Winter is finally on its way out, so what better way to welcome the chance to shed the overcoat and don a cheeky little blouson than the Velvet Owl playlist for March.
Yuck 'Georgia' - Formed from the ashes of Cajun Dance Band, Yuck are updating the shoegazing manifesto written by Dinosaur Jr and Sonic Youth in the early nineties. This track comes from their debut album released earlier this year. Turn it up loud!
Elbow 'Lippy Kids' - The standout track from Elbow's new album. Garvey's songwriting just gets better and better.
Holy Ghost! 'Do It Again' - This track has us cutting a rug all over Velvet Owl Towers at the moment. The latest signing to James Murphy's DFA label, Holy Ghost! make us want to party like it's 1989.
Grinderman 'Palaces of Montezuma' - Nick Cave and his band of merry noiseniks in a mellow mood. Beautiful!
Jessica Lea Mayfield 'I'll Be The One You Want Someday' - Sounding like a leaner Lucinda Williams, this track is taken from Mayfield's Dan Auerbach produced debut album.
The Go Go's 'Our Lips Are Sealed' - A perfect pop song to herald the start of Spring.
Those Dancing Days 'Reaching Forward' - Sweden's finest purveyors of electro-pop return with a new album in 2011. Our schoolboy crush on lead singer Linnea Jonsson doesn't appear as if it will be dissipating anytime soon.
Iron and Wine 'One More Try' -We can't get enough of Sam Beam's new record at the moment, and are confident in predicting 'Tree by the River' will feature as a track on our end of year 'best of' compilation. This, however, is something altogether different. A cover of George Michael's power ballad 'One More Try' recorded for the AV Club.
"Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid" -Frank Zappa
Sunday, 27 March 2011
Thursday, 17 March 2011
The Charlatans, Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
I recently explained to a friend, that attending the NME tour in February felt like being a parent who had cut short a trip abroad only to return home to find 600 kids raving in my front room having responded to a Facebook invite from my home alone daughter. Therefore, it was a blessed relief that the Velvet Owl's gig for March saw our feet planted firmly back on terra firma and without an ironic haircut in sight (apart from Tim's, but more of that later)
Tonight, Tim Burgess and guitarist Mark Collins take to the intimate stage of the Brudenell Social Club with very little fanfare. Not for them, a dimming of the house lights and an obscure Northern Soul tune soundtracking their anticipated entrance. For tonight, this is a stripped back and laid bare version of The Charlatans. Burgess on vocals, Collins on acoustic guitar and a tatty bed sheet as a backdrop. For a band whose sound over the past twenty years has been driven by the swirling sound of the Hammond organ, this was a brave move.
However, following the reaction to opening song, Impossible, Tim, Mark and the 350 plus Charlatans fans packed into the venue, knew they were going to be in for a special night. Warm and fuzzy versions of I'm Coming Home, A Man Needs to be Told and Just When You're Thinking Things Over were standouts from the first half of the show, which was only let down by an understated reading of The Only One I Know (a song that so obviously needs the Hammond to make it work).
The introduction of drummer, Finnigan Kidd saw the band crank it up a notch or two, and start to become a little more playful with their back catalogue. The Britpop era North Country Boy was given a garage style makeover that wouldn't have sounded out of place on the Nuggets compilation. While One to Another sounded like a song itching to have been covered by Johnny Cash as part of his American Recordings series. The night was fittingly brought to an end with a beautiful version of Sproston Green (what else) and then the band were gone, leaving behind a happy and somewhat inebriated crowd.
Oh yeah. Tim's hair? It was fucking shit! As always. But we wouldn't have it any other way, would we?
Tonight, Tim Burgess and guitarist Mark Collins take to the intimate stage of the Brudenell Social Club with very little fanfare. Not for them, a dimming of the house lights and an obscure Northern Soul tune soundtracking their anticipated entrance. For tonight, this is a stripped back and laid bare version of The Charlatans. Burgess on vocals, Collins on acoustic guitar and a tatty bed sheet as a backdrop. For a band whose sound over the past twenty years has been driven by the swirling sound of the Hammond organ, this was a brave move.
