Alt-J Live: Static yet so dynamic. Ziggo Dome, 19 November 2015

Alt-J? Wasn't that the band that I totally did not get in 2012 and again in 2014 and then out of the blue bought an LP of in the winter of 2015, which became my most played album of 2015, easily? Yes, that Alt-J.

That Alt-J, when telling people that I went to see the band, mostly gave a blank stare in return: who?, their faces asked me? Yes, that Alt-J. Next always followed a very difficult question to answer: What kind of music do they play? Well, something alternative, rock, indie, some folk, lots of strange rhythms and synthesizers and flute and ..... The blanks on these faces just grew emptier and vaguer. That Alt-J.

Simply too little people seem to have heard of the band and that showed at the Ziggo Dome. Half full? That is still a lot of people of which some around me showed total devotion. The Alt-J that gets little to no radio play. Just mentioning the show on the radio in the morning and not playing a single song, is a bit weird, Giel Beelen. This band deserves some airplay, even if it is a bit far out there..

Nothing happens at an Alt-J show. Well almost nothing. At best the keyboard player sips his drink or one single dynamic guitar stroke the moment before the show ended. The three men standing even dress the same. A black t-shirt with grey tending towards black pants. In other words totally nondescript. Except for the drummer, who is omnipresent in sound and motion. His drums sounded so full. An effect was added that made them sound like they were played in a large hall (or dome in this case) filling the whole dome. What a sound, so clear and so extremely varied. If someone stole the show it was Thom Green. His sound, energy and varied drumming makes it possible for Alt-J to play these large venues. The songs as such lend themselves, exceptions noted, for intimacy; for head phones in privacy.

This was my first in the Ziggo Dome, while I'm preferring small venues more and more. All the stories about how good the sound is all came true during this show. At times even fantastic, as so many subtleties in the music came alive. The seats are fine and the view of the stage excellent.

Time for Alt-J again. The band is near total static, uncommunicative. So there is only one thing to do: play the songs in the best way possible and this the band did. Starting with the aptly titled 'Intro' Alt-J silenced the room immediately with just the wordless singing. My fear of being bored because of the intense and at times strange setting of the songs, was totally without merit. So many sounds came alive during the show and not even a lot came from pre recordings was my impression. Alt-J has learned to get a maximum effect from the sound eruptions its music holds within it and dares to bring everything down to just the vocals as well. The dynamics are stressed to maximum effect. The best example is a moment that a single piano note is repeated fast, something any child could play, that is intersected by one loud band crash, after which a new note follows. A startling effect. If we add the light show that was omnipresent at times, we come to the other feature that made the show very dynamic. A lightshow truly supporting the music and the band members, while they played their songs. Songs that are weirdly structured, strangely rhythmed, hardly comprehensively sung, yet so pleasant to listen to.

A lot of songs from the first album, 'An Awesome Wave' came by. Only because I didn't recognise most of them, there was no time to prepare, I could make the distinction. It looks like I have another album to buy.

Alt-J live is an experience. Perhaps almost like going to a classical concert, which I never do. It is totally alright to just sit and listen, eyes closed. It is because of preconception of rockshows that we expect more. Does Alt-J's music need show? Not really, but it's o.k. if it's there. Together the two elements made the concert an experience. There were so many small elements that made me so happy just listening with no need to jump up and dance. A very noteworthy show.

Just one question remained: Where were the flutes? I was kind of looking forward to hearing 'Garden Of England' live.

Wo.

In Dream. Editors

How time flies. It is at times like this that I realise that fact once again. The first Editors cd is ten years old this year. That means it is that long ago that my then colleague Cynthia raved about this new band she heard (and dropped as usual with the second album). I didn't hear it though. Too dark for me that voice. I never really got into the band until that single of the previous album, 'A Ton Of Love'. That was a pop song in a rock setting if I ever heard one. Not representative for the rest of the album I found, but still.

