Nonclassical @ Bishops Square

Mercury, Wolf and other oddities

13-17/6

photo: KASH creative

Nonclassical gets temporarily adopted by Spitafields Music Festival, tacked under its' widely eclectic umbrella of events - and under Bishops Square's canopy, to be more specific. Its' mission is to fill up lunch time with music generated by the label's exciting group of up-and-coming artists. A concept that nonchalantly brings together professionals from the surrounding offices, rastafarians, mums with strollers and cool Old Spitafields Market aficionados who take a rest in the nearby benches.
Gabriel Prokofiev created this decidedly adventurous label to bring unusual, genre-defying music to an audience that doesn't like to be restricted in typical concert halls, but would rather listen in a club with a pint of beer within reach. During lunch time at the square not much beer is flowing around, obviously, but plenty of coffee and sandwhiches offering that same cooled-down, free-spirited attitude that welcomes everyone to come and discover music without boundaries. That is the point, and it's free of charge.

Mercury Quartet first take the miniature stage on Monday the 13th. An ensemble sharing Kronos Quartet's sense of adventure, but adding piano, clarinet and sax to the latter's strings-only recipe. Pieces from the quartet's debut release Mercury Acoustic meet Messiaen's Quartet For The End of Time, in a fascinating ride from improvisation to 20th century classical melodies.
Peter Gregson takes over on Tuesday, introducing Gabriel Prokofiev's Suite for Cello and Electronics next to Max Richter and Johann Johannsson melodies. The serene sonic sceneries typical of Johannsson's are rather difficult to grasp (or even hear at all) in a busy square with the wind blowing, and the lack of crescendos eventually makes my attention drift.

photo: Gerald Jenkins

Consortium5, five young women armed with an array of contemporary and replica baroque recorders take their turn on Wednesday and quickly manage to get that attention back. Despite the weather's tantrums, a bit of Purcell and excerpts from their acclaimed Nonclassical release Tangled Pipes prove quite popular with the crowd.
Pianist Will Dutta, with Richard Lannoy on turntables (Mr DJ along with Prokofiev at concert breaks) mix music from UK electronic duo Plaid, Max de Wardener and Dutta himself adding edge to a typical grey Thursday.
Against the uncooperative weather altogether, the week ended with a smash: You Are Wolf, Sarah Dacey and Laura Moody mingled vocals with a loop station, electronics and cello respectively, covering a wide musical spectrum from (Non)classical to Dolly Parton. Laura Moody, especially, gave me the impression that we were in for something different at soundcheck - and not necessarily in a good way; but let's blame it on the moody cold. Seeing her actual performance, reminiscent of PJ Harvey's dynamic, idiosyncratic delivery and Tori Amos's theatrics, made me an absolute fan after all.
The true Nonclassical extravaganza, though, is coming up in July (23/7), at a multi-storey car park in Peckham, where a 102 musicians will perform Stravinsky's ground breaking Rite of Spring (http://riteofspringproject.tumblr.com/).
Impressive staff - and it's all for free.

Crystal Stilts, Still Corners, The 1990s @ Xoyo

Listen to oblivion

20/6/11

I've been interested in seeing what the Stilts have to say live since I first listened to their debut Alight of Night (wasn't everybody into this kind of nugaze reverb psychedelia?).

This was the night... Two support bands, one industrial cool underground club and a new album, In Love With Oblivion, to highlight my meeting with the headliners at long last.

When first Still Corners hit the stage I can't say I was enthused. Ah, another band with a cute dreamy pop singer (how many Isobel Campbells and Jane Birkins can we take?), playing their charm card and ending any sonic excitement right there on the mic. Luckily - for us and for them - song No2 brought quick enough the revelation that Still Corners are a beautiful band through and through. Their noir pop didn't carry any wild originality with it (and it doesn't have to), but it travelled me afar with an emotive cinematic power that was their own (since romantic retro vocals are not my thing, my credits went mostly to the guitar). All defences down, I ended up loving every minute.

The Glaswegians 1990s, on the other hand, sounded pretty promising on paper - and they were, for most people in the audience. But not me. Even though the vocals were spat out a la Richard Hell (and that's as good as it gets in my book), or the New York Dolls, all their glam-wham-bam just didn't do it for me. They have their third album coming up - new single (My Baby's) Double Espresso wasn't all that bad. Let's just say I'm more of a double jag of filter coffee kind of girl.
So, to move on to my stars for the night...

First, I would like here to clear out that I'm not a Jesus And Mary Chain fan (I only crack up with Crackin' Up). And even though I love distortion the My Bloody Valentine / A Place To Bury Strangers way, most reverb in my eyes only tries to make up for the lack of sensation in the band's sound or the singer's pipes.

The sexy garage power of the Stilts had made me cut through that feeling up to now. Pretty curious to see what they had come up with in their sophomore recording attempt.

We already knew Shake the Shackles, and it was pure guitar wizardry. I hadn't admired a guitarist live for a long time - since And Also The Trees' Justin Jones had me staring in jaw dropping awe a year ago; but there you have it JB Townsend. I can hardly judge guitar potential to an impressive Conoscenti level, but his heart translated to skill and vice versa - and that was good enough for me. The band takes a few noisy steps away from the romantic gloom of the Trees, but that sound (and I'm not even an expert to say if it was a mandolin-guitar sound, but it certainly reminded me of both the mandolin and the Greek bouzouki) was pretty close.

