Today I heard of the death of American jazz, pop, gospel (and many other genres) singer and actress Della Reese. She was 86 years old and I have been a fan for many years. The reason I became a Della Reese fan is down to my sadly departed father who as it turns out was born just three months after Della. Anyway during his years in the Royal Navy, a submariner no less, my Dad collected quite a few records mostly Elvis Presley, Brenda Lee and Della Reese. I no longer have any of the original vinyl that he had but in recent years I have managed to get hold of a few rather excellent Della Reese vinyl albums.
At 13 she became a backing singer for legendary gospel singer Mahalia Jackson and her first tour was with Nat King Cole. She worked with many jazz legends including Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis and Duke Ellington. She made a staggering 17 appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show, her first was in 1957. She had her own American TV show ‘Della’ which aired from 1969 to 1970. As an actress she starred in US TV series ‘Touched By An Angel’, she also made an appearance in the Eddie Murphy film ‘Harlem Nights’. In the 1980s she became an ordained minister. She will, I am sure be very sadly missed. My thoughts are with Della’s family, friends and fans. Della Reese RIP.
I am sure that by now you are all aware of the death of one of the founding members of AC DC, Malcolm Young. After he retired from the band in 2014 at the onset of dementia I guess it was inevitable that he may not stayed with us for too much longer. But at 64, well that is a young death in the first world these days.
There have been many, many tributes on-line and in print to Malcolm over the past 48 hours. He was the heart of the band to many and I tend to agree with that. His younger brother Angus clearly took a more prominent position but without Malcolm I doubt that AC DC would have scaled the heights that they did. Were AC DC a punk band? No not in the sense of them being a part of the punk ‘movement’ but they sure as hell had punk swagger and attitude.
My thoughts are with Malcolm’s family, friends and legions of fans across the globe. Malcolm Young RIP you rocked our world and we salute you!
Click here to read my review of Bad Sounds in Leeds. You will be so disappointed that you weren’t there! A big thank you to those lovely folk at the Hype Media for getting me a review slot!
Manchester has produced many fine bands over the years and with pop punk trio Aerial Salad I think you can add another to that esteemed list. Formed in 2016 and Jamie Munro (Guitar & Vox), Jack Appleby (Drums) and Michael Wimbleton (Bass Guitar) claim influences from Jawbreaker, Green Day and Weezer to name but a few. I can hear elements of old school punk like the Damned, Sham 69 and the Clash along with a hint of ska punk a la Reel Big Fish. ‘Roach’ is a classy début with hard-hitting life stories and a wall of punk sound that smacks you in the face from the opening bars of “Habits And Problems”. When I listening to “97” I am gobsmacked as to how three people can make such a full on barrage of solid guitar attack.
“Worst Case Ontario” sounds musically like the Undertones and Jamie Munro gives it his best Jimmy Pursey vocal. Aerial Salad are bona-fide rockers who have some great songs, magnificent musicianship, punk attitude and to top it all it feels like they enjoying the bloody hell out of it all. The album has twelve tracks and there is not a dud among them, all I wanted to do after my first listen was to play it again. My favourite tracks after two listens are “Alone Forever” and “Dunhills” but that will probably change after the third. This record is most definitely crammed with top tunes. The album is out now on London-based label Plasterer Records. I definitely want to see this band live, how about Reading/ Leeds 2018? You can still catch them on their UK tour this month. If you have been to any of the shows feel free to let me know what you thought in the comments below. Dates are (can you come to York or Leeds next time please lads?);
08 Nov – Exeter, Cavern
09 Nov – Southampton, Joiners
10 Nov – Brighton, Sticky Mikes
11 Nov – Bristol, Louisiana
12 Nov – London, New Cross Inn
13 Nov – Watford, Flag
14 Nov – Bradford, Big Bang Theory
15 Nov – Glasgow, Bar Bloc
16 Nov – Newcastle, Jumping Jacks
17 Nov – Scunthorpe, Lincoln Imp
18 Nov – Morecombe, The Carleton
19 Nov – Stafford, Redrum
20 Nov – Worcester, Marrs Bar
21 Nov – Canterbury, Lady Luck
22 Nov – Norwich, The Owl Sanctuary
23 Nov – Chester, Live Rooms
24 Nov – Derby, Hairy Dog
25 Nov – Abertillery, Dolls House
A big thank you to those lovely funky punky folk at Wall Of Sound PR for giving me the chance to review this album.
