dry the river. live. xoyo.

what: q now: the sessions

who: dry the river

where: xoyo, london, uk
when: 23 january 2012

support: rae morris and clock opera

despite the fact that london always was and always will be a place i do not enjoy, even i can’t deny the fact that the city is some sort of mecca for good gigs in the uk – obviously. so i fought all my natural instincts and made my way down to xoyo in islington for dry the river.

after a slightly disappointing walk down brick lane, a rather successful stop at rough trade east and freezing our toes off outside xoyo, singer-songwriter rae morris from blackpool was a great start to an even better night. having seen her before, i knew what to expect and was therefore really looking forward to her performance. she’s got a wonderful voice and makes other female singers like katy perry or lady gaga look really old. she doesn’t need background dancers and bright lights to distract from non-existing talent, simply because she has the talent. judging by the response she got from the audience, i’m certainly not the only one who fell for her beautiful piano tunes. (setlist: back to front, hard to forget, day one, oldest of new, for you, walls)

after a short break, the lads from clock opera entered the stage and i got to admit, they impressed me very much. i guess i would categorise their sound as somewhat a mix between indie-rock and dance music with a nice touch of pop, they certainly combine different genres. the four piece from london is going to release their debut album later this year, the single once and for all will be out next week according to lead singer guy connelly, whose emotional vocals seem to be the foundation of every clock opera song – rightfully so if you ask me.

no doubt that we enjoyed the support acts but the reason we came was dry the river after all. after having seen them a few times already, i was close to betting that they’d open with no rest, which they (to my surprise) didn’t do. instead the wonderful demons was up first, followed by no rest. dry the river are one of those bands that i didn’t know until i saw them live, which was probably the best thing that could happen. even though their sets usually don’t include any big surprises in terms of the setlist, every dry the river show somehow has a different vibe and not just because of different audiences but because the band seems to play every gig like it could be their last one – which certainly won’t be the case anytime soon.

their new single the chambers & the valves will be released at the end of next month (27th february), just a few days before their debut album shallow bed is due, so it was about time for them to play that song live. according to bassist scott miller, they haven’t played this song live in around two years, which was sadly noticeable in my opinion. although it might just have been a little different because i only know a studio recording. either way, the song’s great nevertheless and will make a great single for sure.

all-time favourites history book and bible belt were also part of the setlist, just as their current single weights & measures, which made the crowd go silent as the band began this one absolutely unplugged. lead singer pete liddle’s vocals shine on the one hand when they’re so fragile on the other hand – it’s simply stunning.

as family seemed to mark the end of their set, we sure didn’t need to beg for more for too long. i was definitely not the only one who was very grateful to hear shaker hymns, as several people were shouting “yes” as soon as the band played the first few notes of this song. i only wish they would’ve played a full band version including will harvey and jonny warren, just because the discreet violin and drums in the background make it even more amazing. but to be completely honest, shaker hymns is a beautiful song in every way, mainly because of the amazing harmonies from pete, scott and guitarist matt taylor. dry the river wrapped up their awesome set with lion’s den, a song that definitely shows why there’s no other folk-rock band out there right now that comes close to their brilliance. all in all, spending a night in london was not so bad after all, but only because dry the river totally made up for it. we shall see that combination again at the electric ballroom in may – until then, don’t forget to mark the release of shallow bed (5th march) in your calendars.

 pete liddle

 scott miller

 jonny warren

 will harvey

 matt taylor

dry the river - shield your eyes live @xoyo, london 

setlist:

demons

no rest

shield your eyes

history book

the chambers & the valves

new ceremony

weights & measures

bible belt

family 
 ---

shaker hymns

lion's den

goldtrip. live. the fleece.

who: baltic sirens, hyde, goldtrip and wires

where: the fleece, bristol, uk

when: 20th january 2012

"they’re different and definitely good. i understand why you love them!" – sounds like something i would say about goldtrip, doesn’t it? since they were the reason i went to the fleece on thursday, it obviously wasn’t me who said this though. nevertheless it’s a true testament to the brilliance of their music. but let’s see what else the fleece had in store for us that night.

