Two
very limited 7” singles featuring Syd Barrett/Pink Floyd covers!
Available at the Fruits De Mer / Mega Dodo joint gig at Putney's Half
Moon this Sunday! (24th
May)
This weekend's hottest
gig ticket is surely the Fruits De Mer/Mega Dodo all-dayer at
Putney's Half Moon. Aside from the stellar line-up, there will also
be ultra-desirable goodie bags for early arrivals. If that wasn't
enough there'll also be a chance to get your your eager mitts on some
other sonic items. Two of which being this pair of limited edition 7”
singles featuring contemporary acts covering early Pink Floyd/Syd
Barrett tracks. Although they've been issued before on FDM's
Momentary Lapse Of Reason double CD (available to “club members”
only), this is their first airing on vinyl. Limited to only 300
copies each, chances are they won't be around for long.
Momentary One
features is marked out by it's sumptuous female vocals, while
Momentary Two is a Syd special. Floyd fans will love all seven
tunes as there's nary a duff track among them. If I was pushed to
pick a favourite I'd probably go for Max Kinghorn-Mills version of
Dark Globe, dreamy, wistful and melancholic. It had me searching out
Barrett's original version with fresh ears. But hey, that's just me.
Track down this pair of 7”s if you can and pick your own favourite,
they're all worthy!
Momentary One
Ilona V – Golden
Hair (Barrett)
Crystal Jacqueline
– Grantchester Meadows (Waters
Cary Grace –
Cirrus Minor (Waters)
Momentary Two
Max Kinghorn-Mills
– Dark Globe (Barrett)
Caudio Cataldi –
She Took A Long Cold Look (Barrett)
The Chemistry Set
– See Emily Play (Barrett)
Todd Dillingham
and Golly McCry – The Gnome (Barrett)
How
I survived the aftermath of the general election with a little help
from Kurt Vonnegut and Beau's latest LP.
After the all too
depressing results of the recent general election sank in, and the
prospect of another five years of Tory government became a reality,
my Twitter feed turned quickly from pre-election optimism and hope,
to despair and blame. It also filled with scaremongering about what
we as a society needed to prepare ourselves for. There was one tweet,
amongst the deluge, that stuck in my mind and seemed to sum up where
our society is heading. It highlighted a quote from Kurt Vonnegut's
Slaughterhouse 5, about how the American poor are encouraged
to despise themselves, perpetuating their position and lack of
opportunity while bolstering that of the rich and powerful. This,
Vonnegut states, is in contrast to many other countries which have
folk tales that value wisdom over wealth, and virtue over
self-serving ambition -
America is a nation
of poor. Every other nation has folk traditions of men who were poor
but extremely wise and virtuous, and therefore more estimable than
anyone with power and gold. No such tales are told by the American
poor. They mock themselves and glorify their betters. The meanest
eating or drinking establishment, owned by a man who is himself poor,
is very likely to have a sign on its wall asking this cruel question:
“If you’re so smart, why ain’t you rich?” (Kurt Vonnegut –
Slaughterhouse 5)
It's easy to see the
parallels in modern Britain where our underclass is routinely
ridiculed on TV, or attacked in the press, whereas corporations are
free to avoid taxes if they pay enough donations to the right
political parties. Timely then that the latest album from Beau should
drop through my letterbox around the same time as did many electoral
leaflets and voting reminders. It too chimes themes similar to those
found in Slaughterhouse 5, along with other cautionary tales
about corruption and misuse of wealth. Listening to Beau's latest
work did give me some hope for the spiritual well being of our
nation, which in the immediate wake of the election seemed somehow
broken and in need of some TLC.
Shoeless In The
Desert is a gentle compassionate album, and like those folk tales
it champions wisdom and virtue. Recorded simply and in the timeless
folk way of just voice and one 12-string guitar, no overdubs, it's an
album that's all about melody and message. Themes spread across the
album's fourteen songs include religion, immigration, environmental
concerns, alongside more personal takes on relationships, ageing, and
even a humorous sideswipe at coronary heart disease.
In our current
sound-bite and shuffle era it's encouraging to see long-form
songwriting done so well. And no wonder - Beau has been writing,
recording and performing music for over four and a half decades. His
early championing by John Peel tells you all you need to know about
the calibre of his work. (Peel released Beau's debut as the first
release on his Dandelion label). In a fairer world Beau would be a
much valued cultural treasure, up alongside Dylan, Mitchell, Cohen
and the like. As it is the world is not always fair, something that
may become all too apparent over the next few years. Thankfully we
have the likes of Beau to help fight our corner and cushion any
blows. Long may it be so.
As part of an occasional series I'll be posting archive interviews, pieces and reviews I've done for other sites over the years. This is a short but sweet interview I did with James Skelly (The Coral) centred around the release of his Love Undercover LP back in 2013. The Interview originally appeared on Subba-Cultcha.
June 3rd sees the release of Love
Undercover, the
debut album by James Skelly & The Intenders. Skelly is best known
as the main vocalist and songwriter in The Coral, a band that have
released a string of critically acclaimed albums, gaining
Mercury nominations and the respect of their peers along the way.
It's now three years since the last album Butterfly House. With no
new Coral material on the horizon, having abandoned sessions with
producer John Leckie for a sixth album half way through, the
various members have kept themselves busy with side projects and solo
albums. James' brother (and Coral drummer) Ian recently released his
his album Cut
From A Star, a
record that maintains the Coral's gentle psychedelia. Hot on its
heels comes older brother James' effort with new backing band The
Intenders. It's an altogether more soulful, rootsy affair. though
with just enough of The Coral's folk-rock to keep the faithful happy.