However, following the reaction to opening song, Impossible, Tim, Mark and the 350 plus Charlatans fans packed into the venue, knew they were going to be in for a special night. Warm and fuzzy versions of I'm Coming Home, A Man Needs to be Told and Just When You're Thinking Things Over were standouts from the first half of the show, which was only let down by an understated reading of The Only One I Know (a song that so obviously needs the Hammond to make it work).
The introduction of drummer, Finnigan Kidd saw the band crank it up a notch or two, and start to become a little more playful with their back catalogue. The Britpop era North Country Boy was given a garage style makeover that wouldn't have sounded out of place on the Nuggets compilation. While One to Another sounded like a song itching to have been covered by Johnny Cash as part of his American Recordings series. The night was fittingly brought to an end with a beautiful version of Sproston Green (what else) and then the band were gone, leaving behind a happy and somewhat inebriated crowd.
Oh yeah. Tim's hair? It was fucking shit! As always. But we wouldn't have it any other way, would we?
Monday, 14 March 2011
Glamour Of The Kill, Norwich Arts Centre - Update
Our metal correspondent responds...
I cannot decide whether Glamour of the Kill are being ironic or not. If so then they're brilliant. If not then they're a rather generic Party Metal troupe who know how to play one song. That being said, the one song they know how to play is excellent and they performed it with a technical finesse that would make Star Wars Kid cry and a consistency that would put Honda to shame.
It is my understanding that Mr Davey Death (vocals) sang different words every time they began to play “the song” again but I was too busy being drunk and dancing like an arse to pay attention to that. What I did pick up on though was an anthemic, beautifully piercing quality to his voice and an honesty in the performance that warmed the deepest cockles of even the more mature members of the Norwich VO's.
The closest one of our Owlets came to crossing paths with a rock starlet (Ben Brutal, GOTK's drummer) was in the toilets. We learned that there are no facilities back stage and the cubicle chosen by Brutal had no toilet paper.
I guess to sum up I would say - I was punched in the face once, my knee was bashed into a bruised mess, I pushed a transvestite over and a good evening was had by all.
Ironic Score 6/5
Ant.
I cannot decide whether Glamour of the Kill are being ironic or not. If so then they're brilliant. If not then they're a rather generic Party Metal troupe who know how to play one song. That being said, the one song they know how to play is excellent and they performed it with a technical finesse that would make Star Wars Kid cry and a consistency that would put Honda to shame.
It is my understanding that Mr Davey Death (vocals) sang different words every time they began to play “the song” again but I was too busy being drunk and dancing like an arse to pay attention to that. What I did pick up on though was an anthemic, beautifully piercing quality to his voice and an honesty in the performance that warmed the deepest cockles of even the more mature members of the Norwich VO's.
The closest one of our Owlets came to crossing paths with a rock starlet (Ben Brutal, GOTK's drummer) was in the toilets. We learned that there are no facilities back stage and the cubicle chosen by Brutal had no toilet paper.
I guess to sum up I would say - I was punched in the face once, my knee was bashed into a bruised mess, I pushed a transvestite over and a good evening was had by all.
Ironic Score 6/5
Ant.
Saturday, 12 March 2011
Glamour Of The Kill, Norwich Arts Centre
Surely part of the point of the Owl is to open our minds to new experiences, broaden our horizons and better acquaint ourselves with musical sub-genres not often found within the pages of NME or whatever The Mirror's pop music supplement is calling itself these days. And we here in the Norwich wing of VO like to do things a little differently to the rest of the world (insert your own joke about siblings here). So it is that a clutch of us are heading to the Arts Centre to check out York's premier exponents of what my newspaper calls "anthemic metal", Glamour Of The Kill. And, erm...it's not pretty.