Dutch-American singer songwriter Kramies, who hails from Ohio in the USA, has spent some time living in Ireland, in a castle no less. He has used these historic and serene surroundings to record new songs. The first of these that I have heard is the haunting, other worldly, ethereal “I Wish I Missed You”. I could go so far as to describe it as a lament, but it also strikes me as a man trying to find feelings that he thinks he ought to have about a past lover. Either way Kramies pours so much heart, soul and emotion into this tune that it haunts your brain in a good ghost kind of way. Check out the beautiful video to accompany the song below.
With thanks to those lovely people at Noisy Ghost PR for giving me the chance to hear this song.
I first saw Laura Kindelan back in July when she was part of the bill supporting Billie Marten at the Basement in York. She was an absolutely delightful and talented performer back then which made me really keen to see her play again. This showcase gig at the beautiful venue that is York’s Centre For Early Music was to promote “Sippin’ Whisky” which is her newest release. Was she as good this time as she was in the summer? You will have to read on to find that out. Zak Ford was tonight’s support act, this young man is a little folky, a little soulful and he has written some excellent songs based on tonight’s evidence. Notably “Honest Man” and “My Body”. My only criticism is that at times his enunciation could have been clearer. But that aside it was a very good set of songs and a heartfelt performance.
Now bearing in mind that Laura is barely 18 she has a talent and an ability that is way beyond her years. Yet she still maintains the enthusiasm and hope that youth brings. Her songs tell stories and evoke some of the best ‘kitchen sink dramas‘. She is a consummate song-smith and wordsmith and she really seems to love her time on stage. listening to Laura’s recordings on CD, Spotify and the like it is easy to hear that she has a precocious, natural talent. But for me she is also one of those relatively great artists whose live shows make the recorded music really come alive. Laura supports her emotionally strong and soulful voice with some relatively sparse guitar accompaniment. Let’s not forget that she is also quite a skilled guitarist.
In my earlier review I likened Laura to the late great Jeff Buckley and I still believe that her approach and style oozes the spirit of Mr Buckley. But then on songs like “The Beginning” she could be channelling Kate Nash. But while these comparisons exist for me that does not take away from the fact that Laura Kindelan has the potential to become a towering talent. Lyrically she clearly shows a mature understanding of life and relationships, perhaps most notably on “Fists”. If pushed I think I would say that “Sweet Tooth” is still my favourite Kindelan classic, but that is facing tough competition from “Colours” and the aforementioned “Sippin’ Whisky”. Her cover of the Billie Holiday standard “Good Morning Heartache” reaches in to the heart of the song and turns it into a more modern electric, but still so sad, blues lament. While I am not saying Laura is the new Billie Holiday she does totally own the song with a stunning arrangement and a very clever use of a loop effect. In my opinion covers should take a step away from the original and this takes a long stride, similar to the strides Jeff Buckley took with covers of “Lilac Wine” and “Hallelujah”. I really hope that Laura makes the right choice and gets the University that she wants, but selfishly I also hope her time as a Uni student doesn’t take her too far from her wonderful music. You really need to check out her music, you will not be disappointed and many of you will join the growing ranks of Laura Kindelan fans!
All videos searched and sourced from YouTube and the photos are courtesy of the Magnificent Marc McGarraghy at Yellow Mustang Photography.
