Hold My Home. Cold War Kids

It's 2015 and I'm starting work on my first ever Cold War Kids review. In the 00s one of my ex-colleagues pointed me to the first two albums that were exceptional according to him, not to me. The single that nearly became a hit 2 or 3 years ago, didn't convince me, the album was good enough. Being the kind of perseverance driven person I am, I started listening to Hold My Home anyway. And we have a match, ladies and gentlemen.

The band from Long Beach, California released its fifth album in October last year, only recently it caught my attention. One of the first things I notice on Hold My Home, is the similarity in singing of Nathan Willett and our own Blaudzun. Cold War Kids' music is somewhat lighter in atmosphere, but both bands do fish in the same well of inspiration, that much is clear.

Not being a Cold War Kids connoisseur, although I'm definitely one myself, my impression is that the band is playing louder and more melodic than before and I'm writing this purely from scant memory. I notice that the band has two fairly new members, so perhaps there is an explanation. The music on Hold My Home is powerful, rhythm driven with powerful vocals with forceful drums behind it all. At the same time the songs are not "hits". The melodies are not easy going, the kind that settle in my brain during the first listening, to never release again. I have a hard time telling any songs apart after a few bouts if listening.

Effects isn't something extremely strange to Cold War Kids. The hard pounding drums and the oh-oh part in 'Flower Drum Song' show just this. An easy effect underscoring some drama. Just like 'All This Could Be Yours' is the obvious single for this album. I'm not complaining here by the way. A band has to do its utmost to make a song work. That can be with a minimum of effort and a strong vocal melody as in 'Harold Bloom'. There's basically an organ and a voice and some mild percussion. That's all and it's enough. 'All This Could Be Yours' needs some extras to make it shine and shine it does.

Of course there is a big but. Nathan Willett sings like the sky is going to fall on him any moment. This feature is something the listener has to go through before he or she can enjoy the band. Somehow I have the impression that Willett understands in 2015 that when the sky comes down we'll all be wearing a blue hat. O.k. provided it's day and a clear one at that. (Admittedly this is not an original thought, but I can't remember where I read it.) If you can't stand the wail, you better stay out of the room when Hold My Home is played.

There are roughly two sort of songs on Hold My Home. The rockers and the indie ballads at the end. My preference tends to the balladry I notice. 'Hear My Baby Call' is such a slow song, with more instrumentation. Again Cold War Kids get to me more easily than in the harder songs. Too Simple Minds like, is a thought that pops up. I can't answer that yet, but it could be an explanation.

The ballads are more intense. Yes, they should be, you may answer, but they compare in a positive way to the rockers on this particular album. They are melodically stronger and make a better impression. Together they lift Hold My Home beyond the average albums into he realm of the better ones. Not the best, but I'm counting on Cold War Kids to get there hearing what I'm hearing here.

Wo.

You can listen to 'All This Could Be Yours' here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBvW3Mlcacw

or buy at Bol.com

Shallow. Sea Oleena

De Canadese muzikante Charlotte Oleena (de achternaam Loseth kom ik ook tegen) maakt inmiddels een aantal jaren muziek als Sea Oleena. Dat leverde tot voor kort twee bijzondere EP’s op, maar een paar maanden geleden verscheen dan ook haar volwaardige debuut: Shallow.
 
Het is een debuut dat liefhebbers van de muziek van Grouper, Julia Holter en Julianna Barwick zeker aan zal spreken, maar ook muziekliefhebbers met een zwak voor de muziek van een roemruchte band als The Cocteau Twins en al haar soortgenoten zullen Shallow op de juiste waarde weten te schatten.

Sea Oleena maakt op haar debuut donkere en atmosferische muziek die uitstekend past bij het huidige seizoen. Mooie ingetogen pianoklanken en al even mooie en bijzondere gitaarlijnen worden gecombineerd met zweverige elektronische geluidstapijten en de engelachtige stem van Charlotte Oleena, die hier en daar wel wat doet denken aan die van Julee Cruise en hierdoor meteen het lugubere Twin Peaks sfeertje oproept.
 