It must be said that this is not a world in which I feel comfortable. Metal for me extends only about as far as AC/DC, and some metallers would probably do unspeakable things to my cat if I stood up amongst them and tried to place Australia's finest export in the same boat as the rubbish I am obliged to endure this evening. The thing about AC/DC though is that, even though they do really only have one song, at least that song has a tune, and one you can whistle. Every single time. GOTK are so far removed from any concept of the tune it's laughable and, while they may argue that that's not really the point, well, to me, it is. And while there must have been people living in LA in the mid-eighties who were reluctantly dragged along to a show by some new band called Guns N Roses only to have their heads pinned to the wall by the opening bars of "Welcome To The Jungle", there was never any threat of that happening here.
So with so little happening on stage, the sparsely-populated crowd command all the attention, and quite a show they provide too. They are bonkers, at one point lining up on separate sides of the floor before throwing themselves headlong into each other like some crazed Robot Wars-inspired line dance. And the best thing? If one of them goes to ground amidst the mayhem, the rest of the "throng" cease kicking the shit out of each other to help their fellow reveller to his feet. It's strangely touching...
And so much more fun than the lumpen dirge being served up by our headliners. So yes, my horizons have been suitably broadened. Now can we have some more indie please?
It must be said that this is not a world in which I feel comfortable. Metal for me extends only about as far as AC/DC, and some metallers would probably do unspeakable things to my cat if I stood up amongst them and tried to place Australia's finest export in the same boat as the rubbish I am obliged to endure this evening. The thing about AC/DC though is that, even though they do really only have one song, at least that song has a tune, and one you can whistle. Every single time. GOTK are so far removed from any concept of the tune it's laughable and, while they may argue that that's not really the point, well, to me, it is. And while there must have been people living in LA in the mid-eighties who were reluctantly dragged along to a show by some new band called Guns N Roses only to have their heads pinned to the wall by the opening bars of "Welcome To The Jungle", there was never any threat of that happening here.
So with so little happening on stage, the sparsely-populated crowd command all the attention, and quite a show they provide too. They are bonkers, at one point lining up on separate sides of the floor before throwing themselves headlong into each other like some crazed Robot Wars-inspired line dance. And the best thing? If one of them goes to ground amidst the mayhem, the rest of the "throng" cease kicking the shit out of each other to help their fellow reveller to his feet. It's strangely touching...
And so much more fun than the lumpen dirge being served up by our headliners. So yes, my horizons have been suitably broadened. Now can we have some more indie please?
Sunday, 27 February 2011
Exclusive Velvet Owl Andy Bell Beady Eye album interview. Ahem
Don't get me wrong- I was firmly in 'camp Oasis' up until about August 22nd 1997 (not strictly true as I believe Be Here Now is actually great; but thats another story) but that was then and this is now. You should have got rid of the others, (oh yeah, you did) swapped the Beatles albums for Xtrmntr and made a supergroup with the Chemical Brothers. Too late- so now we are stuck with this drivel. And Kasabian.
So with the aid of white postage labels, pens and pencils here is my Viz Defacement album review.
sammymerry.com
Wednesday, 23 February 2011
Velvet Owl Turn Ons - February 2011
St Valentine has had us feeling all loved up at Velvet Owl Towers this month, and here's the songs that have been nibbling our ears and rubbing us over the top of our trousers.
Helplessness Blues - Fleet Foxes: confirmed to headline this year's Green Man Festival, the hairy cornflakes return with a new death metal direction and this cover of DM scenesters, Crematory's only US number one.
Shark Ridden Waters - Gruff Rhys:headliner for the Norwich Velvet Owl Gig Collective's first outing. Check out the review and accompanying comic-strip on the blog.
The Words That Maketh Murder - PJ Harvey: Polly Jean Harvey returns with a collection of songs that will no doubt see her riding high in many end of year best album polls.
I Don't Care if There's Cursing - Phosphorescent we make no bones for our love of country music here at Velvet Owl Towers, and this track from last year's Here's to Taking it Easy album has been on constant rotation on our stereo.
Long After Tonight is All Over - Jimmy Radcliffe a corking song form the Northern Soul scene and added to our February playlist as a way of banishing the images of the 'dance-off' in the utterly dreadful Soulboy film. I will never get those eighty minutes of my life back. Dedicated to blog contributor, Phil, who turned me onto Northern Soul during our stint at the Megastore.
