) a haunted oven on a jumbo jet. It’s just whatever interests me at the time. I can write songs to order though. I remember reading an interview with John Lennon where he said if someone wants me to write a song about oranges, I can do that. So sometimes I just challenge myself to write songs about oranges (although not actually oranges, if you see what I mean). Competition is good as well, I’m in an ongoing life-long song battle with my buddy Gareth Davies. We challenge each other to write songs about a certain subject or in a certain style to see who can come up with the best one. Great fun.
Do you tend to write songs on the keyboard or guitar? Why?
A bit of both, but usually acoustic guitar as I’m only a single finger keyboard player.
What 3 songs would appear on the soundtrack to your life?
- Tell Me Momma – Bob Dylan (Birth)
- Get Your Hands Off My Woman – The Darkness (Life)
- Be Not So Fearful – Bill Fay (Death)
You have a song called Music For A Slow Motion Film – have you written/would you like to write soundtracks?
I did record the soundtrack to a short film called ‘Lucky 7’ in 2011, which was screened all over the world and and won awards and stuff. I’d certainly do more if I was asked. It’s very interesting to see (and hear!) your music breathe and become one with the images. And going back to what I said about Gareth and challenges, Gareth and I have been re-scoring the 1970s disaster movie ‘The Posiedon Adventure’ in Krautrock, just for the fun of it. Invaderband play one of those songs live, but the whole thing is only about half done.
Which band would you have liked to have been a part of? Why?
Oooooo, that’s a hard one. Today I will say Roxy Music. It looked fun AND industrious.
Who exactly are Invaderband?
Invaderband are a Garage-herbaceous artrockgruppe with myself on vocals and rhythm guitar, Chris McConaghy on lead guitar, Rion McCartney on drums and Gavin McCartney on bass. We swap around a bit sometimes and play synths, samples and megaphone. It was purely a live project for the past 2 years, but we’ve just started to record a number of songs in the studio, and they’re sounding beefy. We also happen to be the 4 best songwriters in Derry.
Which other current bands/artists should we be listening to?
In terms of lesser-known artists P.G. Six, Pulco, Our Krypton Son, Alex Highton, Richard Moult, The Owl Service.
In terms of “famous” artists: The Darkness or anything involving Justin Hawkins. People always assume I’m saying this for a joke. I have friends who simply cannot accept I like JH because (and I quote) “you’ve got taste”. And they’re right. I have got taste. And Justin Hawkins is a fucking genius. [Judge for yerself, reader… – TTW Ed.]
Your ominous instrumental Lord’s Station is presumably about getting to the hallowed MCC ground. So, cricket – cool as fuck or a load of old bollocks?
Well, it was more about a spectral tube train that just happened to be near that cricket ground. I’ve no interest in cricket, or any sport to be honest – apart from pub sports like darts and snooker/pool.
You’re in a caff ordering breakfast. You can have tea or coffee and toast. What are the first three other items you will order?
Mushrooms, poached eggs, baked beans.
How can we make sure we keep up with what you are doing?
The Message Tapes.com or the Adam Leonard Music Facebook page.
Many thanks for taking time to talk to us. Will you come and play in Liverpool soon?
I’d love to, and I’m sure Invaderband would love to too.
Thanks for the interest, and enjoy Octopus Parts 5-8 !
B-Bye.
it’s cool to be a leonardist
So, welcome to the last monthly mix of 2014, a 20-track present beautifully packaged and tied with a bow, just for you.
what do you mean it’s not the toy car you wanted?