Het is muziek die heerlijk voortkabbelt, maar de ware schoonheid van het debuut van Sea Oleena ontdek je pas wanneer je met veel aandacht naar deze plaat luistert. Dan hoor je hoe knap de lome klankentapijten in elkaar steken en hoeveel lagen er zijn verstopt in de bijna bedwelmende muziek van Sea Oleena, die heel af en toe ook wel wat heeft van de muziek van Portishead.
 
De instrumentatie op Shallow bestaat uit een laag organische instrumenten en een laag elektronische instrumenten en het zijn twee lagen die op bijzondere wijze samenvloeien. Soms versterken ze elkaar en soms zijn ze elkaars tegenpolen wat een heel bijzonder geluid oplevert. Het is een geluid om heerlijk bij weg te dromen, maar het is ook een geluid waarvan je geen detail wilt missen. Het is aan de ene kant vol en gloedvol en aan de andere kant bijna minimalistisch. Dat lijkt tegenstrijdig, maar dat is het niet. De bijzonder fraaie instrumentatie past weer perfect bij de prachtige stem van Sea Oleena, die haar teksten in meerdere lagen tegen het zo stemmige instrumentarium aan legt.
 
Liefhebbers van uptempo songs zijn bij Sea Oleena aan het verkeerde adres, want Shallow is een plaat die zich uiterst langzaam voortsleept. Shallow sluit hierdoor ook aan bij de slowcore uit de jaren 90, maar de 4AD muziek uit de jaren 80 biedt uiteindelijk het beste vergelijkingsmateriaal. Het is vergelijkingsmateriaal dat vervolgens op geheel eigen wijze het huidige millennium in wordt getrokken door Sea Oleena.
 
Ik gebruikte Shallow tot voor kort vooral als plaat om de dag mee af te sluiten, maar hiermee doe je het debuut van Sea Oleena te kort. De prachtige klanken op Shallow brengen je misschien zo in dromenland, maar zijn ook van een soms bijna huiveringwekkend intense schoonheid. Mijn advies: laat je eerst een paar keer in slaap zingen door deze prachtige plaat, maar ontdek vervolgens de toverkracht van deze prachtplaat. Ik voeg Shallow van Sea Oleena alsnog toe aan de lijst met de meest memorabele debuten van 2014.

Erwin Zijleman

Je kunt hier luisteren naar 'Milk':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6tRub7Kl9Q

of kopen bij Bol.com

The River Runs North. Caitlin Harnett

In Spotify kiezen voor Browse - Discover: het leverde heel lang vooral merkwaardige of zelfs bijna lachwekkende suggesties op. Nu ik een jaartje heel intensief gebruik maak van Spotify heeft de software het echter ook heel vaak bij het juiste eind. Hierbij worden uiteraard heel wat open deuren ingetrapt (...probeer Joni Mitchell eens), maar Spotify weet me zo af en toe ook echt te verrassen met een gouden tip, zoals in het geval van The River Runs North van Caitlin Harnett.
 
Caitlin Harnett is een singer-songwriter uit het Australische Sydney, maar voor het opnemen van haar debuut zocht ze haar geluk in Canada. Ze kwam uiteindelijk terecht in Ottawa, waar ze de studio in dook met producer Dave Draves (voor mij vooral bekend van Kathleen Edwards), singer-songwriter Jim Bryson en een aantal muzikanten uit de lokale scene. Het levert een fascinerende plaat met meerdere gezichten op.
 
Caitlin Harnett maakt op The River Runs North geen geheim van haar belangrijkste inspiratiebronnen. Flink wat tracks op de plaat herinneren aan het vroege Laurel Canyon geluid van Joni Mitchell of aan de muziek van de helaas vergeten Judee Sill. In deze tracks domineert de licht zweverige folk van weleer, maar het blijkt uiteindelijk slechts een van de vele gezichten van het debuut van Caitlin Harnett.
 
De Australische singer-songwriter sluit immers ook aan bij de groten uit de jaren 70 (Carole King, Laura Nyro) en heeft in Canada bovendien de zo herkenbare Canadese variant op de Americana opgepikt.
 
Hierdoor neemt The River Runs North je keer op keer mee naar de late jaren 60, verruil je de heuvels rond Los Angeles vervolgens voor de grote stad in de jaren 70, om uiteindelijk toch weer in de hedendaagse Canadese muziekscene terecht te komen.
 