L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N. - Noah and the Whale: the snowdrops are out and spring is just around the corner. Surely that justifies a bit of whimsy.
Not Enough - J Mascis a voice that could break the hardest of hearts. Dinosaur Jr's J Mascis returns with a new acoustic album.
The Persuaders Theme - John Barry the greatest television theme tune ever! Fact! Dedicated to its composer, John Barry, who passed away this month.
Civilian - Wye Oak at the moment, we are listening to this song from Maryland's Wye Oak at least a dozen times a day. Their third album is due for release this spring.
Under Cover of Darkness - The Strokes a life-affirming new single from the planet's coolest band. Need we say anymore.
Helplessness Blues - Fleet Foxes: confirmed to headline this year's Green Man Festival, the hairy cornflakes return with a new death metal direction and this cover of DM scenesters, Crematory's only US number one.
Shark Ridden Waters - Gruff Rhys:headliner for the Norwich Velvet Owl Gig Collective's first outing. Check out the review and accompanying comic-strip on the blog.
The Words That Maketh Murder - PJ Harvey: Polly Jean Harvey returns with a collection of songs that will no doubt see her riding high in many end of year best album polls.
I Don't Care if There's Cursing - Phosphorescent we make no bones for our love of country music here at Velvet Owl Towers, and this track from last year's Here's to Taking it Easy album has been on constant rotation on our stereo.
Long After Tonight is All Over - Jimmy Radcliffe a corking song form the Northern Soul scene and added to our February playlist as a way of banishing the images of the 'dance-off' in the utterly dreadful Soulboy film. I will never get those eighty minutes of my life back. Dedicated to blog contributor, Phil, who turned me onto Northern Soul during our stint at the Megastore.
L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N. - Noah and the Whale: the snowdrops are out and spring is just around the corner. Surely that justifies a bit of whimsy.
Not Enough - J Mascis a voice that could break the hardest of hearts. Dinosaur Jr's J Mascis returns with a new acoustic album.
The Persuaders Theme - John Barry the greatest television theme tune ever! Fact! Dedicated to its composer, John Barry, who passed away this month.
Civilian - Wye Oak at the moment, we are listening to this song from Maryland's Wye Oak at least a dozen times a day. Their third album is due for release this spring.
Under Cover of Darkness - The Strokes a life-affirming new single from the planet's coolest band. Need we say anymore.
Tuesday, 22 February 2011
Gruff Rhys, Norwich Arts Centre
After the better part of two decades penning slightly left-field but endlessly radio-friendly pop gems, it is fitting that the Norwich Owl's inaugural flight should be spent in the company of Gruff Rhys, chief Super Furry Animal and, latterly, solo artist of note. And, while there are those among our seven strong party - well, me - who would like to live in a world where this gig is held at the city's 25,000 capacity football stadium, with hordes of ticketless fans turned away at the gate, it must be said that Gruff and the Arts Centre are well suited, both oozing class and the latter providing the acoustics to complement the former's silky croon. The similarly committed are out in force tonight, as Gruff takes to the stage alone to perform "Rubble Rubble", one of the stand-out tracks from his "Hotel Shampoo" long-player, before being joined by backing band and support act Y Niwl to dip in and out of the three albums he has so far released away from the rest of SFA. And it is a treat, with Gruff shifting between guitar, keyboard, gadgets and placards to bring the tunes to life, and engaging as only he can with between song banter that, as ever, takes a while to arrive at its' destination. It's all in the timing. At the climax of a gig lasting in excess of 90 minutes, Rhys leaves us with "Skylon", his 15-minute epic of mid-air bomb disposal and, as the song unfolds in its own effortless, hook-filled manner, you sense that the whole room is happy to be on board for the duration. It is spellbinding. Pretty much like the evening itself, in fact. And he still has bloody good hair.