Let’s get straight to it, then. We kick things of in traditional instrumental manner with self-styled ‘legends from time and swamp’, the surf rock Brummies, The Terrorsaurs, with just one of a whole bunch of wonderful Schlock Singles. Come and play Liverpool, fellas! Then we get the post punk/northern soul stylings of Comet Gain from their last but one album Howl Of The Lonely Crowd out on the very wonderful Fortuna Pop! label. I do have to question whether you can get a clang out of concrete though. Anyway, I am ashamed to say I haven’t got round to listening to their latest effort, but will definitely find time to do so in the new year. A record I have very much enjoyed from this year, though, is the second single from The Mentalettes that comes all the way from Berlin, Germany. Sehr toll, Schwestern! Then it’s time for our regular irregular feature, Tex Pix, where a newly-promoted Texas Paul picks a track from his crazy listening world for our consideration. This month he has gone for a cover version that he and I heard in the flesh from spooky cockernee surf vibe types, Black Mekon at the Liverpool International Festival Of Psychedelia earlier this year. Mighty fine it was then and mighty fine it is now too. Sadly, the song is not on Spotify, so enjoy it on the video below.
Up next it’s an underrated and underplayed gem from The Kinks, just because…, which is followed by the tremendous title track from the band Toy. This one ticks all the right boxes and undoubtedly joins all the right dots too. Another great track from this year comes from The Soundcarriers, who released their album Entropicalia (fusing thermodynamics and 60s Brazilian avant-garde, I’m guessing) on the always interesting Ghost Box label. In any case, this is a really upbeat jazz-influenced whirl of an album, which gets my temperature rising. And this is suitably followed by Suzi Chunk and Groovy Uncle with a track from their latest thick cut 45 out on State Records. This record brings together the 60s vocals of said Suzi with yer real proper Medway sound and is presumably an homage of sorts to Redford & Fonda. A marriage made in Chatham.
get yer shoes on, Suzi!
Time the for another nugget from the Original Artyfacts From The First Psychedelic Era collection that seems to permanently be on my listening device. This month, it’s the turn of The Outsiders to show us what it was all about and I, for one, am happy to let them. Our friends at Active Listener once again come up trumps with their sampler #23 from which we get the FoneZ (who may well be Argentinian) track that Spotify have so far overlooked. It’s worth checking out on the link below. Super groovy. As are, the rather wonderful Section 25 (or SXXV if you prefer), who have, according to their promotional blurb “metamorphos[ed] from the glummest, most dour group ever into progenitors of House”. All I know is that Blackpool bands never sounded finer on orange vinyl. How about a cover version of a Kinks song that appears on a Wes Anderson film soundtrack, you ask? Oh, go on then. Yes, it’s Solvents with their take on Nothing in This World Can Stop Me Worryin’ Bout That Girl. And pretty not bad it is too. Here’s the original:
For fuck’s sake, get some GBV on this mix tape! Yes, very much guided by the voices in my head, up next there’s a track from the only band that matters’ first full length LP Devil Between My Toes that sounds just about perfect to these ears. Doing its best to follow that, it’s Ry Cooder’s version of the Blind Alfred Reed classic that not only sounds very different to the original, but also reorders the lyrics, fact fans. And while we’re in classic track territory, how about some Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah band, eh? You can only listen in awe to this track when you realise that it features a solo by Roger Ruskin Spear on a genuine trouser press he had fitted with a pick-up. Now that’s dedication to a concept. Then, spearheading (albeit reluctantly) the dolewave (come on, keep up, Rebel) movement, we next have up the mournful sound of Dick Diver, a 4 piece from Melbourne with perhaps their best known song. Their Calendar Days album would definitely have featured in this year’s list of best albums, except it came out last year.
hey hey philae
On a podcast sometime ago, I brought the band Microsdisney to the wizards table as I was aware that neither of the other two were very familiar with Cathal Coughlan’s first band. I really struggled to choose the one track I thought might showcase a band I still reckon are pretty important. In the end, I went for Genius, but now’s time for another great track. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you This Liberal Love in all it’s bouncy glory. You might remember we have played [The] Caseworker on these mixes before, well an earlier guise of that band (one at least featuring Conor and Eimer Devlin, anyway) was Half Film and this next track of theirs came my way via the Aussie label Hidden Shoal. After that it’s a track from the new album from The Antlers, Familiars, that I have been playing a lot recently. It is both suitably miserable and full of great trumpets throughout. Then, rounding things off we have yet another top release from Ghost Box. It’s a single from Brooks & O’Hagan, who are Jon Brooks (Advisory Circle) and Sean O’Hagan (High Llamas) who have merged their wonderful talents quite brilliantly. As we have also featured Sean with his Microdisney hat on, it only seems appropriate to finish here with a video of Jon with his hi-viz Advisory Circle bib on. See you next month.
