Never Stop ’til You Reach The Sky

Isa & The Filthy Tongues – Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh, 29th December 2008

It’s been a fairly quiet year gig-wise for Isa & the Filthy Tongues but the relative inactivity certainly hasn’t dulled their instincts for putting on a good show. Nor does it seem to have hurt their drawing power because last night’s show at Cabaret Voltaire was fairly well attended.

One of the reasons for the relative lack of gigs is (presumably) the band’s involvement in Richard Jobson’s upcoming film ‘New Town Killers’ and one of the evening’s attractions was a brief preview of the movie which was shown between bands. There was more NTK too later on, but I’ll come to that presently.

The set remains reliant on debut LP ‘Addiction’ (more so if you count the mighty ‘Big Star’ as an LP track since it’s on the reissue) and as you would expect, given the strength of the debut, culling the best songs from there provides a very strong backbone for the set.

Having missed both ‘Nae Tongues’ and ‘Dreamcatcher’ out of the Leith set for technical reasons they dispense with them early on. After the traditional 3 piece instrumental opener, the three guys remain the only figures on stage for ‘Dreamcatcher’ with Stacey delivering her vocals from behind the curtain obscuring the steps down to the stage.

It has to be said that when you’ve got a singer with her presence it’s quite a bold move to keep her off the stage until the third number. Once she finally appears on stage it’s clear that she’s enjoying herself and seems much more relaxed when performing these days than perhaps in the past.

Of the older material, highlights include ‘Trouble’, Stacey’s simmering duet with Cornelius (from support band the Omega Suite) on ‘Finders’ and Metcalf’s blinding Bunnymen-esque guitar work on ‘I’ll Do …’. Although in actual fact ALL the songs from the record were great.

We’re also treated to two new songs and appropriately, given the ‘New Town Killers’ connection, the first new song (possibly called either ‘Why Did You Leave Me?’ or ‘Big Blue Eyes’) sounds quite filmic. Both on first listen sound relatively accessible. Otherwise, there are a couple of MacKenzies tracks too, a strung out and wired ‘Jim’s Killer’ and a boisterous ‘Hard’ which further emphasise the band moving forward.

There’s no proper encore – instead we’re given a premiere of the video for the title track from the Jobson movie which is recognisably the Filthy Tongues, yet marks something of a landmark in that it’s the first song that Metcalf has sung on lead in quite some time. It’s apparently out as a single very soon and whilst it’s quite nice to see the video, it would have been nicer to have heard it played live.

However with any luck the movie connection will help raise the band’s profile and 2009 could be a good year with LP number two also rumoured to be on the cards. And hopefully some more gigs!

I’m not quite sure what to make of support act the Omega Suite. It’s apparently their first ever gig but since 80% of the set is covers it’s hard to really get a handle on them other than where they want to be. Most of the covers are genre related (the Cure, PJ Harvey, Iggy etc) but it’s the more unexpected tunes that fare best – the Fleetwood Mac song is arguably the stand-out for me and was there an Abba song buried in there as well?

They do have several things going for them, not least that these guys can play but most of all it’s probably that singer Cornelius has a real presence on stage (as he was to illustrate later on). File under K for ‘keep an eye on’.

A couple more pics from the show (others on Flickr):

Setlist:

1. Nae Tongues  2. Dreamcatcher  3. Trouble  4. Why Did You Leave Me? (?)  5. Finders Fuckers  6. Celebration Girl  7. City of Love (?) 8. Jim’s Killer  9. Sorority Girl  10. Big Star  11. I’ll Do What I Want To  12. Hard

From Youtube, the video for the wonderful ‘Big Star’:

Merry Christmas!

A brief post to wish everyone out there a Merry Christmas and to point you in the direction of some free goodies.

The new 50 Foot Wave EP ‘Power and Light’ is now streaming here. One 25 minute piece of music, on one listen so far it sounds a) like a logical progression from ‘Golden Ocean’/'Free Music’ and b) a bit like Kristin goes punk/prog. Decide for yourself!

De Rosa meanwhile have released the last Appendix, ‘To Early Days of Home’. It’s different again from the previous Appendices featuring brass and cello. But if you want it (and all the rest of the Appendices) you better hurry and get it from here - the tracks will disappear on 31st December although there will be a physical release at some point in 2009 after ‘Prevention’ comes out.

You can also get he new version of ‘Under the Stairs’ from the same place. Originally recorded for the Beeb a couple of years ago but omitted from  whatever it was going to be used for, the band are giving away the version which will appear on ‘Prevention’ – for free! Who said there’s no Santa?

