With Just A Hint Of Mayhem

Music reviews, gig reviews, fun trivia and extra added random stuff!

NewDad – Fulford Arms, York – Wednesday 31st January 2024 February 4, 2024

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 7:56 pm
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This was one of thousands of gigs across the country supporting Independent Venue Week (IVW). While it is important to show support and solidarity for your local independent venues please do it all year round and not just during IVW. This is the only way that the grassroots of UK music will survive. Support your scene! So this is an important week for live music and that was evidenced by the presence of 6 Music’s Huw Stephens and BBC Radio York’s Jericho Keys alongside many of the great and good from the York music scene. Headliners were NewDad who released their debut album on 24th January. But more of them later as there was a rather special support act, the sublimely talented Kindelan who hails from this fine city. This would be the fifth time that I have seen Laura Kindelan play live which puts her just behind Gene, David Bowie, Avalanche Party, and Frank Turner in the list of acts that I have seen the most times! I have seen her play solo, with minimal accompaniment, and with a full band. Tonight she was ably supported by an incredibly talented rhythm section and a backing singer with a heavenly tone. Four of tonight’s six songs were from her most recent EP, ‘You Can Reach Me If You Try’. The new songs definitely have a modern R&B and jazz vibe, but when played live Laura takes them in a direction that only she can. Her songs are stunningly good in recorded form, but live they become almost alive themselves. I have previously compared Kindelan to Jeff Buckley and that still stands, she will, I believe, mature into the kind of artist that Buckley would have become had he lived. “Hazel Frustration” was incredible, “Can’t Sleep” was immaculate as was a new song “Know You”. Kindelan gets better every time I see her, will that ever stop? I suspect not!

Kindelan at the Fully Arms January 2024 (Picture by Charlie Daykin)

Headliners NewDad are touring on the back of their new album ‘Madra’ which follows two classy EPs and some fabulous singles. The band was formed in Galway. Ireland in 2018 when Julie Dawson, Áindle O’Beirn, and Fiachra Parslow were in secondary school. Apparently, it was a way of avoiding solo performances for their Leaving Certificate practical music exam. Fourth member Sean O’Dowd joined the band a little later. The NME has compared them to The Cure and Beabadoobee. I can see those comparisons but I can also hear references to the likes of the Sundays and possibly the Cranberries. On their heavier-sounding songs, I sense a bit of Sleeper and Elastica. The new album is good, but live the songs are even better. However, I felt the sound mix was a bit off for much of the set with the vocals appearing way too low in the mix. This improved though, particularly for “White Ribbons” where the mix was spot on, the song was gorgeous and the performance exquisite. NewDad appeared in the Mayhem charts for January, so I am definitely a fan. I will certainly be seeing them again.

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The WJAHOM Interview Podcast – Laura Kindelan! May 20, 2023

Filed under: Interview — justwilliam1959 @ 1:53 pm
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A short while ago I had the pleasure of interviewing one of Yorkshire’s, and probably the UK’s, finest musical talents, Laura Kindelan. We met up in the Vinyl Cafe in York which provides the background ambiance and is where I last interviewed Laura back in March 2018. In July this year, it will be six years since I very first experienced Laura performing live when she supported Billie Marten at City Screen Basement in York. I have seen her quite a few times since then and she just gets better and better. Click here to take a listen to the interview and when you have heard it all give the new Kindelan EP, ‘You Can Reach Me If You Try‘ a spin.

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‘You Can Reach Me If You Try’ EP – Kindelan (Part 2) May 17, 2023