Those all important tracks in full:
1. The Terrorsaurs – Mariocki Midnight
2. Comet Gain – Clang Of The Concrete Swans
3. The Mentalettes – Lover’s Wasteland
4. Black Mekon – Wrote For Luck [not on Spotify, so have yerself a Happy Monday]
5. The Kinks – God’s Children
6. Toy – Join The Dots
7. The Soundcarriers – Boiling Point
8. Suzi Chunk & Groovy Uncle – Barefoot In The Car Park
9. The Outsiders – Time Won’t Let Go
11. Section 25 – Reflection (Young Image)
12. Solvents – Nothing In This World Can Stop Me Worryin’ Bout That Girl
13. Guided By Voices – Hey, Hey, Spaceman
14. Ry Cooder – How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live
15. The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band – Trouser Press
16. Dick Diver – New Start Again
17. Microdisney – This Liberal Love
18. Half Film – Machines, Hawks And The Perfect Equation
19. The Antlers – Parade
20. Brooks & O’Hagan – Calibair
The Carefree World Of Opportunity
Playlist
Previous monthly mixes
All seventeen previous mixes are still available for free! Why not follow us on Spotify to avoid missing out?
Everybody’s going through changes. Everybody’s got a bag of his own.
Yes, it’s your favourite weekly [weakly? – TTW Ed.] music conundrum back with a couple of proper tunes for your quizzical minds. We’ve got the Cool Ruler, Gregory Isaacs with a song that Mikie Dredd notes as “Tune!!!! Nuh bodder watch di tykle,” and who are we to argue. We also have old blue eye himself, David Bowie, with his 1983 smash, China Girl.
As always, let us know what links the two. Go on, it will make our day.
Just when you thought it was safe to surf the airwaves, the wizards are back in double quick time with another podcast full of all sorts of excitement. We have more paper-plate-face shenanigans, a new Chorizo Garbanzo impression and yet another informative quiz. There’s also the latest instalment of Rebel Rikkit’s World of Ska (where will he go this time, listener?) and Kicker of Elves sneaks a couple of extra tracks in when the others aren’t looking.
You can hear it all right here and right there:
Here’s live footage of John Cooper Clarke Paper Plate Face:
Some of the physicality played on the show (on our long display table):
Related stuff:
So, here we are again, then.
This week I have a couple of tracks with my fellow wizards in mind. Firstly, it’s The Wedding Present, a big favourite of Chorizo Garbanzo, with a track that was definitely in the Hit Parade and then it’s The Misfits with a song I was hoping Rebel Rikkit would be able to add to his ‘Songs From The Perspective Of A Fly’ playlist, but as it seems to be mostly about Vincent Price, he probably won’t.
Still, if you know what might link the two, let us know by tattooing the answer on your face and sending us a selfie.
What were we to make of it all? In these days of transition where a feeble Art Deco concert hall could be so transformed to house a famed starlet from another more elegant land who would cast a mystic mirage on us and take us on a journey from which we would only dream of returning, in our nightmares!
So it was that Rebel Rikkit, Chorizo Garbanzo, Mrs Garbanzo and Texas Paul were swept along the roller blade of emotion that was John Grant at The Liverpool Philharmonic on 22 November 2014. Where emotion met charisma and electronics met folk and classic became classic. The audience were engorged to rise and stay erect and remain proud until they exploded with appreciation.