Chris
sammymerry.com
Chris
sammymerry.com
Monday, 21 February 2011
George's Marvellous Medicine
Velvet Owl's Man at Work George Palathingal appears to have been burning the candle at both ends recently in a bid to add some sunshine to our dreary rain-soaked days. Apart from attending the Big Day Out and St Jerome's Laneway Festivals, George has been to check out Brit Award winner Plan B, MIA, Warpaint and the mighty Primal Scream. Click on the links below to read more.
Big Day Out Festival
St Jerome's Laneway Festival
Plan B
MIA
Primal Scream
Warpaint
Make sure you check out the blog later this week where we will have a review of the Gruff Rhys gig attended by the Norwich Velvet Owl Gig Collective and our February Turn Ons Playlist.
Big Day Out Festival
St Jerome's Laneway Festival
Plan B
MIA
Primal Scream
Warpaint
Make sure you check out the blog later this week where we will have a review of the Gruff Rhys gig attended by the Norwich Velvet Owl Gig Collective and our February Turn Ons Playlist.
Wednesday, 16 February 2011
Cutting the Mustard
The Norwich Velvet Owl sets flight this month with a trip to see Super Furry Animal, Gruff Rhys. A review of the gig will be posted on the blog soon after. In the meantime, here's a cheeky little playlist that has been put together for your enjoyment by Norwich owl, Sammy.
Teeth of the Sea - Swear Blind the Alsations Melting
Mogwai - Mexican Grand Prix
The Besnard Lakes - Albatross
Holy Fuck - Lovely Allen
Why? - Eskimo Snow
Make sure you keep checking the blog as we'll be posting the Velvet Owl February turn ons fairly soon.
You can also follow the Velvet Owl Gig Collective on Twitter@velvetowlgigcol. Stuff and nonsense in 140 characters.
Teeth of the Sea - Swear Blind the Alsations Melting
Mogwai - Mexican Grand Prix
The Besnard Lakes - Albatross
Holy Fuck - Lovely Allen
Why? - Eskimo Snow
Make sure you keep checking the blog as we'll be posting the Velvet Owl February turn ons fairly soon.
You can also follow the Velvet Owl Gig Collective on Twitter@velvetowlgigcol. Stuff and nonsense in 140 characters.
Monday, 14 February 2011
Leggy Mambo
Radiohead have announced that they will release the digital version of their new album King of Limbs this Saturday. The album will retail at £6 for the MP3 with vinyl and CD editions to follow on the 25th March.
Friday, 11 February 2011
NME Awards Tour, Leeds Academy
It's not long after the doors of the Academy are flung open, that 'Indie Landfill' hopefuls The Vaccines take to the stage as the opening act for this year's NME sponsored variety show. Unfortunately for the band, the early start has caught many ticket-holders unaware, and the venue is only half full as they start their thirty minute set. The relatively small crowd appears to knock the band off their stride, and a sluggish performance is only livened up by current single 'Post Break-up Sex' and a rousing rendition of 'Wreckin' Bar (Ra Ra Ra). On a better day, I can imagine The Vaccines would provide good value for money, as many of their songs appear to be written with the live music experience in mind (lots of memorable shout along choruses and head banging guitar riffs), but aesthetically, the band don't really work. The three band members stage front (I couldn't really see the drummer as he was stuck behind his kit) look as if they have all stepped out of different bands (Talking Heads - lead guitar, Pavement - lead singer, Mudhoney - Bass) and therefore don't really look right. I appreciate this is a small gripe, but bands such as The Strokes (coolest kids in school) and The Happy Mondays (thieving scallies) for example, have an identity that helps to perpetuate our idea of 'the band' and their 'all for one and one for all' attitude. This is something I don't get with The Vaccines. And that is a shame, as it is a great name for a band.