And incidentally it appears that ‘Prevention’ will be up against the new release from this mob. No contest in this household at least!

Nightmare In Govan (2)

All Christmas parties should be like ‘Burst Noel’. From where we’re standing/pogoing it’s a resounding success and, personally, a far more enjoyable experience than my works’ night out the previous week. Don’t you think that every 20 years or so I should get to bring my colleagues along to something like this??

First on were the Phantom Band. Taking the stage suited and booted they seem perfectly attired for the venue. By and large they offer the more accessible songs from the forthcoming debut LP and sound fantastic. They get a very positive reaction even if they’re on too early to encourage too many onto the dance floor. I’m seriously looking forward to catching a full set from them in the New Year.

Phantom Band setlist:

1. The Howling  2. Folksong Oblivion  3. Left Hand Wave  4. Burial Sound  5. Throwing Bones

Next up is Strike the Colours. Their set is the only real downside of the night, not because of the music but because of technical difficulties. Jenny’s violin packs in early on and as a consequence she has to drop several songs before bringing the set to a premature conclusion after just 4 numbers. She definitely fared better than in solo guise but it was difficult to draw many conclusions from her brief appearance.

The musical chairs interlude is inspired, not least because of Aidan Moffat’s choice of Napalm Death as backing music. It really gets the evening moving and there’s a brilliant sequence when one guy tries to cheat a girl of a seat and is roundly booed by the audience, then cheered when he admits defeat and opts  out. The whole proceedings are lent an even more surreal note by the fact that De Rosa are tuning up in the background thereby confusing some of the participants, even when the recorded music stops!

The prizes awarded, De Rosa set about their task with a vengeance. They open with a scalding ‘Cathkin Braes’ and barely let up in the remainder of their 7 song set. The version of ‘Flight Recorder’ is played with some abandon confirmed by the unusual sight of Andy actually standing up at one point. They close with their own Christmas song, the  wonderful ‘Under The Stairs’, and barring a couple of minor technical issues, are as close to magnificent as makes no difference.

De Rosa Setlist

1. Cathkin Braes  2. In Code  3. Flight Recorder  4. It Helps To See You Hurt  5. Tinto  6. Nocturne for an Absentee  7. Under The Stairs

Which leaves only the headliner himself. In contrast to Dundee, Malky seems in great form throughout and, for me, it’s the most enjoyable Middleton gig I’ve seen. Which I’m sure is not necessarily unrelated to the fact that we’re right at the front and a few beers have been consumed.

The set is almost identical to Dundee (even to the extent of there being no encore) with ‘Burst Noel’ included at the expense of ‘Devastation’. The two new songs once again sound terrific, in particular ‘Shadows’ whilst the double burst of  ‘We’re All Going To Die’ and ‘Death, Love, depression …’ inspire the afore-mentioned bout of middle aged pogoing. Well, someone had to!

Malcolm Middleton Setlist

1. Blue Plastic Bags  2. Four Cigarettes  3. Crappo The Clown  4. Travelling Socks  5. Break My Heart  6. Burst Noel  7. A Brighter Beat  8. Fuck It, I Love You  9. We’re All Going To Die  10. Death Love Depression Love Death  11. Shadows  12. Loneliness Shines  13. Love Comes In Waves

Which only leaves Mr Moffat. As mentioned by JC in his comment, he put in an extraordinary performance. His between song utterances contributed hugely to the atmosphere and his stewardship of the musical chairs (the timing of the breaks and the regular ‘Ya cheating basturts!’)  was, frankly, exemplary.

Roll on next year and Burst Noel 2.

Photos from the evening at MPT Flickr.

PS Not one but TWO De Rosa downloads promised on Christmas Eve!

Nightmare In Govan

Malcolm Middleton’s  ‘Burst Noel’ was an absolutely brilliant night. A great venue, 4 great bands, a few pints and some festive entertainment all combined to produce my gig of the year. The Vinyl Villain and I even managed to talk pish to Emma Pollock for a few minutes.  Sorry, Emma!

I’ll reflect on the music in detail tomorrow but in the meantime here are some more photos from the event.

De Rosa

Musical chairs

Strike the Colours

The Phantom Band

Lust and Sin Is All That I Want

The Phantom Band’s debut LP ‘Checkmate Savage’ seems to have been a long time coming – but it’s been well worth the wait.

The LP doesn’t come out officially until 26th January but I managed to short-circuit the wait by picking up a promo in Edinburgh the other week.