In Dream is nothing like that album. Guitars have sort of disappeared and synths and piano have the primary role. Not so strange considering that Tom Smith, who is the leader of Editors, is a piano player foremost. What I notice firstly listening to In Dream is that a lot of the songs must have been deconstructed after conception to the vocal melody and then built up again. This way Editors could create something completely new. Other rhythms, other instruments, other moods. My second thought is Depeche Mode in a somewhat more organic and less industrial mood. A song like 'Enjoy The Silence' does come to mind though.

My third thought is, yes, I'm impressed. Tom Smith lets his overly depressing, deep voice go at times and plays with timbres and heights and opens up the Editors world and lets some light in. Perhaps not a lot, but just look at the sleeve. Light in an high art kind of way, illuminating only what needs illuminating. 'Forgiveness' has a deep bass line, compensating for the voice perhaps. The voice(s) go all over the place, even into falsetto territory. This opens everything and makes the song a pop classic with some weird elements in the rhythm and dressing up, but this is near pure pop.

In Dreams opens with 'No Harm' which is a statement of intent. Dark, darker, darkest sounds. The intro could have been part of the score of 'Skyfall' during the scenes in the dark, gloomy house. The falsetto voice is one of despair of someone seeing everything crumbling down around himself. The music goes back to the days of Ultravox' 'Vienna', but slower and darker. So we enter Nick Cave territory, if we think away the higher registers of Tom Smith's voice. This song is absolute beauty of the sort that can hardly be seen, totally obscured by dusk's shadows. An impressive opener to the album. Luckily it is not followed during the whole of the album. 'No Harm' is simply too gloomy.

With a female voice gracing two songs in total, Editors changes the sound of its songs completely. The higher and faint voice of Rachel Goswell (singer of Slowdive) goes around Smith's voice with ease. The light piano melody in 'Ocean of Light' makes much more sense this way. Justin Lockey's guitar comes in to the song like the guitars in Coldplay. No chords, just a motive playing around somewhere in the song, colouring it in, not carrying it.

I have to admit that In Dream does not keep my attention like the first songs do, but Editors and I have come a long way for me to write this much. In Dreams has moments that are monumental. Huge, though as clear as crystal, strong, but sensitive, robust yet fragile. Behind the vast electronics is a band that shows emotions. Feelings that can be imagined to have come from the isolated recording sessions on the west coast of Scotland, with nothing but the elements around the studio.

The 80s are back. 'Life Is A Fear' brings it all. The Cure, Depeche Mode, Tubeway Army, they al shine through here. Another great song with a simply gorgeous synth line (China Crises anyone?) and a disco beat that Donna Summer would have found her way in during the mid 70s. The ambient world of Brian Eno floats into 'The Law'. Together with electronic drums, synths, 'People Are People' and Ms Goswell taking part of the lyrics, something happens which sounds so familiar. And then that delicious guitar notes come in as well. Fingerlicking good. it's so sweet, 'The Law' is. Although In Dreams is modern, the overall feel is 80s. Doom is around the second corner perhaps and not on the corner as in 1980, but still. That feel is there with better songs then most could produce around that time of old. And then a final name pops to mind, a singer that is behind all this mentioned and more. A name that explains it all for me: David Bowie. Bowie's darker periods sound through here in a clear way, lifting In Dream even a level higher.

As I wrote Editors and I have come a long way of mainly not communicating to each other with an odd exception here and there. I never gave up though and finally it paid off. In Dream is a beautiful album and has moments of extreme beauty. Enough said.

Wo.

You can listen to 'No Harm' here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qM4joaqNxf0&list=PLpMUJrYyZ5603qr2iZUTF-CVE-I9_dUuj

or buy at Bol.Com

Little Neon Limelight. Houndmouth

De uit New Albany, Indiana, afkomstige band Houndmouth wordt in de Verenigde Staten in hetzelfde hokje geduwd als The Lumineers, waarmee de band in Europa aansluiting vindt bij een band als Mumford & Sons.

Ook Houndmouth maakt immers lekker in het gehoor liggende rootsmuziek met een opzwepende instrumentatie en gepassioneerde vocalen.

Toch sla ik Houndmouth na het beluisteren van Little Neon Limelight, overigens de tweede plaat van de band, aanzienlijk hoger aan dan de genoemde concurrenten. Dat heeft meerdere redenen.

