Live Music News & Reviews

The line up for 2010 has finally been announced on the Guardian Online last night.

Our initial reaction is that the Pyramid Stage lineup is looking a bit weak, particularly on the Saturday - Scissor Sisters second from top of the bill? We had forgotten they existed! Plenty of good stuff on the Other Stage though, and as usual scratch beneath the surface and there is an enormous depth of quality, with plenty of up-and-coming alternative acts being represented such as Bombay Bicycle Club, The XX, Mumford & Sons, Temper Trap, Cymbols eat Guitars, but very few jaw-dropping acts hinted at by the organisers for this 40th anniversary event. Nice to see The Orb playing though! With a few TBC’s to fill there is time for some surprises yet.

The XX played one of their most high-profile gigs so far tonight when they began a 2-night mini residency of the Shepherd’s Bush Empire. Their superb debut has been something of a slow-burner, but after their recent appearance on the cover of the NME, and their fame spreading across the Atlantic (The XX was voted one of the top ten albums of the year in Rolling Stone’s end of year poll), this was a hugely anticipated show and the hottest tickets in town, we concluded as Daisy Lowe walked past.

Opening with the instrumental Intro, the band appeared as huge silhouettes behind an enormous white curtain before it dropped to reveal the three members of the XX dressed in black against a simple backdrop. As they began to play Crystalised, the first thing that became clear was how superb singer and guitarist Romy Madley Croft’s voice sounded, especially live, it was quite outstanding. As it dovetailed with Oliver Sim’s, who also plays the bass, it seems these voices were made for each other. However, until three songs in I was wondering whether this kind of music may be better listened to at home, or at least in a much smaller venue than the Empire.

Something happened during third song Heart Skipped a Beat though -suddenly the crowd were transfixed. Croft’s voice, the sparse guitar, deep and rich bass and sharp drumbeats combined to produce something greater than the sum of its parts. From that moment on very few people went to the bar, and you could hear a pin drop during the quieter moments as the crowd were bewitched.

As well as most of the album, the XX payed a superb version of Womack and Womack’s Teardrops, Sim warning that is was quite likely they would mess it up, although they didn’t. In fact they didn’t put a foot wrong all night, not a dropped note or an out of tune vocal. A sublime Shelter was another highlight, and the low bass during Fantasy shook the whole venue.

The XX went to the same school (Elliot School) as Hot Chip, Burial and Four Tet, and in keeping with those acts they are producing some of the most interesting music around at the moment. The crowd had come to see The XX perform an album that they had grown to love over the last six months, and they were not disappointed. I do wonder whether they would manage to hold a crowd’s attention with that pace a second time around, especially as their set grows in length, which it will have to - tonight they played for an hour. I personally feel they would benefit from extending the effective change of tempo and heavy sharp drumbeats during Night Time, which ended too soon, and applying it to a few more songs. Whether they will have to revert to a four-piece when they start to play longer sets or not remains to be seen, but for this tour at least, they are fully justifying the hype. 9/10

Agree, disagree? Comment below.

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With Spice Girls popping up left right and centre and Liam Gallagher being his tiresome cartoon outrageous self whilst accepting an award, it felt like 1996 all over again. The feeling of being in a time-warp was further emphasised when premier twat Robbie Williams closed proceedings by singing a medley of his catchiest (shittest) songs, most of which came from the mid 90’s. Jay-z and Alcicia Keys’ superb performance made Florence and the Machine and Dizzee Rascal look like chancers who had won a talent contst. If this is the best British Pop can present right now then we may as well slit our wrists and give up.