The label of “krautrock, swamp-rock and Beefheart-oddness” is a pretty good indicator of the range of the 9 songs contained on the disc. But given that the Phantoms live experience is quite, well, savage, what impresses me most is that how many of the songs are familiar on the strengths of their melodies from just the one live hearing.

Opening track ‘The Howling’ and ‘Island’ easily fall into that category. ‘The Howling’ in fact may be the best way to sum up the Phantom experience, opening on an electronic riff which is quickly driven forward and opened up by the introduction of the guitars. The chorus however proves these guys know a good tune.

Ballad ‘Island’ meanwhile is a counter point to the heavier side of the band. It was a surprising way to end the live set, the last time I saw them, and it’s equally effective on the second side after ‘Halfhound and ‘Left Hand Wave’. ‘Folksong Oblivion’ is another favourite switching mood from its dramatic ‘I can’t see for the mountain silhouette’ mantra to something lighter for the verse.

A number of these tunes have had public outings before albeit some under different guises. Second song ‘Burial Sounds’ (previously known a ‘Dethalle’) falls into the menacing category and improves hugely on its sparse demo counterpart. I wasn’t sure initially about whether instrumental ‘Crocodile’ actually was better than its predecessor ‘Crocodehl Dundee’ but listening to both again I think that the LP version has more of a sense of direction and momentum than its predecessor. In classic post-rock fashion the instrumentation is introduced one at a time building up to a crashing crescendo of guitars.

The only song that fails, IMHO, to improve on the original is the version of single ‘Throwing Bones.’ It’s still a great song but the LP version doesn’t, for me, quite recapture the joie de vivre of the original 7″.

It’s only a minor quibble though because ‘Checkmate Savage’ is definitely the first essential LP of 2009. You can hear extracts from the record at the Phantoms’ Myspace. [Preorder the LP].

The Phantom Band open Malcolm Middleton’s ‘Burst Noel’ tomorrow (Friday). Make sure you get along early enough to catch them.

Year of the Rabbit

Frightened Rabbit/The Grace Emilys – Fat Sam’s, Dundee, 10th December 2008

“I want to have your rabbits!”

That comment near the start of last night’s show (and its implicit devotion), perhaps as well as anything emphasised the journey that Frightened Rabbit have taken in the last 12 months. They’ve gone from promising but struggling indie outfit to a band with an ever increasing tally of Album of the Year awards and one that’s big enough to play Fat Sam’s Live.

Despite a schedule of almost constant touring, the band seemed to enjoy last night’s show, with Scott in particular revelling in banter with the crowd, promising to inseminate the entire audience before the night is out at one point!

The set also gave me a better idea of the Frightened Rabbit live experience, Whereas I spent most of the recent Edinburgh set comparing the performance to the LP, I was able to enjoy last night more for what it was.

Again the set was dominated by songs from ‘The Midnight Organ Fight’ with the songs played in the order they appear on the LP with only the odd variation. ‘Good Arms ..’ was the first stand out but there were great versions of ‘The Twist’ and ‘Heads Roll Off’ before a stark version of ‘My Backwards Walk’.

‘Square 9′ from the debut was a thunderous way to finish the main set but the encore was even better. Scott took the stage alone to sing an affecting ‘Poke’ without using a mic and with only a guitar and some audience participation as backing. Then the whole band joined him for a blast through the awesome ‘Keep Yourself Warm’.

The only problems came early on when the guitars struggled to be heard which not only undermined the opening salvo of ‘Modern Leper’ and ‘I Feel Better’ but was also something of a mystery given that there were actually 3 axes on stage at the time. The problem was more or less sorted after that but I could definitely have lived with the guitars being louder.

Frightened Rabbit Setlist

1. Modern Leper 2. I Feel Better 3. Old Old Fashioned 4. Good Arms vs Bad Arms 5. The Twist 6. Fast Blood 7. Behave! 8. Heads Roll Off 9. My Backwards Walk 10. Square 9

11. Poke 12. Keep Yourself Warm

Support Grace Emilys certainly managed to get their guitars sounding louder. A four piece from Dundee they have several singles to their name and their short set was enthusiastic and impressive. They described single ‘Lipstick Blues’ as a hoedown whilst closing number ‘The Watchmaker’ really benefited from their second drummer.

Not quite sure who they remind me of but at times it’s maybe the Kissaway Trail. I really enjoyed the set by the end.

I caught the last couple of songs by the opening support band but I didn’t catch their name although they seemed to be from Perth. Perth, Scotland not Perth, Western Australia. They’re pleasant enough but don’t really grab my attention.

Frightened Rabbit – Square Nine (live) [Get it and also the debut LP ]

Photos from the show on MPT flickr