The first and last time I saw Tom Robinson play live was back in 1977, until now at least. I had a great interest in the Tom Robinson Band back in the late 70s as I spent a few years at Senior School sitting next to original TRB drummer Brian ‘Dolphin’ Taylor. That original TRB line up of Tom Robinson, Dolphin Taylor, Mark Ambler and Danny Kustow was a hard-hitting, powerful proposition that took the audience with them on their incendiary journey. So now that Tom has put together another TRB to play the whole of the exquisitely stunning and still relevant ‘Power In The Darkness’ album on its 40th anniversary I was very thrilled by the thought of seeing him live again after all those years. Did the gig live up to my very high expectations? Well you will have to keep reading to find that out.
Before I give you my thoughts on the current TRB let me tell you about the marvellous support act, Lee Forsyth Griffiths. Lee has just released his third solo album and is also a longstanding member of Tom Robinson’s main band. Unusually in my experience he was introduced by Tom Robinson and Tom stayed in the audience to watch the whole of Lee’s set. Mr Griffith’s songs are beautifully crafted slices of life that ooze passion and emotion. He sings like he really means every word and I am sure that he does. Lee’s sense of humour is sharp and very funny too, I loved the comments about Oasis (Lee also has a song called “Married With Children”) and Kanye West. He had a very strong fan base in the audience with one bloke even stepping in when Lee appeared to briefly forget a lyric. I now have a signed copy of his new album and I will definitely be checking out his earlier stuff as well. You should do the same, you will not be disappointed.
Now it was time for the main event at the fabulous York venue that is the Crescent; the Tom Robinson Band playing the whole of the ‘Power In The Darkness’ album along with some other TRB hits from 1977/ 1978. Album and set opener “Up Against The Wall” remains a phenomenally strong tour de force with a lyric that works as well today as it did 40 years ago. In fact the whole album still sounds fresh, especially played live. The current TRB is every bit as good as the original band and features Jim Simmons an exceedingly gifted keyboard maestro, lead guitar virtuoso Adam Phillips who has also played in Richard Ashcroft’s band, powerhouse drummer Andy Treacey from Faithless and obviously Tom himself on bass guitar. Tom gave us a story about the one track from the album that has never been played live before this tour; track two, side two (well it was originally a proper LP record), “Man You Never Saw”. Apparently that song took two weeks to record, largely because the bass part was very challenging, well it is clear that Tom has mastered it now.
“Grey Cortina” and “Too Good To Be True” kept the crowd fired up and singing along. Tom’s performance belies his age, although maybe he takes a few more moments between songs than he used to, but hell we are all 40 years older now, right? “Long Hot Summer” and the “Winter Of ‘79” were early peaks in a mountainous display from a singer and a band on top of their game and clearly enjoying themselves enormously. Tom updated some of the lyrics to a couple of songs with more pertinent and relevant names, Rees Mogg (the despicable Tory arse) featured in one to bring it up to date. As an introduction to “Better Decide Which Side You’re On” Tom reminded us of part of the wording on the back of the original LP sleeve; “I got no illusions about the political left any more than the right: just a shrewd idea which of the two side’s gonna stomp on us first”. This remains a part of my world view and I suppose looking back it was bands like TRB and the Clash that sparked my interest in politics and made me much more of a political animal. The title track of the album was also the last track on side two and it still holds a forceful message about human rights and how extremists seek to take that away. As protest songs go this has to be among the best.