baltic sirens, a four piece from north devon, kicked off the night and delivered a nice set, and i seriously wouldn’t go any further than "nice". their sound was good but unfortunately nothing special and therefore easily replaceable, and the lead singer's voice didn’t do them any good either. his vocals somehow didn’t fit the music at all. and if all that wasn’t already disappointing enough, there were a few more things that were absolutely out of place. first of all, it’s needless to say that it is unacceptable, perhaps even rude, when the bass player turns his back to the audience most of the time. and the strange looks and weird moves the lead singer tried to pull off didn’t make it any better either.

in retrospect though, baltic sirens were after all much more enjoyable than act number two – hyde, a local band from bristol. they describe their sound as rock/progressive which i’m usually fine with under certain circumstances, but what they played was just a lot of noise to me. the vocals were flat, which was no surprise because the lead singer’s voice was simply expressionless. what’s the verdict: hyde were just a lot of boring noise. and that’s pretty much all there is to say.

so the first half of the night turned out to be quite unpleasant which made me look forward to goldtrip even more. having known them for almost a year now, it was about time i found a way to see them live. their set was anything but disappointing and certainly quite different to their debut ep i try. the new songs are definitely more uplifting (the sound is, since i didn’t catch much of the lyrics). the first thing i thought was actually that lead singer dom little can sing. i don’t know why but it still surprises me when a band sounds live as good as they do on record, even though that should be sort of a given. their songs had a catchy beat, which constantly reminded me of the good old 80s classics, and some great guitar riffs. some songs were leaning more towards rock (journeys for example), others more towards pop (time is all we have). lion's den seemed to be the crowd's favourite judging by the response they got for that song. taking their ep into account as well, goldtrip showed that they found the perfect balance between rock and melancholic pop. after seeing such a performance, i seriously keep wondering why there’s still no new material officially released?! it’s definitely time for a proper album or at least a second ep. in my humble opinion, goldtrip are destined for so much more.

goldtrip seriously saved the night and i could’ve easily managed to survive another poor act after them, but the last band on the bill was a pleasant surprise. wires were up last and sure very easy to listen to. the four piece, based in bath and bristol, managed to win me over almost instantly. haunting vocals, great melodies and their nice melodic rock sound just didn’t fail to impress. hopefully they’re worth keeping an eye on. all in all, wires were a great little extra after goldtrip.

i think it’s safe to say that going down to bristol was worthwhile. and if this line up should come to exist again at some point, the order needs some improvement. it needs to read hyde, baltic sirens, wires and goldtrip the next time. until then, i need some more new goldtrip tunes… just sayin…

  goldtrip - joe rawnsley (guitar), alex brisland (drums), 

dom little (keyboard) and sam lloyd (bass)

goldtrip

 

 goldtrip

blind atlas. kodiak bear. video.

as you may already know, the lovely chaps from blind atlas were featured here not so long ago. and when you read that 'featuring', you also know that blind atlas were about to release a new video animation for the title track of their upcoming debut album kodiak bear (which is due in april). so that's exactly what they did now.

kodiak bear is basically everything i expected from blind atlas. another amazing song with gorgeous lyrics, a melody that makes you dream of another world, beautifully haunting vocals and a viola that steals focus from all the other instruments. overall, a good candidate already for my 'best of 2012' song list.

a great song certainly deserves a great video and i'm pretty sure you will come to agree with me, when i say that they did an outstanding job with the kodiak bear animation. just as their previous animation for my proud mountains, volkerfirma also produced the new video. this cooperation seems to be working quite well. they made a video that you have to watch a few times to realize its entire beauty. the kodiak bear animation is a perfect example for what a good music video should be like - it should get you thinking and not just when you're watching it, but even hours later. that was certainly the case for me and it probably will be for you as well.

so have a look now and check out the new blind atlas video for kodiak bear and then drop them a line on twitter or facebook and let them know what you think. enjoy!

on repeat.

songs: ohia - farwell transmission

mia. - ökostrom

dog is dead - hands down

goldtrip - burn to fade (live at songs from the shed)

brit awards. nominees. possible winners.

the brit award nominees have been revealed today and what can i say? no real surprises. we all expected to see adele in every list that includes females (not sure if that's a good or a bad thing), the ed sheeran phenomenon is still a mystery too me and i'm not even gonna comment on the fact that coldplay are up for best album.

but of course that's only me. and that's the beauty of music and basically every art in general - we all have our own opinion. and that's a good thing. 

if it was up to me though, the list of winners would look like this... 