Allereest valt Little Neon Limelight op door geweldig gitaarwerk. Dit kan ondersteunend gitaarwerk op de achtergrond zijn, maar de muziek van Houndmouth mag af en toe ook flink ontsporen. 

Hiermee hebben we direct een tweede reden waarom Houndmouth zich weet te onderscheiden van de concurrentie te pakken, want in tegenstelling tot de genoemde bands kleurt Houndmouth aanzienlijk minder netjes binnen de lijnen en sluit het bovendien meer aan op de muziek uit de jaren 60 en 70 en verpakt het deze invloeden in songs vol urgentie.

Tenslotte vind ik Houndmouth in vocaal opzicht veel beter dan de genoemde zeer succesvolle bands. Ook Houndmouth grossiert in gepassioneerde vocalen en zwaar aangezette harmonieën, maar het lijkt bij de band uit Indiana geen kunstje.  De band combineert op bijzonder fraaie wijze mannen- en vrouwenvocalen en zeker wanneer er in vocaal opzicht gas terug genomen mag worden, waan je je een aantal decennia terug in de tijd, terwijl de band in de harmonieën ook uitstapjes richting gospel kan maken.

De muziek van Houndmouth grijpt nadrukkelijk terug op de countryrock en folkrock uit de jaren 60 en 70, maar de band schuwt ook 50s rock ’n roll of meer eigentijdse rockvarianten niet en is ook niet bang voor een ingetogen ballad , een flinke dosis psychedelica of een spetterende portie Southern rock.

Het is jammer dat Houndmouth op Little Neon Limelight heeft gekozen voor twee grootse en meeslepende openingstracks, want persoonlijk vind ik de tweede plaat sterker worden wanneer de band minder zijn best doet om een breed publiek aan te spreken.

Little Neon Limelight is uiteindelijk vooral een geweldige rootsalbum. Het is een rootsalbum van een band die in muzikaal opzicht meerdere kanten op durft te gaan en het is een album van een band die beschikt over de luxe van meerdere leden die geweldig kunnen zingen. In technisch opzicht is het waarschijnlijk niet eens zo heel bijzonder, maar Little Neon Limelight maakt diepe indruk met de hoeveelheid emotie die in de songs en met name in de vocalen van Houndmouth is verpakt.

Little Neon Limelight is tenslotte ook nog eens een enorme groeiplaat. Bij eerste beluistering vond ik de muziek van de Amerikaanse band vooral lekker klinken, maar inmiddels is Little Neon Limelight voor mij een van de beste rootsplaten van de laatste tijd. En hij wordt nog steeds alleen maar beter. Zeer warm aanbevolen dus.

Erwin Zijleman

Je kunt hier luisteren naar 'Sedona':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8wifV5RYr8

of kopen op Bol.com

 

Horses. Patti Smith

In September Wo. reviewed 'Just Kids', the autobiography by Patti Smith. At the end he promised to review Horses in celebration of the album's 40th birthday. So here he goes.

In the winter of 1976 I was in my final high school year, for some years to come that is. On Tuesday afternoons the VARA broadcasted the album top 20 and if I cycled home like crazy I would be in on time to operate my small cassette deck wired to the radio. The start of Wo. as the lover of albums. One of the albums that entered the album charts during that one school year that I was able to listen from 16.00 until 17.00 was Horses. I distinctly remember hating it. That Patti Smith person couldn't sing, the songs were horrid noise. This sucked, major.

All that changed with 'Wave', which I still think is Patti Smith's best album to date, in 1979. Did I get to like Horses? Well, I never really gave it a second chance I noticed. The opening song, yes. The cover 'Gloria', the hit of Them in the mid 60s, vamped up by spat out lyrics that have nothing to do with the original. "Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine". Excommunication and eternal damnation, I'd say and who cares 40 years later? Not me. 'Gloria' is a glorious rocker. Singer and band cook it to phenomenal heights and a level that Van Morrison may never even have imagined in his wildest dreams. Patti Smith's lyrics and presence do the rest. Remembering 'Just Kids' here is somebody who never imagined being a performing artist let alone a singer and now spearheading the punk/new wave movement of New York.