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 4:42 pm
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I have never reviewed an EP or Album review in two parts before, however, when I wrote the EP review part 1 I thought it was the actual EP. Thanks to Spotify (and I believe that Apple Music and other streaming sites do the same) badging it as an EP. But no, that is just how streaming services badge it. Anyway Kindelan’s entire EP, ‘You Can Reach Me If You Try’, is now complete. Strangely it is now badged as an album on Spotify! You can click here to read the EP review Part 1 and see what I had to say about “Listen”, “The Other Side”, “Hazel Frustration” and “Feast”. In the meantime let me give you my views on the remaining three tracks that complete the EP. First, it is “Far Too Sweet” which is a beautifully harmonic tune in which Laura’s vocals are close to perfect and the string arrangements just add something really special. There is a great jazz vibe underpinning the girl group harmonies at times. Next, it is the shortest track on the EP, “She”. A song that is more chilling in its delivery than it is chilled. I am hearing it as an attack on misogyny via an iron fist in a lace glove. It has the kind of lyric that far more established and experienced songwriters would kill to have written. Right now this is probably my favourite Kindelan track. The EP closes with “Can’t Sleep” which builds slowly into a gorgeous story in a song. It feels like quite a personal lyric, as do many on the EP. The playing is wonderfully understated and Kindelan proves that there is no fear in using the silence. This is a really classy release and for me shows with great clarity that Kindelan will simply get better and better.

There are still a few Kindelan live dates to come (Hull, Leeds, London, and York), I will be at the EP launch gig at the Brudenell in Leeds on Friday 2nd June, will I see you there? I had the pleasure of interviewing Laura Kindelan recently, keep a look out for that, it will be posted here very soon!

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‘You Can Reach Me If You Try’ EP – Kindelan (Part 1) April 10, 2023

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 5:08 pm
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UPDATE – ok so when I wrote the review below, thanks to Spotify (and I believe that Apple Music and other streaming sites do the same) I thought it was the actual EP. But no, that is just how streaming services titled it. Incidentally, I have not edited my initial review below, so things like the EP title are not right, although the post title has been amended to show the EP’s real title, ‘You Can Reach Me If You Try’, which is out on 10th May. The picture above has also been swapped from the original post! Anyway, this means that I have some good news and bad news for you. Which do you want first, the good or the bad? The bad news first you say? OK then. The bad news is that at the moment you only have four great songs available from Kindelan’s upcoming EP. But the incredible good news is that when the EP hits the streets on 10th May it will include three more fabulous tunes from Kindelan. I am quite excited by this, so much so that I plan to review the additional three songs as part two of my EP review in the next few weeks! Is that OK with you dear reader?

Kindelan recently completed the release of her EP ‘Can’t Sleep’ with the release of the title track. It contains four gorgeous, blissed-out 21st-century R&B tracks. We have already reviewed two of the tracks here at Mayhem Towers when they were released as singles. Those two songs were “The Other Side” and “Feast“. I said that “The Other Side” is a great song, with both soulful and ethereal vocals and reminiscent of what the offspring of Nina Simone and Minnie Riperton might have sounded like toward the end. The tune has some sublime jazzy and folky twists and turns. The band is really tight and the production is perfect. I can imagine Solange doing a great cover of this song. The tune deals with the perennial issue many of us encounter in believing that the grass is greener on the other side. The lyrics are deep and I suspect that my interpretation of those words may be different from other people’s, but that for me is what makes a great song. I love the lines “We need the green, tell me why it always feels out of reach. I can see the other side one day I swear I’ll go there when I have the time“. I have previously compared Laura’s talent to that of Jeff Buckley and while I stand by that for some elements of “Feast” I sense more of Kate Bush here, from around ‘The Sensual World’ period. In fact, lyrically it made me think of the title track of that aforementioned Kate Bush album. When I originally reviewed the tune back in 2021 I said that it was sultry, moody, and jazzy and the guitar work is chilled and even eerie at times. That is still how I feel about the song, which Kindelan recently referred to as an unintentionally saucy song during her live set at the Welcome To The North showcase put together by BBC Radio York, Jericho Keys, and Young Thugs Studio.

“Hazel Frustration” is perhaps my favourite track from this collection, at least today. Laura’s voice is sublime and rhythmically it has elements of Beyonce in her softer songs. The production of this tune, particularly the multi-part harmonies and the drums is set perfectly to underpin that delightful and fresh vocal. The whole EP was produced by Ed Allen and Laura Kindelan. The wonderfully produced video for “Hazel Frustration” was co-directed and edited by Nathan Luke, one of the most talented videographers I know. Check out the video below. The EP’s title track evokes Kendrick Lamar and has smoky late-night jazz vibes throughout. Laura’s voice is at its most soulful here even with some relatively dark lyrics. The band comes together perfectly here as they build the noise to a crescendo and then take it down to softer tones before getting loud again. The chorale-style backing vocals elevate the song to something that Brian Wilson would have been very proud of. I have compared Kindelan to many great artists in this review, but she is not a simple facsimile of any of them. She is an obscenely talented artist who soaks up influences like a sponge before drawing out just the magical drops of water that enhance her unique style and delivery. If you are not a fan of Kindelan yet, you will be after you have listened to this EP. Click here to find the EP on Bandcamp, it can also be found on all major streaming sites.