Keen to point out that it's a group effort, the band will be touring
throughout the summer (dates below). We caught up with James prior to
the album's release to talk soul music, psych bands and gap years.
Harmonic Distortion – The album's
opening track “You've Got It All” was co-written with Paul
Weller. How did that come about and what's he like to work with?
James Skelly - He sent me a demo,
but it had no words on it. He asked me if I could finish it, so I
wrote the words and the chorus, and then we finished it in his
studio. Ian loved the song and thought it would be right for the
album, so I rang Weller and asked him if I could use it. He said yes.
HD – There's are real live
band dynamic on the album, and I know you're keen to point out the
rest of the band's input on the album. Who have you got playing on
the record and was there an instant chemistry when you all first got
together in the rehearsal room?
JS - I played guitar & vocals,
Paul Duffy - guitar, organ, & vocals, Alfie Skelly - guitar, Nick
Power-piano, Ian Skelly - drums, James Redmond -bass. We've all
played with each other before and we're all close friends, so it was
very natural.
HD – You've worked with some
big name producers in the past, whereas this record is self-produced.
You obviously feel at home in the studio, are there any plans to do
any more production work either for yourself for other artists?
JS - Yes, I love being in the
studio and I've been working with a couple of young bands, Sundowners
and The Circles, It's something I’d like to get into.
HD – Without going as far as
to call Love Undercover a soul album, there's a definite Northern
Soul/R&B vibe going on. Would that be an indication of what
you've been listening to recently?
JS - I've always loved blues and
soul music, I go through phases but that’s what I always go back
to.
HD – I'm really enjoying your
song “Searching For The Sun”, could you tell us a little bit
about how you wrote the song and what inspired it.
JS - I've had that song for a
while, we demoed it with The Coral, then I demoed it. I ended up with
something inbetween the two versions.
HD – The songs on Love
Undercover
come across as less oblique than your songs for The Coral, there's a
tenderness and warmth to a lot of the songs too. It seems to me these
songs are a lot more personal than much of your previous work, would
that be a fair observation?
JS - I'd say the songs are more
direct. I wanted to get to the heart of the matter. I thought the
lyrics on Butterfly House were as good as I was going to get in that
style, so I felt it was time for a change.
HD – I'd say there's a good
case to be made for having one of the most instantly recognisable
male voices from the last decade with Love
Undercover
containing some of your best vocal performances, there seems to be a
real sense of spontaneity and joy in them. Who would you say were
your main influences as a vocalist?
JS - Van Morrison, Steve Marriott,
Ronnie Spector, Dion DiMucci, Bob Marley, Sam Cooke, John Lennon, Ben
E. King, Robert Johnson, Willie Deville, I could go on, but I'll
leave it there.
HD - Would you say there was
less pressure and expectation on this record than say there would be
on a Coral album?
JS - In a way, because I only had
to answer to myself, but I'm my harshest critic, so it didn’t make
a big difference.
HD – Sorry to bring up the
C-word but I have to ask, it's three years since Butterfly
House was
released, is there likely to be another Coral album or tour at any
time in the near future?
JS - Yes, I hope so, it has to be
right though, I wouldn’t want to do it just for the sake of it.
HD – Your song “I'm A Man”
has that Arthur Lee-style Mariachi vibe on it, I'm assuming you still
dig Love, Beefheart and all? Do you keep up with any of the current
crop of psychedelic flavoured acts such Temples or Jacco Gardner?
JS - I've heard Temples, it's good
but there's a lot of lo-fi stuff around, I’m waiting for a young
band to come and smash it.
HD – The song “Darkest
Days” is a sublime ending to the record, with warm sentiments that
characterise much of the album. Do you find yourself getting more
drawn towards introspection as you get older?
JS - I've always been like that,
I'm just hiding it less these days.
HD – You've been releasing critically acclaimed music for over twelve
years. So many flavour-of-the-month bands have come and gone, yet
you're still around, without courting the gossip columns, and still
making great music. What do you put this longevity down to?
JS
- I'd still be doing it even if no one was listening. It's all I
know. I get the impression a lot of bands are just on a gap year.
Swiss
duo's über rare debut EP gets a well deserved wider release. Dance
friendly Krautrock, electro and post-punk funk vie for space on this
12” reissue.
Anyone looking to shake
off the comfort blanket of English language music could do worse than
check out this re-release of Klaus Johann Grobe's debut EP. The Swiss
duo have fans in high places, as evidenced by endorsements and tour
supports from pysch band du jour Temples. Though their music is no
less psychedelic than that made by Temples, it's a musical strand
that owes more to bass-propelled electro than it does to floppy
fringes, vintage clothes and guitar pedals.
If the Temples
recommendation is not enough you'll no doubt be wondering what this
12” slab of vinyl has to offer - Six tracks that mix early '70s
Krautrock, '80s post-punk, Teutonic funk and electro. Add some eerie
sci-fi synth lines and vocals all sung in German and you're somewhere
close. It's a sound that contains echoes of the past while
simultaneously pointing at possibilities for the future. All served
up with a hefty dose of humour and panache.
As the duo's second LP
gets a release via Trouble In Mind Records, Liverpool based label
Salvation Records have wisely re-released this debut EP which was
originally released in 2013 on a very limited pressing (only 168
copies on 10” vinyl). This wider release is now on 12” vinyl and
digital download. Also worth checking out are Salvation's growing
catalogue of fine new underground releases and well-curated reissues.
Klaus Johann Grobe will be making several summer festival appearances
over the coming months, get down the front if you get the chance.