Phew it’s that time of year again when we makes lists, because we all love lists. Oh yes. For me 2009 was all about The Beatles, and if I could I would name all 14 reissues albums of the year, the remasters were superb quality and I enjoyed listening to them from start to finish. However I am not going to do that. You can see London Venue Guide’s top ten below. Firstly however, here’s a list of lists of 2009’s best albums:

NME:

10. Jamie T - Kings and Queens
9. Fever Ray - Fever Ray
8. Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport
7. The Big Pink - A Brief History of Love
6. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
5. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
4. Wild Beasts - Two Dancers
3. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It’s Blitz
2. The XX - The XX
1. The Horrors - Primary Colours

 Mojo Magazine:

10. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz
9. Madness – The Liberty of Nolton Folgate
8. Fuck Buttons – Tarot Sport
7. Florence & the Machine – Lungs
6. Bob Dylan – Together Through Time
5. Tinariwen – Imidiwan: Companions
4. The Horrors – Primary Colours
3. Richard Hawley – Truelove’s Gutter
2. Bill Calahan – Sometimes I Wish I Were An Eagle
1. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion

Q Magazine

10 Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
09 U2 - No Line On The Horizon
08 Lily Allen - It’s Not Me, It’s You
07 Muse - The Resistance
06 Arctic Monkeys - Humbug
05 Manic Street Preachers - Journal For Plague Lovers
04 Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion
03 Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It’s Blitz!
02 Florence And The Machine - Lungs
01 Kasabian - West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum

And from the wrong side of the Atlantic, Rolling Stone:

10 Sonic Youth - The Eternal
09 The xx - xx
08 The-Dream - Love Vs. Money
07 Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
06 Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
05 Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown
04 Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3
03 Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
02 Bruce Springsteen - Working On A Dream
01 U2 - No Line ON The Horizon

I am finding this year’s list quite difficult - I don’t feel I have listened to enough new music, or maybe I have listened to too much. The easy accessibility of music means it’s often a case of download ten albums in an evening, listen to them once and move onto something else. But the “stayers” this year have been:

10. The Cribs - Ignore the Ignorant

The Cribs still know how to write three chord tunes and now we have Johnny Marr’s fingerprints all over it, which is a good thing. The ballads don’t work as well, but a very good album.

9. Bombay Bicycle Club - I Had the Blues but I Shook Them Loose

Great debut.

8. Passion Pit - Manners

Passion Pit’s debut is full of fun and has some great tunes. The falsetto vocals can annoy after a while, but this is still a good electronica record, although that particular scene is surely due a death now.

7. Arctic Monkeys - Humbug

When this album first came out I loved it. Then I didn’t, now I do again. Stand out tracks are Dance Little Liar and Potion Approaching.  It’s a little short of tunes, and whilst the Monkeys’ sound has grown with their hair, they seem to have lost something of whatever it was that made them special. Still, they are determined not to play the game and I respect them for that. Not as good as Favourite Worst Nightmare, but the next album should be very interesting.

6. The Maccabees - Wall of Arms

Great second album from The Maccabees. The singer has a great Bryan Ferry-like voice, and in fact they sound more than a little like Roxy Music.

5. Air - Love 2

Air really pissed me off in the noughties, after the superb Premiers Symptomes and Moon Safari they just went all, well, crap. 10 000 Hz Legend had its moments (and some odd collaborations with Beck) but I had written them off as a band after a series of disappointments, until people started describing Love 2 as a “return to form”. It’s a great album involving their trademark laidback grooves and odd noises.  

4. Mos Def: The Ecstatic

I loved this album and would rate it almost as highly as Mos Def’s stunning debut Black on Both Sides. The Arab-themed music felt new and fit with the zeitgeist as Iraq and Afghanistan headed inevitably towards Vietnam, films like Hurt Locker told it like it was, and “Auditorium featuring Slick Rick” was possibly the song of the year for me.

3. Girls - Girls

San Fransisco’s Girls appeared out of nowhere in 2009 to hit us with a, let’s be honest, patchy album, but when it hit the heights it offered us the sublime “HellHole Ratrace” and the lovely “Ghost Train”. Their intriguing lead singer Christopher Owens is a former member of the Children of God cult. This album shows a lot of promise, sounding like the Beach Boys, Motown, the Cramps, and something of Glasvegas, only better.