BRITISH MALE SOLO ARTIST

 ed sheeran

- james blake -

james morrison

noel gallagher's high flying birds

professor green

BRITISH FEMALE SOLO ARTIST

adele

- florence & the machine -

jesse j

kate bush

laura marling

BRITISH BREAKTHROUGH ACT

- anna calvi -

ed sheeran

emeli sandé

jesse j

the vaccines

 BRITISH GROUP

artic monkeys

chase & status

coldplay

- elbow -

kasabian

BRITISH SINGLE

adele - someone like you

ed sheeran - the a team

example - changed the way you kissed me

- jesse j ft. bob - price tag -

jls ft. dev - she makes me wanna

military wives/gareth malone - wherever you are

olly murs ft. rizzle kicks - heart skips a beat

one direction - what makes you beautiful

pixie lott - all about tonight

the wanted - glad you came

MASTERCARD BRITISH ALBUM OF THE YEAR

adele - 21

coldplay - mylo xyloto

ed sheeran - +

florence & the machine - ceremonials

- pj harvey - let england shake -

 INTERNATIONAL MALE SOLO ARTIST 

aloe blacc

bon iver

bruno mars

david guetta

- ryan adams -

INTERNATIONAL FEMALE SOLO ARTIST

beyoncé

- björk -

feist

lady gaga

rihanna

INTERNATIONAL GROUP

- fleet foxes -

foo fighters

jay-z/kanye west

lady antebellum

maroon 5

INTERNATIONAL BREAKTHROUGH ACT

aloe blacc

bon iver

- foster the people -

lana del rey

nicki minaj

i gotta admit that it's quite hard to pick a favourite in some categories - not because i can't decide between two (or more) nominees but because i'm not particularly a big fan of any of them... especially in the british female solo artist category. 

i honestly don't expect any of the artists that i chose to actually win in their categories or actually, i'm sure they won't - except for pj harvey perhaps. 

the voting is now open, so head over to www.brits.co.uk to cast your vote for your favourite artist/band. voting ends on 17 february.

feel free to comment below and let me know who you think should win those little men...

on repeat.

basically every single playlist includes these songs lately...
i'm obviously talking about my playlists...

smith & burrows - funny looking angels

the travelling band - waterfall 

fanfarlo - shiny things

emmy the great - paper forest (in the afterglow of rapture)

i'm gonna post something like this from now on once a week or so. whenever i feel like it.

featuring: blind atlas.

one of the first bands i came to discover here was blind atlas, and to be fair, they are probably one of the best manchester bands as well. it was incredibly easy to get into their sound and when i finally got the chance to see them live, their performance was  just as great as i expected. gorgeous lyrics, haunting vocals and a unique sound simply never fail to impress.

when it comes to blind atlas, i just keep wondering why they still seem to be some sort of insider tip. they’re simply one of those bands that i think deserve much more attention. lead singer ross thompson is joined by adam jones, christian jacobs, pete garner, cameron baxter and to make the line-up complete, helen 'bels' temperley. their music is quite multifaceted as they combine different genres in their songs, which is easy to tell just by listening to their debut ep iron wall and the singles take a while and 4th street. in my humble opinion, blind atlas seriously need to become more well-known – and not just outside of manchester, but outside of the uk in general. 

 blind atlas

 

and that’s exactly the reason why i wanted them to be this month’s feature. massive thanks again to blind atlas for kindly agreeing to answer a few questions for me. now here’s what they had to say. 

********************************

  

question: since the internet doesn’t reveal too much about you guys, it would great if you could tell us a little bit about yourselves – where did you meet, how would you describe your music and so on.

ross: i moved here from boston, massachusetts, i'm from denver in colorado originally. i was looking to start a band and met cam and adam. adam was wearing a flying burrito bros t-shirt which got the conversation going... we arranged a jam and it went from there. 