Producer Dave Draves heeft The River Runs North voorzien van een authentiek klinkend geluid, waarin vaak strijkers worden ingezet voor de stemmige accenten en waarin akoestische instrumenten domineren. Het is een warm en gloedvol instrumentarium dat in harmonie is met de wat onderkoelde stem van Caitlin Harnett en dat deze stem versterkt.
 
Het is een stem die waarschijnlijk niet door iedereen gewaardeerd zal worden, maar het is voor mij één van de smaakmakers op The River Runs North, ook wanneer de smaakvolle instrumentatie een keer achterwege blijft en we het moeten doen met een akoestische gitaar en emotievolle vocalen.
 
The River Runs North roept bij mij associaties op met een aantal decennia popmuziek, maar toch ken ik niet veel platen als deze. Je struikelt op het moment werkelijk over vrouwelijke singer-songwriters, maar The River Runs North van Caitlin Harnett heeft direct bij eerste beluistering iets unieks en iets intiems. De songs van de Australische singer-songwriter weten hierdoor te intrigeren en raken me ook, keer op keer. Als dan ook nog eens Kathleen Edwards (lang niets van gehoord overigens) opduikt voor een duet is het feest compleet.
 
The River Runs North van Caitlin Harnett heb ik bij toeval ontdekt, maar deze plaat verdient echt in veel bredere kring aandacht. Dat de plaat in 2014 is verschenen moeten we maar even vergeten; dit is voor mij één van de eerste grote releases van 2015 en een prachtige start van de categorie 'minder bekend talent in het rootssegment'.

Erwin Zijleman

U kunt het album luisteren en kopen op Caitlinn Harnett's Bandcamp pagina:

https://caitlinharnett.bandcamp.com/releases

Guy Forsyth. Q-Bus Leiden, 30-04-2015 with Maximum Overdrive and Bag of Bones

Photo: Wo.

And so the curtain dropped for the Q-Bus, that little hideaway with the nearly always perfect sound in the city of Leiden. The city council decided that with the coming of the new venue Gebr. de Nobel, there was no longer a need for this stage. There is a future though on which more later.

What a final night it was. On the former Queen's Day Hans van Polanen staged Austin, Texas', finest Guy Forsyth. I have seen Forsyth in his younger years play LVC like a storm, in a solo performance in the Q-Bus and now as a middle-aged gentleman who still likes to serve a blazing hot blues stew.

Larger than life. Photo: Wo.

All things Forsyth start with his voice. The Theo van Es potato rasp is there in the right dosage. Or Tom Waits of course. It's easy for him to do an impersonation, but the fun is that he does not need to overdo it. His voice is fabulous for this sort of music. The second feature is his harmonica playing, distorted, howling, pleasing, alluring and seducing, it's all in there. On top of that Guy Forsyth is a fantastic performer, who's large arm movements and facial expressions add to the show. He knows how to tell a story as well. Finally, at that point it was something that I nearly overlooked, had he not grabbed a guitar for two songs: he's a fantastic guitarist, probably better that Dave Hernandez, his guitarist for this tour. The major surprise was kept to the near end of the show. The guy can play a singing saw too. Is there something he can't do?

A 1st (and last?) in Q-Bus? Photo: Wo.

I remember seeing Forsyth playing in Q-Bus before. He played after a support act, that totally impressed me, but I can't remember for the life of me who or what played. I remember thinking how is a guy alone ever going to top this? Forsyth started with a blues holler, footstompin' the time and singing in a way that blew the whole room into silence. What a voice! That voice was there again. So terribly impressive, leaving hardly any memory of the bands playing before. This guy has such a stage presence that it is nearly unimaginable that he's not playing the larger venues in this country and the rest of the world.

All sorts of blues came by. From the sped up Texas blues, to the soft styled T-Bone Walker and even some Frank Sinatra smooth singing blues. Guy Forsyth and band can take on all without a problem. The Q-Bus rocked on its final evening. The audience consisting mainly of middle-aged, greying and/or balding gentlemen had the time of their lives.

Forsyth is touring to his latest cd, "for those who still buy them". 'The pleaser' contains a lot of nice blues tracks worth checking out for sure.

Photo: Wo.