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“The Other Side” – Kindelan October 5, 2022

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 10:17 pm
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I have been lucky enough to see Laura Kindelan perform live five times since 2017 and she has always blown me away with her talent, individuality, and originality. I have compared her to Jeff Buckley in the past and I stand by that. Her new release, “The Other Side” is wonderfully different to anything that she has released previously. This song is issued using her new incarnation as, simply, Kindelan. The song kicks off a new chapter in her musical journey which will see the release of her first EP in 2023. “The Other Side” is a great song, the vocals are both soulful and ethereal and reminiscent of what the offspring of Nina Simone and Minnie Riperton might have sounded like toward the end. This is 21st Century R & B, with some sublime jazzy and folky twists and turns. The band is really tight and the production is perfect. It was co-produced by Laura and Ed Allen. I can imagine Solange doing a great cover of this song. The tune deals with the perennial issue that many of us encounter in believing that the grass is greener on the other side. Laura says this about that thought and how the song came about, “I’d always wanted more time to do everything, convinced I would then feel content. However, when lockdown hit and I got exactly what I’d wished for, I was left disillusioned. The Other Side was written exploring my personal experience with the idiom ‘the grass is always greener on the other side, and my impression that humans often wish for what they don’t have, but rarely make the move to reach this ‘greener’ place“. The lyrics are deep and I suspect that my interpretation of those words may be different to other people, but that for me is what makes a great song. I love the lines “we need the green, tell me why it always feels out of reach. I can see the other side one day I swear I’ll go there when I have the time“. As the first track to be issued from Kindelan’s first EP, it sets the bar incredibly high, but it is a bar that Kindelan will sail over comfortably. I am looking forward to hearing more tracks! Click here to buy the tune on Bandcamp. It is also available on Tidal, Deezer, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. You need Kindelan’s music in your life!

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Sunflower Thieves and Epilogues – Songs Under Skies – National Centre For Early Music (NCEM), York – Wednesday 16th June 2021 July 5, 2021

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 11:45 pm
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This was the final show of 5 of the second series of Songs Under Skies (the last was September 2020) in the grounds of the iconic and frankly gorgeous York venue the National Centre For Early Music (NCEM). Tonight we had even more local talent proving once again that York and Yorkshire bloody rock it! Before it all started though, I had the opportunity for a long chat with the supremely talented Laura Kindelan. I am definitely looking to more music from her! (No pressure Laura!) First up was Epilogues a.k.a. Mikey who regular readers will have spotted on these pages before. By his own admission Mikey writes many sad songs, but he does fill them with truly stupendous lyrics. His second song of the evening was “Sixteen” from his new EP released a few months back, yes it was a sad song, but truly beautiful too. “The Gap” was absolute epic Epilogues, even with what Mikey referred to as a nightmare chord. I loved “Two Weeks” which I believe is about a broken relationship. Mikey gave us some idiosyncratic ad libs while tuning his guitar, including the line “and the crowd went mild”. I may have to borrow that in the future. My favourite song from this set was a new one, “I’m Just Glad That You Stayed”.

Next up were an act that I had not seen or heard before, Sunflower Thieves. They are purveyors of perfectly matched voices and heavenly harmonies. They kicked off their set with the sublime “Don’t mind The Weather” which was released as a single this year. It is the perfect song for a beautiful, balmy summer evening. They played a couple of new songs, apologies if I got the titles wrong. “34 Days” and “Going Out With You”. The latter has an early 70s US West Coast coffee bar vibe. It would have fitted perfectly in an acoustic afternoon session at the Troubadour in Los Angeles back in the day. I adore “Hide And Seek” which is about being carefree and being nostalgic for childhood. It evoked many wonderful carefree and youthful memories for me. They played a tune that they wrote with the multi talented Sam Griffiths of the Howl And The Hum, but I missed the title, but it was probably my favourite of the whole night. I also really love “Heavyweight” a song about social anxiety, which I suppose couldn’t be more topical right now. I definitely want to hear more from the Sunflower Thieves and I am sure that I will!

