Monday, February 28, 2005

The Blue Nile (Album Review)

Album Review

The Blue Nile
– High


To say Glasgow’s “The Blue Nile” take their time with albums is an understatement. Considering they have been going (so I heard) as long as my brother has been alive (He was born in 1979, just for the record) so you would expect them to have a fair body of work behind them by now.

Perhaps like U2 who have released what is it 12 or 13 albums by now or other major bands / singers who you would have expected by now to have a similar amount of work.

Expect with the Blue Nile, life or indeed albums are not that predictable or for that matter that frequent. Considering like I said before, you would have expected the band to have released a fair body of work by this stage; it is almost impossible to believe that the band has only released four albums.

Yes, only four albums “A walk across the rooftops” (1983), “Hats” (1989) and one I have forgot the title to in 1995, all of their albums of ordinary life told on dark, rainy streets struck a instant nerve with me back in 1989 when everybody else was raving about Madchester and bad metal and almost over night probably changed my musical taste forever.

I have memories as a young man dancing to “Let’s go out tonight” back in 1989 with my first girlfriend in my then bedroom because it had this simple power behind it which at the time seemed like nobody else.

Fast forward 16 years ago and like me in a way, the songs haven’t changed, the music is still about the simplicities of life in the way Paul Buchanan whispers “Come Close to Me” or “Days of our lives” where they talk of an girl who lives in London.

This isn’t an album which isn’t r n b or nu metal or Indie Pop – Perhaps the album does share a fondness like artist like Scott Walker (of The Walker Brothers) or Nick Cave or The Tindersticks in the way it is an album clearly aimed for adults not children but I always tend to think The Blue Nile are The Blue Nile really.

Look at the track “Soul Boy” for example on the album, if you listen closely to it, the harmonies where you can Paul Buchanan and what I guess Robert Bell, their guitarist whisper together “No more fighting, no more dreams” – it is this amount of detail that is vital to The Blue Nile and probably explains why it takes them forever to record albums.

Take for example the finale track “Stay close to me”, which despite the fact it lasts for just over 8 minutes still feels too short, but which made me think I was 16 again dancing around in my bedroom whispering “Stay close to me”.

This truly is a excellent album.

Just buy it

Saturday, February 26, 2005

Japhy Ryder Interview

Hi there, How are you all? Just a short note here today to let you all know that another new interview has appeared on “Setting Sun” – this time by the excellent “Japhy Ryder” – Check it out on http://www.geocities.com/aen1mpo/japhy.htm

I am also due in any day now the new interview by “The Swear” – I will be aiming to get that up online as quick as I can..

I am also in the process as we speak of typing up a whole host of album reviews and one concert review – Most of these have been in the back of my thoughts for a few weeks now – it has just taken time to get them out of my head and onto a piece of paper, but I have got there eventually as I always say…

Once I get these out of the way, I intend then to sit down and get one or two new pieces of poetry up-loaded as it has been ages since I posted anything new on my website and I do have one or two pieces that I think warrant publishing for your eyes.

In the meantime, hope you are well…

Love n light

Andy n xx

Sunday, February 20, 2005

more n more news

Dear all;

Hi there! How are you all? First time for a full diary entry in some time as I have been busy. As you can see, I have been busy with reviews and stuff, but I still have lots more to do as always.

As you can see from my last few entries I have been busy with reviews and stuff. Since then, I have a CD to review by Hortiwcz (Hope I have the spelling to hand) and also the new CD by Mercurine (May also have a short interview in hand to discuss the new album) and Caroline Martin (Same as before) and also a gig by Holly Lerski (which I recently saw in a coffee bar)… Also go as normal…

Sadly as I have started to tell one or two of you recently I am also about to become unemployed again (God, I hate contract work sometimes!) but I am currently in the process of starting to sit down and apply for work again. Have things on the go, so I remain hopeful!

Also I have now posted a few new interviews for “Setting Sun” – this are by two completely different bands “This Etal” and “Traquir” – both of which are well worth checking out for completely different reasons! Both can be found at the music interviews page on “Setting Sun” (http://www.geocities.com/aen1mpo).

I am going to sit down and also post some new excellent links for you all to follow viva blogspot sites, one of my favourites at the moment is without doubt – the excellent king blind site (http://www.kingblind.com) - this is well worth linking yourself too as it provides all sorts of excellent links to other sites where you can download all kinds of things seriously!