Maximum Overdrive, a Leiden based band that starts its playing with all things Guns 'N' Roses and takes it from there. A cover or two graces its set. The singer has a real voice for punk rock and alternative rock songs. A foghorn should someone ever need one. He's your man! The bass player plays these fantastic runs in the songs that made me forget that there was only one guitarist in the band, where two is more common to fill out the sound in abnds like these. The drummer, great beard!, played in a soft, almost jazzy way, totally at odds with the music. The explanation may be the sound limit the Q-Bus has due to its neighbours. Maximum Overdrive is around for over 20 years and that shows. Very competent at building a party with its music.

Photo: Wo.

Bag of Bones is a band from Den Haag. Jimi Hendrix and jazz-rock style instrumentals are its thing. Although the individual band members are all quite competent on their respective instruments, things never came alive. Endless soloing over marginally interesting themes are just not my thing. 'Born under a bad sign', that fine electric blues song by Albert King and many others, got an extremely strange rendition. The solo half of the time touching on notes that seriously got in the way of the melody of the song. Weird. Sorry, gentlemen of Bag of Bones, songs without lyrics are just not my thing.

Wo.

You can listen to Guy Forsyth's 'Carried By Six (Pop's Blues)' here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fhi52WAa-jE

You can order his cds here:

http://theconnextion.com/guyforsyth/guyforsyth_cat.cfm?CatID=104

or listen to 'The Pleaser' here:

https://continentalrecordservices.bandcamp.com/album/guy-forsyth-band-the-pleaser

Interview with Amanda Pearcy

Interview by Wout de Natris

© WoNo Magazine 2015

In the spring of 2014 Amanda Pearcy gave a show in the Q-Bus in Leiden. After hearing her on stage and talking to her after the show while buying her cd, I already had the impression that there were a million things to ask. Her CD 'Royal Street' truly impressed me (read the album review here: http://wonomagazine.blogspot.nl/2014/05/royal-street-amanda-pearcy.html and the Q-Bus show here: http://wonomagazine.blogspot.nl/2014/04/amanda-pearcy-q-bus-leiden-18-april-2014.html). So I asked her to do an interview via email. Getting answers was not as easy as getting a "yes, good idea". There was always something in the way of answering. Things that are very private, but showed me how hard life can be for a private person, as well as for an artist acting in the margins of the market. It also shows how hard Amanda Pearcy's drive to express herself musically must be, in order to persevere. "I don't have the time. I'm writing at my kitchen table". The good news is that a new record is well under way and she is looking forward to tour in The Netherlands in October of this year. Something to really look forward to. And now it's time for the other good news: our interview.

As not all readers may have heard of you, how would you like to introduce yourself?

Hahahaha, ok... well just me. Amanda Pearcy. I'm a singer/songwriter from Austin, TX.  Born and raised in Houston. I didn't go to Austin to do music, but to attend the University of Texas. Life unfolded for me, and after being widowed, I picked up the guitar just to learn a few songs. I'd never written a song or performed in any way before then. 

Royal Street is your second album. Was it harder to make this second album or easier? (And which one do you really like better?, following your comment in the Q-Bus in Leiden.)

Well one wasn't easier or harder than the other.  But I had very much more of a say in the production process for Royal Street. Not that I couldn't have had that on the first one, but I didn't know anything then about doing an album.  So, Royal Street is my favourite. It's simply a much better record.

Photo: Wo.

You have a very distinct voice. Is there anyone who you wanted to sound like when you were young?

I'll take that as a compliment, ha! ;) but really, thank you.  Since I didn't set out to be a singer, it didn't occur to me when I was young to think about who I wanted to sound like. I was a fan of lots of different styles of music. But as far as women singers went, a few albums that got many spins from me when I was young where those of Bonnie Raitt, Joan Armatrading, The Pretenders (Chrissy Hynde), Blondie...

Your songs are all stories, almost observations. What is the story behind the “Blind boy, put a nickel in the vase”?

A sightless friend was telling me about how his childhood had affected where he was emotionally in that moment. He said when he was a boy his mother had a vase that he liked to put coins in, and there was something about the sound that soothed him. He was bullied at school. He became dependent on drugs and alcohol. I rarely play this song out anymore. You are one of the few to mention it, although it is my producer's favorite song on the Royal Street album.