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“Feast” – Laura Kindelan April 26, 2021

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 5:25 pm
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Beyond any doubt, for me, Laura Kindelan is one of the sharpest and brightest talents of her generation to emerge from York. I have had the pleasure of seeing her live quite a few times and also interviewing her a couple of years ago. On top of all that talent she is also a wonderful human being and now she has had a new tune played on BBC Radio 1. Laura’s “Feast” is one of a fantastic collection of awesome tracks to feature on Gemma Bradley’s show last night. I have likened Laura’s style and delivery to Jeff Buckley before and I stand by that with the new song, but here I also sense elements of Kate Bush around the time of “The Sensual World”. “Feast” does so much with the space between the notes as it does within them. The song is sultry, moody, jazzy and the guitar work is chilled and even eerie at times. I am looking forward to this track being more widely available 🙂

On her social media Laura says of “Feast”, “This version of Feast was recorded start to finish by me on my ridiculously small laptop. The drums were recorded in my drummer/housemate/Luca’s room with a bloody cajon as a kick drum. Safe to say I never ever anticipated it being played on BBC Radio 1. As a bit of a perfectionist, it makes me so scared that this is happening, as it’s so unexpected, but I couldn’t be happier!!” This is well deserved recognition for Laura and she is definitely someone I can hardly wait to see play live again when we finally come out of these dark Covid days!

Click here to hear the track on Gemma Bradley’s show. Laura appears at around 58 minutes in, but why not listen to the whole show, there really are some great songs on offer!

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Julia Bardo – Fulford Arms, York – Saturday 14th March 2020 March 30, 2020

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 12:27 pm
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This post is very late largely because the whole COVID-19 somewhat dampened my enthusiasm for writing. This is now the last gig for me and all of us for weeks, maybe months. So I feel a need to document it. It was another great looking line up from Simon Pattinson head honcho of Northern Radar. First up were Fawn, a musically talented bunch and the pet project of Ilana Zsigmond, a transatlantic singer-songwriter who moved to the UK a few years ago. Her band featured Crispin Halcrow who has featured on this blog before as a solo performer. Ilana reminds me of Linda Ronstadt in her early, in which case are her band a fledgling Eagles? Who knows? Crispin is more Glen Frey than Joe Walsh in style, so maybe! Ilana’s between-song banter was intelligent, amusing and frankly spot on. Her song about York (apologies I missed the title) was close to sublime while “Skin” was truly stunning, a really beautiful song. For me, it encapsulates perfectly that journey of understanding who you are and getting to know and understand yourself. Lyrically it is faultless, with my favourite line being ““But I still build forts and I still skip stones and I still haven’t read every book that I own”. That sums me up to a degree, although I probably need to start building more forts!

Fawn

Next up is the extraordinarily talented Kitty VR. I have seen her previously with a band and also solo acoustic, tonight was with a full band. In this environment, Kitty loses a little of her solo acoustic fragility. But that is more than compensated for by the deeper and more expansive sound that a band brings to her growing canon of great songs. “My Kind” is an open-hearted lament when performed solo acoustically. But here it felt like an amazing collaboration between Massive Attack, Portishead and the Cocteau Twins with Jimmy Page producing. this was not just a highlight of Kitty’s set for me, it was also the highlight of the night! Kitty, whether with band or solo retains that elusive Jeff Buckleyesque style that since Jeff’s sad demise I have only ever heard through Kitty and her supremely talented contemporary Laura Kindelan.