Identity is something that Everything Everything take very seriously, and is evident as they take to the stage in matching grey boiler suits. Sticking to the funkier tracks from their debut album 'Man Alive' the band force the now sizable crowd to shake their skinny white asses with lively versions of QWERTY Finger, MY KZ, UR BF and Photoshop Handsome. Unashamedly arty, I cannot help but wonder had he still been alive, whether Anthony H. Wilson would have considered relaunching Factory Records and signing Everything Everything to be his house band ala A Certain Ratio. My enjoyment of the band was dampened a little, when a fellow Velvet Owl claimed the band reminded him of Take That, with the short, stumpy singer looking a little awkward in his jumpsuit next to his good looking bandmates (the Gary Barlow of artrock, anyone?).
By the time 'Dubstep Supergroup' Magnetic Man took to the stage behind a trestle table groaning under the weight of Apple Macs, the Academy was rammed. Looking around the venue, it was clear to see that the history and chemistry textbooks were being left in the school bags tonight, as the teenagers of Leeds were out in full force. From the opening squelchy bass chord, the kids waved their hands in the air like they just didn't care (that they had to get up for their milk round at 4.30am) and partied like it was 2045(pm). While the music - a mish mash of dance music genres taking in drum and bass, electro, hip hop, happy hardcore and rave - didn't appeal to my sensitive ears, I did enjoy the moment of being down with the cool kids and watching them lose themselves in the pleasure that live music can offer.
The sheer sensual onslaught that was Magnetic Man and the noticeably smaller crowd (those pints of gold tops won't get delivered by themselves you know) left headliners Crystal Castles feeling a little bit of an anti-climax. However, despite singer Alice Glass having broken her ankle at the previous night's show and therefore looking like a jack-booted Cinderella having fled the ball on the stroke of midnight, the duo put on a sterling show with 'Celestica' and 'Not in Love' still managing to keep those weary hands in the air.
For less than £17 a ticket, the NME Awards Tour is still the best value for money around when it comes to the live music scene. And while some of these bands won't be gracing my ipod anytime soon, it was good to see and listen to what is floating the proverbial boat of our nation's youth.
Lets hope they never grow out of it.
Identity is something that Everything Everything take very seriously, and is evident as they take to the stage in matching grey boiler suits. Sticking to the funkier tracks from their debut album 'Man Alive' the band force the now sizable crowd to shake their skinny white asses with lively versions of QWERTY Finger, MY KZ, UR BF and Photoshop Handsome. Unashamedly arty, I cannot help but wonder had he still been alive, whether Anthony H. Wilson would have considered relaunching Factory Records and signing Everything Everything to be his house band ala A Certain Ratio. My enjoyment of the band was dampened a little, when a fellow Velvet Owl claimed the band reminded him of Take That, with the short, stumpy singer looking a little awkward in his jumpsuit next to his good looking bandmates (the Gary Barlow of artrock, anyone?).
By the time 'Dubstep Supergroup' Magnetic Man took to the stage behind a trestle table groaning under the weight of Apple Macs, the Academy was rammed. Looking around the venue, it was clear to see that the history and chemistry textbooks were being left in the school bags tonight, as the teenagers of Leeds were out in full force. From the opening squelchy bass chord, the kids waved their hands in the air like they just didn't care (that they had to get up for their milk round at 4.30am) and partied like it was 2045(pm). While the music - a mish mash of dance music genres taking in drum and bass, electro, hip hop, happy hardcore and rave - didn't appeal to my sensitive ears, I did enjoy the moment of being down with the cool kids and watching them lose themselves in the pleasure that live music can offer.
The sheer sensual onslaught that was Magnetic Man and the noticeably smaller crowd (those pints of gold tops won't get delivered by themselves you know) left headliners Crystal Castles feeling a little bit of an anti-climax. However, despite singer Alice Glass having broken her ankle at the previous night's show and therefore looking like a jack-booted Cinderella having fled the ball on the stroke of midnight, the duo put on a sterling show with 'Celestica' and 'Not in Love' still managing to keep those weary hands in the air.
For less than £17 a ticket, the NME Awards Tour is still the best value for money around when it comes to the live music scene. And while some of these bands won't be gracing my ipod anytime soon, it was good to see and listen to what is floating the proverbial boat of our nation's youth.
Lets hope they never grow out of it.