2. The XX - The XX

Where did they come from? This album will get played to death and is in danger of becoming another Moon Safari, appearing on ads and tv shows, but let’s not forget that right now, it is a great album full of feeling. The boy/girl vocals are beautiful and the album has so much empty space you could fit the entire country of Denmark in it. 

1. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It’s Blitz

The move away from guitars was a masterstroke, this album has so much depth to it and so many great tunes. Live they became one of the best acts around.

Last night Julian Casablancas played the second of two sold-out nights at the HMV Forum. And what a disappointing night it was.

Casablancas appeared onstage at 9:20 wearing a sleeveless leather jacket and looking every inch the rock star, before launching into Ludlow Street, which sounded a bit like the Pogues and was an underwhelming opener. Casablancas was joined onstage by two drummers, a keyboard player and a guitarist.

It wasn’t until three songs in, when the keyboards signalled the intro to 11th Dimension, that the crowd looked remotely interested. That didn’t stop Casablancas from talking mindless nonsense in-between songs about how “fuckin’ awesome” the crowd was. It soon became clear why Julian Casablancas rarely does interviews, his personality does not seem to match his rock star look at all - a bit like David Beckham, he would be well-advised to keep his mouth shut. Still, he meant well, and it was nice of him to talk to the crowd, but his banter was pretty abysmal.

The excellent Out of the Blue came early in the set, which provoked some excitement and a singalong, but it didn’t seem to lift the oppressive air of disappointment, which Casablancas either didn’t pick up on, or completely ignored as he continued to spout crap like “Shit man, um yeh, let’s fuckin’ do this”. A low point was reached with the awful “I Wish it Was Christmas Today”. Things picked up slightly with the excellent “Left & Right in the Dark”, but “Tourist” was one of the worst dirges I have ever paid to sit through.

After a brief break, Casablancas returned to play a fairly sweet cabaret-style version of You Only Live Once, just him and a piano, although he did stop himself halfway through to spout more bollocks, before struggling to remember where he was, with the momentum by then completely lost. He finished with Glass, and the crowd stumbled home like they’d just found out Father Christmas didn’t exist.

You can’t deny Julian Casablancas has a great voice, but outside The Strokes he seems lightweight, the songs aren’t good enough (unlike Albert Hammond Junior’s two excellent solo albums) and he doesn’t have the charisma to pull it off.  There was nothing of the “amazing light show” Casablancas had talked about in interviews leading up to the tour, just plain old rock and roll with a little bit of Duran Duran thrown in. The Strokes reunion cannot come soon enough.

Reports that Derek B has died of a heart attack at the age of 44 have appeared online.

If this is true we will miss the “Bad Young Brother” - one of the first UK rappers to achieve mainstream success, paving the way for the likes of Roots Manuva and Plan B. He will proabbly be best remembered for the novelty football song “The Anfield Rap”, which, complete with John Barnes first ever rap, is probably the best football song ever recorded.

RIP Derek B.

A Flaming Lips show is always a thing of joy. Last night was no different, despite their new album having less tunes than any for a while. It is no worse for that, but I was wondering how the songs would work live at their gig at the Troxy last night.

The Lips pulled out all the stops from the beginning. The enormous video screen behind the stage portrayed a woman with legs apart, evidently giving birth as the band members appeared from the womb (a door high up in the video backdrop). Wayne Coyne emerged from the womb in his famous bubble, walking/stumbling across the raised arms of the crowd who eventually helpfully pushed him back towards the stage where he launched into “Race For The Prize”. Hundreds of giant balloons were released into the crowd as Coyne fired streamer guns up into the air. All at once the venue looked like a cross between a wedding, a cheap disco and a circus. Fun doesn’t even begin to describe it.

After Race For The Prize, the Flaming Lips kept the good vibe going with a couple of songs from Yoshimi… including Fight Test and Morning of the Magicians, as the crowd threw the giant balloons around and gazed up with wide grins at the never-ending rain of streamers. To the side of the stage were a troupe of rabbit girls and a couple of hairy yetis dancing, as Coyne climbed up on the shoulders of a man in a gorilla suit to sing.    