 

 
I'm not crazy about Hargett's vocals, by the way - too lazy, happy to get over-buried in reverb (do you lack skill Hargett? Speak up!!). But sexy moments like the album's opener Sycamore Tree and Blood Barons (Townsend, you rule!) made my night.

I have yet to listen to In Love With Oblivion enough times to judge if I like it better than Alight of Night.

But I will say this: Once the guitar kicks in, it's a no-brainer.

Photography by rockets4solitude, a.k.a. Danai Molocha

Current 93 @ Queen Elizabeth Hall

Black flips ate the mind

19/6/11

To simply speak about how beautifully they played their vocal card - and guitars and piano and percussion - is way too shallow for a band like Current 93.
Not that they don't deserve a really in depth musical mention. But when David Tibet - and all that blessed company of his - hit the stage, there's only one thing that possesses the mind: impassioned paranoia. In perfect experimental neofolk (and whatever else they call them) unison.
Tibet orchestrates the ensemble, no doubt, but the way they all manage to deliver those all-time melodies that strike a chord beyond control is mind-boggling.

James Blackshaw - what an amazing addition to this ever changing line-up. Don't just limit yourselves to his guitar work - try his solo piano concerts for a change.
Baby Dee - what an individual seamlessly integrating her unique personality into Tibet's vision. I noticed how a click of hers made all the difference, creating heart-breaking sensibility from one single and silly high note; and that's owed to the songwriter's genius, as much as her own soul spilling in perfect tune with the
melody.
There was a really young guitarist who joined in for a few songs. Pays justice to their eclecticism.. He probably left early to go to sleep (curfew in effect).
In the posh Queen Elizabeth Hall not many heads were moving and not many bodies were swaying in their seats (try next to none; well, mine was).
Current 93, well, they are not for everybody. Definitely not for the faint-hearted and the so-and-so.
Somebody in the end commented, "wow, loads of passion here". You got it. I had been looking for people that burn and shiver like Current. Ninety three burns and ninety three shivers with every verse that make your head flip and your heart spin. And when it's all over, you don't know how to live without. How do you really get back to life, where things don't twist and turn the way that makes every moment purposeful?

I appreciated Honeysuckle Aeons and their other latest stuff better (though once more, they left me hanging not including my favourite Niemandwasser - their king of hearts, as I like to call it).
But I appreciated living life to the full even more. Like David's friend Sebastian, who died. Who, as David said, had jackets with little pockets for heroine syringes.
Either way... Wake up!

Spanner Jazz Punks @ Round Midnight

 

Anarcho-Gallic madness

From the moment the septet crammed into Round Midnight's mini stage you could tell something intriguing was going to happen. The band's fashions – Trilby hats, black and white check designs, orange boots, stripy flip-flops – were pretty telling. Especially considering the multiple influences and diverse origins of the music that was about to follow.

A theatrical figure reminiscent of Tiger Lillies' Martyn Jacques and Ian Dury, Dan Spanner led the band in sounds that colourfully blended Jazz, Ska, Balkan beats, Blues and Hip Hop, but also dancing, circus and Vaudeville.Upbeat original rhythms like Sunday Arak (sang in French) and Punk Jazz Spanner met with covers such as Tom Waits' Raindogs. Hollow Man captured attention with a symphony of spooky voices, while instrumentals like Medicine showed off the band's strong horn section.

The septet had a few dedicated followers that formed quirky dances with every new sonic cocktail. To others, though, the changes in rhythm and style were baffling. All things considered, the band's signature eclecticism can add some flair to the show; but it's mostly in the traditional sounds of the horns where their true talent and the best part of their performance lies.

 Review and picture by Danai Molocha, a.k.a. rockets4solitude, for www.liveatyourlocal.org.uk

Jamie Woon @ Shepherd's Bush Empire

Woon the swoon

He hardly... swooned me, that (S)Woon. His soulful R&B lament was plain pain to my ears, making it really hard for me to understand what that acclaimed recent debut (that's Mirrorwriting) was all about. Of course, I could just as easily be prejudiced, as I simply can't understand this kind of music - i.e. softly moaning and groaning about romances; if you wanna groan, groooaannn man!...
But just as I thought that nothing could avert the audience from screaming madly in
tune with his every soul-burning chorus (enter Night Air), there's a small chance it was equally torn. A conclusion I derive from the fact that someone came to inform me there was a bunch of attendees calling him "loser" by the bar.
The massive singalongs and the swaying body of fans that followed his cover of Would I Lie To You - the '90s super hit of that other freaky pop-soul duo, Charles & Eddie - was enough to give me nightmares. Though, I have to say, this swoon a la Woon was far better.
What really did add to the show for us annoyed bystanders was the beautiful work effectuated by the lighting team- an absolute booster for the modern crooning that was dancing in the air.
If I could have just watched that with soundtrack from, let's say, Parov Stelar, we'd be talking perfection...