It Was Rather Good Was It Not!
This is the conversation that followed this momentous occasion. For the love of God listen to this as your life may well depend upon it!! Listen and down load here or click the sound cloud thing below.
The Concert Moved Rebel and Mrs Garbanzo this far.
The Science
November 20, 2014
Live gig review: Barrence Whitfield and The Savages at East Village Arts Club, Liverpool 19th November 2014
Phew! It may be cold outside in Liverpool tonight but Barrence Whitfield and The Savages raised our temperatures at tonight’s gig.
Maximum R’n’B
All 3 wizards were there along with chief acolyte Texas Paul. It’s got to be said that there wasn’t a huge crowd there but those lucky few who were there got way more than their money’s worth.
Barrence is a truly great frontman. He sings, he screams, he preaches, he screams some more, he growls, he grooves, he moves, he shows the ladies in the house what a real man is and then he cries. In fact he cries twice. Twice.
RIP JB. Is BW now the Hardest Working Man in Show Business?
For various reasons far too dull to go into here, the wizards weren’t planning on doing a review of this gig. But after seeing the EFFORT! and PASSION! and SOUL! that Barrence and the boys put into the performance I thought we couldn’t let our night out go unchronicled.
A few highlights then…
- What a start!! He opened with a cover of “Bip Bop Bip” by Pretty Boy a.k.a. Don Covay. (We played that very song on Podcast number 16! give it a listen). Plenty of opportunities for Barrence to let rip with a few screams. I reckon he enjoys doing them as much as we enjoy listening! He followed that up with “The Corner Man”, probably the best known track of the last album.
- The band. They just get on with it, no frills, no nonsense, no posing, excessive soloing or general pissing about.
- The lineup is Andy Jody on drums. Whenever you see a drummer with a fairly minimal kit you know he means business. Stage right (ir is it left?) there’s Phil Lenker on bass, cool hair and very tall amp and next to him saxman Tom Quatrulli. He was playing proper old school rock’n’roll sax, the kind of sax you hear on Little Richard and Fats Domino records. Why play 10 notes when playing the same note 10 times works much better? Last and not least there was Peter Greenberg on guitar who incidentally was wearing my faovurite of the bandmembers’ shirts. Before the gig the wizards had been discussing the great Wilko Johnson and I don’t know if Peter Greenberg is a fan but there are definite similarites in style. Both play a mixture of lead and rhythm and Peter even had one of those 70s style curly guitar leads. He also must have tremendous muscles in his right hand little finger because that was flying on and off the frets as he bashed out those bar chords. By the way, Texas reckoned he looked like a younger version of ex Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Anyone still remember him?
- SOUL!! The 2 slower numbers were breathtakingly good. Here’s one of them from a gig a few years ago.
- After the first few songs, we were all shuffling our feet. In fact Rebel and Kicker busted out some proper dance moves, the likes of which are rarely seen in public spaces. As you can see from the photos at the bottom Kicker’s feet were a blur.
- Another highlight was a song about a heavyweight boxer called Willie Meehan who according to the lyrics didn’t do any training, he just ate all the time. But he still managed to knock out the champ Jack Dempsey twice. Twice! This great song was accompanied by some nice boxing moves from Barrence.
Twice!
- Another cover to kick off the encores, a brilliantly sung version of Ted Taylor’s “Ramblin’ Rose” (you might know the MC5 version)
- One last aside: I mentioned the disappointingly small crowd before but apparently when chief wizard Kicker of Elves saw the late, great Jackie Leven at the same venue a few years back there was just him and Mrs Elves. The support band had been there watching but Jackie slagged them off during his gig and they slunk off .
But anyway, THANK YOU to the band for a great night and we’ll see you next time.
Barrence and his band are playing in the U.K. for another week (Birmingham, Southend, London, Guildford, Bristol) so if you live near any of those go and see them.
