You May Need A Murderer

Last night, July 11 2012, marked a particular musical high point for me. I had tickets to see Minnesota minimalists, Low. A band I had adored for over a decade but one which I had never gotten to see live for a myriad of different reasons. So I was especially delighted to finally break that duck last night.


A word or two about the support band. I believe they were called Saint Yorda. With the appalling PA they used you would never know what came out of those microphones. Maybe this was a good thing. I am normally very patient and forgiving of support bands because it's a pretty tough slot. This bunch, though, need serious reconsideration of their careers. It was a four piece band completely in thrall to Wild Beasts, Arcade Fire, Bitte Orca et al yet I reckon they must have heard those bands records at the wrong speed. This was just four people who seemed to all be in diferent bands at the same time. It was mayhem and completely irritating. With added cowbell. Back to the drawing board, chaps.


 Now, the crowd. This was easily the most packed I have seen Cyprus Avenue in Cork in many a long year. Josh Rouse was the only other act that I saw that jammed people in there like this. Mostly a cool crowd who were there for the tunes and that was great. As usual, there were pockets of idiots who could not possibly stop talking to their equally dull friends. Three guys in particular, with this hideous North Cork/South Limerick amalgam of an accent, were really pissing everyone off and eventually got flung out. Also, hipsters. Yes, you read that right. Hipsters. In Cork. I couldn't believe my Instagram. Full Iron & Wine beards, artfully distressed hair cut at oblique angles. Shiny jeans with elasticated cuffs on the bottom of the legs (OMG), manbags, beads...and that was just the women. Even Cork has now been infected by this zombie nation. Nowhere is safe. Get out. Get out now.


 The Main Monkey Business On with the show eh? Not a completely chatty bunch, our Minny Soda heroes take the stage and proceed to deliver a set filled with fantastic songs from all across their career. The first thing that strikes you with the opening song, Pissing, is the quiet way the song begins, builds and forces the crowd into stillness just by the weight of the tune's beauty. Then Alan and Mimi's voices soar and harmonise and it's completely wonderful. Like a winter wonderland Gram and Emmylou. Alan as a guitar player is hugely gifted. One minute so delicate and precise, the next making a noise that Crazy Horse would be proud of. Mimi brings so much to the mix rather than just being the minimalist drummer of course. Her vocal work is as good as any woman in music today. In fact, as I suspected, the biggest cheer of the night was for her turn from current album C'mon, Especially Me. It got huge applause and cheering which delighted her and I must say me too. They are coming to the end of a European jaunt and looked a tad frazzled but never let it impact on the performance. A fantastic night and one that just confirmed to me how special this band really are. Go see them if you can.

 SETLIST
 Pissing
 Monkey
 Nightingale
 Dragonfly
 Witches
 Especially You
 Nothing But Heart
 Sunflower
 Words
 I Remember
 Try To Sleep
 Murderer
 Dinosaur Act
 From Your Place On Sunset

 Encore
 Starfire
 Waiting (new song)
 Last Snowstorm Of The Year

It's a hit!

This post holds just a few albums that have really been big favourites of mine this year.

The Jayhawks - Mockingbird Time
The Decemberists - The King Is Dead
Kate Bush - 50 Words For Snow
Dawes - Nothing Is Wrong
Richmond Fontaine - The High Country
Bill Callahan - Apocalypse
PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
Tom Waits - Bad As Me
The War On Drugs - Slave Ambient
White Denim - D and Last Day Of Summer
Bon Iver - Bon Iver
Radiohead - The King Of Limbs
Wild Beasts - Smother
Josh T. Pearson - Last Of The Country Gentlemen
Gillian Welch - The Harrow and The Harvest
Joe Henry -Reverie
Okkervil River - I Am Very Far
Hayes Carll - KMAG YOYO
The Black Keys - El Camino
Opeth - Heritage
Mastodon - The Hunter
The Twilight Singers - Dynamite Steps

The Ultimate Rule ought to be: 'If it sounds GOOD to you, it's bitchin'; if it sounds BAD to YOU, it's shitty.

It's the most poptastic time of the year..

Every publication, blog and website seems to be running down their albums of the year so I thought why not?

I should do some movies as well but, shamefully, I don't get to see too many throughout the year. I certainly see enough tv but a lot of film buffs would look down their Kubrickian noses at the small screen fare. Shame that because American television, especially cable television, is in a certain golden period with some fantastic shows over the last few years.

Still, it's music which rules the artistic roost in my house, so lets spark off.

I am not going to rank them or really limit myself to a top ten. I am just gonna throw a bunch of them out there. Albums that I have enjoyed in 2011.

Dave Alvin - Eleven Eleven
Iron and Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean
Drive By Truckers - Go Go Boots
Antlers - Burst Apart
The Low Anthem - Smart Flesh
Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring For My Halo
Laura Marling - A Creature I Don't Know
Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
Low - C'mon
Jonathan Wilson - Gentle Spirit
Metronomy - The English Riviera
Ryan Adams - Ashes & Fire
Wilco -The Whole Love
My Morning Jacket - Circuital
Real Estate - Days
Mogwai - Hardcore Will Never Die
Elbow -Build A Rocket Boys
R.E.M. - Collapse Into Now
TV On The Radio - Nine Types Of Light
Explosions In The Sky - Take Care, Take care
Steven Wilson - Grace For Drowning
Justice - Audio, Video, Disco
A.A. Bondy - Believers
Akron/Family - ST II
Black Stone Cherry - Between The Devil..
J Mascis - Several Shades Of Why
Richard Buckner - Our Blood
The Mountain Goats All Eternals Deck
The Horrible Crowes - Elsie
Anathema - Falling Deeper
Ghostpoet - Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam
John Hiatt - Dirty Jeans and Mudslide Hymns
Jason Isbell - Here We Rest
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Wolfroy Goes To Town
dEUS - Keep You Close
Wooden Shjips - West
Lucinda Williams -Blessed
Fountains Of Wayne - Sky Full Of Holes

All these fine missives have gained significant airplay in my house/work/walking areas and I would recommend any of them without hesitation.