What was particularly nice was that Wayne Coyne paused to ask the crowd in the pit to throw some of the giant balloons up to those seated above. A Flaming Lips gig is a wonderfully inclusive event, these pros know better than to ignore those in the seats like most indie bands do.

After 20 minutes of non-stop fun, Coyne signalled that things were about to take a dark turn by instructing the crowd to burst all the balloons. “When I sing the next song with all these balloons around, it doesn’t work, it sounds like a bad day at the circus”, said Coyne before launching into “Return of the Hex”. Embryonic’s opener is one of my favourite songs from the new album, driving bass and minimal instrumentation, it sounded great live. Not so successful was “Evil”, which the Lips played to a backdrop of a monkey suffering vivisection. You could suddenly understand why the balloons had all been burst. Coyne explained he believed people can choose whether they are good or evil, and that he wrote the song to remind him of the bad things he had done when he was younger, although it was probably too late for him now. On hearing this you just wanted to give him a hug. How can someone so generous in their entertainment of a crowd and with such a strong sense of fun have committed such evil? Surely not - you wanted to tell him to stop being so hard on himself but who knows what he has been through.

Coyne spoke to the crowd throughout, which I always enjoy, telling us that the Troxy used to be a bingo hall, and talking about how London helped them break big in 1999 when everyone here was talking about the Soft Bulletin (it was voted album of the year by the NME in 1999). He explained that he had known his bassist for 28 years, and they had all known the guy playing acoustic guitar since he was 12. He also played the last post on the trumpet for those killed in “George Bush’s war”, explaining that they did so for selfish reasons, because without the war some of the people who have been killed would be at their gigs. Rambling maybe but you can’t fault the sentiments.   

The Flaming Lips called for a singalong to “Yoshimi”, which they promptly got, before ending their set with the superb “She Don’t Use Jelly”, written all the way back in 1993. An enormous gong surrounded by colourful lights, Wayne Coyne spraying dry ice everywhere and more exploding confetti signalled this could be the grand finale, but after a few minutes they came out for an encore of “Do You Realize?”. Coyne introduced the song by talking about the Flaming Lips’ mentality of taking people away from pain for an evening, and of being one entity of fun, and it was clear he meant it. This really did feel like the end as Coyne pumped up an enormous balloon full of confetti until it burst over the audience, more explosions rang out, and huge blowers made the streamers look like colourful rain as the crowd sang along to the bittersweet words of Do You Realize?

As always with the Lips, a superb gig and great fun. I am a big fan of the new album, and I would have preferred to have heard a few more songs from it, particularly the excellent Ego’s Last Stand. It would have been quite a different gig though, so it is something of a quandary, To do their excellent new material justice the Lips probably have to tone down their live shows - but where would be the fun in that?

Spiritualized played their seminal album Ladies and Gentlemen we are Floating in Space at the South Bank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall last night as part of the ATP/Don’t Look Back series. The Royal Festival Hall was a throughly appropriate setting for the performance of this work of art, not least because the stage was large enough to fit everyone on, but also the lights were superb and there was something enjoyable about watching this majestic music from a seat - even Jason Pierce himself chose to sit down throughout.

Accompanied by an orchestra and a gospel choir, Spiritualized began with a rousing rendition of Ladies and Gentlemen…complete with the original sample from Elvis Presley’s Can’t Help Falling in Love, which was left off the album release due to copyright issues. It was clear from this moment that this was going to be an epic gig, the choir adding a new dimension to the sound not heard since Spiritualized toured with the London Community Gospel Choir around the time of the album’s original release.

The guitars kicked in on a lively version of Come Together, which was followed by Think I’m in Love. The call/response that ends this song, with Jason Pierce’s lines being repeated by the choir was particularly effective.