Barrence mentioned that there’ll be a new LP out in the New Year and another tour so keep an eye out for them bringing their show to your town. Support live music, people. Especially when it’s as great as this!
Related links
And here are Kicker’s feet in full flow. Press the arrows quickly to see them in their full frugging glory.
Right, let’s get to it. Two more tracks for you that have an impossibly difficult and obscure link. Actually, we think this one is pretty easy, but…
Anyway, we have some early footage of some unbelievably cool-looking Shads alongside a top track from Ian Button’s Papernut Cambridge gang. As always, just let us know the connection. Why not put it in a Christmas card to Rebel Rikkit. It may be the only one he gets this year.
It’s been a while since the wizards last convened so this time round there is plenty to discuss and loads of music to play and dissect. There is also an unusually bumper postbag to get through.
So, settle down, strap in and enjoy a mix of legendary band re-enactments, talk of Tommy Edison and more Half Man Half Biscuit quotes than you can throw a stick at.
hell, lloyd & verlaine on the wizards’ sofa
You can download the full shenanigans here or just plug yourself into the audio-player right underneath these words.
Marquee Moon Reconstructed:
Here’s some of the physicality played on the show:
the wizards’ album cover of the year!
Related stuff:
November 15, 2014
Live review podcast: Soft Hearted Scientists, The Lantern Theatre, Sheffield (8 November 2014)
Cardiff’s mystical troubadours, Soft Hearted Scientists, rarely play live outside their homeland so when they announced, very quietly, that they would be playing in Sheffield this month there was no doubt that a road trip (albeit on the A57 not the A470) would be a necessity.
This is a band I discovered through the fantastic Whatever Happened To The Soft Hearted Scientists compilation (a record everyone should own not least for the striking artwork), put out by Fruits de Mer Records in 2013, and have been championing ever since.
And so it was that regular contributor to the pod, Texas Paul, and I embarked on a full day of revelry and adventure before finding ourselves at The Lantern Theatre, the oldest theatre in Sheffield no less, deep in residential South Yorkshire.
Have a listen below to what we anticipated and then found behind that impressive curtain.
Some photographs from the front row:
Nathan’s guitar (rather less pink in real life):
The setlist (including a couple of unplayed songs):
This was Kicker’s Dream Setlist (minus a couple of important tracks not on Spotify):
Here are a couple of videos from the gig:
You can also hear where Kicker has banged on about Soft Hearted Scientists before on these links:
Kicker of Elves’ Favourite Things From 2013
Alright kids, get yer lugs round these two tip top tracks.
This week we have Mick Jones playing live with his Carbon Silicon band (and his daughter) and friend of the pod and all-round wizard hero, Roddy Frame. But, what on earth connects these two?
If you have an inkling, find a picture of your home town, write your answer on the back and send it to Rebel Rikkit. He’ll happily pay the postage.
A while ago, chief wizards Kicker of Elves laid down the gauntlet of who could find the weirdest pairings in their vinyl or CD collection.
He was after 2 artists that were filed next to each other alphabetically but didn’t sit comfortably together musically.
Here are a few photos of incongruous neighbours in my CDs.
The gangsta rap of N.W.A. sandwiched between 90s punks The Nubiles and fellow QPR fan Michael Nyman’s soundtrack to The Piano. Straight outta Campion!!
Mexican accordionist and Ry Cooder collaborator Flaco Jimenez in between “Gordon is a Moron” legend Jilted John and Morrissey’s favourite Bowie-alike Jobriath.
The Queen of Hammersmith Odeon Kate Bush next to William Burrough’s wonderfully foul mouthed collaboration with The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy.
Jimmy Cliff and Patsy Cline. What a duet they could’ve done.
Gorblimey Cockernee kneesup merchants Chas and Dave meet superstar DJs The Chemical Brothers. That collaboration is probably best left in my imagination. Gertcha!!
Beardstroke inducing jazzer Charles Mingus comes up against Kylie Minogue (a.k.a. “you like minge” for all you anagram fans)
Parsons, Partridge and Pavement. Wasn’t that the title of a Heaven 17 album?