Some songs seem “almost real”, almost visual. Do you get inspired by your life or are they more made up? And where does living in Texas come in inspiration wise?

Definitely I get inspired by my life. I guess for me to write a song, I have to have experienced what I'm writing about, or as in the case of the previous question, personally know someone who has.

Texas is home. It's what I know. For example, I've never been to New York City, so it doesn't occur to me to write a song that necessarily takes place there.

Who inspired you musically?

Oh that's a fun one. Let me check my childhood record collection. Ok, ha-- It includes the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Talking Heads, the Grateful Dead, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Paul Simon, Dwight Yoakam, the Smiths, the Ramones, Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna, Carly Simon, and all the other women artists I mentioned before, plus Joni Mitchell, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt.

Photo: Wo.

There are several genres on Royal Street. Do you come to the recording studio with a clear vision on where a song should go or is this developed during the recording process?

Both. My producer, Tim Lorsch, and I discuss it loosely at pre-production. But then we both like to have the players not be too constrained, so that they can then bring whatever interpretation they feel. Of course we have to have a general idea, but we don't like to tell them how to apply their paint to the canvas if you know what I mean. The recording process is so much more genuine and collaborative that way.  It's beautiful to watch it go down.  

One songs is on love, another on expecting/longing for love and third about being better off on your own. What does Amanda Pearcy prefer?

Hahahahaha, well I think I do better when I'm on my own. But I love to love. Not that I prefer it, but I guess I do do better on my own, because love brings some suffering for me. If I love you, I really really really love you, and then that of course, is always lined with a little suffering. It's just easier not counting on love. But when I'm in love, I can't imagine life without it.

Royal Street is in New Orleans. You have graced it with a song (and an album title). What is your relationship with this street and city?

I just love that city.  It's like no place else in the US, because at its center, it's more like a European city than any other US city.  It's quite magical there. And I love how the locals' accents sound like they are from Boston or something, but it's in the South. And the food,. And the flowers in the spring. And the voodoo. And the humidity, like where I grew up in Houston. I just dig how rich in history and culture it is.

The relationship with the street--- well one of my former loves and I bought an antique garnet ring in one of the shops.  That street is known for its art galleries and antique shops, including antique jewellery.

Photo: Wo.

With ‘No expectations’ there is an ear catching cover on Royal Street. What made you choose this song and was it hard to get a clearance from “the greatest rock and roll band in the world”?

It's always been one of my most favorite songs on one of my most favorite records, the Rolling Stones' Beggar's Banquet. I have some pretty cool records, collectible types, and this is one of them. I would cover that whole album if I could, ha! But also the song accidentally tied in well not just musically, but lyrically, with mine.

Ah, the clearance is no problem. They're happy to get the royalties, ha ;)

I wrote in my review you have lived and then started recording records, but did you come late to writing, playing and recording or is there a whole story to share?

Right. I had never studied music, and never touched a guitar until almost 10 years ago. I simply wanted to try. I just wanted to learn how to play a few songs I liked. When I started, it never occurred to me to write a song. I had never performed, I sang in the car. My first lesson was the week Katrina hit New Orleans, oddly enough.

Watching you on stage, I had the impression that you were not really comfortable there. Is it hard for you to perform for people?

Yes!  I'm going to try harder to fake that next time!  I'm really uncomfortable performing. As a singer/songwriter, you're expected to talk some between songs. That is a slippery slope for me, because I don't know what to say, and then I start digging a hole, and can't quit talking, even though I really dislike the talking part of the performance. So then that makes it even more uncomfortable. 

What can we expect from you in the coming years?

The new CD!  It just got tracked last weekend!  :) 12 tracks, 11 originals, 1 cover, and another gumbo mix of genres! And an October tour in the Netherlands and hopefully other parts of Europe, too.  Come watch me squirm on stage, ha!

And please tell me: Who or what is coming down the street on the cover of Royal Street?

Ah, come on. Some questions must remain unanswered.  ;)


You can listen to 'Better on my own' here:

https://soundcloud.com/amanda-pearcy/better-on-my-own-royal-street

or buy 'Royal Street' here on cdbaby:

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/amandapearcy2