All of my Thoughts saw the full effect of the violent strobing which had been merely been hinted at in the first three songs. Spiritualized have always used noise and release to great effect. Here, the white noise sections with the intense and impressive strobing was almost too much to bear, but the glorious release as the song returned to its verse was almost, well, spiritual.

After a beautiful Stay With Me, the tempo was changed with the more traditional rock of Electricity before Home of the Brave and The Individual brought the strobes and a tremendous wall of noise which had a bit of everything in it - kettle drums, seashells, brass, strings, guitars, harmonicas.. I am sure I am not the only one who usually skips these two tracks when listening at home. Hearing them live I am reminded that seeing Spiritualized live can sometimes be an endurance test as the noise builds and builds. Watching them at Glastonbury 1998 knee-deep in mud there were a number of calls for them to “get on with it” but in the comfort and sophistication of the Festival Hall no-one expressed such impatience.

In a way that is why Spiritualized work - the long, sometimes monotonous wig-outs of noise give way eventually, and thankfully, to beautiful release. This time after the stick of the previous two songs we are rewarded with the beautiful carrot that is Broken Heart. The strings really came into their own here, especially towards the end of the song as the venue was bathed in beautiful green lights reflecting off a gigantic disco ball. After No Good Only Religion came Cool Waves, which again utilised the gospel choir to stunning effect as the Festival Hall was turned into a church. Finally Cop Shoot Cop brought a stunning show to a climax, with its unbearably loud middle section before it was brought down to a minimalist and beautiful choral hook and piano. No Dr John but this was a fitting climax to a superb show.  The only minor disappointment was the encore, which consisted of the lovely Outta Sight - I would have loved to have heard the choir tackle Soul on Fire.

What did you think? Post your comment below.

Reports just in that Noel Gallagher has quit Oasis. The band’s founder, Noel Gallagher, announced he was quitting tonight after a series of recent rows. They pulled out of tonight’s headlining gig in Paris with reports suggesting Liam had smashed Noel’s guitar in an “altercation” before they were due on stage.

In a statement on oasisnet.com Noel said: “It’s with some sadness and great relief to tell you that I quit Oasis tonight. People will write and say what they like, but I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer. Apologies to all the people who bought tickets for the shows in Paris, Konstanz and Milan.”

This follows a difficult few weeks for Oasis. They controversially pulled out of a headlining slot at last weekend’s V Festival at the last minute, apparently due to Liam’s “layrngitis”, although strangely, Noel twittered that it was himself who was feeling under the weather. Reports at the time suggested the perennial in-fighting between the two had reached unbearable levels. They have been on different flights and staying at different hotels throughout their recent tours. Last week they watched their beloved Manchester City from different ends of the Stadium.

Last night Arctic Monkeys played their first UK show in 18 months as they warmed up for their forthcoming headline slots at Reading and Leeds Festivals by playing to a packed Brixton Academy.

Supporting them were Them Crooked Vultures, the American supergroup consisting of singer and guitarist Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age), bassist and keyboardist John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) and drummer Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters). This was something of a treat, the band only playing their first gig at Chicago Metro two weeks previously. They played for over an hour, all original material. The songs were all very long, with plenty of guitar solos and feedback, a good rocking sounds. The versatile John Paul Jones was playing a bass guitar which had 6 standard guitar strings added to it - I’d never seen an instrument with such a wide neck. Dave Grohl was like a throwback to his Nirvana days, dressed in shorts and perched on an extraordinarily low stool, he had the demeanor of a schoolboy as he pounded his kit. The closing song, which they didn;t reveal the name of, was 8 minutes of epic rock, squalling guitars and feedback, and sounded like an instant classic.

Following Them Crooked Vultures’ excellent and loud set the Arctic Monkeys arrived onstage at 9:30, opening with My Propeller. Unlike anything else Turner has written, I find the euphemisms are a little too unsubtle in this song, but the machine gun stop start section always does it for me. They then launched straight into their cover of Nick Cave’s Red Right Hand, a great song but an unnecessary cover when they have so many classics themselves. Still, the last two minutes of this song are a joy as the Monkeys run free with pounding drums, heavy riffs and solos.      