I love being close to the speakers 🙂
Tom broke a bass string and while Lee Forsyth Griffiths went searching for a replacement we were treated to a magnificent and rousing version of “Martin” which certainly gave the best crowd participation of the whole evening up to that point. “Martin” is such a great story song and retains a sense of poignancy and humour. After “Martin” the crowd singing just continued to grow with loud and stirring stomps through “Don’t Take No For An Answer” and “Glad To Be Gay”. A couple of times during the evening requests for Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released” which were strongly rejected by many in the crowd. Personally I would not have minded hearing it, but it certainly did not detract from what was an amazing show. Mr Robinson asked if we would mind if the band didn’t leave the stage and come back for an encore and just roll straight into the encore. Most of the crowd, including myself were of the generation that clearly understands the needs of us older folk. I bet you can’t guess what the encore was can you? Tom introduced it as “a medley of my greatest hit”. It was of course the classic “2-4-6-8 Motorway” which became a medley of sorts with brief diversions into Sly and the Family Stone’s “Dance To The Music” among others. This was without doubt an incredible gig which made me reminisce greatly about my lost youth, but in a very good way. I even got the opportunity to have a very brief conversation with Tom and I apologised for leaving such a long gap between seeing him live; he told me that it was better late than never! I don’t plan to leave it so long again, largely because if I did I would be 98 and Tom would be over 100. There are still a few shows left on this tour (take a look below) and I urge you to get yourself a ticket, in fact I won’t take no for an answer! Sadly the 100 Club shows in London appear to be unsurprisingly all sold out.
Friday 20 October 2017 – The Leadmill, Sheffield, UK
Saturday 21 October 2017 – HOME, Manchester, UK
Tuesday 24 October 2017 – 100 Club, London, UK
Wednesday 25 October 2017 – 100 Club, London, UK
Thursday 26 October 2017 – 100 Club, London, UK
Saturday 28 October 2017 – Riverside, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK
Sunday 29 October 2017 – King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow, UK
Friday 08 December 2017 – Nell’s Jazz & Blues Club, London, UK
If you have been to any dates on this tour or are planning to I would love to hear what you thought of the show.
I am proud to announce that ‘With Just A Hint Of Mayhem’ has gone international, well the following is a review of a rather outstanding gig I attended while on a business trip to the Big Apple. Which makes it the first non UK gig reviewed on this site. I am also really delighted that it features the barnstorming Pumarosa, one of the finest British bands around. But before I get to them let me tell you about the support band Homebody from Greenfield, Massachusetts. Ethereal and otherworldly singer Haley Morgan may have been created by someone splicing DNA from Bjork and Patti Smith with a sprinkle of Toyah Wilcox. At times she comes across like Kate Bush on speed, but in a very good way. Haley’s outfit was very ‘out there’ and appeared to have been created from net curtain or wedding veil material. The soundscape is provided by Eric Hnatow and it evokes the very early releases of the Human League. Eric maintains a stoic and serious face rocking like a bald Ron Mael off of Sparks. They have some first-rate tunes and frankly how could you not love a song such as “Tits To The Sky”?
As for Pumarosa, well this is the third time I have seen them in the last 90 days; firstly at the Latitude Festival in July, the Leeds Festival in August and now in New York in October. I know that the band have supported Glass Animals on some US dates in the past, but I am not sure if this US headline visit (which also includes dates in Mexico) constitutes their first shows in their own right across the pond. But they sure as hell played Brooklyn like it was their first US headline show. Baby’s Allright is not an enormous venue (capacity 280) and it wasn’t totally full, although I reckon there may have been in excess of 150 people there, maybe even 180. Pumarosa blew the house down from the moment they hit the stage. To hear them play the soaring, immense tune that is “Priestess” live is rapidly becoming a spiritual experience. Tonight was no exception and I was captivated with the amount of locals in the audience that clearly knew a lot about the band as evidenced by them singing along and dancing for the whole set.
In previous reviews I have likened this band to Siouxse Sioux, Kate Bush and early Roxy Music (particularly given the occasional burst of Andy Mackayesque saxophone) but it is blatantly obvious that they are much more than that. Pumarosa are thrillingly original in performance, style and flair, their stage presence shows polish, elegance, grit and bravura. I have been listening to their glorious debut album ‘The Witch’ since I first saw them in July and while “Priestess” remains my favourite song in the words of Blink182 this album is most definitely ‘All Killer No Filler’. I absolutely adore “Lion’s Den”, a song which becomes far more than the sum of its supremely good parts when played live. Closer “Snake” rocked like a demon on speed and left us all wanting more. In my opinion Pumarosa are one of the best British bands on the scene at the moment and they are on the cusp of what I hope will be monumental success. I expect to see them higher up the festival bills in the UK next year and if they have not headlined a stage at Reading/ Leeds Festival by 2020 I promise to print this post out and eat it. If you have not yet encountered Pumarosa then do everything in your power to change that as soon as possible. You will not be disappointed!