Thursday, 10 February 2011
More Free Stuff
A brand new song from The Strokes available for free for 48 hours only.
Click the link below for more details.
The Strokes - Under Cover of Darkness
Click the link below for more details.
The Strokes - Under Cover of Darkness
Wednesday, 9 February 2011
Free Sex and Money
Well not exactly, but probably the next best thing. Free music. Fleet Foxes offer us a little taster of their eagerly awaited second album by offering this beautiful track for absolutely nothing. Click on the link below to download.
Helplessness Blues - Fleet Foxes
Helplessness Blues - Fleet Foxes
Monday, 31 January 2011
Velvet Owl Turn Ons - January 2011
Here's the 10 tracks that have helped to steer the gig collective through the bleak month of January.
1) Sea of Bees 'Wizbot' - Californian Julie Ann Baenziger leads the charge into 2011 with a simple yet stunning single.
2) Everything Everything 'Photoshop Handsome' - A song on repeat play in the Velvet Owl kitchen.
3) The Vaccines 'Post Break-up Sex' - Screw the hype! This is a great pop song!
4) Metronomy 'She Wants' - Be warned. One listen of this track, and it will never leave your head.
5) Sleigh Bells 'Riot Rhythm' - A track that weirdly enough, makes me want to go clubbing. But once it has finished, that stupid thought goes right out of my head.
6) I Am Kloot 'Northern Skies' - The stars of The Velvet Owl's first gig of 2011. In the words of TV AM's Richard Keys: 'They smashed it!'
7) New Order 'Thieves Like Us' - Reading Shadowplayers: The Rise and Fall of Factory Record by James Nice has led to a hankering for all things 80's Manchester.
8) British Sea Power 'Living is so Easy' - Taken from the first great album of 2011
9) Thin Lizzy 'Jailbreak' - Another great documentary on BBC4, which had several members of Velvet Owl trying to squeeze back into their leather trews.
10) Joan as Policewoman 'The Magic' - Velvet Owl favourite Joan Wasser returns with a new album in 2011.
1) Sea of Bees 'Wizbot' - Californian Julie Ann Baenziger leads the charge into 2011 with a simple yet stunning single.
2) Everything Everything 'Photoshop Handsome' - A song on repeat play in the Velvet Owl kitchen.
3) The Vaccines 'Post Break-up Sex' - Screw the hype! This is a great pop song!
4) Metronomy 'She Wants' - Be warned. One listen of this track, and it will never leave your head.
5) Sleigh Bells 'Riot Rhythm' - A track that weirdly enough, makes me want to go clubbing. But once it has finished, that stupid thought goes right out of my head.
6) I Am Kloot 'Northern Skies' - The stars of The Velvet Owl's first gig of 2011. In the words of TV AM's Richard Keys: 'They smashed it!'
7) New Order 'Thieves Like Us' - Reading Shadowplayers: The Rise and Fall of Factory Record by James Nice has led to a hankering for all things 80's Manchester.
8) British Sea Power 'Living is so Easy' - Taken from the first great album of 2011
9) Thin Lizzy 'Jailbreak' - Another great documentary on BBC4, which had several members of Velvet Owl trying to squeeze back into their leather trews.
10) Joan as Policewoman 'The Magic' - Velvet Owl favourite Joan Wasser returns with a new album in 2011.
Sunday, 23 January 2011
I am Kloot, The Duchess, York
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Lets get the good stuff out of the way first.
1. I am Kloot were brilliant!
2. Johnny Bramwell is one of the most underrated songwriters of his generation.
3. The performance of Radiation was worth the ticket price alone.
Right. Onto the gripe. I love going to gigs. I love that feeling of excitement as the lights go down and the whoops and hollers of an anticipating crowd fill the air. I love that moment, when collectively, the crowd let out a cheer of recognition as the band launch into one of their all-time classics. And I love that sense of comradeship, as a thousand voices sing along with sheer abandon to a song that they have all taken to their hearts. However, the gig-going experience has been cursed by those c%£ts (sorry, but I feel strongly about this), who throughout the show, can be heard chatting to their mates and not showing any consideration to the majority of the audience who are there to hear the band.