Over to you now reader, I’ve shown you mine so now you show me yours.
Have a listen to our playlist to see how these neighbours sounds together. Partridge unavailable on Spotify so we’ve included his theme song instead.
As the old saying goes, this book does exactly what it says on the tin. It’s got all of the great man’s lyrics from the Birthday Party all the way up to last year’s “Push the Sky Away” LP.
Cave’s lecture on “The Secret Life of The Love Song” is included and whilst this is definitely worth reading, it has been released in various forms over the years and will already be familiar to many fans. There’s also a short foreword from Will Self, a man who seems to have interesting stuff to say on any topic you give him.
Being a long-term fan of Warracknabeal’s favourite son, the interesting thing for me about the book was to observe how the impact of the words changed once they were separated from the music. Many of my favourite songs didn’t really work so well written down. They need the beauty or the bombast of the music to give them more power.
Take for example “City of Refuge” from 1988’s “Tender Prey”, the first Nick Cave album I owned and loved. On record and in concert it’s a blast in every sense of the word. When the lines “you better run, you better run, you better run to the city of refuge” are chanted over and over again like a mantra it becomes compelling and hypnotic. But taken away from the music, the lyrics don’t read like anything particularly exciting. Repetition works brilliantly in rock’n’roll, that’s why we have choruses. But in poetry, repetition can just get a bit boring.
Much of the twisted genius “Murder Ballads” album suffers in the same way. Too many “la la la la”s and “la la la lee”s make Nick a dull boy. Works great on the record though and gives the songs the olde-fashioned folk ballad feel.
But the flip side of that argument is that most of the songs that work best in the book are ones that have kind of passed me by on record. Sometimes that’s because the lyrics are not easy to make out above the beautiful din of the music (for example “Swampland” whose cries of “sinking in the mud” seems to make it a prototype version of “And the Ass Saw the Angel”)
Other times it might be just that I didn’t previously know the song (see the Dirty Three song below and some other non-album tracks from “The Proposition” soundtrack)
But then there are some songs that were already amongst my very favourites that remain remarkable pieces of poetry when removed from the music (Breathless, Christina the Astonishing, The Sorrowful Wife, The Carny, Rock of Gibraltar and of course The Mercy Seat)
Here for your listening pleasure is a specially compiled playlist of the songs that I enjoyed most on the printed page.
Previous blog posts & podcasts that feature Nick Cave:
Summer is over, but to brighten things up here we have two shiny bright 80s singalongs with a connection.
Now, as regular listeners will know, prunes are very good for you. They will also know that most bands sound like The Style Council according to Kicker of Elves, but for once he would be right because here we have the actual The Style Council alongside Tracie Young, who doesn’t. Much.
Can you tell us what links these two songs and it’s NOT that Paul Weller wrote both tunes. So, there.
Remember remember Kicker’s Monthly Mix for November. Oh yes, and it’s a cracker (one month early, festival fans).
This time we kick off with an Elf inspired instrumental from Public Service Broadcasting that I had long-listed for my best of the year right from when I got hold of it on Record Store Shop Day earlier this year. Slightly disappointingly, the elf in question here is a Swedish eleven, but still it’s a great tune. This is followed by an all time classic and a record sure to give you a lift, ahem, it’s 13th Floor Elevators with one of my favourite songs of theirs and one that graces the must have Nuggets collection. Hot on the tails of that comes the new old sound from Three Dimensional Tanx (frankly, the only Tanx I’d be happy with) with their single I Am Go out on the highly recommended Sunstone Records label. It’s not on Spotify, so here it is in video form to provide more evidence that Lancaster (already home to wizard faves The Lovely Eggs and The Thyme Machine) can well claim to be an unlikely hotbed of musical talent.