I will post more shortly!

Regards and Love to all!

Andy N xxx

Sunday, February 13, 2005

Il Programma di Religione review on boyarm records

Dear all;

Yet another review for you..


Il Programma di Religione - Various

(Boyarm Records)

To say Shawn Knight, who runs Boyarm records and organised this CD must have had a absolute nightmare arranging this CD is not probably that far away from the truth.

I first heard of this project through my musical partner, Keith who had heard (god knows how literally) of this record label in America called boyarm records who had decided to do a tribute album with a song for every Pope who had ever lived. Yes, all 267 of them!

Of course to do it as say a 3 or 4 minute song would have resulted in a 8 or 9 CD boxset. So Shawn decided to invite artists / bands to send in 15 second songs to get them all onto one CD.

Yes, 15 second songs! Now imagine for you how difficult that is to write. Just 15 seconds! I am sure all of us could write songs if prompted that went on for 3 or 4 minutes but 15 seconds! It sounds impossible...

And it was... I submitted a track by myself and worked on 4 others with pals while informing other pals which resulted in 12 tracks scattered across the CD.

Of course, listening to it, the quality and styles vary hugely from experimental free for all silliness and noise to hardcore punk on one track which lasts for about 6 seconds, with the lead singer shouting, 1,2,3 and then about two or three more seconds of hard core guitar work and then nothing....

Not all of it is my personal taste which is to be expected here of course, but what makes it particularly amazing is the way that a number of the tracks merge together to make slightly longer tracks.

That alone takes skill or a miracle considering some of the variations in style.

Perhaps that is why it is a tribute CD for popes..

Excellent...

Saturday, February 12, 2005

Japhy Ryder Review

Dear all;

Yet another review for you...

Cookie Heart Bleeding Crumbs - The Best of Japhy Ryder and his band

(Blue Minnow Records)

Japhy Ryder for those of you in the know is a name Jack Kerovac (Yes, the beat generation writer of the 1950's and 1960's) called Gary Synder in one of his book (Two brownie points for anybody who can remember which).

Of course, this isn't the Japhy Ryder in question (Not sure if he is still alive), but I am sure he would have understood this excellent retrospective fairly recently released on Blue Minnow Records (Home of the excellent "Trilemma") in the sense of this CD is as varied as the adventures you may have found in any beat generation book in the sense of one track for example "Buffy N Yatsura" may sound like a more muffled Movietone and yet the next minute, the band morphs into something a good deal harsher like on "Wionna" where they come across as real lo fi pop before then moving onto "My Stars are the same as your stars." where they come across as almost a more melodic Mogwai.

As you may have guessed, this is an incredibly varied CD indeed and certainly not for all tastes, but not all Kerovac's pieces for everybody, but for those who like their songs wistful, melodic and lo fi (sometimes with the same breathe) will find plenty of delights within here and for the sum of £2 (which is what it costs), you can't really go wrong.

Friday, February 11, 2005

Superqueens review

Dear all;

Here is a review of a gig I went to a bit back, which I have only just finished writing about...

Superqueens Review - Star and Garter, 21/01/05...


I knew as soon as me and my friends agreed to go to this gig, we were in for quite a potentionally an interesting night. While Superqueens are a new (ish) name to those on the local Manchester scene, for me it was almost like a renewal with old friends.

Way back in 1993, through the recommendation of a then friend, I picked up a demo tape by a then new band "The Orch". And what a treat it was too. Brimmed with great Durruti Column-ish guitar lines and keyboards that were as much as footsteps as sound mixed with thoughtful spoken poetry, talking about Manchester in ways that I hadn't heard before myself like it was Tombstone, England or being ritually abused at the local Benefits Office.

I saw them play live not long after and it was a powerful, powerful gig by any stretch of thought.

But the band never seemed to find the success that they truly deserved and stumbled out a few singles and split at the end of 1996.

And that seemed to be it

Fastfoward to 04, and Michael Conroy Harris, the poet and wordsmith resurfaces with a new project "Superqueens".

I'd heard about them by chance, and got somebody to buy me the CD for Christmas and while the album missed the Durruti Column-ish guitars, it came across as just as good through the increased electronic and keyboards which in some places gave it a more of a melodic feel.