Reading up a bit on the album is when I really become conscious of how big this album is. 4,5 and 5 star reviews all around. Something I never heard at the time. Something I can easily mend in 2015. Horses still is exciting almost 40 years after its release in December 1975. The album has a sense of urgency that is rather unique and that has everything to do with the interaction between the hurtling, stuttering, exhorting singer and the band that does everything in its power to keep up and follow, without selling its singer one inch short. Compliments have to go out to producer John Cale as well as he managed to capture all this, including the timelessness of the performance. The performance still speaks volumes over the decades gone by. This album could have been made by a punk band in 2015.

And all that while Horses may have been a hasty affair. There are several covers on the album and some real poems set to music. This isn't yet what the Patti Smith Group would become in the years to come. When truth be told, Patti Smith and band had to find their own musical voice and not somebody else's. At the same time they had found so much power and prowess.

Wilson Pickett's 'Land of a Thousand Dances' is reformed beyond recognition. Patti is firing off lyrics from two angles. The band recreated The Velvet Underground around and beyond here. Pounding away relentlessly creating a sonic storm.

Horses also shows how held back this band could play. 'Elegy' is as soft spoken as the title suggest. The under current remain spot on though. There's no escaping the intensity of Patti Smith. Waves roll over the listener and he is not released until the final note. If ever. The version of 'Free Money' has to be the final one. Horses may just be a very addictive album after all. (In the modern cd era, the magic is broken by the totally punked up version of The Who's 'My Generation'. Hurtling, falling apart, screaming and crying and John Cale doing a musical John Entwistle impersonation. This version does help putting another record on.)

Wo.

You can listen to 'Gloria' here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxygqSTO1lQ

or buy on Bol.com

Obrigado Brazil

In the past week I was in Brazil for an international conference. Mostly being in meetings, chairing some workshops, attending a few, while mostly working in the background writing, reporting, preparing. About two full days of the 10 being underway were spent traveling to this remote town near the most Eastern point of the Americas.

Despite the extremely late hour, considering the time difference, of arriving in the north-eastern town of Joao Pessoa and despite my brain slowly closing down on me, one song crept into my mind straight away, a song that I haven't got a clue by whom it is, but a song I associate with the country totally: "Brazil, la la la la la la". It just went on and on in my head, while I walked off the tarmac of the small, domestic airport towards the terminal. It was so much warmer than home. Everything told me I had arrived for sure.

What I want to share with you is the musical experience I had in Joao Pessoa. Why? Because it was so different from what I am used to. Perhaps Greece comes closest with all the exotic eastern sounding music there in public transport. In the whole week I was there I have perhaps heard three songs I had heard before.

Music on the radio of the van that transported us to the congress center and back? All were in the Portuguese language. At night we ate mostly on the beach in one of the many small restaurants there. Live music is played for most of the day. Usually one guitarist who sings, a guitarist with a drummer or even one more musician could be found also. Every song they played was Brazilian. With one exception that I can remember: 'Hotel California' by the Eagles. Sung with an incredible fat accent, and most likely phonetically. So little people speak even one word of English that it is not surprising that English songs are an exception.

Another fact that was obvious, was how deep some of the songs spoke to the people. Some were sung along to with a deeply felt emotion. There I was sitting in a Brazilian beach restaurant having dinner with a soft, extremely pleasant wind coming of the Atlantic and everyone around you starts to sing along. At the same time the emotion just speaks out loud on the people's faces and from their voices. Something that never happens in this western European country I live in, unless it's someone's birthday or something.

This was just one of the things that happened, looked at or felt, that made me realise that I was a long way from home. Not recognising any music, along with the heat, the coconuts, the capirinhas, the mix of wealth and poverty and everything that comes with that, certainly is one very noticeable element.

Did I like the music? Good question, but the answer is somewhat indifferent. Let me just say that it was fun while it lasted in the background.

Wo.