Kitty VR

This was the first time that I had come across Julia Bardo and I was pretty impressed. She has great songs with elements that sit on the softer side of Patti Smith and maybe a little Justine Frischmann (Elastica) and Louise Wener (Sleeper) seeping into Julia’s tonal quality. She has some soaring, heartfelt and soul pouring ballads in her powerful song repertoire. There is also a Stevie Nicks comparison which wasn’t apparent until Julia and her band launched into an awesome cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams”.  But this was not just a carbon copy cover the song evolved into an extended guitar fade, jam, wigout that matched the Velvet Underground at their peak. Julia Bardo is well worth checking out if you like great music and classy tunes you will love her stuff! Interestingly given the focus on gender equality festival line ups all three of tonight’s acts were incredibly talented women. Festival organisers take note for 2021 (on the assumption that the 2020 festival season will be canned).

Julia Bardo

After the gig, I went for a few drinks with the aforementioned Simon Pattinson and Jared, Joe and Jordan from Avalanche Party who were punters at the show. That is another band that I am looking forward to seeing again once this virus is history. Given that was my final pub visit before close down I can think of far worse people to spend it with. Simon, Jared, Joe, and Jordan thanks for a great night and I look forward to meeting up again on the other side of all this!

All the photos apart from the gig poster were taken by me on my cheap Chinese android phone. The videos were all found on YouTube if one of them is yours and you would like a credit or for me to remove it please let me know. 

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Kitty VR ‘All In Her Head’ EP Launch – The Crescent, York – Saturday 17th August 2019 August 20, 2019

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 9:56 pm
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This was my third visit to the Crescent, one of York’s best music venues, in a week. I need to slow down! Anyway, tonight was a showcase for the launch of the new EP from Kitty VR, ‘All In Her Head’. More of the very talented Kitty later. First, there were two great support acts to talk about. The first of these was Laura Kindelan and tonight marked the fifth time that I have seen her play live and I hope there will be many more. Laura kicked off her set with a new song, “Over Nothing”. This tune is sparse, electric blues that simply oozes with mood and emotion. I have made this comparison before but this was very wonderfully Jeff Buckleyesque. She played her only love song “Fingertips”, which was actually written as an assignment! Fact fans may wish to know that the Brit Pop era band Mansun actually had a song called “Mansun’s Only Love Song”. The divine, atmospheric “Sweet Tooth” was given a rare but stunning airing as it is one of Kitty’s favourites. Laura closed her set with a powerful run through “Toxic” which had the crowd a moving and a grooving!

Laura Kindelan

The next act to take the stage was the Silver Reserve (Solo) a.k.a. Matthew Sturgess. This guy knows how to do songs of emotional introspection which he delivers supremely well. I heard elements of Bon Iver in his tunes and at times the tonal quality of his fragile vocals were reminiscent of both Thom Yorke and Guy Garvey. He is an incredible talent when it comes to looping guitar riffs and vocals too. His take on this seemed effortless and faultless. He might not have any happy songs, but everything he played begged to be listened to.

Silver Reserve a.k.a. Matthew Sturgess

Finally, it was time for Kitty VR to rock the joint with her excellent band. This must have been close to a full house and the air was electric with excitement and anticipation. Her songs are incredibly well developed and Kitty performs them with great style and soul. Her band is frankly shit hot! Tim Downie is a guitar genius who seems to be able to play in any style required from funky chops to a softer sound and everything in between. The rhythm section of drummer Farai Kuudzadombo and bassist Jack Welsh are a highly polished pair who underlay Kitty’s songs with a smooth driving backbeat. The highlight of her set was for me a towering take on her single “Whirlpool” on which the band hit a psychedelic peak. Sometimes the best cover to do is perhaps a difficult one and in my view, Kitty’s choice of Erykah Badu’s “On And On” was a very brave choice. Kitty didn’t just nail it, she smashed it through the floor as she conveyed the emotion and soul of a truly classic song which she made her own. I felt that her vocals were at times as ethereal and ghostly as Beth Gibbons and if I was not mistaken I believe that was a haunting cover of Portishead’s “Glory Box” near the end. Kitty VR’s EP is something special and this show proves that she has so much more to offer too. Check her out now if you haven’t already.

Kitty VR

All the photos apart from the EP cover art were taken on my cheap android phone. The videos were all found on YouTube, if one of them is yours and you would like a credit or for me to remove it please let me know.

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