Live, the duo certainly followed a similar pattern to CD, expect as my mate said it was even more darker in particular like on songs like "State Hotel", which seemed to come across as more harsh and dirty which is hard to believe considering the album version is bleak to begin with,

Sadly there were one or two occasions when the music threatened to overwhelmed Michael's (or Mick as I notice he likes to be called) like on Track 4 of their album. However, as the gig progressed it without doubt got better and better and better, where the duo started throwing new songs into the mix including a re-vamped version of the old Orch. favourite "The Ghost of Billy Whizz"where the electronics started bouncing around in my head which is ironic considering the nature of the song and a blistering new song called "Rat Poison" which had about three or four people saying in the audience why the hell isn't this on the album...

An excellent gig... Here's hoping that their next album doesn't take 8 years to come out...

Wednesday, February 09, 2005

Trilemma Review

Dear all;

Here is a new review for you...

Trilemma

Crowded Wilderness (7 inch Single) ( Kitchen Records)
Push What is Collapsing (LP) (Blue Minnow Records)
Caveat Emptor (Mini LP) (Fence Records)

Trilemma from those who may have my interview with them on "Setting Sun" from ages ago, will have discovered that they are that rare sort of band who don't have one specific sort of sound, instead choosing to explore a whole host of different ideas, all of which sound like them.

Take their full length LP "Push What is Collapsing" on Blue Minnow Records. Enclosed within this LP are tracks like "Spiralling into control" which made me think of Air expect backed by an 80's synth pop backing, which is followed by "Owed to Summer" which is a much more slower paced track, perhaps akin to Philip Glass or even John Cage, both of which are excellent but are then overshadowed again by the finale "Tear Gasometers", which is certainly a track that could be used in a film soundtrack, but for it to be used in a way that would prove benefital to the film, this would have to be a devestingly haunting and beautiful film. Excellent.

The other two releases "Crowded Wilderness" and "Caveat Emptor" which I purchased at the same time as "Push" are not perhaps quite as essential but are both well worth getting as well as the full length album.

"Cavert" for example is the more cinematic of the two with the best track "None of the above" perhaps
Being left to last, and which made me think to the catchphrase used by Richard Prior in Brewster's Millins even though the song sounds completely nothing like that.

"Crowded Wilderness" in contrast to that sounds like the most song based release out of the three with each of the four though all nicely done did make me wish for the occasional instrumental break used to excellent effect on the other two releases.

To conclude, all three releases are well worth picking up, be it for completely different reasons with in some ways each release almost sounding like it was coming from a completely different band in places, which of course is always a good sign, which is something that doesn't happen no where near enough for my personal taste. Excellent.

Wednesday, February 02, 2005

hi all

Dear all;

Hi there! How are you? Sorry for the sudden burst of quietness recently, but I am currently having a number of problems with my PC and because off that, everything has gone a little quiet with "Setting Sun."

When I get my PC working hopefully soon, there will be a number of things happening for example at the moment I have recently conned my good friend "Thrill Racer" (http://www.thrillracer.com) recording a vocal version of "And the rest is silence" for me and it sounds great! I want to expand the end off it a little (which won't affect Thrill's vocals in the slightest) - I will keep you all informed of course when this uploads, but I am hoping at next week at some point..

I still haven't sorted out my extract for "Intermission", but it is looking good as I am rapidly hitting the half way point off this (At the moment it is 82 pages long and just over 20,000 words)

When things are a bit more organised also, I am also going to sit down and put up a interview for a excellent Indie Rock band from the Leeds (ish) area called This ETAL (http://www.thisetal.com/)... And I have recieved a couple off CDs from Blue Minnow Records (http://www.trilemma.co.uk/BlueMinnowDiscography.htm), which I will also have to sit down and do...

Lastly, two bits of good news involving music - firstly, I have had (under a variety of names and with different people) - several tracks appear on the compliation CD "IlProgramma Di Religione (The Religion Program)" on Boyarm Records (http://www.boyarm.com/website/index.html)and also I have been approached about some remixes I did ages ago for a local singer songwriter called Andy Callen about them being included on his next CD, which is cool news!

Anyway, back to the jobs front... Hope you are all well...

Love n light

Andy n xxx