Following on from that stormer, we have the ONSIND recommended, and finely named, T-Shirt Weather with a track from their split single with Losing Sleep. Some very nice whoah-oh-ohs here and an unexpected (at least for this listener) sax solo. Good work. Calming things down somewhat we next have Guided By Voices (remember them?) with one of the brilliant extra tracks that you can find with the Under The Bushes Under The Stars LP, an album that seems to be unfairly underrated in the GBV canon. Next it’s time for our irregular feature, Tex Pix, where friend of the pod Texas Paul, er, picks a track for possible inclusion in the monthly mix. This time round Tex has gone for a sure fire winner with psych surf kings The Blue Giant Zeta Puppies, a band whose track Colossus I had already pencilled in for this month thanks to our friends at Active Listener. Anyway, Tex wanted me to play their Dandelion Radio version of I Ran With A Zombie, and I would have done, but it’s not on Spotify, so here’s another song from the same session with added Thunderbirds!
The next song is another that came to my attention via Active Listener and this one jumped out from their Sampler 23 collection with its, let’s not shy away from this, Robyn Hitchcock-esque sound, and some quite brilliant lyrics. It’s a guy called Adam Leonard, who warns us, amongst other things, that he “ain’t gonna sleep with no Marmite / ain’t gonna sleep with no moth” on this utterly beguiling track, one that if I had it on vinyl and could be sure that it was released this year, would definitely be in my best of 2014. As it is though, I only have a download version (and so should you – check out the link below) and a back catalogue to discover. In fact, I have signed up to Adam’s latest Octopus project, where he is releasing 8 tracks a month for 8 months as an ‘audio retrospective’ – for free if you’re quick enough, Rebel Rikkit. I’m also hoping to ask Adam a few questions about all this on a future blog, so watch this space. In the meantime, here he is rather brilliantly recording straight to vinyl!
You all will, of course, have been as glued to Baseball’s World Series as I was over the last week or so (a thoroughly engaging series ultimately won by Chuck Prophet’s local boys, the San Francisco Giants, over the people’s choice, the Kansas City Royals in the 7th game, since you ask) so it seems an appropriate time to introduce a track from my favourite baseball themed record of the year from, naturally, The Baseball Project (Peter Buck, Mike Mills, Scott McCaughey, Steve Wynn and Linda Pitmon). This track tells the tale of disgraced New York Yankee Alex ‘A-Rod’ Rodriguez, who wore, and may well wear again, the eponymous number 13. A man perhaps unlikley to get much in the way of cuddles from any baseball fan, so how about some cuddles from the band No Ditching? This lot are another Oh No Shit It’s Neil Diamond recommendation and their 4 track demo EP whizzes by in endearing fashion. You’ll have to check it out on the link below. There seems to be a close community feel between all these County Durham bands, something that is indirectly celebrated by Damu The Fudgemunk (almost certainly not his real name) on the Spirit Of Ummah track that comes up next and is taken from his fantastic Spare Overtime Re-Inspired collection.
making A-Rod for his own back
Dundee band Spare Snare are an old favourite of mine with their GBV-esque debut album Live At Home having been a constant companion over the years. However, I hadn’t fully realised how many records they have actually released since I first heard them on John Peel’s radio show until quite recently. I have therefore set out to complete the gaps in my collection over the last few months and am really enjoying their always interesting sound. Here’s a track from Learn To Play for you to enjoy with a recommendation to check out not only their full discography, but also main man Jan Burnett’s latest Grand Gestures project. Then we have Aussies, Blank Realm with the closing track from their marvellous Grassed Inn LP. I am particularly keen on the sneery vocals on this one. I also really like the vocals from Ian Button on Papernut Cambridge’s 3 x 7″ EPs LP There’s No Underground, which may well be true for Cambridge. All I know is that this is a really neat collection of off-skew psychedelic pop with Darren Hayman (more of whom later) on synth and our pal Robert Rotifer on guitar. Do yourself a favour and get hold of this set.