“Hello We’re Arctic Monkeys. Have we got time for one more?” asked Turner as they played the opening riff of current single Crying Lightning, resulting in big cheers from the crowd. This song has an incredibly catchy chorus, and the breakdown before they launch into it again is classic Monkeys. This was followed by the opening thunderous roll of Brianstorm which sent the crowd wild. This was followed up with Still Take You Home, the crowd still singing back every lyric four years after Whatever People Say I am That’s What I’m Not. “Is everyone alright” Turner asked, as clearly a lot of the crowd had been pushed around a lot in the frantic scenes. As resounding yes rang out the Monkeys somehow upped the pace even more by playing Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor, which every time I hear live I think must be one of the best singles of the last ten years, if not ever!

The pace was thankfully slowed a little with Potion Approaching, a Doors-esque number which sees Turner abandon his guitar and slouch on the mic stand like the ghost of Jim Morrison. The eerie keyboard intro of Pretty Visitors was next. This is one of my favourite songs on Humbug, quick-fire verses spat out by Turner, including the classic line “Which came first the chicken or the dickhead?” and a the wonderfully-eloquent “tail wrapped up in a gasp”. It’s a difficult song to dance to, the quick-fire verses followed by a lurching and dark chorus, all you can do is move up and down slowly.

This House is a Circus followed, one of their best from Favourite Worst Nightmare and a classic live track. This sounds little different from their new songs, a clear indication of the direction they were heading and Turner’s favourite song from FWN. The chorus beats anything on Humbug though, “Like a search for murder clues, in dead man’s eyes”. During this song it strikes you just how heavy sounding the Monkeys are now, they always had the pounding drums but the guitars have got louder. If You Were There Beware followed, with its classic coda “I don’t know what it is that they want, but I haven’t got it to give” which could somehow be an answer to the fans who are disappointed with the new direction and want more Mardy Bums.

Dangerous Animals is my least favourite track on Humbug. I find the chorus D.A.N.G.E.R.O.U.S. really irritating and live it still does nothing for me. Never mind. Next came The View From The Afternoon, complete with extended break before the final chorus, so long the band-mates took a drink before it all kicked off again. The band hasn’t quite got the hang of playing Cornerstone live yet, a superbly tender song from Humbug with classic Turner lyrics (he apparently wrote it in an afternoon). The vocals were a little drowned out and the subtleties of the studio version were lost, but it is still a great song. “I’d like to take it down even further” said Turner before “Only Ones Who Know”, a real lighters in the air moment and a song they didn’t previously include in their live sets, showing how confident they now are.

The set closed with Do Me a Favour, featuring the great singalong during “She walked away and her shoes were untied and her eyes were all red, you could see that she’d cried…” followed by an extended version of Fluorescent Adolescent, which segued into Dion’s “Only You Know” and back into a rousing chorus of Fluorescent Adolescent. The band left the stage but returned five minutes later for the inevitable encore. “We’;ll do two more, just two more” said Turner as they played the lovely Secret Door, with the wonderful finishing chorus of “Fools on parade”. They then closed with a slightly underwhelming version of 505 - they have played this better before, but nevertheless it is still a fitting song to close with, despite the fact I miss old set-closer A Certain Romance.

A great, sweaty and exciting show then. Their cause wasn’t helped at all by the sound cutting out a number of times - often at crucial moments such as during the climax of 505. Of the new songs I wish they would drop Dangerous Animals and play Dance Little Liar or the Fire and the Thud. It would also be great to hear them play a live version of Jeweller’s Hands, the album closer on Humbug. But these are minor gripes. Whilst Humbug may be a difficult listen, they have taken the hard option rather than the boring safe option, which as to be admired. After a number of listens Humbug starts to reward the listener, it is to be hoped that people have the patience in this day and age when music is so freely available. Where the Arctic Monkeys go from here will be really interesting.