I'm not expecting hushed reverence. It's a gig for Christ's sake, not a piano recital. And I appreciate that these people have bought a ticket, and are entitled to talk to their friends if they want to - though surely that £20 they spent on a ticket would buy them a lot of blue WKD at the local Whetherspoons. However, when the band feel it necessary to say something - as Johnny Bramwell did last night - you would expect people to get the message. Fat chance. From the opening chords to Northern Skies to the last few bars of Same Shoes, last night's gig was unfortunately soundtracked by the incessant chatter of a handful of people who had a total lack of disregard for the band and the people who had paid to see them.
Live music should be about a shared experience and the crowd responding in unison to the band and their songs. For those people with short attention spans, they should sign up for yoga classes or ask their Dr for some of those pills they hand out to over excited kids.
Friday, 21 January 2011
From the Ashes
2011 is already shaping up to be a good looking year for album releases. Next week the latest album from New Zealand band The Phoenix Foundation finally hits the UK shops. Named after a fictional organisation in the American TV show, Macgyver, the band look as if they are finally about to make the breakthrough into the UK that their music so thoroughly deserves.
The Phoenix Foundation - Buffalo
The Phoenix Foundation - Buffalo
Wednesday, 19 January 2011
Surf's up
Here's a clip of them performing at last year's Green Man Festival
Friday, 14 January 2011
Bernard Matthews is Dead! Long live the Velvet Owl!
Velvet Owl are pleased to announce the launch of the Norwich arm of the gig collective. First up for the collective is Gruff Rhys, whose new album Hotel Shampoo is released in February.
Wednesday, 12 January 2011
The next album you need to buy……
…..is Bananas Foster by The Jigsaw Seen.
Now I have to declare bias here as I was given my copy by the guitarist the top fella that is Jonathan Lea. That said if The Edge (apparently not his real name?) were to send me the latest world saving opus by Dublin’s finest on a bed of rare psych and beat singles in a container using the rarest original northern 45’s as ballast I reckon I’d still think it was shite. Probably. And if I didn’t I wouldn’t be going public on it that is for sure.
So back to the Jigsaw Seen then, these lads have been peddling their own take on psychedelic pop perfection for some years and if you’re new to their party I’m sure you’re more than welcome just the same.
As a reader of this blog I’m assuming a certain love of music so if your collection includes the likes of Love , Jellyfish , The Zombies , The Left Banke , Tom Petty , The Move etc. (and let’s be honest it should) then this album sits well alongside them.
This album is all things to all men from the opening drone of Bertha Brilliance (which set our dog Louie off on a mystical search behind the settee) through David Hart’s Name Of Song onto my fave off the album which is Melancholy Morning. A truly spectacular pop record with heavenly strings and great vocals it is currently getting played by ‘whispering’ Bob Harris on his radio show. If you buy the album for this song alone your money isn’t wasted.
Another album track getting radio plays is Where The Action Isn’t a real belting fuzz rocker with a killer riff. This is getting spins from the legendary Rodney Bingenheimer on his famous Rodney on the ROQ show which should be more than enough to convince.
All in all not a duff track on the album so get yourselves to your local independent record shop and buy it there or do the download thing from i-tunes but be warned if you download you ain’t gonna get the special extras. This album is packaged in the most delightful way as Mary Poppins once said and includes a recipe card for the dish the album is named after , sticker , poster but best of all a scent sheet which makes the whole thing smell of bananas. Your kids will love it like mine and you can while away the hours trying to decide what your other favourite albums should smell like.
So as Martha and Charlie say – “The Jigsaw Seen Bananas Foster…….get on it”. You know they’re right - it’s in the genes.
Phil
Thursday, 6 January 2011
For the Birds
You can now follow the adventures of The Velvet Owl Gig Collective on Twitter @velvetowlgigcol
Nonsense and flannel in a 140 characters.
Nonsense and flannel in a 140 characters.
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