Public service announcement. The Pumarosa pictures (obviously apart from the poster) were taken using my little mobile and the Homebody picture was taken by my friend and colleague Erik Futtrup 🙂 All videos were sourced from Youtube.
I have just been sent a stream for the new Vuromantics EP ‘In The Night’. I must say this is a really refreshing listen. The title track is the Average White Band married to some slow Italian House piano. “Questions” is incredibly soulful and strikes me at times as maybe how a British offshoot of Parliament/ Funkadelic might sound. Vuromantics have a wonderfully quirky and different sound that I defy you not to like. This band oozes talent, “The Wave” washes over you like a soft warm sea and would fit perfectly in a classic chill out compilation. After three listens “Not Over You” is probably my favourite, at least for now, classic break-up pop. Over the course of these five tracks it is clear that they are steeped in the electronic and pop traditions and history of their home city of Sheffield. If you like the Human League, Heaven 17, ABC and Pulp then you should find a tonic for your ears in the smooth and heartfelt sound of Vuromantics. The vocal refrain from final track, the truly majestic “Glory” is ‘I wish nothing but glory for you’ and frankly I wish nothing but glory for Vuromantics. Remember the names Sam Christie (vocals), Jake Christie (guitar, keyboard), Callum Hall (bass,synth), Ben Rooker (synth) and Sergio Ali (drums) because they are Vuromantics and I will be surprised and shocked if we don’t hear a lot more from them.
The EP is out on Alya Records on 20th October. Buy it, download it, stream it, just bloody well get it! They also have six UK dates coming up so check them out live. I definitely want to see them on stage. I hope to be at the Leeds show on November 2nd.
Ever since the hey days of those magnificent art terrorists Jim Cauty and Bill Drummond when they went under the various guises of the KLF, the Jamms, the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu and the Timelords to name but a few I have been a fan. When they made the statement that the KLF had left the building in the early 90s they pretty much stood by it. Apart from the odd release “Fuck the Millennium” was one we never really heard from them. I can’t say that I loved everything Cauty and Drummond did, with the exception of everything released by the KLF of course. But burning a million quid? Seriously what did that achieve?
Anyway the boys are back with a novel which was launched with a three day ‘happening’ in Liverpool back in August. The book is ‘2023 – A Trilogy by the Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu’. The blurb on the back cover describes the tale as “a utopian costume drama , set in the near future, written in the recent past”. It is clearly fiction and includes appearances from many people that you know, although not necessarily in the way they are portrayed in the story; John and Yoko, Banksy, Jonathan King, Extreme Noise Terror, Vladimir Putin, Michelle Obama, David Hockney, Tammy Wynette, George Jones, Alan Moore, Aloysius Parker (off of Thunderbirds), Lady Gaga (or M’Lady Gaga), Azealia Banks, Will Gompertz, George Orwell, Lord Saatchi, Sam & Dave and of course Jim Cauty and Bill Drummond.
It is probably one of the weirdest books that I have ever read and I have read some weird stuff! There are some thought provoking moments and some proper laugh out loud elements. But it works and for me it works bloody well. Is it set in a parallel universe, an alternative future? Well yes and possibly. Was it worth the wait? Damned right it was. If I say much more about this book I will probably have to add some massive spoiler alerts. Is it the last we will here of Cauty and Drummond for another 23 years? I bloody hope not. Now go out and buy the book and listen to some classic KLF tracks.