pubs don’t count
The next track came my way via our friends at Partisan Records who introduced me to the sound of (Aaron) Freeman. This Neil Young infused number begs the question what masculine guitar playing might be. Having recently been blown away by a guitar onslaught from Kristin Hersh and having secured tickets to see the reformed Sleater-Kinney early next year, I’m not sure. Still, I like the sound on this one. As I do with the sound of Solid Statesmen, from now 20 years ago, on their Melodies Of Man, Machine And Nature EP. This record returned to my turntable this month after what can only be described as too long to be without this brand of stripped down sharp dressed garage rock. Changing the mood after that little explosion of exuberance, it’s Peter Mulvey with the standout track from his Silver Ladder EP – a record championed by honorary wizard Chuck Prophet earlier this year, and that’s good enough for me. Another friend of the pod, the bard of Bolton, Ballard (not easy to say, that) continues to effortlessly release 60s influenced guitar pop nuggets like they were sweet honey flavoured yellow balls of grain. Ahem. Anyway, I though I’d share a top track from his Little Rockets album, but it’s not on Spotify so you’ll have to follow the link below.
Ballard cranks out another gem
Earlier this month I found a CD on my shelves that I had no idea I had bought. Not an unusual state of affairs for an aged wizard you might think, but still a bit disconcerting nevertheless. Then I remembered that said CD, The Cubical’s Arise Conglomerate, had been thrown in with a previous order received from everyone’s favourite Stockton-on-Tees record haven, Sound It Out Records and had subsequently been overlooked. The cover features three gas-masked figures in a psychedelic field of corn so of course it sounds like early Captain Beefheart. Turns out these boys are from Liverpool and have something of a cult following. Count me in! Now let’s return to the aforementioned Darren Hayman as it is he who appears next with Emma Kupa (of Sheffield popsters Standard Fare fame) on one of the best male/female duos of the year. From their bandcamp page, here’s how the two came together: “Darren met Emma in Sheffield and told her he was suspicious of a band who all wore hats. Then her band all put hats on and went on stage. They started a friendship based on short scale basses.” Excellent. The final song this month is one that I heard playing in Liverpool’s premier record shop Probe Records having just secured my vinyl fix for the week. I couldn’t leave the premises until it had finished 8 minutes later. I hope the magical Kevin Ayers has the same effect on you, dear reader, with the hypnotic Decadence from his Bananamour LP. I wonder who it’s about?
See you next month.
Those all important tracks in full:
1. Public Service Broadcasting – Elfstedentocht Part 1
2. 13th Floor Elevators – You’re Gonna Miss Me
3. Three Dimensional Tanx – I Am Go
4. T-Shirt Weather – Hold Me Closer, Whiny Dancer
5. Guided By Voices – Redmen And Their Wives
6. The Blue Giant Zeta Puppies – I Ran With A Zombie [Spotify doesn’t have this track on it, so enjoy some Mad Love instead. You can download the Dandelion Radio Sessions for nowt from here too though.]
7. Adam Leonard – I’m Gonna Sleep With Myself (Tonight)
8. The Baseball Project – 13
9. No Ditching – Cuddles
10. Damu The Fudgemunk – Spirit Of Ummah
11. Spare Snare – Photograph Me Properly
12. Blank Realm – Reach You On The Phone
13. Papernut Cambridge – When She Said What She Said
14. Aaron Freeman – (For A While) I Couldn’t Play My Guitar
15. Solid Statesmen – Summer’s Eve
16. Peter Mulvey – What Else Was It?
17. Ballard – It All Points Back To You
18. The Cubical – 1,2,3 Girl
19. Darren Hayman & Emma Kupa – Boy, Look At What You Can’t Have Now
20. Kevin Ayers – Decademce
Offering Hands And Twiddling Thumbs
Playlist
Previous monthly mixes
All sixteen previous mixes are still available for free! Why not follow us on Spotify to avoid missing out?
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