 

adam: that was a couple of years ago, i had been in a few bands together with cam previously, they weren't great.

cam: chris was looking at 'wanted' ads in a music shop... specifically 'wanted drummer' ads, so i basically wrestled him to the ground and forced him to come to a jam.

chris: which worked out very well...

ross: we played a gig with a band bels was in, and asked her to play on some of our tracks. bels can play viola, violin, keys and backing vocals.  

cam: bels and chris put some great harmonies on some of the tracks. 

adam: pete was already a friend and was in a band we're friends with. 

pete: i was playing in a band called 'walton hesse'. i'm still great friends with them but i left and then took up the invitation to join blind atlas.

cam: it was really great he joined. helped to fill gaps in the sound and having someone new reinvigorates what you do. 

pete: i play guitar and keys, we all have various musical tastes and the way we all play gels really well.

adam: in terms of describing our music, i think if we said country it puts a negative image in people's heads in the uk. americana has a more acceptable image, but it doesn't really describe what we do. yes, we do have some songs which fall into that box, but actually we have some songs which defy that genre. we are not rootsy, traditional guys who are looking to be authentic to a perceived notion of the 'americana sound'. we have the edge on most folksy bands in this country as we have someone who actually sings in his own accent. also the songs we write are deeply personal. i like to think when you hear us and see us live, you are looking at a band which is opening itself up to you totally. 

q: country still seems to be some sort of taboo here. although it’s not like americana is much different, or even folk. lots of bands who were part of this big folk hype during the last couple of years sure used country elements and still do, yet almost none would admit that. why do you think most people in the uk still share this negative image of country music?
  
adam: i think country is perceived to be rather conservative music and therefore people who say they like it are deemed to be so. a lot of what comes out of nashville can definitely be said to be so, but that's the just the commercial aspect of the industry there. folk music of the british isles was seen as being backward, after the revival in the 60s and early 70s it pretty much disappeared off the radar till the last ten years or so. americana really hit here after 'o brother, where art thou?' came out, with bluegrass and the traditional songs from the south. all these types, country, folk etc. as you said, have all got similar links to each other, but country is taboo because of the gun owning, apple pie image which the nashville industry pumps out on a regular basis. possibly that might be a bit of snobbery there too, as country could be seen as a working class genre. the country clubs/pubs in the uk are rarely frequented if ever by students or white collar types.

q: you can already show off a quite impressive list of bands that you supported live, such as the features, lucy wainwright roche and of course the travelling band. is there a special band you'd love to support in the future? or perhaps a band you wish would open for you at one of your headline shows?

ross: i think supporting the bees was a highlight for me, the atmosphere at their show was just crazy and they were really nice guys. i'd support them again any day, or have them support us, why not!

q: sadly i've only had the chance to see you live once so far. your acoustic set at 'shut the far cupboard' was great, i enjoyed every second of it. do you usually prefer small (acoustic) events like stfc or do you rather play proper gigs at slightly bigger venues?

pete: personally i like them both. it's good to be able to do both types. sometimes all you wanna do is rock out and be as loud as you can, but other times you want people to be able to hear what you're saying and actually listen rather then just be there, if that makes sense. so to answer, as long as we can do both, i'm happy.

q: the new year is already a few days old but there are still tons of 'best of 2011'-lists getting published each day. what was your personal favourite record of 2011?

cam: ashes and fire by ryan adams was a good one, as was brothers* by the black keys.

(*note: brothers was released in 2010, el camino in december 2011)

q: finally, what can we expect from you in 2012?

chris: well, we have an animation due out later this month for the title track of our debut album kodiak bear, with a few more videos hopefully to follow, before the album is released in april.

adam: we are also looking to maybe do a mini tour, but you'll have to keep an eye on our facebook fan page for any details. but we do have gigs in manchester and london in the next few months.

********************************

blind atlas - my proud mountains

check the blind atlas facebook page for all news, gig announcements, new videos and to find out more about the release of their debut album kodiak bear. they're also on twitter, so make sure to give them a shout on there as well.

as chris said, kodiak bear will be out in april. of course you can expect an album review here, so make sure to check back. until then, you should do yourself a favour and have a listen to their singles and the iron wall ep. all songs are available on itunes, amazon and other good online music shops.

take a while (single)

1. take a while (3:32)

2. best day of my life (2:33)

released in july 2010

listen here

4th street (single)

1. 4th street (3:28)

2. for carol (3:54)

released in february 2011

listen here

iron wall (ep)

1. iron wall (7:04)

2. mary anne (3:18)

3. my proud mountains (5:51)

released in july 2011

listen here