Really, all this list goes to show is that I do very little else except listen to music. Still, could be worse. I could be a Stoke fan or spend my day looking at animal porn. Same thing I suppose.

I will put the albums that I have really overdosed on this year in a seperate post. Ones that are really special to me.

A wise man once said, "never discuss philosophy or politics in a disco environment."

Dispatches from Clatskanie..

So Billy Bragg was a bust because of a ticket snafu. Least said about that debacle the better. Onwards and upwards.

Went to see Richmond Fontaine play last night. They are slowly creeping up to be the band I've seen most live. It must be in double figures now.

The band are touring behind the release of their new album,The High Country. The album is possibly the closest musical distillation of singer Willy Vlautin's lauded career as a novelist. A song cycle, a concept album if you will, about a bunch of sad, lonely people in and around a logging community in the Pacific NW of America.

The gig was fun despite the seemingly grim material. The addition of Amy Boone on keys and the voice of "the girl" on the album was very welcome and added a softer, lighter touch to the music. Her pieces on Inventory and Let Me Dream Of The High Country were superb. Chilling, unspeakably sad yet tinged with softness. It was good to see her take the female counterpoint on Post To Wire too later in the show. She also did a fine song of her own which reminded me of the shamefully forgotten Hazeldine.

The band played the whole album front to back as one piece and finished the night with a selection from their wonderfully rich back catalogue. Winner's Casino, Post To Wire, Lonnie, Four Walls and Moving Back Home #2 all made an appearance.

As for the album itself, I think as a personal experience it works wonderfully well. You immerse yourself in the story and it engages you. As a live piece I feel it loses a little something in translation. Possibly because you want this to be "your" world, "your" experience and sharing it with others who might only be there for a drink and to hang out with friends..well it kind of waters the whole thing down a bit. That is just a personal view though and hopefully those who were there that were not aware of the story of the album were won over.

Either way, once again, Richmond Fontaine..literate, rocking, funny, self deprecating and easily the best American band currently working. Spare a thought for The Girl and The Mechanic. It's a hard road..

Richmond Fontaine, the best band you've never heard.

Way over yonder, in the minor key...

Anyone who knows me knows what a voracious devourer I am of music. Not a day goes by that isn't filled with tunes in some way. I am lucky enough to work somewhere that I can plug in the iPod and go.
So,from early morning when I am walking to work to during the day to walking home from work, my day is filled with music. Which is lucky for me with the way I consume new music especially.

Once home, fed and watered, then I am listening to music again till about 9PM. So, it's safe to say that my day is heavily soundtracked. It's just become a part of me. Maybe it's the signs of an addictive personality. When I drink, I cane it. When I eat, I overeat. Now that I'm exercising I have a tendency to overdo that too which is painful. Alas, Horatio, that is a case for a completely different couch and forum.

Strange thing is, notwithstanding how much music is an integral part of my life, I always find it difficult to talk about it and certainly to write about it. Particularly to people who may not be as invested in it as I am. This is especially true in "real life" where I have met people who are only into what's on the radio or X-Factor. Indeed, I have met people who don't have any interest in music and never listen to any at all. This beggars belief on my part. How can anyone wilfully ignore something so life affirming and moving? I mean, even if they just listened to Tony Bennett or Leona Lewis. Surely a person cannot go thru life without at least one song hitting them at their core?

Apart from "real life", I have found kindred spirits on internet music message boards and moreso, in recent times, on Twitter. There are people there, who I've never met, with whom I have shared thoughts,anecdotes and general views on music. We've recommended bands and ripped the piss out of bands and generally had fantastic chats about music and what it means to us. It can sometimes be like one big pub discussion which meanders, ebbs and flows and occasionally even has a point. From a randomly retweeted comment you may follow a link that turns you onto something wonderful. I would highly recommend Twitter to people. It seems less of an intrusion than Facebook and the character limit keeps it snappy and witty for the most part.

I have had people talk to me and tell me I should write a blog, a music blog. Obviously this is not because they think I am a talented writer or a bon viveur. More likely, to stop me banging on to them about the new Richmond Fontaine album or something so they can give their ears a rest. I have always resisted this because, to be honest, I know I am lacking the discipline to be able to write something consistently engaging. I have read enough of Lester Bangs to know I am not him. Even Paul Morley is more entertaining than anything I might write. Yes, Paul Morley. Music journalist as sleeping potion.

However, onward we go. Most of the entries in this blog will be music related in some form over the next month and a bit. This is because I have quite a busy time with gigs coming up, thankfully. Cork gets a raw deal sometimes on the gig circuit. There is a huge appetite for music here but the will to put a decent sized venue here to attract names doesn't seem to be there. It's a shame.

Before I go, if you know someone who has no interest in music..buy them something. A Simon & Garfunkel Greatest Hits or something. You never know, if they engage with it they may come back at you with a rare copy of Jackson C. Frank's debut album. You may start a fire...no Billy Joel though please.